When Al had first mentioned the party, Scorpius thought there might have been a little exaggeration involved. Now that he, with what seemed like every member of the Potter and Weasley family, sat in a pink tutu at a table that looked like it was going to break under the weight of the enormous pile of gifts (all wrapped in pink and purple paper), Scorpius felt he qualified to accept the gracious pity Albus had lent him the day of the carnival. Lily was certainly making a nightmare out of her birthday. A cute, fluffy, and all-things girly nightmare, but a nightmare all the same.

He noticed Albus walking from the lawn to the house, and he excused himself from the table to run up to the other boy. "Albus, wait." Al held the door open for him and continued into the house. Scorpius followed into the kitchen. "Hey," Scorpius started, taking advantage of Al's pause in front of the refrigerator, "hey, what's up?"

Albus looked up and sent a curious glance toward the blonde. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Scorpius shuffled his feet and threw his hands into his pockets, "uh, you just seem kind of, you know, different. The past few days or so we haven't really talked much, and I was just wondering if I did anything to upset you-"

Al shook his head. "It's fine. I was stupid, that's all. I'm sorry I've been acting different." Al shot a dazzling grin toward Scorpius. "I just thought of something that kind of shook my world, you know what I mean?" He closed the fridge and pulled a gallon of milk away from his chest. Scorpius noticed the way the condensation on the jug had clung to his shirt, leaving a wet imprint on the fabric that, if he reached out to touch it, Scorpius was sure it would feel cool and calming against his hot hand. He coughed and looked away when Al sent him another quizzical stare.

"I'm sorry if I did anything to, ah, upset your world." He was looking at his feet again.

"Nah, don't be," Albus put his arm around Scorpius's shoulder and they walked back toward the party. "Some horror, isn't it?" he asked, jerking his head toward Lily, who was currently dancing in her new fairy outfit on the top of the table, a whirling image of lace and rainbows. Scorpius nodded, swallowing audibly for effect. Albus laughed, and then looked serious. He stopped their gait at the door and turned toward his companion. "We've known each other since we were babies, Scorp. Dad used to bring me over to your place at least once a week for Ministry stuff. And you used to come over here with your Dad for dinner about once a month. I liked having someone around other than James and Lils. We were close enough before Hogwarts," he frowned, "and now we've been in the same house for four years, and we're more distant than ever before. Why is that? Why aren't we friends?"

Scorpius's mouth went dry. He opened his mouth to stall his answer, but Lily called for her brother to bring the milk to the table, and Al was gone before he could murmur anything about how "things change," and other nonsensical lies like that. He followed him to the party and sat next to James, who was playing the supportive older brother excellently. James clapped his hand to Scorpius's shoulder when he sat down and gave him a goofy grin.

"She's a piece of work, isn't she?" he asked, grinning toward Lily, who was now placing tiaras on Rose and Hugo and commanding them to "be nice little princesses, or I'll send the garden gnomes after you." Scorpius just nodded. James shrugged. "She's always been like that, though. Full of life and energy. She's still playing with dolls, for Merlin's sake. And then she'll go through some dramatic style change and start wearing fishnets with grungy rock band t-shirts and all this crap. She and Al are so different."

At the unexpected mention of Al's name, Scorpius looked over to see the other boy taking a sip from a soda, talking avidly with a Weasley. Scorpius wrinkled his nose, trying to remember. Rose. She was in their year, a Ravenclaw. Memories of her flashed across his mind and he remembered her amazing capacity to retain information and her very short temper. Scorpius liked Rose, for the most part. But when she kept bugging Al with "What's wrong with you?" and "You seem different today, Al. I don't know if I like it," Scorpius tried to erase her voice from his head. She was annoying right now.

So Scorpius had instead chosen to focus on Albus, who was taking another sip from his soda. Time seemed to stop as he watched Albus lean his head slightly backward, tipping the bottle so that the liquid could rush forward. He could see the veins working in Al's hand as he clenched and unclenched his hand. Al set the bottle down on the table and smacked his lips before smiling at his cousin. Scorpius's breath hitched and it took a moment for him to calm down. "Shit," he sighed.

A light laugh in his ear made Scorpius jump what must have been a foot from the table. Luckily, everyone's attention was focused on Rose's father, who was entertaining the group with some form of the River Dance. Lily sat down beside him when James got up to assist his uncle. "Did it ever occur to you, Scorpy," she grinned when he reacted in horror to his new nickname, "that you're jealous of a glass bottle? Hmmm?" She twiddled her hair and nodded toward Albus.

Now, what should he have done in this situation? Should he have rebuked her for using such a disgusting title to address him? Should he have played innocent and pretend not to understand her question? Should he have nodded and blushed? Scorpius didn't know. So, instead of doing any of these things, he stood up. "I- uh, I'm not feeling too well, Lily." He smiled apologetically. "I hope you love the rest of your birthday party." He turned to leave, but her sudden grip on his hand held him still.

Lily gave him a searching look, and Scorpius was suddenly terrified that she might find what her eyes were rummaging for. She smiled sweetly and let go of his hand. "You shouldn't have to run from anything, Scorpius."

Scorpius rubbed the sweat from his hands on his jeans, nervously. "No, no. It's not anything like that. I love the party. It's, uh, very you. I really don't feel well."

Lily shrugged. "If you don't feel well, then you should go lie down." He smiled gratefully at her and walked away. He was halfway to the house when he heard her call to him. "I'll have Albus come check up on you in a bit. Rest well."