"We don't really have to go back to the party do we?" Harry asked.

"I'm actually stunned no one has come to look for us yet," Rory replied. Harry sighed, kissed her cheek, and buried his face in her neck.

"I love you," he muttered into her skin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again. She melted into him. She honestly didn't think she would mind people knocking on the door and simply sending them away. Rory wouldn't mind sitting with him in his room and just hanging out in the quiet, alone.

"I love you too," she replied. She turned her head and kissed him. "You're the best, you know."

"You don't stop reminding me," Harry said. "I'd be careful about that; it might go to my head."

"As if it hasn't already," she replied.

A knock startled them away from their flirting.

"Lovebirds, we've got a problem," Matilda said in a sing-song voice on the other side of the door.

Rory walked over and pulled the door open.

"Sorry to interrupt," Matilda said. She gave Rory a once over and then tugged at Harry's jersey that Rory was currently wearing. She'd told him to keep it on, but that had been short-lived. Eventually, he'd taken it off and she'd decided to pull it on. "I feel silly thinking that you wouldn't be one of those 'my boyfriend is the captain and he just won the match so I'm going to steal his jersey' girls. That's solidly something that's in your camp."

Rory wasn't going to argue with that. It was a time-honored tradition amongst the students.

"Are you here to drag us back to the party?" Rory asked. She knew it was inevitable.

Matilda looked past Rory to Harry. "Actually, Potter, it's your friends that are the problem."

"What?" Harry asked, nonchalant as ever as he tied his trainers.

"About five minutes ago, in the middle of the party, in front of the entire common room, Lavender decided to shoot her shot with your buddy Ron," Matilda said. "By shoving her tongue in his mouth. He didn't really seem to mind at all."

"What?" Rory gasped.

"Yep," Matilda said leaning against the door frame. Harry joined them by the door. "They went off to snog somewhere, and Hermione is now sitting in our room, crying."

Harry groaned. "Tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was," Matilda said. "Do you know what a shit show it's going to be once Lavender is done snogging Ron for the night?"

"Do you know where Ron is?" Harry started. Then he shook his head. "Never mind. I'm sure Hermione's a mess."

Without another word, Harry walked out of the room past them.

"This is a bloody nightmare," Rory said.

"She's devastated," Matilda said. "As soon as I saw them snogging, I found Hermione. She held it together pretty well until she got to the stairs. Kept saying she was fine when I followed her up to the room even though she was crying. Then I figured Harry would be better prepared to handle her."

Rory was beyond confused. Ron liked Hermione. Hermione liked Ron. They were supposed to go on a date together. And now he was snogging Lavender for no reason.

"What the hell is Lavender doing?" Rory asked.

Matilda sighed. "I know you've been busy being distracted by Alchemy and running off for quickies with Harry, but Lavender has been making eyes at Ron for weeks. She probably decided now was the time to swoop in."

"Now that he's everyone's favorite no doubt," Rory said. "It is going to be a shit show tonight."

"Lots of people saw her leave," Matilda said. "I'm sure everyone's talking about it."

That's just what Hermione needed, everyone whispering about her. It wasn't just their friends who knew that there was something between Ron and Hermione. The whole of Gryffindor had been watching this drama play out for five years now. This was not going to go unnoticed by anyone.

"Come on," Rory said. She stepped out of Harry's room and closed the door.

Rory and Matilda returned to the party. As she'd said, everyone was talking about Lavender and Ron and Hermione.

As the party wound down, Matilda found Parvati and pulled her aside.

"Don't start," Parvati said, already exasperated by Matilda.

"What the hell was Lavender thinking?" Matilda asked.

"Look, Hermione wasn't making a move, so Lavender did. You don't see Ron complaining," Parvati said. She looked Rory over. "Is that Harry's jersey? Where've you been?"

"I was with Harry, obviously," Rory said plainly. "I'd probably still be with him now except he's sitting up in our room with his best friend who is probably a wreck."

"You weren't having it off in our room were you?" Parvati asked.

"Not this time, though this egregious breach of Girl Code etiquette makes me wish I'd just fucked him in Lavender's bed for all the courtesy she clearly pays the rest of us," Rory said.

