Chapter 16: Love & Quidditch

The day of our first Quidditch practice had arrived. Since it was only two days after the bird incident I hadn't expected anything out of Lily yet. She would act in retaliation to the decoy letter soon enough. I hadn't told anyone about the bird either, it was between my sister and me.

The weather was bright and clear, perfect for Quidditch. I shouldered my broom and walked out onto the field excited to be flying again. I noticed that Spencer avoided Colby as much as possible. He also seemed to like to keep me away from Colby. I wondered why, but I also made a point to talk to Colby more. Just to bug Spencer.

Celeste was watching Colby closely, trying to figure out what he thought of different girls. He eyed her anxiously. I guess she made him nervous or something. I know if she kept watching me like that, I'd be nervous. Lauran cruised around the pitch just excited to be flying again. I joined her and we raced from one end of the pitch to the other.

"Okay everyone, circle up!" Colby called enthusiastically, "Here's what we'll do. Watkins, Smatters, and I will try to score on Wood over in that goal post. Weasley and Weasley will try to hit us with the Bludgers. Potter, you're going for the snitch, and give it a minute's head start, will you? Ready, get in places now, on my whistle"- TWEET "GO!"

I let the snitch go, waited for a few minutes and then soared off to look for it. It wasn't long before I spotted it hovering inches behind Spencer. I dived straight for it. He looked up to see me barreling towards him. His face probably wore the most shocked expression I had seen in my life. I would pay to see it again. He had little time to react how he deemed necessary and dove sharply out of my reach. I saw the snitch go fluttering off in another direction and chased it relentlessly. Colby watched me speed around the goalpost without slowing down a bit. I reached out and nabbed the snitch before I finally stopped moving. Colby looked to his watch.

"Mother of… You took three minutes to track that down Potter. Two of which you didn't move anywhere. That's got to be some kind of record." Colby said breathlessly.

Laughing I turned to see Spencer still looked shocked, "Your face was priceless Spencer. You thought I was after you, didn't you?" I released the snitch still laughing.

"Yeah, what else was I supposed to think? You came shooting at me out of the sky at record speed. I thought you were aiming to knock me off my broom!"

I rose back up to circling height and watched them play for a while. I soon got tired of that and soared around to look for the snitch. I spotted it in thirty seconds twittering around down near the stands. I shot off to get it.

"Potter, you've got your job down," Colby informed me as I sat with the rest of the team in the team's room. "I scheduled practice for Thursday nights at six o'clock. Everyone has to show up. Potter, can I talk to you for a second?" Colby asked as I got up to leave with the others.

"Sure," I said waving goodbye to the other team members, "What about?"

"Well I wanted to know how you got to be so good at Seeker. It's the hardest position for most teams to fill well. You could make a fortune playing after you left school." Colby informed me.

"I dunno, practicing with Celeste and Lauran I guess. And my dad started teaching me before I could talk in complete sentences." I knew this wasn't what he really wanted to ask me, but I figured I'd just wait and see where this was going.

"It must be great to have a dad who teaches you things like that. My dad works all the time and never taught me anything about flying. I think that's why I love it so much. It had nothing to do with him." Colby sounded slightly nervous now.

I grinned at him slyly, "What did you really want to ask me?" We were nearly inside the castle now.

"How did you know that wasn't what I wanted to ask?" He turned slightly pink. "Oh, never mind. I wanted to ask what Celeste Weasley thought of me. She's unique isn't she?"

"Erm, yeah she's one of a kind. Er, but I don't know what she thinks of you, exactly." I figured this had been coming but wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh, okay then. Would you find out for me, please? Erm, I would like to know. Thanks!" Colby walked off without waiting for an answer.

"Hey Seaworth!" I called after Colby. But he was long gone. "Sure I'll ask her." I muttered to myself and set off to go finish any remnants of homework I had left.

Chapter 17: Boating on the Lake

It was finally Halloween and I was ready for the feast that night. But the feast was hours away and I had potions to get to. Hurray, my favorite subject. When I got to the dungeons I heard my sister talking loudly about something. I ignored her until I heard something that made my heart stop.

