A/N - Here's another one for you. I sort of struggled a little for this one but I hope you like it.

Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter.


Lily's P.O.V.

I ignored the knocking on my bedroom door and continued to pack in silence.

After mine and Dominique's unison revelation we simply looked at each other before we both walked out and came back to this house. I heard Scorpius come home about five minutes after us but I didn't bother going to find either one of them; I simply changed my clothes and packed my belongings the muggle way.

"Lily, please just let me speak to you." Dominique's voice came floating through the doorway. "We only did it once. After you left we didn't even speak to each other! I promise!"

I stopped packing and just looked up at the wooden door. Deep down I knew she was telling me the truth. Of course she would – she has never lied to me before. Sure she hasn't always been completely honest with me – but lying?

Never.

I bit the inside of my lip but then pointed my wand at the door so it opened slowly, revealing Dominique standing there, her fist raised against the door ready to knock again. When she saw me she dropped her hand and just looked at me.

She too had changed out of her work out clothes and was now wearing simple jeans and a t-shirt.

"Dom –"

"Lil –"

And then we were rushing towards each other and hugging. We were hugging for the first time since Christmas. I never realised before just how much I loved my cousin, my best friend, my soul mate – my Dominique, never realised just how much I loved her until we were in each other's arms, both of us half-crying half-assuring the other.

"I promise you we didn't do anything –"

"I'm so sorry! I'm such a bitch –"

"I love you Lil and I swear –"

"I'm so sorry Dom! I love you more than anything and –"

We both stopped and slowly stepped away from each other, far away enough that we weren't hugging but close enough that our hands were still touching. I raised one of my hands to wipe away the tears on her face. "I don't care anymore. I love you and you're going to be a brilliant mother." I promised her.

Dominique smiled lightly and squeezed my hand tightly. Her spare hand moved to run the tips of her fingers against my covered stomach. I dropped my hand from her face and put it on top of her fingers. "I guess when we were little and we said we'd do everything together . . . it actually came true, huh?" she chuckled softly. I nodded my head slowly, still struggling to grasp the concept of a baby being inside me. For the third time. My third pregnancy.

"Um . . . I need to go." I stepped away from her and moved back over to my suitcases. Not bothering to pack the muggle way any longer I pulled my wand out and waved it around the room once. Causing all of my belongings to come soaring over to them. "I need to get Aunt Angelina to pull me out of the tournament." I muttered.

"I guess I should probably go too . . . I should tell Jenna. Vic promised she'd keep both, um, pregnancies quiet until we tell our parents ourselves." Dominique told me awkwardly. I realised that this was definitely way more bizarre for her than it was for me.

I tapped my suitcases once with my wand, sending them to my house in the village close to mum and dad and then looked at my cousin. "Good luck."

"If-if she isn't okay with this –"

"Then you can come live with me and we'll raise our bastard children together." I winked at her with more bravery than I had in me.

# # #

I looked up from my signed contract on the desk between my aunt Angelina and me and saw my aunt smiling sadly at me. I apparated straight to Angelina and made her gather the appropriate paperwork, write up a statement to the press to release on my say so and send off signed copies of contracts, new contracts and apologies to the trainers, coaches and managers of the English national side.

"This could have been the highlight of your career." Angelina told me softly as she placed my copy of the paper work in a folder for me to keep and eventually send to Albus when I told him the news.

I accepted the folder and shrugged a shoulder lightly. "There's no way I can terminate this pregnancy Aunt Angie. Not after I've lost two babies –"

"I know sweetie."

I didn't do or say anything; what could I do? Go back to the house and pack? What could I say? I forgot to take my potion and now what intended to be sympathy sex has resulted in my being pregnant with a recovering addict? I swallowed down the quick lump that had formed in my mouth and looked at my aunt, waiting for her to say something.

"Is it Scorpius'?"

