Waiting

Waiting

Lexy Malfoy was a very impatient child. All who knew her were aware of this. She would fidget in her seat, twirl her hair, and bite her tiny fingernails if you ever made her wait for something.

Only three years old and still very small, Lexy had big brown eyes and curly blonde hair that was most often worn in pigtails tied up with ribbons. Her nose was upturned and her mouth was pretty and pink with a little dent in her upper lip. Her daddy always told her she was as cute as a button, but she was still too young to realize what that meant. After all, she had never thought the buttons on her winter coat were very cute.

Her mommy always said she'd been a wonderful surprise for her and her daddy, but she'd once heard Aunt Ginny say she'd been a surprise for everybody. Even though she was only three, her young mind grasped the danger that seemed to surround the small group of people she considered her family. She'd often heard the adults mentioning a war. People were always coming and going from the house she lived in as if they were in a great rush, including her mommy and daddy, and she was often left in the care of either her Aunt Ginny or Aunt Luna.

Her mommy and daddy had left once more a week ago but had promised her they would be back before Christmas. She always worried about her parents when they left and it gave her a funny feeling in her heart. Her parents had come back every time they'd left, but sometimes she wondered if they always would. It was Christmas Eve and she had taken it upon herself to do something she never did very well.

She was waiting.

Ginny Weasley came down the stairs in 12 Grimmauld Place and saw the littlest Malfoy huddled in a blanket down by the fireplace in the sitting room, not where she'd tucked the child into bed. Taking care not to startle the young girl, she slowly made her way into the room and drew her robe around her as she lowered herself to the floor and took a seat next to the child. A fire was crackling in the fireplace and she took a moment to stare into the flames and wished she had all the answers before turning to her companion.

"Lexy, it's late. What are you doing down here? You should be in bed," Ginny's voice was soft in the silence of the room and was only tinged with concern.

The tiny girl didn't turn her gaze for a moment from the dancing flames behind the grate. "I'm waiting," she replied quietly.

Ginny didn't know what to say to that. They'd had no word from Hermione or Malfoy since they'd left and the whole house was worried. It wasn't time to panic yet, but it was getting close. She wondered why they almost always left their child in her care because she wasn't sure she could handle having to break this little girl's heart.

"What are you waiting for?" her voice nearly cracked when she asked.

Lexy turned her blonde head and stared at her aunt with wide eyes. "For Santa Claus, of course. Who else would I be waiting for on Christmas Eve?"

Ginny felt a smile creep across her face in partial relief. "Oh, and why are you waiting for him? He won't come if you're still awake."

The little girl's pretty pink mouth turned down in a frown. "But Mommy said so. She said he came down the chimney on Christmas Eve and left presents under the tree. I know because I asked," her voice was indignant on her mother's behalf.

The redhead felt a chuckle bubble up in her throat. It was really very funny how much Lexy was like both her parents, especially her mother. She could just see Lexy in about eight years toting around her own copy of Hogwarts, A History and bossing people around.

"That still doesn't explain why you're awake and down here and not tucked up in your bed," Ginny clarified, trying to make her tone strict and failing miserably at the look on the little girl's face.

"I have to change something," Lexy stated vaguely as she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly.

Ginny was confused and her face displayed her perplexity as she looked back at the fire. "What do you have to change?"

The tiny child looked up at her aunt, her eyes bright and earnest as if she'd figured out the way to fix all her problems. "I have to tell Santa Claus not to bring me anything. I don't want any presents this year for Christmas."

The youngest Weasley looked at the girl like she'd grown another head. "No presents?" she asked dazedly.

Lexy shook her head. "Nope, I just want my mommy and daddy to be here when I wake up in the morning."

Ginny felt her heart drop to her feet. How could she possibly explain to a three-year-old that it wasn't in anybody's control to bring her parents back for Christmas?

Deciding she couldn't say anything more, either to crush her hopes or give them more strength, Ginny stood from her spot before the fire and extended her hand in the child's direction. "Come on, sweetie, it's already past your bedtime."

