Chapter Twenty
We Are Broken Little Toys
Rose was stone cold silent for nearly the rest of the night. As soon as we got back into Hogsmeade my father met up with us and took us back to the castle. When he asked if we'd had a good time Rose simply nodded, she refused to look at me so she turned to my father and just said that she had a slight headache so she'd be happy to get back to the castle. Dad could clearly sense that something was up but he didn't say anything, I assumed that he thought I'd just shout at him.
Once we got back up to the castle both Rose and I thanked Dad and began the walk up to Gryffindor tower. It wasn't until we were outside the portrait, where the Fat Lady was fast asleep, that Rose turned to me.
"I'm not telling Sirius anything about tonight, I'm not going to tell anyone because I'm not the one that needs to tell them. That's your job." Rose said before she turned away from me and coughed loudly to wake up the Fat Lady.
"Rose I-"
"I don't want to hear it Lily." Rose snapped. The Fat Lady opened and bleary eye and smiled at the pair of us. "Sorry about this Lady." Rose said apologetically.
"It's quite alright girls. Password?" The Fat Lady asked.
"Fidelitas, something that some of us are lacking in." Rose said eyeing me. The Fat Lady looked between and sighed before the portrait hole opened up. Rose stomped through and I had no choice but to follow after her. Before I walked into the common room I heard Rose snort loudly. Once I was inside I saw Sirius, James and Dominique sat by the fire. Sirius saw me and gave me a lopsided smile.
"Hi, we thought we would wait up for you." Sirius said as he pulled me down to sit next to him. He kissed me on the cheek and smiled once again. "Did you have a good time at the gig?" he asked. I nodded unable to say a thing. "Is everything ok?" Sirius asked looking at Rose's sour expression.
"Um…yeah…we just have headaches…I think I'm going to go to bed." I said pushing myself up from the sofa where Sirius had been sat. "I'll see you all in the morning." I said as I walked away from the fireplace and up to my dormitory.
Sirius knew that something was going with Lily, well than what was currently going on with her; he also knew that Rose was in on the whole thing. By morning it was obvious that Rose wasn't just mad at Lily about something, she was furious. Furious with her for what Sirius did not know. Both of them were cold and silent towards each other during breakfast and Lily only said anything if she was pressed to speak by Victoire. James shot Sirius confused glances all throughout breakfast which Sirius had to simply return with a shrug to say that he had no idea what was going on.
Cissia Malfoy wasn't at all stupid. She was actually one of the smartest girls in her year but at the moment that wasn't really the point. She knew that something had happened the night before and that was why Rose looked so furious with Lily. Cissia also knew that her brother was no doubt involved. When she really thought about the worst thing Scorpius could have ever done to lily was asking her to dance at that stupid ball. Know he'd muddled up her thoughts and was no doubt mucking up her relationship with Sirius Lupin. Excusing herself from the Gryffindor table, using the excuse of having to send a letter, Cissia stomped over to the Slytherin table to find her brother.
"And what do you want mini Malfoy?" Azalea Smith asked with a sniff. Cissia shook her head before she spotted her brother. She marched over and smacked him across the back. He nearly choked on his juice as she stood over him with her hands on her hips.
"What hell Cissia!" Scorpius snapped staring up at her. "What was that for?"
"Can we talk outside?" Cissia asked not waiting for an answer. She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and nearly dragged him out into the entrance hall. "What is the matter with you? Did mum drop you on your head repeatedly as a baby?" Cissia snapped flicking Scorpius on the head.
"Will you stop inflicting pain on me?" Scorpius snapped back. "What in Merlin's name have I done now?"
"What went on between you and Lily last night? Don't bother trying to tell me that nothing happened because this morning both Lily and Rose are in foul moods and I know it's got something to do with you because it's always has something to do with you! Now tell me!" Cissia hissed. Scorpius, because he was completely infuriating and the worst brother in the world, simply shrugged. Cissia flicked him once again. "Tell me what happened!"
"Fine, if I tell you will you stop hurting me?" Scorpius asked. Cissia nodded. "Fine then, I saw Lily at the gig and…fine I flirted with her and the she kissed me…and I kissed her back but she freaked out and ran off to find Rose. I don't know what happened after that."
