A/N: The link to the photo gallery is on the main page/profile page, if you're curious.

Disc.: All the plot.

Chapter Twenty

Lily sat in the courtroom, her hands in her face as she listened to the verdict. She was acquitted on all counts, and the Wizengamot was going to launch a full investigation in not only Obadiah Parker's ministry, but the conditions of the prison. He glared at from his seat in the court room, and she decided if she never saw him again, it'd be too soon. She sobbed, relief washing over her in such a wave that she felt almost giddy. Theron pulled away from his father, by passing Draco, and went straight to his mother, her arms wide open and welcoming to her. She couldn't be happier.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Green," Lily gushed, embracing the man. She repeated the sentiment to Susan, promising to get together with her soon for tea. The Chief Warlock reinstated her rights to have and use her wand, and Minister Parker begrudgingly handed it over. He looked none too pleased, and knew that in the event that she needed a reference, he would not be the place to go. Draco was talking quietly with Damon and Scorpius, none of the three looking very pleased.

It struck Lily as odd, that they weren't more happy for her. She wanted them to be, but the looks on their faces were ones that made her not want to really approach them. Draco looked livid, doing more of the talking than Damon or Scorpius combined. Her back was aching, and she just wanted to take her child and head home. She was done with being away, done with the drama. She knew this was just the beginning, but for now she just wanted to rest.

"I'm going to take my son home," Lily announced to them as she passed by.

"We need to talk," Scorpius sidestepped his father to talk with her. Lily stopped, pressing her hand into the small of her back.

"No, Scorpius, not right now we don't," Lily told him. She took her son by the hand and led him out of the council room, through the halls and lifts, until they were at an apparition point. Theron didn't say anything for a long time, just held tight to his mother's hand.

The house was dark, but Lily didn't mind as she turned on the lights. She was home, and while the house was a lot messier than when she'd left it so many months ago, it was still home. Theron immediately started picking up things that were all over the place, trying to tidy up for his mother. She shooed him away to get his pajamas on and join her on the couch for a movie.

"Mum," Theron started hesitantly as they settled in.

"Yes, Theron?" Lily stroked his hair, happy to have her little boy back in her life.

"Are you and Dad going to get back together now?" he asked in such a sweet and innocent voice that Lily had to stop and remind herself that he would be thirteen in April, hardly a child anymore.

"I don't know, Theron," she answered him honestly.

"You're having Uncle Damon's baby, aren't you?" he continued. Lily blushed. Kids were so much more perspective than she remembered.

"This baby is my child, yes, like you're my child," Lily replied. "But yes, Damon is the baby's father."

"Does it move?" Theron poked her stomach with his finger and she laughed.

"Yeah, but I'd probably refrain from poking him or her. You never liked it much when you were in there," Lily offered. She took his hand and smoothed it flat over her stomach, the baby squirmed inside. "The baby will be here before Easter."

"Is Uncle Damon going to take it away from us?" Theron's voice was low, quiet.

"No, why? What makes you think that?" she asked him. He looked up at her frowning.

"Dad and Uncle Damon got into a fight at the meeting," Theron scratched his arm uncomfortably. "They said some pretty... ugly... things to each other. Dad said they weren't going to be living together as soon as they could find housing to part ways."

"Don't you worry about it at all, Ther. No one is going to take away your brother or sister, and no one is going to take me away from you," Lily sighed. "I'll get it straightened out and you don't need to worry one bit."

"Mum, why does the minister hate you so much?" Theron asked as he picked at the lint on the blanket.

"I don't know. Maybe I didn't file papers correctly or something. Maybe I just made him look bad," Lily sighed, brushing his hair out of his face. "I have missed you so much, Theron. More than I can ever express."

"I've missed you too, Mum," Theron replied, hugging her.

Lily stood in the doorway to Theron's room, watching him sleep. She'd missed out on an entire year of his life. She felt a deep sense of guilt as she cleaned the apartment. Whomever had been caring for her son there, and Lily suspected it was Scorpius, he'd grown to be quite the slob. Lily held her wand, looking at the mess, and immediately sent things back into their proper places. She tried to ignore the ever increasing disturbance that was coming from down the hall. She tried to ignore it but she was afraid that they'd wake up Theron, or worse, get the police called by a neighbor.

Lily walked down the hall, stopping with her hand inches from the door to knock. Scorpius and Damon could be heard slamming things around and yelling at each other in their shared domicile. Lily knocked sharply and waited. Damon jerked the door open, anger flashing in his eyes.

"May I talk with both of you?" Lily asked coolly. She looked past Damon to see Scorpius standing with a lamp in his hand as if he were about to throw it, and both men had bruises and scrapes on their faces and arms.

