better an oops than a what if

Usually, when Lily went on a rant Albus was all for listening to her and rectifying whatever had been wrong with his behaviour. This time however he had little patience, for three good reasons: “first of all, it’s not about you ogling a boy. I know you’re old and capable enough to take care of yourself, and I never said you shouldn’t experience anything. It’s about it being him because secondly, he’s the worst person to be attracted to, unless you’re Raziela Lestrange. Honestly, Lily, isn’t the fact that she, of all people, thinks he’s the pinnacle of perfection tip you off to how terrible a person he is?” Finding someone aesthetically pleasing was a thing, harbouring these thoughts in spite of said person’s awful personality was another. “And lastly, never again, you hear me? Ever call Scorpius a boy toy. And I’m supposedly the one being demeaning and insulting.”

If Lily could whistle, she would. Allie finally got a backbone, but from where she wasn’t too sure. “Are you drunk or something? Because first, I’m just looking! I’m looking. I’m not asking your approval to marry him, not that I would because I don’t need it and like why would I ever get married? It’s awful. He’s pretty. That’s it. Merlin. I don’t care about the pillow fights you two get into in the dorm room.” Lily moved closer, trying to see if her brother smelled like alcohol. “Two, you oogle him. He’s blonde. What’s the difference? It’s just a nickname. Get over yourself. Scorpius’s a boy toy. Boo hoo.”

See, of all the people to have reassured Maxwell about his likes and dislikes since he had started Hogwarts, Lily must have been one of the most vocal advocates to being oneself – and dismantling the patriarchy, as she often called to do. It had seemed wild for Maxie at first that someone his age could be so much more knowledgeable and aware than he was, but then again their upbringing had been largely different. “I get that they don’t want to show differences in clothing that could point out targets, you know? Poorer people or muggleborn versus pureblood differences. But there should be more choice to what we can wear, right?” If he wasn’t the only one to take to shorts, then certainly the Hufflepuff would feel brave enough to modify the contents of his wardrobe. “I think it is? It can’t be anything else. I’m sure you’ll grow some more, we’re still very young!”

“Okay sure, whatever, but like I’m not saying let’s get rid of uniforms all together. I’m just saying the whole binary system of ‘boys’ in pants and ‘girls’ in skirts is freaking bonkers and if we’re so advanced in magic maybe we could beat the muggles in getting rid of skirt length rules and ‘visible shoulders’. I’m shocked. Shocked, Maxie! That they don’t make us check our outfits before these balls.” With a huff, Lily crossed her arms. Slowly she realized her rant had totally gotten away from her. “Yes! More choices! Like proper kilts! Or floor length skirts! Or more vests? Maybe we should poll everyone. We don’t know what they want. Isn’t it ridiculous the students don’t even have a voice in these things? And I’m not young. I’m small. There’s a difference.”

abigail raised an eyebrow at the younger girl and a pleased smile appeared on her lips. “if i’m really doing all of them, i’ll need your help. i may be good at charms, but i’d prefer doing something else than charming ghosts all night.” the ravenclaw ran a hand through her hair at the compliment and grinned at the gryffindor. “right? thank you for noticing. you know, surprisingly enough you’re one of the few people who have told me that tongiht.” she said with a small sigh. naturally, she didn’t dress up just for the compliments, nor did she need them because she knew she looked great, but it felt nice for her hard work and good genetics to be recognised every once in a while. she gave lily a small shrug as she looked around the room before shaking her head. “well, i don’t know. i think they just say that because when you get older you start sneaking in alcohol.” she said with a small smirk as she pulled the flask out of her pocket and gave it a gentle shake. “the outfit is in large part thanks to dominique. i don’t own much leather myself. but i will take the credit of putting it together and for having one of the best bodies in this castle.” she teased with a small giggle. was she already getting tipsy? she hadn’t even had that much to drink. “and speaking of people who look better than this whole thing: you. you look so great, honestly.” 

