epilogue 1/3: SOPORIPHIC
2023
"Mum! Dad told me I could only have one chocolate biscuit, but I always get two!" A tugging comes from Lucia's pant leg. She looks down at her son with sympathy.
"I'm sure he just didn't know, let's go get you two biscuits." Lucia smiled, running her hands through Kasper's blonde locks.
When they walked into the kitchen, Lucia looked through into the living room to see him pacing back and forth in irritation with a stack of parchment in his hands.
Work had been stressful for him lately, so she didn't want to interrupt with nonsense like biscuits.
She opened the kitchen cupboard quietly, pulling out the jar of cookies she'd made the day before. After unscrewing the lid, she offered the jar to Kasper so he could take two. She then took one for herself and replaced it into the pantry.
With one last look into the living room, she ushered Kasper back up the stairs so she could get him ready for his school tutor to arrive in half an hour.
She heard the door to the office slam as she was pulling Kasper's neatly ironed shirt over his head, smoothing it down on his small frame.
Once Kasper was ready, she lead him down to the study and instructed him to get his things out. The doorbell rung moments later, and Lucia rushed to answer it.
"Miss Cohen, so lovely to see you again." The tutor gave a warm smile.
"You two Mrs. Abbott. Come on in, he's waiting for you in the study." Lucia gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
The woman led herself to meet Kasper, and Lucia breathed a sigh of relief as she went about her own afternoon business.
She was hosting a dinner party that night, so the crayon drawings and ministry paperwork strewn across the dining table had to be organised so guests could sit.
Organising them and ensuring the whole house appeared presentable took longer than she expected. It was well into late afternoon by the time she finished. She saw out Kasper's tutor and changed her clothes for the dinner.
House elves were busy in the kitchen, having been hired especially for the occasion to cook a multiple course dinner. Lucia was incredibly relieved to not have to do that job.
She chose a floral dress for the night, pinning her hair up in a way elegant enough to convince anyone she had always been this high class. Once she slipped on a pair of white pumps, she headed to the office to warn him the guests would arrive shortly.
Lucia knocked on the door, listening for a moment to ensure she wasn't interrupting anything important.
The door clicked open by itself, slowly revealing the room to her.
In the large chair that sat behind the desk, Tobias had reclined himself. He appeared worn out, with dark circles giving him a gloomy and miserable appearance.
"What's up darling?" He spoke, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tossed the parchment in his hands onto the desk.
"I just wanted to let you know that the guests for tonight will be arriving soon, if you'll be joining us." She looked at him in a way that implied she wanted him there. The thought of making up an excuse for him to everyone sounded dreadful.
"You look lovely." He gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Thank you. Will you be joining us?" Lucia spoke hopefully.
"You know I can't, Lucia." Tobias sighed.
Lucia came up to behind his chair, resting her hands on his shoulders and beginning to massage away the tension built up from the day.
Tobias' eyes fluttered shut, his breathing slow as he took a few moments away from the stressful day.
As Lucia rubbed her thumbs into his tense muscles, she saw the light scars that still were visible on his neck. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought.
Tobias placed his hands over hers, stopping her movements. "I'll come down for a drink when they arrive." He resigned, "But I can't stay the whole night."
"Thank you." Lucia hummed, leaning down to press a slow kiss to his neck.
After a few moments, she spoke again. "Kasper told me you wouldn't let him have his two biscuits, you know he always likes two."
"It's not good to instil greed into kids, Lucia. He's already an only child" He mumbled, turning the chair to face her and pull her into his lap gently.
"He is not greedy." She said sharply, "They are small biscuits, and I said he could have two. I don't like it when you override my parenting."
"I'm his father, Lucia."
"And I'm his mother. Besides, with all the time you spend up here rather than with him, I'm starting to think he'll believe Tinker the house elf is his father more than you." Lucia rolled her eyes, moving to stand up. Tobias' hands prevented her from moving.
"Do not speak to me like that. There may have been banter when we were teenagers, but we are adults now Lucia, and I suggest you act like it". Tobias spoke coldly.
Lucia sighed, "I'm sorry."
"Good." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Now go, I have work to do."
She stood up and left the room, not daring to say another word with fear it would be offensive.
