Author's Note: Please, please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts so far.

Scorpius was nervous. Steve glanced at the man he been dating for the better part of a few months and gave him a smile, resting a hand on his shoulders. "I can deal with a bit of an inquisition. Your dad seemed nice."

"It's not my father I'm worried about." He sighed. "My mother will attempt to tear you to shreds only using a few words, and very pointed glances."

"I promised to take it slow, maybe we are moving—"

"No, no…" Scorpius waved the idea away. "She could care less that you're a man. She's been trying to fix me up with his pure blooded girls from families with good names that she's been associated with since before I was born. At school she would use to write me letters and tell me how nice a girl was and that she'd be coming to our Christmas ball…"

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"I was dating someone at the time and told mother she was coming." He ran a hand through his hair and looked over Steve. Miracously, Scorpius had been able to wrangle him into something that looked like it hadn't seen a construction sight. The dress robes were simple and dark grey in color. He had foregone a tie, but Scorpius let it slide. The two walked side by side into the Malfoy manor, Steve looked around taking in the paintings and various antiques that dotted the place. He seemed particularly enchanted by the staircase. Scorpius watched in amusement as he ran his hands up and down the banister, taking it all in.

"The architecture of this is amazing," he said. "Sorry, but I've been excited about seeing this place ever since you said where your parents lived."

"Don't apologize, it's always nice having someone admiring the place. Although, can you please try and compliment some of the furnishings? Astoria's business is about antiques and she always likes it when someone tells her how complimentary they are." Draco stood in the door way, looking over the man who had no frozen. "We have met, you were at my son's desk a few weeks ago."

"Yes, sir," he responded. "Nearly had to drag him out of the office, he never leaves."

"I know, his mother and I were afraid something was going on with him and that that Weasley girl."

"Father, I'm right here."

"I know. Honestly, she's fine, clever and persistent, but have you met her father?" Draco let out a shudder. "He owns a joke shop, used to send Potter some of his merchandise and not warn him about the contents."

"Fascinating," Scorpius replied dryly. "Where is mother I'm sure she'll want to begin the interrogation quickly."

"Should have argued with Potter when I heard he was placing you with Weasley, her cheek has gotten to you."

"It wasn't Roxie." He gives his father a pointed stare and knows exactly what is flitting through his mind.

"Let's go get drinks before dinner," Draco said and gestured before leading the two towards the sitting room where Astoria was seated on one of the couches, a nearly full glass in her hand. "Look who I found in the foyer."

"I was admiring the architecture and how well the antiques matched the period, ma'am." He took a step away from Scorpius and held out a hand towards Astoria Malfoy.

"Different than I expected," she said to him. "Nonetheless it is nice to meet you. Sit…" She gestured to a loveseat where Scorpius was already occupying half. "What would you like to drink?"

Scorpius knew that Steve's drink of choice was either a porter or amber ale if he had anything alcoholic. He despised wine and one only have a glass of mead on occasion. "I'll have a mead, does that sound alright to you?" Scorpius asked, Steve nodded and then Draco lifted his wand, barely murmuring a spell before two glasses floated towards them.

"He seems desirable Scorpius, what is your occupation?" she questioned.

"Construction, building houses and things like that." He looks down at the glass in his hand, takes a drink and then looks back up. "My passion is restoration."

"A man after my own heart." Astoria Malfoy laughs, actually lets out a laugh that seems to be of joy and not mockery. "This I can work with. The profession is not ideal, but not dangerous." A devious smile crosses her face. "Good choice Scorpius."

He opens his mouth, but no words come as he looks over Steve. Steve with his open, honest face and bright blue eyes. He reaches towards Scorpius and pats his knee with a work roughened hand… How on earth did he manage to charm his parents? Lily Potter couldn't do it. Hell, his mother didn't even like Ophelia all that much…or so it seemed when they interacted.

