Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter.

Note - Well here's a chapter full of drama, tough questions, and fun awkward moments for Scorpius. Since I've been so busy and my recent chapters have been a little shorter than usual, I decided to throw a lot into this chapter, and make it longer for you guys. I really hope you like it, because I really enjoy its ending. So read, enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Rebel Malfoy

Chapter Fourteen: Faults of Others' Pasts

"So, Lana, anything in particular you want for Christmas?" Mitch asked as the four of them sat on the train, making their way home for the holidays.

Lana shrugged as she flipped through a magazine. "I don't know. Anything I guess. Why do you ask, you never used to?"

"Well I figured I would this year. After all, with you getting into styling and that stuff, I figured I would see if there's something specific you needed," Mitch replied as he scribbled music notes on a piece of parchment.

"I don't even know who I'm getting presents for yet," Lars mumbled.

Scorpius thought about that as well. He never used to wonder about that either, but was there anyone he wanted to get a gift for? Maybe Raven . . . and of course Stacy, she'd really knocked sense into him this year. And . . .

Lily.

"What do you think Lily Luna would like for a gift?" Scorpius asked the others as he looked through the pile of candy they had, some of which they'd gotten from their last Hogsmeade trip. He looked at a box of Crystalized Pineapples. He loved these things, but he rarely had them. So he shoved them into his discarded coat's inner pocket to save them for later.

"For someone to beat the snot out of her brothers," Mitch retorted quickly.

Scorpius smirked. "I was thinking more along the lines of something I could wrap and send to her."

"Why don't you just ask her?" Lana suggested. "She's pretty honest, so she'd tell you."

"Hmm . . . yeah, I could do that. I'll look for her once we get to the station," Scorpius sighed.

"You just don't want to get up, lazy," Lana mocked.

"Your point?" Scorpius countered, still smirking. But in truth, that was only part of the reason. But lately, Scorpius found himself loving nothing more than getting on Potter boys' nerves. And he found no better way than rubbing his friendship with their sister in their faces. He loved making them uncomfortable, and throwing them off their "game" so to speak.

So instead of looking for his parents like he normally did, Scorpius first looked for Lily when he got off the train. But he didn't see her getting off, and began to wonder if maybe she had gotten off before him. So he was forced to do something he never thought he'd do.

He looked for the Potters and Weasleys.

It wasn't hard, finding the large group that was their family. No other family had so much red hair. Scorpius scowled a little as he thought about that. Lily's hair was different from theirs. Hers seemed like it was darker than the light, almost orange shade that her relatives had. Scorpius was about to walk toward the family when he noticed that Lily was just a little ahead of him, making her way for them as well. Scorpius smirked. If he talked to her now, they would definitely come into her family's line of sight. So he hurried forward and grabbed her wrist.

Lily stopped and looked back at him with a little surprise, but then her expression dropped back to its normal casual look. Scorpius still smirked. "Glad I caught you, Lily Luna."

She rolled her eyes as she eyed her wrist. "Caught me is right." Scorpius let her go, but walked right beside her. "So what did you want?" she asked.

Scorpius tried to seem as casual as her. "I just wanted to wish you a happy Christmas, and to ask you what you want me to send you? I have no idea what to get you," he admitted.

Lily stopped walking, so Scorpius did as well. But he could now easily see her entire family, and they were watching the two of them almost too intently. "How about you don't get me anything. It's not necessary."

Now Scorpius felt like rolling his eyes. Why was he not surprised by that answer? "I guess I'll just have to surprise you," he mocked. But then a wicked idea came to his mind as he saw her brothers out of the corner of his eye. "Have a happy Christmas." Then he pulled her into a quick and friendly hug. He could feel the box of candy in his pocket pressing against him, and he suddenly felt the urge to give her the candy as a gift. Scorpius felt a little bit of warmth come to his cheeks, but he ignored it as he pulled away from their hug.

Sticking with that weird gut instinct, Scorpius took out the box and handed it to her. "Happy Christmas, Lily Luna," he said, trying not to seem embarrassed or flustered, especially after seeing that her own cheeks had a small blush as well.

Lily smiled at him, and it was a real and honest smile. It was something Scorpius was getting used to seeing, and was always happy to see it. "Happy Christmas, Scorpius," she said softly.

Scorpius smirked, feeling a little proud of himself now for getting her to smile. He turned around and began to look for his own family, leaving Lily to deal with her own. And then he felt guilty for not walking her to her family, because Merlin knows what her brothers would do. Then Scorpius felt suddenly angry at the Potter boys, angrier than usual. And he felt worried for how Lily would survive the holidays alone with her Gryffindor family. But he shook it away.

"She'll be fine," he whispered under his breath. "She's strong."

"Talking to yourself now, son?"

Scorpius jumped as his father had appeared out of nowhere and surprised him. "Father? I was just looking for you." Scorpius felt his heart beat a little harshly as a new thought came to him. How much had his father seen? And . . . what would he think about his son making friends with the daughter of his former enemy?

"Well it's just me this time. Your mother had to meet with some model's agent or whatnot. So, shall we go home?" Draco inquired to his son.

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

Scorpius's father thankfully let him take his things upstairs without asking any questions. But he knew that once his mother returned, then he would be asked many questions, and would have to tell them about his new friendship with the youngest Potter child.

