Lily came out of the Sunday morning practice session feeling more bruised and sore than she ever had as a Gryffindor. Apparently, the Slytherin's idea of a Quidditch practice involved a lot more physical exercise than flying, and after just two days of it, Lily thought she might die. At the very least, though, they only ever practiced on the weekend, and she now had a full week until the next one.
Unfortunately, however, she was expected to maintain an hour of exercise each and every night before bed, including on days where they'd already had practice. She considered just not doing any of it, but that wouldn't do her any favours in the long run, especially since Pansy Parkinson took it upon herself to report any inconsistencies in Lily's training schedule (as she'd learned that first Saturday, when she'd simply been too tired to do anything). As such, she'd taken to a regiment of push-ups and sit-ups in the common room each night, followed by a long, hot shower. She still felt like death, but it was better than Ron's suggestion of a run around the Lake.
The second week of lessons proceeded about as well as Lily could have hoped, she supposed. They had a full three hours of Potions first thing on Monday mornings, but Lily quite enjoyed the class, even if Professor Snape could be a bit cruel. She was a full Slytherin now, which meant she got the special treatment. She wished she could say the same for the Hufflepuffs in the class. She partnered up with poor Megan Jones (delighted that she'd found Gwenog's relative so quickly) just so at least one of them would survive Snape's foul mood. She had no idea what had happened to him over the previous week, but he was acting positively nasty, reducing another Hufflepuff girl (Susan Bones) to tears after she'd messed up her Coagulating Concoction.
The dark-skinned girl seemed a bit wary of her at first, likely from the remaining rumours of previous year, but Lily thought she left a very good impression with her Potions talent and natural charisma. That was ignoring the fact that she made a complete fool of herself several times, but Megan laughed after the third time Lily spilled reagents all over her robes, so it seemed to earn her something, although Snape snapped at her the last time, threatening to take points away if she didn't stop and actually taking points from Megan for "encouraging her." They didn't so much as look at each other after that.
She had Ancient Runes for the first time a few hours later. She very quickly learned that, while no class could be as boring as History of Magic, they could come close. They spent the entire three-hour block pouring over your basic runes and their meanings that they'd already covered in Transfiguration and Charms. And, to make matters worse, Professor Babbling promised more of the same for the next two months and assigned an essay on top of it. Lily left that class grumbling, wondering if it was too late to drop it and take Divination with the Gryffindors. The two houses would share a class she wasn't taking. Pansy kept dropping hints that the Professor knew somebody would be dead before the end of the year and that it was, in fact, somebody not taking her class. Lily got the hint, and she didn't appreciate it one bit.
The next day started with an hour of Transfiguration (and very sore muscles). They continued their lecture from the previous Thursday on the basics of Human Transfiguration (they'd only be learning to change their hair this year). McGonagall didn't assign them an essay, but she did hand out a ten-page assignment full of questions to answer in detail, which was almost worse considering it was due the next day. She said they had a lot of theory work to finish before they could do so much as alter a single hair, and she meant to get through it as quickly as possible.
Charms followed after it, at least, and Flitwick walked them through a practical recap of what they'd learned the previous year with his two-hour timeslot. Lily was the only one who managed every single spell, without fail, and was awarded with no homework. That was good, since she needed the extra time for everything else she needed to do.
After a quick lunch, she had her first session of Arithmancy, which, she was very much distressed to learn, involved a distressing amount of maths. They were allowed an abacus to help them, but seeing as how Lily didn't even know how to use one, it wasn't much help. By the end of the three-hour class (whoever designed the schedules this year really was devious), her brain felt completely fried. She spent the evening sitting at a table with an equally flustered Sae (who, apparently, struggled a lot with Defense Against the Dark Arts), staring at the number chart she was supposed to fill out. She went to sleep without doing a single section of it, determined to get it done over the weekend.
On Wednesday, in addition to more Transfiguration and Charms, they attended Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and learned how to defang Vampiric Vegetation. Lily worked with Pansy Parkinson again, who laughed loudly when theirs sunk its fangs into Lily's hand, straight through her thick gloves. Megan Jones at least looked sad about it (although the rest of her House seemed giddy). Malfoy laughed louder than the rest of them and spent that evening's supper taunting her relentlessly for it. She didn't appreciate it very much; she had to go to Pomfrey immediately, and felt nauseous for the rest of the day every time she encountered bright lights. That feeling thankfully vanished the next day.
