Chapter 23 / Palpitations, Perceptions and Those Darn Potters

                                    

                                          
"I'm only joking!" Claire exclaimed immediately—yet pointlessly.
The damage had been done. Lily had heard, and now she knew his secret, and if there was ever a time that Scorpius wished he knew how to Apparate, now was it. For a few horrifying moments, all Lily did was stare at him. Heat cascaded through his system, and blood was gathering at the surface of his skin so that his normally pale skin was alarmingly pink. Chains of fear seized every muscle in his body—he couldn't move. In utter mortification, he lowered his eyes, unable to look at Lily. He could only imagine the level of revulsion she now felt for him. She probably wanted nothing to do with him. Scorpius could already see the repercussions of Claire's big fat stupid mouth: Lily would now tell Albus, and Albus will despise him. Oh God, the thought of Albus hating him would be too much to bear. Begging his father to leave Hogwarts before any of this eventuated would be the wisest option—no wait, perhaps they should just leave the country and get as far away as possible so Scorpius would never have to face Albus' disgust—
"I don't know why you're all so shocked. It's not as if I didn't know."
Instantly, Scorpius' inner melodrama ceased. What did she just say? Did he hear her correctly? Bravely, valiantly, Scorpius raised his eye level so that it reached Lily's bemused face. Bemusement, not repulsion, he told himself. A tiny spark lit inside the pitch-black of his chest, and the fear that had him incarcerated began to loosen its grip, and Scorpius dared to hope that perhaps Lily wouldn't force the Malfoys to leave England.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked in a faint voice.
Never had the sound of Lily's laughter sounded so sweet. "As if I didn't know, you git!"
Disbelief and relief in equal measure washed over him, dousing out his fear. On either side of him, both Andrea and Claire were starting to relax. "You—you knew?" he asked.
Lily continued her chuckling. "Scorpius, sweetheart, I've known for about a week now. It was fairly obvious."
A new panic clutched at his heart. "Obvious?" he squeaked. Dear Merlin, he hoped not. If Lily knew just by observing him, then perhaps...
Lily quickly cottoned on to Scorpius' fright, and immediately insisted, "No, don't worry. It was only obvious to me. I've been told that I have a weird intuitiveness about other people. It's not common knowledge; I'm sure no one else knows outside of this table. Trust me."
Scorpius allowed himself to breathe again, only just. He wasn't sure how many more revelations his heart could take. "You're sure?"
"Absolutely." Lily nodded happily.
He nodded along with her to reassure himself that the potential catastrophe he had dreamed up did not need to eventuate. Lily, he decided, was a brilliant person. As his furiously beating heart began to slow down, he turned to her, "And—just so I know—are you ... I mean ... are you alright with ... everything?" Albus was, after all, her brother.
Again, she nodded enthusiastically, sending flyaway strands of the red mess on her head in different directions. "Mmhmm," she hummed her approval. "I mean, dismissing the fact that he's my brother—and, as a result, I've firmly affixed it in my mind that both my brothers are completely asexual—I think it's endearing and terribly adorable, at the risk of sounding like a complete girl."
Gratefully, he smiled feebly at her, trying to get used to the new turn of things. He knew he should probably feel vulnerable now that Lily knew his secret, but surprisingly, he felt a wave of peace rush over him, and he breathed out in relief, as if a burden were lifted.
"I like you!" Claire suddenly announced, smiling broadly at Lily.
Scorpius, Andrea and Lily started at her abrupt declaration.
"Oh ... thank you, Claire," Lily responded after a quick recovery. Her face split into a wide grin. "I find, too, that I quite like your little trio. That is, if you don't mind a fourth wheel."
Andrea answered smartly: "I may not be a Muggle, but I've heard that typically, you need to four wheels to function normally."
Scorpius found that he agreed. As far as he was concerned, Lily was a welcome addition to their group. He enjoyed her advice and wit, and was convinced that if he were straight, she would probably be the sort of person he would like. As it stood, he was already in love with her brother, and Scorpius rested in the knowledge that he didn't have to keep this a secret from Lily.
Lily smiled at the three of them, and Scorpius fleetingly marvelled at the similarity between her sideways smile and Albus'.
As pleasant as the moment was, it was shattered soon after.
"Oi, Malfoy!" someone Scorpius didn't know called loudly from a few tables over. Needless to say, everyone heard and turned their heads to watch. "Better be careful hanging out with girls all the time, queer. Sooner or later, even your dick will disappear!"
Guffaws from neighbouring tables filled the library with a low din, while searing heat flared within Scorpius once more. He grappled with his momentarily frozen mind to think of a retort, but his quest was proven moot, as Lily suddenly turned, stood up and faced the perpetrator.
"Oi, Davies!" she called in the same tone and volume he used, as she stared him down menacingly. The chortling stopped immediately. "If yours was any smaller, you might as well sprout tits!"
Everyone stopped.
You could hear a pin drop.
Davies' face was frozen in horror.
Lily's was deadly serious.
Speechless, Scorpius watched in complete astonishment as her face suddenly morphed back into the sweet smile she normally wore, and she plopped back down in her chair with a self-satisfied sigh, as if emasculating boys was part of her daily routine.
"That," Andrea said in a hush, "was brilliant."
Lily snorted. "It didn't take much imagination. Trust me, from what I've heard; it's an awful excuse for masculinity."
Over her shoulder, Scorpius watched as Davies slowly shrunk low in his chair, completely humiliated, ignoring the questing looks of his friends.
