A/N: A quick update. Don't expect this to happen often, but do enjoy it!

Chapter Twenty Seven

What This Means for Us

Lily leaned her elbow on the pillow and popped her chin down on her fist. She stared adoringly at the man sleeping next to her.

She and Scorpius had never slept in the same bed before, they'd never taken each other's clothes off before, they'd never seen each other naked or done anything beyond a very heavy grope whist pushing the other's clothes out of the way. They had been together since Lily's fourth year and really they'd been taking their physical relationship at a snail's pace in her good opinion.

The emotional had been easy for Lily. She knew from the moment he first asked her out and she turned him down that he was something different. He'd actually thought about her as a person before he asked to go to Hogsmeade with her. If he hadn't liked what he'd thought about he never would have asked her, right? He was deep where the other tossers she'd gone out with were shallow. At the end of the day Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was a good bloke. The sort of bloke that parents wanted their daughters dating. The sort of bloke every girl should marry.

He was certainly worthy of love… even if Lily'd had hard time articulating it.

Lily shook the memory of her sputtering and blushing after Scorpius' declaration out of her head. She'd thought at the time that sometimes words just aren't enough. For her to let Scorpius know beyond a shadow of doubt how she felt about him she needed to act on it. She was only thankful that he'd finally agreed to do so.

So here they lay. In Scorpius' bed, in his flat over the garage. Their clothes littered the floor and the bed a mess of sheets and bare skin. Scorpius had nodded off after their second go. She didn't blame him. For two inexperienced teens, they'd both just assumed that he would be the one in charge. So while she'd lain there in a bit of pain, he'd been… well… in charge of finishing the job. Lily really didn't blame him for being exhausted. He comes home from a hard day at Auror training and then shags his girlfriend twice… to her thinking he deserved a nap.

While he lay there, clearly exhausted, Lily took stock of her first lover. She hoped that he was to be her only lover, but only time would tell on that one. Lily's eyes started at the top and slowly moved down Scorpius' body. Over the last year he let his hair grow out. His white blonde hair now reached his shoulders. Lily played with a lock between her fingers as her eyes took in the rest of his face.

As far as she could tell his features were perfectly symmetrical. His brow was broad, his cheek bone sharp, his nose… imperial Lily decided and his lips perhaps too plump to be considered traditionally handsome. Lily reached out and traced her fingers over his strong jaw, down his long throat to his chest. Auror training had been good for him. His pecks and abs were well defined and Lily had to suppress a girlish giggle at the thought that this was her boyfriend. She'd had all this well defined strength on top of her mere moments before.

Smiling broadly, Lily let her fingers continue their journey down the contours of Scorpius' body. She traced his belly button, feeling the course hair that trailed down below the blanket at his waist. She was about to continue her exploration farther when Scorpius' hand settled on top of her own. He brought her curious fingers to his mouth and kissed each digit. Never a terribly modest girl, Lily didn't bother covering her breasts. They might not have been large, but she was proud of them nonetheless and, if Scorpius' lingering gaze was anything to go by, he approved.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he whispered.

"I'm trying, is it working?"

Scorpius smiled indulgently then sighed completely at his ease. He threw his right arm over his head, opening his embrace to Lily who gladly snuggled into his side.

"You know," he said. "It occurs to me that while you know all about my day, I have yet ask you about yours."

"Quite remiss of you," she whispered against his throat.

He groaned as her lips trailed over his jaw. "You'll forgive me, won't you?"

"Hmmm… maybe," she whispered.

"Lily…"

"Yes, Scorpi?" All innocent.

"Two things, love… First never let your brothers hear you call me that-"

"Bit late for that one."

"And two," he continued, sitting up and pulling Lily along with him, "how was your day?"

"Not terribly interesting. Nothing compared to yours… I went to go see Rose but she wasn't there and neither was Hugo actually. I figured he was at Ruby's but I haven't a clue about Rose. I wanted to see if she'd made Head Girl but…"

"That would be brilliant," Scorpius said, running a hand over his face.

"Why?" Lily asked with a very confusing spiral of panic in the pit of her stomach.