Lily laughed instantly. There was no way in hell she was gonna charm all the ghosts. Not without getting something out of it. Even if Abigail was her best friend’s whatever buddy. “Something else? You could convince the third years to do it. They love helping. Like way too much.” Lily was all for the aftershocks of hero worship she inherited from her parents but was it possible for someone to be too helpful? Yes. “Are you kidding? You’re hot.” She usually didn’t get what attracted people to Abigail but tonight it was painfully obvious. Lily rolled her eyes. “Is everyone drinking? No one told me and I came empty handed.” Forever the baby, she hated not being included or feeling like she wasn’t wanted around. She got enough of that around her family. She didn’t need it at Hogwarts too, even if the place was mostly populated by Wotters. “She just went through her closet? Typical.” Lily wish she had the patience to be surprised. She loved Dominique’s wardrobe. Would it kill her cousin to share it with her? Probably. Just when Lily’s face was about to sour, she was caught off guard with the compliment. “Wait, what? You think? I wanted to be like gory and fun but without all the nonsense. And honestly, she’s the best character.”

“A what?!” Much like an offended father, Albus whirled around, trying to spot whomever had thought attending a party naked would be a good idea. There were children around, for Merlin’s sake! Hell, hogging his sister’s attention sounded like an excellent thing at the moment. Even more so when, following Lily’s gaze, who did Albus see but Archibald Rowle, wearing what looked like a bedsheet about to fall off his body. First of all, no one was allowed to bemoan Al’s own lack of interest about the event anymore. Rowle had clearly put in a lot less effort than the brunette had. Second of all, “Lily, I swear to everything I hold dear I’ll set this piece of trash on fire before you can corrupt your eyesight with the disgusting display this douche is currently offering the poor, innocent Hogwarts crowd.”

“Oh Merlin.” Lily hissed under her breath, holding back the urge to dig her nails into her brother’s arm and pull him back. “Can you shut up for real now? If I have to watch you make fricken googly eyes at your blonde boy toy all day and all night for the rest of eternity then I can stare at a hot boy for like once, maybe, in my life, okay? And you’re not Dad so you don’t get the pull the bullshit protective act. I’m fifteen. I’m practically of age. And the whole I must stay in a box and never experience any kind of attraction to anyone thing is super demeaning and insulting. Don’t act like some macho bullshit toxic masculinity arsehole. You’re not.”

“Lily, I’m pretty sure human skin is flammable. Can we drop that topic now? I really don’t like it at all.” Proof being the lack of colour in his cheeks, all blood having drained from it as his imagination, damned thing, was providing him with mental pictures he’d rather not give any more thought to. At least the subject of his legs (and the very intense commentary about them) brought a blush back on the Hufflepuff’s face. He had never given any thought to his legs because, well, they were his, and they took him places so they had to be satisfactory, had they not? Besides he had grown rather uneasy about his body since the bite, unwilling to stare at it for too long lest he’d start wondering which changes were the result of it, and which were simply due to puberty. “I do like shorts, they’re pretty cute, and I’m good enough at charms to keep my legs warm in winter, but – shorts aren’t exactly an option, are they?” A frown. “Are they? Because that’d be nice.” He shook his head, offering the Gryffindor a genuine smile. “I’m sure my legs only look that way because I grew up so much. Girls grow up differently, right? Boys turn into stick figures, stick insect in my case.”

“Fine.” The Gryffindor’s response was practically a whine. Why should they drop one of the most fascinating topics on the planet? Even if Max did look maybe like the slightest little tiny bit ill? Boring. Unless he threw up right here. That’d make this party way more fun. And gross. But fun for at least a second. “They should be! Dress codes are way restrictive and patriarchal. Outdated. You should totally fight the system! I bet we could get a bunch of people to wear shorts too! Non-gender specific!” Her pout was complete gone, a fleeting past moment. “Is it puberty? I want to get taller. I mean, like I like my height but I’d be into longer legs.”

the blonde had to do his best to keep the smirk off his lips as blue eyes stared down at the brunette in front of him, for once he would stand the mindless babbling that spilled from the other’s lips, after all, it wasn’t like she’d be enjoying herself for much longer. 

blue eyes blinked down at the other, taking a long sip from his cup, “i would’ve thought annoying to be a more appropriate description of yourself but each to their own i suppose. i suppose someone might be able to find some cuteness in tiresome babble.” it certainly wasn’t him. besides, he wasn’t the sort of person who doted on ‘cuteness.’ at her comment, the boy straightened up, using his height to tower over the other, as if he would ever step back for a potter. “wouldn’t you like that?” he muttered, eyes drilling into her, “but if i’m really making you so uncomfortable you could just leave rather than hovering.”