"However, I wonder if you can deal with the pressure." She swirled the wine in her glass around. "It's all fine and dandy that the two of you are together and happy with whatever you have, but you need to realize something." She set her glass down on the table as she rose to her feet. "The second the media catches wind of this and they have nothing better to report the two of you are going to be fodder." She fixes her eyes on Steve. "You should come out unscathed as long as your history isn't unsavory, however, I doubt my son will."

"Astoria, please…" Draco said as he reached for his wife. She tore her hand away and he got to his feet with a thinly veiled glare in her direction. "Let's eat." He walked out of the room Astoria fixing him with her famous look that appeared as if she was rolling her eyes without actually completing the action. She followed him out leaving Scorpius and Steve there.

Scorpius did not say a word, but managed a tense smile before reaching for Steve's arm. He rubbed out up and down it before getting to his feet. "You're doing good," he told his boyfriend.

"You owe me," he said, his eyes had a mischievous glint in them. "Tonight, we can go to my place."

"My parents are in the next room," Scorpius told him, but leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Come on."

Lily set down her wand with a smirk, running her hand through the perfect curls, not too tight, but not quite waves. The dress was high necked, cap sleeved and tightly fitted until the waist where it flowed out freely. Her favorite part of it was how her back was exposed. Her throat tightened when she saw her wand again. It would be best to leave it at home, she usually was able to hide it somewhere on her person, but in a gown with a wrap and a small clutch that held only a few pounds and her ID…She wouldn't be left defenseless, her wandless magic was improving by leaps and bounds, but her spells still weren't as powerful. Michael would laugh at her, thinking she needed protection when she was going to be around hundreds of police officers, but…Muggles scared her. Or at least the visions she was having did. She thought of the auror screaming at the healer that he needed his partner saved, that it was just a muggle, it wasn't a wizard with a killing curse. She gripped the counter and pushed the thoughts of any vision out of her mind.

Slipping her feet into heels she glanced into the mirror one more time before heading into the living room. Her shawl was draped over the couch and she wrapped it around her shoulders looking at the clock. Merlin, why was she so nervous?

"Lily?" Michael called with a knock on the door. She grabbed her clutch and raced over. "Wow…" He smirked at her, one hand tucking his cap under his arm the other hand held out for her.

"Thank you." She smirked and ignored his hand, settling herself under his arm.

"Where did that come from? You definitely don't wear that to work."

"I didn't buy this."

"You do realize you're talking to a cop," he said in her ear.

"Going to arrest me?" She sneaked out from underneath his arm and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Because your handcuffs don't scare me." She let out a laugh. "I borrowed this from my cousin, Dom. She's a reporter and has to go to functions all the time."

"There's a cab waiting for us downstairs, come on."

Lily would have lied if she said she was ashamed for making the poor driver uncomfortable on the way to the ball, but there was something about Michael in that uniform and her nerves that clouded her head. When they got out, Michael kept a hand at the small of her back and paid the driver. Lily thanked him with a shy smile and passed him a tip. As they walked up the steps towards the large building…

"Everyone will love you," he said as they stopped at the front door. He dropped off his jacket and she set her wrap on it. The attendant gave Michael a nod, and then looked over Lily.

"I take it she's not on the force?" he asked.

"No, I'm just doing him a favor." She gave him a wink before Michael curled his arm all the way her waist. "It's just teasing." She kissed him on the cheek and appreciated the beard he had grown. He looked better with it and she may have fussed when the stubble was growing out, but she liked how it felt now.

"Oy, Collins!" A voice shouted and she watched as a man appeared in his dress uniform, but how they laid made Lily flash back to her years at Hogwarts to Jordi and Nott on the train. "Hello, who are you?" One of them asked with a smirk.

"Lily Potter," she replies with a tight smile.

"This is my partner, Eric Henderson," he tells.

"Pleased to finally meet you." His face breaks into a wide grin as he holds out a hand for her to shake. "He's told me quite a bit about you, but I wondered when I'd ever get to meet you."

"I've been reluctant, but he convinced me," she answered and looked at Michael who had loosened his grip and relaxed against her. "My schedule is so crazy that it's hard to make time."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a nurse in an urgent care facility."

