Prompt: "Stranger"

The drive to the platform wasn't a long one, but for the entire way there Lily had to sit on her hands to keep from squirming. This was it: her first year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James and Albus teased her for her anxiety while her mother kept trying to reassure her. Her father would send her supportive smiles whenever he glanced up at her in the rearview mirror, but mostly he remained quiet. When they finally arrived, she felt excitement beginning to bubble up again and whatever worries she had dissipated for a moment for the anticipation of a new journey.

"Everybody out," Harry ordered superfluously; James and Albus were fighting to get out the same door while Lily slipped eagerly out her side. She practically bounced in place while her father began to unload the luggage onto three trolleys. In her arms, she clutched her Northern White-faced Owl, Isolde, while her father finished loading up her trolley. Finally, he shut the trunk and nodded to them.

"Okay, everyone has everything? James, your broom in there? Lily, got your books?" their mother asked. Her and her brothers groaned at the questions; she had already asked twice before.

Harry grinned at his children. "Let's go then."

Aside from the fact that she was leaving with her brothers this year, the whole trip to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and through the barrier seemed just like the years beforehand. They met up with Uncle Ron and his family, along with Uncle George's and Uncle Bill's as well. This year, not only was James, Albus, Lily, Dominique, Rose, and Hugo going, George and Angelina's son, Fred (the second) would be joining them. Uncle Percy's daughters, Molly and Lucy, were somewhere among the crowd, and Roxanne, George's daughter, tearfully watched as nearly all her cousins left. Teddy and Victoire, and her brother, Louis, from his perch on his father's shoulders also showed up to watch them off.

After many kisses and hugs, (and tears) from their parents and relatives, all the students new and old hurried into the train. Lily practically hung out a window as the train pulled away, waving until the station became a blurry speck in the distance. By the time Albus pulled her back in, the other girls had disappeared, heading to find their fellow housemates and friends. Albus helped Rose, Fred, and Hugo pick out a compartment and stow their luggage before leaving himself. "I'll come back later. I'm sure everyone else will check up on you guys every now and then."

Lily settled in but her excitement and anxiety made every moment stretch on and on. Fred chased after the witch with the snack cart and before long, Hugo fell asleep. "Fat lot of help you are," she muttered, smiling softly at her favorite cousin. He snorted in his sleep and shifted.

Being left alone, practically abandoned she mused, was quite boring; all she could do was sit there, pumping her legs back and forth. She could chase after the trolley witch like Fred—her father had given her more than enough spending cash to splurge on some—or she could go find some of her relatives like James had done. She could even try poking around to try and make new friends but the more she thought it, the more she thought she was quite happy were she was at the moment. Every fiber of her being seemed to long for the trip to be over already and arrive Hogwarts at last. She wanted to do it all—ride in the boats, get sorted, join her house; she even looked forward to going to her lessons. She wanted to do it all, and she wanted to do it now, but since she had to wait, she just sat there kicking her legs and tried not to afflict others with her anxiety. She double checked to make sure Hugo was out like a light before she quickly changed into her robes.

Albus poked his head in every now and then but Fred seemed to have vanished, probably making new friends in some other compartment. Lily was half tempted to just poke Hugo awake when the compartment's door opened again. She looked up, expecting to see Albus, only to see a boy's face she didn't recognize. It was a pale, pointed face, nothing like Albus or James's. The boy had the fairest blond hair she'd ever seen, even paler than Aunt Fleur's or Louis's, and he had a pair of washed out grey eyes, like the sky after a storm. He raised a brow at her staring.

"Has Potter come by here yet?" he asked, his voice dry and seemingly uninterested.

Lily frowned. "Who do you mean? James or Albus?"

"Albus," he answered, acting as though it should have been obvious to her.

Lily disliked him instantly. "Yes, but he'll be back in a bit, no doubt."

He looked at her for a moment before peering around the compartment again, eying her drooping cousin warily before he stepped in and shut the door behind him. He grabbed his robes and sat so that he didn't wrinkle them. Lily twitched and longed desperately for Hugo to wake up and…do something. Chase this snooty boy away if possible.

"What are you doing?" she asked, glaring.

