Lily

Chapter Fifty:

Lily noticed Harry seemed off. He was spacey often, especially in the mornings. Whenever she asked him about what happened, he'd just say he had a "weird dream" and left it at that.

Neville was the one to find a place for the DA to meet. He discovered the Room of Requirement, and once he told everyone in the DA about it, Lena gasped.

"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that!" She exclaimed, "My parents used to go there all the time!"

The meetings gave people hope, which was in short supply at the moment, and Lily was progressing with her magic skills. She often paired up with Hayden or one of the other Slytherins if there was an odd number because the other houses were still a bit wary about them. Lily did notice Hayden talking a lot to Lee though, and they seemed to get along well enough. Of course, hanging out with Lee included hanging out with Fred and George, so when Lily was pranked by Hayden and ended up with blue teeth after accepting food from her, she wasn't exactly surprised. Hayden did reverse the magic in the end though, and Lily might have suggested giving Umbridge a similar treat.

Umbridge continued handing out detentions to everyone she disliked, which happened to be a whole lot of people, for the smallest things. Lily only got three more detentions from her for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and "breathing too loudly" or "looking guilty" or even, "blinking too fast, which was surely a sign of disrespect".

Umbridge's tight grip on the castle made the atmosphere more gloomy, and melancholic than ever before. That was, until the day the Weasley twins left.

Hayden came running up to Lily during a break.

"Lily! Come quick!" She exclaimed.

"What's going on?! Is Harry okay-"

"Yes, but you've got to see this! Lee and I have been helping Fred and George to pull this off for days now, and we've finally got it right!"

Lily followed Hayden down the hallway towards Umbridge's office where a large group of students huddled.

"You know what, George, I've always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement," Fred announced loudly.

"What is the meaning of this commotion?! Detention, Weasley's-" Umbridge began.

"Freddie, I've been thinking the same thing." George agreed, blatantly ignoring Umbridge. Someone snorted in laughter, but Umbridge was too slow whipping around to see who.

The Weasley twins raised their wands in sync and the brooms Umbridge and confiscated from them a week ago came burying out of her office, creating two broom-shaped holes in her door.

"Bye, everyone!" Fred called, mounting his broom.

He and George gave another flick of their wands and the floor in front of Umbridge's office turned into a swamp. The students cheered as the twins set off a few of their magic fireworks and then flew off, with Umbridge yelling and running like a chicken with its head cut off, after them. She didn't catch them and the swap stayed in the hallway. Apparently, the charm keeping it there was really strong, and none of the teachers were particularly interested in helping Umbridge- and were proud of the magic, so it stayed there in the middle of the corridor.

After the swamp incident, Umbridge became, if possible even more unbearable. Umbridge wasn't the only thing worrying Lily, however. Harry looked like he hadn't slept well in days, and whenever Lily begged him to talk to her about it, he dismissed it with having weird nightmares. That is, he did until he woke up in the middle of the night after witnessing Arthur Weasley getting attacked.

Lily was woken up by McGonagall, who told her to pack her belongings quickly. Once she had done so, Lily followed her professor to Dumbledore's office where Harry, Ron, and Ginny stood.