L.E. and J.P. Two initials wrapped up in a small heart hidden at the back of the Transfiguration classroom. Suddenly Lily Luna Potter was very happy she'd been sat at the back of the class - something about the initials intrigued her.
L.E. and J.P.
L.E. and J.P.
She wracked her brain as she flicked through the names and faces she knew who attended Hogwarts. J.P. Her brother? No. He'd never carve his initials in a heart - he was the kind of person who'd laugh at those who did, so if he was ever caught carving his own then he'd be ridiculed. He wouldn't risk his reputation for something like that.
L.E. She didn't know anyone with those initials either. She knew plenty of Laurens and Lavenders (though she couldn't fathom why anyone would name their child that), but none of them had E as a second initial.
The bell rang sharply and as her classmates began to move around her, Lily slowly collected her things, still pondering the initials on the wall.
"Miss Potter?" She turned at her name to see the professor stood there. "Is that a letter you have there?"
"Yes, Professor." She smiled, looking down at the letter she'd spent last night composing. She loved writing home and hearing about all the things that were going on, the plans for Teddy and Victoire's wedding especially.
"If it's headed for Potter Manor, would you mind attaching this?" He held out a note and Lily read it, trying not to giggle.
Dear Mr and Mrs Potter,
I have once again received no homework from your eldest son James. When asked, he replied "My father's Harry Potter" and did not understand that this was an inadequate excuse. I know we have conferred on this subject previously and I appreciate your support.
Hope you are well,
Professor Booklet
Lily nodded and took the note, knowing that her mother would get a kick out of it as she headed for the Owlery.
Skipping up the stairs, she ran head first into Albus who was stood with Rose on the stairs.
"Oh, hey Lils." Albus said cheerfully.
"Hey," she responded, looking for a way past but not managing to find one that didn't involve sliding underneath one of the other two.
"What have you got there?" he enquired, looking at the pieces of paper.
"Letters for Mum and Dad," she smiled, looking down. "Hey Al? Do you know anyone with the initials L.E.?"
Albus frowned and shook his head, looking at his cousin who shook her head too.
"Sorry Lily," Rose said, looking down at her watch. "Al, we'd better go. We said we'd meet Scorpius now."
Scorpius. Scorpius? Why would anyone name their kid Scorpius? She'd always wondered that. Although, looking at her brother, she'd say her own parents were rather deluded.
"See you later, Lils." He grinned, ruffling her hair as they squeezed past her. She sighed and continued up the stairs to send the letters to her parents.
At lunch, she sat down next to Roxanne at the Gryffindor table, having avoided her eldest brother snogging some Ravenclaw outside the hall. She thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent.
"Hey Lily." The seventh year grinned, munching on a sandwich.
"Hi Roxy," She sat down and smiled at Hugo who was sat across the room at the Hufflepuff table.
"Good day?" she asked, moving the plates of food towards her younger cousin.
"So far. Although I noticed something weird in my Transfiguration classroom," Lily said, piling food onto her plate.
"Really? How so?"
"There's these carvings in one of the corners. The initials J.P. and L.E. in a heart." She sighed. She was beginning to think she'd never figure this out.
"J.P.? Your brother?" Roxanne asked before making a face and shaking her head. "Yeah, no. Definitely not."
Lily giggled and shook her head. "Any other ideas?"
"Sorry kid, I got no clue. Ask Teddy and Victoire, maybe it's from their time." The older girl grinned at something over Lily's shoulder before standing up and rushing off.
Teddy and Victoire? It was worth a shot. She scoffed down some food and rushed off to the Room of Requirement.
Lily paced back and forth three times, thinking clearly I need a place to floo home.
Pushing open the door, she smiled when she saw a fireplace burning with a pot of floo powder sat on the mantlepiece.
Throwing a handful of the green powder into the flames, she poked her head through.
"WHOA! WHOA!" she screamed as the couple's small living room came into view. She shut her eyes tightly and heard the pair fumbling around.
