A/N- Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! Don't kill me when you're doing reading it!

Chapter Twenty: Dealing

In the coming weeks, it became clear that healing from this particular wound would be just as hard as any other. Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny all kept their word. They made sure to check on Jack and Lily whenever they could and involved them in everyday family gatherings as much as possible.

The ministry had not been able to keep the attack out of the papers, but they had managed to control the information that reached the press. The world knew of the attack, they just didn't know how well it had been orchestrated. All the papers made the incident out to see like a wild job of some unorganized trouble makers.

Jack went back to work the day after the incident at St. Mungo's, spending his days interrogating the Death Eaters that had been caught. He was gone all day long and didn't usually return until late into the night after Lily had gone to bed.

Lily did not go back to work for over a week. It took her that long to build her strength back up again. She spent most of her time off either sleeping in her dorm room or catching up on her healer studies. She was planning on taking the tests she would need to pass to start a residency at the end of the school year.

Even after she returned to the ministry, she did not go back to St. Mungos for two weeks. She seemed to have developed a fear of the place and was trying to work through it. Instead she worked with the Hogwarts nurse at nighttime and on weekends.

When she went back to the ministry, she didn't work with Jack on interrogations, instead working on compiling evidence and doing small case work. The only time she saw Jack was in the morning occasionally when he didn't leave for work before she got up.

It was obvious to everyone that they seemed to have grown apart in some ways. Hermione and Ron had done all they could think of to try to get Jack to spend more time at Hogwarts with Lily, but no matter what they said he always said the same thing. He told them Lily knows he loves her and that she understands that what he's doing is important.

One Sunday afternoon Jack had promised Lily that he'd take her to have dinner with her father and Ginny at the orphanage. Ron and Hermione were bringing all the boys along as well.

She got up early, leaving Jack in bed to sleep in because he'd worked late the night before. She went to the hospital wing and helped Madame Jefter bottle potions for a few hours and when she came back to the dorm around noon she found Jack in the shower. She happily went and changed out of her healer robes and into a sweater and knee length jean skirt.

She had been looking forward to this since Jack had first told her his plans a week ago. They had hardly spent any time together and truthfully, it was starting to get to her. She was just pinning her long curls half up off her neck when Jack came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Hey there," she said cheerfully. She walked over to him with a smile and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Hey," he said, looking down at her somewhat strangely. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing," she said shrugging. She stood up on her tip toes to kiss him, but he turned his face away from her lips and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?" she said, sensing something coming from him.

"I thought you were working in the hospital wing today. Why are you wearing that?"

Lily's smile immediately fell, "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Forgot what?" he asked. He reached his back and unhooked her arms from his waist. She watched him walk into the walk-in closet and emerge holding the towel and wearing a pair of boxers.

"Dinner," she reminded him. "We're supposed to have dinner with your family and my parents at the orphanage today."

Jack looked at her for a moment and slapped his forehead when he remembered, "Oh shit!"

"That's okay," she dismissed, "You can be ready to go once you put some clothes on. They wanted us there early so we could all spend some time together."

"No, I can't come, love," he said, now walking to the dresser and pulling out a t-shirt and some trousers.

She couldn't help feeling disappointed and she didn't try to hide that fact from him either. "What? Why not?"

"I have to go in to work," he said with his back to her. "I'm leaving tonight and we have a debriefing before we—"

"Wait," she said holding up her hand. "You're leaving! Going where? When were you going to tell me?"

"Lil, I'm sorry. It must have just slipped my mind."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know…maybe a week or so. I could have sworn I'd told you."

She watched him get dressed and tried to get a hold of her temper. She knew if she didn't, that this would quickly escalate into something neither of them really needed.

Harry walked down the hall towards Jack and Lily's dorm room by himself. He'd told Ginny that he would go and ask Lily if she would come down to help her make dinner. Hermione hadn't been feeling well and she was going to take a nap before coming down later. He knocked on their door several times but got no answer. He could hear people talking from the inside of the dorm so perhaps they couldn't hear him knock. He opened the door and walked into the sitting room. Immediately he heard what sounded like an argument. He knew he should have turned around and left them to it but for some reason his feet just wouldn't move.

"You never told me about a mission," he heard Lily say loudly.

