Chapter 11
Dinner in the Great Hall passed quietly. Teddy chatted with Zack, who didn’t seem to have anyone else to talk to besides Teddy.
James, Fred II, Lorcan, Fred, and George were discussing the most effective ways to prank without getting caught.
Scorpius and Albus were talking about everything that had happened that day—so many things for just one day, it didn’t seem real.
Victoire and Ginny were chatting animatedly, each explaining what they hoped for their future, their dreams and goals. They had completely different dreams and goals, which made the conversation even more enjoyable.
Ron and Hermione were arguing, who knows about what, while Harry watched the scene amusedly and occasionally intervened, making the argument even worse.
Lysander was lost in his own thoughts, as he often was.
Alice was chatting animatedly with her father and was surprised when he brought up the topic of her and Albus. Rose was chatting with the two girls she had met, Emma and Lisa; they seemed like nice people.
Lily was trying to be part of the conversation her cousin and new friends—could she call them that?—were having, but her mind kept drifting away, wrapping itself in her own thoughts. Now she understood how Lysander could disconnect so much sometimes.
“Lily, earth to Lily,” Rose said, waving her hand in front of Lily's face, making her snap back to reality.
“Huh? Sorry, what happened?” The three girls laughed, drawing curious glances from some people.
“Nothing, Lily, we’re leaving. Are you coming?” Rose explained, still laughing.
“Mm, yes, yes.” She stood up, and the four of them started walking out of the Great Hall. “Will you wait for me a second?” The three nodded, and Lily ran over to the Ravenclaw table, sitting next to her boyfriend. “You know where to find me, anytime, anywhere.” Lysander smiled. It was a tradition they had; the first to leave for their common room would go to the other and say these exact words. This time, they held even more meaning; this time, Lily was sure she would keep her promise, no matter what.
“Anywhere, anytime. Goodnight, Lil’s,” Lysander replied in a low tone, just loud enough for Lily to hear.
“Goodnight.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and hurried back to where her friends were—were they her friends? She would find out tonight.
“Ohhh, how sweet,” Rose teased her cousin.
“Shut up,” Lily playfully punched her in the shoulder.
“Are you two dating?” Emma asked, trying to sound disinterested. She failed; she was very curious, to say the least.
“Uh-huh, and I think it’s no secret after last night’s introductions.”
“Uh, sorry, we weren’t at last night’s introductions. We arrived this morning, which is why we were placed in the same room as you,” Lisa explained.
They walked to the Gryffindor common room, and after Lily and Rose said goodbye to their relatives and introduced Lisa and Emma to some of them, they headed to their room.
“No sleep tonight!” Emma was by far the most excited.
“Emma, we have classes tomorrow,” Lisa scolded, while Rose and Lily laughed. It was going to be a fun night.
“They may look the same on the outside, but I doubt they’re the same on the inside,” the twins agreed, and the four of them changed into their pajamas. Rose and Lily had to borrow clothes from the twins.
They sat in the center of the room, and Rose cast a spell to keep them warm, even though it was autumn and the cold was beginning to make itself known.
“We’re going to do this Muggle-style, but with a bit of magic,” Emma said, pulling out her wand and conjuring a bowl filled with papers. “Whoever has to answer will pick a paper from the bowl, and on that paper will be a question. Here’s the twist—the question on the paper will change depending on who picks it,” Emma explained the game before letting Lisa explain the technical part.
“The questions will change depending on the core color of the paper you get. If it’s red, the question will be personal. If the core is yellow, the question will be about basic facts like your age or birthday. If it’s purple, that person can ask anything they want to anyone playing. And finally, there’s one black-core paper, and that’s for a dare,” Rose and Lily were amazed by the game’s setup. They definitely needed to learn how to make it.
“Did you two create this game?”
