Hey everyone! I'm really going to try and post this today (December 28th) but if that doesn't work out it'll be up tomorrow! I'm still writing my Twilight Fanfic too and today was the day to post on that story, but I'm really going to kill myself in order to do both. Hope you guys love me for it! Please review. It makes me so happy to see them in my email. Love you! Oh right.. I've been asked quite a few times how old I am because my writing is misleading to my real age.. So I figured, I'd just tell you that I'm fifteen. :P Not sure why it matters but there you go!


Chapter Five: Whatever It Takes (Lifehouse)

A soft knock on the dorm room door pulled Lily from the world of Potions essays, catapulting her back into reality. Worried that it might be a drunk Scorpius waiting to let her have it as soon as she opened up for him, the redhead crept across the room to peer out the crack produced by the shitty carpentry of the doorway.

To her surprise, it was a shivering Cherry that stood in the quiet hallway, looking towards the stairs as if she was planning to bolt from the unfamiliar territory. Lily wondered how the girl had managed to get completely in the door to the common room, much less all the way up to the dorm rooms. It wasn't a secret that Cherry had broken up the relationship that bridged the gap between the two rivaling houses.

Something in the girl's thin face told her that there was a reason for her visit beyond gloating about her victory over Lily's face. Pulling open the door fully, the pale girl studied the corpse-like face in front of her. It was a gruesome sight that made her stomach churn.

Over the short time since Lily had last lay eyes on the blonde, her cheeks had hollowed out as if she was refusing to eat. Her normally sparkling eyes were dull, lifeless, and flickered to look anywhere but directly at the redhead. There was no traces of makeup on her face, taking away much of the beauty that dazzled boys on the spot.

Thick, flannel pajamas covered the girls thin body yet she still shivered at the autumn wind blowing into the dorm room. Blonde hair pulled back from her face, Cherry's face was exposed enough that it was obvious she was breaking out in blotches of acne all over her face.

Yet the worst sight of all were her lips. Bloody cracks spread even further as she continually licked the sore flesh, red streaking through the pale white skin. It took everything Lily had to not retreat to her bed where she wouldn't have to look at the disgusting figure before her.

Opening her dry lips, Cherry shivered convulsively from the thick air flowing into the room. "Please. You have to help me."

Lily's eyes skipped downwards to land on the girl's thin arm covering her flat stomach. She wanted to cry, to scream, to run, but her body refused. As if she hadn't been through enough over the past month, now the whore that had stolen her boyfriend was standing in her room, asking for a kind of help that she wasn't sure she could provide.

"Alright. Come in."


Standing in the center of the Quidditch field, Roland bowed to his boyfriend before kicking an American soccer ball into the air. Hugo watched as the brunette bounced the ball from knee to knee, the concentration causing his tongue to stick out the side of his mouth.

"What's the point of this game? Sometimes I think you're from a different planet, not a different country." Hugo chuckled, reminding himself how much he loved Roland's Brooklyn accent.

The taller boy rolled his eyes, sending the ball flying towards Hugo with his foot. It was easy to forget that he was a stranger in this country, to this continent. He'd felt so at home here for the seven years he'd been away from his own house, he couldn't even rightfully call New York his home.

It wasn't hard for him to be away from his parents anymore, though it had felt life threatening when he was young. Roland hadn't seen his parents in over two years, refusing to visit during the holidays or summer break. His mother secretly sent money to him monthly, enough to stay in hotels throughout the breaks away from school, if he saved enough. No one knew that he refused to visit home, even Scorpius was fooled into thinking he had family close by.

Sighing as he joined his boyfriend on the bleachers of the stadium, Roland closed his eyes to the world and leaned back against the seats behind him. As he lay there, listening to the sounds of the wind blowing by and the easy breathing of his boyfriend, Roland was jolted awake by the vibrations of his cell phone.

Hugo peered over the older boy's shoulder, surprised to see the name scrolling across the screen was his mother's. Louise Stone never called her son, avoiding the verbal contact even during the most important holidays of the year. Fear flashed across Roland's suddenly hard features as he jumped from the bench, scrambling to get enough privacy that he could take the call.

Words floated through the air, delayed in their journey to Hugo's ears. "I thought you said he'd be okay... That's bullshit! He's obviously not fine... What am I supposed to say to him when he... first plane ride there... Bye, Mom." Most of the conversation was lost to the wind, but as the thin boy pieced together the terrified look on Roland's face with the general sound of the talk, he knew something was wrong.

