Author's Notes: Thank you to all of my dear reviewers. You honestly make my day a little brighter. Soooo, we're really entering into the mystery now! There are going to be some chapters with some delightful cliffies... Muhahaha! Hope you'll enjoy them!

Chapter Thirteen

Scorpius was euphoric.

As they made their way through the Manor, he was having visions of how he would have asked Lily to marry him. Yes, he would have put the ring inside the petals of the Golden Orchid that he would find for her – in his imagination he could even add the fact that he had slain a dragon to get to the flower, and killed an evil hag (just like Viridina's knight) – and she would have said yes, and then she would have ingested the petal and the Morning Dew and she would have gained her memory again.

And their life would have been perfect. Just plain perfect. Just what Lily deserved, and what Scorpius wanted.

And now, he knew he was squeezing her hand too tightly as they walked through the Manor with Albus right behind him, but she didn't complain and he didn't want to let her go.

She was giggling too, she was euphoric as well, probably. All they knew was that things were going to go from good to even better. Perfection, that was what their life would have been, perfection.

"Where the heck is your library, Scorpius? In another country?" asked Albus at his back.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. Well, almost perfection… there were still Lily's annoying brother to deal with, and on a daily basis. "Lower your voice," he shushed him, "my parents are sleeping."

"I can't wait," exclaimed Lily. "I can't wait to read everything about this Order, it sounds so exciting! I know you are used to exciting things, but I'm not, and I can't wait to know everything they do! I think… if my mum can take care of Alfie for tonight we should go and look for them right now. I mean, we should go before Alfie's father, right? We need to get there and—oh…"

Scorpius had wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her to shut her up, and to whisper in her ear, "One step at a time." He had been wrong, she was even more euphoric than he was. Of course, he couldn't even imagine what it meant for her to have the promise of having something that she had given up having for ages now.

He pushed the door of the library open and Lily hurried inside. She went straight to the opposite wall and pushed the moving ladder towards a certain shelf. She climbed up and stretched her hand securely towards a tome. She pulled at it, but it was huge and Scorpius rushed to help her. He took the book in his hands and blew away the thick layer of dust.

Lily jumped down the last few steps and beamed as she grabbed Scorpius' arm and dragged him back towards the settees they had in a corner. She pushed him down and sat in his lap, eagerly taking the book in her hands and placing it on her thighs.

"Well, someone is excited," chuckled Scorpius.

"Shall I read it?" she replied, starting to turn the pages. "I mean, if I read it I'll remember it forever, right? I will even if I listen to it, but I want to read it, can I read it?"

"You better let her read," grinned Albus as he sat on the armchair and stared at the pages as Lily turned them, "otherwise she'll never let it go."

"Yes," she replied truthfully. "I'll never let it go."

Scorpius smiled at her and linked his hands on her hip, he stretched his neck to kiss her upper arm, but she was too focused on the book and didn't even notice. Her high cheekbones were flushed with excitement and her eyes were shining. She looked so beautiful all happy and thrilled with the—

"I found it!" she exclaimed. She cleared her throat, just like Albus had done, and started reading. "The Order of Dìthean," she said out loud, "is an ancient order whose origins are lost in the dark abyss of time."

"Cliché," huffed Albus.

"Shush," said Lily urgently. "The Order's existence is dependent upon the Golden Orchid and its safety. As the Orchid is found only once in every generation, the Order's sole task has been to guard them until pollination can occur, and this is an activity that has been rumoured to have continued for centuries. The Orchid's natural habitat is the cold Highlands and plains of Scotland or Ireland (for more information, please consult the appropriate sections of Legendary Plants of Great Britain and Ireland) and, as such, the Order is only active in these regions for the sole purpose of monitoring its growth. The Order is presided over by a Maestro, who executes all decisions concerning the safety of its members, otherwise known as Adepts, and the Orchid's protection."

Albus furrowed his brow. "I have never heard of this Order," he said, "honestly. It doesn't even ring a bell."

Scorpius shook his head. "Me neither."

"Same," sighed Lily. "Shall I continue?" Her voice was a bit less enthusiastic than before, as if the book was trying to discourage them from seeking the Order and the flower.

"Yes," replied Scorpius firmly.

She nodded. "According to trustworthy sources, the Order immediately transfers a newly-flowered Orchid to a safe and undisclosed location that has never been discovered in centuries past. The unfortunate individuals that stumble upon the location are generally rendered incapable of sharing its secrets, but the first Maestro of the Order has founded a particularly safe method to ensure the flower's protection by illuminating the way to the Golden Orchid through the successful completion of three predetermined tasks."

"I beg your pardon?" asked Albus, furrowing his brow. "Three tasks?"

"Like the Triwizard Cup?" asked Scorpius.