I shook my head and couldn't help but look at the photos on the desk in front of me. There were six framed photos on her desk; one of her and my uncle George on their wedding day, one of her and Freddie, one of her and Roxy; a large family portrait that was taken at Molly's wedding (which needed updating now several others had given birth,) one of Aunt Angie's parents and the last one was the oldest one and the one I normally saw her looking at when she didn't realise I had walked in the room.

One of her and my uncle Fred, the one who died when he was twenty one.

It wasn't exactly a secret in the family that she had loved Fred first; it wasn't even a secret that it was purely because she was pregnant with Freddie that she and George got married.

"Do you – do you ever think of what life would be like if he hadn't had died?" I asked quietly, nodding to the photograph of the two of them at what I think was the Yule Ball, the year my father first duelled with Lord Voldemort at the age of fourteen.

"Sometimes." Angelina admitted with a small nod of her head. "Sometimes I picture life where Voldemort hadn't come back and I married Fred, not George." She told me seriously. She leant over and pulled the photo towards her and smiled down at it. "But then I remember I wouldn't have Freddie or Roxanne. Or all the many happy years that my George has given me." she gently ran a finger over Fred's face and sighed deeply. "And I wouldn't change that for the world. Certainly not."

I bit the inside of my lip and put a hand over my stomach.

Angelina didn't love George in the beginning, and he didn't love her most likely.

Years ago I overheard my parents talk about how one very drunken one night stand resulted in one of the happiest marriages in the family and it's only now that I realised she meant my uncle George and aunt Angelina.

"Lily, just because it worked out for your uncle and me that doesn't mean you should settle for Scott." Aunt Angelina told me honestly.

I looked up from the photos on the desk, tearing my eyes away from the image of Scorpius and I standing with our arms around each other all those years ago in Molly's wedding. "I didn't say –"

"Deep down there was a part of me that knew I could love George and I was right because now I can't imagine life without waking up next to him. If you don't feel that way –"

"I know. It won't be fair to the baby –"

"And you. Why should you settle for someone you know you will never be able to love?"

# # #

I poured out three cups of tea and set them around my kitchen table. A quick phone call to my parents' house to invite them to come to see me was all that was needed. I knew they'd come when I asked them, no matter the day or time. I knew they'd come because even I could sense the urgency in my own voice.

No sooner has I sat down behind my own cup had my parents walked in through the kitchen door after letting themselves in through the front door. My parent's stood and looked at me before they said anything.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh my baby – what's happened?"

I nodded my head to their cups and wrapped my own hands around my own, not looking in their direction. "I need to tell you guys something and you won't like it." I spoke to my cup of tea and heard rather than saw them sit down opposite me.

"Lily, what have you done?" Dad asked me quietly. I felt a hand touch my arm and looked up to see his arm stretched over the table. I looked down at his hand as I spoke.

"I can't play in the World Cup anymore." I whispered. "I'm pregnant."

Like with Dominique, Scorpius and I the silence hung around the room. Dad just looked at me and my mother let out a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.

I know what they're thinking; their addict daughter is pregnant and put a stop on what could have been the highest moment of her career. Their addict daughter has ruined any chance of separation from Scott. Their addict daughter could relapse whilst pregnant with their fourth grandchild. Their addict daughter could kill another of their grandchildren.

"Are you going to keep it?" Dad asked me after five long minutes that felt like hours.

"Yes." I said strongly.

"Then we'll be here for you, whenever you need us to be." Mum promised me, reaching over to put her hand on top of my dad's hand which had moved down to grasp my hand.

# # #

Telling my parents was the easy part.

Telling my brothers was the scary part; how would they each react knowing I'm pregnant with Scott's baby? How will they react knowing I'm pregnant?!

Apparently my mother decided that I had to tell them sooner rather than later so she arranged a family Sunday lunch, inviting only my brothers and their wives/Demi.

Obviously I was the first person to arrive and I was sitting in the kitchen, at the table chopping endless amounts of vegetables for everybody when Teddy and James came walking through the backdoor with their families. Katy, Annabelle, Roddie and Jamie immediately ran up the stairs to go and see their grandpa – meaning to try and worm some sweets or pocket money out of the old man – while my brothers and their wives looked at me with surprise in their eyes.

