Sorry again about the hiatus! I've been a busy woman. I hope everyone had a great xmas and new year! I spent mine in Perth, which is basically the other end of Australia. Since then I've been on placement and it's been full on and tiring. I've been doing 60 hour weeks so I barely have enough time to eat let alone write. This is Chapter 11, it's not the most fantastic thing ever written but it exists.

You'll be happy to learn that this story WILL finish. I have written the final chapter, so it is written and ready to go, I just need to fill it in. Hope you enjoy guys!

Chapter 11 – The Rift

The semester started up again, bringing with it the cold and bitter winds that a Scottish January brings. Many students were wrapped in their cloaks, scarves and gloves as they made their way around the castle.

Among the normal hustle and bustle was the ever-growing excitement of the Hufflepuff Gryffindor Quidditch match. Well, more like the disappointment. The rest of Gryffindor house had found out that Lily would not be playing as Chaser, and Shaun would be taking his appropriate place.

"Who knew an 11 year old would be so damn good?" Lily heard Dax muttering to himself one day as he walked through the common room.

However Lily was actually rather happy about it, she had taken on Harry's advice. She was only 11, well turning 12, years old and had many years to join the Quidditch team. Also she had more time to study now, the team was on almost daily practices as the match loomed closer.

"Well half the team is leaving this year," Eileen commented idly as they studied in the Room, "you'll get a place no worries, especially because you're just so good at the damn sport."

"That's true," Hugo added, "also have you seen Archie? He told me he was going to be here!"

Lily shifted awkwardly. Archie. Ever since their fight they had not spoken. Archie had remained quite friendly with both Eileen and Hugo but he and Lily had a very stiff awkward relationship. Usually they would greet each other and that would be all. Lily wasn't sure if Hugo and Eileen had caught on.

"I've got no idea where he is," Lily shrugged as she continued to scribble Defence notes. As if he had been summoned Archie slid through the door of the room, an armful of books by his side.

"Are we going to practice our defensive stuff?" Eileen asked as she pulled out her wand. Lily shuddered, she still struggled with her spellwork. They had learnt basic spells like Expelliarmus and Lumos now in Defence but Lily still struggled.

"Lumos first?" Hugo asked at large as he too stood, Lily followed.

"Sure, lumos!" Eileen muttered and her wand tip lit up immediately. It shone brightly. Hugo and Archie were both able to also conjure it.

"Lumos!" Lily said boldly, and amazingly her wand emitted a faint light source. It wasn't as bright as the others, but it was there. She grinned broadly, "yes I finally managed something!"

"Very impressive Lily," Archie said smugly, Lily scowled, she detected the sarcasm in his voice.

"It's great!" Hugo said, clearly not picking up on the sarcasm, "oh and I've got something to show you that I've been working on. Hopefully I can make it work," Hugo scrunched up his face in concentration and cried "Expecto Patronum!" and a small silver wisp came from his wand, which held for several seconds and then died.

"WHOA!" Eileen cried excitedly, "that's amazing Hu! Soooo many people cannot do that even as adults!"

"I've been practicing, I want to cast a Corporeal one one day," he said. After the excitement they resumed practicing other spells. While the others, particularly Hugo, mastered the Expelliarmus charm, Lily struggled. She was able to make Hugo's wand jump but he was always able to hang on to it. Periculum now worked for Lily and she smiled as the red sparks shot out of her wand.

They practiced for a good long while before heading to bed. Lily waved goodbye to Eileen as she and Hugo headed to the Gryffindor tower.

"You're improving!" Hugo said as they clambered through the portrait hole and into the crowded common room.

"What's going on here?" Lily asked at random as they approached the crowded notice board. Fred emerged from the throng of the crowd.

"Hey guys – just a notice that Uncle Harry is coming to lecture in DADA again," Fred said.

"Oh awesome," Hugo said, "it'll be good to see Uncle Harry again."

"Definitely," Lily added and peeked at the board as the people thinned, "aww it isn't till late February!"

"Well it's mid-January, just another month," Hugo argued, "want to hit the books?"

