A/N: This was SOOOOO long delayed. Sorry. Life has been hectic. It is not as long of an update as I would like to give you, but I'm already working on the next one. Please review and let me know how you're enjoying it all :) Thank you!
Chapter Seven: Dueling Club
After a long night of partying, though Julianne and Lily's partying mostly consisted of sitting in a corner of the common room eating copious amounts of chips and licorice, drinking Butterbeer, laughing at Kenny's attempts at dancing in the middle of the room, and pointing out the various students who had coupled off in dark corners, Lily slept in until after breakfast on Sunday. When she and Julianne did finally awaken and dress, they made their way outside to take a walk around the chilly mid-morning grounds. Julianne was eager to ask Lily more about her stay in the hospital wing.
"You're healing well," Julianne said, inspecting her friend's face closely. "The cuts on your cheek are already fading."
"They feel better, too," Lily said. "My hipbone and arm still hurt quite a bit, but they're starting to heal."
"I'm sorry I didn't come and stay with you yesterday," Julianne said.
"You've already apologized," Lily said. "It's not your fault Madam Rougal wanted me to get rest during the day."
The girls were halfway around the lake when they heard someone calling for them. Looking back towards the castle, Lily spotted a small crowd moving towards them. As they came nearer she recognized some of her family.
"Hiya!" Lily greeted the group of Gryffindors.
"Hey Lils!" Albus came forward first, quickly pulling Lily in for a hug. "We just learned you were in the hospital yesterday! Are you alright?" She winced slightly as his arm touched her bruised side. He noticed the flinch and frowned. "You're not. What's wrong? What were you there for?"
"Just got scraped up a bit on my landing in the game yesterday," Lily said.
"How long did Madam Rougal keep you?" Rose asked, stepping forward and narrowing her eyes at the mark on Lily's cheek.
"Only a few hours," Lily said. "I'm alright, really."
"Why didn't anyone send for us or at least tell us that you were injured?" Louis asked. "We looked for you after the game, but you were gone. The whole team left quickly, we just assumed you had gone to your rooms to start the victory party early."
"I'm sorry, I didn't think to have you guys informed," Lily said, realizing it was entirely true. The whole time she was on bedrest, she had never thought to inform her family. The idea of any of them showing up and pestering her about her injury while Scorpius was lying in the bed next to her had never crossed her mind. It was actually the furthest from her mind. She hadn't wanted him bothered by her family while he was trying to rest, and she hadn't thought her injury particularly warranted a visit from family.
Rose frowned. "You didn't think we'd want to know you were hurt?"
"Well, sure, I mean, I don't know…if it had been something serious…" Lily hesitated. She felt a little guilty for not having thought to inform them. "I'm okay," she said. "Promise."
Rose still looked skeptical. "Show me," she said.
Lily stared at her quizzically.
"Show me that you're alright," Rose said. "You fell on your left side when you landed. I can tell from your face. I expect most of your side is banged up."
Lily looked around the group of her family, which currently consisted of Rose, Louis, James, Albus, Hugo, and Fred. She wasn't surprised Dom and Roxie were absent. She was not particularly close to them and they never expressed much interest in her well-being since becoming a Slytherin. Their expressions were a mix of concern, frustration, and curiosity. Part of her was pleased to hear they were concerned. Another part of her was slightly irritated that they were hassling her about it at all. It was her injury, and if she said she was okay, then she was okay.
After staring hard at each member of her family for a moment, Lily sighed and unbuttoned the heavy wool coat she was wearing. She removed it and handed it to Julianne to hold, then with a brief glance around to be certain there was no one outside besides her family, she unbuttoned her trousers and pulled them down enough to show her bruised hip and upper thigh. The scrapes and bruising had begun to heal overnight, but she knew the sight of them would still be somewhat shocking for her family and sure enough they reacted with slight gasps and frowns.
"That looks painful," Fred said, coming forward. "You okay?"
Lily put her trousers back in place and Julianne helped her with her coat. "I'm fine," she said. "They're already looking much better from yesterday. The healing ointment is working great. Just landed too hard."
