Another heart-breaking scream pierced the silence and Lily had to bite down hard on her lip so she wouldn't burst into tears.
Madam Grice had been tending to Scorpius from behind the white curtain. Every so often a deafening scream - always belonging to Scorpius - would echo through the hospital wing, followed by the hushed speech of Madam Grice as she muttered something unintelligible. She hadn't emerged to tell them how Scorpius was or what his injuries were but by the sound of the screams, it was bad news.
Never had Lily felt so helpless as she stood frozen, her hand tightly wrapped in Ariana's.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Ariana whispered into Lily's ear. She squeezed her hand but Lily took no comfort in it. Her mind was too busy replaying the moment Scorpius fell off his broom. Because of a Bludger meant for her.
"It's all my fault," she whispered, saying what she had been thinking all along. "It's all my fault."
Immediately Ariana pressed her lips against Lily's ear so only she would hear the words. "This is not your fault Lily. Never say that. You didn't charm the Bludger to hit Scorpius. And I'm sure were this to ever happen again, Scorpius would happily take a Bludger for you."
At that point, Madam Grice emerged from behind the curtain, slightly taken by how many there were waiting from Scorpius. Lily craned her neck to try and catch a glimpse of Scorpius but the curtain flapped shut without a mere glance. "He'll live," Madam Grice announced and Lily's attention snapped back to the nurse. Everyone breathed a small sigh of relief. People had been known to die from lower falls. "But he's broken his wrist, a couple of ribs and has a concussion as well. Not to mention he is very bruised."
"Can we see him?" Albus asked. He was still in his Quidditch robes like Lily, having had rushed to the hospital wing as soon as it happened.
"I've given him a Sleeping Draught long enough for the spells to take effect without inflicting too much pain on Mr Malfoy. But you can see him if you want." All of the group made for the curtain but Madam Grice raised her hands up, halting them. "Six visitors only please."
Lily felt a hand on her shoulder. "Come on Lily. We'll wait outside," Dominique said in a quiet and soothing voice. With Ariana and Phoebe, Lily was led towards the door.
But Lily didn't want to go. She didn't want to wait outside. She needed to see with her own eyes that he was ok. Wrestling with the arms that held her, Lily broke free quite easily and made her way to the curtain, pushing it aside to walk in. Immediately, she gasped in shock froze at the foot of the bed, one foot poised to take a step back.
His head was wrapped in a strip of bandage, tufts of blonde hair peering out at the top. The wrist he broke had be bandaged tight and placed in a sling, resting on his chest. Although she couldn't see, Lily knew that under the covers he had broken ribs that were strapped. There were a couple of cuts on his face too; one on his right eyebrow and one on his bottom lip. For a second, the sight made Lily feel faint and she had to hold onto the board at the bottom of the bed for support.
From the side of the bed, Kaleb moved to wrap an arm around Lily's shoulder, pulling her in his strong side. "Don't worry Lilykins. Scor's a fighter. I'm sure he'll bounce back in no time and be flying circles around you."
"It's all my fault," Lily murmured.
"How'd you figure that out Lily?" Eve asked sympathetically in her gentle voice. She reached over and took Lily's hand, squeezing it tightly. "You didn't hit the Bludger at him."
"It's all my fault. The Bludger was meant for me, to stop me from catching the Snitch. But Scorpius took the hit and now he's hurt." The emotions were thick in her voice, strangling the tears that wanted to fall. "It's all my fault."
"That's crazy Lilykins," Kaleb argued quickly. "You're like a little sister to Scorpius. He probably knew it was going to hit you and stopped it to keep you from harm's way. Granted, he shouldn't have stopped it with his body." It felt so wrong to joke around when Scorpius was lying unconscious in front of them all. But Lily appreciated Kaleb's attempt to cheer her up and offered him a weak smile.
"He just needs to sleep it off," Percy said, running a hand through his hair. Lily recognised the movement as something Scorpius did too. Only Percy's hair was a dark brown colour in stark contrast to Scorpius' white blonde hair that was rarely flat. "I'm going to go and tell Professor Delta. Plus I need to send a letter to Aunt Astoria and I need to sort out the team - something needs to be done about our Beater that can't tell the difference between the opposition and their own teammate."
With a final squeeze, Eve released Lily's hand and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, smiling reassuringly before turning to her brother. "Take a shower too Perce. You might wake Scorpius up with your stink." The pair of them promised to be back later and left with a flutter of the curtain.
