Blackwing
By Silver Falcon
Chapter 1
It was an early day, and Lilus Potter had spent most of her summer morning next to or in the lake. She was tall and streamline, seemingly having the perfect body that would attract any guy's eye. She was wearing a dark green shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts, both soaking wet from her previous swim in the lake. Her long black hair cascaded down her body, sticking to her neck and shoulders. Her skin was a light cream color and shiny with water streaming down it in small droplets. She held perfectly still, finding that she was once again staring into the water's unmoving surface straight at her eyes.
It wasn't her staring back. It never was. For some strange reason, Lilus knew that those eyes did not belong to her, those reddish-brown orbs that were in her head. They weren't her eyes.
She sat perfectly still, letting the small breezes slide back and forth across her skin. It wasn't cold at all, and, in fact, it was getting warmer with each minute that passed. It was probably about ten in the morning, but she had been out since six and wasn't that sure anymore. She welcomed the early morning with opened arms. Lilus had never really been much of a sleeper. One could call her crazy, and she knew that it was not something to be denied. She wasn't normal.
Lilus had grown up in luxury. Her father was the famous Harry Potter, the wizard that had destroyed the Dark Lord Voldemort. Voldemort was just a myth now, something with which witches would threaten their misbehaving children. He had been demoted to an item of mockery and loose threats, nothing more. Her father, though he and her mother Hermione were rich, had gotten her used to Muggle labor since she was young. She never disliked him for it, either. It had given her an incredible shape, and her stamina and endurance were to be envied. Her free time was spent outside or with her friends. She even visited her father's cousin on a few occasions and helped him and his family. Her distant cousin Dudley had gotten diabetes when he was in his late teens, and since then, it had become very hard for him to do some stuff.
Lilus had a knack for cleaning the house. Her parents did their part when it was open. Usually, everything would be clean when they woke up and before they went to bed, so they had to find something to clean while she was away. She loved cleaning, which was another odd thing. Most teenagers hated to clean anything, but she'd probably do something before anyone asked and more.
Her head suddenly left the water and stared into the void of the air in front of her. The Weasley gang was going to visit today, or, rather, she was going to visit them. They filled an entire neighborhood, and it was like her second home. Although she wasn't related to any of them, she still called their parents Mom and Dad. They had grown up together. She had to admit that there were some gorgeous redheads living there, but some of them were too close to be boyfriends or whatnot.
Lilus hadn't known Shawn all her life, unlike the Weasleys'. Shawn had been there since she was young, but there was a ground that separated them where the Weasley gang felt like family. He was such an enigma to her. Their Hogwarts group had adopted him in as Nikodemus. He was very quiet and hardly ever spoke, but when he did, it was with great wisdom. She had so much respect for him.
Her inner self was one unknown to the Weasleys' or Shawn Longbottom. If they knew what she saw at night, what she dreamt about, they would probably want to understand her in a psychotic way. If they knew, what she thought of her eyes...
"You okay?"
The voice belonged to her father, the tall, handsome man that had vanquished the Dark Lord forever. Without turning, she nodded.
"Just...thinking," she whispered, her voice smooth and calm.
Harry sat next to her and adjusted his glasses, looking into the water with her. "About what?"
"Moldy Voldy," she answered, grinning. Her words caused a cheerful laugh to erupt from him. "Just thinking about him."
"Why Voldemort, Lilus?"
Lilus leaned back onto the ground, cradling her neck in her hands, staring at the sky. "Can he ever come back?"
Harry's face grew stern and serious, and his bright green eyes flickered protectively. "Lilus, you know he can never return. If you're afraid of him..."
"I'm not," she said, catching him short of his words. "I'm...just thinking."
"Well, get packed. We're heading over to Ron's in a few hours. We'll be staying over there until school starts, so pack your trunk too."
She nodded. "Done."
She stood up and stretched, carefully trodding up the grass to their cottage on the hill. The house was two stories tall, with her room perched on the second floor with her parents. Her life here had been paradise, and she was eternally greatful to whatever had allowed her father to live during that last battle.
As soon as she opened the back door, a fulfilling smell entered her nose. She smiled and turned to see her mother working at the stove. Her mother and father liked magic, but they also enjoyed the stress relief that came from doing things themselves. Her mother enjoyed her cooking. Behind the great bush of brown hair, she knew there was a skillet with fish inside it. There was only one glorious smell that came from cooked fish.