Lily's eyes skimmed through the remaining of the text, before humming a 'no' in reply. "Let me go on," she told them. "The tasks determine the virtues of the flower's pursuer." She swallowed and continued, "The first virtue examined is purity. Only a pure individual will be able to go through the wall of stones."

"What?"

"Shh. The second virtue examined is clarity. Only those who possess a light heart and do not conceal shadows or secrets will be able to continue in their quest. The third and final virtue examined is nobility. Only those who are free from covetousness will truly understand that the flower cannot be owned, for whoever dares to take the flower for their own vile purposes will be punished accordingly." She stopped and bit her bottom lip, her eyes lingering on the last line she had read.

Scorpius pulled her to him and kissed her cheek. "Luckily, we don't have any vile purpose in mind," he told her, "luckily, we need the flower for a really noble mission…"

Albus stretched his hands to take the book from his sister and Lily hugged Scorpius, her arms around his neck, her breathing against his skin.

"Is there anything else?" Albus asked. "I didn't understand a word you read, Lily. Three tasks and not a clue what the actual tasks are, all just metaphorical Dragon dung, if you ask me."

Scorpius couldn't help agreeing. "Well," he started, "probably once you are there – I mean where the Orchid is – the tasks become clear."

Albus cocked an eyebrow at him. "Only a pure individual will be able to go through the wall of stones," he read. "Okay, pure? What kind of purity are they talking about? Does that mean innocence? And innocence in what sense? Like someone who is nice and gentle like a child and…" His voice trailed away, his eyes widened and for a moment he seemed to be holding his breath. "A child! Alfie! That's… that's what they need him for! For the first task! Oh bloody hell!"

Lily straightened her back and blinked at that revelation. For a moment she looked confused as if she didn't know if she wanted to feel relieved that that was the meaning of Mrs Whittle's words – His father wants to use him – or if she should have been even more scared for the fate of that poor child.

She looked at Scorpius and shook her head in a disconsolate way. "That man wanted to use his two-year-old son as a mean to get to the flower," she murmured, "it's horrible!" She took a deep breath and added. "Scorpius, I think… I think we should keep him…"

"You two?" asked Albus, cocking an eyebrow. "Why do you keep saying that, Lily… are you… moving in together already?" He glanced at Scorpius, probably silently asking him if he had already asked her to marry him.

Scorpius glared at him. "No," he replied, "not yet."

Albus nodded. "And I'm too young to be an uncle," he chuckled. "I'm only twenty-three."

"Twenty-four," pointed out Lily.

"Whatever, little know-it-all," he replied playfully, snapping the book closed. "Have you memorised every word? Should we not take the book with us?"

Lily nodded firmly. "Every word," she assured him, "ask me anything."

Albus yawned. "For as fun as that is," he replied, "I'm too tired to test your brains tonight. I'll believe you…" He stood up and placed the book on a table. "I'm off to my flat."

"And I should go back home," said Lily, pushing her hands against Scorpius' chest, "what if Alfie wakes up and doesn't find me?"

Scorpius pulled her back to him and kissed her temple before hugging her tightly. "Hmm," he hummed in her hair, "your mum is with him. He'll be alright. Stay with me tonight…"

She giggled, but pushed at his chest once again. "Come to Grimmauld Place," she pointed out. "We can all sleep in my bed, we'll be like a family already…"

Scorpius let her go. "We don't want to scare Alfie," he reminded her, "with too many people sleeping around him. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

She nodded and leaned in for another kiss before finally standing up.

"Need me to take you home, Lily?" asked Albus, walking towards the ancient chimney.

"Nope, perfectly able," she replied lightly. "Good night, Al." She stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek and he hugged her for a spare second before nodding at Scorpius and walking into the fireplace.

Once he was gone, Lily followed him, turning to grin at Scorpius before saying, "Twelve Grimmauld Place," out loud and finally disappearing.

oooOOOooo

The long table in the dining room was prepared for three people. One place, at the head of the table, was for Draco himself, one, at his left, was for Astoria, and there was another one at the other end of the table. Surely for Scorpius.

Draco didn't know his son was home for breakfast, he surely wasn't surprised about that though. He was rarely informed of his son's whereabouts. The house-elves were more involved in his life than himself.

And yes, he kept thinking that because he suffered.

He walked to his chair and sat comfortably on it. He opened the Daily Prophet and started reading about the last murder case in Diagon Alley, apparently Blaise Zabini's son and another Auror had managed to find the murderer before he could kill again. Well, well done those two. He still couldn't believe that Blaise Zabini's son was an Auror. And to be quite honest he still couldn't believe that his own son was an Auror too, and he still couldn't believe that he was going out with a Potter… He raised his eyes and looked in front of himself. Now that he thought about it, Draco couldn't believe quite a lot of things that had happened to him in the past few years.

The door of the dining room opened and Draco didn't even turn to look as he ordered, "I'd like a some orange juice while I wait for my wife and my son to join me."

