I'M BACK. Well... not quite. I'm sorry about the long wait. I have a confession to make... I've been distracted by an original story I've been working on since forever ago and recently found the inspiration again. I guess this fanfic helped. But good news is I found my old harddrive with saved chapters on it so there are still a few to come. Once I post those up updates are going to be quite sporadic, so I'M SORRYYYYY.

Anyway here's the new chapter. It's criminally short, so next chapter will be up tomorrow soon as it's edited. Also note that I changed Ron's birthday 'cus I can.

xx

Chapter 15

"Hurry up, Hugo!"

"You said meet you here at seven!"

"Did you bring the present?" I ask, leading us at a brisk pace across the Entrance Hall.

He waves a small, blue envelope at me. "Does it look like I brought the present?"

"Don't be a knobhead," I tell him.

Hugo rolls his eyes at me.

We're on our way to the shop to surprise Dad for his birthday, thanks to the special permission granted by our respective Heads of Houses (Neville was easy; Hugo practically had to beg Professor Macmillan of Hufflepuff) to leave school grounds for a night. We burst out of the tall wooden front doors of the castle into the cold night.

"Hey, isn't that Greta?" Hugo asks as we're halfway down the gravel path that leads to Hogsmeade.

I squint through the gloom and spot a swooshy blonde ponytail. "Yeah, I think so…"

"GRETA!" booms Hugo.

"God, Hugo."

Greta Longbottom spins around and lights up into a wide smile as she sees us. She waves and waits for us to reach her.

"Hey, Hugo. Rose."

Hugo grins stupidly at her. Oh, dear. Maybe he doesn't know she's dating James. At least, I think she is… As I listen to their conversation on how she's visiting her parents at their home above Abbott's Apothecary for the night, I wonder how much she knows about James' situation. She seems awfully cheery for someone whose boyfriend has been moody all week. But then again, this is Greta Longbottom; bubbly, perky, kind, and all the other adjectives you'd use to describe Hufflepuff's sweetheart.

We reach the end of the path and on the main street of Hogsmeade when Hugo exclaims, "Woooah, they got the new model in stock!" and rushes over to peer greedily through the plane glass window of Blotsham's Quidditch Supplies.

I'm about to go after him and drag him in the other direction towards Weasleys Wizard Wheezes' when Greta touches my arm lightly and whispers, "Rose, can I ask you something?"

"Uh- sure."

"It's about James."

"Go on…"

Greta glances behind me, as if James is going to materialise at the mention of his name. She bites her full bottom lip before saying, "He's been acting kind of strange all week. He won't tell me anything… I thought you might know."

Damn it, James. Why do I have to do this?

"Er… I'm not sure, sorry. Maybe because he didn't beat Slytherin by as big a margin as he was hoping. That was their second game, they needed all the points they could get before-"

"Don't give me that bull, Rose."

Woah. Greta Longbottom swearing. Albeit she left out the 'shit', but the implied swearing is still something outlandish for her.

I shake my head sadly. "I honestly don't know. Sorry."

"He spends all his time in the library," Greta says, as if he's got a chronic gambling problem. "And when we meet he's all distracted and moody. Rose- do you think… Do you think he's distancing himself from me because he's going to break up with me?"

Her wide, doe eyes are imploring. Shit, James, you owe me.

"No!" I say quickly. "He adores you. He'd never- just talk to him, Greta." I smile, then, and this time it's genuine. "And I'm the last person to ask for relationship advice."

Greta nods, her face grave. "Yes, you're right, I should- Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean yes to what you said about you being the last-"

I wave a hand in the air. "It's fine, I know, I know."

"What do you know?" Hugo asks, having finally un-suctioned himself from the shop window.

"That Rose here is marvelous at giving advice," Greta says.

Hugo snorts. "She sucks."

I punch his arm. "Let's go, brat."

