"that man is your father." mum started, "this photo used to be of two brothers. they weren't close, they weren't allowed to be, but deep down they loved each other."
"i met him at a record store, but he wasn't allowed to be there. he was a wizard and i'm a muggle, his family wouldn't let us be together." she sighed heavily, "we didn't care, we were so in love. we got engaged and i found out i was pregnant. the night i was going to tell him he was caught up in some business involving someone called the dark lord, and he was killed."
"he used to wear that locket, holding the photo of his brother and himself, refused to take it off. i haven't seen this locket in 15 years."
"would you mind telling his name?" i asked with hopeful eyes.
"regulus black."
it suddenly all made sense. why sirius would look at me weirdly, why the professors seemed to be keeping a close eye on me. why when i was sorted the staff table looked deep in thought.
"his brother is sirius black?" i questioned.
"yes" a tear rolled down her cheek, "i'm sorry for not telling you." she handed the locket back to me, which i clipped back onto my wrist.
"it's okay, i'm gonna head to bed. i just wanna think." i stood up and headed off to my room.
i entered my room and closed the door quietly. i pressed my back against it and slid down while clutching my head in my hands.
i opened the locket of my father, i was glad to have a piece of him, but i couldn't deny it hurt knowing he was dead. a part of me hoped he would at least be alive, not just gone for good.
hold it in lexie, if you start crying, you'll never stop. so i took a deep breath and stood up.
i spotted harry throwing his snitch up and down while laying on his bed.
i pulled out my white notepad and a large pink sharpie and started scribbling.
harry james potter
get ur ass over here i'm lonely
i knocked on my window to get his attention before he looked over to me with raised eyebrows. i held up the large notepad with a large grin as he laughed and left his room.
"hello" harry said in a sing-song tone when he entered my room and took a seat next to me on my bed.
"hi."
"i saw mimi downstairs, she seemed a bit upset is everything alright?" he asked with furrowed brows.
i didn't exactly want to tell anyone about finding out about my father, too many questions i didn't have the answer too. so against my better judgement, i lied.
"no everything perfectly okay." i smiled at him in an attempt to convince my best friend.
"okay well i'm tired, so goodnight" harry told me before he closed his eyes and dipped into a deep sleep.
truthfully, i wasn't tired. my mind was spinning, what business was my dad involved in? could i even call him my 'dad' if i didn't know him?
-
"harry!" i yelled through my window to the boy who was trying to ignore me and fall asleep.
"what?" he asked as he looked up at me with an exasperated face.
"wanna go to the city?" i asked with raised eyebrows.
it had been around a week and a half since i had decided that pushing the news of my father out of my head was the best idea. things had returned to normal with my mother, and i was itching to do something crazy.
"lexie! it is ten at night, and what if we get in... trouble or something?" he questioned.
"harry you're not living up to your life's potential." i told him with a pointed expression.
"yea and how's that?"
"because you spend your days outrunning death! you have the live a little too!" i whined.
he hesitated for a moment before replying , "fine."
"yes!" i pumped my fist in the air dramatically, "okay, wear something presentable by the way! meet you out front in 15!" i told him cheerfully.
before he could respond i shut my window and curtains and headed to my closet. i ruffled through my clothes for a couple minutes, settling on a flowy black dress.
i quickly fixed my mascara and put on some lipgloss. realizing i only had one minute left i grabbed my pink handbag with my wand and money inside of it, and slipped on my bubblegum pink high top converse and left my room.
i snuck down the stairs and silently left through the front door. i really hoped mum wouldn't notice i was gone, i was also praying we would get back before sunrise.
"hi!" i exclaimed as i walked over to harry. he was dressed in black jeans along with a brown button up draped over his white shirt.
"you look really pretty" he told me in a breathless whisper.
i blushed at his sweet comment, i'm not quite sure why but it made me feel happy, "such a gentleman, you look rather pretty yourself."
"pretty?" he asked with an eyebrow raise and a small smile.
"yes pretty." i nodded reassuringly, "okay so there's a muggle train about half a mile away, we can take it to london and then back later."
"you're sure about this?"
"of course!" i grinned giddily.
and so we set off for the train, walking through the neighborhood as we talked.
"sirius invited me to stay at grimmauld place for the last week of holiday" harry told me happily, i was glad he found someone he could rely on. he had been through so much and he deserved some stability.
"that's wonderful!" i told him happily, trying to ignore that we got onto the uncomfortable topic of my uncle.
"would you be able to come with? he also told me he invited hermione and the weasleys, and thought i would want to ask you." he informed me with hopeful eyes.
"sure, i would like that." i smiled back at him as we entered the train platform. it was mostly empty considering it was nighttime, but gladly the trains were still running.
"hello, two tickets to london please." i politely asked the lady at the ticket booth.
"aren't you a bit young to be traveling alone?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"nope! we're 17!" she looked at me unconvinced as i finally let my large smile slip, "fine, we're 14! but we're just trying to go out and have fun for one night, i promise we will stay safe and not drink or do any drugs, and we will be home before the sun rises!"
"mhm, just be careful." the lady told me while grabbing the tickets. it was nice to know there was still kind people in this world who cared about people they didn't even know, it brought a warm feeling to my chest.
i boarded the train happily as harry trailed behind me with a weary look on his face.
an hour later, and we were in the city! i was happy to be back, mum and i didn't come here very often, even if i did grow up here.
i smiled at the glowing city before i turned to harry and grabbed his hand, leading him through the semi-empty streets.
i brought him to a pretty 24-7 cafe on the corner. i stood grinning in front of the building.
"lexie?" he asked with questioning eyes.
"i used to come here with mum! i would've brought you here before, but i figured 13 was too young to go venturing into the city."
"it's brilliant." he responded while eyeing the petite brown cafe that had minimal lighting at the moment.
harry and i entered the cafe to see a familiar woman standing behind the counter reading an old book.
"lane!" i yelled out with a large smile.
the woman's head snapped up to meet my eyes before she laughed loudly, "lily!" she yelled with just as much enthusiasm.
lane exited from behind the counter and ran to me, crushing me into a tight hug.
"god i missed you lily!" she said happily through the hug. i could feel harry's curious eyes at the nickname.
"i missed you more lane." i mumbled.
after another minute of tight hugging i pulled away and turned to harry, "right, this is lane, she used to babysit me since we were neighbors." i informed him. i turned to lane, "and this is harry, my best friend."
"oh my god you two would make such a cute couple!" she gushed to me excitedly.
i slightly laughed before responding, "oh not we- we're just friends." i stuttered while gesturing between us.
"mhm lily, anyway it's a pleasure to meet you harry." she stuck out her hand for a polite handshake, which he returned.
"it's nice to meet you as-well lane."
"what would you two like?" lane questioned.
i looked to harry, he seemed to know what i wanted anywhere we went. "two mango tea's please." he asked politely.
"coming right up." she left to the back of the cafe as we walked over to a little two person table next to the window.
"why does she call you lily?" harry asked curiously.
"i used to obsess over lilies, they were always my favorite flower and i wouldn't never stop talking about them. i used to always say how 'pretty, sweet, and lovely' they were, she told me that i was also all of those things, and so she started calling me lily." i laughed at the memory.
"that's really sweet." harry told me with a small smile.
"i bet your mum was all of those things too, harry."
he didn't have time to respond to my comment as lane walked over to us and handed us two cup of ice tea.
"lily, does your mum know your out this late?" she asked while folding her arms.
i narrowed my eyes before responding, "no but i swear i'll be back before she realizes."
"tell amelia i say hello, will you? that is if she ever finds out you left the house." lane laughed before returning to the counter and picking her book back up.
we drank our tea in happily silence before bidding lane goodbye and setting out back onto the streets.
we walked crookedly on the sidewalk together through the stunning city.
"i have a good feeling about this year." i told him with a thoughtful look on my face.
harry looked over to me with raised eyebrows as to say, voldemort has just risen and you have a good feeling?
"i think we're gonna be okay. like shit is gonna go down, but we're gonna be just fine."
and looking over the city lights and starry sky i truly believed that.
but oh how wrong i really was.