"Dad is after Moresby. It's not like he'll ever catch Moresby though. Moresby is safe in his hiding place. He's awaiting orders from the head. I'm not sure how long it will be before Dad figures out the truth…" Lily trailed off aware that I was now there.

"Moresby brought down by your father and his two weakling buddies, that's a laugh!" Logan Malfoy was crying, he was laughing so hard.

My eyes met Lily's and she sneered at me. But I also sensed a slight flicker of fear in her eye. When I looked closer it was gone.

"Riley, I assume you've heard about Father's chasing Moresby by now. It's all over the papers." Lily tossed a Daily Prophet at me just as the dungeon door opened.

After sitting in the back of the dungeon I skimmed the front page of the paper. The main story read as follows:

POTTER CHASES MORESBY

The Daily Prophet has just received word that Harry Potter, the esteemed Auror, is after no less than the suspected death eater ring-leader Moresby. Mrs. Olivia Potter was unavailable for comment at the time due to a garden show she was attending. Potter's daughters currently attend Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry as first year students. Head of Wizard security, Percy Weasley, said, "The girls are perfectly safe where they are. I wish Harry were just as safe."

The article continued but I didn't feel like reading it at the moment. Passing the paper to Spencer I readied myself for a long potions class. I didn't need to sit through a long potions class though because fairly soon Professor Delacour stuck her head in the door looking for me.

"Professor, I need the Potter girls for awhile. If you'd kindly let them come with me…" My heart sunk realizing she wanted Lily too. This was not going to be pretty.

"Your mother needs to speak with you both. She is in my office. The head master thought this was an easier issue for me to handle. He just doesn't like to get involved with the students. Go right on in, please." Professor Delacour halted in front of a door and motioned for us to go inside. Lily opened the door, slamming me in the face in the process.

"Sorry," She said with a sweet little smile. I realized she was going to be all sweet in front of mother. I had better be careful or I could find myself in a difficult situation to get out of.

"Oh, Lily, I've missed you so much!" my mother called out as Lily entered the room. Mother pulled her into a giant hug and kissed her on top of her head. Lily pecked her on the cheek. I mimed vomiting. "Riley, you haven't been in any trouble lately?" Mother raised her eyebrows at me. I am happy to report I received no hug. In fact, mother didn't look too happy to see me.

Mother's question was rhetorical because she went on talking to Lily about how much she missed having her 'sweet ickle girl' around. I found I was ready to barf.

"Okay, honey, I don't know if you've heard. Daddy is out on another case. I wanted you to hear this from me and not some twisted version of school gossip. He is perfectly fine and will remain so. There is nothing to worry about. He is, er, just doing his routine job. You are in no danger. Percy wanted me to tell you all that 'the safest place for you right now is Hogwarts'. Your father was never directly attacked at Hogwarts. It is perfectly safe. Moresby can't get to you. Daddy says to tell you he loves you, Lily." From mother's speech you wouldn't be able to know that Olivia and Harry Potter had two kids. Heck, it was if I didn't exist.

I went along with whatever Mother said later. I knew the routine, nod a lot. I didn't listen to a word she said about my staying out of trouble. I kept playing one sentence over and over in my head. 'Daddy says to tell you he loves you, Lily.' It was obvious to anyone I wasn't my parent's favorite child, but that my own father didn't love me, that was harsh.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I left the room. I ran out of the room and got as far away from Lily as possible. If I saw her I'd probably strangle her with my bare hands. I ran without knowing where to go. Soon I found myself at the entrance to the North tower, the tallest one Hogwarts has. I opened the door and ran up the stairs two at a time.

"Riley, how'd you know we were up here?" Spencer asked me quietly. We were in Astronomy which was today on the North Tower. I had had no idea as I ran up those stairs.

"I didn't," I whispered harshly back. I was in a temper and didn't want to be bothered. I pretended to be utterly interested in what the Professor was saying and ignored all further attempts at any kind of conversation.

"Come on. We'll go do something fun!" I said to Spencer, Celeste and Lauran after lunch was over. Afternoon classes had been canceled since it was Halloween.

"Like what? I don't feel like flying and you seem pretty eager to get out of the castle." Spencer shot at me.

