If you've been with me from the start... I am going to apologize profusely (and I couldn't apologize MORE). This story has stuck with me for YEARS and I've always wanted to go back and edit things here and there. As of Dec 2018, this has undergone a revision (ish) to where I've merged some chapters (but haven't made big plot changes). This is something that I DO intend to finish... just need to sit down and get it DONE.
Lily Evans and her friends have made up the ultimate game of tag. Being in their 6th year and the rise of something dark on the horizon, they want to make it a little more serious. A certain group of Marauders find out about their game. Will they let them join?
A thin figure crept cautiously down the corridor, feminine body bent low to the ground with a wand held securely in hand. The night air of September 3rd was warm, the stale air heavy nearly choking with a thickly ominous tension. The young woman moved silently to slide behind a body of armor as the echo of footsteps sounded down the corridor, and she consciously tried not to let the heady sensation that hung in the air overwhelm her.
The space between her body and the cool stone wall was non-existent, the girl taking care to hide herself in the small niche she shared with the long-ago retired knight.
It was possible she had misheard the footsteps, she reasoned. The corridor was now silent, no physical signs of another human in the hallway (besides the inhabitants of the portraits that lined the wall, most asleep). Maybe her paranoia was starting to get to her.
Her lips pursed together tightly as she forcibly tried to relax her body, loosening her limbs so that she could lean further into the wall to ease the shaking that had taken over her leg muscles.
The tense moment lasted for what seemed like ages, but she remained still - vigilant, as she had been ordered to do so before. Her shoulder blades moaning in protest against the rough stone as her heart began to thud loudly in her ears, increasing the anxiety that was settling into her stomach. She forced herself to breathe evenly, rationalizing that working yourself up into a frenzy was definitely a no-no.
Despite being 'ready' for anything, she jumped, rather violently, when the sound of footsteps resumed, but soon relaxed her shoulders as she realized the footsteps were slowly retreating from her temporary hiding spot, rather than towards her.
When they altogether disappeared, her relief was obvious as she collapsed against the wall and released the breath she had been holding. Sweeping the long strands of hair out of her face, the girl forced herself to step out from her hiding spot, scanning the darkened hall with a calculating gaze.
A part of her (a small, tiny, but very annoying part) shivered in fear - but she quickly forced herself to take another shallow breath to ease her nerves, holding the air deep in her lungs to intentionally slow her heartbeat.
Get a hold of yourself, you ninny, she thought.
The grip on her wand tightened as she peered into the darkness, head swinging back and forth as her eyes continued to search for any type of movement. Her own feet forced her to step further away from the protection of the armor, not wanting to waste any more time.
Mistake. Stupid mistake.
"Cesso!" a voice screamed, sudden and shrill.
A bright blue flash of a spell momentarily blinded the young woman, streaking pass her shoulder and grazing the fabric of her shirt.
She gasped loudly, awkwardly falling back into the suit of armor. Painfully, her body bounced off the tarnished metal, knocking her to her knees hard. She blinked rapidly to try to clear her vision, a piece of the knight's armor clattering to the ground beside her. It bounced on the stone floor, the sound like thunder in the long corridor.
"I see you, Lily!" the voice sang mockingly.
The fallen Lily cursed, struggling on hands and knees to get back behind the armor. It was clumsy and mindless.
The voice continued on, cackling gleefully. "I have always loved the way the blue light causes your hair to look magenta!"
The footsteps drew nearer.
Lily's eyes narrowed automatically at the mocking statement as she pressed herself against the stone wall, mindful of the fresh scrapes on her knees. Dear Merlin, that hurt! She quickly refocused, assessing the situation and for ways of escape. She stayed low, adjusting her body so that she crouched close to the ground, absentmindedly brushing off debris from her knees. A muscle in her jaw ticked in annoyance when the enemy cackled delightfully once more, sensing her defeat.
Lily was trapped.
The grasp on her wand tightened noticeably as the other girl called out to her again, tossing out a lazy insult to bait her. Lily fought the annoyance that was beginning to grow in her throat, and tried to remain focused on the goal at hand.
She forcefully loosened her grip, for fear of the wood snapping.
"Mar?" Lily called out, gently resting against the leg of the silver armor as she leaned forward. "Why don't you do me a favor and shut it? You'll wake the whole castle!"
An appalled guffaw sounded from the girl and Lily took the opportunity, her muscles protesting as she jumped into an all-out sprint toward her opponent.
"Cesso!" she casted, throwing the spell blindly as she neared the other girl. She heard a shriek of panic at the abrupt attack, but was disappointed to see her spell had missed it's target. Regardless, it allowed her enough time to put more space between herself and the enemy.
As a precautionary diversion, Lily tossed another spell over her shoulder before pushing herself hard, using the adrenaline from her veins to her benefit.
The corridor ahead of her was going to split into a perpendicular hallway, but she knew she could not afford to slow down. Despite her enemy's physical advantage of height, Lily was able to speed further ahead, just managing to stay out of range of assault.
As the turn of the corridor approached, Lily moved her body closer to the wall, using a hand to pull against the stone as she rounded the corner, the momentum nearly causing her to stumble and fall. Her feet skidded to a dangerous halt and she threw herself against the wall of the corridor, listening as Marlene's footsteps neared.
Her breath hitched as she grinned, feeling crazed and emboldened by the adrenaline rushing in her ears.
She always loved the way this made her feel.
But she had no time to revel in the moment; Lily knew she had erroneously chosen the direction that led her to a dead end. This would result in an inevitable standoff she knew would happen, but would give her, maybe, just the boost she needed.
The curious occupants of the portraits in the hallway watched in sluggish interest (it was the middle of the night), gazing down at the young redhead who visibly braced herself, preparing for a duel.
As Marlene's footsteps slowed to an unnerving pace, clearly slowing down to boast, Lily's eyes darted around furtively, searching out any ways of escape. She shifted restlessly.
There were many things in her life that Lily found herself hating - no, she corrected herself - loathed.
Wet socks, pumpkin flavored treats, fights with her sister - and losing.
And then suddenly, as if Godric Gryffindor himself heard her silent plea, a large rounded portrait flung open to her right, the frame slamming loudly against the stone wall.
Lily jumped at the sound, wincing as the echo sounded like that of an shotgun. Bemusedly, Lily originally thought the portrait had been knocked off of the wall by a nonverbal spell, casted by her opponent unfairly, but upon further inspection, it was a large opening that revealed itself in the wall.
An escape.
