"I wish I was a frog."
"Pardon?" Hermione asked, blinking at her slowly.
"I wish I was a frog," Lily repeated, kicking at a rock and sending it a bit further down the path.
"No, I heard you. What on earth are you talking about?"
"Well, what does a frog have to worry about?"
"Being eaten?"
"So do I, but at least a frog doesn't have the paper slandering them every day."
"It's not every day."
"They also don't have to deal with people shouting at them for being such a slag, but not enough of a slag to sleep with whoever's doing it, which just makes them angrier."
"Lily, you're starting to worry me."
"Yeah, well," Lily said, kicking the stone again as they caught up to it. "You wouldn't be so worried if I was a frog."
"There you are!" Ron said, clapping her on the shoulder from behind as he and Neville caught up. "Didn't fancy sitting through Transfiguration?"
"McGonagall wants to run me through drills before the task," Lily said, feeling sick to her stomach again at the mere thought of it. "I just needed break. Can only take so much at once, you know?"
Preparing for the task was basically all her life was, at this point. Freezing and ice spells in case she faced the Fireball, wind and air spells in case she faced the Welsh, fire and hot spells in case she faced the Short-snout, and everything else they could think of in case it was the Horntail. Plus, illusions for all four of them, and Lily was discovering she was almost as bad at making those as she was general Transfiguration. Hermione was so frustrated during their last session that she left the Secret Chamber entirely, and Lily didn't see her again until returning for a well-earned sleep. Hermione apologized, Lily accepted it (since it looked like the other girl had spent a few hours crying over it), and they slept with Hermione's arms squeezing her tight.
She was starting to think Hermione was more nervous about the task than she was.
Ron needed his agreement. "What's the point in practicing, anyway? Not like you know what the task is."
Lily just nodded and turned a slightly different shade of green.
"You're starting to look a bit froggy, at least," Hermione said, gently squeezing her hand.
"Blimey, are you still on about that frog thing, Lily?" Ron asked.
"No!" Lily said, wishing she felt well enough to turn red, instead.
"What do you mean still on?" Hermione asked.
"Well, we were practicing illusions a couple days ago, right? And she just turns to me and says, 'I wish I was a frog.'"
"Can we not talk about this?" Lily asked, her embarrassment finally overcoming her nerves.
"Whatever you say, frog girl."
"Please don't let anybody hear you say that, Ron."
As they approached Hagrid's cabin, and the crowds of Beauxbatons, Hogwarts, and Durmstrang students came into view, Lily's nerves started returning. It especially didn't help when she saw the glares and giggles she was getting from the French side of things. Clara was still standing with Malfoy, and Lily at least felt amused that neither of them had any friends from their own schools. When she heard Malfoy's joke about her promiscuity, she even laughed along with it, just because she knew it would bother him.
There was one more thing bothering her, though.
"What happened to the Hogwarts class?" Hermione asked, noticing it too.
"What do you mean?" Neville asked, pulling his thick gloves on with a worried look in his face. Lily couldn't help but notice there were quite a few burn marks on them.
"She means that it's smaller than it was before," Lily said, "and that's with all the houses being in it."
"About that," Ron said, scratching his nose. "They all left because of the- err- you know, I think it's best if you see them yourself."
"See what?" Hermione and Lily asked together.
"Skrewts!" Hagrid said, dropping a large crate on the ground in front of the entire class. Lily noticed that all of the Hogwarts students were staring at the metal container in complete, abject terror.
"Oh, no," Ron said, his face paling.
"They're bigger again," Neville said, a high-pitched whine to his voice.
"Hagrid," Hermione said, hands wringing together nervously, "what are skrewts?"
"Well, they're- err- they're skrewts, see? Nothing quite else like 'em, is there?"
"Fascinating," Lily said, kneeling close enough to peer between the bars. Inside was the most peculiar creature she'd ever seen. There were bits of fleshy, pale meat between the plates of black chitin, and it didn't seem to have a face, simply having an end with a stinger and an end with, presumably, an anus (albeit one with thick, acrid smoke billowing from it).
"I've still got enough for the whole lot of yeh!" Hagrid called the rest of the class (who were all standing much further away). "Five to a school, so divide up! Go on, then!"
"Excellent," Lily said, smiling widely. That meant she could have one all to herself, if she wanted to. Perhaps there were perks to being a Hogwarts student, after all. She reached a hand in and poked the scaley creature. It tried to sting at her, but she managed to get out of the way in time. "I would have thought they'd feel hot, with all that smoke coming out the end."
"You think that's the end, then?" Hagrid said, squatting and squinting to where she was pointing. "I've been having some doubts, meself. Don't see how else they eat, otherwise."
"Well, they remind me a lot of manticores and fire crabs," Lily said, swatting the tail on the end when it tried to sting her again. "And if you look at the end of the stinger, there, you can see a little opening."
"Huh," Hagrid said, scratching his beard. "How 'bout that."
"I don't understand," Hermione said, brow furrowed. Lily spared her a glance and noticed Ron and Neville both holding on to her to keep her from joining them near the cage. "What does the stinger have to do with which end is which?"
"Well," Lily said, happily providing an explanation, "manticores use their own stingers to deliver a poison, but there's no barb on the end of these. It's a little sharp, sure, but-" this time, when the beast tried to sting, she grabbed it firmly by the end and pulled the tail out through the bars- "If you look closely, it's also got this little sucker in the opening, see?"
"How 'bout that!" Hagrid said again, this time sounding extremely cheerful.
"No," Hermione said, squinting at the thing.
"Well, it's there," Lily said confidently. "Think of it like a Bloodlicker."
"A what?" Ron said.
"Big, bloated thing," Lily said, feeling daring enough to touch a sucker gently with her finger. "They live in the Scandinavian mountains. Pale, white, big, bloated belly, walks on all fours, super long tongue, sharp teeth, and suckers. Store the blood of their prey in their bellies. Fascinating creatures, their excrement is used in a lot of-"
"Lily," Hermione said very gently, "the last thing I want to hear about is magical monster excrement."
"They're not monsters!" Lily protested.
"Jus' misunderstood, is all," Hagrid finished for her. "Harmless, really. Haven't killed anyone in a decade!"
"Lovely," all three of their companions said together.
"Anyway," Lily said, pulling her finger off the sucker and showing the pruned skin to the crowd. "My point is that the stinger is just to pierce. Then it can suck out the blood or fluids or whatever."
"That's why they keep killin' each other!" Hagrid said, smacking his forehead. "Poor little guys are jus' hungry, is all. Can' believe I never noticed!"
