Author's Notes: Here's chapter six. Sorry for the wait, things have been a bit hectic; I'm working nine-hour shifts every day and my house is currently under construction. Enjoy!
PLEASE READ: I'm currently partaking in a Harry Potter challenge, given by Pride-of-Slytherin2. It's 180 given titles. Mine is a series of one shots with various characters and genres. It's called Story of a Lifetime. Please check it out! There will be some Lily/Scorpius in it!
Chapter Six: Dinner and Detention
Lily spent the remainder of her Halloween outside under the tree with her friends, only venturing inside once the sun set. At one point, the students returning from Hogsmeade had passed, including James, who had waved happily at Lily. Lily, in turn, had ignored him, tightening her grip on her side of Lorcan's book. Happy, hungry and slightly sunburned, the six first years hurried inside for the feast.
The feast itself was magnificent. Hagrid had outdone himself; pumpkins the size of small cars floated above each table, terrifying faces carved into them and candles shining brightly out. Bats flapped around the enchanted ceiling. Even the ghosts had gotten together and performed a riveting show, entering the Great Hall screaming and howling together, terrorizing the students before taking a prompt bow and sitting to enjoy the feast. Lily sat with her friends, making sure that both Rose and Al sat between her and James. Her caution was for nothing; James sat at the other end of the table with other third years, too cool to be seen with his little siblings. Lily thoroughly enjoyed the feast, refusing to let her anger at James interfere with the event.
After the Halloween Feast, she had rushed back to the common room to beat James there. Her friends followed, Emily shaking her head disapprovingly, Hugo, Olivia and Lysander snickering, and Lorcan looking a bit scared. They had been the first students there. Lily had stood just inside the portrait entrance, arms crossed, stance wide, with a foul look upon her face. She startled quite a few students as they slowly began to trickle in. Albus walked in and, upon seeing Lily, swallowed nervously, stepping backwards into Rose.
"Did I… did I do something wrong?" he asked quietly.
"No," Emily sighed, shaking her head, as Lily refused to move a muscle.
"Wrong brother," Olivia snickered. Albus stared at her before guffawing loudly.
"I'd hate to be James right now," Albus said. Rose nodded, giggling, and the two cousins sat down on the couch to wait. Lily was now attracting the attention of not only her friends and family, but also the other Gryffindors. There was a collective, quiet hush as the portrait opened once more and a familiar voice drifted in.
"The Slytherins won't know what's coming. Ha! I can't wait to see Malfoy's face tomorrow morning." James stopped suddenly at the sight of his little sister.
"What's up, Lils?"
Lily glared. James glanced around at all the Gryffindors watching.
"C'mon, Lily. Speak."
"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, HOW THE HELL COULD YOU BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE?!"
James winced. "What are you, my mother? Who cares what I do to the Slytherins?"
"I don't even know or care what you did to them. I care about what you did to Filch!"
"Filch?" James and Jesse glanced at each other and snickered, as did a few older students. "Isn't he a little old for you?"
That had been the wrong thing to say as Lily's faced turn red, not from embarrassment but anger, as she puffed up even more.
"YOU ARE A BLOODY PRAT!" she screamed. Albus and Rose were doubled over in silent laughter. Lorcan winced as Lily continued to yell, waving her left hand in front of James face wildly. "DO YOU SEE THIS? DO YOU?!"
"Uh… your hand?"
"No! This!" Lily shook her sleeve at him, which still had traces of red paint on it. "You spilled red paint on me! Now I have detention for your stupid, not even funny prank!"
"Hey, that prank was hilarious," James said solemnly.
"UGH!" Lily screamed, pulling at her hair. "You completely missed the point!"
"Lily, it's just detention," James said coolly as he flopped down on a nearby couch. "Lighten up."
"Just detention?" Lily mumbled as she stomped away from James and towards her friends. "I'll show you."
One week later, Lily was still mumbling and grumbling as she headed down to Filch's office, conspiring on the appropriate way to get revenge on James. Stopping outside of Filch's office, she knocked and was greeted by Filch in his nightgown. Lily shuddered inwardly; it was a sight she hoped she would never see again.
"Follow me," Filch growled, leaving his room after putting on a puce dressing gown. He led Lily up the stairs and around the corner to the trophy room. He stopped at a broom closet to collect a bucket and rag and forced the items into Lily's hands.
