Well, yeah, heres chapter nine. You know, the one that half of you already read because I'm a complete idiot? Yep, that one. It should hopefully make more sense now that it's in the right place. And it's the second-to-last chapter, too. Oh, yeah, and thanks to you lot for not calling me stupid, an idiot, a moron, or any other variation in your reviews. It was very nice of you. Even if I did deserve to be called all those things, even if I called myself all those things, and even if you probably thought it.

Chapter 9

They left the hospital wing shortly after their parents left the school; despite both Lily and Scorpius best efforts to talk their way out of it, they still had to attend lessons. To Lily's surprise, no one seemed to even know her parents had rushed to the school in the middle of the night, never mind anything else.

"At this rate, I'll lose all faith the Hogwarts grapevine." She said idly. Beside her, Scorpius laughed. They'd bumped into each other on the way to dinner, stopped for a quick hello, how are you, ect.

They'd nearly missed dinner by now, though neither was aware of it. If they had been, if they'd stopped to think, they may wonder how one night, a handful of hours in someone else's memories, could have made friends out of near strangers. They may have noticed the bond they'd formed, may have analysed it, even feared it.

But they didn't, for the human race is often oblivious to such matters.

"We don't want people to know, remember?" He replied. "Are you attention seeking, maybe?"

"No." She replied, without pretending to be annoyed. "I just really thought everyone would find out. That's Hogwarts."

"Well not this time." He shrugged.

"Looks that way." She looked at him thoughtfully. "You don't look so great."

"Thank you." He replied solemly.

She laughed, and for some reason it made his smile widen. "No, I mean - you look tired, that's all."

"Well, in case you forgot, we spent a lot of the night running around in the past."

"Ah, yes, I remember now." She replied, with mock seriousness. "No, really, didn't you sleep at all?"

"Not much." He admitted. "But hey, I'd rather look tired than be dead."

"Uh-huh. Me too, if it came down to it. But I told you we wouldn't die."

"No you didn't." He replied instantly, although unsure.

"Yes I did." She replied, her voice certain even though she wasn't sure if she was actually right.

"No you didn't." He repeated.

"I'm pretty certain I did. And you can't prove I didn't. So guess what? I win." She smirked, fighting back a laugh.

"What? How do you win -"

"I just do." She interrupted, half laughing. "Anyway, I'm going to eat. Buh-bye."

And, smirking, she walked away before he could argue.

He stood there for a few minutes, just smiling to himself. She made him smile often.

"Scorpius?" He'd been about to stop forward when Al called him; turning, Scorpius saw his friend walking towards him.

"Hey."

"You OK?" Al asked as the two of them started forward slowly.

"Yeah. Fine. Ah..."

"So, um, Lily said you were pretty determined to protect her while you were...you know."

"I was."

"It annoyed her. But not really." Albus said, as though the statement made perfect sense. "Anyway, thanks." Scorpius just nodded. A brief silence passed before Al spoke again. "James thinks you were just looking out for her 'cause you've known her forever and she's just a kid."

Scorpius knew, from the tone of Al's voice, that this was some kind of test, but he didn't see exactly what he was supposed to do. So he replied with the first thing he could think of.

"Lily's sixteen; she's not a kid." He pointed out.

"I know." Al smirked. "But for James, she'll always be the eight year old who cried when he left for Hogwarts. We're both protective of her, but he's a hell of a lot worse. And he's...uncharacteristically naive about her, too. You know, when to comes to...boys." He said the word with a faint disgust, and Scorpius decided Al was more protective that he'd admit. "But you're kinda lucky he is, 'cause James would break your nose just for having this thing for her. I won't, though."

Al's tone was casual, almost friendly, and it took his actual words several seconds to sink in. Then Scorpius stopped walking and turned to Al with an almost horrified look on his face.

"I don't have a thing for Lily -" He began, causing a small smile to appear on Al's face.

"Please, Scorpius, it's obvious. Even our parents saw it - and yours. Like I said, James is really naive about it, but even he'd have clicked eventually, if he'd spent a bit longer with you two."

"I don't -"

"Yes, you do. And she likes you, too."

"I don't -" Although now, he was beginning to doubt himself.

"If I hadn't have figured it out yesterday, I'd know now. You look as guilty as hell." Al sounded amused. "Look, mate, I just wanted to warn you not to mess her around. That's 'cause she's my sister. As your friend, I'll tell you not to mess this up."

"Mess it up?" Scorpius repeated, looking rather like he'd had a recent bludger injury.

"Yeah. You know, how you get all nervous and stupid around girls you like, say something stupid and end up pushing them away 'cause of your humiliation?" Albus replied lightly. "Well, pretending your current interest isn't my sister, I'll warn you to try not doing that this time."

