Lily Potter determinedly flew around the pitch. She was soaring high above all of the other players, desperately looking for the Snitch, whilst at the same time trying to keep an eye on the opposing seeker, Tabitha Nott. She needed to find the snitch now, as Slytherin was winning 200-110 and as she flew, she cursed her brother, James, for his laziness. Slightly too complacent for his own good, the Gryffindor Captain had not upped the amount of practises before the final game of the year but instead, had remained confident that Slytherin would never beat Gryffindor.
Lily gritted her teeth as she searched the Slytherin end of the pitch. It was a little too windy and a little too cold for the time of year and she couldn’t feel her body. Her hands were frozen to her broomstick and her nose had been running constantly for the past half an hour. However, she didn’t care; Quidditch was her passion, her life and what she wanted to pursuit when she left school.
Ducking out the way of a rogue Bludger, Lily caught up with her brother. “Are you going to get bloody scoring? My arse is frozen here!” she bellowed in his ear. The older boy shook his head. He looked substantially paler than usual and he had managed to perspire through his robes
“AND NOTT HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH!”
The whole crowd cheered as the commentator announced the development, and right enough, Lily spotted the Slytherin seeker soaring up towards her, her eyes focused on a spot just behind Lily’s shoulder. Lily promptly turned and spotted the Snitch. Screaming at the top of her voice she flew as fast as she could but it was no use, Nott was catching up. But Lily was reaching out, and she could feel the Snitch at her fingertips. Leaning forward she…
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.
Loca Unquam, Potion of ailment to the skin.This potion will cause extreme blemishes to appear upon the skin, not unlike the effects of which Spattergroit causes to its sufferers. Its effects are slow and only the most skilled wizard will seek the skill to remove these blemishes.
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.