Chapter 9
Lysander walked alone through the corridors of Hogwarts, searching for his mother and father. He had never felt so lonely and out of place, or maybe he had; Ravenclaw and Slytherin shared Potions classes.
The House of Snakes was very different from what it would be in the future; almost everyone was quite mean and bullying. They had targeted him, the new kid from the future who was dating Potter’s daughter (because they couldn’t bring themselves to call him by his name) and simply knew all the answers to the professor’s questions—a perfect target.
"It's not my fault that James broke a Time-Turner, and now we’re stuck in the past for who knows how long," he muttered to himself, walking with his eyes on the floor. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to..." He had bumped into someone.
"Is today the day for bothering and bumping into Lily?" Lily said as she got up from the floor. Who had bumped into her now? "Oh," she realized who it was, seeing he looked unwell. "Sorry, Lys, I didn’t know it was you." Lysander helped her with her books.
"It’s nothing, Lil's. Why the mood?" Lily fixed her hair.
"Nothing, just seems like everyone’s bumping into me today." Lysander wrapped his arms around Lily’s shoulders.
"If you say so, but if you need anything, come find me, okay?" Lily nodded, then remembered seeing her boyfriend with a sad face a few seconds ago.
"And why do you look like that?" Lysander took a few seconds to answer.
"Nothing, just memories." He never thought he’d return to that dark place; he hoped not to go back, and he had decided he wouldn’t. Lily knew he was lying but also knew he would tell her when he was ready.
"Alright, tell me anything." Lily tenderly caressed his hand and prepared to leave. "I have to go, I need to work on an assignment in the library." She did have an assignment, but she also wanted to be alone.
"Lily, the library isn’t in the dungeons," Lysander said, looking around, surprised. "We’re in the corridor by the Great Hall." Lysander looked around and was surprised. When had he gotten there? "I see your mind was occupied. When you’re ready to talk, you know where to find me." Lily said goodbye with a hug and left.
Lysander stood still for a second, realizing where he was, and then remembered where he was going. He turned on his heels and headed to the Ravenclaw Tower.
He reached the entrance, and the eagle presented him with a riddle: "The makers make it for others. The buyers don’t buy it for themselves, and those who use it don’t know what it is. What is it?" Lysander thought for a second and confidently answered, "A coffin." The eagle stepped aside, letting him pass. The Ravenclaw Tower looked just like it did in the future. He scanned the common room with his eyes and found his parents sitting on one of the couches. He approached them.
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," he greeted.
"We’ve been waiting for you," Rolf said, joking.
"But classes just ended," Lysander replied, confused.
"They ended over an hour ago."
"Ahh, I lost track of time again." Rolf and Luna laughed.
The common room was empty, so they could talk about anything without being teased, which was quite common in the lives of two of them.
"What’s up with that girl, Lily?" Rolf asked. He had a different personality than Luna, much more extroverted.
"She’s my girlfriend, Rolf." They had decided he would call them by their names after an hour-long discussion in which they concluded it was weird to call them Mom and Dad—a totally complicated conclusion, far from immature (note the sarcasm).
"We already know that." Luna lifted her head from the book and joined the conversation.
"What do you want to know?" Lysander asked, blushing a little.
"I don’t know, how long have you been dating?" Rolf asked.
"A year."
"Were you close before dating?"
"Best friends for two years before becoming a couple."
"Do you know everything about each other?"
"No."
"Does she know everything about you?"
"No."
"Do you know everything about her?"
"I think so."
"Have you kissed yet?"
"Yes, I think that’s pretty obvious."
"And the other thing?"
"NO, no, no," Lysander turned red with embarrassment as Luna and Rolf laughed.
"Is the family of fools laughing?" a fourth voice mocked in the room. None of them stopped laughing. "Oh, how sweet, the insufferable know-it-all and the fool playing happy family," the person insisted, wanting to be heard, wanting to affect them. They stopped laughing.
"What did you call them?" Rolf responded angrily.
"Insufferable know-it-all and little fool. Got a problem with that?" Rolf growled.
"Yes, I do," the girl laughed sarcastically.
"How could such a handsome boy end up with such a stupid girl?" Rolf was furious, but he wasn’t the one who responded.
