That Ship Has Sailed

Scorpius & Lily

The lights are all off when she arrives home. She silently opens the car door, getting out and pressing down each lock so as to be as quiet as possible.

She walks silently through the grass to the door, opening the screen and sliding her key in, turning it and pushing the door open. The screen door begins to squeak behind her, so she winces, closing it more slowly.

Once the door is shut and locked once again, she stumbles through the hall, pausing against a wall to untie her shoes, pulling them off and laying them against the floor.

After she hangs up her keys, she goes to the bathroom to change from her skinny jeans and tank top into her pajamas and brush her teeth.

Though she tries to be quiet, she feels like she's screaming into the night, every sound being ten times louder than it is during the day.

Once out of the bathroom, she tiptoes through the dark rooms toward the stairs. When she reaches them, a sudden light behind her startles her. She turns quickly in fright, pausing when she sees her parents sitting on the couch.

She huffs out a sigh and leans against the doorpost, her arms crossing over her stomach.

"I was so quiet," she says.

"We're not foolish, Lily" Ginny says, "We know you're past your curfew, no matter what hexes you put on the clocks."

"And that phony phone call last week from Scorpius' father? I know his voice when I hear it and that wasn't it."

"We're not angry that you're spending time with Scorpius," Ginny promises, "What we are concerned about is the lying, cheating and late nights."

"It's not good."

Lily huffs out a sigh, a scowl covering her features, "Just give me my punishment so I can go to bed."

The parents look at each other and smile, making Lily very nervous, "What's that look for?"

"We're not going to punish you," Ginny says.

"What we are going to do is have James start chaperoning you two. Maybe with him around, Scorpius won't tempt you into things you shouldn't be doing."

"It's not Scorpius!" Rose shouts.

Her parents look back, genuinely startled by this.

"It's me, okay? I lie and fake the calls so I can be with him. He's tried to tell me not to, but I do it to be with him..."

Harry looks at Ginny with a nervous glance. Ginny stands and takes over, bringing Lily into the kitchen. Lily, however, is more nervous about Ginny talking to her than Harry and within seconds, James and Albus are downstairs, sitting with Harry.

"What are they going on about this time?" Albus yawns.

"Lily was sneaking in late again," Harry replies quietly.

"Serves her right to have to deal with mum. She should know better than to spend all her time with Scorpius."

"Hey," Harry reprimanded, "Scorpius is a good kid, just misunderstood, like his father. Maybe if you two spent more time with your sister and less time with your own friends, you'd know why she feels she has to act the way she does. James, you're going to start chaperoning her wherever she goes."

"Can't I just put a tracking hex on her?"

"No," Harry commands gently, "You don't want any muggles seeing it or knowing what's going on."

"I don't see why we can't go to Hogwarts or to school with Ron and Hermione's kids."

"You know that Hogwarts has been shut down for years. The only people still there are Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. Maybe some day it will open again and I will send you there, but for now, you will have to deal with a muggle school."