The candles flickered low in the dungeons a few nights later. Everyone else was in bed except for Scorpius, Maeve, and Douglas. And Douglas was in a mood. Maeve was busy trying to get his attention but he wasn't having it. Practically dumping her off his lap, Dougie stood up and paced.
"What is your problem?" Maeve asked snidely, trying to hide her wounded pride. "Are you still on about that Potter bitch?"
He snapped his head over and glared. "Mind your own business."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Merlin, if I have to hear about Lily Potter one more time…"
"Fuck off," Dougie muttered, running a hand through his jet black hair and then resuming his seat in an armchair.
"If you're so obsessed with her why'd you fuck up in the first place? All you had to do was keep your dick out of other girls and you could've been a member of the family. This is your fault, completely."
"I know that," he hissed, taking a swig out of a flask they'd hidden last year in the common room. "I've tried to get back on her good side but she won't let me."
"And I suppose humiliating her in the Great Hall on a daily basis is part of that plan?" Scorpius snorted and swiped the flask for himself. "Yeah, girls love that."
"You'd know," Maeve muttered from the sofa opposite Dougie. Her pride would take several days to mend.
Scorpius looked over. "What?" he asked innocently, trying not to smile.
She rolled her eyes. "You know what."
He held up his hands and shrugged. "I can't help it if girls like me and I have natural charm. I'd already have Lily Potter back if I were in Dougie's shoes. Some people have it. Some don't." He laughed and folded his arms behind his head for cushion.
Dougie sneered at his friend. "No way. Lily wouldn't look at you twice. You're a Slytherin and a Malfoy and she's the biggest snob I've ever met."
Scorpius remembered their brief interactions over the years. He didn't think she was a snob at all. Maybe guarded more now than before. Shy, even. She didn't like publicity or attention even though she was fucking beautiful. When he'd caught her staring at Dougie the other day, she'd looked so hurt and sad that he'd felt bad for her.
Weird. A Malfoy feeling sorry for a Potter, the most famous family in the wizarding world. Strange how things work out.
"Okay then do it."
Scorpius blinked and returned his attention to his friend. "Do what?"
"Ask her out. I dare you."
Scorpius laughed and shook his head. At the same time, Dougie stood up excitedly.
"Yes, I dare you, Scorpius Malfoy, to ask out Lily Potter. And let's make it interesting, shall we?" His blue eyes glittered almost in the candlelight.
"Why?" Scorpius protested. "What's the point?"
"Scared? You know she'll turn you down," Dougie said smugly. "She's never looked at you twice before."
Scorpius sat up a little straighter, frowning. "Hey, if I wanted Lily Potter, I'd have Lily Potter."
Dougie's eyebrows raised slightly. "Yeah? Alright then. I'll give you until Halloween to get her to go out with you. If you win, I'll give you whatever you want. If you lose," he paused for a moment, "same terms. Whatever I want. Deal?"
Scorius laughed and swiped the flask back taking a long swig. "Deal. You're going to regret this," he warned, offering it back to Dougie.
Had Scorpius not been a little drunk he would've shivered at the chilling smile on his friend's face.
XXXXXXXXXX
The Great Hall was crowded already when Lily went down to breakfast. Rose waved her over and she realized too late that she was sitting directly in back of Douglas and Maeve. She groaned inwardly, realizing it was too late to turn back. She quickly slid down next to her cousin and studied the food in front of her.
"Where were you last night?" Rose asked. "I thought we were going to go for a walk?"
Lily shrugged, glancing around at her fellow classmates and family members. Most of her family had already graduated, which was nice since she wasn't super close with most of them. Only Rose, Albus, and Hugo remained. Albus was in Slytherin house so he always ate at their table, obviously, and Hugo was busy acting like such a boy. At the moment, he was trying to balance a cup of pumpkin juice on top of his head. Ugh.
