A/N: So I uploaded this earlier, but I don't think the email alerts went out about the update so I'm trying it again to see if it works. So if you did already happen to see an update from me earlier today, this is the same chapter. And sorry if anyone ends up getting two alerts for the same chapter at some point. Anyway, I hope everyone likes the new chapter!


"When are you going to tell her?"

I shrugged. Fred and I were hanging out at my house. It was the weekend after our date, the third week out of school and the third week that my dad had been in custody. They were still holding him at the Ministry because there were apparently more 'urgent' matters to handle first and worse criminals to have their fate decided first. So Dad had taken a backseat at the moment. I was actually kind of glad. I'd rather have him at the Ministry than in Azkaban.

Mum and Julian had gone to St. Mungo's. The patient Julian had read to last summer as part of the reading program had been discharged and Mum had taken him to the hospital so that he could be assigned a new one. Tomorrow, I'd be reading to Grace again, as I planned to do for the rest of the summer. Unless she was discharged, too, of course. But it didn't look as if that were going to happen, sadly.

Sam was supposedly working today and I had been assigned to clean up the house a bit. Not that it needed it. I hadn't had much to do, so in the end, Fred had decided to come over for a bit. We had gotten on the subject of why I hadn't told my mother about our relationship yet and Fred wanted answers. And rightly so. Me keeping him a secret from my mother wasn't right and he didn't deserve to be subjected to that. Which was why I did fully intend on telling my mother. I didn't want us to have to hide. I just wanted Sam out of the way first.

"I planned on telling her once we got Sam out of the picture. Honestly, I did-I do-intend on doing that. But Sam's still here, unfortunately. We'll be getting rid of him soon, though, and then I promise I'll tell her. She won't be thrilled, I'll bet you anything, but I don't care. I'm not keeping us a secret. It's exhausting and I know you don't want to be kept a secret either. Doing so would make me no better than Oliver, I suppose, would it?"

"Wood wanted to keep you a secret from a whole bunch of people, not just one," Fred shrugged, "so maybe it makes you a tiny bit better." He smiled. "But not by much."

"Hey!" I protested, tossing a grape at him. He opened his mouth and quickly moved his head so that the grape landed right in his mouth. He smirked at me and chewed the grape while I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips as I tried not to smile. We were lying on our stomachs on the living room floor, eating grapes and reading. Well, I was reading. Fred was inventing. This time it was something about a punching telescope. It seemed dangerous to me, but according to Fred, the telescope wouldn't actually punch anyone. There would just be a puff of smoke and the user would have a black eye that could only be removed with a special cream or ointment that the twins were planning on inventing next. The only thing I made them promise was that they wouldn't test the telescopes until they invented the ointment. They agreed immediately. They didn't like the idea of having black eyes indefinitely either.

Fred stayed for another hour before reluctantly announcing he'd have to be heading home for dinner. At the doorway, he reached into his pocket and handed me a small, rectangular object with some buttons on it. "Here," he said.

"What's this?" I asked in confusion, taking it from him and flipping it over a few times in my palm.

"It's a Muggle device," Fred said. "A tape recorder. It apparently records sounds when you press this button." He pointed to the one he meant, situated at the top of the device. "My dad had this in his shed. The one filled with Muggle devices. I convinced him to try and get it to work again because he had it all taken apart. So...he's been tinkering with it for the past few weeks and it works. We tested it last night. It'll record when you hit that button and it stops when you press it a second time. Then, you press this button here to rewind it and..." He searched the device before pointing again, "this button will play it back. Look." He took it from me and hit the rewind button before pressing play. His own voice crackled through it once he did.

"Lilah Fitzgerald snores like a mountain troll when she sleeps!" Then, there was the sound of the twins both laughing before the recording stopped.

I glared up at Fred. "Refresh my memory," I said. "How old are you?"

Fred just grinned at me and leaned against the door frame as he crossed his arms.

"I don't snore," I told him matter-of-factly.

