A/N: This takes place during Show a Little Faith: Chapter 33 - Something in the way she moves.

- Alice -

"Need a refill?"

Alice pulled herself out of her inner musings at the familiar sound of Malcolm Bray's voice. She turned to him and smiled as he approached her table, thankful for the distraction he brought. Her thoughts had been securely focused on the rather unpleasant presence of a certain wedding guest, and she didn't want to waste the day thinking about that. It surprised her to note that Malcolm's company would have been perfectly acceptable to her no matter what the occasion, even if she was still insisting on keeping her distance from him.

"Just about," she said, taking the last sip of her wine. He nodded towards the drink table and she stood to follow him. They'd met in passing a few more times since he'd shown up at her flat, but it was Teddy and Victoire's joint stag and hen party that had her truly considering letting him in just a bit more. They'd actually been able to have a normal conversation once again, and it almost pained Alice to realize how much she'd enjoyed it. Every time she'd seen him, he'd been perfectly agreeable and nowhere near over eager like she had feared. She didn't want to be pressured or guilted into anything, and even though she knew he wanted to take things past friendship, he was doing a remarkable job of showing patience. Alice found it endeared him to her even more.

There was no part of her that didn't like Malcolm Bray. He was kind and honest and responsible, not to mention handsome in a boyish way. And he really had shown himself to be mature and understanding by the way he'd handled their somewhat complicated relationship. It almost made Alice feel ashamed of herself to realise the only reason there was anything complicated about their relationship was because of her. He was being much more adult about it than she was. She'd realized this the night of the hen and stag party and had decided to make an effort to at least show some warmth in the way she interacted with him. As she followed him to the drink table, she felt delighted to realize she'd managed to do that just now.

"More wine?" he asked as they reached the drink table. Alice nodded and soon found herself holding a fresh beverage.

"To the happy couple," he said with a soft smile, clinking his own glass of wine against hers before taking a sip. Alice smiled and did the same.

"I didn't realize your brother was training to be an Auror," Malcolm said as they stood on the edge of the dance floor. "We were sitting at the same table with some of Teddy's coworkers that I know," he explained.

"Yes, Ethan sort of surprised us all with that," Alice said affectionately. "He'd always been rather soft spoken, very unlike Teddy and all the other's we'd known that pursued that career. We knew he was brilliant, but he sort of flew under the radar for awhile. We're all very proud, though. He's doing excellent from what Teddy and Harry say."

"You're rather close with the whole family, then," he said after taking another sip of his wine. "I noticed it even more the other night at the party. For such a large group you're all rather tight knit."

Alice had to chuckle at this. "I'm afraid we are. That's what happens when you grow up as children of war heroes. They're not exactly trusting of outsiders so they tend to stick to their own kind. We've sort of followed suit, but it's been nice to see others welcomed in."

She gestured onto the dance floor towards where Rose Weasley was dancing with Scorpius Malfoy, and a smirk appeared on Malcolm's face.

"It's nice to see them getting along so well. They're in the middle of some rough waters."

"Really?" Alice asked in surprise. Malcolm nodded.

"He got himself into a bit of trouble, but he'll be alright. Not sure he knows it yet, but he's got one loyal cohead. You should have seen her sticking up for him. McGonagall would have been a fool to take his badge."

"Could that have happened?" Alice asked in surprise. "That's rather rare, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And knowing McGonagall, I don't think she would have either way. Unless Rose had assured her it was necessary, at that was never going to happen."

Alice smiled, taking one last glance at the pair dancing not far from them before turning to Malcolm.

"I think it's wonderful how much you care about your students. They're whole people to you, not just essays to grade. I wish more of my professors had been that way."

"Come on," he said in a teasing tone, though his cheeks had turned slightly pink at her praise. "You mean to tell me that Ogden never offered you a homemade biscuit and asked you how your day was going?"

Alice laughed along with Malcolm at the image of the somber and ridged Transfiguration professor, who never smiled and would sooner scold a student than offer them a cup of tea if they showed any frailty.

"At least she's good at the teaching part," said Alice, and Malcolm only had time to agree with her before his attention turned to someone approaching them from behind Alice.

She barely had time to react before Liam Smith was clapping Malcolm Bray on the shoulder and the two were exchanging pleasantries. Alice felt frozen in place as her suave and disarming ex boyfriend talked to Malcolm Bray as if they were old friends.