"Yeah, well I thought we'd go boating on the lake." I was eager to get out of the castle. Mother had hurt me and I only knew one way to get back at her, make trouble. If my parents had loved me as much as they loved Lily I never would have made any trouble. I would have been content to do what they wanted me to, but they didn't love me as much as Lily, or, apparently, at all.

"Boating?" Celeste asked, grinning. "Are you and I thinking the same thing then? Those boats from the first night here have to be somewhere."

"Exactly, we'll 'borrow' them and go for a little spin. What do you say guys?" I grinned from ear to ear. I was back in my element, making mischief.

"Erm, Sure, I guess so," Spencer said indecisively.

"Duh" was all Lauran said.

So off we went to look for the boats. Okay, I did no looking. I knew exactly where to go. The funny thing was I had been terrified that first night, yet I still remembered where to go. With a quick look up the hall for teachers I opened the door to the underground docking place. The boats were still sitting in their places.

"Okay, I want my own boat. You three decide what you want to do, quickly. I don't like the way that door squeaked, or the way this cavern echoes." I whispered urgently.

"Wait, you can't row that thing by yourself." Lauran pointed out, "Those oars weigh a ton."

"I know I can't lift one. But I can magic it into rowing me. I've already got the hang of that. I had plenty of practice while spooking Lily out last summer. Now hurry up!"

We each got in separate boats and I started rowing towards the ivy hanging over the cave entrance. We got closer to the ivy and I ducked down to avoid getting hit in the face by it. Soon I was cruising along open lake.

"Race you to the other side of the lake!" I yelled to Spencer. "There's no way you can beat me!"

I didn't wait for an answer before making the boat row its self faster. I didn't make it go as fast as possible because I wanted to surprise Spencer just when he thought he could win. He went speeding past me and was almost to the other side of the lake when I gunned my boat and passed him up like he was standing still. No sooner had I beaten him than…

"Miss Potter, Mr. Woods, Miss Weasley, and Miss Weasley what do you four think you are doing!" A voice screamed at us from the inside of the cave opening. A lone boat came slowly under the ivy and the figure inside sat up so we could see who it was. It was Professor Delacour. We were busted.

"I am not sure what you thought you were doing, but you know better than to do that, a week worth of detention for you all. Now hurry up and get to the feast before I change my mind and punish you harder!" We were in Professor Delacour's office and she had just finished yelling at us.

"Riley, I want to talk with you for a minute, don't go anywhere." She added as I started out the door. I sat back down.

She looked tired and upset. I was wondering if she wanted to talk about the scene between my mother, sister, and I that afternoon. It was going to be an interesting conversation.

"You promised your mother this afternoon that you wouldn't get in trouble. Why did you break your word? Was it because she never told you your father said he loved you? Was it because she's hurt you more than she could ever know? Riley, I know what it's like to think that your parents don't love you, but I'm sure they do." Professor Delacour looked at me with her eyebrows raised.

"You don't know my parents." I responded quietly.

"Oh, contraire I do know your parents. They are good friends of mine, actually. I know how much they complain about you getting into trouble. They tease about how they were so glad to send you off to Hogwarts. At the train they looked relieved to see you going because they were afraid you never would have gone." Professor Delacour said smiling at me.

"They don't love me as much as Lily. Dad was mad at me for being in Slytherin when Lily lied to him and said I was. When he found out that she was in Slytherin he didn't care. I don't matter to them and would like to keep it that way. They only pay attention to me when I'm in trouble. Neither Mum nor Dad cared that I am the top of our year or that the Prophesy could be happening right under their noses. My family is dysfunctional and I intend to leave it alone. My sister is my greatest enemy and my parents don't care that Lily could destroy the world if she wanted to. I feel more at home here than I ever could at home. Now, if you don't mind Professor, I am going to go eat. Please don't send my mother an owl; I don't want to bother her with my juvenile delinquency right now. Oh, and I think I just realized why my father is gone most of the time. He can't stand having his only family being as dysfunctional as ours is. Happy Halloween" I strode out the door without looking back.

