Desperate Measures
Lily’s pov
“Ugh you will not believe what happened today.” Mary groans as she enters the flat in blue jeans and a green shirt, putting her lime purse on the entryway table, “I can’t deal with this job anymore.”
Used to her ranting about her job, Lily just turns her head over the back of the sofa and looks at her lazily, “What happened?” she asks, tapping on the border of her Ipad with the digital pencil. She was supposed to be studying ahead for next year, but she’s certain that with Mary here, she won’t be able to get any work done anyway.
She hears the water running in the kitchen, Mary cleaning her hands, and it’s not until she is back into the living room that she talks, “You know that creep, David?” she asks as she sits on the armchair on Lily’s left.
“Yeah, your new boss, right?” Lily says and puts her studying material back on the table. It’s gossip and whinge time. No more studying.
Mary nods, “Yes, him.” She points at Lily with her manicured nails in approval, “Well, he came onto me. Again.” She says, and Lily’s jaw drops a little.
“Again?” she parrots incredulously, “Isn’t he like fifteen years older than you?”
“Yeah he is!” Mary exclaims, “And, you know, it’s not like I can really say anything. He’s my boss.” She explains with an irritated sigh, and Lily feels horribly sorry.
“You’ve tried saying no, at least?” Lily tries, but Mary can only sigh again.
“Well I can’t really do that without risking my career, can I?” she asks rhetorically, “If I refuse his advances, there’s a good chance I’ll never get promoted. He’d take it as a personal vendetta and make my life hell.” She explains with a shrug, “I’m just…stuck.”
“I…Fucking hell. I really, really hate this.” Lily says, “I mean, it’s 2025, and women still have to face this kind of problems. Fucking patriarchy.”
Mary looks at her for a moment, with the same look she had when she found out One Direction had separated, all sad and lost, until she asks, “What am I going to do?”
Lily bites her lower lip. Logically there are a few options:
- Going out with her boss, which isn’t even really an option because first, Mary doesn’t want to, and second, because it would complicate things even further.
- Telling him no and risking him undermining her and her career.
- Going to his superior’s office and have him reported for initiating unprofessional contact in the workplace, which could endanger Mary’s career as well.
- Telling him that Mary is already taken.
Now, Lily ponders over that last option. Really, he would have no reason to get mad: it’s nothing personal, nothing that would wound his fragile masculinity, and would put Mary off the market. Unless he doesn’t see this as an obstacle, which would be wrong on another level entirely.
In the end, because it’s Mary and Lily has never censured herself in front of her, she asks.
“What if you tell him you’re in a relationship? He won’t take it personally, and you’ll get rid of him.” She says, and watches as the idea dawns on Mary.
“Right…Yeah, that works.” Mary nods and smiles, “Do you wager James would be open to act as my fake boyfriend?”
Until her words, Lily hadn’t realised that she had assumed it would be her who would play Mary’s partner. She doesn’t know why she had assumed that; it just made sense in her brain. And really, it would make sense; she can even picture it: her at Mary’s work, kissing her briefly on the lips, saying hi to her colleagues and going outside across the street to get lunch together. It has actually happened in the past, minus the kiss part, but well. It’s not like Lily would mind it anyway.
Nevermind. Point is, when Lily hears Mary mention James’ name, it feels like a slap across her face. A wake up call, of sorts.
“Er. I’d kind of assumed I would do it. But yeah, no, James works, sure, yeah.” She rambles on, and sees Mary’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline.
“Oh?” she says, looking closely at Lily in surprise, “I…You’d be okay with that?” she asks, and Lily only frowns.
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be?”
Mary shrugs, “Well, you’d be acting as my girlfriend. Indefinitely. Or, well, until David isn’t my boss anymore.” She explains, something Lily already knew. If Mary thinks this doesn’t sound good, well. She’s widely mistaken. “That could make you uncomfortable.”
“Of course it wouldn’t.” Lily frowns at her, then smiles, “I mean, Mary, you’re hot as fuck.” She grins, watching as her best friend laughs, “I’d be glad to be your girlfriend. If only for a little while.”
“Wow, thanks, Lils.” Mary grins sweetly, “Didn’t expect such flattery coming from you today.”
“Hey, I’m your girlfriend now.” Lily chuckles, “Prepare yourself for serious flattery all day, every day.”
Mary rolls her eyes with a grin, “Can’t wait to see that honestly. God I hope David will be so pissed when he sees.”
“Me too.” Lily smiles, “Maybe he’ll think again before asking out his employees.”
