Title: Contractual Courtship
Chapter: 03 – I'm Only Me When I'm With You
Author: Killaurey
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,196
Summary: Being called a Mudblood is absolutely the last straw with Snape. She's not done with Slytherins in general, though, and with help from her girlfriends, Lily embarks on an attempt to court one. She's not expecting to find true love but, if it happens, she's not going to complain.
Disclaimer: I don't own HP. It's probs better that way but wouldn't it be fun?

"Okay, now spill," Marlene says.

"No, wait," Mary says, waving her wand to lock their dorm room door—which isn't really something they're supposed to do but they can claim they did it by accident, should anyone notice—and casting a couple of spells to keep noise from getting out. "Now spill."

"Honestly, none of you have any patience," Dorcas comments, and waves her wand so that Lily's bed expands abruptly, becoming large enough for all five of them. "Everyone on the bed!"

Lily, sprawled out on her newly enormous bed, just laughs as she hugs a pillow to her chest.

"Beth's still in the bathroom," she says, sitting up and positioning herself perfectly so that, when they huddle, she'll be the focus because this session is, in fact, all about her and that's just tradition. Mary immediately claims the spot on her right, Marlene on her left.

"Not anymore," Bethany Botts says brightly. "Sleepover?"

"Sleepover on Lily's bed," Dorcas confirms. "But you need to pay an entrance fee, Miss Botts."

"Well, Miss Meadowes," Beth says loftily. "I come bearing the snacks."

"Always a valued contribution," Mary says gravely, then giggles. "Miss MacDonald, what was your contribution? Miss Meadowes and I contributed magic and Miss Evans' contribution is her news."

"My presence," Marlene says promptly, leaning around Lily to poke Mary in the arm. "And, should someone hold their hippogriffs, I also come with the drinks."

Lily laughs.

"I declare that everyone's contributions are sufficient," she announces quickly, before it can descend into further silliness.

In short order, they've got themselves all properly arranged, her bed's hanging curtains charmed shut for extra privacy and, well, mostly for the atmosphere, and Lily casts a couple of spells so that her bed is illuminated by candlelight, despite no candles being present.

Dutifully, they break into the candy, and as Lily eats a bit of chocolate, Marlene breaks out the bottles of butterbeer.

"Now can Lily spill her news?" Mary asks. "I heard what you said to Marlene, Lily!"

"That's because Lily likes me best," Marlene says, and laughs when Beth throws a chocolate frog at her. "Quit it, wench!"

"I can't believe you left me out of all the planning," Beth says. "I thought we were friends."

"You were in Canada all summer!" Mary protests. "We wrote you! You were involved! You just weren't sitting at ground zero with the rest of us!"

"You mean you, Miss Lily's Favourite," Dorcas says, laughing.

"Oh, come on," Lily says. "I love all of you! Mary was just the first of you I saw after I hatched my mad, mad plan and had anything to show for it."

"I'm totally her favourite," Mary says smugly. "But spill, Lily, spill!"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," she says. "So, first—today was so damn long. Remus is out as Prefect and guess who replaced him."

"I thought I saw Potter wearing a badge," Dorcas says. "Wasn't sure if he'd nicked it or not. Didn't want to get too close."

"Was it terrible, Lily?" Beth asks.

"Potter is always terrible," Lily says pertly. "But, honestly, other than existing as Potter when it could've been Remus patrolling with me, he wasn't terrible until he ditched after lunch and didn't come back until I came to find him."

"Ugh, yeah, I heard he and his boys were having a throwdown about something," Marlene says. "Was his absence more of a help than anything else?"

"The afternoon wasn't a big deal," she says. "I spent most of it doing the hair of little girls and convincing them everything would be fine."

"Thought I recognized your touch in some of stylings some of the firsties were sporting," Dorcas says. "But enough about that. What about the contract?!"

Lily giggles, sipping her butterbeer, then she straightens, assuming a formal air (that is totally ruined by her own excitement, immediately, but she tries) and nods.

"Just to set the scene," she says, "it was right after I left Old Sluggy's lunch—exquisite food, as per usual, and yes, I did manage to take the seat next to one Mr. Regulus Black. We did not particularly talk, but that was expected as Old Sluggy might like all of us but he likes the sound of his own voice more. I mentioned both the wedding you attended, Marlene, and Bettina's cruise, so don't be surprised if he mentions it. I'll tell Bettina the same at breakfast."

"You sat next to him?" Beth says. "And he—what? Did he ignore you?"

