Introduction:
It was a sweltering hot day outside, and Lily Julben wanted to do nothing more than sit in front of the fan, and stare at the TV which was, at the moment, displaying boring ads for muggle products of no use.
As "Professional results, right at home! No hair, No pain- No No!" cut through the humid air for what felt like the thousandth time, she sighed and turned it off.
Lily clambered up the carpeted stairs, sweaty hands sticking to the polished oak railing. She got to the top- breathing heavily- and rested her head on the banister, squeezing her eyes tightly shut in thought.
She knew it was safer here, and she loved her parents, but she couldn't bring herself to forget how much more fun she'd be having a school.When she was little -before her letter- she positively hated school; it was full of math, and boring science, when what she wanted was spells, potions... well, hardly- Professor Snape, the potions master, was awful.
He was strict and rude and tolerated only the best, and to him that was anyone in his house, Slytherin, and no one else.Snape practically never gave O's (outstanding) to anyone in other houses, and he said only students with O's would make it to his OWLs.OWL stands for Ordinary Wizarding Levels- NEWTs stands for Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests.
"I'm glad I didn't make his NEWTs class," thought Lily, "He was terrible..." Anyway, he died a year prior... killed by Lord Voldemort. Sometimes she wondered if people were still afraid to say 'You-Know-Who's' name, now that he was defeated. Lily, herself, had said his name since her third year at Hogwarts, when she- and she alone –knew the truth about Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather and Lily's own uncle.
She'd never really talked to Harry, but she admired him all the same.
Oddly, she didn't feel this way because of all the heroic, sometimes life-saving acts he pulls off.
Not because he defeated Voldemort in his first year, saved a friend from the Chamber of Secrets in his second, then saved Black, or won the Triwizard Tournament in the same year as battling Voldemort and saving Mad-Eye Moody. No, not because he kept it concealed that there was an Order created to strike and defeat Voldemort, or watched his own godfather die.
Even though he had to watch Snape murder Dumbledore, then saved the whole school in the battle of Hogwarts, those are not the reasons.
Lily had walked the school hallways endless times, and passed the famous Harry Potter many.But though people said he was lucky for all the attention, she couldn't help but hear the whispers and notice the pointing directed at him. People thought for months that he had gone mad, because he claimed he fought Voldemort, who murdered Cedric.
They never questioned themselves; how do they think Cedric died? They only questioned the likeliness of the stories, and to most people it was completely out of the question to just take his word. In the fifth year, the year she had that nasty toad Umbridge, he spoke out in class, after Umbridge claimed he was being delusional, or lying about You Know Who's return.
Lily thought Harry had a good point; "Then Cedric just dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" she went to congratulate him after, but that Ravenclaw Cho Chang was talking to him... Lily never liked her much, but then again, she'd probably despise anyone that had a relationship with Harry.
Ripped out of thought by the soft meow of her cat, Galleon - Gal, for short - she bent down quickly, and pet the cat's soft fur. His hairs were a ghostly white, and his name came from the eyes, which bore a strong resemblance to two large, shining Galleons- the wizarding coins of a pure gold color. Tired of grieving about the fact she wasn't at school, Lily decided she might as well study; it's the closest thing she'd get to Hogwarts for the next week, anyway.
As soon as she reached the doorway, it was clear some major cleaning was needed. "Well... There's only a week left..." She thought, but there was a little voice in the back of her head saying she'd been putting it off for days, under the thought that she'd be gone soon, and Lily knew it was right.
She picked up the clothing scattering the floor, hastily shoving it into drawers, and laundry baskets that were already full to the brim. She made her bed, trying to line up the baby blue sheets, and picked up everything on the floor and put them back in their rightful place.Lily grabbed her quill, parchment, and exceedingly large stack of books and attempted to transport them to her bed.
Halfway through the short walk, the stack started to sway, and not long after all the books went crashing to the floor.Gal, who had been standing nearby and had been apparently terrified by the sudden noise, jumped up onto Lily's back, and sunk his claws deep into the material of her shirt.