“Yes, it took several months, but we’re proud of it,” Emma replied, placing the bowl of papers on the floor. “Let’s start!” she exclaimed excitedly, drawing a paper from the bowl. Once it touched her hand, it turned yellow. She opened the paper and read, “Full name and age.” “Emma Lint, 15 years old.” The paper turned white again. Lisa quickly reached out and drew a paper, and it turned red. “Do you have a boyfriend?” Lisa blushed bright red while Emma looked at her expectantly. “No.” The paper remained red.
“You’re lying. The paper didn’t turn white. Who is it?” Emma pressed her sister.
“I don’t have to say anything. That’s what I like about this game—you don’t have to explain yourself,” Lisa defended herself.
“We’ll see about that,” Lili said, stretching out her hand and grabbing a paper. It turned purple. “This is going to be good. Who’s your boyfriend, Lisa?” Lisa turned red, and Emma laughed.
“Zack from Hufflepuff.” Rose and Lily didn’t react—they didn’t know who he was.
“ZACK?!” Emma jumped on her sister, shaking her. “Zack, our best friend since forever?” Lisa nodded. “Zack, who’s two years older? That Zack?” Lisa nodded.
“Yes, yes, that Zack, but shut up. No one knows, and no one should know.” Emma backed off from her sister, a little more composed now.
“He’s two years older,” Emma exclaimed, perhaps not as composed as she seemed.
“HEY, my boyfriend is two years older,” Lili jumped in to defend Lisa.
“Fine, fine, but I’m going to have a little chat with that guy,” Emma finally calmed down, and Lisa laughed nervously. “I’m happy for you two,” Emma added, showing how quickly her mood could change.
Rose extended her hand and drew a paper. It turned red. “Have you ever had a pregnancy scare?” Rose’s eyes widened. “No, no,” she said, but the paper stayed red.
“ROSE!” Lily shouted at her cousin. “LIAR!” Rose wished someone would just end her misery right there.
“I’m not lying; it’s never happened,” Rose insisted, determined not to lose her dignity so easily.
“ROSE, the paper will stay red until you tell the truth,” Lisa teased with a grin.
“It must be broken,” Emma said, snatching the paper from Rose’s hand.
“YES, I did,” the paper turned white in Emma’s hand before turning red again when she handed it back to Rose. “It’s not broken,” Rose blushed deeply.
“Okay, fine. Yes,” the paper turned white, and Lily laughed.
“WHEN?” Lily asked between giggles, grateful to these girls and the little papers. She’d never have a better opportunity to tease her cousin.
“I’m not answering that, and shut up,” Rose snapped, not too gently hitting her cousin. “Next, I hate this game.” Emma stretched out her arm and drew a paper. It turned red. “Something no one knows about you?”
“I love to read,” Lisa’s eyes widened. “Don’t say anything, Lisa. I have a reputation to uphold,” Emma winked, and they all laughed.
They continued playing the game for a long time, answering questions and laughing at the responses and reactions. It felt like they had been friends forever. By the end of the night, they knew as much—or more—about each other as best friends would. Those little papers were their undoing.
From Emma, they learned that she was a super fun and funny girl with a big heart, a friend to everyone. She was 15 years old and had a boyfriend no one knew about—well, until tonight—whom she had been dating for a year and a half, which surprised Lisa a lot. Maybe they didn’t know each other as well as they thought. They also found out that Emma was very smart but preferred not to show it.
Through all the questions Lisa answered, they discovered that she was a shy girl but could become the craziest and most fun person when you got to know her. She had an answer for everything they asked, had been dating a boy named Zack for a few months, had never had her first kiss, and loved magic with all her heart.
They also learned things about both sisters, like how they hated each other for a long time but eventually got along so well that they became best friends. Their parents supported their magical studies but were never very present in their lives. This Zack was practically part of their family, spending every vacation with them. Lisa blushed when they explained this last part, and they mentioned that their father forbade them from dating boys, which is why they kept it a secret.
Lili shared a lot about herself and her family—things she never would have told someone she had just met, but these girls inspired confidence in her. It was clear they didn’t care at all who her father was or what her last name was. They found her interesting just for being herself.
