A/N: This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) Forum's Secret Santa! My one-shot is for Book of Hope – I really hope that you enjoy it! I've tried to include as much in it as possible so here goes: it's a Soulmate!AU, there's going to be someone wiping away someone else's tears,your dialogue prompt, Scorpius/Lily Luna, Draco/Astoria, Harry/Ginny, though not focused on Draco/Astoria and Harry/Ginny, they just appear + watch out there's going to be two OFC. It's going to turn into your theme of cute family moments. Happy Christmas, I hope that you have a good one wherever you are to celebrate it!

Just a note: since Lily Luna's birthday is not specified, only that it's between Sept. 2007 and the 31st August 2008, I've taken artistic licence and it's going to be on the 14th of December 2007. In this fic, she's going to be 18, at her last year in Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: None of my work belongs to me, it is solely the property of the one and only J.K. Rowling and any other company which has the copyright of Harry Potter, including Warner Bros. Nothing here belongs to me; all the characters are J.K. Rowling's originally, though any new character not part of the Harry Potter series belongs to me.

Title: Coming of Age

Author: hpjkrowling4ever

Soul Bonding

Yule was Lily's favourite time of year. In her opinion, nothing was more magical than the way that the snow would blanket everything, wiping away all memory of the previous year and creating a fresh canvas to paint on. What was even better was that her birthday had always fallen close to the days of first snow; Lily liked to think that the fresh snow chose to fall on that day every year so that she could be one of the first people to paint on that new canvas.

"Lily! Wake up!" a voice shouted into her ear. Lily identified it as Albus' voice, and decided to see if she could get away with ignoring it. Lily buried her head in her pillow. Fresh snow or no, Lily never woke up early on any day she was at home, especially on her birthday.

"Gerroff, Al. Why're you up so early?" Lily asked blearily, peeling her face away from her pillow when her brother kept shaking her insistently. Albus was sitting beside her, on her bed, with his trademark innocent smile on his face. "Oh, just go away."

"Aw, come on, Lils. It's your birthday," Albus said, lying down next to Lily. "I haven't been home for your birthday since I left Hogwarts!" the twenty-year old exclaimed, looking at his sister. Lily sighed and sat up, running a hand through her hair.

"It's your fault; you were the one who wanted to take that intensive music course in London," Lily said, yawning. Albus still kept looking at her with his bright green eyes, and Lily, because she was a great sister, relented. "I suppose it's nice to have you here, Al." Albus stuck his tongue out at her.

There was a long pause, and then Lily, in an uncharacteristic moment of seriousness, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and offered her brother a half-smile. "I've missed you." Albus, instead of replying, pulled his younger sister into his arms and squeezed her tight.

"Missed you too, Lils. S'not quite the same without you around to bug me," Albus whispered into her ear, and Lily could feel a smile pulling at her lips despite her brother's words.

Albus and Lily had always been very close, and Albus had always woken Lily up on the morning of her birthday, sometimes a bit later than he had just done though. The past two years had been very odd without their little ritual, and Lily relished the return of it.

"Have you felt anything?" Albus asked hesitantly into the comfortable silence which had descended. It was taboo in society to ask such a personal question, but Lily didn't care; Albus was her brother. She turned over her wrist.

"Nothing, yet," she murmured, stroking the skin there gently. There were a few black dots there, which would eventually join up and turn into the name of the person Magic had chosen to be hers: her soulmate, though most of the time they were referred to as a 'bond-mate'. "It doesn't hurt, does it, Al?" she looked up at him, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. Albus pulled her into another strong hug and kissed the top of her head.

After a moment, he pulled away and rubbed at the patterned cuff that adorned his wrist: a recent gift from his soulmate, Serena Campbell, with whom he had gone to Hogwarts. Lily knew that he would have put the cuff their parents had given him in a special place. Albus shook himself, and then smiled.

"No, Lils, it doesn't hurt," Albus answered. "Not one bit. The only times you'll ever feel anything from it are when you touch your wrists together."