Before the dust had even begun to settle, Lily had madly dashed towards the opening of her newly found getaway, looking back just in time to catch sight of Marlene just rounding the corner. If Lily had not been so overwhelmed at the time, she would have demanded a '10' for her own neat swan dive through the opening.
"Oi!"
Her body slammed against a body with so much force they both tumbled to the ground. Lily's heart stuttered in her chest, her mind shutting down in fear. It took her a moment to realize she was blinded by darkness, rather than the shock that overwhelmed her. A body was beneath her, frozen with shock (she hoped, rather than a concussion from where she was sure the person's head had slammed into the floor beneath them).
In a panicked move, she rushed to stand and the body in front of her did the same, both nearly tumbling over their entangled limbs. Male, obviously, she noted absentmindedly, feeling his hands steady her at the waist.
From beyond the secret passageway entrance, Marlene shouted the familiar spell. Lily ducked instinctively, falling to her knees as she avoided the charm, using a hand to grip the shirt of the person in front of her and drag them down with her.
With a surprising lack of resistance (he must really have a concussion), the person followed her movements, sliding smoothly to his knees to avoid the oncoming spell. Though, he did give another shout of surprise when Marlene continued her attack, but the sound of his voice was covered by the sound of the spells bouncing off the walls.
Lily was surprised - she thought Marlene had heard the boy's voice, but so invested was she in her own victory, must've missed the sound of the boy's exclamation.
"Shut the portrait! Shut the bloody portrait!" another male voice ordered in alarm as the onslaught of spells continued.
Lily complied, scuttling forward to reach through the opening, using her nails to grasp onto the portrait's cool frame. With great effort, she was able to slam the portrait shut, effectively cutting off her friend's assault.
It was quick series of events left her ears ringing as she braced herself against the back of the portrait. A crazed laugh echoed in the dark room and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from her. She clapped a hand over her mouth, cutting the sound off mid-laugh.
There were no lights or torches. Her shoulders relaxed the smallest amount as she realized the room was too dark to fully recognize anyone's face. Luckily, her eyes were well-enough trained to adjust quickly in the darkness. There were three standing shadows, most likely male, judging by their tall height and wider builds.
There was a fourth body on the floor.
Lily bit her lip ashamedly, silently apologizing to the fallen figure who she realized must've been struck by the spell (at least she hoped - God forbid he had a stroke).
"Lum-" the male figure closest to her began to spell.
"Don't!" she exclaimed, unconsciously pointing her wand in the direction of his darkened shape. They could not find out who she was.
The figure tensed, sensing her aim on him.
It took a moment for the others to recover. "What the bloody hell?" one of them cursed loudly, understandably defensive.
A quick cursory glance told her all of their wands were already trained on her form, even in the horrid lighting.
Lily moved to raise her hands in surrender, hoping they could see the signal in the dark, though she remained unwilling to drop her wand completely. After a moment, she realized her 'white flag' did little to appease the other occupants of the room as they stood still, wands unwavering.
"I come in peace?" she added with an upturned tone, deepening her voice to mask it from recognition. She winced, realizing it came off more patronizing.
"Are you bloody joking me?" mumbled one of the males, the one closest to her, his voice incredulous.
Faintly, Lily could hear Marlene cursing from the other side of the portrait behind her and audibly trying to find a way into the passageway. There was a rustling sound, as if her friend running her hands over the portrait's frame and the edges.
The figures in front of her shifted suspiciously, their expressions still hidden from Lily's view.
Lily jumped as one of them finally moved, but relaxed as he had broken apart from their defensive line to check on their fallen comrade. Lily squinted in the darkness as he attempted to check for a pulse, heard as he whispered, "Ennervate."
"That won't work," she said as kindly, as least threatening, as she could, the words dying on her lips as the two other standing males snapped their heads back towards her form. Their wands pressing towards her closer.
"What have you done to him?" the male still closest to her questioned in a hard, fierce tone.
Unnoticed in the dark, Lily's eyebrows creased together in slight unease, as she peered up into his shadowed face. She shifted between feet, fighting hard to locate her empathy, trying to rationalize that it was most likely not in this boy's plan to be shoved and attacked by a mysterious person in the middle of the night.
It would surely explain his pissed off demeanor, she noted, as he stepped closer to her to press the tip of his wand into her collarbone, just below her throat. The wood of the wand felt cold against her exposed skin and she swallowed hard against the sliver of fear that zipped down her spine.
"Prongs," admonished the boy who had attempted to revive their fallen friend. He was still kneeling next to the frozen boy on the ground, but Lily could tell his face was turned towards her. "What do we have to do?" he asked.
Lily was unsure if the question was directed towards her or the wizard who's wand was held at her throat.
"We can't trust -," Prongs began to say protectively, but was cut off by the (obviously more common-sensed) boy who was kneeling. Lily glanced at his crouched figure from the corner of her eyes, but her gaze quickly returned to Prongs's shadowed face in front of her. If she squinted, the lines of his face became slightly more focused. Without realizing, she subconsciously shifted closer, but stopped short as the boy's wand pressed tighter into her throat.
The force of it directed her to step back against the portrait.
"There's nothing you can do," she stated, a little breathless. She jerked back uneasily when the boy in front of her practically snarled, his wand pressing into her throat with determined pressure. Wanker, she thought rather meanly.
"I mean," she amended aloud, angling her body away, but the wand at her throat followed her obediently. "He'll be waking up any second, so there's nothing you have to do."
There was a tense moment as her statement was processed and then finally, the wand's pressure finally lessened a fraction. Lily took the chance step away slowly, the corner of portrait's frame pressing into her elbow. Her fingers found the painted wood of the hanging portrait, ready to push for an escape.
The wand's pressure returned three-fold, it's holder already catching onto Lily's thoughts.
She grimaced in annoyance this time, her temper's threshold met. Her cheeks warming in slight anger unnoticed. "He'll be fine, I promise. Now get your wand off my throat before you commit accidental homicide." There was a bite to her tone.
And then, just as she had said, the boy who had been frozen groaned loudly, released from the spell. There was a collective sigh of relief from the group of boys.
Smiling in satisfaction unseen, Lily used a finger to push the offensive wand away from her throat, its owner successfully appeased. His body had begun to turn away, his back facing her as he moved towards his friends.
"Wanker," she said under her breath, unable to prevent the jab. His head snapped back towards her at the insult and the fourth boy, who had been silent up until this point, released a sharp bark of laughter. Though it amused this boy, it pleased her that the crass insult had seemingly annoyed Prongs.
The now-revived boy was spluttering and coughing as he struggled to sit up. Lily winced for him, familiar the sensations he was experiencing all too well.
