Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.

Note – So a quick update, and kind of a long one. I kind of just started writing, and didn't notice that it got to be a bit long. So, I hope you enjoy it. We're getting close to them going home for the winter holidays, and things will get pretty interesting for Scorpius once they get back to school after that. So there's a chance that you might get another update within a week or so. Depends on how much time I get. And as usual, sorry for any little mistakes I missed (I've kind of gotten a bit lazy lately). But, anyways, read and enjoy.

Rebel Malfoy

Chapter Twenty-Two: To Fight, To Comfort, To Care

Scorpius walked with the others to class, but he was in his own thoughts. And right now, they were circling around Quidditch. He'd just gotten a list of players from the other team, and he was confident that they could keep their winning streak going. And now that Lily had given him that Hugo kid's weakness on the pitch, he was certain they could take that kid out.

"Malfoy!"

They all stopped at the sound of that voice. Potter.

Scorpius glared at James Potter, who was storming toward them. Potter had been on a rampage against Slytherins ever since their dorms were trashed. And his prank last night hadn't made his attitude any better.

Scorpius gave him a smirk. "Need something, Potter?"

Potter glared at him. "You think I forgot about last night?"

"You mean the part where your hair fell out, or when you got tossed back like doll? I could never forget that," Scorpius mocked.

And just when Potter couldn't seem any angrier, Scorpius's words made his glare increase in fury. "I don't know which little snake was responsible for that, but I'll get them too! Besides, I still owe you for what you snakes did to our dorms," he hissed.

Scorpius simply raised a brow. "Potter, are you stupid? No one knows who did it. Probably was Peeves. That one likes a good prank. Or maybe it was a jilted witch you fooled around with. Maybe you should keep it in your pants," he quipped, still smirking.

He didn't miss how Potter's hands clenched into fists. "You're pushing it, Malfoy," he said lowly.

Scorpius shrugged him off. "Excuse me, Potter, but I have class. And I also have to plan out how I plan to destroy your Quidditch team in our next match."

Scorpius had expected Potter to say something back, but Potter simply brushed past him, silent. And Scorpius didn't trust it. But it did give him an idea. They needed to take out Potter in the match too.

But how?


Scorpius stood at the head of the locker room, still thinking of a strategy to knock out Potter. He'd made a last minute practice, and had booked the pitch. If his thoughts were correct, Potter would be brutal on their team. So they needed to practice hitting, and dodging, Bludgers.

The door slammed open as Lily hurried in, the last one they were waiting for. Scorpius scowled a little. She was never late, let alone really late. "Why are you so late?"

Lily gave him a humorless look, and it was obvious that she'd ran trying to make it on time. "I just heard about the meeting," she retorted as she moved toward her locker.

"Well hurry and dress. We're going to go out, talk, and then practice," Scorpius informed her.

"We'd better talk in here," she told him. "The entire Gryffindor team is out there, and some from the other two teams."

Scorpius tried to keep from gritting his teeth. Had Potter followed him or something? "How did they know about our practice? I just booked the pitch an hour ago."

Lily just shrugged as she opened her locker. "No idea, but somehow they found out," she said as she began to change. Usually Scorpius turned away completely when she changed, as was the rule for all the guys on the team, but Scorpius was too deep in his thoughts, and simply adverted his eyes. Potter had to been keeping an eye on him today. How else could they have known?

"All right, we'll talk in here," Scorpius muttered. "Now, I've decided on how we're going to play this season. Our tactic will be to knock out James Potter."

"James?" Lily questioned. Scorpius resisted the urge to look at her as she spoke. "What about taking out Hugo?"

Carefully, Scorpius glanced at her, and was relieved to see that she was now dressed in her practice gear, and was slipping on her shoes. "I thought about how you said he'd get nervous if we rushed him. I want to try that first. So then I thought about how Potter won't let that happen if he also knows about it. And since he is one of the best on their team, I want him taken out," Scorpius explained.

"What about the other Potter?" Will asked as he leaned against his locker.

"Don't worry about him," Lily assured as she laced up her shoes. "I can handle him easily."

'But what if he tries to play rough and knocks you off?" Tanner pointed out. "No offense, Lu, but he's bigger than you."

"I'm faster," Lily replied as she pulled her hair back. "Not to mention how much faster I am with my new broom. I can easily out fly him."

"Speaking of brooms," Scorpius addressed, "you all have your old brooms, right? I don't want the losers out there knowing about them until the game. Except for Princess here, of course. Her brothers already saw hers."

"Got 'em," Lars said, holding his old broom.

Scorpius sighed. "Good. Now, I want to work with Lars and Tanner today, so we'll be practicing on aiming for those two, and the rest of you will be working on dodging Bludgers. Now let's head out there. Also, ignore anything they say. A fight won't help any of us at this point in time."


Scorpius ignored the aching in his muscles, and the bruises that were sure to appear on his skin soon. The practice had been rough, but he was happy with their progress. They'd been out there for hours, meaning it was dusk out now.

The team was groaning as they slowly trailed into the locker room. They were all sweaty, tired, sore, and bruised.

"I don't think I can even get my shirt off to shower," Dante groaned as he dropped and laid out along one of the benches.

"Don't ask me to help," Lars mumbled as he slowly was able to get his own shirt off. Scorpius noticed the tremors running through his arms. They must be sore after swinging the bat around for hours straight.

"I feel as if I'm going to die," Adrian groaned.

"Quit bitching," Scorpius commanded as he pulled his own shirt off. It was sticking to his skin. He grabbed his towel and made his way toward the showers, the other guys slowly following after him.

The shower was helpful in getting the sweat off his skin, but muscles and joints still ached and were sore. But there was still that feeling of adrenaline pumping through him. He loved the feeling of exercising.

He was one of the last few in the showers. Once he'd dried off and slipped on a pair of boxers, he headed for the locker room.

"Scor," Lars spoke from behind him, "you're a great captain and all, but I think you killed half of us."

Scorpius smirked. "Tough. Get used to it, too. Most of our practices will be like this," he warned.

Dante, who was too sore and tired to even make it to the showers, groaned as he slowly got off the bench he'd been laying on. "I'm going to head back. I'll see you there, princess," he said to Lily before leaving the locker room on heavy feet.

Lars looked at the door after him. "He got his world rocked," he commented.

"He did take quite a few hits. I was pretty surprised," Scorpius agreed. Dante was usually good at dodging Bludgers. But he'd been off all day, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, whatever they were. "By the way," Scorpius added as he slipped on his shoes, "we're having practices every day after classes, and we should finish just before dinner. Sorry that this one ran over dinner."

"No worries. You can just buy us lunch on the next Hogsmeade trip," Will joked.

"Let's just get out of here. I just want to go and lay down in my bed," Adrian said as he kneaded the muscles in his left shoulder.

"Your wish is our command, Head Boy," Scorpius mocked with a smirk.

