Invisible: the Philosopher's Stone

IX. Nobody Blames Her

And the next time you see Ron, you punch him in his filthy nose as hard as you can, okay?

✦✦✦

Draco can't believe his eyes when he sees that Harry and Ron are still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.

Indeed, by the next morning, Harry and Ron think that meeting the three-headed dog has been an excellent adventure, and they are quite keen to have another one.

In the meantime, Harry and Lily fill Ron in about the package that seems to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spend a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," Ron shares his thoughts out loud.

"Or both," Harry says.

But as all they know for sure about the mysterious object is that it's about two inches long, they don't have much chance of guessing what it is without further clues.

"Maybe it's some kind of a rock or something." Harry and Ron nod, thoughtfully.

Neither Neville nor Hermione show the slightest interest in what lies underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cares about is never going near the dog again. Hermione is now refusing to speak to Harry, Ron and Lily, but the boys say she's such a bossy know-it-all that they see this as a bonus.

Lily's leg hurts so much, she can barely move without having the strong urge to scream. It's rapidly getting worse, but she's not going to Madam Pomfrey without a lie convincing enough for the woman not to ask any questions. Instead, she limps down to the vast Hogwarts library and moves between the bookshelf aisles as inconspicuously as possible. The last thing she needs is for the viciously strict librarian, Madam Pince, to question her business here.

Finally, after dragging her injured leg around for what feels like hours, slightly lightheaded and a little sweaty, Lily pulls out a book on basic healing spells. She finds Episkey, the most commonly used, and tries it on her leg. Nothing happens. She reads the description, but it doesn't explain how to properly cast the spell, just a short paragraph on what it does. Taking a deep breath to force her tears away, Lily points the tip of her wand at her right leg again and says quietly but clearly,

"Episkey."

A nerve in her leg jolts and Lily nearly drops the book. But her injury remains unchanged. Frustrated, she flips through the pages until she gets a papercut and, this time, the book falls out of her hand. Madam Pince appears before her unnaturally soon and forces her to leave.

Wiping at the tears threatening to spill, Lily limps out of the library aching, scared and alone.

✦✦✦

All Harry and Ron want now is a way of getting back at Draco, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrives with the post about a week later.

As the owls flood into the Great Hall, as usual, everyone's attention is caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls.

Despite her affliction, Lily is just as interested as everyone else to see what is in this large parcel and is amazed when the owls soar down and drop it right in front of her brother, knocking his bacon to the floor. They have hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl drops a letter on top of the parcel.

Harry rips open the letter first and reads it. He has difficulty hiding his glee as he hands the note to Ron to read. Lily watches him become as excited as Harry (her vision blurs momentarily), while in her mind she's hoping her brother will share the note with her willingly, without her asking for it like a pathetic loser.