Chapter Four: Pretty Girls, Freckled Shoulders

"That was the thing about girls like Hannah Archer."

Song Inspo: Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun

In many things, Xander disagreed with most of his fellow Slytherins. Still, there were two core pillars of thought he shared with the rest of them: the first being that one should always be considered better than the wizard sitting next to you, and the second being that Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was the single worst thing that had ever happened to the House of Slytherin.

McGonagall had not bothered pausing to address Xander's request. Her cloak swished behind her as she hurried across the castle on that first morning of classes. She had not quickened her pace but was managing a speed that was suspiciously fast for someone of her age, and Xander found that he had to make a real effort to keep up with her.

"Mr. Vandenberg," she told him, her tone tighter than her lips, "what in Godric Gryffindor's beard inspired you to believe that I would consent a student permission to break the law?"

The castle was caught up in its usual first-day-of-classes freziness. Groups of seventh-years huddled together to compare schedules, newly ordained fifth year Prefects exercised their new powers with overzealous authority, handing detentions left and right to unsuspecting victims, and tiny first-years ran around from one end of the castle to the other, trying desperately to find the right classroom and looking right down pitiful when the staircases switched their destination midway their flight.

"I understand that this is not the norm, Headmistress-," Xander started, but she quickly cut him off with a: "No, Mr. Vandenberg. The answer is already no. Let us not waste each other's time. I cannot allow a teacher of this institution to go against Ministry's-"

"Oh I don't need a Professor at all," said Xander brightly, but this only seemed to anger McGonagall because she halted all of a sudden and turned to him with such disdain that he nearly felt himself topple backwards. Xander gulped, rather nervously now. "That's to say," he tried again, "I only need a signed permission to visit the restricted area of the library so I can borrow a text on the mechanics of becoming an Animagus."

Her lips went thin with disapproval. "Does your arrogance really exceed such measures as to think you would not even need an adult present to supervise such training?"

Xander's jaw tightened. The content in her voice was unadulterated but he refused to lose his temper. Nevermind that she was always so quick to deny him. Nevermind that any of his teachers would have vouched for him and supported his ambitions. This was something Xander wanted, and he was determined to get it, even if it meant having to swallow his pride.

"If it's a signed permission from my guardian that you are needing-" he started, trying as hard as he could to keep his tone casual.

McGonagall came to a screeching halt then. Her mouth had gone so small, it had all but disappeared, and there was an ominous warning to her glaze. "I am going to stop you before you make the grave mistake of thinking that a letter from Harry Potter is going to grant you any special favors."

Xander could feel himself fuming. It was such hypocrisy. Everyone knew McGonagall had a sweet spot for the Potter children. She must have forgiven James a dozen times for showing up still half drunk to breakfast, and there had been plenty of times when she had made a personal effort to catch Lily up in her classes. In fact, if Xander was being allowed to contest twelve NEWTS exams at the end of this year, it was specifically because a letter from Harry Potter had granted him a special favor.

McGonagall must have read his mind because her face had softened somewhat. "It is illegal to train school-children for the Animagus license, even once they are of-age. It is not that I do think you are physically or mentally ready… It is simply that it is important for you to learn how to respect the rules - even when they go against your own agenda."

Xander couldn't meet her eyes. A terrible anger burned his throat. He tried to swallow it whole but when McGonagall turned to walk the other way, it boiled over, and Xander spat, "I should have been Prefect. I should have been Head Boy."

He didn't dare to explicitly accuse her of favoritism against students, but the implication was there. McGonagall, however, did not blink. "Those are honorable titles," she said curtly, "meant for students wishing to serve the school. As far as I have known you, Mr. Vandenberg, you have only strived to serve yourself."

If Xander had a response to that, he had no time to give it, because McGonagall was already shouting out past his shoulder, "Mr. and Mr. Scamander, don't you dare-!"

[][]

Xander was still fuming later that day as he slipped into the empty seat beside Hugo for their last course of the day, Herbology.

From what Xander could see, there were only a little over a dozen students taking Herbology this period, most of them Ravenclaws, though none of them were Andrew Rogers, and he was immediately grateful for that. Xander had found it annoying enough to have to see him sniffling into the sleeve of his cloak during Ancient Runes. Besides the Ravenclaws, there was also a trio of Hufflpuffs that sat together. Behind them, Edward Ballard was sitting alone, looking entirely bored and out of place.