She walked upstairs, her tall body beginning to grow taller than her mother's and nearing the size of her father's who stood a good 6'2" off the ground. She still had a few inches to grow, considering that she was only 5' 7". Her poor mother was only about five and a quarter feet tall, bushy hair included. As her moist feet clapped against the wooden staircase, her mother turned around.
"Again? Darling, you really shouldn't swim in just a t-shirt and a pair of old shorts. I can buy you something more decent..."
Lilus wheeled around and grabbed one of her arms with the other, smiling awkwardly. "Oh, Mother. You know how I hate bathing suits. This...is really just fine. I...like it better...a lot...?" the hint of confusion in her voice was obvious.
Her mother sighed deeply. "Of course. You take after your father's rugged ways, but unlike him, you have a knack for abandoning your glasses. Where are they?" she said winking.
"Uh, well. Maybe in my room somewhere. Just hope Crookshanks hasn't gotten ahold of the case again." Her mother kissed her on the cheek lightly. Lilus made a hissing noise and wiped it off. "Mom?!"
Hermione laughed. "What? You're still my daughter!"
Lilus continued to scrub her cheek with her hands. "Yeah, but I'm sixteen years old! I'm too old for kisses, Mom!"
"Not until I think you are. Now hurry! Pack and get dressed before you catch cold!"
Lilus was shooed upstairs and into her room, which was decorated with toy Snitches dangling from the ceiling on strings. On the far wall were three rings, each on top of tall posts. Mixed in with the Snitches were cardboard players that she had drawn, including her own father, who was sitting on his broomstick and waving a Snitch high in the air. Her Dad's friend Ron was on another, as well as his twin brothers George and Fred. On the two walls beside the ring wall, were stands packed tightly with sports fans, and each stand had its own emblem. She had played in that same stadium before. She had taken her father's place as Gryffindor Seeker, and she had inherited her lightning reflexes from her father and grandfather. She was acing all of her classes and was actually encouraged to play as much Quidditch as she could. The other teachers thought that she spent all her time studying, but they were so wrong. Her mother would stock her full of notes that she had taken during her school terms, and they helped a lot. Lilus studied them vigorously at school, and never cheated on anything if she could help it.
She smiled. She liked Ron a lot, but Fred and George were just cool. They were teenaged men, probably never to grow out of their prankster phase. They both owned a very successful business in Diagon Alley, and whenever she had some extra spending money (which she earned from her parents for cleaning house) and wasn't saving up for a new broom (which was 99% of the time), she would pay them a visit and buy a few new jokes to play on other people.
Justin, Baker, Diego, Nick, and Charlie were going to be happy to see her again.
She was the leader in their Marauder group. They had enlarged the group quiet a bit, but it was still a tightly woven circle of friends. Shawn was in it two, as well as one of the Weasley girls and a boy that she had met in her first year named Jason. He was an Animagus, someone who could change their form into an animal. His form was that of an eagle, a deep brown bird of pray and very beautiful animal.
She had often wondered what it would be like to fly without a broom. Flying was one of her most favorite activities, and she practiced with the Snitch probably more often than any of the other practiced. Getting on the team was little more than a quiz, since her father had taught her to fly early in her years, and she had played with the Snitch since she was little. It was just a toy for little wizard and witches, but her father had bewitched it to fly around whenever her two-year-old self decided to prod it and throw it in the air. It would never fly away very far, but eventually, she became able to run after it.
Before her father retired from his professional Quidditch position, he was given the Snitch of his last game and was applauded by millions of fans around the world. After she turned twelve, he began to use the same Snitch to train her with, and she no longer had to see it in order to tell that it was close by. Her ears had tuned into the quiet humming of the golden ball's wings, and her eyes were trained to glance in one direction and watch all around it for the sudden flash that would occur.
The Bludgers were what she had problems with. Because she was so talented at catching the Snitch, the Beaters would sometimes attempt to take her out with a "stray" Bludger. She had bruised many a bone this way, and yet, she still couldn't tell whenever she was being followed by the deranged ball. The Slytherin Beaters were especially rough on her. They would tail her throughout the entire game unless their team was losing so bad that even the Snitch couldn't save them. Surprisingly, the Weasleys' were very coordinated during a match, even though it was probably the only time they had any sense.
Walking over to her nightstand, upon which sat a lamp and one of her old school books, she took up her glasses sitting harmlessly on her book titled "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts." The tassle of her bookmark hung loosely from it, splattering itself over the table.
