A/N: Thank you all for taking the time to read and review. I do appreciate it. I really do. As you will see, this is closer to my normal length chapters, and I hope you enjoy it. I know I did until… well… you'll see. And yes… this chapter we finally get to see what Lily wrote. Hope it doesn't disappoint. I'll stop rambling and let you read… and review. Thank you all again so much for making this as successful as it is.

Disc.: I created the plot. That's something.

Teammates

It had been two weeks since they kissed in the room of requirement, since he had seen that she had really written in his book. He had spent the better part of that time hunting for her words, failing every night. Then, two nights prior, he was in his bed, blanket over his head and he flipped to the next page, the last page he'd look at that night before he turned in to go to sleep. Yawning and eyes burning, he looked at the chapter title: Amortentia Potions and their Uses in Dark Magic. There, he saw it and his heart stopped. The words were eloquently written, her hand writing perfect and the message clear.

Scorpius sat in the middle of the common room, the book open in his lap. He knew Damon was talking to him about strategy about the upcoming Quidditch match against Gryffindor, but Scorpius didn't hear him. He kept reading what Lily wrote, over and over as if he was reading it for the first time. When he would finish, he'd look up to process it but found himself unable to when his eyes would land on her. She was sitting in his line of sight, so his eyes always landed on her.

She was beautiful.

He had always known it, but it was as if before he was seeing her in a dimly lit room, aware of her beauty but still not fully able to see her for her all. The words changed it all. The words were the light flooding the room so that he could see her for what she truly was: the love of his life. She was sitting with other fifth year students, studying. She'd make little movements, absentmindedly tucking her hair behind her ear, biting her lip, raising her eyebrows or crinkling her nose. Each movement was recorded in his memory.

"Dude, are you listening to me?" Damon asked Scorpius quietly. Scorpius looked at Damon, a bit startled. Damon grinned.

"Sorry, man," Scorpius said shrugging. Damon laughed.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Damon suggested.

"I will," Scorpius said. He looked down at the words, reading them slowly in his mind. He could hear her voice caressing his mind as he read.

For five years, I have loved you, and for most of those years I have been seen by you as too young. One day, I hope to show you that I am ready, when you are ready to accept that I very well could be the one for you. We go back and forth on this, I'm too young, and then I'm not, to be placed again as too young. It doesn't change the fact that I fell in love with you that first time I really met you, when you helped me with my luggage on the train my first year and it won't change ever. I can wait until we are on the same page; I just hope you won't make me wait forever. Remember girls mature two years ahead of boys. We were always in the same maturity stage of life, even if you haven't been able to see it. I hope you come to your senses sooner rather than later. Love, Lily. PS. My Amortentia Potion smells like you. Isn't that funny, being that yours smells like me? Must be fate.

Scorpius grinned at her last line, and couldn't help but mentally run down every kiss that had led up to their last kiss in the room of requirement. It was as if snapshots of their time together played quickly in his mind. He felt his body stirring, aching for her. He worried that others could tell but he knew that the only one who was aware of his condition was himself. He looked up at Lily. She looked up at that very moment, their eyes meeting. She smiled slightly confused at the look on Scorpius' face.

She couldn't determine if he was happy or frustrated or in pain. She looked up to see him sitting, listening to Damon and a quick succession of emotion crossed his face. He fidgeted a little, drawing his text book closer to him. She had been stealing looks at him for the better part of an hour, wondering what had him running the emotional rollercoaster like that. Then she caught his eye, or perhaps he caught hers and she couldn't look away. His eyes seemed to be trying to convey a message to her, though she wasn't sure of the message.

"So, this is boring," Shale moaned as he flipped through his potions book.

"You wanted my help," Lily reminded him.

"We still have months before testing," Shale whined. Lily laughed as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, go," Lily sighed shaking her head. Shale whooped loudly, taking Nina by the hand and leading her out of the common room. Lily and Kate giggled at their excitement.

"You did a good thing hooking those two up," Kate said. "They are perfect for each other."

"Mhmm," Lily agreed as she turned her attention back to her potions' book.

"Did I tell you that Albus asked me out?" Kate asked casually. Lily looked up in surprise.

"He did?" Lily said. Kate squealed loudly hugging Lily. Lily laughed.

"We're going to Hogsmead together," Kate squealed again loudly. A few kids snickered around her and Kate shot them all dirty looks. "Now we just have to get you hooked up with someone."