"Really good eyes, Hermione," Lily said before she could ask the question. Finally, she let go of the tail, stood, and nodded satisfactorily. "If I had to guess, their excrement is the smoke they keep billowing. That's how fire crabs work, see, only they don't have an opening quite that large. It just combusts out of the pores of their shells."
"I sure am glad yer back, Lily," Hagrid said, clapping her on the shoulder (and causing her to sink a full inch into the soft ground). "Nice ter have a bit o' enthusiasm back!"
"Do you reckon they'll get big enough to ride?" Lily asked excitedly.
"Blimey, I hope so!"
Lily wished Arithmancy was half as fun as Care of Magical Creatures. She forgot how much she hated Professor Vector's lectures. The further they got into them, she less certain she was that she'd keep that old promise to Professor Flitwick to take an OWL in the subject. Her dreams were filled with numbers and skrewts that night. Poor little guys never stood a chance against the might of an actual apex predator.
She skipped the next morning's Transfiguration again, although she knew it was only a matter of time before McGonagall hunted her down for doing so. She also skipped History of Magic, since it was a Binns day and he would never notice. She instead spent all that time pouring over books, hoping to get lucky and find a spell that would instantly kill a dragon (or, at the least, let her slip right on by one).
She came up with nothing, but she did decide to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts, since Moody seemed like a good person to ask for advice on the matter. He had some old burn scars that came from something fire related, at the least.
"You'll love him," Ron told her with a wide smile as they walked into the class together. "He's a bloody genius."
"What's he been showing you?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Oh, everything. You'll see. Today is going to be big."
"The Imperious Curse," Moody began as the bell rang above. "I won't waste words on reminding you lot on what it does. If you don't already, you'll learn soon enough. Queue up, we don't have time to waste."
"Wait," Hermione said as everybody rose to their feet around her, "you're going to be casting it on students?"
"Common curriculum for NEWT level students," Moody said dismissively, both eyes darting in different directions to watch everybody.
"We're fourth years."
"And I have express permission from each school's Headmaster, as well as each countries' elected officials, to teach every student, regardless of level," Moody said, one eye finally focusing on Hermione. "Granger, yes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good on you for contradicting me," Moody said. "That was the first lesson of the day. Three points for Beauxbatons."
"Slytherin," Hermione grumbled, glaring at the blue on her sleeves.
"And the rest of you pay attention," Moody barked. "Never be afraid to call out your superiors on their unethical behaviour. If something isn't right, then say so."
"Zen why are we doing zis?" a Beauxbatons student said.
"If you have your reservations, this is on a purely volunteer basis," Moody said. "I won't be using the Imperious on anybody without their direct consent, but if you join the queue, I will take it as such."
Moody was clearly trying to hide his annoyance as half the class took that as an excuse to sit back down. Most of Beauxbatons did, but they were made up for by all of Durmstrang remaining. Hermione almost sat, too, arms crossed and sulking, but she joined in once Lily pulled her up from her seat.
"I don't like this," she said under her breath as they joined the middle of the queue.
"Now," Moody said once everybody's choice was made. "The point of this exercise if to break out of the Imperius. In future lessons, you will receive an explanation and pointers on how to do so. For this one, I just want you to see what it feels like to have all control ripped away from you. By all means, do try and fight it. If you manage it, I'll even reward you. Let's begin."
The first student up was, surprising to Lily, Lavender Brown. Moody made her give a five minute lecture on proper makeup application, and Lily wasn't surprised in the slightest that she didn't try breaking out of it. She was fairly certain Lavender would have done it regardless of the Imperius.
The next set were all Durmstrang students. Moody had them sing their national anthem, he had them act out plays, he had them act like a seal. Ron went before her, as well, and Moody had him spinning on the spot while giving a play-by-play of his favourite chess game. Every single student had one thing in common; the class would laugh at them, and then Moody would join in and admonish them for doing so.
"Think it's funny, do you?" Moody asked. "We'll see how you feel when it's your turn, and when you're forced to turn on your family. When they make you torture them, maybe even kill them."
Even with his warning, students still laughed. Lily wasn't surprised; after how cruel they could be to her, she doubted some of them were even human.
"Imperio," Moody said as it reached Lily's turn.
The first thing that happened was Lily's vision turned hazy, a thick, almost blue fog settling over it. The second thing that happened was she felt immensely calm, as if there wasn't a thing in the world that bothered her, as if the judgmental stares she was receiving from the Beauxbatons students (and some others, Hufflepuffs especially, of course) didn't matter in the slightest. The third thing was that she heard a commanding voice in her head.
"Do a cartwheel."
Lily didn't see why she shouldn't. In fact, she was pretty sure she wanted to. With a skip and a hop, she tumbled, pushing from the ground with her palms and rolling, her robe whipping through the air. She knew she was only supposed to do one, but she was having so much fun, so she rolled and rolled all the way to the other end of the room, only stopping because she didn't have the physical space to continue. She even struck a little pose for her admiring crowd.
"Sing."
Lily smiled, held out her arms, and then began bellowing out the lyrics to her favourite song. She could hardly even hear herself, and the same went for the muffled laughter around her.
"Grab a partner, dance, and keep singing."
Lily didn't even hesitate. Lavender Brown was the closest person, so she snatched her up from her seat and twirled her, still singing along, as they moved into the center of the room. Lily dipped Lavender again, and then scooped her right back up, holding her closely in her arms. Lavender's face was a bright red, and she laughed along with the rest of the class as Lily continued her little routine.
"Call it quits and give us a bow."
Lily didn't want to do that. She wanted to keep dancing with Lavender.
"Give us a bow, Potter."
Lavender was so pretty, and she was smiling and laughing and going along with it, and Fleur did tell her to find a pretty girl to dance with. What was the harm in it?
"Bow, Potter."
In fact, Lily didn't see any harm in just leaning forward and planting a quick kiss on her-
"Ow!" both girls cried at once as Lily panicked and turned it, instead, into the hardest headbutt she'd ever given.
"Apologies, Brown," Mad-Eye said with a bemused tone. "If it makes you feel better, that was not the order I gave. Potter did that of her own free will."
"Thanks?" Lavender said, rubbing at the red spot on her forehead. Lily was doing the same, although she was pretty sure her own wasn't visible over how red her face was. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to look at Lavender again.
"You were close, Potter," Moody said satisfactorily. "Very close. Remember what you did, there, and we'll see if you improve any the next time."
