UNEXPECTED NEWS
___________
The training went surprisingly well, my body still felt slightly numb and sore but I could bear with it and the reward that brought me was a huge reason to keep going. My teammates welcomed me between cheers and joy, having a lot of patience with me and making sure I was doing well all the time. Liv, Pauline and our recent company, Fleur, were hyping me from the terraces.
"It's great to have you back, Lilith," Khaleelah said, coming straight at me after the training, followed by Aileen, who put her arm over my shoulder. "You are really needed in the team."
"Aye, mate," the McDonald girl agreed, "Our matches haven't gone that good since you were gone. We are still top of the classification but you assure us that first place."
"Thank you so much, girls. I really missed this lots."
"We have planned to go grab some drinks at Diagon Alley, wanna come?" Zahir offered me as we entered the changing room to go back to our normal clothes.
"Sure, can my friends come?"
"Obvs."
"Mind if Verity comes as well after work?" Aileen burst, with shiny and bright eyes. Her thing with the blonde girl was going really well lately.
We ended up at the Leaky Cauldron, at the biggest table where we could fit, talking and chatting calmly with our butterbeer and making sure Fleur, Verity, Liv and Pauline felt included in the team. After a couple of hours, Bill showed up to pick up Fleur and take her back home and we took that as a sign to finally go home since the next day both Lin and Olivia had classes.
"Oh, Lilith, I almost forgot!" Pauline burst suddenly when we were going upstairs. "You got some mail early in the morning. Left it on the kitchen table for you to read it."
Before I could reply, someone touched my shoulders, startling me.
"George!" I patted his chest once I turned around and saw his cheerful smile. "You scared the living shit out of me!"
"Good night to you too, Lilith," Fred spoke, coming from behind his twin.
"They're having dinner with us, I don't know if I told you before," Liv said, taking the keys to open our flat.
She didn't tell me, but it wasn't like I would complain.
Getting inside the kitchen and preparing dinner all together, chatting about our days and joking around, we finally sat at the table to enjoy our meals with the dim sound of my gramophone from my room. Quite curious, I grabbed the letter Pauline told me that was for me and almost froze when I read the address from where it came.
"Everything a'right?" Fred asked as soon as he saw my expression, taking the fork to his mouth and making all the eyes focus on me.
"Yes - Uhm, it's just that...I think the address might be wrong." I replied, feeling unable to open the envelope.
"Where is it from?" Liv questioned, scowling.
"The Arambella House," I whispered and felt how everyone hold their gasp. I checked I wasn't reading wrong; Berwick, Northumberland, England. The same number, the same name, the same address...no, I wasn't wrong.
"Lilith," Olivia whispered, "careful,"
I observed the envelope, the only person apart from Severus who knew about the Arambella house's location was my own mother but the letter didn't look as if it had been poisoned nor cursed. Still a bit hesitant, I finally opened the folded parchment, there was a little note in clumsy and quite messy handwriting with a bunch of spelling mistakes;
Dere, lilith:
We heard you were hurt by Mistress Circe. We worried for you, Nilsy's been cryin' a lot. I tried to comunicate with Master Severus but didnt reply. Pleas, send us a letter, we miss you.
Love you a lot.
The elves from the Arambella House; Dondey, Nilsy and Weepey.
I felt the tears grouping in my eyes as a huge smile covered my face.
"Lilith?" Pauline asked, worried.
"It's from the elves," I stuttered, pressing the note against my chest and wiping off the little tear that threatened to leave my eyes. The three elves had been with me even before I was born and after my mother was imprisoned, when I inherited the house and freed them, they still stayed with me, raising me and taking care of me as much as they could. I thought I had left them safe at Spinner's End two summers ago, but apparently, Severus returned them to my house even though it wasn't the safest place for them.
Liv looked at me with a comforting smile, she knew how much they meant for me.
"My three elves have been with me since I was born, they had been family since then," I explained to the rest who didn't have a context. "When Snape left me at the Arambella House alone after Circe was imprisoned when I was 3, they offered to stay there, raising me, even though they were already free. I was under their care for so many years...until last summer," I sniffed, and looked at Liv. "Can you pass me a piece of paper and a pencil, please? They know about the accident and they are worried, Severus hasn't replied to their letters."
The blonde nodded and stood up immediately to hand me what I asked her.
Carefully, I started writing;
My dearest Donds, Nil and Weep;
I'm terribly sorry for not communicating with you sooner, I thought my uncle was taking care of you at Spinner's End and I didn't want to interrupt your well-earned freedom. The attack was really awful and I was heavily hurt by Circe, but I'm okay, my friends have been taking care of me - hope you can meet them soon. You might already know I'm a Harpie and since I know the vault at the house is almost empty, I'll send you a little bit of money before you refuse to receive it.
I miss you three lots lots lots and I love you so much.
- Lilith XX
P.S; Nilsy, don't cry for me, please. I promise you I'm okay.
