He inhaled sharply and gingerly touched the rapidly swelling bump on the back of his head.
He rubbed his face with a groan. This was the fourth night in a row he'd been woken by Malfoy screaming bloody murder.
He heard Sean Finnegan punch his pillow and swear in frustration.
"Will somebody shut him up!" He whispered furiously.
The fires were the biggest topic of conversation around hogwarts that month.
What had started with Winifred soon grew to include multiple students and teachers.
Everyone was terrified of having their clothes, their books, their possessions burned.
It was after the discovery of one such bonfire that lily saw something glinting silver in the grass next to the burn site. She stopped to pick it up, and turned the object over in her hands.
It seemed to be a cigarette lighter. It was an odd object to think this about, but it was one of the most beautiful works of craftsmanship she had ever seen.
The lighter had a harlequin diamond pattern of silver and green. The green diamond shapes looked to be emeralds, and the silver diamonds were intricately engraved with a royal looking pattern.
The top of the lighter was fashioned to resemble a snake's head, carved from silver, with two fangs coming down the sides. The snake had tiny green gemstones for eyes. Its scales were expertly carved into the metal, nearly lifelike.
It was quite obvious that it had belonged to a slytherin, and a very wealthy one.
Lily turned it over, and on the bottom was inscribed, with masterful penmanship, "Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" The phrase sounded faintly familiar to her, but she couldn't place it.
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper" She said slowly, hoping to jog her memory. Her mind remained blank.
The snake head hissed, blinked, and opened its mouth. A flame shaped like a forked tongue darted out and flickered a few moments before retracting.
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper is the Malfoy family motto. It means purity will always conquer, or some other nonsense like that. Why are you asking about it? Has Malfoy been running his mouth off about blood purity or something?"
Molly sounded suspicious.
Molly was the one to go to for information. She had an incredible mind for remembering facts. She was resented for this because she wouldn't use it to "help" her cousins with their essays and reports.
"No, nothing like that. I just remembered it from somewhere and couldn't think of where." Lily replied.
"Has anyone seen Malfoy?"
Lily asked around the common room.
Nobody seemed to know where he'd gone (they were just glad he wasn't there.)
"Oy, lily, I think he went down to the fifth floor." Someone finally called to her from a sofa. "Though I don't know why a nice little second year like you would want to find that freak on purpose." The older student added; it was Josh Taylor who'd spoken.
Lily made a thorough search of the fifth floor, but he was nowhere to be found.
Just as she was about to give up, she heard soft music coming from behind a closed door.
It was the now abandoned music room. She hadn't thought to even look there, music classes weren't offered at hogwarts since the previous teacher had retired. The classroom was now not used for anything.
She pushed lightly on the door and it swung open without a creak.
Scorpius was playing the piano. He made a striking figure in the dark, forgotten room, looking like a ghost among cobwebs and abandoned instruments. His eyes were closed.
It was a haunting song, and he played it hard. He threw his whole body into it, hands running up and down the keys, back bowed over the instrument, swaying back and forth.
Lily was spellbound. She'd never heard this song before. She mused that it must be an ancient composition, taught to pureblood children.
Then he began to sing. His voice wasn't what could be called a pretty one. Not one that a classical singing instructor would rave over, but it was soulful, a throaty, rasping timbre that sent a chill down her spine.
He didn't sing the words, he howled them; strange, mournful lyrics.
Lily began to realize that this was no classical wizarding composition, despite the lovely melodic start.
The way he sang it, it sounded almost like, well, a muggle song.
She completely forgot that she had come here to confront him.
There was such sorrow in his voice, such agony on his face as he reached the crescendo of the song.
Lily almost forgot to breathe. It was one of the beautiful performances she had ever seen.
And as she was drawn into the spell of the music, she subconsciously began to lean on the half open door. All at on the door swung open, and lily went tumbling forward.
As soon as she hit the ground Scorpius stopped playing and jumped up.
His eyes were blazing bright.
"Get out!"
"I.. I'm sorry! I didn't intend to-"
"Get out!" He screamed in fury. His face had gone white.
Lily scrambled up, ready to turn and bolt out the door, when she caught sight of something.
There was a long, dark shape on the underside of Scorpius's arm. It looked almost like a...
"Is that a dark mark?!" She shrieked.