Lily didn't think she could. For one, it would require being in proximity to another cute girl. For another, she was very worried that trying to think about how much she wanted to kiss one would just make her do it, and she wasn't quite ready for the whole world to know about that part yet. She couldn't stop thinking about Lavender for the rest of class and didn't pay a single iota of attention to any other students. She even occasionally sent little glances back towards the girl. She was so preoccupied on working up the courage to talk to her after class (and failing utterly at it) that she completely forgot about trying to speak to Moody until the next day, right in the middle of breakfast.
"I'll be right back," Lily said, immediately dropping her fork, "I need to-"
"Miss Potter," McGonagall said, coming up from behind.
"Professor, just a bit, I need to-"
"Come with me," McGonagall said in a tone that would broker no argument.
"I'll arrange your funeral," Hermione said, still reading the morning paper.
"Thanks," Lily grumbled as she followed behind the Deputy Headmistress. She noticed Malfoy and Clara sniggering about something again, shooting looks at her between whispers, and was certain she'd hear all about it by the end of the day.
"I only get you in my class every third week, Potter," McGonagall said, leading her upstairs and waving to a few friendly first years. "Pray, tell, why you've squandered two of those sessions, now?"
"I didn't want to get out of bed," Lily said honestly. Wasn't quite the whole truth, but it was enough.
"Perhaps you need to retire early, if you are having such difficulties in the morning. Invest in an alarm, perhaps?"
"I have Hermione for that."
"Then perhaps you should not ignore her protests," McGonagall said as they entered her empty classroom. A quick flick of her wand had the door closed, and then she was turning to look at the redheaded girl, a stern, but not unkind, look in her eyes. "Perhaps you would also like to tell me what's going on?"
"Nothing," Lily said with a shrug. "Just tired, is all."
"I see. So, it has nothing to do with your potential expulsion from Beauxbatons, nor the now-cold reception you are receiving from your former schoolmates?"
"No," Lily said slowly, "because Hogwarts and Durmstrang aren't so keen on me, either."
McGonagall placed a hand gently on her shoulder, staring straight into her eyes.
"Are you having trouble in the common room again?"
"No," Lily said. "Actually, Slytherin is being half decent, and- and some of Gryffindor is, too." It was mostly just the Weasleys, their immediate circles, and her fellow fourth years, but it was something.
"And you will alert me immediately should matters change?"
"Yes," Lily promised. It would suck, but she'd do it. She was not having another year like the last one.
"Then I will open my office to you once more," McGonagall said with a satisfied nod, letting her shoulder go. "If I cannot get you to attend classes, I would at least like to know you are safe and working on your studies. If you promise you will not abuse this privilege, I will allow it."
"I won't," Lily said, feeling warm again.
"Then you may go, now," McGonagall said, sitting at her desk, glasses perched on her nose as she lifted a stack of papers. "It seems somebody has left a list of useful spells laying on a stack of essays I must grade. It would be a shame if somebody were to steal it without my notice."
Lily couldn't help but smile at that.
When she found the list, she was surprised to find several different sources of handwriting on it. Some she recognized, some she didn't. One in particular, she could tell was somebody trying to hide what their writing actually looked like. She could tell that much, even if she couldn't tell who it actually was. It seemed familiar, though. That particular section happened to have a particular, dangerous theme to it that excited her far more than she'd ever admit. As well, every other section of spells on the list told her what they did, while this set gave only instructions.
Bat Bogey Hex – purely silent, no incantation, move wand in shape of a bat's wing, potentially fatal to small creatures
Disintegration Curse – Depulveri, absolutely under no circumstances to be used against human opponents
Lesser Disintegration Curse – Reducto, serviceable against living creatures
Shrinking Curse – Diminuendo, not recommended for use against human targets
Growing Curse – Engorgio, see above
Vanishment Charm – Evanesco, does not work against living beings
Tongue Tying Curse – Langlock, especially useful against improperly trained duelists
Body Raising Curse – Levicorpus, purely silent
Body Freeing Countercurse – Liberacorpus
Silencing Ward – Muffliato
Sectumsempra – use against enemies only
Lily scratched her nose at the last one, wondering why it was the only spell not to get a proper name. She'd chalk them all up to Moody choosing the spells, only his handwriting appeared just on the next page. She might have still given him credit- perhaps the disguise was just to hide the darker spells- but some of the things he wrote sounded even more concerning. That left only one option, and she was going to choose to ignore it so as not to spend the rest of her time fuming. Plus, if she acknowledged it in any way, she'd likely toss the whole spell list out, and that'd be doing herself no favours.
"This is pointless," Hermione grumbled on their way to the Quidditch Pitch on Saturday morning.
"I needed a break," Lily said with a shrug.
"We have Hogsmeade tomorrow!"
"I needed one now. Besides, my visit is for business, not pleasure."
"Don't you think you've had enough of one? I mean, we just went over our rough draft for the pamphlets last night!"
"Hermione, different kinds of work are still work."
"Pamphlets?" Neville asked.
"Tell you later," Lily said with a wink. "It's a S.P.E.W. thing."
"Which you should really be a part of by now," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes.
"Save your pitch for later, Dr. Watson," Lily said, throwing an arm around her shoulders and raising her other hand dramatically in the air. "For now, we fly!"
Of course, they were just watching people fly, since it was Gryffindor playing against Durmstrang in the first game of the season, but Lily could dream about being up there herself. Plus, she got almost as much fun out of watching Ron trail behind Viktor Krum as she did playing (between bouts of using the rest of her time to watch one other player in particular).
"It's just not fair," Ron grumbled as they walked him off the empty pitch hours later. "How come I had to go up against him first?"
"You'll get another chance at him later," Lily said consolingly.
"And we have to play Beauxbatons next," Ron said, ignoring her.
"At least they don't have me anymore."
"Maybe I should give up."
"Ron, you're not giving up. We just ordered you a new broom!"
"But-"
"Look," Lily said gently, "the Beauxbatons Seeker is now the reserve, right?"
"Right?"
"Well, they're no good," Lily said simply. "Their entire game plan revolved around me being their best player, and now I can't play for them. You'll be fine."
"Thanks for reminding me I'll have to play you eventually," Ron grumbled.
"Ron, you've beaten me!"
That seemed to cheer the lad up, a bit, and he was at least willing to converse more amicably with Lily as they walked back up to the castle.
Lily wished she could say the same about herself the next morning. As she and Hermione walked towards Hogsmeade together, her nerves kept her completely incapable of doing so.
"It'll be alright, Lily," Hermione said reassuringly. "Sirius will have found something, I'm sure."
"Right," Lily said, not quite believing it.
