Author's note: Sorry this took a while. I've had mountains of coursework, and a wee bit of actual work, and general complications all round. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Eleven

"Baby, Baby, Baby"

Or

"Secret's Out!"

November brought with it a new biting cold and a wealth of different meetings for a wealth of different people. Rain was no longer a weather phenomenon but an expected facet of life, as though the air was not air unless droplets of water were cascading down through it. Lily Potter and Scorpius Malfoy had acquired a decently-sized London office space, with many windows and white walls and crisp wood panel flooring. The entire thing was an open plan, with shelves for owl post and notices and responses to Ministry letters, as well as magical delivery dinners that popped into existence at half past six on the dot. On one particularly dreary Wednesday afternoon, just after a meeting with one of the Ministry of Magic's leading D.M.L.E. administrators, Lily saw fit to ask her business partner about a topic of conversation that had not come up in many, many moons.

"Did you ever ask out that brunette from Kent?"

Scorpius, who had up until this point been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, opened them and turned to her. "No, why do you ask?"

Lily shrugged. "Just general curiosity. You've not expressed interest in anyone since that girl you wouldn't name." She blinked a couple of times. "How did things go with her?"

He raised his eyebrows. "They haven't, thank you."

"Lost interest?" she asked. "You seemed to like her a lot."

"I did," said Scorpius. "Still do, but I haven't done anything about it."

"She hasn't either?"

He shook his head. "Not in so many words, no."

Lily frowned. "Have you seen much of her?"

"Not as much as I'd like to."

"Wow. Double meanings galore."

"Don't feel sorry for me," said Scorpius quickly.

"Oh, I don't," she assured him. "If anything, I feel a bit disappointed. I always had you pegged as a kind of devil-may-care intellectual who swept people off their feet with that perfect smile of yours."

"Careful, Lily, or I may have to resort to dating you."

She looked at him with carefully calculated disdain, hoping that her cheeks were not the same colour as her hair. "'Resort to'? Thanks, mate."

"Well, who else do I spend time with?" he protested.

"My brother?"

"Who else single?" He paused. "How are you single?"

Lily's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how insanely high are your standards?"

"Not incredibly," she told him. "Trust me. I've just got other things going on, is all. Plus, it's not like anybody is going to want to go out with a girl who spends nearly every waking hour with you."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult."

"Take it how you will – blokes wouldn't trust their girlfriends around you."

"I'd also like to think girls wouldn't trust their boyfriends around me, but that's a different story."

"Cute," said Lily in a voice that indicated her mind did not match up with her mouth.

"I prefer handsome or ruggedly sexy, but thank you."

She rolled her eyes, then checked her watch. "Are we eating here tonight or back at the apartment?"

"You mean… my apartment? The one I own and you schmooze your way into every night?"

"Yes, that one."

"Not sure. I don't fancy ordering a delivery but I haven't the energy to go out."

Lily shrugged. "We should get back to your place, then."

"My place?" He frowned. "I liked it better when it was our place."

"This is our place," she said, gesturing to the office around them. "But I suppose if you kick Al out then the apartment can be our place, too. I'd be able to get away from Mum and Dad and not constantly have to shout about Quidditch matches – "

" – The Potter household is both alarmingly ridiculous and surprisingly predictable – "

" – but, yeah, if you can force Al to move in with Sennen or find his own place, then I'll steal his bedroom and we can see each other in the twelve hours a day we spend apart anyway."

"Please, Lily – some days it's less than twelve."

"I know, I'm averaging."

He looked at her in earnest. "Would you really want to move in with me if I offered?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I think I'd marry you if you offered, but that might just be because you hate the same vegetables as me and it'd save on shopping."

"And I'd take you to Quidditch matches," said Scorpius, shutting his eyes once more and nodding. "And we could yell about it afterwards as little or as much as you'd like."

Lily smiled, closing her eyes, too. "And it'd be just the right amount of awkward at family gatherings."

"The wedding reception would be hilarious, because one quarter of the group would feel so out of place, but my mum and yours would get on like a house on fire."

"And then once we'd done the rounds of thank you and yes that's my brother the professional Quidditch player who just punched someone whilst dancing I promise he was just feeling the beat, we'd sneak off to some deserted bathroom or broom cupboard."

Scorpius chuckled. "And then you'd complain because your dress was so difficult to manoeuvre."

"And you'd laugh at me. You would!"

"I would," he admitted.

"And some annoying younger, or maybe older, relative would knock on the door because they needed the loo, and we'd look at each other like somebody had just cast a Killing Curse."

"And to make matters worse, once they'd gone, Al would show up – "

" – Al is worse than James, with this sort of thing, isn't he?"

" – Yeah, I think it's just because I'm his best mate – "

" – And once we'd forced him to accept that being married meant he was stuck with both of us for life – you specifically, because he was trapped in my Christmas card list, anyway – "

" – Back-handed compliment," Scorpius noted. "Nice."

"I don't know how you got a compliment out of that," said Lily.

They both chuckled, perhaps so neither of them had to think about the fact that they had both just good as confessed that the thought of being together had crossed their minds.

Fred Weasley broke the news that his wife was pregnant in the form of a surprise birthday party. The party was, of course, not for the baby, but for the wife, yet he had told her to meet him at a pre-disclosed location – the place of the festivities, disguised as Macdonald Maternity International. None of the guests, a mix of Barbara's relatives and Fred's, were aware that the couple was expecting, and Fred had decided – with Barbara's agreement that it wouldn't be long before she was showing, anyway – that his wife's twenty-second birthday was as good a time as any to release the news.

Roxanne was helping him set up, and halfway through Transfiguring cobwebs from somebody's Hallowe'en party into streamers, she approached her brother and asked, "Is there going to be any food? I'm starving."

Fred shrugged. "Al's girlfriend is bringing that stuff, but if you're really desperate, Barbara has a bun in the oven."

Roxanne's eyes grew to resemble dinner plates. "You're taking the piss! Not seriously?"

