Chapter 9

November flew in even faster than September and October. I progressed rapidly at gymnastics and began incorporating moves into my dance routines. Dad had owled me regarding my October grades and told me in no uncertain terms that if my Herbology mark did not improve I would be having Herbology tutoring over Christmas. Needless to say I didn't want to spend my holiday studying so Bella has been helping me learn Herbology for my Christmas exams. We have two weeks of exams starting on Monday and then we get to go home for Christmas. Elise was coming home with me so she didn't have to spend Christmas at school. Scorpius, Elise and I would be getting a Portkey home on Saturday morning before the other students headed off on the boat. I was very excited for Christmas because this year everyone would be home including the Elder Delacours along with Aunt Gabby and her husband. I was also allowed to go to the Ministry Ball this year!

It was Saturday before the exams started and I was sitting in the library pouring over Astronomy charts but nothing was sinking in. Aside from Herbology, astronomy was the only class I wasn't confident in. I could pass the other, though maybe not with excellent grade but with Herbolgy and Astronomy even passing was looking unlikely. I just could not learn facts and figures. Practical stuff was too much bother, even writing about practical stuff I could do usually but when it came to naming stars and constellations I just couldn't do it. I heard a shuffle beside me but I was currently sitting with my head resting on folded arms and couldn't be bothered to look up.

"Are you ok, Lily?" a voice asked concerned.

"I'm going to scrape through in Herbology and fail miserably in astronomy: going to end up studying over Christmas!" I muttered barely coherent into my folded arms. Surprisingly the person understood me.

"Lily, I can help you in astronomy, it isn't that difficult."I finally looked up to see Scorpius watching me in a concerned fashion.

"You needn't waste your time." I murmured as I gather my papers together. His larger hand placed itself on top of mine causing me to look up from my papers. Our eyes locked in a battle of blue-grey ice and liquid emerald.

"Time with you would not be wasted. If you want I can give you a quick tutorial tonight after dinner and then again before the exam." He offered generously.

"Don't you need to spend time studying too?" I asked finding myself almost agreeing to study this horrid subject further.

"My parents aren't breathing down my neck about exam results," he shot me a smirk; "anyway I should do ok. You'll do fine in your exams, Bella is helping you with Herbology, I'll help with astronomy and we all win." As if that settled everything he walked out of the library.

Great, another two evenings learning stupid boring facts about stars that I don't care about, just what I always wanted to do.


I met Scorpius on the roof shortly after dinner with my telescope, some parchment and quills. Scorpius had gotten us permission to be out on the roof but we needed to be back in our common rooms for curfew. I arrived to see him sitting on a blanket with a big chart in front of him. I looked at the chart and recognised it as a map of the main stars but none of the constellations were marked on it.

"Hey," Scorpius said getting to his feet on hearing my approach. He took my telescope and began to set it up for me. "So I thought about the best way to get you to remember the stars and constellations and I remembered you like to draw don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do, but how does that help me remember stupid complicated constellation names." I groaned in frustration, receiving a questioning look and a raised eyebrow...Scorpius, constellation name, damn. "I'll be honest with you, Scor. I don't even know where to find the constellation you're named after."

"How about we start with something a little easier?" He chuckled, "Can you find me Sirius with the telescope? It's the one that appears brightest."

I fiddled with my telescope and eventually found Sirius. Showing Scorpius so he could check.

"Very good, Lily" he smiled at me, "Can you find it on that chart?" With a little help from Scorpius I found the star of the chart also. "On either side of Sirius there is a star and together they form a straight line, can you find them on the chart and draw the straight line?" That was easier once I had a starting point so I drew the line.

"Find Sirius again on the chart and move downwards and to the left slightly and there will be another bright star. Draw a line from it leftwards through a small star and on to a larger star." Instructions continued like this until I had completed drawing Canis Major.

"Scorpius, I've got the idea you're trying to do here but I'm not sure it will help me remember." He smirked and continued instructing.

"Now this should be easy for you to remember. Your brother is named James Sirius isn't he after your dad's godfather and you know all about animagus? He transformed into a dog. The constellation Sirius is in is named Canis Major. Canis=Canine. Major=Big one. Make sense?"

