A/N: Hi everyone :) I like updating, especially since my reviewers are all so nice, I feel like I'm giving them a present and they give me a bunch back, it's like a really greedy Christmas for me!
Haha, anyways, it's been a little while since I updated, and I apologize, but this one isn't super action-y. In fact, it's mostly a filler. I know I said a few chapters back that I planned to end it soon, but I realized if I had followed that plan it would have been too choppy, and I would be unhappy. So this may last to 20-ish chapters :D lucky you guys!
The biggest focus in this chapter is at the end, and you'll see why, but it was important to develop it that way. Sorry its just kind of a filler, but there's still plenty of good stuff in here :D
CHAPTER 15
"So, are you going to tell me or what?"
"Jeez Rose, give the poor boy a chance to sit down, would you?" Albus groaned at his cousin.
"It's nothing Rose. It's just, that night, after we went shopping? When I returned home, I – " Scorpius faltered. Rose gripped onto his hand comfortingly, and he mustered up the courage to continue. Albus told him to leave out what exactly his grandfather had said, Rose didn't need to know. "My grandfather, Lucius. He was in the safe-house. He-he had my parents bound and I could hear him telling them something in my father's office. Not really sure what he had said, all I know was that my mother was sobbing and in a fit. I managed to avoid him seeing me because I hid in the linen closet when he exited the office. Mr. Potter moved us, but we have to be extra careful. They're no longer allowed to leave, and I'm the only person permitted to enter or exit by any means besides Mr. Potter himself."
"Oh Scorpius!" Rose had tears of fear in her eyes. "What if you had been there? He could have killed you!" She squeezed his hand tighter with worry.
"I know Rose," Scorpius nodded, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. He felt that every second he was near them he was putting them in danger. Both Albus and Rose could be harmed if they remained friends with him. "Rose, we have to get to the Prefect's meeting."
"Right! I completely forgot!" Rose wiped her eyes hastily, grabbing her small notebook and a quill to take notes. "Will you be alright Albus? I can send Sarah down if I run into her?"
"I'll be fine, and that would be great," Albus smiled, happy to get some alone time from the couple who were his best friends.
Rose nodded before leading Scorpius down the hall.
"Rose," Scorpius said once they were outside the compartment.
"Don't even think about it Scorpius. I know what you're going to say, and I disagree," Rose vehemently interrupted him, not even letting him ask the question. She had known for weeks he was beginning to think back to his original thoughts on their relationship. "Breaking up will not make me safer. In fact, it would only make me weaker and a better target. They'll use you to get to me somehow as a trick, knowing that even if we're broken up, I would still have feelings for you. At least together we're safer." Rose bit her bottom lip, chewing on it thoughtfully like she did when something deeply frustrated her.
"But Rose – "
"No 'but's Scorpius. Unless the reason you are breaking up with me is that you don't have any feelings for me, you no longer feel anything for me anymore, or you have stronger feelings for another girl, then I do not permit even the idea of breaking up with me," Rose turned to give him a pointed, fixed glare to insinuate just how angry she actually was. "And don't think for a second about lying about any of those. I can easily get my hands on some Veritaserum. Professor Goldstein considers me his prize pupil, considering I was able to successfully brew an Elixir of Euphoria during the Potions OWL practical, when it wasn't even required because I had some spare time after finishing my Strengthening Solution."
"You wouldn't dare Rose. I know better, the Ministry's got strict rules on that," Scorpius smirked knowing he'd caught her in a bind.
"Yeah, but you don't go to Azkaban for breaking them for a good reason. Besides, would you tell on me?" Rose smirked at him and his face dropped. She got him good.
"Cheater, you little witch," Scorpius growled in protest.
Rose just smiled happily, but stopped momentarily to tell Sarah where Albus was, and then proceeded to drag Scorpius to the Prefect's compartment at the head of the train.
Entering the prefect's area, they were surprised to see they were some of the first few there, having only been beat by Head Boy and Girl, and about three other prefects. Hufflepuff seventh year Darren Hirsch and Slytherin seventh year Julie Chayton were this year's Head Boy and Girl it seemed, and Rose stifled a giggle. They were the most mismatched pair of Heads she had ever seen, quiet and book-ish Darren with loud-mouthed, backstabbing Julie. This would be an interesting year, considering last year's development of the Head's sharing a common area together.
