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. Additionally, there are references to manipulative actions as well as the canon character deaths at the end. Oh, and Gabriel is naked throughout that scene. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: So have you ever wondered why Lily, who canonically has a fierce temper and was protective of those she cared for, would do nothing more than simply beg Voldemort to spare her child?
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Quidditch League (Season 10); Ministry (Spring Year 1); RAVEN (2023); MC4A (Sp-Y6)
Individual Challenges: Chanter Banter (Y); Quaffles; Xs & Os; Bludgers; Colors of the Sky; Gryffindor MC (x3); Celestial MC (Y); Deal Maker (Y); Old Shoes (Y); Sandbox (Y); Crossing Over; Reader (Y); Cinematic (Y); Binger (Y); Animated (Y); Gamer (Y); Alpha & Omega; Divinity; Feathers & Such; Small Fry; Dreamers (x2); Elder Berries (x2); Nonhuman MC; Shifter MC; Ethnic & Present (x2); Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion (x2); Rowl in Her Grave; Short Jog; Bucket Listing; Eating Cake (Y); Exchange (Y); Greatest Gift; Green Ribbon; Two Cakes (Y); Salt Wrench; Bi Bi Bi; Ship Sails; Lunar Era; Curtain Color (Y); Rainbow Connection (Y); Finders; Gender Bender; Hold the Mayo
Team (Position): Wigtown Wanderers (Seeker)
Round (Prompt): Round 10-08 (n/a)
Other QL Challenges: PAW 8 (Elemental or Blood Magic)
Ministry Challenges: Animagus Registry [Tier 1: 5 Animagi in N/PR roles] (Lily/Dragon Form)
RAVEN Challenges: Settings [154](Yoga Studio); Items [38](Dagger); Colors [63](Honey)
Other MC4A Challenges: SpB [4C](Hat); Ship (Thorns)[SpBig (Cookie/Biscuit; Knife/Dagger); SpMed1 (Homemade Gift); SpMed2 (Nesting); SpMic1 (Omegaverse)]; Chim [Nettle]("God Help the Outcasts" – Hunchback of Notre Dame; Turned Left Instead AU; Race Bend)
Representation(s): Desi Lily Evans Potter/James Potter; Desi James has ADHD; Manipulative Albus Dumbledore; NB Gabriel; Blood Ritual; Nonsexual Intimacy; Chim Song Prompt; BC Use
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Middle Name; Mother Hen; Unwanted Advice; Delicious Lie; Fire Song; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress; Found Family); Chorus (Endless Wonder; Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi; Fizzy Lemonade; Machismo; Peddling Pots); Demo 1 (Trickster's Union; Muck & Slime; Civil Disobedience; Most Human Bean; Shiver & Shake; Inky Shadow; Fruit Fly; Grease Monkey; Where Angels Fear; Easy Zephyr; Lovely Coconuts; Under the Bridge); Demo 2 (Unicorn; Head of Perseus; Call me Dantes; Hot Stuff; Strange Potatoes; Eternal Boredom; Wind Beneath; Creature Feature; Sitting Hummingbird; Gingersnap)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Thimble); SN (Rail; Intercept); Once (Moses Supposes; Santa Fe; Cabaret); CM (Navigate; Yogin)
Space Address (Prompt): 3A (Negotiation)
Word Count: 2256 words
(^^)
Mother's Love
(^^)
Albus Dumbledore sat in the overstuffed armchair across from the matching couch as if it were his throne at the head table at Hogwarts. Lily tried not to let her irritation show too much. The armchair was one of her favorite places to nurse Harry, something that was she was currently delaying because she wasn't comfortable with the idea of doing it in front of the headmaster. She could never quite articulate, even to herself, why that was, but at the end of the day, everything inside her screamed to keep the beta away from her pup, that he was not to be trusted with him.
The aged headmaster was wearing peacock blue robes with tiny top hats stitched in a capri blue thread. Like many of Dumbledore's robes, the top hats had been enchanted to move. The result was very distracting. James in particular seemed almost enthralled with the dancing hats. While the outlandish and obviously magical fashion choice was in line with what Dumbledore typically wore, it annoyed her that he chose such a whimsical outfit to tell them such serious news. He was not nearly as inconsiderate during Order meetings.
Lily repressed the urge to shift into her animagus form to deal with the threat. Ever since giving birth to Harry, she had been influenced by the inner creature almost as much as Remus tended to be. It was unfortunate that a fully-grown dragon drew more attention than even a pack of mismatched animals running through the locale forest.
