Lily lay sprawled out over the Headmistress's velvet couch, feeling truly exhausted. It was almost midnight by now. All of the students had been let out of the room of requirement and were being escorted back to their common rooms by the prefects. But Lily had been asked to wait there by her father. He wanted to speak to her in more detail about what had happened, but his first priority was to take care of Albus and that seemed to be taking a while.

The Headmistress had come back very briefly only to disappear again. With Raleigh still on the loose, Professor McGonagall's task now was to put up protective spells to prohibit him from re-entering the castle. So Lily was left alone again with no one but Fides and the portrait of the prince to keep her company.

'You found them then I take it?' Snape drawled.

'Yeah…' Lily sighed despondently. Her eyes flickered over to where the pensieve stood on its pedestal and her stomach churned.

'What's the matter then?' the hooked nose man asked.

'It's complicated Sir, you wouldn't understand' Lily mumbled.

Snape pursed his lips in annoyance.

'You don't think I've ever been through anything complicated?' he asked her silkily.

Lily let out a sigh and looked up at him.

'Have you ever seen someone you love be kissed by someone else?' she asked him bluntly.

Snape made a sour face.

'Yes' he muttered.

'And what did you do?' Lily wanted to know. 'What did you do to feel better about it?'

'I don't think my case is the best example…' Snape told her hastily. But Lily was too deep in her own spiral of despair to pay his response to her question much attention. Fides was purring in amusement, meowing something about 'rubbing old wounds', but Lily ignored him too.

'The worst part is,' she announced loudly and in a frustrated tone, 'it was all my fault! I had no idea what Albus was going through! I was the one to ask Scorpius to keep an eye on him, and I was the one to insist that we keep our relationship a secret-'

'I'm not sure I'm following' Snape shot her a perplexed look.

'I'm in love with Scorpius Malfoy!' Lily told him with exasperation, as though it were obvious. 'But if I let everyone know that then the whole history of his family's dark past is sure to be brought up again, that's all anyone will talk about, and then I don't even know how his family will react, whether they'll continue to let me see him- his father didn't seem too happy about the whole thing when he found out, and I don't quite know how my family will react to be honest-'

Lily had jumped up off of the couch and was pacing across the room with an agitated expression.

Snape cleared his throat loudly to try and regain her attention.

'Do you plan on being in love with him for a long time?' he asked in a soft voice, still looking somewhat embarrassed by the subject matter of their conversation.

'Yes' Lily responded quietly. She stopped pacing and her ears turned pink.

'Well then, it's not really a question of whether to tell everyone but when and how. It's bound to get out anyway I would imagine… especially if you're going around telling portraits, you must know how we talk…'

'You wouldn't Sir!' Lily shot back in outrage. But then she saw the corners of his lips twitch upwards into a smile, and she relaxed her shoulders with a sigh. He was just teasing her.

The door behind Lily opened with a click and she flew around in surprise. Her father was standing in the doorway looking immensely tired, but smiling wistfully at her all the same. Lily turned quickly back towards professor Snape's portrait to tell him to keep his mouth shut about the conversation they had just had, but he was gone, his golden frame empty.

'Why does everyone keep doing that?' she muttered to herself.

'Doing what?' Harry asked. But before Lily could answer he had walked across the room and pulled her into a quick hug.

'How is Albus?' Lily asked immediately.

'Much better than he could have been thanks to you' he told her, giving her a small smile and a pat on the back. 'I've taken him to St Mungo's. The Ministry wanted me to question him tonight, but I wanted to let him rest first'

'St Mungo's?' Lily was momentarily surprised. She hadn't realized that he would need healing.

'They can help him to sort out the real memories from the fake ones, and… try to heal the psychological wounds' Harry explained gently, seeming to read her thoughts. 'This isn't something anyone's ever seen before; the forced integration of false memories in combination with several prolonged instances of being put under the influence of the imperious curse' Harry said carefully, 'So he's getting the best help there is. Healer Cauldron is personally looking into how best to clear up his mind'

Lily nodded numbly. It all felt suddenly so serious and terrifying.

