NB: I have played it fast and loose with the ages - Lucius wouldn't be a year above Lily, but just having fun with crackships. This was mostly born from thinking about the fact that sometimes people are wildly different in high school than they are in their adult lives.

Lily Evans crept round the door, eyes wide as she surveyed the room. She really didn't want to be here, and was feeling a little self-conscious. She was wearing one of her nicer robes, a dark red number that James "I'm a Giant Twat" Potter had complimented her on as she left the Gryffindor Common Room. But she didn't hold that against the robe, or tried not to at least.

Slughorn's usual gatherings were small, just her and a scant few other students. But this was the Slug Club's Christmas party and, apparently, no expense had been spared. She inched inside, hoping not to be noticed by anyone, though she couldn't help but gaze up at faces she recognised from The Daily Prophet as she passed them.

She made it all the way to the corner of the room when she heard the booming voice of Horace Slughorn behind her.

"Oh, and if it isn't one of my most promising students," he said. "Phillius, you must meet Lily Evans! She is rather marvellous."

Lily turned and gave her best smile to Slughorn and the stranger next to him.

"Phillius here runs the most wonderful potions shop in old Paris, and was a Slug Club member himself in his day. Wasn't that right, Phillius?"

Phillius was a middle-aged man, tall and dark-haired. Not bad looking, but the way he looked at Lily made her want to pull her robe over her head. She kept her smile stuck on dutifully.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," he said, and held out his hand, palm up.

It took a long moment before Lily muttered "oh!" and held out her own hand for him to kiss.

Kiss? More like snog. He was down there far too long, and, if that wasn't bad enough, he looked her straight in the eye while he was there. She gently, but firmly, pulled her arm back.

"Have you ever been to Paris, Ms. Evans?" he said. He had a French accent, but Lily was quite sure it was entirely affected.

"No, I hope to one day," she said, trying to not make eye contact with him. Her eyes cast around the room looking for an escape, but one was not easily found in the dim lighting and the packs of people gathered. Drat.

"I hope you do," he said, giving her a smile that turned her stomach. "I would be honoured to show you around the city of love."

"Excuse me," she said, seeing an escape route. "I better get a drink, quite parched, you know?"

Ignoring the fact she was being rude, and that Slughorn might be unhappy with her not mingling, she elbowed past Phillius and took a deep breath of freedom. Then it was a straight beeline to the drinks table she had spotted.

It was much relief when she got there, and turned to see that Phillius was now talking to Russell Wilkes, who was in the year below Lily and could talk to the hind legs off a donkey. That should keep Phillius busy for now.

Lily was pouring herself a cup of punch when someone came shoulder to shoulder with her.

"May I fill your quota for people slobbering all over your hand this evening, Evans?"

She looked up, and smiled when she saw it was Lucius Malfoy. He looked dapper, as usual, in a plush green velvet cloak, and his hair tied in a neat bun.

"I'm afraid that's full up," she said, and gave him a faux concerned look. "But if you would like to just lick it instead, that's still open."

"Sounds perfect," he purred. "I've been wondering what you might taste like."

Lily gasped, her cheeks colouring. She punched him playfully on the arm. "You're just as bad as he was!"

"I'm not denying it," he said with a shrug, and grabbed her punch glass before she could bring it to her lips. "Let me brighten up the evening, at least."

From beneath his robe, he pulled a little silver flask and shook it at her.

"I don't usually…" she said, then stopped. "Oh, fuck it. This is going to be a rough night, I can tell."

"Lily Evans, cursing! Whatever is the world coming to?" he said, pouring a few glugs into her glass and handing it back.

She took a sip and frowned.

"You've been a bit generous," she said.

"I have always been the picture of generosity, you know. My halo arrived this morning."

She rolled her eyes.

It was strange. When she'd first joined the Slug Club at the start of the year, she had expected to loathe Lucius. But he turned out to be alright — he wasn't nearly as vile to her as the rest of the Slytherins were, at least. Well, except for Sev of course. No, instead Lucius usually made her laugh, and tried to include her on discussions. She got the feeling he actually rather liked her.

