A Plan for Slytherin

by roonilwazlibnthe1-2bloodprince

Lily Potter II is the first in her family to be sorted into Slytherin, which was not at all the plan. Now, for better or worse, she has a new plan.

Lily walked quickly up to the stool. There was no reason to be nervous. Everything form the train ride to Professor McGonagoll's lecture was how her family said it would be. There were no whispers like there had been for her father, who was famous; or for James, who was the first child to come; or for Albus, who was her father's clone.

But she was nervous. So she had to pretend that she was brave. Lily hoped her fake courage was enough to get her into Gryffindor because that was important to her plan. She needed to follow exactly in her father's footsteps. That meant Gryffindor, Defense Against the Dark Arts, even Quidditch, if she had to, and, ultimately, becoming an Auror for the Ministry of Magic. Then people would realize she wasn't just another redheaded Weasley (although she loved her family very much). She was a Potter.

The girl did her best to clear her train of thought before Professor McGonagoll placed the Sorting Hat over her eyes. She knew she could ask the Hat to put her in Gryffindor, but she wanted it to make its own decision. After all, it had a lot more experience than she did.

"You want Gryffindor," the Hat spoke into her ear. It wasn't loud, but Lily flinched at the nearness.

She considered lying, but there seemed little point. "I do. I want to learn to be as brave as my dad."

"That's not how courage works. But go on," the Hat seemed to sigh. Could hats sigh? "You may ask. I'm sure your father told you. He told your brother."

"No, thank you," Lily answered as politely as she could muster through her nerves.

"You're not going to ask?" The Hat was, not surprised, but intrigued. It was as difficult to surprise the Sorting Hat as it was to lie to it.

"I trust your judgment."

The Hat chuckled, which caused a strange sensation in Lily's ears. "You are so unlike your family."

Lily's stomach somersaulted.

The Hat continued, "I may put you wherever I like?"

"Wherever you see fit."

"Ahh, finally someone brave enough to have some faith."

Lily's breath caught. Did that mean…?

"Slytherin," the Sorting Hat announced.

Her stomach did not turn. It did not go up to her throat or down to her knees. It simply disappeared. Her legs turned weak and her arms felt heavy. But she knew she had to get up. The Hat's voice was gone from her ear and so offered no encouragement as she began a walk that was far worse than the trek to the stool.

Because now people started to whisper.

It was easy to hear without the applause the other first years received. There was polite clapping, mostly from those who did not realize what had happened, but none of the loud cheers that had greeted any of her family.

"Is that a Weasley? In Slytherin?"

"No, didn't you listen? She's a Potter!"

"As in James and Albus?"

"As in Harry Potter."

"And she's in Slytherin? What was the Hat thinking?"

Lily couldn't help but wonder the same as she clumsily took a seat at the table two away from her brothers and most of their cousins. The Slytherins didn't want her. Hogwarts was working hard to learn from its mistakes and encourage unity, but relations between the Weasley/Potter clan and the Slytherins were still slightly awkward.

The prefects and several of the older students cast short glances at Lily, trying to find something to say. A dark haired boy with a badge partially succeeded.

"So you're a, er, unexpected recruit."

Lily could only nod and attempt a smile, but she had a feeling it was a bit weak. She turned to watch the sorting to excuse herself from the sad looks the older students were giving her.

"Thompson, Richard."

A few seconds passed.

"Hufflepuff."

Hufflepuff wouldn't have been so bad. Mr. Carson, Mummy's old manager, was a Hufflepuff when he went to school. There are good people in Slytherin, too, Lily told herself. Think. Who was in Slytherin?

Voldemort.

Shut up, Lily. Think harder.

"Ravenclaw."

Lily looked up to watch the curly blonde with whom she'd shared a compartment on the train walk to the table next to hers. Man, she'd hoped they would be friends.

You still can be, she thought. You'll still see her, just like you'll still see James and Al and Hugo.

Hugo.

Lily's heart skipped a beat. Her brain flailed to find a Slytherin role model, some comfort to hold when Hugo's name came, when the inevitable happened. It hurt to think logically, but the name her father always mentioned whenever he mentioned Slytherins kicked to the surface. Severus Snape. Her mind dove to grab the name, the story, the symbol she always knew growing up, but her grip slipped. No matter how much her father insisted, the Great Harry Potter never did truly convince his youngest that Severus Snape was a hero. She found him selfish and, in her mind, his selfishness had turned him into a coward. He redeemed himself in the end, but that wasn't enough to make his footsteps worth following.

Lily's thoughts raced frantically, slurring together as she tried to think of a good Slytherin she knew. Someone worth following.

"Weasley, Hugo."

She was desperate. She didn't know how long the Hat would take to decide her cousin's fate. She needed a name.

Lily Potter.

"Gryffindor."

Perhaps it was the shock of the name her brain desperately gave her, but the announcement didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. Instead, she found herself able to clap, and even cheer. Hugo happily took his seat next to their cousin, Louis. He caught her eye with an almost apologetic look, but she only responded with a convincing grin and double thumbs up.

Not that she didn't wish she were over there. She would much rather be joking with her family and listening to Roxy telling them all how busy the store was the week before and that they should all watch out. She even almost wished she could hear Nic's over embellished account of a close scrape with one of Uncle Charlie's dragons.

Still, she definitely had enough to think about and her company seemed hesitant to interrupt her. Her own name kept creeping into her thoughts. Lily didn't really want to start Hogwarts with no plan, no lead, and no friends in her house.

But, she thought as she sat up straighter and started on her potatoes, she could.

o0O0o zebra

The dungeons really weren't as creepy as everyone made them sound. They were certainly different from home and not at all what Lily would have chosen, but all she really needed to do there was sleep and change. She could always study in the library or outside.

The prefects explained the concept of the common room, which Lily didn't really find necessary. Nevertheless, she was grateful they were going slowly. It gave her more time to process the information into which her family had no insight. Her heart lurched as she realized again that all of this was unexplored for pretty much everyone she knew. She, Lily Potter, the second youngest of all the cousins, would be the first to go past the common room.

Walking through the opening a rotating stone wall created, that thought made all of the fear, just for a moment, completely worth it. She couldn't help but think this was why Gryffindors were brave even when they didn't have to be. It felt like how her father described his first time flying.

The adrenaline seeped away as they walked down a hallway of chattering Slytherin girls. Many of them offered smiles to their new classmates, which Lily tried to find unsurprising. She knew Slytherins could be nice; there was no reason for prejudice. Some of the dorm doors were open and past them Lily saw beds. They looked very comfortable and she was looking forward to the end of the tour when she could test one.

The time came fairly quickly, which was far too slowly for the tired eleven-year-old. Still, sleepiness was no excuse for poor manners and she forced herself to introduce herself to her dorm mates. She listened to their names and hoped she would still remember them in the morning. She quickly prepared for bed afterwards, perhaps faster than was polite. She smiled at the letter her mum hid in her trunk, vowing to read it in the morning because she wasn't sure she was ready to hear the hopeful words, the expectations that might be disappointed. No, sleep seemed to be the better option.

o0O0o

Lily was pleased to later report that the beds were, in fact, extremely comfortable. So comfortable that she only woke up to the girl named Savannah's light prodding.

"We wanted to let you sleep," she explained nervously, "but we're about to go and I was afraid you might oversleep if I didn't wake you."

"No," Lily assured her. "Thank you."

Savannah waved mildly towards the three girls already dressed and waiting by the door, "We were about to go down to breakfast, but I wouldn't mind waiting for you, if you want."

"That's okay," Lily answered, getting out of bed. "I'll meet you guys down there."

"Do you think you can find your way down okay?" the tallest girl, Marnie, asked.

"I'll be alright. If I get lost, I can always ask someone."

The girls nodded and left, promising they'd save her a seat. Lily really was sure she could get to the Great Hall, but mostly because James was lending her the Marauder's Map for her first couple weeks to help her get to her classes. She was supposed to share it with Hugo, which would be difficult now. She dressed carefully and paused when she came to her tie. Green and silver, so different from the scarlet and gold one her mum made her practice tying.

"Still," she reminded herself gruffly, "it ties the same."

She tucked the Map and her mum's letter into her pocket and walked quickly down the hall. Before turning the wall, she stopped.

"Lumos."

Lily whispered the easiest spell she could remember. The tip of her wand lit up weakly and she didn't bother restraining her smile. This was Hogwarts. She was going to learn magic and it didn't matter from which house she did it.

In the common room, she found three boys she recognized as first years standing by the door. She smiled politely as she passed but was surprised when they followed her out.

"Hey," the brown haired boy caught up with her. "We're going, too. Mind if we walk with you?"

Lily answered that no, she didn't, and the boy stuck out his hand.

"Nick," he offered with a grin.

"Lily," she answered, shaking his hand.

The tallest of the three boys, who appeared very solid, did not find a handshake necessary but offered his name in a voice that was friendly enough. "Nathan."

The other boy, blonde and the same height as Nick, did shake her hand and introduced himself as Jonah.

"We were waiting for Jonah's brother, Martin," Nick explained as he took a turn Lily had a feeling was wrong.

Nathan apparently thought the same. He told Nick he was sure the other way was the path they'd taken last night because he recognized the painting of a man in a kilt. Jonah reminded him the pictures moved but after a quick vote they decided to turn back.

"Martin's a fourth year and offered to walk us there," Nick continued once they felt they were on track, "but I think he forgot."

Lily only nodded, but she found it easier to talk as they went farther. She learned the three boys had been friends for years. They mentioned several people she didn't know but that led to them mentioning the Quidditch game they attended with So-and-so and Nathan's cousin. She had seen the same game.

One of the chasers was an old friend of her mum's and the two of them went when her dad tried taking the boys camping. She didn't mention that the chaser and her mum had actually met when they were both on the Holyhead Harpies but she did tell them how her dad couldn't stop cheating and using magic for the fire. She then told them that she had seen the snitch three times before Rosenthal and, really, it was a miracle Puddlemore won at all with that troll on a broom.

Her comment apparently offended Jonah, who was a huge Rosenthal fan, but Nathan offered her a high five and thanked her for being smarter than his associates. Nick argued that appreciating Rosenthal's performance against the Cannons last match did not make him a fan. Jonah agreed but suggested that having his poster hanging above his bed did.

It took them longer to get to the Great Hall than it had to get to the dormitories the night before. It would have been faster if they had asked the portraits or one of the ghosts for help but the boys refused to stop for directions. It would have been a lot faster if Lily had just walked by herself and used the map. But, she mused as they finally found a fifth year Ravenclaw to discreetly tail, neither of those options would be half as fun.

Lily detached from her company when they reached the hall, telling them she wanted to talk to her brother. She awkwardly walked over to the Gryffindor table, thinking again on her green and silver tie. She quickly spotted James intently watching the boys she'd just left. He put on a smile when he saw her approach.

"Hey, buddy," he said carefully. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she assured him with a smile.

"Who were those boys?"

The question was from Albus, who was sitting down the table.

"They're in my year. They followed me down."

"Did they give you any trouble?" James asked. His voice sounded casual enough but she could hear the readiness of a threat hiding beneath it.

"No," Lily answered quickly. "They were nice."

"Okay." James looked doubtful. "You know, it would've been easier to just use the Map."

"I know, but it was more fun this way." She thought for a second. "I think I'll hand it off to Hugo at lunch. That way he'll know where he's going for at least half the day."

"Don't worry about Hugo," James said, earning himself an indignant 'Hey' from their cousin, who was sitting on the other side of Albus. "You keep it until you're ready."

"I'm fine, James, really," she said again, smiling.

She gave him a quick hug, which he returned, even though they were in public. That, at least, was a benefit to her brother's pity. She waved to Albus and Hugo and walked to her table as James reprimanded Hugo and gave him what sounded suspiciously like an assignment.

Erin, a dorm mate of Lily's with dirty blonde hair and conveniently green glasses, waved Lily over to the spot next to her.

"Did you get lost?" She sounded concerned as she handed Lily her schedule.

"Yeah, but only because my escorts refused to ask anyone."

"How'd you guys get down here then?" Savannah asked.

"We followed a Ravenclaw."

"Isn't the Ravenclaw tower pretty far from the dungeons?" their last roommate, Lydia, asked.

"I think so," Lily said cheerfully as she helped herself to a particularly large scone, the only food she figured she'd have time to eat.

Sure enough, students began trailing out of the hall only a couple minutes later. The girls decided that, at least for the first day, they'd all walk together. Lydia had already asked a prefect where the Charms room was and led the group down the hall.

"Someone hold onto Lily," she called back with a grin, "or we'll probably lose her."

Lily was going to defend herself but decided against it when Marnie looped her arm through her own. They looked like they'd been friends for a while and that, along with some good directions, made Lily feel older, a second year at least. She was starting to see why her family loved Hogwarts.

Professor Garett taught Charms. He was the youngest teacher at Hogwarts and had entirely too much energy for a man as clumsy as he was, but he was supposedly a genius. Lily remembered hearing Mr. Longbottom tell her father about Professor Flitwick's assistant when they ran into him at Diagon Alley a few years back. Her dad seemed sad to hear yet another teacher was retiring, but Mr. Longbottom insisted there were several professors actively pursuing Professor Binn's career path.

Lily never had Professor Flitwick, but she could tell from roll call that she liked Professor Garett.

"Ms. Anta," he cried, loud enough to silence an argument between Nathan and Jonah.

"Present," answered the Ravenclaw who shared Lily's compartment on the train.

"What?" He appeared confused by her response, then seemed to remember his reason for naming her. "Oh, yes. How is your sister?"

"She's good. She just got married."

"Brian Perinoke?"

"Yes, but sir," Ms. Anta, whose name Lily remembered was Faith, looked startled. "They weren't dating at Hogwarts."

Professor Garett just tapped his forehead and continued with attendance. He asked other students about their siblings or cousins. He didn't go in alphabetical order or any other logical order, so Lily was preparing herself for a question any moment about how Al did in his Gobstones tournament or if Freddy was ever going to show his parents his marks so they could know how smart he really was.

"Ms. Potter."

"Here."

"Now, I distinctly remember a conversation I had with your brother, James, his first year."

James was an okay subject. Lily was secretly proud of her oldest brother, a fifth year who might even get a girlfriend.

"He told me his little sister had an interesting first taste of magic." He peered down his glasses. "You turned your house orange?"

"Just the first floor."

"And, if I may ask, why orange?"

"The Cannons were on a winning streak," she explained. "My uncle took me for ice-cream when he heard."

Professor Garett smiled at the memory before an intent look crossed his features. "That's a pretty strong charm you pulled, Ms. Potter."

His sudden seriousness puzzled Lily. Charms class looked like fun, but she still needed to focus on Defense against the Dark Arts. Unless, of course, she were to ditch the plan entirely. Professor Garett's role call quickly distracted her from her thoughts.

He decided Lydia Lee was a name pretty enough to sing, which he did in a surprisingly pleasant voice. Nathan laughed at the spectacle.

"Mr. Merrill," Professor Garett boomed. "Please stand and continue my song for the class to spare them my apparently laughable voice."

Nathan gaped stupidly and looked to his friends for help. They only shrugged.

"Or I could take five points from your house for disrespect to a professor."

If it were later in the year, or even later in the day, Nathan would've given up the points with a mumbled 'sorry, sir'. But it was the very first class of the very first day and he didn't have a very clear perspective on the value of five points.

So the tall boy stood up and began to sing lamely, "Lydia Lee, Lydia Lee, Lydia Lee."

His voice was terrible. Both he and Lydia were quite red and Nathan kept glancing at Professor Garett to see if he could stop. Lydia just looked at a stone above the chalkboard, attempting to ignore the scene taking place.

"Lydia Lee."

Everyone turned to face the new voice. Lily stood, allowing her classmates to see her. Nathan smiled gratefully at her.

"Lydia Lee," Nick stood to join them, with Jonah close behind.

They continued their odd song, changing tunes often and dodging the stares of classmates, until Professor Garett gave them a theatrical cut-off. The children, never having been in an orchestra, had a disjointed ending but were quick to reseat themselves.

"Lovely vocals." Professor Garett smiled widely. "Now, if there are no more interruptions?"

Attendance passed quicker after that, likely so they'd actually finish before the end of class. The students quickly filed out at the end, but Professor Garett called to stream of first years.

"And ten points to Slytherin for Ms. Potter's courage!""

Lily nearly walked into Jonah in surprise. She caught herself and joined her dorm mates as they walked down the corridor to Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagoll was teaching class again. She had given up the Headmistress position once Hogwarts was repaired and a suitable replacement found. While not afraid of the added responsibility, she missed teaching.

They were with Gryffindor and Lily quickly claimed the seat Hugo had saved for her. Professor McGonagoll frowned at the arrangement and assigned her a seat next to a small Gryffindor girl. The other students also received seats, but most of them were allowed to sit with another from their house.

Everything in McGonagoll's class was strict and efficient. Whereas Professor Garett barely finished roll, McGonagoll was able to fit in an introduction to the course and a short lesson.

Lily regretted her new seat but was grateful for the sense of routine the lesson provided. On her way out, she asked Hugo how his first lesson went. He told her it went well and asked her if she was doing okay, but seemed too distracted to really listen to her response.

The classroom for History of Magic was fairly easy to find. Hugo had just come from there and gave them accurate, if perhaps roundabout, directions. Professor Binns was as boring and oblivious as everyone said. Lily told herself she'd listen to her Aunt Hermione and actually take notes but thought that, since it was only the first day, she could use this time to read her mum's letter and draft a reply.

She tried to be discreet and held the letter under the table, but she needn't have bothered. Marnie was asleep to her right and there was no one to her left. Professor Binns, for his part, was too busy droning on about his expectations to notice he had lost the attention of most of the class.

Mrs. Potter's letter was mostly excited drabble and several questions about the train ride and any friends she had made. She asked how the sorting went but never directly which house she was in. It wasn't as hard to read as Lily thought it would be, but writing a reply was considerably more difficult. After several failed starts, she decided to push it off for lunch and actually listen to the lesson.

o0O0o

She broke off from her companions again when she reached the Great Hall, asking the girls if they could save her a seat. It seemed rude to ask them to do so a second time on only the first day, but Lydia's reply was cheerful. Hugo was ahead of her walking in and already knee deep in a conversation with James.

"-trying to bother her. Turns out the one guy was curious about her being a Potter. And maybe thought she was pretty," Hugo reported as Lily came within earshot.

James did not seem to notice his sister's arrival.

"She's only eleven! Why would they think she's pretty?"

"Hey!" Lily gave her brother an affronted look.

He was startled to see her there but quickly recovered. "Sorry, sis, but I think your devil horns clash with your complexion."

"Really? I thought they brought out my eyes nicely." She looked over at Albus, who was scribbling on a piece of parchment. "What're you writing?"

She looked over his shoulder to read it.

Dear Mum and Dad,

First day is going great. We're looking out for Lily. She had suspicious company this morning, but we think their intentions were harmless. Don't worry, we'll get the whole thing sorted fixed.

"I think you should've left the pun," Lily offered.

James quickly read over the note. "I agree. But I'd hardly say their intentions were harmless. Don't you remember what Nic did last year when she liked Joel Hawkins?"

"I don't think any of them would dare punch Lily. Besides," Al continued as he pushed the parchment under his plate, "it's only a first draft."

"Don't send it yet," his sister warned. "Wait until I've told them."

"You haven't told them yet?" Hugo was surprised enough to set down his sandwich.

"It's only the first day!"

"Still," Hugo gave her a look. "This is…"

"Big," Louis supplied from his seat down the table.

"Huge," Hugo corrected.

"I don't really think that was worth correcting," Louis said defensively.

"Huge is more descriptive," Rose argued as she took a seat across from Albus. "But what is so huge?"

"Lily's news," Al offered through a mouthful of apple. "She hasn't told Mum and Dad yet."

"Oh," said Rose, looking concerned. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Lily repeated. "Shouldn't you be asking your brother that?"

"He's fine." Her cousin waved off the suggestion.

"And so am I."

"The Slytherins haven't been giving you any trouble?" Roxy appeared over Rose's shoulder.

"No, everyone's been nice." Lily was finding herself exasperated. "Honestly, did you guys give Lucy this much trouble?"

"Lucy got sorted before we were here," James reminded.

"And she was in Hufflepuff," Freddy added truthfully, earning his twin's elbow in his stomach.

"I don't see the difference," Lily lied lamely as she looked around the small group gathered at the table.

She made it only a few moments before speaking again.

"Don't you guys have any friends outside the family?" she blurted out.

Several of her cousins defended themselves. Of course they had other friends. Lots of them.

"Then why is everyone sitting together?"

"Nic and Molly aren't here," Freddy answered defensively.

"Molly's in the library," Nic said as she walked over to them, grabbing a chip from Louis's plate as she passed it. "I saw her coming down. Did we miss anything?"

Lily was opening her mouth to make some snarky comment or other, but Al interrupted her.

"Lily hasn't written about her sorting yet."

Nic nodded knowingly and reached for another of her brother's chips. Louis glared and pulled his plate away.

"How are you? You could sit with us." She took a seat next to Freddy. "I don't think anyone would really care. Accio."

"I'm fine!" Lily answered with more heat than she meant and caught the chip Nic had summoned, "And I think I'll just sit with my friends."

Nic looked surprised at her annoyance. Freddy started to once again announce all the friends he had, his sister patting his arm comfortingly, when a new voice interrupted the family.

"Potter!"

James and Albus turned around. Lily didn't bother. She didn't know enough people at the school to expect a greeting, especially at a different table, and so instead chose to munch on her prize.

"Oh, hey James." A dark haired Slytherin boy smiled and addressed his other year mates present, "Fred, Anne." He paused to smirk. "Nic."

Freddy, barely looking up from his food, gave a small half wave. Nic glared, but Roxy offered him a polite smile, even if he had used her old name.

"I actually wanted to talk to – Lily, is it?"

Lily nodded, unsure of the prompt for a conversation, but she recognized from his badge that he was the boy that spoke to her the night before.

"Did I hear you were walking back to our table? I had something I wanted to ask you- in private if I could."

James started to stand and tell the boy that, no, he may not talk to his little sister in private, but a classmate sitting on his right pulled him down without looking away from her book.

Lily nodded and followed the boy back to her House.

"I saw you catch that chip," he said after consideration.

"Oh, okay," Lily answered awkwardly.

The boy nodded, ushering in an uncomfortable silence before he blurted out, "Do you play Quidditch?"

"Er, some," the girl looked up to the taller boy to respond and for the first time read the badge he wore. "I'm not amazing or anything, but, yeah, I play."

"Well, I'm only asking because," the boy was rushing now as they quickly approached their table," your family's got a lot of talent and this is the first time Slytherin's had a chance to benefit from that talent."

He looked at her, waiting for a response.

"I'm a first year," Lily explained slowly. "First years can't play Quidditch."

"You'd only be a reserve player, depending on how tryouts go," Slytherin's Quidditch Captain assured her, "but we'd train you to get you ready for next year."

"I still don't think that's allowed."

"I'll get permission. Something about how it'd really help you get to know your house."

"I'm fine being in Slytherin." She fought to hide her annoyance.

"Doesn't matter," the boy smiled. "It'll still probably work. But you'll do it?"

"I'm not sure," Lily answered carefully. "I don't know. I'd be going against my family."

"Yeah," he agreed with an amused look. "Nic'll hate me more than she does now."

"Are you Joel Hawkins?" Lily asked thoughtlessly.

"What? No. I'm Miles. Patton." He stuck out his hand and Lily hesitantly shook it. "But you're right. She does hate Hawkins. Dunno why."

A fifth year boy called him over. Patton waved before turning back to Lily.

"But you'll think about it?"

"Yeah," she promised.

"Okay." He started walking to his friend. "Let me know when you decide."

Lily nodded, which he didn't seem to see, and headed for her dorm mates. Marnie asked her what took so long. Apparently 'Quidditch' was a sufficient reply. Lily ate quickly and excused herself to go to the loo.

Once safely in a stall, the girl whispered the code she needed to read her grandfather's map before pulling out her list of classes. Then it was simply a matter of tracing the most efficient route with a finger, occasionally jotting down notes on the back of her schedule.

Students were already leaving as she reentered the Great Hall. She had to stand on the base of a pillar to spot the correct redhead and, true to her word, hand the Map off to Hugo.

She met her dorm mates halfway back to their table.

"There was a fourth year in the bathroom. She gave me directions to Herbology," Lily lied easily.

Lydia had also gotten directions but with a little difficulty Lily convinced them to use hers. Following the route from the Map through back hallways and empty classrooms, they were the first to arrive at the greenhouses. Most of the girls complimented the speedy path, but Lily noticed Lydia looked slightly putout.

Professor Longbottom arrived shortly afterwards. He was surprised at first to find First Years there so early, but winked when he saw Lily. He didn't know about the Map, but the Weasleys' knowledge of the Hogwarts back roads was notorious.

All of the other groups of first year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were, Lily noticed, technically late. Nick, Jonah, and Nathan entered last. They missed the first few minutes of the lecture, but Professor Longbottom chose to smile at the class.

"Ten points to Gryffindor for the young ladies," he gave the stragglers a knowing look, "who were actually on time."

The boys hung their heads, but it was Lily who turned bright red.

"But, sir," Lydia spoke up, "we're in Slytherin."

"Oh, yes." He almost lost his smile, but managed to hold it, although it looked a bit faked afterwards. "I'd quite forgotten."

"No points for Gryffindor," he corrected. "Ten points for Slytherin."

Lily avoided his eye and chose instead to look around the greenhouse. It was nice to feel like she was outside again. It felt strange not walking to Grimmauld Primary School in the morning or to the nearest Quidditch pitch with James and Albus. The earthy smell was stronger here than the two walks, reminding her more of the Burrow's garden.

It made sense. Looking around, many of the plants were the same. She knew she couldn't do magic outside of school, but did potions count? Would it be dangerous to harvest her own ingredients? Probably. Mum had never let her sample any of the berries near the playground. The same rules likely apply. Where did cooking end and potions begin? Was it a matter of magic? Could squibs brew potions? If not, how could the potions tell? Lily doubted she'd learn in Potions, her next class. James told her the teacher was incredibly patronizing, with unreasonably high expectations.

Erin elbowed her when class was over and pulled her out of the greenhouse. Laughing at her eagerness luckily gave Lily a reasonable excuse to continue avoiding Professor Longbottom's eye.

"We still don't know how to get to Potions," the girl explained, now tugging on Marnie's arm as well.

"It's in the dungeons. Can't be that hard to find, can it?" Marnie argued, slowing her speed to spite the smaller girl's attempts.

"Yeah, but now we have a reputation to keep." Erin grinned back at Lily.

"The girl actually gave me the way to Potions as well," Lily offered casually.

"Awfully chatty, wasn't she?" Lydia laughed slightly.

"I guess." Lily shrugged.

"Hufflepuff, probably," Marnie looked expectantly back at Lily, who led them down another hall before she responded.

"Mmm, maybe." She didn't know why she was reluctant to accept Marnie's assumption. "Might've been Ravenclaw. I wasn't really paying attention."

Marnie replied that it was a very Hufflepuff thing to do. Most Ravenclaws wouldn't spend that much time giving directions. A few of the other girls chimed in small comments, but Lily stayed silent. She didn't understand why it mattered so much.

"You know they're following us, right?" She interrupted Erin just to shut them up.

"Who?"

All four of her companions looked back to see Nick, Jonah, and Nathan half a hallway back. Jonah and Nathan were debating something regarding the range of a mandrake's cry. Nick would occasionally comment, but he frequently looked up to check their lead.

"We could ditch them," Marnie suggested with a mischievous grin. "Turn them around, and then take a couple corners quickly.

Lily knew a good prank when she heard one. She'd come up with a few and experienced more. Maybe it was Marnie's earlier comment and the new desire to prove her wrong as often as possible or maybe she was just going soft on her first day, but she shook her head.

"They helped me get down to breakfast. I don't mind showing them the way to potions."

Marnie looked disappointed and Lydia opened her mouth to protest. Erin just shrugged, but Savannah agreed.

"It's their first day too," she said reasonably, "and they are in our house. Professor McGonagoll said that made them like family."

Lily's stomach contracted slightly with guilt. She hadn't really paid much attention when McGonagoll said that. She had assumed she'd be with her family anyways. Maybe she'd been too quick to judge what was really House pride. Still, she offered Savannah a smile for the support before hollering down the near-empty hall.

"You better get closer or you'll lose sight of us." She walked backwards as she spoke, "being Rosenthal fans and all."

She smiled. It felt good to be loud and to tease someone. She laughed at Jonah's offended expression and Nick and Nathan's sheepish ones. The girls slowed to let the boys catch up and the group walked down the stairs together, laughing at Jonah's long-winded defense of his favorite player.

Potions went as Lily expected, but she was happy to find she was assigned a seat between Jonah and Nathan after Professor Kenning caught them debating whether a mandrake or a merman would be louder under water. Erin was on the other side of Nathan, but the other three girls were at a table with a Gryffindor girl. Nick was with the last two Slytherin boys and another Gryffindor girl. Lily thought this was a bit unfair for the girl, but apparently Professor Kenning found gum chewing to be a grave sin. She claimed the fumes it emitted altered potions. Lily claimed fumes had altered their professor's head, but she did it quietly, so only Nathan could hear.