"OK, I might remember that but how do I remember which stars?" I asked and he responded with a smirk. "Draw a dog around the lines you have already drawn"

I thought he was mad but I did it anyway. Once I was done, he started the process all over again, main star to look for then matching the name with the shape and drawing the animal around it. The last one we came to was Scorpius.

"We can go over Scorpius next week because we are 5minutes off curfew, but you know the main ones for your test. You are only being tested on 16 of the 88 constellations and Scorpius is the only one we haven't looked at yet. But what I want you to do now is to look at your drawing a lot, it's no longer stars and lines; it is now a drawing of animals. Try and get your drawing into your mind." Scorpius said as we gathered our things and headed for the lift.

I wasn't really sure how effective Scorpius' idea would be but the last week of exams arrived. Every exam had gone great so fair, aside from Herbology which I was relatively optimistic about. Today was Tuesday and my astronomy exam was tomorrow night so Scorpius had offered another evening of tutoring. I accept the tutoring as a way of relaxing, because I honestly thought I still didn't know anything about astronomy. However I was soon proved wrong.

Scorpius had the telescope and a new blank chart set up. We found Sirius again like the first night but this time Scorpius took my hand and pointed it at the star. He then told me to picture my drawing. I could pick it clearly having looked at it often thinking was this worthwhile? With our hands intertwined and pointing fingers outstretched we drew the Canis Major in the sky. We did this for all the constellations and I began to realise I knew them from my picture.

"I saved the best for last." Scorpius murmured in my ear. We got tired of standing a while ago and were now sitting on the blanket drawing with the stars. Scorpius was using my hand to draw his constellation in the sky and I added it to my chart and began to sketch a scorpion around the lines. As I finished I looked up at Scorpius and his eyes were shining like the stars in the night. We shared a smile before continuing to star gaze. We had permission to be up here studying but no-one had mentioned curfew tonight and we were both so absorbed in the stars.

I don't know what time it is or how long I've been outside. All I remember is falling asleep feeling so safe and secure.


I woke confused and sore. The sun was blinding my eyes and I felt so stiff and uncomfortable. It took a few seconds for my brain to register where I was and how I got here. Flashes of star gazing and picture drawing glanced through my mind before I realised I was currently sitting on the roof of my school in December secure in the arms of my friend. We are going to get into so much trouble!

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, wake up this instant!" I said shaking his shoulders gently. His arms were around me so tight I couldn't get up and move. Aside from feeling stiff being in his arms was nice, I feel safe and wanted. I had a feeling of belonging that I'd only begun to recognise here at school, the first place I've ever belonged.

"Huh? What you doing in my room, Lily?" Scor asked tiredly as he begins to wake, not fully grasping in situation. "Why are we...outside, morning, Merlin's beard we fell asleep!"

I had to giggle at Scorpius deduction of what was going on. I looked at my watch reverently hoping that we hadn't missed exams, but would stupid to have studied all night to sleep through the test.

"What time is it? We need to get inside; I hope de Chagny doesn't find out." Scorpius said trying to stand unsuccessfully, he looked around and finally realised he had a death grip on me which prevented either of us moving. "Oops, I apologise Lily that was very ungentlemanly of me. Forgive me?"

"I forgive you Scor. I slept really well though I'm a bit sore now, I'm surprised we aren't frozen though. South of France or not sleeping outside in December can't ever be a good idea. By the way it is only 6:30am so we've time to sneak in, get ready and go to breakfast with everyone." I replied with a smirk.

So that's what we did. Bella nor Elise noticed anything amiss when I joined them for breakfast but obviously there were two people that no secrets can be kept from, I just hope they don't make a big deal out of this, I mean Dmitri was really annoyed about our last night time wandering. At breakfast the seven of us sat at the one table as had become habit over the last few months. Each of us had our own study notes out for the day and I was currently looking over my astronomy picture for this morning's exam. After a few minutes Dmitri snatched it off me to investigate.

"Lily, why are you staring at a drawing instead of studying?" Dmitri asked and listened to me thoughts as I answered.

