So! Chapter 50. Personally, I think that's quite an achievement. Anyway. A strange chapter, perhaps. But we needed something more on top Hannah's little incident right? Oh. Just read and you'll catch my drift.
Please review! And thanks to everyone who added "The Potters" to their favourited and story alerts. Means a ton c:

M. Sunshine


"I… I… C-can't…"

"No, you have to tell me. If it's making you this upset, it must be something worth saying. Now please, please tell me." She looked up, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Lily…" she whispered. "Lily, I… slept with him."

Lily stared in sheer disbelief at her friend. It wasn't the fact that she'd slept with Dave that made her speechless. It was rather that she seemed so upset, so broken down about it that scared Lily.

"Hannah…"

"I… I didn't…" She blurted out, leaning her head against Lily's shoulder.

"Tell me what happened." She encouraged softly. Hannah hiccoughed a bit, but seemed to calm down a tad. She reached up and brushed the fresh tears from her eyes.

"It… It was strange." She managed.

"I gathered." Lily rested her head on top of Hannah's. "Come on…"

"Well…" She paused. "We were in the Astronomy tower… He'd brought me presents and Butterbeer and stuff…"

"Mm-hmm…"

"I don't know how to explain it." She whispered.

"But Hannah…" Lily wasn't sure how to phrase her concern. "He… I mean, you… You weren't, I don't know, forced to-"

"Oh, hell no!" She exclaimed, though not too loudly. Lily looked at the other sleeping girls and quickly grabbed her wand, casting a spell around her bed to keep the sound in. "No, no, of course not. I'm not an idiot." To say the least, Lily felt confused.

"But then… Okay I give up. You willingly shagged him and you're upset about it?" The corners of Hannah's mouth twitched a bit at her friend's choice of words.

"I mean… I was tired and sort of dozy from the Butterbeer… One thing kind of lead to another and-"

"Spare me the details!" Lily cut in. Hannah sighed deeply, and rubbed her red and puffy eyes.

"I just… I regret it. I don't know why, but it wasn't right. Not with him, not there, not then."

"So… What did you do?" Hannah smiled sadly.

"I sort of freaked out once I realised what had happened. And I kind of left him there."

"You didn't run into any teachers or prefects on the way back? Not even a ghost?"

"Nope. I was actually rather surprised."

"Me too." She hugged Hannah tightly. "You are in idiot though."

"Hey! That is not making me feel any better."

"It wasn't supposed to."


The following morning, Lily found Hannah sound asleep next to her. The girl had fallen asleep beside her friend, and Lily hadn't minded, so they'd stayed like that the entire night. She carefully got out of the bed and checked her watch: 6:27. Lovely. The others would be getting up pretty soon, but she was in a weird mood and didn't fancy talking to anyone. As quietly as she could, she got her uniform on and pulled her hair into a very uneven plait as she headed down into the Common room. The large space was empty, but the fire was lit and crackling mirthfully. Even so, it was a bit chilly, and reluctantly she turned back to run and fetch her robe.

Lisa was rubbing her eyes as Lily walked in.

"Oh." She said, sitting up in bed, her hair tousled in every possible direction, an image that was pretty amusing. Lily grinned. "What?"

"You look funny."

"You're no model either, mate." She replied grouchily.

"Gee, thanks." Lily replied, rolling her eyes. Walking over to her chair, she grabbed the item of clothing she'd come back for and shrugged it on.

"That cold?" Lisa said, pulling her legs up and hugging them.

"Yup. I just got downstairs and then had to turn back. I swear March gets colder every year." Lisa grimaced and stretched her arms.

"Well, I might as well get up then." She determined and flung her duvet off. "Would you wait for me?"

"Sure. But I'll go downstairs." Lisa nodded and Lily strolled back down the stone steps. It took around fifteen minutes for Lisa to appear.

"Didn't have time to wash my hair." She said irritably. It was pulled into a ponytail.

"It looks fine." Lily assured her. "Better than before." Lisa rolled her eyes and poked her friend good-naturedly as they walked out into the corridor.

"What's happening today then?" Lisa asked, she too putting her robes on. Lily gave a shrug as they turned a corner and started down the main staircase.

"Nothing in particular."

"Oh, by the way, why was Hannah in your bed?" She eyed Lily cautiously but then broke into an amused smile. "Is there something you want to tell me?" Lily nudged her.

"Yeah, right. She's like my sister, bloody hell." Lisa laughed.

"But seriously." Lily felt torn. She wasn't sure if she should tell Lisa. On the one hand, she was one of Hannah's best friends and cared for her just like Lily did. On the other, it wasn't at all Lily's thing to tell.

"I can't tell you."

"Oh come on, Lily-"

"No. Hannah can tell you. If she wants to." They were quiet for a moment, and took their seats at the long Gryffindor table.

"Did something happen?"

"Well… Yes. But you can ask her about it later."

"Okay…" Thank you, Lisa. They chatted about all sorts of nonsense while eating a pleasant breakfast. After a while, Hannah and Immi joined them. Lily, knowing Hannah well, could see the traces of her crying, but there was a (feigned) smile plastered on her face, so she wisely kept quiet about the whole thing. She noticed Lisa keeping quite an eye on her, though.

"You're up early." Immi commented between mouthfuls of cereal.

"Yeah, I know." Lily replied, stirring her tea absentmindedly. "Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, as usual." Hannah nodded and stuffed her mouth full of toast to avoid having to speak. Lily gave her a glance and then stared at the polished wood of the table surface. It went unusually silent among the four.

"Okay." Immi said and frowned. "What's up? Did someone die?"