The walk to Defense Against the Dark Arts reminded her of the first time she'd walked with her dorm mates. The boys didn't bother trailing behind, especially when they learned Lily once again had guidance from the mysterious Bathroom Girl. Lily was happy enough to ignore Marnie's mumbled comment ('definitely Hufflepuff'), instead enjoying the large group she already had on her first day.

She sadly noted, however, that as they went along the group started to clump into three different conversations. Lily came from a big family and understood it was difficult to keep up a mass discussion, but her classmates didn't jump circles or swap topics like her cousins did. Family conversations seemed more alive, difficult to trace who said what and to whom because were you there when Roxy said this. No, I think I was talking to Aunt Audrey. What did she say?

Instead, Marnie and Lydia started talking about the new ice-cream flavor at Flourtese's and continued to talk to each other. Savannah and Erin were predicting how much Transfiguration homework they'd get based on the assignment they'd already received. Lily couldn't help but think Erin was with them to find her way to classes, and guessed they wouldn't see much of her after the first week or so. Savannah was too sweet to leave them. I was just a matter of whom she talked to more.

Because Lily didn't think she personally would be spending much time with Marnie. She was just too annoying to put up with, and, by the look of things, this probably meant she wouldn't be seeing Lydia either. She was a little worried as she realized she might have to start over in a few days, but she was pleased to find the boys were nice enough to include her in their conversation, even when it wandered away from Quidditch.

"Honestly, Nick," she laughed as she led them all up the final stairs. "Does it matter if he's tried raw squid? Can't you just take it on faith that it's disgusting?"

Nick conceded with a grin and a shrug, but Jonah took up the fight.

"How can you know you don't like it if you don't try it?"

"You sound like my mum," Lily said instead of answering.

"She sounds like a very smart lady," Jonah said with fake propriety, "and strangely handsome. Does she have golden hair and attractive blue eyes?

"My good sir," Lily answered, picking up his tone." If your hair is golden, it must certainly be white gold."

"Just as well," Nathan added normally. "Normal gold's too Gryffindor."

Lily ignored the tug on her heart at the mention of her family's House. "You're quite right. Besides, white gold's much more posh."

o0O0o

The rest of the day went smoothly, although Lily kept her dinner visit at the Gryffindor table shorter that the past two. James reminded her to write their parents and she nodded before rushing to her seat. After two hurried meals, she was hungry for dinner and without stressing over her sorting or rushing to make it to class, she was able to appreciate the great tasting food. It was better than Mum's, but not as good as Grandma's.

She let the meal and conversation distract her from the letter she meant to write. Once she was back in her dorm, she told herself her Transfiguration homework was more pressing and she'd work on that first, even if it weren't due until next week. Once she was done it was late enough that she should go to sleep if she wanted to get up early the next morning.

o0O0o

She got up early enough that she didn't feel guilty letting Savannah wait with her for Nick, Jonah, and Nathan. It was a little uncomfortable waiting in the Common Room. The dorm was hers, Hogwarts was mutual, but she wasn't accustomed to how Slytherin the Common Room felt. She worried the boys had already went down. She didn't tell them she was going to wait for them and they didn't have Martin to hold them up. But the other two first year boys, Michael and Connor, told them they were still up there. Sure enough, they came down soon afterwards.

"You didn't have to wait," Jonah told her when he spotted them by the entrance.

"I didn't think you'd be able to find your way down without us," Lily explained as she held the door open for her friends.

"We did alright yesterday," Jonah answered defensively.

"Wasn't Lily there yesterday?" Savannah asked innocently.

Jonah waved the point away; "We were escorting her so she wouldn't walk alone."

"Oh, so you never took any advice on a turn?"

"Not the point," he partially conceded. "We did it to be nice."

"That's not the reason Hugo gave me," Lily said and smiled at Nick's horrified expression, which no one else seemed to notice.

"That kind of was the point," Savannah informed Jonah.

"No," the boy replied emphatically, "The point was we didn't walk Lily yesterday for the sake of directions."

"No," Savannah smiled as she answered in a similar tone, "the point was Lily came. Lily helped. You accepted that help. Therefore, Lily could have been the reason you 'did alright yesterday'"

Jonah looked back to his friends for support, but they agreed with Savannah.

"Agree to disagree," he told her.

"I win," Savannah translated.

"You know," Nathan said to her, "That's the most I've heard you speak since we met."

"We met yesterday."

But her voice started returning to its usual, sweeter tone.

"Still," Nathan gave her a look.

Savannah shrugged, "I didn't have much to say."

Jonah shook his head with an incredulous smile.

"So, Lily," Nathan changed the subject; "Is this route courtesy of the Bathroom Girl?"

"Actually, this route is courtesy of Savannah and me, who paid attention when we followed the crowd down here last night."

"Wait, if you guys figured out the way, what made you think we hadn't as well?"

"Did you?" Lily asked, eyebrows raised.

Nathan grinned and avoided the question. "I think you just wanted to walk with us."

"Someone has to keep you hooligans out of trouble," the girl scoffed, but she was relieved to see Nick and Jonah had paused their conversation long enough to smile at Nathan's realization.

Nick and Jonah returned to discussing astronomy while Nathan and Lily compared Professors Garett and Longbottom and Savannah kept mostly quiet but would occasionally offer her input. The conversations eventually combined until they were just generally addressing their first day, just as naturally as would happen with a family conversation. Lily found it fun to watch Savannah join in teasing the boys with slight sarcasm and a generally argumentative attitude.

She was almost disappointed when they reached their destination. They hadn't all sat together the day before and she wasn't sure if it was too soon to change their barely established routine. Pragmatically, she didn't want to leave Lydia, Erin, or even Marnie until she was sure they wouldn't be great friends. Maybe they'd all be able to sit together.

She was about to suggest this when Nick caught her eye and slowed his pace. She did the same until they were walking next to each other, a little ways behind the rest of their company.

"That's not why. Not anymore," Nick told her and looked her straight in the eye.

"Glad to hear I'm boring now," Lily teased, but when he looked like he was going to explain himself, she quickly added, "That's good. It makes it easier to be friends."

"I don't know," Nick said with a smile, "You did insult my favorite player."

"So you do like Rosenthal!"

"Who said anything about Rosenthal? He's Jonah's favorite. I like Mullarti. Or, as you refer to him, 'the blockhead who could use a little less ear and a little more sense'."

Lily smiled guiltily. "They are rather large."

"Who cares?" Nick asked, throwing up his arms and narrowly missing a third year. "Anyways, I'll see you."

He walked over to Nathan and Jonah, who were sitting with a large knot of boys. Jonah appeared to be reprimanding one Lily guessed was Martin.

Suddenly, she heard all of the owls flying in with mail. It really was an impressive sight- she'd never seen so many of them in one place- and she found herself sorry she'd missed everyone's initial reactions to morning mail the day before. Al had told her over the summer that most first years screamed. James had told her Al squealed like a pig just last year. Al had reminded him Rose had just spilled her juice on him and that it was not a squeal but a very manly yelp. Lily had seemingly used her baby magic to turn Albus's hair a piggy pink, but Teddy's wink made her think she had help.

She felt a little guilty that she still hadn't written to her parents, but shrugged off the feeling, reasoning that nothing particularly interesting had happened yet. Well, except for her sorting. And meeting a few people and Patton's proposal and singing with Nathan.

So maybe yesterday had been pretty exciting, but, then, today might be as well. She'd wait a few days and tell them about her first week as a whole. That way she'd have more to say. Satisfied, Lily returned to her sausage, glancing over at the Gryffindor table as she did. James caught her eye. He had been watching her and clearly noticed her lack of letters. She shrugged and dropped her gaze but could feel James' hard look that was still aimed at her head. It wasn't that she wasn't going to write. She was just busy with her first few days. Her parents would understand.

She went through her day and tried to forget the letter that did not yet exist. Most of her teachers got around to assigning partners in classes, with the exception of Professor Binns, who did not honestly care. Lily was pleasantly surprised to find herself paired with the curly blonde from the train for Charms. They would get to be friends after all.

A little less than a week passed and Lily still had not found a good time to write her parents. James kept nagging her to write and even Al mentioned it a couple of times. Several of her cousins' letters had contained comments on Lily's silence and mentions of their family's concern. Most of them passed along the message, assuring her they wouldn't tell her news, but could she please just write home already?

o0O0o zebra

Harry and Ginny Potter felt they had been more than patient with their youngest child. Waiting any longer would just be bad parenting. Lily understood their side. She really did. So she was unsurprised Wednesday morning when she spotted the family owl flying, slightly confused, over the Gryffindor table before spotting the youngest Potter across the hall.

Lily sighed as she opened up the letter to find her father's handwriting.

Lily,

Hope you are well. I'd imagine you've been very busy your first week at school. You must be, considering you still haven't written your dear parents. I can't be sure because, again, you haven't written. Sorry to interrupt your education, but if you could find time to send a letter to the people who gave you life, your mother would appreciate it.

Love,

Dad

P.S. I would too

P.P.S. Your birthday presents hang in the balance. I didn't want it to come to that, but it seems I have no choice.

Lily rolled her eyes at her dad's humor, but it could have been a lot worse; it could have been a Howler. Her mum always laughed when she told how her first word from home was a Howler. Not for her, of course. It was for her husband and brother who were too thick to get on a train. Still, Lily didn't think she'd find a Howler funny. Well, maybe if it were for Al.

First Year Slytherins had History of Magic first thing on Wednesdays and Lily decided she'd use the period to write her letter. A nagging voice that sounded suspiciously like her cousin Molly told her she should really start paying attention in that class. But most of her family admitted to tuning out the class most of the time- she could begin studious habits next week and still be leagues ahead of most of them.

At the end of class, she read back what she wrote. She realized she never specifically said she was in Slytherin and most of what she wrote actually made it sound like she was in Gryffindor. There were a lot of references to conversations with her brothers and cousins, especially Hugo. She claimed she was spending time with her dorm mates, which was only partially true but it easily explained why Hugo hadn't mentioned her more in his letters. She told them how Professor Garett gave her ten points for courage, although she didn't feel the need to tell them why. She also told them she almost earned ten points for Gryffindor for being on time her first day to Herbology.

Technically, the letter never lied. It fulfilled every standard her parents presented. It was deceitful, but it would buy her more time to tell her parents in the right way. And to figure out what the right way was. Lily wondered numbly if the letter proved the Slytherin house was affecting her. She pushed the though out of her head. She always had a particular talent for half-truths.

When lunch came, Lily excused herself to go send out her letter. On her way back in, she stopped at the Gryffindor table for the first time in a week.

"Have you written to them yet?" James asked as soon as he saw her.

"No hello?" Lily tried at mock hurt.

"You could've had a whole week's worth of hellos if you'd just stopped by," Albus contributed.

James threw a cashew at him and Lily was happy to see he was still, mostly, on her side.

"Did you?" he asked again.

She nodded. "Just mailed it."

"Good." James smiled, satisfied, and scooted over to make room for his sister.

Lily knew James didn't like nagging and that he had only done so because he saw the need. She could easily visit for a while without describing her letter.

It was nice to see her family again in more than just passing. Being a Slytherin wasn't so bad, but she wished again she could be a Gryffindor for meals. Cousins would come and go. Some off to the Library; others were quick to tell Lily they were going to sit with friends who were not, in fact, part of the family.

Rose, Nic, and Freddy were the only ones who came and stayed. Although she felt free to comment whenever she had something to say, Lily found herself very aware that her company belonged to a different house and different years. She was happy, then, to see a red haired first year walk in.

"Hey, Lily." Hugo sat between Al and Nic with a grin. "I haven't seen you much."

"She's been avoiding the family," Al interrupted his own sentence to cut in.

"I was not!" Lily cried indignantly, grateful when James threw an almond.

"Well, you haven't sat with us all week," Albus pointed out.

"I'm supposed to sit with my own House."

"Then, shouldn't you be sitting with them now?"

Al's face received five assorted nuts and one pickle.

"I'm glad you're here, Lily," Nic assured her cousin.

"Thank you, Nic." Lily glared at her brother as Freddy hit him with another pickle.

"Whoa," a new voice said from behind her, "Dominique Weasley, happy to see a Slytherin?"

"Yes, Patton." The girl rolled her eyes. "I still love my cousin. And if you're her to bother her, I'd be happy to-"

"It's okay, Nic." Lily cut off Nic's threats. "He's not bothering me."

"I need to know soon, Potter," Patton said, facing the younger girl.

"I'll let you know."

"Soon," he reminded her before walking away with a wave. "Bye, Potter. Bye, Weasley."

The farewell effectively applied to all of them, but they all knew the intended audience.

The Gryffindors now watched their visitor who remained and waited for an explanation. Lily ignored them and continued to pick off of James's plate.

"What was that?"

Rose Weasley had her mother's brains, but her father's tact.

Lily hesitated. She didn't even know whether she was going to accept or not. There was no need to get them excited.

"I'll tell you guys once it's settled."

"That's cryptic," Freddy offered.

"Remember when Lily would never shut up?" Al asked.

"And that was when she had nothing to say," Rose added, then amended, "compared to now, I mean."

The others nodded.

"Almost miss it," Freddy said wistfully.

Lily punched his arm across the table.

"Well, you have to realize Hagrid's not going to accept your need-to-know status," Hugo informed her.

Lily looked confusedly at him. "What?"

"Today's tea at Hagrid's for us. Don't tell me you forgot!"

"Only a little," she admitted sheepishly. "I thought Mum'd remind me."

"Well, you haven't been in regular correspondence lately," Al prodded.

Lily threw a peanut at him, but he was expecting it and caught it in his mouth.

"Thanks, sis. How'd you know they're my favorite?"

o0O0o

Lily was in a pretty good mood after lunch, until Defense Against the Dark Arts came around.

It was only their fourth class and Professor Cornatch was struggling to learn names. No, not struggling. That would require effort and the Professor clearly did not care.

"Please summarize the reading, Ms. Weasley," he called across the room of first years.

There were no Weasley Ravenclaws after Victoire and no other Weasley looking girls in either of the houses present.

"Potter."

The professor looked up from his notes in surprise. He was a retired Auror. Scars crawled up his face in a web-like pattern and he looked very, very intimidating as he said, "Excuse me?"

Lily was tempted to fold, to repeat herself incorrectly, and summarize the chapter, but why? She wasn't doing anything wrong. She was tired of being just another Weasley for everyone's convenience.

"My last name's Potter, not Weasley."

Professor Cornatch was unused to corrections and his voice turned icy. "A Potter in Slytherin? How ironic."

It would've been smarter to stop there, to resign her case. It once again was an opportunity to turn back and the youngest Potter once again ignored it. Her professor had already turned to walk back to his podium and choose another student when she spoke.

"I don't understand how it's ironic."

Classmates openly gaped at her comment. Erin elbowed her, trying to shut her up, but Lily was curious to hear how he would respond. No one would say out loud why they looked at Slytherin differently. Certainly never a professor.

It was a challenge and after ten years as an Auror, ending with the confrontation that led to his retirement, Balthasar Cornatch did not turn down challenges.

"It is ironic, Ms. Weasley, because much of the Slytherin house was against Potter during the war." He hadn't really planned on saying the wrong name again, but she did look one and he hoped it would teach students not to complain when he said their name wrong. Even if they did, he'd probably still take his time to learn it.

He stared down at his particularly difficult student, waiting for her to comply, but Lily met his gaze. She was impressed with his honesty, but that did not mean she was happy with his response.

"Much of the Ministry was against Hogwarts during the War. Is your position here also ironic?" She fought to keep her voice even and sweet, like Savannah's.

Professor Cornatch's face had turned twisted and red in some places while pale in others. "Fifteen points from Slytherin."

Her voice dropped all pretense of restraint. "For what?!"

"Disrespect to a teacher," the man snapped.

"How?" Lily struggled to reign in her temper and managed some display of innocence. "We were merely discussing examples of irony."

He chose a random violation with which he could technically charge her.

"You addressed me improperly. You are to call me 'professor' or 'sir' each time you speak to me."

That was the wrong point to choose.

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Professor Longbottom." Her last words were unplanned, but they were out before she could stop them and she wasn't entirely sure she regretted them.

"And detention! I think you've said enough, Ms. Potter," he cut her off before she could argue. "Mr. Foreman, would you please summarize the reading."

A bookish Ravenclaw who was desperate for approval and absolutely terrified of Professor Cornatch scurried to obey.

Lily fumed.

o0O0o

A few hours later, Lily was sitting against the wall across from the Portrait of the Fat Lady. The painting seemed a bit miffed, really, at the sight of a Slytherin waiting so close by. Normally, the girl would've tried to make small talk to calm the portrait, but after what happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts, she was uninterested in another person's- or painting's- prejudice.

"Hey," Hugo greeted her when he finally came out, "you ready?"

"Yes," she replied, shorter than she'd like but not enough to attract notice.

"Sorry I was late," he told her as he worked to match her stride. "I was murdering McClain at chess. Oh, you should've seen him- such an idiot! He put his queen right in the way of my bishop. I didn't have to trap him or anything; he just didn't think I'd notice. But I knew I was going to beat him from his third move."

Lily listened to his prattle, her mood slowly lifting as Hugo described his victory. He then moved on to describe the mistakes older kids were making in their games and how he might challenge them with a 'small prize' at stake.

"Hugo Weasley," Lily started in her best impression of their Grandma. "Are you planning on hustling chess?"

Her cousin shrugged and grinned back with forced guilt. "It could be nice to have some money around."

"What about the money you brought with you?"

"I invested it in one of James' schemes."

Lily's mouth was open for a few seconds before she could think of what to say; "You know it's not an investment if there's no chance you'll get any back, right? And you know our dear troublemakers' schemes are rarely, if ever, profitable."

"This one will be," Hugo assured her.

"What is it?" Lily asked curiously.

"Can't tell you," was his mysterious answer.

Lily, a little worried, checked, "But you know what it is, right?"

"Of course I know what it is!" he replied defensively.

Lily couldn't help but think that 'of course' was perhaps inaccurate considering Hugo's record. James didn't tease them as much as Al or Rose did, making him the brother Hugo always wanted. There were a quite a few examples of the younger boy getting over-involved in his cousin's pranks. James never tried to get himself or his accomplices in trouble, but that was usually what ended up happening.

Lily let the conversation drop when they knocked on Hagrid's door. The huge man quickly waved them in. Wulfuric, Hagrid's niffler, met them at the door and immediately stuck his nose in Lily's pocket. The girl laughed as she pulled out the polished spoon she'd brought him.

He was especially eager on this day for shiny treats. The Potter and Weasley children spoiled him in the summer, but the school year was always an adjustment. His handler had warned Uncle Ron and Daddy when they bought him that he should not be kept as a pet. They had thought that would make him perfect for Hagrid. Aunt Hermione had yelled at them and reminded them that nifflers weren't supposed to be brought indoors.

They argued they needed to find a new pet after Fang died quickly or else Hagrid would bring home a chimera.

And they were partially correct, because Hagrid did already have a new moke named Percival when they presented Wulfuric. Hagrid now moved the lizard-like creature off the kettle as he prepared the tea.

"Hol' Perce for a sec, would you?" He handed his pet to Lily.

The girl watched as Percival shrank to the size of a mouse before clambering onto Hugo's lap.

"Come on, you know me," Lily pleaded with the reptile, who now found it safe to grow back to his normal size.

"Doesn't mean he likes you," Hugo teased.

His cousin playfully stuck out her tongue, but their host reprimanded them.

"Don' be like tha'. 'Ow've you two been?"

Lily let Hugo talk first as she scratched Wulfuric's head. Her companion covered the key points of their first few days, leaving her with little to add.

"The teachers are mostly nice," she said when Hagrid asked. "Professor Kenning is sickening but technically nice. McGonagoll's strict, but everyone knows that." Her expression darkened. "Professor Cornatch is an idiot."

Hugo, always loyal, immediately agreed but then asked with Hagrid why she said so. Lily explained the incident.

"That's so unfair!" Hugo complained. "If you did anything wrong, then he did too."

"I know," Lily told him, "but the punishment's not really the problem, is it?"

Hagrid's eyebrows met in concern. "What's botherin' you?"

"That he said it in the first place."

"Does it bother you that much that he called you a Weasley?" her cousin asked, looking mildly offended.

"No, not that," Lily assured him. "Just what he said about Slytherins, bringing up the war like that."

"Oh," her cousin fidgeted slightly, "that."

"I just thought Hogwarts was over all of that. It was about twenty years ago and Dad keeps saying people forgave them- us."

Hagrid chuckled sadly. "There's a difference 'tween forgivin' and makin' friends with, innit there? It's not tha' people won'. It's jus' tha' people haven'."

He then steered the conversation to a more pleasant subject. Both of the children were happy to answer his questions, but Lily's mind often drifted to consider a plan she was forming. After an hour of tea and talking, the first few steps of the plan were scripted and Hagrid was shooing them out the door.

"You two need to get back by curfew," he explained as he handed them tea biscuits. "Professor McGonagoll asked that I stop keepin' you kids out so late."

"Goodnight, Hagrid."

"See you."

"Don' forget to visit," he told them, then looked at Lily, "an' be sure to write your parents."

Once again his words made Lily think and she asked her cousin if he wouldn't mind taking a walk before turning in.

The Owlery was in a tower, which Lily knew would make it hard to get to her dorm in time for curfew. Hugo set to work feeding any willing birds their leftovers as she wrote a quick note.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I forgot to mention earlier, but I got sorted into Slytherin.

Lots of love,

Lily

She tied the parchment to a school owl and watched him fly in the general direction of home.

"What'd you write?"

Hugo joined her at the window and began chucking biscuits out.

"I forgot to add something in my letter."

"What, did you forget to tell them about your sorting?"

"Don't be silly," Lily answered, perhaps too sharply.

Her cousin laughed, "That's not forgetting. That's avoiding."

"Shut it, you. I have Al for that." But she smiled as she stole a few biscuits to throw.

They stood a moment, tossing baked goods in amicable silence, before Hugo spoke.

"I think it's good you told them, even if it was scary."

"Because it was scary," Lily corrected, her eyes never leaving the horizon.

Hugo gave her a sideways look and a smile.

"Awfully Gryffindor of a Slytherin, isn't it?"

"The two aren't always that different, are they?" Lily answered thoughtfully and, chucking her final biscuit, said goodnight before he could recover from her comment.

o0O0o

The next day, Lily was ready to start her plan. She dressed quickly, eager to begin the first stage. It was difficult to wait for Savannah to get ready and then to stand by the door until the boys came.

The five of them walked down together from the second day and most of that time was spent arguing over some ridiculous issue. Sometimes it was Quidditch but they found Savannah didn't know much about the sport and would contribute more on a different topic.

Lily generally took Savannah's side but was little help because she laughed too much to really think. Nick usually took Jonah's but rarely took it seriously enough to come up with any major points. Nathan appointed himself mediator and tried to calm everyone down before they reached the Great Hall.

"I still don't see how you believe a bird would be a good animagus," Jonah told Savannah as they rounded corner. "You'd get eaten."

"Not if you were an owl," she defended. "Plus, you could fly."

"Yeah, but tigers are really fast," Nick offered.

"Not faster than flying," Savannah pointed out.

"Would be if the owl is carrying something big," Jonah countered.

Lily cut in. "Who said she'd be carrying anything?"

"Well, if she's an owl…"

"They aren't always carrying something."

"And only rarely something heavy," Savannah added. "Usually it's just a letter or something small."

Their conversation continued along this thread until they made it to their table. They then split off. Savannah went to sit with Marnie and Lydia, but Lily remained with the boys.

She didn't mean to spend so much time with them. It just kind of happened that way. And she still had several girl friends, like Faith and Savannah and her cousins. The Gryffindor girl who sat next to her in Transfiguration was pretty nice but they didn't have a lot of shared interests. She was still on friendly terms with all of her dorm mates, but Savannah was the only one she'd really consider a friend. Lily didn't really talk much to anyone else.

That would, of course, have to change for her plan to be successful.

"Hey, Potter," Patton greeted her from down the table as he did almost every morning now. "Have you made your decision yet?"

She stopped in front of the bench on which she had been prepared to sit and started walking instead to where he was already eating.

"I have, actually."

He quickly looked up from his eggs. "And?"

"I'd like to speak to you in private, if I could," she prompted nervously, trying her best to ignore the stares of Patton's friends.

The Quidditch Captain smiled. "I guess I owe you one, don't I?"

Lily offered a nervous smile in return before leading him out of the Great Hall. Once they were out, Patton quickly turned serious.

"So? Will you do it?"

Lily hesitated. "I have a condition."

Patton's face fell slightly. "If this is about safety, I can't make any guarantees, but I can tell you-"

"I don't care about that," she interrupted. "I know what Quidditch is like."

His face turned puzzled. "Then what's your condition?"

The girl fidgeted. She didn't like to avoid the point but decided she still needed a few more facts.

"Do you really hate Nic?" she blurted out before she could think of the correct way to ask.

"What? No! Why?" He was definitely confused now.

Lily took a breath before answering in a quick string, "If I play, I want you to make friends with Nic."

Patton shook his head and her heart fell. She'd just completely embarrassed herself for nothing.

"I don't hate Nic, but she definitely hates me."

Her face brightened. "But you'll do it?"

"There's no way it'll work."

"Just try," she told him. "Try and make friends with her. If I'm playing against my family, I want them to like my teammates."

Patton nodded and walked away distracted. Lily could hear him muttering to himself, "She's gonna kill me. But if it's for Quidditch..."

Lily gave him a few minutes before she followed him back to the Slytherin table. She wasn't sure if her plan was going to be a success. The current feedback was underwhelming but, she told herself, she hadn't really failed yet either.

o0O0o zebra

Faith welcomed her with a smile when she arrived at Charms and happily began a comfortable conversation about homework. They quieted down when the lecture began but were allowed to speak again when it was time to practice. Faith soon began on a less comfortable topic.

"Do you really have to do detention with Cornatch?"

"Professor Cornatch," Lily corrected playfully.

Faith gave a small laugh but waited for a real answer.

"Yeah," Lily admitted. "Last I heard."

"But you didn't do anything wrong!" She paused at the look her partner gave. "Well, I guess you did. But so did he!"

"That's what Hugo said."

Faith took a moment to remember. "Your brother?"

"Cousin." And it didn't bother her as much as it usually did that someone made that mistake. "I told him about it last night."

"Did you tell anyone else?"

A horrible thought made its way to Lily's brain.

"No, and he better not either. If James finds out…"

"Would he yell at you?"

"At me? No. But he might do something stupid to Professor Cornatch. He knows that kind of thing bothers me."

"Oh."

They renewed their concentration on the charm in the silence that followed, although neither of them really needed it. Not nearly as much as most of their classmates. They watched as one of the tops a Slytherin was supposed to be spinning flew off the table and into a Ravenclaw's eye.

"Maybe his accident will be especially bad this year," Faith suggested in a tone that was entirely too hopeful.

"Probably not."

Voldemort's curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position no longer chased teachers yearly away. But, as a fading memory, the teacher would get in some accident each year, never fatal but typically scarring. Unfortunately for Lily, these experiences were getting successively milder until, in recent years, they were difficult to distinguish from typical teaching traumas.

"But maybe." Faith reminded her.

o0O0o

Patton greeted her at dinner to tell her he'd already spoken to Madam Hooch and the Headmaster.

"What did he say?"

"That he needs a bit of time to think about it." He waved the mentioned formalities away with his hand. "Which really means he needs time to ask McGonagoll what to do. He runs to her for anything more controversial than pudding."

"Pudding can be very controversial."

"What?"

"Nothing. What about Madam Hooch?"

"Oh, she's for it. Anything that'll make for interesting matches before they drag her into retirement."

Lily did her best to hide the quiet panic that came at what his words suggested. "But I'm only going to be a reserve player."

He was kind enough to ignore the slight squeak in her last remark.

"That confident, eh, Potter?" Then ended in a mock pious voice, "You do know first years don't normally play Quidditch?"

She relaxed enough to roll her eyes and force a joke.

"Please, you'll be begging me to join your team."

"You're going to have to try out first. They're Friday at 7. McGonagoll should be letting you know soon."

He was right. At the end of Transfiguration the next day, Professor McGonagoll asked her to stay back a moment.

"Headmaster Dorrin mentioned to me a request that you join the Slytherin Quidditch team."

"Only as a reserve player," Lily rushed to clarify, and then worried it was a rude time to interrupt.

McGonagoll's face remained stern, but she did not reprimand her.

"Be that as it may, the situation remains… unusual."

Lily's face fell.

"…but not unique."

Her face brightened. "So I can try out?"

McGonagoll's mouth twitched, almost succumbing to a smile. "I'll have to speak to your parents about this. Perhaps you can meet me here before lunch to discuss the final decision."

Lily's smile faltered slightly. She couldn't be sure her parents would support her playing for their old rival, against her family.

"Have you informed them of the detention you received with Professor Cornatch?"

Her smile fell.

"I must say: I was surprised to hear you disrespected a professor in such a way, bringing up the Ministry's past faults when many of your own family are employed there. Surely you cannot be bitter over incidents that occurred and were resolved before you were born?"

