#Giftfic - written for Grace (WolfWinks) I hope you like it! [Royalty competition]

#E.14. write about one of Harry's children finding out about his less than pleasant childhood. [Scavenger hunt]

#367. Gentle Snowflakes [If you dare challenge]

words: 2,150

The Beauty of Time

They arrived with a soft plop, and the snow was swirling around them. Lily, a little pale in the face, held on tightly to her father's arm.

"I don't really like that way of travelling, dad," said the thirteen year old girl and looked at her father.

Harry chuckled. "You'll get used to it, it just takes time."

The little red head raised an eyebrow, not really convinced, which caused the black haired man to laugh quietly.

"It's not funny," she said, but upon seeing his face, she started to chuckle, too.

For a moment neither of the two said a word. They silently stared ahead, following the little snow-flakes with their eyes.

After some time, Lily looked at her father once more and gestured slowly towards the snow-covered tombstone in front of them. "So… this is it?"

Harry laid his arm around his daughter's shoulder and waved his wand. One after the other, letters appeared through the thick layer of snow.

"Lily and James Potter," the little witch whispered, her voice almost failing her when she read her grandmother's name. "Beloved friends and parents. You will live in our hearts forever."

Lily felt a tear rolling down her cheek, but her father whispered a soft "come here,", placed one hand on the small of her back and wiped away her tear.

Then they stared in silence again. Apart from hearing some other people whisper in the background and the sounds of footsteps in the fresh snow, everything was quiet. After all a lot of people wanted to visit the graves of their loved one's during Christmas time. Especially in such a beautiful winters night like this one. The streetlights were shining in a warm light and the wind was blowing softly, causing the little snowflakes to dance in the air.

"I barely remember them," her father said after a while. "They were killed when I was about a year old."

Lily leaned closer against him, trying to give him the feeling of having someone close.

"There was a prophecy," Harry continued and held his daughter, now putting both his arms around her. "About a boy, born in July, who would hold the power to defeat Lord Voldemort. It referred to either Neville – Professor Longbottom – or me."

The girl didn't look up. "And he chose you?" She asked, shivering a little, though she couldn't tell whether it was because of the chilly air or the thought of someone trying to kill her father. Probably a little of both.

Harry nodded. "When he attacked, my mother wouldn't let him have me," he said in a very soft and emotional voice. "That night, she sacrificed her life to save mine."

A tear rolled down her cheek and she felt her father hug her tighter. Lily knew it had been the right decision to accompany her father to the graveyard. Her mother and brothers had remained at her Grandma Molly's house, along with her Aunt Hermione, Uncle and cousins. The little witch felt honored that her father would reveal his past to her, so she touched his hand and softly squeezed it, trying to let him know that she really appreciated the honesty.

"From that moment on I lived with my mother's sister Petunia, her husband Vernon and son Dudley."

Lily bit her lip. "Did they really force you to live in a cupboard under the stairs?" she asked, a little concerned about her father's reaction.

But Harry just squeezed her hand in return and smiled a little. "Of course you'd know about that," he chuckled a little before he continued. "But yes, they did. It's – I promised to be honest with you, so…" He took a deep breath. "I haven't really had a pleasant childhood. I had to wear my cousin's clothes, wasn't really fed probably and Dudley usually used me as a punching bag…"

Lily took in a deep breath. She had a certain feeling that despite the cruelty that her father had explained, he had still played it down a little.

"Somehow, I never really cared about that. But the thing that hurt the most was that I was alone," her father continued. "Until I started Hogwarts, that is. I met your Aunt Hermione and your Uncle Ron, and later your mother… And I learned what it was like to be loved."

More tears rolled down Lily's cheeks now and she really wished her grandparent's hadn't been killed.

"My parents weren't the only ones that had been killed during the war," her father continued, and Lily wondered for a short moment whether he had read her mind. "We lost a lot of good people. My godfather, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. To name only a few of them."

"Teddy's parents?" Lily whispered with big eyes.

Harry gave her a kind smile. "Yes. Along with Professors Dumbledore and Snape."

"These are the people Al is named after, right?" she asked softly.

Again, her father nodded. "Severus Snape was a very… special teacher. We had our problems during my school years, but he turned out to be the bravest man I have ever met," he said and Lily felt him brush some snowflakes out of her hair, "Dumbledore on the other hand was more like a grandfather figure for me."

Another moment of silence passed, before Harry waved his hand and conjured a beautiful bouquet of flowers in front of the grave. Snowflakes swirled around it, and despite the sadness of the moment, it looked beautiful. Together, father and daughter enjoyed this little peaceful moment, only surrounded by the softly falling snowflakes.

After some time, Harry spoke again.

"The man, who is calling sometimes and sending occasional birthday and Christmas cards, is my cousin, Dudley Dursley," the black haired wizard continued.

Lily turned away from the snow-covered grave to look at her father with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you talk to him after everything you went through?"

To Harry's own surprise he only shrugged and chuckled softly. "Honestly, I'm not sure. But that's the beauty of time, I guess." At his daughter's confused look he continued, "It's the same with for example Draco and Narcissa."

"Malfoy?" Lily asked confused.

Harry chuckled, "Of course, Malfoy. Do you know other people with that name?"