I went to the feast and hardly ate anything. I said less than I ate and was one of the first up to bed. That didn't mean I was the first asleep. In fact, I wandered around the school with my invisibility cloak on until nearly dawn and then went to bed, only to be roused suddenly two hours later.

Chapter 18: Detention

You will serve your detentions starting tonight at 7 o'clock. Come to the Entrance Hall at that time.

Fleur Delacour

Deputy Headmistress

Head of Gryffindor House

"Oh, you too?" Spencer asked eying the paper in my hand, "Are your detentions in the Entrance Hall at 7 o'clock?"

"Yeah, that when yours are?" I asked tiredly. Celeste had woken me up at 8 o'clock for a special Quidditch practice. I had gotten two hours of sleep and was ready to fall asleep in the waffle stack in front of me.

"Yeah, Celeste's and Lauran's are starting tonight too. You look a little tired. Are you okay? You didn't eat anything this morning and hardly anything last night." Spencer sounded worried.

"Huh, oh, right, it's breakfast. Sorry I'm a little out of it. I only got two hours of sleep. And tonight I'll only get a couple because of detention. Thankfully Colby didn't plan any Quidditch practice today." I said forgetting once again about eating. It didn't matter since I didn't think I could lift the food to my face.

"Oh, Riley," called the fake sweet voice of Lily. "Riley, I do hope that mother only forgot to say Dad says he loves you. I'm sure he really does, not." Lily laughed evilly.

"That's it." I snarled, pulling my wand out of my robes. "She's getting it this time. I'll kill that little…" Spencer had pinned me to the bench but I kicked him, hard in the shin.

A pure look of terror clouded Lily's face as she saw how mad I was, but she quickly recovered. Lily started laughing once she realized she had found a raw nerve. But I stopped with my wand raised when her evil looking bird flew in with something that looked exactly like mother's cookies. Instead of cursing her like I sorely wanted to I found myself nearly crying. I turned and stomped out of the Great Hall, my friends running to catch up with me.

I didn't stop walking until I had reached the Owlry. Looking up I saw Zandra high in the rafters. My heart sank as she flew down to me immediately. That meant mother hadn't made me cookies. She really didn't care about me. I absently stroked Zandra and sat looking out the window. A minute later my friends ran in trying to catch their breath.

"Can you walk any faster?" Celeste said angrily. "What was that about? What'd she say that made you lose it like that in front of all those teachers? You're lucky you didn't do anything to her or you would have been expelled!"

I didn't say anything. I just looked out the window. I had never cried because of the mean things Lily and my parents had said about me and I wasn't about to now. All the anger towards them was still pent up inside of me like it had been my entire life. I needed to find some kind of vent or I'd explode. I was afraid to open my mouth in case it all tumbled out. I didn't want my friends to get dragged into my dysfunctional family's problems.

Spencer sat down beside me. He sighed and said, "It isn't good to keep that bottled up for too long. You're going to explode if you're not careful. And I'd hate to be the person to make you mad so you did." He looked at me carefully. "Is this about what I think it's about?" he asked finally.

"If you think it's about my dysfunctional family, then yes. I'm ready for detention. Can we go now?" I asked, fishing for another subject, anything really. But it was no use.

"You've got to do something about that anger, Riley. Let's go out for a quick fly. That always makes you feel better." Celeste suggested. She looked worried.

"Fine, I'll go flying with you. But I'm not saying I'm going to have any fun. You just want to impress Colby." I teased.

"Er, well, I guess if he is impressed then it won't be a bad thing," But she turned scarlet anyways.

So we went for a fly. It was a long fly and we didn't go back inside until dinner. Then it was off to detention. I wondered what we would have to do.

"Once my dad had to do lines," I said.

"That's not so bad," Lauran replied.

"It is when you're writing them in your own blood." I informed her, "It was under that Umbridge lady. He's still got the scars permanently engraved on the back of his hand."

"That's lovely." Lauran said looking completely disturbed and holding her right hand as if to not let anyone cut it.

"Ah, now everyone is here," The old creaky voice of the caretaker, Angus Filthweiler made my hair stand on end.

"Might I ask what we're doing for detention?" a blond Hufflepuff third year asked. I had seen her but didn't know her name.