Lily would much rather have conceded than fought. She wasn't angry, like she had been when she faced Cornatch. But she had to try to defend her actions, if for no reason beyond Quidditch and her agreement with Patton.

"It wasn't like that," she insisted, then hastily added, "Professor."

"Do you mean to suggest Professor Cornatch lied to me?" Her tone was restrained, but sharp.

"No-"

"Then you must understand, Ms. Potter, that detention was clearly necessary. I will surely notify-"

"He called me Weasley," Lily blurted out before considering the very real danger of so obviously interrupting Professor Minerva McGonagall. "He said it was strange that a Potter would be in Slytherin, considering how they were in the War. Even though it did all occur and get resolved before I was born."

The older woman's anger faded, although her face remained stern. There was a painful silence before she spoke again.

"Very well. I will be speaking to your parents. And to Professor Cornatch."

Lily wasn't sure either was a good thing, but figured she should put her manners to use some time in the conversation.

"Thank you, professor."

"There's no reason to do so. But I'll write a note to excuse your tardiness for your next class. Who is your teacher?"

"Professor Binns, but I really don't think he'll notice."

McGonagall's mouth twitched again. "Neither do I, Ms. Potter, but certain formalities must be honored."

o0O0o

Marnie's snores hitched slightly when Lily slid into the seat on her left. Few other students reacted at all. Most were too lost to the world to care.

Nathan did see her and threw a paper ball from his seat one back and over. Professor Binns didn't notice the movement, but Nick, who sat directly to his right, looked up from his doodle.

"What did McGonagoll say?" Nathan hissed as he elbowed Jonah on his left.

She gave him a halfhearted glare before scooping up the crumpled parchment that previously made company with her skull. Ignoring Jonah's pitiful attempts at notes and spelling, she jotted a quick reply.

She's going to talk to my parents about tryouts. And detention.

She tossed it back, satisfied when it ricocheted off his face. It was unlikely that Binns would hear a whispered conversation, but Lily was afraid some students were still awake. Tryouts were supposed to be a kind of secret. And she'd rather keep her detention out of gossip as well.

Nathan, Nick, and Jonah all read the note before quietly discussing a response. This time, she caught the parchment.

Did you tell her what he said to you?

Her cheeks went slightly pink and she hunched over the reply she was drafting to hide her face.

Yes. I didn't mean to but if I hadn't defended myself, they might not let me try out.

She read it over a couple times quickly, wishing she had better words. Lily was never much of a tattletale, and she didn't much like becoming one.

It was Nick who caught it this time. He scribbled an answer without showing their friends the original.

You should've either way.

They paused their conversation when class ended to meet up so they could speak normally.

"I don't like tattletaling," Lily told them before they could say anything nice. "It was cowardly."

"Nah," Nathan argued, "It was smart."

"You think too much like a Gryffindor," Jonah jumped in. "All that honor and stuff. It's great and all, but sometimes you just gotta be reasonable."

It was Jonah's words, oddly enough, that provided the most comfort as she headed back to the Transfiguration room.

o0O0o

"Ms. Potter," Professor McGonagoll greeted her as she entered, "Please take a seat."

Lily clumsily sat in the chair directly in front of her host's desk.

"Professor Cornatch will be joining us shortly."

The redhead nodded and continued to sit in an awkward silence as she waited.

Professor Cornatch arrived soon after; walking briskly and wiping a cut on his face with a handkerchief that did not look nearly clean enough for medical work.

"Sorry I'm late, professor. The fourth years' disarming spells need serious work. A Hufflepuff got it. Bad aim, though. Hit some Ravenclaw doing a cutting charm on some parchment." He indicated his cut. "Bumbling idiots, the lot of them."

But he said it all in a tone that was almost proud and it made Lily almost, almost, wish she didn't hate him.

"You're fine," McGonagall answered briskly. "We have only a short matter to discuss."

She waved into being a chair for her colleague. It was simpler, but slightly higher than the one in which Lily sat. Professor Cornatch grabbed the back of it but did not sit.

"You gave Ms. Potter detention."

"I did."

"May I ask why?"

"You don't usually question my punishments."

"Humor me."

Lily's eyes darted between the two of them, but neither professor glanced her way. It was unnerving, but slightly interesting, to watch two adults who were always, in Lily's experience, respectful to each other get into such an argument.

"She was disrespectful to a professor."

"That professor being you?"

"Only professor in the room with her."

"And how did Ms. Potter mistreat you?"

"Insulted my work in the Ministry."

"Are you aware that her father works in the Ministry?"

"Might be."

"That her brother plans to work in the Ministry?"

"'S possible."

"That her granddad worked in the Ministry?"

"Don't really know."

"That several other members of her family work in the Ministry?"

"Doesn't much matter to me."

"But perhaps it matters to Ms. Potter."

"Might."

"So it was unlikely your work in the Ministry was an issue."

"'Suppose."

"It may more so relate to your remark that it was strange to find a Potter in Slytherin."

"Not strange. Ironic."

"Do you not see a way in which irony would be an unwanted observation?"

"She shouldn't let words get to her."

"And neither should you."

"That all?"

"You will rescind your detention."

"Figured. That all?"

"Yes."

Professor Cornatch, not nearly as angry as Lily would have expected, left the room. Lily herself remained, eyes wide and body frozen, waiting for McGonagoll's near anger to soften to her usual stern expression.

Instead, the professor settled her head in her hand and, for a moment, looked her age. She then straightened her back and spoke to her student.

"Professor Cornatch is an interesting man. His most important conversations occur as arguments."

"Is that," Lily hesitated to further break the silence, "advice?"

"You saw the workings of a productive discussion with Balthasar Cornatch."

"An example? Hang one, was that a lesson?"

McGonagoll offered her a small smile before changing the subject.

"I spoke to your parents."

All thoughts of her strange professor left her brain.

"Oh."

"Your father was concerned over the arrangement."

That hypocrite. Her heart fell.

"But your mother managed to…convince him."

She had yelled at him. A wave of gratitude came over their daughter.

"You may try out. If you make it onto the team, you may practice with them, but I will require a signed note from your parents before you can be called up to any matches."

Relieved her plan was saved, Lily eagerly nodded. And the idea of Quidditch wasn't bad either. She slid forward on her chair, prepared to get up once she was dismissed.

"Ms. Potter."

"Yes?"

Professor McGonagall looked slightly uncomfortable. "Mr. Patton reported Quidditch would be useful in making you feel at home in Slytherin." She spoke carefully. "Are you having trouble adjusting?"

Lily felt a slight pang of guilt. It was time for half-truths.

"It's a bit odd not being with my family."

McGonagoll nodded kindly, accepting the half-lie. The guilt was worse and Lily decided to sooth it by telling the actual truth.

"And the House…relationships aren't…" She searched for the best words. "..aren't what I thought they'd be."

Her professor agreed sadly, "It's not how I'd like." She considered it quietly before remembering Lily; "but I shouldn't keep you from your lunch."

By the time she made it to the Great Hall, lunch was no longer an option. Still, Lily mused as she spotted her friends making their way out, it was a sacrifice for a worthy cause.

It helped, though, when Savannah ran up to hand her a sandwich to eat on the way. And that Jonah had grabbed her a cookie.

"We told him it wasn't much for brain food," Nathan told her as she accepted the gift.

"I have the sandwich for that."

"Jonah didn't know I was bringing you one," Savannah argued.

Jonah defended himself; "She brought you food for the brain, but I brought you food for the soul."

Savannah opened her mouth to protest but closed it, nodding in agreement.

"I have no argument," she explained away Lily's questioning look before running to catch up with Erin so the other girl wouldn't have to walk alone. Lily watched her go, a little jealous of her escape.

Nick asked how it went.

"Alright. I'm allowed to try out."

Her friends all congratulated her, which seemed unnecessary considering she hadn't actually done anything yet.

"Gah," Jonah cried afterwards. "I can't believe they're letting a first year onto the team and it's a girl."

"Only on reserve. And hey!" Lily added the last indignantly.

"When are tryouts?" Nathan asked.

"Friday. Seven o'clock."

"You nervous?"

She considered lying, but thought better of it.

"A bit."

"Don't be," Nick cut in quickly. "I'm sure you're loads better than any of them."

o0O0o zebra

Nick's comment was not completely truthful. There were several really good flyers on the Slytherin team and a few more decent ones. Still, Lily was pretty sure by the third drill she could've gotten onto the team if she were a second year.

"Okay, everyone, get down." Patton waited until all feet were in the grass before he continued, "If you're left we're gonna start tryouts for particular positions. Keepers gather here. Chasers there. Beaters there and seekers there."

Everyone bustled to sort themselves, but Lily, unsure where to go, stood where she was. Generally, when they played as a family, Molly refereed or helped Grandma in the kitchen while the rest of the cousins played six on six no seekers. Hogwarts players got first pick on their positions and everyone else divided it out from there. Teddy and Victoire were usually captains, although Teddy always picked James first so he could advise whom to pick from there. As second youngest, Lily's position changed depending on who was on her team.

"Listening, Potter?" asked Patton, who noticed her motionlessness.

"Yeah, it's just," she kicked herself for embarrassing herself so early on in tryouts, "I've never really had a consistent position."

Patton considered her words. "Sort of a Jack of All Trades? Could be useful. Good for a reserve player."

She appreciated his patience, until she noticed several people watching them. Then she wanted him to hurry up.

"Where do you want me to go then?"

"Are you up to try all of them? I'll make sure yours are shorter than the others."

She nodded. Anything to get out of the limelight.

She went with the beaters, who were up first. That wasn't so bad. Mostly just the six trying out flying around the pitch with three bludgers, all of them trying to hit enchanted paper without getting each other. Lily used to play beater with Al a lot, back before he got so annoying. They had actually been a pretty good team. Until one day Al accidentally hit her with a bludger meant for Roxy. The game ended with the two of them trying to club each other to death and Teddy at St. Mungo's from breaking it up.

The memory came clearly to mind when one boy sent a bludger right to her, far from the nearest paper airplane. Patton saw it and called them all back down, but not before Lily sent the ball sailing into an unsuspecting piece of origami.

"Right then," Patton called, "Chasers and keepers next. Potter, start out with the chasers."

All of the potential chasers took turns taking shots at the goal posts. All of the potential keepers took turns defending the hoops. Chasing was pretty easy. She'd done that loads of times. But she'd never tried keeping for a group. Sure, she'd blocked the posts for James to practice, but nothing more than that. She wasn't the best of the potentials, but she certainly wasn't the worst either.

Patton called her down to rest for a little while between trying for keeper and trying for seeker. He was too busy to distract her with polite, slightly stiff conversation, so she did as he did and watched the fliers. They weren't bad. One girl was particularly good. She looked older than Patton, which was odd. Why wasn't she captain?

"So are you really trying out for everything?" A pale blonde boy in the row behind her interrupted her thoughts.

"Er, sort of."

The boy sensed her discomfort and stuck out his hand. "Malfoy. I'm trying out for seeker."

"Potter." She shook his hand. "I'm not really trying out for everything. Just to be a reserve player."

"So you'll be training with us, then?"

"If I make it."

"Nah." Malfoy shook his head. "You'll make it. Patton seems to like you well enough. And we need a good reserve."

"He just brought me here because my brother's so good."

Malfoy looked slightly confused. "What? I didn't know Albus played."

She gave him a curious look. Usually people thought James when they thought Quidditch.

"Oh, your other one. Al's in my year," he explained.

"Sorry about that." Although she realized somewhere in her brain that Al probably treated his peers differently from his little sister.

"Nah, he's nice enough. Don't really talk much to him though."

An idea was starting to form: the next stage of her plan.

"Malfoy, quit flirting with the first year and gather with the rest," Patton was yelling from the grass where three other students were already standing. "Potter, you too."

To be honest, Lily was most nervous for seeker tryouts. Snitches couldn't be used again and meant they couldn't control how long the game went so her family rarely played pick-up games with seekers. If they did play, someone always called being seeker first. As a result, she'd rarely practiced that position, even with James and Al.

It didn't really go that badly. It was mostly just a matter of flying and she knew she could do that. She was better than one of the others, about even with two of them, but nowhere near Malfoy.

He was fantastic. A great flyer, great at spotting the little golden ball, great at catching it. Patton's decision was made for him, but no one was that surprised. Lily learned later that he'd been seeker last year.

Patton promised he'd tell them their results by Monday, which would be the first day of practice for all who made it. He brushed aside everyone's questions about how they did, but he gave Lily a serious nod.

She wasn't really sure what that meant. It could've meant she made it, or it could've just meant she did well for a first year. Malfoy must have interpreted her expression.

"Relax, I'm sure you made it. He wouldn't cut you, not after all the trouble he went through to get you here."

Lily rewarded his encouragement with a small smile. More people were grouping near them as they all headed back to the castle.

"Wondered why you were so small," the girl chaser, the older one Lily had noticed earlier, chimed in. "Patton must've brought you to have another girl on the team. Past captains were always scared to pick us- it would break tradition. I think he was actually disappointed that Doyle beat him to letting me on."

She spotted Lily's slightly puzzled look. "Doyle was captain last year. That was his only year as it. Really, I think Kenning only chose him to fill in until Patton was old enough."

"Kenning's a hag," one of the boys who tried out for beater spoke up, "but at least she cares about winning."

The group walked back together, chattering about Quidditch and teachers before swapping stories about what they did over the summer. Lily was relieved to find they didn't expect her to say anything, probably didn't want her to either.

o0O0o

The next morning, Nick, Jonah, and Nathan wanted to know everything about tryouts. Then they wanted to know about anything remotely Quidditch related anyone said. Lily obediently answered their questions. She was afraid, however, that Savannah felt left out and looked constantly back to the other girl. But Savannah didn't complain at all, and even managed to ask some questions of her own. They all agreed that Lily was sure to make it.

Faith wanted to hear how it went, too. She had told Lily earlier that she didn't really follow Quidditch, but her obsessed brother and older sister made sure she was informed of the major events. While the added support was encouraging, Lily did begin to worry that too many people from too many houses would find out. It was one thing to keep it in Slytherin, but now that someone, however loyal, in Ravenclaw knew, it seemed only a matter of time before Hufflepuff and Gryffindor found out as well.

Which introduced her next problem. If she did make it on the team, how was she going to explain to James and the rest of her family that all the tricks they've been teaching her since before she could walk would soon be challenging them in matches? She began to wish she wouldn't make it. At least next year they would expect it.

First year, however, seemed determined to be difficult for Lily Potter. Monday morning, posted in the exact middle of the Slytherin's common room board and overlapping several smaller announcements, was the new Slytherin Quidditch team listed in large, slightly sloppy, letters. Below it, a bit smaller, was the humble heading "Reserve", under which were three names, including her own.

Nick was ecstatic. Nathan slapped her on the shoulder proudly. Jonah shook his head and muttered random Quidditch history in between disjointed comments like "a girl" or "seriously, only you", but he couldn't keep a grin off his face all the while. Savannah mostly just smiled uncontrollably in silent pride and offered Nick a few wrinkled tissues when he actually started crying with joy.

They began planning how exactly to celebrate such an accomplishment within the limitations of it being only Monday and, even on the weekend, them having no access to Hogsmeade. Nathan made a joke about Lily maybe having a way around that rule as well that she tried not to consider too heavily. Finally, they decided on saving their desserts for a private toast later on, but agreed to wait until dinner so she could complete an errand during lunch.

It was not one for which she was too terribly excited. This would be the first real conflict between her house and that of her family and all her initial hesitations about trying out returned in varying degrees throughout the first half of her day.

When lunch all too quickly arrived, she sat down somewhat awkwardly at the Gryffindor table. Molly gave her something of a strange look as she settled, but no one else noticed her odd behavior.

Lily told herself as she sat in silence that she was waiting for the right time to announce her news. In reality, she was procrastinating. Unfortunately for her weaker self, the conversation shifted to Quidditch tryouts and the right moment actually decided to make a rare appearance.

"Do you think we'll get anyone good this year?" Freddy asked casually in an attempt at insouciance. Lily knew for a fact he cared more than he'd ever admit about Quidditch, the sport his namesake also loved.

"We have some returning recruits," Nic testified, "no stars, but Burton did pretty well in reserve last year."

Honestly, Lily shouldn't have been surprised to learn her luck had fallen short again.

"Hey, don't underestimate reserve players," James reminded his cousin. "Keep in mind Jacob Ressler."

"It's good when they start them young," Freddy agreed.

The environment was perfect and, if anything, that served to make Lily more nervous. She knew she needed to say something and soon. It was getting- she was getting pathetic. The opportunity was perfect. Now she just needed to find the right words.

"I'm going to be a reserve player on the Slytherin team."

Or she could just blurt it out.

For a moment, Nic, Freddy, James, and even Molly stared at her. Then Freddy broke the silence.

"Well, you could hardly play for Hufflepuff, could you?" he commented, his eyes already focused on the stream of ketchup he was squirting near his potatoes.

"Might find the snitch faster," Molly piped in. "I swear, they put something in the drinks of their seekers."

With that, she, too, returned her attention to the food before her.

Lily glanced nervously at James to gauge his response. His eyes were slightly wider than usual, but other than that his face was difficult to read.

"This is a really great opportunity, Lily," he finally announced. "You get a whole extra year of training. Think of how good you'll be by your seventh year."

Lily's face broke into a wide grin of relief. "Yeah?"

"Definitely. Do you have a particular position? Or are you not allowed to tell me that?"

"I don't know if I can. I'll have to ask Patton."

Nic scoffed at the mention of the Slytherin boy, but when they faced her, she covered it with a question of her own.

"Are you for certain on the team?"

"Yeah. Patton even convinced them to let Mum send me my own broom, so long as I keep it with the school ones."

James nodded his approval. "I'm sorry I can't train you myself, but I'm glad you at least have him."

Nic gave her cousin an appraising look he merely shrugged away.

"Say what you will, but you've got to admit: Patton knows Quidditch."

Her grunt was enough of an agreement for the two siblings to share a knowing look.

o0O0o

Lily found the opportunity to discuss her family's reaction with Faith in class as they once again found it the charm at hand easy to practice without breaking their conversation. Despite their positive results, Professor Garett found the need to ask them both to stay back after class.

"I noticed you two did not give your charms as much effort as your peers did," Professor Garett addressed the girls standing in front of his desk.

The blonde paled and began to stammer apologies, but the redhead only stood straighter and waited to see if she would have to defend her friend and herself.

"It's alright, Ms. Atta," their professor said, hushing the girl. "Your work did not appear to suffer. I only wanted to tell you about our school's Charms Club."

Color returned to Faith's face and she sounded hopeful, almost eager, when she asked, "Charms Club?"

Professor Garett nodded. "We meet twice a month and it gives students an opportunity to learn and practice more advanced charms with some assistance. I encourage everyone to join, but I think you two in particular would find it interesting."

He smiled before adding, "Almost as interesting as Ms. Potter's Quidditch experience."

Now, Lily, remembering their professor's genius, reddened. It was Faith who thanked him and dragged her friend out of the room so they could both rush to their next class.

Lily didn't give Professor Garett's invitation much thought throughout the day. It sounded like it could be fun, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to focus so much on Charms. Plus, her plate was already pretty full between homework and Quidditch.

She told Faith this when the Ravenclaw brought it up later outside of their DADA classroom, but Faith didn't seem to like the answer.

"I don't want to join by myself."

"You don't have to," Lily told her, all the while keeping an eye on the door to Professor Cornatch's office. "Just ask someone to go with you."

"Okay," she pretended to concede. "Lily, would you please go to Charms Club with me?"

"I have a lot going on." Lily slid into her seat. Her eyes remained fixed on the door, mainly as an excuse to avoid Faith's pleading face.

"It's only twice a month," Faith countered.

"Quidditch is every day." But she could feel her will crumbling.

"Lots of people in Quidditch are in Charms Club."

"How would you know?"

"I asked Professor Garett during lunch."

Lily was ready to say yes, she'd do it, when Faith continued.

"Bridget Myers is in it. Malcolm Archer's in it. Colton Lewis. Anna Burns- and she's a captain, too. Scorpius Malfoy. Connor Hughes-"

"Who is?" Lily suddenly sat up straighter.

"Connor Hughes?"

"No, before that."

"Scorpius Malfoy? He's on your team, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"And he's the one in James' year?"

"Al's," she corrected, her mind already gone from the conversation. The next step of her plan was clearing up. "Look, Faith. I'll do it. But do you think that-"

"Ms. Potter." The voice of Professor Cornatch easily carried across the room. "Care to pay attention?"

o0O0o

At dinner that evening, Lily sat with the Gryffindors, which she did often enough that no one questioned it. Her family always welcomed her and hid her in their number. Their classmates had glanced over the first few times she did it, but no one ever told.

James scooted over to make room for her like it was a normal evening, but today Lily had a mission. She didn't want to lie to Professor Garett. And if this went how she wanted, she wouldn't have to.

"Anything interesting happen today?" It was Molly asking the question. Not ideal, but she could still get the right person into the conversation.

"Not much. We didn't learn anything new. Oh, but, Rose," Lily said, pulling her cousin out of the discussion she was having with Al. "I forgot to tell you: we've started switching spells in Transfiguration."

"Really? How are they going? Some people struggle so much with them, but I don't see why."

"Same," Molly agreed. "They were my favorite my first year."

Her window was closing. "Yeah, they're cool, but I prefer charms. Professor Garett actually asked me if I wanted to join Charms Club."

"That's great," Molly beamed. "You really should."

Rose nodded.

"Charms Club?" Albus interrupted.

"Yes," Lily answered, carefully controlling her voice so that it was vaguely defensive, but not offended enough to prompt intervention from James.

"A teacher actually asked you…wow, you're such a nerd," Al told her, shaking her head.

Bingo.

"Al's an idiot," reminded Rose, leaning slightly to emphasize her point. "You should definitely join."

James, who was specially trained to step in anytime someone called his brother an idiot, quickly broke away from his conversation with Nic.

"Rose is right. But what are you joining?"

"Potentially Charms Club."

"What does Al care?"

"Sign up," chimed the girl to his right. "I'm in it, and it's loads of fun. Plus, you might get extra credit."

Extra credit seemed like a good reason, although she couldn't be sure she could trust her source.

"I'm Rebekah. I'm," the girl volunteered and Lily almost thought she missed a beat before finishing, "Roxy's friend."

Lily looked to Roxy, who was sitting across from the girl, for confirmation. Roxy smiled, perhaps a bit too widely and with a bit too much humor, but it was reference enough.

"Thanks. I think I'm going to."

o0O0o

She sought out Professor Garett the next morning.

"Professor," she started nervously, "I've been thinking about Charms Club and it sounds like a lot of fun."

He smiled and folded his hands on his desk. "Excellent. So have you decided to attend?"

"Well," continued Lily, twisting her hands slightly, "I- I don't know. You see, my brother's teased me about it."

Professor Garett's expression darkened and his voice was flat when he said, "Has he now?"

"Yes," she answered, although she kept an eye on his face. She didn't want him too upset with Al. "But I thought, maybe if he knew someone else in it, someone his own age, then he wouldn't-"

"Ms. Potter," He interrupted sharply before removing his glasses to better pinch the bridge of his nose. "I know you're lying to me."

Her stomach dropped and her head went momentarily numb. She hated getting caught. "I-"

"If you want something," Professor Garett looked her straight in the eye, "ask for it plainly. I have never required such tactics from you and, honestly, I find them insulting."

At this point, Lily would have much rather rushed an apology and avoided him for the next seven years. But he was right. She had insulted him and there was only one way she could think of to make it up to him.

The truth.

"Here's the thing," she began again, not bothering with an apologetic tone, and this time took the chair opposite him to better meet his eye. "People still look at the Slytherin House differently because of the War. And don't say they don't," she rushed to add, but he didn't try to say anything. He just watched her intently. "But Hagrid says it's not because they haven't forgiven them- us. It's just that we haven't really proved ourselves different yet. Which is why I'm here." She took a breath for courage. "And I know I just lied to you, but I have a favor to ask."

Professor Garett's eyes were no longer cold and he leaned forward now in interest. "Go on."

"I want you to seat my brother, Al, and Scorpius Malfoy together," she told him plainly. "I think they could be really good friends if they tried it."

He considered her proposal. "And you believe you can dissolve twenty years of prejudice by organizing one potential friendship?"

Lily gave a joking smirk as she shook her head. "Just one step in the plan."

A small smile slid onto Professor Garett's face without his permission. "I feel I must agree, if for no other reason than to see the rest of your plan."

Her hear leapt. It was an unlikely success and an unexpected supporter.

"Thanks, professor," she answered, picking up her bag as she did.

She walked to the doors, schooling her face into a normal breakfast expression for when she met her friends.

"Oh, and Ms. Potter?"

"Yes?" she asked, turning with one hand on the door.

"Does this mean you will be joining our next Charms Club meeting?"

"Oh, yeah. I was going to either way."

o0O0o

The situation with Professor Garett went so well, she decided to try it with Professor McGonagoll as well. And while their discussion should have taught Lily the truth was generally preferable, she still wasn't ready to believe that. And Patton had already set up a solid half-truth for the sake of Quidditch, so she decided to continue along that vein.

All it took was some excited chatter about how Al was sitting next to a Slytherin in Charms because maybe they could become friends and wouldn't it be great if her real family got along with her school family? Lily didn't expect Professor McGonagoll to be gullible, but she knew she had tapped into some sympathy and sympathy is a very powerful thing. It didn't hurt that the mention of Charms referred her to Professor Garett, who was all too happy to agree.

Convincing Professor Trawlney, the last professor to have the two boys together, was embarrassingly easy. She only had to point out that Al was struggling a bit and suggest that it was Rose's negativity clouding his inner eye. But Malfoy was talking during Quidditch practice about how useful he was finding the lessons (That wasn't even a half-truth, but it was easy to lie to Trawlney). Doesn't he sound like a much better influence?

It only took a couple weeks to get all of the seats corrected. It was another few days before Lily heard anything more about it.

Lily was sitting with her family for lunch, as she did now regularly to monitor her experiment. Al was talking about Charms class. She was half listening for mention of Malfoy but only half because Al's voice got terribly grating if she paid too much attention to it.

"-was a bit tricky. The textbook wasn't much help, but Scorpius showed me what I was doing wrong."

Lily's ears pricked up.

"Are you friends with Malfoy?" she asked in what she hoped was a casual voice. Then, as a way of explanation, she added, "He's on my Quidditch team, you know."

"Yeah, they're great chums," Rose answered for her best friend and favorite cousin. She sounded somewhat bitter. If it was for Al's new friend or an unhelpful textbook, Lily couldn't tell.

'Nah," Al corrected. "We're just sitting together for a bunch of classes. Bit odd, actually, but it hasn't been so bad."

Lily held her breath a moment, waiting to see if anyone would question the strange change in seating. But neither Al nor Rose had many opinions of how people –especially professors- should act and no one else was paying attention.

To Lily's delight and Rose's displeasure, Al began to mention Malfoy occasionally at lunch. Nothing big, just short quotes or minor appearances in mundane stories.

Malfoy only mentioned Al once at Quidditch practice. They were talking about how stupid, but easy, Divination was.

"It's terrible," Ballinger said. "There are so few actual seers. Why have everyone take it?"

"Not everyone takes it," Andrews corrected, rolling her eyes, "and I think it's kind of fun."

"I guess it depends on your partner," Bellinger admitted, quick to agree with his pretty teammate.

This led to most of the team complaining about or being grateful for their Divinations partners. It was then that Malfoy spoke up.

"Mine's pretty good. He's actually Lily's brother," he added, meaning half the team's eyes were on her when he said, "We've been paired for a lot of things lately. Almost seems planned."

Lily fought to hide her panic and display mild curiosity. She smiled, unsure what she should say or if she should speak at all. She couldn't help but wonder if he was truly suspicious, especially when she looked away a bit too soon and he held his gaze a bit too long.

o0O0o zebra

Lily was grateful when their practices grew longer and harder, if for no reason beyond the fact that the team didn't have many opportunities to talk. It meant that she didn't have to arrive precisely on time and leave promptly afterwards to avoid conversations.

It wasn't that anyone was unfriendly. Jessica Andrews, the only other girl on the team, seemed to like her, although perhaps only as a sort of pet. Still, she was nice. Patton would strike up a slightly awkward conversation if he noticed her standing by herself for too long. Everyone answered any questions she offered and complimented her when she did particularly well, but she felt like she was intruding. She was extremely aware that she was the youngest teammate. The closest person to her age was Malfoy and he was in Al's year. So she felt slightly uncomfortable listening to them talk about classes she hadn't taken yet and classmates she'd never met.

Lily was so thankful for everyone's focus that she almost forgot their reason. So it was with some surprise that she listened to Patton's strategy for their first match the coming Saturday against Hufflepuff.

"-which will allow Carning and Bellinger to focus on their chasers. Everyone know what they're doing on Saturday?" he questioned, then continued before anyone had much of a chance to answer, "Good. We'll be extending practice Monday through Thursday this week to make sure we're ready."

Morgenstern, their keeper, mumbled something Lily guessed was 'It's only Hufflepuff.'

