Chapter Five: Sticks and Stones

"We could just dump his skinny arse in the Forbidden Forest"

Song Inspo: The Archer by Taylor Swift

September walked out the door before anyone had a proper glance at it and then October followed in with orange trees, damp earth, and piles of homework that never seemed to lower, but the only lesson that really stayed with Lily that week was that a relationship ending meant so much more than losing a hand to hold in yours.

It also meant that the person who had once showered you with compliments suddenly sat on opposite end of the classroom, that his friends, who had once been your friends too, now passed you down the corridor without giving you a single glance, and that the boy whose eyes had gone wide with wonder the first time you had leaned over to plant a kiss on his lips now hated you wish a passion that could burn you down to ashes.

After all, nothing other than pure hatred could have prompted the nasty rumors that had come flying out from the Ravenclaw Tower's window and managed to find their way to the front pages of Witch and Famous. That would have been bad enough, but Witch and Famous was a trashy tabloid known for exaggerating stories. The real trouble was that The Daily Prophet had decided to pick up where Witch and Famous had left off and they had written not only one but two follow up stories detailing the consequences of a young teenage girl living an unsupervised and overindulgent lifestyle.

"We could just dump his skinny arse in the Forbidden Forest," Auggie Baucher said, coming down from his broom, only seconds before the rest of the team followed.

It might have been that he was a year younger or the fact that baby fat had followed him longer than it had followed most boys, but Lily always thought of Auggie as someone with child-like innocence. He had been in a rage all day today, however. He had spent all of practice trying to come up with ways to get back at Andrew Rogers. More than once, Lily had begged him to let the whole thing go, but he said thinking of Andrew Rogers made him a better beater, and indeed he was swinging with exceptional force

Auggie snapped his fingers, another idea occurring. "Or we could put his wand high up somewhere. Remember last year when somebody put his book on a top shelf and he had to use a summoning spell to bring it down because he wasn't tall enough to reach?"

Oscar was looking at Auggie as if giving his preposition some serious consideration. Auggie, ever eager to please Oscar, lit up. "You reckon it a good idea, Cap?"

"Uniforms, now." Oscar pointed to the changing rooms. "I don't want anyone late for their next class."

They all did as they were told. The girl's changing room was empty except for her, but there were scattered sports bags and sweatshirts left behind on the benches. There was a copy of Witch and Famous too, the one that had started it all. Lily knew the accusations that laid inside, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to actually read it. She didn't read it now either but her eyes stayed on the cover as she changed out of her Quidditch clothes and back into her uniform.

On there, Andrew had his arms around Lily, his chin on her neck, and Lily wasn't touching him at all, but she was smiling. That had been a weekend at Hogsmeade last year. Baird Kimble was also on the cover but his photograph was added as a separate, small circle on the side of the larger image, like the add-on they were accusing him of being.

Lily slammed the locker door hard.

The Scamander twins had been too focused during practice to contribute a single comment but as the team started making it back from the changing rooms, Lorcan quipped dreamingly, "Moaning Myrtle sort of owes us a favor."

Lily's eyes went wide. "What could she possibly do?"

Lysander shared a conspiratorial look with his brother. There were certain qualities the twin brothers shared, but the two were by no means identical. Whereas Lorcan was waif-like and blonde, Lysander had dark brown hair and mischievous green eyes. "Leave that to us," said Lysander.

"Don't even think about doing whatever it is that you're thinking of doing," Hugo shot at the twins warningly. "McGonagall was this close to pulling you from practice for an entire month after your last fiasco. You keep that shit up, we'll be playing Slytherin with two chasers missing."

Oscar and Auggie also came out of the locker rooms. Oscar was wearing joggers instead of his uniform trousers but he rarely ever got in trouble with teachers. He was a good enough student, but Lily thought they liked him for the same reason everybody else liked him - because it was just impossible to do otherwise.

