'How many times are you going to read that?' Fides yowled at Lily. He lay sprawled belly-up at the end of her bed, taking up the last patch of the setting sun that beamed in through her window.

Lily ignored him, keeping her eyes on the page of Scorpius's letter which she held up in front of her. She was laying on her back on top of her quilt trying to absorb enough of the happiness his words gave her to get rid of the uneasy feeling that had been in the pit of her stomach since she had left Borgin and Maudit's. Too afraid and embarrassed to confront Mr Malfoy again, she had left the attic above the shop through the window, climbing over the tiled roof and down a drain pipe in her fox form.

It had been over a week since then but the memory of Scorpius's father's cold silver eyes still unnerved her. She wondered what Scorpius was doing now, whether he was at Borgin and Maudit's, or whether it was closed for Christmas Eve. She couldn't quite imagine what it would be like to spend Christmas with only your father and grandfather. Her family home was always full to the brim with people on such occasions.

'Someone's coming you know' Fides purred lazily from her feet.

Lily sat up quickly and jumped off the bed. She lunged towards her desk, pulled open a drawer and stuffed the pages inside. Just as she slammed the drawer shut she heard her door open. Turning around, she found herself face to face with a grinning Teddy who was dressed in his pin-striped work robes.

'You look like you've seen a ghost!' Teddy exclaimed, turning his face and hair a pasty white for effect. 'Aren't you happy to see me?'

Lily rolled her eyes and walked over to give him a hug. She hadn't seen him since summer. Whatever he had been doing lately for the International Magical Trading Standards Body had certainly been keeping him busy.

'Is dad here too?' Lily asked suddenly as she pulled out of their hug. If he had come back from the Ministry, she thought perhaps they might have flooed back together.

Teddy wore a mixed expression; part amused, part offended.

'Do I not get you to myself for even two minutes?' he asked sulkily.

Lily let out a little gasp and bolted past him through the door and down the stairs.

'Dad?' she looked around the empty kitchen before rushing down the hall. 'Dad!'

James and Albus had gotten there ahead of her. They stood with Ginny at the end of the hall, in the entryway where Harry was still taking off his coat.

Seeing as how it seemed like they had already gotten their hugs, Lily pushed past James and Albus and ran straight into Harry's arms. He still had one arm inside his coat, the other end of which he let drop to the floor, so that he could reciprocate her embrace.

'And here I was thinking you'd grown out of hugs' Harry said warmly, sounding pleased. He was thinner than Lily remembered him and he had circles under his eyes.

'Dad, I have something I need to talk to you about…' she told him as she pulled away.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at her, a worried expression forming on his face. But Ginny was quick to interject.

'How about we let your father put his things down and eat a proper meal first'

She stepped forward and put two hands to Harry's back so that she could gently usher her husband along the hall towards the stairs.

Lily forced herself to wait patiently by the dinner table as her father went upstairs to his study to set down his belongings. She made sure to get the table set whilst her mother stirred a pot of stew with her wand until it was steaming and ready to serve.

Soon enough Harry had arrived back downstairs, changed out of his Ministry robes and into a much more casual ensemble made up of a burgundy cardigan and black jeans. Once Teddy, Albus and James had taken their seats at the table alongside Ginny and Lily, it was (for the first time in a long time) a complete Potter family dinner.

Though he was trying not to show it, Harry appeared tired. He was unusually brief in his answers as he fielded question after question from Albus and James about how his work at the Ministry was going and whether he had made any progress with regards to the Noirmorter outbreak. Lily found it hard to follow along with the conversation. All she could think about was how she was going to phrase her concerns about Raleigh this time in a way that would force her father to heed her warning.

Teddy appeared to interpret Lily's silence as disinterest and was subsequently trying to get her to laugh by changing his face into the faces of various animals in quick succession. It was a trick that had worked well in cheering Lily up when she was between the ages of five and eleven, but not so much now. Lily looked back at him with a blank face.

'Everything alright Lils?' Teddy asked, his face still in the form of a donkey's.

Harry looked over at her then, as though suddenly remembering what she had said to him in the entrance.

'What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?' he asked her with a creased brow.

