Albus came into the kitchen, glanced around, and began to help himself to a bowl of cereal. The house was quiet; Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Rose and Hugo were staying, but most people were still asleep. There were already garlands hung around the room, and a collection of Christmas cards on the dresser.

"Morning," he said.

The only other person in the kitchen merely grunted in reply and turned the page of what he was reading.

"So," Albus said, as he sat down table. "You've been weirdly calm about the latest thing with Lily. What's going on?"

His brother, who was sitting at the other side of the table drinking a cup of tea and flipping through a broom catalogue, looked up and scowled at him.

"Look, I don't even care. Lily can do what she wants. Anyway, why should it be weird that I'm calm about it?"

Al raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"Well, okay," James added. "I tried talking to her, and it was pretty obvious she was dying for me to go off the deep end about it. So I didn't."

Al laughed. "Seriously? You're pretending to be okay about it specifically to annoy her?"

"Well, partly." James grinned reluctantly. "I think it's working. She can't understand why I'm not reacting. But also, Hugo says they're not actually going out, and that he doesn't think they're going to. I'm not sure how he knows, but he seemed pretty sure."

Albus eyed his brother suspiciously. He could believe that James would enjoy winding Lily up as much as Lily might enjoy the reverse. But this was such a sudden and complete change of heart that he couldn't help feeling there was something else behind it.

"Anyway," James went on, "what's all this I hear about you and Sapphie?"

Al's suspicion turned to wariness. James was not the person he wanted to discuss Sapphie with. He was not still hung up on what had happened between them, he insisted to himself. But at the same time… Well, he knew that Sapphie was not interested in James. She'd told him that, and he trusted her. But he had no idea how James felt about Sapphie.

"I don't know," he said. "What have you heard about me and Sapphie?"

"Everything Hugo could tell me. Apparently you put on quite a show on the dance floor."

"Oh, Merlin," Al said with a sigh. "I'm pretty sure Hugo's exaggerating, as usual. Either that or you are, which also wouldn't be much of a surprise."

"But seriously." The grin that had appeared on James's face disappeared and he frowned slightly. "Are you two giving it another go then?"

"Well, kind of. I mean, yeah we are, but we're taking it slowly, and we're not making too much of a big deal out of it. So you don't have to mention it to Mum or Dad or anyone."

Albus watched James's face carefully as he spoke. And the expression on it was unmistakable: Immense, delighted relief.

"Really? That's great! I mean, honestly. I'm really happy for you guys. Wow," James went on thoughtfully. "I kind of never thought you would. But I'm glad you are. Because, y'know, I'm really sorry about what happened there. I fucked up. In multiple ways."

"Well, yeah, you did," Al agreed. Relief was overtaking him too. There was no way James could lie that convincingly. "So did I, though," he went on. "So yeah, you're forgiven. Just about. But never mind me and Sapphie," he went on. "What the hell's going on with you and that girl? What's her name? Hazel?"

James's grin disappeared and he looked extremely uncomfortable. "Nothing," he muttered.

Albus waited. "That's it?" he said at last. "You literally wrote to me asking me to go and talk to Scorpius Malfoy and 'subtly' try to find out if he knew why his friend didn't want to see you. That's a lot of effort and a lot of pride-swallowing, Jamie, and neither of those are things you usually go in for when you're chasing a girl. And you're not even going to tell me what happened?"

"Well maybe I would if you'd actually agreed to help me," James retorted. "Anyway, I'm not chasing her, and it's no big deal. I met up with her a few times in the summer. You already know that. And then she kind of freaked out on me, and I have no idea why. I mean, I thought we were getting along pretty well, but out of the blue she rushes off and tells me she doesn't want to see me anymore, and she doesn't think it's a good idea if I write to her…"

"And did you write to her?" Albus interrupted.

