Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter.
Note - Sorry for any mistakes I missed in this. I just got done moving, and will soon be getting back into the routine of classes, so sorry if updates take a bit more time. But, I hope you like this one. So read and enjoy.
Rebel Malfoy
Chapter Twenty: Just Protecting Best Friends
"You're kidding me!" Scorpius exclaimed as he and Mitch walked around muggle London. "You have to be joking!"
Mitch grinned. "Nope. No joke. I actually convinced Trixie Kimball to have sex with me last Saturday."
Scorpius laughed heartily. "How on Earth did you pull that off?"
Mitch shrugged as he absentmindedly played with the new rings in his ear, which looked much better than when he'd tried to do it himself. He had also gone and pierced his lip as well. "Easy. After talking to her a few times, it was easy to tell that she resented her brother treating her like a child and scaring away boys. So I just played on that, and basically told her that nothing would annoy her brother more than if she were to lose it to a Slytherin. Although, I was a bit more charming," he joked with a laugh of his own.
"I wish I could be there to see little Marky's face when he finds out!" Scorpius continued to laugh.
"Oh! I was going to ask you, did you get an invite to the wedding of a Ted Lupin and Victoire Weasley?" Mitch asked curiously.
Scorpius nodded. "Yeah. My whole family, along with a personal one for myself. Lucius was furious and absolutely refuses to go. So the rest of us are totally going. Lana and Lars were invited as well. You going?"
Mitch nodded. "Of course. I figured that this was all to keep Lily Lu from being bored and surrounded by hungry lions, so how could I not."
"I invited her to hang out with us on the third too," Scorpius mentioned as he followed Mitch along the sidewalk.
"Perfect! She's fun to have around. Better than some of the other girls we'll have with us," Mitch said teasingly as he stopped in front of one particular building. Scorpius recognized the name. It was where Mitch had gotten his ears and lip pierced.
"So, why are we here?" Scorpius inquired. "I don't think I should be getting anything pierced. At least not yet." He laughed.
Mitch grinned. "Don't worry. I plan on corrupting you another day, my friend. We're here because I plan on getting tattooed."
Scorpius gave him an incredulous look. "What? You're going to let a muggle dig a needle and ink into your skin?"
Mitch nodded. "Absolutely. From my shoulder to my elbow, I want a snake. I'm ready for the pain."
Scorpius let out a breath. "Whatever you say, Mitch. Are you sure he'll do it? I mean, I know you were able to bribe the guy to pierce your ear without questions, but a tattoo?"
"No worries," Mitch assured as he led Scorpius through the door.
Mitch had been right, and was able to convince the guy to do the job. But honestly, Scorpius could hardly watch as the muggle pressed the needle into Mitch's skin. It honestly made Scorpius just a tad bit nauseous.
"Honestly, I'd expected this to hurt worse than it actually does," Mitch said, although his voice was a bit tense.
"I don't care how charming you are, my friend. You will never convince me to do this to myself," Scorpius said with a nervous chuckle. "I know you rarely care, but what do you think your parents will think?"
"No clue, but I'm excited to find out," Mitch joked lightly.
"You really should have pushed your hair back, dear," Astoria commented as they sat, waiting for the wedding to begin. Sadly, they'd been seated by Louis Weasley, the bride's brother, with whom Scorpius had no issues with. He'd have loved to have been sat by one of the Potter boys, and watched them squirm with anger at having to be polite.
Scorpius sighed as he tapped his fingers on his knee. "Yes, Mother, you've said so twice," he teased lightly.
"He's fine, Astoria," Draco assured. "Just relax and enjoy the ceremony."
"Oh, it seems like just yesterday when Andromeda brought Ted over before he was even a year-old!" Narcissa reminisced. "Now the darling is getting married!"
"Well I have yet to meet the bride, but I'm sure she's a sweetheart," Astoria commented.
"She's really nice," Scorpius said, thinking back to his very few meetings with Victoire Weasley, Head Girl of his first year, and the first at Hogwarts to not care about his name or House.
When the ceremony started, Scorpius watched with the crowd. Lily and her brother Albus walked out together, and the tension between them was obvious. But Scorpius quite liked her dress. He remembered her mentioning it being a horrid color of gold, but it must have been replaced. The dress she wore was a stunning style and a great green shade, with a bit of silver. He smirked. Such a Slytherin.
When they made it to the front, Scorpius could finally see her face. At first, Scorpius felt it was a bit different seeing her with any sort of makeup, no matter how small of an amount. But she still looked . . . well, pretty. Her hair was pulled up, showing her eyes, which were bright. But then those same eyes seemed to lock onto his. He could see a little laugh wanting to escape from her lips, and he gave a small chuckle himself.
