1968
Lily was now very adventurous; it was a trait Lavender said John helped develop. Lily would spend her days after school in the clearing that she found with Elle.
Lily and Elle loved the woods; it was quiet, peaceful and tranquil. The perfect place to share their love of reading. After exploring the woods with her Dad she had found this beautiful clearing. It was large enough for them to sit comfortably with the high rising trees providing shelter from the blistering sunlight or rain. It also had the river passing through which was deep enough for Lily and Elle to go swimming on very hot days or dip their feet.
Today was one of those days. Lily had taken a bag from home early in the morning, her favourite books and some food and met Elle in the clearing who had done the same. The blistering sun made its way through the greenish gloom as Lily and Elle wiggled their feet in the cold water.
"How was your book?" asked Elle.
"It was good." Said Lily, "I really liked the ending." Lily's eyes looked around at the trees above her.
"Do you reckon I could climb that tree?" asked Lily. Elle joined her in looking up.
"Maybe?" she said indifferently. Before she could add anything Lily got to her feet and walked over towards a tree. She inspected the branches with a keen eye and hoisted herself onto the branch. With a grunt she climbed higher, and higher.
"I think that's high enough Lily." Called Elle. Lily wasn't listening. She could feel the warm wind on her cheeks as she moved across effortlessly from branch to branch. She sat down on a branch and looked down at Elle who looked like a tiny ant.
"Told you I could." Shouted Lily sticking her tongue out in a playful way.
"Try getting down." Shouted back Elle. Very good point. Lily stood back up and made her way down. She didn't notice one of the branches fracturing. Lily jumped down from the low branch onto the earthy floor.
SNAP
Lily and Elle looked up as one of the branches Lily had been standing on snapped and fell. Elle screamed as it hurtled towards Lily.
She closed her eye and held her hand arm up to protect her…but…it never hit.
"Lily?" Lily gingerly opened her eyes. The branch…it was…floating. Lily stood up and looked at the branch with wonder. Elle walked closer and did the same. Lily prodded the branch, it stayed where it was.
"What did you do?" asked Elle.
"I…don't know." Said Lily prodding it again with her finger. Again it didn't budge. Suddenly it fell to the floor with a crunch. The sudden development made them both backtrack.
"That was weird." Said Lily.
"Really." Said Elle picking up the branch. She threw it up in the air, but it just fell to the ground. They both looked at each other with an uneasy stare.
The Marauders Proudly Present Lily Evans In: The Marauders Year One
Chapter Three
Protego
Written By Chambers10
Lily had been feeling a little uneasy lately, after the stick incident and her landing like feather in the park more strange things began to happen. Subtle things but still unnerving to her all the same. When she dropped her pen in class once it did the same as the stick. It hovered in mid-air before falling to the floor.
Lily blinked before picking it up quickly, looking round to make sure no one else had seen it before going back to her work. When she was with Petunia in the park she jumped of the swings again. And again, she would land gracefully on the tarmac, she did it for two reasons, one, it annoyed Petunia no end but also because it was exciting. She was sure Petunia told mum what she did.
With this new…magic, she was excited to see how far it could go. Lily was helping her mother cook. The glorious summer sun shining through into the kitchen as they giggled. Lily liked helping her out, she did this for two reasons. One, she was always first in line for dinner. And two, she wanted to learn.
"How are yours getting on?" Lavender looked into the oven to inspect the fairy cakes they were making.
"Their looking good young lady, you'll be teaching me some tricks at this rate." Lily grinned and sneakily tasted some of the cake mixture she was mixing. Petunia was at a friend's house and her Dad was working. Which meant Lily and Lavender had spent the entire day cooking. Breakfast, homemade croissants, mid-morning was making homemade brownies followed by lunch and now fairy cakes.
"That makes six batches." Said Lavender taking them out of the oven. "Be funny making up the icing."
"What batches have we got?" asked Lily.
"Normal, chocolate, coffee, strawberry, and vanilla." Said Lavender, "Plus that's the…"
"Banana." Said Lily, she placed the bowl down. "I don't know how where going to eat them all."
"Don't worry." Said Lavender, "Your father always been good at eating my cakes, plus your granddads quite apt at it as well."
"He likes mine." Said Lily.