And, laughing silently, Al left the other boy in stunned silence.

----

Several days passed, with their secret safe and their sleep uneasy.

And then it rained.

Lily saw it from the window, and couldn't tear her eyes away. There was no storm; just a dark sky and heavy water, but she loved the rain. And she wanted to go outside, to stand in the rain, feel the rain, and pretend that her sleep wasn't plagued with torn, blood covered faces and empty, broken bodies.

"I'm going outside." She said, standing. Instantly, Hugo and Cyndra looked up.

"Lily, don't -" Hugo began.

"I promise not to touch the memorial." She told him, rolling her eyes. "I'm going outside; I'll be fine. See you in a bit."

"Do you think I should tell Al?" Hugo asked Cyndra, the second the portrait hole closed behind Lily.

"No. She'll kill you." Cyndra replied. "She'll be fine."

----

There was no hanging around in the doorway this time; she wanted to feel the rain. So she walked, slowly, towards the lake.

She hadn't thought about the memories the lawn would conjure; she reached the place where they'd found the girl. Lily didn't know how she knew this was the exact spot, but she did. She forced her gaze away from the ground, looking towards the forest, and spotted the rock she'd used for support, then sat on.

This wasn't why she'd come outside, she reminded herself, and turned back towards the lake, walking slowly as the rain soaked her. She'd forgotten her cloak again; Cyndra hadn't reminded her like she usually did. Her hair was already curling under the heavy rain, but she loved it.

"Lily?" She turned at the sound of name, saw Scorpius a few feet behind her. She smiled without thinking about it.

"Hi." She said when he reached her. "Nice night, isn't it?"

"The best." He replied solemnly. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Here I am." She told him. "Talk."

"I spoke to Al earlier."

"Mm-hmm. Me too." She said lightly, because he looked far too serious. "What did he say?"

"He talked about - about you, and James -"

"The middle child syndrome again? I thought he was over all that."

"What? No - But I want to hear more on that topic later." He replied with interest, raising another smile. "No, he was just saying that, um, he thinks there's a - a thing, between us."

He could tell, instantly, that he'd surprised her.

"Really?" She sounded curious, he noted.

"Yeah." He nodded awkwardly, and she remained silent.

"Is there?" She asked finally. He had been avoiding her gaze, but when he looked at her he saw she was looking right at him. He shifted, uncomfortable.

"You tell me." He replied. Good answer, he silently congratulated himself.

"I asked first." She replied evenly. Better answer, he silently congratulated her.

"Right. Ah..."

She tried to hide the smile as he struggled to find words, faint stains of colour on his face.

"Scorpius? How about this. I promise I won't laugh, or get mad, or anything, 'k?" It was her best patronising tone, in the hopes of breaking the awkwardness.

He tried to glare at her, but the smirk reduced it's effectiveness. "Sometimes I'd love to curse you." He told her.

"I know. But I'd just get right back up and curse you worse."

"I believe that." He nodded.

"Look, Scorpius, if you have something you want to say, then just say it. Dragging it out's just annoying me and making your blush worse."

"I'm not blushing!" He replied instantly.

"That's what you think." She replied, and smirked when he flushed deeper, raising his hands to feel the heat of his skin. "Scorpius? Leave your face alone -" He dropped his hands from his face instantly. "And say what you've got to say, OK?"

He cleared his throat. "You bug me." He said, in an attempt to reduce the awkardness he felt. Humour lept into her eyes. He liked that, he realised. Liked how her every emotion was there, easy to read, in her eyes.

"You bug me too." She replied, without missing a beat. "That all you wanted to say?"

"No. You know what I'm trying to say. Why don't you make it easier?"

"'Cause I love to watch people suffer, and get to do so way too rarely." She told him, her eyes still alight with amusement.

"Fine. I'll suffer, you'll watch, and you'll be happy." He replied.

"Thank you."

"I like you." He said, fruitlessly fighting the blush. He was almost eighteen for goodness' sake. He shouldn't be blushing like a young girl.

"Good." She replied lightly. "Took your time, but good."

He waited, just looking at her, having decided she had to say the words back to him. For all her sarcasm and insults, he realised, she was trying her hide her vulnerability. And hadn't she said - before they'd been hurtled into the past - that half the people around her were only there because of her surname? Trust issues, he decided. She was bound to have trust issues.

Good, because he was a little screwed up too.

Aren't we all?

She rolled her eyes, sighed loudly. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I love to watch people suffer."

"Hey, those are my words, buddy. Don't steal them." When he only smiled, she rolled her eyes again. "Fine, Malfoy, I like you."

He stepped closer. "Those are my words. Now who's stealing?"

She laughed, and they both moved closer still...