Now would be the perfect time to do it. Get it over and done with and not have to worry the rest of the evening about what he'd inevitably say to her.

Louis was all too aware of the fact that Molly had just left Jill alone in the kitchen of Shell Cottage, where she was making punch for the party that would be starting any minute. He'd made himself busy with putting up the decorations he and Hugo had gotten from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes when she'd shown up, so he hadn't even so much as acknowledged her existence.

And it was killing him.

"Just go talk to her."

Molly's voice in his ear nearly had him jumping out of his skin and almost dropping the stereo speaker he'd brought down from his room.

"What?" he asked, trying to make it look like he hadn't just been blatantly staring at the door to the kitchen.

"You fancy Jill, right?" his cousin asked, a teasing smile playing around her lips even as she asked the question kindly. Knowing he couldn't and didn't even want to lie at this point, Louis nodded.

"Then just go talk to her," said Molly, gesturing towards the kitchen with an encouraging grin. Louis let out a sigh but smiled sheepishly down at his cousin.

"I kind of made a bit of a fool of myself yesterday," he admitted. "Makes me a little hesitant to get back in there."

Molly gave him an understanding smile and took the speaker from his hands. "I know it can be a little scary at the start of things, but it can definitely be worth it."

She said this with a glance across the room at Ethan, who'd come over early with Molly to help them set up. It was a bit strange for both Louis and Caleb to have their older sisters' best friend around more, now that he was dating Molly, but they'd both always liked Ethan. Not to mention he made Molly insanely happy, and Louis couldn't begrudge them any opportunity to spend time together before Molly had to go back to school.

"I'll finish with this," said Molly, indicating the speaker in her hands and making her way over to where Hugo was setting up the rest of the stereo. After taking a quick glance around the room, Louis noticed that everything else seemed to be ready.

Well, nothing really standing in his way now, was there?

With a fortifying intake of breath, Louis walked towards the kitchen, pushing the door open with purpose, only to be met with an unexpected sight.

"And in case you need more cups, zey are in 'ere," his mother was saying to Jill as she indicated a cabinet by the fridge.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," said Jill, looking a bit nervous but smiling brightly. "And thank you for letting us have the party here."

"Oh," his mother said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "C'est un plaisir, ma cheri."

Louis' brow rose in surprise. For reasons that had to do with far too many judgmental looks and comments in her younger years, his mother really only spoke French around non family members when she was either trying to be discreet in conversation, or felt very comfortable with the people around her. And if she was using it around Jill, he could only assume she really liked her.

Still, she wasn't exactly supposed to be there.

"Maman," he said with an exasperated sigh. "I thought you and Dad were going to be at Vic and Ted's tonight."

His mother laughed and shook her head at him. He tried his best to focus on her rather than the way Jill's head whipped around to look at him.

"Your papa is meeting me zer and I'm just leaving now," his mother said, grabbing a bottle of wine off the rack in the corner before approaching him. "'Ave fun, but don't destroy our 'ome."

Louis rolled his eyes as his mother kissed him on the cheek. "Bonne soiree, mon bébé," she said in parting as she walked out the back door. Louis grimaced as it shut behind her, but his eyes quickly moved to Jill as he heard her giggle.

It was difficult to keep from sighing in relief at finally being able to look at her. She'd worn her long brown hair straight and completely down, falling silkily past her shoulders. Her skin was a bit more tan from the summer sun, and it was hard to miss since she was wearing denim shorts and a white tank top. And even though he'd just seen her yesterday, the way she was leaning with her hip against the kitchen counter and her arms crossed while she looked at him in amusement felt like the best thing he'd seen in days.

"Am I off on my french, or did she just call you her baby?" asked Jill, her lips twitching in amusement as Louis' face turned slightly pink.

"You know French?" he asked innocently, but she didn't buy his attempt to change the subject.

"I've picked up some from my aunt who lives in Paris, but you're so not getting out of answering my question," she said with a smirk and a pointed look. Louis couldn't help grinning at her.

"I tried to get her to stop calling me that," he said, shoving his hands in his jean's pockets and shrugging, "but, as she says, 'I'll always be her petit garçon.' Guess that's what I get for being the youngest."

