[10 Sept] Lil getting some rest (Lil/Mary)

"If the drafts don't help, then I will. We will work it out, Liliana, there are always ways. Maybe, with this demon gone, things will be easier. You may not have been aware of it before they first started talking to you, but likely it's been there all this time, affecting you. We can only hope. We have to have hope."

She points to her eyes.

"My magic." she says simply. "On the voyage over, I used one of my powers. It infuses me with shadow, helping me use other abilities quicker and more safely. It also has the affect of calming me, making me more sure and brave and stable and... less likely to over react I guess. The eyes are a side effect. It will wear off at dawn. It's not that I'm not feeling, I'm just not showing it. Inside ... I've lost half my heart. You know I loved him, yes? And that he loved me?"

Mary watches Liliana, still holding her hands.

"Yes, well ... he was mine first. But it took me losing my Humanity to open my eyes to the feelings that existed, and accept that they were more than past echos. And I'll always be grateful for the time we had, and the love we shared." Mary picks up the drafts, hands them to Liliana. "Now, drink. And sleep. And if you don't, when I wake, I'll make sure you do."

"No, that doesn't change it ... but that's irrelevant now. What you are supposed to do now is keep on living. Move on, keep going, and make sure his sacrifice was worth it."

Mary encourages her to drink.

"You are welcome. Now drink, and sleep."

"I'd rather have him here, too. But he's not. He sacrificed himself for you. Accept that. Live with it. Or don't."

Mary's words were perhaps harsh, but they were honest.

"I made an offer to you before the summer. When you reach adulthood, if you wish, I will embrace you. If you find, without him, you can't stand being a witch and an oracle, that offer still stands. But you have to make it to 18 first. And there's no guarantee you will lose your oracle powers. If you don't wish me to embrace you, then stay in school, and learn how to cope without him. There are good teachers here. They'll find a way to help. But if you just give up, what does that say of his sacrifice?"

She looks at Lil hard, as if daring her to give up.

"Now, sleep. Rest. You'll need your strength for what comes next. I'll see you after dusk."

Mary sits there, watching the potions as they take affect, before getting up to leave.

Mary waits for a little while, watching Liliana sleep. This child is the last of the Adamson bloodline. The last link to her Dristan. She pulls out his wand, and holds it, looking at it. She still can't believe he's gone, but the empty part of her heart tells her it's true.

She stands, and steps from shadow to shadow back to her rooms in the dungeon, preparing for the day sleep that she knows is coming. She can feel the dawn approaching, and knows her magic will expire as it does.

As the sun sets, and the black fades from her eyes, she buries her face in the pillow and cries.

Mary wakes as the sun sets. She'd been stirring shortly beforehand, the depth of the dungeons under Hogwarts giving her the shelter of the earth. She opens her eyes, and sits up. Everything crashes into her from the night before. The boat ride, quiet and strange. The island, where she couldn't go, watching him walk away with a promise to return. The explosion, and feeling him gone. Walking to the clearing to find Liliana. The journey back. Talking to Minerva. Leaving Liliana to sleep, and their conversation.

A shadow detaches itself from the wall, a small black cat, and comes to her, rubbing against her in very cat-like fashion, seeking her attention, and attempting to console. Mary buries her face in Balthazar's darkness and cries again. She cries as the sun sets, knowing he'll never see the sun again. That she'll never get to taste him, that he'll never join her in the shadows as they'd planned.

"WHY!?" she screams into the darkness. She doesn't expect and answer, doesn't get one. It wasn't fair. She wanted Dristan back.

Hugging Balthazar for a little longer, she shrugs off her grief, and rises for the night. Bathing, and dressing, and heading up to the Hospital Wing to check on Liliana.

---

Mary knocks on Liliana's door. Opens it just a crack and says "Liliana? Are you awake?"

Mary enters, closing the door behind her. She nods to what Liliana has said. "Whatever was there, is destroyed now. Probably for the best, I think. What it was, why it was ... it doesn't really matter any more." She moves to sit on the end of the bed. "How'd you sleep? You're looking better. Do you want to stay here, or can I take you to the estate in Loughton?"

Mary nods.

"You're the matriarch of a powerful wealthy family ... however that was accrued. There are procedures that need to be followed. She can help you with that. I'm at a loss with a cheque book."

She tries to smile a little.

"I can take you there if you like, before I go home."

"Take your time, it doesn't have to be NOW. Minerva needs a chance to tell Matilda and Dmitry what has happened, before their grandmother storms in demanding things. I remember her from the hospital, she didn't like me."

Mary sighs softly.

"I'll be around if you need me. But right now, I need to go home, and ... I need to go home. While I'm there, I'll have my phone, or Asher knows me. If I'm here, you'll know where to find me. I won't be gone long. I'll be back before evening classes Monday."

She gets up and moves to hug Liliana. "Remember, you are strong, and capable. You can do this. I believe in you."

"I'll notify Teagan. I owe her that much. As for Jaina, I think it's both because I'm a vampire, and was close to her son. She didn't approve of either really." She smiles slightly. "When you're organising things with her, try to get the will reading and memorial at night. I'd really like to be there."

She hugs Liliana again.

"Take care. I'll be back soon enough."

Mary smiles, and nods, and leaves Liliana to her own tasks.

She returns to her office, and does the class prep she needs for the week ahead. Takes care of some correspondence. Then Steps through an Abyssal gate to her home.