A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!

Chapter Fifteen

The Look of a Man (in Love)

Albus was shirtless. He was also staring in a mirror that was blessedly lacking any enchantments. He wanted to know exactly what he looked like. He didn't want any of his faults airbrushed. If he was to find out what exactly Daisy found so objectionable about his person he needed an honest look at what his body was. An enchanted mirror might change his image to something more favorable. And he wanted the truth. An enchanted mirror also might compliment him so fiercely that he would believe anything it said even though he could see the truth plainly reflected back at him.

He needed to look at himself with a critical eye if he was to figure out what the problem was.

But at the moment his biggest problem was that he couldn't find a fault with his physical person that Daisy would find so atrocious that she'd be so damn prudish. He had no second head or third nipple. His abs weren't overly defined but they weren't fatty. For a sixteen year old he looked good. And that was said without an ounce of arrogance. He had been critical of his every feature. He hadn't over looked anything either. Not his hair, his eyes, his nose or his lips. He'd even started at his cheekbones for a good ten minutes. But there was nothing, nothing about him physically that would explain Daisy's response to him.

He'd visited her house several times over the summer. Her parents had been thrilled to receive him and more then willing to shoo the two of them up to her room where they were left quite alone for a remarkable amount of time. And when they finally did come to check on the young couple they always seemed upset not to find them kissing or snogging or even embracing.

Daisy got quite skittish whenever she and Albus were alone together. Like he would attack her as soon as the door closed. Which hadn't made a wit of sense to Albus the first time it happened. The last time they were alone together she'd attacked him with kisses. He couldn't think of a single logical reason why she'd all of the sudden act like she wasn't interested in him at all.

Unless there was something about him she didn't like anymore. Or she simply didn't like him anymore. Albus shook his head. It couldn't be that, it just couldn't. He still liked Daisy. He didn't want their relationship to end before it had properly begun. They had barely kissed since their snog in his bedroom. She was back to giving him chaste kisses on the cheek. Most of the time spent in her room passed with them both reading in silence. He tried to strike up a conversation every once and a while, but she'd always go back to her book before giving him an answer.

All the signs pointed to a problem. A problem with him. He still found her utterly fascinating but she seemed to find him lackluster at best. It was quite depressing to admit even to himself. Unfortunately if he was going to scavenge what was left of his relationship he'd need help which meant admitting the problem to someone else.

Albus thought about his options. He could talk to his Dad. Dad always had good advice, but at the end of the day Harry Potter was Albus' father and would avoid brutal honesty. And that was the exact kind of honesty Albus needed. Scorpius was smart and would be honest, but his honesty would be dampened with kindness. It was a damn shame that the only person in the whole house that would be brutal was James. Albus' dear older brother wouldn't hold back for the sake of his feelings and that was exactly what he needed.

Honesty so brutal it was almost cruel.

Albus sighed and pulled his shirt on. When he found James he would no doubt be wrapped around Kira. It was an image that he didn't relish seeing again. The image of James half naked over an equally… disheveled Kira was something that had been burnt into his retina more times then he could count. It wasn't that Albus actively sought them out, they were just snogging all over the damn place.

Albus tromped out of his room. He didn't bother stopping to see if Kira and James were to be found in James' room. It was much too obvious for the two of them. They were trying not to get caught and messing around in a bedroom was too clearly where two sane teenagers would think of doing such a thing. Most the time Albus had found them in the loo or the pantry or a coat closet. He'd also stumbled across them rolling around on the lawn. Most every time he'd sigh and move on. If either of them had any sense they'd vacate the area shortly after Albus left. But if the screaming matches between Mum and Dad and James were anything to go by it seemed that the pair didn't have any common sense. Or at least not enough common sense to keep their clothes on while Mum and Dad were home.

Albus pulled open the door to the upstairs linen closet and Kira screamed.

"Bloody hell, Al!" James yelled. Albus hadn't even looked into the roomy closet but if the rustling of clothing and muttered cursing was any indicator the young Potter imagined that they both had been in varying stages of undress.

When he finally did look at them Albus sighed wistfully. Kira's shirt was inside out and backwards, her skirt flipped up in the back and her hair was a mess. James wasn't faring much better. His shirt was only half on, his trousers were only half closed up. It was clear what they had been doing or what they'd been about to do. Albus was offended for Kira. To think doing that in a linen closet.

