TRUTH OR LIE
Violet was excited, nervous and tingly all over as she waited for the clock to strike four.
She kept getting distracted from the book she was forcing herself to read. She wasn't much of a bookworm in the first place.
The last time she'd read a book was for her English assignment and even then she had taken three weeks to complete it.
Her attention span was too short to ever be able to read novels and extensive literature.
She was the girl who read the headlines in the newspaper but never bothered to read the articles.
She sat in her father's study staring at the grandfather's clock hoping that time would pass faster.
She imagined what his secret was, tried to picture a fitting explanation.
Half the things she had seen were too unusual for a simple explanation.
When she began to think out of the box, she just couldn't picture werewolves and warlocks and sorcerers and what not. Not because she didn't want to because if that was the truth it would be so awesome but it wasn't realistic. This was the twenty first century not a movie based on a novel or her preferred alternate universe.
She turned another page in her book without even glimpsing it.
She was so jumpy about the meeting that she didn't even want to sketch.
She had thought of calling Nate but he had a lot on his plate at the moment. Every summer his mother sent him to the countryside to stay with his grandmother for a week and every summer Nate went like the good kid.
He never went against his parents wishes or their crazy restrictions and she sometimes wished he could stand up for himself.
His grandmother adored Nate and was very lonely in the countryside.
Nate had a very strong connection with his grandmother and this summer his grandmother was sick and in bed.
As Nate grew up she grew old.
So it was very necessary that Nate be there with her.
Violet smiled, Nate had always put his family before anything else even if it meant giving up something he loved.
Unlike Violet he didn't have the option of taking up art after his school.
His parents looked at his talent as a hobby not as a source of income and he again being the good boy was aiming to become a doctor not an artist.
His spotless grades and his talent reflected in the canvas had earned him the title of a nerd and a wuss.
Nate had never spoken to anyone when younger, he was more interested in keeping to himself.
But upon seeing Violet bullied the same as he had been he without saying anything managed to convey his message.
Violet knew Nate for who he really was and she couldn't have found a nicer person to be her best friend.
Her eyes flitted to the book and she couldn't make sense of anything on pages.
She shut it and laid it aside.
She watched the television, ate whatever was in the fridge and then took an afternoon nap.
Albus was busy drafting his speech in his mind.
He had the peanut butter jar open and a spoon in his mouth as he thought slowly sucking on the peanut butter about what he planned to tell Violet.
Lily walked in and whacked his head "What are you doing? Mum bought that jar yesterday, there's only quarter left"
Albus wasn't listening.
Lily sat down next to him "Al, hello? Al?"
He looked surprised to see her "Huh…wha?"
She rolled her eyes and said "Take the spoon out of your mouth you troll"
He did as she said and asked "What do you want?"
She answered crossing her arms "To know why my brother had almost a whole jar of peanut butter while spacing out about something that's definitely bothering him"
He put the spoon back in the jar and dropped his head onto the table "I am in a massive pickle"
Lily asked "What did you do?"
Albus groaned "Violet wants to know why we're different and weird, I think she suspects something odd"
Lily's brown eyes grew wide "What? How did you manage to give her that impression?"
He mumbled "She already knew"
Lily asked letting out a breath "Do you know how disastrous this could be?"
Albus looked up at her desperately "You think I don't? Help me Lils"
Lily took a spoon of peanut butter and popped it into her own mouth "What have you promised her?"
Albus gulped and mumbled incoherently "Tha…lll..teerverythin"
Lily looked at her brother pathetically "You better open that big fat mouth of yours and talk Al or else I'll have to get it out of you and it won't be pretty"
Albus felt his stomach flop over like a dead fish "That…I'll tell her everything"
Lily's face undertook a transformation Albus had been suspecting it would.
Her eyebrows drew in and her lips were pursed, she took a deep breath "Are you frikking kidding me?"
He shook his head and she blew "What were you thinking! Do you know how ugly this could become? If you tell her everything, then you'll have to make her swear never to tell anyone, it'll just get more and more complicated!"
He nodded "I know okay? I just…I couldn't lie to her"
Lily raised a hand to her head and started massaging her temples "One day….one day Albus Severus Potter your stupid honesty is going to bite you in the arse so hard….I swear sometimes you can be the most infuriating person on the planet"
Albus asked "Why?"
She glared at him with such fury that he almost jumped up in his seat, she said "Because it's sweet that you're so honest yet it's so troublesome. No one can really blame you for being truthful but sometimes it causes problems like this"
He hung his head "I'm sorry"
She sighed "Forget it, so are you going to lie to her?"
