Disclaimer: Whatever you recognize doesn't belong to me.
Promise of New Life
The road seemed to crawl between the mountains. Even at night, when the streetlights and the stars were the only thing shedding light, it seemed like a sneaky yet safe road away from home and back. Every now and then, a car would make its way down the road and into the valley, or up the mountains, far from the sight of the one house that overlooked those sights.
A young woman followed with her brown, sad eyes every new light that appeared. She sat serenely on the old couch's armrest, letting her tears run freely. Her spirit was crushed.
"Staring at passing cars, my little Angel?"
She quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand and forced out a smile.
"Dad, I graduated from Hogwarts already. I'm hardly little."
"You'll always be my little Angel. Besides, you used to do this a lot when you were little. And when you were a baby..."
"...you used to hold me up so I could stare at passing cars out the window. It was the only way you could get me to stop crying and fall asleep. I know. You've told me a thousand times."
The man let out a chuckle, and sat on the couch at his daughter's feet.
"Have more respect for your old man. I'm not young anymore. I'm beginning to forget things."
"You're not old! How old are you, forty-what? Fifty?"
"That is hardly young."
"Don't be silly, dad. You're never too old to have a happy childhood."
The man, whose childhood had been far from happy, didn't have much of an answer to offer.
She turned her gaze to him. He hadn't been lying - he wasn't an old man, but he certainly wasn't young anymore. She found it hard to think of it that way. She was used to being referred to as Harry Potter's daughter. To her, he would always be her daddy, the one who taught her to fly. The one who had patiently dealt with her when she was a teenager who fought with her mother all the time. The one who always spoiled her and called her his Angel.
She wanted to think he'd stay young forever. He was her dad - he must stay immortal.
"Why don't you give me a hug, Angel?" He said, interrupting her thoughts. "You used to rush to hug me after not seeing me for long. Now you're acting like your brothers."
She slid from the armrest to sit beside her father, and hugged him hard. Her was Head of the Auror Department, which meant long periods away from home. Whenever he came back from those, like he had just then, Lily would run to him and hug him. The boys had to content with society-approved manly hugs. But Lily was particularly keen on showing her love, very much like her namesake.
"I'm sorry, dad," she said after releasing him. "I was just lost in thought."
"Excited about the tryouts?"
"I'm terrified, actually. What if I don't make it?"
"You will make it. All your cousins say you're the best Chaser the Gryffindor Quidditch Team saw this decade."
"Okay, and what if I do? I will have to move out soon, to live closer to our home stadium. They require it. I can't leave home. Not yet."
It was hard to hear the most independent of his children talking like that. Albus and James always depended on each other and their natural sibling rivalry, and even the House rivalry that arose in Hogwarts. Lily had always stood by and for herself. The Quidditch champion, the Head Girl, the one who got countless job offers but declined them for a chance to be a Quidditch player like her mother had been.
"I thought you wanted this even knowing what you were getting into."
"I do. It's just... not now. Not yet. This has always been my home. You taught me to fly in those woods. Mom taught me to read on this living room. Hugo and I would do homework in your home office. Aunt Luna would tell me the most amazing stories of her travels. James pranked me a million times, and Albus defended me from him a million more. So many memories... I just can't start calling a different place home. This is home. I'm not ready to change that."
"You're about to start an amazing period of your life, and this new period needs a new place to go with it. But Angel, as long as I'm alive, my home will be your home."
Those words were enough to make her break into tears again. She found herself crying on his shoulder.
"I'm going to miss this so much," she sobbed.
"I know, and I'll miss you too. But I'm also happy for you. What lies in front of you is so great. I'm very proud of you - a father could ask nothing more from a daughter."
"Thanks, dad."
They let a nice silence take over. Harry couldn't stop thinking about his little Angel and the good times spent. He even remembered the first time he held his baby girl in his arms. She had been staring at him. Not crying, sleeping or moving at all. Just staring.
He and Ginny had been planning to call her Lily Dora, but were having a last minute discussion. At the very first hour of life she already seemed so curious, so eager... Harry had thought that something so full of life couldn't have the name of two deceased war heroes.
"Both James and Albus remind us of the past we left behind. Maybe we need to be reminded of the good things that still remain," was his main argument.
"Harry, we even promised Teddy-"
"He'll understand. Look at her now. Our two boys will grow up to be strong, but our girl - I do hope she has your strength, but there's a part of her that will always be fragile. I don't want her to be too strong a reminder of the dead."
Ginny, who had very much wanted to name her baby girl after Tonks, had been submitted to her daughter's stare. She sighed. Nothing Harry could say would make her change her mind, but her baby's eyes definitely could.
She'd given it a thought. A long one. Harry had vehemently wanted to start his own family. When Ginny remembered the rough childhood he had, it made sense to her that he wanted his own children to raise and to spoil. It was hard not to be indulgent.
"What about Luna?" she'd said finally. "Luna is a dear friend of ours. I want at least one of our kids to know her as Aunt Luna."