"Why" Cissia hissed hitting Scorpius on the arm "would you flirt with her when you knew she had a boyfriend?" Cissia nearly screamed as she hit him on arm in between each word. Scorpius swore loudly. "She's dating Sirius so why would you flirt with her? Are you that mentally deficient?" Cissia snapped once again hitting him on the arm.
"Ok will you stop hitting me? I know I did something wrong but there is no sodding need for you to keep hitting me! You might be small but you can bloody hit hard! I'm going to be bruised tomorrow!" Scorpius shouted.
"Why would you kiss her back though? Why?" Cissia asked. She knew that something had happened, she just knew it. What was it between her brother and Lily? Lily was a nice person, what on earth could she see in her uncouth, self-obsessed and unpleasant brother? Then again Lily had an insolent and rebellious side as well so maybe that was what Scorpius saw in her. "Why would you kiss her Scorp?" Cissia asked more sternly.
"Because I like her ok? I like her! She's sarcastic, jaded and as stubborn as the day is long! She's…I don't know but I like her ok!"
"You're not supposed to like her you idiot! She has a boyfriend!" Cissia said. This time Scorpius ducked out the way of her hand. "God what the hell goes on in that little narcissistic brain of yours Scorp?" Cissia asked.
"I don't know, I don't know ok! For Merlin's sake Cissia, can you just leave me alone please? I really don't need this right now." Scorpous said as he pushed away from Cissia and stormed back into the entrance hall. Cissia sighed loudly and pushed her hair out of her face.
"So you know now as well." A voice said. Rose Weasley walked towards Cissia and pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. Cissia wondered if Rose Weasley knew that Lily had told Cissia everything that had gone on between Rose's mother and Lily's father. Cissia wondered if Rose knew that Lily had told Cissia that Rose was Lily's sister. "Lily's going to tell Sirius but I don't know when seeing as I'm not really talking to her at the moment." Rose said with a shrug.
"I feel like I should say sorry because he's my sodding brother." Cissia said with a sigh. Sometimes it really did suck having Scorpius as a brother. She was half tempted to tell her mother what Scorpius had done but she knew that her brother would actually kill her.
"It's not your fault that they can't seem to stay anyway from one another." Rose said. "Lily isn't a bad person; she's just a heavily confused person with a problem with moral decency. She makes bad decisions and never realises that they are bad decisions until afterwards."
"I don't want my brother to ruin Lily and Sirius's relationship." Cissia said. Being in this situation made Cissia hate her family sometimes but it wasn't really anyone else's fault but her stupid brother's. "I want Scorpius to leave her alone."
"That's not going to happen sadly."
"He likes her."
"I think it's more than that. Merlin's sake, as if we need this to go on top of everything else." Rose said. Rose ran her hands over her face and groaned slightly. "Look can you not tell anyone about this? The last thing any of us need is for someone like Lavender Brown or the Skeeter sisters hearing about this. They'll shove it on Page Six of the Daily Prophet in a nanosecond. I may not like Lily at the moment because of what she has done but she is still my best friend." Rose said. Cissia nodded. "Thank you." Rose said and before Cissia could say anything else Rose had started to walk towards the staircase.
Sirius groaned to himself as he watched Rose walk away from Cissia Malfoy. I doubted that the two girls knew he'd heard most of their conversation or that he now knew that Lily was not the person she was pretending to be.
"Lily?" I looked up and saw Sirius standing over me. It was late into the evening and I was sat in the common room enjoying peace and quiet for once. I folded the page over in my book, one that Aunt Hermione had given me last summer that I'd read several times before but it was one of my favourites, and threw it into my bag. "Can we go and have a talk somewhere please?" Sirius asked. I glanced round the common and saw people staring at me but they noticed me looking back at them they looked away. "Now?" Sirius asked, this time sounding highly impatient.
"Um…yeah…of course. What do you want to talk about?" I asked.
"Not here. Come on." Sirius said nodding towards the portrait hole. I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed Sirius out into the corridor. Sirius walked until we reached an empty hallway. When he knew it was just the two of us he turned and glared at me. Yes, glared at me. I was slightly terrified and sure that Rose had gone back on what she had said and had told Sirius herself about the night of the gig in London.