"Well, I'm sorry. I thought I had," came Jack's reply. It was obvious by the sound of his voice that he was annoyed.

"Jack, can't you just come down there for a little while? You're parents don't know you're leaving and you haven't seen your brothers in ages. Everyone misses you being around."

"They'll understand."

"No, they won't! Is that what I'm supposed to do, understand? Well, I don't Jack! I don't understand exactly what is so goddamn important!"

"I'm sorry, Lily, but I told you I can't come. I have a meeting."

"You seem to have a lot of these meetings," Lily huffed. "What is so secret you can't even tell me about? My security clearance is just as high as yours is!"

"If I told you that then I would be giving away the secret, now wouldn't I?"

"So what, you expect me to just go tell your parents that you're leaving for a week? You know they worry about you."

"They're not really able to talk about these things. Look at what they put my grandparents through during the war."

"That doesn't mean anything. It still would be considerate to tell them yourself. It would have been nice for you to tell me!"

"Look, I said I was sorry. What more do you want from me? I have to go," Harry could hear the sounds of Jack putting on a cloak. He heard footsteps from behind the closed bedroom door. He started to head back to the front door thinking they might catch him when it became clear Jack was going to use the floo.

"Jack, please don't go. We need to talk. We never talk anymore."

"I've got things I've got to do. I'm sorry. We'll talk when I get back, okay?" There was a few seconds pause before Jack spoke again this time in a much softer apologetic voice, "Come on Lily, don't give me that look. Everything's fine. It's not a dangerous mission or anything. I'll be back in a week and if you want me to take you to have dinner with your parents at the orphanage then I promise you I will."

"It isn't that I'm incapable of going by myself, Jack. That isn't the point. This was something you and I were going to do together. You promised me you would."

"Please don't make this a big deal," Jack pleaded.

"It it's not a big deal then why can't you tell me about you mission and why it's so bloody important that you leave right this very minute?" Lily cried in frustration.

"You are not one to talk about keeping secrets!" Jack fired back in return.

"Don't throw that back in my face! You know I did that for a reason!"

It was clear the anger in the room was building up when Jack replied, "Okay forget about the dreams, what about your pregnancy? What purpose was there in keeping that from me?"

"Jack, we talked about that!"

"I know we have! But I still don't understand…two weeks, Lily! You knew for two weeks and you couldn't find the time to mention it to me! If I had known I would never have let you go to St. Mungos that night!"

"So you do think it's my fault!"

"No, I never said that!"

"You might as well have! I was scared to death to tell you! You have no idea what I went through! And look, you reacted just like I thought you would!"

"I don't have time for this." More shuffling followed. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Jack, please, don't leave until we've talked about this! Don't leave angry with me!"

"I'm not angry."

The sounds that followed Jack's final sentence clearly indicated that Jack had flooed away. Harry listened closely at the door but heard nothing else. As quietly as he could, he walked back to the front door and closed it. He waited in the hallway for a few minutes before he knocked loudly on the wood. Several seconds later, the door opened to reveal a clearly shaken Lily Potter. She was wearing an elegant sweater and skirt but the smile she plastered on her face when she saw him standing at the door was clearly the fakest thing she'd ever worn.

"Hi, Daddy," she said, stepping forward and giving him a hug.

He held her close to him and he noticed she stayed in his arms a little longer than she would have ordinarily. "Hey sweetie," he finally replied when they pulled apart. "Ginny asked me to come get you and see if you'd like to help her with dinner. Your Aunt Hermione isn't feeling well."

"What's wrong with her?" Lily asked, ignoring his first question about dinner.

"I really don't know…she's just feeling under the weather," Harry shrugged.

"Sure I'll help with dinner, but I want to stop by and check on Aunt Hermione on our way."

"If you insist," Harry said, sweeping his arm to the side in a stately way. She smiled and nodded her head before taking his arm and allowing him to lead her down the hallway. "Where is Jack?" Harry asked after a few moments silence.

"He's at work," she said quietly. "He…um…has to go on a mission for a few days. He asked me to tell his parents."

"You'd think he'd want to tell them himself," Harry commented.

"Well…he's been under a lot of stress lately," she reasoned. She clearly felt the need to defend him even after their argument.

"And you haven't?" he mumbled under his breath.

