In honor of Bill Weasley's birthday yesterday, I have come off of my hiatus and I am posting this VERY Bill Weasley heavy chapter.

Enjoy!

Months pass. Time becomes lost in darkness. No word from Harry Potter.

The subject was sore, it was almost as if he had passed away and mouths were left open and empty in response to any conversation involving Harry brought up over the dinner table. Their friend was trapped in their heart, unable to pass through their closed throats and tightened chests when mentioned.

Lia coped with the fact that they should have broken up months before he left. Harry wanted to, she knew it deep in her heart that Harry was not involved in their relationship for a long while and that he had wanted to take a step back to focus on whatever he was focusing on.

Nothing made the truth any easier, but Lia was smart enough to not be in denial, and in the many silences that the two encountered one of them should have had the gall to do it.

It wasn't a question of love, hell, the two of them loved each other like it was the only emotion either had ever felt. Timing wasn't right.

The war fucked everything. Not one individual could encompass the loneliness Harry Potter had felt from the aftermath of the war.

Harry had enough respect in himself for Lia and her dignity to let her go. Let her live life without this giant oozing wound across her chest, dragging her down into the trenches along with him.

Harry would have lied to himself if he hadn't thought about her every single night. The perfume of lavender would linger through the open air, and he would imagine his calloused hands rubbing along her soft porcelain skin.

But Harry Potter, if anything wasn't selfish. This was for the best.

Move on, move forward.

"Alright! Alright! Third years listen up! I know it's Friday and you're all excited about the Valentine's bash tonight, but Professor Bloom expects you all to be able to brew the sleeping draught by Wednesday next week!" Hermione hollered at the front of Lia's classroom, barely able to see past a moondew plant that was dangling from a copper pipe welded into the skylight.

"Also, remember that if you are caught using a love potion this weekend, whether it be at the ball, or recreationally, from an unwilling student, your house will lose points and you will face repercussions. Other than that, have a great time tonight! I'll see you all at the dance!" Lia shouted from inside of a miniature greenhouse that was attached to the classroom.

Snape's potion's dungeon had been vacated, where Lia and Hermione had found an empty classroom right off of a courtyard on the first floor. It needed many renovations, and looked as if it was an old Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, with a rather large closet attached to it, that Lia turned into her own greenhouse and brewing area. Hermione used another large closet as an office, seeing as that she was barely attending classes and mostly student teaching, which she really enjoyed.

Once the students completely cleared, the two began picking up sprigs of valerian, and scrubbing off Flobberworm mucus from the brewing benches.

"Are you going to the Valentine's ball, Mione?" Lia coyly asked, as Hermione was arm deep in a cauldron completely filled with the mucus.

"This is Daney's cauldron. Make sure I give him detention next week." She sighed, with her arm completely covered in slime.

"And no, I wasn't planning on going to the student ball, but I hear there is a staff dance later on tonight that I was thinking of going to."

"Oh yeah, that." Lia rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't feel right to go have fun with a bunch of kids, ya know?" Hermione admitted.

"I have to chaperone the student's ball being an advisor, but I was thinking of dropping by the staff dance. I hear that most of the Weasley's are coming, via Bill's invitation. I'm sure Ron told you."

"Yeah, Ron finally went out and bought himself a proper outfit for a ball, so it won't turn into the Yule Ball again. Apparently Bill helped him, and according to Bill he looks like 'A proper lad,' But we all know Bill isn't a man of many words so hopefully he doesn't show back up here looking like clown." Hermione giggled at the thought of Ron in his dusty old dress robes.

"I am sure Bill is going to be looking lovely tonight. I remember how handsome he was at his wedding, so I am sure he isn't going to sell himself short." Lia trailed off while stocking three more copper cauldrons away under tidied work benches.

"Well, prepare yourself. I hear these staff dances can get a little uninhibited after students are asleep." Hermione admitted while poking Lia in the chest.

"I suppose we shall see, my friend. Now go off, we both need to get ready."

The two parted and Lia meandered off into her dorm room, where a tiny closet was full of a few outfits she had bought from Hogsmeade throughout the months that she had been staying at Hogwarts on and off.

"Ah, well. This one is not quite chaperone appropriate…. Ah fuck-"

A knock interrupted Lia's deep searching, and she was only surprised to see Minerva standing in her doorway, dressed in a floor length sparkling gown.

"Miss Bloom, I am glad I caught you!" She smiled through her wrinkled face, which was much easier to see that her gray hair was neatly tied back in a bun.

