A/N: For those following along at home, we just left behind chapter 14… Thank you to those of you who are reading and reviewing, I do appreciate it. :) I love the PMs from folks, too, and I'm glad I have been able to turn you guys on to not only my other stories here and in fictionpress, but my other writing outlets. Enjoy.
Disc: All in fun, fun in all.
Spring Begins
I was trying to do my best to avoid Lily though it seemed like every time I closed my eyes, her face was right there, waiting to torment me, be it in my own head or with her physically near. Everything had spiraled out of control and I hated how things ended before they even started between us. I retrieved the locket that next day, it was exactly where I left it, and I threw it in the waste paper basket. I didn't care about the loss of money. Money was nothing to me, nothing at all. I was still mad, upset, angry at her for all she had admitted, and a little upset at myself for my reaction. I take that back, I was just as much if not more upset at myself for my reaction. I dug the pieces out of the trash, tossing it in a little hand carved ivory box that had belonged to my mother. The pieces rattled around with the heart-shaped stone on the inside, reminding me every time that I looked at it of Lily.
I was still really angry most of January with her, avoiding her, and as February came, my anger faded and my longing replaced it. I went to Quidditch practice, knowing that it was hit or miss if she was even going to be there, and even if she was, she wasn't playing. We had a new kid, some guy named Griffon whom I didn't really like. I just didn't think he had the skill we needed him to have. We played and lost against Hufflepuff, which should have been an easy win. Still, I remained distant from her. She wanted to be free of me, and while I didn't share the same sentiment, I wasn't ready to break the silence between us.
"Hey," Damon grunted in my direction.
"Hey," I grunted back. He smiled and lowered his voice.
"I'm going to invite Lily to Hogsmead," he said. I looked at him, a little like he was crazy and a little smug that she'd say 'no' to him. He didn't ask, probably because he knew that if he asked me if it was ok, I'd say 'no'. Damon just told me, confidently, and I let it go. She wasn't mine to claim, even though jealousy edged its way up my chest and took its place in the base of my heart.
I wasn't really worried about Lily, though. A new foe lay unspoken, the rumor mills wheeling the stories out: Lily had a beau, and a secret one at that. That bothered me more than it probably should have. After all, Lily was free to date whomever she wanted. Plus, rumors were just rumors and I couldn't see how she could possibly have time to date anyone. She had school, homework, Quidditch practice with Flint, and she hung around her friends. I tried to catch her sneaking out, to see whom she was sneaking around with, but she never snuck out anywhere. They had to be just rumors.
So, Damon telling me that he was going to invite Lily to Hogsmead didn't faze me in the slightest. These rumors about her dating, though, bothered me, festering in my head like an unhealed sore. I missed her, desperately. I didn't realize how much she really, truly meant to me until I wasn't near her or around her anymore. I didn't have any excuses to be, and she sure as hell didn't seem like she wanted to come near me on her own accord.
I sat in the locker room, half dressed while Damon scoured the area for Lily. She was practicing more with us, just flying mostly, a little evasive maneuvering. She walked in and it really felt as if the world stopped for a moment. She wasn't paying attention to any of us, just fiddling with the strap on her bag, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"Hey, Lily," Damon said as she walked in the locker room. She grinned at him and my stomach clenched. She never grinned freely at me anymore, but I knew that smile. I wanted that smile to glow at me with the overwhelming friendliness that Lily emitted.
"Hey, Damon," she said as she passed him. She wasn't very far from me, but she hadn't noticed me or chose to ignore me. I watched as she opened her locker, the thing insanely neat and tidy compared to my locker. She hung up her back pack, and I saw her hand tremble ever so slightly while she took off her jacket and loosened her tie.
"So, the weather's pretty terrific today," Damon said as he leaned against the locker next to her. I watched almost eagerly as she her fingers went to her buttons, undoing each one slowly, as if it was either very challenging to do so or she was trying to taunt every male in the room. She glanced at me for a fraction of a second, almost involuntarily. Her expression remained the same as she removed her shirt, her under Quidditch wear covering her perfectly. She looked thinner, and I wondered if she was eating well.