Scorpius seemed to notice this, and chuckled alongside Rose, knowing just why she had to refrain her giggle.
"Something funny Malfoy?" Chayton hissed in our direction.
"Actually – "
"No, nothing's funny Julie," Rose interrupted his retort, so as not to get them in trouble with the begrudging female. Grabbing him by his arm, Rose dragged him over to sit with the three other prefects, two of which Rose knew were fifth years, while the other was the male Slytherin seventh year prefect. Eddie Baddock was on the Slytherin Quidditch team as well, so Rose and Scorpius found it easy enough to chat with the boy until all the other prefects had arrived.
Suddenly Rose got jittery. Considering she had missed her first ever Prefect meeting on the train, this really was her first official "first meeting of the year" on the train. She began pestering Scorpius, asking what to expect of the meeting.
"What happens? Do they discuss the schedules first? Or the rules?"
"Rose – "
"How were the passwords given out? I wonder if there is going to be anything new this year…"
"Rose! – "
"Oh look! Alice made Prefect; oh her father must be proud! Frank didn't get Prefect, only Captain. Isn't Tommy coming this year? I wonder where he is…"
"Rose!" Scorpius shook her by the shoulders. Rose stared blankly at Scorpius. Several heads turned in their direction, a few with raised eyebrows. Julie only rolled her eyes, and Alice just giggled at the pair. "The meeting's about to start," he grumbled at her. Rose shut up then, turning expectantly to the Heads.
Darren laughed at the girl's antics. He had seen her around school, and knew that she tended to act that way around her friends when she was excited.
Julie cleared her throat. "Hello everyone, to the sixth and seventh years, welcome back to another glorious year of Prefecting. To the newest fifth year Prefects, welcome! We would like to begin this year with a suggestion from McGonagall. Her attempts at inter-house unity is continuing, and she believes that even if you all know each other, we should attempt a little get to know you stint."
"Actually, I thought it was a pretty cool idea. Just something simple, as a try to get to know your neighbour a little better kind of thing," Darren smiled warmly at the room.
Julie glared at her partner, probably for undermining her. "Anyways, she wants us to go around the room, stating your name, year, house, and favourite er-"
"Favourite animal," Darren smiled.
"Right, er, favourite animal. OK, I will start. My name is Julie Chayton. I am in seventh year and I am a Slytherin. I am this year's Head Girl, and my favourite animal is a deer."
Darren seemed to pause slightly, thinking for a moment, before giving his own introduction, "I am Darren Hirsch. Seventh year Hufflepuff, and your Head Boy. My favourite animal is the majestic falcon. Next," he turned to Alice beside him.
Alice turned a particularly deep shade of red before finally gaining her composure. "Alice Longbottom, fifth year, Hufflepuff. My favourite animal is the wolf." She smiled sheepishly, before the next kid continued.
As Rose and Scorpius were nearly on the opposite side of the room, they had to wait several minutes before it was their turns.
"My name's Rose Weasley, and I'm a sixth year Ravenclaw. I think my favourite animals are dogs," Rose smiled, bowing gracefully in Scorpius' direction to indicate that it was his turn.
"Scorpius Malfoy, sixth year Ravenclaw as well. And, er, my favourite animal I guess would be otters."
The Prefect's meeting didn't last much longer after that. They were given the patrol schedule for September, which both were happy to see they shared several shifts, a list of all of the passwords that only they could read. Rose and Scorpius left with the knowledge that they would patrol the corridor in an hour.
Heading back to their compartment, Rose smiled.
"My mother's patronus is an otter. She says it's probably due to its closeness of the weasel family," she smiled at the boy.
"Really?" Scorpius smiled in her direction, "Never would have thought!"
Their earlier fight had been forgotten as they now bantered lightly back and forth as they approached their compartment. Their relationship had been on the downside lately, as they enjoyed each other's companionship rather than the more romantic side to it. Besides, they had still somehow managed to keep it a secret from the rest of the family besides Albus, which still amazed the pair. She figured at least Lily or Hugo would have figured it out by now…but perhaps they had and had decided not to say anything about it. Either way, their relationship was still relatively secretive.
