"Damn!" Delaney cursed, as her bag slipped out of her hands and the contents spilled all over the ground. "Land me a hand, will you?" She asked, directing it towards James who was standing beside her silently.

Land her a hand? How could he do that if she was still holding one of his? James stood there gaping, not believing his luck. James and Delaney had held hands before, of course. But they were either completely out of it or it was when they tugged each other places and their hands only touched for a moment or so. But it had been a few minutes of walking, and his hand was still in hers. He didn't want to let go. Delaney just rolled her eyes at him, and picked up the rest of it, but still didn't let go of his hand either. She liked the feeling of his strong hand wrapped around hers.

Since James didn't appear like he was going to help Delaney out, or move anytime in the next ten years or so, another pair of hands bent down to help Delaney. They were rough, big, and definitely hands of another man. James glared down at them and then shifted his focus up to the face they belonged to.

"Thanks," Delaney said, looking up to thank the stranger right when James looked up at him as well.

They both froze for a moment.

It was Scorpius.

"You're welcome," Scorpius muttered back, staring down at their hands which were still linked together. Delaney followed his eyes, as if she had forgotten where her other hand was, and upon seeing it, let go immediately. It didn't seem like a big deal to either of them really, but this was Scorpius. He overreacted to everything.

"I didn't know you were coming up here today," Delaney said, awkwardly staring down at the ground instead of looking at Scorpius.

"Didn't you get my owl?" Scorpius asked.

"No," Delaney said, her eyes still looking at the ground. She was definitely lying. She could never make eye contact when she lied.

"I'm just going to go and look at...some new Quidditch...things," James said, giving them a chance to discuss whatever issues they seemed to be having. He really didn't think a hand-holding was that important, so there must have been other issues. Delaney always came to James with his problems, but she tried to steer clear of her boy problems. They always got a bit awkward and James got jealous, though he tried not to show it. He was too proud to do that. So, James slinked away silently into the Quidditch store and sighed loudly. He was safe.

"Mr. Potter! It's great to see you again!" Cried the newest owner of the store, Mr. Berry, emerging from behind a pile of Quidditch strategy books. His gray hair stuck up in strange peaks and his robes didn't even reach his ankles with all the rips and tears in them. Many people thought he was insane, which was probably true, but James didn't mind. It meant the store had more products for him. With a family as big as his own, he was tired of sharing things.

"Hi Mr. Berry, have anything new to show me?" James asked, wandering aimlessly around the store.

"'Fraid not. You have the best we have in store," Mr. Berry said, before sinking down onto the floor as he began to sing to himself as he often did. James laughed quietly to himself and walked towards the window to look at gloves, just in case they had any good deals. His current ones were getting a bit worn out. He was distracted when he saw Delaney waving her arms around angrily in front of Scorpius.

He knew it was really none of his business, but his curiosity got the best of him. James cracked open the door a bit to eavesdrop.

"This again Scorpius? James is my best mate. I've known him for ages. He knows me better than I do and I like talking to him. So what if I held his hand for two seconds or whatever it was. It's a friend thing, Scorpius! I don't expect you to understand the concept of friends since you don't have any, but some of us do!," Delaney said, rather loudly, further drawing attention to herself, but she didn't even seem to mind. Her cheeks flushed red with anger and her arms continued to flail around. James smiled. She had a tendency to talk with her hands, especially because she knew how much it bothered him. He hadn't thought it made the conversation anymore interesting, but right now it was helping immensely. He knew he should be worried about her, and sad that they're fighting, but he wasn't. James was incredibly happy.

"I never said I had a problem with you two being friends! But why do you feel like you can never tell me any of your problems? We have to be honest with each other, Delaney," Scorpius said.

"I'm not lying to you. I'm just not telling you every little detail about my life to you. This is all bloody bullocks. You only did this to make Rose jealous and because I was good for a snog. You don't care about me," Delaney said back to him, her voice and eyes full of disgust.

"Don't be ridiculous! I do care about you," Scorpius responded, purposely ignoring the comment about Rose. He didn't think anyone noticed them those few times last year...

"No, you don't. You're just saying that because you want a snog. I'm not in the mood to deal with you or this right now. I'll talk to you at school or on the train. Not here," Delaney said, turning on her heel and stomping off.

James let Scorpius chase after her and slid downwards on the wall outside the store and began singing quietly to himself. At this rate, he was going to turn out exactly like Mr. Berry. James was unsure if this was a good or a bad thing.

"Are you singing Celestina Warbeck, James?"

"Don't tell. It'll ruin my bad boy image," James replied, smirking at his favorite cousin, Rose Weasley, who was standing over him with a smile on her face.

"Nana Molly would be pleased," Rose said, laughing and sitting down beside James.

"You stole my cauldron, but you can't have my heaaaaaart," sang James quietly, causing Rose to burst out into further laughter.

"You charmed the heart outta meee," Rose sang back, causing them to smile like complete goons.

"What are the other songs again?" James asked, puzzled.

"Who knows," Rose said, smiling brightly and leaning down to put her head on James' shoulder.

"So," James continued awkwardly.

"So," Rose repeated back. "Looks like you forgot to brush your hair."

"I gave up trying to brush my hair years ago, Rose. Bloody Potter hair cannot be tamed," James responded, laughing.

"At least you don't have the obnoxious Weasley red hair combined with the famous Hermione Granger-Weasley's bushy hair," Rose commented, motioning to her red, bushy hair which she had attempted to pull back in a ponytail.

"Better than having that hideous blond Malfoy hair," James replied, never missing a chance to diss the Malfoy family. It was another one of his favorite hobbies.