They all walk outside, and the sky had grown darker since they'd finished practice. They talked about their plans for the next Hogsmeade trip, which Scorpius had no personal plans for. And he ignored how the others lightly teased Lily about having a date. But their conversations were cut shot by a yell in the air.

"Fuck!"

They all stopped walking, and listened. There was a sound of pain that came next. "What the hell was that?" Tanner whispered.

"Came from over there," Scorpius said, pointing toward the lake as he began to walk over there. Who would be out this late? As they got closer, they could see shadowed figures near the shore.

"Let's see how well he swims!"

"Throw him in!"

But the Slytherins recognized the next voice. "Get the fuck off me!"

"Dante," Lars whispered.

Adrian had his wand out and lighting up the area in a flash. And Scorpius wasn't at all surprised to see who was behind this. It was a group, most Gryffindors, some from Ravenclaw, but they were obviously led by James Potter. They surrounded Dante, who was laid out on the ground. Scorpius kept himself from bringing out his own wand and attacking. After all, Adrian was Head Boy. Potter couldn't weasel his way out of this!

"What the fuck is going on here?" Adrian commanded, his anger palpable.

Potter put on a bravado, probably for the few witches that were with them. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I'm Head Boy, Potter!" Adrian retorted. Scorpius couldn't believe Potter's stupidity. "Don't fuck with me! Now what the fuck are you doing?"

It was obvious that Potter now realized the situation, but he still put on a confident act. "We're just taking Dante out for a swim. Right guys?" But their agreements only served to infuriate the Slytherins more.

Adrian glared harder. "Really? It looks like you're all being a bunch of dicks. So fifty points will be taken from each of you," he said firmly.

"What? You can do that!" Albus Potter exclaimed from next to his brother.

Adrian seemed to relax a little, but his anger was still evident. "I'm Head Boy," he restated. "I can do that, and I did. Fifty points from each of you. Now, I recognize a few of you, and you will each receive three weeks of detention and will be banned from the next Hogsmeade trip. I will report this to the headmaster, and I'm sure he will agree."

This seemed to finally enrage Potter enough that he again forgot who he was talking to. He moved forward and got in Adrian's face. "You're a fucking bitch. You know that right? You just can't be a man and fight for yourself," he snarled.

Adrian was obviously not afraid, and simply looked at Potter. "Actually, I'm just not a dumb fuck like you. I don't do things that will get me caught. But if you insist." Then Adrian surprised them all, and grabbed Potter's collar. He dragged him easily to the water, and threw him in. "Then perhaps you need a swim."

The rest of them watched the others, waiting for them to act. And only one did. But Adrian was faster.

"One more step, Gills, and that will be another ten points!" Adrian hissed as he looked back to the group. "Will, Lars, help Dante up. We'll take him to the Hospital Wing."

Lily stepped forward. "No, I've got something that can fix him. Just take him to the common room. It's quicker." She was right. It would be faster then moving him up all those floors.

"Just get him out of here," Adrian told them. He looked toward the girls who obviously had no idea what to do now that their friends were in trouble. And Adrian was too nice of a guy. "You girls run off. I get the feeling that you were just brought along for the show. Now let's get Dante out of here."

Scorpius and the guys hurried forward to help Dante up. "I'm fine," Dante mumbled. But Scorpius knew better. They all did. Dante had already been pretty beat up from practice, and whatever they could have done to him wouldn't make it better. So they slowly moved him.

Scorpius looked to Lily. "Lily, run ahead and get whatever you have ready. Set it up in the sixth year dorm room. If the other guys ask just tell them it's an emergency and to get out."

Lily nodded before taking off on her broom, speeding ahead of them. The boys gingerly moved Dante along, while Adrian moved ahead of them, telling them that he planned to tell the headmaster immediately.

"Dante, what happened?" Lars asked.

But Dante didn't answer him, and instead was silent. For a minute, Scorpius feared that he'd passed out, but looked closely, he could Dante's eyes were slightly open still, and his breathing was heavy.

"I really hope Lily has enough to take care of him," Scorpius said with a sigh.

The journey back to the castle was a bit long, since they were being as gentle as they could be. They didn't know what injuries he had, and they didn't want to make his condition worse by rushing him. They were thankfully able to get him to the common room without any incident, but that ended once they walked in.

All eyes were on them as they brought Dante in, but Lana was immediately on her feet, and following after them.

"What happened?" she exclaimed, concern written in her voice.

"Not now, sis!" Lars retorted as they carefully got him up the stairs.

"What happened to my brother?" Megan Montague demanded as she started to follow them.

"Megan, stay down here!" Will said firmly. She surprisingly listened, but she didn't seem happy about it. But Lana was insistent in following them.

When they entered the sixth year dorm, they found Lily with multiple bottles and vials sitting on a nightstand. They boys quickly lifted him onto the bed.

"He's not looking good," Scorpius told Lily, hoping she could fix all this.

"What happened to him?" Lana repeated, her voice anxious now.

Will closed the door. "Those guys really beat the hell out of him," he commented.

"Merlin knows how long he was alone with them," Lars said with a grimace.

Scorpius moved to stand by Lily, who was looking through the different bottles. "Adrian's talking with Professor Brown now," he told her.

But Lily was in emergency mode. "Someone get his shirt off," she commanded. She began to give a few more orders to help get Dante settled, and so she could work easily. Then she was holding a bottle up to Dante's mouth, instructing him to drink. His face twisted in disgust, but he did as she said.

"What the hell is that?" Lana demanded, her concern making her over protective, and Scorpius was tempted to kick her out of the room so Lily could work.

But Lily didn't seem bothered by her tone. "Something to get rid of the swelling in his eye. Now, did you guys notice anything else besides bruises and cuts?"

Scorpius thought about it, and there was one thing he noticed. "He couldn't bear to put any weight on his left leg."

"Someone cut off that pant leg then," she instructed. Then she was holding another potion to Dante's mouth. "Ok, Dante, you need to drink a lot of this. Don't stop until I stop the flow. Just keep drinking."

Scorpius watched as Lily seemed unaffected by the amount of bruises and cuts on Dante. She'd be a great Healer that was obvious.

"Oh gross!" Tanner suddenly exclaimed.

"What happened?" Lana demanded.

Scorpius looked at Dante's leg, and almost wished he hadn't. It looked like one big bruise, while there was a gash along the skin, and was bleeding heavily.

"Someone press something to his leg to stop the bleeding," Lily stated as Dante finished the potion off.

"Won't that irritate the bruise?" Lars questioned.

"Yes, but it's better than bleeding to death," Lily pointed out as she began to look for a specific potion. "Scorpius, take that pale yellow liquid and make sure he drinks all of it. With the bruise on his leg he'll need it all."

"Got it, princess," he said as he grabbed the potion. He gave it to Dante, who drank the whole thing without a complaint. He was going to give Dante serious credit once this was over. All the pain and disgusting potions he was drinking, and he wasn't complaining.

