Sisters
As soon as Sev sat down to eat breakfast, he projected to Lily, "Lily, last night I spoke with Lauren. She wants to meet you, but not in the Haven, I am very sorry that last night you took the risk of taking the Pensieve there."
"It doesn't matter, Sev, it wasn't that bad, it took us a quarter of an hour, and I understand her perfectly," Lily replied. "How do we do it then?"
"She prefers that you meet in my clearing in the Forest, this afternoon after school. Will Remus and Cecile be able to cover for you?"
"Yes, of course, today it is not raining. We'll say we went out for a walk."
"Remember that it is essential that they not see her," Sev warned.
"I will tell them that yesterday we had an emergency and that we have to meet alone. They will accompany me there and I will ask them to go further into the Forest on the way until I come back to look for them."
Sev thought, Lily has also become quite the tactician, and I fully trust the discretion of Cecile and the wolf. "Great, I am going to project to her so that you can communicate directly. Do you have her located to be able to do it?"
"Sure, Sev. For months."
Oh… "Don't tell her anything about what you had to do last night, otherwise she will feel guilty."
"Of course not, Sev."
"When you finish we can continue talking if you want."
"Okay."
Sev projected to Lauren, "Lily has been warned and you can meet safely this afternoon."
"Great, Severus, we are a great team. All in order at home," Lauren replied.
She never rests.
"I'll let you know the result at dinner," she added.
"Okay."
Lauren projected to Lily, "Hello pretty, how are you?" friendly and spirited.
Wow... how nice, Lily thought. "Within what fits, great. And you?"
"Very well too, everything is going well. First of all I want to apologize for what happened in Potions in December. I behaved very badly."
Poor girl, she's still knackered from that… "Lauren, stop suffering for that. You've more than made up for it ever since, we never would have gotten out of the mess without you. I will never be able to compensate you for what you are doing for us."
They both struggled not to cry. Lily continued, "I am the one who should apologize for not having told Sev that I knew about you so that he could make sure that I occluded correctly, or even for you to do it yourself."
"Well, don't worry about that, we'll fix it this afternoon. Severus told me where to go. How we'll meet?"
"I calculate that I will arrive around six twenty. Wait until half past to leave the castle and go down the road, I will be Disillusioned, and when I see you arrive I will appear. Do not panic."
"No, sure," Lauren replied. "How am I going to be scared of you?"
God… she loves me too… Lily thought.
"Okay, so we'll meet like that," Lauren continued. "I'll leave you so you can continue talking with Sev."
"No, Lauren, talk to me a while longer if you want. We've already spent the whole week together."
Lauren got so emotional that it was hard for her to continue, Sev saw her cry. "Thank you, Lily. I'm so glad to finally meet you."
"And I you, you don't know how much. How about home?"
"Very well, there is very good news, we will tell you about them. The letter will arrive on May 15th."
"Good. With almost a month ahead and another one before the exams," the redhead said.
"Yes, it has turned out well. You have to be strong and resist for him."
"Of course, Lauren. I have no doubt about it, and meanwhile he has you. Take care of him for me, please."
"Of course I will."
"I don't doubt it, you've been doing it for a longer time than me. I wish I hadn't been so selfish and we could have gotten in touch much sooner. You also need to be taken care of, let him do it."
Sev thought, Lauren is still crying. What is Lily telling her?
"He already does it, and very well, too, but I'm not going to meddle with you, you can rest easy on that aspect," Lauren answered to Lily.
"It wouldn't be meddling, Lauren. Now we are three people who love each other very much, we must be as united as possible, don't stay on the sidelines."
"It's enough for me what he gives me, and now that I have you too, I will resist. Besides, I love Jack too, you should know that by now."
"Yes of course," Lily said.
"I'll wait until it's safe and I'll try it with him."
"No, Lauren, don't wait, don't go on alone. Did Sev offer himself to be with you?"
"Yeah…"
"And did he give you the berry?" Lily asked.
"Yeah…"
"Did he tell you about the Magic of the Moon?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, you know, Lauren. It would be a relief for me if you had each other during the difficult period ahead of us."
Sev thought, Merlin...Lauren looks like a spring, they're talking about everything right now.
"Ugh… Lily, you don't understand, I wouldn't be able to do things like you," said the brunette. "I have already tried it, and many times. I would not settle for games, I would want to go to the end and I would drag him, I want him too much."
Lily thought, My... I can understand her, the same thing happens to me. "I understand you, and I don't care if you do."
"No way. He didn't tell me that last night, but that you should be first for each other, and I think so too. I already read about the Union of Souls."
Sev thought, Well, she's calmed down, she's refusing, luckily, it was already starting to look suspicious.
