Birthday Wishes Always Come True - Wish Upon a Star
written by: albe-chan
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction and I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned, I am making no money from this, and any similarities with real life are purely coincidental. This work will contain MATURE THEMES, such as coarse language, mature subject matter (scenes containing graphic sex, recreational drug use, nudity, etc.), and/or violence. Please, if you are not over the age of 18, or of majority in your country, DO NOT READ THIS! You have been warned!
XXX
The next morning Lily woke refreshed and feeling fairly decent, considering she knew she had Charms later that afternoon. But got up and got dressed and she was ready for Transfiguration, and that was saying something. She met Cheryl on the stairs, heading down to breakfast, and noticed her friend looked glum. "Why the long face?" she asked. Cheryl pursed her mouth.
"Have you ever felt like you've got everything you could want, but there's still something missing?" Cheryl murmured.
Lily pulled a face, and said with as much sarcasm and as little self pity as possible, "Yeah, I've been there. That was pretty much dating MacDougall."
Cheryl rolled dark eyes. "You two were never a good fit, Lils. But I can see your problem. Not that mine's precisely the same." She smirked and Lily's nose scrunched.
"Gross, Graves."
"Sorry. Anyway, I was just… I dunno. Maybe I'm being paranoid."
Lily frowned, because that wasn't really an answer, but then they were passing into the Great Hall. They moved toward the Gryffindor table and moved to sit across from Matilda. "That's probably the least helpful statement if you wanted my advice, so I'm assuming you don't," Lily said to Cheryl as they sat. "Morning, Matilda."
"Good morning," the Prefect said distractedly, biting her lower lip and looking like she was trying to save someone's life she was concentrating so hard, a quill poised, her breakfast ignored, on the parchment before her.
"What are you doing? It looks hard. What is this?" Cheryl asked loudly, poking the parchment Matilda was regarding, right in her line of sight, being obnoxious on purpose and startling the Prefect from her thoughts, and Lily frowned at the dark haired witch, who barely smothered a laugh when Matilda glared.
"Prefect business!" the mousy-haired witch snapped. "Which means none of yours, if you must know, Graves! Leave off bothering me and go make out with your boyfriend somewhere," she spat. Lily's brows shot up, because that was an awful lot of venom, but when the redhead glanced at Cheryl, the dark haired witch merely lifted a brow.
"Hugo told me you and McEwan aren't together anymore. I'm sorry," she said softly, looking truly sorry for the other girl, and Lily looked back at Matilda, seeing her face go red.
"I am not talking about that, especially at breakfast, and least of all with you, Graves," Matilda relied, trying to sound as angry and derisive as before, but Lily found it fell a little flat.
"What happened?" she asked gently, but Matilda clammed up, shaking her head.
"No one's business. Just suffice to say it's in the past." She snatched up her parchment abruptly and left the table, and Lily had a sneaking suspicion their dorm mate might cry.
"Wow," Cheryl mumbled. "I honestly thought those two would stay together for, like, ever." She sent Lily a look that tacked on a silent opinion that neither were much likely to do better anyway.
"I feel bad for her," Lily sighed, and did. She'd been brokenhearted, and it sucked. Just then, dozens of owls began swooping in through the Great Hall, delivering mail of all sorts, from letters, to forgotten school items, to sweets. "Oh, post is in," she said, and although she knew it wasn't likely she'd get anything, she watched the birds swooping in anyway. To her surprise, a big, handsome screech owl landed directly in front of her, staring at her and hooting impatiently as she merely stared, a little shocked and a lot dumbfounded. The bird hopped forward, extending a leg imperiously, and Lily untied the letter attached, and offered the large owl some bacon. The bird declined, swooping away majestically in silent flight.
"Who'd you get post from, first day back?" Cheryl demanded.
"Dunno," Lily said, unrolling the tightly scrolled letter, and felt her heart leap, face breaking into a giddy, probably stupid looking, grin, and her pulse kicked into double time. There was only one person who made her feel like that. "Oh, um..." she said softly, because she felt a tad guilty for her own pleasant news after hearing about Cheryl's relationship disquiet and Matilda's break up.
"Godric, Potter, just spit it out, and stop trying to spare my feelings. I'm not a baby." Lily grinned.
