Disclaimer: I only own the idea, J.K. Rowling owns the rest
1977
By Sapphire1616
January
"Happy New Year," Lily whispered to herself as she glanced up at the clock. She shivered and wrapped her cloak tighter around herself. The dungeons had to be at least ten degrees cooler than the rest of the castle, the chill seeping deep into her bones. The faint drips of water onto the stone tiles echoed throughout the dimly lit dungeon, the only other sound in the room.
Deciding it was time for a break, Lily sat up and stretched her arms up. Her back ached from bending over the cauldrons for so long. Detentions weren't supposed to last this long, were they? She could at least be comforted by the fact that it was nearly over. Griffiths promised to relieve her at midnight, not that her word was much to go by.
Lily took a moment to stare at the door, sighing once before returning to work. She might as well get as much cleaning done as she could here. Not to impress Griffiths—she would criticize her no matter what she did—but for Professor Slughorn. They'd make use of these clean cauldrons next Potions class.
A sudden bang broke through her thoughts as the door to the dungeon burst open.
"Potter?" asked Lily, squinting as her eyes struggled to make out the figure before her in candle light.
"Not late, am I?" he asked brightly, shutting the door behind him.
"Griffiths will be back any minute now," Lily scolded him, glancing furtively at the door.
"Just in time then." He walked casually over to where she sat and picked up a cauldron to scrub, ready to pretend that he had been there beside her for the past three hours.
"I didn't think you'd come back at all," muttered Lily bitterly. "What on earth were you doing out for so long?"
"Come on, Evans. It's New Years Eve. I had parties to attend to."
"You also had detention."
"I knew you'd cover for me," he replied confidently. She scowled. "And if you do decide to report me, there's no way Griffiths will believe a word you say," he added. "She abhors you."
Lily sighed. There wasn't much she could say to refute his argument. Griffiths would believe him over her simply out of spite, even if she met him in the hall on the way to the dungeon. "It's cruel and unusual punishment."
"Oh, don't look so disappointed, Evans. I'm sure Slughorn's inappropriate love for you more than makes up for it." Lily sent him a scorching glare.
"Shut up, Potter!" she raised her voice, just as Professor Griffiths walked through the door.
"Having too much fun, Miss Evans?" she asked. "I can always come back later if you'd like to continue working."
Lily stood up immediately. "No, I'm sorry, Professor," she said, lowering her head so she couldn't see the look of absolute loathing she wanted to give her. James snickered behind her, but, of course, Griffiths didn't acknowledge him at all.
"Well then, the two of you are free to go. I hope you've learned your lesson."
"Thank you, professor," Lily replied submissively once more before ducking out of the room. Normally she would've spit out a retort back at her, but that's what had gotten her into this mess in the first place, and she was just too tired right now to push the issue further. All she wanted to do was sleep.
"You know, it's not too late to join me for the rest of the party," James's voice spoke up from behind her as he jogged to catch up to her quick pace.
"And why would I want to waste my time doing that?" Lily asked tonelessly.
"Oh, lighten up, Evans! It's a new year," he declared theatrically. "We'll be 7th years soon. We've gotta make the most of the time we have left."
"How cliché," Lily responded, still in a bad mood from the detention. James's ever present optimism was starting to wear on her.
James shrugged. "Suit yourself," and with that he jogged off back to the Gryffindor common room. Not ready to wade through the high spirits with him, Lily turned down a different corridor. She would prefer to sit on the window ledge of the Astronomy Tower, but tonight there would inevitably be some sort of couple occupying the space. Instead, she opted for the dungeons. It was about the loneliest place in the school. Exactly what Lily wanted.
She trailed her finger along the slimy stone wall, the icy cold burning her fingertips. She felt restless, desperate to feel something other than the ever-present fear that she wasn't doing enough. There was a war going on after all. She may have dropped out of her muggle schooling, but not soon enough to avoid learning about World War II. This time she was one of the Jews.
Typically, New Years was a time for resolutions frantically made with the burning desire for change. Lily was far too comfortable wallowing in her sadness to come up with any resolutions right now. Normally it was her type of thing. But she just couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for herself.
Of course it wasn't her fault for being born the way she was. Of course she had no control over how others would treat her because of it. And yet sometimes the thought crossed her mind that perhaps she had been a terrible person in a past life to deserve this one.
It had been nearly a year since Severus had left her life for good. Ideally this should've strengthened her friendships with Margaret and Jessie and others, but they couldn't understand why she'd even feel sad about it or regret it in the slightest.
Lost in her thoughts, as she had been prone to do these days, Lily was surprised to see the Slytherin Common Room at the end of the hall in front of her. The emerald banner seemed to glisten in the torchlight.
Lily was flirting with danger. Once upon a time ugly sneers may have been all she'd receive for hanging around the entrance, waiting for Severus. Now she was sure to face some sort of consequence. Maybe it was the damp air numbing her to the fear, but Lily could not summon the energy to change her course. She just so desperately wanted to feel like she was doing something, anything.
She got her wish for danger a moment later when the dungeon door ground open. A rush of adrenalin coursed through her veins and she managed to jump behind a pillar just in time.
Lily's heart raced, thudding heavily against her rib cage. She felt a smile grace her lips. This is what it felt like to be alive.
She was disappointed, then, when none other than Whitney Travers, a harmless fifth year in Lily's Arithmancy class. She was always fairly friendly to Lily, if a bit snooty. In another life, she may have been a Ravenclaw. Either way she wouldn't care what Lily was doing wandering around the dungeons.
None of that was as interesting as the figure who ducked their head out the door behind Whitney, however. All Lily could see was his black buzzed hair from this angle, but she would recognize that Gryffindor maroon tie anywhere. And as he straightened to his full height, Lily caught a glimpse of the distinctive scar across his dark chin, the one that identified him to the majority of the school, or at least of Gryffindor house. Jeffrey Rodgers.
