Lily's POV

My father told Scorpius to stay alert and have fun for the last few weeks of summer as he smiled and nodded at him then turned and whistled to me.

"You know, I was crazy about your mother, would have done anything but quit my quest for her, but I was not even close to how insanely mad he is about you. That boy must think everything you touch turns to gold!"

I shoved him and he laughed loudly before turning to Apparate. In an instant we were in front of the small refurbished cottage I grew up in. Everyone in Gryffindor's Hollow seemed to have heard about the attack. News travels fast in a place like this. My mother came bursting out and hugged me tightly, checked for bruises and cuts, found a few, then remarked about how lovely all the things Astoria had bought me were. She had unpacked for me and drawn a bath, figuring after the days events I would need some time to settle down. She was right and I was so thankful. After a game of chess against Albus and watching James practice for the N.E.W.T.'s I went to get ready for bed and lay down for an instant to rest and fell asleep. On a normal night I would not be able to sleep in a corset and huge skirted dress but tonight I had been worn to exhaustion. Sleep of any kind was good. Though I didn't sleep long.

It was dark outside and my alarm clock read 2:16 when I heard someone rush into the house and lights started flicking on in the halls and someone called into Al's room, then James' room. A tall hooded figure opened my door and yelled, telling me to pack for a two week stay. I recognized the voice.

"Mr. Malfoy, what is going on?"

"That man we took in earlier started babbling and mentioning something about finishing your family off before you kids could make it back to school. We are moving your family to a safe house and your father and I are going to finish them, hopefully, before school starts. Keep packing and hurry, they might have people watching the house. If so they will know we found out about their plan. They might act quicker than we thought. Be in the sitting room in ten minutes sharp."

How would I pack all my school things in ten minutes? My father ran by and told me to pack everything I would need for the two weeks and he would pack the rest after his kids were safe. In a flurry I did just that. Ignoring all spell books and school robes I packed summer clothes, pajamas, novels, candy, a picture of Scorpius and I on our horses while we sat in front of the lake, and anything I thought I might need.

Five minutes later I was sitting on the sofa and lying in Albus' lap as I caught a few more minutes of sleep. James came down last and was escorted by my father to a safe-house, moments later. Albus stood and Draco Malfoy took him to a safe-house. They both grabbed my hands and turned, taking me into the backyard of the Weasley's little house in the woods. My siblings weren't here so I figured we had been separated to make enemy plans harder and protect us more. I'm sure I would have traded with either of my brothers. Spending time near Rose was something I thought I had just escaped. My father whispered, "Be good and ignore everything Rosie says." before walking me through the door, leaving Draco to go back and help my mother pack our things. Luckily I would be sharing a room with Hugo, since Rose had a smaller room, and breathed a sigh of relief. I could stay in here reading and writing and avoid Rose almost entirely.

My father said no letters were to leave the house in my hand writing so someone else would have to write them and make any messages discrete if they were from me. Absolutely no contacting school friends or my brothers, which meant The Burrow for James and Albus was at Malfoy Manor, and no messages to him or my mother either. Those were the rules. He kissed my cheek, told me he would be back tomorrow with school things and Apparated back to the house. As soon as he left I felt eyes on the back of my head. I turned to find Rose in the doorway with a snarl on her face.

"You were attacked?"

"Yeah, not exactly the way I wished to end my summer vacation."

"Yeah, well, no one here has had an adventurous summer. You should be happier with yours. I would have given anything to have spent almost the entire summer with Scorpius. Answer me this one, I've been dating Scorpius for over six months and have never been attacked. How is it that the second you step off Malfoy property two people try to do you in. Scorpius and I left the house together while I was there, we went shopping in town, horseback riding in the woods, swinging on the porch, everything without an attack. You aren't dating him anymore and there is publicity in the Daily Prophet today about the attack. My name has never, not once, been mentioned in unison with Scorpius Malfoy's."

"I don't ask for the publicity. If I was never attacked again I would accept almost anything."

"You could always stop talking to Scorpius. Completely. Just stop responding or interacting in the slightest and people will be forced to leave you alone. They might still go after him but at least you're out of the picture."

"Is that what you want? Me out of the picture? Scorpius and I have nothing going on. I hadn't talked to him since just after our break up before I went to his house this summer. He was the only non-family safe place I could go at the time."

