“ROXANNE!�

The whole Gryffindor common room shook as Rose Weasley, Head Girl and top geek, bellowed her cousin’s name. Lily Potter smirked as she buried her head in a Transfiguration textbook. Running her hand through her red hair, she waited for it.

“Roxanne Weasley! Get back here now!�

The whole common room stifled their laughter as they heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. Roxanne Weasley burst into the room, threw herself onto the seat next to Lily and grabbed her textbook. Seconds later, Rose barged into the common room. She wildly searched the room before finding Roxanne, who proceeded to read the textbook -- albeit upside down.

“Give me it back,� Rose snarled. Roxanne looked up from her textbook; Lily could have mistaken her expression for innocence if she had not known her so well. The slight twinkle in her eyes gave it away that Roxanne was up to something. She was always causing trouble and playing tricks.

“I don’t know what you’re on about,� Roxanne replied, her voice shaking with laughter.

Rose started; she grabbed the book from her cousin and threw it on the ground in rage.

“You know fine well what I’m on about, you have my badge!� she hissed, trying her best not to make a scene in her first week as Head Girl. She was, however, too late as the whole common room became silent as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. It was hard to believe that Rose and Roxanne were even related as an argument between the two cousins was almost a monthly event. Almost polar opposites -- they never got along.

Lily couldn’t stop herself, she had to do it. With a slight grin on her face she asked, “What badge?� She thought she could hear someone snort behind her as Rose’s normally pale face turned purple with frustration.

“You know what I mean, Lily! My Head Girl’s badge!� she said. Her whole body seemed to shake and Lily casually wondered how someone could possibly get so angry over one menial thing like this. She noticed for the first time that Rose was dressed in her pyjamas with a towel wrapped around her head.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot. I think I needed reminding again, y’know for the eighty-second time this term,� Lily said, trying desperately not to laugh. The whole common room seemed to explode with laughter and Roxanne turned around to high five Lily before tossing the badge back to Rose. Rose fumbled to catch it before storming out of the common room, slamming the portrait door behind her. She was quickly followed by Albus who shot Lily a shrewd look before chasing after his cousin and best friend.

Lily shrugged as she picked up her book; wiping its cover she turned to face Roxanne. “What have you done to it?� she asked.

Roxanne laughed. “Just this trick that my dad says him and Uncle Fred played on Uncle Percy once, but with a slight twist -- you’ll find out sooner or later!�

Lily laughed and started to leaf through her textbook again. It was her OWL year and she desperately needed to start sticking in. Not exactly the smartest in her year, Lily only managed most of her subjects, although, surprisingly, she excelled at Ancient Runes.

Roxanne pulled out a yo-yo and started to casually play with it. Lily shrank away, knowing fine well that it was not only a toy.

“Should you not be studying?� she snapped. “Surely you have something to do?�

Roxanne smirked ostentatiously. “No,� she replied.

With an insufferable sigh, Lily continued to struggle her way through her book. A full five minutes passed before Roxanne spoke again.

“How’s your OWL year going then, little cousin?� she chirped.

Lily scowled and slammed her book shut. “Well it would be going just fine if you would stop bothering me!� she snapped.

Roxanne grinned. “That’s good! You still having issues in Defence Against the Dark Arts? I could help you, you know!�

Counting to ten, Lily shuddered. She hated anyone mentioning her weakness at Defence as it made her feel inadequate.

“No, Roxanne. I’m fine, it’s fine,� she said through gritted teeth. She couldn’t stand it when Roxanne got in this annoying mood, where her mission was simply to annoy people.

Shrugging, Roxanne turned back to her yo-yo which had started to omit an unerring whizz and flash neon colours. “Have you got a boyfriend yet?� the older girl asked casually.

“No,� Lily snapped back. It wasn’t for lack of wanting, Lily had been thinking about boys a lot lately but she just couldn’t see herself with anyone in Hogwarts.

“Good, I don’t think your dad could handle it,� Roxanne replied. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be doing your homework?�

Almost crying with frustration, Lily pick up her textbook and whacked it off of Roxanne’s head grinning as the girl cried out in pain.

Somewhat later on, once she had finished her tedious Transfiguration essay and written to her parents, Lily retired to her room. Ignoring Roxanne, who begged her to stay and have some fun, Lily traipsed up to her dorm, trailing her book bag behind her and listening to the satisfying bump as the books hit each step.

Once reaching her dorm, she paused as she heard one of her dorm mate’s cackles.

“I mean did you see her! I thought mini- Potter was a bit of a state but… Merlin! Her cousin! Sad-sack Rose, let’s start calling her that! Give me my badge back! And did you see them awful slippers she had on -- I think I had a pair of them when I was six!�

As Lily listened, her stomach churned. Only she and her family were allowed to tease Rose, and even then they didn’t speak like that behind her back. Throwing open the door, she stormed into her dorm. At the far end of the room she could see Caoimhe Finnegan standing on her bed. Caoimhe was a bitch. She hated Lily purely for the reason that her older brother, James, had refused to go out with her last year, and she had only tolerated Lily before that anyway.

Crowded around the tall girls’ bed were Jane Walker and Mariella Vane. They were simply minions who followed Caoimhe around like a bad smell, laughing at her jokes and complementing her looks. They made Lily sick.

Lily stormed across the room and threw her bag onto her bed. As she drew her curtains shut, she flicked her wand and smirked as she heard Caoimhe fall and hit the ground with a bump.

