A/N: I love you guys! In a time when everyone (myself begrudgingly included) is reading stupid Twilight fanfictions you guys are reading the original… Harry Potter fanfiction! The best fanfiction (I'm only slightly bias). Thanks please read and enjoy and if you do enjoy please review! Thanks a bunch!

Disclaimer: I wish these people were real. I wish I was a witch. I wish I was rich enough to buy this franchise off of J.K. Rowling. But unfortunately none of those things are true, so… I own nothing. Well I own a bed and T.V. and few pots and pans, that's gotta count for something right?

Chapter Twenty One

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

James sat in his father's office, grimacing at every other word coming out of his father's mouth. As far as he was concerned they'd had this discussion when he was eight. James Sirius Potter had learned everything he needed to about girls and boys then. Attending school a few years later filled in the gaps. Honestly the only time James ever asked his father about sex was when he was too young to realize that was what he was asking about.

James was fairly certain that Al and his Dad had a more open relationship when it came to issues of a… personal nature. Al would just go up and ask Dad, and Dad would just tell him. No big deal.

But for whatever reason ever since that incredibly awkward conversation when he was eight, James had just never been able to open up about sex with his father. It just reminded him of his father pacing and calling a vagina a bugger. And now here he was again, sitting in his father's office, watching him pace and hearing him call a vagina, a vagina. It was somehow more embarrassing. James wasn't quite sure how his father managed it. Calling a vagina a bugger was humiliating, but hearing his father call a vagina, a vagina was just humiliating him.

What was worse was that his father had yet to get to the point. He was just going on and on about… anatomy. Anatomy James was intimately familiar with. But his father didn't know that. And hopefully by the end of this conversation he still wouldn't know that. That was James' goal, leave this room without his father knowing that he and Kira had… had sex? That didn't sound right, it didn't sound like enough. It sounded like they did what they did just to do it. Which was not true in the least.

So… they had shagged.

No, that sounded like they did what they did because they were both horny. That might be true on his part, but he knew that it was more than that. So much more.

They made love…

He'd said as much before, but now it felt cumbersome in his mental mouth. Like it was too much, like it meant more…

He loved her, yes. But they were seventeen. Making love seemed like something old people do, old married people who want to have kids.

James knew for a fact that neither of them wanted to do that just yet. They would be all married and old before they had any kids. James shivered at the thought of a few carbon copies of himself running around. He might not admit it out loud but he was well aware of how much of a handful he'd been throughout his life. His earliest memory was of accidentally Apparating to the Burrow when he was three because he wanted to visit his Granddad. The very thought of dealing with someone anything like him was truly terrifying.

So what had they been doing every night for the past few weeks?

They were to return to Hogwarts tomorrow for his last few months at the school. James had been in his room packing (and looking for any bits of Kira's clothing that might have migrated under his bed or wardrobe) when his father came in and asked him for a chat in his office. James knew it was serious then, Dad never invited his children into his office unless they were in trouble or the parentals wanted to have a serious discussion. James was actually hoping that he was in trouble. Being in trouble would mean that he just had to apologize or sit in his room for a week or so.

But this… listening to his Dad, his stoic father talking about vaginas… that was just torture.

"James," Harry snapped. James' head popped up. He hadn't even noticed when he began staring at his feet instead of watching his father and pretending to listen to what he had to say. "Are you listening?"

"Course, Dad," James said, hoping it sounded convincing. He didn't want to garner any suspicion that might get his Dad to start talking about his relationship with Kira. He wouldn't be able to lie if his father asked him outright if he'd been sleeping with- having sex with- making love to- whatevering Kira!

Harry sighed and crossed his arms. James cursed under his breath, he hadn't convinced his Dad of a thing.

"I'm not an idiot. I've made a living watching people and I've spent your whole life watching you. The second you brought Kira home I began watching her. I'd be remiss if I didn't notice the change in the two of you. Besides, your mother has been pestering me since the two of you began dating to talk to you about respecting Kira. Especially since you didn't respect her enough to come up with a more convincing lie about your first kiss… James, are you going to have sex with Kira Fitzsimmons?"

James felt his stomach drop, metaphorically, to his feet. This was it, he couldn't lie. His father would know and give him that look. That disappointed look that would have James spilling his guts in a second. There was no way out of it. By the time James escaped this room his father would know that he had been… doing stuff (really fun stuff) to his girlfriend.

"So, you are then," Harry sighed.

James made a chocking sound in the back of his throat.

"Sex isn't a game, son."

James gagged.

"You have to be responsible," Harry advised

"Blah… Nehhh…" James responded.