Lily took a deep breath and gave a nod; she was much more nervous than she would ever admit, and Albus saw it. He was about to comment when there was an insistent tapping at the window and they both looked over to see a rather regal owl perched on the windowsill. He was staring at them through the glass, seeming to be insulted that neither of them were rushing over.

"Oh Princeps!" Lily exclaimed with a chuckle, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and rushing to open the window. Albus followed her, recognising his friend Scorpius Malfoy's owl.

Albus and Scorpius had both been Sorted into Slytherin and had quickly joined forces, becoming two of the closest friends that Hogwarts had seen since Harry, Ron and Hermione. There had been brief rumours in their fifth year that they were in a relationship, which they had quickly put to rest. When Lily had been Sorted into Gryffindor, she had been devastated; she had always wanted to be with Albus. It had been Scorpius who had sat down with Lily at the end of the Sorting Feast, having recognised her distress, and had comforted her. They had eventually gone up to the Owlery to send a letter to Lily's parents.

Since then, Lily and Scorpius had maintained a correspondence by letter, even at school. In fact, it had become a running joke among the Potter family that Lily sent more letters to Scorpius and Scorpius to her than they did to their respective families. When Scorpius had left Hogwarts for his business apprenticeship, they had maintained their correspondence. They had grown extremely close, and Albus had his suspicions about the name that would appear on Lily's wrist; after all, Scorpius had still remained single while most of their year mates had started courting their soulmates. There was no one, apart from maybe himself and their cousin Hugo that Lily was closer to than Scorpius.

"Al?" Lily's voice broke his musings, and she was staring at her letter in confusion. "Al, can you tell me what he means?"

Albus frowned; Lily was usually much better than he was at deciphering Scorpius' sometimes rather cryptic sentences. He noticed that his sister's hand was shaking when she handed over the parchment, and his eyes briefly shot to her face before returning to the letter.

"Go and get changed, Lils. I'll still be here when you're done," Albus said, to try and stop his sister working herself up. Lily gave him a fleeting smile and started rummaging around her cupboard. Albus turned back to the letter.

Dearest Lily,

Happy Birthday! I'm certain that Albus will already have woken you up, the sod. (Albus gave a reluctant chuckle. Scorpius was always so predictable.) He was so enthusiastic about being there for your birthday that I received endless letters about it. Thank goodness you're now eighteen.

As you can see, I'm delighted that you've reached this milestone date (though you've already been an adult in the Wizarding World for a year) for not altogether altruistic reasons. Hopefully I'll be able to come along later today to say hello. Father has kept me quite busy recently so I'm not sure that I'll be able to make it until late afternoon, my apologies. However, do not doubt the sincerity of my wishes even if I do appear late. You know that Father has never quite approved of our rather unconventional friendship, and my friendship with your older brother. You know which one; I find James quite intolerable. (That makes two of us, Albus thought with a rueful smile.) I'm working on him though. He did allow me to invite Albus over (briefly, your brother was still working on his blasted music) last Easter so I suppose that I'm doing an adequate job.

Now, you also know why today is so important, and I know that you've been very worried about it. But do put your trust into Magic; Magic has never failed you yet. And pull on that Gryffindor bravery that you're supposed to have endless supplies of.

On a more serious note, though, take whoever appears on your wrist seriously. It is likely that you know who they are and have a good relationship with them. You're not homosexual, so you know it's going to be a boy. Magic never chooses someone you don't know, or don't like, or who won't be able to match you intellectually (you're a clever girl despite what Albus – and you – say). So don't think too hard about it, and know that whoever appears on your wrist will be there for you for the rest of your (hopefully) long life. Look at the examples of bonds around you – your parents, cousins, uncles, aunts, brothers – and trust that Magic has yet to make a mistake. It is often humans who think that they can best Magic and bond with someone not meant for them.

