Author's Notes: Here's Chapter 7. Thank you all so much for all the reviews. It made me smile. :] I know it's been a while since I updated, but I've been writing the whole time. I wrote about another 10,000 words or so? Most of it is for Lily's fifth year, but the next chapter is written so I'll post it as soon as I get… hmm let's say ten reviews on this chapter?
Bellibella: I'm sure some wizard must have tried eggs with ketchup as well. At least, that's what I'm gonna say! Haha. Sometimes my muggleness just slips in.
BlueBubble101: Thank you so so much! I hope you do stay with this fic until the end. Hopefully, by then, I'll have you loving Lily/Scorpius! Haha.
Sandra Starck: Thank you! Yes, James is two years old then Lily, and Al is only one. I tweaked the ages a teensy bit. Funny thing is, if you go back and look at everyone's birthdays, you'll find out some of them couldn't have been born then. =P Oops. Math never was my strong suit.
PassionatelyFeline: Thank you! First year is going to be one of the longer years in this story. Lots of things need to be set up. But don't worry, second year is going to go by really, really quickly!
Also thanks to merdarkandtwisty (she's reviewed every chapter, thank you!), HPgurll94, angelsea, gingerbelle, xoCAITox and mangotano101!
Chapter 7: Hogsmeade
As November became December, the castle became much colder. Students took to wearing their gloves and scarves in the hallway. Some of the older students even carried around conjured fire. Lily was like every other student; between classes, she wore her own pathetically knitted curved green scarf and Lorcan's red gloves—he had said he had another pair, and she could keep the red wool ones.
Lily continued along with her classes and her friends. Her best classes were clearly Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, followed closely by Potions and Astronomy. Unfortunately, she wasn't doing that well in History of Magic and Transfiguration. Fortunately, she had Lorcan and Emily. Along with Lily, they were the studious ones of their group. Lorcan was just as talented in Transfiguration as he was in Potions, and, somehow, Emily managed to stay awake through Professor Binns' droning when no one else could. When asked about it, she simply shrugged and replied, "I find history interesting."
Lily's main interest did not lay in schoolwork, however; she had spent her November waiting for the next Hogsmeade trip. She hadn't exactly told her friends what she was planning; she knew Emily would surely disapprove and Hugo would want to come with. Yet, somehow, they seemed to know she was planning something to do with Hogsmeade and Lily wasn't quite sure how. Only Al knew, and he was the one who could keep secrets, unlike Lily.
The Hogsmeade trip wasn't until the second weekend in December, giving the students one last visit to buy Christmas presents before the students left the following week, but Lily planned on buying her friends' presents at home; her mother had promised her a shopping trip for just the girls.
Lily's interest was held by something other than her revenge for one day: the Quidditch match. The weekend before Hogsmeade, Gryffindor was scheduled to face Ravenclaw in their first matches of the season. The match was heavily prepared for; because of Slytherin's heavy win over Hufflepuff, both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would be trying to capture as many points as possible before winning the game.
The week leading up to the match was filled with the malice usually saved for Slytherin games. Ravenclaw students catcalled and jeered at the Gryffindor players who retaliated with curses. James, who was on his second year of Quidditch and who lived for attention and fights, was in his element. He strutted through the hallways, girls giggling as he passed, cursing random Ravenclaws as he went. Rose, who had only made the team this year, was terrified. She wasn't used to the name-calling or the curses. One nasty hex caused her skin to be covered in painful, pulsating green boils; upon seeing her reflection, Rose made sure the Ravenclaw, a skinny sixth year not even on the team, severely regretted her curse. Both Rose and the girl had to go to the hospital wing. Rose was released almost immediately while the Ravenclaw girl refused to leave the hospital wing until all her hair grew back. Rose had entered the common room that night pale but smirking. Upon seeing Hugo sitting with the twins and Lily, she made a beeline for them.
"I don't think I can do this," Rose said immediately without any preamble, pushing her brother out of the chair and sitting down. "I'm absolutely dreadful."
"Rosie, come on," Lily said without even looking up from homework; she was used to Rose's freak outs before any big test or game. "You know you're great. Stop it already. Lorcan, what's the third property of asphodel?"
Rose smiled at Lily before glowering and whacking Hugo upside the head.
