A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I'll try to get to updating some of my other stories that I've neglected for who knows how long.

Chapter Seventeen

The Man in the Mirror

The stars winked down at Albus. In the distance the wind played through the trees of the Forbidden Forest making the woods look like a stormy sea of leaves, branches and darkness. The cool evening air slapped at Albus' cheeks. The harsh slap kept him awake and kept him from paying any significant attention to the pain slowly seeping into every part of his body. The pain, born mostly of humiliation, originated in his chest, somewhere around where his heart used to be. The only thing that kept him perched on the thick banister at the edge of the Astronomy Tower was the possibility that tomorrow might be better. It was unlikely that it would be, but there was a possibility and that slight chance was better then nothing for Albus.

He was smart enough to know that though his future seemed bleak and miserable at the moment it wouldn't always feel this way. He wouldn't have the bone deep pain permeating his being for the rest of his life. He wouldn't have to avoid the pitied gazes of his family every time he walked down the hall or entered the Common Room or went anywhere any one of his cousins or siblings might be. This feeling of inadequacy wouldn't last. None of the many negative emotions swirling around his being would last. And that was the only reason Albus didn't let the misery he was currently enduring consume him and force him to do something stupid.

He would survive this. Though at the moment how he would survive it seemed dubious and far in the future. The whole horrible debacle had happened hours ago and had been dealt with hours ago, but Albus still couldn't get the look on James' face out of his mind. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Daisy crying. All he could hear in the moments when the wind stopped roaring was Daisy begging him, begging him not to break up with her. She would learn to love him, she'd said. She would stop seeing Martin, she'd promised. She would do anything, even shag him if it meant she didn't have to tell her parents that he had broken up with her, she'd pleaded.

Showing no emotion Albus had told her it wasn't good enough. First off he didn't believe that you could learn to love someone. The love was either there or it wasn't. Sure there are certain cases when you simply don't realize that you do in fact love someone until something happens to open your eyes to the fact. But that wasn't the case with Daisy. She was hoping or promising her love would grow from nothing. Because that was what she felt for him. Nothing. If she had felt something, anything she wouldn't have planned to rope him into a loveless marriage, just so she could please her parents. The fact that she was willing to leave her real boyfriend for him was no incentive to stay with her. Honestly she would just learn to recent him, not love him. Besides Albus was still too kind hearted to inflict the kind of pain she had inflicted on him onto her. If she wanted to be with Martin Albus had no right and no desire to stop her.

As for shagging, at one time it would have been a wet dream come true, but now Albus never wanted to see her again, let alone touch her in anyway that might give her pleasure. It didn't help that somewhere deep inside he still liked her. Albus had a feeling that was why it hurt so much. He liked her even though she didn't care one wit about him. Perhaps it wasn't even her he liked. She certainly hadn't done anything likable recently. Perhaps he had created a perfect Daisy in his mind and that was the girl he still liked. It was very hard to believe that he was at all attracted to the girl who had humiliated him so thoroughly. Any soft feelings towards her were unwelcome but seemingly unavoidable.

Daisy's parents had put her in an impossible position. There was no way for her to please herself and them. Either she stayed with Albus and destroyed her own happiness or she broke up with him and disappointed her parents. It was a no win situation for Daisy and in the end all she'd managed to do was break his heart and destroy any inherent trust he might have in any witch who expressed an interest in him. He would forever be wondering if she wanted him for himself or for his famous father. Every time she pushed him aside for one reason or another he would think she was just going to suffer through the rest of her life with him so she could marry the son of Harry Potter.

Daisy had ruined him for all witches and not in a good way. He could only trust witches he was related to and that didn't bode well romantically. What Albus needed was a nice Muggle girl who knew all about witches and wizards but nothing about his parentage. A girl who had perhaps seen more then she should have and had come to the correct conclusion. She knew in her heart that magic was real but knew nothing about the people who practiced it. That girl would be perfect.