“Doubt it.” Mary snorts, “But it’s worth a shot.” She shrugs, then looks a Lily for a moment with a silence in the room, “Are you sure it’s not bothering you? Being my fake girlfriend and all?” she asks, and Lily shakes her head immediately.
“Not at all. It could be really fun, actually, I think.” She smiles, then remembers something. Something she’d been trying not to think about for a little while, “Actually…I could get some use out of this as well.”
“Really?” Mary asks, leaning over in her armchair to look at Lily more closely, “How come?”
“I…It’s Petunia.” She preambles, and sees Mary hold her breath. She’s right; it’s never good news when it’s about Lily’s sister, “You know she’s been with that Vernon guy for a while now?” she asks, and Mary nods, “Well they’re getting married. Heard from my mum the other day.”
Mary’s mouth shapes onto an ‘o’ at Lily’s words, “Did she not invite you?” she asks in a small voice, and Lily chuckles humourlessly.
“It got lost in the mail.” She repeats the excuse her sister told her when she confronted her about it, “Or so she says. I don’t think she wants me there, but my mum probably forced her.” She sighs, then throws her hands in her lap, “Point is, I’m invited to the wedding, and, well. I don’t want to turn up on my own.” She says, “I get enough shit as it is from Pet about stupid stuff, I don’t need more about how I can’t manage to be with anyone.”
The shit with Petunia had been going on forever. Ever since they were little, Petunia resented Lily for everything: being born, having red hair, being smart, having to share stuff with her… And well, usually, when siblings don’t get along in childhood, they end up getting closer in their teenage years, but not for them. Where Lily prided herself in friendships, academical validation and studies, Petunia only cared about finding a husband, being a good wife, and saw Lily’s accomplishments as insults over Petunia’s lack of accomplishments. So, naturally, the resentment Petunia had for her sister in childhood morphed onto unfair rivalry in teenage years and now, in early adulthood, onto snarky remarks and hatred towards the other.
While Lily had spent most of her childhood chasing Petunia’s approval, and her early teenage years wondering why her sister hated her profoundly, the adult version of Lily Evans is only slightly saddened over the fact that her sister doesn’t care about her, but rather sees her as a parasite, an inconvenience. So, yes, learning that her own sister didn’t want to invite her to her wedding stung a little bit.
And after nineteen years living in the Evans family, and about three years knowing the Dursley family, she won’t go to the wedding alone. There is no way she won’t get remarks about being single, and she honestly doesn’t have the energy for that. So showing up with Mary is the next best thing. And, well, she wouldn’t mind people thinking she’d be able to pull someone as gorgeous as Mary Macdonald.
“I mean, obviously, I’ll come with you to the wedding if you want me to, but do you think bringing a girl is better than bringing no one? I mean, your family’s not very woke, Lils.” Mary warns, and Lily only shrugs.
“Yeah, but they won’t say anything in front of you. They might be a bit old fashioned, but they’re still polite. And I don’t care at all what they think as long as they don’t bother me with it.” Lily says, and finds Mary smiling up at her.
“That’s really inspiring.” She says, still smiling proudly, “You came really far, you know. You used to freak out anytime you had a family gathering and do anything to seem perfect.”
Lily chuckles, “Yeah, I remember. Guess what Aunt Mirabel thinks doesn’t really matter to me anymore.”
“Oh no, not Aunt Mirabel.” Mary gasps jokingly, making Lily chuckle. “We’re really doing this then?”
“Yeah.” Lily grins, “I’ll pick you up from work tomorrow. Show David you’re not on the market.”
“You’re a fallen angel.” Mary sighs out contently, and really, Lily can’t wait for the next day.
__________
As the plan was already in motion, Lily shows up at 12:30 to Mary’s work in the 8th arrondissement, along the Seine. She’s wearing blue jeans with a small, pink cropped top she bought the year before in Greece during the Experience Trip, the sun is high in the sky, and Lily is just happy. Summer may not be Lily’s favourite season, but seeing blue skies, the occasional bird that isn’t a pigeon and hearing more music in the streets feels wonderful. She settles her old bike over a street light and attaches it to it in case someone feels like stealing it and walks up the stairs to Mary’s department. Of course, everything is luxurious, reeking of both money and modernity, it’s LVMH, after all, and it seems fitting to Lily that Mary would work here. It’s not the first time she came to get her for lunch, but, well, it’s the first time she will be introduced as Mary’s girlfriend.
Lily would be lying if she said it didn’t make her a little giddy. It’s surreal to her that she is the person who is going to be able to sweep Mary Macdonald off the dating market, but well. She’s nothing if not honoured to have that position.