"No, we exchanged friendly nods," Lily assures them all quickly. "That's really all you can hope for, at one of Sluggy's lunches. His dinners are easier to socialize at, the lunches are just for him to grill everyone on what they did over the summer, confirm you're still worthy of his club, that sort of thing."

"It sounds absolutely wretched," Mary gripes.

"Hush," Dorcas says. "Don't distract Lily from her story."

Mary mimes spelling her lips shut and tossing her wand away, which makes them all laugh. Lily steals another square of chocolate and eats that.

"So, that was Sluggy," she says, picking up the threads of the story. "Then I leave, girding myself to go back and deal with Potter—"

"Potter might not be so bad to deal with this year," Beth says suddenly. "He was writing a letter this evening, to some girl named 'Val'. Maybe he's got a girlfriend?"

Lily frowns.

Dorcas smacks Beth. "Now you've distracted her!"

"No, no," Lily says, holding her hands up. "I'm thoroughly non-distracted, I swear! Just—does he have any relatives with a name like that? Val's got to be a nickname, right?"

They're all quiet for a few moments, eating candy and considering that.

"I don't think he's got any relatives with that name," Marlene concedes. "It's got to be shorthand for Valerie, right? There's a Valerie Stimpson in Hufflepuff, year below us."

"Valerie Boot in Ravenclaw too," Dorcas says. "Seventh year. Very pretty and knows it too."

Lily claps her hands together, beaming. "That's utterly fantastic news! I'd thought he was approaching human decency today and this proves it! May he and Valerie Whoever be very happy together! Cheers for James and Valerie!"

Giggling, they all clink their bottles together.

"Now back to the one we actually care about," Marlene says. "Though I'll see if I can't sus out confirmation about which Valerie he's dating, tomorrow. It'd be embarrassing to assume and have it be the wrong one."

"True," Mary agrees. "You're absolutely certain the letter said 'Val', Beth?"

"I swear it," Beth says, splaying the fingers of one hand over her heart. "It was 'Val', clear as day. You know Potter's got the best writing in Gryffindor, Mary. It'd be hard to make a mistake like that when his penmanship is impeccable."

"The only thing about him that is," Lily says. "Who wants to hear about my encounter with Snape and my knight in green and silver?"

They all want to hear it. Which is gratifying and also ensures the utter and total death of Snape's social life outside of Slytherin.

People always underestimate how far gossip can travel and quickly.

Lily leans forward and, as one, the others do to.

"So I'd left Sluggy behind," she says, "and I was heading to find Potter and bracing myself to deal with whatever anarchy he'd caused amongst the students in my absence, when Snape cornered me in an empty hallway to beg for me to forgive him."

"Arse," Dorcas mutters, then with a wicked grin, asks, "Did he get on his knees, Lily?"

Lily weighs the drama of this carefully.

"Yes," she decides, and knows that everyone is going to know that's the real story now. "And when I moved to go past him, after I'd told him, politely, to go to hell and that he made me sick, he had the nerve to lay his hands on me."

"What?!" splutters Mary.

"That bastard!" Marlene exclaims. "Did you hex him, Lily?"

"I would have," she assures them all, "but no, it's better than that. Walters, Sparrow, and one Mister Regulus Black happened to walk in on this."

Lily spins the story there, careful to stick to what had actually been said, and making sure both Walters-who was a very good lad indeed and his girlfriend was lucky to have him-and Sparrow-who she wanted to get to know better-gave a good accounting of themselves, while still making it very clear that it had been Regulus Black who had dealt with Snape.

For her.

"It's so romantic," Beth says, eating a crisp. "What marvellous timing! Like fate, even!"

"So I," Lily says, grinning broadly at them all, "took the chance, seized the moment, and as soon as Walters and Sparrow were gone, presented the contract to him. I couldn't have asked for a better chance."

"And he took it?" Mary asks, sounding a little breathless. Her eyes are wide and excited.

Since Lily feels the same way, she really cannot judge at all. Nor does she want to.

"He took the contract to review," Lily shares. "He was very certain to confirm that I knew how unlikely it was that he'd formally accept and sign it, which, thanks to all of you, I was well aware of. But he took it with him and promised I would have my answer by next Wednesday."

"The words, Lily, what were his words?" Dorcas asks.

Lily frowns thoughtfully as she recites what she remembers from the meeting.

"I might have fudged a few lines," she says. "I was busy trying not to throw up on my shoes."

