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skyeeuphixia · 7 months

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𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 // 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔

lip gallagher x girlfriend oc (Delilah)

summary: in which lip is given an ultimatum

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warning/s: alcoholism, violence

words: 3.4k

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"I don't like it when you're drunk Lip. Find me when you're not."

That was the last thing that Delilah said before leaving the Gallagher house.

Lip stayed glued to his spot as he stared after his girlfriend, his eyes filled with nothing but regret. He couldn't turn around. He couldn't face his siblings, or Kev or V, all of them stood behind him.

He didn't want to see Veronica judging him. He didn't want to see Kevin looking shocked. He didn't want to see Debbie sad. He didn't want to see Carl and Ian angry.

But most of all...

He didn't want to see Fiona look disappointed in him.

2 years ago, when Lip asked Delilah out on a date. Fiona gave him one piece of advice:

'Don't fuck this up, cause that girl is special'

But now he's afraid he had done just that.

How did he let himself get to this point?

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After building up this reputation of being the family genius, it was a real smack in the face when he got to college and realised how difficult it was. Suddenly he wasn't a genius surrounded by stupid and average students anymore, now, everyone was smart, smarter than Lip, and he found himself unable to keep up.

College wasn't as easy as Lip believed it would be.

Lip excelled in school, acing every class, scores so high and consistent that a college professor believed he was a cheat (which Lip swiftly disproved) and the first Gallagher to get into college.

Not to mention, he didn't realise that College would take up a lot of his free time as well. Sure in high school he'd get homework, but it would take about 30 minutes, and then he'd get the rest of the day to himself. But college was an entirely different story. He was drowning in assignments, a never-ending stream of readings, essays, and exams. He barely had time to sleep. Trying to balance; College, Family issues, assignments, a relationship and taking care of his basic needs were proving difficult to manage. And it was beginning to take a toll on him. He was almost never able to relax.

But the occasional drink did seem to help, however.

"Hey, so I was thinking-" Delilah says, walking alongside Lip in the direction of his class, Delilah went to the same college as Lip, unfortunately, their classes were at different times, so their schedules rarely lined up, they stayed in different dorm buildings and those dorm buildings were at opposite ends of the large campus.

"-after my class, either I can go to your dorm, you can come to mine or we can go to the library or something and do some studying together. Cause I have an essay to do, and you have that essay due tomorrow which you'll probably want to go over, and we can help each other out," she suggested with a smile.

"Yeah uh, I can't I'm going to that party tonight," Lip says his hands in the pockets of his jacket, looking down at his feet as he walks.

"The frat party? But you hate people like that," Delilah remarked, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Yeah, but, it might be fun. Plus, free booze is a good way to forget about all the jerks," he chuckled.

"But what about the essay?"

"Don't worry about it, Del," Lip replied nonchalantly.

Delilah stops walking, tilting her head as she looks at her boyfriend, analysing him intensely. Lip takes a few moments to realise that she's no longer beside him, he turns to look at her but she speaks before he has a chance to question her.

"Have you even started the essay?!"

"Yeah, yeah of course I have," He excuses, looking back down at his feet. Delilah walks back up to him, standing directly in front of him.

"Look at me," She says, still staring at him intensely, causing Lip to reluctantly raise his head to look at her. "Have you started the essay?"

Lip had one weakness and that was Deliah. Delilah seemed to be the one person he could not lie to. He didn't want to say it out loud, she already knew the answer, he could tell, so he simply shook his head at her.

Delilah looked at him with an indescribable look of shock, disappointment and disbelief, "Lip it's due tomorrow! This isn't like homework, this will affect your grade!"

"Yeah I know, but I'll...I'll get it done I swear!" Lip promises.

"So you're not gonna go to the party?"

"Nah I'm still gonna go I promised my roommate but I'll just do it when I get back,"

"Lip...this really isn't a smart idea, please just come study with me," Delilah begged, she already knew his grade was currently at a D, and she was worried that missing this essay would be the beginning of the end.

"Del...I'll, I'll just go for like an hour, and I won't drink and I will go straight to my dorm and do the essay," He tells her, looking at her genuinely.

Delilah looked at him with a look he couldn't quite describe, but it was the look she gave him when he initially doubted going to college and the look she gave him when he briefly dropped out of high school. It was the type of look that said 'I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.'

"Promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky to him, causing Lip to chuckle at the gesture.

"I promise," He locked his finger with hers, and they continued walking toward Lip's class, sharing a small smile, their words no longer necessary.

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No drinks turned into one drink.

One turned into two.

Two into four.

Four into seven, until Lip woke up in his dorm the next day with no memory of how he got there. A quick look at the clock indicated to him that it was two in the afternoon. Not only had he not done the essay, he hadn't even shown up to his lesson.

Lip just lay in bed staring at the ceiling, wallowing in his own self-pity before there was a knock at the door. Somehow, in his severely hungover state, Lip got himself to the door, opening it to reveal Delilah, whom he let in without question.

"Hey, Emma mentioned her boyfriend told her you didn't show up today, you ok?" Delilah inquired, her concern evident as she stood in the middle of the dimly lit room.

Lip, battling nausea, managed to mumble, "Yeah, just uh...not feeling great today."

Delilah, however, was beginning to notice the telltale signs – Lip was wearing the same clothes as the previous day, avoiding the light streaming through the window, and his breath reeked of alcohol. The pieces fell into place. "Are you hungover?"

Lip, still battling the pounding headache and the queasy feeling in his stomach, attempted to conjure up an excuse, but Delilah's perceptive gaze left him feeling exposed. He scratched the back of his head nervously. He shifted uncomfortably under Delilah's gaze, his attempt at avoiding eye contact was now more conspicuous than ever. He cleared his throat and mumbled, "Hungover? Nah, it's not that... I just had a rough night's sleep, you know?"

Delilah's expression remained sceptical. She was no stranger to Lip's occasional indulgence in alcohol, and she was also aware of how alcohol affected his family so she knew all too well what could happen if he overdid it. Her concern deepened as she approached him, placing a hand gently on his arm.

"Lip, you're wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and you look like you haven't seen daylight in a while. And why does your breath smell like a distillery if it's not a hangover?"

Lip sighed, realizing that he couldn't keep up the charade any longer. He looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed. "Okay, fine," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "I had a few drinks last night, and then a few more, and... I messed up, Delilah."

"Lip, you promised me you wouldn't drink, especially not on a school night. I trusted you. And what about that essay you were supposed to finish?"

Lip's guilt was written all over his face as he tried to avoid the confrontation. "Look, Delilah, I know I messed up, but it was just one night, you know? I didn't think I'd end up like this."

"Lip you're not in high school anymore. You can't do this. If you keep making mistakes, if your grades continue to slip, you'll get expelled and then what? Love, you have so much potential, you can do so much with your life, why are you wasting it?"

Lip finally met her gaze, and he could see the disappointment in her eyes. "Delilah, I promise, this was a one-time thing I won't let it become a problem. I messed up, and I'm really sorry. I'll work harder, I'll catch up on the essay, and I won't let this happen again."

Delilah looked at her boyfriend, she didn't know how to feel. She wanted to believe him, and part of her did, but part of her was screaming at her not to believe him, part of her believed Lip was already in too deep, but Lip was as stubborn as they come as if he would ever admit he needed help.

"ok...I'm choosing to trust you,"

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As the days passed, Lip's descent into a pattern reminiscent of his father became increasingly apparent. The vibrancy that once characterized him began to fade, replaced by a weariness that settled in his eyes. His dishevelled appearance mirrored the neglect of his responsibilities, and the promise he made to Delilah seemed to be slipping through his fingers.

His academic life suffered the most. Lip was back to his high school ways, and started missing classes regularly. The threat of expulsion from his professors became a persistent shadow, hovering over his academic career. Lip's disregard for his education mirrored the same lack of concern that had marked his father's life.

Alcohol, once an occasional escape, became a daily crutch. It wasn't just about relaxation anymore; it was a way to numb the growing dissatisfaction and disappointment within him. The scent of alcohol clung to him like a familiar companion, and the lines on his face deepened as the weight of his choices pressed down.

Delilah, consumed by her exams and unaware of Lip's unravelling, found herself distanced from the person she once knew. Their interactions became infrequent, and Lip's excuses for his absence grew thin. She knew something was wrong, but she was busy and was never able to find a time to meet him, and over text, it's hard to tell what state someone's in, so Lip was able to perfectly mask his drinking through the protection of a screen. The promise of love and support now seemed like a distant memory.

The similarities to Lip's father became more pronounced. The cycle of self-destructive behaviour, a pattern Lip had sworn to break, now threatened to consume him. The downward spiral was not just about missed classes and too many drinks; it was a reflection of a deeper struggle within Lip—a battle between the person he aspired to be and the shadow of his father that loomed over him. But every day he still told himself the same thing.

I'm not my fucking dad.

When the next break in the college term came, he returned home to his siblings, which was both nostalgic and haunting, as he realised how much he loved it yet didn't want to be stuck there. And how did he handle those haunting thoughts? By drinking of course.

The Gallagher siblings noticed this of course, but they wrote it off as Lip destressing after a long college term, after all, they didn't know this was an everyday occurrence for him. He's lip! He's supposed to get out, he's supposed to be ok! He's fine!

And for the first few days he was, he was able to fall under the radar as his siblings dealt with the usual Gallagher chaos and was currently drinking a beer on the couch as his siblings did their own things around him. Yet he had forgotten something, in a drunken haze a few nights previous, he had invited Delilah over, reality was about to smack him in the face, and he had no idea.

When he answered the door and saw Delilah, he felt his mind running at a million miles an hour. He didn't know why she was there. What she wanted. If she could tell he was drunk. His mind was both blank and full of thoughts at the same time, and the sudden shock of his girlfriend being stood in front of him, made all the guilt he had been drinking away come back.

"Del! Hey...uh what are you...what are you doing here?"

"You invited me? You don't remember?" She chuckles.

"Sorry sorry, things have just been uh, crazy you know how it is here, come on in." He says, stepping to the side to let her in.

Delilah offered a faint smile as she stepped into the chaotic Gallagher household, where the usual mayhem of the family's daily existence continued unabated. Ian was nowhere to be seen. Frank, was ranting about some new get-rich-quick scheme in the corner to Kevin. Fiona and Veronica were cackling about the events of their last night out. And Debbie and Carl were arguing about something stupid. Lip's siblings had become accustomed to the chaos, and so the presence of his girlfriend had gone unnoticed.

"I tried to call and check it was still okay for me to come over but you didn't pick up, I thought I'd come anyway though...I've missed you"

Lip's heart sank at the sincerity in her voice. He had no idea how to explain the disarray of his life to her, especially now that she was standing right in the middle of it. His attempt to mask the smell of alcohol on his breath with a forced smile was feeble at best.

"Missed you too, babe," he mumbled, his words slightly slurred. "Sorry, it's just a bit chaotic here, you know how it is."

Delilah nodded, seemingly understanding, but there was a flicker of concern in her eyes. She had always been perceptive, and something about how Lip was acting didn't sit right with her. Delilah finally at Lip more closely, her brow furrowing. "You seem...off, Lip. Is everything okay?"

Lip tried to laugh it off, but it came out as a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, just... you know, dealing with the Gallagher circus. It's uh...it's been a long day."

Delilah wasn't convinced, but she let it slide for the moment. However, as she continued to talk to Lip, the pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together. Lip's slurred words, the distant look in his eyes, and the fact that he was clearly trying to hide something were all red flags. Delilah notices the two empty beer bottles on the coffee table in front of the couch, the one place nowhere else was and the final piece slides into place. "You're drunk again...aren't you?"

Lip's eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for a convincing response. "Drunk? No way, Del. I mean, yeah, I had a couple earlier, but it's nothing. Just needed to unwind, you know?"

Delilah's concern deepened, and a mixture of disappointment and hurt flashed across her face. "Lip, we talked about this. You promised me you wouldn't let alcohol become a problem again. What's going on?"

Lip could feel the weight of his broken promises pressing down on him, and he struggled to find the right words. "It's not a problem, Del. Just a couple of drinks. I've got everything under control."

"Don't lie to her," Ian's voice suddenly came from the stairs, in a tone so cold so...displeased, it caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"What do you know Ian?" Lip slurred slightly, becoming slightly agitated as all the attention in the room was now on him, there was no hiding from the truth now, and Lip knew it.

"What do I know? I know that since you've been home you've drank up to 5 beers a day, some days more. I know that it's clearly a problem if you're lying to Delilah about it. I also know that you've missed almost all your classes and you're on the brink of being kicked out of college!"

Everyone in the room stared at Lip a few people letting out a shocked 'what?!', except for Delilah who just looked hurt, she trusted him...and he broke it.

"How do you fucking know that?" Lip slurred, pissed off that his issues were being exposed.

"You left your email on your laptop open,"

"You had no fucking right-"

"Ok! Lip this is not the right time for this, if there's a problem we can talk but right now let's just leave it," Delilah says sweetly, almost as if she was talking to someone younger than her as she places a gentle hand on his shoulder, which Lip only shrugs off.

Lip's anger flared, fueled by the alcohol coursing through his veins. "You had no right to snoop around my stuff, Ian! This is my life, my business, and I don't need you or anyone else judging me!"

Ian's expression remained unyielding, his concern masking any irritation he might have felt. "Lip, this is everyone's business when it's affecting you like this. We're your family, and we care about you. We don't want to see you self-destruct."

Lip's voice grew louder as he tried to defend his actions, his words slurring together. "Self-destruct? I'm fine! I can handle a few drinks, and missing a few classes is not a big deal. College is overrated anyway."

The room seemed to grow tense as Lip's rant continued. Fiona, his older sister, exchanged worried glances with Ian. Delilah, however, remained remarkably composed in the face of his anger. "Lip, I'm not here to judge you. I'm here because I care about you. But you can't deny that something's not right. We can work through this together, but you have to be willing to admit that there's a problem."

Lip's frustration only mounted as he felt cornered. He shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "You're all overreacting. I don't have a problem. I can stop whenever I want. You all don't get it," he ranted, his voice rising. "I can handle my shit. I'm not like Frank. I'm not some fucking alcoholic!"

Delilah could see that Ian was also starting to get heated, and she was worried that he and Lip would begin to get physical and fight one another. She knew Lip's defences were up, she knew he felt judged, intimidated, and guilty, and having everyone there was making things worse for Lip, not better.

"Ok, maybe this isn't a conversation we should be having with so many people," She chuckled nervously her voice still gentle, She moved closer to Lip, trying to defuse the tension. "Love, let's just go outside, and we can-"

But when Delilah's hand touched Lip's shoulder, he reacted with more force than he intended, shoving her away, unintentionally causing her to hit the wall. The room fell silent, and everyone took a defensive step closer, their faces reflecting shock and anger.

Lip stared at Delilah, his eyes widened with regret, realizing he had acted impulsively. Delilah, after a moment of anger, looked down, composing herself. She glanced up at him, restraining her tears.

"I don't like it when you're drunk Lip. Find me when you're not." Her voice quivered slightly before she swiftly made her way out of the Gallagher house.

Lip stayed glued to his spot as he stared after his girlfriend, his eyes filled with nothing but regret and tears. He couldn't face his siblings, or Kev or V. He didn't want to see the judgment. He didn't want to see the shock. He didn't want to see the sadness. He didn't want to see the anger.

But most of all he didn't want to see the disappointment.

It took a few moments, but he turned around to face them, his body trembling slightly, as a few tears escaped his eyes, the Gallaghers distraught at the sight of their broken brother.

"W...why did that happen?"

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(fin)

#lip gallagher #lip gallagher imagine #lip gallagher x oc #fiona gallagher #shameless #ian gallagher

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skyeeuphixia · 9 months

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𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 // 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔!

lip Gallagher x girlfriend OC (Delilah) summary: in which frank takes it too far

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warning/s: violence word count: 1.6k

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In the 9 months that Delilah had been dating Lip Gallagher, she had only met the patriarch of the family a few times. The first time she met Frank was 2 weeks into dating Lip. The two of them were on a date in the Alibi, and it was only inevitable that Frank would make a drunken appearance. Frank ended up stumbling into the bar and smashing the TV within 5 minutes of being there. He didn't even notice that his son and his son's girlfriend were in there as well. As far as first impressions go, with Frank, that was probably the best that it could have gone.

The second time she met Frank was after a month of dating Lip. She nearly stood on him while making her way into the Gallagher house from the backdoor. The man was passed out on the kitchen floor, but the Gallagher siblings didn't say anything about it or show any concern, so Delilah could only assume that it was a regular occurrence.

The other few times she had met him had been similar occurrences, or him arriving home while the Gallaghers, with the additions of Veronica, Kevin and Delilah, were watching some shitty TV show together. Frank never really remembered Delilah, even though she had now introduced herself 4 different times, the best she had gotten for him remembering her was him saying:

Oh yeah, you're Lip's girlfriend, right?

And that was the best she was probably ever going to get. Besides, Lip had talked so much shit about his father to Delilah that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to have any form of relationship with him anyway. Lip's siblings loved her, and that was enough for Delilah.

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for the Gallagher house to be the designated hang-out spot for family and friends of the Gallaghers, in fact, it wasn't uncommon for at least 8 or 9 people to be in the house at a time.

This day was no exception.

Fiona, Kevin and Veronica were in the kitchen drinking and gossiping about random shit. Ian and Lip were in their room doing god knows what. Carl was running around with the taser Lip once gifted him (batteries removed of course) and Debbie and Delilah were sitting on the couch together, the older of the two girls putting Debbies hair into plaits.

