The Prefect and the Thief

One night in early March, Alex Morgan got detention. At one point in time it would have been considered an occurrence akin to the apocalypse. As it was, the number of detentions occurring at Hogwarts had skyrocketed during the last few months. Tension had started seeping through the huge stone walls and now even so much as a disagreement about someone's favourite colour could land you in an impromptu duel.

What happened with the Slytherin Common Room had spread like wildfire throughout the school, and from the various retellings (the story got wilder and wilder with each recount, but all were essentially true in basic fact) two clear sides had emerged. Duels had become more popular in corridors, innocent classroom discussions were now wrought with underlying tensions, and even Quidditch matches seemed to have gained some form of political clout.

For the most part Alex kept her head down and did her best to avoid trouble. However, when she walked down the Transfiguration corridor one Tuesday afternoon to find a 7th year Hufflepuff hexing ex-Slytherin Chaser, Eugenia Pyle, she had been unable to turn the other way.

Unfortunately, Professor Hockley had only seen the part where Alex had jinxed the Hufflepuff ("Miss Morgan, you are a prefect!") and so it was only Alex who was put in detention, with the promise that Hockley would inform her parents of her latest transgression immediately.

The only comfort was that Alex couldn't possibly get into any more trouble with her family than she already was - what with her involvement with Francis Selwyn's suspension, her disappearing act on Christmas Eve and then taking the blame for Grace's stolen bracelet, Alex anticipated that she would be able to walk freely again in approximately fifty years.

When she arrived at the Trophy Room she was pleased (but not surprised) to find James Potter already there, smirking at her as she entered.

"God, I love it when you get in trouble, Morgan," he went, a rag in one hand and Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover in the other. "What did you do?"

Alex picked up her own rag and said nonchalantly, "Furnunculus Curse on Lester Ashcroft. He was picking on Eugenia Pyle."

The smirk turned into a smile. "Yeah? Good on you."

Alex smiled back as she gathered her back into a ponytail and rolled up her sleeves. Kneeling down, they began their polishing side by side. "Out with it then. What are you in here for?"

"Nothing as noble as you. Me and Squeak were trying to charm the suits of armour to chase after first years and got caught. I took the blame. So actually I guess I am pretty noble..."

Alex raised her eyebrows at him. "Squeak?"

"Pipps."

"Ah." Then, curiously: "Why do you call him Squeak?"

"Oh - Liam Pipps, Pipsqueak, Squeak… 'Cause he's so quiet, y'know? Look, I was drunk and it stuck" he added defensively at Alex's unimpressed look, and she laughed.

"A James Potter nickname - I suppose he's officially part of the group then?"

James shot her a wary look. He was already significantly behind her polishing-wise. Clearly years of detentions had taken the fear out of the punishment. "Aw, you're not gonna give me a hard time about Pipps as well, Morgan?"

Alex was puzzled. "No. Why would I give you a hard time?" Then she realised. "Ah. Aaron's still not taking to him then?"

James rolled his eyes. "He'll come around. He's just being dramatic."

"That sounds like Aaron."

She said it with a slight smile and, as taken in by the classic kind Alex Morgan eyes and diplomatic nature as many had been before him, James began, "It's just annoying, you know? I mean, it's not like he's a bad guy or anything. Alright, I get that he isn't Aaron's usual type of person - but neither are you and he doesn't mind having you around. He's not even giving him a chance."

"Well, maybe he feels threatened."

James snorted. "Aaron?"

It was with difficulty that Alex restrained herself from sighing at James's complete lack of awareness, but she managed it. "Yes, Aaron. He's your best friend. He's used to having your full attention whenever he wants it - even you getting a girlfriend didn't change that. And now out of the blue Liam Pipps shows up and he has to share you." She paused. "How did you and Liam become friends anyway?"

James hesitated. He had all but given up on the cleaning now as Alex moved onto a Charms Master trophy from 1987, and in the absence of any sort of authority, he leaned against a glass case containing Quidditch Tournament trophies from the sixties. "I got talking to him after a party one night. Realised he's actually a pretty decent bloke."

Alex couldn't help but smile at that. "James Potter, do you feel guilty?"

"No," James went defensively. She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, alright. Maybe a bit. I s'pose I haven't always been the nicest bloke around here - I guess that you'd know that, Morgan, considering you used to get great joy out of telling me every thirty seconds -"

"A complete exaggeration, but please do go on."

"-and Pipps is actually pretty funny. You know he actually told Aaron off for sacking off Madeline Fox?"

"Really?" Alex was duly impressed. "Did Aaron listen?"

"Nah, course not. But still, he tried."

"He's braver than most," she had to agree. "Also," she added, as James continued to lounge against the cabinet not doing anything much at all, "pick up the bloody rag, James. I'm not cleaning this whole room myself."

He rolled his eyes and straightened up reluctantly. "Yes, Mum."

Easy conversation returned as they worked but Alex wasn't completely at ease. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable was asked.

"So, have you talked to Sarah yet?"

She almost rolled her eyes.

"No."

"She hasn't been going to lessons, y'know. She's talking about going to work for Dung Fletcher after Hogwarts."

Alex stiffened. "She has been going to lessons. From what I can tell you've been all but chaperoning her to each one."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, it shouldn't have been me. And it's not long term. She's already started skipping again."

"You mean blackmail's not working as effectively as you hoped?"

James glowered. "She's realised that I'm probably not going to kick her off the team. We're too close to the final now, and our reserve Seeker's nowhere near as good. And Sarah is good, whatever she thinks. Great at dodging the Bludgers now, though she needs to focus more on her opponent, she's still too easily distracted - and don't even get me started on the attitude -"

"James," Alex said wearily and he stopped talking.

"Right. Sorry." He straightened up. "Talk to her."

"No."

"You're her best mate!"

"I'm not her mate at all."

"You're mad, you are," James told her, shaking his head. "So's she, to be fair, but still. If Aaron ever nicked anything from one of my mates I'd just tell him he's a twat and move on. Maybe I'd hex him too."

"Healthy." Alex rolled her eyes and dolloped a generous amount of stain remover onto the rag. "Why do you even care anyway?"

James hesitated. "I'm fed up with her sulking in my Quidditch practices. Brings down team morale."

"Mmm."

She wasn't very convinced by that excuse and James seemed to sense it. He said, quite irritably, "Just give her another chance, Morgan."

"No."

James huffed. "You're the most infuriating witch I've ever met."