“Potter, that was you, you cow!� She heard her shriek. Lily rolled her eyes as she heard Caoimhe’s sheep mutter, “I know, that was bang out!�

“Give it up, Finnegan!� Lily almost screamed from her bed as she changed into her pyjamas. She would get Caoimhe back good and proper. The girl had very little idea what she had gotten herself into.

The next day Lily awoke with a start. She had slept in, and of course none of her dorm mates had woken her up. She stumbled out of bed and hastily threw her robes on.

Grumbling obscenities about her room-mates, Lily carefully made her way down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she winced. Her hips were always stiff in the morning, ever since…

Shaking her head, Lily cleared the thoughts about last year from her mind, she preferred not to think of last spring at all. She sighed as she continued her long descent to the Great Hall where she would be lucky to grab something to eat before Herbology.

The walk seemed to take forever and she reached the fourth floor before suddenly stumbling against the banister. Holding on as she caught her breath, Lily could hear someone running down the stairs behind her.

“Lily! Are you okay?� Louis Weasley, Lily’s cousin, gasped as he caught up with her.

“I’m fine,� Lily replied through gritted teeth. Louis was in the year above her; he was perhaps the quietest out of all her cousins and seemed to always keep his head down and out of trouble.

“You don’t look fine. Shouldn’t you still be using your walking stick?� Louis retorted, using an infuriating calm voice.

“No Louis, I should not! Don’t you have a class to go to?� Lily almost shouted as she abruptly stood up and shoved the blonde boy off of her.

Louis, ever the calm one, held up his hands. “Right, okay, no need to moan. I was only trying to help,� he muttered as he walked away. For a split second, Lily almost wished that she did have a walking stick so she could hit Louis over the head with it. Counting to ten, she continued her trip.

She had barely reached the second floor when it happened again. Lily slipped, and collided against the banister. She cried out in pain as her shoulder hit against the stone.

“Are you alright?�

Lily groaned and buried her head in her arms. “Who is it now?� She asked in a low voice, expecting it to be one of her assorted cousins.

“Scorpius. Do you need help up?� Lily stiffened at the reply; Scorpius Malfoy was a Seventh Year in Slytherin. He was a Malfoy, and their families had always rivalled each other. Things had escalated in the war but an understanding had been reached after Scorpius’s gran saved Lily’s dad’s life. However, that hatred still ran deep and the house rivalries were difficult to replace after more than a thousand years of resentment between the two Hogwarts houses.

“No, it’s okay.� Lily struggled to keep her voice even as she tried to stand up. She turned around and was shocked to find him so close to her. The boy jumped back and his face hardened as he realised who exactly he was helping.

“I’m sorry,� he replied. “I’ll let you get to class.� He turned to go but Lily stopped him, laying a hand on his arm.

“Erm, I kind of do need help,� she said, not quite wanting him to leave yet.

Lily looked at her feet as the boy nodded and lifted her up. As she felt his chest brush against her back, she couldn’t help but flush. Embarrassed, she rushed away, barely thanking him. What are you playing at? She almost screamed at herself, you really need a boyfriend; stop yourself from fancying anything with a bloody pulse!

Ten painful minutes later, Lily arrived at Greenhouse Five. Slightly sweaty and out of breath, she entered her room, located Hugo, and sat down. Ignoring Professor Longbottom as he glowered at her, she quickly located her dragon skin gloves and put them on.

“What are we doing today?� she whispered.

Hugo gestured at the tray in front of him. “We need to find these little pod things amongst all that muck ‘cause er…�

Lily rolled her eyes. “I thought Hufflepuffs were meant to be good at Herbology!� she snarled; taking her horrible mood out on the nearest person was not unusual for Lily Potter.

Hugo’s face remained impassive. “I thought Gryffindors were meant to be good at Defence Against the Dark Arts,� he retorted.

This sedated Lily. As much as she wished to take her mood out on her cousin she couldn’t. Hugo was her closest friend, but as he was in Hufflepuff, Herbology was the only class they shared together. Hugo was not the only Weasley who hadn’t been sorted into Gryffindor. Victoire, who had long left Hogwarts, had been in Ravenclaw and Lucy, who was in third year, was also in Hufflepuff.

Frowning, Lily replied, “It’s not my fault Professor Brown hates me!�

Hugo grinned. “And I wonder why!� He laughed.

Ignoring this comment, Lily dived into another conversation. “So, Hugo,� she murmured as Professor Longbottom passed by their table. “I need your help with two things.�

Hugo nodded as he searched around the tray. Gasping, he pulled out a pod and laid it in another tray.

“Firstly,� Lily continued, “I need a boyfriend.� At this, Hugo raised his eyebrows.

“I heard Noah Smith was single.� He smirked.

Lily grimaced. “Shut up! He has to be the most incredibly boring person ever. No thanks. Anyway, secondly I need your help in annihilating Caoimhe Finnegan!� Lily cried the last bit perhaps a bit too vehemently as Noah Smith and two other Hufflepuffs turned around to stare at her.

“Annihilating?� Hugo questioned with a smile on his face.

“Yes, I caught her out speaking about Rosie last night.� As Lily continued to tell Hugo what had happened last night his face fell into a frown. Hugo was amazingly loyal, and would do anything to defend his family.

Casting a sly look at Professor Longbottom, Hugo lowered his voice.

“Okay, the boyfriend issue I can’t really help you with. But tell me what you’ve got already on Finnegan,� he muttered, a determined look on his face.