Jill laughed, turning to tend to the half made punch on the counter once again. "Must be nice, though," she said, throwing a glance back at him over her shoulder as she worked to open a frozen can of juice. "Having siblings."

"It's all right," Louis said with a shrug, coming to stand next to her while she worked. "Sort of always wished one of my sisters was a brother, but I suppose I've got Teddy for that. And a slew of cousins."

Jill smiled at him, picking up a ladle to begin stirring in the juice. "You're all really lucky, you know?" she said, sounding a bit wistful, but not bitter. "All the siblings and cousins. I actually felt that way when my friendship with Molly wound up with me being so welcomed by her family. Your family, I guess," she corrected.

"I know," he said with a smirk, turning so he was leaning right next to her with his back against the counter. "We're pretty great."

Jill rolled her eyes but still chuckled at him. It was impossible not to grin back at her, but his smile started to fall away when she seemed to grow uncertain a moment later.

"Louis?" she began hesitantly, her eyes focused on the punch she was stirring. "About what-"

"I'm really sorry," he jumped in, doing his best not to panic as she looked up at him in surprise. "I acted like an idiot yesterday, and I never should've done it."

His original plan had been to take Hugo's advice and not fess up to what he'd done. But since she'd started to bring it up, he figured it would be easier to beat her to the punch with it than to have to answer whatever questions she had for him. When she looked at him in confusion, however, he started second guessing his decision. But he couldn't exactly take it back now.

"I mean…" he continued hesitantly, "It's not something I typically do. Only a couple times ever, actually. No clue what I was thinking, really. I've been warned against doing it pretty much for as long as I can remember, and I even saw it go horribly wrong for Dom once when she used it on this bloke at a restaurant so we could get seated quicker? Wouldn't leave us alone the rest of the night."

Louis gave an awkward chuckle and nervously scratched at the back of his neck. He'd really been hoping this would go better. Or at least that he would've been more cool about it.

"Wait," said Jill, pausing in her stirring and looking at him shrewdly. "I'm confused. What exactly..."

The moment it all clicked together in her brain was obvious. Her eyes widened and she stared at Louis, her mouth opening and closing as she failed to think of anything to say as her cheeks turned pink.

"I'm really sorry," he said, cringing as he looked away from her and down at the floor. "It was completely out of line, and I'd never, ever want you to feel like you were tricked into anything. Things have been… well, I feel like they've been all right. Between us, you know? And I know you didn't give me an answer about maybe… you know, going to Hogsmeade together sometime, but I just really hope I didn't ruin things, because I think you're pretty bloody amazing and the last thing I want is for you to think I'm trying to manipulate you or I'm not being genuine. Because I really fucking fancy you."

A weight fell off Louis' shoulders and he let out a deep sigh. He'd done it. He'd finally said it out loud. It wasn't until that moment that he realized he hadn't actually said it to anyone yet. Sure, he might not have done it with the most elegant words, but he'd done. The only thing left was for her to respond. And even though he felt a great sense of relief after telling her how he felt, he was beyond nervous as he waited for her to react.

She had to do something, right? Other than stand there and stare at him?

Louis was just on the verge of letting another stupid thing fly out of his mouth when Jill got hers open first.

"Yes."

His eyes snapped to hers, which looked both determined and nervous. While relieved that she'd actually broken her silence, Louis had no idea what she meant.

"Huh?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for how stupid he sounded.

"Yes, I'll go with you to Hogsmeade," she said softly. "That's actually what I was originally going to say, before you brought up…"

"Oh," said Louis, clearing his throat and cringing at the creak in his voice. He looked down at the floor again in an effort to hide the smile he couldn't contain. "Right. Well, that's… that's brilliant."

They stood there in an awkward moment of silence, but it was at least a bit more comfortable than it had been before.

"I fancy you too, you know," said Jill, practically blurting it out as if she'd had to work up the nerve to say it. Louis looked at her again, but she was picking up the ladle to stir the punch, her cheeks pink as she avoided looking at him. "So you don't have to do...whatever it was you did yesterday."

Louis awkwardly cleared his throat, turning around so they were standing shoulder to shoulder. He busied himself with slicing the lemons and limes on the counter as he thought of how to respond.

"Good to know."

Seriously? He couldn't come up with anything better than that?

