Chapter 4

After a chicken and gravy dinner in the Great Hall, Rose stayed behind after dessert to talk to Lily about her date.

"I don't know," Lily huffed when asked about what she should talk about with Lorcan on their date. "Why ask me? I haven't been on any dates. You're more experienced with boys."

"Then what do you call that meeting with that Ravensclaw Prefect? Or that person you snuck out of the dorms to go see last year. And how about that time after the Christmas family dinner when you went out to the tree house alone and came back looking fully snogged? Would you like me to go one?"

"No," Lily said blushing, bowing her head down.

"So will you help me?" Rose pleaded, hoping that she would say yes. She knew that Lorcan had gone on dates before, and she didn't want to seem like she was an old maid for not going out before. She wanted their date to go perfect.

Lily tilted her head to the side like she always did when she was thinking hard. Seeming to come to a conclusion, the youngest Potter said, "I'll help you if you don't tell my brothers, dad, or anyone else, for that matter, about my love life- for now and forever."

"Yes, Lily. I promise not to tell anyone." By this time, everyone had cleared out of the Great Hall, either going to their common room or the library. Rose wanted advice about boys before they were both kicked out of the Great Hall.

Lily smiled brightly then. "I'll help you, then. So, what do you want to know?"

"So, what do boys like to talk about?" Rose asked quickly, not wanting to waste any time. "Should I ask questions about what he likes and stuff? We are friends, but we don't know everything about each other, so should I tell him about myself? "Or should I just listen and let him talk the whole time. Or should I..."

"Rose, enough," Lily exclaimed, holding her head in her hands acting like she had a really bad headache. "Haven't you been on any dates before?"

"No, of course not. I haven't had time to date. The only boy I dated, or was close to, was Scorpius and well..." she trailed off, not wanting to complete the sentence.

"You never went on an official date with him," the fifth-year guessed.

"Yes," Rose said plainly.

"Well," Lily said, leaning forward slightly," the first thing you have to know is that no boy could ever not like you for being you. If he does, than something is wrong with him, not you."

She pondered this for a while. Scorpius did seem to like her when she wasn't even trying. After all, the first time they kissed, Rose hadn't even been trying to get him to like her. Maybe what Lily was saying was true. "Fine. What else?"

"He will want to know more about you. But remember not to go on and on about something he already knows. He is one of your friends so get him to discover something that he wouldn't know about you. The most important thing is do everything with confidence. Even if you think that you do something weird, it won't look weird if you do it with confidence."

"That's great advice, Lily. Where did you learn that all from? It's not like your brothers would talk to you about this stuff. Victorie and Dominique hardly ever talk to us."

Lily sighed, as if remembering when she learned all about boys and their habits. "My mum had a talk with me a few years ago. She gave me advice on boys and what to do on dates. I trust her because her love life is..." Lily stopped, realizing what her parents were talking about doing.

Rose felt bad for her. Lily didn't really have anyone to talk to. James wasn't even here, and if she brought it up to Al, he would just clam up and not talk about it. Lily didn't have an older person that she could look up to. Sure, Rose was here, but they weren't as close as lily was with her mum and brothers. Glancing over to her, Rose saw that the fifth-year who was usually so strong, was about to start crying. Pulling her in for a hug, she let Lily cry on her shoulder.

"It will be fine, Lily," Rose said, even though she knew it wouldn't be. "Trust me, everything will turn out okay," she said, lying through her teeth. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you. And my passwords to my dorm is 'pink grapefruit' if you ever need to come in there."

"Thanks Rose," Lily whispered with her head still on Rose's shoulder. She sat up and wiped her eyes and her sleeve.

"Come on, then. Let's get you into bed," Rose said, standing up to offer Lily a hand. Together, they walked off to the Gryffindor common room. Neither of them noticed a boy silently slip out of the Great Hall.

[-**-]

Scorpius made up his mind almost immediately to find out why Lily Potter was crying. After he left the Great Hall last night, he was worried about her. Lily had always come across as a head-strong girl who wasn't scared to speak her mind. When he saw her last night, he wondered why in hell she would be crying. One second, she was talking to Rose about her mum. The next second, she was crying like a rainstorm into Rose's arms. Scorpius wondered if it had anything to do with her love life.

