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Chapter Sixteen

The Truth Broken (in the girls' loo)

Kira wondered down the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. She was basically alone which was strange. James was usually plastered to her side groping whatever part of her body her would let him. But lately he'd been spending more and more time with his brother. Trying as he might to prove that he was a good big brother. While Kira was proud of James, very proud in fact, she still missed him. They'd spent so much time together over the summer exploring their boundaries, having to share him with their classmates, professors and house was hard. Sure she would sneak into his dorm room every night, just so she could sleep for a few hours. Kira had gotten so used to sleeping cuddled up to James' warm body she couldn't sleep without him anymore.

Kira leaned against the stone wall and stared blindly out a window. She was beginning to rely on James more then she had relied on anyone except her parents, both of whom she barely saw. Her parents' support was emotional if distant. That was the best she could hope for considering the fact that they had six other younger children. Kira imagined it was a relief to her parents that she spent most of her holidays with the Potters. Both her Mum and her Dad wrote her everyday. She didn't feel abandoned though it was lonely sometimes. Especially during the holidays when the Potter parents made it so obvious how well and how much they loved their children. Christmas was chaos in the Fitzsimmons' house.

Though the Fitzsimmons' house was never lacking in the love department it was severely lacking in the time and attention departments. Sometimes she wondered how much of a burden writing to her was for he parents. Not that she'd ever ask them to stop. Sometimes it seemed like these letters were her only connection to her family. Her sister, Anna, would be starting school next year, then all her other siblings after Anna. Kira wouldn't see any of them on a regular basis. Not that she saw them regularly now.

It was as if she had already made a new family with the Potters and if the stuff James had been talking about lately was any indicator they would probably end up living together as soon as they graduated. Thoughts of the life she would live with James after they graduated made Kira nervous. She loved James, she'd always adored him. Living with him, marrying him, having children with him- these were things she wanted. But it had always been a far off dream. A "someday plan." But James was talking and planning and freaking the crap out of her. It was one of the reasons she'd slowed down there physical relationship hoping it would slow down his planning. It hadn't. Oh no. It had only sped him up if anything.

Almost as if he was afraid what her hesitance might mean for their future. It seemed so stupid to Kira. They were both afraid, but not talking. That would have to change. If she and James were going to- gulp- get married, have children and grow old together. They both needed to be brave enough to talk about anything and everything. Even those things that scared them. They were Gryffindors, and Gryffindors don't back down from tough situations.

Kira turned towards the loo. She'd have to throw up before she talked to James about kids. She slipped into a stall and sat on the floor, her head between her knees. This conversation would be hard to manage and damn it Kira needed to manage it. She couldn't begin the conversation saying something like, "James, I'm afraid of having kids with you." He would most certainly take it the wrong way, the conversation would turn into an argument that would end in snogging or more. Their conversation needed to end with talking. And maybe a chaste kiss. But nothing more. Kira wasn't going to start a sexual relationship before she graduated.

She hadn't been sure what her intentions were when she snuck into James' bedroom over the summer. All she'd known was that she was tired of tossing and turning half the night feeling achy and unsatisfied ever again. And ever since Kira had snuck into his room not a single night past that Kira didn't collapse and pass out from pleasure. Her last thought before slipping into sleep was usually something along the lines of, "Thank Merlin for James and his wonderfully calloused fingers."

She usually woke with James' lip scorching every easily reached inch of her throat or chest and one or both of his hands gripping one or both of her breasts. Breasts that always felt deliciously heavy and almost swollen in his hands. Over the summer they would often just pick up where they left off the night before, but that was, unfortunately, impossible while they were at school. First off his dorm mate had a terrible tendency to rip the curtains open on them, plus there was class and some such none sense.

Kira would gladly and willingly skip every one of her classes if it meant she could spend more time in James' arms. So, you might be wondering why Kira was so averse to starting a sexual relationship James when she so obviously enjoyed their physical relationship. There were several reasons but the most prominent for Kira was that she felt sex was special and should remain special for as long as possible.

James would always be tender with her, she knew. He would never try something kinky without talking to her first, James wasn't the problem. Not really. It was the act or really the way so many young people viewed the act of having sex. As though it were something common place. Something you only needed to be alone to do. Kira never wanted sex to be common place for her and James. She wanted it to always be special. Not something they would do in a broom closet because it felt good and they were both bored.

And somehow sneaking out of lunch and doing it really quietly in his dorm while praying none of his dorm mates appeared, didn't seem all that special. In fact it would put the act to shame and the two of them to shame all at once. Plus Kira didn't want to have to plan the first time she had sex with the man she loved. She just wanted it to happen. A spontaneous act of love. Was that too much to ask?

The door to the loo banged open and Kira jumped forced from her thoughts. Two girls entered, they were giggling and gossiping. Kira was quick to ignore them. She'd never been fond of girls who acted so damned stereotypical. Where had all the originality gone? Kira was about to return to her former train of thought when she realized the girls were talking about James and Albus. Her James and his miserable little brother. And then she recognized one of the voices speaking. The Damnable Daisy Doe. Kira's ears perked up as she absorbed everything being said by the two girls. She even peeked out of the stall to make sure it was Daisy she was listening in on.