"What's wrong?" I asked. Sirius stared at me with such a strange expression it actually hurt. "Sirius? What is wrong?" I asked again.
"I have to ask you something, I need you to be honest with me as well." Sirius said sternly. "Lily I need you to be honest for the first time in your life ok?" Sirius asked.
"I do know what honesty is Sirius." I snapped. Sirius's eyes narrowed until they were almost slits "Fine, I'll be honest." I said.
"I need to know about the night of the Merlin's Revenge gig, when you went to London. Did something happen between you and Malfoy?" Sirius said staring at me with something that looked almost like hatred.
"What do you mean Sirius?" I asked trying to feign innocence. I knew that Sirius and I had to have this conversation but, because I was a selfish bitch, I wanted it to be on my own terms. Clearly this was not going to be on my terms. Crap.
"Did you kiss Malfoy that night?" Sirius asked with a voice full of malice I wasn't even sure Sirius was capable of. Yes, this clearly wasn't going to be on my terms at all.
"What have you heard?" I asked. I knew instantly that this was the wrong thing to say as Sirius swore loudly. "What have you heard Sirius?" I asked. There was no point to try and deny something that had happen. After all I was trying to be honest more often.
"I heard that something happened between you two so you probably kissed him. Is it true?" Sirius asked with a hiss.
"Sirius-"
"Is it true Lily? Answer me!" Sirius shouted.
"Fine! It's true! I kissed him!" I shouted back. "I kissed him, he kissed me back and it's true!"
"I really can't believe you Lily, I really can't." Sirius said with a hiss. "I thought you were this amazing person but really you're nothing but a cold hearted, morally bankrupt bitch. James told me that I was crazy to aspect you to be a decent girlfriend. He told me that you would screw it up and now you have. Why did you do it? Why? Was I not good enough for you, did I not love you enough?"
"I don't know. I don't know." I said in a small voice.
"You told me that there was nothing going on between you and Scorpius. You told me that the kiss between you was nothing and yet that was clearly all a lie." Sirius said. "Why did you lie to me?"
"I…it…I don't know…I don't know Sirius ok!"
"You've been telling me that there was nothing going on and that you two 'were just friends' but now this is all clearly a bloody lie!" Sirius shouted. I tried to wrap my head around what was going on but it was impossible.
"Sirius I am so sorry-"
"Do you love him?" Sirius asked.
"What?" I asked.
"Scorpius fucking Malfoy. Do you love him?"
"Sirius-"
"Do you love him?" Sirius asked.
"I don't…no…I don't know. I like him. I like the idea of him, I like how he isn't perfect and I like how he's complex. I love you but…"
"If there is a 'but' then that isn't good enough. You may 'love' me 'but' I'm not Malfoy and that's the person you want to be with right?" Sirius asked. "I must say that you at least have the decency to tell me about this now and not carry on with Malfoy behind my back like little sneaks."
"None of us would want that. Both you and Scorpius are too good to be used like that."
"But I have been used Lily. I thought that you and I were something special but obviously we're not, we're nothing now."
"What?"
"It's over Lily. I won't sit and act like you haven't done what you have done." Sirius said. "It's funny, you hate your father for what he did to your mother and yet you are just like him." Sirius hissed. I didn't even realise that I had slapped him until the noise hit my ears. Sirius just stared at me.
"I'm sorry but I won't let you say that to me. I won't stand here and let you say that." I said turning on my heels and beginning to walk away from Sirius.
"Walk away and it's over Lily. I mean it." Sirius said. Sirius's comment about my father still stung and wasn't sure if I actually wanted to stop walking, I carried on then things between Sirius and I might have been over but maybe things would seem simpler. "Lily if you walk it's over."
"Fine then, it's over." I snapped as I turned away from Sirius and stormed back into the common room. Several people turned and looked at me and at that moment I could feel myself snap. It was like something was broken inside of me. I turned on my heels and stormed back out the common as I felt myself burst into furious tears.
I tried to see where I was going but tears can make seeing a difficultly. In the end I sat down in a small secluded alcove so I could cry in peace without the fear of anyone finding me. I knew I had done something terrible by kissing Scorpius that night and maybe I shouldn't have shouted at Sirius or slapped him but I was one of those people who when they are backed up in a corner with someone shouting at them I, sort of, snap. Ok I basically go a bit insanely bitchy. Ok really insanely bitchy. Rose was pretty much right when she called me morally bankrupt. Maybe I should add emotionally deficient to that as well. I was basically a terrible person.
