Dear Natalie,

It's Albus. I'm really sorry, but I don't think we should keep dating. I just don't see how it will work out. Trust me, it isn't you. I know people always say that, but it really isn't. It's me. Honestly.

I'm sorry,

Albus

Al put down his quill, resting his head on the parchment, careful not to smudge the now-drying ink. He glanced over at the wastepaper basket in the corner, full to the brim with failed letter after letter after letter, none of which he had been able to post. Jules, his owl, stood impatiently on his desk, hooting sharply at Al as if to say, "This better be the one."

Al looked up at his wall, at the many pictures of him and Natalie. His favourite was of them in Hogsmeade last year, hand in hand, grinning widely. Al carefully took the picture down. He glanced at Natalie's laughing face, her blue eyes twinkling in the setting sun, her long, black hair tumbling down her back, fresh snowflakes nestling in the curls. They had been so happy. For all Natalie knew, they were still happy.

A sharp pain reverberated through his chest; his hand convulsed, and he crumpled the picture. He had made up his mind. In one swift movement, he walked over to the basket, dropped the picture in, and returned to his desk, glancing at the parchment in front of him.

He took a deep breath, tears springing to his eyes, and carefully folded the parchment, sliding it into the creamy envelope. He addressed it in shaky hands:

Natalie Livingston
36 Juniper Crescent,
Youngwood, London
England

Sealing the envelope, Al tied it to Jules's outstretched leg, and watched as the tawny owl took flight out his open window. The letter flapped in the cool morning wind, and suddenly Al's stomach clenched, sending him lurching forward.

"Wait!" He called, trying desperately to get his owl's attention, to get the letter back. But Jules didn't hear nor see him, and continued his journey to Youngwood, where Natalie was surely just waking up after a restful sleep.

Al leaned against his desk, the sharp corner sending pain through his abdomen. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the fog that had clogged his brain.

As Al gasped for the breath he didn't realize he had lost, he thought of the words. The words he wanted to say, he needed to say, but couldn't.

I'm gay.


"James, Al, Lily!" Ginny called upstairs. "We're leaving to go to Nana Molly's!" She poked her head into the stairwell and shouted again. "Hello?"

"Coming, mum!" Lily called back, exiting her room and starting down the stairs. Her long, shiny red hair was tumbling down her back, with a small braid just behind her left ear. Her shirt was tighter than usual, and her makeup a little more pronounced. Her boyfriend, Lysander Scamander, was going to be at the Burrow with his mother and brother, who were close family friends of the Weasley/Potters. She was dressing up for him; Al wished she wouldn't be so obvious.

James followed his sister onto the stairs, fiddling with the new shirt Ginny had bought him earlier that day. His hair was sticking up in the back, just like their dad's did, and his brown eyes were gleaming. No doubt he had planned another prank on Uncle George. It was an ongoing tradition that James and Uncle George had. They never saw each other without pulling at least one prank, and sometimes they teamed up to get another member of the family.

"This itches, mum. Why couldn't I just wear one of my regular shirts?" James complained, scratching at his collar. Ginny looked at him sharply.

"Because all of your shirts have stains or holes in them, and this is a family get-together." She replied.

"A rare, Weasley family get-together, held on the usual every Sunday of our lives," James grumbled under his breath. It wasn't that he minded going to the Burrow – in fact, it was usually the highlight of his week – he just didn't like having to wear new clothes.

"I heard that, young man," Harry said sternly, joining his family in the hallway. Then he glanced around, noticing for the first time that Al wasn't there yet.
"Al?" He called up the stairs. "Are you coming?" He looked up and saw Al leaning over the banister, his face a little pale. "Al? Are you all right?" Harry asked concernedly. Ginny rushed to her husband's side and looked up at her son.

"Come here, Al, we'll just give you some tonic and you'll feel all right by the time we get to the Burrow." She said, beckoning to him. Al made his way down the stairs, looking fine, really, now that he was in better light.

"I'm fine, mum. I'm just a little bit tired." He said, wriggling out of her grasp but accepting the tonic.

"He's probably worried his girlfriend's gonna break up with him today when she meets the rest of his family." James teased, ruffling Al's hair.

"Shut up, James," Al snapped. He wasn't usually that easy to get to, but today the comment really got under his skin. Suddenly, his face paled even more."What do you mean, today?" He looked at his mother.

"Oh, didn't we tell you? We invited Natalie to the Burrow tonight to meet the rest of the family. She seemed very keen on the idea, and said she'd pop by." Ginny smiled warmly at her son, but Al didn't return the gesture.

"Oh." he said, looking at his feet.

"Is everything all right between you and Natalie?" Harry asked, glancing to his wife, who shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess...I mean, no, not really."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I sort of...broke up with her this morning...I sent her a letter." Albus said, staring hard at the ground as though he wished very much it would swallow him up. Lily gasped in shock.

"Why? Natalie's great! We all like her!" She asked. Ginny shushed her.

"How come, Al?" She asked gently. Harry was staring at his son as though he hadn't heard what he said. It was true, they had all liked Natalie very much when she came round one evening for dinner.

"It's...complicated..." Al muttered. A flush was creeping its way up his neck, turning his cheeks pink.

"Well," Ginny said, lifting her handbag and opening the door. "Maybe you'll work it out tonight. She's such a sweet girl." She stepped outside, leaving the door open for the rest of the family to come through, and took Lily's arm. As Lily was the only one without an Apparation license, she still had to go by side-along.

"Ready?" Ginny asked her daughter. Lily nodded, so Ginny turned on the spot and both of them disappeared with a crack. Harry went next, barely making a sound as he was enveloped by the air.

