Lily Potter and the Potions Professor

Chapter 28: Reunited

It had been one long miserable week since Malfoy had been arrested and taken away from Hogwarts. Not only was Lily worried that she'd never see him again but she was also fighting the gossip about her and Scorpius. Everywhere she went people whispered and stared. All of the Gryffindors were giving her the cold shoulder as well as the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. The Slytherins were the same as usual which was less than friendly anyway and she was more alone than ever. She was avoiding Scorpius so as to not fuel the gossip but noticed that when she did see him he was, as ever, undaunted by what people were saying about him. Gossip didn't bother him yet Rose's direct insult had seemed to have had an effect on him. He also seemed to have forgotten the conversation he had had with Lily about his mother and was generally unchanged in his ways.

Lily was last to arrive at her Potions lesson which was no longer a joy to attend. She entered the dungeon and let out an audible gasp. A few people looked at her. She didn't care that they were staring at her but because he was there. Malfoy was standing at the front of the classroom; he was back. He passed his gaze over her and returned to flipping through the book on his desk. Lily took a seat at the back of the room alone. She couldn't help but be relieved to see him there and even allowed herself a small smile. Malfoy set them to work with some particularly boring theory work about the properties of various potions ingredients. The class chatted loudly and didn't hide the fact that they were talking about Malfoy's arrest. The story had spread like wild fire through the school but apparently his return had not been as widely known. He sat at his desk for the entire time the class was going on and didn't look up. He didn't even bother to tell them to be quiet. He didn't meet Lily's anxious gaze once.

She felt a little hurt by the fact that he hadn't told her he was back. Was he angry at her? Did he know that she had doubted him? She had tried not to think the worst of him but how had Hamlet gotten into his office and where had the egg come from? The last time Lily had seen Hamlet was when she was with Malfoy. Had he taken him in order to hatch a Basilisk? What Lily knew of Malfoy's character it seemed both possible and impossible at the same time. He had been a Death Eater once but he was also admittedly a coward. He was afraid of Hippogriffs for Merlin's sake; he would hardly be game enough to hatch a deadly creature that he wouldn't be able to control... unless he was doing it for someone else. The inner battle about this that Lily had somehow avoided for the past week suddenly raged within her and it all came down to one question; did she trust him or not?

When the bell finally rang the class left and Lily went with them. She allowed them all to pass by her and when no one was watching she doubled back and found Malfoy just locking the door to the classroom. He glanced at her and then started in the direction of his office. Lily followed and as he didn't protest took it as a sign that she could go with him. They walked in silence and Lily noticed as he passed under the light of a nearby lamp that he had a black eye. In the darkness of the dungeon she hadn't seen it earlier. She felt the anger build up in her at her father; he was responsible for this.

Malfoy opened the door to his office and held it so that Lily could enter. She slipped past him and he closed the door, locking it behind them.

Lily was suddenly scared to speak. She had no idea what he was feeling, what he was thinking. She didn't have much time to consider it at that moment because he suddenly grabbed her and was kissing her. He was pushing her backwards towards the desk and she didn't know what was happening. She finally got over her surprise and started to kiss him back. She touched his face with her hand and he pulled back flinching at the pain.

"Sorry," she apologised immediately, looking at his bruised eye and cheek with concern. "How did that happen?"

"The Ministry Aurors don't worry about being gentle," he said with a humourless laugh.

"I'm sorry," she said again. What else could she say?

"I don't blame you," he said. "It's my fault."

Lily looked at him questioningly. She didn't want to ask what he meant by that but she needed to know.

He fixed her with a stare and then said; "I know what you're thinking."

"What?" she breathed, hardly ready for the truth that she yearned to know.

"I was set up," he said. "I wasn't trying to do anything. I never knew your toad was here. I don't know where that egg came from."

"I believe you," she whispered looking into his eyes and knowing that he spoke the truth.

He smiled at her but said nothing.

"Do you want me to fix that?" she asked indicating the bruise on his face.

"I was never much good at healing spells," he said.

She pulled out her wand and muttering a few spells waved it over his face. The bruise faded and the swelling went down substantially.

"Well I'm not great either but that's a lot better," she said as she gently pushed his chin away so she could see the result better.

He took her hand and whispered a thank you before kissing her again.

She allowed herself to think that he was just happy to see her but a tiny voice at the back of her mind asked if this was true or was he really just trying to get back at her father?

AN: Yay Draco's back! Please review. :)