Disclaimer: If Harry Potter was mine, things would've ended a little differently. It doesn't so they didn't.
The Magic Word Is Sorry, Not Please
(Chapter Fifty Three- Different Situations)
Normally, at 7am, the Potter house was silent. In fact, normally, at 7am the entire muggle street on which the Potters lived was silent.
This morning, though, Al Potter sat wide awake, staring out of the window.
In the long, boring summer holidays, Al liked to watch the muggles entertain themselves through this window. He often wondered how muggles managed to have as much fun as wizards did without brooms or wands or pranks. He still couldn't answer his question; they seemed to spend very little time outside, and when they did they would be attempting to balance on wooden boards or shoes with wheels on and mostly, they spent their time inside, watching a box flash pictures at them.
This morning, though, Al was looking out his window and towards the sky, watching and waiting for…
A small speck appeared above the woods on the horizon, and Al watched as it got larger and larger. By the time the speck was hovering above the houses across the street it was no longer a speck but an owl.
An owl which launched itself at Al's closed window; not a particularly bright owl, Al realised.
Opening his window and pressing his finger to his lips, as if in conversation with the stupid owl, a thought suddenly reached Al's mind.
To any wizarding outsiders, this moment would look like a re-enactment of his father's adolescence; waiting until dawn for an owl, which he then smuggles inside his room.
However, unlike his father, Al's letter didn't contain news regarding the welfare of the wizarding world. No, Al's letter was from his girlfriend.
Al,
I'm really starting to miss you now, which I realise is stupid since it's only been five days. But the more I write to you, the more I wish I was talking to you. Know what I mean?
As you may have noticed, I had to change owls; Kenrick got too tired after the letters yesterday, so I used Stitch instead. She's a bit slower than Ken though and a lot stupider. You'll have to tell her to come straight back here, otherwise she'll go and visit my Aunt Jenny in Ireland on the way; Jen gave her chocolate one year and Stitch has been a little obsessed with her ever since. And that's why I don't bother to take my stupid owl with me to Hogwarts.
Sorry, I know my writing isn't really making much sense; I got up at ridiculous o'clock to write this, since I have to if we're going to beat yesterday's 17. I'm pretty sure we can, since I started at six and we'll carry on 'til one in the morning again.
I'm not going to get any sleep until we go back to Hogwarts am I? Us and our stupid letter-writing.
But it's nice to write to you this much; it's almost like you're here.
Mum's starting to get annoyed with the owls though; she says I could write to you any time, but I only have these two weeks to talk to her. Yawn; I'd far rather write to you.
By the way, I asked her about Diagon Alley, and she looked a bit off about it. Says she wants to meet you first. Oh well, there's always Summer.
Anyway, Stitch has my wand in her mouth now, so I should write faster before she sets something on fire.
Write back quickly. And I mean quickly; you can't take longer than an hour or there's no way we'll beat yesterday.
I love you.
Maddie.
Ps. Tell Rose Happy Birthday for me? I'll send her present with one of my letters later; tell me when you're at your Grandparents, yeah?
Xxx
Al smiled to himself as he read her letter, and then was about to reply before he looked up at the owl which was now hopping along the windowsill. Al put his wand in his pocket as he looked at the owl warily, and then he began to write back.
Mads,
It's too early, I swear. But two letters down before 8 in the morning; we're definitely going to beat yesterday's totals. Although I'm not particularly sure why we care about beating ourselves? Must have been something we came up with early this morning, because I was barely awake when we wrote those letters; I don't remember what I wrote. And then my alarm woke me up this morning.
But, I do quite like the idea of beating our totals; it's quite fun to bug Lily with all the letters I get. She and Jake are still pretending not to be together, so no letters for her!
It's a shame we can't meet up in London; I would've liked to see you, but I guess it's only ten more days until we're back at Hogwarts, right?
I will tell Rose happy birthday from you; what have you got her? I have a feeling my presents going to be rubbish compared to everyone else's!
I love you more.
Al. x
He passed his letter to Stitch quickly, before turning back to his bed and collapsing on top of it.
Then, thinking of owls and letters and Hogwarts and Maddie, his eyes closed again in the exhaustion that had come from so little sleep.
Dreams were something that didn't commonly come to Al. He wasn't a creative person, nor was he particularly perceptive, so his dreams tended to be him reliving past experiences; the time he first caught a snitch or the day Lily was born.
