NOTE: all familiar names are JKR's, of course – this chapter's nice and
long, so enjoy!
Chapter 4
"Vvv--vertosen......... S-spa-'spike'os........."
Class was not going well for Lily that afternoon, as professor McGonagall deliberately asked her and Joyce to demonstrate turning a snail's smooth shell into rough spikes in front of all the first-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Joyce was pointing her wand straight at the slimy little creature that was swerving on her desk, while Lily was supposed to say the words. Yet nothing seemed to be happening.
Her mind was somewhere else.
It was wondering where her fluffy lime green slippers had gone to, and what James Potter had finally done to them.........and why he kept giving her this evil smirk whenever she glanced over to him.........
"Miss Evans, dear, are you alright?" McGonagall finally asked, noticing how the girl's words trembled like stage fright.
"Um," Lily's mind snapped back towards her professor, almost like she flinched. "I--I'm fine, professor.........I just can't ........." and her hesitant words just left her looking at the floor.
Joyce had held the wand for so long that the snail had swerved to the edge of their desk. She had to catch it quickly before it fell onto the hard stone floor, and only the students closest to them had laughed a little, except Margaret.
Though she wasn't the smartest student by far, both her roommates and McGonagall knew it wasn't in Lily's nature to fail so miserably. The girl looked around the room, at those who smiled teasingly, then back at her professor - who then seemed to tower over her small form.
Those brilliant green eyes that usually shone with determination had hid themselves from the world, as Lily narrowed them towards the floor in shame.
Why was it so difficult to forget a simple joke from Potter and Black? She thought to herself. Lupin, strangely, did not attend class that day, and Lily had hoped that seeing his face would make her feel better. Though he always sided with his friends, Remus Lupin was the only one in Potter's clan who wouldn't take part in teasing other people. Now and then, Lily wondered why that nice boy was even friends with them at all.
As Professor McGonagall attempted to quiet down her class from the random snickering, she looked straight at James and Sirius back in the last row – as if she had read Lily's mind.
"That is enough from you two," the professor spoke roughly at them. "You will remain in your seats after class."
Margaret sighed with relief after hearing the woman's stern voice – she could tell that McGonagall had suspected them of mischief ever since they'd entered the classroom, smiling.
"And that will be all, girls. Thank you."
Joyce sat down instantly, while Lily let her form sink back onto the bench. Her eyes remained unfocused, but a slight glow had returned to them again.
"Now, continuing the lesson........." McGonagall turned around towards her plat- formed desk, letting her emerald robes undulate professionally as she walked. "As you can see, Miss Evans revealed a very important point when it comes to delivering a spell."
The students were dipping quills and placing them over clean parchment, ready to take this important piece of information. Lily dropped hers after hearing her name, and quickly rummaged through her backpack for another.
"Regardless of the incantation, you must believe what you're saying in order to create the action. It takes concentration and precision; just relying on voice clarity does not make the spell work........."
This went on until the end of class, and by that time, McGonagall had described numerous consequences a distraction can have during a transfiguration spell. Being an Animagus, she even said that every transformation brings a new opportunity to injure herself badly.
"One misplaced bone, for example, could pierce my lung if I don't concentrate enough."
A small gulping sound came from a Ravenclaw girl in the second row, but nobody laughed. It seemed like everyone had believed that spells – as long as they were remembered correctly – could deliver a perfect result. But McGonagall clearly told them otherwise.
The bell rang then, and the students gathered their books and scrambled for the door.
"Please read Chapter 3: Camouflaging Techniques, for Wednesday," McGonagall bellowed after them, and made some students groan past the doorway, "and remember that your responses are due Friday – no exceptions!"
Joyce and Margaret were ready to leave by the time Lily searched under her seat for the dropped quill, very slowly. She wanted to hear what the Head of Gryffindor House would say to the two biggest troublemakers of the school.
Lily's bangs were slightly covering her sight as she gathered her things, but she could see the professor confronting the two boys as they remained in their seats. For some reason, Black and Potter did not look alarmed at all.
