Chapter 31 No Joke
James was going crazy. He had been on owl lockdown since he was suspended because his parents thought he might do something stupid. His parents were treating him like some sort of stranger in their house, and now that Sirius was really married … maybe … James was frantic. Sirius was not answering his mirror. It was dark every time James tried, which was every chance he got. He was carrying it around the house with him since his parents wouldn't leave him alone in his room. All James was doing was listening to the wireless. Merlin!
Couldn't fly. Couldn't owl. Couldn't talk through the floo. Had a house elf popping up on him when he was trying to enjoy some alone time in the bath. Might as well say James was a prisoner in his own house.
Since Severus wore his school uniform to Helen's memorial, Lily decided to do the same. They would be flooing with Prof. McGonagall.
She had heard some grumbling in Gryffindor house about the family not agreeing to have the main ceremony at Hogwarts. Lily could understand the decision, even if she wasn't in complete agreement. Helen died here. She also had many in her house turned against the idea of her being quidditch captain.
They were underdressed, compared to the others in their dark dress robes. However, their uniforms had the black robes so they did not stand out, in Lily's opinion. If she had found the green that Severus suggested at the end of August, they may have been too bright.
This home was quite large. Lily was not sure if this was Helen's house, or a relative's. She knew from Helen that she had a large family. It was impractical to visit her roommates over the summer, since they lived remotely. Lily did not have a floo, and they did not live near a train station or within a decent driving distance.
Her normally inquisitive nature was muted due to the occasion of her visit, as they were shown to a large room enclosed with glass.
Severus shrugged at her whispered questions.
Lily frowned. Another mystery about Severus. Even if he never mentioned his wizarding grandparents, surely he had a pair of them that he either remembered or were about somewhere?
Lily's had unfortunately passed either before she was born, or sometime since then. Petunia had clearer memories of them.
She hissed at him while McGonagall talked to some former students, "Where do your mother's parents live?"
"I don't know."
"Are your father's parents around?"
"No, that's who our house came from."
Lily sat where they were told, now understanding why Sev's house was never modernized. She couldn't imagine buying one in the 1950s or 1960s without an indoor bathroom. There were things one desired in a house, but others were absolute necessities.
They were on the side, towards the back so Lily could see a lot of the other guests. She recognized Frank Longbottom with a couple that might be his parents. Wilkes and Rosier arrived with their parents and sat closer to the front. Not knowing if there was an etiquette, Lily refrained from waving until they did something.
When Mary arrived with her parents, she captured Lily's full attention. Although this only happened last week, she looked fragile and pale in her all-black robes. The sleeves were long so Lily could not make out how the loss of her hand looked from this distance. Prof. McGonagall joined them and all four of them sat down and continued talking in hushed tones. Lily could not tell anything from the backs of their heads.
She whispered, "Have you ever been to one of these?"
"No."
Lily went quiet as she observed what others were doing and trying to figure out who people could be. A fellow that may be a Parkin by marriage had a small group join him. He was wearing black pin-striped robes. Lily wouldn't have thought that would look well, but this man certainly gave them an air of importance. It may have helped that his hair was precisely parted down the middle above a shrewd looking face. She didn't care for the mustache. It accentuated his down turned mouth too much.
Then the headmaster arrived. There was a ripple as the people parted to let him through, but many that he passed took up whispering as they kept their eyes on him, besides gesturing in his wake.
Lily suspected that they might think like her and think his negligence had a hand in Helen's death. It was not in the paper at all, but if that lazy reporter couldn't be bothered to mention Sirius Black, he certainly wasn't going to go looking any deeper.
Although there were more than enough empty seats around them to give those present some space to grieve in their own way, a blond woman in a fashionable dark gray robe sat directly behind Severus. Even with her wire glasses, Lily thought she was trying to look a little Marilyn Monroe with the way her hair was waved and turned under just so in the back. Whoever she was, she caught Lily looking back at her and returned a slight smile along with a quirk of her eyebrow.
Everyone got seated and things got underway. Lily didn't know what to expect, but she anticipated something a bit more … magical, other than enlarged photographs of Helen and some unusual flower arrangements. She didn't remember much about funeral services she went to before she even started Hogwarts, but the sensational, dramatic ones on television eclipsed this affair.
Overall Lily couldn't say she was disappointed, since everything was calm and sedate, other than outbursts of tears. Some of the things that were said choked up Lily too. No one wants an exciting funeral. Or at least not normal sorts of people.
To be truthful, Severus did not want to be here. Lily wanted to be here. So here he was, sitting with her in the back. At least she stopped asking him questions about wizarding houses. What wizard was going to willingly invite him into their house? Why couldn't Lily be bothered to think before she made her inane inquiries. At times he was convinced she couldn't bear not to hear herself talk. Silence bothered Lily, even at a memorial service for one of her best friends. Unbelievable.
Her questions about his family were not unexpected since he knew how much Lily valued her family, though her timing was debatable. Severus did not have much to say since he did not know anything, other than his father's parents were muggles and lived in Spinner's End. His mother did not talk about hers. Her tales of the wizarding world were about how wonderful Hogwarts was. Severus did not like thinking of his mother as a liar, so was willing to accept that she enjoyed being a student.
He didn't like whoever it was sitting behind him, but Lily would only get miffed if he asked her to move with him. There were plenty of seats, so he strongly suspected the woman behind them sat there on purpose.
Eventually, all the speech making stopped. Severus had sunk into quite a foul mood. If he was dead, as Black planned, no one would say a fraction of this stuff about him. It was more likely that no one would notice he was even missing, except Lily, if he didn't come back from the Shrieking Shack. With the way she thought, she'd probably think he decided to run off without even saying good-bye to her. His mind had already wandered down the dark path that Lily would probably prefer him gone, over the loss of her girlfriends. His depth of feeling for Lily was incomparable to their shallow camaraderie. However, she certainly preferred their company over his for her first five years at Hogwarts.