"I can just imagine a girl from Slytherin being Head Girl and giving me hell for a year. If the Head Girl is someone I know isn't a bitch this next year'll be easier on me."

Lily let out a sigh of relief she hadn't known she'd been holding. It was well known that the Head Boy and Girl shared a private dorm. While she was sure that Scorpius was looking forward to getting out of the Slytherin Dorms, she, on the other hand, wasn't looking forward to her sexy boyfriend sharing a private dorm with some slut. If that slut-girl was her cousin than Lily was certain that she'd have nothing to worry about. Right? Rose would never make a move on Scorpius. Right?

"… you know what I mean, right?" Lily shook herself. She hadn't a clue that Scorpius had been talking let alone what he'd been talking about.

"Ummm… yeah," she hazard.

"I suppose there are other girls that could be Head Girl. I mean Rose doesn't take her grades as seriously as her mother ever did. She still does well, but there are girls that do just as well if not better. Frankly I think next to Albus, Anora Thomas has the best grades in our year."

Lily bit her lip to keep from vocalizing her panic. Anora Thomas was Dean Thomas' youngest daughter and a beauty to boot. Her pitch black hair was smooth to the small of her back, her figure was perfectly curved and damn it she was smart and sweet and funny and at the moment Lily hated her. It was terrible to think that she was more secure in their relationship when Scorpius was less secure with himself. But now he was Head Boy and he was doing astronomically well in his Auror training, all of the sudden he was a catch for any girl, not just Lily.

He'd always been interested in her, for as long as she could remember. Now they were together and while they had their fair share of problems Lily never thought that another girl would ever be among those problems. In retrospect she didn't know why she'd thought that. Scorpius was handsome, he was smart, funny and nice. Any girl with eyes should be attracted to him. While she on the other hand was jealous, apparently blind and the reason that he no longer spoke to his family.

Lily pulled out of Scorpius' embrace and turned her back on him.

"Lily? Are you all right?"

"Ahh, yeah," she said.

"Lily."

She looked back at him, his face shown with disbelief. Lily bit her lip and scrabbled for an answer. He couldn't know that she was jealous now when she hadn't been jealous before. He was a smart bloke; he would be able to figure out why she was feeling this way all of the sudden and why she hadn't been feeling this way before. It would turn into the worst argument they'd ever had and she didn't want to end their first day as lovers with an argument. So she had to think of something. But what? WHAT?

There was a knock at the door to Scorpius' flat. The only person that Lily wouldn't mind knowing she'd shagged her boyfriend was Kira and there was no way it was Kira.

"Scorpius," DAMN IT! "It's Harry, could you open up?"

Lily unfroze before Scorpius did. She scrambled off of the bed, snatching up her clothes as she went, and headed for the walk in closet. By the time she was safely closed within the closet, Scorpius had gotten out of the bed, thrown on a shirt and pair of trousers and headed for the door. Lily let out a sigh of relief and started dressing. That was the last fucking thing she needed. Her father finding out that she'd shagged her boyfriend in the flat that he'd provided.

Two pairs of footsteps entered the flat and stopped in the living room.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" Scorpius asked, politely.

Her father laughed, gently. "I think at this point, Scorpius, when we're at home you can call me 'Harry.'"

"If you insist, Mr.- Harry."

Lily looked around the closet. For some reason she could hear what was going on in the living room with perfect clarity. She finished pulling her clothes on and listened closely for any hint that her father knew what they'd been doing.

"It's been a busy day, eh?" her father said.

"If you're referring to the boggart-"

"It's part of every Auror's basic training," Harry explained. "You'd've come face to face with one eventually. The principle being that the only way to fight your greatest fear is to know what it is."

"That makes sense."

"The problem with it is that so often the fears of young people stem from insecurities. Emotional issues that manifest themselves as fear."

"Was it that way for you?"

Lily felt her stomach drop. That was really personal. She pressed her ear against the wall to hear her father's response.