"How do you know?" Claire inquired; her eyes were wide with bewilderment and respect.
"He's in Gryffindor, the imbecile. My best friend dated him for like a week last year. Worst mistake she made; he's such an arse. Of course, she told me everything about him," she told them. "Scorpius, I hope you don't mind that I retaliated, if you were planning to. I just thought the opportunity was perfect—"
"I don't mind," Scorpius interrupted, having only just recovered his ability for speech. "Not one bit." He smiled his gratitude, which she returned. The fact that twoPotters now had taken up the post as his unofficial protector didn't escape him; he marvelled bemusedly at it. If Lily had come to the defence of any other male in the school, they would likely resent her and deny the fact altogether. But Scorpius was unlike other boys, and he appreciated help when it came to him. Even after years of bullying and taunting, Scorpius didn't deal well with the victimization, and Lily and Albus were godsends.
"Now," Lily said, her tone of voice suddenly transformed into one of business. "You never answered the original question." She stared pointedly at Scorpius.
"What question?"
"What was Eamon doing here?" Lily inquired. Andrea and Claire, having only just remembered, nodded enthusiastically, eager to know the truth.
Scorpius rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the slight flush colour his cheeks at the recall of exactly what Eamon was doing. "It really isn't that interesting," he lied once more, more out of habit than because he wanted to deny it.
A knowing look crossed over Lily's face. "He's gay," she said—so abruptly, yet so confidently, that all Scorpius could do was drop his jaw. How did she know?
Intuitiveness his arse, this girl was a mind-reader.
A small indiscriminate squeak escaped Claire's shocked face, while Andrea gasped. "Is he? No, he couldn't be," she breathed.
Lily was nodding. "I always assumed, this just confirmed it." Her nonchalant tone had Scorpius' mind boggled—she may as well have commented on the unseasonal cold weather.
"How?" Scorpius begged.
"How what?"
"How did you know?"
Lily shrugged. "I told you, I just know things about people. Am I right?"
Scorpius could only nod, barely thinking about the fact that he had just outed the most popular boy in Ravenclaw. If his mind wasn't so impressed with Lily's incredible ability, he would probably have thought twice about it.
"I can't believe it," Andrea remarked. "The thought would never have crossed my mind."
"I suppose it explains why he's never had a girlfriend," Claire pointed out. The she sighed. "And now he never will. I fancied my chances with him."
Andrea snorted. "I think every girl fancied their chance with him. As it stands, you're now the most likely to get into his pants, Scorpius!"
The thought of getting into anyone's pants, let along Eamon Hudson's, was a highly cheek-reddening thought, if not a little stimulating. He coughed uncomfortably at the memory of Eamon calling him 'cute.'
"Oh my goodness," Lily suddenly blurted, staring pointedly at him with wide hazel eyes. "Does he like you?"
Scorpius ducking his head in awkwardness was the only answer she, Andrea and Claire needed. Three ear-splitting shrill squeals suddenly erupted from their trio of stunned faces, and Scorpius winced.
"He does!" Claire declared.
"Oh my goodness!" Lily repeated.
"Scorpius!"
"I'm not one hundred per cent sure! I'm just assuming," Scorpius intercepted their girlish cacophony with a loud yet calm voice. "I'm not certain," he repeated for good measure.
"And what are you basing this assumption on?" Lily posed, a giggle barely suppressed.
Scorpius stammered, "Oh ... he—uh ... he ..." He sighed. There was nothing for it but to tell them the truth. Readying himself for the second chorus of shrieks, he blurted, "He called me cute."
And there it was again—the sound of three girls' squealing piercing his, and a few of their neighbours', ears. A table of second-year Hufflepuffs stared at them with apprehension, while another table of seventh-year girls gave them impatient looks. Davies' table of sixth-year Gryffindors, too, glared at them.
"Calm down, calm down," Scorpius insisted feebly at the three hysterical girls. He took a second to marvel at how easily Lily seemed to be assimilating to the girls'.
"Calm down?" Andrea repeated. "How do you expect us to calm down? This is exciting!" She gave him an exasperated look and tugged on his arm incessantly. "Scorpius! Eamon likes you; you should be the one squealing!"
"He called you cute," Claire said in a dreamy voice, while she stared off into space with a hand clutched over her heart. "How romantic."
"Romantic?" Scorpius arched a thin blonde eyebrow.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're less than pleased at this development?" Lily questioned him, delivering a look that made him feel like he was something that should be found under a microscope.
"I am pleased," Scorpius tried. "It's just ... sudden."
Lily continued her speculative gaze. Scorpius felt he was fast becoming the newest victim of Lily's psychoanalysing talent. "No ... something's wrong," she muttered.
Andrea glared at him. "Honestly, can you, for once, be excited about something? This is a good thing," she said slowly, as if she was talking to an infant. "Live a little and enjoy being singled out by the hottest boy in school!" She sighed and threw her hands up in the air.
"He's not," Scorpius blurted without meaning to. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Why on earth did he just say that?
Claire stared at him with an expression she might wear if she were looking at a cockroach. "Then who is?" she asked, skeptic.
Albus, his mind helpfully provided but he couldn't say it with Lily around, even if she now knew about his feelings. It was still too weird. Nonetheless, his answer may as well have been tattooed across his forehead, as the girls understood him loud and clear.
Lily's eyebrows lifted a fraction. "My brother, huh?" she said, with a loud exhale of breath. "This is going to take some getting used to."