Daisies in the Garden
Summary:
For Ginny, the idea of her youngest child going to Hogwarts was not something she was finding easy to deal with. A small snapshot of family life in the home of the Potter family.
HP/GW & RW/HG.
Oneshot with possible other stories in the same universe!
Disclaimer:
The author of this story, has no connections to JK Rowling. The characters are credited to their creator, J K Rowling, however, the plot is of my own creation. This has been written purely for entertainment purposes, with no money being made from this story. This disclaimer is applicable to this chapter and every subsequent chapter that may possibly appear within this story in the future.
...
It had been almost two years since Ginny had waved Albus off to Hogwarts for the first time. He was now preparing to go back to school for his third year, James for his fifth and Lily for her first.
Ginny had grown used to only having Lily and Harry at home during term time. Although she'd never admit it, she rather enjoyed the smaller piles of washing she had to do and the fact there was considerably less mess around the house to clear up.
One morning in late August as she sat enjoying her breakfast in the early morning sunshine of her tranquil back garden, she found herself quietly contemplating the strange feeling that soon, she would have no children living at home unless it was the holidays. It would just going to be her and Harry. She couldn't remember the last time her and Harry had any real time to themselves - certainly not for an extended period. Part of her looked forward to those evenings when she could curl up on the sofa with her husband, enjoying the peace and quiet of a child free home, but another part of her felt incredibly emotional and upset that soon all three of her children, her babies, would be spending the majority of their year at school.
It was in her silent contemplation that she began to realise how much her children were growing up, how much they had already grown. James and Albus were both on the Quidditch team at school and were doing well. Lily loved muggle school but was even more excited to be going to Hogwarts the following week.
Ginny smiled to herself. Her children were care free and had none of the worries of war that had marked her teenage years. Every now and then it still surprised her to think about the fact she had three wonderful children. She didn't notice the tears that began to well in her eyes, gathering speed as they over spilled and flowed down her cheeks.
It was slowly beginning to dawn on her that she had never really thought this day would come. There were so many times during the war she wondered if she would even get to see Harry again, let alone marry him and have children.
Memories of her own time at Hogwarts began to flicker across her memory, the place where she had experienced so much... some of the worst, but also some of the very best moments of her life.
"Mum?" A voice jolted Ginny from her thoughts.
Ginny turned to see Lily stood beside her looking concerned.
"Are you crying?" Lily looked worried, the half finished daisy chain in her hands forgotten. She wrapped her arms around her Mother's neck, hugging her tightly. "Why are you sad?"
Ginny wiped her eyes before smiling at her daughter. "They're happy tears" she said, not wanting to upset Lily. "I was remembering my time at Hogwarts. And all the lovely memories we have at this house. Do you remember when you took your first steps. It was in this very garden, just over there by the apple tree." She smiled again at her daughter, pulling her down onto her lap.
Lily's worried eyes looked up at Ginny's. Ginny brushed the hair from her daughter's face, kissing her forehead. Lily shook her head sadly. "I don't remember. Was I sweet?"
"Of course. And you still are!" Ginny laughed slightly, pulling Lily towards her and kissing her
forehead again. "You used to love sitting on my lap in the garden when you were small."
"I know. We used to watch the sun rise in the mornings before the boys got up didn't we mum?" Lily smiled, remembering the memory fondly.
Ginny nodded, noticing the daisy chain in her daughter's hands. "What are you making Lils?" she asked, looking at the delicate flowers all strewn together so neatly.
"It's for you. Dad said he can put a charm on it so the daisies won't die. You can hang it up so you don't forget me while I'm at school". She kissed Ginny's cheek and jumped off her lap. "I want to finish it before Rose and Hugo come over. What time are they coming?"
"Just before lunch I think" Ginny smiled, watching her daughter sit happily in the grass. She gathered up her breakfast dishes from the garden table and hurried inside, feeling more tears well in her eyes.
