Lily wandered through the streets, not knowing where to go. She
didn't want to go to Anna and Will's, knowing that Anna would ask questions
she didn't want to answer, and Seamus and Caroline had left for Dublin,
visiting Caroline's grandparents. She roamed for a while longer before
deciding to go to Draco's. She knocked on his door and he answered,
smiling. "Hey lily, Come on in. What brings you here? Certainly not just to
call on me."
"I hate my dad." Lily said glumly.
"So? What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know. I don't want to go back to that stupid house and see them. My dad used to tell me stuff, and ask for my opinion, and know Parvati is messing eveything up. He doesn't tell me anything anymore."
"Ah, Lily. It isn't Parvati. You are, whether your father likes it or not, growing up. When you were younger he could tell you anything and ask your opinion on anything and be guaranteed that you would agree right along with him. But now he's afraid that you'll answer in a way hat he doesn't expect, or tell him something that he can't deal with."
"How do you know all this?"
"I was a father too, once." Draco said, smiling sadly.
Lily took a deep breath and then released it. "I know. But I can't go back there. I don't want to go back to that house and see them. I can't get over it. I'm sorry, I'm just really, really angry."
"I know. Don't be sorry, you have every right to be angry, but your dad also has every right to have a new wife and another child." Draco was careful not to say a new child. "If they do have another child it won't replace you, and neither will Parvati. Uh, uh, uh." Draco said, when Lily tried to interrupt him. "I know that people say that all the time and then the oldest child is shunted out of the picture and the baby takes over, but you, Lily, you are something special to your father, and I don't think that he could ever love any child more than you. Don't get me wrong, he'll love this hypothetical baby as much as anyone, but you're something special to him Lily, never forget that."
"I still can't go back there."
Draco nodded. "Okay. I'll go get your stuff, I'll take you to the station tomorrow and explain what's going on."
Lily nodded. "Thank you Draco."
Draco smiled and tousled her hair. "You're a good kid Lily Potter." She watched out the window as Draco walked down the path to her father's hose and she began to cry.
To Lily her family had always been just her and her dad. Even when her mother was alive, even when her father disappeared for days on end, it was a two person family, and suddenly, without her consent, without her even being informed, her family was a family of three. She didn't want a family of three, she wanted her father back, the way he was in the very beginning, carefree. She didn't want people to stop coming by at all hours of the day and night to chat and she didn't want a nice little English family with two kids and a dog. She wanted her family of two, with a cat and an owl, ten people sleeping in the living room and her father trying to clean the chimney with a feather duster. "Stupid Parvati." She said aloud.
"Oh dry up Liz, my sister was worse."
Lily almost screamed when she turned and saw Kris. "Where did you come from?"
"Not so loud. People will think you're insane."
"Are you dead?" Lily asked shakily.
"It is funny you should ask, because I do not really know, myself."
Lily stuck out her hand to touch him but she couldn't. Her hand didn't go through im, but instead brushed on the faint outline surrounding him. Like trying to touch someone through chainmail, she thought distractedly, they were clearly there, but something was preventing her from touching them.
Kris watched her hand and swallowed, smiling faintly. "My favourite girl, where is your smile?"
"Oh Kris! I don't know. I liked Parvati enough when she was one of dad's old school chums, even when she was his girlfriend, but his wife?"
"No Lily, I do not think I like that myself, but! You know what? You haven't got much of a choice. Your father, he didn't like me much when I was around you. In truth, he likes no boy with you, but he says nothing, and it is your job to say nothing too."
"Where are you Kris?"
"Right here."
"No, where are you when I can't see you, or hear you. Where do you go when other people are around?"
Kris's face darkened. "It is a terrible place, Lily Elisabeth, but I do not mind so much, because one day it will end and I will be able to touch your face, hold your hand again."
"How?"
