POV - Mary
The first thing Mary noticed when she looked up was her beautiful hair. Other people would describe it as red, but Mary thought that didn’t capture the color at all. To her, it was like little embers after a fire that just burned out. The color of a fox in autumn hiding in the vibrant leaves, waiting for it’s prey.
The girl who owned the red hair came closer, and Mary shook her head. She noticed James was talking, and finally started listening. ‘…the new counselor of the green cabin. I’m sure you both will make her feel welcome,’ he said.
A silence followed, and Mary was scared they saw her staring at the girl, so she quickly started talking. ‘Aw, James, isn’t your mom here? I thought she’d be here to welcome her,’ she grinned, pointing her head to the girl next to him. ‘I would’ve loved to see her again.’ She winked at him, seeing his face turn red.
‘What is it with counselors obsessing over my parents,’ he murmured, ‘It’s not that they’re that attractive, right?’
‘Gotta admit you got your looks from somewhere, Prongs,’ Remus chimed in, ‘I’m sure Lily agrees.’
Lily. So that was her name, Mary thought. It fit her, she decided.
They all turned to Lily, who hadn’t said anything yet. Mary expected her to turn shy under the attention, but contrary to her expectations, Lily smirked. ‘I might’ve not seen your dad, Potter, but I can confirm that your mom is a total babe. A real MILF, if you’d like.’
James covered his ears. ‘No, no, I don’t like. Stop it. Why are you all in love with my parents?’
She saw Lily winking at him, and grinned. ‘Oh, I’m keeping her,’ she stated, making Lily turn her head back to her, and now the smirking girl was turning a little red.
Mary stood up, walking around the table and sticking her hand out. ‘I’m Mary, lovely to meet you. I think we’re going to be great friends. And I’ve got to show you a picture of James’ dad.’
‘I would love that,’ Lily answered, giving her a small smile.
‘Guys, stop it,’ James cried, ‘This actually isn’t funny. Quit worshipping my parents.’
‘To be fair, James, they’re the only reason I became a counselor here,’ Remus grinned, and Mary and Lily started giggling.
James mouth fell open. ‘What? That isn’t true. You wanted to gain experience here, for when you become a teacher, right? …Right?’
‘Sure Prongs, if that’s what you want to believe.’
James groaned, turning around. ‘You lot get to know each other. I’m gonna finish some paperwork.’
Mary instantly searched for a picture of Monty in her gallery, going to the folder she named “sexy Potter pic’s” specifically to annoy James by not putting any pictures of him in it. She found one and turned her phone screen so it faced Lily, who inspected the picture carefully.
‘For what it’s worth, Potter,’ she called out, making James turn back around, ‘Your mom and dad are perfect for each other. MILFs and DILFs belong together, in my opinion.’
‘You… you…’ James sputtered, ‘You wouldn’t even want to fuck him! That’s not fair!’
‘I’d gladly make an exception for him,’ Lily replied smoothly, winking again.
James huffed, walking out of the dining hall. Lily turned back to her, and Mary decided she would become this girl’s best friend immediately.
‘Let’s get to know each other,’ she said, sitting back down at the table. Lily sat down next to her and said: ‘Sure! Please tell me all about yourself, and camp.’ She turned to face the other side of the table and added, 'You too, of course, Remus,' like she had forgotten he was there.
‘So as you know, I’m Remus,’ he said, ‘I know James from high school. We had math together. Sadly,’ he chuckled. ‘I think that was the year I learned the least in math. He and Sirius always distracted the teacher.’
His gaze visibly softened at that, and Mary was once again hit by how beautiful the quiet love between the two of her best friends was, when it wasn’t annoying how long it was taking them to figure out. When she’d dated Sirius for like a month in tenth grade, she’d already noticed something was going on between the two of them and tried to push Sirius a little in Remus’ direction. Which didn’t really work out considering that was over two years ago now, and they still hadn’t figured it out.
Remus noticed Lily’s confused face and explained: ‘Sirius is James’ best friend. Mine too, but it’s not the same.’
It really isn’t, Mary thought. No one of their friends would ever look at Remus and Sirus, and then Sirius and James, and say they had the same kind of relationship. But that would be for a whole other reason then Remus probably thought.
‘They’re like… soulmates,’ Remus continued, ‘In a platonic way, I must emphasize. Though literally no one thinks that when they see them for the first time. And they love pulling pranks on every living thing, which got them in a lot of trouble in high school. Honestly, I think they were more in detention then at home at some point.’
‘Pff, don’t act like you’re so innocent, Remus,’ Mary snorted, ‘you literally helped them with almost all of their pranks after Sirius asked you once.’
