"Miss Potter! Let's have a demonstration." Professor Laurel, the charms teacher turned to Lilly. This was the day she had been dreading. Lilly knew that the spell she was going to cast wouldn't work. Her wand didn't work.

Lilly took a deep breath and pointed her wand at the feather. "Wingardium Leviosa." Lilly flicked her wand perfectly, her pronunciation was spot on, but her feather didn't levitate. It didn't even wiggle. It did, however, burst into flames.

Professor Laurel raised and eyebrow, but moved on to the next student. Henry Finnigan leaned over to her. "Don't worry. Stuff always explodes when I try to charm it. I get it from my dad."

Lilly smiled gratefully, but was even more grateful to hear the bell signaling the end of class. She gathered her books and bag and swept out of the door with the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Unfortunately, Pearl Parkinson caught sight of her.

"Geez, Potter. Can't even get a simple levitation charm right. I guess what they say is true. You must be a SQUIB!" Lilly stopped in her tracks, but Hugo and Henry pushed her on. Pearl wasn't so easily dissuaded.

"If you're lucky, they can put you down in that fowl cabin with that half-bred oaf! I'm sure it will be cozy for you!"

Lilly whirled around, dropping her things. Acting instinctively, she raised her hands. Instead of curling into fists and driving into Pearl's pinched face, her finger extended and Lilly pointed it at Pearl, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Students around her gasped and backed away from her as Pearl was levitated into the air. Her head hit the ceiling with a thud and she was knocked unconscious. Lilly was so surprised that she lost her concentration and Pearl began to plummet to the floor.

"Arrestim momentum." A voice behind Lilly spoke softly and Pearl landed softly on the floor. Lilly whirled around to look into the headmistress's puzzled face.

"Miss Potter, I'll need to see you in my office."

*

"Professor, please! I didn't mean to do it! I didn't even have a wand in my hand, it could have been someone else, but you didn't see them because Pearl was hanging in the air. Oh my God! I knocked her unconscious! Do you think she's okay? Oh my, I have to see her! Please, let me go to Madame Pomfrey's and-"

"Enough Miss Potter!" Professor McGonagall walked around her desk and sat in the ornate chair. Headmasters from years past, including her brother's namesake looked down on her with mixed expressions. Lilly could hear snippets of their conversations.

"…knocked Parkinson unconscious…"

"Poor girl can't even levitate!"

"Oh dear, can't live up to her father…"

It made Lilly cringe in dread, disgust, humiliation.

"Potter, I've been noticing something." Lilly took a deep breath. McGonagall knew she was a squib. This was it. She was going to have to go back home and face her parents. Her brothers would never let her live this down. She was going to have to give up her Quidditch and Auror dreams. But not now. Now she had to get through this.

"Noticing what Professor?" Lilly asked demurely in what she hoped was a 'please-don't-send-me-home' kind of voice.

"Your professors, they talk to me, regular reports about each of the students, and it seems that you've been having trouble here at Hogwarts." McGonagall paused and looked at Lilly.

"Yes, Professor. But I can work harder! I can do whatever it takes-"

"I don't think there is anything that you can do, Miss Potter. Ah, Mr. Malfoy. Just the man I wanted to see."

Lilly turned and her eyes met Scorpius' again. Her stomach plummeted and her ears prickled. She imagined that she looked like Uncle Ron when he had had too much butterbeer. She nodded at Scorpius, and turned back around.

"Scorpius is also a Sosaire. I'm teaching him right now because, unfortunately, we didn't catch his gift until the end of last year, but in a few months he'll join his classmates again for regular lessons. So it is really no problem for me to instruct both of you at the same time."

Lilly blinked. "Sosaire? What is that? Why is he one? Are you? Am I?" To Lilly's surprise, both McGonagall and Scorpius looked at her in puzzlement and alarm.

"You mean no one's ever…You haven't even…What have you been thinking all these years when you couldn't perform traditional magic? That you were a squib?" McGonagall's eyebrows rose as she realized the truth.

"Well I thought surely your aunt at least…well, you are not a squib. A sosaire is a highly powerful, talented wizard who, for some reason or another does not need a wand, along with other wizarding items to perform magic. They are very rare. Mr. Malfoy and yourself are the only two I've ever heard of for at least three centuries. It is very odd indeed that the two of you should be alive at the same time. Usually there can only be one sosaire at a time, but perhaps…"

McGonagall trailed off, looking at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. The portrait winked, seemingly breaking her trance.

"Yes. Well. Lessons are from eight to four, like the rest of the classes with restroom and lunch breaks. Your parents will be informed of the switch in your training, and I will see you both here tomorrow." Lilly knew a dismissal when she heard one. She and Scorpius turned and left the office. As soon as they were out and the door was closed, Lilly stopped to digest the information.

She wasn't a squib! But she'd never heard of a Sosaire, and what's this about Scorpius being one too? And what did McGonagall mean when she had said "But perhaps…"?

"I know." Scorpius brought her out of her reverie. He was standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets. "When I found out I almost fainted. It's weird the things I, we, can do. Fly without brooms, cast spells without wands, it's incredible. I'm glad there's someone else, though. Looks like it's just you and me, girl." He was smiling. Lilly couldn't help but smile back.

Taking a breath, she willed her feet to move, and Scorpius moved with her. Their feet were in sync, and their bodies swayed in the same direction. Lilly purposefully broke her walking pattern; some things were just too creepy.

"Can we really fly without brooms?" She asked suddenly.

"Yeah. I haven't yet, but I want to try. It's cool not needing a wand to do magic. Definitely impresses people." They were now almost to the door leading out into the hallway. An unspoken agreement passed between them. No one could see them together. Not with their family history. The doors opened, and they both went separate ways. Later, Lilly wondered how they had known which way to go, but she chalked it up to coincidence that they had both chosen different paths.