Time passes fast with Michael and Lily likes it. Well, she likes some of it. He's an excuse to relax, to not stay overtime at the hospital for nearly every shift. Ella notices the difference and so does Charlotte. Lily hasn't gotten up enough courage to ask her how on earth she made it work with Adrian. She knew that after the war she basically left the magical world until her daughter was of age. Lily can't do that, she so deeply rooted in it, she would always resent Michael if she left it for him.

Still, she does best to straddle the two worlds, keep the right amount of information hidden. It's hard, especially when they make plans after a night shift, or rather after she sleeps after a night shift. Luckily she's able to keep the visions at bay during the day using strategies and just from plain old practice. Sleeping, though, is a whole different story. They tug at her mind, torture her with small bits and blurred faces…Sometimes the vision was reoccurring, the same one with the woman Auror and then the Auror she thought was Scorpius. She told him that it was just a bad day and he believed it. The second time, though, she got close to telling him the truth. He said that if she didn't have nightmares it would be more worrying. The response sounds so right to her ears she really did wish she was just a nurse having nightmares over a gruesome day at work.

Today, she barely got any sleep, but she has two days off in a row next, something unheard of. Michael and she were going to her favorite bar, the muggle one that was wizard friendly. She slipped into a pair of tight jeans before putting on a jumper and boots. Fall was here and was not being shy with it's wind. There was a knock at that the door and she rushed over to see Michael leaning against the wall next to it. "It would be easier if you had a phone."

"I was getting ready."

"Are you done?"

She nodded with roll of her eyes, grabbing her bag before reaching for his hand. He guided her down the stairs, she purposefully bumped into him. When they got into the lobby she kissed the side of his neck, then his chin.

"Lily, we just left your apartment. Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah." She gives him a grin and pulls away. "Let's get walking, it's not that far from here."

"I could get a cab," he offers, but they continue walking down the street to the pub. It's still rather early in the evening, even if it is a Wednesday night. The place is full, but they do find a table. Lily forgoes her usual beer for a soda and orders a large basket of chips to start off with.

"Before I forget to ask you, there's this dinner that the police force puts on every year to raise money before Christmas." He rubs the back of his neck. "If you think it's—"

"I'll go with you, it's not that big of a deal."

"Really? Chief was giving me a hard time about not bringing a date and I just thought that maybe it was time to…take things a bit further."

Lily smirks at that. "Of course." She tells herself that Michael isn't Scorpius. At least not when Scorpius played for the Thestral's and public events were mandatory for him.

"I didn't think fancy parties like this were your thing."

"There's a lot you don't know." The food is brought and Lily helps herself to fries. Using the moment to collect her thoughts, she takes a large drink before she speaks again. "I used to date this guy, and…I always went with him to these boring dinners and charity dances and things like that. I got good at charming people." She laughs a bit too much, and realizes that there is no joke in that statement to Michael.

A smirk tugs at the edges of his lips as he shakes his head.

"What?"

"I was right about you." He let out a laugh. "Not completely, but—"

"There's a lot you don't know." She'd let him go on believing she'd been raised like Scorpius or one of the other pureblood families. It was magical equivalent to what he'd imagined of her, being sent to boarding school and having Daphne as a friend. Still, even with this made up past in Michael's mind to him she was still Lily. The cheeky neighbor girl that was persistent. She was never Lily Potter, daughter of war hero Harry Potter and professional Quidditch player/war hero Ginny Weasley. "I need more food, do you want something?"

"Nah, but you might want to get a large order of whatever you're having."

"Deal." She makes a show of sashaying in front of him, when she's well past she tosses her hair over her shoulder and looks at him coyly before heading to the bar. She wonders when he had to be at work. His shifts are a lot more regular than hers, as she alternates weeks between having the night shifts and days shifts. Perhaps, she can convince him to spend the night with her. They fooled around and gotten to 'almost' many times. She doubts he's a virgin with how they'd been and the last person she'd had sex with had been a while ago. Jordi. When they let the lines of their friendship blur again.

She's leaning against the bar waiting for her food when she feels a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees Fred standing in front of her. He's matured quite a bit and quite surprisingly now has a job at Gringotts. The job has something to do with accounting for businesses, he always had an eye for money.

"What are you doing here?" She hugs her cousin tightly. "It's been ages."

"Well, if you didn't work all the time and came to family dinner on Sunday night. Always a standing invitation." He looks around and then points in the direction of the table she's at with Michael. "Who's that?"