"Close…" Hannah muttered. Lily almost kicked her, but restrained herself.

"What's wrong?" Lisa piped up, also she frowning now as she looked at Hannah. "And may I ask why you were sleeping in Lily's bed?" Immi almost choked on her juice.

"You were sleeping in Lily's bed? How come?" Hannah hesitated and checked her watch.

"We start in fifteen minutes. Anyone up for skiving?" Immi enthusiastically agreed: they had History of Magic the first hours. Lisa and Lily remained silent.

"Come on!" Immi urged.

"I like History…" Lily said.

"And I never skive…" Lisa offered.

"Just this once…" Lisa sighed in defeat, and Immi looked expectantly at Lily. She huffed.

"Fine."

As soon as they'd all finished, they slipped into an empty classroom, and Lisa was swift with locking the door and casting a silencing spell over the door. Lily hopped up and sat on a desk. She loved sitting on tables: it was so much nicer than sitting on chairs. Probably just because you weren't actually supposed to sit on tables. That was half the joy, really.

"Okay, what is this all about?" Lisa demanded, and stared at Hannah, who was fidgeting near the blackboard, casting pleading glances at Lily.

"Oh no." She said and held up her arms. "You tell them, Hannah."

"You know?" Immi enquired, seeming more interested than miffed. Lily nodded.

"Yes, so I hereby give Hannah the word." They all stared at their friend, who sighed.

"Right. Well, please don't… freak out or anything." She, without knowing it, looked at Lisa, who looked slightly indignant at the comment, but didn't speak up.

"Yesterday, when I was seeing Dave…"


Feeling like she was about to fall asleep any second, Lily got up from the table in the library she'd been occupying with Lisa for the past two hours.

"I'm knackered." She said. "I'll head back now, I think." Lisa looked up and smiled. She looked absolutely exhausted, too."

"You do that. I'll be along in a second."

"Come with me now." Lily suggested. "You look like you're about to faint."

"I might." She joked. "No, I'm fine. I'll be along soon." Lily shrugged and waved before leaving the room and heading towards Gryffindor tower. She rubbed her eyes and heaved her bag up higher on her shoulder. She hadn't had the time to see Scorp, as she'd had literally tons of school work, and he was busy with OWLs. As if Merlin himself had heard her cursing over not seeing him, he appeared around a corner, his nose buried in a book. Lily smiled, and he was almost right up by her when she said:

"Hello stranger." Startled, he jumped and dropped the book with a clatter. "Oh, sorry."

"Lily!" She exclaimed and hugged her before doing anything else. "Hi, love."

"Hey." She smiled tiredly. "How are you?" He sighed, picking the book up.

"I'm all right. Tired to near death."

"You and me both. Though I can see you're not giving yourself a break." The book in his hands was an Arithmancy text.

"I haven't got time…"

"Merlin's pants. If it's making you this tired, think what it'll do to me! You already have straight O's!"

"Oh don't be silly. You'll do brilliantly."

"I will not." Being so tired made her slightly dramatic… He rolled his eyes, kissing her softly.

"Are you heading to bed?" She nodded. "I'll walk you to the tower." He stuffed his book into his bag and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Is it just me," she started as they walked, "or is the castle exceptionally chilly today?" He snorted.

"As I mentioned yesterday: I hate March." She giggled and squeezed him fondly.

"What's up with you and your gang today, by the way?" he asked while they waited for a staircase to swing in their direction.

"Hannah just gave us some startling news." Lily said, stifling a yawn.

"Really? Care to share the juicy news?" She rolled her eyes, which he unfortunately didn't see.

"Fine. Though I shouldn't tell you, and I'm a total bitch for doing so, but I will because I love you and those puppy eyes are killer." He laughed out loud and stopped briefly to kiss her cheek.

"Well… She kind of…" I can't say it… Hannah would kill me… But he's my boyfriend. I have to tell him. Or I'll be all worried and he won't know why… "She slept with Dave." She whispered, even though the hallway was deserted. Scorpius stared at her. During the six months they'd been together, he'd really got to know Hannah and Lily's friends.

"You have got to be joking?" Lily shook her head sadly.

"No. She's totally gutted about it."

"He forced her?" Scorpius looked like he could rip someone's head off (probably Dave Bloody Hawkins'). Lily smiled fondly.

"No, of course not. She's not dumb. No, she just regrets it." Scorpius heaved a few deep breaths.

"Well…" He looked a bit frustrated. "Then… I don't mean to be unkind, but isn't it sort of her fault?" Lily stared at him. What?

"Her f-… No! No, it is not! We all do stupid things, but she feels terrible about it."

"I'm sorry, Lily, but it was her choice! How is it fair for her to make all her friends feel bad for something she idiotically did?" Lily couldn't believe her ears. Maybe she agreed with him to some extent, but for him to say it like that, to put it bluntly in such a way…

"What is wrong with you?" She yelled, feeling tears of frustration, anger and exhaustion creep into her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong with me, love." He said calmly, trying to soothe her, but she shrugged away from his arms. They had arrived by the portrait, and were standing opposite one another. "I'm just trying to-"

"You're being horrible, Scorpius!" He flinched a bit. Lily very rarely called him Scorpius to his face. It was always Scorp, or love, or something of the kind.

"Come on, Lily…"

"I don't want to hear it." She had tears streaming down her face now. "I can't believe you would say such a thing."

"I was just honest, darling-"

"Don't!" She cried, the exhaustion and confusion getting the better of her. "Leave me alone!" And when the portrait opened, she turned her back to him and ran inside.