The Date
Dear Mary,
In town, the Evans name holds a weight that is somewhat hard to imagine back at Hogwarts. I know it probably sounds bizarre, but people tip their caps to my father when they pass by. The ladies curtsy. He was a military man straight out of medical school, straight into the war. He has a bad leg from fighting, and a worse head because of it, but he earned their respect. He also earned the ability to be the only doctor in the area, which brings a certain credit to our name. Isn’t that bizarre? He can get away with practically anything, which is true of anyone who people trust, but the real trick is that he actually deserves it! Think about Sirius and James, doing whatever they want whenever they want. What have they done for that? Nothing.
I’m so sorry for the fiery rant, also. My dad skipped out on Tuney’s birthday and it made me wonder one good thing that came from him never being around. I simply wish that he could get all that credit through being “roguishly charming” and also “bloody suckingly rich.”
(P.S. I might be slightly bitter.)
(P.S.S. And slightly wanting to let James have me just for the perks.)
Yours, and bitter,
Lily Evans
---
Dear Lily,
I don’t know anything about any sort of name having any sort of weight. The Macdonald name is renowned only for those that know me. My mother does nothing, my sisters are all under ten, and I am stuck being an exhausted social butterfly. I can’t even get a well-to-do boyfriend in these parts. Social capital is bought and sold by doing stupid slog for the biggest crowd possible. My last boyfriend broke his leg jumping out of a moving car after nicking cigs from the shop. He got me a good two weeks of fame and maybe a week and a half of social slip ups to be made without retribution.
Getting a real bloke must wait till Hogwarts, I suppose! That is basically all I have.
(P.S. We can be bitter together, dear.)
(P.P.S. Don’t give in too easily there!)
Yours in utmost solidarity,
Mary Macdonald
Chapter 8: The Date
“I have to say, Mary, I feel like I’ve missed out on this whole letter writing deal with you and Lily,” Marlene said as her owl, Ajax, landed on her shoulder. She was sending a letter to her brother Danny, an Auror at the Ministry. He was the main informant for their little group, telling them the goings on of the wizarding government.
It was always culture shock for Mary, to be jerked from the economic horrors of the real world to whatever conflict was happening in the wizarding one. To her, it all seemed the same. Wizards who had been wizards forever hated those who came through magic more recently. And sometimes, in a militant manner, they wanted them dead. From what she learned in History of Magic, those facts hadn’t changed since wizarding was first recorded. She didn’t care who was doing the killing or who was going to be killed in the next ten years.
“Not extremely,” Mary shrugged. She was stroking a great tawny bird, its feathers soft beneath her hand. She wished she had enough money to afford one of her own. Ajax was a nasty brute, and Lily’s owl had horrid anxiety around humans, but even a defective one like those would’ve done for her purposes.
“Are you quite sure, eh?”
“Sure I am. We only did it because we wished we could talk to wizards in person, like you could.” The tawny owl nipped at her finger, and she swore. Maybe the bird would look better as a hat.
“I suppose that makes sense.” Ajax took to the air, a small cylindrical letter attached to his claw. He was gone into the afternoon, making his way to a magical little hamlet south of Liverpool.
“Was it good, then? A summer of magic.”
Marlene stood up from where she’d been crouched. There was bird shit on her sweater vest, and Mary wrinkled her nose. Nasty stuff, this wizarding mail.
“Good and bad, you know?”
Mary did not know, not in the slightest. She would’ve given a good deal to be in her position. The room was silent save only for some owls hooting.
“Did you have an interesting summer then, eh? Loads of fun to be had in London town!”
They began to descend the tower arm in arm, twirling along the spiral staircase. Mary thought back to her summer, and all that she’d done. Marlene knew she was from Brixton, but not how deeply from Brixton she was. She understood that London was not full of the large manors and estates of her town, but she did not understand that flats were nothing like tiny mansions. There was poverty without magic. Marlene’s favorite part of all, which Mary told eloquently, was the nightlife. She adored the scenes of beautiful girls and boys stretched out under the lights almost as much as Mary did. Every year they’d been at school they would plan for the day they’d join the ranks of the clubbers. She felt awful for the different kinds of dreams she’d had all summer long, and wished they’d give way, back to simpler things.
“Certainly, things are always happening there. It feels like everyone is always on the cutting edge of something and I’m just stumbling to catch up from behind. There’s something glorious about that!”
They streamed out into one of the main hallways, both heading for the library and a long hour of morning studying.
“I don’t even know what a cutting edge is,” Marlene mused, giggling a little bit.
“Neither do I,” she agreed, “that’s why here is much better, eh? Things are nice and predictable.”
“Too true, ay.”
Speaking of the all too well known monotony of Hogwarts, James Potter strolled along the corridor with Sirius, Remus, Peter, and a gaggle of their fellow lads. Save for Sirius and Remus, the two most likable of their whole gang, she could smell the lot of them coming.
