AN: Hey everyone. So. It's been over a year since the last update but here it is. Honestly, none of the excuses I have are valid, so I'm just going to say I'm sorry and I hope you like this chapter. Thank you Fionamoi, Bubbling Chaos, isamartinez28, and Witty Eagle Proud Ravenclaw for reviewing the last chapter, it really helped when trying to write this one. And to the guest user that reviewed, thank you so so much, you made me actually finish this so thank you. Hope you like it and please review! xxx.

Chapter 13: meet the parents.

Liv's hand was clutching mine tightly, and I tried to soothe her by drawing circles on the back of it with my thumb. The fingers of her other hand kept tapping the table nervously, making a really unpleasant noise.

"So" she finally said, looking up at Louis "that's decided then. I keep the baby."

"We keep the baby" he corrected quickly, and I couldn't help but admire how good he was being about this, at least from what I could see.

"As for living arrangements and stuff" he continued "I would love it if my baby was raised in a house with both his parents in it, honestly."

"Yeah," Liv nodded "of course that would be ideal but um" she hesitated briefly "would the two of us be comfortable living together and stuff? Would we be able to manage?"

"I don't know" Louis answered honestly "which is why I think we should maybe try living together this summer? That way I would be around for the pregnancy too, which I really want, and it'd be an easy way to test the waters, and see how good we would be at living together"

Whoa whoa wait. What? Live together?

I should probably backtrack here and explain what was going on.

Basically, we were having a lets-talk-about-the-future meeting (fun, right?), which consisted of Liv and Louis deciding what was going to happen, and James, Frodo and I being there to give advice and share our wisdom.

I hadn't actually had time to share any of my (extensive) wisdom yet, as I'd been too busy avoiding James' stare. But my mere presence was helpful and reassuring; Liv obviously needed my hand, and my hand alone, to squeeze to death.

But now, with the interesting development of Louis suggesting they live together, I was automatically involved.

Frodo had jumped up and was berating Louis because apparently the three of them had been planning on living together after school, so I took advantage of the boys' distraction to turn to Liv, who was biting her lip, obviously a bit overwhelmed by this whole life thing.

"Hey" I whispered, as I put a loose strand of hair behind her ear "this is going good, yeah?"

"Yeah." she smiled, hesitant "It is. What do you think about the living together idea? Should we do it?"

I thought about it for a few minutes, looking down at our still interlocked hands.

"Yes" I finally answered, "I think it's a great idea, and it would probably be very helpful. Plus, Louis did say that his family offered to help, so hopefully they'll buy you a big mansion, with how rich they are."

That made her smile lightly. "That would be nice. Yeah. You know what? I'm going to say yes."

"Goody" I smiled again "There is a teeny tiny problem with that though." I looked back at the boys, who had settled down and were staring at us. I turned my head again to look at Liv, whose eyes had widened when she had realized what I had been referring to.

"Shit" was all that came out of her mouth.

"Yeah" I cringed "shit is right"

"I'll say no to Luis" she burst (we were both politely ignoring the fact that Louis could hear us from where he was) "I'll live with you until the baby's born"

"No, you won't" I said, with a tone of finality "We just said that you would go live with Louis. And I'll be perfectly happy getting a flat for myself. But I need money to do that. Money that I don't have." I was thinking out loud by then "So I'll get a summer job, stay in Bitchland (my name for the Mafoy Manor) until I've made enough money and then move out. No problem"

"No" Liv interrupted, just as firmly as me "You can't stay with her. I won't let you"

"It's just for a little while, until I have the money"

"No, Beckah" she replied sternly "Is there no other option?"

"Well" I smiled sarcastically "There just aren't many people out there who would want to let me live with them for free."

"What about Naomi? Where's she going after graduation?"

"Staying with her parents" I answered immediately.

"Scorp?"

"Not of age yet."

"Damn."

"Um" butted in Frodo "I'm sorry for listening in but why don't you just stay with us?" he asked, pointing at James and himself. "Now that Lou isn't going to live with us you could join our original plan."

"Yeah" I smiled even more sarcastically "that's a wonderful idea! Let me just start packing my bags already. I mean, I don't even know your name" I motioned to him "and I'm not speaking or looking at James because I said he was a spoilt, fake brat and he said I was a fat bitch. But yeah," I finished "I should live with you two."

"Rebeckah" Liv had her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Sorry" I mumbled, deflating. I ran my hand over my face, as if trying to wipe away my headache, and threaded my fingers in my hair, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

"The important part" I said, once I had mostly calmed down "is that you two are going to rent an apartment, I assume?" they both nodded "Good." I looked up at the abandoned classroom's clock. It read 8:55 pm— almost curfew. "Tomorrow morning you two are going to see Madam O'Mal, tell her you're keeping the baby. Liv, tell her you're running out of vitamins too, and do whatever she says. Anything else?"

"I don't think so"

"Excellent" I started to get up "then we should run along, or we're going to be late" I said to Liv.

