Lily POV

I woke up with my collarbone bandaged and feeling super sore. Last I remembered Scorpius was shooting side glances at me and I knew he wanted more than anything to find another hidden area to enjoy our fifth snog session; he wouldn't ask for it though due to his gentlemanly conduct. Then I was lying in the hospital wing with Scorpius holding his head in his hands. He was shaking and hadn't looked at me yet.

"Scorpius?"

"How's that for protecting you?"

His body hadn't shifted to look at me. I understood why now. He blamed himself. I knew where he was coming from. We both knew we risked this by being together. Why did he destroy himself though? Didn't that howler give him enough foresight to know we might have to take a few blows for each other? Honestly.

"We both knew this might happen. I don't really care. To be quite honest I plan on using this attack to get my essay on toadstools an expansion. I haven't even started it yet and it's due tomorrow, first thing. Nothing has changed."

"Did you see that coming? What if it had been a more serious spell and you had to go to St. Mungo's or something? What then?"

"No, I didn't see it but I'm not too worried about it either. Chill out, everything's fine. I'm sure I'll be out of here by dinner and we can sneak out of the castle and maybe find a place, just me and you."

I tried to play off the fact that the last thing I remembered was his lusty looks. Upon saying those words his expression softened and he looked over at me. I knew him well. He would be worried but part of it would stem from the fact that he was afraid to loose me. Did he think I would just take off after being attacked and think pursuing the man I wanted wasn't worth a little sacrifice? If he did I had to prove him wrong.

After a quick check up my bandage was removed, I was fed a spoonful of medicine that taste of garbage, and released to go to lunch. Scorpius was all smiles once we were out of the hospital wing and even more so as I took a secret short cut behind a tapestry covered door in some secluded wing of the castle. Our snog session made us hungry and we quickly raced, hand in hand, to the Great Hall for lunch. It wasn't particularly great food but I felt like the most satisfied eater. Maybe that is because I was sitting next to the most amazing guy in the entire school? That had to be it.

"Lily, how would you feel about a flight over the Black lake?"

"I think that'd be lovely."

After a few more bites of food Scorpius and I left hand in hand to the sound of whispers layering upon layers of other whispers. They all seemed to say the same thing: Who would dare attack a blossoming relationship between two of the most known students in school? I wish I knew, as did every other eager face who approached me and asked. McGonagall was offering a reward for any information on the attacker. I doubted she would find anything. After a quick patrol and examination she discovered that only students were on grounds that day and if said student was found, they would be punished.

On our way down to the Slytherin Common room a random tiny Hufflepuff raced over and stopped in front of me, squealing excitedly.

"Is it really true that your own cousin attacked you and swore to kill you next time you were caught sneaking of together?!"

Scorpius' POV

I snapped. I shouldn't have but after a million questions and the constant curious stares and glares my emotions were high and my patience was low.

"Do you really Bloody think her own cousin would attack her? Honestly. Do you have any sort of family to teach you otherwise. Students should have to pass a test to get into Hogwarts. Scat, get along now and leave Lily alone."

As the student paled, turned white, and ran as fast as he could. Only after he turned the corner did I look smugly down at Lily to discover she was fuming. If I didn't know her better I would have thought that Hufflepuff was the one who caused offense. Fortunately I did know her. She was angry with me for hassling the curious boy. What should I do in this circumstance. Most of the other Slytherins would have smirked or congratulated me on making the puny kid run faster than they thought possible. How was I to keep her favor?

"Hey, sorry I lost it. Do you ever get annoyed with people demanding to know everything or telling you way too much or giving you all their suspicions and guesses? I'll look for him tomorrow and apologize."

She smirked and after a quick glance to check my expressions, make sure I was being honest, and not joking she said it was alright.

A few more corners later we were once again in the Slytherin's lake view room. Briefly. I just grabbed my broomstick and we left again. After stopping by the Gryffindor tower for Lily's broom we flew to the island in the middle of the lake and raced around the treetops and small waves rippling up onto shore. It was here I decided to broach the subject haunting my mind.

"Lily, are you in a good mood?"

"Scorpius, do you have some mysterious deep conversation eating at your mind?"
Now was as good of time as ever. She had spoken with a smile between each word and rolled her eyes at the end. His mood was as good as it would be and I had to speak my mind soon before I went insane.

"Listen, I'm terrified to loose you and I know it is dangerous to be dating me and I know most people don't approve of our relationship. I don't care though. I don't care if I get attacked a million times as long as you don't leave. If you promise to stick around, even if attacks come our way multiple times a week, my sanity will remain intact and everything will be alright."

"What if I promised to stick around as long as I could. Our relationship shouldn't nearly kill either of us and it shouldn't cause our families harm or serious discomfort. I can promise to stay as long as possible. I don't even know if the attacks will continue. In my not so humble opinion, I think they will die down and fade once we become old news. We just have to wait it out and shelter the storm until then. Would that be good enough for you, Scorpius?"

"If it is the best you can promise it is the best I can accept. For now, it will work."

She smiled, well, smirked, and took off on her broomstick again. I grabbed my broomstick, which had been discarded a few feet away, and zoomed off to find her. In the sky she was invisible. I circled the island a few times and went as high as I dared into the sky. It was only up in the clouds as I looked down that I spotted her red hair, hiding in one of the island's trees. She had been there the whole time as she watched me race around to find her. How I had missed her red locks against the deep gold of autumn leaves was beyond me. From this distance she was anything but disguised.

Once I joined her on the branch she had perched on and her laughter had died down she snuggled in close to my chest and balanced precariously against me. As I moved she adjusted and matched my position. Her uncanny ability to do so must attribute to her amazing Quidditch skills. If it had been the other way around I would have fallen as I tried to stay balanced. We sat for a few hours like birds of paradise and only as the fading sun matched the trees vibrant leaves did we go back towards Hogwarts. Our weekend was over and I had to study for my O.W.L.'s tomorrow. I wouldn't be able to hang out like this again until the weekend if I was to get appropriate marks on my exams in the spring.

Why hadn't I asked Lily out last year? Actually, I knew the answer to that one. Fear. Paralyzing fear. Albus told me his dad wouldn't care after he met me the first time but I hadn't believed him. Instead I had made myself sick over her and often fell ill after creating hundreds of scenarios to ask her out or pursue her or to let her know I was interested. This year I was only able to ask her because Albus shoved, encouraged, and, in the end, forced me to. If only I had asked sooner. Last years time could have been used to spoil Lily instead of studying next to her. I could only hope she didn't mind the obsessive compulsive study habits I was attempting to develop.