"It's from Scorpius," she admitted, blushing a little, because she felt giddier and more excited than she'd ever felt receiving mail from him.
"Go on and read it then!" Cheryl said eagerly. Lily rolled her eyes, but read the little note from Scorpius.
Lily,
Friday, six thirty. Meet me behind the Three Broomsticks. -S.
The redhead frowned, flipped the parchment over, but there was nothing. "Oh," she said softly, because that wasn't what she'd been expecting. She'd expected a proper letter, like the ones he'd sent while away, and yet there was still a burst of pleasure at the short note, because Scorpius, obviously, hadn't forgotten all about her, and wanted to see her again. Even if it was just to work on her Charms. The only problem was, Lily had no idea how she was going to do it. She'd never snuck out of school before! And if she got caught, she'd be in so much trouble, it wouldn't even be funny looking back. But Lily couldn't help but start thinking about ways to sneak out of the castle and grounds to go meet up with Scorpius, even as she headed to Transfiguration with Cheryl.
By the time dinner rolled around, Lily was looking forward to the end of the day when she could crawl into bed and forget all about how awful her morning and afternoon had both been. She'd turned in her Christmas Transfiguration homework and gotten her last assignment back, with an Acceptable grade, but a note beside it that stated her Professor 'knew she could do better' and 'expected to see her excelling once more next time'. And then had come Charms, where her homework from before break had come back, only half completed no less, with a failing grade. Of course, to top it off, her Professor had spoken to her after class about the need to 'start seriously applying herself' if she wanted to pass her exams.
And just when Lily thought it couldn't get any worse, she was reminded, by Kasey Michaels, they had Pep Practice that evening, which would take place in the pouring rain that had started as a drizzle late morning and steadily gotten worse throughout the day. All in all, Lily was half wishing she could go back to being on break, but managed to gulp down some dinner before going to work on her Arithmancy homework she had no hope of finishing before Pep Practice. Lily was searching for Matilda, who might be able to help her with homework, as she climbed through the portrait hole into the common room after dinner.
Instead, she bumped, almost literally, into Aaron Worthington, who was arguing with her cousin Hugo about something Quidditch related, as she looked behind her and walked forward after thinking she heard Matilda. "Shit," she breathed, because Fate obviously had it out for her. Worthington smiled at her, even as Lily grit her teeth into the semblance of a smile. "Sorry, my bad," she said politely, and made to move away, but then Worthington tossed a casual arm over her shoulders.
"No worries, Lily," he said, and although she hated him, the redhead took a deep breath of his cologne, unable to help remembering Scorpius, sitting her in bed, teaching her to wordlessly Charm her teddy bear only a few days ago. "A little birdie told me you and your little Pep Team have practice tonight. Maybe I'll come watch." He leaned in and said softly into her ear, "I bet you lot look fantastic all drenched while you prance around like sluts."
Lily grit her teeth, because that was just rude, and really, even if she was a slut, that didn't mean the rest of her team was! "Oh we do," she said, forcing a smile and looking up at Aaron Worthington's light blue eyes. "Too bad you got false information, though. We don't practice in the rain." She made to duck out from under his arm.
"Tsk tsk, lies, Potter?" he teased.
"Not at all," she said, and purposely roughened her voice a little, lifting onto her toes to add into his ear, "Merlin forbid we get sick before next game, right? No one would show up to watch you losers get stomped by Ravenclaw if we weren't a nice distraction from your shitty Quidditch Team." The redhead pulled away roughly, then patted Worthington's cheek condescendingly as he scowled. "I'll let you know when our next practice is, Worthington, so you can come and get some pointers on how to be a Champion." She left with that departing shot, and was tempted to go find Carmichael, if only to vent to him, but instead, resumed her search for Matilda. Rose might have been a bitch, but she was starting to think, at least when her cousin said fooling around with Carmichael would only delay her possibly having a relationship with Scorpius, Rose was right. Lily new that if she hug around Carmichael, she'd fall right back into her same pattern of not giving a fuck, but she didn't want that. At least, not anymore. She wanted to give a fuck about Scorpius, and she was afraid seeing Carmichael would ruin her chances of the tall, blond pureblood being interested in her again.
