"Please Mum; I really want to hear a story! Please! I promise I'll go to sleep straight afterwards!" Begged Lily, clinging to my leg.
"Alright, alright, but just one story. Which one would you like to hear?" I asked as Lily squealed happily and dove onto her bed, bouncing up and down in excitement, her red hair messier than usual.
"A romantic one!" She squealed, hugging her stuffed owl tightly. I swear one day poor old Hedwig's head would pop off because Lily hugged her so tightly.
"Okay, okay. Hmm, let's see…." I started as my daughter bounced some more. "Once upon a time there was a little girl who looked a lot like you, and she had six brothers, the youngest of which was going off to Hogwarts that year. She was very disappointed, because she wanted to go to Hogwarts as well, just like her older brothers. As they were about to go through the barrier to get to the train station, a skinny, handsome black haired boy with extremely messy hair and the most amazing green eyes came up to them and asked the mother how to get to Platform 9 ¾. The girl fell in love with him immediately. The next summer she came downstairs one day to find him sitting at their kitchen table, chatting with her youngest brother. Apparently they had become close friends during their year at Hogwarts, but she was very embarrassed and ran out of the room red as a quaffle whenever they were in the same room. That year she went off to Hogwarts as well and got into a horrible mess." I decided to edit out the whole being possessed part, that was not the right bedtime story for a ten year old. "She was in a place where almost no one could find her or get to her, and she was almost dead when the dark haired boy came and saved her, almost dying in the process. She fell even more in love with him then, but he still only saw her as his best mates little sister." Lily looked a bit sad.
"Well that's not very nice. Stupid boy." She glared at the light, which promptly burst into flame. I hastily put it out with my wand before sitting back down.
"I can stop if you want me too." I suggested, and Lily looked appalled.
"No! Don't stop, I must know what happens!"
"Alright, sit back down. So as the years passed, she grew beautiful and a lot more confident, with a temper that no one wanted to face in fear of being hexed. After a while she took a very smart girls advice and relaxed, dated a few other boys, and joined the Quidditch team." Lily interrupted me again.
"But why? I thought she loved the boy!" She gasped, shocked.
"She did. But he didn't notice her, and so she tried to get over him, but didn't succeed. Then in her fifth year, he finally noticed her. She was overjoyed, and they started to date and neither had ever been happier. But the war was still raging around them, and that year the Headmaster died. The boy was very sad about this, and had to break up with the girl so she would be safe."
"WHAT?!?" Screamed Lily, leaping up and knocking the lamp off the nightstand, where it promptly shattered on the floor. "He broke up with her? But she loved him! Didn't she try and fight back?"
"He broke up with her so that she wouldn't be killed because of him. And she knew fighting back would be no use." I said as I repaired the lamp with another wave of my wand. "So the summer ended, and he didn't come back to school. She was heart broken, and wished that he'd come home safe. The war continued to rage around them, and the school changed. If you did something wrong you'd be beaten in detention, and the girl was staging a revolt against the headmaster, and so got detention several times. Then the war ended in one final battle, and the evil one had killed the boy. Yet he wasn't dead, he had fooled the evil one. In the end the good side won, and one of the girls brothers died in the process." I said quietly.
"And then? And then what happened? What happened to them, the girl and the boy?" Asked Lily, her eyes wide, the stuffed owl lying in the corner, forgotten as she clung to the edge of the bed.
"The girl got hired onto a quidditch team and became as famous as the boy was. The boy got married and lived happily ever after." Said a voice behind us, and Harry strolled in, hands in his pockets, his eyes shining as he leaned against the wall.
"WHAT? How could he! The girl loved him and he goes off and gets married! He already broke her heart once, and then he goes back and tramples all over it! That bloody git! Didn't he love her at all?"
"Language!" I scolded. "Of course he loved her! Well, at least I hope he did."
"Yes, he loves her very much." Harry confirmed.
"But-" Lily started.
"Which is exactly why he married her." Harry finished, coming over and kissing my head. "And he still loves her very, very much. As well as his three lovely children, the youngest of which needs to fall asleep now." Harry grinned, picking her up and sticking her under the blankets as she giggled.
"I knew it was you and Mum. I knew it all along." She yawned as I handed her the stuffed owl. "I knew it."
"Goodnight Lily." I said quietly, shutting off the lights as Harry followed me out the door.
"So…you think I'm handsome." Harry said, grinning at me.
"And Lily thinks you're a git. Of course I think so!" I said, rolling my eyes.
"I knew it!"
"Which part? The part that Lily thinks you're a git or the other part?" I said seriously.
"The other part of course." Harry replied, rolling his eyes.
"Good." I smiled.