"Totally understandable," Marlene says, wrapping an arm around her. "And he took it! That's fantastic. A lot of times, don't they just outright reject them without looking at them?"

"It's definitely a good sign," Beth agrees. "Remember? Sirius actually chucked one contract out the window in front of poor Heather Ericsson last year and Evan Rosier was heard saying that was the most Black thing Sirius had ever done the next day."

"None of you reminded me of that!" Lily says, aghast and even more glad, now, that she'd done it while they were completely alone. "What if he just waited until he had a moment and lobbed it into the first fire he found?"

"Regulus wouldn't do that," Mary says quickly. "Especially not once he'd said he would give you his answer in the traditional seven days. He'd be honour bound to do so, and do it properly, after saying that."

"Even with no one else around?" Lily asks.

"Even if," Beth says. "Because all it would take is you swearing on your magic that he'd said he would give you a formal answer either way and, if he didn't, he'd be forsworn. Sirius doesn't give a shite about that, but Regulus does. Everyone agrees that he's a man of his word-it can be hard to get his word, but once given, he sticks to it."

Lily sighs, relieved. "Well, that's something," she says. "Now I just have to try not to die while waiting a whole week. Why is the week thing the traditional length of time anyway?"

"Owls," Marlene says. "Travel time for letters. He'll have to read it, consider it, and if he doesn't see anything immediately objectionable, he'll have to send a copy of it to his parents for them to review. Then they'll need to look it over, they'll probably owl him after asking for his thoughts-"

"Wouldn't he have sent his thoughts when he sent the copy?" Lily wonders.

"-oh, no, not usually. Just the fact he'd sent the contract would signal to his parents that he wasn't against it."

Mary nods. "So, only after they've made their own opinions on it, would they owl him for more details-in some cases they might even request a meeting with him, to discuss it in person. Only once the family is in agreement can he give an answer to you."

"So, really," Beth says, "the longer you're waiting this week, the better your chances are. If you hear from him tomorrow or Friday, he never went to his parents."

"But if I don't..."

"Then it's gotten further than any Black contract since Narcissa accepted Lucius Malfoy's."

Lily looks at Dorcas. "What happened with them?"

"They're getting married this winter," Dorcas says. "Mum heard it from Diane Frobisher's mum, who heard it from Narcissa's personal seamstress down on Fantastic Alley."

"I've never even set foot there," Beth says. "Nothing there is cheap and you're telling me that Narcissa has her own seamstress there?"

"That's what I've heard," Dorcas says.

"Okay, so, hope the week actually is a week," Lily says, sighing happily. "I'm both terrified and excited, but enough about me–anyone else have news?"

Even though it's kind of awful to have to get up and go, go, go, Thursday morning, after a sleepover on her bed with the girls, Lily is also excited because it's a chance to catch up with her other friends and also spread her own gossip about both of her nemeses.

It starts very simply:

She, Mary, and Beth make their way to the Great Hall (Dorcas and Marlene always take forever to get up so these first steps are done without them), and once there, with near identical squeals, they split off to find other friends in other Houses and years. Mary goes for Anise, in Hufflepuff; Beth beelines to her cousin two years younger than her in Gryffindor, and Lily...

She flings herself at Bettina (Ravenclaw) at breakfast, getting there early enough that it's quiet enough that the house tables aren't enforced. They eat breakfast together, Lily conveying that the contract has been given, in a clandestine sort of way, and then at a volume loud enough to be overhead but not so loud that it's obvious she means to be overheard, she natters on happily about the wedding Marlene went to, Bettina's own summer, James's girlfriend, the time she spent with Mary, Beth's trip to Canada, Snape's humiliation, the new Prefects, with an aside about Walters being a true gentleman, hopes and dreams about her class schedule for this year, Sparrow's excellent backup with the Snape situation, and oh, did she mention what Regulus Black did?

Bettina has her own gossip, of course, especially about her cruise, and in the sharing of it, after an hour, they've made good and sure that it's all over the tables.

Long before either Snape or Potter have shown their heads.

Lily's grinning to herself once the Great Hall fills up enough that she's got to get back to her table, since McGonagall is starting to hand out class schedules, and as she leaves, Bettina starts chattering with another friend, and... well.

It goes from there.

By lunch, everyone knows everything Lily has wanted them to, and Snape has been ridiculed thrice in her hearing.

At lunch, there's a Prefect meeting, like she'd expected. She all but floats into the room, perfectly happy with everything about the day, including her class schedule, and takes a seat next to Kitty and Yasmin, both of who look at her.