"Alright, boys. Whose hairbrush did you hex on today?" the woman asked them firmly, yet with an exhausted tone. Lily leaned her ear as she quietly picked up her quill.
"Us? We've done nothing wrong, professor." Sirius said right when James' mouth was going to open and say something else along that line. Black's long curly hair seemed to shadow his face in the way that a secret investigator would hide his badge, and he refused to reveal it to anyone.
Margaret rolled her eyes at the door, completely intimidated, and told McGonagall right then and there what had happened. Lily's eyes widened at each mention of her name, hearing her friend speak in the clearest voice imaginable.
Lily knew that Margaret was simply trying to help, but as the MuggleBorn heard those words echo alongside the walls, she could feel her stomach getting heavier by the second. It was like the mere retelling of the story (and the spotlight beaming at her again) was making Lily feel even more embarrassed.
"Potter didn't even give them back!" the proper brunette ended as a side- note, pointing to the boy with the round glasses straight at his face. Only Sirius could notice James trying hard not to crack up hysterically.
"So that is why Miss Evans was running without any shoes this morning........." McGonagall understood, and she turned to the little girl, who was fighting off a blush.
James was about to take his defense, but McGonagall's voice beat him that second time: "I'm afraid this is not the smartest way to be starting the year, Mr. Potter," then the woman began preaching to him about respecting other students' personal property.
The professor's cat-like hearing ability caught his friend Black muttering "God, we were just playing........." under his cloak, and she turned to his face immediately.
"I do not tolerate disrespect in my classroom," she stated with a firm grip.
"Professor," James began, casually, "I just wanted to examine them a bit – the slippers looked very odd to me – but I had every intention on giving them back."
His voice sounded as pure as sour milk, and Joyce gave a small sound of disgust. She was appalled by how James could imagine himself weaseling around punishments.
McGonagall shook her head.
"You both just lost ten points for Gryffindor," the woman held her stance, as she always did, "and you can add another day of detention to your original week's, Mr. Potter." At that, James did nothing but bite his lip.
Joyce smiled at hearing the punishment, knowing just how hard James Potter would be taking it throughout the next week – exactly when Quidditch trials were starting.
"You are all dismissed," professor McGonagall said, and Lily quickly carried her backpack to the door, avoiding any dirty looks from Potter and Black.
It was probably the only thing James Potter took seriously in his life, and he anticipated to practice endlessly that week in order to show his skills to the Gryffindor team. From what his parents had told him, the last time a First Year had made any Hogwarts Quidditch team was when Dumbledore's brother had been a student. Yet James was certain this year would be the record-breaking one.
Joyce maintained that grin, and held the snail gently with an open palm as the three girls strolled out of McGonagall's classroom into the outside corridors. She looked at Lily's shy, unsure face that seemed to be floating along with the breeze.
"Lily, could you bring the snail back to the Conservatory for me?" she asked. "I wanted to see my sister's practice out in the field right after Charms ended."
"Of course, Joyce." Lily smiled, but with a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, like she was remembering the last scenario. Joyce handed her the snail carefully onto the girl's palm.
"Don't let stupid Potter get to you like that," Joyce said with encouragement, as they walked out into the courtyard. She spotted the messy-haired boy strolling along the corridors with Black and Pettigrew (who was drenched in Potions parchment) as if he were already a Prefect. Joyce snarled. "He's just trying to annoy you, because......... well, you know."
"Yeah," the little dreamer's green eyes were gazing down at the snail, and she was mouthing something, like a quote or a phrase she that was swimming in her head.
"Lily, it's 'vertiosen Spikasoma'," Margaret recited promptly, but in a tone that helped her get a bad memory out of her mind. The tall brunette had her wand pointed out to the snail, and as she said the words, the shell had spiked itself immediately.
"I was so close!" Lily said as if worm-out, knowing she probably wouldn't have let it go until the end of the week. After a brief laugh, the girls sat themselves down on the grass, and Margaret finally gave in to Joyce's plea to french braid her scalp.
