Chapter Seven: Properly Feigned Innocence

Lily walked into her parents’ bedroom the next evening just a few minutes before seven o’clock. Her mother glanced up from the bureau where her jewelry lay, fastening the pair of diamond earrings she’d received for Christmas in place. The face in the mirror smiled upon seeing her daughter standing in the doorway. “You look lovely, Lily.”

“Thanks.”

Ginevra Potter turned to face her daughter, her mother’s eyes glowing with pride as she took in her nearly sixteen-year-old daughter’s simple but elegant black party dress, her fiery locks pulled back from her face with two silver clasps and her curtain of silk hair otherwise tumbling down around her. Ginevra walked towards her daughter, unable to help the smile that lit up her face. She lightly brought her hands down on Lily’s shoulders, looking her in the eyes which were as green as her father’s.

“Are you excited?” she asked, grinning down at her.

Lily shrugged, a small smile escaping her, though it seemed a little forced. “I guess so.”

“Oh, I bet the dinner party will just be lovely,” her mother enthused, happy for her daughter’s sake. “There will likely be dancing, of course. I told you, right?”

“Yes, Mum, and yes, I remember all the steps. You did have James, Albus, and me practice during every summer holiday for years.”

“Well, then I did my job preparing you three, didn’t I?” Ginevra laughed, touching her daughter’s cheek. “Your father was a horrid dancer.” She shuddered, remembering, before giving her daughter a sly wink. “But I fixed that in time for the wedding, of course.”

“I remember you telling me,” Lily laughed. “You wouldn’t let him eat until he practiced the steps with you in the Burrow’s back garden for a full hour first. Don’t you think that was the tiniest bit obsessive?”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” she laughed. “Your father will be ready to take you to the Malfoys' in just a bit. He’s still trying to straighten his tie.” She cocked her head towards the expansive closet off the master suite and Lily glanced over her mother’s shoulder, grinning as Harry walked out with a scowl on his face.

“I was not trying to straighten my tie. I was trying a charm that would do it for me.”

Ginny clucked her tongue, her brown eyes teasing her husband as she stepped forward and retied and smoothed her husband’s front. “Don’t you look smart?” she murmured, glancing up at him with a faint smile that made him blush.

“Erm, Lily, you ready to go?” he asked.

“Have been for the last ten minutes,” his daughter replied cheekily, giving her parents a pointed look.

“Right then, Gin, I’ll meet you at the restaurant in five minutes.”

His wife nodded and lightly kissed his lips before stepping back, picking up her small black clutch and Disapparating with a soft pop. Harry grinned to himself, the smell of her perfume lingering behind her before he turned to face his daughter, his throat suddenly closing up.

“Lils, you look beautiful.”

“Ah, Dad, let’s not get mushy or overprotective, either,” she added, pointing a finger at her father, who only smirked at her.

“I only had an Auror tail you once, sweetheart.”

“And it was completely mortifying.”

“You did learn not to lie to your dad about where you were going pretty fast, though.”

Lily rolled her eyes, grinning in spite of herself. No, she had simply learned how to lie better. “Ready to go?” she asked. Harry gestured for his daughter to join him and took her hand in his, pulling out his wand and Side-Along Apparating them both to Malfoy Manor.

Lily would have stumbled when they arrived in the entrance hall had her father not been supporting her. “Well,” he asked, “do you know what time you’ll be home? Scorpius was going to bring you back, right?”

“Erm, actually, Dad,” Lily began, putting her last plan into effect and making her face appear completely innocent, “the thing is, Scorpius’ mum is expecting him to say goodbye to all the guests and, well, I really didn’t want to stay that long, and I’d feel bad if I asked him to leave early and he missed out on the party because of me. Could you and Mum pick me up around ten?”

Her father’s eyebrows rose but he quickly agreed, promising that he and Ginny would pick her up a little after ten. Lily hugged him and quickly ran off, disappearing into the crowd of the party to hide her excitement.

Harry was just about to turn around and leave for the restaurant when an arrogant drawl stopped him in his tracks and he turned back to face the speaker.

“Not going to pay respects to the host, Potter?” Draco Malfoy smirked as he swaggered into view, holding a champagne glass, his silver eyes teasing.

