Dear Lily,

We got your report for last month. Sorry it took so long to get to you, we had our hands full dealing with Fred and George. They got six detentions a piece, and they lost a combined total of 20 points. 20 points!

You've been doing absolutely wonderful, Lily, and we're quite proud of you. Not a single detention so far this year, and you're up nearly 30 points! If you keep that up, I'm sure you'll be bringing home the House Cup.

We were sorry to hear about how Quidditch practice is going. Next time, just tell Ron you'll write home if he won't trade brooms back with you. That should get him to behave.

"Your mum's onto you, Ron," Lily said between bites of toast.

"What'd I do this time?"

We know you were worried about Arthur's inquiry and we just wanted you to know that everything is absolutely fine. He's got a friend in the Department of Accidental Magic, and they told him they were impressed that Ginny could pull off such advanced magic before even starting at Hogwarts. Arthur reckons they must have put in a good word for him.

He asked that you actually teach her the spell before you lot come home, so that she can prove it should they ever come around to check. I ask that you ignore that request, and just focus on your own studies instead. We don't need another Weasley running around the castle causing trouble at night. We already get enough of that from Fred and George.

"What do you think, Ron?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Hmm?"

"Your dad wants me to teach Ginny that charm that blinded us, but your mum thinks it's a terrible idea."

Ron thought for a moment as he chewed his mouthful of food. "Probably shouldn't, Ginny will end up teaching to Fred and George, and who knows what they'll do with it. Could be a laugh, though, if you want to risk it."

We got a letter from a Hermione Granger the other day, which took us a bit by surprise. Couldn't remember any of you mention her over the summer. She asked if you'd tried writing to her over the summer, and we told her you had. Hope we didn't get you into any trouble!

We hope to hear back from you soon!

With love,

Molly Weasley

"Blimey, she writes you more than she does the rest of us, doesn't she?" Ron said. Lily chose not to answer the question, although she'd definitely noticed it as well. She thought the actual Weasley children complained about their mum far too much. Lily would have given anything to get a single line from hers.

"Where's Neville?" Lily asked, feeling a bit dejected.

"Said he wasn't feeling good," Ron answered. "He should be back by lunch, once Pomfrey figures out what's wrong."

Lily narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and Ron quickly looked down at his plate, forgetting that he'd already emptied it. He tried to pile more eggs onto it, but Lily knew he wouldn't get very far into it.

"Ron?"

"Mm?" Ron said with his mouth full of as much food as he could cram into it.

"What day is it?"

Ron paused, taking a long time to swallow his food. "Thursday."

"And what class do we have first?"

Ron pursed his lips. "Potions."

"Why are you helping Neville skip Potions?" Lily asked, putting a sickly-sweet smile on her face.

Ron gulped. "He needed a break, Lily. You saw Tuesday. Snape had him shaking by the end of it."

"What do you expect? He knocked their cauldron over." It was quite the spectacle; the students had to stand on their stools to avoid the corrosive potion. Lily still wasn't sure how he managed it, and she wouldn't have believed it possible if she hadn't witnessed it with her own two eyes. She could still hear Malfoy's raucous laughter.

"Yeah, well, Snape didn't have to lay in on him like that, did he?"

"No, he didn't," Lily admitted, "But he still shouldn't be skipping. If he isn't there, Malfoy will lay into Hermione instead."

"She'll be fine," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "It's you we should be worried about."

"Malfoy hasn't done anything since I set his cloak on fire last week," Lily said. He had it coming, and since he got it put out pretty quickly, Lily didn't even feel bad about it.

"That's exactly why," Ron said. "Lily, people are starting to talk about the Quidditch match now, aren't you worried about them spreading nasty rumours again?"

"No," Lily said with a shrug. "What's the worst that could happen, Ron? Falling off my broom after a dark wizard curses me?"

"Fair enough," Ron admitted. "You seem to be in a good humour about it. I thought you didn't like talking about it."

"I don't," Lily said as a shudder went down her spine. "I don't know where that came from."

"Still, maybe they all just need something else to talk about instead," Ron suggested. "You know, just to keep them distracted?"

