Round 9. Tea and Lost Letters: Lily to Marlene
I'm posting now with the permission of the mod XD
fic: Tea and Lost Letters: Lily to Marlene
fandom: Harry Potter
rating: gen
characters: Lily Evans (And Marlene McKinnon)
word count: 2.511
recipient: happyg_rl who asked "tea, rambling letters, snide remarks" + historical theme
a/n: I really hope you like this! I tried to do my best with the rambling and the snide remarks (LOL, I had to search for the translation because I didn't know the meaning of snide) James Potter is mentioned, just to keep this thing "historically accurate" and such and to make fun of his name. Also other people, important for Lily's story, are mentioned.
These are the letters Lily Evans sent to her bestfriend Marlene McKinnon from 1971 to 1981.
I cried
July 26, 1971
Moonlight White tea
Dear Marlene,
I’ve just received the package containing the “Moonlight White” tea. Thank you so much for sending it, it’s a delicious blend! I’ve tasted it in the early morning, just like you suggested, and it was a great way to start the day.
Thanks again!
Your classmate,
Lily Evans
****************************************************************************************
August 11, 1971
Blueberry Nights
Dear Marlene,
The blend with raspberry and blueberry is definitely the sweetest of them all. Thank you for telling me in your letter! Otherwise I would have put too much sugar in it and I wouldn’t have appreciated the blend at all.
The holidays are going well, thanks for asking! Although I do miss Hogwarts sometimes. (Not as much as Sev. Being out of Hogwarts is a real torture for him!)
Here there isn’t very much to do. Mom is busy with the cutting and sewing for our neighborhood - she started this job few years back, to collect a bit of money. Dad hasn’t got his permission to go on holiday yet, so we’re stuck here. But I’m sure we’ll go to the beach before the school starts again!
My grandparents own a house in Cornwall and and we go every year for the last week of summer. It’s a really nice place. I wish I could show you.
Anyway, to kill some time and make money for our new swimsuits, Tuney and I helped at the local church. We cleaned out some old shelves in the basement and organized the new church library, while saving some ancient volumes they kept hidden since forever.
And, can you believe it? I found an old copy of “History of Magic” there, buried in the basement shelves under a pile of rubbish! I thought you said Wizards valued their privacy. It doesn’t seem wise to leave such important books all around the churches in the city!
In any case, I immediately hid the book and didn’t mention it to Tuney. Imagine how she would have taken the news if she only had known!
I hope you’re having fun. I miss you very much and I miss our classmates. Luckily Sev is here with me!
I’ll write to you very soon!
Your classmate,
Lily Evans
P.S.: It’s odd that I hadn’t thought of this before, but do Wizards have a religion? Do you believe in Jesus?
Also, if you can send me more of this tea, please. It seems to be the only thing that manages to sweeten Tuney these days.
Thanks again!
****************************************************************************************
December 26, 1972
One Thousand and One Nights
Dear Marlene,
Merry Christmas to you and to all your family! It was nice of you to send a gift for us. Mom liked it a lot.
This “One Thousand and One Nights” blend is especially welcome on these cold nights. As the orange scent wafts through the room I’m reminded of spring and feel even warmer.
We’re visiting my grandparents to celebrate the new year. I’m really excited. I know I promised I’d write but don’t worry, I’ll send lots of postcards!
I look forward to seeing you again in January. I’m sure that this is our year. Go, go Gryffindor!
Lily
P.S.: attached to this letter you’ll find a little gift from us. Mom chose pink wool because I told her it’s your favorite color, but she’d edged it with Gryffindor red and gold. I hope you like it. See you soon!
****************************************************************************************
June 29, 1975
One Thousand and One Nights, Moonlight White Tea, Earl Grey
Dear Lene,
The OWLs were really exhausting. As you correctly guessed, I’m still roaming in the house like the Ravenclaw ghost, with no strength to even lift the teapot. (Yes, I’ve got your package! You’re a life saver!)
Petunia’s been a real pest. She’s saying that I am being a total drama queen. She seems to think that all it takes to turn a pumpkin into a carriage is to swish a wand and chant bibbity bobbity boo. (Muggle reference; I’ll explain later). I’d love to see her trying to brew one of Slughorn’s recipes.
And now I’m bitching, yes.
