Four hours later, Lily returned home. She kicked off her shoes next to the endearingly hideous troll leg umbrella stand and cast a Sonorous Charm. "Mum, where are you?"

"In the kitchen."

Lily went down to the basement. Before her oldest brother, James, was born, before Kreacher came back from Hogwarts to help her parents transform the grim old place, the kitchen had resembled a torch lit cave. Now, an enchanted skylight, along with creamy paint and pine floorboards brightened the room. Mum and Kreacher sat at the far end of the long table, trimming asparagus and then cutting them in half. Between them was a pile of mushrooms and a roasting tin. Lily peered into the tin. "Potatoes with herbs and shallots. Yummy."

"We thought we'd have beef fillets and oven roasted vegetables for dinner," Mum said.

Lily was all for sharing her news after one of Dad's favourite meals. "What can I do to help?" She glanced at the Victorian-era cooker. "Have you made Hollandaise sauce yet?"

A twinkle gleamed in Kreacher's watery blue eyes. "Setting the table is helping." He waved his hand and a porcelain centrepiece bowl large enough to double as a soup tureen appeared. "Arranging flowers is helping."

Mum said, "You do it so well."

Lily conjured orange roses, hot pink carnations, and salmon coloured Asiatic lilies. "You're both afraid I'll turn the sauce into scrambled eggs." She couldn't blame them. She never whisked properly and let the eggs overheat. Lily picked up a rose and sighed. "It's tragic, my lack of talent for cooking." She pretended not to hear Mum murmur, "Lack of interest," and said, "When I move out I'll have live on takeaway or hire a personal chef." She asked Kreacher, "Ever considered a job change?"

"Funny," Mum said.

"Who's joking? I love him more than anyone else, and I wouldn't ask him to do any cleaning." Lily winked at Kreacher. "Except maybe after a wild party."

He gave a raspy chuckle.

Lily grinned. "Or you could just supervise."

"That's enough." Mum's tone was amused, but firm.

Lily arranged flowers and waited until her mum carried the roasting tin over to the cooker to whisper to Kreacher, "How about part-time? Next summer. Think about it."

"You is joking again?" he whispered back.

"I'm serious." Mum had shut the oven door and started to turn toward them. Lily added a few more roses to the centrepiece.

"Sweetheart, your face is flushed. Do I need to adjust the cooling charms?" Mum asked.

My secret's burning to get out. Lily gathered up Chrysanthemums. "I'm all right." A cool draft ruffled her hair. She glanced at Kreacher and smiled her thanks.

Kreacher ended up making the Hollandaise sauce while Mum fried the beef fillets in a griddle pan. Lily was setting the table when her dad walked in. He'd changed out of Auror robes and wore a faded grey World's Greatest Dad t-shirt with jeans. She tried to imagine Blaise Zabini in a similar outfit and couldn't. Blaise wasn't fatherly.

Dad looked from Lily to centrepiece on the table. "Did I forget a birthday or anniversary?"

"We're celebrating something," Lily said.

"It must be good. Dinner smells amazing. I'm starved. Are we ready to eat?"

Mum transferred beef fillets onto a serving platter. "Did you skip lunch again?"

"I had a sandwich."

"A few bites during a meeting, I suppose. You're the Head of the Auror department. You deserve to eat a proper meal."

"I'd rather leave work on time and spend the evening with my wife."

Mum and Dad exchanged the kind of look that used to make Lily and her brothers mime gagging when they were younger. Lily didn't think her parents' love for each other was gross anymore, but after a few seconds she was ready for them to turn their attention somewhere else. She cleared her throat.

"And family," Dad said. "Which reminds me—" He pulled a note out of his pocket. "Albus owled that he has a date and won't be home for dinner."

"That's every night this week." Mum asked Lily, "Are he and Merry serious?"

Lily picked up the plate and cutlery she'd set for Albus. "They're not going to run off like Rose and Scorpius, if that's what you mean."

Mum seemed relieved to hear it. She dished up the vegetables and Dad carried the platter to the table. Lily sat next to Kreacher. Compliments to the cooks about the food were the only conversation for several minutes. Then her dad finished his meal. The barely audible sound of his fork clinking against china was the same as the clang of a gong to Lily: an alarm signal reverberating in her ear.

"So," Dad said. "What are we celebrating?"

Lily tried to swallow her nervousness along with a bite of asparagus. "My job."

Her dad's wide eyes, along with his round glasses and strong eyebrows, gave him an owlish appearance. Lily hoped he wouldn't say, "Who?" because if he did, she would giggle hysterically.

Mum told Dad, "She wasn't sure she'd get an interview. That's why she didn't discuss it with us."

"I only told Mum on my way out the door," Lily said.

Her dad smiled a little. "I'm surprised, not upset. You've never shown interest in getting a job before. Where will you be working?"

"It's only on holidays. I won't let it interfere with school."

"That's nice to know." When she didn't say anything else, he asked, "Who's your employer?"