Harry squeezed her shoulder and gave her a kind look. 'As I said, he's much better off than he might have been if it hadn't have been for you discovering what Raleigh had been doing to him'

'And you,' Lily said firmly. She knew how he must be feeling now and she wanted to let him know she didn't blame him for what had happened to Albus. 'You told Professor McGonagall that she couldn't trust him after all, didn't you?'

Harry let out a sigh. Lily could see hurt behind his eyes, though he tried to keep his face bright.

'That was thanks to you as well' he told her with a feint smile.

'How do you mean?' Lily asked confused.

Harry rummaged around in a pocket of his robes. He pulled out the velvet bag Lily had stolen from his office and turned it upside down, emptying the contents out onto the Headmistress's desk.

'The poppets' Lily stood up and walked over to the desk. 'You found them!'

'Raleigh left them behind during the altercation at the Ministry' Harry said. 'I'm assuming it was you who took this bag and the other items from my office at Grimmauld place?'

Lily nodded sheepishly. 'I thought I could use them to break into Raleigh's office… so that I could find something to prove that he was up to no good…'

Harry nodded thoughtfully. To Lily's relief he didn't look in the least bit concerned about her act of thievery.

'And am I right in assuming it was you who removed these from the fountain hidden behind the bookcase in Raleigh's office?' Harry asked.

Lily nodded again. She wasn't surprised that Harry had already gone to investigate the professor's office. But she hadn't expected him to have known about the link between the poppets and the fountain, nor to have guessed that she was the one to have removed them.

'Then it was thanks to you that the Headmistress and myself were able to react in the way that we did' Harry told her firmly.

'What do you mean?' Lily furrowed her brows. She couldn't see how the two events were at all connected.

'Whilst I was taking Albus to St Mungo's, I had a team of specialists from the Ministry come to examine the fountain in that room' Harry told her. 'They concluded that what the fountain contains is a potion with a high content of Acromantula venom'

Lily's eyes widened. The motives for Linnea Munter's illegal culling and harvesting of Acromantula were finally clear.

'As I'm sure Hagrid would have taught you, Acromantula venom is a cocktail of magical neurotoxins which dull the senses and inhibit one's ability for reason and discernment. Raleigh was using it to prevent various Ministry and Hogwarts stakeholders from finding him suspicious'

Lily's mouth fell open.

'That's it!' she cried. A feeling of relief was already beginning to wash over her. Here was something that explained her father's disappointing reaction to her attempts to warn him about Raleigh. 'All this time, I couldn't understand why Professor McGonnagall was never concerned about Raleigh's actions, why she never thought to report him to the Ministry. Or why you never responded to what I told you about him! It was because Raleigh had those poppets of you submerged under all that venom. He was stopping you from thinking clearly-'

Harry let out a sigh. 'My failure to respond appropriately cannot be entirely explained away by that unfortunately. Even the strongest potions and spells can be fought off with enough conviction of the mind. It was my responsibility to protect the wizarding community from those who were using Noirmorter to attack them. More importantly, it was my duty as a father to protect you and Albus-'

'But you did in the end-!' Lily cut across him. Her heart stung at the look of self-reproach that Harry wore on his face.

'-your convictions won and you were able to see past him despite the enchantment he had you under-'

Lily stopped speaking at the sight of Harry shaking his head.

'What happened is that you took the poppets out of the fountain. It was yesterday evening, correct?'

Lily nodded. She didn't know how he could know that.

'That was when I started to feel anxious' Harry told her. 'I was in my office at the Ministry yesterday evening when all of a sudden I couldn't pay attention to the paperwork in front of me. I only thought about Raleigh and everything you had said about him to me up until that point. But I couldn't understand where the anxiety had come from so abruptly. I spent the whole night unable to sleep, unable to stop myself from worrying that all this time you had been right. By the time it was morning I had made up my mind to ask Professor McGonagall to evacuate all the students whilst I made the arrest'

Harry's sudden change of heart had seemed abrupt and unexpected to Lily too. If what he was saying was correct then it seemed highly likely that the catalyst had indeed been Lily's act of removing the poppets from the fountain.

