Two Tables Difference

When Scorpius and Lily reached the Great Hall the room fell silent. The few teachers in the room also looked up, curious to see what the cause for the sudden stillness in the room was. Scorpius glanced at Lily and he could see her clenching her jaw as she looked around the room. In the time that they had been in the small music room, word had spread around Hogwarts of the fight between the cousins. Fights had always happened between the houses so in that sense it was nothing new. However, fights like this, not so much. People couldn't believe that the two cousins had turned on each other so quickly. The kind of bond that Hugo and Lily had shared shouldn't have broken over a quarrel such as this.

As Lily began to move towards the Slytherin table with Scorpius following closely behind her, she could feel the eyes following her. From the corner of her eye she noticed James starting to stand despite the rest of her cousins' attempts to pull him down to the bench again. He was tall and stood out in the hall without having to stand on a bench. He stood with his hands clenched by his sides glaring at Lily. In a cold loud voice James began to speak, 'What the hell do you think you're playing at?'

Lily knew that he was speaking to her yet kept on walking. James realising she was ignoring him tried again to get her attention. 'I said, what the hell do you think you're playing at, Lily Luna Potter?' At the mention of her full name Lily turned to face him and stood very still. She stared back at him and in a strong voice said, 'I'm not playing at anything James Sirius Potter.'

'Like hell you're not. You were a complete bitch to Hugo today; you had no right to say any of those things to him.'

Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing, 'Excuse me?'

'You had no reason to say those things, you started a fight just for the sake of it and that is unacceptable, I'm not going to let you mess with anyone in my house, especially not my cousin.'

At his words Lily became angry. 'No reason? What planet have you been living on these past few days? You all stopped speaking to me! You just ignored me as soon as I sat down on that table. Two tables difference and that's all it takes for you to block someone out. Do you not realise how shallow that is James? I had every right to say those things to Hugo, everything I said to him was the truth. It's not my problem if he can't handle it. '

'This had nothing to do with handling the truth, Hugo is not a coward!' James yelled. Hugo was staring at the table refusing to catch Lily's eye.

'Yes he is! You are all cowards, every single one of you. You are all living under this impression that since our parents didn't get on with Slytherins you can't either. For Merlin's sake guys can you not see that this is pathetic? You can't even make your own choices about who you want to be friends with!'

'You have no idea what you are talking about.' James said in a dangerous tone.

'Yes I do!' Lily yelled. 'You iced me out because I now wear green instead of red. I haven't changed as a person at all, that's the sad thing. I am the same person as who I was one week ago, but you just don't see that. None of you do. Or if you do, you're not brave enough to admit it. You call yourselves Gryffindors, the brave ones but you're all just pathetic. You disgust me. '

'You know what Lily, you disgust me. I mean for Merlin's sake you hang around with a Malfoy now. I mean what the hell is wrong with you. You've heard Dad talk about the war and now you just go and befriend the son of Dads school time rival? You have no idea who he is and now you just go prancing around the school with him and the rest of the snakes like nothing is wrong! You don't even see how much of a fool you're acting like now.'

'I don't give a dam about who Dad disliked at school. Scorpius is not his father. I am not Dad! Tell me when the hell did Dad tell us to dislike Slytherins?'

James answered quickly, 'he didn't have to tell us! It should have been implied through everything he told us about what he went through! You know, you say you haven't changed yet the sister I knew last week would never have said those things.'

Lily paused for a moment before replying in a cold tone to match her brothers, 'Well I guess you really didn't know me that well. I'm a Slytherin at heart so maybe if you had known me better, we wouldn't be in this situation now.'

At this James said a cutting remark 'Well I guess that's a good thing, I can't imagine spending time with a dark witch would be a good thing.' Lily turned her face to look at James and she could see the venom in her eyes. 'Who knows maybe you would've put my under the imperius curse by accident, Slytherin at heart and all that.'

