Sorry it took me so long….

Lily walked up the stairs until she reached the fat lady. "Wrackspurt," she murmured and the fat lady swung open to reveal the cozy common room, almost completely deserted. She let out a sigh of relief, now she wouldn't have to shake Madeline off. She jogged upstairs to grab her books and headed off towards the library.

She had been at Hogwarts only two weeks and she was already overwhelmed with work. Perhaps taking six classes wasn't the best idea, but once she got into the swing of things, hopefully it would be easier.

Tonight particularly, she had hours of work ahead of her; a potions paper, a 52 inch essay on werewolves and a complex Arithmancy theory to learn before a quiz tomorrow. She plopped down her bag at an empty table, in a corner so as not to be distracted. She glanced out the window which faced the quidditch pitch and was briefly distracted by the team practicing. It was Slytherin. She spotted Malfoy instantly, with his bright blonde hair and watched him play for a bit. He looked to play just as well as James, both seekers, maybe better. It would be a good match, that much she was sure. She then pulled her eyes away from the window, remembering her homework.

She decided on doing Arithmancy first, the most complicated. And soon she was completely absorbed, lost in equations and proofs. Just as the clock struck ten, she finished and headed through the shelves to find a book or two on werewolves.

At eleven, she finished, or she was half way done with potions and could finish during Arithmancy. She was reminded just how large the castle was, the library was a good fifteen minute walk from the Gryffindor tower, twenty if you were tired and your feet ached.

"Hello." Lily jumped what seemed like a foot and turned around to find herself face to face with Scorpius Malfoy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"It's fine." Lily managed to choke out, clutching her heart. She tried to compose herself.

He was almost a head taller than her. She looked up at his handsome, pointed features and found his piercing blue eyes. He smiled down at her. "You're Lily Potter."

Lily willed herself not to say something stupid. "Yes, and you're Scorpius Malfoy." He extended a hand, and Lily put hers in his. She was surprised his hands were warm; she'd always imagined them cold.

"You ran into me on the train."

"Oh. Yeah…sorry." A blush crept up her cheeks.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I was at the library, doing homework." She said quickly. Her voice sounded high and strange. She felt her cheeks reddened deeper. There was a silence.

"Well, see you." She started to walk away.

"Wait, I'll walk you."

"Okay." Lily didn't know what to think of this.

They walked in silence for what seemed a very long time. Lily was jogging her mind, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

"So, you're in your sixth year?"

"Fifth,"

"I'm seventh,"

"Oh," Lily said politely, though she'd known how old he was for years. Silence fell again.

"I think you're in my Arithmancy class." Lily nodded. She had sat as far away as possible and avoided all eye contact. "Clayton's alright, except for the work." Ginny nodded again, not trusting herself to speak.

When they reached the fat lady, she turned abruptly, almost running straight into him again. She saw him bite back a grin.

"Well, goodbye." she said, wincing at her clumsiness, before she noticed how close he was, so close Lily's nose grazed his shoulder and she was sure he could hear her heart hammering. The thought made her blush again. She stepped back and coughed to fill the silence.

"Goodnight, Lily Potter." he smiled at her, walking backwards and around the corner. Lily let out a breath and leaned against the wall, gathering her thoughts.


James walked out of potions, bored. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Summer since the first day of school, and had been too busy with homework and quidditch to do anything about it.

"James?"

"Hey."

Caroline kissed him quickly. "I haven't seen you in like…forever."

"You saw me this morning."

"But we haven't hung out in forever."

James grinned, "What do you want to do?" he asked, lowering his voice and leaning into her.

Caroline blushed, returning the grin. "…Not that. Do you want to…sneak off to Hogsmeade?"

"I'm kind of busy, I've got quidditch tonight…"

"Fine. Angela and I are going to hang out with some kids from Ravenclaw down by the lake later…meet me if you're not too busy."

She rolled her eyes, but kissed him again before starting off. James caught her hand, stopping her. He pulled her into him and held her head to his, forcing his tongue into her mouth and grinding into her. "James," she murmured weakly, trying to push him away, but James paid no attention. He ran his tongue along her jawbone and kissed down her neck, biting at her skin playfully and stopping at the spot he knew made her crazy.

"Hang out with me tonight." he whispered into her neck.

She cleared her throat and regained her composure, "I told you, I want to wait."

James put his head against the wall and summoned all the self restraint he had not to argue about this, not again, and not here. The last thing he needed was for everyone to know he was still a virgin. "Okay." He put his hands up in surrender. She pecked him on the cheek and walked towards Angela, waiting nearby.

