Name: ClaireBear1982
Team: Ballycastle Bats
Position: Chaser 2
Prompts; 6 (Location) Godric's Hollow. 9 (Emotion) Envy. 10 (Word) Watch.
Muggle!AU. Lily Luna is 16. Remus is 64.
Wing Chun is a Chinese Martial Art. Most these days follow lineage of Grandmaster Ip Man (1893-1972). There are six Wing Chun forms: Sil Lum Tao (Little Idea). Chum Kiu (Bridging the gap). Bui Ji (Thrusting Fingers). Muk Yan Jong (Wooden dummy). Baat Jam Dao (Butterfly swords). Look Dim Boon Grun (Dragon Pole/Six and a half point pole). Out of the six, only three are really taught here the UK, they are: Sil Lum Tao, Chum Kiu, and Muk Yan Jong. Bui Ji can be disastrous and can be fatal if used or practiced incorrectly - especially as that incorporates using the pressure points.
Lily Luna was a very angry young lady. Three years ago, aged thirteen, she had lost her parents in a nasty road traffic accident. Lily suspected that it had not been an accident as the police had said. She knew both her parents worked for the Government, and she wondered if it had been an 'inside job'. If that was the case, then why? Lily knew she'd never know for certain.
The end of the day saw Lily rushing home to the Burrow. Once she had quickly greeted her Grandmother, Lily changed out of her school uniform, into her martial arts gear and head outside to the orchard to practice. Lily's chosen art was Wing Chun. Having watched her brother James' DVD movie called Ip Man at the age of ten, she had become obsessed with it and had begged her parents to let her join a Wing Chun class. Eventually, they had found a class run by Sifu Sirius Black, and within months of joining, she excelled despite her young age. Lily was the envy of all the youngsters in that class, and Sifu Black was highly impressed with her skill and determination, so much so, he put her in a higher class which was rarely heard of. After the death of her parents, Lily had had to move out of the cottage where her Grandparents and her namesake had lived in Godric's Hollow. They move to the Burrow in Devonshire, which meant Lily could no longer attend Wing Chun classes - much to Lily's ire. The closest class was roughly eighty miles away, and there was no chance she'd be allowed to go especially as she couldn't drive. So she opted to practice out in the orchard every day no matter the weather. As Lily started to practice, for the first time that day, she smiled.
When Lily returned to the warm kitchen there was a strange man sat at the table.
"Ah, you must be Lily," said the man kindly.
Lily took in the guys appearance. He looked very slender, his clothes were a bit shabby, and his face was covered in scars.
"Hi," She muttered, storming off towards the stairs.
"Lily Luna Potter, you come back here this instant and be polite to our guest," Molly Weasley yelled after her Granddaughter.
Huffing, Lily stomped back down the stairs.
"You keep this behaviour up, and I shall ban you from doing anymore Wing Chun," said Molly sharply as Lily finally reached her. That was a low blow - even for her grandmother.
"Remus, this is my granddaughter Lily Luna," said Molly as they re-entered the kitchen together. "Lily Luna, this is Remus Lupin, he was a friend of your grandfather's."
"How do you do, Mr Lupin?" said Lily as politely as she could. Anything so she could go and read in her room.
"Remus will be staying with us for a few days, he's visiting from China," Molly explained.
"China?" asked Lily incredulously.
"Yes, I work in a school over there," smiled Remus.
"I'd love to go to China one day, to go to Hong Kong and pay my respects to Grandmaster Ip Man," said Lily enthusiastically. "Maybe if possible, meet his sons too!"
"Wow, that is quite the ambition," remarked Remus.
"You're laughing at me, aren't you?" hissed Lily, suddenly angry at their visitor.
"No, no, never. I'm sorry if it came across that way, my sincerest apologies," said Remus.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, excuse me."
Feeling mortified that she'd snapped so badly at Remus, Lily sped out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her mother's old bedroom, the room she now called her own. She hated that she was always so defensive, this is why she didn't have any friends. When Lily was called down for dinner, she pretended to be asleep, so that she didn't have to face Remus just yet.
Another day, another afternoon found Lily in the orchard running through her forms. First, she started with Sil Lum Tao (Little Idea). Dropping into the horse stance, she started practising. The movements flowed from her arms as she ran through centre line theory. She then flowed into Chum Kiu (Bridging the gap) her feet instinctively began moving as she started circle stepping, with turning movements, her balance and flow absolutely perfect. Once she was satisfied with practice, she started making her way back towards the Burrow. It was then she became aware of tingling down her spine, the same tingling feeling she got when she felt like she was being watched. She scanned the immediate area around her before turning her eyes to the canopy of the trees. There, in an apple tree was Remus. Trying not to act surprised, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement. He merely smiled at her wanly, almost mockingly. This kind of enraged her.
