Lily Luna Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 4: A "Different" School Year

Before anyone knew it, July and August flew by. It had mostly been enjoyable for everyone. Scorpius and Rose went on a long honeymoon in Paris. It was absolutely great for them. But, in Lily's case, it was pretty "just okay." It wasn't exactly great, due to her relationship ending, but, it had it's good events too. She loved staying with Luna. She really enjoyed Scorpius and Rose's wedding, that was pretty fun. Especially the part where she was dancing with Lorcan. And, she spent most days just out in the yard flying on her broom, and practicing different Quidditch things. That was her favorite thing of all. Flying. When she felt the wind whip at her face to the point where her eyes would water, it felt to her that the whole world was non existent, and she was free. It just gave her a break from the things that made her upset.

But, to Lily's dismay, school was starting again. Don't get her wrong, she liked school, and she loved playing Quidditch and being Captain, but, it also meant that she would have to see certain people again. The only good thing was the timing. At least she didn't have to suffer at school. At home, she had the comfort of her family, and some time to return to her normal self.

This year shouldn't be that horrible though. Right? Lily was now entering her 7th and last year of going to Hogwarts. 7th Year always had its fun benefits. The Graduation Ball. Quidditch Cup. Hey, maybe it wasn't going to be so horrible. Well, there was N.E.W.T's, but, really, how much different are they then O.W.L's.

Lily had thought this all to herself, but little did she know what was going to happen this year. Let's just say, it wouldn't be anything like she was thinking. It definitely would be very different than the other Weasley-Potter kids's 7th Year experience. But, for now, she, and every other student attending Hogwarts, had no idea what was going to go down this year. The only people that did were, only certain staff members of Hogwarts, and a few ministry people. One of those ministry people was Harry Potter.

As Lily was just thinking to herself over breakfast, she noticed how there was an upset look on her father's face. Not a certain kind of upset, maybe a mixture of worry and stress. Lily knew that her dad's job was not an easy one, but usually, he didn't show his emotions about it like this. But, what was even stranger, was that, there had been really no crime this summer. Nothing serious. There had been only two arrests, and that was because of breaking stupid laws. Not like cursing, hexing, or anything like that. And besides, Lily knew that her dad didn't deal with those little of cases himself, that's what he had his Aurors do. These days, he really only dealt with the serious cases like, Azkaban breakouts, (which happened very rarely now), or Death Eater risings, (about once every 5 years, one of the old Death Eaters would decide to spike up randomly.) But, now, there really wasn't any reason for her dad to sport this facial expression.

"Dad, is everything alright?" Lily asked, curious to know what was concerning Harry.

"Hmm?... Oh, yea. Everything's fine." Harry responded, at first, in a different place, then realizing that Lily was talking to him. Truth was, he was not fine. Yesterday, huge news hit him at work. It really involved him. Not just as an Auror, but, for other reasons too. He just had a gut feeling about it. And, most of the time, when Harry had a gut feeling, it was probably true. But, he was sworn not to talk about it. Through the ministry, he couldn't say a word.

"Okay..." Lily replied. By the long pause between words, and the weird facial expressions, she knew that her father was indeed not alright. But, she decided to not question any further. When he wanted to talk about it, he would. For now, it would just be put on the back burner.

Just after Lily had finished the small conversation with Harry, a familiar school owl came soaring through the window, and dropped an envelope right on the table in front of Lily. Lily had known exactly what it was, hence the fact that this was now her 7th one, so, without saying anything, she began to rip open the envelope, and dump out the contents. Out came the usual folded pieces of parchment, that listed the books Lily would need for the school year, but, something was missing. Her Quidditch Captain badge.