"Ok seventh years," Professor Cattermole called out, pulling the attention of the class away from their individual conversations. "I want at least five pages on Human Transfiguration and the successes and struggles you had personally when trying Human Transfiguration. It's due in next week on Friday and I really want you to get creative with how you present your work."

Bye bye weekend, Lily thought to herself as she fiddled with the Head Girl badge fastened to her cloak. To add to her late night patrols, she had projects for Defence Against The Dark Arts and Ancient Runes, along with Quidditch training which she couldn't avoid because she was Captain and the game against Hufflepuff was coming up soon. However she'd be well and truly distracted which was just how Lily liked it.

Professor Cattermole dismissed the class and Lily slowly got to her feet, unlike the rest of the students who were scrambling to get out and enjoy what was left to their Friday. At a leisurely pace, she filed her books and pieces of parchment into her bag and then sent it to her Head Girl room with a twist of her wand.

"Is everything ok Lily?" Professor Cattermole asked, leaning against her desk casually. "I'm worried that you are putting a lot of stress on yourself this year."

Lily paused by the door and played with her curls absentmindedly. "I'm fine," she lied, pressing herself against the doorframe. "I have just been having trouble sleeping. It's ok thought, maybe I'll go and see Madam Grice and get a potion or something."

"Please do," her teacher said sternly as she moved to sit behind her desk and pull her chair closer. "A lot of teaching staff have expressed a worry for you."

Nodding slowly, Lily tried to smile and then spun around, pushing herself off the doorframe and ducking out of her Transfiguration classroom. "Nosey bitch," she muttered, lifting her hair up and securing it with a hairband. She just wanted to go and finish her Ancient Runes project in time for the late night of Quidditch training; anything to help her forget everything that was going on in the world including the ache in her heart.

Never did she expect to see a Valentine weekend without Scorpius.

###

"Can you pass me the plum lipstick?" Ariana asked, sticking her head into her quiet dormitory. A lot of things had changed once they started seventh year, what with Phoebe's bed remaining empty and Lily moving out into the Head Girl quarters. Now living in Gryffindor Tower was quieter and lonelier without her friends, but Ariana had still had someone.

After their sixth year exams, Sebastian had finally asked her out. They snuck out and went to a quiet Muggle town where no one would wonder why they were not in school. They went for dinner and saw a movie and afterwards, they took a long walk around a lake and he finally asked her. And now it was their first official Valentine's Day together, unless you count their first kiss last year which they didn't.

"Here you go," Hugo sighed, rummaging through her large make-up bag and pulling out a small red tube and throwing it to Ariana. "Your hair looks lush by the way."

Ariana was getting ready for the Ball. It was tacky and it was cheesy but it was also the last time she'd get to do it at Hogwarts. She had curled her hair into little ringlets that made the blonde in her hair look like it effortlessly melted from the dark chocolate of her natural hair colour to the creamy colour at the ends that had been there since Phoebe died. In terms of make-up, she'd given herself a natural look with a dark lip that matched the dress she had spent weeks making. She shimmed into her long plum dress and slipped into flat gladiator sandals; in heels she was practically the same height as Sebastian and she felt odd like that.

"What are you going to be doing while we hit the Ball?" Ariana asked as she took slow and steady steps into her dormitory, testing the new shoes to check they didn't rub. At her bed, she threw her lipstick along with others essentials into a clutch bag. "Not throwing your own pity party like your cousin, I hope?"

Hugo laughed dryly, running a hand through his hair. "Actually I have a shit load of work to do for your boyfriend's dad," he replied. "And don't say things you don't mean about Lily, you know she's going through shit we don't know about."

"And whose fault is that?" she snapped, with a tad bit more aggression than she had intended. Ever since seventh year had started, Ariana had noticed how distant Lily was and how she had been like that for a good couple of months. They barely saw each other at school any more, now that Lily had her own quarters, and when they saw each other in class, they usually ignored each other and focused on their work.