The fourth boy, now broken from the silence, moved forward with languid, casual steps. Lily had nearly forgot about him, watching warily as he moved closer to her, copying Prongs's earlier actions to train his wand on her form. He seemed to take up the place of the 'protector'.
"Now that Wormy's alive and kicking, I think that we should focus on the task at hand and figure out what the hell is going on." His tone was threatening as he spoke and Lily would have been more worried, but the relief in his voice was evident. "Who the bloody hell are you? Why shouldn't we attack you the way you attacked us? An eye for an eye, and all that."
She shivered at his cold threat.
"Quite right, Padfoot," Prongs said in a low voice, rightfully angered.
Lily quickly moved into defensive mode, ready for the oncoming curse or hex. "I'm not here to hurt you," she said, nearly failing to remember to mask her voice.
Padfoot did not respond, nor move to attack her and after another long moment, he simply backed off to walk over to the boy who had been frozen, helping him sit up. The four boys used this moment to talk in an hurried, hushed conversation, their voices too low for Lily to hear what they were saying.
Putting her trust in them (as they hadn't hurt her so far - and really, they were probably just students like she), she turned her back to them to press an ear against the back of the portrait, listening for any sounds of movement. There was silence. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were still paying her no attention, she gently pushed up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a low, golden light against her skin. Her eyes took quite a few painful seconds to adjust.
As the incandescent letters and numbers on her arm came into focus, her eyes widened involuntarily as she bit her lip, hard, to hold back a curse. It had only been moments ago, that she had been in 2nd place… 2nd place!
Now she was in 4th?! Un-bloody-believable!
"Oi, what've you got there?" one of them demanded - but she no longer cared. She huddled closer to herself. That just couldn't be right - that just wasn't fair! Her teeth ground painfully, eyes glancing at the ticking time... only less than five minutes. Five minutes.
Her eyes slammed tightly, her mind routing out the quickest way to get back to the Entrance Hall... and maybe... just maybe, she'd win. Or at least, not lose, she painfully acknowledged.
"Oi!"
She jerked down the sleeve of her shirt sharply, nearly ripping fabric. "What?" she snapped, whipping around to find the two of the four boys standing just behind her. The fourth boy who'd been struck by the spell was bent over standing now, bracing his hands on his knees, helped by his friend.
"We asked you a question," Prongs said, the protective hostility from before slowly dissipating now that his friend was confirmed as alive. But there was still a warning to his tone. "We've asked you multiple questions, actually."
She ignored him, turning back to focus on calculating the situation and glancing down to make sure the spell on her arm was sufficiently covered.
He grabbed her arm - surprisingly gentle - and pulled her back to face them. "What the bloody hell are you running from?" His voice was demanding, but not unkind.
She glanced up at him, sensing true concern, and tried to shrug his hand off impatiently.
"Tell us who you are," he ordered, his grip on her arm tightening fractionally. She remained silent.
"Prongs, why don't we," Padfoot cut in smoothly, "switch to other methods of interrogation?"
Lily studied Padfoot as best as she could in the dark, watching as he stepped closer towards the two. He placed a hand on Prongs' wand arm, but she could see the gleam of Padfoot's own wand raise towards her face. He clearly still felt threatened.
To hell with this, Lily thought, decision made.
Before any could bat an eye, she shoved her back against the portrait, hard, the portrait giving way much easier than she would have thought. She tumbled backwards, wind knocked from her lungs as she landed hard, the impact jarring.
As suspected, Marlene had been waiting and biding her time, wand poised and ready. At first sight of the redhead, the girl fired off another spell quicker than anticipated.
Lily managed to successfully evade the spell, rolling away and clumsily knocking her face into the swinging portrait's door just as it began to swing close.
The spell hit the backside of the portrait, exploding in a bright mix of sparks and light.
The boys from inside the hidden passage all gave great shouts, surprised and alarmed, but Lily no longer paid them attention, twisting to stand and charge at Marlene head on, in hopes that she could catch her friend off-guard.
"What?!" Marlene yelped in shock, having caught sight of the surprised party of four.
"Run!" Lily ordered sharply as she darted past her stunned friend.
"What?!" Marlene repeated shrilly as Lily passed by her, double-taking as one of the boys gave another shout for the two to stop. Lily glanced back quickly before she turned the corner, catching sight of her friend finally taking her advice and running behind her.
The four figures had already began to clamber out but she skidded around the corner out of their sight, hearing Marlene's footsteps close behind her.
As the distance between the two girls and the boys became greater, Lily began to feel less uneasy, glancing behind her to catch sight of Marlene rounding the corner. Marlene still gave chase though, so Lily knew she couldn't slow.
Once she felt absolutely sure they were safe from further discovery, Lily swung around. "Cesso!" she cried, only feeling slightly guilty over the sudden attack, as the move a low blow after such a surprise run-in. But Lily was determined to win. Her aim was slightly off, flying over Marlene's head by quite a few feet.
"Missed me!" Marlene sang, slowly gaining speed, unfazed by the poorly executed attack. Lily ducked awkwardly as her friend shot her own spell, barely missing the redhead's feet. She began to push herself harder, trying to gain more distance.
The score floated to the forefront of her mind and her jaw clenched in determination.
Seizing the moment, Lily brought herself to a sliding stop and spun in place, raising her arm to aim towards Marlene. "Cesso!" she called. The spell hit its mark and Lily wasn't able to stop herself from letting out a wild sound of glee as Marlene fell to the ground, frozen. Spinning on her heel, she took off once again, heading for the Entrance Hall.
As she bounded down the corridor, she rolled up her sleeve, smiling in satisfaction as her attack awarded her just enough points to be put into third place.
Now all that had to be done was to make it before the clock hit zero.
The Entrance Hall. The Entrance Hall. The Entrance Hall.
Her mind repeated the words like a mantra as she pushed past the burning in her lungs and thighs. An elated giggle escaped as she made it to the homestretch, arriving at last staircase that led to the Great Hall.
Her movement halted abruptly as another opponent revealed themselves across the at the other end of the corridor.
"Cesso!" the girl across from her shrieked, her aim deadly accurate. Lily clumsily fell to her knees to avoid the spell, taking advantage of the tired muscles that no longer seemed to work.
She had ducked just in time, the warmth of the spell zinging past her ear. Swinging her wand arm around, she tossed back the spell easily. Her spell hit its target, freezing the girl with a look of surprise.
Her heart was thrumming giddily as Lily struggled to stand, legs shaking and muscles protesting as she straightened. Leaving her friend behind, she half-skipped down the steps of the staircase, the Entrance Hall below her satisfactorily empty.
