(AN. If anyone is reading this, and has been waiting for this chapter, well, I'm sorry for the wait. I hope it doesn't disappoint.
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Spotlight
Chapter Two
Lily thought she could feel it seep into her very bones; the energy present on the platform was almost tangible. Clutching her broom, she let the bustle and chatter wash over and consume her. It was a relief to be able to feel the brick wall at her back, and she momentarily closed her eyes.
She stumbled forward as a trunk hit her from behind. A bit annoyed, Lily righted herself and pulled her own trunk away from the entrance.
"Well were you planning to move, or not?" they began, and Lily straightened, "Really, leaving your- oh," they stopped as she turned around, and Lily found herself, unfortunately, face to face with Laura Chapman. Her glossed lips were puckered, her thin eyebrows elevated with surprise.
"Oh!" she chimed, quickly smiling at Lily, "Lily! Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, moving closer and safely out of the way of people entering the platform. "How was your summer!"
Lily stood unsure as Laura's thin arms flung themselves around her. Looking up, Lily brought a reluctant hand up to pat her on the shoulder. "Uh…" she let out, not so eloquently.
Thankfully, Laura released her, her lips stretched wide, exposing her white teeth. She looked at her expectantly.
"Uh…" Lily hesitated, a bit thrown off guard, "It was pretty alright," she remarked. Lily raised a brow as she watched the brunette's eyes search the area behind her with her mouth turned down, and so fought the urge to look behind her. "You?" she asked plainly, deciding to follow along with the niceties.
Laura refocused back on her, "Oh, it was just the most amazing yet!" she giggled, but her eyes quickly wandered away again.
"Oh," Lily said. "That's… nice," she finished lamely. Putting a hand on her hip, she searched for any opportunity to leave.
"Say, where's your family? I just noticed they weren't here!" Laura asked after a moment's pause.
Lily really wanted to roll her eyes. She should have guessed that was the reason why Laura had continued talking to her. At least she would soon leave and Lily wouldn't have to deal with her perky voice any longer.
"Not here," Lily drawled, her pretenses gone, and gave a mocking glance over her shoulder. "Obviously."
"Well then," Laura chirped, her eyes taking on a different quality, "It's a shame they couldn't come to see you off," she sniffed from her upturned nose.
Lily bit her tongue, refraining from making a comment about Laura's similar lack of familial support at the platform, but didn't want to have to deal with sounding like a Muggle-hater, as Laura was Muggleborn.
"Potter?" called a skeptical voice from behind her, and she almost sent a prayer to God for her good fortune; she was saved.
"Oh, hello Matt!" Laura purred, and Lily's grin flashed into a scowl as she turned to face him.
Nose scrunched, he was squinting his large brown eyes down at Laura. "Laura Chapman?" he quizzically returned the greeting, looking at Lily questioningly. She shrugged, rolling her eyes.
"So, see you on the train, maybe!" Laura said, gathering her things. "I'm looking forward to living with you for another year, Lily!" And with that, she walked away, curls bouncing in her wake.
"The hell was that?"
Grabbing her trunk, Lily grimaced up at Matt. "Christ, she is so annoying. Did you hear her? What a bunch of shite. 'I'm looking forward to living with you another year!'" she mimicked, tossing her hair over her shoulder and placing a hand on a jutted hip. A smile reluctantly battling its way onto her lips as Matt burst into laughter.
"I swear, Potter," he chuckled, shaking his blonde hair, "It is just so hard to take you seriously when you sound like that."
"Like what?" she teased, rolling her eyes as they made their way towards the scarlet train.
"Oh, you know," he smiled down at her, "Like Laura Chapman."
She laughed. "Jesus," she groaned, "she is absolutely over the top! How am I going to survive another year around her!"
He paused, eyes taking a mischievous glint. "With a little help from your friends," he said, pretending to stroke an imaginary mustache.
"I don't need your help to get in trouble," she pointed out, grinning as she pushed him in the side.
"Hey, watch it, Dunstan!" a boy yelled over his shoulder, brushing off his jacket before striding away.
"Sorry!" Matt hollered in return. "Thanks so much, Potter," he drawled, shoving her back.
"So sorry!" she exclaimed as she knocked into the owl cage of the young girl hurrying next to her. She quickly moved her mouth into what she hoped was an apologetic smile before turning back to whack Matt with her broomstick.
