Mouthing each step of the plan to herself as she went, Scorpuis led the way to the barrier of Platform 9 ¾. She watched as he gathered speed to a healthy trot, and then sped straight past the wall he had been running at. To Lily, it was obvious that he'd missed. But with a quick, cautious look back toward her family, Lily discovered that they were, in fact, convinced that Scorpius had gone through. With a stabilizing breath, Lily began to follow suit. Just as she was about to take her last bound toward the wall, she heard someone cry out her name. Whipping her head around, she realized it was her cousin's boyfriend, as well as her father's godson. Teddy Tonks, complete with wildly blue hair, was walking toward her, with a big smile on her face. Cursing him under her breath, she plastered a smile onto her face and waited for him to reach her. "Teddy, long time no see!"
How could it all go so wrong so quickly? Now Scorpius, with trolley and owl in tow, was stuck behind the wall on Platform 10, trying to figure out what to do. He could always Apparate onto the platform, but that would risk exposure to the Muggles, and he could possibly lose his possessions. The other option, of course, was to just casually stroll out from behind, as if coming back out from the Platform. If her dad questioned it he could claim that his parents were in there and he didn't want to risk being seen… Or he could stick to the original plan. Any of these were risky for someone. All of this thinking was done while he was listening to Lily and her friend Teddy chat about their lives. 'No, Malfoy. You're Head Boy for a reason. You can figure this out without a hitch.' He continued to mentally boost himself until he had the courage to whip around from behind the border and successfully land himself right behind Lily. Her parents obviously suspected nothing.
Boy, how she missed Teddy. When she was 10, the year before she started at Hogwarts, he would spend every single day at her house, because he had nothing better to do after leaving Hogwarts. She was certainly enjoying talking to him, but then, along with the sudden, unplanned reappearance of Scorpius, the came to the realization that the conversation would have to wait. "Listen, Teddy. I'll send you an owl, but I really must be going. Prefects need to meet in the front before we leave!" Obviously convinced, Teddy gave her a quick hug and Disaparated on the spot. She had forgotten that Scorpius was behind her until he suddenly whispered in her ear, "We're pretending that my parents were on the platform. If they actually are, then good. If they aren't, they Disapparated as soon as they saw me without you. Let's just go onto the Platform and play it by ear. No invisibility today, I'm afraid…" Lily, disappointed by the spoiled plan, turned in time to see his back fly through the barrier. Obviously her parents were very involved with talking to her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, because they hadn't looked over since Scorpuis had returned. "Prefects meeting on the Hogwarts Express at the Christmas holidays. Honestly, Teddy…" With that, she sped at the barrier for real, and moments later found herself on Platform 9 ¾, looking at the gleaming red Hogwarts Express. Just as she was about to stride forward to look for Scorpius, a tall man stepped in her way. Looking up, she saw who was unmistakably Scorpuis's father. Draco Malfoy had indeed come to see them off.
It all happened in the blink of an eye. One second, he was looking at the train. The next, he was looking at his father's nose and being pushed to the side. He watched from the ground (where he had landed) in terror as Lily's flaming orange hair burst through the brick wall and be stopped by the same figure as he had. The only difference was that the very top of her head only met his collarbone. Scorpuis felt frozen to the ground as he watched the girl he loved receive the same frosty smile as he father had on the first day that Scorpius had ever gone to the Hogwarts Express. Horrified, Lily took a step back, just to bump into the wall next to the barrier. Finally, Scorpius found his strength, got up, and stood next to Lily. Bringing himself up to be as tall as possible, he said, "Father, if you touch her, you're going to regret it." He wasn't sure where the sudden bravery came from, but it seemed to be there to stay. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously as the icy smile that had been directed toward Lily was turned to be sent to himself. "Just go home. You've met her, now you're going to say goodbye and leave." He didn't leave.