Title: Glass Hearts

Rating: PG-13

Summary (of chapter): A few new POVs - Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon! Also, Lily goes on a date.

--

Mary gazed out of the window, watching downtown London midday. The summer sun was baking down on the streets and the people. Paul and Frank lived on the sixth floor, so she was above some of the buildings and level with others. She brought her cigarette to her lips, inhaling slowly, letting it relax her nerves. She was already pretty bloody relaxed, but the fags helped even more. She was going to get hooked, and what would she do when she wasn't allowed them at Hogwarts?

Paul was sleeping, his clothes still off. Mary had pulled on one of his t-shirts. She sat on Paul's window seat, her knees up almost by her chest.

Screw this war. Screw her brother. She was so sick of everything, and yet life wouldn't stop for her. She was still stuck on this twisted merry-go-round, but she wanted off. Her NEWTs year was coming up; did she even care? She flicked some ash off of the tip of her cigarette outside the window.

Mary wondered when Katie would find out. Her and Paul had been sleeping together since a few days after the Harpies-Bats match. He needed a shag, and she needed to forget her life. They completed each other. But her and Katie had hung out. They had been friends at one time. She either needed to tell Katie or stop shagging Paul. She didn't want to, either, but she wasn't a complete bitch. Not anymore, anyways.

Mary stood up and started walking around Paul's room. He had yesterday's Prophet on his desk. MACDONALD REFUSES TO COMMENT ON SON'S DISAPPEARANCE.

They focused on the dirty secrets of the famous, like Celestina Warbeck's affair with rumored Death Eater Walden Macnair. It seemed like reporters enjoyed exposing the lives of the rich and the famous instead of focusing on the stories that mattered, like You-Know-Who's growing giant following.

Her brother had disappeared two weeks ago. The press had been quick to note this, especially that horrible woman Rita Skeeter. The hag had tracked Mary down the day before yesterday and tried to get something out of her. Mary didn't want to go back to Hogwarts and endure the looks of the students. No one trusted anyone anymore, not even teenagers, and her family plastered all over the paper wasn't helping. These were supposed to be youthful years, full of joy and carelessness.

Mary took a drag of her cigarette, finishing it off. She flicked her butt out of the window as she exhaled. She only had two in her pack left. Damn. These things were expensive.

There was a knock on the door. Mary looked over, her eyes wide, and the person on the other side of the door didn't wait for a response. Frank pushed the door opened. "It smells like -" he cut off when he saw Mary. His eyes widened. He looked at Paul, at her clothes strewn across the floor. "Uh . . . hi."

"Hi," Mary said. "Don't worry, I was going to tell Katie today."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Mary started to look around for her underwear. "Were you smoking?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Mary said, picking up her underwear.

"I'm just gonna . . . go," Frank said. He shut the door.

She pulled on her panties and shorts. She stuffed her bra and her shirt in her purse, then slipped on her sandals. "See you, Paul," she said, even though he slept like a log.

Mary left his bedroom. Frank was in the kitchen. Alice Hodge sat at the dining table. She looked up from a magazine. Her eyes widened at the sight of Mary. "Yeah, I know, I'm a slut," Mary said. "I'll see you guys later."

Before she reached the door, she called back to them, "Let me tell Katie, okay?"

--

St. Mungo's was calming down considerably. Lily wasn't as stressed as she had been a month ago. She only worked twenty hours a work. She did have a nice sum of money in her Gringotts vault from all of her overtime hours, though, so those weeks of disquiet were almost worth it.

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear as she sat at a table in the staff room. She had a fifteen minute break, then two more hours until she went home. She was thinking about going out with Marlene later on that night. She took a sip of her tea, then looked out of the window. Downtown London spread out in front of them.

"Can I sit here?" there was a voice above her.

Lily glanced up. A twenty-one-year-old Healer named Dennis stood next to her. He worked on the Potion and Plant Poisoning floor. They had worked together this week. "Oh, sure," she said, motioning to the seat next to her.

Dennis gave her a smile, sitting down. He had shaggy brown hair and dark eyes. He was quite friendly and charming. He was cute, too, and if Lily wasn't careful, she would be liking him soon. But she was looking for any means to get her mind off of James Potter, so she just may be not careful at all and fall head over heels for him.