Lily returned her father's look with an anxious expression. Then, before she could stop herself, she looked over at Albus to gauge his expression. His face instantly hardened and she knew she'd made a mistake.

'I'd rather talk in private' she mumbled looking down at her plate again.

'Oh, well… alright…' Harry shot her a perplexed look. 'Privacy' was a fairly foreign concept in the Potter household. Even information shared independently between two members of the family soon spread around the Potter and Weasley families through the endlessly talkative chain of cousins, uncles and aunts.

'I think if it concerns someone at this table, then it should be said here and now' Albus let his fork fall onto his plate with a clatter as he folded his arms and shot Lily a cold look.

'I never said it was about you' Lily said quickly, her heart pounding. She knew the reddening of her ears was a dead giveaway, and she cursed herself for it.

'Neither did I' Albus shot back. He clenched his jaw as he continued to glare at her from across the table.

'What is going on here?' Ginny cut in from the head of the table. She looked from Lily to Albus and back again.

'Albus is getting lessons from Professor Raleigh again' Lily blurted out. She hadn't wanted to bring it up this way, but if Albus was going to force her hand, she would just have to do it in front of everyone. It was too important to keep to herself any longer.

'Yes I know' Harry said calmly, blinking back at her. 'Albus sent me a letter saying so'

Albus shot Lily a smug look, but she ignored him.

'Professor Raleigh-' Lily took a deep breath and steadied her nerves. '-is not safe. He's behind all of this. He's behind the Noirmorter outbreak-'

'Lily-' Harry began softly. He was giving her a sympathetic look that made words rise in her throat in frustration.

But just as Lily opened her mouth again, Albus snorted and shook his head her.

'You're unbelievable!' he said snidely. 'You really just can't accept that he sees potential in me. Instead you'd rather make up some insane story to smear his reputation, based on nothing but some misguided hunch-'

'It's not a hunch!' Lily's voice rose angrily and she stood up out of her chair. She glared right back at him now. 'He's making you do things for him and you don't even realize! He made you attack me during our duel at Hogwarts and he made you steal-'

Lily stopped herself just in time. She didn't want to get Albus in trouble; stealing the resurrection stone from the Supreme Mugwump was not a crime that could be let off with a light punishment, even if your father did happen to be the Head of the Auror Office.

'Steal what?' Albus asked incredulously. He was looking at her as though she were mad. 'What in Merlin's name are you on about?'

'Lily, we investigate and screen everyone who takes on a job at Hogwarts' Harry spoke up quickly. 'The Auror Office has been doing that since Barty Crouch Junior impersonated Mad-eye to sneak into the Defense Against the Dark Arts role in my forth year-'

Lily looked over at her father in surprise. She hadn't known about this.

'We investigated him like we do every other Professor who walks through those castle doors' Harry went on firmly. 'And he was clean. Absolutely clean. Better than that in fact; he has a history of working with the Ministry to fight back against the Anguis-'

'Durer's trial?' Lily burst out. 'You mean in Josephus Durer's trial? He provided evidence against him, didn't he? What was it? What did he say?'

Harry looked startled for a moment, before he firmly shut his mouth and clenched his jaw. He seemed to have realized he had already said too much.

'That's classified information Lily…'

The table fell into an uncomfortable silence as Lily gave her father a hard, determined look and Harry avoided her eyes. Teddy was looking on in astonishment, his donkey snout open revealing buck teeth. Ginny appeared just as puzzled.

'Is this why you three have been acting so hostile towards each other all holidays? Because of an argument about Professor Raleigh?' Ginny asked. James threw his hands up defensively.

'I don't care about the Professor! I just want him to play Quidditch' He pointed an accusatory finger at Albus as though the crime of quitting the team was far worse than anything Lily had brought up. Lily ignored him, keeping her eyes set on her father's face.

'I'm telling you dad, Albus may not realize it, but Raleigh has been doing something to him. Using magic on him. Hurting him-' she appealed to him desperately.

'You're absolutely bonkers!' Albus cried at her with frustration. 'I'm fine! I don't know where on earth this is coming from-'

'But you were crying- don't you even remember?' Lily yelled. 'You were crying in the boy's bath-!' she stopped suddenly at the sight of Albus's face. He had gone completely white and was looking at her with a glint of terror in his eyes that she had not anticipated.