But I don’t know if I’m more pissed at Petunia, who keeps ranting on and on about how easy magic should be, or Severus. And speaking of Severus, no, there is no chance in hell I’ll go back on my decision. Bloody no, Lene. It amazes me that you of all the people are asking, but maybe you just want to know if I’m well and at peace with myself after telling Sev to go to hell.
Well, I am and I don’t have regrets.
There comes a time in life when one must say goodbye to the people who keep messing with their lives and it’s right and it’s necessary, even if it hurts. And no one can ever go back, Lene. Remember this very well because it’s something that I know for truth: you can never, ever go back.
Maybe it’s better this way.
I’m gonna take a huge cup of tea and add chocolate and orange pieces to it. I love you very much.
Yours,
Lily
****************************************************************************************
July 11, 1975Earl Grey
Dear Lene,
James Rotter just sent me a letter. Do you know anything about that?
I only ask because you mention both him and Sirius in your last letter. Sirius I don’t mind. He’s cute and he brought all those Led Zeppelin records to school. He’s sort of cool. Do you think he’d like some tea blends?
In any case, the classic Earl Grey does have something about it. I’ve sent you a package with it and that vanilla blend you adore. I hope you have fun at your uncles’. Write me!
Kisses,
Lily
****************************************************************************************
August 17, 1976
Mint Tea
Dear Lene,
I’m exhausted! The moving has been more difficult than I expected. Half way through it, we noticed that we messed up with the kitchen; the fridge was just too big to be placed in the corner of the room. It wasn’t looking good. So we had to move it near the counter, but that implied moving also the table and trying to fit somewhere that wooden thing my aunt Rose gave us for Christmas.
It was really exhausting, especially with this heat, but eventually we succeeded. Now we own a beautiful new home near the town centre.
Mom always dreamed to live in a place closer to her workplace. It wasn’t easy and we couldn’t afford some expensive single houses in the neighborhood. But now we’re here and I think we’re going to enjoy our strategic position!
At the end of the whole ordeal, I made the mint tea you sent me and it was a great idea. Mint just feels so nice, its scent fills the nostrils like a balm. Also, matching with ice cream is really advisable.
I can’t wait to see you again! And absolutely yes: you can come and stay here next week! Are you joking? My mother will be ecstatic to have you!
P.S.: today I saw a guy who looked just like James Blotter. I burst out laughing in the street and I almost dropped the box with all the dishes I had to carry upstairs. Remember what you wrote about him? Unbelievable!
With great affection and still reeling with laughter,
Lily
****************************************************************************************
July 14, 1978
Lady Strawberry
Lene, Lene, Lene …
James Trotter gave me a ring and I might have accepted it?
!!!!!!
I await for your most wise advice.
(But impatiently! Don’t take your time!)
Lily
****************************************************************************************
September 29, 1978
Assam
Lene,
You can never go back in time, I know that now.
And I’m happy.
I’m married and I’m happy!
But I’m also
Your Lily
****************************************************************************************
January 30, 1979
Green tea and Detox mix
Dearest Lene,
Thank you, thank you and thank you for your gifts! I love you so much.
The blends with fennel and herbs are a blessing from Mother Earth right now. Pregnancy is truly an horror movie experience.
(Remember this October, when we went to the cinema to see that new movie, Alien? I keep using the scene you know to threaten Babes Potter. He’s currently hiding in the loo begging for mercy. He’s indeed a traumatized man!)
The baby is growing stronger and faster that I could have ever imagined. It’s a strange thing to contemplate that soon he will come to the world and will have his own identity: his own eyes and the hands and arms. All his. For now he’s mine and mine alone, and his still developing body is boundless inside me.
I know you were worried and I’m sorry that I behaved like that when you asked me to go to the clinic with you. I know that your intentions were good, that you only want to protect him. I know that you’re scared that the prophecy is about my child.
But I don’t want to give up this baby! I can’t! He’s part of me, he’s my future and I won’t give him up just because people are scared and there’s a mad wizard running around, doing whatever the hell he wants.
I can’t tolerate orders, and I can’t tolerate how these men, how this war, is terrifying us. It’s robbing us of our most important right: our freedom.
Lene, we can’t be afraid. We can’t give up our freedom.