Scorpius found it to be a simple and traditional ceremony. A bit boring, but nice. He knew that if he ever got married, he would have something a bit less . . . predictable and boring. When the reception started, he moved quickly to find Lily, while his family left to talk to Teddy and his bride. He knew his grandmother was just going to cry again, and that always made him a bit uncomfortable.
He could Lily sitting down already, so he snuck behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. "Guess who," he teased.
"Hmm . . ." she hummed lightly, "well, that nasally sound makes me think that it's . . . Albus?"
Scorpius faked a gasp as he playfully staggered into the seat beside her. He placed a hand on his heart. "Ow, Lily Lu. I think you've broken it," he joked.
She rolled her eyes, but laughed. "Oh, my apologies. Do you need your mommy to kiss it better?" she mocked.
Scorpius smirked. "Well, she's not here right now, so would you do it instead?" He had meant it as a joke, but at her blush, he realized how it sounded, and made him almost blush as well.
But she easily moved onto another topic. "How did you like the wedding?" Lily asked.
"It was nice, normal," Scorpius replied. But then he grinned. "I think the best part was seeing you standing up there awkwardly."
She playfully pushed at his foot. "Shut up," she mumbled, still smiling a little.
Scorpius smiled as well, unable to stop himself. Then he caught sight of the newlyweds dancing. "They look happy," he commented.
She looked over to them as well. "Yeah, they are," she sighed softly before looking back to him. "So, how was Lucius when your family left?"
"Very furious, threw a major tantrum. It was quite funny, actually," Scorpius laughed. It was like watching a child actually. But it was better because his grandmother was the one that shot him down and insisted they leave immediately. Such a sweet victory. "And, how were your brothers when they realized that my family would be here?"
"Pissy, and they also threw a fit. And that too was pretty funny," Lily quipped. "So, who seated you and your family?"
He smirked. "Alas, it was not your brothers. Your cousin Louis did it. Nice kid, by the way."
She sounded like she wanted to scoff. "No doubt. Louis doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's always been the nice and humble one of us all."
"Makes me wonder why he's not a Hufflepuff," Scorpius chuckled.
"His sister was," Lily said simply.
Scorpius smirked. That's right. Lily hadn't been at Hogwarts with her older cousin. "With how sweet she is, that is no surprise. I mean, I've only met her once, but she was very nice, polite, and such," he said vaguely, not really wanting to ramble on about how she'd saved him a few times.
"Surprise, surprise," Lily said quietly with a smile.
"Ah, Lily!" Lola said excitedly as she approached with the others. "You looked beautiful up there!" The two friends hugged before they all sat down. "So, you did trash the dress?"
Lily laughed. "No, Teddy and Victoire got me a different one. One that suits me better."
"Well it's a lot better than that gold crap that the other girls were wearing," Lars said with a scoff.
Lana rolled her eyes. "What a way to say she was pretty," she mocked. Her expression softened toward Lily, though. "You do look great in green, though."
Lily smiled at the compliment. "Yeah, I think so too."
Jace looked her outfit over, and stopped at her shoes. "Don't those shoes kill your feet?" he asked.
Lily looked as well. "Actually, they aren't bad. They're actually kinda comfortable."
"Ah, children, you are here!" Teddy said as came to the table, a large smile on his face.
Lily smiled back at him. "Hey, Teddy. Happy it's over?"
"Immensely," he laughed. "But I have some bad news for you."
Scorpius almost laughed at how hesitant Lily looked. "What is it?"
Teddy sighed dramatically. "Well, all the women, and Victoire, want to have all the cousins dancing at the same time for a picture, or a hundred of them. And of course for their amusement."
Lily groaned loudly. "What? Why would they do that to me?"
Teddy only shrugged. "Sorry, sis. You've got less than twenty minutes before they start hunting for us all." He reached out to ruffle her hair, but stopped. "If I touched your hair, I might be maimed," he joked, making them all laugh.
Jace watched him walk away. "I like him," he laughed.
Lily rolled her eyes, still smiling. "It's hard not too." She looked around at the table. "Hey, where's Mitch?"
"I was just thinking that," Lana agreed.
"I saw him in the crowd," Lily told them.
"And he arrived with us," Scorpius commented as he looked around the party for his friend.
"Oh, wait. I think I see him," Lars said, motioning to the other side of the yard.
Scorpius finally caught sight of their fried, and felt like laughing. Lily only shook her head. "Oh, boy. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Two dangerous forces are talking."