"Is it true?" Kitty asks, leaning forward eagerly.

"I already told you," Yasmin insists. "I heard it from Bettina! Honestly, she wouldn't lie to me. Not about that."

Lily grins at them. "Is what true?"

There's far, far too much going on for her to just say yes or no without knowing but, given their eagerness, she can make several guesses.

"Lilyyyyy," Kitty says. "You know, about Snape. Did he really?"

"Oh, yes," Lily says, and slants a smile over at Walters and his girlfriend as they wander into the room together. "But I had plenty of back up to deal with it."

"Aw, come on, Evans," Walter says.

"Hush," his girlfriend, Emily, says while beaming. "You were a hero. Just accept it."

They laugh and, as people continue to flow into the room, they swap gossip. Emily says about how her aunt got engaged-"It was a total surprise!"-and Walters shares about how he'd won some sort of swimming contest.

Luckily for her, Potter seems to have found this out on his own about the meeting since he slinks in, looking tired and frustrated. There's no seats left next to her, so he takes one several down and Lily feels it's safe enough to pretend to ignore his existence.

When the Slytherins arrive, Lily pays no attention to Black, even though it's probably one of the harder things she's done in her life. Not looking at him, that is.

But tradition, from my understanding, is that it is the absolute height of rudeness to pressure someone into accepting a contract and, now given, I must back off and leave him be until he decides either way. No personal conversations. No nothing, really, and I don't trust my face to not look some kind of way about it. So, unless I need to, he must exist only on my periphery until-well. Until he makes a choice.

And that it's going to be a long week-hopefully!-is really just something she's going to have to stare down and accept.

At least there's one less night already! And we're halfway through the day. I can do this! And if the nights keep passing, then, it's easy to not regret them.

Anastasia Rosier calls the meeting to order and all eyes snap to her as she and O'Riley hand out the patrol schedules and then immediately set to having to argue and rearrange them to accommodate four Houses and the different schedules each of them have.

Lily, herself, has both Charms and Potions clubs, as well as Frog Choir, so she's more sympathetic than she would otherwise be to the perils of having to fight it out. She swaps her Wednesday evening shifts with Emily for Thursday evenings instead-which means she starts tonight, but Lily could use the distraction this week of all weeks-and, somehow, by the end of lunch they have it all sorted out and they've even managed to eat too.

The fifth years, and Potter, who is disgruntled at being the odd one out again, are all paired with older Prefects for the first round of patrol, just to make sure they know what they're supposed to be doing.

Lily winds up with sharp-eyed Cordelia Merrythought, from Slytherin, who'd spent the train ride eyeing the lads, as her partner, and honestly doesn't mind at all.

I don't know much about her, except that we had a Defense professor with the same name last name a few years ago. Probably a relative. I wonder if it would be uncouth or something of me to ask that straight out?

She and Merrythought make arrangements to meet.

And then, with just enough time to get to afternoon classes, Lily hurries off to Arithmancy. She thinks she hears Potter say her name from behind her but, well, she pretends she doesn't, and just keeps moving.

He's not in her Arithmancy class, which is a nice change, though both Black and Pettigrew are. Pettigrew, she smiles at and Black she ignores. He ignores her back. They've been doing this for years.

She supposes, vaguely, that if she winds up haunting the house of his blood, they'll have to figure out some way to get along-or not, given what she's heard of his relationships with his family.

Even if that's probably going to suck a lot, though, I still have the hope that I'll get the chance.

And so far, so good. Regulus Black hadn't made any move to contact her during the Prefect's meeting or otherwise. It's a good sign.

Rather than dwelling on that, she takes a seat next to Anise, who'd been saving the spot for her.

"Busy day?" Anise says, her blue eyes dancing.

"The busiest," Lily says, though she's smiling. "Want to join us in the library tonight? Study group."

This early in the semester it's less study, though there'll be some of that, and more a chance to really touch base with one another under the guise of being swots who know how to do only studying and nothing else.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Anise says, and then, as Professor Vector enters the room, they turn their attention towards her instead and get lost in the world of numbers and how they hold their own magic and what you can do with the equations of them.

Arithmancy is not Lily's favourite class, but she does really like it, and it's useful for advanced Charms and Potions, both of which she's hoping to try for a mastery in, once she's graduated.

Spell research and design... I do love these things.

It's happy thought and it's enough to ensure that she pays perfect attention here and now.