"Damn it, James," Albus snapped, quietly. He didn't want to be overheard. "How could you possibly think that a linen closet is the proper place to shag your girlfriend?"

"If you must know we weren't shagging," Kira said.

"But we were damn close," James leered. Albus gagged.

"Shut up, James!" She punched him soundly in the shoulder. He caught her wrist and pulled her against his chest. Within moments they were snogging again. Albus cleared his throat several times and threw a few towels at them until they separated, both gasping for air.

"You two are utterly incorrigible," Albus said, his voice gruff with jealousy. He wanted to be like that with Daisy.

"Oh, like you haven't seen snogging before," James scoffed. "I'm sure Miss Daisy Doe isn't such a prude behind closed doors."

Albus sighed. "Unfortunately that's not entirely true."

"What are you talking about?" James laughed. "I saw you with Daisy."

"Yeah, you saw the first and last time we ever kissed."

Albus' proclamation was met with silence. The older couple staring at him shocked, stunned and horrified. He knew how they felt. Saying the truth of his situation out loud was just depressing. He'd been supposedly dating Daisy for almost a year and hadn't kissed her since last summer. It was almost more then he could bear. So with an air of utter desperation Albus did something he hadn't done in years and asked his older brother for help.

"I need to know what I'm doing wrong and I need you to help me figure out how to fix it," Albus said.

"Was that some vague guy way of asking for help?" Kira wondered out loud.

"Sure was," James said recovering from his shock.

"You'd know, it's the only way you ever ask for help," Albus grumbled.

James snorted. "You can't get all uppity about how I ask for help when you're doing the exact same thing."

"Will you just help me!?"

"Of course I will, if only for the ego trip."

"Ego trip?" Kira asked.

"Oh yeah, baby-"

"Don't call me baby."

"Albus is always so damn smart, always passing all his classes with flying colors, it's damn annoying. The fact that he asked me for help tells me that I know something he doesn't know. That in some small way I am better then him," James said, fisting his hands on his hips.

Kira and Albus both fixed him with identical confused and slightly disgusted looks.

"That's incredibly immature and kind of stupid," she commented.

"Whatever," Albus sighed. "I honestly don't care why you've agreed to help me only that you will. So why don't you straighten your clothes, we'll talk in my room."

Albus turned to go, but James stopped him, saying, "Oh, I don't think so, Al. It's a very rare day that you admit my sometimes not so obvious superiority."

"So?"

"So, my ego requires that as many people as physically possible know that you felt the need to seek me out for my infinite knowledge," James placed a hand on his chest and attempted look pensive. Albus let out a wounded sigh. It just figured that James wouldn't make this easy for him.

"Which means?" Kira asked, pulling at her shirt and skirt.

"Which means that we'll be going to find Lily and Scorpius."

"Both of whom possess some common self respect and wouldn't stoop so low as to basically shag in a linen closet," Albus snapped.

"For the last time, Albus. We. Were. Not. Shagging!" Kira yelled.

"But we were close."

"James!"

---

James could be far more observant then most people gave him credit for. For instance, he was well aware of how humiliated his brother was. He also knew there was plenty he could do to alleviate some that humiliation. The only way to comfort Albus would be to talk to him alone, far away from his luscious Kira. And the last place James wanted to be was far away from Kira.

Kira had her pillow soft breast smashed into his side and James as far too selfish to give up the opportunity to grope her. For as miserable as Albus was, James was as happy and content. It just figured that the perfect girl for him had been right under his nose for years before he wised up and realized how dense he'd been.

It wasn't until a few nights ago that James truly saw just how lucky he was to have Kira in his life. She'd slipped into his room in the dead of night and had woken him with feather light kisses and caresses. They'd spent the rest of the night tentatively exploring each other's bodies. They hadn't shagged, but as each night passed they got closer and closer. James knew that they in the final stretch. Any day now and they would take that final step. If he wasn't so sure that Kira was it for him, he'd have backed off a while ago. James Potter was no prude, but he did respect boundaries and the lovely bodies of every girlfriend he'd ever had. He never pushed too hard and if he was ever told to back off he always did.