James nodded. "It happens. Hey, uh, how's my broom?" He asked.
Lily rolled her eyes and Fred frowned at the younger boy slightly. "Your precious broom is fine," Lily said. She had been assured of it the previous night by Kale who had stored it in the changing rooms with the rest of the team's brooms.
"Great. Well, glad you're okay," James said.
Albus and Louis were frowning, seeming less easily convinced than James.
"I'm serious guys! I'll be fine…" Lily said, then she hesitated. "Umm, could you maybe not tell mum and dad about it though? I don't want them to worry for no reason."
James nodded easily, but Albus rolled his eyes. "You know they'd want to know. They already felt bad they couldn't make it to your first game, and now that you got injured…"
"It won't help them at all to know I got hurt," Lily said. "Dad's got a lot going on with work right now, and mum has that deadline for her big article. This isn't their concern. When I'm not at home, I'm responsible for myself."
Rose nodded. "That's right," she said. "They don't need to know. Lily's fine anyhow. We've all had our share of Quidditch accidents."
Once her family seemed satisfied that she was more or less okay, James left to find his girlfriend, Rose gave Lily a hug then left to meet up with her friends. Albus and Fred hung around a bit longer, asking Lily some questions about what Madam Rougal did to treat her injury, but eventually she convinced them to leave as well. Louis and Hugo stayed with the girls and the four of them headed to the library to work on potions homework where they found Leona waiting with a table saved for them all.
…
At breakfast the following Monday, Professor McGregor stepped up to the front of the hall to make an announcement. Everyone focused when he began to speak, since he had never before taken the initiative in that way.
"Good morning everyone!" He greeted in his loud, friendly voice that appealed to all the students. "I am so excited to announce that starting this week we will begin Dueling Club!"
An excited murmur instantly broke out throughout the students. He waited patiently for a few moments for the rumble to quiet down again before continuing.
"Now, for the beginning, duels will only be allowed between fellow classmates of the same year so everyone is at a balanced level," he said. "Therefore each night I will meet with a different class year for one hour to engage in duals and practice spells we have been learning in my class. Attendance is not at all mandatory. This is strictly for those who wish to further their defensive skills and spell casting." He paused again and his eyes roamed across the sea of students briefly. "If you do wish to join us, tonight I will be meeting with first years, tomorrow with second years, Wednesdays with third years, and so on through Sunday when I will meet with the seventh year class. Dueling class will be outside on the back lawn for as long as the weather permits, after dinner. I hope to see each and every one of you there!" He made a short little bow, which Lily knew was his habitual way of ending class sessions, and returned to his seat at the head table to complete his breakfast.
The chatter resumed instantly.
"This is going to be brilliant," Lily said instantly. She turned her excited eyes to Julianne, but her friend didn't look quite as pleased.
"Lils, I'm rubbish at defense," she said.
"So what better way to improve yourself?" Lily said. "You'll get more practice, and we'll have more chances to see Leona and Louis, and it'll be fun!"
"I'm not so sure about that," Julianne said.
"Promise me you'll at least give it a go?" Lily asked.
Julianne rolled her eyes, but nodded, giving into her friend's plea.
Lily glanced up and down the Slytherin table, trying to see who else was discussing the new dueling opportunity. She caught Kale's eye and he lifted his chin to her in acknowledgement. She wasn't surprised that he was interested, Kale was good in Defense class. Further down she spotted Ian and William discussing it with Cassie and Nicolette. Lily wasn't eager to spend extra time with the girls outside of classes and sleeping hours, but she couldn't deny that it could be fun to duel Cassie without getting in trouble for it.
By the next night, Lily had made certain that Leona, Louis, and Hugo would all be joining her and Julianne at dueling club. Directly after dinner, Lily led the group outside to the back lawn, eager to see what Professor McGregor had in store for them.
"This seems like a perfect waste of an evening," Louis complained, folding his arms across his chest. "We get plenty of this in class."
Lily, however, was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, hands clasped beneath her chin, as she waited for the arrival of their professor. "This is different," she said, the enthusiasm evident in her voice. "We'll get to learn and do more than in class."
