They had reached the bridge when Professor Flitwick came trotting up on his impressively small legs, a thin layer of sweat giving his bald head the extra shine it really didn't need.

"There you are Mr Malfoy! It's almost time for your sorting - Put that cigarette out!" He managed to spit out between gasps for air. Malfoy stubbed out the cigarette out on the side of the bridge, and raised his eyebrows at the tiny man in front of him. The professor motioned frantically at them to follow, and together the three speed-walked towards the castle. "Where have you been?! The sorting started ten minutes ago!" Flitwick puffed, his face becoming increasingly redder at each step he took. Lily had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing; it really was a hilarious sight to see. She glanced over at Malfoy to see he was having the same problem, and would have winked at him if he wasn't from a family of Death Eaters.

"Missed the boats." Malfoy muttered. He really wasn't a big talker, most of the time his expression did most of the talking for him, but since Flitwick was in no state to decipher his raised eyebrows and half smirk, he had to utter a few words as explanation. The bridge, easily one hundred feet high above the river beneath, was half new and half old. Half of it had been destroyed in the battle of Hogwarts when the Dark Lord's supporters had stormed the castle, yet the new half was as rickety as the old, and creaked at every hasty step the group made. It swayed at the slightest breeze and the wind had really begun to pick up, the fir trees behind them were bending reluctantly and the grass was rippling like the water below.

"Urgh!" Lily turned in response to Malfoy's grunt, and burst out laughing to see his foot had fallen through a particularly rotten piece of wood.

"Calm down Mr Malfoy, and hurry up!" Flitwick snapped, poking him with his miniature foot whilst Malfoy heaved himself up. The Professor tutted at him, and then swished around the continue hustling towards the school.

"You could have helped me." Hissed Malfoy to Lily, who was still giggling. She shrugged, and jogged after the Charms teacher.

…

Malfoy was sulking miserably by the time they made it to the castle entrance. The doors, massive as they were, opened easily as Flitwick pushed against them, as if eager to allow the students inside. The air inside the school was pregnant with the smell of magic and the promise of exciting new discoveries, and Lily closed her eyes to take advantage of the feeling of arrival.

"What house do you want to be in?" she asked Malfoy, feeling his eyes on her. He cleared his throat and moved away from her slightly.

"My whole family wants me to be in Slytherin. But I'm hoping Gryffindor, or maybe Ravenclaw. I don't suppose Hufflepuff would be too bad but I don't think I'd fit in."

Lily looked at him with curiosity. "You're full of surprises, you know. But you really don't seem like a Gryffindor to me."

"You don't seem like a Slytherin."

"Touché."

"Come on, Mr Malfoy, Miss Potter!" They followed the Professor into the hall, were hundreds of eyes turned to stare at the two latecomers. Lily scuttled over to the Slytherin table and took a seat next to Alice, who was glaring at her ferociously.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" she hissed under her breath. Lily merely smiled sweetly at her, and then watched Flitwick propel a reluctant Malfoy to the front of the Great Hall.

"Margot, Ebony!" Professor McGonagall called, and a tall girl with black dreadlocks nervously perched on the stool. They really had cut it close as they were already on the M's. The sorting hat was placed on her head and it wiggled as it pried through her most private thoughts.

Eventually, it screamed "RAVENCLAW!" and the girl grinned and hopped over to her new house's table, almost forgetting to return the hat to McGonagall.

"Malfoy, Scorpius." The school fell silent, and Lily was reminded when her name was called in her first year and she got a similar response. A few girls started giggling amongst themselves. Lily sighed, yeah he was good looking but honestly, was there really need for that? Malfoy pushed through the group of first years around him and slowly walked towards the stool. He sat, and lifted his head to face the hall. His expression was brooding, perhaps uncaring, but from their earlier discussion Lily knew he must be extremely nervous. The hat was placed on his white mop, and it straightened in interest.

"Hmmm, another Malfoy, haven't seen one of you for a while. You should have been sorted years ago, but I suppose you've been through a lot." It quietened for a moment, and Malfoy's eyes widened at something it must have whispered to him in his head. His cheeks flushed a little, sparking interest in Lily. "How unusual." The hat said, aloud once more.

"No, please-" Malfoy started, his voice shrill with panic but then-

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat bellowed, its voice echoing throughout the hall. Malfoy's jaw clenched, trying to hold back a grin, and a trace of pure relief flickered across his face. The hat was pulled from his head, and he padded towards the Gryffindor table. The hall was filled with chatter once more; what was going on? Was this some kind of joke? There was nothing normal or protocol about the situation, Scorpius was the first Malfoy ever to be sorted into Gryffindor house, and all eyes were on him.

Malfoy slumped on the bench, a sly smile spreading across his lips like butter. Lily couldn't help but feel a little happy for him, he was desperate to get into this house but her brain ordered her not to care. He was a Malfoy, anyway, destined to be a Death Eater just like his evil family no matter which house he was in. She turned to talk to Alice without even smiling at him, while a few girls shifted down his table to talk to him.

"Did anything happen? Why did you two come in together?" Alice whined.

"Of course not, he's a Malfoy, Alice! He missed the boats."

"Is that why you've been giving him filthy looks? Grow up Lils, what happened was years ago!" Alice huffed, annoyed since there was no gossip to be revealed. Lily scowled and watched the rest of the sortings.

After all the first years had been placed, Professor McGonagall tapped a fork against a goblet to catch the attention of the students.