"Ergh fine," Lily grumbled as she sat with Hugo to begin looking over Potions notes.

.

The weeks passed, and the cold snow stopped to bring cold rain and sleet which was even worse. On the day before Lily's birthday was where the match was scheduled. Tensions rose in the corridors. While it didn't have the same tenacity as the Gryffidor Slytherin match, it still ran high. A Hufflepuff Chaser was knocked unconscious and ended up in the Hospital Wing. James, of course, was suspected but no one had any proof.

On the morning of the match Lily and Hugo made their way down to the Gryffindor table. Lily looked up to see the sky was a light grey. At least visibility would be good. She tucked in to her eggs and bacon as the owls flew in, including her family owl.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly as she grabbed the letter. It gave a grateful hoot before flying off to sleep in the Owlery. Lily ripped the letter open to see her father's messy handwriting.

Dearest Lily,

How are you? Just a little concerned about you. You seemed so down when you left home, and Hagrid mentioned to me that you were a little down also, so just checking in that you're okay. Write whenever you need it okay?

Love,
Dad x

Lily wondered why her father hadn't addressed it from both him and her mother, but shrugged. Ginny wasn't the letter writing type, and this seemed overly personal. Hugo had received a Daily Prophet and was staring at the front page, his spoon halfway to his open mouth.

"What's going on?" Lily asked.

"Another one," Hugo replied in a small voice, thrusting the paper under Lily's nose. She stared at the front page with a picture of her own father walking into the Ministry of Magic holding up his hands to shield his face from the onslaught of cameras.

An entire neighbourhood of Muggles in a quiet southern Scottish village had been found dead. A lump rose in Lily's throat as she pushed the paper away, losing her appetite. She glanced over at the Slytherin table to see that Archie was having breakfast with Albus. Lily had to swallow her vomit. No one else knew that Archie had been involved in the attacks.

"Let's go team!" Dax called and Lily watched them walk out. James high-fived her as he passed. Soon after the teams left people made their way down to the pitch, Lily and Hugo included. She shoved her hands in her pockets as she and Hugo climbed the stands to somewhere near the top to watch the match.

"It's weird to be sitting here," Lily said as she stared out.

"It must be," Hugo commented as he too stared. People began filling the podium. The most watched game was the beginning of year Gryffindor vs Slytherin, but even here many of the students still turned up. Slytherin numbers were always high at Gryffindor games, and vice versa, one always hoping to see the other flattened. The lowest turnout of the year was always the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw match.

Cheers erupted over the stands as the Hufflepuff team emerged, dressed in canary yellow. The Gryffindor team followed by loud cheers, Lily included, and a chorus of loud boos from the Slytherin end. The Captains shook hands and after the whistle they were in the air.

"And Hufflepuff in possession of the Quaffle! Ooooooh Sherwood snags it! Sherwood passes it to Smith, and Smith passes it too oooooooooh Bayliff DROPS the Quaffle and it's caught by star Hufflepuff chaser and Captain Iven Reynolds! Starting to wonder why Rankin didn't keep Potter on as Chaser! Reynolds races toward the goal and HE SCORES! TEN NIL TO HUFFLEPUFF!"

Cheers from Slytherin and boos from Gryffindor erupted around the field. Lily's face felt as though it had permanent fingernail marks as she watched the match in agony. She could see Yuri, who had evidently improved, as she circled the pitch from high above searching for the illusive Snitch. James and Fred were swinging Bludgers left and right and their aim was on point. However the chasers were not in formation. Lily couldn't help but notice Shaun always seemed to be out of time and clumsy compared to Holly and Getrude.

Gryffindor did gain some ground but Dax was frustrated as he let in five goals in a row. After fifteen minutes of gameplay the scores were even at seventy. Lily saw it at the same time Yuri did, a tiny sliver of gold, and she dashed off wildly, followed closely by the Hufflepuff seeker. The crowd went nuts as the cheering overlayed the sound of the commentary.

