Chapter 3
Madame Pomfrey assured them after a night of healing, Marlene would be fine. The match was pushed back to next week and everything was going to be okay.
Mary couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, and she knew Lily was feeling the same.
And she was shaken. It had been so awful watching her fall and if Dorcas hadn’t been there who knows what would have happened? Not even magic could heal the dead. Mary didn’t know what she’d do without her friends. Marlene and Lily were part of her soul, her very being. If they were gone she’d feel like part of her had been ripped away. It was unimaginable to her. And she knew Marlene was alive, she could see her now, a little shaken but okay. But she couldn’t lose the thought of Marlene McKinnon, her wild, stupid best friend being gone forever.
“Honestly, I’m so sorry Marls,” Lily said, rushing to her bedside in the Infirmary. She looked worried, and Mary had no doubt she blamed herself. Lily always took the blame for things that weren’t really her fault.
Marlene was sitting up in the bed, eating chocolate. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head quickly. “What do you have to be sorry for, Lils? You didn’t push me off my broomstick.”
“Right, but it was our idea to bring you down early,” Lily pointed out. “And you ended up getting hurt!”
Marlene paused for a second and started fiddling with a ring on her finger. “Well, that wasn’t your fault.. and if I’m being honest, I mean, I did enjoy spending time with Dorcas.”
Mary’s eyebrows shot up and she grinned. For all her worry, she had waited many long years for this confession. “So what you’re saying is..?”
“There is a possibility,” Marlene said slowly, still staring at her hands, “That I wouldn’t mind you.. setting me up with her again. Y’know I mean, keep your enemies closer and all.”
Lily laughed and threw her arms around Marlene, who snorted, squirming beneath Lilys freckled grip.
“I knew it!” Mary said, folding her arms. “What do I always say?”
“Mary MacDonald is always right,” Marlene said with a resigned sigh.
“That’s right,” she said before throwing her arms around her too.
She tried to push the image of Marlene falling to the back of her mind.
But it stayed there, lurking in her thoughts.
*
Lily walked back from the infirmary, gripping on to Mary’s arm tightly. She was grinning from ear to ear. Her earlier worry was disspelled by Marlene’s confession, admittal that she had enjoyed Dorcas’ company. It was a step towards getting her to admit they were completely in love and should get married immediately .
“We did it!” Lily announced proudly. “We got her to admit she’s in love with Dorcas! We’re amazing!”
Mary raised her eyebrows. “At the cost of her arm, by the way.”
“Not our fault she fell of the broomstick,” Lily bit her lip, “Right?”
“Of course not,” Mary said, a little relieved to see Lily still felt a little guilty too.
They fell into silence as they walked through the half empty corridors. Everyone was heading up to their dorms for the night.
“We’ll be alone in our dorm tonight for the first time since Marlene fell down the stairs in fourth year,” Lily said suddenly, her eyes finding Mary’s. She was trying to sound casual but Mary could feel the intensity burning behind her words.
She opened her mouth to say something. Probably something to deflect the conversation or make Lily stop looking at her that way when she heard a voice that made her skin crawl call out “Lily!”
“For fucks sake,” Lily grumbled, picking up her pace. She was clearly not in the mood to entertain Severus Snape.
Mary really, really hated that guy. Ever since first year, even before he joined the Pureblood Defence Squad and befriended Mulciber, a guy who’d had it out for her since she’d rejected him in second year. And also maybe he’d always partially hated her for her blood status. It was hard to tell with Purebloods. When she first arrived at Hogwarts she’d craved their attention and approval. That had long since been replaced by her hatred of them. She had found peace in her own skin.
She could hear the little twat scrambling to keep up with him and behind him she could hear his stupid friends following.
“Lily, wait, come on talk to me!” He said desperately.
They’d stopped being friends after he called her a mudblood, a while ago. Lily clearly wanted nothing to do with him and yet he couldn’t take a hint.
Suddenly, he ran past both of them and stopped right in front of Lily, who was forced to skid to a halt. Her grip on Marys arm tightened and she didn’t look right at him.
Severus Snape was a skinny, long limbed boy with greasy black hair and cold grey eyes. He was pale and gaunt looking, the too large Slytherin uniform he wore hanging off his thin limbs.
Lily spoke and when she did her voice was very cold. Her northern Irish accent was strong too, as it always was when she was angry. “Get the fuck out of my way, Sev. I told you I never want to see you again.”
Severus looked horribly crushed and reached out to take Lilys hand.
Mary stepped forward and shoved him back, hard. He called Lily a mudblood and hung around with people who hated people like her and had the audacity to try touch her? His friends mocked and bullied people like them for kicks! And what, he thought Lily was different just because he had a crush on her? Couldn’t he just take a no?
Severus hit the ground and looked up at her. The pleading in his eyes was gone, replaced by fury.