"What happened to the Chamber of Secrets? They wouldn't shut up about it just a couple of weeks ago."

"Well, that's old news, isn't it?" Ron suggested. "Nothing else has happened since then."

He was right. Nobody really seemed to take the threat seriously anymore, since all that came from it was a single petrified feline that everybody already hated in the first place. Lily hated it, but Lavender was acting friendly again and, if her letter was anything to indicate, Hermione might be coming around as well.

"What about Hagrid's chickens?" Lily offered instead. She thought that was still pretty interesting, although she certainly had a bias.

"Lily, that was before the attack," Ron said snidely.

Lily was still in a foul mood while she was waiting for Potions to begin. Malfoy kept leaning towards the table behind them, where some of the Slytherins were sitting, and they kept sniggering about something. She was absolutely certain it was her, and that only made her feel worse.

Snape swept into the room after slamming the door loudly behind him. The students all snapped to attention, all except for Lily. She continued leaning forward on her desk, resting her chin on her hand. She didn't feel like trying today. She lied to Ron earlier; working with Malfoy was sapping out every ounce of her energy. Every time he did something, she had to retaliate, and when it was his turn, he would always choose to escalate. She wasn't the first person to resort to fire, and she still had the burns to prove it.

Snape's eyes lingered on Lily for far too long as he gazed out over the silent classroom. She could see him staring out of the corner of her eyes, but she kept her own down at the surface of her desk.

"I have decided," Snape began, "that from here on out you shall decide your own partners. Clearly, this experiment was a complete disaster. The whole lot of you have given me nothing but utterly embarrassing results. Perhaps, by some miracle, you all may manage to scrape together enough talent amongst yourselves to produce something that could even remotely be called a potion."

Lily perked up along with the rest of the class. She glanced back towards Ron, who looked absolutely bewildered. At least Malfoy wasn't laughing anymore; in fact, he looked upset more than anything else.

"I shall give you two minutes to rearrange yourselves," Snape announced over the murmuring of his students. "Any longer than that, and you shall receive a detention. If you cannot find a partner in that timeframe, you will be stuck with Longbottom, should he ever deem to return to my classroom."

Lily hopped up from her seat, snatching her bag off of the floor. She wasted no time at all, snatching Pansy Parkinson's old seat at the back of the room right after she vacated it. Ron looked pleased with this turn of events. She could have sworn that she heard somebody call out her name as she whisked her away across the room, but she paid no attention to it.

"Why do you think he changed his mind?" Lily whispered as the rest of the class arranged themselves suitably.

"Who knows?" Ron said. "Maybe he got tired of dealing with the Slytherins complaining?"

Lily looked back up at the front of the class, noticing Snape watching the two of them. He quickly looked away after Lily locked eyes with him, and began writing instructions on the chalkboard. Lily thought that a bit strange as well; normally he just used magic to write the instructions.

That was the best Potions class they'd had all year, and Lily really needed the boost to her confidence. She spent most of the class joking with Ron while she made their potion for the day. She was even more satisfied with the result than usual, since Snape gave it his first ever nod of approval. Not even Malfoy ever got that. Malfoy didn't even bother turning in a potion today, since his batch got ruined (due to a stealthily cast Cooling Charm she sent from across the room).

"When did you learn that one?" Ron whispered as they left the class feeling very satisfied. Ron's hair was still standing straight from the potency of her Hair-Raising Solution, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. Lily was just thankful she kept hers tied up; she could feel it still trying to stand straight up, even with the restriction. She was pretty sure it was laying perfectly horizontal as it followed behind her.

"Last week," Lily said. "I found it while trying to find a Warming Charm so we could keep sitting by the lake."

"Well hurry up with that one, will you?" Ron asked. "It's getting bloody cold out there."

"It's getting bloody cold in here," Lily said as she shivered from the freezing temperatures of the dungeons.

"Hey, there's Neville," Ron said, pointing at their companion as they left the dungeons. Lily picked up her pace, waving excitedly as the other boy walked straight towards them.

"Feeling better, Neville?" Lily asked innocently. It was best to not let him know she knew he was skipping.

