The Baby Dilemma
written by: albe-chan
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction and I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned, I am making no money, and any similarities with real life are purely coincidental. This work will contain MATURE THEMES, such as coarse language, mature subject matter (scenes containing graphic sex, nudity, etc.), and/or violence. Please, if you are not over the age of 18, or of majority in your country, DO NOT READ THIS! You have been warned!
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Chapter Twenty One - New Rules
Lily woke up on the morning of her custody hearing feeling equally nervous and calm. Nervous, because she'd never actually been in a courtroom, or before a judge, and that kind of freaked her out, but calm, because she knew what she had to do. She started her day like any other, feeding Helena, getting her clean and dressed for the day, then got herself ready, taking care to make sure she looked her best, elegant and refined.
Her mother would be watching Helena during the proceedings, and although Lily hated leaving her baby with anyone, she knew Helena would be in great hands and her mother would be in heaven. She caught a cab to the courthouse and was early, and while she waited to meet her lawyer, she paced the hallway, heels clicking on the marble. "You didn't bring her," said a voice from behind her, thoroughly scattering her thoughts, and making her face burn and temper flash at the familiar, deep timbre.
"Scorpius," she said through gritted teeth, smiling and trying to sound polite. He was with a fifty-ish looking man with dark hair and beady, calculatingly dark eyes, and dressed in flawless charcoal grey Armani, and to Lily he was perfect.
"You look good," he murmured, and Lily closed her eyes for a beat, savouring the comment, then forced herself to hate him once more.
"Thanks," she said brightly. "I guess that's because motherhood suits me." She stopped smiling. "It'd be a shame if someone took that from me," she said with a pointed look at the man standing beside and slightly behind Scorpius, whom she took to be his lawyer. Just then Gloria Gretzer arrived, and Lily turned away with a polite smile once more, feeling edgy and dangerously close to crying.
"You have to get it together," Gloria said softly, handing Lily a tissue. She dabbed at her eyes. "This is serious business."
"I know," she said, and straightened her shoulders. She could do this! Even as her stomach cramped in fear and she felt guilt settle over her heavily.
Twenty minutes later, the hearing proceeded, and Lily waited, unsure if she'd be able to talk, as Scorpius's lawyer spoke, then her lawyer spoke, and the judge sat back in his chair. Lily looked up at the man who could decide her daughter's life, or at least how much of Scorpius was in it. He had grey hair, still thick and shining, and an impressive moustache the same colour. And although he looked thoughtful, he wasn't frowning. "So, what are we looking at then?" he said at last, and glanced at Scorpius.
"We're seeking equal visitation, or close to it," Scorpius's lawyer said, all slick smiles. "Three days a week, consecutive, the child would live with my client. For the other four days, every week, the child would remain with it's mother."
"Her mother," Scorpius said, narrowing his eyes a tiny bit.
"And how old is this baby?" the judge asked, looking thoughtful still.
Lily answered automatically, without thinking, because she was still shocked Scorpius wanted her for three solid days a week. She couldn't fathom it, with his work schedule. "Fifteen weeks and four days." She blushed as everyone looked at her, and added hastily, "Your Honor," just in case.
"And what is the defence seeking?" he asked.
Lily had to bite her tongue against replying, and her lawyer said firmly, "Supervised visitation every other week. The length of time for each visit negotiable."
The judge's brows pulled together. "I see." He looked from Lily to Scorpius and back, then said with an air of finality, "It appears the both of you are looking for entirely different things," he said, and looked thoughtful. "In that case, I propose," Lily braced for him to say attending mediation, but it still didn't help, "court-monitored mediation to resolve the obvious differences, with the chance to reconvene before this court in a month's time, should an agreement be reached. Case pending," the judge said, and banged his gavel. He then looked rather sternly at both of them, making Lily's heart flutter nervously, knowing she didn't have quite the purest intentions.
Lily made an appointment to meet up with her lawyer before mediation would start, in a week or so, and was heading out of the courthouse feeling equally disappointed this whole dilemma wasn't over with, and eager to get home to Helena. She paused as someone called her name, and felt her heart stutter painfully when she realized it was Scorpius, again, and he was coming toward her. A large part of Lily wanted to run away, but she told herself to woman up, because whether she liked it or not, she'd be seeing a whole lot more of the tall handsome blond, and she had to be able to do so without losing her carefully constructed sanity. Instead she forced a polite smile and said blandly, "Malfoy."
