A/N - thank you for the response of last chapter...this isn't my best but I'm sort of happy with it. I think.

I'm really curious to how you think of Lily...knowing what she's went through...

yeah...uhm...oh, thanks again to speedsONEandONLY...she's awesome

ParkersPen is pretty awesome too! She has great stories...check them out!

Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter.


New York was beautiful in the winter.

It was amazing in the autumn.

Walking round the streets, getting lost in the hectic muggle world; it gave me the peace and calm that I wanted.

Running through Central Park every day, running until my legs were past the jelly-like feeling, it made me forget about my troubles for several minutes.

Sophia was extremely welcoming; made sure I was comfortable and assured me that I wasn't putting her out.

"Honestly Lily, this house is so big and there's only me, my boyfriend and sometimes Caroline who lives here. I have nothing but room!" She laughed as she showed me to my room the first day.

Now, two weeks later, I barely saw her.

She usually left for work by the time I was up. When she got home from work I was usually out, and when I got back to her house she was either in her home-office or out with her boyfriend.

And I hadn't seen Caroline Reynes at all.

"She's a traveler," Sophia told me the first day as we sat up all night drinking glass of wine after glass of wine, "She married this guy a few years ago. Six months into their marriage he died in a muggle accident - he was muggleborn - he was filthy rich and now she has enough money to last her through the rest of her life." Sophia sighed and shook her head.

"She technically lives here with me, but she just comes and goes. She's still grieving for her husband - Logan he was called - and if she stays in the same place for too long she gets comfortable and apparently comfort brings the pain back. She said that to me the last time she was here. That was five months ago." I remember Victoire saying something about Caroline a couple of years ago, but I mainly remember how Albus suddenly became interested in that conversation, and not what she was actually saying.

Running was what I did every day.

I woke up at about ten in the morning; I cleaned round the already spotless house. I took a shower, and then I went for a run. An extremely long run. I ran until my legs really could not manage more than a slow walk.

When it got like that, I walked round the park. Not stopping to look or talk to anything, just walking round and round. On my way back from my run, I'd go into a shop and buy some wine.

When I finally got back to the house, I went for another shower, if Sophia was home I'd make the two of us dinner. Sometimes her boyfriend - Randolph Lennon, a successful muggle and magical lawyer, like Albus - would join us, sometimes it would just be me.

After dinner, I'd go up to my room with my wine and drink it all.

About four in the morning, I'd cry myself to sleep.

I'd cry about how pathetic I was, how selfish I was, how cruel I was being to Scorpius.

Most of all, I'd cry because I still didn't care enough about Scorpius.


"Lily?"

I'd just come in from my daily run and was just walking through the hallway to go up the stairs when Sophia shouted me from her office.

Curious to what she wanted, normally she let me do whatever I liked without bothering me; I frowned and followed her voice.

"Lily, you remember Caroline?" Sophia smiled and nodded to her sister who was sat in a chair opposite her desk.

The last time I saw Caroline Reynes was at Victoire and Teddy's wedding.

Then she had waist length chestnut brown hair, pale skin and a pretty little smile.

Now she had a pixie cut jet-black hair cut with spikes sticking all over, naturally tanned skin, piercings all over her ears, her lips, nose and she even had tattoos! Lots of them, down her arms, on her neck, her back and since she was wearing quite a low-cut vest top, I saw a few across her chest.

When she stood up, showing me her short-shorts and bare feet, I was surprised to see more tattoo's down her legs and across her feet.

I noticed straight away that apart from the piercings, the only jewellery she was wearing was an extremely expensive engagement and wedding ring set.

"Lily Potter?" Caroline smiled and looked me up and down slowly.

"It's Lily Malfoy, actually," I corrected her tiredly as she hugged me tightly.

Lily Malfoy - married but ran away from her husband.

"Huh, you married the Malfoy kid then?" Caroline asked me when she pulled away and sat back in her chair. I couldn't help but smile when she tucked one leg up so her chin was resting on her knee and extended the other leg to rest on Sophia's desk, her foot nearly knocked the lamp from the desk.