“Okay. That’s the cauldron calling the kettle black. You’ve been annoying me for what feels like five hours now. And still haven’t taken a step back. Do people not usually ask you to do things? Is this a new concept? I mean it would make sense if it was. Wait. Am I the first person to ask you to do anything ever?” Lily brought a hand up to play with her hair but had forgotten about the new length of it. She reluctantly brought it back down to her cup to clutch it. “But if you’re the someone finding my amazing babble cute how can I blame you. I mean, I am me.” Lily shot the taller boy the best smile she could muster. “It just sounds like you don’t understand the meaning of no. Which is like super problematic. But I don’t know. The tallness thing is kind of a plus. You can stay close.” 

Lily’s first address sounded a lot like a reversed ’who do you think you are,’ causing Maxwell to wonder if he had done something bad. As it turned out, she only meant it as part of a costume-based series of questions, and so the other fifth year allowed himself to breathe again. “I don’t think you look stupid! I don’t know who you could be - a murder victim? Or are you the murderer? I’d say a serial killer but I really wouldn’t know, it’s not the kind of thing I, um, research.” Not just because he didn’t own a personal computer, meaning Vivian could see everything he did and she would freak out seeing strange researches in the browser’s history, but also (mostly) because Maxwell Ahn was a scaredy cat. He would happily leave all the strange and literally bloody stories to Lily Potter. “Even without knowing who you are, I’d say you’re still in the Halloween spirit, which is a good thing… Right?”

“Not a victim, okay? Definitely a murderer! Uh…Not a serial killer. Even though some of them are super cool. Maybe never year! How is it not your thing, Max? They’re like super interesting and the way they think is so out of this world and there’s no one out there like them making lampshades out of people! Could imagine if you lived in a house where the lampshades were people?!” Lily took a breath, stopping her ranting reply. “Thanks anyway. I mean, not all of us can fight evil by moonlight. How short are those shorts? I didn’t know you had legs like that, Max. Dang.” Lily had to remind herself it was important to keep her hands to herself because really all she wanted to do was touch Max’s legs. They had to be smoother than hers. That wasn’t fair.

“Greatly weird, or weirdly great. Contrary to you, I know how to take a compliment, so thank you.” If he let go of his reservations, Albus would quickly write an entire book about how amazing his sister was, and she’d call him mushy. He’d rather be told he looks weird, thank you very much. “I am, and it is. It was either Milo or Jim from Treasure Planet, I found the clothes for Milo faster.” He could have gone to the party without dressing up – hell, he could have not gone at all, but as usual, Scorpius. One name for a rather long tale of mutual coercion. “I love how we’re always the exceptions to your rules, especially when it’s something nasty. Your headbutts could save the world, you know.”

“Can you buzz off or swim off or whatever the heck happens in Atlantis, please?” In their very muggle media influenced childhood, Lily hadn’t liked that movie. And it was only because Allie liked it so much. And what Allie liked was usually boring. Or educational. Same thing. “You’re ruining my very real chances at staring at a very naked blonde boy with your talking.” Lily ended her sentence with her patented Potter smile. The one that usually got her an extended curfew and extra allowance at home. “If I headbutt you, will it help you stop?”