"Wondered where you'd wandered off to," said Liam in an almost teasing tone, "and now I see you had a better idea than the rest of us."

Alice felt an extreme pit of dread forming in her stomach as he turned his attention to her, what was supposed to be a charming smile present on his face, though Alice only saw it as conniving and untrustworthy.

"How's it going, Alice? You look lovely."

She felt her whole body clench in disgust as he rested a hand on her arm and bent down to drop a kiss to her cheek. Still, she didn't make a move or say a word.

"You two know each other?" Malcolm asked curiously, and Alice felt herself relax a bit to remember that she would most likely be able to count on Malcolm to help her get out of any situation she didn't want to be in. She even felt able to answer his question and almost did before Liam spoke up instead.

"Oh, Ally and I go way back, don't we?" he said, throwing a smile at her as he grabbed a drink. "We knew each other in school."

This seemed to be enough of an explanation for Malcolm and he nodded, though he looked at her questioningly as he took a sip of his drink. It relieved her to know that he noticed something was a bit off. She'd flinched when he'd called her Ally. It was something that only her family and Victoire ever called her. She'd forgotten that he had too.

"Didn't realize you two knew each other," Liam said to Malcolm. "Though I suppose you probably knew each other in school as well."

"Not really," said Malcolm. "We only really met this year when I started working at Hogwarts."

"That's right. I heard you were at the Three Broomsticks now," said Liam, and the way he said it, almost as if he'd been keeping tabs on her, made Alice grow cold. He shouldn't know about her life. That was none of his business. The thought that he knew anything about her made her angry.

The music changed to a slower song and Liam downed his drink before he placed a hand on Malcolm's shoulder once again. He was slightly taller than the Muggle Studies professor, and Alice remembered how he'd always subtly used his size to intimidate others. It made her blood boil to see him doing it to Malcolm.

"Well, mate," he said with a smirk, "if you're not going to pluck up the courage to ask this gorgeous young lady for a dance than at least I will. D'you mind?"

Malcolm barely had time to respond before Liam had reached out and grabbed Alice's arm. At this point, her embarrassment and discomfort was far outweighed by her anger and she was able to muster the courage to throw him off. Malcolm cut off whatever he was going to say in response to Liam to look at Alice in surprise, and she knew her face was probably portraying all of her frustrations.

"I'd rather not," she said as calmly as possible. Liam rolled his eyes as if she were behaving like a child.

"Come on, Ally. Don't cause a scene and have a dance."

He reached out to grab her again, but Alice stepped away before he could reach her.

"I. Don't. Want to," she said as strongly as she could, glaring into his infuriatingly beautiful blue eyes that had tricked her into trusting him all those years ago.

"Just one dance. For old times sake," he said in a soothing voice in an attempt to coerce her. But Alice was having none of it. She couldn't believe she was in this position. How had he even been invited? He was standing close enough that she could smell the alcohol on his breath and it disgusted her to realize he'd probably already had a little too much.

"You've got to be barking mad to think I'd want anything to do with you," she forced out, knowing she was on the verge of tears and that it probably showed. A moment of relief swept through her when Malcolm stepped forward and tugged Liam backwards by the arm.

"Leave it alone, Smith," Malcolm said in a stern voice. "She's obviously not interested."

"You know nothing about it, Bray," he snapped at Malcolm. "I know our little Ally better than you do. She's always been very eager to please, haven't you, Ally?"

The look he gave her filled Alice with disgust, but more in herself than in him. It pained and embarrassed her to think of the girl she'd once been, who really had always been eager to do whatever she could to keep his attention. He was older and oh so handsome and mature. She'd done far more to keep him than she would ever be proud of, and he'd been using her to further his career all along.

"Alice, is everything okay?" Victoire asked as she and Teddy approached them, but Alice barely heard her. Malcolm was looking at her in confusion as Liam threw him off, and it was all Alice needed to see before she turned and ran towards the house and away from a past that refused to do anything but haunt her.

- Malcolm -

Malcolm was a mix of shock and confusion and anger. Alice and Liam had a history? Why hadn't he known about it? It had obviously been bad, but Liam was friends with Teddy. None of this made sense, but the situation became slightly more clear with the added presence of the newly married couple.

"Liam? What the hell are you doing here?" asked Victoire, and Malcolm was sure he'd never heard her use such a disapproving tone before.

