Plans and memories
A quarter of an hour later the five Gryff occlumants and Genevre entered the aspect of the Room of Requirement that appeared when the Duel Training Room was demanded. The eight Slys were already waiting for them, they had also taken little Ariel. No one contained their joy at finally being together without having to hide it. There were dozens of hugs, even between those who barely knew each other, like Cecile and Lily with the Rave, Valerie and Andrew.
But the most happy and excited, without a doubt, was Ariel. He finally saw Lily and her friends Gryff since before Easter. He didn't leave them alone, he demanded their attention at all times.
About twenty minutes later Deborah managed to put things in order. "We are going to do the work as soon as possible. After Bonding we will enjoy it even more."
There were fourteen of them, they arranged themselves in a circle. Although they already knew that it didn't matter if they touched or not, Sev chose to place himself between Cecile and Remus, and next to these two, holding his hands, Alice and Genevre. Lily, right in front, flanked by Andrew and Valerie, and next to them, holding her hands, Deborah and Paul. The Sly wrapped by Gryffs and the Gryff by Slys. A new milestone.
There are fourteen of us, like the friends I counted less than two months ago in the bathroom at Lily's house, and now my friends are countless, Sev was thinking. But these are the ones closest to my heart, the ones who are making the greatest sacrifices for us, the germ of the great family of warriors.We only need Lauren, lucky that in less than an hour we will be with her.If she were there we would be fifteen, my second lucky number.
Genevre was the only one who had not yet Bonded with anyone, but she had already taken it upon herself to learn the spell, Alice had given it to her the previous afternoon. Valerie and Sev sang it several times, still without touching each other. Then they all did it at the same time, until it was perfect three times in a row without interruption.
Then everyone merged into a hug of fourteen hearts and sang in unison fourteen times in a row. Their voices echoed in the large room, where just over a month ago everyone's fate had been decided in an assembly.
The feeling was indescribable. This is beginning to look like a Clanship, a tribe.A group large enough to stay alive on its own and grow.The inhabitants of the Ancestral Magic refuge or those of the cave in the area, one day we will become so.
When they finished, deeply moved, they bonded. They achieved it instantly, without looking at each other and at the maximum distance that space allowed, much further than that which separated them in the Great Hall. They tried the shield, as big as the room was, although they did not cast curses, since little Ariel was with them, but they did cast other defensive spells, back and forth. Those who didn't know it yet were amazed.
They stayed a while longer chatting, bonded, all fourteen of them, sitting on cushions on the floor. They avoided talking about the plan to meet in the Room of Requirement after the exams to go to the beach, because they didn't have Ariel that night. They talked about the summer, the upcoming holidays, all the plans they had together.
Visit and sleep in each other's houses, read a lot of books, listen to and play music, fly on broomsticks. Go shopping in London, to second-hand book stalls, to music stores for instruments and sheet music, to look for trendy clothes. Contact an anarchist union and pubs where they gave concerts for when they had formed the group.
Travel Apparating to natural places and others interesting for their history or culture, such as the prestigious Muggle universities that Remus and Valerie, and now also Sev, dreamed of attending. Go out at night, to taverns, to concerts, or simply to walk around the city. What could have been the worst was going to become the best summer of their lives.
Saying goodbye was very hard for Sev and Lily. They would have gladly given up spending that afternoon alone to stay with their friends and go to the Forest with them, but there was a fifteenth person, a fifteenth occlumant who should count as the first of them, who must have been on the fifth floor waiting for them for more than a quarter of an hour.
They also left the Room of Requirement separately, first the Slys and then the Gryffs and the Rave. Ariel protested a lot, because they didn't let him go with the adults to the Forest. Sev, Valerie and Jack had a hard time calming him down and convincing him to go to the Library to study with his third-year friends, because it was impossible for him to go, since the first task for the occlumants was to go to the pond to teach curses to new ones.
They went down the main staircase, first Sev, and five minutes later, Lily. Lauren had been waiting for them for more than twenty minutes. He arrived in front of his Fidelius with his Lumos on for her to see him. She appeared in the corner that the armor formed with the opposite door.
She bonded with him. "I'm here, Severus."
Sev turned off his Lumos, cast Disillusioner, and hugged her. "Hello, gorgeous, I'm very sorry for the delay."
"Nothing happens my love. I get it, you wanted to be with your friends."
"We have not warned you, but at the last minute there has been a change of plans, the fourteen occlumants are already Bonded."
"Oh…!Weren't you going to do it on the beach?" Lauren asked.
"A brilliant idea from Remus. Even Ariel has come. We had problems with him, he wanted to go to the Forest with the others."
"Ugh… poor boy."
"I've missed you so much," said Sev. "You have to come to the beach after the exams, with everyone.Have you already thought about it?"
