Mint Chocolate Chip

written by: albe-chan

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction and I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned,, I am making no money from this, and any coincidence with real life is purely coincidental. This work may contain MATURE THEMES, such as coarse language, mature subject matter (mentions of sex, nudity, etc.), and/or violence. Please, if you are not over the age of 18, or of majority in your country, DO NOT READ THIS! You have been warned!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A distraction, originally, from my NaNo of 2016, which wound up being Bound for Greatness, that has been floating in and out of my brain since. And even though I really shouldn't be starting, or committing myself to continuing yet ANOTHER fic (at least not with a dozen unfinished bits on the go) I just can't help myself. And yes, this is probably going to be long. And non-magic AU/NextGen. And I was going to apologize for that, but then I realized if I should, I probably already would have. 'I can't keep my filthy fucking mouth shut!' Cheers!

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It was July first and Lily Potter sighed, laying back on her beach blanket, soaking up the sun. Of course, she was coated liberally with SPF 75 sunscreen because she was fair-skinned and didn't want to burn, peel, and go back to being white, but it still felt delicious to bake herself on a beach with the cool breeze blowing off the water every now and then. She had her headphones in and her sunglasses on and felt herself, listening to the sound of her favourite album, slowly drifting off into sleep. And then, just as her brain started to disengage, something hard smacked into her left thigh, splattering her with sand.

The redhead sat up, furious, ripped her sunglasses off and her earbuds out, and narrowed her bright hazel eyes against the sun and whoever had disturbed her. "Fuck, I'm sorry," said a deep voice and she turned her head and put a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun's glare as someone approached. She glared at the football that had smacked into her, and then up again at the person standing before her, blocking the sun now and casting a shadow over her face.

And before she could tear two strips off the person who had so rudely interrupted her day of relaxation, her mouth fell open in unmitigated shock and blatant appreciation of the responsible party. Because there, standing before her, all bronzed and very well toned and mouth-wateringly sexy, was a handsome man with sun-bleached blond hair and dark grey eyes. Yum! "Scorpius! Get the goddamn ball!" someone shouted from down the beach, and Lily frowned, her mouth snapping shut.

"Maybe you should learn to catch before playing near people minding their own business," she said rudely, rebelling against the initial burst of primal, physical attraction to this very fine specimen of the opposing sex. She pointedly brushed sand off herself.

The man, Scorpius she assumed his name was, reached for his ball, mouth quirking up on one side, making his handsome face insanely more attractive, and his gaze dipped to her chest. "Sorry again. Nice bathing suit, though." He stood up, ball in hand, and jogged away and Lily glared after him, then put her sunglasses back on. She laid back down, moving to put her earbuds back in, then realized, to her chagrin, her nipples had gone hard and were very noticeably poking through the fabric on the top of her eggplant bikini.

"Fuck me," she muttered, resisting the urge to facepalm, and tried to relax again, pushing thoughts of the sexy interrupter with no football skills from her mind.

A couple hours later, she had put her flip-flops back on, wrapped her sarong around her hips, folded her blanket back into her tote, and was heading back to her car, sighing at the thought of returning to work the next day. Not that she didn't like her summer job, but it sure as hell wasn't as much fun as lying in the sun on a beach, eating up eye candy like the hunk who'd interrupted her afternoon nap.

Just as she was unlocking the door to her beat up, handed-down hand-me-down Jeep, her cellphone rang. It was the younger of her two older brothers. "Hey, Al, what's up?"

"First off, call Mom. Second, you're coming to dinner at the parentals' place tonight, right?" Lily went to her parents' house every Sunday for dinner.

"Of course I'm going. Why am I calling Mom?"

"To tell her I reminded you. Gotta go, I have a meeting two minutes ago. Later, brat."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Bye, doofus." She disconnected, leaning against her Jeep and called her mother. "Hey, Mom. Albus reminded me."

"Oh good! Nice to know a son still listens to his mother when she bribes him with brownies. Now, don't be upset, Lily, honey," she said in one breath and Lily frowned, already getting upset. Her redheaded temper, inherited from her mother, was quick to rise, and she felt her stomach dropping.