"I'm not a house-elf," said Scorpius dryly, closing the door at his back.

Draco finally looked at him. He was dressed impeccably well in his Auror uniform. His boots were shining and his clothes freshly laundered. His blond hair was purposely messy on his head and his face was shaved clean.

"I thought you were," Draco admitted. "I didn't know you were home."

He shrugged a shoulder as he walked to the other side of the table and grabbed a toast. "Lily is busy with Alfie," he replied, "and I didn't want to impose."

Draco folded the newspaper again and poured himself a cup of tea. "Your mother said that she heard voices last night," he let him know, "I told her that they were the house-elves. Was I mistaken?"

Scorpius nodded. "We needed to consult a book in the library of the Manor."

"We?"

Scorpius spread a generous amount of butter on his second toast. "Al, Lily and I," he explained, "we're really close to find out about this legendary flower, it's called the Golden Orchid and amongst other things it also has the…" His voice trailed away, all his excitement lost as he looked away from his father.

"Yes?" he urged him on. "It sounds very interesting, Scorpius."

He bit his bottom lip. "Father, Mrs Potter said that you convinced her to… to give me her blessing to ask Lily to marry me," he told him unexpectedly.

Draco blinked in surprise at his words. Oh, it had changed to that conversation now. The conversation that he had longed to have ever since Ginny Potter came to steal his Crup and that, at the same time, he had dreaded for the ridiculous level of awkwardness it would surely reach. "That's what she said," he murmured.

"Isn't it the truth?" asked Scorpius, eyeing him warily.

He sipped from his tea. "I might have said something that might have convinced Mrs Potter that it was time for her to let her daughter fly away from the maternal nest," he said slowly.

"Yeah," said Scorpius, "that… that's… thank you, Father…" His son lowered his eyes, blushing slightly as he thanked him.

Draco cocked his head. If he had to be completely honest, he hadn't thought about Scorpius the moment he had given the Crup to Lily. He had done it for the girl herself, because he – somehow – loved her. Nor had he thought about him when Ginny Potter had stormed into his study accusing him of putting her daughter against her. He had just basked in the satisfaction of being the adult there and teaching something to Potter's slightly insufferable wife.

But he was undeniably glad about that turn of events. Somehow, he was the good guy there. Somehow, he had done some good without even noticing. Wasn't that what the good guys did? They did good things not for the sake of doing good things, but because they were… good. Right? Or something like that. Draco was no expert. If anything, he was a beginner in being the good guy.

"That's alright, Scorpius," he finally said. "I'm happy I could help."

Scorpius nodded, nibbling at his toast. "I haven't asked her, yet," he let him know.

"Why not?" asked Draco gently, glad that he was finally having a conversation with his son.

"I haven't found the right moment," he told him, "I wanted to ask her the other night, but then Mrs Whittle brought the child, and now she is spending all her time with him, wouldn't leave him not even for a second… last night was an exception, just because we found some information on this legendary flower that might link the Toots case to the Whittles, and the flower… it's called the Golden Orchid and… apparently legends say that it can cure from every curse and every potion… even… even Memory Charms…"

Draco stiffed slightly. "You mean…"

Scorpius nodded. "Lily would get her memory of when she was a child back," he murmured, "I mean, she sometimes says that she doesn't mind, that she feels like she is her parents' daughter even without the memories of when she was a little girl… but… she suffers at times, I know that…"

"I've never heard of this flower," said Draco softly. "I hope you'll be able to find it."

Scorpius nodded. He downed his tea and stood up. "Have to go, now," he replied, "work."

"Sure," replied Draco. "Have a nice day, Scorpius."

"Thank you, Father," he replied. He walked towards the door and startled as his mother walked in. He greeted her and kissed her cheek before walking out and softly whistling a tune.

Astoria glanced at Draco with an eyebrow cocked. "What was that?" she asked as she walked to him to kiss his forehead.

Draco smirked a little. "Just having a conversation with my son," he replied nonchalantly, "about work and Lily and marriage…"

"You and Scorpius were conversing?" asked Astoria, sitting next to him. "Since when?"

"Apparently, since the moment Ginny Potter stole my Crup."

"Not still that story, Draco," sighed Astoria, before patting her leg and whistling. "Here Mister Fluff," she called her Kneazle.

"Astoria, no," Draco scolded her, "not at the breakfast table. No, don't put him in your lap, it's not hygienic… no, I don't want to feel how soft he is… take him off my lap!"

oooOOOooo

"Ice cream!" said Alfie gleefully, hugging Lily's legs.

Lily cocked her head and tried to look as severe as possible. "You can't have ice cream before lunch, Alfie," she told him, as she bent down to grasp him under his armpits. "Then I'm sure you won't eat your lunch, just like it happened yesterday. And it's not healthy." She took him in her arms and smiled at him.

