Thanks to J for being a wonderful beta!
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The Lady | ||||||
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Category: Girl Talk Challenge (2010-3), Girl Talk Challenge (2010-3) Characters:Harry/Ginny, James Potter, Lily Potter Genres: General Warnings: Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 55 Summary: ** Winner of New Skills and the People’s Choice Award in the Girl Talk Challenge ** For protecting their son in the face of certain death, James and Lily Potter are given a wonderful gift: the chance to help their son succeed. James chooses the girl that Lily will train. Unfortunately, the girl is stubborn, willful and doesn't trust the Lady in her mind. Hitcount: Story Total: 25611; Chapter Total: 3449 Author's Notes: |
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31 May 1993 The hospital wing was a bloody nightmare; there was no doubt about it. Ginny couldn’t wait to be released. ‘On the other hand, I could have been sent home with Mum and that would have been so much worse,’ she thought to herself while counting how many green tiles there were on the ceiling compared to white ones. She already knew there were 847 blue tiles (thought it might be 853, as one sconce really blocked the back corner of the ceiling). Twelve hours of rest, a mug of hot chocolate and a talk with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had made all of the difference in the world. For the first time in months, Ginny Weasley felt like Ginny Weasley again. It was as though Tom had hidden the real Ginny away and now she had made her way out into the sunshine. She shuddered slightly at that, but chose not to dwell on it. It was not that someone had cast a spell on her and everything was completely fine — if the previous evening was any indication, she’d be having horrific nightmares for awhile. But, her life was her own again, and she was relishing it. At green tile 732, Madam Pomfrey appeared by Ginny’s head with a potion she recognized would make her sleep. Her mum was fond of using this potion when she or her brothers were ill or injured. Ginny drank it without protest (wouldn’t have done any good anyway), and soon fell asleep. She was unsurprised to find the Lady waiting for her. She was, however, surprised to find a tall man with unruly black hair and a charming grin, sitting next to the Lady in the meadow in her mind. It didn’t take an Unspeakable to figure out that this man was either supposed to be an older Harry, or Harry’s father. Considering that the huge smile looked comfortable on the man’s face, but seemed absolutely foreign on someone who resembled her brother’s best friend so closely, Ginny guessed this was James Potter or was someone trying to trick Ginny into believing he was James Potter. “Who are you, and what do you want?” She doubted even her mum would scold over her rudeness towards people who had entered her mind. The man’s smile changed slightly, becoming a smirk that was still somehow charming. It made Ginny a little wary, but she was impressed in spite of herself. It was a look that clearly stated the man was up to something, but it would probably get him or someone near him in trouble — if they were caught. “Another impertinent red-head, dear,” he chuckled. “I don’t think even you were that cheeky.” The Lady mumbled something that Ginny couldn’t hear, but the man apparently found it to be extremely funny. He threw his head back and laughed heartily. Once he calmed down, he leaned back onto his hands and gave Ginny a look that plainly stated he was contemplating her. Her gave another big smile and finally broke the silence. “Actually, I think Miss Weasley is less insolent than you, Lily, or even our son. Of course, since you and Harry are two of the most insolent people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, that really isn’t much of a compliment for the young lady, here.” He turned to the woman, Lily he had called her, and gave her a challenging smirk. “I blame you for all of his detentions. He gets them for back-talking. He takes after you in that, I think, since cheek is not the way to charm McGonagall into a lesser sentence. Why is it the two of you must always challenge anyone with authority?” The man chuckled again before standing and taking a step towards Ginny with his right hand outstretched. Ginny reached out and shook his hand before she could think better of it, but stepped back quickly as though burned. His smile never faltered. “I’m guessing that you’ve got a pretty good idea of who I am.” He raised his eyebrows when Ginny crossed her arms over her chest. “My name is James Potter.” “I know who you are trying to make me think you are,” she bit out angrily. “Who are you really?” Instead of answering her outright, like her brothers would have done, all indignant and raging, the man simply looked at her, cocking his head to the side. “You know, you’re a rather resourceful young woman. I’ve been impressed at some of the things you’ve accomplished without your brothers, especially the twins.” Here he gave her a huge grin. “Finding out. Ever heard of the Marauders?” The sudden change in subject threw Ginny off balance for a second, but she nodded anyway. ‘How does he know about the map I found in the twins’ room?’ “Remember the names?” She nodded slowly in response again. “I’m one of them. Can you guess which one?” Before Ginny had a chance to ask how she was supposed to guess, the man changed, his limbs becoming slender and his face elongating. It happened so quickly that if she had blinked, she would have missed the man transforming into a beautiful stag. In that instant, she believed the man, James. Stags were noble creatures, trustworthy, prideful, yes, but gentle too. “Prongs,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his velvety nose. She looked up and the Lady, Lily, had moved to stand beside Prongs, laying a hand gently on his back. The older witch waved her wand and a doe burst forth. It nuzzled Ginny’s ear, before rubbing its cheek against the cheek of the stag. Then it disappeared. A moment later, Prongs turned back into James. “Why didn’t you tell me?” The awe that Ginny felt standing in the presence of the Potters, Harry’s parents, was quickly swallowed up by her hurt and embarrassment. Lily, at least, knew that Ginny fancied their