"Yeah," Damon grunted, pushing the door open all the way. Lily looked around the apartment, and it was evident that both men had become physically aggressive toward each other and their things. Scorpius immediately returned the lamp to the table he'd yanked it up off of. Lily hesitated.

"Did I interrupt something?" Lily asked.

"No," both men replied. Neither looked very pleased to see her, and Lily pretended that it didn't sting a little. She stood just in the doorway, deep enough that Damon was able to close the door, but he didn't and Lily didn't move to close it herself. Maybe with the door open, they'd be more civil that someone might overhear and they'd keep it down.

"What do you want, Lily?" Scorpius asked crossly. Lily frowned slightly and bit back the harsh words and the edge of tears that suddenly felt like a good idea.

"We need to talk," Lily told him.

"About?" Scorpius scooped up some broken shards of who knows what and dump in unceremoniously in the waste bin.

"You two," Lily replied as she watched them stiffly tidy up the mess they made.

"What about us?" Damon asked, his tone almost as sharp as Scorpius' tone had been moments before. Lily head hurt, her back ached, and she was exhausted. She didn't want to deal with their attitudes.

"You two fought in front of my son and I want to know why," Lily demanded. Both of them looked at her angrily.

"You know why, Lily," Scorpius replied coolly. He made a point of looking down at her stomach.

"He seems to think I should do the noble thing and walk away from my child," Damon snapped, glaring at Scorpius.

"No, I think she should do the right thing and terminate the pregnancy," Scorpius retorted nonchalant.

"You think I should terminate this baby?" Lily was shocked, and she knew it had to show on her face. Damon looked outraged, Scorpius frowned.

"It's not going to work out between us any other way," Scorpius crossed his arms, looking at her pointedly. "I can't imagine waking up next to you, raising our child together, and raising HIS child too."

"I never asked you to raise my child," Damon pointed out. His voice was cold, calculating. "And you're assuming she'd choose you."

"I'm the love of her life, remember?" Scorpius mocked. The words felt like a horrid, painful ruse that had gone horribly wrong.

"I still don't have all my memories back," Lily huffed. "I'm still living on blind faith for a lot of it, but I can't imagine I could ever love someone who would want to kill my child before the poor thing is even born."

"It was good enough for you to want to do with our child," Scorpius replied coolly. "You were all down for terminating Theron."

"You wanted to kill me?" Theron's voice sounded so small and so hesitant from the doorway. Lily spun around to see him, rubbing his eye with his fist.

"You never told him that bedtime story, did you?" Scorpius taunted. Damon looked at him in disbelief. "Tell him the truth, Lily. You've given this baby more consideration than you gave our son."

"Mum?" Theron pressed. He was wide awake and looked upset. His chin quivered.

"Oh Theron," Lily protested as she moved towards him. "It was a long time ago, and I was very young and very scared." She reached for him, reached to put her arms around and comfort him. He pushed her hard, Lily stumbling back a foot.

"I hate you!" Theron yelled at her, his face red. "You don't love me!"

"Theron, that's not true," Lily protested trying to follow him.

"No! You stay with your wanted baby," Theron screamed at her. "You were probably happy to have been away from me all year."

"Theron, that's not true!" Lily called as Theron bolted back to their apartment and slammed the door. Lily spun around and rushed up to Scorpius, her finger a breadth from his face. Scorpius' smirk made Lily want to haul off and hit him, but she knew that not only would that not solve anything, but that it would cause more issues than she needed right now.

"What, Lily? Truth hurt?" Scorpius taunted. Lily stumbled back, partly due to his cruel, sarcastic tone, and part because the thick stench of Fire Whiskey on his breath.

"Are you drunk?" Lily accused.

"Merlin, I've not missed your accusations and your nagging," Scorpius responded. Lily turned to Damon and she marched right up to him. He, too seemed a little out of it, and she could smell the liquor on him, as well. She stepped back, trying to breath untainted air. Looking around, she saw the remnants of broken bottles. The smell was nauseating.

"Both of you, stay away from me, and stay away from my son," Lily demanded. "You two both need to shut up, sober up, and man up. I'm not ending my pregnancy and frankly, Scorpius, I don't think I want to try and remember any more of you if this is the person you are."

Lily stalked out of the apartment, reentering her own. She walked to Theron's room, the door locked. She knocked a few times, knowing he was still awake by the sound of his sniffling. It broke her heart, Theron finding out that there was a time that she had not wanted him. She absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. It had never even crossed her mind with this baby.

"Theron, I'm so sorry that you heard that," Lily resolved to talk through the door if he wouldn't unlock it. "I hate every single moment that I spend thinking that if I had been so selfish, I'd have robbed the world of you. I love you more than I could ever put into words, and I'm sorry that for a time I didn't think I could be your mother."