Albus was wary of giving her any specific characteristics for fear of falling into the same trap Daisy had unknowingly set. She needed to be a girl who was just right with whatever personality traits she had. A girl who was just herself. A girl who had no ulterior motives for liking him. That was the girl for him.

No Daisy Doe would do.

Albus pulled out his father's Invisibility Cloak and wrapped it around himself. He shuffled out of the Astronomy Tower and wondered down the hall vaguely towards the Gryffindor Common Room. He was tired. Not just physically but mentally as well. He just wished he could sleep until this whole mess blew over. Daisy wasn't about to let him go without a fight. She'd pretty much told him so. She wanted to make her parents happy and really didn't care much if she made Albus and herself unhappy in the process.

She told him to his face that she was determined to learn to love him. She would be where ever he was, she would write to him everyday during the summer, she would act as though he hadn't broken up with her. All to please her parents. So basically she would be throwing salt on his still throbbing wounds because he refused to give her what her parents wanted for her.

And Albus in an attempt to save face would have to tell his entire family what she planned to do so that they might intercept her before she made this situation a million times more humiliating then it already was. There was no way Albus was going to let little Daisy Doe bully him into a relationship he had been and always would be miserable in. He wouldn't settle for what her parents wanted. That just wasn't good enough. He deserved better. He deserved so much better then Daisy Doe.

Albus cleared his throat until the Fat Lady woke up enough to let him into the Common Room. He flopped down on a couch before the dying fire while tucking the Invisibility Cloak into his winkled school robes. His day had been miserable and tomorrow wasn't looking much better. He'd been hoping that one of his relatives would still be awake so that he could tell them about Daisy's plan. That relative would tell another relative, who would tell another and so on and so forth until they all knew. But he was alone in the Common Room alone with the fact that he'd have to relive his humiliation with his family tomorrow.

Albus closed his eyes and cursed Daisy to the deepest pits of hell. It was still a hundred times better then anything she deserved. It was warm in hell and she was cold. So cold that she deserved to freeze.

Albus didn't realize that he'd nodded off until he felt a gentle hand on his arm, shaking him awake. He blinked open his eyes and was met with a slightly blurred version of his sister. Lily helped him find his glasses by guiding his hand to his forehead, where they were hiding. Albus blinked and gave her a strained smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

"How'd it go?" she whispered. Albus closed his eyes and sighed. He really didn't want to talk about it, but he knew that if he told Lily the rest of the family would know by morning and all he'd have to deal with was pity.

"Shitty. She's decided that she's basically going to stalk me until I take her back," Albus mumbled.

"That bitch," Lily snapped. Albus grinned. There were moments when he really loved his family. This was one of those moments.

"Pretty much. She even told me she could, quote 'learn to love me.' Like love was something you could have for someone through sheer force of will."

"If that was true you'd like she'd try to will herself into a better person." Lily crossed her arms and huffed.

Albus shook his head and laughed silently and humorlessly. The best thing about his family was the fact that they'd always stand by his side. Even when he didn't deserve it. He'd made a huge mistake with Daisy, yet every one of his relatives was blaming her. None of them thought for a second about what fault lie on him. He was a smart guy, he wasn't blind, deaf or dumb. He should have seen what was right in front of him. Daisy didn't want him, but was for some reason still with him. Her reasons couldn't be good if she was so disgusted with him that she wouldn't even look him in the eyes.

He should have seen it. He should have known. There was no excuse good enough for why he hadn't.

"Could you tell… everyone?" he asked, absently. Lily would know what he meant.

"As good as done," she promised. "But they're all going to want to know how you are…"

"Just tell them I'm pissed." She nodded. He looked over at her. He could see in her eyes that she knew there was more to it then that. "I am pissed, Lily."

"And rightly so. But…"

"I really liked her, or thought I did. Seeing her for what she really is just makes me feel like a fool for ever falling for it. She had this planned from the first time she kissed my cheek. Our whole relationship was orchestrated by her and her parents."