Needing to do something helpful instead of staring powerlessly at Scorpius, Lily moved to the side of the bed, opposite Albus. There was basin of water and a damp flannel on the side that Lily used to wet his cheeks. His skin was burning up but from Lily's limited knowledge of Healing, the hot temperature was a good thing.
"It's not your fault Lily." It was the first time Albus had spoken to her since it had happened. "I would have done the same thing had it been me and you up in the air. For that, I owe him one." She watched as Albus rested a hand on Scorpius' shoulder attentively and right then, Lily felt her heart tug in two different directions. It was obvious that Scorpius meant so much to Albus but she couldn't deny that he meant just as much to her too.
"We should get cleaned up," Franklin said, uncrossing his arms. He was still wearing his Quidditch robes. "Get some food too because I'm starving."
Albus looked at Scorpius one last time and made to leave with Kaleb and Franklin. "Aren't you coming?"
All Lily could do was shake her head. She was on the brink of ears and was holding them back with every blink. Thankfully Albus understood she needed time alone. He walked over and kissed the top of the Lily's head and disappeared, closing the curtain behind him so it was just Scorpius and Lily.
Picking up the chair in the corner, Lily sat down by Scorpius' side. Her hand brought his from his lap to his side, her fingers folding around his. He was a little warm so Lily dabbed the flannel across his face, tracing the features that were so peaceful when he slept. It was quite nice to see his face not contorted into his knowing smirk. Sighing deeply she rested her forehead against the back of his hand staring at the stone floor, and finally let the tears fall.
It took a while for them to stop.
###
Lily hated herself for crying. It made her feel weak and vulnerable and sick to her stomach. But she needed to break so that she could be fixed. After bottling up all her emotions over the last few weeks, in the build-up to the match, they had finally released themselves and now Lily felt better. Not completely so. She was still filled with guilt for what she had done to Scorpius and what her feelings meant for Albus.
Thankfully her tears were dry by the time people started arriving in the hospital wing. First Hugo visited. At first he seemed nervous, but when he saw that only Lily was there, he eased a little, pulling up a chair to sit next to Lily. He seemed agitated, looking around the room constantly and pulling at the sleeves that hid his cuts.
"Ariana spoke to me, said you weren't doing so good," Hugo said, his gaze switching from Scorpius to Lily.
"I've been better," Lily mumbled, her voice hoarse from barely talking for at least an hour. To distract herself, she was running her thumb across Scorpius' hand, soothing herself just as much as him. "But I'm better than Scorpius."
"I didn't realise he liked to so much," Hugo joked and Lily had to smile. It had been ages since Hugo had cracked a joke. "You know, at first I agreed with Dom about Scorpius but then you got with Oscar - and you know I don't like him too much. I began to entertain the idea that maybe you could be with him, anticipated the reactions of our family. The pair of you seem to fit right now."
"How can you tell?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows at Lily before glancing back at Scorpius. "He's asleep."
Hugo just shrugged. "I's a gift I suppose." He got to his feet and kissed the top of Lily's head. "Don't spend all your time in here blaming yourself. I'd take a Bludger for you too if I loved you like he did. Would Oscar do the same?" With a ruffle of her loose ponytail, Hugo ducked behind the curtain and vanished.
Next to visit was Rose. She seemed surprised to see Lily there, especially with her hand interlaced with Scorpius. For Lily, the surprise was mutual. Her cousin watched through a scowl as Lily dabbed the damp flannel across Scorpius' face and neck - the fever was good, it meant the spells were working. "I can do that," Rose said, leaning over to take the flannel from Lily's hand.
Feeling awkward, Lily excused herself and retreated to the bathroom. Immediately she felt bad for leaving Scorpius but she didn't want to see Rose fawn over an unconscious version of him. Instead she looked at herself in the mirror and saw small black streaks of what was left of her make-up running down her cheeks. The whole idea now felt stupid. Quickly she washed off what was left with some soap and then leant against the basin.
She felt so conflicted. She knew there was no denying it now, she did have feelings for Scorpius. They were much more intense than those she had for Oscar. But Oscar had been so kind to her and she felt wrong just dropping him, especially now that their relationship was under scrutiny from the press. Also Albus wouldn't be too happy, nor would Rose or a lot of the family. However if they loved her, they would have to accept Scorpius, which they had in part because he was Albus' friend and he was somehow related to Teddy.