I stood up to tie the letter to Iris's leg and let her fly away and then got back to my seat, still a bit dreamy for having received such a sweet surprise.
After going back to our chat and finishing eating, Fred and I laid on my bed, looking at the ceiling while Liv and George cleaned the dishes and Pauline took out her notes to keep revising.
"I didn't know you were raised by your elves," Fred whispered, breaking the silence between us, only filled by the low notes of a Queen song. "Always thought you were raised by Snape."
I sighed.
"Everybody thinks the same, but no. He visited me twice a month, but the ones who fed me, cleaned me and educated me as much as they could, were the elves. Severus only came to bring me money and to give me some lessons so I was not raised out of the wizarding community."
"Why is he like that?" Fred asked, quite annoyed. I snorted, ironic.
"I've been asking myself the same thing for years and years. When I was little I used to believe it was because of the horrible childhood he had with his father, but thinking about it years later, it didn't make sense. Severus lived with an abusive father but his behaviour and his lack of emotions outside of his own have a deeper meaning than Tobias Snape being a fucking alcoholic who abused my granny. He is like a huge box with thousands and thousands of layers that I'm not able to decipher even though I've been around him for the last 19 years."
"You two have a similar story, don't you?" the ginger whispered, quite clueless.
"I don't know if I would call it similar, darling," I murmured, looking at the ceiling. Thinking of my next words. "We both had shitty dads, that's obvs. Mine abandoned me and his father was a fucking dickhead who wasted all my family's money. My mother, however, doesn't hold a candle up for my lovely granny Eileen."
Fred looked at me, curious, silently telling me to keep going. I took a deep breath.
"Eileen Prince was of a pureblood quite renowned family and when her parents died when she was young, she inherited all the fortune. Her husband was a muggle, and with the economical crisis after the war in Germany, he started drinking and becoming abusive to her, my mother and Severus. He wasted all the money on alcohol, women and drugs until he left her, years later, with two depressed teenagers and a huge debt. Unlike my fucking psychopath mother, Eileen managed to move forward and thanks to her work and her children, she managed to reunite a good amount of money not to worry anymore about it. Part of that money nowadays belongs to me."
"You speak about her with a lot of love in your voice...never thought I would hear talk like that about a Snape," he said surprised.
"She wasn't a Snape. She was a Prince. And I did love her with my entire heart, she's the reason I love blueberries this much and the only human being who showed love to me during my childhood. I didn't know what affection was until I met her and I didn't know affection after she died until I met Liv. I didn't even know what a simple hug was."
Fred sighed, listening to me carefully, and grabbed my waist to turn me around, making me lay on his chest.
" I wish I could have met my grandparents."
"You didn't?"
He shook his head. "They all died before I was born. Bill and Charlie got to meet the ones from mum's side."
We ended up changing the topic because even though my elves' letter was great news, I still didn't feel ready to talk about the Arambella House this much, so we turned the conversation into our day. After a while, we got out of my room and laid on the couch with the rest of our group, ready to watch a film together.
✵ ✵ ✵
A couple of months kept going by and by late June I was completely recovered and back in business. Remus was healing and his transformations weren't as painful as before, he seemed happier than in any of the last months and that was pretty much my and, especially, Tonks's doing. Their relationship, now official, was going incredibly well and they seemed as if they had bonded in a beautiful and unique way. I noticed the change in him when he arrived at my home in the middle of March with great news ready for me;
"I am so happy to announce to you, dear, that now, officially and legally, you are Lilith Medea Lupin," he said, excited and with a huge smile on his face. I couldn't help but jump into his arms and hug him tightly, thanking him a hundred times.
"You can't imagine how proud I am right now, Remus. I promise you I will carry your last name with the biggest of the honours."
"Welcome officially to the Lupin family, then."
Draco managed to communicate with me a couple of times more, telling me how even though Harry was trying to get on his way, Myrtle was being a huge help for him to vent freely and I kept wishing I could protect him and help him more.
Liv and Pauline were more and more united as time went by, their relationship was healthier than ever and the amount of time they spent together at uni was useful to be understanding whenever the other one was tired or a bit irritated, even though that was something weird to see because both of them were such a pair of angels.
The shop was becoming the richest business in the whole Diagon Alley. Thanks to it and the improvement in his relationship with Angie, George couldn't be happier.
We, The Harpies, kept doing the best matches in our history and getting amazing scores every time we were out there playing. Being at the top of the classification, we were pretty hyped up for already tasting victory and the league cup. The whole team got along together better than ever and more than teammates, we were friends.
My bond with Fred - oh, Merlin. We were together almost every day, being careful not to overwhelm the other. The amounts of laughter, chats and jokes between us made us be closer than ever and the immense improvement in the number of our sex encounters and the passion between us made us feel like in a constant bonfire. We were doing so well, so fused with each other and so pleased in that little world of the two of us, that for a brief couple of days, I started to believe that he might be starting to have romantic feelings for me. Real and long-lasting romantic feelings for me. I didn't want to high up my hopes, but that was an idea that not only melted my heart but also made me feel hope in every single place in my body.