Scorpius liked to think that his father wouldn't care. After all, he'd told Scorpius that he was past the old feud he'd held with Harry Potter, and it just left a bit of awkward air between the two men. So surely, he wouldn't mind Scorpius becoming friends with Lily. But still, Scorpius felt a bit of worry in his gut, on the off chance that his father would disapprove.

Scorpius began to smirk as he unpacked the last of his clothes. Lucius would lose his mind over this! He began to laugh a little. The thought lifted his spirits easily. He could imagine Lucius's tantrum once he told him. It would be great.

"Master Scorpius. Your mother is requesting you join them in the parlor," Pitch said timidly from his door.

Scorpius sighed. "Yes, thank you. Just a moment." Scorpius went over to look in the mirror. He'd changed into a simple black sweater and trousers, but his hair was a still a bit of a mess. He did his best to smooth it down as he left his room.

"Scorpius!" Astoria said happily as she hugged her son tightly. She pulled away with a smile. "It's so good to have you home."

Scorpius smiled at his mother. "Hello, Mum. How have you been?"

"Oh, so busy lately. But let's hear more about your third year," Astoria insisted as she pulled her son to the couch, his father sitting in the armchair, reading the paper. "How's Hogsmeade? Your friends? Any new ones that I'll get to meet?"

Scorpius sighed at the barrage of questions, and wondered which he should answer first. Should he just get his bigger news out of the way first? "Well, things have been good. And actually, I have become really good friends with one of our first years." Just get it over with.

Astoria smiled brightly. "Really? What's his name? What's he like?"

Scorpius smirked, feeling a bit . . . weird about talking about her now. "Well, it's a girl actually. She's really smart, funny, um . . . really laid-back. We get along really well. Actually, she made the Quidditch team despite being a first year. She's an amazing Seeker, so the rules were bent for her."

Now his father was looking at him, and Scorpius felt like smacking himself. He might have just in fact given away who it was without realizing it, because he was sure that his father noticed the similarities between what he was saying about Lil and Lily's father. But he said nothing.

Astoria was more eager though. "And? What's her name?"

Scorpius took in a deep breath. "Lily. Lily Potter. But we all just call her Lily Luna."

Draco put down the paper, since his suspicions were confirmed. "A Potter? In Slytherin?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, everyone was shocked. But after getting to know her, it's no surprise that she's in our House. She's a really great girl though," he said quickly, trying to defend her.

"Well that's good," Astoria said with a thoughtful look. "Slytherin could really use some new members, instead of just the children from the old families. And I'm glad the two of you get along so well. She sounds like a lovely girl. You must bring her over sometime. I'd love to meet her."

Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, maybe. But let's take one step at a time. I don't even know what to get her for Christmas yet," he joked.

"Then make her something," Astoria suggested.

Scorpius shrugged. "Maybe. I'd still rather see if I can find something first."

"So, was Lily the girl that I saw you talking with at the station today?" Draco asked suddenly, and Scorpius could tell by the look in his father's eyes that he had not just seen them talking, but the shared hug as well.

Scorpius forced himself to not scowl, and tried to ignore how warm his cheeks were starting to suddenly feel. Instead, he tried to seem casual about it. "Huh? Oh, yeah that was her."

Draco gave a nod. "Hmm. I didn't actually see her face, so I couldn't tell who it was."

"Wouldn't matter. I don't think she looks anything like most of her family," Scorpius retorted. "Her hair's a darker shade, she doesn't have freckles, and she isn't anywhere near as ugly as her brothers are."

Draco chuckled. "Yes, I've seen the two Potter boys. They both look much more like their father than they do their mother. Perhaps that's where Lily gets her looks then."

Scorpius shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I've never seen her mum."

When dinner came that night, Scorpius was much more eager to talk about his new friend, Lily Potter. Because not only did his father accept the friendship, but Lucius was at the table now. The perfect chance to annoy him.

"So, Scorpius how has your third year been?" Narcissa asked him. It was an innocent question, but he pounced on the opportunity.

"Well I made a new friend. She's a first year Slytherin. Her name is Lily Potter," Scorpius said casually, eyeing his grandfather.

Lucius looked like he was going explode. "What? A Potter?"

"In Slytherin? How . . . peculiar," Narcissa said demurely. "That must be . . . different, what with her all Gryffindor family."

Scorpius smirked. "Well it was a shock, but she's definitely a Slytherin. She's amazing at Quidditch. She's already on the team, and thanks to her, we crushed Gryffindor in our match," he bragged, still looking at his grandfather. "Every Slytherin loves her." He made sure to emphasis how accepted and liked she was in Lucius's old Hogwarts House. The one he took pride in.

"A Potter? In Slytherin?" Lucius repeated. "Merlin, what has Hogwarts come to?"

Scorpius's smirk grew as he continued to eat dinner, loving every second of Lucius's anger and discomfort.

"It is a surprise, yes, but I think it's a good thing," Astoria mentioned lightly.

"How on Earth could it be good?" Lucius demanded.

"Because it'll add some life to our old House. It needs some new faces," Astoria retorted simply.

"It's a Potter!" Lucius argued.

"Father, that's hardly something to focus on," Draco sighed.

"It's everything! You would accept the one who destroyed the reputation of our name?" Lucius hissed.

