Chapter 1:

The Awakening

"So, are you going home for Christmas?"

Lily Potter put down her mug of butter beer and smiled at Melody Jenkins, who she connected to immediately during Potions when they were First Years. The girls were identical in personality, though their appearance differed. Lily had medium length, straight, red hair, as Melody had bouncy, curly, gold hair. Plus, it was pleasant having a muggle-born friend to escape the pressures of the Wizarding World, for she never completely fathomed the role Lily's father played in the war. All Melody knew was from the history books and the grapevine, which had interesting takes on the entire event.

The redhead responded, "You know I am. Dad goes on that mission in January to track down Heath Carter, who he's not too worried about, but it's always nice to see him before he leaves in case something does happen."

Melody scrunched her face up.

"I thought your Dad wasn't going on missions anymore. He's Head Auror, right?"

"Yeah, he wasn't supposed to, but apparently the job isn't getting done and Dad's Dad. At least, that's how Mum put it. Anyway, we all knew he wasn't going to stay off the field for long, especially with something this big out there," shrugged Lily, as she spun her mug around on the table and stared at the water streak it left.

"When is he supposed to return?" wondered Melody, attempting to keep the mood stable. She knew how quickly Lily was to shut people off.

"In a month, if everything goes as planned."

"That's good. At least it won't be for too long."

"I just don't understand. He knows how much we hate him in the field, so why?"

Lily suddenly gazed up from the table and to her friend. Her brown eyes painted with confusion, betrayal, and hurt. It wasn't like her father to break a promise, unless he wasn't telling exactly how crucial it was for him to join the fight. After all, he hadn't brought Teddy, her god-brother, into the field yet, which almost signaled to her that something was wrong.

Melody fell silent, before softly replying, "I dunno, Lils. But I'm sure it'll be okay."

Taking another sip of her drink, Lily digested her thoughts and her friend's statement. Of course, it was going to okay. It always was, and why would this time be any different?

"And what are your plans for the holidays?" She wondered, changing the topic to something more relaxing.

"I'll probably spend time in Sweden. My Grandad's ill and Mum wants to see him. I hate it there though. I mean, it's pretty, but I can't understand anyone but my family."

Lily laughed at the situation.

"You do know you develop an accent sometimes too, right?"

"Shut it. I pretend that I don't." Melody crossed her arms over her chest in protest.

"I still don't understand why you hate it so much."

"Because Mum's family has never really claimed me, since I'm a Witch, so…"

It was a tale that Lily had heard multiple times, and would've listened to again if Scorpius Malfoy hadn't stalked through the doors of the Three Broomsticks with his dumb-witted friends. She desperately tried to see the evil that her brothers swore the boy possessed, but she could only focused on the glimmer in his delicate grey eyes. No matter how many times she saw it, she was never able to pinpoint the exact emotion that it represented but she was positive it was not evil nor had it ever been evil. That wasn't saying she liked him as a person, it only meant that she knew there had to be something more to him than he let be shown. But wasn't that true for everyone? It was defiantly for her brothers, as well as her cousins and herself. There was always something more but what?

Squinting her eyes, she noticed his blond hair was a mess and he walked with a slight hesitation to his step.

"That's not like him."

"Not like who? Are you even listening to me?" Melody asked, not even in the slightest bit surprised.

"It's just that-"

"People watching again, I see. Who is it then?" pondered Melody, as she gazed in the direction of her friend to notice the same thing. "What's with Malfoy?"

"My point," replied Lily, as she glanced around the pub to find someone who he could be approaching. It wasn't until she saw the back corner when her eyes rounded. "Oh no. I think he's heading to see Albus and Rose, but why? And why isn't he on fire?"

"Maybe, he's not here to fight?"

Lily scoffed, "He's always here to fight. He's Scorpius."

"Maybe, he's changed in the last day?" weakly added Melody, not wanting to be in the middle of a Potter-Malfoy fight. It never turned out to benefit either.

Lily rolled her eyes at her, focusing her attention on the enemy approaching his target. Right as he nodded in Albus's direction, Lily turned to Melody and stated, "I'm going in."

"Please don't. You know it won't-"

"Oh, shut it. Don't be a pansy."

