Imperfection: A Scorily/Scorlily Fanfic

Chapter Thirteen: The Reaper Whose Name is Death

Lily refuses to leave Malfoy Manor all summer, even for the Weasley family trip (and they go to France, her favourite country besides England). She prefers to stay with Draco, voraciously reading the manuals Saint Mungo's sends and trying as hard as she can to hold the man she loves nearly as much as her own father to life.

Scorpius won't leave, either, and his grief allows him to push past his awkwardness around Lily. He, too, reads the manuals, and does everything he can- reads to Draco, makes food his father can eat, and paints the walls of the bedroom the poor man lies dying in with the brightest colours he can get. It's after one of these painting sessions that he hears something he has never heard before.

He hears Lily crying.

She's huddled on the big chair in Draco's study, hugging a medical book to her chest and sobbing. It isn't a pretty sight, seeing her cry. She isn't crying like Rose sometimes cries- tears trickling from her eyes which only make her look prettier. Lily's face is red and her hair is rumpled and messy. Her eyes are squeezed shut and she's shaking like mad. But Scorpius has never loved her more than he does at this moment. He comes over to the couch and sits next to her, pulling the book gently from her hands and taking her in his arms like a child.

He doesn't tell her that "it's" alright, whatever "it" is, or that "it" will be alright, if "it" isn't now. He holds her and strokes her hair, saying nothing. He is comforted himself, somehow, by comforting Lily. His grief fades just a little, for now, and in a minute Lily can speak through her tears.

"I- I thought-" she hiccups. "I thought I could help him. But I can't! It's- it's dartline syndrome, Healer Davidson said it was, and there's no known- no known cure at this stage, I've looked through every book in this house. Scorpius, I'm so frightened- and- and so sad!"

"You can help him," Scorpius tells her. "You're helping him now. He loves you, Lily, and having you with him- I think that comforts him a lot."

Lily sniffs. "Scorpius, you do know he loves you, don't you?"

Scorpius nods slowly. "Of course- of course I know that. But- well-"

"He loves you much more than he loves me. You're his son." Lily wipes her eyes and rests her head on his shoulder again. Neither of them consider this a romantic gesture. It's purely an attempt at comfort in the face of great grief.

As the next weeks go by, Draco Malfoy gradually loses his ability to speak. He cannot dress himself- Scorpius must do it for him. And he can't eat solid foods- the food has to be charmed into his stomach. Despite the nourishment he receives, he is skeletally thin. Scorpius and Lily, tending him, see the changes and know that soon Draco must leave the earth for another life.

And three weeks before the next year of school begins, Draco Malfoy dies. The last thing he sees before he passes is Scorpius and Lily, side by side, looking down at him anxiously. Scorpius has one arm around Lily, something Draco has always wanted to see. He smiles feebly, and closes his eyes.

The watching pair know he is gone, and Lily suddenly loses the ability to stand. Her legs crumple beneath her.

Scorpius catches her, holding her close as she bursts into tears again.

I know I said this was going up tomorrow, but I thought I might as well get this chapter out of the way so you can all be horribly furious with me and have done. 

DO NOT KILL ME. 

Love you all, 

Lily

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