"No one," she snapped.

"Well, if 'no one' isn't ready to meet our lovely family I'd get him out of here. Roxie told me that her, Albus Score, and his new 'friend…" He quirks air quotes around the last word. "Will be here soon, I invited James, and I'm sure Roxie told Dom to come as well so she told Louis and Louis told Hugo…"

"You're joking, right?"

"No, this place is usually the only place big enough to hold all of us unless we want to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Aunt Hannah may be a miracle worker in her own kitchen, but that bar leaves much to be desired."

"I…Shit, Fred, I have to get him out of here. I kept my tab open, can you pay the bartender for me?" She reaches into her pocket to grab some of the odd muggle money and hand it to him.

"Sure, but why? Is this guy a one night stand, because I for one—"

"Leave the older brother shit for your own sister, alright?" She shakes her head. "Fred, I'm going to tell you something that you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"You fucked Zabini again when he had to come here to take those Ministry tests?"

"Can you attempt to not be so crude in public?" she hissed. "And no, he was only here for a few hours and I didn't see him." She looked over and then sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "He's a muggle."

"Is that all?"

"He doesn't know," she explained slowly.

"Lil, I don't know how much you've heard, but-"

"I know, but I can't take chances with him." She sighs and gives him a hug before telling goodbye and heading back to her table. There are questions floating around Michael, she can see them in his eyes and hanging off the edges of his lips.

"Who was that?"

"Fred," she said. "And we should leave."

"Wait…" He turns to look at the boy who's leaning against the bar now. He's tall and lanky like his father, but everything else he inherited from his mother, the dark skin and brown hair that he keeps closely cropped.

"He's a cousin, but can you just trust me?"

"Why?"

"Because he told me that my family was going to be coming here and it's just overwhelming to meet them all at once."

"I can handle my own Lily."

She sighs. "You haven't met my family. You can start out with Al or Teddy, but there is no way I am having you meet James and Fred when they are together along with Roxie and Dom."

"Fine, but just because you agreed to come with me." He gives her a smirk and puts an arm around her. The two leave in just the nick of time because in the distance Lily can hear a faint pop from an apparition that wasn't done quite properly (most likely Hugo). When she turns around she sees a large group of people entering the bar. She pauses and scans the crowd. Scorpius is among them, his height and his white-blond hair make him easy to find. There is another person in the crowd. Their hair isn't any of the usual colors of her family. It's a man, broad shoulder and nearly taller than Score who has is arm around his shoulder. They both look happy. And so is she. Lacing her hand through Michael's she plants a kiss on his cheek and leans into him.

They don't spend the night together like Lily wished, but they do stay in her apartment for a good length of time. Around midnight she's in bed and just beginning to fall into a deep sleep when there is a knock at the door. She groans and throws a sweatshirt she stole from Michael over her pyjamas before she answers it. Part of it hopes it is Michael, she quite likes sleeping next to someone. Instead, she is greeted with a drunken image of her older brother.

"James? What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

"Can I spend the night? I can't apparate and I think I'll vomit if I take the Knight bus."

"Our whole family was at the bar and they let you drink this much?"

"You know how it is." He waved his hand. "I was celebrating. Did you hear I got the job?"

Lily leads her older brother in, shutting the door and locking it behind him before guiding him towards the couch. "What job did you get?"

"That coach job for one of the good teams. It's an assistant positon…" He shakes his head. "Are you happy?"

"Yes." She laughs as she helps him get settled down on the couch, leaving a glass of water on the coffee table along with a veil of her best hangover cure next to it. "We'll talk in the morning."

She hopes that morning will come late. James never was a morning person and she doesn't want to get out of bed before she has too, she wants to enjoy it as long as she can. Although, her peace is interrupted by another knock on the door. Half-asleep, she opened it and saw Michael standing there with two cups from the café along with a paper bag. "What are doing here? I thought you had to be at work early."

"I did, but the briefing got cancelled so I have a bit of extra time."

"It's not really a good time…" She looks to the couch where James is still slumbering. "Kitchen and keep quiet, I'll explain." Lily notices not that Michael is in uniform and he takes off his cap when entering her flat. "That is my brother on the couch, he had a bit too much to drink and spent the night here because my flat is closest."

"Should I have brought something for him?"