The peace was soon disrupted however when Frank drunkenly stumbles in through the back door, after not being home for about two weeks.

"Ahh, home sweet home! You know, a man's house is like his kingdom!" Frank merrily proclaimed in his drunken haze, his words tinged with an air of self-assuredness.

"Yeah, except you like to leave your kingdom for your subjects to look after don't you?" Fiona laughs slightly, in good spirits due to her also being slightly tipsy, Frank was easier to deal with when you're also drunk.

"Fuck off offspring one! A true king has a range of royal duties to attend to, but he should still return to his kingdom, where subjects eagerly await with open arms- what the fuck is that?"

Frank stops his drunken rant as he reaches the living room, his eyes landing on Delilah, who had stopped doing her hair to listen to Frank's drunken rant. Delilah sighed slightly, she couldn't even get 'Lip's Girlfriend' anymore, now she was being demoted to that. Before Delilah can introduce herself, again, the sound of two sets of footsteps interrupts them, Ian and Lip were making their way down, probably to see what the commotion was about.

"She is Delilah, Frank. My girlfriend," Lip sighs, he and Ian both pausing on the bottom step, observing the man in front of them.

"Frank they've been dating for almost a year or something, you've met her like 10 times," Ian judges the man, he was close with Delilah, having been her friend before Lip even knew who she was.

"Girlfriend? Since when does Lip do relationships?"

"Since 9 months ago," Debbie answers matter-of-factly, the Gallagher household was well aware of Delilah's status as Debbie's unofficial favourite sibling, despite not actually being sisters.

"Oh, come on. Lip, my boy, he's not one to settle down. So, tell me, Plain White T, how much is he dishing out for you?" Frank's comments once again directed Delilah's way.

"Paying me?" Delilah's brows furrowed, a mixture of confusion and frustration evident in her response.

"Yeah, paying you. That's what I asked, is it not? I've heard that modern-day escorts charge a pretty penny, way more than in my time. So, how much is my son shelling out to sleep with you?"

Delilah looks at him, a bewildered expression on her face, she wasn't sure whether to be disgusted, angry or upset with the old drunk. Lip on the other hand was fuming at his dad, how dare he insult his girlfriend like that!

"I'm not paying her anything, Frank! She's not a whore, she's my girlfriend and you're gonna fucking respect that!" He shouted, walking up to his dad, staring at him intensely.

"Lip it's fine just leave it," Delilah sighs, making her way up to her boyfriend, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him away so that they could go somewhere else to avoid the drunken man for the rest of the night.

"Lip, just step away, man," Ian's voice joined the chorus of voices urging restraint, the situation teetering on the edge of a larger conflict.

"Yeah Lip, listen to the bitch," Frank challenges. Lip looks up and sighs deeply before turning and walking away a few paces.

"I gotta walk away or I'm gonna fucking hit him," he grumbles, making his way back to the stairs, Delilah's hand remaining on his shoulder.

"Hey, Lip. A piece of fatherly advice—whatever you're paying her, it's too much. Any woman who looks like that should be shared around for free," Frank's jeering remark finally pushed Lip beyond his limits. Uttering a resigned "fuck it," Lip turned back to his father and landed a forceful punch on Frank's face. The room collectively gasped, shocked by the unexpected escalation. This wasn't the first time Lip had punched his dad, but it was the first time that he kept punching and shouting at Frank after he had fallen to the floor.

"Fuck you, Frank!"

The room was filled with a mix of shock and apprehension as Lip continued to rain down blows on his fallen father, his anger pouring out in a torrent of punches and expletives. Fiona, Kevin, and Ian quickly intervened, struggling to restrain Lip's furious assault.

"Enough, Lip!"

"Jesus, Lip, that's too much!"

"Motherfucker," Lip spits before grabbing Delilah's hand and pulling her upstairs with him, taking her into his room to get away from the commotion that was happening downstairs. There was a lot of yelling, and although Delilah couldn't make out anything specific being said, it was clearly directed at Frank.

Lip sat on Ian's bed, still breathing heavily and still very angry. Delilah looks at Lip for a second, her eyes being drawn to his right hand, which was now bruising and bloodied up, Delilaah couldn't quite tell if it was his own blood or Franks or a mixture of the two. Delilah huffed a little before making her way out of the room swiftly, which confused Lip. Luckily for him, he wasn't left to be confused for long as she returned less than a minute later, first aid kit in hand. Lip rolled his eyes slightly, as Delilah, without saying a word, kneels down in front of him and took his hand in hers and started to wipe the blood off of it.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Delilah eventually spoke up, as she began to bandage his hand, "You can't just go around beating up everyone who insults me. We spend a lot of time in the southside, Lip, you'd be in fights every other day."

"Well, then I hope you get used to patching me up, 'cause I guess I'm going to get into fights every other day," Lip jokes, but Delilah only gives him an unimpressed look as a response. "Del he called you a whore, I couldn't just stand there and let him say that shit about you."

"Yeah, but you didn't need to beat the living shit out of him, Love. You could have just shouted at him a bit and Fiona and the others would have stood in to help and get him to stop," She says as she finishes bandaging his hand, getting up off the floor so that she was now standing in front of him.

Lip looked up at his girlfriend, he used his good hand to pull her towards him so she was now standing between his legs, his arms wrapped around her legs, her hands going straight to his curls, brushing through them. "You gotta stop letting people walk all over you Del. Cause look as much as I want to be, I'm not always going to be around to cuss out the people that are shitty to you,"

Delilah smiles down at her boyfriend, leaning down and kissing him gently, "Don't worry, I'll grow a thicker skin, and spend some more time with Veronica, I could probably learn a few good comebacks from her." She jokes before lowering her voice to a whisper. "Thank you for defending me even if it was a bit excessive, Love you, Dingus."

"Love you too, nerd. And hey, if you're pissing someone like Frank off-"

"- clearly I'm doing something right."

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─ (fin)

#lip gallagher #lip gallagher imagine #fiona gallagher #lip gallagher x oc #carl gallagher #debbie gallagher #shameless #frank gallagher

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skyeeuphixia · 11 months

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𝚊𝚞 // 𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜/𝚑𝚘𝚐𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 pt 2

lip gallagher x gryffindor student (Eileen Potter) summary: in which lip Gallagher tolerated eileen potter

Part two of three

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warnings: description of injury, mentions of sex word count: 6.2k

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If you were to tell Lip Gallagher, at any point, that in his sixth year of Hogwarts, he would be making his way through the dimly lit halls of the second floor towards the abandoned girls' lavatory, to meet with Eileen Potter, he would have called you mental and wouldn't have believed you.

Yet that was exactly what he was doing. As Eileen Potter had somehow managed to convince him to help her brew the Wolfsbane potion.

◇flashback◇

"My help?" he echoed, his voice laced with surprise.

"Yes, your help," Eileen confirmed, her tone carrying a touch of urgency. "Now, just answer me this: have you heard of the Wolfsbane potion?"

"The Wolfsbane potion? Yeah, I've heard about it, why?" Lip asked confusion still on his face.

"I want to brew it," Eileen states, looking at Lip intensely, analysing his every movement to try and gather what he was thinking, "And I need your help,"

Lip was severely taken aback by the girl's request, "Why would you want my help, Potter? Can't you ask Lupin?"

"I don't want your help Gallagher, I need it. You're good at potions and if we work together we should be able to brew it perfectly,"

"And why in Rowena's name should I help you?"

Eileen rolled her eyes at the boy before providing him with an explanation, "Professor Slughorn is looking for new members to add to his 'slug club', he only lets in students that stand out to him. I want in. The wolfsbane potion would impress him enough to do so. Only problem is it's advanced, very advanced. Doing it alone would take months, but with another person, weeks. if you help me we can share the credit and I'm sure Sluggy will let you in as well,"

"Why would I want to join the Slug Club, don't they just have fancy dinners occasionally? Yeah, not my scene, no thanks."

Lip turns to leave the room, only for Eileen to take out her wand and lock the door, stopping him from doing so. Lip turns back to look at her, an annoyed expression on his face.

"The slug club has more than fancy dinners, there are opportunities to meet influential wizards in quidditch, the ministry and other businesses, which gives you a chance to show off and make them consider you for future jobs-"

Lip was listening now.

"Slughorn will offer further guidance that will help you improve and become more knowledgeable about potions than our classmates, not to mention the number of resources you would have access to as he'll let you in his store cupboard on occasion. Not to mention you would become a well-respected and favoured student."

Favoured. Lip liked that word.

Perhaps the slug club would be his chance to finally beat Eileen Potter once and for all.

"Fine, I'll help you. But this is for no other reason than personal gain." Lip stated his face like stone, cold and unmoving.

"Good, meet me tomorrow during revision break at exactly 2 pm in the second-floor girls' bathroom, don't be late and don't be followed," Eileen warned before unlocking the door and making her way out, not sparing Lip another glance.

◇flashback over◇

Why Eileen wanted to meet in the girls' lavatory, Lip couldn't work out. It was an unusual place to meet, but Eileen had insisted that it would be private enough when he expressed his confusion to her in their potions lesson that day, where they were once again partnered up.

His footsteps echoed and reverberated through the empty hallways, creating an eerie atmosphere. It was uncommon for the halls to be so quiet, but due to most students being either in class or in the Great Hall or Library to study, he had only passed a few people. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the bathroom door.

Taking a deep breath, Lip pushed open the creaking door and stepped into the shockingly deserted space. The room was dimly lit and looked exactly like the boy's bathrooms, only it looked like no one had come to clean it in over 20 years. The majority of the mirrors were shattered, reflecting fragmented images of his own face and the air was heavy with a musty scent, hinting at the neglect this once-vibrant place had endured.

Lip's eyes scanned around the room for Eileen. And there she was, sat cross-legged on the floor, her back to him, with a cauldron, multiple flaskes and ingredients and an enchanted Bunsen Burner underneath the cauldron.

"Potter?" Lip called out, his voice echoing in the empty bathroom.

She turned to look at him. Her expression was completely neutral. The fire from the Bunsen Burner slightly illuminated the right side of her face, due to the room's only light source being the windows, as all the lights were broken.

"You're here," She said, slight surprise evident in her voice, "Good,"

Lip approached the girl, while still maintaining a respectful distance between the two. He opted to stand practically directly across from her, leaning against one of the bathroom stalls, letting his bag drop to the floor next to him.

"So, the Wolfsbane potion huh? Any particular reason you picked this specific one?"

"It's advanced," Eileen said shortly, not looking at him but at the book in front of him, staring intensely at the potion's recipe.

"Yeah, but there are plenty of advanced potions. And you picked this one. You could have picked an even more advanced one by getting a book from the restricted section, something you and your friends are perfectly capable of doing. And yet you chose...Wolfsbane. So my question is, why? Is this some sort of political statement? Or are you secretly a werewolf?"

Eileen glared up at Lip through her eyelashes, a scene that Lip's brain captured and analysed meticulously, "Because it interested me the most...happy? It's a potion that is not encouraged to make, so we need this to be secret, but Slughorn won't care,"

It wasn't much of an explanation. But Lip knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of her. "Right, follow-up question, why are we doing this in the middle of the day, inside the girl's lavatory? I mean you're the one that doesn't want to be caught. Isn't it likely we will be,"

Eileen scoffed slightly, though rather than it being from any type of distaste, it was one of amusement, "No, nobody ever comes in here, look at this place, it hasn't been cleaned for a few decades at least,"

"Why?"

"Moaning Myrtle," Eileen tells him. Lip stared at her confused, having no idea what or who Moaning Myrtle was. At first glance, it looked like Eileen was looking at him too, except she was looking at something, or rather someone, behind him.

"Who?!"

"Moaning Myrtle," Eileen repeated, watching the figure slowly stalking its way towards Lip intensely.

"Who's Moaning Myrtle-" Lip started asking, only to be startled by a ghostly figure next to him, screaming in his face.

"I'm Moaning Myrtle!" The ghost, who couldn't be more than 14 years old (physically that is) yelled.

Moaning Myrtle floated up gracefully above the sinks, glaring at Lip intensely, yet somehow crying at the same time, "But of course, you haven't heard of me, who would ever care about ugly, miserable, moping moaning Myrtle."

She starts shrieking and crying before shooting back into one of the stalls, diving into the toilet, causing a lot of the water to burst out of it.

Lip stated towards the stall, his face displaying a mix of disbelief, shock and confusion. However, he was quickly distracted by a shot giggle from behind him. He turned his head back to Eileen, observing her once again, her seemed to do that a lot.

Her robe was neatly folded, and she was sitting on top of it, protecting her skirt from the dirty floor. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and her hair was already beginning to frizz from the heat of the cauldron.

A sight that was surprisingly not unpleasant.

"She's a little sensitive," She whispers, not wanting Myrtle to hear her.

"A little?!" Lip said, shocked that that complete outburst was 'a Little'

"That was tame for her," Eileen shrugs, "She was a Ravenclaw, I'm surprised you haven't heard of her,"

"I suppose as this place is abandoned, only the teachers know," Lip said, more to himself than to Eileen.

"Most likely," Eileen agrees, looking back at the potion recipe, "Anyway, let's focus on the task at hand here, Gallagher, we have a potion to brew and it is going to take a long time if we keep chatting,"

Lip moved over to Eileen, sitting across from her, taking a close look at the potion recipe.

◇◆◇◆

The past few weeks had been confusing for Eileen and Lip, as they balanced both brewing this unfamiliar potion, working as a team, and keeping it a secret as much as they could. However, it was not only confusing for them as it left both the Marauders and the Gallagher family perplexed, as they witnessed their siblings, sneaking off together and engaging in short, cryptic conversations, something they had never done once in the six years they now knew each other for, they couldn't help but speculate.

Fiona, Jimmy, V, Peter and Remus were under the impression that the two were simply studying together. Although they had never studied together before, Slughorn had paired the two of them together a number of times as they always produced potions that were close to perfection when working together, so perhaps they were studying together so that they could spend less time talking in potions and more time making the potion.

Debbie and Carl on the other hand had come up with a far more childlike and adventurous explanation. They believed that the two had stumbled upon some sort of magical creature lurking on the second floor and that their meetings were attempts to try and tame the beast. Even though Lip explained that this wasn't the case and that Eileen and himself still did not like one another, the two younger Gallaghers continued to live in the fantasy scenario that they had created.

Meanwhile, James and Sirius were still convinced that if they had the whole of Hogwarts to themselves for a night, they would spend it on the opposite end of the castle from one another. Therefore, they believed the two of them were meeting in order to engage in intense duels and hexes against one another. They attempted to use the Marauders Map to find where the two of them were, so that they could go and support her if needed, but the map always seemed to go missing when they met up, so clearly she didn't want to be followed.

Ian, Mickey and Mandy on the other hand believed that Eileen and Lip's relationship had taken a more...intimate turn, speculating that the two were engaging in a passionate physical relationship behind closed doors and that these not-so-secret, secret, meetings were their chance to engage in different sexual encounters. After all, hate fuels passion. The very thought of seeing Eileen in that way, however, disgusted Lip, causing him to recoil anytime the three brought it up as a possibility.

Theories aside, one thing was clear; everyone was incredibly confused by the sudden closeness if that's what you could even call it, between Lip and Eileen. But they knew that they weren't going to get answers any time soon.

Currently, Lip was leaning against one of the toilet stalls once more, this time he was the one waiting for Eileen. They had to meet later than usual that day, as Lip promised Ian he'd help him study for his OWLs and Eileen had quidditch practice after lessons, so they were meeting in the late hours of the evening.

Eileen was now running over 20 minutes late, which irritated Lip, as Eileen had always been on his arse about not wasting her time and arriving at the time that they agreed on, and he always made sure he was on time so that he wouldn't have to listen to her complaining. Yet here he was, waiting for her to arrive 20 minutes after the time that they agreed on.

The minutes were ticking away, and Lip's patience was wearing thin. He was beginning to wonder whether or not he should leave and complain to her the next day about it, he looked down at his stuff, but before he could grab his bag and leave, the door to the girl's lavatory swung open and Eileen came tumbling into the room, clearly out of breath.

Lip didn't look up at her before he started complaining, irritated at her lateness, "You're late, Potter" he said curtly, displeasure seeping his voice, "You're constantly on my ass about not being late. We agreed on a time, Potter, and I've been waiting here for fucking ages,"

"I know Gallagher, I'm sorry," Eileen sighed, "I'm sorry James was-"

"I don't care what your brother was-" Lip cuts himself off as he raises his head to look at Eileen, shocked by what he saw. Eileen's face was almost entirely covered in blood, and so was the front of her quidditch uniform. Her nose was swollen, slightly crooked, and quite clearly broken.

"Eileen, what happened to you?" his tone instantly becoming softer, his annoyance quickly turned to concern as he makes his way over to her.

Eileen's hand instinctively went to her nose, wiping some of the blood from under it, Lip could tell that she was clearly in quite a bit of pain, and was uncomfortable, but she covered it up with a chuckle, "Oh, Quidditch. Sirius accidentally hit me in the face with a bat," she joked.

Lip's annoyance had completely wiped away, as his attention was now entirely on her injury. He reached her and gently pressed down on the area surrounding her nose, "Does this hurt?"

"No, seriously Lip, I'm fine," Eileen argues, but her point is lost when Lip presses closer to her nose, causing her to wince and flinch away from him.