Dark grey eyes roved over Lily where she stood, just before the doors to the courthouse, looking lovelier than ever and utterly ravishing. She had her dark purple coat unbuttoned, revealing a ruffled cream blouse and sleek, very fitted, very dark wash jeans, paired with a tan and fuschia plaid scarf and dark knee high boots with barely any heel. And to Scorpius, she looked perfect, considering she had a bunch of clothes over her naked form.
He spoke without meaning to. "I miss you," he said blankly, and then added in the next moment, "And I really miss Helena."
Lily's lush pink mouth pursed, expression wintry. "That must be excruciating," she said tightly, and made to turn away.
"You know we need to talk," he said, hoping against all odds she'd somehow want to listen to him. Lily paused, then glanced back over her shoulder, already reaching out to push the doors open.
"And as soon as the courts set a date, we will, about the only thing between us," she said, then looked away.
Scorpius felt his chance to see her, relish in the sight of her, slipping away. "That's not the only thing between us, Lily," he said, trying to reign in the urge to pull her against himself and snog her senseless. "We've got more in common than our bean."
"Like what?" Lily snapped softly. "Anything that might have been is gone now," she sneered, and pushed out into the sunshine, forcing her heart to stop thinking about him.
"You know what," Scorpius said, following her on instinct. He had to rein in the urge to tangle both hands in her hair, which flowed around her head in a mess of waves that tumbled in the wind, and kiss her when she turned to glare at him. He swallowed his pride. "I love you, Lily. I'll do whatever you want if you just give me a chance to prove it."
She looked at him levelly, hazel eyes bright and intelligent as ever, and then her mouth tilted up crookedly, and for a beat, Scorpius recalled her as he'd seen her on her thirtieth birthday. All coy and teasing, sexy and enticing, and a complete shock to his system. "Then in a month, when the judge asks if you agree with me, say yes," she said, and moved away from him, to go catch the subway to her mother's.
The blond could merely watch her walk away from him, feeling as though he'd been punched in the gut. Give up all but the tiniest ties to Helena on the off chance Lily might still want him, although his instincts told him she never could? It felt far too risky. He couldn't do it. No, there was way too much to lose, way too much on the line, and he was just as deeply in love with Helena was he was her mother. And if that's all of Lily I get, that will be enough. "I can't do that," he said to himself, trying to feel convinced he couldn't, simply couldn't, bend to Lily's wishes.
One week later, he found out the date for his first mediation meeting with Lily. And he almost smiled when he noticed it was on her birthday. Perfect. Just fucking perfect. Now Scorpius was positive all he'd be able to think about was the night a year before said date, when Lily had been the best lay of his life and they'd made little Helena.
"You look like someone just kicked you in the balls," Albus said, sitting down across from him at his favourite bar. Scorpius merely slid the letter he'd just opened over. Albus read quickly, mouth turning down. "Shit," he mumbled, folding the piece of paper back up. "That sucks it's on her birthday."
"You have no idea," Scorpius muttered, and sighed. "I talked to her," he admitted, and Albus carefully controlled the instant scowl that threatened.
"Oh yeah? When?"
Scorpius swallowed thickly. "After our court date," he said. Albus didn't comment. "She…" He didn't know how to tell his best mate she had looked like everything he wanted and couldn't have. "She's still angry."
"Course she is," Albus said, and Scorpius's blond brows pulled together. "It's Lily, stubborn redhead to a tee." Albus flagged a waitress, then added, "Besides, if the shoe was on the other foot, you'd be furious."
Scorpius conceded his friend had a point there. "She said she'd give me another chance," he sighed, and Albus's mouth dropped open in shock. "So long as I go along with whatever she wants whenever we go in front of the judge again."
"She's gone mad," Albus said automatically. "You deserve more than a half dozen hours a month with your own kid, Scor."
Scorpius felt a prickle of unmanly tears behind his eyelids, blinking to clear the feeling, because Malfoys don't cry and he didn't want to embarrass himself. "Thanks," he said roughly, and cleared his throat, as Albus looked uncomfortable. The waitress breezed in to take their orders, and break the awkward tension, but with his food, Scorpius didn't order another drink.