“Mckinnon!” Potter shouted. “I’ve been looking for you all the live long day.
“What for?” Marlene sharply turned them in the opposite direction to walk with the boys.
“You’re on the team officially, mate! I thought you should hear it from me.”
“Cheers to that!” They knocked shoulders, and Mary watched on with somewhat disgusted awe. She did not understand Marlene’s whole deal this summer. Why was she turning into some kind of fellow?
“Practices start in absolute earnest tomorrow.”
“We’re going to need them to finally stick it to the Slytherins this year! Little Reggie is going to quake in his boots,” Sirius said bitterly. He was strutting next to Mary, their arms brushing together. They hadn’t known each other very long at all, but she felt on her way to understanding his brother. Things like that were always simple, though the people inside the relationships never saw them that way. One sibling was bad and one was good. One was hated and one was not. Everything after that came easily.
“Ah yes! The great Black rivalry.” James shook his head. “I take it you want Meadowes to shit herself silly too? I’ve never seen someone so enraged by another human, and I’ve seen Sirius and Snivellus in the same room with one another.
Marlene grinned, her face tilting down to the ground and then lightly to the side to smile at him from the corner of her eye.
“You know it,” she chuckled.
Suddenly, Mary had a very specific epiphany. She knew that look. She knew that stupidly girlish laugh. Marlene was in love! It was as literally clear as day. In love, and with James Potter of all people. Lily, though she would do it with utmost kindness, was going to kill her.
***
The Saturday after Mary’s utterly horrifying epiphany was the first Hogsmeade day of the year, and Sirius Black was set to take her out. Mary could not have been more pleased with herself, obviously. Her hair was finally falling right, the jean skirt she’d chosen looked excellent, and her top made her tits look great. Marlene and her newfound idiotic love for James Potter, a condition that seemed to afflict at least half the female student body, could wait for another day when she wasn’t busy succeeding so famously at getting the things that she wanted.
Sirius was waiting for her in the common room, she knew because she’d been sending Lily down the stairs periodically to check on him. In more lucidly seductive moments, her friends always told her it was good to keep a bloke waiting. She figured she had a couple more minutes to waste.
Lily tramped through the door, back from her latest downstairs expedition.
“Terrific news! He’s still a massive ride that’s still waiting for you!” she giggled, jumping onto the bed right next to where Mary was lounging.
“And I think I’ll make him wait a little longer yet,” she chuckled back. Boys like Sirius needed to squirm more, she decided. She could tell from spin the bottle alone that his assumption was that he had her immediately, and it was important that she crushed such silly notions.
“Do you think you’ll kiss him again?” Lily asked. She was opening up her copy of Witch Weekly to read a whole slew of articles about getting guys that she would never suck up and use on James. They hadn’t talked about what went on after that extremely eventful night since it happened. Mary tried to bring it up and it was like Lily would be struck over the head with a blunt object. Her whole personality would suddenly fall off her face and she would turn into a bimbo who very suddenly had to study or find Potter.
“Sure I will, it needs to be on my terms this time.”
“I mean that’s the plan, eh?” They looked at each other, their faces too close together. “You take Sirius and I take James!”
She seemed so excited, Mary hated to burst any sort of bubble about the whole thing. Maybe it was best to forget anything had ever happened, plus forget about any sort of weird vibe she’d gotten from Marlene. Sharply, she sat up. If she intended to follow Lily’s plan, it was a waste to stay here. She couldn’t take it any longer.
“I’m off now,” she mumbled, breaking for the door.
“Oh- alright then.”
“See you there,” she turned for one goodbye nod.
When she looked back, Lily was sitting up sprawled in her bed, hair blown away and full of static from the sudden movement. Her lips were parted in slight surprise. With a pit in her stomach, Mary suddenly understood just how beautiful she was.
***
Sirius, as promised, was waiting for her in the common room. He was wearing a gray sweater under a black leather jacket, which was a new staple in his very teenage wardrobe. Mary thought there was far too much black in each outfit, or that it accentuated the rather vampiric look his pale skin already gave him. Still, she supposed he knew this and was embracing it. It worked well enough, anyway. Fake bad boy looked dreamy on Sirius.
“Do you keep all your dates waiting?” Without waiting for any pleasantries, he sauntered in stride with her. “You’re a good fifteen minutes late.”
“Ah, you’ve passed my first test! You stuck around, plus you have excellent time telling skills,” she joked.
He laughed, “Glad to have passed, love.”
They chatted through the halls, catching stray stares as they passed other students. The young wizards and witches of Hogwarts were out in full force, preparing to descend on Hogsmeade with all of their might. She felt bad for the actual locals who had to be there when their streets were suddenly filled with groping and fumbling teens, though she was just as prepared to become one of those teens.
