AN: Nice long chapter, so please review! I would love to hear what you have to say. Also thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter (HermionieG and zalatwabooks).
Lily was better. Or so it seemed. When Scorpius went to bed after patrol's she was not in the common room. In the morning he didn't see her until she came into the dining hall, sat down beside him with one large textbook or another as she piled her plate with inordinate amounts of food. That's why he didn't expect what happened a week after Quidditch tryouts.
Albus and he were conducting patrols, something that both of them looked forward to. Out of all the other prefects they enjoyed each other's company much more. As they walked they kept quiet. "We don't want Rose to accuse us of not correctly conducting patrols," Scorpius said.
Albus shook his head and laughed. "I know why I think she's insufferable, but what happened with the two of you? I thought the two of you used to be close."
"Why aren't you playing Quidditch?" he questioned, coming to a stop.
"Score...I...it's a long story and no it doesn't have to do with James or Wood." He sighed kicking at the ground. "I have a lot on my mind and I'm a Prefect this year...Besides, I'm rubbish at Quidditch."
Scorpius' face was usually expressive, so it was hard to school a look of neutrality across his face when he was in utter disbelief. Albus was probably the best out his siblings, his family, at Quidditch. He, like his father, had made the team his first year and was Seeker. Like his mother, he was adept at flying. One thing, though, that Scorius was able to do was pick out the underlying meaning, I'm not my father. Scorpius was in the same boat as Albus. Both of them looked extremely similar to a their father when they were the same age. It was hard to find people that could look past that, especially given their reputations.
"I lied to Lily today. She wondered why your broom is collecting dust. I told her it was a long story and that you weren't playing."
"Thanks, mate." He managed a smile as he halted, but his facial expression betrayed him. "What's wrong?"
"Lily's my friend too, and deceit has no place in friendship."
"If you want an actual answer, one of my...friends…" At that word his voice had a peculiar sound as if he didn't quite know what to call them. "Made me realize I was doing it for the wrong reasons."
Scorpius just nodded as he looked ahead. "We better get back to bed. Heads have a late night meeting, so they want us done by ten."
The two boys split up and headed to their respective dormitories. Scorpius got as far as the portrait hole when he was nearly ran over by a small figure with a mess of red hair. "Lily?" he whispered, grabbing at her arm. "Where are you going?"
She looked at him with watery eyes. "I need…" Lily shook her head. "My dad...owlery."
"The owlery is locked this time of night, come on." He released his grip, but then wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"No, you don't understand." She shook her head profusely, trying to pull away from him.
"Lily, what in Merlin's name is happening?" He tried to still her, but she struggled. Eventually he let her loose and she stood in front of him. "Is it about…" He was referring to her nightmares, her visions. They were never this bad, she hardly ever remembered them, usually they just kept her from sleeping.
"I don't know...there was this man and auror's and a bright light and screams…" She curled into herself. "I'm not supposed to remember."
Scorpius whispered the password to their portrait before guiding her in. The dim light of the Common Room never went out, so he sat down on the couch and Lily followed. He wanted to say something, but she curled against his body and clung on tightly. It didn't take him long to realize that she had fallen asleep in a mere matter of minutes. Before he knew it, he himself had followed her lead.
Professor Andrew Wolfe made his way to the Common Room after the meeting with all the Heads of Houses. He despised that you had to cross through the dormitories to get to his office, then up a flight of stairs and to the left to get to his room. It was made to be secluded, so students could access him if absolutely necessary, but the location was a deterrent. He envied those professors that could live off of the campus or at the very far from the students.
When he walked into the Common room he noticed it wasn't empty. The biggest couch was occupied by two individuals: one boy and one girl. The girl he'd recognize anywhere, Lily Potter. Her red hair cascaded across the boys chest and arm. She was nothing but trouble, couldn't even made it to class on time and probably thought she was above the rules,like her idiotic older brother did. Other professors, older ones, said there was hope for him. There wasn't, the only decent individual out of that family-Weasley clan included-seemed to be Albus Potter.
Professor Wolfe shook his head and marched forward, but when he pieced together who the boy was anger sparked inside of him. It was the Malfoy boy. The studious, shy boy who somehow was devoid of his father's arrogance. All the professor's sang his praises and he too had hope, the boy's work was excellent thus far and he was a prefect.
"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Potter," he said, just loud enough for the two of them to hear, but still firm. When they didn't respond, he grabbed the boys robe to shake him a bit. "Mr. Malfoy, wake this instant."
The boy straightened up, his eyes popping open. When he realized that the Professor was standing over him with the girl draped across his chest he shrank a bit and pulled Lily in closer.
"Sir, I can explain. There is a perfectly acceptable reason why I am here with Miss Potter."
