Lily lowered herself onto the grass, and let go of his hand as she huddled into her cloak. “Sorry you lied to me, or sorry you were caught out?” she asked.
He lowered his gaze, but peeped at her through his lashes. She was calm now, no longer the girl frightened by a boy trying to kiss her, and he wondered if she were regretting the fact that it had been Scorpius who had saved her from an overly amorous boyfriend.
“Both,” he admitted, and then looked her directly in the eye. “I should have told you about my application.”
“Yes,” she murmured. “You should have. Why didn’t you?”
He sighed, knowing that lies would not get him anywhere, but truth could cost him dear, too. “Because if you’d found out I wanted to be an Auror, you would have assumed that was the only reason I wanted to see you.”
She shrugged. “You could be right.”
Scorpius leant forward and tried to hold her hand, but she remained unresponsive. “Lily, I filled in the application form months ago “ over the summer in fact “ but I didn’t send it in. Please believe that.”
Lily looked at him then stared across the lake. “Doesn’t that make it worse? You sent the application form in after we were together, didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t going to. I’d put it in my desk drawer and forgotten about it but ...” He sighed. This was hopeless. He tipped his head back and started scouring the sky, searching for Merlin-knew “what in order to find some way of getting through to her.
“But what?” Lily persisted. “Scorpius, talk to me.”
“That day in the field,” he mumbled. “You told me your dad gave people chances, and I realised that maybe -- just maybe -- I did have a chance at getting on the Auror programme.”
“And me?”
He ran his hands though his hair, sweeping it off his face, trying again to put his thoughts into words and only hoping she would give him time to explain. “I didn’t think it would hurt my chances if I was also your boyfriend,” he said brutally.
“Rose was right. You were just using me,” Lily cried and flinched away from him, but he grabbed her wrist.
“I’m being honest here,” he implored her. “I’m finally telling you the whole truth, even though I’ve only just realised half of it myself.” He paused and took a deep breath, heartened slightly that she hadn’t snatched her hand away. “Lily, I started seeing you because I wanted to. It had nothing to do with your dad until later. I didn’t think of it as using you because I genuinely wanted to be with you, and you liked seeing me, didn’t you?”
She was silent as she studied him, her eyes never leaving his face, searching in the shadows for some sign that he was lying or was sincere.
“Yes,” she said at last, her voice as soft as the ripples on the water. “I did like being with you.”
Somewhere inside, he felt a warm spark flaring. It was faint, but perhaps there was some hope now that she’d listened and not hexed him. “Then ... can we ...?”
“So you can get back in with Dad?” she asked coolly, and snatched her hand away. “Closing date is tomorrow. Are you expecting me to send him an owl telling him how wonderful you are?” She snorted. “What on earth makes you think he’d listen to me, anyway?”
“NO!” he shouted. “Lily, look, being an Auror is important to me, I admit it, but I know I’ve screwed things up with your dad. He’s not going to consider me, not even with Teddy on side.” He raised his hand to hush her as she opened her mouth to speak. “I saw Teddy in Hogsmeade and told him my side of the story. He said he’d explain to Harry, but as I’ve heard nothing from either of them, I suspect Teddy either changed his mind, or your dad isn’t as forgiving as you think.”
“He’s protective, that’s all,” she replied sulkily. Then she smiled faintly. “They all are. Al keeps telling me you were only after one thing “ I don’t think he meant a place on the training programme, either - and you’d have dumped me as soon as you’d had your ‘wicked way.’”
“Ouch!” he complained. “That is rich coming from someone whose brother is James “ I-shag-anything-with-a-pulse - Potter.”
Lily glared, and then giggled. “I was going to defend James there, but you could be right.”
He grinned at her, and slowly edged closer, shuffling forwards until their knees touched. “They don’t have a very high opinion of me, do they?”
“Roxanne thinks you’re cool,” she replied, referring to her younger cousin currently in the third year. “But ... um ... well, no one else does, sorry.”