As in continued to cry I heard footstep approaching and I tried to suppress my sobs. The footsteps stopped. I sniffed and wiped my eyes then nose on my sleeve.
"Lily? Lily is that you? What's the matter?" I looked up and groaned. It was my Dad. This was why it was a terrible thing that he was teaching here at Hogwarts. He was always here. "Lily what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Dad asked as he walked over to me and sat down. "Lily?"
"Nothing Dad, nothing's wrong." I said but I knew my tears gave me away.
"Lily you're crying." Dad pointed out. "Something has to be wrong." I stayed silent. "Lily I know you're still angry at me but I'm your father and, to be perfectly honest, I am your only parent who is here for you right now. I need you to tell me what is wrong."
"Why?" I said with a shrug. He had a point. I doubted that my mother was going to talk to me anytime soon.
"Because you're crying Lily, once you're a parent you'll know how hard it is to see your child crying."
"Especially the favourite child?" I asked with a somewhat tear stained smirk.
"Especially the favourite child. Now tell me, what is wrong? Why are you sat here, on your own, crying?" Dad asked as he wrapped and arm around me and pulled me into a one armed hug.
"Sirius and I have broken up." I said in a small voice.
"Why?" Dad asked with surprise.
"Dad-"
"I know I know; you don't have to tell your father anything but I'm here for you Lily." Dad said with a concerned smile.
"It's not that you're my father, even though you are, it's because I did something horrible and stupid. I don't want you to hate me and think I'm an awful person" I said.
"Lily you have done enough stupid things in your life already. I could not think of you as a horrible person. Tell me what happened."
"Dad-"
"It's cold out here; do you want to tell me in my office? I can make you a hot chocolate if you want. With cinnamon and two ginger newts on the side." Dad said with a smile. I stared at him with a smile to some extent as he named just how I had my hot chocolate. "Come on." Dad said standing up then helping me up. We walked to his office and I was greeted by wonderful warmth once we walked inside. "So do you want to tell me what happened?" Dad asked as he made me a cup of hot chocolate. I sat down and looked round the office. Several photos had changed since I was last in the office. There were a few more babies photos and several photos of James, Albus, Minnie and I when we were younger. One showed me holding the new born Minnie hours after her birth. I loved that photo because my smile was so big and you could see I was truly happy.
"I did a horrible thing that I shouldn't have." I said as Dad handed me my hot chocolate and two ginger newts on a plate. "Thank you."
"What was the 'horrible thing' then?" Dad asked.
"Do I really have to tell you?" I asked.
"Was it really that bad?" Dad asked looking at me with concern. "Come on Lily, I can't really help unless you tell me what is wrong."
"When I went to London for the Merlin's Revenge gig Scorpius Malfoy was also there."
"Oh God, I thought you two were something like friends. You didn't hex him did you?"
"No! No I kissed him" I blurted out. Why on earth did I say that to my father? Why?
"Scorpius Malfoy? Well…well that's…he's a Malfoy"
"He's not a bad person. Ok he's rude, sarcastic, overtly opinionated and cocky-"
"Sounds like his father." Dad said with a chuckle.
"Draco isn't that bad Dad. Scorpius isn't a terrible person either. Yes he's all of the above but he's also really sweet when he puts his mind to it. Though that isn't very often…"
"I know, I saw you two at the Ministry ball don't forget." Dad said with a slight smile. "I didn't know that you and Scorpius were that close though."
"Can I tell you something if you promise not to shout at me or be angry?" I asked. Maybe my big problem was that I was never honest, I was just a born liar really. This whole 'being honest' was new and beginning to be a pain in my backside.
"That really does depend on what you're going to tell me Lily; you've done some humdingers in your time." Dad said. He did have a point there. I've had more detention for doing stupid things than James, Sirius, Ryan and Louis put together and that was just for the times when I've been caught.
"That night that I went missing and no one knew where I was…I was at the Malfoy's. I went to see Cissia and talk to her, and I did, but then I got talking to Scorpius…" I said drifting off at the end of my sentence.