"Loads," he admitted. "I think I just needed that break from Potions."

"Well you missed out on a good one, mate," Ron said, clapping Neville on the back.

"I did?" Neville said in a shocked tone.

"You did," Lily confirmed. "He let us choose our partners again. Said the experiment was clearly a failure."

"Oh no," Neville said, pulling at this hair, "I'm not stuck with a Slytherin, am I?"

"I think Hermione waited for you," Lily said. The other girl was the only person left without a partner.

Their hair finally started settling down by the time Professor Lockhart began the next lesson. He kept smiling up at the class, eyes always locking onto Lily whenever he did so. It made her just as uncomfortable as it always did. He kept trying to corner her in the halls and classrooms, trying to get her alone on her own. The last time a Prefect rescued her and gave her a stern lecture on not letting people take her away from the public eye. She still didn't quite understand it. She knew from experience bad things happened if you didn't follow orders.

"Well, class," Lockhart said with a chuckle (the paintings of himself laughing alongside the real one), "It'll be a practical lesson today. I'll need groups of two, but take your time. And don't worry about fighting over Miss Potter; she'll be my assistant for today."

Lily groaned; assisting Professor Lockhart once again was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. At the very least, though, they were finally getting a practical lesson with a real spell, even if she didn't know what it was yet. She got up from her seat, dragging her feet on her way to the front of the classroom.

Lockhart threw his arm around Lily's shoulder, pulling her in closer while he threw the class another smile. Lily pointedly stared down at her feet, refusing to look at any of the students, as she always did every single time they had this class. She felt less hated if she couldn't see any of it. It didn't help her feel any less gross, nor did it help the slight shaking that came to her every time Lockhart touched her.

"Now, today we'll be practicing the Tongue-Tying Curse. You might recall that I used this spell to great effect against the hags in Holidays with Hags. You see, they can't get off any of their curses if they can't speak. Quite ingenious, really. Definitely one of my better moments."

Lily seemed to recall that hags used mostly wordless magics, and could curse with a simple touch, but she didn't say anything to contradict the expert in the room. What did she know, really? She just read books.

"Now, then," Lockhart said, releasing Lily (who finally relaxed and breathed easily) and striding across the room before turning around and presenting his wand. "Do you remember what the incantation is, Lily?"

"Mimblewimble," Lily said, waving her own wand at Lockhart to get it over with. Lockhart gave a quick look of surprise after a brief, bright flash emanated from the tip of Lily's wand. He let his mouth fall open, and his tongue seemed swollen.

"Exeltul jobe, Lillith," Lockhart said, stumbling over his curled-up tongue. He shot the class another smile, and then gave a bow. Lily noted that quite a few female students seemed upset with her, and she looked down in shame. She always seemed to hear nasty rumours about herself after each Lockhart class.

"Know ickis yeth torn," Lockhart said thickly, gesturing to the class with a wide swing of his arms. They seemed to be confused at the Professor's meaning, with quite a few grumblings and mumblings spreading amongst the students.

"It's your turn," Lily mumbled for clarification. Lockhart pointed to her in confirmation.

"Fix pounts tor Giffinmor!" he said, holding up two fingers. Lily didn't know how that could possibly sound like two, but she wasn't going to ask for clarification.

Lily spent most of her time walking around the class, helping people with their enunciation and posture, as well as untying quite a few tongues. It was mostly just the untying, actually, since all the students seemed very eager to cast curses at each other for the first time all year.

"The counter curse is Oratorio," Lily explained to Lavender as she fixed up Parvati. "You can also use it to amplify your regular speech, if you want."

"How'd you learn that?" Lavender asked sweetly, pretending to take interest in what Lily was saying. Lily tried to ignore the weird sensation in her belly.

"It's the next paragraph in the book, Lav," Parvati said, rolling her eyes. She was right, but Lily was pretty sure Lavender had yet to open a single textbook. At the very least, she'd never seen it.

"You go by Lav?" Lily asked, ignoring how cute Lavender looked when she pouted.

"Yes, but only from Parvati," Lavender said, rubbing her hands together to warm them. "You can use it too, Lily, I don't mind if you do it."