The feeling that she didn't want to let Lily go to Hogwarts seemed to overwhelm all of her thoughts that morning. Preparing the lunch that she had invited Ron and Hermione over to enjoy with their children and her family seemed to be a much harder task that usual. She couldn't stop worrying that Lily was far too young to be going to Hogwarts, it seemed like only yesterday she was uttering her first words.
With what seemed like minutes to Ginny, but had actually been a few hours, she heard chattering voices coming from the fire place.
Harry had already greeted Hermione and Ron when Ginny entered the room. She smiled across at them and heard the words "Quidditch" and "teams" being uttered between the children as they ran excitedly from the room.
Hermione glanced at Ginny, her eyes slightly red. She looked like she may have been crying, but the sunlight hitting Ginny's lightly freckled face made it difficult to be sure. She glanced back at Harry, who was showing none of the usual signs he did after he and Ginny had rowed.
"Hey Gin" Ron greeted, kissing her cheek. No sooner had he done so, he was ushered from the room by Harry, who had wanted to show him the souvenir he had picked up for him from their holiday to Florida. Glancing at Ginny again, Hermione realised Ginny didn't look angry, she looked sad. Hermione's thoughts were broken by a cheerier voice than she had
expected to hear. Maybe she was imaging it and Ginny was just tired.
"Hi Hermione" Ginny smiled as she hugged the woman that had over the years, grown to become not only her sister in law, but her best friend too.
"Did you have a good holiday?"
"Lovely thank-you. Rose and Hugo got on surprisingly well. He was grilling her with his questions about Hogwarts most of the holiday" Hermione whole family, Ginny had observed, were brilliantly tanned.
"How was Florida?"
"Fantastic" Ginny smiled. "We practically had to drag Lily out of the Magic Kingdom at Disney, but it was really good. I think Harry enjoyed the rides as much as the kids! Not that he'd admit to it". She grinned widely, before pausing. "It was very relaxing".
"I'm glad" smiled Hermione as she followed Ginny towards the kitchen. They fell into easy chatter, Hermione enquiring about the rest of the family and anything they had missed while away. The Weasley family was so large now, there was almost always something going on or a gathering of some kind on top of their usual Sunday lunch meet up.
Ginny had prepared lunch for them all, which they enjoyed in the garden, basking in the summer sun. No sooner had they finished when the children began to arrange themselves into the positions for what Hermione guessed was going to be a game of Quidditch. Harry and Ron wondered down the garden too, leaving Hermione and Ginny enjoying a glass of wine. They watched Lily zoom into the air on her father's old Firebolt, positioning herself into the role of chaser.
"I bet she'll make the Quidditch team" Hermione smiled, watching the children laughing happily at the end of the garden.
"Who will?"
"Lily!"
She's already fantastic on that broom" Hermione commented. Ginny glanced up forcing a smile. It faded much quicker than any real smile Hermione had seen on Ginny's face.
"You don't want her to be on the Quidditch team?" Hermione queried.
"She can be on the Quidditch team if she likes" Ginny responded, standing up quickly. She started to gather items from the table to carry inside, leaving a bemused Hermione
staring after her. She gathered some items up and followed Ginny into the house.
"Ginny?"
"Yes?" Ginny slammed the jug onto the table much harder than she had intended. She flicked her wand, the spillage immediately disappearing.
She disappeared into the living room, Hermione following after her. She found Ginny sat on the sofa, her elbows resting on her thighs as her head was buried in her hands. She sat beside her on the sofa and rested a gentle hand on her back.
"Ginny?"
Ginny met her eye for a brief second before her gaze dropped back to her lap. "I..." She faltered, looking worriedly at the door and shaking her head. Hermione picked up her wand and muttered a few silencing charms at the door.
"What's wrong?" Hermione didn't understand why Ginny's mood had darkened so suddenly.
