"You read a lot," Ginny said sleepily from her bed.

Lily looked up. She was sitting on the spare mattress, textbooks open all around her while she studied. Ginny was, of course, still laying in bed, her hair unkempt and full of knots.

"I'm just studying," Lily said.

"You study a lot, then," Ginny corrected.

Lily glanced down at her Transfiguration book and got back to work, copying a few diagrams she found from Charms into the margins. "I want to get ahead."

"Well, have you?"

"Have I what?"

"Gotten ahead?"

Lily paused, setting her quill down on the book. She didn't care if the ink left a blotch; she learned a nifty charm from Mr. Weasley for getting splotches off of important paperwork. He made her promise not to tell anyone, of course, since she wasn't supposed to be doing magic outside of school.

"Let's find out," she said, picking up her wand from her side and pointing it at an apple she brought up from the kitchen; she made a run for breakfast an hour ago while Ginny was still sleeping. Mrs. Weasley didn't have anything ready yet, but she did offer Lily some fruit and a muffin instead.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked. She sat up on her bed, swinging her feet in the air since they didn't quite reach the ground.

"Trying to turn this apple into a bird," Lily said, trying to imagine how an apple would go about morphing into such a creature. It was a red apple, and Lily was having trouble thinking of any red birds. It was probably too early in the morning for this, but now she had an audience that she didn't want to disappoint.

"That doesn't seem too hard," Ginny said. "Dad messes around with things all the time, and he's never had any trouble with it."

"That's great, Gin," Lily said, trying to ignore her hurt feelings. "Avifors," she said, casting a spell straight at the apple.

"It didn't do anything," Ginny said.

"I noticed, Ginny," Lily said a little more sharply than she would have liked. What Ginny said wasn't entirely true, of course; there was now a feather-like pattern on the apple's skin.

"Are you sure that was the right spell?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Lily snapped again. "It's supposed to turn into a bird, but I'm obviously so terrible that I can't even get something so easy to work."

"I'm sorry, Lily, I didn't-"

"I know you didn't mean anything, Ginny," Lily said, trying to let the anger out of her voice. "Transfiguration is just hard for me, okay? I don't like talking about it."

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, rolling out of her bed. She strode over to her mirror, trying to fix her hair up so it didn't look quite so messy.

The sun had been up for a few hours now, and Lily had been spending the quiet time getting as much work done as she could. She intended to spend the whole day working, as a matter of fact, but it'd be easier while all the Weasley children were still sleeping. That was quickly changing; she was pretty sure she could hear some more thudding and booms coming from the room of a certain set of twins.

"Really, Ginny, it's not you I'm mad at," Lily said, feeling bad now. "I just- I need to practice some more, is all."

"Do you want me to bring you up some breakfast?" Ginny asked, stretching in front of her mirror. Lily thought she still sounded a bit sour, but she decided to not bring any attention to it.

"No, I already ate," Lily responded.

"When did you do that?"

"A few hours ago," Lily said. "Your mum made breakfast for you dad before he left, but she didn't expect anybody else to be up that early."

"Dad's already gone, then?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, he said an emergency came up so he had to go in early." He seemed to have an emergency to tend to almost every day. Lily might have found it suspicious, but she'd heard some of the Floo calls he'd received.

"Why did you get up so early?" Ginny asked, looking out the window. "It can't be past 9, yet."

"I just like to get up early, that's all," Lily said grumpily. Truth be told, she was trying to get back on her school schedule. She'd gotten used to Hermione getting her up early every day, and she had a feeling she wouldn't have that advantage this year.

Hermione still hadn't returned any of her letters. She even borrowed Percy's owl to send one after she became convinced Errol just kept losing them, and that had taken up every last favor she had accrued. Percy had not wanted to give up his owl for even a single day. Lily didn't know why he was so stingy about it; it's not like he had anybody to write to.

"Do you want to play Quidditch later?" Ginny asked.

"I'll pass," Lily said, waving her hands at all her textbooks. She really needed to get through at least a few more chapters, or she'd never finish before school started; she only had a few days left.

"I'll see you around, then," Ginny said as she left the room. Lily thought she was still being rather terse, but she knew the girl would get over it soon. She couldn't even give her brothers the silent treatment for long, and they annoyed her far more.