"I'm on it, Severus. I don't think it's very convenient for so many people to suddenly know my secret."
"Many already suspect it."
"But it is one thing to suspect and another to know with complete certainty," she objected. "I've never dealt with any of them except Lily, Jack and you.I would be out of place, we barely have anything in common."
"You have the essentials in common, Lauren. Without you none of this would have happened."
"But they can't know it yet, for them I will be nothing more than one of your lovers. I'm going to have to pretend and dissemble all the time, you already have the bonds created."
"I won't leave you alone, Lauren, Lily won't either, and the others will accept everything, they will understand, they are totally devoted to us. Keep thinking about it, please."
"I will, Severus. Is Lily coming?"
"Of course, in five minutes. We preferred not to move around the castle together. Let's take the opportunity to reveal the secret of our Fidelius, when she arrives we will do the same with yours."
"Okay."
"Memorize: 'The Half-Blood Prince's Secret Haven is located in classroom four of the east corridor, fifth floor of Hogwarts Castle'," he said.
"The Half-Blood Prince…"
"Yes, Lily invented it for me, when we were little."
"Who would have told you that everyone was going to end up calling you Prince?" she wondered.
"Well yes, Jack also invented it for me, it's not very original. Let's go for it?"
"Let's go."
"I'll take you, hand in hand, follow my steps," Sev said.
They moved in the dark to the first Fidelius, the furthest one, facing it in the center of the corridor.
"Light up the door and play the phrase in your mind," he asked.
Lauren turned on her Lumos, and long seconds later she turned it off and said, "That's it, incredible.I had never seen a Fidelius, it was spectacular."
"Well, it's not that big of a deal. This is very humble, because it doesn't even have a bathroom."
"What does that matter, Severus?"
"It is a problem when you have to spend many hours in a row inside."
"We will investigate Transfiguration and install bathrooms in both. Don't worry about that now."
Lily arrived in the dark and ran into them. "What a scare!" she exclaimed.
The three of them laughed.
Sev whispered, "You are so stealthy that we didn't hear you arrive. Let's go inside, open the door, Lily."
Lily took two steps towards it and opened the door to the Haven, illuminating the corridor.
"Come in, gorgeous, you're at home," Sev said to Lauren, bonded.
Lauren entered, then Lily and the last Sev, closing the door behind him.
The first spoke out loud, "Wooow... it's fantastic, beautiful, how beautiful... A real home inside the castle, thank you very much for opening it for me."
"Give me a hug, Lauren," Lily came forward. "You can come whenever you want."
They embraced. All three were crying.
"No, Lily, I will never come on a whim, just like you don't," the brunette replied. "I won't put it at risk with my comings and goings, you're still going to need it for two more years."
Sev embraced them both and said, "How tired I am of the damn separation in Houses."
"Courage, Severus," Lauren said. "We will see its end."
"If we survive we will see." He told them what he had talked to Minerva that morning about the subject, both about being able to mix in the Great Hall and in classes and that the Gryffs and Slys were going to have more classes together, and also the opinion of both he and the Deputy about the change of mentality that would have to occur in the Wizarding World for that to come to happen.
"And if she doesn't do it, you will do it when you become Headmaster," Lauren told him.
"In fifty years?" Sev asked.
"Within the time necessary."
They had calmed down. Sev left them, went to open a window and said to Lauren, "Look out and see the views."
She did it and said, "Wooow… it's fantastic, how beautiful."
"It faces the east, you can see the sunrise and the moon rise, also from yours."
Lauren stared in ecstasy for several minutes, saying nothing. Sev opened another window and he and Lily looked out too.
He bonded with Lily and said, "You know, at home we only have small windows in the bedrooms."
"Yeah... What I thought when I saw the photo of your Common Room in the guide, they condemn the Slys to darkness."
"But perhaps that is precisely why we are such good occlumants."
"Of course, it has something to do with it," she opined. "I really wanted to come back here during the day.It hadn't been daylight since the first Dueling classes."
"It's true. I was there before the mess preparing the sleep potions, and that same day in the afternoon, but only for a few minutes."
"Also when you slept here and the malefics almost caught you in the Library."
"True, that morning too, but I didn't enjoy it at all then," he remembered. "I realized right here that they were waiting for me, that Lauren was next to them in the Library and the old man could discover her.I went to breakfast and went straight to his office."
"Has she been waiting a long time now?"
"I haven't asked her, but I'm sure she arrived before two, about half an hour."
"Ugh... we don't have time for everything," Lily lamented.
"Well no. Now is also going to be very short for us, both being with her and being alone."
"We can do without being alone, Sev."
"No, Lily, I want to Bond with you as a Couple," he disagreed. "I was with her twice last week.Let's not change all the plans now."
They stared at the views until Lauren spoke, "Well, guys, what do we do?"