"Guessing you're managing to stay in England without temptation to drugs then?" James asked me mockingly. I saw Victoire and my mother glare at him, but Teddy and Selena seemed to agree with him. I didn't answer I just looked back down at my vegetables and focused on keeping all the slices of turnip the same size. Not needed concentration but it distracted me from the glare on James' face.

"James – leave it out." Dad's voice came from the staircase. "The kids are playing in the girls' room." He added when Teddy opened his mouth to ask where his daughters were. "We need to talk." He came further into the kitchen and pulled out a few more pans and dishes. "But Albus and Demi aren't going to be here for another thirty minutes – Selena and Victoire, peal some spuds. James, make a start on washing those dishes. Ted, grab a towel."

My brothers and their wives didn't argue and they did as they were told. When Teddy asked why Demi and Albus were taking so long, mum answered. "Oh, they're driving up from their new house. It's only two villages over from us." She said.

Apart from that we all worked in an awkward silence. My mother and father seemed oddly relaxed and at ease considering their eldest sons kept shooting daggers at me. I kept quiet and did not say a word to anybody. I just focused on chopping whatever my mother put in front of me and tried not to focus on the sudden wave of nausea that had suddenly over came me. As I chopped four dozen carrots I found my mind drifting to Dominique. She visited me last night and told me that she told Jenna she was pregnant and while things were awkward between the two girls, Jenna was promising to stick by her and help her raise the baby. She didn't mention Scorpius though and neither did I.

I had a plan for the next couple of weeks; tell my brothers, then my grandparents. Then I would go to America and tell Scott . . . depending on how he reacts I will come home and then tell my cousins. After that, I'll focus on being a mother. Maybe in a couple of years when my baby is older, perhaps then I can confront my feelings about Scorpius and maybe salvage something from our extremely volatile and fragile relationship.

"Hey family!" Albus' voice made my mother get up from her chair and hurry into the front hallway. Selena and Victoire grinned and followed while my father waved his wand around the room, causing the chopped vegetables to fly into their pans and the peelings to go to the bin.

I looked towards the doorway, expecting my brother and his girlfriend to walk in with both of them looking depressed and worried but when they did enter the kitchen I did not expect them to look so happy.

Albus was grinning from ear to ear and he had a bag over one shoulder. He looked a little tired, but I had never seen a smile so bright before. Demi followed him in, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a weird looking stain on her shoulder. Her hair was scraped back in a messy bun and her eyes were heavy but she too hadn't smiled so brightly before.

It was easy to see why they were both looking exhausted but deliriously happy; my mother walked in after them, baby Demetrius wrapped up in a thick blue homemade blanket from grandma Molly laid all snug in her arms.

"He's home?!" I grinned and got out of my chair. I hurried over to my mother and got a look at my youngest nephew; straight away I knew he was Albus' son. Even though Demetrius was sleeping, he had the same facial structure that both my brothers have. The small tuft of hair he has even is uncontrollable. "Oh Godric – he's so beautiful!" I whispered, stroking his small chubby cheek with one finger gently. At my touch he yawned and curled his head around into my finger ever so cutely.

A huge surge of something passed over me and the next thing I knew, I had tears falling down my face.

"Are – are you crying?" Selena laughed lightly.

Luckily for me Victoire acted quickly. "I told you not to chop onions." She lied easily and conjured me a hankie. I took it from her and tried to wipe my tears away discreetly but everybody saw.

My parents exchanged knowing glances as my mother carefully took the baby to her chair. My brothers all rolled their eyes and muttered something about periods being weird while Selena and Demi looked at me curiously.

"He came home about a week ago." Demi explained, going to sit in the chair beside my mother. I watched as she made sure my mum was holding Demetrius correctly and then checked his temperature even as she continued to speak. "The Healer's said that as long as we give him the potions on a regular basis, bring him in once a week for a check up and absolutely no apparating with him, then he's fine to come home."

