Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: My hands slipped and here's another Lily Lives AU but this time she's just as Desi as her late husband was. Like always when I make a Lily Lives AU, Sirius & Remus are active co-parents with Lily, which is why Harry refers to them as their parents just as readily as they do for James & Lily.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 12); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Beauty of the Abstract; Shadow HP Bribery (Y); Most Important Meal; Gryffindor MC; Ravenclaw MC; Magical MC (x2) (Y x1); Neurodivergent; Rowl in Her Grave; Rian-Russo Inversion (x2) (Y); Ethnic & Present; Lovely Triangle; Ship Sails; Hold the Mayo (x2); Gender Bender; Lunar Era (Y); Old Shoes (Y); Short Jog (Y); Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon (Y); Greatest Gift (Y); Gwen's HP Checklist [Celestial Petals]; Skittles [Trans]
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 13 – Assignment 01
Subject (Task No.): Zoology (Task#02: Write a character expressing one of the following emotions: suspicious, offended, or frustrated.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [752](Different House); 365 [12](Annoying)
Other MC4A Challenges: Sp Bingo [4E](Fertility); Tr Bingo [3B](Mooks); Su Bingo [5A](Red); AU [1C](Shopkeeper); Ship (Lunar Lion) [Sp Big](Ceramic Mug); Chim [Limu](Ceramic Mug); TWT [T1](Red); Fire [Hard](Hold the Mayo); Hunt [Sp WD](Nonbinary)/[Su Set](Farmhouse)/[Sp Item](Pot/Pan)/[Su Item](Box)/[Sp Con](Tea); Garden [Chore List](Laughing)/[Bed Types](Cottage)/[Plant Types](Parent & Child)/[Garden Tools](Ceramic Mug/Teacup)/[HPverse](Ravenclaw N/PR)/[Plant Food](Herbs/Spices)
Representation(s): Desi Potters; Mother & Child; Lunar Lion QPR; Nonbinary Harry Potter with ADHD
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Deadliest Catch; Lovely Coconuts; Bast's Blessing; Vid Tangent; Wind Beneath; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress; Nontraditional Family; Zucchini Bread; Unwanted Advice; Car in a Tutu; Three's Company); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Larger than Life; Unicorn); Demo 1 (Corvid Brain; Under the Bridge; Muck & Slime; Civil Disobedience; Inky Shadow; Grease Monkey); Demo 2 (Jet Fuel; Sitting Hummingbird)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Tether); LiCK (Yarrow); FR (Satisfaction; Liberation); O3 (Orator; Oust); TY (Enfant; Ntaiv)
Word Count: 1535
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Frustrations of Living
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Harry hummed as they finished securing the end of their waist-length braid with a gray ribbon embroidered with the Potter seal in crimson. Knowing that they was going to be meeting Luna at the station later, they had left a hand's length loose beyond the ribbon. Their best friend liked to play with fluffy silkiness, so they tried to accommodate her whenever possible. In return, Luna accepted their presence inside her personal space, despite her dislike of other people in it. Some people thought that Luna was distant because of that, but Harry knew it was just what she did to prevent becoming overwhelmed by things touching her. It was no different from Harry humming to block out unpleasant noises. Luna was also very skilled at running off even the most aggressive fans—mostly of their parents, but there were a few who bought into the ridiculous tale that they had defeated Voldemort instead of their mother.
Mayhem chittered at them, drawing their attention to the digital clock where the black squirrel was lounging. If Harry wanted to eat before they needed to Floo to King's Cross, then they had better get moving. Harry scooped up Mayhem and grabbed their bag for the train before heading to the kitchen.
The six strands they had used to make it also meant that the braid was wide enough that the squirrel would be able to hide under it in cases of trouble.
Trouble usually came in one of three forms for Harry. The first was the most benign, a bossy Gryffindor girl in his year. Hermione Granger didn't like that they often bested her in class and on exams. They had tried to help her understand how they did it, but she couldn't seem to understand that they weren't playing during lectures when they had their ball in their hand. If it couldn't be read in a book, Granger didn't believe that it could exist. She had once reported them to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall for having an unapproved animal at the school, despite how they had gotten special permission to keep Mayhem with them. Granger wasn't a bad person so much as her prescriptive nature made her difficult to befriend, especially once Luna got to Hogwarts and Harry took to hanging out with their fellow Ravenclaw instead of attempting to make friends with their year-mates from other Houses.
The second and third were equally annoying and problematic but in different ways. Professor Snape taught Potions, only nominally because his teaching style was atrocious. All the man did was assign a potion to be brewed and then berate anyone who messed up making it. Moony was better at teaching Potions, and Moony couldn't brew anything other than tea! Aside from his horrible teaching, Snape also seemed to have a personal grudge against Harry and delighted in finding ways to punish Harry for things. Harry didn't even need to break the rules to earn point deductions or detentions, and Luna was typically caught up in the mess with them. Padfoot was both proud that Harry had surpassed his and Harry's dad's detention record and dismayed that it was only because of Snape's unchecked bias.