Once Dante had finished it, Scorpius set the bottle down and looked at Lily. "That's all of it." But then he was amazed. She had somehow figured out a spell to close the gash on his leg, leaving only the bruises.

But Lily was still focused. "Thank you. Now, someone get him something to bite on."

They all looked at her now. "What for?" Tanner questioned.

Lily sighed as she looked at them. "Look, I don't know how to fix bones with a wand," she explained. "But I do have a potion that can easily do the trick. The thing is, it's painful. He might scream. So give him something to bite on as an alternative."

Scorpius sighed. Dante probably preferred that over people hearing him scream. The other guys did too, and Lars held out part of Dante's now torn apart shirt. "Here's part of his shirt," he mumbled.

The potion Lily had was a light green color, and now knowing that it was painful, it seemed vial. "Open up, Dante," Lily instructed.

Dante didn't argue, and did as she said. But as soon as he'd swallowed it, Lily stuffed the shirt between his teeth. And no sooner than when she did that his jaw tensed, and he let out a muffled sound against the fabric. A sound of serious pain.

Lana looked horrified, and furious. "What the hell did you do?" she demanded.

Lily was calm though. "It'll heal the leg, but it won't be nice about it."

Lana still wasn't happy. "But it's hurting him!" she insisted.

"Sis!" Lars barked at her.

Lily didn't seem bothered about being the subject of Lana's rage. "It hurt to get the wound, and it's going to hurt to get rid of it," she said calmly. She looked at Scorpius. "Scorpius, can you cap all these bottles for me?"

Scorpius nodded. "Sure." He set about his task, but still watched Lily, who seemed to be examining Dante. But then she muttered something and quickly began to dig out two more potions. She said something quietly to Dante. Then she taking the cloth from Dante. Scorpius was afraid he'd scream, but Lily was quickly bringing him a potion to drink, which he did. Then she followed it up with another potion. As soon as he drank a little of the last one, his eyes slowly began close. His body oddly relaxed, and it seemed that he was now fast asleep, and in no pain at all.

Will looked at Dante from the other side of the bed. "What the hell just happened?"

"I gave him something to put him to sleep. This way he won't feel any pain while his leg heals," Lily told them.

"Nice," Will said with a grin, his worry hidden in his eyes.

Scorpius was just as impressed at Lily's ability to calmly take care of Dante, and to handle Lana's hysterics and concern. As usual, the girl was just full of surprises. But looking at Dante, he felt his hands clench into tight fists.

Potter would pay for this!


"You ever wonder why we continue to go to school?" Rex questioned. The fifth year boys were all sitting around the common room together. They'd come back from Hogsmeade a bit early this time, and were now enjoying the treats and joke items they'd bought.

Scorpius looked at his friend curiously. "So we can get an education?" It was such a simple question that there had to be a catch to Rex's inquiry.

"Yeah, but . . . why do I need one?" Rex replied as he chewed on a Chocolate Frog. "I mean, I plan on hitting a drum set the rest of my life. What's stopping me from dropping out after this year?"

"The thought of having to listen to Tyson complain in your ear for the rest of your life?" Lars guessed.

Rex gave a nod. "True. Very true."

"And because your sisters would just make fun of you," Justin added.

"They do that anyways," Rex retorted with a shrug.

"Merlin it's about time!"

Scorpius turned his head at the sound of the familiar voice. Megan, Dante's sister. Looking at her, he saw that she wasn't alone, but with the other girls . . . who were dragging Lily off, probably to their dorm. Lily . . . her date was today.

"Well, Lily Lu's smiling. Date couldn't have gone that bad," Mitch said suddenly, making Scorpius look at him. So he wasn't the only one that noticed.

Now they were all watching as the girls disappeared up the stairs. "I'm not sure I trust that Scamander kid. He's way too close those idiot brothers of hers," Rex commented, crossing his arms.

"So is Lorcan, but he's a good guy," Justin pointed out.

"But he's not a pushover," Lars argued. "Lysander on the other hand . . . no guts. He'd cave under Potter's foot."

Mitch looked to Scorpius. "What do we do, Scor? Do we corner the kid and figure out his intentions?"

Scorpius scowled. He desperately wanted to. But he still remembered Lana's words. Her annoying, but right, words. "No. She looks happy. And until she doesn't . . . we don't do a thing."


As the days to Slughorn's Halloween party neared, Scorpius found himself in a horrid situation. Normally, he was perfectly fine going to one these little parties without a date. In fact, he was ok going to any party without a date. But it seemed like a dozen different girls had different ideas. He lost count of how many had asked to be his date, and how many times he'd hidden from girls that were obviously looking for him.

"You're just a popular guy," Mitch had teased with a loud laugh.

"Just say yes to one of them," Lana had told him. "Then she'll brag about it, and other girls will know you're taken, and they'll stop asking you."

So that's what Scorpius was waiting for. For one girl that he could tolerate to ask him. But . . . there hadn't been a single one yet!

Scorpius now hid behind a statue on the third floor. He'd been leaving class when he'd heard Nikki Montana calling out for him to wait for her. Out of all the girls, she'd been the most persistent in trying to talk to him.

"Scorpius?"

Scorpius jumped and whirled around quickly. While he was happy to see that it wasn't Nikki who'd snuck up on him, he was hesitant to see that it was Beth Crowley. She was a year older than Scorpius, and they never really spoke to each other much.

"Oh, um . . . hello, Beth. Did you need something?" Scorpius asked politely.

"Well, I was wondering if you had a date for Slughorn's party. And if you don't, would you like to go with me?" Beth asked with a bit of a smile.

Scorpius stared at her for a brief moment. Well, at least she hadn't jumped at him and just thrown the question in his face. And Beth . . . well he didn't know her that well, so he couldn't say she was bad or annoying. What could it hurt?

"Sure. That sounds fine," Scorpius agreed with a nod.

Her smile obviously brightened at his words. "Great! How does meeting in the common room that day sound?"

He nodded again. "Ok. Sure."

"Perfect! I'll see you around, Scorpius!" Beth said before rushing off, probably to meet her friends now that classes were done for the day. Scorpius was just hoping that Lana was right, that Beth would brag, and other girls would stop asking him.

Scorpius told the others about his finally agreeing to a date, and having the guys congratulating him on his choice. He honestly didn't know what was so fascinating or great about Beth, but he didn't want to ask them. Merlin knows what kind of answer he'd get.

"Scorpius Malfoy!"

Scorpius groaned as he stopped walking. He'd just gotten done studying for his O.W.L.s, and he really wanted to get to the common room and relax. Plus, it was a girl's voice! It'd been a few hours! Couldn't word have gotten around quicker?

But when he turned around, Scorpius was surprised to see Amanda Baddock coming toward him. He scratched his neck as he stared at her with confusion. Surely Amanda didn't want to ask him out. Sure, they got along, but they were simply friends. Amanda had never shown an interest before.

Then again, at the expression on her face, she looked more likely to curse him than to ask him out. "What do you want, Amanda?"