"Of course seriously," said Fred shortly. "That's why tonight's such a big deal. Twenty-two's not a massive milestone, but a baby is."

His sister grinned. "You're going to be a dad!" she sang. "And – and I'll be an aunt! Oh, Merlin, I've certainly forgotten about food now."

She moved back to the streamers, beaming and muttering "blimey, an aunt" to herself. After a few moments, she added loudly, "I wonder what your kid will think of Antonia."

Fred turned away from the birthday greeting he had been shaping from ribbons, and asked, "Antonia who?"

"Antonia Lynch," said Roxanne.

"The… pretty one? Hazel eyes? Co-captain of the Holyhead Harpies?"

Roxanne nodded. "Yes, that one."

Still confused, Fred said, "I suppose my kid will like her just fine…?"

"Oh, that's good," said Roxanne nonchalantly. "Because I'm seeing her."

Fred nearly tripped over the air in front of him. "What does Antonia Lynch see in you?"

"Oh, thanks," Roxanne replied with a heavy layer of sarcasm in her voice. "I expect it might be our shared interests. Or my hair. She mentioned liking that."

Fred nodded slowly, considering it. "Well, I vastly prefer her to Wood, Rox; that's for sure."

"I wonder if anybody's noticed I haven't touched the mead," Barbara whispered to Fred halfway through the evening.

"Honey," he addressed her, winding an arm around her middle, pausing momentarily to marvel that he was not only touching his wife but the part of them that was combined inside her, "you're a lightweight – people don't expect you to be downing flagons."

She laughed. "I expect that's true." Her eyes darted around the room, past where Sennen Cartwright was bellowing at Barbara's cousin Jiao who had mistakenly expressed her slight enjoyment of the Beat Generation, past where James was taking swigs of Firewhiskey to drown out the witch who had decided flirting with him was a good idea, past where Rose was almost forehead to forehead with Will Bowen, and then she looked back to Fred. "This might seem off-topic, for a birthday party, but have you read Witch Weekly recently?"

Fred stared at her. "Of course not, you idiot."

"Right. Well, Cordelia did an interview with them about writing for the Prophet and stuff – she might've mentioned her own novel that she intends to write and whatever else, but anyway – they got to talking as Witch Weekly does, on the topic of Cordelia and – "

" – and James? Come on, Barbs, stop talking to me about this, the subject's old as Ludo Bagman's balls – "

" – no, you prat, not James! Cordelia and her new boyfriend!"

Though the information could not have mattered much less to him in the grand scheme of things, Fred's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? Who?"

"Nobody knows. I've just been asking her about it, and she said she isn't seeing that Luke Meade bloke…"

"I think she's got a bit of a Montrose thing, that girl."

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Please, I was hoping it was Luke Meade. He's dead sexy, and a total change."

Fred stared down at his wife as though not recognising her. "A total change from what, exactly? Are we still talking about Cordelia?"

"Of course!" she replied indignantly. "I was just thinking – Luke's a bit older, and he's from abroad, and he's very different to – well – her other option…"

"'Her other option'?" Fred pointed to the massive space between where James stood and where Cordelia was sitting with Albus. "They've not so much as spoken all night, Barbs."

Barbara frowned. "Oh – yes, that's unfortunate. She came with Al and his lot, didn't she?"

Fred nodded, adding, "I don't think James's girlfriend would bring Scorpius Malfoy to your birthday party, either."

"Oh, yes, that's true…"

(Scorpius was sitting at the same table as Cordelia and Albus, but he was deep in conversation with Lily, and had been for the entire evening. It was strange that Albus hadn't noticed the way his sister was looking at his best friend, and vice versa – it was almost as though Cordelia had been purposely keeping him distracted all night with talks of books and Auror Training and anything else she could think of.)

"I reckon we should tell them tonight," said Fred after a moment.

Barbara, who took him to mean the fact that she was expecting, paled. "Are – are you sure you want to?"

"Of course," he replied. "If you're comfortable with it."

She blushed. "I – uh – sure, yes, all right!"

"Perfect." He grinned, kissed her on the cheek, and muttered, "Sonorus!" His voice began to carry out over every corner of the room. "Hello, everyone. Sorry for another interruption. No, I'm not asking you to sing Happy Birthday again – we were rubbish enough the first time – " there was a collective laugh and James shouted something that sounded like you're welcome " – but since we're all together, there's something that Barbara and I would like to share with the rest of you."

Lily grabbed Scorpius's hand, and Jiao's mouth was immediately covered by all ten of her fingers.

"Would you like to - ?" Fred muttered to Barbara.

"Oh, okay…" she said, looking giddy. "Thanks for coming, everyone, again…" She let out a nervous laugh. "Ha, ha… well… the thing is…"

The ribbons behind her began to weave out of Happy Birthday, Barbara! and into something much more telling. Barbara looked at Fred, who was already facing her. They turned back to everyone else.

"I'm having a baby!" Barbara half-shrieked.

The next audible sounds from around the room were gasps, curses of the Biblical kind, and a particularly pronounced "sorry, Lily, but I might need this hand in the near future."

"I seriously can't believe you're pregnant," said Cordelia, pleasantly surprised. She stood, like a gaggle of others, at the front of the dance floor with Barbara, exchanging well-wishes and all those carryings on. "I mean, I can – you've been married over a year, it was only a matter of time…"

Barbara smiled to the others and put a hand on Cordelia's arm. "Could we talk alone?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Sure – of course."

They moved away to the emptiest corner of the room and stood beside a large potted plant, safely away from prying ears.

Cordelia's eyebrows furrowed. "What's up?"

"I read your Witch Weekly interview," said Barbara.

"I take it by the look on your face that you don't mean the bit about my novel…"

"No," she said, grinning. "Why haven't I met your boyfriend?"

"Oh, um…" Cordelia swallowed. "I'm sure you've crossed paths."

"I know I asked you a while ago, but..." she shrugged. "It's not like you to keep a secret from your friends."

"No, no, I'm not keeping a…" Cordelia sighed. "It's more – on his terms. We're seeing where things go first before bringing everybody else into it."

