Don't You Want Me

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"We should have sex," Lily said, with her usual carefree voice, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Scorpius froze.

"What?"

Lily who had kept walking and was now standing a little further, turned around to face him, her eyes fixed on the ground, her cheeks reddened. She lifted her gaze to meet Scorpius' and he could see embarrassment reflecting in her hazel eyes.

"I think we should have sex," she said again, her voice flinching this time.

Not wanting to consider her proposition seriously because of the strange emotions he could feel awakening in his stomach, Scorpius did the only other thing he could think of. He laughed.

"You can't be serious, Lils!" he exclaimed, still laughing "Where does this come from?"

He could see her self-confidence melting like snow in the sun and almost felt bad for it, almost. She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Stop laughing you asshole," she said.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius answered, his laugh dying slowly "I didn't know you liked me like that," he added. And tried hard not to smile at the idea, but failed miserably.

"I don't," Lily replied immediately, her tone firm.

That reply swiped Scorpius cocky grin off his face and he lifted one blond eyebrow.

"Then why would you want to sleep with me?"

"It doesn't matter now, does it? You made it pretty clear that the thought of having sex with me was nothing but a joke to you,"

Scorpius could hear the hurt behind her words and cursed himself. He hadn't wanted to make her feel bad about herself.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. I just wasn't expecting this coming from you," he told her, surprising himself with the gentleness with which he said it.

"Does it mean you'll sleep with me then?" the witch looked at him expectantly, bouncing back quicker than a Bludger.

"Sorry, that's still a firm no,"

"Is it because I'm Albus' sister?" she asked, her tone was one of disbelief, slightly shadowed by anger "I know it can't be because I'm younger than you, I've heard you slept with some girls in my year,"

Scorpius almost scowled, still not believing he was having this conversation with Lily Potter.

"Yes, you're my best friend's little sister, so that definitively makes you off limits. The simple idea of having sex with you is off limits," he explained, sounding serious.

"Damn Albus," Lily swore, before plunging her hazel eyes into Scorpius grey ones once again "Don't you think you owe it to me for scaring all the guys away from me?"

"You know about that?"

"Of course I know," she said, rolling her eyes "Do you take me for a dumb-witted muggle?"

Scorpius couldn't believe she knew, after all the precautions Albus and him had taken so that she wouldn't find out. But if she thought she could make him feel guilty about it, she was mistaken.

"To answer your question, no, I don't owe you for scaring those losers away from you. And I certainly wouldn't repay that debt with sex, even if it was the case," Scorpius snorted.

"Yeah okay, I see your point," Lily gave in, shaking her head "So, it's a no then?"

"It's a no," he said again just as they were reaching the garden door to go inside the house.

He glanced at Lily and discovered a resigned but also determined expression on her face.

"Too bad, I'll find someone else then," Lily said, flipping her luminous hair over her shoulder, opening the door and walking up the stairs toward her bedroom, proving she had theatrical exit down to a t.

"What does that mean?" Scorpius shouted back after her, still standing next to the kitchen's door.

"You're smart, you'll figure it out," Lily's reply came once she was already out of sight, leaving Scorpius dumbfounded and a little bit worried.

Lily went to check on Rose immediately after her discussion with Scorpius. The first step of her plan hadn't gone quite how she had hoped. Despite what she had implied she wasn't really considering sleeping with anyone else. She had asked Scorpius because she had known him for a long time, trusted him and probably also because she found him devastatingly handsome. Furthermore, Scorpius was well known for being a player, what would one more girl have been for him? But Lily wasn't that surprised by his refusal, in truth she had been expecting it. She just hoped that the wizard wouldn't go and tell everything to Albus. If any of her brothers learned what she had asked Scorpius, she would be locked up in a cave until she came of age, and even then she would be watched for the rest of her life.

Lily didn't wait and knock on Rose's door, she simply opened it and stepped inside the dark room and went to open the curtains, just enough to let a ray of light filter into the room. Only then did she take a seat on Rose's bed, gently waking her cousin up.

"Hey, Rose, how are you feeling?" she asked when the older witch opened her eyes reluctantly.

"Lily? Is that you?" Rose asked, her voice raspy from dehydration.

"Yes, it's me," she hesitated before continuing "I don't how much you remember from this morning, but I found you, still drunk, and evidently exhausted wandering inside the garden around 7 am. Don't worry no one else saw you," she assured.

Rose sat straight in her bed and pulled Lily into a tight hug, apparently remembering what had happened after that.

"Thanks for taking care of me, Lils. I'm so sorry you had to see me like that,"

Lily chuckled, passing a hand on Rose's back in a soothing gesture.

"Don't mention it, I've seen James and Albus in worse states than that believe me,"

"How low I must have sunk for you to compare me to your alcoholic brothers," Rose replied, her tone only half joking.

"So…" Lily began once she was out her cousin's arms and facing her again instead.

"So what?"

"So, how come you came home so late," Lily inquired, nosily.

The question made a blush creep on Rose's cheeks.

"I…I…" Rose stuttered, unable to form even the start of a sentence.

