Sugar and Soap

As the alarm clock chirped from the bedside table, a thin and freckled arm extended from a pile of comforters, smacking it off the bedside table and across the floor where it rolled to a stop at the base of the window. A small growl filled the room as the offending clock continued to chirp, scooting across the hard wood on its side. Ever so slowly the blankets rose from the bed and onto the floor, a bit of red hair visible from beneath them, and the hands captured it, dragging it beneath the cover and successfully switching it off, and settling at the base of the dresser. Ten minutes later the door opened.



"Lily Luna Potter, wake up. You\'re going to be late," came her mother\'s stern tone, directed toward the bed. "Lily? Lily? Oh Merlin... Harry! I think Lily-" and then her eyes spotted the lump on the floor beneath the comforter. "Nevermind..." she called down the hall. "Lily. Get up, now."



Slowly the lump sat up, the blanket falling off behind her and she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Mum..." she shifted. "I\'m sore," she whined.



"That\'s from the fall you took off that broomstick yesterday," she shook her head. "That\'s what happens. You\'ll live. Promise."



Lily nodded.



"Are your things even packed?" her mother asked, eyeing the room.



Lily nodded again. "Yes, mum. I decided not to take all the posters. Some of them were hard to get down." She frowned. "One even ripped."



"The signed one?" Ginny asked, shifting a bit.



Lily shook her head no. "Thankfully not."



Ginny nodded again. "Go get a shower. Get dressed. I\'ll help you get any more you want down, okay?"



Lily nodded again. "Mum..." she called as Ginny turned to leave.



"Yes, love?" she asked with a sigh.



"What if I end up in another house like Al did? Will Dad and James be mad at me too?" her face looked sad, and she bit her lip, pulling the blankets back around herself.



Ginny sighed. "Your father isn\'t mad, per sae..." she started off, closing the door so Albus wouldn\'t hear. "He\'s just disappointed. He knows Albus will have a hard time in Slytherin."



Lily tilted her head. "But Al\'s quiet anyway, mum. He\'d have a harder time in Gryffindor, judging by what Uncle George\'s told me," she said quickly, rubbing her eyes again.



"Lily, what do you think Al wakes up screaming in the night for?" Ginny asked, putting a hand through her hair. "Everyone knows Slytherins are no good..."



"But Albus is good-"



"Yes, but, well...obviously the rest aren\'t." Ginny sounded stern.



"But Scorpius is good. He gave me his cloak when I was cold. And he\'s nice to Al." She pressed herself up with a wince.



Ginny looked her over in disapproval. "Go get a shower. You\'ll find out soon enough..."



And the door closed as quickly as it had opened.



It wasn\'t long before Lily, Al, and James were at the Platform, joined by their many cousins and family members and it was all so overwhelming. There was a sadness, one she couldn\'t explain, that washed over her as each gave her a hug. Slowly she climbed onto the train, nearly in tears, and James went on his own way with his friends, leaving her with Albus. Not that she minded. Because as James vanished, she felt at ease once more. Something about him made her feel anxious. Like nothing was private. Even in her head.



She followed Albus quietly, only speaking once she grew unsure of whether she was annoying him or not. She normally could tell with anyone else. But not with Al. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" She blinked. "I don\'t mean to be a tag-along...I promise I\'ll be quiet."



Albus looked her over. "That\'s fine. I just..." he assumed she wouldn\'t want to. He assumed she was afraid of turning out to be a Slytherin like him. She should be. After what James did... "Nevermind. Yes, of course you can sit with me, Lily. Why ask?"



She shrugged. "I dunno." She just continued to follow him until he came to an empty compartment and entered, holding the door open for her. She came in as well, rubbing her ribs a moment and bit her lip. "Did you ever fall back to sleep last night?" she asked in a hushed tone.



Albus\' face reddened. He closed his eyes and shook his head no. "You didn\'t tell anyone, did you?" he asked.



