A/N.: Lily's such a dear! I hope you like this chapter! There is french in there, but don't worry. I'm fluent in French ever since kindergarten, so there are no atrocities in here. There'll be translations for those who don't understand, however. Enjoy!

French is italicized.

Chapter 2

Weasels and Ravens

"You're a little bit shy
A little too quiet
You're the mixed up girl
That everybody leaves behind
A little bit weird
A little too bright
But you just might be
That little bomb at their side..."

~Annie, Our Lady Peace

"Did you say anything?"

"No, father."

The other man sighed in relief. "Now if I can only eliminate Potter's suspicions..." He thought of all the paranoia surrounding the Boy-Who-Lived and snorted. "That will be quite a task."

The son looked at his father, "What should we do?"

The man was lost in his thoughts. "I just need someone who can be close to him, to the Potter family. If only..." He glanced at his son, who was innocently looking back at him.

"Where exactly did you go when we were in that wretched bookstore?" He snapped.

"At the back with a girl named Lily." The son responded with a shrug.

A grin slowly oozed into the wizard's face.

"Excellent."


September 1, 2019

"LILY LUNA POTTER!" A harsh voice screamed, the sound waves reaching the old floorboards, making Lily jump. "WE'RE LEAVING WITHOUT YOU UNLESS YOU WAKE UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Lily sat up, looking wildly at her bedroom door. She pulled some clothes, ran out the door and tumbled down the stairs. Mrs Black started screeching.

A resounding crash and a thundering noise was all anyone heard had they been in the livingroom at the time. A disheveled Lily Potter appeared out of the chaos. Suddenly, a great shout of laughter filled the air. Lily looked around, anxiety reaching a record high. Had she gone mad?

No, she hadn't. In fact, directly in her line of vision was her older cousin, Fred Weasley.

"Freddie!" Lily squealed. The voice who had been her alarm clock that morning was, of course her dear cousin Fred, who was a practical joker at heart, much like his father George.

Fred grinned. If he had a favorite cousin, it'd be Lily. "Lillers!" he yelled exuberantly, shaking Lily's hand. "Such a jolly place to meet you! My, what wonderful clothes you are wearing! Tell me, is it Malkins or Tattings?"

Lily looked at her pajamas, old and ripped and back at Fred again. She looked amused. "Fredders, were you the one waking me up today?"

"..."

"...maaybe."

Lily put her hands on her hips, looking amused. "And is there anyone else who shouldn't be here?"

Roxanne, Fred's younger sister, on cue, skipped into the living room, wearing a goofy grin on her face. "I hope you don't mind our staying here, Lil!" she exclaimed, swinging her arms around. As an afterthought she added, "We'll only be here for two hours until the train arrives, so we won't be such a terror on you!"

"Yeah, like that'll happen," Fred muttered. Roxanne threw a shoe at him.

When Harry came down from the bedroom, he didn't expect four bright faces beaming up at him. Nor did he expect a plate full of hot steaming pancakes at the ready for him.

"My my! This is certainly a surprise!" Harry grinned appreciatively, looking round at them all. He sat down next to Fred, who grinned goofily at him.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Roxanne and Fred. "Just what're you two planning to do today? Not some mischief, I take it?" He gave them meaningful looks.

Roxanne and Fred exchanged looks before the latter spoke nervously, "Think of the pancakes as payment for unpreventable happenings, Uncle Harry."

"What unpreventable happenings?" Said a disapproving voice behind the two teens. Said teens jumped in their seats.

"Nothing, Ginny dear," Harry said nervously. "Come sit down. Look at what the children have concocted." He gazed ever so slightly towards Roxanne and Fred. They, at least, understood the meaning behind his words.

But, just as soon as Ginny had put the syrup on the pancakes, a resounding crash echoed throughout the other side of the room.

"I'll get it, Uncle Harry," Fred volunteered. Harry had barely time to register Fred's words.

Roxanne sniggered at the look on Harry's face. "FRED WEASLEY!"

Ruth Scamander dusted the soot off of her muggle clothes as she looked around the house. She glanced back at the dark fireplace, trying to see if anyone else came through it, but no flames appeared. It was only her, in the middle of an unknown livingroom, but at first glance, Ruth Scamander seemed indifferent to her fate.

