Lily loved the smell of the Slytherin common room, the way it oozed class and elegance, the way it caught you in its grasp and did not let go until you went home for vacation. It was like you were in a whole new world, between reality and your best fantasy.

"Hey, Lil," Kelsie said, sitting near Lily's feet.

Even extended as far as she could go, only the tips of Lily's toes occupied the third cushion of the couch. It was quite embarrassing, sometimes, especially when she was standing next to the gargantuan Al.

"Hello," Lily replied.

"How's your first week back been?"

"It's like I picked up where I left off, except that I have to go back a few steps."

"We all do, really."

"Not nearly as far back as I have to go."

"Come on, Lily. Are you telling me you're as horrible in divination as I am?"

"No." In truth, divination was perhaps the only subject Lily excelled in.

"Are you telling me you didn't practice quidditch all summer?"

"Of course I did!" Lily sat up. "Do you know when it's starting? I really need to get out on the field, reduce stress and all that crap my mum keeps telling me about."

"Do I look like I would know?"

"I suppose not. Bryan!" Lily yelled as loud as she could, her voice carrying through the entire common room.

"What is it?" he demanded, his voice ringing back in the same fashion.

"When's quidditch?"

"Next week!"

There was a cheer from a few people in the corner, none of them actual players, but all of them willing to rally around a winning team. The only change to their team this year if all went well was the seeker. And Dante Cole was good enough to rival Al at his best.

"I can't wait for quidditch to start," Lily moaned, falling back on the couch.

"You want to come out and play soccer with me tomorrow?" Kelsie asked.

Lily raised an eyebrow in her direction. The Slytherins were not notorious for their support of muggle-based activities. As a prefect, it was part of her responsibility to look out for the house's reputation. And she wasn't really all that fond of the sport, either. Kind of boring, really.

"Count me in," a boy said from behind the couch. Curiously, Lily twisted her head to get a good look at the speaker. Much to her surprise, it was Scorpius Malfoy, his hand casually scratching the back of his head. "I really need to get out to run. Hogwarts makes me anxious. And this weather isn't helping, either."

"Alright!" Kelsie grinned.

"The usual place?"

"From what I've been told, we're meeting by the broom shed and going from there."

"Good, good; I hate trying to figure out where we're playing without direction."

"Yeah – that's a pain."

"I'll see you there, then."

"Ok."

Lily slowly let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Even upside down, he looked amazing.

"So are you going to play, or what?" Kelsie asked.

"I can't; I need to work on transfiguration."

"A shame."

"No need to tell me."

3

There were three things that Lily clung to at Hogwarts when things did not seem to go her way: Aspen the cat, quidditch, and divination. Aspen was adorable. He really was. The only thing she had to do to get him to sit in her lap was snap her fingers. He came every time. Quidditch and divination were perhaps the two things that came easiest to the youngest Potter. She didn't question why, deciding it would be more trouble than it was worth trying to figure it out, and instead just enjoyed them. She loved playing keeper. It was like the only thing that could rid her of all her cares. The thrill of the game, the exhilaration of making the save, was the only thing she could think about and she basked in it any chance she got. It was hard for her to pinpoint why she enjoyed divination like she did. Her mum said several times that there was probably some seer in the Weasley blood. She doubted that; none of her cousins seemed to have even the faintest inkling of attraction towards the subject. That was irrelevant, though; the way it removed her from her present situation greatly relieved her stress.

This year, however, with her prefect duties and obvious failings in transfiguration, charms, and defense against the dark arts, she was pulled from divination.

It had felt as if someone had removed a part of her, a piece of her she would never get back. Professor Wolfe had patiently explained why they had done it, detailing her failings in other subjects and how she should focus on them. They claimed she didn't have any of the Sight anyway, so why should she pursue the subject? It killed her a little bit every time she thought of it, of leaving behind the only subject she actually held a fondness for.

Although Apsen the Adorable was terribly fluffy and cute, he could not satisfy her need for distraction. Even petting the cat still allowed her mind to wander to places she did not really want to go. She needed a solid distraction, a place where she could only focus on one thing.

Quidditch was her answer.

Lily stared into the mirror in her room, pulling at the sleeves of her sweatshirt; the bloody thing didn't fit like it did last year, being a bit more restricting than she liked. Resigned, she grabbed her broom and made her way to the common room. There were about twenty other people there with brooms, all waiting for Bryan.

"Why are there so many people?" Lily asked Rab, one of the beaters for the team.

"They're trying out, I suppose."

"What for? We don't need anyone."

"I don't know. You, kid with the red shirt." Rab grabbed the shoulder of one of the kids and turned him around with ease. "What are you doing?"

"Trying out," the boy said, visibly intimidated by Rab's shear size.

"What for?"

"K-keeper."

"What?" Lily stepped between Rab and the boy, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down to her level. "What do you mean you're trying out for keeper?"

"I-I don't know. I-I was told there was was a p-position…" '

"At keeper?"

"I-I can't remember…"

"Where the bloody hell is Bryan?" Lily nearly threw the poor kid to the floor and stormed across the hall, all the prospective quidditch players watching her.

"What's going on?" Bryan asked, flipping the hood to his jacket up.

"Did you tell the second years that the keeper position was open?" Lily asked, forcing her voice to quiver in a low whisper.

"I…I was told you weren't playing."

"By who?" Lily restrained herself from hitting the Quidditch captain with her broom.

"Aeolus."

"What?"

"He…he said you were incapable of playing because of your marks."

Lily stared at Bryan, fear gripping her heart. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. What was happening?

"You were pulled from divination, right?" Bryan continued. "That's only a last-ditch effort. Usually they pull you from extra curriculars first."

"I need to go talk with Wolfe, then, and clear this up."

Lily left the dungeons, her entire body wracked with anger and anguish. Quidditch couldn't be taken from her. It was the one thing she had. The only thing she was good at. The only thing keeping her sane.