Vanessa Lovely tapped her quill against her roll of parchment and sighed. It had been a long time since she had been so completely unable to think of what to write, and it was frustrating her. Her editor wanted a story, and she didn't really have one to give.
James had won the bet. Or, rather, she had let him win. She'd had an enjoyable time, even during their short excursion into Knockturn Alley. Actually, that might have been the highlight of the entire evening. And since he had won the bet, and so she couldn't write much about the Wimbourne Wasps.
At least, she couldn't write anything negative. But she could do a profile on the new recruits, with a special emphasis on James. It would be change of pace for her, and her readers might be a little surprised at the lack of gossip, but James was a Potter and he had made the team right out of Hogwarts and that accomplishment made this a story.
It would have to do for now.
Lily knew she had monopolized almost all of the conversation, but she just couldn't stop talking. As soon as Caradoc had asked her about her day, she'd started into a monologue, and now the words were pouring out of her at an incredible rate, and showed no signs of slowing down.
"It's just not fair," Lily said, stabbing her fork moodily into the potatoes on her plate. "I don't mind not being the best, and I don't mind not being noticed, but to be purposefully ignored…? I have to work twice as hard to get even half the praise now. And why? Because I think we should try to help werewolves? It's ridiculous!"
"It is," Caradoc agreed.
"Although I'm not sure how much of it is even because of that and how much is because I'm Muggleborn," Lily continued. "I guess I didn't realize what kind of prejudice I would face. I was so… so sheltered at Hogwarts. But if Hogwarts was like the rest of the world, I would never have been made a prefect, let alone Head Girl."
"Hogwarts isn't like the rest of the world," Caradoc murmured.
"Thanks to Dumbledore," Lily said with a nod. "I don't think I really appreciated how much he did for us Muggleborns. The school was… things were just so different." She ran a hand through her hair, yanking in annoyance when her fingers got stuck in a few tangled waves. "I wish I had been a little bit better prepared for this, though. I wish I had known what to expect."
"You'll do fine," Caradoc said reassuringly. "You aren't someone who just gives in or gives up. You'll do fine."
"But that's just it," Lily protested, "I don't know that. Maybe at Hogwarts all I needed was a little perseverance and the determination to ignore most of Slytherin House, but things are different here. I might not give in and I might not give up, but that doesn't mean I'll succeed. What if I can't? What if the odds are too much against me?"
She dropped her fork onto the table with a heavy sigh.
"Then you keep fighting," Caradoc said. "That's what matters; that you keep standing up for the things you believe in."
"I'm just not used to this world. I thought I was, but… Things are still awkward between Emma and I. I know that they shouldn't be. I know that we resolved everything. But I'm fairly certain she still thinks that I'm wasting my time on this potion, and I just… I just wish I could get her to see that it is never a waste of time to help people." She grimaced, then added, "I don't think she's really forgiven me for comparing her to the Greengrasses, either."
"You're still friends," Caradoc said. "You'll work it out."
"Will we?" Lily wondered quietly. "I know it's a horribly uncharitable thought for me to have, but I can't help wondering if the differences between most purebloods and Muggleborns are just too great to be truly bridged." Caradoc stiffened, and Lily hurried on to say, "Most purebloods. Not all of them. Obviously."
Caradoc frowned, and asked curiously, "Why do you say that?"
"History of Magic is a required class for the first five years at Hogwarts and we all take OWLS in it," Lily answered. "But Muggle Studies isn't even an option until 3rd year and it isn't required at all. So many people don't take it and…" She stopped abruptly and sighed. "I've been talking way too much."
Caradoc smiled warmly. "This obviously matters to you, Lils. I like that things matter to you. I like how strongly you feel about everything." He leaned forward and added seriously, "And I am actually interested in your opinion on Muggle Studies and History of Magic."
Lily hesitated, but Caradoc's clear eyes held nothing but honest curiosity, and she said a bit reluctantly, "Alright, but stop me when you get bored."
Caradoc chuckled. "I won't get bored," he replied, waving his hand for her to continue.
Lily chewed her bottom lip for a moment, arranging her thoughts, then said, "I understand that History of Magic is important. It's a history class, after all, and everyone should learn about their history. We can take a lot of lessons from the past. We can use it to make a better future. But… but it is a history of the wizarding world, and it leaves out everything that happened in the Muggle world."
"And you think things that happen in the Muggle world are important, even if they don't affect us?" Caradoc surmised.
