Imperfection: A Scorily/Scorlily Fanfic

Chapter Seventeen: Revelation

The entire ride home, Lily maintains a stubborn and stoic silence, which is a very new occurrence in the Potter family. Mrs. Potter looks back at her daughter concernedly, and the minute they pull up in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and enter the house, she pulls her daughter to the side. They go to the living room, where Ginny sits on the couch and motions for Lily to sit next to her.

"Lily," she says sternly, "something's wrong."

Lily shrugs, not meeting her mother's eyes. Her usual cheerful smile is noticeably absent.

"You've never hidden anything from me before." Ginny lifts her daughter's face and looks penetratingly at her. "What is it?"

Such a direct request cannot be denied, especially not by Lily, who adores her mother and can't bear the thought of being dishonest with her.

"It's- it's about Scorp," she says quietly. She looks her mother full in the face, all her anxiety and pity alive in her eyes. "He's been acting very- very strange lately. Al is snapping at him whenever he looks at me, and Rose snaps at me whenever I look at him- and from something Al said to me last week I think- I think Scorpius fancies me."

Ginny frowns. True, she likes Scorpius- and she does not share Al's and James's opinion that no one on earth is good enough for her daughter. But Lily is only just fifteen- such a young girl yet. And she knows that Scorpius has always seemed more like a sibling to Lily than a possible romantic interest. Has anything changed?

"How- how do you feel about it, Lilybug?" she asks hesitantly.

Lily shrugs. "I don't know, Mum. I've never fancied anyone, you know- but lately I've been finding myself flushing when he's around, and feeling confused and stupid. I want to talk to him, but I can't. Do you think-"

Ginny sighs. "I don't know that fancying him is a very good idea, Lily."

Now it's Lily's turn to frown, and she does- very defensively. "Why?"

"Well, for one thing there's your brothers. They're good and kind to you, but you know they're protective. They won't like you fancying anyone. And then there's your- your father."

Lily's mouth drops open. "Daddy? Why would he ever oppose it?"

Ginny smiles drily. "Because he doesn't want to share you with anyone else."

She intends for this warning to put Lily on her guard against fancying Scorpius. To tell the truth, she's not so very fond of the idea of Lily and Scorpius together. But Lily's defiant spirit only rises at the prospect of opposition, and instead of resolving to check her newfound liking for the Malfoy boy, she begins to love him with all the fervour of her naturally passionate nature.

Perhaps "begins" is not an appropriate word to describe it. For Lily has always loved Scorpius, ever since she met him with his father all those years ago. What else could explain her dislike for Rose's poor little fancy, her perpetual wearing of the bracelets he's given her, or the reason she's placed her lily charm on her new bracelet next to the scorpion one instead of leaving it in its original place on the older bracelet? Lily only discovers what has already naturally occurred, and it changes her. James notes out loud, the next day, what a difference has occurred in her. Her eyes shine, and her old smile returns. She no longer avoids Scorpius- she talks and laughs with him as she did before, though the blushes that occur while she does this cause Al to scowl suspiciously and Rose to painstakingly avoid the Potter house.

But as Scorpius has never actually told Lily how he feels, Lily is not sure how to let him know that she returns his feelings. They're never alone together, and Lily nearly despairs of ever letting him know- until one cool evening when the moon is full and casts a bluish glow over everything its light touches, when Al has gone to see Rose, James has gone to see Darcy Finnigan, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter have gone out to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Wood. Since Roxanne is away on vacation and Scorpius doesn't feel like facing Rose, he and Lily are left alone at the house.