the cadence of part time poets

Chapter 28: Photograph

We can't dance, we don't talk much, we just ball and play,
Then we move like tigers on Vaseline;
Well, the bitter comes better on a stolen guitar,
You're the blessed, we're the Spiders from Mars;
Come on, come on,
We really got a good thing going;
Come on, come on,
If you think we're gonna make it,
You better hang on to yourself...

- "Hang on to Yourself" David Bowie, 1972

Friday 11th June 1976

"What is it we're doing again?" Remus asked, as he and Lily made their way through the forest, dodging tree branches and slipping around bushes wider than their dorm rooms. It was a beautiful afternoon on their last full day on campus and the sun was peeking through the treetops to cast a warm glow on the spongy forest floor. There was another flash of light as Lily's camera shutter clicked and she stood up, plucking the freshly-printed photograph from its end and immediately tucking it into her camera bag to develop.

"I'm taking photos of all the school's native flora before we go home," she said happily, tracing her fingers across the surface of the fern she just photographed. "I do it for my parents every year and today's my last chance. Over the summer we always make them into a scrapbook together. It might sound a bit silly but I think it's about as close as they can get to keeping track of me while I'm away from them."

"It's not silly," Remus mumbled, looking around. He'd never gone so far into the forest behind the dorms even on his solitary walks, but when Lily had found him on their last full day before they were set to return home for the summer, he found he couldn't say no.

"You said your parents were botanists then?" He asked, looking over her shoulder as she  stopped to take a photo of a bush.

"Yup," she said, squinting through the camera's viewfinder and focusing the lens. "They met through their work actually."

Remus trailed his hand across a weeping tree branch. "So you've been around plants a lot."

"All my life."

He smirked. "And so your name... that can't just be a coincidence."

Before she could snap her picture, Lily's head dropped back and she sagged, sighing as she released her camera to flop down against her chest on its strap. "Alright, have a go then—the plant-crazy parents named their kid 'Lily'—ha, ha, so funny."

"No, it's perfectly normal," Remus snorted, "honestly I feel more bad for poor 'Petunia'. You definitely got the better half of the deal if she gets stuck with 'Pet' or 'Tunie' as nicknames."

Despite herself, Lily gave a puckered smile. "Her full name's 'Petunia Marigold' actually," she said bashfully.

"No," Remus gasped, "that's horrid, Lils, what were your parents thinking? Oh my god—what they name you?"

Lily scooped up a pinecone and pelted him with it. "It's not that bad!"

Remus thought back to all the times he'd seen Lily's name written across her school books or clothing tags; Lily J. Evans. "C'mon, what's the 'J' stand for?" He demanded.

"Juniper," Lily said proudly. "Lily Juniper Evans."

Remus bent down to scoop up the pinecone she'd thrown at him. "Well, that's not bad at all. No wonder Petunia's so damn sour."

Lily smiled and looked away again, stopping next to a plant with curly purple flowers blossoming off its stem.

"What's that one?" Remus asked, purposely poking the flower with his finger just as Lily went to take its photo. She scoffed but patiently waited for it to print before tucking the photo away.