"Where do you work? I may be a little more willing to come in for a checkup if you're their."

"Should I be offended or flattered?" she asked, her eyes sparkling as she turned to Michael.

"Shut up." Michael rolled his eyes as he looked at his partner. "A joke between us. Trust me our first impressions of each other weren't the best."

"Wait, are you that…what did you call her 'insufferable' with a 'horrid' friend?"

Lily bit her lip to hold back laughter. "We cleared up that misunderstanding…Can we sit down?" As these words leave her mouth, in the distance she sees a familiar man. A man in a dress uniform with salt and pepper hair with a barrel chest. His eyes are dark and deep, but still welcoming… "Who's that?"

"He's in charge of the entire division, why?"

Lily is clutching her test results as she enters the Ministry. Bursting through the doors of Magical Law Enforcement the receptionists try to stop her. The Potter children have become a regular occurrence again, much like they did before they went to Hogwarts. "Where is my dad?"

"Conference, but—"

Lily's gone in a whirl of red hair and Healer robes. She skitters to a stop just outside the conference room, hearing the voices from the inside. Waiting feels like ages, and she considers waiting, but her exam results are back and she hasn't seen her father in weeks. The door clicks open, wizards and witches from all departments spill out. Her father is talking to an older man in a strange uniform.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" He smiles and holds out his arm for a hug, then quickly leads them off to the side in the direction of his office.

"I got my exam results back and wanted you to be the first to see."

Harry smirks, pulling her close with an arm around her shoulder and then looking at the man. "This is my daughter, Lily, Commissioner."

"Pleased to meet you, now what are those exam results your so excited about?"

"My exit exams for the healer academy."

"Think of it like medical school," Harry tells him. "The equivalent would be a doctor or nurse."

"Admirable profession," he says.

"Thank you, sir."

"I like her, Potter." He laughs and claps Harry on the shoulder. "Thanks for the meeting and the briefing, now who's going to get me out of her."

"Look for Arthur Weasley, you won't be able to miss him," Harry informs him with a chuckle.

"No reason." It was nearly a year ago when she saw him, would he recognize her? "Let's get a drink and sit down." She had to calm down, next to Michael she was just another guest, just another woman with a date. This was something she could do, she did it with Scorpius countless times. So, she let herself sink into that mindset. Talking and working the crowd, never letting a smile leave her face.

By the time they left the event, there was a definite chill in the air. She pulled her wrap tighter and Michael held her close. He kissed her cheek, and she turned into him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. As they were doing this, waiting for a cab, Lily heard what sounded like a click. Michael didn't seem to notice, but when they pulled apart she saw someone with a pass dangling around the neck, holding a camera and a notebook.

"Is the cab here? Maybe we should start walking?"

"Lily it'll be here soon enough, calm down."

"Excuse me, could I ask a question?"

Lily tensed when she saw a woman she had come to hate. Paisley Wells. What on earth was she doing here? But there she stood in a tight fitting black dress, hair pulled back in slick ponytail with almost garish lipstick. "Of course." Lily stood ramrod straight and suddenly felt naked without her wand.

"Are the two of you coming from the fundraiser?" she asked. "I'm supposed to be getting some pictures of the people that went for a story." Paisley held out her camera and before Lily could object, Michael spoke.

"Of course, I saw you in their earlier. Come now, Lily, we are waiting."

She wants to pull away from him, but she knows that Paisley already snapped the picture of them kissing, of their limbs tangled together. Lily poses, her head turned towards the camera with only the slightest upturn of the lips, but Michael looks at her, face broken into a huge grin. "That's perfect, so are you both on the force or—"

"I work for the City of London Police," he explains. "I have since I entered the police force at the age of 18."

"And what about you?"

"I'm a nurse," Lily explains.

"A match made me in heaven…" Paisley is writing when the doors to the building open and out pops Erik.

"Michael, can you come in for a moment? Won't take long."

"Do you mind waiting for the cab?" he asked, turning to Lily.