The little witch frowned. "What does Uncle Draco have to do with all this?"

"Back in the days, we couldn't stand each other," he said with a weird kind of amusement in his voice, "mainly because he was supporting Voldemort and the deatheaters. Causing pain to a lot of people."

Lily shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "But then why – "

"Because people can change. After the battle of Hogwarts, there was peace. And in the years following, people started to regret the mistakes they have made, especially Draco and Narcissa. Of course, their actions will never be forgotten, but I think to ensure peace, forgiveness should be given to all those who honestly ask for it. And Dudley was one of them." Harry finished and again wiped away the tears that had fallen from his daughter's eyes. "Like I said before, the beauty of time."

Suddenly, there was a noise from behind. It sounded like someone had stepped on a dry branch. Her father reacted immediately and he held Lily's face against his chest with one hand. The other hand held his outstretched wand.

"Show yourselves," Lily heard her father say in a rather demanding voice.

"Please don't shoot, Harry!" a rather terrified voice answered. "I'm sorry, we really didn't want to intrude, I swear."

She still couldn't see anything except her father's black winter coat, but she heard him take in a sharp breath. "It's been a long time," he finally said in a surprised, but kind voice and eased his grip on her.

Lily immediately turned around. The terrified voice apparently belonged to the man in front of her. He had watery blue eyes and thick blond hair and the girl assumed he was probably the same age as her father. He had a round face, and his big winter jacked made him look a little… well, round around the stomach.

He had one supporting arm around the waist of an elderly woman. Contrary to the man, she looked unhealthy thin, but both had the same hair, even though her's was streaked with a lot of grey by now.

The woman however, looked at Lily with wide, big blue eyes; a mixture of shock and disbelieve written in them, almost as if she had seen a ghost. The man also looked at her with concern.

"Lily…" the woman whispered and her glance wandered from the little red haired witch to her father and back again.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Lily Luna addressed the strange woman politely. She tried hard not to let her confusion get the better of her. "But, how do you know my name?"

The elderly woman's breath was shallow. She opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out.

Suddenly, Lily felt her father's calming hand on her shoulder.

"It's not her, Petunia," he said softly, "She's my daughter."

Lily looked at her father, eyes wide.

"But… but – "

"Wait. Petunia?" Lily asked surprised and her eyes met emerald green ones. "As in Petunia Dursley?"

The black haired wizard nodded. "The one and only. And this," he confirmed and pointed to the blond man, "is my cousin, Dudley."

A variety of different emotions raging from anger, disgust, indignation, shock, disbelieve, pity to sympathy washed over the little witch. But then she met her father's gaze and remembered his little speech about forgiveness. If he was kind enough to forgive past mistakes, then she could do it, too.

Harry smiled when he watched his daughter extend his hand for Dudley to shake.

"I'm Lily. Lily Potter," she introduced herself and she saw that Dudley nodded his head in understanding.

"Nice to finally meet you," he replied smiling.

When she turned to extend her hand to his father's aunt, she observed that the elderly woman still stared at her like she couldn't believe her eyes. It looked like she was fighting some sort of internal battle, but after a couple of seconds, she slowly reached out and took Lily's little hand in her older one. She carefully brushed her thumb over Lily's hand, and when she looked into her blue eyes, Lily saw tears shimmering in them.

"You look so much like your grandmother, my dear," Petunia said in a voice that was nothing more but a whisper.

Lily smiled at her, but didn't say anything. Instead, she watched as the elderly woman took a couple of steps towards her father, who smiled gently.

"You named your daughter after her," she whispered, and the black haired wizard nodded and looked at his daughter, his love for her visibly shining in his eyes.

Again, there was silence, but surprisingly it wasn't an awkward one. For a short time they were all just standing there in the snow, staring at the grave in front of them.

Then, Petunia slowly knelt down on the snowy ground and pulled a bouquet of red roses out of her bag, which she placed on top of her sister's grave.

"Forgive me." The words were whispered so softly that Lily wasn't even sure they had been spoken. Judging by her father's expression, he had heard his aunt's words, too. She watched as he took a few steps forward and helped her when she struggled to get up again. Her eyes widened in surprise due to the kind gesture, but even more when she heard her nephew's next words.

"I think she already did," the black haired wizard said gently, "At least I have."

Petunia stared at him, unable to move. Then she carefully grabbed his hand with her wrinkly one. "I don't deserve it, Harry," she said and a tear rolled down her cheek.

She started to turn away, but Lily watched her father pulled her back and pulled her back in his arms. "Everyone does, Aunt Petunia," he replied, deadly honest and to Lily's and probably also her father's surprise, Petunia leaned her thin frame against his and cried.

The black haired wizard now fully put his arms around her, and held her close. Once the tears had stopped, Petunia looked from Harry to Lily and back to her nephew.

"After everything we did," she whispered, her voice and body shaking heavily, "after all those years, what is it that caused you to grant me forgiveness, Harry?"

Harry smiled at his aunt and cousin. Then he glanced at his daughter and extended one hand for her to take. Lily took her father's hand, finally understanding what he had been trying to tell her all along.

Lily smiled kindly at Petunia, gentle snowflakes dancing all around them when she answered for her father, "It's the beauty of time."