"I know," Lavender looked up, "Lily mind the bowl!" Lily turned and knocked the bowl full of mixture. Lily went to catch it. The bowl stopped…but her hands weren't round it. It was levitating in-between her hands. Lavender watched astonished as did Lily. Lily took a deep breath and clasped the bowl and picked it up.
"Lily?" Lily looked over at her mum. "Did you do that?"
"I've…I've done it before." Said Lily timidly, "But not on purpose." She added quickly.
"With what?" Asked Lavender.
"My pen, some books." Said Lily, getting the knot in her stomach which said she'd done something wrong.
"But it doesn't always happen." Said Lily, "Sometimes it just…does it on its own." Lavender nodded. "It's like…magic." Lavender turned back to Lily.
"There's no such thing Lily." Said Lavender. Lily nodded.
"I know, but…" Lily looked up again, "What else can it be?"
"Don't ever do it on purpose ok." Said Lavender.
"…ok." Said Lily quietly, going back to mixing the cake batter.
"So, how long can you make it float for?" asked Elle. Lily looked around nervously, the boys were too busy playing football to pay them any attention, just so long as they kept the score of the game. Lily took her maths book out of her bag and concentrated.
The book slowly began to rise from Lily's palm and into the air. They both looked at it gently wobble before it fell back into Lily's hand.
"That's amazing." Said Elle as Lily placed the book away. "How can you do it?" Lily shrugged.
"I don't know." She said quietly. "But it's cool, like when I jump off the swings." She laughed.
"I can't wait to scare my sister with that again."
"Does she tell your mum about that?" Lily went quiet.
"If she does my mum doesn't tell me." She said. "But, I wonder what else I can do with this. This is only just the beginning."
"What a goal!"
Lily and Elle both turned round to see a group of boys celebrating a goal.
"That's one for The Blades." Said Lily, she leaned over and placed a mark in a small note pad they kept the scores in. The Blades Vs The Owls.
"Uh oh, Wendy's coming over." Said Elle, Lily looked over and saw a group of girls coming over towards them.
One girl In Lily's year, Wendy Hawkins, she was taller than most of the girls and had long blonde hair she wore into a pony tail. Lily had overheard some of boys saying they thought she was pretty, but Lily didn't see it personally. Wendy didn't really like Lily or Elle, but then again none of the girls Lily had talked too had ever shown any signs of friendship. But against her better judgement she always kept the door open.
"What do you reckon she's doing here?" asked Lily.
"Beats me." Said Elle, "She's always trying to copy that woman from the films."
"Audrey Hepburn?"
"No, Uhm…Marilyn something or other."
The boys as well stopped playing football to see them walking over towards them. They bypassed Lily and Elle and started to talk to the boys. Lily and Elle looked on curiously, wandering what was going on.
"So what are you guys doing?" asked Wendy.
"Playing football." Said Kobe with a raised eyebrow. "Like we always do."
"Oh, right." She said giggling. "So…do you need someone to keep score for you?"
"Oh no, no, we have Lily and Elle to do that for us." Said Joel pointing over to where Lily and Elle were sitting.
"Did he just point at us?" asked Elle.
"I think he did." Said Lily.
"Why do they do it?" asked Wendy forcefully.
"They don't mind doing it?" said Kobe. "And they never complained before."
"But there strange." Said Wendy, "Why would you want them doing that? I bet they don't even know the score?"
"Lily?" Lily pretended to perk her head up to show he was listening.
"Yeah?"
"What's the score?" Lily consulted the note book.
"15-9." Said Lily.
"I think she has it under control." Said Kobe. Wendy narrowed her eyes at Lily and then stalked off.
"What was that all about?" asked Elle.
"I don't know."
"That explains it."
Lily, who was sitting by the sidelines of the pitch watching her dad play, turned to see who was speaking to her. What greeted her was Kobe walking towards her.
"Kobe?" asked Lily a little confused. "What are you doing here."
"Same as you I expect." He said sitting down next to her. "Watching my dad play."
"What did you mean by that explains it?" asked Lily.
"Why you like football." Said Kobe.
"Well I don't like it." said Lily. "I…put up with it."
"Oh…ok?" said Kobe. "Sooo what do you like?" Lily's brow crinkled as she turned to face him.
"Why do you want to know?" asked Lily. Kobe shrugged.
"I just do. Lily, nobody knows anything about you."
"So why are you taking an interest now?" asked Lily. "We've been in the same class for four years."
