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She moved her studying to the Room of Requirements, or at least she tried to study there. The Room of Requirements was a room whose walls knew her secrets and those of Albus and Scorpius as well, and being confined by the all knowing walls was not conducive to studying, especially when her thoughts were consumed by the silly girl who seemed to be taking her place at least in Scorpius' life.
Anne Chambers. With her shiny black hair easily reaching the middle of her back, her deep emerald eyes, and pale, almost translucent, skin, she was everything Lily Potter was not. She was one year ahead of Lily, and one behind her brother Albus, but more importantly, a year behind Scorpius Malfoy. The friendship between the two Slytherin boys often resulted in Lily and Scorpius spending time together, for the sake of Albus, but neither ever minded. Eventually, the two sought each other's company, even when Albus wasn't around, but it seemed Anne Chambers always had a way of becoming Lily's opponent in every aspect of their lives.
When Scorpius and Lily had once enjoyed each other's silent company in the library, Anne appeared to sit beside Scorpius. Lily was subjected to listening to her giggles. At first, she simply deemed her as pathetic as she desperately attempted to catch the attention of Scorpius Malfoy, a boy whom Lily had nearly grown up around. When Scorpius actually started returning attention to her, Lily endured it for a short time. She knew Scorpius. He was as fickle as any other 17 year old boy, except it seemed his unhealthy interest in Anne never seemed to fade. That was when Lily deserted the study table that for years had been marked as hers and Scorpius'.
As she sat in the Room of Requirements lit only by the flames from the fireplace, she could vaguely hear laughter outside in the hallway. Knowing it was probably a set of young lovers laughing as they spent the darker hours of the night together, looking for an empty room to provide secrecy. She dismissed them, since the Room of Requirements was not a widely known secret. As far as she knew, only she Albus and Scorpius knew of its existence. As she continued to think, and pretend to study, the laughter never died out, and soon the door opened on the far side of the room.
Turning, Lily sighed to find Albus and some girl, wrapped in one another's embrace, as they tumbled into the room, lips locked together.
"She's a Slytherin, Albus." Lily snapped. She hadn't meant to, but it seemed her general anger about Anne Chambers and Scorpius was spilling out to the other aspects of her life. "Can't you just go back to the Slytherin Tower?"
Albus turned to his sister, not nearly as surprised as his female companion, but he was surprised to find her there, nonetheless. Especially alone.
"Slytherins don't have a Tower." The girl corrected in a tone Lily certainly did not care for. "Not like you Ravenclaws."
Lily rose a sharp eyebrow, and Albus knew, immediately, something was wrong, but did not intervene. He did not allow anybody, Slytherins included, to use such a tone with his sister, but in the mood she was in, she could take care of herself.
"That's because we Ravenclaws don't need to buried away in some dark Dungeon to hide away from the rest of the school." Lily's voice was harsh in a way Albus rarely heard, but it wasn't new.
"Shouldn't you be in the library studying with Scorpius, tonight?" Albus put in, before the Slytherin girl could respond.
"We don't study together anymore."
Albus stared at Lily, confused. Only the sound of the fire broke the silence. As uncomfortable as he was with Scorpius and Lily's relationship, be it romantic or otherwise, he never doubted Scorpius' good intentions. He knew, of course, they were not romantically involved as of yet, but it surprised him Lily had gone so long without wanting such a relationship with him. It surprised him even more, that Scorpius had not acted on any romantic feelings for her.
"Since when?" Albus asked. "You've studied together at the same table for five years."
"I heard Scorpius spends all his time with Anne Chambers." The Slytherin girl in the doorway put in, as though she meant to hurt Lily with the implication of Scorpius' relationship with somebody else. Though Lily did not seem to be bothered by the comment, Albus had quickly seen the flash in her eyes, which confused him even more. Scorpius had several girlfriends in the past, and not one had ever bothered Lily before. And not one had ever driven them apart, either.
"They even study together."
Then Albus understood. Lily was still perfectly still and silent, and Albus didn't know what to say. The two siblings simply stared at one another, both effectively ignoring the girl trying so hard to hurt Lily for some unknown reason.
"We'll just go back to the Slytherin Common Room." Albus finally said. He finally understood Lily's lack of company in the Room of Requirements for he had often gone for silent solitude after some heartache. Though he recognized the pain in his sister, he was unsure if she knew what it was. She never really had male company the way he and Scorpius had female company. For all Albus knew, she was still convincing herself Scorpius was her best friend. In fact, he and Scorpius had never talked about Lily before, so he might even be in the same position.
Before anybody could move, the click of the door seemed to echo through the room. Albus turned to see if his current female companion was already leaving the room, but she was standing near him. Instead, he watched the door open and a tall blonde boy stepped into the room. Scorpius paused in the door way and looked at Albus, then to the girl.
"I'll leave you to it, then." Scorpius commented, not sounding as lighthearted as he usually did.
"No," Lily's voice pulled Scorpius' attention. He stepped to the side to see Lily hidden behind her brother's frame. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Studying." Lily answered.
"Why didn't you come tonight?" Scorpius replied, his voice calmer than Lily's angered one. She had been so focused on Scorpius that she did not notice Albus' lack of presence until the door clicked shut behind him and his obnoxious Slytherin girl.
"You noticed? I didn't think you saw anything beyond Anne." Lily replied sharply. Only when the words left her lips did she realize how jealous she sounded. She had been so sure she was only studying in the Room of Requirements because she could not study with the sound of their laughter, but as she actually voiced her anger it seemed like a completely different problem to her.
