Disclaimer: I am not the legal owner of Harry Potter nor am I the owner of anything that is written in the Harry Potter series.

Lily twirled her quill as she tried to come up with the concluding paragraph for her Charms essay. Normally it would have taken her the average of three and a half hours of writing a Charms essay start to finish, but today she just couldn't concentrate on her assignment. It was already getting dark and she had rounds after dinner but no matter how hard she tried she could not bring herself to finish her homework.

She sighed and surveyed her surroundings. Hugo was talking to Lynda Wright, a fellow fifth year and one half of the Ravenclaw prefects. On the other side of the room she spotted Roxanne and Lucy whispering over the latest issue of Witch Weekly and Jimmy Sloan trying to shush them but stealing a look at the magazine every now and then.

Smiling, Lily set back to finish her essay. She stared at the parchment for another five minutes and decided to reassemble her belongings and head back to her Dormitory to put back her schoolbag and head down to the Great Hall and have a bite. Most of the corridors had a slow stream of her fellow students, as it was the end of another day some were practicing spells in the unused classrooms and others where either back from the library as she was or going there for a quick study session.

She hummed a slow tune as she rounded a corner and came to a sudden halt when she nearly collided with Scorpius Malfoy. She jumped back and he mirrored her actions, hoisting his schoolbag back on his shoulder. Lily was searching her mind for something to say, it felt like they were wasting time just standing there.

"Done with your homework?" he asked. A month and a half of not talking to each other and that's all he had to say to her. On any normal day she would've exploded and yelled but something inside of her held her back.

"I have a small setback with the conclusion but I'll see to it later tonight."

"Need any help?"

Lily eyed him skeptically but still didn't answer. She weighed his offer and after a couple of seconds she shook her head. "No, thank you, but no." readjusting her own schoolbag she began to walk past him. "I'll see you at dinner, Scorpius."

"Lily?" has she not been so close to him, she wouldn't have heard him say her name as it was barely above a whisper. When has Scorpius ever spoken to her so softly? Never for all she knew. She turned around and stared at him.

Breathing deeply, Scorpius stepped up closer to her. Lily was still struggling to find the words she wanted to say to him but in that moment he was awfully close to her. He was so close to her that she saw all the different shades of blue and grey in his irises. She should have pushed him away but the thought of touching him right now pained her.

She closed her eyes and moved back, feeling for the last time Scorpius' breathe against her mouth. She had to step back otherwise she won't be able to control her next move.

"Don't you do this to me, Lily-" his speech was interrupted by a stinging slap on his cheek. He knew that if he could feel the burning pain on his cheek, then she must feel at least a harsh tingle in her right palm. This rush of violence didn't really fit with Lily's usually calm and composed demeanor. "What was that for?"

"You're asking me questions you clearly can answer for yourself," Lily replied angrily. She managed to avoid it for this long but now there was no other way for her to express the deep feelings she felt towards him. After weeks of not talking to him, knowingly and willingly, she still couldn't figure why these butterflies stung her so hard deep in her chest. There was always a thrill with Scorpius, a great rush of blood her and her cautious mannerism was thrown aside. Lily always knew that with this strong rush there was also something more intense than the initial thrill. Scorpius had always been able to push her buttons and stretch the limit with her, and in all truth, until very recently she allowed him.

She looked back at Scorpius and discovered another change to him. Instead of having the last word, the light in his eyes faded away and he backed down. Without adding anything to the whole situation he tilted his head and gazed at her, the same he did before their little debacle. For Lily, there was nothing more to be said, for the next thing would be admitting that she had a weakness and that is something she would never do.

She heaved her schoolbag back on her shoulder. She really wanted to get away from him. She took a few steps and when he didn't stop or tried to touch her again she decided it was safe for her to keep on going.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius whispered. Lily stopped and turned around, there was already a small distance between them and she didn't bother to cross it. "I really am, Lily." He walked up to her, bridging the gap between them.

"I'm...Scorpius, let's just call it a day." She sighed and tried to stay collected, anything else and she will lose what sense of control she had.

"I guess you're right," Scorpius slumped his shoulders. "Maybe…maybe some other time?"

Rising on her tip toes, Lily brushed her lips against his. It wasn't a promise nor was it a goodbye. Not bothering to say anything else, she turned around and walked away. There was no stopping Scorpius from reaching out to her but he could never do something like that, not now. Lily rounded a corner and disappeared from his view. He shrugged and resumed his walk to the library.

They gave it a rest, just this once.

Thank you for reading

SnowFlakeGinny!