Written for Gamma Orinois's Not Your OTP Challenge. The pairing I was given was Lily Luna/Scorpius.

Running back through the fire

When there's nothing left to say

It's like chasing the very last train

When we both know it's too late, too late

"So this is it. You're leaving."

"Yeah."

Tense silence fell between them and Scorpius didn't know how to break it; he just sat down on the stairs in front of the house and pulled a cigarette out of his leather jacket. He lighted it distractedly and inhaled deeply. Lily didn't say anything. She didn't even react to said cigarette (she usually found that habit of his extremely unnecessary and always snapped at him whenever he decided to smoke around her), which was entirely out of character.

Scorpius looked up at her. She wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes were focused on the cloudy sky above them, while she tried to push her hair away from her face despite the wind.

"It's not fair." She blurted out and Scorpius laughed humourlessly. They had about five minutes left together and that was everything she could think of? As much as he wanted to voice that thought, Scorpius kept it to himself. He didn't need to be rude. At least not now. He usually said exactly what he was thinking, no matter who he was talking to.

"For the hundredth time, Lily, it's my choice." He said rather wearily. He hated repeating the same thing over and over again. Especially when it was half a lie, and even the truth in it was somewhat painful. "It's not like they kicked me out or anything. I just can't stick to your parents for the rest of my life."

"Scorpius!" Lily gasped. For an instant, he felt bad, as if he had hurt her. "How could you say such a thing?! They are just as much your parents as mine!"

He stood up from his place on the stairs and stared at the sign on the door. With large white letters, it read Potter-Weasley Inc. It was the only place Scorpius could recognise as home and yet, it wasn't his place. Harry and Ginny were very kind of him and had never said anything about his future, but he was sure that they would never really kick him out. But that wasn't the point.

He had lived with the Potter family for the last couple of years, after the plane crash that had killed his parents when he was about eight. The boys – James and Albus – could as well be his real brothers. James had the typical older-brother attitude towards him and had never acted any differently than he did with Lily and Albus, or their cousins – Rose and Hugo. As for Lily… well, his feelings for her weren't exactly ones of an older brother.

The thought of his adopters didn't make Scorpius change his decision. He loved them, yes, but that didn't mean that he couldn't leave. He didn't even look like them and that was the most insignificant difference. They acted differently, looked differently… they were essentially not the same as him. He had to take his life in his own hands.

Scorpius turned to face his adoptive sister one last time. Basically everything he owned was already packed and he was ready to go; he had said goodbye to his brothers and also to Harry and Ginny. He had been sure from the beginning of this whole moving out thing that saying goodbye wouldn't be easy at all. Especially when it came to Lily.

Her eyes were wet and for a second, Scorpius panicked. He had had a lot of girlfriend in his nineteen-year-old life and he was pretty sure that he couldn't handle crying people very well.

"Don't cry." He said hastily. "There's no need to. Really. I'll… I'll see you around." He smiled sadly. The town where they lived wasn't all that big anyway. "It's not like I'm going to live on the other side of the world or something."

It felt like it, though. Lily's hazel eyes were watching him intently and for the first time in his life Scorpius allowed himself to think that maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way as him.

"Lily…" with a small sigh – he knew that anything he had done in the last few weeks was actually leading to this – he brushed the only tear that fell down her cheek with his fingertips. "I told you already. I'm not going to leave forever."

"But I don't want you to leave at all." Lily whispered and even though she looked down, Scorpius could see that her face was just as red as her hair.

"You have your brothers." He was trying to convince himself, more than her. She didn't need him. Scorpius had repeated that to himself a lot during the last days. She didn't nee him any more than she needed Albus and James, and they were still around.

"I don't want to…" before she could finish her sentence, the maid – the manor was so big that they had always needed one – exited the house and went straight to Scorpius. He almost jumped from where he was sitting, trying not to seem too guilty – said maid tended to take everything that happened between the kids straight to their parents and Scorpius didn't want to have his adopters thinking that he was actually having a try with their daughter. "I don't want you to stay because you're like my brothers!" Lily hissed. Her expression was untypically fierce for someone like her, who was usually so calm and relaxed, no matter what happened.

Any colour on her face drained when she saw why exactly the maid was coming. Scorpius could see the woman carrying his luggage in both her hands, frowning slightly under the weight of the trunk. She probably currently cursed him in her mind for taking so much stuff with him, wherever he was going.

"Everything's packed." She announced, apparently oblivious for everything that she had interrupted. "So, whenever you're ready to go…"

Scorpius nodded abruptly and she got the hint. Or so he thought, since she left as fast as she had arrived.

"If I'm not like your brothers, then what am I?" he asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly. No, idiot, how could you ask such a thing?! You'll ruin everything. Everything, he thought. At least it wouldn't be very surprising. He was constantly ruining everything.

"You idiot." The words were harsh, but Scorpius didn't say anything, because Lily had actually voiced his thoughts and her tone was so gentle that it didn't sound like an insult at all.

He finally had the heart to face her. Lily's eyes weren't wet with tears anymore; quite on the contrary, they were filled with bold determination and Scorpius had that feeling again, that it didn't matter how much he was trying to distance himself from his actual feelings, every word he had said to her since he had taken his decision to leave them had lead to this.

Lily stepped closer to him and Scorpius didn't move. He simply couldn't - he didn't even know if he wanted to draw back or come nearer to her and his body didn't seem capable to do anything for him right now.

So when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers gently playing with a platinum strand of his hair, Scorpius didn't do anything either. He just let his eyes fall shut as he felt the ghost of her breath on his lips.

And then Lily kissed him and it was nothing like Scorpius had imagined it countless times before. Nothing seemed like in his vision on things. He had to kiss her, not the other way around. And he wasn't supposed to stiffly just stand there and do nothing while she ran her fingers through his hair and whispered his name in a strangled voice as if she was on the verge of tears again.

When he opened his eyes, she was already gone.

Author's notes: Here I am again with the dramatic endings of a story. And original titles, of course. It's the first AU fic I write and I know it's probably not very good, but I tried. Lily Luna is a character I'm not very used to writing about, so… well.

Oh, and since I've already started to point out its flaws – sorry for any type/grammar/whatever other mistakes you might find. It's almost midnight and I'm not entirely alive, so things as proof-read are beyond me.

But however, I hope you enjoyed the story. Reviews are always appreciated. :)

P. S.: The song used in the beginning is James Morrison'sBroken Strings.