Alex didn't turn from the trophy she was polishing as she muttered childishly, "Not as infuriating as she is."

And with that James was in complete agreement.

Miracle number one was that Sarah had made it to Muggle Studies on Thursday morning.

Miracle number two was that she had managed to make it there on time. She'd woken up late again that day and had been unable to find any clean trousers or hole-less tights, meaning that she'd had to go bare legged - a matter made even worse by the fact that March had brought with it an unseasonable chill - so her sprint to the Muggle Studies classroom has mainly taken place in drafty corridors so she was that horrible combination of being cold and sweating.

But still she was there, and even though that meant that she would probably ditch Potions later - she had long since started to suspect that James was full of shit with his kicking her off the team crap, and either way not even he could keep up this babysitting campaign forever - she figured it was the thought that counts.

"Why," Gus went at the sight of her bare legs as she collapsed into the chair next to him, "are you wearing that? It's freezing."

Since Christmas there had been a mix up in Artie's seating plan. Sarah had left her usual position next to Charlotte Harvey and moved to the Slytherin table with Gus and Tilda Waltham. Charlotte hadn't seemed particularly perturbed and Artie either hadn't noticed or didn't care.

"Stop staring at my legs, Gus," Sarah said, brushing her hair dramatically from her face. "God, you fancy me, don't you? Not another one…"

"You wish," Gus said stiffly, though his mouth twitched slightly.

"Quiet, everyone!" Professor Artemis called out. The class chattered on, and it took the usual three or four attempts before a single student paid him any form of attention, but today he didn't care. He seemed uncharacteristically excited. "Now, today is a rather exciting lesson. We'll be starting our term projects which as you all know are worth 70% of your grade…"

"I'm flattered you fancy me, Gus, I really am," Sarah continued in an undertone as Artie went on,"but I just don't think it's a good idea. We need to preserve the friendship, y'know?"

"You're pushing it, Flynn."

"Right," Artie said enthusiastically, clapping his hands together. "Partners! I'll assign each of you a partner and the two of you can spend the lesson deciding what to do your project on. Now I know not everyone in here gets on…"

Warrington caught Sarah's eye and glowered at her. She gave him a big sarcastic wave.

"...so I'll be splitting you into as civil a pairing as possible, so do try to not hex each other."

Artie picked up a roll of parchment from his desk with a flourish and began reading. "Tilda Waltham and… Davey Corner."

Tilda swore under her breath as she stood up and went to join an equally put out Davey Corner.

"Charlotte Harvey… Lewis Cadwalder… Augustus Smith and… Belinda Trimble."

"Great," Gus said sourly whilst Sarah laughed. Belinda Trimble was notoriously thick.

"Have fun," she said with a salute, and he glared at her.

"I hope you get Warrington," he hissed, before slouching off to his assigned desk. Belinda beamed at him as he sat down.

Sarah started to laugh but quickly stopped as she realised that it could be a possibility. The prospect of having to complete three months worth of work with Bruce Warrington was not a happy one.

"Sarah Flynn…"

Not Warrington, not Warrington, anyone but Warrington…

"Jack Moran."

The boy in question stood up and made his way over to where Sarah sat. Though he was quite good-looking, with wavy brown hair, freckles, an upturned nose and sloping brown eyes, he was also the type of guy that was annoying with it, being all too aware of his own attractiveness.

"Alright?" he said, smiling toothily as Artie continued on with the pairings. "Jack Moran." He nodded to her bare legs. "Nice legs. You enjoying hypothermia?"

Sarah didn't know much about Jack Moran, apart from that he was a Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, his mother was famous, and he once got with Darrell at a party. He was a good player too - the only other Chaser at Hogwarts that could give James a run for his money.

Apparently he also fancied himself a comedian.

"Piss off," she said wittily, and Jack chuckled. He dumped his bag on the floor and took the chair next to her, stretching out his long legs in front of him. Sarah surveyed him warily and he noticed.

"I don't bite, y'know," he told her seriously.

"That's not what I've heard," Sarah remarked. "Not according to Darrell Adler anyway."

Rather than look embarrassed, Jack looked entirely pleased with himself. "Is that so? Halloween party, right? That was a good night…"

Professor Artemis's voice drowned out Sarah's snarky reply, but Jack seemed to have got the gist of it. He cocked his head to the side and regarded her with amusement as Artie addressed the class again.

"Right. Now that you're all in your pairs, you'll spend the rest of the lesson deciding which topic to do your project on. Remember, this will count for over half of your grade for this year so think carefully. I'll be coming around to speak to all of you in your pairs now, so get thinking…"

As the classroom descended into its usual chatter Jack Moran did not look impressed.

"This is long," he remarked, sitting back and half-heartedly flipping through his textbook. "Any ideas? We could do a hobby maybe… Hey, we could do it on the noble art of thievery - you know a lot about that, right?"

"Oh, here's an idea," went Sarah. "Why don't you fuck off?"

Jack snorted and across the room Professor Artemis cried, "Sarah! Enough of that! Ten points from Slytherin."

"I'm in Gryffindor," said Sarah, outraged.

Artie looked surprised. "Are you? Oh yes…"

"I don't care, by the way," Jack said as they returned to their parchment. "About the whole Marshall thing."

"Oh, brilliant. Because I've actually been sitting here worried about what you think, Moran."

He laughed again. The more she insulted him, the more he seemed to enjoy it.

"I think we should do a sport," Jack decided, drumming his fingers on the desk. "We're both on the Quidditch team, after all."

Sarah wrinkled her nose. "I don't think Quidditch has much in common with Muggle sports."

"And how do you see that?"

"Well, Muggles can't fly for one -"

"Neither can you, but you still made the team - oh my God, I was joking!"

Sarah had gone to hit him but he had caught her arm just in time, laughing .

"Alright, I deserved that. Guess we'll see at the final. Tell you what, Potter's got his work cut out for him, Henry's got some really good -" He stopped and started laughing again, and she realised that she must have pulled a face involuntarily. "Oi, what's wrong with Henry?" he said jokingly.

"Oh, nothing. If he was as good at being a captain as he is at being a twat..."

He rolled his eyes. "Aw, you Gryffindors are all the same. You're just saying that cause you're caught up in the whole Potter bubble."

"You're just saying that because he's a better Chaser than you," Sarah countered, annoyed.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Huh. Maybe the rumours are true. Thought you'd be more of a Peters than Potter girl myself, but there you go…"

"I'm not either," spluttered Sarah, forgetting to be sarcastic in her indignation. "What, so just because I have a vagina I must fancy one of those two idiots?"

