Hey guys, this is just a little something to take my mind off of my dissertation and relax a little. I hope you enjoy and could review for me so I know where to go with this. At the moment, updates wont be as regular as I'd like as I have another huge Harry Potter project on the go, and loads of work at university, but ill try my hardest! Many thanks, Happy Reading!
Chapter One: A New Start
It was a hot summers day as fifteen year old Lily Evans stretched her arms wide, standing in the doorway of her once bustling home and looking out to the setting sun as it bleached the horizon a deep blood red, staining her vision as the last rays of the day fell lightly over her face. She sighed, resting her rather small and thin frame against the doorway, thinking only how much she would miss the country she had found herself in all those years ago, and the people she had encountered in those five year, the bonds they had formed and the things that they had done together. "Move it witch!" Came a small cackle from behind her, Lily suddenly finding herself knocked forwards and straight out of the door, a figure carrying a large box turning away from her.. She knew exactly who it was, and was less than thrilled about it. It was not that she hated her sister Petunia, because she truly didn't and loved her beyond anything. But Lily could not help but have ill feeling towards her from time to time, the differences between them unbelievable. Lily wouldn't have said she was ugly exactly, but she was no Petunia. Whilst she was relatively small and skinny, her sister was tall and curvy, with perfect hair, clothes and makeup, things Lily cared little for. With green eyes, red hair and the baggiest clothes possible, Lily could barely compare to Petunia's bouncing blond hair and silvery eyes further accentuated by her feminine clothing. Lily simply did not have time for such things, instead preferring to be comfortable in her clothing and in herself. Yet, now, as her sister barged her way through the front door and towards their small car and the end of the drive, Lily gritted her teeth together in frustration.
"Oh, how accurate!" She threw after her sister, turning back in towards the house and taking a box from the pile just inside of the door and then making her way in the same direction. Walking around to the back of the car where the boot was propped open, she threw herself into her sister and out of the way, "You move it bitch!" She chuckled out, thoroughly pleased with her comeback as she tidied her own box away as Petunia pulled a truly ugly face in her direction.
"Lilian!" Came a sharp voice, echoing down the street from the front of the car. She had evidently not been made aware of her mother's presence in the front passenger seat, currently looking over an incredible large map that took up most of the windscreen.
"What?" Lily moaned back to her mother, knowing exactly what was coming. It was, at times, like she was being tag teamed by both of them, the two of them strikingly similar in looks and tone of voice. Her mother had never liked the idea that either of her children could possibly be foul mouthed or bad tempered, particularly not the child that took such care in her appearance and whom she had cared for the longest, and it was often no surprise to Lily when she was on the receiving end of her mother's wrath.
"Stop being horrible to your sister." Lily twitched a little, one of her eyebrows moving uncontrollably as Petunia sniggered beside her. It was completely typical, her mother clearly not having picked up upon any of the underlying subtleties that Petunia had laced her short sentence with.
"She called me a witch!" Lily tried to reason, beginning to turn from both of them and walking back towards their house, slightly annoyed at the predictable outcome of Petunia's provoking.
"You are a witch dear." Her mother said with a small smile spreading over her face. It was true, Lily was a witch. And she had spent four glorious year at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the Pyrenees, learning all about the anything but normal skills she possessed, those which her sister did not. The all - girls school had been her home away from home, a place she felt accepted and wanted, praised for her skills and highly level of achievement, something Petunia could not have hoped to achieve. She was what was known as a Muggle. A non - magical person, just like her parents. Yet they were all, in some way or another, distantly related to magical blood, for here she was, Lily, her wand in her back pocket and knowledge beyond measure tucked up inside her mind, one thing she could always keep to herself. Her parents were indeed proud of her achievements, and even Petunia was intrigued by this once she had received her letter from Beauxbatons, demanding that the headmistress accept her into the school as well. Yet she had kindly been rejected, and instead turned her attention to the wizarding side of Lily's world, corresponding frequently via owl with many of the boys attending Durmstrang Institute. Yet Lily know this would not curb Petunia's jealous streak, with her sister taking every possible opportunity to make her aware of it.
"She doesn't mean it like that though!" Lily threw back over her shoulder as she slowly stalked her way back to the house, only to receive a rather rude shove from behind as Petunia flounced past her.