"I don't find that to be Harry Potter's fault," Scorpius mumbled. "Reputations get more easily destroyed by someone on the inside than by someone on the outside."

"Boy, you are trying my patience," Lucius said lowly.

Scorpius glared right back at him. "Right back at ya."

"You shame our name more than I thought imaginable! And now you go and befriend the pathetic Potter girl?" Lucius demanded, standing on his feet.

A snarl came to Scorpius's face as he stood too. Defensive, that was how he immediately felt. "Don't call her that! Lily is braver than you could imagine, you coward! She would never run from a fight! And she at least stands for what's right! And I am proud to be her friend!"

Lucius looked down at him, his normal cane now in his hand, his grip tight. His face was of steel. "You have truly fallen, boy," he muttered coldly. "And I find that redemption is far beyond you, and that you don't deserve the Malfoy name."

"Father!" Draco argued.

But Scorpius glared through narrow eyes. "I am proud of my name, and my father. Because he has changed, and accepts his mistakes. And one day I will make this name something that the whole wizarding world not only accepts, but no longer fears, or hates. It will be something great to the world. Because it's you who doesn't deserve the name Malfoy," he said in a low tone.

"Father! Scorpius! Enough!" Draco said firmly.

Scorpius pushed away from the table. "Of course, Father. If I may be excused, I'm going to go up stairs and see if I can't think of a proper Christmas gift for Lily."

Sadly with his anger, nothing came to him.

Scorpius scowled and tried to ignore his embarrassment as he stood in what had to be the girliest store he'd ever been in. And Lana provided no help as she dragged him along, looking for what she wanted Scorpius to buy her for Christmas.

"Are you done yet?" Scorpius mumbled.

"Not yet. Why don't you look around and get Lily something? You said you hadn't thought of what to get her yet," Lana offered.

"And I doubt that walking around a girly store will give me any ideas," Scorpius muttered.

"Well what's something that would be useful to her?" Lana mentioned.

"I doubt I'd find something useful in a girl's clothing store," Scorpius mocked.

Lana rolled her eyes as she began looking at shoes. "You are such a boy," she mumbled. "Look, just take a walk around then. I shouldn't be much longer."

Scorpius still scowled as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away from the girl he saw as a sister. The fact that she brought up his lack of gift ideas annoyed him. It had been days, and he still couldn't think of anything. But he didn't think anything here would help him either. Lily didn't seem like a materialistic-kind of girl. Not the kind that worried relentlessly about fashion and clothes.

He came to a large display over different hair accessories. Bored, he looked them over, trying to see if maybe there was something Lily would like. His eyes came to different headbands of all colors. Scorpius crossed his arms, still scowling. Would Lily like one? She sometimes complained how her hair could by annoying if it got into her face. One of these would help . . . but they seemed so plain and boring.

Still, Scorpius grabbed a green one. Perhaps he could use it to make something better than just a plain headband. He tried to think of something that would make it look nice, and passed by a vase of flowers on a counter.

Lilies.

Scorpius returned home with only one bag, unlike Lana who not only had his gift to her, but had bought several things for herself as well. And the first place he went was to his mother's workroom, knowing she'd be there this time of day. He was a little surprised to be hearing voices coming from inside, but soon recognized his father's voice.

Scorpius knocked on the door, suddenly wondering if he was interrupting something. His father was usually at work about this time.

"Come in," his mother called to him.

Scorpius tentatively walked into the room, suddenly feeling like he was a little boy again. "Sorry, I didn't know you would be home, Dad. I'm not interrupting anything?"

Astoria smiled at her son. "Of course not, dear. Come in and tell us how your afternoon was."

"There was no need for me to go in today," Draco said idly. "So I stayed home."

Scorpius gave a nod as he sat on the stool next to his father, and placed his bag on the island in front of him. "Well, Mum, the reason I came in here was to ask you a favor."

Astoria raised a curious brow as she looked away from the fabrics in front of her. "Hm? What is it?"

Scorpius pulled out his items. He'd bought the green headband, one fake white lily, and a small stuffed snake. "Well, I was wondering if you could permanently attach this lily to the headband? I don't want to give Lily some plain band, so I thought I'd make it a bit . . . better."

Astoria smiled at her son as she pulled the two items toward her. "I'm glad you're putting actual effort into this gift. It's sweet that you want to make something nice for her."

"Why don't you make the headband change colors then? If you want to make it more interesting?" Draco suggested before taking a sip of his tea.

Scorpius looked at his father. "You know how to do that?"

Draco scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "Of course I do. It's a simple spell, son. You'll probably learn how to do it soon too." He took the headband from his wife, now that the flower was attached, and pulled out his wand.

Scorpius watched as his father cast a charm over the headband. Draco then handed it to his son, who watched as it changed from green to pink, then to purple, and changed to a new color every few seconds.

"It won't change so fast always. Give it a minute or so and it'll slow a little to change every minute or two," Draco told him as he set down his wand.

Scorpius looked over the two small gifts that he hoped would be something Lily would like. He looked at his mother. "What do you think, Mum? And please, don't give me a parent's answer."

Astoria rolled her eyes at her son's attitude, but still smiled. "Yes, I would like if something like this was sent to me as a gift." Then she began to look back at the fabrics she was choosing from. "So, what did you get the others?"