Harry sighed. "No. I saw a Dementor. For Ron it was and still is a spider. For another girl in our DADA class it was mummy. But for Neville it was Professor Snape and for Professor Lupin it was the full moon… How do you learn to defend against the full moon? When it's not the literal thing that frightens you but the idea of it. During basic training when the program leaders face something like that they have to come up with another way of dealing with it. Usually through counseling, confidence training. Sometimes it's enough."

"Other times?"

"Other times the program coordinators have to decide whether or not they think that the Auror trainee has the courage to overcome that which they fear on the field… Very often the decision is not to risk it."

It went quiet for a moment.

"So, Albus told you what I saw then?" Scorpius asked.

"The course was being monitored. The training directors told me what had gone wrong during your run. The directors were worried about how you handled it. I'm sure you're aware of this, but freezing like that could get you or one of you partners killed in the field. You'll begin a mandatory counseling tomorrow. I don't think the problem is confidence, but you must learn how to deal with it without freezing."

"Of course, sir."

There was another short silence.

"Was that all, sir?"

"Unfortunately, no."

There was a bit of shuffling around in the living room and Lily finally found a small vent at the base of the closet. She pushed a few shoes out of the way and knelt down to peer through it. Her father was sitting on the couch with Scorpius sitting on the loveseat across from him. Scorpius looked only slightly rumpled and her father was still wearing his Ministry robes. Apparently the elder Potter had come straight from work to Scorpius' flat. Thankfully he had yet to notice the mess that was the bedroom.

"One of my head Aurors was having a problem with a suspect at St. Mungo's. I went in to throw my weight around as Ron loving calls it. The whole 'I'm Harry Potter, you'll tell me what you did or else' racket." Lily smiled at her father's eye roll. He sighed, heavily. "I ran into your mother, Scorpius. She was heading out from the Maternity Ward. She stopped me and we had tea… I'm sure you're aware of what she told me."

"About the baby?"

"Purebloods can live well into their hundreds. Dumbledore was over one hundred and fifty when he died and he very likely would have lived twenty, maybe thirty years longer. But for all that, there does reach a time when female purebloods have a hard time conceiving. The body doesn't wear out as fast, but to my understanding, women are born with only a certain number of healthy eggs. After a while, having children becomes more and more difficult."

"What are you saying, Mr. Potter?"

Lily bit her lip.

"Your parents are having… difficulty getting pregnant. Your mother is worried about disappointing her husband, but she's more worried about you. She told me that she'd love to have another baby, more than that she'd love to have her baby boy back. She said that she has tried to reason with Draco, but at the moment he's torn."

"Between what and what?"

"His love for you and his loyalty to his father. The beliefs that his father to this day holds dear are what he grew up on-"

"They're beliefs I grew up on as well and you don't see me-"

"It's different, Scorpius," Harry insisted.

"How?"

"Your father almost killed Albus Dumbledore for his father's beliefs. He watched, helplessly, while his school peer was tortured right in front of him by his aunt. If he were to turn his back on his father and those beliefs it would mean that he suffered through all of the horrors of war needlessly. It's bad enough that they lost the war, but to lose the belief that even though they lost they weren't wrong… it's harder pill to swallow."

"But… doesn't he love me?" Scorpius' voice sounded so small.

"According to your mother, he keeps a photo of you in his pocket at all times. It is my belief that given enough time your father might come around-"

"Why should I-"

"Scorpius," Harry snapped. "You have no children, so you don't know what it's like to want what you think is best for them and watch them turn their back on it. For all the things you'll get in this life, you'll only ever get one set of parents. And take it from someone who lost their own and had to make do with several wonderful substitutes; it's never quite the same as the ones that God gave you. Give your father time but hold on to him and to your mother or you'll regret it." Harry sighed again and got up. "And you're far too young to regret anything."

He made his way over to the door. "Dinner's at seven, you're more than welcome to join us." The door clicked close a moment later. Lily slowly made her way out of the closet and settled herself next to Scorpius.

He opened his arms, she cuddled in.

She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. "I love you too, Scorpi."

A/N: Major drama! I think Lily and Scorpius earned their own special chapter. I won't make a habit of it though, so don't worry. Much love!