"You might, but I'm not going to tell you. Ask the person in charge of your detentions, Professor Dippot. I'm only taking you to him." Angus Filthweiler replied.

"Oh, that's not good." I muttered to myself.

We left the Entrance Hall and walked towards the Forbidden Forest. I thought I may know where we were going. I hoped I was wrong.

"Here's Professor Dippot, enjoy your journey into the Forbidden Forest!" And Filthweiler laughed an evil laugh.

"Oh, crap! We're going into the Forbidden Forest. With Professor Dippot, that can't be safe. He's not the brightest crayon in the box, is he?" I hissed at Celeste.

"Uh, no, he's definitely not. You remember when he…" Celeste trailed off.

"Come on students. You are I trouble, but this is perfectly safe. We wouldn't put you in any harm. Follow me, and stay close behind."

"Oh, like I'd wander off into the forest alone," said the blond irreverently. I snorted with laughter and she grinned at me.

Professor Dippot pretended not to hear her and strode quickly off into the forest. We could do nothing but follow him, wondering exactly what we were going to do.

"So, you're Riley Potter, right?" I looked to see the blond third year walking beside me.

"Yeah, you're point being? I got in trouble, not surprising for me. Now I'm walking through the woods, doing God knows what, and talking to someone I don't know. Who are you?" I shot right back.

"Olivia Johnson, I'm in Hufflepuff, but I think you know my little sister Julia, she's a first year Gryffindor."

"Oh, yeah, I know Julia. So why are you in Detention?" I asked her wondering if she had said something cheeky in class.

"Uh, 'mouthing off' is the term they used. Actually I was just letting Professor Delacour know that she had said something wrong, and I was accused of mouthing off and being cheeky. What about you and your friend over there?" She asked nodding to Spencer.

"Well, you could call it hijacking. We took those boats; you know the ones you take across the lake the first day of your first year. Yeah, well Professor Delacour didn't think it was too funny. We've got a week of Detention."

"Nice. I never thought to try that before. You are a master-mind. Well, I've got Detention all week too. I got in trouble for dropping stink pellets on some unsuspecting first-year Slytherins. That got me four days. You know, I've had Detention too many times to count, and we've never come into the Forbidden Forest before. This is strange. I wonder what we're doing." Olivia walked up ahead to ask Professor Dippot just that.

"Who's that?" Spencer asked me catching up to me finally.

"Olivia Johnson, you know Julia, it's her older sister. You know what? She said she's had Detention a lot but they've never gone into the Forest before. Do you think something is wrong?" I asked Spencer, worried.

"Maybe, probably nothing big though. We're not fully trained or anything. Most of us are first years."

"Okay, here's what's happening." Professor Dippot started, "Something has been killing off the thestrals and the unicorns. We have to find out what. We will split into four groups of five. I'll send each group down a different path. Red sparks mean you're in danger, gold mean you've found something. Ready, get in your groups and get going."

"Oh, shoot. That's comforting. 'Something has been killing off the thestrals and the unicorns.' Yeah, I feel safe." Lauran muttered under her breath. I stepped closer to Spencer.

"Okay firsties, I've been asked to come with you four. That will make five, right, or do you not know how to count yet?" Olivia said cheerily.

"Okay, what path do we take?" I asked.

"Uh, that one," Olivia replied pointing down the darkest looking path. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"

"Definitely," I replied, "Lumos, hey we'll need light, right?"

"You're a smart one. Let's go, you ready cutie?" Olivia asked Spencer, who was looking uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it's just, well, what are we getting ourselves into? It could be anything." Spencer said but started down the path anyway. I had to admit, Olivia was right about him being cute, not that I liked my best friend or anything.

"He's quite a catch, Riley. I'd hold on to that one if I were you." Olivia said slyly.

"Hold on to who?" I asked grinning. I knew what she was talking about, "Oh, you mean Wood over there. Yeah, I'm not letting my best friend find a new friend so he can ditch me. But, honestly, I couldn't stand to go out with him."

"You never know, I hear you two are tight, though. I think Julia used the term inseparable." Olivia walked away laughing. Rolling my eyes I ran to catch up with Spencer.