Lately, however, Al's dreams had been something that didn't seem to include him; it was foggy moments of the party after the first Quidditch match. He saw James and Louisa dancing on the table, fireworks fizzing around his head, and in the distance through the crowd he saw Rose dancing with Scorpius, and Anna and Fred walking up the dorm stairs together.
And although Al knew he had been at the party that night, he didn't know if this memory was real or something his brain was conjuring so he felt less guilty about forgetting whatever Maddie wanted him to remember.
"Al? Al are you awake?" He was woken up by Lily's voice. "Al?"
He opened his eyes reluctantly and sat up to look at his sister. She had shut the door behind her and was sat down on the end of his bed, fully dressed and fully awake unlike Al.
"Morning Lils." He said, turning to his clock and seeing it was now nine thirty. "What's up?"
She shrugged. "I need your help." She said simply.
"With what?"
"I need you to distract Mum and Dad, so me and Jake can hang out for a little while. Louis said he'd help but it'll start to look suspicious if he keeps bringing up random conversations with Dad. Please?" Lily fluttered her eyelashes a little, and Al pulled a face like he was thinking.
"Er… no." he said, crossing his arms. "There's no way I'm helping you and Jake; James isn't here so it's up to me to be the responsible big brother-"
"Annoying big brother you mean? Come on, Al, I'd do it for you and Maddie!" she whined, crossing her arms in the same way Al just had.
"You wouldn't!"
"I would, and I will; whenever you need me. I'll trip up Scorpius so you and Mads get the dorm to yourself or debate Quidditch with Rose or-"
"I don't need you to help me and Maddie. Unlike you, we don't need to hide."
"Please!" she begged, before changing her eyes to glare-mode and changing her method of persuasion. "I guess I'll have to tell Mum about what you and Madeline get up to then."
He laughed a little. "That's weak, Lils. Me and Maddie don't 'get up to' anything."
"Mum doesn't know that though, does she? I could tell her about the time I found you in a compromising position in the Quidditch changing rooms, or that you once got detention from McGonagall for doing something inappropriate in a classroom-"
"Neither of those things happened!" Al said frustratedly, sitting up further and glaring back at his sister. She looked so much like their mother when she had her eyebrows raised challengingly.
"Fine. I'll cover for you. But only today, Lils, the rest of the time you're just going to have to sort yourselves out."
"Thank you bro." she said, in a stupidly sickeningly-sweet voice.
"But Lily, why don't you just tell them?"
"Because they'd know we lied until now." She said, matter-of-factly. "Trust me, it's easier this way."
"It doesn't feel any easier." Al mumbled. He reached out and pulled a jumper over his head, and was about to head downstairs for breakfast before he jumped up when he heard a bang on the window. He turned and saw Stitch scrabbling at the glass confusedly.
After Al opened the window, Stitch eyed him, looking frustrated at being locked out, then dropped the letter and flew out of the window in a second.
"Wait, you stupid bird!" Al yelled, leaning out of the window, watching as the small owl flew over the chimneys defiantly.
He sighed, before turning his head a little in the direction of voices.
The neighbours, a family of three small children and parents, were looking up at him, frozen at the doors of their car.
"Morning." Al said, nodding awkwardly. The adults just smiled and waved oddly before continuing their business.
Al retreated into his bedroom, and turned to see his sister laughing on his bed.
"Nice, Al. Well done with acting normal in front of the muggles; yelling at birds out of the window."
"Shut up." Al replied, picking up the letter and turning it over in his hand. He looked up at Lily again, before deciding not to open Maddie's letter until she'd left him alone.
"Where did the owl go anyway?"
"Ireland." He replied, knowingly. "Reckon Mum'll let me borrow Mimsy to write back?"
"You can't; I sent a letter to James at Hogwarts."
"Oh great." Al replied sarcastically, mentally deciding to steal his Dad's owl when he next had an opportunity. He then sighed and folded his arms again. "How is our idiotic brother anyway?"
"I wouldn't know; he's not written back yet."
Al nodded, wondering about James. Both of them felt the same, Al could tell; he and Lily both felt they weren't doing enough to help him through all the Louisa drama.
"Reckon he'll be ok?" Al asked quietly, realising this was the first time he'd voiced his worries about his sibling.
"I don't know. I don't think I've talked to him enough-"
"Me neither." Al said, and he and Lily both wore identically guilty expressions for a moment.