Daniel Thomas, standing between Lily and Leona, shrugged. "Seems like it'll be cool. Hopefully I'll get to duel a snake…" he paused and glanced at Lily. "Sorry, Potter. No offense."
Lily narrowed her eyes at him briefly, then shook her head and laughed, making her deep red hair flail like a horse's mane. "It's fine. There's a particular snake I'd like to dual as well."
Daniel seemed relieved and even amused by her response.
Julianne was even less enthusiastic about the dueling club than Louis, if that was possible. In the past forty-eight hours, she had told Lily repeatedly that she didn't want to attend, but Lily had insisted that it would benefit her future, and finally she had agreed. Now Julianne stood at the back of the group with Louis and Hugo, who though willing to try anything that would better his position in school, completely lacked skills in defense currently.
By the time Professor McGregor arrived over two dozen more second years had joined those already gathered as well. Lily noted all the Slytherin and Gryffindors were there, and a couple Ravenclaw besides Leona, but only two Hufflpuffs had come.
"Welcome!" Professor McGregor greeted the group in the enthusiastic way he had. "I'm glad to see so many of you eager to further your dueling experience." He motioned around the group to draw them all in a little closer. "The difference between dueling club and class is that here, we jump right in!" He grinned. "Exciting, huh?"
The students murmured amongst each other, some a little confused on what that would mean and what they should do at that moment.
"At this point you have all learned at least a few good offensive and defensive spells—if you have been paying attention in classes that is. So the rules are simple. You'll come up, two at a time, and face off against one another. You'll take turns casting and deflecting spells. No guidance or restrictions from me. The goal here is for more hands on experience than you receive in class. It allows you to feel what a true wizard's duel could be in a real life situation while still protected from any real life consequences. Make sense?" Professor McGregor cast his light brown eyes around the yard, taking in each student's expression. "Some of you still seem wary." Instead of seeming put off by that statement, he smiled more broadly and shrugged. "I'll just have to make it more appealing…" He's eyes looked mischievous. "At our last session before end of the year, the student who has consistently shown the strongest improvements and performance, will duel…me!"
The students started speaking again, some laughing a little nervously.
"Come on, how can that not make it fun?" He asked. "Alright, no more talking. Let's get started! Who wants to go first?"
Nobody moved.
"Hmm…the hard way huh?" Professor McGregor chuckled slightly. "Excellent." His eyes scanned the group again. "Miss Forest…"
Nicolette scowled, clearly annoyed at being called first. Lily knew she did not excel at defense.
"And…" his eyes scanned the crowd again. "Miss Scamander."
Leona shrugged. Though Lily had never seen her friend duel, she knew Leona excelled at all subjects and assumed this wouldn't be a challenge for her. The two girls made their way to the front of the group, stood in front of their professor and waited for more instruction.
"Alright, let's circle up around them," he said, motioning with his arms for the students to form a ring around the two who would duel.
Lily brought her group of friends close to the side where Leona was standing and clapped to cheer her on briefly.
"Wands at the ready," Professor McGregor said.
The girls withdrew their wands. Nicolette's hand gripped tightly around her short cedar wand as she held it in front of her face, her dark eyes narrowed at Leona. Leona held her long thin cherry wand delicately in her hand, her hold loose but confident. Lily watched her friend push her long blonde hair behind her shoulders and straighten her shoulders as she faced Nicolette.
"And on my count, do your best…" McGregor said. He held up his hand and counted backwards from three. When he reached one, he lowered his hand and stepped back, indicating they were now safe to begin.
The group waited excitedly for someone to make the first move. Everyone seemed eager and slightly nervous as the two girls were momentarily silent. Neither made a move right away, but they stared at each other firmly
Finally Nicolette spoke and waved her wand as she cast a disarming spell towards Leona. Leona flicked her wrist swiftly and deflected the spell. She waited for Nicolette to try something else, but she deflected that as well.
"Miss Scamander, you are excellent at deflection, but perhaps you could try something on the offense," Professor McGregor advised from the sidelines.