"Yeah, yeah, play the sexism card all you want… Maya Fawley's on the team with me y'know - I heard all about that incident after the Hufflepuff match."

Sarah slammed her book shut. "I was just giving him a shot!"

Every head in the room swivelled to where the pair sat at the back of the room, Jack swinging back on his chair smirking and Sarah looking like she'd quite like to hex him, with the exception of Professor Artemis. He didn't even glance up from where he stood discussing possible project titles with a sullen Gus and enthusiastic Belinda.

"Quiet, Sarah," he said vaguely, waving one hand.

"Yeah, quiet, Sarah," Jack went, perfectly straight-faced. She scowled at him as the rest of the class returned to their work.

"I have known you for ten minutes," she hissed, "and you are already the bane of my life." She shoved the textbook towards him. "Pick a topic."

He smiled broadly. "No, no. Whatever you want to do. I'm nothing if not chivalrous."

"Yeah, you seem like a real gent," Sarah muttered darkly to herself. With an air of reluctance, she opened the textbook again and flicked it to the sports and leisure section.

"Incidentally," he went after a few moments of silence, "I'm a way better Chaser."

Sarah looked up. "Right. Not much of an achievement since I'm a Seeker, but congratulations I guess…"

"Not better than you," he said impatiently. "Better than James Potter."

"You're delusional, mate."

"Mate," he mimicked, and this time she maintained a dignified silence at his mockery.

This method proved a lot more effective; Jack kept mostly quiet for the remainder of the lesson and although they didn't make any progress with their project they also didn't attract any more beratings from Artie.

"Ok everyone," Artie called out as 11 o'clock approached, "we'll leave it here for today. Well done to those who have decided on a topic - the rest of you will need to meet up outside of lessons. I want everyone to have decided on what topic you're doing by next lesson, as well as a first draft for your plan. You'll be needing to meet up with your partner outside of lessons, so make sure you're both organising with arranging times that fit in with your schedules - remember, this project is all about time management."

He said this last with a beam and Sarah sat there fuming as everyone began packing away. Fucking great. More time with Moran...

"So when do you want to meet?" Jack asked, distracted momentarily as he gathered his things. "I've got Quidditch practice all week, but I could do Saturday?"

"Fine with me," she said, shrugging. "Meet in the library at three?"

"Sound. See you then. Oh, and Flynn?" She paused and he leaned forward so his lips were centimetres from her ear. "Don't flirt with me so much next time, yeah? It made me a bit uncomfortable."

He stood back and grinned at her.

"See you around, Flynn."

And he walked away, leaving her staring after him incredulously.

Potions had always been Alex's least favourite class. She found the dark, gloomy dungeons unnerving, the constant fumes always made it difficult for her to think (a rather large drawback for such a difficult subject) and it was always either freezing cold or baking hot, depending on what stage of the lesson they were at.

Recent events hadn't endeared her anymore to the subject.

After their falling out in January Grace had moved her cauldron to the other end of their table, leaving Alex next to Zoey Zabini. They had probably exchanged no more than ten words between them since Christmas, but as Henry's table of Ravenclaw boys was full and he hadn't offered to move to the empty table at the back with her, this meant that Alex had to endure the dark glares and snide comments in silence.

This wasn't helped by the fact that Sarah had recently vacated her usual position at her Hufflepuff table and moved next to Darrell Adler, who sat directly in front of Alex. It was almost physically painful, watching the pair laugh and gossip and trade shouted barbs with James and Aaron on the opposite side of the room. Especially whilst stuck next to Zoey.

However, that particular Tuesday Sarah's new stool sat conspicuously empty and whilst this really ought to have been a source of relief to Alex, she couldn't quite shake the reason why.

Where was Sarah? Was she skipping again? James had told her she'd been doing it a lot more lately, but Alex had thought he was just guilting her into making up. Now she thought about it, she couldn't remember seeing Sarah in Transfiguration the day before either. And the other morning she had still been in bed when Alex had left the dorm for breakfast, and she knew that Sarah had Muggle Studies then.

Not that she was obsessing or anything.

Ignore it, she told herself sternly. It's none of your business... But, try as she might, Alex couldn't ignore the empty seat next to Darrell Adler.

"Darrell!" she hissed, ignoring the glares emanating from next to her. "Hey, Darrell!"

However, Potions was always a noisy class and Darrell couldn't hear her above the chatter of students and chopping and mashing of various ingredients. In the end Alex resorted to scrunching up a bit of parchment and chucking it at the back of the Ravenclaw's head.

Darrell's hand flew to her scalp and she looked around.

"Oh - hey Alex," she said, looking surprised. "What's up?"

Alex leaned forward. "Do you know why Sarah hasn't come to Potions?"

She could hear Grace huff at the other end of the table and practically feel Zoey's eyeroll, but found that she didn't care very much.

Darrell shrugged. "No idea. I haven't seen her all day."

"Oh. Okay."

Darrell looked curious. "Do you want me to tell her you're looking for her?"

"Oh... no. I'm not looking for her. I was just wondering."

Alex sat back, frowning, and Darrell returned to her potion.

It's not your problem, she told herself again. Not your problem…

"Oh dear," said Zoey Zabini unconcernedly as she delicately wiped salamander blood from her hands. "Your cauldron's boiling over, Alex."

Alex looked down. So it was.

On the other side of the room the boys weren't faring much better.

Neither James nor Aaron were terribly interested in the content of that day's lesson, meaning that Fred had to focus on both brewing his own potion and making sure his easily distracted best mates didn't accidentally blow up their cauldrons. Neither was a chore that Fred was particularly fond of, and as such he was also spending a decent amount of time chastising Aaron, who sat in the middle of the three. It was lucky, James thought as he absentmindedly drummed his fingers on the tabletop, that the lot of them were well-practiced in ignoring the others as they bickered.

"For fuck sake, Aaron, I said don't add the fairy wings yet! Are you purposely trying to blow something up?"

"Why do you care, it's not your potion..."

"I am sitting less than a metre away from you! If your cauldron explodes it goes on me…"

"All about you, isn't it, Freddie? How do you think I'd feel if my potion exploded?"

"Honestly, I couldn't give a flying rat's arse -"

"Oi - Potter."

James's head jerked up. Jack Moran had twisted around to face them, a look of interest on his face. Behind him his potion hissed and spat, several shades too dark for the periwinkle blue the textbook said it should be, but he didn't look like he cared much as he addressed James. "Where's Flynn?"