Several hours later, and after a painfully long carriage ride to the castle, they were seated waiting for the Sorting to finish. Rose had her ears trained, desperate to find out the fate of the third Longbottom child. There were several surnames she had recognized, family members of schoolmates, but none she knew personally.
"Longbottom, Thomas," Professor Corner read from the list. Rose looked past to see Professor Longbottom's face gaze expectantly at his son. So far his first son had followed him into Gryffindor, and he wondered if his second would do the same. Or would he follow his sister to Hufflepuff like their mother had once been. Or if he would be a Ravenclaw, or daresay it, a Slytherin. Not that he would be upset, just surprised. His second son was quiet, and liked to keep to himself. He was sometimes overshadowed by his older siblings, and now even his younger sister, who was just shy of three. Hannah was home taking care of her while running the Leaky Cauldron.
Little Tommy Longbottom approached the dais quietly, his lean and lank body so different from his older siblings, but he seemed to smile as he put the hat on. Rose had only ever seen someone smile like that while putting that hat on. The same one Roxanne had on when she one hundred percent knew she would be in Gryffindor. Now her crimson lined robes were there as a result.
Several minutes passed before the brim of the hat opened, "SLYTHERIN!"
Professor Longbottom only seemed surprised for a moment before he began clapping boisterously with the rest of the crowd, the loudest being Alice at the Hufflepuff table.
Rose smiled, so far Professor Longbottom had a child in each house except Ravenclaw, and she pondered where little Clara would go one day. That would make for some interesting sibling rivalry.
Soon the food appeared before them, and then they were sent off to bed. Rose and Scorpius did their jobs of helping to lead the first years up to the tower, while Albus proceeded to bark out nonsense about planning try-outs for two weeks from Saturday on the seventeenth, and that they'd 'all better be there!'. Scorpius and Rose nodded their heads promptly, leaving him to trail behind with Sarah.
Once having successfully led the new first years up to their tower, the seventh year female prefect turned to the group.
"This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room, and as such, your dorms. The only way to enter is by knocking on the door behind me, and successfully answering the riddle given."
"What happens if you get it wrong?" a small boy said from the side.
"Then you either keep trying, or wait for someone else to help you, or open it from the inside. The idea is you gain knowledge and learn something new when you do not know the answer. Ravenclaw is the house of wisdom –"
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure!" Scorpius piped up.
"Exactly Scorpius," the seventh year brunette smiled at him. "So now you will experience your first riddle." Clanging the knocker, the group waited for the riddle. Finally the melodical voice filled the small space they were in.
'Which is true, may the glass be half-full, or half-empty to you?'
Some of the first years seemed to be struggling, but it was that same boy that piped up again. "Well that would depend on whether or not you're filling the glass, or you're drinking from it, wouldn't it?" He blushed as all eyes turned to him. "If you're filling it, then it's half-full, but if you're drinking from it, it's half-empty."
'Splendid! Enter dear ones! Welcome to Ravenclaw!'
The door swung wide open, and Rose sighed, glad to be back in her second home. She immediately went to the side of the Common Room where she spotted Albus and Sarah lounging in some chairs, dragging Scorpius with her after the seventh year prefects explained the dorms and rules to the first years.
"It's great to be back!" Sarah chirped, leaning against the window pane beside her. Outside the air had gotten chilly, and the warmth in the tower had left a thin layer of condensation on the glass, and her warmer cheek left an imprint in the sheen.
Rose sat in the only other available seat while Scorpius perched himself on the arm between her and Albus. "Agreed," Rose smiled and patted Sarah's arm. "It's going to be different this year. We're the oldest in our family here. Albus and I…and Dom of course…they're all going to look up to us. When there's trouble, we're going to be called upon. I've been waiting for this since first year!"
"Oh stop being so sentimental Rose! Who cares about being looked up to! Finally we can get away with stuff without James or Fred hassling us! We don't have to rely on their 'acceptance' of any plans. We're in charge!"
Sarah smiled and ruffled his hair.
"But now, when Lily's having trouble with boys, she'll come to me, when Louis' in trouble with bullies again, we can stare them down, when Roxanne is having homework troubles, she'll ask us for our help!"
"Not that they don't all do that already…and what did you say about Lily and boys?" Albus started in on her.
Rose ignored his question, "But now they will only come to us. We, and only we, would be there for them!"