Lip gave her an accusatory look before grabbing her sleeve and pulling her towards the sinks, "Sit there," he states, pointing at the edge of the sink, before turning and making his way into one of the stalls.

Eileen stared after him, confused. She found herself shocked by Lip's change in demeanour. Not once had he ever displayed any form of care or concern towards her, in fact, the two of them had joked about causing or hoping for the other to experience some form of physical pain, and how they would laugh at their discomfort, yet this didn't seem to amuse Lip one bit.

Lip came back out with a bunch of toilet paper in his hands, rolling his eyes when he saw that Eileen was still rooted in place in front of the sinks.

"I thought I told you to sit," Lip sighed, making his way back in front of her.

"Lip I'm not going to sit-" Eileen cut herself off with a small yelp, as Lip placed hands underneath her armpits, lifting her up and placing her on the edge of the sink. Eileen glares at him slightly as he steps between her legs, bringing the toilet paper to her face and wiping away the blood, being as gentle as possible so as to not hurt her any further.

It was silent for a while, Lip was trying not to look at Eileen directly, focusing on wiping the blood from her face, but that was difficult when she was staring at him intensely. Though it wasn't her usual teasing look or glare, it was a look he had only seen from her once before, when she mocked the way that he 'admired' Mandy Milkovich.

"So, how exactly did Black hit you in the nose with his bat," Lip asked, breaking the heavy silence between the two of them.

Eileen laughed slightly, "James has been training us extra hard the past few days, our match against Slytherin is in a month and James always makes us train harder when we're going against Slytherin. He kept calling for overtime for training cause we weren't performing well enough for him, but then I realized I was going to be late, so I attempted to fly over to James to leave early, turns out a bludger was coming at Sirius as I was going past him next thing you know -" Eileen makes a woosh noise, followed by a smack and a crunching noise, using her hands to visualise what happened.

Elieens extravagant behaviour, for the first time ever, made Lip laugh. Though that was quickly met with a stern look, "You should be more careful, this isn't the first time you've gotten hurt during quidditch, you broke your arm last year when you went against Slytherin,"

Eileen paused, momentarily the genuine concern from Lip still shocking her, "Still, we won that match," she replied, attempting to maintain her usual spirited tone.

Lip chuckled, a small smile forming on his lips. "Yeah, you did. But winning doesn't mean you should disregard your safety. You're a valuable player, Eileen. Gryffindor needs you on the team,"

"Merlin, you sound Remus, wait, You... you think I'm valuable? You watch me play?"

Lip shrugged, trying to play it off casually. "Don't let it go to your head, Potter. I mean, I was watching the game, not you specifically."

A hint of a teasing smile tugged at the corners of Eileen's lips. "Oh, so you weren't admiring my impeccable flying skills, then?"

Lip feigned annoyance, but his eyes sparkled with a newfound warmth. "I suppose you can have that one, Potter. Just this once." Lip said, wiping the last of the blood from her face, "That's all the blood, let me fix your nose too, saves you a trip to Madam Pomfrey,"

Lip stood back a step, pulling his wand from his back pocket, and pointing it at Eileen's nose, "This may hurt a little. Episky!"

Lip waved his wand in a small motion, and with a small crunch and a yelp, Eileen's nose was back in place.

"A little?!" Eileen shouted, rubbing her nose.

"I lied," Lip quipped, giving Eileen a tight-lipped smile. "Right then, you ready to continue this shit?"

"Yeah, we've nearly finished right?" Eileen asked, hopping down from the sink.

The potion was currently a light blue colour, with a strong smell. It had a thick consistency and if you looked hard enough, there were small swirling patterns that somewhat reflected the night sky, within the potion. All they had left to do was to get the potion to a bluish-purple colour, with blue smoke emanating from it, as well as get it to a silky smooth consistency, which should only take a few more ingredients over the next two days. Once that was achieved, they would be finished.

"Yeah, so let's get this over and done with."

◇◆◇◆

"Right that's it," Ian said suddenly, startling Lip who was reading Quidditch through the ages, "What's going on between you and Eileen?"

Ian and Lip sat in the back corner of the library together, Ian was currently doing practice questions for his History of Magic OWL that Lip had written for him. But he found himself unable to focus, his attention was on the book that Lip was reading. He had never shown interest in Quidditch before, and Ian didn't miss the occasional glace Lip would take across the room. Sat a few feet from them was Eileen and Remus, who were also studying together and sat close to each other, reading from the same book. Ian had noticed Lip looking in their direction a few times over the past half an hour and there was something in his eyes that radiated jealousy.

"Rowena, keep your voice down why don't you," Lip sighed, "And for your information, nothing, just like I tell you every other time you've asked,"

Ian scoffed at that statement, "Sure nothing, you keep looking at her and Remus, you're reading Quidditch through the ages, you've never cared for Quidditch, and hmm let me think, oh yeah, you and her have been meeting up every day for the past three weeks! The only other time you were doing shit like this is when you were having sex with the Slytherin Skank,"

Lip groaned and rubbed his hand down his face, shutting his book, and leaning closer towards Ian so that they could talk more secretly, "Don't bring her up again, we don't discuss that. There's nothing going on between the two of us, not in the way you think. If you really must know, Eileen and I have been brewing an advanced potion together to get into the Slug Club,"

"The Slug Club? Why would you want to join that?"

"I guess 'cause I can use it to get ahead, put in a good name for myself with some respected wizards," Lip shrugged, though he had almost forgotten about the Slug Club until this conversation.

"Ok? What potion are you brewing?"

"The Wolfsbane potion,"

Realisation suddenly smacked Ian in the face, "Oh,"

"Oh?" Lip asked confused, "What do you mean oh?"

"I really shouldn't say,"

"Dude come on you can't just react that way and not tell me why!"

"Did Eileen put the Slug Club idea in your head?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't think this is about the Slug Club for her," Ian sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Listen I really shouldn't be telling you this, but, I know you'll keep it a secret...Godric I can't believe I'm telling you this, the potion is for Remus," Ian said, instantly regretting the confession.

"For Lupin? Why would Eileen need to brew it for Lupin?" His curiosity now piquing through the roof.

"Godric for a Ravenclaw you are thick, Lip." Ian sighed, hesitating before divulging the information further, lowing his voice even further so that he was now whispering, "Remus is a werewolf,"

Lip's eyes widened in shock, processing the revelation. Of fucking course! How stupid am I?!

"Fucks sake of course he is," Lip sighed, disappointed in himself that he hadn't seen it sooner, "That explains why she always seems so worried about him,"

"Yeah, she's making the potion in an effort to help him cope."

Lip looked back at Eileen and Remus once more, a wave of understanding washing over him. He suddenly realized his negative feelings towards the girl had almost completely vanished over the past few weeks. When looking at her, he no longer saw the person that he considered his biggest competition, he saw a girl who deeply cared for the people around her.

"Also I just want to point out," Ian said, packing up his stuff, "You called her Eileen when in six years you've only called her Potter. I wonder what changed."

Ian then grabbed the rest of his stuff, and walked out of the library, leaving Lip to figure out his new, unfamiliar feelings towards the girl he had hated for so long.

◇◆◇◆

"Hey, Lip," Eileen said, stirring the potion from her place on the floor.

Lip had sat alone in the library for a long time, so long that he had almost arrived late to meet with Eileen. He was having an internal debate about whether or not he is supposed to continue with Eileen as normal or if he should bring up his new knowledge with her. And after a long time, he made his decision.

"So, this potion is for Lupin then huh?" Lip asks directly, he never was very good at addressing things lightly.

Eileen doesn't lift her head to look at the boy, who was now standing in front of her, however, her hand stopped stirring immediately and her face significantly whitened.

"How did you find out," Eileen asked, her voice void of emotion as she stared into the potion, refusing to look at Lip.

"Ian told me,"

"He shouldn't have done that," Eileen said, disappointment evident in her voice as she continued to stir the potion, "It wasn't his place,"

"No, I agree, it wasn't," Lip admitted, "Honestly I'm surprised it took him telling me, the signs were there. So I guess all that stuff about the Slug Club was bullshit?"

"You can still try and get in if you want, but, yeah, it was never about that, for me at least."

The two of them stayed there in silence for, what felt like, a long time. Eileen's head was running fast with different thoughts, but the main one was a worry for Remus, there's a reason people with lycanthropy don't share it, Lip could quite literally destroy Remus' life if he wanted, and how could Eileen know that he wouldn't.

"Please don't tell anyone," Eileen whispers, almost so quietly that Lip almost didn't catch what she said.

Lip sighed deeply, sitting on the floor in front of her, looking directly into her eyes, "Eileen, I may be an asshole, but I'm not that much of an asshole. Listen I may not have ever gotten on with you, or your friends, but believe it or not I'm not completely heartless."

"I just...if anyone found out...he's already so stressed and not on the register, his life would be destroyed," Eileen explains, starting to get worked up by the very possibility that Remus' secret could get out, on top of him struggling with his transformations.

Lip placed a hand on her shoulder, his touch gentle yet firm. "I get it. Lupin is your friend, and I won't jeopardize that for him. But you need to know something, Eileen. I may have had my issues with you, but I'm not going to try and ruin yours, or your friend's lives. I give you my word, I'll stick to it."

Her shoulders relaxed slightly under his touch, and a small smile tugged at the corners of Eileen's lips, "You had your issues with me?"

Lip rolled his eyes, but didn't try to stop the small smile that tugged on his lips, "You are not as unbearable as I once thought,"

"I appreciate that, Lip. You may not believe it, but you're not as bad as you pretend to be."

"It's a full moon tomorrow isn't it?"

"Yeah, if he takes the potion tomorrow, as he's not used to taking it yet, it will make him behave a little less aggressively, but it won't stop how awful his transformation is,"

"Well, let's get to work then, we have a potion to finish, and a werewolf to help,"

◇◆◇◆

After a few hours, over the course of the afternoon and the next morning, of meticulous measuring, intense concentration, precise mixing and interesting conversations, Lip and Eileen had finally managed to combine the ingredients and adjust the temperatures and timings with utmost precision, resulting in a Wolfsbane potion that shimmered with a bluish-purple hue, emanating delicate tendrils of blue smoke that curled and danced in the air. And Eileen was quick to give it to Remus the following morning.

◇flashback montage◇

"How do you guys know how bad his transformations are?" Lip questioned, the subject of werewolves interested him, so he was asking Eileen as many questions as he could while trying not to be too invasive.

She turned to Lip, her eyes searching his face for any sign of judgment, "Do promise not to tell a single soul, we could get in a lot of trouble."

Lip raised an eyebrow, intrigued by her sudden seriousness. "Promise, now spill. What's the big secret?"

"We're Animagi,"

Lip's eyes widened in surprise, "Wait, you're telling me that you and the Marauders can transform into animals? Like, on purpose?"

"Yep, James becomes a stag, Sirius transforms into a dog, Peter's a rat, and well...Remus' transformation is exactly voluntary like ours is,"

"So, you're saying you can turn into an animal too?"

Eileen smiled slightly, "A fox, It took a lot of practice and research, but we managed to become Animagi to support Remus during his transformations. It allows us to keep him company and help him control himself, but the wolfsbane will help him even more,"

"That's...incredible," Lip said fascinated.

"You and Ian are some of the only people who know, other than most of the teachers that is,"

"It explains why you've always been so protective of each other, especially Remus."

"Yeah, we look out for each other, it's what friends do."

◇◆◇◆

Eileen stared in amazement as Lip pours the shimmering liquid into a spare potion bottle, that Eileen had stolen from their potions class, admiring his skill and precision. His hands moved with practised ease, his focus unwavering.

"There it is," Lip muttered holding out the bottle to Eileen, his voice tinged with a mix of relief and satisfaction. The potion had transformed into a beautiful shade of bluish-purple, and delicate blue wisps of smoke danced above its surface. It was a truly remarkable sight.

"Lip, we did it! It looks perfect!" Eileen says excitedly, taking the bottle from his hands, continuing to stare at it.

A hint of a proud smile tugged at the corners of Lip's lips. He glanced at Eileen, his eyes gleaming with a newfound respect. "Yeah, Potter, we make a pretty solid team, don't we?"

Eileen's smile grew wider, her gaze never leaving the potion. "We do, Lip. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad we worked together on this."

Lip chuckled, a familiar mischievous glint returning to his eyes. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it. I still think you're a pain in the ass most of the time."

Eileen laughed, her voice filled with genuine amusement. "Likewise, Gallagher. But hey, at least we can brew one hell of a potion together."

◇◆◇◆

Eileen felt a mixture of determination and nervousness as she made her way towards the Gryffindor Common room, clutching the Wolfsbane potion closely. She was excited that the potion could potentially change Lupin's life during the full moon, but nervous as she knew that the potion was not likely to work very well that night, not to mention no matter how grateful he was, he was bound to give her a lecture about being safe and not doing dangerous things to help him.

To her surprise, the common room was occupied only by the Marauders, who were engrossed in their usual banter and mischief. James and Sirius were engaged in a heated game of wizards chess, while Remus and Peter cheered them on and offered sarcastic comments.

Peter was the first to notice the girl, "Hey Copper!"

The rest of the boys also call out their hellos, however, the only other one who actually looks at Eileen is Remus, as James and Sirius had their eyes trained on the chessboard. Remus instantly noticed that something was off about Eileen, as she fidgeted nervously, her arms clearly hiding something behind her back.

Eileen fidgeted nervously, her arms still hiding the potion behind her back. Remus, ever observant, quickly picked up on her unease. "Are you alright, Eileen?" he asked, leaning back on the sofa and studying her with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, I um, have something for you Remus." She says, walking forwards and handing him the large phial. Remus takes it in his hand, analysing it closely, watching as the contents of the phial swirled around and painted an abstract version of the night sky. He then turned the phial over, looking at the handwritten note stuck on it.

'Wolfsbane'

Remus, along with the other Marauders who had now joined his side, stared at it for a few seconds before he finally spoke, "You made this for me?" Remus asked, his voice filled with genuine astonishment.

"Yeah, you've been struggling with them more in the past few months than ever before, I wanted to help make them more bearable,"

"Fucking hell, Eileey!" Sirius said, taking the potion from Remus and looking at it closely, "How long did this take you?!"

"Don't call me Eileey. It took about three, four weeks, never would have done it that quickly without help,"

"Help?" James asked looking up at his sister, curiosity and protectiveness sparking in him, "Wait, who did you make this with?"

"I mean...is it that hard to figure out, you guys have surely noticed who I've been 'sneaking around with the past month,"

The four of them looked at her before realisation suddenly hit, and they all called out, "Gallagher?!"

"Yeah, I mean, he's good with potions, really good, I knew to get it done quickly I would need a partner and, well he was the obvious choice,"

"So you weren't going out for secret duels?" Sirius asked her, almost disappointed.

"Sorry Siri, but no, surprisingly we put up with each other, hell he was the one that fixed my broken nose the other week," Eileen laughed but promptly stopped when she saw the boys shocked faces.

"Eileen, you told me you went to Madam Pomfry," James accused her.

"Yeah I know but I was going to be late, and besides Lip took care of it in no time,"

"Oh, so he's Lip now, huh?" Peter teased.

Eileen rolled her eyes, playfully scolding him, "Shut up, Wormy."

"Eileen this could have been really dangerous," Remus interrupted, still staring at the potion that was now back in his hands, causing everyone to stop teasing Eileen about her storage new friendship with Lip, "This potion's hard to make, you both could've gotten hurt if something went wrong, you could've gotten found out by another student or professor, you took a real risk doing this,"

"Oh shove off Moony!" Sirius says, patting his back roughly, "Think how much better your transformations will, be, we might be able to leave the shack at night now!"

"Eileen, thank you," Remus says, standing and hugging the girl close, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this,"

"Of course, it uh, won't help the transformation tonight as you won't be used to it, but it might make you a little less violent as a wolf," Eileen explains.

"Don't worry, I think I can manage just one more night," Remus chuckled.

As the Marauders exchanged glances, James couldn't help but ask the question on everyone's mind. "So, does this mean Gallagher knows about Moony's furry little problem?"

"He figured it out, yeah," Eileen admits, feeling Remus tense next to her slightly, "But he won't tell anyone,"

"How can you be sure?" Remus asks.

"I trust him, if he really wanted to screw me over, or you, he would have told someone about the potion the moment he found out, but he didn't, he had his chance to take what could have been his ultimate revenge on me, and he didn't.

"I trust him,"

◇◆◇◆

Lip hadn't seen Eileen or the rest of the Marauders that morning. Breakfast was almost over, and not one of them had been seen, making Lip feel increasingly nervous. He couldn't deny that his negative feelings towards Eileen were gone, anymore, he couldn't deny that he cared about her more than he once thought.

He didn't want her to get hurt again. Even the broken nose was one time too many.

"Hey Ian," Lip approaches his brother, who was sitting with Mickey and Mandy at the Slytherin table, "Have uh, have you seen Eileen?"

Ian looked up at his brother, sensing his unease, before remembering what last night was, "No but she'll probably be in the infirmary, if not the Gryffindor common room, you know the password?"

"Yeah, thanks man," Lip nods before turning and, without wasting another moment, he hurried towards the infirmary. The journey felt agonizingly slow, his concern growing with each passing second.

Finally, Lip reached the infirmary, taking a few moments to catch his breath before opening the door to the infirmary. Four out of five of the Marauders stood at the foot of the bed, watching a figure on the bed, their faces a mix of concern and exhaustion. Remus was out cold, small cuts and bruises littering his body. The other Marauders were each sporting their own minor injuries as well, Sirius and Peter had small bruises on their forehead, James had a bandage on his arm, and Eileen had a cut on her cheek.

