A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I've gotten a few messages about other stories and I want to take this time to apologize. I know how much Lily and James rock and I absolutely love how enthusiastically people have responded to my original ideas with the pair. I don't know when or if I'll be updating those stories. I know what I want to happen in those stories, but I don't just want to write crap for the sake of putting up a chapter. So be patient (I know you already have!) I may just update.

Chapter Twenty

The Truth Hurts

Albus cringed away from his Uncle George. He hoped that his uncle hadn't noticed. He didn't want to make his uncle feel bad but he'd been on the receiving end of so many "reassuring touches" that he was honestly five seconds away from going stock raving mad. He just wanted to forget about all the crap he'd been through but every few minutes he'd get a tight smile or a sympathetic look and the humiliation would flush through his system once more. Humiliation and morbid curiosity. Albus had no idea what his aunts and uncles had been told about his situation.

When the news about Hugo broke apparently all the aunts and uncles sat down with their children and had a talk about honesty and feeling comfortable talking to their parents about anything. And the flood gates opened. One of his cousins, Albus had yet to find out which, had spoken up about his situation. That got the cousin's siblings talking which got the aunts and uncles talking. Probably within hours the whole family knew what had happened to him.

Albus supposed he was lucky that no one had sent him a sympathy card. He doubted he would have survived the embarrassment.

As Albus looked around the Burrow the usual sense of peace he got from this place was noticeably absent. He was surrounded by love and not the family love that was common during Christmas time. This was romantic love and it made him want to yack. James and Kira, who couldn't keep their hands off each other on the best of days, had been attached at the lips as of late. Lily was wrapped around Scorpius upstairs somewhere. And Victoire was sitting on Teddy's lap smiling contentedly while her husband rubbed her flat belly.

(Uncle Bill was glaring at the obliviously happy couple, apparently he wasn't ready to be a granddad but in nine months time he wouldn't have much of a choice).

The only member of the family that could really understand how he felt was Hugo, but that didn't make Albus feel any better. They were both miserable. Albus had been humiliated by his ex-girlfriend and Hugo was going to have to break up with his Muggle girlfriend. Albus had overheard Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione talking about it a few days ago in his Dad's home office. It seemed that Hugo refused to talk about how much Ruby (Hugo's girlfriend) knew about him, his school and his family and he refused to break up with her.

It all put Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron in a tight spot because of their positions in the Ministry. If word got out that their son was dating a Muggle, the higher ups would insist on knowing exactly what she knew about the Wizarding community. They preferred to hear it from their son (who had merely told everyone that Ruby didn't know anything about the Wizarding world, but refused to elaborate). But if Hugo continued to refuse they would have to talk to Ruby herself and they had every right to use a truth telling serum to get what they needed to know.

If Hugo didn't tell them what was really going on they would go to her. They would use the truth telling serum and who knew what they'd find out. As far as Albus was concerned he knew that knowledge was the only weapon at Hugo's disposal at the moment. Clearly Ruby knew something more then she should have or Hugo wouldn't care about telling his parents everything she knew. Albus knew it was wrong, but ever since the whole Daisy debacle he decided that love however immature or gross was worth protecting. Hugo was protecting Ruby, so Albus thought it was only fair that he help his cousin as his cousin had helped him. He still owed every last one of them for keeping Daisy and Martin away from him. Warning Hugo that he'd have to come up with a plausible thing to say to his parents was the least that he could do.

Albus sighed, shook his head and as subtly as possible moved away from Uncle George, who was going on about how to properly lament a lost love.

He sat down next Hugo and shuffled around in his pocket for a piece of parchment. He didn't want anyone overhearing what he had to say to his cousin. Writing it down wasn't all that intelligent, but Albus was lost to come up with a better plan. He needed to warn Hugo and just saying it was out of the question. He'd have to destroy the paper afterwards.

After recovering the parchment and a charmed quill that never needed to be inked, he scribbled a note.

Your mum and dad and my dad are thinking about forcing your girlfriend to tell the truth about what she knows. I overheard them talking about it in my dad's office.