"Yeah, it really is," I heard Lily agree. I looked away, not watching anymore. "What?"
"Nothing," Damon replied.
"There's a variable wind south, south west," Lily continued on knowledgeable about the weather. "Sun's not too bright, which is good."
"Yeah," he said. I glanced over to see Lily take off her skirt and pulled on her Quidditch pants before sitting down and fastening her protective gear. She held out her wrists to Damon, wordless, and Damon began to fasten the Velcro. His fingers brushed her skin more than needed and the jealousy inched up a bit in my chest.
"Thanks," Lily said. "I never can manage to get them tight enough for comfort."
"So, are you going to Hogsmead after practice?" Damon asked. He seemed to hesitate a bit and I wondered if he was nervous or if he was playing up the sensitive role for Lily's benefit. Lily pursed her lips together for a second, her tempting and so familiarly kissable lips.
"If you're asking if I'll meet up with Scorpius, then the answer is no, sorry," Lily said. She was either pretending I wasn't there or she really hadn't taken notice of me. My ego deflated a bit. I wasn't even noticeable to her anymore. I turned my back on them, glaring at the inside of my messy locker. I didn't want to watch anymore.
"No, actually, and please don't laugh, I was wondering if you would like to hang out," Damon said and his discomfort sounded genuine. I caught Lily's movement out of the corner of my eye when I turned my head.
"Hang out?" Lily asked as she pulled her shoes on.
"Yeah," Damon said scratching the back of his head and looking away nervously.
"You mean with you?" Lily asked skeptically.
"Well, yeah," he said as he smiled slightly.
"Like a date?" Lily asked as she stood and pulled her hair up in a rubber band, it had finally grown to shoulder length and she was able to tie it back. That movement, I couldn't help but watch though I pretended not to.
"Well," Damon said as he flushed a little redder. Silently I cheered. Lily's tone had pretty much set the stage for the conversation to end horribly. She didn't want to go on a date with him. "I mean, we could if you wanted to, be just as friends."
"No, um," Lily said grinning at his sudden shyness. "Yeah."
"Yeah?" Damon asked confused. Inside the jealously took over. She was going to go with him, I had lost.
"I'd love to hang out with you," Lily said grinning. She leaned forward slightly. My breath caught in my chest. If she was going to kiss him right there in then, I didn't know if I could stop myself from taking out my best friend. It was all terribly confusing. My stomach lurched slightly, anger and sickness battling for control. "If I manage to survive Quidditch practice."
"You're doing fine," Damon said quickly, reassuring her. "Your aim's been a bit off but you're doing fine."
"You're too kind," Lily groaned as she slammed her locker. I didn't watch her leave. I closed my eyes for a second, my fists clenched. When I agreed to Damon asking Lily out, I never in a million years assumed she'd agree.
"Stupid," I breathed through clenched teeth as I stood, slamming my own locker and storming out the door towards the pitch. I heard it before I saw it, Lily's laughter, and it felt like a hot blade had sliced into my chest and carved up my heart. I hadn't seen her smile or laugh, not beyond the forced smiles and awkward laughter, since before her accident. I miss it, terribly, and I missed her more. If Damon was going to make her happy, who was I to complain? All I ever wanted was Lily happy.
I ignored Flint during his speech of sorts, instead I watched the way that Lily smiled, the way the spring sun caught in her hair. She tucked a rebellious section of hair behind her ear, ignoring the way that the cool, damp breeze seemed destined to free it over and over. Flint blew his whistle, which sent the other players in the air. I took off, ready to start.
"Potter, Malfoy," Flint called. I couldn't help but frown when Flint said their names so closely together. Lily was very graceful at the way she pulled to a stop in front of Flint, I looked at her as I pulled to a stop myself.
"Yeah?" I asked with all the luster of a muddy pool. Lily and Flint both shot me a look.
"I want you two to work together today," Flint said. "I want Lily to get a bit more work out in the defense of an actually chaser, to make her ready for Tuesday's game."
