"Lily! Come on, I'm starving and we're going to miss breakfast."

I quickly applied my eyeliner and grabbed my bag and shoes and ran out of my dorm room to slide down the banister into the common room. My best friend Libby stood waiting for me and raised her eyebrows at me as I landed neatly next to her.

"That's just proof that you do that too much." She commented as I straightened up.

I just grinned as I slipped on my heels.

"I thought you were hungry." I called back to her as I made my way out of the portrait.

x-x-x

"Lily, would it kill you to wear a longer skirt?" Albus asked as I sat down next to him at the Gryffindor table.

"Yes Al, I actually think it would. I'm in the prime of my life, who knows if I'll ever look this good again, got to take advantage of it while I can."

My brother rolled his eyes at my logic, but proceeded to pour me a cup of coffee.

"What you got this morning?" he asked, shovelling eggs and bacon into his mouth.

"Double Herbology." I replied, buttering my toast. "You?"

"Off first period then Potions, me and Scor have sort of put off our project for it, so we have to finish it this morning."

Scorpius Malfoy and my brother, Albus Potter, have been best friends since their third year, when they finally came to their senses and realised they only argued because of stereotypes that had been placed upon them because of our family names and our houses.

Scor is a pain in the ass, but then again so are my brothers. They spend most of our holidays at either our house or his and we always end up having him round for dinner, seeing as Scorpius' mother can't really cook.

"Typical of you two." I commented.

His reply was a simple smirk that made me roll my eyes.

"You're the genius in the family Lils, maybe you should do the project for us." He suggested.

"What is it on?"

"The effect of daisy root in the shrinking potion." He shrugged.

"What do you mean, like how it must be chopped evenly before it's administered and how the more even it is the stronger the potion becomes?" I answered taking a sip of my coffee.

"Yeah, why is that?" he asked.

"The natural oils produced in the roots are able to release easier as well as faster, giving the potion a more potent mix. The reason it's used in the first place is because the plant is a weed, and weeds are considered small and it is the desired consequence that they become even smaller. Therefore perfect for a shrinking potion."

"Are you sure you don't want to do this essay for us?" Scorpius asked as he sat down on my other side.

"Fraid not." I replied. "I have my own work to do."

"Come on Lily, help out your favourite boys." He pouted.

I layered a shocked expression onto my face.

"Who on earth ever said you two were my favourites?"

"Hey!" they both exclaimed as Libby and I picked up our things and sauntered out of the Great Hall.

x-x-x

"I just...Ow...I don't see how you can deny things between you and Scorpius." Libby said whilst trying to fend off her Fanged Geranium, which was desperately trying to get a bite of her.

"I still don't see why you insist there's something going on." I replied smacking her plant with a wooden stick that was always left lying around the greenhouses.

"Thanks. Don't deny it Lily, you two are so chummy and you know what he's like with girls."

"Exactly. Why would I want to start something with someone who I know thinks a committed relationship is 2 weeks without kissing some other girl?"

"Ok, fair point. But you have to admit he treats you differently than he does everyone else."

"He teases me more."

She raised her eyebrow at me.

"I'm his best friends little sister! He practically lives at our house whenever we're home."

"But he's always all over you!" she exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes.

"Slinging his arm around my shoulder does not mean he's all over me. Compare that to all the other girls who he blatantly makes out with in any corridor available."

"I still say he likes you." She replied indignantly.

x-x-x

"Gah. Why do we have to have Herbology first thing on a Thursday morning?" Samantha Evans asked in her crisp Welsh accent as we made our way back to the castle for break. We'd all just spent the last 5 minutes of lesson trying to clean ourselves of soil. "It makes you feel all grubby for the rest of the day."

"Just think." Libby replied dreamily. "After all these silly OWLs are over, we can drop it."

I scoffed. "Speak for yourself, I'll be taking the most brutal subjects next year. If I pass anyway."

"Get real Lily." Justin Peck cut in, matching his stride with ours. "You're the brightest in the year, if you don't pass we don't pass. What will you be doing next year then?" he asked.

"Potions, Defence, Herbology, Charms and Transfiguration."

He took a moment to contemplate them.

"No guesses needed to say you're going to be an auror." He laughed.

"Well it is sort of the family business." I agreed. "But you never know, with those subjects I could still go down the Healer route. But that lime green uniform. Eww."

Everyone around me laughed in agreement.

"Lily, did you do the Muggle Studies homework?" asked Becky Stone, a fellow Gryffindor.