"Of course I do Lil' Lils! You're my favourite." She half sung out, flinging her arms about and batting her eyelids wildly, before giggling to herself and slipping back into the household. Lily pursed her lips, refusing to allow herself to throw anything back at her sister, drawing a deep breath. She thought instead of her happy place, the Beauxbatons Palace, a beautiful chateau surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains crafted out of the surrounding mountains, and the wood nymphs that would serenade her as she passed through the halls on long summer days.
"See, I'm sure I didn't bring you up to say such vile things." Her mother's voice broke through her daydreaming and she turned to find her half hanging out of the window and giving her a thoroughly disapproving look. Deciding to again refuse to retort she gathered up the last of the boxes and followed her sister back towards the car.
"It's all this stress. I can't handle it anymore." Lily muttered to herself, balancing the unusually heavy bags over her forearms and stumbling around slightly. Petunia however had stopped in her tracks, staring at her with an incredibly strange look upon her face, a small twisted smile and a twinkle in her eyes.
"Such a whiner…We're going home! You should be well chuffed, you can go back to your boyfriend!" She called out, Lily herself also now stopping and rounding upon her sister. Severus Snape. A boy she had once known and spent her evenings with before they had left for France. He too had magical ability, but had since begun attending a separate school to her, the one that Lily was now transferring to. She loved him dearly, but honestly thought of him as nothing more than a friend. A small boy, with dark hair and pale features, and a kind heart despite his obvious bad background. Though Lily had never enquired as to his home life, she could see the longing in his eyes when he had seen her own family's interaction, and indeed, her heart went out to his neglectful suffering.
"He. He is not my boyfriend." She said feebly, and Petunia fully ignored her remark, "Hey! HEY! You listening to me?" Lily tried once more, offended by her sisters smirking and her ignorance, "He is not my boyfriend!" She insisted a little more, Petunia having move to stand barely inches from her, looking down to her with an ever widening grin upon her face.
"Oh, of course! He was sniffing round you from the day he met you, took an entire country to get him to go away!" Really, Petunia knew nothing about Severus, not like Lily did, so in a way, she could forgive her ignorance, aware of how strange it must have looked to an outsider.
"He can't help the way he's been brought up!" She said defiantly, though knowing inwardly that it would have little difference in her sister's opinion.
"Weirdo…" She muttered, a rather repulsed look passing over her face. Yet is soon spread into a gleeful smile as she jumped up and down on the spot a little, a kind of wild expression falling over her, "BUT! Anything is better than here. The boys at my school are awful, and there aren't any at yours. But now…" Lily knew exactly where this was going, Petunia's obsession with marrying a wizard fuelling the oncoming train of desire.
"No. I am not hooking you up with anyone from my school." Lily added flatly, ignoring the hurt and miserable look her sister mustered.
"And why not? I am beautiful after all!" Petunia commented nonchalantly, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
"Gross." Lily feigned retching, looking away from her sister in apparent disgust and slight envy.
"No dear, that's you." She threw at Lily casually, returning to her starry eyed moment as she gazed into space, "It's be a great opportunity to find myself a strong, powerful, influential wizard. They'd woo me, give me anything I want, and care for me for life!"
"…You need to stop and come back to reality for a while…" Lily pulled away slightly, a little disturbed by her sister's wild imagination, wondering what exactly went on inside her head sometimes. Yet, she ignored Lily and continued in her thoughts, her face falling into a slackened peace.
"Here, you take this." With that Petunia threw all she was holding at Lily, who only just manage to catch it, miraculously managing to cling to all of it, "Well, to the car with you!" And with that she flounced away, slipping herself comfortably into the back seat and making herself appear extremely content. Biting her bottom lip a little, Lily hurriedly dropped the rest of her luggage into the boot before her father appeared behind her to close it up gently. Giving him a small smile he tousled her hair lightly, the two of them sharing a small moment in which he told her silently to calm down and not let it get to her. Her father was more than aware of Lily and Petunia, who they were and how they acted. But undoubtedly felt the same was as she did in comparison to Petunia, as he himself was shadowed by the beauty of his wife, his features shared with his youngest daughter only. Lily took a deep breath and then followed her father around the side of the car, pulling the door open with rather more force than she had intended to,
"If anything, at least at school, I can get away from you." Lily flung herself into the car, pulling her seatbelt around herself and slamming the door behind her. Folding her arms into one another she faced the window determinedly, refusing to let her sister provoke her any further.