Whether they were dating or just friends, Lily still felt the burn of resentment that she was not allowed to keep Severus. She knew that not everyone in Slytherin was bad. Severus just happened to fall in with that crowd. No, Lily reminded herself sharply, he chose them.
Jeffrey started walking towards her, ready to start down the corridor she hid in on his way back to Gryffindor Tower. Lily quickly sprinted to the first door to her left which was, luckily, unlocked, and flung it open.
"Lily?" Jeffrey asked hesitantly. "Is that… you?" Lily winced, mentally berating herself for not having quicker reflexes.
She slowly turned, facing him almost apologetically.
"What are you doing down here?" Though he had every right to be suspicious of her down in the dungeons at this late hour, she resented his judgmental tone.
"I could ask you the same thing," she retorted.
"Sirius sent me down on a dare." She had to admit, he had a reasonable excuse. If she hadn't just seen Whitney let him out of the Slytherin common room she would've believed him.
"And Whitney?"
He sighed. "That was the dare. Now what are you doing down here?" Lily had been hoping he'd forget.
"I only just got out of detention, that's all."
"So the potion's room jumped down a floor?"
"I just had to return some supplies to the cupboard on this floor. They were out upstairs." Lily was pretty sure Jeffery believed her just as much as she believed him, but there wasn't really anything they could do about it now.
"I'll walk you back up to the common room," he offered, and Lily accepted, relieved that this awkward confrontation was over.
"So what was the detention for this time?" Jeffrey questioned with a smirk. Professor Griffiths' disdain for Lily was no secret.
"She says I sassed her in class for asking a question about the homework. But on my last assignment she commented that I need to ask more clarifying questions if I ever hope to get above Acceptable." Jeffrey laughed.
Lily huffed. "It's not fair!" she exclaimed. "These days 6th year exams are almost as important as NEWTs to employers cause they show consistency. I don't see how I'm supposed to do well on them when Griffiths absolutely despised me!"
He laughed again. "Welcome to the real world, Lily. Not every teacher will be as enamored with you as Slughorn is. Actually, I'd say this evens things out a bit. Now you know how the rest of us feel."
Out of things to say for they were not very close friends despite sharing a house and year, fell into silence. They had just reached the start of the hall leading to the common room entrance when Jeffrey stopped her.
"Listen, Evans, just… Please don't spread this bet thing around. I don't think Whitney'd be too pleased to find out the truth, and I'd really appreciate not having the Slytherin house despise me anymore than they already do." Lily considered it. There really wasn't any advantage for her to say no. She didn't need to be any more invested in Slytherins either at this point. She was pretty sure the whole house hated her on principle after last year's scandal anyway.
"Sure thing, Rodgers." And they continued down the corridor in silence once again. With one final smile, Lily disappeared into the crowd the moment the tapestry opened for the night.
The next morning found the four Marauders' nursing hangovers over breakfast in the dining hall. Or rather, Lily found them like this. Despite the hoards of students missing for break, it seemed right that the four of them remained. She couldn't imagine seeing one without the other for so long.
Lily took her usual seat near them but still separate, with a good four seats between them. She remained alone. Margaret wouldn't be up for hours, and everyone else had gone home for the holidays.
"And how was the detention, Prongs? Weren't too smashed, were you?" Lily heard Sirius' voice from down the table.
"Shut up, Sirius," James groaned, his head in his hands.
"Well that answers that," Sirius replied with a grin, and Lily blocked out the rest of their mundane conversation. There were only a few more days before classes resumed on Thursday, and Lily didn't plan on spending them figuring out what the Marauders were up to. Though she knew she couldn't trust the four of them to spend a break not wrecking havoc.
Instead she turned back to her oatmeal, mentally planning her day. Professor McGonagall had warned their class before break that they would need to practice or at least study the theory if they didn't want to fall behind when they returned. Lily took this warning very seriously. While some others in the class might dismiss this as one of her usual warnings, Lily could not afford to leave anything to chance. She was already working against enormous odds. It would take not only skill, but a great stroke of luck to be hired as an Auror.
And so only ten minutes later Lily was gathering her things for the library. Though it was almost certain to be empty on a day like this, with fresh snowfall creating the perfect battlefield outside her window, Lily was in the habit of getting an early start to claim her favorite table.
"Where are you going?" a voice asked as the corresponding hand swung open the curtains beside her bed. Something about being the only two Gryffindor girls over the entirety of winter break had bonded the two. Enough, at least, for her to question Lily's whereabouts on New Year's Day.
"To study," Lily replied without looking up.
Margaret made a face, blowing a thin, curvy strand of mousy brown hair away from her mouth. "It's a new year. 1977. And you're starting it off with work."
"Never a better time to get started on those resolutions," she quipped back.
She sighed. "Come on, Lily. She fixed her large dark eyes on Lily's smaller green ones. "Take a break for a day."
Lily gave her a small and humorless smile. "Can't. I've got to start on this essay for Griffiths. You know how she is."
"What I'm more interested in is how you landed a detention on New Year's Eve of all nights. I don't think that's even allowed, especially for a first-time professor."
"Oh, but she's not a first-time professor, Margaret! She's taught at the finest institutes in America. It was a step down to come back here, but she did owe Dumbledore a favor, and, being the kind-hearted soul she is, she just had to return for him," Lily ranted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Sounds like she's bore her heart and soul to you."
"Oh, we're close friends now," Lily laughed, suddenly feeling lighter than she had in months.
"But seriously, what'd you do?"
"She thinks that I stole her grading book." Margaret's eyes went wide.
"And did you?"
"Of course not!" Lily cried. "She just pins everything on me."
