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FIC: Gaining an Ally (Lily, OCs, Gen)
Title: Gaining an Ally
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Lily Evans, OC, Gen
Fandom: Harry Potter
Word Count: 1094
Summary: Lily breaks up a fight in the corridors and encounters an interesting Slytherin prefect.
Notes: You could call this a snipped scene from Rising from Embers. I could never bear to let go of it, though. Posted especially for vervada's birthday. Hope you can get some enjoyment out of this! ♥
Lily Evans pushed her way through the muttering throng of students forming a circle in the Hogwarts corridors - a clear sign that a fight was emerging. Another fight - as though there hadn’t been enough already this year. The first term wasn’t even over yet, and there had already been more fights than Lily could count.
Two girls - Slytherin and Hufflepuff, from the colours of the badges proudly pinned to their respective robes - were facing off at the centre of the crowd. By the time Lily pushed her way to the forefront, it was clear she was too late to prevent them from starting their duel. The Hufflepuff girl was already sporting fang-length teeth which continued to grow at an alarming rate, and the Slytherin girl’s feet were already engaged in a furious tap-dance.
Lily’s quick Finite put them to rights easily (although the Hufflepuff girl had to be sent to the Hospital Wing to get her teeth shrunk), but sorting out the root problem was always harder.
She managed to get a summary of the incident off the bystanders, who were mainly Hufflepuffs as well (unsurprisingly, they pointed the finger of blame at the Slytherin girl). The sullen Slytherin girl refused to speak to Lily, or even give her name, which was completely exasperating because Lily just wanted to give her a chance to defend herself against the Hufflepuffs’ accusations. But as Lily was contemplating just throwing up her hands in despair and giving the Slytherin girl a detention (and she was vaguely aware that any other non-Slytherin prefect would probably have chosen this course of action as well), there was another response.
‘Amara Westcroft,’ said a voice shortly. ‘What’s going on here?’
The Hufflepuffs separated to allow the fifth-year Slytherin prefect to pass through. Estella Crouch’s eyes roved over her housemate; the Hufflepuff students; sizing up the situation. Her face took on a strange, closed - but surprisingly not hostile - look when she met Lily’s eyes.
‘It seems,’ said Lily, seeing that no one else, least of all Amara Westcroft, wished to offer an explanation, ‘according to these eyewitnesses, that Amara here -’ she glanced at the scowling girl ‘- picked a fight with Helen Fielding.’
‘She did, the nasty Slytherin - and she called Helen a - a - bad name,’ piped up one of the Hufflepuffs earnestly.
‘You don’t know anything, you little Mudbloods,’ growled Amara. ‘And you, I don’t have to listen to you, you’re one too.’ She tossed her head proudly, her brown eyes flashing at Lily.
‘Those insults aren’t helping you much,’ said Lily evenly. ‘I’m trying to get to the bottom of this, and it would help if you co-operated so I could actually hear your side of the story. Unless you’d rather I give you a detention straight away.’
‘Actually,’ said Estella Crouch, ‘with your approval, Evans, I think a detention is in order.’ Amara stared at her house prefect in dismay. ‘No protests, Westcroft - you know very well that starting a duel in the corridors with plenty of eye-witnesses is plain stupidity. You’re in Slytherin - live up to the house values, for Salazar’s sake!’
Whatever protests the girl might have had were silenced immediately by Estella’s little admonishment. Lily couldn’t help but feel bewildered. She had been expecting a snide remark from Estella, similar to the sneers that every other Slytherin prefect - following the lead of the seventh-year Slytherin prefects, Cassius Meliflua and Drucilla Malfoy - always had ready to counter everything she said.
‘I’m sure she must have a reasonable explanation; it takes two to duel,’ she pointed out, but in her shock at finding she was protesting against the Slytherin prefect’s decision to dole out a detention to Amara Westcroft, her voice felt rather flat.
‘I know,’ agreed Estella, ‘But -’
‘I’ll take the detention,’ said Amara sourly. She cast Lily a dubious glance and stalked off down the corridors, and the Hufflepuffs began to disperse, starting to chatter loudly.
‘I’m headed for Transfiguration,’ said Estella. ‘Will you - will you walk with me?’
Lily was momentarily stunned by the strange request. Nodding curiously, she followed the younger girl.
‘Slytherin politics,’ said Estella finally, after a minute of silence. ‘You just don't do rash, stupid acts like Gryffindors. No offence,’ she added hastily.