It didn't help that Lucius was exactly her type. Boyish charm, angular, chiseled face. The blonde wasn't to her tastes, but even with it, he looked positively roguish. And that smile! But she was masterfully good at pushing that crush aside, since she knew he was trouble.

"Do you want to dance?" he said, and held out a hand.

"With you? Never," she said, shaking her head.

He looked genuinely dejected for a moment, but then winked at her.

"Just wait until you've had a few more glasses," he said grinning. "Then you'll be begging me to show you my moves."

She giggled. "You have moves? I can't even imagine."

"You'll see, before the end of the night, I'm sure," he said. Another wink, and he started to move off.

She sighed. Alone again. She was glad of the Slug Club in some ways. She hated her Common Room, which was always dominated by the every-present rowdy arseholes: Potter, Sirius, Pettigrew, Lupin — although, she actually didn't mind Lupin. He was sweet sometimes, but he was still always going along with the other three's odious schemes. She didn't trust that he wasn't sometimes the instigator.

And she loved Sev, but he was hard work. Always putting himself down, and being so shady about everything. She was sure he was up to no good, and she worried about him so.

So the Slug Club had become a bit of evening escape. Time to sit around and talk about school, or new magic techniques, or listen to Slughorn drone on while they all shot each other knowing looks.

Lucius had been the first to pull a face at her when Slughorn had said some pompous thing, and she'd had to cover her giggle with a cough. From there, they'd sort of fell in step, as much as Lily would never associate with him outside of the Club — nor would Lucius her, of course. But she had fun with him in their little Slug bubble.

She spotted Penelope, one of the usual Slug Club attendees, across the floor, talking to someone who looked very much like he was a vampire. She knocked her drink back, and went over.

Each time Lily went to get herself a drink, Lucius would appear as if accio'd and pour a little of what she suspected to be vodka in her glass, and each time she turned down his offer to dance. By the fourth drink, she was quite tipsy and everything had softened up on her. She had never been a big drinker, and her tolerance was low.

When she got to the fifth, she batted him away.

"Is it not making this night so much more fun?" he said to her, waggling his eyebrows.

"Not if I get drunk enough to throw up on everyone, no," she said. She put a hand on his surprisingly muscled arm to steady herself. "Honestly, I've had enough if I hope to make it to Arithmancy in the morning."

"Come dance with me then," he said, and took her hand.

She shrugged. "Fine, you win."

He pulled her into the little dance floor, which still had quite a few people on it. He gave her a little spin, which made her even more woozy. He chuckled as she steadied himself.

"Shut up you," she said.

"So, I have a question for you," he said, swaying lightly to the music, pulling her with him.

"Yes?"

"Why in Merlin's name did you ever take Arthimancy? It's what, you and Barnes and Figgis and La Crois, and that funny little ginger fellow, who take it right? Because no one else was stupid enough to not take the easy ride that is Divination."

Lily glared at him.

"What?" he said, chuckling. He put a hand on her waist and pulled her in. "We get to drink tea and pretend to see visions. It's a lark."

"Well, I wanted a challenge," she said, looking down her nose at him. Or doing the best approximation when she was half a foot shorter. Then she sighed. "And Professor Wainwright has had it out for me for years. I can't be in his class, not after he overheard me talking about how marvellously stupid divination is in my last year. It was a full-on rant, went on maybe 5 minutes, and the whole time, I didn't realise he was right behind us."

"Oooh," he said, a pained expression on his face.

He dipped her, and she flailed back up to standing.

"Go easy on me, or I might be throwing up on you," she said, slapping his arm. He only grinned.

"Word of advice: never talk rubbish about the classes anywhere but in a Common Room," he said. "Rookie mistake, really."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do realise that now."

They danced for a bit in silence, and she laid a head on his shoulder. His cheek was warm against her ear, and comforting.

"Okay, I have question."

"Another one?" she groaned.

"A real question this time, actually," he said. He pulled away to look her in the eyes. "So Slughorn has been pretty disappointed with my potion making this year. Says I'm going downhill. And I was wondering if you could help."

She narrowed her eyes at him. ""How am I meant to help you? Unfortunately, I don't think I can rub some of my natural-born talents on you."

