"Who even needs a spell to make things float, though?" Matt huffed, throwing his Charms book down on the table with a groan. "Why can't I just hold it in place?"
Lily snorted, shaking her head at her friend.
"That's not how magic works, Bell," she grinned, looking at the book in front of her. "Besides, that charm makes things fly, not float."
His shoulders slumped and he let out a loud sigh as he slumped back into his seat.
Matt Bell was a scrawny young boy with shaggy brown hair that fell into his eyes. He spoke with a constant sarcastic tone. He hated school and didn't seem to see the point in magic. No one really understood why he was in Ravenclaw, yet, here he was, and the Sorting Hat rarely made mistakes.
He was the best friend Lily had made since starting at Hogwarts.
"Stuff you, Potter," Matt retorted, sticking his tongue out at her.
Hogwarts, she had decided, was nothing like what her family had always described it as.
Her entire life, Lily had been told what an amazing place Hogwarts was, hearing all the old stories and legends her family could manage to tell her. Yet, she seemed to be attending a very different school than that of the stories.
Jamie had noticed how quiet she had become since starting school, although he would never say it. Yet she still saw the raised eyebrows and the worried looks and noticed how he tried to see her at least once a day.
Jamie didn't understand, though.
Jamie was normal.
People at Hogwarts saw one of two things; her surname or her hearing aid. They rarely saw the girl behind it all.
Jamie would try to get it, she knew that, but aside from having their grandfather's name- and even then, he would never be James- her older brother would never understand what it was like.
Ru might understand, but he finally seemed to be happy with being a Slytherin, with being himself, so she didn't think she could ruin that by dragging up bad memories.
Dad would understand because, out of her entire family, he was the only one who knew what it was like to have people stare at you and judge you for things beyond your own control.
Lily reached up and fiddled with the implant which curled up to sit again the side of her head. Her hair was down, covering most of her implant, but she still knew it was there.
It was her own personal curse, something that attracted nothing but unwanted attention and left her feeling alone in the world.
Although, Matt was different, she had found.
It didn't seem to matter at all to him. He thought she was an alright person, and that seemed to be enough for him.
She glanced over at her friend where he sat slouched in his seat, his feet now thrown on the table and his schoolbook once more in his hands. His brow was furrowed as he glared down at the page in front of him.
She allowed herself a small smile, allowing herself to believe it could and would get better.
Surely it had to get better, didn't it?