"Professor! Sorry to be so unkempt right now, I am just trying to find a staff appropriate outfit for this damn Valentine's ball."

"That's what I was making my way here to tell you. So after going over it, we have so many chaperones, that Hagrid and I decided that we have the Gryffindor chaperones under control. If we're all standing around like military police, I don't think the students will have as much fun."

"But, are you sure-"

"Yes, and more specifically Helena Ravenclaw and I had a long talk, and she wants you to go see her at once. So, don't worry about the kids, hell, you still are one. Go enjoy yourself, you deserve it."

"The Grey Lady want to see me… at once?" Lia asked perplexed.

Lia was shocked that Minerva was so stern about her not being at the student's ball that she was almost terrified if she didn't evacuate her dorm immediately to go see the ghost in the Ravenclaw tower. It took nearly a half an hour for Lia to finally meet up with the spirit from so many Ravenclaw students asking for help pinning flowers or fixing hair, that the ghost seemed impatient. She floated roughly three feet above Lia, with a scorned impatient look on her face.

"Took you long enough, if I wasn't already dead, I might be concerned that it would take that long for you to get here."

"I'm sorry! There were just desperate first years and I just couldn't-"

"Alright, enough. You don't have time for this." She snapped, flipped around and gliding through a cement wall, where Lia followed through a small wooden door that lead into a dim room.

"Well come, on use that wand of yours to light it up in here." She demanded, where Lia didn't skip a beat in muttering "lumos."

Underneath the bright light, there were rows of eloquent gowns that sparkled from the illumination,

"I took a stroll by your office and saw the dresses that you had lined up in that closet. Some of them were decent, but this is a staff ball, you can't just be gallivanting in like any old maid. So here are some of my mother's old dresses. It may have been from centuries ago, but they've always been the most beautiful pieces of art to ever walk the halls of this place."

The staff ball had begun, and Hermione was waiting impatiently as a few instructors had already been three to four drinks in dancing wildly among each other on the Great Hall floor. Luckily, the doors had been charmed so any students attending couldn't somehow break in and see their own teacher act possibly wildly than they ever could. Fred and George were mingling with the new politics professors, and making quite a headway only an hour into the music.

"Mione will you stop tapping your foot, she's gonna be here. Can we please just go out there and dance?" Ron impatiently begged, as for once, he was actually looking quite fancy in cream colored dress shirt and dark black pants.

"Alright, alright. I just wished she would get here. Feels kind of awkward being one of the only students here dancing alongside Flitwick."

"I don't even go here, Hermione, I don't want to hear it."

Hermione let her tensions go, and allowed for Ron to pull her into the mixed crowd of professors and their dates. Many faces were familiar, but the addition of the new courses starting that semester, many were still quite new. Instead of the usual older staff, there were many middle aged and fresh young faces enjoying themselves.

Bill had been off in a darker corner, still sipping on a warm glass of cider and rum when he had noticed his brothers stealing the spotlight while spinning his colleagues in fast circles to the live band music. The Great Hall doors creaked open, and nobody quite noticed that Lia had slipped in where she slid her way against the dark wall, making sure not to make a huge scene. It didn't take long for Hermione to notice her best friend, where she squealed and only a handful of staff had their attention sucked to her sprinting to the east side of the hall.

"Lia! You finally made it and oh my…."

Lia slowly spun in a circle, where long, silvery dress actually glowed with some sort of enchantment as she turned. The dress was quarter sleeved, with almost a see-through sparkling white lace covering up to her shoulders. The dress looked as if it was a spell in its own, completely captivating with the beautiful silver jewelry that matched a long with it. Lia felt like she was the phytoplankton that glowed in the night sea.

"Isn't it lovely? I only had to be insulted by the Grey Lady a few times before she picked this out and insisted on me wearing it. I am not sure when or why it happened, but apparently we are friends now."

"It's incredible, you look absolutely stunning." Hermione cried, lightly pulling at the few curls that made its way out of her messy up-do.

"Here, come with me! Ron and I are dancing with Fred and George!"

Hermione screamed as she dragged her friend out to the center of the dance floor.

