Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling won't sell it to me.
Lily Luna Potter grinned, holding up the bag of Skiving Snackboxes from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, her uncle's store. There were at least thirty of the small sweets in the bag at the present time, but she knew she could easily get more if she so needed. "Here's the plan," she said to Rose and Scorpius. "I'll pass these out to the people in my class, and tell them to use them all during Charms."
"Why Charms?" Rose interrupted.
"Because Professor Greengrass wouldn't really know about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. She was in Slytherin while my parents were in school, so she would have only heard about them a little. She certainly wouldn't have known what Skiving Snackboxes are." Lily grinned smugly. "Anyway, I'll hit up the usual people, avoiding the wannabe prefects, and then I'll signal everyone during Charms."
"I'm doing it next week, though, right? In sixth-year Charms?" Scorpius looked slightly disappointed that he had to wait.
Lily nodded. "Exactly. I'll just have to Owl-Order some more. Uncle George knows how to disguise the wrapping so that it doesn't look like it came from his store. I'll give those to you, and then you can do it."
"So I don't have to do anything?" Rose looked slightly happy at the thought of not getting detention for at least a couple of weeks. They always spread their practical jokes out, so that there would be at least two or three weeks of 'rest' between each one. This was also to work off whatever detention they received for the previous joke.
"No," Scorpius said. "I'm passing them out this time. But you have to take one, since you are in my class. Not doing so would be hypocrisy."
"Fine," Rose said. "Now that you two are done planning your mischief, can we please get back to the mystery? I looked broom curses up yesterday, right after we visited Sara, as you two know, and I found out some interesting stuff. It says one, Adprobanda Genestae, acts immediately, so that person would have been at the practice game if they used this curse. There's a second one, however, Urna Serius, which only starts working if the broom has been in the air over fifteen minutes."
"Meaning," Lily said, beginning to understand, "that someone could have cursed this broom before the game?"
"Exactly! Our culprit could be anyone. The Quidditch sheds are not hard to get into- certainly anyone who can perform either of these curses can get into the broom storage areas."
"So how on earth do you expect to find the person who did it, then?" Lily said. "I mean, it's not like we can go up to everybody and ask if they know what Ad-whatever or Urna-whatever does. Or if they snuck into the Quidditch shed lately." She looked pensive. "Veritaserum might work, but that's really difficult to make, I've heard, and has its flaws. Whoever did this is probably expecting Veritaserum. I think the only way to catch this person is to see if he or she strikes again."
Rose thumped her head down onto the table. "What if they succeed this time in killing somebody? What if…I don't know, what if they use the Killing Curse or something. There are no almost-murders with that, and don't say your dad, Lily, because that was extraordinary circumstances and you know that. This person's probably wised up."
"You both have a point. There's no way to track this person down, since we don't know what curse he or she used," Scorpius said.
"Maybe there is!" Lily jumped from her seat. "Rose, didn't Professor Goldstein inspect the broom, and that's how everybody knows it was cursed? Well, if we go ask him…he'd probably know."
"How are we supposed to ask him without him growing suspicious?"
Rose put her chin in her hand. "Say it's for extra credit, Lily. Aren't the fourth-years learning about curses?"
"Sort of."
Rose didn't inquire about the 'sort of', since that would lead into a long, Lily explanation that she really didn't feel like hearing. "You ask him, then. That'll work, right? Besides, he likes you."
"Mainly because I get every question right. Us Slytherins know a lot about curses, you know."
"I do know," Rose grumbled. "I still remember when you were in second year, I was in fourth, and you came up to me asking if I knew what the Unforgivable Curses were. What second-year knows that stuff?"
"Me," Lily said easily. "I've always been ahead for my age." She flipped her short red hair. "Back to the actual point. I'll ask tomorrow, I have DADA. I'll just stay after class, no biggie. I've been meaning to ask him about my essay, anyway."
"He doesn't give House points for extra credit," Rose said dryly.
"How on earth did you know that's what I meant?"
"Because you've been bragging about the extra foot you did for your essay, and how Goldstein is going to give you so many house points that Slytherin will be a shoo-in for the House Cup, despite the fact that it's still September. You weren't exactly subtle."
Lily stuck her tongue out at Rose. "Fine. But I promise I'll ask, and I'll find out. What are the two curses again?"
