Matters of Circumstance

Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Let me check…. Nope, still not mine.

(A/N: Dedicated to XxrandomxX, she'll know why, and to TheBooyahEffect for being such a fantabulous beta and to Andrea for reminding me readers don't know everything I know about the story =0)

** If anyone is/was wondering 'WWW' stands for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Story Info:

House: Slytherin
Characters: Lily Potter (Gryffindor), Baron Von Crazy (Slytherin)
Challenge: Two (June 8th to June 15th)

BELIEVE IN RED ROSES

It all started the day she'd received the first rose. There hadn't been anything particularly striking about the delivery except that it had been in the middle of Slughorn's class.

It really wasn't an interesting class to begin with. Slughorn was currently explaining how 'Amortentia' worked, which Lily was finding extremely boring since, after years of watching her uncle brew it in industrial quantities for the WWW, she was quite sure she'd be able to recognize it with her eyes closed. But potions had never been her favorite class anyway, and it didn't help that – being her last class of the day – she was constantly on the verge of falling asleep during class; something Slughorn conveniently overlooked because she was a Potter.

"Amortentia's steam always rises in the most characteristic spirals, and it smells…" Blah, blah, blah, she thought dryly. Groaning, she lay her head down on her desk only to sit back up, letting out a soft, surprised scream, when a small owl landed in front of her. It was carrying a red rose, almost twice its size, with a piece of parchment attached to it.

Slughorn raised his voice with a small chuckle. "Well, talking about love, it seems Miss. Potter has found herself a secret admirer!" he said, giving her an all-knowing smile when she blushed.

A snicker or two sounded from the back of the class before Slughorn continued explaining the effects of the potion. Lily made a face, looking down at the flower in her hands, squinting as she noticed the chicken-scratch writing scrawled into the parchment.

Hey, Lils. Made me think of you.

She put it away just as Slughorn came towards her - to give her the materials for the potion they'd be working on that day. She didn't give it another thought until, at dinner, the same owl arrived. This time it was carrying two roses, and a note:

Because they say three is a lucky number.

Without really thinking about it, she picked a pencil from her school bag and wrote a quick Thank you - on the back of the card - in her own messy handwriting before letting the owl fly off. She spent the rest of the meal scanning the air - hoping the owner of the loopy handwriting would write back. It was only after she'd arranged the roses in a vase next to her bed that she wondered if she should be concerned. She probably should, she decided, but she couldn't bring herself to be.

..ooO0Ooo..

The next day she found herself actually looking forward to Potions class. But only, she reminded herself, because curiosity was killing her. She walked through the halls in a daze, almost crashed into a first year, and practically ignored her best friend who was babbling about the Winter Ball and how they still hadn't bought their dresses.

Come Potions class, she slipped into her seat and her eyes immediately focused on the window. She frowned - when she realized it was empty - and resigned herself to paying attention.

By the time she was picking her things up, Lily found herself highly annoyed by the fact that he– she was sure it was a male – hadn't sent anything. Briefly, she considered taking the incentive, but upon remembering she didn't even know who he was, she quickly banished the thought. Sending a letter to an unidentified sender would be a bit difficult. She was already following her best friend out of the classroom when the small owl landed in front of her with a rose and another note.

Admit it: You had been thinking about me ;)

Of course. You are just that annoying.

This time she wrote back slightly faster than before, and couldn't hide her excitement when the owl came back with another note.

But you love my 'annoying-ness'

Lily laughed; shaking her head to herself, and earned a distrustful glance from her best friend.

You keep lying to yourself there, buddy.

I will, he'd written, followed by something he'd crossed out and then: I'll make a sign for everyone to see that says: LILY POTTER LOVES ME.

Who am I in love with, exactly?

The answer wasn't as fast that time, and when it finally arrived - carrying another rose - Lily was already curled up in her bed trying to do the Potions essay she had been putting off.

My name is Baron Von Crazy of Loonland, at your service, ma'am.
Heads up, Jason "Asshole" Peters is going to ask you to the Winter Ball tomorrow – plan you excuse carefully.

Are you going to the Winter Ball? She wrote, stared at her message for a while and then added an: I'm serious below.

The only answer she got was a red rose.

..ooO0Ooo..

For two weeks this continued, and Lily found herself more and more excited with each letter. The Winter Ball was drawing closer and her best friend began to pester her about a date. She'd been asked already, by Jason Peters, but she'd turned him down. "He wasn't really that good looking, and I could do better," was how she'd explained it to her friends.

But her notes with the mysterious boy – with his bad jokes and easy-going personality - always seemed to be on her mind. With him she was never bored.

One day, after an especially bad joke on the vampire's favorite type of dance, she decided to write back:

So, are you going to the Winter Ball?

He didn't reply the next day, or the one after that, and Lily found herself growing nervous. She re-read the pieces of parchment they had sent back and forth almost every day, a smile tugging at her lips every now and then as she stumbled across a joke he'd made. But still, there was no reply. She knew she was probably obsessing, but she couldn't stop.

Finally, during the Potions class on the third day after she'd sent him the question his small owl came stumbling through the window carrying the distinctive red rose and a note:

Only if you go with me. Meet me by the Black Lake after dinner today. You'll know who I am. :)

And that was it, no name, no: sorry that I took so long, nothing revealing about himself except that he'd be by the Black Lake tonight. It didn't matter though. It was all she really needed.

..ooO0Ooo..

He was there.

He was there! She felt oddly relieved as she took in small breaths and walked toward him. He was really there and – Oh, Merlin –he was Scorpius Malfoy, her brother's best friend. Surely, there had to be a law against committing such a cliché, even the scenery around them looked like a movie: the trees covered with snow, the grass looking exceptionally green under the moonlight, and him – his back to her and his hair tousled in a careless, almost boyish, manner.

He turned to look at her, breaking into an infectious grin as she reached him, and handed her a bouquet of red roses. She blushed slightly as she took them, smiling back.

"Hi," he said as his warm gray eyes scanned her face.

"Hi back," she breathed, biting her lower lip. "Thanks," she added, looking down at the roses she was holding.

Scorpius shrugged. "My grandfather says if you're going to ask a girl out, you should give her at least twelve roses." He grinned, scratching the back of his neck as he caught a glimpse of Albus Potter through one of the windows of the castle. "And your brother gaveme a death sentence should I hurt you," he whispered conspiratorially, grin growing. Together, they glanced over at Lily's brother, still glaring through the window, and broke into laughter.

"It's a good thing you don't have any siblings then," Lily muttered. Scorpius chuckled, looking down as if to organize his thoughts.

"Ah," he said after a while, breaking the silence. "So, I guess this is a 'yes' to my question?"

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him, she hid a grin instead and pretended to think about it as she sat down. "I don't know. Maybe."

He shook his hair out of his eyes so she could see his raised eyebrow. "Oh?" he half-asked as he sat down next to her, smiling.

"I'll go with you on one condition," she said, mischievousness lacing her voice.

He smiled, seemingly amused. "Name it."

"I'm still allowed to call you Baron Von Crazy."