Lily woke up in a tangle of bed sheets. Uncontrollably shaking, she rubbed her eyes as she listened to her dorm mates bustling around. Frowning, she desperately tried to remember what she had been dreaming about… James had been there somewhere, and she had been shouting at him. She knew that at least and somehow she knew that this dream had happened before.

Rather disorientated, Lily heaved herself out of her bed. Crossing to the bathroom, she jumped as from the corner of her eye she caught Caoimhe looking at her.

“Are you okay, babe?� The girl twitted in a falsely nice tone.

Lily frowned. “Yeah, I’m fine th--“ She barely had a chance to finish her sentence before Caoimhe interrupted her.

“It’s just I owled James in the holidays, and he’s not had a chance to get back to me yet. Can you ask him to mail me back? It’s important.� Caoimhe fluttered her eyes at Lily as she applied her mascara.

Rolling her eyes, Lily replied, “I’m sorry Finnigan, I could try but I don’t think he even knows you exist.�

Slamming the bathroom door behind her, Lily was slightly appeased as she heard Caoimhe mutter “Cow.�

Lily was in a very good mood as she sauntered into the Great Hall for her breakfast. It was the weekend, it was surprisingly warm for autumn and today she and Hugo were going to plan exactly how to bring Caoimhe down.

“Why are you swaggering?� Lily stopped abruptly as her brother, Albus, picked up on her great mood.

“’Cause it’s summer!� she replied, throwing herself down next to Albus.

“No it’s not.�

“True, but it could be. Brilliant flying conditions, actually,� Lily chirped, stealing a bit of her brother’s bacon.

Albus looked at her, a nervous expression on his face. “Lily--“ he began to speak apprehensively.

“I know, I know,� she replied, her smile faltering a little. Frowning, she tried to remember, had it been Quidditch she had been dreaming about last night?

Albus looked at her through the corner of his eyes rather suspiciously. “Anyway, I’ve been meaning to speak to you since the other day. Will you stop being so nasty to Rose? That wasn’t fair at all what you said to her in the common room the other night.�

Slightly affronted, Lily replied, “I was only joking. Anyway, it was Roxanne that stole her badge!�

Albus frowned and pushed his glasses up his nose. It was something that he always did when he was thinking or when he was nervous. “Right okay, just leave off her a bit okay? She’s really stressed just now with her Head Girl duties and all the NEWTS she’s taking.� He used a slightly reprimanding tone and Lily was not pleased at all. Fair enough, he was her older brother but sometimes he tried to act more like her father and it was very annoying.

Remembering the time, Lily downed a goblet of pumpkin juice. As she stood up, she used Albus’s back for leverage. “Right, whatever, I must go now. See you later,� she shouted as she walked away.

Hugo was already waiting in the library when she entered. He waved over to her and Lily sat down next to him. As it was only the end of the first week of term, the library was rather empty, although a few Ravenclaws sat a few tables behind Lily and Hugo, working furiously on essays which Lily considered far too long. Beyond them sat Scorpius Malfoy, engrossed in a book. Lily blushed furiously as she remembered the other day and quickly turned to face Hugo.

“So, any ideas?� Lily asked hopefully, as she had no clue at all.

Hugo shook his head. “None,� he replied. “I’ve been trying to think, but I can’t. Maybe we should ask Roxanne for help?�

It was Lily’s turn to shake her head. “Na, she’ll tell Albus who will tell Rose who will stop us, even though we’re doing it for her,� she said, as she leafed through Odd Spells That You Didn’t Know Existed.

The two cousins continued to search in silence and almost half an hour later, Lily started to grow restless. Staring at the clock, she tried to rack her brain for an idea. Hugo continued to work diligently, he was ever patient which was a trait that Lily did not possess in the slightest.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Hugo sat up with a triumphant look on his face. “I’ve got it!� he announced. “What does Finnegan treasure more than anything?�

Frowning, Lily answered, “Her bum? She stares at it all the time in the mirror. She says that boys find it ‘sexy’�

Hugo blinked, “No, well apart from that. I was thinking more her appearance in general.�

Lily nodded. “Yes and what has that got to do with anything?�

Grinning, Hugo passed her an old and yellowing book.

Lily could have hugged Hugo, the potion was perfect. “Great! Aw, Hugo. I love you!� she almost shouted before remembering that she was in a library.

Hugo shrugged rather modestly. “The only thing is, well, we need valerian.� He sighed looking rather downcast.

Confused, Lily asked, “And what’s the problem with that?�

Hugo gulped. “We’ll need to raid Professor Igehart’s cupboard.�

Rather downhearted, Lily shrugged. “Well, that’s no problem at all.�

The next week, Lily and Hugo met as planned, at two o’clock in the morning at the entrance of the dungeons. Lily had owled James asking him for the Marauders Map and he had sent her it, no questions asked. Hugo suspected that he was rather proud that his little sister was taking after him.

However, it had been much harder to secure the invisibility cloak. Albus was a light sleeper, and had probably hid the cloak very well so there had been no point in trying to steal it in the dead of night. Instead, Hugo had asked Albus to help him with a Charms essay. Rather touched that Hugo had gone to him rather than Rose, he complied, giving Lily the perfect opportunity to ransack his dorm and find the cloak.

Perfectly equipped, Lily and Hugo reached the potions store room very easily. However, once reaching it, they realised the flaw in their plan.

“How are we meant to get it open?� Lily hissed as she stamped her foot out of pure frustration.