"Well, maybe not like a mountain troll, but..." Fred smiled and shrugged as I sent him another glare. He laughed and handed the tape recorder back to me. "Anyway, this is small enough so it can easily be concealed anywhere. Even in your pocket. And it's flatter than that Veriteserum vial, too. I mean, just as long as you don't keep touching it like you did with the vial, of course." He shook his head at me. "I swear, it's as if you haven't been paying attention to how George and I operate at all."

I stared at him for a moment. "So you're giving me this to try to record Sam confessing?"

Fred nodded. "If the moment strikes, you know? If you can't get him to do it in front of your mother. I think he's too smart for that. So maybe if you're ever alone with him..." He shrugged. "It's worth a shot, isn't it? I mean, is it the route I'd prefer to go to bring the ugly git down? No, of course not. I'd rather go for something a bit more dramatic. And perhaps harmful on his end. Or at least amusing. But I suppose that when time is of the essence..." He shrugged.

I smiled again and leaned up to kiss him. "Thank you. I'll still owe it all to you if it works."

Fred leaned in for another kiss before saying goodbye and stepping outside. I stood at the door and watched him disappear around the corner of the house, heading towards the shed in the back, where he'd slip between it and the bushes before Apparating home.

Sighing and sliding the recorder into my pocket, I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment before smiling to myself and heading upstairs to my room, where I scribbled a note on a piece of parchment and tied it to Casper's leg. "Bring this to Fred, okay?" I whispered before opening the window and letting my owl fly out. I leaned against the side of the window and smiled again as I imagined Fred's expression when he read my note. Missing you already, it had said.

Finally, after an agonizing wait that seemed like a lifetime, I got a response back. I just left your house, you lunatic. I laughed and dropped the note down on my desk. Just then, I heard the front door open. Wondering if it was my mother and Julian finally returning from St. Mungo's, I slipped out of my room and jogged down the stairs, heading into the kitchen to investigate who had returned. "Mum? Jules?" I asked.

But when I got to the kitchen, I was disappointed to see that it was Sam who had come inside, not my mother and brother. He was standing at the fridge with his back to me, rummaging through it for a drink. My stomach dropped as I realized something then. It was just the two of us in the house. Alone. It was as if all the stars had aligned for the first time in months and were providing me with the opportunity to get Sam to confess right after Fred had given me the tape recorder. Which reminded me... Before Sam had the opportunity to turn around, I pressed the record button on the tape recorder and then positioned myself so that I was on the opposite side of the kitchen table from him, and also behind a chair. He wouldn't be able to see me from the waist down this way.

"Hello, Lilah," he said with a smile, turning from the fridge with a bottle of firewhiskey in his hand.

"Hi," I answered flatly.

"Your mother still out with Jules?"

"Yes," I answered, my tone still flat as I crossed my arms over the back of the chair. I hated that he called my brother Jules. I didn't feel as if he had earned the right to call my brother by a nickname. To me, nicknames always symbolized a sign of friendliness or affection. Or both. And Sam was most definitely not a friend.

Sam nodded and wiggled the bottle of firewhiskey by the neck as he smiled. "Glad to see you haven't tried to drug me any more."

"That doesn't mean I've given up," I said. "I'm going to prove that you're the one framing my dad," I said.

"Oh, no, we're back to this again?" Sam asked condescendingly, popping open his drink and taking a sip. He sighed. "I don't know what it's going to take for you to stop being so utterly ridiculous and realize that your dad is simply a criminal."

"He's not," I insisted. "I know he's not."

"I don't understand why you won't let this drop," Sam went on. "That would be the smart thing to do, wouldn't it?"

"I won't let it drop because I'd do anything for my family! I'd do anything to keep them safe and to take care of them."

Sam laughed. "You feel the need to take care of a grown man? You feel the need to take care of your father? He should've taken care of you and he failed."

"No, he didn't," I scowled.

"He did," Sam said. "Why else would you feel like you had to be so protective of your brother? So much so that you practically suffocate him?"

"It has nothing to do with my dad!" I cried. "I just-"

"You care too much," Sam said. "Way too much. And that's never going to get you anywhere. You'll just be left devastated when you find out that people don't care that much about you in return."

I swallowed, caught a bit off guard by that. "People care about me," I said defensively.

