"Legerdemain"
"Chapter Ten: The One Where Albus Feeds Cats"
James watched as his parents left the graveyard hand-in-hand. He literally felt sick to his stomach the entire morning, a lump of bile was lodged in his throat and his heart twisted painfully in his chest. He had caused this. With one spell, with one rash decision, he had killed his father's godfather. James felt as if the guilt would kill him, swallow him whole and spit him out. He couldn't lie to his family anymore, couldn't omit that he had been the murderer of Sirius Black.
Letting out a shaky breath, he looked to his right to see Teddy standing there with a very tired-looking Remus in his arms. He had to at least tell Teddy before the secret chipped away at him any longer. Teddy turned towards him, a forced smile on his lips.
"I'm going to stop by Mum and Dad's to make sure they're all right. Do you want to come with me?" Teddy asked.
James just nodded numbly, not trusting himself to speak. He found himself being pulled into hugs and kisses pressed to his cheek. He told Riley he would be home for dinner and carded a hand through his sleepy son's hair. It was way past Henry's morning naptime. The little boy had soldiered through with heavy eyes and a thumb secure between his teeth.
By the time James and Teddy arrived at their parents' house, they waited in the parlor for their parents. They could hear soft talking and a little bit of commotion upstairs, but they didn't dare go up to see what was going on. To be honest, James was too nervous and didn't even know how to face his father.
James sat on his parents' sofa next to Teddy. He had flashbacks to being a small child and sitting as close as humanly possible to his big brother when he was scared or upset. Teddy always made him feel safe and secure, even after all these years. As though sensing James needed more than just the close proximity, Teddy slung an arm around his shoulders.
Glancing over at the doorway to the parlor, he watched his mother enter the room looking tired and worn. She had changed out of her black attire and into her pajamas with her hair pulled back into a messy bun.
"You boys can go home," Ginny said with a sigh as she curled up in the big armchair. "Your dad took a Dreamless Sleep Potion. It was a rough morning for him."
"I don't think I've ever seen Dad cry like that before," Teddy murmured. "Lily was pretty upset, too. When Dad lost it during his speech, Lily lost it."
"Where did your sister go? I'm surprised she didn't come over here with you two."
Teddy shrugged. "I'm assuming to Scorpius'. If she can't be with Albus, she'd want to be with Scorpius. They're all thicker than thieves."
James shifted from his spot on the sofa, barely concentrating on the conversation around him as his mind kept flashing to the Inferius Sirius dashing towards him. He had remained silent about how it had happened… what he had done. He licked his lips, his gaze meeting his mother's.
"Mum… I did something. That day at the Ministry when the Death Chamber exploded…" James' jaw clenched as Teddy squeezed his shoulder. "I was one of the first ones in the courtroom. I found Dad and Uncle Ron and Demelza."
"I know, darling," Ginny said softly, a tight smile on her face.
"I… I saw Sirius too. Or… Sirius as an Inferius. He wasn't… he wasn't dead when I saw him."
Ginny's brows furrowed, her eyes searching his. "Oh, sweetie, what happened?"
James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sirius was… he was coming at me. He saw me and he was coming at me and Dad was waking up and I… I knew Dad couldn't… I don't want to hurt Dad, especially after how he was today."
"Oh, Jamie."
"I saw Dad coming to in the rubble. Sirius was coming at me, and I knew I had to take him out first, before Dad woke up and saw him. I just…" James trailed off, a stray tear escaping the corner of his eye. "I swear he gave me an odd look as he was coming towards me. Like… like maybe he knew who I was. It was like he knew who I was… I just raised my wand and… what if he wasn't really an Inferius? Whoever has been doing these experiments, they've been altering them to think more independently and…"
"Jamie, stop. No. That wasn't Sirius. He didn't recognize you as a Potter," Ginny said firmly as she made her way across the room and sat on the other side of James, taking his hand in hers. "The Inferi may be altered by someone, but he wasn't Sirius. He was going to attack you, he was still… Inferi don't have souls or memories. They're mindless attackers. Even if they can attack more independently without the aid of a wizard now."
"You did the right thing, Jamie," Teddy whispered. "Dad wouldn't have been able to do it, and he could have been killed. It's… it's better this way."
Ginny turned James' head to look at her, her hands cupping his face. "My brave, sweet, amazing boy. I know you feel guilty, Jamie, but you saved your father from experiencing a lot of heartache."
"You really don't think Sirius was even remotely aware of anything?" James asked in a small voice.
"Oh, love, no, no. Sirius died a long time ago. He's been at peace for a long time. His body was just a mindless attack vessel, nothing more and nothing less. There was not an ounce of humanity left in him. I promise you. You killed an Inferius, not the man."
James felt some of the tension leave his body. "Are you going to tell Dad?"
"I'll leave that decision up to you, Jamie. Whatever you're comfortable with."
"Would you tell him?"
"I don't like lying or keeping things from your dad, you both know that," Ginny said slowly, her eyes flickering between her two sons. "I think him knowing this information would only hurt him. I think it's best if we just keep this between the three of us."
James nodded slowly. Maybe that was for the best. No good could come of his dad knowing that his Inferius godfather had been killed by his own son. James wasn't sure he could bear to see the pain in his father's eyes if he ever found out the truth. While his mother's words calmed him down, he couldn't help but still feel an uncomfortable coiling in his stomach of what if.
The Inferius had recognized him in some way, he knew it. He just didn't know what it meant and that's what terrified him the most.
Albus left Dudley and Claire's on early Saturday morning before they woke, taking refuge in a primary school a few blocks up the road. He smashed a small hole in one of the windows around the back of the building and unlatched the window so he could squeeze in. He ripped his trousers at the thigh in the process. His leg burned, blood seeping out of the small cut as he attempted to find the infirmary for some gauze to wrap his leg up.
When he finally found the correct room, it took him another five minutes to find the damn bandages. He shimmied his pants off to see a small bit of glass stuck in the wound. He sucked in a breath and pulled it out.
"Holy fucking shit," Albus hissed.
He flicked the piece of glass into the bin before he wrapped his leg up. He really wished he had a bit of alcohol but didn't want to dare leave the safety of the primary school. It was summer and a weekend. Nobody should even come near the building until at least Monday.
Pulling back on his ripped and bloody trousers, he strolled through the primary school, his eyes looking around at various old plaques for football and other activities. He didn't see any pictures of his dad in the display cases, nor did he read his name anywhere. When he found the dining hall, he made his way towards the back where the kitchen was. All he found was some leftover single-serve ice cream but it was better than nothing. He took three little ice creams of various flavors before going to search for the library or the computer lab. He thought he could still manage to work a computer after all these years.
He found the library first. He tossed one of his empty ice creams in the bin as he went around the desk. He saw a bin of old books labeled toss on it. If they were going to pitch the books anyways, he might as well grab a few to keep him occupied while he was on the run. He picked up a copy of The Wind in the Willows and opened it. His eyes scanned down the various names over the years and decided to see just how long the book had been in circulation.
That's when he saw it.
Harry Potter April 1990.
The familiar messy and small letters made his heart clench painfully in his chest. He definitely decided to keep that book. He picked a few others and tossed them in his rucksack and tried to figure out where to go next.
Public transportation seemed risky. He could attempt to hitch a ride somewhere from a trucker or someone. Albus was fairly certain that his dad was going to kill him if he hitchhiked but what other choice did he have?
The next day, Albus walked down the streets of Surrey. There wasn't much to do. Quite frankly, it was more boring than Albus could have ever imagined. A few people did a double-take of him and one blonde, horse-faced woman in particular looked like she had seen a ghost as he passed. He shrugged it off and assumed his dad must have made quite an impression in the small town when he had lived there.
But then the oddest thing happened. A very elderly old lady, one who looked like she could have been easily over a hundred years old, stopped him on the street. She had a little buggy filled with multiple bags of cat food in it. She looked up at him like she had won the lottery, a wide smile on her wrinkly face.
"Harry, dear, will you help me?"
"Err…" Albus looked around even though he knew she was talking to him. "Why not? What do you need?"
He had nowhere to be except in a stranger's car.
"Help me take the food in to my house? The bags are so heavy and you know I can't use magic," the woman whispered, her face warm and happy.
"Right. Yeah, of course. Let's go."
That's how Albus wound up pushing a heavy buggy filled with cat food down Privet Drive. He wondered how the frail little old lady had even managed as far as she did. He huffed when the wheel on the buggy broke and he was forced to half drag, half lift it behind him, the cat food becoming progressively heavier the more they walked. He swore to Merlin that if he somehow didn't wind up in prison for life, he was going to start going to the gym with James.
