𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄
chapter twenty-six; Mum Came To Town
" And I'm not. I'm not broken. "

  JAMES POTTER WAS in pure bliss. He was on a high he'd never come down from. Not so long as Salem Gerard was right by his side, as she was now. And she was so beautiful.

  Salem was holding his hand, as if it became second nature, laughing at a joke Remus had mumbled and intended only her to hear, but Lily Evans was laughing at it too. 

  Admittedly, James figured his happiness wasn't entirely due to Salem, but the mixing of his best friends laughing their way through Hogsmeade and the girl who'd sneakily kiss the back of his hand when no one was looking.

  "Wait, what I'm hearing is that you think I'm the best ice-cream maker in all of Europe."

  "You're hearing what you want to hear," Remus pointed at Sirius, who shrugged with a grin, "You picked toppings, Pads, that is not making ice-cream."

  "Oi, it was a masterpiece."

  "That you ate in less than five minutes!" Lily shouted.

  "So I'm not only a world-renowned ice cream maker, but a world record holder—"

  "Oh, it's all getting to his head, please stop complimenting him," Salem sighed.

  "No one complimented him!"

  "C'mon, Gerard," Sirius sighed, "They can't help it."

  "Rendered useless to your charms, Sirius."

  "I never thought anything could make him more insufferable," Remus sighed, "I was proven wrong."

  "He's not insufferable, he's our comedic relief," Peter smiled.

  Salem laughed, which made James laugh, and as Lily pushed open the door to Scrivenshaft's, he gently pulled her under his arm and smiled when she let him.

  "Now we're all forced to be reminded of NEWTs, thank you, Evans," Sirius sighed, trudging behind Lily.

  "You're welcome, you'd never have remembered without it."

  "I'm simply immune to finals stress."

  "Whatever you're drinking, Sal needs some," Remus mumbled, hiding his smile as she whacked his back.

  "At least she'll be passing her NEWTs," Lily informed.

  "Oh, whatever."

  "Hey," Salem whispered to James as Sirius began arguing with Lily that he was taking a 'zen' approach to test-taking, "I think I saw this. . . super interesting cloud. . . outside."

  "Are you trying to take me outside, Salem Gerard. . ." James whispered in a teasing tone, already making Salem blush— or perhaps it was his lips brushing against her hair as he spoke, "To kiss me?"

  "Are you trying to say that isn't what you want?"

  "So, let's go see this cloud."

  A snort snuck out of Salem's mouth as James began quickly walking as Lily ventured deeper into the shop, with a small parade of Marauders behind her. The fresh spring air hit them full force, making the young couple's laughter resonate against stone streets and moments that would become memories.

  The second they'd stepped to the side of the shop's door, Salem gently grabbed James' face and pressed a sugary kiss to lips— the taste of cauldron cakes still prominent on her kiss.

  "Hey, Sal. . ." James began after another kiss he relished in, "I know this has all been. . . crazy. And intense, in such a short amount of time, and it might be too soon, but I think I might—"

  "Salem?"

  The redhead turned abruptly away from James, her jaw dwindling at the sight of Roman and a blonde woman. James looked nervously between the two, suddenly intensely aware of his hand on her hip and her hand on his shoulder.

  "Mum?"

  "What are you doing—"

  "I'm sorry, but you aren't in the position to parent me right now," Salem snapped, fully detaching from James.

  "You're dating now—?"

  "Oh, my God, this is not your business!"

  "You've made it everyone's business by snogging some boy in the street!"

  "I'm not fucking him in public, I'm kissing him!"

  "Salem!"

  "Alright, let's. . ." Roman interrupted the argument quickly growing louder, "Let's do this privately— I'm sorry, James."

  "Why the hell are you apologizing to him?" Elizabeth turned on Roman, "Did you not see—"

  "I did, but I know James," Roman told her harshly, startling Salem slightly, "And I know Salem."

  "Yeah, for all of a few months."

  "Who's fault is that?" Salem snapped.

  "Thought we lost you—!" Sirius' comment fell short when he saw not only Salem and James, but Roman and an unfamiliar woman, "And you ditched us to hang out with Sal's dad."

  "How many boys do you spend time with?"

  "Dad!" Salem yelled over her mother's jab.

  "I hate to interrupt your day out," Roman sighed to the somewhat frightened teenage boys, "But I need to steal Sal for a bit, it's uh. . . a family matter."

  "Right— yeah— no, we understand."

  "Thank you," Roman smiled at them tiredly, "You two, let's go."

  "'Us two' you're grouping me in with her?"

  "Sal, we aren't doing this in the middle of the street."

  "She has no problem—"

  "Elizabeth!"

  Salem felt familiar. In Roman's apartment with tense air settling around her. But, it was different this time. Because her mother sat across from her, just as silently furious as she, while Roman calmly brewed tea feet from them.

  "I can't believe you said that stuff," Salem said quietly, "In front of James, too. He'll think I'm a freak."

  "Isn't James the boy that did that horrible thing?"

  "Mum—"

  "I'm just trying to protect you, Salem."

  "What horrible thing?" Roman asked, grabbing three cups from his cabinet.

  "Nothing."

  "Those boys terrorized her," Elizabeth was quick to speak, "James. . . Sirius. . . what were the other ones' names—?"

  "They weren't Remus and Peter, were they?"

  "No, I think that's right."

  "They terrorized her?"

  "All because of her name— she came home in tears that summer, said people were setting fire to her homework—"

  "This is why you never told him about me," Salem interrupted evenly, "Because you can't believe anyone can work through anything. You don't think things can change. Ever."

  "I didn't tell Roman about you because he didn't want to have children and I'd rather you not remember him at all then hang onto sparse memories."

  "Oh, so you think he would've left no matter what?" Salem laughed bitterly, shaking her head, "You know what, I don't think we have that much to talk about."

  "Sal," Roman sighed, abandoning the tea as his daughter stood, "Come on, you know we have a lot to speak about—"

  "Thanks for trying," Salem told him, eyes softening for her father just slightly, "But I have nothing to say to her. Now, I have to go find my friends and hope they don't think I'm loony like my mother."

  Salem paused at the door, her hand lingering on the icy cold doorknob for a moment. Her mother had this horrible way of breaking down any and all progress she'd made, but the redhead wouldn't let that happen. Not now. 

  "I love my friends," She said so bluntly, Elizabeth nearly winced, "I love James. They've all done more for me than you ever have. They don't try and fix me. . . because they know I'm not broken. And I'm not. I'm not broken."

  Salem didn't say another word as she left the apartment and the entire building shortly thereafter. The long broken up couple brewed in silence until the tea kettle whistled, breaking the torn parents even more.

  And, as the teen walked to the place she could now call home, she didn't regret it. Saying that she loved James. Because she did. Salem had overthought the idea of feelings and love every day since James had pulled away the mask that was Mystery Girl, but things like this weren't meant to be thought about. She wasn't supposed to dissect every feeling and action. 

  She was just supposed to let herself feel it.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
yeah so THIS is why i think
everybody's gonna hate Sal's
mom; I have mixed feelings
on her myself, but the idea
is just she wants to keep Sal
safe from what she's gone
through, but obviously we,
AND SAL, see how WRONGLY
she's approaching that.