Albus sat down next to me and grinned at his girlfriends words. "He already sleeps through the night."

"Then why do you guys look so exhausted?" Selena asked with a smirk on her face.

"Because we sit up all night and worry about him." Demi said seriously. "It's . . . scary. I mean, he's so small." She looked at Demetrius and bit her lip carefully.

Selena, my mother and Victoire all laughed lightly.

"Teddy is thirty four, James is twenty seven, Albus is twenty six and Lily is twenty four. No matter how big or small they are you still worry." Mum laughed lightly and passed her grandson over to his mother.

"Speaking of worrying, they're being awfully quiet up there." James muttered and got out of his chair.

"I'll go." I offered and stood up, surprising all of my siblings. "Seriously, don't worry."

I ignored the confused and curious glances from my siblings and looked away from my parents' eyes. Normally I wouldn't have offered, in fact I'd have been the one to point out their quietness and made someone go make sure they weren't causing mischief . . . but pretty soon that's going to be my child being suspiciously quiet. Besides, Katy, Annabelle, Roddie and Jamie are my nieces and nephew. Already Roddie doesn't feel comfortable around me, Jamie barely knows me and Annabelle and Katy recognise me as the woman who occasionally buys them presents and then causes uproar in their life and that is not fair. Not fair on them and not fair on me.

My old bedroom was apparently Katy and Annabelle's bedroom now, Albus' is a nursery that used to be Jamie's but is now most likely Demetrius' for when he stops the night and James' room now belongs to Roddie. My mother told me a few months ago that Jamie had been slowly growing out of the nursery and they were turning Teddy's old bedroom into a room for him.

All four kids were in my old room; Annabelle reading a book on her top bunk while Katy was putting some clip in hair colours in her hair on her own bed. Jamie was sat on the rug in the centre of the room and playing with some cars one of the older girls probably brought in for him and Roddie was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Aphrodite?" I asked; Annabelle didn't look up from her book, Jamie looked up and then looked down at his cars but Katy at least acknowledged my question.

"She never plays in here. She'll be in her room or playing with grandma's jewellery box." She shrugged before she returned to the mirror that was levitating in mid-air.

"Katy . . . do realise that you can change your hair colour yourself?" I checked with her before I left them to it. She nodded her head and sighed deeply.

"Yeah I know . . . I'm bored." She muttered and pulled all the clip ins out. I laughed and shook my head when she changed her hair so it was elbow length and platinum blonde. "I look like aunt Dom." She giggled and then changed her eye colour.

I smiled at my goddaughter once more before I left them three to their own devices and went in search for Roddie.

James' old bedroom was empty but from one quick look around the second largest bedroom in the house I knew that Roddie was like her dad – exceptionally organised. All of her stuffed animals were in order of shape along one shelf, while her books were in order of colour it looked like.

She had a little tea set table under the window and even the cups and plates were in an organisation that Astoria Malfoy would have been proud of.

With a sigh and an amused smile at my four year old niece's neatness, which was unusual for a four year old never mind an extended Weasley, I headed down the hall and into my parents' room. Sure enough, Roddie was sitting at my mother's dresser with her jewellery box opened up in front of her.

I guessed that Roddie was allowed to play with her jewels because when she heard the door open she didn't jump away guiltily; instead she looked up in the mirror and grinned at me. Roddie has the same infectious grin that most of the Jackson's have, including her mother and aunts Zoey and Demi. "Can you play with me?" she asked me cutely, smiling so brightly her little baby teeth shone at me.

"Sure I can." I walked farther into the room and pulled the old trunk from the bottom of the bed and upended it so I could sit on it. "What do you want to play, Roddie?"

"Um . . . oh I know!" she nodded and opened a draw. "You need makeup on!" she pulled out my mother's makeup bag and poured the content out onto the vanity worktop. "Come closer. I need to see." She said cutely.

I bit the inside of my lip to not laugh at her voice and the look of concentration on her face as she selected a lipstick.

"Um . . . what's your name again?" she asked me, scrunching up her face and selecting the brightest red lipstick that was there.