Firenze had galloped over and was dancing the best he could with individuals who were several feet shorter than him. At this point, the staff chaperoning the Valentine's ball had all made their way into the Great Hall and it was completely packed with everyone laughing and mingling about. Lia had yet to indulge in the staff beverages, so she politely excused herself from Firenze and scampered over to the heart shaped bowls that lined the entire dancefloor. With great care, she scooped up a ladle full of a glittery drink that smelled rather strong. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Bill was steadily making his way through the crowd to the opposite end of the drink table, leaving Luna and Neville to their own unique style of dancing. He sipped gingerly on his clear cup, with his hair long enough again to almost cover up the scars on his face.

"Hey!" Lia shouted over to him, but was only muffled by the loud brassy noise of the upbeat jazzy music playing.

Bill hadn't noticed her, but continued to cup his beverage in his hand scanning the dance floor. She quickly filled her cup in one hand, and used the other to hold up her gown not to step on the edges of it. Bill had quickly seen the glowing figure moving toward him, where his face brightened up almost as vivid.

"Lia.." He exasperated as she approached him

"Bill! How are you?! I am sorry I didn't see you sooner!" She leaned in for a hug, nearly spilling her drink from cupping his back.

"I am genuinely shocked that I thought you weren't even here. I should have noticed you right away looking the way you do tonight. You look breathtaking." He spoke into the side of her head as they continued to hug.

"I think you should have known that I would have shown up to something like this eventually." She giggled, now sipping more of the tangy alcohol.

The twins had immediately caught sight of them, where George sprinted up to the band as was clearly requesting some kind of music change. No sooner, the band slowly started to fade out of the upbeat music and lead into a much slower song. Fred was gesturing toward Bill like some sort of robot a dancing motion, and when Fred came back he was conspicuously winking at Lia.

"Set your drink down, Lia. Apparently the two of them want us to dance." Bill joked.

"Ah, I am sure it was just them that wanted us to dance."

Bill extended his long arm out to Lia, where she was able to see his dark navy dress shirt that complimented his eyes perfectly in the little bit of candle light that was now flickering in the darkness. He pulled her in tightly, where his height was perfect for them to still continue to quietly chat while the music played.

"Are you still surviving your students?" Lia coyly chuckled, noticing how relaxed the usual quiet and kept together Bill was.

"Shockingly, they love me. I am seriously enjoying teaching rather than doing this job." Bill smiled.

"That's so wonderful to hear, Bill. Truly." Lia grinned, right before Bill spun her in a slow circle.

"You've been an inspiration, Lia. The staff can't get over how intelligent you are and it's almost been like you've been teaching here for centuries."

"I have had a lot of help. My class would be a disaster if it wasn't for Hermione helping me."

"Stop, just stop right there. Give yourself credit, please. See that you yourself are making changes."

"Bill you're sweet. Too sweet, really." Lia flustered, noticing that she had poured that entire drink down her throat before even entering the dance floor.

Bill just lightly smiled, and continued to sway back and forth, holding Lia's hips for the entirely of the song. After it had ended, the normal upbeat jazz music started again, where the two sort of stopped dancing abruptly, feeling unfinished.

"Would you like to step outside just for a minute of fresh air?" Bill politely asked, seeing that Lia was staring off again at the punch bowls.

"Of course! Let me just fill my cup again, and I'll be right out."

Bill slipped away from all of the turmoil through one of the farther doors leading to an outside terrace. Before Lia was finishing up pouring her drink, Hermione intersected her.

"Lia, remember. Live your life and be happy. "

"What? Hermione-"

"Just get out there, talk to him and make some fucking good choices."

"Hermione I-"

"Lia, just go out there already."

Hermione gave her a gentle push, where Lia confusedly strolled out through the same door Bill exited, where he was leaning against a dark railing with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Bill Weasley, smoking. I would have never guessed." Lia chucked while sipping on her drink.

He didn't speak back, just offered her a cozy spot next to him in the moonlight. It was quite frigid outside, but the heat from the party kept them at least comfortable for the time being.

"Lia, I just need to be honest with you."

"I suppose tonight is as good as any to be honest with someone." Lia responded, completely turning herself to him.

"Lia, I.. I have strong feelings for you, and hell I know you know that."

"I had an idea, yes."

"It's just been a confusing mess for me. I respect Harry, and I respect you, and I just. It's been difficult keeping this all inside for such a long time, and I just need you to know where I stand. And our ages... I know there's a big difference in age, but I don't see an immature girl when I am with you. I just-"

"First, age means nothing. What we've all been through, our life experiences and how we manage them, I don't feel like a 19 year old after the past two years. That shouldn't even be a concern."

