Ice

“She is such a vile, worthless, fucking cunt. She will burn in hell and I will fucking make sure of it.”

Lily was fuming. And understandably so.

“And worse, speculations of how quickly Evan’s moves through people’s bedsheets.” A direct quote from the article.

“I know. I know. It fucking sucks.”

Mary was trying her best to reassure Lily. It was not working. At all.

“No. You know what? Sirius and Peter and all the guys on their team and every other team sleep with someone new every other night but all that’s written about them is their goals and their jobs and all that shit, but the only thing that’s written about us is how we’re sluts or whores or… or…”

“Cheaters?”

Lily flinched. “Yeah.”

Obviously it was still a sore subject for Lily. Two months ago, when her relationship with James ended, they kept it pretty quiet. Since the press had nothing to go off of, they made fake rumours that Lily had been caught cheating on James, despite it being a very mutual and amicable breakup. They’re really just better as friends.

“It’s all fucking bullshit.”

“Mmm it is.”

Mary long ago learned that when Lily was in a tirade like this, it was better to let her go off and tire herself out instead of always jumping in. It was also a little bit that Mary liked to watch Lily go on a rant like this. Lily's eyes would light up and she would give a certain glare to everyone that, if you’re not on the receiving end of, was rather quite cute.

“And it’s not just the players. That article about Dorcas that was in the news not too long ago? They’re just making shit up about her! They don’t even know anything about her! About how determined she is. Or strong and beautiful and capable and bloody brilliant and beautiful…”

Lily was gazing into the distance with a far-away, wistful look. A look that made Mary’s heart clench.

“You already mentioned beautiful.” Mary gave her a light shove, trying to play it off.

Lily blushed a fierce shade of red.

“Shut up.”

“I will not. You’re hopeless.”

“Am not. I just maybe cried when I saw the article about Dorcas, wishing that that secret player was me.”

“Suree. Maybeeee.” Mary drew out the word, teasing her.

Because no matter Mary’s personal feelings toward Lily, she was her best friend first and would always support her in whatever she wanted to do. Including teasing her. Not that Lily really needed the help. She could do whatever she put her mind to. It’s one of the things Mary loves most about her.

“But the point is, Dorcas isn’t dating anyone, the media is bullshit, everything is fucked, and we should go get sloshed.”

“Lily, do you really think that’s the best idea right now?”

“I’m paying?”

“Cheers.”

—

Hours later, when Mary was well on her way to getting pissed, Lily was already there. Well, she was there a while ago.

“Did I say how fucked this was?”

“Mhm multiple times.”

“Yeah. It really fucked.”

“Lily, darling, I think we need to cut you off.”

“No, please. I’m okay.”

“You can hardly walk straight.”

“I so can.”

“Do it then.”

Lily sniffed and turned her nose upwards. “No.”

At this moment, she reminded Mary of Lily’s older sister, Petunia, with her high and mighty attitude. She was about to point it out, but she didn’t think Lily would appreciate the comparison so she kept it to herself.

Lily had a complicated dynamic with her sister. Mary didn’t fully understand it, but she didn’t need to to understand it was a sore subject.

“You know what we should do?” Lily's slurred voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“No, what should we do?”

“Twitter.” Lily nodded like that explained it.

“Twitter.” Mary arched an eyebrow. “You mean like tweeting?”

“Mhm”

Lily pulled out her phone and started typing.

“No, no, no. Absolutely not.”

“Why?” Lily practically whined. She can get very childish and petulant when she’s drunk.

“Because having your phone and being on twitter while you’re absolutely pissed.”

“But I think I could make some really good points.”

“I think you could too… If you could even type right.”

“Ugh, Mary. You’re such a bad friend.”

Mary just rolled her eyes. “You’ll thank me tomorrow morning.”

Lily just groaned.

“Mary?”

Mary hummed in acknowledgement. From Lily’s tone, she could tell that they were into the sentimental part of their evening. She always looked forward to hearing whatever comment that would come out of Lily’s mouth that would be both sentimental but also feel like a stab in her chest.