Ever yours,

Scorp

Albus looked at the closed door to Lily's bathroom and shook his head in admiration. Scorpius had definitely outdone himself this time round. That whole last paragraph, for anyone with suspicions like Albus did, was a massive hint.

The bathroom door opened and Lily emerged, looking a lot less dishevelled and marginally more awake. She bounded up to him and took back the parchment.

"Well?" she asked expectantly.

"He's given you excellent advice you'd best listen to," Albus answered evenly, then took her by the shoulders and pushed her in the direction of the door. "Come on, Mum and Dad will be dying to see you. James'll be there as well."

Lily rolled her eyes at what she saw as her brother's ineptitude and folded the parchment before tucking it into her breast pocket and walking out the door. At the top of the stairs, she gestured for Albus to go down.

"You know you have to be down there for the tradition to work properly," she said with a wide smile, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Lily had always been the more exuberant of the Potter siblings, a trait that had lasted all her life so far and she didn't seem to want to grow out of any time soon.

Complying, Albus raced downstairs.

Lily watched her brother rush downstairs and struggled to contain her excitement. This would be the first time in a while that both of her brothers with their soulmates, her Uncle and Aunt Ron and Hermione, her cousins Rose (with her soulmate) and Hugo, Teddy and his soulmate Victoire and her parents would all be together. That it was her birthday that had brought them together made it even more special.

"We're ready for you!" yelled a voice which sounded suspiciously like James'.

Lily took a deep breath, and rushed down the stairs. She paused before the kitchen door, and then threw it open dramatically, a beaming smile on her face. As soon as they caught sight of her, Lily's family burst into song, with her Uncle Ron pretending to be the conductor by waving his wand and producing gold sparks.

Lily walked into the kitchen, smiling so widely that her face hurt. She was grabbed from behind by James and twirled in the air at the end of the song. Her family's laughter formed a sort of protective bubble around her, and Lily basked in it.

"You're eighteen!" James cried out, turning her around so that she could hug him as well. "My baby sis is finally eighteen!" James kissed her on both cheeks exaggeratedly, but hugged her tightly to show that he really meant his words.

With a war cry, Albus joined his siblings, so that James and Lily's hug turned into a three-way hug, their heads bent together and all of them cooperating with each other for once. Ginny surreptitiously wiped away a tear and wrapped an arm around Harry's waist. Birthdays were the only days of the year where the Potter siblings cooperated with each other.

"Presents!" Hugo shouted once he felt that the moment had gone on for long enough. The Potter siblings broke apart, but James and Albus kept an arm around their sister's shoulders and led her to her seat at the table, which was surrounded by presents.

Lily slipped into her seat and glanced at everyone looking expectantly at her. For some unknown reason, her heart clenched and she felt slightly teary. Everyone there was there for her; Lily was so loved, and always had been. She looked up at her two brothers and mouthed a quiet 'thank you' to them. Their arms tightened briefly around her shoulders. Despite her closer relationship with Albus, her two brothers had always been equally protective of her. Being the eldest, James saw it as his duty more to protect his younger siblings (and annoy them) rather then be their friend, and had always been happy to spend more time with Teddy.

Teddy also headed over to the collection of siblings and mussed James and Albus' hair and hugged Lily from behind before handing her her first present from the pile, as he had done every year for her birthday. With a grin, Lily tore open the wrapping paper.

"Thanks, Aunt Hermione," she said, when a book was revealed. Lily didn't even have to guess who had given her the present – her Aunt Hermione had always given them something to do with non-fiction for all of their birthdays. Hermione gave her a smile.

"I thought that it would be helpful," she replied. Lily looked down at the discreet title: Soulmates: A True History by Hermione Granger.

"You never told me that you had written a book!" Lily exclaimed, and then looked accusingly at Hugo, who shrugged. Her traditionally introverted cousin was excellent at keeping secrets, but usually told most of them to Lily.

