But At What Cost?
by
a/n: This was written as part of the Valentine's Day Exchange/Challenge on HPFC. I was instructed to write for MilkyStars, and was pleasantly surprised to find that we both enjoy Lily/Scorpius and Dominique/Scorpius. It's a little bit angsty and short, but I hope you all enjoy it :) Oh, and I almost forgot, I used the quote from My Random Quotes from Random Everywhere to get me started,which ended up working brilliantly, it really highlights the differences between the two characters. Please leave a review, it'd mean so much to me!
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"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."- Maya Angelou
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She pauses a moment outside the door of the Burrow, peering through the frosty glass.
Dominique really is the epitome of beautiful, she thinks. Her huge blue eyes sparkle with innocent happiness as she clinks her glass with Roxanne, who is no doubt congratulating her on the wedding announcement. Dominique takes a small sip, and sets her glass down gracefully. She continues conversation with her cousin, but slips a slender arm around her handsome fiancée, a simple gesture that communicates to the whole world that she's blissfully in love.
With Scorpius.
It's such a shame that he was meant to be Lily's.
Smiling ever so slightly, Lily opens the door.
The effect is instantaneous. Within seconds, her family is swirling around her, and the air is dancing with questions.
Where've you been, Lily?
Did you leave?
What happened, Lils?
Did you hear Dominique's good news?
The last question leaves a small frown on Lily's face. She's only just returned home, the prodigal daughter, and she's already burdened with the lovely news of her cousin's engagement? This isn't right; she's got a lot of work to do.
Her frown fades quickly into an expression of joy. "I can't believe how much I've missed you all!" she exclaims, skillfully deflecting their questions. She turns toward little Gemma, sweeping her up in a hug. "I can't believe how much you've grown! You're starting to look more like your mother every day!"
"Thank Merlin for that," Teddy replies, giving Victoire a peck on the cheek, and earning a laugh from the rest of the family.
"Oh shut up, Ted," Lily banters back, amazed at how easily she slips back in.
The rest of the night dissolves into laughter and love, but Dominique can't help but notice the way Scorpius's eye strays toward her vibrant cousin…
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As Dominique counts down the days to her wedding, Scorpius grows more and more detached.
Dominique is practically beside herself, but she's a firm believer in fate. And fate has determined Scorpius to be her husband, so what is her little cousin Lily doing trying to question it?
But Dom's not the type to hold anything against anyone, so she keeps her plastic smile painted. It even stays firmly in place when she sees Lily at the Burrow. But her cousin is so full of that wonderful chaos and glamour that Dom is hard-pressed to hold anything against her. It would be like hating an angel.
And Dom can't bring herself to hate anything, even if Lily is the devil in disguise.
By now, it's clear that something else is going on. Scorpius is always a few minutes late from work, and Lily always seems to be tip-toeing on the edge of conversation.
But the final straw comes on their wedding day. That ominous feeling is already in the air by the time she wakes up, and when Scorpius approaches her with guilt etched across his weary face, she already knows.
This doesn't stop her from getting angry, though. Dom cries and shrieks, slamming the door and leaves Scorpius with a vicious reminder that she never wants to see him again.
The worst part is that he just accepts everything. He's far too accepting of the fact that he's returning their wedding rings, the fact that he'll never see again. Through blurred vision, Dominique watches him walk out the door, head hanging low, but with a sparkle of life in his eyes that she hadn't seen in a long time.
She nearly gives up hope.
It's only years later, when her anger has run its course that she can finally bring herself to speak his name.
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Lily knows that her actions weren't kind. How can she forget? Everyone she loves can't resist rubbing it in her face. Even her mum, even her daddy—they don't look at her the same way. There's a glint of distaste in their eyes that they can't be bothered to hide, she guesses.
She knew that this would come, it was practically inevitable. But Lily didn't know that it would hurt this much.
Luckily, it's worth it. She has Scorpius by her side, whispering encouragement in her ear when she needs it the most. And this, this is worth more to Lily than a bunch of people who never liked her that much in the first place.
With him always there to support her, Lily can ignore the constant bitterness.
She's won; Scorpius is hers.
But sometimes she feels like he cost her too much.