A/N: Super sorry about the long delay. I know it sucks because I missed my characters.

Also, I have a bone to pick. Thank you to the one and only reviewer for Ch. 16 Jessica682. I just hope you guys like the direction. Also thank you for the new favorite from ModernArt2012 and Half Blood-Jedi-Warlock (which is a phenomenal user name).

Ch. 17 Dress Shopping and the Second Clue

Alice and Lily had to find the perfect dresses for the Yule Ball since they both believed they had the perfect dates. The girls had decide to dedicate their next Hogsmeade trip to finding their dresses. It was such a joyous event that both Ginny and Hannah took the trip into Hogsmeade to help the girls shop.

Ginny and Hannah were both thrilled to see Alice go with Al to the dance, but for slightly different reasons. Hannah had to continually listen to Alice go on and on and on about Al every time she came home from break and she was glad one of them had finally taken action. Ginny had two sons and she was just happy at least one of them picked a nice girl like Alice and not some crazy loon.

The four ladies made their way into the first dress shop. The attendant upon seeing Ginny Potter, wife of the Chosen One and she herself being a world famous Quidditch star, never let the women wait long after any request.

Alice was lucky, it took four dresses until she found a deep blue floor length gown. It had a halter top neck with jewels lined under the bust and around the neck. It complimented Alice's complexion and blonde hair. She was beyond thrilled while Lily felt a pang of jealousy because she couldn't find a dress.

Lily hated every color she tried on. Red clashed with her hair, blue was Alice's color and Lily wouldn't dare steal her color. Purple washed out Lily's face and yellow made her look sickly. Green was a color Lily and Ginny always loved to pair with their hair, but every dress shouted Slytherin and Lily didn't want that.

Then Lily saw a dress hanging on a form hidden in a back corner. It caught Lily's eye because of its rich grey color. It looked dark pewter and it reminded Lily of Scorpius' eyes. It was the color of his eyes when he was deeply concentrating or staring intensely into Lily's green eyes. Lily's felt as if Scorpius was trying to memorize her every feature as if she would leave him at any moment.

The dress ended at Lily's knees and had a deep V in the front and back. It had ruching through the waist giving Lily an empire silhouette. Ginny teared up as she watched her only daughter twirl in front of the mirror. Her little girl was growing up. She was glad Lily had someone who seemed to care for her like Harry cared for Ginny when they were in school. Only they didn't have to deal with the scary death eater and Voldemort problems.

"Honey, you look stunning in that dress. Do you like it?" Ginny asked.

"Mum," Lily paused, "I love it!" Lily then turned around to find her mother softly crying. "Mum, why are you crying? I thought you said you liked the dress?"

"Oh, Flower, I do like it, but you are just growing up too fast. I was just thinking that yesterday I was in St. Mungo's giving birth to you and now you are only two years away from being out of Hogwarts! Time flies, honey. I'm sorry to dampen the moment, but your poor old mother can't help it." Lily laughed as she hugged her mother.

"Mum, you are not old. Dad is old." Ginny forgot about her tears as she laughed as the nonchalant statement from her daughter. That's right, Ginny thought, Harry is older. These were moments that Ginny was thrilled she had at least one daughter because she could never enjoy these kinds of experiences with the boys.

As the four ladies walked out of the shop, the two younger ones beamed with joy over their dress finds and the mothers were clearly excited to see their daughters with brilliant smiles. They all walked to the Three Broomsticks for lunch.

Lily laid on top of Scorpius on a plush couch in the Room of Requirement. They had spent the last twenty minutes snogging. It was hard to break a part some days, but the two of them had come up for a specific reason—the next tournament clue. It seemed the two of them had forgotten that little detail and instead decided to get lost in the other.

"Mmmhmm, you always taste so good, Lily," Scorpius smirked and Lily blushed. "And you're irresistible when you blush. Are you going to tell me about your dress so I can match you?"

Lily shook her head, "No way. You are going to be surprised," Scorpius pouted. "Bloody hell, that pout is not going to help you. I will say thought, that no matter what you wear the dress I picked out will always match you." Scorpius had no idea what to do with that clue. He already had one for the tournament to figure out.

Scorpius leaned into Lily's mouth once more and gently touched his lips to hers. He teased his tongue, gliding them along her lips. Lily couldn't remember what they were talking about, but she didn't care.

Lily allowed Scorpius' tongue to enter her mouth. Today, Scorpius tasted like peppermint and Lily could live on peppermint. Lily couldn't get enough of kissing Scorpius. It was unlike any other kiss Lily had ever experienced, especially better than Kevin's. Kevin's kisses had been too forceful although at the time Lily had never noticed. Scorpius was gentle but would take control. He would let Lily dictate their pace and she never felt uncomfortable.

Then somewhere inside Lily she remembered why they had come up to the Room of Requirement besides private time. Lily pulled away from Scorpius.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Lils, five more minutes and then we can start working on the clue." Scorpius leaned up toward Lily trying to capture her lips again, but Lily stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"Scorpius Malfoy, you can't lose this tournament. If you don't place first in this next task, I'll break up with you," Lily mocked him and tried hard to hold onto her serious expression.