"I'm aunt Lily. Remember I saw you at Christmas?" I asked her, taking the cap off of the lipstick when she struggled.

"Oh yeah! You got me my Anastasia doll!" she nodded her head. "Hold still, 'kay?"

I opened my mouth and watched as she slowly and carefully coloured my lips in with what was probably my mother's expensive makeup. I tried my hardest not to laugh when she stuck her tongue out between her teeth and burrowed her brow adorably. She looked a little like my mum when she did that; we all know not to interrupt her writing when my mother has that look on her face because she'll most likely yell at us.

"You're pretty." Roddie complimented me.

"Not as pretty as you." I raised a hand and ran it through one of her pig tails, curling the ends around my fingers. "Did your mummy do these pigtails?"

"Uh-huh. Daddy tried but he isn't very good." She giggled. "Do you have a daddy?"

"Grandpa Harry is my daddy."

"No, I mean does your baby have a daddy?" she asked me innocently. She didn't even look up from the selection of eye shadow.

"I don't have a baby yet." I told her, reaching out and hiding the perfume that I got my mother for Christmas. It was rather expensive and since it had less than half I guessed she really liked it.

"Daddy told me you did. He said my aunt Lily has a little girl called . . . Ollie . . . Olive – Olivia!" she grinned proudly. "Close your eyes."

I closed my eyes and let out a breath through my nose. "I did have a little girl. Well, I nearly did. She was a little older than you."

"Where is she now?"

"She's with . . . you know how grandma Molly is grandma Ginny's mummy?" I opened my eyes when she told me to and saw her looking at me curiously.

"Yeah?"

"Well, Grandpa Harry's mummy and daddy are called Lily and James –"

"Like you and daddy!"

"Yeah, like me and daddy. Well, Grandma Lily and Grandma James aren't here. They're all the way up in the sky. Olivia had to go to the sky as well so they're looking after her for me." I told her. Roddie's big beautiful green eyes sparkled up at me, screaming innocence and confusion and then it hit me.

Why have I distanced myself from this beautiful, intelligent, innocent little girl? Why haven't I been able to connect with her? Nothing is her fault – she's not to blame for the date of her conception. It's not her fault my baby girl died before she was born. It isn't her fault that Olivia isn't here and she is.

"But who are you going to look after?" Roddie asked gently.

I waited until she finished applying some more makeup to my face before I answered her. "Can I tell you a secret?" I held my hand out when my niece grabbed three rings from my mother's collection. At her eager nod I whispered; "I'm having a baby."

Roddie's reaction was comical. She looked up at me through wide eyes and an O shaped mouth but then smiled brilliantly. "Really? A new baby? Like Jamie was!?"

I nodded my head slowly and then grinned when she literally jumped at me and wrapped her skinny little arms around my stomach. "I'm gonna be a cousin! I'm gonna be a cousin!"

She continued to chant that as she added more jewels and then topped up my makeup. I had to remind her half a dozen times to keep it a secret until I told her daddy and uncles that they were going to have a new baby in their lives too.

"Okaaaay." She sighed heavily and then hopped down from mum's stool. "Ima go make him a picture!"

"How do you know it's going to be a boy?" I laughed at her. In response she just shrugged and skipped out of the room, down the hall and into her room where she slammed the door closed behind her.

I turned to the mirror and was just about to wipe my makeup off when I heard somebody cough behind me; I turned back around and was momentarily blinded when I saw Demi standing there with a camera in her hands. "Sorry." She laughed lightly and came further into the room. "Katy came down for a drink and told us you were getting a makeover from Roddie. Couldn't resist." She explained and sat on Roddie's empty stool. "So . . . I overheard." She spoke quietly and looked at my reflection through the mirror as I used wipes to remove the clown makeup.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Look, obviously I won't tell anybody but I'm guessing you heard about Dom?" she guessed.

I didn't say anything; I just looked at her through the mirror.