Barbara considered it. "How long…?"

"Before my birthday," said Cordelia slowly. "A few weeks… before."

"That's a long time!" Barbara told her in a serious voice, as though Cordelia herself had no concept of this. "That's proper months. And yet you haven't told me anything about him… have you told anybody?"

Cordelia nodded. "Of course I have, I just…"

Barbara looked to her for an example.

"Ginny knows," said Cordelia. "She likes him well enough."

"Ginny knows?" Barbara repeated. "Ginny Potter? As in, your ex-boyfriend's mum – don't you think that's a bit odd? Does James know?"

"Does James know what?" came a voice from behind Cordelia. She turned. "Don't tell me you're pregnant as well, Poppins."

Barbara sighed heavily and Cordelia's cheeks went red. James scooted in and made their duo a party of three.

"Very funny," said Barbara. "We were actually just talking about Cordelia's boyfriend."

"Ah – yes – I heard."

While somebody called out for the birthday girl, James muttered into Cordelia's ear: "I did hear her say my name. Have you told her then?"

Barbara smiled back to whoever it was – they were leaving. "I'll be right back," she told James and Cordelia, and hurried off after her guests.

"Of course I haven't told her!" Cordelia replied – not to Barbara but to James – in a hushed voice. "But that's a bloody miracle, because she's been asking me about it all night!"

"Think it's time to come clean?" James asked in an equally low tone.

One of his hands had absently snaked around her back, and Cordelia batted it away. "What? Tonight? Are you kidding? Sounds a bit selfish to me – it's Barbara's birthday party, and she's just announced she's pregnant… who are we to pipe up and go 'hey, you lot! Guess what? It's not just Fred and Barbara sleeping tog – '"

James shoved a hand over her mouth: Barbara was returning.

"Now," he said loudly, improvising, "do you swear not to speak against the validity of Brian Tinworth's last three saves?"

Cordelia made a play of nodding in a weary fashion. She turned to Barbara as James removed his hand from her face. "You forget how ridiculously seriously this one takes his Quidditch."

"Right." Barbara's eyes shifted to James. "Do you know who she's dating?"

James shrugged. "I've got an inkling, but she's being frustratingly vague."

"You two won't mind if I go and grab Scorpius?" said Cordelia when their eyes settled on her. She gestured to the dance floor, then grinned at Barbara. "We both really like this song."

She hurried off with a gasp trailing through the air behind her, and James turned questioningly to Barbara, for it was she who had let out the exclamation.

"Did you see that?" Barbara demanded. She pointed after Cordelia, who had now reached Scorpius and Lily and had her hands on the back of the former's seat. "She shot me a look! When she said Scorpius's name!" Barbara's eyes lit up. "Oh, I bet she's seeing him! I'm so, so sorry, James," she added sweetly. "But think about it! He's Al's best mate, and she said Ginny liked her boyfriend well enough… of course she does! I bet they've met loads of times!" Her voice trailed off and she looked up at James. "But he's your friend, too. And so is she – and I know how you feel about her, James, but… I guess everything has its time? Thinking about it, they make perfect sense."

"Do they?" James asked desperately.

"I mean…" Barbara rubbed his arm. "Think of it this way, James: if something were going to happen again between the two of you, it already would have."

"I suppose," said James, fighting the smirk that was building on his face.

Barbara continued her Sherlock Holmes act and did not even look at him.

"And Cordelia's obviously made up her mind – they've known each other ages, haven't they? I bet she was hinting to me when she said she had lunch with him on her birthday! Oh, how could I be so stupid?"

"I'm really sorry to steal you from what I'm sure was an incredibly scintillating conversation," said Cordelia, wrapping an arm around Scorpius's neck and taking his hand in the middle of the dance floor. He placed his free hand on the small of her back and she continued, "I needed a getaway from Barbara's questions."

"Boyfriend related?" Scorpius surmised as together they began to sway to the music playing out of the magical gramophone. It was a slow Muggle melody that Barbara's grandmother liked.

Cordelia chuckled. "Yes, something like that."

"I would have thought she could pick out weak acting when she saw it, what with the school she works at. James was hanging off you like Venomous Tentacula on an unlucky herbologist."

"Oh, shut up. And I think you should be grateful to me," she added in a low voice as Will Bowen and Rose Weasley danced past. "Al was starting to twig you and Lily had only talked to each other all night. Who's the Venomous Tentacula now?"

His eyes widened. "Hey! You promised! A secret for a secret!"

Cordelia nodded. "Yes, I did, and I intend to keep my promise, but I'll just have you know that anyone with a decent set of eyes could notice your gigantic crush on Lily."

Scorpius's face was a perfect mix of awestruck and irate. "I don't have a – a crush on… I'm not twelve, you know!"

"Oh, right, you just happen to fancy her pants off."

"I fancy lots of people with their pants off."

"Scorpius," she groaned.

"No, I'm not kidding; the dreams I've had about Al... they're a very good-looking family – admit it!"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "You know for a fact I agree with you on that, so there's no need to argue our shared case. Let's just dance until we've got them off our backs." She smiled slowly. "I knew you fancied her, by the way. I've known for ages."

Scorpius's reply was laced with sarcasm. "Oh, brilliant."

"If it's any consolation," she said, leaning closer and peering out at the tables over his shoulder, "she looked disappointed when you left."

"Reckon I should grab her for a dance after I'm done with you?"

Cordelia bit her lip, deep in thought. "If somebody I know asks her to dance, then we can switch partners and I can chat to them for a bit if you want time."

Scorpius nodded. "I can see where the Slytherin parentage has done you well."

She laughed. "Glad to hear it. Now – let's see – "

James was already striding over, and he reached them in three steps.

"Perfect," said Cordelia, "can you go and grab your sister – ?"

" – Barbara thinks you two are going out," James cut across her.

Cordelia raised her eyebrows and Scorpius's head whipped around to James. "What?"

"I've half a mind to set her straight – no offence, Scorpius – "

"Why would I be offended?" Scorpius asked, sounding it.