"What a nice place this is," she murmured to herself, walking over to the mahogany banisters and touching the wood, "with quite the air of distinction, really." She passed an umbrella stand that look uncannily like a troll's leg and made her way through the hallway.

A startling pop invaded her senses. Ruth turned around and saw a fairly old house-elf. Male, by the looks of it. "Hello madam," he said courteously, bowing low to her. "Were you invited by the Master?"

"Umm, well you see," Ruth said nervously, "I was using the Floo, and for some reason I-"

"Kreacher!" A tall boy, possibly a man, was on the other side of the hallway. He had his hand in mid-wave but stopped upon seeing the newcomer. Slightly curious as to who the person was, Ruth walked a little closer to the man/boy.

"Who are you?" He said cautiously.

Ruth replied truthfully. "My name's Ruth Scamander. I sort of got lost and landed in your house. I'm really sorry."

The man/boy grinned. "This isn't my house, although I'm flattered. I think I've heard the name Scamander before."

"Well, if it helps at all, my dad's name is Rolf. And my granddad's name is Newt Scaman-"

"Say no more!" He smiled. "Come with me!"

Ruth followed the man/boy into another room, leaving Kreacher to mutter something about red-headed twins and their descendants.


"Honestly, one of these days..." Harry muttered, slicing his pancake rather forcefully in two. Lily giggled quietly behind her hand.

Suddenly the youngest Potter remembered something important. "Mum?"

"Yes dear," Ginny said absent-mindedly, pouring herself some milk.

"Where's Albus and James?"

Roxanne answered before Ginny could open her mouth. "They're with Grandma at the Burrow. At least, that's the last I saw of them."

"They wanted to spend time with Louis and Rose. Your Uncle Bill and his family are staying over there because Shell Cottage needs some fixing up." Ginny explained quietly.

"...and I bet all of Neville's spawns are over there, wrecking havoc on your poor mother, Ginevra dear." Harry said merrily. Ginny threw the milk cap at Harry, who easily caught it with his seeker reflexes.

Roxanne made a gagging sound. "You don't mean to say that Oven's there?"

"Olive." Ginny corrected her, trying not to smile.

Lily was confused. "Why do you call her Oven?"

"Because she's hot for Jamie-boy, that's why Lillers." Roxanne wiggled her eyebrows.

The look on Lily's face was priceless.

"Ahem." Everyone turned around and saw Fred in the doorway. "There's a bit of a slight problem here, Uncle Harry..."

Harry looked around. Nothing had changed, apart from the weird crasing noise they had all heard a few minutes ago. "What in the world are you talking about-"

"-lovely place you got here, Mister Boy." A darkish red-haired girl with blue eyes came out from behind Fred and looked dreamily around the room.

"My name isn't Mister Boy, Ruth..." Fred grumbled under his breath.

Everyone laughed, but none as hard as Lily. "Mister...mister-b-boy! kha.-haha!" Ruth looked at Lily with a vague interest.

Harry intervened. "Umm, exactly who-"

"I'm Ruth Scamander." The girl said nonchalantly, tucking a strand of hair underneath her ear. "I'm real sorry, I guess I wasn't paying any attention when I tried Flooing."

Ginny walked into the diningroom from the kitchen. "Is it just me or did I hear the name 'Scamander' just..." she stopped and looked at Ruth.

"Luna?" The red-headed Potter rushed at 'Luna' and hugged her ferociously. "Did you dye your hair? How come you've never responded to my owls? And don't tell me that you were busy finding Rumple-Corned Nerkacks because that would be a complete waste of time." A shocked Ruth disentangled herself from Ginny's grasp.

"Sorry, ma'am, but I'm not Luna. Luna's my mother."

"WHAT?"


"Luna dear, I have a strange feeling we're forgetting something..."

"Don't pay any attention to it, Rolf. It's the Nargles talking."

"...what are Nargles again?"


"...so we ended up living somewhere in Wales for the time being, with my grandfather Newt. I have twin brothers, Lysander and Lorcan. They've been studying at Beauxbatons for a while, because of the independant learning program they have there. Now that all of us are near England, we'll be going to Hogwarts."