Leona nodded thoughtfully and seemed to think for a moment before swishing her wand and calmly speaking: "Petrificus Totalus."
Nicolette's body froze in a full bind at the success of Leona's jinx.
"Very nice, Miss Scamander," the Professor said. He clapped twice and indicated for her to return to the group. He muttered the counter spell to release Nicolette from her bind and she returned to the group as well, scowling angrily. "Volunteers for round two?"
Daniel Thomas dragged his roommate Zachary Lane to the middle of the circle with him, but Professor McGregor chose a Ravenclaw boy to face Daniel instead. The boys dueled fairly matched. Neither were particularly strong at it, but they held their own, and in the end the Ravenclaw successfully disarmed Daniel.
A few more eager students volunteered before Lily got her turn. She tried to duel Louis, even though she felt he couldn't match her at all, but Professor McGregor paired Louis with Julianne, who lost to him, surprising both Lily and Louis. Professor McGregor paired Lily with Cassie.
Stepping into the center of the circle, Lily felt her shoulders tense up. When she had first thought about dueling club, she had briefly toyed with the idea of dueling Cassie Malfoy, but now that she was actually standing in front of her, wand raised in anticipation, she felt somewhat nervous. In the few brief moments she had to consider it before the duel began, she realized there were a couple different potential outcomes. Either she would unexpectedly lose to Cassie, which Lily realized would be mortifying and entirely unacceptable in Lily's mind, but on the other hand she would beat Cassie, and Cassie would have yet another reason to despise Lily. Neither option seemed entirely likable to Lily.
She had no time to further consider, however, because at that moment, Cassie raised her wand, flicked it hard and attempted to disarm Lily. Lily didn't think it fair that she had acted before McGregor's official acknowledgment to start, but Lily managed to deflect. She then sent a successful disarming spell at Cassie, and followed it up with the knock back jinx, which she knew was advanced for a second year, but she had mastered it practicing with Teddy the previous summer
"Miss Potter, please refrain from using spells and jinxes above your level…" Professor McGregor said with a hint of a smirk.
Lily shrugged and before Cassie could stand to her feet, Lily had stupefied her and the duel was over.
After Professor McGregor reversed the spell on Cassie, she instantly took to muttering threats to Lily under her breath while their professor had become focused on the next two to duel. Lily felt unconcerned by any threat Cassie could issue her, since she could barely muster a disarming spell during their duel, but she knew that the blonde's renewed hatred of Lily could make the tension in their room difficult that night.
And there was certainly more tension than usual. For the next six days solid, Cassie and Nicolette took to making Lily's life more challenging than usual. One night Lily found herself unable to sleep due to a charmed music box that croaked at her all night long. Another night she couldn't sleep because her pillow had been charmed to be as hard as stones. Then there were three mornings in a row when Cassie and Nicolette both took extra long showers so Lily didn't have time to get ready properly before breakfast and classes and had to stay up late to take her shower before bed, and finally on Saturday morning they hid her Quidditch practice robes, and after searching for a good thirty minutes she showed up to practice late and wearing her pajama pants and a Slytherin jumper she had borrowed from Julianne's closet.
For two weeks of dueling club, Lily tried to get partnered with Cassie, determined to at least make what she was suffering in her dorm life worth it. After a while though, Professor McGregor seemed to realize what Lily was doing and stopped pairing the two Slytherin girls. She was then paired with a couple Ravenclaw boys and a Hufflepuff, but no one ever managed to disarm or defeat Lily. Once she lost the joy of beating Cassie, Lily found little to be excited about at dueling club. It didn't challenge her or interest her much, so finally, on the fourth week of clubs, she came up with a plan to help her regain her excitement.
"You want to do what?" Julianne gasped at dinner that night as Lily proposed her idea.
"I want to go spy on the third years," Lily repeated herself. "I'm sure their duels are loads more interesting than ours. They are allowed to do more advanced spells."
"Yes, but they're third years and we're supposed to stay with the second year class," Julianne said. "Professor McGregor won't let us join them."
"I'm not going to ask to join them," Lily said. "I just want to go have a peek. I want to see what they're doing."
