A.N.: Hasn't been long… are you proud of me? I updated Roadtrip! at long last so I'm relieved from my status as a piece of shit author, hahaha. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is arguably a goddess, because she has ownership of HP

Twelve: Secrets, Secrets, Are No Fun… Or Not?

Roxanne was starting to realize why Dom loved sex so much.

Now, whenever she caught Niall looking at her at the Great Hall over breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or just looking at her in general, really) she felt hot all over and it was all she could do not to jump his bones.

In a way, it was sort of pathetic, but she didn't really care.

She was also beginning to get very good at lying. As far as her friends were concerned, she was in the library, going to the Owlery, attending Charms Club—of which she wasn't truly a member—or visiting the kitchens. All lies. In reality, she was in a constantly changing venue whereupon Niall made her forget her name.

Niall was certain that Fred had no clue that one of his best mates and his little sister were sleeping together, and that made Roxanne smile smugly with satisfaction. See Freddie? You can't control me.

It was Thursday morning at breakfast, and she was seated calmly across from Rose while she helped herself to a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"I'm exhausted from patrol last night," her cousin sighed, yawning and brushing her scarlet hair from her eyes.

"It's just walking around the school. Unless, that is, you and Bones decided to take advantage of an empty classroom?" Roxanne teased, looking pointedly at Rose.

"No, we did not," Rose denied frankly, rolling her eyes. "I think we can agree that that's something very unlikely to ever happen. Not really my style, and I'm reasonably positive it's not his either."

"Do you reckon he's a virgin?" Roxanne wondered, partially out of true curiosity and partially out of wanting to bother Rose.

"Who? Bones?" Scorpius interjected, sliding next to Rose, and startling her.

"No, you," she muttered darkly, her voice dripping sarcasm as she flushed crimson.

"Awwww, no need to be embarrassed, we're all friends here. I would guess that Bones has most definitely not swiped his V-card, but to answer your other question, I have," Scorpius told her cheekily, nudging her as he ladled a generous helping of eggs and hash browns onto his plate.

"As if we didn't already know that," Roxanne rolled her eyes. "And don't tease Rose, you might make her so uncomfortable she'll up and leave the table."

Ignoring her scolding, Scorpius plowed on unabashedly as Al arrived. "You and Bones contemplating doing it, Rosie? Don't you think that's a little fast? I mean, he did only just ask you to Hogsmeade last weekend, and we all know you're the classy type."

"Shut up, Scorp, or I'll hex you," Rose warned, putting down her fork and checking her watch. "But I am going to Hogsmeade with him."

"Surprise, surprise," Al said. "Scorpius, mate, I don't reckon you're going to up and leave me too? Godric knows if Rosie has a hot date Roxanne will too."

"Please, Al, I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, and don't act like you don't have girls following you in the halls trying to catch you alone in order to trick you into asking them," Roxanne retorted. A small flower of hope was blooming in her chest; the chances of her going to Hogsmeade with Niall were next to nothing, seeing as to the fact that it was a very public occasion and the two of them alone together would seem highly suspicious and date-like to any onlookers. But all the same, it was a wistful thought that she quickly crushed with logic. Better to not psych herself up for something she knew wouldn't happen.

"Morning, Bekah," she chirped, abandoning talk of Hogsmeade plans as her roommate gracefully lowered herself into the seat to Roxanne's left. The American then helped herself to a piece of toast with jam, licking the stickiness from her fingers.

"Hey, look here, Victoire and Teddy's engagement was announced in the Prophet," Rose remarked as she scanned the paper in front of her. Roxanne peered at it; one of the headlines was indeed Eldest Weasley Daughter Engaged to Childhood Sweetheart. A picture of Roxanne's tall, lithe blond cousin and a handsome Teddy Lupin holding hands and waving was next to the article.

"The wedding date's not listed… ha, as if they'd share it. Does the Daily Prophet reckon they want their wedding ruined by paparazzi and loads of admirers?" Scorpius snorted in contempt. "Fucking reporters. Drive everyone mad, and then they wonder why we hate them."

"You sound like my mother," Rose replied. "Although she still reads the Prophet, so I don't quite understand why she's so critical of it."

"Mum and Dad hate it too. Dad says he hears all he needs to know from work, and even though Mum's a writer, she ignores all the other reporters. Says there's no point in paying attention if they're simply lying all the time," Al added. "Reckon none of them ever got over all the trash it printed during the Second War."

There was a small stretch of silence. It was obvious to them that they had never experienced the loss that had come with the Wizarding Wars, but as members of the Potter-Weasley clan, the mark it had made on them was stark. Their families were famous because of the price they'd paid for fighting. Hell, Roxanne saw it every day, a sort of hollowness in her father's eyes when he wasn't speaking, or late at night, when he sat alone at his desk, pouring over work papers.

"You know, in America, we have laws about that sort of prejudice," Bekah said, clearing her throat. "Sure, there are the old pureblood families that are supremacists, but action is forbidden. Earns you a fast track to a life sentence. Back when the Muggles were rioting and everything in the sixties, the civil rights movement bled into the Wizarding world. Muggle-borns petitioned for laws that protected them against that sort of thing."

"Took the Ministry two Wars and massive destruction to realize that blood equality should be written into the law," Rose said distastefully. "But we've moved forward now, and I suppose that's the main point."

