CHAPTER TWO

HOGWARTS WEEKLY

I woke up to my stupid, charmed alarm clock that won't shut up until I'm fully awake. Boy, do I regret asking Rose to charm it for me but everytime I ask her to take it off she refuses. "If I take it off then you'll never wake up Lily," She sighs, "Think about your grades." She is such a geek.

"Lils, I am going to bloody well KILL your cousin. And then I'm going to kill you for asking her to do that stupid fucking charm. And then I'll have to kill myself because I will have killed 2 people and still don't know how to turn that bloody thing off." Mumbles Rikki, her voice muffled from the fact that her face is still shoved in her pillow. Rikki isn't a morning person. The toilet flushes and Melody comes bouncing out of the bathroom, beaming her dazzling white smile. She's already fully dressed. She is a morning person.

"Come on sleepy heads. Don't want to be late. It's the first day of 4th year, aren't you excited?" She shouts and jumps on top of Rikki.

"Get the hell off me, Mel or so-help me Merlin I'll-"

"Ok, Ok I'm off, I'm off. Just get up for breakfast coz I'm starving." She moans. I laugh. Fully awake now, I can shut off the alarm. Rose is a genius, I'll give her that.

After Rikki drags herself out of bed and into her robes we hurry down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I stack my plate high with pancakes and golden syrup. My Mum always says my brothers and I eat like we'll never see food again.

"What do you have first, Lils?" Asks Mel.

"Potions with the Slytherins. You?" I answer. I have nothing against the Slytherins of course, ever since Al was put in Slytherin our family have been banned from making Slytherin-related jokes. Doesn't stop James though but Al doesn't care anymore. He was upset about it for a while but when he realised that nobody was mad at him and that the Slytherins weren't all bad he stopped caring.

"Muggle Studies," She mumbled, her mouth full, "I forget ... What's a tevelasion again?"

"A tevelasion? You mean a television?" Giggled Rikki, "It's a form of muggle entertainment."

"What about you, Rikki? What are you in first?" I ask her before Mel can ask what entertainment is.

"Same as Mel," She answered with a slight roll of her eyes. We both love Mel to bits but when we are in the same class as her we have to be her partner. Being Mel's partner means doing double the work. It's not poor Mel's fault she's not the brightest but it is annoying.

Soon enough the food covering the table disappears and we head to our classes. On the way to potions though, I pass a group of girls in my year looking over a copy of The Hogwarts Weekly. The Hogwarts Weekly is a school newspaper that started a few years before I came to Hogwarts. It stopped being a newspaper 2 years ago when a girl in James' year, Hailey Frockler, started writing. Now it's more like a gossip magazine and it's mostly about my family, though I'm never mentioned. The girls looked like they were about to throw it away. My curiousity got the best of me.

"Excuse me, Can I borrow that?" I asked as politely as I could. The girls look hesitant. Finally one of them hands me the paper and they all scurry of to class, shooting me apologetic looks. I should be going to class too but instead, I sit on the ground with the paper. I'm sure Professor Felix won't mind - I'm her favourite. I start to read,

Brotherly Brawl

Famous Potter brothers, James Sirius and Albus Severus - loving, kind, caring brothers? Wrong. The two boys, known for their long, childish arguments, have done it again. Last night the brothers were saw bickering in the hallways after the sorting ceremony. However, unlike all their previous arguments, James and Albus seemed to actually be arguing about something important. No one knows what this argument was truly about but a few people saw what happened.

"It was insane," Said an anonymous eye-witness, "They were just standing there screaming at each other. James looked like he wanted to kill Albus and Albus looked the same. It was the most worked up I've ever seen them."

Though no one knows for sure what this great fight was about there are some theories. James was heard saying, "She's mine Albus, you can't have her." and Albus in return, "She's mine now, she hasn't been yours in ages. Stop being so selfish, James, you only want what you can't have."

Is it possible that the famous Potter boys were arguing over a girl. And, if so, who could this mystery girl be?

Reported by Hailey Frockler

I finished the article quickly and threw the paper in the bin. Rubbish, absolutely rubbish. James has never had a girlfriend. If he had he would tell me ... wouldn't he? I rush to class and clumsily stumble through the door. I'm only 5 minutes late so Professor Felix gives me a look that says "don't do it again" and points at the only empty seat. The seat is next to Sara Becket, a Slytherin. I quite like Sara. I feel very sorry for her, she's even quieter than me and she has no friends. Also she is a muggleborn. Not many people dare judge people due to blood status nowadays but there are still a few, and a muggleborn Slytherin is an easy target.

After Potions I head to Herbology with Uncle Neville (but I call him Professor in class). His son Frank is in 6th year and his daughter Alice is in 5th year. Herbology isn't my best subject but I try my hardest and Dad says that's all that matters. The relief rushes through my body when the lesson is over - I need to find James and Al. If they don't already know, I need to tell them about the article and find out if it's true.

On my way to the Great Hall I pick up a copy of The Hogwarts Weekly that I see lying on the floor and go to find James first. When I find him I show him the article. He skims through it, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Well?" I demand, "Is it true." To my surprise, James laughs. I give him a confused look.

"Haha. Yes and no. The quotes are all real -" He sees my worried face and laughs again, "The quotes are real but they aren't about a girl. They are about Nim." I'm still confused until I realise what he means. James calls his broomstick (a Nimbus 3007) Nim. I re-read the paper and it makes sense. Over the holidays Mum bought James a new broom for becoming Quidditch Captain and gave Nim to Al. James was furious because, even though he got a new, better broom, he didn't want Al to have his old one. They had been arguing about it the whole train ride.

"Oh. Sorry James. I just-"

"Don't worry Lils. I got to go, seems I have to make a complaint to Hailey - freaking -Frockler."

And then he's gone. And, all alone, I head to my next class. People barge into me as I pass, like they don't even see me. They probably don't.