Xander did not bother acknowledging his housemate. Edward had made it something of his official business to make Xadner's life miserable when they had been children. He knew better than to try that now, but Xander loathed him all the same. Besides, Edward liked quidditch and parties and purist politics - there would never be a single thing the two of them could ever have in common.

Others were still trickling into the classroom and Professor Longbottom, ever the friend of students, was chatting pleasantly with a couple of the Ravenclaws about their summer doings.

Xander used this brief moment to finish telling Hugo about his conversation with McGonagall. He finished his story rather breathlessly and waited patiently for his friend to show him sympathy but Hugo only said, "Honestly, thinking you're being cheated simply because you're not being given what was never owed to you is such classic Slytherin behavior. Also - what do you mean you're taking twelve NEWTS? That's not possible."

"NEWTS prove mastery skill in a subject, and I want to prove I have mastery skill in nearly all the subjects. It wouldn't be fair to force me to just pick four - or six," said Xander, which had been the exact words he had used to convince Harry to write to the Headmistress that summer. "Besides, it won't be..."

His voice trailed off. Caroline and Lily had both walked in, though not together. Xander had known, of course, that Lily would be taking the class, but he hadn't been sure she'd be in this period. He would never admit it, but he was pleased that she was. Lily was excellent in Herbology, and he liked to watch her doing the sort of things people didn't expect from her.

Hugo had also seen his cousin and was readying to call her over when Caroline slipped into the one empty seat in their table with a pleasant smile and a quick, "This seat isn't taken, is it?"

Lily shuffled her cousin's hair affectionately as she passed by them and then went to take on the empty spot next to Edward, as if that had been her plan all along. Xander frowned and turned to Hugo, hoping he was equally as bothered to see Lily sitting with someone as despicable as Edward Ballard, but Hugo was busy asking Caroline, "How many NEWTS are you contesting?"

"Five," said Caroline proudly. "I suppose I don't really need Herbology to intern or The Daily Prophet. That's where I am going next semester. But the idea of another 'E' on my transcript was too tempting to miss. You?"

"Five as well," said Hugo, his features still expressing extreme confusion. "Xander, how are you managing twelve?"

Behind them, Edward was recounting some obnoxious story about a party they had gone to the night before, and Lily was laughing about it, a laugh that wasn't at all pretend.

Xander ran a hand through his hair.

This was going to be a fucking long year.

"I am attending six classes," said Xander, an annoyance to his tone of voice that no longer had anything to do with their headmistress. "I'll be following text books to teach myself the other six. I am expected to present scheduled exams to prove that I am keeping up but if it all goes well, and it will, I'll be able to contest all those NEWTS exams in May."

Caroline and Hugo were both frowning, and then Caroline said, a little stunned-struck, "There just isn't enough time."

Professor Longbottom chose that moment to clear his throat and then, with an air of delight, readied himself to begin the class. It was fortunate as Xander had no real answer for either Hugo or Hannah. Neither of them could ever understand. The countdown to their graduation had officially started. Then, they would all need to leave the castle behind, and all they'd be allowed to carry with them would be their knowledge.

While Caroline and Hugo would be moving forward, on to their new careers, Xander would have to move backwards. It was a truth he had never spoken out loud, not even to Harry, but one he had felt deep in his bones for quite a while; if he was to ever be able to truly move on with his life, he would first need to make peace with his past.

And he had deep-rooted suspicion that that past held nothing but darkness.

Thinking of all the things he still had to learn before he would face the past that had murdered his mother, the one that had left him an orphan without memories, he couldn't help but agree.

There just isn't enough time.

[][]

Lucy Weasley was two weeks into her second year of Hogwarts and a true Gryffindor. With her hazel eyes and tiny pointy nose, she looked much like her older sister, Molly, but her hair was the same shade of red as her cousin's Rose, and the haughtiness to her scowl was identical to Lily's, and it was this last remarkable feature that Xander always found so endearing and that prohibited him from denying her any favors.

"You ought to behave better, Luce," said Xander, unable to hide his laugh as Lucy finished telling him a tale that involved the Scamander twins and Moaning Myrtle. "Molly's right about that."

They were both sitting on an obscure corner of the fifth floor. In front of them, there stood an awkwardly placed oversized mirror, twice as large as Xander was long and with a deeply intricate golden crowning bordering its fine edges. Xander avoided meeting his own gaze. Mirrors made him uncomfortable, not because he had any qualms about his appearance, but because it irked him to know his map was a map of genetic clues to a family he would never know. Instead, he focused on Lucy, who seemed tinier than usual next to him, her uniform dirty and disheveled, and her white trainers muddied to a brown.

