I hope everyone is doing okay in those sucky times! Stay safe :)

The less I know the better

.

.

Lily had always liked Mondays. Just like she liked waking up early. There just was something about the beginning of the day or the beginning of the week that called to her. Starting a new week, meant that you could forget the last one if it had been bad, or try to top it if it had been great. It was the occasion to take a fresh start. Some people waited until New Year's Eve, to try and make resolutions and start fresh. For her, every Monday was like the 1st of January.

On this particular Monday, Lily felt extremely good. Excessively good maybe, if there was such a thing.

Her day had started smoothly with breakfast with Lorcan and Lysander. Her morning classes had gone quickly and without problems. Before lunch, she had bumped into McLaggen, who had flirted shamelessly with her, as he did with everyone else. She then had lunch with Rose and Joanna, who still weren't officially out yet, but formed the most adorable couple in her opinion. And after her afternoon classes, she had met with Alec Zabini in the library where he had told her that the Slytherin "competition" to sleep with her was at a standstill.

All in all, a very promising first day of the week. She really didn't understand how people could dislike, even sometimes hate, Mondays.

And she knew that the best part of her day was yet to come. Scorpius and she had to do prefect rounds in the dungeons tonight, where an empty broom closet would be waiting for them to take a break from patrolling. Just thinking about it made colours rise to Lily's cheek and a warm feeling bloom inside her chest. Her moments with Scorpius were simply her favourite parts of the day. It wasn't just the -amazing- sex part. Sometimes, albeit rarely, they didn't have sex at all, and she still enjoyed every minute spent in Scorpius' company. Seeing him always lifted her spirit up. It was like spending time with a best friend, just with a little more snogging.

Scorpius was already waiting down the stairs to the dungeon when Lily arrived. He was leaning against a wall next to the staircase, lost in his thoughts. Even with this distant and somewhat forlorn expression, he looked handsome. It intensified his mysterious and supposedly cold persona. When Lily saw him like that, she just wanted to melt the ice out of his expression.

"Have I kept you waiting?" she asked him suavely, as she leaped from the last few stairs to the ground.

Scorpius turned toward her, but his expression didn't soften like it usually did.

"You're right on time, don't worry," he answered, offering Lily a grin that didn't reach his eyes completely.

"Hard day?" the Gryffindor inquired, immediately sensing that something was amiss.

"You have no idea," he sighed, starting to walk alongside her in the corridor.

Assuming it had something to do with classes, Lily dropped the subject. According to Alec Zabini and Rose, the seventh-year workload had been greatly increased in preparation for their NEWTs. And even though Scorpius was an excellent student, he was still human, and with all his other activities such as Head Boy, Quidditch or even seeing her, it was normal for him to start feeling tired.

"The Christmas break will arrive soon. Do you know if you'll be going back home or stay here?" Lily asked him, opting for a not-so-subtle subject change.

The question was more rhetorical than anything. Never had either of them spent the Christmas break, or any break for that matter, at Hogwarts. They both had a loving family impatiently waiting for their return, after all.

"My grandmother keeps writing me about Christmas," Scorpius said "It seems like she is planning twice as many receptions and dinners as last year. I couldn't choose to stay at Hogwarts even if I wanted to," he snorted.

"She's still trying to find a new match for your father, isn't she?" Lily laughed, knowing of Narcissa's failed attempt.

"Apparently," Scorpius answered, a grin slowly gaining on his tired expression "But I get the feeling that this time, I will be the focus of her matchmaking skills,"

"You? Really?" Lily laughed lightly "And you are going to let her?"

"I can't deny my grandmother her fun, Lils," the Slytherin said, teasing "There is no need to tell her now that she will have as much success with me as she's had with my father,"

"That poor lady is just trying to look out for her family after all," Lily nodded with a mock smile "Has she someone in mind for you already?"

"I think Blair Flint might be in the running," Scorpius frowned, remembering the cryptic witch.

Lily's expression mirrored his, a picture of Scorpius and Blair together flashing inside her mind.

"You would make a terrible couple," she said instantly. Not that she knew anything about Blair Flint except what everyone knew.

"I couldn't agree more. To be honest, she gives me the creeps," Scorpius confessed.

"Really? The mighty Malfoy heir is afraid of someone?"