"Yeah...about, well nearly two months ago." I was shocked to notice that my two month anniversary was coming up in a couple of days and I had only just realised.

"Two month anniversary of Olivia too..." A snide voice inside my head piped up with.

"Really? Wow, I thought you two would have got hitched sooner than that!" Caroline laughed, obviously not knowing the only reason we got married.

"Yeah," I agreed with a forced laugh, not looking in Sophia's direction.

"Anyway, it's good to see you -" I started before she waved me off.

"Yeah, yeah, you too. Now, who's coming partying with me tonight? I'm in town for three weeks then I'm going to England to see Mum, Dad, our darling brother and Victoire for a couple of months!" Caroline grinned and looked from me to her sister.

Sophia was looking at me carefully, "Lily, we don't have to if you're not feeling up for it -"

"Yes you do have to! I haven't been in town for months, Valentine's day I left!" Caroline whined.

Knowing full well that Sophia wouldn't go if I didn't, and Caroline wouldn't let Sophia not go out with her, so I sighed and nodded slowly.

"I'll come."

Three hours later, I was in a borrowed dress from Sophia, borrowed heels and a bag of borrowed make up in front of me.

The dress was beautiful, mid-thigh, skin tight, no back and the darkest shade of black I could imagine, it was very revealing and completely inappropriate for a married woman on a girl's night out.

"Stop worrying, you look hot." I jumped when Caroline's voice came from the doorway.

"I know what you're thinking, a married woman shouldn't be wearing something that short, a neckline that deep and a back that barely covers your arse." Caroline smiled as she walked in my room and sat on the bed.

She was wearing a dress shorter than mine, except hers had long sleeves, a high neckline and a full back. The material looked soft and it was a light pink colour, she looked hot.

"I don't know why you're here with my sister instead of at home with your new husband and I don't want to know, but I do know that you are too beautiful to waste away. You're young, probably single and in New York, the new party capital of the world."

She's right, I am probably single.

I looked down at my wedding ring and bit my lip nervously; was Scorpius still wearing his? Did he play with his as often as I did?

Probably not.


"I best get a move on," I sighed and turned back to the mirror, picking an eyeliner stick up.

"Another round?" A waiter came up to our table in the secluded VIP area of the muggle club we were in. When we pulled up in the yellow muggle car, Caroline walked right to the front of the long queue and the men on the doors let the three of us walk straight in.

"Three of your strongest and most colourful cocktails and a round of shots!" Caroline smiled at the waiter after she downed her bright green cocktail.

"I don't think we should have any more," Sophia shook her head at Caroline; deep down, I agreed with Sophia but I didn't want to stop drinking.

I discovered after the first night when Sophia and I drank three bottles of wine between us, that the more alcohol I drank, the easier it was to forget about Olivia, Scorpius and everything I left at home.

It made the darkness that I saw when I thought about everything, go away. For a couple of hours at least.

"No!" I stood up and pointed a finger in Sophia's face.

Well, what I assumed was her face, she kept on spinning round.

"What we need," I grabbed hold of Caroline's hand and pulled her up to stand with me, "is to dance!"

Caroline agreed and the two of us practically ran to the dance floor, pushing and shoving our way until we were right in the middle of the room.

Normally I didn't dance, when we went clubbing at home, I normally sat in a booth with Scorpius and the guys while Dominique, Lucy and the other girls all danced until their feet hurt.

Now, I danced, jumped, bounced and writhed to the upbeat, loud rhyme of the popular muggle song they DJ was playing.

We danced for nearly an hour straight, when my feet started throbbing I simply took my shoes off and held them as I danced.

"Sorry," I barely turned my head when I bumped into somebody.

"Lily? Lily Potter?" I turned at the sound of my name.

There, stood with two huge men in black suits on either side of him was Scott Williams.

"Scott?" I smiled and rushed forwards to give him a hug, ignoring the small part of my head that was screaming my husband's name at the top of her voice.