"Mum arranged it so that it would be published around your eighteenth birthday. She's been working on it for ages, and you were the only one of our family whose birthday was remotely close to the pre-arranged release date, so she had decided to give a signed first edition to you," Hugo explained, a small smile on his face. "It's suitable, and you love having information about everything."

Lily slipped out of her seat, and hugged Hermione tightly. Hermione laughed and returned the hug before pushing her back to her presents.

Lily went through Hugo's present (an album of photos of the two of them), Rose's and her soulmate's present (a self-renewing, annual subscription to her favourite magazine, History in the Making), her brothers' present (both of them had pulled together and cooperated to give her a trip to Wizarding Paris), her brothers' soulmates' presents (beautiful, rather expensive, jewelry) and Teddy and Victoire's present (Lily blushed furiously at this one – a book written by a Veela called How to Love) before she realised that there were no other presents on the table. She looked in confusion at her parents.

Harry stepped forwards with a small wrapped gift.

"Come into the sitting room, sweetheart," he said, gesturing to the room just beyond the kitchen. Everyone else seemed to know exactly what was going on, and moved away from the door to make space for Ginny, Harry and Lily.

Still rather bemused, Lily went into the sitting room and turned around to face her parents.

"Dad? Mum? What's this about?" she asked.

In reply, Harry handed her the gift. Lily took it and stared long and hard at it, wondering why on earth it was so important.

"Open it, sweetheart," Ginny encouraged, when all Lily did was stare at it. "We've done this for your brothers, too."

Lily raised a skeptical eyebrow but opened the present. Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw what it was.

It was a beautiful silver cuff with a bouquet of lilies engraved into it. She turned it over in her hand, and then looked inside it. Her eyes filled with tears and she looked up at her father, whose eyes were also suspiciously bright.

"She would have wanted you to wear it, Lily-flower," Harry whispered, coming to stand beside her. The cuff on his arm had a stag, a werewolf, a black dog and a rat (even though she knew the story behind Peter Pettigrew's betrayal) on it – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs – and Lily felt moved beyond anything she had ever felt in her life. She looked at the engraving inside the cuff her father had just given her again.

To my beautiful Lily-flower, from your loving Prongs

Then, below that,

To our darling daughter and beloved sister, from Dad, Mum, Jamie and Al

"Dad," Lily murmured, and she whirled around to bury her face in her father's shoulder, tears choking her. She felt her mother wrap her arms around her from behind, and she let herself treasure this moment.

"We love you, Lily," Ginny whispered, "And even though your soulmate will soon whisk you away from us, we want to make sure that you know that we're still going to be here for you."

"I love you too, Mum," Lily answered, her voice muffled from where it was buried in her father's shirt. "I love you too, Dad."

"We know, flower, we know," Harry replied. He was still tall enough to tuck Lily underneath his chin, and he let the moment go on indefinitely.

Lily pulled away from her parents first, and watched them put their arms around each other's shoulders and look at her proudly.

"We're so, so proud of you, love," Harry said. Lily nodded, too choked up to reply, and then slipped the cuff onto her wrist. It glowed white for a moment, before it adjusted to fit her wrist size.

Lily offered her parents a tearful smile, and then she turned around; time to join the rest of her close family again.

"Father, you know that I can't put it off forever!" Scorpius yelled, knocking over his wineglass. It hit the floor and shattered, but both Malfoy men ignored it. With a sigh, Astoria Greengrass, now Malfoy, waved her wand and the glass repaired itself.

"It's bad enough that you're friends with her brother, now she's your soulmate," Draco Malfoy hissed, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"What's so terrible about Al? Come on, you've got to admit that he was charming when he was here!" Scorpius turned to his mother for help. Astoria sighed again.

"Draco." Astoria shot her husband a Look. "Sit." Draco sat. "Scorp." Astoria shot her son another Look. "Sit." Scorpius sat. "Both of you, be quiet." Draco and Scorpius looked nervously at each other.

