Chapter 11 Lending a Helping Hand
The following morning, Harry, Ron and Neville all woke up far later than they usually would, but as they entered the Great Hall, they were treated to the glorious look of Malfoy's gobsmacked face staring at them. Harry and Ron wandered over to the Gryffindor table, but before they were able to take their seats, they were intercepted by Severus and Lily who'd made their way over from the Ravenclaw table.
"Why are you two here so late?" Lily demanded shrilly, tapping her foot with impatience. "Breakfast is just about done in five minutes, forgot to set your alarms this morning, perhaps?"
"All the more reason to leave us be so we can eat our food," Ron muttered, his stomach rumbled in agreement.
Lily sighed frustratedly and plopped down on the bench opposite Harry, Severus sat next to her facing Ron. Lily's green eyes were narrowed and calculating, searching out the identical pair in Harry's face—only Harry's eyes were far more bloodshot and bleary than Lily's were. "Up late last night?" she asked, gazing shrewdly at him.
Harry flushed indignantly under her scrutiny. "No. Why would you think that?"
"Well because your eyes are bloodshot, that's why," she said, her frown deepening.
"Look. It doesn't really matter. As Ron said, can you leave us be for the moment and let us eat? I'll tell you guys about it later when there's less…ears, around."
"What happened?" Lily asked. She forward until her elbows came to rest on the table.
"It's a bit of a long story," Harry answered. "Meet me by the library after classes?"
Severus and Lily exchanged a brief look, then nodded in agreement.
Later that day, Harry made his way from Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall over to the Library where he'd agreed to meet up with Severus and Lily. As he neared the library, he spotted his two friends over by the entrance and hastened his pace to join them.
"D'you guys want to talk inside? Or go for a walk?"
"I could stretch my legs a bit. I've been inside all day," said Lily.
The trio trouped outside into the late-afternoon sun. They meandered down towards the lake, passing by a thicket of bushes before coming to a stop at the base of a large beech tree. They sank down to the base of the tree and got comfortable, only then, did Harry begin the tale of his adventurous night.
"Severus knows a little of what I'm about to say, but I guess I'll start from the beginning for your sake, Lily."
"You already know some, Sev?" Lily asked, shifting her gaze from Harry to Severus.
Severus nodded. "A bit, yes."
"Yeah. Well long story short. Malfoy challenged me to a duel, he didn't show up, and Filch came along instead. Me, Ron, n' Neville high-tailed it out of there and we ended up near the charms corridor."
"The Charms corridor?" Lily asked. "Harry! Why on earth would you run there instead of back to Gryffindor Tower? You know the castle well enough by now to—"
"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Harry said icily. "I was a bit more occupied with trying to loose that grouch of a caretaker we had chasing us. Anyways, we just ran and ran until we ended up at the charms corridor."
"And what happened after that?" Severus asked, shifting forward slightly.
"After that…well, we ran into Peeves," answered Harry, he shrugged slightly. "And then…you guys remember how Albus said not to go to the third floor corridor, right?"
Both nodded, Lily a bit more fretfully than Severus.
"Well…that may or may not have happened as we tried to get away from Peeves," Harry admitted, twiddling his thumbs. "We ran to get away but the only way out of there was to go to the third floor corridor, I used Alohomora on the door, and then came face to face with a giant, three-headed dog, it was quite—"
"You saw WHAT?!" Lily screeched, she jumped to her feet in a hurry, her fists clenched at her side as her face twisted in incredulity and anger. "What on earth were you thinking Harry?! A three-headed dog? Are you out of your goddamned mind?!"
"Lily calm down, we were fine, besides, the dog was—"
"No I will not calm down," Lily retorted hotly, her balled up fists clenching even tighter. "Especially not when you're prancing about the castle at night trying to duel people, and nearly getting yourself killed like a headless idiot! If I were your mother, you'd be grounded for a month!" she bellowed.
"Lily, let's just hear what Harry has to say first," Severus said reasonably, his hands held up in a placating gesture for his furious friend. "Then if you want to blow a gasket at him, you can do that."
"You're on his side, Sev?" Lily growled, turning her eire from her sort-of-but-not-really-son, to her best friend.
