Chapter 19
“do you want to head back up to the castle?” alice asked, once james and sirius had dried off in the june sun.
“what for?” mary asked, stretching out across the blankets and closing her eyes.
“it was just a suggestion” alice said. “i might go grab a book if we’re going to stay here into the evening.”
she stood up, immediately running her hands down her thighs to try and flatten out the creases that had developed in her skirt.
“take these with you then” sirius said, holding out the two picnic baskets.
“why?” alice asked, looking down at him sceptically.
“to refill them; bring more food back with you.”
“fine.”
“do you want a hand?”
alice turned around to see lily following her up the path. she waited, holding a hand to her forehead as she blocked the sunlight.
“you going to the tower first?” lily asked.
alice nodded as they continued side by side.
“how did you find your final paper this morning?” alice asked, stepping aside to let lily through the doors into the entrance hall first.
“easy, if i’m honest.”
“and now the wait for results day starts” alice muttered, exhaling heavily.
“oh don’t” lily told her as they entered the gryffindor common room. “i can’t believe they make us wait almost two months - it’s torture.”
“what are your plans for this long summer then?”
“other than our girls trip to rome, nothing really. what about you? you and frank were going to paris, weren’t you?”
“do you really think we’ll be able to go?” alice asked quietly.
lily threw herself down on her bed, staring blankly up at the canopy. she sat up as alice perched at the end of her bed, still waiting for an answer.
“i mean, there’s nothing stopping us from going out into the muggle world and then coming back to fight, right? we can have our two months and then officially join the order once we have our NEWTs results” lily said with a slight wobble in her voice.
“okay” alice said, standing back up and crossing the room to her own bed. “okay.”
she picked up the book she’d come for and waited by the door as lily knelt down and rummaged through her drawers. as she stood up, her knees clicked loudly, causing the redhead to grimace slightly in pain.
“what are you reading at the moment?” alice asked, trying to make out the title through the gaps between lily’s fingers.
“the handmaid’s tale - it’s really good” lily told her as they made their way down to the kitchens.
she carefully placed the book under her arm as she reached out to tickle the pear in the centre of the fruit bowl. it opened its eyes, blinking tiredly before swinging back on its hinges.
“hey” alice said, setting the baskets down on the worktop. “can we get a top-up?”
“of course, madams” an elf replied, nudging the elf next to him to start moving.
within minutes, an assortment of baked goods and punnets of fruit had been placed on the table nearest alice. she ran her fingers lightly over the soft skins of a handful of peaches before selecting about half a dozen and arranging them carefully at the bottom of the basket.
she quickly wrapped the treacle tart in clingfilm and took a couple of the peaches out, before replacing them back on top of the tart, the thin plastic wrap preventing the skins from becoming sticky.
an extra packet of ham was also slipped into the basket, resting on top of a third loaf of bread. as the girls headed for the door, a house elf stopped lily, offering her two bottles of homemade raspberry lemonade. she accepted them graciously, smiling warmly as she bowed her head, acknowledging the elf’s deep bow.
the sky had turned a brilliant orange since they had been inside, and lily instantly raised a hand to block the rays. the school day had finished and the castle’s extensive grounds were now littered with groups of younger students, some OWLs students choosing to bring their revision outside for a change of scenery.
alice was leading the way back down to the edge of the lake, her book balanced somewhat precariously on top of the picnic basket. lily sat back down next to remus, unscrewing the bottle of lemonade. it had a twang to it; a sharpness that was only brief but enjoyable.
“why’s it pink?” sirius asked as she offered him some.
“it’s raspberry lemonade.”
“hmmm” sirius said, his lips already around the bottle. “oh that’s nice actually.”
“don’t sound so surprised; when has a house elf ever made anything that didn’t taste nice?”
“you haven’t met mine” sirius muttered. “i mean not mine-mine, but the house one” he said when he noticed the raised eyebrows.
“where are dorcas and emmeline?” alice asked as she repositioned herself in frank’s lap.
“they went to the greenhouses” marlene said, rolling onto her stomach.
“hey lils, you going to cut that tart?“
“hey! don’t cut marlene” sirius said, flashing a grin in marlene’s direction.
he was met with a middle finger and he jumped as a harsh hand hit him on the back of his head. he looked over his shoulder to see dorcas behind him, holding a bunch of flowers.
“these are for you” she said, sitting down next to marlene who hurriedly sat up to wrap her arms around dorcas’ neck. “i’ve been growing them with sprout’s help for almost two years.”
“i love you” marlene mumbled against her girlfriend’s lips.
after passing around napkins of treacle tart, lily sat back on her heels, watching with a sigh as the last of the sun disappeared from view behind the firs of the forbidden forest.
“that was a big sigh; you okay?” james asked, leaning back on his face elbow to look at her properly.
“yeah i’m fine” lily assured him, wiping her fingers. “you?”
james nodded, standing up.
“i’m going to go find regulus, but i’ll see you before we all leave tomorrow for sure.”
“okay yeah, see you later.”
yanking his shirt back over his head, james wandered through the corridors a little distracted. on his way to the slytherin common room, he passed through the library, not wanting to have to double back if regulus wasn’t in his dorm. seeing every table empty of a particular dark haired boy, james increased his pace as he headed back to the first floor.
face to face with a carving of a snake tongue on the sandstone in front of him, james knocked gently. the bricks began rearranging themselves, revealing regulus with a quill in his hand.
“oh are you busy?”
“a little but you can come in” regulus said with a sheepish smile.
flinging himself down on his boyfriend’s bed, james just started talking as he stared blankly up at the emerald silk canopy above him.
“my mum wants to go back to india with my dad’s ashes and i don’t know if i want her to” james confessed.
“what do you mean?”
“she wants to go alone and is going to leave me and it just feels like she’s prioritising her own closure and grief over mine. and i’m not saying hers doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t feel like she’s really there for me.”
“have you told her this? it might help” regulus suggested.
“can you just tell me that everything’s going to be okay and not actually give me practical solutions to my problems for a minute?” james asked.
abandoning his essay, regulus crossed the dorm to sit against his headboard and wrap his arms tightly around james as the older boy rested his head against his chest.
“you are going to be okay” regulus said, dipping his head to place his chin on james’ shoulder, his lips near the chaser’s ear. “i promise.”