"Dating me is a privilege," Cordelia put in.

James laughed. "That it is. And I'm glad you're here, mate," he added to Scorpius, "even if I don't quite understand what it is that Cordelia has on you..."

"It's better this way," said Scorpius quickly. "But what do you mean 'set her straight'? You're not going to tell everyone, are you? Not at Barbara's birthday after she's announced a pregnancy? I used to joke about you being pig-headed but I think this might be a bit much, even for you."

"That's what I said!" Cordelia agreed, squeezing Scorpius's hand that was still interlocked with hers. "James, you're not really going to say something, are you?"

"I don't understand why it's a big deal," James argued. "I know it's Barbara's day – especially now I'm going to be somebody's second-cousin-and-or-uncle-type-thing – but she's been asking all sorts of questions, and now she seems ready to dedicate a whole new toast to the two of you and your newfound love, so I just…"

"Their newfound love?" repeated a new voice, and the three of them turned to see Lily standing behind Scorpius with a look of surprised disdain on her face.

"We're not in love!" said Cordelia loudly, and thankfully the music was in the midst of a crescendo so nobody heard her near-shout.

"Come here, sis," James beckoned, and she reluctantly joined him in what was frankly a rather terrible display of ballroom dancing. "Best not to attract a scene."

"What's this about love, then, Scorpius?" Lily asked as James twirled her slowly under his arm – totally out of sync with the beat.

"Barbara seems to think Cordelia and I are besotted with one-another," Scorpius replied, "because the two of us showed up here together and Cordelia won't come clean about who her boyfriend is."

"Oh, I hope it's not this knob," said Lily, gesturing to James with a look of disgust.

"Oi! I've got ears, you know!"

"Sorry," she said carelessly. "At least Luke Meade is dishy, though."

"He isn't!" James exclaimed, as Scorpius nearly dropped Cordelia in his haste to say "is he?"

"He is, though! Why do you care?" Lily pressed, rounding on Scorpius.

James turned to the blond boy. "Why do you care?"

"I told him about Luke flirting with me ages and ages ago," Cordelia piped up resourcefully, giving Scorpius a small smile. "He wanted to make sure I didn't have my Tall Boy goggles on."

"They're brilliant goggles," said James. "Bit foggy sometimes, though – I mean, Meade? What the hell was that about?"

"We've already had this argument," Cordelia reminded him. "You know who I chose."

Lily was watching them with narrowed eyes.

"I think I'm going to dance with Scorpius for a while," she decided. "You two can air out your dirty laundry together, and leave the two of us far, far upstream."

"I think that sounds lovely, Lily," said Cordelia, smiling. She retracted her hold on Scorpius, passing him a twinkling glance, and then moved away with James.

It was almost strange for Scorpius to see his long-forgotten workplace in Blackfriar's from a customer's perspective. He wasn't often on this side of the bar, and even less often on this side of the bar elbow-to-elbow with Lily Potter. Their planning meeting with yet another D.M.L.E. worker had run long over time and since Albus was away with the Auror Office, the two of them had decided to take a detour on their return to Scorpius's flat for dinner.

And here together they sat, up at the bar, watching somebody else do the job that Scorpius had once taken very little pride in, and Lily seemed to be enjoying herself as much as her blond colleague was, and it was hard to stop this from feeling like a victory in Scorpius's mind.

"You're not going to leave without me, are you?" Lily asked him jokingly as he slid off the bar stool beside her.

"Would I ever? No, I'll just be a second – Mum will kill me if I don't go and say hello to Ruby Zabini and her new girlfriend…"

Lily laughed. "Alright, then, off you go!"

He returned a few minutes later, laughing about something Ruby or Demetria – the girlfriend – had said, and found that his stool had been taken. Lily had her butterbeer clutched tight in her hand, and she was eyeing the young man beside her with an expression Scorpius recognised to be a mind at work against a flight reflex.

Anger and protectiveness boiling up in him like an unsuccessful potion, he interrupted whatever the wizard was saying and asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

"And the…" the wizard stopped speaking and turned to Scorpius, registering the hand he had on Lily's shoulder. "Who the hell are you, then?"

Scorpius opened his mouth to speak, but Lily cut across him. "This is my boyfriend." She beamed up at him fondly, and Scorpius was glad that she was no Legilimens, because the broad grin on his face had everything to do with her statement and nothing to do with an improvised bout of acting.

"What?" the wizard asked. "This pompous prick?"

"You seem a little slow," said Lily, "and even when you were trying to chat me up there was literally no banter whatsoever – utterly dull – but I'm feeling generous, so I'll spell it out for you – "

And indeed she did, by way of the most impressive Bat-Bogey Hex Scorpius had ever seen.

"Why did you tell him I was your boyfriend?" Scorpius asked as he followed Lily out of the pub moments later. She was remarkably fast for such a slight person, and Scorpius, even with his much longer stride, was nearly jogging to keep up with her.

Lily shrugged, keeping her eyes ahead. "I don't know… just sort of came out."

"Ah."

"I mean it felt like the right thing to say," she said, glancing up at him.

"Ah."

Their pace slowed, and Lily said somewhat irritably, "You know you can stop looking at me like that now."

Scorpius's eyebrows furrowed. "Like what?" he asked.

"Oh, come off it," said Lily, smiling for what seemed like the first time since they left the pub, "I know you don't really think the sun shines out my arse, so you can stop acting like it. We're well clear of that berk."

After a moment, Scorpius grinned. "It's a nice arse, though."

"Thanks, Malfoy."

"I think it's hereditary," he continued. "Albus and James both have great backsides, too."

"You just made things weird."

"Sorry."

Lily nudged him with her elbow, which was wrapped in the sleeve of a thick coat. "I'm sure your arse is lovely, too. I've not checked, though."

"Liar."

She leaned back, obviously assessing. "Yup, top notch."

"Merlin, Lily, stop flirting with me," he joked.

"You should stop instigating it," she countered.

"Careful, I'll kiss you."

