Round Robin: A Potter Manor Christmas Party
Title: A Potter Manor Christmas Party
Premise: Mary notices that Lily isn't enjoying the festivities at the Potter Manor. After getting her hands on Lily's phone, she scrolls through her contacts and finds Snape is still saved as 'Sev'. She decides to take the initiative and contact him. Hijinks ensues.
Limitations: Endgame Snily. All characters are 40 years younger than in canon, and the story takes place on 25 December 2018; Severus and Lily would be 18 at this point. This story will take place over the course of a single day.
Allowed Points of View: Severus, Lily, Mary
Note: Please be sure to read our official Round Robin rules before participating. Thank you!
A Potter Manor Christmas Party
Mary
Mary had never enjoyed crowds, but the Christmas party at the Potter Manor made her feel conflicted. It was crowded, no doubt, but there were enough rooms for her to retreat to; she'd considered spending most of it outside, but she wasn't one for the cold. Marlene wasn't having any problem at all, although the drinks might've had something to do with her cheer; at the moment, she was busy fussing over cleaning the drink she'd spilled on Remus, the latter of the two looking tired and pale from what Sirius and Peter described as a "bad Wednesday", whatever that meant. Alice and Frank had come as well, which was the first time in a long time that they'd had a break from work, and they were both being entertained by James.
Leaving Lily alone by the hors d'oeuvres table.
Lily wasn't happy, to say the least; she hadn't been happy since her friendship with Snape started to sour. Everyone thought (or at least, everyone in James's circle of friends) that dating James in her final year would've brought her mood up. It hadn't. Superficially, perhaps, but Mary could tell it hadn't, especially not after hearing about the double date Lily had been on with her sister and their dates. Mary didn't know the details, but if she had to guess, it had been a battle of egos between the two men.
"Alright, Lils?" James asked as he approached the table where Lily and Mary stood.
"I'm fine," Lily replied with a superficial smile.
"Just checking." James grabbed a cracker with caviar from Lily's plate and popped the whole thing in his mouth.
"James!" Lily complained.
"Sorry, love!" James grinned, snatching another before returning to entertain his guests.
Mary glanced at the caviar dishes, seeing that they'd already run out, before glancing at Lily's plate, seeing that she'd only gotten the two crackers. "Do you want one of mine?" Mary offered.
Lily shook her head quietly.
"It's not a big... I don't mind."
Lily's eyes moved to one of the crackers and took it. "... he doesn't even like caviar," she mumbled. She set her plate down and padded her pocket. "Damn," she muttered. "I forgot my phone."
"Want mine?"
"No, I must've left it in the sitting room. I promised I'd text Tuney." Lily didn't sound very pleased.
"I could pretend to be you," Mary offered.
"You're a lifesaver."
Mary just waved her hand with a small grin on her lips as she turned.
"Don't I always? Kind of feels like that's part of the job description for being a friend." She replied before making her way back through the now seemingly more crowded room, which immediately started to annoy the young witch again.
"Hey Mary!"
Her name had been called so loudly that it could even be heard over the music playing in the room - and Mary knew immediately who had been the source of it.
Sirius Black - the self-proclaimed dream of every woman.
What Sirius Black hadn't understood since their fifth year was that Mary didn't care about him at all. She had given her heart away in their fourth year - even though she knew she would never have a chance with the boy, no matter what.
"Leave me alone Black, I don't have time in my life for conversations with a dog-brained idiot like you."
How Lily could ever have fallen for James Potter after he had behaved like a spoiled brat who always got what he wanted, she would never understand.
Especially now that Sirius wasn't much different in his behaviour towards her than James had been towards Lily - and it just made Mary want to hex Sirius Black into the next century so he wouldn't bother her anymore.
"Oh come on Mary, don't be like that."
The young man didn't seem to get the message - again.
"I won't warn you again Black, one more time and I'll make sure you don't spend Christmas Eve here but in St Mungos."
With that, she let her wand slip into her hand, hopefully getting the message across this time.
"Is it..." But the words were cut short and only muffled, something that probably only happened because Remus knew to respect her threats and not take them for empty words.
Finally left alone, she passed Marlene once more on her way, before finally returning to the sitting room, where she started looking for Lily's phone.
Fortunately, it didn't take very long to find; it was still sitting on the table where Lily and James had been before the latter pulled them away to join everyone despite Lily complaining about wanting some alone time.
"My mother's been doing this for forty years," James had countered. "So, how about you suck it up a bit?"
