Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Lily?! What the fuck are you doing in here?!" Al yelped, jumping back and tripping over the bench behind him. "This is the men's changing room!" 

"I'm looking for Scorpius," Lily said nonchalantly. 

"He's in the showers, and you can't be in here!" Al snapped. 

Lily shrugged and ignored him, waltzing through into the showers and looking for a head of white blond hair. Nudity was not something she found particularly shocking. "Scorp?" she called. 

"Lily? What the fuck are you doing in here?" Scorp answered, frowning at her as he lathered shampoo in his hair. He seemed completely unfazed by her presence, something Lily put down to how well he knew her. She wasn't exactly 'normal' if you asked most people. 

"I need to borrow your broom," Lily said, cutting to the chase.

"Is that a euphemism?" Dex Zabini snorted, washing himself off in the stall next to Scorp's. He wiggled his eyebrows at Lily as she shot him a rather unimpressed look. 

"No, it's not a euphemism," she huffed. "I actually need to borrow his broom. It's the fastest one at school." 

"What do you need it for?" Scorp asked, rinsing his hair out. 

"I can't tell you," Lily winced. 

Scorp raised both his eyebrows at her but didn't comment. 

"You do realise this is super fucking weird, right?" Zabini said, shooting her a wicked grin. "I don't understand why you're not more embarrassed..." 

Lily frowned at him. "Why am I supposed to be embarrassed? You do realise that nudity is not inherently sexual. I'm sorry if it bruises your fragile ego but looking at you naked doesn't automatically remind me what it felt like to have your cock shoved up my-"

"Al! How's it going mate?" Scorp cut across her loudly, and pointedly. 

Lily bit down hard on her bottom lip, feeling her cheeks warm as her eyes shut tight. She didn't embarrass easily (obviously) but she wasn't above cringing at herself and wishing she could turn back time either. 

"Now that is an appropriate reaction," Scorp snickered softly, gently flicking the blush on her face. 

Lily grimaced and wiped the water off, huffing at him.

"Lily! Get out of here now!" Al cried, pointing to the door. "Do you know how many people would have a fit if they saw you in here?!"

Lily just shrugged. "Too many to count?" 

Al glared at her. "Yes too many to count!" he snarled. "Why would you even think this is appropriate?!" 

"I need to borrow his broom!" Lily growled back, gesturing to Scorp. 

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Al barked, glaring at her. 

"Merlin almighty! Do you lot spend your entire existence with your head in the gutter?" Lily said. "It means, I need to borrow his broom, Al. That long piece of wood with bristles at the end that flies." 

"Why?" Al asked, extremely confused. 

"She can't say," Scorp said, starting to wash his body. 

"Did you really need to ask about this now?" Al groaned, looking at her irritably. 

Lily shrugged. "Its a matter of urgency."

"Actual urgency or I-probably-could-have-waited-ten-minutes urgency?" Scorp asked, smirking at her. 

Lily chewed on her lip. "The second one." She took a deep breath and carried on all the same. "But, its still urgent! I've got like half an hour to...do a thing...and then...be at a place..."

"Why can't you tell us why you need his broom?" Al asked, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. 

"Paperwork," Lily said. "It would be too much paperwork." 

All three boys frowned at her. Scorp finished up his shower and shut the water off, drying himself off with a towel before wrapping it around his waist and sauntering out into the changing rooms. Lily followed him, Al hissing at her under his breath. 

"So, can I borrow your broom?" Lily asked, coming to stand next to his locker as he pulled out his clothes. 

"The problem I have, Lils, is that you can't fly," Scorp said, smirking at her again. 

"I can fly!" Lily argued, crossing her arms and huffing. 

"You can just about get a broom to lift off the ground," Scorp said. "That's not flying. Not to mention that you're total shit with a wand, so you can't cast any spells that would protect you or the broom if you crashed. Which you inevitably will." 

Lily muttered something under her breath and shuffled about on the spot in frustration. "I can fly perfectly well enough to...do the thing...that I need to do..." 

"If the thing you need to do is break my broom and yourself, you're not wrong," Scorp said. 

"Oh come on Scorp! Please!" Lily cried, shaking her hands together pleadingly. 

Before Scorp could answer, another voice rang out across the changing rooms and Lily scrunched her face up. It wasn't that she didn't like her cousin, it was just that her cousin didn't like her.

"Al! Are you done yet?!" Rose Weasley shouted from the doorway. 

"That is normal," Dex said as he brushed passed Lily, pointing at the doorway. 

"Normal is overrated," Lily muttered. 

"I'm nearly ready Rose, give me a second, I'm just trying to get Lily out of here!" Al called back.

Lily groaned and her shoulders slumped as she heard Rose's footsteps on the tiled floor. Scorp had pulled on a pair of boxers and Al was half dressed already, but Dex was completely starkers. Rose squealed and turned around as soon as she saw their different states of disarray. 

"Lily!" she shrieked. "What are you doing?!" 

"I'm trying to persuade Scorp to lend me his broom," Lily said, rolling her eyes. 

That was enough for Rose to suddenly get over her embarrassment because she turned around pretty quick at that.

"But you can't even fly!" she snapped. 

"I can fly. I've been practicing," Lily said. 

Rose immediately turned to Scorpius. "You'd better not let her borrow your broom," she said. "She'll kill herself."

"She is still in the room," Lily huffed. 

"What's it to you, Weasley," Scorp muttered. "Who I lend my broom to has nothing to do with you."

"You cannot be serious!" Rose replied hotly. "You know how terrible Lily is at anything that requires magic! I don't understand how she's not a bloody squib. And you're going to let her get on your broom?!" 

"I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that you think this has anything to do with you, to be honest," Scorp shot back, scowling at her. 

"She's my cousin, you wanker," Rose growled. "I'm worried about her safety." 

"Really? That's a first," Scorp scoffed. 

Rose squealed again, this time out of frustration. Lily rolled her eyes and watched them bicker. It was something they always did. She was wondering when they'd just fuck and get it over with. 

"So, your broom? I can borrow it, right?" Lily asked, nudging Scorp with her elbow. 

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he said, shaking his head and continuing his argument with Rose. 

It wasn't until Lily was halfway down to the broom shed, wide smile on her face, that he managed to catch up to her. She shrieked as he looped his arm around her waist and hauled her off her feet, twisting her around and standing between her and the shed. 

"Scorpius!" Lily huffed. 

"That was sneaky and you know it!" he snapped, glaring at her. His shirt was still open and several girls giggled as they walked past them. He huffed and waved his wand, the buttons doing themselves up.

Lily just shrugged. "Its not my fault that you and Rose are so consumed by each other that you don't notice what's going on around you," she said, smirking at him. 

Scorpius scrunched his face up in disgust. "I do not get consumed by your cousin." 

"If you don't want to shag her, why does she get to you so much?" Lily asked, frowning. 

"Because she has a holier-than-thou attitude and she always thinks she's right," Scorp said. "I want to bring her down a peg or two."

Lily snorted. "I'ts Rose. Her parents tell her the sun shines out of her arse and so does most of the wizarding world. Your efforts are futile and you're only wasting your own energy. Let it the fuck go, because I can guarantee you it'll piss her off more if you stop arguing and just ignore her." 

Scorpius looked at her with wide eyes, like she'd just spewed out more sense than he thought she was capable of. 

"About the broom..." she said, looking hopefully up at him. 

He chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. You're not borrowing it. But I'll give you a ride, if you want?" 

Lily groaned. "I don't have much of a choice at this point."

Scorp grinned. He rubbed his hands together and turned towards the shed. "So, where are we going?"