By the time she's finished putting on a layer of lipstick, she heard the doorbell ring signalling guests had begun to arrive.
The warm face of Lysander greeted her when she opened the door, Sophia beside him in a navy dress with her arm linked in his.
"Good evening sunshine, how very floral you look today." Lysander beamed, pulling Lucia in for a hug.
"Thank you so much for coming." Lucia smiled as she was released from her greetings. She gestured for them to come inside, hors d'oeuvres lining the table for guests as everyone arrived.
It wasn't long before all the guests had arrived and begun to chatter. Mel and Darcy had greeted her with excitement, then taken Kasper for a game of hide and seek.
Lorcan and Jared had come too, now a couple, who were discussing the red wine from Tobias' wine cellar that Lucia had brought out.
Apollo had also arrived, along with other ministry workers from both Lucia and Tobias' sectors. Last of all, Lucia's mother and Don entered.
Just as Lucia was becoming overwhelmed with having to host by herself, she felt a hand snake around her waist. "Sorry I'm late." Tobias whispered with a squeeze of his hand. He soon released her.
"Tobias, so lovely to see you!" Lucia's mother beamed, and Lucia just stood awkwardly as she showed more affection to him than her own daughter. Don and Tobias exchanged a warm handshake, and began to discuss the recent redo of the driveway.
Lucia slipped away, downing her glass of wine and refilling it instantly.
"Lucia, if I might have a quick word with you." Ralph, who worked at the ministry with her, said as she made to walk past.
"Of course, what's going on?" Lucia gave a concerned look.
"Nothing to be concerned about, but I just thought I'd warn you about a new assignment you're going to be sent on regarding the new Time Room project we've been working on for the Department of Mysteries." Ralph spoke slightly hushed.
"They are not actually considering doing it, are they?" Lucia furrowed her eyebrows in shock, "It's so dangerous. I have a child at home for Merlin's sake."
"It seems they believe the reward overrides the risk in this case." Ralph said regretfully.
Lucia sighed, "Thanks for letting me know at least."
Lucia walked into the living room, new glass of wine already half empty. Darcy, Mel and Kasper all sat on the couch reading a picture book Darcy had given him for his birthday the previous year.
"Hey gorgeous, you feeling okay?" Mel spoke as she looked up from the pages.
"I'm fine." Lucia sighed, smiling softly as Kasper leant into Darcy's shoulder. He was so perplexed and consumed by the story that his eyes didn't stray once.
The familiar wine buzz was hitting her as a nice warm feeling that was very welcomed.
"I saw Tobias came down to say hello." Mel noted, watching Lucia's reaction carefully. Mel and Darcy now knew about Lucia's status as a witch and the wizarding world. It had become unavoidable when they would take in turns babysitting, and Kasper would have random outbursts of magic that Lucia found herself unable to make excuses for.
"Yeah he said he's only coming for a drink then going back upstairs." Lucia sat on the couch next to Mel and leant back.
"Dad never stays downstairs long." Kasper's small voice broke the silence, and Lucia snapped her head to the side to see Kasper's wide eyes astray from the book and resting on her face.
"Dad is very busy with work, sweetheart." Lucia smiled sympathetically, running a hand through his hair. He crawled across to her, and settled himself on her lap. She sat her wine glass on the coffee table and nursed her arms around him.
"Does he love us?" Kasper asked innocently. "Mrs Abbott says that people make effort to spend time with the people they love. Dad never spends time with us."
"Of course Dad loves us." Lucia defended, a sadness enveloping her heart. "He just has a lot to do. He does it all to take care of us."
Kasper nodded unconvinced, but snuggled down into Lucia's arms nonetheless.
When Lucia looked out into the kitchen, she saw Tobias had left to go back upstairs.
***
After all the guests had left, Lucia carried a sleepy Kasper up the stairs in her arms. He wasn't light, but she'd prefer to have him close to her as opposed to coldly levitating through the air.
As she gently placed him down in his bed, he mumbled lightly and snuggled into his pillow. She placed his broomstick duvet over him, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
When she stood up, she saw Tobias was standing in the doorway. The light behind him from the hallway contrasting to the dark room, making him look like a silhouette. With his tamed curls and smart clothes he almost looked like... never mind.
She smiled half-heartedly at him as she brushed beside him and out of the room, pulling Kasper's door lightly closed behind her.
