Chapter Two:
Harriet's - Professor Matthews' - words were flying around my head for the rest of the evening. Professor MacPhersonis said her traditional start-of-term speech - which in my opinion was far too long, as usual - and then the Sorting. It began with, 'Abbell, Sophie', a little girl with hair blacker than I could have possibly imagined. I noticed that Charlie Duntrot was Sorted into Gryffindor. I tuned most of it out, chatting quietly to Aphelia. By the time she was telling me about her summer in Egypt, it had progressed down to, 'Sayth, Madras'. Then I heard Professor Hippelby call out, "Scamander, Lorcan!"
I saw the little blonde boy walk up to the stool lightly, almost as if he were walking on air. He sat down, and waited for the hat to call out his house. And waited. And waited. After five minutes everyone resumed their conversations, bored of watching a hatstall.
"Ravenclaw!" the hat called at last, interrupting the many conversations students had struck up during the seven minutes Lorcan had been sitting there. When Lysander walked up, many people groaned, anticipating that this twin would be yet another hatstall. However, the moment the hat touched Lysander's head it cried out, "Gryffindor!" The footsteps of Lysander taking his seat were drowned by the roars from the Gryffindor table. I saw Lysander take a seat near Sophie Abbell and Charlie.
"Strange those twins aren't in the same house," Aphelia commented, cutting a piece of chicken. I raised my eyebrows.
"Not really. Their only similarity is that they're as weird as each other," I rolled my eyes. I tapped Lissy on the shoulder. She turned, her voluminous curly strawberry blonde hair bouncing around.
"Do you know what Harriet Matthews said to me?" I said.
"Professor Matthews, remember," she corrected me.
"Whatever. She said I didn't deserve to be in Gryffindor! How rude is that?" I said, incredulously.
"It's very rude," Lissy murmured.
"I know! And she's totally wrong, isn't she? I mean, I completely deserve to be in Gryffindor!" I exclaimed, turning to brush a strand of hair off my shoulder. When I turned back, Lissy had started eating again.
"Lissy?" I asked, surprised.
"Mm?" she mumbled, her mouth full of bread and butter.
"I deserve to be in Gryffindor, right?" I asked, my voice hard. Lissy nodded.
"Yep, you do," she said, before helping herself to some grapes.
I felt someone slid down next to me. Turning, I saw Agnes settling into the seat beside me.
"Lily, I was told to give you this, but I can't tell you who it's from! He's totally cute though!" she giggled. I looked down at her hand, which she was extending towards me. In her palm was a yellow rose. I picked it up, careful to avoid the thorns. Freshly picked, but no note.
"Thanks, Agnes," I muttered, placing the rose behind my plate. "Hey, I deserve to be in Gryffindor, right?"
Agnes paused. The silence grew a bit too long, then she pretended to check her watch. "Oops, I forgot! I'm meeting somebody in five minutes! Bye, bye!" she squeaked, hurrying away. Harsh.
"I can't believe this!" I exclaimed.
"Can't believe what?" Aphelia piped up, leaning across the table.
"Nobody thinks I deserve to be in Gryffindor!" I exclaimed.
"That's not true," Lissy mumbled, unable to speak properly due to the grapes in her mouth.
"You think I should be a Gryffindor, Aphelia, right?" I practically demanded.
Aphelia bit her lip."...Lily, maybe we should step outside for a moment," she suggested, quietly. My eyebrows shot so far up in my head that I'm fairly certain they disappeared into my hairline. Aphelia rose gracefully, so I followed her. I felt a little tap on my back just as I passed the end of the Gryffindor table. Turning around, I saw Lorcan standing behind me, blushing furiously.
"Lily, someone told me to give you this," he mumbled, stuffing something into my hand before hurrying away. Oh, crap. Another yellow rose.
"Lily!" I heard Aphelia hiss, gesturing out of the hall. I quickly went after her.
"So? Why does nobody think I should be in Gryffindor?" I demanded, the moment we were out of the rest of the students' earshot.
