A/N: So… I'm not getting emailed of reviews, so I was really bummed thinking no one was reading and reviewing, then I looked and saw that a few people had, actually, reviewed (the most ever for one chapter of this story in fact). It made me very happy. Now, if I could get the characters to quit being so damn difficult, it'd all be great. My laptop battery died… sadly… for like the last time. The cells went out in it or whatever, so it wasn't holding an adequate charge which limited how much outdoor writing I could do. Lucky for me, my husband's battery fits nicely in my laptop (same brand, different model) and it's holding the charge at least twice as long, so that's been great.

Disc.: Creation of plot line: claimed. All else borrowed.

Fire Whiskey

He couldn't deny it, she looked incredibly happy. He also couldn't deny that he wished it wasn't so. She was bundled up in her coat, wisps of her hair peeking out from under her hat and beneath her scarf. She was maybe twenty feet in front of Scorpius, walking to Hogsmead with Aiden Hill. Scorpius could hear the sound of her laughter floating back on the icy wind to his ears. He shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. Damon glanced at him, unable to ignore the scowling.

"You were the one who pushed her to date Hill," Damon reminded him. "You can't be mad at her for listening to you. After all, you made her believe you didn't really like her enough."

"Yeah," Scorpius grumbled. Lily continued to move away from him and he felt even worse for it. She kept her distance from Aiden as she walked down the lane, though he seemed fairly intent on trying to hold her hand. She was good at avoiding it, whether she was conscious of it or not.

"I'm really glad I'm getting this chance to take you out on a date," Hill said as he glanced at her. Lily flashed him a smile and nodded.

"Me too," Lily said nodding.

"I'm sorry that your guy didn't wise up, but it works out wonderfully for me. I'm just glad you gave me the chance," Hill said. Lily grinned at him.

"No problem," Lily said as she continued to walk down the lane. Her foot caught a hidden root, buried in the snow and she pitched forward, Hill catching her by the arm.

"Careful there," Hill warned as he continued to hold onto her arm. She didn't try to free herself from his grip, instead she allowed his hand remain on her. She glanced up at him, smiling.

"So over protective, aren't you?" Lily laughed. Hill looked down at her and grinned.

"Our captain would have my head if you broke," he teased as he shot a look back to Scorpius. Lily followed his gaze and her eyes fell on Scorpius scowling at her. She smiled at him. She didn't look vindictive or cruel, she just smiled.

"Can't have him beheading our only other beater," Lily teased as she focused back on Hill. "I'd hate to have to do it all myself."

"As if he could catch me," Hill taunted. A snowball collided with the back of Hill's head. Lily and Hill glanced back to see Damon staring at Scorpius. Lily laughed and she scooped up a mitten full of snow, packing it quickly, and launching it right at Scorpius. She missed, him ducking and she giggled before she reached for Hill's hand and took off running down the snowy lane, avoiding Scorpius and Damon's snowball assault.

"Those two are nuts," Lily laughed as she and Hill slipped into a booth at the Three Broomsticks. Lily began pulling her damp little mittens off and tossing them up on the table.

"What'll you have?" Hill asked.

"Whatever you're having," Lily said dismissively as she unwound her scarf and pulled her hat free. Hill slipped out of the booth and went to get their drinks. She had pulled free of her coat by the time Hill returned and he stopped, looking at her with interest.

"Wow, Lily," he said as he sat down. She was wearing a black button up shirt that hugged her curves just enough to show off her delicate figure. It was rather modest. Lily had wondered if people would see her as a prudish because of it.

"What?" Lily asked slightly concerned.

"You look great," Hill said. Lily blushed.

"It's nothing special," Lily said honestly.

"I like how you don't feel the need to show everything off. You let people wonder and be curious about you," Hill said smiling at her. "It's refreshing."

"Thanks, I think," Lily said. She looked at the curiously smoking cups that Hill held. "What have you there?"

"Something I can bet you've never tried," Hill said grinning as he held the cup out to her.

