I realize that this chapter is shorter than my usual chapters. I was going to include more at the end, but I have not written that section yet and it's already taken me too long to write this chapter. This was a hard one to write. I hope you still enjoy it though! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and alerted this story.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all rights to Harry Potter. Lucky her!

Chapter 12

In the early afternoon the following day, Lily made her way downstairs, still giddy from the dance. She'd had such an amazing night that nothing could ruin her good mood. Until, that is, she reached the commons and overheard two seventh-year girls' conversation.

"The rumors are true. Scorpius is amazing in bed!" Sue Lin indulged her friend.

The blonde loudly exclaimed in shock, "You slept with him?"

Sue beamed with pride and nodded. "He said I was the best girl he's ever been with."

Lily couldn't help herself. After getting over the initial shock and empty feeling settling in her stomach, the confusion and anger overcame her. Lily blurted, "It happened last night?"

Sue and her friend hadn't noticed Lily so they continued gossiping. Realizing this, Lily went over to Sue's side and repeated herself. "You had sex with Scorpius last night?"

Startled, Sue glanced over at Lily and scowled. "What's it to you, fourth year?"

Lily stared at her feet, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "Sorry, I was curious," she muttered.

Deciding the Potter girl was harmless, Sue relaxed and gave a big smile. "It's true," she confirmed, clearly enjoying all of the attention.

Lily bit her lip to keep it from trembling. She felt like a hundred knives twisted and stabbed at her heart. "Oh, cool," she managed to say nonchalantly. Quickly exiting the commons and making her way to the Great Hall for lunch, Lily willed herself not to cry. How could I have been so stupid? Lily silently chided herself. He must not like me very much if he goes off with a different girl. The tears could no longer be contained. Lily hastily wiped her eyes and kept her head down so that no one passing by would notice. Everyone was right. I've been wrong about Scorpius this whole time. I'm so stupid!

(

Scorpius groggily woke up from the grumble in his stomach. Rolling over on his side, he spotted Albus doing what looked like homework in bed.

Hearing Scorpius shuffle, Albus looked up and grinned. "Hey sleepyhead. You realize it's after two, right?"

"So...hungry," Scorpius muttered in his pillow. How had he slept this long?

Al got up from his bed and went over to grab two napkins full of sandwiches and fruit that lied on his dresser. "Figured you might be so I grabbed these for you at lunch."

Scorpius instantly brightened. He shot up from his bed and grabbed the food. "Merlin, you're the best! Thanks!"

Albus' grin widened. "I know. I'm pretty much the best friend ever."

Scorpius enthusiastically nodded in agreement as he hungrily stuffed his face with the turkey and cheese sandwiches.

"I saw you leave with Sue Lin last night," said Albus as he closed his Charms book. He'd only been doing homework to pass the time while waiting for Scorpius to wake up. "Is that why you're so tired?"

The blond Slytherin groaned as that memory crossed his mind. "No, I parted ways with her not long after we left. She is way too aggressive for me." He remembered how Sue had whined about leading her on and not putting out. Merlin, she was a headache, and he hadn't even spent five minutes kissing her! Besides, he had felt extremely guilty about possibly betraying Lily, even though she had made it clear she wasn't interested in him anymore.

"I thought you liked aggressive girls," Albus said, cheekily grinning.

"I told you, I've turned over a new leaf," Scorpius said matter-of-factly. "Having sex with random girls just doesn't appeal to me anymore."

Albus gave his friend a meaningful look. "I think that's a good thing, Scorpius."

After finishing the last of his orange slice, Scorpius fell back onto his bed and let out a soft sigh. "I guess," he half-heartedly said. But to be honest, he felt very lonely.

For the rest of the afternoon, Albus and Scorpius powered through their homework that they had put off until now. The weather was too stormy to play a pick-up game of Quidditch so they played chess after finishing their homework.

Once 6:00 rolled around, the two Slytherins made their way to the Great Hall for dinner. Because it was Sunday, they sat at the Gryffindor table. Almost every Sunday dinner, the Potters and Weasleys brought their friends and everyone ate together; this caused the Gryffindor table to be very crowded, but no one minded much because it was such a lively time.

Albus and Scorpius sat across from James, Lily and Eli. As the Potter boys discussed Quidditch, Scorpius tried to strike a conversation with Lily and her boyfriend. "How was your first dance, Lils?"

Still quite angry with Scorpius, Lily pretended not to have heard him. She wished she didn't have to sit near him, but apparently the fates were not in her favor.

Moments of silence passed so Scorpius asked a little louder, "Did you have fun at the dance?"

Lily let out an audibly irritated sigh and focused all of her attention on Eli. "Could you please pass me the potatoes, Eli?"

Scorpius frowned. I hope she's not mad at me for what I told her last night. A dreadful feeling washed over him and he felt extremely awkward from this tension. Trying to relieve it, Scorpius turned to Eli and asked, "What about you, Eli?"