Lily couldn't believe that her own brother would say that she was capable of using an unforgiveable just because she was in Slytherin. In the still room Lily's voice carried clearly, 'Not every Slytherin is evil just like not every Gryffindor is good. You're proof for this one James.'

'How dare you say that to your own brother?' Albus said getting to his feet next to James.

'I dare because it's true. You're no better than him Albus, you ignored me as well so whatever I said to him, yeah – that applies to you too.'

'If Mum and Dad could hear what you are saying they would be so ashamed of you.' Albus told Lily.

'What, you don't think they'd be ashamed of you turning your back on your little sister?'

'No, I think they'd side with us here. Not even having a daughter in Slytherin could change their minds about that house; you're a disappointment and an embarrassment to them.' James said glaring at Lily.

'You're dumber than I thought if you think Mum and Dad won't accept me. Well, we'll see about this when we get home.' Lily said trying to stop the hurt from sounding in her voice. She knew that what the boys were saying could be true. All she could do was hope that they tolerated her at best.

'If we let you come home snake.' James said in a dangerous tone.

'You can't stop me from coming home James.' Lily said in a tired voice.

Albus and James exchanged glances before James spoke again, 'I will not share a house with a snake.'

Without another word Lily turned and finally sat down at the Slytherin table. The atmosphere in the room was tense but slowly people began to pick up their old conversations or gossip about what had just been said. The Slytherin table remained fairly quiet, everyone looking towards Lily to see how she was holding up. Henry broke the silence in Lily's group eventually,

'Lil, you know, your brother is a dick. Like I know I never got on with him before, but I never realised how much of a prick he really is.'

Lily laughed quietly, 'Honestly, I guess I was just as blind as you.'

'Does he really think that your parents will just turn their back as well?' Henry asked Lily as she began to butter a piece of bread on her plate. Lily thought for a moment and after taking a bite said, 'He might be right.'

Scorpius in an attempt to comfort her said in a quiet voice 'they won't do that Lily, don't worry.'

At Lily's still uncertain face Henry joined in again, 'Lil, you Dad is Harry Potter. He isn't going to disown you; he's like the best guy around.'

'That's the thing, he's Harry Potter, enemy of Slytherin. He would have every reason to.'

There was an awkward pause for a moment; no one seemed to know what to say to console her. At this point, Fay spoke up, 'Lily, your Dad put a lot of Slytherins in Askaban years ago. He was the enemy of many Slytherins, but that was a long time ago. Attitudes changed after the war, your Dad won't hate you, you just need to stay strong and everything will get better.'

Lily thought this through and then looking at her plate in a small voice said, 'but what if it doesn't Fay? What if my family all turn against me? You heard James, I'm a disappointment to them. What if they throw me out?'

Scorpius put a gentle hand on her shoulder causing Lily to look at him. 'Even if all that happens, we'll still be here for you. You are not a disappointment. The hat placed you where you were meant to be, if they can't accept you for who you really are then your family don't deserve the honour of your company.'

Lily seemed to accept this and the meal continued, though she stayed fairly quiet throughout.

Aaron spoke up near the end of the meal, 'Hey Lil, you know what would really piss your brothers off?'

Lily looked up curiously from her plate, 'What?'

With a grin Aaron replied, 'If you made the quidditch team and then we went and annihilated them in the match against Gryffindor.'

'I thought you were joking when you said that before, but now I'm all up for it.'

Lily said with a grin.

Everyone laughed and Aaron and Scorpius who had been sat on either side of her proceeded to reach under her arms and lift her up from her place on the bench. With a smirk Scorpius said, let's go then Potter, trails start in 10 minutes!'

'Ladies get your butts up in the air before I make you do 15 laps!' Luke the tall six year boy bellowed. Lily was the only girl daring to try out for a position on the Slytherin team this year; in fact Lily was the only girl who had tried out in a long time for the time. Scorpius had laughed so much when he had seen the captains face when Lily walked onto the pitch in shorts and a long sleeved top beside Aaron and Scorpius. He agreed to let Lily try out when Aaron, someone who never joked when it came to Quidditch assured him it was a serious try out. Fay and Rissa were sitting up in the stands along with Nate, Josh and Henry waiting to cheer on Aaron, Scorpius and Lily.

