Chapter 10: A Better Ending to a Better Day

"I would never have expected to enjoy that class so much," Julianne gushed as she walked with Lily and Kenny down from the high tower classroom in which their Defense Against the Dark Arts class was held. "Professor McGregor though is terrific," she laughed.

"He really is," Kenny agreed.

"I'm glad he let us use our wands," Lily chimed in. "I'm so tired of all the professors just giving lecture on first day."

"Yea, and that spell was brilliant!" Kenny brandished her wand and flicked it in a couple quick circles. "I can't wait for next class."

"I remember James talking about Professor McGregor before, but I didn't know exactly what to expect," Lily told them. "Nothing James, or anyone else said, could ever do him justice."

"And when Nicollet accidentally hit Cassie with the spell…" Julianne laughed again.

"Too bad Professor McGregor had to reverse it," Kenny grinned. "Her hair looked positively ghastly!"

Lily joined their laughing, agreeing that seeing Cassie with her hair standing on end like it had been was rather enjoyable. Even Professor McGregor had laughed a little at the accident, but when she had started stamping her foot, he righted it quickly.

"Payne!" Kenny suddenly called out and waved.

The prefect heard Kenny's call and glanced in their direction. As usual, he wasn't smiling, but he did acknowledge Kenny with a slight head nod.

"I've got to ask him something," Kenny told the others. "I'll catch up with you later." She hurried off towards Payne who was already walking away in the other direction. "Oy, Payne, wait up!"

"Should we start on our homework then?" Julianne asked when she and Lily were alone. "We've got the rest of the evening free until Astronomy."

"Yea absolutely," Lily agreed, "I've got loads now that I didn't start last night." They had reached the main floor and Lily headed automatically outside. "I did tell Leona I'd meet her by the lake though, so we could work on our assignments together. You will join us, won't you?"

Julianne hesitated.

"Please," Lily begged. "I'm determined to make this Slytherin thing work, but in order for that to happen, I have to be able to keep up with my friends in other houses."

"That's fine, but I don't have to be friends with them, do I?"

"Julianne, you're being ridiculous," Lily told her. "If there's one thing I've realized in the past forty-eight hours, it's that which house we're sorted into doesn't necessarily mean what we think it does. Why can't you try and be friends with them?"

She still looked a little uncertain, but she gave into Lily's request and followed her out to the lake. Leona was waiting when they arrived and she stood to greet them.

"All right, Leona?" Lily gave her a hug.

"Terrific," she responded. "Classes have all been quite exciting." She glanced at Julianne and appraised her carefully with her large eyes. "I saw you yesterday in Transfiguration."

"That's right," Julianne confirmed.

"Julianne is one of my roommates," Lily introduced. "She wanted to work with us."

"If that's okay with you," Julianne added.

"Of course," Leona smiled and resumed her seat on the grass. Lily sat beside her and Julianne sat opposite them, making a small triangle. "Have you girls started on the essay for Professor Hughes yet?"

"Not yet," Lily confessed. "I haven't even done the reading."

"Lil, it's due in the morning!" Leona reminded her.

"I know."

"Lily went to bed rather early last night," Julianne explained. "I tried to have her start with me, but she wouldn't."

"So you've started then?" Leona turned her attention to Julianne. "How is it going for you? I'm finding it surprisingly tiresome."

"Same here," Julianne agreed quickly. "I don't know how I'll find enough to write for eight inches."

Leona nodded. "The subject does get a bit dull rather quickly."

"You two aren't being very encouraging," Lily told them. "I have enough to worry about right now without stressing over a difficult essay I have yet to start."

"Don't forget the Potions homework," Julianne smiled. "And the reading for History."

"And we still have class tonight," Lily sighed. "I wonder if I'll ever get to bed."

"Well we'd best start now then," Leona pulled a collection of books from her bag and set them out in front of her. "Do you want help on your essay, Lil?"

"You've finished already, haven't you?"

"Of course, I finished last night."

"I think I'll start it on my own, but I wouldn't mind borrowing your book if you have it on you. Mine's in my room."

Leona handed it over promptly and Lily started reading the section on the basics to transfiguration. The essay was supposed to summarize the important rules to remember so as to strike the perfect balance in a transfigured object so that the essence of the original was preserved. Julianne and Leona started on the Potions homework, which was to identify the use of each potion on a long list Professor Willoughby had given to them.

The girls spent their entire break down by the lake working on their homework, and at the end of the hour, Lily had only made a little progress in her essay, but Leona and Julianne had nearly completed the list of potions.

"I have to run if I'm to make it to Charms." Leona stood and gathered her books back into her bag. "It was good to work with you Julianne. I expect we'll be seeing lots of each other."

Julianne nodded and returned Leona's kind smile.

"Well?" Lily turned to Julianne when Leona had vanished from sight.