"I think you misunderstood what my brother and I said. Our father didn’t marry you; he married Luna, because the only stupid one I see here is you," Lysander responded calmly. He had promised himself not to let anyone walk over him anymore, and he was trying to keep that promise.
"You think you’re so cool and smart, but you’re not," the girl retorted.
"Maybe I’m not smart or cool, but at least I don’t have to mistreat others to feel good about myself." The girl ignored him and left without responding.
Lysander took a deep breath, looked at his parents, and then thought about what had just happened. He realized he was ready to talk.
"I have to go," he said before leaving the Ravenclaw Tower. His parents stared after him, puzzled.
He left and quickly ran to the library, where he soon found Lily. He approached her.
"Hi, Lily." She looked up from her work, which she had already finished but pretended to continue.
"Hi, Lys. Ready to talk?" Lysander nodded. Lily stood up and quickly packed her things with a flick of her wand.
They headed to the lake and sat under one of the trees in the most secluded part of the castle grounds. That was their spot.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Lily asked, concerned. She prided herself on almost always knowing when someone was sad, worried, or affected by something.
"I’m going to tell you a ‘TOPIC Z’." They had code names for different topics. For example, ‘TOPIC C’ was for gossip about others; ‘TOPIC GYS’ was for Rose and Scorpius during the time when few knew about their relationship; ‘TOPIC W’ was for family; and ‘TOPIC Z’ was for important issues only shared when they were a hundred percent ready, meaning it was a delicate matter.
"I’m listening." Lysander knew that was true.
"We became friends, good friends, in your second year, my fourth year." Lily nodded. "Well, things happened to me before that, things I didn’t feel ready to talk about until now." Lily nodded again. "When I first came to Hogwarts, I was bullied; that’s what they call it in the Muggle world. I was the target for all those people who felt like bothering someone." This was harder to talk about than he thought. "They insulted me, gave me hurtful nicknames, mocked me whether I passed or failed, played cruel pranks on me almost every day, took my things, stole and destroyed my packages and letters, and sometimes locked me in places for hours." Lily looked at him, astonished, but didn’t say a word. "This went on for an entire year—a year in which they stripped away all the self-love I once had—until summer vacation arrived. That summer, I didn’t go to any friend gatherings." Lily nodded, remembering that year, her eyes welling up with tears. "During that vacation, my self-esteem and will to live were at rock bottom. I questioned whether I was enough, whether I deserved to live, whether I deserved to be loved, to have friends. I questioned whether I deserved all the harm they did to me at Hogwarts. I questioned whether I should continue living." Lysander recounted with teary eyes, while Lily silently cried, never letting go of her boyfriend’s hand. "Lorcan discovered what I was going through. I had been very good at hiding my pain from my family, but not from him. He found out... He found out on the day I felt I couldn’t take it anymore, the day I wanted to leave this world. He saved me; he helped me get back on my feet." Lily cried silently, listening intently. "He never told anyone, respected that I didn’t want to share it. He never left me alone, not until it was clear that I was okay. That was in my fourth year, when you became my friend. You never knew, but you pulled me out of my own hell." Lily hugged him and cried on his shoulder.
"When did it stop... the... the bullying?" Lily asked, still hugging him, crying.
"It didn’t stop. I just learned to defend myself, and people stopped messing with me." Lily pulled back, her face red and eyes puffy from crying.
"Thank you for telling me." Lysander smiled and wiped her face. He hadn’t cried; it had been a long time since he last did. They stayed in silence for a few minutes. "Promise me that if you ever
feel bad again, you’ll tell me."
"I promise." And he meant it. "I promise," they were wrapped in a comfortable silence, broken by Lysander.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Lysander asked. Lily looked at him and shook her head.
"It's a 'TOPIC C' mixed with a 'TOPIC W,' and I'm not allowed to talk about it, but I'm worried about them. I don't know how to tell them everything will be okay, and how complicated it’s going to be when we’re back in our time is beyond explanation." Lysander didn’t understand what she was referring to, but he knew that even if he asked, Lily wouldn’t tell him; she was good at keeping secrets.
"It's okay if you can't tell me. Come on, I'm hungry." He gave her a small kiss on the lips, and they headed to the Great Hall, each sitting at their respective table.
"I told her," was all Lysander said to his parents during the meal at the Ravenclaw table.