"And couldn't you resist?" Lily asked. "I assure you that he knows how to do it, and he will never leave you halfway."
Now she's taking a deep breath, Lily is trying to convince her, Sev thought.
"You could never be sure of being the first, Lily," Lauren replied.
"Yes, I would be, I know he would never lie to me about something like that."
"Then, even less. I'm not trustworthy for those things, sweetie."
"Well, think about it calmly and this afternoon we can continue talking if you want," Lily concluded.
"Yeah. It will be the best, because I have already exposed myself and I think that Sev has realized everything. Please don't tell him anything we talked about."
"Of course not, Lauren. Girly secrets."
"That is. See you this afternoon, sweetie," Lauren said goodbye. "Talk to him for a while, he must be worried."
"Sure, Lauren. I'll wait for you."
Sev thought, Lauren has calmed down. They have finished or they have left it for later. I'll wait and see if Lily projects to me.
It took a minute. "Hello my love.I already have a new friend," she said.
"How glad I am, Lily. You have made her cry with emotion."
"I already noticed it. She is charming."
"You don't need to tell me, I already know," Sev agreed.
"She loves me a lot too."
"Of course."
"She has told me about May 15th," Lily said.
Wow! "Oh really?"
"Yes, but nothing more of that matter. Can you tell me something else?"
If she hasn't, of course not, he thought. "I prefer to do it after making sure you know how to occlude well, honey."
"Okay, no problem."
They continued to talk for the rest of breakfast and also at lunch, non-controversial topics. Lauren, on the other hand, despite spending the whole day in class with Sev, didn't project a word to him. I hope she's not hurt by something Lily said to her, he thought.
At six twenty Lily was Disillusioned in the point of the path from which they had to enter to go to the clearing, Lauren arrived a quarter of an hour later. When she saw her, Lily undid the spell. "Hello…" Lauren said softly, with her best smile.
"Follow me," Lily answered her, with the same gesture.
They reached the clearing in silence, and Lauren waited for Lily to ward.
"Oh… sweetie…" said the brunette.
"Come here…" said the redhead.
They hugged, and they both cried. "Thank you... thank you... I love you very much..." they both were saying.
"Let's get to work, we only have half an hour," Lauren broke away.
Lily set up the Pensieve and Lauren told her, "Extract only what is committed with Sev, for security. I don't want to find out."
Lily thought, So as not to be tempted. She did, it took almost ten minutes.
"Maybe it wouldn't have been necessary, because I know how to look for what I want to see, but just in case," Lauren said.
"Sure, Lauren, I understand."
"Occlude everything mine."
"I already do it constantly, since I learned," Lily said.
"Okay, I'll read you then." She did it to her eyes, green with green.
Lily was thinking, (We have the same eyes, we could be sisters too. How many hours has Sev spent without taking his eyes off them…?)
Lauren only took a minute. "Perfect. Only that you know me from classes, not even the immediate ones right now. You're wonderful."
"And you. How fast."
"I've been doing it since I was four years old."
"Did you manifest your magic so early?" Lily asked her.
"I did."
"Another one out of the ordinary."
"Thank you, we are a great team," Lauren played it down. "Then we have a little while to chat if you want."
"Of course, Lauren. Have you thought about what I said you this morning?"
"There's nothing to think about, I already told Sev yesterday. To do something like this we should both be on an equal footing, without you having to hide."
"That's what he thought at first, but I convinced him to talk to you about what he felt and that it was you who had to decide," Lily insisted.
"I am not of the same opinion. All that stuff about the Magic of the Moon seems very idyllic to me, but it's over now, men and women have the right to decide equally and he's not prepared for someone like me, I've fucked half of Sly. He should start with you, both of you are very innocent on that subject, and if I get ahead of you, it won't be the same between you. You are discovering it together and that must be precious. I didn't give myself that chance and I really regret it."
Lily thought, She's right. She is miles ahead of me despite being the same age as me.
"I really appreciate your generosity and trust, but for that very reason I won't betray you," Lauren continued. "I'll wait for Jack as I told you, the berry tasted like him too."
"Sure…"
"Not as much as Sev, of course, but I guess it's because we've been apart for almost a year. And in fact, I want to return them to you. You need them more than me," handing her the little package.
"No, Lauren, keep them in case Jack fails you. We have enough for two months, then we're going to spend the whole summer together. Don't consume them if you don't want to, but don't close the door on hope or deny Sev the opportunity either. He's going to wait for you until he's ready, and I don't want him to suffer another impossible love like he did with me."
"Thank you, Lily. Since I'm going to keep seeing him, I won't consume them, I'll save them for the summer."
"Good idea."
"There is another topic that I want to talk about in person. Have you realized what happens with Ariel?"
"Yes of course," Lily replied.