"I have someone in mind," Lily murmured as she focused back on her text book. Kate looked at Scorpius.

"You think he'll ever get the hint?" Kate said. Lily shrugged.

"I hope so," Lily said. "I've hinted toward it enough, and there are a few incidents."

"Incidents?" Kate asked. Lily grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Lily blushed. Kate looked over at Scorpius.

"Don't look now, but someone's looking at you," Kate giggled. Lily glanced up to see Scorpius looking over at her. She grinned at him, catching his eye. Kate stood. "I'm going to go find Albus and bother him a bit. Talk to you later, ok?"

"Yeah, see you Kate," Lily said as she waved her off and turned her attention back to her potion book.

Lily glanced back up at Scorpius one last time, grinning at him before she focused on her book. Scorpius caught the look and swore it had to be an invitation to come over. She was now sitting fairly alone and he could have had his pick of seats near her. He looked back down at her words and knew exactly how she felt and without any risk. He could turn her down and know that there was nothing risked from his part. She didn't know how he felt about her, though he was pretty clear in the way he kissed her.

He felt his face heat up slightly at that memory. Damon snickered again, ducking his head behind his own text book. Scorpius contemplated walking over and talking to her. He very nearly stood but a group of first years tumbled in the portrait hole, yelling. Lily looked up in alarm, her prefect role kicking in. She was tense as she stood, her book falling to the floor.

"SNOW!" the first years yelled pelting slushy balls of snow into the common room. Lily groaned and retrieved her book. She threw it back up on the seat, preparing to sit back down.

"You look like you could use a study break," he said interrupting her thoughts. Lily looked up to see Aiden Hill standing before her. Lily couldn't suppress her look of surprise.

"Hill?" Lily said. He grinned.

"You've been slaving over those books for hours, and now there's snow. You really ought to stretch your legs a bit before they get weak and you can't use them for the awesome kick offs," Hill said. He laughed. "C'mon. A quick walk around the grounds won't kill you."

Before Lily could protest, she was being drug out of the common room, barely grabbing her coat. She was confused as to why her fellow beater, a guy she didn't really get along with, was suddenly talking to her outside of Quidditch. Lily pulled her coat on, hoping that they'd be quick and no one would take her books and hide them on her. She knew most people knew better but some of the first year students were stupid enough to mess with a prefect.

"Um…" Lily murmured. She had a sudden feeling of needing to fill the silence between her and the sixth year boy. "So, Hill, ready to kill some Gryffindors?"

"I was born ready," Hill laughed. He glanced at her, grinning. "You know, you can call me Aiden, right? You don't have to call me by my last name."

"Huh," Lily said in a little grunt.

"So… are you seeing anyone?" Hill said quickly. Lily stopped short and stared at him in disbelief.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Are you dating anyone?" Hill said a little slower.

"Ah, uh… well, I'm kind of attracted to someone," Lily said uncomfortably. She shrugged. "I'm just waiting on him."

"He must be an idiot," Hill said quietly.

"Um…" Lily said as she glanced at him. Hill laughed.

"No offense to the boy you like, but he'd be crazy not to hurry up and claim you," Hill said. Lily blushed.

"Sorry Aiden," Lily said. Hill grinned.

"No harm. I just had to take a shot," he said. He laughed. "You probably don't date team mates anyways. It could really screw up a successful team if things go south, anyways."

"You… have a point," Lily said biting her bottom lip.

"Hey, but if you ever change your mind or get tired of waiting for him, let me know," Hill said grinned. He laughed a little louder. "So, you're going to be ok with me knocking your big brother off his broom, right?"

"You' have to get to him before I knock him off his broom. There's no such thing as family loyalty when it comes to Quidditch," Lily said laughing. She was thankful that the awkwardness was gone though her mind was full of worry. What if she and Scorpius did start dating and things went bad? It could be really awful for the team.

"Did you see where Lily went to?" Scorpius asked Damon. Damon glanced to where she had been and shook his head.

"No, I didn't even realize she left. She must be planning to come right back," Damon said. "She left her books behind."

"I wonder where she went to," Scorpius said. Damon shrugged and continued to look at the comic book he had stashed in the middle of his own D.A.D.A. text book. Scorpius looked back down at the words she had written and decided to go looking for her. He book marked the page, afraid that if he closed it, the words would disappear and he'd have no proof of their existence.