"But he has got Roxy and Fred and Dom." Lily said defensively.
"Yeah, it's not like he's alone, is it?" Al replied.
Lily nodded. "Exactly."
They both fell silent for a moment, before Lily spoke again.
"Are you worried about him too, Al? I mean he's our brother and I just worry he's not going to be okay again…"
But Lily stopped talking because the door had opened, and their mother stood in the doorway.
"Why would you be worried about James?" Their mother demanded nosily.
"No reason, Mum." Lily replied, shaking her head.
"Yeah, we're just being stupid."
"That's not true." Ginny said simply, frowning at her two youngest children. "What's going on?"
Al and Lily looked at each other meaningfully, knowing that James and Roxy had made them promise not to tell. At the same time, though, Al thought that telling his mother may make it better; his Mum could make James see it all differently.
Lily must have been feeling the same, because she sighed and shook her head. "Fine, we'll tell you."
Al weakly protested out of loyalty, but then they gave up and told their mother about everything James-Craig-Roxy-and-Louisa related. And all the while Maddie's letter practically burnt a hole in his hand; he missed the simplicity of writing to his girlfriend without his family's drama distracting him all the while.
…
Scorpius had woken up to Rose on top of him, her legs either side of his body, and while it was a wonderful way to wake up, he couldn't help but know where they were. He'd pointed out that her brother was nearby to see him hanging above his bed, looking furious even upside down.
Rose was, as Al had been, excited at being able to do magic.
She'd spent the entire morning flicking her wand at every available opportunity; it began with Hugo torturing, and she then summoned breakfast up the stairs. She then bound Hugo's body and used the opportunity to kiss Scorpius good morning (the first kiss they'd managed to have since the beginning of the holidays) and then, after Scorpius watched her mother shouting at her to stop using magic on her brother, he watched as Rose taunted Hugo with her wand as he tidied his room.
The best magic Rose had used, however, was when she locked Hugo in the bathroom for a few moments, and locked herself in Hugo's room with Scorpius.
Having known they were pressed for time, Rose mindful that Scorpius was more likely to look bad in Ron's eyes, they had kissed for barely minutes before Scorpius gave her her birthday present. She'd liked it, as Scorpius hoped, though he was sure it was nothing overly special. He'd simply bought her a bracelet, engraved with her name and the date, and an original copy of Hogwarts: A History, her favourite book.
As they had expected, it hadn't been long until Rose's mother had attempted to get into the bathroom. Scorpius was thankful it was her mother, not Ron, because Hermione simply told Rose off again but let it go because it was her birthday. Scorpius had a feeling Ron wouldn't be as lenient.
The Weasley family were quite predictable like that, while Scorp couldn't predict his family as they didn't spend any time together.
The Weasley house, or in fact the Weasleys as a family, was like nothing Scorpius had ever experienced before. The Weasleys were in fact, Scorpius thought, the exact opposite of everything the Malfoys were. The Malfoys were quiet; the Weasleys were loud. The Weasleys were close; the Malfoys were distant. The Malfoys didn't talk about the past; the Weasleys laughed about stories of their lives. To the Malfoys, physical possessions were everything; the Weasleys just seemed happy to have each other. Scorpius was lucky if he saw his parents once a day; Rose ate with her parents and brother every meal when they could, and they visited the rest of their family at every available opportunity. At the Weasley house, Scorpius felt happy and alive; Malfoy Manor was the exact opposite.
Scorpius thought this as he arrived in The Burrow with Rose, Hugo, Hermione and Ron for the second time in the last few days.
It was easier this time, Scorpius realised; he already knew Rose's Grandparents and most of her Aunts and Uncles. He was only newly introduced to Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, but other than that he was relatively comfortable with everyone.
Yes, that was how the Weasleys made him feel. Comfortable;almost like he belonged there, even if his surname dictated that he didn't.
As Rose was dragged away by her Grandmother to see her birthday cake, Scorpius chatted to Louis and Jake about the last few days.
"How's it going then?" Scorpius asked the younger boys.
Jake smiled and said it was fine, but Louis shook his head.
"He won't stop talking about Lily." Louis moaned, checking the immediate area for parents as he did so.
Scorpius laughed a little. "You only saw her five days ago!" He told Jake.
"Not even that! Lily and Al came over two days ago. And I had to distract Uncle Harry and Dad for ages; I looked like a right idiot asking about gnomes-"
"Look, I said thanks."
