Lily Potter and the Potions Professor

AN: Okay so because I'll be too busy tomorrow here is the next chapter a day early. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! :)

Chapter 31: Confronted

When Lily got to the corridor leading to the Potions dungeons she could hear voices and she could see someone standing near the wall. As she approached she noticed that it was Scorpius, he had stopped and was hiding around the corner, watching what was going on. He had his wand drawn.

She gave him an inquiring look but he didn't reveal anything.

"Come to have another go at my life Potter?" said Malfoy boldly although there were traces of fear in his voice that could not be disguised.

"I saved your life and you know it," Harry fired back. "If it weren't for me you'd have been dead long ago."

Lily took a deep breath and despite Scorpius' silent warnings rounded the last corner and finally the scene she could hear unfolding was before her eyes.

Both wizards had their wands drawn and were glaring at each other with a hatred so intense that for the first time in her life Lily witnessed the loathing that had once existed between the two. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, she cursed herself for always freezing up like this. She willed her Gryffindor bravery to surface but it didn't.

Malfoy's eyes flickered to her for a split second and she saw a slight amount of hope ignite in them. He was counting on her to save him this time and she didn't know if she could.

"Lily!" said Harry without taking his eyes off his enemy. "I don't think you should be here."

Lily could feel movement creeping back into her paralysed body but she stood exactly where she was.

"Lily," it was Malfoy who spoke this time. He was begging and it tore at Lily's heart to hear them both.

"Don't speak to her," Harry said in a threatening tone as he suddenly shot a hex at Malfoy who deflected it with a Shielding Charm.

Malfoy did not speak but took his gaze from Harry and looked at Lily with pleading eyes. Tears were forming in her eyes now.

This is all my fault, she thought.

Malfoy made the tiniest of movements in Lily's direction. It was barely a motion but more like an involuntary twitch.

Harry still managed to see it and no longer hesitating pointed his wand directly at Malfoy and starting firing spell after spell at him. Roaring curses and hexes Lily had never even heard of. Malfoy was narrowly dodging them and blocking some with more Shielding Charms. He was no match for Harry, who had spent practically his entire life fighting dark wizards.

"Stop!" cried Lily in her panic. "Stop!"

The spells continued to fly.

"Petrificus Totalus!" roared Harry and Malfoy was struck with two spells in a row.

His whole body froze as his arms and legs locked together. He tilted back and hit the wall behind him.

"You've been throwing that curse around a bit lately Potter," said Scorpius suddenly revealing his presence and approaching the scene.

Harry, who had been marching forwards towards Malfoy, stopped in his tracks looked at the boy who so resembled his father.

"Surely, our saviour, could come up with something a bit more creative," taunted Scorpius showing that he very much resembled his father, at the same age, in more than just looks.

"Stay out of this," said Harry looking back at the older Malfoy.

"I don't think I can do that," Scorpius stated before suddenly pointing his wand at Harry and crying; "Petrificus Totalus!"

The curse hit Harry completely by surprise and he became rigid before falling backwards to the floor.

Scorpius howled with laughter.

"This is priceless," he managed to say once his maniacal laughter had ceased. "I see why you like that one so much."

Lily watched him cautiously. She didn't know what he would do next, he was very unpredictable.

He walked towards Harry and Lily stepped forward.

"Relax," said Scorpius noticing this. "I won't hurt him." He flicked his wand and she watched as he levitated her father's still form over next to his own father's where they were both propped up against the wall.

Lily slowly walked over to them, all the while staring at Scorpius.

"What do you think, Lil?" he asked. "Should I start a collection?"

Lily didn't reply but finally pulled her eyes from him and looked at the two motionless wizards.

For the first time she noticed that Malfoy's face had deep gashes across it. They were coloured deep red with blood but it appeared that the blood was somehow also frozen by the Body Bind Curse.

Her eyes darted between her father and Malfoy. They were both looking to her for help. She couldn't stand by any longer so she drew her wand.

"What are you doing?" asked Scorpius, sobering quickly.

"Releasing them," she said as she raised her wand.

Scorpius grabbed her wrist and tightened his grip painfully.

"You might be happy to stand by and watch your father kill mine but I'm not," he said.

She held tight to her wand but the circulation to her hand was slowly being cut off by the tightness of his hold on her.

"Oh that's rich, coming from you who just spent the last ten minutes hiding while they actually tried to kill each other!" said Lily angrily as her grip on her wand began to slacken. "Let go of me!"

Scorpius didn't budge. Instead he raised his own wand a pointing it at his father said; "Finite."

Malfoy slumped against the wall as the curse was lifted. He slid to the ground and sat there a moment.

Lily reefed herself free from Scorpius and knelt down beside him. His face was now covered in blood as the wounds she'd seen paused were suddenly reanimated as well.

"He needs to go to the hospital wing," said Lily looking up at Scorpius. "I can't fix this."