"No, Mom," she said firmly. "If you're going to try to set me up again, I'm not-"

"But he's a lawyer, honey! And I've seen him. Well, his picture anyway, and he's really rather good looking." Lily groaned. Her mother had been trying, without any success, to set her youngest child up for months, and Lily was getting tired of it. The redhead knew her mother meant well, it was just that nine times out of ten, they were ugly blind dates, her brothers made fun of her for them, and she never hit it off with the losers her mother presented for her. And, at twenty-six, Lily was more than capable of finding her own dates, thank you very much!

How's that going for you so far? She crushed the traitorous thought. She was single, had been single for a year after her last relationship had fallen apart messily, and while she was actively looking, she had high standards and picky taste in men. "If I go, will you stop trying to set me up, Mom? This is getting old."

Her mother sighed. "You know I just want you to be happy, honey," she said, her tone wheedling. Lily frowned.

"It will make me ecstatic if you stop setting me up with the sons of your friends," she grumbled.

"Please, Lily?"

"Fine. But seriously, Mom, this is the last time. If you try again, I'm never coming for dinner again. Including Christmas." The last part was a blatant lie, but desperate times called for desperate measures after all.

"I promise," her mother vowed. "And you're going to like this one. I just know it."

Lily sighed. "If you say so, Mom," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll be there at six."

"Oh no, honey, come early. Then you can talk to him before dinner is ready."

"Maybe," she mumbled. "Gotta go, bye, Mom."

"Five-thirty, Lily! Love you!"

The redhead thrust her phone back into her bag then decided an ice cream would put her in a better mood after that phone call, and wandered over to the snackbar area. She placed her order for a double scoop of mint chocolate chip and paid, putting a single earbud in as she waited. The teenage girl handed her her cone and she smiled her thanks, taking a bite, and turned, abruptly walking into someone. "Shit, sorry!" she said automatically. Her cone smashed into them then promptly fell, with a splat, to the ground. She looked up into dark grey eyes that were full of amusement, and horribly familiar. "You!" she said accusingly. Blond eyebrows went up.

"Me," he said in his deep voice that was designed to feature in her erotic fantasies. He smirked, eyes dropping to her chest again. "Are they always like that?"

Lily scowled. "You're a prick," she snarled. He grinned crookedly again, meeting her eyes.

"And yet you're the one who just attacked me with ice cream." He ran a long finger over his own chest, scooping some melting mint-green residue up and licking his digit. "This is good. I love mint chocolate chip." He glanced at her ice cream cone, melting on the hot pavement. "Want a last lick?" he offered, gesturing to his chest, making her nipples impossibly harder as the perverted, craven part of her screamed 'YES!' and her temper flared dangerously.

Lily barely resisted the urge to punch him. "Go fuck yourself," she growled, and pushed past him, now in a thoroughly bad mood. She heard him laugh, husky and deep, as she stomped away, back to her Jeep.

Three hours later, feeling only moderately less grumpy, Lily pulled into her parents' long driveway, in her new black sundress, and went up the walk. It was five forty-five, what she considered a reasonable compromise, and she didn't bother knocking as she went in, lifting her sunglasses off her nose, sighing in the air conditioned house. Her own apartment was like a bloody sauna in the summer, and she felt herself relaxing as she cooled down.

She made her way to the living room, gave her father the perfunctory hug, and smacked her brother Albus upside the head. "Hey brat," he said, smirking. She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't even start with me, Albus," she warned. He grinned. Being four years older than her, he'd taken it upon himself, since she could remember, to torture her as only older brothers could.

"I'm not," he said. "I'm merely continuing. Heard Mom set you up...again."

"Ugh, fuck you," Lily grumbled. "Get it out now then keep your mouth shut, you fucking twat."

"Lily! Language!" Ginny scolded, coming in from the kitchen. Albus snickered and she rolled her eyes, mimed putting a gun to her head, and pulled the trigger. The doorbell rang and Lily slumped into an armchair. "Oh, that must be our guests!" Ginny trilled and hurried out into the foyer.

"This is going to be fun," Albus murmured.

"Albus, leave your sister be," Harry said from behind his paper. Lily smirked. Her father usually wound up taking her side in sibling disagreements. Her brother shrugged.