"I'll put on the kettle and give him some toast, it'll be all he can manage. He doesn't have work today, he just got a promotion." She starts doing just that, managing to put the kettle on the muggle way.

"Oh, what's he do?"

"Football," Lily said, remembering the name of the popular muggle sport. "He's got a job as an assistant coach, used to play for a minor league team." She took the lid off the cup and took a drink. A latte with an extra shot, creamy with a strong coffee flavor. "Thanks for this though."

"Not a problem." He leaned forward and gave her a kiss. He had drank nearly half of his coffee on the way here, but his was sweeter, caramel rested on his lips. They pull away and eat the pastries before Lily climbs on the counter and sits with her legs swinging, Michael stands in one of the corners, leaning at just the right angle to look at her. When she goes in for another kiss she hears a rustling in the living room and sighs. Jumping off the counter she pulls out a cup and places a tea bag in hot water before pulling a box of biscuits out of the cupboard. She doesn't feel like dealing with toast now.

"Stay here until I let him into it. James' first impression is never good, particularly when he's hungover."

"His sister isn't much better."

"Shut it." The words come with a laugh on the end as she enters the living area and takes a seat on the coffee table. "Morning, sunshine." She takes the vial and uncaps it, handing it to her bleary eyed brother.

"Blood hell, Lil," he says and drinks it one gulp. "That stuff is awful."

"Should have drank less." She holds out the cup of water. "That may help with the headache, but your body wants liquids."

"Should of went to Teddy's. He gives me the disapproving look and Vicky scowls at me, but they don't lecture."

"You know that would have drawn too much attention," she whispers. They had moved into a house in a wizarding neighborhood. "James, I don't care that you come here, but we have to be careful if you don't want your face splashed across the papers." She hands him a cup of tea and pushes himself into a sitting position, running a hand through his hair.

"They've finally lost interest in us. If Malfoy's not careful they'll have some real fun…Did you know he dates blokes too? Like our Albie." He laughed.

"You act more drunk when you're hungover," she said and then lowers her voice again. "I want you to meet somebody…"
"Fuck, Lil, I—"

"He's in the kitchen," she said dryly. "Can you just play nice?" She gets to her feet and peeks her head through the doorway of the kitchen gesturing for Michael to come with her. "James, meet Michael, Michael meet James."

"Nice to meet you."

"Sorry about this, honestly I don't make a habit out of crashing on my baby sister's couch." He stands to his full height and shakes his hand. "How long have you been together?"

"Month give or take," Lily answered, narrowing her eyes as she watched Michael settle down in the armchair, sitting on the edge.

"You've been dating him for nearly a month and we didn't even know his name?" James asked. "What if he'd been a madman one of those blokes that's in those death eater groups, huh?

"James Sirius," she said, her voice raising an octave. "Honestly, I think I know how to take care of myself."

"This isn't Zabini you shagging!" he shouted getting to his feet. "You have no idea who this guy is. I've never seen him before. What school do he go to?"

"I went—" Michael began, but Lily cut in.

"He didn't go to uni and neither did you," she said slowly. "He went to the police academy."

"Police academy—Bugger it all." He pulled another face. "I have to go and ready, I have a meeting at one, but we're talking about this, alright?" James questioned looking directly at his sister. "And don't give me any more of that crap about calling attention to myself because you're doing a pretty shitty job at it."

"James—"

"You can tell dad and you better hope that you actually get to tell him." He sighs. "Thanks for letting me stay." With that he's out the door and Lily knows that he's apparating home, she has no idea what Michael thinks.

"So, I can see why you didn't want me to meet your family last night." Michael says. Lily climbs on top of him in the arm chair. His lap is a little too bony to be comfortable and she knows that with the angle he's sitting at her weight can't be all that comfortable for him. "Why was he so mad about me being a policeman? I thought your dad was one, your brother too."

"They are…" She touched his face and sighed. How much of a lie did she want to tell him?

"That bit about your father and calling attention to yourself…"

"Don't' worry about it." She turns her body to straddle him, each hand on the side of his face as she goes in for a kiss. Nothing about Michael is hesitant, she goes in for a kiss and he reciprocates.

"As much as I'd love to snog like teenagers and forget the argument, I have to get to work. Can we talk tonight?"

"Of course."

They didn't talk though. Lily got called in to work and she accepted a bit too happily. By the time they saw each other again, Michael either didn't remember her promise or care to ask. Either way, it didn't matter to her.