"It's going to be a challenge, trust me........." she said, and Joyce chuckled her high-pitched way as she started to brush the girl's silky black hair with her hand.
"You're lucky, you know. Without me, you'd probably be wearing pony-tails all the way through seventh year!" Margaret squealed in astonishment, but laughed all the same. Lily grinned her dimples out from that humorous truth Joyce had spilled.
"Want to be next, Lily?" the golden blonde then turned her head around, eyeing the girl's long, radiant red hair that was merely worn by a pink headband cloth.
"Um........ alright........." Lily gave in, and untied the cloth off her head for preparation, "but please, nothing too complicated – I shed so much the last time!"
Lily let the snail (with its new spiky shell) move around in the grass while they all continued to talk about class and annoying little boys. On the other side of the courtyard, her curious eyes spotted a familiar fair- skinned boy, who was reading nose-deep in the gray Defense Against the Dark Arts book. She grinned, almost shaking her head in disbelief.
Severus Snape (far from being considered annoying) did not seem to be joking when he told her it was his favorite subject, beyond the level of Potions and Alchemy. He had already read the book cover-to-cover by the end of that first week, and was now refreshing his mind over detailed, numerical information.
The boy moved his head towards his backpack to take out a quill, when the corner of his eye caught Lily seeing him. He waved a brief greeting to her.
She politely waved back, reminding herself to ask about that Beatles concert he had attended the next time she saw him.
"Are you mad!?" Joyce whispered, and accidentally pulled at Margaret's hair ("Ouch!") while she looked at Lily.
"What?" the girl asked curiously, yet mediocre.
"That's Snape, Lily........." her voice emphasized his name as if it were a rare bird species or something. "the other you-know-what I was telling you about. Don't look at him!"
Lily hated pretending like she didn't know anything about Snape, because she didn't want to admit that she'd already met the MuggleBorn – even before she met Joyce and Margaret. She felt it would just complicate things between her and her nice roommates, like she was ditching them and trying to interact with her own kind.
Perhaps, she thought, it was best to tell them at the end of the year, when they would all be much closer friends.
"He seems nice to me," Lily simply commented in a wondering tone.
"People may start to think you're comfortable around you-know-whats, Lily." Margaret pointed out, "and next they'll be saying you're a you-know-what yourself."
Lily sighed, knowing how her brunette friend could get carried away with such things. She would never stop talking to Snape (as it was something she promised herself), but for the sake of being teased by the Wisps, she thought it was best to keep her identity as secret as possible.
"Ugh, that boy creeps me out, I'm telling you." Joyce then commented about Snape. "Really, a tanning charm wouldn't hurt for him, and if he isn't reading, he's somewhere writing his own spells, I've heard.........always mouthing them to himself as if nobody's watching."
"Maybe he just wants the attention." Margaret implied as an afterthought, "he is a you-know-what, after all – no offense to you, Lily."
"That's alright," the little girl smiled at nothingness, still not believing this boy enjoyed the same music as she did. No matter what she thought about this other MuggleBorn, it all seemed to be okay, regardless of how strange her friends looked at him.
"Well I thought I was going to fall dead in History this morning." Margaret then brought up, as she went through some of her notes. "Poor Binns......... Who really needs to know about 'early peace treaties with giants' on the first year of school?"
Both Joyce and Lily nodded in agreement, just as a light breeze was sweeping through the courtyard and blew some Charms parchment a few feet away from them.
"Oh I'll get them," the redhead rose up to let her friends continue with the braiding party, and went out to gather the escaping parchment. She noticed a couple of nearby Hufflepuffs staring at her oddly, as she picked the papers up one by one with her hands. It seemed like that normal gesture seemed out of place, as if she were supposed to grab them with her feet instead.
A little help would have been nice, Lily thought to herself, as she finished piling up the loose papers and went back to her friends. She was staring ahead, past Margaret's flinches from Joyce's hair-pulling, when she gasped.
The Wisps – led by that dreadful fourth-year, Lucius Malfoy - had been standing behind the gate's shadows to the courtyard, like a group of vultures waiting for a wounded prey. It was an understatement to say that Lily felt quite uncomfortable around them, since their eyes always seemed to be glaring at her.