She had been fooled by the child's begging eyes once already, she wasn't going to allow him to eat ice cream again, especially right before lunch. If she was going to adopt him – or become a mother any time soon anyway – she would have had to teach him to lead a healthy lifestyle and that 'no' meant 'no'.

"No, Lily!" he protested. "Please…"

"No, Alfie," she replied patiently, "Scorpius and Al are coming for lunch, you want to be a good boy and show them that you can eat everything on your plate, right? Otherwise Scorpius won't play with you afterwards."

He pouted but nodded meekly at her.

She beamed at him. "But we can have some orange juice or maybe an apple as a snack, what do you think?"

He brought his hands to his face and shook his head.

"Why don't we do this," she proposed, walking towards the kitchen, "I'll peel the apple and fashion eight little boats out of it, and you'll tell me which one is the most beautiful one, okay? You'll eat all the ugly ones and then I'll tell you if I really think that you were right…"

He nodded happily. Yes, that was what he wanted, another little game, another spot of fun. Lily knew, Lily would be a wonderful mother to him.

She giggled as she walked into the kitchen and sat him down at the kitchen table. "You wait here," she told him, as she walked to the pantry, "and I'll get an apple from the pantry, and some orange juice, orange juice is always nice, isn't it, Alfie?"

"Yes," he replied and she smiled at him over her shoulder as she disappeared through the door that led to the pantry. She drew out her wand to light up the dark, little room and locate the basket of fruit that Kreacher and Taffy kept there. She chose a particularly red apple, juicy and surely sweeter than the green and yellow ones.

"Oof," she let out when Alfie's little body collided with the back of her legs. "Alfie," she called him gently, turning to look at him. "I told you to wait at the…" Her words trailed away as she stared into the dark eyes of a man standing in front of her. Not Mr Whittle, nor Mrs Whittle. Just a tall man who had Floo Powder all over his shoulders and eyes as shiny as hot coals.

Lily scooped Alfie up in her arms and pointed her wand. "Who are you?" she asked fearfully. "Get out of my house!"

"Give me the child," hissed the man. "Give me the child and I'll be on my way."

"No," she replied, "never." She waved her wand and said, "Stupefy!" but the man stepped back into the kitchen, sheltered by the wall between the two rooms.

Lily hugged Alfie almost spasmodically, before putting him down. "Hide there," she told him in an urgent whisper, pointing under a shelf in a corner. "Don't come out until I tell you," she told him, "or until my mum tells you to." Yes, if she was going to die, surely someone else would have had to tell him to come out at her place.

Obediently and silently, Alfie slid on the floor and went to crouch in a corner. Lily would have happily died if that was what it took to keep that man away from Alfie. Why did her mother have to go to the Daily Prophet to turn in her weekly article that morning? Why of all days?

She kept her wand in front of her, her arm stretched as she took a step towards the door. Her breath was laboured, she was shaking slightly, she needed to focus and be calm. Scorpius would be calm. Scorpius would know what to do. And Albus as well, and James and her parents… everybody in her family would…

"Crucio!"

It was only a fraction of a second long, but she ducked just in time and the spell hit the wall at her back. "Expelliarmus!" she cried frantically, but he was closer than she had thought and his fingers closed around her wrist and twisted it painfully until she let out a cry as a crinkly sound could be heard from her hand.

"Oops," hissed the man, coming to stand behind her and pointing his wand at her throat. "I think I broke some of your little, delicate bones," he breathed in her ear, "tell the child to come out or I'll break your arm."

She pushed back the tears of pain that were springing from her eyes as she wriggled in his arms. "You'll have to kill me," she snarled, "I'd rather die than—mhmph!"

His hand clamped on her mouth, and despite Lily tried to bite him it was to no avail.

"Alfie," said the man in a fake-sweet voice, "come out, come out. It's time to go and see Mummy and Daddy…"

Lily tried to dig her nails into the man's hand around her mouth, but one of her hand was bent painfully and unnaturally at her side, and her left hand was too weak to do him damage.

There was a rustling of feet on the ground and for a moment Lily's heart jumped out of her chest at the thought that he might come out and go to the man. She couldn't allow that. She wouldn't have allowed that.

That man was not going to take away Alfie. He was… her child… almost. She was like a mother to him, and she had to keep him safe, she would not have let that man take him away from her.

"Ouch!" snapped the man as something heavy hit him on his head, right next to Lily's ear.

Lily looked on the floor as the apple rolled away from her.

Oh Merlin. Please, don't let anything fall on Alfie, she thought despairingly as she closed her eyes and focused on the man.

The first things to fly towards him were the foods that they had stored in the pantry. Fruits, boxes of cereals, vegetables, they hit the man with precision, and soon he had to let her go to shield himself from the assault.

"Hey! What the hell!" he snarled as he tried to dunk and move his arm over his head to protect his face. Then baskets and plates and bottles of oil and water and wine were flying towards him, crashing against his head and his legs and his ribs and he was moaning in pain.

