A/N - Disclaimer cont'd, etc.

CHAPTER TWO

--

Lily already owned most of her school books - a time saving scheme of her parents to buy three sets of the classic books all at once - but Aunt Hermione's book was a new one for the list. Lily was already excited - happy to visit Flourish & Blotts.

"Lily?" running into the store - far ahead of her parents - Lily nearly ran into Teddy Lupin, her father's godchild.

Lily blushed - Teddy was her first crush (though nine years older than she) - and it was no surprise why. Teddy was muscular from Quidditch conditioning and later auror training. His un-metamorphmagus-ed hair was a swishy light brown color, only adding an irresistible shadow to his magically teal eyes.

"Here for school shopping?" Teddy asked, a shining grin brightening his not-so clean shaven face as he looked her over and glanced at the book in her hand.

"Yeah." she said, nodding.

"Hermione's here as well. They got her to come in for a signing as long as Hugo's going off to school." he gestured toward the back of the shop, where a long line was winding into a storeroom. "Can't believe you're only a first year... I remember when you were born."

Right. She'd forgotten that bit again.

"How are you doing in work?" she asked, for once truly interested. Teddy always had the best work stories.

"Just moved into a flat in London." he said, glancing around the store. "I actually wanted to ask Harry-"

At that moment, the very man walked through the doors, greeting his godson with a happy clap on the shoulder. Realizing she was no longer part of the conversation, Lily meandered her way through the shelves of books. Finally, she came upon something interesting: another book by her aunt (now a part-time author and potential Hogwarts professor) all about the 1997 class of Hogwarts. There was a page for each previous student, written when they were all 35, and Lily immediately turned to the "P"s and found 'Potter, Harry.'

There was a picture - wizarding - and a little description of name, birthday and age, and current job. There was also a picture of their home and an address and phone number (their family was no longer a rare one to have kids brought up in both the muggle and wizarding worlds).

Name: Harry James Potter

Age: 35

Birthday: July 31, 1980

Job: Retired auror

Home: Five bedroom flat in York

Address:1342 Cross Street

York, England

Phone number: 416 6255 347

Family:

Ginevra Molly Weasley, 34, wife

James Sirius Potter, 12, son

Albus Severus Potter, 10, son

Lily Ginevra Potter, 9, daughter

Theodore Remus Lupin, 18, godson

Then there was a little blurb interview about what her father had been up to, and his family, and so on. Lily also skimmed through Aunt Hermione's profile of herself (listed under Granger, Hermione, which threw Lily for a loop) and Uncle Ron's. Flipping through again, she decided to buy the book - maybe get some dirt on her teachers and relatives and family friends.

"Lily!" Hugo, her cousin, grabbed her around her shoulders. Lily laughed and turned to hug him as well.

"Hugo!" she hadn't seen her cousin for almost a year, but not much had changed. His hair was still just as flat and brown as ever - his eyes still blue like his father's.

"Here for school?" he asked, walking with her as they headed to the back of the store.

"You too, I suppose."

"Yeah." They turned a corner and ran smack dab into the crowd of buyers waiting to get their books signed by Mrs. Hermione Weasley.

"So I guess I won't be alone at the sort-" Lily was cut off by the sudden hug of her aunt.

"Lily! It's been months - exciting to finally be going to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, pulling her neice over to the signing table where Lily recieved hugs from the rest of the Weasley's: her uncle, Ron, and her cousin, Rose.

"Of course, aunt Hermione." Lily answered, grinning.

"You know, you don't have to be a Gryffindor," Hermione said, obviously trying to be a comfort, "I've been thinking, myself, about how well Hugo would do in Ravenclaw. Our friend Luna is the head of house." she babbled, blindly signing any book placed in front of her.

Lily nodded, absently. She wished Hugo would be in Gryffindor - she hoped she'd be in Gryffindor, like everyone else in her family - but she had noticed certain qualities in her cousin that were blatantly suited for Ravenclaw. For one, he'd read every book in his house by the time he turned eleven - and that was a lot of books. He wasn't exactly as social as Lily was either, sticking to study buddies and his family. Even more content with being alone or with his sister or Lily.

Hugo blushed. "Thanks mum." he mumbled, sarcastically.

Lily checked her watch and grabbed an unsigned copy of Hogwarts: a Revised Retelling of History off of a stack, and slipped out of the conversation. Nicking a galleon from her mum's purse, she purchased her two books and exited the packed bookstore.

--

After grabbing a quick ice cream on her own, Lily was subjected to a lecture from her father about disappearing and how it was bad. She was only allowed to continue her shopping if she went with a brother and agreed to meet up with the rest of the Potters at a given time.

She had wanted James, but he had found his friend, Arran Samuels, so she was stuck with Albus.

"You need a wand, right?" Al asked, unfolding the supply list from his trouser pocket.

"Right." she agreed.

"And robes." he added.

"Right again." she said, sarcastically, earning herself a disgruntled scowl.

Al steered her into Ollivander's, owned by the nearly ancient Mr. Ollivander - a weathered old man with a severe shaking problem. Since Lily could remember, he had felt in debt to her family, giving them free wands and wand care, but this was the first time she'd been in to buy something.