The room fell into a tense silence as Albus slowly stood up out of his chair and lent forward, glowering at Lily. He looked as though he wanted to lunge across the table and grab her by the shoulders but instead he opened his mouth and hissed;

'Whatever your boyfriend told you is a lie'

Lily felt the skin on her neck prickle. Her lips parted and she widened her eyes at her brother begging him not to say anything further.

'Boyfriend?'

Both James and Teddy's voices sounded at once. Looking around, Lily realized that every pair of eyes at the table was now on her. Her father looked utterly confused.

Lily silently slid back into her chair and picked up her fork.

'What boyfriend?' Harry asked, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Lily gave her head a little shake.

'I don't have a boyfriend' she said shortly, shooting Albus a threatening look. Albus rolled his eyes, but thankfully kept his mouth shut.

'Which year is he in?' James demanded. It was Lily's turn to roll her eyes.

'I just said I don't have a boy-'

'Does he play quidditch? What position? Do I know him?' James was so carried away with his questioning that he didn't seem to have registered that she had spoken.

'The point is-' Lily said loudly, '-that I think Professor Raleigh has been doing something to Albus's memories and-'

'Aren't you a bit young to have a boyfriend?' Harry asked in a high voice. He was in a daze, facing Lily but with his eyes glazed over.

Meanwhile Teddy, looking intrigued, leaned over the table and said to Albus; 'Let me guess…'

'Lily's not that young dear' Ginny told Harry in a reasoning tone. 'She's older than I was when I started dating'

'I don't think Micheal Corner really counted as dating' Harry scoffed at Ginny dismissively.

Teddy transformed his face into that of Lysander's and cocked his head questioningly at Albus. Lily turned to scowl at him.

'Lysander is my best friend! We are not dating!' she objected. Teddy turned swiftly back into his blue-haired self.

'That was Lorcan actually' he replied with a shrug.

'Of course it counted! Why wouldn't Micheal count?' Ginny was now entirely distracted by Harry's assessment of her first relationship.

'It's not that bloody Pucey fellow is it?' James demanded from across the table, trying to get Lily's attention again. 'I swear to Godric Gryffindor, if it's Pucey I will never forgive-'

'What does Pucey look like?' Teddy cut in. He was expanding his chin out and widening his nose in a decidedly unflattering manner that looked nothing at all like Raul Pucey.

'I do not have a boyfriend!' Lily repeated firmly. 'Are any of you even listening to me? I'm telling you that Professo-'

'Who's Pucey?' Harry had turned to James now for information. 'What's wrong with him?'

Lily let out a groan. She got up out of her chair and headed towards the stairs so that she could retreat into her room. To her relief Albus stood up too and walked swiftly out of the dining room towards his own bedroom.

Lily shot him a resentful look as he walked past her but he refused to meet her eyes.


When Lily awoke on Christmas morning, she found a small package wrapped in brown parchment and string beside her pillow.

'A raven left that here this morning' Fides told her in a soft purr. He was still half asleep, curled up comfortably in the crook of Lily's neck.

Lily sat up with her back against the bed board and set the package down in her lap to examine it. It was wrapped in the same way as the presents she had seen Scorpius receive from his family in her second year. Only this package did not have a note attached to the outside. Feeling a little nervous, she slowly untied the string and carefully peeled back the layers of parchment.

There was a small white card inside, which read;

Joyeux Noël mon amour. It's not much, but I thought it might look nice in your hair.

There was no signature, but having studied it religiously over the past week, Lily knew instantly that the handwriting belonged to Scorpius. Feeling terribly guilty that she had not prepared anything to send him for Christmas, Lily opened the last few layers of the parchment to find a neatly folded ribbon of french lace inside.

Embroidered with soft white silk, it was giving off a sweet scent. She lifted it to her nose and inhaled. It smelt just like the white lilies that grew outside the lounge room window at her family's home in Thiramard. He must have enchanted it, Lily realized with a smile. She made a mental note to scold him for using magic outside of school for something so silly.