It hurt Ariana more than she would let anyone know. She had lost her best friend and it left her feeling empty. But she spent all of last term trying to get Lily to tell her what was wrong with no success, so Ariana just gave up.

"It's not mine!" Hugo snapped back, looking slightly hurt judging by the expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," Ariana murmured, joining him on Dominique's bed. "I didn't mean to snap like that. I just hate how we just got Dominique back to her usual self and then we lose Lily. Ever since she broke up with Scorpius, even you have to admit your cousin hasn't been the same."

Hugo flung an arm around her and pulled her into his side. "Apparently Scorpius has done exactly the same as Lily, according to Kaleb. His parents tried dragging him away on holiday at Christmas but that didn't help. Without Lily, he's a mess."

"Then why did they break up? Everything seemed to be perfect for them," Ariana replied, her voice cracking with emotion. Every time she saw Lily, with the dark circles around her eyes Ariana knew were from nightmares, and the constant pale complexion because of her lack of appetite.

Squeezing Ariana tighter, Hugo sighed softly. "I guess looks can be deceiving," he murmured. "She'll come to us when she's ready. Maybe we should just give her space.

"Now cheer up because you have a Ball to go to, Cinderella!"

Ariana released her breath and got to her feet. "Could you go and check if Sebastian is ready?" she asked, heaving Hugo up with her. He nodded and kissed the top of her head, before leaving Ariana alone in her dormitory. She turned to her bed and began stuffing things into her bag.

Just as she fixed the clasp on her bag, a flutter of wings caught her attention and in fluttered a familiar owl, landing on her bed post. "AJ?" she murmured, reaching out for Albus' owl who hooted loudly and stuck its leg out to reveal a rolled-up postcard. "What has he done now?" she sighed, untying the postcard and unrolling it to read.

"My beautiful Ari. I know I'm probably the last person to want to hear from on Valentine's Day but I've learnt a lot whilst travelling over the last year. I was in Paris which is beautiful and so filled with love, and I realised what I wanted for my life. What I want to do, where I want to do it and who I want by my side as I do it. I love you Ariana May and I'll find a way to make things up to you. I'll see you at Easter."

Using her bed post to hold herself up, Ariana blew the curls out of her face and closed her eyes. "Why does he do this to me?" she moaned, running her hand through her hair. "Just when things were starting to go right." Her hand clutched at the postcard, bringing to close to her chest.

"He's ready for you," Hugo told her, poking his head round her door. "Have a good night!"

Ariana snapped out of her trance, tucking the postcard behind herself until Hugo had left. Then she hid it under her pillow before grabbing her bag and heading out to meet Sebastian in the common room. As she slowly made her way down the stairs, trying not to trip over her heels, she also tried to shake Albus out of her mind. Trust him to worm his way in.

A touch distracted her from thoughts of Albus. "Everything ok gorgeous?" Sebastian asked, kissing her cheek softly.

Without meaning to, Ariana's mind took her to back to Albus. He always called her 'beautiful' and always showered her in kisses, whether she wanted him to or not. She remembered when he took her to the Valentine's Ball and his lips wouldn't leave her skin, not even for a drink. It was such a contrast to Sebastian.

"Everything's perfect," she replied, smoothing her lips into a smile.

She wouldn't let Albus ruin her last Valentine's Ball.

###

Kicking her feet up on top of Jesse's on the bonnet, Dominique took the popcorn box from his grip and snuggled into his side. "Why are we watching a film outside on the side of a building?" she whispered, nuzzling into his side and kissing the bare skin on his neck. "I haven't seen you since New Year's Eve. I thought you would just want to sneak into a hotel and have sex all night."

"Where's the romance in that?" Jesse exclaimed quietly, kissing the top of her head and grabbing a handful of popcorn. "My little sister made me watch loads of crap Muggle films over Christmas and this was what one of the guys did for his girlfriend in the film."