Her Defense Against the Dark Arts class would be taught by her favorite professor, Remus Lupin, her father's confidant and almost brother. She would visit him a lot, calling him his little nickname Remy. He found it amusing when she was three, so that's what she called him now, but not in class. In class, she called him Professor Lupin like all the others. Snape was by far her cruelest teacher, but her father had told her to be extra nice to him no matter how mean or smart he got with her. She'd even take a little of her broom money and buy him and Remy gifts of candy for Christmas or Holloween, expecting him to think that one of his own Slytherins gave them to him.
Professor Firenze and Professor Trelawney taught their Divination classes, trading out each day. Firenze was probably one of the coolest teachers that she had, but he was second to Remy. Nothing competes with a werewolf, she thought.
Hagrid was another one of her favorite teachers. He always had the coolest things living around his house, which now resembled something like a Muggle petting zoo, but most of the time, he let the animals roam wherever their hearts desired, just as long as they stayed outside and around his house, not running up to the castle. Most of them were calm, placid animals, until provoked by people like Raphael.
As she slid her glasses in the collar of her shirt, she sneered at him. He was such a jerk. He only cared about himself and pushed her Weasley friends around with his gang of rats. He would always leave it be when she showed herself, though. Lilus didn't know why nor did she understand. All she had to do was glare at him in the wrong way, and he'd move out of the way. She had gotten detention a few times for fighting with his right hand girl Marcie, but the shorter girl's wand attacks were no match for her reflexes and jinxs. She had once jinxed her with Locomotor Mortis, a spell that gave her the pleasure of watching Marcie fall flat on her face. She loved it when that happened. Her boys found it amusing too.
Carefully peeling her wet clothes over her head, she dashed into her bathroom and into her shower. Her hair was so annoying, sometimes. After a certain length, it was nearly impossible to brush out. Thank the heavens for mothers. Her mother's old cat Crookshanks was sometimes a pest, though. He made everything his business. His favorite pastime was to creep into her room at some 3 am in the morning and jump on her, scaring her nearly to death. Yet, he was so lovable. He was a good foot warmer, too. That blob of fur was so fat that if he sat down somewhere, he wasn't moving for a while, but he could move when he wanted to. Hedwig was probably her favorite, though. She was an extremely old owl, but she was the most beautiful one that she had ever seen. She was so useful and was Her dad's pride and joy, besides her and Mom. Hedwig didn't visit her room much, she usually stayed on her perch in her parents' room.
Later, as she scanned her closet for some Muggle clothes that she would want to wear, she started thinking about school and Shawn. She hoped that he had some romantic interest in her, but if he did, he was hiding it expertly. She hid hers too, but sometimes, she would drift off into her own little world as her thoughts unearthed themselves from the back of her mind.Because she thought so much, sleeping was very difficult. She would lie awake for hours just staring off into nothing and thinking, trying to figure out the enigmas of the world.
Lilus pulled a green tank top and a pair of shorts from her closet, sliding the doors closed with her foot as she turned around. Fumbling clumsily with her towel, she took the tank top off the hanger and strolled into her bathroom again, almost knocking her lamp off her nightstand. A few minutes later, she came out, squeezing her hair between the towel in her hands and breathing the steamless air around her.
"Lilus, are you decent?" she heard her mother ask from outside the door.
"Yeah, Mother. Come in."
The gold-painted knob turned shakily and clicked when the door opened. Her mother peered inside the room and smiled.
"Need help packing?"
Lilus shook her head, scooping her wand off her school trunk in the corner. It was a sixteen-inch mahogany wand and a real beaut at that. "No, I'll do it in a few minutes. Shouldn't take me too long."
"Well, do you need help brushing your hair?" Her mother said, grabbing the nearby hairbrush and tossing it to her.
She let the towel fall around her shoulders and opened her left hand, recieving the hairbrush in one swift motion. "Maybe later. I'll just..."
"Well, if you need anything, you just say so."
"Of course, Mum," she said with a smile.
Hermione disappeared behind the door, and Lilus listened as her footsteps sauntered down the stairs. She sat on her bed and slid the brush through her hair, her eyes glazing over and staring into void once more.
Raphael suddenly popped into her head. His arrogant blonde hair and blue eyes arranged in the perfect angel look sickened her, and he constantly poked fun of Jason because he was Muggle born. Jason didn't let it bother him too much, but Lilus knew that it hurt him. She scooped some of her school robes out of her dresser and stacked the pile in neatly. She opened the small drawer in her nightstand and took the scarlet box out of its hiding place. She opened it and looked at her reflection in the carefully-polished, sleeping Snitch. Its wings were closed tightly around its body and it vibrated harmonically. She closed the door again and put it between two of her robes.
