Lie no. 30:

A dial tone. Ringing.

"Hey! How are you?"
"I could be better. I really don't want to be here."

"Oh?"
"Work is being a pain. I called to tell you I won't be around for a month. I wanted to tell ."

Silence

"I'll be back after it's over, but I won't be able to call."
"Ok…"
"Voi! Stay safe…"
"That's what I should be saying!"

"Ha! I'm gonna be fine. You free for a talk though?"

Lie no. 31:

It was about a week after Squalo left. He was sitting in a public park with a little girl, Rosa, sitting next to him. She was a street kid he had known for a while. She was a miniature Harry. She could read expressions and frankly, he wanted to give her a chance in the world.

Plus she gave good advice.

"So he's gone?"
"Only for another 3 weeks."

"Damn… You really like him."
"Rosa." a stern voice, commanding tone.
"Yep. you're head over heals."
"Rosa" whining tone.

"Just tell him, god!"

"It's easier said than done."

"Look, Harry. If he leaves you for that, then he really doesn't deserve you. Aren't you the one who told me that it's either truth or happiness. And I dare you to try and tell me that you would be happy spending how long not even trying to hide it."

Lie no. 32:

About a week later Harry and Rosa were sitting on their designated bench again. She was sitting casually with a ice lolly having the time of her life, meanwhile Harry was having a meltdown. He was pretty sure she was secretly amused by everything that was happening to him. The forced look of neutrality covered an expression of humour hidden on her face.

It was with bitter acceptance that he finally just stopped wallowing in fear and began teaching her more ways in how to read micro expressions.

Lie no. 33:

It was a few days before Squalo was due to be back that Harry gave in the paperwork. Rosa was skipping down the street and telling him to hurry up as they walked to his (no, their) apartment. As of that day, Rosa was under his custody. Officially he was her foster father, but frankly she was more of a sister to him.

Unlocking the door, he pointed out her new room (Sirius' old one, it was pretty empty except for the necessities). "Hey Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"You're really cool."

Lie no. 34:

Sirius loved her.

It was the day before Squalo was due back when he decided to introduce the small girl to his godfather. The older wizard told her to call him "Uncle" right away. His hopes were dashed when she said "How bout I call you gramps instead?"

Harry nearly died laughing at Sirius' face. It was glorious.

Somehow, Rosa and Sirius because fast frenemies. They either argued or teased each other. It would have been great! If Squalo wasn't mentioned.

He wasn't planning on telling Sirius about Squalo until a much later date. Y'know until Squalo either left him, because he wasn't looking for a steady relationship, or told him that he didn't mind (which was very unlikely). Cue the teasing from family.

Lie no. 35:

He flipped through his keys at the end of the day at their door as Rosa chattered away about how phone and weird Sirius was. He couldn't help but smile about how easily they got along. As he unlocked the door.

Opening the door, he paused when he saw combat boots on the side and a duffle bag next to them.

He placed a hand over Rosa's mouth causing her to stop. He waited for a second until after a few seconds, Squalo walked out of the living room and into the corridor.

He stared at him for a couple of moments, then his eyes moved over to Rosa who stood casually behind him. Glaring unrepentantly.

"Voi, who's the kid?"

Lie no. 36:

Rosa had run off into the kitchen whilst Squalo and Harry sat down in the living room. They were sitting together awkwardly and Harry was freaking out internally.

"So? A kid?" Squalo asked casually
"Yeah, her name is Rosa. She's a pain but she's great."
"She's your's?"

"She's my foster daughter, but to be honest we see each other as siblings more." he explained "She is really good with reading expressions. I wanna teach her what I can do. I want her to grow up and be… y'know… happy, because she's been good to me for the seventh months I've known her crazy arse self."

Squalo looked at him for a little while and sighed "Whatever."

Truth no. 3:

It was about a week later and Squalo was probably at work, Rosa was asleep and Harry had just gotten home from work, when Harry called him. He had spent the morning listening to Rosa tell him that he needed to tell Squalo about the whole 'I'm in love with you" problem.

He tried to avoid it by letting her stay with Sirius for the afternoon (a complete deflection), which seemed to work. Then he went to the bar and spent the entire time trying to avoid hs problems by listening to other people's problems. Then he got home, remembered his problems and decided to avoid them via drinking.

Apparently, at some point at around three in the morning, he decided to call Squalo for some reason.

A dial tone. Then ringing followed.

"Hello?" a raspy voice greeted

"Everything has been super shitty since you've been gone!" his voice whined (something he would deeply regret later on)
"Are you drunk?"

"I think about you way more than I should! And you're freaking amazing! The hugs are amazing, and you don't judge when sometimes I flinch even though it's just a hug! But I feel like I'm waiting for something that isn't going to happen! You're loud and determined and being with you just makes me smile so much!" he ranted

"Harry-" he began
"I'm not done! Talking to you makes my day, Squalo. Truth is, I'm in love with you. Like seriously, head over heels, on cloud nine, in love with you. And everyone can see that, except you. I mean, I'm having Rosa and my godfather tease me about you. And no, I don't tell my godfather about you, Rosa is just a blabbermouth…" he slurred.

Then the doorbell rang. "Open the door." he said. He rolled off the sofa and shuffled over. Unlocking the door, Squalo stood there with an annoyed look on his face. He made his way inside and toed off his boots as he cancelled the call.

He turned Harry over and pushed him forward through the house and into bed. "Go to bed," he ordered.
"Hey Squalo?" he started "I know you probably don't love me… but I just wanted to let you know because as I always say, 'truth or happiness, you can't have both'..."

People prompt me! I wrote so much that I'm running on empty fumes! (Don't worry Clara does come back and Luna will show up at the same time in the next set of lies or the one after that) Anyway! Harry got drunk again and he confessed... again! I think that will be an issue for Harry, like he knows he can't have both truth or happiness and tries to avoid the deciding conversation. However, on this occassion he does remember what happened and it will be discussed in the next set of lies.

And I would like to apologise for the posting issue of previous chapters. I do preview them and I do try to see if it's fine, and when I'm like 'Yeah this is fine', I post it only to end up seeing it isn't. Trying to find out what is happening but it will take a while i think. Again, I apologise for any inconveniences. I reposted the entire fic, lets hope it works!

Enjoy!