The last part, Roxanne had a feeling, was more for Scorpius's benefit and comfort than anything else. She locked eyes with Rose, who blinked pointedly and Roxanne stood up, gathering up her books. "We've got Defense in five minutes. Coming?"

"Yeah," the other four answered intermittently, stuffing their books in their bags and brushing any spare crumbs of breakfast from their hands. Roxanne shouldered her heavy bag and made way for the Great Hall entrance. As she walked, she could feel Niall's blue gaze following her. A satisfied smile pulled at her lips, but she tamped it down before one of her friends could ask what, exactly, made her so happy?

Lily was finally beginning to see that she'd dodged a real bullet by not having really dated Owen Carmichael. Of course, the situation was still a but humiliating, but Hugo and Louis were doing a solid job of helping her move past it. They'd both promptly refused offers of girls as dates to Hogsmeade on the upcoming weekend, insisting that she needed to make new memories there, sans-scumbag.

She'd pretended to brush it off, but in reality, it touched her that they cared. Real friends, cousins or not, were something that you really couldn't replace, even if you had a thousand cute fifth year boys on hand.

"Accio!" Louis attempted again. They were in Charms, and the wizened dwarf of Professor Flitwick was wheezily instructing them in the proper casting of a Summoning Charm. Lily had a particular zeal for Charms, something her father had informed her on some occasion that she may have inherited from her namesake. Not to mention, this charm in particular was one Harry Potter had used in the Triwizard Tournament in his fourth year. Thus, forcing down a giggle as Louis went red with frustration, she pointed her wand at the red velvet cushion five feet away from her. "Accio!" she commanded firmly, and it rushed towards her for a foot or two before its momentum petered out.

She restrained herself from sighing in frustration. "You still not talking to Dom, Louis?" she asked, once again attempting the spell.

Louis let out a short laugh. "No. And don't tell me to make up with her, because our fucking sister is getting married and she neglected to tell me. Who does that? Victoire and Teddy probably think I'm a real prat for not sending them my congratulations."

Lily pursed her lips. "I suppose. But don't you reckon she could've forgotten about it?"

Her blond cousin snorted in response. "Sure. Because that's likely. Lily Luna, Dom's weird and strange and listens to loud music and smokes and does seriously crazy stuff like streaking through the yard on New Year's Eve, but know this: there's always a method to her madness. Always."

Lily found this sort of hard to comprehend, seeing as to the fact that in her opinion, there wasn't really a logical motive to run naked through the snow. However, she figured it was better not to bring this up, unless she wanted to get hexed.

"Ahhh, Mr. Weasley, excellent, excellent!" Flitwick wheezed slightly as Hugo's cushion shot towards him. Louis sighed beside Lily and made another go at the spell, angrily jabbing his wand. The cushion didn't budge, unsurprisingly.

"Relax, Mr. Weasley," Flitwick chided him. Lily snickered, and Louis punched her lightly in the shoulder.

"Stuff it," he muttered. "I'm practically rubbish at Charms."

"No, you're just pissed off," Hugo volunteered meekly. "Mate, take a break and let's talk about something that's not going to make you breathe fire."

"Quidditch?" Lily offered. "The World Cup is this summer. Mum reckons she can nab us all tickets."

The two boys faces lit up animatedly with talk of sport, and Louis abandoned his scowl as he began to talk about how the French team was definitely making a comeback and had a shot at the cup.

"You'd think you went to Beauxbaton, the way you talk," Hugo joked. "Pretty French boy like you are."

"The pretty part I won't deny," Louis smirked. Lily didn't fail to notice how Alyssa Cornwell very nearly stabbed her fellow Ravenclaw in the eye at the sight of it. Lily rolled her eyes. Girls in her year were mad to fancy Louis and Hugo; they were arrogant, immature berks.

But then again, she was related to them.

When Charms class ended, Louis was in a significantly brighter mood, which boded well for the three of them as they made their way to the greenhouses for their last class of the day; double Herbology.

"We have to dilute Bubotuber pus today," Hugo recalled, causing Lily to wrinkle her nose. The last thing she wanted to be doing was working with disgusting yellow pus that mutated your skin on contact. Especially since it was a double block, which meant that much longer working with the Bubotubers.

Professor Longbottom greeted them with his usual laidback smile as they entered and set their books on the shelves provided, tying on the leather aprons. There were several worktables, and Lily, Hugo and Louis nabbed one at the back, sliding on the elbow length rubber protection gloves.

"This really puts me off my dinner," Lily commented, eyeing the Bubotubers with distaste.

"Think of how much Al and Scorp or James and Fred might pay for this," Louis remarked. "I'd feel sorry for some arse who got pranked with this stuff."

"Alright, I assume you all know what we're doing today," Longbottom announced from the front of the greenhouse. "The procedure is the same one we reviewed on Tuesday, so for all of you that took notes, kudos to you. Get working, I want all of the pus diluted by the end of this class. And remember, be careful."

"Sure thing," Lily muttered, and with one last sideways glance at her two best friends, they set to work.

So the Lily part was a bit of a filler to touch up on her, I didn't have a lot to say there, so it was a bit of a struggle, and I apologize for the lack of content. However, I can't wait to write the holidays, I have soooooo much planned. If you have any ideas or a character you'd really like to get a point of view from, just let me know! Thank you so so much for reading, and please review! Love you all!

-xoxo NotsoSugarQueen