Lily noticed Severus tilted his head forward during the eulogy, allowing his hair to cover his face. She hadn't expected him to be emotional over Helen, but anyone's death at such a young age was a tragedy. It was rather presumptuous of Lily to overlook that Severus had feelings too. He was the one who handled her body so it was not left behind for Lupin to continue consuming. She swallowed as she recalled. That took a bravery Lily did not possess, she thought, while she put her hand over his that was resting on his leg.
There was lengthened silence as all sat respectfully in contemplation. Lily did not see any signal, but simultaneously about half the group stood and starting forming small groups of conversation again. Around her, Severus was unmoving, and the blonde woman behind him was trying to sneak a glance at herself in her compact mirror.
Lily stood, hoping Severus would follow without her pulling him along. She wanted to talk to Mary. He still did not move and Lily nudged him with her knee. Severus looked up at her questioningly. "I'd like to go towards the front, Sev."
He nodded and stood. If Lily's conversation partners bored him, Severus could always examine the photos, letters from Parkin, and flowers to pass the time.
Lily put her hand on his shoulder, "Sit back down. Mary's mother just pointed over here. We'll stay back here for them, so Mary does not get stared at."
While he resumed his seat, Severus had to control expressing what he thought aloud. If someone wanted to lay low in this room, she wouldn't head over to the only two green people.
Prof. McGonagall and the MacDonalds came over. Lily resisted the impulse to stare at Mary's right wrist and focused on her face. Obviously, she had been crying.
Mary hugged Lily when she reached her, and when she unexpectedly tried to embrace Severus, he was able to get his hands up to prevent her from doing it smoothly, and softly growled, "Don't."
"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Mary apologized while turning back to Lily. She said, "Well … we're almost … through this part, huh, Lily?"
"Yes," Lily replied with a nod. She felt Severus stand again behind her. Probably to ease his escape if anyone else tried to touch him.
"You've already met my mother and father before, Lily" Mary said since they had caught up to her. "And this is my friend, Severus Snape," she added to introduce him to her parents.
Mary's father said while extending his hand, "If we had known you had stayed at St. Mungo's, instead of going home like the others, we would have come round to meet you."
"That's fine," Severus muttered, keeping behind Lily rather than stepping forward into the group. He'd rather go look at the photos of Parkin, than stand back here among false sentiments.
Mrs. MacDonald studied her daughter's savior. Mary had told her parents a bit about the Slytherin lad. Mary owed a Slytherin a life debt. Her daughter's description of the lanky, unkempt, half-blooded misanthrope recovering from dragonpox was apparently true. She only left out his nose. Clothed, she could not see his heavily scarred backside that Mary explained colored his dealings with other people, other than his one friend, Lily Evans from Gryffindor. Mary explained she knew about that from lads thinking it hilarious to strip this defaced fellow of all his clothes, and her short courtship with Malcolm Wilkes, who roomed with him.
She had just been telling Prof. McGonagall that Gryffindor house was nothing like when they were girls at school. Although she dreaded the investigation by the Board of Governors, she was dearly looking forward to it. Something was very wrong at Hogwarts. Slytherins saving Gryffindors. She could only thank Merlin this boy didn't run out of there when he saw that werewolf.
Mary was telling Lily, "Prof. McGonagall is trying to convince me to come back to school. I can hardly cast anything with my other hand."
"You're bound to improve," Lily encouraged, now realizing why there was still a second bed in her room.
"And there's … uh, being a werewolf."
"Severus has been giving that a lot of thought. We've been doing research."
"You have?" Mary asked, looked past Lily to Severus.
Lily elbowed him.
He shrugged, "Evans parents would be ill-prepared, so it won't go to waste." Lily would at the very least want to keep her family safe. He doubted Hogwarts staff would listen to his ideas.
"Like what?"
"It wouldn't be a long-term solution, but a cage is effective. Trapped werewolves turn their rage on themselves, so some distractions would have to be devised. Not just throwing in large hunks of flesh, like we read in one account, but something more amusing that would not be detrimental when reverting back to witches.
"Add a person to both watch and supervise with their own safety cage that they could retreat to, in case. Alarm charms and charms to detect the werewolf outside of its allowed area to seal the room.
"Once there's a rapport or what captures their attention best, maybe give them a little more room to move around. Perhaps an outside caged area, since they have that in their nature. Not at school, but on private land, where someone won't disturb them."
"Sev means something a bit more durable than dog toys to keep them, or us, occupied," Lily added. "We needed some time in a muggle pet shop where they have a large selection for us to get ideas. They like things to chew on, thrown toys, and maybe rope?"
"Werewolves aren't pets."
"It would be hard on whoever is guarding to watch the self-injury. I thought it would be worth a try," Severus defended. "At Hogwarts, house elves may even be used as additional security. They are bound to protect the school and students. In one firsthand account we read, they were the only guards used. Unfortunately, the author did not include what they did while he was changed. As his elves, they would be committed to not allowing self-harm."
During Severus's unusually long speech, for anyone but Lily, the adults around them had gone quiet.
Prof. McGonagall asked, "Where in the school would you propose this, Mr. Snape?"
Scowling at her humoring him, he answered, "There's a few areas in the dungeons with long corridors. Seal one of them with multiple metal doors and stone. Werewolves cannot use passwords. Ghosts could also pass there, if the house elves and alarm charms aren't sufficient."
Since the headmaster had not told her yet of what he had in mind, especially for Lily Evans, who could not be expected to go home, Prof. McGonagall was naturally concerned. Snape considered safety in addition to amusing a werewolf to keep it from turning on itself. Considering he had also met Lupin as a werewolf, he was definitely thinking on the cautious side with cages, sealed corridors, and human, house elf, and possibly ghost guards. If Dumbledore's weren't up to scratch, at the very least Evans had her and her friend to correct things before another disaster occurred.