"Go away!"

"You were all I could focus on for all those months I was gone," Lily promised. "I know I've hurt you really deeply right now, and I hope that you can forgive me." Theron opened his door with a jerk.

"Forgive you? You wanted me dead!" Theron screamed in her face.

"I'm sorry," Lily replied softly. Theron's face was streaked with tears, red from anger and crying. Lily wanted nothing more than to wipe that horrified, disappointed look of his face. "I was so scared. I didn't know what other options I had."

"My life is not an option!" Theron cried at her. "Why is it any more special than I? Why haven't you thought about ending it's life?"

"Once I knew you, I couldn't bear the thought of not having you," Lily promised. "Please talk to me."

"I can't right now," Theron sobbed. "I can't even look at you." Theron closed the door again, slamming it in her face this time and Lily stood staring at the blank white door.

"Theron, I love you," Lily promised as she touched the door. "I really, truly do."

Lily was met the shattering sound of her little boy's sob, but no words. She waited for a while, standing at his door hoping he would come out or unlock the door. She leaned against the door frame, aching and exhausted. When it became evident to Lily that she wasn't going to get to talk to him, Lily walked back to the living room to find Damon and Scorpius sitting on her sofa, looking rather uncomfortable.

"I don't want to talk to either of you right now," Lily told them. She walked to the door and opened it, holding it wide. "Leave." Neither made a move to leave. Lily closed her eyes for a moment, trying to quell the anger that was building up inside of her. She was getting tired of not having any control over her life and interactions.

"Lily, please just come and sit for a few minutes," Scorpius begged. He looked more sober than he had when she'd come to their apartment. Lily sighed, closing the door and taking a seat in the chair. She groaned softly, grateful for the ease on her hips and back. She put her feet up on the coffee table, glancing at her ankles that had swelled until they looked more like cankles.

She crossed her arms, looking at them expectantly.

"Did you two sober up?" She kept her contempt out of her voice. Both men glanced away for a second, obviously embarassed.

"Your uncle's patented sober-up potion," Damon offered quietly.

"Good," Lily murmured.

"We really do need to figure out what the three of us are going to do about this situation," Scorpius broke the silence that seemed to stretch between the three of them. "Dad's not too pleased with it."

"Couldn't displease the old man," Damon grunted.

"He's also our boss, and this situation is very damaging, for the department and the family," Scorpius countered angrily. "She comes off as a tart, you come off as a traitor, and I come off as spineless."

"One out of three being truths isn't bad," Damon goaded.

"I'm not spineless. Do you know how hard it was being away from my child for almost ten years?" Scorpius snapped at him, his voice rising.

"If you had your way, Lily would be down at a clinic tomorrow and-"

"That's enough," Lily screeched. She immediately whipped her head to look at the hallway where Theron's room was, waiting a moment before she turned her head and addressed them in a low voice. They leaned forward to hear her. "There will be no more talk from either of you about terminating this pregnancy. I don't care what your opinion is, what either of your opinion is, on this matter. I've already proved that I can rear a child on my own, and I won't hesitate to pack up my son, myself, and this baby and leave."

"I don't want you to leave," Scorpius pointed out.

"Me either," Damon added.

"Do you honestly think I don't understand how messy and complicated this is? I thought that I'd be married when I had my second child, not a mess of single parenthood with two men fighting over I don't know what," Lily sighed. She rubbed her forehead, an ache taking up residence. "Why are you fighting? You two are best mates."

"Best mates don't sleep with each other's girls," Scorpius pointed out.

"They told me that you weren't ever coming back, and well, you know how I feel about her," Damon retorted. "She wasn't exactly making it easy on me, either. She's just so damn... sweet."

"So this is my fault?" Lily laughed. She sighed again. "Scorpius, I was told that you were dead. It had been ten years. At some point, I had to move on."

"So, you're just over me?" Scorpius choked out. Lily shrugged slightly.

"I don't know how I feel about you," Lily admitted quietly. She looked at her hands. "I don't know why I don't remember as sharply as I remember Damon."

"Because you slept with him," Scorpius added.

"Maybe, maybe not," Lily replied softly. "I don't know."

"You should try," Damon murmured with a frown. Lily and Scorpius both looked at him in surprise. "Look, in a perfect world? Lily'd be mine. You'd have been the best mate longing over my girl, but that's now how it worked out. At least if you and Lily were able to reconnect, you'd stop trying get her to end the pregnancy."

"That's not going to happen, whether you two are with me or against me," Lily pointed out.

"I don't want to cause problems with your family, Lily, I don't," Damon clasped his hands in front of him, his elbows resting on his knees. "The last thing I want is you hurt, but there's no way I can just walk away and pretend that we don't have this baby together."