"And if he hasn't, I will," Hermione said.
Lily could practically hear the coin purse she'd been given jingling in her pocket. She tried to take it out of the S.P.E.W. funds, since it was necessary to save the lives of her cofounder, but Lily insisted it come from her personal vault (Hermione hadn't yet seemed to process that the two were exactly the same thing).
The two girls parted ways at the village entrance. Hermione ran off to buy whatever she could find, and Lily went off towards the Hog's Head for her little meeting. She would have preferred the Three Broomsticks, since she very-much-so wanted to admire Madame Rosmerta after such a long time away from her, but Sirius insisted the privacy offered in the other pub would be better for her safety.
"There you are!" Sirius said, hopping up immediately upon her opening the pub door. Lily didn't even have the time to say anything at all before he was herding her up the creaky stairs towards the room above.
"Don't make a mess!" she heard the barkeep shout from below.
"Don't you have a goat to see to?" Sirius shouted back. Lily was horrified to hear it, but Sirius didn't seem to notice, as he was too busy slamming the door shut and then inspecting every each of it to make sure nobody could drop any eaves.
"There," Sirius said, brushing his hands off and smiling proudly at his handiwork. "Don't think anyone will be getting through there, anytime soon."
"What about the window?" a feminine voice said from behind. Lily let out a little squeak and whirled, only to find Tonks smirking at her and reclining on the musty mattress.
"What's she doing here?" Lily said, heart still beating quickly. Somebody else was supposed to come with Sirius, and she saw no signs of him anywhere.
"We'll get to it," Sirius said, knocking a little beetle off the windowsill and then slamming that shut, too. He tapped his wand along the edge of it, muttering some words soundlessly.
"Where's Remus?" Lily asked.
"At the shop," Sirius said, now poking his wand at the glass to make sure it was secure. "Running a special, place is swamped."
"Right," Lily said, crossing her arms and hoping no anger was showing. She was really hoping to talk to him.
"He asked me to come instead," Tonks said, flipping a page on her magazine. "Something about dragons? Didn't quite catch it, to be honest."
"She's an auror," Sirius said once he was satisfied once more. "I don't have as much time as I'd like, so I asked her to come so she can help you practice some things."
"Where are you going?" Lily asked, slightly nervous about having to spend so much time alone with another girl.
"Have a few meetings to get to," Sirius said. "First of all, I've got that printing press I promised you, but I need to pick it up and get a spot to set it all up. Think I've found a warehouse, but the bugger what owns it is iffy on selling. Second of all, I've found a solicitor willing to take your case. Don't reckon it'll get anywhere, but it's worth a shot even if we just have to scare the Prophet into keeping off your back."
Lily didn't much like the idea of scaring anybody, but she was willing to let it slide for the sake of shutting the bloody papers up.
"Third," Sirius said, walking forward and checking the door again, "I've found out what the First Task entails."
"Great," Lily said, an immense feeling of relief washing over her.
"Hold on, now," Tonks said, hopping up from the bed. "Sirius, this is all well-and-good, and all that rubbish, but I'm an auror. I could get into a lot of trouble if the Ministry finds out about this."
Lily had the perfect solution to that, and she had her wand out within moments. A quick poke towards Tonks, a silent thought of Muffliato, and her job was done. Sirius gave her the side-eye as she tucked her wand back into her sleeve, and she shrugged at him.
"Now she can't hear anything that'll get her into trouble," she said, gesturing at the confused Tonks to demonstrate.
"Don't think she'll much like that," Sirius said, "but, alright, fair enough."
"The task?"
"Right," Sirius said, moving to the window this time. "So, each of you will be given a dragon, but you won't know which until the day of."
"Lovely," Lily said, starting her pacing up and ignoring the frantic gestures from Tonks. That meant she still had to practice everything, when she was really hoping to get some proper focus going.
"Each dragon will be up on a mountain," Sirius continued, "and each of them is a nesting mother that you have to steal an egg from."
"Fantastic. Does the Ministry have any idea how dangerous nesting dragons are?"
"They seem to think it'll make for a better show, actually. As well, all three of you will have to do it at once, so it's also a race."
"Brilliant."
"So, that's it. You have to climb a mountain and steal an egg, all without getting killed or harming the dragon or eggs in anyway."
"Right," Lily said, taking a deep breath. "So easy. How am I supposed to climb a mountain with a bum leg, anyway?"
"You'll need to keep your brace on, that's for sure," Sirius said, pointing at the weak one. "Otherwise, just take your time, and rest as much as you can, don't even worry about the racing portion. You'll need your strength for getting that egg."
"And how, exactly, do I get the egg?"
' "Well, naturally, you'll have to fight the dragon."
"Naturally."
"Sorry, kid, but there's no getting around that part. The dragon won't just let you grab one. You'll have to fight it head on or sneak around it, and, no offense, but fighting seems more your style."
"Right," Lily said, taking another deep breath. She supposed she couldn't argue against that, considering her record. She just wished she knew why she was so nervous when she'd beaten the odds so many times before.
"I've got a list of spells for you," Sirius said, digging into his robes. "You'll want to aim most of them at the eyes, but that means getting in the dragon's face."
"Sirius, that's where the fire comes out!"
"I'm aware. But it's your only option. Dragonhide is too resistant to magic, even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to get through without loads of help."
"Brilliant," Lily said, biting her lip.
"Now's when you let Tonks go free so she can hear the rest."
"Fine."
"-completely lost my mind?"
"We can hear you, Tonks," Sirius said with a laugh. "Lily was just trying out a new spell, is all."
"Right," Tonks said, face going as pink as her hair. "Well- give me a bit of warning next time, will you? Thought I'd gone barkers."
"Sorry," Lily said with a shrug.
"I should go," Sirius said, heading towards the door. "Got a tight schedule to keep. You have the spells, Tonks?"
"Right here," Tonks said, patting her robe and sending a wink towards Lily.
"Wait," Lily said, hurrying over towards Sirius. "Err- can I talk to you, first?"
"Can it wait until tonight?" Sirius asked, dropping his voice.
"I- err- kind of wanted to have it face to face," Lily said, matching his tone and leaning in. "It's- err- about girls?"
"What about them?" Sirius asked, that knowing smile coming on his lips.
"I- err- see, I- I was wondering how to- err- how do you ask one out?"
"Is this about that French girl of yours, then?"
"Err- no, it's- it's a different one, actually."
"After the task, Lily," Sirius said, winking and clapping her on the shoulder. "Task first, girlfriend second. Alright?"