"What did you do that for?" He roared, rubbing the back of his head.
"Stupid prat, you're supposed to be my brother! Aren't you supposed to be telling me these things?"
"Fine," he grumbled. "You're great and have no need to worry. Happy now?"
"Happy? How can I be happy when I'm going to lose the game for everyone! You're not even playing my opposite better and Winchcombe is a dungbat." She glared at Hugo as she stood up. "You better get on the team next year, Hugo, or I'm gonna kill you!" With one last withering look and another whack upside Hugo's head for good measure, Rose flounced off to the girls dorm, leaving Hugo behind her to stare.
"What did I do wrong?" he asked, shaking his head. Lysander shrugged.
"S'not your fault you've got a crazy sister."
----
The six first years headed down to the stadium again; the twins and Emily were forced to come with.
"You have to come support your own house!" Olivia had cried, pestering them until they gave in. Currently, the three sullen Gryffindors were stomping their feet as they followed Hugo, Olivia and Lily into the stands and to their seats. Lily sat on the edge of the seat as Jesse began his introduction of the teams.
"Welcome to the match! Today we have Ravenclaw versus the most wonderful team ever, the Gyffindors," –the Slytherins and Ravenclaws booed loudly – "Introducing the Gryffindor team: we have James Potter, best friend of yours truly, Race Ashby, man is she—" There was a slight scuffling noise that blocked out whatever Race Ashby was as Professor McGonagall pulled the megaphone out of Jesse's hands and whacked him over the head with it. The audience roared with laughter as McGonagall unwillingly gave the megaphone back to him.
"--and Clint Jackson as Chasers!" Jesse continued as if nothing had happened. James waved at the people in the stands, looking calm as could be. Beside him was a small, pretty raven-haired girl and the big, bulky captain who had very little neck. "Next we have the Beaters, Everett Winchcombe and Rose Weasely! Wait, that's a girl's name. Can girls even play Beater?" Everett Winchcombe was a short, fat sixth year that looked like the broom wouldn't be able to support him. Rose was standing next to him, taller than him already despite the four-year age difference, and half his size. She glowered up at the box as Jesse commented on her gender.
"I bet Rosie just loved that!" Hugo said to Lily, snorting, as she responded with a giggle. Uncle George had made the mistake of once telling Rose she couldn't play Beater, that it was a boys' position. He swore his back was still bruised from the Bludger she whacked at him.
"And finally, Luke Plimpton as Seeker and Albus Potter as Keeper!"
Lily stood up screaming with the rest of the Gryffindors. Al alone looked perfectly calm, almost bored.
"Captains, shake hands," The wiry Ravenclaw looked pitiful next to the thick Gryffindor. "And they're off!"
The game quickly became dirty. Ten minutes in, the Ravenclaw beater charged at Rose, who had been pulverizing the Ravenclaw chasers, effectively stopping them from scoring, just as she was taking a swipe at the Bludger. He pulled his own bat back and swung hard, completely missing the Bludger and smashing into Rose's wrist. He was charged with a foul, despite his insistence that it was an "accident". James took the penalty shot and scored, bringing the score 100-40, but the Beater still achieved what he hoped for: Rose had to switch the bat into her left hand, hindering her performance.
James and Race were also targeted. Both were very thin and incredibly fast on their Firebolts. The Ravenclaw beaters had decided to double team Race, perhaps hoping that as a very petite girl, she would easily give up. They were very, very wrong. Despite being pounded over and over again by Bludgers, she held on to the Quaffle. She lay low on the broom, holding on tightly. James, on the other hand, was constantly fouling the Ravenclaw chasers, as they continuously suddenly placed themselves in front of James, forcing contact.
Albus was doing his part, though, and for the most part, did not let any goals in. He was performing some incredibly spectacular saves, including one where he nearly dove off his broom to reach the Quaffle, dangling at the tip of the broom by his feet.
Within forty-five minutes of playing, the score was 250-50, in Gryffindor's favor. Lily had never been so proud of her brothers in her life. She was extremely proud of the whole team, with the exception of one player: Luke Plymbton.
As she watched him play, she couldn't help but get annoyed with his performance.
"Come on!" She groaned, smacking her hand to her forehead. "The snitch just flew by him and he didn't even notice! Not like he'd be able to catch it, anyway; his flying skills are terrible."