"You can open your eyes now, Bug." Teddy laughed slightly and Lily did so, seeing a laughing Teddy and a bright red Victoire sat a metre apart on their sofa.
"Sorry Lily." The blonde smiled warmly, running her fingers through her slightly knotted hair. "Are you alright?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just had a question for you." Lily smiled at her eldest cousin.
"What's up?" Teddy asked, moving slightly closer to his fiancée.
"Was there someone with the initials L.E. at Hogwarts?" she asked.
They both looked at each other before staring off for a moment. Lily could see the cogs whirring in their brains.
"Don't think so, not in our time anyway," Victoire said finally, looking at Teddy for confirmation who nodded.
"Sorry Bug, don't think we can help you with that one." Her god brother grinned, running a hand through his bright blue hair.
"It's alright." She sighed, trying not to let her disappointment show on her face.
"Ask Minnie, she knows everything that happens at that school." Victoire smiled, looking at Teddy, who nodded. Lily knew that the two had gotten away with a lot of pranks during their time at Hogwarts but neither had ever escaped the wrath of the headmistress.
"Thanks guys. I hope the wedding planning is going well. I'll see you soon." She smiled and pulled her head out of the fire, determined to find McGonagall.
She didn't have to look very far. The headmistress was shouting at a group of boys just down the corridor from the room of requirement. The elderly lady smiled at Lily as she approached, sending the boys on their way.
"They never learn," the professor muttered under her breath. "Miss Potter? What can I do for you?"
"Well, it's rather odd actually. There's this carving in the corner of one of the Transfiguration classrooms and I was wondering if you could tell me who made it?" The second year shifted awkwardly in her shoes as she addressed the headmistress but her head snapped up as the elderly woman let out a chuckle.
"Let me guess, it was a heart with the initials J.P. and L.E.?" She chuckled, her eyes distant as if she was remembering something from a lifetime ago.
Lily nodded sheepishly.
"Come with me, Miss Potter. We can discuss this in my office over a cup of tea."
That one corner in Transfiguration had become 'their spot', if that wasn't too much of a cliché. Ever since first year when they'd been partnered together. Granted the first six years had been filled with pointless bickering about absolute nonsense such as whether Slughorn could actually swallow a snake or whether McGonagall stalked the halls in cat form during the nights.
"She so does!" Lily called out for the fifth time that lesson, hitting James' arm. The rest of the class had grown to ignore them, after over half a decade of these arguments.
"I disagree," James replied nonchalantly, pretending to actually listen to said cat for once.
"You only disagree so that you can argue with her," Sirius pointed out from his seat in front of them.
"I disagree with that too."
"It's true!" Remus chirped, laughing at his friend.
"I know it is, that's why I said so."
"Hang on, what?" Sirius asked. "You're agreeing with me after disagreeing?"
"I like to argue." James shrugged. "It's usually more fun with Lily though - she's cute when she's angry."
"Oh go fuck yourself Potter," Lily said, her emerald eyes glaring at him. "I am not cute when I'm angry!"
"I second that - she's bloody scary!" Sirius laughed, looking at the redhead.
"Not what I meant," Lily grumbled, huffing and turning away from them all.
"Aw, come on Lils, he was only joking." James wrapped an arm around her and leant his head on her shoulder. She pushed him away but after he'd repeated this a few times she gave in and let him stay there.
"One more insult and you will fly off that chair quicker than…"
"Quicker than he fell off his broomstick last week?" Sirius laughed.
"I was thinking quicker than the time it takes for Lily to get angry," James teased, but Lily was having none of it. She pushed his hand and scooted her chair away, the legs scraping along the floor, alerting McGonagall to the corner.
"Mr Black! If you would kindly pay attention to the lesson I am trying to teach," the professor said, a stern look on her face.
Sirius stammered slightly as the other three chuckled.
"Sorry Professor, you know how easily he gets distracted," James joked, winking at a giggling Lily.