Hugo shrugged.

“I don’t know, just try it?� he suggested rather innocently.

Scowling, Lily twisted the handle. Unsurprisingly, it failed to open. The two cousins stood there for what seemed like forever, trying to decide what to do before Hugo gasped, shaking the map as he showed it to Lily. Scanning the map, she saw two dots labelled Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley. Coming from them both was a speech bubble which said “Dingbat�. Hugo grinned as he uttered the password. The lock un-clicked and they let themselves inside.

It didn’t take long to find what they needed, and Lily went to bed that night feeling rather pleased with herself. Knowing that James would be very proud, she went to sleep dreaming of acne, payback and pranks.

Lily stifled a scream as she awoke; this was becoming an almost regular occurrence, waking up after a nightmare that she couldn’t quite remember. This time, however, she could faintly remember reaching for something—she had badly wanted it, she was sure of that.

She groaned as she peeled her bed covers off. She was up earlier than usual but that just meant that she had longer to shower and could do so without her dorm mates annoying her. However, she frowned as she noticed that Mariella’s bed was empty and already made, her hangings pulled right back. It looked like it hadn’t been slept in at all. Lily shrugged, she couldn’t really care less.

Lily had a leisurely shower and enjoyed her quiet breakfast before making her way to Charms, which was her first class of the day. She was just walking up the stairs to the second floor when she heard someone behind her. “Lily!� Noah Smith shouted, grabbing her attention. Lily groaned as she slouched against the wall. He was a sure fire way to put her in a bad mood. Noah was a fifth year and in Hufflepuff, he shared a dorm with Hugo. He was incredibly boring and wanted to work in the International Regulations office at the Ministry when he was older—a job that Lily would rather gouge her eyes out than do.

“How are you?� the boy asked breathlessly as he caught up with her. Lily couldn’t help but note that he resembled a puppy. With his shaggy brown hair and eyes of the same colour, he was not really the best looking boy, really more average. He had always had a little crush on Lily and liked to follow her around hopelessly in the hope that someday she would come to her senses and agree to go out with him.

Rolling her eyes at him, Lily replied, “I’m fine thanks.� She left no room for a reply; however this did not seem to faze him.

“So, it’s coming up for Hogsmeade weekend. Have you got any plans?� The tall boy leaned against the wall, as though in a casual conversation.

Wanting to scream, Lily said back, “I’m going with Hugo, as always. “

Noah looked rather downhearted. “Ah, see I was going to ask if you wanted to go with me,� he muttered, looking at the ground.

“Hm, I suppose you could come with me and Hugo?� Lily offered in a sickly sweet voice, one that she reserved for harsh sarcasm.

Noah smiled a rather crooked and watery smile and Lily prayed to Merlin that he wasn’t going to cry. “No, its okay I’ll go with the rest of the lads,� he croaked before turning and walking away in the opposite direction. Not at all concerned, Lily dully realised that he must have walked the completely wrong way in order to catch up with her. Shrugging, she continued her journey to Charms.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Hugo had found Noah’s advances hilarious and Transfiguration had bombed ever so slightly but apart from that Lily thought that everything was going well. That was until later on that evening.

Lily and Hugo had agreed to meet in an abandoned dungeon in order to start their potion; Hogsmeade was coming up soon and they needed to get a move on. However, both of them were not particularly skilled at potion making and were barely scraping a pass at their OWL class and making a potion with no direction from their professor whilst trying to decipher an ancient book was no mean feat .

The two cousins struggled and argued their way through the potion.

“I swear down Lily, the book says stir twelve times counter clockwise then three times clock wise.�

“No, Hugo, it says ten then three. Do you know how to read?�

They continued like this for almost an hour, mainly in silence but with the occasional comment. Eventually they broke the silence as they spent almost fifteen minutes arguing over when to add the moonstone before realising that their concoction was now an angry red colour, a far cry away from the clear that it should have been.

Almost to the stage of giving up, Lily slumped on the table. Her red hair was a complete mess and she could feel perspiration dripping down her face. She was, therefore, extremely embarrassed when an intruder burst into the classroom.

That intruder being Scorpius Malfoy.

Shocked, Lily swung around expecting to meet a teacher or a prefect. Rather annoyed that she had panicked for nothing she snapped, “What are you, my stalker? My dad had one once, she used to send him her dirty knickers and he used to get really embarrassed.�

Scorpius looked rather taken aback and Hugo quickly covered for Lily. “Sorry, she’s stressed out. She isn’t usually like this. Well, sometimes she isn’t like this. Anyway, what are you doing here?�

Lily thought she saw amusement flicker across Scorpius’s face, but that was quickly covered by an impassive expression.

“I could ask you the same thing,� he replied. “This is my classroom; I’m brewing my project for NEWT Potions in here.� His eyes flickered towards the corner of the classroom and Lily looked behind her to see a cauldron, which contained a baby blue potion with large bubbles floating to the ceiling.

“Oh,� both Lily and Hugo murmured at the same time. Lily sidled in front of her cauldron, hiding their disaster. Not only could they get in trouble but she was embarrassed at what Scorpius might think of their dreadful potion. However, he just ignored them and crossed to his corner of the room. He frowned as he stirred the potion lazily, adding a handful of ashwinder eggs. Noticing that she was staring, Lily averted her eyes.