"When you find her, bury this thing already and let her know how you feel, will you?" Damon laughed as he looked up at the other boy quickly. "Snog her into next week, if you must."

"Yeah, I'll consider it," Scorpius said grinning. He stood and headed toward the portrait hole, seeing her hook void of her coat. He pulled his jacket on and headed out to the corridor. Scorpius headed towards the grounds, finding that most people were abandoning their studies and homework for a chance to play in the slushy, wet snow. He stood just outside the main door, scanning the courtyard looking for her. He spotted her near the fountain, standing next to Aiden Hill and for a moment, the undeniable urge to run over and push Hill into the fountain propelled Scorpius through the slushy snow. He stopped short of pushing his teammate into the fountain.

"Scorpius," Lily said grinning. Hill looked at him, less than enthusiastic about his captain approaching. Hill forced a smile.

"Captain," Hill said.

"What are you two up to?" Scorpius asked quietly. Lily laughed.

"Walk around the courtyard," Lily said. "Aiden thought I was studying too much and that I needed a break."

"Yeah?" Scorpius said easing a bit.

"I did try to ask her out, but she's got her heart set on some other guy," Hill said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Yeah?" Scorpius said looking at her. Lily grinned.

"Yeah," Lily said.

"But I figure he's an idiot if he's not scooped her up yet," Hill continued. "Don't worry, though, she turned me down. Probably for the best, since if things ended badly between us, it could be bad for the team."

"Always thinking of Quidditch," Lily laughed. She looked at Scorpius meaningfully.

"He's absolutely right," Scorpius said suddenly as he nodded. Lily watched him in disbelief and uncertainty as he turn and walk away. She hesitated before she waved off Hill and chased after him. He was heading towards the pitch and Lily followed.

"Scorpius, wait," Lily called. He quickened his pace, kicking up the slush as he marched. He made it to the interior of the pitch before slowing and allowing Lily to catch up with him. She grabbed his arm to prevent him from escaping from her, her hand on her side.

"Stitch?" he asked quietly as she struggled to catch her breath. She nodded. He sighed audibly. He wanted nothing more than to hold her tight then and there, still he remained distant.

"Why'd you run off like that?" Lily asked as she regained a normal pace of breathing. Scorpius hesitated, looking at her. She was still clinging to his sleeve, to keep him from running off like that. On the one hand, he wanted to tell her that he shared her feelings, that she was the one he loved as much as she loved him. On the other hand, he worried about things like how it would affect everything. He didn't want to think negatively about her, but he didn't want to make life bad for either of them if things did not go well between them.

"I found the passage," Scorpius said quietly. Lily visibly froze, her hand dropped from his sleeve. Her eyes looked at his, wondering.

"Ok," she said exhaling.

"I love you, Lily, I do," Scorpius said as his eyes searched her face. She looked at him, her eyes guarded.

"But?" Lily breathed.

"But…" Scorpius said as he broke her eye contact. "Hill is right. Teammates shouldn't date. There will be plenty of time for us to try to work this out one day when we're old enough."

"Fine," Lily said after an insanely lengthy silence. It was almost a snap, the way she stiffened. "Ok, fine."

"Fine?" Scorpius said quietly. He dared to look at her. Lily's eyes were blank, emotionless.

"Yeah," Lily said. She quickly recovered and forced a pained smile. He nearly believed it.

"Ok," Scorpius said. Lily swallowed.

"I quit," Lily said crossing her arms against her. He looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"You quit what?" Scorpius asked in shock.

"I quit the team," Lily said and she turned and stormed away. Scorpius chased after her, catching up with her after only a few yards. He grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him.

"Have you lost your mind?" Scorpius hissed. His face was near hers, anger flashing in his eyes. "You cannot just up and quit the team a few days before our match against Gryffindor."

"I can do whatever I damn well please," Lily snapped at him as she wrenched her arm free of his grasp.

"You think quitting is going to make me want to date you?" Scorpius asked incredulously. Lily looked at him and for the first time, she looked really hurt by his words. It was as if the words had slapped her across her face. She stepped back quickly, almost as if they physically injured her. She didn't try to hide the pain in her eyes and Scorpius immediately regretted wording it that way and using that tone with her.

"Look, I obviously made a mistake," Lily gasped as she struggled to regain control of her tears. A sob caught in her throat.