He parked the buggy in the garage and then carried all the bags of cat food into the kitchen off the garage… all twelve bags. He piled them up neatly on the floor of her pantry, careful not to step on any cats that meowed loudly at him and scratched at his feet. He had the urge to kick one calico who started biting at his ankles but somehow refrained from doing so. His dad wouldn't have kicked a cat, so he figured he shouldn't either.
Albus wiped the sweat off his brow when he laid the last bag in the pantry. The cats' meows grew progressively louder as a small army of cats invaded the kitchen. He wrinkled his nose. This woman was worse than his mother and Pygmy Puffs.
"Right, I'm going to get going," Albus announced.
"Let me give you a cup of tea before you go," the woman said. "And biscuits. Petunia won't be giving you any biscuits, that vile woman."
Albus stilled at the words. He had only heard the name Petunia a handful of times, all of them with a certain malice tone attached to it. He blinked, his curiosity getting the best of him, as he took a seat at the kitchen island as the elderly woman switched on an electric kettle.
"Can you fill the cat bowls, dear?"
Albus winced. He fucking hated animals. He slid off the stool and walked over to the pantry. He sucked in a breath and grabbed one of the bags of cat food. Turning around, he searched for a pair of scissors. He spotted some and grabbed them, his eyes drifting down to a piece of mail.
Arabella Figg.
Albus had never heard the name before but made a mental note of it. He cut open the cat food before inching towards the wall lined with cat bowls. He crouched down and started to fill the bowls, the cats surrounding him from all sides. He finished as quickly as he could and placed what little was left in the bag back in the pantry.
"Here you go, Harry," Mrs. Figg sat a small teacup covered in roses in front of him. "I'm so glad they didn't expel you."
"What?" Albus asked, grabbing the cup of tea.
"The Ministry! For producing a Patronus. That lump of a cousin of yours didn't deserve saving from the Dementors if you ask me."
Albus sucked in a breath. "Well, you know, that's me. Harry Potter, saving people… casting Patronuses."
Mrs. Figg smiled at him. "You were always a sweet boy. I'm so sorry I never told you who I was before. I was just meant to watch you from afar, not get involved. It was important to Dumbledore that you didn't know who I truly was for your own safety. It was always so hard though, seeing the way Petunia treated you."
"It was fine," Albus responded with a shrug.
"It's not fine, Harry! The way Petunia treats you, the way she allows that oaf of a husband to treat you. Don't think I haven't seen those marks on your back! You know I wanted to help, I really did, but my hands were just tied."
"What?"
He didn't know much about his dad's childhood except that the terms abuse and neglect had been attached to it. He never imagined that there had been actual physical abuse that left scars. Except Albus couldn't help but think about all the times he had seen his father in the morning having his coffee with just pajama bottoms on and no shirt, of all the thin white lines that littered his back. Albus had never connected them to the Dursleys before, had always assumed that they were scars from work.
"You were always such a brave boy," Mrs. Figg said. "You were always so kind. All the times you listened to my cat stories so patiently, the way you smiled when I showed you pictures. You know I was just trying to keep you from that house, don't you? The longer you were with me, the longer you were away from them."
Albus just nodded, his throat narrow and mind numb.
After tea and some very stale biscuits, Mrs. Figg insisted he stay for dinner. Albus offered to cook, taking out a box of noodles and a jar of sauce. That was how he found himself having dinner with his dad's old neighbor surrounded by old newspapers (both Muggle and magical) and learned the name of her twelve cats, each name more ridiculous than the other and yet still not nearly as bad as the ones his mother came up with… except maybe Sir Kensington the third.
It was nearly nine at night when she finally let him leave, that was only because she had fallen asleep in her recliner while talking with him and watching some Muggle game show on the telly. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the sofa and laid it across her before tip-toeing out of the house, snapping at one of the cats in hushed tones to shut the hell up so its meowing didn't wake Mrs. Figg.
He was walking down the streets of Surrey when he realized that he had to get out of town. He looked too much like his father to hang around for long. He was sure to be found by Aurors if he did. It was time to enact his hitchhiking plan.
Albus stood on the side of the road, flagging down Muggle car after car as he tried to hitch a ride out of Surrey. Merlin, if he somehow survived this, his father would kill him for sure. There was no doubt. He wanted to laugh at how ludicrous it was to be trying to hitch a ride from a complete stranger. He was pretty sure don't get into an automobile with strangers was a lesson his father taught them as kids.
"Unless they have sweets," James' voice yelled in his head. "Sweets means definitely get in!"
"No! Seriously, James, pay attention!" Harry had snapped.
Albus couldn't stop himself from smiling at the memory. As annoying as James could be, he had always managed to make things entertaining. But he didn't need to worry, he wasn't a child anymore. Getting into a stranger's vehicle would be fine.
Besides, it wasn't like things could really get any worse.
When Teddy and Victoire arrived at St. Mungo's on Monday morning with Remus in his arms, his parents were already waiting for them outside of the same-day procedure wing. Harry looked exhausted like he hadn't had a good night's rest in weeks and Ginny looked stressed, which wasn't a look he had seen very often on her face.
Teddy hiked his son up higher on his hip, awkwardly trying to keep a good hold of him as Remus had insisted on bringing his blanket that Grandmum Molly had knitted him and a stuffed Hippogriff that James had bought him when he was around two years old. When Harry and Ginny saw them, Harry offered them a tired smile. There was a small bag dangling from his fingertips and Teddy didn't even have it in him to be upset that his dad had bought Remus a gift.
"How are you doing?" Ginny asked as she stepped forward to hug Victoire first before turning to pull Teddy and Remus into an embrace.
"Fine," Victoire replied. "Just tired. We didn't sleep much last night."
"I don't think we've slept at all since Thursday," Ginny said with a sigh.
"Hey, mate, Grandmum and I got you something," Harry said.
Teddy put a wriggling Remus down on the floor and he walked sluggishly over towards Harry, who knelt down on the floor. He held out the small bag with a soft smile on his lips. Remus stuffed his Hippogriff underneath his arm and dropped his blanket on the floor. He reached inside the bag to pull out a small plane.
"Dad," Teddy said, a small chuckle escaping his lips.
"Here can I see the plane? Hold out your hand," Harry instructed.
Remus handed the plane over to Harry before holding out his hand. Harry gently flipped the boy's hand so he was palm up and carefully placed the tip of the plane onto Remus' pointer finger. The plane balanced and Remus beamed.
"How is it doing that?" Remus asked.
"Magic," Harry whispered.
Ginny stood beside Teddy and shook her head. "He said they make little bird toys where the beak balances on a finger. He had always wanted to try one as a kid but, you know, he never had one. He thought Remus would enjoy a plane but couldn't find one, so he modified it himself. Took him all bloody night."
"Only Dad would spend all night trying to make a plane toy balance on a finger," Teddy said with a smirk. "He spoils these kids."
"He spoiled all of you," Ginny whispered. "It's not just his grandchildren. I once remember your dad spending an entire weekend with your granddad trying to figure out how to enchant a bicycle to fly because you watched that Muggle movie over at Archie Ledwell's house. I was about ready to kill both of them."
Teddy smiled. "Enchanted bicycles, illegal flying carpets… there was nothing Dad wouldn't do for us."
Remus giggled, bouncing his hand up and down and watching as the plane wobbled on his finger.
"I was talking to Granddad Weasley," Harry said as he picked up Remus' blanket off the floor and folded it. "We decided that the next family holiday we take, we'll ditch the Portkey and take a Muggle airplane."
"Really?" Remus asked, his entire face lighting up.
"Yeah, Uncle James said him and Henry will come too," Harry added. "I bet we could convince Aunt Lily. She's always up for an adventure."
"What about Uncle Albus?" Remus asked. "I miss him and he wasn't at the Burrow and everyone looks really, really sad when they talk about him."
Teddy saw his dad's Adam's apple tremble and his lips twitch.
"Uncle Albus just went on a trip," Harry explained. "He'll be back soon. I'm sure if you ask him really nicely, he'll come on the plane too."
