Aftermath
“What?” Lily asked, mind reeling. Dorcas wasn’t straight. And she was into Marlene?
‘How the hell did you miss that?’ A snide voice in her mind asked.
‘Shut up,’ Lily thought back. ‘I could have missed all the tension between Remus and Sirius like Mary did.’
“Evans? You alright there?” James waved a hand in front of her face.
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Lily blinked back in to the present. “How do you know?”
“Cas told me. Over the summer, we started hanging out a lot because the boys were busy and she didn’t live near any of you. She only started figuring things out towards the end of last year.”
“Why didn’t she tell any of us?” Lily asked, confused and a little hurt by her friend not trusting her.
“I guess it was easier to tell someone she wasn’t as close to,” James answered. “And she only told me after she had a panic attack.”
“What?!” Lily’s head spun yet again. “Dorcas had a panic attack?”
“It wasn’t a big one, but yeah. Her parents said some dumb shit about ‘the gays’ when they were watching tv and she got freaked. She was scared they’d kick her out like Sirius’s parents did.”
“Oh god, I can’t believe she tried to do this alone. That dumbass.”
James laughed. “She said she was going to come out to you guys too, so be prepared I guess.”
“Yeah. Ok, so she’s bi, but are you sure she’s into Marly? I mean I could totally see that but how are you so sure?” Lily asked. Her friends were affectionate with each other, sure, and Marly was definitely into Dorcas, but were her feelings really requited?
“Cas told me that too. She’s been freaking out since like last year. ‘Marls has such gorgeous eyes, and such beautiful hair, and did you know her parents told her that guys won’t want her if she has too many muscles? Which is ridiculous because have you seen her biceps? Or her legs? And oh my god when she falls asleep right after Quidditch practice and her hair gets curly and she’s only wearing a tank top and cut-off shorts? And the sun is setting and her hair looks like gold? Who wouldn’t want her? Don’t you want her? I mean, no, she’s gay and I want her, so you can’t have her. Marlene is just incredible. Marly Marly Marly Marly Marly.’” James finished his rant, a little breathless. Lily stared at him in astonishment.
“Did you make all that up on the spot or is that something she actually said?”
“No, that was all lifted verbatim from a freakout three days ago. Marly apparently came back from Quidditch practice in a black tank top and cut-off shorts and Dorcas nearly went catatonic,” James replied.
“Jesus. She’s almost as useless as Marlene is,” Lily said.
“Almost? Merlin, what is Marlene like? She can’t be much worse.”
“She is so much worse. I’ll spare you the details, but she went on a two hour long speech complete with evidence and other testimonies about how Dorcas was the most beautiful person in Hogwarts. Even Sirius was amazed, and do you remember what he was like when he was pining after Remus?”
“Oh god, he basically composed more sonnets than Shakespeare,” James said, slightly horrified. “Marlene is worse than that?”
“By a lot,” Lily confirmed.
“Oh god. Ok, we have to get them together or we’ll be subjected to their useless pining forever,” James said.
“Ok, but how do we even do that? It’s gonna take some work,” Lily responded.
“Yeah, and I doubt we could do it alone. Maybe we should get the whole group in on it,” James mused as they finally found the tearoom and entered. “Once Cas comes out, that is.”
“Yeah. I can’t believe we thought you and Dorcas were dating when it turns out she wanted Marlene all along,” Lily said, busying herself with making tea.
“Yeah, well, we were suddenly a lot closer and you guys didn’t know why. Can’t blame you for suspecting something,” James replied.
“Yeah, but not every guy and girl who are friends are together.”
“Good point. Remember when people thought Marlene and Sirius were dating?”
“Oh my god, yes!” Lily laughed. “That was so ridiculous. Marly got threats from jealous girls for like three weeks.”
“Sirius got those too.” James snickered. Lily poured the tea into a cup and they set off to the room.
“How many people in our group are actually straight?” Lily wondered. “Remus and Sirius are dating, Sirius is gay and Remus is bi. Dorcas is bi, Marlene is gay, Frank is bi…”
“Wait, Frank is bi?” James asked in surprise. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, I caught him with the Hufflepuff prefect, Lance, one time. I think he’s mostly into girls though.”