All thoughts of victory and gloating were wiped clean from her mind as her the muscles of her right leg seized, her knee giving out without warning. Her foot slipped on a step and she fell. Her sound of surprise echoed loudly in the open entry way as she twisted and tumbled the rest of the way down the staircase, using her arms to try to protect her face from the stone stairs as best as she could. Her body, bruised and beaten, rolled to a clean stop at the bottom of the stairs.
Dizzily, she gazed up at the Entrance Hall's tall ceiling, trying to regain her sense of equilibrium. Her eyes struggled to focus as the sound of barely-smothered laughter echoed around her.
Lily groaned pitifully, rolling herself up into a sitting position once her eyes were back to normal. There was a sore spot on her hip bone and at her ankle, and she rubbed them, trying to soothe the pain that blossomed beneath the skin.
"Is it ever possible for you to avoid getting hurt?" asked a soft voice full of mirth, the giggles around Lily now dissolving into a full-out laughter.
Continuing to rub soothingly at wounded limbs, Lily sent the two girls in front of her a baleful look, but struggle to hid her own laughter growing in her own chest. "It's not nice to laugh at someone hurt," she said, put out, doing her best to sound serious.
"What in Merlin's beard happened this time?" Lily turned to watch Marlene skip down the stairs gracefully, arm linked with the blonde girl who Lily had managed to freeze just before her descent down the stairs. "If you broke your leg this time, I am not carrying you."
Lily gasped, pressing a hand to her heart. "Some friend you are!" She reached out to swipe at her friend's leg once she'd neared.
"Like you can blame me. You're heavy," Marlene said teasingly, evading the redhead's hand. She plucked Lily's wand off of the floor and handed it to her, before collapsing into a seated position on the floor a few feet away, out of the range of danger. "I could barely walk straight after the last piggyback I gave you - all because of a bruised knee."
Lily's eyes narrowed at her friends. "It's not my fault I'm prone to-"
"Breaking bones?" Emmeline filled in, taking the spot beside her.
"Infirmary visits?" Dorcas supplied helpfully, sitting back on her feet.
"Trouble," Marlene said resolutely.
Lily's glare strengthened as it took turns settling on each of her supposed friends. "Accidents. I've just had a bout of bad luck. You're making it out like I'm breaking a bone everyday."
Two of the four girls nearly choked on their scoffs. Marlene clucked impatiently. "The sooner you accept you have an issue, the faster you'll recover."
Lily made to swat at them with her wand playfully, but winced as the pain in her ankle overwhelmed her. "I resent that," she said darkly. "I seem to recall a time that a young Gryffindor chaser got knocked off her broom by a breeze and broke her leg in four places."
Marlene waved her off. "That comes with the territory. Now, you seem to be some sort of masochist."
"Wow, a big word there," Dorcas mused. "Someone must've been studying this summer."
"By Circe's grace, damn right, I did," Marlene responded immediately with a smirk. "Can't rely on Lily to try and impress all the boys for us."
Lily scoffed, twisting her hair back into its original ponytail. "You'll need to do more than study."
"So catty today. I love it," said Marlene, blowing the redhead a raspberry.
"Alright, down to business," Emmeline cut in with a mock-serious tone. This prompted the girls around her to sober immediately, straightening to appear more reverent. "Lily, will you do the honors?"
"As is my duty," she said solemnly, but broke the facade with an excited smile. She waved her wand.
On the stone floor before them, a chart materialized, listing each of the girls' names and scores in golden scrawling writing:
A. Prewitt- 45
D. Meadowes- 40
L. Evans- 30
M. Mckinnon- 25
E. Vance - 15
"Ha!" Alice crowed in victory, eliciting groans from the group. "I defeated you all!"
From beside her, Dorcas was shaking her head in disbelief as she crossed her arms unhappily. "Five points." She scoffed, reaching over to lightly punch Alice in her shoulder. "You bloody cheater."
Alice was unfazed by the attack, grinning happily. "Five points, fair and square."
Lily's attention was pulled away as Marlene whined. "Fourth?" She folder her arms into her chest in a similar way to Dorcas, turning to stare at Lily, unimpressed.
The redhead laughed and nudged her with her elbow with a reassuring smile. "You'll get 'em next time."
The fifth girl, Emmeline, laughed excitedly, reaching over to muss up Marlene's light hair.
"Yeah, yeah," Marlene huffed, unable to prevent a smile as she slapped Emmeline's hand away. "Let's just get back to the Common Room without further incident..."
"Think you can stay off your arse next time, Lily?" Dorcas teased, reaching her hand out to help the redhead stand.
"I sure hope so," Lily murmured, appraising her injuries as she took the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. "I don't think my body can take another year of bruising." She leaned against Dorcas, testing out her right ankle. It was tender; a dark bruise already beginning to blemish the pale skin on her foot.
"I think it's sprained," Emmeline noted, bending to examine it quickly. "And I'm betting you don't have any pain-reliever potions made yet."
"I'll go to Pomfrey tomorrow morning," Lily assured, trying not to grimace as Dorcas helped her hobble up the steps they had come.
But it was all well worth it, Lily thought with a lazy grin. Even though she'd only just arrived for her 6th Year two days ago, Lily was too eager to get back into the routine of the Game. The group, which consisted of the three 6th Years and two 7th years, had this planned a fortnight before their Hogwarts letters had even arrived. They had chosen tonight to start the year's Game off - and despite classes starting in the morning, the girls were willing to risk falling asleep the first day of classes to have their secret fun.
Marlene reached out to help her. "You always go all out, Evans. Despite all those extra potion classes to become a Healer, you can only do so much to heal yourself."
Lily laughed aloud, grinning at her friends slightly bashful. "But it's more fun that way. Besides, I'm actually thinking about becoming an Auror. What's the point of playing the Game if I can use it to my benefit?"
"An Auror?" Emmeline asked bewildered from in front of them. "Since when?"
Marlene was looking at her closely, trying to suss how serious she was. And then, just like the best friend she was, it only took Marlene another half-second to accept Lily's statement unquestionably. "I don't think they'll accept self-diagnosed masochists. Too dangerous and wily. Not too mention, you're a big whinger. They'd never accept you."
Lily chucked the closest thing to her - her wand - at her friend, the wood knocking Marlene squared on the forehead.
-:- -:- -:-
The next morning dawned early for the girls; the sun unforgivably bright as it filtered in through the 6th Year dormitory windows. When Lily blearily opened her eyes, she immediately shied away from the morning light, shutting her eyes tightly and rolling over to tuck the warm covers closer to her body.