"I do not know love, but believe me, you will figure it out, clever girl. I am smart, I can count to ten trillion, and perhaps read great epics, but I am not so clever. So you have to do it for me. Save me Lily." And she watched, and like in the Chamber of Secrets, he began to disappear, to fade and to waver.
"I love you." She said suddenly, but he did not hear her, he simply faded completely, leaving space where before there was none. "I love you." She whispered again.
)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
"I don't know Draco, maybe I rushed into this."
"Harry, you know better than anyone else, what you have can be destroyed in a second. Take fortune when it comes to you."
"What would you have done?" Harry asked.
"Nothing."
"See? You would have waited, Draco, what did I get myself into?"
"Harry. Shut up. Listen to yourself, and then look around. You didn't wait around when you got back, you've got a job and a wife and a daughter who may be angry at you, but still loves you. You have a nice house by the ocean, you have scores of friends and look at me. I waited for everything and now I have a job that I hate, a bachelor pad, and a daughter, six feet under in a cemetary in Lourdes, buried next to her real father."
"Thanks for the wisdom Malfoy." Harry muttered.
"Want to go back to the old footing Potter? I know things, things you couldn't begin to imagine. Your wife Potter, she lived on a widow's pention from the time she was twenty, even though she wasn't a widow. You want to know why you didn't move into her house in Madrid? Because it was a wh-"
"Shut up."
"I'm just showing you how it can be Harry. I can make your life hell, and half of the stories aren't even true."
Harry sighed. "You had me believing you there. Listening to what you said, even though I knew-" He trailed off.
"I know. People still don't trust me Harry."
"Oh come off it. Of course they do."
"No, they don't. It's like Sanpe, no matter how many times you've seen him proved innocent, you still don't trust him. Malfoy, and people shudder."
Harry sighed and leaned back. "So what? Should I divorce my wife because my daughter hates her?"
"No Harry, you're making too big a deal of this. You need to nix the cruise, and stay with your daughter, spend some time the three of you, some time the two of you. Lily doesn't hate her, she just feels as though you're giving her up. Give her some room to manouvere Harry, some time to figure things out and you'll find she's forgiving you. It's been a tough little while for Lily, you remember what it was like, don't you?"
Harry nodded and sighed. "I remember."
"I hate my dad." Lily said glumly.
"So? What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know. I don't want to go back to that stupid house and see them. My dad used to tell me stuff, and ask for my opinion, and know Parvati is messing eveything up. He doesn't tell me anything anymore."
"Ah, Lily. It isn't Parvati. You are, whether your father likes it or not, growing up. When you were younger he could tell you anything and ask your opinion on anything and be guaranteed that you would agree right along with him. But now he's afraid that you'll answer in a way hat he doesn't expect, or tell him something that he can't deal with."
"How do you know all this?"
"I was a father too, once." Draco said, smiling sadly.
Lily took a deep breath and then released it. "I know. But I can't go back there. I don't want to go back to that house and see them. I can't get over it. I'm sorry, I'm just really, really angry."
"I know. Don't be sorry, you have every right to be angry, but your dad also has every right to have a new wife and another child." Draco was careful not to say a new child. "If they do have another child it won't replace you, and neither will Parvati. Uh, uh, uh." Draco said, when Lily tried to interrupt him. "I know that people say that all the time and then the oldest child is shunted out of the picture and the baby takes over, but you, Lily, you are something special to your father, and I don't think that he could ever love any child more than you. Don't get me wrong, he'll love this hypothetical baby as much as anyone, but you're something special to him Lily, never forget that."
"I still can't go back there."
Draco nodded. "Okay. I'll go get your stuff, I'll take you to the station tomorrow and explain what's going on."
Lily nodded. "Thank you Draco."
Draco smiled and tousled her hair. "You're a good kid Lily Potter." She watched out the window as Draco walked down the path to her father's hose and she began to cry.