"Perhaps," Sam shrugged nonchalantly. "But if you're always the person who cares the most, everyone else will always care less than you. It'll always be a letdown. Every time."

I scowled at him again. "You know what? It's just us here now so you can cut the act. You're just playing games with me at this point. I know it's been you this whole time. You're the only person besides my mother who knew where she kept her key. You've been stealing the money from the reading program, haven't you? Tell me, were you really in Greece on assignment? Or did you go on a little vacation with the money you stole? Is that all you were in this for? Was this your plan all along? Date my mother, who already had a lot of money to begin with-money that you used to buy Julian's broom and the tickets to the World Cup. Money you used to win him over. And then you used me and Fred for a story to get my mother's charity more money so that you could steal it with her key that you then used to frame my dad!"

Sam peered at me over the top of his drink. "You think you've got me all figured out, don't you? You've even formulated a nice little story in your head. You know, maybe you should consider getting yourself checked out. Making up stories, formulating false accusations, jumping to conclusions...At this rate, we'll have someone coming to read to you at St. Mungo's." He looked at me thoughtfully. "But do they even allow guests to visit the mentally ill?"

"How did you do it?" I asked, ignoring his words, even as I felt my stomach twist at how harsh they were. This wasn't about me. It was about getting my dad out of going to prison. "How did you get the key into my dad's flat?"

"I didn't," Sam said. "Your dad did because he's jealous and angry over his divorce from your mother. He's jealous that she's doing so well while he sits at his own dingy flat, lonely and nearly as poor as he was all those years ago."

"He's not. He's doing a lot better," I said defensively. "And he's great at what he does."

Sam gave me a fake look of sympathy. "He'll be going to jail soon enough, Lilah. You have no proof that I did what you're claiming. All you're going on is a hunch. A very wrong hunch."

"No he won't go to jail," I said, deciding it was time for me to start bluffing. "And you say we have no proof, but...the night the key went missing and supposedly appeared in his flat, he was spending time with Uncle Jesse. I've talked to him. He's going to testify at the trial and say that Dad never left the house. Uncle Jesse's a Muggleborn. He knows how to get Muggle food delivered to people. That's what they did and he kept the receipt. Physical proof."

Sam stared at me. His face was expressionless, but I saw the way he seemed to freeze for a second. It was as if he had turned to stone for a moment. He even paled slightly. "You're lying," he said. "If that were true, you would've told me this ages ago. The second it happened. You would've made sure I knew that your dad wouldn't go to jail. You wouldn't have to use Veriteserum to try and get me to confess."

"I wanted to use the Veritserum so that you'd confess to my mother," I said. "The court is one thing but she's another. I want her to know not only that my dad is innocent, but that you are the real thief and you framed my dad. You wait until she catches on. You wait until she finds out the truth."

Sam laughed, a loud, psychotic sound. "She won't," he said. "She already believed I had nothing to do with that article. She's still with me. She believes anything I say. If what you say about your dad's friend is true, it doesn't prove I did anything. You'll have a hard time proving that. I'm very convincing. And she's always chosen me over you and why wouldn't she? I'd choose just about anyone over you, too."

I whipped my wand out and pointed it at him faster than lightning, but somehow Sam was even faster. He had disarmed me in a matter of seconds.

"You're unbelievable!" I screamed, my blood practically boiling at this point. I didn't care what I yelled at him. It was all true and I was done. "I can't believe you're getting away with this! I hope you get what you deserve one day and I'm going to do anything it takes to make sure people know what kind of person you are! Starting with my mother!"

In a flash, Sam had crossed the room to me and pinned me against the wall with a hand to my throat. I screamed, but he tightened his grip slightly, causing me to splutter and gasp to a stop. I began to panic, attempting to pry his hand off, but he was too strong. I was crying now, tears streaming down my face.

"I suggest you quit while you're ahead," he whispered menacingly in my ear. "If you continue digging for proof, I'll make sure you end up exactly like your father. I already ruined his life, I can ruin yours even more than I already have. I can make sure you end up just like him. Or worse. Do you understand me?"

"So you admit it?" I gasped. "You admit you framed my dad and stole the money?"