"What are you doing here?" We both asked at the same time.

"I live here, and own this club." Scott laughed.

"I'm visiting a friend...I needed a break from, yeah...how are you?" I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

"Why don't we go over to the VIP area and talk? It's much quieter over there." Scott laughed and nodded to the virtually empty VIP section of his club. I could see Sophia sat with her boyfriend, who joined us a couple of hours ago.

"My friends -"

"Won't miss you, the blonde one is talking to her boyfriend and the one with the tattoos and boys hair is...erm, otherwise engaged." Scott smirked and pointed over my shoulder; I turned and felt my mouth drop open in complete shock.

Caroline was stood in the middle of the dance floor, snogging a random man. I looked just in time to see her stick her tongue down his throat.

"Doubt she's coming home with us tonight," I laughed at Scott who laughed back; he took my hand and led me over to the largest booth in the club.

"So, how are you really?" Scott asked me after we sat in the booth for an hour. As soon as we sat down, a waiter came over with an ice-bucket and champagne.

We were now on our second bottle and putting those with the amount cocktails, shots and glasses of wine that I'd drunk, I was very drunk.

"I'm...managing." I slurred, draining my glass and holding it out for a refill. "I'm managing on a day to day basis." I sighed.

"Have you even told anybody in England where you are? It's all over the tabloids over there that you've gone missing. Your mother and cousin managed to release a statement saying you're visiting distant family for a while for some privacy. That husband of yours is always in the papers and magazines looking as cheerful as ever." Scott told me dryly.

I rolled my eyes; those two detested each other for no known reason. No solid reason anyway.

"I've been here for two weeks; I sent Scorpius a letter saying I'm fine and I'm safe and for him not to worry." I was surprised I managed to say that without messing my words around.

As I mentioned the brief note and Scorpius' name, I felt my heart swell with pain, my eyes swim with tears and that voice in my head started gloating, telling me to stop being selfish and to go home to my husband.

As always, I ignored her and took a sip of champagne.

"If he loves you like he said he does, he'll understand that you need space." Scott told me gently, scooting closer to me to wipe tears from my cheeks.

"I don't even understand why I need space," I whispered, there wasn't any space between us so I knew he'd be able to hear me.

"He's going through the exact same thing as me and I've just left him. I'm so selfish," I muttered the last part.

It felt so good saying what I was feeling after nearly two months of keeping everything bottled up.

So good I couldn't stop.

"I mean, all I did when I was with him, was shut him out or have a go at him. I never spoke to him, I yelled at him. He's going through everything I am and he took it all. What sort of person am I if I could talk to my husband like that while he feels like I do?" I ran a hand through my hair and groaned in frustration.

"Come on," Scott stood up and took my hand, leading me away from the booth and the other clubbers.

I didn't ask where he was taking me, or even mention Sophia or Caroline. I just followed him through the club floor, behind the bar and through a door that led into a dark corridor.

As we walked further down the corridor, I felt vibrations run through the air, familiar vibrations.

"Magic," I whispered, looking around me with a small smile on my face.

Scott nodded and opened a door to what looked like a cleaning cupboard. Once we were both inside he shut the door and pulled his wand out from his pocket, and proceeded to tap the plain wall with his wand.

"I got the idea from that shopping street you Brit's have," Scott admitted with a smirk when the wall opened like a door.

We walked into what looked like a normal office, except it felt more familiar than Sophia's office.

No electricity or anything muggle related was in here.

Moving portraits, roaring fire, with a large pot of floo powder on the mantle, a cabinet filled with bottles of fire whiskey and posters of Quidditch teams lined the walls.

"Sometimes, I stay the night here." Scott admitted, walking further into the room, he waved his wand around the room. Candles all-round the room lit up straight away.

"I'm staying here tonight; you're welcome to stay too. Both your friends left already and I'm sure you can't even remember where your friend lives?" Scott raised an eyebrow at me as he pointed his wand behind me; the sound of curtains being pulled against the pole made me jump and turn.