Hearing Lip enter, The Marauders turned to face him, leaving a few moments where they all just awkwardly stared at each other, but that was broken when Eileen rushed over to Lip, crashing into him. He welcomed her into his arms, feeling her bury her head into his shoulder.

To the shock of the Marauders, Lip allowed it to happen, wrapping his arms around the girl, pulling her closer when he felt his shoulder getting slightly damp. He didn't like to see her hurt, whether it was physically or emotionally.

"Are you okay?" Lip asked quietly, his voice filled with genuine concern. Eileen nodded against his shoulder, her response barely audible. "Is Lupin okay?"

Eileen pulls back slightly, although the two of them kept their arms around each other, "He should be, the transformation was still...brutal but his behaviour was definitely calmer than normal,"

"That's good then," Lip encouraged, "We knew it wouldn't work perfectly yet, but the fact that there was any improvement is amazing, Eileen you're helping him,"

Eileen looked at him, smiling at him slightly, "Yeah, it just sucks seeing him this way,"

"I know, but hopefully, you won't have too much longer, hang in there," Lip empathized.

A brief moment of levity passed between them as Lip attempted to lighten the mood. "Ugh, it feels weird being nice to you," he jokingly remarked, prompting a gentle laugh from Eileen and even the Marauders who had been listening.

"Oi, Gallagher," James called out, interrupting their moment and making the two look over at him, bracing themselves for a potential confrontation, but there was a small smirk on his face.

"Hands of my sister," he playfully warned, causing Lip to remove his hands, holding them up in surrender, joking back,

"Please, I wouldn't want to touch her with a ten-foot pole,"

◇◆◇◆ (fin)

#lip gallagher imagine #lip gallagher x oc #lip gallagher #james potter #remus lupin #sirius black #marauders era #shameless

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skyeeuphixia · 11 months

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♥𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓰𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽♥

prompts and oneshots for gallagher sister oc

Oneshots:

forgiveness - in which claudia forgives

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skyeeuphixia · 11 months

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𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 // 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

gallagher siblings x sister oc (claudia)

summary: in which claudia forgives this chapter is inspired by the girl meets world episode: girl meets the Forgiveness Project original gmw characters have had their names changed except cory and topanga

for context: claudia is the middle gallagher child, being older than debbie and younger than ian, in this she is 15 years old, ian is 16 and debbie is 12. this takes place just over a year after monica attempted to take liam. ══════════════════

warnings: family issues, swearing, Monica word count: 6.6k

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Claudia Gallagher.

The odd Gallagher out you could say.

Her long, curly hair was a shade blonder than her older brother Lip's, and she possessed a unique sense of style, constantly experimenting with different clothing choices as she didn't like to limit herself to one style.

Unlike her more outspoken siblings, Claudia preferred to keep to herself, often remaining silent about her own struggles with her family. Her older siblings, Fiona, Lip, and Ian saw both positives and negatives in her reserved nature. On the one hand, they had one less person's problems to deal with but on the other hand, they never knew what problems were going through that forever racing mind of hers.

The exception to Claudia's quiet demeanour was her relationship with Lip, her closest sibling. Although hesitant to burden him with her own issues while he was already grappling with his own challenges, she still confided in him more than anyone else. However, her reserved nature didn't extend to her school life.

What they didn't know, is that Claudia had an amazing teacher. Mr. Matthews. He was the father of her best friend of 11 years and had become somewhat of a support system for the girl, so she had known him before he even began teaching her. As a history teacher, Mr Matthews possessed a remarkable ability to intertwine life lessons with historical events. Claudia and her close group of friends would often solve their own problems by applying the wisdom gained from his captivating lessons.

For the longest time, Mr Matthews had always been right in Claudia's eyes. However, there came a moment when his guidance proved to be wrong.

It was a rare occasion when Claudia found herself questioning the advice of her beloved teacher, realizing that even the most knowledgeable mentors can occasionally make mistakes.

══════

Claudia entered her favourite class of the day, accompanied by her close friends Jayden, Emily, Matt, and Noah. Their History teacher, Mr Matthews, leaned against the front of his desk, lacking his usual enthusiastic greeting for the students.

The classroom fell into silence as the students took their seats, eagerly anticipating what they would be learning that day. Their attention was drawn to the blackboard, where bold white letters spelt out a single word: "FORGIVENESS."

Once the class had settled down, Mr Matthews began to speak, pacing the front of the class, "Throughout history, nations have resorted to war to resolve their conflicts. While we often discuss said wars in this class, today I want to focus on peace and forgiveness, and how we can achieve them."

"Every once in a while, I come up with a good idea," Mr Matthews smiled, his excitement resembling that of a young child eager to share their playtime adventures with you.

"What could it possibly be that I haven't thought of before?" Matt, the resident 'nerd' of the class announced slightly smug.

"Matt, I forgive you," Mr Matthews unexpectedly declared, catching the student off guard.

"What did I do?" Matt questioned, perplexed by the sudden forgiveness.

"I forgive you too," Jayden said, a sour tone lacing his voice, as he stared at Matt intensely.

"What did I do?!" Matt raises his voice, completely baffled by these statements of forgiveness, that were, as far as he was aware, coming from nowhere.

"Oh you know," Jayden retorted, turning back to face Mr. Matthews.

"I feel much better!" Mr. Matthews states smiling at the class, "How do you feel, Matt?"

"I apologize for everything I've ever done, and for every time I've hurt you. But seriously, what did I do?" Matt pleaded, desperate for an explanation.

Ignoring the question, Mr Matthews addressed the entire class once again, "Everyone, let me introduce you to this week's assignment: the forgiveness project. Our personal histories extend beyond our own actions. True growth comes from repairing our mistakes and choosing to forgive those who have wronged us."

"Hmm, count us in," Emily declared, a bright smile adorning her face. "What do we need to do?"

"Everyone, look at the paper on your desk, take out a pen and start writing," Mr Matthews begins explaining, moving to his desk and pulling out a stack of red envelopes, "This is not your laptop or cellphone, you have unlimited characters here, as many words as you want, so use them."

He distributed a stack of envelopes to the front desks, ensuring they could be passed down the rows. Claudia took one envelope and handed the rest to Noah, stretching her arm above her head. As she stared at the envelope, she contemplated whom she should write to. There were many people she could forgive, including her family members.

Fiona for grounding her after Carl broke a window and blamed it on her.

Lip for flaking on her for Karen Jackson on a few occasions.

Ian, for spilling milk all over her English assignment worth 25% of her final grade.

Debbie for stealing her dolls and losing them.

Carl for finding the dolls and burning them.

Frank for, well everything.

And, then there was Mo-

"The impact of this will last longer than six seconds," Mr Matthews continued, "And I can guarantee that the impact will never disappear, so go ahead. Write. Express emotions. This is going to be one of the most important things you do in your life, you're about to forgive someone,"

"What's this got to do with history Matthews?" Claudia inquires, leaning casually forward on her desk, her interest piqued.

"It's got everything to do with history, Miss Gallagher. You're being given the chance to change it." Mr Matthews replied, his eyes filled with purpose, knowing that she of all people would benefit the most from said lesson.

"Like when I forgave Rory for biting off the face of my favourite bunny teddy, Babbit," Emily announced sincerely.

Mr Matthews looked at her with a puzzled expression, "Honey, that was not forgiveness."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not over it!" Mr Matthews accused.

"This is the first thing I'm faced with every day!" Emily says angrily, pulling a raggedy old rabbit teddy, whose face had been completely torn off, the fluff protruding from its face.

The rest of the class glanced at Emily and her rabbit briefly, then quickly moved on. This dynamic within the class might have seemed peculiar to outsiders, but it was a familiar occurrence. Claudia, Emily, Noah, Matt, and Jayden had developed a bond with Mr Matthews that allowed them to seek his guidance and openly express themselves during class. While the other students might not have engaged in the same way, they, too, had their own connections with other teachers.

Nevertheless, Mr Matthews remained the favourite teacher of their group.

"Moving on, is there anyone in your life that you want to forgive?" Mr Matthews asked, "Go ahead. Change your history,"

The entire class began writing fervently, pouring their emotions onto paper, except for Claudia. In truth, she had already forgiven everyone on her list, even Frank. There was only one person who lingered in her mind, but could she truly find it in her heart to forgive them? Not to mention, her family had deliberately kept her away from this individual for years. The last time they had shown up, Lip had whisked her away to Emily's house to ensure they avoided each other. It had been over four years, and if her older siblings had their way, it would remain that way for the rest of her life.

"Dear Rory, the murderer..." Emily began, distaste for her 6-year-old brother lacing her voice.

Mr. Matthews notices Claudia's distant look, as her hand hovers slightly above the paper in front of her, "Claudia, no one in your life that you want to forgive?"

"No," Claudia shrugs nonchalantly, shrugging her arms, and then clapping her hands together slightly.

Noah glanced up from his own paper, looking at the back of Claudia's head. He leaned forward slightly and whispered, "Now might be the right time, don't you think?"

"You and your siblings seem to be in a good place now. You're strong, Claudie. Don't you want to forgive someday? Why not now?" Emily encouraged her best friend, her face displaying a mix of sympathy and support.

Claudia smiled sweetly at her best friend before turning her attention to the piece of paper in front of her. She began writing, a faint chuckle escaping her lips. Emily wore a satisfied smile, clasping her hands together.

Claudia, however, stopped writing rather quickly. Passing the note to her best friend, not bothering to look at her. Emily took the note happily, somehow believing that Claudia had let out 15 years of emotion in a few words.

"Ahem. Emily. Butt out." She read aloud, her voice devoid of emotion. "I am dead serious. Butt your butt out." Claudia smiled sarcastically as her best friend turned to face her.

"I forgive you," Emily deadpanned.

══════

Claudia and Emily sat together in the back corner of the Alibi, the familiar hang-out spot for their group of friends when they weren't at school or each other's houses. Despite Kev's initial reluctance to have kids or teenagers in the bar, he had made an exception for the Gallaghers and their close friends. Having met Claudia's group a few times, Kev trusted them completely, especially Emily and Matt, who showed a lot of responsibility.

They watched as V and Kevin attempted to train Fiona and Lip to be good servers. Kev had offered them part-time jobs to help support the family, but it wasn't going smoothly. Fiona had already exchanged heated words with multiple customers for being too demanding or ungrateful, and Lip had come close to getting into a physical altercation over a payment dispute. Even V, known for her feisty nature, couldn't believe their behaviour.

But it was making for an entertaining afternoon for the younger Gallagher siblings and the two best friends. Emily and Claudia sat laughing together, watching the scene at the bar as Lip, Kev and Veronica, even Emily's mother (Topanga, who had shown up to help serve) all held back Fiona, who is attempting to pour a beer over some man's head.

"See, I love your family!" Emily exclaimed, gesturing toward the scene. "Sure, you guys have your differences and struggles, but you're all so close. I don't know how you do it."

Claudia admitted with a hint of uncertainty, "In all honesty, neither do I. But hey, I love your family too. That's why I'm over at your place more than half the time."

They continued their conversation, listing the reasons why they cherished each other's families. Claudia expressed her desire to have Mr and Mrs Matthews as her parents, while Emily shared her appreciation for the Gallaghers as her honorary siblings. Their banter filled the air with lightheartedness, momentarily overshadowing the tension building at the bar.

Suddenly, the entire Alibi fell into an eerie silence, followed by the sound of glass shattering on the floor. Claudia and Emily's attention shifted towards the entrance, where everyone's gaze had fixated. Standing there was a middle-aged woman, with curly blond hair messier than Claudia's, who looked better than Claudia had expected. However, she had never anticipated this individual would show up at all.

"You're gonna want to watch what happens next very carefully," Claudia murmured to her best friend.

"What do you me-" Emily began to ask, but before she could finish, the shouting erupted, drowning out their conversation.

Every single Gallagher in the room, aside from Frank and Liam (who weren't there, not to mention Liam's only 4, he wouldn't have much to say) and Claudia unleashed their anger and frustration upon the woman. Some remained rooted in place, while others moved to surround her. The cacophony of voices made it difficult to make out the exact words being exchanged, but the intensity of their anger was unmistakable.

"Oh my gosh!" Emily says lightly, realisation hitting her like a ton of bricks, "Is that her?! Is she her? Did you do it? Did you do the assignment?"

"I wrote something and mailed it. Please say it was a good move," Claudia looked at her friend with a small amount of hope, only to be met with her friend's distressed face.

"It was a bad move!" She cried.

"What but you encouraged this?! Why is it a bad move?!"

"Tried it with Rory, doesn't work! They don't apologize. Forgiveness is for jerks!" Emily explained, her voice tinged with frustration.

"Well, I'm glad you told me in time Em!" Realizing the gravity of the situation, Claudia shifted her attention back to the unfolding scene. Fiona, Lip, and the others were completely engrossed in the confrontation, their emotions running high. Even Topanga, who had joined them, struggled to make sense of the chaos.

"What on earth is going on?! Is this what you do for like your one-millionth customer or something?" Topanga shouted, her confusion evident.

"No," V and Kev shouted in unison, their voices barely audible above the heated exchange.

"Ma'am, how are you okay with this?" Topanga asked the woman, who was just standing there taking all the yelling and insults.

"I was kind of expecting it actually," The lady admitted, she had a naturally strained and shaking voice, which made her sound like she was on the brink of crying even if she wasn't.

Topanga turned to the owners who seemed to be yelling the quietest out of the group, "Kevin, Veronica, who is this woman?"

But she receives no answers as the yelling continues.

"Stop it!" Fiona yells, halting all movements and silencing the entire bar.

No one speaks as the Gallaghers all look at one another to find the culprit that invited Monica before they all realise that Monica was staring just beyond them. They all turn to face behind them slightly, only for Claudia to pass by them hesitantly, standing in front of Monica, the two of them staring at each other intensely.

"Hi, Claudia," Monica greeted her softly.

"Hi, Mom."

A heavy silence enveloped the bar as the Gallagher family and Emily watched their interaction, stunned by Claudia's unexpected decision to invite Monica back into their lives. The realization that Claudia had taken such a bold step left them bewildered, as they had always shielded her from the pain Monica had caused in the past. As a kid, she was always the one that got disappointed the most, upset the most, hurt the most. Never in a million years did they expect her to invite the woman back.

The silence was interrupted by Emily joining her best friend's side, "Hi, I'm Emily. I've heard a lot about you," she announced, slight hesitance in her voice.

"Hi Emily, You a good friend of Clauds?" Monica asked, making Claudia cringe slightly at both the question and the nickname.

Emily? A good friend? It never once occurred to Claudia that she wouldn't know who Emily was. If you knew Claudia, you knew Emily.

Emily scoffed slightly, looking at Monica with a 'Are you fucking joking?' look, "I'm sorry and please don't take this the wrong way, but what?!"

"Emily is my best friend," Claudia stated, disappointment evident in her voice, "But you wouldn't know much about her...or me."

Monica smiled a genuine smile at Emily, "Thank you, for being Claudia's best friend."

"It's easy, because Claudia's great, she's the best person that I know," She said honestly.

"In that case, I'm happy that she found you,"

Emily leaned into her friend slightly, making it look like she was going to whisper something, but keeping the same volume when talking to her, meaning that Monica and the Gallaghers could all hear what she had to say, "I was picturing a monster. She doesn't seem like a monster. She seems more like Frosty the Snow Guy,"

Fiona stepped forward slightly, her face void of emotion, Her question cut through the tension like a knife. "What are you doing here, Monica?"

"I uh...was invited," She said hesitantly, holding out a red envelope.

"What?" Fiona asks, her arms going completely limp and her face now taking on an expression of utter disappointment.

The realization of her father's involvement sank in, and Emily interjected, attempting to diffuse the situation and deter any negative feelings towards Claudia. "This is all my dad's fault!"

"Your father had an idea?" Topanga groaned.

"Uh-huh,"

"Oh god,"

══════

Monica stepped back into the Alibi after using the bathroom, anyone who wasn't a Gallagher or Kev, V, Topanga and Emily had now been kicked out, and the tension hung heavy in the air, with everyone either sitting down or leaning against the bar, waiting for what would happen next.

Monica smiled awkwardly before making her way to the door, residing that her presence had done enough and she should probably leave, but before she gets halfway across the room Ian interrupts her.

"You said you were going out for a walk and would be back in an hour," Ian announced, his voice tinged with bitterness. "You're four years late."

Monica tried to defend herself, her voice tinged with a hint of regret. "Well, I did come back about two years ago!"

"Funny, that was just for 24 hours, and you tried to steal Liam," Fiona scoffed, her voice filled with resentment.

Monica's shoulders dropped slightly, but instead of creating, she put on a happy face and turned to Claudia, who was once again sitting with Emily, "I was really happy to get a letter from you, Clauds. And that you've got a friend like Emily there,"

"This girl here has been more of a mother to me than you," Claudia said, putting her hand in Emily's.

Emily playfully pulled Claudia closer, leaning on her shoulder and dramatically stroking her hair. "Yeah, Fiona, Lip, and I raised her since she was a pup!"

Monica's face faltered momentarily, but she quickly recovered, trying to salvage the situation. "Well, I can tell you all did an incredible job."

"So...you left," Claudia stated, looking at her mother, "Why weren't we good enough?"

"No," Fiona starts, pointing at her sister, "No, no, no, Claudie, this isn't about us, or you, and what we did, it's about her, and what she's done,"

"Yeah! Claudie that really wasn't it," Monica agrees, looking hopefully at her oldest, who just rolls her eyes and moves away.

