Six months ago…
"Imagine yourself locked up in a cell"
Professor Luna Longbottom pointed at each of the drapes in turn as she walked gracefully from the door to the black-board, shutting them off one by one. The class was one of the smallest in the entire school, as not much students took up Alchemy. Since there had been no electives last year, both the sixth and seventh graders who had opted for this subject were in this class together. There were only a handful of students, most of whom were in Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
Unbeknownst to all, crouched in a dark corner were two second years. Lily, having grown with Hermione throughout her pre-Hogwarts life, was so much like her, as much as Rose was not. Lily was naturally smart, a trait inherited from her Mother and Grandmother, and was eager to learn, as adapted from Hermione. She also had a knack for danger, as inherited from her entire heritage, hence was always in restricted areas, physically or legally. This was one such mild occasion.
Hugo, her best friend, had naturally seen this as a good idea yet again, and was crouched in a corner alongside her. Usually these were followed by a trip to Hagrid's hut, as an attempt to ease guilt, and those were always to look forward to.
But the problem was that Lily had picked Professor Longbottom's class this time. The other Longbottom would have been fun. He'd have seen this as funny even. This one wasn't strict or always cross, but she scared Hugo a little. She scared him because Lily had always been attached to her, and had always believed what she said.
Lily was hanging on to Professor's words like her life depended on it. The boring parts of these escapades, such as listening, were her job . His job was to make sure nothing happened to her, even if he gets caught in the process. So Hugo took out his Vanishing Parchment and Instant Quill, and started writing to James.
What's going on?
Vanishing Parchment and Instant Quill were two of James' and Fred's inventions, among millions of others. The trick was that Install Quill only worked on Vanishing Parchment and vice versa. So even if the Parchment got caught, it wouldn't reveal anything unless there's an Instant Quill to check its properties. If a regular quill was used, the Vanishing Parchment would act like any other regular parchment. The Quill works the same way, when written on regular parchment. The beauty of this invention was that no wand-magic could unveil its secrets or contents. Only certain words can.
The words Hugo wrote on the Parchment vanished, only to be replaced by another set of words merely seconds later.
Just locked Rose and McLaggen in the broom cupboard. She's threatening to blast it open.
Hugo had to stifle a laugh before writing down the reply.
Too bad Malfoy isn't around. Or you could have petrified him right outside the door and left.
The reply came faster than expected.
Not bad kid. You do me proud.
He tucked the Parchment inside his robes, smiling to himself, and turned his attention to Lily's notes. Lily was not the only one like Hermione, despite how much Hugo tried to be like James.
"Now imagine the entire prison, filled with cells like yours. Imagine what everyone is like in isolation, when their bodies are too tired and minds are too weary to occupy themselves anymore. All the prisoners could do is wait for the time to pass. In that isolation, all they're aware of is the passing of time. This is enough to drive any man insane. Why, have you ever wondered, that might be? What is it about the awareness of time passing that is so terrible?"
She halted her deliberate meandering at the blackboard, and turned towards the windows at the back of the class, to gaze at the summer morning, as if what she is about to say was deep and depressing.
"We never truly understand the depth of the words we say. Words are just ends to some means. We are trying to impress, dominate, manipulate or draw attention with words, nothing more. If you pay attention to the world around you, you would notice that the loudest and most talkative people are the most ignorant"
Hugo and Lily snickered silently at the irony of this statement. The smartest person in the entirety of wizarding England, who incidentally was Hugo's mother, was one of the chattiest people they knew, and on the other hand, the loudest person they knew happened to be Hugo's father, Ron, who didn't quite dominate the brains department with his wife.
"Now we come back to the question. What is it about time passing that is so terrible? Look at the words carefully"
She turned to the blackboard and wrote the question in her slow rhythmic manner.
What is it about the awareness of time passing that is so terrible?
Then she underlined the two words time passing
"There is a vast difference between passing and passing by. If something has passed by, you can go back to it, or if someone passes by you, you can recall them. Controversially, when something passes, it is truly lost to the world.
"When a person is isolated in a cell, weary and tired to occupy themselves, they're forced to acknowledge the passing of time. They are forced to witness time dying.
"There is a basic principle that governs the universe: Balance. The universe cannot handle definite creation and definite destruction, because it would upset the balance. Therefore, the basic mechanisms of the universe are cyclic. Everything is an endless cycle, nothing is created and nothing is destroyed.
"That is why history keeps repeating itself. Wars will never stop, but neither will peace be fully destroyed, just as chivalry isn't exactly dead. But time… That is an entirely different story."
