Lily woke with a start! She sat bolt upright in her bed, wrenched the hangings open from around her bed and leapt out onto the floor. She was in the middle of putting on her socks when she looked over at the clock on the bedside cabinet: it read 3:45am. Lily let out a deep sigh as she climbed back into bed. It was happening every night now. At first it would only happen when she had gone to bed late but now it was happening whatever time she went to bed. Her mind was so full of lessons, remembering two passwords and making sure she wasn't seen in the Ravenclaw common room that it took her brain a while to wind down after every day.

Lily lay looking up at the top of her four poster bed exhausted, wishing sleep to take over her. Sometime around dawn, Lily finally fell into a restless sleep. When she woke up the following morning, it was almost as though she had had no sleep at all. When she had washed and dressed, she made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast hoping that a good breakfast may wake her up slightly. She sat down in the vacant seat opposite Helen and began helping herself to a bowl of cereal. Helen stared at her for a moment before saying

"My God Lily! Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Some. Not as much as I would like though"

"This is getting silly Lils. You are absolutely exhausted, you're gonna make yourself sick you know! Just go and see Madam Pomfrey. She may be able to give you something to help."

"I'm ok Helen; just a bit tired that's all. Stop fussing"

Helen opened her mouth as if to retaliate but closed it again, thinking better of it.

Lily knew Helen only had her best interests at heart but she could be very demanding at times. Lily hadn't told Helen why she had been staying up so late. She had nearly told her many times but she just could not bring herself to betray Dumbledore's trust.

"Come on lets go otherwise we are gonna be late for Charms." Said Lily, finishing her last mouthful of cereal.

Helen threw her an exasperated look but got up and followed her nonetheless.

No matter what she did, Lily could not concentrate on her work. Her thoughts kept wondering to Gerald and to her bed upstairs and back to Gerald again. He had been really upset last night because he couldn't get his head around one of the Arithmacy formulas. He seemed to be cracking up and although she was there for him, Lily could not see what difference she was making.

It was only when the bell rang for the end of lessons that Lily came back into the real world. The whole double period had been a waste of time. Lily was still no nearer to being able to do a Repelling Charm. As she was packing her things away, Professor Filtwick called her to his desk at the front of the class.

"Go ahead Helen, I'll catch up with you." Said Lily when she saw Helen lingering at the back of the room. Helen nodded and exited the classroom as Professor Filtwick began to speak.

"How are you Lily?" he asked his face full of concern.

"I'm ok. A bit tired but other then that alright"

Professor Filtwick had never addressed her by her first name before.

He shifted upon his column of cushions and spoke again.

"Lily, you are one of the brightest girls in the year. Over the past five years, you have shown yourself to be particularly gifted in Charms."

Lily blushed red.

"However, this year your grades seem to have taken a turn for the worst. Lily at the moment you are failing Charms"

Lily could not believe it. She had always worked so hard at school. To be failing was devastating to her.

"Professor, my mind has been else where over the past couple of months."

"I know. Gerald is very lucky to have you caring for him but you cannot afford to be failing at this stage of your Hogwarts career. If your grades do not pick up before the Easter holidays, then you may not be entered for the exam."

Lily felt her eyes begin to sting. Not be able to sit the exam; she would not be able to become an Auror if she didn't have a N.E.W.T in Charms.

"Please Sir! I will work harder, I promise. Please let me sit the exam." Cried Lily, tear now rolling down her cheeks.

"If you put in the work over the next few months, there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to sit the exam but you are gonna have to work extremely hard."

"I will I promise"

"Ok. Now you best be going otherwise you are gonna be late for your next lesson."

Lily gave Professor Filtwick a watery smile of gratitude before turning around to leave the classroom. Professor Filtwick's next class had already begun to enter the classroom, including Gerald.

"Hey you, how's it going?" said Lily, wiping away her tears on her sleeve.

"Ok." Replied Gerald quietly.

"Well I guess I'll see you in the common room later then" whispered Lily so only Gerald could hear.

Gerald merely nodded as he took his seat at the back of the classroom.