"Well I just do." Said Kobe. "Come on Lily, where friends." Lily raised an eyebrow.
"Are we?"
"I think so." Said Kobe. "Why shouldn't we be?" Lily laughed and shook her head lightly.
"Ok, you got me there." She said. "Alright…I like to read."
"I know that to." Said Kobe, "You read books by the truck load. Come on, something different."
"Ok…I like baking." Said Lily. "What about you?"
"I like drawing." Said Kobe. They sat in silence for a while. The final whistle went not long after and the men walked off the pitch. Lily got her stuff together to go and wait for her dad.
"Well it was nice to see you Kobe." She said placing her satchel over her shoulder. "I guess I'll see you on Monday." Lily turned away.
"Wait!" Lily looked over her shoulder.
"Do you fancy a kick a about?" he asked. Lily looked towards the club house and then back at Kobe.
"I really shouldn't, I need to wait for my dad."
"So do I." said Kobe. "Come on, it'll be fun." Lily looked at Kobe and back towards the clubhouse, would her dad mind her playing with a boy. Well he was the one saying she needed to be more adventurous and do things she wouldn't normally do.
"Uhm. Ok." Said Lily placing the satchel down. "But you have to go in goal."
"Fair enough." Said Kobe retrieving his football from behind his back. "After you." He followed Lily onto the pitch and went into the goal. He threw the ball to her.
The ball dropped onto the floor and Lily controlled it perfectly, like the many times her dad had shown her.
"You ready?" He asked. Lily grinned and went to run at Kobe with the ball at her feet. She was good. Not the best, but at least the ball didn't go a million feet in front of her when she dribbled the ball.
She looked up and took a shot. Though her dribbling was good, her shooting was awful. Kobe laughed as the ball sailed gratefully into his hands. Lily huffed.
"Yeah, I can't shoot that well." Said Lily.
"Well I can teach you." said Kobe, she walked out of the goal. "It's because you shoot with your toes." Said Kobe. "Try here." He pointed to his laces.
"And put some temper into your shots." Said Kobe throwing the ball back to her. Lily controlled it, knocked it to the side with the outside of her left foot and rifled the ball. Kobe couldn't get there in time and it sailed into the net. Lily shouted in delight, jumped up in the air with arms above her head.
"See!" said Kobe getting the ball. "The laces."
"Did you see that?" asked Lily, "I knocked it like this." She repeated the movement. "And BOOM!" she jumped up smiling mirthfully.
"I did." Said Kobe, "That was a great shot."
Though Lily didn't realise it, she and Kobe where being watched. Wendy looked at them and narrowed her eyes at the pair as they laughed. How could they bond over something as stupid as football? She needed a way to get Lily out of the way. She turned back to look at them, but it was going to be difficult.
"You want to split them up?"
Wendy turned round to see Petunia Evans leaning against the club house. "Because I could help you with that."
"Why do you care?" asked Wendy folding her arms across her chest, "She's your sister."
"Doesn't mean I like her." said Petunia. "She's just an over achiever." Wendy looked down at the floor and then back up at the elder Evans sister.
"Yeah, I want her out." Petunia smirked.
"All right, I'm going to call on you when the time is right, and I'll show you something that's going to make her and outcast." Wendy looked back at Kobe and Lily laughing with each other. This was going to be sweet.
"So why exactly are you dragging me through here?" asked Wendy as herself and Petunia walked through the forest.
"If you could do something freaky you wouldn't do it in public, would you?"
"What do you mean…freaky stuff?" asked Wendy.
"Heh, you'll see." Said Petunia. They got to the entrance of the clearing; Petunia shushed Wendy and leads her to the left to a tree.
"Ok, now, we climb." The two girls climbed up the tree and walked along the branches till they could see inside the clearing.
"What are we doing here?" whispered Wendy. "There just reading."
"Patience." Said Petunia, "She'll do it."
"Do what?" asked Wendy, "You haven't told me what it is she does."
"It's difficult to explain." Said Petunia not looking at her. "You see why when she does it." Wendy huffed but continued to watch them read and talk at regular intervals.
"So, how are things going with you and Kobe?" asked Elle.
"What?"
"Don't act all surprised, I think he likes you Lily."
"No he doesn't." said Lily, "He's…just being friendly, he's like that with everyone." Wendy gripped the branch she was holding onto tightly.
