A/N: Hello, fanfiction world. I am sort of back from a self-imposed isolation, due to personal issues that I won't bore any of you with. I am still working on my first NextGen story, A Gryffindor and His Lioness, so no worries of my forgetting my little story. I have been suffering from a bout of writer's block, but this one was written during the summer before everything went downhill for me on the personal front. While I work out my kinks, I bring you this little multi-shot of my favorite NextGen pairing: Lily Luna Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, because there is way too many Rose/Scorpius stories, no offense to those shippers. But this one always seemed the more entertaining and fitting for my mind. The next chapter for this one will be posted soon since I have that one already written as well. I hope you enjoy. Reviews are always appreciated :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. At all. Or any canon characters except for the ones I created. Nor do I own Interpol(although I would love to own Paul Banks. Yum.).
Turn on the Bright Lights.
It's up to me now, turn on the bright lights...But New York cares (got to be some more change in my life)-Interpol, NYC.
Lily Luna Potter was the only daughter of the Chosen One, the savior of the wizarding world, Harry Potter. The eyes of the wizarding world in Great Britain followed her every move, even before Hogwarts. She didn't realize until she turned thirteen that she had a slight resentment towards her fame, which was solely because of the man she adored, her father. She began to understand the rolling of the eyes, the inward sigh, the occasional grimace of discomfort that would grace his face whenever they would run into a random witch or wizard in the street; she was 7 years old when she knew how to read the signs of her father's slight but resigned frustration, so she did whatever was in her power to make him feel happy, thus reinforcing the bond father and daughter already shared.
The Weasley/Potter clan were a huge and loving family, although it was easy for one to get lost in the mix. Out of her band of cousins, Lily was closest with Dominique, Roxanne, and Hugo; they were the last cousins to be born in the Weasley clan and all were to be in the same year when it was their time to attend Hogwarts. The four of the cousins were close and each of them had someone or something to live up to. Hugo was the only son of Hermione and Ron Weasley, the other two of the popular title of the "Golden Trio"; Dominique was the youngest daughter of a quarter Veela mother and her father is former Head Boy Bill Weasley , as well as being baby sister to Louis, the heartthrob of Hogwarts and Victoire, girlfriend to Teddy Lupin and the sweetheart of the family.
Roxanne Weasley was the daughter of George Weasley, owner of Weasley Wizards Wheezes and the niece to the deceased Fred Weasley I, whom her brother was named after; being the only daughter of a prankster genius she was seen by many in the wizarding world to be a sure replica of her father and his deceased twin. As for Lily, she was expected to follow in one of her parents footsteps: genius Quidditch chaser Ginny Potter or Auror extraordinaire, Harry Potter. This tie among the four cousins had them close and desiring a chance to form their own lives, but also wary of public scrutiny in various degrees.
Each of the cousins also felt overshadowed by their own relations as well; Lily's brothers were star Quidditch players for Gryffindor. She was closest to Albus in age as well as having him as a confidante, although she loved James' playful outlook on life. She envied them both in someway, on how they liked being in the spotlight while maintaining an aloof attitude about it all. Lily herself was cynical and preferred to be out of the spotlight, even among her own family. She was cunning on staying out trouble but loved causing it and being the only girl, her father always let her get away with murder, much to her mother's chagrin.
Hugo was the real treasure of the family. Everyone expected his sister, Rose, to be just like her mother while Hugo was expected to be like his father. What no one realized until his sorting into Ravenclaw was that not only did he inherit his mother's brains and his father's sense of humor, he loved reading and learning. He loved studying and was the one that outshone all his cousins, even his sister, in academics. Rose was intelligent but she preferred to either chase the Quaffle for the Quidditch team for Gryffindor alongside Albus and James, Fred II, and Louis; or chase the latest style in Muggle fashion, as well as chase boys. She breezed through her tests and was gifted, but she felt just like her cousin James: life was too short to bury one's nose in a book, an outlook that Hugo respected but stayed away from.