"Lily are you going to tell me something that I really don't want to hear?"
"That depends on what you really don't want to hear. If it's that I kissed him as well that night, well we sort of kissed each other, then I probably shouldn't have said that."
"Actually I was thinking of something worse than that." Dad said as he scratched behind his ear.
"Dad, come on." I said with a snort once I realised what he was getting at. "But on the night of the Merlin's Revenge gig I kissed him again and Sirius found out. I'm not really sure how but he confronted me about it and I had to tell him." I said with a long, drawn out, sigh. "I have a feeling that Rose told him…"
"Were you going to tell him anyway?" Dad asked.
"Yeah I was going to…sometime." I said with a shrug. I sipped my hot chocolate and warmth filtered through my entire body. It was delicious. "I didn't really want things to end that way between us."
"You know I thought being a teenage boy at Hogwarts was difficult, plus I had the constant threat of being killed to contend with, but being a teenage girl at Hogwarts sounds like torture."
"Let's just hope that Minnie doesn't have to go through all the crap that I've had to go through."
"Hopefully she won't, the Malfoys don't have a younger son." Dad said with a smirk.
"Very funny Dad, very funny." I said sarcastically.
"Well I've got you smiling so that should mean something." Dad said.
"Oh God, I've got to go back to the common room and face everyone. Rose is going to kill me, James is going to kill me…well everyone is going to kill me, including Cissia." I grumbled. I drained my hot chocolate and began to chew on my ginger newts. God they were delicious.
"If you want you could stay in here for the night. The sofa by the fire makes a great bed." Dad said.
"How do you know that?" I asked in between mouthfuls of ginger newts. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know how my Dad knew that.
"I've often fallen asleep in here marking essays. Third year students sure do like to ramble." Dad said with a smile. "I could get you a pillow and a blanket if you want."
"Thanks Dad…got any advice for tomorrow though when Rose finds this all out and tries to kill me?" I asked.
"If she is anything like her mother, and she clearly is, then I'd duck. Ron learnt the hard way."
"If she's anything like…like her father then she also has a death wish…have you spoken to her…about…you know." I asked Dad.
"When I can…I think she's angry like you, but less so. You are very good at holding grudges Lily." Dad said with a sigh. "Hermione's tried talking to her more than I have though…I just want you all to be happy Lily…even if you're the most difficult out of everyone."
"I'm morally and emotionally corrupt, what do you expect?" I said with a shrug.
Hours later Harry looked at his eldest daughter fast asleep, her face was still rather blotchy from crying but apart from that she seemed better than she had earlier on. She was wrapped up in a thick blanket and seemed peaceful. Harry wished that he could freeze this moment in time forever. Lily peaceful and not hating him as much as she had been recently but he knew that outside of this room she was going to have to face up to an awful lot and that really did terrify him. After everything Harry had been through when he was at Hogwarts as a student none of that had really prepared him for his future as a father. He had been a crappy husband he knew that but he never wanted to be classed as a bad father. Protecting Lily seemed like his full time job now and he was going to do anything possible to make sure that he could protect his other children just as much.
In the morning Lily went back to her dormitory and Harry promised her that things would be better though he wasn't sure if he was truly qualified to give her that promise.
Harry was going through a lesson plan for the fourth years before breakfast when there was a loud knocking on his office door. "Come in." Harry called and he was surprised to see Neville rush in, slightly out of breath "Neville? What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"You haven't seen the paper yet have you?" Neville holding up the latest copy of The Daily Prophet. Harry groaned before Neville could say anything else. "I have no idea how Skeeter and Brown got hold of this story but it's all over the school already. If you find Ryan Brown before James and Lily do then I think it's best to hide him. I'd hate to see him after Lily's beaten him to a pulp." Neville said passing Harry the paper. Harry looked down and his heart sank when he saw the headline.
Mystery Potter Lovechild Revealed: World Exclusive!
"How…how the hell did they find this out? Who told them?" Harry fumed. "What sort of person reveals that? When did the papers arrive?"
"About five or ten minutes ago. If I was you I'd find the kids now." Neville said. Harry turned on his heels and sprinted out into the corridor in desperate search of Lily, Rose, James and Albus.