They continued in peace, Scorpius working on his potion and Lily and Hugo on theirs. The blonde boy worked for fifteen minutes before packing up to leave. However, he stopped at the door and turned back. Rolling his eyes, he carefully stirred Lily’s potion and added a little more moonstone. Lily and Hugo watched him, rather taken aback. Suddenly, the potion started to bubble and slowly but surely, become transparent. Noticing what he was doing, Scorpius flushed pink. Wiping his hands on his robes, he quickly left the room leaving Lily rather shocked.

Slowly, Lily collected some of the mixture and cleaned out her cauldron. For long after he had gone, she couldn’t stop thinking of Scorpius. She envisioned his messy blonde hair and speculated about his body for a long time before Hugo picked up on her quietness.

“What’s up, Lily?� he asked as they made their way up from the dungeons.

Lily flushed slightly, and averted her eyes. “Nothing!� she replied, perhaps a little more edgy than normal.

Hugo shrugged; he was used to Lily’s funny moods. They stopped outside the entrance to his common room, and Lily went to say good- bye before someone behind him caught her eye. Noah Smith and his friends were walking down the stairs. She contemplated for a while, before realising she needed to do this. She couldn’t keep pining over Malfoy, could she? And Noah seemed keen enough. Drawing a breath, she crossed over to the tall, brown hair boy. “Erm, Smith.� She had to clear her throat in order to speak again, and Hugo looked rather bemused. “I’m not going to Hogsmeade tomorrow with Hugo anymore, I suppose you could take me,� she muttered, hardly believing what she as saying.

Noah’s face lit up and he could barely stutter his acceptance before rushing away. She thought she saw his friend clap him on the shoulder before they disappeared through the Hufflepuff tapestry. Shuddering, she turned to face Hugo who looked rather upset.

“What am I meant to do now?� he said.

Lily shrugged. “Go with Albus or Rose or Louis or someone…�

Hugo rolled his eyes but didn’t seem immensely bothered. “I think I will see what Louis is doing actually, I couldn’t bear a whole afternoon of Roxanne,� he said rather thoughtfully, as if he was weighing up his options.

The two cousins said their goodbyes and Lily turned to start the long trek to the Gryffindor common room. All the way there, she thought about what she had just done. There was no way that she would enjoy her date, but really there was no way out of it. Each excuse she thought up became more and more ridiculous until Lily realised that she would have to go on the date, even if for only an hour.

Finally, Lily reached the portrait of the Fat Lady which swung open before she had a chance to even say the password. Mariella Vance climbed out, and Lily inwardly groaned as she was not in the mood at all for her. However, she was vastly surprised when Mariella simply smiled and said in a breezy tone, “Hey, Lily! How are you?� before slipping past her and down the corridor.

Blinking, Lily stepped into the common room. Mariella had never been that nice to Lily before. Ever the prankster, she never turned down a dare and only last year had filled Lily’s bed with frogspawn. The year before, she had been dared to try to get as close to the Whomping Willow as possible, and had subsequently ended up in the Hospital Wing for a week.

The point was that Lily and Mariella had never really spoken.

So what had that been about?

On the morning of Halloween Lily awoke with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. Nothing could stop her happiness, not the snide remark issued from Jane Walker about her hair, not the thought of an overdue but certainly not finished Charms essay, not even the slight twinge of pain radiating from Lily’s hip could cause her to stop smiling.

However, it seemed that happiness was not contagious. When Lily met Hugo at the bottom of the grand staircase, where they had agreed to meet in order to finalise their plans, she was met by stony silence.

“Why so dour faced?� she asked, slightly concerned.

Hugo shrugged. “I’m not a morning person. Why so happy?� he replied as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

“Because, little cousin,� Lily chirped, ignoring Hugo’s wince. “Today is the day that Caoimhe will finally be put back into her place, where she shall receive a taste of her own medicine. Today she will finally be served with some humble pie…� she trailed off, slightly embarrassed by her cheesy speech.

Hugo frowned. “I’m not your little cousin! You are older than me by two months, Lily,� he snapped. “Anyway, have you got the potion?�

Lily grinned a large Chesire cat smile. She removed a small vial from the folds of her robes and shook it a little, admiring it as it glinted in the light streaming through the hall. “Of course I do! Now are you sure you know what you’re doing?�

Hugo nodded briefly. Their plan was now in action.

As planned Lily and Hugo separated for breakfast. Hugo went to the Hufflepuff table and Lily grabbed a seat at the Gryffindor table right next to Caoimhe. The girl looked rather suspicious at Lily’s close proximity, but didn’t say anything.

Sometime later, after the morning post, Hugo made his way over to Lily with a piece of parchment and a goblet of pumpkin juice in his hand. “Hey, Lily. My mum included a letter for you when she sent mine. Here it is,� he said as rehearsed. Lily winced slightly at his bland tone but reached over to accept the letter nevertheless. As Hugo leaned over Caoimhe to give Lily the fake letter he tipped his juice into Jane Walker’s lap providing a sufficient distraction for Lily to spike Caoimhe’s juice with the potion.

Once the distraction was over, Lily couldn’t help but grin as she watched Caoimhe drain her pumpkin juice before storming away proclaiming very loudly that she had a ‘date’. Lily’s bubble quickly burst as she realised that she too had a date. Groaning, she left the Great Hall to meet Noah. Of course, he was already there, standing on his own with a very goofy smile on his face. He smiled even more when Lily approached. “Lils! Can I call you that? How are you?�

Lily forced a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Caoimhe exiting the Hall with Robert Davies. He was a very good looking, but very big headed sixth year. Not wanting to miss the show she grabbed Noah’s arm and instantly let go when she realised what she had done. “Come on, come on, let’s go!� she said, marching Noah out of the Entrance Hall.