"I never said I was afraid. But something about Flint makes me wary of her. I hadn't really paid any attention to her before my grandmother decided she would make a good Mrs. Malfoy, but now I can't help but find her suspicious,"

"Suspicious?" Lily raised an eyebrow in question.

"I don't know," Scorpius looked at Lily, surprised himself by his lack of words to describe his reaction to Blair "She kind of threatened to tell my grandfather about how close I was to Albus," he explained.

"Why would she ever do that?" Lily exclaimed, startled.

It was well known that Lucius Malfoy wasn't the biggest fan of the Potters. Unable to see the bigger picture, the patriarch of the Malfoy family only saw Harry as the reason he lost everything in the past, as irrational as that sounded.

The years that had followed the Second Wizarding War had been particularly hard for purebloods family and others who had been affiliated with Lord Voldemort. All his old-followers, or at least those that had survived the war, had stand trials, including Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy.

If none of them had served time in Azkaban, the trials had still damaged their family's reputation in more ways than one. In the eyes of most of the Wizarding World, they had been seen as Voldemort old supporter, but in the eyes of most pure blood, they had been seen as traitors.

It took them years and a lot of work from both Narcissa and Lucius to regain their place in the pure world society. It definitively did help that all who hated them for abandoning Voldemort got sentenced to Azkaban. Draco's marriage to Astoria Greengrass, another pureblood also helped to regain some prestige. But in the end, it was their money that reinstated them as one of the elite pureblood family. Money still held power, like it always had.

But the years they lived out as outcasts left severe traces and, in that time, Lucius Malfoy's hatred for Harry Potter had only festered.

Even though the Malfoy name had now been restored to its previous glory, at least in their pure blood circle, Lucius still held Harry Potter responsible for his momentary downfall. Of course, resenting the savior for defeating Lord Voldemort was completely insane, but then Lucius had never been the most logical person.

So of course, when his only son and heir started spending time with a Potter, Draco didn't tell his father. He decided to let sleeping dogs lie instead. Of course, Lucius knew that Albus was a Slytherin, (and had actually been extremely disturbed by the news) and so he must have known that his grandson and at least one of the Potters were "friendly". But he had no idea how deep that friendship went and he certainly didn't know how much time Scorpius spent at the Potter's or the Weasley's.

"I don't think she would go to my grandfather with this," Scorpius answered "There wouldn't be anything to gain from it for her. It would just serve to alienate my grandfather and probably start a fight between him, my father, and me,"

"That would be very counterproductive if her goal is to become the next Mrs. Malfoy," Lily agreed, feeling sad about Scorpius' situation.

She couldn't imagine what it was like to hide such an important part of herself from her grandparents. Because Scorpius was always at the Potter's, or at least with Albus. What was he even telling his grandparents about his life? There wasn't much that didn't include Albus in it.

"Maybe you should just tell your grandfather about Albus yourself. Times have changed," Lily suggested with a hopeful smile that Scorpius didn't turn to see "He probably would still get mad at first, but I'm sure he would get over it eventually,"

Scorpius stopped walking and turned slowly toward Lily.

"You're probably right" he simply said, "But when and how I tell my grandfather about this should be my choice and not because a manipulative bitch decided to blackmail me,"

Lily was taken aback by Scorpius' harsh words. Even though they weren't directed at her, and she could agree that Flint was taking it too far, she had never heard Scorpius be so crude about someone. At least not when they were alone and when he didn't have to assume the cold-hearted Malfoy heir mask.

"Are you okay, Scorpius?" she asked him, a little concerned.

She saw a flicker of pain and maybe panic go through his beautiful grey eyes, and she suddenly heard an alarm ringing in her ear. She was now wondering if stress and too much work were the only reasons behind his sour mood.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Scorpius let out with a deep sigh "This is maybe stressing me more than I thought, that's all. Don't worry your pretty little head," he added, ruffling Lily's hair with his left hand before he turned around and started walking again.

Lily hoped her face didn't show how much she had just hated that last comment and gesture.

They resumed their patrolling in an unusual silence that followed them through the empty corridors and classrooms they checked.

No make-out session in a broom closet for tonight then, Lily thought sadly.

Though she couldn't really understand where this evening had gone so wrong. She hadn't done anything, had she? She tried to start a new conversation with Scorpius a few times but to no avail. The Slytherin kept his answers short and to the point. He would make small talk, but with such detachment, that silence would have been better.

