Her wandwork is improving, he thought darkly, deciding against pelting her with chocolates right at this moment. There was a shout of laughter emanating from the top table, not a nasty laugh, but one of genuine amusement, and looking up, he caught Mrs Zabini biting her lip in a desperate attempt not to laugh.
Still giggling, she nonetheless wafted a napkin towards him before turning her face towards her husband to whisper something in his ear. Professor Zabini sighed, gave her a brief nod, and then Lavender Zabini stood up and approached Scorpius.
“Flowers,” she whispered in his ear as she slid into the space next to him, “are not going to work. Well, not if she’s anything like her mum.”
“You were a Gryffindor, right?” he asked, remembering, and also glad for once that his housemates were still shunning him, and that he was far away from Ariadne’s inquisitive ears. “So how did the professor win you round?”
Lavender smirked. “I really don’t think that’s a subject for discussion at the breakfast table ... or any table. Let’s just say that Hogwarts was vastly different in my seventh year and Professor Zabini was ... er ... gallant enough to ride to my rescue on several occasions.”
Scorpius caught her smiling again at her husband; it was a sly, secret smile, and he could see Professor Zabini giving her a ghost of a wink back. “I can’t exactly resurrect the Carrows to show my devotion,” he said scornfully, remembering the stories he’d read about that particular Hogwarts regime.
Lavender scowled at him. “You could try thinking about Lily Potter instead of assuming that all girls are the same and will fall for a hastily picked bunch of rotten daffodils!” she replied sharply. “If you tell me that your next plan is to send her chocolates, I might very well roll my eyes and give up on you entirely!”
She stood up, touching him lightly on the shoulder. “Think about her, Scorpius, and not your past girlfriends.”
Moodily, he pushed his cereal away and reached under his seat. Mrs Zabini was probably right, he thought as he pulled out the box of Honeydukes chocolates. Lily Potter was not a normal girl and would no doubt throw these straight back to him if he attempted to present them to her. Peering across at the Gryffindor table, he saw a flash of red hair, as if she was rapidly turning her face away from his direction. He stared at her, willing Lily to look back at him. Then a stocky, blond boy sat heavily down next to her, and Scorpius heard a wretched tinkling laugh emerge from her mouth.
Merlin, now she sounds like Ariadne, he thought irritably. When she placed her hand on Cootes’ arm, and he bent his head towards hers, his lips hovering near her mouth, Scorpius scowled. He took a brief vindictive pleasure in watching Lily jerk away so that Cootes’ lips brushed her cheek.
“Oh, baby Potter,” he muttered. “You really shouldn’t play games, not with a Malfoy, but if you insist ...”
Glancing towards the door, he smirked on seeing a couple of Ravenclaw girls tripping in late for breakfast. He picked up the box of chocolates, straightened his robes, and then sauntered, ever so casually, to where the taller of the girls had sat down.
“Heloise,” he said, bending towards her. “These are for you.”
“Er, why?” she demanded, her eyes opening wide.
“Because,” he replied as he perched on the edge of the bench. “I realised just how rude I was to you on the train, and I ...” He chewed his lip, hoping he looked vulnerable.
“You want to ask me to the Valentine’s Ball?” Heloise asked hopefully.
Hell no! Scorpius thought, yet as he peeped over shoulder, he could see Lily staring at him and then turning her attention back to Harry, giggling girlishly. His insides churned. “You’ve read my mind, Heloise. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be with,” he lied. Lifting her hand, he slowly raised it to his lips, all the while watching the delight in her eyes. “Until the ball, Miss Edgecombe.”
“Oh, we could meet before then, if you’d like,” she said, a little too eagerly. “I’m free this afternoon.”
Scorpius had always liked girls when they were this forward; it certainly saved him the effort of chasing them, but there was something far too cloying about Heloise’s interest. He licked his lips wondering why his mouth felt so dry. “I’m not, unfortunately. Curse of N.E.W.T. year is that I’m up to my eyes,” he said, sighing and rolling them dramatically to emphasize the point, “in parchment and ink. I just hope I can get everything done in time for the Ball. You’re far too distracting for me to meet before then.”