"She's nice," Julianne admitted. "And she's smart."

"She's absolutely brilliant," Lily agreed. "It comes natural to her, though she won't let on it's anything special."

"And she doesn't seem to mind that you're in Slytherin," Julianne pointed out.

"No, she doesn't," Lily agreed. "Leona doesn't care about things like that. She and I talked about it on the train coming here. We both agreed that which house we were sorted into wouldn't matter…"

"And yet it did matter to you."

Lily nodded. "I underestimated how important the idea of Gryffindor was, but I've moved on."

Julianne nodded. "I'm glad to hear it, because to be honest, carrying on like you have been is a bit exhausting! It's been almost two days."

Lily laughed a little, but despite the fact that she had started accepting her housing assignment, there were still too many complications for her to relax completely.

"There you are!"

Lily and Julianne looked around to face the speaker. Albus was hurriedly crossing the lawn towards them.

"Al!" Lily stood eagerly as he approached and met him with a hug.

"I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come and talk to you." He held the hug a little longer. "Classes have kept me busy, and it hasn't been particularly easy to track you down."

"I'm just glad you wanted to."

"Of course I wanted to, Sis." He finally released her from the hug. "How are you doing?"

"Better now." She glanced down at Julianne who was staring up at him curiously. "Oh, sorry, Julianne this is my brother Albus." She glanced back at her brother. "Julianne is one of my roommates."

"Nice to meet you," he nodded at her.

"You don't care that Lily's in Slytherin, do you?" Julianne asked him.

Albus smiled at Lily. "Honestly I was a bit miffed when the hat made its decision because I would've like for her to be a Gryffindor, naturally, but as long as she's happy…" he hesitated and looked at his sister. "You are happy?"

Lily nodded. "It's getting better. I'd be even happier if you weren't the only person in the family who's taken time to come and check up on me."

"You can't be surprised. I mean, it is Slytherin." He glanced at Julianne. "No offense."

She shrugged and returned to her homework. Albus motioned for Lily to follow him and she left her belongings with Julianne as she joined Albus for a walk around the lawn.

"How are you really doing Lil?"

"I'm doing okay," she assured him. "It's not easy, though, you know."

"I really am sorry you weren't sorted into Gryffindor."

"Me too."

"I heard mum and dad offered to let you learn at home."

"They did."

"But you decided to stay here."

"I did."

"I think that's very brave."

Lily analyzed his expression. "Do you think I should have left?"

"I think that's completely your choice."

"James thinks I should have left."

"I know."

"He's been talking about me a lot, hasn't he?"

"He's a bit blinkered about this whole thing."

"You're really okay with it though?"

"Like I said, I wish you would have been put in Gryffindor, but it's not worth a row."

"Thank you." She hugged him again.

"I'm not the only one you know."

"The only one?"

"The only one who's glad you're staying, even though you are in Slytherin. James has been running his mouth off about all this and it's got the others thinking negatively, but in the end, they all still love you."

"Really?"

"Of course!" He laughed. "They're not brassed with you. They all blame the hat."

"Al…"

"Yea?"

"You don't think this means I meant to be evil, do you?"

Albus shrugged. "Maybe. You can be a bit of a pain at times…"

"Albus!" Lily swatted his arm and he grinned.

"Come on Lil, don't be daft."

She sighed. "Do you think James will ever come around?"

"He's got to eventually. You know he's just worried."

"Will you talk to him?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. I just don't want him to stay mad."

"I'll try," he agreed, "but I think you just need to give him time."

"I'll try," she retorted with a bit of a smirk.

Albus grinned and hugged her once more. "I've got to be off now. Take care of yourself, won't you?"

"You've only come to check up on me so you can tell daddy and mum you've done so."

"That's not true and you know it."

"Thanks Al," Lily smiled up at her brother and sent him on his way with a wave.

"So not all against you then?" Julianne winked at Lily as she took her place on the grass again.

"Not all," Lily agreed. "We'll see though, won't we? We'll see tonight in class with the Gryffindors."

"Do you know any of them?"

"Of course I do."

"Any in our year I mean."

"I've already introduced you to a couple of them," Lily reminded her. "Louis is my best mate, and my cousin. And then there's Hugo, my other cousin."

"How many cousins have you got?" Julianne laughed.

"Enough to populate the whole school." Lily laughed as well. She stopped laughing soon, and Julianne thought she had refocused on her essay, but she wasn't writing.

"They're going to come around, you know?"

Lily shrugged.

"Look at how your brother is. He doesn't care that you're in Slytherin.

"He does actually," Lily told her. "He's just pretending he doesn't."

"Well, that's something, isn't it?"

"For now." Lily refocused on her work, putting an end to her conversation with Julianne. As pleased as she had been to talk with Albus, she knew it was too soon to assume that the rest of her family would come around.

