A/N: Thanks, again for those of you taking the time to read and review. As you remember, SLP had the Christmas chapters broken up into 3 parts… I think I am going to have to break it up a bit more… I am actually having a great time writing this from Scorpius' POV, mainly because there is so much that we were just not aware of going on when we were getting the story from Lily's POV. I know that there are few chapters a long ways down the road that we get a little Scorpius POV, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. So… without further ado, here is the next chapter.

Disc.: Manipulating the words.

Christmas the One

I had promised her that we would never talk about that night, and yet it played over and over in my head more times than I cared to admit. It caught me in the most inopportune times, a hitch would catch in my breath and my heart would start thundering in my chest. I looked at Darla, sitting across from me in the carriage as we hurtled through the country side towards King's Crossing. I took a deep breath and confessed.

"You kissed her?" Darla said in a quiet, defeated voice. She looked down at her hands, twisting them around each other as she thought.

"Yes," I said. She refused to look up at me. "I'm sorry, Darla. I tried, I've been trying."

"I know," she whispered.

"If I could change things, if I could change the way I feel, I would," I said quickly. She looked up at me, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I cared for you," she said.

"I know, and I care for you," I promised.

"But Lily…" Darla said nodding, understanding.

"I'm sorry, Darla, really," I said looking down.

"You know, your grandfather is going to kill you," Darla threatened. I nodded.

"I know," I said regretfully. I looked up at her, handing her a tissue. She dabbed at her eyes and stared at me.

"Maybe, maybe if I gave you time? Maybe if you got Lily out of your system," Darla suggested weakly. I knew what she was offering me. She was going to step aside and let me try to work with Lily.

"No, Darla, it's not like that. I'm not going to just get Lily out of my system," I said shaking my head. I looked at her quivering lip and it tore me to pieces. It wasn't Darla's fault that I couldn't love her like she deserved to be loved. Sure, she was annoying but Darla deserved someone who loved her. I had decided. I would never get married if I couldn't marry whoever I wanted. My grandfather would just have to disown me.

"But… but…" Darla stammered as she tried to form the words. She hung her head and I could see the tears dripping onto her lap.

"Darla," I said as I moved to put my arm around her. She pushed me away.

"We could try, I could… I could learn to live with that," Darla whispered. I knew she was trying to be strong, to show that I wasn't killing her a little with every moment.

"Darla, I can't do that to you," I told her as I tried to hold her hand. "You deserve someone that loves you."

"But…" Darla said as she trailed off. She acted as if she couldn't breathe, couldn't go on. Her eyes reflected the hurt and the rejection.

"You're a wonderful girl," I told her softly as I brushed her hair out of her face.

"So… that's it then? You won't even try?" She gasped as the tears streamed down her face. She didn't even bother blotting at them so I wiped them away with my hand.

"Darla, honey, you and I would never be truly happy together," I said quietly. "I want you to be happy."

"I'm sick, Scorpius," Darla blurted out in a sob. "Dying." My resolve faltered.

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly. Darla did, after all, have a tendency to be a drama queen, so it didn't surprise me to hear her use anything possible to keep me there with her, but then to claim… that she was dying… it seemed so extreme.

"Something's wrong with me," Darla whispered. She wasn't crying anymore as she looked at me. "All those times I have been up in the hospital ward… I wasn't really there."

"What?" I asked.

"Surely you noticed that I wasn't there the day that Lily got hit by the bludger," Darla said in a strained voice. "Surely you noticed."

"I… I didn't really…" I stuttered. Darla hung her head.

"I should have known, when you didn't ask me about not being there," Darla said frowning softly. She closed her eyes, fighting whatever demon was raging within her.

"Darla," I began morosely. She raised her hand to stop me, opening her eyes. They were bright with unshed tears.

"I guess, I should be grateful, really," Darla said sighing. "When I found out about it, I was concerned about you, how you'd do."

"Darla," I protested.

"No, listen to me, Scorpius," Darla said in a quiet voice, cutting me off. "Your grandfather told me not to tell you, but I can't just keep it to myself, Scorpius. I don't know how much time, really. The healers don't either."

"Darla, please," I begged her not caring that I sounded like I was weak or whiney. "What's wrong with you? Won't you tell me?"

"It's… fatal, that's all you need to know," Darla said. "It's not contagious. It's a genetic thing, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't have kids with you. Not knowing that I could pass it on."

"But… Elena…" I retorted as I ignored the loud noises that were outside in the corridor.

"Elena is without the enzyme, so she's fine… her body isn't destroying itself, cell by cell," Darla said almost bitterly.

