The pounding on his apartment door woke Lawson much earlier than any person should be subjected to on a Saturday morning. For a few minutes he attempted to ignore whoever the inconsiderate asshole was that had ruined a perfectly fine morning for him by forcing him to actually be subjected to it. However as the knocking persisted, he found he had no choice but to stand up and go see who it was.

"Is it true?" Carter demanded, as soon as Lawson opened the door.

Lawson rubbed his eyes and attempted to stifle another yawn. "What?" he mumbled. "Carter, what the hell? Why are you even awake? It's like six in the morning. Jesus Christ."

Lawson knew better than anybody how Carter Remington III spent his Friday nights. Such activities did not lend themselves to early rising the next morning.

"I haven't gone to sleep yet," Carter replied. "But that's not the point, man."

Now that Lawson was slightly more awake and his vision much less blurred, Carter's lack of sleep became much more apparent. He had bags under his eyes and a five o'clock shadow. His clothes were rumpled and creased and he stunk of booze. In fact, Lawson had a feeling that his friend was still a little drunk. Through his annoyance at being woken so early, he felt a twinge of concern. Carter had certainly inherited his looks from his father. But there were two things he had most definitely gotten from his mother—his kindness and his propensity to use substances to try to deal with his issues, a great deal of which stemmed from the same person for both he and his mom. Carter Remington II. Husband. Father. Raging asshole.

Of course, Carter was a lot better than he had been in high school. Back then, he hadn't been as good at ignoring the pressure his father put in him to succeed. He crumbled under it, partying all the time and not just on weekends. Lawson remembered him talking about showing up to school for tests drunk or high off his ass. But now that he was at Harvard and away from his father much more often, he'd slowed down and kept the partying to a minimum. Dating Chastity Burbank again also seemed to be helping him. She'd gotten out of rehab a few months ago and was apparently serious about turning her life around. The paparazzi photos were certainly different this time around. He was much more likely to be photographed buying her a cup of coffee now than taking shots off her stomach or walking his dog in the park with her rather than snorting coke with her at a club. But he still had his issues. He most definitely still had his issues.

"Then what is the point?" Lawson asked.

"Are you really dating Victoire?" Carter demanded.

Lawson sighed. "Dude, I was gonna tell you, I swear. I know she's your ex and it's kind of weird for me to date her, but I was hoping you'd be okay with it since the two of you were never very serious."

"It's true that we weren't serious," Carter replied, finally stepping inside the apartment. Lawson closed the door behind him and the two of them sat down on the couch. "I wasn't, like, in love with her or anything. But she's a really nice girl, Lawson. I care about her a lot and I want what's best for her. So when I heard about the two of you, I was pretty pissed. I've sat by and watched you use a lot of girls and toss them aside once you've grown bored, but I cannot let you do the same thing to Victoire Weasley."

Even during his senior year of high school, when the pressure from his father was perhaps the greatest and his partying reached new levels, Carter had managed to be in a serious relationship with Chastity Burbank for the entire year. Despite his excessive drinking and partying, Carter never so much as looked at another girl when he was with her. Although Lawson had always suspected Carter had started dating her mainly to piss off his father, there was no doubt he'd been madly in love with her and still was. Out of the two of them, Carter had always been the monogamous one, the one with girlfriends. Lawson had never been able to understand. How could a kid with parents like his be so sure true love existed? The Remington's marriage was toxic. It was certainly part of the reason Lawson was wary of love. Though his own parents were an even bigger reason. When he was practically still a baby, his own father had taken off and never come back. He'd watched his mother move from boyfriend to boyfriend since then, each one more useless and abusive than the next. It was no wonder he'd given up on the whole idea of love. Or at least he had until now.

"Carter," he said. "I'm not using her."

Carter let out a short laugh. "Yeah, right," he replied. "Lawson, you're practically twenty-one years old and you've never had a girlfriend. In fact, I think it's safe to say you've never had a deeper thought about a woman you've slept with other than 'damn, she's fine' or 'nice tits.'"

"That's not true," Lawson protested.

"Really?" Carter challenged, arching an eyebrow. "Name one."

Lawson bit his lip. There was one woman other Victoire who he'd ever really cared about. It hadn't been love, certainly. It hadn't even been monogamous. But there definitely had been deep feelings. But how did a person go about telling their oldest friend in the world that he'd spent nearly a year having an on-and-off affair with that friend's mother? Maybe it would be better if he just lied. Said a random name.

"Well?" Carter asked impatiently.

No, lying wasn't the answer. Perhaps it was finally time to tell his friend the truth.

"Your mom," he replied quietly.

Carter scowled at him. "Really, dude? Are you twelve? I'm asking you a serious question and you turn it into a lame 'Your Mom' joke?"

"No, Carter," he replied. "I'm dead serious. I care a lot about your mom."

"That's great, Lawson," Carter replied sarcastically. "But we're talking about women you've slept with."

"I know," he said.

There was a long silence. Then, after what felt like ages, Carter spoke. "What the fuck are you saying? His voice was low, almost menacing.

