Happy Ending
By Artichokie

"Why do you insist on interfering?" a young woman hissed between clenched teeth. Her pale cheeks were marred by blotches of pink, her chest heaving with her rapid breathing. Her thin arms were crossed sternly across her middle as her narrowed eyes remained fixed on the person in front of her. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that moved with the draft from the open window to her left.

"Oh, relax, Lils!" the person standing opposite of Lily demanded light-heartedly. His youthful face was lit by a vibrant smile; his dark eyes were obscured by sporadic strands of dark brown hair. He pushed them sideways off his forehead with a single hand. Leaning back against the cool stone wall, he mimicked Lily's pose: his arms crossed lightly across his middle. He rose an eyebrow as he returned his sister's penetrating stare. "We didn't mean any harm."

"Didn't mean any—oh!" she yelled. Her sneaker-clad foot stomped into the rug-covered floor as her arms came to stiffly rest against her sides. Her hands turned into fists and her eyebrows flew up in indignation. "Harm is the least of your worries, Albus! What you did was create a catastrophe!" She turned to the man standing behind her, totally oblivious to the stares her angry outburst was gaining her. "And you, James! You just stand there in silence as if you have nothing to say!"

James's eyebrow cocked up in an identical expression as his brother's. In fact, his entire face and demeanor were similar to the boy standing on the other side of his sister, except his had a more mature aspect about it. He wasn't as carefree as his younger sibling; a smile didn't brighten his face. Instead, he took in his sister's outlandish reaction with a tight-lipped nod of his head.

"I don't have anything to say," he responded softly. "What makes you think I do?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know!" She tilted her head upwards and tapped a finger against her chin. "You filled Mike's head with lies about me," she said as she ticked off the points on her fingers. "You made it a point to follow me around like guardsmen watching over their prisoner and sabotage any plans I had made with him. You completely humiliated us both in Hogsmeade last week with those stupid cameras. And, if that wasn't bad enough, you made sure he would never even look at me again."

"Has he?" Albus asked, amusement coloring his voice.

Lily glared at him from over her shoulder. "I tried to approach him this morning, and he all-but threw his plate of food in my face in his hurry to get as far away from me as possible."

"Good." Albus's smile brightened even more. Lily huffed. She wanted to kick both of her brothers. She turned her face back to her eldest sibling.

"And you really don't think you have anything to say to me?" she demanded of him. James merely shrugged his shoulders. That infuriated Lily more. Her brothers were always pulling these stunts on her. She wasn't allowed to date anyone they didn't approve of—and they didn't seem to approve of a single person. Normally they would manage to scoot by without even the slightest sign of remorse—or at least a simple apology. But not this time. Lily had had enough. "Not even three words, like, 'I'm sorry, Lils'?"

Silence between the siblings filtered in after her statement. James's expression never changed. His gaze never wavered. He wasn't sorry, Lily knew it. She wished he would at least lie to her; it'd be nice to hear the words for once in her life.

"We were only looking out for your best interest, Lils," Albus said softly, the humor gone from his voice. "Why should we be apologetic about that?"

"Looking out for my best interest?" This time, she turned on him. "Like the other times you drove the guys away? Like all the rumors you two spread to keep them from approaching me?" She snorted. "It took me three bloody months to get Mike to agree to a single date, do you know that? Three months! And it took you both a week to destroy all prospects I had with him." A breath harshly escaped her nostrils.

"Don't you think you're a little young to be dating, Lils?" Albus quipped. "I mean, can't you wait a year or two?"

"How old were you when you had your first girlfriend, Albus?" She turned around to face James once more. "Or even you? I don't think you left your first year without stealing one kiss! Besides, Mike was a good boy. He might have had his faults, but—"

"Mike was only interested in fame," James snapped coldly, interrupting his sister's fervent accusations. His arms uncrossed and fell to his sides as he took a step forward. "He saw you as the only daughter of the Boy-Who-Lived and figured once he saw how eager you were for his attentions that he could milk it for all that it was worth."

She shook her head in denial as her eyes narrowed once more on her older brother. "You're lying," she said quietly, revulsion lacing her voice.