Emily, feeling the tension, stood up awkwardly. "You know what? This is a family problem, and I should probably be anywhere but here." She attempted to walk away, but Claudia quickly grabbed her and pulled her back into her seat.

"Nope, you're staying with me, you are my family. Oh, that reminds me, how that family you were planning on starting?"

"Fine..." Monica says hesitantly, "It's fine,"

Topanga moves to sit by the two girls "Emily, do you care to explain to me what your fathers 'brilliant' idea is here?"

"Our assignment was to forgive somebody," Emily explained.

"What does that have to do with-"

"It changes our history,"

"Oh...that's pretty good," Topanga smiles slightly.

"So, Claudie wrote to her, and she showed up,"

"To forgive her?" Fiona asked, her tone laced with scepticism as she scrutinized her sister.

"Yeah, that was the assignment, Fi. I've never failed an assignment before," Claudia murmured, her conflicted feelings evident. "But I haven't decided if I'm gonna pass or fail this one yet."

"Well, whichever you decide, sweetie, thank you so much for reaching out to me," Monica tells her, her words filled with a mix of gratitude and underlying pain.

Emily, who had been quietly observing the exchange, spoke up. "You know, this would be a lot easier for me if she were a monster," she said, addressing Claudia. She glanced at her best friend for a moment before standing up and approaching her mother.

"Do you remember that night when some guys were going around shooting stuff from their car, a few streets from ours? I was five, and I thought the sound was so loud that the world was breaking in half," Claudia began, her voice carrying a mixture of vulnerability and accusation.

"Why bring this up?" Monica asked, everyone else, except for one, was equally confused. But claudia ignored the question.

"I was under my covers crying and you came flying into the room, and peeked under the covers and decided to make it a game, we were in New York and we were setting off fireworks across the city, and you said the occasional flashes were the lights from the fireworks,"

Debbie, curious about her older sister's fondness for fireworks, asked, "Is this why you like fireworks so much, Claudie?"

"You managed to make that entire night an adventure until it stopped. I woke up the next morning and it was a sunny day. Don't you remember?"

"No Clauds, I don't," Monica admitted.

"Because that never happened. The shooting happened. You didn't,"

"So how come you like fireworks so much Claudie," Carl asks.

Claudia chuckled slightly, a bittersweet sound escaping her lips. She moved closer to the individual leaning against the bar. "Lip, it was Lip who came in. He made it New York, and I wasn't scared at all," she revealed, looking at her older brother with a mix of appreciation and pain.

Lip, his voice tinged with vulnerability, confessed, "The greatest performance of my life. I was terrified. I was only seven myself, but my little sister needed someone, and you weren't there, Monica,"

Emily, her voice filled with curiosity, asked the question that had lingered in the room. "Where were you?"

Monica's admission held a hint of resignation. "I probably wasn't home," she confessed, her voice heavy with regret.

"How could you not be home?" Emily asked, but Claudia answered for her, going back to stand by Emily.

"Because kids, bite rabbit teddy's faces off. Friends ruin movies, and mothers leave. Sometimes you can let go and other times you can't" Claudia looks at her mom for a second before looking back at Emily, "Your dad was wrong this time, Em."

With those words hanging in the air, Claudia turned away and walked out of the Alibi, without bothering to look back. Fiona looks over to Lip, who was looking at the door desperately, "Lip," Fiona gets his attention and then nods to the door.

Lip nodded back, understanding Fiona's silent cue, and swiftly took off after his sister. The room fell into a heavy silence as the door swung shut behind them, leaving Monica standing amidst the weight of her past choices.

The remaining Gallaghers exchanged glances with one another, their emotions evident on their faces. Fiona turned her attention to Monica, disappointment written all over her face, "Now what Monica? Where do you go from here?"

Monica contemplated for a moment, her gaze meeting Fionas, "I don't have all the answers for you Fiona, it's too late for all of you here, but Clauds reached out for a reason,"

The room fell into contemplative silence as the remaining Gallagher family members processed Monica's words. Their sister wanted to forgive. Something they themselves couldn't bring themselves to do.

══════

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lip says, catching up with Claudia quickly and matching her pace as she continues to walk. Frustration is evident in his voice as he confronts her, "Inviting Monica back, intending to forgive her?! What were you thinking?"

Claudia's steps falter slightly, her face flushed with a mix of guilt and defiance. She turns to face Lip, her voice filled with equal parts frustration and vulnerability, "I don't know, Lip. We needed to forgive someone, and I couldn't think of anyone but Monica. You've always told me how unreliable she is. I didn't expect even an answer back, let alone for her to show up!"

Lip shakes his head, his tone laced with exasperation, "And what were you planning to do if she did, which evidently, is what occurred?"

"I don't know, Lip! Okay, I don't! I wasn't thinking, I had no plan. All I saw was an assignment, and everyone else seemed to think it would be a good idea," Claudia replies, her voice tinged with frustration and regret.

Lip's anger softens momentarily as he looks at his younger sister, his expression a mix of concern and disappointment, "Claudia, all our lives, Fiona, Ian, and I have tried to protect you from being exposed to her, from being disappointed or hurt again. Why ruin all that?"

Losing some of her defensiveness, Claudia's voice wavers "Lip, I've told you, I don't know. I have no excuses."

As they reached their house, Claudia immediately made her way up to her room, slamming her door. Her room was originally the room that is now Debbie's, but after Debbie was born she didn't want to share with a baby, she wanted to share with Lip. But neither Lip nor Ian were willing to move rooms, and at the time, there was no room in their bedroom, and Fiona was not giving up her room. However, just by Ian's bed was a door to a small walk-in closet, that the boys used to store toys and clothes, somehow a 9-year-old Fiona and 5-year-old Lip managed to clear out the storage and pull the then 3-year-old's, toddler bed into the room, as well as somehow fit most of the rest of her stuff.

Ever since then, it was her room. Even if the bed took up all of it.

Claudia sat on her bed, her knees up to her chest, her blanket pulled above her head. She didn't know how long she was sitting there before she heard her door open.

Lip sighed, his anger subsiding as he realized the weight of his words on Claudia. He understood that his reaction had been fueled by years of protecting his younger sister from their mother's absence. Seeing Monica again had ignited a torrent of emotions he hadn't anticipated.

The door shut and she assumed he left and she remained still until she felt her bed dip and sensed Lip's presence beside her. The blanket was lifted, inviting Lip under its shelter, and soon they were huddled together.

"Claudia, I'm sorry," Lip said, his voice softer now. "I was too harsh. It's just seeing Monica again, it stirred up a lot of anger in all of us. And the fact that you were the one who invited her here... it hurt, Claudie. We've spent so much of our lives trying to shield you from her, to protect you from disappointment and pain. I just don't understand why you would want to risk that?"

"Lip, I've told you already—I don't know. I didn't have a plan. I'm sorry I wasted all your efforts,"

Lip shook his head gently. "No, Claudia, it's not about wasted efforts. You're fifteen, and you have the right to make your own decisions. But what we need from you is to communicate with us, to let us know what's going on in your head. We'll always be there to warn you about the risks, but we also want you to trust us enough to share your thoughts and feelings. And you know what? I believe you'll pass your assignment, maybe not in the way you expect, but you will. I've had Mr Matthews as a teacher, he has a plan for you with this,"

Claudia didn't fully grasp Lip's words at that moment, but she trusted him more than anyone. She found solace in his presence, knowing that she wasn't alone.

══════

"How's the forgiveness project going?" Mr Matthews asked hesitantly. It was the next day, and they were back in their history class. Being close with the group of friends that sat at the front of the class, he had heard about what happened at the Alibi and also knew that not a single person had passed the assignment yet.

"You're killing us, Matthews!" Claudia called out, her frustration still lingering from yesterday's mess. She spent the rest of the evening in her room with Lip, avoiding a conversation with Fiona, knowing her disappointment would be worse than Lip's.

"I gotta say, Matthews, I don't know what you were thinking," Emily chimed in.

"You think forgiveness leads to peace?" Noah starts, already clearly frustrated.

"It leads to war in a movie theatre," Jayden continued.

Last night Noah, Jayden and Matt had gone to the movies together, Matt had promised he wouldn't predict and spoil the movie, but that hadn't happened, he managed to predict the entire movie in the first 10 minutes and spoiled it not just for his friends but the entire movie theatre.

"Well, I'm sure some of you had better experiences!" Mr Matthews said hopefully but was only met with everyone shaking their heads.

"Forgiveness doesn't work, Dad!" Emily complained, "I forgave Rory, and he didn't thank me,"

"Emily did you really forgive Rory?"

"No!"

Mr Matthews rolled his eyes and sighed slightly before turning his attention to the girl sitting at the desk to the left of his daughter, "Claudia, did you forgive your mother?"

"No," Claudia answered softly.

"And we didn't forgive, Matt. Ow," Matt says, Jayden swiftly hitting him in the back of his head with a paper ball for predicting again, this time being able to predict what they were going to say.

Mr Matthews sighed, realizing that forgiveness was proving to be more challenging than he had anticipated. However, he couldn't resist seizing the teaching opportunity. A small smile formed on his face.

"Well it sounds to me like forgiveness is harder than it looks," Mr Matthews smiles, he secretly loves it when the kids don't understand the weight of what he's teaching, so he can prove the value of what he's teaching.

"I tried," Claudia defended herself, "I think I made myself clear, want to hear it?"

"If you're alright with it," Mr Matthews shrugs, inviting her to share.

Claudia retrieved the draft of the letter she had written to her mother. It had been rewritten to look neater, but the words remained the same. She hesitated for a moment before reading aloud, "In school, I'm learning about forgiveness. What you did makes me have a lot of angry feelings. I don't want to be angry anymore. Why did you leave us? Did I do something? Make me understand what I did. Your daughter, Claudia."

Everyone stayed silent, they all knew about the Gallaghers, but Claudia was never one to talk about her family openly. Noah, moved by her vulnerability, reached forwards to squeeze her shoulder in comfort, letting her know he was there for her.

"Did she help you understand?" Mr Matthews asked her softly.

"No,"

"Why not?"

"I mean...I guess I never gave her the opportunity to explain herself," Claudia admits, "But it's too late now, my siblings scared her off."

Mr Matthews sighed before turning his attention back to his daughter, "Emily, why did Rory bite your rabbit's face off?"

"I don't know," She states.

"Why not?"

"I never asked him," Emily realized.

"Noah, Jayden?"

The two boys turn to their movie-spoiling friend, "Why do you spoil movies for us, Matt?" Noah asks.

"Because you're good at whatever you do, and you're good-looking," Matt explained, "Jay is the class clown. I guess I just want to show off what I can do. All I have is my mind, and I want to show that off."

"Damn...we gotta get better minds dude," Jayden said to Noah.

"Yeah we do," Noah replied, turning back to the front to face Mr Matthews.

"You all do," Mr Matthews interjected, determined to make his point. "Better minds understand that to be able to forgive someone, you need to understand them first. The other person needs to feel heard."

"Why can't you just admit that you are wrong about this one Mr Matthews!" Claudia called out, growing more and more frustrated with his persistence.

"Because forgiveness is one of our finest qualities as human beings, Claudia," Mr Matthews asserted, pointing at her emphatically. Then, he turned to address the entire class again, his tone unwavering. "You have to understand each other before you can even begin to understand what happens next. Go out and understand each other, and see what happens. Your assignment hasn't even begun until you do."

══════

Yet another day had passed and Emily, Noah and Claudia were sat together in the Alibi. Like days prior, the Gallaghers once again were all there, along with Kev and V, however, Topanga Matthews and Cory Matthews joined them today.

Emily sat with Rory pulled close to her chest, sat on her lap. The young boy looked bored out of his mind, clearly not interested in teenage conversations, but Emily didn't seem keen to get rid of him anytime soon, which was rather amusing to Claudia and Noah.

"Forgiveness does work, guys," Emily states matter-of-factly, "You just have to do it right,"

Rory squirmed in Emily's lap, eager to join his friends. "Can I go and play with my friends now?" he complained.

"No! All you have to do is listen to the other person," Emily continued, making the other two teenagers chuckle at the sibling's antics.

"Can I at least go to the bathroom, Emily?!"

"Quiet I'm talking!" Emily said in a condescendingly sweet tone, tapping the 6-year-old on his nose.

Claudia scoffed a little before speaking, "Emily, Rory is there every day, my mother couldn't leave fast enough. I mean she's probably halfway home now. Forgiveness just doesn't work for all of us,"

Claudia didn't notice as she was saying it, but Mr Matthews was sitting at the bar behind her, listening and watching her intently. But before he had the chance to say anything to her...

Monica walked into the bar. Red envelope in hand.

Everyone in the bar turned to face the women, who simply held her hands up in surrender, "I'm not here to cause problems, so please don't yell at me,"

Claudia stood up, astonished. "I thought you left," she said, her voice filled with genuine surprise.

"I did," Monica admitted, "I did sweetie, I was in the car and on the way back, but then this caught my eye again and you told me that you didn't want to be angry any more. Listen I know how important Claudia is to every single one of you and I thank you for that, but I just need to borrow her for like 2 minutes, if it's okay" she asks desperately.

Claudia looks over at her older sister, not saying anything, but clearly asking her for permission to go. Although Fiona wished she could whisk her sister away, and pretend that all the bad things in the world, she knew she couldn't keep her from these things anymore.

So she nodded.

Claudia turned around and began walking toward the door to let herself and Monica talk privately. But before Claudia could put her hand on the door, Monica stopped her and opened it for her, a small gesture of care and consideration.

The two of them stepped outside and just stood looking at one another, not knowing what to say to each other.

"This wasn't your fault Clauds," Monica reassured, "I swear this was all me, baby. I couldn't provide you with the comfort you needed during a shooting. And I was no good to you on sunny days either. I blew the money that Fiona earned instead of providing food to everyone, and, when you start to recognise that you're not good for people, you start not showing up, and then you don't show up enough times and that turns into leaving."

"You've stuck around your new family for a while, longer than any of the periods you spent with us. Did you and Roberta get the kid you wanted?" Claudia says, holding back a few tears.

Monica hesitated for a moment before replying, "We're in the adoption process."

"You're there for your new family then? What are they doing that I didn't do?" Claudia asked, her voice tinged with a mix of longing and frustration.

"You never did anything, Claudia. You were just a little girl. I was who I was. And there was nothing you did or could have possibly done," Monica declared, her voice filled with remorse, "I just- I wasn't ready for you, or anyone. But honey I've changed. These people believe that I can be someone and that I'm capable. They know what I was like, but choose to believe in who I am now."

Claudia's voice wavered, "Who are you?"

"I found a job!" Monica beamed with pride, "And I've managed to keep it. I want to tell you that I'm grateful for what you wrote. And I am so sorry for everything I did. I'm so happy you're okay,"

Claudia scoffs slightly, trying not to let the tears flow, "You found a job?"

"I did baby," Smiling at her daughter in hope, but it quickly dropped at her next statement.

"Your job was to stay Monica," Claudia stated firmly, "Listen, thank you for telling me your side, my teacher thinks I should forgive you and that it will bring me peace. Usually he's right about these things, but I can't see how he's right this time. And I can't forgive you. Do you really think I didn't have it in me to let you grow? My own mother? All of us would have loved to see you grow. I'm happy I wrote to you and heard what you had to say. And I hope you can feel some happiness in the knowledge that it makes me feel better knowing that everything you did has nothing to do with me. I always believed it was my fault. But it's not. I didn't do anything,"

Monica and Claudia stared at each other, their hearts breaking with the weight of their shared pain. Claudia's tears flowed freely, while Monica's frustration began to show. She had hoped that at least one of her children would forgive her, and now she realized how wrong she was.

Claudia sniffled and put her hands in her pockets, torn between her emotions and her desire to protect herself. She glanced between her mother and the door to the Alibi. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. You turned out great," Monica managed to say through her tears.

"Wow," Claudia whispered.

"What?"

"I've been angry for so long. But I'm not angry anymore," Claudia realized, her voice filled with a mix of relief and pain. "Thank you for coming. I hope you get home safe."

With those final words, Claudia turned away, walking back into the Alibi, leaving Monica standing alone outside.

Claudia entered the Alibi, openly crying now, and began walking up to her teacher. Lip joined her side and hugged her close, the rest of the Gallaghers looked on, their expressions filled with sadness and empathy for their sister and best friend.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, "but I failed. I know you wanted me to forgive her but I can't bring myself to. I couldn't. You were wrong this time Mr Matthews."

"Claudia, I never expected you to forgive your mother," Cory admitted sincerely, "That kind of forgiveness, doesn't come easily. But life is a very long time, and maybe one day you'll get there, but I never expected that from you now,"

Claudia's voice quivered as she asked, desperate for answers, "Then what did you want from me?"

Cory looked at Claudia with a tender gaze, understanding the depth of her pain. "Claudia... did you forgive yourself?"

The point of the forgiveness project suddenly smacked Claudia in the face. This was never about forgiving Monica, it was about realising that it was never her fault.

That sentence broke her as she started to openly sob, moving towards the man that she considered her father figure and hugging him. Mr Matthews held her tightly and let her sob into him, the rest of the Gallaghers also silently crying.

It had finally happened.

Claudia Gallagher had forgiven herself.