"What is it?" Lily said as she sniffed the drink.

"Just try it," he urged. Lily sipped it. It burned.

"Oh, what is that?" Lily coughed.

"Drink," he urged. "It gets better."

"Or you catch on fire," Lily mumbled as she took a gulp. It still burned, but less so. She felt warm almost instantly and the second gulp of it no longer had that edge of fire that that the first had.

"Do you like?" Hill asked smirking as she finished the cup.

"Hmm… my head feels a bit swimmy," Lily admitted.

"Are you warm?" he asked as he slipped his arm around her. She giggled as she snuggled up against him.

"Mhmm, yes," Lily replied. Hill laughed.

"You're silly when you get a little fire whiskey in you," he teased. Lily laughed as she looked up at him from under his arm.

"You're just silly," Lily taunted slight as she grinned at him. The two of them laughed and Hill pushed his drink into her hand.

"Finish mine, one of us has to be straight enough to get the other one back safely," Hill teased but Lily didn't drink his drink. Instead, she placed it on the table.

"Thanks, but I'm already a little too buzzed to take another sip," Lily said grinning.

"Can I kiss you?" Hill asked. Lily looked up at him in surprise.

"You're asking for my permission?" Lily asked as she pressed into his arms deeper. Hill shrugged.

"Seemed like the right thing to do," he said as he kissed her. She smiled under his lips, causing him to smile, as well. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers touching the back of his neck. He groaned, grinning and pulled his mouth away from hers.

"What?" Lily asked as she pouted.

"Nothing," he whispered as he kissed her chin, planting little kisses along her jaw and against her neck and throat. He felt her sigh. He pulled back. "What?"

"Nothing," she said as she invited him to kiss her again. She responded rather forcibly, practically climbing into his lap. He pulled his mouth away from hers, chuckling as she kissed him.

"Maybe we should get a room," Hill whispered into her ear. "They have them here in the pub."

"Hmm…" Lily breathed.

"It'll be quieter," Hill whispered. "We can talk, just you and I."

"Well…" Lily said looking at him slowly, shyly.

"Don't you trust me, Lily? I'm your teammate," Hill breathed as his mouth met hers. "I won't hurt you. Just to talk."

"Just to talk?" Lily said. Hill smiled and nodded. He pushed his cup in her hand and stood.

"Just to talk," he confirmed. Lily nodded hesitantly as she drank the remainder of his drink. He stood, offering her his arm. She stood quickly and sat right back down, her head spinning. Hill laughed and helped Lily to her feet. She swayed and laughed, Hill steered her to the stairs in the back of the pub, leading her up to the room he had reserved when he got the drinks.

Lily fell against the bed, laughing as Hill released her. Luckily the distance wasn't far and Lily grinned as Hill joined her on the bed. He smiled at her, touching her face. He brushed her hair from her eyes, kissing her lightly. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"So you wanted to talk?" Lily asked. Hill grinned, her words slurring slightly. He laughed, kissing her a little more forcible.

"We don't have to talk," he assured her.

"Well I thought about it," she said. He laughed again.

"You're not making any sense," he told her. She giggled.

"I dranked too much," she said giggling again. He nodded.

"It's 'I drank too much' and yeah, I think you did," he smiled as she kissed him back.

"It's too hot in here," Lily complained as she loosened her top button.

"Mhmm…" Hill agreed. He kissed her neck, his fingers going to the buttons of his own shirt, unfastening several in a row. His mouth returned to hers, his fingers touched her neck. He unbuttoned her shirt slowly, carefully. He distracted her, his mouth caressing her as he undid each of her buttons.

"Hill?" Lily murmured, her eyes closed.

"Aiden…" Hill corrected.

"Aiden?" Lily murmured.

"Yeah, Lily," Hill replied breathily in her ear. She shivered excited under his touch and words.