Very slowly, Scorpius reached out with his hand and touched her cheek with his fingertip. She didn’t move away but kept her eyes trained on his. Seeing her lips part, he leant forwards and very softly kissed her on the mouth. Her lips were still as soft as he remembered, still as warm and just as sweet.
“I don’t care about them,” he whispered. “The only person who counts is you.”
“But I care about them,” she replied gently, leaning her forehead against his. “Al’s my brother. Rose and Hugo are closer to me than anyone, Scorpius, and they’ll be furious with me.”
“Then don’t tell them,” he said. “We can keep this secret, just like you wanted.”
She was shivering now; he hoped it was with cold and not fear, so he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. When she didn’t pull away but rested her cheek on his shoulder, he felt a lump in his throat. He hadn’t been aware quite how much he’d missed her until this moment, had not known she was so important to him. How could he have known? They’d barely been together a month.
“If Dad accepts you onto the programme,” she said after a while, “but tells you that you can’t see me, what will you do?”
He frowned as he thought about it. What would he do? “Honestly?” he asked. Lily nodded and scowled back at him, shifting away from his arms. He laughed and pulled her back. “I would tell your father that I have no intention of seeing his daughter then continue to see you anyway.”
“You’re very sneaky.”
“I know what I want,” he murmured as he brushed his lips against her neck. “So what do you say, Lily Potter, am I your boyfriend again?”
Turning, she lifted her hands and twisted them around his neck, entangling her fingers in his hair and pulling his mouth towards hers. He moved his hands around her waist, delighting in the feel of her against him, the warmth of her body radiating through him.
“What about Heloise?” she asked, sounding sly as she nipped his ear lobe.
“Don’t know. Don’t care,” he gasped when her lips strayed to his neck.
“That’s not very nice,” she said. “She looked as if she was really into you.”
Scorpius pulled away, cupped her face in his hands and started at her. “I’m not nice and she’s not you,” he murmured, adding, “I could ask the same about Cootes.”
“I was trying to make you jealous.”
He chuckled, feeling relieved. “It worked.”
Lily shuddered. “I was stupid, but I really didn’t think he’d try anything like that. If you hadn’t come along ...”
Scorpius kissed her again then held both her hands in his. “You’d have got him with a Bat-Bogey hex, or a knee in the bollocks,” he said, and raised one eyebrow. “Besides, I doubt he’d have tried much beyond a kiss and ...” He dropped a gentle kiss on her brow. “You do look beautiful. I can’t really blame him.” He saw her glaring at him and added quickly, “Not that that’s any excuse ... he ... uh ... should have stopped as soon as you said no, but ...” He groaned at his fumbling words. “You look bloody hot, okay, and sometimes that’s hard to resist.”
She snorted, and pulled at the hair that was straggling down her face. “I look a mess,” she stated.
In the starlight, with her hair awry, and her make-up smeared across her face, she looked anything but soignée. Yet Scorpius didn’t care. She was here, in his arms, and willing to give him another chance. He felt a wave of longing shudder through him, but knew this was not the right time. “Come on,” he said, reluctantly getting to his feet. “I’ll walk you back to Gryffindor Tower.”
“I’d much rather stay here,” she complained, but she stood up, brushing the grass off her robes.
“Me too, but you’re looking almost too good to resist and I don’t want to end up like Cootes.” He took her hand as they started walking back. “You don’t need another excuse for your brother to shout at you. He was a bastard having a go at you after the match.”
“Who? Al?” Lily laughed, tilting her head back in utter enjoyment. “We always argue. It’s a Weasley thing “ our way of communicating. Poor old Dad shuts himself away in his study when we get going.”
“So he hasn’t dropped you from the team?”
She shook her head. “Course not. He was worried about Natalie, that’s all. When he calmed down and realised she was fine, he said sorry. Then I bullied him into asking her out.” She began giggling again. “I didn’t think it was a good idea to admit that I’d misread the score and thought Hufflepuff were only one-hundred and forty ahead.”
“How in the name of Merlin’s most pointed hat can you misread the score?” He started laughing. A mistake like that would have cost him his place on the Slytherin team, and he admired her ability to bluff her way out.
