A/N: Since it's been awhile, the last chapter ended with everyone coming home for Christmas break and Riley Clarke staying with the Potters for reasons unknown. I've been writing more and trying to get ahead so breaks between posting aren't as long but I realized just how long it had been and decided to go ahead and post to at least one of the stories. If you're still around and reading, thank you! It would be great to hear from you in a review.

It didn't even take twenty-four hours after they arrived home from school for Lily to show up at Hugo's parents' house.

"It's so awkward, Hugo," Lily said with a whine as she fell back on his bed. Hugo bit back a smile as he fed his bearded dragon. He wasn't allowed to have more than one pet at Hogwarts, and seeing as his owl, Tiger, was more useful than a lizard, Merlin had been left to the care of his parents during the school year.

"Can't believe that thing's still alive," said Lily, casting a speculative glance towards the cage.

"Just because you've never even been able to keep so much as a plant alive doesn't mean we're all hopeless," he said with the slightest smile.

"Whatever," she said with a huff. "You need to help me."

"Help you what?"

"I don't know," Lily said with a groan, rolling over and burying her face in his comforter.

"Why do you have to do anything?" he asked, latching the top of the tank closed. "Can't you just ignore her?"

Lily propped herself up on her elbows to furrow her brow at her cousin. "Wouldn't that be awfully rude?"

Hugo shrugged and sat in the chair at his desk. "She's ignoring you, right? Maybe she wants you to do the same."

"But Rose was all like 'make sure she feels at home, Lily' and 'she's probably having a hard time and could use a friend.'"

"Since when do you just do what Rose tells you?"

"Since she's probably right," Lily argued. "Come on, just imagine for a second how you'd feel in Riley's shoes. Wouldn't you appreciate someone making an effort?"

Hugo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He honestly didn't want to try and imagine what it would be like to spend the holidays in a strange place and without his family.

"I suppose I would," he said. "But I also wouldn't appreciate being constantly pestered to spend time with people I didn't know."

"That's not what I'm doing."

"I'm not saying you are," he placated. "But maybe all you can do is make yourself available and leave the rest of it up to her. She'll come around when she's ready."

Lily sighed and rolled onto her back again, staring up at the ceiling. "I suppose you're right. It's not like I want to spend all my time with her. But I'd hate to feel alone around the holidays. That's got to be bloody miserable."

Hugo could only nod in agreement. He'd even had a hard time the one Christmas that his parents had taken him and Rose to Paris because it was what his mum's parents had wanted to do. He'd hated it.

Not that he didn't love his grandparents, but Christmas meant time with his cousins and at the Burrow and snowball fights and too many sweets. None of those things had been present that year. It almost pained him to think about the years when they would soon be all out of Hogwarts and there would likely be cousins he didn't get to see every year. Traditions couldn't stay traditions forever.

Lily had progressed into speculating on what the reason for Riley Clarke staying in her family home could possibly be by the time Rose showed up.

Hugo's sister had requested that, rather than seeing him for the first time at a sit-down dinner with their parents, the two of them grab lunch together instead. He had a feeling that meant she wanted to talk about things in a way that wouldn't have been possible around their mum and dad.

"I swear you've gotten taller," said Rose as she hugged him tightly.

"Maybe you've gotten shorter," he teased, earning himself a slight wack to the stomach as Rose pulled away.

"That reminds me," said Lily, rising from Hugo's bed. "I've got brothers that have been neglected the past few months and could do with some pestering from their younger sister."

Rose laughed and followed Lily out of the room, Hugo trailing right behind them.

They were out the front door and heading beyond the protective enchantments after Lily Flooed away. Rose clasped his hand in hers and turned on the spot, appearing a moment later at a familiar apparition point near Diagon Alley.

"I thought we'd stay in Muggle London," said Rose as she led him out of the secluded alley.

"Worried about reporters spying on you again?"

He received a sharper glare than he'd anticipated for that comment.

"Sorry, is that still a touchy subject?"

"Tell me how you feel when your personal life is splashed all over the paper," Rose grumbled.

"See, that'll never happen because I don't plan on marrying the offspring of my parents' childhood nemesis."

He bit down on his tongue in regret the moment the words were out of his mouth. As his sister stopped in her tracks and spun around to stare at him, he saw all the evidence he didn't need to see to know he'd gone too far.

"I'm sorry," he said, hoping she wasn't about to start crying. "I've got absolutely no idea why I said that."

Rose crossed her arms and stared up at her brother, hurt and frustration on her face. "You think I'm making a mistake?"

"What? No, of course not! Scorp's brilliant and I know how happy he makes you,"

"Then why on earth would you say something like that?" she asked, her hurt turning into anger.