"Since when has Lily been interested in boys? She's just a baby…" Albus scrunched up his nose.
"Oh get over yourself Albus," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Up until last year, both you and I know she had a huge crush on me, and I had to tell her I was entirely uninterested."
"But that's different. Everyone knows the story…kid sister falls for older brother's best friend. It's like all those muggle stories…"
"I'm still a guy Albus. Then there was Henry Peterson in Slytherin…"
"Peterson? That snake? He's a horrible little wanker!"
"You only think that because he hit you with a bludger last year…"
"Well it hurt! He's also a sneaky conniving little –"
"Slytherin," Rose inputted to avoid any more insulting words.
"Exactly!" Albus pulled on his hair. "I'm going to have to have a talk with that girl."
"Well don't forget to bring up Joel Dunwich, Nathan Stroulger, and Matthew Dibbler…" Rose sighed.
"Who are they?" Albus asked, scrunching up his nose.
Rose hadn't meant to slip up. She wasn't supposed to be telling Albus any of this, but it's not like Lily liked her very much lately anyways.
"Just some of the boyfriends she's had over the last few years…" Rose picked at her nails as if the topic was entirely uninteresting, but truthfully she wanted to see Albus' reaction.
"BOYFRIENDS? Wait…SOME OF?" Albus was turning red and starting to vibrate with anger, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.
"Yep. She even managed to sneak Milo Bloxam past you all summer. He even came to see her at the cup, but you were too busy flirting with the Ancrum twins to notice."
Sarah looked livid at this. "You were flirting with those snubs in fifth year?" she practically hissed as she spit the words out.
"But he's a seventh year!" Albus looked livid, having completely ignored Sarah in his anger. "We are heading over to Gryffindor tower right now!" Albus stood and moved to leave the common room, but Sarah's hand on his wrist stopped him.
"You are no better than her at this point. Flirting with the Ancrum twins? Seriously?"
"What? I wasn't flirting with them! Honest! Ask James and Scorpius! They stopped me, and started asking about what I was going to do as Quidditch Captain, and when tryouts were! They both wanted to be on the team, and I had to regretfully tell them there's only one spot this year. They decided it wasn't worth breaking themselves apart, so they're not trying out. I had to try to convince them to try out anyways, as I've seen them play beater, and they're both pretty good!"
"How am I supposed to believe that?" Sarah crossed her arms in annoyance.
"Because you should trust me!" Albus looked livid once more.
"Fine, but on one condition. Leave Lily alone. If you confront her, she would never forgive you for the rest of your life. She's only having fun, let the girl live a little. If you want, I'll keep an eye on her. She comes to me sometimes for advice anyways, I can have a chat with her. You'd ruin her if you just attacked her for who she's dated, and I can promise you, she'd never talk to you for a very long time. She already got upset with James last year for breaking up her date with Chris Jones, and only recently started speaking to him on good terms again over the summer. And that was one date."
Albus seemed to take in what Sarah said before sitting down. "You're right. And I'm sorry." Sighing, he leaned his head back against the chair. "Being an older brother can suck."
"Try being the younger sister, it's worse," Sarah smirked.
"You have an older brother?" Rose asked, confusion etched in her face.
"Yeah. I don't talk about him much, I know. He was two years older than me, but … but he …" suddenly a tear dropped from her eye.
Rose placed a hand on her arm, trying to comfort her friend. "It's OK Sarah…you don't have to tell us, we understand."
"No, I'm fine." She sniffed, and her happy demeanour seemed to return for a moment before slipping away into her sadness. "Before fifth year, our family travelled to Africa for a few weeks. Dad's in the Ministry, see, working with the International Magical Cooperation. He was offered a chance to go down and view the culture of wizards down there, and he took the whole family with him. The trip was lovely, lots of fun and amazing culture, and by the time we got home, we had exhausted ourselves. Douglas…he'd, well he'd messed around a lot. See, he…he was a squib, that's why he never went to Hogwarts. But he thought he was a disappointment to our parents, and, well he did a lot of bad things," Sarah's breath hitched.
