Hello, Lily! (A Scorily/Scorlily fanfic)

Chapter Eleven: Scorpius is Surprised

Soon enough the fateful day arrives when Scorpius Malfoy is to meet Ernestina Simple, who supposedly is in his House and year. 

He still has never seen her. But his hesitant inquiries about her generally produce yet another witness to confirm her existence, and so when it is time to meet her at the Three Broomsticks, he begrudgingly puts a nice set of robes on and walks down the long path from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. 

He sees Lily ahead once he enters the wizarding village. She is smiling and talking animatedly to a boy she is with about some trinket or other which she is gesturing to in the window of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. 

He feels a sudden surge of annoyance. It is all Lily's fault that he is doing this- going to meet yet another girl, at his own expense- and she is going out with some idiot from Gryffindor, judging by the colors on his robes. Why did he agree to let her keep doing this to him? Because she batted her eyelashes at him and-

He recoils in horror. What is he thinking?

As though she senses his stare, Lily turns from whatever has excited her so in the window. So does the Gryffindor boy. 

It is Hugo, her cousin. 

Scorpius flushes deeply, and Hugo smirks as though he knows what Scorpius was angry about only a moment ago. Lily only smiles and waves; somehow even that perfectly innocent gesture looks smug on her. 

She runs over in his direction. "Malfoy, what a surprise!"

"Not really," he grumbles, and looks at the ground. It is getting progressively harder to look Lily in the eyes. "You're the one who wouldn't let me be until I agreed to this idiotic fiasco. Manners lessons? Really? She's my exact age!"

Lily frowns, though he knows she's not remotely disturbed by his outburst. "You really shouldn't talk so, Scorpius. And-" she glances down at an old, battered golden watch she wears strapped to her delicate wrist- "it's nearly twelve! You'll be late; go."

He does. He can never say no to her. But he continues to be profoundly annoyed. 

It gets worse when he enters the Three Broomsticks. 

At the other end of the little pub sits a lovely girl with jet-black, shining hair and creamy pale skin. Her green eyes are lovely, and match the green on her robes. At first, Scorpius thinks that perhaps she will do. He approaches with slightly firmer step. 

Then she opens her mouth. 

"Scorpius Malfoy, I presume?" Her voice is high and fluttery, like a bird's, but the tone is ice-cold. 

"Yes." He sits down opposite from her. "Ernestina, I presume?"

"Oh, yes." She frowns at him. "But you have not waited for me to bid you to sit."

Scorpius starts visibly, but says nothing. He curses Lily Potter in rather foul language inside his head, however. "I'm sorry."

"If you would stand up, please?"

He does so, looking askance at this strange girl. Lily's bossing is nothing to this. At least Lily tricks you into thinking you are not being bossed. 

"You may sit."

"Oh. Thank you." He looks down at the little paper menus on their table and wishes himself anywhere but here. 

The rest of the date goes just as badly as the first moments. Ernestina refuses to allow him to order for himself and insists that he kiss her hand when she compliments him- briefly- on his knowledge of the intricacies of music. 

Although Ernestina refuses to tell him anything about herself, Scorpius still has the odd feeling that he has met her before. 

"And you've only just come to Hogwarts? Only for your seventh year?" Scorpius finds this difficult to believe since it seems pointless to transfer for only a couple of months before graduation. 

Ernestina does not answer his question, electing instead to point out that part of his shirt is untucked. 

When the date ends Scorpius is so thoroughly exasperated that he hopes never to be so unfortunate as to see Ernestina Simple ever again. It is for this reason, among many others, that he is completely surprised to hear her say, as they head for the door:

"Of course you'll have to do much better than this at the Vernal Formal, Scorpius."

"WHAT?"

She stares at him, unperturbed. Where has he seen narrowed eyes like those before? "Of course, you'll be taking me, won't you? It would be ungentlemanly not to."

He makes an inaudible choking, gasping sound. 

"I'm not leaving until you say yes." She swings her bag deftly over her shoulder and turns slightly, as though tempting him with the prospect of the absence of her company. WHERE has he seen movements like those?

"Y- yes?" He hates himself for giving in as soon as the agreement leaves his mouth- wishes he could take it back. But true to her word, Ernestina Simple is gone without a trace. 

And he is ready to kill Lily Potter for what she has done to him this time. 

---

A couple of minutes later, a tall raven-haired beauty is seen walking slowly, a satisfied smirk on her face, back onto the Hogwarts grounds. There is a flurry of movement in the bushes next to the Black Lake, and "Ernestina Simple" turns, amused, to see Lily Luna Potter emerging, laughing hard. 

"There's no need to be so loud," she says softly, in the tone she prefers- the tone that is a low, sedate version of her usually fluttery and birdlike voice. "I haven't removed the transfigurations yet." She darts behind the bush to where Lily was. Seconds later she emerges as her true self- dark skin, piercing blue eyes, tightly-curled hair, and a longer, leaner form. Her smirk remains the same. 

"I hope you're happy," she says as the girls begin to make their way towards the castle. "It'll be difficult to carry this off for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, Lily- you invent a new person for Emmie, one for me- half Hogwarts will have two identities by Thursday next." 

"Well, you can't pretend it isn't amusing." Lily tosses a new, gold trinket she's purchased dexterously between her hands. "Was he awful?"

"Absolutely."

"I can't believe you got him to agree."

"He's unused to confrontation, I think." 'Ernestina' chuckles softly. 

"He didn't recognize you?"

"Almost nobody does." 'Ernestina' smiles a wide, white, toothy grin. She prefers it this way and they both know it. 

"Well, it was awfully good of you to agree. Thank you, Rosie."

"Anytime, Moon-face."