"I was invited," said Liam with a triumphant smirk, which only made Victoire scowl before she turned accusingly towards her husband.

"You're friends with this bastard?" she said in a biting tone, and poor Teddy looked between his wife, his groomsman, and his fellow Auror helplessly before responding to the first.

"You said I could invite people from work and that you trusted me to handle that," he said calmly. "We've worked a few cases together the past few months and got to know each other. What's the problem?"

"The problem," said Victoire, turning her anger away from her husband and towards Liam Smith, "is that this no good piece of shite had a little too much fun taking advantage of Alice when they dated at Hogwarts. He's not welcome here."

With that, Victoire turned and stormed up to the house and after her best friend. A rage boiled inside Malcolm and he roughly turned Liam Smith to face him. He wobbled a bit before he stared down at Malcolm indignantly.

"Hands off, Bray."

"I should be saying that to you," Malcolm snapped back. "You had no right to force your presence on her, let alone try and get her to dance with you."

"Victoire was talking shite."

"Like hell if I'm going to believe that," he snapped, anger growing more strongly in him as Alice's pained face before she ran off flashed in his mind. "She obviously didn't want you around."

Malcolm stumbled back a few steps as Smith gave him a good shove in the chest. Thankfully, they weren't in a crowded part of the pavilion and went mostly unnoticed as things escalated. Malcolm reached for his wand but stopped as Teddy laid a hand on his arm.

"I can do whatever I damn well please," Smith countered, and Malcolm could hardly take being anywhere near the arrogant bastard any longer. He was so caught up in his anger that he barely noticed when Teddy's godfather quickly approached them with a look of concern on his face.

"No, you don't," Malcolm snarled at Smith. "You've obviously done enough to Alice and it's more than clear that she wants nothing to do with you and you bloody well deserve to be despised by her. Back the hell off. Like Victoire said, you're not welcome, and you have no right to go anywhere near her."

"Fuck off, Bray," Smith snapped at him. "This is none of your concern."

"Watch it, Smith," said Harry, clearly making his presence known with his stern tone and the cold look he gave the young Auror. "You will not cause a scene at my family's home in the middle of a wedding. I don't want to have you removed but I will if I have to."

"I'm not the one causing a scene, sir," said Smith with a snarl at Malcolm. "I was just minding my own business when this prick decided to get into my face."

Malcolm's disgust grew at the lie, and he immediately thought of Alice, most likely distraught and crying wherever she'd run off too.

"I know a rather upset witch who'd beg to differ," he managed to force out. Thankfully, Teddy stepped in before Smith could speak up again.

"Liam, just leave, alright? We'll talk about this later."

Smith didn't seem too pleased with this request and almost argued with Teddy, but for all his faults, he did seem to respect his superiors, and eventually gave a stiff nod.

"Fine. Congratulations, Lupin."

He turned and left, leaving Malcolm to continue to fume as Harry asked Teddy what had happened.

"It was Alice,' Teddy explained. "Apparently they had a rough history and he's mostly to blame. I had no clue until today."

Harry's brow immediately furrowed in concern. "Did he do something to her?"

"We don't know the whole story," said Malcolm, dying to make sure Alice was alright as well as wanting to get to the bottom of things. "Victoire only said they dated in Hogwarts and that he took advantage before she ran off after Alice. I think he was a little drunk and he tried a little too hard to talk to her tonight."

Malcolm knew this was stating things a little lightley, but he didn't want to do any more harm by explaining fully what had happened. Harry nodded in understanding and Malcolm directed his gaze towards the dance floor, not trusting himself to be able to refrain from giving more away.

"Should we find Neville and Hannah?" asked Harry, and Malcolm wanted to insist for a moment that he be the one to go after her when his eyes landed on Rose and Scorpius, who were practically on the edge of the dance floor and had obviously been watching them.

"I have a better idea," he told Harry, and he didn't waste another moment before he was moving towards Rose and Scorpius, who gave up any pretense of appearing to dance as he reached them.

"Rose, do you know where Erin is?" he asked immediately.

"No, but I can find her," she said at once. Malcolm nodded, thankful that she was so eager to help.

"Okay. They went into the house and I'm going to go check on her, but I think you should get Erin."

He barely waited for Rose to nod before he moved past them and he was rushing towards the house, unable to wait one moment longer to make sure that Alice was okay.