"Ow!" She exclaimed as the cat's sharp nails connected with the skin on her shoulder blade, "Off, Gal, OFF!" He was still stuck to her back like a white, squirming parasite. "Ugh!" Lily moaned, "SERIOUSLY, Gal? I'm trying to study for ONCE, this is a moment to- OW!" He'd finally peeled of her back, but took four large chunks of flesh with him, from where his claws were embedded.
She mumbled something like, "You suck," and swatted aimlessly at the cat, before she heard the sound of hurried footsteps, muffled by the carpet. Her mom and dad, Walter and Linda, came into the room- Linda looking rather weary. She took many deep breaths before asking,
"Anything wrong, honey?"
Lily shrugged.
"Nope, not really... Gal just got spooked and jumped on my back,"
She replied, pointing at the small marks on her back, bleeding slowly. Her mother practically shrieked.
"Lilith Julben! That could be a serious wound due to that cat's magical properties! Walter, dear, please mend those cuts!"
Lily rolled her eyes before looking over her shoulder and whining,"Mom, come ON, I'm in eighth year! I can do things myself!"
Her mother huffed, but it turned into a cough, and she shuffled over to the bed where she sat down.When the coughing stopped, she burst back into complaints.
"You are technically still in school, and it would therefore be practically impossible to perform such magic! You are not a healer- yet – and for the record, if you're so convinced you can do things yourself, don't go yelling- I can't keep running up these blasted stairs when I'm pregnant- it's simply too much work!"
"Right." Said Lily, bluntly.
"Excuse me?"
"I said right. It's a very common word, mom, I'm sure you've heard it before! Oh, and 'for the record'," She said, in a mocking tone, "I do NOT plan on being a healer!" She finished the statement loudly and perhaps a little bit harshly.
"I..." said Linda, quietly. "Lily, dear, are you still upset about the... er...changes, at Hogwarts?"
"I suppose." She replied, shortly.
Lily had tried not to think of all the changes at school, tried to just remember the fun parts and pretend it was all the same... but it wasn't. Sirius was gone- Dumbledore, too. Even though the school was back in order, she knew it would have a different... air about it.
The whole school had been changed when Dumbledore died. The whole school should have grieved when Sirius died, too. But students thought he was nothing, had no idea he was just as great a man as the Headmaster- some of them still thought he was a murderer.
There was yet another reason Lily wanted to return to Hogwarts- to talk to Harry Potter.
"Lunch! Ron, Harry- lunch! Get down here!" Molly Weasley's shrill voice rang through the air. "Now! BOYS! Hermione, would you get them, please? Thank you, dear, you're such a help around here... Yes, yes... Upstairs I believe... Oh, doing who knows what..." Her voice was quickly followed by Hermione running up the stairs, shouting at Ron and Harry.
"Guys, come on! You've got to eat something- what are you doing up here, anyway, it's nearly noon and we need help outside. It's a really nice day outside, you're lucky you have good enough weather for Quidditch, but you spend the day locked up in here!" She went on a bit longer as Ron fumbled around for a book in his bag. Hermione reached the door, still going on about the weather, and glanced at Ron, (who was staring intently at a Defence Against the Dark Arts book) before rolling her eyes.
"Nice try, Ron, but I know for a fact you'd never study out of school by choice!"
He laughed, and threw the book at Hermione, who reacted quickly, saying 'wingardium leviosa!' with a swish and flick of her wand. Ron ignored her as she lowered the hovering book to his bag, fuming, and looking about to burst.
"C'mon- I don't even study in school by choice! I don't call avoiding being hexed by you 'by choice'!"
Harry laughed, and Hermione's lips twitched at the corners.
"Whatever, just come eat. Now! You're mother's done so much work to keep you two... well... Healthy! I wouldn't be surprised if she's on her way up here now." She turned to the door, and sure enough, beyond it was an angry-looking Mrs.Weasley.
Hermione left, and Molly entered. From behind her head, Harry could've sworn he saw Hermione stick out her tongue before running off down the stairs.