As he scurried to calm the brunette down from whatever tragedy he had just been hit with, Hugo winced at the sound of the older boy falling to his knees. Something was wrong, but at the moment he didn't care what it was. The only thing that mattered was calming Roland down enough to be rational.

"Babe, it's okay." Squatting beside the other boy, Hugo was surprised to see tears forming in his dark eyes. Whispering as he cradled the brunette's head to his chest, the thin boy rocking him back and forth. "It'll all be okay."

Choking in the effort to hold back tears, Roland dug his muscular fingers into the cool ground. "No, it's not. Nothing is every fucking okay. I don't know how I'm- My father, he's- He's dying."


The overcrowded library was the only place Lily felt safe enough to meet with Scorpius and luckily he hadn't said much when he had agreed to meet with her, making it easy for her to make all the decisions. Not that she had given him much choice, the blonde had practically been ordered into conversing with her and she had hung up before he could argue.

Cherry had stayed with Lily in her dorm room for at least an hour, the color slowly starting to return to her face as the redhead assured her that everything would work out just fine. It wasn't something she had wanted to promise, not sure if she would be able to keep it, but calming down the hysterical girl was her first priority.

It had quickly been brought to her attention that Scorpius didn't know that he had knocked up the broken girl, though she was sure that he was suspicious. The three words he had mouthed to her as he was dragged out of the Slytherin common room that night chilled the blonde girl to the bone.

"Is it mine?" That's all it took for her to admit that she could possibly be pregnant and that she needed help. Cherry wasn't sure what had drawn her to the redhead, she was well aware that hatred was the only relationship they would ever have, but she knew that Lily wouldn't leave her alone to deal with this problem.

But why hadn't she? She should have, after everything this girl had done to her; after every dream she had crushed, every memory she had stained, every plan she had soiled. Even Lily wasn't sure why she hadn't closed that door, pretending that she was asleep, ignoring the life being ruined outside her door.

Loyalty. The word ran through the young girl's head continually as she walked through the tall bookcases, avoiding first years scrambling through the isles in order to study for the first tests of the year. Many times she looked over her shoulder towards the door, longingly, as if she might break away at any moment.

Scorpius was leaning against a bookcase on the other side of the wooden table filling the space between the two teens, his blonde hair interfering with the intensity of his stare. Thoughts rushed through his head, worries over what the meeting was about filling his stomach with fluttering beasts.

Not trusting that she would be safe, even in the bustling library, Lily refused get close enough to the table to sit. Standing awkwardly in the entrance to the small alcove that the bookcases produced in the back corner of the room, she stuffed her hands in the pockets of her marshmallow dress.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Scorpius let the tough look slide off his face and sighed. "You asked me here, you know. One would think that you would do most of the talking."

"Right, sorry." Licking her lips, the redhead's eyes flickered to look anywhere but directly at the tall boy. "I don't know how I got wrapped up into this, but Cherry didn't have the guts to tell you herself."

His eyebrows furrowing, the blonde took a seat at the table and shamelessly stared at his ex-girlfriend with concern. She half expected him to interrupt her, doing anything to stray from the topic. But he didn't, though his jaw clenched against the urge to talk.

As she suddenly gained courage, Lily took the seat across from the Slytherin and took a deep breath before just saying what she had come here to tell him. "She's pregnant, Scorpius. And contrary to popular belief, you're the only guy she's- It has to be yours. She's was scared to come to you about it, knowing that you would leave at the first sign of conflict."

This stung the blonde more than it should have, his striking features crumpling. "It's really nice to know how much faith everyone has in me."

"Can you blame her? You don't have the best record of being trustworthy. But that doesn't even really matter right now. She already decided that she doesn't have the heart to- Take care of the problem. So you need to realize that you are going to have a child, whether or not you're a part of it's life is up to you." The old Lily, the one that had fallen for this boy's best tricks, would have crumpled at the sight of Scorpius' reaction to this news, but she wasn't that girl anymore.

Nodding his head, the blonde scared at Lily's forehead until she was forced to look him in the eyes. "Why are you helping? Neither of us have earned your concern, so why do you give a shit what happens to us?"