"So, how are you doing?" Dennis asked.

"Good," Lily said with a nod. "I've only got two weeks left here."

"Oh, no," Dennis said. "I say you just skip your seventh year."

Lily let out a laugh. "I don't think that'll work," she said.

"Just go in for your NEWTs," Dennis said.

Lily smiled. "I'm Head Girl, though," she said.

"Ah, that might be a problem," Dennis replied. "Congratulations, though."

"Thanks," Lily said.

"I wasn't clever enough to be prefect, much less Head Boy," Dennis said.

"Well, the Head Boy this year was never a prefect," Lily said, shrugging. She fleetingly thought of James. Lily had heard from Jewel that they were going to Andromeda's for the weekend. She assumed Juniper was there, as well, which did nothing for Lily's feelings.

"Really?" Dennis asked. "How'd he manage that?"

"Top grades," Lily said. She paused. "He's a good guy. He's . . . just a bit of a trouble maker."

"Who is it?" Dennis asked. "Maybe I know him."

"James Potter," Lily said.

Dennis nodded, realization dawning. "Right, I knew that," he said. "I think my mum mentioned it. She's friends with his mum. Back when I was at Hogwarts, he and his friends were always getting into trouble."

Lily sighed, nodding her head. "That's him," she said.

"Is he Quidditch Captain this year?" Dennis asked.

"Yep," she said. She searched for a change of subject. "Did you play Quidditch when you were in school?"

"Yeah, I was one of the Chasers with James," Dennis said. "He was a pretty good Chaser, for a fourth year."

Of course, they were talking about Potter again. "Do you still play?" Lily asked.

"Every now and then," Dennis said. "Do you?"

Lily shook her head. "Heavens no," she said. "I'm scared of flying. It's just hard for me to sit on a broomstick and not feel like I'm going to fall to my death."

Dennis smirked. "Hey, what are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"Nothing, really," Lily said with a shrug. Her and Marlene could hang out tomorrow, when Lily was off during the day - maybe they could go to the lake or something. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Dennis said. "Maybe we can do nothing together."

Lily gave him a smile. Was he asking her out on a date? She glanced at the clock; she was out of time for her break. "My break's over," she said softly.

"Well, how about we do nothing at a restaurant?" Dennis asked. "I know this really nice one in Hogsmeade."

"Really?" Lily asked. "That sounds like fun."

"Great," Dennis said. "When do you get off work?"

"In two hours," Lily said.

"Well, maybe I can swing by your house at seven," Dennis said.

Lily paused, thinking about what might be going on at her house that night. She then remembered Vernon's parents were coming over for dinner. How could she forget? Well, she tended to block out the things with which she wanted to have nothing to do. She hadn't been invited, anyways. Her mother insisted she meet Vernon's parents, but Petunia had made it clear in no uncertain terms that she wasn't invited to dinner. Thus her reason for wanting to get out of the house for Marlene earlier.

"Lily?" Dennis said.

"Sorry," Lily said. "Um, my sister's having this really important dinner tonight, and I don't think she'll want any guests coming back. So, how about I meet you at the restaurant?"

"Are you sure you don't need to go?" Dennis asked.

Lily shook her head emphatically. "No, I don't," she said.

"All right," Dennis said. He wrote the address down for her. "Seven?" he said.

"Yes," Lily said, standing up. "I'm looking forward to it."

--

Marlene knocked on Mary's front door. She had sent a short owl about how she was coming by. Mary should have gotten it five minutes ago. There was a moment as Marlene waited, and then the front door swung open.

Mary stood in their foyer, wearing a t-shirt and shorts. "Hey," she said, turning around and leaving the door open for her.

Marlene walked in after her, shutting the door. She had been to Mary's a few times before. Her family lived in a nice-sized house, a lot of it covered in Quidditch memorabilia. The two of them walked into the living room. Mary sat down on the couch, sighing. Marlene plopped down next to her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just pitying myself," Mary said with a shrug.

Marlene smirked. "Sounds like fun," she said.

"So, who told you?" Mary asked. She stuck her feet up on the table, crossing her ankles over each other.

"You know Elizabeth?" Marlene asked.