"Do you often spy on young girls?" Lily spat with a hint of airy sarcasm.
Remus smiled again, and without looking at her, he considered his response for a moment.
"Not at all. I believe that nature is here to be observed by all who are willing to notice it."
Growing more annoyed, Lily cut with the pleasantries.
"Why were you watching me?" snarled Lily.
With the grace of a bird, Remus jumped down, the distance must have been six feet, and did so without much effort at all.
Still averting eye contact, he went to pass her. Lily stepped in his path.
"I asked you a question. Why were you watching me?" Lily asked more forcefully.
Remus smiled again, and carefully considered his response.
"Your form is very interesting," said Remus in amusement.
Lily was slightly puzzled. But she was in no mood for games. She started to grow more incensed.
"What does that mean? My form? Are you perving on me? Are you into young girls?" her voice growing louder.
Remus now made eye contact. His own showing a hint of danger.
"Do you always show such disrespect and contempt for people?" he asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Your parents raised you better."
Again he tried to pass her. But he'd gone too far, and Lily exploded.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS? NEVER SPEAK OF THEM AGAIN, YOU BELLIGERENT OLD FOOL!" yelled an incensed Lily.
Stopping dead, Remus turned back towards her. Shaking his head, he looked her up and down, which in turn, made Lily very uncomfortable.
"Another one. I fear I have made a grave mistake," he said almost to himself than her.
His apparent disappointment caught Lily slightly off guard. She observed him carefully for a moment. She deliberated apologising for her outburst. Breathing heavily, she lowered her tone.
"I'm sorry. I don't know you well enough to insult you. Just don't mention my parents as you have no right." said Lily in contrition.
She eyed Remus, trying to gauge him. His eyes had now softened, and there appeared to be a wry smile lifting the corner of his mouth.
"Like with Wing Chun, there is much you have to learn. Even the prettiest of flowers look graceful in the wind; but without strong roots and foundations, they will never grow past a mere sapling," said Remus profoundly.
Lily stood agape. She watched as the old man turned slowly and started to walk away. Again, a mixture of confusion and rage took hold.
"How did you know that was Wing Chun? And what did that last comment mean? Are you trying to look down on me? Nobody insults me like that and gets away with it," she called after him.
Without turning, Remus snorted loudly. Her arrogance was almost amusing now. He continued to head back to the Burrow.
Lily was now past words. She ran up to him and stopped right in his path again.
"Do you think you're better than me? Do you think I will excuse you because of your age? I'm going to give you the kind of slap your mother should have given you when you were a kid!" snapped Lily.
Lunging forward, she tried to hit him. With the slightest of movements, he avoided her effortlessly. Unperturbed, she continued with her attempts. Each strike missing her target by miles, which only made her angrier.
The old man was almost smiling, with not a hint of concern.
She decided that she was now going to really have to hurt him. She began to advance on him faster, using faster strikes.
Instead of backing away, he old man remained rooted to the spot. As her hand shot forward to punch him, he advanced forward, catching her arm. His hand lightly circled her arm, maneuvering it out of harm's way. His shoulder came out of nowhere, and without knowing what was happening, she found herself falling over a ghostly leg, as the shoulder crashed into her sternum with the force of a juggernaut.
Winded, she crashed to the ground. As she contemplated getting up, the old man had advanced forward, and placed his foot on her chest. Instinct made Lily's hands shoot up and grab him by the ankle, and using all the force she could muster, tried to remove the foot currently pinning her.
"As I said, your form is useless without good foundations. I will remove my foot from your chest only once you have calmed down, and you are willing to concede. You will then kowtow to me and call me Dai-Sifu (Grandmaster)."
With a fire burning in her deep brown eyes, she continued to try and push the foot off of her chest.
"Get off of me now!" Lily spat through gritted teeth. "I will never ever call you Dai-Sifu, you creepy old asshole."
With a force Lily had no idea she possessed, Lily managed to wrap her feet around Remus' free leg and pull, taking his leg out from under him. As he fell, Lily wriggled herself free and ran back to the Burrow.
After that encounter, Lily tried her hardest to pretend that Remus Lupin wasn't even there. She could barely look at him. He'd whooped her ass, and she was beyond annoyed. It had been at that moment that she realised that she was nowhere near as good as she thought she was. Her self-esteem had taken a drubbing.
A week later and Lily decided to seek Remus out. She found him sat under the apple tree with a book.
"I came to apologise," said Lily in a small voice.
"Thank you, Lily," smiled Remus. He invited her to sit with him.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, Lily spoke again.
"Mr Lupin, can you teach me?"
Her request had been so shy; it had almost physically hurt Remus' kind heart. This wasn't the Lily he was used too. He liked her fiery side; it put colour in her cheeks and a fire in her eyes.