~x~x~x~
"Lily! Get the door!" Came her mother's voice, floating to her from the kitchen, as Lily stood at the top of the staircase, about to make her way across the landing with the final box for her room. She turned, looking down towards the door where Petunia was busy reapplying her eye makeup. Lily sighed heavily,
"Mama!" She called back, groaning a little under the weight of the items she was carrying, "Tuney is like right next to it!" Petunia turned and flashed a smile her way, something Lily truly despised at times,
"Lilian!" Came another cry and she huffed, dropping the box suddenly and turning her, heading back down the stairs, where Petunia had passed back by her,
"Sorry sis, my hands are full!" She floated away, a sickly sweet sound coming from her lips. Lily loved her sister dearly, and would indeed do anything for her under most circumstances, yet she could not help feeling immense rivalry towards the elder sibling. And at times, indeed, words slipped from her lips that she truly did not mean, but could not help but childishly say,
"My hands will be full with your throat if you don't shift…" Lily muttered, ripping the door open suddenly, aware that she no doubt looked like a deranged animal having escaped captivity. Yet she straightened immediately, greeted by a taller, much older blond haired pale skinned handsome woman, who was smartly smiling widely at her, a glint of mischief hanging in her hazel eyes. "Um, hello?" She croaked out, the woman giving a small chuckle,
"Yes! Sorry! We saw you were moving in, I'm from across the road. Mrs Dorea Potter, and my son, James." She said proudly, her demanding and yet soft voice a pleasant surprise to Lily, who felt suddenly at ease by her. However, she suddenly realised that a boy stood beside her, completely oblivious as to how she had missed him originally. A tall, handsome, thin boy with hazel eyes like his mothers and untidy black hair that stuck up wildly at the back, an indefinable aura of having being well cared for and adored about him. Lily's breath caught slightly, he looked wonderful to her, unlike any boy that she had encountered before, a mystical air about him that drew her to him slightly.
"Um, sorry, err. Lily. Just Lily…Evans! Lily Evans." She managed to blurt out, groaning inwardly at her inability to string a sentence together, mentally kicking herself for her ineptitude. Yet the two of their guests seemed not to mind in the slightest, both of them looking at her rather happily,
"You're a funny girl aren't you?" Mrs Potter continued, genuinely seeming to find interest in Lily's spacey attitude, which caused her to blush uncontrollably, an awkward silence falling over them as she fidgeted on the spot.
"Lilian!" The voice of her mother moved over them once more, snapping Lily to her senses, as she turned her head back in the direction of the open kitchen door,
"Mama?" She asked, her voice coming out a little more child – like than she had originally intended, feeling incredibly foolish. She had managed to come across a truly beautiful boy, and had managed to make a massive fool of herself, and no doubt now, her mother would too.
"LILIAN!" Came another call, Lily now completely ignoring both of the people standing upon her doorstep, screaming back in her mother's direction,
"MAMA!" There came a slight pause, in which Lily assumed her mother was waiting for a further reply, she continued, "I am answering the door like you asked, now what do you want?" Instead, she appeared suddenly in the threshold, an apron draped around her and her hair positively electric.
"Who is it?" She asked sweetly, a large, forced smile being pushed in Lily's direction.
"Neighbours." Lily replied simply, swinging the door wide to reveal the Potters to her mother, who gushed suddenly and flapped her arms around wildly.
"Oh, oh, oh, do excuse me! I was rearranging the vegetables." She hurried forwards and towards Mrs Potter, wringing her hand and pulling both her and her son into their home. "Please excuse my youngest, she's incredibly rude sometimes." She flustered, Lily appearing thoroughly bored as she leant against the wall by the mirror Petunia had been pruning herself in only moments earlier.
"Mama, it's called wit." Lily added casually, though her mother rather ignored her comment, pushing their new guests across the hallway and towards their living room,
"Please, come in, make yourselves comfortable. I hadn't realised there were many people around here, I assumed the street was still fairly empty." She continued as she and Mrs Potter pushed on and seated themselves together, leaving Lily with James in the doorway. Feeling incredibly awkward, she could barely think of anything today, incredibly angry with herself for being so flustered over nothing,
"Um, hi." She muttered out, a little surprised when he turned and flashed her a dazzlingly sly smile,
"James." He stated rather formally, Lily unconsciously taking her hair into her hands and winding it steadily around her fingers.
"Lily." She replied, falling back into quiet as she continued twiddling her long locks.
"Not Lilian then?" He said jokingly, Lily snapping out of her slight daze and dropping her hair, turning to stare at him rather rudely that he would dare to say such a thing. He gave a light chuckle and then began to head towards his mother, casually throwing behind him, "Cute." Before sitting down beside her comfortably. Lily's heart twanged, just a little, feeling a fleeting spark pass between them, her face heating up at his causal joke, feeling incredibly flustered because of him.