son! Lily fidgeted a little. It was a subtle shifting of her weight and it forcibly reminded Ginny of Harry. With the evidence staring Ginny in the face, it was obvious now that the reason the Lady, Lily, had seemed familiar was because Harry did resemble her slightly. The eyes, of course, but the cheekbones as well, and how they expressed themselves was remarkably similar. “I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed when you were younger by telling you why I was visiting you. Besides, I, er, didn’t want to, uh...” she trailed off to glare at her husband, who seemed to find her stammering humorous. “What she means is that you are like me and Harry is like Lily. I knew I was in love with Lily the moment that I met her.” He nodded knowingly at Ginny, but didn’t state the obvious. “Lily, on the other hand, only noticed me because I was always showing off in front of her.” He blushed and ducked his head. “She was very focused on her studies and her friends and didn’t have time for a toerag like me.” He patted Ginny’s hand. She knew she hadn’t been able to keep the dismayed look off of her face. “Harry’s just too caught up in everything going on around him to know what is in front of him, Ginny. One day he’ll catch up. Hopefully, earlier than his mother.” Ginny couldn’t help but giggle at the indignant look on Lily’s face. “Harry’s going to need your help. Voldemort will be back.” Lily smiled an actual wide smile when Ginny didn’t gasp at the name. “Good girl. You faced him, stood up to him and survived. It is your right and responsibility to call him by name. Better yet, call him Tom. It belittles him, and it’s not nearly as grand sounding.” Soon after that, James left. Now that Ginny truly understood why Lily was in her mind, she was focused on learning anything the older witch could teach her. Harry would need her help, and she was determined to be there for him. James had implied that his son would fall in love with her one day, though Lily was quick to remind her that they didn’t know the future and to not get her hopes up. But she had the blessing of Harry’s parents. Perhaps they could give her some insight on how to make him notice her while she learned a hex that sounded very interesting. LEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEP LEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPLEPL EP 9 June 1993 Either Ginny hadn’t yet noticed that Lily had entered the girl’s mind or she was deliberately ignoring the older witch. With Ginny Weasley, it was probably the latter. Instead of making noise to make her presence known, Lily sat down in the soft grass and observed the little red-head and her surroundings. This place was idealized version of a meadow. It was always sunny and warm, with a light breeze. The heather was as soft as goose down, the flowers were brilliant colours and the tree in the distance supported a swing at the absolute perfect height for jumping from without breaking an ankle. Deciding to try a different approach today, Lily lay back and imagined herself in Muggle clothing like she had worn during her summers at home — a plain shirt and a pair of denim shorts. The sandals she quickly kicked off to allow herself the chance to feel the grass under her feet once more. She could be patient. She imagined James would laugh at her claim that she could be patient. ‘Only with a potion, he would say. Well, Ginny is like a potion. Now I know all of the ingredients I needed and realized that I had nearly waited too long to add them. I don’t want to stir anything up too quickly, or add too much heat to it or everything might explode in my face!’ Lily had just closed her eyes and had truly begun to enjoy lying in the meadow when she heard footsteps beside her. She didn’t open her eyes, but waited, trying hard not to tap her feet or drum her fingers. Just when Lily was certain she couldn’t stay still any longer, she heard Ginny sit down beside her. The girl let out a beleaguered sigh. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were Harry’s mum?” Lily sat up in surprise. Out of anything Ginny could have asked, this wasn’t a question she had expected since she felt she’d already answered it. Before Lily could respond, Ginny spoke again. “I mean, don’t you think it would have been less likely I would have let T-Tom into my head if I had trusted you?” The girl was looking down at her fingers which were busy pulling bits of grass up. It was like being slapped in the face. The force of those words, the implication that it was Lily’s fault that Ginny had been the victim of that monster, sucked the breath from the older witch’s chest. Metaphorically speaking, of course. “You’re right. I should have...I mean, why would you trust me? I never gave you any reason to, and I’m sure Vol-, er, Tom seemed completely trustworthy. If only I’d have...” But Lily was rudely cut off by Ginny’s quiet giggles. It was only the tears streaming down the girl’s face that kept Lily from getting indignant. “Mr. Potter,” “James,” Lily corrected out of habit. “James is right. You are a lot like Harry.” Ginny gave a small, sad smile to Lily’s left elbow. “Ever since he rescued me, he’s been saying how he should have known or should have been nicer to me.” She shook her head. “It wouldn’t have helped. Things changed the moment I wrote in that diary. I doubt things would have been much different even if I had trusted you. Besides, I think I was able to fight Tom off longer because of the things you had taught me. When I started fighting back, I’d focus on my magic. I couldn’t do it for very long, but he couldn’t fight against me for more than a short while anyway. Maybe things wouldn’t have been so bad or gone as far if I’d have trusted you. But if you had been in my head...he might have hurt you too.” This was all said very fast. It didn’t make much sense to Lily as Ginny kept contradicting herself. Before she’d had a chance to figure out what had been said, however, Ginny whispered something that would change everything. “I’ve had a crush on Harry Potter forever, but I always wanted to be like Lily Potter, you. You’re brave and beautiful and perfect, and I’m none of those things.” Those words gave Lily Potter the final, most important ingredients to earning Ginny Weasley’s trust. |
| Reviews 55 |
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