Following the Snitch were some school books, quills, a case of ink bottles, some of Uncle Fred and George's creations, and a few other things that she forgot the first time. Her trunk was packed tightly and carefully by time she closed and locked it. She sat on top and adjusted her glasses, staring at the floor silently.
She'd be glad to be back with her friends.
All of the Weasley's were around the same age, her age, to be exact. Her dad and Ron had gotten married at about the same time, and Fred and George had kids a good bit after they were married unlike Ron. They wanted the family joke business to stay straight before they got married.
Her favorite out of the boys (although she liked them all) was Justin. He was the eldest of all of the kids, at the grand age of seventeen. If anyone would be her boyfriend out of the Weasleys', it would be him. He was a nice guy, and he played Quidditch with her too. So did Virginia's boys, the twins. Both of them were the Beaters, and they had some sort of twin telepathy between them. It was extremely interesting to watch them bat the ball at someone. Although their aim wasn't short of horrible, they could bat the ball towards the other team, and if they missed, they'd just swat it in their direction again. They would leave the "monkey in the middle" totally clueless. Justin was different. Sure, he was tall and lean and had girls that drooled in his wake, but he was much like Shawn, quiet but thoughtful.
Justin had that same connection to nature that she did. He spent a lot of time outside on his broom, flying up and down the secluded neighborhood that his entire family lived in. It was a vast field surrounded by a forest and a beautiful place. Justin spoke in a suave, deep voice, and it calmed her sometimes.
She was probably the only one that she remotely told about her inner thoughts. He knew very little about her inner self, but he knew plenty about the prankster, sexy beast that she was when she was at school and around them. She acted much like Fred and George did, pulling whatever stunt that she felt like she could get away with. She once fell off her broom and nearly broke her neck. Thank God that tree was there.
Lilus glanced at her clock. It was half past two, and they'd be leaving soon. Lilus rose from her trunk and opened her closet door, poking her hand inside. She felt her fingers wrap around the duffle bag's strap. She pulled it out and unzipped it, tossing it onto her bed. From her open drawers, she removed articles of Muggle clothing and stuffed them into her bag.
She zipped the back and sat down on her bed, drawing her knees up to her chest. There was one thing she was forgetting but what was that? She just couldn't put her finger on it. She sighed and hugged her arms around her knees, shivering slightly. What would happen if she forgot something important? She hated detention, but in a way it felt good to put that Slytherin girl in her place.
The Marauder's Map...
Oh yes, that little trinket that her father had left for her. He knew that she had it, and he knew that she used it. Her dad really didn't mind, but he warned her that if she got into serious trouble, it was her folly. Basically, she could have it if she didn't get caught. She hadn't got caught so far, and the fact that her grandfather once handled it was important to her, since he was gone. She didn't talk to her father about her grandpa much, since she knew that he didn't know him at all. She was glad that she had parents. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she didn't.
Lilus smiled and walked over to the other side of her bed, kneeling down to remove the small box at the corner of her bed. It was long and dusty after a few months of neglect, but light spread across it when she slid the lid off of the brown box. Inside lay a rolled up piece of parchment. She picked it out and opened it, staring at the map inside.
"Dunno what I would do without you, my friend," she laughed.
She picked the key from the chain around her neck and jabbed it into the lock. She turned the key, and the lid opened. She poked the map on top of her trunk and closed it once more.
There was a knock on her door. "Lilus, are you ready? We need to leave in a few minutes."
"Yeah, I'm ready, Dad," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing the handle of her trunk. She opened the door and pulled the large box out into the hallway.
Her father was looking at her with a unique face that he only showed when she was pulling something that she shouldn't be. She smiled and gave a thumbs up at him. He returned the smile awkwardly, his glasses nearly falling off his nose. He ran his hand through his messy black hair, but it didn't do much damage. She walked back into her room and grabbed her wand from her bed before finally turning her lamp off and leaving her room, closing the door behind her.
She waved her wand and poked it inside her back pocket. "Come on, Father. The boys'll be worried," she chuckled, jumping on the stairrail and sliding down.
Harry could only wonder how someone so young could be like that, but then again, oddities were probably recieved from his side of the family.