Within the next half hour, the Potters and Weasleys slowly started filtering into the waiting room. Lily handed Remus a toy dragon that roared loudly. James and Riley brought him a toy Snitch to play with while he waited. Dominique brought a new coloring book along with smelly quills for him to color with. Bill and Fleur promised Remus ice cream when he was finished with his procedure. Molly and Arthur brought tea and biscuits for the entire family and Molly pressed a kiss to Remus' cheek and said she had a tin for him of his very own for later. Andy was the last to enter St. Mungo's with Hugh and little Dora.
When it was time for Remus to get ready for the procedure, he began to cry and clung to Harry. Teddy tried to pull his son away, but the kid only latched on harder and cried for Harry to take him home. Teddy sighed, asking his dad to walk them back to the room. Without hesitation, Harry scooped Remus up in his arms and carried the small child back.
Remus complied when asked to undress so he could put on a hospital gown as long as Harry promised not to leave. Harry helped his grandson get ready for the procedure, helping him shrug on the hospital gown and putting on the special no slip socks. He pressed a kiss to Remus' forehead and told him everything would be all right.
"You know, I can't decide what house you'll be in when you get to Hogwarts," Harry commented as they waited for Scorpius to come in after getting ready. "You're so smart like your mum, you're kind like your dad, you're brave like me, and you're sneaky like your Uncle Albus."
"I wanna be a Gryffindor like you, Grandpa," Remus said as he cuddled the plush Hippogriff and dragon to his chest, the little toy Snitch flying around his head.
"I'll let you know a secret," Harry whispered. "You can ask the hat to put you in a certain house. It wanted to put me into Slytherin, but I asked for Gryffindor."
Teddy had heard that story before. Harry had told it to Teddy when he was nervous about what house he would be in, had heard that he had told Albus the same exact thing. Teddy hadn't picked at the time, didn't know what he wanted or what would have been best. Albus had chosen Slytherin, had wanted to be with Scorpius Malfoy.
Scorpius entered the room, greeting everyone in his normal cheerful way. Teddy didn't know how he could put on the damn smile all the time, especially because he knew Scorpius had been struggling with Albus' disappearance.
Scorpius explained everything he was going to do, but Teddy barely listened. He took a seat next to Remus on the bed and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Victoire nodded and asked questions while Harry listened intently.
When it was time to go back, Harry kissed Remus on the cheek. "You know, I've done this plenty of times. They'll give you a little cup of potions and you fall right to sleep. When you wake up, it's over with and you can go home."
Remus nodded, tears in his eyes as he hugged Harry tightly around the neck. Scorpius handed Remus a small goblet and told them it was a Calming Draught. With a little coaxing from Harry, Remus gulped down the liquid and immediately started to relax. He laid down when instructed and another Healer levitated the gurney into the air.
"I'm flying on a plane, Grandpa!" Remus said in a loopy voice, a lopsided grin on his face as his glassy eyes stared up at the ceiling.
Harry followed them out of the room before clapping a hand on Teddy's shoulder and telling him everything would be all right. Teddy watched as his dad disappeared down the hall towards the waiting room.
Inside the procedure room, Teddy smiled tightly as he looked down at his tiny son. He fidgeted on the bed, his eyes darting around the room and the yellow socks on his feet kicked the bottom of the bed. He was pale with dark bruises under his eyes. His bottom lip was secure between his teeth as tears clung to his eyelashes. Teddy grabbed his hand and squeezed.
Remus sniffed. "I want Grandpa. He said we'd go on a plane ride."
"I know," Teddy said with a sigh. "He's in the waiting room. He'll be here when you wake up, yeah?"
"Can he come in?" Remus whispered. "I wanna tell him thank you for the plane."
Teddy shook his head. "I'm sorry. He can't come back. Only your mum and I can be back here. You'll see him afterwards, all right?"
Remus' bottom lip trembled but he nodded. Beeps filled the room and a translucent, pale blue square floated above Remus' head with vitals on it. Remus took two more potions, his eyes drooping and the beeps slowing just slightly. A Healer shooed Teddy and Victoire towards the back of the procedure room and out of the way. Teddy leaned his back against the wall, his hands shoving into his trouser pockets.
Scorpius pulled down a pair of goggles onto his face as another Healer levitated Remus in the air to flip him on his stomach. Teddy crossed his arms over his chest, his entire body bouncing as the Healers prepped Remus into a comfortable position and untied the strings of his hospital gown to reveal his neck.
Perhaps it was a mistake to be in the procedure room. There was a reason they normally didn't allow parents inside. He glanced over at Victoire to see her very much unaffected by what was happening in front of them. Her face was set into a hard line as she watched intently.
She turned to look at him, their eyes meeting. "You don't have to stay."
"I'm fine," Teddy replied.
"Ted," she whispered, her hand reaching out to wrap around his wrist. "He will be fine. This is all normal."
Teddy only nodded, his gaze turning back to the table. He stiffened when he saw the little blade escape Scorpius' wand as he leaned closer to Remus' exposed neck. Teddy hitched a breath, holding it as the blade pierced the skin.
The smell hit the room immediately, causing Teddy to cover his mouth and force himself not to gag. It smelled of death and decay. When the green goo oozed out of Remus' neck, Teddy nearly fainted.
He bent over, putting his head between his knees and took a few gasping breaths. His eyes watered from the smell, his entire body trembling. Victoire gasped, Scorpius uncharacteristically swore, and someone even dry-heaved. The beeping around them became louder and erratic.
Teddy looked up through watering eyes to see Scorpius had placed a bubble over his mouth and nose as his fingers pressed on Remus' wound and the green kept oozing out at an alarming rate. Scorpius ordered the collection of the thick liquid, one Healer attempting to fill vial after vial of it. Another Healer placed a bubble over Remus' nose to administer more potions into his system.
Victoire's grip increased, her nails digging into his wrist. Teddy couldn't stop staring at the green gunk, his mind flashing to his mother on the streets of Muggle London two months prior, her body attempting to shield Remus from the Inferius who had nearly ripped her arm off in the process. They had been stupid, they had been reckless. Teddy gasped for air, his entire body trembling.
Then, the beeping stopped suddenly. One long, terrifying single beep sounded and Teddy didn't see Remus' chest moving. Scorpius shouted incoherent words as Healers snapped into action. Teddy froze and it wasn't until Victoire screamed that he fully realized what had just happened.
Remus' heart had stopped beating.
Lily stared at her nails, her thumb picking at the purple nail polish. James paced around the waiting room of the hospital, his hand carding through his unruly hair. Her mother sat on the sofa across from her curled up against her dad who stared unblinkingly at the clock on the wall. Andy and Hugh took turns bouncing Dora in their arms, singing soft songs and swaying the little girl from side to side. Molly and Arthur whispered in low tones. Riley chewed on her thumbnail as Dominique sat beside her and flipped through a gossip magazine.
Sucking in a breath, Lily pursed her lips to the side. A large flake of polish peeled off her thumb which was probably the most exciting thing to happen since her family had arrived at the hospital at nearly six in the morning. Her dad insisted they all give Remus hugs and kisses before he went back for the procedure, show him they were happy to wait for him and support him. Like true Weasleys, they had all showered the little boy with gifts. Lily thought her gift was the best: a stuffed toy dragon she found at a Muggle toy store that roared when its foot was squeezed. Rayko had placed a few extra charms on the dragon to amplify the roaring and make the little mechanism in its foot bigger so it was easier for the four-year-old to find.
Her bag next to her vibrated. She dug through the contents until she found her mirror, her heart pounding in her chest. She saw Rayko's face shining in the mirror and she couldn't help the small smile that tugged on her lips. Snatching her bag, she looped the strap around her head and made her way towards her parents.
"I'm grabbing something from the tea room. Do you want anything?" she asked, pressing the bag as close to her body as humanly possible to hide the fact that her mirror was going off.
"No, thank you, Lils," her dad said with a tight smile.
"Why don't you grab Dora something good?" her mother suggested. "Victoire packed snacks but… well, she's been here for a while already."
"You mean buy her sweets?" Lily asked with a smile. "Oh, Mum, I am the queen of sweets. I have at least ten sweet teeth. I'll grab you both more tea. Did Dad eat this morning?"
"No, he didn't. He was too nervous," her mother replied.
Harry huffed, a scowl working its way on his face. "Hey, I'm right here! I'm not hungry and I don't need any more tea."
"I don't understand how you could skip breakfast," Lily reasoned.
"He doesn't have the Weasley stomach," Ginny said with a small smirk.
"Him and Albus both," Lily said before instantly regretting it.
The looks on her parents' faces fell. It had been odd to all be in the waiting room of the hospital and Albus not be there. He knew about Remus' procedure and she could only imagine it was killing him not to be with them in the waiting room to find out what exactly was wrong with their nephew.
