Bling!

Lily's eyes slowly opened. The room was dark and quiet, with just a sliver of moonlight visible from the open window. A small rectangle of light from her phone's screen shone on the ceiling above her. She blinked and let out a yawn. Who was texting her this late?

Turning over in her sheets she lazily reached out and grabbed her phone and glasses from off the night stand. She tiredly fumbled with the glasses as she tried to put them on her head. Squinting as her eyes adjusted to the phone's light, she peered out of her nest in the covers.

1 New Message From: Tristan.

Tristan? A surge of excitement burst in her chest, and she quickly opened the text.

I'm in the garden.

Her stomach dropped. Crap. She'd forgotten it was Thursday.

Throwing off the covers as quietly but quickly as she could, she slid out of bed. She cringed as bare feet met with the cold tile floor. Wiggling her toes a bit to get the blood flowing, she realized how risky this all was.

She was sneaking out to see a boy. In the middle of the night. One she had been forbidden to see again.

She lifted her feet off the floor, hesitant. Did she dare do this? Her eyes slowly drifted down to the phone in her hand. Fingering the edge with a finger, she chewed on her lip.

Her house didn't have any security cameras like Uncle Aaron's. If she was quiet enough, no one would even hear her leave the room.

But... if they did...

Her father would be disappointed. He'd get that sad look on his face if he found out. Mother would be furious.

But in truth she wasn't worried about either of them. They would be sad and they would ground her. She would feel guilty, but all would be well after a while.

But then there was Aunt Paisley. Aunt Paisley would...

Lily shivered.

It didn't matter. She couldn't leave Tristan out there. He'd already risked a lot coming tonight, and he was waiting for her.

She hurried over to the closet and snagged a sweater. She didn't bother changing out of her pajamas. He wouldn't care. She pulled the soft hoodie over her head, and slipped on a pair of slippers.

Opening the door to her room slowly, she peered out into the hallway. All was dark and quiet. Gentle snores came from her parent's bedroom. The guest room- where Aunt Paisley currently resided- was silent.

Lily nervously brought her thumb up to her mouth and bit the end.

But the time for cold feet- pun aside- was past.

Her slippers swishing against the tile, she made her way down the hall, past the kitchen, and to the back door. The house seemed so much bigger at night. Bigger and emptier, with shadows big enough to hide anything... Or anyone...

Lily slid open the sliding glass door.

The stars where brilliant above her. Like bleach stains on a black cloth, the little specks of light seemed close enough to touch. They twinkled merrily, as though all was well in the world.

Those stars saw everything that happened in the dark of night. All the shared secrets, hidden stories... But they never told.

Stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets, Lily snuck through the landscaped shrubbery and bushes that adorned the backyard. Everything was so unfamiliar at night that she kept stumbling around. Hidden amongst the trees near the far end of the property, she spotted a flash of light.

A face, lit up by the light of a cell phone screen.

She couldn't help a smile at the sight of him. Dirty and disheveled from a long day at work, hair hanging down in his eyes, his nose a gentle curve in the dim light.

"Tristan!"

She hissed his name, perhaps a little too loudly- but she was excited.

His head shot up, eyes glinting in the light. His face broadened into a grin.

"Lily," he said, and she ran into his arms.

"I've missed you," she said with a sigh, hugging him tightly. He smelled like dirt and concrete from the construction sight. The earthy smell filled her nose and she smiled into his jacket.

"I wish you still went to school. Then we wouldn't have to sneak out to see each other," Tristan said, pulling away.

"I know," Lily said sadly, staring at the ground. "If it weren't for tyrant Aunt Paisley and this stupid music thing...,"

"Hey," Tristan said, putting a hand to her cheek and tilting her head up to look at him. "It's not stupid. It's amazing."

"You don't have to live with it," Lily grumbled, crossing her arms and pulling her head back. "It's bad enough that my family is magical. I'm the only one in it who can't Perform a single spell!"

Tristan grinned. "You think I care? Yeah your family is a bunch of wizards-"

"Minstrels," Lily corrected, "not wizards, Minstrels."

"Whatever," he said with a chuckle. "you guys do magical spells, therefore you are wizards. Anyway, I don't care about that stuff. I just care about you, even if you are the weird magic-less one."

Lily smiled and leaned up against a nearby tree trunk. It was so nice to be able to joke about this with someone- someone normal, who didn't judge her, who didn't think she needed to Perform to be important in the world.

"Well, if that's so then I must be the squib of the family," she said. "Maybe I'll be a custodian like Filch, running around like a crazy person!"

"Can I be your cat?" Tristan asked.

He laughed out loud at his own joke, and Lily had to shush him, through giggles of her own.

"You have no idea how nice it is to see you again," Tristan said seriously, once the laughter had subsided.

"Oh, I do know," Lily sighed. "You're the only normal person who understands what's going on in my crazy life. It's amazing to be able to confide in you."

"How very sweet." A new voice broke in.

Lily whirled around in shock, her heart skipping a beat.

"Aunt Paisley," she breathed out. The avian-like woman had appeared out of thin air, fully dressed and made up. "You- what're you-"

"I'm not daft, child," the woman said her voice soft and sad." I knew you wouldn't stop this relationship when I told you to. I shouldn't have even let it come to this."

"Aunt Paisley, you don't understand-" Lily tried to say.

"Oh my sweet, I do understand," her Aunt said kindly, hand on her chest. "You like this boy- a lot. You wanted to see him again, even though I forbade it."

"You're taking this awfully well..." Tristan said nervously.

"Oh, I'm not angry," Aunt Paisley said with nod in his direction, "merely upset that my dear niece has disobeyed me, even after all the things I've done for her benefit. Well, no matter. I'll just have to fix all this so it doesn't happen again."

"What do you mean... fix?" Lily asked, heart pounding.

"Oh, it should be no concern of yours sweetheart," the woman said.

She pulled out a tiny wooden flute from her pocket and began to play.

"Wait!" Lily cried, lurching forward to stop her.

But it was too late. The notes had taken their hold. Sickly sweet and fast-paced, the tune caught Lily in the air and froze her in place. Her feet jerked to a stop, and she stayed that way, arms outstretched in the air. The spell had immobilized her.

"So sorry," her Aunt apologized, "I wouldn't want any interference with this next spell." She brought the flute to her lips once again.

"What're you-" Tristan began. But then the notes were played, slow and smooth from the tiny flute. From her vantage point frozen mid-stride, Lily watched him freeze, his eyes glazing over. Then the song ended. With no explanation, no acknowledgment of anything that had just happened, he turned and walked away into the night.

Lily could only watch, horror rising in her throat like bile. What had just happened? What foul curse had her Aunt just Performed on Tristan?

"He now believes you broke up with him tonight, and that you never wish to see him again" Aunt Paisley explained, her sickly sweet voice sympathetic as she returned the flute to her pocket. "He really wasn't too hard to convince to leave, darling. Are you sure he was even that committed to you? Well, either way, now that the distraction has been fully removed from your life, I think that we shall have more time to focus on studies. Don't you agree?"

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