"There's a cave halfway up a mountain near Hogsmeade. I have to meet my Uncle Charlie there with a dragon egg in about twenty minutes," Lily said with a sigh, following him. 

Scorpius stopped and turned to look at her in shock. "A dragon egg?"

Lily nodded. 

"Where are you getting the dragon egg from?" Scorp asked. 

"The forbidden forest," she said. "My friend Kevin found it in there. Charlie reckons there's a dealer ring around these parts and the egg was dropped in transit. He's got the ministry looking into it, but for now we need to get the egg to safety."

Scorp blinked at her. "Who's Kevin? I don't know of any students called Kevin."

"Kevin isn't a student. He's...well...he's an acromantula. And he lives in the forest. I bring him sweets and read him books." Lily knew how nuts she sounded. She really did. But she really wasn't normal, and in the best way. 

Scorp cleared his throat. "You need to drop a dragon egg to your Uncle Charlie that your acromantula friend found in the Forbidden Forest, likely dropped there by some kind of dealer?" 

Lily nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Right...shall we get going then," Scorp said, his voice cracking in disbelief. 

Lily sniggered. "You okay there Scorpius?"

Scorpius just stared at her for a moment. "You know Lily, sometimes, you just blow my fucking mind," he said softly. He shook his head, a tiny smile on his face, and turned back to the shed, going to get his broom. 

Lily gaped at his back as he went. No one ever really paid her compliments. Especially not compliments like that. A wide grin formed on her lips and she felt a rare flash of pride as she waited for Scorp to come back with his broom. It still wouldn't quit as she climbed on the back of it, ready to take flight.

"You're going to have to give me directions as we go," Scorp said, twisting to talk to her over his shoulder. 

Lily nodded and pointed in the direction of the forest. She shuffled forward so she could peer over his shoulder, her whole body squished flat against his back as she looped an arm around his waist. He seemed to tense up for a second before kicking off, relaxing again as the broom shot through the air. Lily mumbled directions into his ear as he flew above the trees, pointing to the spot where she was meeting Kevin as they passed it.

Scorp lowered the broom and Lily jumped off as they neared the ground. She whistled softly and then called for Kevin. She smirked as Scorp went very still and very rigid, listening to the pitterpatter of not-so-small feet. 

Kevin bounded into the clearing, took one look at Scorp and jumped back, hissing at him. 

"Kevin! Calm down! He's with me," Lily said, stepping in front of the large spider and putting herself in between the two of them. Scorp looked like he might faint. 

"You said you'd always be alone," Kevin growled. 

"Yeah, well, that was before I knew I needed to get a dragon egg to the top of a mountain on a broom that I can't fly," Lily said flatly. 

Kevin seemed to think on this for a moment before warily backing down. His aggressive stance became somewhat passive for a spider. Lily reached out to stroke his leg, smiling at him. 

"Who is he?" Kevin asked, a frown on his spidery face. 

"His name is Scorpius. He's Al's best friend. He's got the fastest broom at Hogwarts," Lily explained.

"Technically, Rose has the same broom," Scorp muttered, still looking at Kevin with an expression of abject horror. 

"Rose is a bitch," Kevin said. "I'm a vegetarian and I'd probably still eat her if I could..." 

Lily rolled her eyes. "She's not that bad. She's just intense. And not very nice about it."

"No, she's a total bitch," Scorp said, siding with Kevin. "Especially to you."

Lily shrugged. That much was true but if she let it get to her, she'd drown in it. Rose had always hated her for some reason and Lily had no idea why. 

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about Rose. We're here for the egg," Lily said. "Have you still got it, Kevin?" 

Kevin looked between Lily and Scorpius. "You trust him?" he asked, nodding at Scorp. 

Lily sighed and nodded back. "He wouldn't be here if I didn't." 

Kevin seemed to think for a second before scuttling off and retrieving the dragon egg. He passed it to Lily and she tucked it into the bag slung over her shoulder, wrapping it in the blankets she'd brought with her. 

"Thanks Kevin," she said. "My Uncle Charlie says thanks, too." 

Kevin nodded again. "Are you going to come back and finish Good Omens soon? I want to know what happened to the angel..." 

Lily chuckled. "Me too. I'll come back in a day or two, and I'll bring jelly babies with me." 

"Yes!" Kevin hissed triumphantly and did an excited little jiggle on the spot. 

"Right, we need to get going. Charlie won't be long now and I want to make sure we don't miss him," Lily said. 

Scorpius nodded and settled himself back on the broom. This time he gestured for Lily to sit in front of him, pulling her back into his chest as she sat down on the broom. She frowned at him as she looked over her shoulder. 

"I don't know where we're going and its not easy taking directions from behind me," Scorp answered before she'd even voiced her question. 

"Fair enough," she said with a shrug, gripping hold of the broomstick tight as Scorp kicked off the ground. There was something steadying, having him in front of her. She liked being able to hold onto him. She didn't like being at the front.

"Right, see you around Kevin," Scorp called, waving to the giant spider. "It was good to meet you."

Kevin just grumbled in response. 

"See you later Kevin!" Lily cried, waving at him too as Scorp started their ascension. 

All the air left her lungs as they flew out of the forest again and towards the mountain Lily pointed them at. The broom really was very fast and the speed they were flying made her grip on the broom tighten even more. 

She heard Scorp sigh and mutter something under his breath before shuffling carefully towards her and looping an arm around her waist, pulling her back into him. 

"Better?" he asked, his voice suddenly sliding into her ear and down her spine. 

Lily had to admit she felt safer, but she wasn't sure better was the right word when it sent oddly erotic little shivers through her body. She nodded, not really trusting her voice. Never in her life had Scorpius ever had that affect on her. Ever.

She pointed the broom at the little cave where they were set to meet Charlie and Scorp followed through, resting his chin on her shoulder. It sent strange little sparks to places it shouldn't and her heart started beating a mile a minute. She hopped off the broom like it was on fire once he'd landed it, desperately trying to work out whether she was more or less turned on than embarrassed. 

"Are you okay?" Scorp asked, frowning at her. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, a high-pitched squeak to her voice that made her cringe. 

A wicked little smirk stole across Scorp's lips as he looked at her with an amused frown. "You look flustered..." 

Lily huffed. "I'm not flustered. Why the fuck would I be flustered? I stood and had an entire conversation with you butt naked..." she muttered, confused by the whole thing. "Surely if I was going to get flustered around you, at any point, ever, that would be the time to do it?" She looked up at him, unsure. 

Scorp snorted. "Are you actually asking?" 

Lily huffed again. "No," she said. "I'm thinking out loud." 

"Well, I'm thinking that you get turned on having someone whisper in your ear," he snickered. 

Lily glared at him. "Its not my fault that your voice sounds like silk when it's that close," she grumbled. 

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Holy shit, are you actually admitting that you're turned on?!" 

Lily groaned, and scrunched her face up. "No. At least, not anymore," she said. "I think I just wasn't expecting you to be able to pull that kind of reaction out of me. It's never occurred to me to look at you that way." 

Scorp smiled. "Same. Although, you're making it way too fucking easy to rethink that today," he said with a smirk. 

Before Lily could respond to that, a silvery little dragon shot out of the sky towards them and landed in front of her.

"Sorry, Lily, but you're going to have to meet me in the sky," Charlie's voice said. "The dragon we're moving is rather problematic at best and I can't leave the group." 

"Shit," Lily muttered as the patronus disappeared. 

Scorpius climbed back on the broom and Lily settled herself back in front of him again. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back into him, like before. 

"I didn't want you to fall," he hummed softly in her ear. 

Lily gave him a flat look over her shoulder and was met with a teasing grin. She rolled her eyes and faced forwards, acutely aware of a shift in their dynamic. She had no idea what he was playing at, but he could play it by himself for now. 