"Wait, what?" I asked with a frown. I looked at Flint almost incredulous that he'd let her do this when it was his job to make sure that we were doing the best to take care of our players. "She's not supposed to play for the rest of the season. Doctor's orders."
"Let me worry about that," Flint said as he flew off. I lightly grabbed Lily's arm in my hand, my eyes on her. She looked at me in shock and something else, maybe a bit of coldness in her face. I ignored the cool look on her face.
"Lily, what are you doing? Did you agree to this?" I asked quickly. Lily glared at me, her eyes falling on her arm that was still in my hand, and she jerked away roughly as if I was holding her hard against her will.
"Look, I've seen a specialist who thinks I'm ready," Lily said. Her voice was cool, but there was an undercurrent, a pleading that I would understand. "I've already sat out the Hufflepuff game, which we lost. Griffon is a joke. He's terrible. I have to play otherwise Ravenclaw or Gryffindor could end up ruining our lead."
"But Lily," I said, my voice inching up an octave rather embarrassingly. Lily shook her head.
"FLINT!" Lily yelled shrilly over the pitch. Flint headed back over to us, his eyes on the two of us, guarded and wary.
"Yes, Potter?" he said with an almost exasperated tone to his voice. I wondered if she had wore on him until he broke and agreed to let her train with everyone else more aggressively.
"Pair me up with someone else," Lily told him. She wasn't asking. He raised an eyebrow at her, which was exactly what I was doing. She had never been one to challenge authority so face-forward. I almost expected Flint to scream at her, to rage, but he took a deep breath. It sounded almost like an exasperated sigh.
"I think you'd be best to practice covering Scorpius," Flint said in a no-nonsense way. Lily crossed her arms and Flint flew very close to her, blocking her from my view. I strained to hear what he was telling her, never once having ever had our captain try and talk to me so privately before. I couldn't hear a damn thing, and I wondered if Flint was talking at all or if he was just staring her down. I could see the muscles in his neck move slightly, and I knew he must have been talking to her. Curiosity nearly had me inching closer but I didn't.
"FINE!" Lily snapped. She took the bat from her left hand, her normal hand, and moved it to her right hand. She glared at Flint as he flew off laughing, whether it was at her or just laughing, I didn't know.
"You could hurt yourself," I said once more. She shot me a dirty look and I imagine it took all her resolve to not only shoot me the one-fingered salute.
"Go do your job, Malfoy, and let me do mine," she said as she waited, looking at me. I wondered if she hoped I would fight her more on the topic, but she was a big girl and I could see that I wasn't going to win this one. I flew off, joining the others for the practice game and Lily covered me like a glove. If she and I weren't on the odds, I would have loved to have her cover me in so many other ways, too. Hell, despite the fact that we were at odds, I wanted her. It was alarming.
The intensity in which Flint hit bludgers my way was alarming, as well. Flint made a point of hitting the bludgers as hard as he could at me, as if trying to permanently unseat me, assuring that Lily had to not only hit them away, but to aim for other players. They shared a continuous, almost violent exchange of bludgers, the sound of ball and bat cracking over the pitch while the others continued to score. It was hard not to see the heat between the two of them, the pure hatred that seemed to unite ball and bat over and over again, no matter where they were.
It sent shivers down my spine, the passion for Quidditch. I missed the passion that Lily seemed to exuberate. I had to admit, even right handedly, Lily was good. All the practices and one on one that she had been participating in seemed to have done her game wonders, and she was better than she had ever been. Still, I wondered why she was using her right hand instead of her much more dominant left. The game continued until the snitch was captured and they were released. Lily knocked one back at Flint for good measure, though much softer, and the captain caught and crated the ball.
"Lily," Flint called as Lily started to walk towards the locker room with the others, she was nearly even with me on the path we were etching in the grass. She turned back and joined Flint. I hesitated. "She'll be along to talk strategy in a bit, Malfoy."
I headed into the locker room, pulling my gear off and shoving it in my locker rather roughly. I jerked my uniform off, shoving it in the laundry cart adding my pants. I was down to the bare minimum, the under Quidditch gear clinging to my frame. I glanced up, near the door it swung open and Lily plowed right into me. I grabbed her to keep from sending her sprawling to the floor. Her hand landed on my chest, the heat radiating from our bodies in a rather sinful way. She looked at me, her eyes wide with surprise and something else, maybe longing though I wondered if I added that because I desperately wanted it to be true.
