A/N: I love Harry and Lily Luna bonding moments, truly.
Dedicating this to my darling dad, who I love immensely and who's little girl I always shall be.
Always Daddy's Little Girl
If Ginny thought restraining James from creating havoc was difficult, she was sorely mistaken. Even the worst of James' antics seemed simple in the face of Lily's aptitude to cause trouble, for while James' naughty smiles gave his pranks away, Lily was a master actress.
"Who's responsible for emptying the cookie jar again?" Ginny thundered into the children's playroom and James couldn't control himself at his mother's temper.
"It was her!" Albus pointed towards his three year old sister, who merely smiled up angelically.
Harry walked into the room just then, grinning widely. "Guess what," he declared and barged on without waiting for his family to respond. "We're going to France for the weekend!"
While chaos broke out in the room, Lily toddled over to her dad. "Carry me, Daddy?" she asked him sweetly, and Harry lifted his daughter up, spinning her around the room while she let out peals of excited laughter.
"France, France!" she clamoured loudly and Harry laughed, hugging her close to him.
Ginny's attention reverted to her daughter who was cooing happily against her father's shoulders.
"Lily Luna Potter! No more stealing cookies, your teeth will rot with the amount of chocolate you have been eating!"
Her daughter merely nodded sagely while Harry frowned at his wife. "She's just a baby, Ginny!"
Ginny glowered up at her husband. "Do you want your baby to have rotten teeth, sweetheart?"
But Harry only covered snuggled Lily closer to him. "We're wizards, love. Our children will have nothing but perfect teeth."
Her sleeplessness began after James and Albus tricked her into watching a muggle horror movie. There was so much in it that intrigued her and worried her and sparked off her overly active imagination all at once that it drove her brain into a sensory overload.
She sat in the reading nook that Harry had installed for her by her huge windows, scribbling furiously into a black and white journal for the fifth night in a row. Her room was the only lit one in the otherwise pitch dark house and the lights awoke Harry.
He stumbled into her room, rubbing his eyes blearily.
"Lily. What happened?"
Those three simple words, so full of warmth and devoid of judgement flowed easily from Harry's lips. Lily came undone.
"Oh, dad," she whispered, and Harry was surprised to hear how broken her voice sounded.
He wordlessly went to where her huge rocking chair stood and lowered himself onto it. Lily abandoned her journal and looked at her father, suddenly ashamed.
"It's nothing, really," she began as she chewed on her bottom lip in embarrassment.
"You haven't been sleeping in nearly a week, Lily, and you're the one who enjoys her sleep than any child I've ever known. What's keeping you up?"
The agonizing screams emitted by the protagonist of the horror movie suddenly filled Lily's ears, and she cringed.
"There's this movie," she began. "Muggle horror film, nothing major really. I watched it with James and Al the other night and I…" She stopped talking when her father's eyes narrowed.
"You're telling me," he said, and the change in his ton made her squirm uneasily. "That you actually sat for an entire horror movie with your brothers?"
"Umm, yes?"
"Lily, you're not a child anymore, you don't even celebrate Halloween – what made you sit through the entire movie? You knew what it was; you could have very easily walked away!" His reaction may have surprised many, but only he knew the punishment that was sleeplessness and nightmares. His childhood had been full of them and only he knew the horrors of being trapped in a word only you could experience.
"Are you having nightmares?" he asked her softly, taking her small palms in his larger ones.
"Well, if I do manage to sleep, yes," she admitted, suddenly feeling very silly.
"How about I read to you while you sleep off? I'll try keeping the nightmares away, I can be very intimidating when I want to," Harry suddenly quipped, and Lily burst out laughing at the sudden mental image of her dad whacking her demons away.
"I love you, dad," she whispered with gratitude as she walked over to her still made bed and snuggled into the blankets. Harry picked up her worn copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and began reading out loud to her.
"Once upon a time…"
"Albus, stop licking the frosting off before your father gets here! James, James? This really isn't the right time for you to set of whatever you just acquired from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Lily – where's Lily?"
Footsteps thudded down the staircase as a very messy Lily ran up to where her mum and brothers stood, before the large dining table. A large chocolate cake levitated a few inches off the air, complete with sparklers that never ran out and two large candles that together made '40'.
"Lily," Ginny began, her voice sounding rather defeated. But then the door clicked open and the family yelled in unison.
"Happy Birthday!"
Ginny flew into her husband's arms and kissed him soundly while James and Albus made gagging noises. Lily simply grinned at her parents and waited for her father to make his way to them.
"Hey there, Lily."
"Happy birthday, daddy dear." She sliced a piece of cake and shoved it into her father's open mouth, laughing as his eyes widened with surprise when she spread the cream all over his face.
"It's your birthday, dad, you really have to begin expecting all this from me by now," she said. Harry merely shook his head.
"Oh, dad. I, umm, have something for you."
"I wasn't quite expecting something, Lily darling, thank you so much!"
Lily smiled wryly. "Stop being so enthusiastic, you haven't seen it yet."
"It's from you – I'm sure it's going to be lovely," Harry argued.
Lily merely took him by the hand and led him to her room. She turned the lights on, and Harry blinked mutely at the large white sheet that stood before him.
"And this is…" Lily shook her head, supressing her mirth.
"Dad, how about you wait for just a minute?"
"Sorry, sorry."
Lily walked over to the canvas and unveiled it with a flourish, revealing a portrait of Harry. He gasped loudly, suddenly filled with warmth and wonder. He walked over to the canvas slowly, awestruck.
"Can I touch it?" he whispered. Lily nodded. "By all means, dad."
So the glasses may not have been perfectly round and his hair might have been wilder than usual. But his eyes were the exact same, emerald and shining with the love of three generations of Potters.
Harry wiped a stray tear off his cheek as he admired the painting.
"You did this? All by yourself?"
"Absolutely," Lily affirmed, nodding. "With no magic whatsoever."
Harry caught his daughter in a bone-crushing embrace.
"That is simply the best birthday present I have ever received. Try not telling your mother that, by the way. I love you, Lily Luna."
Lily smiled happily as she hugged her father tight.
"I love you too, daddy."
Entered in:
Ashleigh's Monthly Competitions, for October: Parent/Child love (Harry/Lily Luna)
A Jury of Your Peers, category: Non-Canon
Nina's fan-fiction terms category competition, category incest - write about a family.
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