"Lily," Scorpius said almost apologetic. She kicked his shin as he reached for her and bolted back inside before he could recover.

Lily ran into the common room, barely hanging on to the tears that were welling up in her eyes and blurring her vision. She shoved past Damon, not really seeing him and scooped up her school books. Shoving them harshly into her bag, she retreated into her dormitory, slamming the door forcibly as Scorpius entered the common room, looking for her. Damon met Scorpius' eyes and frowned.

"What did you do?" Damon asked him.

"I fucked up," Scorpius groaned. He flipped open his D.A.D.A. book to where he had marked it, his fingers touching the words. He shoved the book at Damon, letting the other boy read what Lily had wrote.

"This is great," Damon said confused. "She likes you as much as you like her."

"She quit the team," Scorpius said.

"What?" Damon asked frowning. "Why? And what does the team have to do with Quidditch?"

"I told her that it was a bad idea for teammates to date," Scorpius said. Damon looked at him in horror.

"What did you think was going to happen? She's been crazy about you well before you even registered her on the dating radar!" Damon snapped at him.

"I know," Scorpius said taking his book back from Damon. "It's just Hill asked her out and she turned him down, and he agreed with it because if things went badly, it would be bad for the team. It got me thinking that if she and I went out and things went bad, well… I told her that we couldn't date because of that same reasoning and she quit."

"What else?" Damon asked as he looked at Scorpius struggling with something more.

"Well, I pretty much told her in a roundabout way that her quitting changed nothing," Scorpius groaned. "But much harsher and less kind."

"You're an idiot, you know," Damon said looking at him. He shook his head. "What I would do to have a girl that crazy about me. You're a complete jackass. Lily's fantastic and she very well could be that girl for you, the one you marry when she graduates and you guys end up with a couple of kids."

"Yeah, I doubt that," Scorpius said. "Lily doesn't want kids."

"So?" Damon said. "You don't know."

"Doesn't matter much," Scorpius said grumpily. "I think I broke her heart."

"She was crying when she came through here," Damon said quietly.

"Shit," Scorpius said crossing his arms. He looked up at her dormitory longingly, frowning. "She's probably going to lock herself in her dormitory until tomorrow, play horribly, and then spend the rest of the weekend in her room."

"Like I said, Scorpius, as your best friend I mean this in the strongest way possible. You are an idiot," Damon said looking at Scorpius in disgust.

"I'll fix this," Scorpius promised.

"You'd better," Damon said. "Otherwise I'm going to kick your ass for James Potter. Seriously, you'd probably have been kinder if you laughed at her for loving you."

"I know, I know," Scorpius groaned.

"The worst part, there is no reason you can't date her," Damon said in disgust. He shook his head hard, disapproving. "You guys are crazy about each other. The rest would work itself out."

"I know!" Scorpius said frustrated.

Lily sighed as she pulled back the drapes around her four post bed. She hadn't slept at all, instead she spent the better part of the night crying while her roommates looked on with horror and sympathy. Lily, the rock who never cried, who was never weak, crumbled to pieces. The three girls, Kate, Callie, and Nina, comforted her to the best of their ability. Lily could only get out that she was upset over boy issues, of which they couldn't really comprehend much more than that. Lily fell apart.

It was early, much too early for anyone to be awake. She was dressed for the day, standing in front of her mirror in her room. She reached up to her neck, ignoring her puffy eyes and splotchy face. Her fingers locked around the chain that held her locket. Sighing, she released the clasp and let it fall free of her neck. She stared at in her hand and closed her eyes as she closed her fist on it. She let it fall into her small velvet lined jewelry box with a clunk, closing the top on it. Her feet felt like lead as she headed out of dormitory.

Scorpius was asleep on the sofa, having spent the entire night waiting for her to emerge. He would be disappointed, as Lily had not emerged. She did not flee to the room of requirement to sleep that night. Lily turned to head out of the common room when she looked to see his D.A.D.A. book sitting next to him on the sofa. She stealthily snatched the book off the sofa and flipped to the page she had confessed that she loved him on. Frowning, she glared at her words, realizing that she had opened herself up for that kind of reaction.

With a swift movement, she tore the page from the book and folded it up before shoving it into her pocket. She placed the book back on the sofa and headed down for an early breakfast. She by-passed the Great Hall and instead opted for a private breakfast in the kitchen. The house elves were eager to provide her with a huge plate of scrambled cheese eggs and crisp strips of bacon. She was in heaven. They even freshly squeeze oranges for juice, removing the pulp until it was smooth as water its self.