"Yeah, and I said I'm not doing it again." Louis replied. "God, it's bad enough you're going out with my cousin." Louis laughed as Jake did the same, and then the three of them sat down and discussed the way they'd spent their time.
That was until the fire crackled, and the Potters stepped out of it.
Scorpius still found it bizarre to actually see Harry Potter. He could tell Jake felt the same; even though they were so close to the Potter children, it had never truly dawned on them who their Dad was. But it was Harry Potter. Harry – the boy who lived – Potter. And he couldn't help but watch him greet his family with a little awe in his face.
"Hey!" Al and Lily sat next to the three boys, greeting them casually.
Scorpius had, he would admit, found it a little weird spending so much time with Rose without Al around. They were a unit of three for almost five years; that only really changed this year, but Al had still always been around.
Scorpius loved it though; he liked it just being him and Rose. He just missed Al because he was his best friend.
"How's it going at the Weasleys?" Al asked Scorp as Louis, Jake and Lily emerged themselves in conversation.
"Fine. Yeah, it's good."
"See I told you that you had nothing to be worried about."
Scorpius pulled a face. "Not once in the last few months have you said that."
"Well, I meant to." He replied, smiling cheekily.
"What's it like being home?"
"Boring." Al yawned. "I'm seriously considering jumping on a broomstick and flying back to Hogwarts."
Laughing, Scorpius watched as Rose headed back out of the kitchen.
"Hey." Rose said, sitting on the sofa between Al and Scorpius.
"So, seventeen year old, how are you?"
"I'm good thanks." Rose replied.
Al smiled, then nodded. "Oh, I forgot I have to tell you…"
"Right, presents!" Molly Weasley called from the doorway and Al, Scorpius and Rose shared a look that meant they'd finish the conversation later.
They even opened presents differently at the Weasleys; instead of Scorpius being sat alone in his bedroom, opening the presents left on the end of his bed, Rose opened her presents surrounded by her family.
Because she had millions of family members, Rose had nearly as many presents or cards. Packages were sent from France and London and Scotland; Rose had cards from Professor Longbottom, the Minister for Magic and even readers of the Daily Prophet.
Every present almost screamed Rose Weasley; books and vintage jewellery and little magical trinkets that no one else would find a use for.
Al, as a joke, presented Rose with Quidditch Through The Ages, but when she opened it she found the cover fell off and Tales Of Beetle The Bard was inside. As tradition dictated, Ron and Hermione bought Rose a watch for her birthday, which made both Rose and Ron cry as they realised how she was growing up.
Scorpius liked the feeling here; he felt almost as if he belonged.
However things turned awkward again when George gave Rose her last card.
"It's a new thing at the shop. See the balloons on the front? There are ten of them; they each represent something you can legally do now and they pop when you've done it. The list is on the inside."
Rose smiled, and Scorpius read the list inside the card over her shoulder.
Perform magic outside school.
Drink alcoholic substances.
Purchase brooms with the ability to move at speeds over 200 miles an hour.
Attain an apparition licence.
Take muggle driving lessons.
Have sex.
Get married.
Start a job.
Legally leave school, without permission from parents.
Purchase a hippogriff, niffler, Fire crab, Porlock or Kneazle.
"Right, so if you close the card now…" Rose did so and, with a loud bang, two balloons popped. "So you've done magic and… Rose, what else have you done?"
At the same time, the adults' eyes moved from Rose to Scorpius, eyeing him suspiciously.
And then Scorpius wanted the ground to swallow him whole.
"I've drank alcohol!" Rose said impatiently, glaring at Al and Hugo who had begun to laugh.
"Oh, right. Yeah alright." George nodded, then stood up. "Food?" he suggested, and everyone deliberately broke out into loud conversation.
Rose turned, and glared at Al again, who was still laughing.
"You should have seen Scorpius' face!" he said between sniggers.
"Oh, shut up!" Scorpius commanded. "What were you going to tell us before?"
The smile then vanished from Al's face, then he sighed. "We told Mum."
"Told your Mum what?"
"About James and Roxy and Louisa."
"Oh."
As if forced to, all three of them turned their heads towards the adults, where Ginny , Harry and George looked to be in the middle of a very important conversation.
"Oh crap." Al sighed, shaking his head.
"You got that right." Rose nodded.
And Scorpius thought to himself, as much as he felt like he belonged here, there was always drama around the Weasleys, whether at Hogwarts or home.