Lily woke up on her birthday feeling tired. Last night had been awful. She'd been too wound up to sleep, so she'd cleaned her kitchen instead, from top to bottom, with ruthless determination to tire herself out. It didn't work. She went to bed, but tossed and turned, unable to stop thinking about her birthday, and the impending mediation session she was being court ordered to attend with Scorpius. And there could be no changing it. She sighed, then forced herself to stop drowning in self pity, get up, and start her day. Rose was scheduled to come by at one, to watch the baby, and Lily would borrow her car, convinced it would make a difference for her to drive herself there. Even if it freaked her out.
By the time Lily had parked, after paying the exorbitant sum of six dollars no less, and got into the courthouse and received directions on where to go from a security guard, she felt frazzled. Ten minutes, and two wrong turns and retracing of steps, later, Lily got to Mediation Room Four, and felt winded, because there was only two minutes to go until the timer for their one hour session started, and she hadn't had time, fearing lateness, to prepare herself mentally for seeing Scorpius. And in her haste, she merely bowled into the room, stopping short at the sight of those dark grey eyes roving over her, all but undressing her where she stood as they had the last time she'd seen them, while Scorpius smirked at her. "Sorry if I'm late," she mumbled, blushing, and moving into the room after closing the door, taking the seat beside her lawyer.
"Right on time," said the mediator, a young man with a navy and lime green suit and shirt combo that Lily rather liked for its flamboyance, who introduced himself as Sean O'Leary. "Let's begin," he said briskly, and Lily peeked over at Scorpius, who looked utterly professional, and emotionless, and positively mouth watering levels of handsome in his black Calvin Klein, her favourite of all his suits.
"Can I just say one thing first?" Scorpius asked as the mediator cleared his throat, consulting the court notes. A brow was lifted at the request, but the mediator nodded, glancing at Lily, who grit her teeth into a smile. "Happy birthday, Lily," Scorpius murmured in the low, seductively husky voice that reminded her only of sex with him.
Her breathing hitched and her smile wavered a tiny bit. "Thank you," she said with as little feeling as possible, although she couldn't meet his eyes for fear her heart would break even more than it already had.
"Let's begin," the mediator said again, and Lily nodded mutely, trying not to remember, to little avail. "There's obviously a disconnect here, but I'm confident we can come to an agreement you can both commit to and feel good about. After all, the aim here is for the child to have the best of both parents."
Lily barely refrained from scoffing. Helena had the best with her already, and the redhead was quite sure her daughter was loved enough for two parents. And she was confident once the issue of breastfeeding was brought in, which she and her lawyer had agreed would be the best route to go, the mediator would veto any three day stays with Scorpius. Because Lily simply couldn't handle that, being away from Helena for seventy two consecutive hours.
Across the table, Scorpius looked grouchy. "Which requires more than a casual acquaintance for both parties," he said, in perfect political response.
Lily opened her mouth to reply, but the mediator held up a hand. "Duly noted, Mr. Malfoy. I can assure you that is not the intent of this meeting."
"You can't take my baby away from me for three days in a row, Scorpius," Lily finally burst out, feeling furious she'd been told to hush and he'd had his ego petted. "She needs me. Or have you forgotten I'm the one who feeds her?"
"They make baby formula," he shot back, quick as lightning, and Lily felt her stomach drop unpleasantly.
"You can't do that," she breathed. "You can't do that!" That was her thing. Her thing. She fed the baby, and Helena had never had anything but her own breast milk. It simply did not compute in her brain that her daughter could be fed anything else.
"Says who?" the blond demanded.
"I think-" the mediator said, trying to cut in, but Lily was faster.
"Says me, Scorpius! This is my baby!"
"Our baby," he corrected.
Lily felt her eyes welling up, and even though she wanted to stomp away, she remained seated. "Barely yours," she replied. "You haven't even paid support." She didn't want to fling that at him, because it wasn't really a concern of hers, but she felt like she was running out of reasons he shouldn't have any real part of her baby.
His mouth thinned ever so slightly at that, but then he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out what looked like a cheque. "Somehow I never thought you'd go there," he said with obvious distaste, and then slid the piece of paper toward her. "But there you are."
She flushed, because if that wasn't a proverbial slap in the face, she had no clue what could be. And Lily had to bite back the initial urge to tell him to shove his money up his ass after going and fucking himself with it. She pressed her mouth firmly together instead, taking a deep breath as an uncomfortable silence followed, the cheque just sitting there before her on the table. Then the mediator, to her undying relief, decided to step in.