"Is there no hope?" I breathed. Darla looked at me for a moment, closing her eyes as she shook her head.

"All my pain, all that time," Darla said in a whisper. "It wasn't 'woman troubles' but an autoimmune disease that was eating me up on the inside, destroying everything until it was found. Funny thing, you know?"

"What?" I moaned, my arm over my eyes as I tried to block out the horror of things. My betrothed, whether I wanted her or not, was dying and there was nothing I could do to spare her life.

"The very people that our fathers and grandfathers hated, the muggles and the muggle-born, it was a muggle doctor that ran the archaic tests and passed down the diagnosis," Darla breathed. "Though, it sounded more like a death sentence."

"Darla, I am so sorry," I said as I threw my arms around her. "I really am."

"Me too," she cried as she buried her face into my chest. I patted her back, stroking her hair. She knew that I didn't love her, not like she loved me, but I didn't like to see her hurting this way and she knew it. We sat like that until her tears subsided and dried. I finally released her and sat back against the seat next to her. I felt her hand on my cheek and realized that she was wiping away my tears. It was bitter sweet.

"You don't have to be strong," I promised her. "If you want, I can skip Christmas with my family and I can stay with you."

"What would that accomplish?" Darla asked softly. "I think it is time for us to admit to our families that this union isn't going to work."

"I don't want people to think I am ditching out on it because of your illness," I said. She turned to me and laughed.

"Well, I know that you're willing to wait out the thing to the end, but I don't want to," Darla said through a soft gaze. "Instead, I'm going to spend the time I have with my family, perhaps see a healer in Bermuda, and then after break, we'll see each other again."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"If anyone asks, until we are ready to tell our families, we're taking a breather," Darla said authoritatively. I closed my eyes for a moment then agreed.

"Ok," I whispered. She smiled at me when I opened my eyes.

"Once we get back to school, I want to do something for you," she told me and I looked at her curiously.

"For me?"

"Yeah," Darla mused with a curious glint in her eyes. "I know Lily Potter would make you happy, and at the same time would piss your grandfather off. I want to help you get Lily Potter."

"Help me… get Lily? But after what she and I have done?" I stammered. Darla shrugged slightly.

"You don't chose, can't chose, who you fall in love with," Darla said. "Plus… I want you to be happy, even after I am gone."

"Darla, really," I said as I realized I was wrapping my arms around her.

"Lesson One, Scorpius, Lily is a hopeless romantic, even if she never admits it," Darla said as the train began to slow.

"Really?" I asked uncertainly.

"Trust me. She and I have shared a dormitory since first year," Darla said. "She may seem all tomboy-ish and rough, but she's really a tender hearted girly-girl on the inside."

"You know, you don't have to do this," I told her as I stepped off the train before her. She looked up at me and nodded.

"I know," she said. "But consider it my dying gift to you. Only, you can't tell people… no one must know. People always treat you differently when they think you are sick."

"But you are," I reminded her and Darla actually rolled her eyes at me.

"As if I could forget," Darla said. The two of us glanced up to see Lily wave briefly at us before she disappeared through the barrier with her family. "She's completely, madly in love with you, too, so you know. The way you love her, only… probably more so."

"I don't think that's possible," I told her as I picked a piece of lint off my jacket. Darla laughed.

"She's said your name in her sleep," Darla teased gently. I looked up, my cheeks red with embarrassment.

"She never mentioned that," I said. Darla laughed again.

"I don't think she knew we heard her," Darla giggled slightly as Elena came up beside her. Elena looked at me and then at Darla, not certain what to think.

"We'd better get going, Darla," she told her younger sister, indicating that their mother was waiting for them. I wrapped my arms around Darla tightly.

"I'll see you on the train on the way back to school, y'here?" I whispered in her ear.

"Of course," she said and I kissed her cheek. I didn't know that it was the last time that I would ever see Darla. At the time, I felt free, buoyant as I walked towards my father waiting for me. He looked at me, an eye brow raised and we walked toward the apparation vestibule.

"We have a problem, Scorpius," Dad said as I looked down at my suitcase. I raise my own eyebrow at him, matching his signature look. He nearly cracked a smile.

"A problem?" I asked.

"You can't come home," Dad said as he indicated to the suitcase. "Your grandparents have Dragon Pox and they're all green and spotty at the moment. It's worse in the ill and elderly, and well… things are not pleasant with Dad at the moment."

"Ah," I said. "Um, ok… so where am I going to stay for the holiday?"

"I have an idea, only… I think you're not going to be too thrilled," Dad said as he picked up my suitcase in his hand and offered me his arm. I took it as I tried to ask, but the wind was knocked out of me and I couldn't get in a word edgewise. We landed on the front stoop of a small house on a long street of identical houses.

