/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟙𝟙.𝟤

"we need never be ashamed of our tears." ~ Charles Dickens

~may 1972~ (continued)

The next afternoon, Marlene, Mary, Artemis, and Lily sat in their dormitory as sheets of rain pounded the windows and wind whipped the trees outside. Artemis was nestled in the little alcove next to the window, agonizing over a letter to her mother. It had gotten more and more difficult to write to her ever since the hang-up at Christmas. She sighed as she crossed out let another line and grabbed a new piece of parchment, starting over yet again. "Fifteen," Marlene called from her bed, where she was sitting face to face with Mary, a game of cards between them.

"What?" Artemis looked up in mild confusion.

"You've started over fifteen times now, Art. Who're you writing to?"

Artemis set her parchment and quill down next to her and let her head fall back to rest on the wall. "Better question: why're you keeping track?"

Marlene let out a short laugh and went back to her card game. From the desk on the other side of the room, Lily let out a low groan. "What's up, Lils?" asked Marlene.

"The rain is distracting," Lily muttered, resting her head in her hands.

Mary looked up and stuck her lower lip out slightly in sympathy with her friend. She set her cards down and slid off the bed to sit on the edge of Lily's desk. "Take a break," she murmured, closing Lily's textbook without marking the page.

"Hey-" Lily started to protest, but Mary had already grabbed the book and tossed it to Marlene, who caught it and threw it under the bed.

"Great, let's do something fun," said Marlene.

Artemis nodded and folded her unfinished letter in half then, on second thought, slowly ripped it in half longways. "What do we want to do? It's rainy." She cast a long look out the window. The rain hadn't stopped for weeks now and Artemis was more restless than anyone to finally get out into the sunshine. "And before you say it, Lily," she added quickly, "I'm not going to the library with you. We've already been there three times today."

"It's not my fault I actually want to study for finals!" Lily protested.

Marlene snorted. "That's an oxymoron."

"D'you even know what that word means?" Lily shot back.

Artemis and Mary exchanged weary looks. The weather was pitting everyone against each other. "Anyone wanna do my makeup?" Mary asked, cutting the tension between Marlene and Lily before things could heat up. "Or hair? Or... anything that doesn't involve... this?"

"Oooo, yes!" Lily said, jumping from her seat and crossing the room to kneel down next to her bed and pull out an enormous box.

Artemis struggled to her feet and dumped the ripped up letter in the trash bin on her way over to Lily's bed to lean over her shoulder. "What's that?"

"Makeup," Lily said, opening the box and revealing the biggest collection of creams, powders, and lipsticks Artemis had ever seen.

Marlene and Mary gathered around too and Artemis watched Marlene's jaw drop. "Where'd all that come from? You've been holding out on us, Evans..."

Lily grinned modestly and dumped the contents of the box out onto her bed. Marlene and Artemis sat down on the mattress and started sifting through it, occasionally holding up pieces to each other and looking closer. "I have an older sister," Lily explained. "I think I told you about her- Petunia? Anyways, before I left for school she got pretty nasty... my mum said she's jealous. But she said some really mean stuff, especially about Severus, so I went into her room the night before I left and grabbed everything I could find."