Their parents had tried arguing with the headmaster about it, but apparently Albus Dumbledore saw nothing wrong with how Snape acted. That was one of the reasons why Harry had trouble with the old man. The other reasons all came back to the same point: Dumbledore seemed convinced that Harry should be something other than what they was. When Harry had gone into Ravenclaw, Dumbledore had called Harry into his office to offer condolences for not making Gryffindor, like their father and mother. He also seemed convinced that Voldemort wasn't really gone, which Harry knew wasn't true.
Their mother had said that Voldemort had been captured the day he killed Harry's father and that he was nothing more than a bad chapter in the history of their corner of the wixen world. Harry knew they could trust anything their mother said in the tone that sounded like she was bracing for a fight. Lily Evans Potter did not play when it came to certain topics.
Only two things ever drew that particular tone from her: the Blood War and any type of discrimination. Since the Blood War only happened because of discrimination, it was often drew their mother's rare displays of actual temper. If Padfoot was around, it was even worse for the target of that rage, because those particular two of their parents easily fed into each other's emotions. Moony was the most level-headed of their parents, too used to keeping control of himself and his instincts.
"Harry," Lily called out as she turned from the stove to put the potato masala she had just finished making into a travel container. She grinned when she spotted them in the doorway. Her white teeth stood out against the dark tan of her face as sunlight caught in her dark red hair, making it glow like an aura around her head. "There you are, darling. Remus left a pot of chai on the stove before he left for the shop earlier. He said it's specifically for you to take on the train. There's dosa and chutney for the train, too."
"Beetroot?" Harry asked as they spotted the purple chutney. They grabbed a dosa from a nearby plate of them to scoop a bit of chutney and masala onto it. Mayhem jumped from their shoulder to the counter by the plate to grab his own dosa as Harry grabbed their purple mug from the little tree of them by the stove. They held his rolled dosa in their mouth precariously as they filled the mug a bit of the spiced tea.
"And ginger for Luna," Lily added. She frowned at Mayhem. As if sensing her gaze, the squirrel paused in eating his snack to look up at her. Lily was already pulling out her wand and summoning something. Mayhem clucked a warning at her as his service harness came sailing into view. "Now to get you ready, you tiny agent of chaos."
The squirrel tried to leap off the counter, only to get tangled up in his dosa and fall into the sink. He whined pitifully as Lily scooped him up and put the red harness on him. It was only necessary for the Muggle part of the train station. Otherwise, the Muggles might ask too many questions about his presence. The harness wasn't even a lie, as Mayhem did have all the necessary training and paperwork to be considered a service animal.
Mayhem still hated his harness with a passion that he usually reserved for squash, no matter how well trained he was. The squirrel announced his displeasure to the world. From her bed near the pantry, Murder raised her striped head at the screech. The cat flicked her single white ear at the noise before standing, stretching, and finally turning around to lay with her back to the group. Her stub of a tail flicked in clear irritation at the disturbance to her morning routine.
The moment Lily finished putting on his harness, Mayhem jumped back to the counter. He slid a bit from the inertia before managing to right himself. His fluffy tail curled over his back defensively, obscuring the bright red of the harness with his black fur. He glared balefully at Lily before jumping from the counter back to Harry's shoulder to take refuge under their braid.
Harry refused to laugh. Lily had no issue laughing at the frustrated squirrel for a brief moment before glancing at the red and gold cat-shaped clock on the wall over the kitchen table. With her own sigh of frustration, she used her wand to transfer the contents of the teapot on the stove to Harry's personal thermos.
"Every year, without fail," she muttered as she directed containers to pack themselves with her wand. She puffed out a breath as she tied off the stack of contained food with a red ribbon bearing the Potter seal (in a clay-gray this time). "One of these years, we will not be rushing to meet the train, I swear. Are you ready, darling?"
Harry finished off their breakfast, washing it down with the last of their tea. Mayhem chittered grumpily as Harry rinsed their mug. They gave an abbreviated sign meant to convey their lack of enthusiasm. Lily rolled her eyes as she would if Padfoot was overly dramatic about something.
"Like you aren't eager to see Luna," Lily said as she handed off the tiffin stack for Harry to shove into their bag. She gave them a teasing look. "You haven't seen her in a whole week. I honestly don't know how you survived!"
"I don't live in Luna's pocket, you know."
"Of course not," Lily agreed, her emerald eyes glittering merrily. "You both live in your books, just like Remus, and only come up to eat before diving in again."
Paragon of maturity, even at the tender age of sixteen, that they were, Harry stuck out their tongue at their mother. Lily just laughed as she ushered them both to the Apparation point in the back garden.