A Very Black Christmas

Down in the great hall, the Christmas breakfast had already begun. The small group of people that hadn't gone home over the holidays had all gathered at the far end of the Hufflepuff table, and while ogling the students, Severus noticed that he and Regulus were the only Slytherin's there. He recognized, however, the face of Remus Lupin, and snorted to himself at the sorry sight of him, as well as Regulus' arse of a brother, Sirius Black. The two brothers pretended not to see each other. Professor Dumbledore, who was seated right next to Lupin, beamed at the sight of the two Slytherin's and rose to welcome them to the table.

"Ah, latecomers! Well, I can't say I blame you, boys, I, too, enjoy my beauty sleep. Please, have a seat."

Severus and Regulus both smiled politely and tried to ignore the fact that everybody at the table, apart from Sirius, were now looking at them. They sat down at each side of the table and reached for the various dishes of food that stood in rows in front of them. Severus looked around the table, but didn't really see any familiar faces. He ate in silence, with the light buzzing of the conversations around him ringing in his ears, while thinking about the chess set in his trunk back in the dormitory. Or, more likely, another chess set, and older one, torn, broken and probably thrown away by now. While his mind was visited by old memories, someone had crept up behind him and Severus noticed that Regulus was looking at something. He turned around.

"Lily," he said, sounding surprised, "I didn't know you were here."

Lily Evans sat down beside him and replied in a rather cocky voice: "Well, Sev, it's not like you've been showing yourself around the castle or anything during the last few weeks. Have you even been outside your common room since the holiday began?" Severus smiled, but didn't answer. "Besides, I sat over there, next to that lump of a Hufflepuff."

"Why aren't you at home?"

"Mum and dad and Petunia decided to celebrate Christmas outside the border this year and I didn't really feel like travelling. You know how I feel about the Muggle airplanes. And I'm not much of a Christmas fan, anyway." She smiled, then leaned closer to Severus and continued in a slightly lower voice: "I was hoping I could talk to you. You know, alone."

Severus turned to Regulus and said: "Would you excuse us for a moment?" and then he and Lily moved over to the Slytherin table, Regulus' eyes attached to their backs.

"Have you heard anything from her?" Lily asked as soon as their bottoms hit the wooden bench. Severus fingered the surface of the table, where someone had carved the word "GIT".

"What do you think?"

Lily sighed and looked concerned.

"I just think it's so strange. Eileen always appeared to be such a sensible person. I mean, it's understandable that she needed some time to herself, but... it's been so long now. So many years. And I thought that now you're seventeen and you're about to graduate in a couple of months, she'd at least want to congratulate you. Or... at least let you know she's still alive."

"It's alright, though. I don't expect much of her these days; in fact, I don't think I'll ever hear from her again. But I don't blame her for that. None of how things turned out is her fault. I've been over it so many times in my head and there's nothing she could've done differently. I'm just glad she got the both of us out of there before anything... really bad happened. Sure, I miss her sometimes, but I've sort of come to terms with the thought of never seeing her again. I understand if it's necessary for her to forget me for her to move on."

Lily put a comforting hand on Severus' shoulder and her eyes were glassy. He seemed so grown up, so responsible, but she knew there was more to it. Of course he was hurting, but he would never admit it to her. She watched her friend and neighbour for so long, his face was sad and looked too old to belong to a seventeen-year-old and she wanted to comfort him. She took him in his arms and gave him a long hug. Severus body went stiff as a poker.

"I don't think she's forgotten about you," she said, once she'd let go of him, "I'm sure she hasn't. I mean, how could she? She's your mother, and she'll always love you, Sev. Maybe she just needs more time, I'm certain she'll come to you when she's ready. Few witches would be able to handle the ordeals she went through."

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe you're right. But still, it's not good to get my hopes up, is it? I'll just be disappointed."

"Yeah, but it's not good for you to drown in hopelessness either. Just try and remember that there is still hope out there. For you." She smiled and Severus smiled back.

"So," she said, considering other subjects to talk about, "Who's that bloke you're with?"

Lily nodded in Regulus' direction.

"That's just Regulus. He's a year younger than us," Severus replied.

"Regulus? As in Regulus Black?" Severus nodded. "I've heard a few things about him. Not very good ones."

"And I'm guessing his brother told you these things?"

"Yeah, well... He doesn't really talk about him any longer. Not since he ran away from home last year. But, the way I heard it, Regulus was a huge bully and never stopped taunting him."

"The way I heard it, Sirius was a condescending, self-righteous arse who believed he was so much better than everyone else."

They looked at each other for a moment, both realizing that it would be a silly thing for them to fight over, so they didn't continue the argument. Instead, the smiled politely at each other. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, someone called her name from behind them.

"Oi, Lily! Are you coming?" asked a brown haired girl, standing at the door, looking impatient.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." She turned to Severus and they looked at each other for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. But hey, don't be a stranger, alright? We should talk more often. You know I'm always here if you need to talk." She gave him a smile and a quick but warm hug.

"Bye, Lily."

"See you around, Sev."