Lily Evans and the Garden of Gryffindor.
Chapter 1
Summer Part 1
Lily lazed in the shade of the willow enjoying the first day of her summer holidays.
"Lily," her mother's melodious voice issued from inside the house.
"Coming Mum," Lily sighed, so much for just relaxing for the day. "Come on Lion," she called to the cat like creature resting above her in the branches of the tree. The furry creature flicked his tail indignantly before deigning to jump from his perch and saunter after her. She giggled a little mischievously as she remembered Tuney's squeals of horror when the kitten had been presented to their mother on her last birthday. Since then Tuney had avoided the odd looking 'cat'. So much so, that anyone would think he was a carrier for the plague. Lily mused that it was almost like Tuney had a radar for things that were magical. Even more amusing was watching Lion as he deliberately put himself into Tuney's path. He was sitting at her door making small meeping mews to wake her up in the morning before her alarm went off. He was there when she emerged from the shower, and every night when she came home, he was sitting in the lounge room watching, tail twitching and yellow eyes gleaming as they followed the tall girl as she walked to the kitchen for dinner and stayed staring at her as she ate her meal.
"Oh, I wondered where Lion had got to," Mrs Evans said as Lily entered the kitchen the kitten scampering in quickly after her, narrowly avoiding the closing door.
"He's been following me around since I got home," Lily shrugged. Well… when he hadn't been stalking Tuney!
"Most intelligent cat I ever saw, he actually fetches things for Nanna Anne when she asks! Especially on the days she's feeling poorly. I saw her ask him for her bed socks the other day and as calm as you please he jumped into her drawer, dug out a pair and carried them to her in his mouth! Now before I forget an owl arrived for you." She indicated the grey fluffy bird perched on the back of one of the dining room chairs.
"Thanks Mum. How's Nanna?" Lily asked as she reached to remove the note from the bird's claw.
"Not doing so well, but that's to be expected, there is only one cure for what she has." Lily's Mother gave a little huff to clear a suddenly tight throat. "Now that I have gotten your attention away from your books, what are you up to today?"
"Well, I need to feed the Smith's and the Jones' dogs, and I'm looking after the Peterson twins tonight from seven till ten," Lily recited as she opened the note and scanned the messy script quickly.
Dear Squirt,
Mum and Dad decided we are to stay at Molly's for the hols. We know it is a bit earlier than expected but do you want to come round today? Molly can apparate over to pick you up at ten and bring you home whenever you like. Send a reply back with Errol.
F and G
Lily glanced up from the letter to find her mother looking at her.
"Change of plans?" her Mum raised an eyebrow an amused smile on her face.
"Yeah, can I go round to Molly's today?" Lily asked eyes full of hope. "I'll feed the dogs when I get back before I head to the Peterson's."
"That's the young lady we met on the platform?" Mrs Evans confirmed.
"Yeah," Lily nodded as she folded the note in half.
"Well I was going to take Eva and Harry out today, but I can drop you off if it is on the way."
"Oh, she'll come and pick me up."
"When?"
Lily glanced down at the note, "At ten, if I send a reply straight away."
"Well alright then," her mother agreed, "but I want you home in time to eat before you go out this evening."
"Alright, Mum."
Lily quickly penned a reply.
Dear Gid and Fabe,
I have been cleared to come. The address is 8 Hedge Row, Cokeworth.
Thanks.
Lily.
"Here you go Errol," she cooed to the owl as she gave him the letter, "Please take this to Gid or Fabe." Errol hooted once and then took off out of the kitchen window. After watching him fly away she turned back around as her Mum spoke.
"How about you duck in and see Nanna before you go?"
Lily knocked quietly on the door to the downstairs bedroom.
"Come in," a frail voice called.
Lily pushed the door open, Lion pushed passed her rubbing himself against her legs as he entered the room first. He stalked over to the bed, jumped up and curled in a ball at Anne's side. Anne absentmindedly reached down and began to pat him, a rumble sounded in the room as he began to purr.
"How are you feeling Nanna?"
"Tired," the old women smiled wearily, "but don't worry about me. Your Da told me you had a rough year." Anne reached out with her free hand and took Lily's hand in her own.
"Yeah," Lily agreed "I'm not real sure I want to go back."
Anne frowned, "You can't let those who hate stop you. When Rose was at school there was a movement against kids like her too."