This Wizarding World, so proud of its own origins and traditions, barricades itself in a pointless secrecy and that leads to suffocating terror. It’s so clear for me now and I understand how an evil like this can grow up among our people. But isn’t this another reason to be proud of your own freedom, to fight for a better future? And why all this clinging to the past when it’s gone?
We should be free to live and love and raise our children in a different kind of society.
And these Death Eaters ... these idiots! They don’t even know what they’re talking about! Aren’t they ashamed to bow their heads - like sheep, like stupid sheep - before a man who couldn’t care less whether any of them live or die? And yes, this is the rant of a woman in hiding, bound to her house to protect her family, but in this I’m still more free than many of them.
Also how can these stupid-ass walking-testicles fear a supposed leader who believes in the prophecies of a woman with sherry on her breath every Friday afternoon?
I’m so done. But I won’t give up. You can only move forward.
Thanks again for the tea and I hope to see you soon, hopefully for your birthday.
I love you, Lene. Don’t forget it.
Your Lily
****************************************************************************************
August 1, 1980
Rajastan
He’s finally here. You should see him.
How I would like to hug you just for a moment, Lene. I feel so alone. I hope Dumbledore manages to organize a safe meeting in the next weeks, because you really have to see him.
His name is Harry.
Lily
****************************************************************************************
November 24, 1980
I’m so incredibly lonely.
****************************************************************************************
March 13, 1981
Blueberry tea
Oh Lene, how I miss your tea and letters!
I know what Dumbledore said, but I brought some blueberry blend and I believe you’re going to love it.
Yesterday I was listening to the Muggle radio. There’s an old German song called “Lili Marleen”. And I know that the name is written differently and it’s supposed to be just one name, but it feels like your name and mine combined together. The thought warmed my heart.
I took Harry in my arms and we danced to the music. He made the cutest faces! He smiled at me the whole time, because he absolutely adores dancing and being carried around, but at one point I think he got so disoriented that he had to squeeze his eyes shout and “reset” all his sensory buttons. It was adorable! And it was the most fun I had in weeks.
I miss you very much,
Your Lily
P.S.: He’s got my eyes!
****************************************************************************************
July 22, 1981
Romeo & Juliet
Dearest Lene,
I just heard the news. Even knowing that you can never respond, I had to write, but now my hand is trembling so that I can barely read the words I’ve put down. I’m sorry, so incredibly sorry. Was this the future we were so eager to be a part of, our magnificent progressive fate, our childhood promises?
Remember when we were taught our first spells and they told us to expect greatness from our lives? Such glory we would have bought to the Wizarding World, how many wonderful creatures we would see, how many new potions we would breed …
We couldn’t even hold our wands properly! Yet our teachers’ words spurred us to improve and to picture a wonderful path that would open to welcome and let us rise to the skies.
Now the only thing opening for your body is cold ground.
I’m crying. Even James’s words feel so pointless. I just keep thinking: they killed you! They killed you and your family. They destroyed everything.
The world that was supposed to protect us has abandoned us. Everything is crumbling beneath our feet.
Most of all, I can’t stop crying at the thought that you died without even seeing him, without having seen my Harry.
Such a stupid thought, Lene! And yet.
He’s mine and you should have been here to see him and hold him and see me. You needed to be here.
But you’re mine too and I will never forget you. Never ever.
I brought tea for Harry’s upcoming first birthday. It’s a new blend, Romeo & Juliet, and it’s sweet and you would have loved it. We’re going to drink it to your memory and someday Harry will know everything about bravery and your patience.
In a few years, when he’ll be able to understand, I’ll tell him about my classmate who used to send me tea. So many letters between us, so much tea. It was so beautiful and it won’t be lost. I saved all your letters and I will keep them forever, don’t worry. Just like the memories of those days we spent learning new spells, sharing secrets and dreaming about the future.
I can’t stop crying now, but I have to. Soon Harry will wake up and I’ll need to be there for him.
This feels like saying goodbye and I won’t say it. I won’t. I can’t do this without you!
I made myself a cup of tea.
I’m sending you this last letter. I hope that you’re safe now, wherever you are.
I kiss you goodbye, my darling. This drink will never taste the same without you and I’m sure that your sacrifice won’t be vain, that those who did this to you - all of them, the killers of our world - will pay eventually and that everything will be fine in the end.