Henry, who sat next to him, shot Jack a look of disbelief which went ignored.

"Dunno," James said, still preoccupied with his porcupine quills. "Try Darrell."

"Are you mates with her?" Jack pressed on.

"Who, Darrell?"

"Flynn."

Now James looked up suspiciously, apparently deciding that this required his full attention. "Sure. Who wants to know?"

"What's she like? Is she seeing anyone?"

"Why? Got a crush?" Aaron said lazily, who had turned from his bickering with Fred to see what was going on.

James scowled. "Hands off my Seeker, Moran."

"Why? You're still with Maya, right?"

"Right."

"And you're not seeing Flynn on the side?"

"Don't be thick, Jack," Henry said, abandoning his potion too. "No one in their right mind would cheat on Maya Fawley with Sarah Flynn."

"Careful, King," Fred said in a warning voice.

Henry sneered. "Right. Sorry, Weasley. Forgot you're friends with her now…"

James was getting more and more annoyed. "Are you two fucking done yet?"

"Nope," said Jack. "Has she ever shagged anyone?"

"Unconfirmed but don't think so," Aaron said, nodding. Fred hit him.

"Shut up, idiot," he hissed just as Professor Pritchard approached their bench.

"How are we getting on then, boys?" he said pointedly, with a glance at Jack's spitting potion and James's parchment of doodles. "This is a fairly difficult potion today… your full attention is required to get satisfactory results."

Henry straightened up, his cheeks tinged red. "Sorry, Professor," he apologised immediately, turning back to his potion, and with a roll of his eyes Jack did the same.

"Pricks," James muttered as Professor Pritchard returned to his desk; the three boys were favourites of his and so he never berated them too much if he could help it.

"Do we hate him?" Aaron went, surreptitiously pulling out his wand. "I can hex him if you want?"

James considered it for a moment. "Nah," he said, and Fred looked relieved. "Not worth it."

Aaron looked disappointed and Fred said, "Course he's not. Besides, we don't go around hexing people for asking Sarah out now, do we?"

He looked at James, eyebrow raised.

"I said not to, didn't I?" James went.

"You did," said Fred, nodding sagely, his mouth twitching slightly. "We're all amazed by your maturity. But that doesn't change the fact that you look like you want to punch Jack Moran in the face. Whoops - sorry, Moran."

Jack, who had evidently heard Fred, rolled his eyes again and turned back around, and James said irritably, "I don't care. She can do whatever she wants. Obviously I don't love the idea of my Seeker going out with the opposition… our biggest rivals actually... but if she wants to then it's up to her."

Fred and Aaron exchanged looks that James chose to ignore. They all went back to their potions - Aaron whistling as he did so - and though he would never dare to admit it to anyone, when Aaron lobbed a handful of pepper imps into one of the cauldrons in the row in front, James couldn't help but feel pleased at the sight of Jack Moran's singed eyebrows.

A week passed and soon they were halfway through March.

It had been three weeks since the incident with the Slytherin common room. Three weeks since Tiberius had made threats against Augustus Smith and Oscar Kettler. Three whole weeks. So why had nothing happened?

Time had only heightened Scorpius anxiety. As far as he could tell, Smith and Kettler were still walking around as happy as can be (well - as happy as Smith ever seemed to be anyway) and completely unscathed; not one single bit of gossip to indicate that there had been a strike on the boys.

Which was very unlike the Tiberius that Scoropius knew.

Where were the promised assaults, the warnings?

The longer Scorpius sat there thinking about it, the more worried he felt. He had to do something. But what?

He needed help...

Elsewhere in the library Sarah Flynn entered, albeit reluctantly. She looked the same as she always did, school uniform in disarray, robes forgone, hair tied in a messy ponytail, tatty school bag slung over one shoulder. She stood to one side, her arms folded across her chest, scanning the room with a lazy sort of air and, once she had spotted her target, sauntered over to where Jack Moran sat at the backend of the rows of desks.

"Oh, here she is," Jack went, folding his arms as she approached. "Finally decided to turn up, did you?"

"Sorry. Quidditch practice," Sarah said, not particularly sorry.

"You've put it off twice now," Jack pointed out, sounding mildly insulted.

"Mmm. Not been feeling great."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Right. And I s'pose you and Gus Smith didn't try to blackmail Belinda Trimble into switching so that you two could partner up?"

Sarah stared at him. "How d'you know that?" she demanded. Had Trimble blabbed? Her and Moran were in the same house, but Sarah and Gus had both agreed that Trimble was too naive to tell on them. "Also we didn't blackmail her. We bribed her."

"Right. A date with Aaron Peters." He rolled his eyes. "Belinda told me and blabbed to Professor Artemis. Just a heads up, he's gonna give you and Smith detentions next lesson."

Sarah was outraged. "Artie doesn't give detentions."

"He's taking this project very seriously."

Sarah spent the rest of their study session sulking and communicating only in grunts, which Jack seemed simultaneously irritated and amused by. They finally settled on a topic for their project (the Olympics) and had divided up the work between them (initially executed by Sarah to minimise time spent with Jack, but flatly rejected by him as he pointed out that it would just double their workload).

"Look, Flynn" Jack finally said. He shut the textbook and sat up in his chair to face her properly, rolling his eyes as she glowered at him. "I know I've been a bit of a dick. But this project's not gonna be done til the end of term and I can't be fucked to fail Muggle Studies of all things - and I'd also like to point out that you haven't exactly been a ray of sunshine either. So how about a truce? I swear I'm actually alright when you get to know me."

Sarah regarded his extended hand suspiciously, not quite buying it. "You mean you'll stop with the dickhead comments?"

He grinned. "I'll be a perfect gentleman."

She raised her eyes to the heavens (though secretly had to stop the corners of her mouth turning up) and took the extended hand. The pair began to pack up their things and rose from the desk.

"So," Jack said cheerfully, as they exited the library, "I hear you're still a virgin?"

"Oh, piss off."

Gryffindor Tower was hardly the best place at Hogwarts to get work done, but Fred had long been accustomed to working through noise. His father was George Weasley after all. Bangs and explosions had been a staple growing up in their house, and with both James and Aaron preoccupied - the former with Maya and the latter in the kitchens with Gus and Oscar - now was as good a time as any to get through his mountain of homework.

Liam accompanied him and he was, as was usual when James wasn't around, chattering away nervously.