Lily spotted Matilda at last, sitting alone in the corner, her Arithmancy homework open, her eyes staring into nothing. The redheaded witch moved to sit down at the table with her dorm mate, and Matilda glanced up at her, as though in surprise. "Potter," she said softly.
"Hey," Lily replied, just as softly. "You looked like you were thinking about something sad."
Matilda nodded. "I was," she declared with the simple statement of fact.
"Were you thinking about when you broke up with Dave?" Lily asked quietly. Matilda looked down, and Lily feared her dorm mate and almost friend would clam up again.
"Yeah," Matilda finally breathed, and shook her head. "It was so stupid, but… I just… I let my pride get in the way, and I don't know how to fix it."
"That's a tough one," Lily said honestly, and sighed. "If you have an answer, let me know."
The mousy haired witch laughed a little at that, and Lily smiled back. "Sure thing. I mean, I want to talk to him, but I have no idea what to say. I can't change anything, but I want…"
Lily reached out and held Matilda's hand. "You can do it. You'll figure it out. You're the smartest witch in our year, right?" The other witch smiled, and sighed. "Besides, I'll bet you anything that right now, as we speak, Dave is probably just as mixed up about this as you are. And he probably wants, too."
Matilda smiled at that, and Lily considered her job done, and now wanted homework help. "Thanks, Lily," the Prefect said, and Lily smiled.
"You're welcome. And now I wanted to ask you about Arithmancy class today…"
Lily went down to the Quidditch pitch early for Pep Team practice, mind still buzzing with what Matilda had been explaining regarding their Armithmancy homework, and Lily still had no clue what half of her dorm mate said meant. She knew she'd never pass, and made a note to ask Professor Longbottom the next time she had Herbology about dropping the class, because she was wasting everyone's time, really.
She saw shadowy figures, through the downpour she had Conjured an umbrella to battle, practicing Quidditch on the pitch, although she couldn't discern which House it could be. Instead, she went into the girls' change rooms to wait for her team and get changed for Pep Practice. The rest of the girls slowly trickled down, until it was five to seven and they were all changed and ready, and Lily cleared her throat before addressing the girls. "Alright, bitches, listen up," she said, sounding eerily like her cousin Rose had the previous year. "We've got three practices before we play Ravenclaw, and I better see some hustle, or we're going to look like shit out there. And the fans are gonna need something on point to watch, at least between the gaps our House Team makes a mockery of playing Quidditch. We're the defending champs, and I swear to Merlin, if one of you lot fucks up, I'll cut you right off the damn Team. You know who you are. Now let's get out there and do a perfect routine, girls!"
Her Pep Team lead the way out of the change rooms and Lily saw, through the rain, the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team landing on the soggy pitch to listen to their Captain in a huddle. Lily frowned, then glanced at her watch. It was one minute to seven, when her training time would start, and she told her girls to move into position before stomping over to the Quidditch players still assembled, even as her watch announced seven o'clock.
"Excuse me," she said rudely, marching up to the Hufflepuff boys. "Can you lot clear out and go have your heart to heart in the change room? We've got practice."
The Captain, Henry Dawson, lifted his brows, smiling easily at her. "Whoa, don't get your knickers in a twist, Potter. We're going."
"Go faster," Lily snapped, and made to turn away.
"And unless I'm mistaken, there's nothing but a blank space scheduled after our session anyway. You want to kick us out? Book the pitch like the rest, sweetheart."
Lily turned back to assert her right to have the pitch, and inform Dawson the pitch actually was booked, thanks very fucking much! "Actually, Cap, they probably did book it," MacDougall said instead, and Lily glanced over at him in surprise. "I heard Potter writes her times in Invisible Ink." Dark red brows lifted with Lily's surprise, but she smiled at MacDougall.
"For once the rumours about me might be true," she said lightly, and glared at Dawson again. "I am booked in next, and it was written in Invisible Ink, so toss off."
Dawson pulled a face, but sighed. "Whatever, Potter. You lot probably need all the practice you can get, anyway." The Hufflepuffs cleared off, Lily flashing another smile of thanks to MacDougall, because that was twice now he'd stuck up for her for no reason, and she felt a surge of friendly affection for the hulking Sixth Year.
She turned back to her Pep Team and scowled. "Why is everyone standing around? Get to work, bitches, and let's see that perfect routine!"