Hagrid's surprise for the next class was, apparently, a race using the hippogriffs. Malfoy and his goons were completely forbidden from participating, to Lily's glee, and she even managed to win with help from Buckbeak. By the time the class was over, everybody was feeling much better about Hagrid's prospects as a professor, and Lily was fairly certain it was her favourite subject.
"Can't believe he's bringing us down to Flobberworms next week," Ron moaned as they hiked back up to the castle. Lily broke off another piece of the chocolate bar she'd received as a reward. It was far too big, and she had absolutely no idea how she'd get through it all.
"He does have a curriculum to stick to, Ronald," Hermione said. Lily passed a piece of chocolate into her hand, giving her a wink.
"Why do you always call him Ronald?" Lily finally asked. She said it quietly, though, so that only Hermione could hear, and the other girl's face turned a tad pink as she refused to answer.
"At least we won't be on them for very long," Neville said. "Hagrid promised it'd just be the one session."
"And then we'll get onto some monster, and he'll ruin the whole thing," Ron said with a sigh.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Ron," Lily said. "He's done well so far, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, well, you know Hagrid. The man tried to keep a dragon for a pet, Lily."
"And it was cute!" Lily said.
"You weren't saying that after it bit you," Neville said with a smile. Lily tucked her scarred hand behind her back.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
"Hey," Ron said, pointing towards the group of Slytherins ahead of them. "What do they keep looking back here for?"
Lily glanced ahead at them all. Malfoy kept looking back and sniggering about something.
"Dunno," she said with a shrug. "I'm sure it's terrible, whatever it is." As she said that, Malfoy pulled his cloak around him tightly and smiled at her, revealing the fake vampire teeth he was wearing. Lily threw him a rude gesture, then turned back to her friends. "Say, do you want to sit by the Lake? We have some time before supper."
"Can't," Ron said with a groan. "We've got to get to Muggle Studies."
"Sorry, Lily," Hermione said with a pat on her shoulder. "Next time, maybe?"
Lily nodded in understanding but didn't speak the rest of the way back to the castle, even when the others kept asking her questions. It occurred to her as they separated in the Entrance Hall, Lily waving at them as they went upstairs, that she'd hardly seen Katie at all. She glanced into the Great Hall at the early arrivers, didn't see her, and then dragged her feet down towards her common room.
During the next week, Lily's workload expanded drastically. She now had to brew a full Potion for the next week's class, where they'd be dismantling and dissolving it down to test the very elements of it, write a full essay on Redcaps and practice the theory of a few defensive incantations for Defense, write a hundred copies of three dozen different Ancient Runes to commit them to memory, write another essay on the magical importance and power of the number four related to different fields of magic and cultures, learn the General Counter-Spell for Charms (admittedly her easiest task and, as well, already done, for she learned it from Madame Pomfrey at the end of the previous year), care for her flobberworms for Care of Magical Creatures to ensure they stayed alive into the next week (easy, but tedious; she'd lose a point for each one that died), do research and write a dissertation on the life of Circe for History of Magic, and prepare the full month's star chart for Astronomy before they got into October. Herbology was the sole class they didn't have homework in, for which she was very thankful.
And, so, on a Saturday evening, she found herself doing none of that, and instead sat on her bed typing away on her typewriter, with a thick blanket covering most of her body. She had the volume turned all the way down, so it wouldn't disturb anybody who was trying to work. Her fingers felt stiff and awkward from the day's practice, and she knew she'd have to wrap it up soon to finish some of her homework, but, for now, she was content to relax and get through something, with her cat purring at her side. Weasley was acting a bit weird the past few days; he hardly ever left her bed while she was gone, according to the other girls, and when she was here, he never left her side. She assumed it was the other cats in the common room making him nervous; none of the other Gryffindor girls owned one. Or, at least, none of them brought a cat with them. Owls were the pet of choice in Gryffindor.
Not Slytherin, though. There were at least two dozen cats on the girl's side alone. Lily scratched the head of her own before she got back to work, and he looked up at her sleepily, then rolled over. Lily rolled her eyes, then scratched his belly while he nipped at her hand playfully.
"Potter," Pansy called out. Lily watched her cross over from the entryway. There wasn't much else she could do with a cat eating her hand.
