AUTHOR'S NOTE: It only took me about an hour to write this, of course, I planned it for like two days. I think that I kind of like this one. I'm not really sure. But yeah. I hope you enjoy. This is my first Lily/Scorpius story, so be nice to it. Review and all that jazz. Thanks. Oh, and this is my entry for Fourmille d'idees, Random Oneshot Challenge.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Harry Potter anymore than I did the last time I posted a story.
"Oh, Lily look what Turner has," James shouted over the morning buzz of the Great Hall.
The Potter owl, Turner names by James, was carrying a red envelope. Nothing pleasant ever came in red. Especially not by owl. Any red envelope that came by owl was of course a howler. Those horrid things that came to the school once every blue moon, although more often since James had started to get into more trouble as he got older. The horrid things that silenced that entire Great Hall, including the staff table, so that nosy ears could listen in to what terrible thing the receiver had done.
Lily rolled her eyes and brushed a red stand of hair off her lip. "James, why are you tell me? It's probably for you." However, the owl flew right by the eldest Potter and the middle Potter, and to the youngest. Lily turned her eyes to the owl and arched her eyebrow. "What, Turner? James is over there," she directed. However, the own held it's leg out to her. Lily shook her head, and Albus reached over and untied it from the owl, before shooing him.
"It's got your name on it, Lily," Albus said quietly, trying not to draw any more attention to the red envelope. "You might want to open it. You know how nasty Mum's howlers get when you don't open them."
Lily took the howler from her brother's hand and sighed, "A howler? Not for me though… Surely not for me..." she said, her voice shaking. "Do you think that, in her rage at James, she might have accidentally written my name on here?" she asked Albus hoping he would support the idea.
"No, Lily," Albus replied, "I think that you need to open it and get it over with."
Lily shook her head and stared at the envelope before her. This couldn't be right. It was all wrong. She wasn't the kid that got the howlers. That was James. James was the one that was always in trouble. Then there was Albus, who rarely got in trouble, but still got in more trouble that she did. She never got howlers. She was a Prefect and the school never had anything poor to say about her. The Headmaster had even hinted at her being Head Girl in her seventh year if she continued of that path she was on. That was her dream. Her dream, and it was about to be crushed by the contents of this little red envelope. Lily sat, wracking her brain trying to figure out what she'd done wrong. However, she could think of nothing. No, she wasn't perfect, but she'd done nothing to warrant a howler.
"Lily, dearest, you might want to open it," a new voice said to her from the opposite side of the table.
Lily flicked her brown eyes up and saw Scorpius Malfoy sitting across from her. His grey eyes were concerned. Lily Shrugged and tossed the howler on the table between them. She hadn't done anything wrong. Why was she getting one of these?
"Open it," James chanted banging on the table with his fork and knife. The read of the Gryffindor table joined in, and soon the entire Great Hall had included themselves in the chanting, save her brother Albus and Scorpius.
Lily's face grew red, and she ducked her head. First, she folded her hands in her lap. Then, feeling a little restless, she folded them on the table. Scorpius reached across the table and touched her hand gently, trying to reassure her. She was biting her lip, and a small line of blood was streaking down her chin and to the white collar of her robe. "FINE! I'll open the bloody thing," Lily shouted, throwing her hands into the air.
The Great Hall went silent and the tearing of the red paper. Once the envelope was open, Lily dropped it on to the table, not wanting to be holding it when it started it's rant. There was silence as the letter rose off the table and began to form a mouth and teeth. All the silence was leaving a lot up to her imagination. Maybe Mum was mad about a mark she's received. Although, the lowest mark she'd gotten all term was an 'E' in Astronomy. While James had received a 'P' in Potions.
"LILY LUNA POTTER," the howler began. "THIS IS YOUR APRIL FOOLS JOKE. SINCERLY, JAMES SIRIUS POTTER."
Lily shot her brother a venomous look as he howled with laughter, along with the rest of the Great Hall; even Albus found it humorous, seeing as he was trying not to laugh while Lily was looking. How could she be so daft? It was April Fool's. That though hadn't even crossed her mind. Annoyed and embarrassed, more embarrassed than anything, Lily launched as tart at James' head, hitting him square in the eye, huffed, and left the Great Hall. She heard Scorpius stand and start after her, but she paid no mind to it. She just wanted to be out of there. People were laugh at her. She hated that. She absolutely hated being laughed at. Even when she entered the entrance of the school she could still hear the laugher from the Great Hall. Running from the sound of her own embarrassment, Lily ascended the Grand Staircase until she couldn't hear anything but the sound of the moving stair places clicking into place. That was the second floor.
"Lily," Scorpius called to her as he ascended the staircase and spotted her sitting on a bench. "James, meant well," he soothed as he sat beside her.
"James is a foul git" she grunted before laying her head on her shoulder.
Scorpius was silent for a while, before asking, "How are you getting him back?" Lily scoffed. "Really, you aren't going to try?"
"I don't enjoy public humiliation," Lily said.
Scorpius kissed the side of her head and smirked, "No one does. So I repeat how are you going to get him back, and how can I help?"
Lily stood and brushed her skirt off. "I'm not," she said. The red-haired girl then pointed at her Prefect's badge, "See this? This is James' one-way pass into detention for the rest of his seventh year. " A smirked played on Lily's lips as Scorpius took her hand. "Now come," she said. "We have a class to attend."