A large four poster bed was now in full view, large enough to easily fit more than two people.

Scott laughed when I said this and looked at me sheepishly.

"Lily," He warned me teasingly.

"Scott, I'm married. As nice a man you are...I don't look at you that way, I'll go back to Sophia's." I told him, rolling my eyes and turning for the door.

"I don't want to have sex with you tonight. That's not my intention, you're drunk and you shouldn't be allowed to leave my club like that alone. New York is a very dangerous place, Lily." The small part of my head that I was beginning to hate piped up with a,

'Tonight? He said tonight, Lily! What's stopping him from trying it on in the morning?'

As always, I ignored her.

"I'm married." I repeated, turning to look at him.

"Your husband isn't here, Lily please. I'll take you to this Sophia's in the morning myself." He bargained with me.

Because I was tired, too drunk and my feet were throbbing like mad, I sighed and nodded slowly.

"Can I have a shirt too sleep in?" I asked him, not meeting his eye.


I sat up in the bed for nearly an hour, watching Scott sleep.

We didn't even touch each other during the night, there was that much space in the bed that another four people could have slept in it and we'd have all been more than comfortable.

Scott was beautiful when he was awake, but breath-taking when he was sleeping. He looked like an innocent little child - just an innocent little child with tattoos covering his arms, torso and most of his neck.

Suddenly extremely curious about his tattoos, I silently crawled over and sat crossed legged behind him, my back to the foot of the bed.

Gently, trying not to wake him, I carefully placed my index finger on his forearm and traced it over the biggest tattoo he had.

A flower, a very beautiful flower, covered his entire left forearm.

"It's a Delilah," I jumped when Scott spoke. Looking up, I saw him laid awake, watching me with a small smile on his face.

"A Delilah? Why do you have one of those?" I asked him, looking back at the tattoo.

The annoying voice in my head briefly questioned why I felt so comfortable with him.

"My sister's name is Delilah." He told me quietly. "She died when I was twelve. I got that when I was fifteen."

I looked up quickly and saw him look sad for a second.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know...I wouldn't have -"

"Its fine, I don't mind. She was sixteen when she died. She snuck out of the house to go to some party and was walking back home alone about four in the morning when she got mugged..." He trailed off with a deep sigh; I saw a tattoo covered finger rest near mine on top of the tattoo.

"That's why you wouldn't let me go home alone last night?" I guessed, not looking up to see his face. The small bit of privacy I could give him.

"Yeah, New York is a hell of a dangerous place...anyway," He cleared his throat and used his finger to tilt my head up.

"Let's get dressed, get some breakfast and then I'll walk you to Sophie's house, and Lily?" He smirked suddenly.

"It's Sophia and what?"

"You probably don't wanna sit like that," He told me, raising an eyebrow.

I quickly looked down at myself and frowned, I wasn't revealing anything as far as I could see.

"I can see that you didn't wear panties for bed last night." He laughed as he got out of the bed.

I felt my face turn bright red.

"Well, I can see that you did." I smirked back, not looking him in the face when he stood up.

He looked down and then it was his turn to blush.

"I'm guessing this place has a shower?" I giggled - for the first time since before the wedding. I smiled at how good it felt to laugh without making myself laugh.

"Best turn the settings too cold." I called out as he nodded and hurried to a door I didn't see last night.


I tried sneaking in Sophia's house, but it didn't matter.

Sophia was sat in the kitchen, which was directly opposite the front hall, and Caroline was walking down the stairs, with the man from last night following her.

"There's the door, Dan." Caroline yawned, pointing in my direction.

"It's David." 'David' corrected her rather irritably as he fastened his jacket up.

"Whatever," Caroline shrugged, stretching and turning her back on him.

I held the door open for David and waited until he was down the path before I shut it after him.

"Where the hell did you go?" Sophia started as soon as I shut the door.