"Where are we?" I asked curiously. I didn't recognize the house or anything. It had a cute yard in the front with was probably nice landscaping had it not been so darn cold.

"A coworkers' house," he said evasively. I looked at him.

"What coworkers' house?" I pressed. He laughed.

"Don't worry, it's a Slytherin house," he told me. He coughed turning his head and I swear I heard him tack on, "sort of." I didn't get a chance to ask, though, because a minivan full of people pulled into the driveway and I froze, recognizing the driver. Gold rimmed glasses, wild dark hair, and that famed lightening bolt scar, anyone would have recognized the driver as Harry Potter.

"Lily's DAD?" I choked out as Harry stepped free of the van, looking rather… put off. He tapped his wand on the van and strolled over to us in a hurry.

"What's going on here, Draco?" Harry asked quickly. I thought he had been cross, but if he had been, his words weren't cross.

"Sorry to pop by unannounced, Harry, but I didn't really know where else to bring him," Dad said hurriedly. "Lucius and Narcissa have both suddenly come down with a nasty case of Dragon Pox and I really can't have him at home."

"Of course," Harry agreed as he looked at me. I tried to look inconspicuous as I looked at him. I certainly didn't want him finding out that I had kissed his baby girl in the astronomy tower. As easy going as everyone always said he was, I doubt that he'd be that easy going about me kissing her.

"I was hoping, really, that I could leave him with you," Dad said apologetically. Harry paused a moment and he nodded, unlocking the door.

"Of course, of course," Harry said gesturing for us to go inside. "Let me just un-spell the van so the other kids can get out and I'll be right in. Make yourselves at home."

"Dad, seriously, the Potters?" I hissed at him angrily. "You could have asked me. You could have…"

"I was under the impression you liked Lily Potter," Dad teased quietly. I felt my face go bright red.

"I… but…" I sputtered as the others headed in the house. I glanced up to see Taryn standing there, his hand locked around Lily's hand and I knew that there was nowhere else I would dare be, if only to protect her from that bastard. Dad caught my eye and smiled knowingly.

"Rose, Hugo, help your selves to snacks Grandma Weasley sent over," Harry said tiredly as he sat across from Dad at the table. Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose slightly and I noticed that he was going a tad gray here and there. "Ok, guys and Lily, Scorpius is going to be stay with us for the holiday."

"Why?!" James and Taryn both protested. I turned to see Harry shoot them both rather annoyed looks and I nearly laughed. I didn't expect anything less from either of them, James as my long time foe, and Taryn must have suspected that I had a thing for Lily.

"Er, why?" They both sounded so falsely concerned it was sickening.

"Dragon Pox," Dad said and the others quickly moved away from me, as if I had the disease.

"I don't have them," I grumbled.

"My parents both seemed to have come down with it," Dad explained, though I didn't see where they really needed an explanation. Sometimes, I wondered if my dad really was ever a Slytherin, the way he always tended to be so damn diplomatic, even when it wasn't called for. "I have to be there to care for them, but Scorpius needn't catch it."

"Doesn't he have like a wife or something?" Taryn suggested hopefully.

"Darla and I are having a bit of a breather at the moment," I said meaningfully as I glanced Lily's way, but found her own eyes quickly going to the plate of cookies that Rose held out before her.

"Anyways," Harry said quickly. "We need to figure out where Scorpius can sleep." I had been curious about this, myself. I mean, James and I were nowhere near even civil enough, nor were Taryn and I. I was morbidly curious to see where Lily and Taryn were sleeping, and I hoped, prayed, that Harry was a more traditional father and the two weren't sharing a room.

"Not my room," James and Albus both said loudly, in protest. I nearly laughed. I had been expecting that. I saw Harry glare at James and I coughed to cover up a laugh.

"No offense, but Slytherin can sleep in the chamber of Gryffindor," James added quickly. I had figured as much.

"He can take my room," Lily said quietly as her eyes raised to meet mine. She was biting her lip slightly, as she figured it out in her head quickly, while trying to keep the peace. "Taryn can take Albus' room. Albus can bunk up with James and I'll sleep in the television room."

"That… would work," Harry said thinking through her planning. I saw his smile for her, the warmth evident and he nodded. "That would actually work fairly well, and yeah, that sounds like a plan. Taryn in Albus room so he doesn't have that whole Gryffindor complex and with Lily already being a Slytherin, that'd work perfectly."

"I can't very well banish Lily to a couch in the T.V. room," Taryn protested in what sounded more like a whine but was probably supposed to be chivalrous or something. I had been about to speak up, myself, but damn that Taryn beat me to it.