By Silver Falcon
Chapter 1
It was an early day, and Lilus Potter had spent most of her summer morning next to or in the lake. She was tall and streamline, seemingly having the perfect body that would attract any guy's eye. She was wearing a dark green shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts, both soaking wet from her previous swim in the lake. Her long black hair cascaded down her body, sticking to her neck and shoulders. Her skin was a light cream color and shiny with water streaming down it in small droplets. She held perfectly still, finding that she was once again staring into the water's unmoving surface straight at her eyes.
It wasn't her staring back. It never was. For some strange reason, Lilus knew that those eyes did not belong to her, those reddish-brown orbs that were in her head. They weren't her eyes.
She sat perfectly still, letting the small breezes slide back and forth across her skin. It wasn't cold at all, and, in fact, it was getting warmer with each minute that passed. It was probably about ten in the morning, but she had been out since six and wasn't that sure anymore. She welcomed the early morning with opened arms. Lilus had never really been much of a sleeper. One could call her crazy, and she knew that it was not something to be denied. She wasn't normal.
Lilus had grown up in luxury. Her father was the famous Harry Potter, the wizard that had destroyed the Dark Lord Voldemort. Voldemort was just a myth now, something with which witches would threaten their misbehaving children. He had been demoted to an item of mockery and loose threats, nothing more. Her father, though he and her mother Hermione were rich, had gotten her used to Muggle labor since she was young. She never disliked him for it, either. It had given her an incredible shape, and her stamina and endurance were to be envied. Her free time was spent outside or with her friends. She even visited her father's cousin on a few occasions and helped him and his family. Her distant cousin Dudley had gotten diabetes when he was in his late teens, and since then, it had become very hard for him to do some stuff.
Lilus had a knack for cleaning the house. Her parents did their part when it was open. Usually, everything would be clean when they woke up and before they went to bed, so they had to find something to clean while she was away. She loved cleaning, which was another odd thing. Most teenagers hated to clean anything, but she'd probably do something before anyone asked and more.
Her head suddenly left the water and stared into the void of the air in front of her. The Weasley gang was going to visit today, or, rather, she was going to visit them. They filled an entire neighborhood, and it was like her second home. Although she wasn't related to any of them, she still called their parents Mom and Dad. They had grown up together. She had to admit that there were some gorgeous redheads living there, but some of them were too close to be boyfriends or whatnot.
Lilus hadn't known Shawn all her life, unlike the Weasleys'. Shawn had been there since she was young, but there was a ground that separated them where the Weasley gang felt like family. He was such an enigma to her. Their Hogwarts group had adopted him in as Nikodemus. He was very quiet and hardly ever spoke, but when he did, it was with great wisdom. She had so much respect for him.
Her inner self was one unknown to the Weasleys' or Shawn Longbottom. If they knew what she saw at night, what she dreamt about, they would probably want to understand her in a psychotic way. If they knew, what she thought of her eyes...
"You okay?"
The voice belonged to her father, the tall, handsome man that had vanquished the Dark Lord forever. Without turning, she nodded.
"Just...thinking," she whispered, her voice smooth and calm.
Harry sat next to her and adjusted his glasses, looking into the water with her. "About what?"
"Moldy Voldy," she answered, grinning. Her words caused a cheerful laugh to erupt from him. "Just thinking about him."
"Why Voldemort, Lilus?"
Lilus leaned back onto the ground, cradling her neck in her hands, staring at the sky. "Can he ever come back?"
Harry's face grew stern and serious, and his bright green eyes flickered protectively. "Lilus, you know he can never return. If you're afraid of him..."
"I'm not," she said, catching him short of his words. "I'm...just thinking."
"Well, get packed. We're heading over to Ron's in a few hours. We'll be staying over there until school starts, so pack your trunk too."
She nodded. "Done."
She stood up and stretched, carefully trodding up the grass to their cottage on the hill. The house was two stories tall, with her room perched on the second floor with her parents. Her life here had been paradise, and she was eternally greatful to whatever had allowed her father to live during that last battle.
As soon as she opened the back door, a fulfilling smell entered her nose. She smiled and turned to see her mother working at the stove. Her mother and father liked magic, but they also enjoyed the stress relief that came from doing things themselves. Her mother enjoyed her cooking. Behind the great bush of brown hair, she knew there was a skillet with fish inside it. There was only one glorious smell that came from cooked fish.