Lily managed to finish up the last half of her Transfiguration book fairly quickly; they used the first half last year. She also managed to get Avifors working fairly consistently, once she wiped the rust off her brain. She decided that a reward was in order, and decided to work on a subject that was more fun. She had, unfortunately, already finished Charms, but there was still one more the was interested in, even if she didn't care for the professor.

Lily cracked open her second year Potions book, then snatched up the advanced book she received for her birthday. She never figured out who sent it to her, but she didn't think it mattered. She'd either find out later, or she never would. There were other things she was more concerned with.

It was full of very useful information. They needed to use something called lynchseeds for a few potions, and the advanced tips book mentioned that lynchseeds were especially effective if sliced vertically instead of horizontally. The textbook directions all stated that they should only ever be sliced horizontally, so Lily corrected all of those instructions with the new method. She didn't quite understand the explanation of why, but she figured it was good to know anyway. If it didn't work, she could always go back to the tried-and-true method.

Dinner was ready by the time Lily finished up the second chapter, and she went down eagerly. She ate a hurried meal, barely paying attention to the chatter and conversations around her, and then hurried back up to start on the next one.

Lily spent the rest of the weekend finishing up her Potions work. The margins were soon filled to the brim with notes and tips. Decided that an actual reward was in order, she decided to use the last bit of remaining time to learn atleast one new charm.

She had two books to pick from, aside from their normal textbook. She wouldn't bother with that one; they'd be learning all the spells in class. She briefly considered the gift from Ron and Neville, but she couldn't make sense of any of the instructions. The only easy ones were spells that required silent casting, and she already knew she'd never get those to work. She instead chose to focus on the gift she'd received from Hermione the previous Christmas.

Ginny walked in on her one afternoon as she attempted to magically enhance her eyeballs. Lily at least had the good grace to be embarrassed; it wasn't a position one liked to be found in, what with the wand aimed directly at one's eye socket. It was a miracle she didn't poke the thing in her fright.

"What are you doing?" Ginny almost screeched, quickly shutting the door behind her.

"I'm trying out the Night Vision Charm," Lily said, gesturing to her book. Her heart was still thumping from the intrusion, and she wished very dearly she had locked the door."

"I thought you said you were terrible at Transfiguration," Ginny said, pulling at her hair, "Why would you mess with your eyes?"

"It's not Transfiguration," Lily explained. "It's a charm. It doesn't actually do anything to the eyes, it just puts a magical layer over them that lets you see in the dark. It sounded easy enough."

"If it's so easy, then why doesn't everybody use it?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms.

Lily blushed. "Well, the book did mention that you could go blind if you run into a bright light while wearing it."

"Is that why the room's so dark?" Ginny asked, gesturing to the blanket Lily had thrown over the curtains.

"Yes," Lily admitted. It blocked out the sun quite nicely, she though, even if the pattern was more flowery than she preferred. She didn't want to use Ginny's thicker one. She thought that'd be too rude.

"Why didn't you lock the door, then?" Ginny asked, clicking the lock shut behind her to emphasize her point. "I came right in, you could have-"

"I don't think the hallway light is enough to do it," Lily interrupted. "That, and I didn't think about it. I'm sorry."

"Ron said Fred and George were tutoring you, did you learn nothing from them?"

"They weren't very good teachers," Lily grumbled. "They liked to make fun of me more than they did help me." They still taught her a few things, of course, but Lily was pretty sure the map was more of an excuse to avoid her questions than it was a heartfelt gift.

"Well, you'll have me this year," Ginny said, sitting down next to Lily. "I'll help you out."

Lily snorted. "That'd be a great help, then I can catch up on my first-year material."

"Way I hear it, you need to," Ginny said. "Come on, show me the spell."

"Aterlumen," Lily said, wand aimed straight at her face. A faint light emanated from the tip. Lily blinked her eyes on instinct and everything was significantly brighter once they were opened back up. There also didn't seem to be any color to anything, as if the world was suddenly black and white. Even Ginny's normally vibrant hair was a sleek gray.