"I just want to know why. I think if I could figure that out, I'd feel better."
"The big thing to remember is that it isn't about you, even though it's easy to think that it is."
"What's it about then Nan? Because when they're telling me I'm not welcome to sleep in our dorm, it sure feels like it is about me," she said with hitch in her voice and a furrowed brow.
"It's about them." Anne squeezed her hand. "For example, who was the worst in your room?"
"Allison," Lily's scowl deepened as the memories returned full force.
"And where does she come from?" Anne noted the girl's confused expression. "What type of family is she from? What's her heritage?"
Lily shrugged "She's a pureblood I think." Then she explained, "Her parents, grandparents and great grandparents are all witches and wizards, back I don't know how many generations." Anne nodded her understanding.
"And how does she do at school? Is she top of the class?"
Lily considered the question for a moment, "Well she's average I guess. I didn't really pay attention to anyone else's results, but she's not the top." Lily knew that she occupied that position herself, which had been quite a surprise.
"And what's she like as a person?"
"Mmm," Lily thought for a moment "She seems like she's pretty spoilt. She received gifts from home every week, it doesn't seem like too many people have ever told her no. but we never really talked at all. I wasn't important enough."
"So, she's probably used to getting her own way?" The old women paused until a nod was received. "To summarise she is used to being praised as the best, her every need met and in her own eyes she is the most important person in the world. Then she goes to school and you waltz in there with your muggle parents and score better than her, you're sweet and kind and the teachers love you. You have a friend already and you have the confidence to not care who approves of him. My guess, and it is only a guess mind, is that she is jealous. She's used to having everything her own way and then you beat her."
"But that's not fair! I worked really hard for my grades," protested Lily.
"Yes, I agree it is unfair, but she doesn't see that. So, she uses what she has, her standing as a Pureblood and gets onto the other girls, which is easy to do because you're always studying or with Sev."
"Mmm, so what do I do about it?" Lily frowned.
"Well there's not much you can do about her, apart from ignoring her. I very much doubt that you want to make friends with her after everything that happened, but finding other friends is good. Remus and those boys seem like they could turn out alright in time if they learn from this and grow up and if they don't then see who else is around. Don't just limit yourself to your house either."
"Even Remus turned against me Nan," Lily sniffed mournfully.
"Hmm, the pressure that friends apply can be a hard thing to break," the old woman commented sagely, "especially if you've never had one before."
"He was the first to apologise, and he seemed to mean it," Lily tilted her head to one side as she considered the boy.
"Are you going to hold it against him?"
"I…I don't think so. What is it Dad always says - Forgive but don't forget."
"Your father can be smart sometimes, he gets that from me. The best thing you can do is be yourself! You used to be such a cheeky little thing. That sense of fun is still hidden in you somewhere, I've a feeling those boys that have invited you over will help you to find it again."
Suddenly a crack was heard in the garden, startling the pair and causing Lion to hiss. A second later a knock was heard at the back door.
"That'll be Molly! Love you Nanna I'll see you when I get back," Lily said with a grin, giving the old women a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek, before she bolted from the room. The old women smiled as she watched her granddaughter run out the door, pleased that the girl hadn't lost her all of joyful spirit.
Crack
Molly led Lily towards a two-story ramshackle house that looked like it was held together by magic.
"Welcome to the Burrow."
The pair walked into the comfortable kitchen where Gideon and Fabian were sitting. Gideon was playing a game with a boy whose hair was as red as his own, while Fabian was supporting a younger child who was determinedly pushing to stand in his lap. They looked up as the two girls entered.
"This one will be walking soon Moll," Fabian smiled at his sister.
"Shush you! Don't wish that on me just yet! Now, who's for a cuppa?"
The boys laughed, "We've got work to do Moll!"
"Actually, I need some advice first," Lily pulled a notebook and a pen out of her bag.
"What's that?" Gideon asked fascinated as she clicked it to make the tip protrude.
"It's a pen." She passed it across for him to inspect, and he spent several minutes clicking the nib in and out, while she laughed at him.
"We have to get Arthur one!" Gideon enthused while Molly rolled her eyes as she bustled around the kitchen.
"Back to the question?" Lily suggested still giggling.
"Oh yeah, alright," Gideon finally agreed giving the pen back.