They were just about finished with dinner, and Lily was mentally prepping herself to sneak out to the field to watch the third years' duel that evening.
"You don't have to come with," Lily said. "I know dueling isn't really your thing. Though you did really well yesterday dueling Hurst."
Julianne beamed at her friend's compliment. Lily knew how proud her friend had been to finally win a duel, even if it was against a Hufflepuff.
"Of course I'm coming with you," Julianne said. "But if we get in trouble, you're taking the blame."
Lily shrugged. "Fair enough." She had noticed a few of the third years leaving the table already and knew they were heading to dueling club. "Come on. Let's go!"
The girls headed outside to the dueling meeting place, only slowing their pace as they came closer. Lily could see a group of third years gathered ahead of them. She could hear Professor McGregor's voice as they neared and she began looking around for a place to watch discreetly without being seen by the Professor.
"There!" Lily said, pointing to an arched walkway near the rear courtyard of the school. It was near enough to the field that they would be able to see and hear everything, but Lily thought it would provide decent shelter for them to hide.
Lily was impressed by the third year turn out. There were nearly double as many students as there were second years in dueling club. All seemed eager and determined. She saw the Scamander twins standing close to her brother and Rose. The four had their heads close together and were whispering as a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw dueled each other. She then saw Scorpius standing with Leo and Geoff, Finn was with them too, and another boy whom she realized must be their fifth roommate, but she realized she didn't know him at all, other than that his name was something Locke.
After the girls finished dueling, Lysander was called up to duel Geoff. Lily knew Lysander was brilliant, almost as brilliant as his sister, in most every subject, but she realized she didn't know too much about his dueling abilities. She did, however, know Geoff enjoyed dueling, and was not entirely surprised when Geoff beat Lysander with only a few well served spells.
As Lysander returned to his twin, who was openly laughing at his failure, Scorpius was called to the center. Lily was curious to see him duel, as she had never had an opportunity to before and wondered what his skills were.
"Mr. Potter…" Professor McGregor called out.
Lily gasped slightly, for some reason surprised to know that her brother would be chosen to duel with Scorpius. Before Albus stepped up, however, Rose grabbed his arm and whispered into his ear. Albus scowled, nodded, and turned to Scorpius with a somewhat fierce expression etched on his usually soft features. Lily couldn't decipher her brother's face. She had never seen him quite like this before. He was the gentle brother—the peacekeeper brother. Albus despised confrontation, and tended to withdraw from family drama. Lily was feeling confused and shocked at the determined fire she saw in his green eyes at that moment; she thought he looked like her dad when James had been caught sneaking Firewhisky with Roxie and Dom at their family campout that summer.
"Alright, wands at the ready," Professor McGregor said. His warm eyes shifted between Albus and Scorpius.
Lily couldn't see Scorpius' face from where she and Julianne stood, but she wondered if he could feel the anger in Albus like she could; she wondered if he was at all nervous.
"Now, remember, unlike last week's event, we are going to leave personal matters out of this duel," Professor McGregor said. Lily instantly wondered what had happened and what he was referring to. "This is intended for defense practice only! Understood?"
Albus seemed to hesitate, but nodded curtly.
"Mr. Malfoy?" McGregor asked.
Scorpius must have nodded as well, though Lily couldn't see, because McGregor seemed satisfied. "Alright then, begin."
Before Lily could even blink, both boys had shot of different spells at each other. They weren't taking turns like the others usually did, or giving each other time to use defensive spells to block. She couldn't hear the spells they were using, but various sparks flashed from their wands, and they both moved away from each others' attacks with dexterity and expectation.
"What on earth!" Julianne muttered in a whisper as she watched the scene beside Lily.
"I've never seen Albus like this," Lily said. "He seems so…angry!"
"Malfoy must be too," Julianne said. "Look at him!"
At this point the boys' stance had turned enough so that Scorpius was now facing the girls, and Albus' back was to them. Lily then saw that Scorpius looked every bit as furious as Albus. His brows were furrowed, his silvery eyes dark like storm clouds, and the grip on his wand was aggressively firm.