"…you know that. And you know why I'm not with James," Daisy said. Kira only caught the end of her sentence which didn't make much sense. "He's dating that Fitzsimmons girl," Kira didn't like how she was being referred to. It almost sounded like Daisy was insulting her. "Nothing will get between them. Nothing."

Well, at least that bit is true, Kira thought, smugly.

"Yeah, I know," the other girl said. Kira didn't recognize her voice, but decided from its rather whiney quality that she didn't like this girl much more then she liked Daisy. "But, it's like, you're with the spare. Not the real thing, you know?"

No, I don't know, you stupid bitch! Kira thought. Spell it out for me!

"Yeah I know," Daisy said with a sigh. "But Albus isn't too demanding on my time, which means I have plenty of time for Martin."

Kira's mouth was hanging open, her mind blank from shock. Daisy freaking Doe was cheating on Albus with some tosser named Martin! This would break Albus. It would destroy him. Why, oh, why hadn't Daisy broken up with him? Why was she leading him on if she had this other bloke on the side?

"I wish I could spend all my time with him," Daisy said wistfully.

"Then drop the spare Potter and date him properly!" the other girl (who Kira suddenly had a bit of respect for) said.

"You know I can't," Daisy sighed. "My parents would flip. All they've said to me since I told them in one of my letters that I thought Albus might fancy me was, 'marry the Potter, Daisy. We don't care about your grades or your job or your future so long as you marry the Potter, Daisy. We don't care about your happiness, Daisy. All we care about is being able to say we're the in-laws to a Potter, Daisy.' It's miserable!"

Kira had a tiny bit of sympathy for Daisy but any and all fuzzy feelings were dwarfed by fury. Albus had been beating himself up over this stupid girl and she was only using him for the sake of her parents. It was utterly ridiculous! Beyond ridiculous, in fact. It was… It was… It was a word Kira couldn't think of. No matter how pressured she felt by her parents what Daisy was doing was wrong and Kira wasn't about to let her continue to get away with it.

Daisy and her friend's voices faded away and Kira got up and went in search of the first Potter or Weasley she could find. This was a family matter and the Potter/Weasley clan took care of their own.

---

Smashed between his sister and his cousin, Hugo Weasley once again wished that Ruby was a witch and could be easily contacted. She would have known exactly what to do in this horrible situation. She would have known what to say when Kira broke the awful news about Daisy and Albus. She would have known how to tell Albus what Kira had overheard. She would have told Hugo that everything would work and damn it he would have believed her. With Ruby by his side Hugo felt like a whole person, with all his limbs intact, able and ready to take on any challenge that faced him. Without her, he felt naked and kind of like he was missing an arm.

Lily was crying, silent tears down her face for the heartbreak, the horrible heartbreak her brother was about to endure. She had her arms wrapped around her middle like she was trying to hold herself together and doing a horrible job at it. Hugo would bet anyone any amount of money that Lily was wishing Scorpius was there. Just like Hugo was wishing for Ruby. It was like trying to walk without one of your legs. All you did was fall all over the place and look like a fool.

James the lucky bastard, had Kira right next to him, her arms wrapped around his neck, her face pressed into his neck. James was whole. James had all of his limbs. And James still looked downright miserable. He also looked ready to murder someone. If Hugo had to guess who was on the top of his hit list it would probably be a tossup between Daisy "I'm a horrible excuse for a person" Doe and Martin, the kid Daisy was apparently crazy about. Though Hugo was sure that no one really blamed Martin for his role in this mess, it didn't help that he was dating Daisy knowing that Daisy was still with Albus. The kid either had no sense of self preservation or he was so mad about Daisy that he couldn't bring himself to care.

Rose had her legs pulled up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees. She looked unhappy but that was pretty typical of her these days. Though her mood had improved immensely since mid-summer when Hugo had started bugging her about going out more, she seemed gloomy now that she was back at school. She was nowhere near the catatonic state she'd once been in, hanging onto Stephen's every letter, but she smiled less frequently and when she did smile, they seemed entirely too personal. Like she was smiling about something she didn't want anyone else to know about. Secret smiles. Smiles that Hugo often wore when thinking about Ruby.

The rest of the Weasley/ Potter clan sat on all the available chair and floor space around the fire in the Common Room. Every Potter or Weasley save one. Albus was off studying in the library with his cheating, lying horrible person/ girlfriend. James had had it in his head to rush down to the library right after Kira had spilled the beans and hex Daisy into an unrecognizable mass of humiliation and regret. "She will rue the day!" he'd said, flourishing his wand and accidentally causing a piece of the ceiling to fall on his head. Kira had managed to settle him down quite a bit and the rest of the family had managed to get a word in about what should actually be done.

If Ruby had been there, she would have known exactly what to do. There would have been no dilly dallying around with stupid ideas of how to tell Albus and mumbled threats against Daisy and Martin. Hugo would have asked Ruby what to do, she would have told them, then they would have done it. Simple, clean, neat and ridiculously easy.