"First of all, reveal the secret of the other Fidelius to you and go check it out," Sev proposed. "Better the earlier, when the old man is still taking a nap."
"Sure."
"Memorize: 'The Panther's Lair is located in room three of the east corridor, fifth floor of Hogwarts castle'."
"The Panther's Lair...! I love it!" Lauren exclaimed. "Thank you, give me a hug."
She and Sev hugged, he cried again while was thinking, Ugh… it's making me feel terrible.She gets excited about everything, every little nonsense.How needy she is of affection, of closeness, of attention.I have to convince her to come to the beach.
Lauren noticed and separated from him while still hugging him to look into his eyes. "What's wrong, Severus? You get sad about everything, instead of being happy because we are together."
"It's all so difficult, Lauren... I miss someone all the time, I can't have everything I want at once."
She caressed his face very tenderly. "You're not the only one it happens to. It happens to all of us, and even more so in times as difficult as these. Try to enjoy what you have in the happy moments to endure the difficult ones. Gasoline, as you say."
"Okay, Lauren, I'll do it, I won't cry anymore."
"How do we do to go? Are we both going at the same time?"
"No, separately. First you, Lauren, you have no color on the Map. It is the previous door in the corridor, on the right."
"Okay, there I go," she said.
"If you have any problem, come back and let us know."
Lauren went, and ten minutes later, Lily. They both opened the Fidelius without problem.
When Lily returned she said, "Sev, I'll come to clean."
"No, Lily, you have color on the Map," Sev disagreed.
"Damn Map, Sev, you should never have told Albus."
"Lily, make no mistake," said Lauren, vehement. "Blessed Map. Severus could have died, or I, or we could both be on the way to Azkaban. For that reason alone, all the sacrifices that the Map costs us are worth it."
"And how are we going to do it, Sev? You also have color."
"But I will come at night, maybe I will leave it for next year," Sev replied. "Lauren cannot risk walking around the castle until I teach her to become invisible, I will have to do it in the hidden space of my bedroom." He explained Dumbledore's insomnia and naps.
Lauren said, "Of course, he is very old, he doesn't sleep well, it's normal. Well, what? Shall we start with the fun?"
"Of course, let's Bond as a Clanship," Sev proposed. "Lily, sing with me."
"No, Sev, sing you alone, let Lauren listen to you, she has only listened to you once," said Lily.
"Valerie's song, Lauren, was invented while she was observing a dream of mine, bonded. I dreamed that we were flying together on broomsticks."
"Excellent!" Lauren exclaimed.
"You have to learn to fly too, Lauren, let's see how you do it."
"I will fly at home, a lot. In my house we don't have neighbors for miles around."
"Great. I'm going there."
Sev sang, Lauren cried, hugged him again and exclaimed, "You are wonderful!"
"Who's crying now, Lauren?" Sev asked, laughing.
"But it is out of joy."
"Do you have the song?"
"Yes, I have it, but I want to listen to you again," she asked.
Sev sang again, hugging Lauren. When he finished he told her, "I invented a variation for the Bond as a Couple. Later I'll show it to you, when you do it together. Come on, let's Bond."
They did it directly, they hugged each other closely, like Lily did that first time with the Gryffs, and they sang, three times. It was also indescribable, as intense or more than that of fourteen people, because the knowledge and deep mutual acceptance they felt was infinite. They stayed like that for long minutes, just feeling each other.
Finally Sev told them, bonded, "Let's try the shield!"
They did so, covering all the free space of the Haven. Sev came out and cast curses at them, which bounced off hitting the stone wall. He didn't conjure anything dangerous or shattering, he cast Sectumsempras at them with little intention. Then they did it too, who had never tried it, back and forth, they had a great time.
When they got tired, Sev proposed, "Should we turn the bed into a couch to make ourselves more comfortable?"
"No, Sev," Lily told him, laughing. "Don't even think about it, that couch was bad lucky, we did nothing but have problems on it."
"Well, let's see how we do it to make ourselves comfortable, because the bed is very small for three and we don't have enough cushions."
"Well, let's expand it and Summon the cushions. Have you forgotten that you can Summon?"
"It's true," he realized. "I spent many hours here obsessing over not being able to Summon."
They got to work. Lily, excellent at Charms, expanded the bed in no time without having to dismantle it, and Sev, meanwhile, Summoned appropriately sized cushions to lean on, in the colors and fabric of the bed. They levitated it to put the headboard against the wall and placed the cushions against it. In less than ten minutes they had everything ready.
"Come on, Miss Parkinson, the place of honor for you, the center," said Sev.
They settled in, sitting on the bed and leaning on the cushions, Lauren in the center and the two of them next to her, shoulder to shoulder.
She took them both by their hands and said, "You are a charm.You can't even imagine how much I love you."
