A Green Lily (A Lily Potter Love Story) Part 8

The next few weeks passed in a blissful blur for Lily. She would wake in the morning and meet Scorpius outside the portrait hole. They would walk to breakfast together, holding hands, oblivious to the glares they got from other students. After breakfast Scorpius would walk Lily to her first lesson before running off to his own. She found that she could focus alot better now, completing tasks that the other students took three times as long to master. And no one could miss the sudden leap in her captianing ability, or her new found flying skills.

Whenever the weather allowed, she and Scorpius would eat lunch by the lake, talking about everything from their families, to quidditch rankings, to lessons. For a short while, nothing seemed to enter the private world of Lily Potter and Scorpius Malfoy.

But that didn't last too long. Three weeks after that fateful day in the dungeons, Lily excitedly climbed through the portrait hole, only to frown at what she saw. Nothing. Malfoy wasn't there. She turned to Juniper who had climbed out right behind her. Juniper took a second to notice why Lily was looking so upset.
"Oh calm down Potter." She joked, taking Lily's hand in her own and beggining to walk down the hall. "You can't really expect him to be here everyday."

Lily's face fell even more. Juniper was right, sure they were seeing each other, but she couldn't expect him to be at her doorstep everyday. Reluctantly she fell into step beside Juniper, trying to swallow her disappointment. However when they reached the entrance hall, there he was, stading in a group of Slytherin seventh years, surrounding a small Hufflepuff first year. An uncomfortable siren screeched in Lily's head but she ignored it, there had to be an explaination.

Juniper stopped when Lily planted her feet on the floor firmly, following her line of sight. She sighed, why did guys have to be so clueless, she thought. From where the girls stood they could hear the groups conversation.
"So what should we do with him Malfoy?" A tall brown haired guy asked, giving the Hufflepuff a small shove.
"Yeah, we have to teach the runt a lesson." A girl said, catching the kid and pusing him away again.
"Who does he think he is, getting lost down near our common room?" Grumbled a third voice. Scorpius laughed along with them as his friends continued to push the little kid.

Lily started to shake, her wand hand twitching towards her pocket. Juniper notice and caught Lily's hand just in time.
"Give him a chance." She whispered. Lily swallowed her anger and focused on the group, her hand still hovering over her wand.

"Alright, you've had your fun." Scorpius said, rescuing the boy from another shove. "Leave the kid alone now." He stepped back and the Hufflepuff boy darted off, dodging the group and racing into the great hall.
"Ahhh your no fun Malfoy." The girl said, glancing Lily's way. "Just because your girlfriends around." Malfoy spun and locked eyes with Lily.
"Come off it Kayla." he said as he started to walk towards Lily and Juniper. The other Slytherins laughed and headed into the great hall, leaving Scorpius standing with Lily.

"Are you okay Lily?" he asked, taking in her expression. Juniper glanced over at her face.
"I'll...I'll leave you two to talk." she said, already half way into the hall.
"You let him go." Lily stated after a full minute of silence. Scorpius looked confused.
"Of course I let him go... Oh I get it, you still see me as the bad guy, is that right?" Lily could tell that he was getting angry, see the building fury in his eyes. "Because I can't change? Because there is no possible way that I could let a little boy get away from me without hurting him, right? Well I've got news for you Potter! I have changed, and I happen to like the new me! But if you still see me as the arrogant prat I was before, then I don't think there is anything left for us!"

He stood before her, fists clenched, anger radiating from him in waves. Lily was frightened, standing there, so exposed and vulnerable. She looked away from his furious glare, hoping to stop the tears that were starting to form. She took a deep breath and faced him once more, guilt corrupting her mind. What right did she have to assume that he was going to do anything but let the boy go anyway? Had Scorpius not already proved that he was a different person now?

She couldn't stop the tears then, falling from her eyes and splashing onto her robes. Scorpius' glare softened, his eyes growing wide as he realised what he had done.
"Lily, I'm so-" she held up her hand, gupling back a sob.
"No Scorpius. I'm sorry. Your right, I shouldn't have assumed the worst." She stalked off then, her head hung low, walking straight into the hall without looking back. Scorpius stayed where he was, afraid and confused. What had he done? Had he blown it already?

In the hall Lily sank into a seat beside Rose, pouring a bowl of cereal and playing with the floating flakes. Rose stayed silent beside her, giving her a gentle squeeze before leaving for class. One by one the hall emptied until she was sitting alone with Hugo.
"Come on." he said, gently guiding her to her feet and steering her from the hall.
"I'm a bad person." she told him as they climbed the stairs.
"How so?" he asked.
"I just am. I walk around like I know best, but really I'm just a judgemental bi-"
"Oh come off it!" He interupted loudly, walking into the third floor corridor where their Defence Against the Dark Arts class was being held. "You have to admit, Malfoy has a bad track record, What were you supposed to think?" Before she could answer he pushed her into the full classroom and into a seat.

By lunch Lily had cheered up, waiting outside the potions room for Scorpius to finish class. Albus walked past her, giving her a hug before running off to catch up with his friends. Rose too gave her a hug, whispering quickly that Scorpius looked really heart-broken, before heading over to a group of seventh years going up to lunch.

Finally Scorpius sulked out of the classroom, almost missing her in his gloom. When he saw her his face lit up, a small smile dazzling her. He waisted no time in scooping her into his arms and kissing her, communicating so many things with that one action. By the time they let go of each other the corridor was deserted.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you Lily." Scorpius said before she could silence him. "I was just sick of people judging me all the time."
"I know... I should have been the one person that didn't. Will you forgive me?" He looked into her emerald eyes, swimming with hope and fear at the same time.
"I could never stay mad at you." He whispered, lightly kissing her forehead before leading her out of the dungeons.