"Molly's a rotten know-it-all," she mumbled crossly, her chin on her knees. "You will settle this with Hugo, won't you? He won't listen to me at all, and I haven't been able to catch Lily alone for a single minute. We've got to get this fixed before a notification gets sent to my parents."

"'We've' is a pretty loaded word to use on a problem you got yourself into," Xander said with subtle amusement. Lucy opened her mouth but a blurry figure had just appeared in the far depth of the mirror and was quickly enlarging as it made its way to them. "Fine, fine. I'll talk to him, but hurry on out of here. You're bound to piss him off with that smart mouth of yours."

Lucy was long gone by the time Hugo stepped out of the mirror and onto the cold, gleaming floors of the castle, but his eyes followed the muddy footprints she had left and immediately shook his head. "I'm not getting her out of detention. She convinced the Scamander twins to try and break back into the chamber of secrets. Bloody idiots. Made a mess of plumbing on the third floor."

"You've gotten Lily out of detention for worse," Xander reminded him as the two made their way down for breakfast.

It was hard not to think of Lily whenever he thought of Lucy. Now-a-days, Lily's detentions were the results of late night parties, skipping early morning classes, and dress code violations, but once, years ago, she too would have gotten in the sort of trouble that Lucy was now infamous for. They had been friends then but Xander had never been able to keep up with her thirst for mischief and adventure. For Lily, the whole world had been her playground, but for Xander, Hogwarts had been the one shot he had at proving his worth.

"Are she and Rogers really done for good?"

He had not even realized he had made the question until Hugo had turned to look at him with a pointed expression. "If you two could just make up and be friends, you'd be able to ask her yourself."

"She literally tried splitting my face in two not that long ago."

Hugo didn't return his amused smile. "She'd forgive you if you asked nicely."

And even though neither of the boys were too sure what it was that Xander would be apologizing for, they both knew this to be true. For all her pridefulness and stubbornness, Lily could never completely let go of those she loved, and she had, in her own way, once loved him. It was also true that life would be easier if he settled things with Lily. Everything would be simpler if he learned to see her with the same affection he felt for James and Albus, if he treated her like a sister.

But she wasn't his sister.

Of this Xander was reminded the moment he stepped into the Grand Hall and spotted her in the center of the Gryffindor table, in the middle of a large group of friends, her smile easy and contagious. 'Easier' just wasn't a viable option, not when the old tightening of his chest made its way back with such intensity, it almost tripped him.

To his surprise, Lily looked up to wave them both over. "Your invitations," she said, a pair of eggshell envelopes caught in the middle of the two fingers she was waving in the air. "They came in this morning."

She was sitting with her usual crowd of Gryffindor friends. Hannah Archer, tall, blonde, and currently lost under the spell of some novel she was reading. Syana Crowe, complaining about the profile of her nose on her small compact mirror. Oscar Knight, dark skinned and athletically built. Auggie Baucher, a sixth year with the sort of endless energy that made him appear even younger yet. There was a Chatlani there with them too. Xander couldn't remember his name though. There were currently more Chatlani siblings at Hogwarts than there were Weasley cousins, a curiosity given that their parents were both muggleborns.

None of them had turned to look their way. None of them except Nia Siles, who was looking at Hugo and Xander through careful, calculative eyes. She was the sort of pretty Xander liked: dark haired, large breasts, unembarrassed, and without a single resemblance to Lily Potter. She was also Lily's best friend though, and while Xander had hit many low points in his life, there were lines he drew so hard, they might as well have been etched on his skin.

Lily was the smallest of the group in both size and age but there was a raise to the chin of her face that made her no less than the rest. She was the sort of pretty Xander couldn't stand, the kind that made it hard to breathe.

"Is that for Teddy's wedding?" Xander asked, looking over Hugo's shoulder.

It was Lily who answered, looking, as she always did when she spoke of the event, too excited to remember their ongoing feud. "It's only a month away now."

Xander ignored her completely even though she had just given him an idea that would involve her entirely. "Lucy is going to have a miserable time, I hope you realize that," he told Hugo. "Percy is going to have her at wand's length the entire time."