Removing her hand from his, Lily crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “I was distracted by this jerk in the crowd who kept giving me advice.”
Scorpius grinned at her, and edged closer until there was a hair’s breadth between them. He watched as the stubborn expression in her eyes melted into one of amusement. He kissed her.
This time, it was different. This time when his lips touched hers, he felt his senses drowning under her touch. His hands cupped her face, his thumbs caressing her cheeks, and then she moved closer. He could feel her slight frame against his body as she wound her arms around him and trailed her fingers up his back. His head span, and he didn’t think it had anything to do with the booze he’d been drinking. When her mouth strayed to his jaw line, and he could feel her hot breath on his neck, he moaned and wrenched himself away.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, horrified.
“Nothing, nothing,” he muttered as he released his hold and clutched his arms around his chest. “It’s ... too ...” He faltered, wondering how he could explain. If she’d been Ariadne or Heloise, even, he’d have carried on without a thought, but this was Lily, and ... sweet Merlin it was different.
“Too what?” A worried frown appeared on her face, so Scorpius carefully smoothed a tress of her hair behind her ear.
“I don’t want to end up like Cootes,” Scorpius replied and laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “Let’s get you back to your tower.”
“I like kissing you, and besides there isn’t anyone else around here willing to ride to my rescue,” she said, but accepted his hand nonetheless. She stopped abruptly, her eyes wide. “Merlin, what if he tells Al and the others who I went off with?”
Scorpius pondered the conundrum. Personally, he didn’t care who knew about him and Lily, but it mattered to her and he had promised her he’d keep it a secret. “He was pretty drunk, and I hexed him straight in the face, so I doubt he recognised me,” he said at last. “Besides if he splits on us, then he’ll have to admit he was mauling you ... and he’s not going to want to admit that to a bunch of maddened Potters and Weasleys, is he?”
“Hope not,” she murmured, and squeezing his hand, she started the walk back to the castle.
Scorpius looked back to where they’d been sitting then at the lake. The wind was picking up now, rippling the water’s surface and causing small waves to lap against the bank. He could hear music from the Great Hall “ a slow dance “ and he wondered if Heloise had found someone to console her, or if Vaisey had managed to smuggle Ariadne back to the dormitory. His eyes drifted to the opposite bank where only a week before, she’d hurled a Bat-Bogey hex at his face, incandescent with rage.
“Come here,” he whispered, and pulled her back to him. She looked faintly amused, but complied and tilted her head up, waiting for another kiss. “I want a dance with my apple-queen.”
Lily rested her cheek on his chest and moved with him slowly, in time to the music. He felt a surge of longing whip through him, and for an infinitesimal moment, he wanted to take this further, to slip the straps of the dress off her shoulders and caress every part of her. Scorpius took a deep breath as Lily continued moving, seemingly oblivious to the pent up desire raging within him.
He dropped a soft kiss on her forehead and carried on dancing.
He’d be sleeping alone tonight, no doubt in the common room, but he didn’t care. He had his girl back and they had a chance.
It wasn’t daffodils but a newspaper that landed in his breakfast the following Tuesday. Puzzled, because he could never be bothered reading The Prophet, he looked up to the ceiling of the Great Hall (currently showing grey clouds scurrying across a blustery sky) to see a small owl flying swiftly away amongst the other owls, yet not resisting the chance to twirl in the air.
Perhaps the paper has a note in it, Scorpius thought, deliberately not looking across to the Gryffindor table. He’d not seen Lily alone since the Ball, but had hung around the Entrance Hall yesterday lunchtime, on the pretext of doing up his shoe lace before meal times and had caught her smiling secretly from under her long flowing hair.
Cootes had not surfaced until Sunday evening. The effects of Firewhisky and a hex to the head had obviously left him with a Grawp-sized hangover. Lily had looked at him coldly when he’d appeared and not made any space for him. Cootes, despite looking sorrowful, had not protested.