"And she just gave you a detention for that in the middle of break?"
"Well, no. I've been avoiding her because of that. I skipped her last class. And she finally cornered me and searched my bag and found a note someone wrote me about what a horrible teacher she is. And then she gave me the detention for that night which just so happened to be New Year's Eve."
Margaret's eyebrows rose at the tale. "That is wild. I can't believe you took that sitting down."
"It's not like there was much I could do. The grading book thing was rubbish, but she did have proof with the note."
"But you didn't even write it! That's not fair."
Lily smiled. "And that is why I need to write her essay. If it's not flawless I have no chance of getting a passing grade on this."
"Merlin. I wouldn't want to trade places with you, girly."
"Well I'm off to the library then," Lily announced, standing up and swinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Still, you deserve a break, Lily."
"Maybe later," Lily called as she walked out the door.
The library was blissfully silent and empty. Lily spread out her papers onto the whole table, taking advantage of the space. She soon lost herself in Transfiguration laws and Potions theories.
However, her concentration didn't hold longer than a few hours before Lily was itching to walk around. She felt restless, the feeling from last night returning. As if she wasn't doing enough.
Ignoring this, Lily granted herself a break and began wandering between the shelves, looking for a particular small corner in the back. Few even knew this section existed as the Ravenclaws had their own library in their common room and therefore had no reason to rifle through the lacking fantasy and fiction area of the school library.
Lily, however, loved it. Stumbling upon it in her second year had been a blessing in disguise. She could make a study of the differences in Muggle and Magical literature, if anyone were out there who cared to read it. And if there weren't a war going on outside of Hogwarts walls.
But for now she had the privilege to block all of that out and immerse herself in magical fantasy books such as "A Year Without Magic" and "Turning Time Forward." She was so successful in blocking her surroundings out, in fact, that when she next looked up the sun looked ready to set, an orange glow settling over the library.
Lily jumped up and checked the time. It was now late afternoon. She had read straight through lunch and forgotten her studies all together. So much for staying on top of her work.
With a sigh she gathered her things, resolving to try better the next day. Or the next one. She still had another three days before Hogwarts repopulated for the start of class. Not that much would change for her.
Back in the common room the Marauders had gathered around the fireplace in their signature four seats, but Margaret was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Lily could only count two others besides than the four Marauders, and they each seemed to be involved in a very tense game of Exploding Snaps.
So, almost reluctantly, Lily resigned herself to another quiet night in, and made her way to walk up the spiral staircase. Just as her foot made contact with the first step, her name was called.
"Evans!" Her head whipped around and she caught Sirius' eye. "Come here!"
She rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"
"We need someone to settle a bet for us!"
"I'm not interested, Black," she retorted.
He stuck out his tongue at her. "You're no fun." Any other day she would've brushed this off and kept walking up the stairs, but Margaret's comment from earlier still echoed in her mind. She needed a break, not just from work but from herself.
And so she found herself stepping down from the stairs and actually walking towards the four by the fire, to three astonished faces and one smug one.
"I knew you'd come around."
"It's winter break," Lily deadpanned. "I have nothing better to do."
"Oh I'm sure." He gave her a knowing grin as if he could read her mind. "Now, down to business. We need some insight on the ethical dilemma we're facing."
"Really?" Lily asked, now intrigued. What could be so offensive as to have Sirius questioning his moral ethics.
"Well, you see, James and I were wondering if it's kosher for Peter here to snog that lovely lady from our Charms class if we dare him to. We wouldn't want a blossoming new relationship to get off on the wrong foot" Sirius explained. James smacked him on the head.
"You idiot. We wanted to ask her what the rules are for practicing on the roof."
"Remus could've told you that."
"I did tell them. Multiple times. They wanted a second opinion."
"Just a quick stroll. Nothing too serious."
"It's still not allowed, and anyway why would that bother your moral code when you essentially dared Jeffrey to do the same thing with Whitney Travers last night?" Lily asked.
Sirius gave her a funny look. "I don't know what you're talking about, Evans. I didn't even see Rodgers last night. He left right when the party was just getting started."
"Anyway," James interrupted. "I think if we just go higher up my aim will really improve. And if you get lightheaded it'll be easier to do them nonverbally."
They continued their ridiculous conversation as Lily stepped aside. Jeffrey lied to her. So what was he really doing?
This question remained in Lily's mind as she quietly ate breakfast on her own the next morning. A small flood of owls filled the ceiling and blocked the dreary January sky from view. One speckled tawny owl broke from the crowd above her and dove down. Though it was aimed towards her very deserted section of the Gryffindor table, Lily was still shocked to see it land on the table beside her and look at her expectantly with wide eyes.
She stared at him for a moment, before jolting out of her reverie and taking the small note attached to his leg in exchange for a bite of toast.
Turning back to the note in her hand she recognized the familiar messy scrawl of Hagrid. His signature left a small smile on her lips. She had almost forgotten about her closest friend left at Hogwarts. These days she was left counting down her time left as what attached her to the castle slowly ended and fell apart. But there would always be Hagrid.
Lily,
Thought you might want to drop by before classes start getting busy again. I just collected some mint springs from Professor Sprout's garden for some mint tea if you'd like to drop by around four.
-Hagrid
She quickly penned a confirmation and sent the owl off. Though she followed him with her eyes, the school owl was soon lost in the crowd as the owls once again disappeared back to the Owlery.
Later that afternoon, Lily made the trek through freezing wind and a flurry of snow that rose and fell as though she were entrapped in a snow globe. By the time she reached Hagrid's hut, her toes were numb in her winter boots and her nose was red and icy.
As she raised her hand to knock on his door, it flung open.
