"Why do you hate me?" a small voice asks from the doorway to the kitchen about week later. Lily and I were making dinner for Ginny since she had coaching all day, but Lil had stepped outside to get some basil for the pizza.
"What?" my head whipped around from where I'd been focused on kneading the pizza dough and my eyes found Claire leaning on the door jam, eyebrows all scrunched up.
"You're always mad at me, we never do anything together, and now you're moving to London and I'll have to go back to Hogwarts." She dropped into one of the kitchen chairs despondently.
I processed for a minute. She was so difficult, always snapping and biting back whenever I tried to talk to her. Maybe I mothered her a little too much, but I couldn't just watch her spin out of control. It was just too headache inducing to try and interact with her when she was being so difficult and she wouldn't even listen to what I said, anyway. So I supposed I'd pretty much given up on her the last few months, which was really very sad.
"Claire…" I was at a loss for what to tell her. Somehow, I didn't think you're a brat and I'm sick of your attitude would wipe the heartbroken look off her face, which was my end goal. Although she did need to change, and she was asking…
"You've just been really difficult. And I don't want to get stressed out because you're busy letting your hormones dictate you mood and how you treat people." I could see the steam starting to come out of her ears.
Figuratively.
I think.
"I love you," I added. "But you're out of control. I want my sweet baby sister back, even if she's not so small anymore." I gave the dough a final knead and then began working it out flat.
Claire sat at the table quietly for a minute or two, seemingly deep in thought.
"I'm sorry. I'll try harder. Just don't forget about me, okay?" she finally said, jumping up and theatrically throwing her arms around my middle.
"Woah, trying to roll dough here!" I reminded her. "I could never forget about you," I assured her, "you're too much trouble." I teased. I was still frustrated with her, but I'd deal with that later, by myself. As long as she didn't relapse, it was in the past and if I expected her to move past it I'd have to as well. She huffed against my side, then snatched some grated cheese from the bowl on the counter and wandered towards the den.
Lily somehow managed to time her re-entrance for that exact moment, with all the boys, who'd been playing Quidditch in the meadow. "I figured I'd better call them in or they'd never be clean in time for the food. And I don't want to sit at a table full of stinky boys."
"Men," James reminded her, then smirked at the newly graduated boys. "Or, rather, man."
"Hey!" they all chorused. James grinned, then ran up the back stairs, probably trying to beat the shower rush. The rest of the guys trailed after him, Logan bringing up the rear. He bee lined to the counter and pinched some pepperoni, then turned towards the stairs.
Lily was between him and the steps, and as he walked, I watched a grin inch over his face. "So, Lil, you don't like stinky boys, huh?" he asked causally. She looked up from rinsing the basil and wrinkled her nose. His grin turned evil, and he slung an arm around her shoulder, then another around her front, effectively trapping her.
"Logan, stop," Lily giggled, ineffectively pushing him as he grinned down at her.
Wait. Giggled? Hmmm…
"Hump." He pouted, then let her go and went upstairs. She watched him go, then turned back to the sink, a slight smile playing around the corners of her lips.
She didn't…like him? He wasn't…flirting? Did she? Was he?
Oh boy.
"Thanks girls," Ginny said as she came down the back stairs with wet hair and found Lily, Claire and I finishing a salad, setting the table and stirring brownies, respectively.
"No problem," I assured her as Logan and Ty pounded down the stairs behind her and the others trailed in from the den along with Harry.
"Food?" Al asked hopefully, peering around the kitchen.
"Just about," I answered. Lily walked past him with the salad bowl and pinched a piece of lettuce.
"Here, this should help." She shoved to towards his mouth and he jumped back like it was going to bite him.
"Nuhuh. This," he headed towards me as I poured the brownie batter into a pan, "is the good stuff." And with that he stuck his finger under the cascade of chocolate.
"Albus!" Ginny scolded, as her husband walked over and swiped some batter on two fingers.
"Harry!" I mimicked, and swatted him laughing as he darted away, sucking one finger. I finished scraping the bowl and turned towards the sink just in time to see him pushing his still-chocolate-covered finger towards Ginny. She scowled at him, and he pulled her closed by the waist, wiggling his eyebrows at her. You could see the tension leave her, and she smiled, a little begrudgingly, but she still licked chocolate off his finger, then kissed him.
"Ugh, seriously guys?" James asked, sighing dramatically. I started. It hadn't even occurred to me that it was weird, at least not for the reason-embarrassment-James was complaining. I really had no memory of my parents' happy together, vague, hazy ones from when I was tiny, before Claire was born. Once I got old enough to be able to really form concrete memories, they'd already started fighting, he'd already starting sliding downhill, changing into the person who wasn't my Daddy.
Watching Ginny and Harry over the years, that was what had convinced me that marriage was something that could work long term, was something solid and safe and lasting. Harry and Al had proven to me that men weren't all bad, that they didn't all turn out like my father had; Harry with his wife and kids, Al always standing beside me. I smiled slightly, remembering the walls I'd built up, how I'd sworn in Second Year I never wanted to get married, and snuck a glance over at Albus. Even if we never got together, he and his family had given me the gift of believing again that I could create one of my own.
He was across the room from me, watching his parents too, who were now facing most of the kids, each with an arm around the other's waist, their profile towards both Al and I. As I absent-mindedly set the bowl in the sink and ran water in it, still watching All, he glanced over at me. Busted. I smiled at him quickly and bit my lip as I glanced away, hurriedly shutting off the tap as the bowl begins to overflow.
