After finishing his seventh year, James had been invited to practice with several different Quidditch teams. As he jumped from team to team, trying to find the best fit, Albus, Scorpius, and Lily returned to Hogwarts. Mason had learned his lesson and hadn't so much as looked in Lily's direction during their fifth year. Scorpius had taken notice of his absence, but Lily hardly paid it any attention. For the majority of that year, Alex and Anne spent time away from Scorpius, Lily, Deryck, and Albus and had never run out of excuses to explain their absences.

Even though Lily and Scorpius were quick to point out what was actually happening, Anne only blushed and turned away at the insinuation, while Alex shrugged. It was clear Anne hadn't wanted her closest friends to have every detail of her personal life while Alex went along with the stupid excuses because she wanted them. Nonetheless, Anne and Alex escaped their friends at least once a week, and their blooming relationship had little to no effect on their friends.

James had been replaced by another Gryffindor Chaser, and though she was talented enough to hold her own with Albus and Deryck, she had wanted to join them, as though replacing James' presence in the group of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.

In the beginning, Albus had thought nothing of, considering the majority of their time was spent in the Quidditch pitch. It was helpful to be able to practice with Kate outside of regulated practices, but eventually Lily voiced her dislike of the girl. She was slightly more obsessed with James than Lily had given her credit for the year prior, but it seemed only she noticed. Scorpius didn't care about the girl.

On a usual Saturday, Lily and Scorpius were seated in the stands of the Quidditch pitch with Albus and Deryck. Kate was sitting with them, a bench away from Lily and Scorpius, and Lily wished Anne and Alex would return before Kate started another dreadful story.

"So, have you…" Kate started but trailed off until Lily faced her. "Have you heard from James?"

"No." Albus answered simply with a shrug.

"You haven't?" Lily asked and Kate shook her head softly. "He writes me every week."

Scorpius cleared his throat as he stared at Albus. Both knew Lily was lying for no other purpose than to upset Kate, but neither were willing to point it out to her. Kate quickly became affected at the notion, even though she attempted to hide her reaction.

"You should go write him." Lily said. "If I had a boyfriend who never wrote me, I'd never let him live it down." Kate only nodded before she quickly rose to her feet to climb down the stairs. With bewildered eyes, Lily, Scorpius and Albus stared at the back of her mind, all three wondering exactly what she and James had ever talked about.

"Is she serious?" Deryck finally asked after Kate had left the four alone.

"She's something." Lily answered.

"You're mean." Scorpius said with a dry laugh as he turned to her. Lily laughed as she shrugged.

"No James doesn't write us. He's playing professional Quidditch. What is she thinking? He doesn't have time for his petty Hogwarts girlfriend." Lily said and all four shared a laugh at Kate's expense. Though none would say it, all were glad it was her seventh year and that once the year had passed, Lily, Deryck, and Alex, would continue playing as Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Chasers without her.

Until then, everyone cherished the last year they would have to play Quidditch together. Albus and James had been one of the best Chaser teams Gryffindor had seen in some years, just as Scorpius and Lily had been for Ravenclaw. Without James, much talk about Ravenclaw taking the Quidditch cup had arisen. Albus and Deryck could be easily overcome by Scorpius and Lily, and Kate did not add much to their team. Though Slytherin could put up a physical fight, they had nowhere near as much talent as either the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw team, and Hufflepuff had never been in the running.

After Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw, they were in the lead, but one game remained. Should Ravenclaw defeat Slytherin, a tie between the ravens and lions would occur. A final championship game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was the ideal way for Scorpius and Albus to leave Hogwarts for good, but Lily was far more concerned with the game before it. She knew Slytherin played dirty, but she didn't know what to expect when a championship game was at stake.

Luckily, the skies were clear for the game against Slytherin. The last thing Ravenclaw needed working against them was the weather. Scorpius and Lily were vaguely aware of Sophie's favorite tricks, and they were difficult enough to avoid in clear weather.

"Watch for when she grabs." Albus said and Scorpius turned to him with a stare. The entire Ravenclaw team was busy suiting up in the locker room, and Albus had invited himself in to share a few tips. Lily and Scorpius, however, already knew them.

"Albus, go back to the stands, now." Scorpius said simply as he stepped in front of the mirror to tie his cloak.

"I'm just trying to help."

"You're annoying." Lily said simply, earning a snickering wave from the team behind her. From a nearby bench, Lily picked up a blue and bronze shirt and tossed to her brother. "Put that one, and go back up to our side of the stadium and cheer like the rest of the school."

"Mum and Dad are here."

"Great." Lily said sarcastically as she turned away from her brother after he had taken the shirt from her.

"Yours too." Albus added as he turned to Scorpius.

"I hate it when they're all here at the same time." Scorpius mumbled. "They always snicker and tame up against us."

"They're parents." Lily said simply and Scorpius and Albus were inclined to agree with the simplest explanation. Albus soon left the locker room and within moments, the game was ready to start. After everyone had taken their positions, the whistle echoed through the air and Scorpius zoomed forward to take control of the Quaffle first. In the beginning, it seemed Ravenclaw had no problem keeping Slytherin at bay, but Scorpius, Lily, and Alex held their breath as they waited for Slytherin's trademark physical attacks began. Albus enjoyed the scoring while it lasted as well, but tried his best not to be too invested in the game.