As she thought about her own jealousy, she hadn't realized that Scorpius wasn't speaking either. When the fire cracked, Lily focused on him once more, much more aware of the cold silence between them. She didn't know what to say or do. It had never been silence between her and Scorpius before, except when they studied. She didn't know how to handle a situation that had never happened before.
"I told Anne that we couldn't study together anymore." Scorpius finally said. Lily couldn't help but notice how much calmer and rational he sounded compared to her jealousy fueled words and anger. "It's not really the same when other people are there. And it's our table, Lily."
Lily suddenly couldn't stand the intense gaze of his grey eyes. She only let out a breath and sat down on the nearby couch, letting her eyes shut as she focused on the heat of the fire. Except she couldn't. She didn't know what it was, but some feeling had taken over her. It was something like the heat from the fire, but it originated from within her chest. It felt vaguely familiar, but not at such an intensity. She felt the couch dip as Scorpius sat beside her, and the feel intensified once more, as though it were even possible.
"Was Anne the reason you stopped coming?" Scorpius' voice was soft, but Lily could tell something else was different about his voice also. She had no idea what it was, but he sounded completely different to her.
"I couldn't focus when she was there."
"I don't believe you."
Lily whipped towards him, her eyes as angry as she had been when Albus found her. "What do you mean you don't believe me?"
"I've seen you read when your entire family was around. We've read at your family gatherings and that's way more people than the entire library can hold. And you want me to believe you couldn't focus because of one stupid girl?"
Scorpius' voice seemed carry tones of anger as well, but his eyes remained calm, with only a glint of something else Lily had never seen before. Then she knew what had changed in his voice. Guilt.
She didn't respond to him. He was right, and he knew that, and her silence confirmed it. Instead, she swallowed and held his gaze, wondering when it had become so difficult to look into her best friend's eyes. He stared right back at her, and she started to wonder again, this time about when he had gotten so close to her.
The silence had somehow lost its tense edge, but Lily hadn't. She didn't know why she was so guarded around him. She had never had walls so high, and never around Scorpius. It seemed he always had his own door through her walls, but it never bothered her. He was a comforting presence to have where no else could venture
She had no idea what happened next, but her thoughts suddenly focused on Scorpius the moment she felt an odd sensation of his lips on hers. She knew what it was, but never had a boy kiss her, or vice versa. She never seemed to connect to anyone the way her brother had. She couldn't focus on any of these thoughts, however, for the feeling of his warm lips on her cold ones overpowered every other function of her body. All she had were her senses.
His fresh, clean smell was more powerful than ever, but more importantly his lips, at first had been a bit of an intrusion against hers, but as soon as her walls had somehow fallen once more around them, the feeling was overwhelming, as was the tightening in her chest.
"Scorpius." Lily managed between her lips and he finally pulled away, but not far. Just far enough to peer into her eyes, their lips parted. "What are- are you doing?"
"What I thought you wanted, Lily." He answered, his voice soft but missing the tint of guilt. She moved closer to him, as he reached up to put his rough hand against her smooth cheek. "What I wanted."
"I've never-"
"No," He shook his head as he put their foreheads together. "It doesn't matter."
It might not have mattered to him, but Lily could not help but feel as though he ruled the matters of her heart all alone while she was the last name on a list too long to recall. But perhaps, more importantly, she was the name right after Anne Chambers'.
"But Anne-"
"No." Scorpius shook his head again before he pressed his lips to her for the briefest of moments. "There was nothing between us, Lily. I never saw her except when she came to the library."
Lily didn't respond, but he could see the doubt plaguing her usually clear blue eyes. "How can I convince you?" He asked softly, pressing their foreheads together, once more. Lily heard him swallow, as though trying his best not to kiss her again. At least not until she let him.
With shaking hands, she reached up, letting her fingers touch his cheeks. He let out a heavy breath at the sensation until he bit his bottom lip, his eyes shut tightly. She could even feel his body tense at her touch, but she knew she would probably respond in the exact same manner to his touch, a touch that she had waited years to experience.
"Kiss me."
Scorpius immediately obliged, his lips crashing against hers, even though he had wanted to be gentle with her. Lily was a flower, to be gentle handled and cared for, to him. His Lily.
But her nails scratching the back of his neck, simply urged him on just as her lips moving against his had. She no idea how much time had passed, but he pulled away, letting them both take in air after going so long without it. As she panted, however, Scorpius could not get enough. He trailed kisses across her cheeks and down her neck, wanting so bad to make up for years of idly standing on his side of the invisible barrier somebody had drawn between them. He couldn't remember if it had been him or her. Or if she even knew it was there.
"Albus." Lily said softly as she tried to push him away, but he didn't budge.
"No, Lily." He replied as he looked into her eyes. She could see the desperation and desire in his eyes as he swallowed and shook his head again. "Not now. Not yet. Just…"
He trailed off as Lily put her hand on his cheek. He shut his eyes as he moved into her hand, drawing in a deep breath. As he forced his eyes open and peered at her once more, she understood.
"Just one moment before everyone else. Just a moment for me and you. For everything that should've been."
"What if-" Lily started but stopped. "What if Albus doesn't let us?"
Again silence fell around them, but Scorpius placed a kiss on her lips once more. "Then only the walls will know the secrets of everything that could've been."