After a minute or two they breached the clouds above them and were met with an angry dragon twisting and turning irritably in it's magical bindings. 

Charlie Weasley shot towards her, a pained expression on his face. "Chuck me the egg, Lils. I can't lose my control on this one so its gonna have to be a hi and bye thing. Sorry..." 

Lily just shook her head and handed her bag over to her Uncle. "Its cool Uncle Charlie. I get it." She looked past him to the raging beast that was only just contained, feeling sad for the creature. As her eyes raked over it a feeling of familiarity washed over her and then all of a sudden she realised she knew exactly who the beast was. 

"Is that Masha?!" Lily cried. "From the small wildlife reserve down in Cornwall?"

Charlie nodded, frowning at her. "How'd you know her?"

"I spent nearly my entire summer with her last year and I went back for a few days over Christmas," Lily explained, her eyes scanning the dragon. "I didn't know they were moving her..." she hummed sadly. 

"Well, she's not very happy about it," Charlie grumbled. 

"I'm not surprised," Lily said. "She hates magic. It makes her itch and gives her sores. You'd have been better off transferring her in an actual crate."

Charlie's face looked like thunder. "Why the fuck wasn't I told that?!" he snapped at the sky. 

Lily shrugged. "Because hardly anyone on the that reserve knows what the fuck they're doing," she said. 

Charlie groaned. "This is going to be a really shit ride, isn't it?"

Lily winced but nodded. 

Suddenly, Masha roared, the sound practically deafening them all. Her wings pushed against the magic that was constricting her and she twisted and turned, trying to free herself. Charlie immediately turned back to the dragon, desperately trying to get her under control using as little magic as possible. 

Lily couldn't sit back and just watch. She had to do something. The poor animal was in distress and she needed to help her. She gripped the broom tightly and manoeuvred it so she was sat facing the dragon, her snout a few inches from Lily and Scorp. She blew out a puff of angry, irritated smoke as she struggled some more, this time actually managing to free her tail, swiping at the team of wizards flying around her. 

Lily unwrapped Scorp's arm from around her waist, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on Masha. 

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Scorp hissed in her ear. There was no softness to it this time, or teasing. He sounded halfway petrified.

As Lily lifted herself off the broom and stepped onto Masha's snout, Charlie yelled at her from the tail end. Lily ignored him and ran up the dragon's nose, skidding to a halt and dropping to her knees. She pressed her forehead against the scales of Masha's brow and started to sing. 

"Aerials, in the sky, when you lose small mind you free your life..." Lily kept her eyes closed and concentrated only on Masha, who'd immediately stilled beneath her. "Aerials, so up high, when you free your eyes, eternal prize."

She sung the same two lines several more times and then hummed the tune for a bit before leaning back and shuffling around so she could look in one of Masha's eyes. "I didn't know they were moving you, I'm sorry," Lily said. "I'd have told you. And I wouldn't have let them use magic." 

Masha grumbled and blew out another puff of smoke. Lily smiled and scratched her nose. 

"If you can behave, I'll come and see you next time I'm not at school," Lily said. 

Masha hummed and blinked. 

"My Uncle Charlie works at your new home," Lily explained, waving at Charlie to come and join her. "Masha, this is Charlie. Charlie, Masha," she said, introducing them. 

Masha narrowed her eyes but stared at him. 

"I'm sorry Masha. I didn't know magic hurt you," he said, his voice full of remorse. "There's not much I can do about it now, but it won't take long to get you home, and I promise we'll use the bare minimum to get you there."

Masha huffed, another cloud of smoke puffing out of her nostrils. Her glare didn't waver. 

Lily cleared her throat and gently tapped her nose with the heel of her boot. "Mash, he's one of the good ones," she said.

Masha just glared at Lily. 

Lily folded her arms and shot the dragon an incredibly flat look. "You can bitch about it all you want but the fact of the matter is that the more you struggle, the more magic they have to use. You know that. You're not stupid."

Masha growled and shook her head as best she could, causing Lily to squeal and slip off her nose. She caught hold of the ridge that ran along it and pulled herself back up, scowling at the dragon. 

"That was petty and you know it," she said. 

Masha looked completely unashamed. 

Lily stood up on Masha's nose and scratched between her eyes. After a few seconds, the dragon began to purr and Lily laughed. 

"Right Mash, I've got to go before me and Scorp end up outside our own country. Be good for my Uncle, yeah?" she said. 

Masha whined. 

"I mean it. Don't be a bitch. He'll find you something nice to eat to make it all up to you if you're nice," Lily said, giving her a final scratch. "I'll come see you in a couple of weeks. If he tells me you were a diva the whole way there, I won't bring you anymore of those songs that you like." 

If dragons could pout, that was exactly what Masha was doing. She blew out one last puff of smoke and gave Lily a final grumble.

"Good girl," Lily smiled. 

"What kind of songs does she like?" Charlie asked as Lily climbed back onto the broom in front of a bewildered Scorpius. 

"Metal," Lily said.

Charlie scoffed and shook his head. "Please tell me you're joining the ranks when you finally get out of school?" 

Lily snorted. "You're kidding me, right? Do you know what kind of grades you need to do what you do?"

"What I do can't be learnt," Charlie said with a frown. "Its all instinct, which you have." 

"Yeah, tell that to the Ministry and a fuck ton of other officials who feel like my ability with a wand is the only thing that carries any bloody weight," Lily muttered. 

Charlie huffed. "I'm going to talk to someone Lily because you'd be fucking wasted anywhere else." 

Lily smiled and shrugged. "Thanks and good luck. Let me know how it goes."

Charlie shook his head, his irritation with the system written all over his face. "See you later. I'll write and let you know how Masha and the egg gets on. Thanks for the help, but you guys need to go. Now."

Lily nodded and she felt Scorp do the same from behind her, both of them dropping away from the team and the dragon as they flew back down below the clouds. 

They'd actually travelled a fair distance and it took them a few minutes to get their bearings and find the cave again. Lily climbed off the broom as Scorp touched ground. 

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Scorp exploded. "What possessed you to climb on a motherfucking dragon in midair whilst it was having a tantrum?!"

Lily just shrugged. "I was fairly sure I could stop the tantrum, thus making life easier for everyone." 

"You're fucking nuts Lily!" Scorp cried, looking like he was on the brink of some existential crisis. "Fairly sure? No one does that unless they're sure sure. Like, 100% sure sure!" 

"That's not true," she said, trying not to smirk at him in amusement. He was quite cute when he was panicking. "I do it, so its not no-one. And Uncle Charlie does too, amongst other keepers I know." 

Scorp looked at her for a moment, an expression Lily couldn't quite make out flickering across his face. "I need a drink," he finally said. 

"Okay," she said. "We could go to the Hog's Head?" 

Scorp scrunched his face up. "Are you insane? They'll report us for skipping school." 

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's not what you know, it's who you know. Abe gets me. We'll be fine. He'll even ply us with firewhiskey." 

Scorp blinked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Are you shitting me?" 

Lily shook her head. "No." 

"I just...how are you not the most popular person in school?" Scorp asked, peering at her like she was a puzzle he couldn't work out.

Lily laughed out loud and shook her head in amusement at him. "Because I can't make a wooden stick jizz sparkles any time I want." 

Scorp snorted. "I don't even know what to say to that..." 

Lily smirked at him again, and tipped her head in the direction of Hogsmeade. "Shall we go get that drink?" she asked. 

Several hours later, the two of them had polished off a whole bottle of firewhiskey between them and were half cut. Lily's face was flushed from the alcohol, and she'd been laughing hard all evening. 