Several minutes later, after much yelling and scolding from Mrs.Weasley, the two boys headed drowsily down the stairs for lunch, still not fully awake. Although he'd much rather be sleeping, Harry was very grateful for the delicious brunch. He quickly slurped up every spoonful of his soup, then stood up hastily. Ron looked up in surprise.
"Where are you going?" He asked, soup dribbling down his chin as he spoke.
"Let's go practise! Quidditch, I mean. Hermione's right; it's nice outside. We'd best take advantage of the weather before it gets freezing again."
Ron nodded in agreement, causing more chicken soup to run down his neck to his shirt.
Hermione wasn't entirely right. After rummaging through the Quidditch shed for half an hour, they found Ron's helmet and gloves, Harry's new Firebolt, and a Quaffle that George had probably gotten illegally.
The two boys walked out onto the lawn, wet with dew that hadn't evaporated in the damp, clingy air.
"Hey, Ginny!" Called Ron to the red-haired girl by the garden, who appeared to be picking flowers.
"Come practise!"
She rolled her eyes.
"C'mon, Ron, I've done it every day!" Her brother started to fire insults about her laziness into the blue, and Harry had to calm him down.
"Okay, okay," Exclaimed Ginny impatiently, "I'll do your stupid practise! Oh, hey, Harry!" she said, brightly, as if just noticing he was there. "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Er...No, not really." He responded with a glance at the glum, murky sky.
Ginny laughed awkwardly.
"Alright, I've just got to bring this fluxweed in for mum, then I'll get ready." She marched off into the house and Harry turned back to Ron, who had a disgusted look on his face.
"What did I do this time?" Harry demanded hotly, exasperated by Ron for some reason not being able to handle the fact that he and Ginny were dating. "Get a grip on it, Ron!"
"It's just... It's just so gross, you two snogging all the time,"
"You're one to talk!" He yelped defensively. "Ginny's right- you're such a hypocrite! You and that Lavender Brown spent all your time together in a liplock! Plus, I'm sure you'd be snogging Hermione all the time now, if you could get up the nerves!"
Ron looked hurt, and Harry looked back to the house, fuming.
His eyes rested on the garden, as he refused to look at his ignorant friends most probably scowling face. Instead, he averted his eyes to the Mandrakes wriggling in the garden. The Burrow's garden was very large and overgrown- it had been put proper once, at Bill and Fleur's wedding. It was now occupied with an extremely large variety of plants he knew he couldn't name.
Harry heard a Gnome cackle gleefully. The sound was followed by an awful screech and a puff of feathers that floated to the ground to reveal a little red bird struggling to escape the grasp of the stubby fingers.
Desperately needing something to do, Harry jogged over to the plant. He picked up a stick, and began to whack the the Gnomes hand as hard as he could. The small, grubby creature let go of the bird, turning on Harry. Considering it was an animal of about one foot in height, he saw no real danger, and turned to leave. Before he could walk three steps, he felt fingers close around his ankle, and his foot was jerked backwards.
Caught off guard, Harry lost his balance and his feet were knocked out from underneath him. His face hit the wet ground and he was blinded as mud splattered his glasses. He tightened his grip on the stick in his hand and commenced a furious beating of the Gnome's potato-like head. The enraged creature pounced on Harry's head, tearing at his hair.
Recovering from the shock of being attacked by a turtle-sized creature, he scrambled on the ground in attempt to escape swinging range of the Gnome, but his fingers grasped at crumbled earth. The tiny Gnome jumped again to Harry's face, laughing happily. At a loss of any way to rid the crazy creature from his head, he raised his legs up to his head like he was folding himself in half.
He then tried to jab the Gnome with his knee, but the cackling, baby-like animal rolled out of the way, and in result, his own knee collided with his nose. Milliseconds later, Gnome still pulling at his hair and shirt, there was a snap and a blinding flash, and it scuttled off. Harry sat up, red face, muddied, his shirt completely lopsided and his hair even more ruffled than usual, expecting to see Hermione, ready to lecture him about how it was an obvious spell and that he must learn his own.
