Author's Note - Ok, so this is one of my favorite songs, so I decided to go ahead and write a story about it, I chose Lily and Scorpius because I figured they'd be the easiest to base it off of. This one was a bit harder, but I think it turned out ok. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter.

Life is Like a Song

Belle of the Boulevard

The summer had grown increasingly hot as the days continued to pass. To escape from the heat and his mundane everyday life, Scorpius Malfoy spent his days in a local bar. The bar wasn't much cooler, but it was better than standing out in the direct heat. And to Scorpius, watching and listening to the other patrons, the man with his guitar, and bartender proved to be a bit entertaining. His own life was boring. He was an Auror, but they were at a moment of peace in their country, and all his missions and such were small and unnecessary. This was how he kept himself entertained.

The bell above the door rang, signaling that another person had entered. Scorpius had been sitting at the bar, and so he turned to see who it was. And to his surprise, it was someone that he vaguely recognized. It was Lily Potter. He'd never personally talked to her, but he had of course known who she was. Who didn't. Scorpius was two years her senior, which would have made her twenty-three now. But now he wondered, what she was doing here? In a muggle bar?

"Well, well, well! It's the belle of the boulevard!" the bartender greeted with a smile.

Lily gave a small smile too, and sat down at the bar, two stools away from Scorpius. "Hello, Oscar."

"Glad you're back. It's great to see ya!" the bartender continued.

Her smile seemed a bit strained. "Yeah, it's good to be back."

"Well, it's been more than six months, that's too long," Oscar told her.

Scorpius didn't fully stare at them, but he'd glance at her from the corner of his eye, and he kept his ears open, and listened to the banter between the two. But all he could gain that was interesting was that she had gone away for six months, and had been doing a bit of research. She didn't say on what, and she didn't say why it took her that long. Scorpius wanted to know, and he was going to find out. Lily Potter had intrigued him.

As the night went on, the bartender had left to tend to other patrons. Lily had just sat silently, not trying to talk to any others. She didn't even pay attention to him, and since he was also a wizard, he thought she'd have at least taken notice. But she just sat there, drinking a beer. Scorpius had been keeping count. It was her second one, and she was taking moderate drinks from the bottles. A man sat on the stool next to her, and quickly engaged her in a conversation. Scorpius could tell he was just wanting sex, he could tell by his face and mannerism. Scorpius was sure that Lily knew too, but when the man put his hand on her leg, she let him.

But she had left alone that night. Scorpius left the same soon after.

Scorpius made sure that he went back to that bar everyday. After a week, he noticed that she showed up everyday as well, and came at four, and left at ten-thirty. She had no more than three beers. If she had three before ten-thirty, she would just sit there, maybe twirl the bottle cap from a beer. Sometimes, she would softly sing an unrecognizable song.

And in this time, Scorpius noticed that she was increasingly beautiful. Long, red hair and chocolate colored eyes. She seemed the perfect height, and the perfect body. Her skin looked to be soft, and was fair in color. She was mysterious, erotic even.

And that she was quite rich, or at least close to it. She had two rings that Scorpius could recognize as silver. Her thin jacket that she usually wore had to be silk. Scorpius knew that it had to be her money. She didn't seem like the type to just mooch off her parents.

One day, Scorpius had arrived early, and casually asked the bartender about her.

"Oh, Lily? A sweet girl! She started coming around here after her twenty-first birthday, this was where she celebrated it actually. Then she kept coming back, and we gave her the nickname," Oscar the bartender told him.

"So, what this I hear about her being gone for a few months?" Scorpius had asked innocently.

Oscar's face sobered a bit. "Yeah, she went off for six months. There was a bit of a personal incident."

Scorpius had politely found a way to divert the subject. He didn't want to be simply told what happened. He wanted to hear it from her. And now was the day.

Scorpius had been watching her for a few hours. It was almost eight o'clock now, so he made his move. She was on her second beer, and still she showed no signs of being tipsy or anything. He sat on the stool next to her, and she didn't even glance at him.

"Lily Potter," he said simply.

Finally, she looked at him. "Scorpius Malfoy," she said back.

