One of the few times, Lily decided, that you could clearly see both the differences and similarities between Aeolus and Scorpius were when they were sitting next to their parents. Lily stared at the four of them, struck by Aeolus's similarity to his mother, his slight build and facial features echoing her side of the family, and awed at how much like his father Scorpius looked, from his hair to his build to his generally aloof demeanor. But both of them had the same clear grey eyes, Aeolus's dancing with mischief, Scorpius's churning with thought. Every now and then, she would glance at Scorpius, take in his strong appearance, his narrow nose and lips. Every time, she would turn away before he noticed, instead paying attention to Molly and Lucy's conversations. Every time, feelings of respect, of awe, of fear, of admiration were stirred within her. He was not like either of her brothers or any of her uncles or any of her cousins. Aeolus echoed of Jim and Fred, with their goals for world domination through tickling people into submission. But Scorpius…even Al could not compete with his air of supreme intelligence. Maybe it was the blonde boy's pride, the way he held himself and a result of his upbringing. Maybe it was his demeaning view of the world, that he genuinely believed he was superior. But when he wore Grandma Weasley's sweater, Lily could think anything negative of him.

"So, Lily," Scorpius said finally. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the vacation?"

"No, I suppose not. Al has a few books he wants me to read. I'm not sure I will."

Scorpius nodded and put a piece of ham in his mouth. He chewed for a long time. Lily diverted her gaze towards Lucy and Molly, not wanting to seem like she was staring at him for no reason.

"Lily, would you be interested in going to Diagon Ally with me one day?" Scorpius asked coyly, his cup to his lips.

"What?" Lily turned her attention back to him, not sure what she had just heard.

"Do you want to go to Diagon Ally with me sometime?"

Lily felt like her heart would jump out of her chest, seizing the emotions coursing through her veins as power to finally break free. She smiled, nearly laughed, and started to nod her head.

"Absolutely not!" Al snapped, brandishing his fork at Scorpius. "Do you hear me? I will not allow you to defile my sister!"

"Albus!" Lily shouted, horrified. How could he ruin this for her?

"Be quiet, you. You don't know anything about him," Albus said, turning briefly to Lily. Lily glanced at Scorpius. His eyes were downcast, staring at his plate, and his face was paler than usual. He glanced up at Al, his jaw clenched, but his general demeanor composed.

"Did he just ask you out?" James demanded, standing up at the other end of the table. "I'm not letting any bloody Slytherin date you, Lily. I'm sorry. You deserve better than that."

"What are you talking about? I am a Slytherin! Are you telling me you wouldn't date a Gryffindor?" Lily demanded, feeling her face red. She would not let them get away with this unscathed.

"That's completely different," James insisted. "He's Slytherin."

"He's a prefect!"

"He's a Malfoy," Al said.

"He's Scorpius!"

"You don't understand his reputation. You can't. You can't fathom what kind of a boy he is," Jim said, crossing his arms and staring down at his little sister.

"First of all, James," Scorpius said, his voice low and demanding. "I don't have a reputation. The only context I am actually known is in the context of football, boxing, and academics. All three of those my reputation is a positive one. In terms of girls, I have had one prior relationship and she was the one who broke up with me, just so you know. And for Albus, I would have expected more from my intellectual equal. I'm insulted. Lastly, I asked Lily. I did not ask you, James, or you, Albus. I asked Lily. It's her decision."

Lily sent quick glances at her brothers to see how they received this chastisement. Both of them were red in the faces, as if they were about to explode, and both of them glared at her. She looked at Scorpius. His jaw was set, his eyes narrowed. He had a purpose about him.

He caught her eyes and said softly, "If you would prefer, you can let me know later. And now, if you will all kindly excuse me." He stood up from the table, pushing his chair in after him, and went upstairs.

"Well," Aunt Fleur said. "'Ee certainlee 'az mannerz."

3

"What are you going to tell him?" Roxy asked Lily.

"I don't know," Lily muttered, staring into the darkness.

"Oh, come on. Don't give us that shit," Rose said, a pillow smashing into Lily's face.

Lily nudged it away, mildly annoyed. She didn't want to think about that right now. She didn't want to imagine the awkwardness going on in the boy's room without the neutralizing factor of Teddy. She could hear the tension through the walls.

"Seriously, what are you going to say?" Delilah asked.

"Shut up," Lily said.

"Oh, come on, I saw the way you stared at his ass," Molly said.

