The kitchen
Lily answered the phone, her breath steady.
"Hey," Sev’s shaky voice came from the other end.
"Hey," she replied, feeling a wave of relief. She was still upset about how Sev had treated her, but honestly, she missed venting to her friend about work.
"Everything alright... over there?" he asked, slowly. His voice sounded concerned, but also like he was trying to keep it casual.
"Look..." Lily chuckled. "I don’t even know where to start."
"They're not treating you badly or anything, are they?" he quickly shifted to a more serious tone.
"It’s not that!" Lily responded immediately. "I’ve barely even talked to them yet."
Lily then sat on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. It felt nice to talk to Sev after so many days without seeing him. It felt like ages, but it had only been four days.
"Look, Lily, I..." Sev cleared his throat, but then said nothing.
Lily waited. She really did feel like she deserved an apology. A breeze drifted in from one of the kitchen windows, but she didn’t move.
"I´m sorry, alright?" Sev finally said. "You’re an adult, and I shouldn’t be meddling in what you do or don’t do for work."
"That’s not why I was upset." Lily replied, shaking her head. "You just… seemed like you didn’t get it."
"It’s definitely not something I’d do," Sev said. Lily could practically picture the ironic smile on his face. "But we’re pretty different, aren’t we?"
"Oh, for sure." Lily smiled. "So, how’s life at the office without me?"
"Everyone here is unbearable," Sev answered, his monotone creeping back. "Today, Helena cornered me at lunch to tell me all the fascinating details about the healing properties of energy crystals."
Lily let out a snorted laugh.
"Lily, I swear," Sev went on, "why did I sign up to work with this bunch of hippies? Sometimes I actually miss working at that law firm."
"It does suit you better, to be honest."
"I miss you," Sev said, suddenly.
Lily froze.
It wasn’t a strange thing to say, but the tone Sev used... It felt almost like a confession.
She didn’t know how to respond.
"We all do," Sev added, stammering a little. "The department’s falling apart without you."
"Oh… You guys will manage without me," Lily replied, feeling embarrassed.
Silence on the line.
"I think I should be going..." Lily finally said, eager to wrap up the confusing conversation. "We have a shooting tomorrow, and..."
"Sure, sure," Sev replied, his words barely audible. "You should go."
"Good night," Lily hurriedly said.
"Good night, Lily," Sev replied at last, just before the line dropped and the familiar beep sounded.
Lily dropped her phone, lost in thought.
Why had Sev used that tone? It was the most emotion she had ever heard in his voice. And why had he called her at this hour on a Friday night?
They had never hung out outside of work, aside from happy hours or company events. Did they have lunch together every day? Yes. But it was nothing that could be seen as inappropriate. Lily considered Sev a friend, but a friend confined to a specific bubble in her life.
The indecision weighed on her mind, but her whole body jumped when she heard a voice behind her.
"Everything okay, PR?"
Lily's eyes widened as she realized James Potter was standing behind her.
"Uh… yeah, thanks, and..."
"You’re looking a bit red," Potter said with a grin.
He was wearing a baggy gray shirt with USC - Fine Arts emblazoned on it and sweatpants. His hair was messier than usual, and his round glasses looked askew. He probably woke up to grab some water or a snack from the kitchen.
"Hm..." Lily tried to play it cool. "It’s nothing."
"Were you talking to your boyfriend or something?" James said casually, stepping past her to open the fridge. "Oh, crap. Black didn’t refill the bottles."
"No," Lily replied, her eyebrows raised. "He’s my coworker."
"Another coworker spying on us?" James joked, filling a glass with water at the sink.
Work.
Crap! Lily was in her pajamas in a work situation. In front of someone she was supposed to supervise.
Lily looked down and realized just how inappropriate the situation was, especially since her pajamas were made of a fabric that was a bit… revealing. She crossed her arms, trying to cover up a little.
“Yeah...” Lily forced a laugh. “I should probably head to my room. We shouldn’t be seeing each other like this and...”
“What do you mean?” James asked, a frown forming between his eyebrows. Lily realized he was too sleepy to make sense of anything.
“In pajamas!” Lily laughed at herself. “I live with you guys, but in a professional context.”
James, incredulous, set the glass of water down on the counter and let out a good-natured laugh.
“PR, come on,” he said, finally glancing at her clothes. “We’re gonna be living together for a while. You’ll have to get used to a few things…”
“Like what?” Lily asked, almost indignant.