Scorpius sighed. "Well, Lana found a pair of shoes she wanted, so I got them for her. I got Lars some new goggles for rainy or snowy Quidditch matches, and I picked up a Muggle CD for Mitch the other day," he listed. He'd also gotten a box of sweets for Stacy, and a book on Quidditch tactics for Raven.

"What about Tanner and the girls?" Astoria inquired.

"I got a bunch of Chocolate Frogs for Tanner, since he collects the cards. And I had no idea what to get the girls," Scorpius replied. "They're coming over Christmas night?"

"And the day before, and possibly tomorrow," Draco muttered. "Your pregnant aunt is about to kill her husband, so your mother thought a few days here would put them all in a happy mood."

Scorpius felt like rolling his eyes too. His aunt Daphne was four months pregnant, and overly moody. And it showed in the halls of Hogwarts, and Scorpius was thankful he didn't take her Arthimacy class. Lana said she'd avoided Daphne Zabini's wrath, but not all students had.

"Still, I can't wait until March, when she takes the last few months of her pregnancy off from work, and we get a temporary professor that won't rip our heads off due to pregnancy hormones," Lana had muttered one day.

"Lovely," Scorpius sighed as he rubbed his temples, now understanding his father's eye roll.

"She's crazy!" Tanner complained, for the tenth time, just that day. It was Christmas afternoon, and the Zabini's, as usual, were the first to arrive for the large Christmas dinner later that night.

Scorpius was finding places for his new gifts as he listened to his cousin rant. He'd already sent out the gifts for his friends. But he had so many gifts himself, thanks to his parents, his grandmother, and now his aunt and uncle, Scorpius needed somewhere to put everything.

"How was your morning?" Scorpius asked.

Tanner shook his head and groaned loudly. "She is freaking out over everything! She lost her mind at me this morning just because I came down in a shirt with a tiny hole in it! Said it needed to be tossed and wasn't something I should be wearing. She hates all men, I swear!"

Scorpius smirked. "Well, it was a man that got her pregnant."

Tanner's face fell. "Dude, not funny. That's my mum." But he shook his head. "The girls are getting away with murder, and I'm getting yelled at every second. I'm going to feel bad for Dad once Mum gets put on temporary leave from teaching."

"Give her a break. It is her fourth kid, and one she didn't expect," Scorpius laughed as he placed a few new books on the shelf.

"Trust me, none of us were expecting this one, and I didn't really want another sibling," Tanner muttered. "Candy and Lydia are attached to Dad's legs at all times, whining and being spoiled, and I'm getting stuck watching them during the summer, or getting yelled at by Mum at school. I really didn't need another brat of a sister."

"So, is that what Aunt Daphne's having? A girl?" Scorpius asked curiously.

Tanner shrugged. "We don't know yet, but that would be my luck. Another girl."

"Well what if it's a boy?" Scorpius retorted, trying to cheer up his cousin, at least a little.

"Then the brat will be a boy," Tanner replied, still annoyed.

Scorpius noticed a few more Slytherin families at dinner that night, and was starting to think that his mother was now just possibly merging the guest lists between the Christmas dinner, and the Slytherin dinner in the summer.

And to Scorpius's mild delight, the West family was there. And Scorpius finally noticed, but didn't comment, that the five kids walked in only with their father, who looked a bit worn and tired, but was smiling lightly. The youngest of the West kids, Elizabeth he thought was her name, stuck by her father's side the entire night.

But Stacy smiled at him before the dinner as she sat by him. "Thank you, for the gift, by the way. It came this afternoon," she said in her gentle voice.

Scorpius shrugged, but looked a bit sheepish. "Well, I wasn't sure what to get you, but I thought you deserved a gift. You've been a big help this year."

Stacy still smiled. "And so have you. I wish I had gotten you a gift too." But then she leaned down a little and placed a small, short, and chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

Scorpius felt his face flare with a vicious heat as he stared at Stacy with wide eyes. The older girl simply laughed as she got up and walked over to where Kim was talking with Brandon. Scorpius touched his cheek, embarrassed. No girl but his mother had ever kissed him on the cheek. It felt weird, but a heat rushed to Scorpius's heart, which beat a little harder now. Was that how it always felt when a girl kissed you? Scorpius knew he was going to have to ask someone . . . but who?

"What's this about?" Aaron demanded as Scorpius brought him upstairs to his room. The dinner had ended, and while some families had already left, some had remained. And like always, one of those families was the Goyles.

Scorpius scowled at Aaron's impatience, but he knew that Aaron would be the best one to ask about girls. Aaron wouldn't mock him publicly for his questions, and he also wasn't Scorpius's father. Aaron was a great middle place. "Look, I wanted to ask you something in private. It's . . . something a little embarrassing, and I know you'll laugh."

Aaron raised a brow as he sat on Scorpius's bed. "Well maybe this will be fun then. What's your question?"

Scorpius ran his hand through his hair, mussing up the nicely combed style it'd been earlier. "Well . . . what's it like to . . . um, be kissed by a girl?"

Aaron looked mildly surprised, but he didn't laugh. He did grin. "A girl kissed you?"

Scorpius shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just on the cheek. But it felt weird. My whole body got hot, and I wasn't sure if I was just embarrassed, or what!"