"But-"
"I promise, Lily, but our priority has to be the task for now. Having a cute girl to snog won't do you any good if you're dead. Alright?"
"Alright," Lily said, her complexion now matching Tonks's hair.
Lily supposed that was good enough for her. She gave her godfather a very long, very fond hug before he left, and then made her way out of the pub with Tonks. Lily had to pull her scarf tighter around her neck and face when the wind threatened to blow straight through her. Between that and her hat, she was little more than a pair of eyes peering out from between secure layers of warmth.
She could only imagine how well the Beauxbatons folks were holding up.
"Sirius showed me a private little place," Tonks said, apparently not bothered by the cold at all. "Should be good enough- if I see that little bug one more time, I'm going to smash it."
"It's just a little beetle," Lily said, shooing it away from her shoulders before Tonks could make good on her promise. "It's not hurting anybody."
"Can't stand bugs," Tonks grumbling, staring daggers at the funny little fellow as it flew away into the distance.
"I like them! I think they're-"
"Lily!"
Lily swore and tried to hide behind Tonks, but it was far too late; a smiling Katie Bell was already approaching, waving her Hufflepuff friend off. Lily thought she looked a little put out, personally.
"Want to come get some tea with us?" Katie asked, gesturing back towards the girl that was still staring gloomily in Lily's direction.
"No, thank you," Lily said, gesturing to Tonks, herself. "I'm busy right now."
"You can go!" Tonks said very unhelpfully, taking an equally unhelpful step backwards to give them space. "We can practice later."
"No, no, no," Lily said, hopefully putting enough effort into her tone for Tonks to get the point. "You're here now, so we should-"
"I've got the day off, I don't mind waiting a little bit!"
"Who is this?" Katie asked, glancing warily between the two girls.
"Tonks!" Tonks said, moving even further back. "We're very distant cousins."
"Really?" Lily asked, blinking in surprise.
"Very distant," Tonks emphasized. "But all pureblood families are. It comes with the territory."
"Lily," Katie said quietly, "what are you doing?"
"Triwizard Tournament stuff," Lily admitted, currently very focused on how nice Katie's hand felt on her arm. She then focused on how stupid that thought was, since there were several layers of clothing between the two of them. "Err- what about you, then?" Lily eyed the Hufflepuff girl still standing in the background.
"Oh, that's just Leanna," Katie said. "Marcus Smith asked her out, and his birthday is coming up, so I'm helping her pick something out."
"So- err- just friends, then?"
"Does that matter?" Katie asked slowly.
"Err- maybe?"
The two girls then stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, not saying a single thing. On Lily's part, she was really wishing Sirius had made the time for her very relevant question. She could only guess what Katie had on the mind.
"I see you're wearing the hat I got you," Katie said.
"Scarf, too," Lily said, beaming under said article of clothing.
"Sure you don't want to come for tea?" Katie asked after another awkward pause.
"I really can't," Lily said apologetically. "I've really got to practice, I don't have much time left before the task."
"Right," Katie said, rubbing the back of her head. "Well- I'll just- I'll leave you to it, then. Want to meet up later?"
"I've got Quidditch Practice."
"Oh- err- tomorrow, then?"
"Classes," Lily said, really starting to hate her packed schedule. "Then I've got to practice for this bloody tournament. Again."
At least she no longer had her private lessons with Belby, on account of the whole "betraying the school" thing.
"Err- how about-"
"Then the next day I've got Art Club," Lily said quickly. "Then I've got to go over some S.P.E.W. stuff with Hermione, then we're actually presenting the stuff and having a little recruitment drive, then I've got more Quidditch Practice, then-"
"Right, I get it," Katie said a bit snappishly. "Sorry for bothering you."
"Wait!" Lily said, now feeling very bad. "Err- How about after the task, then? We can- err- have that tea with your friend?"
"It's alright, Potter, you're busy, I get it," Katie said, already walking back to said friend. "Bye."
"No, really!" Lily said, reaching out and grabbing her by the arm. "How about- err- just you and me?"
"Sure you're not too busy?" Katie said, still wearing the same snide tone.
"I won't be after it's done!"
"Yes, you will," Katie said. "You're always too busy."
"Sorry," Lily said, letting Katie's arm go. "Sometimes I forget not everybody has the luxury of having a genocidal maniac trying to kill her on top of being entered into a deadly tournament against her will."
"Just because you've got problems doesn't mean the rest of us don't."
"Yeah?" Lily said with a scoff. "What've you got going on, then? Buying a birthday present? Oh, silly me, worrying about being expelled or dying, poor Katie Bell has to go shopping and wants to have tea!"
"Oh, and Quidditch Practice is such an ordeal, is it?"
"Merlin forbid I'm not allowed to have fun doing one thing!" Lily said hysterically. "It's not like I had to leave the art club after somebody left a painting of me sneaking off with half the Slytherin boys! It's not like I can't walk through a hallway without somebody accosting me or trying to get in my pants! It's not like the first thing I have to deal with every day is the paper writing about how awful I am, or the Hufflepuffs having a little contest to see who can toss the most egg in my hair!"
Lily regretted her little tantrum just as quickly as Katie's flushed a very bright red. She didn't even remember lifting her arms, but she did have to deal with awkwardly lowering them back to her side. Lily was just surprised Katie didn't say anything in return and instead turned to stomp back off to her Hufflepuff friend.
"Well, that didn't go well, did it?" Tonks said helpfully, skipping back over to her once Katie was gone.
Lily didn't bother responding to that. She didn't trust herself not to start ranting again. She just started marching off until Tonks shouted after her to wait, as she was going in the wrong direction from their meeting place.
Which, as it turned out, was a small opening in a large cluster of stone that led into a roomy little cave. Lily almost got stuck in the section they had to squeeze through, but with a little help from Tonks pulling on her arms, she managed to get through.
"Awful big, aren't you?" Tonks said, gesturing towards her chest.
"What?" Lily said, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"I keep mine smaller, personally," Tonks said, gesturing to her own. "Back hurts less at the end of the day, that way."
"I really don't want to have this conversation, thank you." She instead tried to focus on the cave, but there really wasn't anything in here, other than a few discarded and dusty bottles and a peculiar drawing of four boys tossing stones at a fifth one.
"Really?" Tonks said, blinking slowly. "Blimey, if I met another one of our kind at your age, I don't think I'd ever have stopped asking questions. You're really not curious?"
"I can figure it out for myself, thanks."
"Well, good, because I really wasn't looking forward to explaining genitals."
"Please don't." Lily was starting to think this conversation was even worse than the lecture she got from Molly Weasley the previous year.