Mary simmered at the memory as she picked up Lily's phone and entered the password (9301) before going into her contacts. It didn't take long to find "Tuney"; it was one of only a handful of saved contacts.... Mary paused, looking at the other names. Nestled between "Remus" and "Sirius" was "Sev". As in "Severus Snape". The same Snape who'd called Lily a mudblood in their fifth year.
Mary, curiosity getting the better of her, exited Contacts and entered Messages to see when Lily had last messaged Snape. It took some scrolling, but she found it, dating back to July in 2014.
Any plans?
No, you?
How about we go see Planet of the Apes?
God, there's ANOTHER one?!
That was NOT a bad movie, Sev!
Lily, why would you cheer for a virus breaking out?!
Fine, what about Guardians of the Galaxy?
What's that?
It's a comic book movie. You know when I showed you The Avengers?
Hated Iron Man. Reminds me of Potter
Don't sour the mood, Severus Snape. I'll just come to you in-person so we can talk it out
Wait, that's not a good idea right now
After reading the last message, Mary looked back at the name "Sev" sitting at the top of the chat. Lily wasn't the type to keep someone in her contacts unless they meant something to her, and if Snape was here....
Before wishing Petunia a happy Christmas, Mary quickly typed.
Party at the Potter Manor.
Severus
Severus didn't like Christmas. He didn't mind the decorations or music, but the people were murder to be around. To be honest, he wasn't even sure what Christmas was supposed to look like when one was home; his family had never celebrated (and never would, with his mum and Tobias having passed), and Lily's parents had never invited him over. Now, and for the foreseeable future, his Christmas would involve making a small dinner for himself and finding something to read. Alone.
Which is why getting a text from Lily was the last thing he expected.
Severus scoffed at what he read. “She’s inviting me to a party at Potter Manor? How wretched. As if he wanted to be anywhere near the Stag and his nauseating band of 'Marauders' for Christmas Eve. It was bad enough for Severus to know that 'his' Lily Evans and James Bloody Potter were a couple; but to see them making appearances together would be all too much. The heaviness of that possibility deeply troubled Severus as he considered whether he would show or not. After nearly 5 minutes of silent thought, Snape reasoned to himself that he could have some fun of his own. He would make this Christmas Eve one to remember for James Potter, although he would need some help.
Severus Snape was not one to clutter his belongings. Everything in his former childhood home was now nearly spotless, no more did dust and mothballs cascade around him as he long had remembered. Snape shuffled his way over to his old belongings. Snape muttered the password “Blancmange” on his luggage, and his enchanted carry-on bag opened. Severus started to rummage through the tattered bag until he had reached the secret compartment. Using his slender fingers, Snape pried out a small vial from the barely visible nook. Snape stared at the gold liquid in the vial for a minute. He was finally going to expend his reward from Slughorn.
“Tonight, my luck will change," Severus stated. Snape drank the contents of the vial and soon apparated away.
Disapparating from Spinner's End led Severus to arrive just outside of Bristol, or at least where he thought was Bristol; he'd learned (from what Regulus Black had been telling other Slytherins in the common room) that Potter and Black had once flown over Bristol on what was clearly an illegally enchanted motorbike for a quick bite to eat, meaning Godric's Hollow wasn't too far away. If not for Liquid Luck, Severus wouldn't know which direction to travel, but he had a good feeling that west was the way to go, or at least what he assumed was west given the lack of sunlight. He pulled out his phone to contact Lily.
Just Apparated to Bristol. Wasn't sure about the wards at Godric's
Severus waited for a bit before feeling the phone buzz in his hand, and he checked as he walked westward.
Good call, they just strengthened them this morning for security purposes
Severus smiled to himself, counting his luck. One thought was nagging at him, of course, and he knew he needed an answer.
Why did you invite me? I doubt your boyfriend would want me there
What Potter doesn't know won't hurt him
Severus stopped in his tracks; he hadn't expected this kind of response, and he wasn't sure if it was the Liquid Luck, or if Lily had been premeditating this. Or worse, this could be a sick joke courtesy of Potter; he seemed the type to pose as Lily using her phone. There was an easy way to tell if this was the real Lily, of course.
I suppose it's just like when you used to smuggle me into your house, right?
Just like old times
You're not Lily
Severus waited for a response, watching as the phone showed that Lily was typing for what seemed like an eternity
What are you on about?
I've never been inside your house
It didn't take long for the next response.
Mary
Macdonald?
Yeah
I think you owe me an explanation
Lily's miserable, and I thought sneaking you here would cheer her up
I think you forgot that she hates me
She still has you saved as Sev
Severus's heart stopped. It sounded too good to be true, but then again, Felix Felicis wasn't known to lead the drinker astray... unless too much was ingested. But it was probably fine.