"Not at all." Lily watches and waits until he is inside before she leans close to Paisley with a scowl on the face. "I swear if you put us in that damn magazine of yours I will—"

"I came to do an article humanizing the sides of politics," Paisley explains. "Part of it is analyzing wizards that chose to lead muggle lives, but I never thought I would find this." She grins. "I came to report an a man that met his wife just after the second war, he was an auror, but left the Ministry to join the police force and marry her. However, your relationship puts an interesting twist on it."

"You can't," she hisses, then bites her lip as her face softens. "I don't want anything to happen to him, he's just a muggle. You've seen what happens when the separationists get upset, you could be putting his life in danger."

"No harm will come of him," Paisley says. "You know I find it interesting that your father is working so very hard to get an integrationist agenda passed and you're dating a muggle."

"Leave my father out of it, he has no idea who I'm dating."

"Oh? Lily Potter afraid to tell her father she's dating a muggle…Interesting angle? Will he be displeased?" Paisley looked up from where she was writing and tilted her head. "Or is that he works for a Ministry and you have a distrust for aurors, a trend that is starting up once again."

"Leave him alone." Her voice is shaky and eyes watery. "He's a good man, but—"

"You don't want to tell him, don't want to risk it…It can be hard for aurors to obliviate magic from a muggle's memory without getting rid of the person that it's tied to."

"Whatever you do, don't publish those photos."

"This is a story that needs to be told, Lily. It's not like those fluff piece from before, this is real news. Don't hold an article about you and Malfoy against me."

"No. I'm not even talking about that. If you publish the story, Merlin, I swear that you will wish you ever existed."

"Threatening me? That's not exactly the right route to go…"

"Angering me isn't the right route either," she snapped. "Do you realize who my family is? I'm not even talking about my name, but what they do. My mother is an editor in the most popular wizarding newspaper. My father is head of the auror department, my brother, god brother, and cousin are aurors. My uncle is an ex-auror, my aunt is a lawyer…need I go on?" Lily then turns to the street to see a cab pull beside the curb. She tightens the shawl around her shoulders and races towards it. Michael comes a few moments later to find her with knitted eyebrows and her arms crossed tightly. He tells the driver where to go and apologizes for the delay before turning to her.

"What's wrong? I'm didn't mean to make—"

Lily leans toward him, resting a hand on his chest and taking him in. "No, it's…" I think I could love you. She wants to say the words, but she doesn't know how sure she is. She likes Michael, likes him a lot. He's not perfect by any means, but neither is she. The two of them have misunderstandings, mainly stemming from the fact that she has to keep so much hidden. There is a part of her that wants to give him more, wants to love him because of his honesty and loyalty and kindness. Still, another part of her doesn't know if he is ready, if she is ready, to give her secret to him. When he sees her, he sees Lily. She has to get to know him, he has to get to know her. There are no preconceived notions (at least not ones that he hasn't formed himself) or half tries flying about her.

"Why did you look at the reporter like that?" Michael asked. "You seemed…different tonight."

Lily looked at him and tilted her head. She was in full-on crowd mode, reverting back to who she was when she dated Scorpius. That part of her she didn't realize she changed, the one who used a polite smile as armor. "I don't think you understand."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know her, she's not—" Lily held her tongue. "Just forget it." She leaned against him, going in for a kiss on his cheek. The look he gives her is a blank. They're quiet the rest of the night, until they get to their building.

"You have to tell me sometime." His voice is low as they cross the lobby and head towards the stair case. "I love you, but there are so many things that you tell me to forget, to me that I don't understand…It's getting to be too much."

"You love me?" A coy smile crosses his face as she reaches for his hand.

"Of course that's what you focus on."

"I was thinking that tonight, that I…" She leaves out the words 'think' and 'could' because it would seem like a slap in the face after he so blatantly said it. "Love you."

"Good, because I at least want to meet your family."

When she's alone in her apartment, Lily tries to clear her head, but doesn't keep from panicking. How much longer can she keep this up with Michael?