"We should probably get back to the castle," Scorp said, chuckling as he knocked back the last of his firewhiskey. He'd spent the evening leaning up against the wall, twisting in his seat to look at her, one arm slung lazily across the top of the bench and the other sprawled along the edge of the table. 

Lily nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose." She shuffled around on the bench they were sharing, trying not to grimace. 

"How come you stay when you don't have to?" he asked, peering at her. "I mean, I know you wouldn't have been able to keep your wand but...if school makes you that miserable why are you still here?"

Lily just shrugged and chewed on her lip. "I don't know. I think because my parents made a pretty decent point when they said it would help if I could keep my wand, despite the fact that I don't really use it." 

"So you just decided to repeat your fifth year of school until you pass?" Scorp said. 

Lily shook her head. "Nearly everyone stays on to do their N.E.W.Ts so I figure I'll repeat it twice and if I still don't have enough O.W.Ls to keep my wand, I just don't keep it."

"Can you even work in the wizarding world without a wand?" Scorp said. 

"I don't know," Lily mumbled, her heart sinking a little bit. "I don't actually think so. Even basic jobs require wand magic." She sighed and scraped her hands down her face. "But then, Hagrid doesn't have a wand and he works at Hogwarts. Same as Mr Filch. So I'm sure there must be some stuff I can do..."

Scorpius frowned at her. "But you like magical creatures? Surely you'd be better off in a job geared up for that?"

Lily shrugged. "I'm a liability without a wand. I can't cast protective or defensive spells. I'm not half-giant like Hagrid so its not like I've got extra thick skin or something..." She sighed, the sound almost wistful. "No one in their right mind would hire a witch who couldn't protect themselves or their co-workers from magical creatures at their worst." 

Scorp shook his head. "I just don't see how that's fair. You did more with that dragon today than anyone flying around up there with a wand." 

Lily just gave him a half-hearted smile. "It is what it is, though. If Masha had broken free, I'd have been pretty useless." 

"Not useless. Just because you can't use a wand very well, doesn't mean you don't have magic, Lily," Scorp argued. 

"I know I have magic. I wouldn't be at Hogwarts if I didn't have magic," she said. "Its just I don't have a whole lot of it..."

"That's bullshit," Scorp snapped. "Every witch and wizard I know can wave a wand and do something with it. I haven't met many who can make friends with an acromantula or call an angry dragon a bitch and not get roasted." 

"That's not magic, Scorp," Lily said, her expression pained. "That's just...intuition. Instinct. Feeling. A connection to the things around you and the creatures you meet. Its not magic." 

"Well, it fucking looks like magic if you ask me," he said. 

Lily shrugged. "Well unfortunately, no one is asking you."

Scorp snorted and rubbed his hands down his face. "It fucking sucks." 

Lily laughed. "Welcome to my life." She poured the last little bit of firewhiskey down her throat and smiled. 

Scorp looked up at her through his lashes and chewed on his lip. He took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Any chance you'll let me stay in it?" 

Lily stared at him, not sure she'd heard him right. "What?" 

"Any chance I can stay in it? Your life?" Scorp said again, shuffling in his seat and shooting her a sheepish look. "Its pretty extraordinary, Lily, and I kind of like the front row seats."

Lily didn't know what to say to that. She also couldn't work out if he was into her, or into her adventures. "Sure..." she answered, frowning at him and attempting to work it out. 

"What?" Scorp asked, frowning back at her, a little smirk on his face. 

Lily shook her head. "Nothing. Its nothing," she said, fighting hard not to smirk back at him. She lost, and the moment was glorious. It was as though they were both daring each other to make a move. 

"Come on," Scorp chuckled, his cheeks red with the firewhiskey as he reached out and nudged her playfully. "What is it?"

Lily laughed and shook her head again. "I'm just trying to figure you out, that's all."

"Figure me out?" Scorp snorted. "Why?" 

Lily shrugged and bit down hard on her lip. She hated playing cat and mouse games. Subtlety was not her strong suit, so she just decided to be blunt. "You've spent all day confusing the shit out of me with random one-liners and I don't know why. I don't even know if you know you're doing it." 

Scorp almost choked, but he was still grinning at her. "You're so unlike anyone I've ever met, Lily." 

"See! Like that!" she cried, laughing and pointing at him. 

Scorp shook his head, an amused but rather incredulous look on his face. He shot her a wicked little half grin. "I know I'm doing it," he said. "I know I'm doing it." 

Lily frowned at him even harder now. "But why?" 

"I refuse to believe you're that oblivious," he scoffed. 
Lily gaped at him. "You like me?"

He nodded. "I like you."

"But why? And why didn't you just fucking say something?!" she cried, still incredibly confused. 

"Because I was doing that thing that normal people do where they flirt and smile at one another in an attempt to test the waters and see if the feeling is mutual," he said. 

"Newsflash, Scorpius, I'm not fucking normal," Lily said. She stared at him for a moment and then laughed, shaking her head. "You're insane. You're totally fucking insane."

He shrugged and smiled at her. It was a smile that said he couldn't care less. A smile that said he didn't give a shit. 

Lily slouched back against her chair, still grinning at him. "They'll crucify you, you know that right? All of them. The entire student body. The press. The whole wizarding world. They'll absolutely crucify you." 

Scorpius frowned at her and lent forward. "For what?"

"Being with me," she said. 

Scorp blinked. "Being with you?" A smile slowly spread out across his face. "You like me too?" 

Lily groaned but nodded. "I like you too."

Scorpius snickered. "Don't sound so enthused." 

Lily snorted. "Sorry. Its just...I haven't done anything like this in a while." 

"While we're cutting to the chase, what is this?" Scorp asked. 

Lily looked up at him and chewed her lip. "I don't really know. What do you want it to be?"

He chuckled. "I can't be the only one deciding that." 

Lily stared at him for a little bit, her eyes travelling across his face and taking in all the details. He really was absolutely stunning. "I want..." She laughed as a single thought popped into her head. "I want to kiss you." 

Scorpius grinned and lent even further forwards. He moved along the bench towards her, sliding his hand across her cheek as he brought his lips to hers. The minute they touched, it was like the world exploded. 

Lily kissed him like she'd never kissed anyone else before. She found herself lost in him, and it was so right. His tongue slipped past her lips and she smiled as she tangled her own with his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself into him, practically sitting on his lap as she kissed him soundly. 

They spent several minutes lost in each other's embrace before Scorpius pulled back, a soft smile on his face as he looked at Lily through half-lidded eyes. 

"We really need to get back," he murmured. "And then we need to talk." 

"About what?" Lily asked innocently. 

"This," he said, gesturing between them. 

"While we're cutting to the chase," Lily said, smirking as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck, "what is this?" 

Scorpius growled and kissed her again, hard.

Lily laughed. 

"This is me and you," Scorp said, "and no one else."

Lily kissed him softly again. "So, you want to be my boyfriend?"

Scorp nodded. "And I want you to be my girlfriend."

Lily chewed on her lip a little bit as she stared at him. "Are you sure?" she said. "Are you sure that's what you want? You don't want to go on a few dates first-"

"No, I don't," he said, shaking his head. "I don't need a few dates to know who you are or how you make me feel."

Lily shuffled uncertainly. "Scorpius..." she sighed. She didn't want to go all in and have him running away from her the minute he realised her crazy ran deeper than just one weird-ass day. Guys always seemed super interested in her until they realised she didn't have 'quirks', she had a fucking personality.

"Lily," he said, softly gripping her chin and tilting it upwards so she'd look him in the eyes. "I can't say I've always wanted this, so I understand your hesitation. But I can tell you that I've spent more time around you already than any asshole guy who gave up on you because they were too stupid to see what they had." 