Aaron was still grinning. "Who was it?"

Now Scorpius really was embarrassed. "Stacy," he said quietly.

Aaron gave a nod. "Ah. Stacy is pretty hot. I can see why you'd get flustered."

"Well I can't!" Scorpius argued, feeling defensive.

Aaron sighed. "Ah, Scor, it was only a matter of time before you started noticing girls. You're going to be fourteen soon, after all."

Scorpius sighed as he sat next to Aaron. "I don't want to notice girls! They tend to be annoying at times!"

"At times? Some can be annoying a lot," Aaron chuckled. "But not all of them. And some are so good looking that it never matters."

"But why does a guy's whole body get . . . hot?" Scorpius felt stupid and like a kid with his question.

Aaron didn't laugh at him, but shrugged. "I don't know the inner workings of the body and why it does what it does. I just know that when you go past a kiss it feels pretty damn good," he replied.

Scorpius scowled. "What do you mean by that?"

Aaron chuckled. "Surely, Uncle Draco has explained sex to you?"

Scorpius's face felt flush again. "Yes! I just didn't know that's what you meant!"

Aaron rolled his eyes, but placed a brotherly hand on Scorpius's shoulder. "Ok, joking aside, I'll be serious. A lot of girls are pretty, hot, and so on. And since you're getting older, you're going to notice how they look. And you're going to want to kiss them, and do a lot of other things with them. Just don't be stupid about it and get one pregnant."

Now Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I know that. I just don't see why this is suddenly happening," he muttered.

Aaron nudged him. "It's called puberty, kid! You haven't noticed?"

Scorpius still scowled. "Noticed what?"

"That you're getting taller, your voice cracks sometimes, and now you notice girls," Aaron listed. "And this is only the beginning, trust me."

Scorpius knew he should have taken Aaron's last words more seriously.

Scorpius yawned as he laid across the parlor couch. This was not his sort of day. His father was gone to work and his mother was at a meeting, leaving him stuck with his grandmother and Lucius. He didn't mind his grandmother, who was quietly flipping through a fashion magazine, but Lucius . . . the man seemed to be silently brooding as he glared lightly at Scorpius. Scorpius, meanwhile, was doing his best to ignore the old man, and just stayed silent on the couch.

Perhaps a nap would be nice, Scorpius thought as he began to close his eyes.

"Young Master?"

Scorpius opened his eyes to see Pitch standing next to him with a wrapped package. "Yes, Pitch?"

"This came for you. It looks like a Christmas present," Pitch said, voice timid. Probably due to Lucius being in the room.

Scorpius sat up fully as he took hold of the package. Then he smiled at the name of who sent it. "Ah! Lily's sent me something," he said loudly, seeing the chance to goad Lucius's anger. "Wonder what it could be?" But Scorpius was truly happy. Because if she was sending him a gift, then she must have liked hers.

Scorpius opened the present, only to find silk touching his fingers. He pulled it out to find that the fabric made up a jacket. A silk, green jacket. And as he looked it over, he saw on the back that a silver snake decorated the back of it. He smirked. He liked it, a lot actually. So he slipped it on.

"What a thoughtful girl Lily Potter is," Scorpius said offhandedly. "Only she would give me something that I could wear at all times, even around the manor." He laid back down and began to close his eyes, loving the anger he could feel rolling off of Lucius.

This jacket was probably the greatest gift he could have gotten. Truly a gift that just kept giving. He might just never take it off.

Scorpius groaned as sunlight touched his eyelids. He pulled his pillow over his head. He still felt tired, like he hadn't slept at all. He'd had a weird dream, but one that he couldn't remember. His body was so hot that he was practically sweating, so he moved his feet to kick the blankets off of him. But then he froze when his foot hit something wet.

Scorpius's eyes shot open. Wet?

"Just wait until you have your first wet dream. You'll never want to wake up!"

Scorpius cursed Aaron's words, because they were a lie. Because Scorpius shot up from bed, kicking his blankets to the floor. But then he noticed the wet stain in his pajama pants, and he groaned loudly.

"Merlin, you've got to be kidding me," he mumbled, his face hot with embarrassment. He'd had a wet dream, one he couldn't even remember. But it was obvious that he'd had some kind of dream.

Scorpius quickly changed, leaving his bed clothes in a pile, and quickly threw his blankets and sheets in the pile as well. Then he threw his pillowcases in the pile as well. He wanted them all cleaned.

"Pitch!" he called.

Pitch arrived with a loud "CRACK" and looked at Scorpius curiously. "Yes, Young Master?"

Scorpius gulped as he looked at the pile. "I . . ." Scorpius felt it difficult to ignore his embarrassment. "I need you to take these clothes and sheets, and I need them cleaned immediately. And . . . don't mention this to my family, please?" His parents finding out about this was the last thing Scorpius needed.

Pitch nodded as she obediently, with a snap of her fingers, made the clothes and sheets fold themselves. "Of course, Young Master. Anything else I can do for you?"

Scorpius gulped. "Has breakfast started?"

"Yes, it just did," Pitch answered as she brought the now folded pile into her hands.

Scorpius avoided looking at the pile. "Could you have a small plate brought up here? I need to finish packing my things before leaving tomorrow," he lied.

"Of course."