Albus thrust the parchment into Hugo's hand and watched the agony flash through his eyes as he read. If Ruby knew more then she was supposed to, which it appeared that she did, then Dad and Uncle Ron would have no choice but to modify her memory, by wiping away any memory she had of Hugo and the Weasleys. Albus imagined that that would be far worse then what he'd gone through with Daisy.

Hugo snatched the quill out of Albus' hand and wrote back.

Thanks.

"No problem, mate." Albus crumbled up the parchment and threw it in the hearth. It crinkled in the fire, before turning to ash.

Albus jumped as he felt a hand settle on his shoulder. He looked up at Teddy, who had miraculously pulled himself away from Victoire. Teddy had that 'Let's have chat, old buddy,' look on his face and Albus suppressed a groan. Talking about his utter humiliation wasn't going to make it better. In fact every time he had to tell someone that he was fine, he died a little inside. If they would just leave him alone, he'd be able to lick his wounds in peace and then maybe he'd actually be fine.

"Let's have a chat, mate," Teddy said. Albus sighed and let Teddy direct him outside. "How you doing?"

"I'm fine," Albus said. I'D BE FINE IF YOU BASTARDS WOULD JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! his mind screamed at Teddy.

"Harry told me all about what happened, mate," Teddy said. "That's not just something that goes away."

"I know that."

"Then do you also know that it'll only get better if you talk about how you actually feel?"

Don't patronize me, you prick. "Of course."

"Then talk to me, Albus. Tell me what you're actually feeling."

"I don't want to talk about anything, Teddy," Albus growled. Why did everyone want him to talk? He just wanted to forget. "I'm fine. I promise."

"You're bottling up all your emotions and eventually you won't be able to do that anymore. It'll explode out of you and you'll feel even more foolish for it," Teddy pressed.

"You want me to talk?" Albus had had enough. They wanted him to talk. Fine. He'd talk. But they wouldn't like what he had to say. "All right. I'll talk. This family is filled to the brim with hypocrites." Teddy's eyes widened. "Every last one of them supported me when Daisy screwed me over, but now that Hugo needs that support the family has all but decided to drug his poor Muggle girlfriend. Like she's somehow to less then us! Like all she's good for is the bloody truth locked in her mind! Like we have some right to break into her thoughts and steal them. Daisy was a bitch. A dirty, rotten bitch. She deserves that kind of treatment, but we don't even know this Muggle girl. We don't know her but we all expect Hugo to leave her. Leave her for someone "more suited" for him. Because of that they're hypocrites. No better then Daisy."

"Al-"

"No, Teddy. You know I'm right. Daisy judged me by something I couldn't help. My name. The Malfoy's judged Lily by the same thing. The family thinks they are so far above them, but they're not. The family is judging Hugo's girlfriend by something she can't help. Her blood. Our parents fought a war so that people wouldn't be judged so unjustly, but as soon as it's time and it's important they do that same thing. Who cares what she knows?"

"You should," Teddy cut in. "What happens if she tells someone?"

"Don't be stupid, Teddy," Albus snapped. "If she tells someone they'll think she's crazy. She'll be locked up for the rest of her life. I don't think she's that stupid. One Muggle isn't a risk. It's a group that we should worry about. An individual is reasonable. A group is stupid and panicky. This is one Muggle. One girl. Who clearly cares enough about Hugo to deal with the fact that she only sees him for a few weeks a year. That's enough. That's more than I ever got from Daisy."

Scorpius had never seen Harry Potter look more torn.

He and Lily had been holed up in her mum's old room for the past half hour until Kira burst in saying something about Albus flipping a shit. The whole family, all who knows how many of them, stuffed into the kitchen, leaning over each other to see out windows and the back door, listened in as Albus called every last one of them hypocrites. Scorpius had never seen the Weasley/Potter clan so quiet. Every last one of them was reflecting on the very valid point that Albus had brought up.

Once he was done, Albus wondered off into the backyard. Scorpius couldn't blame him. No one had had the sense to just leave him alone about the whole Daisy debacle, if the kid wanted some space it was certainly something he'd earned. Teddy opened the door, but didn't enter the kitchen because he couldn't. The kitchen was stuffed with people eager to hear what Harry would do about what Albus brought up.

