Chapter 1
Hogwarts withers away during the school year. The empty cabins whine, the Black Lake grumbles in stillness, and the air sighs, waiting for summer. Longing for camp.
Or perhaps it’s not the campgrounds that bemoans the silence. Perhaps it’s just Lily.
Even after so many years on the staff, Lily can’t help but feel like a lost camper caught in a nightmare. This is a place where fantasy becomes reality, where dreams are realized. It’s magical. But without the kids, Hogwarts is nothing but another campsite in the middle of the Wayward Woods.
The campers are the real magic, Lily knows.
She shivers when she looks up at the Azkaban rope course and finds no one swinging off the trees with hard helmets and sweaty grins. The campfire circle behind her is unusually organized, no water bottles and backpacks littering the tree logs, the firepit uncharred and barren.
Besides Dumbledore, Peter, and Lily, it’s a ghost town.
But soon, seven days in fact, Hogwarts would become a camp once more. Lily’s hands shake with anticipation. She shoves them down into her cargo shorts pockets, her fingers fiddling with the small holes in the fabric. She’s dressed much nicer than usual; she swapped her sandals for mildly clean sneakers, her shirt has only one paint stain (or maybe it’s blood?), and she even brushed her hair out instead of knotting it in a bun. Once the campers arrive, she’ll be much too busy to care about such frivolous things, but for staff training…
Well, Lily would like to impress.
Not that there’s any staff member in particular she’s trying to impress. Not at all. Not one bit. That would be foolish. And against the rules. Lily is a rule-follower. In fact, she makes the rules.
Before Lily’s mind fixates on the irritating woman she’s most definitely not trying to impress, Tierra, her favorite of Peter’s three pit bulls, comes bolting past the kitchen and offices. She cuts across the camp in long strides, wood chips flying at her heels.
“Tierra!” Lily calls out. “Do you hear someone?”
But Tierra is distracted, clearly on the hunt. She leaps up the hill towards the parking lot, darting past Lily’s knees with her nose low to the asphalt. Soon enough, Ard and Zemlya come bounding after her, their brown and gray fur rubbing against one another as they leap over Peter’s ATV, and skid past one of the camp vans.
“Hello?!” Lily sighs as all three pit bulls leap into the thick of the forest. Ard and Tierra are famous for their speed, but Zemlya is notoriously lazy. Either Peter called them over, or…they smell a friend .
Lily snaps her head back to the camp entrance, waiting for the sound of wheels on gravel. She’s early, of course, by thirty minutes. If any of the staff wanted to make a good impression, they’d come early too. As their supervisor, Lily expects punctuality.
Or maybe Lily just really misses her friends.
“Come on, come on, come on,” she whispers.
The wind rattles the Baby Zip that dangles just over the camp entrance, the long silver wire bouncing in small waves. Lily would never forget her first time flying down that zipline at ten years old. In a rather unexpected show of courage, she’d volunteered to climb up first, but when she finally reached the platform at the top of the tall sycamore, she froze. Benny, or the ‘Aussie Man’ as the campers called him, held her shoulders as she peeked at the ground below them, and burst into tears. She imagined what Petunia would say if she saw her crying on the smallest zipline in camp, how stupid and childish she was. Then the Aussie Man knelt down beside her on that tiny platform and told her that she was incredibly brave.
“After all, you volunteered first,” he’d said. “The hard part’s over, you’ve climbed your way up. Now all that’s left is to jump.”
So Lily wiped her face dry, pushed off the tree, and jumped. She shrieked until her voice gave out, then she was laughing, hands cutting through the air and feet kicking the wind as if paddling to shore.
It was exhilarating .
Right now, Lily feels just the same. That fevered rush of joy and courage never fails to steal her breath. Her body is so on edge that she can feel the pump in her arm, how the little bursts of insulin shoot through the tube and into her vein.
God, she loves her job. She would be nothing without Hogwarts.
Tierra’s deep bark echoes across the campgrounds and Lily grins. She knows exactly what that means, who's first to arrive.
“At first, when I see you cryyyy. Yeah, it makes you smileeee. Yeah it makes me smileeee. At worst, I feel bad for a while. But then I just smileeeee. I go ahead and smileeee,” Sirius belts loudly.
Lily doesn’t stop herself from singing along, her breath hitching as a muddy black pickup truck rolls under the wooden Hogwarts arch.
She sees Jamie first, his brown eyes shining in the driver's seat. James Potter, her first crush, first love, and now, best friend. Lily lets out a quiet sigh, thanking whatever gods that he arrived first. Everything feels a little less cold, a little less lonely when James is by her side.
Lily Allen continues blaring as James turns into the spot next to Lily’s yellow bug, the speakers crackling with the chorus. Sirius and Lily are outstanding at bickering, but songs like “Smile” are sacred truces to their squabble. It holds the memories of their first shot, Sirius’ queer secrets, and the time Lily almost had a hypo at camp. Almost . Sirius had apparently listened to all Lily’s lectures on diabetes, and knew what exactly to do; he sprinted to their cabin and had a juice box in her hand in no less than a minute.
Checking her watch, Lily jots down James and Sirius’ time of arrival (8:32 AM) on her attendance clipboard, her handwriting sloppy from happiness.
“FIREFLY!” Sirius jumps out of the window, not even bothering to open the door.
“PADFOOT!” Lily wails.