“Huh. Ok. So that’s all the guys except me and Peter, and Marlene and Dorcas out of the girls-“
“Alice once kissed a girl, but she was drunk and I’m fairly certain it didn’t mean anything,” Lily interjected.
“Ok, so Alice gets wild when she’s drunk, but that’s it?”
“Oh, add me to the list,” Lily said suddenly.
“Wait, what?” James said, coming to a complete stop.
“Yeah, I like girls,” Lily answered, shrugging. “Been on a few dates, but nothing serious.”
“How did I not know this, Evans?” James asked, pretending to be hurt.
“I never really labeled myself, and I don’t really feel the need to come out or anything, so it’s not like a lot of people know.”
“Fair enough. No label?”
“Nah, don’t really care about it. I mean, it’s not bad to want a label, but it’s not my style either. I like who I like, who cares what the gender is?” Lily replied.
“Good point. You do you, Evans. Or whoever you want to do. Ok, so for the list, it’s all the guys except me and Peter-“
“Peter and I.”
“No one likes a nerd, Evans. It’s all the guys except Peter and I, and all the girls except Mary and Alice?” James asked.
“I think so.”
“Wow. You guys outnumber us, you know that? Four straight people and five others.”
“Hey, that’s neat. We should form a club or something,” Lily joked.
“The Gay Gryffindor Group,” James said. Lily snorted.
“Hell yeah, we could make a poster.”
The two finally found Marlene’s room again.
“After you, Evans,” James gestured to the door and bowed. Lily giggled.
“Thank you dear sir,” She responded, curtsying gracefully.
She opened the door and walked in, only to be hit in the face with a pillow. As the pillow fell to the floor, Lily observed the chaos that had befallen the room in her absence. Peter was on the ground being pummeled by Mary with a decorative pillow. Alice had turned Frank into a human shield and was hurling pillows at Dorcas, who had taken cover on the other side of Marlene’s bed. Marlene herself was fending off attacks from Sirius, who was hiding behind the overturned couch. Remus was sitting in a chair. No one dared to hit him. He, like Lily, was helpless and could only watch as the pillow war became more brutal.
“Hey guys, McGonagall is here to get us and-“ James bounded into the room, only to have his jaw drop as the combatants froze in place. Stray feathers from the pillows littered the ground as they floated down from the air. Lily watched helplessly as a feather drifted slowly down, gracefully twisting and turning, only to land on the head of Professor McGonagall.
“What. did. you. do?” Professor McGonagall asked with tightly closed eyes and a clenched jaw.
“Professor! Hi there, great to see you in this fine establishment. As to what we did, that’s actually quite a funny story-“
“Sirius, darling?” Remus said.
“Yes, dear Remus, love of my life?”
“Shut up.”
“That’s fair.”
——————————————————————————————
“ABSOLUTELY IRRESPONSIBLE, COMPLETELY OUT OF LINE, DESTRUCTIVE-“
“Ooh, she is tearing them a new one,” James said. He and Lily were waiting outside McGonagall’s office as she reprimanded the others for their ‘Hospital Hoedown Throw-down To End All Showdowns’ as Sirius called it.
“Yeah, I don’t know what they were thinking,” Lily replied, pacing around the room.
“They probably just wanted to make sure Marlene had some fun,” James reasoned.
“Still, that could’ve been done in a less destructive way,” Lily replied.
“Since when has Marlene been entertained by anything that wasn’t destructive?” James asked. Lily was about to agree when the office door opened.
“As I was going to tell you, Professor Dumbledore wants to see you all. The Aurors are trying to gather eyewitness accounts, so considering each of you was fighting or helping others when found, your testimonies may be imperative,” McGonagall said, shooting a glare at Sirius, who was still practically grinning after her scolding. “I trust you boys remember where his office is and can show the others how to get there? The password is ‘plumpynut’.”
“Thanks Professor,” Remus said, pulling Sirius out of the room before he could make a joke about ‘plumpynut’.
“Ok, follow me everyone,” James said, walking out of the room. Lily fell in next to Dorcas as they began to walk.
“So, why were you and James gone so long?” Dorcas asked teasingly. “Were you two busy somewhere? Perhaps a supply closet? Or did you happen upon an empty room?”
“Don’t even start with me now that I have ammo against you,” Lily answered jokingly, slightly testing how Dorcas would react. She laughed, but Lily could see a hint of panic in her eyes.