A sharp laugh erupted from the girl's throat, genuinely surprised at his stupidity. "That's where you have it wrong, Malfoy. I don't give a rat's ass what happens to either of you, but that baby didn't do anything to deserve this. Cherry isn't ready to be a mother, not that I am, but she's going to need a better support system than you're flaky ass. So no, you haven't earned my concern, but I'm going to be here until Cherry tells me otherwise."

Scorpius saw the Lily that he had fallen in love with, the Lily that didn't give a shit what the obstacle was, she was going to push past it. Had that trait disappeared in the past six months or had he just forgotten to look for it? Either way, the boy made a pact with himself that he would get her back. It wasn't an option anymore.

Leaning forward, the blonde clasped her hands before she could pull away. As he pressed her right palm to his heart, his voice dropped to a silky whisper. "I will prove myself to you again, Lily. And I won't stop until you love me again."

But how long would that take?


Amazingly, Hugo had gotten permission from his father to follow Roland to Brooklyn in order to be there for him when the moment came that he would have to say goodbye to his father. Ron hadn't been thrilled with the concept of his son leaving school in order to follow his boyfriend to a different country without supervision, but how could he not let him be Roland's only support through this horrible event?

The younger boy dreaded the trip, although he was slightly eager to meet the family that had brought his wonderful boyfriend into the world. Roland didn't have the heart to break the news to him that his family was definitely not worth getting excited over.

He hadn't ever opened up to Hugo about what he considered the terrible childhood he had been forced to live through, always keeping details about his home vague and generic. A growing fear of being abandoned by the younger boy filled Roland's head, making him hold on to every word the redhead spoke as if he would never hear his voice again.

Maybe it was a dramatic way to view the situation, but it was better than dwelling on the man laying in a hospital bed only hours away from slipping from the Earth to never return again. The controversy over how he should feel about his father's death and how he actually felt, sent his head spinning in a million different directions.

New York was much larger than Hugo had expected, making him sickened at how exciting it was to be out of England. Leaning against Roland as they climbed out of the taxi, the younger boy stared at his boyfriend's childhood home.

The house was squished between two similar, old two-story houses. It was in need of a new paint job and windows, many of the glass portals covered with black garbage bags. Stairs leading up to the maroon door creaked with the weight of the boys, only partially covering the sounds of crime going on around them.

It wasn't the best neighborhood to raise a family in, yet there were dozens of children under the age of 18 prowling the streets. A group of dark skinned boys stood on the opposite side of the street from the Stone house, watching every move the flamboyant boy made.

They couldn't have been any much older than Hugo, yet something in their faces made them seem like they had seen more of the world than he ever would. It was clear that they weren't fond of the younger boy's presence, their thick lips pulled back in threatening snarls. Only of the oldest adolescents inched his hand towards something thick and black that was nestled in the waistband of his jeans.

Noticing the movement, Roland stepped in front of his boyfriend and nudged his head towards the street corner. His face deadly serious, the brunette was well prepared for any fight that might break out at that very moment. To Hugo's surprise, the teenagers turned to leave, only hesitating slightly before disappearing down the street.

"Let's get inside. It's too obvious that you don't belong here." The words stung Hugo, but not as much as the sudden mannerism change in the older boy. Grabbing the suitcases at his face, Roland pushed through the chipping door into the dim lighting of the house.

A thin, wispy woman appeared in the doorway leading to what Hugo assumed was the kitchen. She seemed surprised to see her son standing in the doorway, but no other emotion showed on her gray face. "Your room's fixed. Scavenge for supper. See you at the hospital."

That was all the woman said before pushing past the boys to exit, staring openly at Hugo as she passed. He felt more uncomfortable by the second, regretting the decision to join Roland on this trip.

Following the tall boy up another set of creaking stairs, the redhead was quickly led into the tiniest bedroom he had ever seen. The only furniture in the room was a queen size bed, an antique desk, and a box TV that he was sure had been bought during the early nineties. Alien designed sheets covered the bed, giving the entire room a juvenile feel.

Catching the boy staring at the poor excuse of a bedroom, Roland slung the suitcases onto the bed and cleared his throat. "We're going to have to share this room. I figured that you can have the bed and I'll just chill on the floor."

There was barely enough room to walk around the tiny space, much less sleep. Hugo shook his head vigorously, reaching out to pull the taller boy towards him. "There's not enough room. We'll just share the bed. I mean, we've napped together before anyway."

