Magic

16: The Tale of Lily Luna

Lily Luna brushed her hair until all of the tangles were gone. She put on her jacket and was about to grab her trunk when she realized she'd forgotten something. Lily opened her drawer and pulled out the golden necklace that had once belonged to her grandmother. She didn't know how she'd found it, or if it had been given to her. All she knew is that it had appeared to her one day. The only thing Lily was sure about was that it had belonged to her grandmother, and that it was meant to belong to her, too. After putting it on, she turned it over and saw the name 'Lily Marie Evans' engraved on a petal. On the petal next to it, the name 'Lily Luna Potter' was carved. She traced her fingers over the writing before letting go of the charm and lugging her trunk downstairs. It was finally the day that she, Hugo, and Lucy would be going to Hogwarts for the first time. Lily grinned and she rushed to her family.

~~~5th Year~~~

"Potter! Hey Potter!"

Lily groaned and spun around.

"What, Ross?"

"Wouldn't 'yes, love' sound better?" Charlie Ross asked, smirking.

"No, it wouldn't. Go away. I don't need you to give me a bigger headache than I already have."

"Make me."

"Just go away!"

"I will if you kiss me."

Lily grit her teeth. Her anger grew as she heard the onlookers wolf whistle. It took all of her willpower not to scream.

"That's not very appealing. In fact, you disgust me. I don't like it when you bully Hugo." Lily snapped.

"I'm sorry, is ickle Potter angry because I hex her boyfriend?" Charlie mocked.

"You're such a disgusting idiot! I hate you!" Lily screamed. She marched away with Lucy at her heels.

Lily wanted to hit her head repeatedly with her books, but Lucy stopped her.

"Ross is a git." Lily said, scowling.

"But he's your git." Lucy teased.

"Shut it!"

It wasn't a secret that Charlie Ross had fancied Lily since 4th year.

Unfortunately, Charlie hexed Hugo often, so Lily despised him.

"He's cute though," Lucy added.

"He's an egotistical, narcissistic, bullying, big headed, arrogant toe rag."

"But you forget all of that when you see his golden curls, his forest green eyes, his—"

"Lucy!"

"Alright, alright."

~~~7th Year~~~

Lily sat in the common room laughing with Hugo and Lucy. They were joined a few minutes later by Charlie Ross.

"Hugo, are you done using my Quidditch book? My brother is demanding for it, you know how Will is," Charlie asked. Hugo nodded and went up to his dorm to get it.

Charlie sat in the empty seat next to Lily and sighed.

"Since when are you and Hugo on first name terms?" Lucy asked, surprised.

"We sorted out our differences last year and agreed to get along better. We're friends now," Charlie said. His eyes drifted towards the fire in the common room.

"You're different," Lily blurted after a long silence.

"Is that so, Potter?" Charlie asked, mildly amused.

"Yes."

"In what way?"
Lily stared down for a moment at her essay and chewed her lip before deciding on what to say.

"You don't hex or jinx people anymore. You've become more mature. You apologized to everyone you hurt and became friends with them. You even stopped teasing me."

Charlie shrugged lightly before turning to look at Lily.

"Does it make you fancy me?" Charlie asked.

Lily began to feel nervous. She had in fact began to develop feelings for him, but surely he wouldn't ever notice her, not when he had gorgeous girls like Maxine pining over him.

"W—well, y—you see—"

Then Charlie began to laugh.

"I'm only joking, Potter. I know you don't fancy me." There was a sort of sad tone to his voice.

"R—right." Lily muttered.

Charlie looked down at her essay. Lily hastily tried to cover it up, but he moved her hands. His green eyes scanned the paper and read what she had written. Her cheeks burned.

"Are you stuck? There's a book I know in the library that I know can help you," Charlie suggested.

"Could you please tell me the name? It'd be really helpful,"

"Sure."

"Thanks, Ross."

Charlie pulled out a spare piece of parchment from his robes and scribbled something on it. He folded it and handed it to her just as Hugo arrived.

"Here's your book, Charlie." Hugo said. He smiled at Lily as if he knew something she didn't.

"Thanks Hugo. Well, I'll be going now. See you around, Potter, Weasley."

Lily waved slightly.

"You didn't scream." Lucy said, grinning.

"What?"

"You always scream at Ross. And today you didn't."

"Well, he didn't do anything wrong."

"Lily, you always find something wrong about him."

"Well, maybe I was wrong."

"You never admit you're wrong."

"Lucy!"

"Alright, I'll stop. But he definitely changed you."

Lily sighed and opened the note. Her heart began to pound. Charlie had scribbled a message under the title of the book. She didn't understand why it made her so nervous, it was only 4 words after all, and he had said them to her before, but she'd never taken them seriously before. Lily felt her stomach doing somersaults and her face heat up.

"Why are you acting like that? What did he say?" Lucy asked curiously. Lily folded the note.

"Nothing." she answered hastily. Unfortunately, she had slow reflexes, so Lucy easily snatched the note from her hands. Lucy squealed as soon as she read it.

"Oh my Merlin! 'Go out with me?' Charlie Ross just asked you out!"

Lily sighed.

"He's asked me out before, and it's not like he does it because he's interested in me. It's only so he can brag that he's dated every girl in school."

"Lily, Ross hasn't dated anyone since the end of 5th year."

Lily's cheeks burned even more. Hugo nodded, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Wait a second...you fancy him!!"

"I don't!"

"You do!"

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Don't!"

"Fine, whatever. Just go tell him you want to go out with him!"

Lily thought for a moment. She realized that this was the exact same thing that had happened to her grandmother. They'd both been chased by players, who in the end became mature and asked them out seriously.

"I suppose so..." Lily said quietly.

Lucy grinned while Lily got up and followed Charlie.

"Hey Ross! Wait up!"