“You’re the best best friend I could ever wish for.”

Ouch.

“I mean it Mary.”

“I know you do. You’re my best friend too, Lils.”

“I love when you call me that.”

Lily looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep when she suddenly sat straight up, announced that she had to go to the bathroom, and abruptly left.

Okay then. Drunk Lily really was something.

Mary was staring into her drink, deep in thought, and silently thanking everything and anything that they didn’t have to wake up early tomorrow morning when she heard a cool voice from behind her.

“Well look who it is.”

“Dorcas, hey.” Mary tried her best attempt for a smile, but she didn’t think she did very well.

Dorcas Meadowes stood towering over her, with a bright smile on her face. Despite her cool exterior, she genuinely enjoyed being with all the people she cares about. Her lips were glinting a dark shimmery purple, complimenting her dark eyes. Her braids fell down her back with silver and purple clasps in them and she had a beautiful snake ring on her middle finger with two gleaming purple (of course jewelled eyes.) Say what you will about Dorcas Meadowes, but her style is impeccable.

Mary saw why Lily liked her, she truly did. She was a kind, caring person who is also bold and determined and not afraid to take what she wants. Not to mention breathtakingly beautiful.

“Here alone?” Dorcas asked.

“No, no. I’m here with Lily. She decided the best way to handle that bitch Skeeter's article was to get properly sloshed.”

Dorcas’ face darkened.

“How is Lily?”

“She's fine. She’s probably barfing her insides out at the moment though.”

“Speak of the devil.” Dorcas nodded over to where Lily was haphazardly making her way back from the bathroom.

“H- Hey, Dorcas.” Lily hiccuped. Oh, this was going to be very enjoyable.

Lily glances over to Mary with a silent plea of help in her eyes. Mary just hides a chuckle in her glass.

“Hey Lils.”

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Lily tried to awkwardly lean against the side of the bar. The sad thing is this isn’t much worse from how Lily normally acts around Dorcas. Oh, Mary should be recording this.

Dorcas glances down to Mary with a bemused look in her eyes. Mary just shrugs in a “I told you she was drunk” way.

“What brings you here, Dorcas?”

“On a date with Marlene. She’s off somewhere getting us a table, I just thought I’d say hi.”

Mary’s heart hurt for Lily, who’s visible disappointment rested on her face, until she wiped it off and put on a smile. It was pretty obviously strained, but still. A+ for effort, right?

“Oh.” Was all Lily said.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to keep you, right Lily?” Mary tries to salvage it so Lily wont get embarrassed or accidentally let her feelings slip.

“No, I suppose not.”

“Right.” Dorcas’ gaze flicked between the two of them. “Well it was nice talking to you both.”

“Nice talking to you, Dorcas.” Mary waved her off.

They watched Dorcas walk away, causing Lily to groan and slide deeper into her seat.

“Lily?”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Alright.”

Mary contentedly sipped her drink, and occasionally smacked her lips together, purley because she knew it would annoy Lily.

This lasted for all of five minutes.

“I mean, why would she?” Lily burst out. She kept sneaking not so subtle glances over to where Dorcas and Marlene were happily sitting.

“She as in Dorcas?”

“Mhm.”

“As in why would Dorcas, a very single woman, go on a date with Marlene, someone who she likes?”

“Yeah, I mean, how is that fair?”

“Oh Lils, darling, we really need to get you home.”

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not. You should’ve gone home a while ago, honestly.”

Lily crossed her arms and stuck her bottom lip out.

“Lils stop pouting.”

“I’m not pouting.”

Why was this so endearing? Ugh, Mary disgusted herself sometimes.

“Sure you’re not. Come on, up you get.”

Mary extended an arm so she could help Lily get up. Lily grabbed said arm and used it to draw Mary in close. Close close. Like so close Mary could feel Lily’s breath on her own cheek. She felt her gaze travel from Lily’s striking green eyes down to her lips. Oh her lips. Her lips were slightly wet. Whether it was from the alcohol or Lily had just licked them, Mary desperately wanted to find out. Warning bells started going off in her brain. She shouldn’t be doing this. Best friends don’t do this.

