Chapter 3
Lucius and Lily only leave the Hospital Wing when Madame Pomfrey drags them both out by their arms.
“Both of you need to eat something before coming back here. Honestly, the two of you care too much for your own good.” She mumbles at them.
“You’ll send someone if you have any news?” Lucius asks her.
“Yes, Topsy is happy to help. Now, run along and go to dinner!”
With that, she closes the doors to the Hospital Wing.
“I, uh, I’ll see you then?” Lily asks the 7th year calmly.
She notices how different his face looks now that they’re out of the hospital wing. It’s set in a hard expression – his lips are in a thin line and his brows arch downward as if he’s both angry and questioning something at the same time. This is the kind of Slytherin Lily was familiar with before he had poured his heart out to her in the Hospital Wing. It’s both impressive and unnerving, the way he can switch masks so quickly. Maybe it’s the pureblood upbringing, or just because he’s Malfoy, but Lily truly knows he’s a Slytherin when he does that. He just nods at her and leaves, as if they had never had a conversation at all.
Lily watches him go, her mind still reeling from all of the information she has on Sev, Malfoy, and the entirety of Slytherin house. She was trying to keep her distance from Sev because she knew Malfoy was recruiting him to join the Dark Lord, but apparently, the opposite was true. How could they have drifted so far that he wouldn’t even tell her that he had a significant other? Granted, it was Lucius Malfoy, but she feels awful at how their friendship ended because she couldn’t let herself forgive him after all he had been through.
When she makes it to the Great Hall, she watches the Slytherins carefully. They all look the same as they do – stoic, unhappy, perfect posture, evenly spaced throughout their table. She sees Malfoy with Sirius’ cousin, Narcissa, intently listening in on a conversation with another 7th year across from him.
“Why are you ogling the Slytherins?”
Lily startles. “Remus! Where’d you come from?”
“I was sitting right next to you the entire time. What’s going on with you?”
She sighs. “I’m just worried. D’you hear about what happened earlier?”
Remus nods. “I thought they were done. They told me so. I guess they never really listen to me anyway. Thank Merlin McGonagall finally came to her senses and gave them a fair punishment. Is Snape okay, though? I heard he could barely stand after they were done with him.”
“He’s resting in the Hospital Wing. His magic was acting up, like it did when we were kids. Do you know anything about ancient magic?”
“Like, pureblood stuff? Ancient magic can only be practiced by pureblood families, and that’s why all of them are so hellbent on ‘preserving bloodlines’ or whatever. At least, that’s what Sirius said. I think you should take that with a grain of salt; Sirius was the one who said it after all.”
“You still aren’t talking to him then?”
“No. He hasn’t apologized, so I don’t see why I have to be the one to start a conversation.”
She pats his back. “Sirius and James are real twats, honestly.”
They both laugh at that. Ever since Remus had stopped talking with Sirius and James, he was a lot more open to conversation. She hadn’t seen Peter since fourth year, and she only found out later that he had moved to America with his parents and continued his schooling there. The Marauders were down a man since the start of fifth year, and Sirius’ prank further aggravated their already strained friendship. Lily could somehow relate, but given that Sev had only insulted her and not purposely put someone in danger, she couldn’t really give any advice to Remus to help him.
“Why are you suddenly so interested in ancient magic anyway?”
“History of Magic assignment. It’s complete and utter bollocks, I know.” Lily lied.
“Huh. Well, I’m not much help in that department. Maybe you can ask the Slytherins for advice.”
“You know what, maybe I will.”
“Lils, I meant that as a joke.”
“Did you, now?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
She just hummed.
-
Turns out, she didn’t have to ask for advice from the Slytherins because they surrounded her as she made her way to Gryffindor Tower after dinner.
“Uh, hi?” She greeted.
“Girls Bathroom.” One of the Slytherin girls said.
This was when Lily started to fear for her life. The Slytherin girls walked in unison, and from the outside you wouldn’t see her in the middle of their circle. She followed along and tried to keep her head as low as possible.