"I looked all over for you and you weren't there! Cody and I spent hours searching the city for you; we used tracker spells and everything! I got home to find Caroline entertaining some random and your room to be empty!" She fumed as I walked into the kitchen.

Caroline was stirring something in a cauldron on top of the muggle oven but said nothing as her sister yelled.

"The owner of the club is a friend of mine. We got talking and then I got too drunk to walk home alone, we crashed in his office." I shrugged and climbed onto one of the stools at her kitchen island.

"You're friends with Scott Williams?" Caroline asked me with wide-eyes as she ladled whatever potion she was making into two glasses. When they were both full she handed one to me and drained the other herself.

"Yeah, he sings with my cousin - why were you so worried? I'm a big girl, I can look after myself." I took a cautious sip of the potion and easily recognised it as the hangover remedy that my mother taught me to make years ago.

"No, Lily you quite clearly can't look after yourself." Sophia yelled, surprising both Caroline and myself. "You're twenty two and married. You've ran away from home and spent the night with a man who isn't your husband! You didn't even think it a good idea to send me some sort of message? Did he not have a fireplace? Did you not take your wand? Can't you apparate?" She had several good points.

Why didn't I apparate? Floo? My father taught me how to send a patronus to deliver a message in the case of an emergency...why didn't I do that?

"I was so worried! Lily, nobody knows you're here! What was I supposed to do? -"

"You contacted my family, didn't you?" I stood quickly and shook my head.

"No! Sophia, why? You know I don't want them to find me! I don't want to go back, not yet! How could you!"

"I sent an owl about four hours ago." Sophia told me calmly, she too stood up and looked at me through wide eyes.

"Lily, this is for the best. You'll thank me in a couple of days. You need to be at home, with your family." She walked out of the kitchen then, leaving me and Caroline stood there.

Me in complete shock and Caroline sipping her coffee, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Owls take about four and a half hours to get to the UK. Once they get the letter, it'll take them about ten minutes to meet up and get here. My guess is you have like, maybe ten or fifteen minutes to pack and get the hell out of here." Caroline told me calmly, taking another sip of her coffee.

"Thank you!" I whispered and turned and ran up the stairs and into my room.

Instead of packing myself, I grabbed my wand and waved it around the room, yelling "Pack!" at the top of my voice.

As my belongings zoomed around the room, I quickly climbed out of the dress and grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket as they flew through the air.

I washed my face as quick as possible and within five minutes I was ready to go.

As I grabbed my bag, a small notepad and a pen on the desk in the corner caught my eye.

I groaned and quickly rushed over to it and hastily scribbled a note out,

Scorpius,
I'm sorry. I don't mean to frighten or scare you. I'll come home when I'm ready.

Please, just have patience.

I'm sorry, I love you.

Lily.

I ripped the paper from the pad and ran from the room and down the stairs.

"Here," Caroline was still in the kitchen, sat in my empty stool with her legs stretched out on the one beside it. She looked away from her magazine when I came running into the kitchen.

"Give this to Scorpius. Tell Sophia I said thanks and sorry. Thank you, Caroline. I'll see you whenever you're going to visit Victoire!" I told her, thrusting the note in her hand.

As I stepped back and took my wand from my pocket, I jumped at the sound of banging on the door.

I closed my eyes and thought of Scott's club.

Turning on the spot, I briefly heard a muffled yell,

"Lily? Lily are you in there?"


Scorpius P.O.V.

"Lily? Lily are you in there?" I yelled through the door, pounding on it with my first, Harry and Albus stood beside me doing the same.

Albus stopped suddenly and looked up sharply.

"I heard an apparition crack." He told us, quietly.

Without giving anybody the chance to object, I turned the handle on the door and hurried over the threshold.

"Lily? Lily? Are you here?" I shouted at the top of my voice.

"Just missed her," I turned at the sound of a girl's voice.

In the kitchen sat a girl who looked vaguely familiar.

She was wearing a vest and short pyjama shorts, with her legs stretched out on a stool beside the one she was sat in.