Scorpius gave a chuckle at her tone. "It's nice to talk to you."

"You've been keeping an eye on me." Scorpius smiled. She was getting straight to the point. And she had noticed.

"You're quite interesting," he remarked.

"And now you're approaching me because you want to know something. Something no one around here will tell you."

"No, because I wanted to hear it from you," he corrected.

"Well?" She looked at him expectantly.

Scorpius didn't want to get straight to it. He wanted to take his time. "You seem very discontent, yet you never seem lost here."

"Maybe that's because I'm not the happiest. Maybe I'm drinking away my sorrows," she said cheekily.

"And I've noticed," Scorpius continued, "that whenever that man over there starts to play his guitar, you always glance at him briefly, and sing a song quietly. Almost like it keeps you together."

Lily raised a brow at him. "You're quite observant."

"I'm an Auror. It's my job to be observant," he quipped.

An odd smile pulled across her lips. "An Auror. Interesting. So, anything else? You gonna ask what you've been wanting to know?"

Scorpius gave a sigh. "Well, I know it breaks your usual schedule, but how about we move somewhere else?"

Lily scoffed. "Why should I do that? Maybe you're just like most of the other men here. Maybe all you want is to add my panties to your trophy collection."

Scorpius leaned in closer to her, a grin on his face at her small blush. "Because you've been keeping an eye on me. In retaliation, I know. But you know that's not what I want."

She started to let off a slight shiver, but shook it off before it could go through the rest of her body. Looking away from him, she took a deep drink from her beer, and slammed the now empty bottle onto the bar. "Alright. Let's go then," she said, her courage back.

Scorpius grinned, and stood from the stool. Normally, he would have held out his hand, but he knew that she would reject such an offer. She paid for her own tab, and Scorpius paid for his. He didn't hold out his arm, but instead just led the way, leaving the smokey, yet cool bar. Because upon entering the outside, the muggy night air stilled around them, almost suffocating. Scorpius was quick to lead her to a secluded alley, and held out his hand. As he thought, she didn't take it.

"We have to Apparate to where I'm thinking," he told her simply.

Her guarded look dropped back to it's normal high level, and she took his hand. He gave her credit. She barely knew him, but she wasn't shaking. Not the slightest tremble.

Scorpius Apparated them to the outside of his flat. The hallway was luckily deserted. Most of the people that lived in the building were young, so most were probably out partying. He pulled out his key, and opened the door. He flicked on the light, and stepped aside for her to walk in.

"Your flat?" she said, her voice mocking. "Perhaps I was wrong about you not wanting my panties."

Scorpius grinned again. "No, you were right. Sit down, please."

"I don't want a drink," she said, before Scorpius could even get the question out. Lily grinned at him as she sat on his couch. "Why don't we just move along with this?"

Scorpius shrugged. "If you insist." He sat down next to her, and for a moment, he just studied her.

"What's your question?" she said calmly.

"Why were you gone for six months?" he asked smoothly.

She raised a brow. "That's all?" Then she gave a chuckled. "Well, if you must know, I was doing research."

He nodded in understanding. "Ok, now tell the truth."

Lily looked at him sharply. "I just did."

"Bullshit. I'm not an idiot. I'm an expert at what I do," Scorpius retorted.

She gave him a steel gaze, her teeth clenched. But then she suddenly relaxed. "Actually that was the truth. It's just not the research that most do."

"How so?"

"It was about myself." At Scorpius's expecting look, she continued. "I went on a trip to get away from everything and everyone. I just wanted to figure a few things out about me."

"What would prompt you to do that?" Scorpius asked.

She didn't say anything, but for the first time since Scorpius saw her, she looked demure and timid. Her eyes were downcast, and her mouth was firmly shut.

"Lily?" he prompted carefully.

She suddenly was up and off the couch. "I've answered your question, I'm gunna go."

Lily swiftly made her way to the door, but Scorpius was faster, and had her arm in a tight, but not painful grip.

"I'm not letting you run away," he said firmly.

"Let me go!" she snapped.

"Answer me!"

"Why should I?"

