A Love Purer Than Blood

16. The Cry Of A Mandrake

Lily awoke to the smell of bacon on the pile of soft furs she had assembled the night before. Her wings were wrapped loosely around her creating a sort of tent that had managed to keep all the heat in. She stretched until her joints popped, relishing in the smell of the castle.

The elves were quick to hustle her off to breakfast, the food almost ready to go up. They pushed her through the kitchen door with an apple and a polite wave, urging her to go enjoy the day. She stepped out into the corridor and right into Cedric Diggory, her face inches from his chest. Slowly she looked up and realised him to have definitely grown over the summer.

He grinned, his teeth seeming to gleam. "Just Lily!" He awkwardly rested a hand briefly upon her shoulder. "Welcome back."

Lily smiled up at the boy, her eyes temporarily fixed on his. "Cedric... hi." His eyes reminded her of Malfoy's eyes except Cedric's were a little brighter. She pulled her gaze away quickly and turned to head up the stairs to the hall. "Walk with me?" She found herself saying, before she could stop herself.

"Sure. I haven't had much of a chance to talk to you in the past year."

"Me? Why would you want to talk to me?" Lily asked, unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Fred and George talk about you a lot, and I'm guessing you helped them through dragonology class." Lily gulped but kept facing ahead, her focus on the stairs. "Not accusing you of anything of course." He added quickly with a breathy laugh.

"I allowed them to study my wings and my tail for homework, but not for exams." Lily admitted. "It was a fair trade in return for my birthday party." Lily turned quickly to look at the boy behind her. "Our birthday party." She corrected.

"No, it was all you." Cedric grinned. "I was an afterthought."

"Sorry I took your birthday from-" A single finger on her lips silenced her quickly as Cedric's face came close.

"Stop putting yourself down." He said simply, his face stern but encouraging. "I am happy to share a birthday with you miss Lily." He removed his finger and passed her on the spiralling staircase up towards the smell of breakfast.

"What happened to "just Lily"?"

Without turning around Cedric chuckled a little to himself. "You aren't "Just" anything Lily."

The girl froze for a second before following behind the boy in a stunned silence. When they got to the doors outside the hall he went ahead with his friends who had been waiting for him. He grinned and winked quickly at the girl which she reciprocated with a nose scrunched smile.

The hall wasn't as busy as it usually was, many older students using the time to study rather than eat, their summer homework forgotten in the rush of more invigorating activities. Lily sat at the Hufflepuff table alone with her thoughts as she picked at a bacon sandwich she had made for herself using toast instead of bread, her half-eaten apple forgotten on her plate. The hall slowly filled as she waited for the dorm girls to arrive, hoping their squabbles had ceased.

When they eventually arrived Lily noticed all of them wore faces of guilt before they all perked up at the sight of the dragon girl. They rushed over to embrace her, apologies a plenty. Lily forgave them all and urged them to eat quickly, breakfast time almost over. As they ate, Professor Sprout handed down timetables for the various years that floated to each student like a bag in a breeze.

The girls fussed over their timetables, revelling in the fact that almost all of their lessons were together and with teachers they liked. Lily glared at the name Lockhart under DADA but didn't let her face show her disdain. The words of professor McGonagall floating in her mind.