"Before I get all giggly and giddy about this," Jill continued, pausing in her task to turn and smile up at him. "Can I ask why?"

"Why what?" he asked, unable to keep from grinning at her comment.

"Why you thought it was necessary to do that."

He'd been dreading this question, but she deserved an honest answer. So he let out a sigh and turned to face her as well.

"I didn't really think before I did it, actually," he admitted. "I just saw you sitting there and saw Creevy coming over and it was pretty obvious last term that he liked you. So I guess I kind of panicked. I didn't even really realize I was doing it, to be honest. It was just…"

He trailed off and shrugged his shoulders, but she was still looking at him expectantly, and he hadn't exactly answered her question.

"Look, I'm not really good at this," he confessed. "And I've never really fancied anyone before. And this might sound horrible, but I'm used to girls just kind of… being obvious and…"

He had to be blushing scarlet by now.

"And I've never exactly been that way with you, have I?" Jill said. It was more of a statement than a question, and Louis gave a shrug in agreement.

"Which is fine," he assured her. "It's not something I should use as an excuse either," he grumbled, looking down at the counter and fiddling with a still unsliced lemon. "And I really shouldn't have done what I did without knowing for sure how you felt. I shouldn't have done it no matter what. But I hope you know that I'd never force you into anything or manipulate you."

"You didn't," she assured him, and it was as if a shock went through him when she laid a soft hand on his arm. "And to be honest, I'm not entirely sure it made much of a difference. I think the only effect it had on me was to make me more bold," she admitted. "All the feelings it would've evoked were already there. It just gave me the courage or rather the inhibition to act on them."

Her words surprised him, realizing that Hugo might've been right in his assessment of the effect he could have on her. He knew it could happen. His mum's magical charm had never really worked on his dad, and hers was even stronger than Louis'. He knew he was grinning stupidly at Jill as she attempted to hide a grin and gave him a pointed look.

"All the same," she said, "it would be nice if you maybe didn't do that again."

Louis continued to grin as he nodded and said, "I won't. I promise."

"Good," said Jill. And then her hand was moving down his arm, and he opened his hand on instinct as hers reached his.

The door opening behind them had them jumping apart. Right as she'd been about to slide her fingers between his own.

"Caleb just got here," Hugo said, completely oblivious to what he'd just walked in on. "The punch ready?" he asked, moving to Jill's other side and peering over her shoulder.

"Almost," she said, sounding perfectly at ease as she nudged Hugo out of the way. "Louis here forgot he can do magic so he's been slicing fruit by hand, otherwise we'd be done already."

Louis looked at her, startled by her comment until he saw her smirking up at him, a mischievous yet slightly nervous look in her eyes. Either she didn't want Hugo knowing what had just happened, or she didn't want him intruding on their moment. Whichever it was, Louis felt the same. And he found it impossible not to play along.

"Oi! You could help, you know. Pretty sure that's plenty stirred by now."

Jill scoffed and rolled her eyes, pulling her wand and charming another knife to begin doing the slicing for her. She looked at Louis with a smug expression, and Hugo snorted in amusement.

"Just bring it out whenever you're done flirting," said Hugo. Louis just managed to shoot a glare at his knowing look as he left the room.

"I'm not even going to ask how much he knows," said Jill, scooping up the now sliced fruit and dumping it into the punch bowl. "But seeing as he was a witness to yesterday, I'm guessing quite a lot."

Louis gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Yeah. He and Molly have both done their share of pep talks. Caleb too, actually."

This news seemed to surprise Jill, and she looked up at Louis with wide eyes. "So they all know?"

"Well…" Louis began uncertainly. "It's been a bit obvious for a while now that I fancy you. To everyone else, at least. It's not like I actually told them anything. You know what my family's like. Everyone butts into everyone else's business."

"True," Jill said with a chuckle. "So, if we go out there, are they all going to give us knowing looks and make suggestive comments and whatnot?"

Louis gave a groan and ran a hand over his face, knowing that her concerns were very well founded. "Hopefully not. But just know that anything they do say is complete speculation. No one actually knows anything concrete. And we can keep it that way for now, if you'd like."

Jill nodded and seemed to relax a bit, picking up the punchbowl and moving towards the door to the sitting room. But she stopped and looked back at him when she reached it.