Aphelia looked...I don't really know. Anxious? Guilty? Nervous?
"The thing is, Lily," she began, the paused. I shoved her lightly on the shoulder.
"Oh, just tell me!" I hissed. Aphelia rolled her eyes.
"Well, everyone, when they hear your name, they...they think you're going to be this heroine, like your parents. When everyone - some people, not everyone!" she hastily interjected, "when some people get to know you they think, well...that you're the kind of girl that dates a lot of guys. A lot of guys," she mumbled.
I tried to shrug. "So? Loads girls date a lot of guys. Why does it make me any different?" I asked.
Aphelia looked down. "Well, it's like...they see you as a teenage girl, with a...loud personality, and they think you're boy crazy, and appearance obsessed...I don't think that! You know I don't!" she hissed, her eyes pleading.
"Really?" I said sarcastically. Aphelia bit her lip.
"Well, maybe a little bit, but..."
I shook my head, smiling for some strange reason. "I don't believe this. I cannot believe I'm hearing this. You only just thought to tell me now?"
Aphelia winced. "We thought you knew what people thought about you! I mean, it's not like they matter, or anything..." she trailed off after seeing the look in my eyes. I sighed.
"How can I fix it?" I muttered. Aphelia shrugged.
"I don't know. Focus on schoolwork, maybe a bit less make-up, get a steady boyfriend..."
"But that sounds boring!" I wined, interrupting her. "And how will it make people see me as a Gryffindor?"
Aphelia opened her mouth to answer, then stopped. I realised there was someone behind me.
"Potter, how divine to be in such a...noble presence," I heard somebody say. I laughed, quietly.
"Parkinson!" I turned around to greet the unwelcome face Sharon Parkinson, "How sublime to be honoured with your delectable company," I simpered, mimicking her ridiculously posh voice. Sharon glared at me. I saw Caroline Zabini and Laticia Lypicious lurking behind her.
"Lets cut the niceties, Potter. We both know your reputation at this school is on a vertical drop, and I'm not going to pretend I didn't just overhear your enchanting conversation with Miss Clarke."
I smiled sarcastically. "You say my reputation's on a vertical drop? You never even had a reputation to begin with - apart from being a heinous cow, of course."
Sharon laughed. "If that were true, Potter, then how would I have Kej, and you got dumped?"
"Shut up, Parkinson!" Aphelia cried. "As if Lily wasn't going to break up with him then anyway!"
Sharon raised her eyebrows, smiling. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" she drawled.
"Well, yeah, because it's true," I said, thankful for Aphelia's lie.
"Why would you ever want to break up with such a sweetheart?" Parkinson asked, her cruel smile never faltering. "Why, just this morning he gave me this charming emerald pendant necklace!"
With a jerk, I noticed the small, pear-shaped emerald lying on Parkinson's chest. That's mine. It went missing a month ago when Kej came over for Sunday Lunch. It belongs to me. I didn't let my dismay show, however.
"Oh, that little thing! Kej gave it to me for my birthday last year," I paused to admire the look of horror on Sharon Parkinson's face. "He said it would go with my hair," I added, smiling, tossing a lock of my dark red hair over my shoulder. Then I took a step forward, dropping my little fake smile.
"Do you want to know why I was going to break up with Kej?" I hissed. Sharon smiled.
"I'm all ears. We all know you have bad taste, Potter," she spat.
I narrowed my eyes. "Your little boyfriend? You want to know a secret about him?" I hissed. I then leant in and whispered something in Sharon's ear. I then stepped back as quickly as possible, unable to be at such close proximity to such a cow.
"You want to give him back that necklace now, or later?" I simpered, before stalking away, Aphelia following me after showing Sharon just how rude she could make her fingers look.
"Ciao!" I called over my shoulder, mimicking Sharon's voice again. I heard Laticia mutter something degrading about me, comparing me to a certain breed of dog.