"Stop it! Stop it or I'll kill—fuck!"

A shelf fell over him and he had just the time to step back and jump into the kitchen before it fell against the doorframe. Lily crawled away on her knees and one hand, the other on her chest.

"You little demon!" snarled the man, but before he could try again to reach them, Lily heard the drawers of the kitchen vibrate and the cutlery getting ready to be thrown at that man's head.

"Sodding hell," he hissed. "That doesn't end here!" She heard the crashing sound of a window and then his steps faded away on the garden of Grimmauld Place.

"Alfie," called Lily, "Alfie. Are you alright? Alfie, come here, dear, are you alright? Are you okay?"

Alfie crawled out from under the shelf, his face covered in tears. He threw himself at Lily and she winced only slightly as he pushed against her broken hand.

"It's alright," she soothed him, "he's gone… it's alright…" She hugged him tightly and cried, "Taffy! Kreacher! Taffy!"

They both appeared in the pantry and the pop of their magic was followed by the gasps of their surprise.

"Miss Lily! Young Master Alfie!" squealed Taffy, going to her to hug her. "Is Miss Lily hurt? Is Young Master Alfie hurt?"

"We're okay," she breathed, ignoring the throbbing in her hand. "I… Taffy, go to the Ministry, call my dad and Scorpius, and Al and James… Everybody, I… tell them that someone broke into the house, they used the Floo! Go! Tell them to come!"

Taffy squealed in assent and disappeared into thin air.

Alfie hugged her more tightly and Lily winced again.

"Is Miss Lily in pain?" asked Kreacher softly, walking to her. "Should Kreacher go to St Mungo's to find a Healer?"

She shook her head. The perspective to be left there alone with Alfie made her shiver. "No," she replied feebly, "stay here with us until someone comes."

Kreacher patted her shoulder comfortingly in a way he had never done before. "Miss Lily doesn't worry," he said in his old, raspy voice, "Kreacher will protect her if someone comes again."

She smiled at the elf as she leaned back against the wall wearily.

Then Taffy appeared again, her hand secured around Scorpius' wrist as she Apparated him into the house with her magic.

"Lily!" Scorpius voice was panicked as he took in her pale face and the state of the pantry. "Oh Merlin! Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened? Is Alfie alright? Oh my! Oh bloody hell!"

She smiled reassuringly at him.

He knelt next to her and placed a hand on her forehead, wiping away some sweat. "Your father is coming," he assured her, "and a horde of Aurors. Oh my… what happened?"

He searched for her hand, but she hissed in pain when he clutched his fingers around her broken bones. "Bloody hell," he growled, lightening his wand. "Does it hurt? Is it broken? What happened?"

She wanted to reply to him, but at that moment there were furious steps that entered the kitchen and then cries of her name and people were trying to move the shelves and then everything went black and the last thing she remembered were Scorpius' arms around her as he caught her.

oooOOOooo

"He wanted Alfie!" cried Lily as she sat up on her bed.

Her complexion was pale and her brown eyes looked huge – bigger than usual – on her tired face. They were also burning with fear as they roamed for the room.

Scorpius stood from the chair near the fireplace and went to her at once. He sat next to her on the bed and pushed her back down on her pillows.

A fainting spell caused by the fear and the pain, but especially by her uncontrollable magic that had reduced the pantry of Grimmauld Place to a battlefield and had luckily scared the man away, that was what the Healers had said when they had come to heal her broken hand and ordered that she was brought to bed at once with a sleeping potion.

Head Auror Harry Potter had almost had a nervous breakdown, Scorpius had never seen him like that, he had kissed the limp body of his daughter so many times that all Scorpius could do was gathering Alfie in his arms and soothing his tremors and leave his boss to wait with Lily for the Healers.

Rose had cried – in a very un-Auror way – and James and Albus had gone half-mad themselves with the realisation that someone was about to kidnap another almost member of their family.

Mrs Potter was the one who had almost fainted herself when she walked back into her house completely in the shadows about what had gone on there. She had said that it was all her fault, that she should have never left Lily and Alfie alone, that if something had happened to her daughter she would have killed someone, and that she didn't care, she would have been happy to go to Azkaban.

The Healers gave some sleeping potion to her too.

And now James, Rose, Albus and Scorpius were waiting in Lily's room while Mrs Potter and Alfie were sleeping in Mrs and Mr Potter's bed. The Head Auror, his Deputy and Auror Lupin were downstairs talking probably about warding spells and closing the Floo Network to Grimmauld Place.

"He wanted Alfie," repeated Lily, her eyes shining. She was cold, but looked almost feverish. And she was awake in the middle of the night, which was weird because the sleeping draught should have knocked her out until the following morning if not afternoon.

Rose, James and Albus crowded around her bed, Rose sitting on the other side.