"I-- think I'll take this little lad back into the Conservatory – he seems lonely," Lily excused as she quickly set the escaped parchment back under Margaret's own book, and then carefully picked up the snail and her backpack. "I'll meet you both in class, okay? You can braid my hair tonight, Joyce."
"Okay," Joyce raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what was up, but intended not to say anything further.
Lily walked out of the courtyard (side-glancing at Snape for a second) and into the shaded corridors, away from the deadly eyes that came from the Wisps. She turned to the right as she past the gate that was blanketed with vines, and found a line of octagon-shaped stepping stones. The stones were filed out of the courtyard and led to the open gardens.
One-by-one, she stepped on each individual stone, until she reached the forty-second stone and placed both feet perfectly over it. As she carefully held the snail in her hand, she said the password.
"Cornish Pixies," she recited, looking onto the little snail's spiky shell.
Suddenly, the stone began to descend vertically into the underground, and Lily held her breath immediately. Once the stone had floated down to about ten feet, the girl found herself in an underground entranceway of solid rock and marble. Only a few torches gave a warm yellowish glow to the room, and there was nothing else in front of her except a wooden door, that she merely opened with her hand.
The Creature Conservatory was the first place Lily came to adore at Hogwarts, as she naturally loved being around animals from the Muggle world. It was like an enormous wildlife petting zoo, but without cages or walls so as to let the creatures interact with each other. This was where Hagrid, the Gamekeeper, took care of the animals used between each class during the school year, and they ranged from small butterflies to swift spider moneys and even a baby elephant! It was a wonder how all theses creatures got along.
The entire Conservatory was built below the Hogwarts courtyard, as McGonagall had told them, and like the ceiling of the Great Hall, the courtyard's ground seemed to be enchanted. Every day, the sunlight would filter through the grass and cement to shine on the giant tree roots and vines that descended into the abyss – creating an underground paradise.
Lily could even see Joyce and Margaret sitting on the grass above her, though a bit unclear from the layer of grass roots and soil between them. The girls were still braiding each other's hair, and though she couldn't hear what they were saying, Lily examined Margaret's facial expressions, and concluded it was probably about Potter and Black, again.
There was even a small fountain built in the center of the place, with tiny multicolored fish jumping in and out of the water like a synchronized swim team. Lily sat herself on the edge of the fountain to feel the water spray against her dry face, and looked at the little fish playing inside the pool.
Only a handful of students were noticing the peaceful environment within the Conservatory, as Lily saw a pair of Hufflepuff girls reading their Astronomy books next to a napping she-wolf that cuddled around them (occasionally, one of the girls would scratch the wolf's ear it keep her from snoring so loudly). An older boy from Gryffindor was sketching a beautiful picture of a macaw that was perched on a high tree root. As Lily noted, there weren't any other first years that seemed to appreciate the Conservatory as often as she did - though she swore she had seen Peter Pettigrew chasing some mice by himself one Friday morning.
She heard Hagrid talking to the elderly professor Genspy (whom she knew was the Care of Magical Creatures teacher) as they both sat on a giant tree root in one corner of the place.
Lily returned to watching the fish swim in the fountain pool, trying to catch what Hagrid and Genspy were talking about. The little redhead always enjoyed listening in their conversations: last Thursday, they were predicting the hopefuls for the October Dragon Derby up at Inverness, Scotland.
"Ye hafter give credit to Greenland an' their pedigrees – but speed comes straight from the Easterners – I hear the Chinese are breedin' them Fireballs like mad there........."
Today, it was something slightly boring about Magical Creature Welfare Acts, but nevertheless, these subjects seemed to expand Lily's presumed size of this Magical World. Her father was a big horseracing fan, she remembered then; perhaps telling him about dragon races would help him lose the awkwardness of having a daughter as a witch.
As the small ripples in the fountain water slowly calmed, Lily noticed a certain familiar face reflecting on the surface, right next to her own. The girl's eyelids suddenly rose.