Before the Ravenclaw could answer, Lily grabbed Eli's hand and said, "It's too claustrophobic in here. Let's go finish dinner somewhere private."

Eli frowned, unsure of himself. "Er, is that allowed?"

"Yes, just grab your food," Lily impatiently demanded as she picked up a bowl of stir fry. Then she abruptly got up from the table and all but ran out of the Great Hall, with Eli quickly following behind.

Albus turned to Scorpius, noticing his sister's brisk escape. "What's wrong with her?"

Scorpius shrugged nonchalantly, but inside he felt very hurt and confused.

(

In the following couple of days, it was blatantly clear to Scorpius that Lily was ignoring him. Whenever their paths would cross, Lily would either glare at him or pretend he wasn't there. Scorpius had no idea why she was acting this way. Surely she couldn't be upset for his saying he liked her! Nonetheless, Scorpius sensed that somehow he had been a complete jerk but he had no idea what he did or said. It was the most frustrating thing in the world!

Finally, on a Wednesday after morning classes, Scorpius decided he would confront Lily about her abnormal behavior. After all, her birthday was on Friday and it would be extremely awkward if he showed up and she was still angry with him.

Scorpius spent over fifteen minutes searching for the petite Gryffindor before finding her sitting alone in the library. He walked up to her and asked, "Can we talk?"

Lily's head snapped up from her book. She frowned when she saw Scorpius. "What for?"

"I want to know why you've been ignoring me."

Lily let out a loud huff, but said, "Fine." She set her book down on the end table and began to walk out of the library. Scorpius fell in step with her. They were silent before reaching a deserted alcove near the entrance.

The pair stared at each other for a few moments until Scorpius could no longer take the silence and spoke first. "Why are you ignoring me?"

Lily sniffed and, without skipping a beat, nonchalantly answered, "I guess I don't see a point in being friends with liars."

A minute passed as Scorpius struggled to think what it was he had lied about. Giving up, he said, "I'm sorry Lily, but I have no idea why you're upset with me."

Lily was becoming increasingly frustrated that Scorpius kept playing dumb. Louder than she probably should have, Lily angrily exclaimed, "You slept with Sue Lin! Right after you said you liked me! Do you understand how awful that is?"

Scorpius' eyes widened in disbelief. Who the hell said I slept with Sue? He frantically thought. "Lily, I would never do anything to hurt you. And I sure as hell never slept with her."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Don't deny it. She told me herself."

"She lied!" Scorpius desperately exclaimed. "I don't know why, but she did." The things he wanted to say to Sue about spreading that stupid rumor – he was trying very hard not to lose control because it was apparent that Lily still did not believe him. Taking in a deep breath, he more calmly explained, "We left the dance together, but nothing like that happened."

Lily was still silent, so Scorpius continued. "How long have you known me? You would believe Sue over me? She's an attention whore."

Lily bit her lip, unsure of who to believe. Sue did like the attention, she'd give him that. "But so many people say you have sex all the time," she meekly said. Lily had always been too afraid to ask Scorpius about his past with girls, but it came tumbling out today.

Scorpius' gaze fell to the floor and he frowned. "I have had sex with many girls, Lily. I am not very nice to women, either, I'll admit that. But I don't want to be that person anymore." He glanced up at Lily and cupped her cheek. "I really like you. I don't want to do anything to screw it up if I ever get a chance with you."

Lily's resolve began crumbling. She stared into Scorpius' stormy grey eyes. "Okay, I believe you."

Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief and a weight lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you. I promise I will show you that I can be worthy of you."

Lily glanced at the floor and her cheeks tinged pink from embarrassment. "You already are," she softly said.

Remembering that she still had a boyfriend, Scorpius moved away from Lily so that he wouldn't make her uncomfortable. An awkward silence hung in the hair until he poked her in the side and said, "You sure are scary when you're mad."

Lily chuckled. "And I'm definitely in no mood to be tickled."

Scorpius grinned again. He hoped that now things would return to normal between them. "So does this mean I'm invited to your birthday party?"

"Oh, I suppose so," said Lily. "As long as you get me the best birthday present ever."

"Don't worry, I've already got that covered!" Scorpius exclaimed. He'd gotten her a present at the last Hogsmeade trip, and he knew she would love it.

The pair animatedly chatted as they made their way to the Great Hall for the remainder of lunch. Eli was seen waiting just inside for her. Lily turned to Scorpius and gave him a quick hug, whispering in his ear, "Sorry I doubted you." Then she waved goodbye and headed to the Ravenclaw table with Eli.

Scorpius watched the couple walk away and failed to suppress the overwhelming jealousy that washed over him.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review and tell me what you liked or disliked. The next chapter should be much longer. I have finals coming up so I'm not sure if I will update before May. We'll see.