Noah looked a little surprised but followed her anyway. “Well, I was going to go grab a slice of toast before we left,� he replied as he followed at Lily’s heels.

“No time for that. You should have eaten this morning,� Lily barked back. Her full concentration was on Caoimhe. She was desperate not to lose her.

“Well, you see I was really nervous. I had this dream last night that you stood me up and went off with Davies or Wilson. I suppose it was more like a nightmare. Anyway, I woke up this morning and I was so worried. Then I couldn’t decide what to wear…�

Noah’s speech was completely lost on Lily. They continued like this most of the way to Hogsmeade; Noah speaking and Lily ignoring him completely. Finally, they reached the small village. Lily scanned the crowd, searching for a glimmer of blonde hair that would tell her that Caoimhe was close by. “Shit, I’ve lost her,� she muttered to herself.

“Lost who?� Noah replied. Lily jumped; she had forgotten he was there. “Anyway, I was saying how chuffed Robert was when Caoimhe Finnegan agreed to come here with him.� Lily stopped short.

“I didn’t know that were friends with Robert,� she stated. “Do you know where he’s taking her?�

Noah nodded. “We both go to Charms Club.� This caused Lily to roll her eyes. “I think he mentioned something about Madam Pudifoots.�

Lily grinned. “How sweet. Why don’t we go there? I heard the cream cakes are really good,� she said feeling slightly sick; she sounded like her older cousin Dominique. Madam Pudifoots had been her regular haunt in her Hogwart days. She was infamous for being a huge flirt.

The small café was Lily’s worst nightmare, made even worse by the fact that Noah Smith was there with her. The café had changed very little over the years. It was full of adolescent couples who could not keep their hands off of each other and was decorated a lurid pink colour with clashing purple table clothes. Lily hastily ordered a pot of tea when prompted and kept her attention on Caoimhe while ignoring Noah’s desperate attempts to engage her in a conversation.

Lily was almost finished her tea. She was just beginning to worry that the potion would not work when a loud shriek silenced the café. Everyone turned to look at the origin of the sound: Caoimhe. At first Lily could only see Robert Davies. His face was the perfect picture of horror as he gazed up at something. That something was only distinguishable by her long blonde hair. Caoimhe’s face was fantastically swollen and painfully stretched with sore clusters of acne. “I’m ugly!� she cried out as she caught her reflection in a mirror.

Davies rose to his feet and took a step backwards as if he has afraid. The whole café remained silent and still for a split second before breaking into hysterical laughter, for whilst Caoimhe was revered and respected at Hogwarts she was not particularly liked. The laughter carried on for what seemed like a lifetime before Caoimhe stood and stormed from the café with tears streaming down her horribly disfigured face.

Lily mentally high fived herself as she turned to face Noah. Even he was chuckling to himself. “I did hear once that Finnigan was in actual fact a hag and had to come to school in disguise,� he solemnly informed Lily.

At this Lily rolled her eyes. Although usually quick witted she struggled to think of a come back to this. Finally, she snapped “And I’m a flipping Merlin come back from the dead.� Before downing the rest of her tea she muttered, “I’m finished, let’s go.� Ignoring Noah’s protest that he hadn’t quite finished yet she left the café, wondering how she was going to escape him.

They awkwardly walked through Hogsmeade for a while with Lily not quite tactfully provided one word answers every time Noah tried to spark up a conversation. Finally, they reached the Three Broomsticks and Lily turned to face him. “Look, Smith, I have loads of homework to do. I better get going.�

Noah simply grinned down at Lily not quite taking the hint. “Well, I will walk you back up. Is it Herbology homework? We could work on it together.�

Lily shuddered. “No thanks, I can walk myself. And it’s… Divination homework� she lied, knowing full well that Noah knew that she did not take Divination.

Noah opened his mouth to speak before turning around as someone called his name. “Smith!� someone shouted. “Shouldn’t you be at Charms Club? I heard something about an emergency meeting. Vance is going mental because you aren’t there!� Lily looked over Noah’s shoulder to see who her saviour was. That someone was none other than Scorpius Malfoy with a giant smirk on his face.

Lily had seen Nifflers move slower than Noah and she shook her head as she watched him dash away toward the castle whilst shouting apologies over his shoulder. Slightly amused, she turned to face Scorpius. “Charms Club?� she asked him.

Scorpius shrugged. “Smith? Really?� he replied, completely ignoring her question.

“I never knew you had a sense of humour… or a soul,� Lily retorted, thinking of the little she knew about Scorpius Malfoy. She knew he was intelligent, very intelligent in fact. She knew he was quiet and very serious and that he had a terrible family who had committed crimes that she could not quite imagine.

It surprised her when he threw his head back and laughed. “I’ve been told I am the first person in my family to have one,� he joked. Lily flinched slightly; it was almost as though he had read her mind. She rolled her eyes at herself. Don’t be silly, he’s just a stupid Slytherin. she thought to herself.

Lily frowned and ran her hands through her hair, blushing slightly. “Well, I better get going,� she muttered as she walked away not quite believing what had just happened. She wasn’t shy and never had been, so why had she blushed back there, and why had her stomach jilted a little when she had saw him? He was a Malfoy.

