A/N: I left this one unbeta'd (just like I usually do lol), which might be a mistake on my behalf. But it was just too late when I finished it, and I wanted to upload when I did. Welp.

Written for:

January One-Shot Exchange, for KawaiiRayne. Prompts used: [pairing] Scorpius/Lily, [genre] Romance, [dialogue] "It's my party, and I'll cry if I want too."

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Astronomy Assignment #2 – Write about someone not seeing their inner or outer beauty. (extra prompt: [dialogue] "If you want someone to love you, you have to love yourself first.", [word] repugnant)

Chocolate Frog Card Club: (Gold) Cyclops -Write about someone who thinks they're ugly.

Youtuber Quote Challenge: "How dare you hug me!"

The If You Dare Challenge: 971 (Are you sad?)

Ultimate Battle Challenge

Gringotts Prompt Bank: Feelings/Emotions: despicable, repugnant

Words Instead of Said: cooed, responded, clarified, went on, sobbed, snorted, laughed, mused, encouraged, admitted

Sex and the City Prompts: [quote] "It's hard to imagine that someone so beautiful could ever be lonely.", [word] trash

Enjoy!

The noise of the deafening music and the laughter of all the people could be heard even in the gardens in the back, through the glass door, which was connected to the living room of the Potter House.

It was the 18th of August, Lily Luna's 17th birthday, and she was sitting on the bench in a dark corner between the bushes, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She was so caught up in feeling despicable that she didn't even notice when a blond haired boy, who seemed to be her age plopped down onto the bench, right beside the girl.

He seemed to be pondering for a few seconds before he turned to face the girl's side, and awkwardly, but as gently as he could, he put his hand on her shoulder, to which she visibly stiffened.

"Hey, Lily." he cooed in a soothing tune. "Please, don't cry." the girl relaxed slightly after she heard these words, and her cries quietened, though she was still sobbing.

"It's my party, and I'll cry if I want too." she responded, while she scrubbed her eyes with her arm. "Scorpius, please, just… Just go away."

"I'm not going anywhere until you don't smile at me sincerely." he clarified. "We're friends for a reason, and I can't let my mate hide in the corner, crying on her very own birthday." he went on. "Especially when it's the 17th. You're officially an adult now, remember?" he asked with a small smile. "Now, tell me why are you here. Are you sad? Maybe I could help?"

"I don't think you could, Scor." the witch replied with teary eyes. "I'm not worthy of your help, anyway." she sighed and teardrops streamed down on her face once again. "I'm not worthy of anyone's attention, really."

"You know that's not true." the wizard started. "You're beautiful and witty, and everyone who thinks otherwise is just a git. Those people don't deserve you."

"I don't need your pity. Look, I know I'm ugly. I've been told I was, and who am I to deny it?" she sobbed. "Just look at my hair. It has a terrible colour and shape, my eyes are always dull, my face is too puffy, and my body has no shape at all. I don't think it's surprising if I just want to sit down and feel like trash." she explained.

"Who told you that? Do you want me to ask James to beat them up?" the boy gazed at her with a troublesome expression.

"No, please, don't." the girl shook her head. "That wouldn't do any good. Just go and leave me alone, I'll be fine."

"You're not fine, for Merlin's sake." he let out a sigh. "Look, I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself anyway if I knew you were unhappy." he slipped his hand down on the girl's arm, until he stopped at her hand. After a bit of hesitation, he intertwined their fingers. For a couple of moments, neither of them said anything, and then, Lily was the one who broke the somewhat comfortable silence.

"Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt like you weren't good enough?" she said in a small voice. "Have you ever felt so repugnant you just wanted to stay at home for the day, because otherwise, you would feel like everybody you crossed would look at you like you were worth nothing? Have you ever thought about the possibility of being alone forever because you didn't look good enough?"

"I can't say I have." he stopped for a moment. "But what I know is that you shouldn't feel this way either. You know, it's hard to imagine that someone so beautiful could ever be lonely." he continued. "But that's not even my point. Have I ever told you what my father once told me about this?"

"No." she arched an eyebrow as she finally faced the blond. "I don't think you have."

"He once told me that outer beauty doesn't matter as much as people think it does." he told her. "He said that it was overrated, and that one of his biggest regrets is that he used to think otherwise. Maybe that was partly why your uncle and him didn't get along all that well." he said with a grin.

"' Didn't get along all that well'?" she snorted. "They hated each other's guts. I think they might still do." she wondered.

"Yeah, they might, but there's only so much they can do about us." he said with a wink, before his face once again turned serious. "But my point is, it doesn't matter. If you're pretty on the inside, no one should give a damn about how you look. At least I don't."

"Who are you and where did you put Malfoy?" she laughed. "I actually never thought I would hear that, coming from you. You know your family has a certain reputation."

"Yeah, I know." he sighed. "Such a shame, really. People often have these prejudices against people they think they know a lot about, just because they heard about them in the news."

"You can't even imagine." she looked at him with a tired gaze. "It's pretty hard when you're the only daughter of Harry Potter, The-Man-Who-Lived, Chief Auror and all that crap. And it's especially hard when you get called names for it. Just because you have some kind of a fame you never wanted. Sometimes I really do feel bad for Dad, he once told me he got it even worse when he was a teenager."