She giggled and ran her immaculately manicured hand through her immaculate shining hair. The gesture turned heads, and he snuck a quick look to the Gryffindor table. Lily had her back very definitely towards him, yet as he squinted, he could see that friend of hers, the Chaser, Thomas, staring across and muttering. Standing, he kissed Heloise faintly on the cheek, and strolled back to the Slytherin table.
“I suppose she’s an improvement on the last one,” Ariadne called waspishly.
Scorpius resisted the urge to hex the stupid smile off her face; instead, he helped himself to a piece of toast and gathered up his things. It was Sunday, and contrary to what he’d just told Heloise, he had no homework to finish. He thought he might as well grab his Firebolt and take it for a spin.
“Ugh, the jealousy card,” Lavender said, shaking her head as he walked past him in the Entrance Hall. “Never wise!”
Scorpius ignored her. Snapping at his House Master’s wife was a one-way ticket to detention, and he was itching to fly.
After objections from both teams (because the Valentine’s Ball was being held on Saturday evening and they wanted some time to recover), the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match had been rescheduled for Friday. And so, with a rare weekday afternoon off, Scorpius meandered down to the pitch carefully avoiding both the Slytherins and Heloise Edgecombe.
He shuddered as he thought about her. Despite confining himself to the common room during his spare time, Heloise had managed to find him with a regularity so alarming he wondered if she’d got a copy of his timetable. He was sincerely regretting his decision to ask her to the Ball, especially as it hadn’t had the desired effect, for Lily was still linking her arm with Cootes at every opportunity.
He gnawed the side of his mouth. Cootes was a reasonably good player “ and a Gryffindor “ perhaps she really did like him. Perhaps he really had been on her mind when Teddy had surprised them in Smithy’s Field.
And Cootes had not yet had the chance to let her down.
He heard a giggle and then a pair of hands slipped over his eyes. “Guess who?”
For an enticingly brief moment, he hoped it was Lily, but the perfume sprayed on the wrists was not hers. “Heloise?” he replied wearily.
“Yes,” she trilled, smiling as she turned him around to face her. She wasn’t alone; she was standing with three other girls, all Ravenclaws and all staring at him with identical intense expressions on their faces. “I’m so looking forward to tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“Uh ...” He really hadn’t thought this through. Going with Heloise meant he’d have to socialise with her boring friends, especially as the other Slytherins seemed intent on ignoring him.
I could say I feel ill, he thought, his mind drifting to the day Lily had handed him the Pustule Pip. Perhaps if he spoke very fast he could cry off tomorrow night. “Heloise, obviously I’m ... er ... dev-” He had intended to say ‘devastated that he couldn’t now go’, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Rose walking down to the Quidditch field with Ben. She scowled and made a move towards him, until Ben tugged on her arm.
What, Scorpius thought, is the point in me staying away? I might as well go and get blind drunk.
“You were saying, Scorpius,” Heloise murmured and he noticed that her smile was fading slightly, as if she knew exactly what was going through his mind.
What was I saying? Oh yeah ... “I’ll be devoted to you all night long, Heloise,” he promised.
She laughed in what she probably thought was a delicate girlish tinkle and then lifted her face expectantly, waiting for the kiss on her lips. Aware that Rose was watching him, Scorpius crooked his head down and very softly kissed Heloise on the side of her mouth, just skimming her top lip with his. It was a kiss calculated to look good, yet promising nothing “ he’d learnt that much from his last few days with Ariadne.
“You could sit with the Ravenclaws if you’d like,” Heloise offered. “It’s not an important match, after all.”
Merlin, does she know anything about Quidditch?
He heard someone laughing and knew it was Rose Weasley.
Sitting in the back row of the Slytherin stand meant Scorpius wasn’t afforded the best views of the action, but because he’d arrived late it was the only seat free. Although there were seats at the front, it would have meant sitting with both Vaiseys, Ariadne and Flint. Instead he settled into the back row, forcing some snot nosed second-year to shift along the bench so he could at least have an aisle seat.
He stretched out his legs, trying his best to look nonchalant, as if he couldn’t care less about the outcome of the game, yet inside he could feel his gut churning. He wanted Gryffindor to lose “ badly. He wanted their defeat to be so heavy that Albus Potter’s big, arrogant head would implode with shame. He wanted that smug git Cootes to mis-hit the Bludger so woefully that it would hit his fat head and also knock sodding Hugo Weasley out in the commentary box. He wanted Thomas’ fingers to turn to jelly so she’d drop the Quaffle every single time it came her way. He wanted Lily Potter ...