"I don't know, all right?" Hugo responded, frustrated with the situation he'd put himself in. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Fuck, I'm sorry. It's been a lot of change, you know? Things just feel a bit out of control at the moment."

He looked apologetically at his sister, who, though not wearing a forgiving look, did seem to soften a bit. "Do you have to take it out on me, though?"

"No," he said a bit sullenly. " 'M'sorry. Maybe finding out you were engaged from a newspaper article stung a bit more than I thought."

A grimace crossed Rose's face, clearly still feeling a bit guilty.

"I am sorry about all that," she said, linking her arm through his and continuing towards their destination. "Are you going to hold it over me forever?"

"Nah," said Hugo, smiling down at his sister and grateful that he somehow escaped royally pissing her off. "Just might make you wait a bit before sharing any sort of big news with you next time I have some."

Rose playfully dug her elbow into his side. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," Hugo said with a chuckle. "I'll be married with a kid before you know anything's up."

"Not funny," said Rose, though there was mirth in her expression despite her narrowed eyes.

They reached their destination in good spirits, Rose asking general questions about how the term had been and if his classes were going well.

"I haven't narrowed down what I want to do after school, if that's what you're wondering," he said when she asked if anything he was studying had sparked his interest.

"No, I wasn't," she said as they walked into the sandwich shop near the flat she shared with Erin. "Have Mum and Dad been bothering you about that?"

"It was only the first thing she asked me during dinner last night."

Rose grimaced as they sat at a table by the window.

"It wasn't too bad," Hugo said with a shrug. "Dad changed the subject to Quidditch quick enough when he saw I wasn't keen on having a chat about my future."

Rose grinned. "I'm guessing Mum wasn't too pleased with the subtle nudge to back off."

"She did that whole thing where she purses her lips in displeasure," he said with a chuckle. "But only for a bit. You know how she is with Dad."

"You mean how she acts like he's an annoying berk one moment and can do no wrong the next?"

They shared a grin as the waiter approached the table to take their order.

"How've things really been with them, though?" Hugo asked as the waiter left. Rose gave a halfhearted shrug.

"Better. It wasn't anywhere close to okay when they first found out, but I think they've mostly come around."

"Why'd they have their wands in a knot over it anyway?" Hugo asked, taking a sip of his water and eyeing his sister interestedly. She hadn't quite met his eye when she answered before.

"Just that we're so young," she said, still avoiding her brother's gaze and looking out the window instead. But she smiled and met his eyes a moment later. "I reminded them that they were together when they were our age so that helped them back off a bit."

Hugo shook his head and looked down at his menu. "Can't even bloody wrap my mind around knowing who you want to marry at eighteen."

"I didn't expect to," said Rose, and he saw the smile he could hear in her voice when he looked up at her. "I mean, I knew for a while that I liked Scorpius before we were together, but…" She bit her lower lip as she trailed off, her gaze a bit distant though not from an attempt to keep anything from him this time.

"You don't have to explain," Hugo cut in, squirming a bit in his seat and feeling slightly uncomfortable with the dreamy look in his sister's eyes. "I don't quite get it, but that doesn't mean I'm not happy for you. Have you lot set a date yet?"

Rose went on to fill him in on the plans that she and Scorpius had to wait a while, how her and Hugo's parents were definitely in favor of that plan, but that Astoria Malfoy seemed a bit more eager.

"I think it helps her to have something positive to focus on at the moment," said Rose, blowing on a spoonful of her soup to cool it. "Did you know Scorpius' aunt and cousins are all staying with his parents? Scorpius is going to try and see Corbin tonight. He hasn't said a thing about his dad in his letters, apparently."

Hugo nodded as his sister continued talking about her fiancé's familial troubles. He wasn't surprised to hear this detail about Corbin Zabini, but he'd been doing his best not to think about the seventh year Slytherin. He was still carrying on with an equally in denial Charlotte, who was still doing her best to avoid Hugo's presence whenever she could.

"So," said Rose as she concluded her update on her soon-to-be extended family, "How well do you know Riley?"

"Oh," said Hugo, a bit surprised by the question. "I don't at all, actually," he admitted. "Don't recall ever saying a word to her."

"Really?" asked Rose. "Not even when she was tutoring me?"

Hugo shook his head. "Took me a bit to place her when we found out she'd be staying with the Potters. Lily had to refresh my memory."

Rose rolled her eyes at his either faulty memory or lack of general awareness when it came to things that hadn't really involved him in the first place. With how much their family tended to be in each other's business, was it so bad that he did his best to mind his own?

"Well, speaking from experience," Rose continued, "she's a bit hard to get to know. You should still try, though. No matter how tough she might think she is, I can't imagine she's perfectly happy with her current circumstances."

Hugo furrowed his brow, chewing a bite of his sandwich as he figured out the most tactful way to respond to his sister and eventually settling on - "Who said I planned on trying to make friends?"