"Yes, Lily, we know," Lysander said, turning the page of his book. "You've said that like six times now,"
She said it again as Luke took off after the snitch again. His patchy flying job was what surely cost him the snitch. If he had just taken the turn a little sharper and a little faster, the Ravenclaw seeker wouldn't have been able to pass him. But no one else but Lily seemed to be that annoyed with the Seeker, as even with the extra one hundred and fifty points, Gryffindor still won, 250-200, putting them in second place for the Cup behind the Slytherins.
"Just give it up already, Lils!" Olivia said as she stood cheering for the team. All the Gryffindors slowly emptied the stands. The first years were one of the last to leave. Albus came running up to them, still in his Quidditch robes, sweaty and dirty but a huge grin on his usually passive face.
"Guys, there's going to be a huge party in the common room tonight. James and Jesse are going to get the butterbeers now." He panted, bent in half, trying to catch his breath.
"Sweet!" Olivia and Hugo cried, pumping their fists, while Emily tried to look disapproving.
Al waved as he headed back towards the changing room while the six first years hurried back to the common room, excitedly discussing the upcoming party.
----
The party soon turned out not to be as fun as the first years expected. The room was crowded as they entered, everyone already mingling and chatting; someone had turned on a wireless radio and a group of sixth year girls were dancing and shaking their hips in the center of the room, giggling as the boys grinned and watched.
Once James and Jesse had entered to the roar of the crowd, holding bottles of butterbeer and sweets in their hands, the party really got started.
"How did you manage to get Firewhiskey?" Frank Longbottom asked, snatching the bottle out of Jesse's hands. "You guys are well underage."
"Aw, come on, Frankie," The boys frowned. "It's just a bit of fun!"
"I don't think so," he said coolly, as he vanished the bottle. He turned to the group of first years to his right. "And what are you guys doing here? First years, off to bed!"
"No, that's not fair!" Hugo cried. Olivia nodded vigorously.
"Bed!" He pointed to the stairs.
"Fine," Lily said coolly, standing up. "We'll have our own party. Come on, guys,"
And with that, she stood up, her spine rigid straight and marched into the first year boys dorm, the rest of her year following.
Once she entered, she realized that the two other boys in their year were still in the room.
"Oh. Do you guys mind if we hang out in here? Frank won't let us in the party," she said sullenly to Ben Harper, who was lying on his back in his bed, a magazine held above him. He sat up, the magazine dropping to the floor. Noel Byrne shook his head from his bed.
"No, not at all."
"Thanks."
They all piled in. Olivia and Hugo scuffled over who got to sit in Hugo's bed, with Olivia ultimately winning.
"It's my bed," Hugh grumbled.
"It's my seat," Olivia stuck her tongue out at him. Ben stood up and bowed to Emily, giving her his bed to sit, and sat down at the foot of the bed. Natalie and Grace, the two other girls from Lily's dorm, joined Noel on his bed. Lysander immediately went to his bed and Lily joined Lorcan on his.
"So," Ben said as the first years all glanced at each other. "What are we doing?"
"Having our own party, apparently," Grace scoffed.
"Let's play a game then," Lily said, flipping her hair over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at Grace.
"Truth or Dare?" Olivia suggested.
"How about spin the bottle?" Grace said. Natalie nodded. Olivia wrinkled her nose.
"Ew, no. Let's get in a circle," She replied, scrambling to the floor as the rest of the first years joined her, giggling nervously. "Okay, I'll go first. Hugo, truth or dare."
"Er, truth," he said nervously, glancing around.
"Coward," Olivia mumbled under her breath. "Fine. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?"
Immediately, Hugo turned bright red. "Well, two years ago, we went on vacation to Italy—" Lily immediately burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Sorry, sorry. Go on," She giggled. Hugo glared at her.
"Anyway. My mum's big and important at the Ministry, and we were having dinner with the Italian Minister of Magic at this big fancy restaurant, and I didn't feel good at all. So I excused myself but as I pulled out my chair, I hit the waiter right in the er, his um, private parts, and he dropped his tray right on my head."
Everyone laughed but Lily shushed them. "Wait, it gets better."
