A/N: Sorry for the delay, but this chapter is longer than usual. Just so you know there is a time jump of about a week in this chapter. Thanks for reading! And let me know if you'd like to see anything else.

Ch. 9 Confusion

Lily was really disturbed after her horrific dream. She could still vividly see Scorpius and blood together. Then she remembered what he said to her in the dream. She was so confused. Did Kevin have a point last night? Was her subconscious trying to tell her something? Was Scorpius going to get dangerously hurt during the Tournament? Lily couldn't help but think her aunt Luna would say she had too many Wrackspurts around her before she went to sleep. Maybe that was it. She would have to solve that problem and all the rest too.

"Lils, you ready to head down to breakfast?" Alice brought Lily out of her thoughts of Wrackspurts and whatnot.

"Yes. I just need to find my tie. Found it. Maybe I can get Kevin to sit with us this morning?"

"Oh, yes, this Kevin boyfriend who turned out to not be a muggle and you got into a fight and never told your best friend anything. How is that I can be your best friend and miss out on all of this? First that you are dating this boy and now he is a Triwizard Champion."

"Oh, Alice, I'm so sorry. I know I should have told you, but I was irrational about it. I'm sorry, but I'll tell you about it now, if that's okay?" Lily begged. Lily has always been close to her cousin Hugo, but he was a boy and didn't understand how to respond to Lily when it came to girl stuff. Alice filled that void. The two have been inseparable since they were little considering their fathers are such good friends.

"Well, go on, tell me what happened?" Alice said the last part with dripping sarcasm, "Did your brothers try to beat him up after they found out everything?

"I haven't talked to Al about everything, but Scor has actually been really great about Kevin." Lily then went on to explain the whole Kevin fight and her crying time with Scorpius. Lily also explained how Scorpius helped get her to talk to Kevin again.

"That was awfully nice of Scor to care about your relationship with Kevin. That seems very friendly of him. I wonder why he did it?" Alice had an idea as to why, but didn't know if she should share it with Lily since her relationship with Kevin was so new.

"He was probably sucking up since he also asked me to help him get ready for the Triwizard Tournament. We worked last night on some stuff." Alice again thought it was odd a seventh year Gryffindor would need help from a fifth year. It spoke to confirm her suspicion about Scorpius' and his behavior. Alice decided she wanted to watch the Lily and Scorpius interact and see if she needed to intercede on her friend behalf. Alice Longbottom wanted nothing more than for her best friend to be happy.

As the week passed by, Lily and Kevin spent most of their nights together either in small corners sharing stolen kisses or in the library working on homework. Kevin had to transition into Hogwarts and it wasn't as smooth as he would like it to be.

"You Brits just do things differently than us. I mean what's with the two feet of essays? We embrace technology and use computers. It's so much easier and quicker to turn in papers. And writing with ink. I know my ancestors did it, but I'm just not used to it. How do you do it all, Lils?"

Lily playfully swatted Kevin on his arm, "Oh, stop being so dramatic, Kevy Kev! It really isn't that bad. From what my dad has told me, witches and wizards really haven't wanted to touch muggle technology. And pureblood families believed it would show their weakness in needing to use anything a muggle invented. It's tough for them to break out of that mold. This is just what Hogwarts does. My mum and dad did it. Their parents and their parents."

"Wow, I can see you all like your tradition. Maybe that little clue will help me with the Tournament. By the way, how come you agreed to help Scorpius with the Tournament and not me? And what is with a name like Scorpius anyway?" Kevin definitely didn't like Scorpius and the threat he posed to his relationship with Lily.

"Hey, he is my friend. I don't appreciate you making fun of him. His family has a tradition of naming people after constellations. If you claim Astronomy is your favorite subject, I'm surprised you would make fun of him." Lily turned a cold shoulder towards Kevin. She was not going to stand for his harsh words about Scor. "And clearly from your behavior towards him, it's no wonder I pledged my allegiance to my school. Goodbye, Kevin." And with that Lily gathered her books and made to leave the library.

"Aw, Lils, I was just joking. I didn't mean to offend. But for someone who says she's my girlfriend, you defend that boy a lot." Lily was appalled. He couldn't be insinuating she would cheat on him.

"How dare you. I am defending my friend who you know nothing about. I hope by the time I see you tomorrow at breakfast you've changed your attitude. If you haven't, then don't bother coming to sit with me at my house table. We haven't eaten breakfast there all week and I'd like to sit with MY friends." That was the last straw and Lily walked out. She wanted Kevin to think about what he had accused her of and feel guilty for it. Serves him right.

As Lily walked through the portrait hole she saw Scor and Gwen Wood sitting together watching Hugo demolish Al at Wizard's Chess. He definitely took after his father. Lily saw another of Al's pawns get destroyed and Scorpius laugh at him.

"Ha, Al you really need to know your limit. Did you really think you could beat Weasley here?" Scorpius continued to laugh at his best friend.

"Shut it, you git. You just worry about the Tournament." Al looked up and saw Lily, "Oh, hey Lils, do you want to take a turn playing Hugo?"

"Not a chance, Al. I know better." Lily slid onto the couch next to Scorpius. "So what's everyone up to tonight? No homework?"