The afternoon passes in a swirl of classes, getting her brain back into the education game, and also trying not to dwell on all the news she's been given. The first days back from holiday are always a whirlwind of thoughts, actions, and everyone out of sync and learning to fall back into it.

Lily loves it. It's chaos but it's the kind that just needs some time and it sorts itself out.

Which is always the best kind.

Before she knows it, classes are over, supper is done, and she's readying herself for study group.

On her way out of the common room, with Marlene and Dorcas, she waves to the new firsties, who wave back at her excitedly.

"Cute," Marlene says. "You've got minions."

Dorcas cackles as they exit the common room.

"Minions?" Lily says. "They're just glad to see a friendly face."

"They'd totally be your minions if you needed them," Marlene insists.

"I concur with Miss McKinnon," Dorcas says. "All it would take is a tiny little push and then you'd have minions."

"What would I even do with them?" Lily wonders, laughing. "I just want them to be happy, have fun at Hogwarts, and to do their best at school."

"That's why they're your minions," Dorcas says comfortably. "They know you won't be weird about it, so if you ever do need something..."

"I suppose we could invite them into the gossip vine," Lily muses.

"That's not a bad idea," Marlene says. "New blood and all that. Makes it harder to stop, too, when the vine is patchwork spread across all years."

They banter about minions and the firsties and what they'd actually do if they were ever in the position of having human servants-the answer, mostly, is it's hard to imagine that, so they stop trying-and that gets them to the library.

Mary, Bettina, and Anise are already there, so is-

"Sparrow!" Lily says, surprised to see a Slytherin infringing on their study group. She's not displeased about it, though, so she smiles. "Hi!"

"I thought I'd join you," Sparrow says. "If that's alright?"

There's a flurry of glances exchanged and then Lily smiles again, taking a seat beside Sparrow.

"We're glad to have you," she says. "We've just never had a green-and-silver tie at our study group before."

"Never?" Sparrow asks, her eyes narrowing speculatively.

Lily meets her eyes. "Never."

"How interesting," Sparrow murmurs and Lily desperately wants to know if it's interesting because it's another lie Snape's been telling people (how many has he told, what has he told people? will she ever know all of it?) or if it's because she thinks it's weird and wrong that they wouldn't have invited one of the Slytherin girls in their year before.

Well, for now, I'll just take it as it is, reach for the gift of friendship cautiously. You can never have too many friends at your door, right?

"Felicity Sparrow," Lily says, "this is Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Mary MacDonald, and-"

"Bettina and I are third cousins," Sparrow says, her smile sharp. "We've met before."

"She's from the snobby side of the family," Bettina says in a whisper that isn't a whisper.

Then she yelps.

"Felix! Don't kick me!"

"You deserve it," Sparrow says loftily. "It's not my fault your side of the family has no class."

"And classy is kicking people?"

"Classy is getting even, obviously, do keep up."

"No hitting or shouting in the library," Lily murmurs. "Don't get us kicked out of here."

"Please don't," Anise says. "I need this place."

"At least your grades can't be terrible yet," Lily says, grinning. "What homework have you got already? We should set you up for success."

"Success will be when I graduate and never have to do an essay ever again," Anise groans, pulling out her books. "But, alright, I know, I know. It's less horrible if I don't ignore the problem."

"We do not want a repeat of second year," Dorcas says. "That was literally the worst, Anise."

"I know!" Anise says. "But... I'm sorry I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid," Lily says. "Essays are hard and we get so many of them."

They settle in to work, comparing assignments and sorting out plans to tackle each of them in an order that means they'll all have their work done so there's time enough to actually enjoy school life.

Sparrow mostly works on her own, being a year younger than them, though she accepts the help in coming up with a study plan, and listens avidly as they talk. Bettina needles her a few times, and Sparrow fires back, but it's-it's nice. A little different, with a new addition, but Lily is happy when they session breaks up.

"I'll walk with you," Sparrow says, as the girls head off to their own pursuits before curfew.

Lily glances at her. "I suppose your common room is in that direction," she allows.

Sparrow grins at her. "And that's the story if anyone asks. We just happened to be going that way at the same time."

"If you insist," Lily says amiably.

They walk through a few halls, before Sparrow says anything else. "It was a nice thing you did," she says, "with the way you spun the story. Thanks. Black has no objections either. I think you impressed him."

Lily's heart skips a beat-or, well, really, it skips several beats, which is probably unhealthy-and she shifts her bookbag on her shoulder, trying to be calm, cool, collected.