Lily pursed her lips. She knew he had a point, but she didn't like conceding it. "Scorp, spending time with me surrounded by family and mutual friends is not the same thing as dating me," she said. "Its not the same thing as one-on-one time. There'd be no buffer..."

"Good, because I don't want one," he said. 

"Scorpius-" 

He cut her off with a kiss and actually pulled her into his lap this time. His tongue delved into her mouth and his hands ran up her sides and came to fist in her hair. It was exhilarating. He kissed her like he wanted to consume her. 

"I don't have any doubts, Lily," he mumbled against her lips. "But if you don't want me referring to you as my girlfriend, now's the time to say..." 

Lily closed her eyes and leant her forehead against his. "I swear to Merlin, Scorpius, if you dump me in a week because you can't take it, I'll set Kevin on you," she whispered. 

Scorpius laughed. "Deal," he said, ducking his head to recapture her lips. He kissed her softly this time. Slow and sweet. Lily could feel it in her toes. 

He broke away, smiling and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears. "We need to get back."

She nodded. "I know. Besides, if Abe catches us making out, he'll kick us out anyway."

Scorp laughed and helped her up off his lap. He took her hand and gently led her towards the door, both of them waving at the scowling barman as they left. 

Lily climbed back onto the front of Scorp's broom. He kicked off and they shot into the air, his arm coming to wrap around her waist again. She liked the weight of it there.

Something about having him so close just felt right. She found herself leaning into him, her back settling against his chest, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. She just hoped he didn't break her heart, because he was the first guy she'd dated that actually could. 

As they neared the castle, he bent his head to murmur in her ear. "All the external doors will be shut and locked now," he said. "How are we going to get back in?" 

"Gryffindor tower," she said. "The common room window should be open, especially at this time of year." 

Scorpius nodded and steered the broom around towards the tower, following Lily's finger as she pointed it to an open window not far from the top. He swooped through and landed neatly in the middle of the room.

Several people stopped what they were doing to turn and gape at them. Lily slid off the broom, cringing at the attention they'd drawn.

"What the fuck?!" Rose's voice ascended from the silence, her footsteps stomping across the floor until she was stood beside them both. "What the hell is this?" 

"You told me not to let her borrow my broom, so I didn't," Scorp said. 

Rose glared at him. "So what? You just gave her a lift and have been gone over five hours? What happened?!" 

Lily rolled her eyes as Scorp opened his mouth to reply. Back at it again, she couldn't be bothered to try and stop them. As she went to step towards the door of the tower, long fingers wrapped around her wrist and yanked her back into place. 

"Where are you going?" Scorp said, staring down at her with his eyebrows raised. 

"To sort out safe passage from this tower to the dungeons," Lily answered. 

Scorp frowned. "You don't think we're going to get from the top of the castle to the bottom of the castle, without getting caught? At nearly midnight?" 

"I don't think, I know," Lily said.

Scorp stared at her for a minute and then groaned. "Fine. Lead the way," he said, gesturing to the door. 

"You can't be serious?!" Rose snapped. "You're going to let Lily get in trouble just on the off chance that she might know how to get you back safe and sound?" 

Scorpius snorted. "First off, there is no let. Nobody lets Lily do anything," he said. "And secondly, its not an off chance. If she says she's got a way of getting back without getting caught, I trust her." 

Rose scoffed. "She can't even carry out a decent disillusionment charm, and yet you're going to believe in her." She looked at Lily, a harsh smirk on her face. "At least someone does, I suppose," she said haughtily. 

Lily sighed and shook her head. 

"Hey!" Scorp growled. "What the fuck is your problem Rose?! What gives you the right to-"

Lily had gone to walk off again, and again Scorp had stopped her. 

"Would you stop doing that?!" he huffed. "I'm coming!"

"Actually, you're standing in the middle of the Gryffindor common room proving that old habits die hard," Lily said. "I want to sleep at some point tonight because I have an exam in the morning-"

"You've got an exam?!" Both Rose and Scorpius exclaimed. 

"Why didn't you say something hours ago?" Scorp cried. "We're half-fucking-cut!"

"Its no wonder you're total shit at magic when you never put in the time or effort," Rose hissed. "You're so fucking lazy-"

"I tried!" Lily barked quickly, shooting her cousin a vicious glare. "I tried. You know I tried. I tried till it hurt and I couldn't keep trying that hard anymore. Don't ever call me lazy. Not until you've had to find a way to live in a world that doesn't work the same way for you as it does for everyone else." 

Lily cleared her throat and swallowed back her tears. It wasn't often that Rose's nagging or bitching got to her, but every now and again she just hit a nerve and Lily couldn't help but snap at her. The alcohol also didn't help. Or it did, depending on the way you looked at it. 

"I think we should go," Scorp said, barely looking at Rose. He slipped his hand in Lily's and tugged her towards the door. 

"I think you should leave Lily here to get some sleep while you try and get back without getting caught," Rose said primly. "It shouldn't be on her to get you back if you chose to stay out after hours." 

"He's only out after hours because of me," Lily said. "Besides, I've slept in the Slytherin common room plenty of times before. If it takes too long I'll just crash there." 

Rose looked aghast. "You cannot be serious?!"

Lily just shrugged. "I don't understand the problem..."

"You need a proper night's sleep before exams! In a bed!" Rose cried. 

"She can share with me if you're that upset by it Weasley," Scorp snorted. 

Lily shot him a flat look and slapped the back of her hand against his chest. "That's not helping," she muttered.

"Share?!" Rose cried again, even more outraged. "You can't share! You're not a couple. And what would Al say?!" 

Scorpius smirked at her. "We are a couple and Al wouldn't say shit." 

Rose scoffed and shook her head. "No you're not," she said, folding her arms. "That's ridiculous. You're far too good for her." 

Scorpius's amusement fell off his face and his gaze narrowed. 

"She's a wreck of a witch and you're magic incarnate," Rose continued. Lily couldn't say she disagreed with her.

Scorpius growled. "Weasley, I'm warning you. Stop insulting my girlfriend or you and I are going to fall out so hard you won't know what's hit you," he said. 

Rose scrunched her face up in disgust. "What would possess you to stoop so low?" 

Lily saw Scorp's jaw clench and she winced. Anymore words out of Rose's mouth, and Scorp was going to lose it. 

"I told him he was insane," Lily said, tugging on his hand and pulling him towards the door. "I told him no one would take it well, but he wouldn't listen." 

"It takes two people, Lily," Rose snapped. "What the hell do you think you're doing, messing around with Scorpius Malfoy?" 

"I'm not messing around with him," Lily said as she dragged Scorpius across the common room. "I'm dating him. Exclusively."

"Nobody dates Scorpius Malfoy exclusively," Rose scoffed. 

"I do," Lily said, nearly at the door. "Maybe if you concentrated on having fun in your own life instead of policing the fun in other people's, you'd be a lot less uptight." 

"I am not uptight!" Rose shrieked, practically stomping her foot in fury. 

"You're the definition of uptight, Weasley," Scorp chimed in, slinging his arm across Lily's shoulder. 

Rose laughed hotly. "And what exactly makes you so chill Scorpius?" she asked, hands on her hips. 

Scorpius chuckled, smirking wickedly down at Lily. Before she could protest, he had his hands in her hair and his tongue down her throat. Lily was at his mercy, her body doing all kinds of delightfully bizarre things as he devoured her mouth and kissed her like she was the only person in the room. 

Lily broke away as she heard Rose's shrill little scream and shoved Scorpius through the portrait hole as she descended upon them, her face contorted in rage. 