‘None taken,’ said Lily, wrinkling her brow in her effort to decipher the meaning behind Estella’s cryptic words. ‘I’m not sure I understand.’
‘You won’t.’
Lily believed her; each house made its own unwritten rules of conduct, and it wasn’t her place to decry them, insane though they might seem to her. She was certain, however, that Estella hadn’t chosen to walk with her simply to discuss the oddities of Slytherin house with a Gryffindor - and a Muggle-born at that.
‘You were really sincere about it,’ said Estella abruptly.
‘Huh?’ was Lily’s intelligent reply.
‘Decency - fairness - I mean, any other prefect would have had Amara in detention by the time I got there.’
‘You gave her detention -’
‘On our terms. She understood that. It irks us that we get detentions when we’re involved in anything, without hearing our sides out. You tried.’
‘She wasn’t talking, though,’ pointed out Lily. ‘I don’t think she cared.’
‘Persephone Westcroft is her younger sister,’ said Estella offhandedly, once again following a new train of thought without warning. ‘A first-year Hufflepuff. The other ‘Puffs don’t like her much, because of her family background.’
A wave of comprehension hit Lily. ‘So … she’s trying to stop them picking on her sister? And she’s over-generalising things, isn’t she? Because Helen Fielding is Muggle-born and a bully, Amara overextends the trait to other Muggle-borns.’ And with a twinge of guilt, Lily wondered if she too had been guilty of stereotyping, having expected Estella to act in the way her fellow Slytherin prefects always did.
Estella didn’t answer directly, but her eyes told Lily plainly that her understanding of the situation had hit the mark.
‘We’re here.’ Estella stopped outside the classroom. ‘Meliflua and Malfoy don’t like it that you’re higher ranked than them. Blood does matter, you know. I had my doubts about you too.’
And then, the Slytherin girl smiled at Lily - a warm grin, unlike the sarcastic, sardonic smiles that most Slytherins tended to bestow on her.
Though there had been no direct statements of support, no blatant reassurances - Estella Crouch was a true Slytherin, taking care that no evidence could be used to incriminate her as a Mudblood-lover by her housemates - Lily knew, as surely as if the Slytherin girl had declared it out loud, that she had an ally.
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Lily Evans, OC, Gen
Fandom: Harry Potter
Word Count: 1094
Summary: Lily breaks up a fight in the corridors and encounters an interesting Slytherin prefect.
Notes: You could call this a snipped scene from Rising from Embers. I could never bear to let go of it, though. Posted especially for vervada's birthday. Hope you can get some enjoyment out of this! ♥
Lily Evans pushed her way through the muttering throng of students forming a circle in the Hogwarts corridors - a clear sign that a fight was emerging. Another fight - as though there hadn’t been enough already this year. The first term wasn’t even over yet, and there had already been more fights than Lily could count.
Two girls - Slytherin and Hufflepuff, from the colours of the badges proudly pinned to their respective robes - were facing off at the centre of the crowd. By the time Lily pushed her way to the forefront, it was clear she was too late to prevent them from starting their duel. The Hufflepuff girl was already sporting fang-length teeth which continued to grow at an alarming rate, and the Slytherin girl’s feet were already engaged in a furious tap-dance.
Lily’s quick Finite put them to rights easily (although the Hufflepuff girl had to be sent to the Hospital Wing to get her teeth shrunk), but sorting out the root problem was always harder.
She managed to get a summary of the incident off the bystanders, who were mainly Hufflepuffs as well (unsurprisingly, they pointed the finger of blame at the Slytherin girl). The sullen Slytherin girl refused to speak to Lily, or even give her name, which was completely exasperating because Lily just wanted to give her a chance to defend herself against the Hufflepuffs’ accusations. But as Lily was contemplating just throwing up her hands in despair and giving the Slytherin girl a detention (and she was vaguely aware that any other non-Slytherin prefect would probably have chosen this course of action as well), there was another response.
‘Amara Westcroft,’ said a voice shortly. ‘What’s going on here?’
The Hufflepuffs separated to allow the fifth-year Slytherin prefect to pass through. Estella Crouch’s eyes roved over her housemate; the Hufflepuff students; sizing up the situation. Her face took on a strange, closed - but surprisingly not hostile - look when she met Lily’s eyes.
