-1My Last Promise
Novel/Chapter 2
By GHiLLiElovex3
3/3/07
"I'll race you," Nolan challenged. "The last one buys treats on the train."
"You're on," I replied. Although, I knew I was going to lose. I couldn't beat the speed Nolan had from playing quidditch. I hadn't played a real game of quidditch since before my first year when I quit because I ran out of my tomboy phase. I think I disappointed my dad when I quit, but it just wasn't my thing. Pick-up games were fun from time to time though. The only difference is the fact that I'm completely out of shape now.
Nicolette just looked at us and before either one of us could say go she was off, running toward the barrier for Platform 9 ¾. "See you at the finish line!" she called over her shoulder. Nolan and I scrambled to get our carts together. He lost his owl halfway there, so I won… or rather, came in second, but it was better than coming in last.
"Lily!" I looked up as my family came through the portal. My brother had all of his things together, including the shiny Head badge that had come in the mail at the beginning of the month. He was already changed into his robes. He came over to me and told me that I'd better hurry because we were running later than usual. My younger sister Molly had lost one of her shoes this morning and could find it no matter where we looked until Ayden got fed up with it and just called the shoe to him. Well that and my dad had kept Ayden in this study this morning for more than an hour.
My father came over the moment my brother whisked himself and his girlfriend, Nolan's sister Ellis (who coincidentally was Head Girl), toward the train to settle themselves in their compartment. "Lily," my dad said to me seriously, "I want you to be careful this year." My dad said this every year, actually he said it anytime I left my bedroom, but something was different this year. The tone of his voice kind of made me nervous, like he wasn't just saying it because he was a parent, but he was saying it because I actually needed to be cautious and aware of something. "Don't do anything stupid and stay away from the Slytherin house for me."
"I will Dad, I promise," I said and placed a hand over my heart. "But why the Slytherin's?" He only nodded and pulled on one of my braids. I smiled and hugged him hard. I loved my dad and not just because he was pretty much a celebrity, but because he was fun to be around when he wasn't in super cautious mode.
"Look at you," my mum said when she was done lecturing my sister about losing things. "My baby girl's all grown up."
"Molly's your little girl," I quipped. "I'm just the forgotten middle child."
"Oh Honey, I could never forget you," she said and she pulled me into one of those choking motherly hugs. The kind you could only ever get from your mum. I pretended to choke. She let go of me.
"Bye Mum," I said. She started to cry again, so I let her choke me once more before retreating to Nicolette and her family.
"You know Nicolette, if you just studied a little bit more and partied a little bit less you could be a Prefect," her mum was saying. The moment she spotted me I got dragged into the mix. "You too Liliana. There's no reason why either one of you shouldn't be a Gryffindor Prefect."
"Thanks Aunt Mione, I'll remember that," I told her. She fussed over Nicolette for a few moments longer before giving her a bear hug and releasing her. We scrammed as fast as we could to find a compartment. Nolan was already in the Prefect's compartment because… well, he was a Prefect and neither Nicolette or myself had been blessed with such an honor this year.
"Honestly, she's driving me mad," Nicolette said and struggled to help each other get trunks on the racks above us. "You'd think I was three years old again when the only thing I could think about what a shiny gold Prefect's badge." We picked up my trunk and continued to struggle. "You should have gotten Prefect's badge this year though Lils. You never do anything wrong… well except for maybe entertaining me sometimes."
"No I'm fine with it. Abigail Wood deserved it," I said referencing to a girl in our dorm. "Still, it would've been nice."
"Yeah because Nolan can't get us into the girl's Prefect bathroom," Nicolette said. With a wry smile on her face she added, "He could get us into the boy's bathroom though."
"Oh sick Colie." I grimaced and shook my head. She laughed.
"I was only kidding."
The train ride was long, extremely long. Nicolette and I spent most of it playing muggle card games and reading the same issue of Teen Witch over and over again. Finally Nolan came by with a massive pile of treats. We laughed and dove right into the sugary goodness. He wasn't kidding when he said loser bought treats. I think that all three of us were glad that he hadn't, until we'd finished the pile.
"Now I feel sick."
We all nodded in agreement as Nicolette tried to make herself comfortable. However, that was hard because four of my brother's friends had made themselves comfortable in our compartment when they realized that all the other's were taken. Train compartments were only meant to have six regular sized people in them. We had seven; five boys and two girls. Easily said, it was squished. I settled myself in Nolan's lap.