When their patrolling time finally came to an end, Lily still had no clue what was going on.

"So, I guess, I'll see you tomorrow," she said a little exasperated and a lot worried, not looking at Scorpius but at the floor instead.

She must have looked like a deflated balloon. Her heart certainly felt like one.

"Wait, Lily," Scorpius called out, "can we talk?" he added with a small smile, pointing toward a classroom door.

Finally, Lily thought. He just needed time before confiding in me.

She nodded, some hope returning as she followed him inside the empty classroom.

"So, hum, I think we should end this," Scorpius started as soon as the door was closed.

"End wh… Oh," Lily stuttered, feeling her deflated balloon-shaped heart sink to the bottom of her stomach, "You want to end this,"

Scorpius nodded, his face serious.

She hadn't been prepared for this. Not prepared at all. Immediately, she started putting on a brave face. She absolutely couldn't let Scorpius see how this was affecting her. And it was. It was affecting her so much. Much more than it should have.

Her heart shouldn't have felt like it was being torn apart. She shouldn't have been battling tears, nor biting her lower lip in an effort not to cry.

"Can I ask you why?" she managed to ask, in an almost normal voice.

"I think I'm starting to fall for someone," the blond wizard explained, looking at her intensely.

And just like that, Lily felt her heart being ripped in two.

"Oh," she whispered "Well, I guess there is nothing I can do there," she said with a very false, very pathetic laugh "Of course, we should end this,"

Who's the girl? Do I know her? Have you been seeing her at the same time?

All these questions bounced inside Lily's head, turning some of her pain into anger.

Scorpius on the other hand didn't look pained at all, rather relieved. Relieved to have told Lily that they had to stop seeing each other, relieved that she wasn't taking it too badly. That discussion had probably been what had put him in such a strange mood tonight actually. And here she had been worried he was feeling bad because of his family or for some other reason. But no, he had only been dreading telling her they were over. Lily snorted. Well, for them to be over, they'd first had to be something. And she didn't think friends with benefits really qualified as anything.

"I'm sorry, Lils," Scorpius said, his use of the childish nickname in such a serious moment, cutting her deeply, "It couldn't go on forever. It's better this way,"

"Don't worry Scorp, I understand," she said a little shortly, "We made the most of it, at least," she winked, using her anger to fake bravado and indifference.

They were standing only a few feet apart, but at this moment Lily felt so far away from Scorpius. Someone who she had learned to trust and with whom she had shared so much of her thoughts and emotions. And here she was, hiding her feelings from him as if her life depended on it.

But what she didn't know or see, was that Scorpius was also keeping a tight leash on which emotions he was showing. He could see that Lily was not okay. And he hated it. He hated having to hurt her, and that was the whole point why he had to stop this now. He couldn't let any of them get any more attached, because that would only end with even more hurt for both of them.

"I'm glad we talked about this," he said, "I just hope it won't be too difficult going back to just being friends," he tried joking while passing a hand through his hair.

"It will probably take a little time to get used to not seeing each other every day, but we'll manage," Lily answered with a small smile.

Scorpius resisted the urge to take a step toward her and take her in his arms. He didn't like that smile on her. He would have much rather have her scream at him, rather than have her forcing herself to smile.

"I think I'll go back to Gryffindor tower now," Lily said after a minute of silence.

"Just one more thing, Lils," Scorpius interrupted her before she turned around.

He saw her wince at the repeated use of her hated nickname. But that was also needed.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking him straight in the eyes, her hazel gaze burning him.

"Hum, I think that it would be easier for me if, …., if I didn't see you with another guy," he said "I mean, I'm not asking you not to see or date anyone. Just, don't be too obvious about it maybe?"

Lily frowned at his demand.

"And I will do the same for you, of course! That would probably help us going back to being just friends," he tried to justify himself.

But the truth was that he didn't know how he would react if he saw Lily kissing another bloke right now. He needed time to get over those bothering feelings he was having before he could tolerate such a thing. Maybe not even then.

"I guess it's a good idea," Lily conceded with a shrug "Is that all?"

And as Scorpius nodded, she turned around and exited the classroom with steady steps, leaving Scorpius all alone with his decision to end something that had been so good. He stayed in the room for another 10 minutes, pondering if he hadn't just made the biggest mistake of his life.