She walked upstairs, her tall body beginning to grow taller than her mother's and nearing the size of her father's who stood a good 6'2" off the ground. She still had a few inches to grow, considering that she was only 5' 7". Her poor mother was only about five and a quarter feet tall, bushy hair included. As her moist feet clapped against the wooden staircase, her mother turned around.
"Again? Darling, you really shouldn't swim in just a t-shirt and a pair of old shorts. I can buy you something more decent..."
Lilus wheeled around and grabbed one of her arms with the other, smiling awkwardly. "Oh, Mother. You know how I hate bathing suits. This...is really just fine. I...like it better...a lot...?" the hint of confusion in her voice was obvious.
Her mother sighed deeply. "Of course. You take after your father's rugged ways, but unlike him, you have a knack for abandoning your glasses. Where are they?" she said winking.
"Uh, well. Maybe in my room somewhere. Just hope Crookshanks hasn't gotten ahold of the case again." Her mother kissed her on the cheek lightly. Lilus made a hissing noise and wiped it off. "Mom?!"
Hermione laughed. "What? You're still my daughter!"
Lilus continued to scrub her cheek with her hands. "Yeah, but I'm sixteen years old! I'm too old for kisses, Mom!"
"Not until I think you are. Now hurry! Pack and get dressed before you catch cold!"
Lilus was shooed upstairs and into her room, which was decorated with toy Snitches dangling from the ceiling on strings. On the far wall were three rings, each on top of tall posts. Mixed in with the Snitches were cardboard players that she had drawn, including her own father, who was sitting on his broomstick and waving a Snitch high in the air. Her Dad's friend Ron was on another, as well as his twin brothers George and Fred. On the two walls beside the ring wall, were stands packed tightly with sports fans, and each stand had its own emblem. She had played in that same stadium before. She had taken her father's place as Gryffindor Seeker, and she had inherited her lightning reflexes from her father and grandfather. She was acing all of her classes and was actually encouraged to play as much Quidditch as she could. The other teachers thought that she spent all her time studying, but they were so wrong. Her mother would stock her full of notes that she had taken during her school terms, and they helped a lot. Lilus studied them vigorously at school, and never cheated on anything if she could help it.
She smiled. She liked Ron a lot, but Fred and George were just cool. They were teenaged men, probably never to grow out of their prankster phase. They both owned a very successful business in Diagon Alley, and whenever she had some extra spending money (which she earned from her parents for cleaning house) and wasn't saving up for a new broom (which was 99% of the time), she would pay them a visit and buy a few new jokes to play on other people.
Justin, Baker, Diego, Nick, and Charlie were going to be happy to see her again.
She was the leader in their Marauder group. They had enlarged the group quiet a bit, but it was still a tightly woven circle of friends. Shawn was in it two, as well as one of the Weasley girls and a boy that she had met in her first year named Jason. He was an Animagus, someone who could change their form into an animal. His form was that of an eagle, a deep brown bird of pray and very beautiful animal.
She had often wondered what it would be like to fly without a broom. Flying was one of her most favorite activities, and she practiced with the Snitch probably more often than any of the other practiced. Getting on the team was little more than a quiz, since her father had taught her to fly early in her years, and she had played with the Snitch since she was little. It was just a toy for little wizard and witches, but her father had bewitched it to fly around whenever her two-year-old self decided to prod it and throw it in the air. It would never fly away very far, but eventually, she became able to run after it.
Before her father retired from his professional Quidditch position, he was given the Snitch of his last game and was applauded by millions of fans around the world. After she turned twelve, he began to use the same Snitch to train her with, and she no longer had to see it in order to tell that it was close by. Her ears had tuned into the quiet humming of the golden ball's wings, and her eyes were trained to glance in one direction and watch all around it for the sudden flash that would occur.
The Bludgers were what she had problems with. Because she was so talented at catching the Snitch, the Beaters would sometimes attempt to take her out with a "stray" Bludger. She had bruised many a bone this way, and yet, she still couldn't tell whenever she was being followed by the deranged ball. The Slytherin Beaters were especially rough on her. They would tail her throughout the entire game unless their team was losing so bad that even the Snitch couldn't save them. Surprisingly, the Weasleys' were very coordinated during a match, even though it was probably the only time they had any sense.
Walking over to her nightstand, upon which sat a lamp and one of her old school books, she took up her glasses sitting harmlessly on her book titled "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts." The tassle of her bookmark hung loosely from it, splattering itself over the table.