"Lupin?"
Chapter 4
"Vvv--vertosen......... S-spa-'spike'os........."
Class was not going well for Lily that afternoon, as professor McGonagall deliberately asked her and Joyce to demonstrate turning a snail's smooth shell into rough spikes in front of all the first-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Joyce was pointing her wand straight at the slimy little creature that was swerving on her desk, while Lily was supposed to say the words. Yet nothing seemed to be happening.
Her mind was somewhere else.
It was wondering where her fluffy lime green slippers had gone to, and what James Potter had finally done to them.........and why he kept giving her this evil smirk whenever she glanced over to him.........
"Miss Evans, dear, are you alright?" McGonagall finally asked, noticing how the girl's words trembled like stage fright.
"Um," Lily's mind snapped back towards her professor, almost like she flinched. "I--I'm fine, professor.........I just can't ........." and her hesitant words just left her looking at the floor.
Joyce had held the wand for so long that the snail had swerved to the edge of their desk. She had to catch it quickly before it fell onto the hard stone floor, and only the students closest to them had laughed a little, except Margaret.
Though she wasn't the smartest student by far, both her roommates and McGonagall knew it wasn't in Lily's nature to fail so miserably. The girl looked around the room, at those who smiled teasingly, then back at her professor - who then seemed to tower over her small form.
Those brilliant green eyes that usually shone with determination had hid themselves from the world, as Lily narrowed them towards the floor in shame.
Why was it so difficult to forget a simple joke from Potter and Black? She thought to herself. Lupin, strangely, did not attend class that day, and Lily had hoped that seeing his face would make her feel better. Though he always sided with his friends, Remus Lupin was the only one in Potter's clan who wouldn't take part in teasing other people. Now and then, Lily wondered why that nice boy was even friends with them at all.
As Professor McGonagall attempted to quiet down her class from the random snickering, she looked straight at James and Sirius back in the last row – as if she had read Lily's mind.
"That is enough from you two," the professor spoke roughly at them. "You will remain in your seats after class."
Margaret sighed with relief after hearing the woman's stern voice – she could tell that McGonagall had suspected them of mischief ever since they'd entered the classroom, smiling.
"And that will be all, girls. Thank you."
Joyce sat down instantly, while Lily let her form sink back onto the bench. Her eyes remained unfocused, but a slight glow had returned to them again.
"Now, continuing the lesson........." McGonagall turned around towards her plat- formed desk, letting her emerald robes undulate professionally as she walked. "As you can see, Miss Evans revealed a very important point when it comes to delivering a spell."
The students were dipping quills and placing them over clean parchment, ready to take this important piece of information. Lily dropped hers after hearing her name, and quickly rummaged through her backpack for another.
"Regardless of the incantation, you must believe what you're saying in order to create the action. It takes concentration and precision; just relying on voice clarity does not make the spell work........."
This went on until the end of class, and by that time, McGonagall had described numerous consequences a distraction can have during a transfiguration spell. Being an Animagus, she even said that every transformation brings a new opportunity to injure herself badly.
"One misplaced bone, for example, could pierce my lung if I don't concentrate enough."
A small gulping sound came from a Ravenclaw girl in the second row, but nobody laughed. It seemed like everyone had believed that spells – as long as they were remembered correctly – could deliver a perfect result. But McGonagall clearly told them otherwise.
The bell rang then, and the students gathered their books and scrambled for the door.
"Please read Chapter 3: Camouflaging Techniques, for Wednesday," McGonagall bellowed after them, and made some students groan past the doorway, "and remember that your responses are due Friday – no exceptions!"
Joyce and Margaret were ready to leave by the time Lily searched under her seat for the dropped quill, very slowly. She wanted to hear what the Head of Gryffindor House would say to the two biggest troublemakers of the school.
Lily's bangs were slightly covering her sight as she gathered her things, but she could see the professor confronting the two boys as they remained in their seats. For some reason, Black and Potter did not look alarmed at all.
