B.Q. Book Two: Black Princess Ascendant

Chapter 35: A Long-Awaited Meeting

Disclaimer: Did all the characters in the series discover their libidos at seemingly the same time, despite such synchronization being laughably unrealistic compared to real life?

If so, I do not own the Harry Potter franchise; it belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whomever else she sold the rights to.

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With a full-body shiver that was not entirely due to the cold, Lily glanced again at the hand-painted sign hanging above her as though it could give her advice on how to proceed. Unfortunately, all it did was mutely display the same words it had the last time she looked at it: Café Arabica.

Jenny was waiting, and that fact absolutely terrified her.

Deep breaths, Lily, she told herself. This was the first – the only – hint that her daughter might be setting aside some of her anger at them, and she knew even without the implicit threat in the letter that had been waiting for her on her bedside table that if she bollixed this up, she might as well give up all hopes of making things better. The way James and Danny had described their conversations with Jenny made it sound like walking through a minefield, and while her own experiences were slightly better, she could tell that it would not take much to change that. She had to tread carefully through this, already a difficult enough task when dealing with a teenager, and her ignorance concerning Jenny's likes and dislikes and general personality did not help matters any.

She tugged on the shirt and slacks she had transfigured earlier that morning, smoothing out wrinkles that she half-expected were just in her mind. The note had said to come in casual dress, but about the only thing she did know for certain about Jenny was that her daughter had picked up the more political Purebloods' penchant for playing games with their prey. If she had shown up in a casual outfit and Jenny was wearing something fancy, she would 'lose' the round, which wouldn't be a problem except Jenny might consider that a point against arranging a second meeting.

Unfortunately, Lily had no idea how Jenny would react if the girl actually had come in street clothes. Would 'winning' the game raise her standing in Jenny's eyes, or would her little girl think she was playing around and take it as an insult? She honestly had no idea.

Well, that's not entirely true; I do have some evidence that Jenny is treating this as a competition. Why else would she schedule our meeting during Danny's game?

Escaping that obligation had actually required a bit of fast talking on her part. Ever since Danny earned the Seeker spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, she had made a special effort to attend all of his matches if she could. Missing one without having told him or James about a conflict weeks or months earlier was therefore unusual, and even though she knew that both of them had bought her lie about Pippin receiving a sudden order for a large batch of potions and needing her to lend a pair of hands, she still feared that James or one of their mutual friends would pop out from behind a corner and confront her.

However, she also could not blame Jenny for forcing her to make that choice. If Jenny ignored that she and James had sent her to live with Petunia because they thought she was a squib – and considering just how powerful she was, Lily would understand if she thought that reason a load of tosh – then it certainly did look as though they had favored Danny all those years ago. In that light, the question her actions asked was not only reasonable but justified: 'Once upon a time, you picked my brother over me. Will you choose me now, or do you still consider me the unwanted child?'