Just then, she flew past. She’d tied her long hair underneath her helmet, only a few strands had escaped and were whipping around in the breeze. He remembered the smell of it as he’d held her close, fresh and so unlike Heloise.
He wanted Lily Potter to catch the Snitch.
A groan escaped from his lips, causing the boy next to him to ask tentatively if Scorpius was all right.
“Fine,” he muttered, knowing he wasn’t.
Teddy had been right. Lily had seeped stealthily into his conscious and he wasn’t sure he could cope with her not being with him anymore.
Mrs Zabini had been right. He should be focussing on Lily and not the games other people played. Making her jealous had been a stupid idea, playing on her insecurities had only made her latch onto Cootes harder.
And Harry Potter had been right. Deep down, Scorpius had hoped that knowing Lily would help him onto the Auror Training programme. If he’d admitted that to himself sooner, then maybe he could have been honest with her.
From the commentary box, he heard Hugo proclaim a goal for Hufflepuff and he craned his neck in an attempt to see the score. Eighty Twenty to Hufflepuff. That sparked his interest fleetingly away from the Gryffindor Seeker. Were Potter’s side about to lose? Hufflepuff were better than he’d thought, putting together some great plays and as he watched the game, he noticed a lack of fluidity about the Gryffindor side and wondered what had happened. As much as he hated to admit it, Albus was a great Chaser. In the last game, he’d torn through the Slytherin defences like a pro, yet now he looked nervous.
A shout from Hugo snapped Scorpius away from watching Albus, and then he realised. Mrs Potter was again in the commentary box. It looked as if Albus was struggling to live up to her legacy.
Perhaps drawn by his gaze, Mrs Potter appeared to look his way, her eyes scanning the Slytherin stand, until “ at last “ she found him. He wondered whether to raise his hand, or smile (although she wouldn’t see his expression from where she was), but as he debated, she turned her head away and returned to the game.
He switched back to the action, watching as Lily looped through the sky, alert for any sign of the Snitch. With nothing to do to help her team, except search for a small golden ball with delicate wings, Scorpius could feel her frustration. He’d been in her boots many times. All too often, it had been he that had saved the Slytherin team from annihilation, and while he’d affected an arrogantly casual air, knowing he could not fly well if he panicked, his nerves had jangled within him.
Lily did not have enough experience. It was only her second match, and that was obvious by the way she expended her energy on fruitless searches through the sky, swooping down desperately in an attempt to win the game. In contrast to her first game when she’d flown away from Scorpius, she was concentrating far too much on the other Seeker (a short, sharp featured girl called Sarah Jones).
He groaned as he watched Lily wobbling. Her lack of confidence gave the other Seeker heart and she started to swerve through the sky, playing tricks with Lily as if she’d seen the Snitch.
“Relax!” Scorpius shouted, the words unbidden from his lips as she flew close to him. “She’s tying you in knots.”
Lily glared with fresh fury in her eyes, so he slunk back in his seat ignoring the odd looks from the second years around him. She said nothing to him, so he took satisfaction from the fact that she did calm down and eased up on her obsessive tailing activities. Instead she returned to scanning the horizon for the Snitch.
A shriek alerted him to the action; Natalie Thomas had not only dropped the Quaffle (were her fingers really jelly?) but it had been caught by the strongest Hufflepuff Chaser, Neville Cadwallader . (Scorpius smirked as he remembered Teddy’s speech about children named after Battle heroes and wondered if Cadwallader’s parents had hoped he’d be a Gryffindor like his namesake.)
“Ninety-Twenty to Hufflepuff,” Hugo announced in a very unenthusiastic tone. “Come on Gryffindor ... Sorry ... Professor Goldstein has just reminded me that I need to ‘remain impartial’ ”. He hesitated, and then said, “Oh, come on, Lions. Make a game of this!”