"Exactly, Al. It wasn't your fault-"

"No, no it wasn't. But I'm supposed to be the smart Potter, the well behaved Potter, the Potter that notices things the other two Potters miss and I couldn't tell that my girlfriend was a conniving, backstabbing whore. I thought she was innocent and shy and sweet, but no. If I got it so wrong with her how can I ever trust myself to make the right choice down the line?"

"Stop it, Al," Lily snapped. "She didn't just fool you. We all thought she was sweet, innocent and shy. That's why we got so upset when we found out the truth. Not just because it would hurt you, but because she made a fool of everyone in this family who thought highly of her. We were all wrong. She played her part well and fooled us all. Don't blame yourself and try not to let this ruin the relationships you have in the future."

"I can try, Lily, but I don't know how much good it'll do."

"Trying is the best any of us can do."

Albus nodded. "Thanks, lil' sis."

"No problem, big bro."

---

Scorpius splashed some cold water onto his face and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. He looked up at himself in the mirror and tried to think past the thoughts buzzing through his brain. He was in the loo he shared with his dorm mates half naked, aroused and confused. Most teenage boys would have been able to get past the confusion to enjoy the arousal, but Scorpius wasn't like most teenage boys.

First and foremost he thought that wanking while anyone was within ear shot was just asking to be humiliated and uncomfortable. He'd accidentally walked in on his dorm mates too many times to count to even consider doing that sort of thing while his dorm mates were mere feet away from him. The arousal would have to wait or fade on its own, because he wasn't interested in doing anything about it himself.

The confusion resulted from the same place as the arousal. Scorpius' girlfriend Lily. She was the only person Scorpius had ever met that had the ability to make him both aroused and confused at the same time. The confusion was harder to understand then the arousal. Just thinking about Lily's lush curves and sweet lips could get Scorpius unbelievably hard. The confusion, well… confused Scorpius. But if he had had the presence of mind to really think about it he would have known that he was confused because he was in love.

Of course, Scorpius already had recognized this to a certain extent, but he wasn't quite ready to admit it even to himself. Not even in the confines of his own mind. He couldn't very well tell Lily how he felt when he wasn't entirely comfortable with it himself. Besides which he wasn't entirely certain how Lily would react to the news. She'd been so brutal about her honesty with him, lately. It was like she wanted him to know her inside and out. But when she looked at him sometimes… he could see in her eyes a sadness that defied explanation.

On the rare occasion that he actually asked her what was wrong, she always denied that anything was wrong, but Scorpius knew. He had a feeling, a bone deep feeling that something was wrong. That she was lying to him. The woman he l-l-liked, a lot was lying to him, for some reason that felt like it was his fault. He should know what was wrong if she was being so damn honest with him. It seemed that she was interested in being honest about everything but the one thing he really wanted to know.

It wasn't like he felt like he had any right to complain. He wasn't being entirely honest about his feelings or the fact that he still wrote his mother everyday. Or even the fact that he'd been all but exiled from his own House. None of his Housemates talked to him, or looked at him and most of them seemed to believe that he was infringing on their territory whenever he went to bed. His dorm mates didn't seem to mind his presence either way. It was upsetting because he used to consider them friends. It was upsetting for a number of reasons, first and foremost being the fact that his exile was most certainly orchestrated by his father.

His mother didn't say as much in her letters due in part to the fact that she felt torn between her love for her son and her loyalty to her husband. Scorpius thought it was an easy decision, but couldn't find it in his heart to be mad at his mother for her indecision. It was an impossible situation any way you looked at it. He would love his mother no matter what she did so long as she stayed in his life. He didn't want to loose her over something so stupid as whom he was dating.

Honestly, the hatred between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy should remain between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy and not be expected to carry on to their children. The Potter seemed to believe this way and had done something amazing by opening their home to him. His father would never have done something so generous for any of the Potter or Weasley children. But then the Potters would never abandon their children. To them there was never a good enough reason to do something so heartless.