Lily rose in her seat in excitement, and felt Hugo screaming and jumping up and down next to her. Lily couldn't make out what was happening but a deafening cheer erupted from the Gryffindor end of the pitch as the commentator yelled out "GRYFFINDOR CATCHES THE SNITCH! 220 70 TO GRYFFINDOR!"

"GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" the Gryffindors yelled out as they raced toward the team. Lily smiled, grateful her team had won. She and Hugo however searched through the crowd rather than rushing over to the team, finding Eileen sitting alone in the Hufflepuff stands.

"I'm just grateful that's over," Eileen said when they met up, "I'm sick of sitting apart from you guys. Good match though, pissed you weren't in there though Lily."

"Don't remind me," Lily muttered.

"Shaun's got nothing on you cousin," Hugo said as they exited the pitch, "we only won because of Yuri, the chasers were average at best."

"Who's average at best?" a voice rang behind them. Lily turned in fright but it was only James and Fred who had their brooms slung over their shoulders.

"The chasers," Hugo repeated. James looked around carefully making sure no one was in earshot as they walked.

"Tell me about it," he muttered, "I'm so sick of Shaun. He's such an arrogant tosser."

"Thinks he knows better than Dax," Fred added.

"One of THOSE types," Eileen rolled her eyes as they entered the castle to go to lunch. They all sat at the Gryffindor table as the plates magically filled around them. Albus, Scorpius and Rose also joined them and they chatted merrily and ate.

"Where's Archie?" Eileen asked.

"I have no idea," Hugo said, scanning around the Great Hall but slumped when he could not get sight of Archie.

"He hasn't been himself," Scorpius commented, "he usually comes and talks to Al and I but lately he's been by himself in the common room just staring at his notes but it doesn't appear he's taking anything in."

"I wonder what's going on," James said as he too scanned the Slytherin table. Lily suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore, and she pushed away her baked potatoes.

"I've got to send Dad a letter," she said suddenly. Hugo handed her a spare piece of parchment while Lily dug around for her fountain pen. After realising she had it she set off for the Owlery to write her father a letter.

As she exited the Hall she felt a large obstacle under her feet and was unable to regain her balance – falling on her face and sliding along the stone floor. Her nose made a sickening snap as it connected with the floor. Pressing a hand to her face where she felt hot blood, she looked up to see Tiernan and his cronies sniggering at her.

"Watch where you're going!" one of the cronies said, the corners of his mouth still up even though he tried to muster a serious expression.

"Did you get kicked off the team for being a show off?" Tiernan sneered, "Gryffindor suck either way though."

Lily looked past and at the Gryffindor table where her friends and family sat talking, none of them had noticed. She stood, brushed off her robes and glared at Tiernan who unfortunately didn't even flinch.

"Honestly I'm surprised the broom leaves the ground with your fat head on your shoulders," Tiernan commented.

"Me too," a voice muttered, and Lily turned in surprise to see Archie walking past. It had been his voice.

"What?" Lily asked, her voice raising a slight octave. Archie turned to look at her straight in the face, his eyes cold and flat.

"I'm surprised your body even manages to stand Lily Potter. You have a fat head and inflated ego. You accused of me of Dark Magic! Who do you think you are?"

"Oooooh tension in paradise," Tiernan teased and was greeted with more sniggers.

Lily flipped Archie off and with tears in her eyes she stormed up the staircase. She told a half-hearted lie to Madame Longbottom, Neville's wife, who looked concerned but didn't push the point as she patched Lily up. Once Lily's broken nose had been mended and the blood siphoned off she sat in the corridor outside the Owlery nibbling on the end of her pen, debating what to write to her father.

Dad,

Sorry I didn't respond earlier. I've been pretty busy. Eileen and Hugo force me to study everyday so I can get on top of my subjects. I'm getting better but I'm still behind the rest of the year overall. I don't know why I find it so difficult.

I'm okay. I would just rather be at home with you then here. I miss my home. Archie and I are having some issues at the moment – will explain more when you come in.

