Chapter six – Unexpected meeting

The morning of September 1st arrived sudden and unexpectedly, getting everyone by surprise. Ginny, Harry and James were being so busy lately that they completely forgot about Lily and Albus, and had a confidential appointment settled for the day of the beginning of the school year. Harry had spent the departure's eve trying to cancel whatever they were planning to do. He wasn't entirely successful, but he managed to delay the appointment to past eleven.

Lily gave up on trying to extract information from her family. Feeding her hopes on checking the entire Hogwarts library, she acted like nothing was happening and like she wasn't interested at all. It was working.

Early in the morning, the Potters traveled to London with Harry's Muggle car, which they hadn't used since the visit to Dursleys'. Lily couldn't wait to get to King's Cross and board the Hogwarts Express. She missed Hogwarts and her friends.

"So," said Ginny. "Lily and Albus are about to enter important phases of their magical education."

"Tell me about it," said Albus, reading The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7). "I'm already freaking out, and the school year hasn't even started yet."

"I remember when I took my NEWTs," said James, smiling. "They were bloody difficult, 'course, but I think the OWLs were worse for me."

"Really?" Lily asked, surprised. "Why?"

"Because it's all new for the fifth years," said James. "I mean, new methods, more homework than you can handle, all the extra-study hours, almost no sleep, the emotional overload, and of course the exams themselves. I think for seventh years the thing is a little easier, because they already got through everything before. They will just have to face it again, in a more difficult way. And with more pressure. But NEWTs are enough to freak everyone out, too."

Lily felt a little nauseous after that. She was already nervous with the expectation of taking her OWLs that year, a very important thing for her future career. She wanted to be an Auror when she grew up, and she had very good grades at school, but the pressure for getting excellent grades at the OWLs was way bigger. Lily had to compete against James and Albus, who were really successful on their OWLs. And to be an Auror she had to have impeccable grades.

"Stop freaking them out, James," Ginny scolded. "Don't worry, sweeties, we have complete faith in you."

"Yes, we do," Harry confirmed.

"Well, you know, they'll love you as long as you're as successful on your exams as the genius here was," James said with a smirk. "Otherwise, they'll disown you. It'll be difficult to top me, though."

Albus sighed exasperatedly. "Can you please stop flattering yourself for two seconds so I can read this?"

Lily elbowed James in the ribs. "Why are you even here, anyway? Just to annoy us as usual?"

James messed up his siblings' hairs. "To see my little kids off, obviously. It's the first time we won't be going to Hogwarts together. I'll miss you, little guys!"

"Yeah, yeah, of course you will," Lily said sarcastically.

Albus grabbed another schoolbook, trying to read about Gramp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, but the car was now passing on a street full of holes, which meant he couldn't even hold the book properly.

"Dad!" Albus complained. "I'm trying to study here!"

Harry tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry, son, but I can't stop to fix the street."

"Sweetie, the car is not an appropriate place to study," said Ginny gently. "You'll get plenty of time to do so at Hogwarts."

"No, I won't!" Albus insisted. "I'll barely have any time at all to study. You know that."

Lily shook her head. "Al, you got eleven OWLs on your fifth year. Could you please stop worrying so much? I'm sure you will get only Outstandings on your NEWTs."

"Don't be ridiculous, how can I not worry?" he asked, the book jumping out of his hands while the car got to the middle of the holey street. "Oh, Merlin's beard, I'll fail in everything! I'll get a bunch of Trolls, I'm sure of it!"

Lily didn't bother to remind him he had said the exact same thing about his OWLs.

Albus didn't let go of his schoolbooks all the way to London. Traveling between him and James was quite annoying to Lily, because Albus kept muttering to himself lots of dates of memorable magical events, and James kept saying about how horrible the fifth year was.

When Harry finally parked the car in front of King's Cross station, at 10:50 a.m., Lily felt relieved. She helped Harry with her trunk and went to the station without her brothers. She was waiting between platforms nine and ten when they arrived, already in possession of the tickets.

Ginny and Harry held hands and ran to the barrier first. Then James, then Albus, then Lily.

With a smile, Lily observed the amount of wizards and witches, parents and children, and of course the always beautiful Hogwarts Express. The atmosphere was warm and comforting.

"Oi, you, red-headed!" someone called out at her.

Lily turned around and laughed when she noticed who had spoken. "You're one to talk."

Hugo smiled. He had already gotten rid of his trunk, and was now getting Lily's from her hands like a gentleman. Rose came to Albus running, and both of them started to talk about the NEWTs. Lily preferred to stay away from them. A little behind was Uncle Ron. This time, he was unaccompanied.

Hugo sighed. "Mum wanted to come see us depart, but Dad didn't let her. It was too risky, you know?"

Lily nodded. "Her safety comes first."

Ron found Harry and Ginny, who were in company of Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, and Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey. That meant that all Lily's cousins in Hogwarts ages were there somewhere.