"Douglas was into a lot of drugs. He was only seventeen, but he'd done more than a lot of twenty-something year olds had. Mom was upset with him, but still loved him. But dad…dad tried to pretend like nothing was wrong. He acted like they had had the perfect trip. But Douglas had gotten into a lot of trouble. Arrested by muggle police, tried to buy what they call a 'hooker'. I think it's someone you pay to have…sex…with. Anyways, when we got back to England, Douglas got really sick. No one knew what it was; he just started losing all of his energy, and declining in health. Dad brought him to St. Mungo's, but they said they couldn't do anything. It was a muggle infectious disease that could not be cured by magic. The only thing we could do was just watch him…d-die.
"They said he caught it from using needles, and having unprotected sex with someone with the disease. We haven't told anyone, as no one in the magical world really knew him anyways. I think the only person besides the extent of my family that knows is your father, Albus. He was at the hospital on Douglas' last night…"
"He knew? Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't you tell me?" Albus asked, sadness and sympathy in his voice.
"Because my father. He made your dad swear to tell no one, and your father clearly kept that promise. But he made me swear too Albus. But I figure you guys should know."
Scorpius was the first to respond, he stood and pulled Sarah up into his arms, and giving her a bone-crushing hug. "I'm sorry," he said into her hair.
Sarah broke down then as Albus and Rose joined in on the hug, giving their friend the support she needed. "Thanks g-guys," she tried smiling behind her tears, but it was too frail.
Rose led her friend up to bed. "That's why you changed wasn't it?"
Sarah looked at Rose confused, "What?"
"That summer, before fifth year. You returned in September and you were all over Albus. That's what caused you to change."
Sarah blushed and grimaced simultaneously, "Mom said I needed to grow a backbone and just go for what I wanted, and I shouldn't let my brother's death hold me back. So I didn't."
Rose hugged Sarah, "Good. It worked," smiling, they turned in for the night.
Albus groaned, "What am I going to do about Lily, mate? For all I know, she could be off snogging some guy right now!"
Scorpius just shook his head. "Relax Albus. James was the same way remember? Moving from person to person? James got over it eventually, I'm betting she will too. It's just a phase. Besides, Sarah said she will have a chat with her, and we all know how much Lily loves Sarah like an older sister, so it will work out."
"You better be right…" Albus grumbled.
…
"Hey Lily!" Sarah said, approaching the younger girl who was currently lounging on a bench by the Greenhouses with several other fourth years. "Can I steal you for a bit?"
"Sure Sarah!" Lily grinned, said a quick goodbye to her friends and followed the older girl down towards the lake. "What's up?"
"Well Rose and I, we're kind of worried about you," Sarah began, trying her best to leave Albus out of it. She didn't want Lily thinking Albus had sent her.
"What do you mean?" Lily looked at her in confusion, "What did I do?"
"It's not something you did. More like, something you're doing." Lily still seemed confused. "We're worried that the way you treat guys is going to come back and bite you in the ass someday."
"What? Me and Milo? We broke up yesterday on the train. He was too clingy…"
"That's what we mean! You think that boys are like your little playthings or something, you don't even care! Someday a boy will come along that you'll actually really like, and he's going to end up treating you the same way you're treating all of these guys. You have to be careful Lily, these boys have hearts. And they break just like girls."
Lily gaped slightly at her. It was clear she had never actually thought of it that way before, that the boys could be hurt by what she was doing. "I – I – "
"I know Lily, but just try being a bit more careful with who you play with, OK? Even Albus is getting worried, and that's saying something. He's afraid you'll give James a run for his money…"
"Oh Merlin, I am acting like James, aren't I?" Lily sounded appalled with herself now. "What have I done!" she started grabbing her things and then turned back towards the castle.
"Where are you going Lily?" Sarah asked as she watched the younger girl panic.
"I'm going to get my boyfriend back before it's too late! What do I tell him?"
Sarah thought for a moment, "Tell him that you thought it had been the right thing to do, but you couldn't take being apart from him any longer, and insist he takes you back."
Lily suddenly hugged the brunette, "Thanks Sarah!" she cried, before running to the castle.
Sarah smiled, thinking of the good deed she had just done. Albus would be pleased, and could rest easy knowing his sister was going to be more careful now.
She found Albus sitting at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. "I did it!" she praised herself, sitting beside him.
"Did what?" he said through a mouthful tuna sandwich.
"Talked to Lily. And guess what? I think I got through to her!"