Ginny shook her head. "Nothing. Sorry" she smiled weakly at Hermione. "I didn't mean to Snap". She got up suddenly and went back to the kitchen, picking up a sponge and beginning to scrub a large pan.
"No, not nothing" Hermione stopped Ginny's frantic cleaning of the kitchen and led her to sit down at the table. "Tell me what's wrong" Hermione asked kindly.
Ginny ran her hand through her hair and sighed as she sat down.
Hermione sank down at the table next to Ginny. Ginny swallowed hard, willing the tears welling in her eyes not to fall as she silently scolded herself under her breath; she was never usually this emotional. "She's too young" she whispered, the tears she had wanted to hold back now flowing freely down her cheeks.
"Lily? For Quidditch?" Hermione questioned, feeling slightly confused. "Most first years don't make it on to the team anyway. Harry was an exception to the rule."
Ginny shook her head, adding to Hermione's confusion. "I just…" she hesitated.
"You're going to think this is ridiculous" Ginny warned Hermione.
"Of course I won't" Hermione comforted.
Ginny let out a long sigh. "Part of me doesn't want Lily to go to Hogwarts." The tears were flowing faster now, Ginny wiping them away viciously with the tissue Hermione had placed in her hand.
Hermione's eyes were wide as she took in Ginny's words. "Do you mean you've got a bad feeling about her going?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. That's what's making it worse. It's not because I'm worried something will happen to her. It's just… well she's my baby. Once she's gone, that's it. I know it's selfish and Christmas comes around faster each year but…"
"I understand" Hermione replied, nodding at Ginny. "I've feeling slightly apprehensive myself about the thought of both Rose and Hugo being at Hogwarts. The house just won't be the same."
"And she's going to have to grow up so fast" Ginny added, more tears welling in her eyes.
"She's going to be in a dormitory with girls she's never even met, she's not going to have anyone to help her with her school work, she'll have to get herself up for lessons, everything. I'm not going to see her for almost four months."
Hermione pulled Ginny into a hug, rubbing her back gently.
"Okay" she began "Let's look at this rationally." Ginny nodded, getting up to collect another tissue before sitting back down beside Hermione.
"Yes she will be in a dormitory with girls she doesn't know. But she'll get to know them in no time. And yes she'll have school work, but she'll be fine. And the teachers are there to help if she struggles with her work. Plus, she'll have Rose, Hugo and her two big brothers. Not to mention the rest of her cousins! She'll be fine."
Ginny nodded, smiling slightly.
"I guess you're right" she stammered out, stemming the flow of tears with her tissue. "She just seems so much younger than James or Al did at her age. What if she can't cope? What if she hates it?"
"You can write to her. Everyday if you want to! But she's going to love it Gin. Look at her out on that broom" The women glanced to their children playing outside. "She's going to excel at Hogwarts, in every way. Just like you and Harry did!"
Ginny nodded, blowing her nose. "Gosh Hermione. I'm so selfish. All I've been thinking about is me and how I'm going to feel when really I should be thinking about Lily."
"It's natural for a mother to worry" soothed Hermione. "And I bet you have been thinking of Lily. Has she got all her things ready for Hogwarts?"
Ginny nodded. "I insisted we got everything before we went to Florida. You know how busy Diagon Alley gets at the end of August. I thought it was best we went early so we knew they had everything"
"You see" Hermione exclaimed. "If you were being selfish, there's no way you'd have got all her Hogwarts things ready. You'd have waited till the last minute in the hope things would have sold out"
"I couldn't have done that" Ginny replied, looking shocked at the very idea.
"There you are then" Hermione smiled.
"I guess…well I guess she'll be fine once she's there won't she" Ginny said, looking to Hermione for reassurance as she wiped away the last of her tears.
"Of course she will"
"Thank-you" Ginny smiled, hugging Hermione.
"What for?"