"Yeah, Lily?" Aphelia muttered, just as we returned to the Great Hall. "While I totally admire you standing up to Parkinson like that, it is kind of what we were just talking about. You know, trying to get rid of your bad reputation?"
I rolled my eyes. "How will bending over backwards to make Parkinson and that lot happy make me a worthy Gryffindor? That's all I want, Lia! I just want people to stop thinking I don't deserve to be in Gryffindor! Is that too much to ask?" I said. Aphelia paused,
"Well, when you put it that way...you sure you don't want me to go back there and punch her in the face?" Aphelia grinned. I laughed.
"Well..." I smiled, however when Aphelia turned to go back out of the Great Hall I grabbed her arm tightly.
"No, no! I was kidding!" I cried, knowing how hard Aphelia could hit when she wanted. "Maybe later," I added though, smirking. It is kind of creepy how happy Aphelia looks about how she might punch someone in the near future...I should probably take her to anger management...I heard someone cough loudly behind me. I turned, and suddenly behind me stood Robert Edgecombe, a Ravenclaw boy in my year. In his hand was a yellow rose. I looked up at him, and smirked.
"So, I'm guessing either you're delivering that, or..." I trailed off. Robert grinned.
"Want to step outside for a second?" he asked. I shrugged, ignoring the groan Aphelia emitted, and turned to walk back the way Aphelia and I came a moment ago. Robert led me to a quieter part of the building. Agnes is right, he is cute. To me, though, he'll always be the person who set his hair on fire in Charms. That was the only time I'd seen anyone with hair redder than mine.
"Do you want to go out sometime?" he said, quietly. I looked over my shoulder, ensuring we were in a Sharon Parkinson-free part of Hogwarts.
"What makes you think I'm available?" I asked, smiling. It was the smile that every single boy I'd dated - or every boy who'd wanted to date me, for that matter - get this look in their eyes. I knew the look well. It was longing.
Robert stopped smiling, and became serious. "Lily, I've liked you for a long time. Really, this isn't just some crush. I really like you, and I wanted to ask you out before, but you were always with someone else. I promise I won't hurt you in any way. I just want..." he trailed off. I smiled - my real smile this time. No boy had ever been this sweet. The first time I met Robert, in my first year, he'd been so shy towards me. I'd gotten a Valentines card from him that year. He had never told me in so many words it was from him, but after extensive searching with Felicity - who'd had been my absolute best friend at the time - through all the boys in our years' handwriting, we'd worked out it was him. That was when Valentines was a novelty to me. Last year I got seven, not one from a person I'd ever spoken to. Besides, I was with Kej then. Sort of.
"What do you just want?" I whispered. Robert looked into my eyes. He blushed.
"It's really cheesy," he muttered.
"I like cheesy," I replied, smiling up at him - I was about a head shorter than him.
Robert blushed even harder. "I just want to kiss you, even if it's just once, even if it doesn't last a second. I just want to kiss you," he whispered. I smiled, genuinely meaning it. Robert was being so nice. I'd almost forgotten what it was like for boys to be so nice. The only other boys I knew who were this nice to me were Aaron, Hugo and David. We still all had a good laugh whenever we talked to each other, even though we couldn't hang out so much anymore. It was easy to forget how nice it was when a guy was really sweet to you.
Robert was waiting for my reply. Instead of trying to find some words to string together, I stood up on tiptoe, so I was level with him, and whispered, "Your wish is my command."
Robert smiled, and then leant in to kiss me. His lips were warm against mine, and I felt his arm go around my back, pressing me into him. I moved my hands to rest lightly on his chest, my finger just barely touching the tops of his robes.
I remembered Aphelia telling me how I could rehabilitate my image. Focus on schoolwork, maybe a bit less make-up, get a steady boyfriend...I had all year to focus on work. I'd wear less make-up tomorrow. But I could get a steady boyfriend now...
Stage one, get a steady boyfriend.
Well, stage one in progress.