C o s m i c ;

At least she hoped so.

Turning to the person next to her, Mary glanced back at the game, knowing going against someone would be easier. Plus it wasn’t as bad when you lost to someone rather than just… in general. Honestly, those glasses had to be greased because she tossed the ring right onto them. “Tell you what, I’ll bet you… five whole knuts” clearly very confident in her abilities “that I can get a higher score than you in the first round”.

“Absolutely, yeah. That’s definitely true. I’m working on it, because I know I need to be more careful - but it has a mind of its own, I swear.”

“Oh- no, I would say that’s false. I mean, I met Marlene and Lily when I was eleven and we’ve been friends since. Before that was a bit different, I got along with people better at Hogwarts than I did at my other school, but I’ve always had some friends.”

—

“Mm….” Narcissa intended on buying a lot of chocolate herself, so she really had no need of borrowing from anyone else. What was the point of having all that money if she wasn’t going to spend it. Of course, she spent most of it on fancy clothes and expensive wine. But chocolate worked too. She loved honkeydukes, and had quite the sweet tooth. She was sure that her father hated it. But he never stopped giving her the money. 

Narcissa smiled at the worker, listing out the few different sweets and chocolate that she wanted. She was buying probably too much, but she was intending on taking it to her sister too. “I mean….. lovely” She really disagreed. She couldn’t stand this kind of music at all.

“It’s good for their reputation I suppose”

*

They would never be friends. Mary could have told anyone that years ago, without having ever met her, actually. Judgmental, perhaps, but it was the honest truth. Narcissa and Mary were two completely different people; different worlds, different values, different lives. For example, she never quite saw the appeal in lying for the sake of saving face. She was honest – brutally so, and that was something she was working on, but pleasantries were beyond her. For the most part; she didn’t go out of her way to seek conflict and didn’t shove her nose where it didn’t belong, but if she hated a band, she would bloody well say she hated the band.

Hearing Narcissa’s cool, diplomatic response, she knew they were not the same. She applauded her taste in sweets, but it ended there.

“Perhaps. I prefer to think that they’ve done this just because they want to. Because it’s the right thing to do. Not everything is about image.” Naïve, perhaps, but thinking in such a way took away from it all. Made it less.. fun when it was an obligation and not a choice. “But I suppose being here is good for yours, as well.”

Reginald had always done his best about staying under the radar. He didn’t like to get involved in confrontation, even at Hogwarts, always being the first to move out of someone’s way even if he was on the correct side. He didn’t get bullied at Hogwarts like other students. He was the type of guy to give you his lunch money if you asked for it, but even so being a “nice” guy didn’t make you popular. Even being called a “nice” guy didn’t sit well with Reg. He never felt like he was that nice. When others were standing up to bullies, Reginald was looking the other way. This sort of personality made it easy when everyone started to get a code number. Reginald was a level 2 among his friends, something he didn’t really brag about. It made it harder for people to really trust him. Working as a custodian in the Ministry, he saw many things as well as heard a lot of different things. This was his chance to be brave, but he still couldn’t bring himself to it. He felt his life was fine, there was no reason to chance it, right?

Reg handed Mary a sickle or two and a few knuts for the sweets. He wasn’t quiet comfortable with Mary paying for his items, especially since they weren’t particularly close in friends. He helped himself to the candy in the bag, tossing a chocoball in the air and catching it in his mouth. He chuckled to himself, chewing it lightly as he took a pumpkin fizz in his hand. “Probably this best idea I’ve ever had,” he joked.

“Yup, it’s been really fun. Spent most of my paycheck on all sort of snacks this evening. Too many to choose from so I had a little bit of it all,” he inhaled feeling the fizz wash throughout his body. He nudged Mary’s shoulder lightly with his elbow. “What about you? Are you having good time?” 

*

Mary’s immediate instinct was to always turn down money from other people – her parents had raised her to be kind, generous, and unassuming. Most of their lessons stuck. She was quite a presumptuous person, and sometimes her expectations of others were ones they couldn’t, wouldn’t, meet; but above all, she still did her best to be kind to others. The ones who were kind to her, at least, because she also had a bit of a temper that slipped out – regardless. Mary never felt comfortable taking anything from anyone. Even when she needed it.

