"If heaven and hell decide,
That they both are satisfied, and
Illuminate the 'no's on their vacancy signs,
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks,
Then I'll follow you into the dark."
-Death Cab for Cutie, I'll Follow You Into the Dark
The train stopped, knocking Scorpius from his joyous daze. He picked up his trunk and climbed from the train. He followed his friends toward the carriages; sure he was the only one out of all of them who could see the thestrals pulling them. Then, there she was, right in front of him. She stumbled, and he caught her. "Watch your step," he told her, "If you fall like that out on the lake, I won't be able to catch you." He paused, feeling her stiffen as if with fear in his arms. "Nobody likes sitting through the sorting wet." She turned towards him, first bewildered, and then a flurry of terror crossed her face, which eventually settled in an indignant scowl. His arms were still around her, and that made them both blush.
"Actually, I could go for a nice swim right now," she told him coldly, pulling out of his awkward embrace. "Thanks for the save. I don't need any more scars on my knees." With that, the young Potter flounced off to follow the other first years. Hagrid called her Lily. So that was her name. Lily. It rolled off his tongue as he whispered after her, to quietly for her to hear over the din. Then she vanished into the dim evening light, darkening as a storm brewed on the horizon. Sighing, Scorpius walked back towards his retreating friends.
As they settled in at the feast, Scorpius was anxious. Did she make it across the lake okay? She didn't fall in, right? And most importantly, would she be a Slytherin? He tried to keep his usual cool, uncaring demeanour, but it was hard.
"Blake-Sinistra, Edwin," called Professor Corner the headmistress. The hat bellowed, "Ravenclaw!" A scared, scrawny boy scuttled over to the Ravenclaw table, breathing deeply. "Bones, Wesley" was another Ravenclaw. Then Caraway-Zabini, Sloane was made a Slytherin. The rest of his table clapped heartily, but some others booed. Scorpius rolled his eyes. She was just a little girl, why couldn't they let her be? Lily (how he loved her name!) seemed to agree with him. She looked irked, glaring around at the older students. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek, just as she had been when he told her not to fall in the lake, and when her friend had talked about "You Know Who." It was cute.
"Finch-Fletchly, Seward!" took so long to sort that Scorpius spaced out. By the time he was awake again, Lily's skater-nerd girlfriend was waltzing over to the Ravenclaw table, a smug smile on her face. She patted the seat next to her, smiling at Lily, who then started gnawing on her cheek again. 'Nervous habit?' He wondered, and this made him miss the next few sorting. Worriedly, he made sure that she was still waiting. There she was, watching "Lynx, Madigan," learn that she was Slytherin material. Suddenly, her face seemed determined. After Larkspur, Kyle," went on his merry way to the Gryffindor table, it was her turn. Scorpius tried so hard not to care, but…
"Potter, Lily!" She sat down on the stool, and let the hat fall over her eyes. It had not even sat there for a full minute before shouting, "Slytherin!" for the world to hear. The hall was silent. Calmly, she rose from the stool, and his heart leapt. No one applauded, whispers broke out, but she still stood serenely at the head of their table. Nobody made a move to let her in. She began to chew her lip again. Trying not to seem too hasty, Scorpius languidly slid over, giving her a space to sit, but making sure there wasn't enough space for her not to brush against him. He hadn't thought about the fact that she was dripping lake water. She smelled like a water lily. Ha! Leaning toward her as Timothy Pringle was sorted, he whispered, "You didn't listen to me. You're drenched!"
Lily looked affronted. "I'm afraid of water. I fainted." She stared at him for a moment, and he yearned to see into her head, to understand her mind. "Thanks for the heads up. I didn't know we'd be on the lake until you told me not to fall in. If I hadn't found out, I'd have really panicked," she told him in an awkward rush.
He rolled his eyes, trying hard not to let her see how much he loved her voice, then said sarcastically, "Hopefully you won't drown in your soup." She scowled again. Easily angered, this one. He'd remember that. As the sorting progressed, he watched her stare at her empty plate, tears gathering in her eyes. The other Slytherins were gawking openly at her. When the feast started, he passed her food before she asked, making sure to keep all the good food within her reach, giving her more of whatever she seemed to enjoy. It surprised him to see she was a vegetarian, refusing to even touch the glorious-looking sausage pie. She also wasn't afraid of the Bloody Baron. When he seated himself on her other side, and began to gaze vacantly at the Ravenclaw table, she squinted toward whatever he was watching, then told him, "She was selfish. It's not your fault." He stared at her, shocked. "Just talk to her. If she won't listen, she's a waste of time." The Baron floated off, still looking astonished, and Lily began to reach for tomato soup. Scorpius immediately handed it to her, then helped himself to some shepherd's pie and Brussels sprouts. What a strange, strange girl he was falling in love with.