"Would you rather Lily and Scorpius share a private bathroom?" Albus muttered under his breath. I felt my breath catch at the thought, and a moment later Taryn still hadn't caught on. The confusion was easily notable, written permanently on his face and Albus had to explain. "Lily and I have a connecting bathroom and closet."

"Sleep well on the couch," Taryn told Lily as he patted her on the head like some sort of dog. It was degrading and I was surprised when all she did was roll her eyes at him. I'd have liked it better if she had punched him, or at least told him off. I really hated Taryn.

"It's a pull out sofa," Lily explained as she crossed her arms and sat back. At least her voice sounded indignant!

"Well, it's settled then," Harry said standing at the same time that Dad did, and the two shook their hands firmly as if confirming some important business deal instead of parking me at the Potter's for Christmas.

"You sure about this?" Dad asked concerned for a moment as I saw him look from me to Taryn to James and back. I'm sure Dad noticed the hostility between the three of us, neither of us liking each other. "I mean you already have a house guest."

"Of course," Harry said grinning at me. He winked at me, which was surprising. "Really, what's one more kid? We'll be fine, Draco."

"I do appreciate it," Dad said as he shook his head. "Dragon Pox of all things."

"It's going around, I hear," Harry commented as he walked Dad to the door. Dad looked at me one last time, nodding once, and left without another word to me.

"This is going to be a fun week," Taryn said sarcastically just loud enough that we could hear him but not loud enough that Lily's father would. I nearly laughed at the dirty look Lily shot at him. I watched her release Asher from his basket and the cat darted away from all of us and up the stairs of the house. Harry closed the door and looked at all of us, the Weasley kids, the Potters, Taryn, and myself. Almost anticipating something, he smiled.

"Lily why don't you show the boys where they will be sleeping," Harry suggested to his daughter and she nodded. She gathered her bag and indicated that we should follow her, Taryn and myself. The stairs and hall weren't terribly long and she stopped in front of a plain door, opening it and pushing the door wide. She turned to Taryn and smiled.

"This is Albus' room," Lily said. "Feel free to mess with all his toys."

"They're not toys! Their action figures!" Albus yelled from downstairs. I laughed quietly to myself at Lily's brother's response. I stood back, a few feet from the doorway as I watched Taryn walked in, dropping his stuff on the small twin sized bed. I felt a little ill watching Taryn as he wrapped his arms around Lily who had entered with him, and I felt unexplainable rage as he pulled her down onto the bed. She laughed, almost as if enjoying it, and jealousy raged from within me. I nearly cleared my throat to remind them that I was there.

"I can't say much can happen on a bed this small," Taryn teased as he kissed her neck and cheek. I wanted to shove my wand through his head for touching her, as irrational as that seemed. It annoyed me that she didn't protest harder, and instead she laughed and pulled away.

"My dad is just down the stairs," Lily protested. She glanced over to where I was standing, my arms crossed against my chest and I knew that my loathing for Taryn and my intense desire for her left her uncertain of what was evident on my face. I wasn't sure I understood it much, myself. I shouldn't have cared so much about her. She wasn't mine. She pulled away from Taryn, almost reluctantly, and stood. "Right, be back in a minute or two Taryn. I have to get Scorpius settled in."

"I'll be right here," Taryn said patting the bed he was still laying on. I hated that she laughed at his boldness, as if it was all a silly game to her. Taryn had pretty much told her that he wanted her in his bed, and yet Lily just laughed. I waited, patiently, as she exited the room and I shot Taryn a nasty look of contempt before I followed her down the hall. She stopped at the last door on the right, her hand on the knob, and she hesitated. She turned, biting her lip uncertainly in such a tempting way that I wanted to join her in that activity. She took a deep breath.

"I… I just wanted to say I've not redecorated my room since I was a little girl, so it's a bit… girly," Lily said in such a low voice that I had to lean in to hear her. Every inch closer was like tempting me a bit more with the thing I craved most, my addiction. Her face was hot, I could nearly feel the heat radiating off of her.

"I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle," I said in an almost dismissive voice. My heart picked up the tempo, suddenly excited that I would be sleeping in Lily's bed. While sleeping with her next to me would have been much more exciting, the idea of sleeping in her bed was pretty damn alluring on it's own. Lily turned the knob and pushed the door open, leading the way into her room.

"Wow," I breathed in a gust as I looked around the room. She wasn't kidding when she had told me that it was girly. Had I not seen it for myself, I wouldn't have ever believed it. At school, she came off as a tomboy, probably because of her kick-ass Quidditch skills, but here, at her home, her domicile. It reeked of femininity that I never would have associated with Lily Potter, Slytherin Beater. Pink and frills and lace were everywhere. She had a princess canopy and the room honestly looked as if a literally femininity oozed from every surface.