At her angry face Scorpius almost believed that it was only anger she felt. But one look at her eyes, at the pain and desperate gleam, he held on fast.

"Because you want to tell someone," he whispered. "You wish that you could tell someone, but you have no trust in you." He paused, but gathered his courage. "And I wanna help. I care about you, even if you think that's hard to believe."

Lily stared into his eyes, and gave a sigh. "You know, I used to have someone that I could tell anything to. Someone who would listen, no matter what it was."

"A boyfriend?" Scorpius asked.

She shook her head. "No, I had a brother. Teddy."

Suddenly, an article from a past paper floated into his head, and the hysterical tears of his grandmother. The funeral of a fellow Auror. The death of Teddy Lupin.

"Oh," was his brilliant response.

She gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah. Surprise."

Scorpius let go of her arm, but she didn't run off. Instead, she moved around him, and went back to the couch.

"He was almost everything to me. The best man I knew. He was the big brother girls dream of. I could tell him anything, and he would never tell a soul, not even his wife. I did have a boyfriend, and if we had a fight, I could run to Teddy, and he'd let me vent. He was always like that, no matter how old we got. He chased off my fears, took care of my problems, and helped pick me up," Lily murmured.

Scorpius hadn't known Teddy Lupin all too well, despite the fact that they were technically family. But from what he did know, he loved his sister. He remembered seeing a picture on Teddy's desk of all the Potter children, and two other pictures of two women. One of his wife, Victoire Weasley, and one of Lily Potter. He moved to sit down next to her.

She continued. "When he . . . died, I didn't know what to do. I just couldn't believe it. After my parents tried to tell me, I freaked and yelled at them. I ran out of the house, and I went everywhere I could. Every place I thought he would be. But he was gone, and it was almost as if everything in those places were dead. I lost my mind for four days, and then I ran off. I left the complete continent, leaving a crappy note, and before Teddy's funeral."

"Did running help?" Scorpius whispered.

She shook her head. "No. Not at first. I didn't really regain my sanity until a month and a half after I ran. Then it took months to accept it. But after awhile, I started to try and figure out how I was going to live. To live without my crutch. Then I realized that I shouldn't have needed one at all, and that I now had to get on. So, I took time to figure out what I wanted outta life.

"So I broke up with my boyfriend, that was my first action when coming back. I did it face to face. Then I faced my family, and then Victoire. But that was hard to handle, so I rarely see them anymore," she finished.

Scorpius reached over, and brushed her hair away from her face. It was as soft as he'd imagined. "And how are you doing now?"

Lily brought in a shaking gulp. "Almost relieved, yet like I'm starting to break," she said with a laugh.

"Why those feelings?"

She looked at him, and her eyes were shining with tears, but there really was a look of relief in her eyes. Along with a look of . . . longing maybe?

"Because I finally told someone this, but not just anyone. I told someone who reminds me so much of him,"she whispered.

Scorpius felt a bit of pride, pride at being compared to Teddy in this woman's eyes. But he also felt an incredible urge to do something. That feeling grew when her tears finally fell.

Hey, hey," he murmured, his arm going around her in a comforting manner. "Don't cry, don't cry." She started to pull away, not wanting to show how she was breaking. But he didn't let her. "Hey, don't turn away. Here, just dry your eyes." Scorpius reached out, and wiped away a tear. "Don't be afraid. I'm here, you don't have to keep everything inside. You can let it out. I'm here if you do fall apart."

"You barely know me," she reasoned through her tears.

"I feel like I've known you forever," he mumbled softly. "And you don't always have to be strong. Everyone deserves one time to fall apart. And I'll be here to help as you do."

Finally, she seemed to crumble, and her arms went around him, her face buried into his shoulder. "I miss him," she cried, her body shaking.

Scorpius wrapped his arms around her tighter. He was going to do his best to put her back together. He didn't care that this was the first time he had ever talk to her, he didn't care that he hadn't known her that long. He just knew how he felt and what he wanted, and at this time, he wanted to help her.

"It's so hard," she whimpered.

"It's life," Scorpius replied gently. "Life is always hard."