"I cannot share the exact wording of the prophecy," Dumbledore continued as confident that his audience believed his words as ever, "but I assure you that Voldemort already knows part of it. He will set his sights on your son. He believes that the child has the power to vanquish him, and he will not let that stand."
"If Voldemort knows the wording," Lily interjected, "then shouldn't we be told as well? So that we know how to prepare?"
"I am willing to cast a spell that will hide the secret of your location from anyone who haven't been told." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he steepled his fingers together and touched them to his thin lips. "You will be completely safe so long as the person who holds the secret doesn't tell anyone."
"That isn't what she asked about," James pointed out. His eyes were still following the waltzing hats. "Also, why would You-Know-Who target a baby in the first place? That seems like a ridiculous waste of time and resources."
"The prophecy said—"
"—that a child will have the power to vanquish him," Lily interrupted. "So you've said, while insisting that we believe you when you said it was our child that supposedly has this power. And you expect us to just accept that the prophecy is anything more than a fairy tale."
"This is no fairy tale," Dumbledore said solemnly. His blue eyes glinted with something other than his usual merriment. Good. He should be as irritated as she was. "The prophecy is real, and it carries with it a warning of great danger. Voldemort and his Death Eaters are coming for your son, and only he can stand against them."
It was James' turn to scoff then.
"Harry is a baby," he said. His brown hands flashed through a series of signs that Lily recognized as a suggestion of where Dumbledore could shove his prophecy, even if the headmaster seemed thankfully unaware. She knew there was a reason that she loved him. "He's not going to be vanquishing anything for a long while, unless you suggest that Voldie is going to take one sniff of a dirty nappy and die just to escape the smell. Wouldn't blame him, mind, but it does seem rather unlikely."
"You need to take this seriously," Dumbledore scolded, barely concealing his annoyance under a thin veil of disappointment. "Even if you do not believe in the prophecy, Voldemort certainly does, and he will allow nothing to stand in his way."
Lily and James exchanged a whole conversation in a silent glance. In all likelihood, this prophecy meant less than nothing if no one believed in it. However, if Dumbledore was not wrong about the potential danger if Voldemort gave it any credence. If their son was in danger, they had to protect him. Nothing else mattered as much as that. With a deep breath, they nodded to the old man, signaling their agreement to his request.
"We will do as you ask," said Lily, her voice trembling slightly. "We will protect our son."
The old man nodded his head, and with a wave of his hand, he disapparated right from the armchair. Lily and James stood there in silence, their minds filled with the dread of the prophecy and the uncertainty of their future.
Then Harry let out a furious wail from his nursery, demanding his already late feeding.
(^^)
Lily looked over the ritual circle she had set up in the basement of the little cottage she and her little family had been hidden in with Dumbledore's spell. They had originally wanted to use their own home which was just outside of Ashford and the other side of the woods from the main Potter manor. But just like Dumbledore had been insistent on casting his spell (with Peter as Secret Keeper, because allegedly Sirius was too obvious a choice, something that Sirius had agreed with), he had insisted on a different location with less familial wards. Apparently, having too many other protections in place interfered with the effectiveness of the Fidelus Charm.
She liked this whole situation even less with every passing day. Her inner dragon wanted nothing more than to just flambe the headmaster and run away with her little mismatched family to somewhere without power-mad egomaniacs like Voldemort and Albus bloody Dumbledore.
Hence why she had constructed this circle in the room that she had converted to a combined ritual room and yoga studio, ready to summon a higher power than either of the men threatening her son. Off to one side of the room, Harry slept in a palna made of ash grown on the Potter estate. She had debated who she had wanted to call. There had been multiple factors to take into consideration such as power, willingness to actually answer, and likelihood of not just smiting her for her hubris. No matter how desperate she was to protect her child, the last thing that she wanted to do was leave him an orphan.
Now everything was ready. The circle was carefully painted in a mixture of sesame oil and ash of both sandalwood and cedar. She had used Tamil-Brahmi for the runes, despite how Sanskrit might have been considered more traditional for who she was calling. Lily had grown up speaking Tamil, at least with her mother and grandparents because her stepfather had only ever learned a handful of words and Petunia had refused to learn even that much. Of all deities, she figured that Kali would prefer the honesty of choosing a language with such a personal connection over something seen as more proper just for the sake of tradition.
Using an athame made from black tourmaline, Lily cut across the palm of her left hand and let the blood flow down her fingertips into the shallow bowl made of deep orange carnelian. It mixed easily with the elderberry wine that was already there. Mindful not to spill a drop, Lily set the bowl next to the plain clay plate of boorelu, mysore pak, and candied mangosteen.