Scorpius turned back to the newspaper, rifling through the pages, but there was nothing there. Why on earth would she send him a newspaper, especially one dated from Sunday? He frowned, but turned the paper over - and then he understood.
A TALE OF TWO MATCHES “ By Ginny Potter and James S. Potter
Scorpius snorted when he saw the initial James had added, trying to make himself more impressive, no doubt. He chuckled at the photograph of Gerald being chucked off the Firebolt X then smiled when he saw Lily swooping through air having just caught the Snitch. She looked gloriously happy, sure she’d won the match for her team and he sorely hoped she’d be smiling like that again soon and for the right reasons. They had Ravenclaw next term ... and that would be tough.
Halfway down the report of the first game, he noticed Lily had marked a passage:
Gerald Vaisey’s inexperience as a Seeker could have been foreseen by even the most disaffected Divination student, when he sat upon a borrowed broom and was promptly bucked off. Despite the option of calling on his regular Seeker, the Slytherin captain (Johnson Vaisey) showed great loyalty to his brother and did not change his team. This proved to be a costly mistake as Scorpius Malfoy proved he could tame the recalcitrant Firebolt X in a flashy piece of flying that left some spectators fearing for their hats.
“Flashy piece of flying!” Scorpius exclaimed indignantly, but he didn’t feel angry. Lily’s mum had not thought too badly of him, and maybe James S. Potter (he grimaced at the chance he’d missed of calling James,‘Spotter’) had appreciated his style.
A loud laugh stopped him reading and, peering over the top of the paper, he saw Lily walking out of the Hall arm in arm with Rose. She glanced back over her shoulder, seeking his eyes, and he winked at her.
“Very interesting, Scorpius,” whispered a voice in his ear. He groaned when he realised it was Mrs Zabini. “It’s back on then, I take it?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he murmured. Then, despite the fact that he was still hungry and had two hours to kill before his first lesson, he stood up intending to leave. He knew she wasn’t fooled by his display of disinterest, yet he also knew that she wouldn’t tell anyone. But it struck him that if she’d noticed something, then so could someone else and that made him nervous.
Guiltily, his thoughts strayed to his Auror application. The closing date had passed, yet he’d heard nothing and didn’t even know if Teddy had spoken to Harry.
This was all too bloody much. He needed to clear his head. He needed to fly.
“Scorpius, where are you going?”
“Thought I’d go for a fly, sir. I don’t get much opportunity, and I have a couple of hours free this morning,” Scorpius replied smoothly. He tried a smile on Professor Goldstein, but wasn’t actually worried. Goldstein may have been a stickler for rules, but Scorpius got on well with his Defence teacher.
“You’re free, then, are you?”
“Yes,” Scorpius replied a touch warily. He didn’t altogether trust Goldstein, who could be very crafty when he wanted to be.
“Excellent,” he said, beaming, and placed an arm around Scorpius’ shoulders. “It won’t take long, but I could really do with your help in this morning’s class.” He raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Duelling. I thought it would give them a bit of light relief before I start-”
“Sir, it’s not that I don’t ...” Scorpius interrupted. He did not want to spend his free time tutoring some sodding first years, who couldn’t even hold their wands properly.
“... seriously grilling them for their O.W.L.s,” finished the professor.
“Oh ... the fifth years?”
“Yes, yes,” the professor fussed. Then he grinned. “If I’m honest with you, Scorpius, I saw the impact Harry Potter had on your lessons recently, and thought I should lighten up a touch. My O.W.L. students are looking a bit frazzled.”
“Which house?” Scorpius asked innocently.
“Gryffindor,” the professor replied. Then he sighed. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that you can’t help because you know it’s the ‘enemy.’ Really, I would have thought twenty-odd years would have made a difference by now, but it does seem as if I’m wrong ... well, run along, then, I won’t keep you from your “” He grimaced at the broom before turning his back on Scorpius and walking away.
“Sir, sir,” Scorpius called as he strode after him, “I’ll help ... no problem.”
