APRIL 2028

Lily Luna let out a groan as Lucy Weasley flung the curtains open, revealing the very rare, and very bright, Edinburgh sunlight. Yanking the knitted shall their Nana Weasley had knitted for Lucy the three years prior when she'd graduated, she tried to hide from the inevitable morning beginning.

"Wake up, Lily!" Lucy sang, yanking the shall from her younger cousin, her light strawberry blonde hair tied in milk braids, as she grabbed Lily's arm, trying to yank her up. "The sun's shining, I have a pot of coffee on and breakfast is almost ready!"

All was said with a smile, and a stark contrast to Lily, who rolled into the couch cushions, moaning and groaning as Lucy clattered around the kitchen. Both girls had been Hufflepuffs, but while Lucy was the loyal and just parts, Lily was all the rest.

Turning on her back, she looked up at Lucy's ceiling, trying to remember the night before after meeting up with a friend on Waverley Bridge, the club, but it all went fuzzy and she got up from the couch and went to the box tucked in the corning of the cramped living room.

"Victoire sent an owl," Lucy was saying as she buttered the toast. Lily made a noise, not really caring that her eldest cousin had owled. If anything, Lily wished the older girl hadn't. "She sends her love, and in June we have our second to last dress fitting."

Yanking out her top, she went on a mad search for her underwear. "Yeah," was all Lily responded, finally finding her final pair at the bottom of the box.

"Hugo also sent you a letter on the counter. I think he's mad about the boxes again," Lucy said as she set the table.

"He always is," Lily said as she got changed, her dyed blonde hair tied up in a messy bun as she sauntered into the tiny kitchen, grabbing her cup on black coffee and taking a sip. "He sent me a howler last month when I was in Romania, nearly caused a dragon meltdown."

Lucy tutted, opening The Prophet. "I'll let him know you got both his howler and the letter," Lucy said, not sparing the girl a glance as she sipped her cup of tea, cream and two sugars. "Freddie sent his love. He and Roxanne were in Diagon Alley, they're excited to see you at The Burrow next week."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Lily said, taking another sip as she opened The Quibbler, thumbing through conspiracy theories on cornish pixies, muggle water pollution being dragon dung, and a few photos she'd taken in South Africa for the travel section.

"I figured you did," Lucy said, her voice no less cheery than before. Lucy was used to Lily. For as long as Lily had been alive, Lucy had been at her side. Only a year older, Lucy had cheered the loudest and the proudest when both Lily and Hugo had been placed in Hufflepuff along with her and Freddie. They'd been like sisters, despite how much time Lily and Rose spent together, Lucy and Lily had always been thick as thieves.

"So are you leaving for New York today?" she asked casually, thumbing more of her paper.

Lily placed The Quibbler down. "Did I say I was going to New York?"

"I just figured. I know you just came back from Romania, but with the Burrow next week," she trailed off, shrugging.

Lucy kept her eyes trained on the paper, still, a dead give away she wasn't really reading and Lily appreciated the faux effort and not mentioning the secret so potent between them, that she had long ago suspected the whole family knew.

Lily shrugged. "Probably. We'll see. Besides, I should write back to Hugo before he has a nutty."

Lucy looked away from the paper and snorted, then giggles erupted between them. Both girls knew Lily wouldn't write, and Hugo wouldn't say a word at the party either.

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"Well, I'm off to work. Wish me luck, Borris Trombly is driving me insane. I know he's a talented seeker, but my god!"

Lily smiled, "Lucy Weasley hating someone. He must be the equivalent of dragon dung."

Lucy grinned, "Don't. I refuse to speak ill of him, he's just harping on my final nerve." Turning around, she said, "Lock up when you leave."

Lily hadn't confirmed she was leaving, yet somehow, Lucy always knew. Nodding, Lucy turned with a pop, she was gone.

Leaning back into the cushions, she smiled for a minute and shrugged, grabbing her wand and beaded bag, she tapped Lucy's lock and took off.

oOo

A floo ride later, Lily found herself in Grand Central Station. Walking to the balcony, she took in the 8 am rush, smiling to herself.

She had been so many places the past two years since her graduation for Hogwarts, but nothing made her feel quite at home as New York City. Walking down the grand staircase, she grabbed another cup of coffee and went off into the city.