Looking in the mirror once more, Lily retied her ponytail and left the bathroom, feeling stressed but fresh. When she returned to Scorpius' beside, Rose was still there, sitting on the bed and looking at Scorpius. "Will he be ok?" Rose asked when she noticed Lily come back.
Lily stopped at the foot of the bed, admiring him just as her cousin was. Asleep he was so peaceful; not a trace of the normal smirk he always wore. "A few broken bones, a load of bruises but he'll live."
"Fantastic," Rose cried, slightly too energetic for Lily. Bounding off the bed, she stroked her shoulder-length hair and leaned to kiss Scorpius' forehead, unknowingly resting her hand on his broken wrist all the while. "I must dash. I promised Kate I'd help dye her hair pink. If he wakes up, tell him I visited." She was gone within seconds.
More people dropped in, some just to drop off presents and cards. Eve came back. They sat together, Eve talking about all the silly things Scorpius used to do as a child - apparently he had had a tendency to walk around in his mother's shoes. When Eve left for dinner, she promised Lily to find some pictures, which Lily would hold her to. Soon after Albus arrived, a bowl of roast potatoes in his hand. Dressed in dark jeans and a plain white t-shirt, his hair was extremely messy, meaning that he didn't style it after he showered. He pulled up a chair next to Lily and handed her the bowl. "How's he been?"
Usually roast potatoes were her favourite but now she couldn't look at the crispy spuds without feeling sick in her stomach. She played with one, tearing it apart in pieces but she couldn't bring herself to eat. Instead she just watched Scorpius sleep. "His fever is up which is good. Madam Grice should be along to check on him soon." Giving up on pretending to eat, Lily dropped the bowl into her lap and leaned against her brother's shoulder. "Rose stopped by earlier."
"That doesn't surprise me," Albus grunted.
"Why not?" Lily asked.
"She'd had a crush on him for a while now. He pretends he doesn't notice but I know Scorp simply finds it annoying. She kinda drapes herself all over him, batting her eyelashes and twirling her hair. It's pathetic." Albus leaned back and reached over to steal one of Lily's potatoes but she swatted his hand away. "Anyway Scorp doesn't like her at all so I never have to endure that weirdness."
Absentmindedly, Lily picked up a potato, thinking about what Albus had said. If it was weird for him for Rose and Scorpius to be together, it's not that far a stretch for him with Lily and Scorpius. Maybe he would be accepting. However he wasn't very close Rose where as Lily would always be his little baby sister, no matter how grown up she was.
"Oh yeah. We kicked Perry off the team!"
Lily turned to her brother quickly, her head being pulled from her thoughts. "Who?"
"Perry, the dickhead who doesn't know how to hit a Bludger correctly or protect his teammates," Albus stated, obviously referring to the Beater that hospitalised Scorpius. "Seeing as those are the fundamental aims for a Beater, we've decided to suspend him form the team."
"Until?"
"Until Scorpius wakes up and makes the final decision," Albus said impassively.
This was when Lily noticed Albus' hand. His knuckles were red raw and his hand kept clenching to a fist when he spoke about Perry. She scrutinised his face, looking for a sign, but he was avoiding her gaze, instead focusing on the hem of Scorpius' blanket. "What did you do?" she asked cautiously, knowing something had happened and by the looks of his fist, Albus was definitely involved.
At that point, the curtain swung back and Madam Grice appeared. She wore a grey dress which did nothing for her, and an apron complete with several pockets at the front. Making her way to Scorpius' head, she pulled a thermometer from one of the pockets and placed it in Scorpius' mouth. "I'm so sorry I'm later darlings but someone had given that poor boy Perry in Slytherin a black eye along with a couple for bruises and I had to take a balm to his dormitory seeing as he refused to come here."
Immediately, Lily's gaze snapped to Albus, her eyes wide and accusing. Without words telling her, she knew that her brother was responsible. Call it sister intuition. He was nervously tugging at the hem of the blanket, trying to look everywhere but at her. Honestly she didn't know Albus had it in him to hurt someone.
"His temperature is high but corresponds with what it should be, what with the spells acting on him." When Lily back to Scorpius and Madam Grice, the thermometer was gone and Madam Grice was pouring a glass of water. "The flannel has helped maintain him as the spells worked on his external wounds, but now as the splls work inwardly, he will need to be hydrated," and as Madam Grice spoke, she tilted Scorpius' head back and trickled water into his mouth. Lily watched as reflexes told Scorpius' body to swallow. "This way, he won't become dehydrate."
"When will he wake up?" Lily asked, wondering whether she would be able to talk to Scorpius this evening.
