Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters
Lily awoke feeling as though the previous day had been only a dream. A very good dream at that. She didn't want to get up, choosing instead to lay there thinking about the previous day. She was sure she would hear from her brothers, though, and was anxious to see their responses, so she rose and got dressed. Once in the Great Hall, she spotted Scorpius, who was waving her over to the Slytherin table. It figured that he would sit with his old house, but Lily decided to head over, seeing that Vera was there as well. She had been sitting there since the beginning of term, and Lily thought it was time to end their separation. She took a seat next to Scorpius, and gestured with a nod of her head for Vera to join them.
"How did you sleep?" Scorpius asked, his voice still cool, probably from their parting the previous night.
"Actually pretty good," Lily answered before turning to Vera. "Hey, want to study later?" Lily figured it was the best she could do to try to show Vera that she was truly hoping they could make their friendship work again.
"Yeah, sounds like fun." Vera visibly perked up after that. "Well," she amended, "maybe not fun, but I'm in."
"Great," Lily said as Cassie and Hugo entered the Great Hall, looking around before splitting up. Hugo went to his table, while Cassie joined her friends at the Slytherin table.
"Rough morning?" Vera asked as both she and Lily eyed Cassie's messy hair and slightly disarrayed clothing.
"Um—" she started before Lily cut her off.
"Whatever you and my cousin were doing I don't want to know." The three girls burst into a fit of laughter. Scorpius watched Lily laughing carefree with her friends.
He enjoyed seeing her so lighthearted, and wanted to be the reason for it. He didn't want to cause her more stress, but her friendship with Lupin was not something he was sure he could deal with if they were going to be together.
"Do you have class after this?" Scorpius asked Lily as the others resumed eating.
"I just have a study period before transfiguration," She replied, eying him.
"Alright," he said standing up. "I have to go to a meeting with some of the professors. I'll see you later," he said kissing her chastely on the cheek.
Lily watched him walk across the Great Hall and out the large doors. Even from the back he was gorgeous.
"He really is eye candy, huh Lils," Cassie poked her friend pulling Lily from her ogling.
"He is quite handsome," Vera agreed.
Lily turned back to her friends throwing a piece of her toast at them. "Eyes off," she joked as the girls began giggling amongst themselves.
Once they finished their breakfast Lily and Cassie went to the library for their study period, while Vera looked as if she wished she could go with them instead of History of Magic. Lily dropped the dull class once she knew she no longer needed it. Once they entered the library Hugo waved them over, where he sat with Xander Zabini and Jason Thomas. Lily groaned inwardly. Jason was ok, they were even kind of friends, but Zabini was a whole other story. At the beginning of the year, he followed her around and made her life hell, until Scorpius finally stepped in and put an end to it.
"Hi Lily," Jason smiled widely, making room for her to sit next to him. It was more appealing than her other options, which were Zabini, and her cousin as he makes out with her best friend.
"Hi Jason," she replied, taking his offered seat. "Thanks."
"Sure," he said turning back to his potions book.
Lily opened her own book. She heard a long sigh coming from Jason, and turned to look up. She spotted Zabini staring at her, but chose to ignore it.
"Are you ok?" She asked Jason, keeping her voice low.
"Yeah," he whispered back. "I'm just no good with potions."
"Well you're in luck," Lily moved a little closer to him. "I am quite good at the subject. What are you struggling with?"
"Everything," he said looking genuinely confused.
"Ok, well let's start with something simple, but to really get the feel of things we really need to go down to the dungeons. Perhaps when you are free we can go down there and work on this stuff." Lily liked Jason. He was always nice to her, and she always thought of him as a friend, so she figured helping him was no big deal. It was the snort from Zabini that caused her and Jason to look up.
"Could you be any more obvious Potter?" He hissed in a low voice.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Her eyebrows drew in and she could feel her temper rising.
"You're not fooling anyone, except maybe Thomas, who is always clueless anyways."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Jason and I are friends. I like to help my friends." Lily explained as though she was speaking to a child. A very rude and obnoxious child. "Why are you even sitting here?"
"I felt like it." He answered shortly. "Anyways, now that you and Malfoy are done, maybe we should start things up again." His voice was arrogant as ever, and Lily could feel her frustration building.
