Lilian had come back from school for winter break, and Daphne waited in the crowded Station, sighing quietly. Her daughter's letters had been detailed, almost vividly painting her first year. Lilian did say she had something to show Daphne, which just made her worry what could it be. Perhaps she had found out? Her letters sounded normal, so there was a small chance that wasn't it. Maybe it was some spell or another.
The train arrived at the station, and with it, a smoke cloud; Daphne coughed, wishing wizards strived more for function than aesthetics, and hoped her clothes didn't stink like smoke the rest of the day. She had other places to be, after all.
"Mum!", called Lilian, and Daphne blinked quickly, wondering if her daughter had jumped out of a window to be out so quickly. Daphne remembered being stuck on a line forever while waiting to get out of the train. Behind her, Molly, the only symbol of a House affiliation being her nails painted blue and bronze. Her daughter, meanwhile, had her hair tied up with a red bow, and Daphne wondered how that had happened. Sure, she had had three months to get used to the idea, but theory and practice, as always, were two different things.
Still, Lilian was her daughter, being a Gryffindor or not. Daphne smiled, waving.
"Lilian, dear, and Molly, I presume?", she hummed, and the Weasley girl nodded.
"Yes, Mrs. Greengrass, I'm Molly Weasley.", the girl offered a small curtsey, and Daphne smiled. Perhaps she was a Weasley. But someone had raised her right. Daphne offered the girl a nod, and Lilian grinned to her.
"It's nice to meet you, Molly. I hope Lilian isn't causing you too much trouble,", Daphne replied, smiling when Lilian protested, blushing, and Molly shook her head.
"Lily isn't trouble, if anything, I am,", Molly said, but Daphne froze. Of course the nickname to Lilian would be Lily - Daphne may have had named her daughter for Harry's mother, but she had always refrained calling Lilian by the actual name, as if it wasn't something that others, who didn't know why she was called that, wouldn't do it.
"Yeah, I'm an angel,", Lilian huffed.
"Let's... Not go that far.", Daphne laughed while Lilian spluttered at Molly's remark, and the girl pushed her glasses up her nose. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Greengrass, but I'll be going. Lily, see you soon?"
Molly smiled, starting to move away, and Lilian blushed brightly. Now that was curious.
"Wait, let me say goodbye with you! Mum, excuse me,", Lilian said, leaving with Daphne her trunk as she went with Molly. Daphne watched her daughter carefully, noticing her approaching a boy with turquoise hair with a Hufflepuff scarf, talking excitedly with Harry.
That spelled disaster in full capitalized letters, and Daphne could hear sirens go off in her head as Lilian approached Harry, but, Merlin bless, she seemed more focused on the turquoise-haired boy, chatting his ear off. Molly spoke with Harry, and he talked for a brief moment with Lilian, who seemed confused, but quickly recuperated, chatting a bit more with them before making a vague motion to where Daphne was and leaving.
When Lilian approached, Daphne noticed she seemed upset, and she looked at Harry, wondering if, perhaps, she shouldn't go and give him a piece of her mind. She could probably conjure a pair of strong words for him, Daphne was sure.
"What happened?", she asked, eyes facing Lilian, forgetting Harry. "Are you okay?"
"Why did uncle Harry pretend to not know me, mum?", she asked, eyes wet with tears, and Daphne -
Daphne felt like the cruelest person in the entire world. She had kept her daughter's father a secret, and now that the two of them were close, it couldn't happen in public without raising suspicion. After all, how was Harry supposed to explain how he knew his ex-girlfriend's daughter? There were too many secrets.
Daphne, however, did her best to smile, messing up a bit of her daughter's hair.
"Well, perhaps he didn't want Molly to ask how you two knew each other?", Daphne offered, and her daughter furrowed her brow. She needed a subject change, and fast. "So, Lilian dear, why don't you tell me more about that boy with colorful hair? You seemed quite interested in him."
Lilian blushed, and Daphne started moving, going to the Muggle entrance, Lilian just behind her.
"That's Teddy, he's a Prefect, and...", Lilian bit her lower lip, and Daphne smirked. Now that was interesting.
"Do I sense a crush?", Daphne hummed, and Lilian was properly scandalized. Oh, it definitely was a crush.
"No! He's just really nice. He offers help on the library on some subjects, and I'm a bit bad at Transfiguration, and Teddy's really good at it...", Lilian starts, the blush only deepening. That would be fun.
"I see, sweetheart. Does Teddy have a girlfriend?", Daphne asked, and Lilian huffed.
"He does, and she's just as nice.", her daughter seemed a bit put off, and Daphne had to bit back a laugh. Ah, to be young and in love. Daphne had no idea what that was, at Lilian's age, but she hoped for the best.
At Lilian's age, she had a vague idea of what was expected of her - to be a good girl, to have the best grades, and to be a good wife to whatever man she would be married off when she was finished with schooling. Her luck had been that the side her parents fought for had lost, and she had been able to seize the Greengrass leadership; otherwise, she would be a pretty trophy wife to some old man. Eleven-year-old Daphne would be amazed at what she had become.
Well, perhaps not so much, she thought to herself, smiling at Lilian. Eleven-year-old Daphne would be aghast at the fact she had become a single mother. It was for the best, however.
"Well, sweetheart, I'll hope for the best for you, then.", Daphne hummed, and Lilian grinned. "Now, why don't you choose what we have for lunch?"
"I want ice cream.", Daphne wasn't sure why she had asked, but laughed nonetheless.
"Alright, but just this time, okay?", Daphne answered. "And after ice cream, we're getting something for you to eat."
"But that's not dessert, mum,", Lilian whined, and Daphne smiled. "Dessert is supposed to be sweet!"
"You're having dessert for lunch, nothing is fairer than lunch for dessert,", she hummed. Lilian groaned, and Daphne kept her laughter to herself.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Black coffee, with sugar
फैनफिक्शनDaphne woke up to the smell of coffee, which was unusual, all things considered. Mostly because she didn't drink coffee.
