Metanoia | J. POTTER

25 | high tide

Rose had stayed with James that night. She had contemplated going to Lily but she was certain she wouldn't be able to keep the new found information from the girl. She also had no idea how to tell her.

She didn't remind James about Petunia selling their home and leaving Rose and Lily on their own.

"Rose," James said, successfully breaking the silence. She didn't respond. "Please don't shut me out," he requested. She turned over in his arms so that she was facing him. "Are you going to class today?"

She shook her head and he nodded in understanding, "I'll stay with you."

"It's okay, you should go."

He shook his head, "I'm staying." She smiled sadly at this. She had wanted him to stay but didn't want him to feel obligated to do so. "Hey..." he spoke quietly, his hand trailing down the side of her face, "We're gonna get through this, okay? I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere."

Rose pressed a kiss to his hand before she nuzzled herself against him, finding great comfort in his presence. The two had talked and agreed that Rose would stay with James for their holiday break and Lily had agreed to come with. The twins wanted nothing more than to not be home, even though Lily had no idea that was an option.

The arrival at the Potter Manor was long and while Rose knew it was kind of James's parents to allow them to stay, she wasn't quite in the mood for emotions of any kind, let alone happy ones. Rose accepted Euphemia's hug, it was warm and motherly and she wanted to cry. It didn't take much to remind her of her parents, she didn't understand how Lily was able to look so put together. But then again, Lily had always been so good at falling apart on the inside.

Lily and Rose had their own room, Tonks would be joining them later on in the break. There was a tension between the twins, almost as though Lily knew Rose was keeping something from her.

"Why didn't we go home for the break?" Lily finally asked and Rose looked up in surprise. "Shouldn't we be with Petunia right now? Helping her with everything?"

"I thought you didn't want to go home," Rose excused.

"No," Lily countered, "You didn't want to go home. I just agreed because you've been so upset lately."

"Upset?" Rose asked, "I'm grieving."

"I am too, but you..." Lily trailed off, not sure how to explain. Rose shook her head. You're too much, she was going to say.

"You wanna know why we didn't go home for the break, Lily? Because we don't have a home anymore," Rose informed her sister, every part of her telling her to shut up and keep it from getting lost. "Makes it kind of difficult to go home, don't you think?"

The color drained from Lily's face, "What?"

"Yeah, we're homeless," she said, more annoyance than necessary in her tone, "Petunia sold the house. Some other family will be living there in no time."

"She can't do that."

"Yeah, she can," Rose countered. "It's her house."

"It's our house."

"Not according to mom and dad's will, it's not."

"We can't let her do this," Lily shook her head vehemently but Rose was quick to stop her.

"It's out of our hands."

"This isn't like you!" she exclaimed. "You - you don't just give up!"

"You can't fight everything, Lily," Rose informed her. "There is no point in fighting a battle that's already been lost."

"A losing battle to you," Lily replied curtly, her nose wrinkled in distaste before she continued, "You can tuck tail and run, but I'm going to fight."

Rose scoffed, "Don't come crying to me when everything goes wrong."

"Fine," Lily replied, storming out of the room. James had to step to the side quickly, allowing the girl to pass.

"What-"

"I really don't care to hear it, James," she told him, shaking her head. "I think I just need to be alone."

He faltered at this, "Rose-"

"I mean it, James, go," she said, keeping her head down. "Don't make me ask you again."