"They're good this year," Patton snapped. "So we need to make sure we're better. Plus," he said, glancing at Carning and Dontereg, his fellow chaser, "we've got some new people and we need to get them ready for when we face Gryffindor."

Realizing what he had said, he looked quickly to Lily, trying to gauge if he had been insensitive. But Lily forced herself not to react and concentrate instead on the mechanics of her team's strategy.

o0O0o

Saturday and their first match came quickly and, with it, a newfound wariness for Patton. He didn't go crazy, exactly, but the pressure was definitely making him tense. He was only a fifth year leading a team that was very important to his House and happened to include three people older than he was. So he would occasionally get irrationally stressed over minor issues.

Lily mentioned his odd behavior over a rare breakfast with the Gryffindors. She wasn't going to sit with them, but Nick was excited to the point of nervous about the match. He kept interrogating her about the strategy and individual players' strengths and weaknesses, which didn't help her own nerves. Most of her roommates had already eaten and were off doing homework before the game. Savannah had ran away when she found the boys, and most of her House, in a huge Quidditch frenzy.

"So I know it's really exciting that it's the first game, but I just want everyone to act normal again," Lily explained.

"They'll calm down after the first match," James insisted, and Lily believed him because he was a solid source for all things Quidditch.

"Until another important match comes along. Then they'll all go crazy again," Freddy qualified before turning to James. "Especially you. We all know you're the worst."

The super fan in question was about to defend himself, but Nic was already speaking.

"Patton might not go back to normal, though. There's something off about him; I don't trust him."

Her words made Lily worry until she saw Freddy rolling his eyes.

"Is this because of him asking you about your summer with Uncle Charlie?" he questioned.

"Among other things," Nic snapped. "He's definitely been acting suspiciously."

"He's been acting nice."

That discussion was running through Lily's head as she caught up with her dorm mates on the way to the Quidditch pitch.

"Hey, could I sit with you guys?" she asked, directing the question to Lydia.

"Of course," was Lydia's answer, although she looked slightly surprised. "But I would've thought you'd be sitting with Jonah, Nathan, and Nick. You guys have been talking about it all week."

Lily waved away the suggestion, "They've been going nuts over this. I mean, of course I love Quidditch and of course I care about winning. But I don't see why everyone is acting so strange."

The rest of the girls all agreed that everyone was taking this far too seriously and were happy to have Lily come along.

o0O0o

The pitch was in uproar. Faces were painted. Supporters were cheering. The stands were full and teachers were struggling to contain students. Freddy saw Lily and waved her over, inviting her to sit. Lily smiled back but she pointed from herself to her friends to the bench they were sliding into to the pitch and, for some unknown reason, back to Hogwarts in an odd combination to awkwardly indicate that she would be sitting with her House. She felt a bit bad as she watched Freddy's hand fall and smile almost slip, but she wanted to cheer for Slytherin without making her family feel like they had to do the same.

She looked over at her cousins right before the players left the changing rooms. They were crammed side by side on two benches, all bundled for the weather and complaining about the cold but excited for the match. They joked and laughed and had even lured Lucy out to sit with them.

James and Nic sat separately banished several rows over because apparently they were no fun during Quidditch matches. They were both on the Gryffindor team and would get too serious, even when watching. Louis played also but he knew how to behave himself and, Roxy would add, not abuse the people around him.

Lily watched with her dorm mates as both teams walked onto the grass. As Patton shook hands with the Hufflepuff captain. As they released the balls. As Madam Hooch blew her whistle. As the players pushed off and flew, going up, up, up. And the keepers raced to the goal posts and the seekers soared higher to get a good view and the Slytherin chasers earned early possession of the Quaffle.

"Oooh, look," Marnie started, "We're off to a gr-"

"Shh," Lily stopped her.

"I was just say-"

"Shh."

Patton passed the Quaffle to Andrews, who got it to Dontereg, who gave it back to Patton, who scored.

"Woohoo," Lydia shouted, "Yeah, go Slytherin-"

"Shh!"

And so Lily watched, tight fisted and closed lipped, crunched forehead and intense gaze, as Hufflepuff gained possession, as Bellinger hit a bludger with admirable aim, as the Hufflepuff lost the Quaffle, as Andrews snatched it up, as she shot it towards the goal posts, as the Hufflepuff keeper blocked it.

"Aww," Lydia groaned.

"She almost had it," Marnie nearly whined.

"Sshhhh."

And so Lily watched in near silence as her friends, unnoticed, began to slide away from her, keeping their mouths shut all the while. As Andrews succeeded in scoring. As the Hufflepuff scored, too. As Dontereg almost dropped the Quaffle. As the Hufflepuff seeker thought he saw the snitch and dove, almost knocking his teammate of her broom. As Morgenstern got winded by a bludger. As Malfoy darted suddenly towards the Slytherin goal posts. As he held the snitch up high and the game ended.

Cheers went up across the green and silver stands and Lily stood up to shout with them before turning to Savannah. Marnie and Lydia were further down the bench than she thought they were. Erin had disappeared completely.

"Great match, wasn't it?"

Savannah seemed strangely nervous when she answered, "I- I guess so."

She then excused herself to go look for Erin, probably in the library, leaving Lily to walk back with her brothers and cousins.

"Your team did great!" Roxy told her as they joined the mob heading towards the castle.

"Carning didn't do his best," Lily admitted. "Ballinger made contact a lot more often."

"Yeah, but he blocked that one headed for Dontereg," James argued. "He wouldn't've scored otherwise."

He was holding his nose with one hand and there was some blood on his lip.

"How'd you manage that?" his sister indicated his nose.

"Oh," he pulled away his hand as if he'd just remembered, then wiped cautiously at his nose to make sure the blood had stopped. "Nic got a bit mad when the Quaffle slipped through Malcolm's fingers," he told her, referring to one of the Hufflepuff keeper's failed saves. Guessing her thoughts, he hurried to clarify, "She wasn't rooting for Hufflepuff."

"Just against Patton," Freddy said, looking at Nic.

She shrugged, "He's just…augh," she seemed unable to find an appropriate adjective to describe Patton's faults, but the insult seemed half-hearted and it gave Lily renewed hope.

o0O0o

The rest of November passed without major incident. Marnie and Lydia acted a bit strange around her for about a week, leaving Lily terribly confused until Savannah gently explained why. It was hard to figure out if Erin was upset. She spent so much time in the library or studying by herself. But she seemed normal enough in Potions.

Her birthday came and went, which Lily never made a big deal out of but James got her a cake somehow and Savannah must've asked Hugo when it was because she got all of her friends to sign a card for her and Nathan convinced Professor Garett not to give them homework and Nick gave her his bacon at breakfast and Jonah insisted she slack off in Potions and let the other three do all of the work until Professor Kenning started watching their table more closely. Al told Malfoy who told their team during practice and Andrews got everyone to sing and Dontereg and Carning added half a verse regarding a zoo before Patton threw practice Quaffles at them. Hagrid had her and Hugo for tea that Saturday and overall it was better than she had expected.

There were homework and tests and debates and Quidditch practices and slightly uncomfortable but definitely fun Charms Club meetings and uneven chess games with Hugo and a few close calls between her patience and Marnie's personality and leaves falling and snow coming and what with one thing and another December came.

It arrived before Lily was really ready for it. Yes, she had her Christmas shopping done. And, yes, she was properly signed up to stay at school over the holidays so Mum and Dad could help Teddy into his new flat in town with muggle neighbors, requiring special precautions, without three bickering children running around. She and Al convinced Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron to let Rose and Hugo stay as well, yes.

She was ready for Christmas and the holidays, but she didn't think she was ready for it to be December. That meant it was three months into the school year, meaning she only had six more months to work on her plan. And she'd barely started.

But she reminded herself that she did have Al and Malfoy becoming friends, or at least so she gathered from Al's lunchtime comments and Rose's general bitterness whenever anyone mentioned the Slytherin seeker. And, from what she heard of Nic's interactions with him, Patton was actively trying to curb Nic's dislike.

Still, she needed to get more steps for her plan. And to dissuade Malfoy's suspicion because he definitely questioned the sudden increase in his quality time with Al and the interest Al's sister had whenever he referenced the aforementioned time.

She had no real strategy for completing the latter other than acting casual, or at least trying to, when he spoke about Al or any of the classes he had with Al.

Her acting proved insufficient.

Malfoy approached her a couple nights before Christmas break in the common room. She was working at one of the tables on her Potions assignment and half listening to the small celebration occurring over by the center couches for the end of classes.

"Hey, Potter," he greeted, taking the seat opposite her at the table.

"Hi."

"So I was talking to Al today and he said you guys were staying here for Christmas."

"Yes." She missed the relative simplicity of her homework but forced herself to act polite and normal, even if he did just mention a social conversation he'd had with her brother. "Mum and Dad have things they need to get done over their time off and Dad wanted us to experience a Hogwarts Christmas while we were all here together."

Malfoy nodded, but he seemed a bit distracted. "Sounds fun, but my parents would never let me stay. Only child and all."

"It's not always fun having brothers either."

"You seem to get along with James," he reasoned, "and Al's not so bad either. I've actually been talking to him a lot lately."

Well, she walked right into that one. Still, she worked to keep her composure.

"Yeah, Al's been saying so."

"We've had plenty of opportunities. We're actually assigned to sit next to each other in all of our classes." He was clearly watching her reaction now, waiting for her to crack.

"Oh-that's…weird."

"It makes me think someone organized this."

"Oh, well, I guess that-"

"I know it was you," Malfoy told her, cutting off whatever lame line she'd come up with under pressure. "What I want to know is why."

Lily considered denying it, making up some wild lies to explain her behavior and avoid the issue, even when Malfoy wouldn't believe her. But then he'd get annoyed and that would likely jeopardize his friendship with Al.

He could see she was breaking and, while his tone had never turned rude, he was careful to sound nice, almost friendly, when he said, "Tell me, Potter. What are you up to?"

She sighed. For a secret plan, an awful lot of people were finding out. But she told him. How the other houses were polite but not friendly. How she figured what everyone needed was to get over themselves and their stupid pride and just make friends already. How for all its thirst, Slytherin house was yet to prove itself and she was going to make sure it finally did.

By the time she was done, Malfoy was grinning widely.

"Okay, I'm in."

Lily was relieved he wasn't angry she had set him up, but confused with his reaction. "What?"

"Well, you weren't planning on staging this all yourself, were you?"

"Well," Lily answered, "Well, yeah."

Malfoy shook his head, smiling slightly. "Too late. I've been wanting to do the same thing for years."

"Real-really?"

She hadn't expected supporters. Sure, there was Professor Garett, but he was a professor. He was supposed to want unity. And he was a little strange. But another student, another Slytherin was different, especially if he actually cared and wasn't just helping because it was the right thing.

"It's why I asked the Hat to put me in Slytherin. I didn't want my family to give up on it when things weren't going well for it." He paused and his voice turned slightly bitter. "We have a reputation for doing that, did you know? Leaving when it gets difficult."

Lily wasn't really sure what to say. "It's not your fault, all of that."

"I know," Malfoy told her and his tone was once again conversational. "So I kind of wanted to start again, in a different house." He shrugged. "But I thought if I went to Slytherin I could prove my family and my house had changed, that neither were bad anymore."

"That's really brave." And it sounded tacky, but it was true and she didn't see any real harm in saying it.

Luckily, it turned their conversation to a lighter topic.

"High praise coming from a Potter."

She nodded solemnly. "The highest."

They broke into smiles and he left, insisting he'd brainstorm ideas over the break and wishing her a Happy Christmas.

o0O0o zebra

Hogwarts at Christmas was all her father promised it would be. There were all of the decorations they enjoyed throughout December, but they seemed to glow brighter as Christmas drew closer. The suits of armor sang more often and Peeves, louder. Teachers relaxed curfew and their patrols considerably until Lily could (and did) sneak back to her dorm past midnight after a particularly fierce round of exploding snap.

One day of break they convinced a Ravenclaw boy to join them in a snowball fight and made him an honorary Weasley so they could play siblings against siblings. The boy, named Ned, turned out to be pretty fun and a good sport, but he left early. Turns out he was actually supposed to be spending Christmas Eve with his girlfriend because he had technically stayed to keep her company.

His departure toppled whatever structure their snowball fight had previously maintained. It was then three against two, but Hugo couldn't resist getting Rose in the back of the head, which then made it everyone against Rose until Al stepped in to help defend her. They then reached the pretty stable teams of Rose and Al versus Lily and Hugo with James throwing snow at whomever he liked with relative safety unless he got too daring. He was doing pretty well for himself but still tried to recruit Hagrid when he saw him passing by.

Hagrid refused and offered instead hot chocolate for all of them in exchange for peace and quiet. They accepted. However, they soon found fitting three teenagers, two children, a moke, a niffler, and a half-giant into one hut and serving hot chocolate did not incline itself to peace or quiet. But it was definitely fun.

Christmas proved equally enjoyable. The Fat Lady even allowed Lily to enter the Gryffindor common room (so long as she was watched at all times) to open her presents in the morning. It passed quickly, with presents and chess and a game of snow Quidditch, which James insisted would be great and it might've been except it started to snow too hard to see properly and Al bumped Rose in the head by accident meaning she had to have an ice pack for the rest of the day if she was going to avoid the Hospital Wing. They were determined that this year no one go to the Hospital Wing on Christmas.

They stayed up all night on New Year's and by this point the Fat Lady trusted Lily enough to spend the night. This apparently held a lot of weight with McGonagoll, who decided not to reprimand her when she walked in to suggest that they not test the fireworks their Uncle George sent them when they were still inside. The fact that the snowstorm active since Christmas prevented them from doing it outside had little sway. And she didn't want to take the fireworks away because they were Christmas presents and it was impressive that they were able to control them well enough to prevent a mess. So maybe she was going soft in her old age, but she let them all off with a mere warning.

It was almost disappointing when their friends and cousins returned, even more so because with them would soon come classes and homework and responsibilities. But at least they also brought interesting stories from their holidays.

Nathan spent a few days with his older brother, Max, and they decided to go rock climbing at a local spot with a bunch of Max's friends. They were packed to take a three-day hike, but Max's friend Dylan managed to hit his head pretty bad on the first ridge and they all had to head back. When Nathan's parents heard they strictly forbid them from doing anything remotely exciting so the two of them spent the rest of his visit playing cards and eating junk food.

Jonah stayed home and had company over. His mom apparently made him and Martin clean every room three times, even though she didn't much like her sister-in-law. Jonah's little sisters only had to help in the kitchen making and decorating cookies and other easy jobs like that. Nathan then clarified that his sisters were five and seven and didn't Jonah complain last year that he and his sisters had to do all of the major cleaning so Martin would only have to do last minute tidying when he got home? Jonah still thought they should've had to do more but Lily reminded him that sometimes having two older brothers was a chore enough.

Nick also celebrated at home and his older sister, Anna, came home with an annoying new boyfriend. She was Max's age and it was their day care years that brought the two families together originally. Despite the debt he owed his sister, Nick's main entertainment for the holidays was pulling pranks on Anna and her boyfriend. The result was a family argument, Anna being single by New Year's, and Anna and Nick making up over revenge on her now ex-boyfriend only to get into another argument on the way to dropping him off at King's Cross.

Savannah didn't have any siblings and neither did her dad. Her mum had a brother, but he lived in Bulgaria and didn't have any kids. So they celebrated Christmas with her parents' friends, who didn't have any kids her age, and their neighbors, who did. The neighbors' party was great, except all of her friends kept asking her questions about the private school she was attending. At least her parents' friends knew about Hogwarts.

Lily put together the different pieces her friends gave when they first talked the evening they got back, on the walk down to breakfast, and throughout the morning meal. After they were mostly caught up on holiday memories, they went back to their normal conversation topics. For Jonah, the two categories held a remarkable resemblance.

"It got really old really fast," he complained about Martin. "I mean, how many times can you watch the same bug and continue to find it interesting?"

"Well, they move, you see," Savannah answered, falling in step with them as they all walked to Transfiguration.

"Yes, Savannah, I realize they move," Jonah, rolling his eyes, informed her, "and so do leaves when it's windy, but I don't want to watch those for too long either."

She seemed at a loss because, personally, she agreed. "Some people find insect behavior really interesting."

"My cousin does," Lily interrupted without thinking. "Or, at least, she heads the club for it."

"There's a club for it?" asked Jonah, apparently astounded that there were others as weird as Martin, enough even to form an, admittedly unpopular, club.

"Yeah." An unexpected stage to her plan sat already on Lily's lips. "He should join. They're always looking for new members and it sounds like he'd really enjoy it."

Jonah promised to mention it to his brother in a polite conversation free from teasing so Martin would actually consider it. Lily tried to act like she didn't care if Martin agreed or not, but she mentally congratulated herself for her quick thinking.

Pleased to find she already had some success so early in the term, she allowed herself to relax and participate in conversations with no strategic value. So the topic quickly turned to Quidditch.

There had been more matches since the first, although only one other Slytherin match. Lily's dorm mates stopped talking to her right before matches, afraid she'd ask to sit with them. Nick, Nathan, and Jonah told her no flat out after spending the Hufflepuff v. Ravenclaw match in silence. Lily had mentioned her friends' abandonment at lunch one day. Roxy's solution was to banish her with James and Nic. As a result, she didn't get to discuss reactions to different goals and tactics with anyone until after the match, and she found the distance renewed her interest in the conversation.

They were catching up on their revised theories of the others teams' strategies later that day in Potions, when Professor Kenning appeared by Nathan's shoulder.

"But they didn't have Peurler at point," he said, throwing ground roots carelessly into their cauldron a step too early, "and everyone knows he's their best."

Jonah nudged him. Lily coughed conspicuously. Erin hurried to add two more ingredients to their botched potion.

"Grindylow nails were not in the instructions, Ms. Walker," Professor Kenning announced, causing Nathan to jump in his stool and glare at his friends.

"Yes, professor," Erin answered, "but we had a slight mistake with the garner roots. The nails should negate their effects and allow us to add them in later."

Kenning used a falsely sweet voice far better suited for a young mother than a seasoned teacher. "But it will leave your potion lumpy, dear. And a lumpy soothing potion just won't do."

She gave a small laugh and looked at her students indulgently, inviting them to laugh along. The three other Slytherins, however, were far too impressed with and grateful for Erin's quick thinking to oblige.

"The lumps will float to the top," Erin defended herself, startling everyone. "We can scoop them out at the end."

Their professor opened her mouth, but Erin continued before she had a chance to speak, "with a pewter spoon, of course."

The older woman pursed her lips and gave Erin a displeased look. She did not glare- she did not respect her students enough to glare at them.

"Very well. I see it's possible you may still complete this assignment successfully, but I will be testing you all separately to ensure you all," she looked down her nose at a very red Nathan, "understand the material."

They completed the class in near silence, reading and triple checking the instructions and conferring with Erin before following any step. At the end, Erin carefully scooped up with a pewter spoon the lumps that, sure enough, rose to the top of the cauldron.

Kenning fed their potion to a rat in front of them. The rat toppled and Lily gasped, thinking it dead. But Kenning nodded and her students breathed normally once more.

"I will expect you all here next Thursday at seven for a short test on the theory behind potions. Additionally, you will each make, by yourself, one of the twelve potions we've learned thus far. You will be allowed a copy of the directions, but no notes."

All four of them nodded and walked wordlessly to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lily sat in her usual seat next to Faith, who began to chatter excitedly about their next Charms club meeting that Sunday. She tried to listen and might've managed a few 'uh-huh's and 'me too's but was inside considering the situation in which she found herself.

She couldn't master twelve potions in a week. She wasn't even sure if she could name them all. Her table had done pretty well but they would've been dead that day without Erin. Sweet, angelic Erin. Who was surprisingly smart. Was she always that good at potions? That must've been what she was doing all those times in the library. And with all those textbooks she was always reading at meals. Lily never truly appreciated how much time Erin spent studying.

She glanced over at her year's potions master and spotted Nathan with a textbook under his desk. Before she could warn him to be more careful, Nathan found that, for the second time that day, a professor had snuck behind him.

"Interesting read?"

Nathan instinctively slammed the textbook closed and picked up his quill to continue working on the assigned questions.

"There's a big test coming up in Potions," he said, then hurried to add, "sir."

This sent half a class of Ravenclaws and few uninformed Slytherins into a small rustle of whispered panic. Professor Cornatch surveyed the room, quickly silencing them.

"And yet no one else seems to be studying for another class during my lesson."

Lily wanted to point out they were only doing bookwork, but she doubted that would help Nathan.

"Not everyone has to take it," Nathan explained unnecessarily, "just my table."

"I can only imagine," he glanced almost imperceptibly at Lily, "who at your table could warrant such a punishment."

Lily sent Nathan mental signals not to defend her, but he opened his mouth anyways. Luckily, Nick had the sense to elbow his side to shut him up, although whether it was to protect Nathan or Lily was unclear. The small nod he gave when she next met his eye, however, suggested both.

"Twenty points from Slytherin and a detention if anything similar happens again."

Lily thought this very fair and mentally asked Nathan not to complain. This time he obeyed.

Lily, Nathan, and Jonah spent most of their dinner and evening in the library looking up the potions they'd learned and studying their insufficient notes. Nick popped in a few times to ask them when they'd be done: they glared, to tell them they were boring: they glared, to reprimand Lily for saying she was glad Quidditch practice got snowed out: she glared and threw a book at him.

Madam Pince, wizened and near sighted but as strict as ever, strode over to warn Nick not to juggle her books. They all agreed that was an odd thing to assume but were happy to see Nick take the blame. Nick eventually sat down to work on homework for Transfiguration but paused occasionally to remind them how selfish they were to get in trouble without him. Jonah hit him with a textbook, which was apparently also against library rules.

The four of them spent the next few days in a similar fashion. Savannah would sometimes sit with them to do homework or sneak them snacks when they skipped lunch.

"Your brother asked me why he hasn't seen you," she told Lily the Tuesday before their test. "He was surprised you missed our match against Ravenclaw."

Lily looked up guiltily. Patton hadn't noticed she wasn't in the stands and she'd hoped no one else would say anything. "What'd you tell him?"

"Only that you were studying," Savannah said, slipping Jonah a cookie before looking back to add, "but Hugo's in Potions with us, so he probably knows anyways."

"Okay, I'll talk to him tomorrow," she promised, handing her notes to Nathan to quiz her.

Nathan stared at the notes without truly processing. He was having more trouble than the rest of them- the information just wouldn't stay in his brain and it didn't help that he was staying up late each night to cram some more.

"It's okay," she told him, gently tugging the notes out of his hands, "I'll ask Jonah."

Jonah turned indignant, "I'm eating a cookie!"

Savannah jerked her head to watch for Madam Pince, but the group had learned enough in their time there to select a table behind a few bookshelves, far from the prying eyes of the nosy librarian.

"I'll do it," Nick offered, taking the papers, "I'm bored of Charms anyways."

o0O0o

The next day Lily offered to handle the food run at lunchtime. She gave them some of her books to make more room for snacks then headed to the Gryffindor table so she could check in at the same time.

"Hey, everyone," she greeted, already working on wrapping up a few sandwiches in napkins.

"Oh, hey," Rose answered, "haven't seen you in a while."

"Where've you been?" Al asked.

"The library." She grabbed apples and a cookie for Jonah. "But it's been nice seeing you."

She grabbed the strap of her bag and turned to walk away, never having truly sat down.

"Wait," Freddy called her back. "You're just going to take our food and leave?"

"Pretty much."

"Where are you going?" James added and he looked concerned.

"The library."

"You've been there a lot." His eyebrows met and he swiveled on the bench to better face her. "Hugo told me about Potions. I don't like those boys getting you into trouble."

"It wasn't just their faults," Lily huffed. "You know Kenning's terrible."

"But still…" he faded off. "They shouldn't get you involved."

"You get Freddy and Nic in trouble all the time."

"Well, usually it's Freddy's fault," Nic contributed.

"Sometimes it's yours," Freddy argued.

James ignored their bickering. "I just don't want you feeling like you don't have a choice."

"I'm fine," his sister insisted, shifting her feet impatiently.

"Okay," he concluded, although he didn't sound convinced, "but let me know if you want me to talk to them."

"I don't," Lily hurried to say, then began to take a few slow steps away from the table, "but I really do have to study…"

James gave a little wave as if to shoo her away. "I'll see you."

"See you."

The boys asked what took her so long, meaning she had to explain as evenly as she could James' concern.

"What's he worried about?" Nick questioned her.

"About us getting her in trouble." Jonah looked up from the cookie he was enjoying. "Although I don't get why he's so suspicious."

"Probably because I'm in trouble right now." She quickly glanced over to Nathan, and patted his arm, although she doubted he was listening. "Not that I blame anyone."

She thought about it another moment before adding, "And I think he'd rather I was just friends with girls."

"Why?" Nick asked, incredulous. "Girls are friends with guys all the time."

"Not all the time," Nathan corrected, never looking up from his textbook.

Lily was relieved at the sign of life.

"Guys aren't friends with every guy they meet either," Nick quipped, "but they're just as likely to be friends with a girl as they are with a guy."

"Just as likely?" Jonah asked, still focusing on his last bite of cookie.

"Well, maybe not just as likely," he conceded, "but they could still easily be friends with one if given the opportunity."

"You're not friends with Laura," Lily pointed out, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Who?"

"Laura! She sits at your Potions table."

"I try not to let my tablemates distract me from my work." Nick instinctively covered his face, which spared him the brunt of the attack Jonah launched with a pamphlet on chopping techniques.

"Plus," he continued once it was safe, "I've just been talking to Michael and Connor because I already know them. I easily could make friends with her."

An idea was forming.

"Prove it."

Nick blinked. "What?"

"Make friends with her," she clarified. "Then I'll believe you."

"What's in it for me?"

"Pride?" she suggested.

"What if that's not enough?"

"Well it's never been before. I guess I wouldn't be surprised if it weren't now."

Jonah snickered and Nick answered before he bothered to fully piece together her insult.

"Fine, but only because it'll be so easy. Otherwise I wouldn't allow it to distract me from my commitment to-"

Jonah pushed him off his chair before he could finish.

o0O0o

By the time Thursday came, Lily and Jonah could practically recite the instructions for all of the potions and could give you the basics behind most of the theories involved. They could tell you the difference between bortni and burtaw berries and few of their uses. They knew why you chopped some ingredients but sliced others and could usually judge when to do which. They were even able to get most of the material through to Nathan, but Lily was still worried.

It wasn't that he didn't study. He did. And it wasn't that he wasn't smart. He was. It was just that Potions, simply put, was not his strong suit.

He didn't talk much that day, but neither did the rest of them. They were too busy reviewing: during breakfast, during History of Magic, during lunch, between classes, during dinner, and every remaining moment before 6:50 pm at which point they decided it was time to head down to the dungeons.

They met Erin down there. She was already waiting and looked completely calm, with good reason. She would be fine. It was the rest of them who needed to worry.

Professor Kenning merely nodded when the four walked in together and seated them at separate tables in the farthest corners of the room. Already sitting there were the materials and instructions for a potion they'd learned back in October.

It wasn't that bad, although Lily never would've been able to do it without her cramming. The potion itself turned out fine, perhaps a bit thin, but overall acceptable. She just hoped it'd be enough to keep her table together.

Erin finished before the others, but they all expected as much. Jonah handed his in a little before Lily and waited for her out in the corridor. He suggested they wait for Nathan as well, but he hadn't looked close to being done last they saw. So they walked back without him and hoped he'd forgive them.

"I'm not sure he'll notice," Jonah pointed out, "given the way he's been acting lately."

Lily nodded and remained quiet a few moments longer with worry. "I'm just hoping he'll be better now this is all over."

"Well," Jonah shrugged out the word, "not quite over. We still haven't gotten our marks yet."

"Do me a favor and don't mention that to Nathan."

They stepped into the Slytherin common room to find Nick and Savannah sitting on the couch near the door.

"How'd it go?" Savannah asked nervously.

Nick frowned slightly. "Where's Nathan?"

"Still working on it." Jonah's voice was low enough that only the four of them could hear. "Could be done by now, though."

No one spoke for a small period of polite silence. Then Savannah repeated herself.

"So? How'd it go?"

"Pretty well," Lily answered, "but I'm glad I studied."

Savannah smiled in mother-like approval, for the mild success or the lesson learned was unclear.

"Same," Jonah spoke up, "Not as well as Erin, though."

"Yeah, she got back ages ago," Nick told them, earning himself a reprimanding look from Savannah.

"She's really good," Lily stated simply.

"She studies a lot," Savannah explained, "It's all I can do to get her down to the pitch for Slytherin matches."

Nick looked shocked at this news and shook his head sadly. "That much studying… I don't really think it's worth it. I mean, just this week I've been in the library for more time than I planned on spending in seven years here."

"Her sister was top of her class," Savannah continued, "and she's really proud of that. She wants to be the same way.

"She's on the right track," Nick said, glancing over at the girl in question who was, even now, sitting at a table, surrounded by papers.

Savannah looked up brightly. "Maybe she can tutor Nathan!"

"Hmm," Jonah considered the idea and looked over at their pretty classmate across the room, "maybe I should find a tutor as well."

Savannah rolled her eyes and looked to Lily for support but received only a small shrug. She was about to tease him anyways when Nathan walked through the door.