Sirius leaps onto Lily, just as they always have, and Lily squeezes her, shouting nonsense into his hair. “Imissedyouwhydontyouevercall—”
Sirius responds in kind, “Imissedyoumoreandyouliveinagoddamnforest—”
“Shutthefuckup—”
“Noswearinginfrontofthecampers—”
Lily groans. “Theyarentfuckinghere!”
When Lily and Sirius finally break apart, James is grinning up at them from the ground. He tucks his head down to sniff…wood chips? Sirius laughs, shaking her head, and plops down beside James. After a drawn-out inhale, they say, “That right there is the smell of home.”
Begrudgingly, Lily falls to her knees beside them, the woodchips carving indents into her kneecaps. James takes her hand and presses a kiss into her palm.
“Hello.” He gives her a soft smile, one that Lily knows is as sincere as James himself. They both have a bad habit of smiling when they don’t mean it, wasting laughs for the sake of others. But smiles like these, they reserve for each other.
“Hi, Prongs.” Lily’s smile comes easily.
Sirius, never one to be left out, yanks Lily’s hand and starts smacking kisses from her fingers to her elbow.
“GetoffmeSirius!” She squeals. “What are you FIVE YEARS OLD?! That’s disgusting-–”
On cue, the pit bulls come bolting through the forest, jumping onto Sirius and slobbering them with kisses. He laughs, unbothered by the dog hair and spit lathering her face. Besides Peter, Sirius is by far the dogs’ favorite human.
A low but sharp whistle cuts from behind them, and the dogs immediately sit down. Another whistle and they come trotting up to Peter standing at the edge of the parking lot.
“WORMTAIL!!!!” James and Sirius scream simultaneously. They run up to him and tackle Peter into a group hug.
As usual, Peter is both overwhelmed and flustered by his friends’ fondness, as if he hadn’t spent a lifetime getting roped into hours-long cuddle sessions.
“Hi, Padfoot. Prongs.” Peter says weakly. “...Missed you too.”
James looks up at Peter with glassy eyes. “You really did?”
Peter frowns. “Of course?”
“—You love us?” Sirius cuts in.
“Of course?” Peter repeats, his face flushing even more.
“Oh! Oh!” Sirius gasps into Peter’s chest, as James smiles at the sky, arms shaking to the clouds in thanks.
Lily rises from the ground, brushing off the wood chips as she soaks up the sight of her friends. The four of them have been working Hogwarts summers for years now, but long before that, they were the campers. Lily, Sirius, James, and Peter spent every summer of their preteens in wooden bunk beds, covered in mosquito bites and deliriously tired. The Marauders, as they called their cabin, was the best part of Lily’s childhood.
Even during the school year, when all they had were letters and phone calls, the promise of another summer together always kept Lily going. It was the Marauders that got Lily through all the bullies in middle school, belittling the blood she pricked on her finger, the insulin she once had to manually inject. It was the Marauders that taught Lily what a family is, what a family should be. And it was the Marauders that stood by her side all nine months of her teen pregnancy.
The memory of that day flashes through Lily’s mind in violent images. She can still feel the tightness in James’s hand, the numbness in her legs and stomach. The soft, fragile skin of a newborn baby. A child neither she nor James was ready for.
Lily quickly swallows back her tears. She can’t dwell on her regrets.
She has a job to do.
“Did you refer to the packing list I emailed you?” Lily addresses James and Sirius, or rather, Sirius, because she knows James actually reads her emails.
James, whose face is tucked into Peter’s shoulder, mumbles an affirmative, while Sirius turns around with a sardonic smile. Almost as dry as Regulus’.
“This isn’t my first summer, Firefly. I know how to pack.”
Lily shakes her head. “You say that, and yet every year you come to me for all the things you forgot.”
“No fighting!” James whines.
“Com’ here,” Peter mumbles, beckoning Lily over to them.
Lily sighs and sneaks into the group hug, a hand on Sirius’s back and her head on James’s shoulder. They aren’t the same young, reckless kids they used to be. Peter isn’t afraid of the dark, James is the coach, not the player, Sirius swapped her scrapes for tattoos, and Lily no longer has parents and a sister to go home to. So much has changed in all their lives, but this pocket of peace never wavers.
Hogwarts would always be home.
James sighs fondly. “Another Marauders reunion.”
Sirius flicks James on the forehead. “Don’t forget Moony.”
They all laugh at that. Remus Lupin was the fifth member of their cabin, but ever since their last summer as campers, he’d been MIA. They’d all been heartbroken when he didn’t return any of their letters. James and Sirius had even made the trek to Indiana, to the military base Remus’s dad was last posted, but he’d just…disappeared.
Really, Lily and Remus had been the closest. When James and Sirius snuck out to prank the other cabins, and Peter was tucked under his sleeping bag rereading Percy Jackson , Lily would crawl into Remus’s bunk. They’d whisper about camp gossip, the families they were dreading coming home to, and most of all, their inconvenient crushes. Remus was helplessly in love with Sirius, and Lily with James. They both weren’t particularly happy about having feelings for their best friends, so they worked hard to get rid of them. They even tried kissing each other.
In the end, neither Lily nor Remus got what they wanted.
“Moony’s with us in spirit,” James reassures them all as he straightens his glasses.
Sirius grumbles, “Don’t act like he’s dead, he’s just gone off and forgotten about us.”