His topic of discussion that day was the focus of the essay he was currently writing (the effectiveness of moonstone in enhancing the effects of the Draught of Living Peace) and Fred couldn't say he'd been paying much attention as he tried in vain to complete his Transfiguration assignment.

Liam didn't seem to mind though - or at least if he didn't let it stop him from chattering on regardless.

"And did you know that moonstone has healing properties too? It's only just been discovered recently actually, apparently it can be really useful dealing with hexes and jinxes..." He paused. "Oh look," he went, sounding surprised. "There's Alex Morgan."

"It's her common room," Fred pointed out sensibly. Still, his eyes followed her as she emerged from the staircase and wandered over to where Hilary and Fliss sat on the other side of the common room. The girls exchanged a few words, and then Alex headed back to the portrait hole, quite alone.

"Yes, but she's never here now," Liam was saying. He was looking at Fred with an expression that could only be defined as reproachful.

"Sure she is. I spoke to her here just the other..." But Fred trailed off as he realised that had been in one of the corridors, trying to think when exactly the last time was that he had seen Alex Morgan walk through, much less socialise in, the common room.

"She was crying earlier today," Liam informed him in his usual matter-of-fact tone. "In the girls toilets. I walked in there accidentally." He grimaced. "Amelia Jordan punched me."

Fred stared at him. "You walked into the girls' toilets?"

"Accidentally. It was scarring."

Despite himself, Fred smiled. Then he registered what Liam had said. "Wait, Alex was crying? Why?"

Again, the other boy gave him a look that he certainly wouldn't have had the balls to a month ago (a look that said well isn't it obvious you idiot) and went, with as much patience as he possibly could, "Well, I think she's probably still upset about her argument with Sarah Flynn."

"But that was ages ago. And if she's so upset about it why doesn't she just make up with her?"

"Well - I don't know. Because they're girls." Liam paused. "I mean… you like her, don't you? Haven't you noticed any of this?"

Fred was unnerved. "No! No, of course I don't like her. I mean, I obviously do like her, she's a friend - at least I think she's a friend…" He realised it was a lost cause. "Alright fine, I like her. But it doesn't matter. It's not gonna go anywhere."

"Mmm… I think you should tell her how you feel," Liam said matter-of-factly, and the very thought made Fred's stomach churn.

"But… I couldn't. Not now. She's only just stopped hating me this year. And King - she's got a boyfriend…"

"I wouldn't worry about the boyfriend," Liam said dismissively. "Alex Morgan's a nice girl. Nice girls don't end up with pricks."

"They don't?" Fred asked helplessly.

Liam hesitated. "Well… not in any film I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them. My mum's a big rom-com fan."

That was the first time Fred himself saw what James must have the night he had drunkenly befriended their quietest dorm-mate - the first time he'd had a real conversation with him, in fact. He wondered how the three of them had overlooked little Liam Pipps for so long.

"How do you know so much about girls?" he finally asked.

Liam blew on his parchment, drying out the ink. "Like I said," he went grimly, "my mum's made me watch a lot of rom-coms. Besides, it's easy to give good advice when it's not you."

"Tell that to Aaron," Fred muttered. His brain was whirring. Alex was upset and according to Liam Pipps she'd been upset for months. It sure didn't seem like her boyfriend was helping her. She deserved someone better than Henry King, and even if that wasn't Fred, it sure as hell shouldn't be him. "I do like her," he admitted. "I really fucking like her. But… I can't do anything about it. Cause it's not about me, is it? It's about her. And she doesn't want me like that. Or not right now at least. Maybe…"

But he trailed off again, and Liam seemed to nod knowingly.

"Well," he began, finally rolling up his now completed essay with relish. "I'd say that a good start would be to go and see if she's okay. If you like her then you want her to be happy whether she's your girlfriend or not, right?

"Right," Fred went, sitting up. "You're completely fucking right, Squeak."

Liam beamed.

James had the Map that day, but as it turned out Fred didn't need it. He found her in the library, because of course he bloody did, sitting alone, for which he was thankful, and reading a textbook that must have weighed roughly the same as Hagrid. In the candlelight she looked positively ethereal. She was stunning - she always looked stunning - but if you looked closely you could see the strain in her face, the dark circles under her eyes. The tiredness.

But then, she'd looked like that for months. He thought back to what she'd told him on Christmas Eve. I think my family are working with Evermonde. And Henry buddying up to Tiberius Evermonde the past year… Of fucking course she looked tired.

Fred felt like the world's biggest idiot for not noticing sooner. For someone who claimed (to James and Aaron, at least) to like the girl so much, he had once again been too caught up in their latest brilliant prank, their latest adventure sneaking out the castle, their latest scheme to entertain themselves, that he had completely failed to put actions behind his words and do something about it.

Maybe he was more like James than he thought; an out of mind out of sight sort of approach to love. Sure, he was able to give a damn about her when she was right in front of him, able to see her distress only when it was obvious, but far too caught up in his own life, his own fun, his own friends otherwise; his concern no more than a half-hearted 'I wonder where Alex is'' before she was cast from his mind.

He should have been there weeks ago.

But he was there now, and that was something at least. He couldn't help her. He wasn't delusional enough to believe that, as much as he'd love to be the one to do it. But maybe he could give her a nudge in the right direction.

She really did look beautiful.

He was stood there for maybe twenty seconds before he realised what a creep he must look like, and so he strode forward, sat in the thankfully empty seat opposite her, and spoke before she'd even had the chance to register who it was.

"You have to make up with Sarah."

Alex's expression - initially surprised at his sudden appearance - quickly turned weary.

"Oh, Fred, not you too," she started, putting her book aside, but he shook his head.

"No, I'm serious. You have to sort things out with her."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I know, I've heard it all a million times from James and Aaron and Darrell… She's missing lessons, she's smoking again, she needs me -"

"I'm not here because she needs you, idiot! I'm here because you need her."

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

Fred exhaled. With relief he realised that this was easier than he'd thought it would be. Normally he was hopelessly tongue tied around Alex Morgan, but this time he knew exactly what to say. This time he had a purpose. "C'mon, Alex - do you really think for a single second that you'd rather be sitting in the library on your own rather than with her? Would you really rather be her enemy than her friend?"

"It's not a matter of what I'd rather -"

"Who cares what it's a matter of? Who cares if she stole the bracelet?" His voice had risen now and Madame Pince would come hurrying over any minute to kick him out the library, but he didn't care. "You've changed, Alex, you know you have. Can you imagine this time a year ago sneaking out of your house on Christmas Eve? Or getting a detention for hexing a seventh year?"