"Why would I need to admit it when you've already figured every bit of it out yourself," Sam snarled. "But here's the thing: you still don't have proof against me yet. And I swear, you keep digging and you'll end up just like that sorry excuse for a man that's sitting in custody at the Ministry. You understand?" He tightened his grip around my neck.

I let out a strangled sob and tried to pull his hand away again, but it didn't budge. My vision was spotting and for a second, I was sure I was going to die here.

"I SAID DO YOU-" Sam began, but he was cut off by another body slamming into his and knocking him to the floor.

Gasping for air, I scuttled backwards, putting distance between myself and Sam, who was now lying on his back underneath none other than my brother. Julian was on top of Sam, throwing quite a few punches. Good ones, too, I might add. I wondered where he had gotten such good aim.

I wanted to pull my brother away before he got hurt, but I couldn't move. I felt sick. My stomach was churning and I was trembling. I was afraid that if I tried to intervene, I'd only get hurt even more. I was just about to try and locate my wand when Julian and Sam were blasted apart. They landed on opposite sides of the room, both breathing heavily. Sam's face was covered in blood and Julian's lip and above his eye were both bleeding. His knuckles also looked terrible. I could tell from where I was. I whirled around to see who had cast the spell and saw my mother standing in the doorway.

"Mum," I said, my voice cracking. "Sam was-"

"I know," Mum said shrilly. "I saw him. Julian and I walked in the room just when he-when he...came at you." She whispered the last three words before swallowing and turning to Sam. "I've already put an anti-apparition charm on the house and I've already alerted the Ministry. They'll be here any minute."

I blinked in surprise. Saying I was shocked was almost an understatement. I couldn't believe it had worked out this way. I was so thankful, though. Thankful I didn't have to plan anymore. Thankful I didn't have to stress about how to outsmart Sam. Thankful my mother had seen it all with her own eyes and wasn't taking Sam's side. Just thankful in general about what had happened.

"Joanna," Sam said calmly, getting to his feet and taking a step towards her. "Come on now, you can't really-"

"You attacked my daughter!" My mother said. Her voice was high-pitched and angry, but it also sounded a bit scared as she pointed her wand at him. "I trusted you and this is how you repay me!"

Sam's expression instantly darkened. "You're going to be sorry you ever did this, Joanna," he said. "You're going to be very, very sorry."

"I already am sorry," she said. "Sorry I allowed myself to trust you and sorry I let you manipulate me."

Sam raised his wand again, which I was surprised he still had, and Julian and I immediately rose to our feet, ready to make a move. But we didn't have to seeing as there were loud, harsh knocks on the door just then. The officials from the Ministry were here.

Mum let them in and the next forty five minutes were a blur. We went into the living room, which seemed as if it became full of people. Too full. There were four officials from the Ministry. Two of them dealt with getting Sam out of the house while the other two stayed and began asking us questions. Julian, Mum and I all had to give accounts of what happened and they also examined Julian's face and the injuries from fighting with Sam as well as my neck, where I had scratches and red marks from Sam's hand. They even took a few pictures. They asked some more questions and we had to repeat our stories what seemed like a million times. I explained about the tape recorder and took it out of my pocket. I played back the tape with Sam's confession. The Ministry officials wrote some stuff down and then took the recorder from me, putting it into a bag. And then they finally left, leaving the three of us alone in the quiet. I felt exhausted as if I had just run for miles.

"Lilah," Mum said quietly. She was staring straight ahead, unblinking, her hands folded neatly in her lap and her back ramrod straight. "Why don't you take Julian upstairs? The two of you can get cleaned up and rest a bit before dinner."

I nodded and stood up, gesturing for Julian to follow. He did and we made our way up the stairs in silence. Julian headed into the bathroom and I followed, getting out the first aid things I needed for his injured face and knuckles. We always kept a supply of Muggle first aid stuff on hand for when a few reasons. One, because some injuries were better left to heal on their own. It was healthier that way. Bruises were an example. Secondly, Julian and I were always encouraged to deal with small cuts and scrapes on our own while we were too young for magic, but old enough to take care of our own injuries. And thirdly, while I could now use magic legally and I knew a few basic healing spells, I was no healer. The spell to heal basic cuts was easy, and oddly enough, so was mending broken bones. One spell and a quick, painful snap into place, and it was all done. Small cuts were the same way. Simple. But bigger cuts were trickier and more of a problem. And so were injuries like Julian's knuckles that looked like they had worsened in the time we had spent talking to the people from the Ministry. There was no way I was using magic on those.