"We'd like to inspect that sort of arrangement," Mr. MacDonald said, looking at McGonagall. He wasn't going to let his daughter finish at Hogwarts, if they were just as careless with her. Her education was not worth the risk of Azkaban. NEWTs be damned. He may even insist on being at the school those nights to help keep an eye on things. No idiot was going to set his little girl loose on others.
Prof. McGonagall steered Mary's parents away from the students to discuss the possibility of Mary returning to finish her schooling.
Mary shrugged at Lily and said, "I'd better tag along before they agree to something totally embarrassing."
"I'll write you," Lily replied.
"At least you know they won't chuck you out, if you are infected," Severus murmured.
"That wouldn't be right, Sev. It's only a year and a half more, and if they had, I might be able to study up on my own and still sit the exams."
"Perhaps. The one that might be tricky is apparition. If you aren't allowed to apparate outside of a Ministry class, without a license, there's no other option."
"Apparating's the least of our worries."
"It's important. Especially for us without our homes on the floo network. If they," Severus said with a jerk of his head at the MacDonalds and McGonagall, "wanted to be helpful. They could have offered to either let your parents personally know you were in an accident and all right, or even side-along your mother or father down to St. Mungo's."
"Are they allowed to do that?"
"It's not a secret to your parents that you are a witch. If you are hurt at school, they should make an effort to set things right."
Lily knew that Severus was oversimplifying how easy it would be. Wizards could not apparate with muggles, and there was probably a very good reason for it. Rather than being drawn into one of his clever arguments, she asked, "Can your mum apparate?"
"She probably has a license. I've never seen her do it. Where would she go?"
Lily made a face at him. How about taking a younger Severus far away from Tobias Snape? Starting over with nothing might even be a step up from that house in Spinner's End. Lily would never stay with someone like that. Although her mother had told her not to be judgmental about what went on over at the Snapes, it was hard not to.
"Snape. Evans," greeted Frank Longbottom. Lily glanced past him to his parents. His mum didn't look terrifying at all.
Severus shifted to avoid Longbottom fully putting his arm around him. There was contact. He glared darkly at Longbottom, who had adopted his fiancé's touchy-feely Hufflepuff ways. The dunderhead smiled at him.
"My parents," he introduced, then indicated, "Lily Evans from Gryffindor, and Severus Snape from Slytherin. Sixth years."
Severus allowed Lily to shift in front of him. She adored meeting new people. He may be able to get away with just nodding when appropriate. Lily was able to carry the conversation for both of them about school, the werewolf incident, and dragonpox. It was rather boring. At least to Severus, even when Lily exaggerated by saying he had saved her. He only cast a spell before she did, that's all. If Lily wanted to think he saved her, then he could live with it if she'd only expressed it to him with more than just this carnal connection she sought. Severus knew what was between Lily and him transcended a physical attraction. It was certainly obvious to him because he was not the slightest bit physically attractive. Lily listening to him and attempting to understand his point of view would be a vast improvement in their relationship.
He paid attention to the conversation. He hadn't known Oakby was also in auror training. Once Longbottom got past the tedious details about that, he talked about Oakby and him getting married. Severus watched Lily's face to see what plans pleased her most. It was futile to wait for everything to be perfect, and Severus had never even experienced ideal. His life was good when things were barely adequate. He wanted it better for Lily. Would she take the easy way and marry some wealthy git who would never love her the way he did? Until they were married, there was always the chance she'd decide on someone else. Then he'd have no one. The life debt was no help to him if Lily decided it was in his best interest to be better off without her, and left alone. So alone.
Thinking about such things made him surly when he noticed that blond woman from earlier was looking at him, and then he was almost certain she winked. She must be looking at someone behind them. Why would some attractive stranger wink at him? Strangers yelled insults at Severus, they did not wink. He wasn't even dressed posh for her to mistake him for someone else. A Slytherin uniform didn't necessarily mean rich parents. Some just squeaked along on family tradition in a disrepaired home.
Eventually the Longbottoms and Lily ran out of things to discuss, even the weather of all things. They drifted away, and that woman that Severus had turned away from, but continued to watch from the corner of his eye moved closer. He looked towards McGonagall, but she was talking to some of the Parkins. Dumbledore was surrounded by some old duffers, all smiling and carrying on. It was surprising that Slughorn wasn't in the midst of them. If there was a buffet, he'd have been here with bells on.
That lady must have been winking at him because now she was right next to Lily and Severus, smiling. "I wanted to come over and introduce myself. I'm Rita Skeeter," she said while extending her hand.
Lily accepted it, and replied, "I'm Lily Evans, and this is Severus Snape."
Severus remained silent while studying the witch. What did she want?
"I guessed as much. I'm a reporter and author. You may have read my book, Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?, and my work has appeared in both the Prophet and Witch Weekly. Horrible what happened to the group of you at school. Such a shame. Ever since I wrote about the former headmaster and his eccentricities, I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for further endangerment to today's young witches and wizards."
Enchanted to at last meet someone who could be of assistance, Lily responded, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Skeeter."
There was a pause in the conversation. If Skeeter was waiting for Severus to say he was pleased, she may never talk again, he thought smugly. There was something about her he didn't like. It might be that whatever she had in mind could get Lily and him in a lot of trouble. If the school decided tomorrow that there would be no werewolves in attendance, Lily could get booted out. Severus could live with people being unhappy with him, but did not want that for Lily.
"I read Barnabas Cuffe's work on it, and I did a little digging. I can be of help to expose what really happened. The public wants to know."
"You could?" Lily asked.
"Oh believe me, I know what kind of people you are facing. I went to school with Bellatrix Black, Sirius's cousin. That whole family is composed of sadistic maniacs. Wealthy maniacs with solicitors and the ears of the Ministry. To run off to France and marry a relative of one of their high government officials, when our Ministry should have had him locked in a cell, is an outrage."