Amanda placed her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "I'm only going to say this once, Scorpius, so listen carefully. You and I may be friends, but Beth is my best friend. So you break her heart, I break your body, understood?"

Scorpius nodded. He could understand protecting a friend. "Yes."

"Also, and I doubt this will happen but as a friend I have to say it, you push her to do something she doesn't want to, or force yourself on her, I will straight up kill you. Got it?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes at the one. "Really, Amanda? You think I would?"

"No. But I say it every guy she dates. I can't be biased," Amanda said with a shrug. "Just as long as you know the guidelines for dating by best friend, and you don't break them, we're good."

Scorpius just shook his head as he turned around. "Whatever you say," he assured her.

When he finally made it to the common room, he was relieved to see that the couch was unoccupied. So he dropped his bag next to it, and dropped onto the couch, laying across it with his feet on the arm. He sighed as he finally took a moment to relax for the day.

Scorpius didn't move or open his eyes until he heard the tale tell sound of the entrance to their common room sliding open. He lazily opened his eyes, and was happy to see that it was Lily walking in, probably coming back from those advanced Potion lessons she took.

"Hey, Princess!" he called out to her, waving for her to join him.

She walked toward him, and promptly pushed his legs off the couch, taking a seat. Scorpius just smirked and placed his legs on her lap instead. She gave him a smile. "What's up?" she asked.

"I've got a date for Slughorn's party," he replied.

She gave him a surprised look. "Really? This, coming from the guy who said he found most girls boring?" she mocked.

Scorpius laughed a little. "Well I found one that's not so bad," he retorted.

"She asked you out, didn't she," Lily guessed, obviously a bit amused.

He still laughed. "You're point?" She rolled her eyes at him. "Beth Crowley asked me a few hours ago, and she's not bad, so I said yeah. Then I got threatened by Amanda Baddock to not hurt her best friend," he joked.

"How is Amanda?" Lily asked.

Scorpius thought about that. He hadn't talked to her that much lately, but she was always busy with something it seemed. But she seemed like herself earlier. "Fine," he assumed. "She's been busy with her new classes and with prefect duties. Anyways, you going with Lysander?"

Lily nodded. "Yep."

Scorpius tried to hide how that thought put a weird feeling in his system, and a bad taste in his mouth. So he teased her. "So, Lily's got a boyfriend. Hmm . . . how do I feel about that?"

She just rolled her eyes again. "I do not have a boyfriend," she corrected.

Scorpius raised a brow, but didn't let his hopes rise. "I thought you said you were going with him to the party?"

"I am."

"But he's not your boyfriend?" Scorpius added.

She nodded. "Nope."

"So he didn't ask you to be his girlfriend?" he guessed.

"Not yet," she answered.

Scorpius smirked. Well maybe if Lysander was too scared to ask her, Lily would lose interest, and he wouldn't have to worry about the coward doing something stupid. "You want me to beat him up?"

Lily leaned against the couch cushion. "No, I do not," she replied with a sigh.

Scorpius hid his own sigh. "Well what kind of guy goes on a date with a great girl, and doesn't ask her to be his girlfriend?" After all, if he'd been in Lysander's position, he would have! Well . . . not that he'd go on a date with Lily . . . That'd be weird. . .

But she still defended the kid. "A lot of guys! Some people go on a few dates before making it official."

Scorpius rested his head on his arm. "Well if this guy knows what's good for him, he'll make it official by the end of the party." And then not do anything stupid, because Scorpius would kill him.

"Whatever you say," she said dryly, but with a smile. "I'm going to bed."

Scorpius smirked at the sight of her smile. "Kay. Night, Lily."

She pushed his feet off her lap. "Good night, Scorpius." Then she turned and made her way to the stairs. Scorpius sat up and watched her go up the stairs until she disappeared from sight.

"What are you looking at?"

Scorpius jumped a little as he turned to see that Mitch was now sitting next to him. How did he do that so quietly? "What? Nothing?"

Mitch looked over the back of the couch, then looked at Scorpius with a raised brow. "Really?"

Scorpius scowled at him. "What?"

Mitch just shrugged. "Nothing. So, you do that Herbology homework yet?"


Scorpius could feel that light sheen of sweat on his skin. He took is a sign that he was actually pushing himself. October might have cooled the air outside, but it wasn't enough to stop you from sweating during an intense workout. And that's what he was trying to achieve with Quidditch team for this practice. They were all sweating . . . well, all but one.

Scorpius looked up, thinking he'd see Lily, but she was nowhere. He looked over the stands, and saw a sight that made him scowl a little. Scamander was there, and she was sitting next to him. He sighed as he went back to focusing on the practice. It didn't matter if she took a break. She'd already caught the Snitch at least ten times. For her it was hardly a workout.

But as the practice continued, Scorpius couldn't help but continue to glance over that the two of them. And it seemed like every time he looked back at them, they were leaning closer to each other. Finally . . . he couldn't help but blurt something out.

"Hey, princess! Catch the Snitch! We're almost done here!" he called out.

"We are?" Adrian questioned, obviously a bit relieved, like the rest of the guys looked.

Scorpius gulped. Well, he hadn't planned on ending just yet, but he'd already said it . . . and he didn't know why. "Yeah, once she catches the Snitch again."

"Merlin, please don't let her speed fail us now," Will groaned, stretching his arms.

Once the practice was officially over, Scorpius was the first one to the showers. He kept it at a lukewarm temperature, letting the spray hit him the face. What was wrong with him lately? He felt so confused. This couldn't be part of the whole "growing up" thing. The others didn't seem to have this problem. In fact, they all seemed like understood something he didn't. And he hated that!

Despite being the first one to the showers, he ended up trailing out with the others. While his body felt more relaxed now, his mind was still muddled and confused. So he pushed it all away, and did his best to focus on what the others were talking about as he changed.

". . . Adrian, who are you taking to Slughorn's party?" Will wondered.

"Melina Stretton. One of the hotter girls of my year," Adrian bragged.

"And the easiest," Tanner added with a grin, making the other guys laugh.

Even Adrian laughed. "And I find no reason to judge how a girl acts. I would rather embrace it," he mocked.

"She'll be glad to hear that," Will joked.

"And it's bound to make Scarlet jealous," Lars said, bringing up Adrian's ex. "No doubt she'll regret dumping you."

Adrian snapped his towel against Lars's back. "She didn't dump me!" he argued. "It was a mutual ending."

Scorpius grinned. They were constantly teasing Adrian about that, mainly because it bugged him. "Keep trying to convince yourself that, mate."

"Well, I know that I've got the hottest date for the party," Dante stated. "And I now know that she's crazy about me."

Scorpius smirked. He knew who it was. Lana had told him this morning that she finally agreed to go with Dante. And he'd mocked her all through breakfast about how she'd once said she'd never accept a second date from him.

But Lars was apparently clueless on his twin, which was usually the case with things like this. "Who is it? A troll?"