"I'll be back," Lily said quickly before darting away from her parents.
She found a corridor away from the prying eyes and ears of her family before pulling out her mirror. Rayko's face shined back at her as he patiently waited for her to answer. She grinned, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear as she leaned her side against the wall.
"Rayko Krum," she whispered so that none of the hospital staff would overhear her.
"Elle!" he greeted with a smile. "How's Remus doing? Is he out of his procedure yet?"
Lily's heart thumped happily in her chest. She loved that he was so concerned about Remus. Her grip tightened around the handle of the mirror as she stared into his dark eyes.
"No, I think something happened," Lily said, her lips quirking down. "Teddy said it was supposed to be a quick in and out. Drain the fluid, bottle up some of the fluid to test, and then bandage him up. They said it would take longer to put him to sleep than to actually drain the fluid. It's been over a half hour and nothing."
Rayko ran a hand through his dark hair. "Maybe they had trouble putting him to sleep. My dad is awful with the sleeping potions they give at hospitals. It takes double the dose just to knock him out."
Lily chewed on her bottom lip. "Maybe."
"Did he like the dragon?" Rayko asked.
"He did. He cuddled it and I told him it was from both of us once my parents were out of earshot. Jamie and Ted gave me odd looks but didn't say anything," Lily explained. "He wanted me to tell you thanks."
Rayko grinned. "I'm glad!"
Lily sighed. "I wish you were here. I wish you had still met my parents last week. I wish my entire family knew so we could stop sneaking around and you could just be here, you know? But Albus had to go and blow up the Department of Mysteries and then decide to go on the run. My dad and James keep saying that makes him look more guilty and not good for his case, that it will affect the Wizengamot's opinion."
"Look, you and I both know the most powerful opinion in the wizarding world is the court of public opinion," Rayko said. "We just need to get the press on his side and get the people to be on his side. The Wizengamot will follow the public opinion more often than not."
"I'm not sure my dad would agree with you," Lily replied, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Plus, Albus is being slaughtered in the press right now."
"Well, we need to change that."
Lily rolled her eyes. "How are we going to do that?"
"We'll figure out something," Rayko promised, his eyes oddly bright. "Hey, guess what I see right now?"
Lily raised an eyebrow in the air. "Hmm?"
Colors swirled as Rayko flipped the mirror. Lily stilled as she saw a petite redhead with her hair pulled back in a side plait leaning her side against a wall. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned around, her gaze locking with Rayko. She couldn't believe that he was actually there. How long had he been wandering around the hospital looking for her?
Stuffing the mirror into her bag, she watched as he shrunk his mirror and placed it into the back pocket of his trousers. He closed the space between them and everything else faded. The noise of the hospital seemed nonexistent, the hospital staff just blurry figures walking past them. When he stood directly in front of her, he reached out a hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. His thumb brushed across her knuckles, instantly calming her anxiety-riddled body.
"Come on," he whispered.
With her hand still firmly in his, he led her down the corridor and turned the corner. He opened a door and ushered her inside. Lighting his wand, she looked around the supply cupboard. She leaned her back against the wall, her head next to a mop. She hadn't been inside a broom cupboard since her seventh year when she had snogged her then-boyfriend Sebastian Baskervilleand Professor Longbottom had caught them.
"You need to relax," he told her, his right palm pressed flat against the wall by her head. "I know you're upset about Albus and anxious about Remus, but you have to try to relax a little bit. It's not good for the baby."
Rayko's left hand pressed gently against her flat stomach. Lily raised her own hand, resting it on top of his.
"I'll try," she whispered. "I just want Albus to be home and Remus to be fine."
"I know, Elle, I know."
"Koko, they're saying he murdered someone… murdered that co-worker he punched like two months ago and got suspended over."
Rayko tugged her off the wall and situated her against his chest. "Albus isn't a murderer. You and I both know that."
Lily closed her eyes as she melted into his warm embrace. He smelled like that expensive J. Laurent cologne that he always wore that had a hint of honey, a smell that was quickly becoming one of her favorite smells in the entire world, a smell she now started to associate with home. She felt the tension ease from her shoulders as his hand gently massaged her neck.
"Can I stay at yours tonight?" Lily whispered, pulling back slightly and looking up to see his face.
"Elle, you never have to ask," Rayko replied as the hand which was wrapped around her waist reached behind to his back pocket.
He pulled out his leather wallet and flipped it open. He tugged out a small, purple key and held it out to her. She blinked at it for several seconds, a lump forming in her throat.
"It's for the lift to my penthouse," he explained. "I had it special made so it was your favorite color, since everything you own seems to be purple."
Lily's hand reached out, her fingers brushing over the key and plucking it from his palm. Her gaze snapped off the key and up to his dark eyes. He beamed at her, his bushy eyebrows raising.
"I own things that aren't purple," she argued as her fingers curled around the key and it felt warm in her palm.
"Hmm, purple glasses, purple elastic, purple blouse, purple heels. I'll give you your trousers. They're black and not purple."
"My knickers are green today," she said with a small smirk.
Rayko's eyes twinkled. "Really? I don't believe you. Pull down your trousers and give me a peak."
She pushed him as hard as she could but he barely wobbled. A deep chuckle escaped his lips as he carded a hand through his perfectly coifed dark hair.
"Okay, okay," he teased. "I'll wait and see them tonight when I remove them with my teeth."
"Koko!" she hissed, blushing to her hair.
He bent down and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "Well, I don't have enough room in this blasted cupboard to do it!"
Lily laughed. "What is the matter with you?"
"I could name a lot but right now, you talking about your new knickers is giving me heart palpitations just thinking about them."
"Have some feather-topped Bakewell tart waiting for dessert tonight and I'll do more than just show you my knickers," Lily said with a grin and a wink.
"Are you craving that right now?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Maybe. Oh, and mince pies with jacket potatoes and spotted dick."
His grin widened. "Anything else m'lady?"
"Hmm," she hummed as she ran her hands up his chest. "Surprise me. You know I like to eat."
"I'll come up with something," Rayko said with a smile. "Mirror call me when you find out about Remus, yeah? I have a few errands to run but I should be back around five."
"I'll see you then. Koko?" Lily whispered, her eyes locking with the key. "Do you ever think we're moving too fast? A baby… a key…?"
"Yes," Rayko said simply. "Merlin, yes, but… it feels right? I can't explain it but I just… I've never felt connected to anyone before like I feel connected with you. That bloody well scares me."
Lily looked up, their brown eyes locking with one another. "Me too."
"It wouldn't feel so… fast if it wasn't for the baby," Rayko added. "I mean, it just happened."
"You're excited for the baby though," Lily reasoned. "I feel like an awful person because I'm not… I'm not not excited, but I'm also scared and terrified and…"
"Hey, hey, it's all right," Rayko whispered, his hands cupping either side of her face. "I just try to look on the bright side of things. What's happened has happened and we can't change it short of getting rid of the baby. I don't want to do that… but if you want to discuss it, I… suppose we can."
Lily felt her heart thumping in her chest. "I don't want to do that."
Rayko let out a breath. "You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Good, because I don't think… I don't think we would have survived as a couple if… I don't like that," Rayko said with a frown. "I mean, I guess people can do what they want but it's… not for me."
Lily nodded. As much as she didn't want a baby at nineteen with a man she just met, no matter how quickly she had fallen for him, she didn't think she'd want to get rid of the baby either. She loved kids, had an entire supportive family, and had a boyfriend who seemed eerily calm about the entire situation. What more could she want?
"I should get back," Lily whispered. "I said I'd pick up sweets for Dora and tea for my parents. I'm going to try to force-feed my dad some food."
"Not everyone likes to eat when they're nervous," Rayko pointed out as he opened the door to the cupboard.
Lily shrugged. "My dad married a Weasley. He should be used to it by now."
"Are you saying I have to get used to your family force-feeding me?"
"Well, my grandmother would be highly offended if you don't get seconds at Friday night dinner," Lily explained with a smirk. "She loves feeding people. My mum's started to become like that… there's always food out when people stop by. I suppose I could picture myself doing the same thing."
Rayko smiled, pushing her up against the wall outside of the broom cupboard. "You're adorable."
Lily grinned. "Friday night dinner this week. You're going. I'll talk to my parents before I head over tonight. My dad was gone all weekend, because someone had spotted Albus. It was an entire thing. I didn't get to ask them about dinner."