The redheaded witch put the screws to her Team, forcing them to practice their moves until she felt they'd done them perfect enough, and then dismissed them, even as the rain began to peter off. "Jones," she called out, and watched the least enthusiastic member of her Pep Team pull a face before turning away from her two Fifth Year friends. "Let's talk for a second."
"What's up, Potter?" Annika Jones asked with a poor attempt at politeness.
"I'm great," Lily said. "What's up with you? You started out as one of my better members at tryouts, and since then you've been going downhill. I wasn't joking in the change rooms, Jones, I'll cut anyone who doesn't work their ass off. And we both know there's people who'd take your spot in a heartbeat."
The Fifth Year girl half glared for a second, then said, a little petulantly, "You're mean to us. We're all trying really hard, but it's never enough for you. And I have OWL exams soon, so no offence, I'm not going to sacrifice my grades for stupid Pep Team."
Lily nodded. "Fair enough. I get that it's hard to do Pep Team with OWLs looming, and homework and revision and all the other crap. All you have to do is tell me it's too much for you to handle, Jones, and you don't have to be part of the Team."
Annika frowned. "It's not too much!" she said defensively. "It's just a lot. And it's not so much fun as it was at tryouts. All you do is yell and call us bitches."
Lily smiled. "That's because I get to wear the Captain pin. When you get named Captain, you get to shout and call people bitches. It's one of the few perks. And really, I get it, Jones. I did this stuff last year and got yelled at and called a bitch at every practice, too."
"It's not fair!" the younger witch whined.
"It's not," Lily agreed. "But I'm not about to throw away a Championship as Captain. So you're off the team." The redhead made to turn away to go get changed, but the younger girl followed.
"What!? Why?" she demanded.
"You don't want it bad enough," she said simply. "Sorry. I don't want to train someone who doesn't care about 'stupid Pep Team'. I'll find a replacement, so don't worry, Jones. And you don't have to worry about Pep Team screwing up your grades."
"That's not fair, Potter! I never said I wanted to quit! I'm just as invested as-"
"As everyone else?" Lily interrupted, stopping and turning to face the younger witch. "Then prove it. Show up next practice and work your little butt off, and prove that you care and deserve to be on my Team. Then, maybe, I'll think about keeping you."
"It's just Pep Team," Annika said sullenly.
"And some of us just take Pep Team seriously. History isn't going to remember you as the one who lost Gryffindor's Championship rule, are they? I doubt it. Me, however, they probably will if we lose. So if you're not with me, Jones, you're against me. Got it?"
Annika nodded, looking determined and Lily smiled. "Fine. But stop calling me a bitch."
Lily laughed. "Show me you're not a little bitch by kicking ass, Jones, and we'll see." She headed into the change rooms ahead of the younger girl, and added softly, so the others wouldn't hear, "But just so you know, we bitches usually win at this shit."
The next day was a little better for Lily, because although she had Charms first thing, she did well with her completely silent Locomotion Charm and then she had Potions, which, after sitting her OWL, she'd been consistently improving at, showing 'a distinct flair', according to Professor Specter, for the subject. Then came Herbology, where Professor Longbottom told them he would be pairing them off for their summer term projects. Lily expected she'd get put with Alexandra Vanderville, the other person at her grouping of desks, along with MacDougall and Robertson, and was utterly shocked, but oddly delighted, when her Head of House called out her name and then said, "You can pair up with MacDougall."
Of course, their class drew in a breath, at least those who thought Professor Longbottom's choice scandalous, which was most of the girls. Lily could, herself, all but hear the rumours now, but when she smiled apologetically at MacDougall, he merely shrugged, smiling back. And then Professor Longbottom finished pairing up his students and told them their summer term project was to grow a magical vegetable, from seed, to fruition, to be graded on their ability to nurture 'a plant that could very well sustain you, should you need to eat it'. Apparently he wanted them to realize their potential as self-sustaining gardeners. Lily privately thought she was as likely to be a farmer or gardener as she was the next Minister for Magic. Totally unlikely.
But she was glad she'd been paired up with MacDougall, because surely he would know, coming from a Muggle farm, how to grow food. Lily moved to talk to Evan about what they should grow, and saw a couple girls the next set of desks over start whispering behind hands. "You know, Potter, this is probably going to be the best gossip for a couple weeks, right?" MacDougall said softly in his lilting brogue as she moved to sit in Robertson's vacated seat, since he'd been paired up with a pretty Ravenclaw girl named Vanessa.
