"That's a terrible thing to say," a part of her that was just beginning to crackle with the slightest current of annoyance wanted to tack on that it was absurd to think James had done the leaving and not the other way around. How very dare.
How many times had Severus listened to her gently admonish him for how cold he could be about, well, nearly anything he put his mind to? This time however that soft kindness is missing from her voice, and instead Lily just sounded weary.
"What would you have liked me to say?" Her tone gained a touch of heat as she continued to frown up at him.
"How, and more importantly, where and when would you have preferred I try to speak with you?" Lily knew she could have written, but the right words were as absent every time she tried as they were now, sitting in a park in the dark. For all her brilliance within the sphere of academia, she became almost stupid and clumsy when confronted with how many facets there were to how she felt about Severus and the friendship that had been lost. There were so many new complications, so many things that had gone wrong, and to her credit, she had rolled with them as best as she could; with James and just how horribly ugly he could be (and her lingering disgust with herself at her blindness to it), with the Order and the growing threat of danger that made it hard to breathe at times, with being really, truly, on her own. "You don't have to come for tea, I'd like it if you did. I'm not trying to flatter you, I don't know how to fix anything but," Lily trailed off and looked up at him. Whatever annoyance she had felt had evaporated and weariness took its place once more. "Talking's a place to start," she finished finally.
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How many times had Severus listened to her gently admonish him for how cold he could be about, well, nearly anything he put his mind to? This time however that soft kindness is missing from her voice, and instead Lily just sounded weary.
"What would you have liked me to say?" Her tone gained a touch of heat as she continued to frown up at him.
"How, and more importantly, where and when would you have preferred I try to speak with you?" Lily knew she could have written, but the right words were as absent every time she tried as they were now, sitting in a park in the dark. For all her brilliance within the sphere of academia, she became almost stupid and clumsy when confronted with how many facets there were to how she felt about Severus and the friendship that had been lost. There were so many new complications, so many things that had gone wrong, and to her credit, she had rolled with them as best as she could; with James and just how horribly ugly he could be (and her lingering disgust with herself at her blindness to it), with the Order and the growing threat of danger that made it hard to breathe at times, with being really, truly, on her own. "You don't have to come for tea, I'd like it if you did. I'm not trying to flatter you, I don't know how to fix anything but," Lily trailed off and looked up at him. Whatever annoyance she had felt had evaporated and weariness took its place once more. "Talking's a place to start," she finished finally.