"Who said being a hero was easy though?" Scorpius said. "But sure enough, it must be a major pain in the arse to have reporters chasing you around after your every move." he mused.

"It is." she confirmed, then paused before she continued. "I don't think I have any self-respect anymore. It's just too much. You know Jamie Anderson, that one guy from Gryffindor? He just went and commented on how horrible and shapeless I look in this dress. Today. On my birthday. At my party. What could I have done? Screaming at him from the top of my lungs is not really my style." she threw her hands in the air, now a feeling of frustration mixing into her depressed thoughts. "I really don't know what to do beside feeling useless and ugly."

"Hey, we were both sorted into Slytherin for a reason. I'm sure we'll figure out something later." he encouraged her. "But let me tell you something else too. If you want someone to love you, you have to love yourself first. Maybe I can help you with that too?"

"And how exactly do you plan on doing just that?" she quirked an eyebrow at the boy, who was staring at the batch of different planted flowers in front of him, seemingly debating about something in his head. Then, he simply wrapped his hands around the girl and pulled her closer, so that her head was now resting on his shoulder. "How dare you hug me?" she said with faked annoyance.

"It does seem like you have nothing against it." he answered. She could have sworn she heard the smirk in his voice. "But if you really want to, I can just leave you alone here, and go back to the party."

She knew he was just joking with her, but she still held the boy's shirt firmly in her hand, not wanting to let go.

"No, this is fine by me." she exclaimed. "In fact, I could very much get used to this. I don't get hugs that often."

"I actually wonder why. Just remember to come to me whenever you need one, okay?" the boy asked.

"Sure." she replied. And so, the two of them hugged for a couple of moments, only their quickening heartbeat and breathing disturbed the silence aside from the noises of the raging party inside the house.

Suddenly, Scorpius pulled out of their embrace, and held the girl just in reach, his hand in hers. Lily cocked her head to the side a bit, and shot him a questioning glance.

"Is there anything wrong?" she asked the boy, who wasn't replying. "Hey, Scor? Are you okay?"

"Can I tell you something?" he finally choked out. He looked nervous.

"Um, sure, you can." the girl nodded. "Just don't freak me out with not answering." she smiled.

"I promise you, I won't." he answered as he moved a few steps closer. "Though you might freak out if I tell you."

"I doubt you could say anything that surprises me anymore." the witch grinned. "But let's test it. Out with it."

"Okay." he took a deep breath. "Look, Lily, I have no idea since when, and I also have no idea how, but I just… Lily, I like you."

"I like you too, silly." she shook her head with a smile. "We are 'best friends', or something along those lines, you know."

"Lily, it doesn't fit you well when you play dumb, and I'm a nervous wreck right now. So… What do you think? Should I just forget it already, because it's okay if you don't feel the same, I didn't really expect you to, after all, our…" he rambled, but he was silenced before he could finish with the girl's lips on his own.

For a brief period of time, he just stood there shocked, not exactly knowing what to do, but then he finally comprehended what was going on, and he put one of his hands on the girl's waist, while his other hand caressed her cheek as her arms snaked around his neck and pulled him closer, so that their bodies were touching as they kissed.

Her lips were soft and sweet, with the faint taste of coffee, and the way it moved against his own was addicting to him, as it spent unexpected shivers down his spine.

They stayed like this for minutes, snogging each other senseless, occasionally coming up for a brief breath whenever they needed one, until they slowly, but finally separated. Scorpius then rested his forehead on Lily's, still trying to catch his breath.

"Wow." he said finally, after what seemed like hours.

"Wow, indeed." the girl agreed, smiling. Another couple of moments passed, before she continued in a very Gryffindor style. "I take it that means we're an item now."

"Only if you really want to." came the reply from the boy's mouth. "But it doesn't have to mean we're dating if you don't want to, I mean, I understand and all…" he started again, but was once again forced to shut up when the girl pecked him on the lips.

"No, I'd be glad to be your girlfriend, if that's what you mean." she said. "Oh, and Scorpius?"

"Yeah?" the boy replied, adding an unnecessary amount of concern to his voice.

"I like you too." the girl admitted. "I really do." she said as she pulled away slightly. Her hand slid down from his face, to his shoulder, then down his arm, until it finally stopped at his hand, which she clasped with her own. "So, how about we get back to that party you mentioned a bit earlier? Unless you want to stay here." she gave him a wink.

"I'd very much like to stay, but I'm pretty sure everybody's already mad about you." he replied. After his answer, Lily simply dragged him across the garden until she was standing right in front of the glass door, which led them inside. "Are you ready?"

"For the reaction we're going to get when we walk in, hand in hand? No." she admitted. "But I have Gryffindor heritage, so we're going to do it anyway."

"Oh, and Lily?" Scorpius nudged her side.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not letting you go until you don't feel like you're pretty." he exclaimed. The girl awarded him with one of her rare grins, then quickly pushed the glass door open and pulled the boy inside.

I'm actually pretty nervous about how this turned out, so pretty please, leave a review about how you feel about it.

As always, reviews are always appreciated and cherished, and I hope you enjoyed! :)