Her Defense Against the Dark Arts class would be taught by her favorite professor, Remus Lupin, her father's confidant and almost brother. She would visit him a lot, calling him his little nickname Remy. He found it amusing when she was three, so that's what she called him now, but not in class. In class, she called him Professor Lupin like all the others. Snape was by far her cruelest teacher, but her father had told her to be extra nice to him no matter how mean or smart he got with her. She'd even take a little of her broom money and buy him and Remy gifts of candy for Christmas or Holloween, expecting him to think that one of his own Slytherins gave them to him.
Professor Firenze and Professor Trelawney taught their Divination classes, trading out each day. Firenze was probably one of the coolest teachers that she had, but he was second to Remy. Nothing competes with a werewolf, she thought.
Hagrid was another one of her favorite teachers. He always had the coolest things living around his house, which now resembled something like a Muggle petting zoo, but most of the time, he let the animals roam wherever their hearts desired, just as long as they stayed outside and around his house, not running up to the castle. Most of them were calm, placid animals, until provoked by people like Raphael.
As she slid her glasses in the collar of her shirt, she sneered at him. He was such a jerk. He only cared about himself and pushed her Weasley friends around with his gang of rats. He would always leave it be when she showed herself, though. Lilus didn't know why nor did she understand. All she had to do was glare at him in the wrong way, and he'd move out of the way. She had gotten detention a few times for fighting with his right hand girl Marcie, but the shorter girl's wand attacks were no match for her reflexes and jinxs. She had once jinxed her with Locomotor Mortis, a spell that gave her the pleasure of watching Marcie fall flat on her face. She loved it when that happened. Her boys found it amusing too.
Carefully peeling her wet clothes over her head, she dashed into her bathroom and into her shower. Her hair was so annoying, sometimes. After a certain length, it was nearly impossible to brush out. Thank the heavens for mothers. Her mother's old cat Crookshanks was sometimes a pest, though. He made everything his business. His favorite pastime was to creep into her room at some 3 am in the morning and jump on her, scaring her nearly to death. Yet, he was so lovable. He was a good foot warmer, too. That blob of fur was so fat that if he sat down somewhere, he wasn't moving for a while, but he could move when he wanted to. Hedwig was probably her favorite, though. She was an extremely old owl, but she was the most beautiful one that she had ever seen. She was so useful and was Her dad's pride and joy, besides her and Mom. Hedwig didn't visit her room much, she usually stayed on her perch in her parents' room.
Later, as she scanned her closet for some Muggle clothes that she would want to wear, she started thinking about school and Shawn. She hoped that he had some romantic interest in her, but if he did, he was hiding it expertly. She hid hers too, but sometimes, she would drift off into her own little world as her thoughts unearthed themselves from the back of her mind.Because she thought so much, sleeping was very difficult. She would lie awake for hours just staring off into nothing and thinking, trying to figure out the enigmas of the world.
Lilus pulled a green tank top and a pair of shorts from her closet, sliding the doors closed with her foot as she turned around. Fumbling clumsily with her towel, she took the tank top off the hanger and strolled into her bathroom again, almost knocking her lamp off her nightstand. A few minutes later, she came out, squeezing her hair between the towel in her hands and breathing the steamless air around her.
"Lilus, are you decent?" she heard her mother ask from outside the door.
"Yeah, Mother. Come in."
The gold-painted knob turned shakily and clicked when the door opened. Her mother peered inside the room and smiled.
"Need help packing?"
Lilus shook her head, scooping her wand off her school trunk in the corner. It was a sixteen-inch mahogany wand and a real beaut at that. "No, I'll do it in a few minutes. Shouldn't take me too long."
"Well, do you need help brushing your hair?" Her mother said, grabbing the nearby hairbrush and tossing it to her.
She let the towel fall around her shoulders and opened her left hand, recieving the hairbrush in one swift motion. "Maybe later. I'll just..."
"Well, if you need anything, you just say so."
"Of course, Mum," she said with a smile.
Hermione disappeared behind the door, and Lilus listened as her footsteps sauntered down the stairs. She sat on her bed and slid the brush through her hair, her eyes glazing over and staring into void once more.
Raphael suddenly popped into her head. His arrogant blonde hair and blue eyes arranged in the perfect angel look sickened her, and he constantly poked fun of Jason because he was Muggle born. Jason didn't let it bother him too much, but Lilus knew that it hurt him. She scooped some of her school robes out of her dresser and stacked the pile in neatly. She opened the small drawer in her nightstand and took the scarlet box out of its hiding place. She opened it and looked at her reflection in the carefully-polished, sleeping Snitch. Its wings were closed tightly around its body and it vibrated harmonically. She closed the door again and put it between two of her robes.