“Do what?” An evil little part of her brain points out. “We haven’t done anything.”

Mary knows she shouldn’t do that. But she wants to so desperately. And Lily probably won’t remember it in the morning. Lily, who's leaning closer, Lily who’s gazing at her lips. Lily who’s kissing her. Oh, Lily’s kissing her.

Mary’s internal debate immediately shuts off as soon as she clashes with Lily. Pure bliss. That’s all she can describe it as.

Genuinely, Mary has the thought that she’s just died and gone to heaven, and this is what heaven is. She wraps one hand around Lily’s back and the other steadying them against the bar, because let’s not forget Lily is still quite drunk.

Lily pushes her hand into Mary's hair and Mary has the distinct thought she would just like to stay here forever. She certainly tries to, until the forever is cut very short by them breaking apart.

They’re still only inches away from each other's face, not making any new distance between them.

“Lily” Mary basically breathes the word out. This is everything she’s ever wanted, yet everything that could destroy it all. Everything that’s so wrong but feels so right.

Their lips meet again.

—-

Something happened last night. Lily knows it. And if the way Mary’s looking at her is any example, something big happened.

Well more like the way Mary is not looking at her.

Lily has only caught her eye one time this morning, and when she did, Mary quickly looked down.

She hasn’t made conversation all morning.

She’s been acting completely shy.

Which is wrong, because Mary MacDonald is a lot of things, but she is not shy.

She’s loud and bold and unafraid and unapologetic to be herself. It's one of the things Lily admires most about her. It’s also how she knows something’s wrong. Really, really wrong.

Another problem is that they have a game today. And Mary downright refuses to acknowledge Lily on the ice. That’s a problem because the last time Lily checked, having one member of a team ignore another member is usually not the best strategy.

Lily’s all about strategy. Sure brute force and fast skating is great, but that gets you nowhere if you have no strategy. She applies that to all other aspects of her life as well. At the moment, her two most pressing problems are Mary and Rita fucking Skeeter.

The game is not really a big issue for her. They’re going up against the Badgers, and they’re very well known for their weak defence and half the time their offensive players don’t know what they're doing. That’s why Lily’s allowed everything else to take up space in her mind this morning.

“Evans!”

Her coach’s sharp call jolted her out of her thoughts.

“Yes, coach?”

“Pay attention.”

Lily nodded her head and returned her gaze.

“We’re going to be trying something different today. All my offence players, you’re switching to defence. That means Evans, MacDonald, and Greengrass, you’ll drop back to defence. It’s just for today.”

When Lily’s on the ice, all her problems just melt away. No more worrying about whatever happened with Mary, or the impending game, or the media slut shaming her. What are those?

She’s dead focused on her teammates positions and the puck in front of her. Gliding across almost feels like flying in a way to her. Like a kind of magic.

Lily is Honestly, so relaxed when she gets off the ice, she feels like this morning’s worries never happened. I mean she’s obviously exhausted and sore from a full day of work, but she’s also relaxed.

“Everyone, go home, rest up, and I will see you back here at five.”

As everyone is walking out of the locker rooms, Mary comes up to Lily and bumps her shoulder.

“Hey.” It was literally the first word she’d said to her all day. “Excited for tonight?”

Mary was carrying on as if there was no previous awkwardness at all. So Lily decided to do the same. She’s not really one for confrontation. Well, she can be, but not normally with her friends.

“I guess. Should be an easy win, right?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Mary kept walking along with Lily even after she passed her car. The confusion must have shown on Lily’s face.

“I’m coming with you to yours.”

“Great. Oh, hey, Mary, do you wanna come over to mine before the game? Oh you already decided? Cool.”

Mary tilted her head back to the sky and let out a cackle.

“How about, ‘Thanks so much for gracing me with your ever amazing presence?’”

“Oh I didn’t realise I was in the presence of royalty here.”

“Of course you are. Show some respect, Evans.”

“Right well, an amazing noble like you certainly wouldn’t want to ride in a car with a rude peasant, now would she?”

“Nice try. You couldn’t get rid of me even if you wanted to.” Mary scoffed.

“Who says I want to?” Lily winked.

A lot of people don’t know this, but Lily can be very flirtatious if she wants. She just usually doesn’t want to.

“Oh Evans, you’re making me fall in love.” Mary fake swooned.

“Already?”

“You’re right. We need to start planning the wedding.”

“I’m thinking June. It’s when the lilies start to bloom.”

“Can’t wait, Lils.” Mary threw her arm over Lily’s shoulder as they kept strolling down the street.

Lily didn’t know if it was the nickname of the touch that sent a small shiver down her back.

But it was nothing. Right?

Mary and Lily had lapsed into a comfortable silence a while ago. Both lost in their own thoughts.

They were both slouched on Lily’s couch in her apartment. It was a light jade colour that nicely complimented all the other colours in her apartment.

“You know, I think you were onto something last night.”

Finally. Maybe they were gonna get somewhere.

“Oh?” Lily had to ask because she did not remember last night at all.

“Yeah with the twitter thing.”

“What twitter thing.”

“You said you knew what you were going to do about Rita Skeeter calling you a slut and-”

“Wow, real nice, Mary.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. You know I didn’t mean it like that, Lils.”

Lils.

“Fine. Continue.”

“Well you said that you were gonna tweet something or other, but you were blind drunk, so I didn’t think that was the best idea, you know. But I think you should do it now.”

“What do you mean ‘tweet something or other’?”

“Well I believe it was something along the lines of ‘Listen up Rita Skeeter, you vile lying bitch. You can’t call me a whore. You know why? ‘Cause that’s just projection. How about trying to tell the truth for once in your worthless life? How would you feel if people made up a bunch of lies about you? Yeah you wouldn’t fucking like that. Also you’re a cunt.’”

Lily just stared at Mary with her jaw dropped.

“That’s a direct quote.”

WIth that Lily burst out laughing, and of course Mary followed suit. It felt good to laugh like that. Like everything was finally right again, especially after this morning.

“You know, I think drunk me really was onto something.” Lily said, looking up at Mary.

“Oh?” There was a glint of mischief in her eyes that Lily always loved to see.

______________________________________________________________

Lily Evans @lily_evs: Why is it that women are always portrayed as sluts and cheaters in the media, while men (who, dare I say, are the actual sluts) are portrayed as fucking saints? We all know that if I were a man, no one would have dared to create a cheating rumour about me, or speculate ‘how quickly I move through people’s bedsheets.’ I’m so sick of this bullshit. Yeah, I’m talking to you @RitaSkeeter_. Also you’re a cunt. Lots of love. <33

______________________________________________________________

“Oh, you’re evil, Lily Evans.”

“I can be, yes.”

In all their laughing and evil tweeting, the two seemed to have gotten quite close on the sofa. So close that when Lily looked up from her phone, her face was only inches away from Mary.

Everything stopped. Mary’s gaze travelled down to Lily’s lips for a brief moment before inhaling sharply and meeting Lily’s eyes again. Lily was getting a strange sense of Deja Vu, even though she was sure they’d never done this before.

They were stuck in a magic moment, neither of them able to move, lost in each other's eyes.

Mary’s lips looked so soft. If only Lily leaned forward just a little more…

The moment was ruined by Mary swiftly pulling back and standing up. She didn’t look at Lily, eyes on the ground.

“We should probably get going right? Don’t wanna be late.”

“Right yeah.”

Mary never talked or made eye contact the entire car ride.

Lily’s not a mean person. Or a cocky arrogant one. She’s a realist. And the reality is, the Badgers suck. Well, they usually suck.

But tonight, either they’re playing better than ever, or the Valkyries are really off their game.

Lily thinks it's the latter.

But it’s not really her fault, Mary won’t pass to her. Apparently her awkwardness has transferred onto the rink with them.

