Someone informed me that it was hard to keep up with all of the characters, and I realized that they were right (thank you Carriage!). There are A LOT of new characters being introduced, as well as all of the old ones. So, to make it easier, I created a sort of list in replacement of the first chapter where you can see what character is which and what they look like.
Besides that, I am having a lot of fun writing this. I'm only upset that school is coming up soon, and I'll be writing these chapters at a much slower pace.
Thanks for reading! Oh and a shoutout to my friend HadleyandBrandon author of The Wrong Choice. If any of you are as into The Fosters as we are, then I highly recommend reading it for some Brallie romance :)
Lily was playing the part of Switzerland. James and Albus fought like they never did before. They always seemed to be of one mind, a perfect balance between recklessness, reason, bravery and curiosity, like ying and yang. Now, their opposites drove them apart and Lily was being used as a token of victory.
She was the deciding factor that directed their animosity. At first, she flourished in this new-found power, learning that it was easy to manipulate boys preoccupied with motives of gaining superiority over the other. They would do whatever she asked when she asked of it. It was not long before she grew tired of their banter and constant pestering her for her opinion over simple matters, such as which brother was her favorite, or whose teeth were whiter.
"Hey Lily! Sit next to me!"
"No, come over here! I buttered your bread for you!"
"Suck-up! Why don't you just kiss her ass now and get it over with?"
"BOYS!" Their mom yelled, glaring at each in turn, causing them to look down at their penne vodka with something close to shame. "That's enough! Whatever it is that happened between you two, I want you to fix it before we leave for Diagon Alley tomorrow. Otherwise, you won't be getting those owls I promised you."
"Mom!" they groaned in unison.
Lily snickered at the far end of the table, picking away at the noodles and shrimp, leaving the tomatoes in a pile on the side.
Serves them right. One less thing for them to look forward too. Meanwhile, I''m stuck here with no wand and Mrs. Rogers.
Mrs. Rogers was a fairly old lady that lived down the street from them. She was a witch in the worst way possible. Not straying far from Muggles' belief of what a witch should be like, Mrs. Rogers bought a new black cat every single time one of hers died and persisted in wearing black no matter what the season or occasion. Whenever she invited them over for brunch, Lily was forced to endure an entire afternoon of looking up at a crooked nose and smelling some awful stench that came from a pot that always seemed to be brewing over the fire.
Despite their unfortunate neighbor, the Potters lived in a well-groomed area. Not unlike the Burrow, the environment was rural friendly, where kids could bike across the street to their friend's house or go down to a park not too far away. The streets were lined with oaks and sycamores, where an occasional flowering cherry tree would bloom in a yard or two. No Muggle ever understood why the Potters' was so big, or how they kept their lawn so well-trimmed even though they never seemed to be outside doing yard work.
Harry couldn't bring himself to live in the house Sirius had left him in his will. So he dedicated it to being a safe-haven for his and his friends' families if they were ever in danger. Of course, the house hasn't been used in years for that purpose, and Harry cringed at the thought of what state it would be in after the death of Kreacher at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Kreacher had, however, left someone in their service to Harry. Pickle was Kreacher's granddaughter and refused to be given any article of clothing for freedom or be payed, much to Hermione's displeasure. To compensate, Lily and the rest made sure to include Pickle in every meal they had, and whatever games they played, like a family member, so as to treat her with respect and affection.
And in return, Pickle promised to bring the kids safely into 12 Grimmauld Place, and keep quiet from their parents. They had other plans for the house. He used it as a sort of incantation ritual, where 1st years in the family being introduced to Hogwarts go to get accepted into their club. It was originally started by Teddy, but has temporarily been passed down to James.
Lily was never allowed to go to these meetings, and would not be going with them on Friday, when Albus, and Rose have their trial. And no hostility between her brothers would change that.
"Why can't I go?" she had wailed, staring fiercely at James, who looked away.
"Because," Albus answered, "you'll have your chance. I wasn't allowed to go to James's, or anyone else's, so stop complaining as if your so special."
