Disclaimer: Don't own anybody.
Dedicated to Drishti, because she wrote me a wonderful LilyScorpius freeverse despite loathing the pairing, so I thought I'd try one of her favorite pairings on for size =)
"Music," he'd told her once, "is what makes the world go round."
Mist cloaks the clearing, and that never happens, so almost immediately, her suspicions are raised.
She's Lily Luna Potter, after all, and she's quick to spot mysteries and even quicker to solve them. A wave of her wand dispels the heavy fog, and it falls away like autumn leaves, clearing a path for her into the paradise she lovingly calls a second home. Diamond-clear water cascades down the waterfall, sunlight sparkles in the pool below, flowers unfurl their colorful petals, and in the middle of it all, a grand piano stands calmly as if it was a part of the nature that surrounded it.
Wait, what?
…Damn it, Lysander was right again, wasn't he?
Because the piano's glittering in the afternoon sun, all ivory and black and velvet, music and magic and Lysander, and damn it all, her world's spinning around and he's so going to hold this over her head for another decade or two.
She sits down on the stool anyway, because she's Lily and he's Lysander and that's a piano, and that's all there is to it.
No, really.
Gingerly, she presses a key. A note, vaguely musical to her untrained ears, simmers in the air for a moment and then fades. Lily gazes at the ivory keys, containing all that magic, and presses a few more. Some more notes – still, nothing musical. But Lily's never been one to give up, now, has she?
About ten minutes later, when Lysander enters their little haven (late, as usual, but she can never find it in herself to be mad at him) and finds her sitting at the piano, she's worked her way up to a song.
Well, kind of.
"Lily, what on Earth are you doing?" Lysander's voice cuts through her concentration and semi-musical song, making her jump and twist to face him.
"I'm playing the piano," she answers matter-of-factly. "What are you doing?"
Lysander looks distinctly amused. "Lily-flower, you're just pressing keys, not making music."
Lily pouts at him. "Well, I don't know how to do anything else! You never taught me this!"
He grins and walks over, sliding into the booth next to her, and she has to pretend electricity doesn't blaze through her body at the slightest touch of his arms against hers. "That's because you were always busy with Lorcan, learning how to swim or play basketball or something."
"Yeah, well, will you teach me now? Please?" Lily bats her eyelashes at him.
Lysander rolls his eyes, but she knows he can never deny her anything. Because he's Lysander and she's Lily, see? "Sure thing, Lily-flower. Do you at least know how to poise your hands?"
Lily blinks. "Ly, I don't even know what 'poise your hands' means."
"In that case, we have some work to do," Lysander laughs. "Let me see your hands."
His fingers slide over hers, warm and butterfly-inducing, and Lily suppresses a shiver (because they're not cliché, and only clichés work around here, y'know?). Gingerly, he guides her hands so she presses a multitude of keys one after another instead of the spaced-out clunking she had been doing before, and the result is a beautiful harmony.
Or maybe it's a melody. Or a symphony?
Oh, she never claimed to be all that good with music terminology, now, did she?
"Why don't we try something simple?" Lysander suggests. "Happy Birthday?"
"That was last month," she retorts automatically, then darts away from his wandering fingers with a squeal. "Stop tickling me, you prat!"
Lysander snorts. "Only if you take this seriously."
Lily widens her eyes, a solemn expression masking her cheerful smile. "Yes, Professor. What must I do?"
"Shut up," Lysander mutters, inciting a giggle out of her. "You're a brat, you know that?"
Lily beams. "Yup. Now, what were you saying about my birthday?"
Lysander rolls his eyes. "Happy Birthday, Lily. Sing Happy Birthday."
She raises an eyebrow, but launches into an energetic rendition. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to—wow."
His fingers glide effortlessly over the black and white keys, continuing the melody (harmony? Oh, whatever) long after she'd stopped singing. Memories from her childhood – of her and Lysander all their family and friends gathered around a cake singing Happy Birthday – bubble up in her mind, bringing an unbidden smile to her face.
"Did you like that?" Lysander asks with a small smile when he finishes the song and turns to her.
Lily looks over at him, hazel eyes meeting green. "Did I—are you serious? Ly, I loved that!"
He reaches over and tucks a stray strawberry curl behind her ear. "Well, I'm glad. I can guarantee you that you won't love it by the time I'm through teaching it to you."
His remark teases a giggle out of her. "Oh, are you going to teach me then?"
"Didn't I say that?" Lysander grins.
"When?" Lily asks, genuinely curious.
"I don't know," he shrugs. "Sometime in the future. When you're not busy with Lorcan."
There's an undertone of annoyance in his voice, and Lily turns to face him with a frown marring her face. "All right, Ly, spill. What's your problem?"
"I don't have a problem," he mutters, pounding on a few different keys – but the result is nowhere near as pretty and musical as it was before.
"Yes, you do," she insists. "You're always glaring at Lorcan whenever he and I are together and you act like—oh. Oh."
"Yeah, 'oh'," Lysander sighs, his fingers drifting absently over the keys instead of pounding on them. "How long did that take you? Like a month?"
"You never told me!" Lily says defensively. "How was I supposed to know?"
"Don't you pride yourself on solving mysteries, Lily-flower?" Lysander looks over at her with an intense look in his forest-green eyes that sends butterflies waltzing through her stomach. "How did you completely miss that I'm head-over-heels in love with you?"
Lily huffs. "I don't know. Probably the same way you missed the fact that I'm in love with you, too."
There's a heartbeat of silence, and then – oh, Merlin, he's leaning forward and his blond hair is falling into his eyes and she's dying to brush it away but then his lips are on hers, sweet and warm, and she forgets everything in the haze of pineapples and music and Lysander that follows.
He pulls back, a smile on his face, and the sun is dazzlingly gold behind him as it sets, and Lily has to take a moment to catch her breath.
"Wow," she finally manages to gasp. "I—you—"
"Yeah," Lysander agrees, grinning. "You and me, right?"
His fingers dance over the keys, creating another beautiful song, and Lily leans against him, enraptured by the music, as the sun sets and the flowers bloom and all is peaceful.
Author's Notes: I have now written Lily with all the unrelated Next-Gen guys there are – a grand total of … four. Yeah. All righty, then. If you enjoyed this, please do drop me a review and tell me what you thought – it really brightens up my day! =D
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