Lily looked up at him and sighed. "Oh, Dad, I don't know what's up with Jack."

"Honey, I have a confession to make," Harry began. "I heard your argument."

Lily stopped walking and turned to look at him. "You what?"

"I came to talk to you like Ginny asked. When no one came to the door I went into the living room because the door was unlocked. I heard everything. I'm sorry for eavesdropping but I'm worried about you two."

She looked up at him for a few more seconds before she started walking again. "It's okay. I should be angry but I don't think I have the energy. How much did you hear?"

"Quite a bit," he admitted.

"We used to never fight like that. Usually I'm the hot-tempered one."

"Talk to me. What's going on?"

"They've got Jack working on this special case or something. He works all the time. He's constantly in a bad mood. I was really looking forward to spending time with him today. Apparently he wasn't, though," she looked down. "He forgot completely."

By now they were out of the secret passageway. "You guys are just going through a rough spot," Harry assured her.

"You think so?"

"He loves you, Lily. I know he does. Even these past few weeks when he's been gone a lot, every time he looks at you I can see how much he loves you. You've just got to let him deal with all this. He lost a child too, just as much as you did."

Lily stopped walking and turned to face him, "Dad, I know exactly what he's feeling. We're still taking the bonding potions and I can tell what his emotions are. I know he's angry and frustrated. I can feel his hatred."

"I'm sure none of that is directed towards you," Harry assured. "He just needs time. He's angry at the world right now."

"I hope that's all it is," Lily said shaking her head. They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence; Lily trying to convince herself that her father was right and Harry trying to convince himself that he'd given his daughter the best advice possible.

Once they reached Ron and Hermione's door they both seemed to have pulled themselves together. Lily knocked on the door. Ron answered with a broad smile on his face.

"Hey there, kiddo," he said, engulfing Lily in a hug that lifted her feet up off the floor. Harry shook his head; Ron always seemed to know how to cheer Lily up when she was down. "We weren't expecting to see you two until later," Ron said when he set his goddaughter back down on the ground.

"I want to check on Aunt Hermione," Lily said as they walked inside.

"That's sweet of you. She's in the bedroom lying down," Ron told her. "But where's Jack?"

Lily sighed and looked at Harry, who nodded his head and pointed down the hallway to the bedroom. Lily seemed to get the message because she retreated down the hallway and into the bedroom.

"What's going on?" Ron asked once she was gone.

"Jack's gone on a mission," Harry informed him.

"A mission…for how long?"

"About a week. I walked over to their dorm to ask Lily to come help Ginny make dinner and I kind of overheard Jack and Lily having an argument."

Ron raised an eyebrow, "Overheard or intentionally listened in on?"

"Okay, so I could have left without them knowing but I stayed," Harry confessed. "I told her about it and she's not angry."

"How bad was the argument?"

"Pretty bad."

"I can't believe he just left without telling us," Ron mused.

"I guess he didn't mention it to Lily either. I don't know, Ron. You might want to have a word with him when he gets home. He's apparently spending a lot of time at work. Frankly, I think he's staying away so he doesn't have to deal with all that's happened."

"You could be right. We certainly haven't seen much of him lately." Ron took a seat on the sofa and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Man, "Mione's going to be upset when she finds out Jack left on a mission without saying goodbye. You know how she gets with those things."

"Good luck to ya, mate," Harry said, slapping Ron on the back.

"He's going to need it," a voice said unexpectedly. The two men looked up to see Lily standing in the sitting room with a smirk on her face. "I swear there is something in the water," she said, shaking her head and crossing her arms across her chest.

"What?" Ron asked standing up. "Is something wrong?"

Lily laughed and shook her head. "Nothing that won't eventually go away. And nothing that you haven't already been through before."

"Will you please stop speaking in code," Ron pleaded melodramatically.

"She's pregnant," Lily said after a moment's pause.

Ron's face paled as he tried to process what she said, "What…no…she can't be…what?"

"Oh yes, she's pregnant alright. About two months pregnant. Honestly after all the kids you two have had you'd think you would know when you were expecting again. How you guys missed this is beyo--"

Ron interrupted Lily's rant by running up to her and giving her a great bear hug. He held her for a split second before he let her go and sprinted into the bedroom to see his wife. Lily stood there, trying to catch her breath.

