Lily Luna Potter was going into her seventh year at Hogwarts and was the youngest of the three infamous Potter children. Now this may sound all well and good to an outsider, but living in the shadow of Harry and Ginny Potter was nothing but hard work. And it was extremely unhelpful that her two older brothers were about as perfect as her father himself.
In short, Lily was kind of the black sheep of the family.
Not that she didn't feel welcome in her family, she just could not shake the feeling that she didn't belong in her perfect family.
For example, her oldest brother James was twenty one years old and worked in the highly elusive department of mysteries and was engaged to one of the most amazing women Lily had ever seen and Lily had the feeling that her mother secretly wished she was her daughter instead of Lily. However, James was unfailingly kind and Lily always thought of him as her safe haven within the family.
Her other brother Albus was as opposite to James as Lily could imagine. To her he was a sarcastic, pompous prat who could never leave well enough alone. At every opportunity he was asserting the fact that he was better. That she was lesser, and on that every opportunity she walked away feeling drained and anxious.
It was because of these encounters with her family and the general feeling inside of her that she just wasn't good enough, that she picked up the shameful habit of smoking cigarettes. It started around two years previous after a particularly hard day of breaking up with a boy she was convinced she was in love with at the time despite her being a naive fifteen year old and afterwards having a spat with her brother Albus.
And this is what she was doing on her balcony the night before she was supposed to get on the train to go to her seventh year at Hogwarts. She had just sat through a particularly tense dinner where Albus reminded Lily yet again that she was the one child in the family that hadn't managed to make it as head during her time at Hogwarts.
Lily watched the smoke swirl above her head as she took a long drag from her Marlboro cigarette. She started to think just how disappointed her father would be if he saw her. But just as the thought went through her head she snorted, disappointing her parents was one of her only skills. Her grades were as average as could be and she didn't play quidditch and she was dreadfully shy when it came to meeting new people when she wasn't in her comfort zone. Not exactly the picture perfect child.
Her comfort zone was relatively small. It mostly consisted of her best friend and roommate at Hogwarts, Maddie Gray. She was the complete opposite from Lily but somehow it worked well. Maddie was the top student in their year and maybe the smartest witch to have gone to Hogwarts since Lily's aunt Hermione. She loved people and people always loved her. She was the going to be the Head Girl for their last year at Hogwarts and Lily honestly couldn't think of a better person for it. Lily had always had a certain envy for her best friend but never acted upon it as she couldn't fault Maddie for being everything Lily herself wished she could be.
"Lily! Lily? Where are you. Honestly, this room is a mess. You are supposed to be packing for tomorrow," Lily heard the voice of her mother and she quickly put out her cigarette and spritzed some perfume on her body to mask the smell.
"Mum, no need to yell I'm right here, honestly woman. Packing will take less than two minutes so stop your panicking," Lily emerged from the balcony into the threshold of her room where she saw her mother carefully folding her clothing and tidying her mess of a room.
"Lily, would it kill you to not leave everything to the last minute for once," her mom sounded slightly exasperated. Her mom always sounded exasperated when it came to her.
"Mum, it'll be ready before we leave tomorrow. It's fine. Please, just let me do it," Lily flopped on her bed and started flipping through a magazine lazily.
"Alright, we are leaving at 9 o'clock sharp so please be ready Lily dear. Jamie and Carlotta will be there to see you off so do try to look nice," Lily hid a smirk behind her magazine. Her mother's favorite daughter was going to be there so of course she had to leave a good impression. You would think the days of trying to impress James' fiancee would be long gone as they had been together for three years but alas Lily's mother was still worried one wrinkle or hair out of place would send her running for the hills. But Lily nodded her head anyways and waited for her mother to leave her room, shutting the door behind her.
Lily sighed and magically locked her door. Rising from her bed once again she made her way out to the balcony where she once again lit a cigarette.
"Lily!Up you get," Lily lifted her head and heard the screech of her mother from the floor below.
Groaning, she rolled out of her bed still yawning and travelling down the hallway towards the bathroom, "Yeah mum I'm up." Lily stepped one foot into the scalding water and washed her matted hair from the previous night.
Once she was out of the shower she magically dried her hair while applying her makeup quickly. Once she made her way downstairs she turned into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the island quietly reading the Prophet.
"Honestly if that girl makes us late again to see Carlotta I swear-" her mother and father walked briskly into the room then, "Oh Lily, good, you're ready. Is that what you're wearing? Oh no matter let's get going."