He reached to shuffle Lily's hair now. It was meant to be an affectionate gesture but her hair was in a ponytail, her bow barely hanging on as it was, and he had made a mess of it, so Lily groaned, taking off her ponytail holder and re-doing it again. Normally this show of vanity would have made Oscar laugh, but today he was watching her much more carefully.

"I've been thinking I should talk to him," he said. "All the Gryffindor boys are pissed off about it, and I haven't let any of them do a single thing about it, but I feel like I should at least call him out on it."

"Oscar - no," said Lily, panicking at the very idea. "He'll think we've started dating, and it'll just start this whole other thing."

"I am not even straight!" said Oscar, his eyes wide with exasperation.

"I know, but he's just-"

"Stop using the words 'jealous' and 'insecure' as excuses." Lily's face must have fallen enough because he backpedaled quickly, his features soft. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that he's such a shithead. Writing to the papers is fucked up on so many levels."

"It might not have been him at all," said Lily, but even as she said it, she knew it couldn't have been anyone else. Baird Kimble always watched out for Andrew. He was the careful reason where Andrew was the quick emotion. He would have never gotten Andrew into a mess of that sort.

Oscar must have been thinking the same thing because he said, "He can't get away with it."

"Let it go," said Hugo, catching up with them from behind and putting an arm around Lily. "Another scandal will come and then this one will be old news. On that note, I'm taking ten points from whoever mentions Andrew Rogers during practice again. I don't care that we're all Gryffindors. Lily doesn't need us constantly reminding her about that arsehole."

Lily leaned back on Hugo, grateful that he always knew exactly what she needed. Of all the things that were already going wrong this year, Quidditch was the one thing that was going right, and she wanted to keep it that way.

When James had graduated, they had lost not only the legendary James Potter but also Ellie Castro and Freddie Weasley. It had left the Gryffindor team spirialing, and they had lost the cup to Ravenclaw last year, but the team had grown comfortable around each other, and it showed in the way they were playing in practice.

Oscar was their captain. He wasn't as obsessed with the game as James had been, but he knew every single member of his team like the back of his hand, and they all adored him, not in the fanatical way even Lily had adored James, but in a way that was genuine and full of deep rooted mutual respect.

Auggie was a beater alongside Oscar, Hugo their Seeker, and the twins were chasers alongside Lily. She often still missed having James and Ellie to her left and right, but Lysander, only in his third year, was already as fearless as James had been in his last year, and though Lorcan wasn't as much of a natural talent, he was so in sync with his brother, it hardly mattered at all. Nia was their keeper. She was infamous for missing practices, as she had done today, and Oscar always got after her endlessly, but she did well enough when she showed up to more than make up for it.

The other teams had their strengths too, but the Gryffindor team had each other's back, and James had always taught her that that counted more than anything else.

Hugo leaned into her as the rest of the team made their way back to the castle and the two of them headed towards their last class for the evening. "Don't let Rogers get to you. He's such scum."

Lily was grateful that he hadn't asked whether or not what the article had said about her was true. Most of it had been lies, but there were enough bits of truths in there for her to shiver with embarrassment. "You used to think he was a great guy. You used to say I needed to treat him better."

"That was then, and this is now," said Hugo, "and now I think he's the bloodiest sore loser in the entire school."

The afternoon sun casted a blinding glow on the ground but even through squinted eyes, Lily knew that the two figures locked up in a deep, passionate kiss right outside the greenhouse's door were Xander and Caroline. His hand was inside her cloak, lost somewhere on her lower back.

Hugo cleared his throat forcefully, and the two broke apart, though Caroline remained wrapped around his arm, her cheek flat on his shoulder. They looked like a couple, even when they weren't kissing.

"Oh hey," said Caroline, a smile breaking across her face.

Lily didn't know her personally, and she wasn't in a friendly mood. "You two are blocking the entrance."

Caroline's smile grew half an inch. "I've actually been meaning to speak to you, Potter. Professor Bay was just telling me how worried she was about your grade in Charms. She seems to think that you've fallen behind in class ever since that crazy sex scandal broke out and was asking me to fit you in my tutoring schedule…. Unfortunately, I am swamped now that I've made the Quidditch team."

