Chapter Twenty One

A/N: Thank you to Book reader, Guest, ClaireBear1982, sfox88 and Lela for reviewing.

Lily had her doubts about whether Malfoy would truly make an effort to be a good mentor, but by the time the Christmas holidays rolled around, they had formed a close friendship. It seemed that there were many similarities between herself and the son of her father's rival, though she never would have guessed it at first.

It had been her grandmother's idea to celebrate the coming of the New Year by holding a party for the family and their friends and neighbours and within minutes of her announcement, people had begun to make lists of those they wished to attend the celebration. Lily had immediately offered up Caitlyn's name to the Weasley matriarch- she had not seen nearly enough of her friend in recent times- but found herself wondering whether or not she should add another name to the list as well.

'How would Scorpius react if I asked him to the party?' she wondered. 'Will he already have plans? Or would he just make up some plans, to make sure that he wouldn't have to come? He wouldn't want to come, would he? Not at the invitation of the stupid little girl he only looks after because he has to.'

When the night of the party came, Lily still had doubts nagging at the back of her mind, but on the whole she did not regret her decision not to invite her mentor. She would be with Caitlyn, after all, who could hardly contain her excitement at the event. She would have just as much fun without Malfoy, if not more.

It was eleven o'clock and the party was in full swing. The alcohol was flowing freely- evident in her grandfather's head lolling around on his neck- and the living room of the Burrow was filled with joyous voices, laughing hysterically and cracking jokes that always seemed to be funny no matter how many times they were told. However, the voice was not such that the rapid knock on the door could not be heard.

"I wonder who that could be, at this time of night." Molly wondered loudly. Lily was sure that whoever was on the other side of the door would have heard her and moved closer to make sure she saw their reaction, which she imagined would be hugely comical.

In the end, the only comical expression was hers.

Scorpius Malfoy stood out in the cold, a flurry of snowflakes melting into his platinum blonde hair. He wore a dark green coat and beneath it a shirt and trousers, creased just in the right places to make him seem both casual and dapper. On his face he wore an expression of indifference, as if it made no odds to him whether or not he stayed at the party, for there were better places he could be. Unconsciously, Lily clenched her fists- she could not hate him much more at that moment.

"Oh, Scorpius, welcome!" Molly exclaimed, holding out her arms towards him as if she expected an embrace. None was given, but that was the Malfoy way, Lily supposed. After all, even if she was coming to like Scorpius, the rest of the family seemed cold as a block of ice. "There's Albus over there and there's a few others that you'll know. I'm sure you'll find someone to talk to."

But despite her brother having been pointed out to him, Scorpius began to walk across the room in the opposite direction, towards Lily herself. Quickly, she tried to make herself busy, pouring herself a glass of Butterbeer, and by the time he reached her, she had an opportunity to school her features into an expression of surprise.

"Hello, Scorpius." she greeted, in a slightly higher pitch of voice than she would have wished to. "I didn't know that you were coming to the party. I thought you'd be spending New Year with your family."

"No." he answered simply, but at her raised eyebrows, he continued. "My parents are in Paris for the week, to celebrate their anniversary, and my grandparents have gone to London to visit friends. I could have gone to my mother's family, I suppose, but this sounded like a great deal more fun than a masquerade."

"You chose a Weasley family gathering over a Malfoy masked ball?" Lily asked, incredulous.

"Greengrass." he corrected. "But yes."

"Well, then, I hope our little celebration lives up to your expectations." she told him, laughing a little, and handed him the glass of Butterbeer in her hand, which remained untouched. It was tepid by now, but Scorpius drank gratefully all the same, a smile illuminating his face.

They laughed and talked for a great deal of time, and though it had been close to an hour, it felt like only a few minutes of conversation had gone by. Lily had never had a friend that she could speak to for so long without running out of things to say, not even Caitlyn, who was stood across the room, apparently attempting to flirt with some of James' friend, despite the fact that flirtation was hardly an abundant skill in a twelve-year-old girl.

Suddenly, people began to count back from sixty, and Lily realised that they must be counting down to midnight. Smiling, she counted along with them, enjoying the community spirit of it all. New Year seemed like one of those times when everyone pulled together and celebrated, no matter the differences between them, a time when people learnt from the mistakes of the past and used them to improve their future.

Finally, the countdown reached its conclusion, and fireworks erupted outside of the Burrow, illuminating the sky in thousands of colours. People were laughing, embracing, kissing, watching as the sparks fell to the earth.

But Lily did not notice any of it, for just as the clock struck midnight, Scorpius planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Happy New Year." he told her, smirking, and Lily could not help but smile in return.

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