'I think Professor McGonagall must had gone through the same sudden realization the night before that Raleigh was not who she thought he was because she was immediately willing to assist me' Harry concluded.

Lily remembered how Professor Montespan had abruptly decided to come and check in on Raleigh's defense against the dark arts class that morning. He had arrived just in time to help Scorpius. Lily now realized that he too must have awoken that morning plagued by suspicions against Raleigh that he had thus far been unable to properly discern due to the effects of the fountain's potion.

'So that's why he ran out of his office when he discovered that I had removed the poppets…' Lily said out loud to herself. 'He must have realized that you would all now be suspicious of him…'

Harry nodded.

'He wanted to ensure that we were put under the spell again as soon as possible. Once the poppets were out of the fountain, the spell was broken and he would need to perform it from scratch in order to recast it. That's why he headed straight for the Ministry. He wanted to get his hands on a strand of my hair or a fingernail- something he could use to remake the poppet. And so he came immediately to the Ministry and asked for a meeting with me. But by then of course it was too late. I was already planning on arresting him and he had walked right into my hands.'

'How did he get away?' Lily had been dying to ask but hadn't wanted to sound as though she were laying the blame on her father.

Harry sighed and looked down at the floor in front of him.

'There was a drawn out duel in which several of my best Aurors were injured. Raleigh is, unfortunately, even more skilled at the dark arts than his reputation implies he is. Even so, eventually we managed to have him cornered'

'But then what?' Lily took a deep breath.

'But then…' Harry looked off into the distance out the dark window at the other side of the Headmistress's office. 'He told me that he had you captive… that he had you trapped somewhere in Hogwarts'

Lily closed her eyes and sighed. By that time she had already managed to escape Raleigh's office. But neither he or her father could have known that.

'He said if I lowered my wand he would tell me where you were and that if I didn't he would never do so and you would starve to death hidden away somewhere in the castle' Harry said.

'You would have found me straight away' Lily said sadly. 'I was only trapped in his office. It would have been the first place you would have looked…'

Harry nodded glumly. 'I thought perhaps he has making an empty threat, but I couldn't tell if he was bluffing and I certainly couldn't take the chance if he wasn't. I hesitated, lowering my wand for a moment. It was enough and he took the chance to get away…'

Lily let herself fall back onto the Headmistress's velvet couch. To hear that her father had been so close to finally catching Raleigh only for him to lie and trick his way out was crushingly disappointing.

'Even having been freed of the effects of the Acromantula venom, in the end I still couldn't read Raleigh' Harry remarked. 'I couldn't tell what was lie and what was true. It seems quiet obvious to me now that Raleigh is a highly skilled Occlumens. He was able to shield his true nature and intentions from everyone he came into contact with, both those at the Ministry and at Hogwarts, by closing his mind off to them.'

Lily nodded along numbly. Harry watched her carefully as he spoke.

'Everyone, that is, except you' he finished softly.

Lily looked up at her father, returning his thoughtful gaze.

'Professor Montespan believes you may be naturally talented in the art of Legilimency due to your unique magical reflexes- the way that they are linked so closely with your emotions' Harry mused.

'Yes, I've heard that theory before' Lily mumbled. In her case, it hadn't been Professor Montespan who'd suggested it, but Scorpius.

To Lily's surprise her father's expression suddenly became much harder and he moved towards the couch to sit beside her.

'So you were trapped in Raleigh's office since last night' he said gently.

Lily lowered her eyes and nodded.

'What happened?' Harry's expression seemed to fall apart all at once, his eyes gleaming and his eyebrows knit with worry.

Lily swallowed and took a breath before she responded.

'Nothing as serious as what happened to Albus...'

Harry shook his head quickly in an attempt to discourage her from playing down the seriousness of her experience.

'...he tried to get me to tell him who else was suspicious of him. Besides myself, Poppy and Lysander…' Lily said slowly. She still wasn't quite sure how much she should mention about Scorpius, especially considering his sudden departure after her father had arrived.

'He hurt you?' Harry asked, trying to catch her eyes.

Lily's throat had gone dry and so she responded by giving him a slight nod. Harry seemed to understand a great deal from that one small action. He leaned forward to put his arms around her.