"Yes, we imagine it, Lauren," said Sev. "We love you like that too."
They began with the film and talk session. Each one had chosen fun or exciting experiences to show the others. Lily and Sev showed Lauren memories of her childhood from both their points of view, from before they attended Hogwarts, when they met in the park and did magic together in the river.
Later Lauren also did it with her own memories, of the two of them, when she saw them together while she loved Sev in silence, full of nostalgia. They were crying, she hugged them both and they gave each other lots of cuddles.
They went to recent memories. Sev showed them how he met Ariel. Lauren did it with the momentous conversation she had with her parents when they returned from the meeting where Malfoy had talked about Sev at Christmas and they had decided to help him, also the writing of the letter she gave him in the greenhouses, so Lily could know it verbatim.
Then Sev showed them the ritual he had performed on the fir tree on his birthday, in which he had sworn to give his life to defeat Voldemort, which Lauren read on him the night she arrived at school. Then they recalled for Lily, at the same time from both their points of view, part of their first night of contact, and thus Lily finally knew the place and the environment in which everything had been plotted, the corner of the table in front of the glass window of the dungeon Common Room, Sev's office.
Lily and Sev remembered for Lauren the first night they saw each other at the Haven after Christmas, how he taught her to cast the Sectumsempra and then they performed their twin Patronus, the surprise that Sev got and Lily's not understanding anything. They laughed a lot.
The three remembered, each from their own point of view, separately, the historic quarter of an hour that would change the history of the school and the course of the war, which began at nine fifteen o'clock on Saturday, May 15th, 1976.
Finally, Lauren and Sev reminisced for Lily about Deborah's wish skirmishes, and Sev for both of them reminisced about the three-minute wish song with his musical group, without telling Lauren that he already played the piano in the Room of Requirement, since it was a surprise that he reserved to give her when they were alone. She was pleasantly surprised that one of his wishes was to form such an original group. The girls laughed a lot and regretted that the wishes had no sound.
"Girls, it's time for you to Bond, we've spent half of the afternoon," he told them.
"There's no rush, Sev," said Lily. "I've brought the Time-Turner, if we both have little time left we'll go to the Room of Requirement and give it a couple of hours back."
"Ugh... without eating anything..." he complained. "And after dinner I have a meeting with Deborah."
"Come on, let's get to it," Lauren said, getting up. "Let's get undressed, Lily."
"Let's go there," she too.
"Honey, don't you want us to make you horny?" Sev asked Lily.
"I'm not in that mood right now, Sev. If I get on, okay, and if I don't, nothing happens, I'll get on with you later."
They both began to undress.
"Have you gotten horny with Black fighting and at lunch?" Lauren asked Lily.
The Gryff told her the deductions and decisions she and Sev had made regarding that topic. Lauren found them very suitable.
They were already completely naked, they hugged each other and Lauren said, "Severus, sing us the spell as you told us."
"Of course, besides Lily doesn't know it verbatim, she hasn't read the book," he said.
He did it, he sang it to them several times.
"How beautiful, Sev," said Lily.
"It's exactly how I feel about you both. Look, I'm seeing you two naked and I haven't gotten horny. Incredible. Do you have it?"
"Yes, we do."
"I give you entry, twice."
He gave them entry and they sang. Lily thought, (Wooow... this is so intense. It's not exactly getting horny, it's a feeling of wanting to merge with her, to be one, to never separate, to penetrate each other's skin and form one unity. Feeling of being united for life, above everything that happens.
(Of course I wouldn't mind doing it with her, doing anything with her, but it's not the time, it's late, I want to be alone with Sev and do it with him too.I'm going to wait and see what Lauren does.)
They spent long minutes feeling each other, moved. Sev waited patiently, admiring them.
Finally Lily spoke, "Lauren, I would be willing to do it with you, but today I prefer not to, it's gotten late.Do you mind if we don't do anything?"
"Of course not, sweety, it's enough for me what I'm feeling," Lauren responded.
"Someday we will try."
"Of course."
They gave each other lots of cuddles and separated, beginning to get dressed.
"Ugh... what a shame," Sev told them. "You have wasted it."
"No, sweetie," Lauren told him. "Today we have taken advantage of the time on other things, more urgent and necessary than sex, getting to know each other well.It was the second time that Lily and I saw each other, there is no rush."
"You are absolutely right, Lauren, you have done very well. Are you going to leave now?"
"Yes, I'll leave you alone."
"Well, don't get dressed anymore, Lily, I want us to take time," Sev said. "I've lost practice with you."
"I have to get dressed, Sev. I have to go to the toilet," Lily replied.
"Of course, what a fool I am, I never realize it."
"Of course," said Lauren, smugly. "Because you do it through the window, you filthy."
They laughed.