Parvati and Matilda both gasped in shock.

"Sorry, was that too much?" Rory asked.

"Just a bit," Matilda said.

"Lavender has liked Ron for ages," Parvati said. "They've been chatting loads. I can't believe you haven't noticed."

Rory didn't talk to Ron as often as she had last year. She had more classes and when she wasn't in class she had managed to find a way to fit perhaps too much of Harry into her time. But when they had chatted, he never mentioned Lavender. Harry clearly had no idea anything was going on either.

"Hermione asked him out. They were supposed to go on a date," Matilda said.

"Since when?" Parvati asked. "And if Ron was so committed to this date, why's he off snogging Lavender somewhere and not upstairs with Hermione?"

Matilda and Rory exchanged looks. This was a shitty move on Lavender's part, but really, this was on Ron.

Parvati walked away and Neville took her place.

"How's Hermione?" Neville asked.

"Harry's with her," Rory said shaking her head. "I cannot believe Ron would do something like this. I'm stunned."

"I'm sure Harry'll talk to him," Neville said.

Before Rory could comment further Seamus was walking by, he spotted Rory and laughing, gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder.

"Looks like Potter got lucky twice tonight, I see," he teased.

"No offense, Seamus, but fuck off," Rory said. She looked over to Matilda. "I'm going to check on Hermione."

She shoved past Seamus who said something rude as she walked away. She didn't stick around to hear Neville scold him. She was already on her way up the stairs, Matilda following behind.

The girls cautiously entered their room. They could hear Hermione sniffling, crying quietly. She was sitting on her bed, her face buried into Harry's chest while he comforted her.

"Hermione," Rory said.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly. "It's fine."

It wasn't fine. But Rory understood. Seeing Harry kiss Cho had been horrible. And maybe Ron and Hermione weren't officially together, but it was obvious that she cared a lot about him. Even if they hadn't made plans to go out, this would probably still wound her. The fact that he'd gotten her hopes up at all and then pulled the rug out from her under her must've been doubly bad.

When Harry kissed Cho, Rory had given her friends the briefest overview of what he'd done and then refused to talk about it. She'd just cried and cried instead. She didn't blame Hermione for not wanting to talk. You couldn't put words into what heartbreak felt like.

Rory imagined she would not get to have Harry to herself for a few days, but that was fine. Hermione needed her best friend more than Rory needed her boyfriend right now. She would never begrudge him about his relationship with Hermione.

Ron though. He was going to need a talking to.

Matilda was also familiar with heartbreak and knew just the things to say to pull Hermione out of her head a little bit. A bit of laughter with her tears. Resting her head on Harry's shoulder instead of outright sobbing.

"I want to go to bed now," Hermione said. They all read the context of the statement. She wanted to be in the bed with the curtains closed before Lavender came upstairs giggling.

"I'll see you in the morning," Harry said giving her a tight hug. He kissed Rory before he headed to the door, but she wanted to talk to him before he left for the night. In the corridor, Rory pulled the door closed behind them.

"Fish, I know what you're going to ask, but I had no idea," Harry said.

"Parvati said the two of them have been chatting between classes, during free periods the last few weeks," Rory said.

Harry shrugged. "Maybe, but to be honest, I haven't been spending my free periods with Ron doing homework or studying, I'm usually preoccupied with you somewhere."

"I also had that revelation," she admitted with a sigh. "There's nothing to do about it now. But you have to talk to him."

Harry's eyes went wide and he looked like he wanted to tell her that he would not talk to Ron under any circumstances, but one of the perks of being his girlfriend was that he wouldn't tell her no outright unless he had an excellent reason.

Still, she'd have to reframe this a bit for him.

"Harry, you were afraid that they were going to start dating and then break up and never speak again. If Ron is snogging Lavender tomorrow, they're not going to be talking. They're both too proud for that," Rory said.

Harry groaned. "I want them to get along."

"Just… See if this thing with Lavender is real. Maybe he was just happy to make out with a cute girl after winning the match. Maybe he really did think that Hermione asked him to the party as just friends. But she's in there heartbroken. You can't pretend that nothing is going on," Rory said.

