Her first Potions essay of sixth year received full marks. Slughorn was delighted.
"Excellent, excellent, Lily!" He cried to the dungeons. "Twenty points to Gryffindor. Good Lord, it's clear I don't need to teach you much! What more do you have to learn? Take another ten points…"
She'd gotten an 'O' in Charms, in fact, she'd gotten an 'O' in every subject except Divination, but her Charms exam was given a distinction by the examiner; a rare honour. She wasn't surprised when Oakeheart made her stay behind after her first lesson.
"So what are we going to do about this, hmm?" Lily stayed silent, wishing the ground would swallow her whole, regretting reading ahead after performing the banishing charm flawlessly on her first attempt. Couldn't she have at least pretended to struggle? "There's a real range of ability in this class, and it's clear where you stand. Usually, NEWT classes run at a faster pace, but I'm afraid that isn't possible this year. What do you propose we do to alleviate the boredom?"
Lily had shrugged, uncomfortable, choosing to remain mute until she was dismissed by the Professor.
She wasn't stupid, in fact, she was beginning to realise just how intelligent she was. It wasn't enough though, and she worked tirelessly to be the best. Even the best wasn't good enough, because she'd had to work for it. She'd never fit in.
Whatever she did, it was never enough.
A/N A short one-shot about Lily the geek. This is based on real events in my life – turns out teachers actually do that. However, I'm a professional procrastinator, so this isn't about me really.
Sometimes I think Lily worked because she liked it. Other times I think it was because she wanted to have control in a situation she was otherwise uncomfortable in. Or maybe it was just to beat Potter…
Thoughts?