When she woke up, bleary eyed, she blinked at the clock and saw that it was four in the afternoon. She groaned and cursed herself for not charming the clock correctly to wake her up at 3.30. She had the night shift tonight and was off tomorrow and despite being in bed since 8.30 she was exhausted. Her visions were starting again, this she could feel. Something was tugging at the back of her mind and she thought of flashes of dreams she could remember. All it was short snippets of sound and flashes of faces.

Half an hour later she was dressed, hair wet and leaving droplets on her t-shirt as she stood in the kitchen. Michael had agreed to give it another try, even offered to cook for Lily, but he ended up getting called in to work today. She volunteered to make dinner again, a rarity for her. She lived off of take away, menus organized by the times they were available. Still, her grandma Molly had given her a few pointers on how to cook so she wasn't completely incapable (as long as she could use magic).

After dinner was mostly cooked, or at least to a point where she could handle it without magic, she began muggle proofing the house. She cast spells to freeze her pictures that were out in one frame and picked up the random knuts that she had on various counters. She made sure her wand was tucked away into her bedroom and spell books hidden. Once finished she surveyed her flat and decided it that it looked just like a muggle's.

Checking on the dinner, she was interrupted by a knock on the door and could hardly stop herself from using magic to open the door for Michael and walked over to find him standing there with a shopping bag in hand. "Come in," she said, smiling brightly. He wasn't in his uniform, just a pair of jeans and plain white t-shirt.

"You said pasta, so I bought bread like you asked and something to drink." He holds out a bottle. "I didn't figure you were the wine type, so I brought beer, it's my favorite."

"Mine too, thanks."

"Need any help?"

"I just finished up."

"You alright?" Michael leaned up against the counter after he followed Lily to the kitchen. He watched her pull out dishes and plate the dishes using tongs.

"Tired, but it's just working the night shift. I'll be doing it tomorrow as well." She handed him a plate and gestured to the table in the back of the kitchen. "I'll get glasses, can you open that?"

"Bottle opener?"

"No, give it." She knew a charm that Jordi taught her…Grabbing the bottle from him to motion hitting against the counter, murmuring it under breath at the last moment, barely cracking it against the counter, but the metal cap still popped off.

"How did you do that without breaking the bottle?"

"Magic touch," she said with a laugh, handing him the bottle and grabbing glasses before settling down.

After their glasses were filled they began eating, talking quietly, small talk about work and shifts. He laughs when Lily struggles to loop the long spaghetti noodles around her fork, she laughs when he slurps one up. "I'm glad we had a take two, there's just something I can't figure out. Why were you so determined to…" He laughs, not finishing.

Lily ducks her head and finishes the last bite of her dinner before dabbing at her face with a napkin. She shrugs. "It's hard to explain, but I like a challenge."

"A challenge?" He looked amused as he leaned back in his chair. "I don't know whether to be flattered or offended," he said, remembering what she always said to him.

Lily didn't know quite how to respond, to put what she was thinking into words that would make sense to him. "I became a nurse because potions was my worst subject, you know."

"I don't quite know what that has to do with anything…" His eyebrows were deeply furrowed as he looked her over. "And what are potions?"

Lily's cringed at her mistake. "I meant chemistry…I called it potions because it felt like magic to make things turn out right."

He passed her a smirk. "So you choose things that it seems like you're going to fail at."

After they were done eating Lily put the dishes in the sink and turned down his insistences to help her wash them up. It would be much easier with magic, so it could wait until she was gone. The two moved to the living area and sat on the couch, the rest of the beer in their glasses. Michael looked at the pictures on the wall, smiling at the collection of what appeared to be family photos. "Big family," he said, gesturing to the photo of them at one of their summer dinners. She took another drink when she realized when it was from. It was a night she invited Scorpius over. He stood by her, smiling at the camera.

"Not everyone is related," she explained and got up to pull it off the wall before sitting back down on the couch. "The blonde," she pointed at Luna, "is my godmother. That's her husband and her sons." She looked at the men that flanked her, Rolf's dark hair and tan skin a stark contrast to the other. "This is Teddy and his grandma Andromeda. He's my dad's godson."

"Where are his parents? Could they not make it?"

"They…" Lily's mind flashbacked to seeing a picture of Remus and Tonks. The vibrant young woman and the weary older man with such a happy look on his face. "They died when he was baby. Dad helped raise him, he's practically my third brother." Her mind felt like it was reaching, groping at something.

"Oh, which ones are your brothers?"

"Those two." They stood by her father, who was behind Lily. "James," the one that looked eerily like her dad, "and Albus. That's my mum." Ginny stood beside her daughter, eyes turned towards her own brother. She walked him through the rest of her family, finding it easier to talk, and skirted around some of the stories. Luckily, you couldn't see any of his scars on Uncle Bill and there was no reason to talk about Uncle George's twin. "Sorry, I've spent so much time talking about my family." She took the photo from him and went to hang it up on the wall.

"It's fine." He got up to, following her to get a closer look. "Is that you?"