‘It seems,’ said Lily, seeing that no one else, least of all Amara Westcroft, wished to offer an explanation, ‘according to these eyewitnesses, that Amara here -’ she glanced at the scowling girl ‘- picked a fight with Helen Fielding.’
‘She did, the nasty Slytherin - and she called Helen a - a - bad name,’ piped up one of the Hufflepuffs earnestly.
‘You don’t know anything, you little Mudbloods,’ growled Amara. ‘And you, I don’t have to listen to you, you’re one too.’ She tossed her head proudly, her brown eyes flashing at Lily.
‘Those insults aren’t helping you much,’ said Lily evenly. ‘I’m trying to get to the bottom of this, and it would help if you co-operated so I could actually hear your side of the story. Unless you’d rather I give you a detention straight away.’
‘Actually,’ said Estella Crouch, ‘with your approval, Evans, I think a detention is in order.’ Amara stared at her house prefect in dismay. ‘No protests, Westcroft - you know very well that starting a duel in the corridors with plenty of eye-witnesses is plain stupidity. You’re in Slytherin - live up to the house values, for Salazar’s sake!’
Whatever protests the girl might have had were silenced immediately by Estella’s little admonishment. Lily couldn’t help but feel bewildered. She had been expecting a snide remark from Estella, similar to the sneers that every other Slytherin prefect - following the lead of the seventh-year Slytherin prefects, Cassius Meliflua and Drucilla Malfoy - always had ready to counter everything she said.
‘I’m sure she must have a reasonable explanation; it takes two to duel,’ she pointed out, but in her shock at finding she was protesting against the Slytherin prefect’s decision to dole out a detention to Amara Westcroft, her voice felt rather flat.
‘I know,’ agreed Estella, ‘But -’
‘I’ll take the detention,’ said Amara sourly. She cast Lily a dubious glance and stalked off down the corridors, and the Hufflepuffs began to disperse, starting to chatter loudly.
‘I’m headed for Transfiguration,’ said Estella. ‘Will you - will you walk with me?’
Lily was momentarily stunned by the strange request. Nodding curiously, she followed the younger girl.
‘Slytherin politics,’ said Estella finally, after a minute of silence. ‘You just don't do rash, stupid acts like Gryffindors. No offence,’ she added hastily.
‘None taken,’ said Lily, wrinkling her brow in her effort to decipher the meaning behind Estella’s cryptic words. ‘I’m not sure I understand.’
‘You won’t.’
Lily believed her; each house made its own unwritten rules of conduct, and it wasn’t her place to decry them, insane though they might seem to her. She was certain, however, that Estella hadn’t chosen to walk with her simply to discuss the oddities of Slytherin house with a Gryffindor - and a Muggle-born at that.
‘You were really sincere about it,’ said Estella abruptly.
‘Huh?’ was Lily’s intelligent reply.
‘Decency - fairness - I mean, any other prefect would have had Amara in detention by the time I got there.’
‘You gave her detention -’
‘On our terms. She understood that. It irks us that we get detentions when we’re involved in anything, without hearing our sides out. You tried.’
‘She wasn’t talking, though,’ pointed out Lily. ‘I don’t think she cared.’
‘Persephone Westcroft is her younger sister,’ said Estella offhandedly, once again following a new train of thought without warning. ‘A first-year Hufflepuff. The other ‘Puffs don’t like her much, because of her family background.’
A wave of comprehension hit Lily. ‘So … she’s trying to stop them picking on her sister? And she’s over-generalising things, isn’t she? Because Helen Fielding is Muggle-born and a bully, Amara overextends the trait to other Muggle-borns.’ And with a twinge of guilt, Lily wondered if she too had been guilty of stereotyping, having expected Estella to act in the way her fellow Slytherin prefects always did.
Estella didn’t answer directly, but her eyes told Lily plainly that her understanding of the situation had hit the mark.
‘We’re here.’ Estella stopped outside the classroom. ‘Meliflua and Malfoy don’t like it that you’re higher ranked than them. Blood does matter, you know. I had my doubts about you too.’
And then, the Slytherin girl smiled at Lily - a warm grin, unlike the sarcastic, sardonic smiles that most Slytherins tended to bestow on her.
Though there had been no direct statements of support, no blatant reassurances - Estella Crouch was a true Slytherin, taking care that no evidence could be used to incriminate her as a Mudblood-lover by her housemates - Lily knew, as surely as if the Slytherin girl had declared it out loud, that she had an ally.