"It's how I'm learning astronomy," I replied pointing out the different constellations and trying not to think of how nice it felt when Scorpius wrapped his hand over mine to point out the stars. I may be only 11 years old but I was smart enough to realise than I was very comfortable around Scorpius which meant we were best friends.

Throughout breakfast Natalya would lean over and whisper little things about last night in my ear causing me to blush and try not to draw attention to myself. After the Halloween Ball Bella had stopped hinting about Scorpius and I, so I didn't want that to begin again. Dmitri thankfully was more amused by the situation than mad this time. Natalya said it was because he could sense the guiltiness in my thoughts. He had chuckled when Natalya whispered this and I had a real sense of foreboding.

My ill feeling was proven correct when Madame de Chagny appeared at our table. She never left the staff table at meals normally all discipline in the dining room was achieved with a sharp look. But here she was standing at the head of our table looking disappointed and generally terrifying.

"Lily Potter and Scorpius Malfoy you will both come with me now to my office. You will be back in time for your exams I assure you." She said in perfect English ensuring we would not try to fake misunderstanding, I don't think we would have anyway. She is just to intimidating for that.

All eyes were on us as we followed the headmistress from the dining hall in the direction of her office. Once in her office she gestured at the two chairs on one side of the desk and then moved around the desk to sit in her chair. Her office was grand with oak furnishing and books everywhere. She looked at us severely over the desk; we both knew we were most definitely found out and most definitely in trouble.

"I am most deeply disappointed in you two! I gave you a second chance and within a few months you are out of bounds at night again! What do you have to say for yourselves?!" She looked more disappointed than angry at the moment and I hoped it would stay that way, though her disappointment was quickly cutting me to the core as Scorpius and I hung our heads in shame.

"Madame de Chagny, I apologise profusely for being out of bounds and breaking curfew. I assure you it was unintentional. We had permission to be on the roof to study for astronomy and we must have fallen asleep, it was not planned." I explained though she seemed to expect this. I wonder how she even knew...

"Headmistress, I would like to apologise also. As Lily's tutor I should have been keeping a closer eye on the time. I reiterate our last promise to not venture out at night and we will humbly accept whatever punishment you see fit." Scorpius said to Madame de Chagny who seemed pleased.

"I understand that this was not an intentional violation of school rules so your parents will not be notified however as this is a repeated offense there will be a punishment. As you have exams currently your punishment will take place on Friday afternoon after completion of the exams. I have half a mind to forbid you from the Christmas Ball but that would only look bad on the school. We have important guests coming and our school needs to be united and at its best. So here is your punishment: immediately after your exam on Friday you will come to the dining hall and under staff supervision you will assist the caretaking crew in preparing for the Christmas Ball. When we see fit for you to leave to get ready you may go dress for the ball and you will be in attendance. However at exactly 9 o'clock you will leave and go to your separate commons rooms for the remainder of the evening. You are to be aware that this is a very lenient punishment as it is so close to the Christmas holidays but I would like to remind you that you have been brought to my attention for negative things therefore perhaps attempt doing some positive things for the school to redeem yourselves. That is all; you may leave for your exam now."

With that we were shooed from her office and sent off to do exams. Scorpius and I glanced at each other, both thinking a mile a minute. How had she known? We were very lucky to get away with such a light punishment but the headmistress was right, we weren't exactly giving English students a good name. We'll need to think about rectifying that. We parted at the staircase and each went off to our own exams.

The astronomy exam turned out to be easy thanks to Scorpius' tutoring so I would need to get him a good Christmas present as thanks. The remainder of our exams flew by and before we knew it, it was Friday. The last day of school before Christmas...

Chapter 24

The sun was barely rising on the last day of school when a shadowy figure made his way to the music room. He stole in past the other instrument and headed for the baby grand piano in the corner. His eyes were steely swirls of emotion, conflicted by how to express his feelings. What did it all mean; he thought as he sat at the piano and lifted the lid. His fingers brushed the keys and a small smile appeared on his face. His secret passion, not even his family knew.