As soon as I walked into the common I knew something was terribly wrong. At first I thought it was because Sirius had told everyone about what a bitch I was until I noticed several people holding copies of The Daily Prophet. People were staring at me as I crossed the common room with such hungry and curious looks that it was actually scary. I raced up to my room to get change into a fresh uniform and was greeted by a sobbing Rose being comforted by Dominique. "What the hell has happened?" I asked.
"Where on earth have you been? You're bed has been empty all night." Dominique asked. I simply shook my head.
"What's going on? What's happened?" I asked looking at Rose; her face was so blotchy from tears that I hardly recognised her. "Rose? Rose what's happened?" I asked as I sat down next to Rose and pulled her into a hug. She may have been the one to tell Sirius about Scorpius and me but she was still my best friend and my sister so when she was upset I had to be there for her, I had promised her. Rose looked at me and continued to sob loudly. "Rosie please just tell me." I pleaded. Dominique handed me the latest copy of The Daily Prophet and as soon as I saw the headline I felt like throwing up. I only had to see one name, Lavender Brown, and I was standing up and storming out the dormitory. Dominique and Rose raced behind me shouting.
"Lily don't you dare do what I think you're about to do! You'll get detention!" Dominique cried. "Or even worse!"
"You think I care about a stupid detention or getting suspended?" I snapped. I raced out the common room with Dominique and Rose hot on my heels. I tore down the enchanted staircases until I was nearly in the entrance hall. There was a terrible stich in my side but nothing was stopping me.
"Lily stop it now! This isn't going to change anything!" Dominique shouted. I whirled round the entrance hall looking for Ryan and when I finally saw him waltzing into the Great Hall I tore after him. "Lily! Lily no!" Dominique cried as I launched myself at Ryan and smacked him across the face. I heard a sickening crunch followed by Ryan's loud groan. "Lily stop it!" Dominique cried. "Rose do something!" she added as I slapped Ryan once again and kicked him in the shin just for good measure.
"What the hell is your problem, you psychopathic bitch?" Ryan shouted as he help onto both his jaw and rubbed his shin. I ripped my wand out of my pocket and pointed it straight at his face.
"Your bitch of a mother ruining my family is my problem. How the hell did she find this out? How? Did James tell and you thought you'd sneak off and tell your stupid mother to make some more money that you don't even need? Is that how you get your kicks, by destroying families? How the hell did she find out?" I screamed. "I'd answer quickly before I use every curse I know on you." I hissed as I dug my wand onto Ryan's cheek.
"I don't have a clue what you are talking about! Now leave me the hell alone you psychopath." Ryan hissed. Behind him Aphrodite had gotten a hold of a copy of the paper and she was laughing loudly. I pushed Ryan away and stormed up to Aphrodite. She whipped out her wand, pink sparkles and all, and snorted at me.
"Oh you think this is funny? You think that your precious little boyfriend's mother ruining my best friend's life is a joke?" I asked.
"Lily! Lily stop!" A voice called from across the entrance hall. My saw my father racing towards us, closely followed by Professor Longbottom, he stopped right next to Rose and saw her tear stained face and pulled her into a hug. "Lily please leave Miss Patil alone and come to my office. Now." Dad said firmly.
"Fine." I said. Aphrodite lowered her wand which gave me a brilliant time to strike. I reeled back my arm and punched her square in the face. "Now I'll go."
"Lily! Office now!" Dad shouted as Aphrodite swore loudly and covered her lip which was now bleeding. "Miss Patil-Reade please go to the hospital wing. Ryan it might be best if you go with her." Dad said to Ryan as Aphrodite stomped off towards the hospital wing.
"Mum!" Rose cried when she saw Hermione. Harry watched as Rose hurtled herself into her mother's arms and begin to cry. Hermione's face crumpled as she began to comfort Rose. Lily was stood near the doorway with her arms folded across her chest no doubt waiting for her punishment. She looked at Hermione and Rose for a second before looking away once again.
"Lily-"
"Detention, seven o'clock and one of the nights this week?" Lily guessed with a shrug. Harry assumed that if he had been in as many detentions as Lily had then he two would have been jaded by the age of sixteen, well more jaded than he had been at sixteen.
