So Long and Goodnight

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 from this, 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, non-consensual sex and sexual acts, nudity, etc.), and mildly graphic 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 Seventeen - November

Lily told herself this wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a big deal at all, and she was just going to wear jeans and a sweatshirt, and anyone who didn't like it could piss off. Because really, when attending a bond dissolution for the marriage bond a witch found herself surrendered to with a wizard who'd so quickly turned from Prince Charming to a nightmare, Lily didn't know what else to wear.

Yet she found herself, that fateful morning of November the first, standing before her closet and wondering what the hell she should wear. She needed something that would not only be comfortable, and piss off her husband, yet was also appropriate for what she was sure would be at least a few busybodies wanting to speak to her afterward that hinted she was certainly some sort of trollop for daring to leave her pureblooded husband. Something that reminded everyone she had never strayed from her fidelity to her marriage, even if she'd been, in recent weeks, unable to resist imagining doing just that with Scorpius. And doing it in even more explicit and forbidden ways than simply snogging him once.

The redhead sighed heavily, flicking through her closet once more, before she finally settled upon a set of dark purple robes that had been hand tailored to fit her just after she'd been married, but had, until recently, been too big. She paired the robes with simply grey trousers and a white blouse with lace detail around the throat that was both modest and feminine, glared balefully at her hair as she swiped on a bit of makeup, then grabbed her purse. After triple checking her wand was still tucked securely into her pocket, she squared her shoulders, tilted her chin up, and marched to the Floo, forcing her nerves down and focusing only on getting through the bond dissolution ahead of her.

An hour later, Lily stood in the tiny, slightly decrepit hallway outside the office for Magical Marriages, Births, and Deaths, staring at the door she had yet to pluck up the courage to walk through. She had arrived to the Ministry early, in an attempt to distract herself by visiting her father, and then her brother James, in the Auror Department beforehand, but they'd both been busy, and so she'd wandered through the Atrium for a bit before anxiously heading up to this sad little hallways to wait with mourning nerves.

The question of whether or not her bond even could be dissolved made her stomach cramp with worry, and the terrifying thought that she would have to be in a small room, alone, with Thad and their cater, made her want to run out of the Ministry and just live with the fact she would never move on from Thad. Lily valiantly tried to firm her lower lip as it trembled and tears began to burn at the corners of her eyes, and sucked in a deep, shaky breath, even as she heard the doorway at the end of the hall open. She steeled herself internally, telling herself she could do this, that she'd already done the hard parts and she deserved to have a new life.

The sound of expensive dragonhide shoes, moving at a confident and steady pace toward her, had Lily closing hazel eyes and tilting her head back, hoping and praying this would be over with as soon as possible. She braced for the loathsome sound of Thaddeus's voice as the shoes stopped a couple feet to her left, eyes still closed, repeating over and over in her head 'Just a few more minutes and you never have to see him again. Just a few more minutes and you're free. Just a few more minutes.'

But instead of hearing the utterly hateful voice of her least favourite wizard, Lily was shocked to her very core to hear a very familiar voice say, "It must be bad if you're not even going to look at me, Lily."

Instantly, Lily's head whipped around, eyes flying wide open, and she felt a smile break over her face for a blissful second as she, without conscious thought, threw her arms around Scorpius's shoulders, hugging him tightly, beyond relieved it was him and not her almost-ex. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a breathy voice, her smile fading abruptly as she imagined just what Thaddeus would say, or even do, if he was to see the wizard she'd run from him to with her, right before their bond would be undone. She pulled away from the hug, stepping back to a respectable distance once more, and avoided meeting the blond's dark grey gaze, sure she'd see hurt from her obvious rejection of support from him.

"I just came to wish you luck," he said, smiling and tugging a loose hank of hair gently before tucking it behind her ear, making her smile back up at him. She was secretly also sort of glad he didn't move closer. She was doubly so as, before she could respond, the door down the hall banged open and the sound of someone stomping down the corridor behind her had Lily right back to the anxiety and fear she'd been momentarily distracted from.

"You should go," she whispered hurriedly, before stepping back even further, this time staring at a scuff on the linoleum beneath her feet.

To her surprise, Scorpius merely nodded, and walked past her, toward the sound of her almost ex approaching. Lily was afraid to look around, cringing just thinking about what might happen when her husband came face to face with the man she was starting to feel more than just genuine platonic friendship for, but she was also quite curious to see if wither would stoop to antagonizing the other in the Ministry on this of all days. "Nott," Scorpius said with surprising frostiness and disdain as he swept forward, not bothering to move aside as Thaddeus came toward Lily.