Lily paused and took a deep breath before speaking, "Due to the things that happened at the end of last year, I didn't get to choose my electives. Dumbledore said that if I am going back to school I have until the end of the week to decide my new subjects, and I don't know what I should choose."
"We're not even going to comment on the possibility of you not coming back, because that would make us really sad and doesn't bare thinking about," Fabian said. "Though we will just say making such a decision has consequences, such as all your Family being Oblivated,"
"That's having your memories wiped," interjected Gideon seeing the confused look Lily was wearing.
"Not to mention," Fabe shot a glare at his brother for interrupting as he continued speaking," You would have your magic bound, as a precaution, as you would no longer be learning how to control it." Lily nodded her understanding.
Molly cleared her throat and changed the subject, "What you choose depends on what you want to do after school and what subjects you enjoy."
"It's hard to know what jobs there are in the wizarding world and I have no clue about the subjects," Lily stated.
"Don't worry Squirt. We'll give you the run down. Let's start with the subjects. Divination is just about creative writing, so as long as you've a good imagination, it's an easy pass," Gideon suggested.
"Why is that?"
"Well, true Seer's are rare, aren't they? And for myself, I wonder how much use the lessons are if you haven't the talent," he shrugged.
"What else?"
"There's muggle studies."
"I think I'm all good with that one, though it might be interesting to see how the average wizard thinks of us," Lily laughed.
"It would be another easy pass for you though."
"I've never taken the easy option," they all laughed at that.
"Well then, there's ancient runes. Useful if you wish to be a healer or curse breaker, and definitely needed if you wish to study alchemy or warding," Gideon recited.
"Then there's Arithmancy- which is the study of the magical properties of numbers. Useful in curse breaking and also in potions and can be applied in a divination like fashion as well," Fabian added.
"Oh and last but not least is Care of Magical Creatures, which is just what it sounds like!" Molly chuckled when the tiny boy who was now sitting on Fabian's lap took advantage of the slight lull in conversation while Lily thought over the options, to let out a massive sneeze that covered the older boy in snot. His mother passed Fabian a damp cloth to clean up the mess.
"I like the sound of that second last one, I enjoyed maths at my old school," Lily enthused "But I'm not sure what else. What did you guys take?"
"Well I want to be an Auror," Gideon said proudly. "None of the electives really helped as the requirements are covered by our base subjects, so I took Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes, because they sounded fun."
"Same," said Fabian. "An Auror is like the magical equivalent of a pleez-man," he added by way of explanation.
"Policeman?" Lily suggested, seeing his nod she continued. "But I don't know what I want to be yet," Lily looked worried. "I don't even know what jobs there are!"
"That's alright, you can just take ones that you are interested in then. Try and keep your options open. Then you could also choose the same ones as your friends so that if you don't like it at least you won't be alone in classes." Molly's statement was met with an awkward silence, the boys exchanged sad looks as they thought about the previous year and Lily wondered what Severus would choose.
"Can I take three?" Lily finally broke the silence
"Yes but it would be a lot of work," warned Gideon.
"Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes all sound interesting, so I might just take them all. I can drop one if I don't like it or its too much can't I?" she looked around at the others uncertainly.
"Yeah you can, I think Marly's taking those, so she might be able to tutor you if you get into trouble. Do you know what your mate's taking?"
"We didn't discuss it," she shook her head. "Could I borrow Errol to send this to Professor McGonagal?" Lily asked Molly holding up the note she had written.
"Of course," Errol was given the note and sent on his way. "Well if you don't get moving, you won't get anything done." Molly shooed them out of the kitchen.
"Right," Gideon said "let's head outside and start. Molly and Arthur planted a heap of fruit trees in the paddock a couple of years back, we can practice there," he said as he led the way.
Gideon and Fabian had a quick discussion about what they were going to show Lily first. They had decided that if she had a means of defending herself then she would be much more confident and some of her timidity should disappear. When they reached the field, Gideon turned to the others, "Okay, let's start with a basic shield, you can use this to block those pesky blighters who send trip jinxes your way, and that incisus curse. If you'd demonstrate please Fabe."
Fabian aimed his wand at Gideon "Offendimus."
"Protego." Gideon moved his wand in a circular motion and the jinx was blocked. "Now practice the incantation first."
"Protego?"
"That's right but with more confidence and concentrate on what you want the shield to do. Visualise it, a circular shield of energy."