Dante smirked at Lars's joke. "No. It's your sister." Even Lily laughed this time.

Lars looked a little too stunned to speak. So Tanner did. "You're going out with Lana?"

Dante shrugged, still grinning. "Hey, she's hot. Plus, she's cool and not annoying. And she did take care of my leg while I was put on a one night bed rest, so I'm hoping she won't mind taking care of something else while I'm on my bed," he joked, looking straight at Lars.

Scorpius shook his head, not wanting to hear that about his sister, but he knew Dante was joking, trying to rile Lars's up. And that seemed to do it, because it only took a second for Lars to run at him, and then chase him into the showers. "Dude, I will kill you!"

"I was kidding!" Dante yelled from the showers.

Scorpius rolled his eyes as he slipped on his tie. "What an idiot," he sighed as he tied his tie.

"They're your friends," Lily mocked.

"And you're," he quipped. He looked down at his tie and scowled. It was horribly crooked, like it usually was for him. He was terrible at this. Usually he used his wand to straighten it, but . . . "Hey, princess, can you tie this for me? I suck at it, and I forgot my wand in my bag."

"Where's your bag?" Lily asked.

"Dorm room," he replied.

She shook her head, but smiled with amusement. "You are hopeless," she teased as he approached him, and began to fix it.

Scorpius smirked. "Why thank you, sweetheart," he said sarcastically as he looked at her. She was obviously a bit shorter than him, but he was taller than most in his year. She looked focused on his tie, her eyes bright.

"No problem," she mumbled. Then she looked up at him, their eyes locking for a moment. And for some reason, Scorpius held his breath for that moment. "There you go," she said softly before moving away from him, and back to her things.

Scorpius finally let out that breath before taking in a gulp of air. What . . . what was that? He shook it off. "Thank you, princess." He looked at the bag she was throwing over her shoulder, and the broom in her hand. "Need help with any of that?"

She looked at her things as well, but shook her head when she looked back to him. "No, I've got it."

"So is lover boy waiting outside for you?" Tanner teased. Scorpius scowled. So he wasn't the only one that noticed Scamander's presence.

While she rolled her eyes, she still had a small grin on her lips. "No, I told him to go on ahead. I'll see him tomorrow anyhow."

"Where are you two meeting up?" Will questioned.

"The Entrance Hall. I figured it would be easier," she told them.

"Are you going to introduce us?" Scorpius asked, smirking, but still serious. He needed to actually speak to this guy. Maybe if Scamander could prove himself, then Scorpius might stop feeling worried.

"You know him," Lily pointed out.

"Not officially."

"Doesn't matter," Lily argued calmly. "You know him."

"But I think he should know," Tanner said with a strange tone of seriousness. Even Scorpius was curious and clueless on what he meant.

Lily however just raised a brow, not about to get riled easily like Lars. "Know about what?"

Tanner grinned slyly. "About how you spend your lonely nights with Scor," he mocked.

Scorpius looked down at his shoes at his cousin's joke, while the others all laughed. "Ew, Tanner!" Lily exclaimed, though with minor disgust and a bit of amusement. Scorpius, however, only thought of the night he'd comforted her after her trip to St. Mungo's. How she really had spent the night with him, at least most of it. Scorpius never asked when she'd woken up. It seemed too awkward.

But Lily was still giving a fake glare to Tanner. "You are such a jerk! Now you're definitely not meeting him!"

Brought back to the current situation, and not wanting to seem off and be questioned, as his friends all seemed to do lately, Scorpius smirked again. "But what if I promise to behave? Can I meet him then?"

She mockingly patted his head. "If you're a good boy. But I doubt that's possible."

He chuckled. "Your lack of credit to me is appealing," he mocked.

She simply shook her head. "Anyways, I'm hungry. I'm going to drop my stuff off in the common room, and then I'll see you at dinner.

As they guys said their farewells, Scorpius gave a smile. "I'll bug you about this later."

She smiled. "I'll hold you to that. Later, guys."

Once she left, Scorpius sighed and leaned back against his locker. For a brief moment, he let that feeling wash over him one more time. But again, he couldn't figure it out. So he pushed it away, just as Dante came out spitting bubbles and holding a bar of soap, while Lars simply rubbed his elbow and scowled.


"You ever get the feeling that professors don't like us?" Mitch commented as they left Defense against the Dark Arts. It was finally Halloween. The day of Slughorn's party, which Scorpius really wanted to get over and done with.

"Why do you say that?" Lana asked, although she seemed to sense the answer would be a joke, like usual.

"Because, all they do is give us homework," Mitch said with a grin. "And, they were kids once. They know what it's like, but yet they do it to us. That makes me think that they don't like us."

"Yeah, because it has nothing to do with the fact that we're about to take some of the most important exams of our lives later this year," Lana mocked.

"Hey, I don't need those tests, so what do I care," Mitch laughed. "Don't need O.W.L. scores to be in a band."

"Hey, it's the birthday boy!"

The four Slytherins turned their heads in curiosity, but then began to glare and grumble. James Potter was surrounded by a multitude of friends with his arm around a girl. It hit them like a brick. Potter's birthday.

"Oh no," Lars muttered. "He's going to be unbearable! More so than usual!"

"And he'll most likely be at Slughorn's party. He won't miss a chance to remind everyone that it's his day," Lana groaned.

Scorpius just glared his way before he turned back and continued to walk. "Just ignore him. And if you can't, hex him."

And most of them almost did, multiple times. It seemed like everywhere Scorpius went that morning, all he heard about was Potter's birthday, or he heard Potter bragging in the halls. Girls whispered about it in the library, Gryffindors talked about it their classes together. And he swore that Potter talked louder whenever Scorpius was in the same hallway as him.

When lunch finally came around, Scorpius was personally relieved. He just had to get to the Great Hall without running into Potter. The sound of the other students was sure to drown him out. But just as he stepped off the stairs and onto the floor of the Entrance Hall, a hand grabbed his wrist, and pulled him to the side of the staircase. He instinctively tensed, but relaxed when he saw that it was just Beth.

"Oh, Beth, it's you. Did you need something?" Scorpius asked. She remembered their decision to meet in the common room right? After all, it was just a date, not a relationship. And she knew that . . . right?

Beth smiled as she pushed her silky hair off her shoulder, giving him what most other guys probably saw as a charming look. It just made Scorpius wary and think that she wanted something. "Well, I haven't seen you all morning, so I thought we could steal a quick moment."

Scorpius sighed. So she didn't know. "Look, Beth, about tonight . . . you know that it's just a date to a party. Not a big deal, and doesn't mean we're dating."

Beth didn't look bothered or upset, which relieved Scorpius. "Oh, of course! That's why I want to make the most out of today."

Scorpius raised a brow at her words. "What do you mean?"