They both paused, standing face to face, seeming to eye one another up, before Thaddeus said, just as icily and with far more haughtiness, "Malfoy."

The grey eyed wizard allowed the tiniest gloating smirk as he said, "Excuse me, I was just visiting a friend. Best of luck with your business, Nott."

Thaddeus glared back, but wasn't unfortunately for Scorpius, stupid enough to make a scene. "Then I suggest you carry on, Malfoy," the darker blond spat, blue eyes like iced sapphires, clearly wishing naught but ill on Scorpius. "And get out of my way."

"With pleasure," Scorpius replied, then smirked outright, knowing it was more than enough to make Nott want to hit him, he saw the flaring of rage in that frigid blue gaze and all but prayed for the bastard to take a swing at him, but then Nott simply sneered and looked away, and Scorpius walked past, mentally sending Lily luck that everything would go well for her today.

An hour later, Scorpius caught sight of her striding, with a large smile and a confident line to her shoulders, through the Atrium, where he'd been hanging around reading the paper and drinking terrible tea from the little cart on the far end, waiting for her. He was all but dying to know what the outcome of Lily's unbonding ceremony, even as he acknowledged they were definitely selfish reasons.

"Lily," he called, hurrying to catch up with her before she got to the public Floos, and was met, again, by her wide eyed look of wonder, that someone had thought to make sure she was okay both before and after what was probably a horrible ordeal with her former husband.

"Scorpius!" she said with delight, hugging him once again but not freezing and pulling away this time, instead, if anything, pulling him closer than before, prompting him to pull her close and turn her in a short circle after lifting her off her feet so contagious was her obvious joy. "Oh my Godric, put me down!" she said, laughing, hazel eyes bright and smile wider than he'd ever seen it.

"I'm guessing it went well?" he asked, smiling back, unaware that several people had stopped to stare at their little spectacle.

"It's done," the redhead breathed, her joy seeming to magnify as her smile stretched impossibly wider. "I'm free," she whispered, then laughed heartily.

Scorpius resisted the sudden urge to kiss her. "That's fantastic," he replied, then gallantly took her arm. "Should I presume that you want to go celebrate your newfound freedom?"

Lily laughed again, but took his arm. "I'd love that," she said truthfully, and tugged him towards the Floos. "In fact, I'm going to be awfully upset that you waited around for me," this was said with a knowing look cast up over her shoulder at him and a teasing grin, "if you aren't going to take me out for something."

Scorpius waved a hand to the Floo. "Wherever you want to go, let's go, Lily." The redhead beamed at him, looking far prettier and much happier than she had any right, and so utterly enchanting Scorpius had to remind himself more than once she wouldn't want him to snog her right there. "Your wish is my command," he added, and though he said it jokingly, making Lily chuckle again, as she reached for the Floo powder to whisk them from the Ministry, Scorpius realized it was true. Anything she wanted, he would give her, if only to see her as radiantly joyful as she was right then.

A fortnight later, Lily took a deep breath as she set the very last somewhat meager, considering, box down in her brand new home. The little house that she'd gotten just recently and had paid for, to the very last bronze Knut, all by herself and that was titled to only her, seemed large and airy with its twelve foot ceilings on the main floor and large windows even upstairs. Of course, Lily knew that was only thanks to the modern Muggle style the house was built in, but regardless, she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of space and the definite sense of being able to simply breathe in her new home.

Part of that might have been because she'd finally at long last, after heavy urging from not only Scorpius, but her mother as well every Sunday for the last few months, taken the proper steps toward healing by meeting three times a week with a mind healer. Her therapy sessions were usually at least an hour, sometimes stretching to two if it had been a tough one previously, but after only a half dozen sessions, Lily was finding herself starting to almost look forward to her meetings.

And, perhaps, best of all, she was slowly but surely starting to unravel the last several years of life that had damaged her mentally in more ways than she'd first realized. With that came the lovely benefit of feeling far better mentally, and emotionally, hence her sudden and somewhat abrupt decision to move out of Scorpius's flat and into her very own place. Complete with a Secret Keeper she wouldn't name even with the threat of death. It was her fresh start, and Lily was determined to keep it that way. Because despite having broken from her ex-husband at last, the redhead wasn't foolish enough to think he wouldn't, at some point, do his damndest to try and take her back, with or without force.