Lily reddened, the freckles on her disappearing. Albus had a power over her. Over everybody, she thought. He could make you feel so special, just like he had said, or bring you down so you think you're no better than dirt.
When the next day rolled by, Lily made sure to dress her best, layering the blue dress with a white sweater and belt. Hurriedly running to the fireplace, Lily tied her front pieces of hair behind her head and slipped on her shoes. She grabbed a handful of floo powder and followed Albus into the fire, saying "Diagon Alley" as clearly as she could. As the last syllable was said, Lily was sucked into a different dimension, swimming through a portal where she could catch glimpses of other people's lives; a little boy fell on his knee and only started crying when his mother swooped down on him; a couple was watching a movie, holding hands and sipping champagne; a family sitting down to dinner.
Reappearing on the other side, Lily stumbled a couple of steps, almost knocking over a witch hustling towards Eeylops Owl Emporium.
"Lily, you sure you're awake?" Albus asked.
"Of course I am! Otherwise I wouldn't be able to tell you that you're looking stupid as always." Lily stated, satisfied from the anger she ignited in Albus from the look in his eyes.
"Lily?" he said hesitantly, almost apologetically. This is what bothered her most about her brother, his ability to brush aside such insults as if the opinions of others did not matter to him. It was infuriating trying to get a rise out of him, and she hasn't been successful yet. He wears a jacket of politeness, and Lily was sure that it was fake. She just needed to prove it to everyone else.
"What?!" she snapped.
"You're wearing your shoes on the opposite foot." He walked by, patting her shoulder as if he was genuinely sorry but with a smug look on his face, and said over his shoulder, "Who looks stupid now?"
Lily fumed, and kicked her sandals off violently. One flew across the cobble stone street to where the same old witch was, now holding a brand new raven on her arm. The witch looked at her viciously, and turned away with a huff, disappearing down a dark corridor.
Lily hurried over and retrieved her sandal, making sure to put them on the right foot. Then she turned to follow the old witch, wondering where she was heading to in such a hurry, but was stopped by a sudden hand on her shoulder.
Looking up, Lily saw her father with a knowing but disapproving look on his face. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and knelt down next to her so that they were eye level.
"That's a bad place Lily. I don't want you going in there," Harry spoke softly.
Lily looked back and found that she couldn't see it anymore. It had disappeared! Then she asked, "What is it?"
"Somewhere dark," he said simply and turned away, signaling that the conversation was over and she shouldn't ask anything else.
Grabbing his hand, they went through the streets, looking for Ginny and the kids. Lily breathed in the warm air full of different smells, like the baking pecan-crusted caramel apples or new books being opened for the first time, releasing their wonder and words. She saw some familiar faces, and waved back to them. She thought she saw Nettle Longbottom at one point, but whoever it was had their face covered by a hood. Lily looked forward again and saw Hugo Weasley running towards her, so she quickly dropped her father's hand, giving him an apologetic look.
"Hey! Look what I got!" Hugo said, practically screaming, holding out his cupped hands. Inside was a bubble that seemed to sparkle. When Lily held out her finger to poke it, Hugo pulled it back, yelling, "No! It's from Quality Quidditch Supplies! If you pop it you can fly for about twenty seconds, and be lifted up in the air like twenty feet!"
"Wow! Dad can I get one?"
Harry looked at it thoughtfully and said, "Remember Lily, you only have twenty sickles to spend today. Don't go wasting it all in one place."
Lily turned back to her friend and asked, "How much was it Hugo?"
"Twelve sickles!"
"Great I can get it then! Thanks Daddy!" she hugged Harry briefly then ran off with Hugo, waving absentmindedly to Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, then whipping around the corner towards Q.Q.S.
She looked up at the red door with awe, admiring all that it held inside. This was the place where her mother got her broom that she used playing as Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. This was the place where his dad saw his first broomstick, the first day he felt like he belonged. And she would carry down the tradition, buying her very own broomstick once she made her mark on Quidditch in school.
"In case your wondering how shops work, you pull open the door, not stare it down," Hugo laughed, tugging her inside.
"It's magical..." she whispered to herself, but someone nearby happened to hear.