"Well Scorpius came to our house last night and he cried. I've never seen him cry before." Demi told me softly. "He started crying when we were talking about any possibility of the two of you giving it another shot. Obviously we were curious as to why he was breaking his heart and he said Dom's pregnant with his child and there was other reasons as to why you won't go back to him now." She took a wipe out of my hand and pulled me towards her gently.

I sighed deeply but couldn't look away from her face.

"Look Lily I know we haven't always seen eye to eye and you aren't exactly my biggest fan . . . but I kind of understand. Not the whole dead baby or miscarriage thing but you love Scorpius and he betrayed you. Albus cheated on me –"

"It's not the same –"

"No. No two situations are ever the same. But Albus did cheat on me and he became a parent from it." Demi pointed out. "But I forgave him and now I'm a parent too." She smiled goofily and put the makeup covered wipe in the bin. "And I love Tri as much as I believe I would love a baby I gave birth too."

I slowly and carefully removed all of the jewellery and put them back in the box before I answered. "Demi . . . I truly do love Scorpius. I never stopped loving him – and it isn't the baby part that –"

"Lily, if you've forgiven Dominique then why can't you forgive Scorpius?" she stood up and headed to the door. "Besides, you know she probably seduced him. She's fine as fuck and I know from experience her moves." She winked and smirked before she headed out of the bedroom.

I tidied the bedroom up a little bit before I went back downstairs to rejoin the adults. My mother was dishing up her roast while Demi and Selena washed dishes the muggle way in the sink. I took my seat at the table and then smiled when all the kids came running down the stairs and Aphrodite dived into the chair close to me. James smiled slightly at seeing his sister and daughter seemingly to be getting close, while Selena looked slightly impressed.

"How come Roddie gets to sit next to Aunt Lily?!" Katy moaned, sitting in between her mother and father and changing her features to look like a younger version of Demi.

"Because she got there first. Stop moaning and stop changing your appearance." Teddy chided his most mischievous daughter. In response Katy simply scowled but changed her face back to her own. She kept the long black hair though.

"So are you guys going to Lucy's concert on Friday night?" Selena asked when we all started eating. "I'm taking Roddie."

"I thought I'd take the girls, yeah." Victoire nodded thoughtfully. "That's if a certain little nine year old can behave until Friday." She nudged Katy playfully.

"Aren't they all a little young to go to a Lucy Weasley concert?" I wondered.

"She's doing a Mother's Day special; mothers and daughter's can come together and her performances are strictly child appropriate." Selena explained.

I looked at my mother and frowned a little when I saw her looking studiously down at her plate. "Why didn't you tell me? We'll go together." I asked her.

My mother looked up and shrugged her shoulder slightly.

"Well if you want to go, we can go. I was planning on surprising you with a meal on Saturday anyway for Mother's Day since we'll be at the Burrow on Sunday." I added telling a slight lie.

In all honesty I had forgotten about Mother's Day and was grateful for Selena reminding me. I made a mental note to go shopping tomorrow after telling grandma and grandpa the news that they're going to be great-grandparents again.

# # #

"So how did your brothers take it?" Dominique asked as I passed her a cup of tea.

The two of us decided to tag-team against grandma and grandpa and tell them together. We arrived at the Burrow to find a note from Gran telling us she had gone to the market to get us some lunch and she'd be back within the hour and to make ourselves at home.

Dom was already raiding her biscuit tin as I read the note out loud so she had nothing to worry about.

"Meh." I shrugged and grabbed a handful of biscuits before she ate them all. "I get the feeling Albus already knew. Teddy seemed genuinely happy but James . . . he was more bothered about the fact I slept with Scott again." I rolled my eyes and remembered the three very different reactions. "What about your family?"

Dominique took a drink of her tea before she answered. "Well, my parents still aren't really happy with how the kid was made, but they're getting excited at having a fifth grandchild." She shrugged. "Your parents?"

"Really supportive actually. I expected them to be super disappointed over the fact I can't play Quidditch but they're relaxed about that and just keep asking if I want to move back home until the baby is born." I smiled when I remembered my mother's offer via a phone call this morning. "Speaking of, how is the house hunting going?"