Lily rubbed the back of her neck and looked away, trying to figure out why it was suddenly so hot in here.

"I only go by Parvati," Parvati said. "Please don't try to call me Parpar like Lavender does."

"Oh, I only do that because I think your reaction is cute," Lavender said.

"There's nothing cute about embarrassing people," Parvati said.

"I go by Lily," Lily threw in, unsure of what else to say.

Both girls gave her a strange look. Lily shifted her feet uncomfortably.

"We know," they said together.

"Right," Lily said, feeling her face grow red. "I think I'll just- err- Neville looks like he needs help over there." He was looking pretty distressed. Ron seemed to be doubled over in laughter about something.

"Oh, Lockhart has him," Lavender said, grabbing onto Lily's arm before she could walk away. Lily looked over helplessly to where Ron was on standby near Neville and the professor, who was now attempting to help Neville with his struggles. She caught his eye, begging for assistance of her own. He gave her a shrug, unable, or perhaps unwilling, to help.

"Stay and talk with us." Lavender batted her eyes at Lily. Lily didn't know quite how to feel about that, either, but it seemed convincing.
"I really shouldn't-" Lily hesitated.

"How have your sessions with Flitwick been going?" Parvati asked, pretending to wave her wand around so Lockhart wouldn't come snooping.

"Err," Lily stuttered, her brain overheating from all the sensory information. "How did you-"

"Hermione told us!" Lavender interrupted cheerfully, holding tighter to Lily's side. "She heard us talking about-"

"You know what," Parvati interrupted.

"And she told us what you'd actually been doing," Lavender finished with a smile. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder; it was long, and Lily imagined the curls could be a pain even if she did quite like them.

"I'm not supposed to show anybody the spell he's been teaching me," Lily said in a whisper. "He's worried someone'll get hurt if I try to show it off."

Lavender rolled her eyes. "Since when have you listened to the professors? You got in trouble all the time last year."

"Well that was before Hogwarts started writing home, wasn't it?" Lily said in her defense. That, and she still couldn't find who took the cloak. It was hard to look for when she didn't even want anybody knowing she had one in the first place. Her suspect list was small, but she found it hard to believe anybody she knew would take the thing. They knew how important it was to her.

"You have to show us the spell, at least," Parvati said, crossing her arms. "We can help you practice if we know what you're working on."

"Yeah," Lavender said, mimicking the motion, but with a pretty smile. Lily rubbed at her arm. She could still feel the pressure of Lavender holding it.

"Fine," Lily said. "But we'll have to make it quick, I don't want anybody seeing."

"Oh, thank you Lily," Lavender said, throwing Lily into a quick hug. That left Lily feeling flustered and feeling weird again, and she pulled her wand back out of her robes in a daze.

"Go on, then," Parvati said in a hurry.

"I need-" Lily said, voice cracking. She cleared her throat and then tried again. "I need one of you to cast a spell at me first."

"What spell?" Lavender asked, waving her wand around excitedly.

"Mimblewimble will be fine," Lily said, hoping she could get the timing right first try. They'd only successfully done Expelliarmus and Stupefy (a spell Penelope was initially unwilling to try, but Lily managed to convince her), but neither of these two knew either spell.

"Are you ready?" Lavender hummed, doing a little prance in the same place in her excitement.

Lily gulped and then took a deep breath. She forced herself to focus on Lavender's wand instead of her dancing feet. She thought for a moment about how the Tongue-Tying Curse worked. It was just a flash, like Expelliarmus, but brighter. Perhaps the timing was similar?

"Ready," she answered, taking the stance she preferred, with her left foot resting in front of her right.

"Mimblewimble," Lavender cast.

"Reddimitto," Lily countered, flicking her wand upwards right as the light appeared on Lavender's wand.

"Did it work?" Parvati asked, biting at her nails.

"Ick dent fint sue," Lavender replied. She let out a squeak as her hand flew to her mouth. That made Lily's smile wider, although she was curious as to how Lavender never even felt it happen. You'd think your tongue tying itself into a knot would be more noticeable.