"Did it work?" Ginny asked, leaning forward as she the question left her lips. That made Lily smile slightly; Ginny was clearly getting used to Lily's presence if she was acting this natural. There'd still been a bit of stiffness to all their conversations even just a few days ago.

"I think so," Lily said, squinting around at her surroundings. Ginny looked torn between nervousness and excitement, but she seemed to perk up at the confirmation. Ginny had a tendency to shake her hands when she was happy, as if she wanted to clap but was too self-conscious to do so.

"How many fingers am I holding up," Ginny asked.

"None," Lily said, smirking. Ginny was just sitting there, not doing a thing. Lily glanced around the rest of the room, eyes locking onto the wardrobe. She could have sworn-

"What about-" Ginny began before Lily's gasp interrupted her.

"There!" She yelled out, pointing as she jumped up, wand swinging to face the corner.

"What, what is it?" Ginny said, looking about wildly, unable to see.

"The eyes, they were right there, in the corner," Lily said, looking about wildly to find them again. She was sure they had been there, right above Ginny's wardrobe. Something was in there with them, watching them sit in the dark.

"I can't see anything, Lily," Ginny said in a high-pitched whine.

Lily pointed her wand at the younger girl. "Aterlumen."

Ginny squinted, suddenly bombarded by visual stimuli. "I didn't know it worked on others," she said.

"I didn't, either," Lily admitted, scanning the room again. "Useful information, though." She wondered how well it could be used in a fight in order to blind an opponent. Just cast that charm and follow it up with a bright flash. Seemed easy enough.

"I still don't see anything," Ginny said, standing up to check out the room. Lily investigated the opposite, leaving the window side to the younger girl.

"I know it was here," Lily said. "It's been following me for a while now."

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"When we played Quidditch," Lily explained, "I saw two big, green eyes staring at me from the trees right before I was thrown off my broom."

"I thought you just fell," Ginny said.

"No, something stopped my broom. I saw it at Gran's, too, the same day I broke my wand." Lily bent over to check underneath the bed, but there was nothing.

"So, something's been following you?"

"I think so," Lily said, biting her lip. She threw the wardrobe open to check inside, but there was nothing there either. She considered emptying it out just to make sure, but she didn't want to make a mess of Ginny's things.

"And it's in here right now?" She sounded a little more nervous now, Lily thought. She didn't know if she could consider that a good thing, since she was now believed, or a bad thing, since she was scaring her new friend with all this crazy talk.

"It was," Lily said. "I don't know if it still is, it might have left when it realized I saw it." That didn't feel very reassuring, of course. Just the thought that this thing could have been watching them all summer made her very uncomfortable.

"How would it get out, the door is locked?" Ginny said.

"I don't-" Lily started, head quickly turning towards the desk. Something moved underneath it. She squinted, making out green eyes and large, bat-like-

The thing snapped, long fingers making a cracking noise that filled the room.

There was a bright flash, and Lily screamed, grabbing at her eyes. She heard Ginny scream, as well, and knew she was doing the same.

"Ginny," Lily called out, trying to feel around in the darkness.

"Mum!" Ginny screamed, frantic.

"Ginny, don't-"

"Mum!" Ginny screamed again. Lily gave a loud shout herself in her panic; the last thing she wanted was for Mrs. Weasley to find out she'd been performing underaged magic, the thing that she was explicitly told not to do.

There was the sound of somebody quickly running up the staircase, followed by pounding on the door. The door handle shook, followed by more pounding. Lily grasped around for her wand, but couldn't find where she dropped it.

"Ginny, you have to unlock the door if you want me to come in," Mrs. Weasley said from outside, sounding slightly peeved.

"I can't see, mum," Ginny said.

There was a click, followed by the found of the door opening. Lily thought she heard a huff, and she instinctively turned her head towards it. There was no light; only darkness remained.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Lily bit her lip, still pawing around on all fours. She had no idea where her wand had gotten off to. She hoped that thing didn't take it. She didn't think Ollivander would give her another.

"We can't see," Ginny said, still panicked.

"Of course not," Mrs. Weasley said. Lily could hear her crossing the room, then pulling down the blanket from the window. "There, that's much better."

"Mum, I'm blind," Ginny said.

"What do you mean, blind?" Mrs. Weasley asked, tone out of patience.

