Lily Potter and the Shadows' Misfortune

Chapter Four

Lily's eyes smiled at the sight of the tall, thin boy with a head of curly black hair. It felt like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Eli!" Lily exclaimed, nearly running him over with a hug; although she was small, she gave quite the powerful hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"Back at you," he laughed, letting go of Lily while simultaneously dodging Hugo's attempt to ruffle his hair already messy hair.

"How has it been living with Aunt Minne?" Hugo chuckled, elbowing him in the stomach. "How many times has she yelled at you? What's your punishment? Lines? Clapping out erasers?"

"Actually," Eli interrupted with a smirk on his face, "life with Aunt Minnie has been fine. She helped me with some Transfiguration spells I couldn't get during the school year."

Eli Harris, the fourth and final Gryffindor in Lily's year, had been sent to live with Minerva McGonagall over the summer because of his abusive, pureblood-loving parents not wanting to take him back in after the events of the past school year. Lily noticed he seemed much happier than she had ever seen him.

"That's underage magic!" Hugo exclaimed, in response to Eli receiving Transfiguration tutoring. "You could go to Azkaban for that!"

"Please," Lily laughed, shaking her head at her cousin. "They won't send you to Azkaban for turning a rat into a teacup. Anyway, he was working with Minerva McGonagall; I'm pretty sure the laws don't apply to her. I would do anything to have a Transfiguration lesson with her."

"Would you set something on fire for a lesson with her?" Hugo smirked. "Incedio!!"

The three friends broke out into a familiar, nostalgic laughter at their joke about the Fire-Making Spell.

"So did you get my owl, Eli?" Lily asked as their laughter died down.

He nodded, "Aunt Minnie says that I'll be able to go! I'm really excited for it!"

"It's going to be so much fun," Hugo smiled, for once not being sarcastic. "I haven't seen Rudolph, Nora, or Cassie all summer."

"I actually bumped into Rudolph in Flourish and Blotts earlier today, actually," Lily added on. "He said that his summer's been going fine, but apparently, it's really tough to live with Muggles when you're a wizard."

"Do his grandparents know anything about magic?" Eli asked. "He hasn't told them?"

Lily shook her head, "Only his parents know, since he's a Muggleborn."

"I can't imagine being a Muggle," Hugo sighed. "Living with no magic."

"My dad actually has some Muggles on his side of the family, and we've visited them a few times. They're very...averse to magic to say the least," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "They're the worst Muggles I've ever met."

"LILY! HUGO! ELI!" a booming voice called across the backyard, cutting their discussion about Muggles short. The three soon-to-be second years turned and spotted James waving a broom emphatically over his head. "QUIDDITCH!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Lily, Hugo, and Eli forgot their conversation and sped off, across the green yard, to where the Weasley-Potters cousins and their friends stood surrounding the shed, fighting for the best broom possible.

Lily, scrappy with her small frame, elbowed her way to the middle of the throng, attempting to fight past her cousins and family friends to get a broom that actually functioned. When she had finally gotten to the selection, she was knocked out of the mad mob by her smirking cousin Louis. Surprisingly, Lily didn't find her rear hitting the soft grass, but another person. She rolled off to see a nervous looking girl with wavy, dark brown hair, Augusta Longbottom.