"Oh, you know you were going to try it out eventually."
"I was not!"
"Sure," Tonks said with a sly smile. "No harm in it, Lily, really. Everybody's curious, they just can't change it like we can."
"Tonks, really, can we just focus on spells?"
"If you say so."
"What's first on the list?"
"What all have you tested so far?" Tonks asked.
"Tonks-"
"Oh, come off it, I have no one to talk with, either!" Tonks said. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find another Metamorphmagus that doesn't just use their powers to go into hiding forever?"
"What?"
"Most of our kind are criminals," Tonks said, "at least, the ones who use it are. Others just keep it hidden and never change nothing, while some can't change as much as full blooded ones can. What have you done?"
Lily considered refocusing their endeavours, gave a little sigh, and decided to humour the girl for a bit.
Besides, if she admitted it to herself, she was a bit curious. Hermione was helping her to test a few things, sure, but there was only so much one could try out in front of their best friend without completely shaming themselves.
"I can change my face, hair, and skin," she said, shifting each of them slightly as she spoke. "I can't make animal-like features like you could, but I don't particularly want to, either."
"Right. And what else?"
"Just normal stuff, I suppose," Lily said with a shrug. "I don't really need makeup?"
"And?"
"Why are you so insistent?" Lily said, blushing slightly.
"Just think of all the things I can show you!" Tonks said. "Why are you not interested?"
"I can change my height seven inches down. That's it, honest. Haven't tested anything else." She was not mentioning the other things. Maybe in the future, but as much as she wanted to talk about Tonks about every little thing, she just wasn't prepared for that level of embarrassment.
"What?" Tonks said in a surprised tone. "Just down, not up?"
"Right."
"Seven inches?"
"Is that a problem?"
Tonks stared at her for a bit, and Lily shuffled her feet, really wishing they could start practicing some magic.
"I can go three and a half either way," Tonks said, shifting up and down, up and down. "In fact, most of the reading I've done says that any metamorphmagus that can change height can do so in equal measures in either direction."
"So, I'm different," Lily said.
Tonks gave her a knowing smile. "When did you first notice that you could change things?"
"After I was told I was changing things."
"Alright, fair enough. When did you first start changing things, then?"
"Summer before third year, I think," Lily said after thinking for a bit. "My hair kept going bushy and curly, like a friend of mine."
"Interesting," Tonks said, scratching at her chin. "And this is around when you got so tall, too?"
"Yes?"
"And you wanted to look like this friend of yours?"
"I guess?" Lily said. "I mean, I wasn't really thinking about it, was I? Hermione thought it was funny, though, even though it was a nightmare to take care of."
"Do you have any tall friends?" Tonks asked.
"What?"
"Answer the question."
"Ron, I guess," Lily said reluctantly. "He's a couple inches taller than me. Thought I might beat him for a bit, but-"
"So, you were trying to be tall, then? Just like him?"
"Where is this going?" Lily said, narrowing her eyes.
"Do me a favour," Tonks said. "Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Lily rolled them, first.
"Now, focus hard on your core."
"Why?"
"Oh, just do it, will you? Bend inward slightly, so you can feel some strain in your muscles."
Lily did just that, not enjoying the tight feeling her stomach was getting.
"Now," Tonks said. "Take a deep breath and pull your magic inwards."
"How do I do that?"
"Well, if you can't do it on purpose, you can always try this," Tonks said, right before flicking her hard on the tip of her nose.
"What was that for?" Lily grumbled as she rubbed the thing, her eyes now open and glaring at the smiling Tonks.
"It seems I was correct," Tonks said, nodding satisfactorily.
"About what?"
"We can change our heights by exactly the same amount."
"Come again?" Lily said, blinking slowly.
"Stand up straight!"
Lily did so reluctantly. The first thing she noticed was that her clothes were a bit baggier around her, particularly along the legs, where they dipped about three inches lower than previously.
"Oh," she said, head pounding.
"If you ever need to return to normal quickly, just do exactly what I just taught you," Tonks said, nodding again. "Looks like I was right about the chest, too, by the way."
Lily chose not to comment on that. She was too busy wondering what else was a complete fabrication in her life.
"Are you shorter?" Hermione helpfully asked when she returned to the dorm that night.
"Don't want to talk about it," Lily said, falling face first into her pillow.
"Don't you want to know what I found?"
"Tomorrow."
"Everything alright?"
"My entire life is a lie."
"Oh. So, business as usual, then?"
"No."
"Did you learn anything new, at least?"
Lily let out a sigh and rolled to her side, clutching her pillow to her chest.
"Apparition," she said casually, causing Hermione to sputter on her tea.
"A-appa-" she managed between coughs.
"Relax, Hermione," Lily said, rolling fully to her back. "I haven't finished it, yet."
"How?" Hermione said, setting her cup down on the desk. "Why?"
"Well, it isn't nearly as easy as they make it look," Lily admitted. "You really have to pay attention to where you're going, and you look like a complete tool if you fail, just spinning around in place like a daft dog. Best I could manage was sending my eyebrow."
"Your eyebrow?"
"Rest of me didn't want to go, I guess."
"Lily," Hermione said, fully regaining her composure. "We aren't supposed to learn apparition until sixth year."
"Yeah?"
"Why now?"
Lily shrugged and placed both hands under her head. "Trace doesn't work on me anymore, does it? Sirius thought it'd be a good idea."
"Lily."
"Fine, Hermione," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "You can come to the next one to watch. Just promise me you won't ask Tonks too many questions. The girl knows far too much."
Just as Lily tried to explain to Katie, her next week was filled to the brim with activity. She didn't have a single second to spare for homework, which made it a very good thing that Triwizard Champions weren't expected to do any. McGonagall still gave her the stink-eye for every assignment she failed to turn in, but she didn't say a single thing, nor did she revoke Lily access to her office.
That was good, because she needed all the extra time she could get to practice spells. The most advanced stuff she practiced was her work with illusions; Hermione bought a dozen thick, ancient tomes on the subject during her solo adventures in Hogsmeade. All the information made her head spin, but Hermione was taking it upon herself to read the things and present the information in a more palatable format.
The one break she allowed herself (other than her own Quidditch training) was attending the next Quidditch break, where Ron (and Katie) were playing against Beauxbatons. Just as Lily expected, Beauxbatons played pitifully without her, and the game ended up a complete stomp in the Hogwarts' team's favour.
"580-120, Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan happily announced at the end of it.