"Lily tried out a spell and now we can't see," Ginny said.

Lily bit her lip again, accepting that her death was coming. She'd seen the Weasley matriarch get mad at Fred and George before, and what she just did seemed much worse in comparison. And, of course, her reaction would, in turn, pale in comparison to what Gran would do should she find out.

"Tried out a spell?" Mrs. Weasley said, in a tone that she normally reserved just for the twins. Lily never realized how scary she had been before, but she felt her heart drop further than it ever had before.

"It was just-" Lily tried.

"Don't you start, young lady," Mrs. Weasley began. "You're not supposed to be using magic outside of school, and for good reason. Now look what you've gone and done, you're both sitting here, completely blind, and I have no idea how I'm going to fix it."

"But it wasn't me," Lily got out, "it was-"

"What's going on in here, then," Lily heard one of the twins ask. She couldn't tell them apart by voice, but they sounded very interested. She could practically hear the wide grin on his face.

"Yeah, normally it's us that get all the lectures." That would be the other twin, sounding equally as pleased.

"Lily's gone and made the both of them blind," Mrs. Weasley barked.

"Excellent," one of the twins said.

"Lily, you'll have to show us that one later, it'll be-"

"You two, out, out!" Mrs. Weasley screeched. She heard the sounds of her physically booting the two out of the room. Then a hand was yanking on her ear.

"Ow! Stop!" Lily grunted, getting up from the floor, and letting Mrs. Weasley drag her. Her bare feet scraped against carpet, and soon she was being led down the stairs. She fanned out with her hands for the railing, desperately trying not to fall.

"Don't you start," Mrs. Weasley said. "Just you wait until Mrs. Longbottom hears about this."

"Mrs. Weasley," Lily said, finally starting to feel frantic. "Please, do whatever you wan, but please, please don't tell Gran, she won't let me go back to Hogwarts if she-"

"She'll have to hear," Mrs. Weasley said, voice surprisingly full of sympathy. "I'll have to bring the both of you to St. Mungo's, I can't fix this myself, and they'll have to notify her before they do anything with you."

Lily could feel tears coming on, and soon enough they were streaming down her face. That, at least, made Mrs. Weasley let go of her ear, and she soon felt herself thrown into a hug.

"You let me worry about Mrs. Longbottom, Lily," she said gently, "I'll make sure you get back to Hogwarts, safe and sound.

Lily sniffed, but couldn't wipe at her eyes. She wanted to believe Mrs. Weasley, but she didn't see any way out of this one. Mrs. Weasley broke the hug after what felt like an eternity (although Lily gladly would have stood there forever), and this time she was pulled along gently by the hand.

"Mum," Ginny said from nearby (Lily jumped at the sound of her voice; she didn't realize the other girl was being dragged along as well). "Can't we just-"

"We certainly can't," Mrs. Weasley interrupted. "Percy, let your father know through the Floo where we're going after we go through, he'll grab Augusta for us."

"Yes, mum," Percy said from Lily's left. Her wandering hand briefly touched him as he passed. It felt like he was still wearing his pajamas.

"Now, listen, you two," Mrs. Weasley said as she pulled them into the kitchen. "It was Ginny that cast the spell, not Lily."

"Will that help?" Ginny asked nervously.

"I don't think Mrs. Longbottom will have any objections if she thinks it wasn't Lily," Mrs. Weasley said.

Lily bit her lip. "I didn't-"

"No, you didn't," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "We should be able to pass it off as an accidental use of magic, I think. Arthur will have to do most of the convincing, he knows how it all works."

"You won't get in any trouble, will you?" Lily asked. The panic was starting to leave her body, but pure nervousness was taking its place.

Mrs. Weasley didn't respond, and Lily took that for a bad sign. She could feel more tears coming on, but she wiped those away quickly. She hated feeling so pathetic, even if there was no helping it in this instant.

"You go first, Lily, we'll be right behind you," Mrs. Weasley said, taking Lily's hand in hers and placing it gently into a pouch. Lily felt the familiar powder under her fingertips, and she grabbed a pinch of it. Mrs. Weasley helped her aim towards the fireplace, and she tossed it straight ahead, hearing a familiar woosh.

