Title: Different
Rating: K
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Lily Luna Potter, Harry Potter
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: D on't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 594
Summary: Lily Luna makes an absolutely horrific discovery.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: History of Magic – Write about any (canon or original) Squib discovering their lack of magic.
All Those Characters Challenge: Character – Lily Luna Potter
The Phobias & Character Competition: Lily Luna Potter & Catalegiaphobia (Fear of being ridiculed)
Twister Challenge: Prompts Used –"Love me for me!", hug, tickle, pink, blue
taming the muse livejournal community – Prompt Used: back alley
Feedback: Yes
Lily Luna Potter knows she's weird. She's not like the rest of her family. All of her family: her dad, mum, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandma, grandpa, and many, many cousins all have something she doesn't.
They can do thing, magical things. Lily hears her dad and mum whispering. They say Albus did accidental magic at two and James was a prodigy at one. Lily never does any kind of magic. She never makes cookies float down to her, she never changes hair colors, and she never makes any weird things happen.
She knows the truth. She knows to the very bones in her body what she is despite her parents not being able to even whisper the truth.
She's a squib. It's a horrible word, but it's Lily's truth.
She's afraid. She's afraid of what her family must think of her. She's afraid they will ridicule her and abandon her, afraid they will think she's no longer worth loving because she's missing something they all share, something they all have in common.
When they sit together for a family dinner, she feels like shouting, "Love me for me!" She doesn't though, imagining the weird looks she'd get from her family and Teddy, if he happens to be at that particular dinner.
She remembers how her dad used to playfully tickle her and how her mum tried to dress her up in pink, despite the fact it clashed with her red hair. She remembers when she had decided her favorite color was blue and whined for her dad to exchange her whole wardrobe, so she'd wear nothing but blue. She remembers the hugs and kisses, how she turned into a back alley on a shopping trip one time, and when her parents finally found her, they squish her between them, peppering her whole face with kisses as they thanked Merlin she was okay.
Lily doesn't want those memories to go away. She doesn't want her parents to look at her in disgust. She doesn't want her brothers to tease her and make her feel like she doesn't belong in the family.
She sits alone in her room, waiting for one her parents to come in and announce they're getting rid of her. She knows Pure-bloods don't keep their children if they turn out to be squibs. Her dad might be a Half-blood, but her mum is a Pure-blood, and she just knows they're going to follow the traditions that her mum knows.
That doesn't happen, though.
Her dad does talk to her, but it's about getting set up in a Muggle school.
"Daddy, what if they don't like me? What if they think I'm a freak?"
"You're not a freak, Lily," her dad says.
"I'm the only one in my family that doesn't have magic. I can't go to Hogwarts like everyone else has or is going to. I'm a freak."
"No," her dad says firmly. "Lily, it's not your fault that you don't have magic. It's something that happens sometimes, but it's never the witch or wizard's fault for it."
"Then why do Pure-bloods get rid of their squib children?"
Her dad kisses her forehead. "Because they don't understand anything about unconditional love."
Lily looks down at her lap.
"Lily, we will get through this. I promise."
Lily hopes her dad is right, but she can't help being worried. She's different from her family and how can they possibly still want her as their daughter and sister when she doesn't have magic? How can she possibly still belong to the Potter family without magic?