knocking at trouble’s door [1.11.78]
Bilius Weasley was the kind of person Lily was inclined to simultaneously trust implicitly and be endlessly suspicious of. He spoke frankly and acted unencumbered by the social niceties most people conformed to, so it was easy to take him at his word. The flip side of that coin was that his complete disinterest in social mores meant he could be up to just about anything.
Lily resolutely vowed to reject Bilius’ invitation to sample stolen sweets. She was half touched by the gesture, few things helped soothe her homesick nostalgia like a drumstick lolly, half indignant that he would so nonchalantly look to make her an accomplice in petty crime.
Eventually, however, her own sweet tooth, curiosity on why exactly he had a mandrake leave in his mouth and concern for his general welfare got the best of her conscience. Lily found herself dropping into the seat across from him one Friday morning several weeks after receiving his hastily scribbled reply. “I want to be abundantly clear that I think filching things is wrong,” she said by way of hello.
She knew she likely made a strange picture, the blonde of her color change charm still wearing off from Halloween and her general appearance a little deflated from exhaustion after the party the night before. “That being said,” she continued slowly, having the good sense to be chagrined at her own lapse of moral authority, “I don’t suppose you have any of the treats you knicked left over?”
@biliusbby