"St. Mungo's, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, gently pushing Lily forward.

"St. Mungo's," Lily repeated, as she felt the cool brick and flames against her feet. There was another woosh, a spinning sensation, and then she toppled out of the fireplace at the other end, unable to balance herself. There was another woosh, and then the sound of Ginny falling nearby. A third woosh, and then a gentle touch under her arm to tug her off the floor.

"Come on, you two," Mrs. Weasley said, dragging them both forward again. Lily reached out with her free hand, trying to make sure she didn't run into anything else while they moved forward. It sounded like they were in a crowded area, and she didn't want to bump anyone.

Lily thought she heard Ginny sniffling nearby.

"Sorry, Gin," she mumbled. She heard another sniff in response, and she hoped it was a positive one. She sniffed herself, feeling another wave of nervousness come over her.

"What bothers you?" she heard a gruff voice say.

"These two blinded themselves," Mrs. Weasley said, tugging on Lily's hand.

"Do you know what spell did it?"

"No," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Aterlumen," Lily said, immediately feeling a hard squeeze on her hand as if Mrs. Weasley was telling her to shut up. She took the point, and bit on her lip hard to keep another outburst from coming.

"Advanced charm for someone so young," the gruff voice said.

"Ginny here is going into her first year," Mrs. Weasley said in a sickly-sweet tone. "She must have gotten into one of her father's books."

"Over excited first year blinds themselves and a friend, we see it all the time. Augustus here will take the two of them, and we'll call you once you can see them. In the meantime, I'll need you to fill out these forms so we can begin treatment."

"You two behave," Mrs. Weasley said roughly as someone else began leading Lily off. This person had far rougher hands.

"Steps coming up, ladies," a man's voice said. Lily felt around, trying to find some sort of banister for the staircase. She stumbled when her foot collided with step, and let out a curse as her knee hit the stone. Lily never missed shoes so much in her life; the floor was cold and made her cringe with every step.

"Easy, there," the voice said, lifting her up to her feet. He placed Lily's hand onto the banister for her. "We'll be heading up to the second floor, and into your room from there."

"Great," Lily said, replacing some of her panic with frustration. Her knee really hurt now.

Ginny sniffed from nearby, and Lily started feeling bad again.

The Healer lead Ginny and Lily up the stairs, turning left, and then down a hallway. Lily started feeling nervous again. There was something absolutely terrifying about not being able to see where you were going. The man made another turn, and soon enough Lily's hand was placed firmly on what felt like a mattress. That made her feel a lot better.

"Healer Matilda will be in shortly," the man said. "She'll bring a change of clothes for the both of you, as well as the first set of potions, assuming your mother has finished filling out those forms."

"Potions?" Ginny asked, voice sounding fearful.

"First set?" Lily groaned.

"Healing blindness isn't easy, it takes a few days and dozens of potions. The human eye is complicated, it can't be fixed with just a quick spell. You should be fine on the first."

"The first?" Lily repeated. "But term starts-"

"You will be able to board the train on time, you'll be dismissed the morning of. I'll be going now, Matilda will be getting everything ready. She'll be in in just a moment."

Lily heard the door click shut before she could argue any further.

"This is your fault," Ginny said, sniffing again.

"I know," Lily admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Why'd you have to go and cast it on me, too?"

"I needed your help," Lily said. "I couldn't find the-"

"There was nothing there," Ginny said too loudly.

"Then what made that light?" Lily said, matching Ginny's angry tone.

Silence hung in the air. Lily could practically hear the gears turning in Ginny's head.

Before she could finish forming that thought, another Healer came in, and soon Ginny and Lily were both changed into hospital gowns and laying on their respective beds. The first potion had been absolutely foul, and Lily received no answers at all as to what was in it. It had simply been forced down her throat.

Lily laid in bed for what seemed like an hour, stewing in her own thoughts. She occasionally heard a sniff coming from Ginny, but she felt too bad to say anything. She didn't want to make it any worse.

Finally, the unbearable waiting came to an end, and the door opened once more. Lily perked up, expecting the relieving voice of Mrs. Weasley to fill the room.

"What have you done now, Lily?' Gran's voice croaked.

