"You don't have to get better," Justin sighed. "Trying to change for someone else is the worst thing you can do. You make yourself sound intolerable, but here we are, right? I haven't thrown you out or...or anything like that. I'm not annoyed, not regretting inviting you here. I know we're drinking, but you can ease off the self-pity a bit. Really, my only complaint is that you look like Malfoy right now." Justin finished off his second glass, poured a third, and tipped more from the bottle into Percy's cup. "I'm rather partial to red hair, you see," he said with a ghost of a smile.
"Life is...a long time, if..." He stared down into his drink. "If we're allowed to live it. You don't have to change to make peace with your family." It was almost ridiculous, this kind of advice coming from him. "Sometimes it just...takes time. I don't know if I'm ready to make peace with mine, but I will be, someday. They're still my family. I still love my mother, even if I hate her right now."