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Lily Potter wishes her son would stop growing up (mrsprongsie) wrote in afreshrpg,
@ 2012-02-20 18:31:00

Entry tags:

character: alice longbottom, character: lily potter, time: 1998-02

WHO: Lily Potter & Alice Longbottom
WHEN: Monday evening.
WHERE: Florean Fortescue's, Diagon Alley
WHAT: Alice needs to get away from her mother-in-law.
RATING: G
STATUS: In-progress

Even though Lily didn't have in-laws of her own to worry about, she did think she understood where Alice was coming from. That was why she was more than happy to mention to Alice that, after work on Monday, the two of them ought to meet at Florean's for some seasonal ice cream and friendly chatting. They would probably talk about their husbands, their children, their jobs -- and then probably things after that would turn to sex and other things like that. At least, that's what usually happened when they started talking.

Lily loved Alice, considered her her absolute best friend. They'd been through a lot together, and it had only made them grow closer together. She couldn't imagine not having Alice as her best friend, and she hoped the same for everyone else she knew. James had three best friends, of course, and she knew Harry had two, and Lily had the one. She didn't mind, really, since she considered the rest of the Marauders her dear friends as well. But there wasn't anything much better than a close girlfriend.

She slipped into Florean's and ordered a lavender ice with rose-honey candies and found a seat near the window, so she'd be able to see when Alice made her way down the street.

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mrsalicelong
2012-02-21 12:07 am UTC (link)

Alice was ready to kill someone. It had really not been her day, even apart from the start of the week always being the hardest. New ongoing cases were assigned, progress was checked, and there was always a lot of tedium, but today was even more annoying than usual. First there was the arrival of her beloved mother in law-at 4 o'clock in the morning. Augusta had become accustomed to rising early and was surprised to find Frank and Alice still fast asleep at that hour. Despite an inauspicious beginning, Alice was ready to be happy about the visit. She had brought a pie and made coffee, so despite being more sluggish than usual, she was feeling quite charitible when she made her way inside the Auror office.

Unfortunately, the day did not get any better. She was assigned a new partner for a case, Rain Savage, who while Alice was friendly enough with, seemed about as excited as she was for THIS case-investigating allegations that the peacocks in from of the Malfoy manor were Death Eaters who were unregistered animagi. Several hours and peacock pecks later, the pair were covered in bird excrement and convinced in the sincerity of the animals' peacockhood. Both aurors were displeased at having wasted time on a silly assignment, though Alice had come to respect Savage's skills after that.

So, by the time Alice ended up inside Florean's, she was exhausted and a little smelly. Even the scourgify spell and shower she had taken hadn't done enough to wipe her terrible day from her. She made a bee-line for the counter where she ordered an Italian soda and vanilla ice cream, and then after spotting her friend, joined her with a long sigh.

"You don't want to hug me. I've had an awful day."

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mrsprongsie
2012-02-21 12:21 am UTC (link)

Lily stood up, expecting a hug nonetheless. "All the more reason you should let me hug you, Alice," Lily teased. She gave her friend a quick squeeze then settled back into her chair, motioning for Alice to do the same. "Now, we can move forward in any number of ways -- do you want to talk about what made your day so awful?" She smiled and poked at her ice cream with her spoon. "Or complain about Augusta? Or, do you have any kind of news for me about the Valentine's Day Frank gave you?"

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mrsalicelong
2012-02-21 12:43 am UTC (link)

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you. I was attacked by several very angry albino peacocks this afternoon, all of which I can confirm are actual peacocks and not un-registered animagi hiding from the law," Alice said with a sigh as she hugged her friend. "That's the kind of day I've been having. And since you brought it up, I think I can do both at once. Did you know what time Augusta graced us with her presence?" Alice asked, taking a long sip from her Italian soda.

"No really, humor me, I want to see if you can conceive of ever thinking this would be an appropriate hour to begin a house stay."

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mrsprongsie
2012-02-21 01:54 am UTC (link)

Lily pulled a face. "Albino peacocks?" she asked. There was only one place she knew of that had those. "What were you doing out at Malfoy Manor?"

Her ice cream tasted heavenly, and she savored another bite before giving her friend a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on, it can't be that bad. What time did she try and get you up? Five-thirty? Six? I'm up that early half the time myself."

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mrsalicelong
2012-02-21 02:56 am UTC (link)

Alice sighed heavily, and with more than a little groan. "Yes, albino peacocks. There was a report, false as it turns out, that the peacocks on the Malfoy property were Death Eaters that were hiding out, either having been transfigured into them or by being unregistered animagi. Of course, seeing Narcissa's smug face as we left covered in her fancy birds' shit was just another fun icing on the cake. I cannot stand that woman," she said emphatically, taking another bite of ice cream.

She had to laugh, however, at Lily's absurdly naive notion of what being woken up early meant. "Oh Lily, no. I would have rejoiced had I been able to get up at the leisurely hour of 5:30. No," Alice said, shaking her head sadly as she took another sip of Italian soda, "my mother in law decided that 4am was an acceptable visiting hour."

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mrsprongsie
2012-02-21 03:13 am UTC (link)

"Who can?" Lily murmured, not very loudly at all because she didn't much like talking ill of anyone -- even the people she knew she didn't like much at all. "And really, the peacocks are always there. I don't think it's possible at all for someone to stay in an animagus form for that long."