The four of them quieted, all watching his face for some indication for how it went.

"That was awful," he told them in a surprisingly cheery voice.

"It can't have been that bad," Jonah insisted in a voice almost as light.

"I think it was," Nathan said, sounding much like his old self.

"Did it explode?" Nick inquired.

"What?"

"Did your potion explode?" he clarified, then added a hand gesture, "like, kaboom."

"No," Nathan admitted and reached for an abandoned, but still wrapped, cauldron cake that sat on the nearest coffee table. "It didn't explode, but it looked pretty useless." He considered it a moment as he chewed his treat. "Bit like soup."

Jonah was halfway to reminding them that soup was far from useless when Nick chose sarcasm over logic.

"And you're a potions master."

Savannah's eyes widened and Lily's neck snapped to Nathan, but he didn't look at all offended.

"Obviously not," he smiled as he took another bite of the cake.

The boys continued to tease each other until Lily and Savannah felt comfortable enough with Nick and Jonah's insensitivity to rejoin the conversation. They actually stayed up later than they meant to, bringing down the last of their Christmas sweets to make a small party out of it. It wasn't until Nathan fell asleep sitting up that anyone bothered to check the time. It was past midnight on a school night. After a small debate on whether or not they should just let Nathan sleep where he was with someone else out there with him, ending with Nick and Jonah assuring the other two they could lead the larger boy to their dorm as long as he was partially awake, they all said their goodnights.

"We really should find Nathan a tutor," Savannah whispered once they were in their dorm, changing in the dark so as not to disturb the other girls.

"Sure. We'll think of someone in the morning," Lily promised through a yawn, already snuggling into her blankets.

o0O0o zebra

They overslept the next day, but by then most of them were used to rushing through breakfast because of the extreme studying schedule they held the past week. Still, they were all grateful when Professor Binns dismissed them for lunch, even if it did interrupt their naps. Lily and Savannah finally had an appropriate opportunity to gently propose the idea of tutoring to Nathan. He agreed, to their great relief, humbly but with little enthusiasm.

Despite their relative success the night before, Lily's table continued to keep their heads down throughout Potions class. Professor Kenning was still watching them closely; although she would now take every opportunity to croon over Erin's work, giving the impression that she had picked her out from the beginning. Erin, Lily was happy to note, never smiled under the praise and only answered at all when absolutely necessary. Even then she'd feign deafness as often as possible.

Lily couldn't help but smile at the display immediately. She found further entertainment when she realized that, with Erin and Nathan distracting Kenning at their table, Nick was free to talk to Laura Murphy.

He wasn't having a lot of luck. By this point in the year, Laura was used to being all but ignored in Potions class for a mistake she'd made on the first day. She was confused, and later suspicious, when one of the Slytherin boys switched seats to be next to her and insisted on hearing what she did over the Christmas break. Her answers got shorter and sharper the more he talked until she was almost hostile and he was too discouraged to continue. Lily knew she shouldn't have found the scene funny. It was, after all, better for the plan if she-

The plan.

Lily wanted to smack herself; she was such an idiot. Nathan needed a tutor for potions. It could be anyone who was decent in the subject and she was going to ask Erin, a girl in their own house. When there was a whole house devoted to those devoted to learning. She was a complete and total idiot. Luckily, it wasn't too late to fix the situation, assuming Savannah hadn't already said anything.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Savannah told her when Lily asked on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "I didn't know you wanted to ask."

"That's okay," Lily assured her, her thoughts already on a way to adjust the situation. It could be an easy fix. "Did she say yes?"

"That she'd think about it. She has a lot to focus on right now and tutoring wouldn't help that much."

Lily nodded. "I was just thinking that maybe it might be better if he had a boy tutor. It might make him more comfortable."

"You're right." Savannah's words came out oddly, almost haltingly, as if she were thinking of something else as she said them. "That probably would be best." But she was back to normal by the end. "Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No, I can do it. I sit near her anyways."

Lily waited until the people around her were seated and relatively quiet to catch Erin's attention.

"Erin," she said, a little quieter than was useful.

Erin did not seem to hear and remained engrossed in her potions notes.

"Erin," Lily hissed, a little louder, earning an odd look from Faith.

Again, no response.

She cringed slightly and eyed the door before repeating herself.

"Hey, Erin," she said at a volume that was slightly dangerous for her of all people to be using in Professor Cornatch's Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Erin still did not hear and Lily was prepared to crumple up her own potions notes for the greater good when Faith stepped in.

"Hey, Sam."

The Ravenclaw girl next to Erin turned around and Lily was little jealous that her friend succeeded on her first try.

"Get Erin."

Sam obediently poked Erin's arm, effectively catching the elusive attention of the other girl.

"Yeah?" Erin twisted to face their general direction, unsure who was looking for her.

"Savannah talked to you about Nathan, right?"

"Oh." Erin looked uncomfortable and turned properly to buy herself time to think. "Yeah, she did. And I really would like to. I'm just still trying to decide if it won't-"

"I know," Lily interrupted before her dorm mate could continue. She glanced at Sam, unsure if she trusted a random classmate with the news of Nathan's potions troubles, "but I was thinking that maybe he might be a bit more comfortable if we found a boy instead."

"For what?" Sam, oblivious to the point that she wasn't supposed to know, asked curiously.

"Tutoring, right?" Faith, equally unaware, guessed.

Lily shot her a quick glare that proved insufficient in communicating the full dishonor of her actions. Faith just looked confused.

"I think that's a good idea," Erin said slowly.

"What about Dirk Casworth?" Faith suggested, despite how recently Lily had rebuffed her.

"He'd make a good tutor," Erin, somewhat begrudgingly, conceded.

"He would be, but good luck convincing him," Sam once again cut in.

Only this time, Lily was curious to hear what she had to say.

"Why's that?" she pressed.

Sam's face lit up involuntarily. "Because his sister hates Slytherins."

Faith practically groaned as she leaned back in her chair, only to quickly lean forward to assure Lily, "It's stupid, of course. Completely stupid."

Erin nodded; seemingly eager to say anything related to Dirk Casworth was in any way stupid.

Sam, however, was inspired by her company's attention and agreement.

"She thinks they're all rude. And mean, like cats. She doesn't much like cats either."

The final comment seemed to personally offend Faith, who remained speechless in her horror.

It was Erin who spoke.

"She should meet Savannah."

And silently, for Professor Cornatch had just entered his classroom, Lily agreed.

o0O0o

Lily planned the moment carefully. She even let the boys in on the secret, although she insisted they mention nothing to Savannah for the sake of Nathan's academic future.

Savannah questioned them why they weren't at their usual library table because, much to Nick's embarrassment, they now had a usual table. She didn't pay any mind to the cluster of older Ravenclaw girls sitting directly in front of Madam Pince's desk.

"Does anyone understand the grindylow effect?" Nick asked after a while with exasperation that was too clearly forced for Lily's taste but apparently likely enough for Savannah.

The latter lowered her quill a moment to carefully recite, "As the grindylow population increases, the strength of the pendula dradonus also increases."

Nick, to his credit, did not falter at her quick answer.

"Yes, but why? What do the two have to do with each other?"

Savannah gave him a despairing look.

"I don't know," she said emphatically. "We're sitting in a library filled with books, probably hundreds of which are devoted to Herbology. Why are you asking me?"

He struggled to find a response to her question and, seeing this, Jonah quickly rescued him.

"Hundreds of books take an awfully long time to read."

Nick, once again catching a strategy, nodded. "Wouldn't it be faster if you just asked someone?"

Savannah looked almost defensive. "Why me? Can't you ask someone?"

"I asked you, didn't I?" Nick quipped as he tried to think of a better reason.

"He's too scared to ask anyone else," Jonah teased. "Come on, Savannah, let him off the hook."

She rolled her eyes and they all knew they had won.

"I think that's Dirk Casworth's sister over there." Lily pointed to the girl with almost feathery blond hair who sat chatting with her textbook-laden friends. "She's supposed to be nice."

It wasn't a lie. After all, wasn't everyone supposed to be nice? But she crossed her fingers tightly with hopes that Jeanne Casworth outshined her reputation and unspoken threats in case she didn't.

Savannah huffed out a breath in forced exasperation before pushing away from the table.

"You guys are such cowards."

Nick gave her a sheepishly grateful look while the rest grinned childishly in acceptance.

On the way to the table, Savannah's walk and attitude morphed back to the perpetually sweet girl they first met, just like she always did when she talked to someone new.

"Excuse me."

Savannah's soft voice barely made its way back the ten or so silent feet to their table. The boys, Lily was grateful to see, quickly stopped rustling papers to better catch their friend's words.

"Hi, I'm in your brother's year." Her hesitancy made it almost sound like a question. "I had a question about my homework and was wondering if maybe you had time to help me with it."

Lily moved to recross her fingers, but Jeanne was agreeing before the younger girl had time to truly worry. She continued to watch as Jeanne and her friends gently explained the Grindylow Effect with tilted heads and indulgent smiles.

The seated first years quickly ducked their heads as, with a soft 'thank you so much' to the older girls' unrealistically eager nods, Savannah walked back.

"And?" Nick asked.

"The pendula dradonis strengthen to adapt," Savannah winced as the word 'cute' clearly reached their ears, "to a greater number of Grindylow tugging on their leaves."

He let out a very real sigh of relief. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver."

She nodded. "Just please don't make me do that again."

"I don't know," Lily, teased, "They seemed smitten."

Savannah glared as the rest scoffed.

o0O0o

They allowed a few days for Dirk Casworth to talk to his sister before they presented their request. Savannah, who still didn't know the real reason she asked Jeanne Casworth for help, found her friends' anxiety confusing.

They needn't have worried. Casworth agreed quickly and with more enthusiasm than they expected or, honestly, with which they were truthfully comfortable. Nick suspected the Ravenclaw was eager to show up Erin so, in a show of loyalty, Nathan, Jonah, and Lily took every opportunity to gush over their tablemate's potion prowess.

Erin still shot Casworth slightly bitter looks when he, nearly daily, approached Nathan to confirm their tutoring schedule. She did seem relieved, however, when she realized how much time Casworth afforded the project. And, despite her distaste for his strategy, she was quick to congratulate Nathan when he began to show remarkable growth in the subject. Nathan accepted her comments graciously and assured her that Casworth's eagerness was terribly annoying. She waved away his comments but couldn't keep a satisfied smile from reaching her face.

Jonah, meanwhile, was true to his word and succeeded in convincing Martin to try the Bug Club for a couple meetings and see what he could learn. Despite the mixed results of Nathan's tutoring, Lily was excited to hear the results. In an attempt at discipline, she waited three days in silence from the time of Martin's second meeting before mentioning anything to Molly.

Finally, when she was ready to explode with anticipation, she paused her lunch to state, "So, Molly, you're still president of the Bug Club, right?"

Apparently her outburst was a touch too sudden because her cousin started at the question and dropped a carrot stick.

Molly soon composed herself enough to reply, "Insect Exploration Club, yes. Why? Are you thinking of joining?"

Lily shook her head, perhaps too insistently. "No. But I know my friend, Jonah Crawley, he said his brother, Martin, just joined. I was wondering if you've met him yet."

"Hmm." Her cousin suddenly found her pepper to soup ratio in need of careful adjustment and thus was incapable of meeting Lily's eyes when answering, "I'm not sure. I'll have to keep an eye out."

That was a complete lie. Lily knew for a fact the Bug club had six members on a good day so there was no way Molly could have missed Martin. But Molly wasn't the sort of person to write someone off so quickly. For her to be incapable of finding something pleasant to say about Martin at all… something was up.

Lily pretended to drop the matter with a polite 'mhm' and bite of celery. Silently, she was already making plans to spy on the Bug Club.

o0O0o

She missed their Monday meeting, but on Wednesday she managed to sneak over with Malfoy, who insisted on coming before heading to Quidditch practice. In their good fortune, there was a statue with a large base close to the welcoming open door to the Bug Club's chosen classroom. If one sits on the correct side of the stone block, no one from the other side, including those in the classroom, sees anything. Pull out a few books and passerbies from the opposite direction see only an odd, but reasonable, study spot.

The meeting had already begun when they settled in and, as they walked by the door, Lily was impressed to observe not six, but closer to a dozen students inside. Lily was on only her third moon of her Astronomy chart when she began to hear why Molly winced at Martin's name.

"How does it handle fire?" Martin asked, interrupting a theoretically short presentation of the Niffler Beetle's adaptations to its environment.

"What?" Molly's voice was too tired and confused for so early in the meeting.

"You talked about how it reacts to different levels of water and sun," Martin clarified. "So the next logical question is different levels of fire."

A few quiet mutters that sounded of agreement reached the air behind the nearby statue of Sir Luckless. The air's occupants exchanged looks.

"No…" Molly paused to force her tone from patronizing to patient. "Niffler Beetles live in the marshlands."

"So they don't see any fire?"

"Er- pretty much. I mean, unless humans interfere."

"Exactly. As humans, our nature is to push beyond what nature shows us. And you're saying we have no idea how a Niffler Beetle, which, in your words, is a 'pro at adaptation', faces fire, a basic element, because there isn't much fire in the marshlands?"

"Yes," Molly answered haltingly, "The data's essentially useless."

"Useless? It makes the difference between ignorance and truth, constrained only by the limitations of which information nature spoon-fed us…"

Martin continued his argument and others joined on one side or the other until the whole meeting dissolved into a debate on whether or not they should conduct tests (Molly insisted they shouldn't and wouldn't) and if using a charm to spare pain affects data or makes it humane (Molly said definitely and still doesn't). Malfoy's watch told them soon into it that it was time they headed down to practice, which they did mostly in silence.

"So…" Lily finally started as the pitch came into view around the bend, "Any ideas on how to rehabilitate Martin?"

"Honestly?" Malfoy gave her a dramatically regretful look, "I think we just need to get him out."

His companion gave a somber nod and they both sighed as they shouldered their brooms.

o0O0o zebra

Lily was recounting a story of her brother and cousins' mischief to her friends in the library one day as they all pretended to study for their upcoming Herbology practical.

"So James is trying to wave Nic back, but at this point she's on the roof. She has no place to go and all he can do is get the ladder and send Freddy to distract the lady. It took them ten minutes to get Nic down with the gnomes. The lady didn't suspect a thing."

Jonah, Nick, and Nathan laughed out loud and Savannah grinned down at her paper.

"I thought Roxy was the one who could talk them out of anything," Nathan stated as he tipped back his chair.

Lily shook her head, but somewhat agreed. "Roxy can talk them out of most things, but Freddy'll keep them from ever suspecting anything. Unless you know him, of course."

Jonah grinned. "Then you are suspicious of everything."

"Exactly."

Nathan was still doubtful. "But other than that, he can just go up to any stranger and charm them into submission?"

Lily bounced her head from side to side in thought.

"It's not charming, exactly. He's just… Freddy. He's like a puppy dog, sort of. People just like him."

"So he just makes friends with everyone he meets?"

"Pretty much. He doesn't keep them all, but still."

Nathan gave Nick, Jonah, and Savannah a questioning look that called for support.

Jonah shrugged. Savannah wasn't even looking up. Nick, however, looked inspired.

"Prove it."

Lily started. "What?"

"I had to prove I could be friends with Laura and she hasn't stopped talking to me since," Nick explained. "You prove Freddy can be friends with," he paused to think, then grinned as a name came to mind, "Trevor Sullivan."

The three onlookers whipped their heads to catch Lily's reaction and laughed at her look of horror.

"No way." She shook her head fervently to better express her conviction. "I'm not taking a bet that will get my cousin killed."

It was a legitimate concern. Trevor Sullivan was a sixth year Slytherin who spent an unhealthy amount of time lurking in the Restricted Section or with students Lily would bet were going to be hunted by the Ministry in a few short years. A couple months ago, they all concluded he was completely soulless after he refused to help Savannah get a book down from a high shelf.

"He wouldn't kill a friend," Nick countered.

His logic, unfortunately, was sound.

"Why should I even take this bet?"

He grinned mischievously. "Pride?"

Lily shook her head. "You'll have to do better than that."

Nick stayed silent and she was ready to give an absolute no when Jonah broke in.

"I'll get Martin to quit the Bug Club."

The friends all sat transfixed as they watched Lily consider her options. She remembered Molly's hysterics and that, technically, they were her fault. It would be putting one cousin in danger to save another, but she really did think Freddy could do it.

"I might need help."

Nick was unrelenting; "I didn't get help for Laura!"

"Laura's not the antichrist."

"Fine," he conceded. "You get Nathan. I have Jonah."

"No sabotage," she warned.

"Fine."

"What about me?" Savannah asked indignantly.

"You can be on our side," Jonah told her.

Nathan shook his head. "No. We'll need an impartial judge."

"Nathan's right," Nick agreed before sliding her a scrap of parchment. "Here, write down the terms."

Savannah raised her eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

"Savannah," Jonah chided, "This is an official wager. It calls for an official document."

"These are Nathan's potions notes."

Nathan scowled and snatched back his notes. Lily provided her a piece that had nothing more consequential than a cutthroat game of tic-tac-toe.

Jonah waited until Savannah had the fresh parchment in front of her.

"Now it calls for an official document."

Savannah rolled her eyes but started to write.

"So, Freddy needs to get Trevor Sullivan to act like a human being towards him. If Lily wins, Martin quits the Bug Club. And if Nick wins?"

"Jonah gets a cookie," Jonah suggested.

Savannah recorded the condition.

"And Lily has to kiss Ezekiel," Nick added.

Lily crinkled her nose. "Who's Ezekiel?"

"Connor's toad."

"Ugh. Eww. Nuh-uh."

"Lily," Nathan interrupted evenly, "as your partner, I strongly suggest you accept these terms. They are extremely fair."

"Are you kidding?"

"Nick once made me lick a metal sign in the winter for a dare."

"And you did it?"

Nathan nodded gravely.

Lily sighed. "Fine. I accept your terms."

Savannah slid her the parchment. "Sign here."

Lily obliged and passed it to Nick to do the same before returning it to their notary.

"Great," Savannah said as she slipped it into her bag. "Now can we please study?

o0O0o

Lily learned very early on that Nathan, who had very many amazing qualities, was very poor at manipulating people.

"How should we get them to talk to each other?" she asked on the first day of their challenge.

"Nick started talking to Laura when they sat together."

Lily sighed. "But why would they be sitting together? They're not even in the same year."

Nathan scratched his nose with his quill, leaving a few ink marks Lily decided not to mention.

"I dunno."

Lily sighed once more.

o0O0o

She decided that she needed a fresh consultant and approached Malfoy with the matter the next evening at Quidditch practice.

"Freddy and Sullivan, huh?" he mused as they walked back towards the castle a little detached from the rest of the team.

"Yeah, not my idea."

"Have you tried rearranging seats? Might be hard at this point in the year, but history says it's effective."

Lily shook her head. "Different year."

"Tutoring, then? Sullivan spends all that time in the library."

"Freddy's smart."

Malfoy switched his broom to his left shoulder. "Is he really?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, that's inconvenient. Is he in any clubs?"

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Do you really see Sullivan joining a club?"

"How about detention?"

This caught her by surprise. "Detention?"

"Yeah," Malfoy said as the walked through the courtyard, "just make sure they're both there at the same time."

"I'm not going to set Freddy up," she told him with a frown.

"Then don't," he assured her. "He's in there all the time anyhow, isn't he? You'd only have to set Sullivan up. And he likely deserves it."

Lily nodded. "That could work."

Malfoy smiled. "Of course it could. Let me know if you need help. Frankly, Sullivan stuck in detention with Freddy is something I'd love to see."

Regretfully, she couldn't say the same.

o0O0o

It turned out Malfoy was right. James, Nic, and Freddy were caught within that week sneaking back from the kitchens at night with a whole steak and kidney pie.

Freddy complained loudly that the three weeks of detention (one for being out at night, one for having the pie, and one for asking Filch if he wanted a slice) were interfering with their coursework because they could be using that time to study for their OWLs.

Nic added that they couldn't even review as they served their detention seeing as Filch demanded they be separated.

James conceded in hush tones that it could have been a lot worse. They had stopped in the kitchens on their way back from systematically plastering chewed gum all along the underside of Professor Kenning's desk.

Plus, Filch was so distracted in his giddiness to hand out three weeks each to three students, he hadn't noticed they'd kept the pie.

Privately, Lily was happier than Filch.

oO0Oo

The next day, in Potions, Lily waited until everyone was working more or less quietly before she started a conversation with Nathan.

"You know what's completely disgusting?" she asked him loudly.

"What's that?" he asked curiously at a normal volume.

"I heard Trevor Sullivan chews gum all the time."

She glanced over at Professor Kenning, whose head was tilted suspiciously towards their table.

"Like a cow."

Nathan looked at her oddly but she could see Jonah was starting to look worried.

"Especially during Potions class."

At this, Professor Kenning practically jumped and, once she mostly recovered her composure, walked near their table in what Lily was sure she thought was a discrete manner.

"That couldn't be true," Jonah argued with some alarm. "I heard Trevor Sullivan hates gum. He's allergic, in fact."

"Oh, no," Lily contradicted evilly, "He loves it. And I heard that when he's done with a piece of gum, he sticks it right under Professor Kenning's desk."

This time their teacher really did jump and hurriedly crouched to check beneath her desk. Sure enough, she squeaked in disgust and surprise at the sight of its new decorations.

Off to her right, Lily heard a groan and a dull smack as Jonah dropped his head to his open textbook.

o0O0o

Nathan was impressed, and slightly relieved, to learn Lily had figured out a plan without him. He was slightly less excited to hear the hardest part was yet to come.

Because, while Freddy was supposed to scrub out the walls and contents of a third floor broom cupboard, Sullivan, despite his pleas of innocence, had to chip gum from the bottoms of desks. If this were going to work, one of them would have to switch.

From what she learned by being James' sister, Lily knew Filch kept a record of who was serving what detention on thousands of handwritten filing cards. All she'd need to reassign a detention would be a simple charm. That, and a distraction sufficient to keep Filch and teachers safely away from Filch's office.

Malfoy was happy to lend her a couple of contraband stink bombs because, for reasons that still traumatized poor Madam Promfrey, she'd used all of hers over the break.

Nathan was slightly less happy to be wielding them from his perch on a landing near the hallway's South entrance. He had next to them a piece of parchment and was pretending to copy a bowl of fruit from the nearest painting.

Malfoy was similarly equipped at the North entrance, although he was near enough to a few Transfiguration Society flyers to use them as an excuse.

Lily would be the only one to actually enter the office. Her heart was beating harder than she liked as she walked down the empty hall. Almost everyone was at dinner and she couldn't decide if the silence was comforting or foreboding.

The office itself was tiny, really, with little space between the uneven desk and the looming cabinets. Her hands were shaking as she reached for the drawer marked Detentions in large letters. She flattened her palms against the cool metal to steady them and, as she did, she caught sight of another drawer with the words Confiscated and Dangerous crammed onto a yellowing label. Her sudden desire to poke around inside it was strangely reassuring. She came from a long, proud line of troublemakers. Her current infraction was nothing compared to their rich history.

She was no longer shaking when she performed the charm she studied with Faith one Saturday morning back in December. Carefully, she replaced the card with its new description in its master's own handwriting. Her feet led her, numbly at first then excitedly, back to the South entrance, where Nathan was waiting.

Lily slowed when she heard another set of footsteps coming closer, although slightly higher. She looked up to watch none other than Trevor Sullivan stalking right up to Nathan. Horrified, she stood frozen as he stopped to look over Nathan's shoulder.

"Is that supposed to be a mango?"

Nathan gulped and clutched both the parchment and the dung bomb hidden in his sleeve.

"I thought it was a pear."

Sullivan sneered. "I'm sure you did."

He continued towards the stairs. Nathan, not seeing Lily below, panicked and dropped one of the bombs. It landed close enough to make her eyes water.

Sullivan stopped.

"Ugh. Gross. You're a stinky one, aren't you?"

Nathan sat there stupidly, his eyes wide to better observe Sullivan turning back the way he came to more quickly evade the smelly first year.

Once he was gone, Lily allowed herself to cough. She quickly darted away from the drop zone.

Nathan neck nearly snapped to find the source of the noise. Lily could only just see from the flight below the guilty expression he soon wore.

o0O0o

I'm so sorry, Lily," Nathan said once again when she sat down next to Nick.

Her hair was still drying from her third shower that evening, but Jonah's crinkled nose suggested even those weren't enough to get rid of the smell.

"You smell like dung," Jonah told her honestly.

"Yeah, I know," she huffed as she opened her Astronomy textbook.

"But also sort of like mangos."

"Savannah lent me some perfume. Although if it was for me or the room, I wasn't sure."

Jonah nodded. Nathan muttered something malicious against mangoes. Nick was giving her a look that was difficult to read.

"I'm assuming this had to do with the wager." Nick said it almost as a question.

Lily sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that week and leaned her head back against the couch.

"You'd be correct."

"Dung bombs?"

"Two for two."

He was then silent long enough that Lily craned her neck slightly to see if he was going to respond.

When he saw her look, he paused a moment longer before saying thoughtfully, "Remind me, Potter, that if I'm ever in trouble, I want you on my side."

o0O0o

It seemed to take too long in Lily's opinion for anyone to hear the results of her escapade. She made a point in lunch each day to stop by the Gryffindor table and ask, what she hoped was discreetly, about the situation or Freddy's general well being. She was beginning to think Filch noticed the change and fixed it, until Freddy's expression on Thursday clearly suggested some drama afoot.

"Is everything okay?" She managed a voice sounding more concerned than excited.

"No," Freddy scowled, which was a rare sight. "For once in the history of Hogwarts, it seems Filch ran out of detentions. So I have to double up."

He saw Hugo tilt his head in confusion and expanded his statement.

"With Trevor Sullivan."

"That's ridiculous," Nic sympathized.

"And possibly dangerous," Louis added.

Many in their number gave him concerned, slightly judgmental looks.

"Well, have you seen him?"

Apparently the comment was enough to earn him a couple nods. Lily saw an opportunity.

"Will Filch be there?"

"Probably not," James answered evenly, "but I doubt he'd be much better company."

"But you're right," Roxy interrupted with a frown. "I'd rather Freddy not be alone with him."

James waved a finger between himself and Nic. "We'll be at our detentions, or else Quidditch."

"I could sit with him," Lily chimed in.

"Don't be stupid," Al told her. "It wouldn't do any good putting a first year against some Death Eater wannabe."

Freddy smiled, his usual humor already returning. "Maybe when you're older."

Molly bit her lip. "I could do a couple afternoons."

Nic shook her head. "They're all in the evening."

"I might be able to find someone to fill in if I HHHH dkfjdneed to miss a meeting."

"I could just do it by myself," Freddy reasoned.

"Don't be silly," Roxy told him.

Lily patted his arm across the table. "Maybe when you're older."

"I'll sit with him," Roxy concluded. "I'll just have to take my homework with me."

Freddy gave an exasperated shake of his head and returned to his sausage.

o0O0o zebra

From what Lily could tell based on the limited information she was able to quietly collect, Freddy's time with Trevor Sullivan did not enjoy an impressive start. Admittedly, Sullivan didn't make any attempt to harm or threaten- Lily suspected her cousins would have mentioned such a scene. She couldn't be certain if the relative peace was a result of Roxy's influence, but she was happy her bet didn't seem to be endangering her cousin.

Unfortunately, absent violence did not qualify as friendship to most individuals. And when Lily visited the room where they were serving detention, she found it in nearly complete silence except for the dull scraping sound of Sullivan's spatula as he picked gum of the bottom of desks and the light scratching of Roxy's quill. She stood in the doorway of the old Transfiguration classroom long enough to witness a rustle as Roxy flipped a page and a scuffle when Freddy started dusting a different shelf. None of the three looked up to notice her presence and require her prepared excuse.

"It's pathetic," she informed Nathan when she returned from her reconnaissance. "After all we did, they're not even talking.

Nathan appeared to consider it. At least, he looked from his Astronomy paper to the sweater someone left on a nearby armchair.

"Do you think you could talk to Freddy?" he asked.

Lily scrunched her face. "Wouldn't that be cheating?"

"Well, don't say anything major, just give advice, like 'consider new friends'."

His friend's mouth quirked into a small smile as she responded, "Give different experiences a try."

Nathan grinned.

"See detentions as opportunities."

"Don't judge a jerk by his personality."

"Dusting time is bonding time."

Lily laughed outright. "And your lucky numbers are…"

Nathan snorted so loudly a concerned, and slightly disgusted, third year offered him a tissue, but he waved her away with another short laugh.

"But, seriously," he continued after mostly regaining his composure, "It might not be a bad idea."

Still smiling down at her textbook, Lily nodded in agreement.

"The worst he can do is refuse to recognize the better version of himself that would doubtlessly-"

Lily shoved him before his laughter could further distract them from Transfiguration.

o0O0o

The conversation she crafted for Freddy hardly went gracefully, but he did ultimately agree to strike up a conversation with Sullivan, if only to prove his safety was not a direct result of his sister's company. In a lucky turn for Lily, he promised, without her asking, to report back the notes of his attempt. Unluckily for Freddy, that week marked the beginning of evening sessions for Roxy's study group. Lucy offered to take her place before Roxy could suggest something as radical as skipping the meetings, rendering Freddy's experiment all but invalid.

