Harry sat at the kitchen table, long after everyone had left and Cage
had turned in for the night. He was working on a battle plan.
Disorganization had not always irritated him as it did now, he had once
even said that if the world was all organised we might as well not be
living. But that was then. He looked at the plan, it was laid out neatly,
with jobs for everyone. If they failed at following this plan it would be
an all-out war.
He looked up as Penny flew in the open window with a letter and smiled, glad for a chance to take a break. He opened it and read the contents carefully, and then read them over one more time. He looked at the owl, as though it might have pulled this prank on him. Deciding that maybe the owl didn't have any part in this scheme he sat backand poured himself a drink. What could have happened to make her decide to take back her own name? A sudden burst of originality? Or something else?
Harry looked up as Cage came down the stairs. "Hey Cage. Was I keeping you up?"
Cage shook his head. "Whatcha up to?"
Harry handed him the letter and Cage read it. "Lily's a good name." And he went back up to bed.
Harry looked back down at the letter and smiled. There didn't need to be a reason for some things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~`
Lily sat by the lake. She thought it would be harder to stop calling herself Elisabeth, and harder for everyone else to start calling her Lily too. "It just fits." Will had said. And it did fit. She was sitting by the lak, waiting for the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game. Since Kris' death Gryffindor had been playing in black instead of their traditional red, but Elisabeth wasn't sure if that was the way it should have been. Kris Svenson had been something universal, the one thing everyone at Hogwarts had in common. He had never really had one or two good friends, he just went from group to group, trading outlandish stories for fizzing whizbees and then moving on to a new group. For it to be fair, everyone should have been playing in black, everyone should have been showing their grief. She looked at her reflection in the water and she could have sworn she saw Kris standing behind her. Had he known that his sister would be responsible for all that was going wrong in the world? She remembered the first day she met him. He had helped her fly, not just in the literal sense, but also in the metaphorical one. She suddenly realised something she already knew. She changed her name back because of Kris. Something he had said once, what was it? "A name isn't an ordinary word. It's universal. My name is Kris in English, it's Kris in French, it's Kris everywhere. You can change your name, but it's still just a word. Sometimes words can hurt though, my dear, they hurt when you change them, and they hurt everytime you use them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
"So what are you guys doing this Christmas?" Chase asked. The game had just wrapped up, 270-0 for Ravenclaw.
Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure my dad wants to go to Canada, but that's just because he doesn't want to spend Christmas with my grandparents."
"We're going to Bulgaria to see my dad's family. He doesn't have to work Christmas this year, which is a first." Vivyann said.
"Jewish." Christina said, grinning.
"I'm staying here. My parents disowned me after the Hero school incident."
"Dekko?"
"Staying here."
"How come?"
"Have you never seen Hogwarts at Christmas? It's great. What about you Art?"
"Beats me. S'far as I know I'm not doing anything."
"Chase?"
"Staying with my grandparents." He said quickly. "Are we going back inside?"
"You guys go ahead, I'll be up shortly." Derrick said. "I wouldn't want to miss the party."
After the others left Derrick leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. He knew what would be waiting for him when he got home. His mother in a state of duress, trying to make it look as though she was perfectly fine. His dad would sit in his arm chair and put drink after drink into his mouth until his eyes got glassy and he fell asleep. On Christmas day the gifts would come out and everyone would be able to see how everything had fallen apart. The gifts would still be in the bags they were purchased in and it wouldn't take an idiot to see that they had been bought the evening before in a sudden realisation that it was Christmas. His head fell into his hands and he cried quietly.
"Hey Derrick! Sorry, I forgot my-" Derrick looked up and saw Moira Longbottom. "I'm, sorry. I'm sorry." She smiled shakily and grabbed her mittens. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head and looked out across the pitch, beyond the tall goal posts and into the sunset. Moira hesitated and then sat down beside him. "I couldn't talk to my dad for almost a year after my mother died." She began, unsure of whether she was saying the right thing. "I couldn't even look at him for six months." Seeing that Derrick hadn't told her to shut up yet, Moira continued. "But that was the worst thing I could have done. Even though I was just little, my dad needed me. It didn't seem likeit, but he did. I, I don't know, what your situation is, but I really think that you should go home for Christmas. It might look like they aren't trying, but they are. Every little thing is an effort, but they're trying. The first Christmas is always the hardest. But everything will improve. If they know that you care, then they'll care. Every little thing is an effort." She stood and rested her hand briefly on his shoulder then walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Neville looked up as his daughter walked into his office. "Hey da', what are you up to?"
"Well, I'm working on this plant here. It was discovered in the Forbidden forest quite some years ago, and it seems to be a sub-species of a four- leaf clover. See the shape is that of a clover, but there the similarities end. It's colour is so dark it's almost black, and it seems to be filled with some sort of paste, although up until now I've resisted opening it up. Feel the top of it, like satin, normally clovers feel differently."
"Would you like me to help?"
"That would be great. Here-" He handed her a jar to collect the plants pus in.
"Look at it glow. By jove, this is quite a discovery. My god, I think this might be unicorn blood!" He became so engrossed with the plant that Moira thought he wouldn't notice her slip out the door, but he did. "Are you going Moira?"