Albus swallowed his mouthful of food. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you and that you're brilliant?" He was beaming.
Sarah blushed and smiled.
The doors to the Great Hall burst open then, and a teary-eyed, red-faced Lily entered. Albus had never seen his sister cry before, and suddenly his food didn't matter. He rushed to his sister's side, Sarah in tow.
"What happened?" he demanded.
Lily said nothing, only folded into his arms for a hug like she used to do before they had headed off to Hogwarts. Sarah led the siblings outside of the hall for privacy.
"Lily, sweetie, what happened?" she pushed the red hair from the younger girl's teary eyes.
"I-I found M-Milo w-with an-another g-girl!" she was sobbing by this point, using Albus to keep herself from falling to her knees. "He-he already m-moved on!" She let out a wail and sniffed several times.
"That bastard!" Sarah hissed.
"Sarah you w-were right all along…Albus, Albus I-I'm so s-sorry…"
"Why are you sorry Lils? You don't need to apologize for anything!" he held his baby sister in his arms.
"Albus, let me take Lily up to mine and Rose's room, we'll take care of her. We don't have classes today, remember?" McGonagall saw no need of a one-day school week, as it was a Friday.
Albus only nodded, letting Lily crawl into Sarah's arms, after giving her one last hug.
Albus cursed, the need to punch something was overbearing. His emotions were taking over once again, almost as bad as the time when Rose had been attacked last year, or when William Dolohov had tried to trap her. Anyone passing by would think he was about to explode due to the redness of his face and the whiteness of his clutched fists. He felt that any second steam would pour from his ears, and his brain would explode.
He wanted to kill him, this Milo Bloxam was going to pay for what he did to his little sister. His baby sister. If James wasn't here to do something about it, then Albus would. He would ensure the guys face became one with the ground, that he could never speak to Lily, or anyone for that matter, again.
And as soon as the rage had arrived, it dissipated. Albus guessed he had to just let himself feel the anger for several minutes in order to calm down. Sure he wanted to break the guy's nose, but what good would it do him? It was like Sarah said, he would only end up embarrassing Lily, and himself. And Lily would ensure she never spoke to him again for making such a spectacle.
So he held back. It took a lot of willpower, but he kept himself routed to the ground, and that's where Scorpius found him nearly twenty minutes later.
"Mate, are you alright?" Scorpius hadn't been at breakfast, him and Rose had been at an early Prefect's meeting and had planned to meet Albus and Sarah in the Great Hall.
"I've been better, but I think I'm fine," Albus said through somewhat clenched teeth, "Where's Rose?"
"Gone up to the dormitory. She was practically assaulted by a third year saying Sarah needed her in the tower, and that it was urgent," Scorpius paused, "At first I followed her, but she assured me she could handle it, probably just outfit issues, girl stuff, and told me to go on to meet you for breakfast. Why, what's wrong?"
"It's Lily. Boy troubles, apparently."
"Let me guess," Scorpius scrutinized Albus, gazing at him through squinted eyes, "you've been rooted to this spot for about half an hour, still debating whether to pound the bloke in the face, haven't you?"
"Was I that obvious?" Albus groaned, finally moving from his position.
"Just slightly. You look about as dejected and confused as I did when I sat watching Rose and Alex's date in the Three Broomsticks back in third year. Like you want to kill someone, but you're afraid who it would affect."
"Gee," Albus drawled with sarcasm, "you know me so well."
Scorpius only laughed at his friend's dejection. "So, explain."
It took several minutes, but Albus explained in detail what he knew of what happened between Sarah and Lily, and then what had transcribed from that moment, and every little detail he knew that followed. By the time he finished, Albus felt crushed, and disappointed that he couldn't do anything to help his baby sister.
"First of all, you need to stop thinking of Lily as your baby sister. She's in fourth year now, almost fifteen years old. Soon there will be guys banging on your door, lining up to date her. Hell, I'm with Rose, but I can't help but notice your sister has grown up," he noticed the scared look on Albus' face, "Granted I can only ever think of her as a little sister, and nothing more. But if I've noticed, I'm sure others have. You've got to let her grow up Albus, make her own mistakes. If she loves you, she'll come to you with her problems. If she loves you more, she'll keep them a secret from you."