"Alright, boys. Whose hairbrush did you hex on today?" the woman asked them firmly, yet with an exhausted tone. Lily leaned her ear as she quietly picked up her quill.
"Us? We've done nothing wrong, professor." Sirius said right when James' mouth was going to open and say something else along that line. Black's long curly hair seemed to shadow his face in the way that a secret investigator would hide his badge, and he refused to reveal it to anyone.
Margaret rolled her eyes at the door, completely intimidated, and told McGonagall right then and there what had happened. Lily's eyes widened at each mention of her name, hearing her friend speak in the clearest voice imaginable.
Lily knew that Margaret was simply trying to help, but as the MuggleBorn heard those words echo alongside the walls, she could feel her stomach getting heavier by the second. It was like the mere retelling of the story (and the spotlight beaming at her again) was making Lily feel even more embarrassed.
"Potter didn't even give them back!" the proper brunette ended as a side- note, pointing to the boy with the round glasses straight at his face. Only Sirius could notice James trying hard not to crack up hysterically.
"So that is why Miss Evans was running without any shoes this morning........." McGonagall understood, and she turned to the little girl, who was fighting off a blush.
James was about to take his defense, but McGonagall's voice beat him that second time: "I'm afraid this is not the smartest way to be starting the year, Mr. Potter," then the woman began preaching to him about respecting other students' personal property.
The professor's cat-like hearing ability caught his friend Black muttering "God, we were just playing........." under his cloak, and she turned to his face immediately.
"I do not tolerate disrespect in my classroom," she stated with a firm grip.
"Professor," James began, casually, "I just wanted to examine them a bit – the slippers looked very odd to me – but I had every intention on giving them back."
His voice sounded as pure as sour milk, and Joyce gave a small sound of disgust. She was appalled by how James could imagine himself weaseling around punishments.
McGonagall shook her head.
"You both just lost ten points for Gryffindor," the woman held her stance, as she always did, "and you can add another day of detention to your original week's, Mr. Potter." At that, James did nothing but bite his lip.
Joyce smiled at hearing the punishment, knowing just how hard James Potter would be taking it throughout the next week – exactly when Quidditch trials were starting.
"You are all dismissed," professor McGonagall said, and Lily quickly carried her backpack to the door, avoiding any dirty looks from Potter and Black.
It was probably the only thing James Potter took seriously in his life, and he anticipated to practice endlessly that week in order to show his skills to the Gryffindor team. From what his parents had told him, the last time a First Year had made any Hogwarts Quidditch team was when Dumbledore's brother had been a student. Yet James was certain this year would be the record-breaking one.
Joyce maintained that grin, and held the snail gently with an open palm as the three girls strolled out of McGonagall's classroom into the outside corridors. She looked at Lily's shy, unsure face that seemed to be floating along with the breeze.
"Lily, could you bring the snail back to the Conservatory for me?" she asked. "I wanted to see my sister's practice out in the field right after Charms ended."
"Of course, Joyce." Lily smiled, but with a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, like she was remembering the last scenario. Joyce handed her the snail carefully onto the girl's palm.
"Don't let stupid Potter get to you like that," Joyce said with encouragement, as they walked out into the courtyard. She spotted the messy-haired boy strolling along the corridors with Black and Pettigrew (who was drenched in Potions parchment) as if he were already a Prefect. Joyce snarled. "He's just trying to annoy you, because......... well, you know."
"Yeah," the little dreamer's green eyes were gazing down at the snail, and she was mouthing something, like a quote or a phrase she that was swimming in her head.
"Lily, it's 'vertiosen Spikasoma'," Margaret recited promptly, but in a tone that helped her get a bad memory out of her mind. The tall brunette had her wand pointed out to the snail, and as she said the words, the shell had spiked itself immediately.
"I was so close!" Lily said as if worm-out, knowing she probably wouldn't have let it go until the end of the week. After a brief laugh, the girls sat themselves down on the grass, and Margaret finally gave in to Joyce's plea to french braid her scalp.
"It's going to be a challenge, trust me........." she said, and Joyce chuckled her high-pitched way as she started to brush the girl's silky black hair with her hand.