Madam Grice just shrugged in response, placing the jug and empty glass on the table on the other side of Scorpius. "It's hard to say. He needed a lot of the Sleeping Draught to overcome most of the pain. His body will wake when it's ready but I can imagine it'll be soon." With the promise of checking up on him later, Madam Grice retired to her office.
Lily waited until the footsteps had made their way to the office before turning to Albus with a scowl on her face. "You punched him in the face?" Lily whispered angrily, although she had the tingling sensation of deja vu, reminding her of all those occasions Albus had been in a fight before. He didn't want their parents knowing so he had always asked Lily to nurse his knuckles. "Seriously Albus?"
"Come one Lily. It's not like he didn't deserve it," Albus complained. He wasn't awkwardly pulling on the blanket now, he was staring straight at Lily. "The Bludger was meant for you. Even if Scorpius hadn't been the one who got knocked down by it, I still would have hit him because it would be you lying in that bed."
It was heart-warming that Albus was so protective over her; he was a very good big brother even if his methods were questionable. She hated that her brother had resorted to violence, it wasn't necessary. "It still doesn't make punching him ok," Lily argued, frowning at her brother. Apparently the expression was exactly like her mother's which seemed true as Albus was drained of all colour. "You won't always be there to protect me and I won't always need protecting. Life would be so much easier if you just kept your fists to yourself." Reaching over, Lily picked up the damp flannel and then moved Albus' hand, dabbing away the dried blood until his raw knuckles were clean.
Albus laughed lightly. "I'm sorry sis. I guess I love you too much!" He reached over to kiss Lily's head and took the bowl from Lily's lap. "I've got to go and finish some homework. Are you planning on staying here all night?"
"No," Lily said, shaking her head. "I just want to see if he wakes up this evening. Contrary to your belief, I am slightly responsible for him being here and I need to at least apologise to rid me of this guilt."
"Don't stay too late then," Albus said, getting to his feet. "And Lils?" He was paused by the curtain, a kind smile across his face. "It's not your fault."
###
There was a deep throbbing pain in the temples of his forehead, making it impossible for him to focus his thoughts as he woke up. Every muscle ached to the point where Scorpius didn't want to move. Instead he kept his eyes closed and tried to focus on what in Merlin's name had happened to him. The Quidditch match came back to him in a flood of memories. Lily's kiss as the whistle blew. The game. Lily's smile. The Bludger. Lily's flowing fiery hair. The fall. Lily's worried brown eyes. And then darkness. He remembered coming back into consciousness in the hospital wing, with Madam Grice leaning over him, muttering unimportant spells. But the words were lost on him as pain took over his body, sharp heat spreading across his entire body at an unbearable limit that made him cry out in agony.
Now the pain had dulled to an ache: apart from the constant throbbing in his head. His body was almost numb which was why he didn't notice his hand grasped in someone else's. There was a gentle pressure in his right hand and instantly Scorpius snapped his eyes open in alarm. But Lily Potter was the last person he expected.
She was peacefully sleeping, her head resting on her arms, facing Scorpius. As he scanned all that he could see of her, he noticed he was still wearing her Quidditch robes from the match. Had she stayed at his bedside all this time? Oh she probably thought it was her fault he was here. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, leaving long strands to fall across her face.
Lifting his injured hand that was bandaged pretty tight, Scorpius managed to reach over to Lily with only a slight bit of discomfort. As gentle as possible, he caressed the hair from her face and left his fingertips on her rosy cheek. In reaction, she sighed deeply in her sleep, tilting her head into his hand. A smile broke out on his lips and he carefully returned his bandaged hand to his sling.
She really was beautiful. Now that no one was around, Scorpius could fully marvel at Lily Potter, memorising every feature and freckle in as much detail as his brain could cope with. Her eyelids were a soft lavender colour and she had thirty four freckles on her nose and cheeks. He even noticed that where she was asleep, her smiling stretched higher on the left hand side. Squeezing her hand softly, Scorpius breathed in a long deep breath and closed his eyes. He let it out through his mouth and soon fatigue made his eyes ache so he gave in and let himself fall asleep, a smile forming on his lips.
Author's Note: I can't believe I have written twenty chapters for this story. It's unbelievable! Also it's insane to think that we've only just touched on what I actually want this characters to experience. I reckon I have another twenty chapters in me. We shall see how we go; I'm writing as fast as I can!
Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. Big things are about to happen! They involve Oscar! I'm such a tease!
And thank you all for reading!