"Lily, m'dear!" he boomed, a wide grin on his face. "Come in! Come in!" His wide hand slapped her on her back, and she tripped forward into his hut. The snow caught in her hair was already melted by the time she settled into his kitchen chair. She pulled off the boots, shook the ice from them, and settled her frozen toes on the chair beside her to warm up by the fire.
"It sure is a rough one out there, ain't it Lily?" said Hagrid, giving the fire a quick poke before settling beside her. "So what've yeh been up ter lately?"
"Oh, nothing much. The castle gets a bit slow during breaks."
"Not for you from what I've heard. What's this 'bout a New Year's Eve detention I hear?" he prodded. Lily sighed.
"That was not my fault. You know how Professor Griffiths is." He shook his head looking apologetic.
"Yeh shouldn't have ter deal with all that. Yeh're just a student, not fair ter yeh at all," he lamented.
"They can't make it too easy for me, Hagrid," she tried to joke.
"Yeh shouldn't even be here over break, Lily. It's got ter be ages since yeh last saw your family."
Lily sighed. "Mum and dad are moving house so it's a bit chaotic down there for the time being. With Petunia out of the house now and me off at school most of the year I think the house has gotten a bit big for just the two of them." There were other reasons too, but she didn't see reason to mention them here and now.
"An' how're yeh finding Hogwarts at Christmas time then?" He smiled warmly, crinkles forming around the corners of his eyes. It was clear what his answer was. Lily just so happened to agree.
"Absolutely magical," she replied, with a wink. "Even more so than normally. I would've never imagined that I missed out on so much just by going home. Lonely though, isn't it? I've never seen the castle this empty."
"Gets even worse in the summer." He took of thoughtful sip of tea from the large mug dwarfed by his even larger hands.
"You should find a new pet to keep you company. Maybe a dog?" Instead of looking excited or at least cheered by entertaining the thought, however, Hagrid suddenly began acting suspicious.
"Yes, well, I'm just no' sure I'd have the time for all tha', yeh know? Lots o' responsibility. Dogs need lots o' looking after, 'specially when they're just puppies."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "Hagrid, you just said how lonely it gets. I know being the gamekeeper isn't that taxing of a job. What have you gotten yourself into now?"
"I don'—What are yeh—That's none of yer business!" he sputtered, growing red beneath his beard. Clearly she had struck a nerve here.
"It's nothing illegal, right Hagrid?" Of course, that had never stopped him before. His love of creatures was just a little too blind to the dangers it posed to both himself and others.
"This is not for yeh ter know," he protested, weaker this time, his resolve giving in. "I swear it, Lily. Yeh've got ter learn when ter leave things be. You're gonna get yourself into a lotta trouble one o' these days." And she couldn't help the hopeful smile growing on her face. Curiosity killed the cat indeed. But Lily could never help herself.
"Is it something for Dumbledore?" she whispered, before the excitement burst out of her, too loud to contain. "Oh I knew it! I knew you two were conspiring together! Please tell me what's going on, Hagrid. I promise not to tell anyone. There's no one to tell anyway." She hadn't meant to be that self-deprecating, especially not to make him pity her, but she could see the way his eyes softened at that last statement. She had confided in him more frequently over the past year, and the two had grown quite close.
He sighed. "I guess there's no use with yeh. Don' think I could keep 'im from yeh in a few weeks anyway."
"Keep what from me?"
"Hold on a mo'" He shuffled around his hut to find his jacket, which he then proceeded to riffle through the pockets for a few minutes. Lily waited patiently.
"Here we go." He settled back down into his seat holding a letter. He reopened it and flipped through a few pages until a photograph fluttered out onto the ground. Lily bent down to retrieve it.
"Isn' he bea'iful?" Hagrid said, just a little misty eyed. The photograph showed the image of what looked to be a baby griffin flapping its wings and flicking its tail almost more like a dog than a lion. Of all the animals she'd seen, Lily wouldn't describe the baby griffin as particularly cute. However, there was a mischievous gleam in his eye, and Lily knew he would grow up to be a rather majestic looking creature.
"What's his name?"
"They like ter call 'im Nicomedia."
"Little Nico," Lily cooed. "Don't you already have a whole herd though? What's the point of importing one all the way from… Where was it again?"
"America. And we've got a herd o' hippogriffs. Not griffins. Completely different."
"So what's the difference then?" Lily questioned. "Why not just use the hippogriffs that you've already got?"
Hagrid looked uncomfortable. "Well, see, yer not really 'sposed to know 'bout all this."
"Does Dumbledore need a griffin specifically for this project of his?" Lily tried to sneak a look at the pages of the letter that remained strewn across the table to get some more information. But Lily had pushed him too far.
"Tha's enough!" He plucked the photograph from her hand and collected the pages of the letter too quickly for her to read anything important. The only word she managed to catch a glimpse of was the expansive signature at the bottom. Newt Scamander.
"When do I get to meet him?" Lily switched gears to try to calm him down and avoid being kicked out of his hut in the middle of a snow storm.
"He'll be delivered in a week or two. Trainin' him meself," he declared proudly.
"How big will he get in a week or two though? He doesn't look all that small for a baby."
"Oh, 'bout the size o' a hippogriff. Nothing I can' handle," Hagrid said confidently. He seemed excited for the challenge, but Lily had never heard of anyone keeping a griffin as a pet. Then again, if Dumbledore was encouraging him, it couldn't be too dangerous.
"Well I'm happy for you then," said Lily decidedly with an encouraging nod for good measure. "This is exactly the sort of thing you enjoy." He smiled so widely his eyes crinkled at the outer edges.
"Lily Evans, you are too kind. I wish more were as open minded as yeh are." And she knew he wasn't just talking about wild magical animals.
By the time the rest of the Hogwarts population returned to the school, Lily had already deeply entrenched herself between the large stacks of books in the library.
