"I'm rubbish at Occlumency," Lily laments, then: "or, well, I suppose I just never got enough practice at it. I can do a bit, but..." She shakes her head, then - an alternative to shrugging. Once you've gone into hiding, it seems less important a thing to practice rather than, say, physically defensive spells.

"Has Severus found anything?" There's something carefully neutral about her voice now - she doesn't seem unsettled at all, more like she's still carefully treading something she doesn't know how to feel about. Do you speak with him often, she doesn't say. "It's hard to describe what I think it feels like." Shackles maybe, or a stone around one's neck.

Neither feels quite right.