A Night to Remember
Lily Luna lay quite still as the last of her roommates climbed into bed. She could hear her cousin and Ruth Edgecomb talking.
"Do you think Lily's alright?" Ruth asked. "She barely talked to us tonight. During her own party."
From right next to her, Molly Weasley, her cousin named for their grandmother, answered. "I'm sure she's fine. Besides, Quidditch practice has been brutal lately."
Lily imagined Ruth was shrugging. "I suppose. But you don't seem effected."
Molly laughed, "All I have to do is float around until I see the snitch." She sighed. "Though, she has been acting rather secretive since the summer."
Lily rolled her eyes. So what if she was? She also let out the breath she'd been holding. If she wasn't trying to stifle it, she would have groaned. Luckily, Ruth seemed to be ready to sleep.
"That's what Albus said," she mused. "Maybe us girls should have a talk with her tomorrow."
"Great idea!" Molly agreed. Then she fell silent. The curtains of her four-poster whispered closed. Two snores indicated they were both asleep.
'Finally!' Lily thought. She waited a few more minutes, just in case one of them might stir. When no sounds indicated such, Lily slid out of bed.
"Ahh..." she moaned as the chill of the stones seeped through her woolen socks. She quickly shrugged off her night gown and kicked it under the bed. Her fingers wrapped around her wand, and she whispered, "Qui Inmiserant." She accompanied this with a smooth movement from head to toe, and across her chest.
"No! Stop that...it tickles!"
The exclamation made Lily freeze. She looked over her shoulder. The rustle from behind Molly's curtains indicated movement. Then she settled. Quickly, so as not to waist more time, Lily gently pulled the invisibility cloak out from under her bed. The moon-light glittered off the fabric, and in a moment only her quick patters across the floor indicated her position. A brief pause at the door, and an 'Alohamora' later, she was down the spiral stair case and out the portrait hole.
"Lily?" Scorpious whispered. He had thought he'd heard something outside the Room of Requirement. He peeked from between the doors, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see her. Then he jumped backward.
"Sorry!" Lily giggled. Her head floated, a strand of red hair slipping over her eyes. "Didn't mean to scare you." She flitted into the room, the rest of her body materializing. She stood, with the cloak over her arm, looking at him questioningly.
"You look..." he trailed off. "You are...pretty." Red stained his usually pale cheeks. He looked away. Even after five months he still felt butterflies when he looked into her green eyes. Tonight, she wore green robes, cropped short just below the waist, and small white...shorts - that was the muggle word she had used to describe them. All she wore on her feet were wool socks.
"Thanks!" She grinned. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. "You look pretty yourself..." She gestured to the tan pants and red polo he wore. "In a you kind of way."
He lifted an eyebrow. "A "me kind of way", huh?" He smiled back. "Well, My Lady," he bowed and took her hand, "let me lead the way." He stood up and gently kissed her back. "First, you must close your eyes."
She regarded him. "Oh, alright." She did so. He squeezed her hand gently and pulled her through a second door, one that closed gently behind them. His father had told him about it. The "room within a room."
For a moment, he just watched her. She was trying to figure out what he had planned. He lifted his wand. 'Nox,' he thought. The room darkened. "Alright," he said. "One, two, three..." He lifted his arm and flourished the charm. "Open!"
Within seconds, her green eyes reflected the flames of hundreds of candles. Most of them floated around to form a lily. "Oh, Scorp this is wonderful!"
She looked down, gasping delightedly. Laid out across the wavering grass, was a picnic blanket. And, spread before them, an assortment of sandwiches, butterbeer and treacle tarts.
"How did you conjure grass?" She filtered the blades through her fingers. "It even smells like the seaside."
He shrugged. "The room did it. I just told it what you wished."
She laid back, a sandwich in hand. Her hair tickled the underside of his nose. "This is so perfect." She sighed.
"But?" He curled his arm around her waist.
"It's just that..." she paused. "Well - I love you." He felt her tense. As if regretting the three little words.
His heart warmed. "I love you too."
Silence washed over them. The comforting kind felt in the presence of someone who makes you happy. Someone who knows what you are thinking, and wishes for the same thing you do.
"Do you think..." she whispered. "Do you think they know?"
It had been a question since they first started sneaking around. For fear of their Dads' reactions. But, he could tell by her tone she didn't mean them. She was talking about Molly and the others.
"Why would they?"
Lily shrugged. "Just something Molly and Ruth were saying before they went to sleep." She shrugged. "But I don't even care! You're too good to keep to myself."
She fell back so her head lay in his lap. He looked down at her. "I'm not that special."
She shook her head. "You are so, Scorpious Malfoy." She reached up and bopped his nose. "You're a hero!"
He rolled his eyes. "If you say so," he leaned down. Their lips brushed, and this time lingered. He brushed his hand across her cheek. Nothing was more perfect than this.
"Even so," he said. "I like having you to myself." They shifted position again, the food disappearing and the candles dimming their light. He pulled her against him.
Their eyes locked. And, in that moment, even though he was only 15, he knew she was the one. "Happy Birthday," he whispered.
And it was.
Author's Notes
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsberry and Scolastic Books circa 1997.
Translation: Qui Inmiserant: To Warm (I like to think magic uses Latin, but also that certain schools of magic, like Charms, also derrive from French, Spannish and the other Romance Languages.)
Also Appears On: DeviantArt (E.H. Indigo) and AO3 (Jazzelyn E. Roisin)
Thank You for Reading,
~ Jazz E. Roisin