I could smell her, everything my love potion had been, and my stomach clenched eagerly and almost painfully. My body wanted her more than my mind seemed to comprehend. She didn't make a move to pull away, and for a brief second my mind played tricks on me and I could have sworn that she leaned into me. I swore quietly and pulled away quickly; my body felt as if it were on fire from how close our bodies were. I turned my back on her quickly, not wanting to see what she had done to me, and how she had so quickly and effectively aroused me. She exhaled in a shaky breath and moved away from me, without even so much as a word of apology.
I sat down quickly, my back to her. I couldn't look at her and get my body under control. I heard Damon approach her but she made a sound and I looked up to see her silencing him with a raised hand, stalking off to the showers. It sounded like a good idea, personally, and I stood careful to not draw attention to anything south of my waist band. Damon looked at me in surprise but I only shrugged as I headed to the showers.
To stand there in the shower and not abuse myself was torture. The thought that not too far away, she was naked as well, lathering and soaping her perfect body did nothing to help my issue. I wasn't really a fan on self help when it came to relieving arousals, but I was tempted just to have release and less tension. I rinsed off and changed into my pants, ignoring the way that things refused to be calm and lay right in my pants.
I stepped out into the main locker room, my hair still wet, to see Lily sitting on the bench in front of her locker half dressed. She was wearing a white tank top, her shoulders slumped forward slightly. She didn't look up as I started messing around in my locker. I frowned and sat down with my back to her, finishing up getting dressed.
"Hey, Lily," Damon said. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Lily said though she sounded like she was being dragged off to do something she didn't really want to do. I frowned at the thought and stood, getting ready to close my locker.
"Do you want to come?" Damon asked me. I looked at him like he had lost his mind. Best mates or not, I didn't really want to go along as a third wheel on his date with Lily. From her expression, Lily agreed with me.
"Me?" I asked almost stupidly. We were the only three people in the locker room. Who else could he have been talking about.
"Yeah," Damon said as he slipped his arm around Lily's shoulders to keep her from bolting, which she looked like she was about to do for a second. Damon seemed to be looking at me intently, as if trying to convey something I just couldn't read. Lily laughed lightly, almost playfully, as she pulled away and jerked her tee shirt on over her head.
"How many tee shirts are you going to wear?" I asked her suddenly, wondering how many layers did she really need. It wasn't cold out side. Lily and Damon looked at me as if I was a bit crazy. I hated that they did that.
"I only have the one tee shirt on," Lily said frowning. "The other one is practically underwear. No, actually, it is underwear; it's an undershirt. We don't all fall out of bed fully dressed and ready for the day."
"Yeah, right," Damon snorted as he shook with laughter and walked away. "I'll be outside."
"Be right there," we both said at the same time. We looked at each other, heat rising to Lily's cheeks. She pulled her jacket on, gathering up her uniform. I started to head for the door, confused.
"Scorpius," Lily said quietly. The word cut through me and I stopped, hesitating as my hand rested on the door. I turned slowly and looked at her.
"Yeah?" I said quietly. She took a deep breath and gestured for me to return to her and her locker. Not knowing what she had in mind, I walked cautiously back towards her, standing with the bench between us. I was less than a foot away from her, but I could smell the damn shampoo and the warm, intoxicating scent of her body hovering between us, tempting me. It took all of my will power not to slip my hand in her hair and gather her against my body, all I was to not kiss her.
"I think you should take this back," Lily said as she reached back into her locker and pulled out my scarf. "It's just easier if I don't have any memories of us from that time." I looked at it for a moment, trying to comprehend, trying to think. A coolness slid over me, a cold rejection.
"I don't want it," I said coldly. She held it out to me, a dejected look on her face. I hated that look on her face.