"I don't want to do anything much more," she said. He continued to kiss her. His lips continued to scorch her flesh as he kissed her. "Aiden…"

"I heard you," Hill said in a whispered voice. He kissed her mouth, holding her close to him. Her fingers touched his chest, her palms spreading against the muscles, her nails bit into his shoulders as she pulled him closer. He pulled his shirt off, adding it to the pile of clothes. He slid her own shirt off, leaning away from her a moment while he dimmed the lights.

"Hill…" Lily murmured again.

"Aiden," he corrected again.

"Aiden," Lily protested.

"Yes, Lily?" Aiden replied quietly in awe as his eyes absorbed the sight of her lying shirtless below him. His fingers touched the lacy edge of her bra almost as if she was going to shatter under his touch. He gathered her quickly against him, Hill's mouth colliding with her skin as he smothered Lily in kisses and touches.

"No, Aiden," she said a little more forcibly. She struggled to open her eyes, the alcohol too much for her to fight. "Please, Aiden, no."

Scorpius ran his finger around the rim of his glass, wishing he had ordered a double. He wanted to avoid becoming like the other seventeen and eight year old students of Hogwarts who drank fire whiskey like water to prove something to the younger students, but he could have really used more. He and Damon were sitting, minding their own business in a small booth silent. Damon looked at Scorpius was patience. He knew his best friend would talk when he was ready.

"Where the hell did she go?" Scorpius asked suddenly letting his eyes drift over at where Hill and Lily had been sitting. Damon didn't look up. He had seen them get up to leave.

"Last I saw, they were heading away from the booth," Damon said shrugging. Scorpius made a face, pouting.

"Let's just get out of here," Scorpius said finishing off the last dregs of his fire whiskey before leaving the table. Damon nodded and followed.

"So, what do you want to do?" Damon asked. "Want to go beat Hill's face in?"

"Why bother?" Scorpius said dejectedly. "You were right; I pushed Lily to move on and to date. I made her think she wasn't good enough for me. I deserve to be having a miserable time."

"But I don't," Damon teased lightly.

"No, you don't Damon, sorry," Scorpius said with honest apology.

"Come on," Damon said. "Let's go to Zonko's or Honeydukes'."

"Sure," Scorpius said sarcastically. "Let me pull a teenage angst ridden girl move and eat my weight in chocolate frogs." Damon snorted.

"Let's stick to something that'll keep you light on your broom," Damon said as the two trudged through the snow.

Honeydukes was insanely full, but the light and joyful mood was contagious and Scorpius found himself laughing at some of the goofier third years. The funniest were the group of muggle born third year students who were trying out some of the many, many wizarding candies. Lily never left Scorpius' mind, but he did seem to suppress the ache that he felt for a little while.

The air was much cooler as they walked back to the castle. Scorpius sighed, audibly, knowing that he'd probably ask about how Lily's date with Hill went and would have to hear about it for the rest of patrol. As much as he dreaded hearing about her date, he found himself looking forward to time alone with her, even if it was on official school business.

Scorpius changed into his school uniform from his relaxed wear and sat in the common room. The fires were blazing around them, the heat stifling for Slytherin standards. He opened up his D.A.D.A. book, flipping randomly until he had flipped through it twice. Frowning, he carefully combed through the pages until he came to where the numbers mysteriously skipped a page worth of information and page numbers. He swore loudly, causing a few first years to cower and glance at him in surprise.

"What's up with the swearing, there," Damon asked as he threw himself across one of the chairs.

"Damn Lily," Scorpius growled as he shoved the book into Damon's outstretched hand. "She tore that page from my book."

"When?" Damon asked.

"I don't bloody well know, now do I?" Scorpius growled. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Maybe she thought that it would be easier to heal if she didn't have something floating around out there that made her so vulnerable," Damon said. Scorpius made a rude sound. Damon rolled his eyes. "Look, you and I are best mates, really, but you're being a complete ass."

"I know," Scorpius sighed. He glanced at his watch. "I want to make it up to her, I do, but what the hell am I supposed to do, Damon?"

"Start by being honest with her about how you really feel," Damon suggested. "Quit hiding behind weak excuses and such."