"Really?" Ginny said, intrigued. "I was good friends with your mother a long time ago. We attended Hogwarts together."

Lily looked up. "So are you gonna be a first year then?" she asked.

"Yes," Ruth said mildly. "My parents and I were about to go there early, but I had some trouble with the Floo, as you can recall."

Fred cleared his throat and pulled out his wand. "Scourgify!" The plates were clean.

He got up and stretched. "I think it's time for us to go to Hogwarts, as a matter of fact."

Ginny stood up quickly, glancing at the clock. It was 9:30. "Okay, is everyone packed? Roxie dear, do you have your books? Quills? Wands?"

"We packed a long time ago, Auntie, thanks for asking though." Roxanne replied tiredly.

Ginny turned and smiled at Ruth. "Does your family have your things?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, I think we can go, then."

Thirty minutes later, all six of them got out of Harry's van and loaded their luggage into the trolleys. The beaming faces of Molly and Arthur near the entrance of King's Cross awaited them there, along with Albus and James, who didn't look very happy at all.

Arthur helped Harry with the trolley, while Molly grabbed Ginny by the arm.

"Roxie, Fred, Ruth and Lily, go wait for us by the barrier. We'll catch up with you later!" she called out. Roxanne and Fred exchanged looks, but said nothing. Ruth and Lily, talking exuberantly to one another, followed the older teens.

Molly led her only daughter to the corner where Albus and James were sulking in.

"Okay, what did you two do now?"

"He roped me into it!" Albus said immediately, shooting James the dirtiest look on record.

"Did not!"

"You did, and you know it!"

"Oh, stop being such a baby!"

"Me, a baby? You're the one who cried buckets when Rose punched you!"

"That was not crying! I was yawning because you woke me up at four in the morning, you prat!"

"Yeah, well, who rigged the room with booby traps, huh?"

"You're lucky you still have normal bodyparts to begin with!"

"Who said your bodyparts were normal?"

James snarled. "That's it! Don't even try to approach me this year!"

"WAIT ONE DARN MINUTE!" Molly and Ginny yelled. Both boys gulped nervously.

"Ginny Weasley. Or should I say, Ginny Potter." said a dreamy voice in a matter-of-fact tone.

Luna, along with the rest of her family, had just gotten out of the car. Two sixteen-year old twins came out of the car, helping a man with long brown hair in a ponytail, presumably their father, with the luggage.

Ginny turned around, and Albus and James breathed a sigh of relief, which had not gone unnoticed by Molly. "Don't think this lets you get off." she said sternly, before helping Arthur and Harry with the luggage.

"Luna! You forgot about your daughter!"

The man with the brown ponytail hit his head on the car ceiling. "Sweet Merlin!"

Luna grimaced. "And here I was, thinking the Nargles had infested Rolf's head once again..." she said sadly.

"Who mentioned Nargles?" Harry said, joining them. He turned towards Albus and Potter. "Go to the barrier." he instructed. He turned around and was face-to-face with Luna.

"I should have known."

"Nice to see you once again, Harry Potter." Luna smiled serenely.

Ginny made a small impatient noise, pointing the huge clock. "Let's walk and talk, shall we?" she suggested. Luna nodded wholeheartedly, her family following her.

"Lysander, Lorcan," she said over her shoulder, "say hi to my old friends, Ginny and Harry."

"Harry?"

"As in Harry Potter?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"Never mind him. That's Ginevra!"

"Who?"

"Honestly, you play Quidditch but you don't even know who she is-"

"She's not called Ginevra, that's just what the history books say."

"Idiot."

Ginny grinned, while Harry groaned. "What did you read about me, Lysander?"

"Lorcan." The boy corrected her amicably, walking faster to be beside her. "It's not that easy to tell, but I have a beauty spot near my chin."

"...et c'est plus gros que mon orteille...(1)" grumbled Lysander.

"Lysandre, tais-toi!(2)" Rolf said sharply.

"Oui, papa.(3)"

Lorcan grinned. "You're the Captain for the Holyhead Harpies, right?"