Lily watched them both as they continued to duel. Neither seemed able to land any spells on the other, and she assumed they were also practicing their defense, even if she couldn't tell from her hiding place. She edged out from behind the archway slightly, trying to get a better perspective on the duel. Julianne grasped her hand, trying to pull her back, but Lily's curiosity had been awoken, and she knew she couldn't settle now until she had answers.
At that moment, Scorpius shot a particularly strong knock back jinx at Albus, who did not manage to block it. Lily watched at her brother flew backwards a couple yards, landing hard on his back. He grunted and stayed still momentarily. Lily felt an urge to run to her brother, another urge to congratulate Scorpius on such a well-performed jinx since she had taught him that one the previous week, and still a stronger urge to figure out what in Merlin's name had been motivating that duel.
Rose had rushed to Albus' side and helped him to his feet, but he still looked livid, and Lily saw he was holding out his wand again as though to continue. Rose grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Alright that is quite enough Mr. Potter," Professor McGregor finally spoke up, stepping into the circle between the two boys. "Mr. Malfoy, you have been improving," he said, turning to the Slytherin.
Scorpius shrugged. "I've had some extra help," he said.
Professor McGregor smirked and nodded, and Lily felt somehow that he knew she had been teaching Scorpius, though there was no way he could have known. "I'm sure you have," he said. Then he cleared his throat and motioned everyone back into the ring. "For our next duel…" he paused. "Miss Potter…"
Lily frowned from her hiding place and felt Julianne's hand tighten on her arm.
"Umm, Professor McGregor," it was Rose who spoke up, "I'm Miss Weasley…"
"Yes, I'm aware," he said. "Miss Potter…" he spoke again and then looked up and his eyes connected with Lily's.
She gasped.
"Join us," he said.
She knew there was no other option and stepped out from the shadows, slowly approaching the gathered third years. Julianne followed closely.
"Good evening girls," Professor McGregor said calmly.
"Hello Professor," Lily said.
"Now, correct me if I'm mistaken, but you are aware tonight is the third-years' night, yes?" He said.
Lily only nodded.
"And did you not have your time last night?" He asked.
Again she nodded.
"And yet here you are," he said.
"I just…" she hesitated. "I wasn't feeling particularly challenged with the other second years," she said finally. "And I was curious about what the third years were doing."
He glanced at Julianne, "And Miss Westerly I assume was simply brought along as companionship."
Julianne nodded and slipped a little further behind Lily.
"Very well," he said. "Miss Potter please step into the circle."
Lily's pale eyes grew wide. "Oh, no, Professor, I didn't mean to…I mean…I didn't plan to duel…" she said. "I just wanted to see…"
"You say your year is not challenging enough," he said. "So you will try with the third years. Step into the circle please."
Lily still held onto Julianne's hand, but her friend let go slowly and gave Lily a slight nod of encouragement. Lily was slightly embarrassed to have been caught by her professor and even more embarrassed when she spotted her brother and cousin staring at her with wide, slightly irritated eyes. Then she glanced at Scorpius and saw that he was smirking. He gave her a slight nod, and she felt instantly motivated. She had taught him his most successful jinx, after all. She knew she could hold her own against third years.
Glancing around briefly, Lily wondered who'd she be paired with. She spotted Geoff and Leo next to Scorpius and thought she could enjoy beating either of them for fun. Then she saw Geoff's sister, Sylvie, and knew she'd enjoy dueling her if only to get even for all the trouble Sylvie put her through first year. Then she thought about dueling Rose and knew the two of them would be fairly evenly matched, having learned many of the same jinxes and spells from their Uncles George and Charlie.
"Mr. Scamander…" Professor McGregor said suddenly.
Lorcan stepped forward quickly and Lily's excitement deflated instantly. Lorcan was skilled. He was almost more skilled than her brother James. She couldn't help but feel that Professor McGregor was doing this on purpose.
Lorcan grinned at her. "Hiya Lils," he said. "Whatcha doing here? You sure you're ready to play with the grown ups?"
She laughed. "You'll never grow up, Lor," she said.