I just wish we could turn back time.
fic: Tea and Lost Letters: Lily to Marlene
fandom: Harry Potter
rating: gen
characters: Lily Evans (And Marlene McKinnon)
word count: 2.511
recipient: happyg_rl who asked "tea, rambling letters, snide remarks" + historical theme
a/n: I really hope you like this! I tried to do my best with the rambling and the snide remarks (LOL, I had to search for the translation because I didn't know the meaning of snide) James Potter is mentioned, just to keep this thing "historically accurate" and such and to make fun of his name. Also other people, important for Lily's story, are mentioned.
These are the letters Lily Evans sent to her bestfriend Marlene McKinnon from 1971 to 1981.
I cried
July 26, 1971
Moonlight White tea
Dear Marlene,
I’ve just received the package containing the “Moonlight White” tea. Thank you so much for sending it, it’s a delicious blend! I’ve tasted it in the early morning, just like you suggested, and it was a great way to start the day.
Thanks again!
Your classmate,
Lily Evans
****************************************************************************************
August 11, 1971
Blueberry Nights
Dear Marlene,
The blend with raspberry and blueberry is definitely the sweetest of them all. Thank you for telling me in your letter! Otherwise I would have put too much sugar in it and I wouldn’t have appreciated the blend at all.
The holidays are going well, thanks for asking! Although I do miss Hogwarts sometimes. (Not as much as Sev. Being out of Hogwarts is a real torture for him!)
Here there isn’t very much to do. Mom is busy with the cutting and sewing for our neighborhood - she started this job few years back, to collect a bit of money. Dad hasn’t got his permission to go on holiday yet, so we’re stuck here. But I’m sure we’ll go to the beach before the school starts again!
My grandparents own a house in Cornwall and and we go every year for the last week of summer. It’s a really nice place. I wish I could show you.
Anyway, to kill some time and make money for our new swimsuits, Tuney and I helped at the local church. We cleaned out some old shelves in the basement and organized the new church library, while saving some ancient volumes they kept hidden since forever.
And, can you believe it? I found an old copy of “History of Magic” there, buried in the basement shelves under a pile of rubbish! I thought you said Wizards valued their privacy. It doesn’t seem wise to leave such important books all around the churches in the city!
In any case, I immediately hid the book and didn’t mention it to Tuney. Imagine how she would have taken the news if she only had known!
I hope you’re having fun. I miss you very much and I miss our classmates. Luckily Sev is here with me!
I’ll write to you very soon!
Your classmate,
Lily Evans
P.S.: It’s odd that I hadn’t thought of this before, but do Wizards have a religion? Do you believe in Jesus?
Also, if you can send me more of this tea, please. It seems to be the only thing that manages to sweeten Tuney these days.
Thanks again!
****************************************************************************************
December 26, 1972
One Thousand and One Nights
Dear Marlene,
Merry Christmas to you and to all your family! It was nice of you to send a gift for us. Mom liked it a lot.
This “One Thousand and One Nights” blend is especially welcome on these cold nights. As the orange scent wafts through the room I’m reminded of spring and feel even warmer.
We’re visiting my grandparents to celebrate the new year. I’m really excited. I know I promised I’d write but don’t worry, I’ll send lots of postcards!
I look forward to seeing you again in January. I’m sure that this is our year. Go, go Gryffindor!
Lily
P.S.: attached to this letter you’ll find a little gift from us. Mom chose pink wool because I told her it’s your favorite color, but she’d edged it with Gryffindor red and gold. I hope you like it. See you soon!
****************************************************************************************
June 29, 1975
One Thousand and One Nights, Moonlight White Tea, Earl Grey
Dear Lene,
The OWLs were really exhausting. As you correctly guessed, I’m still roaming in the house like the Ravenclaw ghost, with no strength to even lift the teapot. (Yes, I’ve got your package! You’re a life saver!)
Petunia’s been a real pest. She’s saying that I am being a total drama queen. She seems to think that all it takes to turn a pumpkin into a carriage is to swish a wand and chant bibbity bobbity boo. (Muggle reference; I’ll explain later). I’d love to see her trying to brew one of Slughorn’s recipes.
And now I’m bitching, yes.