This garnered some teasing from Rose majority of the time, since she couldn't believe her brother preferred books to Quidditch. Hugo would slyly call her a slag in training or nonchalantly question her dating habits, which in return would cause Rose to storm off in anger and prank him mercilessly when she had the chance, not caring that he was wittier with his words and quicker with his wand. The two loved each other but had developed a rivalry of sorts that while Rose would come up with some superb pranks on him, Hugo would always say something to her that would leave her silently stunned. She was intelligent like him, but it was Hugo that was the true know it all of the Weasleys. By his third year he was rivaling his mother's reputation which had his father in shock and his mother proud; he was the first since Hermione Granger-Weasley to receive a newly restored Time-Turner to take his 13 classes and passed them all without a problem. As Lily would point out to her shocked aunt and uncle, Hugo didn't have a best friend that was wanted dead by a deranged Pureblood fanatic looming over their lives, which invariably had given him the ambition to pass his classes without any trouble at all.
Roxanne was sorted into Gryffindor which was not a shocker, since both of her parents were not only fierce lions but excellent Quidditch players. Her wariness towards Quidditch was the real shocker and preferred to spend time with Rubeus Hagrid at his hut and learn of the magical creatures he tended, and just like her Uncle Charlie, she had a fascination with dragons. She, along with her friends from Gryffindor Declan Finnegan and Riley Jordan, always got into mischief in the Forbidden Forest as well as playing pranks on their classmates, family, and friends. Although she clearly didn't inherit the Quidditch gene in the family, Roxanne was content on being the prankster and adventurer of Hogwarts; her brilliance at playing pranks overshadowed her brother Fred's, who was in the same year with Rose and Albus.
Dominique's point of view was a lot like Lily's: cynical and wary. The two of them were as close as twins: one was never present without the other. While Dominique had two siblings that were extremely popular at and after Hogwarts, Lily had to contend with a pair of famous parents and popular siblings. Both girls were sympathetic to each others predicaments, therefore Lily would always spend half of her summers abroad with Dominique with her French relatives; Dominique was always at the Potters home in Godric's Hollow for sleepovers. Both girls always had a secret agenda that had their parents on their toes(except Harry, who knew his daughter so well he always took their attitudes in stride) and their cousins in fear of them except for Roxanne and Hugo. James learned long ago that Lily and Dominique were a vicious pair that, like Roxanne, were so excellent at pranking that there was no way to beat them. Knowing this, however, didn't keep the shock from people's minds when both girls were sorted into Slytherin.
The Great Hall was silent that day, when Lily was sorted into Slytherin. She had a Cheshire grin as she proudly walked to the green and silver clad table while everyone, Slytherin house included, had their mouths open in blatant disbelief. It was Scorpius Malfoy, 3rd year and good friend to Albus and Rose(his secret girlfriend for 2 days back in 2nd year) who began to applaud and began a war chant of "We Got Potter!" The majority of the table had joined in while others were disgusted or annoyed. When Dominique's name was aligned with Slytherin, the entire table cheered, suddenly elated with the turn of events. Louis was convinced it was all a prank, as did James, but Albus had to convince them that this was for real and it would be wise to be supportive.
The first two terms for Lily were relatively uneventful; she stayed out of the attention of others while maintaining her steadfast friendship with Dominique, managing to make two new friends: Stella Montague, whose father was Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House, and Lucia Zabini. People would always whisper about her, some Slytherins doubted if she belonged amongst them, she was always badgered by others because of who her parents were. Boys would automatically talk to her of Quidditch, not realizing that she didn't care much for playing it though she did enjoy it. Their need to talk to her bothered her and she hated that some of her classmates expected her to be just like her siblings or cousins. She hated the attention and just wanted to get through Hogwarts in one piece, learn about Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Charms; she didn't like the constant stream of classmates wanting to be her friend because of a name.
Her mother and aunts were always concerned for her, wondering if she was truly okay, basing their worries not by what she wrote but what the others wrote, due to their still shocked state of mind that sweet Lily Luna was a Slytherin. It was only her father and godmother that understood her well and knew when she said she was happy, it was because she was happy. Harry Potter knew his daughter was a lot like him, eschewing the attention while trying to find true friends that valued who he really was, not the title of The Boy Who Lived. Her godmother, Luna Lovegood Scamander, knew by faith that her goddaughter was where she belonged, and always assured her in her letters that in time people will see as long as she's happy, instead of trying to convince others.
