The Youngest One—
Everyone in her family was labeled. Being in such a large family, you had to make a name for yourself somehow. But luckily, Lily was born with a label that she didn't have to create. She wasn't the clumsy one, or the pretty one, the one who didn't care, or the Quidditch player; she wasn't the quiet one or the smart one, or the funny one or the rebel. She certainly wasn't the mischief maker or the pushover, or the rule follower or the restaurateur. She was the youngest.
She was the baby of the family, always coddled by the adults and protected by the older children. But also scrutinized for not being like her cousins/brothers/adopted brother Teddy and teased and mocked by the older members of her family.
So she ran away. She saved her money from when she worked her summer jobs and traveled across Europe at her own discretion, occasionally stopping to send mail to her family.
She laughed and ate and drank and was merry. She went from Europe to Asia and back again. Then she went to the Americas and Australia. She met people and talked with different accents; she tried new things and took new risks.
Her family wrote her constantly, informing her of the new additions and begging for her to come back home.
Eventually she came home, a man on her arm and a flower in her hair.
She was the youngest one, but she saw the most of the world. Because when she was out in the world she wasn't just "The Youngest of the Weasley/Potter/Lupin Family". She was her own person. She was Lily Potter and she was fearless. She swam with sharks and ate rattlesnakes; she walked over hot stones and climbed to the highest mountain peaks.
Out there she wasn't just one of the many. She realized later, that even though most of the cousins probably felt like that, none of them were.
They were each their own person and despite their differences they formed a family as unique and as fun as all of the continents put together. The other places were fun, but here with her cousins and second cousins, her aunts and uncles, her brothers and her parents, and her Bryan, this was home.
Behind all of their facades, they were still family.
A/N: Whew! It's done!
What did everyone think? Were the characters as you expected them to be?
Let me know what you think!
~wwccd