Let ‘Em In
Somebody’s knocking at the door
Somebody’s ringing the bell
Do me a favour
Open the door and let ‘em in
29th February 1976
“I’ll see you all for girls night, after.” Alice Brown spoke as she ruffled her fringe in the dorm mirror.
The other three Gryffindor fifth year girls sat on their beds. Marlene had her hair in curlers, set to go out with Dorcas that evening to a Ravenclaw bash. Lily perched upon the end her bed as though about to suddenly stand. Eyes darting between Alice and Ara; the latter set upon the floor with a hand mirror and her trusty black eyeliner.
The sweet-faced Alice was dressed in her best dress, a lovely red fabric, set with a neat collar and flared waist. She turned to the other girls as she grabbed her outer robes with a bright smile. “Have a fun day!” She cheered, waving goodbye to her dorm mates.
As soon as she stepped through the frame, Lily shot up from her bed - rushing to swing the door almost-closed.
“Okay,” she peered through behind the door, watching as the girl skipped down the stairs - completely unaware of the conversation due to take place in her absence. Lily shut the door and cast a silent locking spell, moving to slump down on the floor opposite Ara. “Now she’s gone, we need to have a serious conversation.”
Suddenly, Marlene was there too; forming a circle. The two witches stared holes into Ara and she could not help but gulp with dread as she shakily lowered her eyeliner pencil and sealed it with the cap.
“What about?”
“Tucker.” Marlene spoke bluntly. “More specifically, Tucker and Alice.”
Ara blinked at the words, keeping her face cool and neutral. Only one eye was fully lined; the other only lied along the upper lash. It made her look slightly confused. The two girls opposite exchanged a glance before returning their eyes to her.
“Ara.” Lily spoke softly, gently reaching for her hand to stroke across her knuckles. She hated when Lily did that. It was always so soothing that she’d end up crumbling. “Tell us what happened.”
“I did.” Ara spoke firmly, willing her eyes to stay dry as Lily nudged closer and placed her other hand on her knee. Her cat, Neptune, appeared from the shadows and lay with his head atop Ara’s leg. Merlin damn the way Lily knew that how to get a Black twin to open up was to physically comfort them. Ara wasn’t sure how Lily had noticed, but the fact was undeniable and frankly frustrating. Especially when her familiar was in on it.
“You told us that you guys had a mutual breakup ‘cause you realised that you’re ‘better off as friends’.” Marlene spoke the words as though reciting, rolling her eyes over the last phrase. “And we figure that’s fine and that you’re fine. But then you vanish right as they get together and you and Sirius have a screaming match in your brains so loud that your nose bled and then Tucker lost his hair for a week.”
“It was fucking mental.” Ara’s head shot with surprise to view Lily, who looked definitely unrepentant of her swearing. First time for everything, she supposed.
“Just… what actually happened?”
Ara sighed. Why did she even bother trying to have some semblance of dignity with this entire thing if everyone wanted to drag up her personal business anyways?
“Fine. I’m telling you this under duress.” She quipped, prompting a small chuckle from the other girls. The laughter prompted the ghost of a smile over her face, vanishing as she mustered the strength to bare herself so emotionally. “Look, I… I’m not stupid. I know everyone was going on about how Tucker looked at Alice when we were dating. I saw it too. And I knew that we were only temporary. So I ended it before it got messy.”
“But what about ‘better off as friends’?” Lily asked, prompting a dry laugh to fall from Ara’s lips.
“It’s what I told him. I told him that we weren’t in love so it was fine and it wasn’t anyone’s fault that we didn’t love each other. And he cried cause he was so relieved that I told him I didn’t love him.” She spoke the last sentence bitterly, hating herself for feeling that way - hating the looks of pity her friends gave her.
“Oh, Ara.” Lily whispered sadly, as though it had broken her heart too.
“Stop.” She grit out, trying to separate her hand from Lily’s. The Muggle-born was too stubborn. “I don’t want to be pitied, I don’t want everyone to hate him or Alice. I just want things to be fine.”
“But, babe, you’re not fine.” Marlene shook her head, before jumping to wrap her arms around the fragile girl. Lily joined and soon the three held each other as one cried.
A sudden knock on the door broke their huddle - the three looking to each other with panic at the doorway.