Deciding she could unpack properly in the morning, Lily dug some clean towels and pyjamas from the massive tote she'd shrunk and stored her entire wardrobe and linens in, and told herself a bath was just the thing to start off this newest chapter of her life. A nice long, hot soak, and then she'd get to bed, the only piece of furniture she'd set up yet, nice and early. It made her smile to realize there wasn't any need to do anything more, and she began filling the large clawfoot tub in her bathroom while daydreaming about what her future might have in store for her, now that she'd changed the trajectory of her life.

Meanwhile, Scorpius sat alone, in the semi-dark and drinking silently as he stared at his front door with a blank expression and sadness in his grey eyes, resolutely telling himself he wasn't moping. And nor was he sulking. And most certainly, he was not, in any way or sense of the word, pining. Even if a nasty little voice inside of him told him that was precisely what he was doing. Because Lily had gone, and moved on, and no longer needed him, or apparently wanted him despite it.

He took another long pull of whiskey and then swallowed with a straight face, the pleasing burn exacerbating the ache in his chest he already felt before settling uncomfortably in his stomach. Lily had gone, and part of him was damn proud of her for it, because she was so unequivocally brave and strong and utterly capable of getting back to her feet when life tried to push her down. She was definitely stronger than he was in any case, a point he considered proven when it came to resisting the temptation to see just what might happen between them if they both dared to try. A much smaller, more selfish, and distinctly bitter part of him longed to have the entrancing redhead back with him. In a charade of what he'd come to realize he truly wanted again, even as he realized he was just that desperate.

The blond wizard sighed heavily as he swirled the last mouthful of drink, at last prying his gaze from his front door to watch the amber liquid slosh gracefully around his glass as he told himself firmly to just down it and drag his sorry ass to bed. At least, if he was asleep, he could dream of Lily and forget that his reality was really the nightmare he was currently enduring. Just as he made to do so, however, there was a brisk knock on his front door, and, instantly, Scorpius's heart lurched and hope seemed to spring from within, that perhaps Lily had come back. Come back to him because maybe, just maybe, there was something there between them after all and he had been more than a necessary crutch for healing her.

He stood with only a small wobble, despite the considerably dent he'd made in his bottle of twenty year aged Ogden's, and hurried to the door, pausing for a beat before he opened it, making a bare minimum attempt to at least look like he had some semblance of self control. When at last Scorpius did open his front door, however, it was not to find the form of Lily Potter wanting to tell him anything.

Instead he found himself at the end of Thaddeus Nott's wand, while the wizard grinned, looking almost demented as his eyes burned with some kind of furious victory. Before he could even think to defend himself in his altered state, Scorpius heard the bastard snarl, "Imperio." Almost immediately a fuzzy haze of unconcern settled over Scorpius's consciousness like a too warm blanket, making it hard to focus on what happened next. He felt someone push him back, and he stumbled to his knees as a vicious voice in his skull whispered for him to grovel, and vaguely registered the door slamming shut once more. He pitched forward without thought as the voice in his head, so harsh and grating and unlike the soft tones he'd thought he'd hear upon opening the damned door, demanded his utter surrender. He felt the shocking pain from his knees cracking into the floor, and genuine discomfort from the cold, hard of his own floor against his cheek, but the fuzziness in his brain was making it hard for Scorpius to care about the sharp throbbing.

"Pathetic," someone hissed in his ear, and the blond wasn't sure if it was the horrible voice that reverberated through his head, or someone else entirely. "Did you really think I wouldn't come to get what's mine? Or were you so supremely arrogant to think you could attempt to take her and I would sit back and let it all just happen?"

Scorpius shuddered, trying, wanting to reply, but most of his brain felt fuzzy and detached and wondered idly who the voice could possibly mean, even while a tiny sliver of him wanted to laugh uncontrollably. Because certainly that voice meant Lily, and it was certainly laughable, now, to think he could ever have had a hope to keep the fiery redhead. No, she'd outgrown him, and rightfully so, and would live her best life without him now. "No," he said dully, and while the majority of him felt utterly unperturbed, that tiny sliver of consciousness that had snapped through the fog, screamed within, to no avail.