Emboldened by his cousin’s rebuke, Albus Potter started to lift his game. Scorpius could see, very clearly, how the captain began to direct the action, exhorting his fellow Chasers to take the catches, encouraging his Beaters to aim harder, urging his Keeper to try for every save. Then Scorpius watched as Albus flew up to his sister. There was a short conversation where he saw Albus clearly mouth that she needed to mark Jones carefully. Lily was biting her lip, shaking her head and Scorpius realised she was attempting to explain her tactics. Albus frowned at her, clearly disagreeing. When he saw Lily’s shoulders slump, Scorpius knew she was listening to her brother and not her own instincts.
He kicked the seat in front of him and scowled when the fourth year turned round to protest. “Lily,” he muttered under his breath, “your brother is an arse and has the Seeking instincts of a Pygmy Puff!” He stared at her, trying to will his thoughts across the sky. Don’t listen to him.
He was no Legilimens, and Lily wasn’t looking at him anymore, so it was hardly a surprise when he watched her circle the pitch after Jones again.
Meanwhile the Gryffindor team appeared to be back in the game. After a goal from Potter and another from Thomas, Scorpius could see the rest of the team attacking the game with renewed confidence. Cootes, in particular, was swinging his bat with aplomb, howling to the sky as he connected with the bat, making his fellow Beater laugh.
“Oh, you arrogant tosser!” Scorpius yelled, and then laughed wholeheartedly as the over-confident Cootes lashed out. The Bludger missed Cadwallader by miles, instead hitting, with a sickening thud, Thomas in the face. Even the Slytherins winced. Thomas may have been a Gryffindor, but the sight of blood streaming down her face was enough to make them gasp.
And now, despite rallying his team again, there was little Albus could do. With Thomas on a stretcher bound for Madam Bones in the hospital wing, he was a player down. Against a strong Hufflepuff team, who began to rack up the goals, Gryffindor’s only chance lay with their Seeker.
“Go on, Lily,” he found himself muttering over and over.
Seeing Lily jerk her broom around, Scorpius’ eyes swivelled her way. Glinting in the distance was a flash of gold. She gasped, unable to keep the desperation out of her voice, and in that moment, Jones swerved too. They tore through the air, both streaking towards the tantalising prize.
“No!” Scorpius heard Albus call, and looking down he saw the reason why. Hufflepuff had just scored, and were one hundred and sixty points ahead. Hearing her brother, Lily hesitated a fraction, which gave Sarah Jones the chance she’d been waiting for. The Hufflepuff Seeker stretched out her hand, now sure that she’d won her house the match. Lily shrieked, her voice echoing through the sky and in a last desperate attempt to thwart her opponent, she leapt forwards on her broom, her hand towards the Snitch.
Scorpius felt his heart pounding in his chest. Up there, her slight frame looked even more vulnerable. Feeling nauseous, he remembered his fall, the ground flashing under his eyes. “Don’t!” he yelled. “It’s not worth it.”
She didn’t or wouldn’t listen. Her fingers inched in front of Jones’ as the stadium roared at both Seekers. Unable to look, Scorpius heard her shriek of triumph and peeped through his fingers, expecting to see the Snitch once more elusive.
“Lily Potter has caught the Snitch,” announced Hugo mournfully. “Hufflepuff win by a margin of ten points.”
“I said I’m sorry!”
Scorpius crept closer to the changing room, although it was hardly necessary because Lily’s raised voice could be heard from much further back. Albus Potter, however, wasn’t shouting. As he reached the changing room wall, Scorpius couldn’t even hear her brother speaking at all.
“Al, for Merlin’s sake. Will you say something?”
Peeping through the crack in the door, Scorpius watched Albus turn his back on his sister as he bundled his muddy robes into a bag and pulled on a clean shirt. His fingers were trembling as he fastened the buttons and Scorpius knew he was fighting the urge to shout back at Lily.
“Leave it, Lily,” Albus said at last. “It was my mistake.”
“What?”
They were alone in the changing room. The other team members must have cleared off before Scorpius got there, no doubt realising that the siblings needed to thrash this out between them.
“You’re too inexperienced,” Albus replied. “I should never have picked you for the team.”
“You’re dropping me?” Lily’s shock was palpable.
“You didn’t follow my instructions,” Albus said darkly. “I told you to stick on Jones’ tail.”