Scorpius dropped onto his bed as Pitch disappeared. He didn't want to look his parents in the face at breakfast. He was sure that his father would be able to tell that something was up, and would somehow drag it out of him. Scorpius was still too embarrassed, no matter how natural it was. Instead, he'd just pack up the last few things he wanted to take back to school with him tomorrow.

He ate breakfast in his room, and it wasn't long before Pitch had brought back all of his sheets, blankets, and pillowcases. She helped Scorpius make up his bed, and Scorpius took his now clean pajamas, and put them in the back of his closet.

But he wasn't at all surprised when there eventually came a knock at his bedroom door. Although, he was embarrassed when it was his mother that came into his room.

"Hello, Mum. How was your morning?" Scorpius inquired, hoping his mother would start to question him.

Astoria smiled as she sat on her son's newly cleaned bed, but Scorpius just kept making room in his trunk so that he could add some of his gifts. "Quiet. Where were you at breakfast? Pitch said you had requested a plate to be brought up here."

Scorpius gulped quietly. "I was just really tired this morning, and thought I'd eat a little and then nap again," he said, half of it true, half a lie.

"Really? That's all?" Astoria prodded.

"Ye-Ah . . . !" Scorpius froze. His voice! It'd just cracked! It had never been that noticeable before!

But his mother seemed to hardly notice his voice. "Are you sure nothing's wrong? You're not hiding in here just to avoid your grandfather, are you?"

Scorpius looked at his mother. She thought his problem was Lucius? She wasn't suspecting what it really was? Scorpius felt relieved, and allowed a bit of a grin to come to his lips. "No, Mum, I'm not. I really was just tired, and not up for a big breakfast. Besides, I thought I'd be boring in conversation if I fell asleep at the table."

Astoria smiled at her son. "If you're sure." Then she reached out and smoothed down her son's hair. "I can't believe how big and grown up you're getting," she sighed.

Scorpius bit the inside of his cheek. The last thing he wanted to be reminded of now was how he was growing up. "I'm only thirteen, Mum," he muttered.

"And you'll be fourteen in a month. It's so hard to believe sometimes," Astoria said softly.

Scorpius sighed quietly as he moved to sit next to his reminiscing mother. "That's a whole month. And even then, I'll only be fourteen. It's not that old. I won't even be taking my O.W.L. exams yet," he assured her.

"I know," Astoria sighed. Then she leaned forward to press a kiss to her son's forehead. "Now, you make sure you're packed and ready for tomorrow. You don't want to forget anything."

"Of course, Mother."

Scorpius felt awkward on the train ride back to Hogwarts, and for many reasons. One reason, and kind of a big one, was that he still felt awkward about this growing up thing. He'd woken up to a wet dream again this morning, and had, again, to ask Pitch to secretly take care of washing his laundry. Part of him wanted to ask Lars and Mitch if they were dealing with any of these things; their voices cracking, dreams, noticing girls. But at the same time, Scorpius knew that those weren't questions that you asked another guy.

Another reason was because of the word that was spreading around the train. Harry Potter was coming to give a lecture to third years this week in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Scorpius was still uncertain of how he really felt about it. Part of him was excited to know what the big hero had to say and teach. The rest of him was hesitant about how much this would boost the Potter boys' egos, and that they'd never shut up.

"It feels like this year is dragging on forever," Mitch mumbled as he laid back in his seat, looking ready to fall asleep.

"I have to agree, but it's better than next year, where teachers will be hounding us with hard lessons to prepare for exams that we take a year after that," Lana muttered.

"Way too much has happened this year," Lars sighed heavily. "Too much drama."

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah. Way too much," he agreed quietly. "I'm really not a fan of this whole growing up stuff."

"You think you hate it?" Lana laughed. "I have my mum constantly asking me questions about which stages of puberty I've hit, and if my bras fit right."

"Better than my mum. You'd think she'd stop worrying. After all, she's been through this with Brandon and Nate already," Mitch said with a shake of his head.

"Aaron just laughs at me, and Mum pushes Dad to talk to me, but then whatever he says is awkward, and nothing I want to hear," Lars retorted.

"I just hate the changes," Scorpius admitted quietly. "It's too much at one time."

"Well what did your dad say to you about it?" Lars inquired.

"Nothing," Scorpius muttered. "I was able to avoid it."

"What?" Lars exclaimed. "My mum said that she was sure you'd been talked to! It was why I relented and let Dad try and talk to me about it!"

Scorpius smirked and let out a chuckle. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I have yet to be talked to."

"Guys!" Rex hurried into their compartment, laughing about something, his eyes bright.

Lana raised a brow. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

Rex took in a deep breath as he took a seat next to Scorpius. "You know Sloper? The seventh year?"

Scorpius scowled. "How could we not? He's one of the main ones that loves picking on Slytherins, especially younger one."

Rex's grin got even bigger. "Lily Luna just killed his manhood!"

The others looked at him in surprise. "What?" Lars demanded.

Mitch gave a laugh now. "Don't joke with me!"

"I'm serious. Apparently he and one of his friends tried to start trouble with her, and she kneed him in the groin! I heard that his friend had to drag him away, because he could hardly walk! The whole train is talking about it!" Rex laughed.

Scorpius smirked as he leaned back into his seat. "And Lucius wondered why we accepted her into Slytherin."