This turmoil continued all the way back to Hogwarts until she finally entered her dormitory, where she was not met with the peace that she had hoped for. Instead, she was met with a flying textbook.

“What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you, you little idiot!� Caoimhe Finnegan screeched in Lily’s face, spit flying in every direction.

Lily stayed calm. “What are you on about? And what the hell happened to your face?� she retorted, slightly disgusted with the close up view of Caoimhe’s face. Not a patch of skin was without an ugly tight spot, leaking with puss.

Caoimhe advanced even closer to Lily. “What happened to my face?� she spat. “You happened, you cow! I know it was you!� she screamed, a slightly deranged look on her face.

Lily shrugged complacently. “No idea what you are on about,� she said breezily. “Shouldn’t you be down at the Hospital Wing?� she asked, grinning as Caoimhe fizzed with anger.

“I already have and apparently I have to wait for them to die down. There is nothing the stupid woman can do,� she said through gritted teeth.

Lily backed away and calmly sat on her bed. “I have some spot cream you can borrow if you like,� she said whilst shrugging. She was finding it hard not to collapse to the floor in laughter.

Caoimhe snapped and picked up another textbook. She lobbed it in Lily’s direction again, an almost animal look in her face. “I ACTUALLY HATE YOU!� she screeched.

Lily started to retort before she was interrupted. “Calm down, Caoimhe!� Mariella Vane muttered from the corner of the room. Shocked, Caoimhe turned around.

“You’re not on her side are you?� she hissed, her eyes still wide and wild.

Mariella shrugged. “She says she has nothing to do with it.�

With one last shriek Caoimhe stormed from the room slamming the door behind her in a blind rage. Mariella turned to follow her after turning to Lily and giving her a wink. Slightly confused, Lily lay back on her bed running through the day’s events in her head. One word kept on recurring again and again. Scorpius.

When Lily awoke she was not quite sure where she was. Struggling to even think, she tried to sit up. Panic struck when she found she couldn’t even move her toes. It was almost as if she was glued to the bed. A lifetime seemed to pass before the door to her room flew open.

“She’s awake!� a disembodied voice that sounded like it could be James exclaimed.

Lily screwed her eyes shut as what seemed like a stampede burst into her room. Unable to move her neck, she could only stare at the white ceiling above her as a conversation ensued around her.

“Roxanne, piss off, the Healer said immediate family only.�

“James, watch your language!�

“Yeah, Potter, watch your language.�

“Piss off.�

“James!�

“Err, Roxanne, it is a little crowded in here.�

Lily tried to muster a cough to let her family know that she was indeed awake; she desperately wanted to know what had happened and why she was here.

“Is she awake?�

“Nah, don’t think so�

“Her eyes are open…�

“She’s always slept like that, it gives me the creeps!�

Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m awake!� she murmured through cracked lips and a dry throat. Almost immediately her mother appeared standing over her, her brow furrowed with concern.

“Where am I?� Lily managed to force out before Ginny started to force water into her mouth. As she was unable to control her face fully, water dribbled down her chin rather embarrassingly.

Ginny sighed. “St. Mungos, darling. You fell off your broom and really hurt yourself.�

The ominous tone in her mother’s voice sent a shiver down her spine.

“How bad?� she croaked.

“Let’s just wait until the Healers come in,� Ginny almost whispered.

“How bad, mum?� Lily demanded. She needed to know how bad it really was.

“The Healers don’t know if you’re going to walk again.�

Lily screamed and screamed and screamed but no noise came out. Suddenly she was falling, falling into the darkness and her mum was repeating the same words over and over again.

“The Healers don’t know if you’re going to walk again.�

Despite her desperate attempt to sleep in, Lily woke up bright and early on the morning of the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match. Quidditch was the one thing she could not stand to think about. Almost a year and a half after the fateful incident it was still a sore subject. As a result, she tended to avoid all matches claiming that she had too much homework or wanted a day by herself. Her family didn’t tend to push her; they knew she was going through something they couldn’t understand.

Lily lay in her bed as the rest of her dorm mates got ready for the big match. Only when Jane, the last person to get ready, left did she heave herself out of bed and into the shower. It was a bad day today and she would almost definitely need her stick this time. The pain always seemed to get worse when there was a Quidditch match on or when she was under a lot more stress than normal. The Healers had reassured her that this was normal and that magical injuries had a certain way of reminding you that they were there.

Lily dressed herself in casual attire- black leggings and her brother’s old Chudley Cannons jumper- and made her way down to the common room. Ten minutes into reading a book that Rose had loaned to her Lily realised that she was bored. The common room was eerily quiet and, to be frankly honest, Lily had no inclination to learn about the life of Elizabeth Bennett and her many sisters. “Try having two brothers!� Lily muttered to herself before realising that she was in fact in the room on her own and talking to yourself was surely one of the first signs of madness. Shaking her head to clear all thoughts, she decided to take a trip to the Owlery. She had to reply to the letter she had received from her Dad the other day.

She removed the letter from her pocket and flattened it out on the table in order to re-read it.

Lily,

Sighing, Lily started to reply to the letter. The last part had been very ominous indeed. What did he mean that a lot had gone on in her life? As far as Lily knew, Mariella was the daughter of the very famous Romilda Vane who had invented a line of hair products for exceptionally frizzy hair. In her younger days she had modelled for various underwear brands. The Vane family had no less money than the Potters and Lily assumed that Mariella lived a comfortable and rich life. She knew for a fact she was a spoiled and therefore decided not to probe into the issue any further. She quickly finished her return letter and set off for the Owlery.

