Chapter 6
chapter six
lily
Lily’s Saturday started off pretty well.
She spent the morning organizing her alcohol markers into their cubbies and tidying her room as the sun streamed through her white and pink curtains and then proceeded to ruin her clean desk by cutting up origami paper and pasting it along with polaroid pictures into her scrapbook.
After becoming absorbed in her scrapbook for a good few hours and realizing she completely forgot to eat at all, Lily shuffled down into the kitchen to get herself some chocolate. Petunia was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a Gatorade.
Lily silently broke off a piece of chocolate and slid it across the table to her sister.
“Thanks.” Petunia said, scrolling through a webtoon. She was very obviously closed off. She was telling Lily, without saying anything, I don’t really want to talk to you. So you shouldn’t even try.
“Welcome.” Lily replied, and walked back up to her room. She remembered when she and her sister were closer—when it was easier to find things to talk about. They used to run through the English countryside, picking flowers and playing fairies in the grass. But they’d grown father and farther apart by the year, and Petunia started hanging out with people who were not-so subtle with their bigotry.
So they stopped talking as much.
And then most of their interactions were either arguments or cold and uncomfortable.
Lily tried to stay in her bedroom or go to Remus’s most of the time.
It sucked, but Lily didn’t see how she could do anything about it. That was just the way it was.
Lily sat back down at her desk and flipped through her scrapbook, smiling at the pictures of Remus and Sirius flipping off the camera, Alice and Cissa skipping and stumbling on the cobblestones, butterflies silhouetted by the sunset, and a shot of the starry sky with tiny shadows of four boys leaning into each other in the corner. Lily didn’t have any pictures of herself. She preferred to capture the happiness of others.
Or, in other words, she liked to capture pictures of people just being. She had innumerable pictures of Remus reading, her mock trial friends asleep in a pile after a competition, Sirius smiling, and James and Peter tossing a ball back and forth.
Just… little traces of people existing.
Maybe that was why Lily had wanted to take a picture of Mary at the bus stop.
It was a snapshot of Mary’s life that didn’t involve Mary posing for the camera. A tiny glimpse into who she was. Lily wanted to get more glimpses like that.
This thought made Lily’s face warm up. But Lily had thoughts like that about Remus when they were first becoming friends, right? So it was fine. Lily nodded to herself, satisfied with this conclusion.
Lily picked a book off her shelf, and settled into a nest of blankets. It was another stereotypical fantasy romance. For whatever reason, Lily had a soft spot for them. Lily liked being able to read with her brain turned off, as she spent way too much time in her day overthinking. So settling into a silly story about an elf and a princess with a terrible relationship eloping despite having multiple other, more logical options. Classic junk food reading.
She stayed there, reading and humming to herself for hours.
That was, until her phone rang.
Lily picked up her phone, answering the call.
“Hello?”
“Is this Lily Evans?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“This is Hogsmeade Hospital. You’re listed as one of the emergency contacts of Remus John Lupin. Does that sound right?”
All the air drained from Lily’s lungs. “Yes.”
“Mr. Lupin is here because he had a flare up that caused him to pass out and hit his head. He’s currently recovering, but we don’t have an estimate for how long he’ll need to stay.”
Lily was lost for words. Tears were pooling in her eyes. She tried to compose herself, taking a few breaths, but she couldn’t control her trembling.
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
Lily put down her phone and watched as her entire world crumbled around her.
~~~
2:32
You
Remus is in the hospital.
I know you’re probably busy, but I need to talk to someone.
2:35
Mary
i’m here
what do you need?
chapter six
mary
2:47
Lily
He’s had flare ups before, but I don’t think they’ve ever been this bad.
I just don’t know what to do to help.