"Hey, want to see this." Lily picked up a flower from the forest floor. Wendy watched curiously as Lily held the flower in her palm, Elle moved in closer and watched with the same enthusiasm as Wendy.
Lily concentrated on the floor, it suddenly then sprang into life. The petals on the outside started pulsate, opening and closing of their own accord. Wendy was too shocked to say anything, she watched entranced as the flower began to pulsate in different patterns.
"Wow, that's so cool." Said Elle.
"I think you've seen what you've wanted to see." Said Petunia turning round and leading a shell shocked Wendy from the clearing. When Petunia was sure they'd put enough distance between them and the clearing she turned round.
"So, told you they were weird." She said. It took a few seconds for Wendy to reply.
"What…what is she?" she asked, "She…she made that flower move by itself."
"She can make things float to." Said Petunia. "And strangely some of my stuff to."
"Can you do that?" Petunia narrowed her eyes.
"Sorry?" she asked curtly, almost giving Wendy a chance to retract the question.
"You know, that stuff, you are sisters after all?"
"You'd think so, wouldn't you." she said. "But alas, no, I can't do any of that…freaky, stuff. I guess that's what she is now. A freak."
"Why are you doing this to her?" asked Wendy, "I know why I am, but I don't see why you are?"
"Well." Said Petunia, "I'll put it to you like this. I'm tired of my sister being better than me in pretty much everything. The only thing I've got going for me, is that she's as shy as they come. But, recently she's being coming more and more out of her shell. This is my way of making sure she stays that little reclusive self."
"But why involve me?"
"Well think of it this way. Could you really survive being queen bee if my sister becomes more confident, she's smarter than you, better looking than you, and has the boys eating out of her hand. It's in your best interests to make this happen, because if the whole village finds out what she is, and they will find out, then she's going to crumble and sulk away, leaving you in charge."
Petunia roughly banged her finger into Wendy's chest. "Now, you're to make sure all the other girls see this and that the rumour spreads. Our contact is over." With that Petunia turned round and walked out of the wood.
"Is that her?"
"Yeah, she's the one." Lily turned her head to the sound of the conversation. But when she did the two girls where now trying their best not to look at her. Lily frowned uneasily and looked away from them and continued to walk to school. Were they talking about her? Why would they talking about her, she didn't do anything.
Lily walked through the gates to her school and again, it looked like people were looking at here, spying on her and talking about her. Almost like there were a hundred pairs staring at her but she couldn't see one.
Lily quickly made her way through to the playground to the bench that she and Elle usually sat on.
"Yeah, she can make things float in the air."
Lily snapped her head round to the source of the noise. The two girls that had said it now scurried away from Lily's gaze. A cold shiver ran down her spine, had people seen her levitate her book. No, they couldn't off, the only time she did it was in her room or the clearing, and no one in school knew about the clearing. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her.
The bell went for the start of the day and Lily made her way inside she looked again gingerly over her shoulder as she walked through the open door.
Lily was sitting on her own, on the bench watching football. She looked over at Kobe who was watching her, Lily waved, Kobe waved back while going red and then went back to the football.
"Hey! You!" Lily turned her head. Wendy Hawkins, she was the same size as Lily, but with blonde hair and more tanned skin than hers.
"What do you want Wendy?" asked Lily.
"Why do you hang out with the boys?" she asked, two of her friends flanked her, Lily shuffled nervously in her seat.
"There nice to me." Said Lily.
"No there not." Said Wendy. "They pity you."
"They do not." Said Lily,
"Why else would they let you hang out with them." Said Wendy smirking.
"They don't pity me." Said Lily. "They like me."
"They all think you're a freak." Said Wendy. Lily blinked.
"A…what?"
"A freak!" repeated Wendy, "That's what your sister says anyway." Lily froze, her sister.
"What about my sister?" asked Lily, her voice slightly broken?
"She says you do all this weird stuff." Said Wendy, "You can make things float in the air." Lily froze. How did Wendy know about that, no one knew about that.
"Is that, normal?" asked Wendy.
"But…you can't." Lily turned red, "No one knows about that."
"Well the whole village knows now." said Wendy. "You're a weirdo." She pushed Lily to the ground. Lily cried out as she hit the concrete, tears burning her eyes.
