A/N: This is actually my second attempt at chapter 28 (I will be using the first attempt later on). It skips ahead several times in the chapter and is a bit shorter. Sorry it's taking so long, but you have to understand that there are a lot of stories running around my head. I have been writing them down, so check out my fictionpress account for the non-fanfiction ones and this account for the fanfiction ones. Good times. Things should pick up faster now, and we will be skipping ahead.

Disc.: I created what you don't recognize.

Piece of a Broken Heart

She was distracting in every sense of the word. Lily sat surrounded by her fellow fifth year students, pouring over the large books as they studied for their fast approaching O.W.L.s and the common room reflected that atmosphere. It was after Easter now, spring was in full bloom, and the fifth and seventh years were anxiously holed up in the common room. Lily was good, keeping her eyes to herself, but the same couldn't be said about Scorpius.

"Dude," Damon said. "Just go talk to her. Hasn't this gone on long enough?"

"No," Scorpius said sharply and he blushed as he focused on his studies. Neither of them had told anyone of their relationship. It was more fun, more exciting for them to keep it quiet. Scorpius snuck another look at Lily. She was totally focused on her book, her eyes scanning the page in an almost frantic way. It was forty-eight hours until go time for the O.W.L.s, twenty four for the N.E.W.T.s, and the tension was so thick it would take a chainsaw to cut through it.

Lily's now six month old cat, Skye, was batting at the tassel on Lily's bookmark. Lily glanced up at that moment, her eyes finding Scorpius' looking back at her and she smiled, eliciting a grin from him. They had been very good not to get caught. Lily let her mind wander back to that first night, the night she had fallen completely and helpless under Scorpius Malfoy's spell and into his bed.

Their mouths had fused and moved in time, unable to break even for breath. They had tasted each other on each other's lips, fingers tangled in the hair of each other. Lily was thrilled; excited by the way his fingers on her flesh sent thrills down her spine. Desire knotted up in her stomach and her fingers dug into his bare shoulders, though she couldn't remember where his shirt had gone. Her heart was racing hard, aching to get closer to Scorpius than humanly possible.

They breathed in time, unaware of the sounds they were making until one particularly loud grunt caused Lily to freeze, her eyes wide at Scorpius. In that moment of clarity, she was certain she wanted to be with him completely but she wasn't sure she was quite ready for that kind of relationship. Scorpius looked at her with his eyes still hazy with lust. He blinked at her.

"I want you," Scorpius breathed. Lily nodded. He smiled ruefully and rolled to his back, still panting. "I told you that I wasn't sure I could be that close to you and not touch you."

"I know," Lily said as she pressed her face against his chest. Scorpius' heart was racing as fast as hers. "I'm sorry."

"No, Lily," Scorpius said sharply. "Don't be. I love this. I love you."

"I love you too," Lily said. Scorpius breathed in sharply as she shifted slightly.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep," he said. "I don't think we're quite ready."

Scorpius looked up to see Lily staring intently, though she wasn't really focused on him. There was a cloud of desire hazing her gaze. Her face was glowing, cheeks pink with increased blood flow and he knew she had been thinking about that night. He had caught her thinking about it more than she was not thinking of it. She seemed to replay the scene over and over in her head, as did he, but her reaction always excited Scorpius beyond comprehension.

Shale nudged her roughly, waving his watch in front of her face. Lily snapped out of whatever little trance she was in and jumped up, reminded that she had patrol. Her eyes fell on Scorpius and her heart picked up the pace. She was patrolling with him, which meant they'd patrol half-heartedly before sneaking off to a broom closet. Scorpius casually watched as Lily gathered her belongings and Skye in her arms, heading back to her dorm. She returned, not surprise to see Scorpius standing by the portrait hole for her.

The two walked along the corridor together silently as they looked for offending students. They pasted James and another Gryffindor prefect, nodding once in silent greeting as they walked by them. After a few minutes, they tumbled into a broom closet, their mouths locked and arms wrapped around each other. Neither could seem to get close enough to each other, shirts pulled free of their neatly tucked in bottoms, kisses pressed along every square inch of each other's exposed skin. They both knew that they wouldn't do much more, not that deep down they didn't want to, but they were afraid.

Still, Lily let herself push against him a little firmer, tangling her fingers in his hair. She could feel him smiling under her kisses and she couldn't think of a place that she wanted to be more, with him. He laughed and pulled her fingers free.

"We can't be gone forever," he breathed. "Unless you're ready to make this public."

"Gee, Score," Lily said as his mouth traced the outline of her jaw. "I just don't want to have all those people looking at me."

"Too late, Lils," Scorpius murmured. He grinned. "You may not notice it, but everyone's looking at you, always. You're just too irresistible."

"You're biased," Lily accused with a smile. He shrugged noncommittally.

