Chapter Thirty One

A/N: Thank you to Raine Lemuria and imdefinitelynotaserialkiller for reviewing.

Even though the platform was crowded with students, greeting their families with identical beaming smiles rippling across their faces, Lily found herself feeling so alone. The Weasley brood was never a difficult one to spot, the majority still bearing the hallmark of flame red hair, but their numbers were diminishing with every year that passed, as another lot of children flourished into adulthood and left Hogwarts behind them. Soon it would be Lily's turn to go.

"Lily!" called Rose, who had just emerged from another compartment, Hugo trailing behind her. Albus soon came into sight as well. "Grandma's waiting in King's Cross, on the Muggle side. She owled me to say to go straight through the gateway."

"How many have we got to shepherd now, Rosie?" Albus asked, his voice a little more light-hearted than usual. There was something about Rose that brought out a light in Albus he usually kept extinguished.

"Roxanne and Lucy have already gone." she explained, exasperation clear in her voice. None of them were surprised by this. Their two cousins were closer to Lily's age than Rose's, but they still would never follow instructions from their elder cousins. "They should be with Grandma now."

"Just us, then." Albus clarified, already heading for the gateway. He tossed a quick glance over his shoulder to where Lily was hurrying after him, as if he had only just remembered she was there. The girl scoffed silently. It seemed that brotherly concern did not last long in public.

He was no more attentive when they finally reached their home, hauling his own trunk over the threshold and heading off immediately to his room. He had not even bothered to greet their parents, much to Lily's shock, although she supposed she could see his point. The last person she wanted to see right now was her father.

And sure enough, Harry's was the first face he saw, a smile illuminating his features like magic. "Lily! Hello, sweetheart! I didn't see the time, I didn't think you'd be back this early."

"Hi, Dad." she greeted shyly in return, awkwardly returning the man's embrace. However much she had missed him, all she could think of was Scorpius.

Harry pulled away, a frown already creasing his brow. Since the day he had first held James in his arms, he had sworn to himself that he would not allow his children to be ignored the way that he was by the Dursleys. He noticed everything about them, even the smallest detail, and he had been mulling over the expression on Lily's face since she had stepped in the door.

"What's happened?" he asked, not bothering to give her a chance to deny her sadness.

Lily sighed. "It's a long story."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Harry joked. Lily did not return his smile.

A few moments later, the two were sat on the sofa in the living room, each clutching a steaming mug of tea. After a few sips, Harry opened his mouth to ask again, but this time, his daughter beat him to it.

"It's Scorpius Malfoy." she blurted out, her eyes going wide with shock, as if she could not quite believe she had spoken the words. Harry let out a sigh of disbelief, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, cupping his face in his hands. It did not take much for him to make the connection between the name and his daughter's behaviour, but she could not risk this going on any longer. "I was dating him, but we broke it off. I broke it off."

"You and Malfoy?" The words seemed so alien that Harry wondered for a moment if this was all a dream. A thousand incidents flew through his head, all of the times that Draco had made scathing comments about Hermione's blood status, or Ron's family. And however much he might accept Scorpius was different enough to his father to maintain a friendship with Albus, the prospect of him holding Lily's heart in his hands was a very different matter.

"He's not a bad person, Dad." Lily assured her father. Even now their relationship was over, the girl would defend Scorpius to her last breath; she supposed that was what happened when you were in love with someone. "He's funny and kind, and he might be a bit hostile when you don't know him, but if you break through the shell, he is the most incredible person I've ever met. And you know what… none of that matters now. Because it's over."

"What did he do?" Harry pressed, trying to hide his eagerness to hear about Scorpius' faults. That seemed a smart decision, when Lily shook her head sadly, biting her lip in an attempt to keep some control over her emotions.

"He didn't do anything." she answered. The weight of resignation in her voice seemed like the only thing keeping her voice from trembling. "I broke up with him because I didn't want to hurt you. I knew you'd hate him the minute you heard his name, and I was right."

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had been expecting to comfort his daughter over the roguish actions of an ill-considered boyfriend. He had never thought he would be the reason for her ending a relationship with a boy she truly cared about.

"Lily, I just don't want you to get hurt." the man stated, resting his hands comfortingly on Lily's arms. She could not even meet his eye now. "I'm your father, it's my job to make sure you're alright. That's why I would have wanted you to stay away from Scorpius in the first place, so he couldn't hurt you. But now, because of that, you've hurt yourself. And that's not okay."

"Dad, what are you actually saying?" Lily cut across, feeling her frustration beginning to build. They seemed to be going round and round in circles, when her father had already made his feelings on the Malfoys perfectly clear.

"I'm saying that if you really care about him, then you're better off with him than without." Lily blinked, her mouth falling open. She could not believe what she was hearing.

"You don't care?" she asked. Even those three simple syllables were a struggle to speak, when her mind was racing at a pace only matched by her heartbeat. "You actually want me to be with Scorpius?"

"I want you to be happy, Lil." Harry stated, a little too keen to emphasise the difference between the two concepts. His expression was stern, a father's instruction, but there was a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. There was something about the light in his daughter's eyes that made everything else seem irrelevant. "And if that means being with Scorpius, then you be with Scorpius."

With barely a moment's pause, Lily threw herself into her father's arms, a joyful laugh slipping from her lips. It seemed that Albus had been right after all. Love was all that mattered, in the end. And a father's love for his daughter was strong enough to accept her love for another man.

Of course, there were a thousand things that could go wrong now. Scorpius could reject her attempts to reconcile, he could slam the door in her face the moment she turned up at his house, her father could renege on his promises and spend his life fighting with her boyfriend. But she did not think of that now. All that mattered was that she was free to love.

A/N: I promise, next chapter will be Lily/Scorpius, and we will sort this mess out! Hope you enjoyed and please review!