Instead of using words to answer him, she simply grabbed the collar of his jumper and pulled him down, her lips meeting his. Scorpius couldn't stop his eyes from growing wide at first. Obviously he'd only kissed one girl before, Layla, and each of those were innocent enough. But Beth's lips moved fiercely against his. And she was a good kisser, that was for sure. So Scorpius relaxed himself, and allowed himself to kiss her back, his hands holding her waist. It was only one day. And she was right, why not make the most of it?

But then her lips parted beneath his. And while Scorpius wasn't an idiot, he knew what to do, it shocked him a bit and he hadn't expected it. But when her tongue brushed gently against his bottom lip, again, he reciprocated.

Scorpius soon found himself need a bit of air, and he was hungry. So he pulled away from the kiss. But before he could speak a word, Beth attacked his lips again, her fingers digging into his jumper. Scorpius tried not to stumble forward as he kissed her back again. What on earth was she doing? Wasn't she hungry, she probably hadn't eaten since breakfast either?

So Scorpius tried to pull away again, this time starting with prying her fingers off of him. "Beth," he mumbled against her lips. "We need to stop for a moment."

Beth finally pulled back to look at him, her cheeks a little flushed, a little breathless, but her eyes were bright. "What's wrong?"

Scorpius took in a bit of air. "It's just that I'm starving. I really need to eat something."

"Oh," Beth said, as if she finally remembered that lunch had started. "Well, I was waiting for Amanda, but she's probably already in there. Would you like to sit with us?"

But Scorpius was already picking up his bag. "Sorry, but I've really got to discuss a bit of Quidditch tactics with Lily. Our match is only two weeks away, we've got to be prepared," he lied quickly and smoothly. Then he was hurrying away, but not before he heard her offer to sit with him instead. But Scorpius was already in the Great Hall, hurrying toward Slytherin table.

Thankfully it was easy to find Lily and her friends, so he took fast steps toward them. "Hide me!" he said as he approached. He dropped into the seat next to Lily and ducked his head. Amanda had been at the front end of the table, closer to the door, so hopefully Beth would just sit with her.

Jace looked toward the door. "From what?" he questioned.

Scorpius glanced toward Amanda, relived to see that Beth had sat by her. "Beth," he mumbled.

Lola gave him an expectant look. "What did you do?"

Scorpius felt like rolling his eyes. Why did girls always assume the guy did something wrong? "It's not me, it's her!" he corrected.

"What did she do?" Lily inquired, looking at bit amused.

"She won't let me breathe! I had to practically pry her lips off of me!" Scorpius answered. And when they began to laugh, Scorpius realized how ridiculous that must sound, especially from a guy.

"What?" Lily said, still laughing.

"How is that a bad thing?" Jace added.

Scorpius scratched the back of his neck. He needed to remember not to say this to the guys, because unlike these three, they'd probably never let him live it down. "I didn't say it was bad," he amended. "I'd just like to be able to take a breath."

"Then why did you agree to go out with her?" Lola mocked.

"I didn't' know she planned on sucking my face down her throat," he replied as he began to fill his plate. And if he had known that was Beth's intents, he probably wouldn't have agreed to the dumb date. Hoping to change the subject, he looked to Lily, but then noticed that there was very little food on her plate, which was untouched. "Aren't you hungry?"

Lily only shrugged. "Not really. I figure that I will be by the time of the party, though."

"She's been weird all day," Lola told him.

Scorpius looked at Lily with concern, but she was simply giving Lola a slightly annoyed look. "Are you all right?"

Lily sighed. "Just fine."

Looking at her now, Scorpius could tell it was a lie. There was that look in her eyes again. The wary and sad look that hid in the depths. But she obviously didn't want to worry anyone, or she didn't want to talk about it in front of others.

"If you say so," he replied. Maybe he could get her to talk about it later.


Scorpius had to admit that the start of Slughorn's party wasn't so bad. He couldn't see or hear Potter, so perhaps he wasn't coming. And was finally going to get to actually sit down and talk with Lysander Scamander, under Lily's watch, but he could deal with that.

But once she'd introduced him to them and sat down, she spoke first, beating him to it. "Where's Mitch?" she asked.

"Wooing your cousin over there," Lana told her. Mitch had ditched them minutes into the party, because he'd seen Dominique walk in. Scorpius honestly wasn't sure what he saw in her. She was snarky, callous, and a bit to be honest. They were hardly alike.

"I don't know who to feel bad for in that situation."

"That's what I said," Scorpius laughed.

Lily then seemed to take notice of the empty seat next to Lars. "Who's that seat for?"

Lana crossed her arms in annoyance, and Scorpius hid his smirk. "Lars's date. She had to use that bathroom," she grumbled.

Lars rolled his eyes at his sister's attitude. "She has a name." Scorpius bit the inside of his cheek. Those two just never seemed to approve of the other's choice in dating. It was too funny.

"Who is it?" Lily asked curiously.

"Victoria Martin," Lars answered.

"From Ravenclaw?" Lysander guessed. Scorpius could have smacked himself. Of course! Scamander was a Ravenclaw too! They could had talked to Martin about him and get her thoughts on the guy!

Lars grinned with pride. "That's the one."

Lana looked to Lysander. "Sorry if she's a friend of yours, Lysander," then she looked toward her brother, "but the girl's a twit!"

Scorpius was surprised that Lysander simply chuckled at the insult to his fellow Ravenclaw. Lars rolled his eyes. "Chill, sis. Just ignore her."

Then Slughorn was there, attempting to drag Lily away to meet someone. While Scorpius would rather her stay and hang out with them, he was glad to finally get to see Scamander without Lily around to protect him.

Lily simply sighed as she got up to follow Slughorn. "I'll be back in a moment."

Scorpius grinned. "No worries. We'll keep Lysander company."

"Just keep Tanner away from him," Lily joked.

Scorpius gulped a little at that memory. He had no intention of bringing that up. Instead he now looked at Lysander, who seemed to hold the table's attention. At least he wasn't alone in his quest to talk to this guy.

"So, Lysander," Dante addressed, looking at him closely, "I gotta say, with your size, you don't seem like the average Beater."

Scamander shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I'm nowhere near as strong as my brother, but it's the one position I've always played."

"And you're prefect, right?" Lars asked.

Lysander simply nodded.

"Party a lot?" Dante questioned.

Lysander looked surprised, but then sheepish. "Ah, no I don't actually. It's not really my thing."

"So what do you do?" Scorpius demanded.

Lysander shrugged. "Um, normal things. I hang out with my brother and my friends. I've spent a lot of time studying for our exams though, obviously."

"And your date with our princess. Innocent enough?" Dante said with narrowed eyes.

"Merlin, will you boys leave him alone!" Lana groaned. "The minute Lily walks away, you pounce!"

"Of course. She'd kill us otherwise," Dante commented. Then he looked at Lysander. "The girl is terrifying, in case you didn't know. But we've got to look out for her."

Despite their repeated questions and attitudes, Lysander still smiled. "It's ok. I'm glad to know she has friends that care about her that much."

