Lily Potter was a lot of things. She was the baby with flaming red hair. She was the toddler who was always thoughtful around her Uncle George, as if she could sense loss when he was close. She was the five year old who stumbled upon a broomstick in the garden shed and flew it as if she'd been doing it for years. She was the girl who, at the age of seven, picked up a strand of grass from her garden and floated it into the air with the palm of her hand, before transfiguring into a mouse easily. She was the eleven year old sorted into Gryffindor. She was the twelve year old girl who could fly better than her parents put together. She was the girl who could sense things, and knew more secrets than anybody at Hogwarts. She was the weird one, but the one people admired. She was a mystery. She was the girl an awful lot of boys dreamt about. She was the intelligent one, the funny one, the one nobody could put into words. She was the teenager who had always hated January.

The grounds were cold, the wind harsh. The courtyard was a grey blur as Lily walked lightly through the oak front doors. She ran a hand through her hair and strolled into the Great Hall, a small frown on her face.

"Sup, Lily?" An amused voice asked from behind her.

"I detest January." She replied, not needing to turn around to tell who it was that had spoken.

"Why's that?" Lysander smiled, moving a strand of hair from his eyes. He had white blond hair with beads entwined into it and his eyes were a shade of warm brown. His skin was relatively pale and perfect – there were not so much as a freckle scattered across his nose.

"Look at the weather." She waved towards the ceiling and he smiled.

"Fair enough."

Just as she was about to turn away from the Ravenclaw table, her world suddenly plunged into darkness. She felt a pair of hands over her eyes and a familiar voice saying "Guess who?"

His breath was warm on her neck and she turned into him, forcing him to drop his arms or risk having them broken.

"Oh, you're no fun." He sighed, and then winked "So...How's January treating you?"

Lorcan Lovegood was the exact opposite of his twin brother. For starters, he liked being called Lovegood, as opposed to Scamander. Lily had asked him why once and he'd said it was more interesting. He had messy chocolate brown hair and wore bangles on his wrist. His skin was a few shades darker with freckles across his nose. His eyes were silvery blue instead of brown and his smle was more mischievous. He donned a scarlet and gold tie, while his brother wore a blue and silver one around his neck. He was also a few centimetres taller, forcing Lily to look up him. He greatly resembled some kind of gipsy.

"Terrible, and you?" She replied, walking over to the Gryffindor table and sitting down. Lorcan straddled the bench beside her and smiled.

"Do I look like a guy who's had a bad month?"

"You never look like you've had a bad month." She said simply "You're an idiot."

"No, I'm just cheerful."

"Idiot."

"It's Valentine's day soon, Potter. You know what that means, don't you?"

"I sincerely hope it doesn't mean you're going to ask me out."

He grinned "You'd love that."

"Can't think of anything worse."

"Oh, come on," He chuckled "You've been out with Slytherin's."

She smirked "Exactly."

He grabbed an apple and jumped up "See you later, Lily."

"Good bye Lorcan," Lily said, before watching him leave and letting a small smile creep onto her face. There was something about him that was different, something that stopped her form reading him like she did everybody else, something that made him special...something that interested her.

X

"Who's he taking to Hogsmeade?"

"Who's he spoken too this week?"

"Has he said anything to his brother? Lysander's in your Potions, isn't he?"

"Do you think he's romantic?"

The fourteenth of February rolled around quickly, bringing with it a lot of nudges and glances whenever Lorcan Lovegood appeared around a corner. He was barely fifteen and had ninety percent of Hogwarts' female population after him.

"So...who is the famous Lorcan Lovegood sharing Valentine's day with?" A soft voice asked in Lily's ear that particular Saturday morning.

"How would I know?" she replied, as Rose fell into step beside her.

"You know everything." Rose said easily "So?"

"Well," She paused as they turned a corner "I don't think he's taking anybody, actually."

Rose raised an eyebrow and then sniggered as two second years gawped at the two girls and walked straight into a stone pillar.

"Do your jeans have to be quite so tight?" Lily smirked "You're causing disruption."

