Disclaimer: The plot is mine, some of the characters are borrowed, the world is not mine.

Chapter Four

It had been two of the longest weeks of Lily's life. She was settling in well as the secretary to the minister of magic, even if it wasn't her favorite thing to be doing. In honesty, she missed being a healer. She found herself daydreaming about it when she wasn't writing scrolls and attending briefings. Lily wondered if she was fooling herself joining the ministry. She sighed, resting her head on the door to her apartment, for a moment letting the cool metal ease the pounding that was taking up residence in her head.

"MUM!" Theron shouted excitedly as he threw the door open. Lily nearly fell on her face before she caught herself. Tina and Sarah were there, grinning as if their favorite person walked in the door. Lily smiled and entered.

"It's good to see you, too," Lily said but Theron wasn't listening. He was up on his toes, bouncing back and forth between his tip toes and the balls of his feet, waving a piece of parchment wildly.

"I got my LETTER!" Theron cheered. Lily's face blossomed into a giant grin and she hugged her son tightly.

"Oh, Theron! I'm so happy for you," Lily said spinning her son in a wild circle. She squeezed him tight and looked to her nieces. "Sarah?"

"Me too!" Sarah squealed running into Lily's arms, receiving the same spinning hug. When Lily released Sarah, she was breathless and dizzy, with laughter spilling out.

"I say that this counts for a little shopping," Lily announced as Tina held out her own letter for Lily to see. Lily didn't spin her, instead, she hugged her and the two headed toward the kitchen to start supper.

"Oh, you really mean to keep your promise?" Tina dared to ask, gripping her letter to her chest. Lily nodded.

"Of course," Lily said and Tina joined in the chorus of squealing and laughter. Lily watched through the arch into the living room where Tina, Sarah, and Theron were spinning in a ring, hands clasped. The laughter echoed off the walls of the apartment. They didn't even bother stopping when the door bell rung. "I'll get it."

Lily opened the door to see Damon standing there. Lily was grinning, lifted from her long day of work with the easy laughter of her nieces and son. He couldn't help but smile back at her as she pushed the door open in an unspoken offer of entry. Lily turned her back and headed toward the kitchen. Damon closed the door and followed her.

"What are they so excited about?" Damon asked.

"They got their letters," Lily beamed proudly.

"I remember that feeling," Damon grinned at the brief memory. He looked at her. "I came by to see if you wanted to catch dinner, but I see you have company."

"It's okay. Just family," Lily dismissed. "I'm making dinner now. You're welcome to stay."

"Okay," Damon agreed. He watched as Lily gathered things from the pantry and ice box.

"Hope you like pasta," Lily tossed over her should as she looked back at him. His eyes weren't on her, instead he was staring out across the room at Theron with a sad look on his face. "Damon?"

"Oh, yes, pasta's good," he replied pulling his gaze off of Theron.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked him as she stepped quietly towards him. She could see that he wasn't. He didn't say anything, didn't shake his head. His eyes dropped to the floor and he took a deep breath.

"I have to go," he said abruptly as her hand touched his arm. He turned and fled the apartment. Lily let him go. Whatever his issue, it wasn't her place to figure them out.

"Mum?" Theron appeared in the kitchen. "Where'd Damon go?"

"He had to go, couldn't stay for dinner," Lily replied honestly. She smiled and brushed some of Theron's hair out of his face. "Now, let me get this dinner cooked and we can eat."

"Can we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" Theron asked excitedly.

"It'll have to wait until this weekend," she explained. "I have to work."

"Oh, okay," he grumbled.

"Go play while I make dinner," Lily laughed. Her son's pout blossomed into a smile as he ran off to join his cousins. Lily shook her head as she prepared dinner.

When the plates were cleared and the kids settled on the couch to watch a movie, Lily picked up a plate she had made up for Damon and quietly slipped from the apartment. She walked down the hallway, plate balanced on her hand as she knocked. It wasn't until her second knock that the door opened. Lily faltered as she looked at him.

Damon stood in the doorway, clad in his jeans. His hair was messed up, the brown locks pulled this way and that as if he had tried unsuccessfully to pull his own hair out. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, if only slightly, against the tanned skin. His expression was clearly one of confusion tinged with grief.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" the gravelly sound of Damon's voice seemed to crawl inside her and twist slightly. Lily took an unperceivable step back.

"I, uh, brought you dinner," Lily offered, directing attention to the plate and away from the sudden onslaught of feelings trying to take up residence inside. He cleared his throat slightly.

"Thank you," Damon offered as he pushed the door open. Lily followed him into the darkened apartment, closing the door behind her as she followed him into the kitchen, a mirror of her own. She placed the plate on the counter and turned to look at him.

"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?" Lily asked him. Damon scowled slightly. "You can pretend that nothing is, but I saw your face in my apartment and I see your face now. We have known each other for a very long time. I'd like to think you wouldn't lie to me."