"Alright," he said, looking a tad flustered, "this might take some time, but I can assure you, we can get to a more negotiable situation, for the both of you, in due time. For now, I'm just going to be collecting data. Now, Ms. Potter, you mentioned being the child's food source. I need you to elaborate on that."
Lily almost smirked, and said quite firmly, "What else is there to say? 'The child', my daughter, Helena, is breast fed. And I happen to be in possession of the breasts that do so."
The court clerk bushed and Lily smiled, and glanced gloatingly at Scorpius. "Right," O'Leary mumbled, and then cleared his throat. "Well, that's a fairly, er, encompassing aspect of this proceeding. The, ah, er, food source for the child, that is."
Scorpius rolled dark grey eyes. "And how many bags of extra milk do you have, right now, at home?" Scorpius demanded, lifting a brow.
"They're small bags!" Lily said automatically, blushing guiltily. "And they're for an emergency. Like if I have to be rushed to hospital or something, God forbid." Or I go to jail for punching you in the face right now, you bastard!
Scorpius lifted a brow. "Probably more than enough for three days."
"That is of little consequence!" she shot back. "Helena needs me."
Scorpius stared at her, looking determined and staunch, a formidable adversary, but his eyes were sad. "And despite what you may think, she needs me too. And I need her, probably as much as you do."
"Yeah right," she replied automatically, and then bit her lip, because Scorpius glared.
"Let's try to stay on task!" the mediator said, and Lily bit her tongue against telling him to fuck off, even as Scorpius did the same.
After the hour of mediation was up, Scorpius had a headache and a bad feeling in his gut. He walked out to his car and spotted Lily easily in the car park, her telltale hair blowing in the breeze as thunderclouds thickened overhead, promising rain. He wanted to run to her, pull her against himself to make sure she was still real, and that her body felt as perfect against him as it had before, and taste her one last time. Instead he watched her get in a vaguely familiar car and back awkwardly out of her space before driving slowly away, the bad feeling his his belly intensifying.
In one hour, he'd gone from being on somewhat speaking terms with Lily, to her pretty much hating him in silence, he was positive. But if she wasn't going to budge, neither would he! Scorpius couldn't bear the thought of only seeing Helena every other weekend. She'd grow and do things, and he'd probably miss all of it with that arrangement, and the blond absolutely refused to do that willingly. And yet Scorpius was certain, if they continued this mediation business much longer, he'd ruin any chance forever of ever being more than Lily's baby daddy. It was an uncomfortable thought to sit with, knowing it could never ever be between them if he got his way with equal, mostly, visitation, because Scorpius was positive he'd never know how to stop loving her.
Lily sat in the parking lot for her building for a good ten minutes after parking Rose's car, and let the tears finally go. She'd been holding them in, furious that Scorpius had, quite methodically, laid out a compelling case for him having equal visitation. And even though Lily had pointed out he worked at all hours, so how would that be at all viable, Scorpius had been at the ready with an answer, like he had at all of her objections. A nanny.
And after that, Lily couldn't even speak she was so furious and close to tears. She didn't want some random stranger she would probably never meet just taking care of her still almost newborn baby, with zero supervision. That Scorpius had even suggested it made her so hurt and angry, as if someone else could be a better substitute mother than she herself could be as the real deal, she wanted to scream. Instead she got it together, wiped her face and repaired her mascara, then went upstairs, feeling at peace when she'd scooped up her daughter and snuggled her close.
By the time the next mediation session rolled around, Lily was back to feeling confident she'd get her way, because she was Helena's mother for crying out loud. She would get full custody. After the hour long session, where Scorpius avoided eye contact with her, and barely spoke, the redhead felt oddly unsettled. Although she and her lawyer made it very clear anything over twelve consecutive hours wouldn't fly, period, and Scorpius's lawyer, grudgingly, agreed to it, even as he shot his client a dark look, Lily had been thrown by the blond man's lack of argument, like last time.
And, because she'd been stupid and thinking with her heart instead of her brain, had foolishly said she would drop the supervision clause for Helena's visits with Scorpius. Lily hadn't thought, considering he'd so readily agreed anything past twelve hours would be too much for all parties, Helena included, to handle, there would be much point to having some court appointed supervisor. And she wanted to show Scorpius, in that brief moment of insanity, she was capable of trusting him. Although now that she was back home, Lily was feeling distinctly uneasy about it.