Grinning, he playfully swatted it away. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You don't need my help," he smiled.
"Too true," she smirked. At his eye roll, one side of Lily's lips curved up, and she distractedly gazed at the surrounding scene.
"Are we really that late?" she asked, noting the accumulation of parents and students surrounding the train, and effectively blocking the door. Studying the crowd, Lily could pick out the first years from the others; they were the excited ones, the visibly nervous ones, the ones whose parents made sure to give them a warm hug and kiss before sending them on their way.
Matt too was taking in the atmosphere. "Let's get on, at any rate. Don't want there to be no room left and be stuck in a compartment full of first years," he grimaced. "They're so… small," he decided, face scrunching up. "Energetic."
Lily laughed, following behind Matt's larger frame. "You were like that too, once." He turned back to pull a face at her. "No, in all honesty, it's the second years that are the worst. Think they're all so high and mighty because they made it through their first year alive."
A slight boy on her left shot her a mean glare. "Hey!" he yelled, but upon seeing who she was, his eyes went wide and a hand went to cover his mouth.
"Oh- sorry," she said, grabbing Matt's arm and hastening towards the open door to the train, "I-, well, I didn't mean you!" she called over her shoulder. As they hurriedly reached the steps, she glanced at Matt; their eyes met and they burst into laughter.
Matt was recovering his breath as he clambered aboard the train in front of her. His large eyes crinkled as he tried to calm down.
"Oh, come on. It wasn't that funny," she grinned, rolling her eyes up at him as she hoisted her trunk up the steps.
Shaking his head, he extended a hand. "Here, give me something," he said, watching her make use of her feet as propelling agents to move her trunk.
She scoffed. "No, I don't need help, Matt. I'm fine. And I'm not letting go of my broom, mate," said Lily, clutching it closer. "My parents just got me this model."
With a look, Matt retracted his hand. "Honestly, Lily," he muttered, and she scowled. "I wasn't trying to steal your broom. You really just looked like you needed a hand."
Lily momentarily froze, inwardly grimacing.
"Well, actually you're right," she stated, looking up at him.
"Well- wait, what?" He stared at her incredulously.
"Yeah, I need a hand. If you could kindly amputate yours, mate, it'd all be better!" she cheekily grinned.
To her relief, he shook his head and smiled. "Shut it, Potter. I don't need your sass."
"Oi, what in God's name is taking you so damn long!" someone roared from behind her.
"Oh, sorry," she said quickly, her trunk clanking up behind her as she jumped the steps.
"Come on, let's go find Justin," Matt said as she joined him in the corridor.
"Right," she answered, and followed him as he strode past the adjacent compartments.
Lily could feel the imprint of the wood grain from the broomstick handle on her fingers as she gripped it, staring at Matt's back while he searched for their teammate in the compartments. She walked like a regular, pretending that she couldn't feel the eyes latch onto her. She fought the urge to tug at her clothing or fix her hair and instead held her broom. She'd never quite gotten the hang of it, unlike James.
And yet, although she hated feeling the stares now, her muscles rippled as she closed her eyes, remembering the rush of adrenaline from hearing an entire crowd cheering her name.
Her eyes opened with a start as large palm met her forehead, effectively hindering her movements. She glared at Matt around his arm, where he stood smirking.
"Don't fall asleep on us," he mocked, patting her head.
"Shut up," she grumbled, swatting his hand away.
He chuckled. "Justin should be through here," he said, and entered the compartment. Cracking a smile, she followed behind him, shutting the door.
As soon as the door closed, she was met with a chorus of "Hey!" "Lily!" "Dunstan!" "Potter!"
Lily heard Matt immediately start exaggerating some escapade as she turned around with a grin.
There was a room full of people blinking and smiling at their entry, the quick lounging on the limited seating while the rest were spread on the floor. It took effort to look past their eyes, and Lily found that she recognized most of the students crammed in the compartment. However, her scan didn't pick up the familiar buzzed black hair.
Lily looked down as a boy sitting on the ground near her, who she thought was a Ravenclaw, didn't they have Potions together last year?, touched her knee, flashing a wide smile when their eyes met.
She smirked slightly, a corner of her lips raising, and lifted an eyebrow.
His smile grew more pronounced.