"He deserved it -"

"Of course he deserved it! That's not the point," Fred said, flapping his hand. "Last year you would have given him detention and reported him to the teachers. Now you're taking care of this yourself, getting into detention with James - I mean, you're actually friends with James! And, you know, Sarah's changed too -"

"Oh, no she hasn't," Alex began hotly, crossing her arms.

"Ok, now you're just trying to be difficult," Fred complained. "Come on, Alex. She joined the Quidditch team, she passed her OWLs, she stopped hanging out with Davey Corner. I mean, credit where credit's due and all that, but are we seriously going to pretend that you had nothing to do with it?"

Alex was frowning with him, all thoughts of school work apparently forgotten now. "Fine. She plays Quidditch and takes more NEWTs than she would have before. Maybe that's because of me, but it doesn't change anything. Just because she's taking Arithmancy doesn't mean she's changed where it counts."

"She has changed where it counts," Fred told her flatly. "You know she has, you just don't want to admit it. And I get it, Alex, I really do. She fucked up, I'm not defending her. You've got every right to be pissed. But c'mon… it's Sarah. She's your best mate - oh, don't look at me like that, she is. Deny it all you want, Morgan, but -" Fred shrugged. "C'mon. You've been unhappy for months. Enough's enough. You've gotta forgive her. She wants you to."

Fred had actually never seen a girl cry before - with the exception of Roxanne in her infant years - but Alex looked close to it then. Her eyes were glassy in the candlelight, and she was blinking a lot as though fighting back tears.

"I don't know if I can," she said in a small voice, now staring down into her lap.

"Course you can. You're Alex Morgan. You do what sane people don't."

He looked at her searchingly but as she raised her head to look at him once more her blue eyes betrayed no hint of what she was thinking.

Or maybe he just couldn't read her.

"It's up to you," he said at last, getting to his feet. "But for what it's worth, I reckon you should talk to her. And that's for your sake, not hers."

He turned to go, but then her voice rang out, crystal clear in that suspiciously quiet library.

"Fred?" He turned back around and she hesitated. "Why did you break up with Vera Summers?"

He gave her a small smile. "See you around, Morgan."

Dinner was a quiet affair for Alex that night. At least, on the outside it was. Internally her mind was a hive of conflicting thoughts and emotions that she couldn't even begin to resolve, no matter how hard she tried.

Lost in her own thoughts, she barely paid Henry any attention as he sat beside her and he seemed similarly preoccupied as he picked away at his own dinner.

At one point they would have been chattering away together and thoroughly enjoying their meal. Henry would have told her amusing stories from Quidditch practice, Alex in return would fill him in on Grace's latest catastrophe, and together they would discuss the who-did-what Hogwarts gossip of the day.

Things used to be so easy between them. She wondered where along the line it had changed. They used to be one entity, Henry-and-Alex, rarely seen out of each other's company. Hadn't Grace always proclaimed what a perfect couple they were, how jealous she was that Alex had landed herself such a divine boyfriend? They would spend time together because they wanted to. Now it was feeling more and more to Alex like an obligation.

"Henry," she asked after nearly twenty minutes of complete silence, "do you think I should make up with Sarah?"

"Mmm?" Jerked out of his reverie, Henry looked up. "Make up with Sarah?" he repeated. "Why would you do that?"

Alex shrugged. Playing with her peas, she said, without thinking, "Fred thinks I should."

Henry's fork froze halfway to his mouth. A look of disbelief crossed his handsome face. "Fred? Fred Weasley? Why the hell do you care what he thinks about anything?"

It occurred to Alex to lie but then she remembered Isaac shrewd accusations from up the Astronomy Tower. He doesn't know you're friends with them, does he?

Really, what was the point in lying after all this time? And she was allowed to be friends with her housemates.

"Because… well, because we're sort of friends. Please don't jump to conclusions," she said hastily as her boyfriend's eyes flashed. "It's nothing to worry about-"

"Nothing to worry about? Alex, are you mad? That prat's been chasing after you for five years!

"It's not like that," Alex insisted. "Look, I know that lot all used to be annoying idiots, but seriously Henry, they're really not that bad now -"

"They?!" Henry looked furious. "Alex, tell me you're not talking about Potter and Peters?!"

Alex felt it was a true testament to her character that she managed to say her next few words patiently. "They're my housemates. It's better for everyone that I'm at least civil with them -"

"Yeah, I imagine that all Fred bloody Weasley's interested in is being civil with you…"

"And they've matured a lot this year," Alex pressed on, eager to discuss the issue now it had finally been brought out into the open. "I know you don't like them and I'm not asking you to, but honestly? What's so bad about them besides some stupid pranks?"

But Henry was shaking his head, dinner all but forgotten now. "You don't get it. This isn't just some stupid school rivalry, it's more than that - look, Alex, I can't explain it right now -"

"Oh, of course you can't," Alex broke in, huffing tremendously. "No one can explain anything to me these days apparently. I'm just supposed to sit here like a complete mug, just doing what anyone tells me to do, no questions asked -"

Henry ignored her outburst and seized her hand. "They're bad news. That whole group - Kettler and Smith, Darrell, Flynn - they're all headed for trouble. You've no idea, Alex - you need to just keep your head down and just stay out of it."

"Henry, I'm not staying out of anything. What's going on - ?"

"It's for the best. Frankly, I've been worried about you for ages. Ever since you and Flynn became friends you've been acting differently - acting out, distancing yourself from Grace - she's not a good person to be around, Alex - and don't look at me like that! I know what you're thinking, and I'm not just saying this because of her last name, I couldn't get less about that..."

Alex pushed her plate aside, inwardly fuming. "So I take it you don't want me to make up with her then?"

"Of course I don't! I think she's a bad influence on you, and frankly I don't see anything you'd get out of it."

"She was my friend," she said.

Henry's face darkened. "She wasn't. She needed something from you, that's all." He shook his head and drew his hand back. "I wish you'd been Sorted into Ravenclaw," he went wistfully. "Then I wouldn't have to worry about you being around lowlives like Flynn and Peters all the time."

The words, said so derisively by her boyfriend, felt like physical wounds. They had been friends.

She stood up.

"I've got to go, Henry. I'll see you later, alright?"

It was with a grim resignation that her boyfriend tried to persuade her to stay. "Alex, come on, you don't have to go just because we…"

She didn't stick around to hear it.