Harry grinned back, stepping forward and shaking hands with the man. “Well, I never much did like giving you any respect at all, Draco.”

Draco’s lips split into a grin, his arrogance lessening from his drawled accent. “Likewise, Harry.”

“Thank you again for having Lily over; she was very excited.”

“My pleasure. Scorpius talks about her as if she and your niece Rose were his two best friends.”

“Shocking, isn’t it?” Harry laughed while Draco nodded in agreement.

“So much for children taking after their parents,” Draco muttered.

“I don’t know about that.” Harry commented, “Lily looks like a mirror image of her mum, except her eyes, that is; she’s lucky she didn’t seem to inherit any more of her father’s genes.”

“Isn’t that the truth?”

“Watch it, Malfoy.”

The blond man simply smirked, taking a sip of his champagne.

“Anyway, I’ve got to be going.”

“Nice talking to you, Harry.”

“You too. Oh, and Draco?” Harry’s expression suddenly became serious, his green eyes flashing. “If your father comes anywhere near this house while my daughter is here, I’ll have the Aurors on you in a second.”

“Of course,” Draco smirked. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Potter. Nothing to worry about, my parents are on holiday in the Swiss Alps.”

“How nice for the rest of us,” Harry remarked.

“Careful, Potter, or I might just have you thrown out of the party.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Harry grinned cheekily.

The two men said goodbye to each other, both smirking somewhat as they went their separate ways. Harry walked to the end of the expansive foyer and Apparated to the restaurant. He found his wife sitting at a small candlelit table and smiled, taking her hand as he sat across from her and lightly kissing her fingertips.

*

Back at the dinner party, Lily finally spotted someone her own age and grinned, seeing that it was Scorpius. After realizing how few guests there were that were her own age, she couldn’t blame him for the slight expression of annoyance on his features. Grinning, she quickly crossed the room towards him and lightly punched his shoulder so that he turned around to face her, still scowling somewhat.

“Where’s Rose?” she asked, having expected to run into her equally red-haired cousin by now.

“She couldn’t come,” Scorpius muttered, glancing away from her, his body rigid. “Coming would involve telling her parents, and that, of course, would mean getting here only by stepping over her father’s dead body, something she seems entirely unwilling to do,” he bit out.

“Bit morbid this evening, aren’t you?” Lily commented dryly.

Scorpius cocked an eyebrow, amused in spite of himself. He briefly glanced over the top of her head, though and swore under his breath.

“What?” Lily asked, glancing back over her shoulder.

“My mum,” he grumbled. “She’s heading this way, no doubt intending to tell me to greet more of her guests and play the good host. You’re nearly done with Hogwarts,” he mimicked in a high falsetto, screwing up his features in annoyance, “You should be more responsible and try to make better connections. What would your father say? My father would tell her to stop nagging and that she’s beginning to sound like my grandmother.”

Lily laughed and glanced back at Mrs. Malfoy once more before turning to Scorpius and suggesting, “Well, why don’t we just dance for a song, see if she heads a different direction and leaves you alone?”

Scorpius caught Lily’s eye, struck by her idea. He seized her hand and immediately spun her onto the dance floor so quickly she was surprised she didn’t lose her balance. He watched his mother over the top of Lily’s head and grinned, looking down at her. “Not a bad idea there, Lils.”

“I’m full of good ideas,” she quipped back.

“You don’t look half-bad tonight, either.” Lily moved as though to swat his arm but Scorpius squeezed her hand, not letting go and smirking at her as she started laughing at him.

“You’re impossible.”

“You’re childish,” he easily replied with a twitch of his lips. Lily opened her mouth, about to insult him back when he cut her off, grinning madly as he enjoyed antagonizing her. “You look nice, though.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she thanked him and soon both forgot that they were supposed to be keeping an eye out for his mother.

“She’s as beautiful as her mother, isn’t she?” Astoria Malfoy smiled, draping her arms over her husband’s shoulders from behind and directing his gaze to their son and his dancing partner. Draco took a sip of his champagne, silently agreeing with her.

As they were dancing, Lily suddenly asked, “Did you know our parents once fancied each other?”

“I beg your pardon?” Scorpius replied, one eyebrow cocked in amusement.