"I'll still try it," Freddy assured her, somewhat oddly, and she felt a little guilty knowing she had egged on his self-conscious doubts. "Either way, it's another person in the room. Makes no difference if it's Roxy or Lucy."

Lily couldn't help but silently disagree because Roxy, while a truly sweet person, never struggled with confidence or a variety of nasty hexes. And Lucy was, well, Lucy.

"Definitely."

o0O0o

Counting on Freddy keeping his word, Lily sat at the Gryffindor table for lunch on Wednesday, anxiously awaiting his arrival. Finally, after Louis and Al came, ate, and went, he decided to make an appearance. He was even by himself.

"Hey," she greeted more eager than she meant. "How did last night go?"

"Weird," Freddy offered with wide eyes and a shaking head.

Lily froze. "Demonic possession weird?"

"No," her cousin assured her, "Nothing like that. He just…"

Oblivious to his company's panic, Freddy seemed to be running through the detention once again in his head.

"He started talking about art."

"What?"

"With Lucy." Freddy gave a look sympathetic to her shock. "Yeah, our Lucy started talking art with Trevor Sullivan."

"That's-," Lily stared at her sandwich as she struggled to construct a proper response, "weird."

Freddy nodded. "And you know what's stranger? I think they were ready to keep talking about it. Past when the detention was over, I mean. I wasn't going to let Lucy walk back by herself, of course. Or with him."

"Mmhm."

"And they were really slow actually getting out the door," he marveled, "kept having one last thing to say about this painting or that technique."

"Weird."

"Mmhm," he agreed, his attention now on his sandwich.

Lily slowly stood to leave.

"Well, keep me posted," she said with no thought for discretion because, to be quite honest, she had entirely forgotten about the bet at that moment.

Her cousin nodded. "Will do."

o0O0o

As it turned out, Lily hardly even needed Freddy's reports at all. Before Freddy's detentions with Sullivan were over, Lucy was well and truly friends the Slytherin. No one was quite positive why and everyone, including Hugo and Lily, were finding themselves incredibly protective. They calmed down a bit after a rare, damning scolding from Lucy herself. Sullivan was also becoming a bit less creepy as the days passed and seemed to be trying to make a good impression on them, which had to be worth something.

While things didn't go exactly according to plan, Lily was incredibly impressed with how it all went. If they could flip Sullivan anyone else should be easy. So she felt justified in her indignation when Nick came along to insist she could never win their bet.

"I already have, actually," she replied primly instead of snapping, which she was also quite proud of.

Nick looked incredulous. "You have not."

"Have so."

Nick shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way you won. There's no way you're going to win. And you know it."

Lily would do no such thing and her chin jutted out as if to prove it. "You're wrong."

"Admit it, Potter."

"No way," she protested. "My cousin befriended the be- er, Trevor Sullivan."

"Yeah," Nick conceded, "but not Freddy."

"So?"

"It has to be Freddy," Jonah insisted. "Louise doesn't count."

"Lucy."

Nathan nodded, but argued, "It's still pretty impressive. She deserves the spoils."

Nick shook his head. "Wasn't the bet."

"Come on, Nick." Lily tried to keep her voice from a whine. "You can't be serious. I fulfilled the bet, even if it's not how you expected."

"Did not," came Jonah's arguably immature reply.

"Di-"

"Fine," Nathan broke in, interrupting what would undoubtedly be Lily's equally childish defense. "We'll ask Savannah. I mean, that's why we established a judge in the first place, right?"

Their blank looks morphing into contemplative expressions suggested the solution actually hadn't occurred to them. Jonah recovered first.

"Right you are. Savannah's decision settles it. Agreed?"

Lily mumbled her assent because she was pretty sure this would not be going in her favor. She much preferred her own stubborn logic against Nick's persistent thirst for victory. At this point, however, it was too late to admit some doubt in her argument.

They found Savannah easily enough in the library and Erin was quick to leave the previously peaceful table at their noisy arrival. She slurred a few awkward syllables claiming her need for some reference aside from the stack already piled by her quill.

"Hey," Savannah greeted simply after witnessing her companion's departure.

"Hey," Nathan replied in turn. "We have some dissension over the bet."

She rolled her eyes but nevertheless straightened and asked in an admittedly amused voice, "And what seems to be the problem?"

"The bet only works for Freddy, right?" Nick asked in a tone far from Nathan's determined impartiality. "No one else?"

Savannah gave a slight frown in thought as she began to rifle through her bag for the folded parchment they all recognized as their contract.

They continued to sit as, humming slightly, she looked over the scrawled sentences. Enough time passed for her to read the short document several times over before she gave her ruling.

"Based on a review or the contract, I find in favor of the dare's initiator."

Nick and Jonah's whoops of approval (quickly followed by Madam Pince's snap of disapproval) seemingly testified Lily's dissent.

"However," Savannah continued, silencing their celebrations, "I see no mention of a timeline in here, either. So, technically, Lily would still have an indefinite amount of time for Freddy to befriend the va-," she coughed falsely, "very special subject of this here bet."

Nick slouched in disappointment and annoyance. Seeing this, Jonah put a comforting hand to his shoulder and continued the argument.

"Hang on, Lily told us the bet was over. Wouldn't that be her proposing a timeline? And, clearly, we accepted."

"What?" Lily sputtered. "No. You started talking to me about how I was failing at my bet."

"Right," Jonah agreed, "to which you said, as I recall, 'I've already won, actually' and it was those words that brought us here."

"But that's not what I meant. I was jus-"

"But you said it."

"Yeah, so?"

"Savannah?" Jonah whirled from the intent stare he was delivering Lily to refer back to their judge.

The girl now questioned held the boy's look defiantly for a moment before remembering her responsibility as arbitrator. She looked again at the parchment as she weighed her different opinions.

Slowly, she announced, "It seems she did, in fact, end the bet, for one way or the other," then added sheepishly, "Sorry, Lily."

o0O0o

"Are you serious?" Lily asked as she looked up from her textbook the end of that week to see two of her friends grinning madly before her. "You want to do this now?"

Nick nodded fervently, his smile only growing. "Right now."

"Come on, I'm trying to do the reading for Herbology and I'm not even halfway through that Potions essay due Wednesday-"

"And I haven't even started," Jonah interrupted with a smile to match Nick's. "You've got enough time for this."

Lily tried for seriousness. "This was never supposed to affect any of our schoolwork."

"Wasn't in the contract," Jonah reminded her, "but we can call in Savannah's judgment, if you want…"

"No way," came a voice a couple chair groupings over. Savannah was apparently listening to the dealing. "I'm seriously done with this whole business. And I suggest, Lily, you get out as soon as possible, too."

Jonah's smile, if possible, brightened. "The Judge has spoken."

Lily bit back her retort.

"And Ezekiel's so been looking forward to his kiss," Nick taunted.

She shuddered. "Fine. Get Connor."

Jonah scrambled to obey and Nick went to find Nathan, leaving her to the abandoned Herbology textbook and a resigned sigh.

They both returned quicker than she would have liked, a slightly concerned Connor in tow. Sitting in his hands was an unbelievably obese toad.

"Behold!" Nick remarked as he waved towards the creature, "Your betroad."

Nathan snorted at the sad attempt at a pun. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Is that even considered a toad anymore?" she asked tactlessly.

Connor held Ezekiel closer, as if to comfort any damaged feelings. Savannah, however, who had drifted over at some point preceding the presentation, cast her a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, Connor," Lily mended, "but it's just, that's a big toad."

Her classmate stroked his pet between its eyeballs.

"He's just a little husky is all," he retorted defensively.

Lily refrained from explaining that toads weren't supposed to be husky at all and that particular toad was not little in any way. Instead, she elicited one of the sighs that were constantly catching in her throat ever since this stupid bet started.

"Fine, let's get this over with."

"Ahh, yes, observe: sweet, toady justice," Nick dramatized and, intentionally or not, earned the attention of a decent percentage of the common room.

His reluctant challenger held out her hands and Connor solemnly placed Ezekiel safely on top. Lily let out a puff of air and then, grimacing slightly, leaned down and kissed the toad.

"Haha," Nick crooned when she straightened to glare at him. "Justice, sweet justice. Sweet, toady justice."

Lily rolled her eyes at the cheers and polite clapping exploding around her. She was sharing a look with Nathan, who shrugged amiably, when she started to feel a cool liquid between her fingers.

"Ugh," she exclaimed, looking down to discover the explanation. "Ugh. Ugh, gross!"

People were starting to notice her reaction as she was hurrying to hand Ezekiel back to Connor.

"He peed on me!"

Nick stared at her with wide, delighted eyes and a goofy grin for a moment of silence before bending over in uncontrollable laughter. Jonah didn't hesitate at all and Nathan was hardly better. Savannah tried her best to bite back a crazy smile, but relented when she saw Lily's own disobedient face break into a grin.

The victim of the assault shook her head slowly in amusement as she walked the path to the bathroom. Onlookers obligingly stayed clear, whether from disgust or mild respect, she wasn't sure. Looking back at her friends leaning against chairs and each other for support, she didn't honestly care.

o0O0o

Whatever the outcome, Lily was finally free from the pressures of her bet and its potential repercussions on the health of her family members. The respite came just in time for the weather to warm and Quidditch practices to pick up in preparation for the coming match against Gryffindor. It was on one such evening that Patton decided the best way to solve whatever rustiness the lightened winter practices brought was drills. Lots of drills.

No one was in a very good mood that day and, frankly, Lily was too scared to break the aggressive silence the team constructed. They were frustrated and close to erupting each time one of beaters, who were hitting the bludgers harder than ever but with little accuracy, sent something too close to the ring of catchers. Andrews was clutching the Quaffle, ready to throw it at Dellinger when they heard Malfoy give a terrible yell.

Morgenstern, it seemed, had clipped his broom on one of the goal posts through which he was weaving. Malfoy was already crouched over him and frantically reciting calming phrases. But over his shoulder, Lily could see Morgenstern's leg was twisted oddly and had quite a bit of blood on it.

Patton quickly barked orders for his teammates to hoist him up and get him to Madam Promfrey and Harrison now. Despite the grumbling they've been giving him all evening, no one hesitated to obey, although Andrews did pause them to perform a sustained levitating charm before allowing them to guide the now floating Morgenstern to the Hospital Wing.

After giving Dellinger instructions to take away the equipment, Patton began to stride after them with Lily at his heel. Glancing over and noticing her there, he gave her a grim look.

"We're gonna have to get you ready for Saturday."

He kept walking, even after his words left Lily frozen in her steps.

o0O0o zebra

"One more, Potter." Patton called up to his reserve player, "then we can go in."

Lily, too tired to holler back, nodded as she leaned forward to start another turn. It was her third extra practice this week and she was really starting to appreciate Hogwarts' decision to restrict first years from Quidditch. The large Astronomy project she still had to finish was not helping.

"Good," Patton told her as she touched down. "You'll be ready on Saturday."

She couldn't help but give him a somewhat skeptical look, but his face cracked briefly into a smile.

"Really," he assured her, "You'll be fine. Now, help me pack up."

His protégé obeyed, scurrying to summon the Quaffle that was lying by the goal posts. Patton paused a moment in arranging the beaters' bats neatly in the truck. He gave her a calculating look as she tossed it to him.

"That's a pretty intense spell for a first year," he finally remarked.

"Charm," Lily corrected thoughtlessly. "I, er, I'm in Charms Club."

"And that's the kind of thing they teach you?"

"Kind of, sometimes," she relented before scooping up her broom and offering to carry his. "We usually just pick one or a few we want to work on each meeting and Professor Garett'll work with us. Typically they're weird ones that don't appear in the curriculum."

"Huh," he replied over the soft clicks of the trunk's clasps. "That could be useful. Anything that could help for Quidditch?"

Lily glanced cautiously over, tying to decipher the full meaning of his question. "Uh, my Dad likes a charm for his goggles; it keeps off raindrops for bad weather."

"Okay." Patton gave a thoughtful nod that was enough to dissuade her fears. "Definitely something to look into."

"I'll try and get it on the schedule."

They walked a little ways in only slightly awkward silence before Lily finally resolved to ask the question that had been bothering her for a while.

"So why does Nic dislike you so much/"

Patton's head gave a slight jerk before he could regain normality, although the grass was suddenly too interesting for Lily to notice.

"I think we're getting along a lot better now, actually," he claimed genially. "I seem to be growing on her."

Lily, who watched him dump those cockroaches out of his bag not two days ago, knew this was far from the truth and the lie gave her confidence enough to shyly meet his eye.

"Yeah, I know," she humored him, "but what, um, originally made her dislike you?"

"Well, you know Nic," he explained, somewhat nervously, "and we had a bit of a miscommunication our first term."

"Oh." She nodded, unsure why other than it seemed to be the thing to do. "What was the miscommunication?"

Patton paused their progress a moment to bend and adjust the buckles of the trunk. Consequently, he was not looking at her when he answered.

"I, uh, was under the impression for some of it that she was a guy," he told her casually, then winced at her gasp of laughter.

"You what?"

"She wasn't in my House," he defended, "and her hair was short then, remember? Plus, she always hung around James and Freddy and for the love of Quaffles, everyone calls her Nic."

Lily attempted to reign in her humored expression. "You never noticed the professors called her Ms. Weasley?"

Patton glared, so she moved on.

"How'd you find out then?"

"On the platform going home for Christmas," he confessed. "Her dad mentioned how much he missed his girls. I figured it all out from there."

"Okay," Lily processed in a determinedly thoughtful voice. "How'd she hear about it?"

"Dunno," Patton shrugged. "I mentioned the mix-up to one of my buddies and he must've told someone because a couple days later Nic was really passive aggressive asking to go to the ladies' room. She completely hated me after that."

His companion allowed a minute or so of reasonably awkward silence before speaking up just in front of the great oak doors that marked the entrance to the castle.

"Have you apologized?" she hesitated at his head jerk, "Or something?"

"Apologized?"

"Or something."

Patton seemed to consider the suggestion. "Like maybe I should just mention it, clear up what happened?"

"Sure," Lily encouraged uncomfortably.

The older boy nodded and quickly swerved the conversation to Quidditch strategies.

o0O0o

Being keeper wasn't as bad as Lily thought, even though it was against her family, maybe because it was against her family. Every time James came to take a shot, she'd just tell herself they were back at their neighborhood Quidditch pitch and she was helping him practice. She didn't consider the fact that normally James's focus was on beating the Slytherins.

She was getting the hang of it now and a little excited when she saw the Quaffle coming her way. Meldrum had it and Kurtz flew at his side, trying to elbow away Andrews. Dontereg tried to race up from behind, but James cut in front of him as he went to float slightly lower in front of the posts in case Meldrum missed. Patton was closer to the middle of the pitch, waiting for the crowd to come back to him so he would easily be at the head of the struggle.

A good plan, Lily couldn't help but think, but she wished he wouldn't put quite so much faith in her abilities.

She watched as the Slytherin chasers failed to apprehend Meldrum. There really should be a bludger or two around. What were they doing? She caught a slight movement near the beaters with the corner of her eye, but her focus was on the large, reddish brown ball headed towards her left goal post.

She darted over to defend it and, while she wasn't able to catch the Quaffle, she did manage to swat it away. It was falling and she looked down, waiting to see her brother snatch it and fly up to take his shot.

But the Quaffle dropped.

Lily searched the pitch for James and found him walking off of it with Patton, a redhead supported between them. Lily raced to the small knot that was gathering around them, completely abandoning her posts.

"What happened?" she asked once she touched down.

Louis landed behind her and asked the same.

"A bludger got her in the head," James explained as the growing crowd parted for the five of them, "knocked her out and off her broom. Patton caught her by the arm and he thinks it dislocated her shoulder."

None of the teachers had managed to make their way through the chaos in the stands. All Madam Hooch told them was to get her to the Hospital Wing, which they were doing anyways. She looked too disappointed in them for leaving to say or do much else.

"We should get her on a broom," Lily suggested once they pushed through the crowd to the open green in front of the castle.

She gave them hers because the rest of them had dropped theirs long before and they successfully, if a bit ungracefully, got an unconscious Nic onto it with only one near fall. Patton and James stayed on either side to guide the broom and keep her mostly upright, although her head quickly slipped to the right, resting more or less on James' shoulder.

"Can't either of you do a levitating charm?" Louis grumbled as he watched his sister almost slip.

Lily could, although she wasn't confident enough to test it on her cousin, but no one was asking her to. James' 'er' suggested he felt much the same and Patton, who hadn't grown up with their dad's Quidditch stories, kept his wand in the locker room for safe-keeping while he played.

So they continued much the same, but Patton grabbed Nic's opposite shoulder to better balance her and keep some of the weight off James. His partner gave him a grateful look over the top of Nic's head as they passed through the main doors.

"Louis could take your spot if you wanted to head back," he told the Slytherin Captain. "Madam Hooch has probably kept the game going."

Patton shook his head, "It's okay. My team's better off than yours at this point, anyways."

"You're missing your keeper. And your captain."

"We'll still win if Malfoy catches the snitch fast enough and Andrews'll probably make Bellinger fill in for keeper."

"But I'm not sure if-"

"Are you guys really discussing Quidditch right now?" Louis interrupted them. "Can't it wait?"

Patton looked sharply forward, but James only shrugged. Which dislodged Nic's head, meaning he used the hand in front of her to catch it, causing her to lean forward, but Patton leapt for the broom handle to keep it her from hitting her face. They then readjusted themselves and crossed the last corridor to the Hospital Wing, Louis shaking his head all the while at his sister's inferior caretakers.

Madam Promfrey did know the levitating charm and quickly got Nic safely into a bed. Then she ordered Harrison through the rest of the preparations, often reprimanding him for being too rough or not smoothing a blanket or some other minor mistake the students present doubted Nic would ever notice, even if she were conscious.

Madam Promfrey had scared away seventeen healers before Harrison came. He was the only one who stuck around despite her bossing and many termination threats, but she expected whomever she was training to be perfect so her kids would be in good hands when she died. Harrison had been at Hogwarts for three years by this point and she was actually very pleased with him.

"Quidditch injury, I suppose," she sniffed, eyeing their robes from her seat at a wooden chair near the middle of the room. And if she found it odd that two of the students were wearing Slytherin green, she didn't show it.

James nodded before answering in a disturbingly routine voice, "Bludger to the head and suspected dislocated shoulder."

"I wish I could say it was better to see you again, Potter," Madam Promfrey replied dryly, earning herself a smirk from James.

"Mr. Harrison," she continued as she slowly rose from her chair, waving away the hand Harrison offered, "What treatment would you suggest?"

"Redala spell for the shoulder." He paused to watch, slightly concerned, as she walked slowly towards Nic's bed.

Madam Promfrey waved him on impatiently.

"Enthymatet charm and bed rest for the head," he finished and looked at Louis as he pointed to the chair.

Louis scurried to bring it over. Madam Promfrey frowned slightly before begrudgingly accepting the seat.

"Please demonstrate."

Professor McGonagoll walked in as Harrison was doing so and waited quietly until he was finished.

"How is she?" she asked once he stepped away.

Harrison allowed his superior to answer.

"She's fine. She's just resting."

"I'd like to speak to her when she wakes up," Professor McGonagoll said, already heading out the door, "I'll be back a little later."

"She's awake now," Harrison offered, startling them all. "She's just faking."

All eyes went to Nic, who spoke before opening her own.

"Aww, come on, Michael. I thought we were friends."

Harrison rolled his eyes and smiled. "Sorry, kid, but despite all of the quality time we've spent together, I'm really just your healer."

McGonagoll strode back over, not nearly as amused. "Ms. Weasley, I expect you to write home immediately."

"What?" Nic straightened up in bed to Harrison's frown. "Why? She just said I was fine!"

"Be that as it may," their professor answered, still frowning, "you cannot continue to keep you parents uninformed of your many injuries. Write. Home."

Nic huffed as she fell back against her pillows. "They're really busy. You can't expect them to do anything."

"You're lying, Ms. Weasley and I would dock points if I didn't know you were so recently knocked in the head."

Lily thought she might be making a joke, but it was an interesting and confusing thing to hear coming from their professor and she couldn't be entirely certain that was what happened.

"If there is not at least one family member by your bedside," McGonagoll stopped when she saw the small smile Nic couldn't contain, "who is not currently a student here," Nic's smile faded, "by the end of today, I will mail home, personally, a copy of your health care file."

Nic's smile was completely gone now and a near glare was present as she watched McGonagall leave. She immediately rounded on the assistant physician.

"She couldn't do that, Harrison, could she?"

"I really think she can," he answered and there was some humor in his sympathetic smile. "Maybe she should."

Nic shot him a full glare, which he ignored, choosing instead to escort Madam Promfrey back to her office, promising to let her know if anything changed.

"Right." She turned to James until she spotted Louis. "Louis, could you write Teddy and ask him to come? Or to send Victoire if he can't. Mention that he's not to tell Maman or Dad."

Louis nodded and headed to the Owlery. Across the room, Harrison smiled and shook his head at the jars he was cleaning, but said nothing.

Nic watched her brother leave and noticed when she did Patton standing by her bed.

"What are you doing her?"

"He's the one who caught you," James explained.

"You shouldn't've done that," she told Patton, glaring all the while.

"You'd rather I just let you fall?"

"I would've been fine," Nic stubbornly insisted.

James gently told her that she was sixty feet up and no, she would not have been fine. But Patton, exasperated, looked to Lily, who only gave him a thumb's up.

Because Nic had to realize she owed Patton and Nic always repaid her debts.

Patton was going to leave after that, but then the rest of Lily's cousins trooped in and they had the report for how the Quidditch game went.

Slytherin had scored once and Gryffindor scored twice right after they left, but they didn't count because no one was actually paying attention. Professor McGonagoll had Headmaster Dorgan stop the game to calm the chaos. She and Dorgan then left and the Weasleys tried to follow, but Professor Kenning insisted the headmaster wanted all students in their seats. By the time Professor Longbottom came over and convinced Kenning that they were family and should be allowed to leave, Madam Hooch had restarted the game and they figured, correctly, that Nic would rather they keep tabs on the match than sit at her bedside.

Andrews, as Patton had guessed, had put Bellinger by the goal posts. Kurtz, the Gryffindor captain, apparently told her team to all keep a look out for the snitch. James shook his head when he heard this, but refused to say anything against his captain. Both teams did pretty well, considering the conditions, but McGonagoll had returned before the snitch was caught. She stopped the game for real that time because apparently Madam Hooch should have realized that a school match should be postponed when over a third of the players, including a captain, had left the pitch.

"What?!" Lily, James, Nic, and Patton all cried around the same time.

"You don't postpone Quidditch," Patton explained unnecessarily.

"You don't," Nic agreed, far too incensed to realize with whom she was agreeing. "It's," she sputtered as she searched for a strong enough word, "Quidditch."

Everyone nodded, causing Harrison to again shake his head before heading into the large closet that served as his office. At that time, Louis reentered the Hospital Wing.

"Teddy's coming soon," he announced to the watching room. "He's using the shack entrance."

"How'd he get your letter so fast?" Rose inquired.

"Professor McGonagoll asked a house elf to meet me in the Owlery and send it." He smirked. "She really isn't going to accept any excuses."

Only Patton still looked confused about the letter's speed. The rest of them had heard enough of Aunt Hermione's and Uncle Ron's, and even Uncle Harry's, lectures on house elves' forgotten power.

"But I'm going out to wait for him," Louis continued, "Anyone coming?"

James looked tempted, but everyone knew he would never leave his friend's hospital bed, even if she did insist she was fine. But Al was happy to accept and Hugo quickly followed.

Lily bit back a frown as she watched them go. Hugo was spending a lot of time with Louis lately and she tried not to feel like she was being replaced. She thought she hid it pretty well, but Rose caught her eye to give a sympathetic smile. This only really served to make Lily feel guilty. She was the one who made Malfoy and Al friends. But that was a good thing, she reminded herself. She'd just have to figure it all out with Malfoy.

Talk of the Quidditch match died down and conversation shifted to family news: incoming WWW merchandise, classes, Christmas break adventures. Cousins would stand in groups of two or three or five to discuss one topic, often contributing to another group when they felt their input was needed. They teased and argued and laughed and Nic was talking as much as anyone, shouting if the person wasn't close enough to her bed to speak normally. Patton, Lily was relieved to notice, was participating as well, and had even tricked Nic into holding an arguably pleasant conversation. It was like a family party until Teddy came and actually wanted to talk about what seemed important.

"What happened?" he asked before he even made it to the bed. He wasn't in a panic, because Teddy didn't panic, but he was acting concerned. Which was disturbing, because he didn't usually do that either.

"Teddy, I'm fine," Nic assured him. "McGonagall just wanted me to let family know this time."

Lily was really starting to wonder the full implications of 'this time', especially when Teddy nodded, completely understanding, before giving the crowd gathered a slightly judgmental once-over.

"Who don't currently go here," Molly qualified and Teddy nodded again.

"What happened?" he repeated in a normal, Teddy voice.

"Bludger knocked my head, fell off my broom, idiot who caught me dislocated my shoulder." Her nod was directed to Patton, but Teddy apparently believed it was to James, because he didn't question it. "Harrison patched me up, fine now, but McGonagoll decided to make a big deal," she listed, sounding bored and rolling her eyes at the mention of McGonagoll.

"And you didn't want to tell your parents?" he asked, but it was out of curiosity, not concern.

"You know Maman," Nic told him, "and Dad's almost as bad. I would've owled Victoire, but she's probably still at work."

"Yeah," Teddy agreed, "She's coming later."

"She doesn't have to. You shouldn't have to. It's really not a big deal."

"Not everything's about you, Boo," Teddy chastised as he flung an arm around Lucy. "This is a good excuse to see you guys."

The cousins near him all ruffled his turquoise hair. The rest told him he was going soft.

"Boo?" Patton snickered.

Lily wanted to smack him. They'd made so much progress that day and now he had poked fun at that silly childhood nickname.

Nic met his eyes with a glare, challenging him to comment, but Patton only smiled, shaking his head as he held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Is that-," Teddy started, noting the outsider for the first time.

But Lucy kicked his foot and James shook his head fiercely, silencing him.

Patton looked like he wanted to know the question, but Teddy quickly steered the conversation to Hogwarts life, which everyone grew bored of and were soon insisting her tell them all his new stories from work. Lily noted they were much more interesting than past years'- he was a full auror now, actually allowed to go out basically by himself. She was sorry they hadn't been able to hear them over break. Teddy, however, argued a system of trading stories to get his full update.

So it was that Victoire walked into the hospital wing to find her cousins all laughing over a recounting of a particularly daring prank that ended with Roxy stepping in to save the three troublemakers from three months worth of detention. She actually looked pretty confused, wondering why they were all so light when Nic had summoned her to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing under unclear circumstances.

"Is everything…" She paused, walking hesitantly over to the still smiling group, "…alright?"

"Everything's fine," Teddy assured her, kissing her cheek in greeting. "Just a little Quidditch injury."

"McGonagoll overreacted; she wanted non-student visitors at my bedside," Nic expanded before giving Louis a look.

Louis threw up his hands defensively.

"I told them not to worry in the letter."

"I skimmed," Teddy admitted with a shrug.

Victoire excused herself with a question; "Why'd you listen? I mean, what's she going to do, dock points because your family doesn't show?"

"She was going to send Maman and Dad my medical records."

Victoire looked slightly impressed with her old professor's threat, but Hugo asked the question on Lily's mind.

"What's so bad about Nic's medical record?"

The rest of the family faced him, surprised to remember that he'd been at home the past few years.

"They're…" Freddy started, considering his reply.

"Extensive," Roxy supplied.

"Nick does a lot of the legwork for our pranks," Freddy explained.

"It's more fun," Nic told them.

"More injury-prone," Roxy translated.

"It's what gets you caught," Patton added, almost patronizing them.

Victoire took in his green Quidditch robes and chair by the bed.

"Why are you here?" she asked, almost rudely.

"He's the one who caught Nic," James said as an introduction.

Victoire looked concerned. "You fell?"

Nic pointed, childlike, to Patton. "He caught me."

His sister surveyed the rescuer in question, mentally reviewing all the classmates Nic had ever mentioned.

"Are you Joel Hawkins?"

Patton looked confused.

"No, he's not," Teddy answered, making Patton even more curious.

"Is he like Joel Hawkins?" Victoire continued, sounding almost hopeful.

"No," Nic told her, exasperated, with embarrassed head in hands. "I don't hate him that much."

To any other group, that'd be a confession, but her family understood. Patton didn't. He just sat, waiting for some kind of explanation, trying to decipher one of the significant glances being passed around.

"Well, I'm going to go," he announced when he'd given up, "I still have to do that Transfiguration essay."

Freddy's eyes went wide and he stared ahead guiltily, deliberately avoiding Roxy's eye. The rest straightened slightly and said their polite goodbyes.

"Hang on," Teddy stopped him as he walked past. Patton paused and Teddy continued, "Thank you. For catching Nic. And staying with her."

"It was nothing," Patton mumbled, for the first time embarrassed.

"Still," Teddy drew out the word, pretending to consider the matter. "I actually kind of like it when she's not dead."