'I'm sorry' Harry whispered again.


On her way back from the Headmistress's office, Lily considered going to the Hospital Wing in search of Scorpius. But as she had a strong suspicion that he had not in fact returned there to have his wounds healed, she headed instead to the library.

Once there, she found Scorpius exactly where she had found him so many times before; siting at the small table behind the restricted section. He had his wand back and it appeared as though he had healed his leg himself.

When he noticed her presence, Scorpius immediately got up out of his chair, as though he had been waiting for her. Without a word, he strode over to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Lily could feel his shaky breath against her ear.

'I thought he'd murdered you' Scorpius whispered in a thick voice. 'I thought he'd gotten Albus to kill you and then sent him after me…'

Lily let out a heavy sigh into his shoulder. She rubbed his back.

'I'm fine. You're the one who almost died… Merlin, if Albus had have been able to…'

Lily felt her words catch in her throat. It was too painful to think about what could have happened if Albus had been successful in the awful mission Raleigh had forced him on. But Scorpius wasn't thinking about that.

'Before you came, when Albus kept saying he'd seen me use Avada Kedavra on you,' he choked out painfully. 'I thought that was his own memory that had been tampered with…'

'I'm fine… and I'm here now' Lily repeated. She squeezed his torso before pulling back a little so that she could look up into his watery eyes. Then she gave him a playful hit on the shoulder.

'More importantly- why didn't you go to the hospital wing?' she scolded him. 'Just because you're clever doesn't mean you don't need a licensed healer to make sure you're mended properly-'

'I'm alright' Scorpius looked into her eyes seriously and stroked her cheek with a thumb, 'Don't fuss.'

He lent in to kiss her tenderly on the lips. Lily let herself fall into him. She raised her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, where she raked her fingers through the back of his hair affectionately.

Scorpius seemed to appreciate this because he pulled her tighter to him and deepened their kiss. Suddenly his hands were caressing her lower back near her waist and his tongue slid inside her mouth.

Lily jolted in surprise. He'd never done that before and she wasn't sure what to do about the excited, pleasurable feeling it sent rocketing through her. Scorpius immediately pulled back and looked sheepishly into her eyes.

'Sorry, I shouldn't-'

'No, it's okay, I liked it' Lily said quickly. Her entire face reddened and she avoided his eyes. Scorpius took her chin in between his fingers and forced her to look at him. He gazed into her eyes, trying to decipher if she had really meant it or not.

Lily couldn't handle how embarrassed the situation was making her so she quickly changed the topic.

'You didn't have to leave when my father showed up…' she said softly.

Scorpius's arms tensed around her.

'I didn't think you'd want to have to do all the explaining that would come with me being there…' he said.

'You mean about us?' Lily asked him. She was the one looking intently at his eyes now, trying to read him.

'That' Scorpius conceded, 'but also about everything with Albus'

'Everything with Albus?' Lily stiffened.

Scorpius went a little pale then. He loosened his grip around her waist.

'About what happened in the Dungeons' he said quietly.

Lily frowned at him.

'I think my father ought to know that you helped to save Albus from the trap Raleigh had him caught in,' she said firmly.

Scorpius shook his head.

'Albus has got enough to deal with without having to defend himself for attempted murder…'

They fell into silence as Lily became pensive. Albus would have to undergo hours and hours of interviews at the Ministry to help unravel everything that had happened to him over the past few years. Most significantly, he would need to make a strong case for his innocence in regards to what had propelled him to steal the resurrection stone from the Supreme Mugwump.

'I suppose maybe he does…' she conceded reluctantly.

Then she let out a sigh. She knew she would have to bring it up at some point, and now seemed like the best opportunity.

'I know about what happened in the bathroom by the way' she told Scorpius. She tried to sound casual but her voice had risen a few octaves and she couldn't meet his eyes.

Scorpius froze. He took a step back from her and let out a deep breath.

'I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you-' he began in a pained voice.

'No, no' Lily said quickly, she moved forward to grab ahold of the front of his shirt. She still couldn't look him in the eyes, but at least she could feel his heartbeat through her fingertips.

