Lily Luna's Story

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Hogsmeade in winter was beautiful… as long as you weren’t actually outside. The wind was fierce, howling into our red faces, and the snow coating the ground covered our ankles, making it hard to walk. We trudged through it the best we could.

“Let’s get to the Three Broomsticks quickly!” James shouted over the wind. April, Daisy and I nodded eagerly and urged our tired legs to continue walking.

The warmth of the pub was overwhelming but comforting as well. We all took off our beanies and gloves and made our way to a table. Lorcan was sitting at a table by himself next to it.

“Lily!” he called. “Over here!” I smiled at the Longbottom sisters and James and went to join Lorcan, noting Albus slip into the pub with Rose and Scorpius, his hands clenched around a heavy looking bag, which I assumed had books inside.

Lorcan and I sipped at our butterbeers in silence. The beautiful thing about our friendship was that there was no need to incessant talking; we were perfectly comfortable to sit in peace. When we had reached the dregs of our butterbeers, Lorcan stood up.

“Do you want to go somewhere?” he asked.

“What about Honeydukes? My lolly supply is getting dangerously low!” I suggested. Lorcan nodded and took my hand. It was in a friendly way, but I saw both of my brothers standing up and approaching us angrily. It was good to see them united again, even if it was at my expense.

“What do you think you’re doing?” James asked while Albus looked pointedly at our hands. Lorcan gulped noisily and dropped my hand. I rolled my eyes and pushed past my brothers, not quite containing my happiness that their relationship was on the mend.

Outside was just as cold as before, so Lorcan and I made a mad dash for Honeydukes, which was just as warm as the Three Broomsticks. I took off my gloves in relief.

“Your brothers are scary, you know that?” Lorcan said slightly breathlessly. I laughed.

“They’re not actually! They are both just big softies!” Lorcan looked at me in disbelief. “Really they are! As long as you never hurt me, you’re safe! Anyway, you have nothing to worry about, we’re just friends.” I gave him a wide smile and continued browsing through the lollies, unaware of the awkward silence.

“About that, Lils…” Lorcan began uncomfortably.

“Hm?” I prompted absently, picking up a Pepper Imp and shudder, remembering the time when James and Fred has a contest on who could eat the most amount of Pepper Imps. James won, managing to fit in fifteen and had smoke pouring from his ears and nose for days.

“Lily, are you listening to me?” Lorcan asked, snapping me out of my memories.

“Sorry, I apologised. “I zoned out. What were you saying?”

“Will you go out with me?” Lorcan choked out, except it all blended into one word so it took me a while to realise what he said. When I did, though, my heart sped up and everything became dizzy.

I began to back away from my best friend, not actually controlling my legs. The further away I got, the more the hurt on Lorcan’s face grew.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked before running as fast as I could to the back of Honeydukes where I knew a secret passageway was. James had told me about it and even shown me one time so it wasn’t difficult to find. I didn’t slow down my pace until the uphill passageway tired me out so much that I collapsed on the damp ground.

How could I not see this coming? Where did it even come from? Lorcan and I had been best friends since we were little and I saw him as a brother. Why didn’t I pick up on him thinking completely differently?

I didn’t know how long I sat in the passageway, chastising myself and trying to calm down my racing heart. It could have been minutes hours or days before I finally picked myself off the cold ground and snuck back into the Gryffindor tower.

Everyone had returned from Hogsmeade and were enjoyed the warm fire in the Common Room. Albus was sitting with Rose and Scorpius playing a game of Wizard Chess. James was nowhere in sight, which meant he was either in his dorm or getting food from the kitchen. I guessed he was in the dorm, as he would have stocked up on food in Hogsmeade.

 I saw Lorcan sitting gloomily next to Lysander, so I shuffled along the walls, blocking myself from view until I reached the boys dorms staircase.

“Lily? What are you doing here?” James asked, bemused. He looked embarrassed as he tucked a pamphlet away under his pillow. This distracted me from what I came to see him for.

I sat on the bed next to James and my arm shot out to grab the pamphlet. It read: Interested in the art of healing? Try your wand at Healer classes at St. Mungo’s! I couldn’t read any more before James snatched it out of my hand.

“James, why are you embarrassed by that? It’s great! I’m so proud of you for wanting to be a Healer!” I gave my brother a hug and could feel his relief.

James sighed. “I was just worried… everyone, and I mean everyone expects me to become an Auror like Dad or a Quidditch player or something like that. Something that you need skills for, but not to use your brain so much. I’ve been trying to hide that I’ve been studying so hard to raise my potions mark… but I guess it was only a matter of time before someone found out.” James poked my ribs and I collapsed in laughter. I was very ticklish, something he knew very well.

“So how come you came to find me?” James asked.

“Oh yeah, completely forgot. Well the thing is… Lorcan asked me out.” I peeked at James through my hair and sure enough, he looked enrage. He jumped to his feet.

“I’m going to kill him!”

I grabbed my brother’s arm and pulled him back onto the bed. “Please, James. For once just be here for me and maybe offer some advice rather than trying to hurt anyone who interacts with me!”

James’s face softened. “Sorry, Lils. I just don’t like seeing you upset and you obviously are over what Lorcan did.”

“All he did was ask me out. This isn’t his fault. It’s more that… James, I am such a coward. I don’t deserve to be in Gryffindor! Everyone else in the family is so brave and fearless, and then there’s me. I mean, at my age, Dad had faced Voldemort four times! What do I have to show compared to that? Fear of facing a boy… my best friend!”

“Lily, calm down.” James pulled me to his chest and held me tight as tears silently ran down my face. “You can’t compare yourself to Dad. He’s an exception to every rule. You are so brave, but in a different way to everyone else in Gryffindor. You are not afraid to be different and that takes great courage, even if it doesn’t seem like it.” I rolled my eyes. I knew James was just saying all that stuff to make me feel better, but I appreciated it all the same.

James turned my palm over as he heaved himself off the bed, but froze when he saw the triangle with a circle inside it.

“What’s that?” he demanded.

I tugged my hand back. “I was just doodling. Thanks for your help, James.”

I scurried out of the dorm, my heart beating quickly and my hand with the mark clenched tightly. That was close and I couldn’t let it happen again.

Helloo! This chapter was meant to be 2, but I figured it's kind of about the same thing so I decided to put it together for a longer chapter!

I've planned out the rest of the story completely so hopefully there won't be too long waits in between chapters, but I apologise in advance if there is.

Please comment! It really helps me upload faster if I get the motivation from all your wonderful comments and feedback.

Em <3