The professor beamed. “Thank you. It won’t be much. I need someone to show them the rudiments of duelling on.” He winked. “And knowing you as I do, you won’t hold back when you’re aiming at me. Some of these Gryffindors seem far too intimidated by my presence. Wouldn’t say they were at all brave ... or reckless!”
Scorpius grinned and followed Professor Goldstein. Lily’s O.W.L. class, that could be interesting.
“Gryffindors, wands out and books away!” rapped the professor as he walked to his desk. The class looked at him in astonishment, and Scorpius knew why for usually his Defence teacher was a stickler for learning the theory first. “We’re going to do something different today, but first ...” he paused and glared at them as he Summoned a stack of parchment from the other side of the room, “... your homework. Miss Potter, will you distribute them to the class?”
Scorpius lounged in the doorway, casting one brief look at Lily and noticing that she was trying not to smile or catch his eye, as she walked towards the front of the class. He watched the rest of the Gryffindors, most of whom seemed to be staring at him with resentment. Smirking at Hugo, he turned away.
“Excellent homework, Miss Potter,” the professor was saying. “Great improvement. I’ve awarded you ten house points. I particularly enjoyed the detail surrounding the whistling kettle.”
Catching her eye and raising his eyebrows, Scorpius laughed to himself when he saw Lily redden. With an absurd surge of pleasure, he realised that Lily hadn’t completely disregarded him after they’d split up. He pursed his lips together and began to whistle tunelessly then gave her a sly wink. Flustered, she dropped the sheaves of parchment and one floated to his feet. He bent down to retrieve it, and under its cover, blew her a kiss.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered as, with trembling fingers, she gathered up the rest of the essays.
“Goldstein wants someone to hurl hexes at,” he murmured back. Glancing sideways, he surveyed Hugo who was staring at him with utter antipathy. “I think your cousin would like a turn, as well.”
“Perhaps you should stop speaking to me,” she hissed. “He’ll get suspicious.”
“The more you scowl at me the less suspicious he’ll be,” Scorpius continued, as he scrabbled around on the floor, picking up more of the essays. “Tell me when we can meet up again. Then I won’t have to speak to you.”
“Erm...” Her eyes darted from left to right as she snatched the papers out of his hands.
“Miss Potter, those essays need to be given out this morning,” the professor called. “Scorpius, you seem to be hindering rather than helping.” Professor Goldstein turned to the class and smiled somewhat grimly. “You may wonder why I’ve asked Mr Malfoy into your class today. It’s because he’s a good dueller. I put some of that down to his Quidditch reflexes, but also because he is excellent at anticipating his opponent’s moves.”
Straightening up, Scorpius flushed at the praise. “Thank you, sir.”
“And do you know why?” Professor Goldstein continued, ignoring Scorpius as he looked around the room.
“Probably uses Legilimency and reads our minds,” Hugo shouted. “Typical sneaky Slytherin trick.”
“Possibly,” the professor replied and he turned to Scorpius. “Are you a Legilimens?”
“Nope, but er ... from what I’ve read that great Gryffindor, and former Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was a pretty good Legilimens, too.”
Although the professor frowned at his sarcastic tone, Scorpius thought he caught a glimmer of a smile.
“Right, Gryffindors, line up along the back of the classroom. I want you to watch our little demonstration and then find yourselves a partner.” He stopped speaking and indicated for Scorpius to walk over to the opposite side of the classroom then he started to clear a passageway between the desks.
“First we bow,” he began, giving Scorpius a stiff nod.
Grinning, Scorpius bowed low to the ground with a flourish. He heard someone giggle (Lily), someone make a rude noise (Hugo), and some of the others catcall.
“Yes, yes, Scorpius, you can stop showing off. Let’s duel!”
As quick as a cat, the professor cast his first spell. Instinctively, Scorpius blocked the spell and then hurled a Tickling Jinx at his opponent. Goldstein swerved sideways, and threw another hex, which Scorpius “ again “ blocked. Then, with increasing determination, Scorpius aimed a Tarrantallegra at the professor, noting with satisfaction that his aim was true. Professor Goldstein began to tap dance across the classroom, and seemed incapable of continuing the duel. He took a small bow, tip-tapped across the floor towards Scorpius, whilst his class laughed, then aimed his wand at his feet.