Why are you on her phone?
Lily wanted me to pretend to be her to text her sister, but I thought inviting you over would be more interesting.
Sev squinted at the screen of his smartphone.
Interesting, more like disastrous. But if you insist.
Yeah, I figured Lily would stop being so bored if you showed up. Don't worry, Potter and his three stooges won't cause a scene, James' mum and dad are strict about etiquette and stuff.
Well, if Lily wants me there, I suppose there's no harm in accepting the invitation.
He approached the gates of the Potter manor. Severus pressed the intercom button next to the gate. As he waited for a response, Severus could not help but notice how enormous the mansion was, very old fashioned too, not unlike Malfoy manor. Finally he got a response.
"Oi, Snape? The hell are you doing here?" The familiar pompous voice asked.
Severus rolled his eyes. "I was invited by Lily and McDonald."
"What? Lily hates your guts!"
"That's not what McDonald said." Severus said with an arrogant smirk.
He overheard Black and Potter talking amongst themselves, though the conversation was muffled quite a bit, he could only make out a few words. They were plotting something, but he was without a clue of what it could be. Probably just discussing ways to bug him without pissing off Lily.
"Okay, you can come in." Potter stated calmly and the gates opened.
Severus stepped inside the property and walked towards the door, carefully with his steps to not trip, distrustful that James Fucking Potter did not enchant the floor as a prank or something like that. He felt this was most likely a terrible idea, but Mary McDonald sounded very sure that his presence would cheer up Lily. Anything for Lily he would do. Specially with help of liquid luck. The lanky boy knocked on the door only to be greeted by Mr. Fleamont Potter.
"Ah, you must be Sebastian Snape, right?"
"It's Severus Snape, sir." He corrected the older gentleman as politely as possible, knowing that if he could make the old man like him, James Potter would be upset.
"Severus, I'll remember that. Come in, make yourself comfortable."
The older man lead him to the dining room and that's where he saw her, Severus' heart skipped a beat when he saw Lily, his former friend.
He gulped, trying to garner the most confidence he could, then he saw Lily's weak smile faltered completely when she noticed him. Her big green eyes locked onto his dark ones.
"Severus?"
Lily
It took Lily no more than ten seconds to figure out what was going on as Sev-- as Severus entered the room. Mary had to have found Severus's name in her contact list, the one contact she'd had to hide from James. She knew, given the complicated history she shared with Severus and James, that having both of them in the same room at the same time was a very, very bad idea; it was only a matter of time before Severus started egging James on... although at this point, she supposed it was a bit too late for that.
Lily quickly glanced away from her eye contact with Severus and looked to Mary, who seemed a bit too pleased with herself.
"So," Monty said to Mary," this is your '+1' then? Boyfriend?"
Lily felt her heart sink.
"No, no," Mary answered with a laugh. "We were classmates. He and Lily grew up in the same town together."
Severus
Severus wasn't phased by the misunderstanding that McDonald corrected immediately, all his thoughts were focused on Lily, he wondered if she was displeased or just concerned. Maybe the latter, James Potter is an immature prick that relishes on every chance to bother him.
"So a friend of Lily's?" Monty asked.
They had ended their friendship by the end of their OWLs, or rather, she ended it. "Y-yeah, childhood friends." Lily answered a bit awkward.
"Come sit with us, Severus!" Mary invited.
James and Sirius glared at Severus who simply smiled back, feigning complete innocence. The young man sat next to the girls, right beside Lily, with Mary grinning at them both.
He felt a little miffed by that, was he some kind of joke to McDonald? What was she planning? Using legilimency on her would be a tad excessive, specially for petty teenage idiocy. Severus just rubbed his hands as he usually did. "So, um, how's everything?"
Lily shrugged. "Fine? I guess?"
That was too vague, but it didn't seem she hated him, she was more uncomfortable than anything. But there was no rage or distaste in her eyes.
"And you?" Lily asked.
"Fine." Severus didn't feel nearly as nervous as he thought he would; it was almost like he and Lily had returned home for the summer and were catching up. He glanced over to Mr. and Mrs. Potter, who had both sat down beside their son.
"We don't know very much about you, dear," Mrs. Potter said.
"Really?" Severus asked. "I'm surprised your son didn't mention me, given our history."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Potter looked at Potter Junior. "Jamie?"
"We've attended classes together," Potter Junior said with a confident smile, taking Lily's hand and interlocking their fingers.
"You could always check the school's records," Severus offered.