The sounds of trains stopping and shouts and the pattering of feet weren't new for Albus. He was starting his second year at Hogwarts, and was just happy to be at King's Cross, of all places. He had already forgotten about the events of that morning and was looking forward to boarding the train.

James, on the other hand, was as sour as a lime. He pushed his trolley towards the barrier.

"James, wait for Mum and Dad!" Albus shouted after him. His brother could be so stubborn at times.

James looked back at him. "I don't give a flying fuck!" He disappeared through the barrier.

Albus scratched his head. Where did he learn to say that?

Lily and Ruth appeared a second later. "Where's James, Albus?" Lily asked, suspicious. Ruth looked at the muggle passers-by in apparent fascination.

"Umm...well, you see...argument...him.."

"Never mind. Ruth, watch over the luggage, please." Lily strode towards the barrier.

"Lily, stop!"

She disappeared.

Albus groaned and smacked his face. Ruth stared at him interestedly. "You people certainly have the talent for drama, don't you."

His hand slid from his face.


"James! JAMES!" Lily pushed past carts loaded with hooting owls, luggages in order to find her furious brother.

A red-headed figure appeared out of the smoke. "Lily!" It was her uncle Percy.

"Sorry, Uncle Percy!" she cried, rushing past him. She had to get to her brother soon. "JAMES POTTER!" she bellowed.

She found him sitting on the train in an empty compartment. Lily boarded the train and opened the compartment door.

"Go away, Lil."

"Oh that's nice." Lily said huffily, and sat opposite of him. "What's your problem?"

"My problem?" James said incredulously. "My problem?" he made an insane laugh, which wasn't like him."My problem is that Albus doesn't understand subtlety even if it danced in front of him wearing pink galoshes, that Mom and Dad are too fed up with our jokes in the house so they send us to Grandma's house, which is like sending me to hell, what with Uncle Bill's family living there now, the place is so crowded you won't even believe! Everyone wants to camp out at their place!"

"Well." Lily said. "I don't know what to do about that."

James stood up. "Just leave me alone, Lily. I'm not in the mood for siblings right now."

"But-"

"GO!" He pushed Lily out and slammed the door.

Lily glared at the door, and then got off the train and back to the barrier. Her family was waiting for her there.

"Lily, where's James?" Ginny asked anxiously. Ruth looked at Lily's distraught expression while Lysander and Lorcan stood beside her.

Lily looked at the ground. "He's on the train. He won't listen to me."

Everyone was silent. Finally, Luna spoke. "Is that your daughter, Ginny?"

"Yes," Ginny sighed, "and this is Albus and the oldest one James is locked in a compartment right now."

"Ah," Luna nodded sagely.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

"Mind if I sit?"

James grunted. "Whatever."

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy sat on the opposite side of James Sirius Potter, completely unperturbed by being in a Gryffindor's presence. James merely snorted and looked out at the platform, where there were many tearful farewells from the Weasleys and the Potters. His mother Ginny had just finished hugging Lily and was looking at him with a sad crease between her eyebrows.

"They irk you, don't they." What Scorpius said wasn't a question.

"Sometimes."

Scorpius raised his eyebrow, but said nothing. But after a while...

"You're lucky, you know."

James looked at him quizzically. "Whaddya mean?"

"You're family's all happy and...together," Scorpius gestured to the huge crowd of cousins and relatives that had now surrounded Ginny.

James sighed. "I guess. They're still annoying though."

The Malfoy kid stood up and turned to face the compartment door. "Just count yourself lucky for once, eh, Potter?"

"Yeah yeah. Go on, Malfoy."


"Where are they?" asked Albus impatiently, as soon as Auntie Angelina had finished saying goodbye to him. "They're always late."

"Patience, Al," Harry said reassuringly.

But it was hard to make out anyone with all the steam from the train.

"There they are!" George said, appearing to Harry's side with Angelina.

Four people immerged from the fog, two of them pushing trolleys packed with luggages and an owl. Two of them looked to be near Lily and Albus's age.

"Hey, Lily!" the older of the two, Rose, sprang upon the littlest Potter. "How have you been?"