Lily hoped their complete and utter failure would result in a bit less pressure on her and more on Gryffindor, but Beauxbatons seemed to take it very personally, and she was now facing daily hexes in the hallways between classes from more than just Clara Lavigne. Most of the time, it came from faces of people she thought had been friends. Megan Jones, a Hufflepuff from the same year, had been so nice to her during her depressive state the previous year. Now, though, she joined her fellow Hufflepuffs in openly mocking her during the next Care of Magical Creatures.
"Way the boys have been telling it," she said, "your sucker is even better than the skrewts."
For the most part, her time was spent practicing spells or working on S.P.E.W. with Hermione. She did spend one night adjusting all of her uniforms and dresses to match her natural height and proportions while Hermione poked fun at her, but she was doing her best to forget that. At the very least, it seemed like nobody else noticed at all. She was almost disappointed by that. Her weekend she spent training in the Secret Chamber, drilling herself through every spell left by both Godfather and professor, Hermione cheering her on from the side as she knit together their ever growing assortment of Hogwarts uniforms.
Lily was really starting to feel exhausted during the next morning's breakfast. The only reason she managed to eat anything at all was because Sae and Hermione were, very helpfully, taking turns helping her lift the fork to her mouth. She was left to chew on her own, though, and she did so with her eyes completely closed, wishing she hadn't let Hermione coerce her out of bed.
"Lily?" Hermione said. Lily could hear her setting down her paper.
"Hrrngh," Lily groaned, feeling like death. The only thing keeping her head from slipping into her bowl of porridge was the arm she was using to support it.
"Who is that woman? She was here for the drawing, wasn't she? Oh, stop your groaning, would you? Last night wasn't that bad."
"What happened last night?" Sae asked.
Lily cracked her open her heavy, crusty eyes just in time to see Hermione rolling her own.
"Stole the bloody blanket," Lily said, lifting her own fork this time.
"I did not!"
"Did too," Lily said, chewing slowly. "You do every night. But it was so cold, I just couldn't fall asleep."
"Wait," Sae said slowly. "Err- you're sleeping in the same bed?"
"Only have the one," Lily said, setting her fork down for good and then laying her head between her arms. "It's a nightmare."
"I don't understand, why are you- Ow!"
"Huh?" Lily groaned again, looking up with bleary eyes. Sae was rubbing her head, and Hermione was holding her rolled up paper with a slight flush to her cheeks.
"Never mind that," Hermione said, now using the paper to point at the staff table. "Lily, who is that woman?"
"McGonagall," Lily said with a lazy glance.
"The woman next to her, Lily. Honestly, how do I put up with you?"
"I don't know-" Lily froze as he finally found the suspect, now feeling incredibly alert. In fact, every fibre of her being was telling her to run for the hills, especially since the pink-garbed Ministry worker was staring straight at her.
"Lily?" Sae said. "You alright? You're looking a bit pale."
"Nothing!" Lily said far too quickly, slamming her fork down on the table and standing. "We've got to get to class."
"It doesn't start for twenty minutes!" Sae shouted after her, Hermione following closely at her side.
"You're not getting away with it that easy, Lily," Hermione said, stopping her as soon as they hit the Great Hall.
"Please, don't," Lily said, trying to pull away and put more distance between her and-
"I want to know who that woman is," Hermione said, forcing her still. "Why does she scare you so much?"
"Hermione-"
"I deserve to know, Lily," Hermione said, releasing her and crossing her arms. "I can tell when you're lying. I was going to get the answer from you the first time, but, well- with the whole death tournament thing, I forgot."
"She's nobody," Lily said, taking an anxious step back. "Just drop it."
"No," Hermione said firmly, now beginning to tap her foot. "Tell me."
"I don't want to-"
"Tell me. You know you'll feel better, you do every time we go through this song and dance."
"Alright, fine," Lily snapped, "just- just don't do anything about it, alright? I just- it doesn't matter anymore."
"Well?" Hermione said encouragingly once Lily paused for far too long.
"You have to promise, Hermione," Lily said sternly.
"I promise," Hermione said, rolling her eyes again.
"She's Dolores Umbridge," Lily said, trying to get it all out at once. "I'm pretty sure she's the one who- wait, don't!"
Lily didn't grab Hermione in time, and she was already storming in Umbridge's direction, face a violent red. Lily made a split second decision to run off towards the dungeon once she heard the shouting begin.
"That vile cockroach," Hermione said, slamming her books down next to Lily ten minutes later. "How could she? After what she did, how dare she come here?"
Lily clenched her jaw and rested her chin on her arms.
"Don't you start," Hermione snapped. "I need your help after class, I've decided S.P.E.W. is going to-"
"Help yourself," Lily said rudely.
"Pardon?"
"You promised," Lily said. "That's the second time you've done that and just gone and did what you wanted anyway."
"Oh, like you're one to talk," Hermione said dismissively. "How many promises have you broken, now?"
Lily clenched her jaw and decided not to say anything in response to that. She could tell she was very angry, and after the last few days, she knew better than to open her mouth. The last thing she needed was to say something incredibly stupid and hurtful and then row with Hermione for weeks on end until one of them (likely her) gave up. Hermione seemed more than willing to stew in her own anger, and they didn't say a word as Belby arrived to the classroom.
"Excuse me, Professor," Slughorn called out upon intruding into their lecture. "Miss Potter is needed upstairs for official Tournament business."
"Go on, Potter," Belby said, hardly sparing her a glance. "Miss Granger will see your station is cleared, I am sure."
Lily shrugged at Hermione's worried glance, supposing they were already back to being friends, threw her bag over her shoulders, and followed Slughorn out of the room.
"How are you enjoying Potions?" Slughorn asked amicably.
"Potions? Err- Honestly, it's a bit awkward when Belby is teaching, now."
Slughorn chuckled. "I imagine it would be, with all that's happened. I also imagine you're quite enjoying the extra free time, without those private lessons of yours."
Lily kind of missed them, actually, and she was about to say so when Professor Slughorn continued talking.
"Now that I think about it," he said, scratching his jiggling chin, "if you did happen to have any surplus free time, I've been looking to make our little club meetings a more regular occurrence. Perhaps for Sunday brunch?"
Lily's brain began scrambling for any possible excuse that could get her out of this. The last thing she needed was further ways to embarrass herself.
"Splendid!" Slughorn said, taking her silence for acceptance. "I'll send you further details after the task, I wouldn't want you to worry about it before then. Here we are, dear girl, right in there, now!"
