Sugar and Soap

She didn\'t see Mister Malfoy again until the next school year, when they\'d traveled to King\'s Cross Station to take both Albus and James to the platform to catch the Scarlet Steam Engine to Hogwarts. She kept close to her brother as he pushed his cart, carrying his trunk, until someone else caught her eye. There was a man there, wearing a navy jumpsuit, packing the things students brought beneath the train. Everyone was preoccupied, so she didn\'t see the harm in wandering close.



"Whatcha dooooin\'?" she sang out, hands behind her back, rocking forward on the balls of her feet curiously.



"Packing these trunks, I am, Miss." He smiled up at her.



"Why?" she asked, tilting her head.



"Well, how\'s else do you expect they gets in the train, li\'le one?" he gave a small laugh and shook his head. "Bad day it\'d be if these chil\'ren showed up but their bags didn\'!"



She giggled and nodded. "I guess so," she shifted. "Why\'re you wearing blue?"



"Why...because..." he smirked and leaned closer. She could tell he was missing a few teeth, and his face was smudged in blackness from the coal. "Wouldn\' it be a bit ridick-o-luss if I was wearin\'...pink?" he grinned wider.



She laughed and nodded, shaking her head. "Yes, sir. I daresay it would be. I like blue."



He smiled back and touched her arm gently. "Sweet little girl, you is. You go get your Daddy and Mommy now, sweetie. This is dangerous, bein\' so close to these rails."



She smiled and nodded. "Okay. You be careful too, though..." she said, before running off.



Harry was bent low talking to Albus when she came upon them, and Uncle Ron was yelling things at Rose, and Hugo was chasing a toy figuring through the air and there was a lot of chaos. That\'s when James grabbed her close. She looked up at him and smiled as he pulled her into a hug.



"I\'ll see you Christmas, alright, Lil?" he said, his voice choking as it was deepening. "You write me, alright, if it gets too lonely."



She nodded and hugged him back. It was obvious to anyone who would have known what happened behind closed doors that it had become greatly repressed through the years. She frowned up at him after a moment. "Make sure Al\'s okay?" She asked quietly, blinking, her eyes welling at the thought of losing them both at once. "Make sure he doesn\'t fall under the train?"



James snorted and laughed. "What in Merlin\'s name made you think of that?" he asked, shaking his head. But he did know. And he eyed the back of the man\'s uniform with eyes like daggers. If he ever caught wind of anyone touching-talking to her again... his next statement began as a growl as the anger began to fade. "He won\'t fall. I promise." He rubbed her shoulder and then headed off towards their cousin Freddie.



Lily slowly wandered over to Albus as he stood chattering with Rose and bit her lip. After a few moments, Rose headed back toward Aunt Hermione, and Lily wrapped her arms around Albus\' waist, squeezing him close.



He gave a little laugh. "Lily...what\'re you doing?" he asked, running his hand through the back of her hair gently before he felt the wetness through his shirt. "Heyyy...shhhh...don\'t cry," he whispered gently, bottling his own emotions up inside as his own nonstalgia struck. "It\'ll be alright. I\'ll be back before you know it," he cooed, reflecting the serenity of a still water once more as everything was properly hidden.



She sniffled and looked up. "I\'m sorry." No more tears came, though. "I\'ll miss you most of all," she said quietly, frowning gravely with her eyes. "Be careful, Al."



He nodded and rubbed her back again. "I will. I\'ll tell you all about Hogwarts when I come home for Christmas, okay, Lil?" He gave her a half smile.



She nodded and hugged him again before letting him go. It was then that Teddy Lupin exited the train with a giddy grin. "I wish Victoire loved Teddy as much as he loves her..." she frowned, brows furrowing slightly.



"What do you mean by that?" Al asked, looking confused. "How do you know she doesn\'t? Did she tell you?" He fixed his glasses a moment, examining her.



"No. I can just...tell." Lily swallowed. "Go ahead, Mum wants you," she chirped quickly, to change the subject. And Albus rubbed her shoulder before wandering off as well.



Mister Malfoy eyed Lily as she stood against a pillar, pointing his wife\'s gaze in her direction a moment. Lily felt a shadow of worry wash over her as their eyes met her own, and shifted back farther, not meaning to but running into her Uncle George. She gave a little grunt and turned to look up at him, blinking. "I\'m sorry," she said quickly.



"It\'s fine, Lily. You had a seventy five percent chance of it being a relative anyway," he joked with a smile. He ruffled her hair and she giggled. "Why do you look so serious, bug?" he tilted his head. "Lighten up! Your brothers\'ll be back."



She grinned, "I know...I know," and she shifted closer. "I\'ll just miss them is all."



He tilted his head. "Well, if it gets too lonely over there at Grimmauld Place, tell your old man to drop you off at the shop before he goes to work!" He sounded excited. "Always looking for inspiration for new inventions."



She grinned and hopped a bit. "Really? You wouldn\'t mind?" Her eyes were wide and hopeful.

"Not at all! With Aunt Angie at work and Roxy and Freddie at school, I\'m sure I\'ll be lonely too," he answered. "I don\'t understand why your Dad didn\'t let Gran keep you three when you were little anyway. It\'s not good for you kids to be on your own like that. Then again, with him trying to keep you three in the dark-"



"In the dark?" she asked, raising her brows.



"You\'ll find out. Don\'t mention it to him, okay? Or your mum? Please?" he looked a little afraid.



She nodded, detecting his urgency.