"Of course. They probably all think we're going to get back together or something, which is probably definitely not happening," Lily replied easily. "Sorry," she added when his brows lifted. "I meant-"
"You aren't wrong, Lily," he said. "We're probably definitely not getting back together." Lily smiled, because she hadn't meant it to be rude, but now that awkwardness was out of the way, and she knew Evan didn't really want to date her anymore than she wanted to date him again, Lily felt a lot more relaxed.
"Okay. So what do you think we should grow? I'm leaning on your expertise here."
Evan chuckled. "Who says I have any expertise?" he said lightly. Lily frowned.
"Didn't you say your parents are Muggles? Muggle farmers?" she clarified.
"They are," Evan said, grinning.
Lily rolled hazel eyes. "So obviously you've got the edge on growing things, yeah?" she explained slowly.
MacDougall chuckled again, and Lily scowled, about to demand what the hell was so damn funny. "Not precisely," he said. "Aye, my family lives on a farm, and we're farmers, but we don't grow crops, Lily," he said patiently. Lily stared blankly back. "We grow cows."
"You grow cows?" she repeated, confused.
"Aye. We're cattle farmers. We have cows, who give birth to wee little calfs, and we grow the baby calfs into fully grown cows, about a year or so, and then we send them off." Lily frowned.
"Send them off where?" she asked. "How is that farming?"
MacDougall merely chuckled again. "To be made into food. Hence why we're still farmers."
Lily's mouth dropped open. "That's horrid!" she said, feeling awful. MacDougall merely shrugged.
"People eat beef, Lily. It has to come from somewhere. And the cattle live an okay life, for the most part. They get to wander, and graze, and be cows. Or steers, depending. We're not a big operation."
"Still," Lily said, mouth turned down, because that was kind of a disturbing thought. That someone raised up animals to be killed for food, and while she still liked the thought of steak and kidney pie, she was a little saddened still.
"So what do you reckon we should try to grow, then, Potter, now that you know I'm lacking an edge on our competition?" MacDougall asked softly. Lily looked at him and then pulled her text toward them.
"I dunno. The only witch I know who grows their own vegetables is my Nan. Let's see what should be easy, and still get us a good grade."
By the time Lily got to dinner, she was, once more, looking forward to bed, but knew she still had Pep Practice that evening before she'd be able to crawl into bed and sleep. As soon as she sat down, beside Cheryl and across from the Pellard twins, she knew what the three of them would ask about her Herbology partner.
"Please tell me it's true," Hope said, sighing.
"Please tell me it's not," Cheryl said, and looked critically at the redhead, who purposely chose chicken over beef for dinner. "Although I bet not. If I know you, Lily, you're not interested in round two with the beefcake."
Lily laughed at that, because now, knowing what kind of farmers MacDougall's family were, that term was a little macabre. "We're definitely probably not getting back together," she said. "Or wait, no, it was probably definitely not. Yeah. Probably definitely not getting back together," she said, and grinned. Hope looked put out, Cheryl grinned, and Faith's brows pulled together.
"Why?" she demanded. "No offence, but MacDougall is a nice guy. And you obviously liked him before, despite what Cheryl wants to think."
Lily took a deep breath, and looked down at her plate for a beat. "I did like him," she admitted. "I do like MacDougall." She sighed, trying to find the right words. "Obviously he's a nice guy, because even after I cheated on him, he wants to be friends, but I'm still in love with Malfoy." Hope and Faith had identical expressions of understanding. "And I want to be with him, so I'm going to try and focus on that."
And, of course, because Lily knew her closest female friend wouldn't let it lie, Cheryl said, rather pointedly, "What about Carmichael?"
"What about him?" Lily asked, trying to keep a neutral facade.
"Are you still messing around with him?"
Lily was tempted to say not yet, but she knew her friends would pick up on the undertones of that. But Lily couldn't deny, she'd sort of been hiding from Carmichael since coming back from break. She felt like a different person now, a better person, and she felt clear headed enough to be able to focus her desires. But she didn't know if she'd be able to resist Carmichael's nonchalant, lazy habit. He was a bad influence, and Lily, now that she'd been without him, didn't know if she would be able to resist his temptation.