"I was in the library studying. Sorry. I must've lost track of time." Really she'd been in the Astronomy tower looking at the stars and thinking about her future. It was almost time to leave Hogwarts and she didn't really know what she wanted to do.
Well, she did, but…
"You've been weird lately. Is it the Daily Prophet? What they said? I told you not to read that trash."
"It's hard when it's thrown in your face."
Rose turned to scowl over her shoulder. "One of these days, Douglas Green is going to have a major accident that'll permanently shut him up."
He must've heard his name because the next thing Lily knew he was standing over her slightly bent to whisper in her ear. Like an idiot, her heart still pounded slightly whenever he was near.
"Talking about me, Potter?"
She cringed as his breath lightly caressed her cheek.
Maeve's annoying voice piped up behind her. "It's pathetic really."
Douglas dropped his voice even lower so no one else could hear him. "Do you want me to shut her up? You know what you have to do."
Her head swiveled up to glare at him. "I'm not taking you back so quit asking."
His hand tightened around her upper arm. "You still want me, I can see it. Why are you fighting me on this?"
Her lip curled with disdain and she slowly wrenched her arm away from him and stood up. "You aren't worth it," she said very deliberately. "I'll never take you back." She whirled around to leave, but he stopped her, grabbing her arm so hard she almost gasped out.
"Leave her alone."
Both her and Douglas stopped and looked over in surprise. Scorpius was standing on the opposite side of the table glaring at his best friend coldly. It took a second for Douglas to respond.
"And what if I don't? Are you gonna make me?" he challenged.
Scorpius narrowed his eyes. "We can finish this later after hours if you want." His hand drifted to where his wand was stored.
Douglas stared at him for several long moments and released Lily, sneering. "Yeah, we can finish this later. Come on, Maeve." He stormed away with the other girl trying to hurry after him.
Rose grabbed her shoulder. "Are you alright? What did he say to you when he whispered in your ear?"
Lily ignored her, instead choosing to study Scorpius. Why had he done that? They weren't friends at all and he'd never stuck up for her before. "I have to go," she muttered, walking away from yet another public scene.
And great. She had Potions with Slytherin first thing today.
Just ignore everyone and get through it, she told herself, taking a seat in the very back and ignoring the blatant stares and whispers from the Slytherin side. At least Douglas was a Seventh year and she didn't have to take any classes with him.
Someone plopped down next to her and she looked over, thinking it was Rose. "What are you doing?" she asked Scorpius rather rudely. "That's Rose's seat."
He shrugged and looked around. "I don't see her. You know we don't have assigned seats, right?"
The whispers grew louder, causing her cheeks to flame. He only smiled.
"I know that but we're partners."
"Actually, I had an idea this morning that Slughorn thought was brilliant."
"And what was that?"
In response, he jerked his chin over to the professor at the front of the room. Slughorn raised his hands to quiet everyone. Rose slid into an empty seat just as everyone grew quiet. She glared at Scorpius who only smiled wider.
"Everyone, settle down now. I have an announcement to make. Mr. Malfoy approached me just now with a rather interesting idea. We are going to shake things up a bit. Now, everyone in Slytherin house stand up please."
The students looked confused but did as they were told.
"Now I want you to pair up with a classmate from Gryffindor. They will be your partner for the next few months. A sort of experiment, shall we say." He looked absolutely delighted with his genius and rubbed his hands together.
None of the Slytherin kids moved a muscle. "Professor, you can't be serious," one girl, Audrey Hornsby, protested.
"I am very serious. Now here, Miss Hornsby, you come here and sit next to Mr. Higgins, and you, Mr. Malfoy-oh, I see you have found Miss Potter for your partner. Now the rest of you pair up. Miss Weasley, you too."
It was painful to watch and took far longer than need be but eventually half the Griffindors were on the opposite side of the room and the rest of the Slytherins were with Gryffindor.
Lily just glanced coldly at Scorpius. It was going to be a long next few months.