"Who was he?" asked James softly.

Lily looked at him and shook her head. "I don't know," she replied, "I've never seen him. He wasn't Mister Whittle. He had dark hair and dark eyes, he looked evil. He wanted Alfie, he wanted him, he told him to come out that they would go to see his parents."

Scorpius took her hand in his and drew circles with his thumb on her smooth skin. "Everything is going to be alright," he whispered soothingly, "you and Alfie are going to be looked after twenty-four seven now and—"

She shook her head. "You have to go and send those people to Azkaban," she said desperately, looking from Scorpius to her brothers to Rose, "we can't let them get close to—where's Alfie?" She sat up again, eyes shining once again dangerously.

"With your Mum," said Rose gently, "sleeping."

She looked at Rose as if she had difficulties believing her, but then nodded and lay back down.

Silence enveloped her bedroom for some long moments before Albus finally spoke, "Hem, Lily…" he said softly, "would you like me to read something to you? We were checking out Toots' wife's book to see if there was something about her that linked back to the Whittles and she's quite hilarious."

Lily looked at him warily but when Albus raised the book in front of her she sat up again, this time crawling on the bed in her pyjamas to where Albus was standing.

"Lily!" exclaimed Scorpius, startled by her sudden movements.

She grasped the book in her hands and gasped. "That's Toots' wife?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes," replied Albus softly, "well, she's much older than that now, much more grey hair than—"

"Hookum!" she exclaimed. "Daisy Hookum!"

Albus glanced at Scorpius. "Yeah," he replied slowly, "weird name, isn't it? I think she wrote this before getting married and never bothered to change it on the cover…"

"No!" she exclaimed. "Mrs Whittle was née Hookum!"

Scorpius felt his heart skipping a beat. Mrs Whittle shared the same surname with Toots' wife. Was that a coincidence? It didn't seem likely. Were the two women related? But… the thought that had formed in the past days in Scorpius' mind was that Whittle had killed Toots to discover his secret research about that damn flower… but how could they murder Toots if they were related to his wife? That was… that was ridiculous!

"Excuse me," let out Albus, eyes wide. "Mrs Whittle is related to Toots' wife?"

Lily nodded forcefully. "Yes, she certainly is!" she exclaimed. "Oh my, you have to go to Toots' house! You have to arrest them all! I'm sure they… they did something! I'm sure they…"

Scorpius walked to her and closed his fingers on her upper arm, pulling her to him. "Lily, you need to go back to bed," he told her, "it's the middle of the night, we'll put wards on the house and tomorrow morning we'll go and check the Toots' residence first thing in the morning."

"No," she urged them, grasping Scorpius' shirt. "You have to go now."

He guided her back to bed. "No," he said firmly, "we have to make sure that you're alright first, and put the wards up and close the Floo and…"

She whined as he pushed her back gently on the bed and covered her with the blankets once more, he smiled at her, but she looked away and pouted like a child.

"Lily," said Rose soothingly, trying to squeeze her hand.

"Well, let me sleep then," she snapped rather rudely. "If you say that I have to recover, let me sleep."

"Lily don't be mad…" groaned James.

"I'm not," she replied tightly. "Go and set up the wards and do all your Auror-ish things."

"Would you like me to stay and keep you company?" asked Rose gently.

"No."

Scorpius looked as Rose seemed surprised by her rude answer. He glanced at Lily and asked, "Shall I stay the night?"

"No," she said again, folding her arms across her chest and staring stubbornly in front of herself.

"Lily…"

"Go and let me sleep!" she snapped, still not looking at Scorpius nor anybody else.

Scorpius looked at Albus and he shrugged a shoulder back at him, nodding towards the door with a nod of his head.

Rose stretched a hand to caress Lily's hair before standing up and walking with James towards the door, Albus following them outside.

"Lily…"

"Go," she said dryly, sliding down on the bed and bringing the covers up to her face, cocooning herself in the blankets and giving him her back.

Scorpius sighed as he strode out of the room. He wanted to stay behind and tell her that everything was going to be all right, that she and Alfie were his priority and that the next morning they would have gone to see Mrs Toots, but she certainly looked too upset to listen to him.

"Sleep tight," he whispered to her as he closed the door of her room.

"Merlin," muttered James, "the whole thing must have shaken her badly. She's never… never that snappish…"

"Well, someone broke in and broke her hand as he threatened to take Alfie away," pointed out Rose, "I think she has all the right to be snappish if she wants to…"

They walked downstairs in utter silence, probably all of them lost in their thoughts, Scorpius surely was. He wanted to go back upstairs, talk to her, let her know that she was right, that he was an idiot, that he would have gone straight to the Toots residence and talked to Mrs Daisy Toots née Hookum and asked her if she was related to Mrs Whittle née Hookum and then arrest her for having surely sent someone to try to kill his girlfriend.