Lily nodded emphatically. "In Muggle schools, students learn about the history of the world. They learn about things that affect us, things that Britain has played a role in - Canadian, Indian, African history and the like - but they also learn about events that had nothing to do with us."
"Why?"
"So we can learn from other people's past successes and mistakes, I guess," Lily answered. "And because… because things do affect us, even if we think they don't. It's a small world… and it is even smaller when you have magic."
"True," Caradoc agreed.
"And… the thing is… we all live in the same world now. I know that a lot of purebloods never interact with Muggles. I know witches and wizards can make their houses Unplotable and Apparate or Floo directly to the Ministry or wherever they work, but… but we do live in the same world as Muggles. The same country, the same city, the same neighborhoods…" She trailed off for a moment, then cleared her throat and added, "And those of us who have Muggle family members are never going to leave the Muggle world completely. We might spend ninety-nine percent of our time in the wizarding world, but we'll still have that one percent in the Muggle world with our Muggle families and maybe even Muggle friends… Muggleborns in particular… we're from Muggle families. We grew up in that world. We were part of that world for the first eleven years of our lives, and then to pretend that once we enter the magical world nothing from the Muggle world matters anymore…" Again, she trailed off and sighed. "It just seems wrong," she finished.
"So you think Muggle Studies should be required?" Caradoc questioned.
"Maybe. I don't know. I just know that… that the way things are right now, Muggleborns are expected to enter the magical world and leave everything else behind. And for what? So we can have people like Greengrass tell us that we aren't good enough?"
"You are good enough," Caradoc said firmly. "You were the best in our year at potions."
"Not the best," Lily murmured, and thought idly of Severus.
"Fine," Caradoc said, "second-best."
Lily smiled sadly, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. She hadn't touched any of the potatoes on her plate, and now she found she wasn't really hungry for them. Caradoc had finished his own meal a while ago - probably during her nearly endless monologue - and was clearly just waiting for her.
She usually ate everything on her plate. Her mother had always been adamant that she and Petunia finish everything they had been served at each meal, and it was a habit that had stuck with her through Hogwarts. She never took a serving that was larger than she could eat, and she never let things go to waste.
But this time was different.
"I think I'm done," she said.
Caradoc raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I'll pay, then," he said, digging a handful of coins out of his pocket. "Do you want to walk around Hogsmeade a bit? It's nearly dark, but I think we have a few minutes of sunlight left."
"That sounds nice," Lily said.
Ten minutes later, they were wandering around Hogsmeade. Most of the shops had closed, but Lily wasn't really in the mood for shopping. She was content to merely walk about, holding Caradoc's hand in her own and enjoying the companionable silence that lingered between them.
Outside the door leading into the Three Broomsticks was a newspaper stand filled with copies of the Daily Prophet. The couple paused and Caradoc picked up a copy, tossed a coin into the magically animated payment collector - a box that bit anyone who took a copy of the newspaper without paying - and scanned it.
"Anything noteworthy?" Lily asked.
"Hm… new legislation regulating the use of gold cauldrons, a proposal to add another floor to St. Mungo's, and it looks like Crouch is angling to be appointed Minister… but Fudge is, too. That should be interesting."
"I don't know much about either of them," Lily admitted.
"Crouch is part of a very well-respected pureblood family, but a lot of people don't like him," Caradoc said thoughtfully. "He's harsh and strict and tries to regulate pretty much everything. My father said once that Crouch pretty much wants martial law. Believes in increasing Auror powers and that sort of thing."
"And what does your father think of Fudge?" Lily asked.
"That he is well-liked, genial, friendly, and a bumbling fool," Caradoc answered. He flipped to another page and furrowed his brow in surprise. "Hey, there's an article on Potter in here."
"What does it say?" Lily asked, leaning into Caradoc so she could see the article.
"It's a profile. He's a new reserve Chaser on the Wimbourne Wasps," Caradoc answered, holding the paper out so she could see the article better. "That's impressive, you know. Professional Quidditch teams almost never take anyone right out of Hogwarts."
Lily didn't say anything. For reasons she couldn't explain - or possibly just didn't want to face - the fact that James Potter had been selected for the team upset her. Did he always get everything he wanted?
"One more thing for him to be arrogant about," she said with a huff, scanning the article.
It was positively glowing. The reporter in question - and Lily glanced at the byline and snorted at the name Vanessa Lovely - seemed only to have positive things to say about her subject.
She frowned suddenly and rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had read something wrong. She read the quote again, just to make sure.
