Greetings!
This chapter came out later then I intended...mostly because it took an age to decide on which character to write. XD I eventually settled on Lily L. Potter. In quite a lot of New-Gen stories, she tends to fulfill the Fiery Redhead role, and honestly I find it a bit predictable. Probably likely, but predictable. So here's the inner mechanisms of her. She proved kind of hard to write- Ginny and Lily Potter aren't really characters I'm very fond of, but I kind of like this. A special thanks to the Lucky Star forum.
Enjoy!
Harry Potter's daughter was named after her grandmother, the woman who protected her son, whom she loved so much, from beyond the grave. Lily Potter.
Lily Potter was perfect.
Lily Luna Potter is not.
The truth is, she hates the fact that she was named after her grandmother, whom she is nothing like.
People remember Lily Potter fondly because she died a hero- she died to save her son, and people only ever have good things to say about her. The dead never do anything wrong. Only the living screw things up.
Sometimes, Lily wishes she could meet her Aunt Petunia. It seems like a ridiculous thing to want, considering how much Lily and her brothers dread visiting their Uncle Dudley and his family. The stories she has gleaned about her father's past are very rarely cheerful, and Harry himself rarely speaks of it.
But Lily can't help but think that Petunia isn't someone to be hated, but to be pitied. Overshadowed by her brilliant, beautiful, magical sister. It's not an excuse for how she treated Harry, but it's still a reason. People are not perfect. In fact, they're characteristically scared and angry and selfish and Lily wishes she could tell people this. In a way, she sometimes feels that James and even Albus got off more lightly then she did, because nobody ever called James Potter perfect. Albus Dumbledore, too, was flawed, but both of them are still heroes. Lily wishes people could understand that she isn't perfect and despite how hard she tries, she never will be.
So she gives up.
One evening, shortly before she turns eleven, she is suddenly so angry with herself that she gets up (ignoring the bickering from her brother's, which is uncommon for her) and walks into the kitchen and grabs a pair of scissors.
Shutting herself in the bathroom, Lily looks over herself in the mirror.
She doesn't have her grandmother's eyes. Only Albus has inherited the famous Potter eyes, and for that, she is immensely grateful. But she does have the trademark red hair, and it makes her sick.
Lifting up the scissors, she lifts up one of her almost waist-length strands and makes an angled snip.
She doesn't feel a thing.
Giggling slightly with the giddy thrill of doing something so rebellious and yet so simple, she lifts up another lock and chops at that one too. When she lets go, the hair swings back to frame her face on either side, making her slightly round face look different, framed in red.
Lily carries on cutting, her bottled up anger pouring up with each cut. She's amazed to see how much hair she seems to have, and wonders why she's never thought to cut it like this before. It feels so good she wants to cry with relief.
Soon, there is so much hair at her feet that she looks like she has snakes curled up around her legs. Looking in the mirror, Lily smiles at the messy, raggedy bob that just brushes at her shoulders, her fringe crooked and the tips uneven.
Her mother is absolutely furious when she sees it, but Lily screams when Ginny attempts to fix it with her wand.
No! Leave it alone, mum. I like it this way, it looked so babyish long.
Her mother is baffled, but Lily knows that even if she does grow it back magically, Lily will just go back and chop it all off again. She's pretty sure there isn't a spell for making your hair invulnerable to scissors, after all. It makes her look different from her mother, too, who has retained her long, flame-colored locks (albeit streaked with grey) into adulthood. Lily isn't fiery and passionate like Ginny, and she knows everyone expects her to be.
It's not fair.
Her brothers tease her about her hair, but it soon becomes apparent that as ridiculous as it looks, Lily is proud of it, and she even maintains it when it grows a couple of inches. When she finally hits eleven and boards the Hogwarts express, she hears other children laughing at her and she laughs along with them. She is happy to be noticed for something other than her parents.
When she gets older, she finally grows out the crooked fringe and uneven length, as her hair darkens to a warm brunette shade. She insists on being called an amalgamation of her two names- Lily Luna becomes Lina, and she refuses to answer to her first name if anybody forgets. Luna doesn't bother her so much- nobody has ever accused her Aunt Luna of being perfect, and the truth is, Lily admires her, because Luna Lovegood-Scamander has never cared about what anybody thinks of her, and Lily thinks that makes her one of the bravest people that she knows. And it was Luna who explained something to Lily that she had never thought of.
"Lilies are the flowers of death and rebirth, you know." Luna had told her serenely, a long time ago, her blonde hair dyed a brilliant gold in the sun. "That's why you always seem to see them at funerals."
Rebirth...
Flicking her raggedy hair off her shoulders, Lily looks out at the evening sky as the Hogwarts Express chugs resolutely onwards and reflects that sometimes, really, being alive is one of the only things we can do. Sometimes, it's all you can do to take each day as it comes and to not let yourself be swallowed up whole, by both life and death.
That was the thing about flowers, Lily thought, as the castle loomed into view and her stomach twisted in anticipation. No matter how many times they wither and die...another will grow in its place. Bigger and more beautiful than before.
When she steps off the train, a bittersweet smile crosses her face.
Sometimes.
This is a slightly downbeat ending (not as much as Teddy's, but still) but it's honestly a lot cheerier then what I originally had planned. Heh. Anyways, if you have a request, please let me know!