She tried to remember hi s name as he began saying something, it really was hard to hear, and her eyes left the boy's muted green as she vaguely heard the compartment door open and shut above the din filling the room.
"Ah, and here are my mates!" called a deep voice from behind her.
Lily felt like all teeth as she spun around, Matt breaking away from a casual conversation with some bird to do the same.
The compartment really did feel comparatively smaller, Lily thought, when Justin Lawley entered it. She'd always felt dwarfed by him, even when she got to know him and he'd been fourteen and she thirteen, but it seemed he'd still grown, impossibly, above his previous 6'5" stature over the summer.
He clapped a large hand against Matt's as they shook, Justin's voice filling the extra slivers of room in the stuffed compartment before he turned to her.
"Ah, Lily Potter, my girl," he rumbled through the noise of various conversations, the white of his smile creating a great contrast against the darkness of his skin. She rolled her eyes as he pulled her into his chest for a hug, feeling slightly like a small child as his muscular arms wrapped around her.
He took a step back, holding her shoulders an arm distance away as he bent slightly to give her a quick scan. "You're alright?" he questioned, dark eyes appraising, "Good condition? No one's bothering you? Ready for term? "
"I'm fine," she told him, eyes rolling, and she grabbed one of his wrists and lowered his arm, a smile involuntarily twitching on her mouth.
"Okay, okay," he stated with a grin, and she found it remarkable that she could still hear him above the chatter confined in the cramped space.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but his eyes focused in on someone behind her as they called, "Oi! You get that for me?"
Justin's teeth sparkled as he boomed, "Yeah," across the room, removing a bottle of what looked like butterbeer from his pocket and tossing it over her shoulder.
"Thanks!" yelled a sandy haired boy sitting on a bench, popping open the cap. He took a swig before handing it to a laughing girl next to him, whose legs were draped over his own.
Lily glanced away as Justin shook his head. "I know you're fine, Potter. Have to look out for you for your brothers though," he said with a simple shrug.
She lightly backhanded him on the arm before she responded, "As if I can't manage on my own."
He flashed a grin. "Aw, we all know that," he said with a chuckle, throwing an arm around her shoulder, turning her to face the compartment slightly. She rolled her eyes playfully as she leaned into him. Lily's gaze swept the room to find Matt having resumed conversation with the same blonde from before. She smirked and tried to fight down a sliver of irritation; he must have put on his charm today, she thought as she watched the girl's eyes squint as she clutched her stomach in laughter, Matt gesturing busily with his hands. Lily assumed she was a seventh year; she didn't recognize her and figured she was in another house.
She heard the compartment door slide again.
"Hey!" barked yet another voice from behind her, "Matt, Potter, Justin! Get over here!"
"Oh, here comes the big man," Justin mumbled in her ear. She laughed and they turned, Matt apparently having broken away as he stopped in step next to her.
Teague Canning stood in the corridor waiting for them with a smile, holding the hand of a girl who looked a little reluctant to be there. She, almost embarrassedly, tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, and Teague's arm was extended out to maintain their connection from where she stood a little off to the right.
Lily noted that he'd already managed to ensnare another one with those blue eyes. Before term even started, too. Must be a record.
"Sorry to break you guys away from your conversations, but I have some information for you," he began, eyes appraising them all.
"You lot are all trying out again, right?" he quickly asked, a hand momentarily lost in his dark curly hair.
Matt pulled a face, Justin just smiled and said, "Of course," and Lily rolled her eyes.
Teague chuckled. "Okay, I thought so. Just wanted to let you know that I'm having tryouts almost immediately for the team when we get to school," and his eyes took on that enthusiastic, almost crazed look that always appeared when he got really focused on Quidditch. "We need to find three outstanding players if we want another repeat and keep up our undefeated streak, and once we find them we need to be working together as if we'd played Quidditch with each other since birth.
"I owled Professor Longbottom over the summer-" here they rolled their eyes- "Oh, stop, don't mock me, don't you want to win? And we have the clear to have tryouts on the first Saturday of term, which is in three days after today."
"Teague, I think we all know our days of the week; we know when Saturday is," remarked Lily dryly.
He smiled a charming smile and then shot a grimace at her.
"Regardless, you better all be there on time. Seven in the morning or you'll all be running stadiums for the rest of your lives for trying to show me up," he said over groans.
"Really, mate?"
"Come on, on a Saturday morning?"