"Not bad. You?"

"Excited!"

"Hey!" said Albus indignantly, "what about me?"

"Hi, Albus." Rose beamed at him.

"Well, I guess we should load the luggages onto the train then." Harry said to Ron, who nodded. With little effort, both luggages were in their respective places.

When they came back to the little group, they found Lily and Hugo having an intense discussion of what they were going to learn at Hogwarts.

"What if we have to learn Levitation Charms on the first day?" Hugo asked, worried out of his mind.

"I doubt it," Ron said skeptically.

"Phew." said Hugo.

"You'll learn it on the second day."

"WHAT?"

"Ron!"

Everyone laughed. Even Hermione managed a grudging smile on her face. Harry grinned and looked over Ginny's head to see whether there were any other Weasleys around; Bill's family, in particular.

What he saw instead was unexpected.

"Ron," whispered Harry, nudging him in the ribs, "after the train leaves, I have something to tell you."

"Sure," Ron said, looking over where Harry's eyes were situated on, "does this have anything to do with him?"

Draco and his wife were near a pillar not too far away, waving to their son who was already on the train.

"I think you already know the answer."

Ginny went to Lily and Hugo and each gave them lunch bags. "Now, you two be good," she said motherly, "Don't go picking fights, finish your homework, don't be late for classes, and write to us each week if you can, especially you, Lily. Visit Hagrid every so often and say to Neville for us-"

"Mum!" Albus groaned.

"Just do it."

"Okay..." Albus gave Ginny one last kiss and a hug for Harry and then boarded the train with Rose and Hugo.

"Lily," Harry said, pulling her to the side, "I know going to Hogwarts will be exciting for you and Hugo, and I know you'll do well," he paused, then put his hands on Lily's shoulders, "promise me you won't go looking for trouble."

"Why-"

"Just promise me, Lils."

"I promise." Lily was confused; why would her dad ask her to do something like that?

Harry smiled and ruffled her hair like he used to. "Okay, now be good." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now go! Shoo!" Lily ran to the train and waved to her family, knowing it would be a while until they would see each other again.


The smoke from the Hogwarts Express billowed into the distance, leaving deep dark clouds as it chugged along the countryside. It was a distinctive countryside, although a bit rural for a city-goers' taste, but a beautiful countryside nonetheless. And yet, it did nothing to assuage Lily Potter's fears.

"Oh, cheer up, Lily!" exclaimed Rose, already dressed in her school robes. Of all of her cousins, Rose was the most sympathetic towards her younger cousin. After all, it was hard being the youngest cousin in the family, not to mention the youngest sister.

They were on the train, and trying to find a free compartment, as usual. It was Lily's first year at Hogwarts, and being the nice person that she is, Rose offered to show her around. Lily couldn't ask her brother James or Albus to do it, mainly due to the lack of trust she had in them. What if they told her the wrong way to one of her classes?

The last thing Lily wanted was to stand out. She had heard stories of her father, Harry Potter, and she didn't want to go through school the same way Harry did.

Lily groaned. "Why? Why should I cheer up?"

"Because, you won't be alone at Hogwarts!" Rose reminded her, every now and then looking through compartments. The students in them were staring at the duo, and it was seriously creeping Lily out. "There's Fred, Roxanne, Dominique, Victoire, Me, Hugo, Louis, Molly, Lucy-"

"Great. I get it. Don't list all of my cousins, Rosie. It makes me feel weird!" she grumbled, grabbing hold of Rose's hand, and shoving her mercilessly into a compartment at the end of the corridor.

There was a scuffle and a bang, as Lily and Rose tumbled down, knocking a stray Chocolate Frog in the process. Food flew everywhere, and spare wrappers were strewn across. In Rose's haste to get up, she pulled on Lily's neck, making her younger cousin swear profusely. Another voice bellowed, and a disoriented Rose looked up.

"So sorry, we didn't realize this compartment was full." Lily looked up at Rose, who was being carefully polite. This was uncommon for Lily, since Rose was a kind person at heart who was rarely polite. She had heard the coldness in Rose's voice, and she moved around Rose to see who she was talking to.

