'Malfoy,' I squashed down my instincts, which were to run and hide and turned around to face Lily. Her hair was dyed a violent firetruck red which is not at all the colour that it used to be. But instead of voicing my thoughts, I put a smile on my face and said the biggest lie I'd ever said in my life. 'You look good,'

Evidently that was the wrong this to say, because Lily's nostrils flared like a angered dragon mother protecting her children. 'Don't mock me, Malfoy. I know I look ridiculous. I'd have to do it again. Your little spell completely ruined my hair,'

'I'm sorry-'

'Don't bother sniveling,' she said, holding her hand up as if to stop me from talking. 'I'm having a really shitty day and having to speak to you is only making it worse. I'm here because Greyson asked me to tell you that complaining about her to your father had only made things worse for you,' here she smirked. 'Did you really do that? Did you really complain to your father? How pathetic is that? Can't you deal with your own shit, Malfoy?'

'I didn't complain,' which is the truth. I shared. There, I said it. I share with my parents. I tell them things about my life. It was not my fault they decided to interfere, even though I absolutely told them not to. They could be a little overbearing sometimes. Wasn't it ironic how sometimes someone tries to make things better for you and instead they end up making it worse? Yeah, that happened a lot in my life. Now, Lily would forever see me as a pathetic little boy and would continue to make my life a living hell with the added bonus of Greyson not just merely disliking me, but hating my guts.

'Yeah, sure,' Lily said with a snort. 'Anyway, that was all I had to say to you. I've got to go study. Don't be late for practice tomorrow, I'm showing you some of my strategies," with that said, in a remarkably civil tone, might I add, she turned and headed in the direction of the library. I didn't know Lily studied. Of course, it was logical that she studied since she passed every year but I'd never seen her in the library and she spent a lot of her time on the pitch. The rest seemed to be reserved for her friends and family and eating and I suppose sleeping, though I'm not sure if her kind of soulless hellbeings needed sleep.

Whatever, she could do whatever she wanted to. I had my own things to worry about. Specifically the fact that my father had apparently gone to complain about my head of house who could do all sorts of shitty things to me. Honestly, for a smart man, he did a lot of stupid shit sometimes.

Instead of joining my friends in the common room, I decided to sit somewhere and write to my parents. This kind of thing was unacceptable anymore. I was seventeen. They needed to stop butting in my life. I wrote a surly letter full of displeasure and headed to the owlery feeling a little bit better. I hoped this would help them see sense and leave me be. By the time I was done sending the letter, it was time for lunch. I found my friends/cousins on the table where we usually sat. Derek Nott was sitting uncomfortably close next to Carmen which made me very suspicious and very worried. Derek was a complete tosser to girls. He was not allowed to even think about playing my little cousin.

'Derek, what brings you to this side of the table?' I ask, trying to hide my suspicion from my voice.

'Carmen asked me to help her with her Astronomy homework,' Derek replied, showing a forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth.

My cousin smiled in a flirty sort of way. 'Yes, he's been of great help to me,' something about the way she stressed on help didn't sit very well with me. Her smile didn't make things better. Claude was oblivious to this as he read through his Potions homework, correcting things here and there. Unacceptable.

'I can help you with your homework,' I said, reaching for her textbook. 'I'm sure Derek has better things to do. Besides, there hardly is any student in this school that knows more about stars and constellations than me. My family is obsessed with them,'

'Don't you have your own homework to do, mate?' Derek asked in a would be friendly voice but I knew him enough to know that I'd annoyed him.

'I finished it all. Did you?'

His eyes narrowed. 'I guess not,' he said as he stood up.

'You can stay if you want, Derek,' Carmen said, looking up at him.

'Nah, I'd go back to my friends now. You've got the expert here to help you. See you around,'

I turned to my female cousin. "Seriously, Car, Derek Nott? He's a complete wanker,'

'That's what I told her,' Claude said, finally joining them. He looked up from his homework and shrugged. 'But she doesn't listen,'

'Look, we're not having sex. I only asked him to help me with my bloody homework. Would you two stop overreacting, please?' Carmen seemed irrationally annoyed. We were only trying to look after her. Guys like Derek didn't get to girls like Carmen.

'He was like glued to you, Car,' I said, frowning. 'I doubt he only wants to help with your homework,'

'Well, this is all he's getting,' Carmen snapped. 'I'm not interested in him or any other boy for that matter, so you can calm down,' she stood up and started shoving things in her bag.

'Where are you going?'

'To the library. I'm going to finish my homework alone,' she grabbed her textbook from the table in front of me and left before either I or Claude could say something.

'Was it something I said?' I asked Claude, bewildered.