"I'm really looking forward to it, you know," she said, grinning brightly at him. "Our date? And whatever comes after too."

A date. Wow. That was the first time either of them had said in no uncertain terms where this was headed. And Louis couldn't contain his grin.

"Me too."

Contrary to what those on the outside might believe, it really was easy to feel alone, even with an abundant amount of family members. Especially when you were estranged from the one you were closest to.

Lily had already known this was true, but the conversation she'd had with Louis, combined with her current reality, made her see it more clearly than ever. All her friends and most of her cousins were at her aunt and uncle's house. And they were throwing a party for her ex boyfriend.

It was safe to say it was the loneliest Lily had ever felt.

With a sorrowful sigh, she rolled onto her side before sitting up on her bed, determined not to mope and wallow. Lily had spent the last few weeks doing a lot of thinking and soul searching, along with trying to find ways to distract herself from the continued noted absence of her best friends. Which was hard to do when she knew they were all together. Without her.

But this would not become the new normal. Ever since her conversation with Louis, Lily had been determined to get to a place where she could fix this. She just needed to be humble and ask forgiveness, while also not dismissing everything Hugo had done.

He still had to take responsibility too. That was one thing she was firm on.

Sure, he'd pretty much apologized the last time they'd had a real conversation, but the way he was continuing to ignore her and not even try to fix things - all while spending his time with Caleb - wasn't earning him any points.

There she was being all stubborn again, but could she really be blamed for it? She'd always believed that you should stand up for yourself and not let people walk all over you. Wouldn't she be going against that if she just went to Hugo and begged for forgiveness without expecting him to admit a few wrongs in return?

With a sigh, Lily lay back down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling and letting her legs dangle over the side. Thinking things through over and over without a clear objective forming in her mind was growing tiresome. And she was running out of people who were likely to lend an ear. Not to mention a lot of the people she'd be inclined to talk to were unavailable. Since they were at some stupid party.

She wasn't sure if Al had gone to the party, and she didn't fancy going through the hassle of going to the Ministry just to check. It would be nice if he and Scorpius finally got a phone hooked up like they planned. James, she knew, was out with Violet doing something special for their first anniversary. As far as her family went, that left her three people, and she didn't feel like talking to her parents about this.

It would have to be Teddy.

With a resigned determination and an innate inability to sit still for long periods of time, Lily got off her bed and hurried quickly down the stairs, only pausing long enough to holler out where she was going and hoping her parents heard before grabbing Floo powder off the mantle. She didn't even pause to put shoes on before stepping into the green flames and letting herself be whisked away.

She stumbled through and brushed off the soot, glancing around and hoping her godbrother and cousin were home. The sound of talking and the clinking of dishwater coming from the kitchen had her sighing with relief, and she stumbled through the door without hesitation.

Whatever greeting she was about to give died on her tongue. She hadn't just interrupted Teddy and Victoire. She'd interrupted them while hosting Bill and Fleur.

They all paused to look at her in surprise as she entered, and Lily couldn't help feeling self conscious about the ratty t-shirt and gym shorts she wore. Even if they were all still family. She felt on display with her aunt looking at her in disapproval.

"Hey," said Teddy, breaking the slightly awkward silence and giving her a confused smile. "Everything okay?"

"Umm…," Lily began uncertainly, glancing between her curious aunt and uncle and surprisingly agitated yet concerned cousin. "It's...it's nothing," she said with a forced smile before turning back to Teddy. "I'll just...It's not important. It can wait."

She was about to turn around and head straight home and probably crawl right back in bed. But her aunt's next question had her stopping in her tracks.

"Why are you not at ze party?"

Lily felt her heart lodge in her throat, making it impossible to answer her aunt. She made a weak attempt, opening her mouth before closing it quickly, embarrassment creeping in as her eyes welled with tears. And she didn't waste another moment before turning and running back towards the fireplace.

There were tears streaming down her face as she fumbled with their Floo powder, and she gave a startled gasp and jumped in surprise when another pair of hands unexpectedly reached out and removed the jar from her own.

"Sorry," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes as Teddy placed the powder back on the mantle.