"Mother –" Scorpius said, a whine in his voice, at exactly the same time as Draco said:

"Stori –"

"Silence, now!" Astoria hissed, looking much more threatening than the male members of her family.

"Sorry," Draco and Scorpius said at exactly the same time.

"I am utterly fed up with this argument. Draco –" Astoria stood up and rounded on her husband, who swallowed. "You should know better. Get over your stupid schoolyard rivalry with Potter. You've worked with him perfectly well on numerous cases involving the Malfoy name. Grow. Up." Draco nodded sheepishly, knowing better than to argue with his wife when she was in one of these moods. He had learnt from long experience, and more than twenty years of marriage, to pick his battles.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!" Astoria then rounded on her son, who sat up, his back ramrod straight. "Why are you still sitting here? According to that clock, it's going on four o'clock and you still haven't left to talk to the girl!"

"I want Father's blessing, Mother. Is that too much to ask?" Scorpius asked, suddenly looking very vulnerable, and in that moment, he reminded Draco very much of himself, looking pleadingly at his father and trying desperately to get his approval.

Draco had done his very best to be the complete opposite to what his father had ever been, and looking at his son, he realised, with a horrific shock, that he had behaved exactly as his father had: he had entrenched himself in a position, and pained his only child, his son, by refusing to properly acknowledge his friendship.

"Scorp –" Draco looked desperately at Astoria, who looked rather sad, but also a bit pleased that her husband had finally worked it out. "Oh, Scorp." Draco stood up and went to kneel beside his son on the floor, despite his expensive robes. He pulled an unresisting Scorpius into a hug. Scorpius and Draco didn't really do physical affection, but Draco felt that the situation rather called for it.

"Please, Father," Scorpius murmured into Draco's shoulder. Astoria came to sit beside Scorpius on the sofa, and rubbed a hand up and down her son's back. She looked sternly at Draco.

"Scorpius, I was never going to stop you from being with your soulmate," he answered.

"I know," Scorpius mumbled, "But you never approved."

"You always aim high, don't you, Scorp?" Draco chuckled, and his hand joined Astoria's in rubbing his son's back.

"You're my father; of course I want your approval," Scorpius answered, his voice slightly petulant.

"Scorp, I was always going to find it difficult to accept your friendship with the Potter boy," Draco said, pulling away so that he could look Scorpius in the eye.

"But?" Scorpius looked hopeful.

"But anyone who can make you smile the way that the Potter girl's letters make you smile deserves a chance," Draco conceded. Scorpius' face broke into a brilliant smile, and Draco regretted never having said those words. With a groan, he pushed himself up onto his feet."Off you go, now," Astoria ordered. With another wide smile, Scorpius bounded out of the room, his good spirits restored.

"Well done, I know that was difficult," Astoria wrapped her arms around Draco's waist from behind. "Difficult, but not impossible."

Draco huffed, but a smile tugged at his lips and he turned around in his wife's arms to drop a kiss on Astoria's head.

Lily had been waiting by the Floo for a good half hour. She had been mulling over Scorpius' letter on and off since breakfast, and was almost buzzing with anticipation. The Potter Family was going to be leaving in about an hour and a half to go to the Burrow, where Lily's family and friends were going to be for the big celebration of her birthday.

The one person that Lily desperately wanted to see, though, was Scorpius.

The Floo flared bright green suddenly and Scorpius stepped through, tripping on their grate. Lily let out a brief laugh.

"Elegant as always, Malfoy," she teased, standing up to greet him. With a grin, Scorpius lifted her up into his arms and gave her a breath-taking hug.

"Happy birthday, Lily!" he crowed, and then set her down on her feet. "How does it feel to be eighteen?"

Lily gave a breathless laugh.

"Odd, but not much different from my seventeenth," she answered with a cheeky grin. Scorpius chuckled, and moved with her to sit on a sofa.