"Ron," Harry asked. "Is there any documentation of this situation?"

"No," Ron admitted. "We wanted to make sure her knowledge was an issue first."

"We're going to let it go," Harry said.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"We're not going to let it go because he's your son and my nephew. We're not going to let it go because Albus is right, even though he is. We're going to let it go because Hugo assured us he hasn't told her anything. There is no proof that any law has been broken and without proof I'm not going to be responsible for the media nightmare following me drugging my nephew's girlfriend," Harry explained.

Hermione sighed, but nodded. She looked through the throngs of family to her son. Hugo stared at his parents and Uncle wide eyed. "You didn't tell her anything, right Hugo?"

"I know the rules, Mum," Hugo said. "I mean they're there for a reason."

"Good."

Scorpius glanced around, wondering if he was the only one who noticed that Hugo hadn't really answered his mum's question. Lily squirmed in his arms. He brought his forehead down to her shoulder so she could whisper in his ear.

"Did you notice that?" she asked.

"Yup."

"This could be bad if our parents find out he did tell her something," she said.

"Why?" Lily looked at him sharply. "Albus made a good point. She's one Muggle. Is anyone going to believe her if she does tell?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione are trusting him with a lot. If it turns out he did tell Ruby something and they find out it could ruin that trust. They won't trust him with anything, you know?"

"So, what do we do?" he asked.

"I don't know that there's anything we can do," Lily said. "There's no proof."

"Well, we could ask him," Scorpius suggested.

Lily snorted delicately and Scorpius kissed her neck. "How would we go about that? Just walk up to him and say, 'Oh hey, Hugo. Did you by any chance break the most important rule of the Wizarding world?'"

"I thought we might be a little more discrete…"

"How?"

"I dunno. Maybe… Offer him help keeping it quiet. We don't have to pester him for information. Honestly I'd rather not find out for sure that he broke the rules."

Lily glanced over her shoulder at him. "Why not? I'd love to know what Hugo told Ruby."

"And have to deal with being ridden with guilt every time your parents are around?"

Lily turned around in his embrace, snuggled deeper into his arms and pressed her lips against his throat. She felt him shiver, tried and failed to suppress her grin. They were at the back of the crowd, well hidden from disapproving eyes.

"It never fails to surprise me, Scorp," she whispered, making sure no one heard her nickname for him. A nickname only she was allowed to use.

He nuzzled the hair on top of her head and sighed, contented. "What?" he breathed.

"The way you regard my parents," she said. "Honestly, I reckon you're a parents dream come true."

Scorpius barked out a laugh, earning him a few confused looks from the Weasley's around him.

"Don't laugh! It's true," Lily insisted, pulling away from him. Her clenched fists rest on her hips, her whole body daring him to contradict her. Scorpius liked her in all her mood, his favorite being when she was in the mood for a heated snog, but he quite liked it when she got all feisty.

"Lily-love, I'm a parent's worst nightmare," he asserted.

Lily glanced over her shoulder and noticed the look on Dominique's face. Apparently she had been listening in and agreed with Scorpius. Lily gave her a dirty look, before catching Scorpius' arm and dragging him out the front door. It was freezing outside, but she was angry enough to deal with it.

"You are a wonderful, good, loyal, hon-"

"I'm the disowned son of a Death Eater, Lily," Scorpius snapped. "It's all I'll ever be. No matter what you think of me, no matter the goodness your family shows me, I'll always be that. I'll always be the son of a Death Eater. This is… brilliant, being here with your family surrounded by love. But… I'm not like Kira. They're never gonna look at me like I belong…"

"I look at you like that," Lily said in a small desperate voice.

Scorpius looked into her large brown eyes, filled with unshed tears and fear. His heart twisted painfully in his chest and he pulled her into his arms. She was his impossible dream. Being good enough to be with her, being with her, being worthy when he finally had her. It all seemed so impossible, how could he ever be good enough for her?

But he had her now. That would have to be enough. It was all he was going to get.