Dominique laughed and shook her head. "I have no idea. Jenna told me she was going to organise it all. She asked me this morning if I had a particular dislike of kitchen tile so I'm guessing it's all on track." She laughed, making me laugh too.

"So . . . have you heard from Scorpius?" I asked her.

Dominique stopped laughing and soberly nodded her head. "Yeah. We went to the Healer together and he told us the due date, the date of conception which we already obviously knew. We, me him and Jenna, went to his house for dinner last night. We spoke about how we'd raise it." She spoke slowly.

I surprised myself at how . . . not angry I was. If anything I was happy that the three of them were going about their situation in a civil and mature manner. I was actually proud of Scorpius for going about this in the way that Dominique wants.

"Scorpius is already sending me money. He's got a trust fund set up." She rolled her eyes and made me laugh at her words too; the first thing Scorpius did when he learned about Olivia was to set a trust fund up for her.

I wonder what ever happened to that.

"Have you guys spoken about custody and –"

"We're going to do our best to keep it out of court. We're confident that we can do that. I mean it's not like this is a divorce or a one-night stand, is it?" she pointed out.

I nodded in agreement and found myself thinking of how Scott might react to that.

We're both based on opposite sides of the world; I can't now imagine living away from my parents if I have a child. I couldn't do that to the child or my parents and I'm not naive enough to believe I won't need their help when the baby comes. Will Scott expect me to move over to America with him? Will he want to get back together with me? Marry me?

"They're back." Dom nodded to the window behind me. Sure enough Gran and granddad walked through the back door with shopping bags in their hands.

Dominique and I silently waved our wands over the bags, making the shopping put itself away and we poured out a cup of tea each for our grandparents. We both laughed when Gran sighed heavily and looked from one of us to the other sternly.

"Come on then girls, who has done what now?" she sucked in a deep breath and then held up one hand. "Wait – has anybody ran off and gotten married?"

"No Gran," I laughed and shook my head.

"Has anyone been sent to prison?" Granddad checked.

"Nope." Dominique shook her head.

"Has somebody gone and got themselves admitted to hospital?" Gran frowned.

"Not quite."

"Alright . . . who's pregnant now?" Granddad looked at me and then at Dominique.

I met Dom's eye and then cleared my throat. "I am." I looked at my grandparents and felt a hundred times better than I did ten minutes ago when they both smiled broadly.

"Me too." Dom chimed in.

I glared at Dominique when Gran raised a shaking hand to her mouth and started crying right there and then.

# # #

A heavy pounding on my front door woke me up.

The heavy pounding was echoing all through the house and since I was the only person here, it made it seem ten times louder.

I groaned when I saw the time, a little past four a.m. and climbed out of bed. It was only when I was in the living room that I realised somebody was hammering on my front door in the early hours of a Monday morning and I was all alone in the house. Luckily for me I forgot to take my wand to bed with me and it was still on the coffee table where I left it after charming my nail-varnish brush to paint my toe nails. I made sure I had a strong grip on that and then as an extra precaution picked up the house-phone. I kept my thumb hovering over the number one button; my parents' number was speed dial number one, so if I had to run I could telephone them with the simple press of a button and have them listen in to me screaming at whoever was breaking into my house and then –

"Lily? Come on I know you're awake!"

"Scorpius?" I dropped the phone on the sofa and headed for the front door. Sure enough, there Scorpius was; using the wall to stay up straight and reeking of alcohol. His eyes were red and blood shot and he smelled pretty bad.

"There's my Lilykins! Agh, I knew you'd be awake! I said to Tim, I said I bet my Lily is awake! She'll open the door to me!" he staggered past me and into the house.

"Who's Tim? Why are you knocking on my door at four in the bloody morning for?!" I slammed my front door shut, jabbed it once with my wand so it locked and turned on him.

"Look at you getting all sexy with your hands on the hips in your pyjama shorts . . . c'mherebaby –"

He fell onto my sofa. Literally fell over absolutely nothing and landed face first on my sofa.