Lily avoided going downstairs straight away. James's incessant questioning had continued at every opportunity since yesterday's disastrous Christmas Eve dinner. It had gotten to the point where Lily had begun outright ignoring him and he had instead turned to Albus for answers. Whilst Lily was still too annoyed at Albus to feel thankful about it, she was relieved that he refrained from uttering another word on the topic, even when questioned.

But when she heard the sound of Grandma Molly calling out a cheerful 'Merry Christmas' down the hall, Lily knew that she needed to go downstairs to face her family, or else they would begin coming upstairs to find her.

She put on a well-worn corduroy pinafore over leggings and boots. Then she reached for Scorpius present and used it to tie her hair back in a pony tail. Even when tied in a bow the ribbon was longer than her short hair but she didn't mind. She felt stupidly euphoric at the thought that she now had something from him to keep her company throughout the day.

Lily skipped her way down the stairs, which were covered in the Golden Smilax vine that usually adorned the stairs at the Burrow each Christmas. Ginny, it seemed, was intent on making sure this year felt just as festive as always despite the venue change.

The moment Lily stepped into the kitchen she was immediately engulfed in a hug. She hardly had time to register the flash of brown curls and the lopsided grin.

'Lubotubily!' Lysander cried happily. He picked her up and gave her a spin in his arms.

'Lysander? You came!' Lily was pleasantly surprised. Lysander never seemed to feel it was necessary to let her know in advance when he was coming to her house, but she liked that about him and quite enjoyed the surprise. 'Is Auntie Luna here too? And Lorcan?'

Lysander set her down again and nodded enthusiastically.

'Lorcan has brought an amazing selection of tree branches with him' he told her excitedly.

Lily had no idea why Lorcan might have brought such things nor why they should be excited about it but she grinned back at him all the same.

Before Lily had time to request more information about the branches, James sauntered into the kitchen. To Lily's surprise Johnathan was by his side. As his family lived nearby their Thiramard home, it wasn't unusual for him to turn up at their house or even at the Burrow on Christmas Day, but she hadn't expected him to come all the way to Grimmauld Place this year.

James halted when he caught sight of Lysander and called out to him from across the room.

'Hey Scammander!'

Lysander turned to face James with curious, unblinking eyes. 'Yes?'

'You going out with my sister?' James asked roughly, looking him up and down skeptically. Lily rolled her eyes and walked past her older brother and out of the kitchen to go and find Lorcan.

'Not that I know of…' she heard Lysander reply uncertainly to James. Then he yelled out after Lily nonchalantly; 'Lubotubily! Are we going out?'

'No Lysander!' Lily yelled back just as casually. She had found Lorcan in the lounge room sitting on the floor surrounded by the tree branches and had rushed over to give him a hug.

'No' Lysander told James cheerfully, before skipping out of the kitchen and joining Lily and Lorcan in the lounge room.

The three spent the rest of the day right into the evening whittling objects out of wood using the carpentry tools that Lorcan had brought back from his violin crafting school in Germany. Lily chose a Hawthorn branch and with Lorcan's guidance whittled it into a thick ring with intricate celtic patterns. Lysander happily lent her the use of his index finger, which Lily knew was about the same size as Scorpius's, so that she could size it correctly. Lily had seen Scorpius wearing rings on various occasions, the largest of which was the silver one engraved with the Maudit 'M' that he had inherited from his mother. Despite the feeling of gloom that had been hanging over her since her argument with Albus the day before, Lily couldn't help but smile as she worked away at the wood. She hoped he would like it and the process of making it reminded her that she would soon be back at Hogwarts where she could see him again.

By the time the sun had set, James (with a reluctant Johnathan) had returned to try his hand at questioning her again. He lazed across the arm of the lounge, watching Lily fiddle with the engravings on her wooden creation.

'Why do you look so happy?' he asked her suspiciously.

'It's Christmas' Lily shot back annoyed.

'Your hair looks nice' Johnathan pointed out. He had been trying to take James's attention off of the thought of Lily's potential boyfriend all day, but nothing seemed to be working.

'Oh yeah!' James sat up straight suddenly and tried to crane his neck to get a better look at the back of Lily's head. 'What's up with that?'