"I think you know," Lawson said.

"No!" he snapped in reply. "Because it sounds like you're telling me that you fucked my mom. But I know that can't be true!"

"Well, it is, okay? I fucked your mom, Carter. I spent a whole year fucking your mom."

"I really wish that I could beat the shit out of you right now!" Carter hissed. "In fact, the only thing stopping me is the fact that I know you have that stupid wand of yours and you could pretty much kill me without even trying."

"Carter, listen to me," Lawson said. "I know you're pissed off and you have the right to be. Having an affair with your mom was wrong. But I meant it when I said that I care about her. She has a lot of issues and I wanted to help her."

"My mom doesn't have lot of issues," Carter muttered angrily.

"You know damn well she does. All that drinking and those fucking pills. She needs treatment but she refuses to get it. She's fucked up, Carter."

"Don't call her fucked up!" he snarled.

"Why not?" he replied, throwing his hands up in the air. "It's true. She's fucked up. You're fucked up. I'm fucked up. Everyone in this world's fucked up! But we can't let that get in the way of wanting to help each other. And we definitely can't let it get in the way of continuing to live."

Carter didn't reply; he looked lost in thought.

"I cared about your mom, Carter. I'm sorry about what I did, but that doesn't change the truth." He paused, but when Carter still didn't say anything, he continued. "And going back to the original reason you came here, you should know that I'm in love with Victoire Weasley. I'm not using her. I can't guarantee I won't break her heart and I can't guarantee she won't break mine, but for the first time in my life, I'm not afraid of committing. For the first time in my life, I'm not afraid of calling someone my girlfriend."

"Okay," Carter finally muttered.

"Really?" Lawson replied. "Just like that?"

Carter shrugged. "You can't help who you love."

That was certainly the truth.

"I think perhaps we've been taking the wrong approach," Melania Muldoon said out of the blue, one morning as Tony Trimble walked by.

He stopped walking and turned, squirming a bit as she fixed him with her usual appraising stare.

"W-what?" he stammered nervously.

"When I tried to help you before, in regards to Hazel, I suggested a romantic approach, things like giving her flowers. But I'm thinking now that was wrong."

Tony was more than a little confused. Last he'd heard, Melania had had her heart broken by some young bloke from the Department of Magical Games and Sports and nearly had a mental breakdown every time anything remotely romantic was mentioned. Something must have changed—and very recently at that—but he didn't dare ask what.

"Okay," he replied. "B-But Ms. Muldoon, Hazel is with L-Lupin now and they seem very h-happy. I didn't trust Lupin at first, but now I do b-believe he t-truly cares about her. I'd only be g-getting in the way and I know there's no way she would ch-choose me over Teddy Lupin. No girl would."

"That, my dear," Melania said, peering at him over her glasses, "is a very defeatist attitude."

"It's easy to have a defeatist a-attitude w-when you've been defeated your w-whole life," he replied.

"That is, I'm afraid, a load of bullshit," she said brusquely, standing up and walking around the desk. She came to a stop right in front of him. "Stand up straight, darling. I want to take a closer look at you."

He straightened up, trying not to slouch back down again as her eyes began to roam up and down.

"Our lives are a series of defeats, Mr. Trimble. You're constantly knocked down, over and over again. But it is only when you lay there and don't get up again that you allow people to kick you around. You, my dear, have allowed too many people to kick you around. Stand up. Start over. It's time." She paused, taking a step back and looking him in the eyes. "I had my heart broken recently, as I'm sure you're aware. And I let it get me down for a while. But one morning I woke up and I looked at myself in the mirror and I told myself to stand back up and get on with my life. And guess what? I did just that. And look at me now. I'm back to my old self."

He tried to think of something to say in reply, but failed miserably. He wasn't even sure he understood what she was trying to tell him.

"So here's my new plan," she said. "You need to focus on becoming Hazel's friend first. Chat with her. Establish common interests. Become a part of her life. Then one day, she'll look at you and realize that what she needs has been there all along."

"I d-don't understand why you're d-doing this," he replied. "Hazel and Lupin are h-happy together. Surely you agree? W-Why are you so invested in h-helping me get her?"

"Those two are a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. They may be happy now, but it won't last. He'll break her heart, I know he will. But you, Mr. Trimble, are exactly what she needs. You may not look like Teddy Lupin, but you're certainly not ugly. And more importantly, you're reliable and you love her. You'll give her everything and that's what she deserves."

"Well," he said uncertainly. "I s-suppose I can give this whole f-friends thing a shot."

"That's the spirit!" she replied cheerfully. "Now off you go, dear. I have work to do and I'm sure you do as well."

Sorry this chapter doesn't have any Victoire or Teddy! They'll both be in the next one.

If you're reading this story please review. The last chapter only got a few reviews, which is fine. I really like this story and I'll continue writing as long as there's someone left reading! But I'll admit I have more motivation to update quickly when I get more reviews! To those of you who are reading and enjoying, thank you! It means a lot :)