Once we were inside the school, our stomach aches were gone and I could breathe easily again. However I knew that the moment we got into the Great Hall that would be another story. Nicolette and I took seats at the end of the table near the door, so that we could rush out when we needed to. Nolan did the same, except he was at that Ravenclaw table. Stupid smarty pants, I couldn't even eat with him our first night back at school.
Dylan Creevey tried to sit next to Nicolette, but she just snubbed him and gave his seat to my brother's best friend Damien Longbottom. Immediately that meant that Ayden sat next to me and the rest of their crew followed in the suit. I tried to spend the least amount of time possible with the meatheads my brother called friends. Today didn't seem to be my day in that respect.
"Attention students, I know that you're tired and hungry. You've just sat through the sorting ceremony and through Mr. Filch's rather long list of rules, but I have one more announcement before we can eat," Professor McGonagall called throughout the Great Hall. "Due to recent concerns, all trips to Hogsmeade have become closed to anyone in their fourth year or below."
There was a collective amount of groans throughout the Great Hall. No one on my end of the table seemed bothered by it though because we were all old enough to attend. Again though, I wasn't worried about that. The tone of her voice, like my father's earlier this morning, freaked me out. I placed a hand on Ayden's shoulder to get his attention. "What Lily?"
"Ayden what's going on?" I asked in a hushed tone. He shrugged. "Seriously, I know you know. Dad didn't call you into his study this morning for nothing."
"Lily, Dad called me into his study today because he wanted to talk to me about keeping my grades up this year," Ayden said. Both of us were referring when our father practically dragged Ayden by the ear into his study to talk with him for almost an hour. Hence why they had gotten to the station so late.
"Ayden… You and Dad have been acting weird all summer… Since that old lady's death in June. I'm not stupid and I'm not that naïve."
He sighed. "You were always to quick to catch for your own good, but it's nothing to worry about Lily. Seriously, it's only rumors." My eyes flicked across his features, just to be sure that he was telling the truth.
"Rumors about what?" I asked, pushing the amount of information that I could get out of him.
"Voldemort Lily, about Voldemort. They say he's back and that he's bringing an army… The Ministry and the Order have witnesses that have seen him," he said, answering my next few questions.
"But who--"
"That's all I know Lily. Don't tell Dad I told you. He'll bloody kill me," he said and he turned back to his friends.
After dinner and after everyone had settled down, Nicolette and I took my Dad's old invisibility cloak and met Nolan down by the kitchen. We weren't hungry, as a matter of fact, if I ate another bite I'd explode, but we were meeting to exchange passwords.
Rhat wasn't all we exchanged though. I told them what Ayden had told me. They both looked at me incredulously. "Like you said last night, Voldy has to be all old and crumbly by now. There's no way he can lead an army around."
"You never know," I said. "You have to give the guy some credit. He just keeps coming back, He's wicked brilliant. I bet he could find a way to do it if he really wanted it."
"Who's side are you on anyway? Nevermind, I say we just forget about it," Nicolette suggested. "If he does come about, we're safe. We're at Hogwarts. It's once we're beyond these walls that we have to be worried."
I nodded. However the school had been attacked once, it could be attacked again. It wasn't impossible. Especially since most of the staff was old and had been here since my dad had been in school. I shouldn't have been worried, plus they were just rumors. Rumors went around all the time. Anymore they were only jokes… Kind of like threats of Voldemort coming back to eat you or whatever. In reality though, it wasn't a laughing matter, but the kids didn't care.
"You're thinking… a lot," Nolan said as if he were picking his words carefully. I nodded as I rested my head in my hands. "You know," Nolan commented, "you look a lot like your dad when you do that."
"My dad says that you're like your father that way. I hear him and my mom talking sometimes, they say that you're just like him in so many ways that sometimes they forget that you're you and he's himself," Nicolette said. I threw her an odd look.
"Yeah, except for I'm a girl and he's boy. Plus, I don't think I'm anything like my father. Sure we get along, but that doesn't mean that we're the same," I said, although my rational was lacking in actual argument.
She shrugged. "I didn't say that was my opinion."
I yawned. "Come on, enough talk about this. It's depressing. Let's get to bed, classes start tomorrow and I'd like to at least not sleep through my entire year. I'll give the Professor's a day of my attention."
Nolan looked at me with concern. "Okay," he agreed and he slipped his hand into mine.
We walked up as far as we possibly could together before we had to split our separate ways. Nicolette and I watched Nolan recede into the darkness before rushing back to the Gryffindor tower and falling into bed. I noted as I fell asleep, how talking about my dad made me miss him so much more.
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Started: 2/15/07
Finished: 2/15/07
Posted: 3/3/07
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please excuse me while I find a corner to mourn in.
A/N: Review Please! (