"Lie to you?" Damon smirked. "It's part of the job."

"Okay, so the Auror thing, I'm sure you've lied to me plenty, Damon," Lily tossed at him carelessly with a wave of her hand. "I mean on a personal level. Obviously, something bothers you... and I'm going to guess that it has to do with my son. Do you have a problem with my son, Damon?" Her final sentence was full of weight, and under that weight lingered a touch of heat.

"Whoa, easy Lily," Damon put his hands up in defense. "I don't have a problem with Theron. Theron is a great kid, I can see that."

"Then what, because I'm having a hard time understanding your reaction to him," Lily demanded.

"You don't see it?" Damon asked incredulously.

"See what?"

"How can you not look at Theron and see Scorpius? He looks the same, sounds the same," Damon burst out, shaking his head. "I look and I try to see Theron, but all I see is my best friend. I've tried to separate the two, but I can't."

"Damon, Theron and Scorpius aren't the same person. I'll admit it, Theron does favor Scorpius quite a bit, in looks and manners," Lily replied as she traced the pattern of the natural stone counter top. "But there are many ways that they're dissimilar."

"I miss him," the crack in Damon's voice crushed Lily's heart. She whipped her head up to look at him. He stood within reaching distance.

"I miss him too," Lily admitted quietly. "If he hadn't died..." She sighed.

"Seeing Theron with his letter and celebrating reminded me of when Scorpius and I got ours," Damon said dejectedly. "We thought we'd be best friends forever. I thought I worked through all this... until I saw Theron today."

"Oh, Damon," Lily went to him without thought and wrapped her arms around him, realizing two seconds too late that he was shirtless. She paused only for a moment and pushed away all the doubt in her head, resting her head on his collarbone. He was only a inch or two taller than Scorpius had been, and it had been so long since she'd been this close to a man.

"Lily," there was warning in his tone. Lily could hear it in his voice, but his arms were warm and strong and she didn't step away from him. He hesitated before he wrapped his arms around her and held her.

"I know that growing up, I was a source of a lot of conflict for you guys, the annoying little girl who fawned over Scorpius and that didn't even seem to end, ever, as apparent from the way my family affects you so much. I'm sorry for that," Lily squeezed him a little tighter. "I have to believe that Scorpius would want his favorite people to be happy, that's why I don't break down when Theron gives me that Malfoy smirk, or the way his eyes sparkle when he's up to no good."

"Lily, please," Damon groan as he tried to shift away from her. Lily held on tighter, turning her face in towards his flesh.

"I've had to come to terms with losing Scorpius, my dad, and my brother all on the same day," Lily continued. "I'm not going to pretend it was easy, or that I don't have my moments, but the worst thing you can do is to run away."

"I didn't run away," he challenged as he tried to pull away. "I just left."

"Because Theron reminds you of Scorpius," Lily retorted.

"He does, but that's not-"

"Theron isn't Scorpius, but he's a great kid," Lily continued.

"Because I see Scorpius when I see Theron, and if Scorpius was here, these feelings would be wrong... how I feel would be wrong." He implored. Without warning, he kissed her. It wasn't a quick plant of lips on lips from the previous encounter, or even a brush against the cheek. It was a full-on assault to her senses, his warm hands pulling her hard against him, tongues intertwining with the heat of breath.

Lily couldn't help the sound that escaped her, a faint and fully feminine moan, caught somewhere between her pounding heart and the curl of desire behind her navel. Her hands slid up the strong cords of muscle, fingers spreading from her palms against the plane of his back before her nails edged against his flesh. She could feel him intimately, hard and willing, against her. She didn't have it in her to pull away and he seemed unwilling to release her.

"MUM?" Theron's voice echoed down the corridor loud enough to cause both to freeze. It was reminder enough to have Damon pulling away. Lily turned away from him without another word, and headed out of Damon's apartment, coming face to face with her son and two nieces.

"Just bringing some dinner to Damon," Lily dismissed as she closed Damon's door behind her. Her son shrugged and ran back down the hallway, Sarah on his heels, but Tina was more observant.

"You look guilty," Tina pointed out. She grinned at her aunt knowingly. Lily blushed. "He's good looking, even if he's old."

"Oh hush," Lily laughed as she propelled her niece back toward her apartment.

"No one would blame you," Tina teased. "Women have needs."

"Tina!" Lily exclaimed. "You shouldn't have any opinion on any of this. You're too young to have any thoughts about the sort."

"Oh, please," Tina rolled her eyes. "You're telling me that you didn't like anyone when you were my age, or that you didn't notice some fine wizard decked out in his finest robes?"

"Well," Lily wasn't able to suppress her smile.

"Aha! Thought so," Tina teased.

"I'm pretty sure it's close to bed time," Lily closed the front door behind her, locking it. "Good night, kids."