“I sense a cloudy green aura. May I come in?” The girls sighed in relief at Pandora’s voice, calling out in the affirmative. Quickly, the Ravenclaw girl slipped into the room - shutting the door with a soft click as she made her way to her friends. Her hair was done in two braids, threaded with ribbons and thread. Matching the blues and gold of her flowing poncho; made of gauze fabric, layers upon layers.
“How’d you know to show up?” Ara sniffled, relieved to have her best friend by her side ad the blonde sat by her other side.
“Lily told me. This is Wildflower business.” She nodded once.
“Should I… I can go?” Marlene murmured hesitantly. The Wildflowers shot each other a look, communicating silently. With Ara’s soft nod, Lily turned to her fellow Gryffindor and found her hand.
“You may not be a wildflower, Marls, but you’re one of us.”
“You’re the bumblebee that drinks the nectar.” Pandora nodded. “Flowers certainly look prettier when the pollen is spread.”
“Alright then?” She blushed slightly, clearly pleased even if she didn’t quite understand. “I’m the bee.” The blonde whispered to herself, a faint smile across her full lips.
“Since you’ve forced me to unload my emotional stuff… how are you guys doing?” Ara huffed, looking to the others with amusement as she wiped streaks of black sideways across her face with the trailing tears. Kindly, Marlene handed her a charmed washcloth; better at wiping away all traces of product than even the best wandwork.
“Barty is being difficult, again.” Pandora huffed, blowing loose hair from her face. “He keeps trying to cosy up to Evan and Killian, keeps trying to get me alone.” She shivered. “I think you might want to stop your little fights, Ottie. I don’t like his aura, right now.”
“Alright.” Ara nodded with understanding. “What about you, Lils? How’s things with Severus?”
“As well as they can be.” The ginger witch shrugged lamely, an awkward smile upon her thin lips.
“Lils?”
“It’s been weird since… everything with his dad. And I’m trying but he keeps acting all hot and cold. Either ignoring me for the Averys, or clinging to me and stopping me studying with you guys.” A soft huff flew from her lips as she looked to Ara with heaviness to the soft green of her irises. “And he says it. He uses that bloody word.” Lily frowned. “And he says that I’m special, that I’m different. But what makes me any different? How am I not just another Mudblood?”
“Hey!” Ara softly chastised her.
“Come off it. Even if you don’t use that word, I bet half your family do.” At Ara’s wince, regret filled the ginger girl. “I’m so sorry, that was so out of line. I just… he just views me as his Mudblood, doesn’t he? Better than the others, but only because I’m smart.”
“Lils.”
“Be honest, Ara. Please. Because… I think you might be the only honest friend I have. And I need you to tell me the truth.”
“Alright.” She sighed. “First things first: I am not your only honest friend. So get that thought out of here.” She shot her friend a pointed look, cracking a smile at the matching one on her friend as she bashfully looked to the others. “And secondly… yeah, Severus is a toerag. And for your sake, I really wished he wasn’t. I really did. But he was there the Mulciber tried to start shit with Mary, even if he wasn’t going to do anything himself.”
“Yeah.”
“He’s obsessed with knowing things. I get that, believe me, but he takes it too far. It’s one thing to want to know, and another to seek knowledge of Dark Arts for the sake of being the smartest. And I can smell it on him. All that Dark magic.”
“You can smell Dark magic?”
“I grew up around it, Lils. I know the stench it leaves. And it lingers.” She shuddered, offering a commiserating pat to her friend’s knee. “Let’s get drunk.” Ara decided.
At the agreeing cheers of her girls, Ara reached below her bunk to extract a bottle of firewhiskey. Where the girl kept getting alcohol, she would not say. Merely sneaking from the dorms with full pockets shaped like thin boxes, returning with a bottle hidden beneath her robes; pockets jingling.
They took turns taking swigs, laughing at each other’s scrunched faces as the whiskey hit their tongues.
As the booze flowed - a bottle of wine pulled from Marlene’s trunk, cigarettes from Ara’s stash - the girls talked and talked. Gossiped about their classmates, how Amelia Bones always sent Ara’s twin a Valentines Card; giggled about the ugly cowl that Ava Clearwater wore to the last Hogsmeade outing. Groaned about increased essays, stress of their OWL year ramping up after the Yule break.
By the time the sun drooped in the clouds, they were well and truly plastered.
“And then, holding up the broken ladder, he asked if she had a spare in the shed!” Ara cackled, the others bursting into laughter at the end of a long tale of Marauder mischief.