Instead, he found Ginny- in full Quidditch gear- holding a camera and rolling on the ground laughing.
"What are you doing?" He snapped.
"Getting- a picture- of you- kneeing yourself- in the face-" She replied, pausing every few words to giggle, "with- a Gnome- on your head!"
"Sorry, mate," Said Ron, smiling. "But that was bloody hilarious!"
"Ha, ha," Harry said grumpily, "Let's practise."
He walked back to his broomstick and wiped his glasses with his sleeves before stepping over the Nimbus 2002. He muttered 'up,' and the lifeless broom flew into his hand. Immediately, he was soaring, up, up, straight up into the towering sky.
Wind whipped at his face, his hands. Ginny was close behind, and Harry paused to let her catch up, huffing and panting.
"You're too fast for your own good!" She said crossly. Harry laughed.
"Race?" He suggested, and her tired face switched to one of playful competitiveness. "You're on! To where?" Harry stopped and scanned the yard with his eyes. "Um... There." He said, pointing to a spot in the fields. "By the old well."
Ginny nodded, and came into line with Harry.
"On your mark,"She started, "Get set," He adjusted his seat on the Firebolt. Ron came zooming up behind them, shouting complaints. "Go!" Harry barked, before the words could come to Ginny's lips. They both raced forwards, Ginny's hair astray from the wind, Harry's astray as usual. He glanced over at her, jaw set, furiously red hair rushing behind her, as if it was struggling to keep up.
She was very good- but not as good as Harry.
They were coming to the clearing in the grass, and Ginny lowered herself closer to the sodden ground. Harry followed. The old well was nearing; his eyes caught the rusted brown colour of the metal, the rough cement slabs. He watched Ginny; she swooped down to the earth.
Harry kept beside her, not trying too hard. He lowered close enough to touch the ground, ahead of the speeding readhead. His foot hit a rock, and he swore loudly, but Ginny didn't seem to notice. She was going straight for it, feet outstretched.
Harry kept going.
He kept going past Ginny, past the well. He reached out a hand, and it swept across the grass. He raised up again, straight upwards, and shot forwards. Harry flew, fast, over the clean fields into ragged stretches of land. A forest formed before him, and he flew above it, over the treetops- he passed a few squirrels and a bird that resembled a blue owl.
He lowered himself to the point where he was swerving around trees and ducking under branches, but if he raised his neck he could see over the green canopy to the grey-blue sky above. He felt at home, here, a flight in the sky. Harry saw red hair and and a dark sweater zooming towards him. He flashed Ginny a smile before plummeting down through the leaves, soon to turn red and orange and fall from their branches.
He landed and looked around quickly. There were rocks surrounding him, and to his left was a silvery pool. It was silent, except for the trickle of a waterfall, until Ginny landed beside Harry, quite louder than his land and dismount.
"What is this place?" She asked loudly, slumping against a nearby tree, broom in hand.
"Sh!" He scolded, holding a finger to his lips. She quieted, looking annoyed. A few seconds later, he heard it again.
"Is that-" Ginny whispered.
Harry, again, put his finger to his lips, and nodded.
"Fawkes?" She asked, still in a whisper. The phoenix's song filled the damp air, becoming louder as he seemed to near them. After a few minutes, he swooped into sight, ignoring Harry and Ginny, and landed without a sound or splash into the silver river flowing from the glittering pool.
Harry looked closer, and saw that purple and blue crystals lined the edge of the pool, glimmering brightly. Fawkes surfaced, breaking the opaque water- or substance, anyway.
He cried out softly, and his song filled the trees. All around them, the leaves seemed to stir- they rustled and hummed like they were alive, and, much to Harry's surprise, they started to come off.
He squinted through the grey light, trying to make out what was happening to the leaves, when they all came towards the two, as if pulled by a magnet.
"They... They're beautiful," Ginny said, still in a whisper, all though she was almost drowned out by the hum around them.
Then they were kissing, and Harry was smiling.
Kissing in the blissful hum as the butterflies swarmed around them, by the sparkling pool of silver and gems, in the forest so far from worries they'll wish they knew now.