Lexy peered longingly into the flames and glanced at the Christmas tree standing in the corner of the room before taking her aunt's hand and being lifted up into her arms. The late hour settled upon the child and her eyes started to droop as she laid her head against Ginny's shoulder.

The redhead carefully picked up the girl's blanket from its resting place on the floor and wrapped it around the drowsy child in her arms. The climb up the stairs was made in silence as she quietly cried for the injustice of this war and it taking this child's parents away from her.

Ginny reached the room that was designated for Lexy and opened the door soundlessly. Doing her best not to wake the dozing girl, she gently placed the little body on the bed and pulled the covers over her up to her chin. The redhead carefully bent down and placed a soft kiss on the child's forehead.

Her whispered words filled the room with echoes as she quietly left out the door after turning on a night-light.

I hope you get your wish, Lexy.

When Lexy woke up the next morning, the house was eerily quiet, especially for a holiday. The little girl paid no mind to it and kicked the covers off as she jumped out of bed. Knowing she wasn't supposed to run down the stairs, she slowly made her way down them until she arrived in the sitting room.

The occupants of the house were gathered in the room and she immediately felt the strained tension in the air. Her Uncle Harry was pacing back and forth in front of the Christmas tree and her Aunt Ginny was quietly crying on the sofa with Uncle Ron gently trying to comfort her. Aunt Luna was passing around teacups and Uncle Remus was staring out of the window into the snowy weather outside.

She knew without being told that something bad had happened.

The room seemed to freeze when she walked in and everybody had trouble looking at her as she took a seat next to her Aunt Ginny on the sofa, her knees coming up to her chest as she scooted back into the cushion.

Her eyes were wide with worry as she looked up at her Uncle Harry. "What is it?"

Harry ran his hand through his hair, setting the already messy strands on end, and really looked at the small child in front of him. She was so young. Kneeling in front of the little girl, he took her tiny hands in his much larger ones.

"Lexy, there was an attack."

Her pink mouth formed a perfect 'o' of surprise. "Attack on what?"

"The raiding party your parents were involved in." Harry took a deep breath and wished he was somewhere else. "Lexy, we don't know for sure yet, but we don't think there were any survi- "

Before he got the last syllable out, the front door opened and closed and a voice called from the foyer.

"Hope we didn't miss the party, Potter."

Lexy knew that voice. It was her daddy!

Completely forgetting what Uncle Harry was trying to tell her, she bounded up from her seat on the sofa and scrambled towards the front of the house. Strong arms caught and lifted her up in a hug, and Lexy buried her face in her daddy's neck inhaling his scent once more. Her mother's contagious laugh sounded beside her and she was passed over to a smaller body to arms just as welcome.

Draco's voice was happy as he turned to his wife. "I think Ladybug missed us, Hermione."

"Seems so," she replied over a tuft of curly blonde hair.

By then, the rest of the house had crammed into the small room to see the return of Lexy's parents for themselves. Greetings and well-wishes of relief passed around the group until Remus voiced the thought everyone else was thinking.

"Where were you two? Everyone else in the raid was killed."

The blond took his daughter from his wife as he explained. "We got out when the raid went south and spent the next five days hiding from Voldemort's search parties. We almost got caught around Kent, but we slipped past them just in time."

Hermione took over the narration. "And after that, we apparated back here." Dropping a kiss on Lexy's upturned nose, a mischievous gleam entered the witch's eyes. "Now, how about those presents under the tree?"

The girl squealed with excitement and she wriggled out of her father's arms before racing towards the sitting room, her parents trailing behind her as they laughed. The child's desperate plea of the night before forgotten in the wake of her happiness, but she didn't need to remember what she was going to ask Santa Claus.

As the rest of the group trickled back into the room and watched Lexy go at her pile of presents, Ginny thanked whoever was responsible for this little Christmas miracle for both of them.

Fin