"So I should walk away from my child so you can be with yours?" Scorpius countered angrily.

"No one is walking away from anyone," Lily butted in.

"There's a simple solution," Damon offered. He took a deep breath. "I can take my child, you and Scorpius can get married, have more children, be happy. You wouldn't have to see either of us again."

Lily stared at them. She felt her baby stirring in her and she closed her eyes for a second, to collect her thoughts. This baby, she had yet to see him or her on screen like she had with Theron, but she knew that there was no way she could carry it for another four months and then after delivering it just hand the bundle over and walk away. Her heart ached at the thought.

"This is just as much my baby as it is yours," Lily pointed out under an eerily calm demeanor. Damon glanced at Scorpius.

"Lily, it would work, and we can have one of our own as soon as you're cleared from this," Scorpius offered gently. Lily frowned. They were teaming up on her to give away her baby. It was unimaginable. She stood slowly, uncomfortably. Her head was really pounding, her heart racing, but more than that, she felt like her world would never have the chance to build its self up with the way everything seemed to tear the walls down.

She walked to them, standing while they remained sitting on the couch. They glanced at each other before looking up at her. She winced as the baby kicked her rather hard. She kneeled down in front of them, their eyes on her. She paused, reaching first for Scorpius and a fraction of a second later, Damon. She took their hands, one of each in hers.

"This child is my son or my daughter," she guided their hands until they both had their palms stretched over the moving baby. "I understand this isn't going to be easy, for anyone, but I think it can be done peacefully. The idea of any of you out of my life, it's impossible."

"Lily," Scorpius frowned as he tried to pull his hand away.

"Scorpius, is it that you don't want to be with me? I won't pretend that I know exactly what the last ten years have done to you, and I won't lie and say I haven't changed, but I had hoped we could try again," Lily looked at him, her eyes on his.

"Of course I want to be with you, or at least try to be, but this... this... situation, it's weird," Scorpius sighed.

"I can't keep Damon away from his child, Scorpius," Lily explained. "Could you imagine how much it would have hurt if I just up and kept you away from Theron?"

"I was away from Theron for ten years," Scorpius pointed out.

"Not by my choice," Lily dropped his hand. She sighed, leaning back away from Damon. She looked to Damon for support, but wasn't looking at either of them. He ran his hand through his hair, standing.

"I'm going to give you two sometime to talk," Damon muttered as he headed toward the door. Lily grunted as she stood.

"I'll be right back," Lily tossed over her shoulder as she followed Damon out into the hallway. He seemed determined to get away from her and she only reached for him as he crossed the threshold of his apartment. Lily touched his arm gently, his hands resting on the foyer table. He looked up from his hands to the mirror, the pain reflecting in his eyes.

"Lily," he choked out.

"Damon," she removed her hand from his arm.

"It's not fair," he spoke, and Lily could hear the rough edge of unshed tears choking him in his throat. If she could think of any other way, any other way that she didn't have to be the one hurting him, she would. She bit her bottom lip, breaking the eye contact in the reflection.

"I'm sorry, Damon," Lily promised.

"Did you ever actually love me?" Damon demanded, though his voice was barely more than a whispered growl, laced with pain. "Will you be able to love my child?"

"I love you, Damon, I do. It's just, I love Scorpius in a way I don't think I could ever love anyone else," Lily frowned slightly. "And as for this child, this child is as much mine as it is yours. I'm scared silly, but from the moment I suspected, the moment I felt him move, I loved him. Please don't think I don't, because the very idea of not having him in my life, it feels worse than losing you, worse than losing Scorpius."

"I want to be a father to my child," Damon whispered.

"I want you to be a father to our child," Lily cupped his face so that he'd have to look at her. "You and I may not be together, but we are this baby's parents, and nothing is going to change that."

"What about Scorpius?" He asked trying to pull out of her hands.

"If he truly loves me, if he truly wants to try and make this work, he'll have to do it on my terms," Lily replied simply. "But ground rules, you two can't be fighting in front of either of my children. It's not good for any of us."

"But how are we going to figure out things like who's going to feed and change the baby? This might be my only chance at having a child, definitely my only chance at having a child with you," Damon asked, a slight smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"We will figure that all out," Lily promised. "If I have to buy a giant mansion in the middle of nowhere with enough bedrooms for us all, we will figure it out."

"Don't let anyone talk you into end this," Damon's hands went to her stomach, cradling the massive bulge with his hands. "I don't think I could survive it."

"You have nothing to worry about," Lily kissed his cheek before pulling away. "Our baby is perfectly safe."

"Good night, Lily," Damon offered her. "I hope he knows how lucky he is."

"I hope so too," Lily grinned nervously.