"Pansy," Lily said as the other girl neared. "What do you need?"
"Malfoy wants to see you," she said. Her head just barely couldn't reach the height of Lily's mattress.
Lily scoffed at her. "Tell him I'm busy." The last thing she wanted to do was talk with him.
Pansy leaned in closer, climbing up the wall on their bedframe just a bit so she could seem taller. Lily heard Sae grumbling below her.
"It's about your duel, Potter," Pansy said quietly. "He's decided to accept. He wants to do it now. I'm supposed to take you to him."
Lily stared at Pansy for a long time before she finally remembered the challenge she'd made to Malfoy at the Quidditch pitch.
"Oh!" she said.
"You coming or not, Potter?" Pansy asked. "You don't want us thinking the brave Gryffindor is a coward, do you?"
She briefly considered refusing, since she was very comfortable, thought better of it, and then placed the typewriter gingerly on her little shelf and swept her legs out of the blanket just as Pansy hopped down. Lily jumped down right after she pulled on her boots, which she kept on top of her trunk whenever she wasn't wearing them. She learned very quickly that it was very preferable to never walk barefoot in the common room.
"What did he set the terms to?" Lily asked, Pansy leading her through the undecorated hallway towards the common room. Lily noticed Sae following them from a distance and appreciated the potential backup.
"You'll see," Pansy said. She had a tone to her voice that Lily couldn't quite identify, but that got her feeling nervous. They turned off down the middle hallway, heading towards the training room, where half of the House was waiting for them. Lily glanced around, looking for her opponent, when two arms seized hers from behind and shoved her forward, down to her knees.
"Let me go," Lily said. She tried kicking at Goyle, but the two boys were simply too big for her, and her target just twisted harder at her wrist. She felt a tugging, and her head was forced away.
"I did warn you, Potter," Malfoy said in a smug voice. He was tucking something into his robes.
"Oi, Sae," Lily shouted, intending on getting some help. Sae started walking forward, looking anxious, but she was blocked by Pansy Parkinson, looking smug and delighted.
"You think she'd help you?" Malfoy said snidely. "You're lucky she didn't volunteer to help, Potter."
"We were supposed to duel, Malfoy," Lily said.
"And you said I could pick the terms," Malfoy said. "Here they are: you're going to stand there, unarmed, and I'm going to hit you until I get bored." Lily glanced around the room, expecting somebody to protest, to speak up, but not a single person did. They seemed excited at the prospect, actually.
"Go to hell, Malfoy," Lily said. Malfoy smiled, pulled back, and punched her as hard as he could in her stomach. She hunched over immediately, the breath going from her body, fighting the urge to vomit. The only reason she didn't collapse to the ground were the two meatheads holding her arms.
Malfoy swung again, this time across one of her cheeks, and the other two let her go. She tried to scramble to her feet, but Malfoy kicked at her chest, and she doubled over again. She curled up as more blows came, trying to guard herself, just like she used to do when Dudley came for her. Malfoy was breathing hard, though, clearly not used to this, and Lily took the risk to peek out when the blows stopped coming, her entire body sore and aching.
Crack!
Lily let out a gasp of pain as she clutched at her face. She could feel her nose broken, blood pouring from it, as Malfoy and his two friends laughed, as the whole House laughed, the cruel mirth echoing throughout the chamber.
"Had enough, yet?" Malfoy asked, breathing hard.
Lily spat to the side, then glanced up again, still holding onto her nose.
"I don't like the defiance in your eyes, Potter," Malfoy said. "It's about time you learned your place."
"Go to hell," Lily said again, her voice thick. She spat again.
"Well that's not very nice, is it, lads?" Malfoy asked, glancing back at Crabbe and Goyle.
"No," Goyle said in his deep voice.
"I don't think she's learned, Malfoy," Crabbe said. Lily had never heard him speak before. His voice was surprisingly high.
"Have you learned, Potter?" Malfoy asked. Lily noticed he was playing with her wand between his fingers.
"Give me my wand, Malfoy," Lily said. She wished she could find the strength to stand.
"I don't think I will," Malfoy said. He kept playing with it while he thought. "You can have it back, Potter, on one condition. Kiss my boot."