The redhead heard her mother greeting the guests, and wished she had a stiff drink, or five. She wondered if anyone would notice her slipping out the back door, then realized Albus would fink on her for sure. Her mother came back, beaming. "This is my husband Harry, and my middle one, Albus, and that's Lily." Lily glanced up, waving vaguely, then did a double take and frowned, even as her mother continued with introductions, oblivious. "This is Astoria Malfoy and her son Scorpius. Lily, sit up, honey, and say hello."

Scorpius was smirking at her behind his mother's back. "You again," she snapped, narrowing her eyes. Of course Fate would do this kind of shit to her! She wondered if she'd been a murderer in a past life or something, and the series of unfortunate events in her life was universal retribution for getting away with it.

"Me again," the handsome blond said, even as their mothers looked between them.

"Scorpius, do you-?" Astoria asked.

"They're still like that," he said over his mother and Lily glared.

"And you're still a prick," she shot back. Harry looked over his paper and Albus's mouth had dropped open. Ginny Potter and Mrs. Malfoy looked shocked and slightly scandalized.

"Albeit less minty and chocolate chippy." But still hot as fuck, she noticed as her eyes roved down over his dark navy tee and well-loved jeans, even as she decided she didn't like him, or his amused dark grey gaze, at all. Except that you do, at least like that, because he's a fucking sex-god. Lily pushed aside her traitorous thoughts.

"Er," Ginny said uncomfortably, "let's eat."

Lily shot the blond man a dirty look, even as her mother raised stern eyebrows at her. Once they were all seated in the dining room, Lily reached for the bottle of wine on the table and poured herself some. She ignored the amused dark grey stare across the table from her and vowed she would speak as little as possible.

"So how do you two know each other already?" Albus asked, helping himself to wine after Lily.

The redhead kicked him under the table. "We met at the beach earlier," Scorpius said, smirking. "Your sister attacked me with ice cream."

Ginny brought a large bowl of salad out from the kitchen. Lily clenched her teeth, reached for a roll, and threw it at the blond. He caught it easily. "So you can catch bread but not footballs?" she asked.

"Depends who does the throwing."

"Lily," her mother said, even as Astoria glared at her son.

"This is going to be the best Sunday dinner ever," Albus murmured.

Lily took a large drink of wine. "This is awkward," she said.

"Very," Scorpius agreed, but he still looked amused. She resisted the urge to throw more bread at him.

"So, Lily," Astoria said, clearly striving to retain a sense of normalcy, "Ginny tells me you're a teacher."

"Yes." She took another drink of wine. "I teach art at St. Paul's junior high throughout the school year and I run adult painting courses through the summer at the community center."

"Is it true what they say?" Scorpius asked. She raised a brow at him. "Those who can't do teach?"

"Scorpius," Astoria hissed.

"Yes," Albus answered, smirking. Harry shot his son a quelling look.

"Is it true you're a lawyer?" Lily asked the blond.

"Yes," Scorpius replied. "Criminal defense attorney more specifically."

"Ah, that explains the rudeness," she said, serving herself salad as the bowl was passed to her. "Lack of conscience and whatnot."

He arched a brow and grinned crookedly. "You look cold," he said in that deep voice that raked over her senses.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "That's getting borderline creepy," she snapped, then took another long drink of wine.

Ginny and Astoria shared 'I'm so sorry' glances. An hour later, Lily had finished off her chocolate cake, and half a dozen glasses of wine, and managed to ignore Scorpius Malfoy for the bulk of the meal. Or at least avoided talking to him. She couldn't ignore the laughing grey gaze she met whenever she looked up from her plate, or help returning it with a glare.

"Well, this has been delightfully terrible," she said at last. "I'm going home now." She shot her mother a dark look, kicked Albus one last time for good measure, although he had saved her from the more embarrassing retelling of her worst childhood moments, then got up and hugged her father. "Bye. Oh, nice meeting you, Mrs. Malfoy. I'm sorry your son is a prick, I'm sure it's not any reflection of you. You seem very nice."

She grabbed her bag from the living room and was going down the front walk when Scorpius came out behind her. She pretended he didn't exist.