'I know why you couldn't tell me' she said carefully. 'It was Albus's secret, you didn't want to betray his trust'

'I didn't think,' Scorpius began awkwardly, 'It just never occurred to me that he would be… interested… and I sort of said some misleading things, things which were easy to misinterpret-'

'I'll say' Lily snorted. Finally she looked up into his face and put her hands up to ruffle his hair. 'You're never allowed to claim that I'm the unperceptive one when it comes to flirting again'

Lily was grinning now but Scorpius still looked serious.

'Will you forgive me?' he asked apprehensively.

'There's nothing to forgive' Lily whispered, moving closer and pushing her lips gently against his.

Scorpius responded by cupping her face and kissing her firmly back. They kissed over and over again for several minutes until Lily got up the courage to slip her tongue inside his mouth.

It was Scorpius's turn to be surprised. He let out a small appreciative groan and tightened his grip around her lower back, pulling her against him. Lily's exhaustion finally caught up with her and she allowed herself to collapse into him. He guided her to the floor where they sat together with their backs leaning agains the bookshelf. Lily felt the comforting sensation of Scorpius's soft kisses against her lips, cheeks and forehead until she blacked out.

When Lily awoke, the dim light of dawn was streaming in through the library windows. She was lying on the floor beside the bookshelf resting her head on Scorpius's inner upper arm. Scorpius lay in front of her, still in a deep sleep, his arms around her. His chest was so close that it lightly touched the tip of her nose as it moved up and down in time with his breathing.

Lily watched Scorpius's peaceful expression for a few moments before she gave into the urge to start kissing him again. He hadn't fully woken up, yet still he reacted enthusiastically to the feeling of her lips on his, hugging her tightly to him and increasing the pressure of their kiss.

Finding herself pushed up against the length of his body whilst they were standing up had been enough to cause Lily to flush and a tingling sense of desire to well up deep within her. But feeling his warmth against her chest all the way down to her hips whilst they were lying down amplified that sense of desire one thousand times over. She felt dizzy and was unable to focus on anything else but the movements of his lips and hands across her skin.

But then Scorpius blinked away his drowsiness and suddenly seem to realize what was happening and where they were.

'We fell asleep' he rolled back away from Lily and looked around at the sunlit room with a startled expression.

Lily, who was still overwhelmed by a craving for his touch, closed the gap between them again by crawling forwards and placing her lips on his.

When they broke apart, Scorpius trailed his fingers through her hair, brushing her fringe out of her eyes.

'I can't believe we spent the whole night here like this. Poppy's going to think you were kidnapped again'

Lily made a face at him to show that she wasn't particularly concerned.

'Poppy knows I was with dad late yesterday. I'm sure she'll just think I went off home for a bit or something'

They feel into silence again. Lily could tell from the way that Scorpius's eyes had begun to dart around the room that he was thinking they should probably get up and get themselves out of there before the morning slipped by and students began to fill the library. But she didn't want to part from him just yet.

'I was thinking…' Lily began carefully. She was caressing the sides of his face, tracing her fingertips from his temples to the bottom of his jaw as she spoke.

'…that perhaps I should tell my father about us. Not right now, but once everything has calmed down a little…'

Lily's eyes flickered up to check Scorpius's reaction. He looked calmer than she had predicted.

'I'm ready to do it whenever you are' he told her steadily, before leaning forward to press his lips against her forehead.


That evening after classes, Ginny appeared in the Great Hall to take Lily and James to St Mungos to visit Albus. But once they arrived, she seemed to quickly decide that Lily and Albus should have some time alone together to discuss all that had transpired with Raleigh. Thus, within not a few moments of having greeted her bedridden son, Ginny ordered James to accompany her to Diagon Alley to fetch him some ice-cream from Florean Fortescue's Parlour.

Once they were gone, Lily sat at Albus's bedside in silence observing her brother for a few moments. He was wearing a set of pyjamas with an intricate pattern of a wand crossed with a bone- the same attire that Lily had seen all the other patients wearing. Though his hair was undoubtedly even messier than usual from the prolonged period of lying down, his face had more color in it than any of the other patients that Lily had seen in the ward.