“It’s been thirteen years,” Lily says. “Time to move on, Pads.”
Lily lifts her head to find Peter nodding solemnly, rubbing Sirius’s back in awkward diagonal pats.
“Wormtail gets it,” Sirius whispers with a sniffle.
The sound of another engine rumbling up the hill makes Peter tense. As he pulls away from them, he mumbles, “I’m off to check the rope swing’s bolts.”
Lily knows for a fact that he did that days ago. Peter takes his groundskeeper duties very seriously, he’s had the camp prepped for summer for weeks.
“You don’t want to greet the rest of the staff?” James teases.
With one eyebrow raised, Peter answers: “No.”
Lily laughs. Among his many quirks, Peter Pettigrew is the most anti-social of the Marauders. It’s rather endearing that he still puts up with them after all this time.
Peter spins on his heel, speed walking past the Lodge and chicken coop and winding down towards the Black Lake, his three pit bulls trailing after him. Sirius shamelessly checks out his ass the entire way. Though to be fair, Peter looks outstanding in his Dickies overalls.
When Peter’s out of sight, James wraps an arm around Lily, kissing the top of her red hair. Once more, Lily lets out a sigh, sinking into his embrace. She’d never admit it out loud, would never worry her friends like that, but Lily is…lonely. Terribly lonely. And it’s only a matter of months until her friends leave for their real lives, real jobs, and she’ll be trapped in an empty camp, lonely once more.
“All good, Lils?” Sirius asks, because of course they know, of course he sees through her.
Lily searches for an answer that is honest enough, but not too alarming. “Oh you know, life with Dumbledore has never been more glamorous.”
Sirius and James wince at the same time; as the Hogwarts Camp Director, Dumbledore is a kind, patient man, but as a supervisor? In short, the magic and mystery of the elusive Dumbledore faded when Lily started working for him.
“What's he done this time?” James asks, voice tight.
“There’s been tension regarding…budget allocation.” Lily tucks her bangs behind her ears. “Dumbledore’s priorities are not where they once were.”
Sirius barks a laugh. “That was the nicest ‘fuck you, Dumbledore’ I’ve ever heard.”
“Some of us have tact,” Lily responds smoothly.
Before Sirius and Lily get going, James interrupts, “Is Albus not hearing you out anymore?”
Lily considers the question, her mind running over all the meetings and disagreements they’d had in the past few months. “It’s hard to listen to me when the donors are so much louder,” she eventually concludes.
“Ah yes, the wealthy parents,” Sirius says dryly. “What do those benevolent assholes want now?
“Parent visits on the weekends.”
James sputters, “The whole point of camp is to get the kids away from their families, teach them independence, give them space to try new things—”
The sound of another car pulling into the parking lot jolts Lily away from her friends. She reaches for her clipboard on the log beside them and lifts her chin. “You can settle in the Lodge. There are refreshments and air conditioning. I’ll be along shortly.”
In sync, James and Sirius salute Lily. “Yes, sergeant.”
Lily gives them a sharp glare. “Fuck off.”
******
According to Lily’s clipboard, the rest of the staff come as follows:
8:45 AM Molly Weasley, head chef.
8:47 AM Regulus Black, counselor.
8:50 AM Gilderoy Lockhart, counselor.
8:53 AM Fabian Prewett, line chef. Gideon Prewett, line chef.
8:55 AM Dorcas Meadows, counselor.
8:56 AM Marlene McKinnon, counselor.
8:58 AM Marcus Flint, junior counselor. Oliver Wood, junior counselor.
9:00 AM Pandora Lovegood, counselor.
9:02 AM Evan Rosier, sous chef. Barty Crouch Jr, counselor.
9:30 AM Mary Macdonald, activities director. LATE!!
******
The lodge is packed with Hogwarts staff, and despite a certain someone’s insulting tardiness, Lily can’t help but smile. James and Sirius are, as predicted, hovering over Regulus in the corner, re-enacting the time they canoed down the hillside and James broke his wrist. Lovely, beautiful Pandora is showing pictures from her latest art show in Seattle, the entirety of the kitchen staff watching attentively. Dorcas and Barty are chatting up the junior counselors, likely trying to spook them already. Then there’s the new counselor, Marlene, watching it all with wide eyes.
Lily can feel someone, that certain someone, behind her. She wants to whip around and smack her red hair into her face, then scream at her for being late. But that would be…unprofessional.
“Alright, everyone!” Lily calls out. “First off, I’d like to say welcome to Hogwarts.”
There’s a chorus of cheers in response, James wolf-whistling and Sirius screaming at the top of her lungs. Lily scans the room, reading everyone’s faces to assess staff morale. Besides Regulus' impenetrable expression of boredom, Lily thinks they’re all excited.
“My name is Lily Evans, my pronouns are she/her/hers, and I’ll be the Counselor Manager this summer. I’d apologize for our late start, but our Activities Director gets to take credit for that.” Lily turns around slowly until she’s looking straight at Mary Macdonald, the bane of her existence.
She only started working at Hogwarts last summer. Lily had thought it would be Mary’s last.
They spent all of last summer pulling each other’s hair out. As Dumbledore’s seconds in command, their positions require constant collaboration. And while Mary’s approach is all spontaneity, Lily has the sense to actually plan.
All signs pointed to Mary never returning, if not because of how thoroughly she dislikes Lily, but because according to her resume, she never stays at a job for long. Yet here Mary is, back for another two and a half months at Lily’s side.
