Chapter 13

Lily spent the entire walk back to the dorm trying to erase any sign that she'd been crying. It didn't help that she was still crying when she got there.

She walked hastily into the dorm. She ignored Leigh, Tina and Cassidy asking how it went. She jumped in her bed and pulled the covers over her head. She felt someone sit at the end of her bed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cass asked pulling the blanket off her. Lily sat up with tear-filled eyes.

"What happened?" Leigh sat next to her and put an arm around her.

"We got into a fight," Lily sobbed, "he asked me to the ball, and I said I didn't want people to know. Now he thinks I think he's not good bloody enough for me,"

"Oh, sweetie," Leigh pulled her into a hug and Lily cried into her shoulder, "it'll be okay, he loves you,"

"I love him too," she whispered through tears.

"Tomorrow he'll forget all about it," Tina said.

"Thanks guys, but I just wanna go to sleep," the girls nodded and got into their own beds. Lily rolled over to face the wall and silently cried herself to sleep.

The next day wasn't better.

At breakfast, Fred didn't even glance at her once. Usually, their meals were full of cheeky looks from across the tables, but not today. Today, Lily looked at Fred, inside, begging for him to look back, but he didn't. He just ate his food. Lily barely ate. She was too upset.

There was a wave of excitement as owls came in from all windows. Time for the post. Lily spotted her mother's owl among the craziness. There were happy gasps from students, a few howlers going off, annoyed moans and disappointed groans.

The owl for Lily had a big rectangular shaped box covered in brown paper. The owl put it down and flew away. It was addressed from Lily's mother. Lily dismissed the gift and went back to hacking at her food.

"Why aren't you opening it?" Tina asked, pushing the box in front of her.

"Because I know what's in there," she replied glumly. Tina shrugged and unwrapped the brown paper. It was a white box with a purple ribbon tied around it. Tina lifted the lid slowly and gasped in awe.

"Lil, it's beautiful!"

Lily looked over at it, it was what she thought. A dress for the ball.

'I'm such a bloody fucking dickhead!' Fred thought as he avoided Lily's eyes and stuffed his mouth with food, 'of course I'm not good enough for her! As a friend yeah, but as a boyfriend? How could I even think she'd give up her popularity for a chance to hold my hand in public? You fucking moron Fred,"

He finished the last of his oats, and left the hall hastily. He just wanted to get out of there. Away from Lily. Away from the temptation of looking at her. Away from the temptation of wanting what he could never have.

He headed into the library to study. He needed something extremely boring to drown out all the Lily-centred thoughts in his mind. And it worked. For a while at least. Until she walked in.

She walked into the library, her raven hair flowing. Fred just wanted to go and run his hands through it. But of course, he couldn't. He looked up and their eyes met. He was momentarily mesmerized by her glittering green eyes. Lily looked down and walked over to a bookshelf. Fred turned back to his book.

He heard a quiet thud at the other end of the table. He looked across to see Lily return with a large book, which he suspected to be a random selection, as it was titled 'Magical and Mesmerising Plants: A Guide to Gardening' and Fred knew for a fact that Lily had no interest whatsoever in gardening. Her hair fell in front of her face as she leant down to read. Fred's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the stunning girl he once called his.

He wanted, no, he needed to get over her. What better way to get over someone than to get someone new, right?

Wrong.

He looked over at Angelina, who had her nose in a book. Lily followed his gaze and upon realising who he was looking at, she felt a tinge of sickness in the pit of her stomach.

Fred stood up and walked over to Angelina. Lily thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest.

"Hey," he said to her.

"Oh, hi Fred," her eyes lit up at the sight of him.

"Look um, do you wanna go to the ball with me?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied coolly, but a giddy smile crept onto her face.

Fred looked back at Lily, who had witnessed the whole thing. She was white as a ghost. A wave of sorrow came over Fred. He regretted it already. He couldn't believe he'd just done that.

Lily felt as though she was going to be sick. Literally. She just watched the boy she loved ask out the girl she despises. There was a lump in her throat. Her voice was gone. She couldn't talk even if she wanted to.

She left the library. She heard Fred call her name but she needed to get out of there before everyone saw her crying.

She went to the back of Hogwarts, their main rendezvous spot. She leaned against a tree and let the tears fall. She felt no use in trying to stop because it wouldn't work. She felt like someone had just crucio-ed her, then ripped out her still beating heart and threw it in the mud as she watched.

She cried for what seemed like hours. It had only been around 20 minutes, when she heard a velvety voice.

"I knew I'd find you here," she spun around to look at Fred, "Lily I'm sor-"

"DON'T!" She cried, "don't say anything Fred. Just go,"

"No," he said, his eyes finding hers.

"Just leave Fred!" they stood there in silence for a minute, before yet another person walked up behind Lily. She wiped the last few tears from her face and peeked behind her shoulder.

"Brady, hey," she said. Fred's blood started to boil.

"Hey Lil, have you been crying?" he sounded genuinely concerned, but they both knew he wasn't.

"I, uh, I'm not feeling too well is all," she said.

"Look, Hankins you kinda interrupted something," Fred said in agitation.

"No he didn't," she shot Fred a glare that sent chills through his entire body, "what is it Brady?"

"Well, I just wanted to have one more go at asking you to the ball, I mean, what's stopping you?" a smile was playing on his lips as he held out his hand. Lily looked back at Fred, whose eyes were begging her to say no.

"Nothing," she looked back at Brady and took his outstretched hand in hers, "nothing at all."