Patton smirked back as he shook Teddy's offered hand and headed for the door.

"I'd sometimes agree."

They watched carefully as he left.

"So…" Victoire broke the silence, a playful grin on her face as she finished conversationally, "he was kind of cute."

Nic looked to the ceiling for patience. "Joel Hawkins is in Lucy's year, and a Hufflepuff, remember? Because it was Lucy who answered all your questions? Plus that was last year and I fixed it."

"I don't think punching someone is the healthiest approach," Molly said.

"But it's clearly effective," Freddy argued, earning him a submissive half-shrug from their most responsible cousin.

Victoire tried a different approach.

"My sister," she marveled, acting stunned, "going for the older man."

Nic only raised her eyebrows in reply, which confused Victoire until Teddy slipped an arm around her, pulling her into a mocking side hug.

"Oh, right."

"So that's enough out of you, jailbait," Nic told her sister, effectively changing the subject.

o0O0o zebra

In hindsight, Lily probably should have been suspicious that her brother was unbothered every time he saw the new Slytherin decorations. It should've seemed odd that Nic kept talking to that twitchy Ravenclaw. Freddy's long hours of "studying" should have been investigated. She realized later there was significant foreshadowing for what was to come, but at the time she was too giddy about how well her plan was unfolding.

Ever since the last, fateful Quidditch match's impressive display of Slytherin sportsmanship, the House's relationships with the rest of the school, Gryffindor in particular, were better than any time in the past decade. Professor Garett hinted better than since before the War. The popularity of the story of her fall and rescue forced Nic to admit her gratitude to Patton, much to her friends' surprise. Her family would never tell her, but they also found small ways to thank him and his House.

Their newfound benevolence gave Lucy the courage bring around her new friend, Sullivan, more often and reveal her full devotion to her "doodles". Lily didn't fully understand her cousin's odd collection of waves and smudges that Sullivan announced were neo-expressionist paintings. But she did appreciate the proud smile Molly wore when someone mentioned Sullivan's new seat down the table, farther from the teens who already looked half dead and how Lucy was starting to talk with her hands, like she did when they were little, and Roxy's light teasing when their cousin excused herself to meet up with her new friend.

And Lily was right about Malfoy. He was meeting Al near daily for studying or a trip to Hogsmeade or a game of Gobstones. He begrudgingly thanked Lily for setting it up, even though he insisted they would've become friends eventually. Rose still didn't approve, but Lily wasn't surprised- she expected it would take a while for the stubborn girl to come around. Malfoy did excitedly report that she called him by his first name the other day, although it was admittedly for the benefit of a clever, but snide comment.

Overall, the plan was going well. Sure, there were rough spots: Molly still flinched slightly if Lily ever mentioned Jonah, Nathan was now looking for a way to escape his overly devoted tutor, and Laura Murphy still chattered more than Nick would like. But these were small bumps in the otherwise smooth sailing. She even was working on another step, with the hopes of involving James in the plan.

To be truthful, Lily was quite proud of herself and her House. So she decided to splurge and buy a reasonable ensemble of Slytherin paraphernalia for the newly rescheduled match against Gryffindor.

She wasn't playing this time, but her brother and Nic were, so she decided to remain in her own House's section of the stands. Nick, Nathan, and Jonah even let her sit with them.

It started off a good match. No one had scored yet when a boy in the aisle started calling for last minute Slytherin scarves and hats and banners at a ridiculously low price. The sandy haired Ravenclaw was shouting only a few feet away, but Lily barely glanced over and only distantly recognized his spastic manner as somewhat familiar.

She was too busy watching Andrews race towards the Gryffindor posts. Andrews made the shot and Lily joined her house as they stood to cheer the first goal of the match.

In her excitement, it took the girl longer than it should have to mind the strange flicker that started at the edge of her vision. She only truly did when the large banner directly in front of her suddenly turned a very loud shade of scarlet. Around her, similar transformations were taking place- on banners, but also on the hats, scarves, and sweaters of shocked Slytherins. Looking down, Lily found herself also sporting Gryffindor colors.

She later heard Nick, Nathan, and Jonah whisper a report back at the castle to Savannah, informing her that their favorite Quidditch reserve player went into a sort of shock for the remainder of the match.

Which, despite the circumstances, was actually not that bad for the most part. Some of the more dedicated fans braved the chill without hats, mittens, scarves, sometimes even sweaters, rather than support the opposition. Others simply flipped the offending garments inside out, which did little to hide the color, and snuggled, with some disgust, into the irritatingly warm Gryffindor apparel.

o0O0o

If that had been the end of things, maybe it all would have turned out all right. The problem was, Lily had set herself on a bit of scheming of her own and by the time the colors of the Slytherin merchandise betrayed its owners, all that was left was to sit in the stands a while longer and pray what was happening next would save the day.

It was a sloppy plan. Later on even Lily would concede on that point. Earlier that day she baited James into showing up with talk of getting an overdue book from its careless borrower and hoped the prospect of having a date to their distant cousin, Quinn's wedding, something she had heard Freddy and Nic tease him about, would lead him once she got there. That, and the flyer she had shoved into his hand as he walked to his meeting.

She had planned on a romantic meeting after an exciting game that would give the soon to be couple plenty to talk about as they strolled back to the castle together. It should have been a perfectly ending to the day. In reality, however, things started going wrong well before Andrews started sneezing.

To begin with, James and Andrews were mad at each other. James for Andrews' inconsiderate book borrowing practices and Andrews for the distracting spectacle in the stands a couple hours before.

"Andrews!" James started, far sharper than Lily had imagined when she had rehearsed the event in her head. "I need to talk to you."

Andrews whirled around with an expression of mixed disgust and exhaustion already on her face. "Seriously, Potter?"

"Yeah, actually," James snapped. "You've been reading Quidditch Through the Ages, right?"

"And so what if I have?"

It was at that point the flyer in James' hand transfigured to a small bouquet of flowers.

"Are those-?" Andrews gritted teeth suggested she had not realized her company's equally bewildered expression. "Look, Potter, I'm not interested in joining your book club or whatever it is you wanted to ask me- especially after that stunt you pulled today."

"That's not what I-"

"Take the out, Potter," Andrews snapped, "I know I will," she finished even as she spun on her heel to walk, very much alone, back to the castle. It was a fair attempt at dignity, but the effect might have been more convincing if her allergies hadn't acted up.

James remained where he stood looking angry, embarrassed, and incredibly confused.

Until he happened to look up and spot a horrified Lily watching from the stands.

Then he was just angry.

Very angry.

o0O0o

"What were you thinking?"

Lily had ran as soon as her brother made eye contact but his long legs and superior knowledge of the castle meant he had found her hiding place embarrassingly quickly.

"Were you trying to set me up? You can't do that! What did you- You can't do that to people," James sputtered as Lily steadily shrank smaller and smaller.

Lily presented the only defense she could think of; "I thought it'd be good for you."

"You don't get to decide that!" he burst out as he began to ruffle his hair and pace furiously across the small classroom in which they found themselves. "Not for anyone and especially not for me!"

His sister remained silent in a desperate hope to wait out the worst of his rant.

"You have to understand you can't do that," he told her desperately, "It's just so…"

"Slytherin?" Lily supplied and, with that, found she was angry as well.

James scowled. "Yeah, it is."

"Well that's the problem, isn't it?" Lily snapped, already working herself into a force of righteous indignation. "Not that I made a mistake or that it didn't work out but that your Slytherin kid sister went off and acted like a Slytherin and made a Slytherin plan to set you up with a Slytherin."

"You said it, not me!"

"And what's so wrong with being a Slytherin? I thought everything was supposed to be fine between the Houses!"

"Right, what's so wrong with being manipulative, conniving …"

"Hey! That's my house."

"Yeah, and I'm starting to see why!"

It's possible James would have realized he went too far and immediately taken it back, although Lily would doubt it, but Lily wouldn't find out because on that remark she decided she had heard quite enough and promptly stormed back to her dormitories to bitterly celebrate her team's victory.

o0O0o

Her fallout with James meant she kept little to no contact with their other family members- she had no doubt they would be siding with him on this one. The exception, surprisingly, was Al, who stubbornly continued to acknowledge her in the hallway, and Malfoy occasionally would relay during practice a few almost sounding concerned messages from him that she had no idea how to respond to.

The absence of her cousins' company quickly began to ache, worse than when they had all left for Hogwarts and she stayed behind. Now she avoided even Hugo, allowing herself no hope for his loyalty. It was affecting her mood for non-family topics, as well, and apparently it was getting obvious.

"Is something wrong?" Savannah finally asked.

Lily schooled her expression into one of mild curiosity and confusion.

"No. Why do you ask?"

It might've worked if Savannah didn't already know the answer. At least, Lily expected she did, because the other girl rarely trusted her interpretation of a situation enough to take so bold an action.

"Your brother asked me to make sure you're okay."

"You can tell him I am."

Savannah fiddled indiscreetly with the sleeves of her robes and refused to look up until she finished saying, "But you'd probably see him first, wouldn't you? You're always going over there for lunch."

Lily resisted the urge to freeze her motions, but did succumb to a jerky manner as she continued collecting her books.

"Dunno," she answered before too much time could pass, "Sounds like you've been seeing him, too. Might catch him before I do."

She walked out the door of their dorm with her bag hurriedly hanging from her right shoulder.

"I know you've been avoiding them."

The redhead allowed herself to turn slowly so she could have more time to plan her response.

"And I'm kind of tired of being the middleman when you do," Savannah professed, "It was fine when you really had to study, but lately it's just been silly."

Lily sighed. "I have to get to Quidditch. Patton's already about to skin me for having Charms Club tomorrow."

Savannah looked surprisingly unhurt by the brush-off.

"Go ahead," she told her with a steely expression, "I delivered my message, last one, mind you."

Lily turned once more, desperate now to escape, and didn't think when she delivered the first response that came to her.

"You're the one who wanted to be an owl."

She left before she could wonder or know if her friend's cold expression broke in betrayal.

o0O0o

Patton was surprisingly understanding when Lily reminded him the next day that she was leaving practice early for Charms Club.

"Oh, have fun, Potter. See if you can get that deflective charm on the agenda, yeah? And, oh," he turned sharply now, startling Lily as if he only just now remembered, "if you see Nic, could you tell her to give me back my book? She pick-pocketed it a couple weeks ago and if she's going to be this slow of a reader, she'll really have to start asking."

His teammate nodded numbly. It had been closer to a month since her argument with James. She didn't expect Nic to remain civil with Patton after that.

She was running late for her meeting, but she trudged slowly back to the castle. She seemed to be doing a lot of trudging lately and it was getting worse. Normally, she'd mention this sort of thing to Savannah, who was a good secret keeper and dependably sympathetic. The thought of admitting she was lying earlier, however, was enough to dissuade Lily from that option. Maybe it would be a better idea to confide in Faith this time.

That was easier thought than done. Faith also noticed Lily was sadder than usual, but decided blindly that the best solution would be to get her excited for charms. It took a fair amount of Slytherin manipulation to get Faith to ask for her confession already.

"But what's the big deal about this fight?" she finally asked when she realized that what Lily really wanted was comfort.

"Well, for one thing, it's with James," Lily told her friend, eager to sort through her recent drama.

"So?" the Ravenclaw prompted in between tries at their newest challenge. "He's your brother. You're going to fight sometimes."

"I know." Still, she shook her head at the thought of it. "But this time Al is agreeing with me."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Faith answered objectively. "Even brothers are right sometimes."

"Maybe," Lily conceded.

She tried her hand at the charm before continuing, "But there's also the fact that this is all my fault."

"How?" Faith, finally curious, asked and even lowered her wand.

Lily felt a slight throb in her chest when she noted that Savannah would've phrased the question much more tactfully. Still, Faith was here and Faith was asking.

"So, towards the beginning of the year I had this idea. You see, no one ever really says it, but they look at the Slytherin House differently, like we still haven't made up for all the mistakes we made during the War. But we're different now,"

Lily paused to check Faith's expression. It was focused, like when she was trying to understand a new Defense Against the Dark Arts theory.

"So I thought that, if other Houses would just give us a chance, they would see that."

Faith was nodding slowly in deep consideration.

"My plan was to orchestrate a few friendships between Slytherins and people of other houses, to prove we've changed and can be friendly."

Faith stopped nodding.

"You set up people form other Houses to prove a point?

Lily hesitated at the friend's hard, almost hurt, tone.

"Er-kind of. But I didn't mean anything bad by it. I was just trying to help."

Lily cast their practice charm to avoid eye contact and accidentally sent Rebekah's books flying onto the floor. The girl shot a mild glare, but amiably waved off Lily's apology.

Faith nodded coldly before clarifying, "And James found out about all this?"

Lily watched Rebekah carefully gather her Transfiguration notes.

"Not really. He just knows I tried to get him to go out with Andrews, my teammate. I thought it would strengthen the project."

"And did you know if he liked her or not?"

Faith's tone remained even but Lily was too intimidated to face her friend. She instead kept an eye on Rebekah, who somehow managed to drop her newly organized papers once more and had to pick them up again.

"I thought maybe he could. She's pretty and nice, so I thought maybe he would, you know?"

Lily found the courage to look at Faith as she finished but she would wish later that she hadn't. Her friend's eyes were narrowed and her mouth was twisted in bitter humor.

"Oh, I'm sure he could have made it work," Faith spat, "such a shame he was too selfish as to want something real."

Lily watched in wide-eyed horror as, after delivering the reaction she most dreaded, Faith angrily stuffed her wand into her robes.

"I have to go finish homework," she explained gruffly to a bewildered Lily, "assuming, of course, that it's convenient for the plan."

She left in a huff, but luckily a small one, so that it was only Rebekah who noticed enough to give Lily a strange, almost distrustful, look.

o0O0o

If Lily had any hope that Faith's mood would improve for the next day, it was false. The Ravenclaw greeted her partner with a curt nod when she found her seat in Charms. They spent the rest of the class in uncomfortable silence, despite Lily's best efforts to draw out a conversation. It was actually easier when Charms ended and Lily could head to History of Magic, where she could likely avoid speaking to anyone for the whole class.

The disadvantage to the silence, of course, was how easy it was to think. Naturally, Lily's interest deviated from Wallace the Wicked and soon focused solely on the argument she now had with nearly every person in her life. Even Nick, Nathan, and Jonah were treating her oddly that day. Apparently they noticed the rift between her and Savannah. Nathan questioned why Savannah didn't walk down with them that morning and Nick found several opportunities to go over and talk to their missing friend. Jonah didn't say much, but he gave Lily some reproachful looks. Even without their interference, Lily was missing Savannah.

They really didn't sit together much, but sharing a dorm and similar morning timelines offered Lily plenty of opportunities to appreciate the other girl's wisdom and kindness, even on Monday mornings. That morning, Lily woke up to find Savannah had already walked down with their other dorm mates. The trek to Potions was also unusually Savannah-free.

That first day was awkward, but by the time Wednesday came, Lily was truly lonely. All of her friends were either mad or suspicious, a reflection, it seemed, of her family members. Her other roommates had also noticed the difference between Lily and Savannah. Marnie's unwanted interference was easily ignored, but Lydia had a way of making herself heard.

"What's going on with you two?" she asked when she had Lily cornered outside of Transfiguration that day.

Lily shrugged. "Nothing."

"Yeah. And it's weird," declared Lydia, too stubborn to be deterred. "Don't get me wrong, I've liked spending more time with her, but you guys have been weird."

"We just had an argument. It's not a big deal."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Then apologize. Or you'll lose her."

A few more days passed in similar distance, leading to the climax of Lily's misery. She was having a particularly bad Thursday, which, in her opinion, was the worst day to start. She still wasn't talking to her family, Savannah, or Faith.

She had forgotten Transfiguration homework and did it in breakfast, so it was probably rubbish.

Walking out of the Great Hall, she accidentally met Roxy's eye, the owner of which gave her a small, thoughtful frown that inspired a new supply of guilt.

For the first time all year, she truly could not understand the new charm theory and, of course, she couldn't ask Faith for help.

Jonah caught her in Potions watching Nick's near daily conversation with Savannah when he made an excuse to borrow beetle eyes. She got a slightly sharp comment for that.

Later, when pouring her table's potion into a flask, she spilled some onto Erin's notes and completely embarrassed herself. Erin said it was okay and insisted she could copy Savannah's, which made it worse because of course Savannah was indirectly helping her out of a mess.

And now Professor Cornatch was looking at her over the top of his podium.

"Ms. Potter, the repelling charm is most helpful for which offensive magical creatures?"

It was a completely open-ended question. Naturally.

"Er," was her brilliant start, "Imps, pgrebins, mackled macaws-"

"Malaclaws," Cornatch corrected sharply.

"Right. And, uh, dugbogs?"

Her professor's face was impassive as he asked, "Anything to add?"

Lily racked her brain. "Er, no?"

Professor Cornatch shook his head slowly. "What you missed, Potter, was the bowtruckle. While further spells are typically required, a repelling charm buys an unsuspecting wizard time to compose himself after an airborne attack. Anyone planning to disturb a protected tree should offer woodlice to avoid being attacked by a living stick in the first place."

He paused a moment to allow the small round of snorts and chuckles to die before he walked back to his podium.

"Now, Mr. Roland, would you be-"

"Sir."

The interruption was soft but caught the attention of its subject, who quickly straightened.

"Yes, Ms. Barnes?"

"I was only wondering, professor, if the bowtruckle wouldn't technically be considered a defensive creature," Savannah stated in her original tone, but with an air of deliberate confidence, then clarified, "rather than an offensive one."

She waited somewhat stiffly and avoided the eyes of her classmates as he contemplated her argument.

"An interesting case," Cornatch, to Lily's surprise, conceded. "Although I said offensive as in 'unappreciated', not the instigator of the confrontation."

"Oh, sorry," Savannah said with a good deal of hand waving but a discreet suggestion of lacking sincerity. "I misunderstood."

Professor Cornatch gave only a nod that smelled slightly of approval before he resumed his question for Aaron Roland on the proper technique necessary for a successful repelling charm.

Perhaps he thought, as Lily did, that Savannah Barnes looked in that moment like someone who had achieved all she'd intended from their conversation.

o0O0o zebra

Lily really did want to apologize to Savannah, to all of them: James and Faith and Hugo and Al and Rose and Patton and Nic. She was sorry to have hurt them and manipulated them. The problem was, she wasn't sorry for why she did it.

Funnily enough, it was Al who helped the most. She had noticed he'd been trying to catch her eye ever since the incident, but she was mostly able to avoid him. That Thursday, however, she was too upset and distracted to notice his approach until he was next to her on the bench down a bit from the Great Hall. They had the hallway practically to themselves, completely to themselves if you didn't count the Grey Lady's dignified but morose wandering. Everyone else had just started lunch.

"Hey," he said after a near minute of silence.

"Hey," she replied, struggling to keep her voice level, if a bit dejected.

"You haven't been to the table in a while."

Lily couldn't help but glare at her brother.

"And I know you haven't been studying."

Lily put one foot on the bench and rested her chin on the bent knee, so her voice was slightly unclear as she answered. "My marks have been fine."

Al ignored her comment.

"Your friend Susannah says she hasn't talked to you in a while."

"Savannah."

"Er, Savannah. Are you guys fighting?"

Lily turned her head so now her cheek was on her knee, which did nothing to improve her articulation.

"About as much as I am with everybody."

Al didn't complain that she was inaudible. "You're not fighting as much with me."

"Don't make me feel worse."

Al laughed and fished out of his pocket a licorice wand. He carefully unraveled it and offered her half, like he used to back when they got along. Lily reluctantly accepted it.

"She misses you. You probably wouldn't even need to apologize. Just tell her what happened."

He allowed her a few minutes before he interrupted their silence again.

"Same goes for us, you know. We all miss you, Lily."

She didn't need to ask whom he meant by "us". Same as he didn't need to look over to know that her chin was starting to wobble. e just put bothHe just put both his feet on the edge of the bench to rest his chins between his knees and pulled out another piece of licorice.

They spent the rest of the lunch that way: sitting in silence except for the exaggerated chewing noises from chins still rested on bent knees. Al split another five licorice wands for the two of them. He never looked over when he handed Lily her half, or else he would have seen her eyes were half filled with tears the whole time they were there.

A little before students began to invade the hall, Lily bent over to finally wipe dry her eyes and fetch a water bottle from her bag. She offered it to Al and, after they both had a drink, they each went to their separate classes with nothing more than a nod.

o0O0o

Later that night, Lily was sitting in the common room, working on homework with Nick, when she looked up to see Savannah walking towards their dormitory.

"Hey, do you know where Ivan the Irritating was born?" Nick asked.

"Wasn't it Bulgaria?" she countered distractedly.

"Hmm, might've been." He leaned forward as if to get off the couch. "I'll go ask Nathan."

Lily almost nodded before she realized her opportunity. "No, it's okay. I'll grab my textbook."

"Are you sure?" he asked, even as he settled back into the couch.

"Yeah, I think I might need it for number 12 anyways."

The excuse was enough for Nick and she soon found herself opening the door to her dormitory. To her mild disappointment, and cowardly relief, Lydia was also in the room with Savannah. They both looked up as she entered. It hurt somewhere near her stomach when Savannah quickly looked down, but Lydia held her gaze for a few seconds before looking away.

"I, er, just needed my Potions textbook."

She kept her head down as she walked awkwardly to her bed, but the conversation previously in the room was dead now.

Lydia soon interrupted the crashing silence; "I'll wait for you in the common room," she told Savannah, who was still busy looking for an old set of notes.

Lily's head automatically jerked up at the announcement so she was able to fully observe Savannah's desperate look of near betrayal. They both listened to the door snapping shut, the disappearing tapping of Lydia's shoes, and finally the almost silence sitting across the indecipherable conversation happening down the hall. They glanced at each other a moment before they both returned to their searches. Lily let the small noises of rustling and scraping continue undisturbed for a minute before she could finally force herself to speak.

"Thank you. For the other day. With Cornatch."

Savannah hit her hand on the edge of her trunk in surprise, which Lily guessed must have hurt, but the girl didn't complain.

"Professor Cornatch was incorrect and I'm always happy to argue- you know that," she said in the sweet voice she used for strangers and then, heartbreakingly, began to turn red, as if embarrassed of her references to their friendship.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Lily let the matter drop and Savannah gave a short, polite nod. They faced their trunks once more in silence. Lily pushed aside an old pair of socks for what must have been the fifth time in feigned search of the textbook sitting on top of her bed. Sour regret was building up in her stomach, preparing her for another outburst, hopefully one that would actually clean this whole mess.

Savannah's slightly dry words interrupted her mental preparation. "If it's your potions book you're looking for, it's on your bed."

"Oh," Lily feigned surprise at seeing it there, inches from her face. "Right, thanks."

She stood slowly to grab the book and tip it slightly towards her once friend in a subtle gesture of gratitude. Savannah awkwardly nodded her acknowledgement and Lily interpreted it also as a suggestion to leave. In respect to the other girl's wishes, Lily walked to the door and silently procrastinated the declaration of repentance she promised she'd give. She was a foot from the door before she thought she was ready to turn around.

"I'm sorry."

Lily did turn around and blinked a few times in surprise.

"I didn't mean to interfere with your family," Savannah continued. "I didn't really mind passing along word from your brother."

Lily felt herself gaping.

"We have another six and a half years of school and I just thought…" She cleared her throat to interrupt herself and give one exaggerated, bowing nod before finishing; "Anyways, you were looking for your textbook. I shouldn't keep you up here."

She quickly found an excuse to glance away but stood facing Lily as she waited for her to leave. Lily, however, made no further progress towards the door.

"Wait, you can't be sorry," Lily finally managed.

Savannah did not move except perhaps to tilt her chin upwards just barely, so subtly it might not have happened at all.

"I am," she insisted, almost indignant. "But, look, I was just trying to help."

Lily shook her head sadly. "I know. And you were right. I was just being stupid."

Her once friend opened and closed her mouth as she realized there was no argument to be made. Lily watched for further reaction.

"You weren't stupid," Savannah finally let out, slowly.

"Yes, I was."

This time Savannah shook her head as she sat on her bed. Her trunk remained in a state of disarray with a number of notes still awaiting her surveyance. Despite nearly a month of silence between the two of them, her voice quickly regained its more familiar tone.

"You just wanted to be by yourself for a while. It's understandable."

"Not like that, though. Not with how I left things," Lily confessed and then, seeing her friend's obvious interest and patience, proceeded to explain the whole story. Or, rather, most of the story, in between other questions and explanations of their separate lives the preceding weeks and before Erin's entrance interrupted them.

"Sorry, guys," she said as she poked her nose through the door, "but Nick wants to know what's taking you so long, Lily. And I, um, was grabbing another quill."

Lily looked over guiltily from her perch on Savannah's bed, but Erin graciously agreed to pass along her textbook and apologies to Nick and tell him she'd be there soon enough.

"I should go back, too," Savannah admitted once their dorm mate had left. "Lydia's probably waiting for me."

Lily had a sneaking suspicion Lydia was not nearly as impatient as Savannah feared and may even be disappointed they returned so quickly.

o0O0o

Lily was delighted the next morning to see Savannah sitting cross-legged on her bed, studying a textbook even after Lydia and Marnie went up. She dressed hastily and found herself looking over every now and then to make sure Savannah was still there and happy.

"I almost feel guilty," she admitted with a grin as they walked down the hall, "stealing you back in the mornings from Lydia and Marnie."

"Oh, I haven't been walking with them," Savannah assured her as she rotated the door.

It took her a moment to notice Lily's inquiring look.

"I kind of felt bad," she explained shyly, "tagging along so much of the time. They were really nice," she hurried to clarify, "but I figured that'd be a pocket of time I'd give them to themselves."

"Oh, were there, uh, other pockets of time?"

Lily tried to sound casual but Savannah caught the real question and was quick to offer assurance.

"Not a ton," she answered smoothly. "Some of the time I was with Erin and you know I like to take some time to myself."

Lily nodded as the truth hidden somewhere in Savannah's reply, along with something else, gnawed at her conscience.

"You could've still talked to the guys, you know," she finally announced, as a means of fixing at least part of the problem, "They're your friends, too."

"Yeah," Savannah agreed, "Yeah, I know."

Her tone was unconvincing, so Lily was pleased to observe their friends' wide grins at the return of their companion to their morning routine.

"I figured when Lily took so long last night that you two were busy talking," was Nick's attempt at a complaint, but the obvious approval in his tone ruined the effect.

"You know, it doesn't hurt to try doing your own homework every once in a while," Savannah reminded him.

"That's what you think," Nathan chided. "You should've seen how Jonah's marks dropped in Defense Against the Dark Arts without you helping him out."

Jonah disagreed loudly but did ask what her thoughts were on the four elements of surveillance. And of course he knew there were actually six; he simply misspoke. He really does just want her opinion, but feel free to list them, please.

o0O0o

They all but forced Savannah to walk with them to every class that day to make up for lost time and insisted she update them on her, somewhat boring, life from the past few weeks. Apparently uncomfortable with the number of questions they had all been asking her, Savannah eventually succeeded in turning the conversation away from herself.

"Oh, Nick, how is the whole Laura situation coming along?"

"Oh." Nick sighed dramatically. "I tried what you said, but it didn't make anything better. I still feel like I'm always three seconds from a mental breakdown all the time. Not to mention Connor and Michael hate me for getting her started."

"What was her suggestion?" Nathan asked the question on Lily's mind.

Savannah blushed as Nick answered, "She said I should actually try listening and asking more questions."

All heads turned to Savannah.

"I thought maybe if he pretended he cared he might actually learn to care. Then they could be friends like we planned all along," she argued defensively.

Jonah and Nathan rolled their eyes.

Lily decided to steer the attention away from Savannah again. "Doesn't she talk to Connor or Michael?"

Nick shook his head sadly. "Only me. The most she'll do is ask them to pass the beetles' eyes."

"Well, I'm sure she'd rather talk to one of her friends," Nathan contributed.

"There's always next year," Lily said hopefully.

Nick shook his head again. "Maybe not. Laura thinks Kenning still hates her. She's afraid she'll have a similar seat next year."

Smirking, Jonah asked, "And you're afraid of the same?"

His friend glared. Lily intervened.

"She could try sucking up to Kenning."

Savannah nodded encouragingly. "Maybe if she brought her grades up?"

Everyone nodded at the suggestion.

"She should get Casworth as a tutor."

All heads turned to Nathan at his input.

Lily was grinning madly as she said, "Nathan, you're a genius."

o0O0o

Nathan reported on their walk back from lunch that his conversation went as well as he could have hoped. Casworth was immediately interested in tutoring Laura, especially when he learned that his reputation had expanded into yet another House. There had been one terrifying moment when he seemed to think he could handle having two pupils at once. Nathan tried arguing that he shouldn't spread himself too thin and that Laura deserved the same amount of energy as he had received, especially if all of the Gryffindors were to be hearing about it. What ultimately convinced Casworth, however, was the fact that Erin was not tutoring anyone at the moment. If he were to be tutoring two people that would be twice the amount of time that he would not be studying his own materials and she would.

In the end, Casworth relented and Nathan was free of him, just as long as he could convince Laura to be tutored.