"Oh, no, no. No going back to sleep!" Emmeline hummed in disapproval and tugged at the corner of the redhead's comforter. Lily clutched tighter at the sheets, wincing as the soreness of her muscles and joints made her efforts more difficult. "Come on," Emmeline insisted. "You're already up."
"I'm not," Lily murmured into her pillow, losing the battle as Emmeline tore the sheets away. "I need more sleep. Sleep is necessary for the human mind to work. Don't you know that?"
It had been well known among the group, that out of the upper Gryffindor girls, Lily treasured her sleep the most. Admittedly, with little shame, it was more out of a bad habit of a late bedtime that Lily found herself usually the last to be up. It had never bothered her; her late nights were usually caused by extra studying or last minute revisions on essays (hers and Marlene's) and so she couldn't truly feel guilty. Besides, she rarely needed much time in the bathrooms in the morning, having perfected the standard set beauty charms in 3rd Year. What was the point of being a witch if you couldn't use the perks?
Emmeline, being the most mature of the group, had been deemed 'house mother'; and of that nature, was usually the one to make the rounds of making sure everyone was awake.
As her duty, Emmeline ignored Lily's whinging, tapping gently on her calf. "You need to see Madam Pomfrey before breakfast. You know how she always like to chat, especially about summer holidays."
Lily sighed heavily into her pillow, knowing this to be true.
"You'll miss getting your schedule if you take too long," her friend added with more reason, and despite Lily's own body protesting, her mind woefully agreed with her friend.
"I know." She regretfully released the hold on her pillow and slowly sat up to shiver in the cool air. With her legs swung over the side of the bed, she took care to stand slowly, gingerly testing out her sore ankle, regretting not icing the appendage over night.
Emmeline shot her a sympathetic look from where she stood making her own bed. "Need help getting to the bathroom?"
Lily shook her head, retrieving a pair of clean clothes from her trunk. "I think I'll be okay," she replied softly, careful not to wake the other girls in the dorm. "Just a little stiff."
Although the shower did alleviate some of the pain at her ankle, the skin around the bone was blue and black. The scrapes on the heels of her hands and knees were raw, and Lily truly regretted not taking the time before term to book up a healing balm.
She winced as she re-entered the dorm, the bathroom slamming shut before she had a chance to catch it and soften the sound.
"Merlin, Evans, trying to wake the dead?" Marlene glared at her sleepily from her bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"Obviously," Lily responded with a grin, unaffected, hobbling back towards her trunk. "It's never too early for Halloween." She collapsed at the edge of her bed and reached over the end to rifle through her trunk for clean clothes.
"Good thing you already have your costume on," the blonde said scathingly, her crassness ruined by the yawn that overtook her.
"Too bad yours is scarier," Lily sniped with a bright smile.
"Too bad -"
Marlene's retort was cut off by their fourth dormmate's, Beatrice's, groan of annoyance. "I'm trying to read here," she complained.
"Sorry, Bea." Lily gave her a sincere apologetic look, unseen as the girl had already buried her nose back into her book. Marlene caught Lily's eye, giving her an exaggerated eye-roll as she shucked of her covers.
"Another dirty novel, Beatrice?" Marlene queried with faux-interest, leaning against one of the post's of Lily's bed. "Pirates or cavemen this time?"
Beatrice raised her eyes to glare. "Neither," she said in a withering tone, raising her wand to magic the drapes around her bed closed and casting a silencing charm.
Lily gave her friend a chastising look. "Must you always tease her?"
Marlene shrugged a shoulder. "I don't mean to. I'm not being mean."
"You kind of are," Emmeline pointed out. "Just because she flirted with Beckerson once-"
"He was my boyfriend!" Marlene hissed. "Nevermind that he just chucked me - but everyone knows you should go after another girl's ex."
Emmeline was deadpanned. "That was second year."
"And she asked him for a book he had, in the library, last May," Lily added.
Marlene glared at them equally. "Who's side are you on?"
Lily chuckled at her friend's response, adjusting her sweater over the top of her school shirt. "I think it's time you got over it."
She huffed, moving away. "He was my first."
"You only held hands."
"You never forget that," Marlene sniffed, moving away back towards her own trunk.
Silence fell on the dorm as the girls began to get up and ready for the day. Lily reached over to retrieve her wand from the nightstand and used a quick spell to magic her hair dry, using her fingers to comb through it.
"You let it grow," Marlene observed, pulling on her own school clothes. "You normally cut it before school starts."
"Decided it leave long." Lily shrugged, pulling at the long strands. "Time for a change - hey!" She was distracted when her friend reached into her trunk.
"Don't be stealing one of my ties!"
"I always forget them. You know I need to just borrow one until mum sends me mine."
"Just don't ruin this one, please," Lily warned, collecting her socks. Sighing heavily, she slipped them into her book bag, deciding to put them on later; once Madam Pomfrey would heal her ankle. "You helping me to the infirmary then, McKinnon?"
"If you're going to be like that..."
Lily lifted her swollen, bruised ankle out. "You're going to let me suffer?"
"Oh, come off it," Marlene laughed, jumping off of her bed and coming to stand in front of Lily. "See you at breakfast, Em!" they called to their friend, who had entered the bathroom to brush her teeth.
The climb down the dormitory stairs was tricky; as the staircase spiraled, the steps themselves were steep and thin. As the walls were too close together to walk side by side comfortably, they had to readjust so that Marlene led and Lily followed, hand held securely on her friend's shoulder.
Marlene noticed the uneasy look on Lily's face and smiled consolingly. "If you trip, I'll be there to break your fall."
"Oh, that's reassuring." Lily shuddered teasingly.
"That's what I was hoping for," said Marlene brightly. "At least you're light enough not to crush me."
"You said I was too heavy to carry last night," she replied dryly, tugging at her friends hair with her free hand.
"To carry. Falling on top of me is something entirely different." Marlene smiled, turning slightly to blow Lily a raspberry. The movement, albeit small, jostled Lily's hold on her shoulder and pulled her forward. Her foot slipped on the last step, but Marlene reacted quickly, grabbing onto Lily's arms tightly to prevent her from falling.
They both let out a nervous chuckle as Marlene loosened her grip, allowing Lily to stand on her own.
"You're lucky you're a better Quidditch player than a crutch," Lily declared, tugging at her friend's ponytail.
"So are you," Marlene agreed with a grin, allowing Lily wrap an arm around her shoulder as she wrapped an arm around her waist.