"Well we do. So don't forget," Scorpius warned with a scowl. This talk hadn't made him feel better. Where was the guy's spine? Why didn't he push back? Why was he just taking what they threw at him, and smiling?

"You know, you guys didn't do this to Dante," Lana pointed out.

"No, but Lars shoved soap down his throat," Scorpius pointed out, unable to help himself.

"That's disgusting!" Beth muttered next to him.

"So was what he said!" Lars defended.

"Just because you couldn't take a joke!" Dante laughed.

"Did I miss something?" Victoria Martin inquired as she rejoined them.

"The boys are being idiots," Beth said simply, much more civil to Martin than Lana was being.

"Hey, I was being a good brother when I did that!" Lars protested.

"I don't want to know why that is, or what he said to deserve it," Lana said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, I didn't want to know either!" Lars retorted, making them all laugh, especially Scorpius and Dante, who'd been there.

Then Lily rejoined them, sitting between Scorpius and Scamander. "What have I missed?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing much," Scorpius assured. "Just Dante bugging Lars."

"What did Slughorn want?" Dante inquired, changing the subject. After all, Lily had been there too, and Dante probably feared that she'd hold it over his head in front of Lana.

"To introduce me to two of his former students that were very good at Potions," she replied simply, not looking very interested or impressed.

"As good as you?" Scamander asked.

Lily laughed. "No. But one of them works for my father now."

"Oh, how fun!" Dante mocked.

Scorpius grinned. "Did you tell him you had a date," he teased.

Lily just rolled her eyes. "Don't be an ass," she retorted. "And no. I had the bad feeling that it would get back to my father."

"You think your dad wouldn't like you dating me?" Lysander asked. And Scorpius didn't like how certain this guy was that he'd be so easily accepted as Lily's boyfriend.

"No," Lily replied, "I don't think my dad would like me dating anyone. I'm just trying to avoid an interrogation at Christmas."

"That's good, because I think my family is going to the Burrow for Christmas this year," Scamander told her.

Scorpius turned away when he noticed Lily's smile brighten. "Really?"

"Well, that's what my parents have been suggesting. I think your mum and my mum have been talking about it for a while now." Scorpius locked eyes with his sister, and he scowled at the look she gave him. Like she was trying not to laugh at him. What was so funny to her?

"Well, at least Christmas won't such as bad," Lily laughed.

"At least you don't have to get all dressed up and go to the Malfoy's for a fancy Christmas dinner," Lars complained.

Scorpius turned from Lana, and instead looked to Lars. "Yeah, that dinner sucks," he agreed.

"What's so bad about it?" Lily asked curiously.

Lana sighed. "Formal wear, adults being boring, and lack of fun," she replied.

"What are we talking about?" Mitch wondered as he loudly dragged a chair over to the table, fitting between Dante and Lars. His hair was mess, the normal spikes is a messy array over his head. It was obvious that his time with Dominique Weasley had gone well.

"Christmas at Malfoy Manor," Dante answered.

"Oh, it sucks," Mitch said casually, and honestly.

Lily simply raised a brow at him. "Good evening so far, Mitch?"

Mitch grinned slyly. "Your cousin is wild!"

Lily scowled and faked a gag. "I don't need to know that. That's the last thing I want to hear about Dominique."

Beth looked equally disgusted. "Yeah, if you're going to shag her, please don't tell us."

Mitch brushed it off. "I'll just brag when you girls aren't here."

"Thank you!" they exclaimed.

Mitch leaned toward Lily though. "So, Lil, can you invite me over on Christmas Eve?"

Lily looked at him skeptically. "Why? So you can have sex with my cousin?"

Mitch just laughed. "Well I wasn't thinking that far ahead, but sounds good to me. Will ya?"

Lily scoffed in return. "Have Dominique invite you. And don't expect privacy. That word's not real in the Weasley family," she warned.

He still laughed. "I don't mind an audience."

"Mitch!" Beth chided, smacking his arm.

Dante shook his head as he chuckled. "You're an idiot, man."

But then Lars sighed heavily. "Oh, shit."

"What?" Scorpius asked.

"I see trouble coming in," he said, motioning subtly toward the door. And the sight made them all groan, tense, or glare. James Potter and his entourage had arrived.

"Talk about oncoming disaster," Dante muttered, glaring exclusively at Potter. "I ought to kill Potter."

"I already got dibs," Lily muttered.

But Scamander stood up. "I'll be back in a moment. I haven't told James happy birthday yet," he told Lily. Scorpius stared after him in shock. How stupid was this guy? If he told Potter he was with Lily . . . there's no way that Potter wouldn't cause a scene.

"I can't believe he's friends with that jackass," Lars said with disgust.

Lily sighed, obviously not too happy with it herself. "He knows James's an ass. He's just better at ignoring it."

"He's got amazing abilities then," Dante retorted. That, or he was just a pushover to Potter as well, Scorpius thought.

"Think they know he's with you?" Lana asked, sensing the same thing Scorpius had.

Lily just shrugged. "Hell if I know. They haven't said anything to me, but then again, we don't talk much."

"I doubt they know. I don't think James would be smiling and laughing with Lysander if he knew about the two of you," Scorpius assured, still keeping his eye on Scamander while he was with the enemy.

Lily looked back to them as well. "You've got a point," she murmured.


Scorpius was wary of Potter throughout the party, but so far there hadn't been an issue. But Scorpius wasn't about to let his guard down. Although . . . Scorpius was finding it hard to keep an eye on Potter, and then also Lily and Scamander when he had Beth clinging to him and dragging him from person to person!

"She accepts that it's only one date," Lana had whispered to him. "She's going to make the most of it, though. After all, she got the one guy who rejected everyone else."

Scorpius had scowled at her. She couldn't have warned him that this would happen when he accepted a girl's offer?

Finally it reached a point where the circulation in his arm was practically gone, and he just couldn't take the mindless conversations Beth and two other girls were having! He cleared his throat. "Beth, could you excuse me for a moment. There's something very important I need to talk to Lily about." He was sure that, unlike the others, Lily would help keep him away from Beth, if at least for a few minutes. The others just laughed at him.

Beth raised her brow, looking exasperated. "Wasn't that your excuse at lunch?"

Scorpius tried to keep from gritting his teeth. For this just being a one night thing, she was sure sounding like a girlfriend! "It's important. I'll be back when we're done talking."

"I'll hold you to that," Beth said, but to Scorpius it was like a threat.

"Yeah, ok," he said as he hurried away. He'd seen Lily and Scamander just moments ago . . .

He found them talking by themselves, and quickly moved toward them. "Hey, hey!" he said quickly. "Can I borrow Lily for a moment?" Not that he was really asking. He would simply stand by them if anything, as long as it freed him for a few minutes.

Lily gave him a mocking look. "How about you ask her?"

Lysander laughed it off. "I was about to get a drink anyway. You want one, Lily?" he asked politely.

