#sts7

Pronunciation Note: "Earin" is pronounced "Erin."

I Flooed Lily back to her grandparents' old house in Ottery St. Catchpole (in one of my textbooks – perhaps Hogwarts, A History: Edition V? – it was mentioned that the house was rebuilt after it burned down in the war, and Lily's grandparents wanted to be closer to Bill and Fleur Weasley so they gave it to her father) with the intention of just dropping her off – I'd respect her wish of doing nothing, however much it pained me – but she didn't seem to want me to go. Fingers clutched tightly around my wrist, the only physical sign that I knew she would show of her pain, Lily marched up the flight of stairs to our right and rounded the corner. A door with "albus sevrus poter" scrawled across it in a child's handwriting stood before us. I registered the sound of water running, as if the shower was on somewhere in the house, as Lily raised a fist to knock. Her face was set with an emotionless mask, her fist inches from the wood, when a groan sounded from the room.

Lily turned to me, confusion evident and her mask broken, mouthing, "What is he doing in there?"

I had a fairly clear idea, but when we heard, "Oh, Merlin, yes, oh Merlin, Persie," I'm sure even prudish Molly Weasley would have guessed what was happening on the other side of the door. But still…Persie? Wasn't Persephone Longbottom James' girlfriend? And Albus' best friend? Damn, this boy was fucked up. And only a second year, too.

Lily seemed to get the same idea, because her expression twisted into one of disgust. "I did not need that image," she muttered. Then, turning to the door, she banged loudly, calling, "ALBUS!"

"Huh?" came a throaty voice from the room. The lock clicked, and Lily found herself face to face with –

"James?" she shrieked. "Holy hell, what are you doing in Albus' room?"

Potter's face was red, and from what I could see all he wore was a towel around his waist. A towel that was far too tight, in my opinion.

"Cussing, Little Lil? You've been spending too much time with Malfoy and his friends," Potter said, shaking his head. He made no attempt to hide the bulge beneath the cloth.

"James…" Lily said warningly. "Where is Albus and what are you doing in his room?"

"Dad's in the shower downstairs, and Mum needed to do her make-up – she's reporting today – so she took my bathroom," Potter told us. "And…I think Albus is over at Liam's house?"

I shot a questioning look at Lily. "Liam?"

"Jelop," she answered. "Albus' best friend." Ah. Earin's little brother.

"Is this about him calling you a bitch?" Potter asked. "'Cause, if it is…let me help beat him up."

"Don't worry, James. We've got this. And…what's Liam's address?"

"Try Jelop House," offered Potter, turning away. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"We heard what you were doing, James," Lily laughed, as Potter shut the door. "Don't try to hide it!"

I could hear his chuckle through the door. "What can I say?" he called. "I'm a red-blooded male with an extremely attractive girlfriend!"

"I'm sure you are," Ginny Potter said, coming up behind us. "Hello, Scorpius! What brings you here?"

I threw a glance at Lily as we turned to face her. "Er…I was just –"

"We're gonna go to Earin's house," Lily lied, mentioning the fifth year Slytherin. "We just stopped here to grab some stuff, and heard…James."

Mrs. Potter smiled. "Alright, then. Have fun!" She stepped aside and walked down the stairs. Once more, I was shocked by how much she resembled Lily.

We followed her down and turned left to the fireplace, grabbing handfuls of Floo Powder and shouting, "Jelop House!" one after another.

Lily stumbled out first, coughing, a bit of soot in her hair. "Talented," I teased, then ducked as her fist came swinging around. "Whoa there."

"Just" – cough – "because" – cough – "I'm" – cough – "smaller" – cough – "does" – cough – "not" – cough – "mean" – cough – "I won't hit you," she wheezed.

"Whatever you say, 'Little Lil,'" I joked.

She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, shut it you."

I had just opened my mouth to reply when a discrete "ahem," sounded from the side of the room. I turned my head to see a witch with curly dark brown hair pulled up in a bun smirking at us. She sat on an emerald green loveseat, and I recognized her book – The Power Shift: A Guide to Ethics and Morals – as Slughorn's assigned reading for fifth years.