Turning the lady said in a chipped but friendly voice, "Why of course it is darling. How else do you suspect these things fly? Otherwise, they'd just be Muggle cleaning equipment. Now what can I help you with?" She bent down, gazing into Lily's amber eyes with her pale ones. It was unsettling, like looking at a ghost that didn't completely go yet.
"I would like to get one of those bubbles that he has," Lily said, pointing towards Hugo, who was picking up a bushel of second-hand broomsticks he knocked down.
"Ah," the lady with the name tag that read Lucy said, looking slightly disappointed. "Well we have a basket full of them over by the counter. Just be careful with them." And she walked away, helping another customer who was looking at some broomstick hanging up on the wall.
Not satisfied with that reaction, Lily squeezed her eyes shut and willed that some icky substance would find its way into Lucy's shoes.
She walked over to the basket with a wide grin on her face as Lucy began to squeal in disgust as a lump of sludge fell from her boots. Reaching down into the basket, Lily chose an orb with blue sparkles to match her dress and payed the clerk twelve sickles, the sound of eight more silver coins still bouncing around in her purse.
Pulling Hugo away from yet another disastrous fall, Lily went to the town square, that more resembled a circle, and took out her bubble from the tight packaging.
"Come on! Let's go and scare Rose as she is coming out of Quilty's Quills!"
"Wait. You want to use it already? Don't you think it'll be useful, like for something else?"
"Yeah...you're right. We can scare Rose on our feet, and put a black cloth over us then use the orbs to float away. Much more dramatic."
Hugo shook his head, but before they could pursue the conversation any further, Hermione came up behind them wearing a fancy white blouse tucked into black work pants. Lily always hated the fact that once she grew up she wouldn't be able to wear colors anymore. She hasn't seen a single adult dress outrageously except for Grandpa Weasley, but that's because he is always experimenting with Muggle styles.
"Hey honey, let's go over to Madam Malkin's. Everyone is there. We'll eat lunch, then you two can go run off again." Then as if thinking more on the matter, she added hastily, "Not too far! Only forty yards in perimeter from wherever you and your father and I are." Nodding satisfied, Hermione lead them to the shop where Ron leaned against the windows lazily, waiting.
"Finally. I know Madam Malkin is like a thousand years old now, but you'd think she has lived long enough to learn the courtesy of finishing a job quickly so her customers can eat!"
"Honestly Ron is that all you think about?" Hermione rolled her eyes, kissing him on the cheek.
Ron shrugged, oblvious to the kids infront of him as he said, "Well I could think about some other places I'd like you to kiss-"
"Ronald!" Hermione gasped, perplexed, and blushing a deep red.
He laughed, then kissed her fully on the lips. "You asked sweetheart."
Lily and Hugo followed them inside, having no clue what the conversation was implying. Once inside they saw Albus standing on top of a pedestal, being fitted for a set of deep green velvet robes.
"Do they have to be green?" he asked imploringly.
"Yes hun. Every other color is sold out, besides the traditional black pairs, and you've already purchased your school robes." Ginny said, picking out three galleons from her purse.
Albus glowered, not a befitting look on him. Next to him was a blonde boy, whose face was so impassive that Lily hadn't noticed him until the old withered lady (who Lily guessed was Madam Malkin) who was fitting him, exclaimed horrified.
"Oh my dear! I pricked your skin dear. Sorry dear."
Looking curiously at the boy, Lily noticed that he hadn't even winced and remained mute the entire time he was getting fitted. Rose was on a pedestal on the other side of this boy and looked up at him as well. Her eyes widened, and she made quick to avert her gaze, staring down at her shoes.
Out of nowhere then, the boys father came from behind a rack of robes and addressed his son, "Scorpius, what do you think of these? I remember having the same exact ones when I went to Hogwarts. Want you looking your best as you excel-" he stopped talking, and looked up at the people surrounding his son. Then he turned towards Lily's dad and inclined his head, "Potter."
Harry smiled, an odd look in his eyes, like a mixture of respect, pity and disappointment. "Nice to know old habbits don't die, huh Malfoy?"