Lily looked at the picture he was studying carefully. It was her grandmother Lily, wearing some sort of gown with her hand extended. She had frozen it right before she pulled her grandfather James in the picture. The two of them looked so happy. Her eyes were bright and smile wide. James' eyes never left her face. "No," Lily responded. They were 17 in that picture and had gotten married at the Ministry hours before. "It's my grandmother, I was named after her."

"Wow," he said. "If it wasn't for the eyes the two of you could be twins."

"Yeah." Lily tried not to think about them, for some reason it was one of the triggers anymore. It propelled her mind to start reaching for visions of the Ministry, of aurors.

"How come they weren't in that picture?"

"They died when my dad was a baby." The two of them were only 21, Lily had already outlived them and that the same time she felt like she accomplished so much less than they had.

Michael looked at Lily who had her head tilted and saw that there was so much more behind her words. He didn't say anything, but reached out and touched her arm. She gave him a smile and sat back down on the couch with him. He didn't ask any more questions, instead continued to tell her anecdotes that would distract her. Michael wasn't exactly a challenge, he was safe, and being with him was simple.

Scorpius was engrossed in his work. Papers were fluttering all around him and a quill scratching on a fresh pad of parchment. He didn't even look up when he heard footsteps come behind him. "Roxie, good, can you do me a favor?" He gropes for a book and then holds it behind his head.

"Not Roxie," the voice murmurs, a warm hand resting on his shoulder. The papers and the quill drops suddenly when Scorpius turns to meet blue eyes. "We were supposed to meet almost an hour ago."

"Oh…I'm sorry, really, it's just that everything's coming together and making sense now…" Scorpius looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was going to surprise you in the lobby, but I bumped into Al and he said the only way you were going to come anytime soon was if I dragged you out of here." He looks to make sure there is an empty space on the desk before sitting down. "Are you about ready or do you want to cancel?
"I—" Scorpius finds himself cut off when another man steps forward. This man startles Steve as he looks like an older version of the man he's dating. The hair is a bit thinner and the robes dark and pressed. "Sir, do you need something?"

"You neglected to sign your reports." He hands a folder to Scorpius. "Who are you? Not another recruit I hope."

"Naw, I'm here for Score." Steve gives him a lazy grin and watches as Scorpius eyes widen.

"Are you now?"

"Civilians are allowed in here as far as I was concerned," Scorpius said, finishing signing his name with a flourish before handing him the folder.

"Of course they are, but usually they tend to stay away." He smiles as he looks over Steve who is slouching, wearing clothes that look vaguely muggle with jeans a bit too snug and a bit too worn in conjunction with Henley that strains across his chest. "I'm Draco Malfoy, one of the supervisors in the Law Enforcement Division here."

"Steve Smith," he replies.

"I take it you are one of Scorpius'…friends." There is a quirk of a smile at his otherwise neutral face. "I will leave the two of you. Scorpius I suggest you leave. You have quite enough overtime and I'd hate for you to keep him waiting."

He doesn't answer and the tension doesn't leave his shoulders until Draco is out of sight. Once he's gone, Scorpius began to pick up his desk. Steve watches in great interest how he doesn't use magic when it could all be cleaned with just the right movement of his wand. He looks up at him when it's all done and Steve gets to the floor following him to the elevator. It isn't until they are outside that the two of them finally talk.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't know your dad worked in the same department."

"It's fine." Scorpius runs a hand through his hair and Steve looks at him, still looking worried that they he did something to mess up their relationship. He promised to take it slow and then shows up in the middle of his office. But he doesn't care anymore. He leans forward to grab his shoulder and press a kiss to his lips. The first time they kissed it was awkward, didn't feel quite right to Scorpius. Nothing about Steve was soft, he was all lean muscle and his skin toughened from work. His lips were chapped and he smelled of sawdust and paint and an undertone of his shampoo. It was nice, though. There was no overwhelming scent of perfume or sticky lip gloss like when he kissed Ophelia on that horrible date. Ophelia felt so small and fragile in his arms, even though he had played on Quidditch on the pitch with her and knew she was everything but. Steve, though, was surprisingly gentle for his size and didn't push back until Scorpius pushed harder. It felt safe. Safer than when he kissed Lily all those years ago. He stills remembers her bruising kiss, how she would tumble on his lap and always reach for more. Steve was patient.

"I guess you are." He laughed when they pulled away and touched his arm, lingering for a bit. "Where do you want to go?"

"My place." They went to Steve's already. A flat that on the outside looks sketchy, but on the inside he's transformed it. He said he didn't have to pay rent for two months because the landlord was so impressed and actually hired him to help renovate some of the others too.

"Oh, I know we went to mine, but—"

"I'll show you the wonders of takeout and…" He pauses searching the mans face. "Maybe my bedroom." His voice is lowered for the last part and Steve's blue eyes widen.

"Then let's go." He links his hand with Scorpius who pulls them to a secluded place to apparate to the flat.