"You are to clean this whole room without magic!" Filch snickered loudly, as if this was a terrible punishment. "And believe me, I'll know if you used magic. I'll be back for you later."
Lily sighed as Filch slammed the door to the Trophy room, leaving her alone. She turned to the first case of trophies, dropping to her knees in front of it. She wrung the rag out after dunking it in the bucket of filthy water and began to scrub at the awards.
It was a tedious job. Despite growing up in a magical household, her family usually cleaned the muggle way. They didn't own any house elves. Only her mother always used spells. Her father said hard work was good for you, and that it gave you time to think. Try cleaning the trophy room, Dad, Lily thought dryly.
She had moved on to the second case to clean a large number of flat plaques before jumping at the sight of her father's name. Leaning closer to the shelves, she read off the plaque:
Harry Potter,
Service to the School
1992
After quickly doing the math, Lily was startled to realize that her father was only twelve when he received the award. She cleaned off her father's plaque carefully as she racked her brain, trying to think of what he had done. There had been the Battle of Hogwarts, of course, but Lily knew that was in 1997, as it was exactly a year before her cousin Victoire's birthday. Her father had also saved some sort of rock, something that gave you immortal life. Lily continued to scrub the plaque, despite it being clean, her brow furrowed. Perhaps it was the stone thingy? But there was also the time her father had saved her mother (and, incidentally, the whole school) from a giant snake mucking about in the plumbing. Her Uncle had been involved in that; a quick glance around revealed her Uncle's award from the same year on the shelf beneath it.
Lily loved hearing the story about the snake. She just found the entire story incredibly romantic—and Lily wasn't normally that type of girl. Still, Lily didn't think anyone could disagree with her; saving your best friends little sister and future wife from mortal peril was very romantic and just like a fairy tale come true. Lily smiled as she thought of her parents. They could sometimes be gross with how they still kissed each other (Lily's nose wrinkled in remembrance) but she guessed they could be kind of cute.
Giving up and resolving to ask her father, Lily moved on to clean the next award, an old tarnished shield for someone named Tom Riddle, which had been shoved into the corner. Lily allowed her imagination to run wild as she fantasized about fighting large snakes, and a certain blonde haired boy saving her. Her stomach growled, interrupting the daydream she knew she shouldn't have. She had left dinner early to make it to detention. With a pout on her face, she continued to clean the room without magic, her mind returning to her fantasies, despite how hard she tried to think about something else.
It wasn't until quarter of midnight that Filch came to retrieve her and Lily was proud to say that each and every shield shined as bright as it could. Filch scowled as he saw this, leaving him with no scathing remark. Instead, he barked at her to put away the bucket and hurry back to her dorm before she got another detention.
She gladly hurried away from the crotchety old man, but as she started up the stairs, her stomach gave one loud, long grumble. With a sigh, she turned around, glanced down the hall to make sure Filch was gone, and hurried towards the kitchen, wishing she had the Marauder's Map or even the Invisibility cloak, both of which were in James's possession.
James had never let Lily use the map or cloak before. He said it was a boys' thing only. Furious, Lily had snuck into his room one night when she was ten while James was at Rose's house. She was unable to get the map to work but did manage to steal the invisibility cloak, letting her go on a late night fly around the village, one of her favorite things to do.
During her first week of school, however, James had deemed Lily worthy of the two items after her fight with Malfoy. She had woken one night to find a broom handle poking her relentlessly in the face. Groggily, she had gotten out of bed, grabbed the broom furiously, and headed down to the common room. There, James had thrown the invisibility cloak at her (scaring her to death) and showed her how the map worked, taking her on a late night tour of the castle, including all of the secret rooms and hidden passageways.
It was for this reason that Lily knew to cut through the tapestry that concealed a small set of rickety old wooden stairs that brought her down closer to the kitchen. Peering around the corner, she ran towards the large painting. She reached a hand up and tickled the delighted pear, which at once turned into a door handle.
After swinging the door shut after herself, she realized immediately that she was not alone. The elves were still awake, despite the late hour, bustling about to serve the one lone patron it had. He was sitting at the farthest table that Lily knew coordinated with the tables in the hall above. Typical, Lily thought.