Not bothering to speak to anyone else, the man dragged his son from a protesting Madam Malkin and threw a couple of coins in a jar for payment. "You have his measurements! Finish it in your own time and mail them to me straight away!"
"Oh dear," Madam Malkin said, gathering up all of her tools, "pricked your skin dear. So sorry dear..."
When everyone was payed for, the group came out of the shop, nobody quite sure what to say. James merely looked pained, as if anticipating one of the adults to explain what just happened. Albus looked humbled, as if he felt that something greater than him occurred. Lily, though, she was annoyed. She tried talking to Hugo several times but was rebuked as Ginny shushed her fiercely, as if disturbing a funeral.
They settled down to eat at Cafe de la Lisette. Lily's parents as well as her Aunt and Uncle sat at a separate table, their heads huddled together in hushed whispering. Lily frowned pointedly at the single rose layed out on the table as if it was all its fault that she was having a miserable time. She ate her grilled cheese sandwich as quickly as she could, not helping to notice that Albus sat purposely closest to the adults and the tapping of James's fingers as he waited for the pretty waitress to come around again to ask if he wanted another water, even though he has just been emptying it out in the street.
"Whatever do you think that was about?" Rose whispered in Lily's ear. Out of all the older kids, Rose was the nicest to her. It was as if she did not care about their age difference but more about her input.
"Beats me," Lily said lamely, wishing that she had something more smart to say to impress Rose. "It looked as though they were all prepared to stay there until that boy got his robes fitted, but as soon as the dad saw Daddy, they bolted."
Rose looked thoughtful, staring intently at the rose, like Lily, as if it had all the answers. This rose was getting a lot of attention.
"Oh it must be! Yes, that is the only explanation!" Rose looked estactic, as if just passing her O.W.L.S, although Rose would be the only one to actually look forward to them in that light.
"What?" Lily asked, entrapped now.
"Well, I think that boy had to be the son of Draco Malfoy!" Rose looked pleased with herself for solving such a mystery.
Lily looked at her dumbfounded. "Drake Malfy?"
"You know! Your father's arch-nemesis in school-"
Hermione interrupted them, wiping her mouth with a napkin."Rose! We need to buy the rest of your school supplies and head home. I need to make sure that Crookshanks Junior didn't ruin the house..." and they left, leaving Lily still as ignorant as ever.
Hugo and Lily chased the cat through Diagon Alley, not caring for the little boy they knocked down or the old man whose books flew out of his hands. Dangling from the cat's mouth was Lily's purse, which still had two more sickles in it after they bought ice cream and Lily picked up a new trainer-quill, which should supposedly help with her dyslexia.
"Hey!" they called, and tried with all their might to make the cat stop, but it was hard to run and perform magic at the same time.
Before they knew it they ran up to a deserted road, where the bag of money lay in a puddle. Lily and Hugo stopped, hands on their knees and panting. Looking around, Lily stooped to pick up the money bag and saw a mark engraved in one of the stones next to it. Holding her breath, she pushed it further into the ground, and heard Hugo gasp behind her.
Turning around she saw an alleyway that wasn't there before, with the sign "Knockturn Alley" written on it. Curiosity getting the best of her, Lily started to walk down the stone steps, only stopping when Hugo grabbed her arm to hold her back.
"Lily what are you doing?!" he looked petrified.
"Are you saying that when you're asleep at night you're not going to wonder what was in this alleyway?"
And with that they set down, seeing more wizards and witches the further they delved into it. Seeing how far the alley went, Lily supposed that it had to be invisible of some sort for it not to turn up into one of the Diagon Alley roads. There were shops lining the streets, but the light was too dark to make out what any of the signs said.
A lonely witch was huddled on the ground, holding a snake a talking to it in a language that was not English.
Hurrying away, Lily and Hugo found that they would have rather made friends with the snake-talking lady. Everyone here seemed to be faceless, and if they could make out one every now and then, it was not friendly.
Lily groped for Hugo's and found that it was clammy like her own. They started to hurry their footsteps, and Lily wished that she wore something darker to conceal herself. She now knew that this must be the place her father warned her about.