And though she couldn’t afford much, she could afford this, and every fibre of her being screamed to give him back what he had placed in her hands, but she just.. didn’t feel like getting into it. The back and forth, the indecisiveness, one party eventually taking it because they felt obligated to even though they didn’t want to.

So Mary put it in her pocket with the vow to set it aside later tonight and use it for if they ever saw each other again. Perhaps she’d buy him a comic book. That seemed fair.

“Yeah, I tend to do that… far more often than I should. Mostly on take-out since I’m a terrible cook and Marlene’s not home much to help out. It gets us by.” Something that Ted was constantly trying to correct, but it was practically embedded in her nature now. She wouldn’t even know what to do with her money if she wasn’t spending it on food – or books. Yeah. She’d probably just buy more of those. “I am! It’s fun to just… do something like this, and the band’s not bad. I mean, honestly, the alcohol and food was enough to get me here so I’m good.”

☘

If there was one thing Ted stood by, it was that you had to take care of kids. Maybe it was because he’d stopped being one so young, or maybe it was the result of so many years looking out for students younger than himself. But he had never outgrown it. Granted, things had changed - a lot. They were at war, but that somehow made it infinitely more important. People had lost too much already, to say nothing of the kids. 

Losing his father had been hell, but to lose them both that young…

He had made sure to close the greenhouse early that day, to make a withdrawal at Gringotts to donate what he could. It wasn’t much, not by a long shot, but it was something. Anything was better than nothing, and honestly, getting out of his house or the greenhouse was an improvement. Gave him an excuse to be out in the world, around people, instead of continuing to hide behind his work or time to make up for with his mother. 

The whiskey had yet to kick in much, but the music and crowd alone were enough to give him a contact high - hard to be at a concert without feeling the adrenaline, if you were doing it properly. Not that Ted had been to one in far too long, though better late than never. Treading through the crowd for a breather, he was lurking near the tents, debating if it was worth eating when a familiar voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Ah, the eternal question,” Ted chimed up, a knowing grin on his face. “Could always get one now and the other later.”

*

There were very few people in Mary’s life that she fully trusted – Lily and Marlene were at the top of the list, which anyone could easily assume if they knew her at all. The rest of the Order members fell beneath, none in any particular order; though the ones she wasn’t as familiar with naturally gravitated towards the bottom. Anyone else she was constantly on edge with. Her patience for those who straddled the line, however, was wearing thin. After everything she had been through… she had to be careful. So careful. Nearly to the point where, at times, she didn’t fully recognize herself.

Ted, though – Mary knew she could trust Ted. She knew that as much as she did with Lily and Marlene, though their relationship was different. More-so with Marlene – Lily had a similar protective nature. She understood it. She never felt as if she needed it, she never wanted anyone to feel as if they had to look out for her; but she knew that with the two of them, it was wasteful to wish for such a thing. This was how it was.

This is the way.

“Ted Tonks, advising that I buy not one – but two – types of sweets? I can honestly say, I never thought this day would come. Have you been drinking? I mean, I know I have, but that’s expected.” Was it wise? Likely not – but so few of the decisions that she made were. She was young. She was learning. Slowly.

“That would, however, still requiring making a decision as to which one I want now, so I think.. I’ll get both and alternate. That way I have something on me for the rest of the night.” A wise decision, if you asked her. Granted, the likelihood of them actually lasting for longer than an hour was small, but there was no need to vocalize such faults with the plan. “Do you want anything?”

★

“I wasn’t expecting me to be here either,” Marlene laughed, catching the package her friend tossed to her with all the practiced ease one would expect of someone who had once been a star Chaser for Gryffindor. “I’m glad I made it though. I’d have been gutted if I had to hear about this all second hand tomorrow!” She would have still been happy to listen of course, but it was never quite the same to hear about an event you missed out on as it was to actually be in attendance.

Another laugh burst from her as Mary continued, and she shook her head fondly at her friend. “I think I can manage getting us back home,” she promised, still chuckling slightly. “But you’re responsible for yourself from there. I’ll get you to the sofa and that’s it.” 