He raised a brow and looked at her like she was an idiot. "I'm waiting for Potter to come back of course."

"Why?"

"That's really none of your concern," he said shortly then turned his gaze to the compartment's door, looking out its window, waiting for her brother to come. Lily huffed and turned to look out her window to the countryside. The view was ruined to her though; every moment he stayed sitting there, the more she wanted to get up and chase him out herself.

It was such a relief to see Albus return that she nearly sighed. Albus looked at Scorpius curiously. "Hallo, Malfoy. What are you doing here?"

Scorpius sniffed, like a prissy princess Lily thought vengefully, and stood, pulling a folded letter from his robes and handing it to her brother. "Sprout sent this to me. It's so we can sort out a schedule for commentating."

Albus grinned. "Brilliant," he said eagerly, happily taking it from this Malfoy boy.

"Albus," Lily hissed.

Her brother looked up, surprised as if to see her there. "What?" She looked pointedly at Malfoy then back to him. "Oh, um, Lily, this is Scorpius Malfoy. Malfoy, this is my younger sister, Lily."

"Charmed," Scorpius drawled. Lily longed to punch him.

Lily glared at the two of them. "What are you two doing together anyway?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Sprout okayed us commentating on the Quidditch matches this year!" he explained grinning widely. "We get to switch on and off, and we're supposed to set up a schedule. Which, Malfoy, any match in particular you really want to commentate on?"

"My own house's of course, but I was thinking I should take the Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw one and you can take the Gryffindor versus Slytherin. I wouldn't be unbiased enough for Sprout anyway." It was odd, but when he spoke, Lily couldn't help but notice he seemed to lighten up. She couldn't decide if it was because it was Quidditch they were talking about or if it was because they might be friends and she had just never known. Either way, Lily felt decidedly left out.

"Perfect then—so, I take all Gryffindor matches, you take the Slytherin then?"

"Of course."

"All right, I'll fill this out then. Good talking to you, Malfoy," Albus grinned, offering his hand. Scorpius actually smiled lightly before shaking his hand then breezing out the compartment. Lily was tempted to hex him just to make sure he'd never come back. "What's wrong, Lils? You look like you're going to mangle something."

Lily glared at her brother. "Why do you have to get along with such nasty boy?"

Albus blinked slowly. "…what are you—oh," he grinned and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry, I won't ignore you or anything. I can't replace my favorite little sister, right?"

"I'm your only little sister," she groused. "And that's not the problem! He's such a…"

"A what?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"He's a right bastard is what he is!"

"Woh, woh, woh, there, don't let Rose catch you talking like that or she'll write to mum about you," he shushed her. "Besides, what's wrong with Malfoy? I know James don't like him on account that Uncle Ron has this thing against his dad and all, but Scorpius isn't that bad a guy."

She shook angrily. "I hope I never see that guy again!"

Albus smiled at her. "If you got to know him, you'd see he's not so bad. Look, I gotta go—Gareth Barr and Justin Cresswell have a game of Exploding Snap waiting for me. Wake Hugo up, will you? We're going to be there soon."

At once crushed by his brushing her off but buoyed by the thought they would be at Hogwarts soon, Lily let him leave without a word. She huffed and kicked the bottom of Hugo's shoe harder than necessary.

"Ah, wuh…?" Hugo jerked awake, blinking sleepily. "Wuh you want?"

"Wake up and get dressed," she ordered him briskly before going to wait outside the compartment as he got changed. As she leaned against the door, Lily couldn't help but glare at her feet. She had been so excited to go to Hogwarts, but now thinking that there would be people like Scorpius Malfoy, she was feeling a little grim. As she went back in when Hugo finished, Lily resolved to never think of the loathsome Malfoy heir again.

"What's wrong with you?" Hugo asked, fighting with his tie.

Lily swatted his hands away and tied it for him. "Nothing. You want some sweets?"

He grinned and let the subject drop in favor of candy.

Lily, in spite of her early decision to not think of Scorpius at all, took great delight in imagining that each pale colored Bertie Bott's bean was Scorpius's head and chewing them a bit more violently than called for.

Years later, when Lily would look back at her first meeting with Scorpius, she would grin and say it was Love at First Sight.