"Just let me know. I just can't do Thursday until seven, remember?"
Lily nodded. "I know."
"All right, I have errands to run. I'll see you at five tonight."
Rayko leaned down, pecking her on the lips. She smiled against him when he quickly grabbed her arse and gave it a quick squeeze. A giggle escaped her lips before they parted.
After a quick stop at the tea room, Lily made her way back to the waiting room. She waved the blueberry scone she bought in front of her dad's face. He rolled his eyes, taking the scone and breaking off a small bite to eat. She smiled at him, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek before she went over to sit next to Riley on the sofa.
Another hour passed before Teddy finally appeared in the waiting room with his eyes bloodshot and his entire body trembling. Lily sat frozen, watching as her father rushed towards Teddy and pulled him into a tight embrace. Standing up on shaky legs, Lily sucked in a breath. James was by her side in a second and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Remus…" Teddy sucked in a breath, "He's all right but…"
A collective sigh of relief filled the room. Lily buried herself into James' side.
"He was scratched by an Inferius," Teddy whispered. "There was a bunch of poison underneath his skin where he was scratched. Scorpius said it spread when he… it had been mostly contained and then it wasn't contained. It hit his heart and he stopped breathing… right there on the table. Scorpius was able to… they had to perform a heart procedure on him. We were rushed out of the room and we just stood outside not knowing what was going on, but Scorpius was able to get the poison away from his heart and get him breathing again and…" Teddy sucked in a breath and shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if I'm explaining it right. I wasn't following what Scorpius was saying and I was so scared. He's in recovery right now and Victoire's with him and he's on some pretty heavy potions to rid the poison from his body. Scorpius said he could go home in a few hours but he needs to come back every day to get his blood tested for poison levels and… fuck!"
"But he'll be fine," Harry said in a confident voice. "The poison will leave his body and he'll be fine."
"I don't know, Dad, Scorpius said that's the hope," Teddy whispered back.
"What if they can't get the poison out?" Bill questioned, one arm wrapped tightly around Fleur and the other around Dominique.
"More procedures," Teddy replied. "Scorpius said the poison was spreading slowly because it was a small scratch, but that's more dangerous because it can be hard to rid the poison from the body once it's spread."
Lily screwed her eyes shut. She could only think of Remus' little body in a casket and a church filled with people. She sucked in a breath. No, she couldn't think like that. Her mind couldn't go there. Remus would be fine. Scorpius was an excellent Healer and he would stop at nothing to make sure his nephew was poison-free.
It was close to two in the afternoon when Remus was discharged from the hospital. He sat in his bed at Grimmauld Place with his family surrounding him, munching on biscuits and looking sicker than he had the past few weeks.
"I'm glad you look like yourself again, Grandpa," Remus said nonchalantly before he wiped the back of his mouth on his blanket.
"Did I look different?" Harry asked, his brows furrowed. "When?"
"Uh huh. I saw you after I went to sleep. You and Uncle George were there except you didn't look like you. You looked really, really silly. You had black hair," Remus said and Lily watched the color drain from her father's face. "A pretty lady who looked like Auntie Lily was there too but she didn't wear glasses or purple. She had red curly hair like Auntie Lily and she had your green eyes, Grandpa. A man with scars on his face said hello to me and a woman with pink hair said I was a really awesome lad. Then there was a really tall man that kind of looked like the man in the box yesterday."
The room grew quiet, nobody daring to say anything or move. Lily sank onto the bottom of the bed, her eyes watching her dad trembling. Her mother sat down next to them, her arm wrapping around Harry.
"That's… that's great, Remus," her mother whispered. "Did you know who they were? Did they say anything?"
Remus squinted, a biscuit midway to his lips. "The man in the box yesterday wanted me to tell Grandpa that he has been following Uncle Albus but Grandpa was right there with his funny black hair so I dunno why he told me to tell him. But he said he's with Uncle Albus so don't worry, Grandpa. Do you remember him saying that?"
Harry shook his head.
"Uncle George said he's excited about the baby. He said it will be a lot of fun," Remus continued before he took a bite of his biscuit and Lily squirmed. "The man with all the scars was crying and he told me he loved me and I asked why he was crying and he just smiled. I didn't know his name. He seemed really nice though and the pink lady was really smiley. She had a really nice smile. It reminded me of Daddy's smile."
Teddy sniffed and sank down onto the bed next to Lily. She reached out a hand to grasp his. Remus just shrugged, obviously becoming bored with the conversation, and cuddled closer against Harry's chest and spoke in soft tones about flying in an airplane as though he wasn't just talking about dead people. Lily didn't know what to make of the entire situation but her heart felt a little lighter the more Remus talked. Surely, the potions were working if he could hold a coherent conversation.
By four in the afternoon, Lily made her way over to Rayko's a tad early. She figured if he wasn't back from running his errands, she could make a treacle tart for her dad and keep her mind off of all of the Potter family troubles.
Lily couldn't help but smirk as she inserted the purple key into the panel of the lift below the buttons. For the first time ever, she let herself into Rayko's flat. Her eyes scanned the parlor, her ears straining to hear if Rayko was home yet. To her surprise, she heard voices coming from the kitchen and made her way there to greet him.
Her hand pressed on the wood, prepared to announce her presence when she froze.
"Of course, I'm fucking terrified!" Rayko hissed. "I'm having a baby with a woman I've known for two months! We don't live together, we're not engaged… it's not exactly how I planned on starting a family."
Lily let out a breath. Thank Merlin.
She had been starting to think something was wrong with him based upon how excited he was and not at all terrified. She had been a nonstop swirl of emotions, worry and anxiety building in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't how she wanted to start a family either. She wanted to be happily married like her parents and have a house with a big garden and have her family be waiting for the baby announcement.
"I mean, have you told her yet?" a new male voice asked.
"That I'm terrified? No! She's already freaked out enough as it is. I'm trying to be… supportive."
"Not about that, Ko!"
"You mean about… the stuff with Wes?" Rayko asked, his voice suddenly on edge and hesitant.
Who the fuck was Wes? Lily thought, her brows lowering below her glasses.
"Yes," the man said. "The stuff he made us-"
"Of course not, Nolan!" Rayko hissed. "No. I mean, I've tried but… how do you bring something like that up? I mean, we've been dating for two months and it's been wonderful. Why ruin it all?"
"Do you even like this Lily chick or are you just running away from your problems? She's someone who doesn't know what happened, fresh-faced and young. A bit stupid of you to date the girl whose dad runs the DMLE, if you ask me. Is she really worth it?"
Lily bit her bottom lip, her eyes staring at the dark wood in anticipation. Running away from his problems? What did that even mean? Was he just using her? That's what the mysterious man made it sound like.
"Of course, she's worth it! I love her!" Rayko snapped. "I mean, all right, at first in the bar when I first met her, I thought she was fun and adventurous and thought we'd have a passionate weekend in Paris and then part ways… but I ended up really liking her. She was different than any other girl I have ever met before."
"You mean not a drunk socialite?" the man supplied in an amused tone. "I mean, I know she has money but I've never seen her on the party seen before."
"Because she doesn't go out and party," Rayko said. "She actually has a job and she's family-oriented and she's everything a bloke could want."
"She sounds boring," the man teased. "How's the sex? As great as all your other conquests?"
Lily wrinkled her nose. She knew Rayko hadn't been a virgin before her. Hell, she hadn't been a virgin either. There was something dirty about hearing it put as conquests in her mind. They had never talked about how many partners the other person had been with. Lily had only had one other partner before, a boyfriend she dated in her final year at Hogwarts and a little bit after. She wasn't a one-night stand kind of girl, but it sounded like Rayko had had plenty.
"Amazing. Not being pissed and actually liking the person does wonders for your sex life," Rayko replied.
"Fair. Can't say I've ever fucked a woman I've actually liked before," Nolan replied. "Our social circle never had any interesting girls."
Rayko snorted. "Definitely not. Elle is in a category of her own."
Lily smiled, suddenly feeling guilty for eavesdropping so long. She squared her shoulders and psyched herself up to meet this mysterious friend.
"You can't keep lying to her though," the voice said. "If she finds out our dirty little secret, she'll never talk to you again."
"I'm not lying to her. I'm just not… being completely truthful about my past with her."
"Same difference, Ko."
"I'm afraid she'll leave me if she finds out the truth. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually happy. I can't lose her and if she finds out…"
Was there anything so bad in his past that she'd actually leave him? Lily couldn't even fathom a scenario where she wouldn't hear him out. It couldn't be that terrible.