The light from the window was what awoke Scorpius Malfoy in the morning. He looked down to see that the bed was empty besides him, and colder too. But he could hear the shower in the bathroom, so he let his worry dissolve. He stood up, and grabbed the boxers that had been discarded the night before. He slipped them on, and approached the window. Outside, the sun was shining on the snow, sending glistening light everywhere. A few muggles were outside, bundled up, shoveling snow, but only a few. Scorpius guessed the rest were all inside, celebrating Christmas.

"What are you looking at?"

Scorpius whirled around, a bit startled. Being an Auror could do that to you. Lily was standing by the bathroom door, a towel around her body, her hair still damp. Scorpius bit back the fierce want to rip that towel away.

"What?" he asked, not remembering the question.

"I said what are you looking at?" she asked again with a laugh.

Scorpius gave a chuckle too. "Oh, nothing. Just seeing if the world was still out there," he joked.

Lily rolled her eyes, and started to get out her clothes for the day.

"Why didn't you wake me? I could of joined you," Scorpius asked with a smile, his eyes not leaving her.

She rolled her eyes again. "Because, I wanted to actually take a shower. Besides, we have to get to my grandparents' house soon. It is Christmas," she replied.

Scorpius nodded. "Point taken." He moved over behind her, and kissed the top of her head. "I'm gunna take a quick shower then."

It had been four years since Scorpius had helped Lily when she fell apart. After that, Scorpius had refused to let her go, and Lily had refused to be let go. They started dating officially only two days afterwards. They married only a few months later. Her family had been hesitant about the whole arrangement, but had accepted him when Lily said that she was never going to drop him. His life had never been better.

When Scorpius was out of the shower and dressed, he was immediately attacked by a little boy.

"Daddy, Mommy says we can go soon!"

Scorpius smiled down at the tiny boy. Small little Theodore Malcolm Malfoy was three years old, only by a week. He had Scorpius's own platinum hair, but had the warm brown eyes of his mother.

"Did she really. Well, let's see if we can leave earlier than that."

Scorpius picked up his son, and walked to the living room, where Lily was pulling out a few coats.

"What are you doing?" Scorpius asked.

"Getting coats. I know that you two wanna leave now," Lily said with a knowing smile.

"Yay!" Theodore cried, automatically squirming to get down. Scorpius let him down, and he quickly ran to his shoes, and began to slip them on. Scorpius went over to tie them.

"So the presents are all at the Burrow?" Scorpius asked.

"Dropped them off two days ago," Lily told him.

"I can't wait to see what I got!" Theodore cried happily.

Lily slipped his coat on, and he zipped it up, and put on his hat. "I'm sure Santa brought you something great."

When they had Apparated just outside the Burrow, they hurried to the house, happy to be in the warmth of the house. They were greeted cheerfully, and Theodore had been in Ginny's arms since he had run to her. Scorpius quickly greeted his boss and father-in-law, Harry Potter, who offered him a drink. And now, Scorpius never had to worry when the boy with blue hair came up to Lily. But he always did watch.

"Hey, Aunt Lily." Remus Bill Lupin was the one son of Teddy Lupin. The exact replica of him it seemed. He was now thirteen years old, with blue hair and purple eyes. He was tall, reaching Lily's shoulders.

But Lily just smiled. "Hello, Remus." She gave him a tight hug. "Where's your sister?"

"Dora's over by the tree, wondering what kind of clothes she got," he replied. "I'll never understand ten-year-olds. I mean, who wants clothes for Christmas?" Lily just laughed brightly.

"Ok, ok, everyone's here!" Molly Weasley cheered. "Let's all gather around the tree!"

As everyone, especially the kids, hurried to the tree, Scorpius moved and wrapped his arm around his wife. "How are you doing?" he whispered in her ear.

Lily smiled at him. "I'm alright, promise. In fact, this year is even better than the last. It's not hard after all."

"So, Lily, when am I gonna get another grandchild?" Ginny asked.

Lily's face fell, and Scorpius laughed.

"Life is always hard for the belle of the boulevard," Scorpius pointed out.

Lily only smiled.