It was five thirty six when a knock came at her door a couple weeks later, and Lily's brows pulled together, even as she got up from the couch to answer it, because she wasn't expecting anyone. She'd just finished a gourmet microwave dinner, followed by a ham and cheese sandwich, with a huge glass of orange juice, and was preparing to start pumping while Helena dozed in her bouncy seat. She didn't bother checking the peephole, even though she knew she was probably close to looking like a bum she was so sloppily dressed, and opened the door wide, opening her mouth to greet whoever it might be. But then shock rendered her speechless. Because there, at her door, looking flawless in navy Armani and yet thoroughly rumpled, tie undone, shirt unbuttoned and hair a mess, stood Scorpius Malfoy.
"Oh, you are home," he said simply, sounding a little surprised, and Lily got a whiff of whiskey on his breath.
The redhead hadn't seen him since their last mediation session, four days ago. He literally hadn't said a word. And neither had she. And both their lawyers had talked in circles the entire time, neither giving an inch since their previous strides in the second and third sessions, where they'd at least gotten to the idea of every other weekend for one twelve hour period unsupervised.
Lily wouldn't give anything more than he would, and if he was done negotiating, she could be too. After all, she already had Helena. And now they were set to go to court the next day, to go before the judge and tell him they hadn't reached any kind of agreement in their custody debacle. Lily wanted to punch something when she even thought it. She didn't want to sit in a tiny room with Scorpius and some lawyers and a court mediator who didn't seem to be very competent, didn't want to discuss what she could 'be reasonable' about in regards to the supervision of her infant. And she knew she'd never get what she really wanted, which was Scorpius to come back and complete their little family. Because she couldn't risk her fragile heart and if it broke any more, there was no chance of having enough left whole for Helena.
"Of course I'm home," she said after a beat of silence where Scorpius just stared at her. "Where else would I be?"
Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know. I just kind of told myself you probably wouldn't be here so I'd get up enough courage to knock." Her brows lifted at his honesty and he winced a tiny bit. "Anyway, now that we've established you are home and-"
"What do you want Scorpius?" Lily asked, glancing back to Helena in her little living room.
"I want to see my baby. Our baby," he said, and swallowed.
Lily's brows lifted again. "And why the hell should I let you?" she demanded. "You've been drinking."
His mouth hardened. "I've had one drink. And because I bloody miss her, alright?" he snarled, and pushed a hand through his hair, messing it up further. "It's like a fucking pain, and you probably have no clue, because she's yours, and you don't even have to share her, but goddamn it, I just want to even look at her if that's all you'll give me."
The redhead hesitated, but then stepped back and waved a hand in. "She's dozing, so she might be a grump if you wake her."
Scorpius nodded, and moved into her apartment. "Thank you," he said roughly, pinning her with his dark grey eyes, and she felt her cheeks go pink as they pointedly roamed down her.
He turned away to see their daughter before the redhead could think of anything to say, because her brain had apparently taken a leave of absence when within two feet of the tall handsome blond man. She watched as he crouched beside her bouncy seat, stroking an adoring finger over her cheek, seeing her daughter's little blonde lashes flutter.
"Hello," Scorpius said softly, and was relieved that Helena didn't instantly start screaming. Instead she looked up at him and smiled a tiny little mischievous grin. "How are you, my sunshine?" he murmured. Helena licked her lips and made a little moue with her rosy mouth. "Were you dreaming?" he asked, even softer, because she kicked her legs and then smiled again. He smiled back and she gurgled her approval, then her gaze moved up as he felt Lily come up behind him.
"You can pick her up if you want. She's apparently all smiles for you." Scorpius could hear the tiniest hint of irritation behind the light tone at that, and his smile faded. Was that because he was a stranger to Helena? Was she always so pleasant for people who weren't familiar? Had his worst fear been realized and he'd, undoubtedly, become a stranger to his own flesh and blood!? "Rose is going to be pissed. Helena always yells at her for being woken up. Actually, she sort of yells at anyone who wakes her up."
"Must be genetic," he replied, because the odd time he'd accidentally woken Lily, and she hadn't been able to go back to sleep, had been nightmarish. Scorpius instantly regretted the words once they were out of his mouth, but Lily just laughed.
"Yeah probably."
Scorpius picked his daughter up after unbuckling her from her little bouncy seat, surprised at her weight and the strength in the little body that instinctively tried to stand. "Whoa, she's gotten so big," he said, even though it had only been a couple weeks since he'd last seen her. He tried to hold back the urge to cry, because he could feel her tiny baby frame, bigger than he recalled and far larger than she'd started. It reminded him he was running out of time to make sure his daughter knew him, and that he loved her, and that she would always have him so long as he could draw breath.
