Chapter Eighteen

A/N: Thank you to ClaireBear1982 and JessChen for reviewing the last chapter.

The day of the first meetings had come, and unlike the other members of her classes, Lily was not excited about them at all. She had spent a week now, brooding over the fact that she had been partnered with the son of her father's arch enemy, from the time when he had attended Hogwarts himself. They had eventually come to a mutual neutrality, signifying this with a pointed nod at the platform in September, as they had done every year since both Albus and Scorpius had begun attending the school. However, it had taken them decades to reach that agreement; this fact did not fill Lily with confidence, rather with dread.

From what she had seen from a distance, Scorpius Malfoy was extremely similar to how her father had described his father; he could be a vicious boy to people that he did not get on with, and so there was a small part of her mind that hoped they would hit it off. If not, her life may well become a living hell for the next couple of terms in his company, as he made no attempt to hide it when he found a person to not be to his liking.

She had considered going to see Professor McGonagall, to ask if she could possibly be assigned to another student, any other student. After all, the circumstances were exceptional. But it had not been long before she had realised that the headmistress would never consent to the change being made. The whole point of the pairing scheme was to build bridges between the Houses, and between students. Changing her partner now would undermine the entire idea, and the professor would not do that. 'Well,' she thought, trying, and failing, to find some positivity in the situation. 'It looks like I'm stuck with him.'

Breakfast came and went far too quickly for her liking, and Lily found herself edging closer and closer to Teddy. She was definitely fearful about the day to come, and hoped that she could get a chance to talk to her foster brother, so that he could tell her that it would be alright. However, he was too busy speaking to his friends to even notice her, causing her to feel all the more isolated.

And then people began to stand and leave the Hall, making their way to the places they had been assigned to meet their partner. Lily's stomach did a flip. This was it.

She had considered not showing up to the meeting, in the hope that Malfoy would find someone new to go with, but she doubted that would end up the case. McGonagall would end up finding out, and then they would both be in a whole lot of trouble. She did not want that, not when her parents were so proud of her behaviour; she didn't want to disappoint them now.

So, breathing heavily to try and calm her nerves, she made her way to the library, the assigned meeting place for herself and Malfoy, as well as quite a few others, including her eldest brother, or so she had heard. 'At least we can avoid talking there for a while.' she thought, trying to find the positives in the situation, in the hope that it would make her hate the boy a little less. 'Madam Pince won't be happy if we speak to each other for too long, so that might save me.'

She reached the library far more quickly than she would have liked to, particularly as she had been deliberately trying to walk slowly, to delay their meeting. There were still students clamouring together in the entrances, trying to find where their new partners had gotten to, or discussing them with their friends. Lily strolled right past them, trying to appear confident. 'You're a Gryffindor, a lion.' she told herself repeatedly. 'You're not a scared little mouse, so don't let him think that.'

Finally, she caught sight of an unmistakable head of platinum blonde hair. That was him, it had to be. Slowly, she began to approach, as if she were approaching a caged animal, or a... 'Snake?' she asked herself, shaking her head. He did not look up as he heard her footsteps approach him, and even once she had stopped just four feet away from his chair, he still did not look up. He had a book on his lap, the title hidden from her, and seemed to have far more interest in that than he did in his new 'learning partner'.

Tired of being ignored, Lily cleared her throat pointedly. 'There's no way he can ignore me now.' she told herself. However, much to her annoyance, Scorpius Malfoy seemed to be making a decent fist of it, and did not even flinch. He was deliberately ignoring her now, she knew it. But what could she do?

Her hands moving before her brain caught up with their plan, she snatched the book from his hands and dropped it, allowing it to skid across the polished floorboards of the library until it was out of his reach. Madam Pince would kill her if she did not retrieve it soon, she knew, but for now, she allowed it to stay where it was.

Finally, Scorpius elected to raise his head, meeting her eyes with his own. His eyes were fairly strange, she noted, not quite blue and not quite grey, but she quickly dismissed the thought. After all, she had his attention now, and it was time for her to say her piece.

Instantly, her mind went blank. In the blink of an eye, she had completely forgotten all that she had wanted to say to him, and instead, she was left standing there like a statue while he just continued to stare at her. She opened and closed her mouth several times, thinking she had found the right words and then dismissing them at the last moment, and she despaired at the fact that she must have looked like a goldfish.

Eventually, Scorpius tired of waiting for her to find the right thing to say, and sauntered off, his idiotic group of friends leaving their own partners to do the same. Once he was out of sight, Lily sank heavily into a chair. 'That went well...'

A/N: Why did Lily freeze? Please review!