"I'm on no one's side," Severus said, glaring back at her. "Not until I hear the full story which you stopped Harry from telling."
Lily scowled and turned back to Harry, her glare stiff and fierce. Harry flinched slightly under her emerald stare, but he couldn't help but think if he looked much the same when he got mad at someone.
"Go on Harry, what else do you have to tell us about your midnight rendezvous with Malfoy?" she asked, with her patented sarcastic expression.
Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders resignedly. "As I said, we saw the three-headed dog, and we bolted from the room before any of us were harmed. We were fine," he said calmly.
"But there was something interesting about the dog," Harry said, his voice dropping into a low, conspiratory murmur, like he was about to share a closely-kept secret. "One of its paws was over something, a trapdoor of some kind."
"What does that mean?" Lily asked, her expression of sarcasm replaced with one of fretfulness.
"It means it's hiding something," Severus muttered darkly. He and Harry shared a brief glance. "At least that's what I think."
"I think so too," Harry agreed. "And I'm willing to bet it's whatever it was Professor Snape took from the Vault that day, the same thing those thieves tried to steal when Snape retrieved it."
"So Professor Snape brought it here to Hogwarts?" Lily whispered, "that…would make sense, I guess, considering there is hardly a better-guarded place than here."
"But then that leaves the question of who's trying to steal it," said Harry. He leaned back against the bark of the tree and frowned up at the canopy of leaves overhead. "It can't be Professor Snape…he took it out of the vault to begin with. Obviously not Hagrid or Albus either…but it could be literally anyone else in the castle, or beyond."
"With Albus here, I don't see why it should be any concern of our's," Lily said confidently. "He's the most powerful wizard in the world, there's no way someone would try steal whatever it is that dog is hiding from under his nose, Harry."
For a moment Harry looked as though he wanted to argue with her, but backed down and gave a weary nod instead. He didn't want to risk invoking Lily's temper for the second time so early in the day.
"I guess you're right. But still…I can't help but wonder what it is that dog is hiding," muttered Harry.
"And as I said last week," Severus sniped back. "It's none of our business so what do we care?"
As the week went on, none of the three friends discussed the topic of just what may it is that might be beneath that trap door, although Harry often pondered the question within the privacy of his mind, oftentimes late at night when he laid in his four-poster, staring up at the burgundy-colored canopy. Lily and Severus had seemed to let the matter go, but his innate curiosity just refused to be sated by letting the matter drop like his friends had done. Neville adamantly refused to discuss the events of that night with just anyone, and Hermione continued to shoot him disapproving looks at mealtimes.
Stubbornly, Lily still insisted on inviting Hermione along to their study groups, and although the bushy-haired, Muggleborn got along reasonably well with three of the four Ravenclaws of their contingent in Mandy, Anthony and Lily herself; Severus, Harry and Ron were considerably more guarded around her. One morning, Harry, Lily, Severus and their friends were sat at the Gryffindor table when the Owl post came in. A flight of six screech owls came soaring in from the ceiling towards Harry. Mandy seemed to spot the flock of six owls first as it made its descent from the ceiling amidst the flock of other birds towards the table.
"Harry, is that a…" her blue eyes narrowed, then widened in recognition as she recognized what the familiar shape of the package was.
"No way!" Ron exclaimed next, eyeing the package incredulously as the sextet of screech owls landed on the table.
"Keep your voice down!" Harry hissed, glaring at Mandy, then at Ron. "No one's supposed to know yet." He quickly set to work untying the long, thin, broom-stick shaped package from the six owls' talons. His friends joined in to help without protest, and soon the package was free from the owls' legs freeing them to fly away.
Lily looked as if she wanted to protest the nature of the package laid out before them, but a pleading look from Harry convinced her to hold her tongue. Harry didn't want to attract further attention to himself and the package he received, so he quickly finished off his toast and eggs, then left the hall with the package in tow. Ron had finished eating, as had Mandy, but the rest of his friends were still sat at the table conversing with one another. Ron and Mandy were both trading theories as to what model the broom might be, as well who Harry's mysterious benefactor might be. They'd only made it a few steps outside the Hall when Malfoy and his two goons intercepted them. Malfoy looked anything but pleased, his nose wrinkled and upturned in the air as if a skunk had sprayed right at his feet.