══════ (fin)

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skyeeuphixia · 1 year

Text

𝚊𝚞 // 𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜/𝚑𝚘𝚐𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜

lip gallagher x gryffindor student (Eileen Potter) summary: in which lip Gallagher hated eileen potter

Part one of three

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warnings: the usual, swearing word count: 4.1k

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Characters Years/Hogwarts Houses:

Gryffindor: Fiona (7th Year) Ian (5th Year) Eileen (6th Year)

Slytherins: Carl (1st Year) V (7th Year) Mickey (6th Year) Mandy (6th Year) Jimmy/Steve (7th Year referred to as Jimmy)

Hufflepuff: Debbie (2nd Year) Kev (7th Year)

Ravenclaw: Lip (6th Year)

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Eileen Potter's the female counterpart of her twin brother, James, sharing an uncanny resemblance. The only discernible differences between the two were her role as a Gryffindor seeker, while James excelled as a chaser and the fact that James wore glasses, while Eileen did not. And of course, their genders also set them apart.

The bond between the two was unbreakable. Rarely was one found without the other, and the same held true for their three close-knit circle of friends; Remus, Sirius and Peter, who in turn were always by the twin's side. Together, they formed the unmistakable group the Marauders, each carrying their own unique nickname – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Copper.

Another similarity that the twins shared, Eileen also found herself locked in a bitter rivalry with an individual from another house. Lip Gallagher. This animosity sprouted three years ago during their third year when Eileen surpassed Lip as the top student in Care of Magical Creatures. Lip didn't particularly care for the subject, he only chose it because his friend Mandy did. But despite the lack of interest in the subject, he really couldn't bare the thought of not being the top of the class, let alone someone else claiming the title of smartest. Eileen, though inherently empathetic like Remus (Eileen's Sirius) couldn't deny the satisfaction she felt when witnessing Lip's annoyance. From that way forward, a fierce competition brewed between the two of them. However, there was a difference between her rivalry with Lip, and James' rivalry with Snape, an arrogant Slytherin boy in their year. Their feud was mutual in a way that Lip and Eileen's was not.

James and Snape hated each other. That was mutual. The two of them jinxed each other. Mutual. Name-calling? Mutual. They got on like oil and water, they just don't mix.

On the other hand, Eileen didn't hate Lip. She didn't like him, but she didn't hate him. Eileen harboured no genuine hatred towards Lip; rather, she took amusement in witnessing his genuine anger provoked by her simple witty remarks and sarcastic comments. It was no question that Lip hated her however.

◇◆◇◆

Lip sat with Ian, Fiona, V and Kevin in the courtyard just outside the astronomy tower. Minus Lip, who was staring at the apple that he was making float, the group engaged in a lively discussion about the latest prank pulled off by the Marauders, that had been directed at a particular group of Slytherins. Ian had all the details about it because his boyfriend Mickey, a Slytherin himself, had told Ian all about it, according to Mickey the Slytherins were 'real assholes, who deserved a good ass whooping,'.

V leant into her boyfriend Kevin's side, noticing Lip's silence, "You okay there, Lip?"

"Yeah you've gone all quiet," Kevin added, wrapping his arm closely around his girlfriend.

Lip grumbled to himself, not letting his eyes leave the apple just above his head, still using his wand to control it. "I don't understand what you all like about them. They're so annoying," he states, his eyes leaving the apple for a second, causing it to drop to his eye level, to look over to the other end of the courtyard where the marauders were sat conversing.

James was playing catch with one of Eileen's golden snitches, Sirius had taken his Gryffindor robe off, exposing his white t-shirt and tie, he had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, which he was leant back on nonchalantly. Peter was listening eagerly to whatever story James was telling. And Remus and Eileen sat close together, reading from some muggle book together.

"Oh come on Lip, they're not that bad!" Fiona defended. She had a soft spot for the Marauders, mainly due to the fact that three members were on the Gryffindor quidditch team, and, being a Gryffindor herself, she couldn't help her bias.

"Yeah, besides, you don't even know them! When have you ever spoken to any of them, and no calling Eileen any form of insult doesn't count." Ian argued. He, in turn with Fiona, had a developed fondness towards the group. He'd actually hung around them in the common room a lot. Especially Remus, at one point they may have been more than just friends – but that was a long time ago.

Lip couldn't hold in his frustration any longer. "Oh please! The only one that's half decent in that group is Lupin! At least he knows when to keep his mouth shut. Pettigrew is a goddamn doormat who will do whatever anyone says at the snap of their fingers, Potter could tell him to jump off the astronomy tower and he would shout 'thank you' on his way down! Black is somehow more promiscuous than Fi and Ian combined. Male Potter is the most arrogant twat I have ever witnessed. And female Potter...Rowena! Don't even get me started on her!"

"What is your problem with her? I feel like you've had it out for her since...forever." Fiona replied, settling back on the grass, finding herself a more comfortable position.

"What isn't my problem with her?! She is just as arrogant as her brother and Black combined. She is always competing with me in classes, yet doesn't actually care about excelling academically. She's an insufferable show-off – a Quidditch-playing, loathsome, Gryffindor, know-it-all, that is seemingly obsessed with me. She is the most awful person that I have ever had the misfortune of meeting, and to top it all off, her name is Eileen Potter!"

"If I didn't know any better, Gallagher," a female voice came from behind him. The group all looked up towards that voice, met with the sight of the Milkovich twins, Mickey and Mandy, approaching them. Mickey went over to Ian, sitting next to him and throwing an arm casually around his shoulder, whereas Mandy chose to lean against the tree that they were sitting under.

"- I would say you're obsessed with her," she continued.

"Oh please-"

"Actually!" She interrupted, "I do know better. You are obsessed with her."

Lip, finally letting the apple drop to the ground, crossed his arms and looked towards his close friend with a challenging smirk on his face, "Fine. Prove it."

"Fine. This has been going on for three years now. It all started in our third year when we had Care of Magical Creatures together. During a lesson on Hippogriffs, you and Eileen were the only two students willing to approach the creature. You did, because you needed to prove to yourself you were better than everyone, and she did because she was genuinely fascinated by them. The Hippogriff didn't take a liking to you, but it adored her—let her pet it, bowed to her and all. Professor Kettleburn was so impressed with her that she quickly became his favourite. From then on she was always picked over you in that class, answering questions, helping out...Kettleburn always chose her before choosing you." Mandy explained.

Lip scoffed, "Well thank you for the recap of the worst day of my life, but that proves fuck all, I'm afraid,"

Mandy pressed on undeterred, "You are so obsessed with outdoing her. But she couldn't care less about beating you. Whenever she beats you, you look like she just used the cruciatus curse on Carl in front of you and then said she's running off with Fi because they've been having a secret love affair. When you beat her you get so smug that it blinds you to the fact that she doesn't care. You invest so much useless effort in Care of Magical Creatures now, going out of your way to insult her whenever you see her and constantly asking Mickey and me about her performance in classes you don't even share, just to ensure you're doing better. You're completely obsessed with her. In fact, if you didn't insult her all the time, I'd say you were in love with her or something!"

"That is disgusting! I am not in love with her! I wouldn't love her even if she was the last person left in the world, ok? Besides, she insults me just as much," Lip defended himself, however, the rest of the group simply smirked at him, they all knew Lip's behaviour was indeed strange, and somewhat unreasonable. Surly care of magical creatures didn't mean this much to him.

"Sure, but there's a difference!" Mandy responded casually.

"Oh yeah? Enlighten me," Lip leaned forwards mockingly, feigning as if he needed to hear her better.

"When she teases you, she doesn't mean it, she just likes seeing you react. She's just messing with you for sun because you react so strongly, it's arrogant yes but she doesn't actually mean anything she says. But when you insult her, you're genuinely intending to hurt her. You really want to bring her down, but you can't so you just insult her more."

In the distance, the clock tower chimed, signalling that it was one o'clock and time for their next class. The group grabbed their bags and rose to their feet, ready to head to their respective classrooms.

"Whatever. That doesn't change a thing." Lip sighed, looking away from Mandy, and grabbing his stuff. "I am not obsessed with Eileen Potter. I will never be obsessed with Eileen Potter, and I couldn't care less about Eileen Potter." He concluded looking at the entire group, who were evidently not convinced, before turning and making his way to his next class – potions.

The one class he still had some dignity in.

The one class she had never beaten him.

◇◆◇◆

"Gallagher, you're late. That's unusual for you, boy," Slughorn announced as Lip made his way into the classroom. He was rarely ever late, but he used the walk to think about all the ways he could prove that he wasn't obsessed with Eileen, which turns out he could come up with a lot, causing the normal 10-minute walk to take close to 30 minutes.

"Sorry, Professor. Lost track of time," Lip sighed, glancing around the room, quickly noticing that all his peers were sat in unfamiliar spots, indicating to them that they are working in groups or pairs today.

"Ahh yes. Well, let's not make a habit out of it," Slughorn smiled. "Now, as you can probably tell, we'll be working in pairs today. Unfortunately, everyone has already partnered up, except for... Miss Potter,"

Lip's stomach dropped slightly at those words. Of course, she's the only one left. Reluctantly, he walked over to the back of the class where Eileen was sitting, joining her, but intentionally pulling his seat as far from hers as it could go, attempting to make a statement. But it only made her smile.

"Now then, as I was just about to explain," Slughorn continued, "in today's class we will be brewing the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. It's a potion that is used to bring about a sense of inexplicable, irrational happiness in the drinker. Can anyone tell me what it is often used as a cure for?"

Several hands went up around the class, including Lip and Eileen's. Lip's hand shot up quickly, whereas Eileen took her time to glance at Lip and then casually raised her own.

"Miss Potter?" Slughorn called, causing Lip to grit his teeth slightly.

"Uncontrollable sobbing, sir," Eileen smiled, glancing at Lip with a hint of mischief, further fuelling his irritation.

"Very good, 5 points to Gryffindor. Now, can anyone tell me what side effects may occur as a result of consuming the potion?"

Once again, Lip's hand shot up alongside Eileen's. But this time Slughorn's eyes drifted away from the two of them.

"Mr. Potter?" Slughorn looked toward James and Sirius.

"Excessive singing and nose tweaking sir," James announced, secretly satisfied that he had also beaten Lip to the answer. The rivalry may not have been his own, but wherever his sister fought, James was always ready to stand by her. They truly were a duo that would protect each other from any hex.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Another 5 points to Gryffindor. Now, please turn to the correct pages in your books. You will find detailed instructions on how to brew the potion. You have until the end of the lesson. I must warn you, this potion is classified as advanced, so you'll need to work closely with your partner. Now, please begin,"

Lip begrudgingly turned to the page in the textbook, revising all the ingredients needed for the potion so that he wouldn't need to talk to Eileen and wouldn't need to make multiple journeys between the desk and the store cupboard. He could feel Eileen's presence next to him, her occasional smirks fuelling his annoyance. Determined to prove his skills, he focused on the potion ingredients and the precise steps involved.

After all the ingredients were gathered, Lip and Eileen began to begin brewing the potion, each moving around the small workspace trying to avoid getting in each other's way. There was a mutual understanding that they were just going to get through it as quickly as they could. Lip was glad that he wasn't with Sirius or James, but Eileen wasn't so much better.

"So, how's your little fan club doing?" Eileen asks, chopping some of the ingredients.

Lip didn't look at her, but that didn't stop him from looking down at the potion (that he was currently stirring) with a confused face.

"Fan club? What fan club?"

"Oh don't be coy, I saw you and Mandy Milkovitch talking earlier. You're reputation precedes you Gallagher, you seem like quite the ladies' man," Eileen says, sarcasm lacing her voice.

Lip rolls his eyes before finally looking at the girl, a bored look on his face, "I don't have a fan club, Potter. And even if I did, it's none of your business. Mandy is my friend."

Eileen huffed out a laugh, looking right into his eyes, almost as if she was studying him, "Are you sure, cause you were looking at her like this," Eileen put her hands together and leant down a little so her hands were near her knees, looking up at Lip with big eyes that were both admiring and mocking.

Lip maintained eye contact for a while, maybe a little too long, before finally responding, "Shut up, Potter. And stop looking at me like that, you look stupid,"

Eileen leans back up, her smile dropping as she observed Lip once again, "Touchy, touchy. I was just trying to make conversation. You know, get to know my partner for the day,"

Lip scoffs, "I highly doubt that, Potter,"

Throughout the rest of the lesson, their interactions oscillated between intense focus on the potion and subtle jabs at each other's abilities. They traded remarks about following instructions, measuring ingredients, and even the quality of their cauldron stirring. It was a battle of wits and egos, played out amidst the simmering heat of the potion ingredients.

Lip observed the girl, she would barely finish reading the instructions before getting started on what it said and executing it perfectly. She wasn't afraid to make a mistake. Because she knew she wouldn't. She would itch or twitch her nose when she was deeply concentrating. And she kept sneaking glances at her usual potions partner.

Remus Lupin.

He was with Pettigrew today, desperately trying to get him to put the ingredients in the current order. Pettigrew really was a hopeless case academically. Lupin, on the other hand, looked really pale. Either it was the stress of babysitting Pettigrew, or he should be in the hospital wing right now. Is that why she kept looking at him? Is she concerned about him? Why?

Meanwhile, Slughorn roamed the classroom, offering assistance and advice to the other pairs of students. He occasionally glanced over at Lip and Eileen, a hint of concern evident in his eyes. He was aware of their rivalry and hoped that their joint task might foster some semblance of cooperation.

As the lesson progressed, however, it became increasingly apparent that Lip and Eileen were more interested in one-upping each other than working together. Their competitive nature overshadowed any opportunity for genuine collaboration. Their cauldron sizzled with tension, mirroring the strained atmosphere between them.

With the class nearing its end, Lip and Eileen reached the final step of the brewing process. They exchanged wary glances, both silently acknowledging the importance of getting it right. Despite their animosity, they couldn't afford to let their personal grievances jeopardize their grade.

As they combined the last ingredients and carefully stirred the potion, a surprising sense of unity briefly emerged. They fell into a rhythm, synchronized in their actions, their focus solely on completing the task at hand. At that moment, their rivalry took a backseat to their shared objective.

The only way for Eileen to win, was for Lip to win. The only way for Lip to win was for Eileen to win. So they had to work together.

Finally, with the elixir simmering in the cauldron, Lip and Eileen stepped back, looking at each other with a mixture of anticipation and exhaustion. Their creation was complete. Slughorn made his way to their table, after walking away from the disaster that was Sirius and James' table (how some of the potion ended up on the ceiling, they genuinely did not know), observing their potion with a discerning eye.

"Well, let's see how you two managed, shall we?" Slughorn said, a touch of curiosity in his voice. He reached for a vial, carefully drawing some of the elixir from the cauldron.

As Slughorn examined their potion, a flicker of surprise crossed his face. He glanced between Lip and Eileen, a hint of satisfaction replacing his initial concern. It seemed their fierce rivalry had yielded impressive results.

"Remarkable work, both of you," Slughorn praised, unable to hide his admiration. "You've produced a finely brewed Elixir to Induce Euphoria. I must say, I'm impressed. 20 points each."

Lip and Eileen exchanged astonished glances, momentarily forgetting their animosity. The recognition from their professor brought a sense of accomplishment that transcended their personal rivalry.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the class. As their classmates hurriedly cleaned up their workspaces, Lip and Eileen shared a brief, unexpected moment of acknowledgement. There was a glimmer of respect in their eyes, a recognition of the other's capabilities.

"Good job, Gallagher," Eileen murmured, a genuine note of appreciation in her voice.

Lip nodded in acknowledgement, looking down at the floor. "Likewise, Potter."

And with that, they began tidying their equipment, Eileen spun around, walking towards the door, where the Marauders were likely waiting for her.

◇◆◇◆

The Marauders were gathered around the crackling fire in the Gryffindor common room, their usual lively banter filling the air. Remus and Peter were engrossed in a discussion about their History of Magic homework, while James and Sirius eagerly shared Quidditch strategies for their upcoming match against Hufflepuff. However, Eileen Potter sat on the floor, a pensive expression on her face, lost in her own thoughts.

She had been observing Lip throughout Potions class and had come to a realisation. She needed help. And she knew exactly who she needed help from.

Noticing her unusually quiet demeanour, Remus turned his attention to his best friend. Concern etched his features as he spoke, "Eileen, is everything alright? You seem lost,"

"Nothing, don't worry,"

"For the love of Godric, I swear if Gallagher said something again during our potions lesson today I'll hex him so hard he won't know what-"

"No James, Gallagher and, we actually tolerated each other today, I just need to do something, and that something requires a lot of consideration,"

"Ok, then what is it Eileey?" Sirius asked, leaning back, his arm casually draped over the edge of the sofa, behind Remus, while James leaned forward, genuine interest lighting up his hazel eyes.

"Don't call me that, and, I can't tell you," Eileen stated, "This is something I have to do on my own. It's personal, and I need to confront it myself."

Sirius leaned forward, a mixture of curiosity and concern evident on his face. "We're like family, Eileey. Whatever it is, you can trust us. We'll always be there to support you."

Eileen's gaze softened as she looked at each of her friends, her extended family. Their unwavering loyalty touched her heart. Her eyes landed on Remus. He looked really tired. "I know, and I appreciate that more than you can imagine. But this is bigger than figuring out a prank, there are a few layers to it, I need to do it alone."

The group of boys nodded in understanding, realizing that Eileen needed her space and time to figure things out. With a collective agreement, they slowly rose from their seats, ready to retire to their respective dormitories for the night. However, James remained behind, his gaze fixed on his sister.