And despite that, she still missed him, because he was her closest friend, one of her only confidantes, and, despite the fact she hated it, she felt like she owed him, because he'd been her stand-in Scorpius, when she couldn't have the real thing because he'd been off touring the world. In short, Lily knew that she had to see Carmichael again at some point, but she didn't much want to, and was almost afraid to, now that she had decided to end things, permanently and completely with him.
"No," Lily said at last. "I'm done messing around with Carmichael. I need to get my shit together, and I want to be with Scorpius." She couldn't help, despite her sure tone, the little sliver of fear that Scorpius wouldn't ever want her, and if she cut Carmichael out of her life, she'd lose him too, and be alone.
"Does he know that?" Cheryl asked softly. Lily glanced across at her, and her friend lifted her brows significantly, and glanced over Lily's shoulder. The redheaded witch turned around slowly, and saw Carmichael walking toward her, meeting her gaze levelly, dimple almost popping as he smirked.
"He will," she said, and stood up off the bench, leaving her dinner mostly untouched, just as Carmichael drew level with her. "Hey," she said, forcing a smile. Her heart felt heavy, but she pushed forward.
"Uh oh," he said softly, lifting a dark eyebrow over heavily lidded eyes. "You look like you're about to say something unpleasant."
Lily grimaced, and then grasped his hand, pulling him back out of the Great Hall. "I am," she said. Carmichael looked at her, even as they finally gained the Entrance Hall and Lily stopped walking.
"You're going to pretend break up with me, aren't you?" he asked with infinite wisdom.
Lily couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, actually," she said. "And for real break up with you, for whatever the hell we've been doing these last few months." Her smile faded. "I want to be with Scorpius, even if it's long distance," she said soberly. "And I don't think sleeping around with you is going to help the chances of that."
Carmichael pulled a face. "Ouch. So that's it then?" he asked.
Lily shrugged. "We can still be friends."
Carmichael smiled, but to Lily, it looked a little sad. "I'm not entirely sure we've ever been friends without benefits, Potter. But sure."
The redhead sighd. "This is kind of goodbye, then, I guess," she said softly.
Carmichael shrugged, and grinned wider. "Ah well. School's almost done anyway,and let's face it, I'm not about to be tied down to some clingy schoolgirl who happens to be a great lay."
Lily's brows shot up. "Rude!" she snapped, and shoved Carmichael, then hugged him. "You still have to sell to me, tosser."
"Yeah right, Potter," he retorted. "Tell your dorm mates to find the next guy. I'm fuckin' out."
Her brows shot up. "For real?"
Carmichael chuckled. "No. I just wanted to pretend to be a dork like you, Potter." He kissed her softly on the corner of her mouth, and she poked his dimple as he pulled back. "I'll sell to you when I get tits in return."
Lily rolled hazel eyes. "I'll tell them I'm out, then," she said, and turned to go back into the Great Hall for dinner. "Thanks for everything, Carmichael."
Carmichael lifted dark brows, but smiled. "You're welcome. Even if that's kind of a shitty goodbye."
Lily laughed. "Who says it's goodbye?" she demanded playfully.
"Like I said, Potter," Carmichael replied softly, "we never seemed to figure out the friends without benefits part. If you want to be with your golden boy, go ahead, but let's face it, you can't have both."
Lily paused on her way back to dinner at that, even as Carmichael kept going, because that meant it really kind of was goodbye. An early one, because he'd still be at school with her, but goodbye to him nonetheless, before he left at the end of the year. "See you around," she said, and although he didn't look back, Lily felt a strange sort of peace wash over her. She might still not have the slightest clue what she wanted to with her life, like Scorpius had suggested she figure out, but she at least had a clear idea of who she wanted her life with. And that felt like an accomplishment.
Now all I need to do is figure out how to make Scorpius fall in love with me again. Shit.
XXX
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Updates will now be coming on an as-written basis for this story. No, it's not finished, no it hasn't been abandoned, yes, I am still working on it. I happen to have a life outside fanfiction, and it's caught up with me recently, but I promise this will be finished. We've got another two or three more chapters to go before the end, y'all, so, if you like, stay tuned for them! And if you don't like, cheers anyway!