It felt like as soon as they got back to school, professors were piling on homework, preparing kids for exams. Scorpius was sure that the fifth and seventh years were now practically living in the library, only Aaron and Adrian coming out for Quidditch practices.

But there were whispers among the older students about throwing their usual party earlier this year, since this year was turning to be such a great one for Slytherins. And there was a lot of talk in the common room about how Lily Luna had even been invited. The only first year to ever be invited to one of those parties. Even more talk went around about how she wasn't going to go.

"It's surprising," Lana agreed. "I mean, most of kids who aren't invited for being too young, would jump on that chance."

"I guess partying isn't Lily Luna's thing," Scorpius said with a shrug.

"I'm surprised you don't go," Mitch joked. "You know if you said something, you, Scor, would totally get invited."

"It's not really my thing either," Scorpius said simply.

The night of the Slytherin party, Scorpius laid in bed, unable to sleep. His body was still having those dreams, and it made him hate going to sleep. It was embarrassing to wake up and having to hide what had happened to him in the middle of the night.

With a sigh, Scorpius sat up in bed. Maybe a walk around would clear his head. The Slytherin prefects had made sure that it would be their turn to patrol the dungeons tonight, all so they could sneak people to the party, and then go themselves. It would make it easy for him to not get caught.

But when Scorpius came to the stairs, he was surprised at what he saw in the common room. Lily was sitting in front of the fireplace, a book in her hands. He smiled a little. A talk with Lily Luna was sure to help clear his mind, much more than a walk ever would.

"Out for a bit of midnight reading?" he teased. He began to come down the stairs, taking notice of how she jumped a little. "Can't sleep?" he asked.

She grinned at him as she marked her spot in the book and set it down. "No, I just didn't want to. I'm not really tired. You?"

Scorpius was proud that her question didn't make him blush with embarrassment. He came around to sit next to her. "Same, I guess." He was not going to tell her the truth about that. "I just didn't feel like going to sleep." There was a silent moment between them, but Scorpius didn't want that. He wanted to get rid of his thoughts. "So, I never got to ask, how was your Christmas?"

Lily gave a little shrug. "I guess it wasn't terrible." Her tone was casual, but honest. "I talked with Louis, hung out with my grandpa, and did my best to avoid the rest of my cousins, since they pretty much all hate me." Then she smiled at him. "And yours?"

Scorpius grinned. He got the feeling she didn't want to dwell on it, and he couldn't blame her. "Well, it was ok, at least when others were there. Otherwise, I mainly just fought with my grandfather."

Lily looked at him curiously. "Really? Why?"

Scorpius looked at her, but then remembered that she was only a first year. She probably hadn't heard about the hatred he had for Lucius. "We always fight," he explained. "He thinks that I don't represent the Malfoy name well, because I don't spout out pureblood supremacy, and he thinks that I don't respect him. But I'll honestly tell him that I don't respect him."

She laughed lightly. "You don't like him?"

"No. I can't stand him," Scorpius stated. But then he looked at her jokingly. "And now he hates that I've accepted a Potter into Slytherin."

She grinned a little. "He doesn't like me?"

"Nope, so I wore the jacket you gave me for the rest of break," he teased, and Lily laughed with him.

She still looked at him with amusement. "So you'll do anything to annoy him?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yup." An idea came to Scorpius so quick that he spoke before thinking. "You wanna help?"

She smiled. "What would I have to do?"

Scorpius gave a shrug, not wanting to sound too eager. "You wanna come over during summer break?"

And to his delight, her smile grew even brighter. It was enough to almost make him smile too. "Sure. Why not."

Scorpius smirked instead of smiling. "Great." But then something caught his eye for the first time that night. Something changing from red to purple. The headband he'd made for her. "So you like the gift I sent?" She wouldn't wear it otherwise, right?

Lily brought her hand up to touch the lily. "I love it. It was my favorite gift this year."

Scorpius tried to push away the immense pride he felt at that statement. "I'm glad, because I had a hard time picking something out, so I decided to make something," he told her.

Her eyes widened. "You made this?"

Scorpius laughed, amused by her shock. "Well, I bought the headband and the lily. I had my mum help me attach the lily to the headband, and my dad suggested a spell that would make it change colors. So I guess my parents made it really. But it was my idea if that helps," he joked.

Then Scorpius was the one shocked, as she reached out and hugged him. He wasn't sure what to do at first, but then he relaxed and hugged her back. Then she pulled away from their hug and smiled at him, her cheeks a little pink. "Thank you. It's the best gift I've ever gotten."

Scorpius couldn't help but smile now, a modest and sheepish feeling coming over him. Trying to play it off, he ruffled her hair a little. "No problem, Lily. You deserve nothing less than something great." That was something he truly meant.

The day finally came for Harry Potter to come and give his lecture, and luck had it that it would first go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class holding Gryffindors and Slytherins. And as they all sat in the classroom, waiting for the professor and the hero to arrive, Gryffindors wouldn't shut up.

"Al, this is going to be awesome!" Roddy Bella exclaimed. "Your dad is so cool!"

"I've got a galleon that says Bella's never even met him," Mitch mumbled next to Scorpius, causing the boys to snicker.

"You think he's going to teach us something cool? They say he learned how to make a Patronus when he was our age!" Melanie Claverdon said eagerly.