"He almost had me fooled. I thought he was so happy to have me with him, if only for the weekend, until you walked into the kitchen my last day there. His attention was pulled away from the very curious thing I was telling him and directly to every detail about you. He noticed the color of your dress, the lipstick you had on, the gemstones on your shoes, the things you ate at breakfast and what you had eaten last night while out with Astoria, and probably everything else too. I know he loves me. He loves me truly and deeply and passionately. Scorpius just gets distracted by what you two used to have and every time you come around it makes him miserable and he is pulled back to the day you broke his heart and sent him away. You disgust me, you know? How could anyone treat a man such as Scorpius the way you did? Your behavior was unacceptable and despicable. Your little pairing would have never worked, he deserved someone better and now he has it. He has me. I'm never leaving him, going anywhere he can't follow, putting him in harms way. He deserves me and we are so perfectly happy with each other. You should just fade out of his life forever and know that he will be perfectly contented with me by his side."

"Glad you care so much about me."

"Just stay away from him."

I was faltering and attempting to puzzle out why Rose was being so nasty when Hugo got off his bed and slammed the door in Rose's face. He told me not to listen to her and that she was just jealous. She knew Scorpius still had a small thing for me. Immediately I felt guilty. Scorpius and I both knew our fathers were hunting down the culprits in an attempt to let us be together safely. At this moment I knew Scorpius would be sleeping soundly and imagining ways to call it off with Rose. The instant the Prophet published names next to a story of some gang of pure blood fanatics attempting to kill students Scorpius would be at my feet, begging and pleading. Rose would be out of the picture long before this happened and I think she was starting to sense her time with Scorpius coming to an end. It made her more vicious and volatile and hateful. Actually the word bitter described her perfectly. That conversation was the only one we had while I stayed at her house. I counted down the days until Hogwarts welcomed me back for my fifth year.

I was glad to be heading back to Hogwarts. It meant I could finally escape Rose and her smitten, pompous attitude. During the week of the Summer Break I spent with the Weasley's she had mentioned Scorpius in every conversation I heard. Knowing she intended to irritate me I had tried to play it cool and let it pass instead of lashing back at her. I couldn't believe, even after all this time, that she had agreed to date Scorpius the moment he showed the slightest interest in her. She was the biggest supporter in my decision to call it off with him. All of the great many reasons not to get too serious with Scorpius Malfoy. I guess she forgot to mention that if I dumped him then he would be available to her. How's that for family loyalty?

I didn't wish attacks on anyone, usually, and I tried very hard not to wish them on Rose. Did she imagine that things had progressed between us? Did she think Scorpius had cheated on her? I would dislike her all the more if she had. Scorpius wanted to, definitely, but he didn't, for her sake. At least, he didn't cheat too much. Was there such thing as too much? What counted as cheating?

Scorpius' POV

As Rose Weasley came running and wrapped her arms around my neck I looked past her to Lily, who had seen her cousin race towards me, as she turned in the opposite direction to board the train and attempted to find a lonely compartment. I was beginning to loathe this ginger-haired girl who was so desperately devoted to me. Why had I wanted to date her? It would have been just as easy to watch over Lily dating someone else. It would be no different if I dated any Gryffindor, news traveled at Hogwarts. I tasted bile when I caught Lily looking at me, hurting because Rose held me now as she had held me a week ago. Looking back I sincerely wish I had not begun dating Rosie. Lily's glance hurt me when she caught me with Rose unexpectedly. Her words from a half year earlier still echoed in my head every time I hugged Rose; I heard them as I hugged her now. ("Scorpius Malfoy, you are a bloody git. I told you I still loved you and that I was calling this off to protect our families, not to cut you off or send you after the next person who met your fancy. Going after Rose was the lowest thing you could have done. Congratulations on the new relationship by the way. I hope you two screw everything I have done and make a truly terrible mess of things.")

How was I supposed to explain this to her? I put Rose's stuff into a compartment and sat by the window, praying the train would leave before I did something stupid. Hearing Lily's injured voice as she attacked me from the past brought back more memories. Six months ago I sat in the loo crying. I had just passed a compartment where Lily sat curled in her friends lap, swollen red eyes and a three cookies in each hand. I was so lost and confused I went to the bathroom and followed her lead. Now I sat here with tears reflecting back in from the window. This had to end. I couldn't date anyone but Lily without feeling like a masochist and abusing myself. So I wouldn't. Once the proper moment presented itself I would cut it off from Rose Weasley. She would be hurt. Who wouldn't be after being led on for as long as she had been.

"Sweetums, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Rose. I just really need to use the loo. I was holding our spots until you got here. I'll be back in a moment."

