Contrary to Lily's belief, the Potter-Malfoy household was chaotic. Her mouth nearly dropped at the state that it was in. Of course it was not messy, Merlin forbid, but it was not at all what she was used to. Albus was not the neatest person alive, but he had been transformed after being married to Scorpius for thirteen years. Scorpius was a Malfoy and some habits engrained into his nature would never leave him. One of those being that every object had a place and everybody had to be maintain an orderly appearance.
"What happened here?" Lily asked when her brother met her at the door, pulling her into a hug.
"What are you talking about?" When Albus turned away he went to give David a hug as well who stood behind Lily.
"Uncle Score is anal retentive," a small voice popped up.
"Now, Nikolai..." Lily said, placing a hand on hand on her son's shoulder.
"Leave, Kolya alone." David stepped forward. "He mimics almost everything his mother says," he said to Albus with a roll of his eyes.
"What kind of name is Kolya?" Another boy came forward,
"Lewis." Scorpius appeared, coming up behind his son. "You know your Uncle David is from Bulgaria, it is a diminutive form of Nikolai, very common in countries whose languages have a Slavic origin." Scorpius looked up. The man had aged gracefully, dressed in a charcoal suit with mint green shirt that made his grey eyes stand out. His hair had thinned a bit, but was still bright blond. "Am I correct?"
"Yes, why don't you play with your cousin? We have a bit of time before we catch the train." David looked up at the two men and then nodded before the three urged the two boys to go off. "Where is Mattie?"
"Getting ready and you better refer to her as Matilda now," Albus said. "Teenagers."
"How old is she? 17 now, right?" Lily inquired.
"Yeah." Albus nodded. "Come on, we can have tea while we wait to go to the train station."
The house had photographs all over the wall along with art projects from Matilda and Lewis' younger years. Lewis had been adopted two years after his sister. In fact it was right around the time that Lily found out she was pregnant. David and her had sex without a condom, foolishly thinking that her muggle birth control she had just started taking would be enough.
"You never did tell us why you decided to have Kolya sent to Hogwarts," Albus said as she set down the pot of tea.
Lily shrugged her shoulders as she added sugar to it. She'd been in the UK for about two weeks, making a trip out of it. David came a week ago once he was able to take time off. She'd bounced around from relative's houses, but ended up Al and Score's house last. The pair would stay with them a few days after the kids went back to school. The two were sending off their kids to Hogwarts as well and thought it be nice to carpool and for the Kolya to know someone before he left. Lewis practically worked at the Ministry as well, he spent quite a bit of time there with his two dad's and as a result met many of the kids that would be attending Hogwarts.
"We decided it would be the best environment for him."
"You know how American's can be and I don't agree with their teaching style," Lily explained. "The Salem Witches Institute has roots in traditional magic education, but only witches are allowed to attend. The American Institute of Magic is integrative to the point it is hindering. Kolya's been in a muggle school since he was four, it's time for him to connect with magic."
"Will it be a culture shock?" Scorpius questioned. He always found it so humorous that a British mother and Bulgarian father that now both spoke fluent German raised their child in America with what he assumed was a Russian name.
"He comes here often enough. We thought about sending him to Durmstrang as they have a good language program and he's always been interested, but…" Lily looked into her cup of tea. "He's half Potter and quite frankly he has no idea what that means." She thought about growing up and her father being over protective. All Nikolai knows is that his grandfather and great aunts and uncles were involved in the war. He knows that Grandpa Harry is some sort of war hero, him and Uncle Ron and Aunt Mione were as well. There was so much Lily herself did not learn about the war until later and it was still hard to wrap her mind around. Nikolai had been protected with his anonymity in America for so long. It was time to end that.
"That ended so well for you," Scorpius commented dryly.
Lily was about to open her mouth but she saw her brother's hand move to what she assumed was his husband's knee. "The two of you are so perfect," she muttered, at this David's hand went to her knee as well.
"What's that supposed to mean? Albus and I have raised our children to the best of our abilities," Scorpius said.
"Nothing." Lily bit back another comment and instead took a drink of tea. Matilda was a wonderful girl, well young woman, but Scorpius was fiercely protective of his daughter. The girl was more sheltered than Lily had been, heck probably more sheltered than her mother with her six older brothers. "Perhaps next summer Matilda could come to our house, we keep on inviting people over but no one comes." It was no secret that Lily adored her niece.
Scorpius rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, but Albus was quicker. "That would be fine, but she's not a little girl. Most 17 year olds would rather be with their friends. If Matilda's not working then she'll be probably be on a trip with her friends. Stella and her were talking about France, right?"
"Let's not be hasty, perhaps a trip to Lily and David's would be good," Albus suggested.
"You're going to America? Weren't you the one that said they had a vulgar sense of humor?" Matilda waltzed in wearing a dark blue dress with her prefect badge pinned to it. Lily had heard that Hogwarts had gotten more lax about uniforms, besides she was in Ravenclaw after all. As long as students kept their grades up they could hardly care what else they were up to.
"I believe I said that once, are you about packed?"