"Rose, James and Albus can you please step outside into the corridor for a moment please?" Harry asked. James, Albus and Rose walked outside into the corridor and Harry motioned for Lily to sit down in front of Harry's desk. Lily simply carried on standing near the doorway. "Lily now, please." Harry asked as Lily sighed loudly and sat down like a bucket falling down in a well. "Lily I know you're upset about you and Sirius-"
"What happened with you and Sirius Lily?" Hermione asked, her voice full of concern. Lily shrugged.
"They broke up for reasons Lily would no doubt like to not divulge."
"Dad!" Lily snapped with a glare.
"Lily I know you're upset but there is no excuse to cause a scene in the middle of the entrance hall with Ryan Brown and there is also no need to punch Aphrodite Patil-Reade in the face." Harry said with a deep sigh. This was going to be one of the longest days of his life.
"Technically it was the lip." Lily said. Harry glared at his daughter, now was not the time for her facetiousness. "Sorry but it's true." Lily added with a shrug.
"Lily-"
"You two are just going to sit here and act like what's happened isn't terrible? Do you have any idea how much this is going to affect Rose? Everyone is going to be on her case right about now!" Lily snapped. "She's your daughter! Don't just piss about telling me off, which isn't going to do any good and you should know that by now, when you should be seeing how Rose is feeling. The of the Daily Prophet's readers have just found out about her being your daughter Dad."
"Lily we are going to sort this out-"
"Good so I can go because I have things that I need to sort out. Plus I am not in the mood for this. Ok?"
"Lily-"
"Dad I'm going." Lily said before she walked out the office, slamming the door behind her. Harry heard James' voice quickly followed by Lily telling him to back off. Harry massaged his temples slowly. He felt a hand placed on his arm. Hermione moved closer and pulled Harry into a hug.
"It will be ok Harry; we're going to get through this. All of us are going to get through this." Hermione said.
"I know but how? How are we going to do this Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I don't know put we'll get through this." Hermione said as she kissed Harry lightly on the lips. "Come on, we need to talk to Rose." Hermione added. Harry nodded and walked to the door. He opened it and motioned Rose to come inside. Once she walked in Harry asked her to sit down. Hermione placed her chair next to Rose's before sitting down next to her daughter.
"I wanted to apologise for everything that has happened this morning and for everything that will most likely happen today." Harry said. He watched as Rose's eyes filled with tears and he knew Hermione's heart was breaking. "Rose I need you to know that I am going to be here for you throughout all of this. I am going to be here for both you and your mother because I love you both very much, do you hear me?" Harry asked. Rose nodded her head and Hermione pulled her into a firm hug. "Now if you want to stay here for a while then that is ok, I can send a message to your professors to tell them where you are." Harry offered. Rose looked at her then back at Harry before shaking her head.
"I just have to face this head ok." Rose said with a clear and determined voice very much like her mother's.
I had been sitting by the lake for nearly three hours just staring out across the water. Watching the light dance on the ripples of the water was very relaxing. I had never missed a lesson during by time at Hogwarts but at the moment I couldn't face seeing anyone, especially Sirius. With a frustrated sigh I skimmed a stone across the water and sighed deeply.
"Hey…you weren't in Ancient Ruins…I was worried about you…" A voice said. I knew instantly that it was Scorpius. We hadn't spoken since the night of the gig and I wasn't sure if he was going to mention it.
"Did you see the article?" I asked. I didn't even turn to talk to him and carried on staring out at the lake. The winter sun hit the water again and blinded me for a split second.
"Yeah I saw it." Scorpius said as he sat down next to me. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulder and I actually appreciated it. "You want to read it don't you?" Scorpius asked. I nodded. Scorpius opened his satchel and handed me the paper. He didn't say a word as I set about reading it.
Mystery Potter Lovechild Revealed: World Exclusive!
The Wizarding community has been gripped recently by the news of the divorce between Harry James Potter and Ginny Molly Weasley-Potter. Rumours have been floating around for several weeks of the news of Harry Potter's infidelity but now it can be confirmed not only who the woman in the middle of these infidelity claims is but who the child is as well.