Lorcan laughed as well and held up his wand. "I don't want to hurt you, Lils."
"I don't want to hurt you," she said.
"Alright you two, settle down," McGregor said. "Wands at the ready…"
Lily held up her wand and gave Lorcan one more quick smile before their professor indicated it was time to begin.
Lorcan held back. He kept his wand perfectly still, not sending anything her way, waiting for her to make the first move. She hesitated. She was used to students attacking quickly. She knew he wasn't afraid of hurting her. When she was eight, Lily had insisted on learning to throw a punch and when Teddy and James had refused to teach her, Lorcan had taken up the task, giving her a couple black eyes and more than a few welts in the process. He knew she was tough and didn't like to be treated any differently because she was his little sister's best friend. So him holding back now didn't mean he was trying to protect her, it meant he was thinking strategically.
She finally went for it and attempted to disarm him, but he deflected easily, as she had known he would. She tried a couple other hexes and jinxes in quick succession, but he deflected again. She hesitated, starting to shuffle her feet in a semi circle to his left. He moved in the opposite direction, still keeping his wand at the ready. Lily thought hard, trying to come up with something he wouldn't expect.
"Fumos," she said, waving her wand delicately as a cloud of smoke emerged and engulfed Lorcan in a deep fog.
There were some distinct murmurs of surprise among the students. Lily smiled, feeling proud of her choice of spell. She squinted to make out Lorcan's shape in the fog and prepared to cast her next spell, taking advantage of the disorienting fog. Before she had a chance, however, she felt a distinct warmness spread throughout her body and then her entire body felt as though it were being attacked by aggressive tickling. Every inch of her tickled. She lost herself to laughter in response to the overwhelming tickling sensations, doubling over as she grasped at her stomach to try and stop the tickles.
"Make…it…stop!" She howled, trying to control her giggles, but instead she collapsed on the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
She could hear the other students around her beginning to laugh and knowing it was at her expense made her embarrassed and furious, but she couldn't do anything about it. Tears leaked from her eyes, and her body was starting to ache from the tickling sensations.
"Alright alright," Professor McGregor finally said, though he spoke through slight laughter as well. He ended the spell on Lily; the fog spell had lifted once she had become incapacitated with laughter.
Lily stayed on the ground for a moment, too breathless from laughing to stand. Lorcan stepped over to her and held out his hand.
"Sorry," he said simply, but he was grinning, and she knew he had enjoyed it thoroughly. He held out his hand and helped her to her feet.
"Sure you are," she said, her eyes rolling. "That was a strong one."
He nodded. "I've perfected it over the years. Lysander hates it. He used to claim he wasn't ticklish, so I had to prove him wrong."
Lily grinned.
"The fog was clever," he said.
"I almost had you," she said.
He shrugged, smirking, and shook his long blonde hair out of his face.
"Miss Potter," Professor McGregor said, calling her to himself. "You are more advanced in spells than many second years, however, at this time I would prefer for you to remain with the other second years for dueling, understood? Perhaps you can help out some of the other students with their spells the way you've helped Mr. Malfoy."
Lily gasped, surprised that her professor was aware she had been helping Scorpius. She glanced at the blonde Slytherin who shrugged, looking equally surprised. Her eyes caught Albus' brilliant green ones, and she wasn't surprised to see them deepening into a scowl.
"Yes, Sir," Lily said to her Professor. "I understand."
"I will see you in class," he said, signaling an end to their conversation and Lily's visit to the third years' dueling group.
Lily and Julianne retreated promptly, almost running back up to the castle and down to their room.
"You and your crazy ideas are going to get me in trouble eventually," Julianne said. "We should not have gone there."
"We're not in trouble," Lily said.
"We could have been," Julianne said.
Lily shrugged. She spoke the password when they reached the stone wall entrance and the girls entered the Slytherin common room. They went directly to their room and began changing for bed.
"That tickling jinx was super strong!" Lily said. She held her hand over her stomach briefly after removing her uniform. "I'm sore all over."
Julianne looked at her sympathetically. "Maybe you're not quite ready to duel with third years?"