Lily decided that before her 2nd year ended she was done with trying to prove something of herself to people; it was a complete waste of energy and time. She was a girl trying to live a life of some normalcy; her godmother's reassuring words made her feel a bit more optimistic. She began to frequent the Gryffindor table often with Dominique, Stella, and Lucia by her side. While many of the Gryffindors were put off by the presence of Slytherins(the rivalry was present still) at first, it wasn't until Lily's pointed glare and telling off by Dominique that silenced some stares. Albus was thrilled with seeing his baby sister while James was put off by Lily and Dominique's attitude when it finally hit him: she was happy. She liked being in Slytherin, she had friends, and she had her lively spunk that now was laced with an acerbic wit that made anyone cringe except for her older housemate, Scorpius Malfoy.
The two of them had struck up on an odd friendship: they each thrived on a battle of wits and words. He took her under his wing as a favor to his best friend, Albus who had been worried about his baby sister at the beginning of her 1st year. It wouldn't be until the winter holidays of that year that made Albus realize he had nothing to worry about, although he did want his best mate to keep an eye out just in case. And he did, although it was usually paired with the need to annoy her. He never anticipated her vicious comebacks nor her icy remarks, which made him realize if anyone was a true Slytherin, it was her. As Lily got older, she got even more cunning and introverted. Despite her resolve not to let others get to her, she still had a slight distrust in the world and the people she encountered. Some still sought out her friendship for no other reason but her name, which made her more suspicious on a daily basis.
She once confessed to Scorpius and Domi(she's the only one who can call her that) that she didn't trust the world except for a precious few and she wasn't sure if she ever will. Dominique understood while Scorpius had been empathetic but stern when he advised her,
"Lilybell(he was the only one who could call her that without the infamous Bat Bogey Hex unleashed upon him that she inherited from her mother), don't let outsiders dictate who you are or how you should be. If you do, then you give them the right to dissect your whole personality. From what Albus told me, your father let them do that for awhile in his 5th year and then he got wise. Don't wait until then. You're a Slytherin. You're better than that."
He winked at her and she laughed at his cheek at the expense of her father. She was in the final weeks of her 2nd year and excelling in her classes, particularly Potions and Charms. She ended her year on the top of her class, right below Hugo, which made her proud of the both of them. The year ended on a good and excited note since she was turning thirteen that July and she was about to be in her 3rd year at Hogwarts which meant Hogsmeade visits. Stella and Lucia, along with her older sister Mirabella, would come over to visit Lily at Godric's Hollow as well as Domi(Stella and Lucia were the only ones to call her that as well). Then she would be forced to spend some girl time with her mother. Ginny Potter, in an attempt to connect with her only daughter, decided that a trip to Spain for a weekend would be beneficial for them. Lily was dreading it despite her initial excitement at the idea of a weekend in Spain.
It was on her 13th birthday that everything changed. Teddy had known of Lily's insecurity through conversations with Harry and Ginny, who were worried that their little girl was getting flack for being a proud Slytherin. He discussed it with Victoire, who was happy that her sister and cousin were having a chance to be her own person without being shadowed by any overprotective brothers. Scorpius even confided in Teddy, who was his second cousin, about Lily's introverted personality and how she had the capability of rising above anything that was thrown her way as long as she had mentors that saw the world as more than just a playground for pranks and attention.
Teddy was surprised and pleased that his cousin and his brother Albus were watching over his little sister, since he wasn't there to be a soothing presence like he usually was. He didn't trust James to take his little sister serious enough since he still considered a joke that his baby sister, a Potter, was a Slytherin; after in depth talks with his fiancee, his cousin, his other brother, and his godfather, Teddy had decided to open Lily's eyes through the way she always connected with life in general: music. She didn't have the knack of being instrumentally capable, but Lily had an ear for music which was why she loved going to France with Dominique and Victoire: they would always go to local concerts given by Muggle and wizard musicians. He also knew Lily loved the obscure and anything that wasn't in the spotlight, like her. The band he found perfect for her were from America, New York to be precise. He had done some research and he knew that their songs would help Lily form her identity, that she nor Dominique, Hugo, and Roxanne were alone in the world when it concerned the matters of overshadowing or predestined popularity. And indeed, Lily's eyes were opened; the lights were turned on and she knew someone or someones did care.