"The one about their television programmes? Yeah. My dad always gets us to watch that stuff on our breaks, especially if we go visit my uncle. It was easy really."

As we reached the castle Justin split from us to join his fellow Ravenclaws that were already heading up to Divination on the top floor. The rest of us had charms so we sat on the top of the stairs for a little while, trying to enjoy the last of sun.

October was fast coming to a close and the weak watery light was hardly enough to warm us so I conjured a small fire to sit between us and we all pulled in closer. After a few moments I felt someone sit behind me, so I was between their legs, and wrap their arms around me. I looked back over my shoulder to see Scorpius just centimetres away.

"Budge up little bit." He crooned rubbing his cold nose against my neck.

I shivered and he squeezed me tighter.

"How did potions go?" I asked my brother as he sat down with the rest of my group.

"Well, we managed to write the essay, used what you'd said of course. There were actually quite a few books on it once we actually knew what we were looking for."

I relaxed back into Scorpius and caught Libbys' eye. She was smirking and gave a pointed look at Scorpius' arms, which were wrapped around my stomach.

"You going into Hogsmeade this weekend?" Scorpius asked quietly after a few moments. Everyone else was engrossed in their own conversations and they weren't paying any attention to us.

I felt my stomach flutter. No matter what I said to Libby there was still a part of me that harboured the same, if not smaller, crush I'd had for Scorpius since I was 11 years old. Whilst tall and slim like his father he had inherited his mothers brown hair with natural highlights and his fathers' grey eyes. Add his natural good looks to his boyish charm and he'd won over every girl he'd ever set his targets on. I knew deep down nothing good would come from liking Scorpius, not one of his 'relationships' had ended well and that could make things awkward for my brother.

"Of course, who would miss out on that? You?"

"Yeah." He answered just as quietly as he asked. My stomach fluttered again. Was he going to ask? We had always been flirty, well in the past year or so. But he'd never made a move on it so I just figured that's how he was with every girl he was close to. "I'll see you there I guess. Group of us are planning to have drinks in the pub, see who can last the longest." He laughed.

I smiled along with him but felt my heart sink. He was off limits anyway, I shouldn't care whether or not he asked me out.

"For your birthday right?"

He gasped in fake shock. "Wow you remembered."

"Well it's kind of stuck in my memory after how much you told us about it last year." I joked.

"Hey, 17 is a big deal."

"Yes I know." I replied rolling my eyes. "You and Albus have been hell this summer with your magic."

Scorpius laughed.

"We'd better get to class." I said, as everyone around us began to make a move.

Scorpius stood and then offered me his hand to pull me up.

"So, Hogsmeade?" he asked again.

"I'll make sure I pop in and buy you a round or two for your birthday. Ahh," I said as we began walking back into the castle. "Now I see why you brought it up. Always the scavenger, eh Scorp?"

"Damn." He laughed. "Busted."

"See you later." I replied quietly, waving to my brother and following my friends up the grand staircase.

x-x-x

"Don't even think about it." Albus warned quietly.

Scorpius turned to look at him.

"What you on about?" he asked innocently.

Albus bobbed his head towards his sisters retreating back. "Lily's off limits. You know that."

"But..." Scorpius started to argue.

"No buts, you won't use my sister like you do every other girl. And yes, I know you don't mean to. You can't help but get bored after the chase is over. But you will not do that to Lily. She's better than that Scor."

"I know." He answered quietly, staring longingly at the upper floors where he knew she was walking to class. "I wouldn't do that to her though."

"I don't even know how many girls you've said that about anymore Scor. I know you care for Lily more than you've ever done for them, but that's only because you've actually gotten to know her through me. You'd still ditch her the moment things got to mundane for you."

"I highly doubt any moment with Lily would be mundane." Scorpius argued.

Albus smiled tightly. "She does have a temper and a quick wit that would keep you on your feet. But you know you'd just hurt her Scor. So I repeat. My sister is off limits."

Scorpius nearly growled.

"Do you remember when you used to say how cool it would be if me and your sister got together? That it would make us brothers."

Albus sighed as he began to pull his friend out the front doors again, making their way to Herbology.

"Yes I remember. And I was only thinking of me in that situation. Not how much you'd hurt Lily."

"Why are you so convinced I'd hurt her? That we wouldn't work?"

"Because I've been your best friend for nearly 5 years, I've seen you do this with girl after girl."

Scorpius remained quiet. Maybe Albus was right. Maybe the very fact that he knew that Lily was off limits was exactly why he was so drawn to her.