She raised her eyebrows. "I've heard something like that before."

"I mean it," he said, the ghost of a grin still wafting over his face.

She abruptly stopped walking, and Scorpius continued a few paces without even realising he was alone. He turned back to face her.

"Do it then," she said.

"What?"

"Do it."

Lily had a blazing look on her face, almost like she was egging him on. Scorpius could hear Albus's voice in the back of his mind, telling him that this was wrong, that it was sacrilege, and as much as Scorpius tried to fight it, what came out of his mouth was, "I'm not sure we should…"

"You're the one who keeps bringing it up," said Lily. "I might start thinking you're keen on me soon."

Scorpius looked puzzled. "Why would not kissing you mean I'm keen on you?"

"Because you might be afraid it won't mean anything," she told him, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. "Lily, if I kissed you, it'd mean everything."

"Do it then," she repeated, in the same blunt tone.

Scorpius threw all caution to the wind – the reality of the situation was that he very much wanted to kiss Lily Potter, and part of him had wanted to kiss her since that day in the hospital wing with Milton Harper, but then he hadn't known what the feeling in the pit of his stomach was. That didn't matter. He knew it now. He pushed all thoughts of consequences out of his head – all thoughts of their business, all thoughts of the irate expression that would undoubtedly appear on Al's face the second word got out about what he'd done – he focused solely on the distance between himself and Lily, and what he could do to lessen it.

He reached her in two steps and she threw her arms around him. Lily Potter's lips tasted like butterbeer and one of the more pleasant Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, which he knew for a fact that she had been eating in a roulette-like match against Teddy Lupin a few hours earlier. Her mouth felt like fireworks on his. He was probably holding his breath but somehow the air in his lungs had never been sweeter. He almost felt like he was drowning when they broke apart.

"What?" he asked quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Lily equally as fast, withdrawing her arms and shoving her hands in her pockets. "Nothing's wrong."

"Then why stop?"

She laughed, already setting off in that brisk pace of hers. "In case you haven't noticed, it's really bloody cold. We should get back to yours."

A heat was creeping up his neck and across his cheeks. "Oh, are you staying over, then?"

"If you don't kick me out, yeah."

"Al's off with the Auror Department…" he called after her.

She did not turn around. "Don't you think I know where my brother is?"

It could have been the way her voice carried on the wind, but Scorpius caught an edge to her tone that hadn't been there previously. Almost chasing her now in his effort to catch up, he asked, "Are you angry with me, Lily? Have I managed to do something wrong in between snogging you and being snapped at?"

"You've not done anything wrong," she said hotly from a few metres in front of him.

"Then why are you storming off?" he nearly shouted.

"I'm not!" Lily protested. "I'm just kind of concentrating on striding to your apartment at the moment!"

"We can both Apparate, Lily," he said, much calmer now.

"Oh, what's the point?" she snapped. "I already feel like I can't bloody breathe, there's no need to augment it!"

Smiling slightly at the fact he had rendered her breathless – or it could have been the December cold, but Scorpius liked to think he was responsible – he asked, "You're sure there's nothing wrong?"

She whirled around and kissed him again, hard on the mouth. Before he had the chance to reciprocate properly, she drew back. "I'd just rather not snog you on the Thames, is all. This street's kind of grotty at night."

They walked another hundred metres and then decided that Apparition was worth it, and when they popped into existence in Scorpius's lounge, both faces were flushed with cold. Scorpius shrugged out of his coat and Lily threw hers down on the couch. Momentarily, she seemed to toss up kicking off her Doc Martens, but because they were a gift from Dominique and it's probably rather impossible to kick off Doc Martens, she chose to leave them on.

They looked at each other in earnest a split second before Scorpius muttered, "Bugger it," and lunged the small distance between them. The only lights on were the ones in the lounge, but this bothered neither, as Lily's primary focus was her lips on his and Scorpius's was trying to remove the layers of clothing that made him feel like he was suffocating. (These weren't only his.)

He didn't remember reaching his bed, but the sliding doors that led to the living room that led to the balcony from which you could see all of London were wide open, and light was streaming in through the glass. The penthouse apartment was silent, and as the events of the previous evening washed back over him, Scorpius Malfoy let out a deep sigh. Almost not believing it, he rubbed his eyes and half rolled over; what he saw on the other side of the bed almost knocked him back out.

"We didn't sleep together, did we?" he demanded, mortified.

Lily let out a small, groggy chuckle. Her eyes were barely open and her hair was spilling over her shoulder, and he couldn't help glancing at her freckled collarbone, soft and exposed and lightly blotched with pink just above the curve. He hoped she couldn't see him blushing.

"Only in the most literal sense of the word, Scorpius."

He became suddenly aware of something: the pleasant feel of soft blankets on skin. "I'm in my pants!"

Lily chuckled again, looking slightly proud of herself now. "Yes, I've noticed."

And then he noticed something, too, as she climbed out of bed. She was bare but for an oversized emerald green jumper, which covered her upper thigh and everything but the tips of her fingers.

"That's mine!" said Scorpius, pointing to it. "My nan got me that jumper!"

Lily paused, out of bed, and crossed one thin ankle over the other. "Which one?"

"Narcissa," he told her, closing his eyes momentarily. "She's 'nan' and Gran's 'gran', because Narcissa has an 'N' and Greengrass has a 'Gr'."

She laughed at his reasoning, which in all fairness had been devised before he could walk. "Brilliant. In the meantime," she added, "I'm borrowing it."

He pulled himself up higher on the pillows, and now his back was completely uncovered by the duvet. He gave her a lazy smile. "I'd tell you to keep it but Al would recognise it in a heartbeat."

"Pity, that," said Lily, and she sounded like she meant it. "It's comfy as hell."

"Looks good on you."

"Rubbish. You just like my legs."

"I like most parts of you, Lily," he told her in a very tired, matter-of-fact way.

"Good," she replied. "Now hurry up, Malfoy, we have a Ministry proposal to outline."