They all found a reason to hang back and eavesdrop when he went over to talk to Laura at the end of potions that day. It was across the room but even over the bubbling of a few cauldrons that set along the sides, they could make out most of the words.

"Hey, uh, Laura was it?" he started once he had made his way reluctantly to the table. "I'm Nathan. Nathan Merrill?"

Whatever she mumbled back was unintelligible but it didn't seem to be very encouraging if they were to judge by Nathan's reaction.

"I'm a friend of Nicks?" he added lamely. "Who sits next to you. Anyways, he mentioned you were worried about seating next year."

Laura tilted her head. "Nick talks about me?"

She glanced for the first time at the back table.

This appeared to fluster Nathan all the more. In the back of the room, Nick went pale.

"Er, sort of. Sometimes. When it's relevant. But, uh, I was thinking, if you wanted to get into Kenning's good graces, I have a really good tutor you could work with."

"You think I need a tutor?" she asked defensively.

"No! Or, maybe. It might raise her opinion of you if you started doing better in the class. Even better, I mean."

"Do you really think that'd help?"

Nathan looked very nervous now. "Uh, yeah, I do. I mean, it worked for me. And it makes sense, doesn't it?"

His tone was so uncertain Lily's forehead fell to her palm, but it had Laura convinced.

"Oh, okay. Thank you. For telling me." She was nodding now. "What's your tutor's name?"

o0O0o

"You owe me," Nathan informed him before even sitting down.

Nick grimaced before gathering his indignation. "What, that helped you as much as it did me."

"But were you the one to convince Laura?"

Nick grunted in what one could loosely interpret as reluctant concession.

Jonah decided, in consideration of Nathan's bias, to step in as judge.

"The debt stands."

His condemned friend faced him with a half-hearted glare. "Yeah? Well, you still owe me for helping you study during the Kenning Crisis."

"In that case," Jonah swiveled, surprisingly, towards Nathan, "You owe Lily. She's the one who found you a tutor."

Nathan opened his mouth, but Nick cut him off; "from which you initially benefited, regardless of your later suffering."

Nathan closed his mouth and cast a dark look before opening it once more. "What I was going to say was that I then repaid Lily by being her second in her bet against you."

"Ha," Jonah crooned, "which means I repaid Nick."

"No," Lily protested indignantly, "Nathan didn't actually do anything in that quest except pelt me with a dung bomb.

The group laughed at the guilty boy's sheepish look.

"The debt stands," Jonah announced once more.

"Hey," Nick cut in," Jonah didn't do much either. Plus," he shared a significant look with his currently defiant friend, "remember the Erin thing."

Nathan and Nick laughed again, this time at Jonah.

"What'd you do to Erin?" asked Savannah, clearly concerned for her friend.

She looked to Lily, who shrugged.

"She's fine," Nick assured her with a chuckle, "I don't even think she knows about it. The important thing is, I'm off the hook."

"The debt stands," Lily couldn't help but conclude with a smile.

Savannah shook her head, "You're all ridiculous."

But she was smiling, which was enough for Lily.

Nathan also began to shake his head. "Wait. So, Jonah owes Nick who now owes me who owes Lily?"

Jonah pulled a hand down his face. "So I actually owe Lily? But that's not fair… she's way worse than Nick. She's devious and conniving and weirdly good at-"

"Actually, you'd owe Savannah," Lily interrupted and then, seeing their confusion, clarified, "For Cornatch?"

There was a collective round of 'Oh's and nodding, but Savannah protested.

"That's not necessary. I told you I like arguing. It's really nothing worth paying back."

Lily looked ready to defend her statement, but Jonah beat her to it.

"Please, Savannah," he begged, actually falling to his knees and grabbing her robes. "Have mercy. If ever you loved me, save me from Lily."

Once more on Savannah's face was a goofy smile she couldn't really contain and, somewhere in her face, irrational guilt at being the ultimate collector of the debts. After looking from her friend's mischievous grin and Jonah's theatrical demonstration, however, she conceded.

"Fine."

Her grin widened as the others cheered and Jonah stood back up.

"Now you owe her a second time," Nathan stated, "for saving you."

"Indeed," Jonah nodded solemnly, "and how can I repay the debt?"

Savannah twisted her mouth in thought before deciding, "Give me your cookie at dinner, and we'll call it even."

He gave a small bow in acknowledgement, "Master is most generous."

He proceeded to hold the door for her and the rest of their laughing friends.

o0O0o

It wasn't until dinner, which they convinced Savannah to spend with them, that Lily had the chance to tell Savannah in hushed tones the overview of her dilemma. Although, admittedly, she omitted the advice others gave to apologize to her. Their friends were too busy whining about the first years' homework load to pay their conversation much mind.

"Well," Savannah started once she swallowed, "I agree with what Al said. Your family probably just wants to move on from it. A small apology would likely be enough seeing as none of you seem to be particularly…" she waved her hands a few times to find the right words or perhaps indicate Lily should provide them, before settling on, "touchy-feely."

Lily shrugged in agreement, relieving any anxiety Savannah had of offending her.

"But it hasn't seemed like you and Faith have been talking much, either. Is that something separate or…?"

"No." Lily grimaced and continued guiltily, "I tried telling her what I told you because I couldn't tell you and it, uh, didn't go well."

Savannah's forehead wrinkled in concentration and what seemed almost to Lily to be exasperation. "You told her everything you told me?"

Confused, Lily considered it. "I mean, yeah. Except the Al bit. That hadn't happened at that point."

"Lily," Savannah closed her eyes in what looked like pain, "Faith's in Ravenclaw."

"So?" Lily asked, her voice betraying her stubborn confusion.

"Savannah," Jonah interrupted and handed her an oatmeal cookie.

The girl looked at it a moment as if reconsidering its identity.

"Isn't that your favorite kind?" she asked, a second later than was perhaps natural.

"Yeah," he admitted sadly, "but it's still a fair deal."

"Here," she answered kindly, "We'll split it."

Lily looked between the two of them as Savannah carefully broke the treat and handed him the slightly bigger half. Nick noticed the scene as well.

"She's too soft," he argued, "It's no fun."

"This means you still owe her," Nathan pointed out. "If one cookie paid two debts, a half only pays one."

"Savannah's still nicer than Lily," Jonah said with a shrug. To support his statement, he inclined his snack towards hers as an invitation to toast.

She accepted with a grin before returning her attention to Lily. Nathan and Nick shook their heads sadly before resuming their own discussion.

"So?" Lily repeated, her patience slipping, "Why does it matter that she's Ravenclaw?"

"Oh," her friend said between bites of oatmeal cookie, "She's probably offended your friendship started for the sake of some political agenda."

"But it wasn't for that," Lily reasoned animatedly. "We met on the train and started talking in Charms before I thought of any of it."

"I'm sure you did," Savannah assured her. "But you need to tell her that."

Lily sighed as she bit into her own cookie. "I'm not looking forward to that."

"Do you want Jonah to do it?"

Lily smiled. "No, that's not what I would've asked."

Savannah's tilted head implied the obvious question.

"I thought I'd get him to fulfill what he would've done if I'd won the bet with Nick. Molly's near hysterics that the Bug Club could be in Martin's hands next year."

Her friend's eyes widened in horror before she frantically explained, "Oh, I'm sorry. We can still ask him."

"No, no," the other girl assured her, "It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Lily grinned. "I've got a couple other ideas."

Savannah watched her a few seconds more. "Maybe Jonah's right. You are scary." She shrugged away the realization. "Could be handy."

o0O0o

Talking to Faith was harder than perhaps it should have been. They sat together in Charms every day- surely she could just slip in an apology there.

The thing was, Faith was incredibly stubborn. She was mad, she had been mad for going on two weeks, and if she would have it her way she would be mad to their dying day. As much as Lily tried to slip in a friendly word to segue for her apology, Faith simply would not have it. There was always some instruction to be read, some question to be asked of a neighbor who seemed to be a preferable resource, despite always knowing less than Lily.

Finally, Lily had enough and simply grabbed the other girl's arm as she came out of the Charms classroom.

"Ouch," Faith yelped as Lily dragged her to an alcove just outside the door. "Seriously, Lily, that hurts."

Her companion took a break from her frustration just long enough to look sheepish.

"I'm sorry, but you wouldn't talk to me any other way."

Faith promptly stuck her nose in the air. "Well, I'm not talking to you this way either," she huffed as she began walking away.

Lily had her arm again before she made it three steps.

"Look, Li- Potter. I am not interested in being a pawn in your grand plan to save your house. It sounds lovely, really, but count me out."

She tried escaping again, but the stronger girl's hand still held her in place. For her part, Lily's frustration was back in full force.

"Oh, shut up, Faith," she snapped, causing Faith to abandon indifference for an affronted look. "And quit being an idiot. I came up with that plan in, like, October."

The Ravenclaw was curious at the final statement, but clearly still too annoyed to admit it. "So?"

"So… we met on the train!"

Faith didn't seem to immediately comprehend as Lily had hoped she would. But she did stop struggling to free her arm, which her captor took to be a good sign.

"Faith," Lily said slowly, trying very hard not to let her exasperation sound in her voice, "we were friends for about a month before I ever thought of that stupid scheme. You were never a part of it. Never."

They were both very still now, redhead waiting with baited breath to see if blonde would believe her.

"Oh."

o0O0o zebra

"So, who do you want me to give this to?" Nick asked once they reached the near bottom of an infrequently used staircase, a week after she made up with Savannah.

Lily surveyed the mob of people, hunting for the right candidate. Finally, she found a suitable fifth year.

"That one." She pointed. "See her, by Alvin the Statue?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nick told her as he surged into the crowd, then called back, "Remember, Potter, you owe me!"

She grimaced slightly before finding a position in the crowd well suited for eavesdropping. She found one shortly after Nick managed to drag Rebekah over to the wall, where fewer students knocked elbows in their haste to reach food.

"Do you know James Potter?" she heard him ask.

Rebekah hesitated a moment before confirming.

"Could you give this to him?"

Lily saw only the corner of the card on which she'd worked so hard. She held her breath as she waited for Rebekah to deliberate accepting an unknown envelope from a Slytherin. Nick was only to clarify it was from Lily if she initially refused.

Rebekah, however, perhaps remembering Nick walking with Lily, perhaps taking a guess, or perhaps just feeling trusting, nodded. "Alright."

Nick, who insisted he didn't care how this all went, gave as he handed over the card an almost shy smile, which Lily imagined, but couldn't know, Rebekah returned.

From there, it was only a matter of sitting and nervously eating a ham sandwich as she watched for James to open the card.

James came later to lunch with Freddy and no Roxy, but thankfully still sat only a little down the table from Rebekah. Lily watched as her messenger slid down the bench and nervously handed him the small envelope. She watched as her brother hesitantly ripped it open.

The majority of Hogwarts watched Gryffindor as ties up and down the table turned to green and silver, along with crests and even, Lily was surprised but delighted to see, Freddy's hair. The Great Hall erupted in squeaks and astonished laughter as more people realized the drama.

Speechless, James could only stare at the card, on which were simply four words: "Lots of love, Lily".

Rebekah remained next to him, stammering frantic apologies if her waving hands and upset face were any indication. She halted only when her companion broke his face with a giant smile and began twisting around, searching wildly until he spotted his sister's small wave from the table across the hall.

o0O0o

Her cousins congratulated her on the successful prank when they spotted her on their walk to the Quidditch pitch.

"How'd you do it?" Nic asked, throwing an arm over Lily's shoulders as she did.

"Adaptation of the irinis charm; it turned all red to green and gold to silver."

"Hence the hair," Roxy nodded towards Freddy.

"Hence the hair," Lily agreed with a grin before admitting humbly, "I was worried James would get suspicious about the note."

"Of course he didn't," Nic said with a nudge to James that made Lily wonder, "Rebekah gave it to him."

"I hope you told her you weren't mad," Roxy informed him worriedly.

"I did," he mumbled.

This time, Freddy nudged him. "I'm sure you did."

James glared but, knowing better than to tell them to shut it, he addressed his sister.

"We're off to play two on two, but you can join us if you promise not to report back to Patton."

Lily grinned but shook her head. "I'm meeting Hugo for chess."

Her brother nodded his approval before veering away with their cousins and a wave.

After a few short games of chess, Hugo left to spare her some pride and give her time to read over that History of Magic chapter she was so starting to hate. She had been staring at the same picture of the third Minister of Magic, who looked a bit like a homelier Uncle Charlie, for quite a while when a dark head weaved through the library to where she sat.

"Troll Culture Club," Savannah stated confidently as she dropped a blue flyer onto Ugly Charlie's face.

Lily started at her friend's unusual entrance. "What about it?"

"It meets Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 o'clock in Professor Binns' classroom."

"Oh, er. Look- I don't much fancy myself-"

"Not you," Savannah interrupted abruptly, "Martin. He can't do that and Bug Club."

Her friend, now interested, straightened with a slight frown.

"And why would he choose Troll Culture Club instead?"

"Because," she explained excitedly, "It's three times the size of the Bug Club-"

"So, fifteen people?"

"Thereabouts. Plus, their old leadership is graduating and they're holding elections in a little less than a month."

Lily bit her lip in concentrated thought. "You really think it'll work?"

"I'm positive," Savannah insisted confidently then, seeing her friend's still skeptical look, added sheepishly, "Hugo said it should."

The other girl was taken aback at the mention of her cousin. "You talked to Hugo?"

"Er-yeah. He's always been nice when I would speak with Al and you mentioned he's good with these things."

"You talk to Al?"

"Uh, yeah, but I told you about that each time," Savannah, now also confused, answered before shaking her head clear. "Anyways. How's it sound? Good enough to try?"

Lily nodded, surprised and happy to find she wouldn't have to worry about this particular mess.

o0O0o

Monday the Sixteenth was the day that, according to Savannah's best intel, Martin would make whatever exit he would make from the Bug Club.

Savannah insisted they see it happen, so she brought Lily, Nick, Nathan, and Jonah to the empty classroom next door. She invited Hugo as well to be polite, so Lily mentioned the meeting to Malfoy. Malfoy then dragged along Al, who convinced Rose to come as well.

Lily used a quick charm to remove just enough of the mortar to shove extendable eyes and its predecessor, extendable ears, through the crack. Nick offered around the impressive amount of popcorn he managed to smuggle from lunch. Everyone gathered agreed this was poor form but they also didn't hesitate to take large handfuls as they watched the drama unfold.

Martin Crawley, whatever his other faults, did not disappoint when pressed to provide a show. They were mere minutes into the meeting when he jumped up onto a nearby desk, completely startling the boy presenting his, admittedly boring, analysis of the club's newest critter.

"Mr. Ogden," Martin boomed as Molly began to sputter from where she stood in the corner. "Why are you presenting today?"

"To inform the club about the bow gnat." Ogden stopped his nervous answer suddenly, as if that were the only thing keeping him from adding a 'sir' to the end.

"But take a moment," his interrogator jumped, with some grace, off the desk to pace the floor, "to consider what profession you hope to achieve later in life."

"Martin, really," Molly interrupted once she had found her, somewhat exasperated, voice.

Despite her intervention, Ogden fed the conversation; "I'd like to work in the Ministry's department for Environmental Care and Exploration."

"Oh, right then, you should probably stay here." Ogden's words apparently stole the other boy's bluster for a moment, but only a moment because it was back when he continued, "But as for the rest of you!" he announced, louder now and with dramatic arm motions. "You must ask yourself the same and consider how your extra-curriculars should reflect your aspirations."

Molly, Lily could see, was growing more and more suspicious but also somewhat hopeful. Perhaps that was why she allowed him to continue longer still.

"I know that I, when doing so, regretted my participation in this club after learning of an opportunity to further investigate troll culture, a subject which will no doubt serve me well as I prepare for Wizarding Testing in the following years. I urge you, also, to join me in attending that club every Monday and Wednesday in the classroom of our beloved Professor Binns."

Across the room, Molly was experiencing extreme, slack-jawed relief at the prospect of losing Martin, although he would be taking, if the cheers were any indication, much of the club with him. So great was her apparent emotion that she failed to question him taking out his wand until he once more began to speak.

"And as we face our exodus from this largely- no offense- useless club, it seems only right that we share our freedom with our fellow prisoners. That being said…"

Lily watched her cousin's eyebrows sink once more just in time for Martin to magically release the doors of the dozen or so cages around the small classroom.

"Martin, no!" Molly called and rushed towards him, to what end was unclear due to a rather fat moth that landed on the extendable eye. Shrieks coming through the extendable ears, however, assured them the escapees were causing some confusion and the loud crowd walking by suggested Martin's campaign was successful.

A couple minutes later, someone summoned the moth back to its cage and allowed them to observe the once again calm room. There were only five members left in there. A few were gathering what insects they could. Ogden appeared to be crying and Molly was trying to comfort him, but everyone in the next room over agreed she was far too cheerful to be doing so.

Lily sighed in relief. Seeing this, Savannah turned to give Jonah a pointed look. Jonah gave a very different, bitterer sigh and reluctantly handed the girl a few sloppily folded papers.

Lily gave them a curious look, which proved ineffective, so she voiced her confusion.

"What was that?" She nodded to the parchment still in Savannah's hands.

"Jonah didn't think I could take care of this Martin business," she explained almost smugly, "so now I have a report of what, exactly they did to Erin."

Jonah rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like we did something wrong."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Yes, Mum."

"What would you get if you won?" Malfoy questioned Jonah.

The other boy shot Savannah a dark look for her still smug smile. "I owed her. That should've made it even."

"Except it didn't," Nick clarified unnecessarily and with a fair amount of glee, "so you still do."

"Hey, but it's still Savannah," Nathan said to calm their now glaring friend, "I thought you didn't mind owing her."

"Right." Confused, Lily added, "What happened to her being too nice to be evil?"

"I dunno," Jonah seemed almost surprised, "but did you hear why she arranged all of this?"

"No…" Lilly admitted slowly, prompting all eyes to turn to the now sheepishly smiling girl in question. "I thought it was just to clear this all up."

"It was," Savannah insisted with some genuine innocence. "It was just convenient that Jeanne Casworth also happened to be interested in heading Troll Culture Club next year and I thought it might be healthy for her to face some worthwhile competition…"

Nick snorted. "You're still mad about that?"

"She was patronizing," his friend explained with all the dignity she could muster, "and I did not appreciate it."

He shook his head with a smile. "Maybe you're right, Jonah. You should probably stay on her good side."

Jonah nodded gravely as the rest gathered laughed quietly enough to avoid suspicion from the now quiet room next door.

o0O0o

The final leg of Lily's peacemaking plan was not from the original blueprints. It also had probably the best chance of ruining everything.

So she figured it was about time she involved Hugo.

As she had earlier mentioned to Savannah, Hugo, for all his wise habits of staying out of others' affairs, was surprisingly talented at predicting the human element in most situations. Lily guessed it was from all the chess he'd been playing for the past ten years (Aunt Hermione made her husband wait to teach him until Hugo's fists were large enough to grip kid-friendly pieces, even when slippery with drool). Whatever the source, he proved incredibly helpful if an individual was talented enough at convincing him to interfere. Luckily, Lily was the genius in that field.

To his credit, he did offer resistance, although he never denied the likelihood of the benefits. Finally, he snapped as Lily told him her ideas, scolding her that she needed subtlety if this were going to work. From that she convinced him he was already involved. He reluctantly agreed to advise her, if only to ensure a plan associated with his good name didn't fail so miserably as any under her solitary control undoubtedly would.

She was able to compromise for a little less subtlety, because if nothing different were going to happen, what would be the point of interfering at all? Hugo rolled his eyes in exasperation, but when she offered him a final strategy, he gave his approval.

So it was that Lily herself approached Rebekah outside the Great Hall before lunch with sealed envelope in hand.

"Hi, Rebekah," she greeted, perhaps more enthusiastically than Hugo would have liked. Not that he'd know. He insisted eavesdropping would be tacky and indiscrete.

"Hiya, Lily," the older girl answered with a friendly, if perhaps cautious smile. "How're you?"

"Good," she bounced, which was probably going overboard, "but my friend is planning on trying to fit three sandwiches in his mouth at once." True. Nick dared Nathan during Herbology. "And I should probably be there to stop him from dying." Likely false. Savannah, at Lily's insistence, had started eating most meals with them and would surely save Nathan from choking. "So do you think you could give this to my brother?"

She held out he envelope expectantly and just a touch too eagerly. Rebekah took a step back with an amused smile.

"No way," she insisted, "I learned my lesson."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked in a weak stab at innocence.

"I know it was you last time. I'm not mad, but this time, you give it to him."

Lily nodded gravely with feigned humility. "You're right. I'll give it to him now, but," she added with a small, conspiratorial grin, "you might want to wait to eat lunch."

Rebekah's smile soon matched as she obediently headed back towards the Gryffindor tower for a smaller, but safer, meal of packaged food from her trunk.

Her miniature adviser waited until she was out of sight before turning into the Great Hall, heading towards the Gryffindor table. It was easy for Lily to find James, a mop of black hair in a ring of red. He sat in his usual seat, although she noted it had move a little ways down the table from its position at the beginning of the year.

"Hey." She tapped him on the shoulder.

He twisted quickly around and met her with a wide smile. "Hey."

"Rebekah said to give you this," Lily informed him truthfully as she held out the envelope.

James started to reach for it before he jerked his hand back. She looked down innocently until his suspicious stare convinced her to add some more honesty.

"It won't turn anything green," she insisted in a tone almost bored, "or release a swarm of miniature bludgers."

Her brother narrowed his eyes in surprise and some confusion.

"It was a consideration at one stage," she admitted, "but I felt it lacked poetry."

"Doesn't have to," Louis, uninvited, jumped in. "What rhymes with bludger?"

James rolled his eyes, but accepted the card. Lily stole a chip off his plate before walking backwards slowly from the table.

"Okay, well, I'll be seeing you."

"What?" Her brother looked up distractedly from his letter. "No lunch?"

"Nathan's shoving three sandwiches into his mouth," she explained, "and I've already left Savannah babysitting by herself this long."

James nodded in dismissal, but Hugo's voice stopped her before she got too far.

"But you'll be here tomorrow," he called, "Right?"

She smiled. "Definitely."

And if she stood there a moment too long, just to appreciate his satisfied smile and Louis's unconcerned manner, no one seemed to notice.

o0O0o

It was only after classes that same day that Hugo stopped her in the corridor to give his report. He found her walking with Savannah back from the Hospital Wing after leaving Nathan with Harrison only a few minutes earlier.

"I guess an upset's stomach's better than choking," Savannah remarked.

"He probably didn't account for it being extra-stuffed Tuesday."

"He was doing fine until he tried for four," Savannah evaluated.

"Four?" Lily groaned, even more so after her friend's sage nod. "I can't believe I wasn't there."

She looked up as Hugo jogged over from the turn he had started to take.

"Hey," he greeted, offering a nod to both.

Lily watched him excitedly. "Any news?"

"Yeah," Hugo answered with a growing smile. "He went to meet her right when you suggested. I went to put my books away like an hour ago and I heard Freddy congratulating him on finally getting a date for the wedding."

His cousin did a small, hopping jig in front of them before sobering enough to ask, "Did either of them ask about the note?"

"Dunno. I haven't heard anything. But they're going to eventually."

"Don't care," she insisted with another little dance, "because victory is officially mine."

Savannah paused her friend's celebration with a fragile frown. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Lily threw a hand over her heart to further dramatize her damaged feelings. "Why, I did nothing but give my dear, dear brother a message asking him to meet me where I usually was at 2 o'clock because I did so miss talking to him and hopefully we'd get to see each other some over the holidays. Whether or not it was unsigned and in someone else's handwriting… Well, he of all people should know better than to assume."

Savannah attempted to maintain a stern look of disapproval but, being only twelve years old, soon ducked her head to hide the humor showing on her face.

o0O0o

Lily had long ago made her peace with the plain fact that she really would not be following in her father's great footsteps. It was still not a comfortable idea and, despite Al's reassurance, she was still dreading somewhat her parents' full reactions when she came home with a trunk well stocked in Slytherin green. There were still moments she couldn't help but consider all the things she missed out on from not being in Gryffindor. There were a lot of stories her cousins would need to catch her up on over the break and few more she would never learn at all. Still, she was happy enough with her lot and had hopes to be happier in the coming years as she grew a bit older and wiser. There only remained one matter that really bothered her, so she talked to James and arranged a meeting with an older acquaintance.

o0O0o

"Thanks for doing this," Lily said to her companion once they found their hiding place between a wall and the side of an old trophy case.

Savannah waved her off carelessly. "Please, Potter. Clearly trouble is a prerequisite for being your friend."

The other girl gave a guilty smile but a sincere grin soon proved sufficient reassurance.

"Speaking of trouble," she started, "how was Jonah's report?"

"Oh," Savannah rolled her eyes, "about what I expected. Apparently Nathan suggested Jonah really should ask Erin for help if he wanted to talk to her. Nick stepped in to stop it before Jonah intentionally forgot a homework assignment."

Lily snorted. "Was that the time he wanted to skip Herbology to fix the Transfiguration he 'forgot about'?"

"I think so," her friend answered with a humored smile. "I'm glad Nick got involved."

"Yeah, Erin probably doesn't need anyone bothering her studies."

"No," Savannah disagreed with a slight frown, "She probably does. I just don't think it should be with someone else's studies."

She thought a moment before bringing back her smile. "If Jonah wants to talk to her he really should just talk to her."

"Good luck convincing him."

"You up for the job?"

"No way," Lily insisted as she cut across the air with her hands. "I am done getting involved."

Her friend offered a doubtful look. "Sure, Lily. And what you're off to do- it couldn't possibly be considered interfering, right?"

Lily refused to meet her eye as she stood to brush off her robes. "I should probably go…"

"Get involved?" Savannah finished knowingly.

Lily couldn't help but grin as she jogged away from the laughing first year. "Shut up, Barnes!"

o0O0o

"You Potters do realize follow-up conferences aren't typical, don't you?"

It was strange, but oddly satisfying to hear the Hat's voice in her ear again now, almost a year later.

"I'm not here for that," Lily hurried to convince it.

"Oh?"

"I have more of a… question." She bit her cheek, hoping she was thinking her words correctly. It was hard to consider her answers beforehand and for a Slytherin such as herself that was unnerving.

"That's not really typical, either."

Lily was slightly annoyed to hear the humor in its voice and had definite suspicion that it already knew what she was going to say.

"Neither is a talking hat," she snapped.

"Touché," it granted and she was relieved to hear its almost business-like tone. "What's your question?"

Lily tried to close her mind to everything but the words she wanted to use. It didn't work.

"Are you keeping muggleborn out of Slytherin because it's what Salazar wanted?" She cringed.

The Hat chuckled before answering.

"If I listened to all of our dear founders' preferences, there would be no only children in Hufflepuff, boys in Ravenclaw, or redheads in Gryffindor."

"Oh."

The Hat seemed to sigh. "Everyone has their prejudice."

Again, Lily's words came too quickly; "Then why? Why are there no muggleborn in Slytherin?"

"It isn't a matter of the founder. It's a matter of the House," it explained. "I put students in the House where I believe they can succeed. The Slytherin house has never seemed ready to support a muggleborn."

Lily's thoughts began to race and, whether it was from their speed or the Hat's manners, there was silence in her head as she considered the Hat's words.

"I think Slytherin's ready now."

The Hat did not sound surprised by her claim, but did choose to clarify; "Are they really?"

"Yes. I think we are."

And Lily couldn't see it, but the portraits in the office watched as the frayed old hat's seam stretched with a wide smile.

"Then I'll be sure to send them along."

"I promise to look out for them," Lily assured it.

"I know you will, Ms. Potter." The Hat smiled again and this time Lily could hear it in its voice.

She raised her arms to lift off the Sorting Hat. "Thank you for your time."

"Ms. Potter," the Hat broke in before she could leave. "There is one other thing."

"Yes?"

"I will tell you something similar to what I once told your father: you would have done well in Gryffindor."

Lily's throat went dry and her brain, numb. To hide it, she tried a joke.

"Even if I am a redhead?"

The Hat chuckled. "You should know from your family that doesn't matter. Might even give you an edge."

"But I'm not like my family," she rushed to explain. "They were brave enough to be in Gryffindor."

She didn't mean for it to sound like that, but it was difficult to communicate manners. The Sorting Hat paused for a moment before answering, and when it did its voice was stern, all ghosts of laughter gone.

"They were brave enough to be in Gryffindor, but you were brave enough to be in Slytherin."

Lily froze, her arms still halfway to the Hat's brim.

"Do you understand, Potter?"

Lily swallowed. "I think so."

"Good." The Hat's tone turned almost light when it dismissed her; "You should be going. I doubt you met me with permission and even Weasley distractions can last only so long."

She nodded and thanked the Hat again before removing it from her head.

It seemed oddly quiet in her head without a second voice and she glanced quickly at her surroundings, as if to locate a possible replacement. Her eyes settled on a portrait of a previous Headmaster, a man with a hooked nose and dark eyes that reminded her strangely of tunnels. He stared back, layers of emotions covered by a look of cool indifference, almost disdain.

Lily paused at the door and offered a curt nod to her brother's namesake before quickly descending the stairs. She still needed to pack for the holidays.