She turned to the Fat Lady, clearing her throat and trying to get a hold of herself. "Liza, please keep Rose inside the common room," Lily asked her politely. "She'll wake the whole castle if you let her out."

"What's got her all riled up?" Liza asked.

Lily hitched her finger at Scorpius. "A man. At least, that's what he claims to be."

"Don't they all dear, don't they all," she tutted, looking at the blonde prat behind her. 

"Hey, she was being a total bitch to you-" Scorp started. 

"She's always a total bitch to me," Lily said, cutting him off. "Snogging me senseless right in front of her face is not going to change that!"

Scorp just grinned. "It was pretty satisfying, though," he said. 

Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. "It was more than satisfying," she said. "But the next time you want to use me to wind my cousin up, I'll break up with you. And you'll never know how good those kisses could get." She kept her eyes on his, unwavering.

Scorp swallowed. "Noted." 

Lily nodded. "Good."

Scorpius cleared his throat. "You know, winding her up was a bonus. I was trying to show her up. I hate the things she says about you." 

Lily sighed, chewing on her lip as she looked at him. "I know," she said, "but...I'm perfectly fine letting Rose run her mouth whenever she wants. She can believe whatever it is she needs to, so she can get through the day. I know my worth. I don't need you or anyone else to bestow it upon me."

"That's not what I meant," Scorp said. 

"I never said you did, but you have to understand that being with you is not going to suddenly change the way everyone sees me," Lily said. "It'll just change the way they all see you." 

Scorp just shrugged. "I don't care."

Lily rolled her eyes again. "I know you don't," she said, the twitch of a smile back on her lips. He was looking at her with that ridiculously cute smirk and she felt her whole body react to it. 

She turned back to the Fat Lady. "Any chance I could get an escort down to the dungeons so we don't get caught by the teachers?" 

Liza smirked at her this time. "Are you coming back?" 

Lily chuckled. "Depends on how long it takes us to get there. I've got an exam in the morning, so I could use at least some sleep." 

Liza looked passed her, at Scorpius. "I don't know, love," she said, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "If you're not getting any sleep with him, I'd say it's probably worth it."

Scorpius sniggered and tipped his head in thanks at the portrait. 

"Don't give him ideas," Lily muttered as he snickered at her. 

Liza laughed. "Give me a second deary, and I'll see what I can do about that escort."

She bustled away into the next painting and wondered further across the walls, chatting softly to several of the other painted occupants. 

"You made friends with the paintings," Scorp said, putting his hands on her hips as he pressed his chest against her back.  

"Is that more or less odd than the acromantula?" she asked, trying to ignore the way her body responded to him. 

"Um..." he hummed purposefully in her ear. "I wouldn't use the word odd. I was thinking more...impressive." 

Lily quirked an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder at him. "Impressive? Why would you call it impressive?" 

"No one has ever managed it before?" he offered. 

"No one has ever tried, and technically, Hagrid was friends with an acromantula, so I'm not the first to do that," she said. 

"Lily, its still fucking impressive," Scorp mumbled. "Have you got any other amazing feats of friendship up your sleeve?" 

Lily snorted. There was one more that she knew would floor him. She cleared her throat. "I spend every Wednesday night playing muggle cards with Mr Filch. Mrs Norris adores me." 

"Yeah, okay," Scorp scoffed. "I was only asking."

"I'm actually telling the truth," Lily said. 

"If you're telling the truth why do we need an escort to the dungeons in order to avoid them?" Scorp countered. 

Lily swung around to face him, looping her arms loosely around his neck. "Because I don't use my friends to do whatever I want, whenever I want to. Mr Filch would lose his job if he let me run around the castle any time I liked, not to mention he's a stickler for the rules, the same as his cat."

"Are you serious? Mr Filch?" he gaped, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

Lily nodded. "He's not so bad once you get to know him."

"He hates everyone," Scorp pointed out.

Lily smirked and shook her head. "He doesn't hate me." 

Scorpius blinked at her. "I think you should be classed as an exception." His eyes flicked down to her lips but he didn't lean in. "Not only are you phenomenally easy to like, you're also not a great example of 'everyone'." 

"Have you ever tried just being nice to him?" Lily asked. 

Scorp shrugged. "It's not like he's ever been nice to me."

Lily looked at him, thinking. He had a point, and she could accept that. She knew Mr Filch well enough to know that he treated everyone with contempt. That what he'd been through in his life had caused him to lash out even before he'd really been provoked. It was hard to trust the world at all when all it did was shun you, and then mock you just for good measure. 

"Well, in that case, I suppose you have to decide if you want to break the cycle," Lily said. "He definitely won't do it-"

"So why should I?" Scorp said. 

"Because you're eighteen," Lily said, threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. "And you haven't spent over sixty years of your life learning that its never worth the effort." 

Scorp frowned at her and she sighed. 

"He's been teased and tormented all his life for being a squib," she said softly. "It doesn't matter what he does, people still laugh at him and pity him and look straight through him. Would you put yourself out there to get hurt like you have a hundred times before? What would be the point in even trying anymore?" 

Scorp's frown eased and he stared at her, chewing on his lip. "No, I suppose I wouldn't," he eventually replied. 

Lily felt a rush of affection for Scorpius. Most people never really listened to her, they just fobbed her off with a nod and a smile. 

Liza suddenly reappeared in her portrait and Lily jumped as she started talking. She whirled around to face her again, clearing her throat for good measure. 

"Follow the candles. If they go out, hide, it means someone is coming," Liza said. "They'll grant you safe passage down to the dungeons. Have fun, dearies," she chuckled.

Lily gave her a quick little bow and thanked her profusely before grabbing Scorp by the hand and following the painted candles in the portraits. 

She kept her eyes on the paintings, moving quickly and quietly through the castle, her fingers intertwined with Scorp's. She was so focused on going over and over in her head what had been happening with him that she missed the signs. 

"Lily!" Scorp whispered, shaking her hand. "The candles..."

Lily blinked. The candles were going out. A teacher was coming. 

She pulled on Scorp and quickly bundled him into an alcove set into the wall. She squeezed herself in with him, her whole body pressed tightly against his. She'd been sat in his lap at the pub  but it was still nothing like this. She could feel every hard plane of his body, every angular muscle. It made her core thrum wantingly. 

Footsteps sounded, moving towards them. Light shone softly in the corridor where they were just standing. Lily held her breath. Scorp put his hands either side of her head as he peered out into the corridor along with her. She could feel his breath on her face and it made her stomach flutter, her hands twitching at her sides as Scorpius leant a little further into her, both of them trying to hear whichever Professor was on patrol. 

As the light moved away, Lily let out the breath she was holding, turning back to Scorp. His lips were on hers before she could blink and she moaned into his mouth, pressing her body even further into his. His hands pushed up under her shirt, his palms flat and hot on her skin, making her hiss and push her pelvis against his. As his hands travelled across her skin, his lips left her mouth and trailed along her jaw and up towards her ear. 

"How do you feel about sex?" he whispered in her ear. 

Lily snorted, despite feeling more turned on than she ever had in her life. She put her hands on his face and kissed him hard before pulling back.

"I love it, and I have no reservations about doing it with you, but I'm not about to make the paintings wait," she said, an amused smile on her face. 

Scorp chuckled, a red blush on his cheeks. "Fair enough," he said. "Its probably best we find somewhere private and with a lot more room to move." 

Lily grinned and nodded, ducking out of the alcove and grabbing his hand again as they started to walk down the corridor. 

"I mean, we could always venture back here one night," she whispered, as she wondered on, smirking back at him. "Maybe save it for a hot little quick one when we fancy a bit of a thrill." 

Scorpius gaped at her and then laughed. "Holy shit," he muttered. "I don't think I'm ever going to be bored of you..." 

