I have no claim on anything related to Harry Potter. It is, however, too rich a world not to play with sometimes.
Sometimes the most confusing, conflicting parts of Seeing a past life are the simplest differences. I am Lucinda Lovegood, a born and raised member of magical Britain. But I was once an American and today is the fourth of July.
No one else I know is dreaming of fireworks and parades and patriotic marching bands. If anyone else is dreaming of family picnics, of lemonade and watermelon, of swimming at sandy beaches and roasting s'mores over bonfires, then they are doing so simply because it is summer. This date holds no special significance to any of them.
Worst of all, the more I think of flags and speeches and anthems, the less patriotic I feel. That isn't my country or my people anymore. True, the Fourth of July celebrates freedom and victory from all oppressors, but it hinges on independence from Britain.
How can I celebrate without feeling disloyal to my new home? Yet how can I not be happy on a day like this? Americans fought and continue to fight for their home and family and ideals. That countless people fought, sacrificed, died or lived forever changed by the battle for freedom is not something I can forget, let alone scorn. But that war was against the country and people I now claim as mine.
Is this how the colonists felt? How did they handle their families being divided by more than just an ocean? How did they react to the place they called home and the country they considered theirs being at odds?
Late that Evening
I know I've said it before, but it's worth saying again. Luna is the best sister in the world. She noticed something was wrong and asked if I wanted to tell her about it. I hadn't brought it up before because I wasn't sure she would understand. Her gift can have its own problems but she doesn't have another life rattling around her brain. Luna's a good listener, though, and she can be really stubborn when she wants to be.
So I talked to her about my dilemma and she told me that freedom and sacrifice are always worth honoring. Celebrating good things isn't wrong and neither is remembering what was so important to me. So we went to the river to swim and after dinner we convinced father to give us a show of colored sparks and stars (down by the river bend where they wouldn't catch anyone's attention). I may be British now, but today is Independence Day and I can still be happy to be free.