Tattoo's decorated her legs, arms, chest and even the back of her neck.

Her hair was more like a boys design with the black spikes and she had multiple piercings. When she stood and stretched, clearly having just woke up, I saw a belly-button ring too.

"Scorpius, isn't it?" She asked me, walking slowly towards me, sipping from a cup.

"I'm -"

"Caroline Reynes." Albus breathed, loud enough for her to hear.

"Well, if it isn't Toilet Boy." Caroline smirked and winked at Albus.

Now I remember her. Caroline Reynes, Sophia's older sister, Victoire's best friend and the love of Albus' life.

Even if their love only lasted a few minutes.

"Where's Lily?" I stopped their little 'we-had-a-one-night-stand-five-years-ago' eye thing they had going on.

"Like I said, you just missed her. SOPHIA!" She shrugged and walked towards me again, shouting her sister's name as she did.

"What do you mean? Just missed her?" I fumed and shook my head; I began pacing as Sophia Reynes appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us she was here two weeks ago?" I yelled when I saw her.

"She asked me not to -"

"I'm sure she didn't ask you to tell us today either but you still did!" I cut across her and made her jump at the level of my voice.

"You might want to be more grateful that she sent you word your wife was here." Caroline came to stand in front of her sister, meeting my glare with one of her own.

"Alright, everybody calm down. Sophia, we are ever so grateful for you writing to us. Why don't you tell us everything?" Harry calmed everybody down and gently pushed on my chest so I took a few steps backwards.

As Sophia explained what happened from when Lily appeared on her doorstep two weeks ago, Caroline walked up to me silently and put something in my hand before she walked back into the kitchen.

Scorpius,
I'm sorry. I don't mean to frighten or scare you. I'll come home when I'm ready.

Please, just have patience.

I'm sorry, I love you.

Lily.

Another note.

Another letter from Lily.

Scrunching it up I turned and threw it into the nearest bin I could find.

"Come on," I sighed and turned to face Albus and Harry.

"She left me another note. She doesn't want to be found." I told them in a clipped tone.

My wife doesn't want to be found.

I didn't care if they thought I was rude, I turned my back on the Reyne's sisters and walked out the still open front door, standing on the magazine that a young muggle kid had threw a couple of minutes ago.

Bending over to pick it up, I froze when I saw the headline,

Williams Sneaks Girlfriend out the Side-Entrance!

Standing beside Scott Williams, Lucy's singer friend was my wife.

My wife in a dress that she wouldn't wear during the day, with messed up hair, smudged make up, smiling at him warmly.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growled, turning round and holding the magazine up so Harry and Albus could see.

"No wonder she doesn't want to come home if she's found herself a new fucking boyfriend!" I yelled, glaring at Caroline, who'd come back out of the kitchen, and Sophia who wouldn't meet anybody's eye.

"What the hell?" Albus looked at the two of them as well.

"Scorpius, it probably isn't as it seems -" Harry tried to calm me, but I didn't care.

"No, fuck her! If she wants to play this game, she can play it alone." I shook my head and turned once more, shrugging Harry's arm off me, I stormed out of the house and not really caring if any muggle saw me, apparate away.

I didn't care if I was breaching the Cross-Country Apparition Law, I didn't care that I probably just exposed wizard-kind to American Muggles.

Lily was cheating on me.

She clearly slept with Scott Williams.

When my feet slammed onto the floor of our flat, I kicked the first thing I could reach, the sofa, so hard it skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall.


Lily P.O.V.

I didn't even know that Scott would be in the club but that, and the Malfoy's hotel, was the only place I knew in New York and I was not going to stay in that hotel.

"Scott!" I shouted repeatedly as I banged on the side door of the club, the one we left out of this morning.

"Scott! Please, open up!" I was nearly in tears at the thought of my Dad and Scorpius coming round the corner and forcing me to go home.

I wasn't ready to face the reminders just yet.

"Scott! PLEASE!" I practically screamed just as the door opened by a stressed looking Scott.