She finally reaches the third floor, ‘Department of Creation’ which sounds amazing to Lily. She might not be very handy, but Mary has been known to be the artistic one. Well, actually, she wasn’t known for it, because she liked to keep it to herself, but Lily knows: in Rowena, their dorm was often covered with Mary’s sketches of dresses, with fabric lying around and the occasional needle on the floor for Lily or Marlene to step on. The thing is, though, that Mary’s dresses, or tops, or anything other she ever created, were always beautiful. Even if she only ever made stuff for herself, because she knew her own body best, it was undeniable that she was talented. For prom, in sixth year, she wore a deep red ballroom gown she created herself, which made her look like both a princess and a goddess. Really, something Mary succeeded at more often than not.
She opens the door without knocking, just as Mary had told her, and is met by the sight of a huge guy sitting at his desk, an office phone in his hand.
“Non, non, c’est pas ce que j’ai demandé!” the man exclaims, agitating his hand as he speaks, as if he was Italian and not French. “Si vous savez pas faire votre travail, vous avez qu’a retourner chez Pôle Emploi. Bande d’incapables.” He swears and hangs up the phone forcefully. Lily’s French may not be perfect, but she knows that whatever he says, it can’t be good. His eyes snap back up to Lily who is hoovering awkwardly at the front door and sighs.
“Vous êtes là pour…?” he asks, and Lily only bites her lip. Now is the moment to put to use the five years she spent being a theatre kid.
“Bonjour, je cherche Mary Macdonald?” she says, and points to herself, “Girlfriend.” she doesn’t know how to say it in French, and the man seems to understand, as he nods with recognition on his face.
“Ah, yes you’re the girl on Mary’s phone wallpaper.” He smiles politely, “She’s downstairs making a copy. Make yourself comfortable.” He tells her, now in a good English that makes Lily feel less out of place. Curse her for living in a country where she doesn’t know the language.
As told, Lily nods in thanks and leans against the wall as she waits. She texts Mary to know when she is coming, but doesn’t get any answer. Distantly, Lily wonders if that man is Mary’s boss, the infamous David who keeps asking her out, and, well, it’s not very long until she gets her answer.
“You’re Mary’s friend?” he asks, even though Lily introduced herself as her girlfriend a second ago, and doesn’t wait for any answer before continuing, “Tell her to make up her mind soon. And if she doesn’t agree to that date, I might just ask someone else.” He smirks at her in what he probably thinks is chivalrous, but comes out creepy and weird, in Lily’s opinion. It’s difficult for her to wrap her mind around what he just asked her, to realise that he just said that when they met like, thirty seconds ago.
Thankfully, ever the knight in shining armour, Mary emerges from the adjoining room with a stack of copies in her hands, and grins when she sees Lily.
“Lils! Here you are!” she smiles, and walks over to her desk to deposit the copies, the desk to Lily’s immediate right. Without thinking, and because David is creeping her out, Lily presses a quick kiss to Mary’s lips. Her lips are soft, is the first thing Lily realises, and then she thinks that fuck, she just kissed Mary. And, well they never really said whether they would kiss, or do anything physical.
Hopefully, Mary will understand.
Lily looks back up at Mary’s eyes for some sort of confirmation, and finds a completely shocked gaze staring back at her. Well. It seems Mary was not expecting it. Lily thinks that they are not alone, are still playing a part, and clears her throat, prompting Mary to just snap out of it. When she doesn’t Lily widens her eyes at her, and finally, Mary blinks and seems to realise that the earth is still turning, and there still is some big creepy dude sitting at the desk just behind them.
Mary turns around to look at David, who was promptly staring at them, “David, this is Lily, my girlfriend.” She smiles tightly, saying the word ‘girlfriend’ more forcefully than the others, hoping to convey the message. David eyes widen at her words, and he clears his throat.
“Ah. Didn’t expect that.” He nods tightly, then clears his throat, “What a shame.”
“Excuse me?” Lily arches an eyebrow at him, glaring like he is gum stuck to her shoe, and he only shakes his head.
“Nevermind.” He stands up from his desk, taking the cup of coffee standing on his desk, and starts to walk towards the adjoining room, where Mary came from earlier, “Bon appetit” he tells them, then addresses Mary, “Be back at two, and not a minute later.”
“Yes sir.” Mary nods and walks out of the room. Once they are both alone on the corridor, Mary sighs loudly, “So that was David.”
“A joy, isn’t he?” Lily scoffs, “I swear to God, it’s always assholes like this who end up having higher ranks and better jobs than everyone else.”