She told them that people always sought her out when they needed someone to talk to. She explained that she loved that people trusted her, but she also needed that trust to be mutual. She needed to be able to talk to someone and know that no one else would find out—someone who wasn’t her family. She said she loved her family more than anything in the world. She shared—though she hesitated a lot before doing so—that after a long time, she had allowed herself to cry today and not be strong. For the first time in a long time, she felt she wasn’t being strong, but she was okay with that—it was okay not to be strong all the time.
Lili talked the most, not because she wanted to be the center of attention, but because every time she picked a paper, it turned red, forcing her to answer personal questions. These papers seemed to analyze her and ask about the things she least wanted to talk about.
Rose always got yellow papers—easy questions. Everyone was mockingly angry at her for her luck, and every time they got a purple paper, they would ask her the question.
Rose had to share things like her birthday, her favorite family member (Albus, of course), her favorite day of the week, her favorite color, and even things like her first kiss and who it was with—a Ravenclaw boy in her second year. Her relationship with Scorpius also came up. Some questions were too personal; Lili asked those. Rose’s biggest fear? Spiders and failing.
Eventually, they stopped paying much attention to the papers, and whenever someone answered something, they would expand on the topic, ending up talking about anything and everything, always laughing. They were having a great time, even though sometimes they talked about deep, serious, and even occasionally sad feelings—they always ended up laughing.
They spent several hours talking, laughing, and listening. None of them had noticed the time until then.
“Girls, it’s 3:00 AM,” they all stopped laughing when they heard this. “Getting up tomorrow… today is going to be rough,” they laughed one last time, and each went to their bed, each with different thoughts.
Emma wondered if she would regret telling Lily and Rose all those things about herself—two girls she had just met. She had never let anyone other than her family and Zack—sometimes not even her family—see her true personality. She regretted it to some extent but was also happy to have made new friends. Were they friends?
Rose thought about her brother—the one topic she and Lili hadn’t touched on. It wasn’t her secret to share. She hadn’t been able to talk to her brother yet; she had planned to do so after talking with her parents, but then Scorpius showed up, and she forgot.
Then her thoughts returned to the events of that night. A smile appeared on her face. She felt safe with those girls, confident they wouldn’t betray her—something Rose didn’t often feel. She thought she had made new friends, but then she wondered if she would forget them. Another thought crossed her mind. Were they friends?
Lisa was thinking about Zack and nothing but Zack. What did they expect? She was in love. She also thought about how she had told her sister and two girls she had just met about her secret relationship. If anyone found out, it would be chaos—her parents would kill her. Tomorrow, she would talk to her sister and new friends to make sure they didn’t say anything. She stopped her thoughts. Were they friends?
Lily tried to stop thinking, wanting to give her brain a break, but she couldn't. Too much had happened in just one day for her mind to let her rest. First, she thought about Hugo and Louis and her Aunt Fleur, then about Teddy. She had finally met his parents, and tomorrow she would need to talk to him. Her thoughts then drifted to the words her boyfriend had said a few hours ago, "I was bullied," and then to the dinner in the Great Hall, "Anywhere, anytime," and finally to the conversation that had just ended. Her mind couldn't help but wonder if she had done the right thing in sharing her feelings, something Lily didn't do with just anyone. She had done it on a gut feeling that these girls were good and trustworthy. But were they friends?
"It's late to ask this, but can we trust you? Are we friends?" Emma broke the silence, voicing the question that had been on all their minds.
"Yes, you can. Can we trust you?" Lily sat up in her bed, knowing it was too late to ask. They had already shared everything—or almost everything—about each other.
"Yes, you can," Emma replied.
"So, are we friends?" Lisa asked hesitantly.
"I think so, a friendship with a deadline—two weeks, and then it's all forgotten," Rose joined the conversation.
"A friendship with a deadline, that sounds fun. I'm in," Emma looked at the others, waiting for their answers.
"Me too," the three replied in unison.
A new friendship had been formed, one with a short expiration date, but a friendship nonetheless, and a strong one at that.