Lilly and Anna

Two concerned voices were quietly talking in what seemed to be thin air.

"Dumbledore, what do we do? Some lady came by and took Anna out of the rubble. She's barely a week old."

"We’ll let the lady take her. She is better off that way. She can lead a normal life."

"Dumbledore, how do we know she will be raised well? I could take Harry and Anna in, I am her Godfather…"

"Sirius, you could never give Anna what she needs…"

"And what's that!” Sirius interrupted, outraged.

"Calm down, Sirius. She just needs to have a relatively normal life. Harry can never have that now. Everyone knows what happened. He's practically a celebrity. But Anna still has that chance. I can erase her from all the photos; I can make use a memory charm so that no one remembers that Lilly was pregnant. I can even delete her birth record from the hospital. They go through so many births a day that they won't notice. She will be able to lead a regular witch's life. Sirius, think about how that will benefit her," Dumbledore said firmly.

Sirius finally gave in after he said something under his breath. Dumbledore almost asked what he said but thought better of it.

Anna grew up with a woman name Marty. Marty had very specific ideas of how a young girl should act. Marty decided to call her Lilly because she didn't know Anna's real name. She got the name when she looked at the locket Anna was wearing when she found her. It had two pictures in it that Marty guessed were her parents. On the back of the pictures were the names Lilly and James.

Lilly loved life. She loved to dance in the shadows and play in the grass. She loved to shreek, sorry I mean sing with all her heart, even though it would shatter glass. Marty greatly disapproved of this. She said that girls were not allowed to have a personality. She taught Lilly to be quiet and to be perfect. Lilly hated this and would often do things just to upset her. Once, Marty got so upset that she threatened to send her in an orphanage. Lilly was terrified, she didn't want to be abandoned again, to the extent that she decided that from that day on, she would be as good as humanly possibly.

Eleven years later…

Lilly was a girl that nobody noticed. In fact, half the Gryffindors didn't even know she existed. To the rest she was just some girl. Lilly had skipped a year because she was so smart, of which Marty was very proud of her. She was quite satisfied with the quiet life she lead (or it seemed that way on the outside) until her sixth year, when her world was turned upside-down…

Harry was again stuck in Snape's Dungeon. It was especially cold during the winter and he was freezing. Right now he just wanted the bell to ring so he could go and have a warm dinner. Harry was trying hard not to listen to Professor Snape's sour remarks.

Professor Snape hated Gryffindors, all of them! At the moment he was looking at their grades and then ridiculing them one by one…

"Potter, I see that being a celebrity isn't everything. Perhaps if you studied a bit, you might actually be able to graduate from Hogwarts. Then again, maybe not."

"Weasley, I am aware of your family's poverty, but even your grades are poor."

The Slytherins were snickering loudly, largely lead by Malfoy.

That's when he got to Lilly.

"Lilly James, I didn't even notice you in my class. Your class participation is so low that even Neville must be ashamed of it. I am going to assign you to sit right here, by Malfoy. Maybe you can learn a thing or two from him, but I doubt you'll learn anything at all in this 'difficult' class."

    Harry whipped his head around, 'Lilly James'! He studied her closely; there was something about her that puzzled him, she seemed familiar.

Lilly stood up very embarrassed; she never got this much attention and was sure Marty would disapprove. Secretly though, she was a little happy that someone actually noticed her. She quickly walked over to the empty seat by Malfoy and sat down quietly.

Malfoy turned his head to smirk at this 'Lilly James', when he was caught off guard; she was prettier than any other girl he had ever seen. She had bright green eyes and her hair went down to her mid-back and was golden brown. It was wavy and extremely shiny. That is when he started plotting; somehow he would make her go out with him…

An owl suddenly swooped in through the window and sat down on Professor Snape's desk, cooing loudly and acting very important. Professor Snape snatched the envelope for the bird and shooed it away as he read. He suddenly jumped off his chair and bolted out of the room. Everyone was quite surprised at the strange way Professor Snape was acting.

Malfoy turned towards Lilly; she was quietly reading a book. He ran his fingers through Lilly's hair. Her glossy hair felt even softer than it looked. He had a mischievous smile on his face; this was his chance.

"Lilly, you really ought to go out with me. You're perfect for me… You're the prettiest girl I know... I'll take you to Hogsmeade tomorrow... Meet me in the Great Hall at ten..."

    Malfoy barely finished his sentence as the bell rang. He and almost everyone else ran out the door to dinner. Meanwhile, Lilly quietly took her time to pack up her stuff. She finished quickly and briskly walked off; her face was red.

On her way out Hermione accidentally bumped into Lilly. She saw how upset she was and felt bad for her.

(Why is she so upset? I hope she wasn't too embarrassed today. Oh… I bet it was Malfoy. That jerk! I have to think of a way to help her.)