He snuggled her close for a long moment, then shifted to sit on Lily's sofa, his daughter cradled in his arms. And it might have been hours, or possibly days, Scorpius wasn't sure, but he simply stared in silent wonder and admiration of his beautiful daughter, who was slowly becoming his spitting image, as she smiled and cooed and made adorable baby faces and sounds.
"There's another reason I came to see you," he admitted at last, and glanced up at Lily, who sat across the length of the sofa from him. Her face registered puzzlement. Scorpius firmly told himself not to pussy out, and swallowed, looking back at Helena, loving her entirely, and then at Lily, who completed him. He hated thinking he was choosing between them, but he had to try.
"What's that?" Lily asked, leaning toward him in anticipation. Scorpius glanced down at her luscious cleavage for a beat, then back to her hazel eyes.
"You said before," he managed to get out, and sucked in a fortifying breath. "You said if I went before the judge and gave you whatever you wanted, you'd…" Come on, Malfoy, be a fucking man! "You said you'd let me prove to you that I love you. That I'm still in love with you, whether you feel the same or not." Lily stared at him, so Scorpius looked back at their daughter. "Do you still feel the same?"
"Yes," she said without hesitation, and Scorpius told himself not to read into that. "But," she qualified after a beat, and he glanced up to see her cheeks going red, "I should warn you that even if you go in front of the judge and throw yourself at my mercy, I might not be inclined to grant you any. And proving your words might wind up being impossible."
Scorpius steeled his severely flagging courage and nodded. "Duly noted," he said stiffly, but he could barely think after that. She was telling him, up front, it might be for naught. I have to try. He noticed Helena making hungry movements in his arms, and then she let out a whine of impatience her lip smacking had been ignored. "I… I should probably go now," Scorpius said, and turned, meaning to hand the hungry infant back to her.
The redhead stared at him, looking for a moment like she was disappointed by that thought. That he would be leaving. "Oh, okay. See you," she said blandly, taking the baby back., schooling her features into polite indifference once more. But as she leaned in Scorpius, thinking with his foolish heart, and prick, leaned closer still and kissed her, full and gentle, on the mouth. He was forgetting he wasn't allowed to, and she would hate him for it, but even if he had recalled, it wouldn't matter, because he just wanted to taste her, and let her know he didn't much want to go without battering his bruised pride.
"See you," he said, and then, before Lily slapped him, or worse, he handed the baby back, and got up and moved quickly to her door and out of Lily's flat and her life again. Because that one taste hadn't been enough, not nearly, and he wanted her with a deeper, much more fierce hunger than ever.
Court was called to order and Lily felt just as nervous as she had the first time as the judge looked up from his paperwork, and said, even as silence fell in the courtroom, "Ah, looks like round two for Malfoy v. Potter. Well? Where are we at?"
Scorpius glanced across at Lily, just as she glanced across at him, even as the blond's lawyer cleared his throat. The redhead couldn't tell, by his expression, if they had solved anything or not. Certainly all the cards were on the table, but she wasn't at all sure she and Scorpius were in agreement about their daughter and her future. "My client and I have made significant progress, Your Honor, however the defendant isn't quite meeting us halfway." The judge lifted his brows at Ms. Gretzer, even as Lily frowned.
"Your Honor, I can assure you, all parties are making tremendous efforts for mediation to be successful."
"So no agreement has been reached as of yet?" the judge asked.
Lily gulped, and then Scorpius said, firmly and with dignity, "Actually, an agreement has been reached, Your Honor, outside mediation." Lily looked at Scorpius, feeling her heart threaten to choke her. She hadn't quite been fully serious the night before! "As the plaintiff, I fully endorse and accept whatever terms the defendant should set for my rights to the child in question, and any visitation she might deem appropriate, and withdraw any of my own terms from the claim for visitation rights."
There was a beat of silence, and then, from behind Lily, the sound of murmuring from the people seated in the courtroom. The judge banged his gavel, and Lily heard, quite scathingly from behind Scorpius, "Foolish, Scorpius, as always." Her brows drew together as the judge banged his gavel again, and called for quiet, and the redhead looked behind the tall blond, who still stood proudly, chin tilted up, for who might've made the comment. And Lily felt a jolt of surprise when she spotted, looking surly and disappointed in his son, none other than Draco Malfoy.
