After sleeping for many hours, Scorpius woke up rather refreshed. As he lay awake in his bed, his mind was swimming. Swimming with thoughts about Lucy. What would she be doing now? What had she done immediately after he'd left? He wished that she would understand him, that she would write him soon, telling him that she couldn't stop thinking about him too. He knew he had to be more realistic, though.

Most likely, there was a letter waiting for him right now, telling him to stay away from her, and that she hated him. Unable to bear thinking that, Scorpius rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut. Don't think about that, he kept telling himself, but it was no use. That was the most likely scenario.

After all, their families hated each other. His mother hated Lucy, especially, and Lucy's entire family hated his father – and he hated them. So even if Lucy was willing to give him another chance (which was highly doubtful), nothing could happen between the two of them because of their families.

He didn't know how long he was lying there, but in the end, he got up. Slowly, he got ready to face his parents. He was sure that they would yell at him for some time, for doing such a stupid thing. And they didn't even know that he still liked her.

Walking down the stairs, he heard voices, and he quickly ducked. He wasn't sure where his parents were, but he didn't want to get caught – even at the age of twenty-one. Slowly moving back up the stairs, he tried to hear what his mother was saying.

"Here's your list, Weasley. Now get out."

Scorpius frowned. Why would a Weasley ever come here? It wasn't the likeliest place to come for them. It had to be a very important matter. His mother had sounded very… triumphant, too, for some reason.

He tried to see what was going on near the door – one of their House-Elves was showing someone the door. A very familiar someone. He recognised the hair anywhere.

Lucy.

She had come here? But why? And what was his mother making her do?

Gathering some courage, he walked down the stairs again. Without knocking, he walked into the room he now knew his parents were in.

"Scorpius," his father greeted him. His mother wasn't paying him any attention; she was too busy with some sort of cream. "You're up, then?"

"I'm up," Scorpius confirmed. He looked around and took a seat. It was odd, really. He was still so dependant on his parents – for meals, for a place to stay when life got too hard for him to handle. He was nothing but a little boy. His parents had never told him that they loved him, or that they were glad to have him. Why did he still depend on them so much?

"Ah, Scorpius," his mother said, smiling at him (although it looked more like smirking to Scorpius). "You're finally awake. Now, your father and I talked, and we think – "

For once, Scorpius wasn't going to let her finish. He was sure that it would result in his life being even further dictated by his parents. "What did you do to Lucy?" he asked, glaring at both of his parents.

"The girl?" his father asked. "She's running some errands for us."

"Why?" Scorpius asked. "And what are 'some errands'?" He didn't trust that at all.

"She wanted to talk to you," his mother told him, smirking slightly, eyeing him closely to observe his reaction.

"She did?" That really surprised Scorpius.

"Yes, she did. Silly girl. She really thought she stood a chance. We decided to let her… earn that 'chat' with you first, and once we're done with her, you can tell her that you want nothing to do with her anymore."

"No," Scorpius said automatically, and his mother's grin faded.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked, shocked.

"She came here to talk to me? After I ruined her life? And then I'm supposed to tell her that I don't ever want to see her again?" Scorpius couldn't believe that his parents actually thought that he would participate in their little plan. Not anymore.

"But – you don't want to see her again, right?" his father asked.

Scorpius snorted. "Trust me, the only thing I want at this moment is to see her again." He stood up. "So stop trying to make her life hell."

Marching out of the room, Scorpius marvelled at what had just taken place. He had finally stood up for himself, after all those years. And his parents had been too surprised, too shocked, to do something, to stop him. He should really do this more often.

No, he still didn't know what Lucy had wanted to tell him, but she was out there, somewhere, running an errand for his parents only to talk to him. If she wanted to tell him to get out of her life, she wouldn't be doing that, he decided.

But where could she be? She was running some errands for his parents… and they had given her a list. That could only mean one thing – Knockturn Alley. Scorpius wasn't exactly fond of that place, but if Lucy could go there, so could he.