"The seventh year?" Mary groaned. "Well, I guess we're the seventh years now. So, I'm guessing Katie told her."

Marlene shrugged. "Probably," she said.

"Paul hates me for telling Katie," Mary said. "I just . . . I realized that that wasn't the kind of person I want to be."

Marlene put an arm around Mary's shoulders, leaning her head on Mary's. "Well, I don't hate you," she said.

Mary let out a small laugh. "Good," she said. "I know how to pick good friends."

The two of them sat there for a moment. The WWN was playing the Hobgoblins. The sun was shining in through the window. Marlene's long legs looked much tanner than usual due to the considerable amount of time she spent in the sun. Mary's were pretty tan, too.

"Does Lily know?" Mary asked.

"I don't know," Marlene said. "I haven't talked to her since . . . Wednesday."

Mary let out a small sigh, leaning her head on Marlene's shoulder. "We should go out tonight," she said. She paused, rocking her foot to the beat. "Hey, I totally forgot - my dad's got tickets to the Hobgoblins concert!"

"No way!" Marlene said. "How many?"

"Enough for you and me, I'm sure," Mary said. She looked at the clock. "It starts at seven. I think he's got backstage tickets, too!"

"Sweet!" Marlene exclaimed. "Have I ever mentioned that I love being your friend?"

Mary grinned. "The slut who gets you all the cool tickets," she said.

Marlene laughed, hitting Mary on the arm. "Oh, shut up," she said. "You made a few mistakes, so what."

Mary stood up. "Come on, maybe we can go shopping for some new clothes for tonight," she said.

--

Lily stood in front of the mirror, looking at her hair. She couldn't figure out what to do with it. Straight, curly, wavy, up, down, half-up . . . there were so many choices. She hadn't been on a date since . . . since going to Hogsmeade with Paul back in February. They had gone for Valentine's Day weekend. That was the same day Davey Gudgeon had told them about the screams they heard from the Shrieking Shack. She thought of Remus that day . . .

Her thoughts floated back to her current date. She was wearing a knee-length skirt with diagonal stripes and a short-sleeved blouse. She always had a hard time deciding when to wear robes and when to wear Muggle clothes. She had sent a quick owl to Dennis asking, and he said Muggle clothes would be fine. Lily was listening to the Bee Gee's, singing softly to their catchy tunes.

Petunia and their mum were preparing for dinner downstairs. It smelled wonderful, but Dennis loved the restaurant they were going to. Not that she was invited to eat at home, anyway.

She finally settled with keeping her hair straight and down. It looked good with her outfit. She put a few things in her purse, tucked her wand into her skirt pocket (she had made all of her pockets long enough for her wand - except for her shorts. It would look quite odd with her wand sticking out of her shorts). Her light jacket matched her shoes. She found some perfume in the bathroom, squirted some on, then walked downstairs.

"Oh, Lily, you look nice," her mum said, smiling at her from the kitchen sink.

"Thanks," Lily said. Her mum and Petunia were dressed up, as well. "You two look nice, too."

"Thank you," her mum said. She glanced over at Petunia. Their parents were only just now realizing the hostility and tenseness between Lily and her sister. They had done so well to hide it before, but now that Vernon was in the picture, Petunia wasn't bothering. "Well . . . have a good time."

"Thanks," Lily said. "Good luck, Petunia."

Petunia nodded. "Right," she said.

"Save me whatever's left," Lily told her mum.

Her mum nodded, looking sad. Lily walked out of the kitchen. She went back up to her room and Apparated from there to the separate Apparition room the restaurant had.

She walked out of the Apparition room, glancing around for Dennis. She saw him sitting in a booth by himself. He waved at her, and she smiled as she walked over. "Hi," she said, sitting down across from him. "How are you?"

"I'm great," Dennis said. "You look nice."

"Thank you," Lily replied. She glanced around. There were candle chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There was a stage with a jazz band. Their table had flowers at the end of the table. The wizards and witches were wearing Muggle clothes and robes. She felt a little dressed down; Muggles were more casual than wizards. But Dennis didn't look too dressed up, either, so that made her feel better. "This place is really nice."

"I really like it," Dennis said.

Lily slid her jacket off, setting it next to her. She picked up the menu and started looking over the options.

"Evans?"

