The Parent Trap

Chapter Twenty-Three: I'm Lily

                                       Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter :)

            "Well I don't know about you, but I'm stuffed." Hermione stated as she wiped her mouth off with a napkin before picking up her empty plate and placing it in the left side of the kitchen sink while she placed soap and ran warm water in the opposite side.

           "Me too." Lily replied, following her mother into the kitchen then placing the dirty plate into the water for her mother to wash.

          "Why don't you head to the living room and go pick out a movie for the two of us to watch tonight while I finish cleaning up the kitchen."

        "Yes, ma'am." Lily nodded as she placed a kiss on her mother's cheek before exiting the kitchen. About half an hour later, Hermione strode into the living room and took a place on the sofa next to Lily.

       "So, did you pick a movie?" Hermione asked as she placed a loose, black strand of hair behind Lily's ear.

      "Not yet. Actually, I was hoping the two of us could talk before we started a movie." Lily replied as she bit the bottom of her lip as she sat crisscross on the couch.

      "Talk about what?" Hermione asked, craning her neck to the side as she stared at her daughter in confusion.

        "Well, there was something that happened at camp that I had left out..." Lily trailed off causing Hermione to go into a slight panic.

      "What happened? Did someone hurt you!"

        "No! No, mom, nobody hurt me. It's about someone I met there during the first couple of days I arrived." Lily explained as her mother who had jumped off the couch, nearly having a heart attack. Lily shut her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself that it was time for her mum to know the truth.

       Hermione watched as her daughter's expressions had taken a slight turn from when they were eating dinner nearly an hour ago. Lily had been happy, talking about all the fun things she and Ms. Jenkins had been doing over the last couple of days while she had been at work. Now, her little girl looked as if she was harboring a huge secret. Which was strange, seeing as Hermione and Hailey had never kept secrets from one another. Well, at least Hailey didn't. Hermione's heart stopped racing as much when she took a seat back on the sofa and rested her hands on top of her daughter's.

       "Sweetheart, you know you can tell me anything." Hermione told her as she took her index finger and placed it under Lily's chin, coaxing her to open her beautiful brown eyes. Lily finally looked at her mother, just staring at her, trying to find the right words.

       "Who did you meet at the camp? Did you meet a boy?" Hermione teased, but the worried look on her daughter's face didn't shift in the slightest, telling her she definitely wasn't talking about a boy. "Sweetie, who did you meet at camp?"

     Lily took a deep breath once more, summoning up the courage to talk. She looked straight into the eyes that resembled so much of her own, as she opened her mouth to speak. "I met my twin, Mom."

         Hermione's eyes grew about twice their size, her breath hitching in her throat as her heart began to beat rapidly once more. 'No, I must have misheard her, right?' Hailey couldn't have possibly met Lily. What are the odds that would have happened while she was at camp? Hermione tried to gain control of her emotions, clearing her throat. "Your twin? Hailey that's ridiculous. You know you're an only child."

        "Really, Mom? Then tell me, why did she have a picture of you that fit so perfectly in the identical locket that you gave me?" Lily asked aggravated as she leaped off the couch, pulling out the gold locket that was hidden underneath her clothes. 'Would it really kill her to tell me the truth? Is she so ashamed to have me as a daughter?' Lily thought to herself frustratedly as warm tears poured down her petite face.

     "Hailey! What has gotten into you?!" Hermione asked as she stood up from her seat, kneeling in front of her daughter as she placed both her hands on each side of her daughters face, wiping away the fallen tears before they stained her cheeks.

       "My name's not Hailey. It's Lily."

         Hermione's hands slowly fell away from her daughter's face, her heart stopping for a brief moment as she took in the words her daughter had spoken. Gone was the accent Hailey had accustomed when she was just a tot, and in its stead was an accent she hadn't heard from her daughter in ten years. Could it really be Lily?

      "L-Lily?" Hermione Stammered, fighting back the flood of tears that desperately wanted to escape. Lily nodded her head as she looked down at the beige carpet, folding her arms across her small torso.

     "I don't understand. How? When?"

      "You and dad both sent us to the same camp. About two days in, Hailey and I were playing a game of quidditch and just as the game ended, Hailey had reached a little too far off her broom and took a slight fall. I went to check on her to see if she was okay, and then once we saw one another, it was as if we were looking into a mirror. Ever since that day, she and I had been talking, getting to know one another better." Lily explained in her thick accent.

     "So, ever since I've picked you up from the train station, you've been pretending to be Hailey, while she's posing as you halfway across the world with your father?" Hermione spoke in a whisper, staring at her eldest daughter. Lily nodded her head once more.

        "Yes," Lily admitted, " We both wanted to get to know what each of you were like, what it would be like to live with the other for a change. We miss out on having the other parent in our lives for the last ten years. Neither of you would speak about one another, so we took the opportunity into our own hands." Lily explained, hoping her mum would understand the situation her and Hailey had been placed in. " For ten years, I grew up without a mother and I seized the opportunity to get to know you, just hoping that maybe you could love me just as much as you love Hailey."

       "Sweetheart, I have never stopped loving you. You are my pride and joy and I am utterly sorry for what your father and I have put you through. Each year on your birthday, do you know what I do?" Hermione asked as she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, tears cascading down her face. Lily shook her head 'no', indicating Hermione to continue on. 

     "I conjure up a cupcake with my wand and light a candle for you. I blow it out and I wish for my oldest daughter to have the best day possible. Leaving you behind was the biggest mistake of my life, and I have had to live with it each day for ten years. My love for you, my sweet girl, has only grown stronger with each passing day. Never forget that my love." Hermione told her, placing a kiss on top of her head before embracing the daughter she had cried over for months at night. Hermione and Lily embraced one another for what felt like a century, grieving the last ten years without one another.

      "You're not mad at me?" Lily asked as she pulled back from her mother, wiping off the last of the escaped tears.

      "I could never be mad at you, love. I am so thrilled to hold you once more in my arms."

       "I love you, Mum."

       "I love you too, sweetheart." Hermione smiled. "You know what we have to do though, right?"

       "Switch us back and tell dad?"

        "Unfortunately. According to the law you belong to your father and Hailey belongs with me."

         "I understand." Lily told her mother as a smile crept onto her face. "Does that mean you will move back to London?"

       "Oh sweetheart, I don't know. There's so much your father and I would have to discuss."

       "When are you wanting to leave for London?"

       "I think this weekend. That way it gives me time to get to know you as 'Lily'." Hermione told her, causing Lily's smile to widen.

        "I'd like that a lot."

       "So how about we watch that movie now?" Hermione suggested as she walked over to her display case where hundreds of movies sat.

       "Sure thing." Lily said as she sat back down on the sofa, enjoying the rest of the night with her mother, anxiously awaiting the weekend ahead of her.