Unmasked (A Scorily/Scorlily Fanfic)[post-cursed child]

Chapter Seven: Slime and Starry Eyes

Hello, all! 

I hope you love this. I've been giving in to a little of the fluffiness-that-is-in-me in this book, and I rather like it. 

Enjoy!

Love you all, 

Lily

Scorpius and Lily didn't get the chance to talk alone like that again for a long time. Rose, who was evidently convinced that Lily was trying to steal the boyfriend that she was trying to keep secret, was paranoid. Lily found this amusing beyond belief (or so she said). But it did mean that wherever Scorpius went, Rose was sure to be nearby- just inconspicuously. 

Quidditch was not doing anything to help the mixture of animosity and curiosity that existed between the two. Lily consistently beat Scorpius in scrimmages and dominated every game she played in. Scorpius found this unfair, but now that he understood the unease that existed inside of Lily, he found himself wanting to be closer to her, not better than her. There was a certain connection between the masked boy and girl. 

Rose still had not grown to like Scorpius any better, despite her jealousy, and whenever he asked her about the state of her feelings, he generally got cut off with a kiss. This was not nearly as thrilling as it had been at first. Every time he kissed Rose now, he heard Lily's voice echoing through his mind, telling him that Rose was using him, and didn't care enough for him to let anyone else know about her feelings for him. 

Needless to say, this made Scorpius very uncomfortable. 

"Are you sure you fancy me at all?" he asked Rose one Thursday night as they were doing their rounds. 

Rose sighed. "Of course, Scorpius, but I wish you would stop asking me about it all the time. It makes me feel as if I'm doing something wrong." And she bit her lower lip. 

Scorpius immediately felt ashamed. "I'm sorry, Rose. Really I am. I didn't mean to make you feel like that."

"It's alright," Rose said hurriedly. And she pointed out a bright blue spot farther ahead in the corridor. "Oh, brilliant. Nix strikes again."

This time Lily had smeared the floor with what appeared to be soap. 

"Lovely," Rose sighed, and pulled out her wand to Vanish the slippery substance. "But next time she should attempt to use soap of a less fluorescent blue."

"Wait," Scorpius said. This didn't seem right. Lily was a devious prankster. She would never put something so blatantly obvious in front of a victim unless...

Rose flicked her wand, showing off her ability to cast spells soundlessly. But the instant the spell touched the "soap," it flew up from the ground to coat Rose's skin and make her look like one of those funny little muggle elves- what were they, Smurts? 

Rose shrieked, then let loose with a string of profanity. She attempted to Vanish it again, but it only grew thicker. Finally she turned to Scorpius. 

"I'm going to have to go back to the Gryffindor dorms and shower," she said in a dejected tone. "Carry on." She made as though she were about to kiss him, then sighed as he pulled away looking vaguely frightened and slightly amused. "See you tomorrow."

Scorpius watched her blue, slimy figure walk off down the corridor in the direction from which they'd come and felt an unexpected desire to laugh. Rose Granger-Weasley, the girl he had placed on a pedestal for so many years, suddenly seemed so much less lofty than before. His heart did not thump any more when he thought of her.

Thank you, Nix, he said silently to himself. And then he said it out loud as he noticed a suit of armor four feet away twitch slightly. 

A slight glow enveloped the suit, and it morphed back into Lily, who looked very impressed. 

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked. 

"No one else pranks like that-"

"No, I mean just now. When you knew the suit of armor was me."

"Oh. Well, er, you twitched."

Annoyance crossed Nix's face. "I might have known," she said, sounding dejected. "I'll need to work on that."

Scorpius felt an unexpected urge to comfort her, then laughed to himself. He, the Perfect Prefect, had just wanted to comfort a prankster for not properly breaking rules. 

Lily laughed out loud. "It is funny," she said, "isn't it?"

He started. "How did you-"

"Oh, just your expression." The fourteen-year-old looked about her to make sure no one was watching. "So, I managed things pretty well, didn't I?"

"Yes," Scorpius admitted. "You placed the soap exactly where Rose would be sure to see it and want to get rid of it. Although I'm not sure that coating her in it was necessary to get her to go away so that we could talk."

Lily full-on grinned. "You, Scorpius Malfoy," she said delightedly, "are wonderful."

Scorpius wondered why it sounded so much better coming from this little sprite of a girl who had been tormenting him for the past three months than it did coming from his girlfriend.

Lily looked searchingly at him. "You don't fancy Rose anymore, Scorpius," she said, and her expression was one of mystification. "I didn't think it would go away that fast."

"Actually, you're the one who made it go away," Scorpius said, not feeling very melancholy about his disillusionment. "I only liked her because she was pretty, not like you, and when she was covered in blue goo, it just- fizzled out." 

Lily looked rather annoyed. "You don't think I'm pretty."

He started. "When did I say that?"

"Just now. You said Rose was pretty- unlike me."

Scorpius felt an urge to laugh and did, which only made Lily look more miffed. 

"That's not what I meant," he chuckled. "Rose is pretty. You're beautiful."

Lily started, and he felt a surge of pride. So she was not incapable of being surprised. "You think that?" she asked. 

"Well, yes," Scorpius said. He felt not a trace of the awkwardness he felt when he was talking of his feelings to Rose. "Your hair is like- like living fire. And your eyes are just like a lioness's, all golden-tawny. And you always remind me of one of the elves I used to read about in books when you- when you smile..."

He'd unconsciously been taking steps towards her as he spoke, and now he realized that his front was touching hers. He gazed down at her with a feeling like lightning coursing through his veins, and for once she had nothing to say. When his arms slipped around her, she placed her hands on his back, and her eyes began to close as his mouth drifted towards hers- until a sudden shriek made them both jump apart hurriedly. 

Rose was standing at the end of the corridor.