*

“Me too. Nothing is ever half as fun without you there.” Mary had learned that early on in Hogwarts – one of the reasons she loved Marlene and Lily was because they enriched her life. Despite all the bad in it, they always managed to make everything better. They kept her going through potions class, through the days after the attack, through… all of this. It was impossible to not feel happier in their presence, especially Marlene’s, and she was grateful to see her. It also meant that she could continue drinking and feel safer due to not being alone, but that was just a little fringe benefit.

“My hero!” Throwing one arm around Marlene’s shoulder, she guided them away from the booth, knowing others would soon be approaching it. She had no desire to see anyone else – not now. “And that is completely fair. I’ll probably still be there tomorrow afternoon, craving the greasiest bacon and eggs the world has ever seen.”

Reginald Cattermole stared up at the Honeydukes menu, a hand under his chin as he looked intently at the choices. There were so many to choose from, from such a small stand and the longer Reginald stood there, the longer the line became. He sighed softly to himself as he managed to drop his gaze pushing a hand into his pocket. He felt the coins jingle in his pocket giving him an idea of how much to spend. He had spent a lot of it eating different types of fair-type wizard food as well drinks. Reginald was honestly having a really good time despite hanging out alone. He got to make his own decisions on what to eat and where to go, he didn’t have to spend his time waiting for someone else. The only downside to that was there wasn’t anyone to tell him to stop. He literally felt like a kid in a candy shop coming to these sort of events. Even though he grew up as a half-blood, magical still always seemed to amaze him. Even muggle magic, he had always kept a pair of playing cards in his pocket just in case to perform a trick. He mostly got a lot of eye rolls from them.

He was suddenly startled by a young woman standing next to him. Reginald glanced around to make sure she was talking to him, as he was the only around at the moment. He blinked at the girl before smiling at her nicely.

“I was thinking the same thing,” he said suddenly recognizing her from somewhere. Wasn’t she the cashier at Flourish and Blotts? She always gave great recommendations for all sorts of books, especially muggle comics, despite the fact that bookstore didn’t sell any. It had been a while since Reginald had been into the store, he’d sometimes come into the store to buy  a book to read during his lunch break. But he had also known her before that as well, she attended Hogwarts with him. She was a year younger but they were polite to each other from what he could remember. “Hey, Mary,” he finally said with a genuine smile this time. He looked at her pondering her question before quickly snapping his fingers. “I got it! Why don’t we just get one of each? We can share them, yeah? Then we can have a bit of both!”

*

Mary was apprehensive around most people – she had to be, all things considered. The coding system was terrible, to label people in such a way; but there was the slight positive to it. At the end of the day, it told her who to stay away from. For the most part. One couldn’t overlook the fact that they decided the codes and that they could easily hide someone with a higher one if they wanted to – but still. A code 1 was a code 1, and 2’s – it was like walking on eggshells. Never knowing where they truly aligned, never knowing if she could instill any sort of faith or trust in them. It wasn’t a desirable way to live, and she yearned for the days when things were easier – but this was her reality. And as such, it had taken her quite a while to warm up to Reginald.

Truth be told, she still was; but anyone who came into a wizarding store and asked about comic books deserved a chance.

So Mary gave him a smile in return, the alcohol helping to fuel her slight removal of barriers. That, and the fact that he was offering her food – high on the list of her vices. “Sounds brilliant. Glad one of us is thinking tonight.” It wasn’t her fault, really; it was the dragon scale. Any normal day, Mary would have gotten both; or she would have saved a bit of money and gone right for the chocoballs. Giving the worker enough money to cover them, she took them with a grateful smile, realizing that her hands were now too full to open it. A bit of a shrug as she finished off what was left in the cup, tossing it into the nearest garbage can before opening the bag and holding it out to him. “You enjoying yourself so far?”

❀

Lily knew better than to think she could allow her reservations to hold her back from living her life, no matter how many of them she had - and have them she did. Given the climate of everything, the way that terror seemed to be hanging above all of them like a black cloud, it was inevitable. Just stepping outside her front door felt like a gamble most days, but she couldn’t give up yet. Not yet. They all had to keep living, and there was no way Lily wouldn’t keep doing exactly that until it was too late. 

