Hi everyone! A while ago I had written a story that I never finished. When I decided to go back and finish it I just could no longer follow the story that my 14-year- self had come up with, so I decided to rewrite the entire thing. I hope to update somewhat regularly, but as I am currently in college you never really know. I hope you enjoy! All my love, Lucie

Disclaimer: anything you recognize does not belong to me

Lily lay sound asleep in her bed, the rain falling gently outside on a typical dreary London day. Her small form was curled up tightly to fight the slight chill making its way in through the window. She frowned as she tossed and turned trying to get comfortable, when suddenly she found herself quite unable to breathe.

She gasped at the sudden enormous pressure on her chest, and her eyes flew open to be met with- black fur?

"Ugh- Bear!" She sputtered, as she unsuccessfully tried to shove her giant horse-dog off of her. Unfortunately he seemed rather content where he was, and all of her weak shoving was clearly getting her nowhere.

"Oh sweet Merlin." Lily muttered to herself, bemused. "This is how I'm going to die- smothered in my sleep by my dog".

Luckily at that moment, her best friend and roommate Ben peeked his head inside. "Lil you're going to have to get up- Bear get down from there!" He laughed as the dog jumped down to enthusiastically kiss him and bound out of the open door.

Lily, catching her breath raised her head to thank him when "oopf". Ben rolled right on top of her, burying his head in her neck. Rolling her eyes again, she poked and prodded every inch of him she could reach until he finally rolled his heavy, muscular body off of her laughing.

She tried her best to smile back at him, but it felt forced and he noticed. They both sat up, but neither moved from the bed. There was a familiar heavy atmosphere that always came on September 1st. The day where they would have to leave each other to go to their respective schools, Hogwarts for Lily and Beauxbatons for Ben.

Lily felt a different type of pressure in her chest now, and she knew it would persist throughout the day, maybe the week.

"Hey" Ben said softly, moving Lily's dark red hair behind her ear. "Lil it's going to be fine- it's always fine. Now come on- I know for a fact you have yet to finish packing" He finished, grinning as she flopped back on the bed with a dramatic moan. She moaned again as they both heard the distinctive sound of glass breaking from the small living area in their suite at the Leaky Cauldron.

"BEAR" Ben hollered as he bounded out of the room to see what the dog had broken now.

Lily sighed and got out of bed. Stretching she took in the organized mess that was her room and cursed herself inwardly for procrastinating in packing for so long. Pulling her long dark red hair back into a bun, she set to work.

The summer had been long and hard. As Lily was an orphan and Ben was estranged from his family, they both had to get summer jobs to support themselves. They worked day and night at a cafe during the summer. The only real fun Lily had experienced these past two months was when she was able to go and play guitar on the street corner. She had even earned a bit of money.

She glanced at her slightly tattered school robes, and smiled ruefully. They were doing the best they possibly could. This had been their first summer where it was just the two of them.

Lily's mother had died of an aneurysm when she was six. She would never forget coming home from school to find her mother "sleeping" on the carpet. Her father had come home from picking her sister Petunia up to find his youngest daughter crying and trying desperately to wake her mother. Unfortunately, fate continued to be cruel to the sweet little girl and her friend.

Her father, the strong man Lily had always looked up to, had passed three years later when she was nine. He had died in a car accident that had almost claimed Lily's life as well. Both she and her sister had gone to live with their grandfather until he too passed away of cancer just last year. The girls had split up as Lily had chosen to try and live on her own, while Petunia moved in with her friends family.

While Lily did have another grandmother that lived in Wales, her life was in England. However, she always made sure to visit her, and the magical country she considered her homeland, as often as she possibly could.

Ben's story was entirely different. He came from a magical, pure-blooded family. His mother had passed when he was an infant, and his very traditional father had unfortunately disowned him once he discovered Ben was gay. They were just two misfits, trying to make it in a world that seemed always against them. But they had each other, and somehow, that was all they needed.

Flashback:

Lily stood trembling as the coffin that held her grandfather, her beloved 'taid', was lowered into the ground.

"Ben" she choked out, panic rising in her voice. The boy tightened his grip on her. "Ben, what are we going to do?" The tears came pouring out of her eyes now and Ben squeezed his eyes shut. There was nothing he could do to stop her pain. He could just try and hold her together. So that's what he did. He drew the sobbing girl into his arms and murmured comforting words into her hair.

"I've got you. I've got you." He told her over and over again, tears leaking out of his eyes. "We have each other. I'll be your family." They stood there alone crying for a long time. They wept not only for the man they had both loved, but for the cruelly premature ending to their childhood. From now on, they were on their own.

They had met in a dance class when they were just four years old. Ben always joked that they were platonic soulmates, as the first thing they did when they got in the dance studio was to reach for the others hand, and they hadn't let go since.

Lily sighed as she surveyed herself in the mirror. She pulled her hair down and it fell in waves around her face. Large emerald eyes framed by thick dark lashes stared back at her from a face that always seemed too pale and too thin. She sighed in dissatisfaction, but moved on, double and triple checking that she had everything for the year. "Textbooks-check. Staff paper- check" It was a little sad, how her whole world fit in a large trunk. She mentally shook herself- 'enough with the self-pity' she thought angrily. She squared her shoulders, left the dingy, gray room she had spent all summer, and walked down to the bar where Ben was waiting for her with Bear.

Ben would floo to his school in France, while Lily and Bear would make their way to King's Cross station where the Hogwarts Express would be waiting for them.

Lily took a deep breath and held back tears. Ben smiled at her, but the wetness in his eyes was unmistakable. They hugged each other hard, Lily burying her face in his chest. She hated saying goodbye to her best friend, her brother in every way but blood. He was one of the only remnants of her childhood, of her family. He was her everything. He stepped back with a determined look on his face. "I love you, Aderyn" He said. She smiled through her tears, as she always did when he used the nickname her family had always called her. "Bird" because of her beautiful voice and musical talents. Her beautiful voice that she didn't use nearly enough.

"I love you too" she murmured as she kissed his cheek. "Stay safe". He stepped in the flames with one last look at her, and was gone.

She hastily wiped the tears from her cheek. Looking down at Bear, he wagged his tail. "I guess we better get a move on, no?" She said with a forced lightness. They walked until she hailed a cab, and started their way towards King's Cross.