Except she wasn't really doing work. She had all of her books spread out in front of her and rolls of parchment with neat notes for her to review—it all looked rather picturesque if she did say so herself—but she could not gather the motivation to actually read a single word.
It was just a bad day all around. She had woken up that morning with that sort of a feeling, and it had only grown since the rather lonely breakfast—most of her classmates were not returning until that afternoon, and Margaret was very much a late sleeper.
Regardless, Lily had decided that just being in the presence of the library would inspire some sort of academic mindset in her. She was wrong, of course, but it was a nice thought.
After working solidly, or at least attempting to, for about an hour, Lily deemed herself worth of a study break. That, and a thought in the back of her mind kept trying to claim her attention. And so she gave in, searching for the Care of Magical Creatures section of the library, one that she had never seen reason to visit in all her five years here at Hogwarts.
But rather than having to search hard for the subjects she wanted to study, she found a wealth of information. Far too much to sort through today. Apparently Newt Scamander was something of a celebrity. One that she had never heard about before.
To be fair, she had never taken Care of Magical Creatures, and for all her interest in magic, history on its own had never managed to hold her attention for very long. This, however, was something else altogether.
"After Clause 73 was inserted in the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy in 1750, interest in magical creatures began to decline. The threat to wizarding safety became apparent, and fear of these creatures spread. This fear of the unknown continued for throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. It was not until 1918 when the name Newt Scamander first began making waves in the Magizoology field. Shortly after, he was commissioned to begin work researching for his most famous book: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Scamander managed to make the unknown known throughout the world, eliminating many of the earlier fears of magical creatures. His work inspired many to join the field, resulting in the Ban on Experimental Breeding in 1965 due to such an increased interest in magical creatures."
Newt Scamander had travelled the world. He had seen just about every creature, muggle and magical alike, imaginable. And the unimaginable. He seemed to be exactly the man that Hagrid would idolize. So how did he manage to get into contact with him?
Lily's first thought was Dumbledore, of course. But was this simply fan mail or something more important? Maybe—
"There you are!" Margaret exclaimed, pulling herself a seat. "Whatcha up to, girly?" She peered over Lily's notes on Arithmancy. "Ugh, gross," she announced before leaning back and rocking her chair. Lily could only be grateful she hadn't looked a little more closely and asked a few more questions. Like why she was suddenly interested in Care of Magical Creatures and researching griffins and Newt Scamander.
"So anyway, I have something that you are not going to believe!" Lily's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. Though, Lily had found that she could in fact often believe the stories that followed those statements.
"Is that so?" Most of the time, when Margaret would fill her in on the gossip and drama of the day she had to fight to keep her attention on the subject. Though not immune to gossip or believing that she was above it all, Lily simply could not keep track of all of the different names and of their various connections to one another. Margaret found this both astonishing and false on some level considering the limited number of students attending the school, but Lily had no reason to lie. She did have a theory that she couldn't remember faces, however, and blamed the problem on that.
"I'm serious," she protested. "This is something you'd be interested in. It's about Potter and Black." This time Lily leaned in closer. Names she recognized, in their house and year.
"What did they do this time?"
Margaret smirked. "You'll like this. So you know how they decided to welcome back the rest of the Hogwarts student population with some of Dr. Filibuster's finest?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Right in the middle of my dessert, too."
"Your obsession with treacle tart worries me." Margaret laid a hand on Lily's shoulder in careful concern. Lily shrugged it off and gave her a firm look.
"Just get on with it, then."
"Okay, okay. So, they didn't officially claim responsibility until today. I think because McGonagall suspected Davies, and you know how snippy they get when someone else gets credit. But anyway, Griffiths came storming down the hall to accost them after dinner—I think you'd already left by then—and James gave this whole rant about cruel and unusual punishment and how he would not stand for the discrimination taking place in her classroom.
"And the entire hall burst into applause, as one does after any rousing speech—Well, that section of the table at least. Okay! It was Pettigrew and some Second years," she amended at Lily's skepticism. "And Griffiths was so flustered she didn't even yell at them. She just went right to Dumbledore and told him to sort it out."
"I bet Dumbledore and Potter had a nice chat then."
"Biscuits were definitely involved, the chummy old family friends they are. Oh, but just imagine the look on Griffiths' face! She was absolutely disgraced!"
Lily giggled. "Well that settles it. Potter is my hero," she declared dramatically, hand to her heart and eyelashes fluttering.
"What was that, Evans?" Lily jumped as James rounded the bookshelf and plopped quite comfortably at their table.
"Speak of the devil," Margaret muttered, though looking delighted. She lived for drama and conflict.
"It's like you have a sixth sense for when people are talking about you," Lily remarked bitterly, returning pointedly to her notes.
"Just good hearing." He winked. "So I take it the story of my gallant proclamation in defense of students everywhere has made its way to you?"
"Strange, I heard it was Davies actually," said Lily, casually flipping a page.
James glowered. "Ha. Ha. You're witty, I'll give you that."
"You looking forward to Apparition lessons, James?" Margaret asked, when it quickly became apparent that Lily planned to ignore him.
He ran his hand through his hair so it spiked up even more wildly. "Can't be too hard, can it?"
"I don't know. Feels pretty uncomfortable I always thought," said Margaret. James hummed in agreement, though his eyes roamed the table rather than meeting her eyes.
He grabbed the textbook nearest him to inspect it closer. "Don't tell me you're studying already. Merlin, Evans! It's not even the first day back!"
"Maybe if you did you wouldn't be failing two classes." Lily yanked it back forcefully. Hopefully before he read it and realized she did not take Care of Magical Creatures.
"I'm failing one class, and it's History of Magic, so I think I'll live." He leaned back, propping his feet up on the table—on her parchment—and tilting the chair half in the air. Lily would've shaken her head at the ridiculous display of male dominance, but she was too busy hiding the textbook on the other side of the table.