Lily's neck burned. Charms wasn't even the only class where she had fallen behind on homework but she didn't care about that. Lily had never been good at school. It was terribly embarrassing, however, to be reminded that teachers were also aware of the terrible rumors that were circling the whole nation.

"I didn't know you were falling behind," said Hugo, his eyebrows furrowed. "You should have told me. I could have helped you. We need to fix your grades before Oscar realizes and sits you out of practice."

Caroline titled her face, her words gentle and slow, like she was speaking to a two-year-old with a scab on her knees. "NEWTS Charms isn't for everyone. There's no shame in having to drop a class or two. Trying to do more than our capabilities can be damaging to our mental health."

Lily could feel Xander's eyes on her. He looked concerned, but his hand was gentle on Caroline's arm, protective, and Lily realized he was worried that Lily would jinx his little girlfriend. And while that idea had crossed her mind, now she was feeling hurt as well as indignant, so she raised her chin slightly, her smile bright at Caroline's. "You're such a sweetheart. What's your name again?"

Xander let out a low breath and quietly warned, "This is Caroline Suffles. You know that, Lily."

"Suffles! Of course." She hooked an arm with Hugo. "I didn't realize you had a girlfriend, Xander. Are you bringing her to the wedding this weekend? It would be so lovely for everyone to meet her!"

And then she slipped inside but not before getting a bit of satisfaction at seeing his face screw up as Caroline clapped enthusiastically, "Oh I do love weddings, Xander!"

"Don't take sides," she warned her cousin darkly as the two stepped inside and out of earshot.

"Wouldn't even dare," said Hugo.

[][]

At home, he was just "Neville," but while at Hogwarts, he was always "Professor Longbottom," and though Xander rather enjoyed him in both roles, he couldn't but think that Neville Longbottom looked nothing like the great wizard people claimed he was. Great wizards were supposed to look like Harry: thoughtful, controlled, protective. Professor Longbottom was balding, rosy-cheeked, and round.

"These tiny little seeds grow up to be twelve feet trees." Professor Longbottom was passing them an open glass jar filled with small, yellow-tinted seeds. Each student grabbed one as the jar passed their hands. "They have quite a number of useful properties. Professor Reagan is planning to use them to brew sleeping potions. I promised him we would have mature leaves ready come early February. Now, who can tell me the name of this fascinating tree?"

It was called carmina herbea, but Xander allowed Caroline to be the one to shoot up her hand and answer the question. He had read all about the tree the night before. He wasn't in the mood to show off though. Principally, because the Witch and Famous article that had everybody talking was still on his mind. But also because he was proving to be as absolute shit at Herbology as he remembered.

"It's a nice, soft flick, Mr. Vandneberg," said Professor Longbottom, watching his disastrous attempt to make the seed sprout. "Carminas are quite distrusting. You have to earn its trust."

Xander exhaled long and slow, determined not to grow exasperated. Doing well in classes was important to him, but he had always hated Herbology. He hated that he was currently outside, on his knees, dirt staining his trousers, and he hated, most of all, that he could never make plants grow, no matter how hard he tried.

Lily, on the other hand, was doing as well as she always did in this class. Her seed had already sprouted past surface level, its one indigo leaf shimmering under the light of the fading sun. If the article bothered her at all, she didn't show it all. He felt proud of her for that. He was ashamed of himself though. He should have known something like this might have happened. He should have confronted Andrew Rogers before he had pulled a stunt like that.

"You're bloody fantastic," said Edward, kneeling so close to her, his knee was touching hers.

Lily beamed. "It's so pretty. I can hardly stand it."

Edward chuckled, running a hand behind his head. "Yeah," he said, looking at her in a sort of daze. "I know what you mean."

"I'm fucking done." Xander dropped his wand to the floor, frustration swallowing him whole in a way he seldom allowed for it to do.