"Second, I know full heartedly that you respect Harry, and I understand that this may be an awkward place for everyone, because Harry fucked off on all of us. But I need you to know that Harry made his choices, and so have I."

"What does that mean?" Bill gently asked.

"It means that I know that I can't just wait around for him. Do I miss him? With every ounce of my being. But I am not alone on that path. I love Harry Potter, I truly do, but I also love myself enough to know that I am worth more than he has led me to have in my life."

"So, am I crazy for saying this? Am I alone in these feelings?"

"Bill, I saw something in you. You're a kind, genius, genuine, handsome man, and I have felt that we made a connection long before Harry made that choice to leave."

"It's just Fleur, she is incredible, and beautiful. It's just I couldn't shake this feeling of constant jealousy seeing you and Harry together and seeing hurt, true hurt in your eyes. It's like that light is back and I can't help but want to share some of it with you."

The two locked eyes, and Lia couldn't help but feel overtaken by the way Bill had been acting. It was true, Harry was painful to be around even though Lia had loved him with all of her heart and soul. But Bill's scarred handsome face had nothing but sincerity in it as he stared back at her. His large hand cupped the side of her face, and Lia could feel the space in between them close in right before his lips had met hers.

She had thought about this moment many of times, mostly it was guilt for being able to think of anyone in this was other than Harry. But once their lips connected, it was a calmness that had overtaken her. Bill had pulled the small of her back in closer and forcefully went in for another kiss, where Lia couldn't help but throw her arms around his neck and participate fully. It seemed like hours that the two continued to share the moment of kissing and chain smoking and sipping on their almost empty glasses of cider and rum before they became too cold to stand it any longer.

"Come with me." Lia whispered into his ear, and she pulled him along the side of the castle.

There was a door with a chilled handle that was hard to turn, that led them right into the professor's dormitory hallway. Lia's door had plants hanging from it, which always made it difficult to find the handle in the darkness. Once behind the door, her hands reconnected with Bill's face and the two began passionately kissing again once the door was closed. Bill's tongue slipped inside her mouth a few times, where she couldn't help but pull him on top of her in her large bed full of many pillows and brilliant tapestries.

His hand slid up the side of her dress, where he continued kissing her neck and stopped just for a moment.

"Lia, this is.. this is nice. But I want you to know that all of that wasn't said back there just to be able to get you behind a closed door."

Slightly out of breath, Lia replied, "Bill, I know. I know that you aren't just a guy who wants to fuck me. I have feelings for you too. This moment just feels right, doesn't it?"

Bill began kissing her again, and it was pleasantly overwhelming with how tall he was and the size difference of the two of them on her bed. Her frilled underwear got tangled in his fingers as his hand fully made its way up the dress and on to her skin. She breathed in as she felt his fingers enter her, and with such massive hands she was feeling immense pleasure. Soon her dress was on the other side of the room, allowing for a slight blanket of soft dim light as she watched him lower his head in between her legs. With such intensity he pleasured her as she held one of his free hands as she moaned as loudly as she wanted to, since the professor's dorms had muffalto charms on them.

"Bill I'm-" she barely screamed out before her entire body released a rush of pleasure, where he continued to work his mouth until she began pulling on his long hair.

They met for another kiss, where Bill was nearly out of breath as Lia began taking his pants off.

"It's my turn." She exhaled out, as she was also nearly out of breath.

"I am a giver, Lia. Just stay right there." He insisted as he fully unclothed himself and laid his entire weight on her.

"Just seeing you pleasured is my only concern." He exhaled into her chest.

A few more light kissed on her pale chest, before he knew that she was ready for beyond what he was able to do with his tongue. Bill kissed Lia's knees, and pressed his hips down in-between them while gently guiding himself into her. Lia moaned lightly, and Bill couldn't help but get extremely turned on from her grabbing his hand and nibbling on his knuckles. Bill was intense, and passionate and dominating as he continued the motion. Lia felt herself rolling her face into her silvery curls as he continued on, feeling another buildup of pressure knowing that he was going to make her finish again. After another round of extreme pleasure, she flipped Bill over on his back, where she straddled him and lowered herself down back in for that perfect fit.