"I'm sure one or both of you have come across contraceptive charms in your school careers."

James felt like he might pass out.

"Just know that if you don't cast them correctly or if you're in too much of a hurry the spell won't take."

A sob broke from James' lips.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Really, son. This is that painful?"

"Mahhh…"

"Ever the articulate boy."

"Hey! I'm seventeen, I'm an adult!" James said, his ability to speak suddenly returning. As long as his father didn't start talking about sex again…

"Then you best start acting like it."

James clammed up.

"Your mother and I only want what's best for all you kids. And I think you'd agree that making me a grandfather so soon after you've graduated isn't what you want anymore then it is what's best for you and Kira." James gulped and nodded. "Just… promise me you'll be careful-"

"I w-"

"-and that if you have any questions or concerns you'll come to me… Or better yet write me a letter after you've had time to construct an articulate thought," Harry said.

"Okay, Dad," James said. Harry nodded and James swallowed. "Can I go now?"

"Sure."

James sped out of his father's office as fast as his legs could take him. His face was beet red and he was relishing the thought of hiding under his bed for the next few years, when he ran straight into Kira. Ever the cool and collected sort, Kira took to the new status of her relationship with James with remarkable ease. While James couldn't think of a word or phrase that accurately categorized what the two of them had been doing all Winter Break, Kira had the wherewithal not to care. It was one of the things he absolutely loved about her.

"Heya, Hot stuff," Kira grabbed the front of James' shirt and pulled him closer. "Where're you going in such a hurry?" she whispered in his ear.

"Bah, neehhh, shhhppp…" James said, remembering what he and his father had just been talking about. James began to fear that he would forever associate having… relations with Kira with his father. Which was about as un-arousing as things got in James' world.

"At this point you usually whisper sweet nothings in my ear and let me tell you, you could work on your sweet nothings." Kira pulled away and looked up at James, who was looking at a spot on the ceiling. "Okay, what's wrong with you?" she demanded.

"Wrong?" James squeaked. "Why would you think anything was wrong?"

"If you're going to lie, James Sirius Potter, lie to someone who doesn't know you as well. Now tell me what's wrong," Kira said.

"I-just-spent-the-last-half-hour-talking-to-my-dad-about-sex," James said in one breath.

Kira snorted. She was fluent in Jamesian (the language of the inarticulate James Sirius Potter). "You've talked to your Dad about sex before."

"Shh!" James covered her mouth with his hand and looked around to make sure no one had heard, before dragging her into his bedroom.

"Now this is more like it," Kira moaned, throwing her arms around James' neck and kissing him heatedly.

"Bah!" James yelled detangling himself from his girlfriend.

"Oh, come on, James!" Kira screeched, frustrated.

"You-you-you n-need to learn about respect, young lady!" he yelled, pointing at her. Kira stared at him for a moment before snorting and breaking down laughing. "This is not funny!"

"You're right. This is hilarious."

"You have no idea what it's like, Kira-"

"You're right, James. I don't know it's like to have my parents love me enough to sit me down and talk to me about something vastly important. I haven't a clue what that's like," she snapped.

"Kiki," James whispered, using the nickname he gave her their first year. He hadn't used it in years, not since he realized he fancied her. It just seemed too immature and she had always hated it, so when he figured out they were meant to be together he'd stopped using it.

"Shut up, Potter." Kira stomped out of the room and slammed the door in his face. James proceeded to smash his head against it repeatedly.

"I don't understand it, Mum!" Lily wailed. "It felt like we were so close, like it was only a matter of time and it would happen. We would both be ready and it would just happen!" Lily threw her arms around her mother shoulders and continued sobbing in earnest.

The pair were in Lily's room curled up on her bed. The conversation had started not unlike Harry and James', but had quickly and efficiently progressed into a discussion about how intimate Lily and Scorpius had been up to that point. Ginny made the mistake of point blank asking her daughter what stage her physical relationship with the boy was at and Lily broke out into uncontrollable sobbing.

Lily then began to wail about how Scorpius had put the brakes on their physical relationship and how she was sure it was because of what he'd said at Christmas. About being the disowned son of a Death Eater and how the Potters and Weasleys would never accept him the way they'd accepted Kira. She was sure that it was because he felt the separation from the rest of the family. The Weasleys and the Potters were a remarkably close knit family and they were all Gryffindors to his Slytherin.

The differences were vast. Plus there was the fact that his father and her father were mortal enemies. They had cursed and hexed each other, insulted and belittled each other for years on end. His grandfather nearly got her mother killed! It was no wonder really why Scorpius felt the separation so obtusely. Hating the Potters and Weasleys had been drilled into his head since he was a little boy.

