It's been so long... Owell. This will be up by the end of the day hopefully! Leave reviews!
Chapter Twelve: Gives You Hell
Lily wasn't the type to cry, she was an angry depressive. And for those students that didn't know that about her, they discovered it quickly. She had been avoiding everyone the past couple of days, showing up to the Great Hall late so there wasn't many people left and not showing her face in the dorm rooms until she was sure everyone was asleep.
The schedules at Hogwarts changed with the day, so she never had the same class two days in a row. This was used to her advantage as she didn't have to see Scorpius every day in class, and she had been skipping their nightly meetings for Transfiguration.
One evening she was walking the abandoned halls of Hogwarts when she came across Professor McGonagall's classroom. She almost entered the room but was surprised to find Scorpius standing alone in the darkness.
He seemed to be practicing the latest spells that they had learned in class, causing Lily to forget that she was mad at him for the moment and smile. He didn't give up, he wanted to be better. If only he was doing it for himself.
Shaking her head in frustration with her own slip-up of sympathy, Lily stalked off towards the Astronomy Tower where she had been hiding out the past few evenings so she wouldn't have to face any lingering questions.
Climbing to the very top of the roof, she curled up in the felt blanket she had brought with her. The full moon cast its rays on the shiny surface of the lake. A barking noise sounded out in the darkness of the Hogwarts grounds, scaring her momentarily until Hagrid and his pet, Fang, appeared out of the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid glanced up at where Lily was perched, waving at her. Smiling, she waved back at the well known family friend. She watched him enter his hut for a moment before returning out into the open air.
A tiny gray object came hurdling towards the Astronomy Tower, veering upwards just in time to avoid running into the Astronomy teacher's office window. The blur of the tiny owl was all Lily caught with her eyes as it dropped a tiny piece of paper in her lap, only to hurdle itself back to its owner.
Opening the parchment, Lily recognized Hagrid's scratchy handwriting.
Tomorrow. One o'clock.
Lily smiled to herself. She knew that she couldn't avoid talking to people forever, and being around an old friend would be a great way to forget about the upcoming dance.
Or would it?
Scorpius had been both dreading and looking forward to Transfiguration all week. He would finally get the chance to explain himself to Lily, but he wasn't sure what he could really say. He didn't have a choice in the matter of who he was to invite to the dance.
Maybe he had been living in his head too much. Being with Lily was against everything he had ever known, but it felt right. And it wasn't like anyone had known about their strange relationship, so it wasn't like he had been cheating when he kissed Lori.
The past few times Scorpius had seen Lily in the hallway she had been all but snarling at anyone who happened to glance in her general direction. But today was oddly different.
Abuzz with excitement, the entire class was full of smiling faces and laughter. It was the day of the Halloween dance, causing last minute planning and gushing over dates.
Lily was sitting in her assigned seat next to one of the large windows overlooking the school courtyard, doodling in a notebook. Her red hair was pulled up in a careless bun, but her long bangs were hiding her eyes as she watched the activity going on in the room.
However she didn't have a scowl on her face, just an interest in what was going on around her. Even when she caught eyes with Scorpius by mistake she just simply nodded her head before turning back to her sketches.
It was in that moment that Scorpius knew he had to apologize to Lily, he just wasn't sure how to make it come across sincere. He started towards her desk, but was quickly intercepted by a body blocking his path.
Roland pulled Scorpius discreetly out of the classroom before Professor McGonagall could realize that they were gone. "I'm guessing you haven't heard the news yet?"
"Obviously not." Scorpius wasn't in the mood for Roland's mind games, he just wanted to make things right with Lily before the opportunity slipped through his fingers.
The hallway was almost clear but Roland dropped his voice low so only Scorpius could hear him. "It's like a big surprise that Percy Weasley brought in this year. Parents are invited to the school dance, and everyone is definitely going to come."
Stomach dropping down to his ankles, Scorpius groaned and grabbed fists full of his hair. "Like we really needed more reasons to hate a Weasley. God damn it!"
Scorpius knew that, seeing as it was Thursday morning and the dance was Friday evening, parents were bound to start showing up. And because the Malfoy family was all about maintaining appearances, Draco was to be one of the first at the school. All hopes of fixing things with Lily gone, Scorpius followed Roland back into the classroom.
Class had begun and students had already started in on their spells, closing Scorpius' window of opportunity forever.
Pulling her thin jacket around her shoulders, Lily trudged across the soggy grass towards the tiny hut on the outskirts of the school grounds. It had been raining all morning, almost discouraging Lily from going to see the gentle giant that took care of Hogwarts' exterior.
She had been lucky enough to leave the warm interior of the school just as the sky lightened and the rain stopped. But none the less, Hagrid met her halfway to the hut with a large black umbrella to protect them from the light sprinkling.
Finally the two settled in the tiny, one-room hut with a large fire roaring in the fireplace. Hagrid's dog, Fang, was curled up at Lily's feet, excited to see a familiar face.
Handing a cup of tea to the young redhead, Hagrid settled into his oversize armchair and cleared his throat. "So how is your school year going so far, Miss Lily? I haven't gotten the chance to talk to any of the Potter or Weasley kids yet this year."
"Well we're all pretty good, I think. Mum almost killed James when he didn't pass last year, but I think he's learned his lesson. He'll end up graduating this year, I'm sure of it." Grimacing at the horrid taste of the tea, Lily tried to hide her disgust with a cough.
Nodding thoughtfully, Hagrid clasped his hands together. "Yes your mother would be the type to be disappointed. But really I'm interested in how you've been. Is your school work going well? Your personal life? I feel like we haven't spoken in years."
Lily watched the steam build up in her cup, "Nothing's really changed. I'm still getting good grades and I still have the same friends."
"With the addition of a new one, correct?" Hagrid smiled at her knowingly. "Young Scorpius seems to be messing with your emotions a bit, doesn't he."
It was a statement, not a question.
Trying to keep calm, Lily set her cup aside and pulled her sleeves down over her knuckles. "I don't know what you mean. My emotions are fine. I've just been a bit stressed out about classes."
Hagrid nodded his head slowly, letting the subject drop. "Well then, tell me more about how your parents have been."
As if his inner-thoughts had jinxed it, Scorpius found his mother and father standing in the Slytherin common room, making small talk with Lori and her mother.
Sighing to himself, Scorpius crossed to where they were. "Hey, Mom. Father."
Draco nodded to his son, "Well it's been lovely talking to you, Lorinda. We'll speak again later."
Obviously dismissed, the Sheltons retreated into the background of the common room. The mixture of parents and students in the room made it take on a whole new atmosphere of happiness. But icy tension seemed to surround the Malfoys like a bubble.
In an attempt to break the glare being shared by her husband and teenage son, Scorpius' mother cleared her throat softly. "I think perhaps we should go on a walk. I'm sure there's a lot of things we would like to see again in the castle and Scorpius, you can introduce us to a few of your friends.
Scorpius had only ever subjected one person to spending any amount of time with his parents, and that was Roland, but since they still weren't speaking, it would be hard to distract his parents with him.
"Sure, Mom. Let's go."
Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter but I hope to post more often now that I have an actual computer to work with! Love you guys! Send me reviews please!