"Ah, another young Potter." the old man smiled, shakily. "Try this, here." he handed her a stubby grey wand as his enchanted measuring tapes buzzed around her.

After just touching it, barely having time to feel anything, he took it from her.

"No, that's obviously wrong... how about this?" he rummaged through a few boxes and then took out a longer, red wand.

Once again, she'd barely touched it before he pulled it away.

"Almost, not quite - far too sharp." he moved down a row of boxes. "Yes, this should do the trick." he handed her one last one, almost identical to the last - but of black wood.

Lily could tell before she put her second finger on it: it was the one. "Beautiful." she breathed, in awe.

"Naturally - ebony and dragon heart string, ten inches, fantastic at charms and jinxes. Just like your mother, you."

Lily couldn't tell if she was flattered or scared. Either way, she left the shop shortly afterward.

--

She already owned all of her potions ingredients and supplies, so all she needed to buy were her robes. Entering Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Lily stepped onto a stool at Albus' instruction.

"Oh, a new student, how nice!" Madam Malkin hobbled over, rubbing her hands together, happily. "Turn around, dear, we need some measurements."

Lily sighed; it didn't help that she was tall for her age. She placed a hand on Albus' shoulder, steadying herself as she turned to the mirror. She she felt him stiffen, her eyes immediately went to the mirror in front of her, giving her a perfect view of the door and the small family that had just entered.

"Scorpius." Albus nodded at the boy, who seemed about his age. Lily could feel the tension between her brother and the newcomer, who took the stool next to her.

"Albus." he spoke in the same restrained tone, as his eyes flickered to Lily and she looked away.

"Ah, Potters, I see." the older blonde man, who bared striking resemblance to his son, gave a forced little smile.

With the attention averted, Lily took the chance to study the boy next to her in the mirror. He had short, meticulously tousled blonde hair - somewhere between the striking white blonde of his father, and the honey color of his mother. He was tall for thirteen, a few inches taller than Albus - and when he had spoken his voice was already heading down the octaves. She squinted to see his eyes, noting them to be a grey/blue color, darker than Uncle Ron's and more metallic. Not bad looking at all.

"How is your father?" asked the older man, sounding as though he were making awkward small talk - which he was.

"Fine." Albus said, shortly.

The woman was beaming and glanced at Lily's hair. "No doubt you are Weezleez? Fleur eez a very good friend of mine. We were like seesters at Beauxbatons." The woman explained, her blinding white teeth shining. "How eez young Victoire?" she asked, in her thick French accent.

"Just turned 19." Lily answered, finding herself inexplicably drawn to the French woman's outgoing personality. "And yes - our mother in Ginny, Bill's sister." she smiled back at the mother of the small family.

"Shush, shush, now don't move!" Madam Malkin hushed her, throwing a set of robes over her head and setting to work.

"And what house are you expeting to bee een?" the woman asked, sounding genuinely interested.

Lily noticed the boy - Scorpius, was it? - regain some interest. "Well the rest of my family's been in Gryffindor - even all of my aunt and uncles - so I might as well continue the tradition."

"Gryffindors..." Scorpius showed obvious dislike at the mention of the house. No doubt he was one of the opposing house, Slytherin.

"What about them?" Lily asked, coldly, which seemed to surprise him.

"Scorpius can bee a leetle rude, excuse heem." the woman glared at her son for his bad manners. "I am sure Greefeendor eez a very nice house."

Her husband coughed, obviously, earning himself a glare as well.

"Ah, forgeev me for not eentroducing my familee." the woman looked abashed. "I am Clarisse de Lemont-Malfoy. Thees eez my husband, Draco, and our son Scorpius."

"'Lo Scorpius." Lily said the name with a challenge, daring him to repeat the many stories Lily had heard of her father and Draco.

"Excuse me, I'm Albus Potter, and this is my sister Lily." Albus jumped to cover his sister's rudeness.

"Of course, you are Harry Potter's cheeldreen, I remember now. Eet eez very nice to meet you. I've heard very much about your father from Draco." she gestured to her husband, who was turning red.

"Clarisse, I think we should be going - " he mumbled, but she cut him off.

"Nonsense! Eef all eez well, we should eenvite zee Potters for lunch weeth us. A great time to catch up." she laughed - an airy, floating sound which brought Lily's mood to a peak.

"No need to go through the trouble - we're not even sure where the rest of our family is." Albus told her, obviously not wanting to be stuck in the same room - let alone at the same table - as Scorpius Malfoy for a whole meal.

"Eet eez a shame - I am sure zat wee can find zem!" Clarisse looked so disappointed, that Lily couldn't help it.

"I'm sure they'd love to - want to meet somewhere at one thirty?" she asked, glancing at her watch that read twelve fifty-seven PM.

"C'est magnifique!" Clarisse glowed with enthusiasm. "Wee shall see you at one thirtee at zee Leeky Cauldron." she waved as she grabbed her son's arm and dragged him out of the store.