Walking purposefully towards the Entrance Hall, Alex was grateful that for once Henry seemed to sense that it was best to leave her alone.

If she had thought talking things through with her boyfriend would make her feel better then she'd been sorely mistaken, because she had never felt more torn in two.

She needed to break up with him. She'd known it for weeks now, months if she was being completely honest with herself. And yet... some things were just hard to let go off.

It was as though he were the last remaining relic of pre-Sarah life. Saying goodbye to him would be like saying goodbye to her normal life for good.

Sarah had never liked Henry. Other people's opinions shouldn't matter to her, Alex knew that, but for whatever reason this one did. And whenever Sarah had made one of her snarky comments about him, whenever she'd gone Ok, Fuckface, seriously, what the hell are you doing with him?, Alex had had an answer for her, hadn't she? Which had been... what? That he's nice? Clever? Handsome? The same could be said for many boys at Hogwarts, and Alex didn't go around claiming to be in love with any of them, did she?

Maybe all she'd ever been in love with was the concept of Henry King rather than the boy himself.

She stood on the brink of the great golden doors that led to the grounds. It wasn't until she felt the cool evening breeze blow across her face that she realised how hot she'd felt sitting in the Great Hall.

It was beautiful outside. The grounds were bathed golden from the setting sun and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, nothing to block the brilliant pinks and oranges and blues. In the distance a group of third years were playing by the lake, splashing each other and shouting with delight, and further up the shore a few lone figures sat, most likely trying to sneak a cigarette away from the eyes of prying teachers. Hagrid pottered around by his hut whilst a gang of young bowtruckles ran around in circles and teased him, and flitterbys danced around the beech trees scattered across the sloping grounds.

Summer was coming.

It occurred to Alex that it was the first cheerful thought she'd had in a while. She had felt like crying earlier during her conversation with Fred in the library, and it was just now that she realised why: it had been the first time in months that she'd felt like someone gave a damn about her, the first time since… well, since her and Sarah were friends.

Months of desolation after losing both Sarah and Grace in one fell swoop meant that for the first time ever she'd felt lonely. She had loved her Hogwarts life before Sarah, really she had. Everything had been simpler then, no dramas. She hadn't been at war with her family, Grace hadn't hated her, she hadn't had to attend weekly check-ups with Professor Hockley - there were no hard decisions to make. But then nothing's ever simple, not really, because even though there hadn't been drama back then, there hadn't been such vivid joys either. She had never laughed until her stomach hurt at the boys stupid jokes, or felt the minor, juvenile rush of skipping an important lesson, and yes, maybe she was still suffering the repercussions of her Christmas Eve escapade, but that had also been one of the best nights of her life.

So Fred was right. Sarah had changed her. There was no point denying it - it was as concrete as the fact that Alex missed her sorely. She missed her sarcastic comments in the mornings, her stubborn arguments over things she didn't even care about, the bitching about both James Potter Tyrannical Quidditch Captain and James Potter Irritating Classmate; the moaning-but-not-really-moaning, the 'Hello, Fuckface', even the constant swearing.

Alex Morgan stood there, practically miniscule against those giant, looming doors, and thought about a lot of things. She thought about Sarah's overflowing jubilance and the bone crushing hug when she made it onto the Quidditch team. She thought about the sunny smile that lit up the bruises blossoming across Sarah's cheeks the first time they had reunited after her family had discovered her improved grades. She thought about the haunted look on her face when Grace accused her of stealing her bracelet. But mostly she thought about a slightly smaller, more bitter Sarah Flynn, fifteen years old and sitting opposite her in the library one bright September's day, asking her, Alex Morgan, for help.

She raised a hand to block out the setting sun so she could scan the grounds.

Fred was right. Enough's enough.

You shouldn't really replace a meal with a cigarette, yet Sarah had found herself doing that a lot lately. Breakfast had become a leisurely Rothman's whilst hanging out an unused classroom window on the first floor, occasionally joined by Aaron or Oscar; the trek to Herbology now involved a quick cig rather than an in between class snack; and now here she was, sitting by the lake on the damp grass, smoking instead of having dinner with the rest of the school.

Sarah sighed and stared out across the lake. If she were the romantic type she would say how fucking beautiful the sky looked that evening, how summer was nearly upon them and the very thought of it was almost enough to make her think that everything might be ok. But she was Sarah, so she looked down at her pack of cigs and glumly lamented how she was nearly out.

The temptation to tell Alex the truth about the bracelet was getting stronger everyday. Being noble wasn't necessarily in her nature. Her childhood had centred around self-preservation and she wasn't used to giving a damn about anyone that wasn't herself or Chris. Likewise, she wasn't used to anyone giving a damn about her except for Chris. Alex had been the exception - and now she hated her.

Sarah wondered what the pair would be doing right now, had Grace Marshall not intervened; she'd probably be sitting in the Great Hall with everyone else for one, instead of sitting on her own outside smoking. Alex would be catching her up on the latest Hogwarts gossip; she'd listen to her complain about Marshall whilst Alex would endure her rants about Quidditch practice. Maybe they'd even be sitting with the boys - that had been becoming more frequent before everything had gone tits up...

And then, because fate could be funny sometimes -

"Of course you're out here."

For a moment Sarah thought she had imagined it. With a half amused, half exasperated smile, as always Alex Morgan managed to convey about one hundred things with just her expression as she dropped down gracefully beside her.

In her surprise Sarah dropped the cigarette. It missed her skirt by mere millimetres and started smoldering against the damp grass.

"Beautiful out, isn't it?" Alex commented. She didn't make eye contact with her, choosing instead to turn her gaze on the giant squid, which was floating lazily along the stretch of lake in front of them. "So warm."

"Yeah. It was freezing last week too. Gotta love global warming."

She glanced at Alex and wondered whether to chance another cigarette. She decided against it, but the pack still lay between them very much in sight.

"You're smoking again," Alex said. There was no judgement in her voice; it was just an observation. "You were doing so well."

"Yeah, well… I decided that viewing whether I smoke or not as a symbol of my moral fibre is an unhealthy habit that will hinder my personal growth."

Alex looked unimpressed. "Right. Is that why you're skipping lessons again too?"

"Nah. That's just because Potions is boring." Alex rolled her eyes and Sarah couldn't help adding, "Al, what the hell are you doing out here? We're not friends, remember? It doesn't matter what I do now, does it?"