"It was the Arithmancy that corrupted her," said Margaret. "She was such a sweet and innocent little firstie."
"Interesting theory, but Evans has been this swotty since day one. And no one who befriended Snivellous could possibly be that innocent."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "You are—" But what exactly James was to her could not be said as Sirius made his timely entrance, poking out from behind the bookshelf.
"Prongs! There you are! You ready?"
"And that's my cue." James rose and, with a small nod in their direction, exited before Lily could say another word.
"Smart of him to get out while he could," Margaret commented lightly as Lily seethed. While Lily could not match name to face for most of the Hogwarts population, the deterioration of her closest friend remained quite public and memorable for everyone else.
"All I wanted was to get my work out of the way before classes start. That's all I ask."
"Well you came to the wrong place then. You should know better than to try to get work done in the library." She gestured at the closest seven tables stuffed with extra chairs and chatty students.
"But since you seem stressed, I did promise Jessie I'd meet her after her date. I'll leave you to it then, girly."
Lily could not accurately describe the strange emptiness that followed in the wake of peace and quiet.
If Lily had been asked as a first year if she'd like to throw away her one shot at never having to take a maths class again by taking the single class offered at Hogwarts involving numbers, she would've rolled on the floor laughing. However, at the beginning of third year Lily had been going through a nostalgic phase and found herself missing all things muggle. That was the only way to explain her temporary lapse in sanity.
Luckily, Arithmancy at Hogwarts didn't include anything above addition, maths skills-wise, so Lily found she didn't mind the numbers as much as she did in muggle schooling. And it was always entertaining to see everyone else struggle to learn simple addition for the first time.
Unfortunately, Lily did not have Arithmancy until Thursday that week. However, this did give her plenty of time to formulate a full interview of questions to interrogate Whitney with come that Thursday.
Whitney appeared to have not gotten the memo.
"Whitney!" Lily whispered. "Hey! Travers!" Even Whitney's look of confusion held an undertone of superiority to it.
"What do you want, Evans?" Lily had just opened her mouth to start on her first of many questions when Professor Vector interrupted her.
"Good morning, class. As I explained before break, this term we will begin exploring more in depth the connections between Character Numbers and Environmental Numbers."
She paused to take a breath, which Lily used to her advantage to badger Whitney once again.
"Whitney! I need to talk to you about Jeffrey!" Whitney's dark eyes looked up from her textbook to burn into Lily's with more hatred and emotion she thought the other girl capable of.
"This means we finally get to Event Predictions, which I know many of you have been anticipating since last year," Professor Vector continued, her voice fading into the background as Lily leaned over her desk and strained her neck closer to the seat diagonal to hers.
"Mind your own business," Whitney hissed back.
"But in order to understand the fluidity of events, it's important to fully comprehend the interaction between Character, as we covered last year, and Environment, which we began this year."
"I just want to know—"
"When I mention Event predictions, I mean, of course, probabilities of events occurring, as nothing can be divined with certainty, not at this stage."
"However much you want to believe this is about you and Snape, it's not," Whitney cut her off. Her voice raised and drew the attention of Reynolds and Varnell near them.
"This is, however, the skill you will need if you are interested in Curse-Breaking, as I know many of you are."
"I never saidit was."
"So I expect your full attention for the rest of the year."
"Why else would you be interested in who I talk to?"
"This is a complicated subject and will require focus and concentration to succeed."
Lily raised her voice further. "Because I—"
"Miss Evans. Am I interrupting your conversation?" Her head jerked back to the front of the room to find the faces of two thirds of the class staring back at her. She felt the remaining third on her back.
"Sorry, Professor," Lily muttered and leaned back in her seat.
"So today we'll start as we always start. Instructions are on the board. Keep track of all correct and incorrect responses. I'll be walking around to answer questions. Begin."
Unfortunately, today was not a team or group exercise, and Lily could not immediately think of a plausible reason to get to Whitney. She resigned herself to the task at hand, a rather tedious one too.
Lily pulled out her number charts, feathered and worn at the edges from the past three years, and flipped to the table at the back of Numerology and Grammatica. As Professor Vector loved to remind them, Arithmancy was all about complex predictions building on the same basic principles.
The blackboard at the front of the room detailed thirty or so different situations involving a character and a situation. Typically it was either one or the other for them to divine meaning from. With a sigh, Lily began tapping the sequences out with her wand to be interpreted with the chart, quite skeptical of anyone's success with so little instruction.
"Let's examine the results," Professor Vector interrupted Lily's work from the front of the classroom. Lily glanced down. Barely halfway through. Interpreting patterns from a half-completed data set would not really help her.
Fortunately, she was not alone in this revelation. A few students spoke up their disagreement. No one liked being set up to fail.
"If you'd like a wide set of numbers to draw on you may look on with a partner," Professor Vector conceded, and Lily all but flew over to Whitney's desk, dragging her chair loudly behind her.
"Hello, partner," said Lily cheerfully. "Let's chat." Whitney groaned, which Lily took as a sign of acceptance.
"So," Lily began. "You're friends with Jeffery Rodgers."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied coldly, starting to count the number of answers they had with an even Character number.
Lily tallied the Event numbers divisible by five. "I saw you. With Jeffery by the Slytherin common room."
Whitney looked up and from work and raised her thin eyebrows. "And just what were you doing down there, Evans?"
"It's not important." Lily shook her head, not stopping as she continued to add numbers up.
"It's important to me. You want to know something about my life, and I want to know something about yours."
"Fine. I had detention, all right?" Whitney smirked. For such a quiet, nice girl she sure had an evil smile.
"Rodgers is an old family friend. We reconnected after Christmas this year." And Lily knew instantly that, just like her answer, it was a muddy mixture of both truth and lies.