"Geez Scorp, you've gone sap on me. Since when do you know so much about siblings? You're an only child!"
"I have cousins, remember? Aunt Daphne's kids. They might be little devils, but those three buggers are the closest I have to siblings. Luciana will be here next year, Nicole a year after, followed by Cecily two years after that. They look up to me, you know? And now Aunt Daphne's pregnant again! I'm crossing my fingers for a boy this time; I can't take any more girl drama."
Albus laughed at his friend's indignation. Scorpius was right, sometimes girl's drama could get out of hand, ridiculous at times. Lily was always fretting over clothes, her hair, and of course, Quidditch. His father said it was the same way Ginny had been for a while, but she calmed down eventually. His mom even went as far once to tell him how obsessed she had been with his father when she had first met him, and even beforehand. And how Uncle Ron had always teased her about it, how Uncle George and his brother Fred had made fun of Ginny all that summer before her first year. But it had been his Aunt Hermione who had told her to just be herself, and eventually Harry would notice her. It took a while, but it finally worked.
Perhaps that was what he needed to tell Lily. He knew his mom had never told Lily that story, because she had said she wanted Lily to find out on her own these important things in life, but now was a time for her to hear it.
Before dinner, Albus and Scorpius convinced Rose, Sarah and Lily to come outside with them for a while. Albus had to insist to Lily that he hadn't chased Milo down and beaten the crap out of him before she would budge, but finally they were flanking the trail that led around the Black Lake.
Albus stopped about halfway around, tapping Lily on the shoulder, indicating he wanted to talk with her. Lily told the others to keep going, and they would catch up.
The two walked to the water's edge, quiet until Albus broke the silence.
"He's not worth it Lil," Albus smiled warmly at her.
"What?" Lily asked, surprised. She had expected to be reprimanded by her brother; told off for being such a child, or for acting like a wimp.
"If he can put someone like you behind him so fast without a blink, he's not even worth your time."
Lily began to finally smile through the pain, "Thanks Al."
"Mum had problems with blokes when she was in school, you know?" he felt awkward talking about his mom's love life before his father, but she needed to hear this now, and their mother wasn't about to Floo to the castle to give her daughter relationship advice. He would have to substitute.
"Really?" Lily looked at her brother, awe clearly etched in her face, "Why didn't she ever tell me?"
"I guess she wanted to wait until you had relationship issues of your own. But you've never brought them to her, so I will have to tell you the things she told me."
"You've had relationship issues?"
"I had no idea how to act around Sarah when I realized I had started to like her. Mum gave me my confidence, and I'm going to tell you what she told me." Scratching his head, he moved past the initial awkwardness of the conversation and into the story. "When mom first met dad, she was in shock. Imagine being ten and meeting your complete idol, and knowing you were going to go to the same school as him the next year? And that him and your brother had already formed a somewhat friendship? Uncle Ron, Uncle George and his brother Fred teased mom all the time about it."
"They did? How did they even find out?"
"Well the summer before dad's second year, Uncles Ron, George and Fred rescued dad from the Dursley's home – he wasn't being treated nice – and he stayed with the Weasley's. Mum saw him and couldn't even speak. She kind of freaked out then ran away. That's when the real teasing began. But Aunt Hermione saw what was going on with her, and they had a chat."
"Aunt Hermione knew all along that mum liked dad?"
"Yep. But Aunt Hermione didn't know much about love then, I mean, they were only twelve, and mum was eleven. What was she supposed to say? Aunt Hermione told her the only thing she could think of: Be Yourself."
"Did it work?"
"Well mum's first year wasn't so great. Remember what she told us? About the Chamber of Secrets? Dad saved her you know?"
"I remember." Lily sighed dramatically. Her mum had been so brave, to be possessed by a piece of Voldemort's soul? Lily didn't know what she would have done in her mother's place.
"Anyways, mum thought being herself wasn't working. Over the years she tried dressing herself up. Even dated several of hers and dad's classmates."
"Seriously?"
"Yep, at one point she dated Uncle Dean, and even dated our Charms professor!"
"No way! Professor Corner, ew!" Lily scrunched up her nose.
"Apparently dad finally caught on, he was so jealous that the next time she was single he practically kissed her in front of the whole Gryffindor common room. He tried breaking up with her once, too, after Dumbledore's funeral. Mum was furious, but she agreed, knowing he was only doing it for her safety. They were back together the night following the Battle of Hogwarts though."