"I hate waking up early. You know I hate waking up early."
Teague only grinned. "Well that's it. See you then," he said with a wave, gently squeezing the girl's hand and started walking away from them down the corridor.
"Hey wait, you sitting with us, mate?" asked Justin, nodding his head back at the compartment as Teague turned.
"Ah, I don't think so," replied Teague with a quick wink. "I'm sitting with Patricia's friends, I think. They're in Hufflepuff," he said, nodding at the girl he held hands with. "Your compartment's a little too full for us, anyways."
"Oh, alright. You know there's always room for you if you change your mind."
"Alright," Teague called, and he continued on, Patricia following in his wake.
They three still stood facing the now empty corridor, the noise inside their compartment roaring dimly at their backs.
Matt smirked. "Sitting with her friends, my arse."
Justin chuckled, a grin flashing as he looked down at him. "Well, Teague has always seemed to have a way with our feminine counterparts."
"Yeah, no kidding," Matt said wistfully, gazing down the corridor.
Lily snorted.
"What?" Matt snapped as she broke his trance. "He can have any girl he wants."
"It's because he's Quidditch Captain," Justin reasoned.
"No, it's because he's a seventh year. You get girls too, and you're not Captain."
"Someone's a bit jealous," Lily interjected playfully. Justin laughed softly.
Matt sighed.
So did she. "Look, Matt, I don't know what you're on about. It's not like you've never had a girlfriend. And that blonde in there seemed pretty into you," she tried to help, but found it difficult when she couldn't even see why he was complaining.
He considered this. "True," he said, "but if he tried, he could have any girl."
Lily rolled her eyes. "You're fine. All the girls want you," she deadpanned, and Matt laughed.
Lily folded her arms, a little annoyed, and looked at Justin.
He held his hands up. "Hey, you don't need to tell me. I already know I'm devilishly handsome," he said with a cocky grin.
"Yeah, okay," she muttered, and turned to reenter the noise. She could feel them two following.
Upon their entry, Matt immediately sauntered over to rejoin with the previously mentioned blonde, who glanced up at him under long eyelashes as he made his way to her. Justin, who the whole room seemed to know personally, was called over by a group of students sitting by the window. He maneuvered his long legs through the throng of people squished in the small compartment to where he began an animated conversation.
She was standing in the doorway still, standing alone, and she briefly wondered if she looked like a fool. Eyes continued to make quick glances at her, and she redid her pony tail casually in an effort to look bored.
"Hey, Lily, sit here," came the voice of the green-eyed boy from earlier. She glanced up and located him sitting on one of the benches. He motioned to a tiny sliver of space next to him.
The kids around him looked interestedly from him to her.
She kept her gaze cool. With a smirk, she shrugged.
To his grin (with some hints of relief in it,) Lily made her way over, and her hips may or may not have swayed more than necessary.
Her brothers weren't here to chastise her anymore, anyways.
She stared lazily out of the square of a window into the night as she focused in and out of the conversation. They had exited the train minutes earlier to be ushered into the horseless carriages, and swept along with she, Matt, and Justin were two nervous looking third years boys who had apparently been shut out of another carriage due to "lack of space."
Justin's deep laugh broke out and filled the cabin warmly, and she amusedly glanced at the cause; one of the third years wore a relieved, yet pleased smile on his face. Lily was used to Justin's popularity; after being friends with him since they became teammates on the Quidditch team two years ago and she became accustomed to the way everyone seemed to want to be the recipient of one of his smiles or wanted a minute of his day. These third years would run back to their dormitories later to boast about how they got to spend the carriage ride with Justin Lawley.
She wasn't oblivious either; Lily, conscious of the shy glances shot at her from the two boys sitting opposite, figured that her name might come up later too. She was a Potter, after all, and all of the houses had seen her in Quidditch matches. She resumed looking out the window. She was a Potter, and all they cared for was her name.
His name was Stanley Ackerman, Stan for short. She was right: yes, he was in Ravenclaw, and yes, he had been in her Potions class last year.
She supposed he'd been nice. It hadn't necessarily been awkward when they'd sat close together, or when he'd slipped an arm around her waist, or when his lips had been at her ear. A bit unwanted, yes, but not awkward. She'd participated in the conversation with the others close by; her dry comments and the few stories she relayed had generated enthusiastic smiles and laughter.