And, well, supporting orphans was a far better cause than others. If she was going to go out into crowds filled with enemies, nobody deserved it more than children who hadn’t been given a choice.

The problem Lily was running into now, however, was that she had been wandering aimlessly. She had never quite gotten used to magical music, but she could admit the Hobgoblins were catchy - still, it would have been easier to enjoy herself had she actually made plans with any of her friends, rather than trying to keep herself entertained. That was always the issue Lily ran into; too much time alone, even in places like this, let her mind run wild. Knowing better than to think Andromeda would really let her stay in the hospital’s tent to help a second time, she had taken to easing her way through the crowd when she caught sight of Mary up ahead. She managed to catch up right at the mouth of the Honeydukes tent, laughing to herself as she heard her best friend speak.

“Chocoballs, obviously.” Lily spoke, a smile on her face as she looked over at her. “Half expected you to get both - sure you’re feeling alright?” 

*

“Obviously.” An immediate remark as ‘what was I thinking?’ began to run right through her mind. Was it ever even a question? No. Of course not. Mostly just because they didn’t have lemon cakes here, which was a travesty in itself, but she knew that wasn’t really sold at HoneyDukes. If she could, she would buy the company, take over it and keep everything the same except she would also sell lemon cakes. Would she eat the majority of the inventory by herself? Probably. Did it still sound like a brilliant idea? Absolutely.

As the lemon fog began to clear, the voice of who actually responded to her registered as Mary perked up, immediately wrapping Lily up into a hug. “Oh I’m great.” Much better now that Lily was here – a source of comfort, of security. They were both aware of the danger that they were in (constantly) but being together always made her feel better. As if she were untouchable in her presence, even if the logical part of her knew that wasn’t true.

“I’m attempting to pace myself – with food, at least. Not… not this.” Holding up the cup in her hand, as it wasn’t the first one that had been here. It should probably be the other way around but – what the hell, right? Facing the worker for a moment, Mary quickly got 2 packages, paid for them, and turned back around, holding one out for Lily. “When did you get here?”

—

Narcissa just raised an eyebrow, a little smirk on her lips. She wondered if people thought about trying to argue with her? She had a pretty good reputation of having a lethal tongue, and having a way with words. She was a master manipulator, and didn’t often lose an argument. “Mmm. That’s a good decision” Because Cissa was pretty confident she would win. Of course it was only something minor, but one could never take an argument not seriously. That was how she’d gotten so good at it in the first place. Of course, being the younget of three girls had helped that too.

“Oh. No thank you.” Narcissa didn’t need hand outs, and she was actually going to be buying some of her own. Maybe she’d get Bella some of her favorites. She smiled at the worker, and ordered a fair few galleons worth of sweets. Why have money and not be able to spend it. Deciding she shouldn’t be rude, she glanced over at Mary again. “Enjoying the evening?”

*

“More for me.” A simple shrug as Mary dug right back into the bag, thankful that Narcissa had actually said no. While she (often) offered to share out of politeness, it was rare that she wanted to – unless it was with Lily or Marlene. What was it they said about marriage – ‘what’s mine is yours’? That’s how they were, even though the only thing she typically had to offer was take-out food and alcohol. Not that they ever complained; the complete opposite, really.

She could immediately tell their situation was not the same, watching the amount of money so casually dropped. Though she wouldn’t say it, there was a bit of resemblance with Sirius there – kids in a candy store.

As the music blared behind them, she gave a nod, truthfully more focused on the chocolate than the band. “Yeah, they’re pretty good, don’t you think? It was a nice thing for them to do, to agree to play for free like this.”

—

Concerts were not really Narcissa’s scene. She didn’t like mingling with too many people, especially when people really didn’t care about invading your personal space. But events like these were important for one’s reputation, especially when money was being raised. That was the whole reason why she was here in the first place. She was just hoping that there would be some other people, like Bellatrix or Lucius, that might jut make the evening bearable. If not, she might show face for a few hours and then go home.