“Every story you tell of Potter makes him more and more likeable.” Lily giggled, hiccuping as she took a swig of Marlene’s wine, offering it back to the blonde in an organised chain.
“He’s bloody good in a crisis, provided he’s actually slept.” Ara laughed, nodding along as Pandora passed her the whiskey, shaking her head at the burn in her throat. “And he’s alright if you need advice or someone to distract you from a bad situation.”
“Maybe I’ll be nicer, next time I catch him out past curfew.” Lily shrugged with a cheeky smile. “He’s always carrying plates from the kitchens.”
“Midnight planning needs a midnight snack.” Ara replied, tapping her temple as though spouting something wise.
“Snog, Wed, Behead!” Marlene squealed suddenly, lurching forwards to clutch the knees of the two girls closest to her. “Some of Dorcas’s friends taught me it. We pick three names and have to decide which of the people to kiss, marry, or murder gruesomely.”
“Can we describe the killings?” Pandora asked in a sweet voice, light and gentle.
“Don’t see why not.” Marls shrugged, clearly caught in thought, gaze cast on the walls. Then something flashed in her eyes, looking back to the girls. “First up: Professor McGonagall, Professor McGonagall, and Kettleburn.”
“Really, Marls?” Lily raised a slender brow. “The McGonagalls, and the old Care of Magical Creatures teacher with the missing foot?”
“Why not? It’s either that or the Marauders. Minus the twin, since I don’t think Ara would want to hear about that.”
“Absolutely not.” The girl in question shook her head, shuddering at the notion. “And to answer both questions, snog boy McGonagall, marry Minnie, and tie Kettleburn to the rafters and let a dragon go at him-”
“Jesus.” Lily remarked, cutting through Ara’s words. “Sometimes I forget that you’re utterly loony.”
“Makes life more fun.” Ara shrugged, grinning wickedly.
“What about the Marauders?” Marls asked again, waggling her brows.
“Marry Petey, easy.” She laughed.
“Too easy.” The other girls chimed together.
“Alright, alright.” She raised her hands in surrender. “I suppose, snog Remus and marry James.”
“Really? Even though tall, scarred, and moody explored practically every broom closet with you?” Marls gasped, clutching her wine bottle closer as she leant in.
“Who said anything about that? I just want to keep my access to the Potter gardens forever.” They all giggled at that.
As the game settled and the conversation shifted to Lily and Marlene, Ara turned to her left, to spy Pandora watching her with a fretful expression. In her tipsiness, something had slipped. Just this everyday mask, a little shield upon her eyes, that hid the depth within Pandora. The knowledge and ties to that most witches could not spy, not learn to See.
“So many snips and ties in the thread.” Pandora mumbled to herself, eyes darting across Ara’s face with worry. “Haven’t the foggiest idea where to cut.”
“Then let it be.” Ara took her hands in hers; stroking Pandora’s knuckles with her thumb. The blonde smiled at her fondly, nodding in acceptance.
“I am not Morai.” She whispered to herself, smiling slightly as she took it in.
“Exactly.” Ara nodded. “You hold hope, Pandora. It shines.”
Her friend seemed to mull her words for a moment, her face erupting into a bright smile as she raised her bottle.
“The tree forged of many roots bears the sweetest fruit!” Pandora cheered, prompting a whoop from the girls.
They raised the bottles, taking swigs before passing along the chain until all four had drunk both liquors. Giggling with drunken merriment as they slammed the bottles with great success in their motions.
The door to the dorm flew open. And the most surprising person emerged.
There, shaking in her Hufflepuff uniform - the shirt torn and messed, skirt creased oddly - was Mary MacDonald. Her curly hair was in disarray; eyes wide and unfocused as she shuddered in the doorway.
“Mary?” Ara gawped, forcing herself to unsteady feet and rushing towards her. The girl flinched at the contact, only relaxing as Ara placed her hands on her face to show it wasn’t a threat. “What happened?” She gasped, spying blood along her hairline, the crumpling of her shirt and ripped tights.
“Mulciber!” She cried out; awful sobs lunging from her throat and gagging her.
Before Ara could process, Mary had wrapped her arms around her middle - clinging to her desperately. Limbs twitching in an all too familiar way.
Her arms reached up, cradling the girl as her knees gave way. Pulling her into her lap to hold her close; eyes darting to the others in terror.
Something truly awful had happened to their friend.