“Finite Incantatem!” he said breathlessly. His feet stopped moving and he held his hand out to Scorpius. “Well done.”
“I think you let me win, sir,” Scorpius replied, not altogether politely. The professor’s hexes had been easy to block.
“Perhaps, but then again, you anticipated well,” he replied and studied his line up of Gryffindors. “Miss Thomas, you still look rather battered after your valiant match. Would you like to sit this out?”
Looking wistful, Natalie sighed and nodded. She squeezed Lily’s hand apologetically then took a seat by the window. Her face was still swollen, and Scorpius didn’t blame her for not wanting to duel.
Meanwhile Goldstein was dividing them up into pairs, until at last he was left with Hugo and Lily. “Ah! Cousins, not a duelling pairing I’m fond of,” he muttered and began chewing the side of his lip as he looked across at the serried ranks of Gryffindors no doubt wondering who he could swap around.
“What’s wrong with cousins duelling?” Lily asked.
“Because,” the professor explained, “family members have a tendency to bring up family issues. It could lead to a very nasty and protracted duel. Miss Potter, you can partner me. Weasley, take Scorpius as your partner.”
“And that won’t be at all nasty?” one of the Gryffindors piped up. There was a ripple of laughter across the room.
“Not with me watching,” the Professor replied grimly. He sounded as if he were regretting asking Scorpius to help him, and Scorpius was still unsure why he’d been so persistent. All he knew was that Goldstein never did anything without thinking about it, and always had a plan.
They lined up and soon the room was awhirl with the sound of spells firing, and yelled hexes. Hugo bowed his head, Scorpius again bowed low, but instead of looking at the floor, he kept his eyes trained on Hugo’s face. In a real duel, this was necessary; for a friendly demonstration, Scorpius knew that his inability to trust Hugo was a breach of etiquette. The professor frowned but did not comment.
“Expell -” Hugo shouted, but his shot was blocked and he stumbled backwards.
Lazily, Scorpius waited for him, then seeing Hugo raise his wand again, he flicked his own. “Serpensortia!” he hissed, his eyes glinting wickedly.
For a second Hugo looked startled, but then he Stunned the snake and kicked it to the side. Mildly impressed, Scorpius blocked another Disarming Spell before casting his own. He hit Hugo directly on the arm, and the wand went spinning through the air. Pirouetting, Scorpius snatched the wand out of the air. “You need to do better than that, Weasley!” he mocked and tossed the wand back.
“Now, now, Scorpius,” reproved Goldstein. “He doesn’t have your experience or knowledge.”
Scorpius turned away from Hugo, intending to make another smart remark, when something caught the side of his face. “OW! That’s not a Disarming Spell, you sly git,” he yelled, as he watched his snake from earlier slither across the floor.
“No it was a ‘Slap-your-opponent-across-the-face-with “a-conjured- snake’ Spell,” replied Natalie Thomas. She was standing up and glaring at him. “Sorry, Professor, but Malfoy is an arrogant pig at times.”
“Agreed,” the professor replied. “Hugo, sit down. Miss Potter, take your turn with me.”
Lily shuffled nervously across the classroom floor. From his vantage point, Scorpius could see her hands were shaking. Stealthily, he inched behind her and coughed. She turned her head slightly, not fully acknowledging his presence. “Cootes,” he mouthed.
Smiling slightly, Lily proceeded to make the class laugh as she curtseyed instead of bowing, then quick as a flash, she yelled, “Impedimenta!”
Professor Goldstein dropped his wand and fell backwards. “Well done, Miss Potter,” he gasped, as he got to his feet. “This really does seem to be your day. Take another ten house points.”
Scorpius watched as the class congratulated her; he wanted to join in, but from across the room he was aware of Hugo’s eyes trailing him, so he turned away and assumed an expression of acute boredom.