"Oh you're in for it now, Potter," Malfoy said. "First years aren't allowed brooms."
"See, that's where you're wrong Malfoy," Harry said in return. "Why don't you go ask Professor McGonagall, if you're so confident I'm not allowed a broom, huh? Go on, do it. Prove I'm right."
"Whatever," Malfoy snorted, eyeing the wrapped-up broom disdainfully. "No amount of brooms or other gifts can bring your parents back, I suppose, so keep your stupid—"
Harry growled angrily and dropped his broom to the floor. He lunged forward at Malfoy but was stopped a the last second by Mandy and Ron. Harry struggled against their restraints, desperately wanting to wipe that arrogant smirk off of Malfoy's face. He needn't have even tried, as Malfoy was given his just desserts from a very different source. An irate-looking Hermione Granger, and an even more furious Lily Evans stood at the door to the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall stood between them. Seemingly, Lily and Hermione had heard what Malfoy had to say, and had summoned the Professor as quickly as they could.
Gobsmacked, Harry's anger rapidly abated and then vanished altogether as he witnessed the imperious Minerva McGonagall stalk across the floor to one terrified-looking Draco Malfoy, his two goons seemed to shirk under McGonagall's harsh gaze. "You and I are going a nice, long discussion Mister Malfoy," McGonagall said to the terrified, and rapidly-paling first year.
The Gryffindor Head of House turned her cold, blue-grey gaze upon the hulking boys of Crabbe and Goyle—who now seemed anything but menacing. Quite honestly, Crabbe and Goyle seemed petrified of the terrifying Deputy Headmistress. "Mister Crabbe, Mister Goyle, you'd best get along to classes now, boys. Your friend and I will be having quite a long chat."
Crabbe and Goyle were far from the sharpest tools in the shed, but even they'd understood their fierce dismissal. The two Slytherins quickly bobbed their heads up and down and headed for the staircase leading back to the Slytherin dungeons.
McGonagall then grabbed Malfoy's upper arm and hauled the protesting pureblood along to her office, ignoring Malfoy's threats about getting his father involved all the while. Once Malfoy had been whisked away by his coolly-furious Head of House, Harry turned around to face the two girls that had seemingly gotten McGonagall in the first place, and likely had spared him a detention too by preventing him from brawling with Malfoy.
"Thanks Lily," Harry said gratefully, "I owe you one for—"
"It wasn't me. I wanted to hex him or punch him as much as you did for what he said," Lily said crisply, still angry and furious at what Malfoy had said. Mocking her dead counterpart had struck her too and she was just as angry as Harry was when she heard Malfoy say that.
Lily cocked her head sideways and glanced at Hermione, "It was Hermione."
Harry's eyes goggled, and Ron spluttered disbelievingly. He couldn't believe that it was Hermione of all people that had gotten McGonagall.
"Lily wanted to hex him as much as you did," Hermione said primly. "And to avoid both you, Harry, and Lily losing points for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, I called McGonagall so she'd put a stop to it and discipline that horrible boy."
"I'd also heard what he said too," she continued more softly. "And that was…well, it was way out of line and he deserves everything McGonagall's got in store for him, whether it be detentions or…or points losses, or—"
"Thank you," Harry said, before Hermione could ramble on any longer. Her ramblings and musings were now half-famous at the Gryffindor table and he knew where they could lead if he hadn't stepped in. "I appreciate that, Hermione. Thank you."
For what it was worth, Ron gave his two knuts of approval too. "That was decent of you Granger, thanks," he said, not mockingly or sneeringly, but seemingly genuinely.
The lanky, redheaded pureblood gave the bushy-haired Muggleborn a firm nod of approval, which Hermione accepted with grace. At long last, Ron was showing some signs of acceptance and approval of the Muggleborn.
"It was the right thing to do," said Hermione, her lips pursed in a thin line. "And I didn't want you to lose our house any points as well."
Harry couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing Hermione's reasoning for her intervention, even Ron had to restrain his snort and the upward twitch of his lips, too.