We say bye to Greta and start towards Weasleys Wizard Wheezes'. The shop is dark, but the lights are on in the flat upstairs. Hugo starts banging on the frosted glass panelling of the shop door.

It takes a while for Dad to answer the door. When he finally swings it open his face is all flushed like he's run a marathon.

"Happy birthday!" Hugo and I cheer.

Dad looks incredibly flustered. "Hugo- Rose- Oh, right, thank you. My birthday."

"So can we come in?" I ask awkwardly.

Dad blinks at me, then says, "Of course! Come in!" He stands aside as we file in.

Hugo shoves the envelope at him. "Happy birthday old man."

"I'm forty-four," Dad grumbles.

"That's old."

"So what were you doing?" I ask.

"Er- what? I was just having dinner."

There's a thump from the ceiling.

"What was that?" Hugo asks.

I look ahead to the stairs. "Is someone upstairs?"

Dad's face goes even redder. "Your mother."

"Mum?" Hugo says, and races up to the flat.

I give Dad a quizzical look. He's very carefully avoiding eye contact with me. He looks at his watch. "Oh, look, it's dessert time. Would you like some cake?"

"Are you and Mum-?"

Dad finally turns to me. "Honestly, honey… I don't know. We're just seeing how things go at the moment."

"What, you mean you two are like... friends with benefits now?" I ask incredulously.

"No! I mean, we're not friends. Technically we're still married."

Putting the squirmy feeling from thinking about your parents doing it aside, I actually feel happy for Dad. And Mum, I guess. I knew it was only a matter of time before they got back together. There's just something about the bond that forms when you save the world together that's everlasting, you know?

I tell him as much, and he snorts. "C'mon, smartypants. I want to go open this present."

Upstairs Mum gushes, "Rose!" and draws me into a bear hug. I squeeze lightly back.

She looks slightly more put-together than Dad, although her hair is loose and its frizzing up in all its bushy brown glory.

"Chudley Cannons tickets!" Dad exclaims as he opens the envelope.

"There's two in there," Hugo says, then looks pointedly to Mum. Hugo is the most obvious person on the planet.

"Oh, you don't have to…" Mum says as Dad raises his brows at her.

"Would you like to go with me, Hermione?"

Hugo and I are grinning our heads off.

"Sure," Mum says, and smiles at Dad.

Dad beams, and then we're all smiling madly like some freak-show of happy clowns.

"Where's the cake?" Hugo says.

"I'll get it," Mum says, and bustles off to the kitchen.

We follow her into the area of the flat that is covered in linoleum that serves as the dining area and sit at the small wooden table. Mum brings out a cream cake lit up with candles, and sets it in front of Dad. We raise our voices to a shockingly off-key version of happy birthday, after which we dig in.

Hugo is on his second slice while everyone is halfway through their first when Dad asks the dreaded question. "So how're you and Scorpius?"

I groan. The last time I was here was that awful Hogsmeade trip with Teddy and the tears and the bumping-into-Scorpius-and-looking-like-he-made-me-cry.

Mum perks up. "You and Scorpius Malfoy?"

"That's what I said," Dad grumbles.

Mum is giving me a questioning look, and I know what she's thinking. What about Teddy? But there's nothing going on between Teddy and I, and never will be; I try to convey this to her with a surreptitious shake of my head and a frown, but she simply looks more confused.

"I am not dating Scorpius Malfoy," I tell them.

"Yeah, she's dating Andrew McLaggen now," chimes in Hugo.

Dad starts having a coughing fit, choking on his cake. Mum thumps him on the back and accio'sa jug of water over for him.

"Wha- McLaggen- What?" he finally manages to croak once he's caught his breath. His face is bright red. With annoyance? With anger? I honestly don't know. My dad is a strange man.

"I'm not dating Andrew McLaggen," I say firmly.

"Andrew McLaggen!" Dad says again.

He looks more shocked than when he thought I was dating Scorpius. And it sounds like he knows who Andrew McLaggen is. But how could he?