Again Harry let out a sigh. "Can you make sure you don't give Lavender a hard time while I talk to Ron about this?"

She'd expected that. "Fine. I won't make any promises about Matilda though."

"Matilda's not my girlfriend. She can do what she likes," Harry said. "You can too, obviously, but you know what I mean." He kissed her. "I want to check in with Hermione before breakfast. Can you let me know when Lavender leaves?"

Rory nodded. "Keep your mirror close by."

"Thank you," he said. He kissed her again and then sighed. "I'm going to find Ron."

Rory took hold of his hands and squeezed them tightly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked.

"You told me when Hermione asked out Ron that this was your nightmare," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Maybe it won't be as bad as I expect," he said.

The next morning, Ron and Lavender made sure that no one was under any illusions about the nature of their relationship. They were immediately glued to each other at breakfast the next morning.

"I'm mad confused," Atlas said. "I thought you said Ron and Hermione were-."

"Yep," Rory confirmed. "You are as blindsided as the rest of us. Including Hermione."

"Weren't they supposed to go on a date or something? Slughorn's party," Atlas said.

"Correct, but I do not think that will be happening now," Rory replied.

"How is she?" Atlas asked.

Rory shrugged. "She hasn't talked to anyone but Harry since last night. We had this party after the match and evidently, Lavender and Ron just started snogging in the middle of the common room. Matilda said she ran up to our room she was so upset."

"You didn't go to the party?" Atlas asked.

"I was there for a while," Rory said, her face heating. "Harry and I left after a bit."

"Say no more," Atlas replied holding up a hand. "Where is he this morning anyway?"

"With Hermione," Rory said.

"Genuine question," Atlas said, "it's not weird that your boyfriend hangs out with another girl, like all the time?"

Rory shook her head. "Harry and Hermione are practically siblings. I'm pretty sure you'll activate both their gag reflexes by suggesting otherwise."

Atlas chuckled.

"I'm not immune to being jealous. But of Hermione? Never," Rory said.

The pair ate breakfast together and Atlas seemed more than happy to gossip with her over toast and coffee. Harry entered the Great Hall a little later. Hermione was not with him. He met Rory's eye and headed toward her, but Lavender spotted him and got to her feet. She quickly pulled Harry into an overly familiar hug.

"Sorry if this is outta line, but Harry doesn't really strike me as being a hugger," Atlas said.

"He's not," Rory said.

Atlas drank down the last of her coffee and then gave her a strong pat on the back. "Fill me in on Friday at Slug Club."

Rory nodded as her brother got up from the table. She got up from her seat and walked down to Harry, Ron, and Lavender.

Harry was still standing there, looking wildly uncomfortable. Lavender had her arms around Ron like he might run away, but he seemed to be all too content to be there.

"Rory! I hope you enjoyed breakfast with your brother," Lavender said. "I didn't want to bother you, but I was just telling Harry that we should go on a double date this Saturday to Hogmeade."

"That's not happening," Rory said quickly and bluntly. Both Ron and Lavender looked at her in surprise.

"We were planning to go, just the two of us," Harry said quickly. "Since I told her I wouldn't schedule practice during a Hogsmeade visit and then immediately did anyway."

"Some other time then," Ron said.

Rory bit her tongue, literally bit her tongue, so that she didn't give Ron a very well-deserved piece of her mind.

"Rory, I had a chat with Dobby this morning and he said Kreacher has been being a bit of a pain. I was going to walk you to the kitchens if you don't mind," Harry said.

Rory groaned. First Ron now Kreacher.

"Excuse us," Rory said. Harry pulled her from the Great Hall.

"Kreacher hasn't done anything, I just wanted to remove you before you shouted at him," Harry said.

"How are you being so calm about this?" Rory asked.

"I talked to Ron last night. I guess he and Lavender talked a few times. It took him by surprise but he thought, 'why not' and just went with it," Harry said.

"Why not?" Rory scoffed. "Perhaps because the girl he's basically been in love with for literal years asked him on a date."

"He said he thought Hermione just meant they go as friends," Harry said. Rory rolled her eyes. "Hermione said let it go. If he likes Lavender, then he likes Lavender."