"I agree," Lily concurred.
Severus was also appalled at how easily Sirius Black got out of trouble. It was one thing to have the Gryffindor-friendly headmaster patting Black on the head, but how is murder punished by forcing him to marry an attractive French girl? That photo in the paper didn't appear nonconsensual.
"Perhaps we can go in the corner for a quick interview?"
Severus interrupted, "At a memorial service?" He needed to talk to Lily prior to them doing any talking. She didn't think first.
Chastened by the thought that she was about to agree, even though this would help Helen and her memory, Lily confirmed, "Now's not the time."
"Can I arrange to visit you two at school?"
As Lily agreed with "Sure," Severus said, "We'll have to discuss it."
Why was Severus reluctant? Lily asked herself. Surely, he wanted Sirius Black to get his comeuppance, and everyone that was covering up his crimes.
"I'll set something up with Prof. Slughorn," Skeeter said, ignoring Severus's hesitance.
"Yes, uh, we'll let you know," Lily responded, finally suspecting that Severus knew something she didn't. She would have thought it more proper to talk to Prof. McGonagall since she was their chaperone today.
Once they were alone, Lily steered her friend towards an unoccupied bit of wall in the back. "What's her story?"
"I don't know her, but if she has a bone to pick with Bellatrix Black, it would be suicidal for the two of us to be drawn into it."
"Who's she?"
"Almost definitely a Death Eater. I've heard her name a lot."
"What does she have to do with Sirius?"
"I'm not sure. Regulus seems to be the favorite son, but I can't be sure. He's pompous and arrogant like his brother, but whatever jinxing him and his buddy, Crouch Jr., do they keep to themselves."
"Maybe they don't jinx anyone, Sev."
"If they don't, they think about it frequently. They whisper, grin, and giggle too much not to be up to something. Taking on the Black family as a whole is not in our best interest. Also, we need to be careful in case Hogwarts decides to reverse its decision regarding werewolves, at least until we know your status."
"But that wouldn't be fair. And it's going to be a lot safer, with Prof. McGonagall, you, and others knowing I might be a werewolf."
"Fair has nothing to do with it. Us coming across an unguarded werewolf was an embarrassment to the school. Putting you and MacDonald in the same place for something to go wrong might be a ploy to get rid of the two living victims."
"Severus, stop talking like that."
"I don't mean McGonagall. She doesn't strike me as someone who would take part in that, she's a bit like you. However she can be misdirected, misled, and not present if something were to go wrong."
Lily frowned. He was so paranoid sometimes. It was their duty to do what was right. They owed it to Helen and her memory. Helen would have if something happened to Lily.
Bellatrix couldn't help roll her eyes at Uncle Orion grasping at straws for the Dark Lord's favor. Her father, Cygnus, may think of his cousin like a brother, considering they were born merely days apart, but when it came to service to their Lord, her branch of the Black family was the one he favored. Both herself and her father had been marked for his service, and were honored to be Death Eaters.
Until Orion was ready to make the same commitment as her, he was just wasting his breath. Besides, her little cousin, Sirius, was mentally impaired.
If her father wasn't here, Bella would say exactly what she thought about little pretty boy Sirius. The empty-headed idiot was not acting on his father's suggestion to cause chaos at Hogwarts and be a pain in Dumbledore's backside. Dumbledore didn't care about Hogwarts and the students. He was headmaster when she was there, and used it as his distant lair to keep out of sight of the prying Ministry. Wizards couldn't just come and go from Hogwarts. How many times had the Dark Lord lamented he couldn't just walk up to the front door and deal with that muggle-loving fool once and for all? Albus Dumbledore was an old, decrepit coward.
Voldemort sat, stroking his smooth chin while Orion Black attempted to curry his favor. A blow to Dumbledore's reputation? The man was an outdated nitwit, whose power lie with those who rallied around him.
He remembered as a teen when Dumbledore beat Grindelwald, a fraction of the wizard that Voldemort had made himself into. It was an absolute circus with Dumbledore and Slughorn abandoning the school and the students to ride atop of wave of ceremonies and parties. One they had never gotten off of. Let him continue with his galas, while Voldemort drew the true wizards to his side. The wizards of substance.
What concerned him right now was the slowdown of recruits. Many sounded interested, but when the time came to act, all but his absolutely faithful had failed to appear for the past month. There was some new unknown factor influencing the purebloods who should desire a return to the old ways. The ways he promised to restore to them.
Lily was surprised when she arrived in the Great Hall for dinner, but found the tables removed and chairs set up facing the front of the hall. She stood for a moment, looking around. Severus snuck up behind her, and said, "We can sit together. Dumbledore's got something to say about Parkin before dinner."
"How do you know?"
"Slughorn wanted to make sure we'd all be here. It was on the bulletin board."
"Oh. It may have been on ours. I didn't check."
"You're here anyway."
"Are you allowed to sit over here?"
"Why not? There's no table."
Lily sighed. She had been eating with other Gryffindor girls. They made her feel welcome, but it wasn't the same as Mary and Helen. If she couldn't eat with them, she wished Severus could come sit at their table. Lily didn't want to go over to Slytherin. Besides the Dark Lord fan club, she didn't like the looks some of those young boys gave her. "Do you know if you have to sit with your house for every meal, Sev?"
He shrugged, "I haven't noticed anyone sit down at another table. Besides tradition, I'm sure that it wouldn't be allowed. If it started, someone would abuse it."
"Abuse it?"
"Start trouble in some way. Come over in a group, act like slobs, grab all of one kind of food, or be obnoxious."
Frowning, Lily thought it over. Why did a few people have to ruin it for everyone?