Rose laughed, "I suppose you're right. Delaney doesn't seem to mind it, though," she said, both of them cringing at the thought of Delaney and Scorpius together.

"You didn't seem to mind either when you were shagging him last year," James said, joking, but Rose immediately tensed. Originally, Lily was the only one Rose told about the whole thing, but things got a bit out of control one day in the common room. James had been snogging the daylights out of some random girl in hopes Delaney would get jealous, and Hugo had asked Lily to control her sibling. Lily had laughed and replied back that he was the one who needed to control his sibling. At least hers wasn't shagging a Malfoy. Hugo's face grew red as anything, greatly resembling Uncle Ron, and he noticed Rose wasn't in the common room. He ran up the stairs and stole the Marauder's Map from James' trunk to check if they were together. They were in the Room of Requirement, so their names did not appear on the map. Hugo waited for Rose until three in the morning, when she finally traipsed in, looking like a right mess.

Hugo screamed at her so loudly that night it seemed all of Hogwarts had heard. Either that, or they found out from someone who had, as it spread all around the school the next day. Rose and Scorpius didn't meet up again, apparently. That was no surprise after the loud howler Ron had sent her the next morning.

"Shut up, you tosser. At least I don't have a picture of him under my pillow for special occasions," Rose teased back, referring to the picture of Delaney making a kissy face at the camera he had stashed under his pillow.

Rose laughed loudly and James knew their was no point in denying it, so he laughed too. It felt good to laugh. Laughter was always said to be the medicine for everything, but James didn't think so. He saw it as the best way to mask away pain and feelings all together. That's not fixing anything, that's just ignoring it. But James was like Delaney today. He didn't want to deal with it.

**

Delaney pumped her legs extra hard, trying to gain as much distance away from Scorpius as possible. She snuck into the closest store she could find after she rounded the corner and out of his sight. Breathing heavily, she tried to calm herself.

But, where the bloody hell was she? Delaney looked around. The wooden floor was shining brightly in the light, like it had just been shined. There were several old, rickety tables spread out around the room. Some were even missing some legs, and looked about to tip over. There were quite a few shelves on the walls too, with the same shiny, dark wood as the floor. Across these shelves and tables were clocks. Every type of clock that possibly exists was in this room. Some were new and modern, while others looked older than Delaney's grandmother. Delaney closed the door behind her, causing the door to creak and announce her presence.

"Hello, may I help you?" A man asked from behind the counter. He looked fresh out of Hogwarts, with his shiny brown hair and blue eyes, and relaxed attitude. Delaney smiled. Attractive boys always made her day better.

"Unless you have a clock that tells me how to fix the mess that my life is, you can't. I'm only in here to hide from someone," Delaney said. Why not be honest? It wasn't like she was planning on seeing this man again.

"Well I'm afraid our shipment of life fixing clocks doesn't arrive until next week," The man joked back, and then added, "Perhaps I could still help, though. It gets pretty dull in here."

Delaney laughed. He was kind of cute. Maybe he could help. James had never been good with advice, but he was a good listener. Right now, she needed advice. So why not ask this random attractive stranger?

"Alright, sure. Should we...take a seat?" Delaney asked, a bit awkwardly. The man nodded and lead her over to a small coach that was hidden behind the mass of tables and clocks.

***

"Elizabeth, your mother is coming to see you!"

A woman with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes blinked in confusion, unsure if that comment was directed at her or not. She couldn't remember her name. Maybe it was Elizabeth. She wasn't sure. But that wasn't new. She wasn't sure about a lot of things. Like her favorite color or her age.

She scanned the room worriedly, trying to figure out where she was. There was a bright yellow couch shoved in the corner of the room covered with ripped pillows and cushions. There were no windows, and the only real source of light in the room was coming from a small lamp in the opposite corner. She shifted around on the bed she was sitting upon, causing the springs to dig into the back of her thighs. The woman jumped up away from the pain, and straightened the white gown she was wearing. Her feet felt cold. She had no socks and no shoes. Where had they gone?

The woman bent down to see if her socks and shoes had slid under the bed right as the door opened. A woman with bright curly, red hair was wheeling an elderly woman inside the room. The woman looked absolutely ancient with all of her wrinkles and bruises.. The dark-haired woman, after realizing her shoes were not under the bed, squinted at the elderly woman, trying her best to recognize her.

"Hello, Elizabeth," the elderly woman greeted, smiling at her.

The woman didn't reply. She just continued to stare blankly back at the woman. The red-haired woman pushed the wheelchair in the center of the room and then hurried out of the room.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" The woman replied at last, causing the elderly woman to laugh.

"Well, you lived in my stomach for nine months, so I would sure hope so!" The woman said back, barking in laughter. The dark-haired woman blinked again in confusion and didn't respond. She couldn't remember where she lived, but she was sure it was not in this woman's stomach. That was just bizarre.

"My name is Laura. I'm your mother," the elderly woman clarified.

"Oh, and who am I? Am I Elizabeth?"

"Yes. You're Elizabeth. Do you remember anything at all? Your daughter? Your husband? Magic? Harry Potter? Any of it ring a bell?" Laura asked, though she was quite sure she already knew the answer.

"I don't remember anything at all," Elizabeth replied sadly.

Author's Note: I was hoping to get this chapter up absolutely ages ago, but I couldn't think of how to end the chapter and ended up editing a lot of things. Hopefully it's not too bad. Let me know what you think :) Also, I take no credits for the "lyrics" Rose and James were singing. I looked it up and those showed up as two of Celestina Warbeck's songs.