Scorpius was pacing in the parlor of his house, waiting for Lily to arrive. He should have known better and picked her up, it would have been so much easier. His mother decided not to let him out in the garden, she wanted to surprise him. Finally, he heard the fireplace rumble and Lily stumbled out. "Whoa, there," he said, stepping forward.

"I'm not a horse," she snapped, popping her head up allowing him to see her face. There was not a stitch of makeup and her dark red hair tumbled around her shoulders.

"Good afternoon to you to," he said.

"You know I'm glad to see you." She wrapped her arms and his neck, holding on tightly before giving him a kiss on the check. "Happy birthday." It was then he noticed a bag around her arm. "Can I give you your present now? I know you said not to do it, but I made it myself...Okay, Al helped me, so do Dom, and Teddy gave me the idea…" She stepped away from him and pulled out a small leather bound book and opened it up. "The pictures were hard to get, but we took enough along the way and I owled a few people for other ones."

Scorpius took from her and felt his throat catch as he looked at the pictures, each one captioned in Lily's rounded handwriting and little doodles.

"Is it terrible? I already got you a watch…"

"It's perfect, I love it, thank you so much." He gave her another hug, kissing her on the temple before pulling away. "All of your presents are perfect."

"Hardly," she snorted and then looked him over. "I'm underdressed, aren't I?" She gestured to short sleeve dress that was lavender in color, the only embellishment was a ribbon of dark purple around the waist. With it she wore sandals that had seen better days and the moon necklace Scorpius had gifted her.

"You look stunning."

"You're in a suit!" she exclaimed and held him at arm's length away.

"Khaki's and a blazer," he corrected.

"And a bow tie and dress shoes! Merlin, even my father doesn't dress like that for work."

"I would certainly hope not, half the time he's out in the field," Scorpius said. "Isn't rather hard to perform counter curses in a blazer."

Lily was going to open her mouth to answer when she heard someone clearing their throat. It was Scorpius' father standing in a dove grey suit. "Lily, how nice to see you. I'm sure you and Scorpius would love to spend time talking, but we require his presence in the garden."

"Of course, sir," Lily responded, but reached for his hand, holding it tightly, and waiting for him to go first. If it was at her house, she would feel relaxed and excited to see her relatives. As Scorpius guided her outside, she could help but feel as if she was going to execution. It was terrible to feel like that and she should always look at the bright side, she had, after all, been to two Malfoy balls by now. Still, especially after his mother wrote that letter, she dreaded meeting even more of his family.

Several people called out to him in greetings and he waved as they shouted out happy birthday. "Merlin…" he whispered to Lily while keeping a polite smile on his face the whole. "It's a good thing you're here," he said and then pulled them forward, shaking hands and passing words to his relatives. Finally, when he had spoken to most of them, they walked over to where a table was set up with food. "Eat slowly," he warned, "the more time we spend time eating, the less spend time talking."

Lily smiled and placed plenty of food on top of her plate, not timid at all when she scooped cold salads on top. Scorpius had a three small sandwiches piled on top of each other with a spoonful of pasta. "Aren't you going to get more?"

"I'll steal from your plate," he said and then gestured to toward an empty table. In no time his parents appeared along with Regina and her mother. "Everything looks lovely, mother."

"Yes, thank you for having me, Mrs. Malfoy."

Astoria flashed her a tight lipped smile and picked a piece of imaginary dirt off of the table cloth. "Of course, it is only natural to want Scorpius' friends to come." Her smile grew wider and tighter.

Lily didn't answer, instead took a bite of the pasta and made an exaggerated face before swallowing. "This is wonderful, did you make it?"

"No." Astoria's voice was flat as she stabbed a piece of fruit on her plate.

"Score, how is your job?" Regina asked.

"Good, I heard that you were going to University this fall."

"I'm studying civic leadership with a minor in community development," she explained.

"The university is in France, one of the best wizarding colleges in Europe," her mother said, looking directly at Lily. "What do you intend on doing? I know Scorpius intends to go into the Auror training program."

Lily looked at Scorpius, the food turning to dust in her mouth. Her heart started racing and it felt as if her ears were stuffed with cotton. Why hadn't he told her? "I am...it's complicated right now. I've spoken with my head of house and he thinks I should become a healer."

"A noble profession," Draco answered. "Scorpius, I wasn't aware that you had made a decision yet. I thought you said that you would wait until you got your NEWTs back to decide."

"Nothing is set in stone thus far. I was waiting to tell people of my aspirations until I had thought about it." He turned to Lily and patted her knee underneath the table. She raised her eyebrow and crossed her legs to get away from his touch.

"Well, I knew that you can excel at whatever you try." No matter how dangerous it is. Lily swallowed harshly and stared at her plate, trying not to let memories invade her mind, trying not to think of Scorpius in those scenarios.

"Well said." Astoria still had the tight smile on her face.

Dinner considered in the same awkward fashion, especially when Scorpius left to talk with other relatives seated at different tables. If it wasn't for Regina, she probably would have left, right then and there. When dessert was brought out, Lily got to her feet and looked at the table. It wasn't cake, but rather a collection of small desserts. She placed several of them on her plate before she walked over to where Regina stood, a bored look across her face. As she was walking, her vision began to become cloudy around the edges, and every time she stepped down it was like the world shifted. A vision was coming, that had to be it. Lily paused, and took a deep breath, that was when she found herself being bumped into, something with powdered sugar hitting her dress.