Love,
Lily
xx

She re-read her letter again, and after nodding in approval she rolled it up, sealed it and called Bandit down from a high perch. He greeted her, and she tied the letter to his leg, "you're taking this to Dad okay?" The bird blinked and soared through the glassless window. Lily watched him disappear and then re-entered the castle. It was Saturday afternoon and she didn't know what to do with herself. She had had her head in the books for the last few weeks, but knowing to properly enjoy her 12th birthday she would need to do some more study.

She entered the Room of Requirement several minutes later to find Eileen sitting by herself, practicing some Transfiguration by trying to change a match into a needle. Her match was still rather shiny looking.

"Gee Lily, you really are feeling game," Eileen said, as she transfigured her shiny match back to a needle.

"Just wanting to cram some more in before tomorrow," Lily shrugged.

"Ah yes! The illusive 12th birthday!" Eileen winked.

"Well time to smash out some study," Lily sighed and sat down, pulling out her wand.

.

Lily awoke suddenly the next morning to find an ancient House-Elf sitting on her bedspread. Lily looked around the dormitory and found it empty. She had slept in again, remembering how long it had taken her to fall asleep the night before.

"Kreacher wanted to wish Mistress Lily a Happy Birthday," Kreacher said in a scratchy voice as he hopped down from the bed and disappeared with a loud crack. Lily blinked stupidly; it was very rare for Kreacher to make any appearances anywhere, then Lily remembered he lived in the kitchens at Hogwarts. She looked down at her bed and saw a rather large pile of gifts and realised Kreacher must've delivered them.

She began ripping wrapping off of presents to reveal some goodies inside. Her Uncle George, Aunt Angelina, Fred and Roxy had gotten her an enormous box of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, James and Al had combined and had gotten her a sneakerscope, Uncle Ron a pile of stink pellets and dungbombs, Aunt Hermione had typically been a book, but it was a book about Quidditch. She flipped through the pages of the new edition, poring over the manoeuvres and history of broomsticks. Eileen and Hugo had combined also and gotten her a study planner. Predictably there was no gift from Archie.

There was no package from her parents, just a card. She opened it to which her mother's handwriting greeted her. Ginny wrote the birthday and Christmas cards.

Lily,

Happy Birthday! Sorry we can't give you your gift now but it's just too awkward. Harry will bring it with him to Hogwarts when he's there next month, until then take care my darling daughter and have a happy 12th birthday!

Love,
Mum and Dad

Lily wondered what the gift could be, but she was happy that her parents had thought of her. She jumped out of bed and down to the common room where she was greeted by Hugo, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!" he cried pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thanks – Hugo," Lily gasped as he let go. When they arrived at the Great Hall Al, Scorpius, Rose, James, Fred and Eileen all beckoned her over and she walked over smiling shyly at all the attention.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SISTER!" James cried thumping her on the back as Lily took her seat between James and Hugo. Lily watched as Louis, Molly and Lucy all joined the table as well. "It's a Weasley fiesta!" James ran his hands through his red hair as he said it.

"I wish I had the red hair," Albus sighed pulling at his black hair, "I feel like an outsider."

"Ahem," Louis pointed to his own hair, a light blonde, "only Dominique got the red hair – Victoire and I are both blonde."

"And me!" Lucy cried, "the only Ravenclaw and with hair as black as Al's!"

"You forgot me!" Molly added, her long brown hair billowing down her back.

"And me!" Hugo also piped up, "got bushy brown didn't I?"

"Well, I feel better now," Albus said cheerily, his green eyes warm with relief. James glanced at Lily and they both giggled.

"I wish I had gone into Ravenclaw," Rose said, idly playing with her egg, "biggest mistake of my life." Scorpius spluttered his juice everywhere.

"WHAT?" he stammered, juice dripping down his front.

"Oh I haven't told you? In first year I was a seven and a half minute hatstall or something – it probably wasn't a real stall. I was actually arguing. The hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw but I argued to the end requesting I go in Gryffindor. It argued saying it saw no Gryffindor qualities at all and wanted to put me in Ravenclaw. Eventually it knew I wouldn't give in, and ended up placing me in Gryffindor. However, as soon as I found out Dad would've been okay with me in whatever house I was instantly remorseful; I should've gone into Ravenclaw to stand out."