"And against legal counsel!" his lawyer cut in, glaring at his client.
"I take it you understand precisely what you're saying, correct?" the judge asked, looking at Scorpius thoughtfully.
"I do," Scorpius said firmly, and Lily bit her lip, even as his lawyer spluttered.
"Your Honor," he said, smiling, going instantly back into oily shark mode, "my client hasn't made any of these notions aware to me, and I don't believe he's quite in his right mind when he-"
"I'm perfectly in my right mind," Scorpius interjected. "And I know what I'm saying. She's her bloody mother, she gave Helena life. If she can't be trusted to decide what our daughter needs best, who the hell am I, or you, to be trusted with that decision?"
Lily felt tears welling in her eyes, her heart definitely choking her, and she hoped to God she wouldn't have to talk anytime soon, because she doubted she could. Because while she'd said, with the heat of truth, if Scorpius loved and trusted her as he claimed, he should know she'd make sure Helena got anything she needed in life, including visitation with her father, Lily felt intimidated now. That was kind of a lot to entrust a person with. But he'd done it. He'd dumped the decision firmly in her lap, and now she had to make it.
The judge glanced over at her, brows lifted. "And what does the defendant seek?" the judge asked lightly. Gretzer looked at Lily pointedly. The redhead blushed, knowing everyone was staring at her, and looked down at the tabletop, biting her lip. She had to say something. Anything. But she was afraid. And even though she didn't want to, she looked at Scorpius for the tiniest second, meeting his steady, reassuring dark grey gaze, seeking the courage to follow her maternal instincts.
"I…" she said softly, then swallowed thickly, and tried again. "I think every weekend is fair. Twelve hours, both Saturday and Sunday, every week," Lily said firmly. He'd asked for that, and two days out of seven, which really only totalled one entire day, was certainly fair. At least for now. Maybe, as Helena grew older, that would change, but Lily could be away from her daughter twelve hours twice a week for now.
The judge's brows shot up again, and now he looked distinctly surprised. Lily licked her lips nervously, but was glad her lawyer didn't speak, and no one in the public area murmured either. "Well then," he said, and smiled, looking much less intimidating for an instant, and reminding Lily of her grandad. "It appears mediation was just the thing you two needed to see reason. Excellent." He glanced at his papers again. "And how old is the child in question now?" he asked, looking at Lily, but it was Scorpius who answered.
"She'll be five months in two days."
"I see," the judge said, and looked thoughtful again. Lily held her breath as he opened his mouth to give what appeared to be his final verdict. "Then the courts declare, in the case of Malfoy v. Potter, custody suit, primary custody is awarded to Miss Lily Potter, with equal parental rights and visitation granted to Mr. Scorpius Malfoy. Visitation will be set for every weekend, from the hours of eight am to eight pm, with one weekend a month the reverse, eight pm to eight am. Are the parties in agreement of this verdict?"
"Yes, Your Honor," Scorpius said, because his lawyer looked grumpy as all hell.
"Yes, Your Honor," Lily echoed, because even though her courage was rapidly fading, replaced with anxiety and fear over her very generous decision that now seemed too generous, she had to say something.
"Then case closed and court dismissed for lunch." The judge banged his gavel and stood up from his bench, and Lily had to sit down in the chair, because she was dizzy and felt weak.
She half expected Scorpius to come over, and maybe kiss her again, but instead, her lawyer patted her on the shoulder, commending her on her poise, and Rose came up to the little divider, looking shocked. "What the hell just happened?" she whispered, blue eyes bulging.
"I'm not really sure," Lily replied, and glanced over at Scorpius, who was pushing past his lawyer, his very formidable father talking in a low voice, looking thunderous, into his ear. Scorpius looked grim, and Lily blew out a breath.
"It's not a bad thing, honey," Rose said gently. "You deserve the breaks, and he deserves time with her too."
Lily nodded, wanting nothing more than to go home to her baby. "Sure," she said easily. "I want to go home."
Rose nodded. "C'mon, let's go." And as Lily came around the little divider thing, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. She wouldn't have to attend mediation or court anymore, with Scorpius, and that could only mean she'd be able to get on with her life, like Rose had been not so subtly hinting she should try doing. And she would. Except now you get to see Scorpius twice every weekend when he picks up and drops off Helena. Shit.
XXX