Lily Potter and the Shadows' Misfortune

Chapter Seven

Ready to fiercely defend herself and her family against someone's acidic hatred, Lily spun around with a scowl on her face. It fell and evolved into a smile when she saw who actually was behind her.

Cassie Baldwin, a Ravenclaw second year, stood in the doorway, trying to hold a smirk on her glowing features. Her thin, dark dreadlocks fell gently on her thin shoulder, and her brown eyes sparkled with happiness as the weak smirk turned into a shining grin. Lily befriended Cassie in the library the past year, connecting on their similar morals and studious ideals.

"Cassie!" Lily smiled.

"Lily!" she exclaimed, dropping her things on the ground and giving Lily a hug. Her tiny screech owl, Tweety, chirped loudly in protest from being haphazardly dropped.

Lily could help but grin as one of her few female friends hugged her. As much as she loved Hugo, Eli, and Rudolph, it was nice to have a friend who was a girl. She couldn't take putting up with boys' foolishness every day of the week.

The three boys greeted Cassie as she and Lily secured Cassie's things.

"How was your summer in Italy?" Lily asked a minute later, sitting down next to Eli. "You're so tan, Cass!"

"Venice was absolutely enchanting," Cassie enthused, flopping down beside Hugo and Rudolph. "I'm sorry I didn't go to your little get-together over the summer, Rudolph. I really wanted to come, but my dad didn't want me out right after the Minister was...well, you know..."

A silence fell over the five friends as they recalled that fateful summer day in a very rare uncomfortable quietness. That day had become the bane of Lily's existence. If Kingsley hadn't been murdered, her father would be safer. If Kingsley hadn't been murdered, her father wouldn't have been thrown into the top position at the British Ministry. If Kingsley hadn't been murdered, Lily's family wouldn't have been thrown into a Ministry-induced chaos.

Relieving the terribly, unusual silence was a timid knock on the compartment door. Lily and her friends looked toward the door, and Lily recognized the scared, nervous girl standing on the opposite side of the glass- Cecily Longbottom. Sharing a concerned glance with Cassie, Lily got to her feet and slid open the door.

"Cecily? What's the matter?" Lily questioned.

Her hands trembled as she spoke with a barely audible voice, "I'm really sorry, but I was so nervous about today. All of the cabins are full; there wasn't an empty one anywhere. I've been looking for Alice and her friends, but I can't find them. I saw you, and I was wondering if I could sit with you and your friends. Never mind. Disregard that. I'm sorry. I'm being a bother, Lily. I'll just-"

"Cecily," Lily interrupted the nonsensical, irrational babbling, "you're more than welcome to sit with us. You're my friend, and we'd all be happy to have you sit with us. Everyone, this is Cecily Longbottom. Cecily, you already know Hugo and Eli, but the other boy is Rudolph, and that's Cassie."

"Nice to meet you all," she smiled weakly. "Where should I sit?"

"You can sit next to me," Lily shrugged. "Eli, scooch over a seat."

After familiarizing Cecily with the cabin's occupants and grabbing her luggage, Lily stood on top of her seat and secured Cecily's things on the overhead rack. A sudden, loud knock startled Lily and nearly caused her to fall off of her feet and onto the floor. She had to hold onto the metal bar of the rack extremely tightly to keep her balance.

Before she could even look at the new entrant, her cabin had exclaimed a chorus of "Nora"'s, letting her know that the soft spoken one of her group had finally arrived.

"Didn't mean to scare you, Lil," Nora commented with a bashful lack.

Lily shook her head, "You really couldn't have offered some sort of warning?"