But that part of his body was missing. Off somewhere near London, doing Merlin knows what with Merlin knows who. It was horrible being without her. But an unavoidable, unchangeable fact of their relationship. He spent most of his life without her by his side. It was like spending most of his life without the best part of his brain. Most of Hugo's current upset was over the fact that Ruby wasn't there to help make this situation easier on him. Sure he felt for his cousin. What Daisy was doing to him and would have continued doing if Kira hadn't overheard her, was unthinkable. It was simply something that had never occurred to Hugo as a possibility.

He'd never thought that the only reason a girl might fancy him was because of who his parents were. He'd never imagined that a lass might date him just so she could possibly one day marry him for his name and his name alone. That she might marry him even if she was in love with someone else. That she might spend the rest of her life with him even if he disgusted her.

It made Hugo question every girl who had ever expressed an interest in him. Had she only been flirting with him because his uncle was Harry Potter? Had she only offered to snog him in the upstairs broom closet because his parents helped save the Wizarding World? Had she only ever approached him because of his famous family?

Every girl who had ever expressed an interest in Hugo was subjected to this mental inquisition. Even though Hugo had refused each and every girl in favor of Ruby, the thought that they might have only wanted him for something as stupid as his famous relatives still stung. He could only hope that Daisy was one of the few. That the girls who had fancied him at one time or another had done so because of him. Of course if Ruby had been there she would have been able to tell him exactly what he needed to hear so that all thoughts of being used for his name would have flown right out of his head.

He'd have to write her as soon as he was alone.

"Seriously, guys," James said, breaking the silence that had permeated the area after Chucky had suggested that they take turns physically beating some sense into Daisy. "We have to tell him."

"That goes without saying," Lily mumbled.

"How do we tell him?" Rose asked.

"I think it'd be best if we were just brutal. Just tell him when he gets back. Just blurt it out, you know?" James suggested. Sounded like a good plan to Hugo. There was no reason to beat around the bush. Albus needed to know what was going on, sugar coating the situation wouldn't make it any easier for him to deal with it.

"We need to be supportive," Kira countered. "This could very easily destroy him, James. You remember he reacted to Daisy's other rejections. She stopped kissing him, touching him, looking at him and who did he blame? Himself. If we're going to have any chance of getting Albus out of this situation with his self esteem intact we need to be supportive of whatever course of action he chooses."

"Even if he decides to stay with that bitch?" James asked.

"Yes, though I doubt he will."

"That's complete bullocks!" Dominique snapped. "This is a family issue it should be decided by the family," she insisted, with her nose in the air. Kira slunk back against James.

Hugo glanced over at Uncle Bill's youngest daughter. She had never been the pleasantest of his cousin, taking after her mother more than any of Uncle Bill's other children. Not that Aunt Fleur was all that unpleasant, but she was very critical and that was a trait passed on to her daughter. Dominique had a very closed opinion of family. If you weren't married to a Potter or a Weasley you weren't family. End of story. The rest of the family was more open and Hugo knew that in his house Kira and James were already married and had been for quite some time.

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?!" James yelled at Dominique. Honestly, Dominique should have thought a second or two before lashing out at Kira. James was already pissed, there was no cause to make it worse.

"It's all right, James," Kira whispered, trying to soothe James. She looked anything but all right in Hugo's opinion.

"No, it's not all right, Kira," James muttered back never taking his eyes off Dominique. For her part Dominique didn't seem to care that James was angry and Kira hurt. Kira wasn't family in her overly critical eyes, so Kira had no right to add in her two cents on the issue at hand.

"Kira isn't family, James," Dominique said, a-matter-of-factly. "And this is a family issue."

"You can be a real bitch sometimes, Dominique," James said, cruelly glaring at her. The red head on the receiving end of that glare crossed her arms, her mouth settling into an unhappy line.

"James, stop," Kira practically begged. "She's right, I'm not family."

"The hell you aren't! You're just trying to help and that's more than Dominique's doing. So she can just clam up. We're going to do what Kira suggested. We're going to be supportive. When Albus gets back we'll tell him the facts as kindly as possible and then support whatever decision he makes. Because we're a family and that what family's do," James sneered the last sentence in Dominique's directions.

James cupped Kira's cheek and kissed her tenderly. It was the first time Hugo had ever seen his cousin be so kind to anyone. He realized that Kira was hurting and did whatever he had to, to make her feel better. Dominique left with a huff. She'd be back as soon as Albus appeared through the Portrait Hole. They were family after all, and even if they disagreed (and they did, often), even if they fought (and they did, very often) they would always support one another while trying to boss each other around.

The group dispersed after that primarily because James and Kira began snogging. Hugo found an empty desk near the window and began his letter to Ruby. He'd have to talk to her about girls only liking him because of his famous family. He'd have to talk to her about Kira's place in his family and her place once he graduated and they could start dating for real. She'd know too. She always knew. She was his right arm, his strongest leg and the smartest half of his brain.

If anyone knew what he needed to hear it was her.