Severus took her hand. He did not want to eat at the Gryffindor table. As they waited quietly, he endured some of the little Gryffs snickering 'Snivellus' and 'Snivelly'. Oh yeah, eating over here would be a real joy. Probably jinx every piece of food he touched too.
Lily bit her tongue. Stupid toerags. If Severus could ignore them, it was best that she heed her own advice about name calling hurt no one.
Eventually, the time came for the assembly to begin. Prof. Slughorn began with Helen's accomplishments, which he was well aware of since she was a member of his Slug Club. Dumbledore was briefer, talking about how her loss was a loss to all of them, and soon Wilkes, Rosier and even MacDonald would be returning to school. McGonagall spoke of MacDonald and Evans, and how no tolerance would be allowed for abysmal disregard for others' safety. She then asked that the students show a moment of silence in order to respect Parkin's memory, and then they clear the hall for the tables to be replaced.
Lily had been numb to it all. For some reason, Slughorn's recitation had caused her to grow disinterested. It registered that they expected Mary to return to school. Severus gave her hand a bit of a tug to help her up, and as they left the hall, he muttered, "Ignore them."
Listening, she heard mutters of 'werewolf'.
Peter was bored to tears at home with his mother. Their house was too small to get away from her. How he wished James would invite him over. The Potters had such a lovely house with lots of room for guests with house elves doing everything for them. Things could be better for the Pettigrews if his father didn't have such high ideals and was happy doing his bit in the Centaur Liaison Office at the Ministry.
With friends like Black and Potter, Peter was going places. He was pleased to see how easily Sirius moved on from getting expelled. With their abilities, it was a waste of time to stay in school and find jobs. They were wizards. Working in an office like a muggle was preposterous. Peter should set himself up with muggles working for him, and then take that worthless muggle money and exchange it into heaps of shiny galleons. He'd buy his mum something nice too, if she played her cards right and stopped nagging him.
He already told her, he didn't do anything wrong. The whole thing got all twisted up, like that mess over the summer. Once he was out of school, he'd register his animagus form and show her who was a successful wizard. It took one really gifted to do that.
Now that Padfoot had a wife in Paris, and Moony was gone, it would just be Prongs and Wormtail. Or perhaps Wormtail and Prongs. Peter had a year and a half to cement his relationship as James's best friend. And now that Evans was one of the werewolf victims, Prongs could forget all about her. Peter still owed her and MacDonald one from that wedgie in the common room. Parkin already got her payback.
MacDonald would be returning to school. When she did, Severus bet that Lily would no longer have any time for him. He could be nice to Mary MacDonald for Lily's sake. Petunia gave him plenty of practice. However, they would not need to leave Gryffindor tower to keep each other company. Severus could not join Lily there.
He did not think he could live with things going back to the way they were before with Lily ignoring him for the company of her girlfriend. Severus had given a lot of thought to this in the past, but had decided against taking any action. Now though, it was worth rethinking.
Love potions were illegal, and both love and lust potions were either detectable, or suspicious, if it was the kind that came on strongly and wore off quickly. Slipping one to Lily before they took their apparition test at the Ministry and getting married, was a definite reason to have the marriage annulled as invalid. Besides, Severus did not think that Lily needed a lust potion. He was not sure that she only felt that way about him. She might let any bloke that kissed her put his hands on or in her knickers. Lily definitely liked that. He was actually surprised at how easy it was to please her in that way. There were a couple charms that were considered harmless, but somewhat binding.
Lily had been writing Mary.
Mary used a dictaquill for now. Mary was not happy with her magical prosthetic hand. She wrote that it was ugly and looked metallic and heavy. It was not cold to the touch, but the sight of it disturbed her.
She would be returning to school at the end of November. Mary visited briefly with her parents to view the area where she would transform. Lily had not been told so didn't see her.
Prof. McGonagall gave Lily a tour too. It was rather like what Severus had in mind, down in the dungeons at the end of a long dead end corridor that had been sealed off behind a stone wall. The room itself had a heavy metal door, and there were two cages for herself and Mary, and another barred area at the door for whoever would be supervising them.
When Lily asked about Severus being allowed in the area, at least for the first moon rise, Prof. McGonagall did not think it appropriate, but would see if he could enter during the night to see Lily. She understood that Severus Snape was more than Lily's friend, but Mary MacDonald would also be undressed in the room.
As the full moon got closer, Lily grew more nervous. Was she going to feel this way each month?
On top of all that, Prof. Slughorn asked her and Severus to stay after class to invite them to tea in the headmaster's office on Saturday. When Severus tried to decline, Slughorn said it wasn't that sort of invitation. Lily wasn't happy with either of them. First off, Sev tried to say 'no' without consulting her. Secondly, if they had no choice but to go, Prof. Slughorn shouldn't have made it sound like an invitation.
Lily wanted to go. She'd get a chance to talk to the headmaster. He was always so busy.
They went to the headmaster's office from the library a little before three. Lily could tell Severus was already in a bad mood, rather than giving the headmaster a chance. She'd say something about how her friend's preconceptions kept him from enjoying things, but that would only push him into being relentlessly unpleasant, rather than just disagreeable. Well, she'd just sit next to him, and if she had to she'd … elbow, kick and pinch him.
"Fizzing Whizzbees," Lily announced to the griffin.
The only response Lily got was a snort from behind her. Prefects were supposed to be supplied with the current password. She gave the griffin a dark glare, but it took close to twenty whole seconds before it succumbed and moved aside.
"Right on time," Prof. Dumbledore called down to them.
By the time Lily had stamped up the stairs, she was back to her normal self. She wouldn't set a good example for Severus if she scowled just as darkly at everything in here. Though if Prof. Slughorn kept shoving whole confections into his mouth like that without chewing, she might make an exception.
