FIC: It's More Than History [Lily, Harry - PG-13]
Author: Anonymous
Title: It's More Than History
Characters/Pairings: Lily Potter, Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character death.
Word Count: 840
Prompt: 53. All of Harry's children are named after people who died horrible, violent deaths. James, Albus, and Lily sometimes wonder if their father ever really got over the past. They don't want their dad to end up like miserable old Uncle George, whose kid Fred couldn't take the pressure of living up to his namesake in his father's eyes and committed suicide. (by aloadae)
Notes: Thank you to B for betaing this. Hope everyone has a (good) emotional Christmas.
It started when she was five. She distinctly remembers the moment when she had asked her father why she was named Lily. She had just helped her mother decorate the Christmas tree and overheard her father talk to his friends about possible baby names. Lily had never known until that moment that babies were named after something. As she thought long and hard about it, she also realised that her name probably meant something too. When she was finally alone with her father she asked him the question she wanted to know the answer to, her eyes looking up at him innocently. She thought that maybe it was because she was as pretty as a flower or because that was her mother's favourite flower happened to be the lily. But when she asked him, her father simply smiled as he twisted a few red strands around his finger and kissed her forehead. You were named after your grandmother. A very clever and very beautiful witch. Lily had puffed out her chest in happiness, excited that she had such a name that was so important. That meant that she was clever too. Lily was completely and utterly proud.
Years later, she would realise that she shouldn't have been.
**********
She was fifteen when she began to realise the way her father would sometimes look at her and her brothers. Lily wasn't all that blind, nor was she as ignorant as she would have liked to be. There would always be love in his eyes and a bright smile playing on his lips, but sometimes, when he thought they weren't looking, there would be a sense of sadness about him in the way he studied them. The way he treated them individually was even more ridiculous considering that he treated them so much more differently than anyone else.
He always asked Albus for his thoughts on a subject even though her younger brother was too young and James was known for having a good head on his shoulders. He always encouraged her to pursue Potions even though she had never been even remotely interested in that subject and she preferred Quidditch instead. He always pushed James to try out for the House Quidditch team even though all James wanted to do was try to invent new spells. Every Christmas he gave them gifts that urged them to do what he wanted them to do. Their mother stood up for them time and again, reminding their father that the gifts should be switched. But he never listened. At some point, she gave up trying to convince her own husband too.
When she thought about it, she knew that the way her father treated them was extremely similar to how Uncle George treated Fred. Fred was a sweet boy with a kindly disposition and hardly an inventive bone in his body. That didn't stop his father from pushing him time and again to try to unearth a funny bone that his twin brother once possessed.
Lily used to study the father-son dynamic and felt sorry for them both. It was a sad day when she realised that she and her siblings were in the very same predicament.
**********
She was twenty five when she heard that Aunt Angelina had found Fred hanging in his bathroom with a Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes candy rope around his neck.
For some reason, Lily didn't have to wonder why.
**********
Her father would fight with her sometimes. He never approved of her boyfriends and he never approved of her choices. It became so bad that she even yelled at him for comparing her to his dead mother. A moment of silence passed before he said he wasn't, his eyes wide and horrified.
Lily didn't speak to him for three months after that.
**********
It had been nearly fifty years of her life and the red in her hair hadn't still faded. She would visit her father once a week, and as old as he was, he still smiled the way he used to and spoke to her with the charm she had come to know and enjoy. But as he aged, his memory faded and so did his recollection of her.
"Mum?" he asked hopefully, his eyes bright and unfocused as he reached out to touch her hair just as he had done when she was a child.
He was so earnest in what he wanted that her chest ached. Nodding amidst the tears that clouded her eyes, Lily reached forward to move back the snow white strands of his hair. "Happy Christmas, Harry," she whispered before placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. He closed his eyes as her lips touched him, a blissful smile on his lips.
Moments like this, she tried her best not to cry. He didn't recognise James or Albus, but he would always think that she was the Lily he had lost long time ago. It wasn't the first time he had called her that and Lily knew it wouldn't be the last.