'I brushed it' Lily said dismissively. 'You should try it sometime'

She knew that James's messy hair (an inheritance from Harry) was a source of frustration for him and hoped the barb would be enough to distract him. But alas, James was unperturbed.

'Since when do you wear girly things in your hair?' he asked doubtfully.

'Since Victoire gave me a bunch of her old ribbons' Lily replied, keeping her eyes on her woodwork.

As though conjured up by Lily's mere mention of her, Victoire waltzed in through the lounge room door with Teddy trailing along after her, his hands around her waist. Teddy had on the same expression of dazed euphoria that he always seemed to wear when Victoire was present. It used to make Lily roll her eyes but now somehow his dopey smirk seemed all too familiar and she didn't feel like she could make fun of him for it anymore.

'What a beautiful ribbon Lily' Victoire cooed. James's eyes immediately narrowed.

Lily cleared her throat. 'Thanks' she mumbled. Then she got up and ran off to go find her uncle George before James could interrogate her further.


By eleven o'clock, most of the guests had left and Lily was exhausted. She had somehow managed to make it through an entire Christmas Day of whispered questions and curious looks from each and every one of her relatives without loosing her temper or melting anything. The feat had taken every ounce of self-control that she had, and now, left with very little energy, she lay face up on her bed in a daze.

Grandma Molly had seemed terribly chuffed by the whisperings of a boyfriend and appeared certain it was Lysander despite Lily's insistence to the contrary. Rose allowed Lily to deny the existence of said boyfriend but insisted that she confide in her whether, if such a person did happen to exist, she had shared a kiss with him yet (and if so when and where and what was it like?). Uncle George seemed to decide that the best way to warn Lily off boys was to regale her with tales of all the terrible pranks he had ever played on girls he had harbored feelings for during his time at Hogwarts.

Though Lily couldn't be sure whether there was some kind of deeper message or whether it was just another of her godmothers quirks, Luna gave Lily a detailed explanation about the mating practices of Erumpents and how it was quite common for males to accidentally blow themselves up in their excitement.

Teddy had carried on with his game of turning his face into people he suspected might be likely candidates until he had run out of people whom he knew that were around Lily's age. Then he started to simply transform his features at random in the hope that he might startle her into admission with a resemblance.

It came as no surprise to Lily then when there was a knock at her door as she lay exhausted on her bed.

'What do you want now James?' Lily whined, putting her palms to her face.

'Sorry, I just wondered if I might talk to you for a bit…' Johnathan's voice sounded from the other side of the door. Lily sat up in surprise. She slipped off her bed and went over to open the door.

'What's the matter? Has something happened with James?' Lily looked up at him with concern. It would be just like James to have created mischief and gotten himself into trouble right before bed.

'No I just-' Johnathan cleared his throat awkwardly. 'Can I come in?'

'Yeah, of course' Lily took a step backwards and opened the door just enough so that he could slip inside. She looked on perplexed as Johnathan shuffled over to her bed and sat hesitantly down on it.

He was wearing a serious expression and was looking down at his hands which he held together in his lap. His chestnut hair fell into his eyes but he didn't bother to brush it back. Lily walked over to the bed and sat down on it cross-legged facing him.

'What did you want to talk about?' she asked.

'It's silly' Johnathan said slowly, a small smile playing on his lips. 'But I wanted to know if it was true…'

'Er…' Lily was distracted by the sight of Fides who had just woken up and was now perched behind Johnathan on the bed licking his paws. 'If what was true?'

'The boyfriend thing' Johnathan's eyes flickered over to hers before returning to his lap again.

Lily let out a groan. She had expected this from her brothers and Teddy but not him; James truly was a bad influence.

'Merlin, please not that again! Why oh why is everyone so obsessed wi-'

'I guess I just wanted to know if I was too late' Johnathan cut across her quickly. He turned to look her steadily in the eyes and took a deep breath.

'Too late for what?' Lily asked in confusion. Fides let out a long disgruntled meow, but she didn't catch what he said.

Johnathan let out the breath he had been holding and gingerly moved his hand across the bed covers until the back of his fingers were touching Lily's.