"So, you've been fake with her, haven't you?"
For the first time since they met, Lily felt her whirlwind romance tilt on its axis. Rayko Krum had not only been hiding something from her but hadn't been showing her his true self? By the sounds of it, it was a pretty big something. She blinked, her palm slipping from the wood.
"I'm being the person I want to be with her," Rayko replied. "The person I was before Wes and the whole… you know what's it's like! As if you haven't been trying to find yourself again and to make up for everything we did."
"How long can you keep up the dumbly in love, I'm perfect act though? Does she even question where you disappear to every Thursday?"
Lily couldn't hear anymore. The one person she wanted to talk to more than anyone was currently missing, on the run and not planning on coming back anytime soon. A sob crawled its way up her throat as she made her way to the lift. She could slip out, pretend she was never there.
She ran into the end table, the glass lamp falling and shattering on the hardwood floors. She screwed her eyes shut, taking a calming breath and preparing for the encounter. She wiped the tears off of her cheeks.
"Elle?"
Clearing her throat, she turned around with a small smile. "I used your key. The one you gave me today. I didn't know you had company. I heard voices and I was going to let myself out."
Rayko blanched. "No, no, it's just Nolan. I've told you about Nolan, haven't I? My best mate?"
"Hi!" Lily greeted, her voice high and squeaky.
"You know, we attended Hogwarts together," Nolan said lazily. "I was a seventh year while you were a first year. Your brother Albus was in my house."
"You were in Slytherin? With Albus?"
"Yes, but I was five years ahead of him. Not a prefect so I just knew of him."
"So, you're a year older than Ko?" Lily asked. "How did you two meet?"
"After school. We had mutual friends," Rayko supplied.
"Did you know James then? You were only two years older than him," Lily said, hating the thought of asking James anything having to do with Rayko but she would suck it up to try to find out what he was hiding.
"By name only. I didn't play Quidditch. Your brother Teddy gave me detention once though when I was a first year," Nolan added.
"Surprising," Lily said. "Teddy hated being a prefect and Head Boy. He avoided giving out detentions so you must have been blatantly caught doing something bad."
"Out of bounds at night. Ran right into him and his prefect partner," Nolan said, chuckling softly. "He did seem annoyed by having to fill out the form now that you mention it."
"Teddy was the only one to become prefect or Head out of the lot of us," Lily said, trying to keep the conversation casual.
Rayko shifted, his eyes darting between Lily and Nolan. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming over until five."
Lily bit her lip. "I wanted to tell you what was wrong with Remus. I can… I'm sorry. I think I misunderstood the key situation."
"No, no, I just… I'm happy you're here. Nolan was just leaving," Rayko said. "I'll see you, yeah, mate?"
"Great to finally meet you, Lily," Nolan said, nodding in her direction. "Ko, think about what I said."
Lily smiled, watching as Nolan left. The room was thick with tension, the air nearly suffocating. Lily didn't know how to bring up what she overheard. It would eat her alive if she didn't. He must have known she overheard some of the conversation.
"How's Remus?"
Lily blinked. Rayko tugged out his wand and repaired the lamp.
"It was an Inferius scratch," Lily explained, retelling the information that Teddy had told them at the hospital.
"That's awful and terrifying and not what I expected," Rayko replied.
Lily nodded. "Hopefully the potions get the poison out of his body and he doesn't need to go back to the hospital."
"Well, he'll definitely be in my thoughts."
Lily worried her bottom lip, her eyes searching his. She had wanted nothing more than to find herself in his strong arms after such an exhausting day but now she only felt awkward.
"I didn't mean to hear you and Nolan talking," Lily blurted out.
"What did you hear?" Rayko asked quietly.
"If you have to ask that, then obviously something you didn't want me to hear."
"Elle…"
"Don't Elle me, Ko! I overheard about you being fake with me, running away from your past. What the fuck is going on, Ko? I've never been anyone but myself with you, and you… you've been hiding who you really are from me?"
Rayko shook his head. "No! No, that's not fair, Elle. You heard only half of it."
"So, tell me all of it," Lily challenged.
"Look, the newspapers weren't entirely wrong about me, all right? I partied a lot before I met you. I partied hard. I slept around. I did some things that I'm not proud of," Rayko explained. "I'm not that person anymore. I hate that person. I'm trying to be better. I'm trying to be the kind of man you deserve."
Lily stilled, her heart hammering in her chest. "So… is this you or is this a charade? My boyfriend from the last two months. Who the hell is he really?"
"It's me. It's the real me. The person I was isn't who I want to be."
"That's it? You were just some party boy drunk before? That's what you needed to tell me?" Lily questioned. "Is it the number of girls you slept with that you didn't want to tell me? Or what? You trashed some hotel rooms in your day?"
"Can't say I didn't trash a place or two. Honestly, I couldn't even give you a number of girls I've slept with because I sort of lost count after a while."
Lily's insides twisted. "Is that all or are you about to tell me you have some kids floating around from various witches?"
"Merlin fuck, Elle, I would bloody well hope not!"
Lily gestured to her stomach, her eyebrow raised. It was a fair assumption considering the predicament they found themselves in. Honestly, partying with a lot of alcohol and sex wasn't a past she'd think would be something to hide especially because he hadn't so much as even talked about wanting to go out like that with her.
"Look, have you ever done something you regret while drunk or high?" Rayko asked.
Lily frowned. She'd been drunk before. Had regretted snogging quite a few people but she knew that wasn't what Rayko was talking about. She had never messed around with potions. None of them had… not after what happened with their dad.
"Not majorly upsetting but yeah," she admitted.
"I've been so blackout drunk that I don't remember days of my life, Elle. Fuck, if we're being honest with one another, I've forgotten entire weeks before. Do you know what that's like? Forgetting large portions of time?"
"No," Lily said in a small voice.
"It's awful. It comes back in dreams and flashes. Sometimes, I don't know what's real and what's imagined… let me tell you, I don't like the person I see. The way that I'd act or the things I'd say." Rayko licked his lips. "That's not me. This is me."
"Then be very real with me right now, Koko. What is it that you've been keeping from me?"
Rayko stepped forward, his hands cupping either side of her face. "I'm bloody petrified that you're pregnant and I've been trying to keep it together so you don't freak out. I wanted to be married and settled before having kids… not have them like this where it's all a big secret. I hate this. I hate the secrets. I hate the sneaking around. It was fun at first. But now… it's just exhausting."
"Koko, no, I agree. I hate it too."
"I'm not always so happy either. Not normally," Rayko said, his tongue peeking out to moisten his lips. "I can get in foul moods."
"Who doesn't? You've met Albus," she teased.
"Trying to tell someone you really like about things you're not proud of and exposing your less-than-desirable attributes to is bloody scary. What if you don't like what you see? Rayko whispered. "I've never liked anyone as much as I like you before. That's really ruddy scary."
Lily wrapped her arms around his waist. "Koko, I love you. Nothing can be that bad that would make me stop feeling the way I feel about you. You don't have to tell me right now but you need to tell me the things that are bothering you soon. If Albus can blow up the Department of Mysteries and I still love him, imagine what you could do."
Rayko didn't look convinced but he nodded anyway. He bent down and captured her lips against his in a slow, tender kiss.
He tugged her back with him, their bodies slowly moving towards the bedroom. Lily couldn't help the little twist in her stomach that he still wasn't talking. But honestly, what sort of things could he have done when he was blackout drunk that she would find so repulsive she'd think differently of him?
When her back hit the mattress and he crawled on top of her, all thoughts of undesirable drunk shenanigans left her mind.
James dipped his toast into his egg and popped it in his mouth. He then poured himself some more coffee, his mind reeling with everything that needed to be done. He hadn't been in the office since the explosion, opting to take some personal time in order to help his dad search for Albus and be at the hospital for Remus.
A tapping on the kitchen window drew his attention. The Daily Prophet dangled from the owl's leg. James grabbed some coin from the tin on the counter before opening the window. He plopped the coins in the pouch and grabbed one of the papers. He shooed the bird away, which only gained him a bite of annoyance. James shot the bird a rude gesture before he slammed the window shut.
Taking the tie off the rolled-up paper, he tossed it on the kitchen table and unrolled the paper. He had prepared himself for another headline about Albus but stilled when he saw a different sibling gracing the front page of the paper.