Dumbledore, for some impossible reason, thinks they balance each other out. Really it’s just Lily doing all the preparation, and Mary looking pretty when it’s showtime.
Like now.
“Always a pleasure, Red.” Mary’s wearing that arrogant, sly smile of hers. Then she looks at the rest of the staff, and her face shifts into something soft. “My name’s Mary, she/hers, nice to meet y’all.”
Lily’s eyes flick down quickly, only to find Mary’s low v-neck top, proudly displaying her dark-brown cleavage. Once again, it takes a lot out of Lily not to just pop right there. To snap in two. Mary knows damn well that they have a dress code. In fact, Mary and Lily had worked on updating it together last summer, so it was as gender-inclusive as possible while still appeasing the parents.
The tips of Mary’s lacy, black bra peek out from under her shirt. She’s wearing lingerie?!
With a sharp inhale, Lily turns around to face the staff once more, putting her back to Mary. She steadies her voice, “We’re missing all but one, the new nurse won’t be coming until the afternoon.”
“ New nurse? Where’s Pomfrey?” James asks. Lily doesn’t fail to notice how Regulus watches him with laser focus, his brows furrowing at the panic in James’ voice.
“Pomfrey is celebrating her daughter’s wedding in Italy this summer, so she plans to make a trip out of it.”
James relaxes. “Oh, that’s nice.”
Regulus, naturally, relaxes too.
Lily glances at her clipboard’s agenda, then continues, “For the next week we will be working together to prepare for the campers’ arrival. Staff training is about building trust between each other, and reviewing the tools we need to facilitate the campers’ success. By using the handbook guidelines, we can create a safe yet challenging environment for us all. I look forward to working with each and every one of you.”
Unfortunately, Lily’s eyes land on Dorcas just then, whose face is all judgment. Lily is aware of how corporate she sounds, but, well, this is the language she and Dumbledore decided on. She can’t go off script.
“I’d like to start by shouting out our new counselors. Regulus, Dorcas, and Marlene, will you come forward?”
Marlene and Dorcas walk to the front of the Lodge where Lily is standing, while Regulus takes one step forward. Literally one step.
Lily laughs under her breath and nods to Dorcas to introduce herself first.
She’s got on an old faded Hogwarts shirt from one of their years as a camper, and jeans with dark purple Teva sandals. “I’m Dorcas, they/she. I was a golden camper—” Dorcas pauses, turning to explain to Marlene and Regulus. “Golden campers are those that come to Hogwarts all five years, from ages 10-15.”
Marlene nods in thanks, and Regulus gives no response. Unfazed, Dorcas continues, “I’ll be a lifeguard and a counselor in Slytherin.”
Barty hollers from across the room, “LET’S GO SLYTHERIN!”
In response, Dorcas gives him a mocking curtsy.
“And what brings you here, Dorcas?” Lily prompts.
“I want to help make the magic that changed my life as a kid,” they answer simply.
Lily smiles proudly. She worked hard to hire Dorcas this summer. Dumbledore had been set on another former camper, Mulciber, but in the end, Dorcas’ swimming skills and grit got her in. Hogwarts counselors have to be tough, and Dorcas Meadows is nothing but resilient.
Marlene Mckinnon, on the other hand, is all imagination. She brings the creativity to the table. That’s why Lily paired the two of them up as lifeguards.
Dorcas turns to look at Marlene, their eyes running over her short blonde hair, rope necklace with a dolphin pendant, and patched romper. “You're up.”
No one would blame Marlene for being nervous, after all, she doesn’t know a single person here, but she’s as calm and collected as Dorcas. “Hello, my name’s Marlene, she/hers. I’ll be in Gryffindor—”
“LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Sirius screams.
Marlene’s lips twitch. “Right, yes, um, thanks? I’m here because I love kids, and I want to be a part of something great. Hogwarts seems like a place where that happens.”
There’s a moment of silence, awe.
Then Marlene turns back to Dorcas, and adds, almost shyly, “I’ll be a lifeguard too.”
Lily’s own smile falters. Because there, in that moment, she can see the spark flicker between them. Marlene’s easy expression slips into something eager, and Dorcas’s hands tangle behind her back. Only Lily can see the way Dorcas’s fingers fidget as they calmly respond, “Lucky me.”
Nope. No. That’s not happening. As per Rule #13, staff are under no circumstances allowed to date.
Lily steps in between them, blocking their view of each other. She looks pointedly at Regulus.
Unlike the rest of the staff wearing bright, dirty attire, Regulus is in head-to-toe black. He lifts his chin. “Regulus. He. Slytherin. Aerial Silks.”
In the silence following, someone, likely Evan, snorts in laughter.
Then Sirius announces: “That’s my brother!!!”
Regulus, in a very resigned tone, says, “Yes. That is true.”
Lily bites back a laugh, sharing a fond glance with Reg. She didn’t meet Sirius’s illusive brother until they were adults. He’s a certified genius who went to a special boarding school, so he never had a chance to come to camp. But the first Thanksgiving after Lily’s pregnancy, after her family kicked her out, she had a seat next to Regulus at Sirius and James’ dinner. It was love at first sight. After all, Regulus is Sirius’ foil: calm, organized, and sensible. He and Lily quickly learned that they make quite the team when it comes to knocking Sirius’ ego down.
