Chapter Thirty Two

A/N: Thank you to Guest and delia cerrano for reviewing.

Lily had always been fascinated by the Muggle world. The way that people milled around, fighting through problems that could so easily by magic, if they would only believe in it. Billions of people who did not even realise there was another world living among them.

Oxford Street was one of the key examples of this, where witches and wizards traded among Muggles, and no one was any the wiser. At least one shop in every dozen bore the secretive marks of magic, slight charms invisible to the naked eye to attract the citizens of the Wizarding World. None of them were particularly well-known- Purebloods would not go near the place, preferring to spend their Galleons in magic-exclusive places like Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade- but Lily had spoken at length to her friends about one particular shop, a confectionary store owned by a kindly Muggle-born witch. That was where she stood at that moment, the Christmas lights glowing above her. 'It's not ideal,' she conceded inside her head. 'But it's the best chance I've got.'

She had sent the owl to Scorpius the previous night, using her father's bird just in case the boy would see her owl and dismiss the message outright. Harry had been a little begrudging of helping her, thinking his permission would have been the extent of his involvement in her relationship, but he did not object openly. That was progress, at least.

Scorpius had never sent a reply, her father's owl returning an hour later with no ribbon attached to his foot. Lily had kept that part of the story a secret, knowing her parents would think it was mad going to see someone if they had never given an indication that they would be there. She could not explain the warm feeling in her chest, the confidence that came out of nowhere. He would be there, she knew it.

An hour went by, thousands of people having come and gone, but not one of them had the white gold hair she was looking for, and Lily, even the optimistic person that she was, was coming close to giving up altogether. Maybe the niggling feeling in her gut had been right; maybe she had left it too late.

Another few minutes of clinging to her hopes, and Lily sighed under her breath, pulling her mobile phone from her pocket. It had been her grandfather's idea for her to get a mobile- he had even written a list of its benefits, although Harry was more than aware of the concept already- and she was grateful for it now. After all, sending a text message meant she did not have to hear the smug undertone to her father's voice when he realised he had been right all along.

She had barely tapped the first word on the screen when a flash of silver caught her eye. At first, she thought it was a trick of the light; after all, it was getting late and the moonlight made every light head of hair look that much lighter. But then she took in the dark jeans, the tailored coat, the emerald green scarf that had been knitted by Molly Weasley many years ago. All her instincts cried out for her to smile. The look on his face told her otherwise.

When the two were finally face to face, they were silent, neither wanting to be the one to make the first move. Lily knew it ought to be her, really- after all, she had been the one to end it- but she did not know where to begin. What could she possibly say to make this better?

"I'm sorry." was what she finally settled on, almost wincing at how childish it sounded. After all this time, after all she had put him through, 'sorry' was never going to be enough.

She was not surprised when Scorpius shrugged his shoulders, although his expression intrigued her. It was not the anger she had expected, or sadness, or even indifference. There was something about the way he looked at her now that almost made Lily think nothing had changed.

"Which part?" Scorpius asked in the end, though his voice was not unkind. "Ending it, leading me on, making major life decisions based on a thirty-year-old grudge of your father's?"

"Alright." Lily protested quickly, the same way she would do when her brothers went too far in their teasing. She instantly regretted her tone, looking up at Scorpius' shocked expression, but when that gave way to a tentative laugh, she felt the weight lift a little from her shoulders. "It's all of it, really. I just… I wish none of it had ever happened."

"Me too." the boy sighed, leaning back against the wall of the shop. He was not looking at her, his eyes fixed on a spot in the distance. "We created a load of problems that didn't really exist, and we let them tear us apart."

"And it was all for nothing." Lily whispered. "My dad told me to go ahead and be with you if that would make me happy, but it's too late."

"Who says?" Scorpius spoke so quickly that Lily was not sure if she had imagined it. However, he had turned to face her as he spoke, the smallest hint of a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

"Excuse me?" she pressed. She was almost certain that she had understood his implication, but she needed to hear him say the exact words. There was still time for her to wake up from this dream.

Scorpius reached out to take Lily's hand in his own, and even through the barriers of black leather and yellow wool, they could feel the warmth between them. This time, the smile on his face was nothing short of beaming. "The only people who get to decide if we're together, Lil, are you and me. And I want to be with you. So it's your decision."

The situation was so overwhelming, Lily ought to have taken a few minutes to process it before she gave her answer. But the words did not come from her mind, they came from her heart, and that was why it did not take even a second before the girl had thrown her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his with a fervour she had only seen only in the romantic films her grandmother liked to watch.

When they pulled apart, they both were beaming, their hands intertwined once more beneath their gloves. After a few moments of basking in their happiness, they looked up at the lights above them, glimmers of hope in the darkness. Lily had never seen anything more beautiful.

"Well, we got here in the end." Scorpius reasoned, chuckling gently at the end. Lily smiled as well, leaning her head onto his shoulder. The deeper meaning of his words with clear, and it was nothing to do with the Oxford Street lights. They had come through their troubles, stronger than ever, and now they were together, just as they were meant to be. After all, with the amount of fairytales Lily had read as a child, she should know: happily ever after never came down the easy road.

A/N: So, you wanted them reunited and I came through on the promise. Hope it was a satisfying make-up for you all! Please review!