Hugh glared at her. "Thanks, Lily. Well, the tray cracks once it hits me in the head and already I'm feeling sick, and it just hurt so bad that I got sick… right into the lap of the minister!"
They all roared with laughter as Hugo grinned sheepishly, his ears bright red. "My turn? Grace, truth or dare."
"Truth."
"What's the biggest lie you've ever told?"
"How lame. I told my mom the cat broke her wand, not me, when I was five." She said coolly. Natalie and Ben laughed. Grace turned to face Emily was a hard look. "Emily, truth or dare,"
"Truth," She replied, returning the look back at Grace with just as much vengeance. It was strange, seeing the hard look on Emily's usually kind face.
"Aw, come on! You guys are so boring," Natalie pouted. Ben and Noel nodded.
'Fine," Em said coolly, "Dare,"
"I dare you to jinx your brother," Grace said immediately. Olivia opened her mouth to protest but Emily beat her to it.
"Is a body binding jinx fine?"
Grace nodded eagerly and Emily wasted no time in standing up, pulling out her wand, and sneaking out the door. Eagerly, the first rest of the first years followed. Olivia and Lily exchanged worried looks as they brought up the rear.
Emily tiptoed down the stairs and leaned over the banister, peeking out to find her brother. Frank had a drink in his hand and was speaking to Race, leaning in close to whisper something in her ear. She giggled in response and glanced around as Frank placed his hand on her waist. Hugo nudged Lily and pointed in the corner where James was scowling in Frank's direction, nursing a drink, before turning his attention back to a giggling third year blonde.
"Petrificus Totalus," Emily whispered over the banisters. The first years all giggled and shrieked, pushing one another trying to get back up the stairs but not before seeing Frank turn stock still and fall forward, crashing into Race and spilling his drink down her as she screamed. The other Gryffindors looked around confused. Someone issued the countercurse and Frank was repeatedly apologizing to Race, who face had gone from giggling to stone cold. James looked oddly smug in his corner.
---
Hogsmeade weekend was the first snow of the season. As the first years all hurried to bundle themselves up and run out into the snow for a snowball fight that was sure to go down in Hogwarts history as epic, Lily was curled up on the couch, reading a book.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Lily?" Hugo asked, frowning, his vivid hair sticking out from under his knitted hat.
"No," Lily said, coughing. "I told you, if I don't feel good already, I don't want to risk getting seriously sick by playing in the snow. Stop pouting, Hugh, there's gonna be another time."
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay here with you? I don't really fancy the cold and wet," Lorcan asked, fretting about her. Lily shook her head vigorously, probably too vigorously for a sick person.
"I'm just going to go up to bed," Lily stood, stretching, and gathered up her blanket. "Have fun guys,"
"Bye,"
"See ya later,"
"Feel better,"
"Don't get caught," Lily spun around to see Emily give her a disapproving look and Olivia wink as they disappeared out of the room.
Laughing, Lily ran up to her room, dropping off her blanket and tore off back down the stairs. The students had already left for the trip, and Lily had wanted to get in and out of Hogsmeade before anyone noticed her. She ran up the boys' stairs, and stopped at what she knew to be the third year dorm. Pushing the door open, she ran straight to her brother's trunk, which was thrown up and had half his stuff spilling out of it. With a quick search, she found the invisibility cloak and the map. She threw the cloak over herself, and pulled out the map, touching her wand to it as she whispered,
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good,"
The lines appeared showing Lily that Filch was in his office and McGonagall was in hers. She would have a clear path to the secret passageway. She silently crept out of James' room and out of the common room.
Hogwarts seemed empty. Surely all the first and second years were engaged in the snow war outside, which Lily saw out the window on the fourth floor. She paused long enough to see Hugo, easily recognized by his vivid hair, have a huge mound of snow that someone had been levitating over him drop onto him, burying him clear up to the armpits. Laughing, Lily continued, only coming across Filch's cat once before reaching the statue of the witch.
"Dissendium," she whispered, tapping the statue. It slid open, and she climbed in.
She walked through the long passageway with the invisibility cloak on. She knew it would lead to Honeydukes and frankly, she was too nervous to take the cloak off anyway. She walked for over an hour, her feet sore, her stomach grumbling as she had skipped breakfast as she faked being sick. She almost considered turning around when she saw the steps. Eagerly, she ran up them two at a time, paying the price for her eagerness when she ran straight into the ceiling.