"So…presents?" Scorpius asked, lounging back on the sofa comfortably, denoting how many times he had visited the Potter household. "Come on, I want to know what you got so I know that my present it completely unique!" Lily shook her head vigorously, an innocent grin on her face. "Ah don't be such a spoilsport now, Lily."

Scorpius was so open, so happy, that Lily couldn't help that she couldn't seem to stop smiling around him.

"Nope, Scorp. I would like to ask for my present!" Lily said primly, putting out her hands. Scorpius' eyes rested on her cuff and his face suddenly became serious. Lily lowered her hands and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Who gave this to you?" he asked gently, his long fingers wrapping around the cuff.

"My parents," Lily's voice softened. "It was my grandmother's. On my father's side," she whispered. Scorpius' face became ever so gentle, and he pulled Lily to his side. Lily tucked herself into Scorpius, fitting there, as she always seemed to do.

"That's a beautiful gift," Scorpius whispered reverently, his fingers stroking the cuff. "Have you looked at your mark?" he asked, his voice very quiet. Lily looked up at him questioningly. Scorpius had never so openly defied societal norms; there had to be a reason why.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked curiously.

In answer, Scorpius pulled his arm to him and before Lily's astonished eyes, he started pulling his cuff off. Lily put her hand out to stop him.

"Scorp – Scorp, what are you doing?" she asked quietly, her voice filled with bewilderment.

Scorpius' startling blue-grey eyes stared at her for an infinite moment, and his fingers wrapped around Lily's. He squeezed them, and with his other hand he slowly slipped off his cuff. Lily's eyes were drawn to his wrist, and the moment seemed to stretch on forever before Scorpius started turning his wrist. Lily's breath caught.

There, written in her own small, neat script was her name: Lily Luna Potter, even with the small doodle of a lily at the end of her name that she always drew.

Lily's eyes tracked up to Scorpius' face, which looked impossibly gentle, and his fingers tapped questioningly at her cuff. Lily's eyes kept holding his as she nodded. Scorpius, without once losing eye contact with her, slipped off her cuff. Both of them took breaths before looking down at Lily's wrist.

Scorpius let out a breathy laugh when he saw his own beautiful cursive writing on Lily's wrist.

"I was right," he murmured reverently into the thick silence which had descended. Lily's brain was whirring at a hundred miles an hour, marvelling at the fact that she had found her soulmate the day of her birthday – and then panicking that she had found him. Lily started taking deep, gulping breaths of air to steady herself, and she was suddenly pulled back into Scorpius' side and he started whispering calming words into her ear.

"Shh, shh, Lils," Lily didn't even realise that she was crying until Scorpius started wiping away her tears. "I'm not that bad, am I?" Scorpius asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"No – no," Lily gave a watery chuckle and then hiccupped. "I'm – I'm just surprised. And happy. How in Merlin's name did you keep it a secret?"

Scorpius laughed.

"It was a challenge, I'll give you that. But when your name appeared it was the best gift in the world." Scorpius looked down at her for a long moment. "Can – can I kiss you?" he asked.

Lily smiled and sat up straighter. Scorpius pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, and looked at her for a long moment. Then, obviously seeing what he wanted in her eyes, he bent down and kissed her.

Lily let out a surprised breath, but responded enthusiastically. She had had boyfriends in the past, but there was something special about kissing Scorpius. Maybe it was because she knew him so well, or maybe it was because she trusted Scorpius so much, but kissing Scorpius was wonderful. Warmth, blessed warmth bubbled over in her chest in steady streams, and Lily had never felt more complete.

Slowly, they pulled away and leant their foreheads together. Scorpius smiled, and Lily couldn't help but smile back.

"You do realize that my father's probably gonna kill you when he finds out about us?" she asked. "Not to say what my brothers will do to you!"

Scorpius' smile only widened.

"Yeah, I know," he answered. Then he winked. "But you're worth it. I've waited two years for this."

Lily's marked arm crept towards Scorpius'. She looked at him briefly for permission to touch his soulmark, and when he nodded, she aligned her wrist with his.