Lilly quietly went up to her dormitory and sat down on her bed and screamed into her pillow.

(Why do I have to go out with Malfoy, he's really ugly and rude. How I'd like to slap him! *Sigh* I have to find a way to get out of this date with him…)

Hermione walked briskly into Lilly’s dormitory and looked around. She saw Lilly and walked up to her.

"You know, you don't have to go out with Malfoy."

Lilly turned and looked up at her.

"He didn't give me a choice." She said flatly.

"That doesn’t matter, you always have your free agency. No one can make you go out with that jerk." Hermione said with a sparkle in her eyes. Lilly nodded. "Just don't go down to the great hall tomorrow. I'll bring some food up for you."

Lilly was quiet for a while as she thought.

(She's right about the jerk part, but I not so sure about the 'no one can make you go out him' thing. Someone probably could.)

"Ok," Lilly said, eyes blazing.

"Then it's settled. You won't go down to the Great Hall tomorrow morning and I’ll bring up your breakfast." Hermione said as she walked off briskly.

(She seems so quiet but I can see the spit and fire in her eyes…)

Being alone left time for Lilly to quietly think to herself.

(I really don't want to out with Malfoy…I wish I could slap him…)

Harry Potter sat waiting in his dormitory for the news. Hermione said she had to deal with something before their date tonight. He was taking her to the Christmas Ball.

Five minutes later, Hermione walked in.

"I just don't know what to do with that girl. She seems so spirited but also like she is held back by something."

"Who?" Harry asked, confused.

"Lilly James, from Potions, remember?" Hermione said, matter-o-factly.

"Oh, yeah," Harry said. He felt dumb. "Why does she seem held back?"

"Because she is. Deep down, she's full of spit and fire!" Hermione said excitedly. "I can see it in her eyes. I just wish I knew why she never acts that way."

"I didn't see anything in her eyes." Harry said puzzled.

"Oh, Harry…" Hermione trailed off.

Harry once again felt dumb. That's the only problem with dating a girl smarter than yourself; you often feel dumb.

"Well, should we go? The Christmas Ball is going to start soon." Harry asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Just a minute, I need to change." Hermione said as she rushed out the door.

Harry sat deep in thought.

(Lilly James, why do you seem so familiar?)

The next day Malfoy woke up with a grin. Today he would go to Hogsmeade with Lilly, whether she liked it or not.

(What shall I wear? I don't want to make Lilly look poor by dressing my best but I don't want to look casual either…)

Meanwhile…

Lilly woke up abruptly when Hermione came in. She was a very light sleeper.

"You should be dressed already. Malfoy will come raging to the Gryffindor Common room any time now."

"I know. I was just trying to sleep all day." Lilly said tiredly. "I was hoping the stupid git was just a dream."

"Well, wake up to reality... I have to go now. I'm going to breakfast with Harry."

Lilly put on a robe, again wondering that would happen that day. Although she didn't know when, she knew Malfoy would show up soon.

At the moment, Malfoy was walking down the hall almost humming. Almost.

He walked into the Great Hall and looked around for a minute. Lilly wasn't there.

Lillie was quietly walking down to the common room. She sat in her favorite chair in the corner of the room and waited for the unavoidable.

She watched Hermione and Harry shut the door behind them.

In the Great Hall, Malfoy was outraged. He ran to the Gryffindor Dormitory. He made it just in time to see Hermione and Harry leave.

Lilly heard them start to talk from the common room.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked coldly.

" I am waiting for Ms. James to come out." Malfoy said with his teeth clenched. "And she will be coming. Do you know when she will be out Potter? What about you, mud-blood?" Malfoy asked, with a large and quite ugly sneer on his face.

Harry's face turned bright red. No one called Hermione a mud-blood! Especially not Malfoy!

"She won't be coming out, Draco, or at least not to go on a date with you."

Malfoy looked at Hermione, eyes raging.

"Who said she had a choice?" Malfoy asked coldly.

"I did." Hermione said, sternly.

Lilly heard Hermione and Harry walk off briskly.

She was outraged!

(I knew he would come to get me! I hate this! I hate Malfoy!)

"GO AWAY YOU BLOODY GIT!!!" Lilly roared, eyes on fire. She was surprised with herself and imagined Malfoy was too. Marty would be quite mad with her, but she enjoyed the brief show of her personality anyways.

"There you are, my darling. Now come out and stop being so unreasonable." Malfoy said in a strained nice voice.

"I'm not going with you! Can't you just leave me alone!" Lilly shouted in exasperation.

"Listen up! You are going to get dressed and come to Hogsmeade with me now, or else." Malfoy said cruelly.

"Or else what?" Lilly asked in a mocking tone.

"Or else I will make your life miserable. I'll tease you every time I see you and I'll spread rumors about you and get you in loads of trouble…"

Lilly thought of how miserable her life would be and what would happen to her if Marty ever found out. She was scared, and began to shake.