Her eyes bugged out a bit. "Four am? You can't be serious. No sane person ever gets up that early!"

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mrsalicelong
2012-02-21 03:33 am UTC (link)

A sound midway between a scoff and a laugh escaped Alice's lips, and the effect was something like a seal bark. "No one, that's who," Alice said, lowering her own voice. At Lily's observation, Alice rolled her eyes and rested her head on her hand. "You're telling me. But someone much higher up than me thought it was a good idea to be sure. It was a little frustrating."

Lily's reaction to her pronouncement was perfect. She smiled and then laughed in earnest. "I don't recall saying someone sane came to call, I said Augusta came to visit, and Augusta thought 4:00am was a perfectly normal time to apparate into my home."

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mrsprongsie
2012-02-21 03:52 am UTC (link)

"I'm sure it was. But at least that was taken care of and over with and now you're all set and you don't have to deal with the Malfoys and their ridiculous peacocks anymore, right?" She scooped out another spoonful of the lovely ice cream and gave it a swirl in her mouth.

Her eyes narrowed a bit and she gave Alice a look. "I certainly hope she didn't apparate straight into your bedroom!"

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mrsalicelong
2012-02-21 04:19 am UTC (link)

She wrinkled her nose in agreement, taking a long sip from her soda. "If I have to go there again at any point, it will be too soon," Alice said with a slight shake of her head.

On the subject of her mother in law, Alice just shook her head. "I wouldn't know. I sleep with a sound proof charm around the bed because of Frank's snoring and suddenly Augusta is shaking me awake with her buzzard hat and I nearly hexed her!"

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	mrsprongsie 2012-02-22 02:28 am UTC (link)
	"I can't imagine wanting to visit there ever, let alone actually live all the way out there.' But Lily was smiling as she said it. She slipped her fingers back through her hair. At that, Lily burst out laughing, the image of Alice waking up suddenly, wand at the ready, too much for her. "Oh I would have loved to hear all about that." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mrsalicelong
2012-02-23 06:53 am UTC (link)

"I'm sure her giant manor and huge pile of galleons makes it slightly more palatable, but it was altogether rather ridiculous. Plus, can you imagine being married to Lucius Malfoy? He's ridiculous," Alice said with a small laugh. She finished her Italian soda, a bemused expression on her face as Lily laughed at her retelling of her morning.

"It's funny now, but I can assure you that it was horrifying. That hat is hard to take under the most ideal conditions, to wake up to it staring you in the face is the stuff of nightmares! Really though, I love Frank, I love my job and I even move my mother in law, bless her, but I really do need to get away. This mini break can't come soon enough."

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	mrsprongsie 2012-02-26 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	"But he has pretty good hair," Lily pointed out. Not as nice as her husband's hair, but she had to admit that Lucius's hair was nice, and Lily absolutely appreciated good hair. She shook her head though. "You're right though, of course, very ridiculous." Lily agreed. "We need to get it planned then, now don't we? What weekend works best for you?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mrsalicelong
2012-02-26 11:11 pm UTC (link)

"Have you seen him up close lately?" Alice asked, leaning in conspiratorially. "He charms it," she whispered, unable to hide the huge smile on her face. She burst into laughter, as thinking about Lucius before a mirror charming away the grey was really too much.

"I think you're right, and next Hogsmeade weekend ought to be best. I have tons of time off saved up, though I don't need it I think. We'll need to see when Glenda is free to leave."

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	mrsprongsie 2012-02-27 02:23 am UTC (link)
	"He doesn't!" Lily gasped, her hand going to her mouth. "I can believe it, though. How else does it look that wonderful, really?" She shook her head and slipped her fingers back through her own hair for a moment. She nodded. "Plus, it will keep you from staying away from Hogsmeade, now won't it?' (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mrsalicelong
2012-02-28 04:11 am UTC (link)

"He does," Alice said, he laugh feeling excellent at the moment. "No one is as perfect as they profess to be. And if the inside of their manor is anything like that outside...well, those peacocks may be beautiful but they sure smell like shite."

Alice snorted a bit at Lily's statement. "I suppose you're right. I know I need to back off and let Neville be his own person, but it's hard to see him grow up. He was just my little baby and all of a sudden he's ready to leave Hogwarts. We never got any older, Lily. How on earth did our kids?"

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	mrsprongsie 2012-02-29 02:08 am UTC (link)
	"Speak for yourself!" Lily laughed. "I've got gray hairs. Gray, Alice! I find them in the mornings sometimes. I can't even tell James because I know he'll laugh at me. But I hate it!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mrsalicelong
2012-02-29 02:17 am UTC (link)

Alice gave Lily a pitying look and put her hand on her friends', clucking a bit. "You poor dear. The only good thing about being a blond instead of a gorgeous redhead like you is that the grey is a bit harder to see." She gave a little snort and sat back, finishing her ice cream.

"You know, Lily, you have nothing to worry about. Look at you! I would kill to look half as glamorous. But, I guess it's all the better. Trying to arrest someone who was staring at my beauty might be awkward."

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	mrsprongsie 2012-02-29 03:14 am UTC (link)
	"That had better be your way of saying you have grey hairs, Alice Longbottom," she said, digging into the last bits of her ice cream and savoring it for a moment. She let out a bit of a moan. "This is so good, by the way." She set her spoon down with a thunk and sighed. "Oh stop it, really." (Reply to this) (Parent)