“Your instructions stank!” Lily shouted. “If I’d stayed playing follow-the-leader, then she’d have caught the Snitch and we’d have lost by more.”
“No,” he muttered. “If you’d been following her, then you could have knocked her hand away, or barged in front of her “ anything to stop her making the catch.”
“I DID stop her making the catch,” she interrupted.
“Yeah, by catching it yourself.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m not making a decision about this now. Just leave me alone for a bit, yeah.”
“You blame me, though, don’t you?” Lily replied, her voice trembling. “Why not just come out and say it, Al?”
“They were one hundred and sixty points ahead, Lily,” he retorted, suddenly shouting. “Merlin, even a bloody first year could have told you that was not the time to make the catch.”
“Wow, Potter, for someone with a world-famous Quidditch player for a mother you really do know sod all about the game, don’t you?” Scorpius drawled as he pushed open the door.
Albus turned sharply, and projected his anger directly onto Scorpius. “Piss off, Malfoy. What the hell has this got to do with you, or have you just come to gloat?”
“Gloating because you narrowly lost a match,” Scorpius replied, examining his fingernails in what he hoped was an infuriating manner. “I don’t think so. From my point of view, it would have been better if your sister had followed your instructions. Hufflepuff winning by three-hundred and ten points would have been far more satisfactory. Not even you, with your famous name, could have got Gryffindor out of that hole!”
Albus strode over to him. “Just why are you here? No one’s interested in your opinion.”
Scorpius glowered at Albus, only feeling slightly intimidated by the other boy’s heavier build. His hand tightened on his wand, just in case things got nasty, but he did not step away. “I was watching the Seekers,” he said, quietly yet clearly. “Your sister had no choice. If she hadn’t caught the Snitch, then Jones would have done. There was no time to bat it away, especially as she was leaning so far forward to prevent a Hufflepuff catch that she nearly fell off her broom.” He grinned nastily. “And as for your tactics, if you’d been any good as a Seeker, Potter, you’d have realised that following the other Seeker never works. It was how I beat you. Every. Single. Time.”
As quick as a hex, Albus pulled out his wand and held it against Scorpius’ chest. “Don’t tempt me, Malfoy.”
“Al, leave it!” Lily cried. “He’s trying to wind you up. You know that! It’s just a tactic to get you in detention or thrown off the team.”
Albus glanced sideways at his sister and slowly, with shuddering breaths, lowered his wand. “You’re not worth it,” he spat.
“Thank you,” Scorpius muttered to Lily. He swallowed and tried to catch his breath. That had been too close; Potter had reacted far quicker than he’d imagined possible.
“Don’t thank me,” she said fiercely. “In fact don’t come near me again. I don’t need you poking your nose into something that’s between my brother and me. Just ... just ... oh, bog off, Malfoy!”
Albus smiled at Lily and took her hand. “He’s not worth getting het up over, Lily. He’s an arrogant shit,” Albus mocked. “So frigging up himself, yet poor old Scorpy can’t even get on a third-rate team with his flashy broom.”
“I’m better than you ever were, Potter, and you know it,” Scorpius retorted, struggling to keep a lid on his temper. He turned to the door, regretting his intervention as Lily clearly didn’t want him here, but then something made him falter. He turned back. “Your sister’s pretty good. She has an instinct you never had.”
“Don’t tell me how to run my team, you tosser.”
Scorpius raised his hands. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Albie. I think you’re doing badly enough without my help. You keep going like this, and you’ll soon have your own bit of Potter fame. I can see the Prophet headlines now. Albus Potter “ The Boy Who Lost!”
This time he was ready. This time as Albus brandished his wand, Scorpius was there, his own wand pointing straight at his foe. He saw Lily fumble for hers, desperation on her face, but nothing was going to stop him now. There was no way he’d let bloody Potter hex him without putting up a fight. He didn’t care about detention. In fact, it could even work to his advantage if it meant he’d miss the sodding Valentine’s Ball.
He ducked as Albus let fly a Stinging Jinx but wasn’t quite quick enough as it caught his shoulder. He hexed back with a Jelly-Legs jinx, laughing as Potter’s knees buckled beneath him.
“STOP IT!” Lily shrieked, and then with a deftness that surprised Scorpius and also, it seemed, her brother, she cast a protective wall between the pair of them.
