Part Seven: The Wizard's Child
"A wizard?" Lily stared incredulously at the pair of them seated across from her at the table. The uncomfortable dinner that the Grangers had shared with Fred Weasley had turned into a loose, brandy-induced dessert, which had become a frank and open discussion about things Lily was quite sure she hadn't really heard right, things that Hermione had been waiting nearly nine years to confess. "You're trying to tell me that this man is...a wizard? Mum, I really think that you should put your wine glass down for a minute--"
"Lily..." Fred's eyes were soft as they focused on the mop-headed girl in front of him. He knew how she felt, being hit suddenly with such outlandish ideas that she could barely catch her breath. He himself had been struggling to gasp in enough air since the moment Hermione had answered the door. "I know it's crazy, but you've got to listen to your mother. I'm a wizard, just like your dad. Bloody brilliant, that one...and your mum, too. Top witch in her class at Hogwarts all seven years."
"Hogwarts?" Abandoning all senses of decorum, Lily allowed her mouth to gape, hanging open as she continued to stare in disbelief. "Mum?! My...my dad?!"
"Yeah! Of course, he never was much one for schooling...not like your mum, anyway...but he was a great man, and a great wizard. Right good Quidditch player, too, in his own right. Had good instincts, and he was frighteningly loyal, right down to the end..." Fred's eyes welled pink and puffy, and he paused as Lily stared, transfixed. While he attempted to regain his composer, Lily found herself creeping slowly toward him, leaning further and further onto the table as though she meant to crawl over it and wriggle right into Fred's very skin, a place where words like "Hogwarts" and "Quidditch" and her father weren't so strange and foreign.
After a moment, Fred raised his head to speak once more. "I bet you'd like to meet some of your family, wouldn't you? On your dad's side, of course. You could come with your mum and me, when we go back to--"
Awakening from her dormant complancency next to him, Hermione shot out an arm towards Fred's shoulders. "Fred!!" She took a few slow breaths, deeply in and out, before pacing herself into a calmer voice. "Fred, that's quite enough. As she well knows, Lily's father was a lawyer from Edinberg who knew nothing about my strange...er...abilities, and certainly did not engage in any of them himself. Besides, it's late, and I think it's best if we don't overload her before bed."
"But, Mum, you can't just tell me all these things and then expect me to--"
"A lawyer?!" Suddenly, Fred was standing, his chair flying out from beneath him and crashing with a thud several feet from the table. "How dare you even think up a lie like that to tell that little girl! You're-- you're the worst sort of Muggle, you are, Hermione Granger! You're--" Lily's mind swam with details as Fred began to pace, hands on his head. "You're just like the Dursleys, you are!"
"FRED!" Hermione stood, clearly incensed, pulling herself up to her full height as she shouted. "Lily's father was a Muggle, a lawyer, who had nothing to do with--"
"Liar!" Roughly, he grabbed Hermione's shoulder, wrenching her close to his face. "That child has Weasley written all over her."
"A wizard?" Lily stared incredulously at the pair of them seated across from her at the table. The uncomfortable dinner that the Grangers had shared with Fred Weasley had turned into a loose, brandy-induced dessert, which had become a frank and open discussion about things Lily was quite sure she hadn't really heard right, things that Hermione had been waiting nearly nine years to confess. "You're trying to tell me that this man is...a wizard? Mum, I really think that you should put your wine glass down for a minute--"
"Lily..." Fred's eyes were soft as they focused on the mop-headed girl in front of him. He knew how she felt, being hit suddenly with such outlandish ideas that she could barely catch her breath. He himself had been struggling to gasp in enough air since the moment Hermione had answered the door. "I know it's crazy, but you've got to listen to your mother. I'm a wizard, just like your dad. Bloody brilliant, that one...and your mum, too. Top witch in her class at Hogwarts all seven years."
"Hogwarts?" Abandoning all senses of decorum, Lily allowed her mouth to gape, hanging open as she continued to stare in disbelief. "Mum?! My...my dad?!"
"Yeah! Of course, he never was much one for schooling...not like your mum, anyway...but he was a great man, and a great wizard. Right good Quidditch player, too, in his own right. Had good instincts, and he was frighteningly loyal, right down to the end..." Fred's eyes welled pink and puffy, and he paused as Lily stared, transfixed. While he attempted to regain his composer, Lily found herself creeping slowly toward him, leaning further and further onto the table as though she meant to crawl over it and wriggle right into Fred's very skin, a place where words like "Hogwarts" and "Quidditch" and her father weren't so strange and foreign.
After a moment, Fred raised his head to speak once more. "I bet you'd like to meet some of your family, wouldn't you? On your dad's side, of course. You could come with your mum and me, when we go back to--"
Awakening from her dormant complancency next to him, Hermione shot out an arm towards Fred's shoulders. "Fred!!" She took a few slow breaths, deeply in and out, before pacing herself into a calmer voice. "Fred, that's quite enough. As she well knows, Lily's father was a lawyer from Edinberg who knew nothing about my strange...er...abilities, and certainly did not engage in any of them himself. Besides, it's late, and I think it's best if we don't overload her before bed."
"But, Mum, you can't just tell me all these things and then expect me to--"
"A lawyer?!" Suddenly, Fred was standing, his chair flying out from beneath him and crashing with a thud several feet from the table. "How dare you even think up a lie like that to tell that little girl! You're-- you're the worst sort of Muggle, you are, Hermione Granger! You're--" Lily's mind swam with details as Fred began to pace, hands on his head. "You're just like the Dursleys, you are!"
"FRED!" Hermione stood, clearly incensed, pulling herself up to her full height as she shouted. "Lily's father was a Muggle, a lawyer, who had nothing to do with--"
"Liar!" Roughly, he grabbed Hermione's shoulder, wrenching her close to his face. "That child has Weasley written all over her."