“And why are you here, Reggie?” Sirius asks for Lily.
Regulus doesn’t miss a beat. “Pass.”
James’ eyebrows shoot up with amusement as Sirius' jaw goes slack with indignation. “No! You have to answer, right Lily?” They look to her for confirmation. “Come on, Reggie, tell them how much you love me and want to work with me!”
“According to Rule #23 in the Handbook, all campers and staff are allowed to pass on personal questions,” Regulus says to his sibling. “To foster a safe space emotionally.”
Lily nods. “That is correct. I’d advise all of you to become as acquainted with the rules as Regulus here.”
“He has a photographic memory,” Sirius huffs. “Unfair.”
“I have flashcards on the Handbook’s rules. You are more than welcome to borrow them if you’d like to study up,” Lily says sweetly.
Sirius cocks his head. “Pass.”
Lily claps her hands together. “Moving on. We’ve got our junior counselors, Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint. They’ll be helping all the counselors out based on need.” The two teens wave happily from the back of the room.
“Great. Now I’ll give the new staff a tour while all the returners fill out the packets on the table by Pandora.”
Pandora winks at Lily, momentarily throwing her off. She’s got all that golden white hair knotted into a high bun, beads and sparkles dispersed throughout. There’s a long wooden comb sticking out of the side, and Lily knows that with just one tug, all that wavy, long hair would tumble down. Then Lily could slide her fingers in—
“It’s a feedback form letting us know what ideas you have for this coming summer,” Mary finishes for Lily. “And how we might improve from last year.”
Lily, in a rather impressive show of restraint, does not turn to glare at Mary. Instead, she corrals Dorcas, Marlene, and Regulus to the Lodge’s exit. “Follow me—”
“Firefly,” Sirius interrupts. “I’ll be taking Reggie on a personal tour of Hogwarts.” She leans on the wooden doorway of the lodge, fiddling with the carabiner hooked on their pants belt.
In terms of the agenda, Lily has no problem with the idea, so she turns to Regulus for his approval.
Last New Year, in the midst of passing a bottle of tequila back and forth on the roof, feeling sad about the family they shouldn’t miss but missed nevertheless, Regulus had asked Lily for a favor.
Of all things, he wanted a summer job.
Lily had assumed he was just drunk. The man is the youngest MIT professor to date, and spends his time behind a computer, making history. Why the hell would he come to a technology-free summer camp full of the two things he hates the most: kids and nature?
Nevertheless, the next morning Regulus followed up with an email including a frightfully long resume, and a rather sentimental cover letter. He knew exactly what to say to convince Dumbledore. 1) Bring up child trauma. 2) Talk about ‘giving back’. 3) Praise Hogwarts.
So, with the help of Sirius’s nagging, Dumbledore agreed to hire Regulus as a camp counselor.
Of course, Lily knows Regulus. She is well aware that his application was a load of polished, elegant bullshit. But damn, was he convincing.
Yet the question remains: why did Regulus, after so many years, decide to come to Hogwarts?
“I’ll come too!” James pushes his way in between Regulus and Sirius.
Something that feels a lot like a red flag flashes in Lily’s vision as Regulus’ neck grows splotchy, the way it does every time James gets close to him. “I think Reg should stick with us,” she counters.
Regulus gives her a look.
Lily gives him one back.
She didn’t see this coming. She would never have guessed that this could be a problem. Regulus. Doesn’t. Date. To quote the man himself, he ‘never had and never would’.
And yet, he demands, “I’m going with James.” Then adds as an afterthought, “And Sirius.”
Lily grits her teeth. She thought this was about Sirius. She’d been so wrapped up in her own problems with Petunia, that she couldn’t imagine Regulus coming to camp for any other reason than his big sibling. She was oh so terribly wrong.
Just before Sirius drags Regulus away, Lily bends forward to whisper, “Don’t forget Rule #13.”
Regulus merely smiles.
******
“The campers’ daily schedule will generally look like this.” Lily points to the bulletin board on the side of the kitchen, a small white list surrounded by pictures from last summer.
8:00 AM Rooster Call
9:00 AM Breakfast
9:30 AM Activity #1
10:30 AM Activity #2
11:30 AM Cabin Adventure
12:30 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Challenge!
2:00 PM Free Period
2:45 PM Activity #1
3:45 PM Snack
4:00 PM Activity #2
5:00 PM Dinner
5:45 PM Camp Game
8:00 PM Star Chat
9:30 PM Lights out
Dorcas and Marlene study the sheet. Lily squints at how close they’re standing, debating whether or not it’s actually necessary for their shoulders to be touching.
“The activity times are when you two will be working as lifeguards,” Mary explains. “That can be anything from supervising canoeing to taking campers to the Secret Pool in the Wayward Woods.”
Marlene raises her brows at Dorcas. “Secret Pool?”
“It’s pretty shallow but drop-dead gorgeous, even has a small waterfall.” Dorcas smiles.
Lily clears her throat. “And worms. They tend to stick on your skin.”
Marlene laughs, still unfazed by the beautiful chaos that is Hogwarts. Lily is curious to see what will make her crack.
Every counselor has their limits. For instance, bugs freak Lily out, Pandora despises heights, and Gilderoy and Barty both flounder with the youngest campers. Lily knows from Marlene’s resume that she’s never worked at a camp, much less attended one. Either she has a brilliant poker face, or she’s just that fearless.