"No, of course not." James turned another page of his catalogue, although Al didn't think he was actually reading it anymore. "She said she didn't want me to, so I haven't had any contact with her since. And if she doesn't want to see me, that's up to her, obviously. I just want to know what I did wrong, because I've been over and over it in my head until I feel like I'm going crazy, and I still can't work it out."

Again, Albus felt a small pang of guilt that he hadn't tried to help James. His brother was trying for his usual flippant tone, but it had cracked anxiously on the last sentence. He might say it wasn't a big deal, but it was clearly a large-ish one. Which was interesting, because it wasn't normal for James. It did possibly explain, though, why James wasn't completely overreacting to the news that Lily had gone with Malfoy to the ball. That wouldn't be the best way to make a good impression on Malfoy's best friend.

Not that Al thought he could have done any good by talking to Scorpius Malfoy. That seemed like a very bad plan, even by James's standards. Lily would be a better person than him to talk to Malfoy, but Al certainly wasn't going to suggest roping her in. He felt sorry for James, but interference from the rest of the family was the last thing the situation needed, even if James had been prepared to tell Lily about it, which Al doubted. Lily was notoriously terrible at keeping secrets.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out," he said genuinely. "And I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. But let's face it, I wouldn't have done you any favours by going up to Scorpius Malfoy and saying 'hey, my brother fancies your friend; can you find out if she likes him too?' I mean, that's how first-years do romance, Jamie."

"Well, obviously that's not what I meant you to do," James said irritably.

He broke off as the door opened and Hugo stumbled in, still in his pyjamas, his hair sticking in every direction. However, he looked between the two of them, his expression rapidly becoming more awake.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Nothing," James said at once. "Mind your own business."

Hugo looked even more interested. "Do you fancy Malfoy's friend, Jamie?"

Albus choked with laughter over a spoonful of cereal, and James groaned.

"Thanks a lot for saying that out loud, Al. It's not actually like that, Hugo, so just shut up about it."

Hugo narrowed his eyes. "Which friend? You're into girls, so that means it has to be Zabini. Malfoy doesn't hang out with any other girls. Other than Lily," he added, "but it's obviously not her."

"It's not Zabini," James said through gritted teeth. "It's not anyone. Albus was being a twat."

"Oh, come on." Hugo sat down beside Albus, opposite James. "At least tell me who you were talking about. I was the one who told you what the deal was with Lily and Malfoy – and about Al and Sapphie."

"It's nobody even at Hogwarts," Albus put in. "We were talking about that Muggle friend of Malfoy's."

"Who I don't fancy, and am probably never going to see again," James added. "Why are we even having this conversation? It's nothing to do with either of you."

Hugo's eyes, however, had lit up.

"That Muggle girl who saved you when you almost died in the avalanche?" he asked. "What was her name again? Hey, if you want to see her, I could ask Malfoy how you could get in touch with her? I'll pretend I'm asking for someone else if you don't want me to say it's you," he added.

"No. I already know how to get in touch with her!" James said, exasperated. "That's not the issue, Hugo. Just forget it, okay? Don't you dare say anything to Malfoy. I know what your idea of subtle is."

Hugo opened his mouth, presumably to argue, then caught Al's eye and closed it again.

Albus very much hoped that Hugo was thinking of his disastrous attempts to interfere in people's lives over the previous term, and would come to the conclusion that it was better to leave well alone. From the gleam in Hugo's eye, he was not at all sure that that was the case, and although he couldn't help being amused that it was James's life being interfered with for a change, he also felt a growing sense of dismay.

His hopes for a drama-free time the following term seemed slightly over-optimistic.

The End

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who's read, favourited and/or reviewed this story! If you've read this far and haven't left a review, please do drop me a line or two and let me know what you think - reviews really make a writer's day!

Please also check out my other fics if you haven't already done so - they're all set in the same universe and feature the same characters. And there's more to come, so if you're dying to know how Al/Sapphie works out, whether James ever sees Hazel again or what happens to Issie and Eris, then watch out for my next two planned stories, Your World and Inheritance. (You might want to read some of the others first though, if you haven't already.)