Lily looked up. Sirius Black stood a few feet away, looking nice in black trousers and a button-up shirt. "What are you doing here?" she asked. She glanced behind her; there was a group of people being led to the table behind their booth. Remus, Peter, two adults, Jewel, and James and Juniper came up last, his arm around her waist. Her stomach sunk.

"Eating," Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. He glanced towards Dennis. He paused, then extended his hand. "Sirius Black."

"Dennis Davenpeck," Dennis said politely, shaking Sirius's hand.

"Hi, Lily," Jewel said, joining them. "How are you doing?"

"Good," Lily said. Jewel was wearing a nice outfit. "You look really nice."

"Oh, thanks," Jewel said. "Hey, we'll be sitting right over here. I'll talk to you later." Jewel went to sit down. Lily waved at Peter and Remus. She avoided Juniper's eyes, fearing she'd give herself away.

"Lily!" James exclaimed. He walked over to their booth. "Fancy seeing you here."

Lily gave him a tense smile. James gave Dennis a suspicious look. "Who's your friend?" James asked.

"Dennis Davenpeck," Dennis said.

They shook hands, James's eyes boring into his. Lily felt her level of annoyance rising. "James Potter," James said.

"Oh, you two were fourth years when I was a seventh year," Dennis said. "We were on the Quidditch team together."

"Oh, right," Sirius said, nodding, although Lily was sure he had no recollection of Dennis.

James crossed his arms. "So, that makes you twenty," he stated.

"Just turned twenty-one, actually," Dennis said.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "James, we're having dinner," she said tensely.

"We can take a hint," Sirius said. He grabbed James's arm, and they joined their friends.

Lily rolled her eyes towards Dennis. "Sorry about that," she said.

"Don't worry," Dennis said with a wave of his hand. "Your friends wanted to say hi."

"I wouldn't exactly call those two my friends," Lily said with a light laugh.

The dinner turned out to be extremely awkward. Lily had hoped for a relaxing dinner with Dennis, but she could not help but notice that James was not even ten feet away. He was sitting next to Juniper, his arm around her chair the most of the time. Once their plates came, Lily slipped off her shoes and played with Dennis's leg, smiling at him slyly. James and Juniper were eating off of each other's plates. Halfway through the meal, Dennis moved to sit next to Lily. Lily watched as James whispered something in Juniper's ear, making her giggle. Lily asked Dennis to dance.

The two of them walked to the small dance floor. Lily's mind was reeling; she was absolutely crazy. Who asked a stranger to dance on the first date in a restaurant to where they had never been before? Only someone trying to ignore her feelings for James Potter. Dennis turned out to be a pretty good dancer, and he turned out to have hands that traveled a little bit more than she liked. Well, it was her fault for giving him all of the wrong signs.

It was fun, twirling around on the dance floor or swaying or just trying not to look stupid. They sat back down, breathless, and now across from each other. "Oh, I shouldn't have danced right after eating," Lily said, holding her stomach.

"Don't throw up on me, now," Dennis said.

"I'll try," Lily said.

"Do you want any dessert?" Dennis asked.

"Oh, no," Lily said, shaking her head. "But thank you so much."

Lily looked over at the table next to them. They were looking like they were having the time of their lives, James telling a story animatedly. Lily watched him for a moment. She looked away when she realized she had let her eyes linger on his messy hair and contagious smile.

"You all right?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah," Lily said.

They talked for ten more minutes, then got ready to leave. Lily picked up her purse and pulled on her jacket. "See you later, Lily," Jewel said brightly.

Lily gave her a smile. "I'll write you," she said. "You'll have to tell me all about your crazy weekend."

"Not everything, though," James said, smirking.

"Yeah," Lily said to Jewel, "there are some things I'd rather not know."

Jewel smiled. "Don't worry," she said.

"You ready?" Dennis asked Lily.

"Yeah," Lily said.

"It was nice to meet . . . some of you," Dennis said, smiling.

Lily waved as they left, Dennis's hands on the small of her back.

--

A/N: The next chapter is our last before the students return to Hogwarts for their seventh year. Marlene and Mary enjoy their Hobgoblins concert (a little too much, even), and we see the crew at Andromeda's house. At the end, the Death Eaters make it clear they're here to stay.