An Interesting Holiday. “You’re sure your mother will be all right with this?”
“Yes I’m sure, I asked her myself.” Lily relaxed into the chair with her lie as the hairdresser began to pin up her brown hair. “Besides, I’m thirteen, I can do whatever I please.”
“Doesn’t matter how old you are, no one’s ever allowed to do whatever they want,” said the hairdresser as she began snipping away.
Lily contemplated the witch’s words. Even if that were true she wasn’t going to let that stop her.
“Anyway, s’long as you got the money it don’t matter to me. I should say, though, wizards aren’t attracted by short-haired witches, innit.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Hang them.” She thought of the wizards in her life. “All I need is my best mate and he won’t turn on me just because of my hair.”
“You think he won’t, but if he’s a pure-blood, they’re a shallow and cut-throat lot, they are.”
“Not Jozua,” said Lily confidently, watching as the longer pieces of hair began falling to the floor.
“It’s your life, honey, innit,” murmured the hairdresser, snipping shorter and shorter.
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When Lily returned home, she knew exactly what was going to happen. Mum would shriek something inexplicable whilst her father would look highly uncomfortable and ask her why she’d done it. Jack would tell her she was not a wizard and why did she fancy herself to be one? And Lily would go into her room whilst her family threw a fit and admire her new haircut in the mirror.
It happened exactly that way.
At dinner, Cassie kept shaking her head. “Why did you do it, Lily? You had such beautiful hair.”
“It wasn’t beautiful and you know it, Mum,” replied Lily. She thought of Charlotte’s long, golden locks that hardly ever tangled. “I hated it so long, I hated it even at my chin. I love the way it is now.”
“But doesn’t get your neck get cold? And for mercy’s sake, can’t you at least wear clothing that’s more feminine?”
Lily sighed loudly.
“Watch the attitude, Lily,” warned Henry, and Lily, who adored her father, kept her facial expression dull as she silently finished her meal.
Early the next afternoon, Lily rode the underground until she got scared she was going too far. She wandered around until she found a nice park and came to see that she was in East London, an area her mum would never venture out to on her own. It was strange here without magic, but she liked the bustle of adolescents getting their morning exercise even in this chilly weather. It was gloomy out, a typical winter day in London, but she would rather be outdoors right now than trapped inside with her mother.
A few lads her age were playing a game in a field that involved kicking a ball aggressively in one direction and the other, but she didn’t quite understand what the point was. There weren’t any hoops to throw it into, only marked ends that she guessed symbolised where the pitch began and ended. Lily walked over and stood near with her hands in her pockets until one of the boys spotted her and waved.
Lily looked around, but upon realising she was the only one watching them, nervously walked over to join them. The boy kicked the ball to her as she walked over. “Want to play?” he said when she was close.
“I don’t know how,” she replied honestly, her breath frosty in the air. She kicked the ball the couple metres back to the sandy-haired boy. He had a handsome face and was tall for his age. It might’ve been the sun peeking through one of the grey clouds, but she could have sworn his brown eyes had a sparkle to them.
One of the smaller boys laughed. “A lad who doesn’t know how to play football? Didn’t your mum let you play in school?”
“Must’ve been sickly,” joined another with glasses.
“That’s it, I was sickly,” she lied, not correcting their other assumption. “Mum didn’t let me get out much and in boarding school no one really had the time to play football, being so strict and all.”
“Your boarding school sounds awful,” said one of the boys, and Lily nodded. The other boys looked at each other.
“We can teach you, yeah?” The handsome boy nudged the ball back to her with his foot. “What’s your name?”
“Liam.” The lie slipped out before she could stop it, but Lily knew they wouldn’t have invited her to play if they hadn’t thought she was a boy.
“Nice to meet you, Liam. I’m Geoff, and that’s Tom, Edgar, Alex and Peter.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Lily, nodding at the boys in turn. They all looked disinterested in her; that was a good sign, she supposed, if she was going to pose as one of them.
“All right, Liam,” said Geoff, “let me show you how to dribble. Give it here.”
“Aw, I thought we were here to play, not to teach some rich kid how to kick,” moaned Edgar, the boy with glasses. Lily glared at him.
“C’mon mates, I’ve got another ball,” piped up Peter. “We’ll leave Geoff with his new friend.”
“You sure you don’t want to play?” asked Alex as the others drifted away.
Geoff shook his head. “I’ll join next time. You’ll have an even team now anyway.”
“All right.” Alex turned and went to join the others.
“It’s fine, mate, you should join them. I’m fine watching, if you don’t mind it,” said Lily quickly.
“It’s not every day I get to teach a squirt how to play football,” said Geoff. He smiled, revealing pearly whites, and Lily felt an unnatural flutter in her stomach. “Just curious,” he continued, “but what did you and your mates play if not football?”
“Basketball,” she said quickly, “but it wasn’t often. It’s a very academically-focused school.” It was the only non-magical sport she knew of because it held similar attributes to Quidditch. Geoff looked sorry for her.
“Must be one of those uppity-ones, innit. Can’t imagine what that must be like. Anyway, let’s get this going, shall we?”
Lily liked him already, but she could tell it wasn’t the same way she liked Jozua or her brothers. She just didn’t know what that fluttering meant, or if it was supposed to mean anything at all.
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The front door slammed behind Lily as she raced up the stairs to her bedroom, cheeks flushed from the run home from the station. She whipped out a blank sheet of parchment and furiously began scribbling down her words.
Adam,
I did the stupidest thing today. I told these Muggle boys that I was a boy named Liam. A bloody boy. What could have possessed me to do such a thing? I feel so stupid. How can I ever see them again and properly tell them who I really am? Should I just keep on with the facade? Oh Merlin, Adam, what do I do? I really like these boys, they’re a nice group to play with, but if they find out I’m a girl they’ll shun me, I know it. Why did I have to do something so bloody stupid? Also, I cut my hair so it’s no wonder why they mistook me as one of them. You’ll go mental when you see it, I’m certain.
Lily paused in order to catch her breath, still not fully recovered. Football was loads of fun, and all the boys had been really nice even though she was terrible at first. She’d picked it up quick, though, and even annoying Edgar had been impressed. Then Geoff had said, “See you tomorrow, Liam,” as if she was now included in their group. It was a dream come true, being one of the boys, but these were Muggles and boys who clearly believed she was a boy too. How was she going to keep it up?
“What have I gotten myself into?” moaned Lily. She flopped onto her bed spread-eagle. Geoff’s smile played through her mind again and Lily found she rather liked thinking of his face. It made her feel warm inside.