"For being my best friend. For not laughing at me. For making me feel better"
"Anytime" smiled Hermione as she got up to finish tidying the kitchen. With a few flicks of her wand, the kitchen was once again sparkling clean.
The two women wondered outside to join the rest of the family. Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione as she came to stand by him. "Harry was just telling me Lily is taking a cat to Hogwarts. I thought she'd have wanted an Owl like her brothers" Ron said, surprised.
"So did we" Harry commented, walking over to his wife and putting his arm around her waist. "We went looking for an owl didn't we?" He said, turning to Ginny.
She nodded. "You know what Lily's like! As soon as she set eyes on the kittens, she decided an owl wouldn't make such a good pet to take to Hogwarts. She chose a tiny little white kitten with ginger and black splodges. Carries the poor thing round like a baby!" she laughed slightly.
"Not that little crunchy minds. He never stops purring" Harry said. "He sleeps snuggled up on her bed. Nearly sat on him last night. He's tiny!"
"Crunchy?" Ron spluttered.
"Don't ask" laughed Harry, shaking his head… "Something to do with cat biscuits. But it's hers so we let her choose the name"
"I quite like Crunchy myself. Seems fitting. The last cat anyone in this family took to Hogwarts was my lovely Crookshanks. It's nice his name begins with C" Hermione added.
Ron rolled his eyes slightly at Harry from where he stood behind Hermione. Even after he had discovered that his rat was in fact Peter Pettigrew, he never did take a shine to Crookshanks.
"Are we going to meet on the platform like last year?" Ron enquired.
Harry nodded. "Shall we say 10.40am? Gives us enough time to get everything onto the train." Everyone nodded in agreement.
The children finished their game of Quidditch and Lily appeared beside her parents.
"Can I go and get Crunchy to show Rose and Hugo?"
Harry nodded as Lily raced up to the house. Minutes later, Lily emerged back in the garden, with what looked like a small bundle of fluff snuggled into her arms. He was purring loudly, stretching himself out as Hugo tickled his tummy.
"Do you want a cuddle?" Lily asked, offering the small kitten to Rose. She nodded as Lily passed her the tiny kitten. It snuggled into Rose's lap as she stroked his head delicately.
"You'll be able to have lots of cuddles with him in the common room when we get to Hogwarts" Lily beamed, sitting down beside Rose.
"You don't know whether you're going to be a Gryffindor yet!" James exclaimed.
Lily nodded. "Yes I do! I'm going to do what dad told me. I'm going to ask the hat!"
"Ask the hat? The sorting hat?" Hugo questioned.
Lily nodded. "Just tell it which house you want to go in and it will put you there. Right dad?"
Harry nodded, smiling at his daughter. "Worked for me".
"And it's going to work for me as well. You too Hugo. We're all going to be Gryffindors together!"
Hugo smiled. "I hope we are. I don't want to be on my own."
Lily smiled, echoing the words her aunt had said to her mother not an hour earlier. "It's all to be fine Hugo. Hogwarts is the best place ever. Think of the adventures we can have!"
Ginny smiled at her daughter, who was still chattering excitedly to her cousin. Taking her daughter's words as a confirmation that Lily was more than ready to go to Hogwarts, Ginny put her arm around Harry and looked around at those she treasured most dearly in her life. Her eyes met Harry's and she beamed at him, her eyes sparkling. A genuine, happy smile that reached her eyes, as for the first time all summer, a feeling of content ran through her, letting her know that the Potter's were going to be just fine.
It was all going to work out just as deep down; she'd known it always would.
END
Author's note:
I wrote this almost 8 years ago. I love writing Harry Potter fanfiction but haven't really published any of it! I got the urge to publish something again (anyone else ever get that?!) so here it is! I look forward to reading what you think :-)
I'm not sure whether or not this will stay as a one shot, or develop into something more,
possibly a series of one shots within this world? Please review and let me know what you thought, would love to hear your comments.
Thanks for reading
* Thankthatstar *