"I was the smart child really by going into Slytherin," Albus said while Scorpius snorted into his cereal.

"You're both 15 soon aren't you?" Scorpius asked James and Fred after he recovered from his laughing fit. Lily smiled, James and Fred were an interesting pair. Fred shared his birthday with his father as well as the uncle whom he was named after, that being April 1st. According to Ginny, she had been pregnant with James and Aunty Angelina with Fred and the both of them joked that they would have their babies the same day. Amazingly they both went into labour on the 1st of April and the boys are literally twins from different parents.

"We are," Fred said, "how we ended up on the same day I'll never know."

"Maybe the universe decided that since your dad's twin died, that the universe needed another set of Weasley twins," Lucy commented.

James thought about this, "probably. Hey Lily, want to go down to the pitch today and fly for a bit?"

"YES!" Lily said, she had been itching to get back on her broom.

"And we should go see Hagrid," Hugo added.

.

The day had been filled with sleet-fights and flying on the Quidditch pitch. Lily loved the feeling of being in the air. She, James, Fred, Scorpius and Rose had joined them. Rose was reasonably capable on a broomstick. Albus, Eileen and Hugo sat in the stands. While they couldn't use the Snitch or Bludgers, they had been allowed to use the Quaffle. Lily brushed up on her technique by practicing her skills.

"I still need Mum to teach me the Finbourgh Flick," Lily said as she chucked the Quaffle through Fred's outstretched arms and into the hoop.

"I wish Dad or Mum had been a beater," James said as he flew by, "I could get pointers."

"Well Dad was a beater!" Fred piped up.

"Oh yeah," James replied stupidly.

After the fun Quidditch game Lily bade goodbye to everyone except Eileen and Hugo. The three of them began to walk to Hagrid's house for an afternoon tea. He welcomed them in warmly and they sat down by the toasty fire, Lily's frozen fingers and face regaining feeling. Hagrid set down four large mugs of tea and some treacle tart. Lily, hungry from the Quidditch, grabbed some immediately. Despite Hagrid's cooking ability it was rather delicious.

"How've been?" Hagrid asked the group, taking a sip of tea.

"Good," Eileen said, and then she was off describing her trip to Australia. Hagrid seemed to show genuine interest in the place, and was fascinated by the animals there, even the non-magical ones.

"So Lily – how's Archie?"

"Mmm, Archie," Lily mumbled, staring into her barely touched tea.

"I KNEW something was going on between you two! He hasn't wished you a happy birthday or anything!" Hugo practically shouted.

"What happened?" Eileen asked. Lily explained the situation, when she had finished Eileen looked thoroughly unimpressed while Hugo had his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Lily…" Eileen whispered, putting her face in her hands.

"I know," Lily replied, still staring at her tea, "but boy he was nasty to me the other day – I couldn't believe it."

"He's just mad," Hugo said, "you need to talk it through."

"Yeh do," Hagrid added.

"I don't know what to say! I might ask Dad when he comes."

"Good idea!" Hagrid said cheerily, "Harry will know what to do."

"I hope so," Lily replied, a slight edge of panic in her voice. After hearing more stories about "The Golden Trio's" time at Hogwarts Lily, Hugo and Eileen set back up to the castle, feeling full and warm.

"Rest is needed right now. Hopefully all the study we've been doing will pay off," Lily said when they waved goodbye to Eileen and climbed upward to Gryffindor Tower.

"You'll be fine," Hugo replied, patting her on the shoulder. Lily headed straight to bed and jumped under her covers, feeling grateful when sleep claimed her.

.

Despite the Archie shenanigans the week went extremely well for Lily. While unable to cast Lumos as brightly as the others she was able to perform the spell along with Periculum and Expelliarmus much to Professor Quentin's delight. Orla could be heard sniggering in this class, but had a genuine face of shock when Lily was able to cast everything.

Charms was a similar affair, Lily finally getting the hang of Wigardium Leviosa and Professor Flitwick clapped delightedly.