2:48
You
i’m so sorry
it’s a terrible situation
i don’t think we can do much to help him besides just be there
2:48
Lily
But I want to do something
I have to fix this somehow
I’m just so worried about him
And we have the trip TOMORROW
I don’t know if I can do this
2:49
You
you don’t have to
we don’t have to do the trip
if you want, we can go visit him
or if you’d prefer to go alone that works too
2:50
Lily
I’d really appreciate it if you came with me
Sorry I know we don’t know each other that well
2:50
You
of course
2:51
Lily
But I don’t think I can do it by myself
Oh
Thank you
2:52
You
of course, blossom
~~~
Mary sat beside Lily in the cold, silent car. Lily had tried to pay for the Uber, but Mary didn’t let her. Within a few minutes, they were sitting behind a man with a scraggly blonde beard and a low, gravelly voice that hinted at a smoking habit.
Mary wanted to take Lily’s hand, but she didn’t know if that would be okay. Lily was pale and shaky, eyes rimmed with red. She wasn’t crying, but she wasn’t doing much of anything else either. She just sat next to Mary with a blank expression, staring at the back of the Uber driver’s head and saying nothing.
They pulled up to the hospital, and the two girls stepped out of the car.
Lily led the way.
The inside of the hospital was cold and unwelcoming. The repetitive beeping of monitors grated on Mary’s nerves, making her want to plug her ears. She couldn’t look at all the patients they passed, feeling light-headed.
Every part of this building reminded Mary of her mother.
Specifically, the night Mary had to take her here.
She was twelve. When she came home from school, she found that her mother had fallen off her bed and was sprawled on the ground, a bottle still clutched in her hand. Mary shook her shoulders, but her mother didn’t stir.
Mary slept at the hospital that night.
She’s at home, she’s fine, Mary told herself. You have to be strong for Lily.
Mary and Lily walked up to Remus’s room and found him asleep. His head was bandaged, a purple bruise peeking out from the gauze. The nurse who had led them there told them he had been given painkillers so he could sleep, but that he’d been knocked out for several hours so it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he woke up now. Still, they were urged not to tax him too much with loud noises or physical touch. Beside her, Lily wobbled like she might fall over. Mary instinctively shot out a hand to stabilize her, and Lily gave her a weak look of appreciation. Across the room on one of two chairs, Sirius had fallen into a restless sleep.
Lily sat down on one of the extremely uncomfortable hospital chairs, and Mary stood beside her.
Remus stirred a little.
“Lils?”
“Hey, Rem.”
“Sorry, I probably look really pathetic right now,” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle.
“No, shut up.” Lily sniffled. “How long has Sirius been here?”
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve been asleep most of the time.” Remus sighed. “Hi, Mary. Sorry you had to see me like this.”
Mary shook her head tiredly. “We’re all worried for you, love, you don’t have to apologize.”
Remus puffed out a breath, and made a movement as if to lift his hand before wincing and abandoning the idea. “I was going to say it’s not that bad, but it probably is that bad, huh?”
“Yeah.” Mary placed a soft hand on Lily’s shoulder, and waited to see if Lily would shrink away. Lily leaned into the touch.
“Oh, shit. The thing is tomorrow, isn’t it?” Remus asked, looking far guiltier than he should.
“Well, it’s pretty much cancelled now.” Lily said, looking at the ground.
Remus jerked upward and hissed in pain. “No, Lils, don’t let me stop you. I still think it’s a good idea. And Mary and Sirius will be there with you.”
“No,” Sirius said blearily, sitting up at last. “I’m staying here with you, and that’s final.”
“I want to stay too!” Lily protested.
“I think it’ll be good for you,” Remus replied. “And I’ll be fine. I’ve got Sirius and my parents and all the doctors and shit. And this isn’t me trying to get rid of you,” he added, upon seeing Lily’s face fall. “I just don’t want to hold you back.”
Lily stuttered helplessly. Mary looked down at her with soft eyes. “At the end of the day, it is your choice. But I think he makes a good point. It might be nice to get away.”
Lily scowled, but stayed silent as if she were thinking it over. “...I’ll try. But if it’s bad or if you get worse, I’m coming back immediately, you hear me?” She pointed at Remus.
He laughed. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when you get back.”
~~~
7:36
Lily
Guess it’s just you and me, huh?
7:37
You
if it helps, i have an awesome travel playlist
7:37
Lily
I’m excited to hear it
And I’m sorry for all the trouble
I’m usually not this emotional
7:38
You
no problem at all <3