"You wouldn't!?" Scorpius asked not completely knowing if Lily was serious.

"No, I wouldn't, you nut," Lily pecked Scorpius on the lips, "but that was the only way to get you to pay attention. Now let's get started because I was serious about you winning."

The two say up on the couch while Scorpius reached into his bag for the scroll. He unrolled it and found nothing written on the piece of parchment.

"Flower, there's nothing written here. What do you suppose that means?" After Scorpius was released from the hospital wing after the last task he wrote to Harry and asked him about his Triwizard Tournament experience. Harry had written detail after detail down for Scorpius so Scorpius was aware of how Harry had to decipher his egg clue. "What do you think we have to do to be able to read it? Go under water like your father?"

"We could try," Lily told Scorpius.

"Maybe, and I wouldn't mind getting in the bathtub with you!" Scorpius' eyebrows wiggled up and down not hiding his desire for Lily. And to Scorpius' credit, the comment did make Lily blush. "Oh, my favorite color on you, Flower." Scorpius then cupped Lily's cheek. Her skin was velvety soft and like porcelain. Scorpius leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the corner of Lily's eye.

"How did you become so romantic?" Lily didn't understand how her brother's best friend and troublemaker could be so sweet and tender.

"Years of watching you go out with the wrong guy and actually watching your mum and dad." Scorpius said the last part with a hint of shyness.

"First of all, there are not that many guys that I dated because you and my brothers scared them away and you really meant that last part?"

Scorpius nodded, "Yes." He then dropped the comment and joked, "I hope you don't have a problem with your current boyfriend, because I'm sure your brothers would take advantage of any opportunity to chide him or pummel him."

"Are you fishing for a compliment, Scor? What would your father say about that?"

"I would like to think he would enjoy my cheekiness. So, shut it, Potter and let's figure out this clue. Think we could go talk to Hagrid?"

"That's not a bad idea. I have the invisibility cloak. We would only need it by the time we make our way back to the castle."

"Sounds wonderful, but when did you take the cloak from Al? He's going to be so ticked!"

"Let's just say, he's been sneaking off to different corridors in the castle to snog Alice and he seems to forgot Alice is my best friend. I know when she's not in the common room and I could sneak it away from him."

"Fang, stop. Well hullo Lily and Scorpius. I wondered when ya two would be comin down to me. Got yer clue did ya, Scorpius?" Scorpius nodded.

"We can't read it and I know you helped Harry out during the last Triwizard Tournament and I thought maybe you could help me?" Scorpius wasn't sure if Hagrid would help him.

"Have tha two of ya ever considered the clue had ter do with tha piece of paper? What do tha two of ya know about invisible ink? I won't say anymore to ya. Ya two got ter figure it out yerselves."

Hagrid offered the two of them food, but being Harry Potter's daughter, Lily knew better. She made excuses for the two of them and they left the hut under the cloak.

They made it back to the portrait hole without saying a word. Scorpius gave the password and ushered Lily through.

"I definitely don't mind being that close to you under the cloak." Scorpius did the eyebrow thing again.

"You are impossible to keep on task. Let's me tomorrow before dinner in the Potions classroom. I have an idea."

"Care to share?"

"Not until tomorrow. I don't want anyone to hear us. Now go to bed."

"You're a bossy little thing when you have an idea."

"Yes, now kiss me and off you go." Lily laughed and Scorpius happily complied with her request only he had another idea. Scorpius grabbed Lily around the waist and dipped her very low. His kiss was hungry and Lily didn't have any time to respond. She just fell into the kiss.

"Wow…"

"Now, I asked for an advanced book of Potions. I found an entry that we can brew and it helps find something that's lost. So, I figured since we lost the words, we might be able to find them. What do you think?"

"I think you're the most brilliant girl in the world and I don't know how I will keep up with your smarts." Scorpius was in awe that Lily had gone to all the trouble to find this potion.

"Ask my uncle Ron, he's been married to Aunt Hermione and she's the smartest witch I've ever known." Lily loved Uncle Ron. She turned their attention to a cauldron. "I asked Professor Slughorn to help me brew the potion. He said it should be ready now."

"You didn't have to do all the work, Lily." Scorpius didn't want Lily to think he was using her.

"Scor, I want to help you. And it's not as if I'm competing in the task. I'm just helping you figure out the clue."

"Alright, but I'm going to show you how grateful I am for your help some way or another. Just be prepared!" Lily slapped his arms away from her bum. They had to focus on this while they had the time.

"We take this brush and apply the potion liberally to the piece of parchment and the words should show up." Scorpius brushed the paper and as the liquid dried he noticed faint words appear. "Scor, what does it say."

Scorpius held the piece of parchment up and read aloud, "Your eyes may read and your strength be plenty, but a mind is a terrible thing to waste. And you have the best girlfriend in the world." Lily glared at Scorpius, "Ok, those last words weren't there, but the rest was true. Good thing I have you and I happen to be top of my class in Potions too."

A/N: Leave me a line! Happy Day!