Albus felt suddenly uncomfortable "I don't know"
She put a hand on his shoulder "You have two options, lie or tell her the truth. Consider the consequences before you choose. Think about yourself but also think about her, can she handle it?"
Albus said with a heavy heart "Give me a cover story"
Lily grinned "Already on it"
When the bell rang Lily ran to the door with her red hair swinging behind her, she opened it to reveal a fidgety Violet "Hi"
Lily grinned "Come in, I'm suspecting you want to see Albus, he's upstairs, second door on the right"
Violet smiled shyly and entered "Oh, okay, thanks"
She heard Lily shut the door as she took in the house's appearance.
Lily and Al had taken extra effort in making sure all the wizard like things were somehow disguised or hidden.
When Violet saw the fireplace she exclaimed "That's so cool, I've always wanted a fireplace"
Lily just smiled.
Violet walked up the staircase and in the corner of her eye she thought she saw one of the people in the picture frame move.
She stopped and looked at the picture of a red-haired man smiling at her.
Nothing seemed odd so she moved but still felt uneasy. Maybe it was her imagination she told herself.
She heard someone cough and looked behind to see Lily who quickly began coughing "Sorry, just a little itch in my throat"
She cleared her throat once again innocently.
Violet smiled tightly still suspicious and feeling even more curious than before, finally she reached Albus's bedroom door.
She didn't know why she was flustered, he had been in her room hadn't he, that too without her permission.
Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach she knocked on the door.
The door opened and Albus swallowed almost guiltily which earned him a look from Lily who was behind Violet.
Albus said nervously "Come in"
She entered and found that the room she had imagined and the one she was standing in were quite different.
It was messily kept which didn't surprise her.
What surprised her was that there were no posters of football teams or girls or rock stars on the walls.
There was a sleeping bag on the side which she guessed was where Scorpius slept.
The walls were surprisingly blocked from her view with sheets and things somehow oddly misplaced in the room.
She saw that there were stacks of hardcover books on the table and an open trunk on the far of side.
Albus said breaking the silence "So, um regarding your explanation"
Violet tore her eyes away from the eagle quill on his table to his emerald eyes "Yes"
Lily said "I'll leave you to it then, I'll be in my room"
She smiled and slipped out of the room.
Only Albus knew she'd be listening with her ear pressed to his door or she might even use the extendable ear.
Once she was out, Albus said awkwardly "You can sit if you like"
She sat down mechanically.
He started speaking pulling out his chair by his desk and sitting on it "My father works for the government"
Violet heard the quiver in his voice but nodded encouragingly.
He said "I am not allowed to reveal what he does and honestly it's quite complicated"
This he said with confidence and Violet could feel him warming up to it.
He continued looking anywhere but at her "As for the trampoline I cannot explain it"
She asked "The snitch?"
He didn't know why he felt so clammy "Uh yeah that….My Dad never told me where he got it from, so I don't know, he told me it was custom made"
Violet wanted to argue but she didn't want to upset him, "Okay what about your school?"
He closed his eyes praying silently for divine intervention to help him "Don't tell me you don't have family traditions? That's just the case for me and for Scorp. It's a prissy private school. I know it's old-fashioned but it's what it is"
Violet asked innocently yet with a strict undertone that told him that she wasn't quite convinced "Okay, so what is it called?"
Albus could feel the alarms going off in his head, he tried to be calm like Lily had said.
Then he scratched the back of his neck and smiled "uh…it's called St. Thomas's Scottish school"
She gave him a long look and he shifted uncomfortably.
She narrowed her eyes "Oh….I will look it up when I get home"
He felt like someone punched him in the gut.
He rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans.
She asked through gritted teeth "Then the parchment?"
He answered "It's just a you know fad"
She smiled tightly "I suppose carrying sticks in your pocket is a fad too then?"
He cringed when he heard her sarcasm "Uh….yes?"
She stood up "Albus you're a horrible liar, you're probably the most honest person I have met in this generation. But if you're going to lie then at least do it properly. I'm leaving, and maybe you'll be better prepared next time"
He knew he had hurt her.
He wished he could say something but found himself at a loss of words.
She went to open the door but Albus said desperately "Wait"
She stopped but didn't turn around.
He said letting out his breath "I'm a wizard"
AN: How's that for a cliffhanger? :D
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SPHP20896:)