At the same time, though, the very thought of even leaving that house and Lily behind to go and talk to that crazy woman made him incredibly nervous.

"Why are you all here?" asked Mr Potter as they entered into the living room. "What's wrong? Why aren't you with Lily?"

"She doesn't want us to be in her room," sighed Albus, collapsing on an armchair near Teddy, "not even Scorpius." He nodded towards the blond man.

Scorpius lowered his eyes, his cheeks heating as he felt everybody's eyes on him. What were they thinking? Surely that there was something serious going on if Scorpius too was there instead of upstairs holding her.

"She doesn't want anybody?" asked Teddy, straightening up his back. "How can she be already awake?"

"No idea," murmured Scorpius.

"Have you decided what to do about the Floo and the warding spells?" asked James.

"Taffy said that this man had used the Floo," replied Mr Potter, "we are going to close it for a while. Tomorrow morning we'll file a request at the Department of Magical Transportation."

"And we've already put warding spells all around the house," added Teddy, "no one can Apparate, not even in the garden this time."

"And the Fidelius Charm," said Mr Weasley, "nobody who doesn't already know about the house will be able to find it."

"Well, that man now knows about the house," pointed out James.

Mr Potter nodded. "Yes," he replied, "that's why we're having Aurors here all day and all night."

"I'll stay," said Scorpius promptly, grey eyes wide with expectation.

Mr Potter smiled and nodded. "I knew you would, Scorpius," he told him softly. "Al?"

"Of course," he replied, nodding seriously.

"You two can cover tonight shift then," replied Mr Potter. "And James and Rose can come here tomorrow morning. I'm sure Ginny and Lily and Alfie will be much less in agitation if there are people they know. Uncle Ron, Teddy and I will come to check on you every few hours."

"I'd rather cover every shift," said Scorpius seriously.

"Of course, Scorpius," replied Mr Potter. "Do as you like."

"I should go now," announced Teddy, "Vicky said that she was going to keep Hugo there until I was back. She doesn't feel too safe after what had happened here."

"Rightfully so," replied Mr Weasley. "Alright, I should go too, Hermione is home all alone and I'd rather be with her than know—oh stop your fake gagging, James!"

James grinned at his uncle, but Rose slapped his upper arm. "There's nothing funny about it," she told him curtly, "my Mum is home alone in a night like this and he is right to worry."

"You're going to be home alone as well," pointed out Albus.

"Right," replied James, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "You are not, you're coming to my flat."

"That smelly place near the Leaky Cauldron?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. "Nope, and I… I don't need anybody, thank you very much."

James cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure? You want to be alone?"

"Maybe she's not going to be alone…" chuckled Albus.

James narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked, before realisation finally set in. "You mean… you and Emeric…"

Rose turned as crimson as her hair as she stepped towards the fireplace. "He doesn't mean anything," she snapped, "and you should mind your own business! Good night!" And grabbing a furious fistful of Floo Powder she walked into the hearth and was whisked away by green flames.

"Yes, so…" murmured Albus as she was gone. "I think she was seeing Emeric or something like that tonight… to talk I guess…"

"Talk?" asked James. "Is that how they call it now?"

"James!" thundered Mr Weasley.

"Sorry," he replied. "Well, I'm out of here. Night, guys."

Finally they were all saying their goodnights and goodbyes and repeating that they would see each other in the morning before lining in a tidy queue to the fireplace to use the Floo for the last time.

"I'm going to bed," said Mr Potter, standing up. "Do you need anything for the night?"

"Nope, Dad," replied Albus, "I have my pyjamas in my old bedroom." He looked at Scorpius and added, "I call bagsie on my bedroom."

Scorpius raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "I don't want to sleep in your old bedroom," he told him tersely.

"Well, you can't sleep with Lily," he pointed out.

"We've enough rooms for a Quidditch team in this house," said Mr Potter. "Goodnight guys, and keep your wands close."

"Yes, Sir," replied Scorpius quickly. "Goodnight."

"Night, Dad," said Albus, yawning as he tried to stand from the armchair. "You can sleep in James' bedroom, I'm sure Kreacher disinfected it when James moved out."

Scorpius bit his bottom lip as he stared at the stairs. "I want to—"

"No, out of question, nope, don't even think about it."

"You don't even know—"

"I do," replied Albus, folding his arms across his chest. "You want to go and try to talk Lily into letting you sleep with her." He patted Scorpius' shoulder gravely as he sighed. "I know you're not used to her being mad at you, but believe me when I tell you that tomorrow morning everything will be better."

Scorpius shrugged his hand away. "You," he told him dryly, "don't know anything about relationships, Al. The longest you've ever been with a girl is two weeks and I don't think that you've ever had any argument with any of them, because all the girls you go out with have the IQ of a Pygmy Puff. So don't give me relationship advice because I won't accept it."