"You're lucky, you know. Without me, you'd probably be wearing pony-tails all the way through seventh year!" Margaret squealed in astonishment, but laughed all the same. Lily grinned her dimples out from that humorous truth Joyce had spilled.
"Want to be next, Lily?" the golden blonde then turned her head around, eyeing the girl's long, radiant red hair that was merely worn by a pink headband cloth.
"Um........ alright........." Lily gave in, and untied the cloth off her head for preparation, "but please, nothing too complicated – I shed so much the last time!"
Lily let the snail (with its new spiky shell) move around in the grass while they all continued to talk about class and annoying little boys. On the other side of the courtyard, her curious eyes spotted a familiar fair- skinned boy, who was reading nose-deep in the gray Defense Against the Dark Arts book. She grinned, almost shaking her head in disbelief.
Severus Snape (far from being considered annoying) did not seem to be joking when he told her it was his favorite subject, beyond the level of Potions and Alchemy. He had already read the book cover-to-cover by the end of that first week, and was now refreshing his mind over detailed, numerical information.
The boy moved his head towards his backpack to take out a quill, when the corner of his eye caught Lily seeing him. He waved a brief greeting to her.
She politely waved back, reminding herself to ask about that Beatles concert he had attended the next time she saw him.
"Are you mad!?" Joyce whispered, and accidentally pulled at Margaret's hair ("Ouch!") while she looked at Lily.
"What?" the girl asked curiously, yet mediocre.
"That's Snape, Lily........." her voice emphasized his name as if it were a rare bird species or something. "the other you-know-what I was telling you about. Don't look at him!"
Lily hated pretending like she didn't know anything about Snape, because she didn't want to admit that she'd already met the MuggleBorn – even before she met Joyce and Margaret. She felt it would just complicate things between her and her nice roommates, like she was ditching them and trying to interact with her own kind.
Perhaps, she thought, it was best to tell them at the end of the year, when they would all be much closer friends.
"He seems nice to me," Lily simply commented in a wondering tone.
"People may start to think you're comfortable around you-know-whats, Lily." Margaret pointed out, "and next they'll be saying you're a you-know-what yourself."
Lily sighed, knowing how her brunette friend could get carried away with such things. She would never stop talking to Snape (as it was something she promised herself), but for the sake of being teased by the Wisps, she thought it was best to keep her identity as secret as possible.
"Ugh, that boy creeps me out, I'm telling you." Joyce then commented about Snape. "Really, a tanning charm wouldn't hurt for him, and if he isn't reading, he's somewhere writing his own spells, I've heard.........always mouthing them to himself as if nobody's watching."
"Maybe he just wants the attention." Margaret implied as an afterthought, "he is a you-know-what, after all – no offense to you, Lily."
"That's alright," the little girl smiled at nothingness, still not believing this boy enjoyed the same music as she did. No matter what she thought about this other MuggleBorn, it all seemed to be okay, regardless of how strange her friends looked at him.
"Well I thought I was going to fall dead in History this morning." Margaret then brought up, as she went through some of her notes. "Poor Binns......... Who really needs to know about 'early peace treaties with giants' on the first year of school?"
Both Joyce and Lily nodded in agreement, just as a light breeze was sweeping through the courtyard and blew some Charms parchment a few feet away from them.
"Oh I'll get them," the redhead rose up to let her friends continue with the braiding party, and went out to gather the escaping parchment. She noticed a couple of nearby Hufflepuffs staring at her oddly, as she picked the papers up one by one with her hands. It seemed like that normal gesture seemed out of place, as if she were supposed to grab them with her feet instead.
A little help would have been nice, Lily thought to herself, as she finished piling up the loose papers and went back to her friends. She was staring ahead, past Margaret's flinches from Joyce's hair-pulling, when she gasped.
The Wisps – led by that dreadful fourth-year, Lucius Malfoy - had been standing behind the gate's shadows to the courtyard, like a group of vultures waiting for a wounded prey. It was an understatement to say that Lily felt quite uncomfortable around them, since their eyes always seemed to be glaring at her.