With a final drink from her mug, Lily stood and strolled over to the table. From the expression on Albus's and Rose's face, she knew Malfoy had said something ridiculous. He had no chance, so why did he try?

"I hope everyone is being civil over here."

She grinned, as she reached them. Her eyes clearly anxious to witness what would come forth of the meeting, for even though she wasn't one to use the sword, she enjoyed observing the ones who did.

"Go away Potter," demanded Scorpius. However, his words lacked the bite they normally had, which intrigued her a little too much, though she refused to let it show.

"Me or him? You may need to specify which one, for the wrong one might leave." She paused to indicate she was thinking, before adding, "Ah, who am I kidding? Neither one of us would end up leaving anyway."

Laughing at Scorpius's growl, she turned to her brother and wondered, "I could tell from your expression that the bloke said something stupid and I had to wander over to hear it myself."

"You won't believe what he said. I'm still in a daze myself," Albus stated, ignoring the obviously irritated Scorpius beside him.

"Me too. I have heard of a thousand things and never have I ever heard something quite like this," added Rose, as she pressed the book she was reading to her chest.

"The bloke actually asked me to step outside with him, for he had urgent information to tell me."

Albus placed air quotations around the words urgent information to Lily's amusement.

"The wildest part is that he actually expected Albus to go!" chimed Rose, with a giggle.

"Really, have you heard of such a thing? Like we would do anything the prat said," laughed Albus.

"I'm standing right here, you know," hissed Scorpius, before sending daggers in their direction.

"We know. We can see Malfoy," stated Albus, with a smirk on his lips.

Instantly, Scorpius muttered under his breath and backed away warning, "This is the last time I try to help you lot. You'll be wishing you listened to me when January rolls around. Just wait and see."

"Oho, another threat. I'm paralyzed with fear," mocked Albus, as Rose snickered quietly to herself. Lily began to do the same, until Scorpius's eyes locked with her's and January locked into her mind.

"Dad."

"What Lils?" asked Albus.

She kept watched as Scorpius stormed from the pub with his mates in tow, and instantly shook her head and backed away.

"Nothing… I'm just… yeah… I'll see you later."

Rushing over to Melody, she tossed money on the table and practically dragged her friend to the door before Melody had time to react. Shoving her against the outside of the pub, Lily scanned the surroundings. Through the swirling snow, she spotted Malfoy head towards the Shrieking Shack, but his friends were absent.

"What the hell?" yelled Melody, rubbing her arm where Lily had grabbed it.

"We have to follow Malfoy."

"And what gave you this stupid idea?" snarled Melody, sore about being dragged from the warmth to the cold.

"He said something about January. I know he knows something. That's why he was hesitant," eagerly said Lily, cursing under her breath when he left her view. "C'mon, we have to keep an eye on him."

Melody sighed, "Not again. You do this all the time claiming to have a gut feeling only to mess everything up. Just don't get involved."

"I do not mess up. I'm always right."

"Remember the Rose and Lorcan case? And how he wasn't cheating?"

"Yeah, but that's diff-"

"Or the James and Freddie case?"

"I swear, they were going to do-"

"And the Al case?"

"This time I'm a hundred percent sure!" shouted Lily, causing Melody to shake her head. No matter how many times this happened, the redhead never seemed to learn.

"Just like with Hugo and Lydia?"

Lily cursed, "Fine, I'll go with my bloody self."

Ignoring her friend's protests, she rummaged through her bag until she pulled out an aged cloak. Smirking she said, "I knew there was a reason to steal this from James this morning."

"I'll be in the pub not freezing my butt off. Fill me in when you find out you're wrong again," spoke Melody, as she entered the Three Broomsticks once more.

"Thanks for being a supportive friend!" spat Lily, as she slung the Invisibility Cloak over her petite body. Immediately, she trudged in the direction Malfoy had walked.

After turning up the path, she spotted Hugo locking lips with Lydia, and a pinch of guilt washed over her. Perhaps, she should've gathered more evidence before almost breaking them a part, but it appeared to be what she thought. Another part of her made her despise the brown-haired girl as well, after all if Hugo wasn't with her he'd be meddling with her. All of her family seemed to be falling in love and she only had Martin Fog the previous year, which wasn't saying much. They had gone out on a couple of dates, before Lily couldn't stand the bloke. He was a little too clingy for her preference. Maybe, Melody was right and she did interfere with lives too much? It didn't matter now though, for she was certain Scorpius had something to say. But then again, she's been wrong about him before too.