Lily turns on her heel, walking down the slope that will bring them away from the dining area, and down to Gryffindor.
Mary, of course, decides to walk backward like a true tour guide. “Slytherin’s at the top of this hill by the craft house and Big Zip, but now we're walking south to Gryffindor, the Nurse’s station, and the Giant Swing.”
Lily speaks louder when she adds, “Just beyond Gryffindor is Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, where the staff that aren't counselors sleep.”
“Lily and I are both staying in Ravenclaw.” Mary smiles at Dorcas and Marlene.
Lily’s face drops. “No, Mary, you’re in Hufflepuff.”
“It seems the sleeping arrangements have changed this year, Red.”
Though it’s tempting to glare at Mary, Lily keeps her eyes fixed on Dorcas and Marlene. She is, after all, presenting an example right now. The best tactic is to ignore Mary entirely.
“You two will be the counselors for the youngest campers. Marlene, that's your cabin.” Lily gestures to Gryffindor’s Cabin 4, a dark wooden structure tucked behind an oak tree. She can’t help but smile at her first cabin, thinking of her first summer with the Marauders. Though she can’t remember much about their counselor that year, she’ll never forget the stupid pranks they pulled on him. God, they were merciless.
“Were you a Golden Camper too, Lily?” Marlene asks.
Lily’s eyes flick towards Cabin 1 on the left, finding the small graffiti on the bottom wood panel. Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, Prongs, and Firefly 4ever.
“Yep,” she says. “I was a scholarship kid, one of the first.”
The information is already in the handbook, so Lily doesn’t bother running down the scholarship criteria, how Dumbledore selects the two campers that get a full-ride to Hogwarts. She does, however, offer the new counselors a word of warning.
“About half of your campers are coming from Hogsmeade, the main city we recruit from, and then the other half are from all around the world. The hardest part of being a counselor is getting all the campers, the wealthy kids, the scholarship kids, and the misfits, to work together.”
Dorcas’ face scrunches in thought. “I honestly can’t remember that ever being an issue.”
Lily nods. “Good. Then your counselors did their jobs.”
“So what should we look out for?” Marlene prompts. “What’s the most typical challenge when it comes to the campers?”
“Spoiled brats,” Mary answers at the same time as Lily says, “Homesickness.”
Dorcas bites back a laugh.
“A lot of the campers aren’t used to the word no.” Mary crosses her arms, looking at Marlene and Dorcas seriously. “You’ll inevitably face a temper tantrum when you first deny them something.”
Lily, as per her strategy, ignores Mary. “Campers usually have… episodes when they’re overwhelmed. Those are the moments when they’ll want their parents. All you have to do is be a safe person for them.”
“You’re not meant to replace their parents. You’re a counselor, your job is to challenge them.”
Lily sucks in a breath. “ And protect them. Know your campers' limits.”
Mary tsks. “But don’t coddle them—”
“It’s not coddling, it’s supporting—”
“Campers are supposed to step outside of their comfort zones—”
“They won’t ever try if they don’t feel safe—”
“I thought we were getting a tour?” Dorcas cuts in.
Lily isn’t sure how she got here, when her feet had moved her all the way over to Mary, and why their faces were so damn close. Mary’s dark brown eyes are narrowed, her lips pursed in annoyance. It’s an expression Lily knows well from last summer.
“Why’d you stop them, Dorcas?” Marlene drawls. “I was learning so much.”
Mary breaks the glare first, snapping her head to the side to look at the two new counselors. Lily sighs and puts some much-needed distance between them. So much for setting an example.
The rest of the tour is stiff and awkward, and Lily eventually lets Dorcas take over, too busy drafting a formal complaint to Dumbledore in her head. She can’t believe that he hired Mary again. Does he not respect Lily’s opinion? Was he not listening when Lily told him what was best for Hogwarts, what was best for the campers?
Lily could be the Counselor Manager and the Activities Director. Even if she’d be running on no sleep, it’d be well worth it to get Mary out. In fact, Lily is prepared to demand just that when she next sees Dumbledore. She’ll sleep when she’s dead.
When the four of them finally make their way back to the Lodge, Lily sees her opportunity and pulls Mary away. She drags her behind the Aerial Silks post so that no one in the Lodge can see.
“Why’d you come back?” Lily snaps.
Mary seems genuinely surprised that Lily is even asking the question. As if she’d forgotten all the misery of last summer.
Lily scoffs. “After all that you put me through—”
Mary’s laugh is almost a giggle, high and choppy. “What I put you through?”
“I tried to be amicable with you—” Lily pushes.
“Amicable?” Mary repeats. “That’s what you’re calling it? Lily, you gave me a peer performance review only a week in last summer.”
Lily crosses her arms. “Yes. A helpful, and need I say organized, spreadsheet of how you can better assign cabin activities, navigate counselor responsibilities, and schedule—”
“I don’t need you to remind me, Red. I read every word.”
Though Lily wants to snap at Mary for interrupting her thrice (3!) now, though she wants to grab Mary’s shoulders and shake her senseless, Lily calmly laces her fingers in front of her and breathes.
“What was it you called me in that review?” Mary muses, stepping forward.
Lily presses her palms together, fingers growing white. And yet, Mary comes closer still.
“Sloppy, rash, oh, and my personal favorite, impetuous ,” she lists off.