"Again? You are delusional, aren't you?" Lily saw him briefly flush, before composing himself.
"Oh Potter, I know you want me. I see the looks."
Lily couldn't stop the laugh that escaped from her lips.
"Don't laugh at me, Potter," Zabini's words seemed to be a threat.
"Leave her alone," Jason intervened.
"Oh you don't want me messing with your girlfriend? Worried about a little competition?"
Lily gripped her wand, as Hugo and Cassie turned their attention to the three.
"If Lily was my girl you can bet your ass I wouldn't be worried about you of all people." Jason was looking at Zabini as he spoke, clearly avoiding Lily's gaze.
"Well she's not your girl, she's mine." Scorpius seemed to appear out of no where, and Lily jumped at the sound of his voice.
Jason was clearly shaken by Scorpius' sudden appearance. "I just meant that…" he trailed off.
Scorpius turned toward Zabini. "I thought we discussed this last time you were bothering Lily." His voice was low, but everyone around them could hear the threat.
Without waiting for a response, he turned to Lily. "Walk with me?" Everything about him softened as he spoke to her.
"Sure," Lily nodded, taking his offered hand. "I'll see you later, so we can study for Potions?" She asked Jason.
"Of course," he smiled.
When she turned back to Scorpius she could see he was clearly unhappy, but wasn't sure if it was because of the previous events or her study session with Jason. The two walked out of the library and down the corridor.
They walked around the grounds in silence, before they finally ended up near Black Lake. The day was clouded, though not particularly cold.
"I used to come here with Al." Scorpius spoke looking out over the lake. "My last two years I thought about you a lot. I think Al knew. He would give me these looks, but he never said anything. You used to sit under that tree." He pointed to a familiar tree just a few feet off.
Lily always liked to sit there. It was the perfect view of the school and it was a quiet place to study without her friends.
"I think your brother caught me staring a few times, and that's how he found out." He smiled at the memory. "I loved you even then." He finally turned back to Lily. Lily noticed for the first time that day that his eyes looked wary.
She reached to put her arms around his waist, but he caught her wrists in his hands.
"You can't honestly think I am ok with you being friends with Lupin." He placed her arms back at her sides.
"Scorpius, he's practically family."
"No, he's your ex."
Lily wasn't sure what to say, she felt the air leaving her as she tried to form a sentence. "We're friends, and if you cant deal with that…well you're just going to have to figure something out then."
"I can't deal with it, Lily."
"What does that mean?"
"You've got to choose." Even as he said the words Scorpius wished he could take them back, because at her recognition of what he was asking her to do he saw her eyes harden.
"I can't do that. I am sorry Scorpius." She looked directly into his eyes now, neither one willing to budge. Neither willing to bend.
Lily turned away from him and walked back to the castle. She hadn't thought her day would take the turn it had, and wanted nothing more than to just crawl into her bed, and not surface for the rest of the week.
Lily went to study with Vera when the girls had planned to. Cassie joined them halfway through. The three girls sat quietly, until Vera couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Are you ok?" She asked Lily. Vera noticed her friend being more quiet than usual, and it worried her.
"I'm fine," Lily said, not wanting to discuss the events from earlier quite yet.
Lily avoided Scorpius the next day, and he left the day after. When Lily went to study that evening she opened her potions book, seeing that Scorpius slipped a not in between the pages.
Think it over, Lily. No one wins if we aren't willing to bend a little.
She felt slightly upset that he wanted her to be the one making the change. Despite what the note said, that was what he wanted. He wanted her to change, not both of them. She crumpled the letter and threw it away, knowing that she wouldn't be the one to bend.
Once again Lily threw herself into her studies, convincing herself it was necessary for her to get top marks. She wasn't hanging around Teddy as much, though they occasionally had tea and he sometimes walked her to one of her classes, having a quick chat in the process. She eventually told her friends about everything, but explained that she didn't want to speak about it anymore. She also started tutoring Jason in potions, and the two found that they had a lot in common. Their fathers had both been in Gryffindor, and her mother had even briefly dated his father, which she found slightly disturbing. The two laughed over it, and agreed that the image of what could have been was simply atrocious.