"Perhaps you should take your broom back to your dorm, Harry," Severus said, bringing their discussion back to the broom that still laid discarded on the floor at Harry's feet.
Harry nodded, not wanting to risk the package being discovered by any one else. He heeded Severus advice, with he, Ron and Hermione all deciding to head back to Gryffindor tower.
Both the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had Double Charms with Flitwick coming up next, but they split up first and went their separate ways to head back to their dorms. While Harry, Ron and Hermione headed up the stairs to Gryffindor tower, the quartet of Ravenclaws in Lily, Severus, Mandy and Anthony were making their own way back to Ravenclaw tower to get their things for their first class of the day.
As they walked, Anthony couldn't get over his amazement, nor his jealousy that Harry had gotten a broom, and with it, a spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. As a first year no less. Anthony liked to think he did fairly well at the Flying lessons they'd had earlier in the term and that if Harry was deserving of a spot on his house Quidditch team, then he was too. After a few minutes spent walking through the halls and ascending some flights of stairs, all the while listening to Anthony rant about how it was unfair that Harry made the Quidditch team and not he; they arrived at the base of Ravenclaw Tower. Severus answer the riddle they were presented with and so the quartet of first years entered their common room. Severus and Anthony split off from Lily and Mandy as they both entered their separate dorm rooms. The first year Ravenclaw boys' dorm was mercifully empty when they came in, save for Merlin who sat perched on Severus' bed and who greeted his owner with a series of meows.
Anthony marched past Severus to his bed and flopped down on it. He expelled a heavy sigh as he stared up at the canopy of the four-poster, seemingly in deep thought.
"You'd better get your things soon so we aren't late for class," Severus remarked dryly, casting his roommate a sardonic look.
"I will in a moment," Anthony replied, still not looking at him. "I just…don't you think it's a bit unfair, that Harry Potter of all people gets to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team when every other first year isn't allowed?"
Severus regarded his friend shrewdly, then shrugged his shoulders. "I couldn't care less," he said with brutal honesty. He moved around his bed and shifted his cat out of the way so he could pack his books for the day.
"And you shouldn't either. Honestly, Harry may be a friend and all, but he's a bloody first year! What's he gonna do against Beckett(the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain) and our squad? At best, he'll just flounder about on his broom with no clue what to do."
Anthony snorted in an attempt to reign in the laugh that so desperately wanted to bubble forth. In the end, he allowed himself a humored chuckle at Severus' quip, not wanting the boy to think too highly of his comedic abilities. "Yeah well…I still think it's unfair," he grumbled.
Severus sighed and shook his head. If only you weren't so much of a Quidditch nut, he thought.
They packed their things and made their way back into the common room where Lily and Mandy were waiting for them. Both girls seemed to have packed in record time, although their finishing first could likely be attributed to Severus' and Anthony's dispute on the merit of Harry joining the Gryffindor Quidditch Squad.
"What took you two so long?" Lily asked as the two boys entered the common room.
"This one—" Severus jerked his head in Anthony's direction, "—is still all whiny and sour that Harry made the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he didn't." He snorted. "Talk about being childish."
Both girls sighed and sent Anthony a matching pair of annoyed looks. "C'mon Anthony, just let it go already and try out next year," Mandy whinged.
"Why?" the boy protested. "Don't you lot think it's unfair that he gets to join the team and I don't? I could've done something too if I had the chance to—"
"Just drop it already, will you?" Lily muttered, rolling her almond-shaped eyes at him in annoyance. "Nothing you say, or do, will change what happened, so why bother complaining?"
Anthony looked like he wanted to protest Lily's reasoning, but an excessively loud; "Oh, would you look at the time!" from Severus, cut him short, and the quartet of Ravenclaws were forced to get a move on if they didn't want to be late for Professor Flitwick's class.
They arrived at the Charms classroom swiftly and claimed their seats in the first row of desks along the left side. Severus, Lily, Anthony and Mandy were the first students to arrive, but some more of their fellow Ravenclaws showed up soon after they did. Li and Turpin sat down in the row behind Lily; with Corner, Boot and Carmichael claiming seats on the right hand side of the class opposite to them. The Gryffindors showed up not long after and took their seats where they could, mostly on the right side of the class but Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down on the left with the Ravenclaws.