Lily looked down at where their hands lay on the bed, brushing against each other. Then her eyes widened and she quickly pulled away.

Seeing the startled look on her face, Johnathan shuffled backwards and lowered his eyes again.

'Seems like I am too late' he sighed.

'Wh-what?' Lily spluttered stupidly. 'I don't understand- you don't… I mean you never…'

Johnathan smiled ruefully. He sighed again and covered his face with his hands.

'I didn't want to make things weird with James… or your family. You've all always been so good to me. I didn't want to overstep and make you feel uncomfortable… but Merlin, I really like you Lily. And I was waiting- like an idiot I was waiting until after I graduated to let you know because I thought it wouldn't be fair to bring it up whilst I was trying to get a job in your father's office…'

Lily could hardly believe what she was hearing. Johnathan had been such a constant presence in the Potter household ever since she was a little girl. She had never ever, not once, suspected that he might think of her as anything but James's energetic, amusing little sister.

'John, there are about a million girls at Hogwarts who would happily eat earwax flavoured beans to get the chance to go out with you' Lily told him. 'You don't need to limit yourself… I mean, you probably just feel that way because you spent a lot of time with me, but I'm not the only choice out there…'

Johnathan took his hands away from his face and turned to look her in eyes.

'I've only ever wanted you' he told her firmly.

Lily's heart seemed to skip a beat. She quickly turned her face away as her ears reddened.

Johnathan shifted on the bed, leaning forward to try to catch her eyes again.

'Please tell me that I'm not too late to convince you to give me a chance'

Lily's hand flew instinctively upward to touch the ribbon on her hair. She swallowed and took a deep breath.

'I'm sorry… I- there's someone else that I like…' she told him softly.

Johnathan let out a long sigh.

'Please don't tell James' Lily added with an apologetic wince.

'I knew it… what a prat I've been' Johnathan chuckled ruefully.

Lily opened her mouth and closed it again. Her mind was racing but she didn't know what to say.

To her surprise, Johnathan stood up off the bed suddenly and turned to her.

'Can you do me a favor?'

Lily nodded uncertainly.

'Can you forget we had this conversation?' Johnathan's handsome blue eyes implored her. 'I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me. It would be nice if things could go back to how they were before'

Lily nodded again, watching his expression carefully.

Seeming relieved, Johnathan nodded a thanks and turned to walk towards the door. But he stopped with his hand on the handle and turned back around again.

'And you'll let me know if you change your mind about this fellow you like?' he asked with a playful smile.

Lily found she couldn't look him in the eyes now.

'I don't think that I will…' she said quietly blushing.

Before Lily had time to gather her nerves and look up at him again, the door clicked shut and he was gone.

She let out the breath she had been holding and flopped back onto her bed. Fides trotted over and climbed onto her stomach.

'That was spectacularly dense, even for you' he purred in amusement.

'Shut up' Lily moaned. She massaged her temples with her fingertips, as though trying to knead her scattered thoughts into something cohesive that would make sense of all of this.

'You're not going to tell me you really didn't see this coming?' Fides purred on mercilessly. 'No boy gives a girl the name Goddess of Gryffindor without hidden intentions'


A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you for the feedback on the last chapter xoxo

Someone mentioned that there hasn't been a lot of Fides or Lysander lately. I'm sorry about that! It wasn't intentional, I just got to a part of the story where I wanted to focus more on the Poppy/Lily and Scorpius/Lily relationships. I find it hard to do that with too many characters in the scene, but please do let me know if you have any feedback about anything you find unnatural/ characters you feel are being left out (because sometimes I just don't realize!).

Anyway, I know a lot of you were hoping this would be the chapter were everyone found out about Scorpius (sorry!). There was an important plot specific reason that couldn't happen yet. But I promise you it will be SOON (like really soon).

Please, please, please review. I've stayed up two nights in a row writing this chapter and your feedback means a lot to me! xox

P.S. Oh, also! If anyone was confused by the underwear part in the last chapter, please go back and read Book 2, Ch15: A Gift for a Hufflepuff! I feel like it is important that you know that Scorpius did not steal Lily's underwear (that would be weird and out of character lol).