Nothing could have prepared Lily for what she felt. A bright gold light emanated from their aligned wrists, and she felt her magic rise, unbidden, and reaching out towards Scorpius. She sensed the moment her magic reached Scorpius'. It twined around his; marking Scorpius' magic with hers, just as Scorpius' magic inserted itself into hers. It was as if her magic had never been whole, but the addition of Scorpius' made it so. Lily let out an exhilarated breath.

They looked down at their wrists, and she saw that their marks had turned gold, showing that they had met.

Abruptly, the door to the sitting room burst open and Harry entered, his wand held aloft, followed by Ginny, then her brothers. Lily groaned. When he caught sight of Scorpius, then of the way that Scorpius and Lily were sitting, Harry's eyebrows rose steadily towards his hairline.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, his voice chilly. Scorpius swallowed and stood up in one fluid motion. Lily just noticed that he was wearing some of his best dress robes, and almost smiled appreciatively, delighted that she was allowed to do that.

"Sir," Scorpius started. In that moment, it didn't seem very appropriate to be calling Harry by his first name, considering that he had just bonded with his only daughter. "Sir, I –" Scorpius looked helplessly back at Lily, who bounced up and threaded her hand with his. The temperature of the room seemed to drop several degrees. Her father looked thunderous.

"Lily Luna Potter, you better have an excellent explanation for this."

"Dad?" Albus stepped forwards, leaving a rather shell-shocked James' side. Harry whirled around.

"What?" he ground out. Albus stood firm in the face of his father's anger. He had had a similar reaction when he had first started suspecting that Scorpius' mark held Lily's name. Letting go of his only daughter would be difficult for his father, Albus knew that.

"They're soulmates," Albus stated. Harry took a deep breath and turned back to look at Lily and Scorpius. It was only then that he noticed the discarded cuffs on the sofa. He blanched, and stepped back a few paces. Ginny stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry's waist to steady him. She whispered a few words in his ear, and colour slowly started coming up to Harry's face again.

"Is this true?" Harry asked, looking at Scorpius. He nodded, and Harry's eyes fluttered closed for a brief moment before opening again.

James, to everyone's surprise, walked right up to Scorpius and grabbed him by his collar.

"James!" Lily exclaimed, about to pull her brother away. Scorpius waved her off, and looked straight into James' brown eyes.

"If you hurt my sister – if you dare – soulmate or no, nothing in the world will stop me from killing you," James hissed, and the threat was so much more powerful because of his experience as an Auror.

"Best friend or no, same goes for me," Albus reiterated, his green eyes blazing. Scorpius gave a terse nod.

"Please let go of me now, Potter," Scorpius growled, and James carefully took his hands away from Scorpius' collar. Scorpius brushed himself off. Then, to his surprise, James put out his hand.

"I haven't always got on with you, but I might as well try now that you're going to be part of the family. Officially." James shot a glance back at Albus, who rolled his eyes. "Albus adopted you long ago."

Rolling his eyes in reply to Albus, Scorpius hesitantly shook James' hand, realising just how big a moment this was. He glanced across at Lily, whose eyes were shining as she looked at their joined hands. That, more than anything, made the reconciliation with the Potter heir worth it.

Then, Harry stepped forward. His eyes were narrowed, but he no longer looked like he wanted to kill Scorpius. James and Albus stepped aside for their father.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, dost thou promise, upon thy magic and thy life, however long it may be, to treasure this Lily Luna Potter?" Harry asked, speaking the age-old words that the head of a Family spoke to a suitor.

"I do so promise, my lord Potter," Scorpius answered. "I do promise it with all my heart," he whispered, looking at Lily, whose eyes now shone for a completely different reason.

"Then," Harry said, with a smile now, "Welcome to the family, Scorpius."

A/N: Happy Christmas 2016! There's going to be a short epilogue after this, because I really enjoyed writing it and didn't want to let it go so soon.