Casual, totally casual, be casual...

"Oh?" she asks. "Well, I'm glad about that. I'm grateful to you, Black, and Walters."

That's her story and she's sticking to it. Especially out in the halls where anyone could come across them at any time. It might seem a little paranoid but she knows how the gossip mills work.

(She works them part of the time, after all!)

"I did want to ask, though," Sparrow says, and there's something slyly gleeful in her expression.

"Ask what?" Lily says, waving back to one of the firsties wearing the yellow of Hufflepuff, as the first year, laughing, runs to catch up with her new friends.

She'll have to ask Anise who that was later. She didn't get a good enough look at the girl.

"Was it you that's thrown Black into a state of contemplation?" Sparrow asks. "He's got his thinking expression on and I hate when he does that. It's like he goes all hollow, with part of him out hunting for answers and the rest forced to stay behind."

Lily pretends she doesn't feel a flush coming on.

"Oh," Sparrow says. "That's promising. I haven't even said anything about the parchment he had."

She understands better, now, why Bettina had kicked Sparrow.

She'd kind of like to kick Sparrow herself.

"I'm pretty sure, traditionally, I'm not supposed to admit or deny anything," Lily says, knowing her blush has already totally given her away. "Saying anything more would incriminate myself."

"It's not like you committed a crime," Sparrow says. "I don't hate the idea."

"Would it matter if it did?" Lily asks curiously. "Not that I want you to, but we barely know each other."

"Yes and no?" Sparrow says. "I already know who I'm going to marry, so I'm not competition for Black. But I am one of his closest friends. Is that going to be a problem?"

Lily stops in the hallway.

Sparrow stops with her, her expression set in a mask of calm serenity that Lily would almost believe except that there's a tilt to her chin that just screams of the challenge she's just lobbed down between them.

"Over here," Lily says, gesturing for them to step to the side of the corridor, so that they don't get tripped over by anyone else. She hates when people just stand in the middle of the hallway so inconsiderately.

Sparrow comes with her, quietly, and sets herself expectantly, once they're off to the side.

"I don't know," Lily says to that expectant silence. "Is it going to be a problem? I think I could like you a great deal but, whether I do or not, isn't it all in his hands, right now?"

Sparrow studies her thoughtfully. "You can say his name, you know."

"I could," Lily says, "but would you take it as a sign of devotion, when my fate still hangs in the balance of his choices? Sparrow, it's one thing for you to want to protect your friend, look out for him, but nothing's even gotten going yet. I can't say either way what will happen."

Lily shrugs a little.

"Look," she says, "if you're asking if it would bother me if he's got a girl as a best mate, I don't care. The only time I'd care is if, well, is if you're in love with him. Is that going to be a problem?"

"I'm already Contracted," Sparrow says.

"That's not what I'm asking about," Lily says sharply. "And you know it. If you're in love with him, no matter what your contract says, then yes, yes it will be a problem. But if you're his friend and his friend honestly, without pining, then I think it would would out just fine for all involved. So, what's it going to be, Sparrow?"

Sparrow considers her for a long, long moment. One that stretches out until Lily feels like she wants to scream.

"I was right," Sparrow says, smiling. "I do like you. And, Evans, you can call me Felicity. In public, even. I don't mind."

"Even if he says no?"

"That's that and this is this," Sparrow says. "But it was important to get it sorted out just in case he says yes."

Lily supposes she can see the sense in that.

"It's Lily, then," she says. "Felicity."

Felicity grins at her.

"Should I be expecting this sort of conversation from anyone else?" Lily asks. "Like, is this going to be a reoccurring thing where I need to break out the fine china and have a Talk about it?"

"You have china and you didn't get it out for me?" Felicity asks. "I see where I stand."

"Bettina was right to kick you in the library," Lily tells her, which just makes Felicity laugh.

"There's a few other friends of his that will want to talk to you at some point," she says. "But they'll be a) waiting to see how you handle me and b) waiting to see what he decides to do first."

Lily considers that thoughtfully and also considers the time. She doesn't want to keep Merrythought waiting, but they'd left the library early enough that she thinks there's time for this conversation.

"... Is Merrythought going to want to have a similar conversation?" she asks.

Felicity blinks. "Which one?"

"Cordelia Merrythought," Lily says. "Fifth Year Slytherin Prefect? The one I'm on patrol with this week? The one I'm meeting up with right after this conversation?"

"Ooooh, that's...," Felicity trails off, frowning a little. "Black didn't mention that."