Scorpius looked up from his place at the Slytherin table with a smirk. Lily was standing silently at the door, still dressed in her school uniform, the red and gold tie slightly loosened, the sweater over her blouse unbuttoned. While he himself was no longer in uniform, he was fully dressed in jeans and a nice button down shirt; Malfoys were never seen in a less than perfect state. After a few excruciating minutes of Lily standing there as Scorpius appraised her, her hand on the door as if debating whether or not she should leave, Scorpius sighed.
"Well, come sit down, or are you going to stand there and stare?"
Instantly, Lily shut her mouth and glared. "There's no need to speak to me like that, Malfoy."
"Like what, Potter?" Scorpius drawled in a slow, cool manner that Lily had already begun to associate with him.
"Like – like, I'm a bloody idiot!" Lily declared, flustered.
"Oh, and you're not?" He raised one delicate blonde eyebrow. Suddenly, Lily had the urge to burn that eyebrow off. Her hand twitched towards her wand, wishing she knew the magic to do so.
"No, I'm not," she said heatedly. Scorpius stood up from the table, drawing his wand as he did so.
"Then prove it." Lily drew her wand as well, heart thumping loudly. It seemed like the animosity between James and Scorpius had been transferred between him and Lily, as the tension between the two crackled. For a moment the two just stared at each other, Scorpius smirking, Lily's face set in hard determination. Finally, Scorpius lowered his wand.
"Sit down, already, Potter. I'm not going to fight you." Lily lowered her wand, cautiously, looking up at him. "Seriously, sit."
Following his orders, she sat down across from him at the Slytherin table, oddly feeling like she was betraying everyone by just sitting here. Almost immediately, no less then three house elves swarmed on her.
"What can Pouchy get for Miss?" The old house elf bowed deep, his long thin nose almost reaching the ground.
"Oh, er –" Lily was startled, unsure of how to handle the elf. "Sheppard's pie, please?"
"Certainly, Miss." The house elves ran back towards the edge of the kitchen, already preparing Lily's meal.
"Wow," Lily breathed softly. "Great service."
Scorpius smiled, amused. "Don't you have house elves at your house?"
"No," Lily replied. "My Aunt won't allow them."
Scorpius raised his eyebrow once more, before returning to his eggs, his eyes still on her, focusing on each detail. Her hair was nothing like her cousin Hugo, whose red hair was so bright and almost vivid-orange that it was like staring into the blaring sun. Her red was much darker, the soft curls escaping from the ponytail. She and James had the same, thin long nose, but across hers were spots of freckles, something neither of her brothers had. Lily caught him staring, and he hastily looked away. Lily looked away from his face and down at his plate and almost immediately wrinkled her nose.
"What are you eating?"
"It's eggs," he replied defensively, frowning. "You know, those things that chickens lay?"
"I know what they are," She said scathingly. "But what have you got them covered in?"
"Ketchup. Haven't you ever had eggs with ketchup?" Lily stared.
"No!" She said it as if eggs with ketchup was the strangest thing she had ever heard of. Scorpius opened his mouth to retort when Pouchy returned, placing a plate of steaming Sheppard's pie in front of Lily.
"Made just for Miss!" he squeaked, bowing once again.
"Er, thanks," she said awkwardly. The elf's eyes widened slightly but he merely backed away with one glance over his shoulder to the couple. Lily picked up her fork and stared at her plate thoughtfully. She snuck a glance to Malfoy's plate, a glance Scorpius caught as he was watching her.
"What, did they cook it wrong?" And all of a sudden, Lily thrust out her arm, taking a stab at Malfoy's ketchup eggs and hurriedly shoveled the food into her mouth.
"Hey!" Lily smiled, her cheeks puffed up from the food. "Potter, what the hell do you think you're doing?
"Eating your eggs. They're actually really good. Got a problem?" She mumbled cheekily, still chewing her eggs. Scorpius opened his mouth but Lily swallowed quickly and said, "Don't care."
Scorpius was forced to shut his mouth. He stared silently for a moment at Lily, who had a large grin on her face as if she had just won some large prize, before he grinned back. He picked up his fork and reached out for her food.
"Well, it's only fair." His voice was normal paced, no longer slow and cold, Lily noticed. The slow drawl had disappeared from his voice. He was not as fast as Lily had been but Lily didn't bother protecting her food. Lily eyed his plate once more, but Scorpius glared, pulling his plate closer to himself protectively.