Because when he looked up, feeling a distinct urge to do so along with something hard pressing against his mind, demanding he do it, Scorpius looked right into the coldly calculating face of none other than Thaddeus Nott. And, if the bastard's sick grin meant anything, it was that he was undoubtedly in trouble, especially since he had absolutely no idea, by design, where Lily had moved to.

"Where is she?" that cruel voice, that seemed to reverberate through the cotton that clouded his thought processes, demanded. "Tell me now, and maybe I'll spare you."

Scorpius did laugh now, despite the fogginess of his mind, because he truly had no clue, and he doubted Thaddeus would ever spare him regardless. Not after all Scorpius had heard of him through Lily and witnessed with his own eyes. And certainly not after the bastard had to realize Scorpius was, quite emphatically, in love with the witch he'd once called his wife. "Dunno," he answered in that same dull voice.

"You shouldn't have lied to me," the voice hissed, and Scorpius felt, with the tiny sliver of proper consciousness, a wriggle of anxious fear before the furious snarl of, "Crucio!" Immediately, Scorpius became aware, even through his cottony mental fug, of absolutely nothing in the next breath, except for pain like he'd never imagined might be possible before.

It was like a hot iron was being pressed to every inch of his skin, while simultaneously being electrocuted by some unfathomable voltage level directly into every nerve ending. Scorpius didn't know which way was up, or even if the tinny-sounding high-pitched wail was coming from his mouth, or just an internal alarm bell his body had raised. All he knew was this was the sort of agony that could very well drive a wizard mad.

After what felt like an hour, or possibly five minutes, it blissfully, and mercifully stopped and Scorpius panted heavily as his sweaty forehead rested on the cool hardwood floor. "Tell me where she is!" someone shouted down at him, and even as he struggled to breathe, his limbs trembling with the after effects of torture, the blond could only be grateful Lily was gone, and safe from this. The blow that came to the side of his head left him feeling dizzy and nauseous, but he didn't move, except to continue breathing heavily, even as he watched a pair of expensive shoes stomp away from him and down the hallway.

As he laid there, part of him trying to convince his unresponsive body to get up, and out, and find help, he was aware of vague crashing noises, accompanied by incoherent shouts of rage and the definite tinkle of breaking glass. Scorpius finally managed to tilt his head up as the shoes stomped back into his field of vision. He looked up into the flat blue gaze of Thaddeus Nott, and, though his voice felt scratchy and raw, he laughed to himself. "Told you," he croaked.

In the next breath, something hard collided with his face, though the blond wasn't sure if it was a foot or a fist, and he tasted blood in his mouth as pain, milder than the Cruciatus, erupted across his mouth and cheek. Absently, the blond found himself wondering if the bones in that side of his face had been shattered or just cracked apart. And then thoughts fled entirely as he was, once again, put under the hellish Cruciatus Curse; after what felt like an eternity and no time altogether, he blacked out.

Lily, who'd been in the process of making a cup of tea after spending the majority of the last twelve hours cleaning and unpacking and setting up her new home to her liking, felt a thrum of alarm as the wards she'd had set to her person flared with the warning of someone about to Floo in. A heavy frown creased her brow, as the only person who had knowledge of her address, and Floo access, was her brother Albus, and she wondered why he hadn't at least, being Secret Keeper and the only one to know her address, sent an owl before just showing up.

She hadn't fully unpacked her lounge yet, as she'd started with the bedroom, then the bathroom, followed by the kitchen, and she had specifically asked him to leave her be for the weekend so she could get the work she needed done finished. Lily had honestly just thought she'd see everyone at Sunday dinner, but now Albus was showing up unannounced, and when he didn't bound out of the emerald flames in her hearth, instead stepping out grimly, her stomach dropped.

"What's wrong?" she demanded immediately, seeing him wince and, seemingly, unable to meet her eyes.

"There was… There was an accident. Or, well I guess I should just say it was more of an attack," Albus said heavily, and pushed a hand through his unruly black hair. Just as Lily, her stomach twisting in dread and anxiety, opened her mouth to demand against which of her loved ones it had been, that she was being thus so grudgingly informed, Albus answered her unasked question. "It was him," he said gruffly, looking up at her with slightly bloodshot emerald eyes, even as Lily's heart sank to her toes and she broke out in a cold sweat, knowing this was, undoubtedly, because of her, and because of that awful meeting in the hallways two weeks previously. "It was Scorpius. He's at St. Mungo's now."

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