She'd decided he was either too confident or too interested when she felt his breath hot on her neck, followed by the touch of his mouth under where her jaw met her neck. Leaning an infinitesimal bit away, she'd called out to Justin, asking if he wanted to search for the food trolley with her. As soon as he turned her way to answer, the hand had slipped from her waist. When they were in the corridor, she'd found Hugo, and she sent Justin back while she stayed to catch up.
She supposed he'd been nice enough. Just too interested.
"Potter," called a chortling Matt, bringing her back, "D'you remember when we charmed the hallway outside of Slytherin's common room pink last year?"
She broke her gaze with the upcoming Hogwarts castle to grin at him.
"How could I forget?"
"That was you?" said the other boy reverently, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Justin's smile widen.
"Yeah," she drawled, leaning back lazily, "We didn't even get caught."
They laughed appreciatively, and she noted their fast approach to the grounds as Matt launched into another one of their adventures. She felt like she could almost touch the castle and her stomach leapt with some sort of anticipation. She wanted to get her broomstick and fly; flying always took on a better quality when she was at Hogwarts.
Lily loved many things about Hogwarts. She loved the grounds, she loved the pitch, she loved playing Quidditch, she loved her friends, she loved being away from home, she loved flying, she loved freedom. She loved the castle, the kitchens, the secret passages, the pranks, and she loved how she belonged there.
The feast had lived up to its expectations. After the Sorting, and Professor Nottingham made his usual speech, she, Matt, Justin, and Teague had congregated at the end of the long Gryffindor table, heatedly discussing Quidditch.
The night ended, and as she filed through the portrait hole ("Petunia") she was swept in a sea of excited students. Lily was itching to fly, to sweep low across the grass and up in between the spires of the towers through the sweet September air.
She passed some of the students congregating near the fire and headed up the stairs to the sixth year girls' dormitory. Luckily, she found it empty, and went to claim the bed furthest from the door, and closest to the window. Her broomstick was lying next to it, and she smiled at it like an old friend.
Just as she was eyeing her broom with a certain fondness, the door opened loudly, and in came noise with them. There were four other girls in her year: Joanne Emerson, Sarah Kimberley, Natalie Reed, and Laura Chapman.
The four other girls walked into the room like they were from a poster, and they all looked liked they belonged together with catty, gossipy, sugary smiles as they glanced over at her.
"So," one, Natalie, began loudly, "I was catching up with Caleb after the feast," -here the girls giggled and Lily heard a "I bet you caught up, alright,"- "and he mentioned that he ran into John, you know, from Ravenclaw, and that he'd ran into Devin, who was in Justin Lawley's compartment at the train," –here were some fanciful "I wish"es- and here Lily's face soured, "and he told me something mighty peculiar about Stan."
"What," toned Laura flatly. Lily grimaced at the subject, but turned her head to smirk at the sound of Laura's displeasure.
"Hm," said Natalie, no doubt innocently twisting a strand of her long, straight brown hair, "I'm not completely sure. Something Lily would know more about, don't you think, Lily," she said, raising her voice more and looking pointedly at her.
Lily turned her head and rolled her eyes.
Laura's head whipped from Natalie, to Lily, and back again.
"They aren't- no, but- hold on a minute," Laura sputtered.
She couldn't do anything without anyone knowing, could she? She just really wanted to fly. She rolled her broomstick loosely between her palms.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Joanne looked at her shrewdly. Her blonde hair swayed as she tilted her head. "No, I heard something about that too. Only I thought he was interested in you, Laura," she said, looking back and forth between Lily and Laura.
Laura was positively fuming. Lily didn't care. She was annoyed, she didn't care, and she wanted to fly.
Lily got up, clutching her broom, and stalked past them to the door. They tutted as she brushed by them.
"Is it true?" snapped Natalie, her brown eyes flashing.
Lily turned from the door, exasperatedly. "What's true? I talked to Stan today on the train. That's all. You can have him, Laura, anyone, really. I don't care." It was as if the girls had cue cards to raise their eyebrows at exactly the same time. "Now, excuse me, I'm leaving. Don't touch my stuff."
She just wanted to fly.
Spotlight- Mute Math
(AN: please review. You have no idea how fulfilling reviews are to read. ALSO I am considering briefly changing perspectives sometime in the future. What do you think???)