An incredulous look crossed his sister's face. "Well, it would be a nice thing to do, wouldn't it?"

"Sure, if she were staying with us," Hugo allowed with a shrug. "But she's with the Potters. I don't have to make friends with anyone. And I doubt she even wants me to. Who says she even has a clue who I am when I barely had a clue who she was?"

"Oh, come on," said Rose a bit impatiently. "I'm the only person in the family that knows her and since you're my brother-"

"Since I'm your brother nothing," he argued back, unsure why he wasn't just bending to his sister's wishes. Or at least giving lip service to them. But hadn't Lily just tried to force the same thing on him? Why did everyone suddenly think he needed to be some sort of family ambassador to the outsider that had been forced on them?

"Hugo, she's just a scared girl who could probably use a friend," Rose pushed. "I'm not asking you to be her best friend or spend every day with her. But maybe you could check in? Every now and then?"

Hugo groaned in annoyance and set down the last bit of his sandwich. "Why can't you do that?"

"I plan to," said Rose. "But I also have a job and a fiancé to support during a complicated and difficult time for his family. So if you could just, you know, step in when I can't…"

Hugo sighed and rubbed tiredly at his eyes, already exhausted by what his sister was asking.

"Fine," he relented. "Fine, I'll… I'll check in every now and then or whatever. That work?"

Rose gave him a grateful smile. "Yes. That works."

Hugo rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his water before asking his sister how her job was going, setting Rose off into a lengthy explanation about the types of things she was currently doing at work.

If there was one thing that Hugo knew never had and never would change about his sister, it was how deeply she cared. Whether it came to school or her friends or her family and now her work. And, apparently, Riley Clarke fell into one of those categories.

If in some way caring for Riley Clarke meant he was caring for the sister that cared loads for him, that was a sacrifice he'd willingly - okay, maybe a bit begrudgingly - make.

If someone had told Louis during the summer that he'd be snogging his girlfriend in her bedroom during the Christmas holidays, he would've thought it was a long shot. Yeah, he'd liked Jill back then and had hopes, but reality was far superior to any daydreaming he'd done in months past.

In the short time that they'd been dating, Louis Weasley and Jill Boot hadn't found much time to spend together on their own. What with it being their final year and the workload being massive, Jill tutoring a couple students every week, and Louis having Quidditch, their schedules didn't exactly allow for a lot of down time.

But the holidays were proving to be a different story.

Jill Boot was the only girl Louis had ever kissed. He'd been shaking in his boots when he'd walked up to her after the Quidditch match at the end of term. Louis hadn't had a clue what he was doing, was fairly sure she didn't either, and knew that kissing her in a crowded room was likely to be a disaster.

He thanked his lucky stars every day since then that it hadn't been.

It took a bit more time and practice to get comfortable with someone physically than he had anticipated. But three days into the holiday and three days spent in Jill's company had Louis feeling like he officially knew what he was doing.

For the most part.

"Yes, Mum, I know!" Jill hollered as she dragged Louis through her rather large home and up the stairs towards her room. "Molly and Lucy will be here soon anyway!"

Jill gave an exasperated shake of her head as her mother hollered back something that Louis couldn't quite make out. They hurried down the hall and into Jill's bedroom. But, as her mother had just reminded her, the door remained slightly open as Louis sat on the end of her bed.

"I happen to know my mum spent plenty of time with a boy in her bedroom when she was my age," said Jill, making her way to a rather large walk-in closet and promptly kicking off her shoes. They'd spent the morning with Hugo at Wheezes and had plans for many of his cousins and their friends to come over and have what Jill had dubbed a "Christmas Movie Marathon" in her parents' home theater, a room which Louis had yet to see even though he'd been at Jill's house at least once a day since the break started.

He was beginning to feel a bit guilty for getting on Caleb about the amount of time he'd spent with Lily.

"Yeah, my mum is weird about that stuff too, if you hadn't noticed," said Louis. "She doesn't normally come into the room every five minutes when I have a friend over."

Jill smiled in amusement and pulled her closet doors most of the way shut, leaving a gap so he could still hear her and see the shadow of her movements.

"It's a bit silly," she said, her voice momentarily muffled as she presumably began to change. Louis worked very hard to not visualize her actions. "I mean, if we really wanted to get up to something, we'd find other places to hang out, you know?"

"Yeah," said Louis, clearing his throat after his words came out a little strained. "No way I'd try to even snog you if I knew my mum was likely to burst in at any moment."

Jill laughed before the door swung back open. She'd changed into an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of leggings and was in the middle of piling her long, brown hair on the top of her head into a bun. To Louis, she'd never looked lovelier.