"No." It was a quick answer. She slowly settled beside him on the seat. "Why don\'t you tell mum or dad? They think someone from Slytherin is hurting you, not-"



Al put his finger over her lips. "Shush. He knows a lot. And I don\'t want him to know that you know, okay?"



"How does he know so much, anyway?" She shifted, her mouth looking a little disgusted. "He knows things before I even tell anyone. It\'s really really strange."



"If I knew..." Albus shook his head. "Just keep quiet, Lily. James can be scary."



She nodded and curled into him a bit. "You\'re my favorite."



"You\'re just saying that," he grumbled.



"No. Really. You are." She blinked and looked up at him.



"Alright, whatever you say..." he awkwardly placed an arm around her. "Thanks for staying up so late with me. You didn\'t have to. You look exhausted."



Lily smirked. "I did. That\'s what little sisters do. Don\'t thank me." She shook her head and then laid it back down against his chest, eyes fluttering a bit.



Then the compartment door opened quietly. The blond boy from Knockturn Alley slowly slid half his body in and gave a small half grin. "Can I sit with you two?" He looked to Albus, then to Lily.



"Of course," said Al. He rubbed Lily\'s arm a bit. "We\'re friendly."



Lily grinned. "Sometimes."



Scorpius grinned and shut the door behind him. He sat across from them, settling back. "So, how was your summer?" He took off his outer robe, looking them over.



"It was summer," answered Albus, with his closed off expression.



Lily only looked up one more time before her eyelids grew too heavy to reopen. Al kept his arm around her as she slept.



"How was your summer?" he asked, after a moment.



"It was nice, actually. Dad took me to the World Cup. And before that we went to Italy for a week." He grinned. "Actually, I got you something," he dug in his bag. "I don\'t know why, but it made me think of you." He pulled out a large beaker of some sort of sea grass and grinned larger. "It\'s rare in England, but in Italy it just washes up on shore like it\'s nothing." He stood and walked it over to Albus. "I think it\'s because of the sodium in the water there. Anyway," he handed it to him and sat back down.



Albus smiled at the beaker and looked up. "You didn\'t have to...er..." he rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks heating up a bit. "Thanks, Scorpius."



"No big deal. I just fished it off the beach." He rolled his eyes. "You act like I gave you a brick of gold..." he snorted.



"I\'ve never really had a friend give me something before..." he was quiet. "Actually, I\'ve never really had a friend who wasn\'t related to me."



Scorpius shifted, eyes wide. "Really?" He blinked. "I just assumed...because from the time I was young we had play dates we had to make..." he swallowed. "Grandfather used to arrange them."



Albus shook his head. "My dad never let us play with anyone who he second guessed might tell us who he really was..." he hid his emotions well if he felt anything about that at all. "I wasn\'t even allowed to tell Lily. And James, I guess, wasn\'t allowed to tell either of us."



Scorpius looked puzzled. "Why would he hide what he did?" He gave a snort. "That\'s...funny."



Albus shrugged.



It wasn\'t long before they were nearly to Hogsmeade. Scorpius was sitting closer, beside her nearly, when Al woke her up. Slowly she blinked and realized where she was as the train came to a hault in its station. She stood up and shifted from hip to hip, stretching her back with a wince, closing her eyes, and then ran her hand the length of her robes.



A pin popped off and landed on the ground, rolling across the compartment floor and coming to rest near Scorpius\' bag, which he happened to be grabbing for. He picked it up and smirked at the logo. "Harpies fan?"



She nodded as he handed back the pin and began to slowly stick it back through her sweater, hooking it securely.



"My dad owns them," he said, then flushed a bit, like he was embarassed.



"Our mom used to play for them," Lily chirped after a moment, rubbing her eyes.



Scorpius grinned. "I know." He glanced at Albus and blushed farther. "My dad told me she did. And that she\'s crazy."



Lily laughed. "Pretty crazy."