According to my source the close friend who Harry Potter cheated on his wife with was none other than Hermione Jean Granger-Weasley, the wife of Potter's best friend Ronald Billius Weasley. The wizarding world will no doubt be shocked by this news. Both Weasley siblings are said to be shocked and disappointed by their partner's betrayal. Both have filed for divorce and, as said in previous articles, the deal breaker between Potter and Weasley-Potter was the discovery of an illegitimate child who can now be revealed to be Granger-Weasley's eldest child Rose Weasley. Story continues on pages 3 and 4.
I stared down at the paper and found it difficult to stop my hands from shaking. How could anyone write this? How could anyone be that cruel?
"Look Brown is just a gossipy bitch and most people won't take this seriously." Scorpius said trying to comfort me. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. "Ok they're going to believe it but it's not like they are going to say anything about it. Nearly everyone has heard about you kicking the crap out of Ryan and his flippy haired moron of a girlfriend." Scorpius said. "Apparently you have a great right hook."
"I honestly don't know what to do anymore Scorpius; it feels like my world is crashing down." I said. "Six months ago I was fine. I had a family, true I didn't like many of them but I had a family. My parents were together and I wasn't nearly half as confused about my life as I am at the moment. Now it's all just crumbled down into dust…"
"I don't help matters." Scorpius said sadly.
"I don't really want to talk about the other night at the moment." I said. Scorpius nodded and a moment later his hand found mine but it just felt like he was comforting me. "I don't want my world to feel like it's crashing down but it does and I have no idea what the hell to do!" I sighed. Scorpius huffed loudly as I rested my head on his shoulder. "It's all just crashing down…" I mumbled.
Scorpius made sure my head was rested on his shoulder before he wrapped his arm around my waist. I didn't know how long we were sat there, it could have been thirty seconds of it could have been thirty minutes. What I did know was that it was calming, the right time I had felt calm in days.
"Lily?" a small voice said. I moved my head from Scorpius's shoulder and saw Rose standing in front me. She was chewing on her lip so violently her face was contorting.
"I'll leave you two to talk." Scorpius said moving his arm from around me and standing up. "I'll see you later." He said to me before giving Rose a courteous smile. Once he was walking back up to the castle Rose came and sat down next to me.
"Hi." Rose and I both said at the same time. Rose blushed and looked out towards the lake.
"You weren't in Potions…" Rose said and there was a slight accusatory tone to her voice. "Where were you?"
"Sat here…I know it's cowardly but I didn't want to go…what have people said to you?" I asked.
"Nothing so far but that's probably because Aphrodite, Amelia and Ryan weren't in the lesson. Aphrodite is sat in the hospital wing acting like a wounded swan." Rose said. "I…I don't know what to say about this anymore…my mum…she's tried to help but how can you help someone in this situation?" Rose asked and she finally turned to look at me. Tears were in her dark eyes. "Nana hasn't spoken to mum since Christmas; she's completely cut off from the family living with my grandparents…the baby is due in just a few months and I don't know how much stress mum can handle." Rose said as she wiped a tear away from her cheek. "I sometimes wish that none of this had happened but sometimes I wish that we had just known all along…I wish that they had told everyone from the start and then we wouldn't be in this situation right now…I always thought of you as a sister really. You've been my best friend all throughout Hogwarts and now…I am so sorry about how I acted towards you at the gig, I really am."
"Let's not talk about the gig at the moment ok? I want, no, I need to know and make sure that you are ok." I said pulling Rose into a hug.
"I feel so lost, I have no idea who I am anymore."
"You're Rose. You're smart when you put your mind to it. You can make me smile and laugh even on the worst days possible and you adore Aunt Fleur's cheese croissants; you could actually eat several in one sitting. You may think that you are lost and that you don't know who you are but I do, I know how brilliant you are." I said as Rose gripped onto me. "Now I'm sorry about everything that had gone on, I've been so wrapped up in my own world and my own problems that I've hardly thought about you and what you are going through. I really am sorry." Rose pulled away from me and smiled in between her tears. "That's better, now we have to promise each other that we're going to be there for each other even if our worlds are falling down around our heels. Deal?"
"Deal." Rose said with such a smile I felt like I wanted to cry myself.
Author's Note: Hi! Thanks to everyone reading this. it really does mean a lot to me. If you have any questions etc then just stick them in the review section and I'll get back to you. Please review even if it is just to say that you don;t like the chapter, I really don;t mind as any form of critique really helps!
Anyway thanks for reading so far :)