To Lily her family had always been just her and her dad. Even when her mother was alive, even when her father disappeared for days on end, it was a two person family, and suddenly, without her consent, without her even being informed, her family was a family of three. She didn't want a family of three, she wanted her father back, the way he was in the very beginning, carefree. She didn't want people to stop coming by at all hours of the day and night to chat and she didn't want a nice little English family with two kids and a dog. She wanted her family of two, with a cat and an owl, ten people sleeping in the living room and her father trying to clean the chimney with a feather duster. "Stupid Parvati." She said aloud.
"Oh dry up Liz, my sister was worse."
Lily almost screamed when she turned and saw Kris. "Where did you come from?"
"Not so loud. People will think you're insane."
"Are you dead?" Lily asked shakily.
"It is funny you should ask, because I do not really know, myself."
Lily stuck out her hand to touch him but she couldn't. Her hand didn't go through im, but instead brushed on the faint outline surrounding him. Like trying to touch someone through chainmail, she thought distractedly, they were clearly there, but something was preventing her from touching them.
Kris watched her hand and swallowed, smiling faintly. "My favourite girl, where is your smile?"
"Oh Kris! I don't know. I liked Parvati enough when she was one of dad's old school chums, even when she was his girlfriend, but his wife?"
"No Lily, I do not think I like that myself, but! You know what? You haven't got much of a choice. Your father, he didn't like me much when I was around you. In truth, he likes no boy with you, but he says nothing, and it is your job to say nothing too."
"Where are you Kris?"
"Right here."
"No, where are you when I can't see you, or hear you. Where do you go when other people are around?"
Kris's face darkened. "It is a terrible place, Lily Elisabeth, but I do not mind so much, because one day it will end and I will be able to touch your face, hold your hand again."
"How?"
"I do not know love, but believe me, you will figure it out, clever girl. I am smart, I can count to ten trillion, and perhaps read great epics, but I am not so clever. So you have to do it for me. Save me Lily." And she watched, and like in the Chamber of Secrets, he began to disappear, to fade and to waver.
"I love you." She said suddenly, but he did not hear her, he simply faded completely, leaving space where before there was none. "I love you." She whispered again.
)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
"I don't know Draco, maybe I rushed into this."
"Harry, you know better than anyone else, what you have can be destroyed in a second. Take fortune when it comes to you."
"What would you have done?" Harry asked.
"Nothing."
"See? You would have waited, Draco, what did I get myself into?"
"Harry. Shut up. Listen to yourself, and then look around. You didn't wait around when you got back, you've got a job and a wife and a daughter who may be angry at you, but still loves you. You have a nice house by the ocean, you have scores of friends and look at me. I waited for everything and now I have a job that I hate, a bachelor pad, and a daughter, six feet under in a cemetary in Lourdes, buried next to her real father."
"Thanks for the wisdom Malfoy." Harry muttered.
"Want to go back to the old footing Potter? I know things, things you couldn't begin to imagine. Your wife Potter, she lived on a widow's pention from the time she was twenty, even though she wasn't a widow. You want to know why you didn't move into her house in Madrid? Because it was a wh-"
"Shut up."
"I'm just showing you how it can be Harry. I can make your life hell, and half of the stories aren't even true."
Harry sighed. "You had me believing you there. Listening to what you said, even though I knew-" He trailed off.
"I know. People still don't trust me Harry."
"Oh come off it. Of course they do."
"No, they don't. It's like Sanpe, no matter how many times you've seen him proved innocent, you still don't trust him. Malfoy, and people shudder."
Harry sighed and leaned back. "So what? Should I divorce my wife because my daughter hates her?"
"No Harry, you're making too big a deal of this. You need to nix the cruise, and stay with your daughter, spend some time the three of you, some time the two of you. Lily doesn't hate her, she just feels as though you're giving her up. Give her some room to manouvere Harry, some time to figure things out and you'll find she's forgiving you. It's been a tough little while for Lily, you remember what it was like, don't you?"
Harry nodded and sighed. "I remember."