Obliviate

Chapter 20

The castle hummed with a nervous sort of energy. It wasn't the usual kind, not the jittery restlessness of students desperate for warmth after months of winter, or the frantic rustling of notes as exams loomed. This was something heavier. Something foreign.

Rumours skittered through the corridors like mice: a door that had been found unlatched though it had been locked the night before; strange footprints trailing mud across a stone floor that no student or staff member admitted to leaving; a figure spotted near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, silver hair glinting before it vanished into the trees.

Professors spoke in hushed voices when they thought the students weren't listening. The caretaker stomped through the halls muttering about "slack enchantments" and "something wrong with the wards." Even the portraits leaned forward in their frames more often, eyes narrowing at shadows.

Lily caught fragments of it one evening outside the Great Hall.

"Another breach," the Headmaster said under his breath, so sharp it cut through the din of dinner. "Third this week. Whoever it is, they're skilled. And they know the grounds well."

Lily felt Scorpius stiffen beside her. Their eyes flicked to one another, both thinking the same unspoken thought: his father.

The unease followed Lily into the next day. She was hunched over an essay in the library, quill scratching as the sun cut pale bars across the desk, when a shadow fell across her parchment.

She looked up.

Rose Weasley.

Her cousin's face was unreadable, lips pressed into a thin line. She didn't sit down.

"So it's true," Rose said softly, but the edge in her voice made the words slice. "You and Scorpius."

Lily swallowed, setting her quill down. "I wasn't hiding it."

"That's the problem." Rose's eyes flicked, just for a second, toward the shelves where Scorpius and Albus were scouring for books. "You're parading it. Hand-holding in corridors. Walking into the grand hall like it's some great triumph."

Something hot flared in Lily's chest. "It's not about parading. I care about him."

Rose's mouth softened for a moment. "I know you do." She let the words sit a little. "I cared, too. I thought I-" She cut herself off. Her fingers smoothed the covers of her notes like she could iron out whatever she could not say. "You need to be careful. People look, Lily. They have long memories."

Lily fought for evenness. "Do you still...care? About him?"

Rose's throat worked. She met Lily's eyes, and Lily saw something raw there, not possessive but honest. "I care that you're my cousin. I care that you might get hurt. He's not simple, Lily. He carries things." The last word hung, not a judgment, but a warning.

Lily wanted to argue about love, about not being lectured by anyone but Rose's sincerity softened the heat.

Rose straightened, eyes softening for just a moment. "Just... be careful." And with that, she walked away, leaving Lily staring at the words she'd been writing, now blurred and useless.

The weekend brought sunshine, tentative and golden, spilling warmth onto the grounds. It felt like a reprieve. Students swarmed the gates, eager for Hogsmeade, and Lily and Scorpius slipped into the crowd hand in hand.

The village was alive with spring. Shop windows gleamed with enchanted displays, the Three Broomsticks bustled, and the scent of fresh sweets and butterbeer mingled in the air. Lily laughed as Scorpius tugged her into Honeydukes, where the shelves glistened with sugar.