Scorpius flopped onto the closed toilet seat and sighed. Something was going on with the Potters and the Weasley but he had no clue what. Not that he really expected to be told. He might live at the Potter house, eat at their table and learn from their patriarch, but he wasn't a Potter or a Weasley. And whatever was going on was clearly a family matter. He wasn't family, he wasn't to be told. It was harsh reality and one of the reasons that he held onto his mother so fiercely. She was the only family he had left. He never got on with his pure blood fanatical family, so his mother and father had been about it.

Aunt Andromeda was busy with her friends and Teddy and enjoying her old age that the few letters he got from her were cherished but rare. He couldn't and refused to expect a lot from her. She'd already given him more then he could hope for. She'd been one of the few to break away from the family's pure blood mania. Her and her cousin Sirius Black, who Scorpius regretted having never met almost every day. From the stories he heard from Harry, Ron and Hermione he was strong and brave and he made his family after the one he was born with failed him. Andromeda had done the same.

It was a plan he had for himself. He would have loved to have talked to both of them about how they'd gone about doing it. He wanted to build a family, but it seemed that he lacked the materials necessary to do so successfully.

There was tapping at the loo's window. Scorpius opened the window and took the letter the owl who had been tapping. It flew away before he could give it anything for its troubles. The letter had Lily's messy scroll on the front. She'd written his name in her swirly hand writing and had even dotted the i with a heart. He'd noticed that she only did that when she wrote his name, like she loved writing his name so much she had show it somehow. It always warmed him when he saw that sloppy little heart and it didn't fail to do so now.

Scorpius unfolded the letter and read.

Hey Hotstuff,

Here's what's been going on. Daisy Doe, the bitch from hell, was two timing Albus with some tosser named Martin. And if you'll believe it that's not even the worst part! Apparently her parents had emotionally blackmailed her into dating him in the first place. They wanted their daughter to marry a Potter. How ridiculous is that!? They knew that it was very likely that the two of them would end up broken up. I mean, shit most teen relationship don't last, but no they had to insist that she marry a Potter. Even if they hated each other, even if they disgusted each other, they had to get married.

Anyway Albus broke it off with her and she's decided that making her parents happy is more important then Albus' happiness, so she's going to basically stalk him until he changes his mind about them being together. He's pissed and he feels foolish (keep that last part to yourself, Al asked that I only tell the family that he's mad) and he just wants this whole mess to be over with. We're going to have to run interference for him. I know that none of us want Albus to have to deal with any more humiliation and heart ache then he's already dealing with, so if you could stick to him like a barnacle whenever you can and always try to edge Daisy out of situations that would be a great help.

See you tomorrow, miss you lots.

Kisses,

Lily

By the time Scorpius finished the letter he was just about choking. Not over the horrible situation Albus was in, though it was horrible and Scorpius would do everything in his power to make it easier on him, but over the way Lily seemed to be referring to him as part of her family. All the 'we's and 'us's seemed to indicate that she was including him in the family. The fact that she was even telling him what was going and including him in what the family would be doing to help Albus was very telling.

Scorpius shook his head.

Hadn't he just been musing over the fact that he lacked the materials to build his own family? And what had happened but Lily just gave him that family. Gave it to him like it was something he'd always had, but never realized. Like he put up a curtain to hide the truth from himself and all she had to do was pull that curtain aside and force him to look at what had been right in front of him for months.

He wasn't the Potters' house guest. He wasn't their ward. He wasn't some kid who lived over their garage. He was a part of their family like Kira was. He was an extension of their family. And they, unlike the family he used to have, didn't mind extending themselves for him. They thought he was worth the effort and that was a damn good feeling.

He honestly couldn't blame Daisy's parents for wanting her daughter to be a part of something so wonderful, but he had a feeling that they had no idea about the real kindness of the Potter/ Weasley clan. They were probably more focused on the fame, which in comparison to the kindness was absolutely ridiculous.