"You're all right," he said softly, resting his hands on her shoulders and pulling her close. Letting her tears fall hadn't even been a choice. They were coming whether she wanted them to or not, but at least she had someone to lean on.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Teddy asked. Lily sighed against his chest before pulling back, wiping at her eyes once again and glancing up at his concerned face.

"It's a long story," she admitted. "And I don't want to spoil your evening."

Teddy sighed, looking torn as he glanced back towards where his wife and her parents were waiting for him. It didn't really surprise Lily that he was actually considering blowing them off for her. He was a fixer and a helper, and she needed fixing and helping.

"Look, any other night, I'd be all ears," he told her apologetically. "But tonight…I kind of need to go back in there."

Lily was already nodding before he'd even finished. "It's fine, I get it," she assured him, doing her best to offer a reassuring smile. By the way Teddy was watching her, it didn't work.

"Look, how about I swing by later?" he asked. "There's actually something I'd kind of like to talk to you about too."

His words brought Lily's tears and misery to a halt. She looked at him quizzically. "Okay," she said. "If it's about Hugo, that's part of my whole… thing."

Teddy shook his head. "No, it's something different, but I've gotta get back in there. See you later?"

Lily nodded, her curiosity overriding her own worries as she Flooed home. It was enough to keep her from wallowing as she retreated back to her room and waited for her godbrother. By the time he showed up, it was just past ten o'clock and she'd actually managed to doze off at some point, so the sound of him knocking on her door had her jerking awake.

She blinked dazedly around her room that was lit only by the lamp beside her bed as she called for Teddy to come in. His grinning face appeared as the door opened and he held up a brown paper bag with two spoons. Lily couldn't help smiling back.

"I knew there was a reason you're my favorite brother."

Teddy chuckled as he closed the door behind him. "I bet you say that to all your brothers."

Lily rolled her eyes, knowing she couldn't deny it as Teddy tossed the bag at her. She pulled out the tub of ice cream as he plopped down next to her, kicking off his shoes as he joined her in sitting up against the headboard.

"You know me so well," she said, taking the lid off of the strawberry ice cream that would always be her go-to choice. Teddy chuckled.

"Well, seeing as you threw a colossal fit when they got the wrong kind on your fifth birthday, it would be pretty hard to forget."

Lily scowled and elbowed him before taking a spoon and digging in. But there was no way she could actually be mad at Teddy.

"Thanks," she said through a mouthful of ice cream as she handed him the tub. "I really needed this."

Teddy smiled. "I could sort of tell."

Lily let out a snort of laughter, leaning her head against his shoulder as she remembered the scene she'd made in his home. At least it wasn't as bad as other scenes she'd made recently.

"Did it go all right?" she asked, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace and the comfort that the presence of another person brought. "Your dinner?"

She could hear his smile in his response. "Yeah, it did."

Lily gave an absent minded nod. "Good. I've done enough ruining of things lately. Don't really feel like adding more to the list."

Teddy sighed, and Lily opened her eyes as he reached out and gave her knee a comforting squeeze. "You haven't ruined anything, bud."

Lily rolled her eyes, but couldn't tell him not to call her that. At least he'd shortened it from Lilybud. "Tell that to Hugo."

Teddy gave a contemplative hum, taking another bite of ice cream before passing it back to Lily. "I'm guessing that's at least one of the reasons you're not at Shell Cottage tonight?"

She sighed and nodded, poking at the ice cream with her spoon. "It just feels really shitty, you know? Knowing they're all together and I'm...well, not. I'm just ready for things to be back to normal."

Teddy nodded. "And how do you see that happening?"

"That," said Lily, pausing to take a big bite of ice cream before continuing, "is a very good question."

Teddy chuckled. "You know, I've had my fair share of falling outs myself. With family members too."

Lily had to think for a moment before a vivid memory from when she was much younger popped into her mind. "Are you talking about that massive fight you had with Dad before your seventh year?"

Teddy's eyes opened wide in surprise. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember that. You were only, what, seven? Anyway, yeah. That was probably the worst as far as brutal arguments go. Vic and I went through a time when we weren't talking too, but that came without a big blow up. Dad and I… that was a much different story."