"Earin!" Lily cried, rushing over to give her fellow Slytherin a hug. I let them have their little reunion (of sorts). Earin had taken Lily under her wing (as most senior Slytherins did to other first years) after she had found Lily crying late at night in the common room. The bond had flourished, and I could see that Earin had become a surrogate older sister to Lily after her brothers had driven her away.

"You do realize it's only been two days, right?" I said dryly, but they both ignored me.

"How've you been?" Earin asked, holding Lily by her shoulders. "Those idiots you have for brothers not getting to you?"

Lily grimaced. "Well…that's kinda why we're here. Albus is over, yeah?"

Earin nodded. "Why? What happened?"

"We need to…talk…to him," I said, in a manner that suggested that talking wouldn't be the only thing we did.

"I'll go get him." Earin got up, hugged Lily, and walked down the hall. We could hear her voice calling him: "Oi, Potter! Your sister's here!"

"Get away from me, you filthy snake," Albus Potter growled, but he walked back to the foyer where we stood. "Well?"

I glanced at Earin, wondering if there was a more…private place we could do this. She nodded and led us up a marble staircase to her bedroom. "You can talk here, and I'll have a little…chat with my brother about the language is best friend is using."

Albus Potter glared. "What do you want?"

"You arrogant git!" Lily growled. "You foul, loathsome evil toad! You're a terrible person – who's into the dark arts – and you have the nerve to call me a bitch?"

His eyes narrowed, but I could see his bravado cracking. Like a Gryffindor, he had no control whatsoever over his emotions. "It's better than hanging out with Death Eater spawn like you do!"

"Shut it, Potter," I hissed. "You'd better watch your mouth. It's two against one – but I suppose you can't count, either. "

"And what about Thomas Gibbon? Andrew Jugson? Their fathers were Death Eaters, too," added Lily.

"I'm not friends with them!" Potter cried. "I'm not – I –"

"Could've fooled me," Lily snorted.

I raised my fist, having had enough of the fight. "Apologize."

"No!" he replied. "Why would I do that?"

"Oh, so the Imperius Curse isn't wrong?" Lily asked, smirking.

His eyes widened, and for the first time I saw real fear in his eyes. "You…you figured that out?"

"Yep," Lily said, trying for lightness. "Revelabit Abscondita and that shit."

Potter's face hardened. "Who taught you that? Who told you about that?"

Lily shot a frightened glance at me. "L-Lana…"

I stepped forward to intervene, but Lily pushed me back as her brother's eyes narrow. "Stay away from me. If you know what's good for you." He threw open the door and stalked past a frightened Earin, muttering profanities as he returned to Liam's room.

Earin bit her lip as Lily crumpled to the floor, all of her anger dissipated. "He – he just – he doesn't care!" she wailed.

I sank down beside her. "Lily, Lily, it's okay, you still have us, and James, and the whole Slytherin house, Lily, it's okay, you're fine…" I rubbed her back, hesitating when my hand brushed the back of her bra. She wore a bra at 11? Well, almost 12, her birthday was coming up, soon, but still –

"C'mon, Lily, up you get," Earin's voice on the other side of Lily broke me out of my reverie. "Scorpius will take you home…there's a good girl, let's go…"

My hand clasped in Lily's, we Flooed back to her house. The sky was dark as we climbed the stairs to her attic bedroom, the full moon shining through her open window. I knew it had to be after ten o'clock. Green curtains fluttered in the wind, and a white bed took up the majority of the room. Her dresser stood to my left and her desk to my right, both covered in papers.

Sitting down on the bed, Lily pulled off her sweater and boots, revealing a white – what was it called? – camisole. She looked at me with tired green eyes, tearstains dried on her face, and whispered, "Scor?"

I sat down beside her. "Yeah?"

She lay back, pulling me with her. "Tell me a story.

"A story?"

"Mmm."

"I don't…I don't know any stories."

"Make one up."

"Well…there is this one – it's a muggle story, it's by a guy named Shakespeare, I think – about two people who fall in love…Romeo and Julie, I think it's called…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Tell it."

"Er…alright, then. There once were two families, Montague and Capulet, I think, and they were always fighting…"