But he would marry Kira one day and the feel of her heavy breasts in his palms was not something he was likely to give up without a fight. Unless she asked him to stop, of course. In which case he was likely to pitch a fit, but in the end he would concede with whatever dignity he had left. He lo- really, really, really liked her after all. (Even though James knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if he had anything to say about it, he and Kira would one day be man and wife, the stupid blitter was too much of a chicken to admit, even in his own head that he loved her.) He would do anything for her. Well, anything he was physically able to.

Kira slipped her hand into the back pocket of his trousers and gave his arse a squeeze. It was her silent way of asking him to make the coming conversation a quick one. James wasn't sure he'd be able to do that. Albus seemed to be in quite a tough spot with his prudish Daisy Doe. He wouldn't have come to James for help if he wasn't, and he certainly wouldn't have been willing to air his dirty laundry in front of Scorpius, Lily and Kira if the situation wasn't serious. As much as James wished it otherwise (for his own sake as much as his brother's) it looked like the conversation to come would be long and uncomfortable for all involved.

Albus had the decency to knock before opening the door on Scorpius and Lily, when James would have just whipped out his wand and barged in. But Albus had always been a bit more polite then James. He was a good, decent, smart guy who didn't deserve girl troubles.

There was quite a bit of cursing and scrambling going on behind the door that told James Scorpius and Lily had been snogging. He shook his head at that. After the disaster the family's interference had wrought on Rose and Wood's relationship he wasn't about to stick his nose where it didn't belong again. For some reason Mum and Dad trusted them, where they didn't trust James and Kira. He supposed it had to do with the fact that Lily and Scorpius had never gotten caught in a compromising position. Or several compromising positions, as it were.

When Scorpius finally opened the door the only thing that gave away what he'd been doing was the messy state of his hair, which he was in the process of fixing. Lily was sitting primly on the couch looking the picture of perfection. James grumbled as he noted that his shirt was on backwards.

Scorpius shooed everyone in. They passed though the tiny kitchen (Scorpius barely used it, he ate just about all his meals at the main house) into the sitting room. The room had two windows in the ceiling and several on either wall. The back wall had a large arch way that led into Scorpius' bedroom and loo. The place seemed rather sizable for one bloke and judging from the lived in look of the sitting room, Scorpius was enjoying his new home.

Scorpius settled a respectable distance from Lily on the couch and waved at the love seat and overstuffed chair for the others to sit as well. James yanked Kira to the love seat and sat so close to her she might as well have been sitting on his lap. Albus remained standing and sighing heavily.

"What is wrong with me?" he asked in all seriousness.

Scorpius was the first the break the awkward silence that followed Al's question. "What do you mean, mate?" he asked.

"Daisy won't look me in the eye. She barely talks to me. She hasn't kissed me since last summer and dodges me every time I try to kiss her. So… what's wrong with me?" he asked again.

A strange pressure sat on James' chest. This was far worse than he had imagined. Albus was blaming himself for something that was clearly Daisy's problem. James supposed the pressure was to do with compassion. He felt bad because Albus, his only little brother, was going to have to deal with some heart break in the very near future. Or the pressure was indigestion. Both were likely.

"Have you been trying to get her to talk to you and look at you?" James asked, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"Of course, I have. I've been trying everything. But nothing is working! So, what. Is. Wrong. With. Me?"

James looked anywhere but at his brother. He ended up staring into Kira's eyes. As he studied her shining orbs he realized that she'd come to the same conclusion he had. Nothing was wrong with Albus other than his inability to see what was obvious. Daisy didn't want to be with Albus anymore but didn't have the common decency to tell him. For some reason she was drawing out the misery. But only for Albus, it seemed like she had already checked out of the relationship.

James sighed. He'd have to tell Albus the brutal truth and he knew his little brother wouldn't like it. "Al, I'm gonna be brutally honest with you," he said.

"Good," Albus said, much to his older brother's surprise. "That's why I came to you. You'll be entirely honest with me. So much so that it's almost cruel."

"I don't know about that," Kira said, affronted on James' behalf.

"Oh, no he's right, baby," James patted Kira's knee to soother her. She captured his hand and held it against her knee. "Albus, you know I'd never sugar coat the truth for the sake of your feelings, right?"

"Oh, definitely," Albus nodded.

"So you know I'm being entirely honest when I tell you what's wrong, right?"