- Alice -

It had been easier than Alice had expected to reveal to Erin and Victoire everything that had happened between herself and Liam Smith. She was also surprised how much it helped her gain perspective on not just her past, but how it was affecting her future. So when Rose said Malcolm wanted to come in and see her, it hadn't taken that long for her to realize what she had to do if she wanted to finally let someone in. And she definitely wanted to let Malcolm in.

As her sister and Rose left the room, Alice had a few moments to collect herself, and scooted forward so she sat on the edge of the bed, brushing at her cheeks in an attempt to clear off any makeup that might have been affected by her tears. She pulled at the long sleeves of the purple dress she wore, thankful that it covered her as much as it did. For some reason, it made it easier to be more vulnerable that way.

"Alice?"

Malcolm was standing in the doorway, his groomsmen attire slightly wrinkled from sitting on the stairs for almost half an hour, and his hair looking a bit disheveled, most likely from running his hands through it. He fully stepped into the room when she gave him an encouraging smile, closing the door behind him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, still standing by the door, his voice laced with concern.

"I will be," she assured him. After a moment of hesitation where they just looked at each other, Alice reached out and patted the spot on the bed next to her. Malcolm immediately walked over and sat next to her, his hands resting on his knees as he continued to watch her.

"How much do you know?" she asked, certain that Victoire must have said something for him to be able to realize how upset she must be.

"Victoire just said that you dated in school and that he… well, she said he took advantage. He was the year below me, if I remember correctly, which makes him two above you?"

She nodded in confirmation. "You can see the appeal that would have had to a fifth year who mostly blended into the background."

He didn't say anything, merely watched her closely, but rather than intimidate her, it comforted her to know how much he cared.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning?"

"You don't have to tell me anything," he assured her, and Alice felt her heart melt a bit at how sincere he was.

"Malcolm, if I want to move past this… if we want to move past this, then I need to tell you."

The look of surprise he wore made the courage she'd mustered up to say that completely worth it.

"I first met him when he stayed behind one day to talk to my dad after class near the beginning of the school year," she began. "I had Herbology the next period but I showed up early so I could talk to my dad about something. I don't even remember what it was anymore. The only thing I remember about that day was officially meeting Liam Smith. I knew who he was. He was on his house Quidditch team and he was attractive and charismatic. Plus all the girls talked about him and he dated around. He, however, didn't appear to have known I existed before that moment."

She paused to take a deep breath as Malcolm's undivided attention remained on her.

"After that, there were a few times I passed him in the hall and he'd say hello, and by the time Halloween rolled around, he was actually going out of his way to talk to me. He asked me out soon after, and by the time Christmas rolled around, I was in deep. Emotionally."

She'd been looking straight ahead as she spoke, but turned a bit to face him now, and was encouraged to see him do the same, one of his hands moving to rest between them on the mattress.

"I fancied myself in love and I couldn't do enough for him. At first it was doing small favors like grabbing him food if he hadn't had time to eat or running to his common room when he'd forgotten something, then it became ditching my friends to spend time with him and then it got worse."

This was going to be the hardest part, and Alice braced herself as she felt tears start to well in her eyes. She looked down to where his hand was resting on the mattress.

"I turned sixteen just after the new year, and to Liam, this meant it was time to progress certain aspects of our relationship. We hadn't done much physically, but then he started to drop hints and push things a bit until it made me feel like I owed it to him to let him in more. Like I must not actually love him like I said I did if I wouldn't have sex with him. And that our relationship would be better and more secure if we did. I grew scared that if he didn't get it from me, he'd go try and find it somewhere else. He even hinted that he would. It didn't take long for me to give in."

She saw Malcolm's hand clench into a fist and her gaze drifted up to see his face. He appeared angry, but she knew it wasn't with her.

"He never hurt me. At least, not physically. Throughout the whole time we were together," she pressed on, "I always found myself wondering why it was he was with me. I was nobody, but as it turns out, that's not entirely true."

His anger fell away and morphed into confusion before she looked away again.

"For as long as we were together, Liam would mention every now and again how much he dreamed of becoming an Auror. The only problem was, he didn't exactly have the most superb marks. He had all his O.W.L.s, but he was borderline. He'd mention this on occasion and say how much he hoped it would be enough. Then, a few months into the new year and not long after we started being more intimate, he started dropping less subtle hints about how I could help him. 'You're lucky your family is close with the Potters' he'd say. 'Your dad could pull just about any strings he wanted.' Of course, the idea of helping him being ingrained in me, it wasn't long before I was going to my dad and asking if he'd be willing to write a letter of recommendation to get Liam into the Auror Academy."