"You heard my terms when I kicked your butt last week, they haven't changed," said Remus without taking his eyes off the page he was reading.
A flush had started crawling it's way up Lily's pale neck into her face. She had made a promise to her father three years ago that she would never kowtow to any man, and she wasn't about to break that promise now.
"Never!" spat Lily. Remus merely shrugged never taking his eyes off the page.
"New terms; show me that you can banish this attitude, your anger, and do I as I tell you, then and only then, will I teach you," said Remus quietly, again eyes never once left the page.
"Urgh!" said Lily getting up and storming away.
After much thought and consideration, and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew he was right. After today, she swore she'd change; she'd be a better person. Maybe if she did, she'd make some friends, something she hadn't had for so long.
In the days that followed, Lily proved she could make changes. She began by being polite to her Grandmother and asking if she could help about the house. It hadn't been easy either, there had been times when she felt like she was being provoked, but she bit her tongue. Remus was impressed, so much so, he decided he would teach her. When he told her she'd been absolutely ecstatic and thrown her arms around his neck in joy. But that joy wasn't to last when the school got in touch to say Lily's grades had started sliding in a big way. After a visit to the school with her Grandmother and Remus, she'd had to promise faithfully that she would also begin attending class, and doing all of her homework.
Lily loved to watch Remus. He made everything look so effortless.
"How do you do that? How do you make it all look so flawless and easy?" asked Lily, one afternoon.
"I had a very good teacher, Lily," replied Remus without stopping.
"Do I know him?" asked Lily.
"Do you know the name Wong Shun Leung?" asked Remus.
"Do I!" exclaimed Lily in surprise. "He learnt under Ip Man, and they say all credit goes to him for training Bruce Lee!"
"It's true, Lily. Sifu Wong did teach Bruce Lee, as he taught me. I took over teaching his class after his death in 1993."
Lily was agog. That would explain why Remus was so good. He'd been taught by the best.
In the weeks that followed, Lily blossomed. Not only did she train hard every evening, but her grades were up, and she'd made a new friend. A young lady by the name of Lyra. She was a lot happier than either her Grandmother or Remus had ever seen her. She was smiling a lot more now.
Remus had to admit; he had never met anyone who had the determination that Lily Luna Potter had. He was impressed by her turn around, especially in the last couple of weeks. Time was running out though, and it wouldn't be long before he'd have to return to China. After having spoken to her Grandmother, Remus surprised Lily by presenting her with an aeroplane ticket to Hong Kong.
"I'm going to Hong Kong?" Lily asked incredulously.
"I have spoken to Molly, and she has agreed. You are to stay through to the autumn that way I can finish teaching you all the components of Wing Chun. Would you like to go, Lily? I have all the proper training equipment you will need," said Remus serenely.
"Yes! Yes, I would very much like to go, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" squealed Lily as she hugged both Molly and Remus.
September.
Lily was home. She'd little changed, except she now had a large dose of humility. She had excelled herself while staying with Remus. She was now a Black sash student, and ready to teach her own classes, even as young as she was. She'd passed Muk Yan Jong (Dummy form), within a month. Learning Bui Ji (Thrusting fingers), had been a lot harder. On occasion, frustration had made itself present, but Lily had gritted her teeth, and with a fierce determination, she eventually excelled. This left no time for her to learn Baat Jam Dao (Butterfly swords), or Look Dim Boon Grun (Dragon pole/six and a half point pole). Not that Lily was too worried about those, Wing Chun could be deadly enough on its own, without adding weapons to the mix. Remus had agreed that once she was twenty-one, he would have her return to Hong Kong and continue her training.
"Let me look at you," said Molly after Lily had put her stuff down. "You look amazing, how are you, love?"
"I'm very good Gran, thank you. I'd like to apologise though. I'm sorry for being so angry and mean all the time. It was just so hard to lose Mum and Dad like that. I hope you can forgive me," said Lily solemnly.
"Of course I do, love. Despite all that, I knew what was underneath all along. You just needed time to work that out for yourself. It was your battle, and you won in the end. Your parents and your Grandfather would be very proud of you, Lily, very proud." Molly said as she pulled her Granddaughter into a tight hug.
Lily pulled her Grandmother closer. She allowed herself to shed tears; she let go of all the pent-up feelings she'd kept under wraps for so long. Her Grandmother was right, she had won her own personal battle, and this release went a long way to help her start to heal properly. Yes, it would always hurt her to know that her parents wouldn't be there to see her walk down the aisle, or to see their Grandchildren, but as Remus had told her one night when she was having a low day: 'You will always carry your parents in your heart. They will never truly ever leave you.' Lily thought of this now and sobbed harder. She would heal, and she would be stronger for it, there was no doubting that!