We walked along for what seemed like ages until finally we all agreed to a rest. I was tired, but what I was about to see would give me energy.

"Oh, gross, what's that?" I asked pointing at some dark goop on the ground. "That's just nasty, that is." There was a trail of the goop leading off the path we had been following.

Olivia had blanched at the sight. "That's a mixture of Thestral and unicorn blood. It looks fairly new too. The Thestrals seem pretty protective of the unicorns these days. That usually means something isn't quite right."

"Uh, do we have to follow the goop?" Lauran asked, looking as if anything would be better than that.

"That's the general idea." Olivia replied. "Now which of you is the best at curses and the lot?"

"Riley is," came a chorus of voices.

"Hey, I'd like to know what it is you're getting me into, before you volunteer for me!" I exclaimed nervously.

"You and I will go first into the wooded area." Olivia explained, "Okay, wands out. Ready, go."

We left the path and I followed the goop along the forest floor. There seemed to be more and more as we went along. I knew something was wrong. Nothing should bleed that much unless it's dead or dying.

"There's the Thestral," I whispered pointing. The silvery blood keeps going though. So the unicorn may still be alive, but it's lost too much blood. It'll be dead soon."

"Wait, you can see Thestrals. Who'd you see die?" Olivia asked suspiciously.

"Um, do you want a list, or what?" I replied quietly, "We've got to move, something's wrong."

I led the way because Olivia didn't seem to want to move any farther. I think she was afraid of stepping in Thestral. I skirted the corpse and followed the unicorn's blood farther into the forest. What I saw next was so horrible I didn't know what to do. I froze and the others nearly ran into me.

"Run, now." I hissed at Spencer who had pushed his way up next to me to look at what I could see.

"Come on Riley," He replied grabbing my arm and trying to yank me away.

"Go, I'll be right there." I whispered urgently back, there was no arguing with my voice this time. He left me and pushed the others back.

The thing moved. I looked closer. It was drinking the unicorn's blood. I was so grossed out but I knew I had to watch, I needed to understand something. Then the thing looked up. My eyes met its bluish-gray, cold ones. I knew what was happening instantly.

"Lily, what are you doing," I asked the thing, who was, in fact my sister. "You know what that does don't you?"

"Of course, dearest sister, I am now cursed. But we both know I already was. Now, might I ask what you are doing here?" Lily replied icily.

"Well, I guess I'm here to put an end to your stupidity," I said calmly pointing my wand up in the air. Lily looked panicked. All I did was shoot a few sparks into the air, a mixture of gold and red.

Lily advanced on me, pulling her hood down and exposing her face, which was dripping with silvery liquid. I felt panicked though outwardly I looked calm. I threw my wand down. No matter how much I hated my sister, I refused to harm her. However a root did spring out of the ground, tripping her up. I knew that I had done it but Lily didn't.

I reached out my hand when I heard people coming. My wand jumped into it and there was a blinding flash of light. I was thrown backwards and flipped over several times before stopping, face down yards behind where I had started. I slowly lifted my head and saw, to my disbelief, that Lily had disappeared. I got up quickly and looked around the small clearing, but there was no sign of her.

"Miss Potter, are you okay?" a voice asked from behind me, it was Professor Dippot.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The unicorn's right there," I said quietly, pointing at the beautiful slain animal on the ground.

"I think you've had enough Detention for that one little mischievous deed, don't you?" Professor Dippot said as he bent to examine the unicorn.

"Yeah, I've had plenty." I said sinking onto the ground at the base of a tree, "Does that mean I'm out of it for the rest of the week?"

"I'll have to check with Professor Delacour, but I should say so. You look as if you've been through an ordeal. Now, tell me exactly what happened."

I told him everything except the fact that Lily had been under the cloak, making it appear as if I had no earthly idea who it was. Then I went back to the castle and went to bed, not talking to anyone. Celeste and Lauran tried to ignore the whole event, but Spencer complimented me on my brave stubbornness.

"A bit thick-headed, wasn't it? Did you think you could take that thing?" He asked, him being the only other one who had seen Lily.

"Oh, shut up Spencer." Celeste said angrily, "She's had enough, all right. Come on Riley, let's get to bed."