Written for Ashleigh's Monthly Competitions, October Competition "The Parent's Love"
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The Last Letter
Her father's study was dark and gloomy, which clashed against the usual brightly lit appearance. She sat down on her father's rocking chair, the tears flowing freely from her emerald green eyes, which resembled her father's. Her bright red hair were sticking out from her bonnet and her sleek black dress crumpled as she brought her knees to her chest, resting her head there, desperately wishing to feel her father's warmth in the chair. Her sobs became more audible and breath came out in the form of gasps.
Lily Luna Potter was visibly shaking with sobs in her father's study when Ginny found her. Ginny was a bit scared for her youngest child. Ginny did not remember when the last time Lily had cried. She had always been the tough one and controlled her emotions better than most of the girls Ginny knew.
Lily had never been close to Ginny, she was closer to her father more than she could ever be to Ginny. Ginny went and put an arm round her daughter's shoulders. Lily stopped in a mid-sob and looked up at her mother just to start crying all over again.
"Why mum? Why did he go away? He promised forever and ever!" Lily said childishly.
Tears blurred Ginny's vision as she felt a stab of pain reminding her of the loss of her husband. She understood what Lily was feeling; she had been similar when Arthur had died.
"Shh... darling, you know what Daddy used to quote every time, right?" Ginny said.
Lily looked up at her mother.
"To a well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." Both of them said together.
Lily smiled wryly remembering, her father's adventurous streak. She missed him a lot.
"Here, your dad wanted me to give you this..." She handed her a letter with Lily written on it in her father's handwriting.
She took the letter and ran her fingers across the parchment.
Ginny silently left the room to give her daughter some privacy.
Minutes passed as Lily sat on her father's armchair holding the envelope, treasuring the feel of her father's script. After debating with herself and looking at the envelope for a long time, she decided to open it. With shaking hands she opened the letter.
"Dearest Lily,
My darling daughter,
You must be wondering what this is. You know I never got to know my parents and when I got a letter from my mother which was actually intended to Grandpa Padfoot I was so happy that I could not describe it. So when your mother was pregnant with James, I decided I would write a letter to each of my child, to be revealed to them after I die.
First of all, I am sorry darling I broke the promise of being there always. But know that I will always be watching over you. And if that husband of yours hurts you then I swear there will be some serious haunting."
Lily smiled, remembering the reaction when she had brought back Frank Longbottom II as her boyfriend after the seventh year.
Her father had known Frank since he was a child and was fond of him. But his dating Lily made him bad. Lily was surprised and her mother had assured her, that this was a typical father behaviour, "No boy is worthy for their darling daughter." She had said with an amused smile, "Imagine, my father had claimed, Harry Potter was not good enough, the boy he had taken as a son."
With a reminiscent smile, Lily continued to read.
"I am sure your mother had told you then, that no boy is good enough for my daughter. But Frank may come close. He had to come close if I let him marry you, didn't I? I don't hate him or anything. I just wanted to make sure, he keeps my little princess like a princess, takes care of her when she is ill and makes her happy when she is low."
Lily was again down the lane of memories. Her childhood came back in flashes.
When she was little, she used to fall and scrape her knee. Her father used to kiss it alright, whilst healing it.
She still believed that there was something about her father that made her feel alright.
Her father had made a tradition, that whenever she was sick, he would be by her bed-side. Even if she was in Hogwarts.
And after that, whenever she was ill she needed her father.
She was eighteen, and had recently moved out, when she fell ill. It was 1:30 am, when she knocked on her parent's bedroom. Shivering, she had cried and informed her father she was not well. And just like that, her father had hugged her and made everything better. That night, she had not felt, eighteen but eight.
She looked back at the letter, only one paragraph was left.
"Be happy, darling. Like I previously said, I am still watching over you. I want you to be forever happy, laughing and being just Lily. Don't take the weight of the world on your tiny shoulders, even if you believe you can. And dance along the happy tunes of life.
Love,
Father."
Lily thumbed the "Love" etched on the paper by her father and rubbed off the tears off her cheek. Her father was still watching over her...
"Love you, Daddy." She said with a smile.