Lily stood up chugging back the rest of her coffee, "Ah, Lils you look lovely today. Ready for your last year of Hogwarts? You must be so excited," her father smiled warmly at her as her mother bustled around grabbing anything she could think of at the last minute.
"Thanks Dad, yeah it'll be grand I'm sure," Lily walked past them to put on her shoes.
"Alright well we better be going, I'm sure Jamie will be waiting when we arrive. Lily can you manage to apparate?"
"Yeah mum I'll be fine," and with a loud pop Lily was gone.
The three arrived at the platform and Lily heard a deep voice behind her, "Lily bean," James exclaimed as he picked her up and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug.
"Can't. Breathe," Lily choked out as James put her down, "And Jamesie poo how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Lily bean?"
James laughed his hearty laugh, "Oh at least a few more times Lily bean," he smirked and kissed her cheek.
"Hullo Carlotta, how is the Prophet," Lily turned to the beautiful witch standing beside her brother.
"Oh it's absolutely fantastic. I'm writing a piece on the political race for Minister of Magic," Carlotta gushed.
"Oh dear, that sounds fascinating," Ginny spoke warmly to her soon to be daughter in law. The group of adults then launched into a debate on the two candidates. Lily quickly tired of this and her eyes began to wander.
"LILY," Lily turned to see where the screech had come from and saw her best friend making a beeline towards her. Lily's smile grew exponentially as she let out a squeal of her own and dropped her bags to hug her best friend. It had been much too long since she had seen her.
"Girls, quiet down please you are making a scene," Ginny was always much too concerned with what others thought of her. But nevertheless both of the girls released the other but didn't lose the smiles. "But we really should get going. Good luck on your last year girls, and congratulations on making Head Girl Madison. I'll see you at Christmas love," Lily moved forward to give both her parents a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks mum, bye dad," Lily was once again swept up in a bone crushing hug from her oldest brother.
"Bye Lils, don't do anything I wouldn't do," and with a wink her brother and fiancee disapparated. Her parents were not far behind.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Lily once again turned to her best friend. They happily linked arms and made their way to the train.
"Okay Lils, so I just have to stop by the Heads compartment and address the prefects and then I will be all yours. I'll find you later yeah?" Lily nodded her head and turned to find an empty compartment.
Lily felt someone put their hands in front of her eyes and she emitted a shrill squeal. "Easy there babe, it's just me. I don't bite," Lily smirked as she turned around to face her boyfriend Colin LeFevre. He towered over her and leaned in for a kiss. She closed her eyes and felt comforted as she felt his arms pull her even closer to her.
"We should probably find somewhere to sit, yeah," Lily said breathlessly. And led him towards an empty compartment. He shut the door behind him and drew the blinds so no one could see in.
"Y'know, since we are alone. . ." Colin wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.
"Oh, Colin you know we couldn't. Besides, Maddie will be here any time. And. . ." Lily trailed off, not really sure where she was going with that but the compartment suddenly grew very quiet. She didn't know why she always hesitated when the subject of intimacy came up. Colin was stunning and most girls would jump at the chance. He had sandy blonde hair and icy blue eyes that simply made the girls melt. And it didn't hurt that he was easy to talk to.
The quiet was spiking her nerves so she ventured towards the window, opening it. Sitting underneath she lit a cigarette with the tip of her wand. Technically this was forbidden but she would vanish the smell and really it was the only thing that could keep her anxiety in check.
"Darling, you aren't supposed to just light up in here," Colin looked at Lily with slight exasperation.
"I know, but it'll be fine Colin. It isn't a big deal," Lily exhaled her lungful of smoke. Just as she said this the door opened giving way to Maddie.
"Oi Lils, don't tell me you have one of those god awful things burning in here." Lily grinned as she flicked it out the window.
"Why no, I don't have one of those god awful things burning in here," Maddie rolled her eyes but launched into the story of how her first prefect meeting as Head Girl had gone. This really wasn't the most interesting topic so she allowed her mind to wander whilst staring out the window.
Seventh year had begun. This was what Lily had been waiting for her entire life, but it just wasn't living up to what she had imagined all those years.
A/N: This story is something i am trying to write closely in line with some events that have been happening in my life as of late and Lily Luna seemed like the perfect character seeing as there hasn't been too much canon work on this. I really hope you enjoy and please please review seeing as i live off of validation from chapters will get longer from here, promise. :) La la love you