"Stop! I'll come out. Please, just don't get me in any trouble." Lilly said, voice trembling.

"Oh, I won't. You can trust me." Malfoy answered in a mock innocent voice.

Lilly got up and walked up to her dormitory to change. She was still trembling but this time it was with rage.

(Why is this happening to me? Marty said she would get rid of me if she ever got a bad report about me. Why do I have to go through this? What will Malfoy do? Will he get me in trouble? Oh, he better not, or I'll…I'll… I'll get sent away!!! The orphanage would never let me come back to Hogwarts!!!!)

"Hurry up! You can't keep stalling all day!" Malfoy shouted aggressively.

Lilly finished getting dressed and walked down the stairs to the common room. She was wearing a loose fitting blue sweater and a pair of baggy blue jeans. She would not give Malfoy the pleasure of her looking nice.

(Once I leave this room, I 'm no longer safe…what can I do? If I can stall a little bit longer Hermione might come back and make Malfoy go away.)

Meanwhile:

Hermione walked down the corridor trying to calm down Harry.

"Harry, come on. You know he is always going to call me that."

"That doesn’t give him the right to call you that!" Harry said fiercely.

"Harry, please calm down. You're upsetting me."

Harry looked at Hermione's pleading eyes and gave in.

"What did you mean when you told Malfoy that Lilly didn't have to go out with him?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"Harry, I told you last night, I'm trying to help Lilly get out of the date with him." Hermione said exasperatedly.

There Harry was again, feeling dumb.

"Well sorry, I just forgot." Harry said. His temper rising. "I'm not as smart as you, so could you just give me a break!"

Hermione looked shocked. " I didn't mean to. Honestly!"

Harry looked at Hermione. Her eyes filled up with tears.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, Please forgive me. I didn't mean to shout at you."

They walked in silence until they reached the Great Hall. There, they met up with Ron.

"What took you guys so long? Did you trip?" Ron asked jokingly.

"Of course not," Harry said curtly. "We met up with Malfoy."

"So what happened?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Now boys, lets not open sore wounds." Hermione said wisely.

"Hermione, Harry, do you want to visit Hagrid after breakfast?" Ron asked hopefully. Now that Harry and Hermione were going out, he often got left out of things.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then back at Ron and nodded.

"Great! Hagrid said he wanted to show us something." Ron said enthusiastically.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other again…

(Last time we went to Hagrid's he wanted to show us a baby giant. Wonder why Ron wants to go back… I guess Ron has just gotten closer to Hagrid since we started going out). Harry and Hermione were as close to reading minds as they could get, practically having a conversation.

After breakfast Harry, Hermione, and Ron all bundled up to go to Hagrid's cabin. Hermione had all but forgotten to bring Lilly her breakfast. Lilly's last hope had just walked out the door.

Down in Hogsmeade, Lilly and Malfoy walked into Madam Puddifoot's tea shop and sat down. Lilly was in the middle of Crab and Goyle with Malfoy across from her.

(Malfoy, I hate this stupid place. Why in the world did you bring me here?)

A waitress walked up and waited to take their order.

"We'll have two cups of lemon tea with milk in it, please." Malfoy said, trying to put on a show for Lilly.

(This is the perfect place for our first date…Malfoy thought to himself... Everyone knows that if you come here on a first date you're supposed to kiss when you leave.)

He was staring at Lilly with a silly grin on his face.

(Oh my gosh! He is such an idiot. I hate guys that like all this mushy romantic stuff! I wish he would just disapparate somewhere else!!!)

Malfoy started to talk in what he thought was a soothing voice. Lilly thought he sounded more like a vampire, a very sick vampire.

"Isn't this place charming?"

Lilly looked around; the entire place was filled with kissing couples.

(Eww, gross! This place is more like a prison than anything else.)

She decided to play cute.

"Malfoy, I can't see anything. Your friends are blocking my view." She batted her eyelashes. (What kind of dork brings his friends along with him on a date?)

"Crab, Goyle, move over to this side of the bench." Malfoy said; he was totally falling for it.

Lilly watched them move over.

"That is much better, isn't it?" Malfoy said coaxingly.

Lilly smiled and replied, "Oh yes, that's much better. I can really see how (cough), quaint this place is."

"I think it's quiet romantic." Malfoy said.

Lilly looked down at her tea.

(What am I getting myself into?)

Malfoy continued to ramble on and on about how glad he was that she came with him.

Lilly just sat there and stared into space, wishing she were somewhere else. She was knocked back into reality when Malfoy said her name. Lilly looked up just in time to see Malfoy's lips lower on hers. She was stunned. Time seemed to stop. Thoughts swirled around in her head. She had an awful headache and was starting to lose it.

(What's going on? I, I, I…)

Lilly was sucked back in the reality. She looked around.

Malfoy.