The Kids Aren't Alright
So, I don't own Harry Potter...Damn.
Thanks to those who have followed, favored and/or reviewed.
Previously...
He saw Harry passed out on the couch. That was the first thing he saw when Albus entered the house. The second thing he saw, on the other hand, was his sister's fist flying towards his face.
Covering his now bleeding nose, Albus glared at his little sister, who looked as pissed off as he was.
"Talked to Ian, I see," Albus retorted as he pushed past his sister, who attempted to kick him. "Careful, little sister, don't wake our ever-so-loving father. I doubt he wants to hear from another angry redhead today."
"Fucking bastard," Albus heard his sister hissed as she stormed off.
Albus shook his head and headed towards the kitchen. There was bound to be something to clean up the blood on his nose, but he doubts there'd be enough for his hands.
30 July, 2023
James watched as the clock ticked back and forth. The small hand moving every hour, the bigger one every minute, and the red one every second.
Tick tock, every fucking second.
He could hear his mother up in her and Harry's shared office.
"Honestly, Harry! Enough with the bloody Ministry for just one moment! Can't you take the day off tomorrow?"
He'd bet that they were regretting the shared office space now.
"I'd rather not, Ginny! I can't be cooped up in this bloody house all day! Not when our children are out and about, getting themselves into trouble!"
"Merlin...Then do something about it, for fuck's sake!"
"You don't think I've tried?"
"Clearly not, considering all three of our children are ten steps ahead of us!"
"I don't believe that for one bloody second, Ginny."
"Then you clearly don't know your own bloody children!"
"And you do, Ginny?"
James sighed and blocked his parents out as he pulled his headphones over his ears.
"How can I say this without breaking?"
It was one of the song's she had told James about. It was before they had gotten together. They were at least 12 or 13 when she first told him about it.
"How can I say this without taking over?"
He had no interest in the song though, not at the time that is.
"How can I put it down into words."
He can hear the muffled voices of his parents. They were still yelling, but James only heard a portion of it due to the volume on his phone being all the way up.
"When it's almost too much for my soul alone?"
It wasn't a song that he would normally listen to, but he had it on his phone for a reason.
"I loved and I loved and I lost you
I loved and I loved and I lost you
I loved and I loved and I lost you
And it hurts like hell
Yeah it hurts like hell."
He couldn't help but relate to the song.
I don't want them to know the secrets
I don't want them to know the way I loved you."
He remembered hearing the song for the first time. It had been shortly after her death, he didn't go to the funeral. He was still in St. Mungos, recovering from the accident that had caused her death. Their deaths, James always had to correct himself. She had been carrying their child, a child they didn't even know if they had actually wanted or not.
"I don't think they'd understand it, no
I don't think they would accept me, no."
He took his headphones off as the chorus began again.
He winced as he heard a door slamming, Lily yet again coming in between their parent's argument. He would have put his headphones back on again, but he didn't. Instead, he got up and left his bed. He could still hear the ticks and the tocks over his parents and sisters shouting.
"Can you two shut up?"
"Excuse me, young lady, but you don't get to speak to us like that!"
"Then stop speaking about my brothers and I like we're not listening to you!"
James frowned as he exited his bedroom. He walked down the stairs, contemplating going towards his parent's office, before deciding against it and going towards the back door, which led out into the garden. Albus was on the old swing, though he wasn't swinging.
The bloody bastard was smoking.
He sat down on the ground, his back pressed up against the old tree that held onto the old swing. His younger brother offered up his cigarette, which James accepted without much thought.
"Lily join in yet?"
James nodded as he took a drag of the cancer stick in his hand. He passed it back over to his brother. "They're arguing about Harry and work, and us."
"Brilliant."
They sit there for a while, neither having anything in particular on their minds. James was secretly relieved about this, he could tell that Albus was as well.
They soon were graced with the presences of their little sister, if that was the right terminology at least.
James could tell that his sister was still pissed off at him, Albus too, judging by the look on her face when she glanced at their green-eyed brother.
"Of all the bloody places you had to go and beat up the bastard who knocked me up, why did you have to do it in Diagon Alley?"
Albus smirked at his sister, a slight smirk dancing on and off of his face before settling on a frown. "You try luring him out of there. Besides, we would probably be picked up by the muggle police." He shook his head as he looked back towards their house. "I heard enough bullshit at the Ministry about us, it's rather tragic when we've got to hear it here, isn't it?"
James frowned. "What'd you hear?"
He watched as his brother shook his head, avoiding his brother's gaze. "Just slander. Nothing to be worried about."
Lily glared at Albus. "Liar."
"Always."
James sighed as his younger siblings started to bicker. Everywhere he goes, someone's always fucking fighting over something. It got old rather quickly.
It was always easy for James to be forgotten. He was always far too quiet for his parents to realize that he was around. Merlin, sometimes he forgot about himself at times.
"Why would you do this to yourself, James?"
He was back in his room, lying on top of his bed as he twirled an unsharpened pencil around his fingers. He normally did this with his wand, but he hasn't seen that ever since he got out of St. Mungos, so this would have to do for now.
His father was staring down at him with what James could only describe as disappointment in his eyes. In what, he didn't know, nor did he care. James found himself looking at the bandages on his arms. There were some splotches of blood on them from when he had been disorientated.
He stared up at the ceiling as the pencil falls out of his hand and drops to the ground. His room was dark, as was the world outside his window. He should be asleep, but James knew that wouldn't come unless someone force fed him another sleeping potion. At least, for now, that is.
He was upside down in her Dad's car. She wasn't in front of him, despite being in the passenger's seat before the crash. She had slipped out of her seatbelt. He could see her body outside of the car, she wasn't moving or making any sounds, unlike James, who was fidging every chance he could get, screaming even when his voice started to crack and break apart. Her Dad was yelling too, but not as loud as James.
He looked over and saw her body on his floor, right on top of his awful rug, which hid his little box of secrets. Her unseeing, dead eyes stared right up at him, boring right into his eyes without a drop of any indication that she could somehow be alive. Her eyes were the only thing that he could make out, the rest of her was covered in blood.
He was in a muggle hospital when Teddy and his siblings entered. He had refused to give the hospital his parents information, sending them right to his godbrother instead. He winced in pain when they hugged him, but he let them anyways. He wasn't too badly injured but injured enough that his uncles and cousins wouldn't be badgering him into playing a game of Quidditch for a while.
He said nothing as his brother and sister entered. They said nothing in return as they sit down at his sides, Lily on his left, Albus on the right. He wants to smirk when Lily opens up his laptop and pulls up Netflix, but he doesn't.
He is glad, though, that his siblings are with him at the moment. He would never admit though, not that they would either.
And that was okay to him.
So, what do you think?
If you guys want to know the name of the song, it's Hurts Like Hell by Fleurie.
I know there might be some mistakes, so I apologize.
Please, review, like, and/or follow. That would be great.
Until next time...