Malfoy slid his foot forward. His boots were shined to an impeccable state, if you ignored Lily's nose blood on it. She could sense the palpable tension filling the room. Half the crowd seemed horrified, the other half delighted. Pansy was laughing, the sound filling her ears with a high buzzing.
"Go to hell," Lily said again.
"Daring today, aren't we?" Malfoy said. "Do it, Potter, or I snap your wand."
"You wouldn't," Lily said, spitting to the side again.
"Very well, Potter," Malfoy said with a fake sigh. He started bending her wand, the wood was curving, and Lily's insides spiked with fear.
"Don't!" she said. She tried to stand, but her legs hurt too much. Getting to her knees was all she could manage.
"You know the conditions, Potter," Malfoy said. Her wand was still bent. She didn't know how much further it could do.
Lily glanced down at Malfoy's boot, considering how hard it would be to simply replace the wand. Then she remembered how excited Hermione had been when she noticed it matched her own. She glanced over at Sae, who was shaking her head, her eyes wide with fear.
Lily cursed at Malfoy, but bent over, planting a quick kiss on his boot while they all laughed at her. Her lips tasted like oiled leather, and she hated herself for it.
"You're pathetic, Potter," Malfoy said. He turned, throwing her wand into a faraway corner. Lily could hear it clatter against the stone. As Lily scrambled towards it, she heard Malfoy laughing again.
"Clean her up, Asari," he ordered as he left.
And then she was alone in the room, limping over to her wand. She secured it in her holster, wondering if she'd be able to catch up to Malfoy. She thought she could beat them all, so long as she was armed.
"You shouldn't have done that," Sae said. Lily turned towards her. She seemed disgusted, and she wouldn't meet Lily's eye.
"He was going to break my wand," Lily said.
"Then you should have let him," Sae said angrily. "You could have just sent for another one. You wouldn't have been the first, but you were the first to completely embarrass yourself."
"I'm going up to the Hospital Wing," Lily said angrily, still clutching her broken nose. "Thanks for the help." She limped off, leaning against the wall for support.
Lily ignored the students she ran into on her way upstairs. Lily thought the Potter girl walking around the castle bloody and injured would have been a more commonplace idea by now, but judging by the way people kept looking at her, she'd be wrong. She was just happy she didn't run into any Prefects or Professors on the way up; she really wasn't looking forward to explaining to Pomfrey why she was back again so soon.
Thankfully, she didn't have to. When she arrived in the Hospital Wing, Pomfrey was nowhere in sight. Instead, managing the Hospital Wing by himself was a very tired looking Oliver Wood, the Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor. He was reading from a textbook when she arrived, but quickly perked up when he heard the doors open. He smiled when he recognized her. Lily just stood in the doorway, feeling stupid, her mind still focused on what Sae said moments ago.
"Pomfrey's meeting with Professor Lupin," Wood said as he approached. He threw one of her arms over his shoulder, then helped her wobble over to a mattress, where he closed the curtains around them and began prodding at Lily's legs and arms. She winced every time he touched a sore spot.
"Why are you here?" Lily asked as Oliver poked at her ribs.
"I told you last year," Oliver said as he lifted one of her arms, "I'm taking Pomfrey's Healer courses. Seventh years are allowed to help her in the Hospital Wing itself for a few hours every weekend. Right now, it's my turn."
"I don't suppose you could keep this a secret from her?" Lily asked hopefully.
Oliver laughed at the mere thought of it. "Sorry, Potter, but we have strict instructions to inform her of any visits you, in particular, make." Lily swore under her breath at that, although it could have been Oliver poking at her chest again. "I don't think you'd be able to, anyway. You might have to stay overnight if I'm right about those ribs. You've got a few cracked ones."
"You can't just give me a potion and send me on my way?"
"Potions are under her strict guidance," Oliver said. He picked up the quill and clipboard that were on the nearby table, and started scratching away at it.
"What can you do?" Lily asked a bit rudely. She was in a lot of pain, and really didn't like the idea of waiting for Pomfrey to wander back in.
"I can fix that nose for you," Oliver said. He set the clipboard back down, whipped his wand out of his apron, pointed it straight at Lily's face, and said, "episkey."
Lily felt her nose slide back into place, heard a faint pop, and then felt much better. That was at least one source of pain gone. She felt at her nose, enjoying how straight and normal it felt.
"Nose is softer," Wood explained, "so it's easy enough to fix with a charm. Bones are harder; they need a potion and rest. Now, I have to ask: who did you get into a fight with this time?"