Lily frowned. "What's going on with Lucy?" When Xander ignored her again in favor of reading the details on the invitation, a wisp of air pulled violently on his sleeve, and he struggled not to laugh at the fact that Lily had already resorted to her wand. "Tell me what's wrong with my cousin."

"Aren't you taking any points away?" Xander asked Hugo with pretend indignation. "She assaulted me in front of everyone." He didn't wait for Hugo to answer. Hugo got after Lily all the time but never over Xander. "You should learn to control your temper and mind your own business, Potter. C'mon, Hugo, I am starving."

"Hugo sits here. He's a Gryffindor like us."

There hadn't been a space for Hugo but at Lily's words, Syana made a grunt of annoyance and grudgingly scooted down to make room for him. Lily jerked her head at the empty spot and pouted at her cousin. "Sit with me, Hugo. I hardly ever see you."

"Lily, don't be like that," said Hugo, looking every bit as guilty as she had intended him to feel.

"Oh so now we are sitting according to our houses?" Xander asked, making sure he sounded more amused than wounded. "You weren't so keen on rules these past three years when you had that little Ravenclaw clinging on to your skirts."

"He did not cling!" Lily hissed angrily.

Xander sneered back at her. "He counted the strands of your hair as if they were blessings."

Auggie burst into a laugh at this. "He was kind of obsessed with your hair, Lils."

Oscar sounded unfazed as he took a sip from his coffee. "He also did literally clutch your skirt sometimes. It was uncomfortable to watch."

Lily gave the boys a treacherous glare, and Xander bit the inside of his cheek. She was prettiest when she was angry. "Molly's given Lucy detention," he told her now, distracting her from whatever thing she had been about to say next, "and Hugo won't take it away."

Lily tutted her tongue impatiently. From her seat, she hollered out, "Molly Weasley, you backstabbing wench, how could you?"

Down the Gryffindor table, Molly jerked her head up, surprised to hear her name, but Xander didn't wait around to witness that exchange. Lily would make certain that Lucy received the help she needed. He was certain of it.

[][]

September was always kind to Hogwarts, and it was being as kind as ever on its third Saturday. The sky was sounding off a high volume blue, and sunlight fell like rain. Despite this, there was still a cool crisp that had come rolling in, a gentle but definite warning that autumn was nearing.

A warning that the seventh year Gryffindor girls seemed to have missed as they lay basking in the sun near the Great Lake, none of them wearing sweaters, and all of them wearing shorts short enough to to cause more than one boy to trip on their own two feet and land face first on the grassed grounds - all of them except Lily, who was wearing a flowy and vibrant red skirt, though she was no less distracting in the strapless thin top she had chosen to pair it with. The freckles on her shoulders were on full display, and Xander couldn't help but think that they made her skin look like a meadow painted by an impressionist of long ago.

His hand grabbed the grass underneath him, grounding him, and he blew out air softly before returning to his book. "You reckon Merlin's Third Law of Transfiguration could ever be broken?"

Besides him, Hugo was lying down on his stomach, reading, only half shaded by the tree above them. His eyes were squinted, bothered by the sun, but he didn't cover his face, addicted to the same. "Transfiguring planetary objects? Whatever for?"

"For the sake of it," said Xander, that persistent curiosity that never really left him.

In the distance, Edward Ballard had broken away from his group of friends to make his way to Lily's side. She had separated from her friends slightly and was laying belly down, just like her cousin, Hugo, with a finger spiraling circles into the waters of the Great Lake. Xander was certain that some water creature had caught her attention, and he only hoped it wasn't the Giant Squid.

Edward plopped down beside her and he closed in on the water, curious to see what it was that she was looking at. Lily's eyes sparkled with mischief, and then she splashed out water into his face. Edward laughed, splashing her back. Lily cried out, pulling her hair behind her as if it was something she needed to defend, but she was laughing too; Xander wanted to transfigure planets into trinkets then, to let her see that there was really nothing much to Edward Ballard.

"You don't think she'll actually go for him, do you?" It was impossible to keep the loathing out of his voice. "He looks like a constipated yellow bull."

"A tall, muscular blonde?" Hugo hadn't looked up from his book but he had no trouble guessing what had upsetted Xander. It wasn't something they never directly spoke about but Hugo read minds. Not with Legilimency. Just with his heart. "It's not exactly a look most girls find repulsive."

"You should hear the way he talks about the girls he's shagged," said Xander, his forehead wrinkled.