"And you are usually the distraction, Potter." McGonagall smirked slightly before returning to address the chuckling class once more.
Once she'd turned her attention away, they quickly reformed. Sirius glared at Lily. "What did I do?" she whimpered under his gaze.
"Seriously? Miss 'Oh, I'll just scrape my chair as loudly as I can along the floor'." He smirked at her to let her know he wasn't really upset.
"Well, she wouldn't have picked on you if she wasn't so used to it being your fault." Lily grinned and flicked her long hair over her shoulder.
"Isn't it usually James' fault?" Sirius moaned.
"Well, maybe I've decided to grow up a bit and actually behave in lessons," James replied. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Or maybe you're lying through your teeth because you think it'll help you get some." Sirius winked at Lily who sighed loudly.
"I don't need to lie through my teeth-"
"JAMES POTTER DON'T YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Lily shouted before realising what she'd done and gasping loudly.
"Miss Evans! Do I need to remind you that I am currently trying to teach something that may come up on your final exam? Now, seeing as you obviously can't be around Mr Lupin and Mr Black without their influence rubbing off on you, I suggest you and Potter take five minutes at the back of the classroom. Chairs facing the wall." The professor ordered and Lily blushed, doing as she was told.
"Why me, Professor? What did I do?" James asked, looking at his friends who were desperately trying to contain their laughter.
"You were quite blatantly the cause of Miss Evans' outburst - which you might like to explain before you take yourself to the back of the classroom?" Professor McGonagall said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, um…" James stuttered. "She didn't want me to remind her of the date of our first NEWT, Professor. You see, they're getting close and you know how stressed she gets."
"I see. That still doesn't change the fact that you were the cause. Back of the classroom, please."
Lily and James dutifully did as they were told, with James making sure to make as much noise as he could scraping his chair along the floor.
"You know, we end up here quite a lot." He grinned, wrapping an arm around her as they sat down. "We should make it our own somehow."
"Are we in some cheesy American high school movie?" Lily said, rolling her eyes but secretly loving the sentiment.
"Excuse me?" James frowned, his eyebrows creasing.
"Seriously, you should have taken Muggle Studies James, you're completely oblivious." She laughed, twirling her wand between her fingers.
"But I have you for all that." He grinned, kissing her cheek when she glared at him. "So what shall we do to eternalise our corner, Miss Evans?"
"Well…" She thought for a moment. "To really amplify the cheesiness of this scenario, I suppose a heart wouldn't go amiss."
"Ah, of course. But how shall they know it was us?" he asked dramatically, throwing an arm across his forehead.
"They shall," Lily started, making fun of James' words, "through our initials. J.P. and L.E."
"There's got to be loads of people with those initials," James said, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend who smirked.
"An element of mystery is always exciting." She smiled and turned her wand towards the wall. James pulled his wand out of his pocket and they both set to work.
Pulling back once they were done, they smiled at one another.
"We could not be anymore of a cliché." Lily laughed, looking at their handiwork.
"Oh, but of the best kind." James winked and kissed her hair as she laughed.
Lily Luna Potter sipped the last of her tea and looked up at the Headmistress.
"So my grandad was the one who carved those letters into the wall?" she asked eagerly.
"Indeed he was, Miss Potter," McGonagall replied. "He was always a troublesome pupil but my God, did he love your grandma!"
"He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do that, though." Lily furled her eyebrows in thought.
McGonagall chuckled. "No, I suppose he wasn't. But he wanted a symbol of everlasting love, and what better way than to vandalise school property? That was kind of his forte, after all."
"But why couldn't you just remove it with magic?" she asked, looking at the headmistress who smiled at the second year.
"I could, Miss Potter, but your grandparents were some of the best pupils I had over the years, despite their lack of concentration. I kept it there because sometimes we all need a reminder of everlasting love. No one can remove it now - I've cast my own spells on it."
"Everlasting love," Lily repeated. What a nice thing to have.