Title: It's More Than History
Characters/Pairings: Lily Potter, Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character death.
Word Count: 840
Prompt: 53. All of Harry's children are named after people who died horrible, violent deaths. James, Albus, and Lily sometimes wonder if their father ever really got over the past. They don't want their dad to end up like miserable old Uncle George, whose kid Fred couldn't take the pressure of living up to his namesake in his father's eyes and committed suicide. (by aloadae)
Notes: Thank you to B for betaing this. Hope everyone has a (good) emotional Christmas.
It started when she was five. She distinctly remembers the moment when she had asked her father why she was named Lily. She had just helped her mother decorate the Christmas tree and overheard her father talk to his friends about possible baby names. Lily had never known until that moment that babies were named after something. As she thought long and hard about it, she also realised that her name probably meant something too. When she was finally alone with her father she asked him the question she wanted to know the answer to, her eyes looking up at him innocently. She thought that maybe it was because she was as pretty as a flower or because that was her mother's favourite flower happened to be the lily. But when she asked him, her father simply smiled as he twisted a few red strands around his finger and kissed her forehead. You were named after your grandmother. A very clever and very beautiful witch. Lily had puffed out her chest in happiness, excited that she had such a name that was so important. That meant that she was clever too. Lily was completely and utterly proud.
Years later, she would realise that she shouldn't have been.
**********
She was fifteen when she began to realise the way her father would sometimes look at her and her brothers. Lily wasn't all that blind, nor was she as ignorant as she would have liked to be. There would always be love in his eyes and a bright smile playing on his lips, but sometimes, when he thought they weren't looking, there would be a sense of sadness about him in the way he studied them. The way he treated them individually was even more ridiculous considering that he treated them so much more differently than anyone else.
He always asked Albus for his thoughts on a subject even though her younger brother was too young and James was known for having a good head on his shoulders. He always encouraged her to pursue Potions even though she had never been even remotely interested in that subject and she preferred Quidditch instead. He always pushed James to try out for the House Quidditch team even though all James wanted to do was try to invent new spells. Every Christmas he gave them gifts that urged them to do what he wanted them to do. Their mother stood up for them time and again, reminding their father that the gifts should be switched. But he never listened. At some point, she gave up trying to convince her own husband too.
When she thought about it, she knew that the way her father treated them was extremely similar to how Uncle George treated Fred. Fred was a sweet boy with a kindly disposition and hardly an inventive bone in his body. That didn't stop his father from pushing him time and again to try to unearth a funny bone that his twin brother once possessed.
Lily used to study the father-son dynamic and felt sorry for them both. It was a sad day when she realised that she and her siblings were in the very same predicament.
**********
She was twenty five when she heard that Aunt Angelina had found Fred hanging in his bathroom with a Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes candy rope around his neck.
For some reason, Lily didn't have to wonder why.
**********
Her father would fight with her sometimes. He never approved of her boyfriends and he never approved of her choices. It became so bad that she even yelled at him for comparing her to his dead mother. A moment of silence passed before he said he wasn't, his eyes wide and horrified.
Lily didn't speak to him for three months after that.
**********
It had been nearly fifty years of her life and the red in her hair hadn't still faded. She would visit her father once a week, and as old as he was, he still smiled the way he used to and spoke to her with the charm she had come to know and enjoy. But as he aged, his memory faded and so did his recollection of her.
"Mum?" he asked hopefully, his eyes bright and unfocused as he reached out to touch her hair just as he had done when she was a child.
He was so earnest in what he wanted that her chest ached. Nodding amidst the tears that clouded her eyes, Lily reached forward to move back the snow white strands of his hair. "Happy Christmas, Harry," she whispered before placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. He closed his eyes as her lips touched him, a blissful smile on his lips.
Moments like this, she tried her best not to cry. He didn't recognise James or Albus, but he would always think that she was the Lily he had lost long time ago. It wasn't the first time he had called her that and Lily knew it wouldn't be the last.