"Pregnant," Harry repeated. "I can't believe that!"

"Neither can I," Lily said smiling. "You should have seen her face when I told her."

"I can only imagine. What do you say we give them some privacy?" Harry suggested.

"Good idea," Lily agreed.

"I can't believe you, Ginny, and Hermione all got pregnant so close together," Harry said without thinking. Lily said nothing she just smiled sadly at him and nodded.

They walked down the hall a little ways before Lily spoke up again. She looked down at the floor she was walking over and sounded far away. "That's how I hoped Jack would react when I told him I was pregnant."

Harry's smile evaporated. He quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to walk beside him. "I know you did."

"I knew he would be shocked at first but deep down I wanted him to be happy about it."

"I think he would have been. If he'd been given the time."

"I guess we'll never know," Lily said softly.

"You guys will have kids of your own one day soon. If a family is what you want than you should talk to him about it. I don't think Jack would be opposed to the idea."

"I'll think about it," Lily replied, putting on her best smile and lifting her head.

Jack ended up being away for just over a week. He got back in the early hours of the morning on Monday long after Lily had already gone to sleep. She woke up to find a note on his side of the bed telling her that he had gotten home safely and that he had to go into work for a post-mission debriefing. She had to admit she was more than a little disappointed that he hadn't woken her up or at least waited.

She went into work hoping to at least see him there, but alas, luck was not on her side. She was told he was again working out of the office and wasn't scheduled to return until the late evening. Going about her day, she found herself looking at the clock every couple of minutes, willing time to pass faster. When five o'clock came around, she packed up her things and she went home for the day.

Again she waited.

And waited. And waited.

At eleven thirty she was more than a little angry. All she wanted to do was welcome him home, and all he seemed to want to do was stay away. She was just about to give up and go to bed when the door opened.

"Jack!" she said, all thoughts of anger leaving her mind. She ran to him and threw her arms around him dramatically as if she hadn't seen him in years. "I missed you!"

Jack was caught off guard at her display of affection. He wrapped his arms around her waist but didn't hold her tightly to him like he once had. "I missed you too," Jack mumbled half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, noting his tone.

He released his hold on her and took a step back. "Nothing, just tired."

She took his hand and led him into the bedroom. He seemed reluctant to follow but finally came behind her dragging his feet. "How was the mission?"

"Fine…okay…you know. Not much happened," he stated vaguely.

He let go of her hand and began to get ready for bed. He went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Lily followed, talking constantly about everything that he'd missed while he was away. When he was done he put his toothbrush away and walked to the doorway. She stood in his way and when he approached she wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed up at him.

"Care for me to show you how much I missed you?" she slyly offered.

There was a glimmer of hope that he would concede for a moment, but soon it was gone. He's eyes hardened and he shook his head.

"Actually, Lil, I'm really tired. I'd rather just go to bed," he said with difficulty.

"Oh," she said, letting go of him.

She watched him walk away, desperately wanting to know what he was feeling.

She got her wish. A wave of powerful emotions washed through her all at once. Rage, irritation, misery, disappointment; he was feeling them all. She clutched the material of her shirt that rested above her heart and leaned heavily against the doorframe. She knew he was feeling other things, but she hadn't mastered this skill from the potion yet, because all his feelings were starting to impact her own. The only thing that she could tell was that his negative feelings centered on her.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up and saw Jack standing on his side of the bed looking, at her curiously. In an instant she had a smile plastered on her face. "Yeah, I'm just cold."

Walking to the bed she helped him pull back the covers. He looked at her again, this time confliction flickered across his face, and he tried several times to speak before he finally managed to get the words out.

"Lily…um, look I've been sleeping on the ground for over a week. I'm really tired. I think I could use a good undisturbed night's sleep. I've got to get up early in the morning."

She looked down when the realization of what he said hit her in the pit of her stomach like a bag of ice. When she raised her eyes to his she saw he wasn't even looking at her. He was playing with the fringe on the pillow case.

"Sure," she whispered, her voice wavering with hurt. She turned and walked back to the dresser. Locating a shirt and sweatpants to sleep in, she shut the drawer and kept her back to him when she heard him walk closer.