“What do you know?” Dorcas asked simply, apparently not seeing the need to dance around the subject.
“It’s ok, I won’t tell anyone anything unless you give permission. But Marlene? You should go for it,” Lily whispered. Dorcas laughed quietly.
“Yeah, no way. She doesn’t like me like that, and even if she did, I’m not sure I’m ready to be out yet,” Dorcas replied.
“Alright, fair enough. Can’t tell you when to come out. But when you’re ready, just go for it,” Lily advised.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dorcas said as the group came to a stop.
“Right then,” James said to….. a griffin statue?
‘He’s finally lost his shit,’ Lily thought.
“Plumpynut,” James said to the statue. To Lilys surprise, the statue seemed to nod, and it jumped aside to reveal a large staircase.
“After you,” James said, stepping to the side and gesturing for the group to head up. Peter, who had been to Dumbledore’s office with the Marauders before, was unaffected by the strange entry method and began to climb. After a minute or two, they came upon a large door.
“Everyone ready?” James asked.
“You know what, no, I forgot to feed my cat,” Dorcas deadpanned. “Yes, we’re ready, Potter, open the damn door.”
“Shut up, Dorcastleshire,” James replied, and he pushed the door open.
The group stepped in to a large circular office. There were seemingly thousands of strange objects on shelves and tables around the room, whirring and spinning. Lily couldn’t track all the movement in the room. Even the walls seemed to be moving.
And then Lily realized that what she thought were walls weren’t walls at all. They were paintings, covering almost the entire office. Some of the inhabitants were sleeping, others were talking, and others were doing what Lily was: puzzling out the current situation. James, relatively unphased by everything happening around him, led the group towards the back of the room. Sirius and Remus were already there, talking in hushed voices with the Headmaster himself, who was reclining in a plush purple armchair.
“Ah, mister Potter, good to see you doing well,” Dumbledore said in greeting. James smirked.
“Bit weird to be in here for a reason that isn’t a prank, but I guess it can’t be weirder than anything else happening.”
“Indeed. I was speaking to Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin about their involvement in the events in Hogsmeade. I understand that you were also involved?” Dumbledore said, standing and beginning to pace.
“Er, yes sir,” Lily replied, unsure of what to do. She glanced nervously around at her friends, who were of no help as they were also confused. Dorcas just shrugged and mouthed, ‘fuck all if I know.’
“Alright. I understand the basics from Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black, but I need to know. Is there anything you saw that could help us to understand why the Death Eaters targeted Hogsmeade?”
“I didn’t see anything sir,” Alice said.
“Neither did I,” Dorcas answered. Dumbledore nodded and then turned his gaze to Lily.
“I didn’t see anything either sir- wait.” A face flashed in Lily’s mind.
“Mulciber,” she breathed out. Everyone turned to her, but she focused on Dumbledore. His usually calm eyes seemed to turn into steel. “I was running to get to Dorcas and James and Remus, and I ran into a Death Eater. He was slow, so I knocked him out. I took his mask off, and it was Mulciber.”
“You’re sure of what you saw?” Dumbledore asked, though not unkindly.
“Positive sir,” Lily replied. “It was Mulciber wearing the mask. I don’t know how he got it, maybe he just nicked it off someone, but he was wearing it.”
“Thank you Miss Evans, you may have just helped tremendously. You may all return to your common room,” Dumbledore said.
“Of course sir,” Remus said, already beginning to usher the others out the door. Lily turned to follow.
“Not you, Miss Evans. If you won’t mind terribly, I’d like to speak with you for a bit,” Dumbledore said, turning to gaze out the window.
“Er, of course not sir,” Lily stuttered, shooting a glance at Alice that clearly conveyed panic. Alice just shrugged and continued out the door.
Once everyone was gone, Lily turned back to look at Dumbledore. Unsure of what to do, she joined Dumbledore at the window.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Dumbledore asked. Lily had to agree. The sun was going down, bathing the lake in golden light, setting the sky ablaze.
“Yes sir, it’s wonderful.”
“I always loved sunsets here. They always happen almost the same way every time. There’s something beautiful about consistency, isn’t there?”
“Er, I guess so sir?” Lily had no idea what the Headmaster was talking about.
“Miss Evans, I was told that you had a large part in keeping students safe. Setting up a makeshift shelter, throwing yourself into battle to keep others safe.”