"I would love to hear it, but I would like to go to bed, where the two of you should be currently. So, please wake her up or I will and it will not be pleasant."
The professor watched as Scorpius gently moved her, a hand grazing against the bare skin of her arm where her jumper had fallen. Lily blinked a few times, still clinging tightly. Scorpius murmured a few words and she sat up straighter, biting her lip when she saw him.
Her reaction, though, puzzled Professor Wolfe. Most couples push away from each other when they are caught, but Lily leaned into his body, even more so than when he pulled her tighter. "Sir, I…" Her voice was strangled and her eyes looked red, he noticed they were slightly puffy as if she'd been crying.
"I want the both of you to go to your respective rooms, we will continue this conversation tomorrow before breakfast."
He watched as Lily pulled away from Scorpius, but once he was on his feet he held out a hand for her to take, helping her to his feet. They exchanged a look that seemed to be an entire conversation...There was something going on here and he would have to get to the bottom of it.
Lily's roommates eyed her curiously as they got ready the next morning. Daphne kept her voice low, occasionally giggling as she relied information to Simone. Her third roommate, Esther, kept to herself. Lily got along best with Simone, mostly because they had the same sense of humor, but Lily was nowhere near as gossipy as she was. Esther was rather somber, and liked to keep to herself. She spent most of her time with a small group of friends that consisted of a handful of Slytherins and Ravenclaws.
"Everyone's talking already," Esther said as she collected her items for morning classes. "Daphne heard you come in and Ophelia told her that Regina saw you coming up from the staircase." The girl looked her over. "You should try to be more secretive."
Before Lily could respond Esther got to her feet and walked out of the room. Lily did her best to look presentable, but her nerves were frayed as she could not think of believable lies to tell. She made her way downstairs and hovered by the boys' staircase.
"Waiting for someone?" It was Damon, the fourth grinned as he adjusted his purposefully loosened tie.
"No," she lied smoothly. "Do we have practice tonight?"
"I booked the pitch for two hours after classes and before dinner, I expect you there as soon as they get out."
"Yes, sir." She gave him a mock salute and reluctantly headed in the direction of the office. She wanted Scorpius, wanted to talk to him before they went in. Providing a united front was much better.
However, when she turned down the hallway to his Head of House office, she saw Scorpius lingering. "Lily, where were you?"
She grabbed at his wrist, twisting his arm slightly to get a look at his watch. "It's still early. Don't worry." She smiled and dropped it, trying to hold herself together, to put together a strong front for their Professor.
Scorpius grabbed for the door, holding it open for Lily and waiting for her to go in before following closely behind. Professor Wolfe was at his desk, appearing to be grading papers as he sat there. "I would say good morning, but this is not a social visit. Sit."
The teens followed his cue and sat down at the same time. Scorpius sat with perfect posture, eyes flickering between the man's face and the floor. Lily kept her eyes on Scorpius wondering what to do or say.
"Explanations are not necessary. I have punishments in place for those that fraternize and are out of their rooms after hours."
"Fraternize?" Lily's voice was high and her eyebrows nearing her forehead. She turned looked at him with disgust on her face. At thirteen she hadn't even yet had her first kiss. Scorpius was a close friend, practically family in her eyes.
"It was my fault," Scorpius said. "I encouraged the behavior instead of telling Lily to go back to bed."
It was a lie. Lily knew that. The words were harsh and stiff, not like how he acted last night. When he saw her he drew her in for an embrace, led her to the couch to calm her down. She had fallen asleep before he told her that it was time for bed. "No. He didn't do anything wrong, sir. It was my fault, Scorpius was just concerned."
The Professor took his glasses off and rubbed his temples. "Detention, for the both of you. Miss Potter you will be in your dorm immediately after detention ends. No common room. Mr. Malfoy, you will be put on probation as a Prefect, no patrols or other duties for a week. Is that understood?"
Scorpius nodded mechanically, but Lily felt anger swell up inside her. "It was my fault! Don't punish him."
"Lily," he murmured.
"Mr. Malfoy, would you please leave? You can wait outside if you wish, but I need to discuss some things with Miss Potter in private."
At that he hesitated, but one look from the Head of House and he got to his feet, exiting quickly.
"I suppose you know why you wanted me to ask Mr. Malfoy to leave." He paused, but the look on his face told her that he didn't want an answer. "Why do you think it is your fault Miss Potter? There seems to be a missing part of the story and I do not believe it is one that Mr. Malfoy could tell me. Why were you not in bed when he came back from patrol?"
Lily bit her lip and arranged her hands in her lap as she stared at the floor. How much should she tell him? It was already risky, so many people knowing. It was exactly something she wanted to advertise, what if she's not actually a seer?