"Told you," Lily said as she also looked around the room. My eyes landed on her cat, Asher, as he lazily looked up from his spot in the middle of Lily's bed.

"Well, it's very pink," I teased playfully. Lily groaned and turned to flee but I anticipated it and I grabbed her hand before she could leave. It felt so right, her hand in mine. "No, really it is great. Thanks for giving up your room but you know, I'll gladly take the pull out sofa." Secretly, I hoped that she'd turn me down, the idea of Taryn being so close to her, to be able to walk through their shared bathroom undetected bothered me.

"Grandmother Weasley says that it is bad karma to not allow guest to sleep in the bedrooms," Lily told me. I didn't know much about Karma, but I had a bad feeling about Taryn, and this wasn't going to be something that I would insist on her too much, her taking her own bed. Plus, I was morbidly curious to see what it would be like to lay beneath Lily's bedding naked. The idea excited me and I dropped her hand, turning for a moment so that I could coax my tension to at least wait until we were alone, it and I. Lily, thankfully, was unaware. "I don't mind, anyways. The sofa bed is quite comfortable."

"Do you think you and I can hang out a bit this break, just you and I?" I asked her as I turned back to see her face. Lily hesitated, glancing at the doors that lead to the adjoining closet and bathroom, which caused me to look as well. Right, the boyfriend. It made sense that she was hesitant to want to spend time with me alone when she had her boyfriend so close.

"I… we can see how it goes, ok?" Lily promised so diplomatically should could have been my father's daughter. He was always leaving things open ended like that. It drove me nuts, but I wasn't going to say that to Lily.

"Ok," I replied simply as I nodded.

"Why didn't your dad hug you good-bye?" Lily asked me after a brief moment. It was not something I thought she'd ask me and it caught me off guard. I shrugged and moved away from her, placing my bag on her bed.

"Dad's never been a hugger," I confessed quietly. "He hasn't hugged anyone since my mum died. She was the last person he hugged."

"That had to have been hard," Lily said with such sympathy that it nearly made me want to break down and cry. I never talked about my mother, and I really didn't feel like having this conversation. I could feel the burning ache, the hole in my heart left when my mother died, and it was threatening to tear open again. I battled it, knowing that I had years of practice hiding my true feelings.

"It was five years ago," I said dismissively, as if it was nothing to talk of her demise and such the short time since. It killed me and I just wanted to drop it. For the first time ever, I wanted Lily to just go and leave me alone.

"I remember her from dropping Rose and James off the platform that first day of you all's first year," Lily said thoughtfully, unaware of the torment her words were to me. I fought it, the urge to push her out the door, to slam it and lock her out. "She was very beautiful."

"Yeah," I said simply. Without meaning to, I laughed. I don't know why I did that, or why I couldn't get my mouth to stop leaking the words I needn't say. "But she died doing something she loved and my grandfather hated. That is the only way to go."

"Yeah," Lily agreed as she looked at me with such concern that it hurt. I forced a smile. She looked like she was going to say more, but I was there, at my thresh hold, ready to break. I could feel the memories of my mother's death bubbling to the surface, and I was failing at keeping them at bay. I didn't want Lily to stand witness as I broke down and cried, and I could feel it coming. I needed to get her to stop talking, to get her to leave.

"Enough sad talk," I said at once, my voice strained though I attempted to keep it light and I rolled my eyes. I had one card up my sleeve, a sure fire way to get rid of her and never in a million years did I ever intend to use it, but I needed to be alone, a private moment to try and seal up those wounds again. I sighed. "I'm sure the boyfriend will be wondering where you went."

"Maybe," Lily said almost thoughtfully, though she didn't seem too eager to leave. I turned my back on her at once, the tears that had been threatening to spill, the memory of my mother, all overwhelming and out of control. I couldn't believe that I was crying and I didn't make any motion to wipe my eyes, to draw to attention my weakness. "So you know if you ever need a hug I am right down the hall way in the T.V. room."

"Thank you," I whispered nodding, unable to trust my voice at any louder decibel.

"And I've not forgotten that night," Lily said barely above a whisper as I heard her shut the door. My whole body froze. The thing we weren't discussing, the thing we weren't acknowledging, I knew that it was playing on her mind as much as it was mine. I wiped my face with the back of my hand the tears glistening and reflecting the pink that was all around me. I wanted someone to talk to about Lily, and for once, I knew that my dad just wouldn't do. I needed my mum.