The Story Of Us

Bench Buddies Reconvene

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Lily and Marlene had not fully thought through the logistics of fitting ten people into their dorm. Their bedroom was off of a small common space with a living area,  a six-person table, and a rather dismal kitchen. There were two other bedrooms off of that, each with two girls whom they had never really gotten on with, but neither of them could afford to live just the two of them and Lily's class schedule was too packed to have time for a job.

They each pulled their desk chairs into the already cramped living area and used Lily's desk to extend the table. Lily sent a text to Remus asking if he and Frank could bring two chairs over, which Remus begrudgingly agreed to. Lily then set about hauling out her tub of Passover things from under her bed, tucked away for use on this week every year. It was hard to follow all the rules properly in their current living situation, especially while living with non-Jewish folks, but Lily always tried her best, because she knew it pleased her parents.

Once she had the table set and the Seder plate prepared, she called her mum to look it over and make sure she wasn't missing anything. This would be the second time Lily and Remus hosted a Seder, and Janet gave her stamp of approval.

At exactly 6:30, her phone buzzed in her pocket as she put the chicken in the oven to start roasting. The first part of the Seder took about an hour and a half, so by the time they were finished she figured the chicken would be just ready to eat. Dorcas and Marlene were in the kitchen, wrapping up their food to store in the fridge until it had to be warmed up.

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[ The Bench Buddies <3 ]

Friday 6:30

james: hey lily! sirius and pete
are on their way up, someone let us in
james: i'll be up in a few, just
helping remus with some chairs
james: poor guy was dragging
two by himself along with a pot of soup

lily: where's frank?
lily: remus shouldn't be carrying those

james: remus said frank and
alice are running a bit late, something's
still in the oven

lily: ugh he should've told me
lily: i'll come down and grab the
chairs, dw ab it

james: it's no problem.
i can carry them both
james: sirius and pete grabbed the food

lily: alright
lily: thanks james

james: of course

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Lily set out some bowls of crisps and a vegetable platter just as a knock on their door sounded, which Marlene attended to.

"Sirius! Pete! Glad you could make it," Marlene clapped Sirius on the back as he walked in, followed by Pete. Each was carrying two aluminum foil trays of food. Pete was grinning ear to ear.

"Christ," Lily stared at them, aghast. "How much food did you make?"

Sirius snorted, setting down the trays on top of the nearest counter. "Blame James."

As if on cue, James came through the still-open door, carrying a chair on each arm and a lopsided smile on his lips. "Where'd you want 'em, Evans?" Lily pointed down to the end of the table closest to him, and James maneuvered through the crowd with ease to set them down. He straightened out the chairs and then looked up at Lily from across the room.