"Right" she said, getting up as well and straightening her skirt. "Let's go"

"Wait" Louis shot up from his chair "where are you going?"

"To see my parents. I uh" she looked down at her shoes "have to tell them" she rubbed her not-yet-existing belly as she spoke, and I squeezed her hand.

"I can come with you if you want" he offered, and Liv looked at me, knowing I had my own stuff to do. I shrugged, letting her know that he could come if she wanted him to.

"You don't have to" she said, "Beckah's coming anyway"

"Am I allowed to insist?" He pleaded, looking cute, and Liv smiled a bit.

"Fine"

"So how are we sneaking out?" Frodo asked, and all three of us turned to look at him (James was staring at the wall behind us, looking distracted).

"We?"

"Well, yeah." Frodo stated, as if it were something obvious "We're coming too. Right, Third Prongs?"

James awoke from his reverie "Quit calling me that, you twat" he snapped at Frodo "But yeah, of course."

Liv didn't seem bothered by this, so I decided that I didn't have a say. "We're going to Hogsmeade, and apparating from there" Liv and I started walking towards the door. "I assume you know about the passage that goes to the Honeydukes cellar?" The three of them nodded "well we'll see you under the statue. Don't get caught."

Louis opened his mouth, as if to say something, but we had already made ourselves invisible and left the class, so we didn't hear him. We walked silently, as we'd done during many nights of sneaking out, hands still clasped together, and walking at the same pace, barely making a sound.

When we got to the passage under the one-eyed statue, I was slightly impressed to see that the boys were already there, but I acted unsurprised and assumed they just knew a secret passage we didn't (I also made a mental note to find out, of course).

As we walked towards Hogsmeade, Louis asked Liv about her parents: how she expected them to react and other such issues. Her answers were brief and tense, so he soon got the hint that she really didn't want to talk about it and we traveled the rest of the way in silence. Awkward, you ask? Correct. Very very awkward.

We finally got to the Honeydukes cellar and snuck outside, until we were breathing the fresh air of the outskirts of Hogsmeade. No one had said a word for a while, not even Frodo, so when Liv and I stopped everyone just sort of stood there for a bit.

"Right" I finally said. "Since you three don't know where we're going, we'll do side-along, yeah? Who's going with who?"

Louis moved to give Liv a side hug, as she was still looking unusually small and pale.

Potter stepped beside me and touched my arm, making my head whip to the side and completely distracting me from my Liv-and-Louis watching.

I hesitantly looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time since the fight, and seeing them uncharacteristically concerned (and sad?). Before I could explore any further, Frodo skipped towards us (yes, skipped), and casually bumped my shoulder with his.

"So you really don't know my name?"

"I uh" I tried to think of an answer, "call you Frodo in my head?" he laughed and I fidgeted uncomfortably, James' stare drilling a hole on my head.

"Well my actual name is Fred, but Frodo is quite the nickname. I think I'll let you keep it."

"I don't really need your permission, do I?" I smiled brightly at him, not sure if I was honestly happy to have maybe made a new friend, or if I was making fun of him.

He laughed again though, so I assumed that he wasn't questioning my motives and raised my voice a bit, so that Liv could hear me. "Should we get going then?"

Her eyes widened but she nodded, offering her hand do Louis to take so I did the same, raising my arms so that the two boys could hold on.

Fred immediately clutched my arm while James, surprisingly (although I really had to stop being surprised by the things the boy did, honestly), chose to thread his fingers through mine, holding on tightly. Well, then.

I smiled at Liv before disapparating.

-o0o-

The lights in Liv's kitchen and living room were on, bathing the street corner we'd apparated to in a soft gold.

Frodo had let go of my arm as soon as we landed, and was looking around curiously. Liv and Louis weren't there yet, so I looked up at James, who was still holding my hand. Quite tightly, actually. When I saw the extreme paleness of his face, I started getting concerned.

"Hey," I said softly "are you okay?"

He nodded stiffly, closing his eyes.

"Are you sure?" I prodded "you look very very pale"

"'M fine." he mumbled "Just not very fond of apparating"

Frodo, who had returned from his exploring, snorted loudly. "That's a bit of an understatement, mate" and then, looking at me "He hates it. Makes him puke most times. One day, about a year ago-"

"Please stop talking" James interrupted, with a groan. "I really don't want a repeat of that day"

Frodo laughed, and I smiled faintly before giving James' hand a light squeeze. "Feeling better?" I asked, watching him carefully.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good" he let go of my hand abruptly, as if he was just remembering our situation "I'll be fine, I just need to breathe. Thanks"

"Right." I looked away, focusing on Liv's house. I could see Liv's mother's siluette in the kitchen.

I turned my head back when I heard Louis and Liv arriving, my eyes meeting Liv's wide, terrified ones.

She looked at the lit window, eyes flickering to the same silhouette I had been looking at. Her hands were shaking.

"Hey," I tried to mke her focus "it's okay." I took the few steps I needed to get to her, clutched her shoulders, made her look at me.