"Who do you think she'll go for first?" Anne asked and Albus turned down to her. He knew she was worried, but he couldn't who had her worried the most. After all, all three of Ravenclaw's Chasers were her close friends, except Alex who was significantly more to her.

"Sophie?" Albus asked, even though he had understood the question perfectly when she'd asked it. Anne only nodded as she kept her eyes on the game. "My first guess is Lily. Then Alex."

"Why?"

"It's personal between Sophie and Lily. And Alex is smaller than Scorpius. I don't think she could knock Scorpius over. Not anymore." Anne didn't respond, and only nodded softly. She felt a hand touch her shoulder, but she didn't check to see who it was. It could've been Albus, or even Deryck who stood on the other side of her. It didn't matter, really, because both knew Anne. She may not follow Quidditch actively, or be remotely interested in the sport, but she knew what the game before her meant. More importantly, she knew Sophie's track record against Ravenclaw and what it meant for her best friends.

Once Ravenclaw got a good lead on Slytherin, the first physical signs started. In the beginning, Sophie simply banged against Lily while the two flew side by side, but Lily pushed right back as she always did. The other Slytherin Chasers had started it as well against Scorpius and Alex, and the boys were significantly rougher on one another than Sophie and Lily.

At one point, Lily hovered near one of the towers where the parents were seated as she caught her breath. She could see Scorpius' parents, as well as her own, staring at her, all three knowing what was going on in the game, but she refused to met their gaze.

"Lily," Scorpius called as he approached her, leaving Alex to fend against the three alone. "You'd better brace yourself."

"Why?" Lily asked as she flew towards him, but the two were not quite out of their parents' earshot.

"They've started kicking, and I don't think Sophie will be the one on you."

"Why?"

"She's determined this time," Scorpius answered. She could see in his eyes that something was different. Usually Sophie's antics were annoying at the worst. They had never suffered real injury from a game before, but even Scorpius' tone let on that something was very different about the game they were in. Lily had no idea if it truly was Sophie, or if it was something between them.

It seemed to Lily that since the summer, almost everything between them had been different, and slowly she could see Scorpius had felt the same way, but neither had been willing to talk about it. "We've got you covered, Lily." Scorpius said simply as he reached out and put his hand on top of hers. Lily glanced down at their touching hands for a moment, before she met Scorpius' eyes. Something was definitely different, but Lily felt as though it was mixture between the two options.

"Ok," Lily nodded simply and Scorpius withdrew his hand before the two returned to the game. Alex and the Keeper had been scored on twice, but Ravenclaw still lead the game dramatically. Scorpius' warning held true once Lily began to notice the male Slytherin Chasers beginning to close on her instead of Sophie. Lily was used to male Chasers, but in her five years at Hogwarts, Sophie had always played Lily herself during games against Slytherin. At first it made no real difference, until they had started to push on her much harder than Lily could handle for a long period of time.

More than once, Alex or Scorpius had interfered so that Lily felt a piece of the force, but all three knew their protection would last for only a short amount of time. The three did not have the stamina to keep up such a routine, namely because they had never been forced to play in that manner before. Lily was talented enough to hold her own, but Lily had a small frame compared to others of her age. When put up against the large Slytherin Chasers playing with force, Lily didn't stand a chance even if she had more talent to use.

After a few more hits, Lily withdrew to the top of the stadium again, clutching her side. Scorpius followed her and hovered beside her. "Want to switch out? We can bring in someone else or play down."

"No." Lily shook her head. "It's just a bruise."

"This is ridiculous." Scorpius commented and Lily met his gaze. He knew she was losing her composure, but that she could still retain it for the time being. It took a lot to push Lily over the edge, but Slytherin was nearing the boundary.

"Where's the seeker? Is he close?"

"No idea." Scorpius answered. "Just sit out."

"No." Lily repeated strongly and Scorpius actually smiled at her as he nodded.

"Well, loosen up your elbows, then."

Lily had started to laugh, but Alex's yell had pulled their attention to the game. The Quaffle was already heading in their direction, and Scorpius went directly for it. Lily swung outward, pulling a Slytherin Chaser with her while Sophie went to Scorpius. Alex flew upward, where the game had sudden gone, and the third Slytherin Chaser was with him.

"Scorp!" Lily called as she flew inward, but higher up than Scorpius. He tossed her the Quaffle before flying forward, much faster than Sophie could. Instead of attempting to keep up, Sophie went to Lily, who had quickly thrown the ball back to Scorpius. She tried to hold her gaze on the Quaffle, but Sophie continued towards Lily, and eventually the two were side by side again, but it didn't last long.

If Lily hadn't been so worn out, she might've seen Sophie's foot, or been able to dodge it. Instead, Lily quickly lost control of her broom at a height that could prove detrimental to her health if she hit the ground. Scorpius had seen the kick, as had the Professor overseeing the game. Although the game was stopped, Lily was still in mid air with no broom in sight.