The journey took ten minutes longer than usual even with the stick to help her. Today was really looking like a bad day. Lily knew that at some point she would have to go down to the Hospital Wing for pain relief. However, she really wanted to postpone that for as long as possible, as the potion had the nasty side effect of making the consumer drowsy but unable to sleep.

Finally, Lily reached the Owlery. It didn’t take long for her to spot the family owl, Socrates, and send her letter off. Lily sighed as she watched the owl fly off into the distance. Now it was time for the long walk back to the common room.

Gryffindor had won by a landslide of 170 points and the whole of the Gryffindor house were in full party mode. That was, everyone apart from Lily. Unable to quite escape the raging party, Lily curled up in a quieter corner of the common room almost hidden in the space in between two sofas. Although the noise from the party was deafening no one seemed to notice Lily and she was able to dull the noise considerably by hiding underneath a pillow. However, it didn’t take long for her peace and quiet to be interrupted. Lily groaned as she saw Roxanne bounding towards her like an infuriating puppy.

“Dude!� Roxanne exclaimed as she jumped onto one of the sofa’s that Lily was sandwiched in between and peered down at her with a huge grin on her face.

“What does that even mean?� Lily snapped, burying herself even further under her pillow.

Roxanne shrugged. “Dunno. Heard it on one of Aunt Hermione’s films,� she replied. “Anyway, why aren’t you joining in?�

Lily sighed. “I’m tired. I just want to go to bed.�

At this, Roxanne rolled her eyes. “Right, okay. I’ll leave you to it then,� she said before leaving Lily in peace once more. However, she wasn’t the only concerned family member to find her. An ecstatic Albus succeeded in annoying Lily even more with his fanatic playback of the match. Next came Molly and Louis with concern etched all over their faces. Even Hugo came to try and coax Lily into joining the party.

“And how the hell did you get in here?� Lily snapped halfway through their conversation when she realised that Hugo was in actual fact a Hufflepuff.

“I come in here sometimes; you know, to see my family? Just because you never come to the Hufflepuff common room!� he retorted back, slightly hurt.

“That’s because you lot are boring,� Lily replied. “Now go away!� Rather annoyed she flounced up to her dormitory and hid herself under the covers of her bed, cursing her family, her life and everything else.

The final straw was when Rose arrived. Rather pompously, she smoothed the bed covers before sitting down. “You know, Lily,� she said while gazing around the mess that was the Fifth Year girls’ dormitory. “I’ve never really been into Quidditch myself. Sometimes you just have to humour everyone else.�

At this, Lily threw herself out of her bed. She simply could not bear anymore. Without a word, she stormed from the dormitory, through the common room where she was shouted at from no less than ten people before throwing herself out of the portrait hole slamming the door behind her.

“You really should have more house spirit, you know!� the Fat Lady chastised while fixing her hair. “And don’t you dare do that again!�

Lily raised her middle finger in response as she dashed down the corridor. When out of sight she leant against the wall, breathing deeply. There she remained for a good while as she let the cool air coming in from a window calm her down. It wasn’t until her stomach rumbled that she decided to make a move.

As she made her way down to the kitchens, she silently cursed the fact that she had forgotten both the cloak and the map. However, with a bit of luck, she ran into no trouble on the way down. That was until she collided with the spot in the wall where the entrance to the kitchens should have been. Cursing to herself she slid to the floor, curled into the foetal position and groaned.

“They took the portrait away last night. I think it needed repaired or something.�

Lily jumped a mile before swinging around�pointing her wand at the voice that had appeared from nowhere. She only tensed even more when she saw Scorpius Malfoy leaning against the wall, a slight smirk on his face.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to kill me,� he said, making no effort to draw his own wand.

Lily let herself relax a little bit. “I was thinking more of a disarming spell. Murder seems a little harsh,� she muttered as she stuffed her wand back into her pocket.

At this remark, Scorpius’s eyes creased and he appeared to almost grimace. It took Lily a few seconds to realise that he was smiling. “Like father, like daughter,� he murmured and Lily barely caught the words as she slowly sunk to the ground, massaging her hips.

Scorpius frowned. “Does it still hurt you?�

“Does it bloody well look like it?� Lily growled.

There was silence for a few seconds as both parties glowered. He is just about as moody as I am, Lily thought, not quite sure if she liked this fact. Deep in her thoughts, she jumped slightly when Scorpius lowered himself to sit down next to her.

“I think everyone still thinks about that day sometimes, it was horrible. I remember watching it happen from the stands and reaching out for you when�I think everyone did to be honest. Your Dad was so quick, though. He saved your life.�

It took a while for this speech to settle into Lily’s mind. That day was something that her family tended not to talk about. Everyone knew that Lily was fragile- a cripple- and everyone knew why; they just happened to not know how to put why she was like that into words. Lily leaned back against the wall and thought. Hours seemed to pass before she finally heard the words spill out of her mouth.

“He doesn’t seem to think so. He thinks he ruined my life. Maybe he did,� she whispered so quietly that so was not so sure that Scorpius had heard as suddenly light flooded over the couple.

“I dismissed you over two hours ago, Malfoy. Detention for you and your little friend, I think,� Professor Igehart snarled, looking down at both Lily and Scorpius.

“And make that twenty house points deducted each for good measure.�

Only one word crossed Lily’s mind. Shit.