They walked through the empty common room, awkwardly trying to find a pace that worked. As Marlene was quite a few inches taller than Lily, her shoulder was digging painfully into Lily's armpit - while Marlene had to walk with a hunch to allow Lily to 'comfortably' wrap an arm around her.
"This isn't working," Marlene stated bluntly, once they successfully exited the Common Room's portrait hole after a long struggle.
"I agree." Lily winced, rubbing at her underarm.
"How about we walk together and you hold onto my arm?"
"Let's try it." Lily gently grabbed onto Marlene's offered arm and they continued on at a slow place.
"We could've grabbed a broom," Marlene suggested.
"No," Lily snapped quickly, as they rounded the corner to the staircases. "We're doing just fine."
"O-kay," Marlene replied, smirking, a memory clearly resurfacing. "What about a charm to make you lighter? Then I could totally carry you."
"I don't know one," Lily said in a small voice, admitted to herself that a spell like that would be very helpful right about now. "Don't give me that look," Lily snapped.
"I'd like to point out I don't understand how someone can be so accident prone."
"I try to think of it positively. Gives me a thicker skin. Makes me tougher."
"Right," Marlene drew out, beginning their descent down the main set of cases to the Entrance Hall. The process was slow - and painful on Lily's part. "As if anyone could mistake you for being weak."
"I don't even know a spell to make myself lighter."
Marlene let out a loud guffaw. "One small spell - it ain't going to kill you."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Speaking of which," Marlene continued. "Last night, that portrait's passage... who were those blokes? I heard at least two voices."
"Four, actually." Lily sighed guiltily. "Boyish men. I wasn't sure who they were, though. It was too dark to see their faces, but your spell hit one of them. They went almost bloody mad!"
"Sodding hell, Lily... I know we've had run-ins with other students before, but we were able to make an excuse... Are you sure you didn't recognize them?" Marlene asked her, helping Lily as the rounded the final staircase into the Entrance Hall.
"I can't be sure," Lily murmured, grimacing when she placed too much pressure on her bad ankle. She tapped her lips, pondering. "I hope they weren't Slytherins…" She dismissed the idea - while the boys had been understandably angry with her, they weren't violent. But nor were they overly kind or apologetic - not Hufflepuffs then.
"Well, this isn't good... Hopefully they won't do anything. Report us? Would you recognize them if you ran into them? Heard them?" Marlene asked her curiously, pausing to let Lily rest for a moment. "Maybe we should have all the boys line up - say something?"
Lily laughed. "Like some sort of warped Cinderella?"
Marlene looked at her strangely. "Cinder-who?"
Lily's smile fell. "You know, Cinderella. Fairy godmother, glass shoe... pumpkin-turned-carriage?"
Marlene only raised an eyebrow. "What do those Muggle schools teach you?" She turned away slowly, as if looking away from a mad goblin.
Lily huffed and followed, using the handrail to keep her balance as she hopped down the stairs. "Seriously?" she muttered to herself, gripping the railing tight as she glared at the back of Marlene's head. "You call that strange? With your Soap Blizzards and Uric the Oddball? A wizard who, literally, fell off a mountain and landed in a village full of pilgrims who thought he was a god."
Marlene looked back up at Lily and shrugged, unbothered. "And I guess, if you're not all that worried, I'm not either."
Lily continued to hobble down slowly after Marlene, watching as the girl's shoulders slowly began to shake. "What are you laughing at?" Lily demanded in an amused tone.
"Just... remembering your face," she replied, pausing to let Lily catch up. "Last night... oh, the pure terror on your face. You looked ready to be sick after."
"Ah, yes, hilarious. Me injuring myself. Almost breaking my neck. I live to entertain." She gestured with a grandeur arm movement.
Marlene reached up to offer her arm in assistance, but Lily slapped it away lightly as the girl continued to giggle. "I guess with your pension for falling, we probably could have been more worried."
Lily scowled openly at her friend, using her free hand to smack the girl's shoulder. Marlene let out a laugh and skipped a few steps down further. "Your concern is incredibly endearing," Lily added, leaning hard against the stone railing as she watched her feet.
Lead with your good foot first, she had learned, then bring the bad food second. One stair at a time.
"I am your best friend, of course," Marlene said from in front of her, skipping down a few more steps.
"Debatable," Lily muttered under her breath, bracing herself for the next step.
Marlene huffed in offense, halting her movement in front of Lily. "I heard that."
Lily gasped loudly, feeling her weaker ankle give out from beneath her, sharp pain shooting up her entire leg. Uselessly, she swung her arms out to balance herself, but already felt herself falling. She reached for Marlene's outstretched hand but fell short, tumbling down the rest of the stairs in an incredibly painful manner.
"Lily!"
The world was gone - as was her breath, knocked from her lungs as she landed at the staircase's landing. It took her a moment to gather her bearings, feeling an immense sense of dizzying deja-vu. Someone cleared their throat above her. She peeked an eye open.
"Alright there, Evans?"
James Potter was stooped over her, sitting forward on his knees as he stared down at her with blatant concern.
Speechless and still slightly dazed, she catalogued herself. She was on her back on the floor, pretty much spread eagle across the last of the steps.
James Potter was the type of boy who could make anyone smile; he always had one of those easy, contagious smiles that appeared quickly, without a second thought, wielding it as both a weapon and a shield. He was the type of person who could be seen as carefree, always a bit mischievous, and was always someone who tried to include you - unless, of course, he found something about you he didn't like. Which, admittedly, was rare. He was fiercely loyal, a trait that Lily could admire.
The boy himself? Lily could barely stand him.
"Evans?" he repeated, holding out a hand as if to help her.
She'd only run into him once, surprisingly, at the Welcoming Feast. He hadn't even sat near her - their only interaction was when she had gone to stand at the end of it and nearly ran into him. He had been polite and standoffish.
Hastily, she shook her mind of the muddled cobwebs and moved to fix her skirt, the hem riding up dangerously on her thighs. Begrudgingly, she accepted and used his proffered hands to balance herself into a standing position. Her cheeks burned.
Marlene came nearly crashing into her before he could make any further comments.
"Lily! Bloody hell! I really didn't think you'd fall. Again. I'm so, so sorry, I should've waited for you. You should've stopped me."
"I'm fine, Marlene," Lily said with a smile that showed forgiveness, quickly dropping Potter's hands as she realized she was still holding onto them. She swayed dangerously, putting too much pressure on her inflamed ankle.
Annoyingly, Potter reached out quickly to place a hand on her waist as a way to steady her, his body shifting the tiniest bit closer.
