Lily Potter and the Potions Professor

AN: And then all hell broke loose...

Chapter 30: Discovered

Lily woke the next morning and dressed in silence as her roommates feigned sleep. She left the dormitory without a word and was on her way down to the lake. It was early March and time for Hagrid's squid to be released. She had been looking forward to this moment and at the same time dreading it. She didn't want to say goodbye to them. They had been a constant source of joy to her this year and to let them go almost felt like letting that go too. She passed Albus in the corridor and he glanced away as soon as their eyes met. Was he ashamed of her? Did he feel the same way as Rose? There was something strange in the way he'd looked at her for that fleeting second. Was it guilt? She didn't have time to ask him because he hurried away quite quickly. Something wasn't right, she suddenly had a very bad feeling and then it happened...

She looked up and saw her father, Harry Potter, storming down the corridor towards her. She didn't have time to try to assess his mood.

"Hi Dad," she said in an unsure tone eyeing him as he stopped only inches in front of her.

He was visibly fuming.

"What are y..." she started to ask.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded suddenly cutting in as he roughly grabbed the pendant that hung around her neck.

"It... it was a gift," she returned weakly. She had never seen her father this angry before.

"A gift from who? Who gave it to you?" he shot the second question at her before she could answer the first.

Lily just stood there is shock. What could she say? What could she do? She had no idea so she did and said nothing. Was this the meaning behind Albus' actions only moments before? Did he know something? Had he told their father?

"Answer me!" shouted Harry and she flinched.

He seemed to falter for a moment as if he regretted scaring her. It was just enough time for her to invent a story.

"It was a gift from Anthony McLaggen," she said softly masking her fear with faux embarrassment.

He scrutinised her face for a while before saying quietly; "You're lying."

Lily gulped, she should have been outraged that he'd accused her of lying but she wasn't because she knew he was right and worst of all she knew that he knew he was right. He knew her too well plus she was a terrible liar.

"It's him isn't it?" said Harry, apparently unable to speak Malfoy's name.

"Who?" asked Lily timidly, surprised by her own daring; this would probably only make him angrier but she had to stall as long as she could even if was only for a second.

"You know perfectly well who," said Harry dangerously as his stare bore into her eyes making them water.

She didn't say anything, she didn't want to lie to her father anymore but she certainly didn't want to tell him the truth either so she just stood there staring at him. He was still holding onto her necklace and it was starting to cut painfully into the back of her neck. He seemed to have realised this at the same time as her because he suddenly pulled down hard on it, reefing it until it broke and came away from her. Lily whimpered quietly but still said nothing.

Harry stared at his daughter's beloved possession for a moment before turning and throwing it down the corridor with force. His eyes had burned with hatred and disgust as he'd looked at it. She heard it hitting the floor at a long distance away. She suddenly felt like her heart was going to explode with emotion. She hated her father for reacting like this. She hated Malfoy for not being there. She hated herself for causing her father so much pain. She hated Albus for not hanging around to see the consequences of his actions. She was grieved to see her gift from Malfoy sailing through the air and hitting the stone floor, probably breaking. She was frightened about what would happen next. Before anything else could run through her head, Harry was facing her again, a pained look on his face.

"How could you Lily?" he finally asked. "How could you?"

The tears began to roll down her face now, she couldn't take it anymore, not the way he'd asked the question. He was pleading, as though he wanted more than anything for her lie to be true and his suspicions to be wrong. He was disappointed in her, maybe even disgusted by her.

After a very long pause Lily stopped sobbing and looked up at him.

"I love him," she said. Although her voice was barely audible Harry still heard her.

"I'm sorry," he said and for a second Lily rejoiced but she then saw that he had pulled out his wand. "But I can't let this happen, I just can't. Petrificus Totalus."

Lily suddenly felt her whole body go rigid as her arms snapped to her sides and her legs snapped together. She attempted to break free but it was as though she was stuck by super glue. Her eyes widened in horror as she knew what her father was going to do and because she couldn't stop him. She began to tetter backwards and was mentally bracing herself for the impact of hitting the ground but Harry caught her and gently lowered her to the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said again before turning and heading down the corridor towards the stairs, breaking into a run as he reached them.

His footsteps soon faded away and Lily was left lying on her back in the middle of the corridor, completely powerless. Tears still managed to fall from her eyes; she was picturing the various scenarios that would be taking place at any moment now in the dungeons.

Just as Lily was starting to think that she would be stuck there forever she heard footsteps approaching her. She strained her eyes to see who it was but it wasn't until they loomed over her that she finally saw who it was. She had never been so happy to see Scorpius Malfoy.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of bother, Potter," he pointed out as a smirk formed on his face.

Lily gave him her most pleading look but he still just smiled down at her, amused by her situation.

"What's that? I can't hear you," he said chuckling. "Well if you're not going to talk to me, I guess I'll just leave."

He turned to walk away but stopped after only a few steps. He still had his back to her and Lily was willing him to release her from the curse. After another minutes pause he finally turned around again.

"Finite," he muttered lazily.

Lily immediately felt the movement return to her body and was up and heading past Scorpius in the direction her father had gone when he put his arm out and caught her around the waist.

"Let me go!" she demanded as she fought against him. It was no use; he was too powerful for her.

"Wait a minute, Potter," he said. "What's going on?"

"My father knows!" she screamed. "He's on his way down to your father to..." she trailed off. To do what? She couldn't bring herself to suggest it.

Scorpius immediately let go of her and they both started running down the corridor towards the stairs. Scorpius was ahead and already jumping down the steps four at a time by the time Lily reached them. She pelted down after him wishing that at any moment she'd wake up from this terrible nightmare.

AN: So Saturday this week is Christmas Day and I might not get a chance to post the next chapter but I will try. Anyway thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas! :)