Was that a good moment? I didn't know what a good moment looked like and wouldn't have if it hit me to the floor. I didn't want to lie to her so I went to the train restroom and splashed water on my face before drying my skin and placing my hair back as it had been. Did I have to go back and endure her nicknames as soon as I was finished or would she notice if I took longer than I should have? I was popular. I could just say I ran in to Albus. No, that wouldn't work. He usually sat with Lily on the train rides to and from school. We were still fairly good friends, although, I know he had come to resent me slightly for what I did to Lily; what I still did to Lily. If I had siblings I would be just as protective, probably more so since I didn't have any. It felt physically impossible to go back right away.

Without thinking I walked in to a compartment just outside the bathroom that, luckily, was empty. I sat by the window and held my hands in my hair, watching the landscape zoom by as my vision blurred and I felt the hot faced feelings from previous months. Had I not healed at all?

"Scorpius, how are you doing? Are you alright?"

Lily.

"It's going just fine...No, I don't want to worry you. Don't worry, I'll recover in a few minutes. Thanks for checking on me though."

She knew what I meant and sat down next to me, rubbing my back softly and looked at the trees now zooming by. Lily alone understood this feeling. Maybe she didn't know what I was feeling but she often felt the same way, opposite me. She felt dreadful for calling it off to protect us only to have Rose (and myself) backstab her and accept my offer of a date. I hated myself now for asking Rosie, knowing she was green with envy, and would love to injure Lily by accepting. Lily watched my face as though my thoughts were as clear to her as they were to me. I wondered if she would understand if I told her I was breaking it off with Rose soon. She would probably get angry and leave me here so I decided to hold my tongue. Lily was too smart for her own good and caught the change in expression and breathing pattern, taking it for a stunted conversation starter. After a few silent moments she asked.

"What were you going to say?"

"I miss you..."

"I miss you too. Being around you all summer made me miss you even more. It was so nice to just be friends again and not worry about other people. Then again, the only people to see us together were your parents. Sometimes we just have to live with the terrible decisions we make. Mine was to call it off. Yours was dating Rose."

She stood and shot me a comforting look and shut the compartment door behind her. That was it. She had said 'was dating' and that was a past-tense verb. This meant that it could be in the past and we could move on. She had told me exactly what I needed to know in that abandoned look she shared with me before leaving. News of Lily's tears were well known in the castle. She cried often, even while she dated Tom and when she slept well it was because she drugged herself with sleeping draught to quickly get sleep. I assumed it was my fault but after a few months I realized it wasn't passing. Lily was in love still, just as I was, but couldn't bring herself risk anything or let me know. She got Tom instead and chose to ignore Rose and I as much as possible. She had been holding on as though letting go would kill her, but this had gone on long enough.

Slowly walking back to the compartment where a lone figure sat I felt everything was so confusing. I felt everyone look at me as though they knew what I was about to do. Albus saw the look in my face and shut the door as if to block out the noise that Rosie would make when I talked to her. The six nearest compartments to my soon to be ex were full of relatives and close family friends. They would be the first to know and know almost instantly. Lily's eyes met mine from a compartment down just before I entered the compartment with a ginger haired girl looking out the window.

"Scorpius, what took so long?"

"I just had to get out on my own. Listen, I think it best if we, um, go our separate ways. I don't love you like you love me and it is unfair to give you unrealistic hopes and dreams."

"But...Scorpius, I...This is so unexpected...I saw that necklace you carry in your pocket and thought you were just waiting for the right opportunity. I thought...you...cared for me..."

"I am sorry Rose. I never meant to let it get this far or to hurt you like this. That necklace, the one with a white gold chain, is promised to someone else. I keep it on my person to remind myself of her. Rose, we were never meant to be and I'm sorry to cause you pain. It's hard to live a lie once you recognize it. I've realized that to keep dating any longer would be hurting both of us more and I just can't do it."

"Scorp..."

Before she could finish my name I was out of the compartment and returned to my previous window seat across from the bathrooms. Just before I shut the door a wail came down the train corridor and a few Potters and Weasleys opened their doors and rushed to check on the pile of relative sitting on the floor of the moving room. I felt time stand still and stretch to make itself last forever, only hiccupping and moving again when a mane of red hair looked in and made eye contact with me before smiling and moving on down the Hogwarts Express. Lily was clever. Beautiful. Stunning. Brave. Kind. And above all else, the one thing I'd give it all for. My hard part was done and now she had only to follow my lead now. A time soon approached when Lily and I would lace our fingers and wander the grounds together again.