"Well, I want mine back," she said firmly and I wondered how much she really meant that and how much she was trying to make a clean break. I looked at her face, studied it. She had her bottom lip pinned between her teeth, as if holding something back. She was trembling slightly, though I wasn't too sure if it was fear or another emotion, or if she had been fooling Flint all along that she was better when she really wasn't. I hardened my resolve and looked at her sternly.
"Tough," I said coolly. I would not relinquish her scarf back. It was mine.
"Tough?" she said smirking. Her smirk caught me off guard, as did the way she seemed to be fighting the urge to smile. I wanted her to, I missed it more than I could have ever thought. Seeing it there, tempting and promising, it drove me insane. I didn't care about anything else anymore. I just wanted her back, if nothing else, than as my friend.
"Yeah, tough," I said as I moved around the side of the bench to stand next to her. She turned and looked at me, her locker to her side. She tilted her head up so that her eyes could meet mine, and I wanted to crush my mouth down on hers, run my lips down her neck. I swallowed against my train of thought and steeled my face against her for the moment. "Maybe I don't want mine back, and maybe I don't want to give yours back either. I stole it fair and square from you, Lily."
"I knew it!" She said poking me in the chest with her finger. It didn't hurt but I wanted her to do it again, to touch me in any capacity. I wanted it all. "I knew you stole it from me."
"In my defense, you left it on my bed," I said. This was the closest thing to a real conversation that we have had since the night I broke the locket. I cringed internally at that memory, not wanting to think about it.
"You told me Ash took it," Lily said. I couldn't help it, the petulant way her bottom lip poked out at the statement. I smiled big, almost confident.
"Maybe she did, maybe she didn't," I said lightly, dismissively. Lily laughed in spite of herself. I loved the way it sounded, the way it caressed me all over and taunted me, teasing in a playful way. A ghost of a memory from the past, the laughter reminded me of the fun loving Lily I had the joy of falling in love with. It left too quickly.
"I wish you'd take it," Lily said sobering slightly.
"What will you give me if I take it?" I asked quietly, not ready for this to end. This was better than I had ever hoped for, we were talking and getting along. Maybe there was hope for us yet. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and she put her hands on her hips.
"So, to get you to take something from me, I have to give you something?" Lily asked shaking her head. I grinned and took the initiative.
"Nothing big, just some time," I breathed almost in her ear, a private secret for just us, even though we were totally alone.
"Time?" Lily asked as confusion entered her eyes and they seemed to search my face for something. There was a glimmer of hope in them, and I nodded once.
"A date, you and me," I said almost obscenely breathy, excited. Lily stepped back, the scarf in her hand.
"You know, I'll pass," she mumbled and shoved the item into her locker. She closed the locker door, not looking at me. I felt my hope shatter, a million slivers of glass and crystal raining down on us.
"Is it really that bad?" I asked with a frown, trying my best to pull together a mask, to hide how I truly felt. She looked at me, almost sad, nearly apologetic.
"To go on a date with you? Yeah, it is," she said simply and she bolted out of the locker room before I could say anything at all. I slowly followed, disappointed. Things had felt like they were going so well there, and then they went up in a cloud of smoke. Damon and Lily were waiting just outside the doors for me, her not looking any different. Damon had launched into a conversation about Quidditch. She seemed to be concentrating pretty hard on that, ignoring me. I wish I could have said that I didn't care.
It would have been a hell of a lot easier if Lily had been easy to get over, but damn it, she was Lily and I couldn't just get over her. It confused me. No girl had ever had the spunk and tenacity that Lily seemed to have. We walked three wide, Damon in the middle, to the Three Broomsticks, taking a booth and a round of butter beer in glasses. I stayed quiet, watching her. She seemed nervous, not sitting as close to Damon as I had expected her to. She seemed fidgety, too, her fingers alternating between touching her collar and various items on the table. She murdered two napkins into minute confetti. I couldn't recall the last time I saw her so nervous. She glanced up as Damon excused himself to the bathroom, and still she continued to fidget. It was unnerving.
"Are you nervous about being with Damon?" I asked her curiously. Lily looked up at me, her eyes wide in surprise, as if I had shouted the question at her.
"Merlin, no. Why?" Lily asked.