Near a far table, Mitch stood, in his most formal muggle clothes and his blue hair spiked, talking to Dominique, not only the bride's sister, but the bitchiest of all Weasleys.
Lana laughed openly. "Looks like Dominique's got her dance partner picked."
Scorpius opened his mouth to agree, but stopped when he saw his parents approaching, and quickly felt like this could be embarrassing.
"Oh, Lily, you look absolutely beautiful!" Astoria said with excitement.
A cute blush came over Lily's cheeks. "Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy." Scorpius smirked at her modesty, but then stopped. When had he ever thought of her as cute in that way? Thinking such a thing about his friend made him feel uncomfortable, and his skin grew warm as his blood rushed.
"...Scorpius, why don't you be Lily's dance partner?"
Scorpius blinked as he was abruptly brought back to the conversation, which had taken a turn he hadn't expected. Lily was blushing again, and their friends were giggling. Scorpius cleared his throat, trying not to blush. So he smirked, wanting to look normal. "Well, I don't see why not. I would love to be a gentleman and dance with Lily Lu," he said as he looked toward the dance floor.
Lily grinned as she looked to. "I'd be honored as well," she joked.
Scorpius stood up and held his arm out. He ignored the others as he walked her to where her cousins and brothers were gathering. He was immediately noticed and glared at, making him feel smug.
"Ah, here's Lil. I told you she'd show up willingly," Teddy commented as they approached. But Scorpius couldn't help but smirk as he noticed his best friend standing with Dominique Weasley.
"Ah, Mitch, you've been chosen to die a little on the inside too," Lily teased.
Mitch grinned as he spiked his hair up a little more. "Yeah. Dominique asked me, and how could I refuse such a pretty girl?" he teased.
"I'm sure that the others will thoroughly enjoy having us dance with the girls," Scorpius mocked.
"Oh course! How could they not?" Mitch laughed with them.
Soon they were moving around, getting ready to start the dance. Scorpius looked at Lily, who looked bored and obviously didn't want to be in the position she was in. "You know how to dance, Lily Luna?" he teased.
She rolled her eyes at him, but he could see the small hesitation in her eyes. "I know the basics, yes," she replied.
"Well, then this will be the perfect time to learn even more," he assured as he took her hand. At first, he was so surprised by how soft her hand was in his, but then he quickly ignored the thought and placed a hand on her waist. Her other hand rested on his shoulder, and when the music started, they began to move.
Despite claiming to know only the basics, Scorpius would admit that Lily moved easily on her feet. But he could tell that she was uncomfortable will the occasional flashing of a camera, and the eyes of those watching. So to make her smile, Scorpius thought quickly.
"Ok, I'm going to twirl you," Scorpius whispered, not wanting to be overheard. Then he quickly raised her arm, allowing her to spin. Her dress skirt flowed beautifully around her. When she'd stopped, she was smiling a little, but looked like she wanted to glare.
"That was unnecessary," she mumbled.
Scorpius smirked at her attitude. "Please, it was flawless, and you looked beautiful doing it, so don't complain," he teased. That small and familiar blush flooded her cheeks. She looked slightly nervous, but still . . . pretty. Scorpius looked away, oddly embarrassed himself.
His eyes first landed on the glaring eyes of James Potter, who seemed to be ignoring his date, who seemed to be desperately trying to regain his eyes on her. Scorpius smirked smugly, unable to help himself. He let his eyes flit over to the other Potter brother, and he wanted to laugh. Like his older brother, Albus Potter was glaring at Scorpius. But unlike his brother, he was clumsier in his steps, and it was throwing off his ability to dance.
Scorpius looked back to her. "You know, Lil," he said softly, "I think that your brothers are having troubles focusing on their dancing."
Lily turned to look briefly, but then a flash of light had them both looking quickly to the source. An elderly woman was holding a camera, smiling at them before she moved along. Just by looking at her, especially the color of her eyes.
He chuckled lightly at Lily's obvious exasperation. "Is that your grandmother?" he guessed.
Lily nodded. "Yeah, that's her. And now that she has a camera, none of us are safe," she laughed.
"You think she's dangerous?" he mocked.
"Every cute moment will be captured," Lily agreed with a smile.
Scorpius smirked. "Well that's bad news, because I happen to be adorably cute."
Her smile grew as she laughed. Scorpius couldn't help but notice that it was a pretty sound.
"I can't believe that you would go to that . . . that wedding!" Lucius roared after the rest of the Malfoy's arrived back to the manor that evening.