She chuckled "If you've got it flaunt it, Potter. Besides, yours aren't much better."

"You're also wearing a t-shirt that seems to be doing incredible things to your boobs..." Lily glanced her up and down "How is Scorpius?"

Rose's eyes widened for a minute and then shook her head "Merlin, you're good."

"Yes, yes I am."

"Want to walk down to Hogsmeade with me? I'm meeting him at eleven." She pulled a jacket on.

"Sure. Does Al know, yet?"

"About me and Scorpius?" She laughed "He knows I'm sleeping with somebody, he's just unclear who it is."

Lily smiled "It's only a matter of time."

"Yes, and if he asks we're working on a project, kay?"

She laughed "Whatever."

"What's it like to be such a smart arse?"

"Oh it's super." Lily replied as they walked through the castle gates.

The walk was short and cold, the warm atmosphere of the three broomsticks a welcome relief. Scorpius was sat behind a pillar, slightly out of view. He caught Lily's eye and grinned.

"Hey." He smiled. "Me and Rose are doing-"

Rose rolled her eyes, sitting opposite him and sighing "She knows."

"How? We were-"

"Don't even go there." Rose waved her arm and Lily laughed.

"Bye guys."

"Are you meeting somebody?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, I'll find someone around...see you later."

She wandered off into the crowd, intending on finding Lucy or Roxanne, but instead felt a sharp tug on her wrist and was pulled onto a seat beside no other than Lorcan Lovegood.

"Oh, hello." She said calmly "Date not showed?"

He raised an eyebrow "You're here aren't you?"

She laughed "No chance."

"Oh, go on." He grinned "One drink?"

She glanced from him to the four Ravenclaws staring at their table and smiled "One drink."

As the morning settled into the afternoon, the pub was filled with teenage girls desperate to see with their own eyes what their friend's had told them – that Lorcan Lovegood was on a date with Lily Potter.

"You're a moron." Lily laughed, as Lorcan chuckled, leaning back on his seat.

"Deadly serious." He smirked "I didn't know they were sisters. Thought they were one girl."

"But you're a twin!"

"So?"

"Can you not sense when other twins are around?"

He laughed "I'm the moron?"

"Yes."She emptied her glass and Lorcan held out his hand.

"Come on, let's go for a walk."

She took his hand and they walked down the main hill together, their backs to the wind.

"Are those third years still following us?" He asked, running a hand through his hair. It stood up add odd angles, glinting in frost that covered the shops.

"Yeah." she answered, seeing their reflections in Honeydukes' window.

"Great." He grinned and then, before she could do anything, he nudged her down an alley and pushed her gently against the stone wall.

"Are they still looking?" He muttered, his eyes not moving from hers.

"Well actually, they're staring. They think we're kissing."

"Oh good." He said happily.

She grinned "You're doing this on purpose?"

"Of course I am – I never end a date without kissing a girl."

She raised an eyebrow "But we're not kissing."

"I figured your Dad would have something to say about that, Potter." He smirked, moving one hand onto her hip.

She placed a hand on his chest "Do you really think I'd tell him?"

He raised an eyebrow and then moved towards her but she danced out of the way, ducking under his arm and walking down the alley "Really?" She turned around "You thought I'd be that easy?"

He watched with admiration as she winked and began to walk up the path to school. He realised, somehow, that people were watching, but he didn't really care.

Lily walked back up to Hogwarts, smiling to herself. She'd had a good day, an interesting one. She rolled the sleeves of her jumper up as the sun escaped from the cover of clouds it had been under for the past two months. Her long red hair fell over her shoulders, moving slightly in the breeze.

She crossed the bridge and made her way across the courtyard, before feeling herself spin suddenly into somebody's arms. She felt nothing for a moment but one hand at her waist, the other on the back of her neck and a pair of curious lips against her own. She kissed back for a few seconds, before pulling away and smiling at the boy in front of her.

"You should know that I have no interest n having a boyfriend."

Lorcan smiled, kissing her once more "Good, because I have no interest in having a girl friend."

And so it began.

X