"Thanks," she said in a clipped tone, moving farther from him to step closer to the railing. His hand dropped from the position at her waist as he stepped away.
"Careful there, Evans," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets as his familiar smile appeared on his lips. His voice was sincere. "Don't want you to get hurt."
Marlene tutted. "Merlin's beard, Lily! I was literally two feet away."
Lily rolled her eyes as she moved to slap her friend on the arm, her cheeks still warm.
Marlene then turned and acknowledged their fellow housemate. "I literally have no control over this witch- " she hitched her thumb towards Lily in exasperation. "I swear on Circe, she will be the death of me."
Potter chuckled. "I don't doubt it."
Lily sent him a withering stare, but it went unnoticed.
"Come on then, let's get you to the infirmary," Marlene ordered Lily, helping her move along.
"Need any help?" Potter offered, rocking onto the balls of his feet, hands still tucked into his pockets.
Lily glanced back at him. He seemed to be taller than she remembered, too. "No thanks, I'm fine," she said in her same clipped tone, raising her arm to wrap it around Marlene's shoulder.
He nodded slowly and shrugged, moving around them to continue his way back up the stairs. From the corner of her eye, Lily watched him walk away with caution.
Lily thought back to the last day she had seen him; the last day before summer break, just after their O.W.L. exams - but immediately pushed that day (that ugly, ugly day), far away from her mind and allowed Marlene to lead her the rest of the way to the hospital wing.
The large room was bright as ever as Marlene and Lily entered into the doorway silently, shuffling awkwardly through the doorway.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Lily called, using Marlene's arm to balance herself. The school healer appeared outside the small office in the back, grinning good-naturedly at the two girls.
"Miss Evans and Miss McKinnon!" the woman welcomed. "Not even a week into the school year and I'm already seeing you?" she admonished, directing them to an empty bed with clean linen sheets. She tsked as she gently helped Lily onto the firm mattress, while simultaneously lifting Lily's injured ankle onto a pillow with practiced movements.
Once settled in, Marlene jumped into the bed beside her and sat crossed-legged, resting her chin in her hand as she watched the healer begin work her magic.
"What was it this time?" Madam Pomfrey inquired with a slightly stern voice.
Lily appeared sheepish. "The stairs."
"Why am I not surprised?" the healer murmured, examining Lily's ankle.
"Wouldn't you have been more surprised if I didn't show up?" Lily smiled warmly. Madam Pomfrey looked up at her from over her reading glasses, giving Lily a stern look, but looked away with a fond shake of her head.
"As you've probably guessed, it's sprained," Pomfrey informed her. "Let me go whip something up to fix this. It'll be just a moment." She spun on her heel and disappeared back into her office.
Lily sighed softly, settling deeper into the soft pillows around her. Her eyes closed slowly as she got lost in thought.
"Oi, no falling asleep!" Marlene snipped, tossing a pillow that Lily was too late to catch.
"Hey!" she defended, lifting the pillow from her face and tossing it back at her friend. "I wasn't."
"Like I believe that," Marlene teased, leaning back on her hands. Lily scoffed and leaned back once more, letting her eyes trace the lines of the ceiling as she's done countless times before.
"Only two more years, Mar," she mused out loud, smoothing down the fabric of her skirt against her thighs. "Before we're out in the real world and we can't return to this infirmary at the smallest injury."
Marlene sighed loudly. "Blimey… Depressing much?" She adjusted her legs so that they now hung off the cot. "But I guess it's true... I try not think about it, you know? Dorcas and Alice will be gone next year. Then we all be split up after that."
"I know," Lily replied softly and then fell silent as the healer returned with a vial of dark liquid. Lily's nose wrinkled at the stale smell.
"Drink up," Pomfrey told her cheerfully. She pulled out her wand and waved it over Lily's ankle, muttering various healing spells.
"Try not to think about it," Marlene supplied helpfully as Lily moved to sit up and grinned when her friend shot her a quick glare.
Lily popped open the vial quickly and brought the opening to her lips, swallowing the potion to two swift gulps. "Bleh," she gasped, trying not to gag as she breathed quickly through her mouth.
"You always make such wonderful faces," Marlene teased, failing to conceal amusement at her friend's distress.
Lily motioned to toss the empty vial at her friend, but Pomfrey plucked it from her fingers with expertise. "Ah, ah, no mess this year please," their healer pleaded, setting the vial down in a safe place.
"We promise," the two students chorused together.
"Now wait just five minutes for everything to set and you'll be on your way," the healer smiled, patting Lily gently on the knee.
"Thank you," Lily replied sincerely, smiling up at the woman.
Pomfrey glanced around. "Now, where's Severus? He's usually hear with you?"
Lily stiffened as if she just received a punch in the gut, rubbing at her ankle to focus her attention on something else.
Marlene spoke up mildly, saving Lily. "Haven't seen him."
Pomfrey did not pick up on the sudden tension now in the room. "Well, be sure to say hello for me."
"Hm-hm," Lily replied with a tight smile and the healer turned away with a sincere smile and left the two girls alone.
"You okay?" Marlene asked quietly, trying to suss out Lily's expression.
The redhead gave a noncommittal shrug. "I'm fine."
Lily glanced over at Marlene, trying to gauge her reaction. It was obvious that Marlene didn't believe, but then, Marlene wasn't one to push too deeply. She was highly empathetic in the fact she could sense when someone was uncomfortable - but particularly choosing when to use this insight. Lily was grateful for her friend.
When the time was up and her ankle healed, she jumped off the bed with renewed purpose (and much, much less pain). "See you soon, Madam!" Lily called to Madam Pomfrey as they left the infirmary. The two girls were able to make it to the Great Hall quickly with Lily's newly healed ankle and found open seating, the table still nearly half-empty.
"The others should be down soon," Lily mused as Marlene began herself a plate. "McGonagall should be passing out the schedules soon..." she grabbed herself a piece of toast and began nibbling on it, studying the rest of the Great Hall as she chewed.
"Do you think we should be worried?" Marlene wondered aloud, scooping up some eggs and dishing them onto her plate.
"About schedules?" Lily asked, reaching forward to grab some jam.
"No, about the boys you ran into."
Lily took her time spreading strawberry jam onto her toast, licking off the excess jam spilled onto her fingers. "They didn't recognize me," she recalled, shrugging her shoulders. "And they don't exactly have proof of my presence…"
Marlene nodded slowly, picking up her fork to take a bite from her plate. "Should we tell the others?"
Lily mulled this over. "I don't see any need to. We can just lay low for a bit. We should really wait a week or so till the next game. I don't think we really need to worry... To be logical, if they were students, they shouldn't have been out either."