Reluctantly, Roland agreed. "We should get going. The hospital is just up the street, so we can reach it by walking."


Jerry Stone lay in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling as he ignored the quiet mumbles escaping his wife's lips. The thinning of his face was nothing compared to the complete thinning of his hair, his scalp having lost every strand of hair left. It bothered Roland to see his father so weak, having always seen him as the strong man that had raised him as a child.

Watching his parents through the glass of the hospital room divider, the quickly aging boy swallowed the lump forming in his throat. He was thankful that Hugo hadn't spoken to him sense they had left the house, mindlessly aware that it would hurt the situation more than help. Courage tried to spread through his veins, but got stuck halfway through the blood system and preventing him from just walking into the tiny room.

Breaking the oath of silence he had made to himself, Hugo murmured that he would be back with coffee and strolled off into the unfamiliar hallways of the hospital. He listened for the sound of the other boy pushing through the glass doors to join his tiny family, hearing it just as he turned the corner.

Roland slipped into the room as silently as possible, immediately drawing the attention of his sick father. A string of emotions flickered across the older man's face as his eyes focused on his son. "What the hell are you doing here, Roland?"

It wasn't the greeting the brunette had wanted, but it was what he had been expecting, causing him to smile dryly at the man that had put him through eleven years of hell.

"I figured if you were going to die, I should probably see you off before celebrating."


Hugo was just walking down the hallway that led to Mr. Stone's hospital room, when the door was flung open and a furious Roland was stalking down the hall towards him. The older boy didn't say anything as he grabbed Hugo's thin arm, dragging him towards the exit of the sterile building.

"What's going on? Roland? What happened?" He stumbled as he was pulled backwards, struggling to gain his balance. Had he really been gone so long that Roland was beyond pissed and bawling?

The pair didn't slow until they hit the street, not that Hugo had much choice in the speed that he was being dragged along. Finally calming down enough to speak without growling, Roland watched the younger boy out of the corner of his eye. "Everything is fine. I just needed to get out of there. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Staring at his feet moving quickly under him, Hugo decided to not push the other boy into explaining what had gone on. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. "I've never been close to my father. He was abusive through my whole childhood, getting as drunk as possible before he'd show up at home.

"I went to therapy for it when I was ten, but it was a waste of time. Why the state thought that slapping the back of my old man's hand would make him change his ways I have no idea, but it didn't work. He just started hitting me in places that no one would see unless I went out of my way to show them. That is, until the summer before I was sent a letter inviting me to attend this strange school.

"Pops wasn't too happy about me being a freak, along with my current status as a failure. So he hit me hard enough to put me in the hospital for a few weeks. The state didn't take too kindly to that but kids from my neighborhood get in trouble all the time, so they sent me to another continent. Which is where I met Scorpius, became somewhat worth something and eventually met you."

The thinner boy listened to the story in horror, not able to comprehend the deep rooted issues he imagined that situation would produce. He was scared to ask, but wanted to know what had happened in that hospital room in order to bring all this up.

Saving his boyfriend from asking, Roland ran a hand through his scruffy hair and sighed. "He started in about how much of a disappointment I am, how I shouldn't have come back. Don't get me wrong, I provoked it a bit but it was still a bit intense. Anyway, he practically ordered me to leave Brooklyn because if the gangs heard that my queer ass was back in town well- I'd regret the decision to show my face here. As if I don't already. His heart rate spiked and now he's gone. Forever."

Hugo had expected tears to slide down Roland's cheeks, but his facial expression didn't change from the blank, hard stare. It was almost worse to deal with than a bawling man.

Reaching out to pull the thin boy against his side, Roland closed his eyes and just breathed. "I can't believe he's gone."

"I love you so much." Hugo whispered it to the thin shirt covering the older boy's chest, blinking back tears that weren't necessarily sad. "If we last, I want kids. I want you to have the chance to prove that you are a much better man than your father."

Smiling at the thought, Roland looked up at the twilight sky. "You've already helped me prove that."


Sorry this took a while to put up! With the New Years and headaches hitting me constantly, I just hadn't gotten the chance to finish the chapter. Hopefully I'm starting to go in a direction that makes most of you happy! Happy 2012! Leave reviews please!