"Wow. Why did no one ever tell me this? It's so romantic!" Lily swayed dreamily in her spot, eyes to the clouds above in a trance-like state.
"Because the point of the story isn't the romance, or the nitty-gritty details of how mum and dad got together."
Lily furrowed her brows in confusion, "Then what is the point?"
Albus sighed at his sister's naivety, "The point is is that you need to learn to just be yourself, and everything will work out in the end. You don't need pretty clothes and fancy-schmancy make-up to get some guy's attention. All you need is that fiery Weasley/Potter attitude that I know you have, and a little Lily ingenuity and I won't be able to keep the blokes off of you." Albus scrunched up his nose in disgust. Sure he wanted Lily to find love, but he didn't want to deal with all the before-hand messiness.
Lily smiled, "You meant it?"
"Of course I mean it, silly girl. Would I tell you otherwise? Sheesh, I create such a heartfelt moment between a brother and sister, and you question my motives –"
Albus was interrupted as Lily wrapped her arms around her older brother. She had always looked up to Albus, thinking James way too old to confide in. "Thanks Al," she said with a smile, hugging him tighter.
Albus hugged her back, "No problem, kiddo."
Lily swatted his arm, "I think we can both agree that 'kiddo' is no longer an appropriate term of endearment. I am out of 'kiddo' stage, we can both agree."
Albus only smiled, hugging her tighter trying to get her to shut up, "Ah the beautiful sounds of lapping waves against the shore!" he called out dramatically to no one in particular.
"Al, I'm serious. Maybe you could call me by my name instead –"
"And the wind in the leaves, isn't it simply fantastic!" he was twirling her around now, laughing audibly as he ignored his sister entirely.
Lily sighed dramatically, knowing she would never get through to him now.
Lily turned, grabbing Albus by the arm as he still continued to babble incessantly as if their conversation had never occurred. Once she had reached the rest of their friends, she shoved them in their direction.
"Deal with him, I'm going back to the castle. Bye!" Lily chirped, seeming to be in a much better mood, and this made Rose and Sarah smile, glad Albus had gotten through to her, considering the amount of crying she had done in their dorm.
"Oh the birds chirping are simply divine, and what a lovely shade of green the grass has taken on!"
"Albus, shut up! Lily's gone now, you can stop acting like an imbecile!" Scorpius smacked him lightly on the head, knowing why his friend was acting so ridiculous.
"Thank Merlin, girl drama is so, blasé," Albus droned on. Rose smacked him again, harder. "Ow!"
"Do you even know what blasé means?" Rose asked.
"Nope," Albus grinned like a kid.
Rose simply rolled her eyes at her cousin, "Come on, I think dinner starts soon anyways. You and your sister's heart to heart took nearly an hour and I'm starving."
"Here comes the Weasley side of Rose. Empty stomach ready to be filled," Albus laughed at his cousin's expense.
Rose glared at Albus, before grabbing Sarah's arm and stalking further ahead.
"Aw, look what you did Albus!" Scorpius moped, upset to see the girls run down the path away from them.
Albus only shrugged his shoulders, before grabbing Scorpius' arm and hurried after his childish cousin and his girlfriend.
A/N: What did you guys think? I want to know your opinions, really! Like what did you think about Albus telling Scorpius not to tell Rose what he had heard Lucius say? And about Thomas Longbottom being a Slytherin? Don't worry, it's not the last you'll see of him! :) And what about Sarah's brother Douglas? If you're wondering what the disease was, it was AIDs. As a wizarding family, I didn't think they would know much on the disease, so I kind of left them guessing. BTW, that was a spur of the moment plot bunny, but I had always thought of making a companion to this from Sarah's point of view, especially the beginning of the story. I don't think I will ever get the chance, but that plot bunny made me want to more! What did you think of the Lily drama? And the Albus/Lily relationship that I brewed? I love Albus, and Lily too of course, so this scene was one of my favorites to write! Albus is just so silly, typical boy, avoiding drama if he can, but family comes first!
Anyways, with school, it can get hard to update. But I have started in on the next chapter, so who knows when that will be up! Just keep an eye on your subscriptions!