"Scooooooooooooooooor!" Scorpius heard a voice exclaim. Seconds later, he felt a tiny body crash into him from behind.

"Oof," he groaned, "Now who can this be?" He turned around and met the grinning face of his best friend, Lily Potter. "Do I know you?" he teased then laughed as she punched his shoulder.

"Don't joke! I've missed you, you jerk!" Lily pouted.

"Sorry, Lils. It's not my fault your aunt dragged you to Paris over the summer. I missed you too." More than you can imagine. He mentally finished.

Scorpius and Lily were quite the pair; pulling pranks, sneaking out at night, breaking every possible school rule, all the while never getting caught. They both were model students, as far as their teachers knew, anyway. They were top of their respective classes and their school record was untarnished. The two were practically inseparable. So when Lily went away for the summer, Scorpius missed her. Missed her too much for someone who is supposed to be 'just friends.'

It took him a while to figure out what those feelings were, but when he did, he had a revelation: this was his last year at Hogwarts. If he was going to make a move, it would have to be soon. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible before he graduated.

Scorpius loved Lily Potter. Loved her with all his heart, and if he didn't do anything about it, someone else was going to snatch her up. He didn't know if he could stand watching her fall for someone else…

"Scor, Scor! SCOR!" Lily yelled, pulling him out of his reverie.

"What?" she gave him a look, "Sorry Lil. Just distracted, is all."

"Okay, if you say so. Well, c'mon. We gotta get our luggage on the train and find a compartment before all of them fill up." She said dragging her trunk towards the Hogwarts Express.

Scorpius picked up his trunk and heaved it effortlessly, placing it on his right shoulder. Then grabbing Lily's trunk, he did the same, acting like it weighed nothing.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

They found an empty compartment and settled quickly. Scorpius spread out on one side, while Lily sat down on the other. It took him a while to notice, but eventually, Scorpius found that Lily was staring at him.

Almost an instinct reaction, he glanced down to make sure that his fly was zipped. It was, so why the staring?

"Umm, hi?"

"Oh, sorry. 'Just distracted, is all.'" She said, mocking him.

"Ha ha, very funny. No, seriously. What's wrong?"

"I dunno, you tell me."

"Huh?"

"You seem different," she stated simply.

"Different how, Lil?"

"You just… I… I don't know, okay? You seem really out of it. We've been on this train for… how long, now? Thirty minutes? Usually you'd have concocted some big 'Welcome Back' prank by now. Or, at the very least, you'd be telling me all about your latest shag. Don't give me that look, Scorpius. You know it's true. Why are you acting so weird?" she came over to his bench and knelt down in front of his face. "What are you keeping from me?"

Is it that obvious?

"Its nothing, Lil. I've just got a lot on my mind. I mean, I'm Quidditch Captain this year, Head Boy, and Slughorn wants me to find some new members for the Slug Club. It's a lot on my plate."

"I'm sure it is, Scor. But you're usually pretty good at handling stress. There's something else you're not telling me," she placed her hand on his head, pushing back the platinum blonde lock that had fallen in his face. It was such an innocent gesture of friendship, yet it made him blush. "I'm not daft, you know. You've been my friend for five years. I can tell when something's wrong."

"It's nothing, okay, Lily? Besides, I'm not the only one that's different,. You've changed, too." And it was true, she had. Paris had changed her. She had a tan, and the sun had brought out the natural highlights in her red hair. She'd filled out in all the right places, she was curvy, now. Not just a twig. She wasn't just pretty anymore, she was beautiful; and it all made Scorpius' heart throb.

Her physical appearance wasn't all that had changed: she held herself with more pride. Something (Scorpius guessed) she had picked up from spending so much time with her Aunt Fleur.

"How?"

"You seem like you have more confidence in yourself. I don't know, Lil. Its hard to explain. And you look different too, Lil. I mean, hell! Look at yourself. You're bloody gorgeous!"

"Scor…"

He blushed, pink reaching his ears. He hadn't even realized what he said till it was too late. He stammered, then: "I have to go. I have Head rounds."

And he left the compartment without a word; leaving Lily flattered, confused, and a little annoyed.

Next chapter, we will get into Lily's head a little:)

Review please! I wont update till I have at least one review!