Scorpius simply sat on the couch and watched as his father and grandmother did their best to calm and appease Lucius. His mother simply sighed as she stretched a little, kissed her husband on the cheek, and walked from the room.
"He is my sister's grandson," Narcissa insisted patiently. "A sweet young man."
"A non-pureblood whose father was a werewolf!" Lucius quipped.
Scorpius raised a brow as he looked to his father. He had promised his father that he would not speak to Lucius once they returned, because they all knew it would be a fight. Scorpius had agreed as long as Lucius said nothing about his friends, or him personally.
His father merely sighed. "Father, must this always be disputed?"
"Have you forgotten what our family has always stood for?" Lucius yelled.
"Have you forgotten the war?" Draco finally yelled back. Even Scorpius jumped. He'd never heard or seen his father actually scream at Lucius. "Have you forgotten the pain, suffering, and fear that those ways put us in?" Draco rubbed his temples, his eyes shut, as if trying to forget a painful memory. "Things are not the same, Father. I am not, and neither is the world. You have to move on."
And without a word, Draco brushed past his father and left the room as well. Scorpius stared after him, wondering what he should do. Part of him wanted to rage and scream at Lucius, while another wanted to run to his father. He took the middle road.
Scorpius stood and sneered at Lucius. "Nice job," he muttered. Then he hurried after his father. But by the time he reached his parents' room, his father was gone, but his mother was stepping into the hall.
She gave Scorpius a worried look. "What happened after I left?" she asked in a soft and hushed tone.
Scorpius looked at the closed door beside him, but then looked to his mother. "Father railed at Lucius about how they had to change. How their old ways put them through pain and fear," he explained. He watched as his mother now looked at the door, her worried expression still there. "What is it, Mother?"
Astoria sighed. "Scorpius, . . . everyone saw something horrible during that war. There's always a specific memory that haunts us, and for some, scars them. Your father is no exception. And during our entire marriage, I've only heard him talk about it once. But I can always tell when he's thinking about it."
Scorpius stared at the door again. He wanted to ask, but felt that the question was such a personal one. "Mother, . . . what is his worst memory?"
Astoria looked at him hesitantly, and it was obvious to Scorpius that she didn't want to tell him. But because it was too personal, or too horrible for him to hear, he didn't know. "To put it generally . . . at one point during the war something awful happened here, in this manor. Something he saw his aunt do that just made his stomach turn. It haunts him more even than the death of his friend," she whispered.
Scorpius gulped lightly. "So, what do we do?"
Astoria gave her son a soft smile as she placed a hand on his cheek. "Tomorrow, at breakfast, just talk. About anything. Your friends, what you think your fifth year will be like, your favorite classes. Just . . . talk."
The next few days in the manor were a bit tense to say the least. Scorpius did all he could to distract his father, doing as his mother said. He would talk. He felt a bit silly, talking about random things in the middle of silences at meals, but even he could notice that it seemed to distract his father.
"The morning post has come, Master Malfoy," a house elf announced as he brought the letters to Draco one morning.
Draco sighed as he flipped through them. But then he held one out to Scorpius. "Your Hogwarts letter, son," he stated.
Scorpius took it, and noticed that it felt a bit thicker this year. He opened it curiously, but as he began to pull at the letter, it tugged on something else. Scorpius pushed away his plate and dumped the contents of the envelope onto the table. There were three folded papers and two badges. He easily recognized him.
"Scorpius! You made prefect!" Astoria exclaimed, obviously seeing the badge with the 'P' on it.
But Scorpius focused on the other badge as he picked it up. "I'm also Quidditch Captain," he said, his excitement growing. "I'm captain!"
"Well congratulations," Draco said with a smirk.
Scorpius felt like his nerves were jumping with excitement as he stood from his seat. "I . . . I'm gonna go tell the others!"
"What about your school supply list?" he heard his mother call out to him. But he was hurrying to the fireplace. He had to tell the others, and there was one place he wanted to go first on instinct.
The Potter house was familiar to him now. He knew it was rude to randomly pop in, but his excitement was too great. It was early, so perhaps they were eating breakfast like he had been?
"Hello? I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he called as he walked through the house, trying to be a bit more polite. After all, he was unexpected.
He heard Lily's voice from the kitchen as he approached. "Scorpius?"
He almost bumped into her as he came to where the entire Potter family was. He was happy to see a smile on her face. "Hey," he greeted happily. Then he looked to her parents. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked politely.
Mr. Potter's small smile reassured Scorpius. And Mrs. Potter was quick to reassure him as well. "Of course not. We were just having breakfast and reading over Hogwarts letters. Would you like to join us?" she offered.