"Al apparently felt too confident and wanted to get his ego knocked down a few pegs. Isn't that right, Al?" Scorpius loved poking fun at all, because his temper was so unlike that of James and Lily. Al wouldn't blow a gasket when he was angry. Instead he planned ways to seek revenge. "And teachers haven't been giving me too much work since they want me ready for the Tournament. Or at least that's what I hope is going on. I don't want to fail my NEWTs. And speaking of the Tournament, Lils. We have interviews tomorrow and then we receive our first clue. Want to meet up tomorrow night? We should be done by 7."

"Sure thing. I don't have anything going on tomorrow night besides my Charms essay. I'll meet you at 7 in the Room of Requirement." Scorpius sensed something was wrong with Lily. He couldn't put his finger on it, although he figured it had something to do with Kevin since they had been hanging out every night since the big fight. He held Lily's gaze for just a minute and she shook her head, 'no,' at him. Whatever it was she didn't want to talk about it. "Well, goodnight everyone. I'll see you in the morning. Al, learn when to give up."

Lily had the Room of Requirement set up exactly the way she wanted it. She had learned from Uncle Neville how to communicate with it. The Room of Requirement was their special secret. Cushions were placed everywhere around the room in case Scorpius wanted to duel. She also had a special surprise locked away in a cabinet. She had hoped it would help Scor no matter what the clue said.

Lily sat down on the cozy couch she asked the room to provide. Her thoughts drifted back to breakfast this morning. Kevin continued to act like a stupid git. He had yet to apologize and neither one sat together. Lily was stubborn especially when she knew she was right. If he wanted this relationship to last any longer, he would definitely approach Lily and not the other way around. Lily had been too lost in her thoughts that she barely recognized the sound of the Room opening. She sat up on the couch and smiled when she saw the blonde boy walk in. "Hey, Scor, how did the interviews go?"

"Well, hopefully I didn't sound like a blithering idiot. That bloody woman from the Prophet will print whatever she wants. Be prepared for whatever Kevin said about you. She did ask me about my love life. Ha, like I have one." Scorpius looked down at his feet. Honestly, he didn't hear much of what Kevin said, but the boy didn't look happy.

Lily was worried about what her family would see in the paper. She didn't care if Kevin said something bad about her, but she didn't want to disappoint her family—least of all her father. "Tell me about the other Champions. What are they like?"

Scorpius thought back to their meeting and laughed. The four of them were quite the group. "Loren from Beauxbaton looked like she was out of her element. She was shy at first and didn't talk to the rest of us. She is the only girl so she might not have known what to say. Marko seems like a genuinely nice guy. He and I got along. We chatted about our families. I mean I talked mostly about my mum and your family. He comes from a political family in Bulgaria. And you know Kevin. Although he wasn't very cordial towards me or the rest of the group. He was quiet. Once the interviews were over we met the Tournament judges which actually include your aunt Hermione and Minister Shacklebolt, he mentioned something about him being a judge because they wanted tighter security. They said one more judge would arrive the day of the first task. They finally gave us our clue here in this camouflaged envelop. Are you ready to hear it." Lily nodded slowly. She was halfway listening to Scor now, but she was excited to be a part of this journey with Scor no matter what it cost her relationship with Kevin. 'Alright, it says, 'Be All That You Can Be.' And I'm guessing the color of the envelop means something too. What do you think, Lily-flower?" Scorpius said the last part because he finally noticed Lily had drifted out of their current conversation. Instead, Lily was stuck on what Scorpius had said about Kevin. She just learned Kevin started to turn his feelings outward at Scor. Did Lily know Kevin well enough? Would he act out with no evidence? Did Scorpius really like her? Was that a bad thing? That last thought surprised Lily. She shouldn't wonder if it would be exciting and thrilling if Scorpius liked her. She was dating Kevin or at least she thought she still was. But would it really be a bad thing to like Scorpius? Lily couldn't shake that thought from her mind no matter how much she tried. She also noticed Scorpius staring at her and she realized she wasn't paying attention anymore.

"I'm sorry, Scor. What does it say again?" Lily remembered he had said the envelop was camouflaged colored. Scorpius then explained it to her again. "Have any ideas?"

"Like I said before when you stopped listening to me, I think the color of the envelop is key to figuring this out. As in maybe I need to be able to hide? We were just reviewing Disillusionment Charms. I think I can hide myself pretty well. Did you have something else planned while we're in here?" Thankfully Lily had been paying attention this time.

"Yes, I asked Professor Slughorn for some help. I thought maybe you needed to feel under pressure so to speak. He graciously obtained the item that is in this cabinet." Lily gestured for them to cross to the other side of the room. "Now, please, Scorpius, wand at the ready!"

Out of the cabinet came a girl with red hair. She was lying on the ground struggling for oxygen and a mysterious and sinister creature in black continued to punish her. And as Scorpius realized what was in the cabinet Lily realized what the scene meant. Standing in front of Scorpius was a boggart showing his worst fear—Lily being hurt. And as Scorpius yelled, "Riddikulus," Lily ran from the room, sobbing. She didn't know what to do, but she had to get out of there. It was all too much.

A/N: Okay so a bit of a cliffhanger, but I should have more soon. And the clue might make more sense to those from the States, but that's because that's where I'm from. The next chapter should include the first task!