"Thank you for inviting us to tea, Prof. Dumbledore," she replied, while pausing to allow Severus to walk past her to take a seat. The squashy chairs arranged around the table were more like small love seats, so she joined Severus saying, "Budge up, Sev."
He moved to one side. With Lily next to him, she could probably manage talking for him too. She liked that.
Severus wasn't in the mood, especially after her hours of instructions on how she wanted him to behave this afternoon.
Slughorn continued with his story, that had been interrupted by the arrival of the students, while Dumbledore started shoveling sugar into a fresh cup of tea. That annoyed Lily. Hosts and hostesses were supposed to serve their guests before themselves.
When the headmaster put the cup in front of her, Lily corrected him, "I only take one sugar, sir. Severus is none."
"None?" Albus repeated. Who drank tea with no sugar? How could it even be called tea?
"None," Severus said with a bit of a smirk, getting a small measure of enjoyment from Lily setting the rules. What would she say when she took a good look at the mountain of offered sweets?
"Oh well," Albus replied, vanishing the sugary tea as he took the cup back to prepare tea. One spoon of sugar was hard, but resisting putting any sugar in the second was worse. "Milk?"
"Yes, please. A splash in both," Lily answered. She accepted her tea with a "thank you" and also thanked the headmaster again when she passed over Severus's.
The expected smile was still on her face as she viewed the offerings. What she really was in the mood for was one of her mother's thinly sliced rare roast beef and prepared horseradish sandwiches, but the lack of any meat, even ham or chicken salad was a disappointment. Damn these werewolf tendencies. Lily would have cursed the meatless selection on Severus, but there was not a single thing here that would appeal to him. Not even a plain scone or crumpet. She had gone through a short phase as a little girl when she would have thought iced cakes and other sweets were the perfect tea, and this magical mountain of dainty treats would have made a lifelong memory, but now this display was ridiculous.
When she reached forward to pick up a little cake with light green icing, silver sparkles and little pair of baby blue sugared sails adorning the top, Lily did not want to know what Severus's indrawn breath was about, but he leaned behind her and whispered, "Butterfly wings."
What kind of nonsense was he pulling? Lily thought as she placed the cake on her plate. Just because he did not enjoy sweet food, didn't mean he had to put weird ideas in her head. She could clearly see the crystallized sugar on the adornment. They were obviously made with some sort of paste, and the dainty dots on them barely resembled butterfly wings. She took a plain-looking cookie also, before plucking one of the 'wings' off the cake and laying it on her tongue. It took a couple heartbeats for her to move it around her mouth and the sugar coating to dissolve. The item had a fibrous paper feeling. No. No. How dare Severus trick her into putting this in her mouth. Lily swallowed it and then took a long sip of tea. Butterfly wings? Who would want to eat something that resembled butterfly wings in texture? Lily turned towards Sev and made a face at him. He returned a raised eyebrow and the corner of his mouth quirked slightly before he raised his tea cup and pretended to give Slughorn his full attention.
Lily wondered how often Prof. Slughorn dined or had tea with the headmaster. He sure seemed to have a lot to talk about. How many new letters or floos could he have gotten since the last time they met like this?
Severus was amused that Lily still ate the wing, even after he warned her. He didn't mean it as a childish dare. Didn't Slughorn talk about this dunderhead in Tibet before, or was that some berk in Timbuktu? Why did anyone invite him to anything? He was boring as hell. And this tea wasn't that good. It was flavored with something that gave it a smoky taste and smell. In fact, it kind of reeked. Muggle teas may be plainer to the eye, but they were vastly superior.
As Prof. Slughorn plodded puerilely on with his tales, Lily felt that Severus was right. Tea with the headmaster was not all it was cracked up to be.
When he finally paused to sip his tea, Lily suggested, "As interesting as your correspondents are, Prof. Slughorn, may we not discuss other subjects please? For instance, at Helen Parkin's memorial, we made the acquaintance of Rita Skeeter. She had said she would be contacting you, Professor, since we do not know her."
"Ah yes, Miss Skeeter. She did, Miss Evans. I put her in contact with Messrs. Rosier and Wilkes. Thank you."
Lily hollowly repeated, "Messrs. Rosier and Wilkes?"
"Yes, Miss Skeeter wanted to write of the tragedy the incident caused. Since both young gentlemen had their possible betrothals ruined, naturally she felt that would be a good story."
"But Mary MacDonald is still alive. She could always find some other young man, if the Wilkes feel that she does not suit."
"Werewolves rarely have children, and there is a chance that they could be infected from birth. Miss MacDonald will have to revise her expectations, since many families are interested in children and grandchildren."
Lily nodded dumbly taking in that bit of news. She might not be able to have children, and if she did, it could be a werewolf? Looking at Severus, she asked, "Did you know that?"
"Yes," he replied, looking directly into her eyes. "I was concentrating on your safety first, Lily."
"Right." Since they had not discussed children at length, Lily supposed it would occur during that conversation. If she was going to one day marry Severus … well, now that looked more likely if she couldn't have children, and it did not seem to bother him. It may bother him, it was hard for Lily to tell. She remembered that he did agree that children would come later, once they were settled somewhere. Talking about it in front of these two was not the place nor time.
Prof. Dumbledore interjected, "I'm sure it will be a fascinating read. Miss Skeeter has such a way with words. Isn't that right, Prof. Dippet?" he asked a portrait.
"Never heard of her," was the sleepy reply.
Albus nodded, "If only she was old enough to write his biography while he was alive. There surely would have been some sparks then."
"I think she'd do better to try her hand at fiction," Horace commented between bites. "Even when she writes something serious, she always tries to cast a fellow as either a hero or a villain. That's not always the true way of things."
Lily leaned back into Severus's arm that had crept up behind her, while the two professors discussed Rita Skeeter and her literary merit. She was naturally disappointed that this opportunity to reveal the truth had slipped by, but she had faith that Malcolm and Evan wouldn't disappoint. Unlike her, they didn't need to worry about being chucked out of school for being a werewolf. Lily also did not want Severus worrying unnecessarily about the Black family or Death Eaters.