Hot New Couple Alert:
Rayko Krum and Lily Potter Spotted Leaving Hospital Broom Cupboard After Heated Shag
James blinked, watching as the two tumbled out of the broom cupboard. Rayko turned around, gently pushing Lily against the wall before he leaned in to kiss her squarely on the lips. His free hand roamed down to cup her arse, tugging her flush against his body.
Ko was Rayko Krum. Rayko Krum was Ko.
Holy fucking hell.
James licked his lips, his eyes gliding across the words and soaking in all the details of their supposedly very loud shag they had in the cupboard. His eyes flew back up to the picture. Their lips were puffy and cheeks flushed, but he wouldn't say they shagged unless they had taken extra care to straighten their clothes and fix their hair.
He could already anticipate his father going completely mad. While he usually didn't keep up with the latest celebrity gossip, he had to know about Rayko Krum. He had been an absolute nuisance to the Auror Department. His constant loud and obnoxious parties into the late hours of the evening always had law enforcement shutting it down. He knew Riley had even been called to the scene of one of his massive parties to help Obliviate a bunch of Muggles after his drunken friends had been casting magic in the streets.
James tossed the paper onto the kitchen island and sprinted towards the fireplace. He needed to grab Teddy and then snag the Daily Prophet before their parents could see. Their dad had been in a foul mood between Albus, Sirius' funeral, and Remus' procedure. In fact, James had never seen his dad so snippy before. Lily hadn't had a chance to even explain how she had met him or why she was dating him with the warpath their father had been on.
Teddy, Victoire, and Dora were already eating breakfast at the kitchen table when he fell out of the fireplace face first and smashed his nose against the floor. He cursed, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth. He scrambled up to see Victoire glaring at him and Teddy looking concerned. Dora waved happily at him.
"What's wrong?" Teddy asked. "Is it Albus?"
James held his nose, blood rushing between his fingers. "No, I know about Rayko Krum. It's in the bloody paper. Lily apparently shagged him in a broom cupboard yesterday at the hospital."
Victoire stood up, grabbing her wand in the process. She batted James' hand away and jabbed her wand into his nose. He winced, resisting the urge to shoot her a rude gesture and call her a bitch because she could very well heal his nose crooked. He swallowed the insults and glanced over at Teddy.
"Did Dad see?" Teddy asked.
"FUCK!" James shouted as his nose snapped back into place. "Fucking hell, Vic!"
"You're welcome, you big baby," Victoire replied. "Maybe don't fall out of the fireplace next time, yeah?"
She patted him on the cheek before she announced she was going to go upstairs to check and see if Remus was up yet. She scooped Dora up in her arms and disappeared from the kitchen. James growled as he made his way to the sink and grabbed one of Victoire's decorative tea towels. He shoved it under the cold water in the facet before bringing it up to wipe the blood off his face. The coolness felt good against his skin.
"No, we need to commandeer their paper," James explained. "We need to tell Lily that she needs to tell them before they read it in the fucking paper. Dad will legit have a stroke if he reads it in the paper and doesn't hear it from her."
"Uh, yeah, he will," Teddy agreed.
"How's Remus?" James asked as he threw the tea towel into the sink.
"All right. Tired, hating his potions, cranky. He has an appointment at one to check his poison levels."
"Good. Let me know how that goes," James said as he turned around. "You ready?"
"Let's go," Teddy said, rising from the table and making his way to the fireplace.
Once they were at Potter House, they bolted to the kitchen where the owl always delivered the paper. James scanned his eyes around the empty kitchen. He didn't see any indication that anyone had even been in there yet, so it was safe to say they were still upstairs getting ready for the day.
"Vic didn't seem surprised," James said casually as he looked out the window searching for the owl in the sky.
"I told her," Teddy explained. "I knew Ko was Rayko Krum since the explosion."
"Git," James hissed.
"Lily asked me not to tell anyone. I, unlike you, like to stay in the good graces of my siblings."
James turned around, glaring at his brother. "We're Weasleys! We meddle! We're meddling right now!"
"Yes, to save our sister from dad's wrath," Teddy explained, bouncing on his heels. "He's been in a foul mood lately. Merlin, where the ruddy hell is the owl?"
"Noticed that, have you?" James asked as he looked back out the window, opening it to save time. "Sometimes I wonder if I did the wrong thing by killing…"
"No, you did the right thing. It wasn't him. If you didn't do it, Dad would have and I don't think he would have been able to. It would have broken him."
The door to the kitchen opened. James felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He turned around slowly to see his mother standing in the doorway and glancing between her two eldest sons. James smiled until his cheeks hurt. He probably looked like a maniac.
"Morning, Mum!" Teddy said brightly, his voice slightly higher than normal.
"You look beautiful today," James added.
She only narrowed her eyes in response. "What are you two up to?"
"We wanted to have breakfast as a family," James replied. "Is Lily home?"
"Yes, Lily snuck in at five this morning, as though we wouldn't notice," Ginny said. "Why? Tell me what is going on right now. I don't have the patience for any of your little games this morning. I am mentally exhausted from the past few days. I do not want to deal with your shenanigans."
Just then, the owl swooped into the kitchen and landed on the table. It looked like the same owl that had just been at James' house. The owl glowered at him.
"I got it!" Teddy announced as he rushed forward, pulling coins out of his pocket and overpaying the owl while James snatched the paper.
The owl hooted, ruffling his feathers. James shooed it out of the house and slammed the window shut. His eyes glanced around the kitchen trying to decide what to do with the paper when his mother marched forward.
"Give me the paper," Ginny demanded.
"What? No, I want to read it first!" James said, holding the paper above his head and out of reach from his mother. "Teddy paid for it!"
"I work at the ruddy paper, James! I can just go get one right now myself!" she argued.
"Look, it's just that - what the fuck, Mum?"
Ginny had climbed onto the chair and snatched the paper out of James' hand. She quickly took off the tie and unrolled the paper. James made a half-hearted attempt to snatch the paper but she only hit his hand away.
"This is who Lily has been dating?" Ginny asked. "Did you two know?"
"Er, I found out on Thursday," Teddy said, shifting from side to side.
"NO!" James shouted. "Nobody told me anything! I am always the last to know! It's maddening!"
The door to the kitchen opened again, and all three of them froze. They looked up to see Lily standing in the doorway, still clad in her pajamas. She looked at the three of them, Ginny still standing on the chair and James and Teddy on either side of her.
"You can't keep a secret to save your life, Jamie. Of course, you're the last to know," Lily commented with a smirk. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?"
Ginny hopped off the chair, and smoothed down her shirt. She pursed her lips before turning the paper over for Lily to see the headline. All the color drained from her face.
"You need to tell your dad before he reads about it in the paper," Ginny explained, rolling up the paper before crossing her arms over her chest. "Your dad would be incredibly hurt if he read it versus you telling him your… Harry!"
James' attention snapped to the door to the kitchen to see his dad already standing there in jeans and a t-shirt. He had apparently called off work again to continue his search for Albus.
"Tell me what?" Harry asked.
James watched as his dad looked around at his family, his eyes flickering from person to person with a growing frown etched deep on his face. His mum clutched the paper, a forced smile on her weary face. This only made Harry arch an eyebrow, like he knew she was putting on a fake smile.
Lily licked her lips, her breath hitching. Her eyes flickered over to Harry.
"Morning, Daddy," Lily greeted him.
"What's going on?" he asked, his voice gruff.
"I, uh, there's something I need to tell you," Lily continued.
Harry sighed, his fingers pushing his glasses up so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. "Is this about Albus? Have you known where he's been this entire time?"
There was a certain coldness to his voice, something that sounded so foreign and awful to James' ears. James couldn't remember ever hearing his dad talk in such a tone before. Except since the explosion, Harry had been progressively getting moodier and more agitated. Honestly, he had been acting a lot like Albus.
"N-no!" Lily said with a frown. "I'd tell you if I knew, Dad. Honest!"
Harry didn't respond. He righted his glasses and looked back over to Ginny. Without a word, he closed the space between them and reached out for the Daily Prophet. Their mum shook her head and tried to pull it away from him. He did not relent and succeeded in snatching the paper. He opened it and his eyes zeroed in on the picture of Rayko Krum grabbing Lily's arse. Teddy and James immediately scattered, giving their parents space.
"I was going to tell you!" Lily protested, panic obvious in her voice. "Dinner last Thursday! Ko was going to come with me and I was going to introduce him to you but then everything happened and-"
"How long have you been dating him?" Harry asked, his eyes refusing to leave the picture.