Lily hung out in the kitchens as long as possible before she knew if she waited any longer she'd be late for the match. She thanked the house elves for allowing her to hide out and she ran like crazy to the locker room. She exploded in there, muttering her apologies to her teammates as she let her eyes slip over Scorpius.

"Sorry," Lily muttered as she tossed her bag down on the bench. She jerked her shirt off, shoving it in her locker.

"Wow, we thought we'd have to forfeit because of you," Scorpius said coldly to her. Lily didn't reply. She pulled her team uniform on over her under gear and began strapping her protective gear on. Scorpius made a face at the lack of security of the gear and grabbed her wrist, tightening the straps. She jerked her hand away, glaring at him.

"Excuse me, Captain, but just because this is your team it doesn't give you the right to lay your hands on me," Lily said. Her words dripped with venom. She turned her back on him, continuing to dress as he backed away from her slowly.

Lily was one of the first out of the locker room when it was time, followed closely by Damon who was just as pissed at Scorpius as Lily was. Lily ignored them both, thinking that there was no way she was going to get over this. She opened herself up for ridicule, and she was just as much angry at herself as she was at Scorpius for turning her down. He always used the weakest excuses to turn her down. She'd never let him have that opportunity ever again. She'd sooner die than to let him hurt her like that again.

However, she did want to hurt him even just a little bit. She didn't think much of it as she took off on Professor Wood's whistle. She contemplated shirking her duties and letting the Gryffindor beaters knock a few bludgers into him, but that would punish everyone, not just Scorpius and that wasn't something she was willing to do.

"Let's kill some Gryffindors," Hill said clapping her roughly on the shoulder as they headed to defend their chasers. Lily gripped her bat, a grin on her face. She knew exactly what she would do. She wouldn't even feel guilty about it.

For the moment, her plan would have to wait to be put into play. She had a job to do. She guarded and protected her chasers, even Scorpius, keeping them bludger free while they scored points. A few times, Lily sent the bludger straight back at the Gryffindor chasers, once clipping James' arm while he reached for a pass of the Quaffle. She unseated the Gryffindor seeker twice in perfectly executed defense of her own teammates. Despite the icy rain that stung her flesh, she flew quickly circling the Slytherin players and protected them, crossing with Hill from time to time to keep the Gryffindor's on their toes. Beaters didn't need to keep track of the score, they only needed to defend and protect the scorers.

The snitch was caught by the Gryffindor seeker, but the Slytherin team was too far ahead. Lily cheered at the end of the game, embracing a few of the other teammates. She made a not-so-obvious skip of Scorpius in her embraces and instead flew to Hill's side, throwing her arms around him. She kissed him squarely on the mouth, causing him to laugh.

"So, you've rethought my suggestion then?" Hill said knowingly. Lily laughed.

"I figured you're right about it," Lily said. "If he's too stupid to realize what a great girl I am, he doesn't deserve me."

"And what if this thing gets weird should things not work out?" Hill asked quickly. Lily grinned.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Aiden," Lily said. Hill grinned and threw his arms around her, ten feet in the air. He kissed her deeply, causing a fair amount of cheers and cat-calling and whistles from the witnesses. Hill smiled, his mouth curving up as they kissed, causing her to giggle.

"Ok, so we're definitely going to skip studying then this next Hogsmead trip and go on a real date, right?" Hill coaxed her grinning as the two landed on the pitch.

"It's only right, since it is the last Hogsmead trip before Christmas," Lily laughed. She almost didn't even notice Scorpius standing there as she skipped into the locker room. Soaking wet from the icy rain, she gathered her clothes and took the longest, hottest shower possible. She even ignored when a few of the boys called in, complaining that they were out of hot water on their side and were coming to use the spares.

Lily hummed a little tune as she showered, and for the first time since she had received the locket, she didn't hum that tune. Scorpius showered a few stalls over, listening to her hum an unfamiliar tune and inside he felt like a big piece of him was dying. Lily had confessed her love for him, he had pretty much shot her down, and now Lily was going on a date with Aiden Hill. Scorpius let the water pour over his face, swearing that the water from the shower always made his eyes water like that. He was not crying; he couldn't because he didn't have a right to. He was the one who turned her down.