Lily didn't miss the calculating look from Scorpius as he was pulled out - hemmed robes and all - and she didn't think she liked it.

"Lily, why?" Albus moaned at her.

"Please." she scoffed, "Clarisse is nice enough, and we know Draco owes dad." Their father had saved Draco's life twenty one years before. "Besides," she hopped off her stool and took the bag from Madam Malkin, paying. "She's friends with Bill and Fleur."

--

Their father seemed to have a similar reaction to Draco Malfoy's when they told him of the afternoon plans. Still, after some persuasion from Ginny and Lily, he was convinced into keeping his word. However, he insisted that they would be the first at the Leaky Cauldron, calling it "the home team advantage."

Considering they were a good fifteen minutes early, Lily took her time to study up on Draco Malfoy in her new book.

The pictures looked very similar - though when he was younger her looked to have an obsession with hair gel. The older Malfoy had slightly less hair, and a good amount more stubble and age lines, but the eyes were still stone cold grey, and the skin was as pale as - paler than - his son's.

Name: Draco Luckus Malfoy

Age: 35

Birthday: January 15, 1980

Job: Retired Co-Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Recreation

Home: Malfoy Manor

Address: Undisclosed, private information

Phone number: None

Family:

Clarisse de Lemont-Malfoy, 32, wife

Scorpius Henri Malfoy, 10, son

Lily scanned the few paragraphs, not finding much information except that Clarisse had had a miscarriage when Scorpius was nine, where he had lost a sister. Right when she was going to look up other Slytherins that Draco could have associated with, she was interrupted by the sound of Clarisse and Ginny chatting, happliy - and the lack of any male voices. Sighing, she decided to be polite and put away the book. She straightened and inspected herself in the mirror - which took the liberty of asking her where the rest of her skirt was - and regretted wearing her shortest denim skirt. Oh well, it was too late to change now. Giving herself a last check, she walked back to the lobby, where the two families were standing awkwardly despite Ginny and Clarisse's babbling.

"Where're we going to lunch?" Lily asked, rubbing her hands together excitedly as the women stopped talking.

There was a brief pause before Clarisse answered. "Well, zare eez a very good fine dining restaraunt just a few blocks zat way een zee muggle street." she suggested, "Or, eef zat eez too fancy, zere eez a feesh and cheeps around zee corner."

"Let's not drag the kids to an experience they won't properly enjoy - fish and chips?" Harry proposed, placing a hand on Lily's back to usher her out to the street.

"Very well, eet eez a short walk on zee muggle street." Clarisse led the way with her husband, behind them Harry and Ginny, then the Potter children, followed by Scorpius.

Falling back behind her brothers, Lily fell into step with Scorpius. He looked her up aned down again, his eyes cold and seemingly disapproving. His eyes lingered on her skirt, and he raised an eyebrow. When she twitched at it nervously and turned a little pink, the corners of his mouth quirked. His eyebrows went up slightly, as if renewing the challenge she had made earlier.

"So..." she said, pointedly breaking the silence. "You're on the Quidditch team?"

"Yes." he answered, simply, gazing ahead as a smirk lighted on his lips.

"What position do you play?" she asked, semi-interested.

"Chaser, like Pot-... like... James." he said, as if not wanting to say her brother's name. A few seconds of silence fell, and Clarisse appeared at Scorpius' shoulder.

"Now, Scorpius, be polite. Leely seems to know a beet about queedeetch. Ask her eef she plays." All of this was said in a whisper, but quite audible from where Lily was walking.

"Oh, look, we're here!" she exclaimed, louder than necessary.

Once they were seated, Lily found herself next to James - a comfort - and directly in front of Scorpius. He was sitting next to his mother, who caught his eye, nudged him, and glanced pointedly at Lily. Scorpius swallowed, and exhaled. He seemed to be steeling himself for a battle. This puzzled Lily, she sensed that she was viewed as an insignificant little girl by him, so why would it be such a problem to talk to her?

"Um... do you play quidditch?" he asked, his voice slightly doubtful. She felt James stiffen next to her. Before she could lay a hand on his arm to keep him from bursting out, he did.

"Does she play?" he asked in a barely retrained but 'conversational' tone. Though Clarisse didn't seem to notice anything, Lily and Scorpius could both sense the hostility radiating off of James. "She's amazing! Theodore Lupin, who played keeper for England for three years, says she's incredible. Our father, who played seeker in his first year, says that she has a good chance of playing as a first year too. And he was the youngest seeker in a century."

Scorpius' gaze of indifferent was replaced - somewhat reluctantly - by something akin to respect or awe. But he only asked one question. "What does she play?"

"I play seeker." Lily replied before James could respond.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows, but his eyes showed none of the scorn that they had before. Lily felt an air of satisfaction settle over her. She had just earned respect from Draco Malfoy's son. James also sensed this change in Scorpius' attitude, and he lay his hand over the back of Lily's chair, protectively, a sign both of them knew to mean 'this is my sister.' Scorpius' eyes regained their cold mask of indifference. Despite his mother's best efforts, he could not be enticed to speak again for the rest of the meal.