"You're going to talk to her."

"Yes," replied Scorpius firmly. He turned away and started walking up the stairs. "Don't follow me!"

"I'm not following you, you crazy person in love," sighed Albus, "I'm going to my room." He made a great show of opening the door that used to be his old bedroom when he still lived at Grimmauld Place, and added, "That's James' old room. So that you're not going to disturb me when Lily throws something at you and you don't know where to sleep."

Scorpius darkened. First of all, he knew where every room was at Grimmauld Place. Second, she wouldn't do anything like that. Not to him at least. He was just going to say that he was sorry. He had done that quite a lot of times in the past few days and he would continue until everything was just alright again.

Albus closed the door of his old room and Scorpius proceeded to knock on Lily's door. No reply came from the other side. She was definitely still angry.

He knocked again, but still, she wouldn't reply.

He took a deep breath as he pushed the door open. "Lily," he whispered in the darkness of the room. "Lily, are you sleeping already?"

She took a deep breath under the covers, but didn't reply. He didn't know if she was sleeping or if she was awake and just wanted to ignore him. He walked inside and closed the door at his back. He kicked off his shoes and went to lie down next to her over the many layers of blankets.

"Lily," he murmured again, "I'm sorry. You are right, we should go straight away to investigate at the Toots', but to us you and Alfie are more important. We just want to make sure that you're alright, you know?"

She didn't reply, she just breathed softly next to him. "Listen, I love you, and it hurts me when you give me the silent treatment, you know… I would want you to always talk to me… I miss the sound of your voice when you don't whisper all those things in my ear…"

He sighed when she still wouldn't reply to him. "You know," he finally admitted, "I was going to ask you to marry me, the other night before Mrs Whittle brought Alfie over. I wanted to bring you up to the roof terrace and get down on one knee and ask you to marry me… I even have the ring from my mother's engagement. I mean, you always say that we'll get married one day, just like Viridina and the knight and I just… I think that that moment's arrived. I want to spend my whole life with you, you know, every single moment… just the two of us, you know I'm supposed to live at the Manor because I'm the only heir, but I'd like to get a house somewhere and live with you without anybody else… Of course, your mother has already assured me that she'll come over every day and that we'll have to come here for dinner every night, but still… at least we could sleep alone without worrying about anybody in the house… until we've got children at least… I love you Lily… I… I think I'm asking you to marry me right now, I don't have the ring with me, but I can't wait for you to see it. It's beautiful, okay not as beautiful as you are, but still…"

When she still wouldn't reply, he stretched a hand to her shoulder to try to make her acknowledge his presence. "Lily…" he murmured as his hand sunk into an exceptionally soft body.

Too soft.

Scorpius furrowed his brow as he moved away the blankets and stared at… pillows. A pile of pillows stacked neatly under the covers to look like a body and enchanted to breathe like a person.

"Blood hell, Lily!" cursed Scorpius quietly. He lightened his wand and looked for the room. Lily's broom was missing. Merlin!

She… she was gone.

Scorpius had just asked to a pile of pillows to marry him and his girlfriend was gone on Merlin only knew what kind of foolish mission.

He stood up and pushed his feet back into his shoes. Oh, but he knew what mission… he knew perfectly well where she had gone, and when he found her once again, he would have been the one to give her the silent treatment.

He walked out of her room and padded down the corridor to Albus' room. He didn't even knock before pushing the door open.

"Hey! I'm naked!" complained Albus, covering himself with a big onesie covered in flying Snitches.

Scorpius ignored him. "Your sister's gone."

"What?" spluttered Albus, the onesie falling to the floor and leaving him completely nude. "Someone came? I didn't hear anything! How did they get in? Fuck!"

"No, she's gone of her own volition," replied Scorpius darkly, averting his eyes from his friend. "Get dressed, I think she's gone to the Toots."

Albus grabbed his uniform. "She's crazy," he grunted, "she's crazy. When we find her I'm going to punish her. I'm going to lock her in her room and not let her get out of there until she is eighty."

"You're not her father," pointed out Scorpius, but having Lily locked up in a room until she was eighty was actually not a bad idea.

"Well, wait till I tell my father—"

"You can't do that now," he told him, "he's going to flip out. Let's go, let's go and get her, let's pretend to arrest her if she's broken into the house and then let's bring her home and tell your parents." He darkened. "I'm looking forward to hearing them scream at her."

Albus nodded. "Let's go," he replied, and as they walked on tiptoes down the stairs and pushed the front door open to get to a place where they could Apparate, Scorpius wished fervently that nothing bad had happened to her.

Author's Notes: Hmm, yes, in case you were wondering, Lily has some powers à la Ariana Dumbledore. It's another partying gift from Nott... At least here she could use them at her own advantage, right? Any thoughts on that subplot? Do you like it? Also, here you go! Scorpius just proposed! Aren't you happy? LOL!