Oscar Knight had called out to Lily. There was something teasing about his laugh, but he was watching Edward Ballard with as much distrust as Xander felt. Lily quickly made her way back to Oscar, preferring him, as she always did, over any other boy at all.

Edward didn't leave though. He stayed behind with the group of Gryffindors, joking with Syana about something and asking Chatlani to throw him the weighted ball he had been throwing up in the air. Chatlani seemed to like him as much as Oscar did, but he played along and tossed the ball. Edward Ballard belonged; he was part of the stories from last night's parties and haven't-done-that-homework-yet blissful irresponsibility.

"His friends are all running bets on Lily," added Xander, remembering with great distaste the conversation he had overheard the night before between Sebastian Rowle and Michael Taylor in their common room.

Sebastian was convinced Lily would never actually go for Edward, that she was teasing him just like she teased all the other boys, but Michael had betted fifty knuckles that Lily would end up in his room before Halloween. Xander had flicked his wand, both their books slamming shut hard on their faces, and the boys had been angry, but they were much too cowardly to do anything about it, especially without Edward Ballard or Anthony Knott, their other two best friends, around to defend them.

Hugo looked disgusted. "Slytherins are the definition of toxic masculinity."

"Oi, not all of us."

"Oh I'm sorry. I thought you'd been the one shagging a girl on the Hogwarts Express but that must have been one of the other Slytherin boys."

Xander didn't respond to his sarcasm.

He had no idea why he had looked for Caroline that day. They hadn't even been physical like that with each other in months. He definitely had no idea why he had thought locking themselves in an empty compartment instead of just waiting until night time had been a good idea. Xander did so many stupid things, he sometimes surprised himself.

Not that he considered Caroline a stupid thing. They had dated once, from the end of their third year to the beginning of their fourth one. It had taught him that serious relationships were not something that could ever work for him. Since then, he had dated plenty of other girls, flings that always sparkled and burned and died within a few day's span.

Caroline had never gotten lost in that pattern though. She had been the first time he had ever kissed anyone, the first time he had ever had sex, the only one who knew that there had been a time when he hadn't felt quite as confident about it. She had been there when Ginny had died; he had been there when her father had been sick. She was his friend always, and many times they were more than that. When she dated other boys, he respected those relationships completely, his friendship always withstanding. When Xander did more than just kiss another girl, Caroline didn't give him a hard time about it either. She knew they never meant much at all to Xander. And whenever either of them found themselves lonely, they found each other again, without any need to defend past actions or make false promises of better futures.

Xander cared about Caroline more than he cared about any other girl he'd ever dated, but he was not in love with her, and she wasn't going to be his forever. It was something he had told her many times. Nobody could ever be forever for him.

And he had made it clear again, that day on the train, that he wasn't looking for a relationship, that he couldn't afford time for girlfriends this year, and that she was free to continue on dating other boys as she pleased.

It wasn't an ideal way to behave, by any means. But that didn't make anything like Edward Ballard.

Not by a long shot.

He wasn't even sure how much of this he had said out loud, but it must have been at least the last bit, because Hugo eyed him tiredly. "Please don't start being an idiot about this. Don't start making things difficult and picking fights with Lily for no reason at all. Or with Ballard. I mean, so what if he's a hormonal teenage boy? Aren't they all?"

Xander glanced down at Hugo, amused as always by how effortlessly he was able to make himself sound above the rest. "Not all of them. You're a good guy, Weasley."

He had meant it as a genuine compliment but Hugo snorted a laugh. "So the one guy you'd approve for Lily is related to her? That's bloody fantastic, mate."

"That's not at all what I was saying," said Xander, annoyed by how this was starting to sound. "I am only saying that Ballard's complete shit, but there are other blokes who are decent, and Lily should just go and pick one of those."

Hugo rolled over on his back, using a rolled up jumper as a pillow, and looked at him with a sort of enjoyment that made Xander nervous. "Name one you wouldn't mind seeing her with then."

Xander searched through the grounds desperate to prove his insinuation wrong. "Oscar Knight," he said finally. Hugo bursted into a loud laugh, his arm on his stomach, and Xander felt like a tosser. "I know he's gay," he added quickly, "but what I am trying to say is that-"

"Hey, sexy."