Lily scrunched her face up. "Famous last words," she murmured. 

Scorp pulled her to a stop and kissed her softly again, his hands gently holding her face as his thumbs stroked her cheekbones.

"I officially hate every guy you've ever dated up till now," he said, kissing her temple and then wrapping his arms around her. Lily was a little shocked that he hadn't tried to argue his case and stood, unmoving, in his arms for a second before finally hugging him back. She felt her throat close over and her eyes sting with tears as he held on tight. 

After a few minutes, he let her go and she cleared her throat, trying to push the emotion away.

"Lily," he hummed, "I'm starting to realise that too many people have told you they're different and they're not like that, and that it won't happen with them." 

Lily took a steadying breath and nodded. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty that her initial reaction to his insistence that they would last, that he'd stick around, was one of scorn and disbelief. "I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "I can't help but be very pessimistic about the whole thing."

Scorpius frowned at her. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Its not your fault a bunch of guys promised something they couldn't deliver on."

Lily shrugged. "Yeah, but...now I can't trust you when you promise the same thing. And I know you, Scorp. I know you don't promise shit that you don't mean." 

Scorp pulled her into him again and hugged her tight for a second time. "I don't blame you for that, Lily. And I'm happy to help you remember what a real promise looks like." 

Lily held on tight to him and buried her face in his shoulder just so he wouldn't see her cry. "Thank you," she whispered. 

"Besides, I know Kevin is a vegetarian, but if I break your heart, he'll definitely eat me, and I really don't want that," he teased. 

Lily chuckled and sniffed as she let him go, wiping her eyes. She reached up and gently pulled his face down to meet hers, giving him the softest, sweetest kiss. 

"I really like you Scorpius," she mumbled against his lips. "Like, a lot." 

"I really like you too, Lily," he said, kissing her again, a smile on his face. "Like, a lot." 

They wondered back towards the dungeons, following the candles in the paintings. Lily whispered their thanks as they walked the empty castle corridors, finally reaching the Slytherin common room. She smiled at Scorpius as she gestured to the door, awaiting the password. 

Scorpius smirked at her. "No way. I want to know how you get in there when you're on your own." 

Lily gaped at him. "What?"

"I know you can get in without us," he said. "You can get anywhere you want in this bloody castle. I want to know how you do it." 

Lily fidgeted on the spot for a bit before groaning. "Fine...but you can tell anyone. No matter what happens between us, this stays a secret. Got it?"

Scorp crossed his heart with a finger. "If I ever tell a soul, you can feed me to Kevin." 

Lily laughed. "Is Kevin always going to be the threat...?"

"You have to admit, he's pretty effective," Scorp said.

Lily laughed again and nodded, rummaging around in her pocket and pulling out her lock-picks. She set to work on the Slytherin Common Room door and within a few seconds the door swung open. It was Scorp's turn to gape at her now. 

"Magic has a way of ignoring muggle," she said with a shrug. "Alohamora won't work because the door's been charmed against magical intruders. Not muggle ones. If you can physically pick the lock, the magic doesn't even notice, much less stop you." 

Scorpius charged at her, his lips finding hers in a crushing embrace that had him picking her up and walking her through the door before he slammed it shut. 

"You fucking amaze me, Lily," he said, kissing her some more. His hands were everywhere and it was glorious. Lily never wanted it to stop. She wasn't sure it would have done if they hadn't been interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing from across the room. 

"Well this is interesting," Dex snickered, smirking at the two of them. 

"I was hoping it was going to get a whole lot more interesting," Lily muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Scorp to hear. He snorted. 

"How much are you going to pay me to keep this quiet then?" Dex asked, his smirk getting bigger by the second. 

Scorpius just raised one eyebrow. "Absolutely fucking nothing," he said, as though it was obvious. 

"But, what about Al? What about the rest of the school? The press?" Dex said, frowning at him. "You're totally fine with everyone knowing you're fucking Little Miss Potter?" 

Scorp looked at Lily with raised eyebrows. "This guy? You willingly screwed this guy?" 

Lily winced. "To be fair, he is pretty attractive, and I was bored, and a little bit drunk. And it was only one time." 

Scorp snorted and shook his head before looking back at Dex. "I'm not fucking her. Well, I am. But I'm also dating her. And I'm fine with the whole world knowing it." 

"Does Al know?" Dex said, his tone somewhat challenging.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Not yet, but he's probably going to care less about me dating Scorp than he is about me screwing you. So..." She looked at him, a flat smile on her face and her eyebrows raised. No guy was going to tell her that her brother's opinion of her boyfriend was more important than her own. Scorp wouldn't have made any moves if he thought it would upset Al, he wasn't that kind of friend. 

Dex shifted uncomfortably. "Point taken."

Lily nodded and then turned to Scorpius. "Shall we go to bed, then?" she said. "I really do have an exam in the morning and I need to get some sleep."

Dex scoffed. "You're telling me you're going to bed to sleep? Yeah, right." 

"His bed is right next to my brother's," Lily said, her face scrunched up in disgust. "I'm not going to have sex while Al is sleeping in the bed next to me."

Dex snickered and looked at Scorpius. "Good luck with that one, mate. Doesn't look like you'll be getting any that often." 

Scorpius scowled at him.

"There are a whole bunch of places around this castle to have sex, and most of them are nicer than the Slytherin boys' dorm rooms," Lily laughed. "If anyone needs good luck, it's you, because if the height of romance in your relationships is doing it surrounded by all your mates, I think you've got a lot to work on." 

Scorpius snorted, slipping his hand into hers and tugging her towards the dormitory stairs. "Night Zabini," he called back. 

.............. 

Scorpius groaned, his head aching and his brain groggy as the dorm-room door slammed open and Rose's deafening shriek split the air. He squinted at the doorway, grimacing at the figure stood there and wondering what the hell was wrong with her. 

"Nothing is wrong with me, Malfoy!" Rose snapped. Shit. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. 

He shuffled in the bed and was met with the pleasant warmth of a body, memories of the night before rushing back to him rather abruptly. He'd thought it was all a dream. Probably the best dream he'd ever had, but a dream nonetheless. 

His arm automatically snaked its way around Lily's stomach, trying to pull her back into his embrace and snuggle up with him. He was still so tired and sleep was good wrapped up next to her. 

"What time is it?" Lily asked, her tone slightly panicked. 

"Its 10 o'clock, Lily," Rose said, a smug kind of venom to her tone. "You're exam starts in twenty minutes."

"Shit!" Lily shrieked, jumping out of bed. 

"What the fuck is going on?" Al asked, gesturing to Lily, his voice slurred with sleep as he looked in confusion at Scorpius. 

"I'm dating your best mate, as of last night," Lily said quickly, grabbing her clothes from the bottom of the bed and rushing to the bathroom. "And I need a shower before my exam!"

"What if I need a shower too?" Simon Nott called after her, having been awoken by Rose's outburst, just like everyone else in the room. The first two periods on a Monday for the 7th year Slytherins were free, so none of them ever bothered to get up on time. 

"I'll leave the door open!" Lily called back. 

Scorpius took one look at Simon's face and magically locked the door without even using his wand. 

"What? I wasn't going to...I swear," he said, looking rather disappointed.

"Are you really dating Lily?" Al asked, yawning and shuffling around in his bed. 

"Yeah," Scorp said, chewing on his lip as he looked at his best friend. "Are you cool with that?"

Al snorted. "Yeah. I figured it was only a matter of time," he said. 

Scorpius frowned at him. "What?"

"Are you serious?!" Rose cried, coming to sit on the end of Scorp's bed. 