"I-- think I'll take this little lad back into the Conservatory – he seems lonely," Lily excused as she quickly set the escaped parchment back under Margaret's own book, and then carefully picked up the snail and her backpack. "I'll meet you both in class, okay? You can braid my hair tonight, Joyce."
"Okay," Joyce raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what was up, but intended not to say anything further.
Lily walked out of the courtyard (side-glancing at Snape for a second) and into the shaded corridors, away from the deadly eyes that came from the Wisps. She turned to the right as she past the gate that was blanketed with vines, and found a line of octagon-shaped stepping stones. The stones were filed out of the courtyard and led to the open gardens.
One-by-one, she stepped on each individual stone, until she reached the forty-second stone and placed both feet perfectly over it. As she carefully held the snail in her hand, she said the password.
"Cornish Pixies," she recited, looking onto the little snail's spiky shell.
Suddenly, the stone began to descend vertically into the underground, and Lily held her breath immediately. Once the stone had floated down to about ten feet, the girl found herself in an underground entranceway of solid rock and marble. Only a few torches gave a warm yellowish glow to the room, and there was nothing else in front of her except a wooden door, that she merely opened with her hand.
The Creature Conservatory was the first place Lily came to adore at Hogwarts, as she naturally loved being around animals from the Muggle world. It was like an enormous wildlife petting zoo, but without cages or walls so as to let the creatures interact with each other. This was where Hagrid, the Gamekeeper, took care of the animals used between each class during the school year, and they ranged from small butterflies to swift spider moneys and even a baby elephant! It was a wonder how all theses creatures got along.
The entire Conservatory was built below the Hogwarts courtyard, as McGonagall had told them, and like the ceiling of the Great Hall, the courtyard's ground seemed to be enchanted. Every day, the sunlight would filter through the grass and cement to shine on the giant tree roots and vines that descended into the abyss – creating an underground paradise.
Lily could even see Joyce and Margaret sitting on the grass above her, though a bit unclear from the layer of grass roots and soil between them. The girls were still braiding each other's hair, and though she couldn't hear what they were saying, Lily examined Margaret's facial expressions, and concluded it was probably about Potter and Black, again.
There was even a small fountain built in the center of the place, with tiny multicolored fish jumping in and out of the water like a synchronized swim team. Lily sat herself on the edge of the fountain to feel the water spray against her dry face, and looked at the little fish playing inside the pool.
Only a handful of students were noticing the peaceful environment within the Conservatory, as Lily saw a pair of Hufflepuff girls reading their Astronomy books next to a napping she-wolf that cuddled around them (occasionally, one of the girls would scratch the wolf's ear it keep her from snoring so loudly). An older boy from Gryffindor was sketching a beautiful picture of a macaw that was perched on a high tree root. As Lily noted, there weren't any other first years that seemed to appreciate the Conservatory as often as she did - though she swore she had seen Peter Pettigrew chasing some mice by himself one Friday morning.
She heard Hagrid talking to the elderly professor Genspy (whom she knew was the Care of Magical Creatures teacher) as they both sat on a giant tree root in one corner of the place.
Lily returned to watching the fish swim in the fountain pool, trying to catch what Hagrid and Genspy were talking about. The little redhead always enjoyed listening in their conversations: last Thursday, they were predicting the hopefuls for the October Dragon Derby up at Inverness, Scotland.
"Ye hafter give credit to Greenland an' their pedigrees – but speed comes straight from the Easterners – I hear the Chinese are breedin' them Fireballs like mad there........."
Today, it was something slightly boring about Magical Creature Welfare Acts, but nevertheless, these subjects seemed to expand Lily's presumed size of this Magical World. Her father was a big horseracing fan, she remembered then; perhaps telling him about dragon races would help him lose the awkwardness of having a daughter as a witch.
As the small ripples in the fountain water slowly calmed, Lily noticed a certain familiar face reflecting on the surface, right next to her own. The girl's eyelids suddenly rose.
"Lupin?"