"You're certainly a sight for sore eyes," I whispered with a smile as Julian took a seat on the closed toilet and stared down at his knuckles, bruised, scraped, red and bleeding slightly. He didn't answer and I didn't say anything else as I grabbed a bottle of cleaning potion as well as a rag to put the potion on and bandages to wrap his hands in. Then, I stood beside him and sighed. "Jules, you need to look at me so I can clean up your face."

"I don't care about my face," he said. "Or my hands."

"Jules, your lip is busted open, you have a cut above your eye and your knuckles are a mess. They need to be taken care of."

"He was going to kill you, Liles," Julian said, looking up at me seriously, his green eyes staring into mine. I felt my chest tighten and my throat constrict at his expression and when I noticed his hands were trembling.

"He wasn't," I whispered, shaking my head slightly. "He wasn't." But the truth was, I didn't know that. At the time, with Sam's hand pressing into my neck, I had, in fact, been sure I was going to die.

"He threatened you, first of all," Julian said. "He basically threatened to kill you. At the worst. At the least, he threatened to get you locked away with Dad. That's serious enough. And..." he swallowed and looked away, staring at the wall, "I walked into the house to hear your scream, then ran into the kitchen to see him pressing you against the wall, his hand around your neck and this insane look in his eyes. Manical." He paused. "What if Mum and I had come home ten seconds later? A minute? An hour? What would we have found?" He looked back at me as he shrugged one shoulder helplessly. "What would I ever do without my big sister?"

I let out a sound that was a half sob, half laugh as a tear escaped my eye and ran down my face. "You're really grown up now, Jules," I said. "You're fifteen and already taller than me. You're smart. You're kind. And you do do a good job of taking care of yourself and being responsible. You don't really need me. Something I keep forgetting."

"Lilah, of course I need you," Julian whispered. "How could you ever think I don't? How can you possibly say what you just said?"

I hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. Unsure if i should tell him what Sam had said. But then I decided against it. I knew what he would say and I knew he'd be right. He'd tell me to ignore Sam because he was wrong. He'd ask why I'd ever consider believing that lunatic. And a large part of me didn't. But I just wasn't able to help some small part of my brain. And then I hated that part of my brain for making me look pathetic.

"You always accuse me of sufficating you," I finally said. There was a pause. "I care too much. Way more than I can expect in return."

"Lilah, are you crazy?" Julian asked. "You think I don't care about you as much as you care about me?" He shook his head. "I'm always going to need you, Lilah. Maybe the exact needs are going to change. For instance, I can cross streets on my own now and dress myself. I can do buttons. They're not so hard anymore." He smiled briefly as I let out a breathy laugh. "Maybe I don't always need you to physically take care of me, but I will always need you around," he said. "You're my sister, Lie, and I love you."

"I love you too," I said.

"And I definitely care about you just as much as you care about me. I just show it differently. So I don't get beaten up, you know. Teased mercilessly for admiting I love my sister." He smiled.

I smiled back. "And on the contrary, I think I show it too much."

"Mm, maybe sometimes," Julian said with a smile as I laughed and swatted him.

"Okay, look at me," I told him, "so I can help get your handsome face back to normal."

Julian tilted his head upwards, allowing me to gently dab at his lip, then the spot above his eye with the rags dipped in cleaning potion. And after that, it was time for his knuckles. I bandaged them in silence, wrapping the soft white material around and around his hands. "Where did you learn to hit like that?" I finally asked as I finished up.

"I don't know," he answered softly, staring down at my handiwork. "It's not like I've ever really hit someone before. But it was like...I just acted. I just moved. He was attacking you and I was angry. It was like instinct or something."

I smiled. "Well, thank you," I said. "I'm glad I have you around to protect me."