The door opened softly one last time, admitting the short Charms Professor into the class. He walked as quickly as his short legs could carry him to the front of the class where he grabbed the register off his desk.
"Good morning class," Professor Flitwick squeaked.
"Good morning Professor," the class replied.
Professor Flitwick took attendance, and upon checking that everyone was there, he set them off on their task for the day, to begin practicing their wand-lighting charms.
"Lumos is an essential spell for any witch or wizard," said Flitwick. He was stood on a stack of books, which in turn were perched on a chair, so that he could see all his students.
"Now pay attention class and focus on my wand movement, it is essential to get this correct if you wish to master this charm," said Flitwick.
The class trained their eyes on the professor and took note of his short, birchwood wand held in his small hand. He performed a full loop-de-loop with his wand, and repeated the motion a few more times so those in the back could see.
"Now let's see you try it," Flitwick squeaked, prompting the class to try the wand motion for themselves.
For the most part, everyone did the wand motion correctly, although a few students, namely Corner, Finnegan, Longbottom and Parvati Patil had to be corrected with there being a few faults in their wand's arc.
"Very well done class, now do try to light your wands and I will come assess each one of you to give feedback where needed. Be sure to have your assignments on your desk as well so I can collect them."
Flitwick stepped down from his makeshift podium and moved to stand in front of his desk with his wand held aloft. "You may begin now," he said.
Lily drew her wand from her robe pocket and held the familiar piece of wood aloft in her hand. By now, nearly everyone had grown used to the fact that Lily was the best in their year when it came to Charms. Only Hermione, Terry Boot, and Padma Patil still tried to compete with her when it came to being the first to perform a charm correctly, but alas they'd all come up short every single time. It was still early on in the year, mind you, but Lily had been a full head and shoulders ahead of the field in the subject as of yet. So far, Lily had been the first to learn the locking and unlocking charms, and with the wand-lighting charm, Lumos, many thought Lily would be the first to learn it again, making her three-for-three.
Even though she was sat in the first row of desks, she could practically feel the gazes of her fellow first years in the second and third rows boring into her back. She'd be lying if she said she didn't appreciate the attention on her, because she did, and so she made a show of holding her wand aloft and clearing her throat.
She swished her wand fluidly and gently, while clearly annunciating; "Loo-moss."
The result was instantaneous. The tip of her aged, willow wand effused a soft, but warm glow, brightly illuminating Lily's pale face, as well as Severus' face to her right, and Mandy's to her left.
"Yes," Lily breathed, staring at her wand in satisfaction and glee. "Professor Flitwick! I've got it!" Lily called out, waving her lit wand through the air.
Lily couldn't hear it, but Severus could just about make out the audible groans of disappointment that Terry Boot and Hermione gave; seeing that they'd lost out to Lily yet again in Charms class. Severus wasn't surprised that they were disappointed as they were two of the better students in their year. Hermione in particular was usually at the head of most classes they'd taken so far. While Boot and Hermione were undoubtedly towards the sharp end of their class overall when it came to other subjects, it'd become widely accepted that Severus' prowess in Defense, as well as Lily's in Charms and their mutual skill in Potions meant the top spot to those three subjects belonged to the two of them.
Flitwick who had been helping Seamus Finnegan with his wand-grip, then turned around, only to be met with the brightest source of light in the entire classroom emanating from the tip of a willow wand.
"Oh my! Miss Bergman, you've done it again! Perfect, absolutely wonderful!" Flitwick gushed, singing his praises towards his star charms pupil. He quickly waddled across the room and inspected Lily's wand up close. "Perfect, Miss Bergman, that's five points you've earned House Ravenclaw, very well done!"
"Thank you sir," Lily said, smiling proudly at her Head of House's genuine praise.
"Pass your wand here Miss Bergman, so I can cancel the—"
"Oh that's okay sir," Lily said quickly, smiling cheekily. "I've…I've already practiced and learned Nox too, like this!"
Lily scrunched her face up in concentration as she eyed the lit tip of her wand. Lily executed the well-practiced motion, waving her wand in the shape of a breaking wave while saying; "Nox," canceling the spell entirely.