"It's all right, you can stay here." It was Scorpius, the boy who gave her a tour of Flourish and Blotts. His voice was a light tenor now, with a vibrating quality to it. It sounded so beautiful, so elegant that Lily couldn't help but stare. He was reading a small book with a dark black cover, and he was the picture of peace.

However, Rose acted as though he hadn't suggested anything to them. "Come on, Lily, let's go."

"Why?"

"Because, I just realized that Dominique saved us seats. Let's go." Rose pulled Lily firmly out of the room, leaving the curious Scorpius behind. As soon as they were out of earshot, Rose started ranting.

"The nerve of him! It's as if nothing happened last year!" she said heatedly, and Lily couldn't help but feel annoyed by her cousin.

She crossed her arms and stayed put. "He looks pretty lonely to me, Rosie. And he has a name." She couldn't understand why Rose made up a lie just to get out of the compartment.

"So what if he's lonely. He deserves it! I don't give a rat's face about his name, Lily!" Rose replied back scathingly. Now Lily was intrigued. Never in her whole entire life had she heard Rose speak so vehemently against another person.

"Scorpius does not deserve it!" Lily retorted, fired up. She walked back to the compartment, slammed it open, and sat down on the opposite side of the boy, ignoring Rose completely.

Rose decided that she couldn't persuade Lily anymore, so she went to go find Dominique's compartment. Lily watched her leave with narrowed eyes.

"Hi." a voice said, stirring Lily from her thoughts. It was Scorpius. "Hello," she muttered.

"Which house do you suppose you're going to be in, anyways?" he asked out of the blue.

Lily knew all about Hogwarts, all due to the fact that her uncles, cousins, brothers and parents went there for their education. Almost all of her family were in Gryffindor except for the twins. "Gryffindor," she replied automatically. "My whole family has been there."

"It's always like that," he murmured, and Lily could hear the sadness in his voice. "My whole family has been in Slytherin. I'm in Slytherin."

"Slytherin? I don't think it's that bad." Lily said brightly, making Scorpius look at him. "Even though there's a lot of pure-bloods there, it isn't much of a deal."

"Really?" he said, intrigued. He had never met anyone with her kind of optimism.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. My father always says, 'It's not the house that counts, it's what's inside your heart that truly matters.'"

Scorpius stared at her in wonder.

"He always comes up with things like that."

They didn't say anything after a while.

Soon, lunch came with rapid haste, as the trolley lunch lady came by.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she said, giving a kind smile to the two of them. Scorpius looked at Lily, as though waiting for her to speak.

Lily cleared her throat. "I'll have some Chocolate Frogs and a liquorice wand." she said, leaning over to the trolley cart and taking the sweets.

"That'll be 1 galleon and 16 sickles please." the witch replied, looking expectedly at her. Lily fumbled in the front of her jeans pocket, when a pale hand reached out and stopped her. "I'll pay for it, miss."

It was Scorpius. "Why thank you, Scorpius." Lily smiled brightly, and Scorpius blushed. The trolley lady looked at the scene with a knowing smile on her face. "Well, young man, do you want to buy anything for yourself, since you're paying."

"I'll have a Cauldron Cake, please." he asked, and the lady handed him one. He gave the lady the change, and Lily closed the compartment door.

"You know," she said after a while, "you didn't need to do that for me."

Scorpius smirked softly. "It feels nice helping others," he replied thoughtfully. Lily stared. Her father had told her many stories about Scorpius's father Draco, not all of them were great. Most of the stories came from her Uncle Ron, who obviously had something against the man. The last anyone would expect is that Draco's son likes being selfless.

Suddenly she remembered what Scorpius had just said to her a few minutes ago...

"You said you were in Slytherin?"


A/N.: Yeah, I'm still alive.

Glossary:

(1) "..et c'est plus gros que mon orteille." - and it's bigger than my toe.

(2) "Lysandre, tais-toi!" - Lysander, calm yourself/ keep quiet/ stop it. I'm not sure which is which.

(3) "Oui, papa." - Yes, dad (father)


Disclaimer: All right reserved to JK Rowling. I do not own any Harry Potter characters, places, or ideas.

Do not use this plot without my permission.