"Go! No one wants you here, you freak!" Lily got up quickly, gathered her things and ran. Tears now falling freely down her cheeks.
Lily went into a sort of trance for the rest of the day. But she could see people look at her then look away when Lily made eye contact. It seemed like everyone knew now. Everywhere she looked people where whispering and pointing at her. The bell to go home came round very quickly.
Lily gathered her stuff, and avoiding all eye contact with anyone she ran home. Tears she had fought back since lunch time were now stinging her face as she raced through the streets. She opened her front door and scampered up the stairs before slamming it shut.
She threw her bag on the floor, kicked off her shoes and threw herself down onto the bed, she picked up her blanket and cried into her pillow.
"And the main bypass is clogged up, so many of the traffic is diverting into Cokeworth and going round. But the local authority is urging all HGV's to remain on the motorway as Cokeworth is unsuitable. In other traffic news."
"Well thank good no one's come down here." Said Lavender to herself. She heard the door open. She turned round to see a blur of red hair run through at break neck speed. Lily shot up the stairs and Lavender heard her door slam. She got up and went upstairs. She could hear Lily crying in her room. Lavender opened the door and almost tripped up on Lily's shoes and bag.
Lily was buried face first into her pillow, her shoulders moving up and down to the sound of her crying. Lavender walked over and sat down on the bed.
"Go away!"
"No Lily." said Lavender. "What happened?"
"I hate Tuney!" shouted Lily into her pillow.
"No you don't."
"Yes I do!" said Lily, "Everyone at school thinks I'm a freak!"
"A wha..? Lily?" Lavender turned Lily over. Lily sat on her bed while hugging her blanket, her usual bright green eyes where sad, red round the edges, and desolate.
"Why do people think you're a freak?" asked Lavender, "And how is it Petunia's fault?" Lily hugged her blanket more tightly.
"She told everyone what me and Elle do in the woods." Said Lily.
"And…what do you do in the woods?"
Lily got a book from her bedside table. She concentrated and the book started to float mid-air. Lavender gasped in amazement. Lily's concentration broke and it fell on the bed between them. Lavender looked at Lily amazed.
"So…"
"Petunia told them what I can do." Said Lily now looking out the window. "And now they think I'm a freak." The door closed downstairs.
"Petunia, get in here." Said Lavender loudly. A minute later, Petunia entered the room. Lily couldn't help but glare at her as she entered.
"Would you care to tell me why your sister has come home upset? Saying that everyone is calling her a freak?" Petunia bit her lip nervously.
"I can explain."
"You bloody well better!" said Lavender angrily. "First of, why are you spying on your sister?" Petunia shuffled nervously on her feet. Lavender raised an eyebrow, trying to coax an answer from her.
"Well?"
"Well don't you find it weird?" asked Petunia.
"Excuse me?" asked Lavender.
"She makes things levitate mum!" said Petunia, "That is not normal. And she does it for her own amusement."
"Regardless, why did you tell everyone at school?" asked Lavender. Petunia shrugged, but Lavender knew why.
"How did they believe you?" asked Lily. Both Lavender and Petunia turned to her. Petunia looked at her Mum.
"Answer her." said Lavender
"I…led to the woods and they saw you." Said Petunia timidly. Lily sprang from the bed so fast it made Lavender jump.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?" Lily shouted.
"HOW COULD YOU SPY ON ME AND THEN TELL THE WHOLE WORLD WHAT YOU SAW!" shouted Lily tearfully.
Petunia just stood there, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Lily stood waiting for an answer, but it didn't come. She tearfully shook her head and ran.
"Lily!" called Lavender as she ran down the stairs and out of the front door. Lily didn't see where she was going, the tears burned her face as she ran into the middle of the road.
"LILY!" Lily turned round. Bearing down on her was a huge lorry. It bleared its horn and Lily was like a rabbit in the headlights. Then, she saw her whole life flash before her eyes. She heard her mother scream, the brakes of the lorry, and saw the metal grill coming towards her. She placed her arm up in protection.
"Protego."
BURRFFF.
The lorry smashed against her…instead of sweeping her away…the grill crumpled around her. The trailer smashed into the truck pushing it up and the lorry forward. It seemed to linger in the air before smashing onto the tarmac.
Lily tried to decipher the sounds around her. She heard screaming, she heard the sirens of police cars in the distance and the sound of people shouting in the street.