"I wonder what's keeping her," Scorpius murmured as his eyes fell on her roommates. They were all in their normal places in the common room, their faces still rosy red from the cold. "Hey, Zabini. Have you seen Lily?"

"No," Shale said as he barely looked up from cuddling with Nina.

"Kate?" Scorpius asked. Kate looked up from the letter she was penning and shook her head.

"I've not seen her since she and Hill went up to the room at the Three Broomsticks," Kate said dismissively.

"She… what?" Scorpius said as his face started turning red.

"She was a bit drunk," Kate said as she looked back down at the letter.

"Drunk? Lily?" Scorpius snapped.

"Lily's a light weight when it comes to fire whiskey," Shale piped up as Nina kissed his neck slightly. "You should have seen her a few months back when she had just a sip of mine, er… the bit I found. She was giggly and warm. Just from a sip."

"Do you know how much she had?" Scorpius asked. Kate shook her head.

"One or two, at least," Kate said. She laughed. "I never knew she had it in her. I'm surprised that she'd be able to stay awake after that."

"Damn it," Scorpius said jumping up. He was ready to bolt back to Hogsmead when Hill walked into the common room, freshly showered and with clean clothes. Scorpius rushed at him, angry. "Hill, where in the hell is Lily Potter? And I swear to Merlin if you hurt her or took advantage of her in anyway, I will kill you with my bear hands."

"No need," Hill said raising his hand in surrender. "She's pretty fucking pissed at me."

"Where is she?" Scorpius demanded.

"She's in the hospital wing," Hill said as he stepped around Scorpius. Shale sighed.

"I'll cover patrol," Shale said as he extracted himself from Nina. "I'll be back in a bit and we can pick this up then."

"Thanks," Scorpius threw the words over his shoulder as he exited the common room. He knew he shouldn't run, but panic had him sprinting down the corridors, knocking into other students as they retreated to their common rooms.

"Hey, man. Where's the fire?" James called to him. Scorpius spun around and looked at him. He didn't want to alarm James, not yet when he didn't know if James needed to be alarmed.

"Oh, Slytherin business," Scorpius said casually.

"Need any help?" James offered. Scorpius laughed.

"Nah, I can manage, but thanks," Scorpius said waving him off. "I'll catch up with you later if I need help."

"A'right, man," James said as he continued down the hall. Scorpius picked up his pace to a slow jog so not to alarm anyone with his running. He pushed into the hospital ward. Madame Pomphrey looked up.

"Mr. Malfoy, can I help you?" she asked.

"Lily Potter," he said quickly. Madame Pomphrey nodded.

"This way," she said as she pushed into the lavatory. Lily was lying on the floor, sweating. Scorpius scrunched up his nose. "Seems Miss Potter had a bit too much of something, though she won't say what."

"I'll stay with her," Scorpius said immediately dismissing the woman as Lily groaned and leaned face first into the toilet, vomiting intensely. Scorpius drew her hair out of her face, pressing a cool wash cloth to her face and wiping her mouth as she fell back against the cold tile. She moaned, holding her stomach.

"How do you feel, honey?" he asked quietly as he wiped her face down. She whimpered.

"Like crap," Lily whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Scorpius asked. Lily went to shake her head but was hit with another violent bout of vomiting. Scorpius held her up while she threatened to collapse from vomiting.

"God, this is disgusting," Lily moaned. Her cheeks were bright red from the exertion.

"Yeah, it is," Scorpius chuckled.

"You shouldn't be here," she told him as she leaned back against the title.

"I didn't know so much puke could come from a thing as small as you," Scorpius teased.

"I didn't want you to see that," Lily groaned.

"How about a bath?" Scorpius asked. Lily looked at him warily. He grinned slightly. "Look, Lily, I want you to be happy, that's all. If Hill makes you happy, then I'm happy. The bath is because you smell."

"I don't… yeah, I do, huh?" Lily said weakly. Scorpius chuckled and flicked his wand to the taps, the room filling with the scent of warmth and flowers.