Okay, he thought, as he walked past all the dodgy looking stores, I really hate this place. He knew that many people, his parents included, wondered very often when and how he had become such a scaredy-cat. The only good thing that had come from that, according to his father, was that he hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor at school. No, he'd been a Ravenclaw instead. Just like his mother.

If it wasn't for Lucy, he would never have come here. He would never come back here, that was for sure. He kept looking around, searching for a sign of the girl who had led him here. In the meantime, he had to watch out that he wouldn't be trampled, cursed, or dragged away. He shuddered. This really wasn't a pleasant place to be.

After a while, he almost wanted to give up. There was no way that he'd ever find her here. Of course, that was the exact moment that he spotted her, coming out of one of the shops. She didn't look as scared as he felt (but she had been a Gryffindor, of course), but she still seemed nervous enough.

Scorpius sped up, eager to catch up with her and get out of this place. Right when she reached for the doorknob of one of the other shops, he grabbed her arm. "Lucy," he said, and she spun around. For a second, neither of them spoke.

"Mal – I mean, Scorpius?" she asked, as if she couldn't believe that it was him. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of here," he replied. He took her hand (which sent jolts up his arm and through his entire body, but he knew he had to ignore those for now) and started leading her away from the creepy shops.

"But – I haven't even got everything!" Lucy protested.

"That doesn't matter," he replied, taking the bag she held in her hands. "You're talking to me already, aren't you?"

She blushed. "Oh, right – of course."

"I can't believe she made you do… stuff for her," he said. They had reached Diagon Alley now, and he stopped walking, causing her to bump into him.

"Listen, I'm… sorry for how I reacted when I found out who you were," Lucy said, staring at her shoes. Then, she looked up at him. "I was just… shocked."

"That's alright," he said, unable to hold back a smile. "I'm just glad you're still talking to me."

She smiled back now. "And I'm glad you're still talking to me. Didn't that potion stop working ages ago?"

He grinned down at her. "You don't need a love potion to make me feel attracted to you."

She blushed furiously, and it was only then that Scorpius noticed how tired she looked. There were bags under her eyes and he wouldn't be surprised if she'd just fall asleep right at this spot.

"Lucy," he started, staring at her face, "what's wrong?"

In response, she just yawned. "Sorry," she said, smiling apologetically. "I'm just very tired, that's all."

"Haven't you slept lately?" he asked, concerned.

"Barely," she replied. "I didn't sleep too much after you left, and then it was a long day at work, and then I went to look for you. And your mother had some stuff for me to do."

"You really need to get some sleep," he told her. "Should I bring you back to your flat?"

"No, there's no need," she answered. "I'm fine."

Scorpius shook his head. Deciding that she would have to sleep a little, he grabbed her arm and disapparated, to his own flat.

As if she knew what he was planning, Lucy said, "No, seriously. Scorpius… I'm fine."

"You need to sleep," he just told her, and guided her towards his bedroom (which was slightly awkward. But only slightly).

After taking off her shoes, Lucy turned to him and said, "I don't have anything to sleep in."

Rummaging through his own closet, Scorpius said, "Do you want an old shirt or – " As he looked around, he saw that she had already fallen asleep.

Carefully shifting her further onto the bed, Scorpius tried to touch her as little as possible. He covered her with his blanket and stood back, smiling. She looked very peaceful – and very beautiful to him.

He walked into his kitchen to get something to eat, but as soon as he was done eating, he felt something pulling him back to his bedroom. Knowing that he had just slept for about forty hours, and that he shouldn't feel tired at all, he pushed back the blanket a bit and laid down in his bed, next to Lucy. Hopefully she wouldn't mind.

A/N: I'm really sorry for taking so long to update again. Hopefully you did enjoy the chapter nevertheless :) Let me know what you think, please review! Next chapter will be the last one!