Claude shrugged. 'Don't know, mate. But she's been like this for a while. I doubt it's you that's the problem. Something else has got her knickers in a twist,"

"Maybe she's, uh, you know," I cleared my throat awkwardly, regretting that I had bothered to open my mouth. Claude's eyebrows raised in question and I felt my cheeks flush. 'Never mind,'

'You're strange, mate,' his cousin said, shaking his head. 'How's Potter doing? Is she still making you miserable?'

'Has she ever stopped?' I grumbled. I can't help but look down the table and search for Lily. It wasn't hard to find her, her hair made her stand out. She was surrounded by the other fifth years, smiling and laughing. It was always strange to see her happy. She was always so grumpy around me but around her friends she was a completely different person. I couldn't deny that I was a little bit curious to get to know the happy Lily. You know, maybe she'd surprise me by showing me that she wasn't completely soulless.

'I don't know, mate, maybe you two should just shag and get it out of your systems,'

I stare at Claude in complete bewilderment. Did he say what I think he just said? Did he, outright, without any sort of humour or sarcasm in his voice suggest that Lily and I - Lily and I - should engage in a sexual activity? 'Are you out of your mind?' I splutter.

Claude smirked. 'You're all red, cousin. Is this why you let her walk all over you? Because you want to get into her knickers?'

I glared at him. That wasn't funny! It was unethical. Downright immoral. 'Shut up. This is complete rubbish and you know it. Lily is Satan. She hates me. She hate my guts and she wants to ruin my life. How do you even imagine this happening?'

'Aha! She hates you. But you don't hate her. You luuuuurve her-'

'All right, we've degraded to first years now,' I said, standing up. 'I'm off to Ancient Runes, and you? You go to the Hospital Wing to get your head checked,'

'You wouldn't be so bothered by this if you didn't know I was right,' Claude said smugly. 'You totally want to shag Li-'

'Bye, Claude!' I said loudly to block out this words and leave the Great Hall briskly. This was absolutely ridiculous. Lily might be fit but she was insane and me? I liked my women in their right mind, thank you very much. Claude was just being a git on purpose. He said all of that to get a rise of me. I knew that but I was still bothered by it. And not because it was true but because it was ridiculous.

Ugh.

'Whatever,' I muttered to myself. I struggled to climb all the stairs, since all of my body parts were still aching from the practice two days ago. Lily hadn't been merciful at all - not that she could be - and had made me stay with Smith and Derek until the rest of their work out too. She had been particularly mean to me and usually during the work outs she reserved that for Smith, who never seemed to perform up to her standards. Derek and I at least managed to get her approval every now and then. Smith couldn't say the same thing about himself.

I had thought about our conversation a few times. It really explained why she was the way she was. Why she was so driven and competitive and why she always took it so hard when Albus beat us at Quidditch. Her cousins and extended family all excelled at something. Lily had Quidditch and she wanted to be the best at it. Of course none of that excused her for being a complete nutter with an astonishing lack of sympathy for people around her. But I guess I sort of understand now.

'Scorpius!'

I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked ahead. Sienna Lancaster, a seventh year Slytherin, was waving at me from the end of the hallway, an annoyed look on her face. I wondered what I had done to upset her as I made my way over to her.

'Is something wrong Sienna?'

'Well, I'm great, aside from the fact that you completely failed to see me. I've been waving at you like an idiot for about a minute now,' she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Sienna was incredibly pretty and understandably didn't take kindly to being ignored, especially by boys.

'Oh, sorry, I was just thinking,' I apologised. 'It's a miracle I didn't run into a suit of armour or something,'

Sienna's lips twitched. 'All right, you're forgiven. Want to talk to the classroom together?'

It was a rhetoric question, and she knew it because she started walking before I gave her an answer. Talking and walking with Sienna was weird. I mean, it was not like we never talked but Sienna usually kept to herself and to the few friends she had.

'Are you going to the Slug Club meeting this Saturday?'

I blinked. I had completely forgotten about those annoying meetings. I didn't like them but for some reason my father insisted I went every time. Something about not being invited while he'd been in Hogwarts. It was a rubbish reason but I normally avoided disagreeing with my father. Out loud, at least.

'Probably,' I said, wishing my answer was different. 'You?'

'Yes. Derek asked me to be his date,' she said, glancing at me. I smiled awkwardly.

'Well, that's great,'

'I said no,' she continued, flipping her dark hair over should. 'He's really not my type to be honest and I'm sure he'd try something funny afterwards. I have my eyes on someone else, actually,' she turned to smile at me. She had a really pretty smile, Sienna.

'Oh,' I wasn't sure why we were having this conversation. But good for Sienna. At least she had some taste.