Halfway up the path, she looked around spotting no one— only the trees with heavy arms of snow.

"This is pointless," she sighed, pulling the cloak off and returning it to her bag. "I'm probably wrong anyway."

"Wrong about what?"

Jumping, she turned to face the voice. To her left, leaning against a tree was Scorpius Malfoy, who was smirking a little too much for her to be comfortable.

"What do you want?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

"I should be the one asking you that. Aren't you the one who was following me?"

A playful glint sparked in his eyes, as he took a step towards her. It was the type of playful where Lily wasn't sure whether he was glad to see her or out for her blood. Normally, it was the latter one.

"I was not."

"You were under the cloak and who else in the school would you follow with such caution?" He laughed, continuing to shorten the gap between them.

Unable to keep eye contact, she glanced to the ground, unsure what to do, but determined not to let it show.

"No true. I could be following anyone or meeting with someone, and either way it's none of your business."

"Stop lying, Potter. You aren't the only one who people watches."

She snapped her head towards him.

"Yeah, I saw you staring at me, as well as everyone else in the disgusting pub."

"I wasn't-"

"I've been studying you too. Well, your whole family, but mainly you."

By now, any abundant space between them was nonexistent and if Albus walked in on the scene, she was positive he'd murder the bloke without a second thought.

She took a step back.

"Yeah, so?"

Suddenly, his semblance change deserting any glimmer of joy and for the first time she could see how sickly he was. Dark circles sunk in his eyes and his skin was tainted grey, completely different from the past. It appeared that he hadn't greeted sleep in months and when he spoke his voice was quiet and soft. Every part of his body was tense. She had never seen anyone but her father during a mission this serious before.

"I do not know what you'll have to do, but do not let your father leave in January. He will-"

"So, it is about-"

"Didn't your mother teach you to not interrupt?" He shook his head, before adding, "Just know that he will not return if he does. And whatever you do, do not tell anyone I told you this, especially your dumb friend Melody, or you'll put both our lives in danger. Okay?"

"Yeah, but Mel barely knows anything about-"

"She knows a lot more than you realize. Listen, believe me or not, just learn to not trust anyone this year- no one, not even your family- and things will be okay for you."

"Isn't this sort of contradicting since you want me to-"

"Lily…"

She froze and gazed up at him. Her name sounded foreign coming from his lips, but rather soothing.

"Don't."

Something in her gut made her nod. After all, it was what brought her here in the first place.

In the distance, she could here Albus's and Rose's voices over the howling wind, along with the laughter of Lydia. The two pairs must have ran into each other and were heading Lily's way. She knew Scorpius heard the same thing, because he frantically whispered, "Don't let your father go and tell no one of this."

Then, Lily watched as he submerged himself within the brush near the side of the path. Moments later, Rose was running towards her with the others behind.

"Lils! We've been looking for you! Melody told us you were up here stalking Malfoy and getting yourself into other people's business. So, we decided to find you and walk back to the castle. Melody already went back."

"Yeah, you know me, I couldn't resist," Lily shrugged, welcoming her cousin's embrace, then her brother's.

"My opinion is that you're stupid for going by yourself. The bloke could've done unspeakable things to you. I mean, he's a bloody Malfoy. They have no conscience."

Immediately, Hugo asked, "So, did anything happen with him?"

Lily let her gaze fall to Scorpius's shadowed face. There was a mixture of pain, but hope in it, and she fathomed who she needed to believe this time. Turning back to her cousins, she shook her head.

"No. I never actually found him."

"Good, let's head back, then."

Albus turned back, and Lily allowed them a head start, before letting her eyes linger on the spot where Scorpius had been, but it was empty. He was gone into the darkness where he seemed to live.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading. I'll hopefully get the next chapter up in a few days. I still have a lit analysis to write, as well as another chapter for the Lessons from the Past. I really love feedback, even flames, so please leave a review. Favorites and Follows mean a lot, as well. I hoped you enjoyed this! I'm happy that I've finally got this down and typed. It's been an idea in my head for years and my story Vexation is actually a clip from this. Anyway, thanks again!

-Kaitlyn