"What do you think?" she asked as he chewed. He made a face.
"It's… too heavy," he decided with a shrug, returning to his almost finished eggs. Lily laughed loudly.
"What are you, a girl?" He scowled at her but Lily only gave him another large smile. The two continued to eat their food in a comfortable silence. Scorpius was racking his brain for something to say, anything to just keep the conversation going.
"Why are you down here so late?" he finally asked. Lily shrugged.
"I had detention,"
"Detention?"
"Yes, detention. Don't sound so surprised." Scorpius was surprised even though knew he shouldn't be; she had blatantly challenged him to a duel now twice. He was learning a lot about Lily already. "I was framed for James's prank."
Scorpius snorted. "Well, James always was an idiot."
"Shove off, Malfoy." Lily glowered. Scorpius frowned. Before, Lily had taken his mockeries lightheartedly. It seemed he had actually insulted her now. He considered apologizing but in the end decided against. He never apologized. An awkward silence fell; the only sounds being made were their forks scraping against their places. Scorpius finished first. He stood, stretching, as the house elves ran to him, reaching for his plate.
"No, thank you, it's fine. I got it," Scorpius told the nearest elf. They stared at him with wide eyes, as if the concept was completely new. "Well, as much as I would love to stay and chat, I'm afraid I have to get back to my room," he said. The drawl was back. Lily frowned.
"You didn't say why you were down here."
"You didn't ask." He floated his plate from the table and into the sinks against the wall. Turning and walking out, he said, "Goodnight, Potter."
Lily watched him go before turning back to her cold Sheppard's pie, pushing it around the plate thoughtfully. Taking one last bite, she stood up, and the same house elves came to her. Taking Scorpius' lead, she told them not to worry, and floated her plate to the sink as well. Suddenly, a wickedly brilliant idea occurred to her. She grinned widely and took off into the deserted corridors.
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It was almost a week later by the time Lily managed to track down Albus alone. It was Thursday night, and many Gryffindors were grouped around the tables, books in laps, studying. Al was sitting in the far corner alone, a book open in his lap. Lily had just entered the common room after sending Quaffles off with a letter to her parents. Her friends waved, but Lily held up one finger, and walked over to her brother instead.
"I need your help," she said without any preamble, shoving her brother's feet off the chair opposite him. Al continued to read. "Where's James? And Rosie?"
"They're in the library," he replied, turning the page. Lily momentarily forgot why she had come over.
"The library? James?"
"Yes, after the prank on the Slytherins,"—the night after Lily's late night dinner with one particular Slytherin, they had all entered the Great Hall to raucous laughter: all of the Slytherins had vibrant pink hair—"Rose insisted that James cool it for a while. He needed her help with that prank, and she exchanged her help for one week of studying and no pranks."
"Oh," Lily said. "That explains why he's been so quiet." She paused for a moment. "It's strange that they're so close."
"Mhm," Al murmured in response. James and Rose were as close as two people could get despite their differences in personality. James often called Rose "a wet blanket", as she was the one who tended to reign James in when his pranks were too out there. In response, James appealed to Rose's fun and reckless side, something that had been growing for years now because of him. "What did you need my help with?"
"How do I get into Hogsmeade?"
Al sat up and closed his book, now regarding his sister with interest. "And why would you need to get into Hogsmeade?"
"Revenge," she answered simply, a steely glint in her blue eyes. Al sighed, shaking his head.
"I don't want to know. You have to go through the passage behind the one-eyed witch in the third floor corridor," Lily nodded, committing this to memory. "The password is 'Dissendium'."
"Thanks, Al!" Lily exclaimed brightly, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before rushing off to join her friends. "You're the best!"
"You owe me!" he called after her, a hint of laughter on his face as he shook his head and returned to his book.
"What was that about?" Lysander asked as Lily sat down between him and Lorcan. All of her friends were listening. Lily smirked at him.
"You'll see." The glint in her eye winked mischievously. Lorcan stared at her.
"You know, Lily," he began, shifting nervously. "Sometimes, you scare me."
Author's Note: There you go. What is it Lily's planning? You'll find out next chapter. Please review! The more reviews I have, the quicker my update!