Lily Luna's Story

Chapter 1

I know this starts off really slow, but please bare with me!

Chapter 1

Families are like rose petals. The petals are intertwined and tight-knit, but there are always the petals that are on the outside, wanting to be part of the beautiful pattern and not quite making it. In my family, I was the outside petal; always there and trying to fit in, but not quite managing. That was the way it always was and how I thought it always would be. But I was wrong.

I shut my eyes, enjoying the sun’s rays spreading lovely warmth over my body. I heard my cousins and brothers shouting at each other over something in the Quidditch game they had been enjoying for an hour. It was only a matter of time before someone – presumably Hugo – messed up, making James lose his anger. That was what always happened.

“Hey, Lily,” said a quiet voice, approaching soundlessly. I jumped at the unexpected sound of it. Usually nobody talked to me much, especially if there was a Quidditch game going on, that even Rose was interested in watching more than talking to me.

“Hi, Lorcan,” I replied just as quietly, my cheeks flushing red. He sat down beside me and we fell into a comfortable silence. Lorcan was probably my best friend, but we never really talked much. It was just nice having someone to sit with and give me company.

“Lily!” Mum shouted from inside the Burrow, where she had been talking furniture plans with Grandma Molly. I smiled at Lorcan before running inside to see what my mother wanted.

“Lily, love,” Mum smiled. “Your Dad and I are going now, so we’ll see you tomorrow, ‘kay?” I nodded and she pulled me into a tight hug. I wanted to pull free and remind her that I was no longer a baby, but decided against it. As Mum constantly repeated to me, I would always be her baby.

“Stay safe,” Dad instructed seriously, kissing my cheek. I rolled my eyes. What sort of danger could I get in with Grandma Molly’s hawk-like eyes trained on me? None whatsoever. I had no idea why Mum and Dad were always so obsessed with me keeping out of harm’s way, when James and Albus were allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted. But as always, I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t like confrontation or fights.

Mum, Dad and all the adults were leaving us kids here at the Burrow to help Mum and Dad move furniture to our new house. Well, it wasn’t really new, since it had belonged to my Grandparents, Lily and James, before they died when Dad was only a baby. Dad had found out a few months ago that only he could restore the house to its former glory, since he was the ‘heir’.

“Bye, Mum and Dad!” I waved. I was eager for them to leave and to finally be freed from their constant worries that I was sitting alone or being left out, when really, I just liked to be by myself.

I left the Burrow and went back outside to join Lorcan, who was now watching the Quidditch game. From the strained look on James’s face, I assumed his team was losing.

James spotted me coming to watch, and his face lit up. My brothers were both wonderful to me, not like how Fred treated Roxanne, or Rose to Hugo.

I waved to James, distracting him from catching the Quaffle Fred threw to him. It hit him square in the face, nearly knocking him off the broom.

“Thanks, Lils!” Louis shouted, pumping his fist as Dominique scored for his team. I laughed.

My family was brilliant and I loved them all very much, but I was just so different to them all. They were all competitive, whether with Quidditch (as most of them were), or grades at school (as Rose, Molly and Lucy were), or even who thought of the best prank (aka James, Fred and Louis). I, on the other hand, couldn’t care less if I scored best in a Potions exam, or whether the Chudley Cannons won the last Quidditch match. It just wasn’t my personality.