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Thank Merlin for cell phones and the crazy Muggle technology he couldn't begin to understand that kept their messages flowing through the fall and winter months. Surely, things could have gone worse. Scorpius hadn't been kicked out of school; he was merely on probation, so he had to keep his head up and not get into a single ounce of trouble ever again. Mr. Potter had been very understanding, more than he had a right to be after what he'd seen, and the howler Scorpius got his from his parents about the probation only had him humiliated for a week or so.

All in all, things had worked out.

Even though he couldn't see James anymore, he could talk to him through texts and, brief, phone calls. It wasn't as frequent, but it would have to do.

By the time the holidays rolled around, Scorpius convinced his parents to let him stay with the Potters for the week leading up to New Year's. He spent about two hours trying to find the right clothes for his first visit with James in months and to make a good impression on Mr. Potter, although Al found it hilarious when he saw Scorpius on their front porch wearing a checked sweatervest and a button-up.

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"It's a Tuesday night, there's not going to be a crowd at the cinema no matter when you go," Lily points out, but she doesn't seem to take any pleasure in it. In fact, her tone if sympathetic if it's anything at all.

James sighs, noting the way that Scorpius is sitting up next to him. He cuts his eyes over to his sister, before glancing back up at the blond boy, reaching up to gently grab his collar to tug him down for a very quick kiss. His face is red - it's the first time he's ever done that in front of someone - but it's vaguely stubborn, too. "It'll be fun to get out of the house, right?"

Probably a bad thing, the way James timed it, but hey, Scorpius will take a kiss where he can get it. Even if it's more than a little awkward to kiss James in front of his sister. And when James pulls away, Scorpius's pale face is flushed pink.

"Warn a bloke," he grumbles, brushing his hair back. But he nods at the question anyway, savouring the taste of James left of his mouth. "It sounds fun."

Lily just grins a little, smiling almost sheepishly down at her shoes, trying to give them some privacy despite it. She steps into the room when it's over with, even as James rolls to his feet and straightens his shirt out.

"I'll go plead the case with Al," he says, ducking out into the hallway as his little sister perches lightly onto the edge of the bed next to Scorpius.

Scorpius wants to ask James not to leave, but he's gone before he can get the words out. Left alone with Lily, he glances aside to her, lifting a brow. Did she have to sit on the bed with him? Not that anyone in the Potter family had any idea of personal boundaries.

"Thanks for being cool about all this," he says, a little dumbly, face still pink.

Lily grins at that, but there's something in her expression that's privately pleased with the pinkness in Scorpius's face. "I could tell when things started happening between you two, you know," she informs him seriously. "Even without him saying a word to us. Didn't know it was you, of course, but I knew something was going on."

"How could you tell?" Scorpius asks. He wants it to be something stupidly romantic, like James walked around in a haze for weeks after that kiss in the pond. But he's sure it's nothing like that. It's probably just Lily looking too deeply into things. Still, Scorpius is desperate to know.

It wasn't quite a haze, but there was a difference, and maybe the only sort someone who'd grown up with him could see. "He's happier." Lily says it simply, swinging her foot, focusing her attention on it her toes brush the carpet. "Jamie's always been a bit of a mess, you know, he's always going in a million directions at once. But I could tell he was happier."

"Is that so?"

Scorpius tries, in vain, to keep the smile out of his voice. This is stupidly wonderful news, actually. James had never quite seemed very happy to him in the first place. Maybe Scorpius being a prick and forcing something out of him that he didn't even know was there was some kind of relief or something.

"Hey," he adds, glancing quick towards the door to ensure no one was there. "Do you think it'll be okay when Al finds out?"

It was as much the talk with Harry - the reassurance that he was alright, that he wasn't broken or diseased - that had put James at peace with himself. "Yeah, that's so," she shoots back teasingly, but a little of her own smile flags when he asks that question. "And - I don't know. I haven't the slightest clue, honestly... I reckon it could go either way. He might be happy for you-" but her tone suggests she thinks that's unlikely, "-or might feel betrayed and jealous and lied to and hurt. Either way, you better make sure he knows you're not hanging around him just for James and that you're not gonna quit being his friend just 'cause you're dating his brother, too."

"Oh. Right."

The thought of half of that hadn't even crossed Scorpius's mind. But now that it had, he was more worried than ever about telling Al. He wasn't using Al, except...well, except now, he supposed, when he really wanted to be with James but had to tell his family he was staying to see Al and had to bring Al with them to the movies even though he'd really, really like to be alone with James.