Albus ended Horace's critique of today's wizarding literary greats, many of whom he knew personally, by asking, "Prof. Abstractus mentioned that he sent some of your summer arithmancy work to the United States for review by a Potions master he's acquainted with, Mr. Snape. How's that coming?"
"The distance makes communication slow, Professor. The hypothetical work needs experimentation so that will take time to discover whether any of it is useful," Severus replied lowly while looking at his cup of tea on the table. He had more important things to think of now, like Lily.
The last time Lily had heard something about that mountain of paper Sev produced during August was that even though the Arithmancy professor was pleased with it, he had faced problems getting cooperation from the school, especially Prof. Slughorn, since it was a cross-disciplinary effort because his equations applied to Potions.
"Nothing will come of it. The potions education over there is dreadfully archaic," Horace mentioned while eying the cream filling he was squeezing out of a stuffed cake.
Both Lily and Severus were thinking along similar lines that at least they'd read it, and check to see if it was possible before dismissing it as rubbish.
"I understood that the initial arithmancy was sound, proving the known substitutions, Horace."
"Known, but little used, Albus."
"Wouldn't the principle be the same to find others?"
"Too many factors and variables."
Severus interjected, "Unlikely ones were ruled out but listed. Any substance can be made to fit the numerical equivalent, but the intrinsic nature of the material is key. Much like using different incantations to produce the same spell. Prior to Latin becoming the dominant wizarding language, Egyptians, Chinese, Babylonians and Persians were all able to incant in their own tongue. Even the Celtic and Gaelic methods mostly ignore Latin."
"They gibbered and chanted for hours to achieve what we can cast with a simple phrase," Horace said dismissively. Sometimes these whelps were overeducated to the point they spouted nonsense.
"Not hours. It simply takes more concentration and investment of the wizard's power and focus. I closed MacDonald's wounds using a druidic method. The tourniquet was the standard spell, but for wound closure the variability of chanting charms is more elegant."
Albus answered, "That is true. The freedom of that type of spellwork allows for varied results. Of course, it takes maintaining eye contact and focus. Most wizards would rather not be bothered since they have so much on their minds and are constantly rushed. Transfiguration is similar. While all the students are using the same incantation and wand movement, the results vary depending on the caster's desire and concentration."
"What class is this other type of magic taught in?" Lily asked.
"Ancient Runes touches upon it, Miss Evans. The principle is not taught because it could result in such varying degrees of use and complexity. Some older fields of magic, such as the dark arts, borrow heavily from those methods since new spells are not publicly researched and published. Any new spell is usually lost within a generation or two, unless it is a widely known one that's been around for centuries, such as the killing curse."
"The killing curse is not a long chant," Lily contradicted.
"Ah, but the basis of the spell is. There must be concrete intent with that spell. That's where the line blurs. Its incantation has been shortened for simplicity over the years and that's why the will of the caster needs to be so intense. Note there is no wand movement necessary for that spell, other than pointing at the target. Many of the old ways of casting did not rely heavily on a wand or even a staff. Once again, an improvement for the modern wizard to cast spells more efficiently with a focusing tool. In ancient times, staring into flames could be used, but that was immensely more difficult since the caster was to lose himself in the flames while concentrating without sight on something else."
As time went on, a few things became apparent to Lily. There was a great deal that was not taught at Hogwarts, and most wizards and witches couldn't be bothered.
Somehow, Severus was learning it or at least knew of it. Lily was suspicious when Prof. Dumbledore mentioned the Dark Arts because her friend was compelled to look into them. However, if they were still known to a select few, weren't most of the wizards in danger because they didn't understand or even know what else was possible? She had noticed that Severus mostly used his knowledge to adapt other spells, rather than raining down death and destruction, as she supposed all dark wizards and Death Eater types did for fun. He rarely did a long incantation, since most of the time his casting was nonverbal.
Bored with the discussion, Horace muttered, "That's all academic, Albus."
Severus thought that was an odd thing for a teacher to complain of in a school. Academics? When there were important things like sweets, parties and pranks? Hoggy Warty Hogwarts was known for its nonstop jolly good time. That's probably why He Who Must Not Be Named didn't bother with it, or his followers would slip into their silk pajamas and join the giant slumber party in the dungeons. Most of the place was pointless. If Severus could take his NEWTs tomorrow, he'd be out of here and urge Lily to do the same. It was clear to him that she didn't enjoy it here any more either.
Albus noted even more contradictions between these students. One male, Slytherin, unpopular and with a natural born grasp of magic and its workings. The other female, Gryffindor, popular and although one of the brightest students at the school, she only knew what she had been taught so far.
They shared their friendship, a dislike of the school, and a marked dislike for Horace. Albus saw her dislike stemmed from some sort of repeated mistreatment of her friend. He couldn't get much out of the boy emotionally towards Horace or him, but the girl put a lot of blame in general on his shoulders since he was the headmaster. To boot, she did not think well of the tea. Miss Evans barely touched anything, and this time, Mr. Snape only took one brief sip of the beverage.
Within the general populace, there are a handful of people who are never pleased. Albus had thought Severus to be afflicted with that malady. However, here was another student that felt Hogwarts was … disappointing? This epic structure brimming with history, tradition and wonder failed to inspire two of the brightest students in the school. How many others felt like this?
Taking advantage of the others' self reflection, Horace began to tell them of one of his old students that had been promoted from his fast-paced career at the Ministry and was now getting his feet wet with the International Confederation of Wizards, and was likely to occupy a seat of his own in that august organization in no time whatsoever.
Later, while sitting in one of their Ravenclaw windows with her back against Severus, Lily tentatively asked, "Are you bothered that I might not be able to have children, Sev?"