Caroline didn't say anything. She had been quiet ever since Lily had mentioned the wedding. Xander had tried explaining that it was an intimate family affair. Caroline had said it was actually just as well since she had a date with Kyler Kumar that weekend, and Xander had sighed with relief, which had obviously been the wrong response because she hadn't spoken to him all class period.

Hugo shrugged. "It's not working for me either. How you'd do it, Lils?"

Lily sat back on her legs to appraise their work. She caught the frustrated look on Xander's face and smiled a little, not teasingly, only pityingly. "You have to be nicer to it."

"How exactly does one charm a plant?" Xander snapped back at her, too angry with everything to be able to return her kindness. "Should I buy it flowers or is that kind of a 'fuck you' in the plantae world?"

Caroline giggled at this, pushing on his arm. "Stop it, Xander. She's trying to help you."

"Ten points from Slytherin for language, Mr. Vandeberg. You'll find that these are quite sensitive creatures," said Professor Longbottom standing over the spot where Xander had been working. "Lily, come and help Xander for a little bit. If you could just get him to be a little more patient, I think it could make all the difference."

Lily looked far from thrilled by the idea, but she nodded and stood up to make her way to Xander. Edward stared after her in a way that made Xander want to jinx him.

"You're angry," Lily mused quietly as she plopped down beside him. Xander turned to her, surprised by the fact that she sounded like she actually cared. She was looking at Caroline and biting her bottom lip, and it occurred to him that she felt guilty about bringing up the wedding, that now that her anger had eased, she was starting to see how it could have gotten him in trouble.

Sighing, she plucked at a blade of grass. "The Carmina responds to emotions. If it doesn't think you like it, it won't do anything for you."

Xander swallowed. He didn't want to make her feel worse about something that really wasn't her fault at all but he didn't want to have a conversation either. He just wanted to get this right, and Lily returned to her place.

"Cresat!" He kept the flicker of his wand soft but the dirt spat back violently at him, and Lily went into a fit of giggles. Xander wiped the dirt off his face with the sleeve of his cloak. "It's not funny, Potter," he said. Her laugh was making it difficult not to laugh along.

"It wouldn't kill you to smile, you know," said Lily.

"Hm," said Xander.

Caroline was looking at them now. She was serious and then she reached for his thigh in the sort of way she normally wouldn't dare to do while in class. "Think of us and last night, sexy," she tried helpfully. "You were smiling then."

Lily pushed her lips to the side, like she was trying hard not to comment, and when Caroline stood up to drop off her assignment inside the greenhouse, she finally let it out. "Sexy?"

"Shutup," Xander mumbled, suddenly embarrassed. He focused back on the patch of green grass, prayed that this would work so Lily could finally go back to where she belonged, forced himself to smile, and then said, "Cresat!"

Whatever grass remained turned yellow and then brown. Lily was laughing at him again. He glared at her, and she covered her mouth with both hands.

"I'm sorry," she said, taking a deep breath and clearing her throat to force herself to be serious. "Clearly," she said, nodding along like she was some grand source of deep hidden wisdom, "you have yet to master the difference between smiling and smirking - sexy."

"Potter, I am not in the mood for-"

"Oh move over," she said, swatting him away. She leaned over to the pile of dirt he had offended. "Hello there, you pretty little darling thing. I'm so very sorry you've been so terribly offended by this idiot. He has no idea how to treat beautiful things like us, does he?"

"Shove off, Lily," said Xander, but it was impossible not to grin. It was so nice to have her so near him, to see her speaking to the earth itself rather than ramble on about a pair of new shoes. She was teasing him the way she teased all of her friends, but it reminded him of the little girl he had once allowed himself to adore.

He could feel it again.

The slipping.

"Try again," said Lily, giving him space.

"Cresat!"

Lily yelped as they fell backwards. An oversized tree branch had shot from the group, uprooting several other dwarf trees in its surrounding area, and was now towering over them. Thick brunches sprouted out and swung menacingly in every direction before settling down and laying still. The trees grew heavy with leaves that were different shades of blue then they turned purple, and finally orange.