Lily also began corresponding with her cousin, Victiore, going through details of the upcoming wedding. Lily was excited, but as the year was coming closer to an end she found herself without a date to the wedding. The truth was she didn't really want to have the worry of a date, and she wasn't up for any new guys in her life. She could imagine her family's outrage if she went with Teddy. And Scorpius wasn't an option at this point. So Lily asked the only other guy that she had even been able to tolerate.
"You really are getting quite good at this," she commented as she watched Jason mince daisy roots for his shrinking solution.
"There's no way I would even pass if it weren't for you. I would probably have ended up with a T." He chuckled to himself as he continued adding ingredients to the cauldron. As the potion began to turn the appropriate green Lily smiled at him. Once finished they bottled the potion, and began cleaning up.
"How are you feeling about NEWTS?" Jason asked.
"Well I don't think I could really do anymore studying without doing some damage." He thought it was a joke, so he laughed, but the truth was, Lily had spent most of her time studying and was serious.
"What about you?" She asked him.
"Well I wish I were like you. I should have spent less time on a broom and more in the library."
"You'll do fine." She said. "What are you going to do after Hogwarts?"
"Well if Quidditch falls through I think I would like to work for the Ministry. What about you?"
"I want to be a Healer." Lily put the last of the ingredients away.
"I think you'd make a perfect Healer."
"Thank you," she said. She paused as they were leaving the dungeons. "Jason, I have a favor to ask you."
He stopped and turned towards her. "Well I definitely owe you. What is it?"
"Well…" she hesitated. "You see my cousin is getting married, and I kind of need a date for the wedding. It would just be a friend helping out another friend."
'Lily Potter," he smiled. "Are you asking me to be your date?" Lily looked up at him, seeing that he was only joking.
"Yes," she said reluctantly.
"The Lily Potter just asked me on a date! Whatever shall I do?" He joked. Lily slapped him on the arm.
"Oi Thomas, don't get too full of yourself now, or I'll have another Zabini on my hands."
The two laughed loudly at that. After recovering Jason looked seriously at Lily. "Of course I'll go with you. Even if I didn't owe you like a thousand times over. There is no way anyone could say no to you."
"Thanks," Lily said, wondering if she'd made a mistake asking him.
Lily used her last full week at Hogwarts simply enjoying her friends, and the grounds. She didn't want to spend all of her time studying, which she might later regret. So she appreciated the beauty, but as the time came she knew she was ready to leave. She spent so much time at the school, but she was ready to be with her family again for good.
Once it was time to take her NEWTS Lily felt that there was nothing more she could do to prepare for them anyways. She left them feeling confident that she had done her best, but not confident that she made the marks she needed.
The events leading up to the train ride home flashed by in a daze. She sat in the small compartment next to Vera. Cassie, Hugo, and Jason sat across from them. Vera drifted off to sleep on Lily's shoulder, and Lily found herself grateful that she and Vera made it through still best friends. She would be spending most of the summer with Lily, so she was coming to the wedding as well, and Hugo of course invited Cassie as his date. The two seemed to be going strong still, which surprised them all.
As the train pulled up the five exited their compartment, giving hugs and promises to see each other soon. Jason made his way towards his own family. Cassie and Hugo left together in search of their families. Vera lingered behind with Lily.
"It's hard to say goodbye," she said.
"We'll see each other next week when you come to stay with me," Lily said knowing what she really meant, though she forced her friend to say it, because she couldn't herself.
"I meant it's hard to say goodbye to the school, our past."
"I know." Vera pulled Lily in for a hug, and the two stood there in a comfortable silence.
"We're friends?" She asked.
"Of course." Lily said. "Best friends."
"Good." She released her and the two exited the train together.
Vera left to her own family, while Lily spotted hers in the distance. She saw her father first, with his messy black hair, and made her way towards him.
"Daddy!" she said throwing herself into his arms. In that moment as her father wrapped his arms around her, and she heard the rest of her family approach, Lily was happy to be home for good.
AN: I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I am excited for the next chapter, which is the wedding, and let's just say I have some drama planned, but I think you all will like it. Also what do you all think of Jason? I have a plan for him! As always R&R!