Al closed the front door behind them and glanced at his brother, who grinned and ruffled his untidy hair. James loved Apparating. Al nodded, almost imperceptibly, and then they were simultaneously spinning on the spot, vanishing with a faint whoosh.


Al landed, a little unstably, on the grass. As he was still new to Apparation, he sometimes fell over when reaching his destination. Finding his footing, he brushed off his robes and looked around, then almost went down again as a tall girl with lots of frizzy hair and a wide grin threw her arms around him.

"Al! James!" Rose cried. She was hugging them both, pulling them into her long arms. James pulled away, but Al didn't mind the hug. Rose was his favourite cousin; she wasn't a girly girl like most of the girls he knew from school. Rose was straight-forward, blunt, and always spoke her mind. She was spunky, and didn't let others push her around.

"Hey, Rose," Al said, looking over at the Burrow as she released him. They had Apparated into the front yard, and by the looks of it, the kitchen was already packed with family and friends. Every Sunday, everybody who could make it came, even if it was just for a little while. Nana Molly took their Sunday gatherings very seriously, as she rarely got to see her grandkids during the week, due to all their commitments. It was rare that anybody didn't show up for at least an hour.

"Uncle George is here already," Rose told James, whose eyes lit up as he ran for the door. Al saw him bump chests with their uncle, a gesture Ginny scorned upon, which was all the more reason for James to continue doing it. Shaking his head, Al started over to the Burrow after his brother. Rose bounded ahead – Al silently cursed her for being so tall – and held the door for him as he caught up.

Al and Rose wove their way through the main floor of the Burrow, stopping along the way to accept hugs from their family and endure a few minutes of conversation. Uncle Percy stopped him first, grinning and shaking his hand pompously as he told Al all about the recent happenings in the Ministry. As he had just been promoted, he was telling anybody who would listen about the things he was let in on now that he was closer to the Minister.

Al politely continued on and made a few more rounds to the relatives, trying to ignore Rose's exaggerated gestures to get a move on, before he was met again by Percy. Obviously not realizing that he had already talked to Al not ten minutes ago, he started to explain about the report he was working on for the second time. Al hastily mumbled something about getting a drink, and ducked away.

Finally, he and Rose made it to the stairs at the back of the house. Generally, all the kids escaped as quickly as they could from the relatives, and hung out in Uncle Ron's old room in the attic for the rest of the night. Although small, it was a cool place to hang out. Hugo and James always got a good laugh from playing pranks on the ghoul above the ceiling.

"Hey, Al!" Dom said as they entered. "Want to play?" She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, dealing out cards for Exploding Snap to everyone else. When he nodded, she tossed him a handful of cards, and he sat down on the corner of the carpet, the largest piece of floor space he could find.

The room was almost full: Rose had sat down on the edge of the bed next to Dom, Hugo and Fred were occupying the floor in front of the closet, Roxanne and Lily were sitting on the dresser, and Molly was standing awkwardly in front of the window, trying to sit on the ledge but not quite fitting. Over the last couple of years, she had put on a bit of weight.

All of them were looking over their cards. Roxanne waved as he sat down, Hugo and Fred nodded and said hi, but Molly paid him no attention. She was getting to be quite the saucy little brat these days. At least Lucy wasn't there; she always spoiled their fun by whining the whole time.

"Hey, guys, can I play a round?" James asked, poking his head in. He was followed by Teddy, never one to turn down a round of Exploding Snap, even though Victoire thought it was childish.

"Sure!" Dom said, throwing them the rest of the cards to deal between them. Her long, silvery hair was tied in a French braid down her back, a few pieces falling astray into her clear blue eyes. Her Veela heritage was easy to see in her striking features – high cheekbones, full lips, and shapely brows. Rose, although far from ugly – she had pretty brown eyes and a fair, freckled complexion, looked plain next to her cousin.

Al looked back at Dom. Something was amiss, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Then it hit him: the fluttering feeling he usually got when in the presence of a pretty girl wasn't there. He thought back to a few weeks ago, when he had been at one of Dom's parties with her Veela friends, and realized he hadn't felt it then either.

Al glanced over at Teddy. He had perched himself on the desk, his brow furrowing as he looked over the cards James had handed him. Al's stomach did a little flop. There. That was it! Al realized it wasn't because he was attracted to Teddy in particular – the thought would have made him laugh out loud if he hadn't been so upset – but simply because he was more attracted to his male companions than his female ones.

Closing his eyes, Al tried to clear his mind.

Al. You have to realize that this is who you are. There is no use fighting it. Don't hide from yourself.

Opening his eyes, Al got to his feet. Rose shot him a concerned glance.

"Al? You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine – I just – it's a little bit stuffy in here. I'm not feeling too well; I'll just step outside for some air." He walked to the door, stepping carefully over Hugo's legs so as not to trip on them, and let himself out of the room.

Going down a set of stairs and crossing the landing to the open window, Al breathed in the cool evening air. The sun was just beginning to set, turning the sky into a swatch of dark blue velvet studded with rhinestone stars. He listened for crickets, but could only hear the laughter of the adults downstairs, and Dom crowing loudly as she won a round of Exploding Snap.

Crack!

Al started at the sudden loud noise from outside. Turning slightly to the left, he could see three figures making their way through the moonlit field beside the Burrow. As they approached the house and were better illuminated by the glow of the porch lanterns, Al recognized the long, dark corkscrew curls and pink flushed cheeks of one of the figures.

Oh, crap.

He had almost forgotten.

Natalie.