If...

Chapitre 5: Itinerary of a friendship broken

Three days passed at Spinner's End, without the slightest ray of sunshine passing through the rare windows of Severus' house. When Lily tried to find a distraction by looking at the landscape, she saw only a perpetual spit, the carbon-laden fumes of the factory in the heavy sky, and sometimes rodents – big rats – feeding on the rubbish left on the sidewalk. Cokeworth was once a prosperous town, thanks to its coal mine and factories. Spinner's End was a working-class district, with its typical brick houses. The closure of the mine in the mid-1960s had gradually led to the decline of Cokeworth and its surroundings. And the various crises in recent years had caused the bankruptcy of several industries in the area. The Cokeworth factory, in which Severus and Lily's fathers had worked, was still running, and spitting incessantly volutes of black smoke.

Lily had grown up in a more affluent neighbourhood across the creek. Her father, before dying, had long worked at the Cokeworth metallurgical plant as an accountant, while her mother stayed home and supplemented their income by doing some sewing work. At the Evans, there was a small garden in which the family grew some vegetables and dried the laundry lying on a rope. Mr. Evans was able to offer his wife and daughters a television set in the late 1960s.

Although the small subdivision behind the river was clean, Cokeworth wasn't a pleasant town. Just like Petunia, Lily had finally left this industrial city, but the last terrible circumstances had brought her back to this town, not in the house of her childhood, but in that of her old friend. Severus didn't like Cokeworth either, he hated the walls he had grown up between. Yet he had no better refuge to offer Lily and her son.

Lily had nothing against Severus. He had never masked his hatred for James, but he took diligent care of her child who was his spitting portrait. Every day, since their arrival, he prepared meals and ensured that his guests ate to their hunger. He wasn't particularly fond of Harry, but he met every need when Lily was unable to. For example, the witch had never heard Severus say her son's name, or even speak to him. He nevertheless had some attentions towards Harry. The day after their arrival, Severus had found an old cushion in the attic and had spent several hours transforming it into a cozy bassinet for the little one. He had also put his hand, in an antique trunk relegated to the attic, on a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard which had belonged to his mother. Severus had told Lily that she could tell her son stories if she wanted.

Harry remained a calm and adorable baby. He cried only when he was hungry or needed to be changed. Lily wondered if Harry had realized that he no longer had a dad, if he had understood that the situation was serious. Her son was just a baby, after all. He was certainly not old enough to understand. And yet, Lily had the feeling that Harry felt as he looked into his green eyes, the same as her own. She could see sadness, but also love and hope. Harry also seemed to appreciate their host. He wouldn't scream when Severus would hug him. He would tweet, babble, and even smile at the wizard. No doubt he had trusted him.

Since Dumbledore's last call in the fireplace, Lily had received no news. She knew nothing about the Longbottom situation, but the lack of news - good or bad - didn't bode well. She also didn't know how her friends, Remus and Sirius, were since their visit. Dumbledore had forbidden her to contact them, because the Order had been infiltrated by a mole. Lily was convinced that the traitor wasn't one of her friends. On the other hand, she feared that the spy would continue to track down, to spy on every move of the last two Marauders. It was probably because of this infiltrator that Peter had been kidnapped, tortured, and killed by Voldemort. Though she pondered, she couldn't see who in the Order could have committed the supreme lying under oath by regularly informing their enemies.

In recent months and weeks, eight members of the Order had died. The Prewett brothers, two talented duellists, had been ambushed by five Death Eaters in early spring, and had unfortunately not survived. Their death was followed by that of Edgar Bones. He had received the fate that Voldemort had for Lily and her family. Early in the summer, a Death Eater broke into his house and killed Edgar, his wife, and their children. Then there was the McKinnons in July— Lily had screamed in pain when she heard of the disappearance of Marlene and her relatives. And to think that two weeks before her death, many of them posed for a photograph. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters didn't stop there. In August, Benjy Fenwick's body was found completely dismembered. Lily threw up when she heard the news. Dorcas Meadowes had been Voldemort's last victim, some weeks before the tragic Halloween night.