"It was nothing. I was studying and thought I left something downstairs."
"Good attempt at lying, now tell me the truth."
She looked up at him. Sure, her lying wasn't the best, but it couldn't have been that awful. "I had a…" She considered how to phrase it, but it all seemed ridiculous to her. "A nightmare." That sounded childish and she supposed it was. She wondered what the Professor would think of her, crying over bad dreams. How could she make him realize that they were so much more?
"A nightmare. That is why you and Scorpius ended up sleeping together on the couch at midnight?"
"When Scorpius found me I was outside of the Common Room trying to get to the owlery."
At that the Professor leaned forward ever so slightly, taking what she said as the truth. "An odd story, but why were you trying to go there."
Lily clenched her hands into fists and she shut her eyes, trying to will this away from happening. Though, when she did that, images danced through her mind. The same horrible ones as last night. They popped open and she was met with the face of the man who had been questioning. "It's complicated."
"Do you realize that I am not just the person who teaches you Potions? I am your Head of House. In order to keep Slytherin House safe and running efficiently I must know what is going on under my own roof. Is that understood?"
She nodded and loosened her fist. There were now little white crescent moons on her palms from her nails digging in. "Yes, but...Since, I was little I...I used to see things… Snippets, but I wouldn't remember the visions, but the emotions I felt. They stopped when I got older, but by last year they started again. I couldn't sleep. When I did, it felt like I was falling. You know that jolt as you go to sleep, and you usually wake up, but I just fall into sleep. When I wake up I can't remember a dream, all I know is it felt so real and I just want to sleep again, because I was so tired." She took a sharp intake of breath and closed her eyes. "It used to be just a night, but last year Professor Slughorn was helping me and I fainted in the classroom. When I came to he said I was muttering, but he couldn't understand." Lily wasn't even finished yet, but she wanted to be. A look of recognition passed his face and she shrunk into her seat.
"When you fainted in my class…"
"I ate breakfast that morning."
"Who else knows about this? Just Mr. Malfoy or are their others?"
"Scorpius only found out because I would stumble into breakfast half awake or he would find me in the common room when he came down at five."
"That was not my question, who else knows?"
"Professor Slughorn, but Professor Firenze and Professor Patil know too…" She tried to straighten her spine, but ended up with her arms wrapped around herself and wished that Scorpius would be here. Just his presence was enough to help her compose herself. "They say I'm young, and that my sight is strong." She looked down at her hands once again curled into small fists. When she glanced up at him he had a completely neutral face.
"So, you are a seer."
"I don't exactly know…"
"Why was I not made privy to this information?" He waved his wand and one of the filing cabinet drawers open and a folder flew at him. Opening the folder he quickly perused it before glancing back up at her.
"Because…" She didn't finish the sentence, couldn't he tell it was self explanatory? That information was private and already too many people knew about. Two professors (three if you count Slughorn), her father, best friend, and brother. Lily knew that her mother was not oblivious or stupid, but she chose to ignore the signs, didn't want to deal with it, lest it brought up memories she had tried to leave behind.
"It concerns me. Do you not think it is dangerous when you are fainting in the middle of class? That you can't sleep?"
"Professor Patil and Professor Firenze are helping me."
"Did Mr. Slughorn offer you any potions to combat the insomnia? Perhaps a calming or peace draught."
"No, I don't want to block it, I want to learn how to control it."
"And in the mean time you will kill yourself trying, am I correct Miss Potter?"
"No!" she objected, rather loudly.
"Alright, then…"
"Are we finished?" Her eyes drifted to the clock in the corner of the room. They actually been talking for as long as she thought, in fact there was still ten minutes until breakfast began.
"No. Do you recall what else I wanted to discuss?" He looked her over, waiting for her response.
Lily did remember his words. Fraternization he had called. Preposterous was the name she had for whatever Professor Wolfe thought he had saw. "I needed Scorpius, alright? We fell asleep as two friends, one friend helping the other one, but getting tangled in misunderstanding."
"No," was what he said.
"I'm telling the truth this time."
"I was not referencing the credibility of your statement, but rather the content of it. You do not 'need' him. Do you understand how dangerous it is lose a part of your own independence, a part of your own agency as a human being? That being constantly reliant on someone leads you down a slippery slope."
"Professor we are here to discuss a problem, not my personal life." He was wrong. She knew that. Lily needed Scorpius as much as Scorpius needed her, although his problems he didn't outwardly admit. Still, how could she convey to him that having him by her side made her feel at ease? That she liked the fact that they were so comfortable in their friendship that glances could constitute a conversation.
"If you want this meeting to be over, feel free to leave at any time. I am just-"
Lily was already on her feet heading out the door where Scorpius waited.