James's eyebrow rose once more. "Am I?" His tone matched hers pitch-for-pitch. He leaned forward until their noses were almost touching. "Prove it."

Lily glared into her brother's eyes, her breath rapidly entering and leaving her lungs. He seemed relatively calm, curse his hide! She wanted to fling insults at him, wanted to tell him that the doxies he paraded around every single day were only interested in what he'd just accused Mike of. But she knew he was already aware of that. She knew they were both using those women for their looks just as much as they were using them for their fame. It disgusted her. Finally, she gave in.

"I hate you both!" she flung out before turning and hastily exiting the common room. No one tried to stop her, and even if they had, she doubted they would have been able to catch her. Her brothers might be fit, but she was quick.

And an emotional wreck.

Silent tears streamed down her cheeks as she fought to acknowledge what her brother had said. She knew her fame held some attraction even for the most wary, but she never believed it was all they were attracted to. She was a beautiful person on her own, both outwardly and inwardly. She strived to be as different from her brothers as possible in hopes to stand out. But they wouldn't let her. They kept knocking her down.

Oh, she knew they meant well. She wanted them to leave her alone, though. In two years time, both of them would be graduated from Hogwarts. Only then could she pursue her future without their prodding noses. Or maybe they would destroy her reputation beyond repair and make it impossible for her to do such a thing. She hoped it wouldn't be like that.

She pushed through the oak doors of the main entrance into Hogwarts and fled into the chilly fall night. The sun had set beyond the horizon a mere hour ago, but all traces of it had disappeared. A full moon had just begun its ascent in the eastern horizon, the edges of it just peering above the tops of the trees in the forest. Rain from the early afternoon showers had gathered on the stems of the grass making it treacherous to run on. But Lily pushed on, oblivious to the danger to her clothes she now was asking for.

She didn't stop running until she reached the edge of the lake. There she stopped and stared down at its flat, inky surface. There was no movement in the water, or so it seemed. The entire sky of stars and moon were reflected on its surface. It seemed endless, bottomless… but it was breath taking.

She took in a deep breath to help quell her racing heart. A hand pressed against her stomach as her mind forced her eyes to stop leaking. She had no reason to be crying, not really. It wasn't as if she'd lost something precious. But she'd lost an opportunity to be her own person, and that's what was hurting.

She never asked for the fame. She knew her parents hadn't asked for it, either. The world's thirst for voyeurism was disgusting, and Lily wanted no part of it. But what choice did she have? She couldn't ignore it for it would never disappear. She couldn't embrace it for it would never make her happy. She was in limbo, standing on the brink of a crumbling cliff; the rocks were slowly ebbing from beneath her small feet and she had nothing else to grasp on to. Her heart hurt.

All she ever wanted in life was a love like her parents'. She wanted someone to cherish her and make her feel like the only star in the sky. She wanted happiness, not the façade her brothers apparently enjoyed. She wanted family and hearth. But she was starting to think she would never get that.

The stars twinkled on the lakes surface, reminding her of the everlasting flashing of cameras in her face. Here at Hogwarts she was somewhat hidden. No one followed her family around and documented everything that they did. Any scandal created by them here was noted in the gossip rags, but… her photo didn't appear in every magazine, at least. It was the bane of her existence, her cross to bear. She was sick of it.

Lily bent down and picked up a small rock. She held it in her hands as she watched the moon float higher into the sky, the reflection moving closer to her. It wasn't an obvious movement, but it was noticeable. She wished she could grab it and hold on to it, never have to let it go. In this instance, the moon represented her happiness, forever elusive. Forever unattainable.

Heaving her arm back, she chucked the rock into the lake. The flat surface erupted into a violent mass of ripples, distorting the reflection of the moon. Lily sniffed and turned away. Hogwarts loomed before her. Her brothers' taunts and meddlesome tactics echoed in her head and knew they would be a permanent fixture in her future. She sighed and started to make her way back to the castle.

A single tear slipped down her cheek as she whispered to the ground, "I'll never have my happy ending."