Chapter 4

Lily's head was spinning. Maybe it was just a dream, maybe she was still asleep. She hoped she was still asleep and this was just a nightmare. A horribly vivid nightmare. She wanted that to be what it was. She knew it wasn't though. She knew that all the light had just left her world.

She sat beneath the tree by the lake, where they used to meet at night. Where they used to whisper 'I love you'. Where they used to talk about their pasts, thinking their futures were with each other.

Lily left as the tears fell harder. This place, this tree by this lake, held too many memories of Fred. She walked past the castle. She had no intention of going to class, she was a mess.

She came around to the back of the castle and stopped dead in her tracks. This place held even more memories than the lake. This is where they had their first fight, when Fred asked her to the Yule Ball. She ran into the castle, sobbing loudly, having no cares for anyone she disturbed. She bolted to the first floor bathroom, where Moaning Myrtle lived. She ran in and magically locked the door shut. She sat on the floor in the corner, curled up into a ball, shaking and crying.

"What did I do?" she asked no one, rocking herself slightly, "what did I do?"

"What did you do to who?" a soft voice said. Lily's head shot up and she saw Myrtle sitting in front of her.

"Hi, Myrtle." Lily whispered.

"Hello Lily," Myrtle replied, "what happened to you?"

"F-Fred...he broke up with me." Lily whimpered.

"Ooh, now why did he do that?" Myrtle drawled.

"I did something wrong. That must be it. It has to be," Lily said absentminded, "if I did something wrong, then I can fix it and he'll come back to me."

Fred had tears rolling down his face in steady lines as he walked to his dorm. He couldn't believe he just did that. Lily was the best thing that he could've ever had; she was beautiful, smart, and she was his. Now she's soon to be Mason's.

He walked into the dorm bathroom and clenched his hands tightly around the edges of the sink. Fred screamed in hurt and anger and thrust his fist at the mirror, shattering it into little jagged pieces. He took deep breaths to calm down, and looked at what was left of the mirror on the wall.

"Reparo." he muttered, swishing his wand. The pieces levitated off the floor and pieced themselves back together.

He sat on his bed, crying silently for what seemed like forever. When he heard the lunch signal, he got up to find Mason. He searched the corridors near the Great Hall and found him about to go into the lunch banquet. Fred pulled him aside roughly by his robes.

"It's done, Mason." Fred said, under his breath. Mason's face broke into a smile he wasn't even trying to hide.

"Brilliant." he said happily.

"Mason, I swear, if you hurt her, I will kill you." Fred threatened, but Mason's smile remained.

"Fred, I don't believe it's possible to hurt her more than you just did." Mason patted him on the back in a congratulatory way and walked into the hall.

Fred stepped into the hall and looked around. He didn't see Lily and became immediately worried. He was about to go look for her, to see if she was okay, when he remembered, he didn't really have that right anymore.

He sat next to George, and neither of them spoke to each other. George knew better than to try. Fred looked across at the spot where she usually sat. He imagined her smiling at him across the tables, picking at her pancakes and toast, giving him playful smiles in return for flirty winks. It'd barely been half a day and he was already struggling without her.

He wondered if she'd turned up to class, or ditched, like he did. He wanted to know how she was feeling. He wanted to know what she was doing, where she was, what was on her mind. He wanted to know what she usually told him, and he felt uneasy knowing he might never hear her tell him any of that again.

He wanted to run and find her, he wanted to explain everything, but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and assure her that it was all going to be fine, even though he knew it wasn't. He hadn't only lost the first and only girl he'd ever loved, he had lost more than that; his confidant, his partner in crime, his best friend.

Sure, he still had George, but it wasn't the same. Lily was his world. He would have done anything she asked him to do, and he still would.

Lily walked to one of the mirrors and wiped her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her hair was a mess. She took a deep breath and stared at her reflection.

"Don't be pathetic," she said to herself, "there's obviously a reason he broke up with me. I can fix it, I can make it better. Tomorrow me and Fred will be laughing, and kissing, and walking hand-in-hand again, and we will have completely forgotten about this. He loves me. He does."

She took one last deep breath and walked towards the great hall. She got there in the middle of the dinner banquet, and when she stepped in, all eyes turned to her. She caught Fred's gaze for a brief second, and she could swear she saw happiness and relief wash over him, before she looked away in hurt. She hurried over to the Slytherin table, and there were only two seats left. Next to Draco, where she usually sat, in Fred's direct eye-line, where they used to exchange flirty looks with one another from across the tables. The other, was next to Mason and she wasn't particularly fond of him, but it was better than having to face Fred at that moment. So she took her seat beside Mason, whose face lit up in surprise and delight at the sight of her.

"Lily, hi." he said happily, Lily attempted to smile in reply, "I, uh, I heard about you and Fred." he added faking sympathy.

"Wow, news really does travel fast." she said, taking a few waffles.

"Only good news." he said flashing what would usually be considered a charming smile.

"I'm not exactly seeing the bright side of the situation." she said sadly.

"Well, you're free now, and I was thinking, maybe we could have another go." he said hopefully.

"Fred still loves me, he told me so. I just need to find a way to fix whatever is wrong." she looked up at Mason and shrugged, "as long as he still loves me, I'm his."