Lia noticed how different this was, with Bill being so tall, the tops of her thighs were completely able to go all the way down as she rocked up and down, watching Bill lightly moan and he gripped at her hips. Bill was amazed at her beauty, all over her curves and her full figure as she pleasured him while running her fingers through her hair with her head thrown back. He could only hold this position for so long, since he knew that if she continued he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Gripping underneath her thighs, he lifted her from the bed and shoved her back against the wall and continued with her long legs wrapped around his back. Bill was surprisingly strong, and was able to hold Lia up for a solid chunk of time before he threw her back on the bed for their final moments of pleasure. He wrapped his hands around the back of her head and grabbed handfuls of her hair as he pressed himself as hard and deep as he could inside of her, making her climax again. The tightness of that last climax caused Bill to completely lose control and finish himself.

The two of them cuddled sweetly in the many accessories on her bed, and hummed to each other until they both drifted off into the artificial starlight of Lia's dress reflecting onto the ceiling.

Saturday morning came, and Lia awoke with a slight tinge in her head and the grip of a large cold hand on her naked hip. The feeling of being left alone in the morning had lingered, and it was so strange to have a presence still there beside her. Harry had left so many times in the middle of the night, it was almost expected that Bill would have also gone. Bill slept deeply, and Lia politely covered the exposed parts of his body with her floral blanket as she lifted herself out of the bed. She fumbled around in the dawn darkness looking for anything to toss on, where the only thing in reach was Bill's button up dress shirt. Her silver hair was a tangled mess, and she fingered around on the top of her dresser in the far corner for anything to pin it back.

Her slender fingers grazed against an odd shaped object tucked underneath what seemed like pounds of random bracelets and necklaces. It was round, and the morning sun hadn't crept through her skylight enough yet for her to see what it was. It tingled slightly between her index finger and thumb, and she was too impatient to grab her wand, so she charged out the tiny wooden door at the far north side of her dorm onto a patio with just enough room for barely two people and her winter plants. When her eyes focused, she nearly had been punched in the chest. It was her engagement ring from Harry, still glinting just as beautifully as the day she received it. Sand started filling her legs as she shook with emotion, her throat began to close as she held back the urge to vomit. It so delicately eased over her ring finger, where it was like a flash of lightning with thousands of images flashing through her head.

"Who ARE you!?" Harry Potter screamed, while having a wand pointed at his throat.

Remus loomed behind an unhinged bar sign in the night with his wand extended completely out in the stranger's direction.

"Don't make any sudden moves, mate." Remus hissed at him.

"Shouldn't a been messin' around in dark places, Potter. Never learn your lesson, yeh? If I were you, I would have just died out in the forest that night. Woulda gave ya more mercy than you'll see nowadays." The stranger whispered in his ear from beyond his hooked nose.

"I died a long time ago. You can't take anything more from me." Harry spat back.

"You won't be sayin' that when ya meet him. I would suggest you and your werewolf friend get the fuck out of dodge, and run while ya can." He chuckled while pulling the point of his ebony wand off of Harry's throat.

"I'm not afraid." Harry breathed back, looking almost demented.

"Ah, see the thing is, us Dark Ones… We won't ever stop. Tom may be dead, but what he believed in is still verrrryyyy alive, Potter."

Harry threw a red expelliarmus spell out of his wand, attempting to disarm the mysterious man. Remus quickly acted and tried to detain him, but the man wiggled free from him and broke with enough distance to extend his wand and scream "CONFRINGO". There was so much fire and destruction that from the vision, it had looked as if the entire town had exploded into flames.

The last thing Lia saw was Harry holding a wound on his head, where Remus was carrying him to his feet as they must have apparated to some sort of camp in a forest. There was so much crimson blood pouring all over Harry's face, and then the vision sort of faded out. When Lia came to her senses, she felt weightless and was absolutely panicked. She could hear a voice, and pressure on her shoulders, but she continued to wiggle because all she could see was an infrared version of her porch, and so much anxiety she thought her eyeballs were going to explode. Finally, a chilly smoothness formed under her palms, and she now realized that she had been face down on her balcony with shreds of navy fabric all around her.

"Lia! Lia!"Bill called to her, while he assisted her inside.

Everything was in focus, and Lia had noticed that her hands were bloodied, and quite severed, but also Bill was torn up in some places. It was clear that it was claw marks that caused the wound on his chest.

"Prophet! I need a Prophet, now!" Lia shrieked as she ran toward her dorm entrance.

Slipped perfectly underneath, a beige newspaper was sitting undisturbed where Lia began frantically grasping at it.

There she saw it:

Small town of Pittenweem nearly exploded into bits, causing death of over 20 muggles. Ministry reports of dark magic use as a cause of the attack. Not much information has been gathered on suspect, but more information will be released as uncovered.

