Day 4

I went in a swimming pool for the first time of my life. I'll have to tell Meda about it. Muggles dig some kind of hole in the ground and fill it with clean water and a substance they call chlorine. It's very handy; they have those very hot rooms in which we can dry ourselves afterwards, the saunas.

I used to bathe in wild rivers near our uncle's land with Meda and Bella and we always went into the cold water naked, but when I started removing my clothes to go in the pool, Lily smiled and told me she had a swimming suit for me. I put it on and it's a very weird piece of clothing that can go underwater. I really like it though and I hope Mother will want to buy me one when I return, if she's not too mad it's a Muggle accessory, because it is indeed very useful.

I slept again in Lily's room, in the twin bed from bellow, but in the middle of the night there was thunder. I got scared and slipped out of my covers to join her like I would do with Bella at home when I was younger. She laughed and told me I had nothing to fear. She stroked my hair gently until I fell asleep and when I woke up my head was still resting on her shoulder.

I watched her sleep a little before I made to wake her up, like every morning because I am an early riser. She looked so peaceful and angelic, maybe it was a wrong thing to wonder about but I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I don't know why but I had the impulse of kissing her cheek. I did so but it did not wake her up. I decided to take drastic measures and I jumped on her and tickled her until she sat up in the bed and begged for me to stop.

Her cheeks were red and her eyes puffy and weary from sleep but she didn't let me go that easy. She attacked me with her pillow but missed; I fled the room and we chased each other around the house, giggling and shrieking until it woke her father up and he yelled for us to calm down. We stopped and went in the kitchen, still giggling. Then we ate honey combs (now my favourite kind of cereals) and milk for breakfast.

Day 6

Lily and I had the time of our lives the last few days, but tomorrow would be the day I had to leave. I was very sad. Since the night there was a storm I had been sleeping next to my friend in her bed because I was afraid there would be another one. I always woke a little earlier than her. Her legs would be tangled with mine or my hand resting in hers, my head in the crook of her neck, and I looked at her for a few moments before waking her with some new game. I felt safe beside her.

I had always been fond of her personality and how she constantly found a way around problems, how she dealt with every single thing flawlessly and with a smile on her face, but now, since the beginning of the week, it were her looks that really caught my attention. At home, in her birth town, she looked in her element; she seemed even more perfect to me.

I was beginning to think it was not just envy or fondness I felt for her but something more, something like love, a feeling I was supposed to keep for my family and my husband, not my friends with whom I was supposed to keep some kind of distance, not obsess about. I was afraid of the person I was becoming, it was not who I was meant to be. I knew Lily made me a better person, but she also transformed me in ways she shouldn't, even unknowingly.

Never before had I held feelings as deep for anyone, just slightly deeper than family links but also more fragile. I knew she did not, never would return this kind of feelings. I was just a friend to her, she was interested in boys and I knew it. I thought that romantically, I was only interested in boys too, but my heart tells me otherwise.

I can't stop the beating of my heart when she's near. I don't know what I will do when I have to leave. I will terribly miss her. But maybe it's better that way, I need to be myself again.

Last day at Lily's house

I cried when Andromeda came to pick me up. Lily cried too and we held each other before promising to write and keep in touch until fall. I hugged her parents and even her sister before aparating away with Meda.

At supper that night, Mother and Father asked me how it had been at the Zabinis' and I lied to the best of my abilities, while Meda looked away guiltily and Bella remained silent, her eyes fixed on me with a dark, scary glare. When I slipped into my bed, not long after, exhausted, I heard my door creak open. Bella stepped in quickly and walked to my bedside. She leant down and whispered threateningly.

"I don't want you to see her, Cissy. Not ever again. Or Father will know of your lies. Don't forget I am your sister and I know everything. You can't hide anything from me for long. I love you but now you need to listen to me and break this friendship. Is that clear?"

I gritted my teeth before answering. "Yes, sister. I will do so."

"Alright. Good girl." She stroked my cheek and kissed my forehead before heading out of the room, less tense than before. I cried myself to sleep. I knew now I could never see Lily ever again. Therefore, I had to face this sad reality. I did not answer to any of her letters for the rest of the summer.