“Go away, Malfoy,” she said coldly.
“I was trying to help,” he pleaded. “Lily, please. Can we just talk?”
“Not in this lifetime,” she said vehemently,. “You’re a Slytherin, a Malfoy and you’ve just hexed my brother. Loyalty may not mean anything to you, but in the Potter family and in Gryffindor, we stick together.”
He stared at her, taking in her words, yet barely believing them. It sounded like a mantra she’d had drummed into her from all around her. ‘The Malfoys only have each other,’ his grandfather would proclaim. He’d long become bored with the refrain, although now ... perhaps the old man was right.
“Sorry,” he muttered, not looking at her, staring instead at his feet. “I won’t bother you again.”
“Good,” she whispered, then turned away and performed the counter-curse to release Albus from the jinx.
Scorpius backed out of the changing room, unwilling to trust either Potter not to hex him when his back was turned, although neither of them looked his way again.
“You planning on pulling tonight?” Vaisey asked him in the dorm.
It was early Saturday evening, and Scorpius had just emerged from the bathroom, a black towel around his waist and rubbing his hair with a smaller one.
“Why are you interested?” Scorpius muttered. “You want a go at Edgecombe now.”
Vaisey pulled a face. “I was making conversation, Malfoy. Being pleasant “ you should try it sometime.” He stopped talking and Summoned his dark green dress robes from his wardrobe, picking off some lint from the lapel before pulling them on. “If you do pull, can you make sure you go elsewhere? I plan on making a night of it with Ariadne.”
“As I can’t actually think of anything worse that listening to you get your rocks off with that b ... er ... witch, I’ll gladly sleep elsewhere,” Scorpius replied as he bent down to pick up the dark blue robes that he’d laid out on the bed.
Unlike Vaisey, Scorpius hadn’t bothered to buy new for tonight. There had been little point when he hadn’t had a partner, and hooking up with Heloise had made no difference. These robes might be two years old, yet they were good quality. Heloise could have no complaints.
“Well, don’t you look dashing,” she squealed, when she saw him waiting at the bottom of the staircase. “And Ravenclaw blue, I’m honoured, Scorpius.”
Scorpius smiled stiffly and tugged at his collar. His old robes were a touch uncomfortable because he’d filled out since his mother had ordered them. He looked Heloise up and down, admitting grudgingly that she looked good. Wearing shimmering dark red robes that emphasized her curvaceous figure and brought lustre to her cheek, Scorpius knew there would be many tonight who would envy him his partner. Heloise was beautiful, and probably willing, but when she entwined her hand in his, Scorpius felt a chill descend upon him.
His gloom deepened on entering the Great Hall. Headmistress Vector, usually the most logical and undemonstrative of professors, had seen fit to turn the Ball into a larger version of Madam Puddifoot’s, complete with lurid pink heart-shaped lanterns, golden cupid-like fairies zooming through the air, and dark red rose petals scattered on the tables. Scorpius groaned inwardly when Heloise dragged him towards her friends’ table and sat him in a love seat, carefully constructed to only seat a couple.
“I’ll get us both a drink,” he offered, standing up quickly and evading her hand as it strayed to his thigh.
“He’s so gallant,” one of her friends said and started giggling.
Gritting his teeth, Scorpius walked slowly to the bar. Perhaps he could plead illness after a few drinks and return to the dungeons.
“Going well is it, Scorpius?”
“Mrs Zabini, how lovely to see you,” Scorpius muttered, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
“You managed to get yourself a very glamorous-looking date for tonight, I see,” she said, peering over his shoulder at where Heloise was holding court.
He stifled a sigh. Looking away from Heloise, his attention was caught by another girl, equally glamorous, wearing robes of apple-green, hair swept up in a sophisticated style and expertly applied make-up. She turned her head, perhaps aware he was staring, and Scorpius looked away, not liking the image in front of his eyes.
Lily Potter looked beautiful but brittle. Clutching Cootes’ arm, and laughing at his every remark, she resembled one of Madam Malkin’s mannequins. Alongside her, at a table stuffed with Gryffindors, sat her brother, and alongside him, smiling shyly, was a battered and bruised Natalie Thomas. Albus held her hand, solicitously filling her glass, and fussing over a napkin as he laid it on her lap.