"I doubt it," Rose Weasley mentioned. "That's very advanced."

Robert Anderson looked at the Slytherins. "Think he'll tell us stories about how he used to beat Slytherins in fights?"

Scorpius didn't snap back, but instead looked to Mitch. "You'll never believe what Lily Luna told me the other day," he said loudly.

Mitch grinned, catching on. Gryffindors wouldn't be able to say a thing when Lily was involved. After all, she was their great hero's daughter. "What was it?"

"Well, I asked her what she thought about her dad coming to Hogwarts," Scorpius mentioned.

"What'd she say?" Mitch asked.

Scorpius looked over at Potter. "She said she felt bad for her dad, because now he'd have to see how far his old House has fallen," he said snidely, making the other Slytherins grin and laugh. That was what she'd said, but that was all. And Scorpius had the feeling that Lily would be doing all she could to avoid not only Gryffindors, but her father today as well.

Before a fight could break out, the door opened, and Professor Creevey walked in with Harry Potter following behind him.

"Class, as you have undoubtably heard, we have a guest here to lecture us. I'm sure you all know who this man is," Professor Creevey said as the two adults now stood in the front of the classroom. "Harry, take it away."

Harry Potter sighed as he came to stand near the front, the Gryffindors nearest him learning forward in eagerness. But the hero didn't seem to notice. "Hello. I'm glad that I get to speak with you all. I know third year can seem long to some, especially with the tougher years you have coming ahead of you. I'm honored you're all here to listen to me speak."

Rex rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his seat.

"Today, I've been asked to speak to all of you about the different magical creatures I've had encounters with throughout my years here at Hogwarts, and throughout my work as an Auror," Harry stated. "Now, if you have any questions relating to the topic, feel free to stop me. If you want to ask me anything unrelated, please wait until afterwards, ok?" He paused for a moment, but then nodded. "Then let's begin with centaurs."

Even Scorpius would admit that the lecture was really interesting. Hearing about all the creatures that Harry Potter had encountered was fascinating. Some times the Gryffindors were able to get him to explain a little bit of the adventures that were accompanied with creatures he came across, but otherwise, it was all about magical creatures. He talked about dragons, centaurs, unicorns, thestrals, grindylows, and much more.

But when he seemed to come to the end of his lecture, Harry Potter kept his promise. "So, are there any other questions that you have for me? Any question?"

Many Gryffindor hands went up, and Harry pointed to Roddy Bella. "Do you have really awesome adventures as an Auror? Like you did at school?"

Harry Potter sighed. "Not so much as I did at first, while there were still death eaters and Dark Lord supporters at large."

Now Scorpius raised his own hand, and was surprised when the hero looked straight at him, and nodded for him to speak. Scorpius took a breath. "Did you enjoy your time at Hogwarts? Or do you wish that you could have just been a normal kid?"

Harry Potter seemed to think about that for a short moment. "Well, both, really. I think of all that I went through, and I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without my past. But there are times that I wish I could have been like others. Just an average wizard."

Scorpius raised his hand again. "One more question, sir. Why did you become an Auror then? Why would you go out and throw yourself into those kinds of situations after you had just gone through years of danger as a kid?"

Harry gave a little grin. "That's a good question, actually. And the answer is that, because I felt it was right for me. I did spend my whole time at school being in danger and almost dying each year I was here. But it would have never been right of me to stand back and do nothing. Because that is when you really lose."

Now Mitch raised his hand. "I have a question."

"Which would be?" Harry asked.

Mitch leaned forward a little. "What do you think about rivalries among Houses here at Hogwarts?"

Scorpius sighed. Leave it to Mitch to ask a question to send tension through the room.

"Well," Harry started, "I think that a . . . competitive rivalry can be healthy and normal. But you have to be careful to not let it get out of control."

"But what if it does get out of control? What do you do?" Layla Reeser blurted out.

"Raise your hand, Miss Reeser," Professor Creevey reprimanded.

But Harry still answered her question. "The rivals have to be able to work together to calm it down. It can't just be one side attempting to fix the problem."

"But what if it's not one side's fault?" Lars demanded. "What if one side never had a problem with it, but then the other side just blows it out of proportion?"

"It is still an equal effort."

"What if you can't stand that other side?" Tamara Nott hissed. "What do you do when they push you so far that you can't trust them? What do you do when it comes down to hatred?"

"Students, we must raise our hands!" Professor Creevey insisted.

Mitch ran over the professor's words. "What do you think about how all your efforts to bring peace have failed here at Hogwarts? How there is still injustice and inequality? How there's still hatred for the innocent?"

"What do you do when it's not your fault?" Rex agreed.

"Enough!" Professor Creevey stopped them all with a loud and firm voice. His face was stern. "Ten points from Slytherin for ignoring my rule about raising our hands and being rude. Now, I know we have a lot of questions, but we're out of time. Let's all thank Mr. Potter for coming."

Rex scoffed as he stood up. "I'd rather you take another ten points from me," he muttered as he walked toward the door. Most of the Slytherins followed suit, but while Scorpius stood up, he looked at Harry Potter. The hero looked like he was thinking about something. But what? Unlike with his daughter, Scorpius couldn't read what he was thinking. His eyes didn't show his emotions.

So Scorpius walked away as well.