Scorpius looked at the two brothers briefly, their anger obvious. He chuckled. "Thank you for the invitation, but I really just came to tell Lily here something," he replied.
Lily raised a brow, curious. "What's so important?" she asked.
He felt his eagerness grow, but he wanted to start small before he broke the big news. "Well, first of all, I made prefect."
"That great, Scorpius," Mrs. Potter congratulated him.
But as he thanked her, it was obvious that Lily knew there was something more. "But what's the big news?" she demanded.
He knew his smirk was smug, but who could blame him. He was proud, and he was about to announce it in front of both Potter brothers as well. "Well, I thought I'd let you know that you are looking at the new Slytherin Quidditch Captain!"
Her surprise was obvious, but her happiness and excitement seemed as palpable as his was. She smiled brightly and hugged him spontaneously. But caught in the moment, Scorpius hugged her back, and even lifted her from her feet.
"Really? That's great, Scor!" she squealed as he placed her back on her feet. "We can't lose now! The cup's in the bag now!"
Scorpius looked at her fully. "I know! I've already got a plan, and I promise that it won't fail."
"How much do you think we'll win by?" she asked curiously.
Scorpius could feel the glares her brothers were throwing at her, and he glanced at them briefly. He tried not to look smug as he looked back to Lily. "No one will stand a chance against us," he said firmly, looking toward the brothers once more.
Later he and Lily were sitting in the manor. He'd asked her to come over, as well as the rest of the team and his cousin, Tanner. He wanted to get some practice in, and since he knew Tanner planned on trying out for the Beater position, he figured the practice would do him good.
"So, what's your plan for me?" Lily asked as they sat alone.
Scorpius sat next to her. "Well, I was wondering if you'd be able to get a new broom?" he asked. "Yours is great, but there are some better models. And with you, I want to see if we can work on your speed. I mean, you've got aim, you can take a hit, and you are fast. But I want to see if we can get you even faster," he explained.
Lily looked at her broom, which he'd requested she bring. She seemed to think it over, but then bit her lip with light worry. "Problem," she admitted. "If I ask for one, then so will my brothers. My win will be their win."
Scorpius scowled at that. He did not want that. He forgot about the sibling factor. Tanner and Mitch complained about it all the time. "Yeah, you're right. They would take the chance to capitalize. Hmm. . . ." Scorpius began to think and quickly. How could they make this work? Suddenly, it hit him! "I've got it! I'll buy you one," he stated.
Lily looked at him in complete surprise. "What? No. No, I couldn't ask you for that."
Scorpius smiled at her modesty. "You're not asking. And I'd be delighted," he insisted. "A gift for a friend and a teammate."
She blushed that blush again, and it made Scorpius feel even happier at his offer. "Thank you, then," she said softly.
Scorpius held the Wood 100 model broom in his hands. It was beautiful, and after buying it just this morning, he planned on prodding his father into allowing him to provide the whole team with their own new broom. But this one was certainly for Lily. The team plus Tanner was set to arrive soon so they could practice.
"That's a beautiful broom, son," Draco complimented.
Scorpius looked to where his father stood in the doorway. "It's for Lily. A birthday gift of sorts," he explained. Draco only nodded, so Scorpius decided to give it a try. "I'm thinking that maybe I could use some of my trust to get one for each teammate. They're fantastic brooms."
Draco raised a brow and smirk. "Really?"
Scorpius nodded. "Some of the others have some old brooms. They need newer models, but they can't always afford them."
Draco actually chuckled. "Well, if you think that's wise. You're their captain, and it's technically your money, son."
Scorpius felt his spirits lift at his father's approval, but was distracted when the fire turned green and rose higher. Lily stepped out from the flames, and almost trip over her own feet. But Scorpius had already put down the broom and hurried to help her keep balance. He was used to this with Lily. He sometimes wondered how a girl who was normally so graceful couldn't handle the Floo Network.
Lily took a breath of surprise as she gained her footing. "Thank you," she mumbled, obviously a bit embarrassed about her near fall.
Scorpius smirked. "Not a problem." He looked back only to see his father at disappeared, and the broom was resting on the couch. "Oh! By the way, Lily. I got you something, like I promised." He moved to pick up the broom, and held it out to her. "Happy birthday," he said playfully.
But Lily slowly took the broom and looked at it with wonder, much like he had done when he'd first bought it. But the elation in her eyes made Scorpius smile and his chest swell with pride. And to his surprise, she looked at him with complete adoration.
"Thank you so much!" she whispered, obviously trying to contain herself.