For a moment, the whole class, who had jumped back in freight at the sight of the gigantic tree pulling at the ground below them, let out a sigh of relief as the tree seemed to finally have settled, but then the trees turned yellow, and then dried up, turning the leaves an ugly shade of brown, and that's what fell around them, like a shower of crispy, burnt leaves.

Professor Longbottom looked flabbergasted. "This is a curious occurrence indeed. Carminas are good at surviving, even in extreme weather. Then again, of course, I've never heard of one reaching full maturing in any less time than five months, let alone five seconds."

Xander scrambled to his feet, "But I still get full credit for the assignment, don't I?"

"For Godric's sake, do you really have to be such a nerd?" said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Some of us actually care about-"

Xander didn't have time to tell her the rest of that thought. From the Forbidden Forest, a Thestral was running towards the castle at full speed, picking up dirt and grass beneath him. Despite the distance that separated them, Xander could see the muscles beneath its leathery, black thighs working in full force. A second later, the creature gave out a terrified cry and its legs buckled beneath them. Behind him, two wizards were running out of the same forest, their wands sending hexes lashing at the creature.

Lily jumped to her feet. "What are they doing to him?"

Hugo was squinting at the pair of wizards. The rest of the class looked equally as confused. Xander had forgotten not everyone could see what he and Lily could see. Professor Longbottom, however, did share that same misfortune because it was he that said, "It's a Thestral. We did get a warning that the Task might be nearing our borders this afternoon. They've been working on catching a wild Thestral roaming the forest for weeks now."

"The Task?" one of the Ravenclaws echod.

"They work with the Ministry," said Professor Longhorn. "Under The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They're in charge of capturing wild and dangerous creatures."

Lily looked confused. "Thestrals aren't dangerous."

"Not generally, no," was all that Professor Longibottom said before waving his hands as if shooing them towards the castle. "Let's go ahead and end class early. We don't want to stand in their way. On we go. Yes, Mr. Nicool, go ahead and walk with me back to the castle, and I'll be happy to discuss that test with you."

Caroline's arms had gone around his neck again. "You can see them, right, Xander? That's pretty neat."

Lily shot her an ugly look. Xander didn't blame her this time. He had always been able to see Thestrals but it had hardly mattered when it had been due to a death he had not been able to remember. It'd been different after Ginny had died. He would never forget how the room had gone still. The way it had felt like something had died inside of him too when her last breath had been spent.

"The Ministry is controlling their breeding now," said Edward. His chest was out, like he was proud he could contribute this tidbit to Lily, and Lily nodded absently at him. "I've heard they're ugly little beasts."

"They're not ugly," said Lily, looking at the one that continued to be chased. "They're unfortunate."

His fist kept clenching around nervously like he was considering reaching for her hand and then changing his mind at the last minute. "Hey, Potter, I want to give you your birthday gift," he said finally. "You'll be going home tomorrow, and I don't want to wait until you come back."

Xander didn't wait to hear her response. He was walking back to the castle with Caroline under his arm, and Hugo on his other side. Hugo was in the middle of asking something about their Arithmancy homework when Edward sped up past them towards the castle, and then Hugo was turning around with a frown. "She will be the death of me."

Xander followed his gaze to Lily. The two wizards had finally binded the Thestral, though they seemed to be doing a rather poor job of keeping it from breaking free. Standing right beside them, her arms crossed and a look of annoyance on her face was, of course, Lily.

Hugo trotted over to his cousin without saying another word, his book bag bouncing on the side of his leg. Soon he was at her side, telling her something while pulling on her arm, but Lily didn't budge. The Task workers were also trying to wave away the teeangers, but Lily was arguing something back with them, and Xander knew none of them would be able to pry her away.

He hadn't realized he was going towards her until Caroline's hand was on his arm. "You don't always have to go save her, you know." Her voice was so quiet, Xander was almost startled by it. She held her gaze on the floor. "If she breaks up with Andrew Rogers or goes after a Thestral or whatever, it's not your business. You're not even related to her."