Lily shot him a glare. "Nobody. I fell down some stairs."
"Sure, Potter," Wood said with a shake of his head. "Did anybody else- err- fall down?"
"Just me," Lily said. "Nobody else was injured."
Wood frowned at that, then leaned in closer. "Lily, you know, if you need help with the Slytherins, you can always just-"
"I'm fine, Wood," Lily repeated.
"If you don't mind me asking, Lily," Wood said, taking a seat next to her mattress, "I was wondering how Slytherin practices are. Any useful information you could share?"
Lily gave him a look of incredulity, but Wood just smiled back, his thick skull not getting the message.
"Wood," Lily said carefully, "Please tell me you are not trying to get Quidditch secrets out of me while I'm in the hospital."
"Of course not!" Wood said in a fake tone of hurt, "But those injuries had to come from somewhere, didn't they?"
"Practice is tiring, Wood," Lily said, "But that's not why I'm hurt. A little exercise wouldn't do this to me."
"Exercise?" Wood asked curiously. "You know, Lily, as your physician-"
"Fine, Wood," Lily said, throwing her hands into the air as a sign of surrender, "I'll tell you, if it'll make you shut up. They haven't had us flying much. Montague has us 'building muscle.' All I've done is run laps, lift weights, push-ups, sit-ups, and everything else you can think of until I feel like dying. Happy?"
Wood looked confused. "No flying?"
Lily scoffed. "The last half an hour, maybe."
Wood started to smile, as if he didn't want to believe her, but he couldn't help doing so.
"Thanks, Lily," he said as he stood. "This'll really help, I was worried that with you on their side we wouldn't be able- but never mind that, I need to get to work drawing up plans!"
And before she could argue, Wood pushed out of the curtains, leaving her alone with her sore body and her fractured ribs.
"Why did you even go with them?" Sae asked as she dumped a few books onto Lily's bedside table. Just as Wood predicted, she wasn't allowed back down, but Pomfrey at least sent for some of her things to be brought up. After scolding Lily for another half hour. Lily was still in a foul mood from the beating, and that certainly didn't help matters.
"Does it matter?" Lily asked.
Sae leaned in closer. "Of course it does, you have no idea what just happened, do you?"
"I lost a duel," Lily said snidely. "I'll get him next time."
"There won't be a next time," Sae hissed. "He already got exactly what he wanted. What were you thinking, you can't just challenge somebody without terms, I can't believe you'd be so-"
"Stupid?" Lily finished, far too loudly. "How was I supposed to know he'd just break the rules?"
"He didn't break the rules, Potter!" Sae said, matching her volume. "You didn't set any! He could have done whatever he wanted, and he did. You're lucky he didn't do anything worse, he could have-"
"I didn't expect him to choose this!" Lily said, gesturing to her aches and pains. "I thought he'd just bring his mates!"
"He did bring his-"
"Somebody could have stopped it," Lily went on. "All the Prefects were there, they could have-"
"Done absolutely nothing," Sae finished. "You agreed to the duel, Potter, there were witnesses that backed him up, he was well in his rights to do whatever he wanted with it."
"So he can just do whatever he wants, then?" Lily said, "He pushes me too far, I hit him, and Snape gives me a detention, but he can just-"
"You don't get it!" Sae said again, pulling at her hair. "Snape doesn't interfere in the common room, Potter, Slytherin has always been left to police itself, it was the same way when he was a student!"
"Well, maybe I'll just-"
The curtains suddenly ripped open, revealing the imposing form of an angry Madame Pomfrey.
"Girls," she said with an eerie calmness, "If you are quite done screaming at each other, I believe it's time for Potter to get some rest."
Lily glanced nervously over at Sae, who was already rising from her seat. "Feed my flobberworms for me, would you?"