A heavy sigh escaped James' lips, a mix of frustration and concern swirling within him. Eileen's determination and her unwillingness to share her burdens only intensified his worry. As her older brother, he had always felt responsible for her well-being and couldn't stand to see her troubled.

Leaning against the armrest of the sofa, James watched as the others made their way toward the staircase, their footsteps fading into the distance. He knew he couldn't let this go; he couldn't simply walk away and pretend that everything was fine.

"You know, Eil's," James began, a hint of seriousness entering his voice, "if there's ever anything bothering you or if you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. We may have our differences, but family comes first."

"Thank you, James. I appreciate that. And I want you to know that the feeling is mutual. You can always count on me too." She smiled.

James returned her smile, squeezing her shoulder gently before turning to make his way up to his dormitory. Hey...the Marauders can be serious when they want to be!

◇◆◇◆

"Gallagher, can I talk to you?" Eileen's voice pierced the air, capturing the attention of the Gallagher siblings, Jimmy, Kevin, and Veronica. They all turned to face her, their expressions a mixture of surprise and curiosity. However, Lip's face displayed a blend of confusion and annoyance.

"What do you want?" Lip retorted, his voice tinged with annoyance.

"To talk. I wouldn't have asked if I wanted something else, would I?" Eileen replied, crossing her arms and refusing to back down. He wouldn't intimidate her.

Lip looked at her for a few moments before sighing, "Fine, whatever," He said, gesturing with his arms for her to speak.

"Alone," She insisted, her gaze sweeping across the rest of Lip's family who sat nearby. She had no grievances with them, though her knowledge was limited to Fiona and Ian.

But this needed to be just Lip and Eileen.

"Fine," Lip sighed, standing up and following Eileen out of the Great Hall. Lip's willingness to go with Eileen surprised not only his family but also Lip and Eileen themselves. She didn't need to push that hard to get him to go with her.

They continued walking for quite some time, leaving Lip puzzled as to why a simple conversation required such a lengthy detour. But he wasn't going to be the first one to talk, she owed him an explanation as to why she was disturbing his life. They continued walking for around 7 minutes before they eventually arrived at one of the empty History of Magic classrooms. Eileen strode in and kept the door open, indicating for Lip to join her inside, and Lip couldn't help but feel a sense of intrigue amidst his confusion.

"You know, when one student drags another into an empty classroom, it's usually not for a friendly chat," Lip teased, unable to resist taking a jab at her. Despite his disdain, he relished the opportunity to tease her, even if it hinted at his potential obsession with her.

And she was right about her previous observation. He was a ladies' man.

"Don't flatter yourself, Gallagher, I practically live with Sirius Black, if you want to flirt with me you'll need to up your game." Eileen retorted sharply. "Listen, I don't want to talk to you any more than you want to talk to me, but I need your help with something."

Lip's initial response was nothing more than a bewildered blink. Eileen Potter, needing his help?

"My help?" he echoed, his voice laced with surprise.

"Yes, your help," Eileen confirmed, her tone carrying a touch of urgency. "Now, just answer me this: have you heard of the Wolfsbane potion?"

◇◆◇◆

(finished part one of three)

#fiona gallagher #lip gallagher x oc #lip gallagher #lip gallagher imagine #james potter #marauders era #sirius black #remus lupin #enemies to friends #friends to lovers #shameless

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skyeeuphixia · 1 year

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I NEEED PART TWO OF SWEET IGNORANCE!!!

Its sooo good

Omg thank you so much!!!

I'm working on it, but I'm trying to figure out which way I want the story to go. But it's on it's way!

0 notes

skyeeuphixia · 1 year

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𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 // 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

lip Gallagher x girlfriend OC (Delilah) summary: in which lip and delilah give fiona a break and have the kids to themselves or in which debbie and delilah get some 'sister' time

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warnings: n/a word count: 3.2k

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"Ok, Bottles are in the cupboard, formula and milk are in the fridge, but Lip knows all that," Fiona informs Lip's girlfriend, showing her where everything is as if she hadn't been dating Lip and coming over to the house for 7 months now.

Today Fiona was stepping out of her comfort zone by spending the night away with her boyfriend, Jimmy/Steve. Jimmy/Steve had somehow managed to book a room at The Langham Hotel, meaning that Lip was now in charge of babysitting his younger siblings, minus Ian as he was having a sleepover with 'Mandy'. She had done it once before Lip and Delilah were dating, but that ended in Frank having to fake his death. So Fiona had managed to convince herself that everything would go to shit if she left for another night. It took a lot of convincing from all the kids, Kev, V and Jimmy/Steve to convince Fiona to go, let alone leave them with Liam alone. So she compromised, she would leave Lip in charge, if, his girlfriend Delilah helped out, because in her words "She will actually keep some order in this house."

"Lay off my girlfriend Fi," Lip sighs trekking down the stairs to the kitchen, having already gone through the same lecture, twice, hours earlier, "It's not like she's not been here a million times, besides she's better with Liam than any of us."

Fiona sighed and placed the bottle she had picked up back in the cupboard before rubbing her forehead, "I know, I know it's just last time everything went down with Frank and-"

"-and that's different to any other day how?" Lip asks, standing next to his girlfriend, placing his arm around her shoulders, Delilah nudging him slightly giving a look that tells him to listen to his older sister.

"Just, don't let the house burn down, don't let Frank in but I doubt he'll show up, uh what else, oh you two," She suddenly snapped pointing a finger between the two of them causing them to raise their eyebrows in surprise, not expecting the sudden change in attitude.

"The moment I exit the house you two are "working", you're not hanging out, not on a date, your focus is on the kids, so no funny business."

Lip opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by Fiona pointing at him once again, "Including after they fall asleep," she snaps, Lip's mouth promptly shutting.

"Don't worry Fiona, I'll keep everything together." Delilah smiled at her, causing the older girl to give her a grateful smile.

"Yeah besides we're going to have a fun time, won't we buddy?" Lip asks picking up Liam from his place on the sofa, making funny faces at him, "Oh and you mean we'll keep everything together?" Lip asked, looking at Delilah expectantly.

"I meant what I said," Delilah teased, leaving no room for Lip to argue as Jimmy/Steve enters through the front door and makes his way to the trio.

"Hey ready to go?" He asks Fiona, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I just-"

"She's ready," Both Lip and Delilah answer at the same time, knowing that Fiona was just going to try and stall for longer.

"Great, let's go," Jimmy/Steve smiles at her, slowly guiding her out of the house as she continued to call out orders to the two teenagers.

"Lip, don't do anything Delilah wouldn't do! If I come back and everything has gone to shit I swear I will-" She didn't get to finish her threat however as the sound of the door shutting cut her off.

Lip and Delilah looked at each other for a few seconds, waiting to see who would suggest what to do first, this was new to the two of them, normally, when they hung out together, there was a goal or purpose; just being in each others company, Homework, Sex. Sure they had a purpose, babysitting, but what are you supposed to do when none of the children need anything?

"Movie?"

"Sure,"

The two of them swiftly make their way over to the living room, Delilah grabbing a blanket and sitting on the couch, settling Liam next to her, Lip flipping through the selection of DVDs the Gallaghers owned. The Gallaghers had a few really good selections of films, the only issue was Delilah and Lip could never agree on what to watch.

"Uh we got, insidious, Top Gun, IT-"

"You're just picking the ones you want to watch!"

"Ok, you pick something out then,"

"Mean Girls" She answers picking up the movie with no hesitation and starting to open it before Lip snatched it out of her hands.

"No way that movie's shit!"

"Oh yeah, how do you know that? Seen it before?"

"Beyond the point! Look I just don't see what's so entertaining about watching dumb teenagers talk about how big their hair is," Lip argued back, smirking at her slightly.

"Yeah well if we watched a horror film there's the risk of the kids coming down and traumatising themselves! Not to mention Liam is right here!" Delilah argues back, not wanting to risk the wrath of Fiona the following morning if she finds out that Debbie and Carl are all of a sudden too scared to fall asleep.

"Ok fine, you pick, anything but mean girls," Lip groans, taking a seat back on the couch, swiftly joined by Delilah.

"Tangled,"

"That's a kids film,"

"Harry Potter!"

"I've watched that series with you three times now!"

"Angus, thongs and perfect snogging!"

"Take out Angus and that's my kind of night,"

"Bullet Train!"

"And listen to you drool over Aaron Taylor Johnson for two and a half hours again, no thanks,"

"Why don't we watch the next episode of blue planet? Everyone likes that!"

"Yeah I guess, let's just watch that," Lip sighed, turning on the most recent episode of blue plant the family had recorded. The Gallaghers, Kev and Veronica, Jimmy/Steve and Delilah often watched different shows together, having episodes upon episodes of the different shows they watched recorded, however, it wasn't uncommon for Delilah and Lip to be an episode ahead of the rest, often watching the next episode in secret when no one's around.

Lip and Delilah settled down next to each other, huddling up for warmth, Liam's head resting across Delilah's lap, as David Attenborough's calming voice introduced them to the wonders of the world's oceans.

They watched in silence as a fish miraculously jumped out of the water and grabbed a bird midflight when from nowhere Debbie and Carl appeared in front of the TV.

"What the hell get out of the way, it was getting good!" Lip called out in frustration, pausing the show the couple was undoubtedly fascinated by.

"We're bored," Debbie says matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips.

"So? Entertain yourselves," Lip says, leaning back convinced that that simple sentence solved all their problems.

"You're the babysitters, you're supposed to entertain us," Carl argues back.

"Well, what do you guys want to do?" Delilah asks, sitting up so she could see them properly past Lip.

"I want some girl time with Delilah," Debbie says smiling smugly at Lip, knowing she would be ruining the alone time he hoped to have with his girlfriend.

"Ok, I'll go with Debbie, and you entertain Carl and Liam," Delilah announces standing from the couch, patting Lip's shoulder, and making her way towards the stairs with Debbie swiftly following her.

"Wait, what!?" Lip exclaims, turning towards her, holding his arms out slightly, shocked by how willing Delilah was to listen to the demands of some 12 and 10-year-olds.

"We're here to babysit Lip, this is part of the job," Delilah shrugged before walking up the stairs, Debbie in tow, and walking to the room the younger girl shared with Liam.

"So, what do you want to do Debs?" Delilah asked, sitting on the girl's bed, noticing how hard the mattress was.

"I don't know, girl stuff and girl talk,"

"Girl stuff and girl talk?" Delilah smiles amused by the younger girl.

"Yeah, Fiona's busy and so I try not to bother her with girly talks, besides Fiona is a lot...rougher than you, and you're closer to my age! And you're not a Gallagher, I think it would be good to get an outside opinion," Debbie declares.

Delilah chuckled at the young girl, "Ok where do you want to start?"

Delilah watched as the younger girl made her way over to one of her shelves picked out a CD and swiftly put it into a pink CD player, which Delilah and Lip had gotten her for her birthday, the sound of Madonna's; Like a Virgin coming from it, causing Delilah to smile a little as she had been the one to introduce Debbie to 80s music.

"Hmm, wait here," Debbie swiftly made her way out and into the hall, leaving the older girl alone, Delilah let out a long breath as she waited, pulling a confused face as she heard the sounds of drawers opening and slamming shut.

Before she could call out to Debbie, the redhead strutted back into the room with a small vial and a little bag in her hand.

"Nails and makeup," Debbie said, putting a vial of baby pink nail varnish and Fiona's make-up bag on her bed.

"Debs," Delilah sighed, "This is Fiona's stuff we really shouldn't do this,"

"I'll take it all off before we go to bed! And Fiona will probably assume the nail varnish is yours 'cause you wear this colour all the time," Debbie reasons. Delilah puts her head down, noticing that she was, in fact, wearing the same baby pink nail varnish at that moment.

"Ok, ok, let's start with the nail varnish then," Delilah smilies, picking up the vial and shaking it, before taking Debbie's left hand and starting to paint her nails, the two girls sat in silence for a few moments.

"Do boys ever stop being gross and annoying?" Debbie asks out of nowhere, as Delilah finished off her left hand, painting the pinky finger and taking the other hand.

Delilah laughs and shakes her head, "Nope, never will, but you come to realise that girls are just as annoying as boys just in different ways, so one day, you'll find a boy or girl who's annoying compliments your annoying. Can't do much about the grossness though."

"Ugh, can't boys just be...better?"

"You come to realise as you get older Debbie, not everyone is perfect, you learn to tolerate the bad things, and love the good things, but if the bad things really bother you, then, if that person can't change it, they're not right for you."

"How do you know someone's right? How did you know my brother was the right one for you?"

Delilah thought for a moment holding two different shades of blush towards Debbie's face, deciding the lighter of the two was more her colour, before beginning to apply some and answering the younger girl's question, "When he blocked Karen's number,"

"I never really liked Karen."

"You wouldn't be the only one,"

"Why did that do it?"

"At that point, we had been dating for around three months, and although he had been nothing but amazing, because of his past with Karen and Mandy, I had my doubts, and I'll admit, I was prepared for something to go wrong," Delilah admits. "I remember Mandy breaking up with Lip cause he was still in love with Karen, so throughout the first three months I was just looking for signs he still loved her because I just felt immensely insecure about my place in the relationship-"

"Wait what?! You? Insecure?"

"Oh yeah! I was so insecure, still am sometimes, I thought I was a huge downgrade, I wasn't as exciting as Mandy or Karen in...ways that you don't need to know. And so I thought he would get bored pretty quick and go back to Karen. And then one day while we were hanging out, his phone started ringing and it was Karen, and I was so prepared for him to drop everything and go running to her, I guess that showed on my face because, Lip looked at me, declined the call and deleted her number, nothing else had to be said, he told me everything I needed to know through his actions. It doesn't sound like much but, I know how much he cared for her so, it meant a lot to me, " Delilah retold, smiling thoughtfully.

"I hope my future relationship is like yours and Lips,"

"Thanks, Debs," Delilah smiled, moving on to apply a light shade of red lipstick to Debbies's lips.

"How did you and Lip even meet? I just remember you slowly spending more and more time here and I never really questioned it." Debbie asked, trying not to move her mouth too much.

"To be honest, I don't really know how it happened either, we sat next to each other in English for Sophmore and Junior year, but never spoke unless it was work-related, we only started talking as friends when Mandy and I got close, I'll be honest, we were so different we didn't like each other, but the more time we spent together, the closer friends we became and, I don't know, here we are." Delilah reminisced, brushing Debbies's hair and putting them into two neat plaits, which is how Debbie liked to wear her hair at night.

"What's going to happen when you guys go off to college? You're not going to the same one,"

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we reach it, listen Debs if you have one foot in the future and one in the past, it means you're pissing on today,"

"What?"

"Basically don't worry about what's to come and what's going to happen, live in the moment Debs you'll be happier that way, and right now, what you have to do is get to bed, it's 9:30."

"What no!" Debbie complained.

"Sorry Debs, Fionas orders, now, go take a look in the bathroom mirror, brush your teeth, get the make-up off, and get ready for bed, I'll put away Fiona's stuff," Delilah says, packing away the makeup as Debbie agrees, trudging out of the room, saying a quick thank you on her way out.

"Tell you what," Delilah says, "Next Saturday, you and I head off to the mall together, go to all your favourite shops, and we can play mine and Mandy's favourite game, we pick a clothes store and pick out clothes for the other person without showing them and we have to try them on."

"Really?!"

"Really!"

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" Debbie repeats, hugging the older girl before running back out of the room to get ready for bed.

Delilah chuckled at the younger girl's actions, turning off the CD player, before grabbing all of Fiona's stuff and bringing it into Fiona's room, managing to step on one of Liam's squeaky toys, which she was positive was actually a dog toy, on her way.

As she exited Fiona's room, she was greeted by a very unimpressed, dishevelled-looking Lip, his hair was all over the place, parts of his white tank top were ripped, and he had an already sleeping Liam on his hip, "What happened to you?" Delilah tried not to laugh.

"Turns out Carl's idea of fun is hunting me down with his Nerf gun, and when I asked how I'm supposed to defend myself, the little shit laughed at me - Don't you start!" He accuses her, noticing her face contorting slightly as she attempts to hide her laughter.

"Sorry, just didn't think you'd get the shit beat out of you by a 10-year-old," Delilah teases, taking Liam from Lip, pushing past him and going back into Debbie's room. Lip rolled his eyes rather and went in the opposite direction to his own room to make sure Carl went to bed.

Delilah gently put Liam in his crib, before turning and watching as Debbie tucked herself into bed, "Goodnight Debs," She said, turning the light off as she made her way out of the room.

"Goodnight," She hears in reply as she shuts the door, Lip shuts the door to his room at the same time, walking over to join her.

He was about to open his mouth to say something, but Delilah raise her hand, noticing the bottom of Debbie's door was illuminating a small pool of light.

"Debbie no reading under the covers, you know the rules," She calls out, the light immediately vanishes as Debbie turns her torch off, listening to the older girl. Delilah smiles smugly at Lip, causing him to roll his eyes at her, but he didn't try to hide the smile on his face.

"You're good with them,"

"I know. So tell me," Delilah starts, heading down the nearest staircase to make her way back to the living room, being followed by her boyfriend, "How did you allow yourself to get chased around by a child?"

"Ok I did not 'allow myself' I was taken by surprise, I watch you go after Debs and when I turned back around the little shit was pointing the fucking thing in my face, so I did what most people would do if they had a gun pointed at them, I ran!"

"And what was Liam doing during all this?" Delilah asked as she sat back in her original spot on the sofa, Lip sitting a few moments after her, putting his arm around her.