“I told you the jealousy card was bad idea,” Lavender murmured.
“I know that now,” he admitted. “Sorry, I’m out of ideas ... and cards. Perhaps I should just admit defeat.”
“Oh, don’t do that,” she replied. “That would ruin all my fun.”
Her tone was teasing, but the look in her eyes belied her words.
“Why do you care?” he muttered.
Lavender tilted her head to one side as she perused him. “Because you obviously do,” she whispered back.
He danced with Heloise - really, he was duty bound to have at least one trot around the floor. And she was a wonderful dancer. Elegant, graceful, she looked very sexy as she moved. Having sunk a few drinks, Scorpius decided Heloise was beautiful and perhaps worth a punt especially as Lily seemed intent on cuddling up to the idiot Cootes all night.
The band started playing a slow number, and stuck in the middle of the dance floor, Scorpius found he was trapped as Heloise wound her arms around his neck, and slowly pulled his mouth down to hers. Their lips touched, she was responsive, moulding her body to his, and he knew this would be easy. Heloise was here, she was eager, and she was really very pretty. He nuzzled up to her, breathing in the scent of her hair, and then felt suddenly nauseous. Her scent was cloying, stifling his senses.
“Sorry, I really need some air ... alone,” he added as she clung onto him. “Bit of a headache.”
He lurched off the dance floor, careening off snogging couples and headed for a side door, desperate for air.
As the cold night hit him, Scorpius’ head span. He was drunker than he realised, and knew if he didn’t walk this off, he’d end up doing something he regretted with Heloise. And he would regret it, he knew that now, for Heloise was a carbon-copy of Ariadne who had got on his nerves after two weeks, and he’d only stayed with because she was good for a shag.
He wandered down to the lake, wondering if he could brave the cold and clear his head totally by diving in. He liked the lake, liked the solitude it afforded him at night, and never felt lonely when he was here, just incredibly at peace with the world. He approached the bank at the very place he’d last been alone with Lily when the Giant Squid had batted him towards the shore. Seeing the old beech tree, its bare branches silhouetted against the starlit sky, he meandered towards it, intending to sit against the trunk and think of nothing.
He heard the girl gasp before he saw her. She wasn’t alone, and was in the arms of a boy. Cursing under his breath, Scorpius turned to leave the courting couple, but something made him halt.
“Please ... no,” she cried. “Harry ... stop.”
Scorpius backtracked. There, up against the tree, was Lily with Cootes. One of his hands roved over her body, the other was holding her wrists as he forced his mouth onto hers. Even from here, Scorpius could see that Cootes was drunk, far drunker than he was, slurring his words as he exhorted Lily to stop being such a ‘fucking tease’.
Hearing her sob, hearing Lily “ his Lily “ sound utterly broken, he reacted instinctively.
“Impedimenta!” he roared, aiming right at Cootes’ head.
The force was enough to blow Cootes off his feet, and even left Scorpius shaking; he’d never felt such rage.
“You okay?” he managed to gasp, as he looked at Lily.
She nodded mutely, tears streaking the carefully applied make-up across her face. Her hair was falling from its elaborate top-knot, half-framing her dishevelled face in its disarray.
Scorpius held out his hand and walked slowly towards her. “Come on, I’ll walk you back to the Hall.”
“No,” she said, her voice shaking. “I can’t go back there. I don’t want to see anyone. I’m too ....” He saw the colour drain from her face as the realisation of what could have happened hit her. “I thought he was harmless.”
“Because he’s a Gryffindor?” Scorpius suggested, raising one eyebrow sardonically.
“No, because he’s a prat, and a boring prat, too,” she retorted. She stared back at Cootes who was still lying on the grass, groaning as he held his face in his hands, then accepted Scorpius’ hand, interlacing her fingers in his. “Thank you.”
“Shall I walk you back to Gryffindor Tower, then?” he offered, hardly daring to believe that she was this close and not hexing him.
“Yes ... thank you. I think that would be for the best,” she replied. Scorpius felt his heart sink, until she added, with a smile, “Can we take the long route, though, around the lake?” Then, standing on tiptoes, she very softly brushed his cheek with her lips. “I’d like to talk.”