Lily waved to Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, who she knew because of the friendship between her parents and theirs. She said hello to Emmeline too, and her family, lovable people. She saw Phillip Finnigan talking to Emmeline; he was the son of Mr. Thomas' best friend.

Indeed, Lily greeted a fair lot of people. The excitement of going back to Hogwarts made her almost forget about the one person she had been expecting to see: Scorpius Malfoy.

It wasn't difficult to find his blonde head among the people. He was there with his mother and father, looking randomly to where Lily was. She started to smile at him, but when his eyes met hers, he hurried to turn his back to her and push his parents to the opposite direction.

The smile vanished from Lily's face before it came entirely out. She kept looking at his back until he joined the crowd and disappeared. Lily's feet were glued to the platform's ground, and she just couldn't feel cheerful anymore.

"Hey, can we please go inside?" asked Hugo, apparently unaware about what had just happened. "Bloody hell, what do you carry in this?" he added, trying to carry Lily's trunk.

She said goodbye vaguely to her parents and her brother and followed Hugo inside the Hogwarts Express.

"Roxy is making sure no one gets our compartment," said Hugo. "Uncle George had an appointment here in London early, and he brought her and Fred, so they arrived at the platform when there was just a couple of people. She got us a very good compartment this time, at the beginning of the train. I personally– Hey, are you okay?"

Lily presumed she was still looking like someone who had just been punched on the face. She looked up at him, startled. "Oh." She faked a smile. "Yeah, sure."

Hugo stared at her, unconvinced, but Lily looked away from him, showing she wasn't going to talk about it. She was just too sad. She had been waiting to meet Scorpius for so long… and he'd blatantly ignored her.

The compartment they got was indeed very good. It was spacious, clean, and they didn't have to walk much. The train was huge, and every year their group got the last compartments. This year was different.

Roxy and Lucy were waiting for us. It was quite funny that they were best friends, because they had completely different personalities. Roxy, being raised by Uncle George, was a joker, while Lucy, whose father was serious Uncle Percy, was a skeptic. Still, they were inseparable.

"Oh, well, finally!" said Roxy. "What were you two waiting for, the train to depart?"

"Hello for you too, cousin," said Hugo, laughing.

Lily sat beside the window, while she observed the platform. People were hurrying their children to get inside the train, or talking with them for last recommendations. Ginny, Harry and James had already gone. That confidential appointment supposedly was very important.

She was aware that Hugo was still staring at her. She sighed, shooting him a sad look. He frowned, looking worried, but he gladly didn't push her.

The train began slowly to move. Lily looked at her watch. Precisely eleven o'clock. All that excitement she was feeling had completely vanished. Bloody Scorpius and his bloody moody behavior. She could barely keep track of the conversation.

"–and dad grounded me," Roxy was saying. She sounded incredulous. "I can't go to the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. That fowl, evil git."

"Stop saying this about your father!" said Lucy, horrified. "He was completely right! Poor Fred! On his birthday, Roxy?"

"Did you listen to anything I said?" asked Roxy. "He put Puking Pastilles on my morning juice on my birthday! And he 'forgot' where he had put the purple side of the pastille. I kept vomiting for half an hour, until dad went to his store and got one for me. But Fred didn't get any punishment for it. I did!"

"Yeah, I agree he was an idiot," Lucy said, "but putting adulterated Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher on his Butterbeer? That's so mean! It's way worse than what he did to you!"

"He deserved it," insisted Roxy. "Anyway, I did a powerful job, it was very difficult to dad to find an antidote. He spent the whole day trying to make the acnes to stop plopping all over my brother's face. But he made it disappear. See, Fred was lucky in the end. There are only a few marks on his face. He can easily look like he has been fighting with his owl. Billie is a little violent. It's a plausible excuse."

Lucy stared Roxy, in shock, shaking her head.

Hugo, though, didn't seem really interested on the full story at all. "How did you manage to adulterate the Pimple Vanisher?" he asked curiously.

Roxy smiled mischievously. "I'm glad you asked, my pupil. See, I just…" And she went on explaining. The way she sounded cheerful whenever she told her cousins about a prank was funny.

At this point of the conversation, Lily couldn't see Platform 9 and ¾ anymore. The train gained velocity. She wasn't paying attention to her cousins' talk, and it seemed like a mere background noise.

Someone knocked on the door of the compartment. Lily was only vaguely aware of it, but she didn't give it much importance. Until…

"Ah, Lily?" Lucy said. "There's someone here who wants to talk to you."

Lily closed her eyes, sighing in frustration. She wasn't ready for this. She looked at the corridor. Indeed, there he was. Scorpius Malfoy.

And did he look handsome. He was smiling at her, which was a surprise. He had definitely grown taller, and he his blond hair, which had always been longer and shaggier, was now carefully cut. He looked so much like his father, it was terrifying. At least he didn't lose the gentle expression.