"Come on, Rose," Lily whimpered "You know you can trust me,"

Rose took a deep breath and tried to explain again.

"I stayed at Joanna's,"

"And? Come on, that can't be everything, you clearly didn't sleep there," Lily pressed her cousin.

"I… we… we kissed," Rose finally whispered.

"Merlin, Rose!" Lily exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth. "I didn't know you were into girls,"

"I'm not, I don't think so. Or maybe I am, I don't know anymore" Rose hesitated. "She just invited me to come to her place after the party ended, and then we talked and drank some more, just like we always do, you know, as best-friend. But then, we started kissing. And we were both so drunk, but still, they were the most perfect kisses ever,"

Rose shot a confused look at Lily. The younger witch immediately put her arm around Rose's shoulder, leaning against her.

"It's okay Rose, I'm just surprised that's all," she said gently "It's okay for you to be confused. Do you think you like her?"

"I don't know. I mean before yesterday, she was only my best friend, and now I don't know where we stand anymore,"

"Everything is going to be fine. You don't need to think too much about it for now, the important thing is that the two of you care for each other. You'll sort out the rest together eventually," Lily explained very logically.

Rose snorted, resting her head on Lily's shoulder.

"You're very smart Lily, you know that? Sometimes I forget you're only 15," Rose murmured.

"Yeah, that's me. An 80 years old trapped in a teenager's body," Lily joked.

"And now you sound like a teen again," Rose giggled. "I love you Lils,"

"Love you too, Rosy,"

Eventually, the two witches went downstairs to see what the rest of their family was doing. Molly and Arthur had left their house to the care of their 7 youngest grandchildren for a whole week, an idea their parents hadn't quite agreed to at first. But Molly and Arthur had been invited to one of their friend's 90th birthday and since the teenagers were supposed to be staying at the Burrow during that time, their grandparents had seen no reason to send them home. That unexpected turn of event had given James, Fred, and the others, the perfect opportunity to have a party at the Burrow like they had wanted to organise one forever.

Rose and Lily found the three eldest cousins in the kitchen, where they were discussing the last details for the next day's party. They had decided to hold it in the garden instead of inside the house, not wanting to break anything or make a mess of the rooms. To ensure that this rule was respected and that only the family members would be allowed inside the house to sleep, Roxanne had been made responsible for casting a spell warding the entrance of the house to everyone but them. The guests who wanted to stay the night would be able to camp in tents in the garden or else they would have to go back home to their own beds.

"But what about people we want to come inside with us?" Fred asked at the same time as Albus and Scorpius entered the kitchen. "Like Jaimie or Scorpius,"

Jaimie was Fred latest girlfriend and it only seemed logical for her to be allowed inside the house since she was likely to sleep with Fred in his bed.

"How about we include plus-ones inside the wards? That way, anyone who wishes to sleep accompanied is welcome to," James suggested

Roxanne frowned, not certain she would be able to cast a spell with so many variables.

"Does it mean I have to use my plus-one on Scorpius?" Albus half-complained. "No offense mate,"

"None taken," the blond wizard replied almost immediately, not at all annoyed.

He knew Albus had just broken up with his girlfriend and he understood completely if he wanted to spend his time with someone else than him tomorrow night.

"I don't mind camping anyway," Scorpius added with a grin.

"It's settled then, I'll do my best to ward the house but for us and our plus-ones," Roxanne said.

Her cousins should consider themselves lucky to have her since this was not some simple spell available to everyone. But Roxanne was not only an incredible Quidditch player, but she was also a remarkable witch with a special affinity for charms and protective spells, which was one of the reasons the Auror department was so interested in her.

"Of course, Hugo and Lily don't get plus-ones," James said, his arms crossed over his chest.

Surprised by this news, Lily shot her brother an insulted look.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Because you don't need a plus-one, Lils," was James only response "You should be happy enough that we let you come to the party at all,"

Lily cast a pleading look at Rose, but her cousin avoided her gaze, not wanting to get in the middle of this new sibling feud.

Lily was fuming but there was nothing she could say or do to change her brother's mind. At least not without getting herself into any more trouble.

She couldn't really tell her brother that she wanted a plus-one on the off-chance that she managed to catch Andrew McLaggen's attention. The idea seemed ridiculous even to Lilly since she would first have to make McLaggen aware of her existence.

After all, Andrew was the epitome of the cool guy. He was older, handsome and an irresistible kind of bad. Why would he have noticed her, the little Potter baby? When everyone's attention at Hogwarts was on her brothers? When she wasn't allowed to do anything fun? Lily had had just enough of being Lils, the good little sister, the well-behaved sibling. This year it was her turn to break rules, pull pranks and flirt shamelessly. And McLaggen seemed like the ideal partner in crime.

That was the reason why she had asked Scorpius to sleep with her, she didn't want to be a virgin or appear unexperimented the day McLaggen would finally notice her.

Because he will notice me, Lily swore to herself.

She would do everything to make it happen. But for that, she needed to be a little more like the confident and sensual girls McLaggen usually went for. Something that Lily believed would only come with experience. Her only hope to catch the attention of the boy she wanted was to convince Scorpius to help her.