The girls remained by the lake studying until mealtime, at which point they hurriedly shoved their books and parchment into their book bags and rushed to the Great Hall. They sat together at one end of the table and ate quickly, immediately crashing in the library after to continue their work. They didn't stop working again until it was time for their evening Astronomy class.

"Why are you always making me run everywhere?" Julianne complained as she sprinted up the steps beside Lily.

"Because you're always making me late!" Lily didn't slow down until they had leapt off the last step and found themselves at the base of the Astronomy tower.

"We're still seven minutes early," Julianne reminded her as she stopped to catch her breath. She stared back down the steps they had just climbed, and her eyes widened as though doubting that she had just managed that feat.

"I told you I wanted to be here early to see Louis." Lily didn't stop for more than a moment before she was sprinting up the remaining few steps to the Astronomy tower. Julianne continued to pant for a few moments before starting to climb again.

The moment Lily reached the top of the steps, she started looking for Louis. She had hoped he would have thought to be early as well for time to speak with her, but there were only a couple students gathered, and no one she recognized. When Julianne caught up with her, Lily was near tears.

"He'll be here," Julianne reminded her. "You can stay and talk to him after."

"We have to nearly run back to the dungeons after class if we want to make it in before curfew," Lily complained. "I'll never get to talk to him."

"Lil!"

She turned suddenly and grinned at the sight of her cousin rushing towards her. "Lou!" She met him with her arms open and held onto him tightly.

"I am so sorry," Louis started speaking immediately. "I got so mad at you earlier and it wasn't fair. It's not your fault. I know you didn't really want to go off and leave me."

"Of course not," Lily agreed. "I didn't really want to leave, but it seemed like the best choice."

"I heard you're staying though, yea?" Louis broke the hug and stared hard into her eyes.

"Yea," she confirmed. "I've decided for good."

"That's good." Louis hugged her again. "I don't know what I would've done without you here!"

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No. I'm mad at that stupid hat."

"It's not the hat's fault," Lily reminded him. "It's just doing its job."

"Well it sure did a botch job then," he complained. "Anyone can see you are not a Slytherin."

"Maybe I am."

"Lil, no. You can't honestly be thinking that."

"I don't know what to think," she told him, "but I am a Slytherin."

Louis frowned, but nodded slowly. "I know you are. That's what I don't like."

"It's not going to come between us though, is it?"

He shook his head.

"You're sure?"

"Don't be dim," Louis squeezed her hand. "Nothing's going to come between us."

Lily squeezed his hand back and smiled, but they didn't have any more time to talk before the professor had arrived and called the students to order. Lily insisted that Julianne come and sit with her and Louis, and she did so with more openness than she had had earlier with Lily's Gryffindor friends. Hugo sat with them as well, and during the class he made sure Lily knew he fully accepted her being placed in Slytherin, and that he was glad she had chosen to stay at school.

After class, the students were sent directly back to their common rooms and given strict instructions not to dawdle so that they wouldn't be out past curfew. Lily walked with her cousins until they reached the seventh floor and the boys left to find their corridor while Julianne and Lily continued down to the dungeons with the rest of the Slytherins.

When they reached the base of the stone steps, Professor Willoughby was waiting. "Good evening ladies. Astronomy class I assume?"

Julianne nodded.

"I always did enjoy Astronomy myself," he told them. "You can learn much from the stars if you are open to their teachings."

"You sound like Professor Doles," Julianne observed. "She kept on about how we must learn from the stars, not our books. The stars are the teachers…"

"Professor Doles is very wise," he said.

Julianne shrugged.

"Miss Potter, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course." Lily sent Julianne on without her and then followed Professor Willoughby down another corridor to his office. "Did I do something wrong, Professor?"

"Do you have a guilty conscience?"

"I didn't until now," Lily told him.

He grinned. "You're not in trouble. I wanted to ask you how your day went. Was it better than yesterday?"

"It was better actually," Lily told him. "Much better. Thanks for asking."

"So do you think you've made the right choice in staying?"

"It's a little early to say for sure," Lily answered honestly. "It feels right though. I wouldn't be happy if I went home."

"I'm glad to hear it. I think you're going to be a real positive addition to our house, Miss Potter, and I think that if you let yourself, you will come to enjoy being a Slytherin."

"I hope you're right, Professor."

"Remember if you need anything at all…"

"Thanks."

"All right, off you go now. I'm sure you have lots of homework waiting for you."

"I do actually." Lily frowned as she remembered everything she still hadn't completed.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow then." He waved her away down the corridor and Lily walked briskly back to the invisible entrance to the common rooms, feeling even more reassured in her decision to remain at school. Despite all the conflicts of the first couple days, she felt confident that it would turn out okay in the end; she just hoped she would be able to have patience to hold out that long.