Rose shook her head. "You probably shouldn't know them. That would be suspicious. Just pretend that you don't know what he's talking about when he answers, because fourth-years do not know that sort of thing. Not even Slytherin fourth-years who sneak into the Restricted Section once in a while to check out interesting curses and counter-curses."
"I…how do you know about that?" Lily spluttered.
"You told Scorpius, and he told me."
"Scorpius Malfoy!"
"Calm down," Rose said before Lily could get out her wand. "I didn't tell on you or anything. Do you really think I'd do something like that?"
"No, but you'd tell me not to do it."
Scorpius held up his hands. "If you two are done talking about Lily's midnight wanderings, can you, Rose, help me on my Arithmancy? I have no clue why I signed up to take this course, it's bloody impossible." He groaned.
"Fine."
The two sixth-years settled down to work, and Lily wandered out to the Quidditch pitch. Nobody was practicing right now, and she walked around the field, looking for anything out of place. She doubted there was any clues, but, knowing Rose, it would be good to say that she had at least looked. She looked around and, seeing nobody nearby, pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of her bag and threw it over her before heading to the Quidditch shed.
It had been rebuilt after the Battle of Hogwarts, having been torn down in the ruckus. It was divided into four sections, one for each house, where the brooms and uniforms of that team were kept. She tapped her wand on the Hufflepuff door, muttering, "Alohomora," which easily opened it. She slipped inside, looking around. Nothing looked out of place- the robes were all neatly hung up next to the brooms, although in Sara's case, only her robe hung on the peg. She glanced down at the floor, not seeing anything else out of place either. "Damn it," she hissed. A clue would have been incredibly helpful right about now.
The door creaked open, and she stood extremely still as the Hufflepuff captain, her brother Albus, poked his head through. "Anybody here?" She didn't answer, and his forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Huh," he muttered. "Could have sworn I shut this door the other day." He shrugged and closed it, having not noticed his sister, as she was under the ever-useful Invisibility Cloak. Technically, the Cloak wasn't hers- her father had kept that, as it was often handy for Auror duties, but she had taken it. The Marauder's Map wasn't hers either- that, too, had been stolen, this time from James, who had in turn stolen it from their father- but James had barely seen it was missing. He had never used it much, anyway, or not as much as Lily.
Lily crept over to the door and silently opened it, slipping out as soon as she could fit, closing it just as quietly. With the Cloak still on she ran, pulling it tight around her so it didn't fly off. Her average height came in handy once again, as her feet couldn't be seen when she had the cloak on, where with Scorpius it could, as he lifted it much higher. As soon as she was inside the castle and alone, she stuffed it back into her bag. Coming down the stairway was James.
"Why, hello, little sis," he said in what was probably the most friendly tone he had used in the past few years, probably because Scorpius wasn't there. "What are you doing?"
"Why are you so happy?" she asked suspiciously. He couldn't seem to wipe a large grin off his face, and he kept ruffling his hair in an extremely irritating fashion. "Did you finally get into your girlfriend's skirt?"
James glared at her. "That is none of your business. Anyway, I'm happy because I am Gryffindor's Quidditch team captain, and we are going to kick Slytherin's butt this year."
"That's what you have been saying for five years," Lily shot back, "and every time Slytherin's beaten you. Now, if you'll excuse me-" she hesitated barely a second before coming up with a plausible lie- "I have to go help Tori with Charms. I think she's failing."
"How do you fail Charms?" James wondered aloud, but Lily was already heading toward the Slytherin common room. She had nothing to do, yes, but it was better than standing there with James listening to his Quidditch talk, especially when that talk was bashing her team.
She didn't notice Molly, one of her numerous cousins, coming toward her. "Lily! I'm glad I caught you." Molly fidgeted with the Head Girl badge on her robes. "Your friend…Daisy, I believe her name was? She's in the hospital wing."
"What?" Lily nearly dropped her bag in surprise. "What happened? Is she alright?"
"They don't know," Molly said, dropping her voice to a whisper. "She fell off the Astronomy tower. Professor Clearwater managed to slow her body down, but it was still a long fall. She's alive…right now."
"Do they have any idea who did this?" Lily's heart was pounding frantically in her chest.
"The teachers…they think it was the same person who cursed Sara Creevey's broom. They believe that person has struck again."
A/N: Liking it so far? Any ways that I can improve?