"Protego."
"That's better, now the wand action." He demonstrated again, Lily copied.
"Looks good. Now all together."
"Protego," she whipped her wand in a circle, and felt the air move in front of her.
"Alright, I'll jinx you and you block, on three. One, two, three. Offendimus!" Gideon flicked his wand down.
"Protego," the jinx rebounded towards Gideon.
"That's it Squirt!" even though Gideon hadn't used his full power, the boys were delighted with her first efforts.
"Now if they would only warn me before they curse," she laughed.
"We have a plan for that to, don't worry, but for now we need to teach you a few other spells. Let's practice that again."
"Now I know you saw this one last year, but we want to look at how you are doing it. Expelliarmus."
Lily demonstrated on Fabian and he lost his grip on his wand. Disappointingly it fell to the ground a few feet away.
"Not bad, though I think you can do it with more power. Concentrate on seeing his wand either go flying away from him or boomeranging to you."
Lily closed her eyes for a moment and then said "Expelliarmus!" Fabian's wand flew from his hand straight at Lily, who dodged out of the way. Gideon bent over laughing.
"Lily, you're supposed to catch it!"
"Sorry, I thought it was going to take my eye out," red faced she grimaced in embarrassment.
"Come on do it again!"
"Unca Gid, Unca Gid!" the small boy called as he ran across the field as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"Bill!" Gideon responded as he turned to face the boy who launched himself at his uncle. "Are you supposed to be out of the house?" he grunted as he caught the boy and lifted him higher into the air.
"No," the boy chortled kicking his feet wildly "But Mummy's feeding Charlie and I snuckeded away!" He squealed a he was settled on Gideons hip.
"Come on Bill!" Gideon tried, unsuccessfully, to look stern as he took a step back towards the house. "Your mum will be worried!"
"Aww Unca Gid, I wanna go fly, please!" he implored, blue eyes opened wide and a pout on his lips. It was awfully difficult not to give in to someone who looked so sweet. Lily folded first.
"Go on," she said, "I could use a break."
"I'll let Moll know where he is, so she doesn't worry!" Fabian said, and he started jogging towards the house. "And I'll grab the brooms on the way back," he called over his shoulder.
"Unca Gid down!" Bill squirmed until his request was complied with and then made his way to stand looking at Lily.
"Are you Unca Gid's Girlfriend?" Bill asked as he turned his blue eyes to look up at Lily.
"No," she blushed.
"Why not? Do you have a boyfriend?"
"I'm a bit young yet," she shook her head with a smile.
"You can be my girlfriend if you like," the small red-haired boy grabbed Lily's hand with a huge grin on his face.
"Your nephew is rather precocious," Lily giggled to Gideon.
Fabian returned with the promised broomsticks and a hamper full of sandwiches which were quickly devoured. Then the boys mounted and began to fly, watching them made Lily wish she could fly too, they looked so free.
"Knut for your thoughts Squirt?" Gideon asked as he landed nearby.
"I think I'd like to learn how to fly."
Gideon grinned.
A week later.
"Alright there Squirt?" Fabian asked as Lily followed Molly into the kitchen at the Burrow a scowl marring her features.
"Been better," she replied. "I'm so sorry Molly."
"I suppose she must have been surprised," Molly commented an amused expression on her face.
"Well she must have been surprised a lot this week then," Lily scoffed.
Gideon and Fabian exchanged glances.
"Care to share?"
"My darling," Lily drawled the word "sister made some rather unfortunate comments when Molly arrived today."
"Yes, well, having someone pop up right in front of you would give you a bit of a start, and to be fair I was a bit clumsy today so it was much noisier than usual," Molly excused Petunia's poor behaviour.
"Anyway, what are we learning today?" Lily changed the topic.
"We thought we would have a game of tag today," the boys grinned at her.
"Tag? What are you seven?" Lily scoffed "Besides you both have long legs, I'd be a goner."
"You're a witch Lily," Fabian rolled his eyes "It'll be magical tag."
"We'll teach you a spell which will hit your target with a coloured dot. Then we'll go to the orchard and hide amongst the trees and when you see someone you shoot them, when the times up we come in and count up."
"So how do we keep score?"
"Different coloured dots."
"I dibs red," she grinned.
"All right, I'll take blue, and you Fabe."
"Purple."