Seeing the look of intense hurt flash across her face, Jack wished he hadn't said anything. He quickly tried to rationalize, "It's just for one night. I really need--"

"It's okay," she said turning to him. She knew there had to be tears in her eyes, but she blinked them back and flashed him the biggest smile she could manage though she knew the corners of her mouth quivered in spite of her best efforts. "I get it."

She stepped forward, half-intent on kissing him on cheek but thought better of it. "Goodnight," he told her.

All she could do was nod and leave the room as fast as she could without sprinting.

Jack stood in place for several minutes after she left. He closed his eyes and tried to get the image of her heartbroken face out of his mind. Sighing, he finished getting ready for bed.

On Wednesday evening, Andrew Weasley walked down the hall to his brother's dorm room while holding Joes's hand. Joe had begged and pleaded to go see Jack and Lily, and finally his mum asked Andrew to come take him. Neither Jack nor Lily had been present at supper and he was kind of worried about them. When he reached their door he knocked loudly. The door opened quickly to reveal Lily's tired face. Her eyes were lined in red and her hair fell in strings over her shoulders.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Andy asked immediately.

She smiled warmly. "Nothing, I just…thought you might be Jack." She reached down and took Joes hand and led them into the sitting room.

"Since when does Jack knock?" Andy asked as he followed.

She shrugged and looked down at Joe. "What are you doing here, buddy?"

"I missed you, Lily," Joe said, looking up at her.

"Oh, I missed you too," she said, sitting down on the sofa and pulling him onto her lap.

"So, where is my git of a brother anyway?" Andy asked, looking around.

"Well…he's um," she sighed. "To be quite honest I don't know where he is. We don't really work together during the day anymore so…"

"Is everything alright?" Andrew asked suspiciously.

"Everything's fine," a new voice said from the doorway. They all turned to see Jack standing there glaring daggers at his fiancée. "What are you two doing here?"

"We just stopped by to say hello. You know, something you used to do. I would have thought you'd have come by to congratulate Mum and Dad by now," Andy snapped, standing up to challenge his older brother.

Jack shook his head. "Why do they need congratulating?"

"Your mom is pregnant," Lily said quickly, hating herself that she had forgotten to tell him sooner.

"Pregnant…" Jack said darkly. He's glare hardened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I only found out the day you left and I wanted to tell you when you got back but--"

"She's my mother, Lily," Jack said coldly. "You should have told me!" His voice had risen now to match the angry look on his face.

"I said I was sorry," she restated. Her eyes glistened with tears and suddenly she felt about an inch tall.

Jack took a step towards her aggressively and clenched his fists, "You were so concerned that I wouldn't sleep with you the night I came back you forgot to tell me my mother was pregnant!"

For the first time in all their years of friendship she was afraid of him. His anger seemed to have taken over and the look on his face was frightening. Subconsciously, she pulled Joe closer to her from where he still sat on her lap in silence.

"Jack, that's enough!" Andy yelled, stepping in front of his brother. "Don't yell at her! You've been home for days and you still haven't seen gone to see Mum and Dad. They're worried sick about you! Lily shouldn't have to give you updates on your own parents!"

"Andy, I think you both should leave," Jack instructed in a low iron hard voice.

Andy shook his head defiantly. "Like I'm leaving you alone with Lily when you've got a temper! What's wrong with you, Jack? I've never seen you like this!"

"This has nothing to do with you, Andy. I'm asking you to leave."

Lily stood up and put Joe on the ground. "Its okay, Andy. Why don't you take your brother back to your parents?"

Andy looked reluctant but finally conceded. He took Joe's hand and walked out the door, saying nothing to anyone. Once they were gone Jack kicked the door shut, the loud slamming noise literally made Lily jump out of her skin. She looked down at the ground like a guilty child and waited. He didn't make her wait long.

"You're talking to my brother about our relationship now?"

She shook her head, "No, he just asked where you were."

He took a few steps towards her and she took a few steps back, trying to keep the distance between them. "And what did you say?" Jack asked, not even noticing their migration.

"I…I told him I didn't know," her voice was shaking with fear now, and she felt her back flatten against the wall. There was no where left to go.

"Did you invite them here?"

"No." Tears escaped from her eyes and she continued to shake her head in denial. What was going on with him?