Mum looks amused. "Those McLaggens are a good bunch."

Wait a minute…

"Do you two know Andrew?" I ask.

"We know his father," Mum says.

"Coach McLaggen?" Hugo asks.

"Yes. He's a nice man," Mum says lightly.

Dad starts hacking on his cake again. "And you say you're not dating him?"

"Yes, father."

"Okay. Good."

I raise my brows but don't question his irrational hatred of Andrew McLaggen.

We spend the next two or so hours at the table eating cake and drinking warm mead, chatting like we've all been the best of friends for the past few years. As Hugo excitedly tells an anecdote about him and the Scamander twins making friends with the Giant Squid, I get this weird, warm feeling in my chest as I look around at my family. It's a strange feeling, but its nice.

xxxxxxxxxx

It's the day of the Hogsmeade trip, and I'm ensconced in a corner of the library doing my Ancient Runes homework hoping nobody who knows Andrew McLaggen sees me. I'm pretty sure I'm safe; practically everyone from third year and up have gone into the village. Only nutters like me have stayed behind. I guess I could always spend some time with Molly at a Gobstones Club meeting (I found out they actually do meet on Saturdays), but I find I don't really crave human interaction that much right now.

I squint down at the rune in the heavy textbook open before me. I tilt my head. It's either 'Emperor' or 'Cow'. I sigh. Sometimes this subject is like Divination, trying to decipher shapes in tealeaves.

"Fuck."

My head snaps up at the sound. It's not everyday you hear such language in the brooding stillness of the Hogwarts library.

I hear a thump, like someone's kicked the table.

Peeking through the gaps in the bookshelf next to me, I spot James slumped over a mound of books.

Quietly I get out of my seat and come up behind him.

"You alright?"

James turns around. "Wha- Oh. Hi. Yeah, I'm fine."

He faces the table again and scratches something onto the blank parchment in front of him with his quill.

I take the spare seat next to him, and admit something that's been plaguing my conscience all week. "James - I'm sorry. I know I brewed that draught, but I had no idea what Flint was up to."

James grimaces at me. I think it's supposed to be a smile. "It's not your fault. It was mine. If I hadn't been such a fucking wimp I would've told him to shove it and used my own skills. And the scout would have actually seen me play."

I nod. Then I look at the textbook in front of me, and at what he's written down. "That's supposed to be ten."

"What?"

"The amount of mandrake root- ten teaspoons."

James frowns down at the page. "Why? It says here five."

I point to the equation in the textbook. "Yeah, but see here, there's the ratio."

James puts his head in his hands. "Fuck. Even my little cousin is smarter than I am."

"Don't feel bad, I'm considered smart for my age," I tell him.

He looks up at me to catch my smirk. He still looks pained. "How am I going to pass?"

"Easy," I say. "You study. You've got months to prepare for NEWTs. If you dedicate at least two hours a night-"

"Two hours?"

"Yes, two hours. James, you're only taking three NEWT classes. You'll be fine."

James scoffs. "Easy for you to say, Miss 'smart-for-my-age'."

"I'm only trying to help," I snap. "And look, you've got the right idea. Staying in on a Hogsmeade trip."

"I'm staying in because Wiggan banned me from Hogsmeade trips."

"What did you do this time?"

James shrugs. "Too many past detentions."

"Oh- Well, that's a good thing too. Now you can study, see?"

James does not look amused.

"Seriously, you can do this," I encourage. I point to the next question. "Look - this one. Using the ratio. What's the answer?"

James stares at the textbook for a full minute. "Four."

"Close… Fifteen."

James rolls his eyes. "I told you, there is no way I'm passing. I'm an idiot-"

"Don't say that-"

"-who can't even do his Potions homework and- How do you know all this, anyway? You're not even this class."