Scorpius shrugged, trying not to boast. "You deserve no less. Besides, Wood's new model is the fastest yet."
She still smiled brightly at him. "Scorpius Malfoy, you are probably the greatest friend a girl could have," she said sincerely.
Scorpius had to stop himself from groaning out loud. Were all prefect meeting so boring? It was only his first one, and already he wanted to leave and go back to the compartment with the others.
Meredith Macmillan, their new Head Girl, was still talking. On the bright side, Adrian had been selected as Head Boy. Ironically, he had yet to say a thing the entire time they were there. In fact, he looked ready to fall asleep too.
Scorpius looked around that the other new prefects. He had been warned about Albus Potter becoming a prefect too, but seeing Rose Weasley made him cringe. There were too many Weasleys in the compartment.
"Is it just me, or was that utterly boring?" Lana mumbled as they walked out of the compartment at the end of the meeting.
"I thought Adrian was going to fall asleep," Scorpius chuckled. He stopped when he felt someone bump into his back, making him stumbled a little. He turned around quickly to see who it had been, and it made him stop.
Rose Weasley.
Scorpius glared at her. "Blind as well as annoying, Weasley?" he muttered.
Weasley looked surprised at first. It was obvious that she had been paying attention to the patrol schedule in her hands when she'd bumped into him. But now she seemed nervous and uncomfortable. "Very funny, Malfoy. Just let me by."
But Scorpius shot his arm out, blocking her way. "Don't I deserve an apology? You ran into me. Or are the high and mighty Weasleys exempt from manners?" he mocked.
Her cheeks flushed heavily. "My apologies. I wasn't paying attention," she said quietly.
Scorpius still lightly glared. "How sincere sounding," he retorted. "I feel so much better."
Now Weasley glared back at him. "Will you just let it go, Malfoy!"
"Are you going to run away again?" Scorpius shot back. "Scared, Weasley? Or disgusted by my presence. You can never seem to decide."
"I am not afraid!" she hissed.
"So you're disgusted," Scorpius quipped, crossing his arms. Rose Weasley always seemed to be a small thorn in his side. And not just because of her irritating attitude and quick runs to snitch to the prefects and professors. But her attitude toward him. As if she just couldn't stand to be around a Malfoy. It made him hate her just as much as those that verbally lashed out against his family name. To him, it was no different.
"Don't put words in my mouth!" Weasley said through a tight jaw.
"Scorpius, are you done playing with the frightened kitten?" Lana said mockingly, looking at Weasley with narrowed eyes.
Scorpius looked at Weasley one more time before scoffing. "Yeah. Just wanted to see if she actually has manners or is just a suck up. Looks like we were right. No manners at all." Then he turned with a flourish, and he and Lana continued down the train.
Lana looked at him. "Was that needed?"
Scorpius shrugged. "Maybe not. But it was fun."
They reentered their old compartment. Scorpius yawned as he sat down next to Lily, his arm dropping around her shoulders. Then he let his head drop on his arm as well.
He felt Lily pat his head. "That meeting tire you out?" she teased.
Scorpius smirked. "No, it was just really boring. I think I almost died," he joked.
Lana shook her head at his overreacting. "It wasn't bad," she amended, obviously trying to make it sound better than it had gone.
Scorpius scoffed as he brought his head up. "All we did was learn a bunch of crap we all knew by common sense," he pointed out, to which he could see the agreement in Lana's expression. "The only important thing we learned was our patrol schedules for the train and for when we get to school."
"When do you guys patrol on the train?" Lola asked.
Lana sighed as she kicked Lars from his seat and to the floor. "We're supposed to go in an hour."
Scorpius groaned at the thought. "I'm not going," he stated. "I never asked to be a prefect. I just wanted to be Quidditch Captain."
Jace grinned. "So, you're just going to leave the train in ruins?"
Scorpius shrugged. "Why not. I'm in here, not out there."
Scorpius felt like banging his head against the Slytherin table. How did he end up getting stuck with Nikki Montana sitting next to him? He'd had to dodge her at the station and at the carriage, and she still caught him! And now she wasn't shutting up! He had hoped that maybe she would leave him alone after the Sorting, but she still kept talking to him!
"Um, Scorpius, can I ask you an important question?"
Scorpius turned to his other side, where Lily sat. He felt like hugging her and thanking her a thousand times over for saving him. "Of course. What is it?" he asked gratefully.
"When do you think you'll be holding tryouts for a new Beater?" she asked.