Lily snuck down from the Hospital Wing before Pomfrey could catch her. She really didn't want yet another lecture from her. She didn't think she could handle it. She already tested her ribs, anyway, and she was pretty sure they were fine. Not even a slight tingle of pain when she poked at them. And her bruises were gone, with not a hint of soreness left to them. The only thing that did ache were her poor muscles, but that was from all the exercising she had to do. Just to be safe, though, she spent the early morning hours walking around the grounds, picking a few bright pink lilies she found around the Greenhouses. She had to watch carefully for Professor Sprout, just in case she was about, but she didn't think the Herbology professor would mind. She frequently saw other students picking flowers from the area. She was pretty sure that was why Professor Sprout grew them. She thought they'd make a nice supplement for the events of today. She had no idea what Hermione's favorite colour was, but she hoped they'd be well received. She tucked them safely into her robes with a simple Spell of Protection (Solitueor, a simple spell for your simple needs!) she learned from one of Mrs. Weasley's gardening magazines.
Afterwards, she went to the Great Hall, intent on having a nice meal while she waited for the mail to arrive. She tried to ignore all the stares and whispers she was getting, tried to ignore the nasty things she could hear the nearby Slytherins saying about her. She picked at her food, focusing on the ceiling, waiting for a specific owl to arrive. If her package didn't come today, it'd ruin all her hard-thought plans.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long, as it arrived shortly after she finished buttering her toast. She stuffed the bread in her mouth as quickly as she could, stuck the heavy, brown parcel under an arm, and ran up the stairs toward the library as fast as she could. If she was going to find Hermione this early in the morning, that would be where she was. She spent most of her days in there, lately, sitting at a separate table from Ron.
Sure enough, Lily saw the bushy-haired lady sitting at her favorite table, her nose buried in her Arithmancy text. Lily slowed down as she approached, lest she earn Madame Pince's ire, and sat down carefully at the table, sliding the parcel towards Hermione.
"What's this?" Hermione asked, hardly glancing up from her work.
"It's a present," Lily said cheerily. "Happy birthday, Hermione!"
Hermione looked up fully, unable to hide the smile that was lighting up her face. "You didn't have to, Lily."
"Go on," Lily urged, pushing the package just a bit closer to her. Hermione didn't argue any further, and moved aside all her papers and books so she could sit the surprise right in front of her. Hermione tore off the corner of paper, let out a little squeal as she recognized the packaging, and then quickly hushed up before Pince could see, her face lit up. Lily couldn't help but smile in return. For the first time in her life, she wished Colin Creevey was around, just so she could get a picture.
"Where'd you get it?" Hermione asked, tearing more paper off the package just to confirm. She shook back in forth in her seat ever so slightly.
Lily laughed. "It was a nightmare, that. Mr. Weasley went to buy it for me, I had to send him the Muggle money. I was already out 300 quid before he finally grabbed the right thing." Of course, that hardly made a dent in her vault, but she didn't mention that part. Even with the wasted money, it was one of the cheaper gifts she'd purchased. She told Mr. Weasley he'd used up his Christmas gift fund for the next few years, though, but he didn't seem to mind. He had quite a few things to play around with now (she let him keep the mistaken purchases). She almost felt bad for Mrs. Weasley.
Hermione looked horrified. "300? Lily, that's-"
Lily shook her head quickly. "Come on, Hermione, it was all worth it! Now you can play- err- Mario, was it?"
"That's the one," Hermione said, smiling fondly at the new console sitting in front of her. She nodded firmly, rose from her seat, walked around the table, and pulled Lily into a firm hug. Lily gladly returned it; she'd yet to get a single hug since they came to Hogwarts. The length almost bordered on awkward, but Lily didn't mind. She was too busy trying to figure out why Hermione smelled of mint. Finally, though, they broke off, and Hermione scooped up her console.
"I'm going to run this up to the common room," she said, "Do you mind watching my things?"
"Not at all," Lily said happily.
Hermione walked off quickly, Lily chuckling at her attempts to hide the large box in her robes. There was nothing to be that embarrassed about here at Hogwarts. Most of the students had no idea what electronics even were.
Lily took a glance over Hermione's homework while she waited, her happiness fading a bit. If it was Ron or Neville, she would have corrected any errors she found. Hermione's work was perfect as usual, her handwriting neat and tidy and very, very small. She was writing an essay on boggarts for Professor Lupin (who had yet to procure another one for the Slytherins). Lily noticed she failed to mention what her own boggart was, although she repeatedly mentioned having one. She took note of the counter charm (Riddikulus) as well as the method of combating one. That would earn her a few points for Slytherin once they finally got around to it.
Hermione returned just as Lily was tucking her new notes back into her bag, looking awfully pleased with herself.
"Thanks, Lily," she said again, sitting back at her spot.