"What the - Lily?" Scott was angry but then shocked when he saw me and grabbed my arm and pulled me inside quickly.

"There's reporters all over the front! You didn't go round that way, did you?" He asked me, slamming the door shut and bolting it locked.

"Reporters? Why?" I asked him as he took my bag and led me through the corridor and into the empty bar.

Music was playing quietly in the background and the booth we were sat in last night was covered in paperwork and what looked like a fresh pot of coffee.

"You haven't seen the tabloids, have you? Hang on; I dropped you off about twenty minutes ago, what's happened?" He asked me, dropping my bag on the booth behind his and sliding into one side. I slid into the side opposite him and ran both hands through my hair.

"My husband and father came to take me home. Sophia got scared when I didn't come home last night; she wrote to my Dad and told him I was missing! I don't want to go home yet! Please, I...I need somewhere to stay." I practically begged him.

I couldn't go home and face everything head on.

I wasn't ready.

"You haven't seen anything yet, have you?" He asked me again, picking something up and dropping it in front of me.

I groaned when I saw it.

A magazine, a trashy house-witch magazine, the kind that my Gran loved reading for all the gossip - but if you asked she'd say she reads them for the recipes.

With the two of us smiling at each other, leaving the club this morning.

Leaving the club about a half-hour ago.

"How the hell is this out so quick?" I hissed, glaring at the two of us on the cover. It clearly looked like we'd just slept together.

"It's a muggleborn who runs that magazine; they took a muggle piece of technology and fiddled with it. When a picture is took like that, a good story spinner, they go straight to the Editor and they can change every magazine with a flick of a wand." Scott sighed and explained.

"Unfortunately, every magical publisher in the entire world bought that piece of technology from her, she's a rich witch, and they all use it. This has gone worldwide, Lily."

My family.

Scorpius.

"Scorpius knows not to believe the tabloids. He knows I wouldn't do that, not to him." I truly believed that Scorpius had faith in me.

Surely, he'd know I would never cheat on him.

"Scott, please? I really need a place to stay." I reached across the table and took his hand in both of mine.

"Just so you know, Lucy is coming out sometime next month to do some more recording. She's staying with me too; you can stay and if you don't want her to know you're with me, you can go stay with my brother."

"Thank you Scott!"


Staying with Scott was easier than staying with Sophia.

His house was huge, the building itself wasn't as big as Malfoy Manor but the grounds were broader and slightly more impressive.

He had a selection of the latest brooms that he said I could use as my own.

"Can't have England's Greatest player losing her skills, can we?" Scott laughed when he showed me the clearing in his back garden I could practice on.

His house was big enough that some days we didn't even see or hear each other.

For two days straight, I didn't see him at all.

Most of the time, he was in his office, going to some of the businesses he owned or in his basement which was turned into a muggle recording studio, like the one Lucy had in her attic.

Staying with Scott helped me a lot more than staying with Sophia did too.

He added a condition to me staying with him.

"I have a condition," He said over dinner on my first night.

"You see a friend of mine every now and then. He's a counsellor. He deals with deaths."

I agreed, begrudgingly, but I agreed to see him.

Colin actually turned out to be really nice and friendly.

I saw him once every three days and he got me to understand that I didn't kill Olivia.

He made me see that it was an accident, a dreadful accident.

He made me see that I didn't deserve what happened, that I couldn't control what happened.

He made me realise that I couldn't forget the pain.

He made me see that in order to cope with the pain, I had to accept it.

So, in our tenth session, my third week of staying with Scott, during the first week of November, Colin and I went out into Scott's gardens and with it wrote on a piece of paper in front of me I said, not to anybody in particular;

"Olivia Lily Malfoy. I love you, I've never met you, but I love you more than anything else in the entire world. I'm sorry we couldn't meet, I know it wasn't either of our faults...I'm so sorry for your life to be so short and so empty of other people. Your Daddy and I love you very much and I'm sorry for not thinking about you and for trying to forget about you. I will never, ever forget you. I will always love you, you'll always be my baby girl. I love you, Olivia."