"Yeah, I'll be careful," he adds, frowning a little. Shit. There's no way Al's not going to hate him for this.

"--hey, come on, chin up," Lily says, not blind to the way that Scorpius's face sort of fell. She reaches over to playfully knuckle his shoulder in a half-hearted attempt to get him to relax. "You two are close, right? I mean, you gotta be, you were willing to ask your dad to come stay here before you and Jamie even started making eyes at each other. Al will forgive you eventually."

"I hope so."

The response is sort of swallowed, because at that moment, Al barges in and grabs Scorpius by the wrist, yanking him off the bed. "Dad agreed! Come on, the show starts in fifteen--"

"Al," Scorpius says, pulling back. "Don't you think you ought to put some clothes on first?"

Albus looks down, laughs, having forgotten he didn't exactly get dressed after his shower, and then nods. "Good one, Scor. Be right back."

Lily snorts, eyebrows going up at her brother. She gives a little wave to Scorpius, before sliding to her feet and following Al down the hall. She'll catch him for a brief chat if she can.

James, meanwhile, is left loitering around in the living room; he doesn't want to seem too eager to just beeline back to Scorpius, especially with the movie starting so soon, so he waits.

Al bounds up the stairs two at a time, so it might take Lily a bit to catch up. By the time he's in his room, he's fighting with his clothes to get out of his pajamas and into something suitable.

"Oy, a little privacy?" he calls, giving Lily a look.

Lily rolls her eyes at Al, but turns her back to him, crossing her arms a little impatiently. "Nice that Jamie's taking you two to the cinema," she says. "Pretty good that he and Scorpius are getting along a little better, huh?"

Al shrugs stiffly, rolling his eyes as he fumbles out of his pants trying to get them off quickly. Al hadn't been to Muggle movies in a while, probably a few years, but he didn't want to be late. The weird preview things they showed before the actual movie were always so interesting.

"I guess, yeah. As long as James isn't throwing Scorpius in the lake, I'd call it a win."

She can't really see the shrug, but she can hear it in his voice, and she leans one shoulder against the wall and sighs. "I hope they end up friends, at least. That'd be convenient, wouldn't it? Especially after all that fuss James used to kick up about him being a Malfoy... glad he's opening up a bit."

Al hesitates as he pulls up a pair of trousers, zips them, slowly reaches for a jumper. "What are you going on about?" he asks, feeling a weird sense of dread in his stomach. What the hell did James opening up have to do with anything? His hair is a mess as he tugs his jumper over and smooths it, giving Lily a suspicious look.

It feels like there's a joke he's not in on yet, and he hates that.

"What do I care if they're friends? Scorpius is my friends. Not James's."

Lily hears the rustling and takes that as a cue that it's safe to turn around. The suspicious look he fixes her with is met with an exasperated one from her, and she just shrugs a little bit. "What, so he can't be friends with both of you? I just think it's nice, Al, jeez. What are you guys going to see, anyway?"

Another shrug, as he searches for and finally finds his trainers, tugging them on in a hurry. "Dunno. Some Muggle sci-fi thing James has been wanting to see." Sci-fi wasn't a genre he was particularly interested in, but they were always entertaining at the very least. "Which Scorpius probably won't understand a word of." He grinned.

And Lily wrinkles her nose, like she's surprised by that answer. "James is into the weirdest things, I swear," she says, shaking her head - his interest in muggle literature was always a little baffling to her. "Well, you boys have fun, anyway. Bring me some sweets back, alright?"

"I'll think about it," he says dismissively, ruffling Lily's hair on his way out of the room. He loved his sister, but it was his job as her big brother to annoy her. Right? Anyway, of course he'd bring her something back; he wasn't that mean.

"Scorpius, James, let's go!"

Lily huffs indignantly, swatting at Al's hand when he ruffles her hair, but otherwise just sort of waves at him as he goes. Honestly, she's a little worried, but she isn't sure if there's anything she can do about it.

Meanwhile, James is still in the living room, coat on. He flashes a sort of awkward smile at Al, something a little brighter than normal. "I'm ready, I'm ready."

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SORRY for not making another journal btw, i couldn't decide on a username weeps

haha it's all good <3 al/lily first, then we can go back to the awkward trio ;3

okay!

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