She was going to get some chocolate from honeydukes though. That was one of the good things about this event. She liked chocolate, and really couldn’t give up the chance of getting some sweets. That was why she was currently stood, working out what to get. She looked to the side, surprised someone was actually trying to talk to her. “It’s never a tough choice. Chocolate will always be superior” Like herself.

*

“Yeah, I certainly can’t argue with you there.” Well – Mary could, but she was a bit gone and it seemed like a fair statement at that time. However, lemon cakes would always be the best dessert, hands down. Lemon cakes over chocolate any day – but that was the only scenario in which she would turn it down. Other than that, it was fair game. Granted, mixing chocoballs with dragon scale probably wasn’t the greatest of ideas, but she felt it was fair to assume that many others would be making just as terrible decisions, so who was she to refrain?

Neck twisting ever so slightly, Mary’s eyebrows raised at the sight of Narcissa. Never a friend – unsurprising­ – but her reputation was well-known. As the worker slid over a package of chocoballs on the counter, she thanked them before grabbing the bag, popping one into her mouth. “D’you want one?” A verbal offering met with the physical gesture of holding out the opened bag, something she would never dare do on a normal day – but she was a few drinks deep and rational thought was low.

***

“Obviously chocoballs,” Marlene laughed, coming up behind her friend to surprise her. Though she had been more than excited at the prospect of the concert, even if it was just for the chance to let her hair down for the night, she hadn’t known if she would be able to get the night off work. Thankfully Tom had finally agreed, with a knowing smile that Marlene suspected meant he had planned to let her go all along but had just wanted to mess with her a little. At least she was here, and beyond ready to spend a night laughing and dancing with her best friends. With a war raging around them, it was rare for such an opportunity to come their way. 

Another laugh sounded from Marlene as she arched a brow in amusement. “Do I dare ask how many of those you’ve had?” she asked, nodding at the cup of Dragon Scale in Mary’s hand.

*

“You know what, you’re completely right, I don’t know what I was even thinking.” The words flowed out before Mary even realized who was saying them – partly due to the alcohol and partly due to her mind being solely focused on food in that moment. Ordering two packages, Mary gently tossed one of them in her friends direction, mood significantly enhanced. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight. Nice of Tom to let you go.” That was one of the upsides of working in a bookstore – their hours were fairly reasonable, unlike Marlene who would come home at the oddest of hours.

Taking a sip of the drink in question, she grinned the moment she began lowering the cup. “Let’s just say that either you will be responsible for getting me back to my place tonight – or someone else will be responsible for the both of us. Either way, it won’t be me.”

Cup of Dragon Scale in hand (her third one, mind you), her hair swung back and forth as her head shook to the beat of the song, entirely unaware of anyone else around her. Potentially not the best situation to put herself in, all things considered, but she had passed the point of caring about… oh, half an hour ago. Now, she was singularly focused on having a good time – and that meant getting snacks.

Shoving her way through the crowd, Mary made her way over to the Honeydukes stand, staring up at the menu in awe – and unable to make a proper decision, spoke her choices out loud to the nearest person. “All right – chocoballs or pumpkin fizz? It’s a tough choice.”

7. Do you have any pets?

“A beautiful little tuxedo cat named Selina! She loves to wake me up during the rare times I’m getting some decent sleep because she wants treats, but I love her none the less.”

25. What color socks are you wearing?

“Oh - they’re blue and white because they’re R2-D2 themed!”

39. Do you have any scars?

“Quite a few. I’ve got some on my arms from my (failed) attempts at cooking and baking. One of my knee from when I fell off a bike as a kid, and one on my right index finger because when I was young I wanted ice cream with cookie chunks mixed in. I was the only one awake, so I decided to grate the cookie - my hand slipped and I ended up slicing right through my finger. It hung on, but it was a bit of a scene.”

50. Left or right handed?

“Right - though I think being left-handed would be interesting. I imagine learning to use a wand would have been a bit different.”

88. What do your parents do?

“They’re both teachers - mum teaches in primary school and dad teaches English in secondary school.”

99. Color of your bedspread?