Mmm, definitely AU from everything else. This chapter wanted to be a full length story with everyone under the sun involved. I mercilessly gutted it. But I'm still tempted to take this, and write something longer for it.
Prompt: "Abandon"
It was three long weeks before Lily or Scorpius can get a civil word out, outside of the emergency ward that is. They just couldn't find common ground that didn't end in a fight, despite his friendship with her brother. Not even work was scared, not when Scorpius couldn't keep his hands from shaking, and Lily's cruel mouth said things that make her moody when she drank with Hugo in the evenings.
Lily knew what she wanted to do after she graduated—so barely three weeks after graduating, Lily signed up for medi-witch training. Scorpius dawdled for two years, until his parents finally cornered him. They both signed up for classes around the same time, but at different places, so they never ran into each other until they took their residencies at St. Culhwch outside of Bristol. Besides St. Mungo's, it was the biggest and best place to learn magical medicine.
Still, for being stuck together, they waited as long as humanly possibly before the doctor they were learning from said on no certain terms that if they couldn't get along with each other, then they were both out. They managed to hold out for a few weeks more after that first civil conversation to have an actual conversation—one that didn't end in a fight.
It just so happened, that it occurred behind the main building, when Lily accidently left her pack of cigarettes inside, and finally managed to ask him for one.
He frowned, seriously considered not giving her one, but acquiesced finally, handing a cigarette over.
"Thanks," she muttered, lighting it with her wand. She nearly gagged as she took a drag though. "Fuck. I should have known you'd smoke cloves."
"If you don't want it, then give it here," he bit off a rude epithet, and in turn she bit back her own retort as she greedily smoked. The rest of the break was spent smoking, and staring at opposites directions.
It was her brother that sparked the next actual conversation they had, although he was not there in person.
She walked up to him, (she triple checked to make sure she had a pack of smokes before she went to join him out back of the building), and handed him a letter. "From Albus, here."
Scorpius paused before he lit up, frowning at the letter. "Why didn't he send his owl?"
Lily paused a moment—she actually liked Adder. "He died last week," she said finally. "Al's been broke up about it since."
Scorpius looked startled. "Adder was—Adder was a young bird, what on earth happened to him?"
Lily sighed, taking out a cigarette. "We think he might have gotten into some rat poisoning. Can't figure how it happened though, since no one around where we live keeps rat poisoning."
Scorpius finally tore his attention away from her when he realized that's all she was going to say on the subject, and opened his letter. After a bit, Lily was startled when Scorpius let out a laugh that was more of a bark. He seemed a bit shocked when he suddenly remembered she was there too. Quickly, he finished his letter and cigarette, and then fled back inside.
No matter. Lily had seen enough anyway.
Conversations were much easier after that.
"Why the bloody hell are you so hell bent on becoming a healer anyway?" she asked finally. He had nearly bled a patient out trying to heal a wound too slow and messily. Afterwards, he shook like a leaf, and the only thing that kept her from not asking, out of kindness, was her maddening curiosity.
Surprisingly, he answered. "It was either stagnate or die."
Lily mulled it over—she knew enough of psychology to get what he meant; either live your life or don't. "Still, why healing? You and I both know you don't have the drive to keep going much longer."
Rather than blow up at her like she half expected, he let out a bark of self deprecating laughter. "Call me being a Slytherin through and through," he paused for a moment, glancing nervously at her before he continued. "My father…will always be known as a Death Eater. He could donate the Malfoy fortune to the best charities, and no one would ever let that stigma go." He crushed his cigarette under his heel. "Or me either."
Lily watched as he got up to leave; before he when back inside, she reached up, and snagged his wrist. "There's other ways to redeem your family name," she tried quietly.
He eyed her hand warily before gently brushing it off. "The thing is, I shouldn't have to do so in the first place," he sighed, going in.
Lily glared at the ground as she finished her cigarette. Finally she sighed, and crushed hers too before going inside.
The next real conversation they had was the day he forgot his smokes for once. She gave him one, and looked at the clouds for awhile. "If you weren't trying to be a healer, what would you like to be?"
Scorpius looked at her before considering the rocks in the dirt. "A radio host."
She smiled. "You always did a good job when you commentated on the Quidditch matches."
He looked surprised and touched. "Yeah, well," he said after a moment. "It's not like any of the big radio companies would hire me anyway."
She paused before she spoke. "My uncle's best friends with PW radio's owner."
Scorpius went very still. "Lee Jordan?" His voice was nearly reverent, making Lily squirm.
"Uncle George always has been my favourite uncle." It was true; when she was three and a half she wandered up to him, and said as much. He'd been delighted, and ever since then he favored her over many of his other nieces and nephews. "He'd talk to Lee Jordan if I-"
"That's alright," Scorpius said quickly, much to her agitation. "I'm…fine where I am."
Lily glared at him. "You're 'fine' alright—you do a fine job of making yourself miserable, you do." He looked furious, so she got up, and crushed her half gone cigarette out. She paused before she shut the door, glancing back at him. "At least think about my suggestion, will you, Malfoy?"
Scorpius stewed so long, he was nearly late.
It was awhile before they had another decent conversation after that; they'd start out well, and then degenerate into screaming matches. That didn't stop them from crouching down together behind the building, smoking like a pair of chimneys.
After one particular bad day, they ended up arguing anyway.
"You're the worst healer I've ever seen," she finally snapped. "It'll be a miracle you don't kill someone your first week." It was a low blow, but Lily tired of pussyfooting around it.
The look on his face was enough to shame her though. Finally, he shouted. "Piss off, Potter—what the hell do you know about me anyway?"
She held up her hand, and began ticking off points on her fingers. "Besides knowing you're a horrible healer, I know blood makes you queasy. I know you better at making potions than wand work. I know you prefer to work with babies. I know you like cloves because you like listening to it crackle-" He looked startled to hear that one. "You prefer your coffee black—which is disgusting, and I don't know how you do it. I know you favour blue, particularly royal. I know you like muggle movies—cause of your aunt. I know you dote on your sister because you're so much older than her." He was looking half panicked now, and she was nearly too. "I know you floo here each morning because you hate appariting. You're my brother's best friend, and I know you'd rather be a radio host than a healer any day!"
They both paused, looking at each other in abject terror. How the hell did she know all that?
She stood suddenly, dropping her cigarette. She didn't bother to crush it out as she moved to the door, fleeing. She paused only a moment before she ran inside. "And I know you're a bloody idiot."
Scorpius looked down at her cigarette for a long before reaching out to crush it properly. "…at least I'm not the only idiot around here," he muttered.
She had left off the part where he thought she looked better with her hair down, or that he knew exactly how many freckles were on her face, or that she was the only person at the hospital that would look at him, and not see his father.
She didn't mention he thought he might fancy her.
"Bugger," he said softly before crushing out his cigarette too.
Three weeks later, he wandered up to her in the hall, because it was too frigid to go outside to smoke, and asked her to speak to her uncle for help getting him a job at the radio station.
Lily's relieved smile was almost worth it.