"Maybe," he said. He checked his watch. "Well, we have exams coming up in the coming hours. Perhaps we should head back to the common room for a bit more studying."

"Yeah, you're right," Lily said sighing. She threw herself into his arms for one last hair mussing moment before she pulled herself free, righted her clothes, and headed back to the common room. She took her seat between Shale and Kate like she hadn't been gone at all.

Lily was relieved when the exams were over with. She was also very relieved to have not been the one to have an emotional breakdown. That had been Nina who ended up having to be lead to the hospital wing to collect herself with the aid of a calming potion. Lily tucked herself under a tree, her body fitting between two roots. She had no intention to do as the others had and go over the exam to see what they might have missed. She didn't see the point. The test was over with. There was nothing more to be done.

"Hey, Lily," Damon said as he came across her sitting under the tree. She looked up, shielding her eyes.

"Damon," she replied.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked. Lily nodded. Gesturing to the spot next to her.

"What's been up Damon?" Lily asked.

"You and Scorpius have been patrolling together a lot," Damon said cautiously. Lily shrugged, turning back to looking out over the water. She was proud of herself, not blushing at the mention of Scorpius and her name in the same sentence.

"It seems that way," Lily said noncommittally. "Why do you ask?"

"I just wondered if he mentioned anything to you?" Damon asked.

"About?" Lily asked as she looked at him.

"Well, Scorpius and I were all set to leave a day or two after school released to start our two year worldwide back packing expedition and all of a sudden, he's talking about delaying it and even possibly cancelling it," Damon said in distress. "It's just so sudden. He's been wanting to do this since our third year and now, practically on the eve of our departure he's pulling out."

"I can try talking to him, if you like," Lily offered lightly.

"I tried talking with him," Damon groaned. "I just thought maybe… perhaps he mentioned what was tethering him?"

"No, he's not mentioned anything to me," Lily said. She patted Damon's arm. "I'm sure it will work out."

"I just don't want him to have regrets and resentments when he realizes what he's missed out on," Damon said as he stood.

"Me neither," Lily said as she bit her lip and stared back out over the water. She knew he was staying behind because of her.

Lily found herself in his arms later that night, his fingers making exciting shapes on her skin as their mouths moved together. Lily let it continue for a few more minutes before she pulled away from Scorpius. She had asked him a few times what his plans were for the summer, each time just getting vague answers. She stood and started righting her clothes. He watched her carefully guarded as she looked at him.

"Is something wrong, Lils?" Scorpius asked. Lily looked at him, biting her lip. She didn't want to do this. She knew down deep inside her that it was wrong, but she couldn't let him have regrets and resentments. Not over her.

"I want to talk to you," she said. She remained on the opposite side of the room of requirement as she finished tucking her shirt in.

"About?" he asked.

"This, us," Lily said quietly. Scorpius looked at her surprised.

"What about us?" he asked. "Are you ready to bring it out into the open?"

"Quite the opposite, Scorpius," Lily said carefully. She hoped he could just understand, move on, and they could try to pick thing up when he returned.

"Opposite?" Scorpius asked confused. Lily felt her heart shattering into a million little pieces and she fought the tears that pricked and stung in her eyes.

"This has been really fun, Scorpius," Lily said quietly as she struggled internally with the part of her that wanted to rush to him and give her body to him.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Scorpius asked after a minute. Realization filled his eyes, causing them to go wide first with surprise before he narrowed them with suspicion.

"It's not you," Lily promised. "I just don't think I can wait for you. I've decided to see if perhaps Aiden and I should have a proper go at it, since he and I are so much closer in age."

"Hill?" Scorpius said coldly. Lily shrugged, which to her felt like she was trying to shrug with the weight of an elephant on her shoulders.

"He's going pro, you know?" She said.

"Oh," Scorpius said coldly. She smiled.

"We had fun," Lily said lightly. Her false calm was barely hanging on with a thin thread that threatened to break and send her hurtling over the cliff of hysterics. He looked at her with anger, though she wondered if he was masking his hurt with false anger. She shook her head. He was really angry.

"Why now?" he asked. Lily shrugged again.

"It's been a long time coming," Lily said as her voice threatened to thicken from her unshed tears. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," he said coolly, collecting himself and stalking out the door. Lily waited until she knew it was safe to leave the room of requirement. Lily frowned as she headed into the girls lavatory, tears already spilling down her face. She knew she was doing the right thing, she was certain of it, but still, it felt so terrible. She wanted nothing more than to be selfish and keep Scorpius to herself. She knew that she couldn't. It wouldn't be fair.