The song itself was beautiful; it was indeed if the lights were turned on. She saw everything clearly for once and beyond the box. The man's voice was soulful and yearning, everything Lily was but afraid to show. The music itself was soothing yet insistent, as if there was a message to be heard. The entire c.d., which Lily found excited to learn more in Muggle Studies, was beyond a work of musical art. It was that illusive band that would play in the background while Lily read her Potions book among her other subjects and began to discover other Muggle bands thanks to Teddy's advice. She discovered she liked Muggle bands more, since there is more of a variety and different genres. While she still loved the wizarding bands that she grew up with, Muggle bands like Interpol and another she discovered, Placebo, were instant favorites.
After her 13th birthday, she began to take herself seriously as far as personality was concerned. She socialized a bit more while finally adopting the aloof attitude she had envied for so long from her older brothers. With Teddy and Albus as her confidantes, her father a compassionate listener, her beloved cousins, her fellow Slytherin compatriots, and her love for music, Lily finally began to form her place in the wizarding world on her own terms. She actually enjoyed the trip to Spain with her mother, confided in her some insecurity issues that recently began to resolve; Ginny Potter realized her daughter was so much like Harry that it was no wonder the two of them shared a rather special bond. And why she herself was desperate to figure in somehow in the equation, it became clear. It was also clear to Ginny that unknowingly their family had put pressure on their children to be like they were when they were at Hogwarts, but they were only children after all and living in a world where families were still recovering from the Second Wizarding War.
Ginny, like many, had forgotten that Lily was thirteen but acted beyond her years at times, just like Harry had been. But it was different, it was harder for Lily and possibly the other Weasley/Potter brood: they came from a legacy that automatically had the world watching them closesly. While others enjoyed the attention, like James and Rose and Louis, they were others that refused to either join in other's expectations, like Dominique and Lily, or just float on with their lives, like Albus and Hugo.
The other cousins had adjusted nicely to the mold that was already predestined for them in their own ways: Molly Weasley II was happily married to a fellow Ministry of Magic official and working with her Aunt Hermione in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Her younger sister, Lucy Weasley who was to graduate with James and Louis, had expressed interest in working with her Aunt Ginny at the Daily Prophet, who was intent on reworking the heralded newspaper after it finally ousted the awful woman of Rita Skeeter. Teddy Lupin, the unofficial Potter child as well as future husband of Victoire Weasley, worked alongside his fiancee at the Ministry of Magic: he was a newly graduate into the Auror program of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement while Victoire was rising in the ranks of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, after turning down several offers to professional Quidditch teams. Like the majority of her family, Victoire was an avid Quidditch player but preferred to improve international relations between the magical communities, due to her ambition on not having another Wizarding War to occur again.
Lily, on the otherhand, was never a fanatic for Quidditch or aspire to be a Quidditch player like her brothers, although she did enjoy the matches and was always there to root for her family and friends, no matter who was against who. It was Victoire's little sister, Dominique, who was the star player for Slytherin. She was a brilliant Beater, and was ruthless in the air to anyone who crossed her path. She, along with Stella Montague, were the best Beaters the Slytherin team has ever had and they made sure to make everyone fear them whenever a match was held. Louis was begrudgingly proud of his little sister and had to commend her skills at being fast and stealth. Rose learned to fear her in the air as well as on the ground, since Dominique had no patience with Rose's attitude towards her younger brother and her need to boss everyone around which is a trait she did inherit fully from her mother.
Lily's passion was for Potions just like her grandmother Lily Evans Potter, loving the smell of a potion brewing in her cauldron that she created with her own hands and mind; she also inherited her namesake's skill at Charms and was the favorite of her Head of House Professor Montague and Professor Flitwick. She also loved painting and studying art, which was now part of Muggle Studies. Everything that Muggles found important in their culture was now part of the Muggle Studies curriculum; the class became mandatory after the Second Wizarding War and despite some initial protests from the few Slytherins that remained from the Pureblood mania mindset, it was a relatively beloved class even among the Slytherins. It was this class they learned about William Shakespeare and the class that Lily and Scorpius bonded over and fought over as well.