'How are you feeling?' Lily asked hesitantly.

Albus looked away.

'I've been better I suppose' he said moodily. 'They said I could let them know which memories I'd like them to remove. I suspect they were talking about the ones Raleigh planted in there, but I was thinking I might get a few extra taken out while I've got the chance. You know, two birds one stone?'

Lily shot him a concerned expression. She knew that he was half joking, but the subject matter was far too worrying for her to play along with the jest.

'I supposed that's your choice, if that's what you'd like to do' she said softly.

'Which ones would you take out?' Albus asked her.

Lily stiffened.

'Dad told me you saw some in the Headmistress's Pensieve' he continued lightly, 'So I wondered, if it were you, which ones you'd get rid of?'

'I didn't tell him about what I saw Albus' Lily said quickly. 'I thought it would be better if you decided what you did and didn't want to tell him. They're your memories after all…'

Albus let out a sigh. 'Yes, I suppose they are. Nothing feels like mine anymore though'

'I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission before I looked at them' Lily whispered hotly, her eyes beginning to water. 'I'm sorry Albus… but I was really worried about you'

'I know' Albus said quickly. He grabbed her wrist awkwardly and pulled her into a one armed hug. Lily rested her chin and his shoulder and blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

'I'm sorry for almost killing your boyfriend' Albus sighed.

Lily immediately pulled out of the hug to look him in the face.

'That wasn't your fault Albus, it was the curse, you didn't meant to do it-' she hurried to comfort him.

'Okay, well then I'm sorry for kissing your boyfriend' Albus mumbled.

Lily fell quiet.

'I did mean to do that bit…' Albus said flatly.

Lily took a deep breath. She had absolutely no idea what to say to that.

'You don't have to worry, by the way' Albus was smirking.'I did really like him. But having that manufactured memory of him murdering you forced into my mind has helped to cure me of that somewhat…Perhaps I'll ask them to leave that one in there...'

Lily couldn't return his smile. She knew that he was using humor to deflect away from the hurt he felt.

'I'm sorry for not telling you he was my boyfriend' she told him. Her eyes were on the ground in front of her. 'And for not realizing that you were… well for not being there for you enough to have known that you-'

'How could you have known?' Albus snapped back irritably. 'I didn't tell you. I haven't told anyone'

Lily wasn't sure what to say to that either so she just nodded along thoughtfully.

'Do you think you might like to tell someone?' she asked gently after a moments silence. 'Like dad perhaps?

Albus turned to give her a sulky look.

'Do you think you might like to tell dad about you and Scorpius then?'

Lily winced.

'Fair point…'

'I'll tell him eventually' Albus crossed his arms and looked out the window in front of him with a crease in his brow.

Lily turned to him with relief.

'I'm sure he's not going to be worried about it or anything-' she said, eager to show him some encouragement.

'Yes, he's probably going to be more worried about your thing' Albus agreed flatly. He turned to look at her with a teasing smirk.

Lily's face fell.

'Probably...' she shuffled her feet about awkwardly. 'But I'm going to tell him anyway. Eventually, I mean'

Albus nodded.

'Good' he said firmly. Lily's shoulders relaxed at the show of support.

'Because you know it's bound to come out at some point anyway' Albus added loudly. Lily closed her eyes and sighed. She wished he could have just left it at 'good'.

'Either way, it should be quite a laugh to see how he reacts' Albus went on with a smirk.

Lily rolled her eyes at him.


A/N: Sorry if there are a lot of spelling mistakes. I kind of rushed to get this one up. Please let me know if anything doesn't make sense. I'm really enjoying all the comments about James by the way lol. I guess he has been kind of left out of all the drama and I can imagine he's probably not the type to enjoy being left out of all the fun and games.

By the way, just to give you a teaser, next chapter is by far the most exciting chapter for me and I'm really looking forward to posting it. I actually started writing it ages ago (probably around the time I started writing chapter 1 of book 1!), so it's been a LONG time in the making. Please review and I'll make sure to post the next chapter as soon as I can oxox.