His fingers began to dance across the ivory and his clear voice rang out:

The stars lean down to kiss you,
And I lie awake I miss you,
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere.
Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly,
But I'll miss your arms around me
I'll send a postcard to you dear,
Cause I wish you were here.

I watch the night turn light blue,
But it's not the same without you,
Because it takes two to whisper quietly,
The silence isn't so bad,
Till I look at my hands and feel sad,
Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly.

I'll find opposing new ways,
Though I haven't slept in two days,
Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone.
But drenched in Vanilla twilight,
I'll sit on the front porch all night,
Waist deep in thought because when I think of you.
I don't feel so alone.
I don't feel so alone.
I don't feel so alone.

As many times as I blink I'll think of you... tonight.
I'll think of you tonight.

When violet eyes get brighter,
And heavy wings grow lighter,
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again.
And I'll forget the world that I knew,
But I swear I won't forget you,
Oh if my voice could reach back through the past,
I'd whisper in your ear,
Oh darling I wish you were here.

Two nights of no sleep and constant writing produced a song that summed up his emotion and yet his eyes were still pools of confliction.

Another lonely soul finding acceptance from music in a world he thought he didn't fit into.


"Levitate those balloons higher, they are meant to be attached to the ceiling not floating in midair"

"Why are the ice-sculptures melting, have they not been charmed with Everlast Freeze?"

This was the chaotic world of the Christmas ball that Scorpius and I were supposedly helping with. Helping would be a generous word, we were currently acting like slaves and had been for the last 3hours. Classes had finished at 3:30 and it was only an hour until the ball started and yet we were still busy preparing the room. Thankfully I had just been given the simple job of putting out name cards as the Christmas Ball has assigned seating unlike the Halloween ball. To make matters worse everything seemed much more chaotic with an enormous orchestra practicing in the background in competition with a quartet that looked familiar practicing in another corner.

At seven we were finally excused and I ran to my room to have a quick shower and get ready for the feast that was to commence in 30minutes. My dress tonight was periwinkle blue that my mother picked out. It was simple and the colour enhanced the radiance of my golden hair and made me appear more tan which I was happy with. Thankfully I didn't need much time to get ready and meet the other girls in the common room with 5minutes to spare. We had all decided to go dateless tonight and just have some fun but only Natalya was aware that I would be leaving at 9'oclock. We headed to the dining hall and the doorway was opened just as we arrived.

We found our table quickly as I had set out the name cards and we were of course sitting with the guys but the tables were set for 10 so we had some other second years sitting at the far end looking wary of us. We took our seats and chatted quietly until we were asked to stand for the Headmistress and honoured guests. Madame de Chagny walked in dressed in elegant silk blue gown followed by two couples. Both men were wearing the finest dress robes and both women were dressed exquisitely, they were obviously very important people. As they reached the head table we became aware that the most senior staff were sitting with the guests however the junior staff were seated at another table, I guess there was too many of them.

"S'il vous plaît être assis! Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to welcome you to the Beauxbaton Christmas Ball. Tonight we have the Marseilles Main Orchestra with us and a special musical tribute that will be announced later. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Monsieur Jacques Firmin the Minister of Magic and Monsieur Ştefan Antonescu the Minister of Magic for Romania along with their lovely wives." With this said Madame de Chagny turned and curtseyed to each of them before returning her attention to us all. "Let the feast begin!"

When she introduced the Romanian Minister of Magic I understood immediately why I had recognised the quartet practising, they were Amadeus the famous Romanian music group. Their brother Lorcan d'Earth was also a famous musician but the most incredible thing about them was that they were all vampires aside from Lorcan who was a half-vamp. I didn't know how Dmitri and Natalya would take to being visited by other Vampires but as I glanced over both of them were taking it in their stride. By the looks of concentration I would assume they were having mental conversations with the quartet.

I was broken out of my thoughts by a hand waving in front of my face. "Lily, you've been starring into space for 5 minutes, snap out of it and eat your dinner."

Oops, I thought as I began my starter. We had been warned in advance by the third years that this meal consisted of 5 courses so it was best to only eat a little bit each time because if you were still hungry by the last course you were able to fill up on dessert. The meal was amazing and as I looked around the hall our work this afternoon was completely worth it to see the hall looking so incredible. I looked through the crystal dome above us and could see a few constellations that I could now happily name.