Following the Snitch were some school books, quills, a case of ink bottles, some of Uncle Fred and George's creations, and a few other things that she forgot the first time. Her trunk was packed tightly and carefully by time she closed and locked it. She sat on top and adjusted her glasses, staring at the floor silently.
She'd be glad to be back with her friends.
All of the Weasley's were around the same age, her age, to be exact. Her dad and Ron had gotten married at about the same time, and Fred and George had kids a good bit after they were married unlike Ron. They wanted the family joke business to stay straight before they got married.
Her favorite out of the boys (although she liked them all) was Justin. He was the eldest of all of the kids, at the grand age of seventeen. If anyone would be her boyfriend out of the Weasleys', it would be him. He was a nice guy, and he played Quidditch with her too. So did Virginia's boys, the twins. Both of them were the Beaters, and they had some sort of twin telepathy between them. It was extremely interesting to watch them bat the ball at someone. Although their aim wasn't short of horrible, they could bat the ball towards the other team, and if they missed, they'd just swat it in their direction again. They would leave the "monkey in the middle" totally clueless. Justin was different. Sure, he was tall and lean and had girls that drooled in his wake, but he was much like Shawn, quiet but thoughtful.
Justin had that same connection to nature that she did. He spent a lot of time outside on his broom, flying up and down the secluded neighborhood that his entire family lived in. It was a vast field surrounded by a forest and a beautiful place. Justin spoke in a suave, deep voice, and it calmed her sometimes.
She was probably the only one that she remotely told about her inner thoughts. He knew very little about her inner self, but he knew plenty about the prankster, sexy beast that she was when she was at school and around them. She acted much like Fred and George did, pulling whatever stunt that she felt like she could get away with. She once fell off her broom and nearly broke her neck. Thank God that tree was there.
Lilus glanced at her clock. It was half past two, and they'd be leaving soon. Lilus rose from her trunk and opened her closet door, poking her hand inside. She felt her fingers wrap around the duffle bag's strap. She pulled it out and unzipped it, tossing it onto her bed. From her open drawers, she removed articles of Muggle clothing and stuffed them into her bag.
She zipped the back and sat down on her bed, drawing her knees up to her chest. There was one thing she was forgetting but what was that? She just couldn't put her finger on it. She sighed and hugged her arms around her knees, shivering slightly. What would happen if she forgot something important? She hated detention, but in a way it felt good to put that Slytherin girl in her place.
The Marauder's Map...
Oh yes, that little trinket that her father had left for her. He knew that she had it, and he knew that she used it. Her dad really didn't mind, but he warned her that if she got into serious trouble, it was her folly. Basically, she could have it if she didn't get caught. She hadn't got caught so far, and the fact that her grandfather once handled it was important to her, since he was gone. She didn't talk to her father about her grandpa much, since she knew that he didn't know him at all. She was glad that she had parents. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she didn't.
Lilus smiled and walked over to the other side of her bed, kneeling down to remove the small box at the corner of her bed. It was long and dusty after a few months of neglect, but light spread across it when she slid the lid off of the brown box. Inside lay a rolled up piece of parchment. She picked it out and opened it, staring at the map inside.
"Dunno what I would do without you, my friend," she laughed.
She picked the key from the chain around her neck and jabbed it into the lock. She turned the key, and the lid opened. She poked the map on top of her trunk and closed it once more.
There was a knock on her door. "Lilus, are you ready? We need to leave in a few minutes."
"Yeah, I'm ready, Dad," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing the handle of her trunk. She opened the door and pulled the large box out into the hallway.
Her father was looking at her with a unique face that he only showed when she was pulling something that she shouldn't be. She smiled and gave a thumbs up at him. He returned the smile awkwardly, his glasses nearly falling off his nose. He ran his hand through his messy black hair, but it didn't do much damage. She walked back into her room and grabbed her wand from her bed before finally turning her lamp off and leaving her room, closing the door behind her.
She waved her wand and poked it inside her back pocket. "Come on, Father. The boys'll be worried," she chuckled, jumping on the stairrail and sliding down.
Harry could only wonder how someone so young could be like that, but then again, oddities were probably recieved from his side of the family.