"Alright the incantation is colovaria spottus, and the wand movement is a quick flick." He demonstrated sending a blue spot to mark the settee.
"Oi! Take it out side, you lot!" Molly scolded as she waved her wand over the couch erasing the errant colour.
It wasn't long before happy shouts rang through the yard, Molly smiled as she folded the washing. An hour later the trio came back in perspiring heavily and covered in multicoloured dots. She laughed at Lily who was by far the worst hit.
"It's not fair," pouted the girl "My hair gives me away." She tugged at the long pony tail that hung down her back.
"Well next time you come, I'll have to show you some spells, so you can change that."
"Would you Molly? That would be… I would….really?"
Molly laughed at the gushing girl, "Yes, I will, really, it isn't a problem. Now what are you lot doing after lunch?"
"We thought we would teach Lily how to fly," Lily's head whipped around so fast her hair flicked her in the face.
"Really?"
"Really, really."
Sandwiches eaten, Fabian grabbed three broomsticks from the shed and they headed back to the field leaving Molly to wrangle Bill who was protesting vehemently that he didn't need an afternoon nap and much would rather go flying with Unca Gid and Unca Fabe!
"Alright then, I'll stay lower then you, so I can catch you if you fall ok?" Fabian reassured the nervous girl. "Not that you will!"
"Do you remember how to mount?" Lily demonstrated "and kick off?" she pushed hard against the ground and rose a little then lent forwards and landed with a nervous smile.
"So now kick off pull up on the broom slightly to get a bit more height then lean forward just a little and we'll head over to the trees." Lily did as instructed flying steadily towards the orchard.
"Ok corners next. We'll take off, then instead of going straight, we'll go around the field. If you gently lean to the side, the broom will turn that way and go down slightly. If you just want to turn, gently pull the broomstick the way you want to go, you apply pressure with your hands and thighs." Lily nodded, pushed off and did a lap of the field. They then repeated the circuit in the opposite direction.
"Doing well!" Fabian encouraged as he flew next to her "I don't think you need me down below anymore. Let's go again but a bit faster."
Slowly Lily's confidence grew, by the end of the day she could dodge through the trees and was nearly keeping up with the boys.
"I can't believe it! You should try out for the team this year," said Gideon.
"Thanks but no. I don't like the idea of those bludgers!" she shuddered.
"Too right, they hurt. We had best take you back, so Moll can take you home."
"Thanks for everything." Lily gave each boy a quick hug when they arrived back at the Burrow before grabbing hold of Molly's arm and disappearing with a pop.
"Well what are we going to teach her next time?" Fabian asked his brother.
"I think we need to talk to Arthur. I mean, protego is great but she can't very well walk around school casting that all the time, can she?"
"Yeah not as often as they curse her at any rate, she'd be exhausted."
Lily curled up in the chair beside Nanna Anne's bed and read as the old women slept.
Knock, knock, knock.
She quietly rose and answered the back door.
"Sev what are you doing here?" she whispered noting his black eye. "Come in and let's put something cold on that. Mum'll be back in a moment. You can stay here the night." He didn't say anything as she sat him down on the sofa. Grabbing a bag of peas from the freezer she wrapped them in a tea towel and pressed them gently to his face.
Ten minutes later footsteps could be heard on the drive and Mrs Evans walked in accompanied by Eva and Harry. The blonde headed twins ran to Lily for a hug before noticing the teenage boy and tentatively smiling at him.
"Sev are you alright?" Mrs Evans asked with a concerned frown noticing the impromptu ice pack immediately.
"Not the best," he muttered grudgingly accepting hugs from the children. Mrs Evans pulled away the cold bag and looked at his face.
"Well you're going to have a splendid black eye. You'll be staying for the night. Lily go set up a mattress in your room, he can sleep in there."
"It's ok, I won't stay long, don't go to any trouble. I don't want to be a bother," Sev asserted.
"You're not going back there, not tonight," Mrs Evans was firm. "I'll send Ewan down to let your Mum know where you are when he gets home from work." Severus gave up on the argument; even he had to admit that sometimes it was nice to be cared for.
"What happened Sev?" little Eva asked patting his knee with her small hand.
"My Dad got a bit angry."
Bang.
A glass that had been sitting on the kitchen bench burst showering the room in shards. Eva jumped in fright and began to cry. At the sudden noise Lily came thundering down the stairs.
