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When Lily was sixteen months old, she danced into her daddy’s arms, giggling as he picked her up. She laughed and reached for his glasses and matched his smile before he blew a raspberry into her neck.
She had never taken a step before, preferring to crawl or be carried everywhere. And her daddy was the one that always fell for her wanting eyes and grabby hands, he found her in every space and she let herself be found. She wanted him, because to her, he was safety.
She danced for him first and it continued from there.
At three years old, she dressed up in little pink tutus and spun around and around with the other little girls in her class. She laughed and the other girls followed after her, spinning around in circles and letting their tutus flare out as they moved. Her teacher noticed that she had a certain love for game, for the art of dance.
She was three and knew that she was going to find happiness in her pink tutus and practiced spinning.
At five, she got the solo of her class and the whole family showed up, not just her parents and brothers, not just her nana and grandad, not just her godmother and her sons. But the whole family, all of her aunts and uncles and cousins, all of their friends, anyone who was able to came and watched her dance. They watched her spin and spin and spin in a pink tutu that clashed with her hair and freckles.
She couldn’t see any of them, none of her family, though the only one she wanted to watch her was her daddy. She was his only little girl, that was the truth, if anyone deserved to watch her dance it was him.
He was the first one to see her dance all those years ago.
At seven, she was moved up to a higher class, her talent leading the way. The girls were older, they were taller and faster, they were more graceful and could hold the positions longer. But she practiced, falling down and working harder, over and over and over again. She practiced day and night every day, she practiced during her holidays, during school days, during her dance classes and also in the free time she had at school.
At eight she got the solo for the spring concert, and this time it meant something to her, it meant something to everyone. She was the youngest of the older class, something she was used too, she was the youngest of her brothers and cousins, of her grandparent’s grandchildren.
She was the youngest in every sense of the word, even if she was never meant to be.
Lily doesn’t let her age change anything, she dances, she practices, she strives for perfection, she spins around in her pink tutus and smiles when her daddy picks her up from class. They always walk home unless it’s raining, Harry carrying her pink bag and listening to her stories while Lily laughs and tries not to trip over her own feet.-+
That summer she rides her bike down to the village every day to practice at the community center. She practices in the hallways, in empty classrooms, between her own classes. She likes the feel of her body floating through the air, it’s not the same as riding a broom, as her daddy spinning her around in his arms when he hugged her. She spends a lot of time that summer on her bike, dancing for hours and hours, doing her best to make her daddy proud.
At eleven, she has to make a decision, between hanging up her tutus and tights, and between the magic she belongs too. She spends the summer trying to make the decision on her daily bike rides in and out of the village, listening to her brothers’ stories in her head, listening to the stories her parents and aunts and uncles tell her of Hogwarts.
It’s Teddy, Teddy and his guitar sitting outside waiting for her and only her one night. He takes her out to the pub, gets her a basket of fish and chips with extra lemons just how she likes. He goes up on stage and sings and plays his guitar, and it reminds her of his band and the stories he always told her of his school years.
He kept his passions and went to school, he was able to juggle both.
Hugo was already talking about making an intermural football game, Louis was slowly packing away his art supplies with his school books and supplies. Rose always took a few cookbooks with her, Al had his toy cars, Molly and Lucy set up shop together to hem clothes for a few knuts.
So when it comes time for her to pack her school trunk, her tights and tutus and pointe shoes all get packed away too. Along with one last thing she never expected.
“This was my dad’s, and he never had the chance to pass it down to me himself, but I’ve thought long and hard about which one of you I would like to pass this down to,” said Harry, sitting down on the floor beside Lily, a wrapped package in his hands. “I gave James the first Snitch I ever caught the night before he went to school, and Al the map my dad and his friends made of Hogwarts, but I think this is much more you, Willow.”
Lily took the package from him and ripped it open, feeling the cool silvery fabric on her fingers before it spilled out onto her lap. She remember feeling this fabric in her daddy’s side of the closet when she used to hide in there when she was little, or more so littler.
“I use to use this to sneak out of my dorm in the middle of the night, sometimes to find a quiet space that was all my own,” continued Harry as Lily stood up and wrapped the cloak around her shoulders, making her invisible. “And like I told your brothers, I don’t care what kind of trouble you get into, but don’t get this confiscated.”
“Why would I do that daddy?” asked Lily, twirling around and letting the fabric flare out around her body.
“You never know Willow-Lulu,” said Harry, getting to his own feet and pulling her onto his, like when she was five or six. They waltzed around the room, Lily giggling and Harry smiling down at her, neither of them paying attention to Ginny in the door frame, her camera in her hands.
At eleven, Lily was sorted into red and gold, she made friends, she made old friendships stronger. She went to her classes, she did her homework, she ate in the Great Hall, and she snuck out after curfew to dance on the astronomy tower.
She came back to the community center well practiced and ready to learn more, she danced in the summer recitals and helped out with the younger class. She taught them how to spin without getting dizzy and why each position was important.
And her summers passed, one after the other, the school years doing the same. Dancing always there for her, always able to make her feel better, feel happy.
“May I have this dance, Willow-Lulu?”
Lily smiled and took her daddy’s hand, smiling as he let her lead the way.
“Of course, daddy.”