"Lilian!" Her mother's voice drifted over once more, "Go get your sister, we have guests!" She said, rather softly for her, yet it made Lily no less inclined to do as she was told.
"Do I have to?" She protested, knowing exactly how the princess of the family would arrive into the room and steal the show. Yet, indeed, her mother was persistent,
"Lilian!" Biting her lip a little and huffing loudly, she turned, moving from the room and up the stairs, directly towards Petunia's room.
"Stupid sister…" Lily muttered under her breath, pushing open the door to find her sister casually reading a magazine upon her new bed, "Tuney, Mama wants you to come say hi to the woman across the road and her kid." She threw out casually, Petunia barely even acknowledging her presence as she continued reading.
"When you say kid..?" She asked rather slowly, Lily rolling her eyes in disbelief, knowing exactly what she was asking,
"Fifteen, sixteen maybe." Petunia sat up instantly and turned to face Lily, a small smile creeping across her lips,
"Hot?" She asked, seemingly rather giddy at the new prospect of male attention under her very own roof. Lily sighed inwardly, hating her sisters rather demanding male rating system, but complying regardless,
"Sevenish maybe." She said, Petunia seemingly becoming even more excited and standing up, apparently thinking incredibly hard. Lily really did not have time for such things, smiling inwardly at her previous encounter with James, having felt at least some kind of connection with him before her sister was even aware of his existence. "Go and see for yourself, Tuney." She added casually, unaware that Petunia had already left and was halfway down the corridor heading straight for the living room,
"I hate that name." She shouted back to Lily, who grinned a little Her pet name for her sister was something that she had actually treasured, and although perhaps Petunia had grown out of it, she had not, and much preferred using it to her actual name. Lily let out a small laugh, at her own childishness and then herself followed downstairs, taking her time and smiling to herself. Yet as she appeared once more into the lounge, her face fell at the sight of Petunia, arm in arm with James and heading out of the opposite door, "Where'd you get to sweetie?" She asked casually, causing Lily's stomach to turn a little, looking to James for some kind of explanation. Deciding not to reply, she instead simply continued to stare at the pair of them, both smiling widely at her as she sat down beside Mrs Potter. She was sure she had felt at least something pass between them, but perhaps, he, James, had not. Indeed he appeared utterly besotted with Petunia already, "I'm just off to show James the garden. Will you accompany us?" She continued, already leading him towards the door, barely giving Lily any time to respond,
"I-" Lily began, but was cut off, in reality having already known that there would be no further opportunity for her to spend any time with James once Petunia had enter the room, in all her stunning glory. A strength and shining light that Lily knew that she could never hope to possess.
"I thought not. We'll be going now!" And they disappeared from view, a distant giggle heard as they exited the house, leaving Lily alone with the two older women.
"Your daughter certainly is forward." Mrs Potter said kindly, nodding towards the empty space her son and Petunia had just vacated. Lily's mother seemed incredibly pleased by this, though Lily herself could not fathom as to whether this was intended to be a genuine compliment. She turned to the strange woman beside her, incredibly intrigued by her and finding herself rather pleased that she had encountered her that day, hoping that perhaps they would come to know each other a little more over the coming weeks.
"She's very charismatic!" Mrs Evans smiled widely, before giving Lily a genuine caring smile, as if to reassure her than she too had her own wonderfully notable attributes. Yet it was Mrs Potter who spoke directly to her,
"And you're a funny one aren't you?" She repeated lightly, seemingly incredibly amused with Lily, who blushed a little and smiled lightly,
"I try…" She commented quietly, but perked up suddenly at Mrs Potter's response,
"Brilliant!" She beamed, Lily falling back into the sofa, suddenly at ease with both women, thoughts of James and Petunia leaving her mind.
~x~x~x~
It was official, Lily felt an idiot. Having not had time to purchase a set of black robes such as the numerous gabbling eleven year olds around her, she had instead been forced to wear her old Beauxbatons uniform on her first day of attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In honesty, she loved her uniform, a knee length, long sleeved, empire waist periwinkle charmeuse silk dress accompanied by matching blue hat and capelet, which made her feel every inch a lady in France. But now, she just felt plain stupid. Not at all helped by the passing students who were sniggering or pointing in her direction. She simple wander the ground to swallow her, barely even realising as he name drifted over her from a deep, masculine voice, "Lily?" And then again, with no doubt it was her who was being addressed, "Lily Evans!" She turned suddenly to see a boy, rather much taller than she had remembered, but looking the exact same as she recalled all of those years ago, though now accompanied by two shifty looking student stood just behind him.