"Say," Lily said, "What say we go for a walk? It's nice out today."
Hermione glanced at all the books she had spread around. "Sorry, Lily, I have a lot of work to get through."
"Oh, come on, Hermione," Lily groaned, "It's your birthday and a weekend, you can skive off work just this once."
"Sorry, Lily," Hermione said again, her tone a little uppity, "I have three essays due just tomorrow, not to mention a star chart and another two essays due on Tuesday. I'm swamped right now."
Lily considered arguing further, but decided against it. It was Hermione's birthday, and she'd let the other girl spend it how she wanted, even if she didn't want her friend around to bother her.
"I'll go on one myself, then," she said with a smile. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."
Hermione looked just a tad hurt. "Lily, you could always do yours with me."
"Already did mine," Lily said. It wasn't the complete truth; she only finished what was due on Monday and Tuesday. She just didn't want to spend another dull day doing nothing but working on homework. "I'll catch you later, Hermione. Want to meet up after supper? We can feed our flobberworms together."
"Sure," Hermione said, already buried back in her notes.
"Happy birthday," Lily said as she walked off, feeling just a bit lonely. She stopped off at the Slytherin common room to check for Sae, didn't find her, and dumped her books back into her trunk. She considered relaxing in bed, but the glares she was getting told her she wasn't welcome.
The sun was hanging high in the sky, bearing down on the grass with an uncomfortable amount of warmth. As Lily strolled across the lawn, she removed her robe, slinging it over a shoulder. It was supposed to be cooling down this time of year, but Hogwarts was always fickle with the temperatures during a change of seasons. She undid the top button on her shirt, thankful she skipped the tie. Nobody would scold her for it on a weekend. Or, at least, she hoped they wouldn't.
As Lily approached the tree, she felt a strange weight in the pocket of her robes. It felt heavier, somehow, as it bounced against her back. She cursed herself as she remembered the flowers, but she felt like it was too late to go back to Hermione at this point. Besides, she saw a familiar figure sitting under her favourite tree, and she found herself getting excited.
"Morning, Katie," Lily said happily as she sat down next to the Gryffindor Chaser. Katie looked up from her Potions text with a smile.
"Morning, Lily. How have you been?"
"Cold," Lily said. "Common room's freezing, most of the time. How's Quidditch going?"
"Made the team again," Katie said. She sounded relieved, as if she thought it wouldn't happen.
"Course you did," Lily said with confidence. "You're the best Chaser they have."
"I don't know about that," Katie said. She stared back down at the book, but Lily thought she saw the top of her cheeks turn pink.
"Here," Lily said, digging out the flowers she stored in her robes. They were still well preserved, if a little flattened. Katie smiled widely as she brought them to her face.
"For me? Really? Why?"
Lily shrugged. She didn't want to lie to Katie.
"Well, they're lovely," Katie said, taking another long sniff from them. She set them in her lap, and scooched a little closer to where Lily was sitting.
"How's Potions going?" Lily asked, scooching just a little further away, her stomach feeling tight.
"Terribly," Katie said. She moved closer again. "I don't know what's got Snape's bonnet all tangled, but he's been absolutely miserable lately. He had Leanne crying on Friday. I think we all wanted to kill him by the end of the class."
"I think it has something to do with Lupin," Lily admitted. She didn't move away, this time, and dug out her things from her bag. "I saw him glaring at him at the Welcome Feast, and Hagrid said they hated each other when they were at school."
"Well, I wish he wouldn't take it out on us," Katie said. She glanced over at Lily's books, leaning dangerously into Lily's personal space. Lily felt herself getting flustered for some reason. "What's this you're working on? Looks like Charms- or maybe Defense- no, that's definitely Transfiguration, there." Katie traced her finger along a section of the open spell book.
"You can read French?" Lily asked.
"I do more than read it," Katie said. "Dad made me learn. We have family overseas. He visits them every year, but I've never met them."
Lily stared at Katie in amazement.
"Do you think you could teach me?"
Katie smiled widely, speaking something in that incomprehensible language. Lily didn't catch a word of it.
"Come again?" Lily asked with a puzzled smile. Katie gave a little giggle, and Lily could feel her cheeks flush.