Just then, the bell rang, bringing the entire class out of trance. Lily and Hugo remained hidden while the rest of the students collected their books and left the class. It was evident to the two kids by the look on everyone's faces that they were awed by Mrs. Longbottom's class, and they looked surprised by this fact as well. Once all the students were out of the class, followed by Mrs. Longbottom, Hugo and Lily sprinted out of the class and all the way across the corridor to the stairway.
"That was…" Lily began to comment once they were safely on their way to the common room.
"I know! That was simply amazing! First I thought the class was going to be about metals and potions. But, blimey!" Hugo blurted out, excited.
"I wasn't exactly expecting anything as such, though. Do you remember what your mom said? It's a science of-"
"Consciousness" Hugo finished the sentence for her. "Yes I do remember. But mom hardly ever makes sense. We usually assume its bullocks"
"Maybe you should consider the fact that you lot is too daft to understand her. How she ever ended up with Uncle Ron, I'd never understand" Lily was shaking her head in mock amusement.
"Something about love numbing the brain" Hugo said with a nonchalant shrug, as they rounded the corridor in front of the Common Room.
"Yeah well, I'd never find out anyway. My father will hear about this"
The Fat Lady swung backwards, without glancing away from her book, at the mention of the password.
"My father will hear about this" Hugo snickered, "Damn that Fred really cracks me up"
Fred was this year's House captain, while James was Head Boy. (James had been the Quidditch captain last year, and this year it was Skyler Wood. The Head Girl of the year was Amber Dolohov.) The muse for the password had been quite an interesting incident that had taken place the previous year. After losing yet another Quidditch game against Albus, Scorpius had tried to hex Albus while his back was turned to him. Seeing this on time, James had transfigured Scorpius into a white mouse, who had been hunted by the school owls for the most part of the day, until his House captain Blaine Flint had brought Headmistress McGonagall to transfigure him back. At this point, Scorpius had screamed "My father will hear about this" over and over again to any non-Slytherin around him, all day long. Most of the student population, being related to either the DA or the Order, had started mocking him about this instantly, as they had heard so much about how Scorpius's father Draco had acted the same.
"Fred and James" Lily said affectionately, shaking her head, "They are up to something today. I really don't want to miss it"
"Oh yeah they were trying to lock Rose and McLaggen in the broom cupboard. I suggested they petrify Malfoy in front of the doors and disappear, as Rose was threatening to blast the doors open"
Lily fell onto a couch in the corner of the common room, laughing, while Huge fell in next to her. Fred and James were regarded to be the reincarnation of Fred and George (even though Uncle George was still alive), but the older generation always compared them to James and Sirius. They always had something up their sleeves to crack the entire school with laughter, and this always involved using a Slytherin as the subject of the joke.
Not that anyone complained. Hogwarts was packed with children of ex-Death Eaters, the Order and the DA. An incident involving the two parties took place at least once a week.
"Should we go see what's happening?" Hug asked nonchalantly. Lily got to her excited, pulling Hugo to his feet as well.
"Thought you'd never ask!"
They ran down corridor after corridor, Hugo leading the way with Lily closely at his feet. They rounded the final corridor and slowed their pace, coming to a sudden halt in front of the broom cupboard. They both tiptoed carefully, so as not to make a noise, and pressed their ears at the doors. Without any warning whatsoever, the doors swung open and Lily and Hugo both fell inside the cupboard…
At McLaggen's feet, who had Rose pressed onto the wall.
Snogging.
Hugo remained transfixed on the spot as Lily ran out the door. She ran all the way to the end of the corridor and bumped into Fred, James and Nick Jordon.
"Whoa! Watch it Lils" James steadied his little sister, "What's the matter?" James asked concerned, as he saw the look on Lily's face.
"Rosie… and McLaggen… In the broom cupboard… Sn-Snogging!"
Fred and Nick burst into laughter while James looked horrified.
"Oh man, Rosie is sooooo dead!" Fred exclaimed, in between choked laughter.
"It's not that bad, is it?" Lily asked James hopefully.
"Oh my sweet sister. If you were caught snogging Malfoy" (Lily made gagging noises at this) "Mom and Dad would flip out, but they would only be mad at you. But Rosie snogging McLaggen is going to rile up Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron against each other as well"
"Why, exactly?" Lily asked, confused.
This threw Fred and Nick into another fit on laughter. Containing his amusement with the greatest difficulty, James replied;
"Gabriel McLaggen is not just the son of Cormac McLaggen. He is the son of Cormac McLaggen and Lavender Brown"