Scorpius raised a brow at that thought. Despite only looking for a way to get away from Nikki, this was a good question, and one he hadn't thought about. "Hmm . . . I haven't really thought about it. I guess I'll hold them in a week or so. I'm really in no hurry. I mean, it's not like we can lose," he replied. And he was also confident in Tanner's abilities to beat any competition.
"You're very confident," Lana teased.
"We had summer practices," Scorpius retorted. "I had Tanner fill in as Beater, and we're all a hundred percent sure that he'll beat all the competition at tryouts."
"I'm sure you'll win," Nikki said loudly. "I don't see how anyone with your skill could lose, Scorpius."
Scorpius raised a brow at her. Didn't she know that the game relied more on the Seeker than one Chaser? "Um, thanks," he muttered.
"So, um, Nikki," Lana said suddenly, and Scorpius almost glared at his sister. What was she playing at? "have you decided what you're going to do on the first Hogsmeade trip?"
He heard Nikki say something, but Lana's question had reminded Scorpius of something else, and he looked to Lily and the others. "Oh, so I forgot to ask, are you three going with us this year?" he asked, desperately hoping that at least Lily had agreed.
Lily gave him a smile. "Yeah, we're going."
"Oh, what are you guys doing?" Nikki mumbled, not sounding happy.
Scorpius looked to the others, but they said nothing. So Scorpius quickly thought up a reasonable answer. "Whatever we feel like, really."
Nikki giggled annoyingly at his words. "That sounds like it might be fun," she hinted. Scorpius purposely ignored her tone.
But Lars nodded. "It usually is."
"So, Lil, did you hang out with Lysander again?" Jace asked, changing the topic.
But Scorpius looked at Lily with mild surprise. Lysander Scamander? When had Lily started to hang out with him? Not that he had a problem with either Scamander brother, but . . . the thought of Lily hanging out with one of them just seemed weird to Scorpius. When had this began?
"I didn't know you were talking to the Scamanders again," he said, trying to sound casual and not like he was prying.
But Lana seemed a bit surprised too. "Yeah."
Lily only shrugged. "Well, mainly just Lysander. We started talking at the wedding, and then we hung out a few days later. But since that, it's just been letters," she explained.
Scorpius grinned, feeling a little better. "Well I'm glad that they're not bitter 'bout us beating them, or about our House," he teased lightly.
Lily grinned too. "Yeah, so was I," she said with honesty. But her odd happiness at the thought of being around Scamander put that weird feeling back into his stomach.
Scorpius sighed as he, the rest of the Slytherin team, and a few of their friends, walked down the stands of the pitch. They'd just gotten done scouting out the new Gryffindor team, and Scorpius was hopeful. Of course James Potter had been biased against his cousins, and now the team was completely made up of his family, except one of their Beaters.
When they reached the exit, Scorpius knew that there was going to be trouble. But this time it wasn't him. Hugo Weasley, Lily's cousin and ex-best friend was waiting there with other Gryffindor third years.
Scorpius hid a smirk. The third years had been openly and loudly mocking him during his entire tryout. Now he wouldn't lie, the kid was good as a Keeper, but it was obvious that their taunts had gotten to him and angered him.
But Lily didn't seem bothered, but instead grinned at who she saw. "Hey, guys, look. It's the Gryffindor puppy! Woof!" she mocked. Scorpius laughed with the others, especially when he saw how red the boy's face got.
"Quit calling me that! I'm not a puppy!" he said through gritted teeth.
Lily scoffed, her amusement gone. Scorpius could see the irritation in her eyes, but he could also see the hidden sadness. "Oh, please! I'm surprised you don't carry James's books to Class for him." That was her sadness. That this boy couldn't see how lowly they treated him. "Face it, Hugo Boy, that's all you are to them. Why don't you try manning up and taking a stand against them?"
The boy scoffed now. "Why? So I can be a total bitch, and everyone can hate me? So I can be like you?"
A quick and strong anger ran through Scorpius at those words, and he moved forward menacingly. "Did you just call her a bitch?" he demanded. He had no problem beating up someone younger than him. Not when words like that were used against one of his best friends.
The others on the team seemed to agree. "Because you might want to apologize if you did," Lars said as they all came to stand by Lily.
Will smirked, despite his glare. "Remember kiddies, you're messing with the big boys here," he warned. "If you can't back yourselves up and handle a fight, then you might not want to mess with Slytherins' favorite girl."
"Wow, did you hear that?" Lily mocked. "I heard the word 'favorite.' Now, how could I be people's favorite, yet by hated by everyone? And, you say I'm a bitch? Well, I think you're a little mixed up. Because not only are you the Gryffindor puppy, but you're also James and Albus's bitch!" she spat.