"I was thinking of more of a study buddy kind of arrangement," he said, and then added with a smirk: "But I'd pleased to try the rubbing method."

Lily's face suddenly grew very hot. "Not what I meant!"

"I know, but I enjoy teasing you," he said, chuckling. "Anyway, your lover boy Sev —"

"He's not my lover boy!" she said, entirely too loudly. A few fellow dancers turned to look at her, and she blushed deeply. She coughed, and lowered her voice: "He's just a friend."

"He is obviously in love with you," he said drolly.

She gave her best withering look, but he only laughed. Lily was pretty sure Severus was not in love with her. He definitely had a crush, but he was lonely. And she had made it abundantly clear that she was not interested.

"Anyway, Sev, lover boy or not, told me that as well as being a dab hand at Potions, you do a little tutoring on the side," he said.

She frowned. "I help out a few classmates. I haven't done any real tutoring. Besides, you're a year ahead, I'll be well behind."

"Yes, but you know about all that studying stuff. Come on, it could be fun!"

He looked at her expectantly. She blinked, the alcohol fog in her brain clearing a little.

"Hang on, did you get me drunk so I'd agree to tutor you?" she said, stopping the swaying they were doing.

Lucius held up his hands in objection. "No! I got you drunk because I reckoned you'd be miserable here otherwise. I know I always am. I'm asking now, because well, I heard you were staying here over Christmas, and I am too — father isn't speaking to me currently — so I thought, you know, maybe…"

She had been hoping to spend her winter break studying for her own classes and catching up on reading for pleasure. But, on the other hand, getting slightly ahead on Potions by learning seventh year techniques could help her as well… And maybe she'd rid herself of her little crush after she'd spent some considerable time with Lucius.

"Wecantrialit," she said quickly and under her breath, resuming their approximation of dancing.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Lucius said, but he was already grinning.

"I said, we'll give it a trial. One study session, if you're a brat, that'll be it," she said, and narrowed her eyes at him, challenging him to push her.

"I promise to be on my best behaviour," he said sweetly.

"That's what I'm afraid of. Now. Where are these famous Malfoy moves?"

Lucius was kind enough to walk her back to the Gryffindor dorms. Lily unlinked her arm with his as they approached the Fat Lady.

"Very gallant of you," she said.

"Well, I wouldn't want my lady getting lost and accidentally falling into a suit of armour while drunk," he said. "Which I did last year, and still have yet to live down the shame."

"And yet, you're still telling people you did it?"

He shrugged. "I'm not afraid that you'll think less of me."

"It'd be quite impossible for me to do so, after all…"

"Exactly!"

Lily couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyway thank you, it was actually a nice evening," she said. She was lingering and she didn't know why. She should say goodnight and go inside, but for some reason, she couldn't muster the energy to do so.

"It was lovely," he agreed.

Then he stepped a little closer to her. Lily froze, looking up into his narrow grey eyes. They were as unreadable as ever. He looked like he might be waiting. She knew she should pull back, but she was rooted to the stop, her mind tumbling with possibilities. And maybe, if she admitted it to herself, a little wanting. Maybe, if she admitted it, she did fancy him more than a little bit. Who can blame her? He was gorgeous.

She realised he was giving her time to escape, so without thinking too much about it, she stepped in to him so there was barely a hair width between them. He gave her a small smile, and then quickly swept down and kissed her.

His mouth was warm and soft, and she found herself kissing him back, her eyes flickering closed. It was a gentle, probing kiss, as if he were asking a question with a flick of his tongue. Her tongue answered.

But as the shock of the moment brought sobriety with it, she realised she was standing outside her Common Room, locking lips with Lucius Malfoy. This seemed like the perfect time for someone to spot them and spread copious amounts of rumours. She quickly pulled away, blushing hard. She looked at him, and he had a gentle smile still on his face — and was that a little colour on his cheeks?

"I better go in," she said.

"Or you could not," he said, but it was quiet and not demanding.

"I better," she repeated, shaking her head. She gave him a shy smile, and turned to go into the Gryffindor dorms.

Her head was positively swimming, and it took her a long time to fall asleep.