"He was at the meeting," Lily says. "He would have to know."

"Well, yeah," Felicity says. "But he didn't mention it to me and he knew I was coming to see you. So I'm not sure what to make of it. Treat it like a test, I guess. Cordy's not one of his friends, especially, but she's..."

Felicity shrugs, the movement impish. "I'd give you more information but the thing is, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to walk into this blind. So, good luck, have fun, and remember that you've made a good start at playing the game but we've got years of experience on you!"

"Thanks," Lily says, more apprehensive about the patrol than she'd been before this conversation. "And his other friends?"

"Probably won't start showing up until he's decided either way," Felicity says. "That's that and Cordy is just... Cordy."

"That's not filling me with confidence," Lily says, "but I was going to go see Merrythought anyway and if she doesn't like me, well, it's not the first time I've done patrol with someone who doesn't want to be around me."

Felicity shrugs a little as they start walking again. "Cordy may or may not like you. It's not really about that."

"But you're not going to tell me what it's actually about either, are you?" Lily says.

That earns her a grin.

"No, sorry," Felicity says. "Ish. Sorry-ish. I think you'll be fine, though, and hey, I like you! It's a good start!"

"For something that might not even go anywhere," Lily points out.

"It's true," Felicity says freely. "That's true. But, also, you need to have confidence in yourself, right? You gave it to him, let him see the kind of person you are while he makes up his mind. What you did with the story and Snape has him paying attention."

"That's why you're here," Lily says.

"Well, partly," Felicity admits. "But also because I do like people who say nice things about me for no real gain."

Lily laughs. She can't argue about that. She also likes hearing nice things be said about her by people who don't want anything from her.

"Alright," she says, pausing outside of the Great Hall. "I'm meeting Merrythought here."

"And I have reports to make," Felicity says, and laughing, heads down the stairs towards the dungeon. "Don't get lost in the labyrinth of longing, Lily!"

"Idiot," says a girl behind her.

Lily turns and sees Cordelia Merrythought leaning against a pillar. She's frowning at Felicity's back.

"She's just having fun," Lily says. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Merrythought's eyes slide over her, like she's judging her, hard, and not liking what she sees.

"It's fine," Merrythought says, though there's a twist to her lips that suggests it's not. "Are you really patrolling with all your books?"

Lily shrugs a little. "I'm good at Charms," she says. "They don't weigh anything. I barely notice the bag."

Merrythought doesn't seem to have an answer to that and so, after a moment, Lily figures it's about time to get started.

"Shall we go?" she asks. "We're in the west part of the castle tonight, which is usually pretty quiet."

With a sigh, Merrythought leaves off leaning against the pillar, and joins with Lily to walk down the hall.

"Are any places busy?" she asks, looking down the hallway and not anywhere near Lily.

Okay, I can do this. Felicity said this was a weird test, probably, so it's up to me to figure out how to navigate this. Since I don't know the rules, the only thing to do is go on like normal and pretend I don't notice anything weird. Right? Right.

"North's usually pretty busy. Astronomy tower tends to get a lot of people out of bounds. Curfew hasn't set in, yet, though, so people are allowed to be up there."

"Why are we patrolling if it's not curfew yet?" Merrythought sounds bored and... disgusted.

Sluggy must've made her a Prefect for a reason. I have to remember that. Of course, his reason might have something to do with what her family can do for him... but there's nothing I can do about that.

"First few of the year always start earlier," Lily explains, leading the way up several flights of stairs. She prefers to start near the top of her patrol area and work her way down. "Because of the new Prefects, we need to make sure they know what they're doing. Next week, patrols won't start until after curfew. Weren't you listening when O'Riley explained?"

"No," Merrythought says.

Lily glances over her shoulder. "You need to learn the rules in order to be an effective Prefect."

"Finifugal," Merrythought says, as if in explanation.

Since Lily might be smart, but she's not a book-obsessed swot like Mary, she has no idea what that word means.
"Thanks, I guess?"

Merrythought huffs something that, for a second, sounds almost like a laugh.

"What if I don't want to be an effective prefect?" Merrythought wonders.

"Then why wear the badge at all?" Lily asks. "It's an outward symbol of power but, like all of them, it comes with responsibilities. If you want power, you need to step up and handle what you're given."

"It's something to do," Merrythought says.

"I don't understand you at all," Lily tells her, as they reach the highest point of their patrol. Lily's legs feel a bit like jelly, like they always do the first few days back in the castle with all the endless stairs.