It seemed the only way Lily would be getting any answers would be from Jeffrey and not Whitney.
Even after the weekend, Lily was still attempting to crack the code on the patterns in her Arithmancy problems. She nestled herself in a large squashy armchair in the corner waiting for patrols to start for the evening.
"Sorry, sorry! Got caught up in the library." Remus burst into the common room, drawing the attention of half a dozen Gryffindors. Thankfully, this group included the one he was trying to draw the attention of.
"It's alright. Breathe," Lily couldn't help giggling at his panicked face. "Happens to the best of us." She rose to join him at the door and held it open for him. "After you."
"Isn't that my line?" He did have a predictable habit of opening doors for her.
"Didn't you know it's polite to take turns?" she countered. She paused for a beat. Silence between them. "Are you feeling alright? You look a little…" she let her words trail off as she took in the dark smudges beneath drooping eyelids, the pale skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Sickly.
"You know, I don't comment on your disregard for hairbrushes." Though his eyes lit up friendly and teasing, the words came out wrong. Too harsh for the sentiment. He seemed to realize his mistake immediately.
"Lucky for you, the messy bedhead look attracts all sorts." He winked, not considering that maybe Lily didn't love to be reminded of her unfortunate connection to his best friend.
"Lucky me." While he caught the sarcasm, Remus missed the sharpness it cut into the air.
"So are you gonna explain why you were harassing Travers in class the other day?" he asked as they started off towards the Great Hall and front doors.
"No. Are you gonna explain why my roommate woke up screaming this morning." Remus, at least, at the decency to blush.
"You know Serena. She… bothers James." Lily gave him a look.
"So because she's a flirt I'm not allowed to sleep in?"
"Well, we were working on Transfiguration in the common room—actually working, there's a paper due tomorrow—and she was just sitting on the arm of his chair and wouldn't stop twirling her hair. And, well, James is an impatient person."
"And that's a good reason to vanish someone's hair in the middle of the night," spoke Lily flatly. She was also a person with little patience. "She wasn't doing anything wrong."
"No. She wasn't," he agreed. "But what do you expect?"
"More than that."
He sighed. "I'll talk to him." They arrived to find the Great Hall doors closed tightly and securely. And unlocked.
"Lu said it's already happened twice this month at the last meeting."
"You'd think the Professors would be a little less careless considering the sort of news that makes the paper," Remus remarked.
"Oh, I hope it's Griffiths. Maybe Professor Dumbledore'll fire her for it," said Lily wistfully. Remus snickered.
"We'll have to track down Filch now, I suppose." As strong as magic could be, the physical keys gave her (and Professor Dumbledore) a bit more peace of mind. "Chances he's actually in his office this time?"
"Let's try the corridor by the library," he suggested. "It's on the way."
They kept walking.
"So about Rodgers—" Lily started.
"You are not nearly as subtle as you think you are, Lily Evans."
"Who said I was trying to be subtle? No one ever tells me anything around here."
"I have nothing to tell. He's never in the dormitory anyway. Spends all his time with Connor Greenwich in Ravenclaw." Connor Greenwich. Another name to badger. At this rate there would be no one left in her year who'd want to talk to her.
"Leave the poor guy alone," Remus added, seeing the gleam in her eye. Lily really needed to learn how not to write out all her thoughts on her face.
"It's not what you're thinking." He looked at her like he knew exactly what it was about.
"Just be careful, Lily. And practice some more subtle interrogation tactics."
The third snowy weekend in a row had convinced nearly every student to remain locked indoors with a large mug of hot chocolate. Except, of course, Lily.
Instead, she waded through a mountain of fluffy snow not nearly as soft as it looked to get to Hagrid's hut. The wind tugged at her plaited hair insistently, and though Lily had readjusted her hat three times already, a trickle of melted snow was already making its way down her neck.
If Lily were the type to talk to herself, she might've been grumbling about Hagrid's vague letter requesting her visit in the blizzard. As it was, she took out her frustration by pounding on his heavy wooden door.
"Lily! Come in! Blimey, it's rough out there, isn' it?" he boomed, bursting with excitement. With a nod, she quickly slipped into the warmth and shed the heavy cloak before she started sweating by his roaring fire.
"Knew yeh'd want ter meet 'im righ' away, even with the snow."
"Nico's here!" Lily asked excitedly. "Where?"
"Yeh'll want ter put that cloak o' yers back on." He tugged on his own hat—a loud patchwork red and orange thing—as he spoke.
"You mean he's outside? In this weather, Hagrid?"
"Griffin's are tougher than yeh give 'em credit for, Lily. He's righ' at home out there."
She peered out the window. He had doubled in size since the photograph, but he still cowered beneath his feathered wings to shield from the wind. Lily imagined that if she were beside him she'd see him shivering from the cold.
"Will he stay out there all year?" she asked as Hagrid began ushering her out to meet him.
He chuckled. "They're outdoor creatures. O' course he'll stay out there."
"I mean, out in your garden. Where's he going to stay?" she continued to prod.
"Well, I'll train 'im here 'til he's ready, an' then he'll be off to the forest, o' course. He's a wild animal, after all." The wind nearly stole his words away. Lily had to strain to hear even his booming voice.
"What'll he do out in the forest? What are you training him for?" she all but yelled into a void. Though she was sure that he had caught at least some of what she said, Hagrid pretended she had not spoken at all.
"Here yeh go: Nicomedia!" he announced. "Go on. He's still young, so he won' be threatened." Lily briefly wondered what would happen when he was no longer young, and when that age might be reached. Hagrid was not always the most reliable judge of such behavior in his animals.
Hesitantly, Lily reached a shaking hand towards him.