Julian smiled back before his eyes shifted to my neck, where I was sure the red, finger-shaped marks as well as the scratches, still remained. "Can you make them go away?" he asked.

I nodded. "I should be able to. They're minor enough. More minor than yours, believe it or not. I guess it's a good thing. I don't want to have to see them."

"Me neither," Julian said, standing up and looking down at me. We just stared at each other for a moment before Julian wordlessly pulled me into a hug and just held me to him, which, I realized, was exactly what I needed.


Later that night, I was sitting in my bed, dressed in my pajamas with my knees pulled to my chest. I felt like all my insides were aching. I was still shaken up by what had happened earlier, but I also couldn't get what Sam had said out of my head. I knew I shouldn't have believed him or taken what he had said to heart, but...She's always chosen me over you, and why wouldn't she? I'd choose just about anyone over you too. It upset me and it also made me mad that I was letting it upset me. It was completely ridiculous and untrue. Just because Sam felt that way doesn't mean everyone else did. Obviously. But what if he was right about my mother? She had always chosen him over me. Until tonight. Tonight she'd had the truth thrown in her face and she couldn't deny it anymore. She had come to rescue me and practically sent Sam off to jail. But what would happen now? Would she think I was at fault for bringing this upon us? Would she think I was at fault for giving her no choice than to do what she did?

I tried to prepare myself for her to feel that way. A part of me wouldn't be surprised. I was always at fault for everything with her. It always felt like she put me last, as if she thought I were ridiculous and worthless. It always felt like no matter what I did, I couldn't win. I couldn't get her on my side. It may have sounded crazy, but it made me think of what Sam had said when he'd said everyone else would always care less than me because I always cared too much.

I knew that was insane, though. I knew he was trying to get under my skin and make me feel insecure and insane. I knew it made no sense. Julian loved me. My Dad loved me. Oliver had loved me. My friends loved me. But sometimes when things got bad-and tonight had been the worst of them all-I just wondered if there really was something wrong with me.

Just then, I heard a soft knock on my door. Jolting out of the trance I had been in, I looked up.

"Come in," I said quietly.

When the door opened, I was only mildly surprised to see my mother. She looked awful. Worse than me, actually. And in a strange way, that made me feel better. She had feelings after all. Who knew?

She cleared her throat and sat down gingerly on the edge of my bed.

"Lilah," she began, her tone flat, "what Sam did was extremely wrong. Worse than wrong, actually. It was unforgivable. All of it, but especially what he did to you."

"I don't know, I think framing dad is pretty bad," I said.

"He could have killed you."

"He could've sent Dad to Azkaban for something he didn't do," I argued.

Mum pursed her lips before sighing. "I knew that sounded odd, but I didn't want to-if there was evidence-I never suspected-"

"You didn't act like it sounded odd," I said.

"I-" Mum began. She broke off before tring again. "When your dad was brought in, I-I was-I couldn't..." She trailed off and looked away as she closed her eyes, unable to get the words out.

"Why did you side with Sam after the article came out?" I asked. "Why couldn't you have believed me? Listened to me? Heard me out? If Dad being accused sounded so weird to you..."

"Because it didn't make sense to me," Mum sighed. "It didn't make sense that Sam would do this. All evidence pointed to your father."

"It was easier to believe that I-your own daughter-cheated on her boyfriend than to believe that your boyfriend blackmailed me and helped create a made up article about me?"

"They both sound pretty outrageous, actually," Mum said with a shrug.

"You have to know how hurt I was by all that happened," I said. "My own mother wasn't on my side. Isn't that your job?"

My mother sniffed. "Everything seemed to point to you being in the wrong, Lilah. What was I supposed to think?"

"Please, Mum, don't start that again. I'm still your daughter," I answered. "And I'm just trying to tell you how I feel. It did hurt to know you didn't believe me. A lot."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Mum said, standing up and smoothing out her shirt.

I gaped at her. I'm sorry you feel that way? That's all she had to say?

Before either of us could say anything more, there was a series of loud bangs from the front door. I could vaguely make out muffled shouting from outside. The voices sounded oddly like Fred and George. I half-smiled. I was willing to bet anything that Julian had written to them about what had happened that day.