"Oh my god."
"Did you see that?"
"How did she do that?"
"Look at that Lorry."
"It's…"
"She's fine."
"That's impossible."
Lily opened her eyes. The front of the lorry was a crumpled wreck. The front was caved in with a circular indent, it was spitting steam and oil as the driver, who deflated his air bag looked on dumbfounded at her.
"Oh my god, are you ok?" he asked shocked. Lily breathed deeply and looked around her. The entire neighbourhood seemed to be staring at her. Lily placed her protective arm down and began to cry. The tears welling up.
"I…I don't know." She croaked out. "I…I want my Mum."
Lily felt her mum come down and hug her fiercely. Lily looked around her. People looking at her, what she noticed was the same look on all their faces. Something she didn't knew could exist on a crowd.
Fear.
They were afraid of her.
"What did she just do?" Lavender looked over at the people lining the streets. They did looked afraid.
"I…"
"I'll tell you what I saw!" one woman said, "That truck should of side swept her! Instead." She pointed to the truck, "She held up her arm and that happened."
"Is she even normal?" asked one man. Lavender looked over. "Of course she is!" she said angrily, "She's my daughter!"
"Are you sure about that?" asked the driver, he'd got out from his cab and walked towards Lily and lavender. "Because no little girl I know can do that." He said, "It was like she's…made of steel."
"She's a normal little girl." said Lavender pulling Lily closer to her. "She's not made of metal."
"Then how do you explain that?" a man said pointing at the lorry. "No child could do that to a lorry!" Just as he finished, a police car pulled up. Two men excited the car and ran over.
"Did anyone see what happened?" one asked.
"Yeah." The woman said pointing at Lily, "She ran into the road and the truck slammed into her. That's the result." The policeman laughed as the other one took a statement from the driver who was now pointing over at Lily.
"Don't joke." The policeman said, "Really, what happened to the truck."
"I'm telling you!" the woman said pointing at Lily, "She caused this." The policeman looked over at Lily and Lavender. He walked over to Lily.
"Now tell me." He said, "Did you cause this?" Lily looked up at her mum who nodded encouragement.
"…Yes." she said quietly. The policeman bit this mouth and self-restraint. "Don't lie to me missy." He said smiling, "What really happened?"
"Uhm, Roy!" called the other officer.
"Not now." he snapped back at his partner. "Now tell me." He said smiling at Lily, "What happened?"
"Roy!"
"WHAT?"
"The driver's saying the same thing." The officer said flicking through his notes, "The girl ran into the road and…" he pointed to the lorry with his hand and motioned up and down with his pen. "This happened."
"You are joking sir?"
"No!" The driver said, "Ask anyone, that girl did this." Lily looked up at her mum.
"I want to go to my room." said Lily quietly.
"I think we both need to lie down." Said Lavender. She picked Lily up and started to walking inside.
"Where are you going!"
"Hey, you caused this!"
"That child needs testing."
"She's dangerous." Lavender whirled round.
"She has a name!" she said angrily, "Her name is Lily, she's eight years old, and is not dangerous!"
"How do you know, obviously you don't take well enough care of her if she's wandering in the street!" Lavender stormed inside and slammed the door, she locked it and walked with Lily into the kitchen. She sat Lily down on the table and looked at her.
"Tell me." She said, "Because I'm having a hard time of believing this as well."
"You did stop that truck, didn't you?" asked Lavender. Lily looked afraid, Lavender couldn't blame her one bit. She would be to if the roles were reversed.
"I…I…"
"Lily." Lavender placed two hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Tell me. What happened."
"…the truck hit me." Said Lily, "But…before it did…I heard something."
"What?" asked Lavender gently.
"Pro…Protego." Said Lily, Lavender shook her head. She held up Lily's arm and inspected it. Nothing. Not even a scratch, or red mark or bruise.
"What's going to happen to me?" asked Lily. "Everyone was really mad at me." Lavender shook her head.
"I don't know Lily." She said, "I really don't know."
"It…" Lily held her tongue.
"What is it Lily?" asked Lavender.
"It was magic mum." Said Lily finally, "What else could it be?" Lavender sighed deeply.
"Lily." She got down to face level, "I don't know what happened out there, but there is one thing I can tell you. There is no such thing as magic." Lily looked down as Lavender walked away.
"Protego?"