A/N: This ENTIRE chapter is for acompletestranger, for being the only one to watch A Harry Potter Weekend with me - Chamber of Secrets tomorrow! Screw the rest of you. . . That was another joke. I still do those sometimes. But just the screw you part. The dedication was serious.


It was the wait that killed her.

Lily lay in bed, waiting, listening for the clock to chime midnight. It was at that time that both she and Scorpius agreed to always meet, whenever they both wanted to risk being out of bed after hours - which was happening with more and more frequency. The day's events played like movies in her brain and her thoughts floated humorously between how to convince her mother to invite Scorpius to dinner, how to keep her dad from killing him, and trying to figure out a charm or potion to make Hugo calm down.

And then, finally - the tiny clock in the fifth year girl's dormitory chimed twelve. Barely daring to breathe, Lily got out of bed and put on her robes as silently as possible. She put her wand in her pocked and has just finished closing the curtains around her four-poster bed when she heard another movement in the room. She held still listening, and nearly jumped out of her skin when Abigail spoke.

"You're going out again, aren't you?"

"Abby," Lily said quietly, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No," she said, slightly offended. "I just don't want you sneaking out in the middle of the night and getting hurt, or in trouble. Especially not for that Malfoy boy."

Lily's heart began to hammer.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you this afternoon. I saw Lysander trying to distract Hugo. And it's not like you talk to any boys who aren't family, and Xander is, you know, not the right type, and Lorcan is a bit funny, nice as hell, but funny... I just figured, after the whole episode this afternoon, that... you know..."

She was met with silence.

"Lily? You there?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"He's a good guy, Abby." Lily walked to the door, and as she left she heard Abby respond.

"Yeah, but is he worth it?"


Lily slipped into the room, inching the door shut to make sure that it didn't make noise. There were relatively few paintings in the halls between the common room and the room where they met, and Lily had walked the halls enough times during the day to be able to make it there in the dark without the use of her wand's light. The only worry was Peeves, and he was nowhere to be seen.

When she felt the door click shut, she turned around. The room in question was an out-of-use classroom, and the desks and chairs were piled high up against the walls in the corners of the room. There was no moon tonight, and Scorpius had opted for candles in lieu of it. A hundred tiny white candles floated throughout the room, casting odd yet not remotely frightening shadows all over the room.

Scorpius sat on the floor in the middle, fiddling with something. He looked up when she had entered the room.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, what are you up to?" She put her hands on her hips in a mock stern movement. He smiled.

"Join me?" She obliged, sitting herself cross legged on the floor facing him.

"New moon, you know." He started fiddling with a small box in his lap, staring at it the whole time. "I wanted candles, because, you know, we needed some kind of light, and I - I thought candles were romantic. I wanted this to be romantic. Tonight needs to be romantic."

"Scorpius, you didn't have to do this for me."

"But I wanted to," he said as he looked up at her. "It's been two years, you know."

"Yeah," Lily said quietly. "I know."

"Things have just been..."

"Crazy?"

"Yeah," he said. "Crazy. Something like that."

"The candles are beautiful, though, really." His face broke into a wide smile.

"You do like them?"

"Of course I like them."

"Good."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Lily spoke.

"People know."

"Who?"

"Mum, I told. Abby and Xander figured it out. I think Hugo suspects." He let out a whistle.

"Well... this is what we wanted, right? We wanted people to know?"

"Yeah, I suppose. It's just..."

"There's still a lot of judgment being passed around these days."

"Right."

"So we need to keep a low profile."

"For now, I suppose," Lily said. "Especially with - " Her eyes widened.

"With what?"

"I can't tell you." There was an awkward moment of silence where he stared at her and she plead with her eyes. He backed down first.

"You can't tell me."

"I'm so sorry, Scorpius, it's just with my mum, and then dad and Albus, and the whole family, and - "

"It's okay," he said. "I understand. We need some semblance of a life without each other."

"I would if I could, but there are - there may be lives at stake, Scorpius."

"Are you in trouble?"

"No, no," she said, "It's nothing like that."

"This has to do with the war, doesn't it?"

Lily nodded.

"That's all I can say, so can we please just drop it? I want to enjoy my time with you. We hardly ever get to spend time together unless it's 'hurry, hurry, someone's coming, someone might see us'... I like this. I like just being able to be with you and not worry about someone I don't know telling someone we're doing something and it's just so... it's stressful, Scorpius. I'm sick of it."

"So, let's just enjoy what time we have," he said.

They spent hours talking about things of both great and little importance. Scorpius was taking his N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year and Lily her O.W.L.s, and there was much grief to be had over it. They talked about the weather and seasons changing, and about the sky and the stars and the universe and every little random thing that popped into their heads.

Eventually Lily yawned, stretching.

"I think I need to go to bed, soon."

Scorpius smiled, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek.

"Yeah, probably. But one more thing?"

"Yeah, sure, anything."

"Here."

He handed her the box he had been fidgeting with earlier. She stared at it in her hands, then looked back up to Scorpius.

"What is it?"

He looked like a cross between exasperated and amused.

"It's a present, silly. You open it."

"Why?"

"To see what's inside!" She smiled.

"I know that, but I meant... why?"

"Because it's our anniversary, silly. Two years. You get each other presents and stuff, right?"

"Yeah, but..." She suddenly looked horrified. "I didn't get you anything."

"It's not like that," he said, taking her hands between his. He looked into her eyes when he spoke.

"I got you a present because it's our two year anniversary, and because I wanted to do something special for you. I wanted you to have a gift commemorating this day, because this day commemorates the gift I have had every day for the past two years, Lily. Every day I wake up the luckiest man alive, because you are a part of my life."

She nodded, trying not to cry and failing. He wiped away a tear.

"The faster you open this, the faster you can get to bed." She snorted, placing the box into her lap and opening it cautiously. She reached inside and pulled out what was there, setting it on the ground in front of her.

It was a tiny model unicorn. It was made of pure crystal, which reflected the candlelight and made the entire room sparkle. Its body was clear, but its horn was tinted silver and its hooves gold. It stood munching on a green crystal field with minuscule rainbow flowers, but upon being pulled out of its container, reared up and whinnied. Its miniature hooves pounded the air, landing with a tiny "chink!" on the crystal ground beneath. Deciding that Lily was only going to stare at it, it returned to munching.

"Oh, Scorpius..."

"You like it?"

"It's beautiful!"

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."