"Two months."
Harry let out a small chuckle of disbelief. "How long have you known him?"
Lily hesitated only a beat. "Two months."
Harry tossed the paper onto the table. "So what? You met him and immediately started dating him?"
"Something like that."
"Paris was two months ago," Harry reasoned. "Is that where you met him?"
Lily squinted at him behind her glasses. "I met him at Apricity Lane. Paris was our first date."
It was like watching a high-stakes Quidditch match. James didn't know who to look at, his head snapping between Harry and Lily to gauge their reactions. Teddy stood stiffly next to him, his legs twitching as though he were about to position himself between them and demand peace. His mum stood next to Harry, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes on her husband the entire time like she too was prepared to tell him to cool down at any second.
"You went to a foreign country with a man you just met?" Harry asked, his voice dangerously low. "Do you have any idea how incredibly stupid that was, Lily?"
"Nothing happened!"
"You're lucky that nothing happened! Merlin, Lily, use your head! You are a Potter! There are people out there that want to hurt you because of me! Because you share my name! You didn't know that man! He could have hurt you!"
"Ko would never hurt me!" Lily protested. "He's sweet and kind and-"
"And he throws wild parties where law enforcement and Obliviators need to be called in!" Harry challenged. "Do you know how often we've had to waste department resources to break up his little parties? Not to mention what people say about him!"
"You know how the papers and magazines lie, Daddy!" Lily said, her eyes wide. "Koko's not like that!"
"I'm not even talking about the gossip I've heard circulate the office about his personal life," Harry argued. "I'm talking about how I know for a fact that he has no regard for the Statute of Secrecy, how he and his mates perform illegal magic in the middle of Muggle streets while pissed off their arses! I'm the one who has to approve the forced overtime after the fact while law enforcement broke up the parties. I'm the one who has to read the final reports on the situations. I've seen it firsthand."
"I've never once partied like that with Ko," Lily whispered. "I've never seen that side of him."
"What does that say then, Lily? That there's this entire side of him you haven't seen? That he's out there partying when you're not around?" Harry asked. "Is that the kind of relationship you want? One with zero trust? One where he hides a side of himself?"
Lily blinked, tears clinging to her lashes. James had the sudden urge to pull his kid sister into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder. He wanted to tell their dad to lay off and let her date whomever she wanted. None of them had even met the guy.
"Dad, she's happy," Teddy said before James could. "There hasn't been any gossip about him in the papers since they met."
Harry snapped his attention to Teddy. "Well, I'm sure you've all met him and think he's an acceptable bloke."
"I haven't met him," Teddy replied.
"No, but you all knew about him! Everyone knew except for me!" Harry said, his voice rising. "It all makes sense now. The odd jokes about hot cocoa and the veiled references. You all think I'm daft, that I don't pick up on that kind of stuff. But I do, I just don't always understand it. I know when my own children are purposely keeping secrets from me. It's all the damn time!"
"Nobody is keeping secrets from you, Harry," Ginny said with an exasperated sigh. "You're taking this personally."
Harry wheeled around to look at Ginny "I'm taking this personally? How am I supposed to take it? We have Albus involved in something illegal that he's been dealing with for months but not talking about. We have Lily secretly dating some bloke that has a bad reputation. Merlin knows what James and Teddy are hiding from us!"
Ginny placed a hand on his arm. "Stop. Just calm down before you say something you'll regret."
Harry sneered. "I don't need you placating me."
Ginny dropped her voice so that James had to strain to hear what she was saying. "I know this week has been hard. I know you've been upset about Albus and Sirius and Remus."
"Don't. Don't even bring Sirius into this," Harry hissed back.
James felt his heart twist in his chest. His entire body tensed as he remembered shoving his wand down Sirius' throat and unleashing fire throughout his body. His eyes slid closed and he saw the look of pure anguish on his father's face, the way his entire body shook at the funeral.
"I know you're hurting. I also know you tend to lash out when you're hurting," Ginny continued in a hushed tone, her hand rubbing circles on the small of his back. "Don't take your anger out on the kids."
"I'm not!" Harry growled. "There is zero respect!"
"You know that's not true," Ginny matched his tone, her eyes flashing. "Just calm down. Don't be daft. Those kids love you more than anything in this entire world."
Harry's jaw clenched. "Yeah, that's me. That's how everyone sees me. Daft and oblivious."
"Harry."
"Tonight, Lily, I want to meet him tonight. No exceptions," her father said in a stern voice, a voice that had always been reserved for James and Teddy when one of their pranks had gotten out of hand. "Do I make myself clear?"
Lily gulped, her wide brown eyes blinking rapidly up at her father. Her mouth opened to affirm, but no words escaped her lips. Not even a syllable. Snapping her mouth shut, she nodded. With that, Harry left the kitchen, the door smacking against the wall behind him. Lily bit her bottom lip, her eyes wide and teary. Ginny stepped forward, rubbing her daughter's arms.
"Your dad loves you. He's been through a lot the past couple of days. Burying Sirius wasn't easy for him," Ginny explained. "Your father… he takes small things like keeping a boyfriend secret as a slight."
"It wasn't a slight! I was just trying to see if I liked him and he liked me without the family and the press interfering and I really like him," Lily said in a miserable voice.
"That's your right. It's normal not to bring every single boyfriend around after the first date or to tell your parents the moment you like someone," Ginny said gently before looking at all three of her children. "Your dad… look, I'm only going to say this once and you never mention this conversation to your dad. Understood?"
James, Teddy, and Lily all nodded. James and Teddy moved to stand on either side of their sister, wrapping their arms around her. Lily leaned her head against James' shoulder. Ginny cast some privacy charms on the kitchen.
"As a child, your dad was abused," Ginny started. "Severely abused. He has a tendency to not understand certain social interactions because he was often kept separated from everyone else. He was very lonely and has a hard time opening up to people. He was constantly on high alert, trying not to anger his aunt and uncle. He lived his life trying to watch out for certain tones of voices, look for certain social cues and make himself scarce before his aunt and uncle could explode on him. He still does that. He sees things that aren't there sometimes. A certain look that we may not notice, your dad notices. It doesn't excuse the way he talked to you. He's been working on himself for years. I've been trying to help him for years. I think losing Sirius all over again set him back a few steps. But he loves you. He loves all of you so much. He's not upset. He's just… he feels, he feels bad. Does that make sense?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell him," Lily whispered. "I just… I didn't want a whole big interrogation and have Ko realize I wasn't worth the hassle."
"I understand that. Merlin, Lily, I understand that better than anyone," Ginny said with a soft smile. "I have overprotective big brothers and a dad as well. It comes from love, you understand that, don't you?"
Lily nodded against James' shoulder. He tightened his grip on her, his heart sinking. He was part of the issue and he was determined not to be anymore. He was determined to be good mates with Rayko Krum if that made things easier for Lily.
"I'm going to go talk to your dad," Ginny said. "Would Rayko come tonight?"
"Yeah, he's been asking to meet the family for ages," Lily replied. "He'll be here."
"Good. All right, I love you, darling. Try not to let this ruin your day. Your dad will be fine for tonight. I'll talk to him."
Ginny kissed each of them on the cheek before she disappeared from the kitchen. Lily let out a dry sob. James pressed a kiss on top of her head.
"It'll be fine," James reassured. "We'll be here for you, right, Ted?"
"Yeah, of course. The grandkids will keep Dad in line," Teddy replied.
Lily nodded again, no words escaping her lips. James tugged her closer to him, giving her a tight bear hug against his chest. Her arms locked around his waist, her face burying into his chest. Teddy joined in on the embrace.
For the first time since the explosion, James was upset with Albus. It seemed like Albus had been the cause of everything that had went wrong in the past week. If he hadn't been involved in the explosion at the Ministry, their parents would have already met Rayko Krum and the article in the paper would have been a non-issue. Their dad wouldn't be stressed about where Albus was or if he was guilty. Flashes of Albus growing pale at the mention of his Inferi case flickered in front of his mind. He couldn't help but think his kid brother wasn't as innocent as he originally thought.
I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter! Don't forget to drop a review! They motivate me to keep writing, to make my weekly deadlines, and just generally make me happy! So take a few moments and drop a review. It's a lot of hard work and long hours to get chapters ready, so please show appreciation to all the writers out there that you enjoy and love reading so they keep posting content.
Special thanks to Bell for editing. Special thanks to Brie for always bouncing around ideas with me and being my sounding post!