"Severus!" She smiled widely and pushed passed the children in front of her to gain access to him, "How are you?" She asked enthusiastically, glad to at least see one friendly face in such an open and unfamiliar face as she threw her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her height in a tight hug, one that he obviously seemed extremely uncomfortable to be a part of. "It's been ages!" She pulled away from him, still smiling widely, him looking a little taken aback, but thoroughly pleased with her appearance.
"Great. Great now. You? I didn't know you were coming back, you didn't say." He stumbled out, seemingly barely able to string words together, which Lily found rather cute, she had to admit it. He had barely changed, still the same boy she had known before, but perhaps with just a little more confidence than she could remember.
"Oh, last minute thing, crazy! My grandmother had a fall, Mama decided we should come back to England to be closer to them." She blabbered bag, her hands going a bit crazy as she tried to explain herself away, aware that her actions could possibly have upset him a little and not wanting to hurt his feelings. Yet he seemed not to mind, a large grin pulling at his face as he nodded a little at her,
"But you're back? You're staying back?" He asked eagerly, Lily relaxing a little more, a sweeping of happiness falling over her gracefully.
"Yeah. For good." She smiled, suddenly becoming very aware of Severus's two friends leering at her from behind him, her smile faltering and she took a step back in the direction she had originally come. They were tall boys, thin and gaunt looking, with piercing black eyes and hunched figures. Severus gave a small cough, clearly having sensed the tense silence that had overtaken them.
"What you doing now then? You're with the first years…" He tried, pulling Lily out of her unnerved stare and bringing her back to him. Her brain engaging finally, she replied,
"Still need to be sorted. I feel slightly…Awkward…" She gave a quick look behind her to the numerous new students who were chatting excitedly to one another, giggling at one another, or pushing each other closer towards the great door that were yet to open for them. Severus took her hand suddenly, bringing her back to face him, a small smile tugging at the corners of his thin lips.
"I really hope you're in Slytherin. We could do loads together! It'd be awesome!" She smiled back at him, not really having much preference as to which of the four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin, as long as she wasn't rejected from the school completely. Thought she had to admit, it would be nice to have some starting company during her time in the school, as long as she didn't have to spend any time with his discomforting friends. A crisp voice drifted over from behind her, instructing those waiting to be sorted to being lining up readying themselves to go into the Great Hall.
"Oh, I have to go! See you soon, okay?" She said hurriedly, turning from him and waving over her shoulder, standing at the back of the small children that appeared as a sea before her. It wasn't long before the entrance hall had emptied of all students but them and a small silence had fallen over them. A small creaking and a pair of large oak doors began to swing inwards, a casting of light piercing through the darkness as those in front of her began moving forwards. She was instantly reminded of how much she stuck out, a wave of black pushing forwards, and her, a beacon of bright blue, almost twice the size of the others and feeling utterly ridiculous. Yet she soon forgot her discomfort as stepped into the hall, having never imagined anything could have ever compared to Beauxbatons, it was simply splendid. It was dimly lit by thousands of floating candles, hovering, unsuspended over four long tables that were lined with students. Glittering gold plates and goblet filled the tables, alongside the long teachers table at the very end of the hall where Lily was heading. A velvety black ceiling above her was dotted with stars, as thought there was no ceiling at all, but the hall could open up for the heavens above and allow the lights of the night to shower in. She was almost lost in the enchanting ceiling and unable to hear her name being called as the hundreds of faces in the hall turned directly towards her.
"Lilian Evans?" The voice said once more, snapping Lily back to her senses as she looked up towards the owner of the voice, finally registering who had been speaking to her. A tall, black – haired witch in emerald – green robes, with a very stern face, giving Lily the impression that she could only be someone not to be meddled with. "Up here please." She rasped, a look of impatience drifting over her as she titled her head to one, side, her hat looking even more crooked than it had before. She gave a short sharp nod which Lily returned, and she climbed a few stairs, propping herself up onto a small stool where she sat patiently, feeling a little nervous as an overly tattered black hat was placed on top of her head, over her own hat which had been pushed down, thoroughly covering her face. It twitched into life instantly, humming into her head, yet without much time elapsing at all, its brim opened wide, and in a great booming voice it shouted,
"GRYFFINDOR!" And with that the entire table to her right erupted with applause, much more so than it had done with the first years that had since joined the table. With that, the hat was whipped from her head and she began walking towards an empty space around the centre of the table, sliding herself under and making herself a little more comfortable. Looking back to the headmaster, his long silvery beard and twinkly eyes giving her a great sense of peace, trust and comfort. He smiled widely over all of them, and clapped his hands twice. Instantly, food appeared suddenly upon the table, piled high and flagons brimming with pumpkin juice. Smiling widely she pulled her hat fully off of her head, her hair cascading down her back as she eagerly picked up her knife and fork.