Malfoy still hadn't spoken. His eyes were rolling back in his head now and he no longer seemed capable of standing. How had this happened? He'd seemed fine before he'd been hit with the Body Bind Curse. What was the other curse that had hit him?

Scorpius was just staring at his blood soaked father. His face was paler than usual.

"Quickly!" shouted Lily. "He needs to go to the hospital wing!"

This seemed to have worked because Scorpius suddenly knelt down and helped his father to his feet. Using his wand he levitated him slightly but still held onto him and hurried away down the hallway towards the stairs supporting his now barely conscious father.

Lily waited until they were gone before lifting the spell on her own father.

"What did you think you were doing?" she fired at him straight away. "You could've killed him!"

"I wasn't going to kill him," spat Harry angrily. "I had to do something."

He still looked quite angry and Lily wasn't sure if she should push her luck too much more.

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"Only what he deserved," said Harry.

"It was that spell wasn't it?" she questioned. "The same one you used on him when you were at school. The one that caused the scars on his chest."

"You've seen his chest!" shouted Harry angrily.

Lily didn't say a word. Apparently she'd already said too much.

Her silence was confirmation enough however and Harry let out a roar of fury and started charging down the hallway.

Lily took off after him and by this stage he was ranting almost incoherently about 'that filthy Death Eater' and 'my daughter'.

"Stop!" yelled Lily finally catching up with him and grabbing hold of his arm. "Stop!"

"Let go Lily!" roared Harry throwing her off.

"No!" she yelled grabbing him again. "Oh will you just stop this? You've done enough!"

"I could never do enough to him for what he's done!" Harry yelled back as he came to a halt and looked at her. "You're my daughter Lily. I can't let him get away with this. I can't let you get away with this. Oh what were you thinking?"

His rage seemed to have subsided for the moment and once again he was looking at Lily with pain and disappointment in his eyes.

"You've done enough. You've punished us both enough," said Lily quietly wiping her tear streaked face. "You've put him in the hospital for crying out loud."

He looked at her for a long time. He was looking at her like she was a stranger; like he didn't even know her. It broke her heart and she sensed that his heart was also breaking.

"I'm going to the hospital wing," said Lily resolutely.

Harry opened his mouth immediately to protest but Lily continued before he had a chance to speak.

"I just need to check that he's ok, I have to," she said.

Harry looked thoroughly annoyed by this but also seemed to be trying to tread carefully. Had he finally realised how serious Lily was about Malfoy?

"I'm coming with you," he said after a few minutes consideration.

Lily, who was also trying to be as cooperative as possible agreed and they set off together. They made the trip to the hospital wing in complete silence and it was by far the longest walk Lily had even taken with her father.

When they reached the door Lily stopped.

"I'm going in alone," she said.

"Over my dead body!" protested Harry immediately.

"Dad, please," said Lily. "I only need a moment."

He stared at her defiantly, not wanting to give in.

"Can you go to the Owlery and send mum a message to come here?" continued Lily. "I think we all need to sit down and talk about this."

Harry looked surprised by this request but seemed to think it was a good idea so he departed after promising to be back as soon as possible.

Lily entered the hospital wing and was met by the sight of the nurse fussing over Malfoy while firing questions at Scorpius about how it had happened.

None of them seemed to have noticed that Lily had entered the room. She watched on anxiously until the nurse bustled away.

Malfoy was at least conscious now and he was talking to Scorpius. She couldn't hear what their quiet voices were saying. They both fell silent after a moment and she approached them.

Lily was surprised to see the concern etched into Scorpius' face. But why was she surprised? This was his father after all.

"Lily," Malfoy whispered as he noticed her.

Scorpius glanced at her and mumbled something about waiting outside before leaving. He shot Lily a disapproving look on his way past but didn't say anything else.

"Draco," Lily whispered back. It was all she could manage as the sight of him brought fresh tears to her eyes.

The Hogwarts nurse was a very skilled witch and had sealed all of the gashes across Malfoy's face. There were still marks visible however and Lily wondered if scars would remain when he was fully healed. Presently, his face was ghostly pale and he seemed quite shaken.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and he reached out to take her hand which he squeezed weakly. He managed a small smile.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she returned his gentle grip. "This is all my fault."

"No," replied Malfoy looking into her eyes. "No, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault. I should've known better."

"I'm glad you didn't," she admitted and he smiled again. "I don't regret any of this."

"Neither do I," he said. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."

His statement caused the tears that Lily had been holding in to fall freely down her face. His words would only make the next ones she had to speak harder.

"I don't know what's going to happen," she said. "I'm going to speak to my father and mother now and I don't know what will come of that."

He seemed to sense that she was bracing him for a good bye. He squeezed her hand again and a single tear leaked out of his one of his own eyes.

Without caring if the nurse saw them or not, Lily leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips.

"I love you," she whispered.

She then stood up and left him lying there, watching her, neither of them knowing if they would actually see each other again or not.

AN: Please leave me a review, it'd be a great Christmas present. :)