Lily ran down the corridor towards the library. She did not have another lesson to go to as Herbology was an individual study. Deciding she wanted to be on her own for a while, Lily went into the Restricted Section of the library where she knew she would probably be alone. When she took her seat at the very far end of the library away from everyone else, Lily broke down and sobbed. Failing Charms, how could she be failing Charms? She knew she was a bit behind everyone else with the Repelling Charm but to be failing! Lily felt as though she had let everyone down especially Professor Filtwick, so dedicated the rest of her afternoon to catching up with the theory behind the various Charms they had learnt so far that year.

When Lily finally left the library, it was time for dinner so she headed straight down to the Great Hall. The Hall was full when she arrived there. Scanning the Gryffindor table for someone she knew, her eyes fell upon Sirius, Remus, James and Peter. Forgetting her loathing of James, she sat down next to Remus, pulled the nearest plate of food towards her and began spooning it out onto her plate.

"Hey Evans, how's life treating you?" said James brightly.

"Please don't call me Evans, James" replied Lily wearily.

"Oh yeah, sorry" mumbled James

"Are you alright Lily? You don't look very well." Asked Remus, obviously deeply concerned.

Lily smiled weakly. "I'm ok Remus. I didn't sleep very well last night."

Lily glanced over at Sirius who was also looking very concerned. He smiled slightly before turning his attention back to his plate.

"You should visit Madam Pomfrey. She's got this great potion that sends you into a dreamless sleep for hours." Said James.

"Thanks James. I may do that." Said Lily. The group sat there in silence eating their meals, careful to avoid each others eye until Lily got up and said "I've gotta run. I'll see you all later."

Lily set off down the corridor to the empty classroom Dumbledore had shown her the day she began visiting Ravenclaws Common room. She decided to try the charms theories again but no matter how much she tried she could not get her head around these theories. They seemed to be leaking out of her head quicker then she could put them in. After a while she gave up and looked at the time on her watch; it was 12:05am. She was sure that there would be no Ravenclaws up now so she packed away her things and headed towards the fourth floor and the portrait of Fredrick the Forgetful.

Once inside, Lily stood still and listened for the voice telling her she could come in.

"It's ok. You can come in"

Lily entered the Ravenclaw common room and straight over to where Gerald was sitting around a table. He had been reading but when Lily came in, he closed the book and drew out the chair next to him ready for her to sit upon.

"Hey, how's your day been?" Asked Lily taking her seat.

"Fine. Look Lily I need to talk to you."

Lily stared at him in surprise; he had never been so abrupt before.

"I've decided I am gonna go home and be with my family."

"Oh ok."

"I just think it would be better for everyone if I left."

"What do you mean?" exclaimed Lily, not quite understanding

"I heard your conversation with Professor Filtwick earlier. You're failing charms?"

"Its no big deal" said Lily shrugging "I can make it up."

"No Lily, it is a big deal!" Shouted Gerald standing up and walking away from the table. "And it's my fault you are failing. You are doing way too much! Everyday I see you; you are looking even more exhausted then the last!"

"I'm ok. You should be concentrating on you and your family. Don't worry about me."

"BUT YOU ARE MAKING ME WORRY ABOUT YOU!" shouted Gerald.

Lily began to cry; she had never seen Gerald act like this before. It was totally out of character.

"I'm sorry" she sobbed.

Gerald came and sat back down next to her.

"I'm not doing very well staying here anyway. My mind is constantly on Catherine so I think it would be best if I left Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore said that the remainders of my lessons are gonna be revision based anyway so I can do that from home. He said he would send an owl during the holidays telling me the times of my exams so I can come back in and take them here."

Lily went to respond when Gerald cut in again

"I also think that we should call it a day."

Lily looked startled

"Between Catherine and my exams I'm not gonna have much time for anything else. I don't think it would be fair to either of us if we continued as we have been the past couple of months."

"If that's what you want" whispered Lily

"I think it's best"

"Well I guess I'd better go then" said Lily suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"Thank you for everything Lily. I know I may not have shown it but I appreciated your support."

"Take care Gerald" replied Lily, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

"You too Lily."

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