"But-"
That was all Lily managed to get out before she was gently shoved into a large, spacious room with two large windows letting in far too much sunlight. Krum and Fleur were already in attendance (with Fleur quickly looking away the instant she entered), as well as the respective Headmasters. Ollivander, the strange wandmaker from Diagon Alley, was standing with Bagman and Umbridge, and to Lily's increasingly great horror, Rita Skeeter was waving at her pleasantly from the corner, a photographer setting up shop right next to her.
"What is she doing here?" Lily asked before she could stop herself, freezing in the doorway.
"Every Triwizard Champion is required to conduct an interview for the Prophet," Skeeter said sweetly.
"No, thank you," Lily said, trying to open the door from whence she came only to find it firmly locked.
"I'm afraid you don't really have a choice in the matter," Umbridge said in that sick smile of hers, tucking her wand back into her robes. Lily averted her eyes, trying to fight the sickness back down.
"No, thank you," she said more firmly, closing her eyes and hoping that would help. "Why am I here?"
"The weighing of the wands," Bagman said cheerily. "A tradition as old as the tournament itself! We've asked Mr. Ollivander here to do the honours. He'll be inspecting each of your wands, checking for their health and nixing any odds of tampering with them, and then you'll each be cleared to compete!"
"And what happens if they have been tampered with?" Lily asked curiously.
"Why, the champion would be voiding their contract and forfeiting right to compete!" Bagman said. Lily felt hope rise in her chest, but she could tell just by a look from Dumbledore that it wasn't a viable way of getting out of this mess.
Fleur went first, and Ollivander inspected it for far too long before declaring it a fine wand, if a bit unusual, producing some bubbles from it, and then passing it back to the proper owner. Krum went next, and he spent far longer asking questions about the wandmaker, Gregorovich, than he did inspecting the thing. Finally, he produced some sparks from the tip and then passed it back along.
Lily got to go last, and he spent the longest time of all on hers. Lily was pretty sure the old man had completely lost it when he finally nodded satisfactorily, shot some lightning into the ceiling, and then passed it back to her.
Afterwards, the three champions were made to pose for pictures. Lily hated that part more than anything, since the photographer insisted on always placing her directly next to Fleur, but she supposed it was preferable to any sort of alone time spent with Rita Skeeter. The man's camera made a strange sound with each photo, sort of like a branch breaking in a quiet forest, and there wasn't even the usual flash that accompanied it.
They were also all made to wear the uniforms they'd be using for the task itself. The shirt was like a football jersey made in their respective school's colours and bearing the crest on the right breast (Lily's also happened to have the Slytherin one on the back), while the shorts seemed very similar to the ones she wore when she went for a run (hers and Fleur's were also suspiciously shorter than Krum's, but she chose not to comment on it). Lily was wondering how on earth they were meant to complete the task without freezing to death when it was explained that both the pair of gloves and the thick boots had warming charms in them to counter the cold.
"But don't take that as a hint, now!" Bagman said with a wink. Lily didn't need the hint, but it certainly gave her an excellent idea.
Then Skeeter dragged Fleur off for her interview, leaving Lily and Krum alone with the rest of the room's occupants (the photographer was long gone, leaving to deliver the film to the paper). She thought about slipping away completely, but she never got the chance with Umbridge's sickening stare locked on to her. Krum went next, and while Lily knew that was as far as she'd ever get, she was still forced to sit and wait. She just wished she knew what Umbridge was staring at.
"Lily," Fleur said, taking a seat next to her. "Can we talk?"
Lily just shrugged, still feeling a bit irritated over her horrid day and being locked in a room with two people who seemed intent on making her life miserable.
"The task is dragons," Fleur said, leaning in real close and whispering so nobody else could hear. "Maxime told me, and I thought you should-"
"I already know," Lily said. "Saw them myself."
"Oh," Fleur said, blinking in surprise. "Well, good, then. So long as you know."
"Is that all?" Lily asked, hating how rude she was coming off, but she just so desperately wanted out of the room.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about everything," Fleur said. "If you want, we could go back to practicing spells?"
"No, thanks," Lily said dismissively. "Wouldn't want you getting into trouble, would we?"
"Maxime will calm down eventually, Lily," Fleur said, trying to place a hand on Lily's only to find her pulling away. "She won't expel you."
"I'm not sure I want to go back at this point," Lily said, crossing her arms. "Whole school turned on me fast enough, didn't it?"
"They'll get over it."
"Yeah, well," Lily said, crossing her legs, now, too, "I won't. I'm sick of it, actually."
"I'll talk to them," Fleur said, "see if I can-"
"Fleur!" Maxime called, finally turning away from Dumbledore and noticing them sitting together. "Come! We are leaving!"
Fleur rose to follow after her with hardly a glance at Lily. Lily almost snapped at her but decided against it; she was pretty sure she was just jealous about Fleur getting to leave. She could still feel Umbridge staring at her, and she was starting to feel very sick.
It got a bit better when Ollivander approached her, although he was creepy in his own right.
"You failed to keep your promise," he said in that carrying whisper of his, his pale blue eyes piercing straight through her, sitting in what was formerly Fleur's spot.
"Pardon?" Lily asked. It was all her brain could think of.
"I seem to remember we had an agreement that you would return to my shop over the summer," Ollivander said. "And, yet, I saw not so much as a single hair of your being."
How was I supposed to remember that? Lily thought.
"Sorry," she said.
"It is no matter," Ollivander said. "It is fortuitous that I was asked to be here today. Perhaps even fate."
"If you say so," Lily said, scooting just a bit further away from him when he started reaching into his robe.
"Here," he said, producing a wooden stick and proffering it to her. "Eleven inches, holly, and with a phoenix feather in its core."
"I already have a wand," Lily said, knowing full well he just finished inspecting it.
"And I would like you to take this one," Ollivander said, being far too insistent as he forcefully placed it in her hand. "Go on, give it a wave."
Lily rolled her eyes and flicked the wand lazily towards the ceiling, only managing to produce a single spark.
"Curious," Ollivander said, scratching at his chin. "I thought for sure that- but, never mind, that, never mind. You are close. We will see in time."
"See what?"
"Keep the wand on you," Ollivander said, nodding once. "Yes, make sure that you do so. The wand is close to matching you, and when the time comes, you will need it."
"For what?" Lily asked, the old man already walking away. He didn't answer her. Didn't even give a mysterious little hint to tantalize her ever-burning curiosity. In fact, he walked straight out of the room, not even saying farewell to Dumbledore or the Ministry workers who invited him.
Lily rolled her eyes one final time and then tucked the thing into her pocket. She already had a wand that she liked quite a lot; what use did she have for a second one?