I really need to exercise more during the summer.

But, like every year, she knows she probably won't. Summer is meant for lounging around and spending time with friends.

Of all things, admitting this, earns her a surprisingly sweet smile from Merrythought. It's the first expression she's seen that's not hostile or sulky and it takes Lily aback.

But she's gorgeous! Why does she make such faces when she could have anyone she wanted with a smile?

Lily doesn't ask that. After all, maybe Merrythought doesn't want everyone or anyone. Maybe she doesn't want to be relentlessly hounded.

On second and third thoughts, Lily gets that. If she had to live in the same common room as slime like Snape, she'd probably be just as unpleasant.

Instead, Lily turns the conversation to what they're supposed to do. Not that patrol is particularly difficult to grasp but given that Merrythought has admitted to not listening to O'Riley, she feels it's best to reiterate the whole concept just in case.

Merrythought seems to listen to her, though it's hard to tell. Lily comforts herself with the fact that, at least she's tried.

"What charms do you use on your bag?" Merrythought asks, nearly an hour later, when they've settled into a silence that had been almost amiable as they walked through the hallways and corridors.

Lily seizes on this topic, just for something to say, as with curfew approaching, everything is going to get much quieter, very quickly, and that's always been Lily's least favourite part of patrol.

She likes talking to people.

To her surprise, Merrythought seems to have a good grasp of charms and the conversation moves from there, to charms on clothes.

By the time Lily and Merrythought finish patrol, she thinks they're on pretty good terms.

I don't know that she'll be a friend, exactly, but I can work with her. She's quick and smart and I can handle abrupt and a bit rude.

Which Lily has to remind herself of almost immediately as they part at the Great Hall and Merrythought leaves without so much as a glance farewell at her. Just keeps on walking towards the dungeons.

Lily huffs out something like a laugh, once she's sure Merrythought won't hear it, and then, feeling the weight of the day drag on her, heads up to her Common Room.

I have no idea if that was a test or not or if I passed or not, she thinks. But neither of us hexed one another and I don't really have any complaints.

The Common Room is fairly quiet this time of night, what with most of Gryffindor exhausted from the first day back at school, with only a few of the older students still awake. She stays in the Common Room for about twenty minutes, just in case someone comes looking for her, but after that, gives it up, goes and showers and falls asleep before her head hits the pillow.

Friday passes in much the same fashion, only she gets to eat lunch with the girls, and after curfew doesn't have patrol, which automatically makes it a less stressful day.

The rumour mill lacks anything new, though she keeps her ears out, and she and the girls swap stories they want circulated more in places that people will hear them.

So far, it seems like no one has bothered to tell Potter that his secret girlfriend is no longer a secret.

Lily finds it hard to care, though, because as she goes to bed that night, she still hasn't heard from Regulus Black.

Hope, small but mighty, is growing in her feelings.

It's long enough, now, that he's written to his parents about her.

Lily tries to pretend that doesn't terrify her and spends most of Saturday studying, doing the hair of all the first year girls (and some of the second year girls) in Gryffindor, and screaming on the inside.

She doesn't see any owls come or go for Regulus Black but, also, she tries not to look and watch because she feels jittery enough already.

Especially on Sunday, at breakfast, which they have later than the rest of the week, when Mary comments, "The Slytherins are watching you."

Lily resists the urge to turn around and stare back. "Me, specifically? What kind of watching?"

"Thoughtful," Marlene says and she curses the fact that Mary and Marlene are on the side of the table that can see what's going on without looking like they're watching what's going on. "I'd say it's probably a good sign."

"I'm going to die," Lily says.

Beth nudges her shoulder comfortingly.

"Just think, though," Beth says. "You're becoming a legend as we speak."

"Legends usually die," Lily points out.

Dorcas laughs, throwing her head back. It's a beautiful laugh from a beautiful girl and Lily's heart squeezes with how much she loves her friends.

The laugh has a downside, though, and that's-

"I like a joke as much as any bloke," Potter says, taking the seat on the far side of Marlene. "Care to share?"

Marlene glowers at him. He ignores that.

To make it worse, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew are taking seats now too.

"No," Lily says stiffly.

"Ah, come on, Evans," Potter says. "I'm respectable and everything now. Won't you give me a chance? A joke?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Marlene says. "Gross. Go hit on her and leave Lily alone."

Consternation and confusion crosses Potter's face.

"James? With a bird?" Black asks, something both sharp and gleeful in his voice. "I have got to hear this."