DISCLAIMER : JK Rowling owns everything, I just like to play in her world.

- Prologue -

The Burrow was alive with the Weasley clan and Lily Potter already had a headache. It wasn't that she didn't love her family, it was just overwhelming when the entire brood were together in one space.

In the years that the family had grown, The Burrow had rooms added on to accommodate everyone, but it was still crowded and loud.

"Hiding, Baby Potter?" a smooth voice said from above her. She opened her eyes, squinting at the silhouette of Scorpius Malfoy who was towering over her. He took a seat beside her against the shed in the back of the garden where Mr Weasley often tinkered with muggle objects.

"It gets loud in there sometimes," Lily said, letting her head fall back against the shed again.

Scorpius Malfoy had been staying with the Potters all summer. With his parents out of the country on business and Albus being his best friend, the Potter's had welcomed Scorpius into their home for the summer. And Lily wasn't complaining. She and Scorpius had always gotten along well, despite Albus' attempts to keep Lily out of his friendships because she was "his baby sister". Now that James was living in London, this summer had been a little less fun and a little more lonely.

Lily had always been closer with James than with Albus and she knew that all the time she had spent with her two brothers had been at James' request, not Albus'. With James gone, Albus had made no effort to include her in anything, not even when Scorpius suggested it. So she had spent most of the summer in her room reading or waiting for her friends from Hogwars to come back from their family holidays so she could see them.

"Yeah, you Weasley's are pretty loud when you all get together," Scorpius said, amusement dancing in his eyes. Lily looked at him, at the sharp planes of his face and the honey blonde hair he had. She remembered seeing him for the first time, almost a replica of his father standing on platform nine-and-three-quarters waiting to get on the Hogwarts Express.

That had been seven years ago, and in the time that had passed, Scorpius's appearance had become more like his mother. His features had softened a little, his hair darkened down to match his mothers, and his eyes were a dark, cloudy grey rather than the icy grey of his fathers. With playing Quidditch, his body had become that of lean, strong muscle rather than wiry like his father. He was handsome, Lily thought

"You're telling me, at least you get to go home to a quiet house sometimes, I don't know what quiet is." Scorpius chuckled at her blunt manner.

"You love them though," he said, nudging her shoulder with his own.

"Yeah, I do." She ignored the flutter in her stomach at their close proximity.

She had had a crush on Scorpius from the summer after his first year when Albus had invited him to visit, and it seemed with each passing year her crush grew. She didn't let him know that though, that would just be embarrassing.

"Scorpius?!" a voice called and Lily winced.

"You're going to give away my hiding place. I might have to ban you from it," she mumbled. Scorpius laughed.

"Scorpius?" Lily looked at him pointedly. Rose Weasley, her older cousin also had a crush on Scorpius, but it was much more obvious. Lily looked down at her knees as Rose rounded the corner and spotted them. "Oh, there you are," Rose said. She hesitated a few feet away having spotted Lily.

"You okay?" Scorpius asked.

"I was just going to ask if you still wanted to go over that charms assignment you asked me about. I have some free time." Lily bit her lip to stop from laughing. Rose had been trying to get Scorpius alone for a long time, but with Albus being around all the time and Scorpius not really wanting to, Rose had had some trouble.

"I'm talking with Lily right now, I'll come find you in a little bit, yeah?" Rose looked disappointed and Lily offered her a quick, sympathetic smile.

Rose nodded. "Sure," she said, the disappointment evident in her voice. Rose turned on her heel and walked away, the mess of ginger curls fading into the distance.

Lily snickered. "I think you broke her heart."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about." This made Lily laugh even harder.

"Oh come on, everyone on this planet knows she has the biggest crush on you. She doesn't half make it obvious!" Lily noticed a faint pink was now tinging Scorpius' cheeks.

"Yeah, well I like someone else." Lily stopped laughing at this. It was like he had punched her in the gut.

"Oh yeah?" she said, looking back at her knees. "Is it that Ravenclaw girl in your year that you were paired up with for class?" the girl in question was Abby Millen and she was coveted by many of the guys in Hogwarts. Lily could see why Scorpius might like her.

"No, she's a Gryffindor actually. But it'll never happen." The change in his voice made Lily look up at him.

"Why not?" she asked, concern lacing her words. She might not like the idea of him dating some beautiful girl, but she didn't like that he was sad about it either. She would much rather him happy.

"Because it's kind of complicated. I'm friends with her and there's a bunch of other factors involved that make it kind of impossible."

"Nothings impossible, Scorpius. If you really like her then go for it. If she doesn't like you back and she's really your friend, then it'll be fine."

"I can't." Scorpius shook his head. "She's perfect though. She makes me laugh, when I'm around her I just feel lighter. She's beautiful and clever and just all round incredible."

Lily's heart ached at his declaration. "She sounds wonderful." Her voice was barely audible.

"Yeah, she is."

Lily took a deep breath and after a moment of fighting with herself to be a good friend to him and not a bitter little girl with a crush, she said, "I say just tell her. The rest will work itself out if it's meant to be."

Scorpius looked at her and smiled. Two dimples appeared on his cheeks. "Thanks Lily, you're a good friend, you always know the right things to say." Lily offered him a smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "We should probably head back." Scorpius stood up and held his hand out for Lily.

She grabbed his hand and rose to her feet. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to miss out on the charms homework. Riveting stuff there." Scorpius snorted and knocked her shoulder again.

When they got back to the backdoor of The Burrow, Lily moved to split off from Scorpius but he grabbed her arm.

Lily looked up at him. "What?"

"You know I was talking about you, right?" his voice was soft and Lily's mouth formed an "o".

"I- uhh." Lily didn't know what to say. Scorpius let go of her wrist and looked around. Her family were inside the house and seemed distracted enough that they could have this conversation.

"That's why it's complicated."

"Because of Al?" she asked, finding her voice.

"That's a big reason," Scorpius said, nodding.

"You realise I've had a crush on you since I was like nine."

Scorpius chuckled. "I knew you had a crush when you were younger, but you seemed to get over that a while back."

"No, I just got good at pretending I didn't think you were hot." Lily rolled her eyes and Scorpius threw his head back, laughing.

"You got really good then, because I thought you were completely over it." Lily shook her head, her cheeks pink with embarrassment at her confession. "So you think I'm hot then?" he said, wriggling his eyebrows in what she assumed was supposed to be a seducitve manner. She laughed and pushed him back, her cheeks now ablaze.

"Fuck off," she said, pursing her lips and trying not to let her mortification show.

"I don't know what to do about this, but I like you, and if nothing happens, at least I told you." Lily sucked in a breath looking up at him and nodded.

"Scor, you wanna play a game?!" Lily and Scorpius took a step back from one another, though they hadn't been too close to cause suspicion. Lily looked over to find Albus with his broom in hand and a Quaffle under his arm.

"Yeah mate, let me grab my broom." He looked at Lily. "I'll see you later Baby Potter." He said it so casually that it seemed as though the conversation between them had never occurred. Lily watched him disappear into the house. If she was good at being nonchalant, then he was excellent. From the outside, Lily wouldn't have suspected they had been talking about anything other than the weather.

Lily took a deep breath and entered The Burrow, her head reeling with what Scorpius had just admitted to her. Now what would happen?

A/N : Hey everyone! Welcome to my first story. I am doing a little reshuffling of things, so be prepared for that. This is set during the summer before Lily's 5th year and from here on out we'll be back at Hogwarts where the story really begins! Hope you enjoyed, if so, let me know in a review!

Thanks guys, see you next time!

QueenVioletSnow