"Oh bravo, Miss Bergman! Ten points to Ravenclaw!" Flitwick squeaked. The diminutive, Charms Professor clapped his hands together in delight before sauntering off to the other side of the classroom to help out Neville and Fay Dunbar who seemed to be struggling with the wand-motion.
"Well done, Lily," Severus said, smiling at his friend.
"Why thank you Sev," Lily said in kind, feigning flattery by laying a hand across her chest in mock-surprise.
"Now let's see you do it," she said, gazing expectantly at the hawthorn-wood wand in his hand palm.
Severus eyed the stick of wood and gripped it firmly so that his knuckles turned white. Before he could even speak the first syllable, Lily was clicking her tongue and shaking her head. "More gently Severus," she said, nodding towards his wand-hand. "Like this."
Slowly, she reached over and took his hand in her grasp and relaxed her childhood friend's grip on the wand. "See? Not so stiffly."
"I've got it," Severus said gruffly, yanking his hand out of Lily's grasp before any of their classmates could notice. He wasn't quite quick enough though, Anthony had seen it and released a quiet chortle as a result, his simpering look almost made Severus want to whack him upside the head.
Refocusing his efforts, Severus ignored his teasing roommate and focused his attention on his wand. With a carefully executed looping motion, he annunciated; "lumos," but nothing happened.
To his left, Lily sighed and shook her head. "Your pronunciation is fine Sev, but your arm's too rigid," she said, clucking her teeth together in a somewhat-chiding manner.
"Pay attention," Lily said sternly, before she then demonstrated the wand motion herself.
"Fluid, not rigid, don't wave it's a…a, I dunno, a baton, pretend you're a conductor at an orchestra , or—"
"I get the point, Lily," Severus grit out. "Why not just leave me to it, yeah?"
Lily blinked once, then snorted softly out her nose. She propped her elbow up on the desk, and then leaned her head against her palm as she turned sideways to watch him. She wore a slight smirk as she gazed over at her next-seat neighbor.
"Go on, then," she prompted, nodding at the wand in his palm. "Give it a go."
"I will," Severus said tersely, "and I'd probably have an easier time of it if you weren't just…staring at like I'm part of some freak show."
He didn't hear her response as he'd turned away from her and returned his focus to his wand. He took a deep breath, then exhaled. Lily's words rang in his ears, to keep his wand motion fluid, not rigid. He spied a glance over at his other seat-neighbor in Anthony. He'd already gotten it to work, and it seemed about a third of the class had done it too, he wanted to join that number.
"Lumos," Severus said softly, but clearly, waving his wand through the air fluidly just as he'd been told. Sure enough, his wand lit up, emitting a glow of blueish hue. The light his Hawthorn-wood wand gave off of was a little different to Lily's, his being blue, and her's being orangey-gold, but he'd gotten the spell to work so he let a small smirk form on his face as he turned back to face a surprised-looking Lily.
"Well done Sev," Lily congratulated him, eyeing the different-colored tip of his wand in curiosity. "That makes you sixth, behind your's truly, Anthony, Boot, Hermione, and Su, nice work."
"Ah, very well done Mister Prince! And you too Mister Goldstein," Flitwick commended as he made his way over. "Flawless execution, two points to each of you for Ravenclaw!"
"Thank you sir."
"Thank you Professor."
Flitwick smiled warmly and gestured over to Lily. "Miss Bergman, if you would help put out Mister Prince's wand, that would be much appreciated," he said, smiling that cheery grin of his for his class favorite. "Mister Goldstein, pass me your wand."
Anthony nodded and gave the Professor his wand while Severus turned away from the stout Professor to face his friend.
"Of course Professor," Lily replied, smiling in turn and relishing in the chance to show-off her knowledge a bit.
"Now pay attention Sev," she remarked seriously, now facing her partner. Lily reached over and pried his still-lit wand from his grasp, the blueish light bathing Severus' pale face and her own in an ethereal glow. She held his wand up and examined it, feeling a faded sense of magic flowing through the wood relative to her own.
"The wand motion is a breaking wave, and as you did earlier, it must be flowing."