Sienne sighed deeply. 'You're very dense, Scorpius,'

I looked at her, confused. 'What? Why?'

'Um, I don't know, maybe get the hint and ask me,'

Well, that was a surprise. I'd never really thought Sienna liked me that way. She'd never showed it before, I was sure of that. But who was I to refuse a date with a gorgeous girl? 'Sienna,' I said, smiling the most charming smile I could muster. 'will you by date to the Slug Club meeting this Saturday?'

Sienna smiled. 'Why, I'd love to,'

'Great,' I said, smiling back. I'd never brought a date to the Slug Club meetings. Mostly because I wasn't fan a of dancing and I tried to stay long enough so not to be rude when I leave early. But that could distract me a little. I hadn't gone out on a date for a while. For a teenage boy, I wasn't terribly hormonal. But Sienna was very beautiful and it was a chance to get to know her better.

We walked in the classroom and said out goodbyes, sitting down next to our respective partners. Mine was Roxie Weasley. I remember the first time they made us sit together. Roxie has been pretty mean to me. It seemed like her father wasn't a particular fan of my dad - very few people were and 2/3 of them were his family -and had told her all sorts of stories and warned her to stay away from me. Of course, soon enough I managed to win her over with my sparkling personality and now we got along splendidly.

'What's up, Greg?' Roxie thought my name was too weird and pretentious, so she renamed me to Greg. I wasn't completely fond of the name, to be honest, but there was no arguing with her.

'I just got a date," I said proudly.

"Really?' her eyebrows raised and she grinned. 'Who's the poor bird?'

'Oi!' I protested. Roxie just chuckled. 'It's Sienna Lancaster,'

Roxie gave me an impressed look. "Very pretty, good job,'

'Thank you, thank you,'

All conversation ceased when the door opened and Professor Higgins walked in. He was an old man with an incredibly annoying voice, but he was a very good teachers and and made learning about Ancient Runes much more interesting than it sounded. He has real passion for his job and subjects and those sort of teachers had always been my favourite.

'Pull out your homework and let's see what those heads of yours created this time,'

...

The next day after practice, Lily asked me to stay and let everyone else go. Which, if you hadn't guessed, wasn't a good sign at all.

'You played very shitty today, Malfoy,' she said as she paced in front of me. I was sitting on one of the benches in the cold dressing rooms, sorely regretting my decision to not bring my wand with me. Lily rarely resorted to using magic to get her point across - usually words and threats worked - and I hoped she wouldn't have a change of heart today. Knowing my luck, though, it was expected. 'We have less then two weeks until the game. Less then two weeks. That's nothing, Malfoy. None of you is getting what I'm telling you, most of all, you. For God's sake, you've got the simplest job of everyone and you still manage to screw it up,'

Look, it always got the rise of me when she spoke to me this way. I wasn't some sort of a robot. And despite what you'd seen of me thus far, I talked back to her. But most of the time I didn't say anything, because Lily was headstrong and stubborn, much more than me. And even if If fought back, she'd prevail in the end. And it was much more humiliating when that happened.

'Look, I need you to get your head in the game. I know you're a seventh year and all that crap. I've got important exams to take this year, too, but we're talking about two weeks. Two weeks on concentrating on getting in better shape and learning all my strategies. This is the only way we could win this year and I really, really want to. Al is graduating his year and if he takes the cup again, he'd never let me live it down. I can't fail again-' she looked me in the eyes and they shone with fervent fire. Lily wouldn't stop at anything this year. I couldn't help but think that passion suit her. Of course, she was passionate about Quidditch all the time but this was a different kind. It was more sincere. She wanted to win the Quidditch cup the same way I wanted to make my father proud of me. '-you need to pull your shit together and play like I know you can. I keep you on the team for a reason. Don't disappoint me when it counts the most,'

'I will do my best,' I said, trying to look as serious as I could, so she'd know I really meant it.

'You'd do more than that,' Lily said, stopping in front of me. 'You can do better than your best, if you just believe in yourself. Now, I've got things to do and you should shower because you smell disgusting,'

'Thank you,' I said with mock gratefulness as I stood up. I did smell pretty bad. It was a mark of how hard she made us work that she had me sweating like a dog in the freezing temperatures outside.

'You're welcome,' she said, smiling fake sweetly. She grabbed her broom. 'See you later, Malfoy,' she said and left in the direction of the pitch again. Lily was our seeker and she was brilliant. I could see her playing on a professional Quididitch team one day. She had the talent.

Lily was fifteen and already knew what she wanted to do after Hogwarts.

Me? I usually had trouble with deciding what to eat at breakfast. You can guess how my career choice was going thus far.

I had a little over six months to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and no idea from where to start.