"Why have you come to me whilst drunk?" I kicked his leg in frustration. "We're not together anymore! You are not my problem! Sobering you up is not my job!" I scowled but stormed into the kitchen anyway. My first thought was to make him a very strong coffee, maybe spit in it a little too just for waking me up so damn early, but then I remembered I had no coffee left.

My second thought was to give him a sobering solution . . . but then I remembered I stopped myself stocking any form of potion.

My third thought – and the one I decided to stick with when I heard him vomiting all over my carpet – was to make him a sobering solution from the few and scarce potion ingredients I had in my kitchen. Potions never was my strong point – I needed a tutor and got a D in it at O.W.L. level – but I was confident that I could at least knock up a strong enough sobering solution for him. Strong enough for him to be sober enough to apologise but not lasting enough so that he will still have a killer hangover tomorrow.

"Liiiiiiiiily?!" a thud from the living room told me he had probably fallen off the sofa. I just hope he had managed to avoid the vomit.

"Liiiiily where are you? Oh, here you are!" a pair of arms wrapped around my middle as I stood against the stove, stirring the ingredients that I hastily gathered and put in a small pan that was acting as my cauldron. "Hmm . . . this is nice." He whispered, letting his head roll against my shoulders.

"Scorpius –"

"I miss this. I miss us . . . I miss you." He muttered lazily.

I felt my stomach doing light flips and bit my lip nervously. "Scorpius, come on. You need to sober up –"

"I need you." He whispered, moving his mouth to my neck. He kissed me once, twice, three times right on the skin above my pulse point. "I need you in my life. I love you, Lily. I've never stopped loving you." He whispered, his breath making my skin tickle.

I turned round to face him for a second before I turned back to the stove. The potion was finished so I poured it into a glass and handed it to him.

"Drink that and then tell me if you still feel that way." I closed my eyes and felt him take the glass from my hand. I waited a few minutes before I opened them again and the first thing I saw was the empty glass on the counter in front of me.

"I need you." Scorpius repeated; his voice definitely more sober now. "I need you in my life. I love you, Lily. I've never stopped loving you."

I felt his hands go to my hips and he forced me to face him. His eyes weren't cloudy or bloodshot any more but they were definitely still red. Sobering solutions don't do anything to mask the signs of crying. His hands were hot on my hips; I was wearing a pair of shorts and a vest top that I bought in school so it was a little small, my stomach was on show and his thumbs were stroking the skin there.

I put one hand over my stomach and opened my mouth to remind him I was pregnant with another man's child when he put one of his hands on top of mine.

"I don't care if you're pregnant with another man's child. I don't care if you've got a hundred children with a hundred other men – it's worth it. I'll raise that child and love it like my own." He lifted both of our hands up and held them in the small space between us.

"Scorpius . . . if you're saying this because you are drunk and you want to get nailed –"

"Lily Luna Potter – I love you. I have loved you ever since you locked me in that store cupboard at Frankie Longbottom's birthday party on New Year's Eve." He ducked his head lower. "I loved you when you loved me back . . . I loved you when you were carrying my baby . . . I loved you when you were lying in that hospital bed . . . I loved you when you hated me." he added a lingering kiss to my lips with every statement.

I didn't kiss him back. I couldn't do or say anything in fear of crying in his arms.

Crying with confusion? Relief? Love?

"I loved you when you loved him." He moved both of his hands to go to the back of my neck. "And I love you now you're carrying his baby."

Then he kissed me.

# # #

A/N 2 - the horizontal line is very frustrating and extremely volatile so I'm finding it easier and more reliable to simply hashtag between scenes. I'm sorry if this confuses people.

So I did a thing. Another cliffhanger . . . sorry not sorry!

If you guys want some more Lily/Scorpius stuff then you should most definitely head over to jadeesunshine's profile and check out Without Magic - the story that we're co-writing together!
While you're there you could check out Rollercoaster - a story that is bloody fantastic! One of the best Lily/Scorpius fics out there!