Their arguments, which ranged from the petty to the most serious, were well known among their housemates. It was as if they took turns on who was to initiate the arguments and sometimes their fights were intense. One particular one occurred in Lily's 4th year; Scorpius had been mocking Lily and how she must feel like a Slytherin princess, being the favorite of Professor Montague and took advantage of being a Potter. Once the words left his mouth, however, he knew that not only had he crossed the line but he regretted the pain it caused in Lily's eyes, although it was a brief spark that vanished underneath the veneer of a true Slytherin. Not only did he suffer the famous Bat Bogey Hex and her deathly silent treatment for a month, he was under Dominique's hex watch and while no one knew what happened in the Slytherin common room except for a few housemates(some, like Petra Warrington, were given Tongue-Tying charms if they ever uttered a word to anyone else courtesy of Lucia), everyone at Hogwarts wondered why Scorpius Malfoy was undergoing two hexes a week for an entire month and never retaliated.
Albus was the only one aside from Hugo and Roxanne that knew what happened, and although he had been furious, he knew his best mate was repentant. It also assuaged Albus' big brother instincts that his sister could take care of herself and had the best friends(pretty ones) that would always defend her just as she would them. Albus would laughingly relate to his parents the arguments his sister and mate would get into over letters to home or talk over dinner, which had his parents curious; Harry and Ginny Potter began to wonder if it meant anything. For Harry, it sounded reminiscent of the tales he heard concerning his parents while it reminded Ginny of her brother and best friend during their years at Hogwarts, before that fateful day in May. Harry felt a tradition coming upon them and was wary of any interaction between his precious flower and his son's best mate while Ginny began to wonder and was already liking the image coming into her mind. Harry's worries and Ginny's imagination slowly dissipated as Lily grew older.
As Lily and Dominique grew up, both girls were very unconcerned about the male population and more focused on their future. Dominique wanted to be a professional Quidditch player like her Aunt Ginny while Lily was debating between a future of being in Potions or a Healer. Either way, both girls were wary of the male population, although it didn't stop Dominique from being interested in them. She decided to be a competitor of Rose, just to annoy her cousin. With her light strawberry blonde hair that was always highlighted with pink streaks courtesy of Stella's knack for cosmetic charms, penetrating icy blue eyes, her mother's pale skin and father's smile, she thrived on flirting with the boys and giving them attention whenever they sought hers, but she never committed to one at all. She was a flirt, and loved being unattainable, using her Veela skills to her amusement. She did like one boy, but never let him know, for fear of him being infatuated with the illusion that she created.
Only Lily, Lucia and Stella knew that she adored Declan Finnegan, her cousin Roxanne's best friend. Lily and Stella knew that Roxy(which she liked more than the formal Roxanne) really saw Declan as a friend(she had her eye on Hugo's best mate, Lysander Scamander), but being young meant that Dominique wanted attention and Quidditch for her time at Hogwarts; it would be life afterwards that time would tell and she would give any man a chance to know the real Dominique Felicity Weasley, and she held steadfast on the hope that man would be Declan.
Lily, on the opposite end, was truly unaware of the beauty she was. Due to her natural reserved nature and her tendency to avoid being in the spotlight, some of the (envious)students dubbed her "Ice Princess", which made Albus furious and had spent his entire 7th year making sure anyone that called his sister that would suffer his wrath, if one survived the wrath of Dominique. While Dominique was the radiant beauty, Lily was the mysterious beauty. She had dark red hair and sapphire blue eyes that she inherited from her Grandpa Weasley, she had pale skin like her father's with few dashes of freckles that came with being a redhead, she was truly the unattainable one. By the time her 5th year came around, boys of all ages would gaze adoringly at her, many sought her attention(particularly Lorcan Scamander, Lysander's brother and future boyfriend to her cousin Rose) but she dismissed them all without a care in the world.
She preferred to dedicate herself in the classes that she loved while striving to do well in classes she wasn't as gifted in, particularly Transfiguration. She learned more from Hugo concerning History of Magic as opposed to her actual professor, the ghostly and boring figure of Professor Binns. She painted on her free time and spent other times helping Madame Pomfrey and Madame Thomas in the school infirmary, learning of Healing spells as well as learning more of Transfiguration. She didn't care about the rivalry between Domi and Rose, although she found it humorous and she liked to watch the arguments the cousins would have alongside Hugo, Roxy, and even Albus and Scorpius. She was content on being a romantic adviser; she became Albus' guide on helping to ask Stella out on a date and wrote letters of advice to James, who found himself in love of a former classmate of his, her own Slytherin housemate and Lucia's older sister, Mirabella Zabini.