"What's going on? Is everyone ok?" Looking at the pieces glass on the floor "Was that you Sev?" he shook his head.
Lily crouched down in front of Eva and wiped her tears "What's the matter Eva?"
"I'm scared! What if Sev's Dada hurts him? Like my Dada hurt my Mama," Sev and Lily exchanged a look- could it have been accidental magic?
"Sev is going to stay with us for a bit, so we'll look after him ok?"
This seemed to reassure the small girl. The crying dwindled to a sniffle and she wiped her eyes (and nose) with her hands. "Ok."
"Now run out the back and play." Lily gave both the little ones hugs and sent them out the back to play before grabbing the hoover and beginning to clean up the mess.
It had taken a while, but Lily had studied the book that Severus had given her for her last birthday thoroughly, filling a whole notepad with extra notes and formulae. In the end she was sure that she had done it! Created a new spell. Well, if she was truthful it wasn't a completely new spell, more like an adaption of an old one, but that adaption, if it worked, would surely solve one of her biggest problems at Hogwarts. Looking at her notes again she felt a small ball in her chest that she hadn't felt for a long time, pride.
Another week passed, and Lily returned to the Burrow, it was a Saturday and for once Arthur was home.
"Hello Mr Weasley," Lily greeted him as she walked into the house ahead of his wife. "I wanted to ask you something, if you have the time?"
"Well anything as long as I can ask you some questions too," the man gave a good-natured grin.
"Sure," she readily agreed, "Well I want to make up a spell; in fact, I think I have already. Could I show it to you and could we test it?"
"Why did you want to make up a spell?" he turned his astonished face to look at his brothers-in-law, they both shrugged.
"Well I couldn't find anything that did what I wanted, and my friend gave me a book that kind of explains how to create spells. The easiest way is by adapting an already known spell, which is what I think I've done, so now I want to test it out. I figured I should try it with a proper grown up wizard like you or Molly first, just in case I got it wrong."
"Well, alright then, what is it supposed to do?"
"It should put a protective shield on the skin to help prevent cuts and small hexes like the Incisus curse. The incantation is Protego Dermis and you just point the wand at the middle of your forehead."
"Ok, give us a demonstration."
"I've never tried it before but… ok here goes…." She took a deep breath and then said clearly, "Protego Dermis." Nothing happened, Lily was disappointed.
"Don't give up yet," the older wizard stated calmly. "Were you concentrating hard enough? Determination and focus are what decide if a spell is going to work for you, try again, be forceful, visualise the effect that you want."
"PROTEGO DERMIS!" she shouted, and a visible golden web extended from her wand and settled over her skin to disappear a moment later.
"It tingles!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Can we test it now?"
Arthur hesitated slightly "With the Incisus hex? Are you sure?"
"Yes please, if I can get this to work, it will make a big difference to all the Muggleborns at school."
"Ok, are you ready? - Incisus," his effort was at best, half-hearted as he wasn't confident her spell had worked but still the light beamed from his wand, Lily flinched instinctively and then looked at her arm.
"Nothing!" she let out a happy squeal, "Now how do I make it stay on for long periods of time?"
"In general, the strength of the spell is also decided by the strength and determination of the caster."
"So I just need to practice?"
"Given that all indications are that you are quite the strong witch I would say yes."
"That was bloody brilliant!" the oldest brother crowed.
"Gideon!" Molly scolded. "I'll tell Mother!"
"But Moll," whined Gideon, "It was incredible!"
"Now what other spells are you going to teach me?" She turned her beaming face to the boys.
"We aren't teaching you anything else!" Lily's smile fell.
"Until you teach us how you did that!" and the trio went out into the yard to practice once more. After consultation with Arthur, Gideon and Fabian planned to teach Lily Protego Duo and the summoning charm before the end of the holidays. When they returned to school they would seek advice from the Professors on appropriate spells.
The spells weren't the only lessons they taught Lily that holidays. To encourage her situational awareness, they spent days practicing tripping her randomly as she ran around the orchard playing tag. Over time Lily became quite adept at dodging and blocking tripping hexes and she would start each day at the Burrow by applying the skin shield which they would then test whenever they stopped between lessons, until she could make it last two hours before she needed to redo it. Satisfied that they were making progress Lily was much happier to return to Hogwarts.