"Hold on—" Hagrid grabbed her wrist. "No gloves. Yeh have ter use your hand. They're mistrustful o' most materials." The cold bit her skin red and raw. But she was not willing to risk her life with this creature. She wished she had done more research on the animal itself rather than the man who had sent him.
She raised her arm again, even more slowly than last time. Inching closer and closer. Half a step forward, boots crunching in the snow. At the slightest touch, he bent his head down to meet her.
Impossibly soft feathers brushed against her hand, and Lily felt a flood of warmth turn away the biting cold. Nico's devilish eyes glinted up at her. In an instant, his wings stretched wide, sending a wave of calm, temperate air around her and Hagrid.
Lily spun around to look up at Hagrid in shock. He grinned widely back.
"Told yeh he'd love yeh!" though he no longer needed to shout. The wind made no sound in their oasis by the griffin.
"What does he do?" Even after all these years, Lily was never prepared for the wonder to strike her.
"He's a protector." She nodded. He could protect himself from the weather. He could protect them. And Professor Dumbledore must have something that needed protecting.
Lily was innocently doing her Potions reading in a large squashy armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room when a large bottle of firewhiskey scandalously fell into her lap.
"You are officially of age, girly," Margaret announced. "It's time to get sloshed. Legally, of course."
Lily grabbed the bottle and shoved it under the chair cushion.
"Are you mad? It's not even eight! There are twelve-year-old children here still."
"It's. Your. Birthday." She punctuated each word with a (sharp) poke in Lily's shoulder. "Let's celebrate!"
"It's Sunday. And I'm a Prefect."
"If you're not gonna drink it, then I will," she said, though it sounded as though she had already started.
And Lily had no energy left in her body to protest further. She also could not think of a good enough reason for her not to get drunk in this very moment.
"Just wait until curfew at least."
"That's ages from now!"
"It's two hours," she said with a disapproving look, not that Margaret could ever be shamed.
"Hold on..." She grabbed the bottle and pointed her wand at it. "Nota verto." Immediately, the inscription on the bottle began rewriting as the bottle itself shortened and changed shape. It no longer had the distinctive flashy warning label and short top that allowed the sparks to fizzle out.
Lily raised her eyebrows. "Handy. And likely illegal."
Margaret shrugged. "Can't win 'em all, girly."
Unable to argue with that logic, Lily grabbed the bottle to take one burning sip—that she nearly coughed back up—and Margaret cheered loudly, drawing the attention of many (young) students studying. She shoved the bottle back towards Margaret as if to negate any personal responsibility for the act.
"I won't even pretend to wonder where you got that from. Or ask you when your birthday is, because I know I don't want to know the answer." Margaret grinned cheekily in response. Sometimes it wasn't so surprising that Margaret had so quickly forced her friendship on Lily after a week confined at Hogwarts over break. Only sometimes.
But Lily already knew too well the dangers she posed as a friend. It wasn't worth the risk, so it was better she kept her distance to make the decision easier on everyone else.
The common room cleared out further until it was just Lily, Margaret, and the dying embers of the fire. Only the students intent on pushing the limits of curfew wandered through every so often.
"You know, I think my magic is actually better when I'm drunk." Margaret seemed surprised by her own revelation.
"Let's not test that one out," Lily censored before Margaret could burn the whole tower down.
"Sean agreed with me." And Lily sighed, because one only needed to know Margaret for ten minutes before he came up. "We were just so similar. You know, I think he was staring at me the other day in Charms. I noticed because it was so odd. Charms is his favorite class. He wouldn't not pay attention for no reason."
She continued to analyze the situation, but Lily had stopped paying attention. There was no convincing her that Sean was not interested. Even though it had been nearly a year since their last interaction.
Lazily, Lily dragged her wand through the air, tossing around the last few embers of the fire. They made little sparks when they collided, scarlet flares that lived for just seconds before fading out again. She entertained herself like this until she noticed the tears threatening the corners of Margaret's eyes.
"And I don't know why I let his friends still treat me like this. I get that being a Hufflepuff means loyalty, but what about human decency?"
"I think it's time for bed." Margaret hiccupped but did not protest.
"He loves me, right?" No was the more likely answer. But then again Lily was a bit of a cynic these days.
"Of course he does. He loves you." Did anyone love anyone? Certainly not at their age.
Lily helped her up the stairs, shoved a toothbrush in her hands, and pointed out the correct bed. She was out before her head hit the pillow. Lily was desperate to join her. And she nearly did, eyes just barely shut before she remembered the nearly empty bottle still downstairs, right next to her incriminating book bag should anyone find the two together.
With a groan, she lifted her spinning head and felt her way down the dark stairs. Her lumos took two tries to get the words out properly.
The common room felt different at this time of night. Empty of laughter and conversation and life… It didn't seem right. It gave Lily a strange emptiness in her chest. She had just slung her bag over her should and wrapped her hands around the bottle (transfiguration long worn off now) when she heard the footsteps.
"First detention and now this… When did you become such a troublemaker?"
"I hide it well," Lily quipped. That strange emptiness was finally starting to go away. "I could report you for being out past curfew."
He raised his eyebrows. "I could report you for alcoholic beverages in a common student area."
Lily was definitely not drunk. But an entirely sober Lily would have likely stormed upstairs and hidden all evidence.
"Want some?" She shook the bottle. At least three sips left.
He shook his head. "Tempting, but no. Someone's gotta be responsible around here."
"And where were you just now?" Always skeptical, always mistrustful.
With a smile, James said, "Happy birthday, Lily." And left her there wondering how exactly he knew her birthday.
A/N:
I've had this idea of writing a story that takes place in one year in my head for a while now. It's made some things trickier and some things more interesting, but so far I'm pretty excited with how it came out. Please let me know if you like the story and where it's going so I know to continue with it!
Thanks!