Gid and Mol's Epic Box Fort

Lily wishes she had locked the door. Or that Gideon would install some sort of warning system to let her know when someone is approaching, because she is completely unprepared for this. The last few weeks have been a constant study in trying to avoid people she thinks will not be fooled by her 'Gideon Act', and Molly is at the very top of that list as the sibling with whom Gideon is closest. She swallows. 'Confidence, Evans,' she reminds herself, and fixest the cockiest grin she can manage on her borrowed face. 'Also, if you make it through this alive, don't forget to give Gideon hell for 'Giddy'.' "Oh, hey Mol. How could I forget you? Busy times, you know. How are you?"

Molly frouts. "Right. Whatever," she says, and as her gaze drops her eyes fall on the book resting on Gideon's lap. Her nose wrinkles in distaste. "Um, what is that?" Reaching over, she snatches the book up before Gideon can stop her and flips it over to see the cover. She tosses it aside in disgust immediately, the heavy tome bouncing on the mattress a couple of times. "Oh, ew! OhmyGod, like, why are you reading Arithmancy books now? You don't even take it! Is this an Evans thing? Did she break you? It's totally time for an intervention, right?" she says, hope creeping into her voice a little more obviously than she intends.

Lily's hands twitch as she reaches futilely for the book, and her shoulders deflate in a move so small it's almost imperceptible. Her eyes flash a little, the cool blue of Gideon's gaze making her look seem more icy than it would if she were looking through her own green eyes. "Don't be like that," she snaps, because she's truly sick of Molly's attitude, and it takes her a second to think it through and realise that Gideon's response might not be quite so hot-tempered as her own is shaping up to be. With a great effort, she reins herself in. "It's no big deal - Lily left a book here. I was bored, and I picked it up. No need to make a federal case of it. "And you never answered my question - how are you going?" she throws in, a stab at getting the conversation to shift focus.

When Gideon snaps at her, Molly blinks and withdraws a little. He is almost never short with her, and she doesn't want to fight, especially when she hasn't seen him for a few weeks. "You must have been, like, really really really bored," she says lightly, tossing her hair over her shoulder and grinning in a peace gesture. "Me? I'm, like, totally awesome. Naturally. Genetics and all. Plus, I had a date! You know him, I think - Arthur Weasley," she says with a little smirk. "He's the guy you, like, completely freaked out with your overprotective big brother routine, but I have to say you're totally losing your touch or something, Gid, because that's totally what gave him the confidence to hit on me. So thanks I guess!"

Lily can't help but chuckle quietly, because the smirking and the professing of genetic awesomeness is so familiar to her that it's almost comforting. Somehow it makes it easier for her to mimic Molly's smirk, though any glee evaporates when Molly mentions that Arthur had asked her out right after speaking with who he thought was Gideon. "Oh. Right," she says, struggling to come up with a Gideon-appropriate reaction because she's too busy being disappointed in herself. She'd tried so hard to get the 'overprotective big brother' vibe right. She thought she'd done really well. But apparently she was about as ineffective as Filch was keeping kids out of the corridors after hours. Lily sighs slightly. She is not looking forward to having to admit this one to Gideon. She'd almost rather admit to the not-so-little problem she had to take care of in the showers. Almost. "Well did you have fun? And maybe I was just trying to lull him into a false sense of security, because you know if he ever hurts you I'm going to fold him up like a pretzel and owl him home to his mother like that." Lily grins, proud of herself for that one.

Molly bursts out laughing. "Did you, like, stay up all night writing that one?"

"I got to bed around two, two-thirty," Lily deadpans.

Molly laughs even harder, then wriggles around so that she can launch herself at Gideon for a hug.

Lily tenses up; she can see what Molly is doing before the contact is made, and she almost wants to shrink back. The two girls have never willingly touched each other, and they've certainly never ever hugged. But she knows this is probably one of the more important people to maintain the charade of Gideon for, and Lily really would do anything in her power to make Gideon happy, so she folds her arms around Molly's tiny frame -Merlin she seems even tinier than usual in comparison to Gideon's broader body- and hugs her back as warmly as she can. She holds the hug until she feels Molly pull away, then settles back against the headboard once more, grinning.

Molly grins back, happy to be spending time with her brother again. "Seriously, though," she says, wrinkling her nose because since when is she ever serious? She settles back on the headboard next to Gideon, stretching her feet out in front of her and admiring her shoes. "Whatever, you know what I mean - the thing is, I, like, really like Arthur. So don't, you know, act like a big scary git and mess it all up, ok?" she says, all the words running together.

