Chapter 7
Lily Evans sat in the cozy corner of a quaint café with her friends — Teresa Berlitz, Alice Fortescue, and Sasha Monne. The soft sounds of laughter and clinking cups surrounded them, an echo of joy fueled by the news of Voldemort's demise. It was the first time in what felt like forever that true relief blossomed in their hearts. The dark clouds that had loomed over their lives were finally dispersing.
“Can you believe it?” Teresa exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. “We can actually look forward to a future without all this madness!”
Alice nodded eagerly, swirling her hot chocolate. “And I can finally go on a proper date with frank without worrying about curse-marked Death Eaters crashing it!”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Sasha groaned. “I’ll take a hundred bad dates over worrying about that lot again.”
The group erupted into laughter, but as the sound faded, a cold shiver danced up Lily’s spine. She felt it — a gaze, sharp and penetrating, lingering on her. With a slight frown, she turned her head slowly. There, in the gathering shadows, stood a figure cloaked in green. The mysterious following Delores Umbridge.
“What’s going on, Lily?” Teresa probed, her voice tinged with concern as she noticed the sudden pallor in Lily’s cheeks.
“It's nothing,” Lily replied, shaking her head to dispel the unease. “Just an odd feeling.” But deep inside, a gnawing sensation told her that her sister Petunia was near, an unwelcome thought given their tumultuous relationship.
Without warning, an unsettling band of familiar faces paraded past them: Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband Rodolphus, Lucius Malfoy with his ice-cold wife Narcissa by his side. They moved with an air of arrogance, and as their eyes briefly met, Lily felt a chill. The highborn villains looked at her and her friends with a knowing glance that seemed to communicate their unspoken freedom, an assurance that they would torment the world above ground once again: “We’re back, and nothing can stop us.”
“Honestly, Lucius, look at those idiots,” Bellatrix cackled. “They think we’d waste our lives in Azkaban.”
“Indeed, Bellatrix,” Lucius replied, with his signature smirk. “They don’t know the first thing about playing the dangerous game of power.”
Lily’s heart raced, her anger flaring as she tried to hold her ground. Just then, Antonin Dolohov Evan Roser and Rabastan Lestrange joined the group, their laughter filling the café.
“Hello there, ladies! Lovely day, isn’t it?” Rabastan smirked, an arrogant gleam in his eyes.
“You know, freedom is such a lovely feeling,” Dolohov mocked, “ we’re Just misunderstood pillars of society!.”
“Shut up, Dolohov! You’re nothing but Death Eater scum!” Alice shot back, her cheeks flushing with indignation.
Narcissa stepped forward, her voice laced with condescension. “Oh, my dear Alice, if we are indeed Death Eaters, then pray tell why don’t we bear the mark?” She rolled up her sleeves with a flourish to reveal unblemished skin, the other Death Eaters doing the same in a mocking display.
“You won’t get away with this,” Lily warned, anger bubbling within her. She narrowed her eyes at the Lestranges, remembering the whispers of dark objects and curses surrounding their mansion. “Especially you, Lestrange. I’ve heard from Moody that there’s still a trial ongoing.”
The group only laughed, the sound cruel and mirthless. “You’re right, Evans,” Rabastan taunted. “But a cursed object in our mansion doesn’t mean we’ll rot away in Azkaban for the rest of our lives.”
“Oh, but to think you had a crush on me back at Hogwarts,” Rabastan continued, leaning into the jab. “Honestly, I never even glanced at you. I think your muggle sister would interest me more than you.”
“Shut up, Lestrange! And keep my sister out of it!” Lily shot back fiercely, her voice a trembling blend of anger and defiance.
Rodolphus chimed in with a twisted grin, “You know something, Rab? You’re right. The Muggle Evans might be much more interesting than this red-haired witch.”
Sasha broke through the tense moment. “You’d rather date a Muggle girl over a pureblood witch? I don’t believe it. You must want to toy with us because your leader is dead!”
“What’s wrong, Monne? Getting a little jealous over a Muggle? My, you’re so easy to toy with, especially when the muggle girl isn’t here ” Rabastan taunted as they all burst into laughter.
Lily clenched her fists, determination flooding her veins. “This isn’t over!” she called out as they sauntered away.
“Not by a long shot,” Antonin echoed.
As the danger of their presence dissipated, Alice crossed her arms, clearly frustrated. “I can’t believe they think they can just waltz back into society after everything they’ve done.”
“They’re insane,” Teresa added, glancing around for eavesdroppers. “There’s no way the Ministry will let them loose indefinitely. They’re still dangerous.”
Once they were out of sight, Narcissa turned to Rabastan’s best friend, raising a brow. “Were you really serious about the Muggle girl?” she probed, her tone flat.
Rabastan smirked, seeing all eyes on him. “What? No. I said that just to annoy her. But if I were to choose,” he glanced back at where Lily sat, “I might’ve picked the Muggle girl.”
“Incredible,” Antonin chuckled. “Do you remember the way Evans kept looking at you back at Hogwarts? Everyone could see her crush.”
Bellatrix scoffed. “That Mudblood was so annoying with her eyes on you, I wanted to hex her every time I saw it. But no Dumbledore’s Gryffindors always got his protection, didn’t they?”
Rabastan’s laughter echoed once more. “What would be the odds if I dated her sister and paraded her in front of Evans?”
Evan chortled. “Didn’t she call her sister ugly and a horse-faced freak?”
Narcissa, unphased, remarked coldly, “How could she say that about her sister? Even if she is a Muggle, I can’t fathom badmouthing my own blood, no matter how insane they may be .”
Bellatrix cut in, laughing wickedly. “Oh, Cissy, don’t tell me you care! I’m the queen of loonies, and I wear it with pride.”
The laughter continued, but the gravity of their words hung in the air. They were free now, lurking and plotting. Lily and her friends felt their flight of hope momentarily plummet as they watched the shadows of darkness rise once more. She turned back to her friends, who were looking at her with concern.
“We’ll be ready,” Lily said quietly, more to herself than to them. The specter of danger lurked just behind the laughter in the café, and there was still a world to protect.