The courtyard was bathed in honey-gold light, the kind that made even Hogwarts' drabbest stones look like they'd been dipped in butterbeer. Odd comparison, Illuna thought
She spotted them before they saw her—Lily and Severus, they had claimed their usual spot beneath the gnarled oak, its roots knuckling up through the grass like an old man's fists. Severus sat beside her, his posture rigid, as if someone had Transfigured his spine into a broomstick.
Lily laughed at something he said, a soft, real kind of laugh. Severus didn't smile, not exactly, but there was a flicker of satisfaction behind his expression, like a painting lit from within.
Illuna slowed, hovering a few steps away.
Should she really disturb them?
Something about the picture they made felt complete in its own quiet way. As if she were peering in through a window at a moment not meant for her.
"Stop hovering and come over already," Severus snapped without looking at her.
She blinked. Her first instinct was to bristle—but then again, that was just how he spoke. Short. Flat. Like every word was a math problem he didn't want to solve. It wasn't personal. Probably.
She approached, sitting next to lily, folding her hands neatly in her lap. The grass prickled through her tights. Why do they even make school uniforms so impractical? Do wizards think discomfort builds character.
"There you are!" Lily said, turning to her with a warm smile. "we where beginning to think you ditched us!"
"I wouldn't ," Illuna replied. "just held up a bit."
Severus raised a single brow "with what exactly" he crossed his arms
As if answering her question midnight popped up from under her legs with a soft marrow.
Illuna petted him before he was off, jumping after a butterfly "figured he should have some time outside. "
Lily smiled and Severus nodded.
"We were going to go over Transfiguration theory," Lily offered. "Sort of a review. We didn't get to practice much, and McGonagall was really strict about not doing any magic outside of class."
"That's because she's seen too many first-years accidentally hex their eyebrows off," Severus muttered.
He glanced at her notes. 'How far did you get?' The question came out more like an accusation than curiosity.
"halfway, it's much harder then originally anticipated."
"Still better than nothing," Lily offered gently. "You're close."
"I know." Illuna glanced up, her tone soft but composed.
There was a beat of silence, the kind where Lily might have said more—but didn't. Instead, she nodded slowly, accepting the answer for what it was.
Severus shifted his weight. "Charms was a waste. Flitwick made me demonstrate the Hover Charm three times in a row, then gave Avery a point for lifting a button off the floor."
"Because he said 'please,'" Lily said, amused. "Flitwick likes manners."
"Hmph."
"Herbology was better," Lily continued. "We had that weird green pod that hissed when you squeezed it. Professor Sprout said Severus had 'a gentle touch.'"
Severus rolled his eyes, but Illuna noticed the edge of his mouth twitch again.
They pulled out their notes, not to practice spells—they all remembered the rule—but to compare theory. The three of them sprawled across the prickly grass like an odd little constellation. Lily, with her quick insights. Severus, with his precise corrections. And Illuna, weaving threads between ideas like she was mending something invisible.
The sun dipped low, stretching the oak tree's shadow like taffy across the cobblestones. Illuna watched a leaf tumble into her inkwell – its edges curling like old parchment as it drowned. Their notes lay scattered, every diagram and calculation hitting the same impossible wall.
Lily exhaled through her nose, blowing a loose strand of hair off her forehead. Her eyebrows knitted together in frustration, green eyes flicking between their failed equations. "There's got to be something we're missing," she muttered, tapping her quill against the parchment hard enough to leave tiny ink splatters like a trail of frustrated ants.
Severus sat motionless, his sallow face half-obscured by shadow. His lips pressed into a thin line, fingers steepled under his chin in a way that made his knuckles stand out like pebbles under skin. The fading light caught the hollows under his eyes, making him look older than his years.
Illuna suddenly straightened, her spine popping audibly. The movement sent her ink bottle wobbling – Lily's hand shot out to steady it just in time. And Illuna apologized softly.
"Lily." Illuna's voice had that particular tone it got when an idea struck her – like she was tasting something unexpected.
Lily's face brightened instantly, her freckled nose scrunching as she grinned. "Yes, flower?" The nickname slipped out automatically, warm as the last rays of sunlight on their shoulders.
Illuna's fingers twitched toward her braid, a nervous habit she'd never admit to. "Do you remember the two Hufflepuff sisters we met in the Great Hall? The ones with the opposite features? "
Lily's expression shifted through three distinct phases in as many seconds: initial blankness, then dawning recognition, finally settling on delighted comprehension. Her eyes widened, mouth forming a perfect 'o' before breaking into a smile that showed slightly crooked canines. "Yes? Why?" She leaned forward eagerly, elbows knocking into Severus's potions book.
Illuna's gaze flicked to the darkening sky, then back to their notes. "We could ask Tessa – the younger sister – to study with us. Her sister could…" She trailed off, suddenly aware of Severus's raised eyebrow. "…provide additional supervision. To ensure we don't make catastrophic errors." Translation to convince McGonagall to let them practice outside classroom.
Lily clapped her hands together, the sound startling a nearby sparrow into flight. "That's brilliant!" Her joy was so palpable it seemed to radiate heat, cheeks flushing pink. "Tessa's always doodling those amazing diagrams in the margins of her notes – maybe she'll see something we're missing!"