Lily's heart did a somersault. Looking at him hurt. A lot.

She felt everyone's eyes on her. Her cousins knew about her fancying Scorpius. Lily's face would normally light up at the sight of him. They realized something was wrong.

"Lils," said Hugo. "Do you want us to tell him to leave?"

Lily smiled at him gladly. "Thanks. I can handle it."

She breathed, then got the courage to open the door of the compartment.

Scorpius smiled more widely. "Hey! I asked Albus where your compartment was. Long time no see! I missed you!"

Lily gave him a pained smile. She wasn't really short, but she stood small in front of him. "Missed you too. Your hair looks different."

He ran his hands through his hair instinctively. Lily could tell the observation made him uneasy, but she wasn't sure why. "Yeah, well… just changing things a bit."

She was aware that Roxy, Lucy and Hugo were paying attention to them, even if they tried to pretend they weren't, and it made her uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked suddenly, his smile fading.

Lily sighed. He really did know her. There was no point in hiding it. She wanted things clarified. "I saw you at the platform. You turned away as if you didn't know me."

Scorpius looked stunned for a moment, then he smiled and suddenly grabbed Lily for a hug. Lily went red to her scalp, frozen for a moment before returning the hug. He gave the best hugs. She had missed his hug so much. It melted her.

"I didn't do that on purpose, Lily, I swear," Scorpius said, still wrapped in the hug. "Sorry I made you think I ignored you. I didn't. I promise."

Lily nodded. She didn't really believe him, since she saw he'd looked right at her. But maybe he had a motive. And he seemed really sorry. She decided to let it pass. Besides… if he hugged her like that a minute longer, she would pass out.

Scorpius finally let go, still smiling. "So, is it too late to give you your birthday present?"

Lily laughed. "Never too late."

Scorpius gave her a triumphant smile. "Accio!" he ordered.

From the back of the train to Scorpius' hands, came a broomstick. But it wasn't just an ordinary broomstick. It was a Firebolt 5000, the newest and fastest model yet. To Lily's utter surprise, Scorpius put the broomstick on her hands.

Lily stared from the broom to Scorpius, incredulous. "Is this…" Her voice cracked "Is this… for me?"

Scorpius nodded, amused by her surprise. "Yep. All yours."

"Scorpius, you must be joking! This is the most expensive broom in history of brooms. You can't give me this."

"Of course I can, and I just did." He laughed as Lily tried to give the broomstick back. "I bought it, so I can do anything I want with it."

"No, I won't accept it," Lily said firmly.

"Oh, yes, you will!" Scorpius insisted. "You accept the broom or I'll break it."

Lily looked horrified. "That's not fair!"

Scorpius roared with laughter. "Life isn't fair, is it?"

Lily frowned. She thought she had spotted resentment on his voice, under that big laugh. But it could be her imagination, because he smiled again.

They talked about their vacations. Lily hadn't forgotten how endearing he was, of course, but the talk brought the memories back. She wasn't sad anymore. He really did seem eager to talk to her.

When the food trolley approached, Scorpius and Lily had to leave the corridor, because they were obstructing it. That was when they finally went back to they compartments. They hugged each other goodbye, making Lily stupidly happy. She was beaming when she got back to her cousins.

"Someone's on the clouds," Roxy teased.

Lily wasn't bothered by the comment. She sighed dreamily. "I sure am."

"Oh, look, Lily, I got your father again," said Lucy, when opening her Chocolate Frog.

"Great!" Lily exclaimed. She was eating her Every Flavour Beans package, and still had a smile on her face. "Boggey flavour!" she said happily, swallowing the bean.

"You must be really happy, for celebrating over a boggey-flavoured bean," laughed Hugo, examining her new broomstick. "Blimey, this guy must be really rich. No one I know has money to buy half of this broom."

"You can call him by his name, thank you," Lily said. "He's indeed really rich, but I'm not his friend because of his money."

"You're more than just friends," grumbled Hugo.

"Well, even if I'm not, he's just friends," Lily told him.

"Is he, really? Doesn't seem like it."

"You guys, calm down," Lucy pleaded.

Lily nodded. It wasn't worth starting a fight with Hugo when he was like that. He was a very protective best friend, so he didn't approve Scorpius, it was no secret.

Roxy nudged Lily. "Now that you're so happy, can you tell us why you were gloomy when you got here?"

Her cousins really knew her well. Lily didn't want to talk about it, but they cared so much she decided to clarify things. She told them about Scorpius ignoring her at Platform 9 and ¾.

"Are you sure he ignored you?" asked Lucy.

Lily nodded. "He looked right at me, then ran away. But… I think something's going on with him, which would explain why he did it. I'm hoping he'll tell me eventually what is actually happening."

Lucy smiled at her. "I'm sure he'll tell you."

Lily stared at the window. All the excitement had come back. We're going back to Hogwarts, she thought happily.