"You have to let me know if you recognize any of them."
"I will," Lily promised, dusting off her hands and grabbing a glass of juice.
"Hello," Dorcas greeted them, falling into the seat beside Lily. Emmeline and Alice followed suit, sitting on the other side of the table.
Alice sleepily rested her chin in her hand as she reached forward to grab a pastry from a nearby plate. "So tired," she murmured.
"Mm," Dorcas agreed, resting her forehead on her arms. Lily laughed, sharing an amused look with Emmeline.
"Have some tea," she suggested, gesturing towards the multiple cups around them. "Classes start today. At least attempt to look alive when McGonagall comes around with the schedules."
"Think this year will be easy?" Emmeline asked, as began to fill up her own plate with eggs and a croissant.
"You don't have N.E.W.T.S. to worry about this year," Dorcas mumbled, her voice even more muffled from behind her arms.
"Don't get my hopes up for an easy year, ladies," Marlene whined, stirring sugar into her tea.
"O.W.L.s were hard enough."
"When should we plan our next rendezvous?" Marlene asked with quiet impatience. Lily shot her a sharp look, as if to say, Are you MAD? What did we JUST talk about?
Marlene had the decency to look sheepish.
"Sometime next week?" Dorcas perked up, raising her head. "Or even this weekend?" The other girls murmured in agreement, but Lily bit her lip uneasily at their eagerness. Marlene shrugged at her from across the table, unhelpful.
"Let's get our schedules first," Lily smartly suggested, unsurprised by the lack of assistance from Marlene. And well… despite the slight endangerment of being caught, she still did want to play...
"We'll compare classes and see when's best."
They broke off as McGonagall approached them, a stack of parchment in her hand.
"Good morning, ladies," she greeted, nose down, glasses on, as she used her wand to sort through the countless amount of parchment.
"Morning, Professor," the girls replied dutifully; half the group eagerly awaiting to see their schedule, the other half... maybe couldn't care less.
With a flick of her wand, McGonagall spelled the respective schedule for each girl to land in front of them. "Have a wonderful first day, girls," she wished them and continued further down the table.
Lily picked up her scheduled and scanned the parchment thoroughly, nodding to herself silently as she read it once, then twice. "Not bad for me," she murmured aloud.
Alice groaned from across her, nearly slamming the paper back down on the table. "Divination: Monday and Wednesday mornings," she complained. "I hate Divination. Especially in the morning."
"It appears we can enjoy the perfume and tea together, Alice," Dorcas told her, waving her own schedule in a sort of surrender.
"I thought you dropped that," said Lily. "Wanted to focus on your N.E.W.T.S?"
"After taking Advanced Potions and Advanced Runes last year, I deserve a break," Alice said succinctly, pushing her schedule towards them to view.
Dorcas shrugged. "I just wanted an easy class."
The girls laughed communally, long ago accepting Dorcas's blaise attitude towards schooling. Alice, of whom Lily had always admired, had long ago chosen to take the path of an Auror. When the two girls had met in Lily's 2nd year, it was something that the older girl had not been ashamed to share (when it was something taboo of a witches to aspire to become).
"Advanced Charms and then Muggle Studies for me on Mondays," Emmeline stated. Lily grinned, showing off her own schedule.
"Advanced Charms for my morning, too! But I've got Advanced Defense this afternoon and Thursday. Advanced Potions on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
They took a moment to pass around each others' schedules, pointing out the free periods and commiserating when they didn't coincide. Lily collected her schedule back, scanning it with an excited eye. While there might be certain things she wished were switched around, she was pleased.
"Thursday night, then?" she asked without thought. She nearly smacked herself in the face.
"I'm in," Dorcas said immediately. The rest of her friends agreed almost simultaneously.
"Thursday, then. Midnight," Lily whispered. What was the probability that they'd run into trouble a second time?
"Midnight," Marlene repeated with a wink, easily forgetting the conversation they had just had. It was decided.
Lily sat back with her cup of tea cradled to her lips as she listened to their chatter, lazily letting her eyes scan the Great Hall. The rest of the group picked up where the conversation left off on their schedules and The large group beside them was a bunch of 7th Years; mostly consisting of boys. Her eyes flitted over the ones she recognized - Burke, Rochester, and Jones. They'd been in an study group McGonagall had held last year.
Lily smiled at a couple of the younger 1st Years she had helped heard towards the Gryffindor tower; many recognized her and smiled back.
Involuntarily, she caught sight of the counter 6th Year boys sitting further down the table.
Black seemed to be sharing a tall-tale to the small group, gesturing wildly as he brought Potter into the story telling. Black had always been someone she was wary of, someone who appeared not to care about others' thoughts or judgment. It was a characteristic that, Lily had come to realize, made someone dangerous. There had always been a subtle meanness to him, though it rarely showed, especially when he was near his friends.
Remus, her fellow Prefect, was seated beside them as he listened attentively, if not a little tiredly, while Peter seemed to hang onto every word.
The tallest of the boys took turns adding to the story as she continued to watch them over the top of her cup. It was a known fact that Potter and Black shared similar mannerisms, as if brothers spending too much time together. Black's hair had grown exponentially since last year, long and wild; while Potter's hung low in eyes, his messy curls around his scalp like a misshapen halo. His lips were pulled into his usual grin, the smile easy and genuine.
It struck her, she realized, how genuine it truly seemed at that moment. It was bitter realization - as he had never seemed to share it with her. Not that it bothered her directly, she thought hastily. He had spent the past years forcibly taunting her, a leery smirk on his face whenever he turned towards her. She never knew if his true façade was the genuine smile she'd peek whenever his focus wasn't on her - or if it was the jaunty grin he'd send her way. He did it to mess with her, she knew.
She was honestly surprised she had yet to see it this year.
As if sensing her gaze, Potter's head swiveled towards her spot up the table, neatly catching her eye. She quickly let her gaze drop to the content of her cup quickly, hoping that it looked as though she had been, and still was, studying the loose tea leaves.
"Lily?"
"Hm?" she answered absentmindedly, glancing over at Marlene to find her friend standing from the table. Marlene was looking at her impatiently.
"We're leaving. Classes are starting soon," Marlene said slowly, motioning towards the rest of their friends already walking out of the Great Hall. "You want to join, or…" she raised her eyebrows bemused.
"Oh!" Lily collected her things quickly, swallowing the rest of her tea quickly and took off behind Marlene. Chancing a backward glance, her eyes locked onto Potter's own. As if in a timid manner, he gave her a soft, apologetic smile.
She scoffed.