"You know what's wrong?" James nodded. "Brilliant! Lay it on me. I can take it, I promise."

James swallowed and looked to Kira for strength. She gave him a slight nod. "There's nothing wrong with you, Al."

"What?" Albus asked, confused and angry.

"He's right," Scorpius added. Both Lily and Kira nodded their agreement.

"No, no. Something has to be wrong with me. Tell me what it is, James! Be a good brother for once and tell me what's wrong with me!"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Al," James said.

"What do you mean? Why did you stress 'you,' like there's something wrong with someone else?"

"Because the problem in your relationship isn't you," James sighed. This next part was the bit that Albus wouldn't like. "From what you've said it sounds like Daisy's not interested in being with you anymore and just hasn't told you yet."

"I was afraid of that," Albus muttered.

James immediately regretted his decision to tell his brother the truth. Sure Albus needed to hear it, but the look of utter misery on his face made James think that sometimes the price of the truth is just a little too high. Albus had the look of a man in love. A man in love with the wrong girl, looking in the wrong place for a problem he couldn't fix. It was sad and James was sad for his brother. It was funny, James had never been sad on someone else's behalf before.

"Is there anything I can do? I still want to be with her," Albus said.

He sounded desperate. James shook his head. The best thing Albus could do was break up with Daisy before she broke up with him, but that wasn't what Albus wanted to hear, or even what he needed to hear. He wouldn't listen to such advice, no in the moment. He was too raw from hearing the truth. He'd need some time before he could accept the fact that his relationship with Daisy was over.

"Maybe it's something else," Lily suggested.

The look on her face told James that she didn't mean that. She just wanted Albus to stop looking so sad. James didn't doubt that she was feeling the same pressure on her chest that he was. The look on Albus' face was heart breaking and Lily just wanted to make him feel better. But false hopes might keep Albus from bowing out of the relationship while he still had some dignity. His relationship was doomed. Anyone could see that, even Albus.

"And maybe my head is full of Christmas pudding!" James snapped at Lily. She scowled at him and Scorpius grimaced. "If Daisy wanted to be with him she'd be talking to him."

"Maybe she's shy-" Lily suggested.

"After almost a year?!"

"She an introvert!"

"If she was an introvert that wouldn't stop her from looking at him, would it, Lily? I think not!" James insisted.

"I just wanted to help make him feel better," she pouted.

"By lying to him? You know as well as I do that Daisy's checked out of the relationship. Telling him it might be something else will just draw out the misery." Lily huffed and turned away.

"I wouldn't be surprised if your head is full of Christmas pudding," she muttered.

James shook his head and turned back to Albus who had vanished. "He left? You just let him leave?" James asked Kira and Scorpius.

"He needed to think, you know that as well as I," Scorpius said, grumpily. Lily was pissed and that didn't bode well for her boyfriend who would no doubt have the job of comforting her. Probably by calling James all sorts of unsavory names.

"Plus, I doubt he needed to hear the two of your arguing over how to treat him in his delicate emotional state," Kira said dryly. James harrumphed. "Though, I do wonder why Daisy hasn't dropped him yet. It's clear as day that she doesn't want a thing to do with him, but instead of cutting the cord, as it were, she keeps pulling him along."

"Maybe she's too nervous to break it off with him," Lily suggested, speaking only to Kira and Scorpius. James would have a few hours of blessed silent treatment from his sister. "Maybe she wants to force him to do it."

"That's completely dense," James said.

"Oh thank you, you great lummox!" Lily snapped. "It's entirely likely that she's too nervous to drop him! She's a bloody prude and a nervous wreck most of the time. Anyone with eyes knows that."

"I didn't mean that your idea was dense," James said, defensively. "I mean that if Daisy thinks that a bloke who is obviously head over heals for her would break up with her just because she's putting him off she's a total idiot. Albus will do anything to fix this relationship. He thinks he's in love with her."

"How do you know he's in love with her?" Scorpius asked, looking slightly panicked.

"Oh, he's not in love with her. He thinks he's in love with her. Very different. And trust me. I know the look of a man truly in love." I see one every bloody time I look in a mirror, James thought.

"How?" Kira asked. James looked into Kira's curious eyes and gulped.

"Just trust me, baby. I know."