Lily's heart sank. "I didn't do-"

"Don't answer that, I've already heard it all from Mrs. Weasley." Lily heard a chair move next to her. "Ginny, dear, your parents will be in to see you soon. I sent them down to Gringotts with a money order to pay for your treatment."

"I-" Lily stammered.

"Oh, don't worry, it's on your account," Gran grumbled. "Now, do you want to tell me what in Merlin's name you thought you were doing?"

"I was just-"

"Trying out a new spell on your friend, hmm?"

"No, I-"

"Didn't think it would go wrong, hmm?"

"Would you let me talk?" Lily snapped. "I can't answer if you-"

"Watch your tone, young lady, you're in enough trouble as it is."

"It wasn't Lily," Ginny said from across the room. "It was me, I-"

"Oh, save it. That fib might have fooled the Healers, but it certainly didn't fool me. I doubt it will fool the Ministry, either, although with Fudge in charge it just might." Gran snorted.

"It wasn't that I messed up the spell, Gran, it worked," Lily explained. "But the thing that's been following me, it-"

"What thing?" Gran snapped.

"The green eyes, remember, I asked you about them and you said-"

"I remember a vague conversation about eyes," Gran said. "I thought we settled on it being the cat."

"No, I told you, it can't be Weasley, he's too small and his eyes are-"

"So somethings been following you, then, and it made you blind, did it?"

"Yes, that's what I've been trying to-"

"And did you see this thing, Ginny?" Gran asked.

"No," Ginny admitted. "But-"

"I have to say, Lily, this is the worst story you've come up with so far," Gran said, sounding disappointed.

"I'm not making it up, there was-"

"There's nothing after you, Lily," Gran said, sighing. "Whatever am I going to do with you?"

"Ask Ron," Lily said quickly. "He knows about it, he'll-"

"Yes, I'm sure your friend will cover for you," Gran interrupted. "Nothing is after you, Lily, you have to understand that."

"But I saw-"

"Enough!" Gran shouted, rising from her chair. "I have had it up to here with your behavior, Lily. I've tried to go easy on you, I know you've had it rough, but enough is enough. You can't keep doing these things and keep expecting to get away with it."

"I'm not-"

"Enough, Lily," Gran snapped. "I'll be writing to Dumbledore. Clearly, Hogwarts isn't good for you. I had hoped you'd change your behavior over the summer, but you've only behaved worse. You were fine last year, so I can only assume it's the Hogwarts staff giving you too much freedom."

"Gran, please, I-"

"I'll have to find a new school for you, of course. Neville will have to stay at Hogwarts, his grades aren't high enough to get in anywhere else, but you should be able to get in anywhere, so long as you behave yourself. A stricter school would do you well." The chair rubbed against the floor again, and Lily heard footsteps.

"Gran, I-"

"It'll be a late entry," Gran said from much further away, "but nobody would say no to Hazel Potter. Sorry to leave so quickly, but I'll have to get a move on, not much time left to get everything organized. We'll talk about it again next summer. If you're better, you can go back to Hogwarts."

Lily heard the door click open.

"No," Lily said firmly.

"No?' Gran repeated.

"No," Lily repeated. "I'm not coming back next summer."

"And what makes you think-"

"I'm not coming back," Lily said, feeling angrier than she had ever been before. "You never listen to me, you never believe me."

"Lily, now is not the-"

"Dumbledore said I could choose," Lily shouted.

"You can't-"

"I have the choice," Lily said, "and I'm not choosing you anymore. I'll ask Dumbledore to find someone else."

There was a moment of silence. Lily could feel the tension in the air, so thick you'd be able to slice through it with teaspoon. She heard Ginny sniff again from across the room.
"Fine, then," Gran snapped at last. "I see all I've done for you isn't worth spit. I'll just leave you alone, then."

Lily suddenly felt bad. "Wait, I-"

"Goodbye, Lily," Gran said, slamming the door behind her. An awkward silence now hung in the air, and Lily's sightless eyes were stinging. She wiped at them with the back of her hand, but it didn't help.

"You shouldn't have-"

"I don't want to hear it, Ginny," Lily snapped, turning away from the other girl. She didn't want Ginny to see that she was crying. She tried to keep it as quiet as she could, but she knew some of it must have leaked out.