When this reporter commented on his flying prowess at a recent practice, he brushed aside the compliment and explained humbly, "I only managed to score so many times because I had some very good setups from other players. It's a team sport. Besides, I scored six goals, so that's sixty points. Carlotta [Prewitt - the Wasps' starting Seeker] caught the Snitch, so that's a hundred and fifty points. You want to write about the most valuable player? You should write about her.
Lily would have never used the word humble to describe James, but she couldn't deny that she had seen him play Quidditch at Hogwarts and he always had been a team player. He would show off on his broom frequently, either before a game or whenever he nicked that Snitch in between games, but once a match started he was always focused.
He was slightly less insufferable then.
So in some ways, she reflected, it was really ironic that she liked him best when he was playing Quidditch and yet despised him most when he was messing up his hair and talking about his flying talents.
"This Vanessa Lovely must really like Potter," Caradoc said thoughtfully. "She usually writes very different types of articles. Ones filled with sordid details and gossip."
"Figures even she would act differently around Potter," Lily muttered sourly, but some part of her wondered if maybe the reporter had seen something in him, something that was only there when he was playing Quidditch.
After all, she'd called him humble.
"Good use of that line, though," Caradoc said, tapping the quote Lily had just read.
"Line?" Lily repeated.
"Oh, yeah," Caradoc explained, "everyone knows you give credit to the Seeker. Fans love it because it makes you seem like a team player and not just in the game to show off. And if the Seeker is a girl, it makes all the female fans like you even more, because professional Quidditch is such a male dominated sport that it is rare for women to get credit." He smiled at Lily. "It's a good line, Potter was smart to use it."
Lily felt sudden disappointment, and didn't know why. It wasn't like she had really expected James to be sincere in passing off the praise, but the fact that he had done it because he knew it would garner more fans…
She shook her head. On the Quidditch pitch or not, he was still the same James Potter.
She shoved the paper back at Caradoc and turned away moodily.
"Did I say something wrong?" Caradoc asked, grabbing Lily's arm. He could tell that she was upset, but likely had no idea why. "What did I do?"
"Nothing," Lily said, shaking her head. "It's nothing."
But she didn't meet his gaze.
Why did this bother her so much? Why was she actually disappointed?
In retrospect, she could admit that it was an incredibly stupid thing to do.
It hadn't seemed that way at the time, of course. Caradoc had left, and though he had wanted to accompany her home to make sure that she arrived safely, she had shrugged him off with excuses about needing to do a little bit more shopping in Hogsmeade before all the shops closed for the night. He'd kissed her quickly and taken his leave, and she'd wandered in and out of stores.
The sun had set and the night air was damp and chilly by the time she had finished purchasing everything that she wanted. And she should have gone home then. It would have been the smart thing to do.
But the conversation with Caradoc had left her feeling nostalgic, and so instead of walking home, she turned her footsteps towards the path that wound its way out of Hogsmeade and towards Hogwarts. She walked quietly, lost in her own thoughts, and paid no attention to her surroundings.
Her thoughts seemed to be filled with James Potter.
It frustrated her to no end that she couldn't stop thinking about him even when he was no longer a part of her life. Hogwarts was over and she had moved on to other things. She had no reason to even talk to James again. She didn't need to see him, didn't need to listen to his cocky words or watch as he messed up his hair and gave her that stupid, arrogant grin.
And yet…
The path turned around the bend and Lily forcefully shoved thoughts of James from her mind as Hogwarts rose before her. She could see the castle through the gates and across the sprawling grounds; its distant silhouette was outlined by the white light of the moon. The Forbidden Forest curved out of sight on one side of the castle, fading into the darkness until the trees were indistinguishable from each other. The lake glittered, reflecting the light of the moon.
Maybe one day, when she was older and had a bit more influence in the magical world, she'd talk to Dumbledore about the History of Magic curriculum. Maybe one day she would get someone other than Caradoc to listen to her, to understand what she was saying, what she meant.
Lily sighed and rubbed her eyes. It was late, and she really needed to get back to her flat in London.
She turned, prepared to walk back down the path into Hogsmeade.
It was mostly silent. The wind whistled as it rustled the leaves on the branches of the few trees that dotted the landscape. But this part of the area was almost entirely devoid of such trees. The path curved its way through rocky terrain, partially hidden among small hills. It was a stark contrast to the lush green of Hogwarts.
There was no one about, and Lily shivered, feeling suddenly very foolish for coming up here alone so late at night.