"Looked like it was a nice dinner party." Tobias spoke as they walked towards their bedroom.
"I'm surprised you feel entitled to make that assumption considering you were in attendance for a whole of 3 minutes." Lucia rolled her eyes as she walked into the bedroom and towards the walk-in wardrobe.
"You know work is crazy right now..." Tobias defended.
"Work is always crazy, my work is crazy right now too. But this was important to me." Lucia sighed, "It's embarrassing, Tobias. Kasper literally asked if you even loved him tonight. You are always. Fucking. Working."
"Do you not like the gigantic house I bought for you? Or the expensive shampoo? Or the high-level tutor I pay for?" Tobias snapped as he pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it into the washing basket.
"First of all, we both paid for this house and I contribute to the finances too. But second of all, I'd much rather have less and have my child's father actually around for once in a while." Lucia snapped, unzipping her dress and stepping out of it.
"You ungrateful little..."
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Lucia sent him deathly cold eyes.
"The kid and I have virtually nothing in common, Lucia. What, you want me to read books with him? The muggle books you buy make me want to gauge my eyes out." Tobias complained, pulling on a pair of pyjama shorts.
"Then why don't you buy him books? Anything! Just engage with the poor kid for once, would you?" Lucia threw her silk nighty over her head and stalked into the bedroom. She didn't hear his reply that was likely soaked heavily in lame excuses.
A few minutes later, Tobias joined her under the covers, flicking his wand to turn out the lights shortly after.
Lucia lay with her back to him, eyes closed but jaw clenched.
mature content and trigger warning for non-con
"I'm sorry, I'll do better for you baby." Tobias whispered into her ear, his hand travelling over her side.
"Don't do it for me, do it for your son." Lucia ground out.
"Okay." He allowed his lips to touch her ear.
His hand began tracing patterns under the hem of her nighty and across her thighs. "I've got so much tension built up from today baby." He whispered, rubbing his erection into her back not so subtly. Taking her wrist in his hand, he encouraged her to touch him.
With a sigh, she obliged, palming him softly as he let out a low groan in her ear. He pulled her towards him, "Feeling your mouth would make me feel so much better." He spoke softly, placing a kiss on her neck.
"I'm not really in the mood, Tobias." Lucia sighed, avoiding his gaze.
"Please, it's been such a hard day. It would help me so much, you know how good at it you are." He whined in her ear.
She huffed, "Fine."
Crawling down under the covers she began going down on him. His fingers came to thread in her hair, pulling it in a way that stung. Soon he began to push her head down more, fucking into her mouth in a way the brought unwanted tears to her eyes. She couldn't really breathe, but she knew it would be over soon.
After a few minutes, as her jaw began to burn and throat began to sting, he pulled her off. "Come up here baby, let me come inside of you. You know how much I love that."
Lucia obliged, she was taking contraception potions again since Kasper, and she knew she wouldn't hear the end of it if she refused.
She lay on her back, and Tobias loomed over her. Without her feeling even remotely turned on, he pressed into her. It stung, but the lubrication from her saliva made it bearable as he began thrusting instantly.
Tobias had once been good in bed, but selfishness and exhaustion as he got older had tainted his skills. Lucia hardly ever came anymore when they had sex, instead she would get her small toy out from her bedside table after he went to sleep to finish herself off.
She could only describe the sex as... soporiphic, as she had once called sex of this kind.
Tobias groaned as he finished inside of her, his sweaty body pressing into hers as he came down from his high. He then rolled off her, and closed his eyes to go to sleep.
Not even a thank you.
Lucia rose from the bed to run to the bathroom, feeling it drip down her legs awkwardly. As she sat on the toilet, she let a few tears escape.
When she stood up and looked at herself in the mirror while she washed her hands, all she saw was the black crumbling mascara under her eyes and the tears of sorrow dripping down her cheeks like small salty rivers.
This was not the life she had imagined for herself.
author's note
this is the first of the three part epilogue!! eeeek
I know a lot of epilogues are just a 'where are they now' happy ending, but I promise this one continues the story a bit more, just with a time jump.
thank you so much for reading, and I'm really sorry for the wait.
remember to message me anytime xx
also... 150k reads what?!?! thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart <3