[AN:] At the start of the story, Lily, Hugo, Roxanne, and Lucy were all too young to be at Hogwarts. Now, with the jump in time, they will be included in the story. They are all Third Year Gryffindors, except for Hugo who is in Ravenclaw.
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Chapter Thirteen: Of Heartbroken Hormones
POV: Lily
"Why, oh, why, Lily Potter, do you put yourself through this?"
I had been completely unaware someone had come around from behind me since my attention was at the scene a few meters down from where I sat. Roxy and Hugo both joined me on the bench, each taking up one of my sides. They both looked at me with similar expressions that stirred an anger deep in my chest.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I sniffed, narrowing my eyes at them before turning them back to the view ahead of me. "I'm just sat here meditating before double Potions."
I did not have to look at my cousins to know they were both rolling their eyes at me.
"Shouldn't you two be with Luce?" I added before they could say anything. The group ahead were enjoying their break, laughing and frolicking in the grey day like the sun was basking on them. "Or have you ditched her already?"
"Of course we ditched her," Hugo said from my left. "Uncle Percy sent her off with a special quest this year."
"Quest is not really the word," Roxy commented. "It's more like a project."
"A project meant to test her patience."
"Or maybe Uncle Percy was cross with her at the time."
"Then I wouldn't call it a project."
"You're right, Hue. Maybe it's emotional abuse."
"What is it?" I interrupted their back-and-forth.
"She's got Artie duty," Hugo explained with a huff.
I grimaced.
"Yeah," Roxy agreed. "I love Luce and all, but when she takes it upon herself to correct her little brother's behavior, I rather stay far away from both of them."
"He's going to end up destroying the castle, anyway," Hugo laughed. "He's a little terror, that one."
"And he's just a First Year!"
"Her brother, her problem," Hugo said.
"Agreed," Roxy sighed in exasperation.
"I'm sure Grandmother Molly would be so proud of our unity right now," I mumbled, my eyes still locked ahead.
Hugo snorted. "Please. That woman loves us and everything, but even she needs to kick Artie out of the Burrow after an hour. I don't care how many times our parents help keep it standing tall, that place is old and cannot survive that demon child."
Well, he was right. Arthur Frederic Weasley was a right little menace. And he was Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey's problem. They needed to be held responsible for Artie's destruction toll (well, I guess it was now Hufflepuff's problem, too). Merlin have mercy on them; they are in for a tornado of a boy.
"Are we going to the library or not?" Roxy demanded. "You promised you'd study with Hue and me, Lils."
"I lied. Go away."
"Lily," Roxy groaned.
"Look," Hugo now spoke, "as much as I don't have a problem with either of you pining after people, I have to draw a line at stalking. It's creepy, Lily."
At that very low blow, I did turn. With a glare on my face, I imagined beams of magic shooting out of my brown eyes to zap him into oblivion, leaving behind only his Ravenclaw tie and heavy, pretentious schoolbag.
He grimaced at my expression. "Yeah, okay, that was a little too far. Sorry, Lils," he grunted. "I would just like to say, though, that as a boy, I'd not think it adorable if I saw a girl everywhere I went."
"You're not really a boy, though," I told him bitterly, but then settled for a sad sigh. "But you're right. It's hopeless."
Ahead of me there was a hill with a towering willowy tree overlooking the Black Lake. It was often the choice of spot for students to seek comfort or to bathe in warm sunlight when it was gracing the sky. The group there now had smiles on their faces, enthralled by their isolated corner, but the only one I was interested in was Liam Greengrass.
When the clouds moved and sunlight poked through them, his brown hair had strands of gold that matched the glimmer of his brown eyes when he was happy. He was always happy. He was always smiles and calm expressions. He was so handsome, warm, and kind, and it shone like a beacon as he laughed along with Rose, Malfoy, Zabini, Al, and her. That damn Nia Harper.
She was always there, right next to him. And she was always so beautiful, tall and golden like the sun had created her for the mere purpose of blinding the world with her intensity (it made me want to vomit at all the cliches she was). While they all mingled, while they all talked to one or another, her sapphire-blue eyes always drifted back to Liam. She was a unholy force, but when she looked at him there was so much love I wondered how her heart contained it. She rotated around him, like Earth does the sun.
He was her gravity.
Roxy and Hugo both put a hand on either of my shoulders, squeezing tight.
Ahead, Liam sprang toward Harper, embracing her from behind, lifting her high in the air like she was a feather. She laughed and the group around her was enthralled.
If you asked me when I fell for Liam, I would not be able to tell you. If you asked me when I realized I had fallen for him, I would tell you it was summertime. One blistering day we found ourselves beneath Mum's apple tree, talking one on one for the first time ever, and sparks flew. Gold and ruby lights wrapped around us, tying us together before we could even make sense of what happened.
But that moment was an accident. He was never supposed to find himself alone with me. Because of that, I knew only heartbreak awaited for me on the other side of this.
It was why there was always a flame of fury burning inside of me, turning me into a typical raging, hormonal teenage girl. Merlin, I wish I could say it was just Harper's devotion to Liam that was the problem, but it was hardly scratching the surface. It was our age difference, he was fresh into fifteen and I was thirteen. It was me as Lily Potter, his friend's little sister (and there were so many rules about that). It was him and the things he kept unanswered (was he or was he not in love with Harper?).
It was all too much to bear. It made me a puddle of anger, jealousy, frustration, and heartbreak.
"Oi! Taylor!"
I turned away from Liam when I could hear my older brother James shouting, chasing after Emily Taylor. Her head was down, arms crossed over her chest, walking as quickly as she could past the group beneath the tree.
"Taylor!" James shouted again, breaking into a run now.
When she did not turn back to him, Roxy let out a hiss. "Oh, that's not going to be fun."
I saw what she meant: the group of Fifth Years got up from beneath the tree and followed after James and Emily. They were coming straight toward us.
Before Emily could pass my bench, James was beat by Malfoy; he reached for her arm, turning her around to face him.
"Em," he called, brows furrowed in concern.
There were tears living in Emily's eyes. "Scor," she breathed back, a frightened glint in her eyes when she looked down at the grip he had on her. "What's wrong?"
"You tell me," he said. "Did Potter do something to you?"
James glared at Malfoy. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.
Malfoy turned in angle to return the glare at my brother. "It means you're always trailing after her. You clearly don't seem to be getting the signs of piss off, so I just assumed you did something."
"Don't assume, dickhead!" James hissed. "I saw her crying and was concerned, all right?"
Before the back-and-forth between Malfoy and James could extend, I rolled my eyes, standing from my bench to wedge myself between them. I shoved Malfoy back, taking Emily's left hand. I gave her the kindest look I've been able to muster in weeks.
"You all right, Emmy?"
She cringed.
I rose a brow, unaware what triggered that, but then she slowly parted her school robes. She untucked her button-up, pulling down the waistband of her skirt—
"Wait!" screeched Malfoy, pushing me aside to cover Emily. "What the hell are you doing, Em?"
"Obviously getting naked," Hugo was heard from the bench. "Let her continue."
At once, James and Rose smacked Hugo over the head (well, my brother's was more of a punch).
"I'm not getting naked," Emily muttered. "Here. Look." From inside her skirt she pulled a metallic square, snaking out a long, thin cable that had been inside of her shirt.
I scrunched my nose at the wire and contraption. "What is it?"
"An iPod," she said, handing it over at me. "It's a muggle device to hear music. I've had the earphones in—these things right here, this is where the music comes out." She then turned to James, a light blush on her cheeks. "Sorry, James. It sort of sounds everything out so I didn't hear you."
"Oh," Zabini said, weaving past Al and Rose to look over Malfoy's shoulder. "How many gigs does it have? The one I have at home only holds—"
"That doesn't explain why you were crying," James pointed out, ignoring Zabini. He did not look satisfied with her answer.
Emily did not answer him. She fixed her robes and rolled the wire around her device.
I had not known Emily for very long (well, not in person, that is), but there was this sadness about her that was really hard to miss. It was never brought up because she ignored it, forcing the rest of us to do so, too, but it was there and it was real.
I liked her more out of all of Al's new friends (obviously excluding Liam). At first it had been because she took an Unforgivable Curse for my brother James, but when I wrote her a thank you note and she wrote back (leading to frequent letters with a nine year old girl who was fascinated with Hogwarts and wanted to be with her brothers) I loved her for her kind heart. As did Mum.
When I started my First Year, I expected that unlikely friendship to end, but it never did. As an experienced Third Year when I was a fresh, baby-faced First Year, Emily dedicated all her free time to show me around, answering any question I had (often debunking the far-fetched tales my idiot brothers tried to brainwash me with), and sat with me as I studied in the library when I was too upset to be surrounded by other people. It was because of how sweet and genuine she was that I was concerned about the things she did not speak about. She loves all of us, incredibly so, but she doesn't let us in.
"Em," Malfoy took her arm again, this time a lot gentler than he had the first round. "You need anything?"
She shook her head, smiling. "I'm okay. I'm actually late for a meeting with Professor Alan. I'll see you guys at dinner."
She pulled herself away from Malfoy, walking off, but before she was too far, Rose turned to Harper to say, "come on, Nia. We need to be with her right now. Even if she doesn't say anything."
Harper nodded immediately before turning back to Liam. I shrank back into myself at the burst of pain that shot in my heart when she took his hand and he squeezed back. "Save me a seat in Charms."
"Yeah," Liam agreed instantly. "Go on now."
I wasn't the only one frowning at the interaction. Al was, too.
"Aren't we lucky to have Divination next?" he grumbled as Rose and Harper walked off. He turned to his fellow Slytherins. "Come on, you two. We better go before the Hufflepuffs take all the seats furthest from Trelawney."
"Make it more obvious, Al. I dare you," Zabini snickered at my brother before they parted ways from us.
I laughed to myself—Al and I were both so screwed.
"Lily?"
To my surprise, I found Liam boring his brown eyes at me, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Before I could melt, I managed a, "Yeah?"
"What'd you have right now?" he asked, completely unaware how his voice made my heart skip a beat.
I had to take a moment to compose myself before I let my emotions run wild. "Double Potions," I said.
"I can walk you to class," he said, pink tinting his cheeks. "If Roxy and Hugo are okay with that."
Hugo laughed loudly and Roxy elbowed him roughly(good). "Yeah, mate, take her," he said to Liam. "She'll enjoy your company more than ours."
I frowned at him.
Oblivious to my plots of revenge, Liam reached over to me, gently touching my shoulder. I forgot how to breathe when he led us away from the bench and back toward the castle.
My head was spinning, my heart pounding— all I wanted was for his hand to drop from my elbow and take a hold of my hand. All I wanted was for our fingers to intertwine and clasp together.
Of course, that's not the way the story was going to end.