But he, like Sirius Black and Andromeda Tonks, had broken free of the pureblood mania that usually consumed every member of his family. He'd gotten the facts and come to his own conclusion. Lily truly thought that that was enough to bridge the gap between them. He seemed committed to keeping that gap wide and deep. Lily didn't know what to do. Especially since he hadn't been acting differently towards anyone except her.

"So, sweetheart," Ginny said, trying to sooth her child. "You're not having sex?"

"No!" Lily wailed, falling back on her bed covering her face with her hands.

"I know it seems like the end of the world right now, but perhaps… putting the brakes on your physical relationship isn't such a bad thing."

"Not a bad thing?" Lily sobbed leaning up on her elbows to glare at her mother with tear filled eyes. "I've never felt closer to someone in my entire life and he'll barely snog me anymore! That is a big fucking deal, Mum!"

"Language, young lady," Ginny snapped out of reflex. She was James Sirius Potter's mother after all.

Lily let out a screech of frustration and fell back onto her bed.

"Oh, sweetie I'm sorry," Ginny cooed. "Do you have any idea why?"

Lily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "He doesn't think he's good enough for me. What with his grandfather almost killing you, his father trying on several occasions to kill Dad. It's scary when he talks about it. Like he thinks at any second he'll just turn into them and hurt me." Lily pulled her pillow over her head and sobbed into it.

"Perhaps we should take him to see Andromeda," Ginny suggested. "It might help him figure out some things out, hmmm?"

"But when Mum? We're leaving for school tomorrow and I feel like he's only staying with me because he thinks he'll get kicked out of this house if he drops me!"

"He adores you, Lily!" Ginny insisted. "I'll have your father invite Andromeda over for dinner tonight. He can tell her that Scorpius wants to talk to her about leaving the family. She was close to Sirius. He went through the exact same thing! I'm sure that will take care of it darling."

Lily pulled her pillow over her head and tried to hold back her tears until she heard her mother leave the room. She wasn't anywhere near convinced that talking to Andromeda would help Scorpius see how wrong he was. He wrote to her, what difference would talking to her make? He'd all but made up his mind already.

For some reason he saw Lily's entire family through a… filter or something. A filter that made them seem perfect though he'd bore witness to a plethora of events that proved otherwise. Hell being friends with James should have done the trick. Ever argument they'd ever had should have shoved her imperfection in his face… but all he saw was a group of people who'd stood on the side of right where as his family aligned themselves with hypocrites and murders. And just because of his damn name that was all he thought of himself.

The son of lying, hypocritical murderers.

And all Lily saw was the beautiful young man who'd made up his own mind about the world he lived in. Who had taken the time to find out the truth, not just believe what he was told. Why couldn't he see that he was too good for her?

Lily threw her pillow across the room and rubbed her hands over her eyes, hoping to lessen the look of abject misery she was sure coated her features. She had to finish packing and if Aunt Andromeda was coming over she wanted to look good. For Scorpius. Aunt Andromeda was the only family he had left and Lily wanted to look good so that he would be proud to call her his girlfriend.

The door was open a crack, but Lily paid it no mind. She rushed around her room throwing her school stuff in her trunk as fast as she could. Dinner wasn't for another few hours, but she needed to shower and pick out the perfect outfit and that could easily take a few hours to accomplish. Rooting around under bed for the inevitable trainer that got kicked under there, Lily found one of Scorpius' jumpers.

It was green with a thin line of silver around the collar and cuffs. His mother had given it to him years ago and in a fit of heated snogging Lily had pulled it off of him thrown it across the room. How it had ended up under her bed she'd never know…

Lily crawled out from under the bed and unable to help herself she brought the jumper to her face. She buried her nose in the fabric hoping to catch a whiff of his scent. But there was nothing. Not a trace of him left in the tight weave. It just smelled musty. Nothing like the warm earthy scent that encapsulated him.

Lily's eyes filled with tears again. She didn't know why but the thought of his scent leaving his cloths made her think of him leaving her. She hugged the jumper to her chest and cried her eyes out into it, unable to hear the thumping coming from the hall outside her room.

Scorpius had been watching her for the past few minutes. She'd seemed all right, running like a loon around her room, packing. But just as he'd begun to enjoy watching her bum as she wiggled around under her bed, she'd come up with his jumper. She'd smelled it and then for some inexplicable reason began to cry her eyes out.

Scorpius leaned back outside her room and hit his head repeatedly against the wall behind him. He knew in his heart of hearts that she was crying because of him.