There weren't very many people trying out for the team. Most of the house seemed pretty aware that six members of the team from last year had stayed on so their positions were almost guaranteed. Scorpius and Aaron played Chasers on the team with their trio being complete with fourth year boy Toby. Luke was the keeper and fifth year boys Alex and Callum were the beaters. The seeker position had been left open and there were four people going up for the spot including Lily.

Seeker trials had been left for last. By this point all the boys from last year's team had defended their places on the team. They all stood by the sideline waiting to see who would win the final place.

Luke walked up to the seekers and told them how the trials would take place. 'Alright, listen up, I'm going to split you into pairs, release the snitch and it's a competition for who is first to catch the snitch out of each pair, in the final match, it's winner versus winner, got it?'

They all nodded in agreement. Lily was up against a fifth year boy who was easily twice her size. When Luke released the snitch she knew she had to get in fast and use her size to her advantage. It took Lily 45 seconds before she caught the snitch. In the other match the second year boy won the snitch after 15 minutes of searching.

When the snitch was released the final time Lily flew high and took up a spot in line with the halfway line. She began to swivel her head and search for the snitch. She saw a flash of gold near the ground and began a fast nose dive catching the snitch a metre before the ground. She pulled up sharply and then slowly levelled her broom out before coming to a halt back next to Luke.

Luke called everyone over and in a loud voice said, 'Well I think it's clear that Lily just killed all of you boys for the seeker spot. So get off my pitch for now and practice and maybe I'll see you again next year.'

There were some grumbles from the three boys about a girl making the team instead but Luke said sharply,' she beat you fairly; it's not my fault if a girl can outfly you. Spend less time complaining and more time becoming a better flyer.' He turned to Lily as the miserable boys trekked off the field,' well that was impressive.'

Lily blushed slightly at the compliment s Luke continued, 'So training will be four times a week for two hours. We take quidditch here seriously and if you want to get back at your brothers, I'm sure you will too. Now go get showered while I talk to the rest of the boys and I'll see you for practice tomorrow evening after dinner.'

Lily with a wave to the rest of the team grabbed her broom and began to walk up to the changing rooms. To her dismay they were communal. She sighed and thought to herself this could be interesting! She hoped the boys wouldn't make things too awkward with her being the only girl on the team.

Little did Lily know that whilst she was in the changing room Luke was talking to the other boys about her. 'Okay listen up lads, we have a first year girl on our team and you need to respect her. She is eleven years old and is still extremely innocent; I will not stand for any disrespectful behavior towards her because of her age or gender. I will also not have any of you corrupting her. It is our duty to look after her; she is the key to winning this year. You either get behind her or you get the hell off the team – got it?'

The boys all nodded. Luke continued 'When you strut around that changing room, Aaron I'm talking to you when I say strut, I expect underwear on as a minimum and Merlin knows we don't want to terrify her. You will also give her all the privacy she wants and I expect of you. Any disregard for what I have said and I swear I will make your life hell.'

The boys all grinned knowing Luke would follow through with whatever he had said if they did anything to Lily. As they started to walk off the pitch Luke said 'Someone knock and make sure she isn't changing before you all storm in and terrify her!'

As they reached the changing room, the Gryffindors were heading out for their trials. In a loud voice Luke yelled over, 'Oi Potter, we've got your sister now so you better watch it.' James knowing how skilled a seeker his sister was began to clench his jaw just as Lily had done in the Great Hall. Scorpius couldn't help but laugh quickly at the sibling's similarities in physical mannerisms yet how far apart they were in their ways of thinking.

Hope you're still enjoying the story, let me know what you think. Every review helps x