The two friends wandered down the halls. It was then that Scorpius remembered his books. Everything had been left in the library, including all the homework he had been working on for two days off and on. The boys changed course and were soon on their way to the library.

Amazingly, everything still seemed to be there. Scorpius checked that everything was together. "Mind if we drop it all off at the dungeons before we go to eat?"

Blain shrugged. "I'm not really hungry yet anyway. I just figured that they all needed to check on Lily before we did. I mean we're just checking on her as friends, but she is the youngest of the group, so they are super protective of her."

They took their time and finally made it to the dungeons. "I'll just be a minute." And with that, Scorpius slipped around a corner and into his common room. It was quiet, as usual. Most people were getting ready to go to dinner, but over in a corner were Persephone and Oswald. They looked up and smiled.

"We wondered were you were hiding out." Persephone teased. "The other two already headed down to dinner. We thought we would wait a little longer to see if you would show tonight. Now we can go."

"Well, I promised Blain I'd eat with him."

The two looked shocked. Oz spoke up, "You mean at the Gryfindor table? You feeling OK? Do we need to take you to the hospital wing?"

"Haw, been there already today."

"Are you OK? I knew that cow had been driving you and Grayson too hard. We barely see you two. Someone needs to talk to the head of house. It is just cruel." Scorpius watched in amusement as Persephone began to call Patricia names. She was getting really worked up, so he decided to intervene.

"No. Turns out, someone hexed Lil, um Little Potters broom. She dropped a couple hundred feet and hit the ground hard. Blain was with me when it happened and I went with him to check on her. I told her brother if I heard about anyone using a curse on her broom, I'd let him know. Don't suppose you two heard anything?"

"Let me guess, he thought it was us?" Oz asked. He always had been the most perceptive person in Slytherin.

"Yeah, but I was with Blain when it happened, and I know you guys didn't so it but to appease Potter, I told him I would ask."

"Getting awfully friendly with Potter aren't you?" Persephone asked nastily.

He rolled his eyes at her. He saw no reason to tell his friends that the Potter he wanted to get friendly with was currently in the hospital wing. They were going to need a lot of time to get used to the idea and he was not ready to get into tonight.

Neither of his friends looked too broken up over the news about Lily, so he took the time to run up to put away his book bag. When he came down, they were waiting. "So are you coming with us?"

"Sorry. Blain and I are going to grab some food and go catch up. I haven't talked to him in weeks." They frowned. Persephone looked at him

"You haven't spent time with us either." Persephone huffed with her arms crossed. Scorpius sighed. It was so hard. He was just getting things straightened out with Blain, he still had to apologize to Lily, and now he realized that his other friends were getting grumpy over his lack of time.

He thought back to what Blain had said. You need to work on your old friends as much as your new ones. "Well, why don't we go to the lake tomorrow then. We can meet after morning classes. We can just relax for a bit before afternoon classes. Sound good?"

The two nodded and Persephone looked appeased. "All right, have a good dinner and I'll see you both later." He ran out the portrait hole. He had left Blain for long enough out in the hall. It was not known as the friendliest area, and he didn't want Blain to be stuck there longer than necessary.

Blain was waiting for him. They started to go to the Great Hall. They were almost there when they heard voices. Blain laughed at Scorpius. "I don't think we are ever going to make it to the Great Hall."

Ahead of them were James Potter and Fred Weasley. They were carrying arms full of food. Blain flagged them down. "You two been to the kitchens?"

James looked up and smiled. "How'd you guess? We figured Lils is doin' better. She's not awake yet, but we can bug her anytime. And we were hungry. Care to join us?"

They hadn't said anything to Scorpius. He wondered if they even noticed him. He followed the small group to an empty classroom. There, James and Fred spread out the food. There was tons of it and it all smelled delicious. His mouth watered. Blain motioned him to sit down and help himself.

For the first few minutes, they ate in silence. Finally, James put down his fork. "So, Malfoy, want to let me in on why you came crashing down the hall earlier. I didn't know you even knew my sister." James didn't say it with malice, but there was no question that the wrong answer would get him I trouble.

Scorpius took his time in answering. He licked gravy from his thumb and looked James in the face. "Your sister invited me to come sit with her when she took breaks outside. My quidditch practice finishes about the same time, so we just started running into each other. She and I had a fight, and when Albus came and told me what had happened, I wanted to check on her."

"And yet you left without doing that very thing. Why?"

"Who says I'm not going to? Blain and I figured that family needed to check on her first and we could do so later."

James took a moment to digest this information. "You know, that girl can take care of herself, but she is my little sister. I need you to know that if I think, for one second, that your intensions aren't as pure as the driven snow, you and I will have problems. Until then, I'll put up with you."

Scorpius actually laughed. James and Fred had never heard the serious looking snake laugh and they exchanged looks. "Alright, fair enough."

They all finished eating. They even talked a bit about quidditch. Scorpius smiled at Blain. "What?"

He looked at the group. "That makes conversations with three Potters and no one got hurt. Are you proud of me?" They all laughed out loud at this.

"You might just work out after all Malfoy."

"Thanks Potter."

"We'll clean up, I think it's your turn to go see Lily. She may not be awake yet, but they think she just needed to sleep off some of the effects of her fall. She should be up and annoying us soon."

Scorpius and Blain thanked the older boys and wandered towards the hospital. It was quiet as they moved through the halls. They reached the door to the hospital wing and Scorpius took a deep breathe. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Blain looked very serious in the dim light.

"You go and apologize first and I'll join you in a few minutes. I want to go check on Al really quick."

Scorpius nodded and moved through the doors. It was getting darker outside, but Scorpius could see a small figure in a bed. He knew it was Lily. He reached her bed and looked down. She looked so peaceful, much like she had when he had seen her under the tree. Her hair lay on her pillow and he realized he had been right all those months ago. The hair looked very black and dark on her pillow. The bandage on her head was a stark contrast to her dark hair. She just looked so small in the bed. For the first time in his life, he felt protective of another person. He didn't want to see her in this bed ever again. He wondered if this is what it felt like to have siblings. Did her brothers feel like this? He took her hand and sat down.

At first he was quiet, just enjoying the fact that he was spending quiet time with her again. He looked at her pale face waiting for those eyes to flicker open and see him. Scorpius was startled to realize he was talking to her. He had started unconsciously. He told her about his day and how Blain had tracked him down. He told her how he had wanted nothing more than to sit down by that tree with her all week.

He squeezed her hand. "You know I am not very good at this kind of thing. Dad always told me that I was better than many other wizards because of my blood and that was why I should never apologize to anyone. I'm not telling you that to make you dislike me, but so that you will understand if this apology is awful. I am working on it."

"When I found out you were a seeker, I was jealous. I know I shouldn't be, I mean you are a few years younger and I didn't really know you, but I have known about your family since I was little. Everyone knows your family and I guess it made me mad to think that your family gets all this positive attention all the time. I have to work so hard for that same attention."

"Getting to be seeker was a huge thing for me, and here you are, a little firstie and you get on right away. It just made me jealous, and I took it out on you. I am sorry. I know you must be good to get on your team. I also know I owe you thanks. You brought Blain back to our friendship. So, thanks."

These last words felt awkward coming out of his mouth. He squeezed her hand again. "I know this was the world's worst apology, but consider it practice for when I apologize when you wake up. I know I have to say it when your eyes are open for it to mean anything. Just feel better Lily."

Damn those last words were so lame. Did he really just say that. She is going to think I am such a dork.

He did not have a chance to finish this train of thought, because just then he heard someone clear their throat. He looked up and came to face to face with the emerald green eyes of Harry Potter.