Lily smiled as Teddy took the ice cream back. He'd always called her parents by their names, the only exception being when he was talking to her or James or Al about them. Then they were always "Mum and Dad". It was one of the things that made Teddy feel even more like a brother, and also why she and her brothers had all taken a while to realize that he technically wasn't one.

"What happened?" she asked, unable to remember what the argument was actually about.

"Well," Teddy said with a sigh. "To be honest, he wasn't too chuffed about me wanting to be an Auror."

Lily's eyebrows rose in shock. "Really?"

Teddy nodded. "Yep. And I was letting the fact that I was of age get to my head. I was very obstinate and said some cruel things. We fought at the beginning of the summer, and it wasn't until the end of it that we actually worked things out. I was being stubborn and not actually listening to him. He might have been a bit overprotective when it came to his reasons for not wanting me to be an Auror, but his heart was in the right place. Plus, he'd never had to deal with a teenager before. Al should really thank me, actually. I'm probably the only reason Dad didn't throw a fit when he said he wanted to do the same."

Lily chuckled. "I sort of always wondered about that. Then again, Al's been talking about being an Auror since he was five."

"True," said Teddy, placing the lid back on the tub of ice cream and banishing it to the ice box with his wand. "Anyway, Grandmum was the one who finally got through to me. I think I said something to her about never speaking to him again, and she asked me the same question she asked herself when she decided to reach out to Aunt Narcissa after the war. Which was more important - the relationship, or the issue? And of course I knew the relationship was what mattered more. Took quite the long conversation to work through everything, but knowing that I was doing what I needed to to mend one of the most important relationships in my life made it worth it."

By the time he was finished, Lily had tears in her eyes. She'd been fighting against this truth for weeks now. Letting go of all the drama and the problems and the fights and the attitudes and just fixing her friendship with Hugo was more important than all the rest of it. Hugo had apologized, but she'd held onto her pride. She knew it was her fault that things had carried on this long and knew what she had to do, but she'd fought it because it seemed like an impossibility. However, hearing Teddy put it into such simple terms made it seem just that - simple.

"You're right," she said, brushing away the single tear she'd let drop and taking a deep breath. "I know you're right and I've sort of known what I need to do for a while. I'm just still not sure if I know how."

"Well," said Teddy, sitting up, turning to face her, and criss-crossing his legs, "would it help to talk through it? Figure out what you should say?"

Lily sighed, but moved to mirror his position. "Fine, but I've got no clue how to even start."

"All right," he said with a nod. "I know some of what's gone on because, let's face it, this family can't keep out of each other's business, but I'm not even entirely sure why you two aren't talking. So walk me through it."

It was still hard to know where to even begin, but she could try. "It started with me dating Caleb Wood, I guess," she said with a sigh, her mind going back to that first moment they'd shared in Hogsmeade. "We kept it a secret, thinking it was best not to provoke the meddling tendencies of my family before we knew how serious it was. Of course, I sort of knew before we were even together that I didn't want it to be casual. I suppose you think I'm too young for something serious."

Teddy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure if that's the type of thing there's a hard and fast rule about. Pretty sure you've got a few family members that can tell you they were even younger when they knew they wanted forever with someone. And if the same was true for you, I'm guessing you weren't the one who wanted to keep it a secret?"

Lily blinked in surprise. "It was Caleb's idea, actually," she admitted. "But he was ready to tell everyone by the time Christmas rolled around, which was only a few weeks later. Erin found out on Christmas Eve, and then Rose found out a few weeks after that. I didn't tell Hugo until just before Easter."

She couldn't help pausing, remembering that conversation and realizing with a start that it was the last one they'd really had before everything fell apart. Guilt settled into her stomach at the further proof that Hugo had been right. She'd neglected their friendship, nearly casting it aside completely in favor of her budding romance with Caleb.

"How'd that go?" Teddy asked.

"Better than I'd expected, actually," said Lily. "I could tell he was surprised I'd kept it from him for so long, but he seemed happy for me and willing to help out when I asked if he could get Caleb to come on our trip to Ireland during Easter Break. And he didn't tell anyone either."

Teddy nodded. "Okay, so what changed? What happened to make things turn so sour?"

Lily shrugged her shoulders, avoiding her godbrother's penetrating gaze because she knew her honest answer didn't paint her in a very good light. "I honestly didn't really notice things going wrong. I was so caught up in my relationship with Caleb that I did exactly what Hugo accused me of doing."