"Lily… Salazar, I'm sorry…" Scorpius caught her eyes that were currently fixed on her feet. "Let me help you clean up." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and flashed a smile to some of the people before he began to whisper. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. I don't need-"

"My help, I'm aware, but you would if my relatives saw you. It would be worse than that stupid article after winter holiday."

"I've learned to control it," she said, and pulled away from him once they got inside. "Go back before they notice you're gone." In the parlor she set down the plate of desserts and wiped her palms on her dress, effectively smearing the powder even further.

"Lily, please…" He reached for her arm, but then narrowed his eyes when she saw her eyes widen as she backed away from him. "Lily?"

The features on her face appeared to crumple as she backed up until she hit the wall, then sank down. She covered her ears with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. He took a deep breath and sat down beside her, knowing there was nothing that he could do to help her. Several minutes had passed when she looked at him. "Teddy." Was the only word that left her mouth. "Protesters and crashing and wands and sparks flying everywhere."

"Slow down," he said. "Just try to picture the scene and take it piece by piece."
"There was a large man with bright hair...I couldn't make out his face, but it had to be him…" She shook her head.

"You can't-"

"Don't even start," she hissed. "Do you want see the vision?" She smacked her hand against the ground. "Merlin, you don't even understand? How an earth could you want to be an auror?"

"I don't understand."

"When I was younger, I used to watch my dad leave for work every single day. He would give each of us hug and then kiss my mum...Some days he didn't come home when he was supposed to and to this day I always fear he's going to walk out that door and never return. You don't know what it was like! Draco started working in the office when you were born."

"Lily…"

"Teddy is like my brother and he decided to be an auror...Do you know what it's like to watch someone going through that brutal training? Or to be woken up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital?"

"The only reason my aunt said that is because I am interning for my father, that's all. I have a year to decide. After being there, I found out that I like working in law enforcement, but who knows where I will end up. I could even be a lawyer."

Lily just looked up at him with a small, sad smile. "That's not you. You may behind your books and manners and neat clothing, but I know how you are. You can only hide in the library for so long. When you study you like to stare out your window and your when get on the Quidditch pitch your entire face lights up. You won't be happy stuck behind a desk. It's something you could do and could do well, but that won't last."

Scorpius couldn't find the words to tell her that she was wrong. Lily wasn't wrong, in fact she was so very right. As much as he hated her being at angry at him, or rather at what seemed to be the world, it terrified him to see her so scared. "I promise…"

"Don't make promises, my dad has made promises and so has Teddy...You can only fill your life with some many IOU's before you go bankrupt," she muttered and then swiped at her face and taking a breath to collect herself. With that she got to her feet and waited for him to follow suit. "We probably look like a mess, but you better get back out there."

"We aren't finished," he said, going to touch her face. She didn't flinch away from it, but her body did tense.

"I think you are." Astoria Malfoy was standing in the door. "As much as I hate to break this up, you have other guests to visit with."

Scorpius' hand drifted down to Lily's and squeezed it tightly. He was going to tell his mother to leave, that they needed a few more moments, but Lily mouthed the word, "go" at him. She watched him leave and then crossed her arms over her chest to look at his mother. Nothing about Astoria Malfoy was soft. Her dark hair was alway pulled back, not a single strand out of place. Her nails were short and polished, mouth arranged in a straight line with impossibly long legs on high heels. Still, there was not a thing about her that frightened Lily.

"I am aware of your relationship with my son, but what exactly are your intentions?"

"I think we've made it perfectly clear," Lily retorted.

"His father has worked long and hard to build up the reputation behind the Malfoy name, as have I. Scorpius could do anything he wanted, if he set his mind to it. Do you know how easy it would to be to turn his back on everything this family stands for? Instead he was sorted into Slytherin, became a part of the Quidditch team. There are days it shocks me to see how much like his father he has become. Then you waltz into his life, a poor lost lion cub, determined to set herself apart from her family. Scorpius saw a lost cause, sometimes I think that they're the only cause that he thinks is worth fighting for. I just want him getting lost along with you."

Lily opens her mouth to argue, but Astoria holds up a hand.

"Believe me, I know that you will do fine, and the newspapers will praise you for it. You are just like your parents." An odd smirk crosses Astoria's face. "Head-strong, opinionated and a fiery temper like your mother, but I suppose you're like your father. A penchant for trouble, with a bleeding heart. You think you need to save Scorpius, but all you do is get him stuck somewhere he doesn't need to be."

"Don't you realize that he's my best friend?" Her voice rose in pitch. "I love him, Mrs. Malfoy. Now, I don't know if I'm in love with him or where will be in a few weeks or at the end of the year or ten years down the road, but I'm not go and ruin his life and leave him hanging out to dry. It was a mistake with the newspaper, alright? The detentions were my fault, but you only a fraction of the entire story. I know you're trying to protect him, but it's not working. Stop trying to interfere with us and start trusting your son."
"I…"

"Astoria, could you please come outside?" Draco has appeared, not even giving Lily a second glance, instead focusing on his wife. Astoria fixes Lily with a steely gaze before walking past her husband and out the door.

"Can you tell Scorpius I had to go?"

"Of course," he replied, watching her walk toward the fireplace. "And Lily?"

She turned around to look at him.

"I truly did appreciate having you here. My wife's sentiments are not my own and I enjoy having you around, a bit of chaos is always fun." He laughs at that. "You also have a way with my son, after you leave he just seems…"

"I know what you mean, sir, I feel the same." Lily gives him a small smile before stepping into the fireplace. Once home confusion settles into her mind, but knowing Scorpius he'll be over within the hour to clear things up.