Halfway through breakfast, which for the both of them meant bacon and eggs saved solely by the fact they could do magic, Scorpius – still in his pants – said, "Look, shouldn't we say something? Explain the reasoning behind the snogging, and the bed-sharing, and the fact I put a hickey in that really soft patch of skin above your collarbone?"

Lily, her eyes planted firmly on the breakfast plate in front of her, replied, "Well, I guess the whole 'brother's-best-friend' thing runs in the family."

"Lily, be serious."

"Scorpius, be Remus."

"What?"

"Nothing," she said, snorting into her breakfast. "I'm just pissing about. It's a coping mechanism."

"A coping mechanism?"

"Yes. It's just…" She swore under her breath. "I really bloody fancy you, okay, Malfoy?"

Regrettably, he found he could do nothing but stare at her.

"It's fine if you don't fancy me back, and just needed a bit of a pick-me-up last night or whatever, but it might make this whole thing kind of awkward – and I'm not really a pick-me-up then throw-me-down kind of girl, so."

"No… that's not…"

Lily was shaking her head, eyes still glued to her breakfast as though it was to the plate she spoke. "It's… I mean, you said you fancied that girl from work, and after a while I twigged that it might've been me, but…" She shrugged. "You know, we can just forget about it if you like."

Her jaw was locked, stubbornly set. Scorpius watched her almost incredulously.

"I thought we'd settled this," he said, finding words at last. "Do you honestly think I would've done all that stuff last night if I wasn't head over heels, heels over head, intense Levicorpus kind of in love with you?"

Lily looked up from her plate at last, blinking like she couldn't believe her eyes. Her mouth fell open. "Uh…" Her voice caught and her eyebrows twitched upwards on her forehead. "Really?"

"Yeah."

They both let out a nervous little chuckle, and then the colour drained from Scorpius's face.

"What are we going to tell Al?"

Lily, back to her bacon as if nothing had happened, shrugged. "Do we have to tell him anything?"

"He's your brother – he's my best mate!"

"Yes," said Lily, "but what would we tell him? 'Hey, Al, we snogged when you were in Dublin! Yeah, Scorpius ended up in his pants and we shared a bed! What do you mean Avada Kedavra?' Genius plan, Malfoy!"

"Okay, fine!" Scorpius snapped. "Forget Al!" He waved his wand and their empty plates flew into the sink, where they began washing themselves. "Let's get this proposal out of the way, then."

"Things move fast with you, don't they?" she joked.

He made a face at her. "Hilarious. You know what I mean."

The weeks leading up to Christmas followed a pattern that was, after so many Christmases, to be expected. Barbara's classes at W.A.D.A. were coming to a close in preparation for the Yuletide pantomime, and James was in his off-season, though just as busy as ever; sales of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes had spiked as the holidays closed in, and most peculiarly of all, Will Bowen was counting down to the anniversary of Slughorn's Christmas Party – not because he aimed to make a visit, but because it had meant the beginning of one the best chapters of his life, and he intended to make sure it premiered the next volume as well.

He was conversing on this very topic with Hugo Weasley, his long-time girlfriend's younger brother, on a particularly snowy morning, as white clusters flew past the windows of Will and Rose's townhouse and collected on the ground like the inside of a popped duvet.

"So basically," said Hugo, without subtlety or tact, "you want to marry my sister."

Will, sat beside Hugo on the couch with a large cup of tea, sighed. "Yes, that's the gist of it."

"How long have you been planning a proposal?"

"I decided on it about seven months ago."

Hugo swore. "You're kidding! Why've you not got around to it yet, then?"

Will blushed into his teapot. "I'm waiting for our anniversary." He considered it. "Well, actually, it's the anniversary of the time we went to Slughorn's Christmas do so that people would stop asking us about it, and – "

" – and it's the anniversary of the first time you snogged," Hugo finished, nodding. "I've heard Rose tell Aunt Fleur the story about twenty times. She and Mum were nearly sobbing by the end of it – Fleur, I mean. French," he added, as though this explained her emotional state.

Snow was nearly beginning to board up the windows, and Will stared at the white substance as though in a trance. Hugo noticed this and said, "You could Impervius it, you know."

Smiling slightly – but then again perhaps Will was always smiling slightly – the older boy shook his head. "Rose quite likes it, because the cold never reaches the lounge. And you know that window there" – he pointed to the one where the corners of the room met – "that looks exactly like one of the windows in the Ravenclaw common room." He glanced over at Hugo, knowing immediately what his future brother-in-law was thinking of. "Gabbie sits there a lot, by that window… or at least she used to, from what I can recall."

Hugo smiled at his effort. "All I know is that your anniversary's a damn sight easier to celebrate than mine and Gabbie's."

Will raised his eyebrows: Rose evidently had not relayed this information to her boyfriend.

"Valentine's Day," said Hugo.

"Oh!" Will exclaimed, so excited that he almost splashed tea on the upholstery. "Blimey! That's… wow; I applaud you on your timing, if perhaps mostly because it's a cliché."

"Really? We're going to talk clichés?" Hugo stared at him with a fiercely indignant expression. "Who proposes on their anniversary? Oh yeah – literally every other human being, you sod!"

Though Hugo had been, for the most part, frightfully correct about Will's use of clichés, things really could have been carried out much worse. He had decided instead to do the most spontaneous thing he could think of: just to wing it. He and Rose were spending most of their anniversary together, anyway – and since he had almost got down on one knee as Rose at her cereal that morning, and when Rose came into the lounge looking for her second high heeled shoe, and about ten thousand times after that, Will settled for choosing an appropriate moment of dinner and the walk they would inevitably take afterwards. He would propose then.

Oh, God.

"You've been looking at me funny all day," said Rose, once they left the restaurant, and were still not engaged. "Almost like you want to pounce."

She acted it out, though there was very little proper pouncing done, as she had floppy ginger hair and more height than people gave her credit for: the whole thing came out more a stumble-trip than anything else. Will laughed at her.

"Oi!" Rose exclaimed. "Who was it that fell down on the bathroom tiles last week and had to be rescued by Hovering Charm?"