Merlin, make that be true, please...
"Lilith, now!" Khaleelah shouted, getting me out of my daydream. It was the last match of the season, we were almost grazing the cup and our strategy was working way better than ever.
The public roared with joy and cheers, hyping us and whooping, chanting our names and making the field tremble with their voices. Tonks, Liv and Pauline had their faces covered in green and gold paint while the twins next to them were completely shirtless, with their faces - and their chests! - covered in the same colours as well as huge flags and hats of my team. Shouting and clapping more than anyone else. Next to them, way more calmed but still entertained, were Remus and surprisingly, Fleur and Bill, waving little flags with our logo in it.
I hit the Bludger with all my strength and hit the other team's chaser's back, stopping him from scoring and gaining a huge whoop from the crowd.
With a huge smile on my face, I saw Aileen shouting more than ever, bursting into laughter while doing cartwheels on her broom showing off the Snitch in her hand. We all joined her, cheering up.
"WE DID IT, GIRLS!" Khaleelah shouted, with a huge smile on her face and the eyes watering because of the emotion.
"WE FUCKING DID IT!" Gwenog roared, throwing the bat to the air.
"AND THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES CROWN THEMSELVES AS THE WINNERS OF THIS LEAGUE! CONGRATULATIONS, GIRLS! REALLY REALLY DESERVED!" the match's narrator announced through the megaphones, making the crowd jump in their seats with pure excitement.
"YES!" I shouted, happily, landing on the ground and fusing with the girls in a huge and tight team hug.
Some of our friends jumped to the field and ran to hug us to congratulate us. Khaleelah's fiancé was almost crying with pure pride as he put the girl over his shoulder, showing her off as the queen she was. Verity and Aileen kissed each other passionately, and Gwenog's sisters started to hug her, almost making her fall to the ground. Soon, I felt two familiar gingers hugging me, making a sandwich of the three of us and covering me with the paint on their chests.
"YOU FUCKING DID IT, MATE!" George shouted, excited, blowing a whistle I don't know where he got from.
"WE ARE SO BLOODY PROUD OF YOU, THE FUCKING HARPIES ARE THE BEST FUCKING TEAM IN THE WHOLE WORLD!" Fred added, picking me up as he hugged me, making us spin around. I couldn't help but snicker in between his arms.
"Really well done, dear!" Remus said, once Fred put me back on the floor, kissing my forehead.
"That was incredible!" Fleur burst, cheerful.
"Really well done, Lilith. Your team deserved to win," Bill continued.
"THAT'S OUR GIRL, LIN!" Liv pretended to cry.
"I'M SO FUCKING PROUD, THEY GROW UP SO FAST!" Pauline faked to wipe off a tear.
I hugged the two of them, thanking them for their unconditional support and soon I felt someone throwing me to the ground, smashing me and hugging me tightly as she spread lots of kisses all over my face.
"I'M - SO - BLOODY - PROUD - OF - YOU!" Tonks spoke, leaving a kiss on my cheek after every word and making me giggle, tickling me.
"Thank you so much, you lot! I can't thank you enough for all the support," I replied, standing up again and trying to control my emotions.
Half an hour later, we were lifting the golden cup of the league between cheers and whoops and with our two captains in the centre, being rewarded for all the effort they had put on the team, especially Khaleelah.
We got to celebrate our victory by going out for dinner all together, with our respective companies, and having a lot of fun and drinks. I don't even know how I got back home since the only thing I could remember was watching George, Liv and Aileen doing a weird dance together, Fred and I kissing, Fred and I dancing, both twins being hyped by all the girls as they tried to drink ten shots each one in less than a minute, Pauline talking to a cactus - literally - and Tonks drinking down two beers at the same time.
During the night, my feelings about Fred only burnt me more and more in my inside, and as I observed him, being so fucking handsome and so bloody attractive, my drunk and reckless mind got to the conclusion that this was the perfect occasion to confess my feelings for him.
I was planning to get home, sneak to his room and finally tell him, in a bold burst of confidence, how I felt about him. How fucking and deeply in love I was with him.
Fuck it if he doesn't love me back, at least I would take that secret out of my system.
When I finally managed to stand up over my door, trying to find my keys, I noticed a familiar figure by my side.
"R-Remus!" I whispered, trying not to burp. He looked more serious than before, even paler.
"Good night, dear," he said in a dim tone. "I know that you are a bit hammered right now, but I think you should know this anyway. I just got the news from a Harry letter."
I looked at him, curious, and with the blood pounding hard in my veins as my head cleared up a bit more at his words.
"What is it?" I managed to stutter, trying to connect my brain and my mouth. "I was about to talk with Fred."
He took a deep breath, trying to find the right words.
"Dumbledore is dead."
WHAT?!