There was a pause before Teddy prodded once again. "Which was?"

Lily took a deep breath, letting it out shakily as she finally admitted what she'd been denying for weeks. "I ditched him. After being my best friend my whole life, I had something that I thought mattered more than anything else and took for granted the fact that he'd be there without question."

She hadn't said it with anything other than remorse and guilt, any anger she'd felt towards him melting away. The bed shifted as her tears started to fall, and Teddy moved so he was leaning against the headboard once again. Lily was quick to join him, curling into his side as his arm came around her shoulder to hold her close as she let her tears fall.

"He was so angry," she continued as she cried. "I know now that he was hurt more than anything, but my pride and selfishness got in the way of seeing that. He did some stupid things, but not until after I'd pushed him even further away. If I'd just listened, this whole thing might never have gone this far."

Teddy rubbed her arm soothingly and kissed the top of her head as she continued to cry. "Sounds like you know exactly what you need to say to him."

Lily let out a sigh, nodding against him and wiping at her tears. "Doesn't make it easy."

He gave a hum in understanding, running his fingers soothingly through her hair. It succeeded in luling Lily into the calmest state she could remember being in in weeks. Things might not be fixed quite yet, but it was a comfort to know there was a way they could be.

She hoped so, at least. Either way, there was no use continuing to fret over it, so she firmly resolved not to.

"So, was dinner tonight a special occasion?" she asked, closing her eyes and growing drowsier by the second. "Or did Bill and Fleur just come over because Louis wanted them out of his hair?"

Teddy chuckled. "A bit of both, actually. We, uh… we shared some news with them too."

"Yeah?" Lily asked through a yawn, his words barely registering. "What's that?"

She was jostled around a bit, causing her to lift her head off Teddy's shoulder and squint up at him. He was grinning as he pulled what looked like a scrap of paper from his pocket and held it out to her. Lily had to blink a couple times as she took it, a moving picture coming into focus. A picture that was black and white and contained an image that could only possibly mean one thing.

A gasp escaped Lily as she sat up, staring at the picture in shock and wonderment. Her eyes snapped to Teddy as she tried to find words, an open mouthed smile growing on her still gobsmacked face as she looked at her beaming godbrother.

"Oh my god, Ted!" she nearly shrieked out. "Vic's pregnant?!"

Teddy was taking great enjoyment in her reaction as he chuckled and nodded. "She sure is."

Lily was both laughing and crying as she pulled Teddy into a gripping hug. "Holy shit," she said in disbelief. "I mean…" she continued, shaking her head as she pulled away to look at him in continued astonishment. "Was this planned, or…?"

"Not exactly," Teddy said with a shrug as he continued to smile. "We knew we wanted to wait till we were married but hadn't really talked about timing after that. And then she said she needed to restock her potion a few months ago and I found myself asking if she really wanted to. We were both a bit surprised when I said it, but she's done with her final term of school in December and she's always wanted to be a mum." He gave another shrug, still grinning brightly. "So, we decided to just see what happened."

"You knocked up my cousin's what happened," said Lily, grinning as she gave him an affectionate punch to the arm. "Bloody hell. Do Mum and Dad know?"

Teddy shook his head. "We only just told Bill and Fleur tonight. And seeing as Dom was with Vic when she found out, I thought it only right that my sister be the first in my family to know too."

Warmth and appreciation and an overwhelming urge to break down and cry filled Lily at his words. She managed to keep her tears somewhat in check as she shook her head in bewilderment. "Thank you," she said. "I know this isn't about me, but it means a lot."

Teddy reached out and gripped her hand, giving her a soft smile. "It's about family, bud. And just because I'm starting a new one doesn't mean you're not just as much a part of it as you were before."

Lily gripped his hand as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall. "You might want to shut up unless you want me to keep crying."

Teddy laughed, pulling her close once again and giving her a brotherly squeeze. "And can you please tell the rest of the family soon?" she asked through her own laugh. "I'm going to go mad having to keep this a secret."

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one. Hope you enjoy reading it! I'm working on updating more frequently so we'll see if I can follow through with that and post weekly! Thanks for your patience and it's always great to hear from you in the form of a review!