"You've torn up those napkins as if they did some sort of great injustice to you," I teased her lightly, aching to get us back to some semblance of what we once were. She glanced down at the napkins and blushed as she swept them into her hand. She emptied them into a new napkin, balling it up to keep them from escaping. The silence was awkward and without thinking about it, I cleared my throat causing her to look at me almost timidly. It was alarming, though I didn't know why. "So, you and Damon are on a date?"
"No," Lily said frowning. "Not that it is any of your business. We're just hanging out."
"Do you want to date him, Lils?" I asked her. I hid it well, but the pain was almost unbearable. How she answered it, I felt that it might kill me just that much more. Lily looked up from her hands, a smirk on her face. I loved that smirk, sometimes. Now, I feared it slightly.
"I'm… sort of already seeing someone," Lily said hesitantly. I couldn't my surprise. I had heard whispered rumors, but here she was stabbing me with these words, confirming it. I wanted to die. A lot.
"You are?" I forced out trying to make myself sound normal and not broken. Lily nodded. "Is it someone I know?"
"Yeah, sort of. You know of him," she said quietly. I stood, afraid that my face showed exactly how much her confirmation tore at my heart. I didn't realize that I cared SO much.
"I'm… I think I'm going to go use the bathroom," I mumbled not trusting my voice. She didn't look at me, only nodded as she touched her collar yet again. She didn't watch me practically run to the bathroom, something to be grateful for, I suppose.
I stopped just inside the door, surprised to find Damon reading a magazine, sitting on the counter of the restroom. I wanted to groan. Chalk it up to Damon to try and get us back together. He looked up at me, frowning at the scowl that seemed to be plastered on my face.
"Is it not going well?" Damon asked with almost innocents etching in his frustration. I crossed my arms and gave him my most pissed off look I could must without crying.
"Did you know she was dating someone already?" I demanded. Damon twitched slightly.
"I had heard… rumors… but I don't think it's serious," Damon said.
"What makes you think she'd choose me over this other bloke?" I asked with an almost childish whine to my voice, masked only with anger. Damon shrugged.
"You guys are good for each other," Damon said. "I figured you guys needed a fighting chance."
"But she's dating someone," I complained. Damon nodded.
"How great could this guy possibly be if no one knows who it is," Damon challenged. "So far all we have are these rumors whispered that she's seeing someone. No one knows where they started nor have anyone actually ever seen her out with anyone. She doesn't seem to have time to actually date, so I figure it was possible that the rumors are just rumors."
"She doesn't want to date me," I muttered, looking away from him with hot shame flooding my face. "She and I, like she said, don't mix."
"You two are so blind," Damon snorted as he flipped the page. "She's still crazy about you and the number of times she comes up in your speech, either you are crazy about her or you really love talking about flowers."
"I don't talk about her," I protested. Fuck, my face was on fire. I could feel the heat, not to mention the nice red color it seemed to have flushed according to my reflection.
"I didn't want to say anything," Damon said as his cheeks turned a little pink. "However, I think this is one of those times I have to break the code of not speaking about guy issues. You kind of talk in your sleep. Not very loud, usually, but enough that I have heard."
"I don't talk in my sleep," I retorted as my face turned even brighter red. I didn't think it was possible, the color. I looked like I had been doused in red pain, long gone the alabaster hue of my face, all the way into my white-blond hair.
"Um, ok," Damon said. He looked away as embarrassed as I was about this. Damn it, I bet I did talk. I sighed loudly, in defeat.
"What do I talk about?" Scorpius asked almost timidly, afraid of what Damon would say.
"Her," Damon said. He closed his magazine and jumped up off the counter and stood next to me. "Look, you and I are best friends, and you have to know that I would never go against you, but you do talk, and going by what you talk about, you are still crazy in love with Lily Potter. If it wasn't for you, I'd date her myself, so I know you have to be insane to not want to do everything in your power to get her back."
"Well, she doesn't want me back," I reminded him, crossing my arms.
"I doubt that," Damon said shaking his head. "Well, she may not be aware of it yet. Speaking of, we've been gone so long we'd better get back."