She sunk down below the windows, her face in her hands. She could feel the tearing feeling as her body allowed the hole tear itself larger there in the middle of her chest, the ache that conversed into a burn that she wasn't sure she could manage. She felt the sting of tears as the erupted from her face and cascaded down her cheeks. The tears pooled in her hands, flooding over the sides of her hands. She felt sick. She couldn't catch her breath.

She had let him go.

Lily pulled herself together for the last few days of school. She compromised with herself. She need only get through the last few days of school without having a break down, then she could spend the whole summer wallowing in herself pity. That way, by the time the new school year started, she could start again, face another school year, without Scorpius.

"Lily," Hill said as he caught up with her. Lily looked surprised to see him but she smiled. It would figure that it would get back to Hill one way or another, though that wasn't right. No one knew about Lily and Scorpius, no one would know they broke up and that Lily had used Hill as an out.

"Aiden, hi," she said smiling in what she hoped was a genuine smile.

"How do you think you did on your O.W.L.s?" he asked. Lily shrugged.

"I did my best, that's all I could hope to do, y'know?" she said. He nodded grinning.

"I'm sure you did fine," Hill said.

"So you're not going to do your N.E.W.T.s next year?" Lily asked. He shrugged.

"I'll probably take the test, but mostly I am looking forward to being on the team," he said. He grinned. "Promise you'll come see me practice this summer?"

"Gee, I don't know, Aiden," Lily said hesitantly. She didn't want to plan anything that had her climbing out of bed and actually interacting with people.

"It would mean the world to me, Lily," Aiden said. Lily sighed.

"Just drop me an owl and let me know," she said. He laughed, hugging her tightly before he ran off. Lily shook her head and turned the corner, just to come face to face with Damon and Scorpius. She felt her heart throb in a taunting manner.

"Lily, hey!" Damon said brightly. Lily tore her eyes away from Scorpius and focused on Damon.

"Hey, there," Lily said brightly.

"I'll catch you later, Damon," Scorpius grunted, brushing past Lily. She nearly touched his hand, but she knew it would be worse for him. She couldn't let him think that there was still hope.

"So, is Scorpius going on your trip?" Lily asked. Damon nodded.

"He's angry as hell, for whatever you said to him," Damon said.

"He didn't tell you?" Lily asked. Damon shook his head.

"And I wasn't about to ask," Damon said. He shrugged. "If you don't mind, I'd rather not know. I am sure that whatever you said pissed him off, and that's well enough. Thank you. He's really pissed but one day he will thankful that you pushed him to go. He was being totally stupid about not wanting to go. It's going to be a trip of a lifetime."

"I bet," Lily said.

"Anything the matter?" Damon asked. Lily smiled weakly and shook her head.

"Just glad that this year is almost over," Lily said.

"I guess I'll see you around?" Damon asked.

"The train and then who knows, y'know?" Lily murmured. Damon nodded and hugged her.

"You take care, Lily," Damon said. "You're super great."

"No problem," Lily said as she pulled away from him. She smiled again, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Good bye always make me sad. Don't mind me."

"Don't think of it as a good bye, Lily," Damon said. "Think of it as a until next time."

"I'll try, Damon, I will," Lily said. She bit her lip. "Oh, and will you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Lily," he said grinning.

"Will you make sure he's ok?" Lily asked. "Will you make sure that Scorpius is ok?"

"He's my best friend," Damon said. "I'll make sure it all works out."

Lily took her spot in the prefect compartment, her eyes focused on her hands as she listened to the head girl talking. The head girl was crying, which caused Lily to feel better that she was welling up. She let her tears spilled when she saw that the other girls were crying, though Lily wasn't crying about it being the end of another year, but that she had given up Scorpius. She didn't want to let him go but she was left with no other option. She dared to look up at Scorpius, but he wasn't looking at her.

Lily sighed.

She felt like she had no right to be upset. She was the one who broke up with Scorpius for his own good. She had used Aiden Hill to achieve the maximum heart breaking affect, though Aiden was unaware of it. It had helped her to have the little interaction between her and Aiden, to make it less likely that Scorpius would try anything.

Before she knew it, Lily felt the train pull to a stop in King's Crossing. She grabbed her bags and started heading off the train. A tug on her jacket had Lily turn. A first year girl stood there looking at Lily. The child looked confused but said nothing.

"I'm supposed to give you this," she said thrusting something into Lily's hand before running off to gather her own stuff. Lily looked down at the box, uncertain. She touched the ornately carved ivory box and opened it. Inside there, was a note:

You broke my heart, so take the pieces and do what you will with them.

Inside was a beautiful metallic looking rock, smooth and shiny in the shape of a heart. It looked like it was broken in half quite roughly. Lily's eyes jerked up to see Scorpius step from the train. Their eyes landed on each other for the longest moment. Lily felt the tears welling up in her eyes and she jerked her eyes away from him, but not before she caught him brush away a tear.