The next time her saw her, he vowed that he would ask her about it. It just so happened that the next day, he saw Lily outside by the lake. Scorpius, determined to talk to her, walked over to where she was sitting under the hanging willow branches.

"Hey Lily," he said to her.

Lily jumped up and pulled her wand out. Scorpius, not wanting to get hurt, threw his hands up in surrender. Looking embarrassed, Lily out her wand down and sat with her back against the tree. Scorpius went and sat next to her.

"What do you want Malfoy? Don't you have someone else to go shag?" Lily responded to him sitting down.

Scorpius was taken back. He never knew that Lily hated him that much. Before he and Rose broke up, they seemed to be becoming great friends, having bonded over Rose's disappearance. But, after that, they hadn't really talked.

"Lily," he started in his playboy voice, "I'm hurt. I just wanted to have a civil conversation with you. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes it is," Lily bluntly said, standing up again. She walked towards the castle, muttering to herself. But, she never got that far. Scorpius, seeing that she was leaving, ran up to her and grabbed hold of her arm.

"Let go of me!" Lily shouted while trying to twist away from his hand. Lily then pulled out her wand with her other hand and put a shield around her. Scorpius was forced back and fell to the ground. Standing up and dusting off his pants, he saw Lily running back to the castle.

"What were you crying about last night?" Scorpius yelled after her in one last attempt to talk to her.

Lily, hearing him, stopped running and strutted towards him, glaring. When she got close enough to hold a conversation, Scorpius could swear that he could smell her perfume. "What the hell are you talking about?" the fifth-year asked angrily.

"I'm talking about how you were crying after dinner in the Great Hall last night. So I'm asking, why were you crying?"

"That's none of your business."

"I just wanted to see if I could help," Scorpius said, not giving up.

Lily looked at him in surprise. "You, Scorpius Malfoy, asking me, a Potter, if I need help?" Scorpius remained silent and stared back at her. Then, thinking about it, she said, "How much did you hear?"

"I didn't hear anything," he said somewhat truthfully. "I just saw you and Rose talking and then you burst into tears. I wanted to know why."

"Well, you can't," Lily said, leaning closer to him. Close enough to kiss him, if she wanted to. "It doesn't concern you."

"Fine. I just thought I would offer," Scorpius said, turning and walking back to the willow tree. Lily turned beat red and marched back to the castle.

Scorpius could barely contain his emotions. While he thought that he was in love with Rose, he seemed seconds away from kissing Lily- her cousin. He didn't know what was happening to him. But, dismissing those feeling as yearning for a girl, Scorpius sat back down next to the willow tree.

[-**-]

Scorpius was sitting in Charms class trying to finish his homework. He had already accomplished the Charm work they were attempting in class today, so he was treating it like a study hall. Luckily, Rose wasn't in his class, so he wouldn't get distracted by her. It was just Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, so the teacher was trying to help the poor Hufflepuffs from failing too hard. Right now, one Hufflepuff had her wand smoking on one end and shooting water on the other. Stupid Hufflepuffs.

Scorpius looked down at his homework. The Potion's Professor thought that to help his students prepare for N.E.W.T.s, he would assign a longer assignment each day that had to do with to class areas. Today, he had to write three parchments about the uses of Polyjuice potion in the Second War against Voldemort. Though he had been working on it for most of the class period, it was still only half finished.

He just couldn't seem to be able to get him mind to concentrate. Either he was daydreaming about Rose and her perfect body, or about her cousin Lily and his feelings for her. He still didn't understand why the other day by the lake he wanted to snog her. She wasn't even that attractive. Sure, her body did look nice, but she was a fifth year. Scorpius would never date or sleep with a fifth year. They weren't emotionally prepared for him. Sure, they might think they were, but they weren't.

That was why Scorpius was thinking about Rose again. He wanted nothing more than to date her again. Or at least be friends. Well, friends that stuck their tongues down each other's throats from time to time. That would be the perfect friends. But he couldn't risk it. Rose's life and the lives of her family were more important than his happiness. But, if there was ever a time that his stupid father wouldn't care that he dated Rose, Scorpius would do everything in his power to gain her attention.

But now, Scorpius was forced to lay low. So, turning back to his homework, Scorpius promised himself that he wouldn't let him mind wonder.