“I did what anyone would have done sir. And the shelter, that was all Alice, Frank, and Peter. I just told them to keep the kids safe, they were the ones who managed to pull it off,” Lily replied.
“Hmm. All the same, what you did was brave. I’m awarding Gryffindor 100 points for you and your friends’ actions in Hogsmeade,” Dumbledore said, still looking out the window. “That’s all I have to say, you may join your friends now. I’m sure you’d like to get some rest.”
“Thank you sir,” Lily said, walking towards the door. She turned suddenly, a thought striking her. “Sir?”
“Yes, Miss Evans?”
“You said you were trying to figure out why the Death Eaters attacked Hogsmeade.”
“If you have a question, Miss Evans, you needn’t be afraid to ask it,” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
“Do you know why they targeted Hogsmeade sir?” Lily asked, almost afraid of the answer more than asking the question.
“I don’t know yet. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I simply don’t know the words.” Dumbledore sat heavily in his chair. He suddenly looked much older.
“Ok. Because I was thinking…. It’s just, if I was a Death Eater, I would want to make everyone frightened early on. Make sure that when students came of age, they were still too afraid to fight,” Lily said.
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had only grown so powerful through fear. Fear and manipulation and a Narcissus complex so powerful he thought anyone remotely like him was superior. Lily despised that more than anything. That there were people out there who assumed they were superior simply because of their ancestry made Lily feel almost sick. And that was where He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named got his power. That sick feeling only goes away if you do something about it, and if everyone was too scared to do anything about it, it would eat away at them before they could get rid of it.
“That’s an interesting theory, Miss Evans,” Dumbledore said. Lily only realized she had said all of that out loud when he responded to it. “If fear grows early, like a weed, it snuffs out the desire to fight. That could be why they targeted the town when student were there.”
“Sorry sir, I didn’t mean to rant. It’s just……… Fear is his most powerful weapon. And yet no one teaches us how to fight that,” Lily said, thinking of her useless Defense teacher. He had gotten to the point where they just read from the textbook. The only time she really learned Defense was when she studied with Remus and her other friends.
“You’re right. Perhaps a class on safety and procedure for what to do if you’re in an attack? Hmm, I’ll have to think about that,” Dumbledore mused quietly. He looked up at Lily. “Thank you for your input and information, Miss Evans. You my return to your common room now.”
“Thank you sir,” Lily said, striding through the office, taking one more look at the sunset before leaving.
She walked through the halls towards Gryffindor Tower. Whenever she passed other students, they would jump out of her way ad whisper about her.
“Did you see her?”
“She looks tired.”
“I heard she took out twenty Death Eaters.”
“I heard she lifted a building.”
Lily was far too tired to deal with the whispered rumors, so she just trudged up the staircase towards the common room.
“Password?” The Fat Lady asked.
“Fairy circle,” Lily muttered. She walked in to see the Marauders and the others setting up a bunch of mattresses, pillows, and blankets on the ground.
“What’s this?” She asked.
“Well, we didn’t feel right sleeping in the dorms without Marly, so we all decided to have a giant sleepover instead,” Alice answered from a pile of blankets. “You good with that?”
“Sounds perfect,” Lily smiled. She walked over to an empty mattress and flopped down on it.
“Ooh, bad luck Evans. You’re stuck next to me,” James said from beside her.
“I’ll live,” Lily answered, still smiling.
“What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?” Peter asked.
“I don’t even really know,” Lily replied. “But we got a hundred points for helping out.”
“Awesome, that might make up for a prank we’re planning,” Sirius said.
“I swear to god, Black, we just got those points. If you lose them all on a dumb prank-“
“Was it really Mulciber?” Mary asked quietly, but everyone heard her. A silence fell across the room.
“Yes,” Lily answered simply, too tired to go into detail.
“How? I mean, he’s fucked up, but he’s a kid, same as us. How did the Death Eaters get to him?” Frank asked worriedly.
“I mean, he’s a pureblood and he believes in all that purity rubbish, so I can’t imagine it was hard for them,” Sirius answered scornfully.
“Yeah, but do you guys know what this means?” James asked lowly. Yet again, everyone fell silent.
“It means,” Dorcas answered heavily, “that the Death Eaters are recruiting inside Hogwarts. We’re not safe here anymore.”