"And the Guard and the Gryffs?"
"We all know it but Sev."
"How strong, Sev was abused since he was a baby," Lauren said.
They both held hands crying bitterly.
"He can't find out yet," Lauren continued.
"Of course not."
"You didn't talk about it with his mother, did you? "
"No," Lily replied.
"But he did tell her about the Guard."
"Yeah."
"Then she already knows that they are together," said the brunette.
"Of course."
"Very well…" with great relief. "What courage. Trying to keep his two children safe from that son of a bitch, without resources, after leading an easy life. If between now and the summer everything works out, even if he can't still be with you when we'll go back to school in September, the three of them must be together once and for all."
"Yeah. I've already talked it over with Jack, and I've left it up to my parents to take care of her so she doesn't feel alone and let her husband back into her house, still not telling them why," Lily said.
"Very good, Lily… So Sev will have time to assimilate it before coming back to Hogwarts. You must be very tactful to tell him, he is going to have a very bad time."
"We will all be with him. My family, the Guard, the Gryffs. We won't let him sink. We will only miss you."
"I will be in your hearts. Tell him that I knew it too," Lauren said.
"Of course."
"Ugh, Merlin… what an intense return to school. I didn't expect it like this at all."
"Did he sing you the song?" the readhead asked.
"He did. How well he sings."
"True? It was enough for him to listen to it three times. This weekend he discovered that he is passionate about music, like my father. They spent hours listening to records together."
"Wow… he is an artist. Did you see what he sold on Diagon?" Lauren asked.
"No. He didn't show it to me."
"I did, and it was spectacular."
"Oh. What a pity…" Lily lamented.
"Do you want to see the one he did to me? Won't you mind?"
"Of course not. I'll also show you mine." Lily took off her pendant.
"Wow... Onyx veined with silver, gold, jade and garnet. This is worth a fortune, Lily."
"I don't mind."
"Of course not," Lauren agreed. "The important thing is that your colors are in the black of his eyes."
"It was the first thing he did. For my birthday."
"When?"
"January 30th," Lily replied.
"Mine is the February 20th. We're three weeks away."
"Like Sev and me, he is from January 9th."
"Oh… I didn't know," said the brunette. "He also gave it to me on my birthday, the night we went to the fir tree."
"Did you go at night?"
"It was safer."
"Sure."
"Look." Lauren pulled her pendant as well.
"Buaaah… it's you both…"
"Of course. He told me that it came out just thinking about me. How lucky we are, Lily, that he loves us, because he is truly exceptional, one in a million. We cannot fail him."
"Of course not."
"Okay, pack up and let's go. If it's safe we'll try to meet some other time. Otherwise, we are in contact."
Lily picked up the Pensieve and warded it. "Of course Lauren. Project to me whenever you want."
"Tonight I will tell him that you already know how to occlude so that he can tell you the good news and you too can prepare yourself for what is to come."
"Thank you, sister."
"You're right, we could be," Lauren said. "I imagine that it is not necessary for me to tell you what things you can tell him and what you cannot."
"No, Lauren. I will keep your secrets."
"Very good. Hug me."
They embraced.
Lily preceded her silently to the path. Lauren headed for the castle, and she went to look for Remus and Cecile, who were waiting for her two curves of the way beyond and didn't ask her any compromising questions. They returned together, in time for dinner.
As Sev sat down at the table, he projected to Lauren, "All in order at home."
"Wow, I already have a watchman too," she replied. "You shouldn't have bothered, you should have taken the opportunity to study."
"It doesn't matter, I had to protect my two loves."
He watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath, not looking at him. She loves me even more than before, and I them.The berries are going to burn in our mouths.
She finally answered him, "Your girl is fantastic and she occludes perfectly, you can tell her everything you want, don't keep her on tenterhooks.Take advantage of dinner, breakfast, Potions and lunch to communicate with her.We'll talk again tomorrow in Transfiguration if there's nothing urgent before then, and you'll tell me the news from the Guard."
Sev thought, Lily hasn't convinced her, she's going to wait. Better this way. "Okay, Lauren, but in Potions I will project the modifications to you. Until tomorrow afternoon."
Sev projected to Lily, "Hello my love.How about this afternoon?"
"Wow, Sev, she's wonderful," she replied. "I have fallen in love with her too, what good taste you have."
"Have you had time to talk?"
"Yes, a little while. I told her about the music and she told me that you sing very well."
Oh…
"And we have also shown each other the gifts you gave us," Lily continued. "How beautiful the linked snakes."
Sev thought, Ugh… these two have had quite the talk of girly secrets, for Lauren to have come to show her that. I'm sure they already have fewer secrets between them than with me. Well… better for me, that they get along for the future…