Lily burst into giggles.

"She's too nervous to tell you," Mum said, "although I think she should give you more credit. Siren's Secret is a tasteful shop. She won't embarrass the family by selling high-priced knickers."

"Of—of course not," Dad said.

Lily caught the hesitation. "They sell clothing too."

"Some of it can actually be worn in public," Mum said jokingly.

Lily's blush scalded her cheeks. "I was hired to represent Siren's Secret's Hot Pink line."

Dad's brow creased. "What does that mean?"

"She'll wear the clothes when she's assisting customers in the shop," Mum said.

"Is that right?" Dad asked.

She had to tell them the truth. "No. I'm not working in the shop." Lily straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. "I'm modelling."

Silence. Mum and Dad looked like they'd been hit with Stunning Spells.

Lily said. "I'd rather be gorgeous in real life, but if the camera likes my bone structure, why not take advantage of it?"

"I'm concerned about people trying to take advantage of you," Dad replied. "Who offered you this job?"

"Blaise Zabini."

Her dad's jaw clenched in a way Lily hadn't seen since she was eight and tattled on James for saying the only way to prove she wasn't a Squib was to jump out of a window and see if she bounced. She said, "Blaise isn't trying to take advantage of me. He's a businessman. This is a business proposition."

"Is it?"

"Harry," Mum said. "We went to school with Blaise Zabini. I'm not keen on Lily being objectified to sell product, but I doubt he has ulterior motives."

"He thought you were pretty," Dad told Mum. "I heard Pansy taunt him about it sixth year."

"My fifth year," Mum said. "I'm sure he's thought hundreds of girls were pretty since then."

Lily said, "He works with models, for Merlin's sake, and Mum and I don't even look alike."

"You have her hair." Dad's gaze stayed on Mum. "And her eyes."

Mum caressed his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "Zabini isn't Snape, love. We weren't even friends."

"I'm still going to have a talk with him."

Lily watched in horror as her dad stood up. "Daddy, no. I'm of age."

"I'm still your father. " He headed for the stairs.

"The office is closed," Lily called after him. "You don't know where he lives—I don't, either," she added hastily.

"I'll find him," Dad said.

The Auror Office probably kept the address of every wizard and witch on file. "Mummy, do something," Lily cried.

"I'll go with him," Mum said. She Apparated.

"Shit. Shit!" Lily glanced sideways. "Excuse my language."

"Kreacher has heard worse."

"Nobody cursed like the Blacks?" She bit her lip the instant after the words left her mouth. Walburga Black had been an evil old hag, but Kreacher had loved her.

He didn't act offended. Kreacher said, "And no one hexed like them."

"I'll bet." Lily sighed. "How am I going to work with Blaise after Mum and Dad interrogate him?"

"Miss Lily will find a way."

Yes, she would. Somehow. "Thanks." She picked up her plate. "I'll do the washing up." The plate vanished from her hand. She snatched up a fork. It disappeared. "Fine. I'll put away the leftovers."

"Miss Lily is most helpful." He patted her hand, a gesture of high affection. He'd been mistreated in the past and didn't like to be touched. Lily had cried when her parents explained why she shouldn't hug Kreacher, and had glared at the soundproof canvas that immured Mrs. Black's portrait ever since.

It didn't take long to tidy the kitchen. Kreacher said, "Good night, Miss Lily," and made his way toward the pantry and the cupboard entrance to his rooms.

"Have you made any new finds lately?" she asked. "I'd love to see them." She didn't want to sit in her room and brood about what her parents were saying to Blaise.

Kreacher opened the pantry door. "Miss Lily is welcome."

She entered and opened the cupboard door that held a water tank and the stairs to Kreacher's rooms. Before the house renovation, the space was so small people called it a den. Afterward, he had rooms to store the collection of odds and ends he'd amassed over the years. James hadn't gone down to what he called the "junk caves" since they were young, and neither had Albus, but Lily never stopped visiting the rooms filled with Kreacher's treasures. Everything had a story.

The main room—originally meant to be a lounge—was ringed with piled boxes and storage trunks. In the centre area, two child-sized chairs and a low table clustered together. Next to the table was a tall clay jar with a curious rope design. Lily examined what looked like writing. "Is this Greek? I wonder what it says."

"Pandora."

"Like the box?"

"Never a box. Pithos. Elf made for elf wine."

"But used to hold the evils of the world?"

Kreacher sat in a chair. "Wizard foolishness passed to Muggles."

Lily looked into the Pithos. "So all that's left—"

"—is hope."

Something sparkled gold at the bottom. Her breath caught. It was only a story, wasn't it? Make-believe. She tried to convince herself, but the longer she gazed into the Pithos, the brighter the sparkles gleamed.

Lily reached into the jar.

 

~*~

A/N: I went and changed the first author note. Apparently, this was meant to be a three-part story. :D Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I hope the expanded story is a happy surprise.