"I know, I know, it was your fiancé," said Will, raising his hands in surrender, hoping that the segue he chose was the best one.

Looking back up at Rose, who seemed to have frozen in a moment of shock, Will decided his actions had been brilliant. Her eyes had widened, and she stared at him; her mouth had fallen open.

"My…?" she murmured.

"If you want," said Will quickly, taking her hand and lowering himself down onto one knee. "Do you want to?"

She nodded profusely, and there were tears in her eyes. She had one hand over her mouth. "I do, I do, I really, really do!"

Almost instantly, a silver ring appeared on her left hand. Will stood up and wound his arms around her. "I love you, Rose."

"I love you, too!" she was saying hysterically – apparently, like her mother, she broke out in tears at the drop of a hat. "I love you so much, and now we're going to get married, and I… oh, I love you, Will, I love you, this is brilliant!"

Come to think of it, he was nearly a bit teary, too. "I'm glad you think so."

Rose was almost sobbing into his shoulder. "This is so lovely, I just… I can't quite believe it!"

"Well, I made sure the ring fits. It looks beautiful on you – well, what doesn't?"

She gave a watery laugh. "You twonk."

"Do you want to head home?" he asked.

"No," she said softly, pulling out of the hug and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Let's walk a while longer."

"So what's he going to do?" Gabbie asked, once she had allowed Hugo to take her trunk. They walked along the busy platform at King's Cross Station, Gabbie carrying her overgrown tabby cat – reminiscent of ancient Crookshanks, who still lurked in amongst Ron's longest robes at the back of the closet – and Hugo managing everything else. The fog from the train was clearing, though Gabbie could not remember a time that she had ever been able to see properly through it.

"Will, d'you mean?"

She nodded. "Yes, you lanky git."

Hugo laughed, shoving her. "I took the day off from work to come and pick you up! Do you know how exhausting it is to submit a column a day early? Do you know how exhausting it is to accomplish anything?"

"Well, excuse me for not working at the foremost youth magazine in wizarding Britain, and not getting to write about some form of injustice or activism or choon every month." Gabbie poked her tongue out. "Just joshing you – I've subscribed to it, and yours is the first column I read, every single time."

"That might just make up for 'lanky git'," said Hugo. "Might, but not quite."

Gabbie stopped suddenly, extending a hand for Hugo to do the same.

"Am I seeing this right?"

"Seeing what right?" asked Hugo, who was much taller and therefore should have noticed what was in front of him a lot sooner than his girlfriend did.

Gabbie nodded towards a group a little further down the platform. "Who's that with Mitch?"

"Mitch Gilbert?"

"Yes, my other Keeper."

"Oh, ha, ha…"

But the rest of his sarcastic remark died in his throat as Hugo too looked towards Mitchell Gilbert. The tall Ravenclaw fifth-year was accompanied not only by his trunk and his owl and his sister, but by a messy-haired young man who Hugo would have recognised anywhere.

"But what's James doing here?"

"Exactly!" said Gabbie.

They did not seem to be the only people to have noticed: other students on the platform were pointing and craning their necks; one girl was cowering against the pillar a little way away from the Chaser, tears flowing down her face.

"I guess Betsy Smith isn't crying because she reads the Daily Prophet," said Gabbie slowly, her eyes passing over her classmate.

"Oh, I think you'll find that's exactly why she's crying," said Hugo. "I'll say she reads it religiously – if not for what Cordelia writes, then for the players she's writing about. Probably that dunce in particular."

Gabbie's eyebrows were knit together. "Cordelia's not seeing him again, is she?"

Hugo shrugged. "I heard Dad saying Uncle Harry had lost a bet with Aunt Ginny, but that could've been about anything – did you know they used to bet over what our first words would be? Dad got in on that one when I was born – kept repeating 'Chuddley' at me, over and over – it could've been my name, for all I knew – "

Again, Gabbie extended a hand. "Fascinating, love… really. But now we're sleuthing."

"Not being very covert just standing here ogling at them, though, are we? May as well be sprinting at James, half-clothed and shrieking!"

"Tempting," said Gabbie, and she took his free hand in the one that she kept hitting him with. "But I say we just go and tell them 'hello'."

When they reached the trio, Mitchell seemed to have the same questions on his mind as Gabbie and Hugo did. James had grabbed the fifth-year a trolley and placed his heavy trunk down on it, as well as Mitchell's owl, which was hooting in the commotion. Cordelia refused to relinquish her hold on her brother, and kept one arm around him as he demanded that she tell him what had happened since he left for school.

"No wonder you've been barely writing me postcards!" Mitchell was saying indignantly.

"Nonsense," said Cordelia, "you've been getting at least a page – "

" – and last year, you wrote half a novel. It's clear, now, what's been taking up your time."

James was smirking, but a grin took the smirk's place when he noticed Hugo and Gabbie.

"Well, if it isn't my second favourite Gryffindor-Ravenclaw-one-year-apart-sixth-year-seventh-year couple!"

Hugo rolled his eyes. "Merlin, you're annoying."

Cordelia let Mitchell go in favour of hugging Gabbie, and then asked, "why are you looking at me like that?"

"This is my sleuthing face," said Gabbie in a faux-mysterious voice. "You picking up Mitch is all fine and dandy – but professional-standard Chasers don't come two a penny on this platform."

James, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping, argued, "I don't come two a penny on any platform, for your information. And if you must know, Gabbie" – he leaned down conspiratorially – "Cordelia and I are taking Mitch to choose a new racing broom for Christmas, so I reckon you should be a bit less suspicious if you want to beat Gryffindor. It shouldn't be hard without me."

Cordelia elbowed him. "You talk a big game, James, but we all know you cried watching Anaru Tainui's Chasing against Australia a few months ago."

"That bloke is an angel!" James said viciously. "An angel!"

Hugo could contain his questions no longer. "Right, Gabbie, you're terrible at sleuthing: James, are you two going out again?"

"Yeah," said James without so much as a glance at Cordelia, who gasped.