Harry looked at his baby. Her eyes had been blue and big, bright and searching, staring at him as if she was trying to process his image. She did remind him of Luna Lovegood.
"Lily Luna it is, then."
Her eyes had turned brown within a year, but they retained that dreamy, inquisitive quality. She had grown to remind Harry of his mother, Ginny, Luna and even Molly, but she was her own person. She was the definite reminder that the bad times were over and that there was a promise of new life.
While she resembled Ginny in personality and looks, she had a more placid and open nature. People who knew Harry's mother said the resemblance was there, and were instantly drawn to her.
Her father didn't know this, but she'd even had the chance of talking to Severus Snape's portrait. She had been named Head Girl, and was waiting alone at the Headmaster's office for the Head Boy and the Headmaster. It was the first time she'd been in the Headmaster's office, so she looked around with her natural desire to know and take everything in.
That's when she'd seen Severus Snape's portrait, and it was hard to stop looking at it. This was the man that, according to her father, had loved her grandmother enough for it to be a key force in defeating Voldemort. She didn't know the full story, but she often wondered.
The portrait was looking at her in return.
"What are you staring at?" He asked, startling her.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I've just heard a lot about you. I'm Lily Luna Potter."
The name Lily surprised him, and so did the surname Potter. Like it had happened with Harry, he was still torn between his love for Lily, and his hatred for Potter.
"It's not hard to imagine why you're here. A troublemaker like all your kin? Let me say I'm not surprised."
"I've just been named Head Girl, sir."
So she was like Lily somehow. This girl looked nothing like his father, and there were hints of Lily's kindness and joy. He didn't know what to say, so he opted for a fact that had amused him when he found out about it.
"You have a brother in Slytherin, don't you? Your father must be distraught."
"What? How dare you. Al is dad's favorite, and James and I don't even care because we love him so much. He's named after you, you know. Albus Severus."
"Really." Lily was unsure whether this was a question or a sarcastic remark.
"Dad says you're the bravest man he ever knew and that your love for my grandma was the one thing Voldemort couldn't fight against."
Snape didn't answer, and looked at the girl with obvious displeasure. She realized she went too far. She didn't regret standing up to him, but her later statements probably unsettled him.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was just curious."
"You Gryffindors always have the need to pry in things that do not concern you."
"But it does concern me. She's my grandmother."
"It doesn't matter now, does it?"
"It does. We all owe you. Never mind. I guess... I guess I just wanted to say thanks."
Harry had been the only other person to ever thank him for his doings. He could now feel a hint of similarity between father and daughter, and for the first time, he could link Harry's true character to his beloved Lily. Dumbledore told him many times that Harry took after her mother's gentle nature, but it was the first time he looked past the hatred and realized it. For the very first time, he understood something beautiful had come out of his sacrifice.
This girl that stared at him so intently seemed to him like a promise of new life.
Lily Luna, oblivious to all this, had never talked to the portrait again though she entered that office countless of times after that. But it was obvious that his initial distrust was over and it now looked at her with eyes that seemed even caring.
Father and daughter now shared a look, both lost in their own thoughts. Harry thinking of how fast his baby girl had grown, and Lily thinking of her father's kindness and brilliance.
"I'm also proud of you. Proud to call you my father."
"Thanks, little Angel."
Lily thought his voice sounded tired. She then realized it was late at night and he likely had a long day.
"You must be so tired, dad! Go to sleep."
"Are you feeling better?"
"Of course. Thanks for staying with me."
"Are you going to do great tomorrow?"
"Sure I will. I am the best Chaser Gryffindor has seen in a decade!"
"That's my girl. Well, my job here is done. If you excuse me," he stood up and kissed her on the forehead, "I must go to sleep. Good night, Lily Luna."
"Good night, daddy."
She watched him walk away, then directed her eyes to the night outside. She was smiling now. The night made her spirit feel free and boundless, now that a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Harry turned around to watch his daughter one last time. Her eyes shone brighter than the stars. She seemed relaxed now, and taken in by the marvelous sight in front of her. Very much like when she was a baby in her father's arms.
Some things would never change, he thought. She would always remain his little Angel.
Notes: I broke into tears at some point writing this, seeing as I don't live with my parents anymore and I miss my dad to death. Because of that, there are some parallelisms between this piece and my ties with him. All from the heart.
Why did I choose Harry and Lily Luna? Because Harry, having the awful childhood he had, struck me as a guy who could be a dedicated dad. I also loved the idea of contrasting Lily against her two brothers. She was his only daughter, the youngest, probably the spoiled baby of the family, and his little Angel. I wanted to write about a loving, caring father-daughter pair.
Also, bonus points for Harry and Snape unknowingly having the same thoughts on Lily Luna? Yes? No? What do you think? Please review this. Thanks.
Special thanks to christywitha CH for agreeing to Beta this piece!
-Karyn.