“He’s the worst.” Mary complains and starts walking down the stairs, “And, like the work he always gets praised about isn’t his own; it’s usually some of his assistants, like mine or Lola, the other intern I told you about.” She sighs, “He’s like the definition of a man.”
“Ugh.” Lily grimaces, “I swear, I don’t know how you put up with them anyway. Men.” She says, “I swore off them since James.
Mary nods with a sigh, “I know. I think I’m going to give up on them too.” She says, then eyes Lily warily, “And, well if we’re going to be fake dating, I better not be seen with any other guy, right?” she asks, and Lily chuckles tightly. She feels awfully awkward, now boarding the subject. They agreed to the fake dating, but they didn’t even talk about whether they would be kissing or not. And, well, it’s clear that Mary was not expecting it at all. What if Lily crossed a line? What if she made Mary uncomfortable? What if…well, what if Lily kind of wants to do it again?
Nevermind. Lily swore to herself she wouldn’t let herself think about that a long time ago. A really long time ago.
The first time she thought about kissing Mary. A very normal thought a lot of people have about their best friends, right? Right….
It was the first week after they’d moved in together. There was cardboard boxes thrown around everywhere, most of everything was messy and made no sense, but well, they had a sofa, a lamp, and a plate of sushi on their laps. They were laughing, watching the film of the Experience Remus had made with most of the pictures and videos from everyone, looking back to all of those memories: to Marlene and Dorcas grinning at a beach in Mexico, to Lily and James cuddling in front of one of Giza’s pyramids, to Remus and Sirius play fighting on the beach on Italy, to Pandora and Regulus flipping off the camera. A video of Pandora and Xeno’s wedding, another of all of them on a boat in Portugal laughing and jumping in the water, a picture of Lily and Marlene kissing either of Mary’s cheeks in Prague for her birthday. All of the girls wearing wedding dresses, James, Marlene, Dorcas and her wearing firefighters jackets, all of them in Amina’s kitchen in Casablanca, with a canful of pepper on the floor and James holding a broom.
In all, memories of the best six months of Lily’s life. Her favourite people in her favourite places, happiness, laughter and love at every corner, marked on every picture.
As they watched the video, Lily had turned to look at Mary, who was chuckling at the video. There was a little drop of soja sauce on her lower lip.
For some reason, Lily hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything else. She missed a video of James and Sirius betting each other to drink as much beer as possible in one go, her gaze stuck on that one drop. She got the urge to swipe it off with her own lips, so huge she almost leaned in a little, but then her mind went back to her.
She snapped her eyes back towards the movies and left them there for the remainder of it. That was the first time it happened, and as she stared at the moving pictures, she swore to herself that she would never, ever think about Mary this way again. Because she had suffered enough through friendships with people who didn’t really want to be her friend, and Lily couldn’t do that to her. She couldn’t want more than Mary was willing to give her. She wouldn’t be that person.
So, she swore that she wouldn’t think about kissing Mary ever again. And if she ever got distracted by her lips, she would snap out of it immediately.
And it’s by that promise to herself that Lily speaks her next words. “By the way, that kiss?” she says, and feels Mary’s eyes snap to her face, “I’m sorry I sprung this on you, probably shouldn’t have.” She swallows, then justifies herself, “It’s just, well, that dude was being so creepy, and, well, I needed an escape, really. I…sorry?” she grimaces, and watches as Mary sighs out a laugh.
“Lils, it’s okay. We should’ve talked about it before.” She smiles, then shrugs, “If we’re going to fake date, then yeah, kissing seems appropriate.” She chuckles, “You’re a better kisser than I thought.” She says, and Lily gapes at her.
“I-why would I be a bad kisser?” Lily asks, somewhat offended, “You’re wounding me, Macdonald.”
Mary shrugs, a smile playing at her lips, “I don’t know, your first kiss was Snivellus.” She chuckles, “Leaves something to be desired, doesn’t it?” she asks, and Lily swats at her.
“We promised we wouldn’t bring that up again!” Lily gapes, and Mary laughs, “It’s my deepest regret, you can’t judge.”
“Oh but I can.” Mary snickers, “I’m just saying, if you learned with Snivelly, then there’s a good chance you’re horrible.”
Lily stares at her for a moment, at a loss for words, “There was James after!” she exclaims, “Dude, I was able to pull Potter, of course I’m a good kisser.”
Mary cocks her head to the side cockily, “Not going to try to prove me wrong?” she asks, and Lily can only shake her head, hiding the small blush overtaking her features.
“You wish.” She says, and the smile over her face doesn’t diminish in the slightest all through lunch.