"I said I'd love to," Katie said an excited smile. She leaned in again, taking Lily's hands into her own, and then moved the book to sit between their two laps. Lily swallowed hard, staring at Katie's thoughtful face. Lily knew she had green eyes, sure (Katie even wrote her a poem the last year that brought it up), but she never noticed how pretty they were before. Lily swallowed again, then tried to focus on the book, where Katie's hand was resting next to her own. Her hands were very warm, and she suddenly became very aware of how nice the girl smelled. She had her hair tied back in a bun, a loose strand running down that she idly played with as he read aloud from the book. Lily didn't understand a word of it. She just kept staring at Katie. Eventually, Katie asked her a question, and Lily shook her head to relieve herself of her confusion.
"Can you repeat that?" Lily asked. She tried to ignore the crack in her voice.
"I said this spell is used for rapidly heating a liquid," Katie repeated, pointing at another section. "Seems a bit specific, but it could be useful in Potions, maybe? The incantation is Calaccendo. Doesn't mention a movement, but this little diagram has a little witch stirring the air with her wand, see?"
Lily followed Katie's hand, but couldn't help staring at the pretty pink polish she had on her nails. She glanced down at her own plain ones. The last time she painted them was second year, when Lavender made her do it.
"Easy enough," Lily said after shaking her head again.
"Are you feeling all right, Lily?" Katie asked. "You're looking a little ill."
"It's just a little hot out here," Lily said, wiping at her forehead. She didn't know why she felt so weird, but she wanted it to pass as soon as possible.
"We can head inside, if you'd prefer."
"No," Lily said quickly, "I'd- I'd like to- to- I think I should see Pomfrey." She stood at the last part, hurriedly shoving her belongings in her bag. Katie looked hurt, and Lily tried to ignore how that made her feel.
"Do you want me to walk you there?" Katie offered.
"No," Lily said quickly, her heart skipping a beat. "I- I'll be fine. Err- see you around!" Lily hurried off, before she could change her mind and found herself sitting back next to the very pretty-
Lily cursed under her breath, quickening her pace, shoving all thoughts of Katie to the back of her mind.
Lily was still miserable as she entered the common room, feeling like she didn't deserve anything. She saw Malfoy smirking at her from near the boy's side fireplace, and she shot him a rude gesture, storming off to the girl's dorm. She tossed her bag on her bunk as she passed and continued right off to the bathroom sinks, ignoring the starings and mutterings as she passed. She splashed warm water on her face, rubbing at her cheeks, and then stared into the mirror, water dripping from her face.
"We're fine," she whispered to herself. "We're normal. We're fine." She'd have to avoid Katie for a while.
Sae was resting on her bottom bunk when she returned, studying from her Defense Against the Dark Arts book again. Lily didn't grunt so much as a greeting. She climbed straight up into her bed. She startled Weasley, based off the way his fur was standing on edge, and she rubbed his head roughly as she pulled her boots off, letting them fall to the ground, not caring to put them away properly. She buried her face into her pillow, wondering why she felt so lousy. She wanted to get up, right this instant, and go to apologize to Katie before the other girl started hating her, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She rolled over, slightly, and she felt her hand touch a wet spot on her mattress and schoolbag. She groaned, thinking Weasley had gotten sick up here (he did that just a few days ago), and then was confused when she saw the actual source.
Then she sat up suddenly, with a horrified feeling sinking into her stomach, and she grabbed at her flobberworm cage.
Somebody filled it with water. The large container was almost completely filled, the swollen, white maggots floating lifelessly at the surface. Lily poked at one of them, hoping they were still salvageable, but it didn't so much as react to her touch. She pushed her tears back as she looked around the common room, but not a single girl was looking in her direction. They were all smiling and chatting among themselves, all acting and looking innocent, as if somebody hadn't just murdered Lily's homework.
Lily set the cage back down, then stuck her head around the side of her bed to look at Sae. She was upside down, her hair hanging awkwardly, but she didn't care.
"Sae," she whispered. "Did you feed my Flobberworms?"
"Yesterday," Sae said, not looking up from her book. "Like you asked me to. Was I supposed to do today, too?"
"Did you water them?"
"Was I supposed to?" she said without looking. "You just said to-"
"Never mind," Lily said awkwardly. She pulled herself back onto her mattress, Weasley looking very distressed at the end of it. She buried her head into her pillow again.
Now Hagrid was going to hate her. How was she supposed to face him after this?