"Do you want my number?" he asked, still smirking arrogantly.

She fixed him with the filthiest look she could muster. "Like I want another hole in the head."

He rolled his eyes. "You're kind of mean."

"You're kind of an asshole."

He gave her the sexy half smile. "I was referring to my number professionally speaking. You're definitely over the legal limit to drive, and it would suck if you got pulled over and had to use your one phone call to get your parents to come bail you out of jail, wouldn't it?"

Lily rolled her own eyes now. "Speaking from experience?" she drawled.

"Hey, your nipples aren't hard anymore. Too bad, it's kind of hot." The redhead felt herself blushing despite her best efforts and unlocked her Jeep instead. "Oh no, I spoke too soon."

"God, can you stop staring at my fucking tits for like two consecutive minutes? You're a fucking pervert."

"So was that a yes for the number?"

"Seriously, go fuck yourself."

"That's not as much fun as having you join me, but if you insist."

Lily tossed her bag onto her passenger seat, then realized Malfoy was parked behind her. "Move your car."

He grinned. "Not my car, babe."

She arched a brow. "Mommy still drives you around? That's cute."

"You are mean," he said.

She shrugged, folding her arms. "Get over it. Besides, you're the mean one. You made me drop my ice cream cone and didn't even offer to buy me a new one."

Scorpius moved closer. "I offered you the last lick," he reminded her. She tried not to think about it, but, unbidden, the graphic visual of ice cream melting on his tanned, sculpted chest rose in her mind's eye.

"So not the same thing. Sweaty ice cream? No thanks." She closed her Jeep door. "Now could you, ever so nicely, go ask your mother to move her car?"

"Nope. You have a Jeep, just drive over the grass."

"Um, yeah right." He shrugged.

"Suit yourself, Potter." She grit her teeth and he grinned fully. "It's weird, but you get way more attractive when you're angry, did you know that?"

"And you're way more attractive when your mouth is shut," she snapped back.

"Feisty. I like it. I'll bet you're a wildcat in bed."

"What are you, sixteen? Get over yourself. I wouldn't sleep with you if it were my last option." He snorted. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Aren't I? The last option, that is? Correct me if I'm wrong, but your mother set you up on a date, did she not?"

"And yours didn't?"

Scorpius grinned, moving closer still. "I was merely doing my mother a favour."

"Ditto."

He considered that for a moment. "Hmm, maybe," he said at last. "Despite my lack of conscience, I happen to read people very well, and I have a feeling you're not being entirely truthful there." She arched a brow. "And I know for a fact you're not nearly as opposed to me as you portray." Lily scoffed, but her fair skin betrayed her as she blushed a little. "Tell you what," he said, smirking still, moving into her personal bubble. "I'll replace your ice cream if you let me drive you, you lush. I'd hate to see on the eleven o'clock news you died in a fiery car wreck or something, and I doubt my karma could take it."

Lily hesitated. This man was annoying, and rude, and definitely a pervert for looking at her nipples so much, but he was also hot, and decidedly charming. And she hadn't been on a proper date in a long time, or done the deed in even longer. Not that I'm going to sleep with him...probably. "That doesn't solve the problem of being boxed in," she replied, looking up into his dark grey eyes.

"Is that a no?"

She pursed her mouth, but dropped her keys into his upturned palm. She had been drinking, and driving drunk and possibly crashing would not only ruin her ride, most likely, but definitely ruin her teaching future. "Fine," she said. "And then you can drop me at my place and walk home."

The blond smiled fully, leaning into her personal bubble some more, and she felt her face get hotter. "Sure thing, babe."

He reached for the door handle and she slid out from between him and the car and went round to the passenger seat. She buckled up as he turned the engine over and her stereo started blaring Jay-Z. He raised a brow and she turned it down. "Shut up and drive," she said coolly.

Scorpius cut the wheel, put them in reverse, backed right up to his mother's car, almost kissing bumpers, then cranked it the other way and pulled out neatly over the lawn, and back down the rest of the driveway. Despite herself, Lily was impressed with his driving skill. The song changed in her CD player and she smiled to herself, cranking it up. At least with loud music, there wasn't any need to make unpleasant small talk.

XXX