Lifting her hands, Lily closed her eyes as she began to chant in Tamil. The warm brightness of the oil lamps lighting the space flickered red-orange on the other side of her eyelids. The smell of burning dragon's blood and copal took her back to her childhood. She could almost hear her paati doing the daily prayers in the hours before the household awakened.
The sound of many mighty wings filled the basement in the heartbeat after her chant ended. Lily opened her eyes to see a figure standing opposite of her. They were clothed only in an aura of power that was magnified by the clear annoyance on their face. As Lily ran her gaze assessingly over their glistening skin and took in the way their dark blond hair was tousled, the annoyance in their honey-gold eyes made more sense.
The summoning had clearly interrupted an intimate moment, even if this being was probably not the goddess she had been trying to summon.
Lily stared up at the being, her heart thumping with anticipation. She hadn't expected that the summoning to work at all, but she had not expected to get the wrong entity if it had. Taking a deep breath, she decided that she might as well still ask. In for a penny, in for a pound, after all.
"I was trying to ask the Mother to protect my son," Lily said as evenly as possible. She barely noticed that she had continued in Tamil. The entity before her lost their air of annoyance. Their gaze swept across the room, taking in the black oil lamps decorated with blood red swords and the sweets laid out in offering at their feet. With a small sound of interest, they dropped into a lotus pose beside the plate and picked up one of the squares of mysore pak.
"Many mothers have come to Kali, asking for protection for their children," they said before plopping the sweet into their mouth. They chewed it thoughtfully and swallowed before continuing. "But you must understand that with every blessing comes a cost. The sword cuts both ways, as they say."
Lily nodded. She had expected this. Magic demanded balance just as much nature did. One could not expect to receive something without first giving up something in return. She knew that she would protect Harry until her dying breath. She just needed a protection to pick up if it ever came to that.
"I will pay whatever cost is required," she said. "Just please, keep my son safe."
The being nodded, their expression softening even further as they ate one of the boorelu. They next chose one of the candied mangosteen pieces. Then they nodded towards the cup of wine mixed with blood.
"If I take that back to Kali, it will bind both of you," they warned. "She'll protect the kid, even from other gods, and trust me when I say that she can go rounds with a lot of them without so much as breaking a sweat. But there would still be that pesky price." Their eyes flashed gold as they glanced at the palna where Harry was sleeping. "You clearly have a powerful mother's love, so it won't be easy to stand firmly in the way of a threat while also not fighting against it."
Lily took a deep breath as the implication washed over her. All her instincts, both as a mother and a dragon animagus, roared against the very idea of that. Standing between her child and danger was not the issue. She would do that for no other reason than it was what mothers did. But the idea of not fighting with everything she could, of not at least attempting to take out the threat first? It just didn't set right with her.
"Would it mean that he would live?" she asked. Because that really was the only thing that mattered in the end. She would do anything to make that happen. Any sacrifice would be worth it if that was the end result.
The entity nodded somberly. The expression didn't seem natural on their face, which looked like they were more prone towards laughter and merriment. With a twist in her heart, she realized that they reminded her of how the war was affecting Sirius.
"What's your name?" she asked before she thought it out enough to phrase the question less invasively. Luckily, the entity didn't take offense. They gave a half smile, as if they understood that she wasn't trying to pull one over them.
"I am called Loki," they answered. They let out a little laugh. "Your aim was not as far as you're probably thinking. I was with Kali. There's a lot more intermingling that you humans tend to realize. Eternity is a long time, after all." Loki ate another square of mysore pak. "Can I take the plate back as well? She'll kill me if I don't share, especially since it was actually meant for her."
"Of course," Lily agreed instantly. Did Loki honestly think that she wouldn't be willing to give them anything that they asked for? Especially since she wasn't certain how literal they were about Kali killing them. Loki nodded again, answering nonverbally because their mouth was full again. "Is there going to be any left for her?"
Loki nodded rapidly as if she had reminded them of something important. They picked up both the bowl and the plate. Then in a flash of what looked like an entire murder worth of raven wings, they were gone.
(^^)
When Voldemort attacked on that fateful Halloween night, Lily squashed all instincts that demanded she transform and see if her dragon's fire was enough to fry him like a batch of chips. Instead, she just refused to step aside, trusting that her request would be honored.
And in as destructive a manner as one would expect from the Dark Mother, it was.