"Little fucker just sat and laughed the whole time." Lip grumbled, looking back at his girlfriend, whose mouth was twitching slightly, "Don't even,"

"I'm not saying anything!"

"Yeah well, how you feel about that is written all over your face, you're an open book love," Lip states, reaching forwards slightly to grab the remote to the TV, unpausing the show to continue where they left off.

"Am not!"

"Whatever you say, babe, whatever you say,"

Delilah rolled her eyes at her boyfriend before snuggling up to him so that they were both more comfortable. As the night drew on the teenager's eyes slowly drooped as they both fell asleep in each other's arms, which their backs would hate them for tomorrow, as the lumpiness of the sofa would for sure cause them some aches, not that they cared right now though, they were far to content and tired to care about that.

After a relaxing night, even though some lingering worry stayed in the back of her mind, Fiona returned home in the early hours of the next morning to find the house not in complete chaos, but instead, the two teenagers still snuggled up close to one another, the TV now playing some random news channel in the background.

The sight of the two teenagers made the older sister smile, it was rare to see the two of them so relaxed, considering they were often stressed with either work, school or job-wise, chores or general teenage stress. This was the most relaxed she had seen the two of them in a while, which surprised her, as she thought the kids would have made them reconsider all of their life choices by now.

"You did good guys," she whispered, as she slipped one envelope into Lip's favourite hoodie, which was hanging off the side of the couch, and one into Delilah's jacket, which was hanging up on the coat hanger, each one containing $25 for their efforts.

They deserve it.

■━■━■ (fin)

#lip gallagher #lip gallagher imagine #lip gallagher x oc #fiona gallagher #jimmy steve #debbie gallagher #carl gallagher #liam gallagher #fluff

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skyeeuphixia · 1 year

Text

𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷:

hiya, lovelies. My name is skyeeuphixia (pronounced skye-you-fix-ee-uh) and i write shitty oneshots :)

♥ Have fun ♥ ♥ or don't ♥ ♥ just leave if you don't :) ♥

Requests are: Open ♥

𝓷𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷:

♥ masterlist ♥

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skyeeuphixia · 1 year

Text

♥𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽♥

welcome my lovelies to my masterlist, currently, it's very short but there will hopefully be more fandoms/characters in the future.

SHAMELESS:

Lip Gallagher

Gallagher Sister

PEAKY BLINDERS:

Finn Shelby

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skyeeuphixia · 1 year

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♥𝓛𝓲𝓹 𝓖𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓰𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽♥

prompts and oneshots for the one and only Lip Gallagher

Oneshots:

babysitting - in which lip and Delilah give fiona a break and have the kids to themselves or in which Debbie and Delilah get some 'sister' time

fuck you frank - in which frank takes it too far

Series:

sweet ignorance - in which lip could never see himself falling for a girl from the northside

♥ part one

i don't like when you drink - in which lip is given an ultimatum

♥ part one

marauders au- in which lip Gallagher hated eileen potter

♥ part one

♥ part two

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skyeeuphixia · 1 year

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𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 // 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

lip gallagher x northside OC (Daisy) summary: in which lip could never see himself falling for a girl from the northside

part one of ?

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warnings: swearing, smoking word count: 3098

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Lip had no idea why a girl from the northside attended a shitty public school in the southside. And quite frankly, he couldn't care less. He had enough shit going on in his life, he didn't need to add thinking about some entitled priss onto that list. She smiled constantly, and never seemed to get upset or let the intimidating southside area scare her. She was a privileged girl, anyone would assume so, and for that reason, Lip decided that he didn't like her.

After all, "All northsiders are the same"

Lip had gone freshman and sophomore year without interacting with the girl once and so far, in junior year, he had maintained it. It wasn't like he was actively trying to ignore her. But he wasn't exactly displeased their paths had never met. All he knew of the girl was that she was from the northside and her name. Daisy.

And he planned to keep it that way. Lip didn't care for people, his friends at school consisted of his brother Ian and Mandy Milkovich. He was too good for all the other incompetent assholes in their school, so not knowing the northside priss didn't drastically affect him and his day.

That was until his plan got screwed over.

⋆ ★

It wasn't a secret that Ian and Lip shared everything with each other, but there was one thing Ian didn't feel the need to mention. He and Daisy were friends. They don't know how it happened, but they were both late to their respective classes and had, quite literally, bumped into each other in the hall, which somehow resulted in a friendship.

However, although they had been friends for quite some time now, Ian didn't actually know that much about her, she was quite a private person.

Ian, Mandy and Lip were doing what they usually did at lunch, smoking in the boy's bathroom, laughing and spending the 30 minutes of learning free time they get together by chatting and not taking life seriously.

"Hey Lip, do you think you could do me a favour?" Ian asks, after the laughter that occurred after a joke that Lip had cracked died down.

"Depends what it is," The older boy replies, taking a long drag from his joint.

"I have this friend in your year, she needs help with chemistry,"

"What does she need?"

"An A, she's got a C at the moment."

"Who is it?"

"Daisy Bennett," Ian replied almost hesitantly, he wasn't ignorant to the rumours and opinions people held of his friend, and he didn't know Mandy's or Lip's view on the girl, all he had heard was Mandy mention she liked the girl's pristine black combat boots, Mandy's being a size too small and covered in scuffs and mud.

"Wait, Little Miss Priss? Why would you be friends with her?"

"Did she bribe you with her daddy's money?" Mandy piped in, smirking at the younger boy.

"No," Ian snapped back at them, "We just bumped into each other once and, I don't know we clicked, listen she's a nice girl and she needs some help with something, if you don't do it for her do it for me,"

Lip looked at his younger brother for a few moments, Ian never had that many friends, he got on with people, but he wouldn't call anyone, other than Lip and Mandy, his friends, so who knew what was so special about this girl. He was protective of his brother, and part of him just wanted to meet her so that he could make sure she wasn't going to hurt him.

"Fine whatever, tell her to be at ours at 6, also whatever I normally charge, she pays double,"

"What why?"

"She's from the northside Ian! I'm sure she could spare a few bucks to give to some southside lowlifes!"

Once Lip finishes speaking, the dull sound of the bell goes off, evident in its sound that it hasn't been fixed in years. The trio are quick to dispose of the evidence of them smoking before gathering their stuff and making their way out the bathroom, Ian helping Mandy down from the window still she was sitting on. Lip looked towards his brother one last time as he and Mandy walked away from the bathroom towards their respective classrooms, one thought on his mind.

What the hell am I getting myself into?

⋆ ★

After a long and gruelling day, where the same old boring teachers, taught the same boring shit for yet another year, it was nearly time for Daisy to be at the Gallaghers. One thing that Daisy's dad was keen to get into her at a young age was being punctual, she regularly arrived early for things, and was never more than 3 minutes late. So here she was, walking up the steps to the Gallagher steps at 5:59.

Daisy was nervous about this study session, not just because she would be tutored by someone she had never met before, she had seen Lip around, but never actually spoken to him, she was also nervous because she had been told stories by Ian about his family and how crazy they can be. She both knew exactly and had no idea what to expect.

She hesitated a moment before knocking on the door, rocking back and forth on her heels slightly, holding her laptop, textbook and notebook close to her chest.

A few moments later, the door swings open, revealing a young, redheaded girl, who looked up at the older girl curiously.

This must be Debbie

"Who are you?" She asked, looking at the girl almost matching the older girl's stance.

"Uh hey, I'm Daisy," Daisy replies, smiling at the shorter girl, "Is Lip in?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, he's helping me study,"

"Debbie who's at the door?" An older voice asks, coming up and standing behind the young Gallagher, this woman was a lot taller than her younger sister, she had on a grey striped top and had long brown hair that looked somewhere between half brushed and neatly put together.

Fiona

"Who are you?" Fiona asked, her tone changing slightly, looking Daisy up and down taking in her appearance. Daisy clearly stuck out like a sore thumb in this neighbourhood, her clothes were neat and put together, with a preppy, private school uniform feel around them. Daisy could tell that Fiona was judging her, she really wanted to be wanted by the Gallaghers, especially the matriarch Fiona, because without her approval, she'd never be allowed near her friend Ian again.

"Hey, I'm Daisy, Lip's helping me with Chemistry."

"You're Ian's friend right?" Fiona said suspiciously, having heard the name Daisy thrown around by Ian occasionally, not remember much from what she heard, only that she was from the northside, but Fiona could guess that already.

"Yeah, I am, is he in?" Daisy answered, watching as Fiona gently pushed Debbie back into the house.

"No, he's at ROTC, so you're close huh?"

"Well- I guess, we don't have any classes together and he spends a lot of time with Lip and, oh what's her name," Dasiy takes a few seconds to think, "ah! Mandy Milkovich, but we do homework together in the library after school sometimes."

"Too good for Lip and Mandy then?" Fiona accused, she wasn't intentionally trying to make the girl uncomfortable, but she, like most Southsiders, didn't take kindly to northsiders showing up around their area, to anyone else, a northsider befriending a Southsider might be considered 'Charity work', and if this preppy priss thought that Ian was going to be charity work, she had another thing coming.

"Oh no, not at all, they actually seem pretty cool, I just assume I won't be welcome, people at school tend to not want me around," Daisy answered honestly, not even letting her smile falter.

At that moment, Fiona felt bad for the girl in front of her, in their short interaction, she seemed nice enough, Fiona had nothing to judge her for other than she was from the northside, and that wasn't a lot to go off of. But clearly, the others at school believed that was reason enough to completely isolate the girl.

"Ok, ok," Fiona muttered, turning her body so she was facing the inside of the house, "Lip! Your friend's here to study!" She yelled into the house, surely making everyone in the house jump.

After a few moments pass, the two girls hear the sound of heavy footsteps trudging down the stairs and towards them. Lip rounded the corner towards them, not looking particularly impressed, muttering something along the lines of 'she's not my friend' to Fiona.

He inhaled slightly before acknowledging Daisy, "Hey, come on in." He sighs, not even giving her a moment to reply before making his way into the house ahead of her as if he was trying to get away from her and get her off his tail as quickly as possible.

Fiona stepped aside, allowing Daisy to step out from the cold Chicago air to the slightly less cold Gallagher house, clearly, the heating was either broken or they had it down really low because of the bills.

Daisy quickly followed after Lip, who was already halfway up the stairs, not having time to acknowledge the others who were sitting on the living room couch. Daisy just managed to slip into the boy's bedroom after Lip, which was lucky on her part, because if she hadn't caught up as quickly as she did, Lip probably would have slammed the door in her face.

Lip knocked a few stuff off his desk, making room for the two of them as Daisy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, still hugging her stuff close to her body, as she took in her surrounding. Their room wasn't small by any means, if one kid was living in it, then this room would actually be quite big, the thing is by the number of beds, there were clearly three people living in this room, who Daisy assumed was Lip, Ian and their little brother Carl, giving off the illusion that the room was much smaller than it actually was.

The room was messy as well, all the blankets were randomly bunched up on the beds, clothes were on the floor, and random papers were all over the desk under the cabin bed (which Dasiy assumed must be Lips due to the assortment of space posters and the generally 'smart kid' vibe said corner of the room gave off) but Lip was just carelessly shoving them into the already full drawer at the side of the desk.

There was another thing that Daisy's dad had drilled into her at a young age, neatness, especially if there was a guest, even if the guest wasn't even going to see her room! It still had to be spotless with not even a hair band on the floor. She had also been told how to be a polite guest and a polite host, but all it had really taught her was she was supposed to respect others as a given, whereas any respect for her had to be earned.

"Yo, just gonna stand there forever or do you actually wanna get shit done?" Lip asks, breaking Daisy's train of thought, making her realize that he was now sitting down at a 'clean' desk, staring at her expectantly.

"Yeah, sorry," she apologised, taking a seat next to him and putting her stuff down in a neat pile on the desk.

Lip grabs her notebook and starts flicking through it, Daisy honestly couldn't tell if he was even paying attention to anything in there, "So what's the quiz on?"

"Uh Section C of the textbook,"

"When's the quiz?"

"Two days"

"What don't you get?" Lip asks boredly, now flicking through her textbook to section C, seeing what he considered pretty easy content.

"Um, any of it?" Daisy says hesitantly, scratching the back of her neck slightly, dropping her gaze to the textbook when she notices the unimpressed look on Lip's face.

"Seriously? This shit is so simple!" Lip almost laughed.

"Yeah well not all subjects come naturally, I'm sure I can get there if maybe it was explained a different way, but Mr Gilbert refuses to explain it any other way because 'if you can't do it my way, maybe you're just destined to fail'," Daisy defends. She wasn't a dumb student at all, she excelled in subjects like English Literature and History. But there were some subjects like maths and science that she just couldn't do naturally and needed extra help with, luckily her maths teacher offered that, Mr Gilbert, however, did not.

"Whatever let's just go from the beginning and work our way through." Lip sighs, picking up two pens, handing one to her, before reading out the first paragraph of the textbook.

⋆ ★

The two sixteen-year-olds had been studying for about an hour, Lip giving Daisy a few practice questions and using the time to get his old, tattered maths textbook out to do some work himself. Turns out, doing work with someone else in the room, who was also focused was actually a good study method.

"So," Lip said, deciding to spark a conversation with the other, his curiosity getting the better of him, "Daddy couldn't hire you your own private chemistry teacher?"

Daisy huffed in slight amusement, tapping her pen against her notebook as she tried to both focus on a conversation and figure out a particularly hard question that Lip had written, "Nope, he doesn't even know I'm failing,"

"Last time I check a C wasn't a fail, for someone who isn't good at chemistry naturally, it's decent"

"Not good enough for him," Daisy sighed, "Anything below an A is a failure in his eyes,"

"Shitty dad huh?" Lip asks, finally looking over at her.

"I guess yeah, he just wants me to do well" She replied shortly not giving Lip much more to go off of. Lip was normally good at reading people, but Daisy was difficult. He could now tell that her politeness was genuine, which surprised him, and also that she wasn't just using this study session as a way to sleep with him. This also surprised him, because he had had offers from other girls to study who would happen to have 'left their wallet at home' but repay him with a hummer. Daisy wanted to study, despite clearly not enjoying the subject.

"How come you go to a shitty southside school then?" Lip asks after a few moments.

"Well my dad wanted me to go to some private school somewhere, didn't matter where he just wanted me to get the highest quality education, my grandma didn't want me too far away though, so she wanted me to go to a school in walking distance to her house, our school was the only one that was a 10-minute walk," Daisy answered.

"Your grandma lives in the southside?"

"For someone who doesn't like northside people, you seem to ask a lot of questions," Daisy says, looking up and smiling, finding herself looking right into his eyes. They were very pretty, she couldn't deny that. She wouldn't deny that "It's getting late, I should go." She sighed gathering her stuff.

"Yeah, uhh, tell me how the test goes." Lip says, standing up and walking out of the room with her, unintentionally walking her to the door.

"Oh, so you care how I do?" Daisy teased, smiling at him with a smile that made a strange feeling happen in Lip's chest, one he didn't quite understand.

"I care, that my tutoring works, I could use the ego boost," Lip smirks.

"Ahh of course." Daisy shakes her head, reaching the door with him, "Oh um here!" She says, reaching into the pocket of her jacket, and pulling out a fifty-dollar bill.

"Oh no it's fine," Lip brushes off without even thinking about it, "I only charge thirty anyway, that's way too much"

"I know, Ian told me you'd charge me extra, wasn't expecting you to deny the money though, but I'm serious take it,"

"Listen maybe I'd take the thirty but fifty is too much."

Daisy rolled her eyes, and forced the note into his hand, "Thirty for the help, and twenty for a new maths textbook, yours looks like it will fall apart any moment," Daisy smiles, before rushing out of the house. Leaving Lip no room to argue.

⋆ ★

Lip didn't know when in the day Daisy's test was, but it was now lunch and he was yet to see her, not that he wanted to. He just wanted to know if he wasted an hour of his evening for nothing or not.

He, Ian and Mandy were walking to their last classes of the day, all of their classes being in the same general direction, when Daisy appears from nowhere, tackling Lip into a giant bear hug, winding him for a split second. Ian and Mandy look at the pair wide-eyed, the girl's strange act also getting the attention of a few passing students.

In complete shock, Lip didn't have the time to process what she was doing before she spoke, "You are amazing!" She celebrates, pulling away from and smiling brightly at Lip as he desperately tries to ignore the pounding in his chest.

"I'm assuming this means you got a good score?" Lip asks, the trace of a smile on his face, trying not to give the wrong impression to Mandy and Ian, who were watching the interaction almost eagerly.

"I got a 91/100! Just scraped it! Honestly, Lip thank you so much!" Daisy said breathlessly, her bright smile refusing to leave her face.

"Yeah uh, no problem," Lip chuckled slightly, the dull tone of the bell going off, indicating that class was about to start, "Um, I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, definitely," Daisy blushes, offering Lip one last thank you before turning away and walking towards her class, a slight bounce in her step.

Lip was so in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice he was watching fondly after her, thinking about the strange girl that, he had to admit, piqued his interest.

"She's not too bad huh?" Ian smirked at his brother, breaking the older boy from his thoughts.

"Shut up," Lip scoffed, punching his brother as the trio started to walk to their classes again, not answering Ian out loud, but he couldn't even deny his own thoughts anymore;

Not bad at all Ian, she really is something... something good

⋆ ★ (fin)

#shameless #lip gallagher #ian gallagher #fiona gallagher #debbie gallagher #carl gallagher #southside #lip gallagher x OC #lip gallagher imagine

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