"He doesn't. He likes that she's paying attention to him and snogging him," Rory huffed.

"To be fair, I also like those things about you," Harry said.

"It's not the same and you know it," she said sternly, trying to keep herself from yelling.

"It's not my favorite either, but Hermione said to let it go. And I can't exactly just walk up to Ron and tell him that—"

"His new girlfriend sucks and so does he?" Rory asked. "Hermione—"

"Hermione will be fine. I think if we get involved in this and try to force it, we'll just make things worse," Harry said putting his hands on her waists, trying to settle her down. "For now I'm just going follow their lead on it."

"I can't imagine Hermione is going to want to hang out with Ron and his new girlfriend," Rory said. "I avoid Lavender outside of class and the dorm when I can."

"Try. Please," he said. He kissed her. "If not for me, then because it's what Hermione wants. Maybe she just wants to get over him."

Rory pouted but conceded. "I will do my best to tolerate her in the meantime."

"And you won't yell at Ron about it," Harry added.

She groaned. "I won't yell at Ron about it. Yet."

Sirius was a little drunk. Or maybe a lot drunk. He'd had a rather intimate birthday with Remus, Tonks, and a handful of Weasleys last year. This year was mostly the same, but he's gone out to dinner before returning home to spend the evening drinking wine with Tonks, Bill, Theo, and Kingsley. Moody had been by for a bit, and the more wine Sirius had the more entertaining he was. Moody seemed to find Sirius less tolerable by the moment though and soon left.

But this was the best birthday Sirius had ever had. He was disappointed that his best friend was nowhere to be found and hadn't been in touch since September, but the rest of his friends were here. And there was one thing he was looking forward to that he somehow had not dared to confront yet.

"It's a present," Theo said.

"But she's never gotten me a present," Sirius said. He'd gotten home from dinner and found a present and a letter waiting for him, from Aurora. In her 16 years of life, his daughter had never gotten him a birthday present. Until today.

"You'll feel better once you open it," Kingsley assured him.

They were sitting around the table in the conservatory, the sky was cloudless and you could see every star. It was so peaceful aside from the shenanigans happening inside the house.

"Open it," Tonks said sitting the parcel in front of him.

He grabbed the letter first and opened it.

Sirius,

Happy birthday! I've never been able to tell you that before. I've never been able to get you a present before either. It's not quite a baby grand piano, but I hope it will suffice. I had some input on it from my cosigner, and I agree that it was a smashing idea. I hope it makes your new home and new life feel more homey and new. I know it will make you think of how things might have been, but I hope you think of how things are now and look more to how you want the future to look. You have lost nothing but time being in Azkaban, but have so much more time ahead of you now.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I love you!

Please enjoy your present.

From your kids,

Aurora and Atlas

Sirius was fully prepared for tears as he finished the letter. The wine was not doing him any favor with his emotions either. He set the letter aside and opened the package.

It was a photograph of Aurora and Atlas, an arm draped over each other's shoulders. They smiled at the camera, laughing, happy, like they'd taken this photo together a thousand times.

Sirius realized at that moment he didn't have any pictures of his kids. This was the first picture he had of his two children. It was probably the first photograph they'd ever taken together. Sirius didn't know what to do or to say. A tear ran down his face.

Theo placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. She looked so incredibly sad, guilty even. Why wouldn't she? Aurora said that had more time in the future together than they'd lost in the past, but that time he'd lost was important. He knew nothing about Atlas. And with Aurora, how much time had he spent in Azkaban thinking about his daughter losing her first teeth or showing those first tell-tale signs of magic? He missed her first day of school and flying lessons. He'd missed both his children become people.

"Annoyingly photogenic pair aren't they," Tonks said looking at the photograph.

"Well, they look like me, so what do you expect," Sirius managed to laugh, wiping the tear from his face.

"Tonks tells me that Atlas has settled well into Slytherin," Kingsley said.

"I was flabbergasted at first, but now I hear he's actually giving them a good name, which is more than I can say any of my other relatives did," Sirius said. "At least he didn't wind up in Hufflepuff."

Tonks flipped him off as she took a sip of her wine, which was the reaction he'd been going for.