"What in Merlin's name is that?" Mum asked.

"I think it's Fred and George," I said. "Probably wanted to check up on us."

"Hm," Mum said. She turned towards my bedroom door. "I don't think it's best if we have guests over tonight. After all that's happened-"

"No, Mum, I want to see them," I protested. "Can we please let them in?"

"No, Lilah, I don't-"

"Please?" I begged. It was a long shot, but I was desperate.

Mum pursed her lips. "Fine," she said curtly. "But only for a little while. Half an hour."

"Okay," I agreed with a smile. "Thank you."

Mum nodded once. "Go let them in, then, before they break down the door."

I smiled wider and jumped off my bed before quickly heading down the stairs and over to the front door. I grabbed the doorknob and turned it before pulling it open to reveal the twins, who both nearly fell inside after the door swung open and they had nothing to bang on anymore.

"Lilah!" they exclaimed, hurrying inside without waiting for an invitation. Fred immediately grabbed me in a tight hug, backing me up a few steps with his momentum. When he pulled away, his eyes roamed over my face.

"Julian wrote us," he whispered. "Told us everything." He paused. "Are you alright?"

I nodded solemnly. "I'm okay."

"And Jules?" Fred pressed on.

"He's fine," I answered. "A little banged up, but otherwise fine."

Fred nodded and gave my face a once-over again before leaning in and kissing me. I immediately relaxed and leaned into him as he pulled me closer. I never wanted it to end, but unfortuantely, we were forced to pull away from each other when someone cleared their throat from behind me. My mother, no doubt.

Sighing, I turned to face her, slipping my hand into Fred's as I did so. She was standing on the stairs, a few up from the bottom, her hand poised lightly on the bannister as she looked at us with raised eyebrows.

Fred cleared his throat before smiling widely. "Hi Mrs.-er-Miss Matthews. It's nice to see you again."

"Mum," I said slowly, tilting my head towards Fred. "Fred and I have been..."

"Dating," Fred said firmly, looking at me. "We've been dating."

I met his eyes and smiled slightly before turning back to my mother. I knew what Fred was doing. Giving my mother the whole blunt truth before I had a chaance to soften it up for her, or worse, chicken out of telling it completely, which wasn't what I wanted to do, but who knew what could've slipped out of my mouth if I had hesitated too long.

"I can see that," Mum said airily as she gazed between us.

Julian suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. He leaned forward on his elbows, resting them on the bannister as he smiled down at us. "They make a pretty disgusting couple, don't they?" he asked.

"I'll have you know," Fred called up to him, "that Lilah and I are a stunning couple."

Mum cleared her throat again. "For how long?" she asked. "Since the article? Was it true after all?"

"No, Mum, honestly!" I cried in frustration. I glanced at Fred before lowering my voice a bit. "We went on our first date a week ago."

"But I've been hoping she'd go out with me since February," Fred added with a grin as he nudged my side, getting a tiny smile out of me as well.

"Mum, you can't seriously think I'd cheat on Oliver," I said. "You can't seriously be re-thinking the truth now."

"Yeah, Lilah took forever to agree to even go out with me," Fred said. "And as I said, I've only been asking her out since February. A whole two months after the article came out."

"He's telling the truth, Mum," Julian said. "I've been with them at school all year." He paused. "And believe me, Fred really likes Lilah."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Mum asked.

"It's only been a week and I wanted Sam out of the picture before I did," I replied. "Besides, it's not like it's always easy to tell you things as it is."

Mum shot me a look. "Well, I would have appreciated it if you could have said something. As you can imagine, finding out by witnessing you two...attached at the lips, isn't ideal. I'd have prefered you to talk to me like an adult."

"I planned on it," I protested, "but as I said, I wanted Sam out of the way. I didn't know what he'd do if he found out. But now that he's gone...I was going to tell you, I swear. I didn't know the twins were coming over tonight."

"We wanted to make sure Lilah and Julian were okay," George said. "Julian told us what happened."