"If you are a werewolf, Lily, it's something beyond our ability to change. Once we have all your immediate high priority needs in hand, researching possible future consequences is what I had in mind to do next."
"You'd still marry me?"
"Are you proposing to me?"
"No!" Lily exclaimed with a backward thrust of her elbow.
"I was kidding. You are still the only one for me, Lily. It would still be possible to have children in our lives."
"You mean adopt?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. That's certainly a possibility."
"What did you mean then?"
"Well … this is just thinking aloud, I haven't gotten to looking into this … is it the woman transforming that infects the fetus, or are the eggs themselves tainted with the infection? You don't need to be the one carrying the child in your body so that would solve that first problem."
"Where would it be?"
"Uh, didn't you read that book from St. Mungo's? A male's body can be modified with magic. It's done for male couples, so I don't see why it couldn't be performed on me."
"What's done?"
"I think there's a couple different options. One is the natural way wizards get pregnant, and ..."
"Natural?"
"Well, with magic between two wizards when they make love."
"Huh?"
"Where did I lose you?"
"What do two wizards … do?"
"Do? Uh, what do you mean? Like how two members of the same gender can live like uh …. a man and wife? I don't want to offend you, Lily, or get unnecessarily graphic."
Rather than having Severus think she was terribly naive, Lily coyly said, "I just want to hear you say it, Sev."
"What? Um, well they can do everything we've done up to this point. Kiss, hold each other, and then touch wherever they care to pleasure the other. And then there's what you'd probably consider the main sex act, which is rather similar. A male can penetrate another by putting, or rather using the other's bum."
Lily turned her head to make sure Severus didn't see the look on her face. Was he making this up? She didn't think so, since they were having a serious conversation when this came up.
When she said nothing, Severus mentioned, "We could do that too, but you hadn't indicated an interest in that sort of thing."
"But I'm not a boy," she muttered, trying to keep her voice steady.
"All right. Can we return to talking about children?"
"Sure. So there would be ways that the baby could grow within you, if I'm a werewolf?"
"Yes, and you already know that the impregnation can be caused by a potion. If your eggs are infected, then we could use someone else's. Maybe Petunia?"
"What?"
"She has the same parents as you, so wouldn't hers be closest?"
"I guess that makes sense," Lily replied slowly. "I don't think she would."
"She wouldn't? If she couldn't have a child, wouldn't you do that for her?"
"Of course I would, Sev."
"I see," he replied. It was about time Lily realized that the lengths she was willing to go through for others, didn't mean they'd return the favor.
"I'm sure Petunia would, once it was explained to her." Though if Severus was the intended father, Lily severely doubted Petunia would agree without a massive amount of persuasion.
"So do any of these possibilities reassure you that the general idea that you can't have children, does not mean you wouldn't be a wonderful mother?"
"But why would Mary …?"
"Things are different for others, Lily. I love you, and you alone. I don't consider what my future would be like with others. There is no one who is better than you."
Lily sighed. The issue of children was important to her. Important enough to reopen this topic. She knew Severus loved her, and just his ability to think of ways to overcome what he downplayed to be a minor setback. It was probably ridiculous to think that Malcolm Wilkes and his family would dismiss it as easily. Rather than arguing with him, she replied, "Sad but true. So true, Severus."
He kissed her temple. "I know you want more information and guarantees first, Lily, rather than accepting things will happen, whether we want them to or not. I don't want to waste any moment that we could possibly be together."
She sat in silence mulling over 'guarantees'. What kind of promise could protect them from werewolves, Death Eaters and He Who Must Not Be Named, and bum rags in general? Lily knew Severus was far from perfect, but wasn't it through the eyes of the same toerags that she was told he was a greasy, Dark Arts-loving, muggle-hating Death Eater who lived down by the river who was going to ruin her for a respectable and handsome wizard who would give her a decent home and house elves?
James had just shoo'd the house elf out after his head emerged from underwater in the bath, when he picked up the mirror and lowly called with urgency, "Sirius."
The mirror remained dark, but then he heard some girl speaking in maybe French, followed by what sounded like Sirius also in French.
"Padfoot!" James called.
He heard an exclamation of "Oi!" and then more French, getting louder.
There was light on the mirror now, and James could see Sirius above the mirror undressed before it was picked up. Sirius asked, "What is it, Prongs?"
James frowned. Sirius was trying to grow some sort of oddball beard and mustache thing. He looked like a fool. "I've been trying to talk to you for weeks."
"I'm on my honeymoon. Don't you read the paper?"
"Yes, but what are you doing?"
Sirius waggled his eyebrows, "Wouldn't you like to know, Prongs? You'll have to get your own, I'm afraid I'm not sharing. Appoline is a lady."
"That's not what I meant, you git. Why did you run away?"
"Run away? A bloke's got a right to a honeymoon, and I think mine is going to last for years to come."
"Stop being an ass. Parkin's dead, and you're off to France."
"Parkin? What do I have to do with that?"
"You had everything to do with it. My parents have me locked up and Moony's been sent to Azkaban."
"That was all Snape's fault, Prongs. I told you he was a vicious Death Eater. Listen, I have to go. Maybe you can visit us in Paris, maybe Christmas after next. Right? Cheerio."
James spluttered as the mirror went dark.
Sirius had been notoriously thick-headed before, but this was his best mate he was talking to, not some teacher.
* pop * "Master James done getting shampoo all rinsed out of hair? I's got fluffy towels all's warmed, sir."
James got out of the tub on autopilot and allowed the house elf to dry, powder and give him just a dash of his favorite cologne, and then dress him in his pajamas, help him belt his robe, and slide a pair of slippers onto his feet before he sat down meekly and allowed his wet hair to be combed. He forgot to run his fingers through it once the elf was done.
Was his best mate of all time gone?