The Hogwarts Express was alive with the music of gossip. Lily Luna Potter, seventh year Slytherin, was perhaps rare amongst those who were not engaged in the murmuring. Her cousins Roxanne - Head Girl and Ravenclaw royalty - and Hugo - Gryffindor heart throb and Quidditch king - occupied her cabin. They were largely quiet, reading or studying or, in Lily's case, revising her timetable for the umpteenth time because no it really would make more sense to take Alchemy, right?

Of course if pressed, she would deny any altering at all. Lily Luna Potter, after all, was smart enough to take all twelve NEWTs didn't you know? and she'd be damned if she didn't rise to the family expectations.

"Guys!" Lucy came bursting into their cabin, flinging the door aside and beaming, slight of breath and glowing. Hugo, startled enough to drop his papers, looked like he'd just been petrified. Lucy giggled an apology, "Sorry, Hugs - Did you hear though?"

"Hear what?" Roxanne asked, leaning forward with a posture that begged for the juicy intel about to be delivered.

Hugo rolled his eyes, "Really, gossip? Come on Luce."

"Listen Hugs, this is important. So you know your godmum Luna, right Lils?"

"Duh," Lily replied, still half focused on her timetable. Bold interruptions hadn't fazed her since she was four. Brothers like James and Albus had effectively desensitized her to things like that.

"Rude. Anyway, so she and her hubby Rolf had these kids but like, never put them in Hogwarts because he like travels and such and Luna's like totally chill about everything - but guess who's coming to Hogwarts to write their NEWTs!"

Roxanne let out a whistle, "The Scamander twins are attending their final year to write their NEWTs? Oh honey they're so fucked. Do they realize that the since the NEWT Assessment and Revision Committee updated their examination standard three years ago that half the content is on material explicitly discussed in classrooms? Like you can't learn that shit from books alone - professors are more updated then the literature provided seventy percent of the time."

Lily always smirked listening to Roxanne speak. For someone as articulate and referenced in her speech as Roxie, the spontaneous cursing always sounded so comical. Intrigued though by their conversation, Lily piped in, "Shouldn't disadvantage them too much though, given they'll be here for the whole year."

"They've missed sixth year. They have no foundation. I say screwed," Hugo weighed in.

"You always did cheer for the underdogs," Lily quipped, nudging him playfully with the toe of her boot.

Roxanne shrugged, "I'm with Hugo one hundred percent."

Lucy rolled her eyes, sighing dramatically with her whole body. "You three are totally missing the point! Okay, maybe not you Hugs - but ladies! The Scamander twins are like total babes. I'm talking Vogue-and-Paris-Fashion-Week level gorgeous. Do you understand? And like, so totally available too." She pursed her lips together as she smiled, clearly infatuated by the idea of romancing one of them. Lily was sure it wouldn't matter which one.

Roxanne fluttered a hand, excitement evident, "The brunette - I'd tap that."

"I know!" Lucy and Roxie shared a squeal.

"How does House sorting work for late transfers?" Hugo wondered, clearly wanting to decrease the estrogen he was experiencing.

Lily laughed lightly, attention trained on her poor male cousin. "Same as us, but in the Headmistress' office. No ceremony. Excuse me," she rose out of her seat and stuffed her folded timetable into her back pocket.

"Lils wait - who would you choose?"

"People aren't steaks Lucy," was her reply.

Lucy and Roxanne shared a look before saying in unison: "The brunette."

Lily rolled her eyes, narrow in mock accusation, "I'll agree if you learn his name," before striding down the train corridor. Anything to get away from the chipper drooling, she smiled to herself.

Her cousins weren't so bad, not really. She was certainly grateful for the times she'd been able to share with them all, given they were in the same year as each other. The Final Round of Weasley's, is what everyone seemed to call them in the early years. Lily had been grouped in with them because of her age, despite being a Potter, despite looking nothing quite like the rest of all of them.

Every cabin she passed by seemed to be comparing the Scamander twins against each other. Students were trying to decide if this was a terrible choice on their behalf, or if having the new students would be a benefit. One cabin was debating whether or not their House should let them try out for the Quidditch team, while another was strongly against the idea that either of the twins could even ride a broom. Lily felt herself heating up just catching all the snippets and that half-buried desire to flee crept up along her spine until she drove her shoulder blindly into a lavatory door to get away from it all.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry!" she apologized, immediately covering her eyes with her hands. She'd mistaken the mens for the ladies and walked in on someone. "I'm so sorry, I'm going, promise."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

The voice was chopped wood and crackling embers, the smell of forest earth and taste of mint. She could physically feel her chest tighten. Still, she kept her hands in place because she didn't need to be seeing anything indecent. Didn't matter what any of the rumours about her depicted. "Thank you. I'll just, I'll be going - thank you, for not saying, anything," she was fumbling for the door, incapable of turning her back on him, fear and something else rising in her throat.

"Allow me,"

"Yes, I'm Lily," she replied, instantly feeling stupid. She rushed to correct herself, "I mean - I thought you said-"

"I'm Lysander," He cut across her hasty embarrassment and she was grateful. "You probably knew that already though. Whole train seems to."

"I'm actually trying to get away from the gossip. It's stressing me out - not to say I'm undermining how uncomfortable you probably are with all the chatting happening, I just mean ... well you know. Been there done that, so over it."

His chuckle had to be the most incredible sound she'd hear her whole life. She'd thought she'd never hear a laugh she loved half as much as her last boyfriend's, Arlo Mynk. God, who knew it could feel good to be wrong about something? "I've never really paid much attention to people's 'chatting'. White noise, really is what I chalk it up to. Still, too much white noise and the soul starts to squirm."

"Boy do I relate to that."

"You can lower your hands if you want. I won't flash you, promise."

"I've got your word have I?" Lily teased, surprising herself with how relaxed she sounded. She dropped her hands to her sides and looked into his face for the first time. Oh dear god. And I thought the Dustin Hopkins rumours were obnoxious.

There was no way she was leaving that lavatory unscathed by every other girl at Hogwarts.