Scorpius looked at Lily with surprise. While Lily didn't speak like a shy or proper lady, it was rare she used words like that, and with so much venom toward anyone other than her brothers.
A Gryffindor girl stepped to stand by Hugo, and Scorpius sighed. He could hit the boy, but if the girl said something he was out. Due to his raising, he couldn't hit a girl.
"What a surprise," the girl sneered. "A Slytherin needing other and bigger people to fight her battles."
Scorpius glared at this girl, her words against their House angering him. But Lily was glaring at her now too. "Oh, believe me, I don't need anyone fighting for me. I know for a fact that I can make sure you never talk again," she said simply. "And surprise, surprise, little Hugo needs a girl to stand up for him. No surprise that he isn't man enough to take care of him self. No, he needs Paige Wilde on his side. Tell me, does she hold your dick in her pocket too?"
Scorpius lost it and began to laugh hard enough that his stomach hurt. And he wasn't alone. Every Slytherin was laughing now.
The girl, Paige Wilde, stepped closer to Lily. "Really? You think you can hurt me?" she said with an attitude.
Lily didn't seem at all threatened or hostile. She simply rolled her eyes. "I know I can hurt you. So why don't you go paint your nails and giggle somewhere else. I have better things to do than listen to you try and be witty," she said dryly.
Wilde smirked at her. "Really? Because I think that you're just afraid."
Scorpius almost scoffed at her words. The idea of Lily being scared was laughable, especially the idea of her being scared of this girl.
Lily, however, only raised a brow. "Really? Afraid. Well, tell me, how afraid am I now?" Then, without a warning, Lily threw a punch at the girl. Scorpius let out a laugh in his surprise, but then watched with amazement as Lily didn't stop. She jumped at the girl, tackling her to the ground. The fight was one-sided, as the girl couldn't even try and put up a defense.
"What is going on here!"
"Shit, it's Madam Hooch!" Adrian exclaimed.
Scorpius was quick to move forward and pull Lily off of the other girl. Lily struggled against him, but when she seemed to see Madam Hooch she stopped. Scorpius let her go, and looked at her with pride as she caught her breath and looked at them.
"Lil, that was amazing!" Scorpius told her.
"You kicked her ass!" Lars laughed.
They all congratulated and checked on her before Madam Hooch drug her away to the Headmaster's office. But still, Lily didn't seem scared or bothered by that, but instead made a joke of it.
"Wow. That girl has guts," Dante said with a chuckle.
"Well what did you expect from Slytherin's favorite girl?" Lana said with a proud smile.
"So, Captain, when's our first practice?" Dante asked after their own team tryouts.
Scorpius stretched his arms a bit. He was glad to have the tryouts officially done. It was really just a formality, but at least he could now officially make Tanner part of the team. "Tomorrow after dinner. Lily's worked it so that her detentions will be during breaks," he explained. Lily had been stuck with over two weeks of detentions after her fight.
"Can we go then?" Adrian inquired as he picked up his old broom. Scorpius had told them all to keep from showing their brand new brooms until the first game.
Scorpius nodded, his own stomach clawing at him a little. "Yeah, let's go eat. I'm starved."
"We all are," Lars said, most likely thinking about dinner.
But just as they all had started to leave, they heard a voice. "Hey, Lily!"
They all stopped and looked to see that Lysander Scamander had appeared, and was now waving for Lily. She smiled and excused herself before hurrying over to him. Scorpius tried not to scowl at the Scamander boy. He wasn't sure he trusted the guy around Lily. So many people were making up rumors and twisting around the story of Lily's fight, and who knew what Scamander believed. Scorpius could think of multiple ways the idiot could end up hurting her.
But . . . Lily had looked happy, and he was apparently her friend. Scorpius wouldn't do a thing about it. "Come on, guys. Let's go," he muttered. But he made a mental note to keep an eye on the guy. Just in case.
"She's what?" Scorpius demanded as he started at Lana with shock. He ignored the hissing words that Madam Pince spat at him for not being quiet in the library.
Lana rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, Lily's got a date with Lysander Scamander. I was just curious if that meant she wasn't going with us on the Hogsmeade visit, but apparently you have no idea," she mumbled quietly.
"A date?" Scorpius whispered, confused. What happened to her and Scamander just being friends? "Well, what do we even know about this kid?"
Lana shrugged. "That Lily likes him, and trusts him. And we've never had any personal problems with the Scamanders, so I see no reason to be distrustful. So keep your mouth shut," she warned casually.
But Scorpius couldn't help but scowl, or figure out what that weird feeling was.