"We've been through this, yeah? It doesn't matter." she was breathing hard but nodding along, so I smiled feebly. "You've got this. You go in there, you tell them, you listen to whatever they have to say and you get out. You've made a choice and it's a good choice, and now it's their turn to make a choice. But whatever it is, it's theirs, and it has nothing to do with you, yeah?"

"Yeah" she sighed.

"Okay." I glanced at Louis, who was respectfully looking away. "Do you think he should go in there with you?"

"Yes" she was looking at the windows again "I want them to know that I'm not alone in this. And" she added as an afterthought "it's always nice to have a hand to hold"

I lowered my voice "If you want me to stay I can. I can go do my thing later tonight."

"No, no. Do it now."

"Okay, I'll wait until you go in."

"Yeah."

I hugged her shaking body tightly, kissing her temple when she pulled away and whispering a quiet "You've got this."

I watched her walk to Louis and take his hand, asking him if he would go with her. I watched them knock on the door and I watched her mother open it, a quiet "Olivia, what are you doing here?" being her only greeting. I sent her one last smile and then watched the door close.

Frodo immediately turned to frown at me "Why didn't you go in with her?"

"Her parents really don't love me. Also, I have to go do my own thing."

"What thing?"

"None of your business, Frodo." Now James was also frowning at me.

"You two stay here, and keep yourselves entertained."

And with that, I apparated away.

-o0o-

The cemetery was dark and empty. Quite logical, considering that it was the middle of the night, but it still made me shiver.

After giving my eyes some time to adjust I started walking slowly, reading the writing on as many graves as I could by the feeble lighting of my wand. As it was quite an old cemetery, most people had died decades ago, and the more recent ones were buried there because of family tradition.

I made sure to conjure a few flowers to put on the gravestones of the ones who didn't have any, then on the people whose names I liked, then on those who had died young.

By the time I reached my mother's grave, I had probably conjured over fifty flowers, and I could faintly see their bright colors when I looked around.

My mother's grave was small and humble, contrasting with her parents' magnificent ones. Her name was written in simple letters, above the missed and remembered that I had crudely etched the year before with my wand.

This year, I simply sat in front of the stone with my legs crossed, placing my hand on the cool marble in a poor imitation of physical contact. I didn't cry or talk to her as I had on other visits; I only closed my eyes and tried to envision her big eyes and small smile, the warmth of her touch. I tried to remember her smell and the richness of her voice, but every time my memory touched upon them they seemed to flit out of reach, leaving me struggling to grasp them.

I must have sat there for quite some time, because when i opened my eyes again the sky was significantly darker. I wiped away the tears that were trying to escape, made a single white lily appear on the grave, said a silent goodbye, and turned around.

-o0o-

When I appeared back in front of Liv's house, they were all outside. Liv and Louis were sitting on a bench, him with his arm around her. Frodo was standing there looking morose and James was pacing impatiently from one side of the street to the other.

I walked over to them quickly, locking eyes with a teary Liv who stood up to hug me.

I rubbed her back as comfortingly as I knew how to, noticing Louis' wide eyes and clenched fists. It hadn't gone well.

When Liv seemed to have partly gained her composure, I pulled away for her and told the boys that it was time to go back. Their grave nods of agreement were the last I saw of them before I apparated with Liv.

No one said a word when we got there, all of us walking to the Shrieking Shack in a silent agreement. Louis still looked angry and Liv devastated, but none of us uttered a sound. Even the noise of our footsteps seemed too loud.

We went into the castle, not even bothering to make ourselves invisible, and didn't stop until we were in front of the Great Hall, where we all stared at each other awkwardly for a beat.

It was interrupted when James grabbed my arm and pulled me a few meters away from everyone else, to a corner in the wall.

"Where were you?" He asked abruptly, sounding so agitated that I would have been scared if I hadn't been so busy being confused.

"What?"

"Where were you tonight?"

I suddenly understood what he meant, and drew my chin up to face him angrily. "That's none of your business."

He deflated instantly, running his hand through his hair in a gesture that had quickly become familiar to me.

"I know just - Are you okay?"

I could feel the anger leaving me too, but I summoned up the little energy I had left in a sad attempt. "Also none of your business."

"Right" he sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about things. Like apologize and stuff. Can I do that?"

I glanced uncomfortably back towards Liv, who was hugging herself as she stared down at her feet. James looked imploring.

"Look, now's really not the time. I'm tired and I need to be with Liv."

"Fine." he said "What about tomorrow?"

"Yeah whatever." I finally conceded, beginning to turn away.

Suddenly, I felt a hand lightly grab mine and pull me back, straight into James's chest. He hugged me with an insistence that, contrasting with my absolute lack of response, made the situation quite awkward. He didn't seem to notice.

When he finally let go, I said goodbye with a curt nod and walked back to Liv, putting my arm around her and guiding her to the common room.

When we got to our room, we cuddled in her bed until she fell asleep, after which I sat on the window ledge with my head on my knees, watching the night fade into day.