I shrug. "Potions is kind of my thing. It's easy once you practise working things out a certain way. Here, turn the page, there's a good paragraph here…"

I end up spending an hour explaining the Triton equation and it's applications, and by the end of it James is beginning to grasp the concept and even works out a few questions on his own. He's grinning as he gets three answers correct in a row, and before we know it, we've done his whole assignment.

"See, that wasn't that hard," I say.

"Thanks, Red..." James says.

"Any time."

"Do you really mean that?"

"What?"

James looks down at his textbook, then back up at me. "Any time. Do you really mean it?"

"If you're asking me to do your homework for you-""

"Not for me, but…"

"You mean like, tutor you?"

James musses up his hair a bit. "I guess you could say that…"

He shifts uncomfortably under my stare. It must take a lot for the proud James Potter to ask me, his 'little' cousin, to tutor him.

"Err… Well, I'm taking seven N.E.W.T.s this year…" I begin.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, forget I asked," he mumbles, ducking his head back to his textbook. "I think I can figure it out my own. Thanks, though, you've been-"

"Alright. I'll tutor you."

God, there goes my conscience, taking precedent over my better judgement.

James brightens. "Really? Thanks, Red, you're the best."

"Only if you stop calling me that."

James nods briskly. "Right. Rose."

I smile. "And I want something else."

"What…?"

"I want access to your Cloak. Whenever I want."

James seems deep in thought for a moment. "Done. But I have something to ask, too."

"Hey, I'm the one tutoring-"

"Don't tell Greta."

"Oh." I pause, unable to decide whether or not I should tell him about her being worried about him. I really can't be bothered getting involved in their lovelife. "How come?" I finally ask.

James ruffles his hair again. I notice it's the same nervous gesture Albus has. "Because… She doesn't know I'm stupid."

"James, no one thinks you're stupid."

James grimaces at me. "Yes, they do. But she's always seen the best in people. I don't want to make that harder for her. I have enough bad traits as it is."

I scoff. "You're starting to sound like an insecure little girl."

"Just don't, Re- Rose. Please."

He looks so sad I almost give him a hug. Instead I solemnly hold up a hand and say, "I promise."

He nods, relieved. "Thanks."

I'm almost afraid to ask, but I go ahead anyway. "You and Albus all good now?"

James leans back in his chair. "I guess. He's an arse, but he's my brother, what can you do?"

I think they're both arses, but whatever.

"That's good," I say. "I can't stand you two as it is, let alone two Potters fighting."

James grins at me, and I'm glad his emotional moment has passed. Sad James Potters make me uncomfortable. "That uncaring act is bullshit, Weasley, and we both know it."

"You don't know the first thing about me," I scoff.

That's pretty much true for most of my cousins in my family. I've always been the quiet one (although, in the Potter-Weasley clan, that's not saying much) and I swear the only thing they know about me is that I used to set things on fire.

Still do, on occasion. But they don't know that.

"I know that you hate being compared to your mum."

I glare at him. That's surprisingly accurate, I'll give him that.

"And that you'd do anything to prove you're not her."

"Well, not anything…"

James smirks. "Come to Dom's party, then. Have a drink. Live a little."

"Dominique's having a party?"

I'm almost offended.

"Her birthday party. Tonight."

"No, thanks. I wasn't invited," I say primly.

James rolls his eyes. "No one was invited. Everyone is just going to come. It's Dominique Weasley."

"Whatever," I mutter.

"So?" he says, raising his eyebrows.

"I'll think about."

xxxxxxxxxx

The next morning I wake up in the chilly observatory of the Astronomy Tower next to a certain blonde Slytherin, sincerely wishing I'd thought about it more.

Yeah. Don't kill me about the cliffhanger please. The chapter was getting way too long and I had to cut it off somewhere. I promise the next one is double this length.

As a peace offering I've uploaded a one-shot about Albus (the Albus from this story!) on the train to Hogwarts in his first year. Not the most original piece of fanfiction but I hope it'll give you a little insight into how on earth he ended up in Slytherin.

I heart you all.