Damon and I exited the restroom and our eyes landed on Lily at the same time. Flint was standing in front of her, talking to her. She was still, listening as he talked. Neither I nor Damon could hear what was being said and we started walking towards the two of them. Lily glanced over at me, her eyes locking on mine for a second before her mouth moved to say something to Flint. He stopped talking and looked at the two of us.
"Wonder what's up?" Damon wondered aloud as we edged closer to the table.
"Damon, I hate to do this," Lily said quietly as she stood. "I'm going to have to cut our date short. Flint needs me."
"Flint?" Damon asked frowning.
"I want to make sure we can get in a bit more one on one practice," Flint said as he stood there. His words were casual but there was an undercurrent to the way he spoke them. Damon and I exchanged a glance.
"Oh, ok," Damon said smiling. "Do you want us to come along and help?"
"No!" Flint and Lily both said at once, a little loud. We were startled by their response. Flint went back to looking cool.
"Enjoy your afternoon," he said. "There's no need for you to give up your afternoon for her. It's nothing I can't handle alone."
"It's easier to work one on one without an audience," Lily added casually as she picked up her drink. She finished it and started digging around her bag for some money. Flint was faster and tossed some up on the table.
"See you back at school," Flint said as he placed his hand on Lily's upper arm and lead her away. Damon and I watched them leave and then we looked at one other.
"What in heck just happened there?" Damon demanded as they took their seats. I shook my head, shrugging.
"I have no idea!" I said in earnest. It looked to me that Flint just walked in here and stole Damon's pseudo date away from him.
"We should follow them," Damon said as he fished out a few more coins to cover the rest.
"Follow them? Why?" I asked. I didn't want to catch either Flint or Lily's wrath if they caught us following them, and after all, it was just more Quidditch practice.
"Something's just not right," Damon said crossing his arms.
"I am not about to get in trouble for following Flint and Lily," I explained as I shook my head. "They seemed pretty adamant that they do not want our help."
"And that doesn't strike you as odd?" Damon pressed. I thought about it for a moment, contemplating.
"Well, yeah," I said. I sighed as I shook my head in disbelief for what I was about to do. "I am going to regret this. Let's go."
We didn't know where to look, and it was by chance that we were on the lane that led to the Shrieking Shack. The two of us walked the path slowly as the heard music wafting down faintly from the house. I looked at Damon, both of us hearing it at the same time, and we picked up the pace, slipping undetected between the barbed wire fence. I peeked in through the murky, dusty windows, unable to see anything. Not seeing any way around it, Damon and I headed inside silently as we followed the music.
In the back of the house was a perfectly clean room, devoid of dust. I heard the slow music hit a sour note and a male whispered a swear word. Damon and I slipped toward the room, sneaking in the door. Flint was sitting with his back to the door at a giant piano that's cleanliness alone was enough to make it look out of place. Lily sat next to him. She had removed her jacket and sat in her jeans and tee shirt.
"I'm never going to get this," Flint said gruffly as he slammed his fists down on the piano. Lily placed her hand on the small of his back, rubbing it gently.
"You're doing wonderful, Malvo. You've only been practicing for two months," Lily said. Flint grunted.
"You play," he said. "It always calms me down." She laughed and nodded as he slid off the bench. Damon and I backed up out of sight quickly but watched as Flint sat in a chair near the piano. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back.
"What do you want me to play?" Lily asked him quietly.
"Anything," he groaned. "Anything at all."
Lily placed her fingers on the keys, letting them dance along in a familiar pattern. I couldn't remember if I had ever seen her play, but it was breath taking. I listened, trying to place where he had heard that song before. It seemed so familiar. I held my breath as her fingers danced along the keys. The song was familiar, but more ornate sounding on the piano. My mind almost automatically began picking the song apart, removing the fancier tones and I, instead, listened to the melody. It was the song from the music the locket played. I felt my chest contract painfully and I bolted out of the house. Damon was on his heels.
"Scorpius! Wait up man," Damon called once we were free of the house.
"I can't," I shot back at him. "I know how to fix this."