"Ok but I'm freezing," she hissed back at him, moving closer until she was pressed right up against him. "Plus I have no idea what is going on in this film."

Jesse laughed and rummaged in his pocket. "It's a good job I'm a wizard then Miss Weasley," he told her before casting a Heating Charm on the blanket that was wrapped around them. "As for the film, I don't think the characters in the film I watched actually paid attention either," he added seductively as his lips moved to dot kisses all the way down her face to the corner of her mouth.

Dominique's eyes lit up. "Oh, a plot twist," she gasped, tilting her head up with a smirk on her lips. "I think this film just got a little bit more interesting," she giggled, pushing herself up on Jesse's body to look him in the eye.

"I love you Tricks," he murmured against her lips before kissing her sweetly. He lifted her body on top of his, despite them being in a field with other couples, showering the pair of them in popcorn.

She giggled, picking popcorn out of her hair. "Back at you," she laughed, popping popcorn in her mouth before dropping it into Jesse's mouth. "Happy Valentine's Day."

###

Hugo headed back to his Head Boy quarters, walking in the opposite direction to every other student who were all dressed in their finest dress robes and moving for the Great Hall. Although he was sad he wouldn't be going to the Ball like everyone else, he wouldn't want to go without Kaleb, and seeing as his boyfriend wasn't a student anymore, they couldn't go together.

After their sixth year, during the summer, Hugo had stuck to his promise and after a few dinners, had started dating Kaleb secretly. Their friends and cousins knew but neither his nor Kaleb's parents knew. Hugo wasn't ready to come out yet. So they kept it quiet, meeting whenever they had the chance.

And when Hugo started seventh year, Kaleb would sneak into the castle using the fireplace in the Head Boy and Girl quarters.

"What are you doing here?" Hugo exclaimed, stepping into the entrance room of his and Lily's quarters.

Stretched out on one of the sofas, with his feet on the coffee table like he was truly at home, Kaleb looked up from his book with a twinkling smirk on his face that Malfoy would have been proud of. "Did you really think I would miss my first Valentine's Day with you?" he joked, pushing himself up onto his feet and crossing the room to wrap him up in his arms. "Of course I'm here," he murmured, running his long fingers through Hugo's hair and lifting his head up so their lips could meet.

"It's like you knew I was thinking about you and then you appeared," Hugo replied, leading him to one of the comfy sofa's that surrounded the fireplace. "I wish you would have given a guy some warning though."

Kaleb smiled and pulled Hugo onto his lap until they slotted together like pieces of a puzzle. "Did you miss me?" he murmured into his ear, reaching for his wand and sending flames to the fireplace so that a fire roared in front of them.

"Of course I did," Hugo laughed, rolling over so he could look at Kaleb. "But not that much. I only saw you last weekend."

"You make it sound like such a chore!" he exclaimed with a raised eyebrow. "I'll remember that the next time I have to choose between seeing you and finishing my report."

Resting his arms on Kaleb's chest, Hugo placed his head on his arms and puckered his lips softly. "I want to tell you something, but I don't want to you to say anything you don't mean. I'd rather you say nothing then lie to me," he murmured, gulping hard. His heart fluttered and his palms grew sweaty.

Kaleb tilted Hugo's head to look up at him instead of the flickering flames. "Hugh?" he murmured, his voice surrounding worried. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I love you," Hugo confessed, without thinking. "And I don't want you to say it back if you don't believe it."

"And why wouldn't I say it back?" he replied, his body relaxing as the worry and tense leaked out and a smile grew on his face. "Why wouldn't I want to tell my beautiful boyfriend how much I love him? Because I do – I love you so much that it scares me. All these feelings I have for you, they feel so alien and yet so right. I can't explain it-."

"You don't have to," Hugo interrupted, lifting himself a little bit further up Kaleb's body. "We grew up thinking that love was something between a man and a woman. We saw our parents and we hoped for a love like theirs but we never expected to feel like kind of love for someone of the same sex. That doesn't make what we feel wrong."