Xander didn't have time to continue butchering his defense. Caroline had dropped herself in between his bent up legs, and Xander immediately curled an arm around her waist, grateful for the distraction. Her arms went around his neck, her body pressing warmly against him. The jumper she was wearing made her waist difficult to find but her legs were bare underneath her short skirt. Xander didn't even realize he was becoming inappropriate until Hugo rolled back around and used his jumper to cover his whole head.

"Let's study," Xander said, pulling Caroline back. He didn't care what anyone else thought but he hated making Hugo uncomfortable. Caroline opened up the book he had been reading on her lap, her back against his chest, and Xander turned to the page he had questioned her earlier, and suddenly became curious to know what she had to say about it, "You reckon Merlin's Third Law of Transfiguration could ever be broken?"

"That's one for the philosophers."

The three of them looked up to find Hannah Archer staring down at them, the sun haloing behind her golden head.

Hugo all but choked on his own breath as he shut up to a sitting position. "Hannah, hi- hello- Um, do we have- Did I miss-" Xander clapped hard on his back, and Hugo finally spat out, "Do we have duty today?"

For all of Hugo's wit and insouciance, he always became a mess when Hannah Archer was involved. She hardly seemed to notice though. She sat down next to them like sitting with them was something she always did. That was the thing about girls like Hannah Archer. They always felt like they belonged, like it was safe to assume that they were wanted everywhere.

Probably, Xander had to admit, because that was usually true.

"No," she said, ignoring the books that had spilled out her bag. "Nia's just in one of her moods today… Hey, Caroline," she added, offering Caroline a friendly smile. "How's it going?"

Hannah was Head Girl, and even before that she had been a prefect alongside Caroline. Xander had seen her act friendly towards Caroline many times - Hannah was usually friendly enough to everyone - but Caroline's exaggerated sweetness as she smiled back, "Everything's peachy" was coated with irony. Xander knew her well enough to know she was feeling intimidated. For all Caroline liked to complain about the popular girls at school, she always secretly wished to be one of them, and he hung an arm around her shoulder now, wishing he could somehow show her that she was every bit as pretty as Hannah Archer. Caroline leaned further back into him, her body relaxing.

"Victor Hugo," said Xander, craning his neck to read one of the covers that had spilled from Hannah's book bag. "Muggle?"

"Muggle. Genius. God," said Hannah with a laugh. "Are you familiar with his stuff?"

"I don't read muggle literature," Xander admitted. "I don't read for fun in general."

"Well," said Hannah, like it was all she could bring herself to say to that.

"I was named after him," said Hugo, and Xander could tell by the way he had immediately blushed afterwards that he was already regretting sharing this bit of information, thinking it boring and irrelevant. Hannah was looking at him with high interest though. "Mum's a muggleborn like you," Hugo went on, deep blush not subsiding. "She likes his work."

"Why isn't Victor part of your name then?"

Hugo shook his head. "Dad wouldn't allow it. She had an ex-boyfriend by that name. He spelt it with a 'k' but dad said a 'c' wasn't enough to erase the trauma."

Hannah burst into an easy laugh. "What are you doing today, Hugo?"

Hugo stared at her soundlessly. Xander knew what he was thinking. Without head duties or Lily Potter with them, they seemed to have little in common. Finally, he managed, "I was going to go study at the library for a while."

Xander waited for her to snort, "On a Saturday?" like Lily would have done, but she grinned at him and said, "Oh yeah, sounds brilliant. Can I come along?" She stood up, dusting grass off her long bare legs and jerked her head in that direction. Hugo followed as if in a trance. She turned around to tell Caroline goodbye. "You should reconsider reading for the fun of it, by the way," she added to Xander. "It's good for your soul."

"I am not sure I have one of those," Xander smirked back.

"You wouldn't be Hugo Weasley's friend if you didn't," said Hannah, and she said it with an openness and a genuinity that made Xander reconsider everything he might have ever assumed about her.

"She's kind of stuck up," Caroline muttered once they were both gone.

Xander was looking at Lily. Her eyes were round with excitement as they followed Hannah and Hugo. She was smiling still when her eyes fell on him. Her eyebrows arched suggestively. Xander grinned back, shrugging. For a moment, she was his Lily again, and the two had a secret language no one else could understand, one that needed no words.

Then Edward was showing her something on the backside of his wrist, probably the burn the dimwit had procured during their last potion's class. Lily covered her eyes like the sight of his injury was too much to bear, Xander turned back to kissing Caroline, and the moment was gone as quickly as it had come.