He continued advancing until he was standing right in front of her, trapping her against the wall by placing his palms on the wall on either side of her head. Her eyes were wide and her whole body seemed to tremble, but he didn't care.

"Have you told anyone you were pregnant?" he asked pointedly.

"No, only your parents and mine but they were there," she assured in a quivering voice.

"I don't want anyone else to know, do you hear me?" He lowered his hands and gripped her arms. "It's something between us. I don't want our friends or my brothers or the rest of my family to know."

Her eyes closed and he watched more tears fall down her cheeks. "I won't tell a soul," she said, weeping as quietly as she could.

"And the next time one of my brothers comes looking for me and I'm not here tell them to come back later."

"Okay, Jack, whatever you want. Just please let go of me," she begged not looking at him. "You're hurting me."

He hadn't realized that he'd been holding her arms so tight. His eyes blinked as he let go of her like her skin was on fire. He suddenly felt like coming out of a trance. He looked behind him, wondering how he'd walked across the room without wanting to.

Looking up at Lily's face he saw her eyes were down on the ground and her body shook with sobs. His mouth went dry as if he'd swallowed a dozen cotton balls and he backed away from her, holding out his hands and looking at them as if he'd never seen them before. When he got far enough away she pushed off from the wall and walked past him. She went to the closet by the door and got out her broom.

"I'm going to go for a lap around the pitch," she said in a whisper. He almost didn't hear her over the sound of his own rapidly beating heart.

He took a step towards her again, "Lily I--"

She turned her head towards him and the look on her face made it impossible for him to go on. It was a look of complete and utter fear. He'd only seen her like that around one other person; Malfoy. He'd never done anything to make her afraid of him before. What was he doing now?

When he didn't continue she swept from the room, not even stopping to realize that she hadn't grabbed her cloak.

Lily ran down the hall way as fast as her legs would carry her. The sound of her shoes clicking on the floor bounced off the walls along with deep loud sobs she could no longer hold back. She rounded a corner and felt herself collide with another person's chest. She fell backwards due to the speed she had been traveling and found herself on the floor looking up at the person she'd run into.

"Lily!" Ron exclaimed. He dropped down and helped her up off the floor. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked reaching down and picking up her broomstick. He leaned it against the wall and looked at her expectantly.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she said hurriedly, wiping away her tears. "I'm just going down to the pitch. What are you doing here?"

"I was just coming to talk to Jack. Andy and Joe just came back and they were both really upset about something Jack had said." He looked at her again, 'Where is your cloak if you're going outside?"

She looked down at herself and saw she was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Her arms were covered in goose bumps and she tried to tell herself it was from the chill in the corridor. "I must have forgotten it."

He saw something on her arm and stepped forward to get a better look, "Lily, what's this on your arm? It looks like a bruise." He looked at her other arm and saw the same thing; yellow and blue lines forming on her upper arm.

"It's nothing, Uncle Ron. Please just forget about it," she pleaded. The tears continued to come much to Ron's horror. He thought for a second before he realized the truth.

"Jack did this to you," he said, sounding out of breath.

She shook her head, "No, he didn't mean to. It wasn't like that…I made him angry."

Ron swept her up in his arms and held her tightly. "It doesn't matter if you made him angry, honey! He has no right to lay a hand on you! Where is he?"

She wiggled her way out of his grasp and looked up at him with wide frightened eyes. "No, please don't say anything to him. Please, Uncle Ron!"

"Lily, has he been acting like this for a while?"

"I don't know. Just don't tell him I told you. Promise me!" She sounded so desperately scared that it broke Ron's heart.

"Shhhh, it's okay. I won't say anything. I want you to go find your dad and stay with him for a while," he instructed through a clinched jaw.

"Where are you going?" she asked timidly.

"I'm just going to talk to him. Something is wrong, Lily. He's not being himself and I'm going to find out why." She shook her head but he spoke again before she even opened her mouth. "Its okay, just go find your dad."

"Okay," she finally agreed. He watched her walk down the hall slowly with her broom dragging on the ground at her side. He watched her walk down the long hallway until she turned the corner.

He looked behind him in the direction of Jack's dorm and sighed. Something wasn't right. Jack would never raise a hand to Lily. There was some kind of problem going on here. The only question now was what it was.

A/N-Please review!