"I'm ready," she said. "If Professor McGregor would let me, I'd be up for it. Lorcan's just really good with his spell casting. He always has been."
"Malfoy did pretty well with his, too," Julianne said. "I didn't realize you were helping him."
"Just a little," Lily said. "He had mentioned a while back that spells and jinxes weren't his strength and asked for some help."
"Hmm…" Julianne said. She pursed her lips together.
"What does that mean?" Lily asked.
"Oh nothing," Julianne said
"Jules…"
"Helping him with his spells…helping him with potions…" Julianne said. "I'm a little surprised he needs so much help with all his studies, especially from a second year."
Lily shrugged. "I'm advanced in potions," she said without a hint of arrogance.
"I heard a rumor that Malfoy was the best in his year," Julianne said.
"In Potions?" Lily asked.
"No, not specifically," she said, "but just in classes in general."
"Well, apparently not with everything," Lily said.
Julianne shrugged.
"What?" Lily asked. "I know there's something you're not saying."
"Oh, nothing," Julianne said. She pulled a tank top on with her white pajama pants and climbed into bed.
"Spill, Jules," Lily said.
"It's just that maybe he doesn't really need as much help as he says," Julianne said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked.
"Maybe…just maybe he's asking for help just to spend time with you," Julianne said finally.
Lily let out an unintentional laugh. "That's ridiculous."
"Think about it," Julianne said. "You came back to school determined not to be friends with him, but suddenly he's asking for your help with all these things so you've been spending loads of time with him. Can you honestly tell me you don't think of him as a friend?"
"We're just housemates, and teammates." Lily said. She felt defensive. "I'm just being polite."
"Sure," Julianne said.
"He wouldn't ask if he didn't need help," Lily said.
"Then why not ask someone else? Maybe an older student who undoubtedly has more experience than a second year?" Julianne asked.
"I don't know," Lily said. "It's not a big deal. You're making it into something it's not."
Julianne shrugged.
Lily felt frustrated. "I'm going to take a shower," she said. She gathered her pajamas and headed to the bathroom, no long interested in having this discussion with Julianne.
As she stood beneath the warm water, Lily considered the things Julianne had said. Personally, she thought the idea of Scorpius pretending to need help with potions and spells was absurd. Why would a third year ask for help from a younger student for no good reason? He didn't need to do something that extreme just to spend time with her. They saw each other at Quidditch practice three times a week now, and they usually ended up near each other in the evenings while reading and revising for their own classes. Of course when she helped him with potions work or with his spells, they were usually alone out by the lake or sometimes in an empty classroom. But she was just being nice, just helping out a housemate.
They were not friends. She promised herself and her brothers that she would not be friendly with Scorpius Malfoy, and she intended to keep that promise, even if she did think it was a little silly.
Her brother's furious green eyes flashed into her mind as she thought back to the duel between Scorpius and Albus earlier. What were they so angry about? She wondered as she washed the shampoo from her hair. She began to feel frustrated again. Albus and James were always so determined that she not be friends with Malfoy, they never even really explained why it mattered so much. They always told her that she just didn't understand how awful he was, but he wasn't awful to her. He was kind and fun, and she realized if she was honest with herself, she enjoyed spending time with him. They occasionally referenced her parents' past with Malfoy's dad as a reason to not be friendly, but her dad had also repeatedly told them throughout childhood that someone's past should not define them and people deserve second chances, so shouldn't that also apply to the Malfoys? Rose had once told Lily that Malfoy was the worst sort of boy to be friends with, but she hadn't said anything more specific, and Lily didn't quite believe Rose had a real reason for saying it.
Overall, she felt that there was nothing particularly bad about Scorpius Malfoy, but she knew for some reason her family hated him, and that was supposed to be enough for her to keep her distance from him.
As she climbed out of the shower, dried off, and pulled on the extra large tee shirt she had nabbed from Teddy over summer vacation, she resigned herself to figure out exactly what Albus and Scorpius were fighting about and get a real definitive reason as to why her siblings and cousins disliked him, once and for all.