"So that's what those girls from Hufflepuff are on about!" said Mitchell, staring at his sister. "They said something about your Witch Weekly interview and then asked why you were being so secretive!"

"In all fairness," said James, "I was a large part of the 'famous friends' segment of that."

"Do Mum and Dad know?" Mitchell asked Cordelia.

She nodded. "Look, can we get off this platform? The smoke's fogging up my lungs."

Gabbie nodded in agreement, then turned to her boyfriend. "Hugo, we should go. We'll miss the show."

"What show?" asked Mitchell.

"Oh – we're playing Muggles for the day," said Gabbie. "I'm dropping my stuff off home and then we're going to a musical on the West End. Something about miserable people and revolution."

"Barbara likes that one!" said Cordelia, smiling brightly.

Gabbie returned the gesture, a little melancholy. "Really? I've heard it's very sad."

"Sad?" James repeated. "We're talking about musicals, Cordelia, not the people who go to them."

Cordelia silenced him with a glare.

Lily could have sworn there were more rooms in the penthouse apartment. Everywhere she turned, there seemed to be people celebrating the New Year, counting down the minutes until this year became last year; Albus was here, and James, which explained why Scorpius was glued to her side one moment and halfway out the door the next. She was tired of the limbo, the anxiety of being found out as though they had committed some heinous crime. She understood: Scorpius was Albus's best friend. By some miracle, James liked him, too. That shouldn't have changed when he kissed her. It certainly didn't change the way he felt about her – but Lily had never thought of Scorpius as somebody who was afraid.

Somebody began a countdown: a long one, which would get nowhere fast. Lily leaned against the wall beside the door from the kitchen to the corridor down which one would find Albus's bedroom, and decided that – in Scorpius's hypothetical catastrophe of swearing and curses – her brothers were hypocrites.

They had always done what they liked, with whomever they liked: what business was it of theirs if she decided to do the same? Scorpius had said it himself: before she was Al's little sister, she was Lily, and her duty was – first and foremost – to herself. Surely her idiot brothers would understand that.

The numbers of the countdown were getting smaller. Lily thought she heard somebody whisper her name. She shrugged it off, instead focusing on the empty bottle of butterbeer she was swinging around in her fingers. A hand closed around hers, pulling her.

"What is it?"

Scorpius was peeking around the threshold, half ducked down beside her. He met her eye and pulled once more on her hand, pressing one of his free fingers to his lips. He tilted his head to further down the corridor, and Lily followed him with a roll of her eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked in a low voice, once they had escaped the eyes of those in the other room. "Do you only care about me when nobody's around?"

He stared down at her. "Rubbish. Now, listen, I want to talk to you – "

Lily cut across him. "I don't want to hear anything about secrecy, or being stupid, because if my brothers are allowed to gallivant about, fancying each other's girlfriends and going through cliques one by one, then I think I'm allowed to have you!"

Scorpius sighed fondly. "Argue that with Al, love, not me."

"Fine!" said Lily hotly. "I'd be glad to! Where is he, at the moment? On the balcony?"

He grabbed her as she made to march off. "Lily, I don't think that's a smart idea."

"Why not?" she protested. "James may get off on keeping secrets and then announcing bloody obvious facts to the rest of the world, thinking he's some kind of hero, but I'd much rather not bother with that, and just let people know straight out."

Again, Scorpius held her back. The countdown the carried in from the spacious front room was dwindling into single digits. She turned back to him, and he said in the rush between one and zero, "Lily, I love you," and pressed his lips against hers.

When they broke apart, people were cheering, though it had very little to do with the kiss and much more to do with the fact the new year had arrived.

Lily punched his arm. "I love you too, you dunce! If only you'd let me tell people…"

There came a giggle from the threshold of the kitchen and Cordelia Gilbert emerged, followed by James Potter, who was grinning but also looking greatly confused.

"I told you," the former was saying to her boyfriend. "I told you, I told you, I told you!"

"Told him what?" said Scorpius sharply, hyperaware of he had said seconds prior.

Cordelia waved him off and looked as though she was trying not to seem smug. "That you fancy each other is all."

Lily was staring defiantly at James, as though she didn't quite believe that he did not wish to hex everybody partaking in the conversation. "You're oddly calm about this."

"Well," said James, "the way I see it, you were going to snog someone eventually. I'd rather it was someone we all knew and trusted than some stranger in a pub." He paused a moment. "Al's the one to watch, I reckon. I've only been emotionally invested – positively, that is – in Malfoy here a few months. Let's see if we can placate him. Maybe if Rose gives a good review…"

Scorpius and Lily both blushed, and Cordelia smacked James's shoulder. "Tact, you idiot!"

James shrugged. "I don't mind, is all I'm saying. Could be worse."

"Could be better?" Scorpius inferred.

Again, James shrugged. "I'm reserving my judgments on that."

"Where is Al?" asked Lily, moving past everyone else to glance through the open doorway. "If James knows, I'd rather he did as well."

"It'd certainly save on a couple of reasons to hex someone," Scorpius muttered, joining her.

"But who would he hex?" Cordelia asked. "I mean, thinking rationally, Lily is his sister, and you're his best friend, so neither of you should be viable targets – Al's quite tolerant, really, and – "

" – I know where you're coming from, Cordelia," said Scorpius, "but all that's springing to mind right now is the word 'betrayal'."

"Really?" said James. "You can't even picture an alternate reality in which he's flattered that you're infatuated with his sister, because it's kind of like saying you approve of his wonderful genetics, and perhaps even if Al was female – "

" – I don't have a problem with what gender he identifies as, mate," Scorpius interjected again, "and I don't know if that's what's going through your head, but… I don't know, the amount of times he's already accused me of – "

" – Oh, cry, cry, cry, sob, your life is so tragic," Lily snapped. "I'm going to go and tell Al, and I don't particularly care who he hexes or doesn't. You can come if you want, Scorpius, or you can cower here."

And then she sauntered off, with Scorpius, James, and Cordelia in tow.