He's ignoring her, she realises a little too late.
The second week of school is about to come to an end. Her housemates leave her to her own devices most of the time, so she's been revising the same chapters again and again. She thinks she's able to read them all in her sleep now, and her knowledge is impressing the teachers.
Her and… Harry share three classes together, with the rest of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs—herbology, astronomy and charms. They're all interesting and fun in their own ways if one was willing to ignore the tension in the room.
Everyone keeps a safe distance from the two of them, unsure of what relationship the siblings–and isn't that a weird thought?–have. Like they're two sides of a war collecting support from the masses before a big blow, and Lila has a sinking suspicion as to whose side they're on.
They've been paired together on multiple occasions by now, even if Harry tends to avoid talking to her, and it floors Lila to know that the teachers are as equally unsure as the students. Like they're waiting for an explosion.
They're brother and sister. They wouldn't harm each other, right? They wouldn't go against each other, right?
They weren't doomed from the start…
Right?
He's hoping that if they pretend that.. all this… doesn't exist, it'll all cease to exist.
Their second month at Hogwarts is ending, much to the delight of Ron, who lost all forms of academic motivation after being assigned their very first essay. Harry's still the same, though: magic's still more exciting than geometry, writing essays is much harder than solving a few equations, and writing with quills is just as funny.
He can't imagine getting used to it.
The other students still act like they did at the start of the year. They still whisper his name in the hallways and look at his forehead in awe when they catch a glimpse at his scar. Hermione Granger's still annoying, but they're friends now–and isn't that a weird thought?–so the fights with Ron seem much more funny.
And… The Girl… has also become an enigma that he's used to seeing in every corner of his view.
He's done his best to remain civil and ignore Her advancements—why did they leave him? was he not enough for them? does she hate him for being like this? he doesn't want to go back to the Dursleys anymore, not when there's another option—no matter how difficult it's becoming to act like he's unaware.
He looked up from his seat in the library, and immediately spotted Her on another table with her head in a book and scrolls of parchment left unwittingly on the desk.
Do you like reading, a small part of Harry struggles not to scream. Do you want to read everything here to satiate that curiosity or to prove yourself? Are you trying to hide something behind that tome of parchment—like me?!
I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU AND BURN THAT KNOWLEDGE IN MY MIND.
James.
James, James, James.
Come back to me, James, a large part of him yearns. Show me that our shared life wasn't a trick of the mind. Show me that the Marauders really were something to stand tall about.
I want to come back home (to you).
SIRIUS BLACK—THE BLACK MADNESS STRIKES AGAIN!
(copy of The Daily Prophet, August 1981.)
Remus Lupin hoped, once again as he had in the past, every morning for the past ten years, repeatedly until his throat was sore.
He hoped and hoped and hoped. But the hoping never seemed enough. They had never been strong enough.
He folded the edition of The Daily Prophet and kept it back in its faithful place, the only thing that grounded him back to reality. The proof that proved to him that nothing was truly unbreakable, that nothing was ever constant.
He picked up the framed photo he kept on his desk—the only one he could afford to decorate like this.
That familiar smirk stared back at him. Those high cheekbones lifted with it to display its owner's true nature. Lila Potter looked too familiar in this picture. It almost made it easy to forget.