But I don’t know if I’m more pissed at Petunia, who keeps ranting on and on about how easy magic should be, or Severus. And speaking of Severus, no, there is no chance in hell I’ll go back on my decision. Bloody no, Lene. It amazes me that you of all the people are asking, but maybe you just want to know if I’m well and at peace with myself after telling Sev to go to hell.
Well, I am and I don’t have regrets.
There comes a time in life when one must say goodbye to the people who keep messing with their lives and it’s right and it’s necessary, even if it hurts. And no one can ever go back, Lene. Remember this very well because it’s something that I know for truth: you can never, ever go back.
Maybe it’s better this way.
I’m gonna take a huge cup of tea and add chocolate and orange pieces to it. I love you very much.
Yours,
Lily
****************************************************************************************
July 11, 1975Earl Grey
Dear Lene,
James Rotter just sent me a letter. Do you know anything about that?
I only ask because you mention both him and Sirius in your last letter. Sirius I don’t mind. He’s cute and he brought all those Led Zeppelin records to school. He’s sort of cool. Do you think he’d like some tea blends?
In any case, the classic Earl Grey does have something about it. I’ve sent you a package with it and that vanilla blend you adore. I hope you have fun at your uncles’. Write me!
Kisses,
Lily
****************************************************************************************
August 17, 1976
Mint Tea
Dear Lene,
I’m exhausted! The moving has been more difficult than I expected. Half way through it, we noticed that we messed up with the kitchen; the fridge was just too big to be placed in the corner of the room. It wasn’t looking good. So we had to move it near the counter, but that implied moving also the table and trying to fit somewhere that wooden thing my aunt Rose gave us for Christmas.
It was really exhausting, especially with this heat, but eventually we succeeded. Now we own a beautiful new home near the town centre.
Mom always dreamed to live in a place closer to her workplace. It wasn’t easy and we couldn’t afford some expensive single houses in the neighborhood. But now we’re here and I think we’re going to enjoy our strategic position!
At the end of the whole ordeal, I made the mint tea you sent me and it was a great idea. Mint just feels so nice, its scent fills the nostrils like a balm. Also, matching with ice cream is really advisable.
I can’t wait to see you again! And absolutely yes: you can come and stay here next week! Are you joking? My mother will be ecstatic to have you!
P.S.: today I saw a guy who looked just like James Blotter. I burst out laughing in the street and I almost dropped the box with all the dishes I had to carry upstairs. Remember what you wrote about him? Unbelievable!
With great affection and still reeling with laughter,
Lily
****************************************************************************************
July 14, 1978
Lady Strawberry
Lene, Lene, Lene …
James Trotter gave me a ring and I might have accepted it?
!!!!!!
I await for your most wise advice.
(But impatiently! Don’t take your time!)
Lily
****************************************************************************************
September 29, 1978
Assam
Lene,
You can never go back in time, I know that now.
And I’m happy.
I’m married and I’m happy!
But I’m also
Your Lily
****************************************************************************************
January 30, 1979
Green tea and Detox mix
Dearest Lene,
Thank you, thank you and thank you for your gifts! I love you so much.
The blends with fennel and herbs are a blessing from Mother Earth right now. Pregnancy is truly an horror movie experience.
(Remember this October, when we went to the cinema to see that new movie, Alien? I keep using the scene you know to threaten Babes Potter. He’s currently hiding in the loo begging for mercy. He’s indeed a traumatized man!)
The baby is growing stronger and faster that I could have ever imagined. It’s a strange thing to contemplate that soon he will come to the world and will have his own identity: his own eyes and the hands and arms. All his. For now he’s mine and mine alone, and his still developing body is boundless inside me.
I know you were worried and I’m sorry that I behaved like that when you asked me to go to the clinic with you. I know that your intentions were good, that you only want to protect him. I know that you’re scared that the prophecy is about my child.
But I don’t want to give up this baby! I can’t! He’s part of me, he’s my future and I won’t give him up just because people are scared and there’s a mad wizard running around, doing whatever the hell he wants.
I can’t tolerate orders, and I can’t tolerate how these men, how this war, is terrifying us. It’s robbing us of our most important right: our freedom.
Lene, we can’t be afraid. We can’t give up our freedom.