“My mum and your dad, they were together once, for almost a year. We could’ve been siblings,” Lily rambled, realizing she was hardly making sense but talking anyway.

Scorpius pulled back from her, still lightly holding one of her hands as he fixed her with a teasingly disapproving look before quickly pulling her closer and resuming the steps. “Let’s not entertain the idea that we could have been related; this dance is difficult enough without those sort of awkward thoughts.” Lily threw her head back in laughter and they kept dancing, oblivious to the time going by.

*

After paying the bill for their meal at Amortia’s, Harry proposed to his wife that they head home early since the boys were at George and Angelina’s for the night, and Lily wouldn’t need to be picked up for awhile. Ginny wetted her lips, grinning mischievously at her husband as he stood and pulled back her chair, brushing his lips against her cheek and murmuring something in her ear in such a low voice that her cheeks flushed crimson.

Sometime later, Harry glanced at the clock on his nightstand, the minute hand only a few spaces away from ten o’clock. He rolled back over to wrap his arms around his wife, pressing a light kiss to the back of her neck. Turning on her side to face him, Ginny grinned cheekily at him and brushed the dark hair back from his eyes, losing herself in their green depths. “It’s almost ten,” Harry murmured, catching her fingers and kissing them once more.

Ginny rolled her eyes and pushed herself up, murmuring, “Time for a few extra make-up charms, don’t you think?” Harry grinned after her and quickly got dressed, waiting for his wife until they were ready to pick up Lily from the party.

When they arrived back at the Manor House, it was ten minutes past ten and the dance floor was still full of twirling couples and swishing dress robes. Harry suggested to his wife that they split up to find Lily sooner and Ginny agreed, kissing his cheek before he disappeared into the crowd.

The instant he left her side, Ginny turned at the sound of a familiar voice, her heart jumping in her chest.

“A ravishing outfit as always, Mrs. Potter. Those are lovely earrings.”

Ginevra Potter spun around to find Draco standing behind her, offering her a glass of champagne in one hand and holding his own in the other, his silver eyes smoldering somewhat.

“Thank you,” she murmured, glancing down at the drink for a moment before meeting his pewter eyes once more.

He dipped his head, smiling slightly at her. “Your husband threatened to set his squad of Aurors on me should my father show up,” he smirked, earning a genuine smile from her in response.

“That’s Harry. Utterly overprotective and not unwilling to resort to abusing his underlings if he so chooses,” she replied with a light laugh, taking a sip of her champagne.

“Why am I not surprised?” Draco drawled.

“Because it’s just like him. Besides, it was probably a good idea on his part,” Ginny laughed. She turned then and caught sight of her daughter and Scorpius dancing together. “Did you ever think it would be like this?” she murmured suddenly.

“What, seeing our children like this?”

She turned on him, not amused. “My daughter,” she emphasized, “and your son.”

“You know what I meant, Gin.” Draco glanced to the young couple again, correcting his previous statement. “You mean, did I ever think I’d see your daughter and my son together? No.”

“They’re just dancing,” Ginny replied a little too quickly, face-flushed and rather uncomfortable. “They’re hardly about to walk down the aisle.”

“No?”

"Honestly, Draco, they're not even dating!" Ginny snapped.

Draco only raised a single eyebrow at her, his grey eyes dark. "Neither were we."

Ginevra gave him a severe look, unamused.

Scorpius was laughing at another of Lily’s antics, still dancing with her, when a hand reached out and firmly tapped him on the shoulder, politely asking to cut in. Scorpius pulled back, more than a little surprised at the intrusion when a gasp from Lily put everything in place. “Dad?”

The dark-haired man behind him grinned and Scorpius’ shoulders sank in relief. Lily’s father held out his hand to him, suddenly serious, though his face was still kind. “You must be Scorpius,” he said.

“Mr. Potter.” Scorpius held his own hand out, shaking hands with the man who was the same age as his father but happened to be the Head of the Ministry of Magic’s Auror Department. Scorpius swallowed, suddenly self-conscious, but Mr. Potter was no longer paying him attention, his eyes turning to his daughter instead.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

Scorpius turned to Lily in confusion. “I offered to take you home at the end of the night…” he trailed off, wondering why she had asked her father to come pick her up instead. Maybe her dad was just overprotective. Just by what he’d seen, it seemed most of the men in the extended Weasley family were.