And it’s also not that Lily isn’t open. She’s wide open, Mary will see her, and purposefully not pass to her.

What is her problem?

The score is 1-1, and they’re almost out of time. Sure, they could go into overtime, but really, no one wants to do that.

Mary’s flying down the rink, bringing the puck along with her. She can't score, she’s not open. But Lily can. Lily’s open.

She prepares herself to receive a pass and take control of the puck, going to the optimal position so she can score and she waits.

Seconds pass. She waits.

Mary takes the shot herself.

She misses.

The crowd boos.

The buzzer goes off.
The Valkyries win, but narrowly. 2-1, into overtime.

That time could’ve been saved if Mary would have just passed, and not let whatever’s going on with her get in the way of her playing.

Lily and Mary are the only two left in the locker room after the game. And, unsurprisingly, they’re in silence.

As Mary tries to leave, she hears Lily’s voice.

“Mary.”

“Yeah?”

Despite actually getting a verbal response, Mary’s still looking at the ground.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me.”

“Mary, I’m your best friend. I know damn well when something’s wrong with you.”

“Well, maybe you’re wrong this time.”

Damn Mary MacDonald and her stubbornness.

“I’m not wrong this time, Mary.”

“You know that even the great Lily Evans is wrong sometimes right? This is one of those times.”

“Mary, stop deflecting. What happened?”

“I’m not deflecting anything! Nothing happened.”

“Oh, really? So you not passing to me and barely talking to me or looking at me all day is because nothing happened?”

“I’m serious Lily. Nothing happened!”

Their volume was rising now.

“Stop lying to me, Mary!”

“I’m not lying to you! Just leave it!”

“Mary! Tell me what fucking happened!”

“What happened was we kissed!” Mary blurted out, fully yelling now. She finally looked Lily in the eyes.

“We kissed?” Lily's voice was soft, and came out weaker than she meant it to be.

“More like you kissed me.”

“I did?”

“You seriously don’t remember, Lily?”

“No, because in case you didn’t notice, I was black out drunk.”

“You found out Dorcas was on a date with McKinnon, got your little heart broken, and kissed me as a fucking rebound.” She said bitterly with an ugly sneer on her face.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Is that why you’re upset? Because I used you like you were just some rebound?”

“Bloody hell, Lily. No. Well, yes, but that’s not all of it.”

“Then what is it?”

“It doesn’t even matter.”

“It does to me.”

“Lily, just drop it.”

“I’m not a damn dog Mary. Tell me. I’m not doing this with you again.”

If Mary looked shocked by Lily’s boldness, she didn’t show it.

“I’m upset because I wanted to kiss you. I have for a while.”

Oh. Oh. She wanted it.

“I didn’t like force you or pressure you or anything because you were drunk.”

“No, I know you didn’t” Lily said, still lost in thought.

I have for a while.

“Lils?”

Lils. Lily.

“That’s why I didn’t say anything.” Mary sighed and walked out the door.

Lily didn’t stop her.

______________________________________________________________

Lily Evans @lily_evs: Why is it that women are always portrayed as sluts and cheaters in the media, while men (who, dare I say, are the actual sluts) are portrayed as fucking saints? We all know that if I were a man, no one would have dared to create a cheating rumour about me, or speculate ‘how quickly I move through people’s bedsheets.’ I’m so sick of this bullshit. Yeah, I’m talking to you @RitaSkeeter_. Also you’re a cunt. Lots of love. <33

Replies:

Sirius Black @thestarman Replying to @lily_evs: Are you calling me a slut?
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Lily Evans @lily_evs Replying to @thestarman: Absolutely

Rita Skeeter @RitaSkeeter_ Replying to @Lily_Evs: I’m only telling the readers what they deserve to know. And they deserve to know the truth.
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Marlene McKinnon @Marlsss_ Replying to @RitaSkeeter_ : Bite me

Dorcas Meadowes @Dorcas_M Replying to @Lily_Evs: Preach
Pandora Lovegood @Dora_Lovegood Replying to @Lily_Evs: Lots of Love <33333