"Well, no one is actually due for at least another ten minutes," said Jill, moving closer to where he sat on the bed. "And my mum tends to have a one-track mind when she's working so…"

She stopped in front of him, her lower lip between her teeth and her hands resting on his thighs. Louis scooted a little closer, spreading his legs a bit more so she stood between them.

"So we won't be interrupted?"

He had a feeling he was grinning as much as Jill was as she nodded, leaning in a second later and placing a long, slow kiss on his lips.

Louis' hands were quick to move up her arms and rest on either side of her neck, his thumb coming up to stroke her jaw as Jill sighed against him. Her hands slid up his thighs before leaving them entirely, her fingers curling around the front pocket of his sweatshirt and pulling herself closer. As much as they'd snogged, it hadn't been much more than this - the two of them remaining rather stationary and their lips not doing much more than pressing against each other. Louis wasn't exactly impatient, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't eager for more.

He'd barely thought the word and Jill was briefly pulling back before meeting his mouth again, this time with slightly parted lips. Louis responded in kind, nearly seeing stars behind his eyelids when her lower lip slipped between his. Daringly, he gave it the barest flick with his tongue and Jill responded with a sharp inhale, her mouth opening just a bit winder either in surprise or invitation. It was clearly the second when her hands went to his back and she pulled herself flush against him a moment later. Louis didn't hesitate before slipping his tongue into her mouth and winding his arms around her waist.

He could hardly keep up now as Jill threw her arms around his neck. It was hard to tell if he pulled her up onto the bed or if she climbed up there herself. Either way, she was in his lap and stealing his breath with every press of her lips and swipe of her tongue against his.

Part of Louis had always wondered if snogging was really much to write home about or if it was all just talk. He'd never been happier to be proven wrong.

And it wasn't just the things her mouth was doing to his. It was the way he could feel every curve of her as she pressed her chest to his and his hands wandered along her back and sides. She felt heavenly. He didn't think he'd ever be able to fully take in just how incredible it felt to be this close to her.

He was just about to let himself fall back onto the bed and see where that took them when a sound of disgust came from the general direction of Jill's bedroom door.

"Fuck, I should've stayed home."

Jill had quickly moved to sit next to Louis when they'd been interrupted, so he had a perfect view of the disgruntled expression that Caleb wore.

"You're early," said Jill, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand and looking pleasantly flustered.

"Only five minutes," Caleb argued, taking a further step into the room now that it was safe to do so. "I think your mum sent me up here without warning on purpose."

Jill gave an amused snort. "Wouldn't be surprised. Is it just you so far?"

Caleb nodded, but then the sound of someone hurrying up the stairs met their ears.

"Hey, mate," said Caleb, stepping further into the room to make room for Hugo. Louis's cousin said his hellos before turning to him with a smirk.

"What?" asked Louis.

Hugo pointed to his hair. "Is that the style now?"

Louis's hands flew to his thoroughly mussed hair, doing his best to get it to lay somewhat flat again.

"Two minutes earlier and you'd be the one standing here scarred rather than me," Caleb grumbled.

"Oh, leave it, Caleb," Jill said with an eye roll as she stood from the bed. "It's not like you've never been walked in on while snogging someone. And don't even get me started on you, Hugo."

Caleb's cheeks turned the slightest pink as Hugo gave an affronted look. "Why're you having a go at me?"

"Cause you're there."

"Yeah, as a guest in your home."

They were interrupted by Lily before Jill could retaliate.

"What're you all going on about?" she asked from behind Hugo.

"Nothing," said Hugo, turning to face his cousin with an innocent smile. "Wanna go raid the fridge with me?"

He was leading a flustered Lily away a moment later, leaving an uncomfortable looking Caleb behind.

"Oh, was that uncomfortable for you?" Jill asked innocently. "Talking about snogging your ex girlfriend when she was just down the hall?"

Caleb's response was to give a frustrated huff and then a rude hand gesture before turning and leaving the room. Louis looked at Jill shrewdly as she shook her head at his best friend's retreating form.

"Why're you giving him such a hard time?"

Jill shrugged. "We all know he still wants to be with her. And we also know that he tends to act a bit rash during times of heightened emotion. I think I'm hoping that one day he'll be riled up about it enough that he'll just go for it again. We all know Lily is just waiting around for him to make a move."

Louis couldn't help being impressed by her shrewd observations of both his best friend and his cousin. He'd been wondering what it would take to push Caleb just that little bit more as well, and he had a feeling Jill was onto something.

"You don't think Lily will try anything?"

"No way," said Jill, grabbing his hand and pulling so he stood. "He dumped her, remember? She's likely to be scared shitless of being rejected if she so much as hints at wanting to get back together."

Louis sighed and allowed his girlfriend to drag him out of the room, fully anticipating more than one awkward moment to occur over the next few hours.