She suddenly felt someone else grab her arm from behind and she stumbled back in surprise. Lily turned and shoved that person as well, and Mary realised it was Mulciber.
He was tall and had a mop of curly black hair. He had a bit of a moustache and beard and his mouth was twisted in a cruel scowl. Avery, a shorter boy with pale brown hair and freckles was standing behind him, also looking a little furious.
Mulciber stumbled back a little and glared at her. He didn’t even glance at Lily. Mary’s heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach.
“Merlin, what did you do that to Snape for, mudblood? Your people are so aggressive,” Mulciber snapped.
Your people. Mary knew he wasn’t talking about muggleborns. Racism wasn’t limited to the muggle world, unfortunately. It struck her like a punch to the gut, all the same.
Lily narrowed her eyes. “What the fuck do you mean by her people?”
Mulciber grinned. A sick, twisted little smile of an asshole who thought he was better then you. Above you. That his blood status or race meant he was superior to you and she was so, so angry. He’d never really get in trouble for it. And people like Mary suffered.
The thing about Purebloods was they were so used to fighting being done by Wands they never saw the punch coming.
Mulciber reeled back, holding his bloody nose. Lily tugged her away and they ran and ran, leaving the shellshocked Slytherin boys behind them.
They ran through almost empty corridors and past closed classrooms, almost forgetting the password in their hurry. They raced through the common room even though they were both safe now. The adrenaline was too much for them to stop.
And Mary was stumbling up the stairs to their dorms, pulling open the door and flipping on to her four poster bed, laughing in shock from what she had just done.
And she knew she’d pay for it, because nothing was without consequences. But it had felt so good to just fight back for once, to hurt the people who hurt her and would never, ever face consequences of their own.
“Well, we’re officially dead, you know?” Lily said, jumping on to her bed as well. “I doubt the Pureblood defence squad is going to let that slide.”
Mary groaned, stopping her laughing to bury her head in her hands. “Ugh, I know!”
Lily grabbed her hand suddenly. “Hey, are you- are you okay after what Mulciber said? He was being a real cunt, I’m sorry.”
Mary shook her head. “I’m used to it, it’s fine Lils.”
“It’s not fine,” she said, frowning, “We should have stayed and beaten him up more.”
Mary laughed. “Sorry for pushing Severus by the way, that might have been overstepping.”
Lily shook her head, fishing out her pack of cigarettes and tossing one to Mary. She lit hers and inhaled. “Nah, you were right to. I should be thanking you for that.”
Mary motioned for her cigarette to be lit and Lily leaned in, gently pressing the tip of her cig to Mary’s. Marys heart skipped a beat and her eyes flicked up to look at Lily but she was already moving back, lounging against the pillows on Mary’s bed.
“Can’t believe you were ever friends with that prick,” Mary sighed, “Bet he likes you too.”
Lily frowned slightly. “He wasn’t like that when we were younger. He just sort of.. changed and I- I guess I didn’t want to believe it.”
Mary nodded, breathing out smoke. “I get that, I guess. I just never really liked him, Lils. Always knew he was trouble.”
Lily laughed. “You were right, of course you were. What is it Marlene says? Mary MacDonald is always right.”
“Always,” Mary agreed, “But you’re right about things a lot of the time too. Snape was just a bad call.”
Lily sighed. “You can say that again.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, smoking on Mary’s bed. Lily tipped her head back gently, exhaling a ring of smoke with a sigh.
Mary raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“So, you and Pandora were getting along pretty well, huh?” Lily said.
“Pandora?” Mary said, unable to stop herself from snorting with laughter. “Lily, I talked to the girl for two minutes!”
Lily smiled, but she focused on her cigarette and doesn’t meet Marys eyes. “I don’t know, you guys just seemed to be getting along.”
“Do you like her?” Mary asked. She’d seemed a bit cold when speaking to her earlier,
Lilys eyes widened and she looked away. “NO! I’m straight, I- I don’t like girls.”
And Mary knew this of course. That hadnt even been what she was asking. She’d had no reason to be upset. And yet why did she feel like someone had just punched her? She swallowed, unable to stop a lump rising in her throat. She hated the way she’d said it so quickly. Sounded so horrified. What was so wrong with it?
Her hands balled into fists.
“I know that obviously, Lils, I just meant do you like her as a person?” Mary snapped. “Jesus Christ, what are you so defensive about?”
Lilys eyes widened. “I didn’t meant it like that, Mary, sorry- I didn’t mean to sound-“
“So disgusted?” Mary said angrily. “Go fuck yourself Lily. You are such a wanker sometimes.”
Lily winced and hopped off her bed quickly, leaving the dorm and shutting the door behind her carefully.
Mary sat in her bed and stared at the door for a long time. She didn’t want to know why she was crying.