Mary’s only a breath away now. No more than the length of a friendship bracelet. So when she leans even closer, Lily can’t help but flinch.
The tight curls not weaved into braids brush Lily’s cheek as Mary whispers, “At least I don’t have a stick up my ass.”
Then Mary walks away, her hiking boots crunching over wood chips, hips swaying undoubtedly on purpose before she slams the Lodge door behind her.
Lily has to sink onto the post to catch her breath.
*****
Sunset has always been Lily’s favorite time of day at Hogwarts. The orange-pink sky slowly dims into a map of stars, the firepit swallowing up all the light, its warmth brushing up on their skin, and smoke sinking into their eyes.
Lily hides her face in James’ shoulder, blaming said smoke for the tears running down her cheeks. She’s definitely not crying about the first campfire of the summer. That would be so soppy.
James, who always knows how to make it better, rubs Lily’s back and passes her another marshmallow. It’s completely burnt, just like Lily likes it. She checks her blood sugar level on her receiver, mentally counting the insulin she’ll need for a second smores.
The entire Hogwarts staff are in a circle, listening to a Dumbledore Ted Talk. Without the campers, they’re much too small a group to sit on the wood benches, so they brought out a mix of picnic blankets and foldable chairs. Mary is, thankfully, as far away from Lily as possible, tucked between Barty and Evan across the firepit.
“Challenge and Discover.” Dumbledore’s voice blends with the crackling of the fire. The Camp Director looks best at dusk, his white hair and white beard seem almost mystical in the shadows of the night. “Hogwarts' mission is about pushing our campers to become the best humans they can be.”
Dumbledore’s eyes roam over the entire staff. “I started this camp thirty-three years ago. Even before we had all these incredible facilities, these campgrounds have been a sanctuary for children to explore their imagination, to test their bravery, and to create lasting bonds.” His eyes linger on the Marauders, all sitting together on the ground.
He clears his throat, and continues, “This week, Lily, Mary, and I will guide you through a rigorous training. We take our jobs, this mission very seriously.”
“You’ve each been welcomed into the Hogwarts family because we know you can handle the responsibility. We are all here for the kids, and every rule, every decision, is made with their best interest at heart.”
Lily looks to her right, where Regulus writes in neat, incomprehensible handwriting. Upon closer inspection, she realizes that the journal’s pages are full of another language entirely. Lily almost tells Reg not to bother to take notes, as she has printed handouts on the camp philosophy, but she doesn’t want to interrupt Dumbledore’s spiel.
“This includes Rule #13.”
Regulus and Lily both look up.
Dumbledore continues, “Staff are under no circumstances permitted to date.”
From across the circle, Evan snorts. Lily gives him a pointed glare. Barty and Evan have been dating for years and Dumbledore has yet to notice. Since Evan’s a chef, not a counselor, Lily doesn’t see any issue with it, but the rule still stands. They can’t ever be caught.
“However, that doesn’t mean this summer can not be rewarding.” Dumbledore smiles. “We will all grow together in the coming weeks.”
From the corner of her eye, Lily sees Sirius stiffen. Their spine straightens, shooting up into the impeccable posture that once came naturally to him.
“What is it—” the question dies on Lily’s lips as a tall figure steps over the wooden benches and walks into the circle.
Their stride is so familiar, long legs moving quickly, quietly, and leaning to the left in almost a limp.
“Ah, yes.” Dumbledore’s hand beckons the stranger forward. “I’d like you all to meet our new nurse.”
Lily’s heart clenches and ties into a knot as the firelight shines on their face. She takes in the tan skin, sandy hair, and long nose. It’s been years, but that is without question—
“Remus Lupin,” Dumbledore introduces. “Why don’t you tell us about yourself?”
Lily turns to look at her friends, unsure of what the fuck is happening. Peter is watching Sirius with laser focus, and James’s face is folded down in confusion. Sirius looks like she saw a shooting star.
“Hello, everyone.” Remus lifts his hand slightly. “I’m Remus. I—uh, I’m a nurse from Colorado.”
“Moony?” Sirius whispers, but it’s too soft for Remus to hear.
“Tell us why you’re here,” Dumbledore asks, as is standard protocol.
Remus shrugs. “I’ve never been to California, and it sounded like you really needed a nurse, Albus.”
Lily has to shake her head to be sure she heard correctly. Never been to California? What about every summer for five years?
James turns to Lily. “Maybe it’s not Remus?”
“It’s Remus,” Sirius cuts in swiftly. “I’d know him anywhere.”
“Quiet, he’s coming this way,” Peter mumbles.
The four of them stare, waiting for Remus to say something. But he just walks by them with a polite nod.
Just as Remus is about to sit by Dorcas, Sirius stands. “Remus?”
He turns around, looking at them all over his shoulder. “Hey, yeah, that’s right. I know the name’s unusual.”
Sirius’ face flickers with hurt, and Remus apparently notices. “What was your name?”
Lily watches Sirius flounder, mouth opening and closing in disbelief.
“That’s Sirius,” Regulus fills in for his sibling. He closes his notebook, sliding the pen to the side. “Don’t mind Sirius’ idiocy, she gets stupid when he’s around pretty people.”
Remus’ eyes flick from Regulus, then back to Sirius, who is still standing there, struck dumb.
“Noted.” Remus smiles at Sirius.
Sirius can’t seem to smile back.