"Huh, it smells like you. Well, how you smell when you don't smell like puke," Scorpius said. Lily laughed weakly.

"Ah, so this whole time you thought your love potion smelled like me, it really just smelled like the hospital wing of the school," Lily joked weakly. He rolled his eyes but laughed.

"Do you need any help getting undressed?" Scorpius asked quietly. Lily shivered.

"No, I don't think so," Lily said. Something in the tone of her voice made him take a second look.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Let me get into the tub a minute, huh?" Lily groaned as she stood. Scorpius nodded and turned his back on her, humming as he ignored the rustle of clothes. She was soundless as she slipped into the bath of suds, the bubbles concealing everything but her face. "I'm good."

"Your clothes reek," Scorpius said lifting them off the ground and threw them in the bin near the little house elf that Lily hadn't even acknowledge.

"I'm sorry house elf," Lily called weakly from the tub as the house elf placed a stack of clean, dry clothes.

"Misses Potter, it's Milo's pleasure to serve," the creature said bowing deeply and exiting.

"I wish you hadn't seen me puke like that," Lily said after she dipped under the water and surfaced, her hair wet.

"I wish I hadn't seen you puke like that, either," Scorpius teased.

"At least you only saw me puke," Lily groaned. She put her hand to her head, trailing soap on her forehead. "I threw up all over Aiden, and we had to walk back to Hogsmead with him drenched in my vomit."

"Serves him right for getting you drunk and taking you up to a room," Scorpius said angrily. Lily looked at him curiously.

"How'd you know about that? I told him to keep his fucking mouth shut," Lily groaned.

"He only told me that you were here," Scorpius replied. "Zabini and Rosier saw you drinking and saw you head up with Hill."

"Ugh," Lily said. Scorpius grinned.

"So, you want something to drink?" Scorpius asked.

"NO!" Lily moaned.

"I mean like water or Weasley's Famous Hangover Potion," Scorpius offered. He headed out of the bathroom for a few minutes while Lily rinsed off and dressed in the clothes. He returned and ushered her to one of the hospital beds.

"I have to stay the night?" Lily whined.

"Hey, what would people say to us sneaking around in you pajamas this late at night?" Scorpius asked. "Plus I ran into James patrolling."

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Lily groaned. Scorpius shook his head.

"I should have and let him give you a piece of his mind, but no, I didn't," Scorpius said. He pulled the covers back on the bed and gestured for Lily to climb in. She did reluctantly, rolling her eyes as Scorpius tucked her in.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Lily said. Scorpius grinned.

"Just trying to get on your good side, Lils," Scorpius said. "In case you haven't noticed, I've not exactly been that good of a friend. I'm sorry for that."

"It's ok, really," Lily said as Scorpius handed her a cup of sickly blue liquid. She made a face.

"Drink it," he ordered. Lily chugged it quickly and let her head fall back against the pillow. "You'll be one hundred percent by the end of an hour."

"Good to know," Lily said as she closed her eyes.

"Do you want me to stay?" Scorpius asked. Lily looked at him in surprise.

"Do you want to stay?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Scorpius said honestly.

"Even though I was drunk and alone in a room with Aiden Hill?" Lily pressed. Scorpius' jaw clenched slightly but he nodded.

"You could tell me what did or didn't happen, but it wouldn't change anything, Lils," Scorpius said quietly. "No matter how we fight it, no matter how much I fight it, I can't fight the truth. I don't want to fight the truth anymore. It's stupid. I've been stupid."

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked curiously as she sat up slightly. Scorpius was standing at her side, his hand cupping her cheek. He locked his gaze on her, a smile on his face.

"Lily Potter, no matter how much I fight it, the truth remains and I will not fight it anymore, even if you won't have me, Lily, I couldn't belong to anyone else," Scorpius told her. Lily looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"No matter what happened or what will happen, the truth remains constant," Scorpius said as he lowered his face until it was just millimeters from her face. "Lils, I am totally, helplessly, undeniably in love with you."