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Knowing he'd be at work when she'd entered his flat, Lily let herself in to the lavish home, admiring the marble floors, the wide, grand staircase, the pillars and tossed herself onto Scorpius's couch as Apollo, his Scottish Terrier, scuttled over to her, his tail wagging as he tried to lick her face.

"Hi boy, are you happy to see me?" she chipped, kissing his face and letting him lick her as she picked him up. "I missed you, too."

Picking up a discarded Witch Weekly, Lily settled into the couch with a smile, the dog laying at her ankles.

Scorpius, along with being a rich Malfoy, worked as a liaison between America and the United Kingdom. When Lily had asked him once, as they drank fire whiskey, he'd simply replied, "I do a lot of boring work between a lot of boring people."

"Sounds boring," Lily responded and they snorted, and he'd flicked fire whiskey at her.

Spending most of her time at Scorpius's, she felt at home as she got up from her spot an hour later, going into the bedroom and getting out her boxes from the back of his closet, ignoring the spot he'd made for her earlier that month.

"You know, Scorp, I'm surprised you've never gone through these. I could be hiding a dead body in here, and you'd be none the wiser."

Scorpius shrugged, "It's not like my reputation can get any worse. A dead body's expected at this point."

Digging for more underwear, she sat down next to Apollo, who'd laid at her ankles, snoring once again and snorting happily when Lily scratched his backside absentmindedly. Her beaded bag, stolen from her aunt Hermione back when her father, Aunt and Uncle hunted down horcruxes, was filled to the brim, even though Aunt Hermione claimed it was impossible - but Lily had always proven to do the impossible! - with two years of clothes. Not bothering to clean anything out, she shoved more things in, noting she should do laundry when she went to Godric's Hollow's next week.

Her mother would be pissed when she brought this mess in, but Lily shrugged the thoughts away. What did she do that didn't piss off Ginny Potter these days? The boxes in her room, the unmade bed, the mess of clothes throughout the floor - it was the least of the things she did that could enrage her mother.

"Merlin's beard!" she heard Scorpius shout from the doorway, his wand out, and eyes wide. Lily turned to him, jumping herself. Apollo barked, scampering over uselessly, happy for his master's return.

"He's an awful guard dog," Lily commented, leaning against the closet door.

"He has his perks," Scorpius said, petting him. "You scared me. I didn't think you'd be here for weeks."

"Well, you're home early. I didn't want to waste the parchment writing."

"You never write anyone, anyway," he shrugged, going to his bed and discarding his robs. "Nothing was going on, so I left."

Lily rose an eyebrow, "Maybe I should look into this job thing."

Scorpius shook his head, "You'd hate it. It's commitment."

Lily grinned, climbing on top of him, unbuttoning his shirt, "Well, you know how I am."

He hummed. "That I do."

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Hours later, he stood behind the stove, cooking shirtless, as Lily sipped wine and watched. "Did you finally RSVP to the big event. Lucy told me Albus was wondering if he'd see you then."

"Al worries too much, he's more of a Hufflepuff than you are."

Lily tutted. "Please don't insult my house, we're loyal and just."

"You mean they're loyal and just. You're the rest of it," he teased, using her own words against her. She tossed her napkin at him and he laughed.

"Please. Slytherin and Hufflepuff can't be that different. The hat was tempted to put me in Slytherin, did you know that?"

He shook his head, "Nah, that piece of cloth was probably having a lapse in judgement."

Lily nodded, "Cunning with no ambition is my nature."

"Cunning, eh? Should I be worried?" he teased.

"Very. And you didn't answer the question, Malfoy." She said, jokingly narrowing her hazel eyes.

"Yeah, I'll probably go. Lupin is my, what? Third cousin, or something?" he replied with a careless wave.

"Third. Tonks was your second cousin," Lily said easily, as if Teddy Lupin's history was just common knowledge.

He nodded, "Yeah. So I should support him, maybe."

Lily knew of the unease. She felt it, too.

"She's fine now, I think. Lucy's been getting letters from her, and she's done with healing school, and she's going to work under Madam Promfrey for a half year."