"Evans?" Came a rather surprised voice, causing Lily to flip up her head suddenly to face the boy directly opposite her. It took her a fair few moments to exactly who had spoken to her, and when she did, Lily froze, her jaw having practically hit the floor. Sat, directly across from her, his hand halfway through his messy hair, staring at her over the top of a pair of rounded spectacles, an amused look dancing over his face. Lily leant forwards and snatched his glasses right from his face and moved towards him, their noses practically touching,
"YOU!" She gasped out disbelievingly, rocking back into her own seat, her mouth still wide open. Potter. James Potter. James Potter from across the street was a wizard, in her year, at her school. Lily's brain was practically in over drive, unable to even comprehend that he was sat across from her, the boy that Petunia wanted, was in front of her. She gasped a little as he leaned over, taking back his glasses and sliding them back onto his face,
"James is just fine." He said coolly, a smirk spreading over his face. Lily could barely believe it, finally, she had managed to spend time doing something that her sister wanted and could not have, and in truth, she was secretly slightly thrilled. Not about him in particular, but that she had something that Petunia truly never could. She could share in the magical world by dating a wizard, but not now, not with the one that she wanted to. Her brain slightly addled, she spoke without thinking,
"Why are you here?" She asked rather ephemerally, her voice sounding distant even to her.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" He replied with a small chuckle, beginning to pull an immense proportion of food onto his plate. Yet he stopped suddenly, his cutlery placed neatly down as he turned to look at her intently, "Wait. Wait. Wait." A devilish grin pulled at his lips as he shuffled further under the table, "If, you're here, where's that delicious sister of yours?" Lily practically choked upon the carrot she had just put into her mouth, having a minor meltdown, something which James appeared to not have noticed.
"Oh, you are vile." She choked out, looking at his ludicrously. Though again, seemed not to notice, until a boy next to him turned, clapping him on the back and giving Lily a raised eyebrow.
"Whoa, Prongs, who's the ginge?" Said the rather tall, well-built, darkly handsome man with fair skin, long, lustrous black hair, striking grey eyes, who had an air of "casual elegance" about him, despite his obvious playfully malicious side. Lily's face dropped instantly, thoroughly displeased with his comment,
"It's not ginger, it's red." She stated flatly, readjusting herself and attempting to continue eating as though the rude boy had not appeared. Yet the boy seemed to ignore her comment, instead turning again to James and continuing,
"Tell me that this is not the one you've been going on about from across the street?" Lily's stomach plummeted, they were talking about Petunia. She had had her small moment of glee at her one up upon her sister, and had paid the prices for it. She still had hold upon the situation despite not even being present. Though in reality, Lily should have expected such things, she had always come second to Petunia, no matter how unintentionally.
"No. Not this one. She has an older sister." James added, his tone barely even changing, clearly no longer interested in Lily's appearance in the Great Hall. Yet the other boy had not lost as much interest, turning directly to her, attracting the attention of another couple of boys on either side of him and James,
"Ginger and blue don't really go you know." He continued, clearly revelling in the fact that Lily's patience was steadily wearing thinner and thinner. She rounded on him, fully determined to throw every insult she possibly could in his direction, but being cut through suddenly by another, squeakier voice from one of the other boys, a short, rounded boy with mousy hair and small piggy eyes.
"I think you're quite pretty." She looked at him quizzically, feeling seemingly amused at his interjection, and a little grateful that at least someone didn't think she was a complete waste of time.
"Not bad, is the correct phrase there Wormtail!" Came the tall boy once again, clearly pleased with himself, and sat joyfully watching Lily squirm.
"She's still awful in comparison to her sister." James continued, clearly still in a daze over Petunia. Lily huffed, her stomach tightening as she sat, extremely annoyed surrounded by the gaggle of adolescent boys.
"I am sat here you know." Lily said harshly, her lips pursed tightly, thought the boys indeed took little more notice of her, and she instead, and filled her plate with food once more.
Japan's Arc Angel
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