A/N: Here are your second task results! Thank you for reading and for those reviews. And for those baseball fans out there, my Cardinals are in the World Series! Which makes me very, very happy! Enjoy.

Ch. 23

Hermione held the results in her hand, "In fourth place is Champion Marko Gruev." There were polite claps from the stands while others laughed. 'Poor, Marko,' thought Hermione, 'If only he could have drunk the correct potion.' The "poison" just made the Champion unconscious and Marko drank the wrong one and face planted off the platform, passed out.

"In third place, just five seconds behind the second place Champion is Loren Fluerissant." Hermione was surprised by how close the last three Champions were in the time they finished. The Wizard's Chess is where the three of them surprised her in how good they were or were not.

"Second place goes to the Champion who finished just two seconds behind the winner, Champion Scorpius Malfoy, leaving our winning Champion as Kevin Williams." It shocked Hermione that Scorpius wasn't as good at Wizard's Chess as Kevin especially since she had watched Scorpius play Ron at family events, who also just happened to be the "computer" during the task today. She would have thought he would have finished with a better time and skill, but Kevin figured out which potion to drink quicker than anyone else and finished the game farther along than Scorpius.

Hermione shook Kevin's hand, "Congratulations, Kevin and the rest of the Champions for completing the second task. The judges and I look forward to the final task. You will not receive a clue for the next task. Good luck and study hard."

Scorpius didn't need to look over to where Kevin stood to know he must be smiling like a Cheshire cat. Scorpius had to get out of there. He needed to get away. He faintly heard someone he thought sounded like Harry Potter call after him, but he didn't want to be there anymore.

Lily didn't see Scorpius anywhere on the platform. Where is he? Lily walked down to her family hoping he was just out of sight with them. "Hey, Daddy!" Lily ran up to her father and jumped into his arms.

"Oh, Flower, your mother and I miss you so much!" He sat her back down on the ground, "But we haven't received an owl from you in quite some time!"

"Oh, daddy, I've just been so busy helping Scor as much as I can with the Tournament. I want him to win so badly. I'm sorry. I'll send Mum a letter by the end of the week, I promise." Lily knew how to work her father. She was definitely a Daddy's girl. "Daddy, have you seen Scor anywhere?"

"Right after Hermione announced the winners he left. I didn't see where he went. Sorry, Flower."

"It's ok. I'm going to try and find him," Lily kissed her father on the cheek, "I'll see you later, Daddy."

Lily walked off the platform, but didn't make it very far when she was interrupted by the last man she wanted to see. She pulled her wand from her pocket and pointed it at Kevin. "Get away from me."

"Oh, Lily, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the misunderstanding at the Yule Ball." Kevin took a step towards Lily, but Lily responded with by sticking her wand farther into Kevin's face. "Believe me, Lily, if we were going to get back together there is no way you would ever say no to me." As Kevin finished the last word, Lily hit him with the Bat Bogey Hex and then punched him in the face.

She looked over him, "Stay away, you prick." Lily ran back into Hogwarts and to the one place she hoped her boyfriend was, the Room of Requirement.

She paced in front of the wall and walked through the door. Lying on the couch was her delicious, blonde boyfriend. Lily ran around the side of the couch and jumped into Scorpius' lap.

"Scor, you won't believe this. Kevin tried to start drama with me again, but I hexed him and then punched him in the face. Oh, you would have been so proud of me. Merlin, my mum would have high-fived me and then taken me shopping, that's how awesome it was!" Scorpius sat up, grabbing Lily by her hips with the trademark Malfoy smirk.

"Lils, I'm really happy you were able to defend yourself, but I'm ready to maul that douche of a man." Scorpius tried to lift Lily off of him and the couch, ready to break his solitude to hunt Williams down.

Lily pushed back down using all her force. It helped that she was straddling Scorpius and then she used her arms to push his chest back down.

"Scorpius, stop," he tried to get up again, but she pushed him back down, "Scor, please stay here with me. Let's talk about why you were up here in the Room of Requirement all by yourself, Malfoy?"

Scorpius took his eyes away from Lily's. He should have won that task, but he was weak and couldn't beat Williams. "I'm not happy with how I performed today. I let that arse beat me and then I wasn't there to save you." That earned him a smack from Lily. "Hey, what was that for?"

Lily smacked him in the chest again, "That was for being down on yourself." Another smack, "That, you chivalrous prat is for the fact that you think I need someone to save me." Smack, "And that is for the fact that you should remember that I am a strong Potter/Weasley woman who can defend herself. Small things usually pack a big punch. And you'd do well to remember that." Lily was serious and Scorpius started laughing. Smack, "Stop laughing at me!" Lily tried to keep a straight face but joined in on the laughing.

Scorpius grabbed Lily's hips again, "Lils, I know clearly know how much of a punch you pack. I probably have red marks all over my chest." Scorpius laid on as much guilt to his tone.

"Oh, poor Scorpius. Does he have a wittle owie?" Lily didn't buy his act for a minute.

"Maybe you should kiss me better?!" Scorpius quirked an eyebrow as Lily chuckled.

"You are ridiculous. Since you think that you need to save everyone then kiss your bruises yourself, Scor. No kisses for you until you explain the reason you wanted to be alone up here!" Lily crossed her arms over her chest.

"Your pout is very sexy." Lily rolled her eyes, "Don't change the subject and stop deflecting the question, Scorpius Malfoy."

"Lils, I don't know. I feel like I'm a loser and that if he ends up winning anything he gains ground in also winning you back. I can't lose you, Lily-Flower, I can't. Then I received a letter from Mum who invited us both to Christmas dinner and my grandparents will be there and I'm afraid my granddad will want to kill you."

"When did your mum send you the letter?" Lily was concerned.

"Tuesday."

"Tuesday? You've been holding this around with you for days? Why didn't you talk to me about it before now?" Lily slapped Scorpius, but just a touch lighter than earlier. "Instead you kept it bottled up inside of you and it probably didn't help your chances of winning today. And I want you to know, that I'm not going to dignify your idiotic concerns about Kevin with a response." Lily glared at Scorpius not realized she was channeling her namesake grandmother and her sometimes rage against James Potter.

"I didn't honestly know if you would want to come to Christmas. It's not like my family is known for its cheery disposition and welcoming home. My mum is great and my dad has really been working to repair our relationship, but I'm not quite sure how my grandparents will respond to you." Scorpius needed to protect her as much as she said she could protect herself. Lily had never face Lucius Malfoy. "And I may have latent insecurities about your past relationship with Kevin. I know they are stupid, but there are still some of those thoughts that cross through my mind."

"Well, Scorpius, are you going to ask me?" Scorpius was confused. "What do you need to ask me, Scorpius Malfoy?"

He finally caught on. "Lily, would you please accompany me to my family's Christmas dinner?"

"Yes, Scorpius. I love you and I would truly enjoy the opportunity to meet all of your family despite any tendencies they have to hate my family and their blood status!" Lily smiled brightly even as she inwardly grimaced. Christmas dinner at Malfoy Manor, no big deal, right?

A/N: So this chapter sets some things in motion. Plus, all women should be able to kick some guy's butt right?! I hope you like it. She was getting too sappy. Next stop: Malfoy Manor!