She was happy at the turn of events and it showed through her letters, which had her brother eager to share his eagerness and was happy that he had something to talk about with his sister. James explained he couldn't keep his eyes off her during that summer before his final year at Hogwarts, the summer she had come by to visit. As it so happens, Mirabella always had a soft spot for the Potter boy. Lucia confided in Lily that she had always known about Mirabella's crush but never told a soul since her sister was on the shy side and feared rejection from a popular boys like him. Lily laughed since no doubt her big brother never noticed Mirabella due to the green and silver robes of her uniform; it probably was the first time James really saw Mirabella when she came over to the house with Lucia and Stella. How her loveliness escaped James' notice was beyond Lily's mind: Mirabella had the Spanish features of her mother yet olive skin, a light blending from her father's dark tones. Her raven black and striking green eyes that not as vibrant as Albus' but they had a soulfulness to them that had James smitten from that moment.
Lily hadn't been surprised on the development between Albus and Stella since she was always closer with Albus and the Slytherin quartet, as Scorpius dubbed them, were always at the Gryffindor table during school term. She knew her brother always had a thing for Stella and it probably helped a lot that not only was she best friends with Lily, she was also Scorpius' cousin; his mother and Stella's mother were sisters after all. In fact Stella's other sister, Daphne Montague, was a year older than Albus and Scorpius but was sorted in Ravenclaw. Rumor was that Louis had a crush on Daphne but she actually turned him down, refusing to be one of his legion of fervent admirers. It amused Lily that her male relations were infatuated with either Slytherin girls or daughters of a Pureblood family that had either been in Slytherin or had children in Slytherin. Despite her inexperience in the dating realm, Albus and James even Louis were always going to her for advice and each were astounded on how wise Lily was, and grateful that she was dedicated to her studies rather than dating the entire male population of Hogwarts, despite the disappointment of many would be suitors.
The only male that was happy of Lily's disinterest in dating was Scorpius Malfoy. He could never admit it to his best mate or anyone(although he had a suspicion that Dominique knew, since she never pursued him and she made sure Rose never did again) that his feelings for Lily had grown more from the friendly and more towards the adoration. He dated a few girls but none held his interest for long, after a few good snogs of course. He often compared himself to Benedick and Lily was his Beatrice, from their favorite Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing. He respected Lily's dedication to her classes and her drive to be more than just Harry Potter's daughter. He understood the need to rise above a name; he was on the flip side of that coin, as he strived to prove that he wasn't Draco Malfoy's heir apparent to be the ass of Hogwarts.
Even though he was a Slytherin, he was best friends with Albus and Rose, whom he had met on their first train ride on the Hogwarts Express and maintained a friendship despite the negativity of others. He was also seen as an extended member of the Potter family, much to his father's annoyance and his mother's amusement. His best class was Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts, hoping to be an Auror and fight off any evil or malicious force, intent on ruining the world his grandmother and Harry Potter worked hard to bring to the wizarding world. That was his dream, and he knew he had his father's support as well as his mother's. Only Lily and Albus knew of his aspiration; Albus had the same goal in mind and Lily had been thrilled at their dream, giving both boys a rare but wonderful hug of glee. Albus had ruffled her hair while Scorpius felt his insides dance a jig.
Scorpius also knew that any possible chance he could have with Lily wasn't in the near future; she and Dominique had decided they would live in France after their graduation from Hogwarts. Only Scorpius and Hugo and Roxy knew of this plan and it was to stay that way until their 7th year, when it was time for their futures to be decided or at the least a goal to be had. Shortly before his own graduation, Scorpius had given Lily a charm necklace that his mother had helped him find in a Muggle shop in France. It was of several coins from different eras of France, both magical and Muggle. He told her in a whisper that no one could hear,
"This is to remember me by, my witty Beatrice." Lily smiled widely and was (again)hugging him fiercely when she said in a low whisper as well,
"I won't ever forget you, my charming Benedick."