"Oh!" Parvati said in surprise. "You turned it back on Lav!"

"I did," Lily said proudly as she tucked her wand back into her robes.

"Hat wah amayon!" Lavender said. She threw her arms around Lily neck and pulled her in tight. Lily froze in place, her brain refusing to work until Parvati's laughter broke her out of it.
"I should get moving," she said, trying to inch away before she could turn any more red. "I'm supposed to-"

"You're staying," Parvati said, grabbing onto Lily's arm.

"But-"

"Peas," Lavender said, grabbing onto the other arm.

Lily spent the rest of the class period with Lavender and Parvati, which she never would have predicted when the day began. She couldn't decide whether or not she actually enjoyed the time. She tended to get flustered around the pair of them, even if for seemingly no reason. She felt like she had a really stupid smile plastered on her face the entirety of the time, and she kept noticing weird looks from Ron and Neville whenever she happened to look over.

"Well, that was fun," Ron said as Lily joined them after class.

"Sheet foe yonsef," Neville tried.

"Sorry, Neville," Lily said as she pulled out her wand. A brief flash later, and Neville was free from his curse.

"Thanks," Neville muttered, massaging his jaw. "Lockhart couldn't figure out how to get it to stop."

"Yeah, thanks for the help, Lily," Ron said sarcastically.

"That might be my fault," Lily admitted. "I put a bit too much power behind my curse. Its not supposed to last that long."

"Not quite what I meant," Ron said. "Why didn't you come help us?"

"I couldn't get away from Lav and Parvati," Lily said. "They wouldn't let me go."

"Lav?" Ron asked in a bemused tone. "Since when are you so friendly with Lavender?"

Lily tried not to meet the boy's eyes. "She just missed Weasley, is all. I told you that before. We're fine now."

"Still, though," Ron said, "You'd think you'd hold a grudge instead of getting all chummy."

"I don't hold grudges," Lily said. She heard Ron and Neville snigger behind her, but she paid it no mind.

"When do you have practice with Flitwick?" Neville asked.

"Speaking of which," Ron interrupted before Lily could speak, "Don't think I didn't see what you did in there. How could you show Lavender and Parvati but not us?"

Lily cleared her throat in an attempt to buy herself time to think. "I dunno, I just did." That was the best she could come up with, apparently.

"Well, now you owe us," Ron said.

"I already told you my conditions," Lily responded.

"Fine, then, have it your way," Ron said. "I'll go out with Neville this weekend while you're at Club, and we'll learn it together."

"Learn what together?" Neville asked.

"I'll show you later," Ron answered. "You'll love it, trust me."

"You're not coming with me?" Lily asked with a pout.

"Not a chance," Ron said, completely ignoring her attempt.

"Oi, you two," there came a shout from behind. Lily thought she recognized the voice. All three turned, ignoring the command.

"Wood says we're having a practice tonight," Angelina said as she approached. "I've only just heard myself."

"Tonight?" Lily said, placing a hand over her mouth. "I can't do tonight, I have-"

"I know," Angelina cut her off, "Wood says he'll let you leave early, but you'll have to skip dinner."

"I'm not skipping dinner," Lily said. "If Wood wants to have a practice on an off-day, he'll just have to accept that I won't be there."

"I told him the same," Angelina said with a grunt, "But I'll probably go anyway. Don't worry about it, I'll cover you."

"Do I still have to go?" Ron asked sheepishly.

"I said 'you two,' didn't I?" Angelina said in a bossy tone. "We'll need you there just in case Katie or Alicia doesn't show up."

If Katie wasn't going, Lily definitely wasn't, she decided. She missed one practice last month after Fred got her a detention. He fooled her into standing guard in a hallway, and then completely failed to warn her that she should run once the noises started happening, so she stood there, waiting for him to come back, up until McGonagall arrived to search for whoever lit off a firework in Lockhart's office.

"I'll see you at practice," Angelina said as she walked away. She threw a wave over her shoulder, and the fourth year left them in the hallway.

Ron groaned. "Great, just great, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. How am I supposed to get our Transfiguration essay done, now?"

"I told you to get it done yesterday," Lily said with a smile.