Ow.
Rubbing her smarting head, Lily pushed open the trap door slowly, peeking out. The stock room was dark. Pulling herself free, she let the door drop back into the floor where it blended right in. Worried she wouldn't be able to find it when she needed to leave, she carved a miniscule X into the corner of the door with her wand. Racing up the stairs silently, she slipped into the crowded shop.
Her jaw dropped. She knew Honeydukes was supposed to be fantastic, but she never imagined anything like this. Shelves went all the way around the room and up to the ceiling, stuffed with candy and sweets. She wasted ten minutes just walking around the room, avoiding touching anyone, examining the sweets. She wanted so badly to buy some long lasting Fizzing Whizbees, but she had no way to pay. Frowning, she left the shop and headed out into the town.
The town was gorgeous covered in snow, exactly like a Christmas card. Lily hummed merrily as she crunched through the snow, heading towards Madame Puddifoot's. She knew James had a date today with a fourth year, Chessie Metuchen.
Entering the small shop, Lily was overwhelmed with the smell of perfume and coffee. Wrinkling her nose, she searched the couples seated around tiny poufs and tables, noticing that Race, while looking rather bored, was sitting with Frank, who was still apologizing profusely. James was in the corner, scowling and stirring his tea aggressively as he stared at Frank and Race. Chessie glanced around awkwardly. She was a pretty girl, with a round face and thick, dark curls that fell about it.
"So. . ." Lily heard her say, trying to get James's attention. He spared a glance for her, an ugly look on his face as he hurriedly gulped down some tea. Lily had a hard time not laughing as she pulled out her wand.
As soon as James' cup brushed the table, she whispered "Wingardium Leviosa,"
With a quick flick of her wand, the cup went crashing sideways, spilling its tea out and onto Chessie's lap, an idea she had gotten from Frank's incident last night.
"Oh, my god," she cried shrilly, standing up and grabbing napkins. James sat up straight, paying attention now, looking horrified.
"Chess, I'm so sorry, I don't know how it happened. I'm not usually a klutz, that's more like my sister." All of a sudden, James snapped to attention, looking about slowly through the room, a quizzical look on his face. Twice he searched the room before he shook his head. Gulping and feeling slightly guilty, Lily turned her attention to Frank. Performing a tricky hair-growing jinx she read about in the library, she watched, silently laughing as Frank's ear and nose hair slowly begin to grow.
"Uh, Frank?" Race said, her eyebrows disappearing so far up her forehead that her bangs covered them completely.
"Yes?"
"Never mind," she said, smiling sweetly, propping her elbow on the table and leaning her head on her hand. Frank reached up and scratched at his neck where his ear hair was now tickling.
"What the…?" His fingers tangled in the hair and pulled. He shrieked shrilly like a girl, before jumping, muttering a hasty excuse and running to the bathroom. Race kept a straight face until he was gone before smirking. She stood up and sauntered over to James, who was still cleaning up the mess of tea.
"You know, James, that wasn't very nice of you," she leaned over and whispered in his ear, which automatically turned bright red.
"It was an accident. I'm cleaning it up!" He replied hastily, adding more napkins to the mess. Race, puzzled, looked down at Chessie covered in tea, raised her eyebrows at James, and turned around and left without another word. Chessie stood up as well.
"Thanks for the tea," she said coldly, before following Race out of the tinkling door. James slumped in his seat. Frank flopped himself down in the opposite chair Chess had just been occupying, his ear and nose hair now gone.
"Bad date?" He asked, his cheeks faintly red.
James just glared.
----
Lily practically skipped the whole way back to Honeydukes, giggling. Her revenge was successful. She had gotten in, ruined James' date, and was on her way out without even being noticed. She reached her invisible hand out for the door into the candy shop when it suddenly flew open, whacking right into her and knocking her to the ground, the cloak flapping around her ankles. Hastily, she yanked it back down and glanced up to see that had knocked her over. It was Scorpius and the friend he was always with. The door had ricocheted right back into them and the two stared quizzically behind the door. Lily froze. The invisibility cloak had pulled up far enough when she fell to display her trainers to the world, but she had thought she covered herself quick enough,
"What do you think is wrong with the door?" His friend said, examining the door. Scorpius, however, was staring at the snow where Lily sat. She was almost sure he could see her sitting there, soaking wet in the freezing snow, despite knowing that she was still invisible, at the moment.