"Just a few reminders: The forest is STILL forbidden and no more swimming in the Black Lake, it's upsetting the mermaids. Yes, Mr Finnegan, I'm talking to you." Oliver grinned sheepishly. "Enjoy your first meal back at Hogwarts, everyone." With that, the empty plates that dotted the tables miraculously filled with food and everyone began to tuck in. Everyone except Malfoy, who sat there staring at his hands, clenching and unclenching his jaw. Lily didn't notice, let alone care. She was too busy chatting with Alice, discussing enthusiastically what happened over the summer and "Hasn't Toby gotten hot?!" Toby previously being a scrawny, short boy, had clearly been working out and grown a couple of inches since the end of the last school year. He seemed a lot more confident, too, and was talking casually to a group of girls who had surrounded him like bees and a honeypot.

Whilst Alice was contemplating whether or not to go over, Oliver came and sat with them.

"Eat the damn bread, Lily." Lily glanced down; she had been flattening a piece of bread and butter with her fingers. She pushed it away in disgust and wiped her greasy fingers on her robes. Oliver rolled his eyes. "So, what's the hot gossip? I suppose you lovely girls have already noticed how totally hot Toby's gotten." He drawled sarcastically. Seeming to not have heard, Alice stood up and sashayed towards Toby, who glanced up and greeted her with a huge grin. He'd had his braces taken out.

"He's more Alice's type than mine." Lily smiled, picking up a bowl of ice cream and dunked her finger in it, and then sucked the cool sweet treat off.

"Eat properly, Lils." Growled Oliver. Lily's eating habits irritated him greatly. "I don't get why looks are so important anyway. I've always been here and Alice has never looked twice at me."

"You've been in love with her since First Year, maybe you should find a girlfriend." Lily sighed.

"Or maybe I should tell her I like her…" Oliver mused.

"Yes! Do it."

"Uh – crap, didn't realise I said that out loud. Anyway, I saw you eyeing up new eye candy over there… He's a Malfoy, isn't he?"

"Yes, which is exactly why I'm not interested. He isn't even that hot anyway, he's so grumpy looking and has got that 'I'm better than you' attitude about him."

"Always picky." Oliver muttered, and then made a beeline back to the Ravenclaw table when McGonagall shot him daggers for being at the wrong table. Lily looked over at Malfoy. He was still sitting there with the most unpleasantly smug expression, but she could see what Oliver meant. He was quite good looking; his white hair was thick and messy and hung low, almost to his eyelashes which were far too long to be wasted on a boy. His eyebrows were constantly furrowed and his eyes were the colour of smoke, which made him look surprised even when he wasn't. His nose was straight and his lips were full and curvy which contrasted with his angular jaw which had a fine layer of stubble that boys got when they had only just started shaving. He was plenty attractive but his dark aura put Lily off. She blinked, and then realised she'd been staring at him, and he was staring back. Their eyes locked and he tilted his head as if to ask a question, but Lilt ignored him and walked over to prise Alice from Toby.

…

"You know, if you actually talk to him, he actually has a great personality." The two girls were heading down to the dungeons. The floor was paved with cool grey slabs and the ceiling was an arch, illuminated dimly by candles that were dotted unevenly on the ancient walls which were also built with hard stone centuries ago, green moss oozing through the cracks like blood. Alice was babbling at full pelt about Toby, and Lily was nodded and grunting every now and again to let her know she was paying attention.

"Oliver has a better personality, though." She cut in.

"What, do you like him?"

"Not like that, I've known him since I was born."

"Even better!" Alice grinned and wrinkled her tiny snub nose to hitch up her glasses. "You two would make the cutest couple. I'll cheer for you!"

"That's not-" Lily started, but then sighed. She was fighting a losing battle.

"Adder's tongue." Alice said, and the slightly discoloured stones of the wall in front of them swung open to reveal a door that hid a secret passage. Lily's boots echoed against the floor, but were soon muffled by a soft green carpet that adorned the corridor, hugging the unforgiving stone beneath in a warm embrace. The candles were now held in green glass containers, causing the light to be given an eerie green glow. One last turn, and they were there; the Slytherin common room was extremely large, with high ceilings painted with alluring images. The stone walls gave way to dozens of floor-to-ceiling windows that revealed the black lake outside, the odd magical water creature floating past unnoticed. The room had a cool feel to it but the crackling fire that was located at the far end warmed the student's tired bodies with an almost motherly touch. The green light added to the mysterious, underwater feel. Soft, high backed green leather sofas were placed around the room in the most convenient places: around the fire, near some tables for revision, armchairs around the chess table. Bookshelves and potion ingredient cabinets gave the Slytherin's something to do.

"It's like coming home." Lily whispered, while Alice nodded in silent agreement. The boy's dormitories were on the right side of the common room and the girl's on the left. They climbed up the tall winding staircase until they were above water level and opened their door, Slytherin rooms were for two residents at a time and as luck would have it they were placed together. The bedrooms were far more cosy than the common room, the same green carpet that was found in the corridor was spread from corner to corner in the perfectly square room. On the opposite side to the door was a round circle, about a metre in diameter, protruding from the room as a turret was reaching for the heavens in that location. Two four poster beds with emerald sheets had silvery curtains like spiders webs.

Lily collapsed on the one on the left. She was exhausted; it had been a long day and the run in with Malfoy hadn't helped. Their trunks had already been delivered. Henry hopped onto her stomach and purred when Lily's fingers scratched his head.

She was asleep within seconds.