They made their way off the train, and Lily grabbed Albus\' hand. She\'d never expected so many people. Not that she didn\'t think that other people existed besides their large family, but there were literally a thousand children here, most of which were older than her, because of the baby boom following the war. And she saw Hagrid, who visited a lot actually, and then Professor Longbottom up ahead.



"Firs\' Years!" came Hagrid\'s deep boom of a voice.



"Go on, Lil. I\'ll see you up there," Albus looked her over. "Not scared are you?"



She scowled. "Me? Scared? I\'m never scared."



James walked by. "Unless you\'re wearing a clown mask," and his group of friends began to laugh.



Lily glared after him with a huff. "At least I don\'t need a night light!" She yelled.



Al looked at her as James shot her a threatening glance. "Lily..." he warned.



She shrunk back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I\'ll see you at the castle?"



He nodded. "Yea. Be careful, okay?"



She nodded and fixed his tie. "You, too." And then shot off to join Hagrid.



The half giant placed his palm on top of her head. It could have easily closed there, but he was gentle as ever, just as she remembered. "\'Ey! Lily. Finally, the young\'st Potter. I remember bringin\' yer dad to the castle his first time. Yer mum too." He grinned brightly.



She smiled back at him, her colgate smile. It often got her out of trouble really, her grin. So she used it on most adults. Besides her family. Because she\'d worn it out on them already. "Really? Hey, why do we come with you and everyone else goes that way?" she raised her brows and pointed.



"Tha\'s a secret," he smiled at her. "Curious li\'l thing, you are," he remarked and patted her head again.



Once the crowd parted she spotted Hugo and tugged him close, giving a grin. He eyed her.



"You\'re not going to cause trouble, are you, Lil?" he asked. "Because dad told me-"



"Do you always listen to your dad?" she asked, shifting hips, hands on them.



He nodded.



"Then your life must be really boring..." she rolled her eyes.



It wasn\'t long before they loaded into rickety little boats, and then began to magically sail across a large, dark lake. Lily sat at the front of the boat, smirking back a moment, before rocking back and forth. The boat shifted and Hugo squealed a bit. She laughed.



"Not funny! You\'re going to sink us!" he glared.



"Scared of drowning?" she raised a brow in the dark.



"Yes! I\'d like to get sorted before I die, please!" he shouted. "Dad told me to stay away from you, that you were trouble!"



She bit her lip, looking hurt a moment. "Your dad\'s a jerk." Lily settled down, pulling her robes tighter around herself as the apprehensive feeling began to worsen when the little boats grouped closer together.



They filed into The Great Hall and the anxiety rose to a pitch. Slowly she wandered up with everyone else to the front of the room, spotting Albus at the Slytherin table, and then she saw James point at her from Gryffindor. She sunk back a little, adjusting her robes and looking up ahead at a ragged old hat sitting on a stool. She giggled while everyone else was silent. Headmistress McGonagall gave her a pointed look.



"Your names will be called in alphabetical order. Upon hearing your name, you will step up onto the platform, and place The Sorting Hat on your head, and it will place you where you need to be." She looked them over. And then she began to call names.



Slowly the crowd near the front dwindled. She edged farther from Hugo as the people separating them shrunk to two. And then her name was called.



"Lily Potter."



She stepped up after a moment, taking a deep breath, and sat upon the stool, fixing her dress shoes slightly spread on the bottom rung before pulling the hat down.



\'Hmmm...another Potter, eh?\'



\'I wanna be in Slytherin,\' she thought.



\'No, no, no...that\'s all wrong. I see courage, and passion...fiesty little thing you are. While you\'re a charmer-\' he started in.



\'Please?\' she whimpered in her head.



\'Mmm...I\'m sorry, dear. I can\'t. Better be...\' he spoke out loud now, "GRYFFINDOR!"



Lily scowled and took the hat off, and sat it down, walking over to the table, where she was welcomed and cheered, but staring across the room at Albus longingly as the rest were sorted. A Thomas went to Hufflepuff. And Hugo went to Ravenclaw. Even those two houses sounded better than being a Lion right now...