"Yeah, I have some homework."
"Alright sweetheart. Thanks for helping me."
Moira walked out of the office smiling to herself. She went back to her common room and started working on her homework.
He looked up as Penny flew in the open window with a letter and smiled, glad for a chance to take a break. He opened it and read the contents carefully, and then read them over one more time. He looked at the owl, as though it might have pulled this prank on him. Deciding that maybe the owl didn't have any part in this scheme he sat backand poured himself a drink. What could have happened to make her decide to take back her own name? A sudden burst of originality? Or something else?
Harry looked up as Cage came down the stairs. "Hey Cage. Was I keeping you up?"
Cage shook his head. "Whatcha up to?"
Harry handed him the letter and Cage read it. "Lily's a good name." And he went back up to bed.
Harry looked back down at the letter and smiled. There didn't need to be a reason for some things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~`
Lily sat by the lake. She thought it would be harder to stop calling herself Elisabeth, and harder for everyone else to start calling her Lily too. "It just fits." Will had said. And it did fit. She was sitting by the lak, waiting for the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game. Since Kris' death Gryffindor had been playing in black instead of their traditional red, but Elisabeth wasn't sure if that was the way it should have been. Kris Svenson had been something universal, the one thing everyone at Hogwarts had in common. He had never really had one or two good friends, he just went from group to group, trading outlandish stories for fizzing whizbees and then moving on to a new group. For it to be fair, everyone should have been playing in black, everyone should have been showing their grief. She looked at her reflection in the water and she could have sworn she saw Kris standing behind her. Had he known that his sister would be responsible for all that was going wrong in the world? She remembered the first day she met him. He had helped her fly, not just in the literal sense, but also in the metaphorical one. She suddenly realised something she already knew. She changed her name back because of Kris. Something he had said once, what was it? "A name isn't an ordinary word. It's universal. My name is Kris in English, it's Kris in French, it's Kris everywhere. You can change your name, but it's still just a word. Sometimes words can hurt though, my dear, they hurt when you change them, and they hurt everytime you use them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
"So what are you guys doing this Christmas?" Chase asked. The game had just wrapped up, 270-0 for Ravenclaw.
Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure my dad wants to go to Canada, but that's just because he doesn't want to spend Christmas with my grandparents."
"We're going to Bulgaria to see my dad's family. He doesn't have to work Christmas this year, which is a first." Vivyann said.
"Jewish." Christina said, grinning.
"I'm staying here. My parents disowned me after the Hero school incident."
"Dekko?"
"Staying here."
"How come?"
"Have you never seen Hogwarts at Christmas? It's great. What about you Art?"
"Beats me. S'far as I know I'm not doing anything."
"Chase?"
"Staying with my grandparents." He said quickly. "Are we going back inside?"
"You guys go ahead, I'll be up shortly." Derrick said. "I wouldn't want to miss the party."
After the others left Derrick leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. He knew what would be waiting for him when he got home. His mother in a state of duress, trying to make it look as though she was perfectly fine. His dad would sit in his arm chair and put drink after drink into his mouth until his eyes got glassy and he fell asleep. On Christmas day the gifts would come out and everyone would be able to see how everything had fallen apart. The gifts would still be in the bags they were purchased in and it wouldn't take an idiot to see that they had been bought the evening before in a sudden realisation that it was Christmas. His head fell into his hands and he cried quietly.
"Hey Derrick! Sorry, I forgot my-" Derrick looked up and saw Moira Longbottom. "I'm, sorry. I'm sorry." She smiled shakily and grabbed her mittens. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head and looked out across the pitch, beyond the tall goal posts and into the sunset. Moira hesitated and then sat down beside him. "I couldn't talk to my dad for almost a year after my mother died." She began, unsure of whether she was saying the right thing. "I couldn't even look at him for six months." Seeing that Derrick hadn't told her to shut up yet, Moira continued. "But that was the worst thing I could have done. Even though I was just little, my dad needed me. It didn't seem likeit, but he did. I, I don't know, what your situation is, but I really think that you should go home for Christmas. It might look like they aren't trying, but they are. Every little thing is an effort, but they're trying. The first Christmas is always the hardest. But everything will improve. If they know that you care, then they'll care. Every little thing is an effort." She stood and rested her hand briefly on his shoulder then walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Neville looked up as his daughter walked into his office. "Hey da', what are you up to?"
"Well, I'm working on this plant here. It was discovered in the Forbidden forest quite some years ago, and it seems to be a sub-species of a four- leaf clover. See the shape is that of a clover, but there the similarities end. It's colour is so dark it's almost black, and it seems to be filled with some sort of paste, although up until now I've resisted opening it up. Feel the top of it, like satin, normally clovers feel differently."
"Would you like me to help?"
"That would be great. Here-" He handed her a jar to collect the plants pus in.
"Look at it glow. By jove, this is quite a discovery. My god, I think this might be unicorn blood!" He became so engrossed with the plant that Moira thought he wouldn't notice her slip out the door, but he did. "Are you going Moira?"
"Yeah, I have some homework."
"Alright sweetheart. Thanks for helping me."
Moira walked out of the office smiling to herself. She went back to her common room and started working on her homework.