“Okay, Scorpius, we won’t keep you much longer,” the professor said. “I know you’re itching to take your broom out for a spin. But before you go ...” He smiled at the class. “I told you earlier that Scorpius was very good at anticipating his opponents’ moves. Apart from a flying snake, he managed to block every spell. Anyone care to hazard a guess why?”
It was Hugo who raised his hand, albeit reluctantly. “I know you said he wasn’t a Legilimens, sir,” he began, “but Malfoy did seem to know exactly what spell I was going to use, and I can’t see how he did that unless he was reading my mind.” He paused, smiling ruefully. “My reflexes aren’t that bad.”
“They’re very good, Weasley,” agreed Professor Goldstein. “So maybe it’s down to something else.”
Scorpius watched the students “ none of them seemed to have a clue. There was certainly no one as forthcoming as Rose Weasley in this class.
Professor Goldstein sighed. With a wave of his wand, he started to levitate the desks back into their places. “Miss Potter, would you tell the class why you chose that particular spell to disarm me?”
“Uh-uh “uh,” she stuttered. “It ... um ... just came into my head, I suppose. I saw it used on someone recently and ...” she trailed off, finishing with a feeble smile at her teacher.
“And if that spell hadn’t popped into your head, what do you think you’d have used?”
“Expelliarmus,” she replied promptly then her face broke into a smile. “OH! I see. You were expecting me to disarm you using that spell, weren’t you, sir?”
Professor Goldstein smiled at her then gestured to Scorpius. “Care to expand?”
“It’s become a popular, almost default, spell,” Scorpius drawled. “Since Mr Potter defeated the Dark Lord, everyone tries it.” He shrugged. “There’s no element of surprise.”
“And you’re saying it’s a bad spell, then are you?” declared Hugo.
Scorpius smiled nastily. “I said everyone tries it, but hardly anyone has mastered it. I very much doubt I could have blocked your uncle, but you were easy, Weasley.” He bowed to his professor. “May I go, sir?”
“Can I persuade you to stay for one last duel?”
Laughing now, Scorpius walked towards the door. “Not a chance, sir. I don’t think you’ll let me win this time.”
“You’re being modest, not your usual quality, Scorpius. Yes, Miss Potter, what is it?”
“This fell out of Malfoy’s pocket,” she replied, giving Scorpius a scornful look. “When he was screaming at the snake.”
The class laughed and Scorpius glowered, but as Lily approached, he understood. She handed him a wedge of paper and winked. Turning sharply on his heel, Scorpius strode down the corridor, but once round the corner, he stopped and opened the paper. Whilst everyone else had been duelling, Lily had been drawing “ a map to be precise. ‘Kitchens’ she’d scrawled. ‘Seven p.m. tonight.’
An assignation amid hundreds of scurrying house-elves - not exactly what he had in mind, but a few days ago, all he had to look forward to was a date with the hideous Heloise Edgecombe. Now he had his girl back, and had showed Weasley up to be an arse. If he could only get accepted onto the Auror programme, then life could not get any sweeter.
Whistling as he ran and slid along the corridors as skittishly as any first year, Scorpius launched himself down the staircases and towards the dungeons and past Zabini’s living quarters (ducking low in case Mrs Zabini dragged him inside for interrogation.)
“Scorpius, a word, please.”
Scorpius stopped abruptly at the sound of his house master’s voice. It was the tone that worried him. Professor Zabini never spoke gently. Scorpius stared into his liquid dark eyes that had also never seemed to look this serious before.
“Sir?” he queried, trying to sound nonchalant, but he felt his insides plummet.
“Come into my office. I need to talk to you.”
Mutely he followed the professor and sat on the hard chair usually reserved for recalcitrant pupils. “Is it my mum?” he asked croakily, a lump scratching at the back of his throat.
“No,” Professor Zabini replied softly. “Your parents are absolutely fine.” He paused and licked his lips. “It’s your grandfather, Scorpius. Lucius Malfoy has had a stroke.”