Someone clamped him on the back, "ready for practice tonight?" It was Will.

"Mmm."

"What's wrong with you?"

James nodded at Caroline, who was whispering something to a giggling Angela. He wondered if Caroline was telling her what had just occurred between the two of them. James was immediately annoyed and Will took notice.

"You've got to get over her mate, she's not going to do it."

"Yeah…"

"It's not healthy, you're being deprived."

"See you at quidditch." James said, taking a sudden left turn, just to get away from him.

"Think about what I'm saying." William called after him.

James had thought about it. He was trying to be a gentleman, but it wasn't even the celibate life that was bothering him, maybe it made him a little crankier, but what really got to him was Caroline herself. One second she'd be friendly and loving and the next she would be petulant and bossy. Sometimes it felt like she didn't take him seriously, he couldn't have a real conversation with her. Other times he couldn't get away from her, she could be very clingy. But on some level, he did love her and sometimes she could be so cool…but he was tired.

__________

Lily gazed out the window of her dormitory. It must have been three in the morning. She watched what looked like a hippogriff fly over the lake, its feathers shimmering in the moonlight. She should be asleep, she supposed, but she knew even if she tried, she couldn't fall asleep now. She had too much to think about. Namely, Scorpius Malfoy.

Tomorrow, first thing, was Arithmancy. Already her worst subject, but now she had to worry about Scorpius in that class too? She wondered if Scorpius was any better at proofs and theorems and all the silly ways math had wormed its way into magic. Her parents had sent her to Muggle School for a couple years, and she had always liked math there. Her favorite subject, however, had been English Literature. She still wrote poems sometimes, though she would die before admitting it to anyone…

She woke with a start, it was quarter till eight-only fifteen minutes before Arithmancy. She hopped up from the window ledge and realized she had hurt her neck sleeping against the window, along with her butt and her back. Why one of the girls hadn't wakened her, she wasn't sure. She pulled her hair back and twirled it into a ballerina bun and pulled on a white blouse, Gryffindor vest, tights and a grey skirt. Followed by her robes, as the Arithmancy room had a draft, and ran to brush her teeth and wash her face. Packing up her books, she remembered her tie and grabbed it along with an apple which had been sitting on her desk for just under a week. She had known it would come in handy. She pulled on her socks and saddle shoes and she was off, running down the stair with three minutes to spare.

She ran into the Arithmancy room, breathless and, judging by the look on Professor Clayton's face, late.

"I'm sorry Professor, I was on my way, but then I realized I forgot my books." She made up lamely. She felt her cheeks burn.

"Very well, take a seat." He gestured toward the only empty seat left, which just happened to be next to none other than Scorpius Malfoy. Lily drew herself up and took her seat, trying hard to act indifferent. She stared determinedly at Clayton.

Professor Clayton was a handsome, older man, maybe sixty five, who had worked in the department of mysteries until he was persuaded by Headmaster McGonagall to come and work at Hogwarts. He was brilliant and funny and could easily keep the attention of the class, though this was probably because he often went off on tangents far more interesting than anything to do with Arithmancy. Lily had immediately liked him, though now, as she sat next to Scorpius, she found it hard.

She wished she hadn't pulled her hair back in a bun, she felt so exposed.

"Please put all of your materials away for the quiz." Clayton instructed and with the wave of his wand, quizzes flew from a stack on his desk in front of each of them.

Lily tried to focus on the quiz, but all she could think about was the apple, sitting untouched in her back and Scorpius' knee, which stood approximately one centimeter from her own. Okay, Gorgarmiere's Law states that the force of the movement of the wizard's hand over the length of the wand subtracted by the distance…after twenty minutes, she set down her pencil, feeling much better about Arithmancy and herself in general, when she felt a slight nudge. She turned, and realized Scorpius was asking her for an answer. She flipped over her quiz and moved it so he could see.

"What is going on here?"

Lily looked up, startled, to find Professor Clayton peering down at the both of them.

"I, well…Malfoy-" Lily stuttered.

Scorpius cut in. "I'd forgotten the date, and Lily was just reminding me."

"Ah, a liar and a cheat! You've got yourself a real keeper there, Ms. Potter-" Lily flushed at this, "You see Mr. Malfoy, working in the department of mysteries, your required to learn Legilimency. And your mind doesn't match your words, I'm afraid. So tomorrow, that's the eighth I believe, both you and Ms. Potter will join me for detention. Seven o'clock. I'll take both your quizzes now, as they are."