A/N: Hey people! Here's the new chapter! I've been really busy with schoolwork and my grandfather just passed away…so pray for him, please! And enjoy this chapter! And don't forget- REVIEW! Oh, and thanks to my new Beta, Zehra, since my old one, Nickers310, is too lazy! And since it's shorter than usual, maybe I'll go for a double update.
DISCLAIMER: WHY, WHY must you punish me in this way? I already KNOW I don't own Harry Potter!
Chapter Seven
(Lily Potter)
The winter break went exactly the same as last time. All of us were staying at the Burrow. I got a huge pile of presents, including a new charm for the bracelet Alice had given me last time and multi-coloured shoelaces from Kevin! Kevin and I had started talking a lot recently. He'd caught up with me in corridors between classes and walked with me to the greenhouses, where we had Herbology together. I really thought this might be leading somewhere, and I was happy about it. As far as I could tell he was very charming, good-looking, and (the most important) I had Dominique's approval.
My presents included another surprise, although this one was rather unwelcome: another note. In the same handwriting, it read, "Heed my warnings, and waste no time." The note frightened me and, after a great deal of deliberation, I decided to talk to Malfoy. If he thought I was a crazy stalker, so be it, but I needed to find out more about this.
So the very day we returned to Hogwarts, I gave Hugo, Alice and Sam the excuse that I had to return a book to the library and set off through the castle alone. I had a vague idea where the Slytherin common room was, but I knew I'd never be able to get in there without my vivid hair and infinite freckles giving away my identity. Instead, I tried the Great Hall, where some people were just wandering around, but there were no vividly blonde heads present there. I made my way to the library. Before I could so much as get past the first row of shelves, a voice behind me called out, 'Lily!' I turned to find Kevin hurrying in my direction.
'Hi,' I said, happy to see him, but disappointed that I would now be prevented from continuing my search.
'Hey,' he replied, holding out his hand. I placed mine in his and he pressed his lips against it, gently, and winked at me. I smiled. 'How were the holidays?'
'You two!' screeched a voice behind us. Oh great. It was the vulture. We groaned in unison and turned to the librarian. 'Keep your voices down! This is a library, not a social gathering!'
'Come on,' whispered Kevin. 'I think its better we leave. Unless you have something to do?' I bit my lip, considering the chances that Malfoy would be in the library, but then shook my head. 'Good. You mind going for a walk?' I shook my head again. As soon as we were outside the library perimeters, we could breathe freely again. He cracked a few jokes, and I laughed.
'Where d'you wanna go? Anywhere in particular?' I shook my head again. I felt him hesitate a bit before he took my hand. I felt butterflies beating their wings in my stomach; he pulled me closer to him as we walked through the corridors. It seemed like we were heading for the Owlery, but I didn't really care. All I cared about right then was the feel of his warm fingers on mine and the fact that we were having a good time together. It felt nice to be here, in his presence, just talking and laughing and joking and flirting…
As we reached the entrance to the Owlery, I heard raised voices coming from inside. One was male, the other female; they seemed oddly familiar. Kevin pushed the door open, and I saw two white-blonde heads inside, facing away from us, yelling at each other at the top of their voices.
'There's nothing I'm telling her that I haven't told you!' yelled the boy, obviously exasperated.
'Fine, you may not have told her, but there's definitely something you're hiding from me!' the girl screamed back at him.
'No I'm not! How can I hide anything from you? You know me just as well as I know myself!'
'Which is why I know that there's something you're not telling me!'
'I don't care what you think! I'm hiding nothing from you! And don't bring Selena into this!'
This evidently infuriated Isabelle even more, because she turned to leave the room; she then found us standing at the doorway and stopped short. Scorpius turned to follow his sister, and halted in his tracks, frozen, his expression identical to the one his sister wore. They seemed to realize that they hadn't given anything away and unfroze. Isabelle stormed past us and stomped down the stairs. Scorpius shot the two of us suspicious looks, raised an eyebrow at our linked hands and edged past us and out the room.
A fierce battle raged in my head. This is your chance! Screamed one voice. Ask him about it now! But then another voice roared back, What about Kevin? What do I tell him? Will he take kindly to be abandoned while I talk to Scorpius? The other voice fell momentarily silent. Exactly, said the second voice, triumphantly. Again, the first voice fought back, Well, you have to make a choice, don't you?
I looked at my hand, tightly gripped by Kevin's; I looked at Scorpius, who was following his sister's path down the stairs. And make a choice I did.
'Malfoy?' I called out. Both the Malfoys turned in surprise. 'Umm, Scorpius?' They continued to stare at me in shock. 'Could I speak to you for a moment? In private, please?' Isabelle snorted and turned away, heading down the stairs again, shaking her head and muttering incoherently. Scorpius scrutinized my face for a few seconds, his eyes finally resting on mine. It felt like the metal orbs were burning a hole through mine, trying to find a reason, but I was sure he didn't find any. Nonetheless, he shrugged and went back into the Owlery.
I turned to Kevin. 'Kevin, could you excuse me for a moment?' He looked thoroughly confused but started climbing down the steps obligingly. I took a deep breath, entered through the doorway and shut it carefully and silently behind me. I took out my wand, pointed it at the door and muttered 'Muffliato.' After taking a deep breath I turned to face Scorpius. I was startled by how close to me he was standing. I shuffled my feet and moved sideways, further away from him, looking down. I glanced up and saw him watching me, a neutral expression on his face; he was waiting for me to start.
'Umm, Malfoy, I know what you're hiding from your sister.' I watched him; he just cocked an eyebrow, neither affirming, nor denying. I continued. 'You got a note with your results at the end of last year.' I said it as a statement, not a question, and I could see astonishment in his eyes; he obviously hadn't expected that I'd be right. 'I got one as well. And I got two more since. Did you?' He nodded slowly. I pulled the notes out of my pocket. He read the first one and nodded again.
'I got the exact same one.' He read the second and third ones and shook his head. He could tell I was surprised, so he took three pieces of parchment out of his pocket and placed them in my palm. The first said the same as mine had said. The second said, "I warn you again. The time is approaching. Unearth your partner." The third read, "Heed my warnings, and waste no time. She awaits your union." All three were in the exact same loopy script as mine, except that his was written in dark red ink, while mine was in green.
I looked up at him, grinning. He was a good foot taller than me. 'Do you know who sent us these?'
He seemed surprised that I was smiling. 'No, I haven't the faintest clue. I can't figure out whose handwriting that is. Do you know?'
'No,' I said, 'but whoever it is, is keeping a close watch on both of us. He or she knew that I knew that you'd received the same note as me, but that you didn't know that I'd gotten the same message.' This time a smirk spread across his face. We both turned to look out the huge open window of the Owlery, and watched the sun setting outside. I knew that, at that moment, we were thinking the same thing, and it reassured us: someone out there was watching over us.
Together, we left the Owlery. I was happy to find that there was nobody around. We set off together, heading towards the Great Hall: it was surely time for dinner already. As we reached the marble staircase, we silently moved away from each other; I trailed behind while he hurried down the stairs. I watched his tall figure until he'd turned around the corner of the staircase and disappeared from view.
Okay, so there was something going on between him and Gomes. I don't know why that even surprised me: it wasn't like they were hiding it. I was very grateful that he hadn't asked me about how I knew he'd gotten the notes; he was smart, maybe he'd figured it out. Or maybe he just didn't want me to question him about the fight I'd overheard. Well, either way, I may not have received many answers, but at least I knew there was someone in it with me. The thought made me smile, and I walked slowly down the marble steps to dinner.
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