This Wizarding World, so proud of its own origins and traditions, barricades itself in a pointless secrecy and that leads to suffocating terror. It’s so clear for me now and I understand how an evil like this can grow up among our people. But isn’t this another reason to be proud of your own freedom, to fight for a better future? And why all this clinging to the past when it’s gone?
We should be free to live and love and raise our children in a different kind of society.
And these Death Eaters ... these idiots! They don’t even know what they’re talking about! Aren’t they ashamed to bow their heads - like sheep, like stupid sheep - before a man who couldn’t care less whether any of them live or die? And yes, this is the rant of a woman in hiding, bound to her house to protect her family, but in this I’m still more free than many of them.
Also how can these stupid-ass walking-testicles fear a supposed leader who believes in the prophecies of a woman with sherry on her breath every Friday afternoon?
I’m so done. But I won’t give up. You can only move forward.
Thanks again for the tea and I hope to see you soon, hopefully for your birthday.
I love you, Lene. Don’t forget it.
Your Lily
****************************************************************************************
August 1, 1980
Rajastan
He’s finally here. You should see him.
How I would like to hug you just for a moment, Lene. I feel so alone. I hope Dumbledore manages to organize a safe meeting in the next weeks, because you really have to see him.
His name is Harry.
Lily
****************************************************************************************
November 24, 1980
I’m so incredibly lonely.
****************************************************************************************
March 13, 1981
Blueberry tea
Oh Lene, how I miss your tea and letters!
I know what Dumbledore said, but I brought some blueberry blend and I believe you’re going to love it.
Yesterday I was listening to the Muggle radio. There’s an old German song called “Lili Marleen”. And I know that the name is written differently and it’s supposed to be just one name, but it feels like your name and mine combined together. The thought warmed my heart.
I took Harry in my arms and we danced to the music. He made the cutest faces! He smiled at me the whole time, because he absolutely adores dancing and being carried around, but at one point I think he got so disoriented that he had to squeeze his eyes shout and “reset” all his sensory buttons. It was adorable! And it was the most fun I had in weeks.
I miss you very much,
Your Lily
P.S.: He’s got my eyes!
****************************************************************************************
July 22, 1981
Romeo & Juliet
Dearest Lene,
I just heard the news. Even knowing that you can never respond, I had to write, but now my hand is trembling so that I can barely read the words I’ve put down. I’m sorry, so incredibly sorry. Was this the future we were so eager to be a part of, our magnificent progressive fate, our childhood promises?
Remember when we were taught our first spells and they told us to expect greatness from our lives? Such glory we would have bought to the Wizarding World, how many wonderful creatures we would see, how many new potions we would breed …
We couldn’t even hold our wands properly! Yet our teachers’ words spurred us to improve and to picture a wonderful path that would open to welcome and let us rise to the skies.
Now the only thing opening for your body is cold ground.
I’m crying. Even James’s words feel so pointless. I just keep thinking: they killed you! They killed you and your family. They destroyed everything.
The world that was supposed to protect us has abandoned us. Everything is crumbling beneath our feet.
Most of all, I can’t stop crying at the thought that you died without even seeing him, without having seen my Harry.
Such a stupid thought, Lene! And yet.
He’s mine and you should have been here to see him and hold him and see me. You needed to be here.
But you’re mine too and I will never forget you. Never ever.
I brought tea for Harry’s upcoming first birthday. It’s a new blend, Romeo & Juliet, and it’s sweet and you would have loved it. We’re going to drink it to your memory and someday Harry will know everything about bravery and your patience.
In a few years, when he’ll be able to understand, I’ll tell him about my classmate who used to send me tea. So many letters between us, so much tea. It was so beautiful and it won’t be lost. I saved all your letters and I will keep them forever, don’t worry. Just like the memories of those days we spent learning new spells, sharing secrets and dreaming about the future.
I can’t stop crying now, but I have to. Soon Harry will wake up and I’ll need to be there for him.
This feels like saying goodbye and I won’t say it. I won’t. I can’t do this without you!
I made myself a cup of tea.
I’m sending you this last letter. I hope that you’re safe now, wherever you are.
I kiss you goodbye, my darling. This drink will never taste the same without you and I’m sure that your sacrifice won’t be vain, that those who did this to you - all of them, the killers of our world - will pay eventually and that everything will be fine in the end.
I just wish we could turn back time.