Xander turned on his heels and went towards Lily without bothering to respond. There was no point in trying to explain. It didn't make sense, not even to him, but he couldn't just walk away.

Not when it came to Lily.

()()

Lily jerked her arm away from Hugo once again. He was standing behind her, trying to convince her to give the whole thing a rest, but the Thestral was wailing frantically, and Lily didn't think those were cries she'd ever be able to forget if she walked away from it now.

"Merlin, that looks rough."

Lily turned to find Xander standing behind her. He was looking down at the Thestral too, his face growing a little pale at the sight of the open wounds the hexes had created on the body of the Thestral, and at the fact that there was blood starting to stain the grass underneath it, that there was flesh coming out in places where skin should have been enough to hold it in.

"You'll kill it," said Xander finally. He had turned to look at the two wizards with a look that was neither judgmental nor argumentative but curious almost.

"'Course not," said one of them grumpily. He was a heavy set bloke with thick peppered hair in tangled braids that went past his shoulder. "This one's goin' to a labo'tory with better medical care than ma' own mother. Just been a pesky 'lil bitch to catch. Catron."

The Thetral had stood up and another lash had gone around its legs, bringing it back to its legs. Lily's hand shot for her wand, but it was missing, and then she saw that Xander was holding two. She tried reaching for it but now she was having trouble moving or speaking. Xander had stunned her. The prick had actually stunned her. She would kill him the second she got her wand back.

Xander gave out a loud breath, seemingly understanding their situation. "You cannot apparte until she's completely down. It would be too risky to have her trying to escape mid apparition. I reckon the best you could do is get a sedation potion. Honestly, I don't think anything less than four hundred milligrams would do it. She's massive."

The second wizard gave out a chuckle. "Were ya suppose we could find oursel a dosage that high?"

"Ballard Inc," said Xander as if that was the obvious answer. "Isn't that where you are taking her?" The two men looked at each other but did not answer. Xander drew out his wand, drawing out a large cage around the Thestral. The finished project glowed brilliantly in the darkness that had settled around them. The Thestral must have known there was no more running because it whimpered sadly, lifting only its neck and then letting drop again. "Send them an owl tonight. Fabian Ballard will give you what you need. He'll be profiting plenty from your service."

The braided wizard eyed him warily. "Will the cage hold overnight?"

Xander shrugged. "Try bringing it down."

Sufficiently pleased with their failed attempts to remove the cage, the two men retreated back into the forest, and then their figures erased from the night all together, and Lily felt the hold on her release.

"You bloody prick!" She went straight towards him, an indignant rage inside of her, but Xander waved his wand, and Lily felt herself pulled backwards.

"I am going to give you back your wand," he said, holding it at distance like she was the wild thing inside of a cage, "but don't come at me, okay? I was just trying to get them to leave. Look at the Thestral, Lily. We don't have time to waste on your rages."

Lily wanted to jinx him again but not enough to stop looking at the Thestral. He had been right about that.

Xander and Hugo were already walking away, their voices growing fainter and fainter. "You're on duty tonight, aren't you, mate? Cover for me so I can sneak back here? I reckon I could get her back out of there within a few hours. I just don't want piss off McGonagall anymore."

Lily could hardly hear them now. The sun was long gone but not forgotten, the sky was a dark shade of gray that would turn darker yet later in the night. Orange glow sparked behind the castle's windows.

"Molly's on the first floor today," said Lily, catching up to the two boys. "She'll hand you detention quicker than a sneeze. Meet me outside the dungeons after lights out. I'll bring my cloak."

It took Xander a second to realize she had been speaking to him at all, and then he snorted like there was no way he'd let her come along, but just at that moment the Thestral cried behind them and his jaw tightened with a muted groan. "You better not be late. I hate having my time wasted."

There were a number of things Lily wanted to snap back but the thestral's last cry had pierced her heart too, and so she kept her thoughts quiet, and her priorities straight.