She glanced at Malcolm, and his face seemed pained for her.

"It was what he'd been after all along," she said with a resigned shrug. "I told him what I'd done and he showed his appreciation well enough, but he immediately started to pull away after that. I was confused and hurt and I couldn't understand what I had done wrong, because of course I believed it was all my fault. He'd continue to blow me off and ignore me. It went on for about a month before I was able to confront him. I don't think I'll ever forget how he looked at me and what he said. 'I'm going to be an Auror, Ally. I don't have time for silly school romances.' I think I'd sort of started to realize the truth, but I knew it fully then, and I asked if that meant he'd gotten what he wanted so that meant we were done, and he didn't deny it. I was livid and mortified and I didn't speak to him again. He graduated a month later and then he was off to be an Auror. Just like he wanted."

Alice let out a deep sigh, her eyes gazing unseeing towards the other bed in the opposite corner of the room. It had been so devastating at the time, but she was now grateful more than anything that it hadn't carried on longer. She fell silent, waiting for him to say something, and she was surprised by his question when he finally did speak up.

"Why didn't you say something?" he asked. "To your dad or to Harry or anyone?"

She gave a noncommittal shrug. "I was young and embarrassed. And I supposed I still loved him even after he hurt me. I only just told Erin and Victoire everything."

Silence reigned between them once again, and she realized she hadn't quite gotten to the point of why she was telling him all of this yet. It truly felt like a relief to unveil her past to him, and she immediately felt much more comfortable being open with him, seeing as he now knew the whole ugly truth.

"You can probably guess why I keep my distance from relationships and vulnerable situations," she said, continuing to keep her eyes off Malcolm. "I haven't been with anyone since, and until I met you, I never wanted to be."

Alice managed to work up the courage to look at him, and his expression was soft and almost hopeful.

"I'm still terrified of letting anyone in," she clarified, "but I know I want to try. I hope this explains why I've given you mixed signals and acted the way I have. It might not be easy for me, but I'm ready to be past it all, even if it still takes a little time. It might have happened a long time ago, but I've buried it for so long that it's still there. Today was the first time I really talked about it. Ever."

He nodded in understanding, leaning forward so he clasped his hands in front of him and rested his arms on his knees.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me," he said, looking at her intently. "I know that wasn't easy and I don't take it lightly."

She nodded, grateful that he understood. Knowing that he'd be unlikely to make the first move after everything she just told him, Alice scooted closer to him, resting her hand on the bed for balance before leaning forward and dropping a soft kiss on his cheek. He turned to look at her as she pulled back, and Alice's breathing sped up as his warm brown eyes locked on hers. She sat back and he sat up, resting his hand on the mattress once again and leaning slightly towards her.

"I know you've had to handle a lot today," he began, "and the last thing I want to do is pressure you. But I'm still here and I still want the same things that I told you I wanted before. I don't really care too much how long it takes, and I'm willing to follow your lead."

All of the stress and anxiety of the day and her past melted away as she took in his sincere and open gaze. Reaching up, she softly rested her fingers on his cheek, revelling in the way his eyes fluttered at her touch.

"Thank you," she said in a whisper, keeping her eyes locked on his. "For being so understanding and so patient. For being you."

He turned his head slightly so her hand rested fully against his cheek and he smiled at her.

"I have a feeling you're worth it," said Malcolm, and Alice knew she fell a little more for him in that moment. With a smile of her own, she withdrew her hand from his face and reached down to grip his hand where it rested on the mattress.

"Want to head back down?" she asked. "You can ask me for that dance you were too scared to ask for earlier."

He gave a surprised laugh at her cheek, probably because it was a reference to what had occurred earlier with Liam Smith. Alice was surprised herself, but it brought her barely any pain to think about it all now, and as she stood with Malcolm and he followed her out of the Burrow, she had a feeling it wouldn't be long before it didn't hurt at all.

A/N: And that does it for the wedding I think! It's possible I'll write one about Lily and Caleb, but it's not likely unless I suddenly get inspired. I do have some ideas for how that would go since I did include Lily in the original chapter, so let me know if you'd like to see it! Next time we see these two will be that visit Alice makes to Malcolm's office :)

Read and review as always!