"I\'ll even talk to him about dropping you off with me." He shifted and watched her a moment. "Write to Al and James when you miss them, though. I remember I used to get excited when your mum wrote to me when we were apart." He smiled and rubbed her hair again, smoothing it back down.



She nodded. "I\'ll see you soon, Uncle George," she chirped, seeing Teddy motioning her over to him.



He held his hands down to her and lifted her up, faking a groan as he did. She weighed all of fourty five pounds, still. She was short for her age, compact. But it made her a great flyer already. Slowly he gave a good natured giggle and sat her on his shoulders as steam started funneling from the engine.



"Wave, Lil," he said softly, gently.



She waved her hand and watched as the gears slowly started to chug the wheels along the track. Up so high, she could see Al and Rose hanging out of a window. The hand she had around Teddy\'s neck tightened into a fist around his shirt\'s material and she felt her eyes start to well up. When she looked around, Aunt Hermione and a few other parents were crying as well, so she didn\'t feel as embarassed. But when she started to tremble a little, Teddy helped her from his shoulders and tugged her closer to him, sitting against another pillar. He pressed her head into his shoulder. She pulled back, and gave a choking sob, and then noticed he was crying as well. Just as hard, if not harder, he sobbed. He tugged her back in and held her close.



She swallowed and rubbed his back. "It\'s alright, Teddy Bear," she said quietly. "She\'ll be home soon, okay?" She choked a bit and burried her face into his neck. It wasn\'t a moment later she felt a hand on her own neck and looked up to see Mister Malfoy.



"Told you I\'d see you again," he winked.



Teddy looked up protectively. And Lily smiled. "It\'s okay. He helped me. This is Mister Malfoy. He\'s really nice."



And then came Uncle Ronald from behind, in a low growl, "Lily, Teddy, let\'s go."



Teddy stood up and obediently followed the ginger headed man\'s voice. But Lily lingered. She reached out and touched Mister Malfoy\'s hand gently. The woman he\'d spoken to earlier grinned.



"This is my wife. Astoria, this is Lily. Quite a spirited little girl, I hear, from Slughorn at least. Reminds me of her mother. Worst Bat-"



"Boogey Hex ever..." finished Lily with a charming little grin.



"Lily," came Harry\'s voice, his hand clamping her shoulder rather harshly. "Let\'s go. Now. Don\'t pretend you didn\'t hear your uncle."



She shifted a bit under his grasp. "It was nice to see you again. And nice to meet you," she said quickly and quietly, in more of a hiss. "Thanks again..."



And then she was being forced in the direction of all the redheaded family. Dinner at her Grandparents was a normal part of this ritual. She gave a deepening sigh and just did as she was steered to do, one foot in front of the other, mouth curled in a frown. She glanced back a moment to see Mister Malfoy and his wife were still talking, standing there, watching. What about, she wasn\'t sure. But she did feel sure she should be worried. And so she was.



She was punished on the way to The Burrow. She wasn\'t sure what for, exactly, but she\'d also been punished when she got lost and she suspect 

ed it was due to wandering off. So as the adults sat around the table, chattering and eating, she sat on the stair with her meal, sulking. It wasn\'t long before her grandmother had something to say though.



"Don\'t you think you\'re being a little harsh on her, Harry. I know she isn\'t mine, but really, what did she do? Talk to someone who saved her life? If that was a punishable offense, none of us would talk to-" her voice was stern, yet still drenched in the sweetness she\'d ladeled into Lily\'s tea. Her ears perked.



"Shush, Mum." Uncle Ronald shifted in his chair. "You know she doesn\'t know yet. Why would you continue to bring it up?" He pushed back from her seat. "Besides, it was Malfoy."



"I know, but-"



"No," came Harry\'s voice. "I\'m not being too harsh. She could have easily been hurt today, as well. She\'ll sit on the step for another five minutes."



That was when Uncle Charlie pushed back from his seat. "I\'m not going to listen to this bullshit." He glared at Harry. "I don\'t care who you killed, you don\'t scare me." He stood up and came to Lily, who shied away a bit. "C\'mon, Lily, I\'ll take you outside."



She stayed still on the step, looking up.



"Charlie, I said she was to sit on the step," Harry inserted, standing as well.



Charlie turned to look at him. "You can intimidate me when you\'re the size of a Horntail, Potter. Maybe you should be reminded of where you came from..." he stepped a bit closer again to the table, "of the barred window you were pulled out of your Second Year...of the cupboard under the stair case where you used to sleep..."



"Charlie. Harry. That\'s enough," came Bill\'s growl. He set his fork upon his bloody plate, the side of his marred face blood red, the scars white beneath the anger.



Harry glowered around the room. Ginny rubbed his arm, looking concerned. It wasn\'t long before everyone besides Charlie was seated once more. And then Hermione piped in. "Honestly, I actually think it\'s nice that Draco goes out of his way to speak with Lily. Easily he could have ignored those whispers-" her face looked grave, pale. And Lily heard a muffled choke of a sob. "I...I just think you two boys are holding onto a school aged grudge. We fought to remove prejudice, but look at yourselves, at what you\'re doing. You\'re holding the past over someone\'s head."



Charlie peered down at his watch and then scooped Lily up. He smiled at her.



"What\'re you doing?" came Ginny\'s voice.



"Well...it\'s been exactly five minutes. Lily and I are going to go talk about her visiting me this spring, and then fly. She\'s served her punishment." He shrugged. "Any more questions?"



Uncle George laughed and shoved some bread in his mouth to cover as Uncle Charlie carried her outside. She watched Uncle Bill glare Uncle Ron down when he went to speak before the spring door slammed closed behind them.