Once they reached the bathroom, one of the girls had locked it and they all let Lily go from the circle.
“Miss Evans, a pleasure.” said Narcissa Black.
“Uh-“
Narcissa snaps her gaze toward the girl on her left. “Bella, keep Myrtle occupied.”
Bella rolls her eyes, she looks a little manic. Lily guesses that she was Narcissa’s older sister, Bellatrix Black, who had a reputation for being unhinged. Lily is trying so hard to avoid her gaze, since Narcissa was already piercing her with her eyes.
“Lucius and Severus seem to trust you, and by extension, you are now an ally of the house of Slytherin. You must not speak a word of whatever you have heard to anyone who is not of Slytherin, or you will suffer the consequences.”
Lily just nods. She doesn’t want to show how intimidated she feels.
“The ribbon, Francesca.”
One of the girls hand her a slim, black ribbon. Narcissa holds it in her hands and whispers an incantation that Lily isn’t familiar with.
“By the power of Salazar himself, we bestow upon you our protection and trust as an ally of Slytherin. Do you, Lily Evans, born to the House of Evans, the first of many muggleborns to whom we entrust our ambitions, accept?”
“I do.”
“So mote it be.” Narcissa ties the ribbon on her wrist, and she feels an uneasy sense of magic in the air. It fades into a calming afterthought, and she looks at the ribbon in wonder.
“Merlin, that took forever.” Narcissa muttered. “Salazar was such a prat for making those rituals, honestly.”
Then the most unexpected happened, Narcissa turned to her and smiled. Smiled?
Lily’s eyes widen. Was this the same Narcissa who nearly killed her with her gaze alone moments ago?
“Lily? May I call you Lily? I think so, Miss Evans sounds like your mother.”
Lily isn’t really sure what just happened, but Narcissa almost seems friendly.
“You look like a fish, gawking at me like that!” She chuckled. “Is it such a surprise for me to be so jovial? I haven’t formally met a girl in my year who wasn’t a Slytherin, so do excuse me if I may come off as unbecoming.”
“Cissa, give the girl a chance to talk.” Said the girl who handed her the ribbon.
“I’m sorry, Fran this is all just so exciting. Would you care to tell us about yourself, Lily?”
“Wait hold on- what just happened? What was that ritual? What’s going on?” Lily was incredibly confused. This day was just getting more and more surprising.
“That, was an ancient ritual of allyship to the House of Slytherin.” Bellatrix answered. “You are now an honorary Slytherin for the rest of your years in Hogwarts. Unless of course, you betray us.”
“Oh, stop with the cryptic threats, Bella!” Narcissa turned to Lily again. “Don’t worry about it, it’s just a precaution. Can’t have you spilling our secrets now, can we?” She hummed happily.
“I would never-“
“Hmm yes, but we’re Slytherins, so we can’t be too sure.” Narcissa quipped. “Anyway, we’ve been in this dingy bathroom for too long. Let’s head on back to the dorms, shall we? We can talk freely there. I promise you’ll be fine.” She grabbed Lily’s arm and led her to the back of the bathroom. Another Slytherin tapped the bathroom wall thrice, and the white tile made way to a gaping passage.
“Thank you, Audile. Alright, Lily dear, a couple things before we venture into the Snake’s den, as you Gryffindors call it – the house is in unrest right now, since Lucius is planning to defy the Dark Lord despite his oath to him, some are supportive, others aren’t. We’ve all been brought up pureblooded, so I’m very sorry for whatever some of my housemates say about you. We’ve all been trying to deal with the Dark Lord in our own way, but there is one thing we do know for certain – we are not going to start a war for his cause. Do you trust me?”
Lily nods. She doesn’t know why exactly but she does. Maybe that ritual did something, or it could be Narcissa’s smooth talking, or just because she’s pretty, but Lily does trust her. “I trust you.”
“Well then, to the Snake’s Den!”