Finally Alex turned and glared at her. "It doesn't matter?" she echoed. "Of course it matters! All of this matters! I've been… miserable these past few months. I thought that I'd be fine, going back to Henry - I thought that I could just move on and go back to normal but I can't. Merlin, Sarah, everything's changed! Can't you see that? Doesn't it matter to you? You've been an absolute bitch these past few months, and I've still missed you. Grace is a bloody psycho, Henry's been weird, my parents think I need psychiatric help, which I probably do but not for any of the reasons they think… Sarah, I've needed you, and you haven't been there. And over what - a stupid bracelet?"

It really was an impressive glare. Sarah positively quelled beneath it,

"I've been miserable too," she said at length, when the silence became too much. "Actually, I've felt like complete shit. If that helps."

Alex shrugged, still glowering. "It helps a little."

"I'm so sorry," Sarah said honestly, because with the clusterfuck of things that she couldn't tell Alex - the bracelet, Grace, her brother's letter - it felt like the only thing left to say. "I really am. Your parents were right, I never should've got you involved in this shitshow. I fucking wish I hadn't."

"Do you?" Alex said coolly. "I don't."

"No, you do, you're just being nice again…"

With ill-disguised impatience Alex said, "I was never angry at you for involving me in your shitshow, Sarah. I'm angry that you did something so unbelievably stupid to ruin your future when you've worked so hard - after you asked me to help you - I'm angry that because of you I'm sitting here talking like I'm your bloody mother or something -"

"Why did you?" Sarah blurted out. "Agree to help me, I mean?"

It was what she had been wondering for the past two years, after all. She had always been too afraid to ask, not wanting to give Alex an opportunity to realise how not worth it she was. But if this was, as she suspected, the final dissolution of their short-lived friendship, the nail in the coffin as it were, then this might be her last chance to ask.

"I don't know," said Alex. She had picked up the packet of cigarettes and was frowning down at the grotesque image on the front, a throat with a black gaping hole. "I guess I just… I used to think you were such an idiot, you know? I mean, you started smoking at the age of thirteen - which didn't make you look cool by the way, it just made you look stupid - you skipped lessons, you mouthed back to teachers for absolutely no reason, it was borderline impossible to have a conversation with you without you being a sarcastic bitch, but... I don't know, I just - I sort of admired you too. You would just say or do whatever you wanted, and I had always played everything so safe. Honestly, I don't think I'd ever taken a real risk in my life, and you were just sitting there and all you ever did was take risks. Even then, you knew how much trouble you'd get into with your family but you didn't care, you just did it anyway, and if I had said no then you would have found another way. That's what I admired, see? How determined you were. I think that's why I was so angry at you."

Alex turned to face her, her voice thick as though on the verge of tears, though there were none visible in those lovely blue eyes.

"So maybe you wished you never asked me for help that day, but I'm glad you did, and I'm glad I said yes. A lot of awful shit has happened because of it, but I wouldn't take it back for anything, because… because you're my best friend. And if I just stood back and let you make a mess of your life again after you worked so hard, then I don't think I'd ever really forgive either of us for it." And then, just to really hammer the point home: "I want to forget about all this, Sarah. I want to be friends again."

Sarah stared at her. She had heard wrong. That must be it, because there was absolutely no way -

"You're - you're forgiving me?" she said dubiously. "But - Marshall - the bracelet -"

"You know what?" Alex replied, a wry smile on her face. "I am sick of hearing about that stupid bracelet. Can we please agree never to talk about it again?

"I mean - yeah, that would be ideal -"

There was a lump in her throat, and to her great dismay Sarah realised that she suddenly had to fight back tears. She could still end it now. After all, just because they'd made up didn't mean that they actually had to be friends again… but Alex had forgiven her. Without needing to be told the truth, without even needing a proper, decent apology from Sarah, Alex had forgiven her, when absolutely no one else in the world would have. And hadn't Alex proved time and time again that she was more than capable of making her own decisions?

"Al," Sarah said cautiously, "I have something to tell you."

Nervous green eyes met apprehensive blue ones which, as Sarah explained everything from the events on Boxing Day right up to her argument with Grace in the dormitory, gradually turned stormy.

"Oh my God," said Alex once Sarah had finished. "Oh my God. You mean - that Grace - that she - Oh my God!" Sarah had never seen someone so genuinely outraged before, hands flapping, cheeks red with indignation. Even Chris, when she had told him what Marshall had done, had just given her a clap on the shoulder and a 'well-what-were-you-expecting' kind of look.

"It's alright, Al..."

"It's not! Oh, Sarah," she said, once again conveying a million things at once. "I'm so sorry, I can't believe it - Merlin, I'm so stupid -"

"You're not," Sarah assured her. "Everyone believed it. I'd have believed it. And fuck, Alex, I'm so sorry I never should have let you take the fall for it, I just… I didn't know what to do, I was scared I'd get expelled, I just fucking froze -"

But Alex was shaking her head, still bewildered. "And your brother - why didn't you tell me? I would've tried to help you…"

Sarah shrugged, uncomfortable. "I didn't want to drag you into anything. This isn't gonna be pretty with Nick and Mike. I can stay at Hogwarts for Easter but in the summer I'm going back, and then there's no hiding from it." She brushed her hair out of her face, a frown on her face. "Look, Al, I'm not gonna judge you at all if you decide you wanna stay out of this."

In an instant Alex's expression turned from dismayed to exasperated.

"Sarah, I can't express how much you don't need to tell me what a pain in the arse being your friend is," she said wryly. "I've known that for two years now, and I'm definitely not under the illusion that that's going to change any time soon. And come on, I kind of figured about your family. All the rumours, and then Christmas Eve… You know you can tell me these things."

Sarah fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "Yeah, I know. Look, I'm not trying to be all misunderstood, or think that you can't handle it or anything. I just don't like talking about it. It's not much to be proud of, y'know?"

Alex was staring at her sadly.

"Alright, Flynn," she said, suddenly business-like as she turned to face Sarah properly, "We're going to promise something to each other now - and don't look at me like that, I can be sappy if I want to. No more lying to each other, okay? Whatever happens with your brothers, I'm going to help you, and whatever happens with my family, you'll help me. We're together in this. Agreed?"

Sarah considered this. Then her face split into a grin.

"You're on, Fuckface."

A/N: And once again I am SO sorry for the appalling slow update (it's only taken me about a year and a half). All is not lost and I am determined to finish this story! I WILL answer all reviews as well, a massive thank you to everyone that has read and reviewed - as always a great motivation when I'm feeling unmotivated writing wise. Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!