"You guys, please watch your language. Flora picks up everything these days," Vicky snapped.

There were brief mumblings of apologies and everyone fell silent for a while. Lily basked in the darkness, letting it wash over her and steal her away. A boy -- and older boy -- finally asked her out, none of those little oblivious second and third years. And what was her response? She hadn't; Al had responded. James had rebuked him. They hadn't let her get two cents in. She wanted to throttle them, to destroy them, to kill them – anything to make them be quiet.

"James and Al are gits," Lucy said morosely.

"Yep," Rose said. "You should have seen Hugo; he was getting to jump in, too. I'm glad he didn't, though. Lil probably would have shit her pants."

"Rose!" Vicky snapped. Rose murmured apology.

"I think I would have laughed if that happened," Lucy said, holding back giggles unsuccessfully. Soon, Lucy had Delilah and Roxy joining in her giggle-fest. Lily rolled her eyes and tried to ignore them.

"Could you imagine?" Roxy said, her voice loud. "I don't think Scorpius would want to go out with you, then!" They started giggling.

"All of you, be quiet!" Vicky snapped again.

They fell silent for a single moment, and then Lucy whispered something. They all burst out laughing.

"Shut up!" Rose said, throwing her pillow across the room.

"Forget this," Lily said. She stood up, grabbed her pillow and blanket, and left. She didn't want to talk with any of them. She didn't want to listen to any of them. She went down the stairs and crashed on the kitchen table, the one room where there were no other inhabitants. Closing her eyes, she managed to find some respite from the treacherous vacation she had been having so far, the wide range of emotions, from complete despair to ecstatic happiness to despondent rage.

The light above her flicked on.

"G'outta here," Lily said, pulling the blanket up over her head.

"Lily?" It was Scorpius.

Lily snapped into a sitting position. She lost her balance and fell on the floor, landing awkwardly on her wrist, wrapped tightly in her blanket. She bit back the pain in her wrist, expecting it to be temporary.

"Are you ok?" Scorpius asked, gently helping her into a chair.

"I'm…fine…"she managed to say, her wrist pulsing with a bone-wrenching pain. He gently took her arm and glanced at it.

"I think you broke your arm."

"No…I'm fine."

"Really, Lily, just wait here." He disappeared from the kitchen, leaving Lily sitting amassed in her blankets, her cheeks redder than Jim's hair. Lily wanted to run away before he came back, to disappear in the gnome garden, to make it as if she was never in existence in the first place, to pretend as if this never happened. She knew her dream would never come, true, though, so she steeled herself against the possibility of Mr. Malfoy, the imposing Mr. Malfoy, entering the room with his wand.

"No, she just broke her wrist," Scorpius said, opening the door. Vicky entered the room, her hair askew and messy, slight bags under her eyes. Evidently life upstairs wasn't going so well. Her cousin grabbed her wrist aggressively, eliciting a, "What was that for?" from Lily. Wordlessly and mechanically, Vicky flicked out her wand and gently ran it up and down Lily's arm. Lily clenched her teeth against the temporary surge of pain coursing through her wrist, managing to keep herself from crying out.

Vicky pulled her wand back and the pain ceased. Lily tilted her head back and breathed deeply, wondering if she was going to break down and cry in front of Scorpius. She held back her tears.

"I'm going back to bed," Vicky muttered. "Lily, stay off tables."

Vicky disappeared behind the counter. Lily leaned back in the chair, her arm beginning to bruise. It was painful to move her wrist. She looked over at Scorpius, his large body standing in the door way.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Lily asked, rubbing her eyes in an effort to rid them of impending tears.

"I wanted a glass of water, but evidently I found a pile of Potter, instead," he said, settling down in a chair next to her. "Do you want anything?"

"I'm fine," Lily said.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only audible sound Uncle Bill snoring in the living room.

"Look, about today," Lily said. "I'm sorry for my brothers."

"Don't worry about it. I should have expected as much. If you don't want to go out, I'll understand."

"So…you still want to?"

"Only if you want to. I don't want to force you into anything uncomfortable."

Lily stared at him for a moment, captivated by the softness of his eyes. The emotion he could express with a simple glint in his cloudy irises astounded her. A quick chance of emotion and they went from a swirling pool of contentment to a fierce storm of rage.

"Can we wait until we're back at Hogwarts? I…I think it would be best if we gave Al and Jim a chance to get used to the idea first."

"Of course; I couldn't agree more. You want me to help you carry your things back to your room?"

"Uh…sure."