“When you have to hold Pettigrew’s head over the toilet because he got trashed at a party, or cut Black’s hair because he freaks out when it grows too long, or put ointment on Lupin’s back because the bastard can’t reach, you’ll see this isn’t just work, alright?”
James looked deep into Lily’s eyes, leaving her speechless, and flashed a small smile.
“Goodnight, PR.”
And just as he was about to head back to his room, Lily let out an indignant squeak.
“It’s Lily!”
“I know,” James said, at his door, before closing it behind him.
- - -
The next morning, Lily woke up to loud noises coming from the hallway. Groggy, she couldn’t quite make sense of the sounds. They seemed like heavy footsteps. And there was music too. Something really upbeat.
Lily got up, confused, changed her t-shirt, and looked at the clock. She’d set her alarm for eight since they had all agreed to leave by nine-thirty. She’d thought about waking up early to make sure the boys were up if they needed help, especially since they were probably dead tired after last night.
But when Lily opened the door, she was startled by a figure speeding past her. Someone was running—really fast. She poked her head out and saw that Sirius and Remus were… racing?
“You’re slow, Black!” Remus said, puffing his chest out and laughing at Sirius. “You’re slow, and you’ll have to bow to the speed king over here!”
“Shut up!” Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. “I’m still hungover!”
“What an excuse!” Lily heard James call from the living room. “Lupin’s hungover too!”
“Look at the size of this guy’s legs!” Sirius pointed indignantly. To be fair, Remus was the tallest of the boys by a decent margin. “It’s not fair.”
“Wah wah wah,” Peter laughed, mocking Sirius’s whining.
“Whatever, I don’t care!” Sirius shouted as he stormed into the living room, annoyed. “I bet I’ll beat both of you, you mules.”
Lily then heard Peter and James talking over each other, trying to outdo Sirius’s frustration.
“Oh!” Remus finally noticed Lily’s presence. “Good morning, P… Lily.”
His voice was breathy, slipping out from behind a friendly smile.
“Sorry we woke you. We were, uh… warming up! For our busy day, you know?”
“Good morning...” Lily replied, still confused and suspicious.
“Hey!” Sirius called out from the living room. “PR’s up!”
Lily slowly made her way to the living room. It was still just as messy as it had been the night before. Myrtle was supposed to come after they left. She also noticed the boys’ flushed faces—they’d clearly been up for a while. They were all ready, which made her feel a bit unprepared.
James and Peter had scripts in their laps, but the loud music and their grinning faces made it clear they weren’t really focusing. Lily hoped they had everything memorized already. Pump Up the Jam was blasting from the speaker, and she laughed internally at the choice.
“Morning, PR!” James said, beaming. “We saved you pancakes—Sirius made them!”
“And that’s why they’re awful,” Peter added with a grin.
“Thanks,” Lily smiled sleepily and headed toward the kitchen.
When she got there, she found two oddly shaped pancakes on a plate and a jar of honey. Lily opened the fridge to see what else she could whip up. There wasn’t much to cook with, so she just grabbed the milk and started making some coffee. She could hear the boys talking in the background:
“Rehearse with me, Pettigrew. Come on!” James said, jumping to his feet. Lily couldn’t believe how they had this much energy so early in the morning.
“Okay, okay, let’s go!” Peter replied, also standing up but looking a bit nervous. “Can we just run the lines? No acting?”
“Fiiine,” James rolled his eyes. “The scene where we face off, yeah?”
“Okay,” Peter agreed.
Lily straightened up in her chair at the dining table, curious to see how prepared the boys really were.
Potter started reciting his lines:
“So… Can you do this?”
“It’s not like that…” Peter delivered, with almost no emotion.
“That’s what you call acting?” Remus appeared in the hallway with a sarcastic grin.
“We’re just running the lines!” Peter snapped back, as if it were obvious.
“If you can’t act, just say so!” Sirius shrugged, jumping in to tease.
“Shut up and let us rehearse!” James flipped them off. “Where was I…? Oh yeah! I saw you, I saw you, Lewis. In that forest, you turned… into a rat!”
“Wait!” Peter continued. “But there was no one else in that forest. So if it was you there, that means…”
“Yes, I’m a Shapeshifter too, Lewis. I was the stag.”
“This script is trash,” Sirius commented.
“Dude you're INSUFFERABLE!” Peter and James shouted in unison, which made Lily laugh.
James shot her a look and raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, the pancakes seemed really interesting.