"Okay Professor Bergman," Severus said dryly, sporting a bored look. "Just get on with it, would you please?"
"Since you asked so nicely," Lily grinned.
She twirled his wand in that wave-shaped motion she spoke about, and sure enough, the light at the end effused no longer.
"There you go," she said, handing his wand back to him with a smile.
He'd never tell it to her face, but secretly, Severus found that whenever Lily was 'in her element' so to speak, she could be quite annoying at times. Not long after Severus, Harry managed to learn the wand-motion and was now proficient in using the wand-lighting charm himself. Mandy and Ron soon followed him thanks to Lily's and Hermione's guidance. By the end of class, all three Gryffindors and four Ravenclaws could perform the spell adequately and left Professor Flitwick's class in high spirits. The Ravenclaws had a class with the always-strict Professor McGonagall up next, whilst the Gryffindors had their next class with Professor Quirrell.
"Lily, can I talk to you for a moment?" Hermione asked once they'd stepped out of Charms class.
Lily glanced down at her wristwatch, then back at Hermione and nodded. "Sure. But not for too long please, I've got class on the other side of the castle with McGonagall coming up next."
"This won't take long," Hermione said assuredly. "I just…I want to know your secret, how you do it."
Lily frowned, a look of confusion quickly forming on her face. "My secret? What do you mean?"
"How are you so good at charms?" Hermione asked, almost despairingly.
"Practice I guess," Lily shrugged. "And my wand's good for charmwork supposedly, not to mention I find charms really interesting too."
"Would you consider it your favorite subject?" Hermione asked.
Lily's smile brightened. "Definitely, although Potions is a close second."
Hermione smiled slightly too and nodded. "Well I guess I'm just gonna have to study more then," she sighed. "If I want to beat you, that is."
Lily's smile morphed into a smirk. The redheaded girl shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. "That ain't gonna happen Hermione. Charms is my subject, and I'm not gonna lose to you, or anyone for that matter. Charms is mine."
Although Lily's words were spoken in jest, and the smile her fellow Muggleborn wore took the bite out of her statement, Hermione could sense a hint of defensiveness in Lily's tone that let her know she was dead serious about protecting her crown.
"I guess we'll see then," Hermione said, smiling back at her.
The two girls parted ways and wandered off after their housemates. Hermione seemed to get along well with Harry now, as Lily noted she immediately went towards the boy's side. The same could not be said of Ron, but at least he was no longer openly hostile towards her and tolerated her presence in the group.
"What did Hermione want to speak to you about?" Mandy asked, as Lily rejoined her trio of friends.
"Oh, nothing much," Lily lied. "Just some stuff about charms, you know…nothing special."
Mandy searched her face, then nodded once. They started off down the corridor, heading in the opposite direction of the Gryffindors to take the stairs down to McGonagall's class
"If I knew any better, I'd say she's annoyed that you've gotten the best of her so far in Charms," Anthony quipped.
He half-smirked at Lily, then turned to Severus. "Merlin knows you two are just about the only people in our year that can compete with her anyways, when it comes to academics."
"Jealous much?" Lily teased.
"Oh no, not at all," Anthony replied. "As long as my grades keep my folks happy, that's all that matters to me. You two can fight with Granger for best in the year all you want. I, on the other hand, have better things to worry about."
"Like what? Complaining about not making the Quidditch team as a first year, eh Goldstein? Seems rather childish of you, don't you think?" said Severus, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement as he spoke.
As soon as they heard it, Mandy and Lily both erupted into peals of laughter; the latter was clutching at her sides with her hands as they trembled and shook. Lily slapped her hand down on Severus' shoulder for support so she wouldn't keel over and tumble down the stairs, she was barely able to stand upright.
"G-good one Sev, o-oh, I'm…I'm gonna cry!" Lily chortled, her hand tightening its grip on his bony shoulder to help her remain on her feet.
"Oh, shut up," Anthony grumbled, causing yet more laughter to fill the halls.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Like in canon, Harry's already got theories forming as to what Fluffy is trying to hide, as well as who might be trying to get past it. Naturally, Snape isn't among the list of suspects this time around, but expect Harry, Lily and Severus to form even more theories/suspicions as Halloween approaches.