There didn't seem to be an end. The street kept going and going. Even when they turned it led nowhere that looked warm and inviting. Everyone had a cold appeal about it that made the goosebumps on their arms grow higher and higher.
Lily could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Daddy will find me. He always does... Daddy's coming..." she kept muttering under her breath, not even caring if Hugo heard. He followed her like a lost puppy, and in every way, that was exactly what they were.
"Lost?" a voice from behind them said.
Screaming they turned and saw a pale bald man sitting at a wooden table at the side of the street. He didn't smile, but his blind eyes seemed to tell them that it was okay to approach. Lily felt the same exact unnerving as when she stared into that Lucy lady at Q.Q.S., and for a fleeting moment, even thought that maybe this man was her to get revenge on them.
"How did you know?" Lily spoke quietly, not wanting to raise her voice more than a whisper.
"When you're blind, you tend to know a lot more than you should," was all that the man said.
Hugo blurted out, "How do you get out of here?!" and then clasped his hands over his mouth looking left and right as if someone was going to reach out a hand a cut his tongue out.
The vendor smiled, and gestured his hand over the collection of items he had on his desk. "Maybe if you buy something, I can help you."
Lily glared, already disliking the man, and she was sure that he knew exactly what she was thinking for he said, "Tut tut. None of that. Otherwise you might never make it back to your celebrity father."
"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, but he didn't answer. Taking a few steps forward, she gazed at the items. They were all tainted, or broken in some way. There was a silver cup that had dents in it as if someone took a hammer to it. A mirror encased by gold was cracked and a new one appeared when Lily screamed, looking at her reflection through it. She looked hideous. Evil.
"What about this one?" Hugo asked, pointing towards an amulet.
Lily looked at it and wondered how she could not see that among the pile. It shone beautifully. The thick silver chains wound around each other in an intricate design that resembled a fishtail braid, but seemed to glimmer like a mermaid's tail. In the center was a silver disk that formed some kind of a flower, holding a blue gem in the center. The longer she gazed at it, the more it looked as if it had a heartbeat. A pulse seemed to run through the entire necklace, pumping from the sapphire and through the strands of silver like veins.
"Not for sale!" the vendor shouted, grabbing the necklace as if he could see it and stashing it in his robes.
"Then I don't think we're interested in anything," Hugo spoke finally, making it clear that no business would be made. He grabbed Lily's hand and forced her to walk away, but there was still a hungry look in her eyes, savage almost. She pulled her hand out of Hugo's and ignored his anxious whispers. She snuck up behind the blind man, and reached into his pocket, trying to feel for the amulet. She needed it. It was hers. Nothing could stop her from getting it, not even-
The man turned around in a flash, and held her up against the wall with only one hand clutched around her neck. His breath was hot and rank as he breathed against her face, "What do you think you're doing?"
Lily choked, gasping for breath, tears running freely from her eyes.
"Daddy will save me... He's coming Hugo... He's...coming..." She was losing color, and so it seemed the world around her. Everything was darkening, until the only thing that she could make out was the man's colorless eyes.
Hugo bellowed, somewhere to her left, "LET GO OF MY GIRLFRIEND!" and whacked the man in the back of his knees with a chair.
The man stumbled, only for a moment. He slackened his grip on Lily and she slipped underneath him, feeling through her pockets for the orb. Holding tightly to Hugo's waist, they poked the bubbles and floated up into the sky, over the buildings.
Lily didn't open her eyes. Not when she felt the warmth on her back, or when she heard familiar voices and felt strong arms wrap themselves around her, or when she got home and her mom tucked her safely into bed.
Not until she was alone did Lily open her eyes.
And the first thing she saw was the amulet resting safely on her rising and falling chest.
She fell asleep then, trying to forget the cat that seemed to lead them there, the blonde boy who didn't talk, her friend calling her his girlfriend, the man's hairy knuckles brushing against her soft skin under her chin, his vacant eyes staring into hers as if forcing her to fall into them, and the fact that she never managed to grab the amulet, even though she could feel a heartbeat that wasn't hers against her chest.