“Well, I didn’t want to drag you away before the party was over…” Lily said, lying through her teeth and hoping neither her father nor Scorpius could tell, but her father’s eyes were already narrowing behind her.

“Scorpius, would you excuse us for a moment?” Scorpius only nodded and left the two to themselves, wandering off into the crowd of guests and disappearing from sight. Once he was gone, Harry faced his daughter, fixing her with an accusing stare. “Lily, you know how your mother and I feel about Scorpius’ father,” he quietly growled. “Why would you intentionally upset your mother and want us to come here?”

“I don’t know, they look awful cozy wouldn’t you say?” she snapped, pointing her chin off to the outside edge of the dance floor.

Harry turned to see his wife and Draco Malfoy standing close together, his jaw clenching involuntarily. “Excuse me,” he muttered, leaving his daughter and moving through the crowd. Just as Harry began heading towards his wife, Astoria came up beside her husband and reached out to shake hands with Ginny, flashing a dazzling hostess’ smile. “You must be Ginevra Potter,” she exclaimed. “Your daughter is absolutely enchanting. She’s been dancing with my son for half the night.”

Ginny smiled back at Mrs. Malfoy, quickly thanking her and returning the compliment. “Thank you, and your son is very handsome as well.”

“He’s the spitting image of his father,” Astoria beamed.

“I’d have to agree.” Ginny answered softly, carefully avoiding meeting the gaze of the silver eyes watching her. Just then, her husband joined them, quickly greeting Astoria and her husband and shaking hands, protectively looping his arm around his wife’s waist, sensing how close she was to tears.

“You alright?” he barely murmured and Ginny nodded, smiling thinly. Draco cleared his throat and brought up the last Falcons game in the ongoing Quidditch season. Harry nodded to him gratefully but Draco only returned the gesture, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders, fully aware that she was the only one who could not become aware of the uncomfortable tension surrounding them as they all engaged in meaningless small talk.

When Scorpius finally found Lily again, spotting her vividly red hair, she was standing at the refreshment table, taking a long draw from her champagne glass and swallowing. He immediately crossed over towards her and took the champagne flute right out of her fingers, setting it down on the table and glancing around himself. “Are you out of your mind?” he hissed. “A good number of my father’s guests are in law enforcement, Lily! They’d jump at the chance to punish Harry Potter’s daughter for underage drinking!”

“Well, forgive me, but I rather thought I needed it considering the disgusting way our parents are looking at each other right now,” she snarled back.

Scorpius’ eyebrows knit together in confusion and she jabbed a finger towards where both their parents were standing, the two couples talking animatedly, though none looked entirely comfortable. Scorpius became rather tense, his eyes narrowed as he remembered what Lily had said about his father and her mother when they had been dancing, observing the two now as their eyes met every few seconds before both glanced away.

“I think you and your mother better go,” he muttered.

Lily looked up at him in surprise and quickly lowered her eyes, walking away from him. She approached her parents and interrupted their conversation, informing them that she was ready to leave. Before the Potters could make their way out into the foyer, though, Astoria sent after Scorpius to have him come and properly say goodbye to them. The seventh year Slytherin boy followed his mother’s wishes and bowed slightly, taking Lily’s hand in his and lightly pressing his lips to her knuckles. His grey eyes met hers and she swallowed, suddenly feeling sorry. “Thank you for attending,” he said smoothly, rising to his full height so that he towered over her by a few good inches, his cold eyes surveying her even as a muscle twitched in his jaw. Lily quietly thanked Scorpius and his parents, casting one last apologetic look to her friend before taking her mother’s hand and Disapparating with them.

When her mother asked if she had a nice night, Lily automatically answered yes, heading to her room and closing the door behind her, having had a wonderful night until the last ten minutes when her elaborate scheme had blown up in her face and ruined everything. She sank onto her bed, wondering if Scorpius would ever speak to her again and remembering how coldly he had asked her to leave. She was so caught up in her own thoughts and worries, that Lily never noticing the soft crying coming from her parents’ bedroom as Harry wrapped his wife in his arms, tightly holding her as if his very arms were the only substance holding her together.