"Papa, do you know where my lipstick is?" she questioned with a frown on her face. "The red one in a gold tube?"
"Did you leave it in the bag you took to Grandma Molly's?" he questioned.
"I suppose so…" She walked further into the kitchen and stopped by her aunt and uncle. "It's nice to see you Aunt Lily, Uncle David. Is Kolya here?" She gave them each a side hug in turn.
"With Lewis, your father sent them to play," David informed her.
"To play?" She stood up, her eyebrows raising. "Dad, Papa, they are 11. If the two of them aren't at each other's throats then they are wreaking havoc and we need to be at the train station in an hour." The girl rested her hands on her hips. "I can't be late."
"We know," Albus said. "Find your lipstick and we'll get a handle on your brother."
"I can do that." Scorpius rose from his seat and headed. "Lily, do you want to help Albus with the expansion charm on the car?"
"Of course."
"David, walk with me, I wanted to ask you a question." Scorpius gestured and led the large man out of the room as the siblings left.
The family poured out of the car. Lily felt slightly paranoid, but enough time had passed and the Potter family had feel out of interest finally. Once in a while the newspapers would run something when there wasn't any other noteworthy news. Albus and Scorpius were much more interesting anyway. The pair was seen as turning all the traditions of purebloods on their head. Lily and David were a token couple, a success story that followed a normal path: career, marriage, and then kids.
"James and Bea should be here. Their son is thirteen now," Albus said as he watched the kids. Matilda teetered on a pair of wedges as she tried to maneuver a trunk, she hardly moved forward before a young man with a red and gold prefect's badge affixed to a button up shirt appeared. His hair was messed to perfection and had one of those lopsided smiles. The musical laugh and Matilda's hand placed on his arm was enough to realize that Scorpius and Albus hadn't kept her as sheltered as Lily first imagined.
"Who's that?"
"McLagan's his last name," Scorpius grumbled. "He's so charming, it's disgusting. She's in Ravenclaw, isn't she supposed to be focused on her studies?"
Lily almost had to bite her cheek to hold in laughter. Granted, she didn't have the fashion sense of her niece, but she had been much the same as her. "I think you need to trust your clearly capable young daughter." She then looked to her son, who was struggling to push his cart, tagging behind Lewis who was clear being raised with Astoria Malfoy as his Grandmother was having his side effects. Every bit of him screamed the Slytherin student her head of house so desperately wanted. From his perfect posture to spotless clothes and immaculate hair... She wondered about her son, raised without the stigma of houses. David didn't go to Hogwarts either. None of the witches and wizards Nikolai grew up around—save for the Potter family—went there. He'd heard a few stories from Lily and her family, but that was it.
"She seems like she has a good head on her shoulders," David commented. "Come on." He wrapped an arm around Lily, but she was the one that led them through the brick wall and down to wait on the platform. Instantly she was transported back and she saw many new faces, but some familiar ones as well. "Are you alright?" David whispered.
"Fine." A smile crossed her face as her son came in front of her. "Looks like it's time to leave." Lily crouched down to his level, gripping his shoulders. "Are you scared?"
"A little," he said.
"Oh…" Lily wrapped in her arms, as tight as she could. "We will miss you Kolya, but we're only a letter away and you'll see us at Holidays."
"And you have family here." David crouched down as well.
"Is everyone going to be like Mattie and Lewis?" he whispered.
"No." Lily let out a laugh. "You'll make lots of friends. Hogwarts is going to become a home away from home, I promise you that." She leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead, something she had not done in years.
"Mom…" He groaned and went to wipe it away. "Everyone is watching!"
Lily blinked away tears as her and David rose. "I love you, Kolya," she whispered. "You better head to the train if you want to get a compartment."
"Yeah, I… I'll miss you." He hugged Lily again and then went to David. "They better win, I'll be rooting for you even if I'm stuck over here. Do I have to drink tea?"
"Now, you're just stalling." Lily ruffled his hair. "Go." She wrapped her arms around her husband as she saw him go towards the train with a trunk too large for his small body. David ran a hand through her hair, but didn't say a much.
When the two pulled away, Lily grabbed his hand and looked at him: "Aller Anfang ist schwer," she said.
"What does that mean?" Albus questioned.
"All beginnings are hard," David said. "I think it's fitting."
"The endings aren't much easier," Scorpius said.
"But they are the start of something," Lily retorted, her hand squeezing her husband's tighter. "Let's get something to eat, I haven't been back in London for a while."
David tugged her close, an arm circling her narrow shoulders. "Glad to be home?" he questioned as they began to walk, Scorpius and Albus taking the lead.
"Home?" Lily furrowed her eyebrows. "England hasn't been my home for years." She smiled at him. "You and Nikolai are my home now."
"Then a part of you will leave in England," he teased kissed her cheek.
Lily gave him a smile and then looked at Scorpius and Albus. The pair was discussing something, Scorpius looked annoyed and Albus glared at him. The next thing you knew Scorpius touched his arm and Albus said something that made the two of them laugh. Scorpius and her had each chosen the right path. All was well.