"Fucking hell, Weasley, keep it down!" Miles Flint huffed, dragging a pillow over his head in an attempt to block her out. 

"Merlin, you're a fucking nightmare, Weasley," Harley Boot grumbled, rolling over in his own bed. Simon was still sat drooling at the bathroom door. 

"I am not a nightmare," Rose hissed before turning back to Al and Scorpius. "I just want to know how my cousin apparently predicted something completely ridiculous and illogical! Its not like they even know each other well!" 

"She's got a point," Scorp said. "I don't think I've ever really spoken to your sister until yesterday. How the hell d'you figure it was only a matter of time?" 

Al just shrugged. "Every now and again she does something that leaves you looking at her like she's the most interesting creature on the planet."

"She does not!" Rose snapped. "Like what?!" 

"Like that time she politely asked the Portrait of Mrs Black to please stop screaming and it actually did," Al said. "Or the time she played quidditch with us without flying a broom. Or when she had a picnic with the gnomes in Nana and Grandad's garden. And that time she found a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest and it gave her lift back to school-" 

"Yes! Okay! We get it! Lily does some really weird shit!" Rose growled. 

"It's not weird shit," Scorp said, shaking his head at Rose. She just didn't get it and the more he heard her talk about it the more he got the distinct feeling that she didn't actually want to get it. "It's pretty incredible shit."

"Incredible is being able to magically lock a door from several feet away without using a wand," Rose said. "Incredible is being an animagous at the age of seventeen." 

"You know Lily is an animgous, right?" Al said, frowning at his cousin. "It was, like, one of the only pieces of magic she was any good at." 

"She can't use a wand!" Rose cried indignantly. "How the fuck does she transform when she can't use a wand?!" 

"She's an animagous?" Scorp said, staring at the door in shock. 

Al laughed. "That look right there," he said, pointing at Scorpius. "That's the one."

"Still! It's not like she can transfigure the grand staircase into a giant snake, is it?!" Rose argued. 

Al rolled his eyes and looked back at Scorpius, choosing to ignore her. "I'm assuming yesterday was filled with a whole bunch of moments that put that stupid, dazed look on your face?" 

"Pretty much, yeah," Scorp said, finally tearing his eyes away from the bathroom door to grin softly at Al. 

"Oh really," Rose scoffed. "And what impressive feats did she manage to accomplish this time?" 

"She introduced me to her acromantula friend, Kevin, in the Forest," Scorp said, smirking as Rose's face dropped the longer he spoke. "She tamed a dragon in midair, took me to the Hog's Head and got me drunk without getting me reported for skiving, led me back to the dungeons with help from the paintings and then showed me how she gets into the Slytherin common room without a password." 

"And how does she do that then?" Rose croaked. 

Scorpius laughed. "I'm not telling you. She only showed me on pain of death if I ever told anyone. Death being her acromantula friend, Kevin." 

Al snickered. "And at what point amidst all of that, did you finally realise you like her and did something about it." 

"The Hog's Head," Scorp said, grinning and shaking his head. "And I tried to be cool about it, but she sort of left me with no option other than to tell her I liked her."

"Yeah, that sounds like Lily," Al said, grinning back. 

Rose squealed and stood up in a huff. "This is ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous. There's no way you should be with Lily. And there's no way Al should be so fucking chill about it!" 

Miles threw his pillow at Rose. "Jealousy isn't a good look on you, Weasley," he sniggered. 

"I am not jealous!" Rose shrieked. 

"You're so fucking jealous," Miles snorted. "I'm just trying to work out whether it's because you want to date Scorp or whether its because you hate how good Lily is without a wand." 

"You can't be a witch without a wand!" Rose replied hotly. "You just can't." 

"It looks like you can, though," Miles said. "It fucking sounds like you can, because if all that shit that her brother and her boyfriend just reeled off isn't magic, I don't know what the fuck is." 

"Shove off Miles, no one asked you," Rose growled.

"No one asked you either, Weasley," Scorp muttered. 

Before Rose could retaliate, the bathroom door flung open and Lily rushed back into the room, her hair still soaking wet. 

"I need my wand!" she cried, her eyes darting around the room. 

"What? But you must have used it to get out of the bathroom?" Rose frowned. "Scorp locked it for you when Simon looked like he might actually follow you in." 

Lily waved at her as she continued to search for her missing magical wooden stick. "I didn't use my wand to do that," she said. 

"Then what did you use?" Rose asked, practically gaping at her. 

"I- it was- I'm not...A very particular set of skills! Now where the fuck is my wand! I need to dry my hair and get to my exam!" Lily huffed, scrabbling around looking for it. 

"When did you last have it?" Scorp said, looking patiently at her.

Lily looked up at him, her whole face dropping. "Shit. Shit shit shit!" 

"Where is it?" Scorp asked.

"In my bag," Lily groaned, putting a hand on her forehead as she stood up. "Fuck!" 

"So just go and get it!" Rose barked, flinging her arm at the door. 

"Where is your bag, Lily?" Al asked with a smirk. 

"Fucking Romania by now..." Lily half sobbed, collapsing down next to Scorp. 

Scorp rubbed her back and shook his head. "It's fine. Don't panic. Just borrow mine for now." 

The whole room seemed to still. Lily peeked up at him, a wide little look on her face. "Are you serious?" 

Scorp nodded. "I'm aware that to most people, I may as well have proposed, but you're not exactly most people," he said, smiling softly at her. 

Lily snorted. "I don't know. Maybe this once I could be most people? I've always wanted a huge wedding-" She squeaked as Scorp poked her, laughing at him as he tickled her a little bit before passing her his wand. "Thank you."

"This is just ridiculous!" Rose yelled to no one. 

"Merlin Almighty, Weasley!" Miles snapped. "Just fucking get laid and stop being so uptight!" 

"I'm not uptight!" Rose roared. 

Scorpius looked down at Lily as Rose started to argue with Miles. He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She shuffled a little and crawled the small distance from where she'd fallen on the bed, up his body, and kissed him. 

"Really, thank you," she hummed against his lips. 

"Honestly, if this is the thanks I get, you can take anything from me, anything at all," he chuckled softly, kissing her back. He ignored Rose relaying her disgust for the umpteenth time, in favour of a proper morning kiss with his very new girlfriend. He groaned when Lily pulled away, her face scrunched up in regret. 

"I really have to go," she muttered. 

"I know," he said, kissing her again. 

"Can you dry my hair for me?" she asked, kissing him back. 

Scorp chuckled. "I've literally just given you my wand-"

"The last time Lily tried to dry her hair magically, she lost half of it," Al said, his nose now stuck in a book. "And if you're going to make out two feet from me, can you at least be quiet about it." 

"Sorry," Lily said. 

"That's fair," Scorp hummed, murmuring a spell under his breath and flicking his wrist at Lily. Her hair dried instantly.

"Oh my God, I love you so much!" she cried, kissing him one last time. "Thank you!" She jumped off his bed and ran for the door. "Wish me luck!" 

"Good luck!" he called after her. "Hey, Lily? Quick question...what's your animagous form?" he asked, just as she got to the door. 

"A phoenix," Lily answered, wrenching it open and diving through it. "Bye!" 

Al just started laughing at the gormless look on his face as he gaped at the door. "Did you even care that she told you she loves you?" 

Scorp slowly turned to face Al. "A phoenix?"

Al snorted. "Yep. A motherfucking phoenix." 

"I don't understand why that makes so much sense..." Scorp hummed. 

Rose squealed in frustration, thumped her hands down on the bed and then stormed out of the room. 

"You're going to marry my sister, aren't you?" Al sighed. 

"Oh, a hundred percent," Scorp grinned. "But then, you have always told me I'm like a brother to you."