Fic: (Let No Man) Cast Asunder, Horace Slughorn/Lily Evans, NC-17

Greetings one and all! Wasn't hoggywartyxmas wonderful again, this year? I have so enjoyed the stories and artwork I've seen so far, and continue to be thrilled at the ingenuity of the writers and the love brought to oft less-loved characters.

With this post, I also bring new fic! This story - although not long - has been incubating for (literally) years, so it's nice to finally get the chance to polish it up and post. Although Horace/Lily is a pairing that probably has fewer followers than even most rare-pairs(!) it has always made sense to me from canon, and I'm pleased to conclude this little arc.


Title: (Let No Man) Cast Asunder
Author: purplefluffycat
Pairings: Horace Slughorn/Lily Evans, with background Lily Evans/James Potter
Warnings: Infidelity, canon character death
Genre: Romance, Angst
Rating: NC-17
Words: About 4200
Summary:

"A spring afternoon I discovered a bowl on my desk, just a few inches of clear water in it. Floating on the surface was a flower petal...as I watched, it sank...just before it reached the bottom, it was transformed, into a fish. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to behold. The flower petal had come from Lily, your mother. The day I came downstairs, the day the bowl was empty, was the day your mother....I know why you're here...but I can't help you. It would ruin me."

"You liked her, didn't you?" said Harry Potter to Horace Slughorn, "Lily Evans was one of your favourites." 

Author's Notes: This fic is the third and final in my Horace/Lily sequence (preceded by Something Old, Something New, and The Dangers of Tea), although it should make sense as a stand-alone piece. It is also, tangentially, a staggeringly late contribution to the hp_unfaithful 'Fabulous No-Pressure Laissez-Faire Challenge' with the prompt, 'Trial and error.'

( (Let No Man) Cast Asunder )