"They're fine," Mum answered. Her tone was flat. Not quite angry, but also not quite accepting. I didn't know what to make of that. "They're a little shaken up, however, as I'm sure you can imagine. So I'm also sure you'll understand when I ask that you limit your visit to only half an hour."

Fred and George were quiet for a moment as they looked at each other before looking back at my mother. "Fine," Fred finally answered. He didn't bother to hide his irritation and I nudged him.

Mum nodded curtly before heading into the kitchen. At the doorway, she paused and half looked over her shoulder. "Would you boys like a cup of tea?" she asked, her tone clipped and strained. But nonetheless, something flickered inside me-a little bit of hope maybe. Hope that this was her way of trying to give them a chance instead of only asking to be courteous. But then again, I reminded myself, having hope with my mother was dangerous. It was also plausible that she was just too exhausted to start a fight tonight. Maybe, under the circumstances, she was biting her tongue. I couldn't figure it out yet. I wouldn't be able to figure her out for a day or two.

"Er...sure, yeah, we'd love some," Fred said.

"Anything in it?" Mum asked.

"Nothing for me," Fred said. "George likes sugar, though."

"Just a spoonful," George added.

Mum nodded again and looked at me. "Lilah?"

"Sure, I'll have some."

"Julian?" Mum called up to him.

"Yes, please," he called back, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

Finally, mum left the room to go make the tea and Fred turned back to me as Julian descended the stairs to stand beside us.

"Are you sure you two are okay?" Fred asked, looking from me to my brother.

"We're fine," I said. "What did Julian tell you, exactly?"

"Just that Sam told you the truth while he and your mother were out and when he came home, he heard you scream." His face paled slightly as his eyes wandered to my throat. He tilted my chin up so he could get a better look. "You did a good job of getting rid of any marks. I don't see anything."

"They were there," Julian piped up. "It was all red."

"Yeah, and what about you?" I asked. "Busted lip, cut over your eye, and not to mention your hands." I nodded to his hands, still wrapped in the bandages from earlier. "We should also probaby change those soon."

Julian sighed. "Yes, Lilah," he said in mock-frustration. Well, at least partly mocking anyway. I knew he was still somewhat serious.

Fred let out a low whistle as he smiled. "Wow, Lie, the kid defends you and you still have to worry about him."

"Seriously," Julian muttered. "Just let me bask in the glory of being a good brother for a bit."

"You're a great brother," I told him quietly, giving him a small smile. "And I'm glad you were here today."

Julian grinned and came over to wrap me in a hug, quickly kissing the top of my head as he did so. "Love you, Lie," he whispered.

My throat constricted slightly at the words. "Love you too," I answered quietly as I pulled away and looked at the twins. "Thanks for coming over," I said. "Even if we didn't ask you to...it means a lot that you wanted to check up on us."

"Personally," Fred began with a smirk, "I came for Julian, not you. I couldn't care less about you, Lilah."

"Ouch," I said with a snort. Even though I knew he was joking, I couldn't help but wish he hadn't said that. After the weird mood tonight had put me in, it just wasn't the best choice of words. But it wasn't like Fred could even possibly know that.

"When's your dad going to be released?" George asked.

"Soon, hopefully," I said. "Maybe within the next few days." I shrugged. "And now Sam will be the one in custody."

"I just can't believe that piece of trash almost killed you!" Fred said. "I should have stayed over until he got home. If I hadn't left-"

"Fred, why would you think today was different than any other day?" I asked. "Sam's never gotten violent like this before. Why would you think he had reason to?"

"I don't know," Fred shrugged. "But I just-maybe things could have been different if I had stayed."

I smiled. "You have no reason to worry. Julian did just fine on his own." I looked over at my brother and smiled widely. He returned it proudly. "Besides, I got Sam to confess. He probably wouldn't have done that if you had been here."

Fred looked between us solemnly for a moment, the expression odd on his usually jovial face. Finally, he smiled slightly and gave my hand a squeeze. "I'm just really glad you're okay. But...if I ever see that man again, I'm going to let him have it."

"I won't stop you," I said with a smile. "But I have a feeling you won't have to go through all that trouble. With any luck we'll never have any reason to run into him again.