Lily

Chapter Five:

"Lav!" Parvati scolded.

Lavender giggled.

"It was a joke!" She brushed off before turning back to Lily, "But really, why are you starting so late?"

Lily swallowed.

"Lav, remember the rumors?" Parvati whispered.

"Oh." Lavender said, "Yeah, they said that you were dead or something...? I dunno, but is that why you are starting so late?"

Lily's hands were shaking. She felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning around her.

"Well?" Lavender asked when she didn't respond.

"My, um, aunt, she didn't want me to come." Lily said in a voice barley above a whisper.

"Huh? Why in Merlin's name would she-" Lavender began, when Hermione rushed over.

"Lily, do you want to see your bed?" Hermione asked, trying to rescue her from the awkward situation.

Lily nodded, and when the other girls weren't looking, she sent Hermione a grateful look. Hermione smiled back and took her over to the bed she could claim as her own.

"This is your bed. And that's your trunk. You can place all your things in there. The four of us have to share one bathroom, but it's not so bad-" Hermione lowered her voice, "-except for when Lavender gets ready in the mornings. She's a late sleeper though, so as long as you're up before her, you should be fine."

"Thank you, Hermione." Lily said, giving her a small smile.

Hermione looked surprised. Lily's smile was wiped away and replaced with a frantic look.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, nervously.

"What? No, I just think that's the first time I saw you smile." Hermione said.

"...oh." Lily whispered.

"You'll fit in quite nicely here at Hogwarts." Hermione said, giving Lily a little squeeze on the shoulder.

Lily nodded her thanks. Hermione turned around and left for her own bed, grabbing a book and drawing the curtains hanging around the bed for privacy. Lily did the same with her curtains and sat down on the bed. The sheets were so soft, she thought to herself as she ran her hands over them. She unpacked her few belongings that she had just purchased and then she laid down, closing her eye and awaiting sleep. It came and drifted her off peacefully.

The next day, Lily woke up early and began to clean the dorm room, a nervous habit she had picked up form living with Marge. When Hermione, who was also an early riser, woke up, she was confused.

"Lily?" Hermione called, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, "What're you doing?"

"Just tidying." Lily replied.

"You don't need go do that." Hermione said, "The rooms clean themselves. I think it's through magic or something."

"Oh, okay." Lily said, continuing to scrub at the dirt spot in the floor.

"Come on, why don't we go down for breakfast?" Hermione asked.

Lily agreed and cleaned while Hermione got changed in the bathroom. The second Hermione got out, Lily pretended like she had been reading, but Hermione suspected something else was up. They met up with Harry, Ron, Neville, and Ginny in the Great Hall, and Lily sat in between Harry and Neville.

The time for their first classes came quickly. As Lily was leaving the Great Hall with her brother and his friends, she was stopped by Fred and George.

"Hey Lily." Fred greeted.

"Oh, hello." Lily said.

"You seem pretty cool, how would you feel about spending some time with us one day?" George asked.

"Lily wants no part of your mischievous plans!" Hermione interrupted, grabbing Lily's arm to pull her away form the twins, causing Lily to flinch.

"Aw, come on Hermione, we were just talking!" Fred called after them.

Once they were out of the twins earshot, Hermione turned to Lily.

"They get into detentions all the time for their pranks. It'd be best to stay away from them." She advised.

"Okay." Lily said.

"Good." Hermione nodded.

"What class do we have first?" Ron asked the group, forgetting what was on their schedules.

"Potions." Harry said grimly, "We've got potions."