Lily gave him a smile. "Sure."

Scorpius took her by the wrist. "I'm taking her back to the table," he said before pulling her away.

"What is it?" Lily questioned, and probably rolling her eyes.

Scorpius just sighed when they got to the table. "Just sit," he instructed. But when they were sitting, Lily just gave him a look that showed she was still waiting for an explanation. "I just wanted a moment where Beth wasn't clinging to me, so I told her I had to talk to you about something important, and I'm sure she's watching us now." With the way she'd looked at him before he left her, he wouldn't have been surprised.

Lily didn't laugh at him, but Scorpius could tell that she was tempted to. Her grin said it all. "Regretting agreeing to a date?"

"Hardly," he replied with sarcasm.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't two little snakes!"

Scorpius immediately tensed at the sound of Potter's voice, and he saw Lily's shoulders tense as well. They turned to glare at Potter. The same girl was hanging off of him, and it looked like Albus Potter and Rose Weasley were trailing behind him.

"What the hell do you want?" Scorpius sneered.

Potter tried to look disappointed, but Scorpius thought he just looked like an idiot. "What? Not going to wish me a happy birthday?"

"I would but that would contradict my personal wish," Lily snapped, her voice was even tense. Scorpius glanced at her briefly. Was Potter the reason she'd been so weird today?

Potter gave a mocking laugh. It just made Scorpius want to hex him even more. "Well how unfortunate for me, because I don't think I can live with myself anymore."

"What's going on here?"

Scorpius felt his concern for Lily rise at the sound of Scamander's voice. Scorpius knew. He knew that Scamander wouldn't fight against Potter. The kid couldn't stand up for himself while being interrogated, Potter would tear him apart.

Potter simply looked confused, proving that he really didn't know about the two of them. "What are you doing, Ly?"

Scamander just sat down. "Getting a drink for my date. Why?"

Of course, Potter's face took a look of disgust. "This is your date? You're taking out a snake? You'd do better with a Squib, dude!"

Scorpius shot up from his chair, not caring how it crashed to the floor. He got in Potter's face. "Take it back!" he snarled.

Slughorn was on them quickly. "What's the problem here?"

"Nothing, Professor," Scamander covered.

Scorpius felt his fury increase, and now he felt like hitting both Potter and Scamander. "Nothing my foot!" He glared at Scamander. "Why aren't you defending her?"

Slughorn intervened before anything else could be said. "Wait, wait! Let's either stop now or settle this somewhere else."

Lily finally got up, but instead of defending herself, she wasn't looking at any of them. "I think I'll go somewhere else. I'll see you tomorrow, Professor." Then she was gone, hurrying from the party. Scorpius wanted to follow her, but Scamander was already on it. But Scorpius was take care of him later. He still had Potter in front of him.

Scorpius glared back at Potter now. "I'm warning you now, Potter. This is not the end. Just when you think you're safe, we'll be there, and you'll wake up in the Hospital Wing. I promise you," he growled in a low tone.

"Mr. Malfoy," Slughorn began to speak, but Scorpius had already turned his back and was jogging out of the room, hoping that he could catch Lily. He wasn't sure what exactly was running through her mind, but if it made her leave a fight, then it couldn't be good.

Scorpius didn't see Lily or Scamander anywhere down the corridor. So he tried to think where Lily might go. Not the common room. Lola would immediately see that something was wrong, and Lily didn't want to talk. She'd want to be alone . . . and the best place for that was the Astronomy Tower!

So Scorpius began to run. He knew the longer she stayed silent and alone, the worse she'd feel about it. When finally reached the tower, he instantly felt the chill in the air. But he could see her sitting on the ledge, her hair swaying gently in the wind. He approached her gently.

"Princess?"

He heard a sigh of annoyance from her lips. "What are you doing here, Scorpius?" she snapped quietly. But he could tell that she wasn't really angry. At least not at him.

He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Acting as your white knight," he told her.

"You're not wearing white," she whispered.

Scorpius glanced down to his black sweater, before sighing and moving to sit next to her. "Then I'm coming as your black knight. Either way, I'm coming to make sure that you're ok."

Lily turned her head, not looking at him. "I'm fine," she mumbled.

"Then why'd you run out?" Scorpius pointed out softly. "Why not stay and defend yourself?"

She sighed again, this time in defeat. "I didn't want to ostracize Lysander. I should have known that being with me would mean losing his friends," she whispered.

Scorpius stopped himself from scowling. Lily didn't need his anger right now, she needed support. He'd be furious about Scamander's lack of a spine later. "He's a dick and a pushover for not defending you," he stated. "He should have told James to fuck off."

"He's too nice," Lily replied, still defending him, although there wasn't much force behind her words.

"Then he doesn't care enough," Scorpius said firmly. "He's a crappy boyfriend."

"He was never my boyfriend," she corrected. "And it doesn't matter. I've told him to stay away from me."

Scorpius felt like shaking his head. "I didn't mean to stop being friends with him," he argued calmly.

But Lily just looked out at the sky, defeat in her eyes. "Being around me just makes practically everyone hate you. I can't ruin his social life just because I have a crush on him."

Scorpius felt his anger rise. Not toward her, but to others. Her idiot brothers, follower Gryffindors, at those that hated Slytherins for a past that wasn't theirs. "I hate other people," he growled softly.

"It doesn't matter," she stated. "Besides, it's not like we would have lasted forever. Our relationship would have ended eventually."

Scorpius ran his hands over her face. The girl was too noble. With the mood she was in, she wasn't going to lash out like she normally would. He couldn't focus on getting her back to normal. Like last time, he just needed to help her feel better. She just needed to get it out of her system. Out of her thoughts.

"That's true. Mine only lasted to tonight," he commented.

"And he always made it about me. I mean, that's sweet, but then it's a little annoying. I mean, he never even suggested introducing me to his friends."

"It does have to be equal."

"And to top it off, he took me to Madam Puttifoot's for a first date. That alone is a ridiculous idea if you're taking me out," Lily added.

Scorpius shook his head. Scamander was an idiot! "That's a dumb place to take any awesome girl. That place is dreadful."

"Awful," Lily agreed with a bit of a laugh. But it was weak.

"It looks like cupid threw up in there," he threw in, hoping that maybe she'd laugh again or even smile.

But she just sighed as she finally looked at him fully. The moonlight shone in her eyes, making them look like a honey-gold color even in the dark of night. Her hair still swayed with the breeze. She looked as pretty as usual, but the look in her eyes made Scorpius's chest tighten. The acceptance. The defeat. And the sadness. The normal intensity, fight, and spark in her eyes . . . that was nowhere to be seen. And he hated that.

Lily just sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder as she looked back to the sky. But Scorpius moved to wrap his arm around her, hoping to comfort her. He leaned down to whisper in her hair.

"He's not worth the sadness, Princess. Not if he's not willing to fight for ya. Whether it's against James, or you." And Scorpius knew that he himself, well he would always fight for her.