A fierceness glowed in Kaleb's brown eyes. "I may not understand completely the way I feel about you, but that doesn't mean that I don't know that I love you. Every morning, I wake up missing up, expecting you to be there when I roll over and every night I fall asleep, imagining your lips pressed on mine. If I'm to be sure of one thing in my life, it's that I love you."

Hugo kissed his boyfriend with all the passion he had in him, trying to show his love instead of say it. "If you stayed tonight, you could wake up next to me. We could even stay in bed all day if you wanted."

"The best Valentine's Day ever," Kaleb whispered, his lips pressing back on Hugo's.

###

This was turning out to be the worst Valentine's Day ever.

After she had finished her classes and grabbed a small dinner in her room, she squeezed in a quick training session with the team, seeing as they were playing Hufflepuff on the Sunday and had to play their best – according to her mum, scouts were coming to the game. Then she trained a bit by herself, practicing her sprints and pull-ups. She knew inside the castle, everyone was probably getting ready for the Ball but flying helped put all of that, along with all thoughts of Scorpius, out of her head. It was just her and the sky.

But it quickly became too dark to fly, so she landed and took the longest and hottest shower of her life. Only when her skin had shrivelled up and red raw, did she decide to get out. Then she plodded up to the castle, taking the long way to her quarters so she wouldn't meet any Valentine lovers on their way to the Ball, which unfortunately made her think of Scorpius.

She missed him more and more every day; his messy blonde hair, his grey eyes, his strong arms wrapping around her, his nose burying itself into her hair, especially his soft warm lips on hers. Without him, she felt so alone, but it was probably better this way. He wanted more than she could give, and she couldn't lead him on to believe that everything was alright.

Hot tears streaked down her face but she quickly wiped them away, muttering her password and stepping through the opening in the wall that appeared. Immediately she was hit by a wall of heat, emanating from the burning fireplace Kaleb and Hugo were cuddled up in front of. Her heart tightened as she saw the two of them embracing, reminding her again of Scorpius.

"Hi Lilykins," Kaleb called out over Hugo's head, lifting a hand up to wave at her.

Hugo sat up, running a hand through his tousled hair as Lily's attention drew to his dishevelled clothes, making her blush for interrupting whatever she had walked in on. "I thought you were on patrol this evening. If you need me to cover you-."

"Oh no!" Lily quickly said, not wanting to interrupt their night more than she had. Someone deserved happiness even if she didn't. "I just came back to drop my Quidditch stuff off and grab my cloak. I'm patrolling the dungeons tonight and it's freezing down there." With a small smile, she ducked her head down and headed straight for her room, nibbling on her bottom lip.

Inside, she dropped her bag by her laundry basket and then rummaged around her messy room for her cloak, collecting her gloves as well. Then she tucked her wand into the waistband of her thermal leggings and headed back out. As she passed her cousin and his boyfriend, they said goodbye and Lily was going to leave it at that.

But she had to know.

"Kaleb," she called out, her voice cracking with emotion. "How is he?" There was no need to explain who he was, it was obvious to everyone in the room just by the teary look on her face.

Sighing to himself, Kaleb pushed his hair from his saddened face. "He's about as good as you are Lils," he told her, the worry for his best friend audible in his voice. "He needs you Lily and judging from what Hugh's told me, you need him."

"It's better this way," Lily muttered, biting on her lip before darting out of the room. She didn't want them to see her cry.


Author's Note: I know this is the shortest chapter since the beginning of this story but it is merely a filler - just so you know a little bit of what happened during their seventh year. My work load is horrendous but I'm trying to balance everything and hopefully I'll get better and my stories will be updated quicker.

If you like the story, if you don't like the story, leave your thoughts in the review box.

In the next chapter, just to wet your appetites, Lily leaves Hogwarts. There's a party. Lily and Scorpius see each other for the first time since they broke up. Someone reveals a secret. AND someone ends up in hospital.

And on that bombshell ...