"Merlin love her," he muttered. "Dunno how she can handle all that. I'd be yanking my hair out by the end of the fortnight."

"If you even made it that far," Lily teased, pouring herself some more wine. "She might even be dating someone new."

She looked at him through her eyelashes, unsure if she should've said something or not. In truth, Molly was dating someone new. A fancy healer from South Africa, he was thirty-one, charming and handsome. Lucy had told her all about it a few weeks prior, when she'd gone back to Edinburgh after leaving Auckland from a holiday with her friend, Lysander, who was playing Quidditch there. Scorpius stiffened, and Lily couldn't see his face, but she knew it stung.

"I'm glad for her," he said sincerely, handing her a plate of food.

She toyed with her bread for a minute before saying, "Sorry."

"For what?"

"Dunno, really. I feel shitty telling you that, honestly." She said, unable to look at him as she focused on buttering her nearly disintegrated roll.

He shook his head, "Don't be. It was years ago."

Lily took a bite of her roll, barely tasting it as she tried to ignore the guilt. It was years ago. Two. Almost two, if anything. She could still remember it, and the memories of that night could make her gut twist itself inside out.

Scorpius sighed, "I am really happy for her, Lily. All I wanted was for her to be happy, anyway."

oOo

Lily came out of the shower, hair freshly dyed back to it's perfect white-blonde color as Scorpius came into the bathroom, towel around his neck and clothes off.

"I hate that you dye your hair," he pouted. "I always loved your red hair, it makes you look like your mum. Especially when you get angry."

"Ew," Lily said, shoving him out of the way for the mirror, checking it to make sure she got all angles of her scalp, not a red strand in sight. "Don't tell me you had a thing for my mother, Malfoy."

Scorpius grinned, "Well, can you blame me." Lily whacked his chest and he laughed. "Hey, settle, settle. See, Ginny Weasley in the flesh."

"Don't be gross, Scorp or I'll do the bat boogey hex on you," she threatened, despite that being her mother's specialty, Lily was shit at it. For Lily, manipulation and playing peoples' weaknesses worked out better than most of her hexes did.

"I heard your mum once did that one to my dad, he's never been the same since." Scorpius said thoughtfully.

Lily hummed, turning away from the mirror, satisfied with the finish. "I can't talk about our parents when we're naked. Soon, we'll be on some crazy article for Witch Weekly about some muggle psychoanalyst nonsense."

Scorpius smirked, moving her aside to brush his teeth. "Us and our Freudian slips."

Lily gagged. "Enough. Besides, you clearly have a thing for red heads, and it's weird."

"Actually, it's probably a thing for Weasley women. I did date Dom and Roxy once upon a time," he pointed out cheekily.

"Freak," Lily teased, not really weirded out. For all the time he'd spent with the Weasleys' and Potters' growing up, it was no surprised to know that he'd not only dated Dominique for two years, Roxanne for a few months and Molly almost four years, that any of it happened. It was, in fact, inevitable.

Leaving the bathroom, Lily went to her boxes to pull out a pair of trousers and her jumper, tying her hair up in a bun as she went.

"I left you some space so you don't have to do that," he said from the bathroom door.

Lily didn't turn around as she said, "I know." Putting on her clothes, she could see the hurt look in his eyes from the reflection of the mirror, but ignored it. They knew the rules: no strings. It was friendship, sex, she left and he stayed - the end.

"I'll send Al your love, yeah?" she said as she grabbed her beaded bag and picked up Apollo, kissing him on the forehead before dropping him on the bed for one last belly scratch.

"Yeah," was all he said, coming out of the bathroom, pants on and top still unbuttoned.

"Then I'll see you around, Malfoy," Lily said with a grin, turning left and apparating back to Grand Central Station, just in time to floo to King's Cross and get to the Burrow before lunch.

Author's Note: After binging Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, and having a never ending desire to always go back and add to Pixie Dust (a story I wrote so long ago that it's ancient by now), I finally came back from a holiday and after much time in the UK, seeing all of the Harry Potter things they had to offer, I came home with this idea. I'm a big ScorLily fan, so it was inevitable. Updates will be coming sooner rather than later (we hope)! Leave a review if you want, but thanks.

xoxo, Bee.