Malfoy and Potter [Harry Potter](Scorily Fanfiction)

Chapter Seventeen

After the classes were over for the day, and when it was time for dinner, Lily walked side by side with both Scorpius and Rose. It felt right to be with them; both of them.

They sat together, the way they had since they'd arrived, but instead of eating and laughing and talking together, they sat in an awkward silence with the noise of chatter and excited voices floated through the air. The three of them hardly touched the food they'd gotten and avoided eye contact.

Mid-way through dinner, Scorpius gently nudged Lily's arm and gestured for her to talk to Rose. Obediently, Lily set down her spotless fork and slightly turned to Rose.

"I forgive you," Lily said so quietly, Rose wasn't even sure if she'd heard her.

Rose sat in her chair silently staring at her food for a bit before looking over at Lilly, "What?"

"I said," Lily said a little louder, "I forgive you."

"Really," Rose's eyes lit up, hopeful that Lily really forgave her, "You really forgive me?"

Lily nodded and smiled gently, "Yeah, and I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Leaving you out. Making you feel like I didn't care."

"It's okay," Rose sighed, "I understand why."

Lily turned back to her food, "I still shouldn't have done it."

"No," Rose joked, "You shouldn't have. You bully."

Lily shook her head and tried to keep from laughing, "Shuddup."

"So," Scorpius chimed in, "You guys okay now?"

Rose looked at him and felt a pang of guilt, "Yeah, and Scorpius?"

He raised his eyebrows as if to ask What?, "I'm sorry. For everything. Friends?"

He tilted his head, "Hmm, lemme think about it."

Lily lightly pushed him and shot him a gentle yet stern look making him look back at Rose and smile, "Yeah. Friends."

They smiled at each other until it became awkward and they all looked at the food on their plates and sat in silence until Lily spoke up.

"Hey, Scorpius," Lily turned her body to be slightly angled toward him.

"Yeah?"

Lily took a bite of food, "Did you go to Muggle school?"

Scorpius knitted his eyebrows knowing this was a sensitive subject with Lily, "Yeah?"

"So you know?"

"Know what?"

Lily took a shuddering breath and looked more directly at him, "You know what it's like to know you don't belong there, to not fit in just right, and you understand the pain of being forgotten and treated like you're nothing."

Scorpius shook his head and put his hand on hers, "Lily, I...I didn't go through that."

Lily looked at him, her eyes full of pain and emotion, "What?"

"I didn't get picked on or bullied; I was never the 'odd one out'. I was one of those kids everyone wanted to be friends with, but I wasn't the most liked. The wanted to be me for the popularity, for the fame and respect the other kids threw at me. I was surrounded by people who wanted to be around me."

"Then why'd you leave, Scorpius? Why would you give something that...amazing up for people like me and Rose?"

"I didn't like the attention. And Hogwarts is where my future begins."

Lily looked away from Scorpius, completely shocked he'd rather be in a school filled with people he didn't know, rooms that could lead nowhere, a mystery than a school filled with predictable friends and a place to call home. Something she hadn't had until she came to Hogwarts.

"I'm tired," Lily looked at the food she'd  hardly touched and silently yearned to eat it all, "I'm going back to the commons, okay?"

Rose nodded smiling, but Scorpius looked at her with empty eyes and nodded.

Lily stood and walked out the Great Hall slowly until she reached the stairs where she sat on the steps and let a few tears slide down the side of her cheek.

"Lily," an oddly familiar voice asked, "Is that...you?"