I was an emotional wreck by the end of me saying that. I was on the floor, crouched in the snow, crying my heart out.


"Come on, we're going for dinner." Scott came to my room after I'd been in his house for a month.

I hadn't left the grounds, Scott assured me that he had charms and protection spells around the entire perimeter so no reporter could get pictures from inside the grounds. He even added wards so no photographer could fly over the house on a broom and take pictures.

"I've just got ready for a bath!" I moaned, nodding to the en-suite that was with the room.

"You're twenty-two, Lils. You sound like you're eighty two. There's a bunch of dresses in that closet, help yourself to shoes and make-up in the dresser." Scott told me, pointing his wand to a closet that was previously locked.

"Is this somebody else's room?" I asked him when I opened the closet to see a wide-selection of dresses and shoes.

"No, when you stayed I had Jason go out and select a range of clothes for you. I didn't realise your bag had an extension charm on it." Scott sighed as he sat on my bed and watched me pick a dress.

Jason was Scott's PA, security, driver, cook and Merlin-knows what else. Jason basically looked after Scott like a mother would a child.

Except Scott paid Jason a lot of money to do the things he did.

"Jason is a personal shopper? Turn round," I muttered when I selected knee-length dark green silk dress. It was halter neck and strapless with a back that stopped about mid-way.

I saw the matching shoes and slipped them on too.

"Fasten this for me?" I turned my back on Scott and faced the floor to ceiling mirror.

Slowly, Scott took the two pieces of silk that held the entire dress up and tied them around my neck. His hands rested on my shoulders lightly as he looked at our reflection.

"You look beautiful, Mrs Malfoy." He whispered, when he said that both of us looked down at my left hand.

I left England in the first week of October.

In three days, it would be December.

"It's been eight weeks." I muttered, fingering my wedding ring softly.

"Lucy contacted me earlier today. She's coming out in three days' time for three weeks. Do you want me to tell Ed that he's going to have a houseguest?" He asked me quietly, not even hiding his disappointment that I'd be gone.

"Scott...I think I need to go home." I whispered, putting my hand on top of his.

I turned to look him in the eye and smiled softly.

Over the past five weeks, he'd become my best friend.

Nothing was ever too much for him. If he went to where-ever he went during the day and I stayed in bed crying all day, when he came home he would climb on the bed and hold me.

If I wanted to drink myself stupid, he'd drink with me.

If I wanted to fly about all day at break-neck speed, he'd fly with me.

"I'm not going to lie and say I think you should, because I don't. I think you should stay here. Sign up with New York or even the Lions! Live here...with me." He whispered.

I knew how he felt about me.

I knew how he felt physically about me, too many times we'd fell asleep in the same bed as each other and I woke up before him for me not to notice.

I knew how he felt mentally about me too. I overheard him talking to Jason one day,

"How long is the English girl staying for, anyway?" Jason asked as he and Scott watched a muggle sport on a television.

"As long as she wants."

"Man, you've got it bad. I've never seen you this way over some chick -"

"She isn't just some chick! She's special. I'm crazy about her dude."

When I heard that, I tried to stay away from him, keep my distance...but it wouldn't work.

If I was completely honest with myself, I was physically attracted to Scott.

I didn't mind admitting to that, Scorpius and I both admit to each other we found other people physically attractive. We know the other person wouldn't do anything about it.

If I was seriously honest with myself...I think I was mentally attracted to Scott too. He was too nice of a guy, I was too comfortable around him for him to just stay in the 'friend' category.

Being honest with myself...a couple of times when we slept in the same bed together...I was tempted.

Because of that temptation, I knew I had to leave.

I had to return to my husband.

I'd dealt with the majority of my problems, now it was time for me deal with the rest of them at home, with my husband.

I needed to help him.

"Well, we'll make tonight a parting meal then." Scott brought me back to reality, he smiled and stepped back from me.

"I'll let you put your make up on."


Well...what do you think?