******
Lily paces in the Nurse’s station, her fingers sliding over the wooden counter as she thinks and thinks and thinks it over.
Dumbledore hired Remus. He didn’t ask for Lily’s help in recruitment, he wouldn’t even give her the new nurse’s name. It’s as if he wanted to shock her, no, to shock all the Marauders when Remus pulled up.
What the hell is Albus playing at? More importantly, why doesn’t Remus remember the Marauders?
Sirius thinks Remus is lying. That it’s all one hilarious, cruel prank.
Despite Sirius’ insecurities, Lily refuses to believe that Remus is pretending. No. There wasn’t a drop of recognition on Remus’ face when he looked at his first crush. When he shook Lily’s hand after the campfire. When he walked with the group, weaving through all the cabins of Gryffindor, until Mary showed him his room in Ravenclaw.
Lily knows that Remus doesn’t remember. That he’s somehow…forgotten them.
And yet, here he is, back at Hogwarts. Moony might not remember the Marauders, but he found them nonetheless.
“Lily?” Pandora’s voice is soft.
“In the back,” she calls out.
“Of course you are.” Pandora laughs.
Lily focuses on the sounds of the Nurse’s station’s front door shutting and Pandora’s light footsteps, pushing away all thoughts of Remus Lupin for later.
When Pandora finally opens the patient room’s door, Lily greets her with a kiss. A long, deep, breathless kiss.
After all, she’s been waiting all day.
Her right-hand cups Pandora’s cheek, thumb brushing over the soft skin and tugging down to open her mouth. Lily hums as their tongues collide, a wave of warmth, of familiar sunshine and craving crashing over every last thought in her crowded, organized brain.
With Pandora’s mouth on hers, with Pandora’s body flush with hers, all Lily can think about is more.
“Please. More.”
“Wait.” Pandora pushes back, her blue eyes bright as she smiles at Lily. “I want to look at you.”
They’re the same height, so their noses brush as they catch their breath. “You’ve got a few more freckles,” Pandora whispers.
“You’ve been counting?”
Pandora kisses her nose, then her cheekbones at a torturously slow pace, as if counting each and every one right there and then. Then her hands glide down, brushing over Lily’s hips and ass until she’s picking her up.
Lily wraps her legs around Pandora, clutching onto her waist with unabashed eagerness. It’s been a while since they’ve done this. Fourty two weeks to be exact.
Pandora moves them away from the door, carrying Lily to the makeshift patient bed, already covered in a paper blanket that they will surely rip up in the next ten minutes. Maybe five. Maybe two. To be fair, it has been a while.
Reaching up to Pandora’s messy bun, Lily rips out the comb, grinning as the hair falls down. “You’ve grown your hair out.”
“I knew you’d like it.”
Lily sinks her fingers into Pandora’s hair and nestles into her neck, planting kisses from her collarbone to the side of her jaw.
It’s when Lily reaches the corner of Pandora’s lip, and bites down gently, that she feels Pandora flush, just as Lily knew she would. Pandora’s pale skin riddles with goosebumps, her crotch warm and hard, rocking slowly.
They’d been doing this ever since Lily hired Pandora three summers ago. With all that practice, their bodies know each other perfectly. Lily’s memorized the beautiful peculiarities of Pandora’s intersex gifts, and Pandora’s worshiped every inch of Lily’s body.
It’s nothing but incredible sex between them. And a friendship that’s lasted in the face of Lily’s demanding personality. Neither of them wants anything else.
No one else knows about all the fun they’ve had, of course. Not even the Marauders. If word got out, it would likely cost them both of their jobs.
That terrifying thought doesn’t stop Lily from fucking Pandora, however.
On principle, Lily Evans is a rule follower. Staff romances can get messy, and Rule #13 is there to protect the kids. But she and Pandora aren’t exactly dating, are they?
Loopholes aside, Lily likes Pandora way too much to quit. It’s the only reprieve, release Lily has from the responsibilities of camp. With Pandora, Lily can just let go, at least physically. She can’t do that with anyone else.
It’s when they're half naked, covered in that tattered paper blanket, that Lily has enough wits about her to ask: “How’s Luna?”
Pandora smiles, kissing the top of Lily’s head. “She’s with Xeno right now, getting ready for camp.
“Is she nervous?”
“I don’t think so.”
Lily laughs. “Luna’s like her mom then.”
“I still worry though, it will be a lot of stimulation for her.” Pandora traces shapes on the back of Lily’s arm.
“We’ll all watch out for her, but Luna knows what to do when she’s overstimulated.”
Pandora sighs. “Yes, she is very capable.”
“The first day is always the hardest,” Lily admits. “Then she’ll get the hang of it all.”
Lily can picture the crowd of campers, the tears and nervous introductions as they meet their counselors and settle into their cabins. It’s when the campers first arrive that Lily feels that wound slash open.
A reminder of the day she kissed her child and gave them away. She hadn’t been anywhere close to ready for something as precious as a kid. Not when she still was one.
Lily doesn’t regret anything. Nevertheless, she misses her baby. She’d always miss her baby.
“Luna’s going to do great,” Lily murmurs into Pandora’s chest.
“I know—”
The door opens with a smack, and they both flinch. It’s two AM. No one should be up, much less in the Nurse’s station.
Lily rises on her elbows, bracing herself for the worst.
She finds the man that was once her best friend, standing in the doorway.
“Remus?” Lily gasps.