Scorpius had speed and managed to turn towards Lily. He knew there was no way to catch her, but that he could break her fall and lessen the impact, if nothing else. Lily was falling from too tall a height and was falling too fast for Scorpius to even think of catching her. Instead, Scorpius simply flew directly at her, until the collided in the air, half way to the ground from where she had fallen.

He immediately released his broom and wrapped both arms around her. Lily's arms quickly found Scorpius' neck as well. As they hit the ground together, both knew they had injuries, but the fall had been dramatically changed for the better. The stadium had fallen silent as they watched the pair, but neither could tell silence from sound.

"I got you," Scorpius whispered softly to Lily, not sure if she could hear him at all.

All Lily knew was Scorpius' arms around her, and Scorpius could pay attention to only Lily. "You stopped me." She said breathlessly.

"I tried." He admitted as he felt the pain in his arm. Before he could turn to access his injury, he felt Lily press her lips against his. Frozen for a moment, he hadn't a clue what to do until he finally recognized what was happening. With his good arm, Scorpius reached up to touch the back of her head as he kissed her back. He could feel Lily's fingers moving slowly around his neck and to his chest, until she finally pulled from the kiss.

In the stands, Anne had quickly turned away, not wanting to witness the fall. Her face buried in Albus' shoulder, she reached up to grab onto his arm as well. "Are they ok?" She finally asked when she heard murmuring moving through the crowd.

"I think they're a little better than ok." Albus answered as he peeled Alex's girlfriend from his arm when he noticed Alex staring.

"How can you say that?" Anne accused before she turned back to the field. Lily and Scorpius were on their feet, and Anne hadn't seen the intimate exchange moments before, but she could see something between them. Scorpius reached for Lily's hand as they walked to the exit of the stadium, both appearing happier than they should after such a fall.

Their parents had followed the pair to the infirmary after deeming there was nothing left to watch of the game after they were finished playing. Anne opted to stay to watch Alex, and Albus and Deryck stayed to accompany her. In the infirmary, Lily learned she had broken her left arm in two places and fractured a rib while Scorpius had only broken his wrist.

"It'd have been much worse if you'd have just fallen." The Healer assessed as she continued to cast charms on all of Lily's wounds. Scorpius, already healed, was simply waiting for Lily. Standing to the side, their parents simply focused on their breathing as they waited for Lily's wounds to finish healing.

Though she was in some pain, Lily was mostly focused on whether or not her parents had seen the kiss. She knew that of course they had, but some part of her was holding on to some off chance that all four of their parents had somehow missed the moments directly after hitting the ground.

"Can we still play in the next game?" Scorpius asked in the silence.

"No." His mother answered and he turned to her. "Did you not just see what happened?"

"Well," Scorpius started to answer before he realized there was no correct answer. "Not really, Mum. I was too busy falling to watch."

"You could've been killed."

"It wasn't that far of a fall, and I only broke one bone. Look at her." Scorpius answered as he motioned to Lily. She only sent him a stare until he turned away. He was realizing that silence had been a much better option compared to speaking.

"Why did you do that?" Astoria asked and Scorpius knew for fact that speaking would be far worse than remaining quiet. As Astoria waited for an answer, Scorpius turned to his father with a pleading look in his eye.

"We're going go for a walk and come back after you've had a chance to rest." Draco decided as he put his arm around his wife's shoulder. "Come on, we need some air."

After they had left Scorpius turned to harry and Ginny before he looked at Lily again. "Was I supposed to answer that?"

"No." Harry answered simply and Scorpius drew in a deep breath. "Unless you have some kind of brilliant answer."

"Like falling fifty feet to save your pretend girlfriend?" Albus quipped as he neared his family and best friend. Scorpius' face contorted for a moment at the comment, while Lily had quickly turned away from her parents as he face began to turn red. When Albus realized both Scorpius and Lily were far too embarrassed to even respond to the comment, he cleared his throat and continued. "Feeling ok?"

"I've been better."

"I don't think so." Albus answered and Scorpius drew in a breath as he felt Harry and Ginny's eyes on him.

"Do you want to go away?" Scorpius asked and Albus laughed as he turned to Lily.

"What about you?" Albus asked as he touched her shoulder lightly.

"I'd be better if somebody broke Sophie's arm." Lily answered honestly.

"You did get the call." Albus responded and Lily and Scorpius only stared at him.

"So not the time, Al." Scorpius commented and Albus only grinned at his best friend. It amazed Scorpius how Albus was responding to the moment Scorpius and Lily shared on the field, but knew that in the presence of their parents they couldn't say much.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Albus answered. "Anne wants to see both of you as soon as possible. She's freaking out. Alex fell too, about a few minutes after you two. Your back up Chasers are terrible by the way. You still won though, by ten points, once your Seeker finally found the snitch."

"Can we petition to have her expelled?" Lily asked and Albus only laughed as Scorpius smiled at her. "I'm serious."

Albus only laughed again as he stared at his little sister. "That's why it's funny."