"Wow she mastered a spell we all mastered four months ago!" Orla muttered just loud enough for Lily to hear, a few of her friends sniggered but no one else really cared.

In Herbology Lily put in extra effort and able to handle and look after the plants. She could even identify the plants correctly.

"Can anyone tell me what is Devil Snare's main weakness?" Professor Longbottom asked in one of his lessons. Lily's hand shot into the air, much to everyone's surprise.

"Light," she responded smartly, "so lighting your wand or lighting a fire will help if being strangled by the plant."

"Correct Lily! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

History of Magic and Astronomy were general snoozefests and Lily was doing reasonably well in these. Potions had also shown dramatic improvement. Lily had managed to make a few potions that had not melted her cauldron, although she found she was better at the theory side of the subject since for Potions most study involved only theoretical learning.

Transfiguration however appeared to be her best subject, which happened to be the last lesson on a Friday. Since her detentions with Zabini she had practically memorised the textbook. Not only was she able to answer Zabini's questions correctly, she was progressing much faster in her practical work also.

Since Archie had now stopped talking to both Hugo and Eileen as well, the three rotated in Transfiguration. It was Lily's turn to not be sitting in a pair and predictably Orla had come over to taunt her.

"So it's Loser Lily, what will you not show us today?" Orla sniggered.

"Alright class!" Zabini clapped his hands together as he called the class to order, "today you will be making the pineapples on your desks tapdance. I haven't given you the theory to write – I assume you have already read this. Please begin."

Lily pointed her wand at the pineapple and muttered the incantation. Much to her delight the pineapple began to move. Using her wand, she twisted it in motions that caused it to appear as if it were tapdancing. She looked around and noticed she had been the first person to manage this. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Orla scowling.

"Guess those detentions paid off," Zabini commented as he passed, and predictably did not give Lily any house points. As Zabini moved around the room he was handing papers back. He placed Lily's and Orla's down on the desk and moved on. Lily grabbed for hers but Orla snatched it up, bringing it right to her face.

"Humph," she muttered and shoved it toward Lily. Lily smiled as she saw the small black E scrawled into the corner. She chanced a glance at Orla's and noticed the stubborn P. As Lily was re-reading her paper a piece of parchment fell out from between her parchments. She picked it up and noticed writing that was quite unlike hers.

Zabini,

We are working on it. Don't tell me how to do my job; I know exactly what I'm doing. The plan is going well and I trust you are working on your side of the bargain. If you don't you will be truly sorry so let us do our job and you do yours.

- T

Lily's eyes widened at the parchment. Seeing that Orla and Zabini were distracted she shoved the parchment into her robes and nervously continued to make her pineapple tapdance. When the bell signalled end of class and Zabini had set them twenty inches of parchment on vanishing spells vs switching spells Lily rushed out of the room in a blind panic. She would need to pick the right moment to show her friends – and pushed the letter from her mind.

About half an hour later Lily sat with Eileen and Hugo under the shade of the beech tree on the grounds as they enjoyed their Friday afternoon. Lily told Eileen of her E and she was thoroughly impressed, "well I'm glad Lily. I'm sure with extra study you will smash the exams."

"I just need to talk to Dad about Archie," Lily rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Her study was finally starting to show results, but her friendship was still in a pickle.

"Uncle Harry will have advice, he's good like that," Hugo smiled.

"Archie can't stay mad forever – it sure did look like him on the front though – but it could've been all a mix up and a misunderstanding," Eileen added, "it'll be okay."

Lily nodded, a lump rising in her throat. Why couldn't Hogwarts just be awesome without all of the drama? She struggled understanding how her parents look badly at it fondly? Every year her father almost seemingly dies, her mother every third year around about. Lily shook her head, as long as she could sort out Archie her worries would decrease. She tried to push it from her mind as she enjoyed a study break by the lake with her friends.

For anyone wondering, I made Lily's birthday January 26, which is Australia Day coincidentally. Hope everyone is enjoying it. Chapter 12 coming soon.