Sacrifices for Love

Blackmailed

Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. September 1st, 1971.

| |Lily Evans | |

I immediately dug into some delicious steaks after I gave Potter the most pleading please-do-not-hurt-Severus look as I could after I heard him say, "—prank Snivellus", which was hard because of his warm, hazel eyes looking hopefully at me. And I still did not like him for teasing Severus.

I avoided his gaze quickly when he tried to catch his eye once more. I looked through the side of my eye and saw the four boys talking.

What are they talking about? I wondered, then shook my head. No, I don't care! You don't care Lily! Listen to Alice babble on about what she's planning to do in the future... oh wait... that's kind of boring.... NO, LISTEN TO ALICE.

I forced my mind and nodded in random spots.

"— going to be an Auror," Alice repeated for the fifteenth time that dinner.

Imagine next the next day how many times she shall say that, I grinned to myself and rolled my eyes.

"So? What's your story Marlene?" I asked quickly biting into my steak.

"Um... I'd rather not discuss it," Marlene choked on her apple.

"Oh, okay," I frowned.

Note to self: DO NOT ASK ABOUT IT. Asking how people feel and if they're okay DOES NOT make them feel better; it only forces them to remember! I warned myself, wishing that other people understood that too.

"What about you, Lily?" Mary asked.

"Oh, well, I'm Muggle Born. I was born in Cokesworth, England. Uh, that's about it," I stammered.

"What about that Slytherin boy?" Alice asked.

Alice had short, black, frizzy hair and it bounced around when she swung her head a lot. Marlene had long wavy, blonde hair and Mary had long wavy, dark brown hair.

What about him?

"He's my friend," I explained and my new best friends glanced at one another, "is that bad?"

"No..." Alice said quickly wolfing down her hamburger so she would not have to talk.

"No problem, I'll just wait till you're done," I smiled sweetly at her, but inside my head was pounding.

What's wrong with having a friend from a different house? Is that bad? Don't they have Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff friends? What's wrong with having Slytherin friends? Do Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other? If so, what did Slytherin do to Gryffindor? Or vice versa? Questions swirled around in my brain continuously.

Alice swallowed her steak, after a good five minutes. "It's chewy." She said hastily.

We all burst out laughing, but I still wanted answers so I managed to keep my face straight after a few seconds.

"Tell me now," I said quietly.

"I- you- Gryffindor's don't like Slytherins," Alice said quietly turning her head away.