But she couldn't explain the origin of that feeling, because it seemed inconceivable that there would be any danger this close to Hogwarts. So she shrugged it off as nerves and started back down the path.
She shouldn't have shrugged off the feeling. She shouldn't have come up here alone in the first place.
She shouldn't have come at all.
She heard something. Something fast and soft, like a small animal darting over the rocky ground. It was followed by the sound of something heavier scrambling along the hills around her, and then the sound of rocks coming loose and rolling down the sloping ground.
A larger animal?
She let out a breath. It was probably just prey running from a predator. A rabbit fleeing from a fox, or something similar.
Why was she so jumpy?
She heard it then. Loud and clear and chilling.
A howl.
Her eyes darted around frantically, trying to locate the source of the noise. But even as she did that, another thought occurred to her, and she slowly lifted her gaze towards the night sky. Towards the moon.
The full moon.
The thing - an indistinguishable mass of shaggy fur and gnashing teeth - burst into view, racing up the side of a hill not far from Lily. Its eyes and snout were lifted towards the full moon as it howled, seemingly unaware of anything else around it besides that orb of light glowing in the night sky.
Then it saw Lily, and froze.
And Lily screamed.
She should have Apparated. She should have drawn the wand from her robes and defended herself. She should have done something - anything - but she felt frozen to the spot as though her entire body had turned to lead. She couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breath.
The werewolf launched itself at her, tearing down the side of the hill, kicking up dust and dirt and knocking rocks loose as it did so.
"Oh, Merlin…" Lily whispered, and strangely, the sound of her own voice was what it took to jolt her back into action. She dropped the shopping bags she was holding - chocolate and books and a new scarf spilling out onto the ground - and plunged one hand into her robes, reaching for her wand.
The wolf never reached her. Something else came bounding down the hill and practically threw itself at the wolf, knocking it away from Lily. The wolf snarled and turned to face the newcomer, and Lily just barely had time to see antlers and long legs and wonder what a stag was doing so close to Hogwarts before the two animals became embroiled in a bitter fight.
The stag lowered its antlers and charged at the wolf, forcing it backwards, away from Lily. The wolf growled and swiped at the stag with its front paws, sharp claws attempting to tears into the stag's hide. It barred white teeth and emitted a sound somewhere between a snarl and a howl, then launched itself into the air and landed on top of the stag, driving it to the ground.
Lily draw her wand and tried desperately to think of a spell. The practical applications of Defense Against the Dark Arts had never been her forte. She could read the books and memorize the facts and write the essays, but when faced with a simulated fight in class, her mind usually went blank.
Not this time. This time, she acted without even thinking, desperate to save herself and, for some bizarre, inexplicable reason, equally desperate to save the stag. Jabbing her wand outwards, she cried "Ventus." A wind erupted from the tip of her wand and pushed the wolf off the stag, throwing it into the ground several feet away.
There were scratches on the stag's back, starting where the front right leg met the rest of the body spreading out from there. The animal looked exhausted and even a little bit stunned by what had happened, and it staggered to its feet, eyes darting warily between Lily and the wolf.
Then the black dog appeared.
It was large and shaggy and Lily, who didn't believe in Divination, who didn't believe in signs and omens, who didn't believe in fate or destiny, couldn't help but wonder if it was the Grim.
Was she going to die tonight?
The wolf charged at her, the stag stumbled in between them, and Lily screamed again.
The dog hurtled itself at the wolf, issuing a guttural growl from deep in its throat, and pushing it away from both Lily and the stag. The wolf snarled in response and scratched with its claws, tearing into the skin on the dog's left forearm. The dog gnashed its teeth and raced at the werewolf, pushing it backwards.
The stag lowered its antlers and charged at the werewolf, joining the dog in its battle. They fought, claws and teeth flashing, growls and howls shattering the still night, and somehow working as a team, the two animals managed to force the werewolf away from Lily.
For a moment, the stag turned and looked back at Lily, and there was some emotion in its eyes that the redhead could not decipher.
Lily didn't pause to try to figure it out, though. She turned and fled instead.
Once she was gone, the wolf seemed to calm down a bit, and it stopped fighting quite as hard. Soon it stopped fighting completely, and reluctantly allowed the stag and the dog to corral it away from the path.
The silence descended again, once more only broken by the faint whistling of the wind through the small clumping of trees. The moon - pale and innocuous looking - cast its glow over everything, illuminating the path, the signs of struggle and drops of blood that were scattered about the ground, and the few shopping bags filled with books, sweets, and a brand new scarf that had been left behind by the terrified witch.