How were serial killers not his thing. Only Lily could come up with such a question - and back it up with human lampshades as an apparently valid argument. “I refuse to even give one more second to the possibility of lampshades made of people. If I have nightmares tonight it’ll definitely be your fault,” he told the girl very seriously. Max could remember very clearly the one time when, aged seven or eight, he had watched Hook. He had asked Vivian to stop the film right during the kidnapping scene. Of course, now he could watch the entire film, and it was even one of his favourites, but his level of bravery had remained similar; it had merely adapted to his age. “Hm, thank you? It’s not very original- coming from me, I mean, but- they’re short. As in, way too short for comfort right now, I’m not used to wearing revealing clothes.” Which could explain the furious blush on his cheeks going all the way to the tip of his ears at Lily’s compliment – it was a compliment, right? “Ah, well, yoga really keeps you in shape, doesn’t it?”

“Okay, but what are your lampshades made of? Some flammable material? And wouldn’t it be worse if they were killing people and like not using every bit of them? Like the Native Americans from America with the buffalo? Just pretend they’re buffalo. We’re all buffalo, okay?” Lily brought her hands up to her own cheeks in glee! Max had a way about him of being entirely too adorable for words. And not in a way that she found totally aggravating and annoying. “Mmhmm. You’re welcome. Yeah but they’re short in a ‘you should trade in your uniform pants for shorts’ short because once again. Wow. Wowie. Dang. I mean, I do yoga but my calves do not look like that.”

Large crowds and big events weren’t Albus’ cup of tea, unless they were Wotter-and-friends exclusive. Finding himself face to face with his sister helped him forget the many outsiders they were surrounded by. “I’d go for a dangerous psychopath, which is redundant, and also you look weird in blonde. Anything else?” Why, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to poke fun at Lily. Besides, the wig had truly taken him aback at first, he had needed a half second to realise just whom he was talking to. “If anyone tells you you look stupid, just headbutt them, it’ll help them connect the two neurons they’ve got.” Because the one thing a big brother was always good for, was giving great advice. This was how people made friends, right? Headbutts.

“I don’t look weird. I look great. You look weird.” She could at least fake self confidence in her appearance until she truly felt it. Lily crossed her arms over her chest and gave her brother a practiced eye roll. What was the point of siblings if they were just going to be awful all the time. “Are you from Atlantis? That movie’s so old. It’s ancient.” Lily uncrossed her arms to pull at Allie’s shirt. The color was kind of nice on him but she’d never tell him that. “I’m not going to headbutt anyone. That’s really bad advice. Don’t headbutt anyone. Maybe Jamie. Maybe you.”

it had actually taken the rowle a second to register the girl as the young potter, he was more used to seeing her with long dark hair, similar to that of her two older brothers. of course, he was used to seeing her covered in a lot less blood — but the idea was almost entertaining. almost entertaining as the small ‘ow’ that came from the girl. it was funny to think, potter’s children were all here — the whole school was here — with no idea what was in store for them. some more specific than others, but still. their fun certainly wasn’t going to last for long. 

merlin, she babbled a lot. he thought immediately, not particularly paying attention to the string of words falling from her lips, if she was anything like albus, it’d probably be a bunch of nonsense he didn’t need filling up space in his head. the blonde gave a small chuckle, “as if potter — i wouldn’t even touch you with a ten foot pole, i’m pretty sure from your family i could contract a lot more than being a blood traitor.” he gave the other a snide smile, icy blue eyes staring down at her as she continued to spill nonsense. “because it’s rude, most people like personal space. and if you refer to the whole ten foot pole comment then it puts things into more context.” his eyebrows raised slightly, eyes not having left the girl.

How long had Lily been speaking for? Honestly, she wasn’t sure and went back to her reliable routine of drinking the punch and looking around the room over staring at the very very naked chest in front of her. Not good. Very not good. Where the fuck were all her friends when she needed them?

“Like what? I think we’re all up to dates on our shots. Also, you basically stepped on me. Me? Tiny. Cute. Innocent. Don’t take up a lot of space. You? Tall. Big.” Lily mimed flexing her arm muscles. “You take up a lot more space. And I think everyone here would agree you’re far from innocent.” Or small. Jeez, his biceps were practically the size of her head. “But if we’re on the topic of rude you could, I don’t know? Take a step back? It’s kind of like you want to be in my personal space or something. Why? You want to tell me a secret or something?”