Lily hesitates again, wondering how Gideon would play this one. She wishes the world had a pause button, so she could just pause Molly for a few minutes while she dashes off a quick note to Gideon asking how he'd like her to proceed, and await his response. But no such luck, so she just closes her expression off as much as she can, trying to appear cool and collected while her brain frantically ticks over. "I don't mess things up," she says slowly, although she knows damned well that Gideon has gleefully chased many a hopeful boy away from his younger sisters in the past, and would no doubt do it again given the chance. "I just want to make sure that any boy who hits on my little sisters knows the penalties for messing with them. It's a civil service, really. I just wouldn't want you getting hurt," she says, trying to channel the role of big brother as best she can.

"Hey! Just because I'm, like, really really tiny and cute, doesn't mean I need a bodyguard or whatever," Molly protests, but she grins a little because she really does love her brother, and knows that the best way he shows how much he cares for her is by being protective. "And I know you worry and blah blah blah, but I guess I'm just saying that this time you should totally keep yourself on a leash or something. He's a nice guy, it's like he's not just some stupid boy who deserves to be chased off if he isn't cool enough to take a little idle threatening or whatever, and I don't want to wreck anything for no good reason," she explains, her hands flailing about a little as she searches for the words to explain herself.

Lily chuckles, marvelling at how Molly can manage to say something that could be so exceedingly arrogant without seeming so in the least. She shakes her head slightly, then flips her hair because that is actually quite fun. It might actually be Molly's lucky day, Lily thinks, because she does understand where the other girl is coming from and she doesn't mind being as nice as possible about this. Hell, she'll happily bully Gideon into towing the line she sets and be completely shameless about it. She shrugs, still at least making a stab at keeping up appearances. "Well if he's good enough, he has nothing to worry about, does he?" she says with a cocky grin. "Look, Mol, I'm not going to wreck anything. I promise. I just want to look out for you and if you're happy, great."

"Thanks Giddy," Molly says, greaming. She fishes through her bag and pulls out a packet of cookies (not Cookies, because Mya doesn't want to piss Lily off right before she tries to go to sleep because that never ends well), setting them on the bedside table. "Just so you don't, like, starve or whatever. Anyway, I should go. I just wanted to see if you were here because I missed you." The reproach seeps into her voice, but remains unspoken. Popping up on the mattress, Molly kisses the top of Gideon's head quickly and slides off the bed. "See you round, big brother," she says, and struts off back towards the castle.

"I miss you too, Mol," Lily says, completely truthful because she's certain Gideon must be feeling the distance from all the people he cares most about just as keenly -possibly even more- than she is. She smiles, feeling a pang of longing as Molly kisses the top of her head in a moment of pure sibling affection and struts off into the night; Lily remembers what it's like to be close to her sister, and some days she still misses it more than she can say. She looks over at the cookies and decides to leave them be for the time being. Slowly, Lily strips down and pulls on a pair of sweatpants, tightening the drawstrings to keep them slipping down Gideon's angular hips, her mind elsewhere. Deciding she's too tired to wait up for Gideon; if she's lucky maybe they'll get a few minutes together in the morning, Lily dims the lights so only a soft glow is left for Gideon to see by whenever he comes back from taking care of all Lily's responsibilities, and crawls into bed to sleep.

Lily, hand still enclosed in Gideon's and drawing near to him because it makes her feel better to have that contact of his arm brushing against hers as they walk, moves with silent curiosity. Already she is breathing a little more freely; she knows she can always count on Gideon not to question or judge her when she tells him what she needs, and the promise of possibly the most un-Hogwarts place they could go heartens her. She draws back when they reach the Fort, staying out of the way and letting him work on preparing their transportation. When he unearths his motorbike, large and gleaming and dangerous, her eyes widen. Somewhere in the back of her head, is her mother's voice: Hoons! Rascals! Death-traps! No good at all! A slow smile tweaks at the corners of Lily's mouth. A little life sparkles back in her eyes. "If you let me fall off this thing and smash my skull in, my mother will be after you," she informs Gideon. She joins him on the bike, snuggling against his back and wrapping her hands about his midsection to secure herself as the engine turns over and begins to roar. Gideon takes off, Lily's hands tightening more around him, and she squeals slightly as the motorbike rises into the air and carries them away from Hogwarts.