A boy wolf-whistled at them in the entrance hall as they walked towards the carriages and Sirius stopped his current demonstration of his French fluency with abrupt haste.
“Oi!” he shouted. “Bugger off!”
“It’s alright Sirius, really.” Mary caught his arm, stopping it from raising into an accusatory pointed finger. She was grinning from ear to ear, and failing miserably at disguising it. Blokes were such a lovely thing to have on your side.
“Stupid git,” he harrumphed.
“Thanks for telling him off for me.”
“Of course.” He led her to the carriages, tossing his hair as they went. “No one should speak to you like that, and no one ever will if I’m around. I’ll bloody kill the next prick who dares, alright?”
“Alright.” She agreed. It was set now, with that display, that she was his. She could live with that.
They rode alone in a carriage together, getting inside it to a choir of even more whispers. It felt like the whole school was taking that moment to become social, watching each of their moves.
Stepping out of the carriage was much the same. Alice and Frank walked up to them in perfect step.
“People are already talking, you two,” Alice gave Mary a little push, smiling.
“A Gryffindor couple giving us a run for our money!” With the way Frank draped his arm across Alice’s shoulder, his grin and her slight smile, she didn’t believe that they could never knock them out of their top spot.
Mary was pleased beyond belief with the idea that they could even come close. She hadn’t realized how well his name would match with just about anyone. During the summer, she’d forgotten what it meant to be a member of the Black family. She hadn’t realized that just being seen with him would result in death glances thrown her way and whispers behind her back.
They spent the day dancing from shop to shop, to the Three Broomstick and back out again. There wasn’t a student at Hogwarts who hadn’t witnessed them do something together. Once, when the hours of their date were scraping to a yawning close, she took him into an alley and kissed him hard, just like all the other kids did. Mary wanted to see what would happen. It was important to get a gauge on what it all meant. Every time she held his hand, touched his face, or brushed against his shoulder, she watched how much she could get out of it.
At the end of the day, he walked her to the fat lady’s portrait and stood in front of her.
“I had a nice time today.” He grinned. She could tell he was sincere by the way he proudly shook his head of hair.
“So did I.” She was sincere too, in her own way.
“I know it wasn’t exactly quiet, but you like it that way, don’t you?” He smiled down the bridge of her nose. He had a very nice way of hanging over her head, his mouth open and right in front of her.
“You already know me so well,” she laughed.
“Have I passed another test then, love?”
She thought for a moment, leaning closer to his breath. It was a long moment. The kind of long moment that she would spend thinking of Lily, so she did exactly that. For some reason, it made her lean closer. He was passing something, they both knew that. He would get what he wanted, if she was right about what that was.
“Yes,” she broke the silence, and Lily broke from her head. “You passed.”
“Well then, let’s do this again!”
“Of course,” she agreed.
“Maybe we could make it a habit?” He punctuated his words with a light kiss.
“I thought we’ve already been doing just that.”
“Sure, but why on earth wouldn’t we make it more official?” This time, he kissed her harder.
“Ahh, I can’t think of one good reason not to!” And it was true. Mary was becoming increasingly aware of how important it might be to have a habit like Sirius around.
“Official.” He placed both of his hands on her waist, pulling her in to kiss her mouth and then her neck and then back up to her mouth. She felt him everywhere, and smiled when somebody whooped in the background.
“Official!” When they broke apart, she agreed, and it was done. The date was perfect, and she went back to the dorm full of smiles.
Lily was waiting for her on the bed. She was the only one there, apparently. Marlene was probably off with James buying even more Quidditch supplies, the idea of which was nearly enough to throw Mary off of her good mood. She easily had Sirius, but Potter was a whole other ball game. This wouldn’t work if Lily didn’t bag the boy.
“How did it go?” she sat up from where she was cross legged on the ground. They assumed their favorite position, knees knocking and faces right across from each other.
“Perfect,” she giggled. “Everything is going to be just perfect.”
“Really?” Lily’s face was shocked, like she didn’t believe it could really work.
“Really.” Mary placed a hang on her knee. She wanted to pull her closer, to hug her so tight and tell her about all the impeccable plans she had for them. It would all be okay. She felt as crazy as she knew that would sound, but she could make them safe.
Lily smiled. Her smile nearly broke Mary perfectly in two. She collected another moment to store inside her head.
“I’m glad, dear.” They locked hands, she wished they could be locking something else. “Thank you.”
They embraced for one perfect second. Mary didn’t understand how this kept happening. She couldn’t fathom how she could spend a whole day with Sirius and still end up in this room, still back with Lily. She hated how much she loved that sense of gravity. Still, she supposed she could afford it now. She had earned just enough credit with the school, a few hours with Lily could slip right through the cracks.