"Scorpius, look up, your constellation can be seen through the dome?" I whispered not wanting to explain how I knew this. Bella and Elise were confused enough that I had somehow passed Astronomy. I looked up with him and could see the stars shining brightly, it was beautiful.

"It's nearly as beautiful as the moon," he replied. I looked up again and he was right. There at the side of the doom was the most beautiful moon I had ever had the fortune of seeing. It was a perfect crescent shape and glowing pure silver. I looked back to Scorpius and smiled before checking my watch. It was 8:45 we could only stay another 15 minutes before leaving. We needed to begin dancing soon so we could leave inconspicuously. As I thought this Madame de Chagny rose to her feet.

"I hope you all enjoyed our delicious meal prepared by the kitchen staff, please everyone show your appreciation." We all applauded loudly since the meal was amazing but we maintained our decorum knowing that the headmistress would be very angry if we misbehaved in front of guests.

"Now it is my great pleasure to announce our special musical tribute. We have the pleasure of the Romanian Minister of Magic so to honour his country we have Adameus!" It was mostly older students and I that were applauding loudly this time, Adameus were amazing but being vampires they had been around a long time so they were not constantly in the charts.

The four gorgeous vampires glided onto the stage in the corner. I could nearly sense every male eye in the room widen and each mouth slacken in awe of their tremendous beauty.

"Everyone to your feet let us dance."

We all rose as one fluid body of people and made our way to the dance floor as the four beauty queens began to play "King of the Fairies". I was aware of Dmitri taking Elise's hand as they graced the dance floor and Natalya being asked to dance by a brave 6th year. Bella and Tilly were not as fond of formal dancing but to represent the school properly they found partners and hit the floor with the rest of us. It seemed natural that Scorpius and I would be partners. This way we could both leave discreetly. We moved to the edge of the dance floor and took a formal dance position. As the intro played I recognised the song and had a great idea. I leaned forward and whispered in Scorpius' ear.

"How do you fancy spicing things up? We want our school to look its best!"

He broke out into a wicked grin and we began to dance. We danced quick waltz like everyone else but began to build it up with extra little moves. When we got to the slow bit in the middle of the song we started to make a real show of our precise moves and began to draw attention. By the time the music swelled again we were flying and twirling like mad, every move perfectly in sync and our bodies reacting naturally to each others. We ended with a spectacular dip as Scorpius leaned over and ran his nose up my cheek to plant a light kiss on my forehead. We got a small applause but immediately got everyone dancing again and blended into the crowd of dancers. We danced along with everyone else keeping our head down before heading towards the door at 9 o'clock. Near the door we caught sight of Madame de Chagny who gave us a smile and a small nod. I think she enjoyed our "performance". We had finally done something positive for the school, made the school look impressive in front of guests.

Scorpius and I slipped away from the ball and headed towards the common rooms. We walked in a comfortable silence enjoying the peacefulness of the building. We stopped outside my room beside the lift.

"Tonight was fun, I enjoyed impressing our guests." Scorpius said as he pressed the lift button.

"It was fun; I hope I haven't embarrassed you too much. No masks to hide behind this time." I giggled at the ridiculousness of it all. I can't believe I just let a huge room full of people see me dance!

"It was great fun. I should head on here to bed. Night, Lily." Scorpius pulled me into a hug before entering the waiting lift. I smiled as I watched the lift doors close before heading into my room to pack for home. In a few short hours Elise, Scor and I would be back in England and I was torn between excitement and fear. Beauxbaton was the best thing to ever happen to me and I really didn't want to leave. I was also worried that if Scorpius and Elise saw how much I stuck out in my family they might begin to think differently about me. A well, can't change anything now, just hope for the best. I crawled into bed and began to think of all the experiences Christmas would hold. In a few days I would get to see Aunt Gabby, so I was wishing for excitement. If only I knew how many exciting things would happen over Christmas I might not have wished for more excitement.

a/n

getting kinda close to some original stuff now! YAY