"No idea," he replied dryly. "C'mon, Newt, let's grab a butterbeer,"
The two walked off, an odd smirk on Scorpius' face. Lily let out the breath she had been holding. Sneaking into the store, she hurried down the stairs and into the secret passageway, erasing the x in the trapdoor with her wand. Her escape hadn't gone exactly as planned, but still, she would arrive back to the castle unharmed and, most importantly, not caught.
Slipping out of the witch's back, she hurriedly stuffed the Invisibility cloak into her pocket with the map and dropped to the corridor floor. There was a loud screech and Lily jumped back, her shoulder slamming into the statue hard. She had jumped to the floor and landed on Filch's calico cat. Horrorstruck, she set of towards her dormitory, shivering and dripping for the wet snow. She had taken just a few steps when someone called after her.
"Stop right there, missy!" Argus Filch, the ancient caretaker of Hogwarts, was hobbling along as fast as he could. His cat was purring at the statue. He ran up and glanced at the statue and then to Lily. "What are you doing here?"
"Walking. Is that banned now?" She asked coolly, crossing her arms over her chest. Filch looked at the statue again.
"In this corridor?"
"Clearly," she replied dryly. He scowled nastily at her.
"Oh, if only it was allowed, you could use a good whipping. You got a nasty streak in you, I can tell. Get back to your common room!"
Dismissed, Lily scampered away, glancing back to see Filch examining the statue closely.
James was back in the common room and he seemed to be in a foul mood; he was complaining loudly to Rose about how someone, Lily didn't catch the name, jinxed him as he met up with Chessie to apologize so that leeks grew out of his ear. Snorting back her laughter, Lily told her friends what exactly her revenge was. Olivia and Hugo roared with laughter. She apologized to Emily for jinxing her brother but she merely waved her off.
"He can be a git sometimes, don't worry about it," she said, without even looking up from her book. "You're just lucky you didn't get caught. Filch was right to guess that the statue was a secret passage."
---
On Tuesday, Lily was late for Charms and she hated being late, especially for her favorite class. She was late for the worst reason, too. Professor McGonagall had held her back to discuss her skills, or lack thereof, in Transfiguration. Lily didn't get the point. She had a high A but Professor McGonagall expected an E from her. Lily glowered as she rushed around the corner and ran, not even noticing the figure leaning against the wall.
"Meow," Lily froze and turned around. She had run right past Scorpius without even noticing. He was smirking, his arms crossed against his buttoned shirt and perfectly straight tie. Lily stared at it; how did he get it so straight and even? It didn't even have a single crease. "Afternoon, Potter. Running a little late?"
"Yes," she said breathlessly. "McGonagall held me back."
Scorpius raised his eyebrow. "In trouble, again?"
"No. McGonagall just refuses to accept my acceptable grade!" She fumed.
"That's McGonagall. Last year, she-- how did you put it? – refused to accept it when I accidently turned my partner into a teacup instead of my turtle." Lily giggled and Scorpius' smile widened. "Honest, it was just an accident. That woman is so touchy."
The door next to Scorpius opened and the tall, gangly boy from Hogsmeade exited. He had long, elegant black hair tied back in a short ponytail, slanted green eyes and a wide nose. "Score, Slughorn's ready for you," He stopped short when he saw Lily. "Aha! And who is this?"
"I'm Lily Potter," Lily smiled shyly at him. He bowed deeply, grabbing her hand and kissing it.
"What a pleasure it is to meet a lovely lady!" Scorpius rolled his eyes as Lily giggled and blushed. "I am Sir Newton Flint of Brighton and Hove." He winked and leaned down closer to Lily. "But you can call me Newt."
"Nice to meet you, Newt. But I've really got to go. I'm really late for Charms now." She turned around and headed down the corridor, waving back at them both. "Bye, Newt. Malfoy,"
And she disappeared around the corner.
Author's Note: Ten pages for the long time it took me to update. And remember, the next update is in your hands! Ten reviews and then it's up. :] Thanks!