She saw Remus turning slightly red, tilting his head. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said, obviously lying. ‘And even if I helped them, at least I didn’t get caught.’
Mary looked at Lily’s face, noticing a thinking expression on her face, and she realized she might finally have someone else to talk about the two “best friends” with.
‘You’ll probably meet Sirius somewhere this month. They like to visit camp a few times when they’re bored or want to see James. Though they keep insisting they don’t have time to be a counselor.’
Lily nodded, seeming a bit lost in thought. ‘I wanted to ask that too. Why are you suddenly searching another counselor? What happened to the last one?’
‘The green cabin counselor was murdered in the woods in the middle of camp last year. They never found out who did it,’ Mary said, trying to stay serious. Remus nodded, a sad look crossing his face. That boy was a damn good actor, she thought.
Lily’s mouth fell open, and Mary couldn’t help but snort. She saw the moment Lily realized they were messing with her and rolled her eyes. ‘I’m totally kidding Lily, don’t worry about it. Marlene’s a footballer and she got a chance to play in Spain for a really good club. She and her girlfriend Dorcas live there now.’
‘That sounds exciting,’ Lily said, ‘Glad she wasn’t murdered then.’ She immediately looked horrified at her own words, but Mary simply laughed and agreed. ‘True.’
Lily turned to her after that, looking curious. ‘So, what about you? How did you get here, Mary?’
Mary really liked it when Lily said her name. She didn’t think anyone ever said her name like that. It sounded like an angel calling for her from heaven, and she was sure that if an angel actually sounded like that she would gladly go there when she died. She promised herself she would make sure Lily said her name more often.
Realizing they were waiting for her to talk, she shook her head. ‘Uh, yeah, I also met James in high school. Through Sirius, to be fair. We had a few classes together, and they came up to me and complimented my outfit. That’s how we became friends, really. We both have incredible taste.’ She grinned, remembering how fast it clicked between the two of them. Even though them dating didn’t work out, Sirius would always have a special place in her heart.
‘So I’m the only one who doesn’t know James and Sirius, I see,’ Lily sighed. Mary didn’t want her to feel left out, so she tried to cheer her up.
‘You aren’t missing out on much, on James part,’ she said, just as James walked back in. ‘Hey! I heard that!’ he scoffed. Mary almost felt bad, but Lily giggled, and she immediately forgot about it.
‘I have a feeling it might’ve not been the best idea to hire you. Why is it that everyone is always mean to me?’ James sighed miserably.
Mary raised her eyebrows. ‘But you like it when people are mean to you, don’t you James?’
James went red at that and sent her a look telling her to shut up, which she did after sticking her tongue out. Which was slightly immature, now she thought about it. But what were she and James if not a bit immature?
Lily smirked, and Mary suddenly felt really hot. Though it was probably just because of the summer weather. That made sense, right?
‘Already regretting hiring me, Potter?’ the redhead spotted, ‘Sadly for you, your mom is the only one who can fire me. Which would mean that she had to come to camp again, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her.’
‘Not again!’ James shouted, and Remus started laughing. Mary would have too, but she was too busy questioning why she was this hot all of a sudden. It wasn’t that hot outside, was it? She shook her head and tried to keep up with the conversation.
‘The kids are going to arrive around 4 p.m., which is in half an hour,’ James said, still having a frown on his face because of what Lily said. ‘Which means we’ll have to search in the list what cabin they belong to and bring them there. But, since my mom and dad don’t work here anymore we have far fewer supervisors for the kids. And while my parents might’ve thought it wouldn’t be a problem, I didn’t trust it enough with only four grownups here.’
Lily grinned. ‘Wait, four? I only count three grownups here,’ she replied smoothly, making Mary giggle.
James chose to ignore her and continued. ‘So, since both of them didn’t have anything to do the next weeks, I asked Sirius and Regulus to come and help. That way we have two extra people to help us.’
Mary’s smile grew when she heard this, and she decided this was the ideal opportunity to tease James a bit more. ‘Ooh, Regulus is staying here too? Maybe you should go freshen up a little, James.’
James huffed and tried to look indifferent, which he failed miserably, his face already getting the color of his cabin again. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mary.’
‘Sure you don’t,’ she answered, turning to Remus who looked a bit shocked. Mary would bet money on it that he didn’t expect to see Sirius back so soon, and that they’d stay here for the rest of the time.
‘Everyone ready to welcome the children, then?’ James said, picking himself up again.
Everyone nodded and they left the dining hall, walking in the direction of the gate. Mary was almost skipping from excitement and she looked at Lily, who seemed a bit nervous. She put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled. ‘You’ll do great.’