Severus's face remained impassive, but the corner of his mouth twitched in what might have been amusement. The shadows made his expression harder to read as he asked, voice drier than the parchment before them, "Do you actually think they'd agree?" His dark eyes flicked between them, lingering on Illuna just a beat too long.
Maybe she hadn't transformed the match. Not fully.
But something else was beginning to take shape.
The first evening star winked into existence above them as silence settled over the trio. Somewhere in the distance, the whomping willow creaked in the gathering dusk.
Lily sprang to her feet with all the contained energy of a released charm, her robes fluttering around her like startled wings. "Right!"
She clapped her hands together, the sound sharp in the quiet courtyard. "Let's head to the Great Hall. Flower can talk to Tessa tomorrow—"
here she shot Illuna a grin that showed her slightly crooked canine "—then we'll head over to McGonagall and…" She trailed off, biting her lower lip before finishing with forced optimism, "Hopefully convince her."
The dying light caught the honeyed strands in Lily's hair as she turned, making her look momentarily gilded. Severus rose with considerably less enthusiasm, his movements precise as a master measuring ingredients. He gathered his books with long fingers that seemed to linger protectively over his battered copy of Advanced Potion-Making before reaching to take Lily's abandoned scroll case.
When his hand brushed against Illuna's half-finished star chart, he paused. Their eyes met—his black as the ink now staining his fingertips, hers the blue of the sky—and something unspoken passed between them. Then, with a minute nod that might have been gratitude or simple acknowledgment, he carefully rolled the parchment and secured it with a frayed ribbon from his pocket.
Illuna found herself staring at that ribbon—once probably green, now faded to the colour of pond scum—wondering absently if it held some significance before catching herself. Sentimental, she chided internally, tucking her quill behind her ear where it promptly tangled in her braid.
"I do hope we aren't late for dinner," Illuna murmured as she extracted the quill, more to herself than the others. The words came out softer than intended, coloured by the evening's quiet.
Midnight jumped on Illuna's shoulder from the tree, surprising her a bit, she looked at him blandly. He was there only because heard about food
Lily, already three paces ahead, spun on her heel with enough force to send her bag swinging dangerously. "Merlin's beard, you're right! The treacle tart vanishes faster than—"
"—Polyjuice in a Slytherin common room?" Severus supplied dryly, hefting Lily's abandoned satchel onto his shoulder with a long-suffering sigh.
Lily's resulting laughter rang like crystal against stone as the trio hurried toward the castle, their shadows stretching long and thin behind them, merging and separating with each step like reluctant dance partners.
The Great Hall bloomed before them, unchanged in its nightly grandeur. Illuna paused at the threshold, struck anew by the enchanted ceiling's celestial display. Tonight it showed a swirling nebula, its colours shifting from deep violet to molten gold—like watching a phoenix rise in slow motion.
The floating candles cast dancing shadows across the house banners as the scent of roasted meats mingled with the ever-present hint of polish on ancient wood.
Beth's familiar crow of "There she is!" snapped Illuna back to earth. She blinked, realizing she'd been standing motionless long enough for Nellie to begin dramatically miming starvation, clutching her stomach while mouthing 'Save us!'
Illuna wound her way through the cacophony of clattering cutlery and overlapping conversations to where her dorm mates sat. Mira had already pushed a heaping plate toward Illuna's customary seat—roast chicken glistening with rosemary glaze, potatoes crisp at the edges, peas tumbling like emerald beads whenever the table jostled.
"Your hero," Mira announced with a flourish, nudging the plate closer. The candlelight caught the laugh lines around her eyes as she added sotto voce, "Also, Beth was about to sacrifice your Yorkshire pudding to… well herself"
Beth gasped in theatrical outrage, nearly upending her goblet. "I was keeping it warm with my body heat!" She demonstrated by hugging the pudding to her chest, earning groans from all sides.
Illuna found herself smiling as she slid into her seat. "My eternal gratitude," she deadpanned, carefully extracting the pudding from Beth's grasp. The ceramic dish was, in fact, suspiciously warm.
Mira smiled, noticing that Illuna seemed more open, she even used sarcasm.
Illuna's gaze drifted unbidden toward the Hufflepuff table. Her fingers tightened around her fork when she spotted Tessa's distinctive riot of red hair bent over what appeared to be—was that a moving sketch of the Giant Squid?
A pea bounced off her forehead. "Earth to Illuna!" Beth sing-songed. "You're dissociating harder than Binns during Goblin Rebellion Week."
Illuna blinked, suddenly aware of three expectant faces waiting for her reaction to some unheard joke. The fork tines left crescent moons in her palm as she forced herself to focus. "My apologies. I was… considering the structural integrity of treacle tart."
The resulting groans and flung napkins were, she decided as she finally took her first bite of chicken, giving half to Midnight who had gotten better in his stealth skill, hiding from McGonagall, worth the lie.
As the laughter died down, Illuna's gaze drifted back to the Hufflepuff table, she was feeling nervous about asking Tessa, but also looking forward to it.