The picture of the town burning seemed all too familiar to Lia, as she saw the bits of building exploding all around Harry and Remus. At this point, Lia was soaked in her own blood, and Bill had been knelt beside her, holding the soiled ring inside of a cloth.

"It's Harry, isn't it?"

Lia had been oddly calmed, even as she continued to bleed through the cuts on her knuckles, "I can't be sure."

"Lia, what was that? You were a-"

"A wolf. I figured that's what had happened." She said, standing to her feet, and grasping at Bill to join her.

"Bill, I want you to take that, keep it wrapped, and put it in the black box at the top of my closet. I can't touch that again."

"Is something happening again?"

"I don't know."

After a long, extensive meeting with Minerva and a few members left in the Order, Lia had decided to take a few weeks off of teaching and just rest. She wasn't entirely sure if what had happened to her that morning was real, or if it was some sort of effect of the war they had all gone through. Lia took retreat back to their cottage, where she remained locked in her bedroom, only to hear Ron scrounge about for things in moments of peace when he wasn't at the joke shop. Lia knew that if she couldn't get her emotions under control, that this beast within her could come out and possibly harm students. It was mainly her goal to destress and just take time for herself.

Luckily for her, the Ministry took this matter very seriously. They had heard reporting from Aurors in the field, and Shacklebolt was a fearless minister who did not hide behind anything. Him and Arthur made a brief visit upon Lia's request to the cottage, where they weren't of much help. Many of their responses were "It's too classified to release who is on the case, or what it is revolving." and many "I am sorry, Ophelia", with apologetic glances from Arthur.

Once they had gone, Lia only had a few hours alone before Ron arrived home from work with a bag full of takeout. It had been the first time Ron had actually seen Lia, where he was fully prepared to stuff the extra food he got for her next to the other bags of takeout he had gotten throughout the week.

"Oi, I got enough of this to feed an army." Ron called over from their kitchen as he began to make a plate.

"Alright, alright Ron." Lia laughed as she picked at a few pieces of fried rice while sitting with her legs crossed on a kitchen chair.

"Now just so you know, my brothers are coming over tonight. No more moping around, ya hear? That means Bill too. I've felt bad for the poor bloke. Been dropping by almost every day looking for you."

"Bill has been stopping by?"

"Yeah, you bloody idiot. But you've been locked away in there, I thought you've died. But I can still hear you snoring at night, so I figured you couldn't be that dead."

The two ate, and chuckled back and forth while they lightly made jabs at each other.

"Now will you go off and shower. I can smell your dog breath from all the way over here." Ron joked, cleaning up the plastic containers of Chinese food.

It seemed like time had flown by the moment Lia was rubbing lavender oils in her damp hair, only dressing herself in comfortable lounge clothes, knowing that she needn't be formal around the Weasleys. Before she was done completely getting dressed, she could hear that the noise level had nearly tripled out in the living area, knowing that the boys had arrived. She could hear them talking, particularly Ron, since he was just about the worst at whispering.

"Well go on in there, Bill. We can crack open the mead without you for a few minutes. Christ, she ain't gonna bite you….. again." Ron said with a roar of laughter to follow.

There was a faint knock, and Lia used her wand to open the door to allow Bill to enter while she finished drying her hair, which was a giant airy mess of silver curls.

"Well, come on Bill." She called from the bathroom, where she could hear his heavy footsteps completely enter.

When she exited, Bill looked deflated holding his petticoat in his hands, with his long copper hair dangling over his face.

"I tried to-"

"I know."

"I didn't really know what to do. I feel so badly."

"Honestly, I thought you wouldn't. I didn't blame you either. After what had happened to you in the war, and how I went savage. I still don't know what I did to you. I wouldn't have come to visit me."

"It was just a scratch. Really, it's already healed."

"But I don't think it really is healed."

"Look, Lia… I knew that getting into… well.. whatever this is that Harry was going to be something to work through. I knew that. You don't have to feel guilty for what happened. Just, let me take care of you. Let me help you. Let me hold you. Let me in."

"I'm sorry, Bill." Lia took three steps toward him, and he encased her in his embrace and pressed his lips against her forehead.

"I could use a laugh, shall we?" He seamlessly gestured toward the crack of the slightly open door, holding back a scolding grin to his brother's that were obviously eavesdropping.

"Definitely." Lia genuinely answered, then shortly after, immersing herself in a sea of redheads, happy to have her mind taken away from of place of confusion even if only for the night.