Roses and Riots | f. weasley

Prologue

31st October 1981

It was a cold night that Halloween, and a young couple watched their young daughter dancing around the room with a blanket on her shoulders, wearing it like a cloak. She was singing and using one of her mother's paintbrushes as a wand, and the young couple shared a loving smile between them.

James Potter stood rocking a small baby and gave his wife a kiss on the head before leaving the room to put the baby to bed, having finally managed to get him to settle down to sleep.

The little girl continued dancing and singing, and Lily Potter watched adoringly from the bed, absentmindedly playing with a locket that hung around her neck. James came back in and flopped down onto the bed, pulling his wife into his arms and kissing her until she laughed.

The little girl ran up to the bed and joined in with the laughter, though she didn't know what was so funny. They looked at her, and she gave them a toothy smile, her dark hair resting in messy waves over her shoulders, and her bluish-green eyes sparkling with her childish glee, and with intelligence that surpassed her three years.

She ran over to the edge of the bed and attempted to climb up to be with them, but she was too small. She huffed and held up her arms, "up, Daddy!"

James laughed at her demanding tone and leaned down to scoop the little girl up onto the bed, "so bossy, I wonder who she gets that from, darling."

Lily laughed and ruffled her husband's hair playfully, and the little girl nestled between her parents, immediately starting to play with the necklace her mother wore. Lily took off the locket and put it on her daughter, giving her a kiss on the head, "you can play with it for now, sweetheart."

She opened the locket for the child to look at, and the girl immediately beamed at the photographs.

"See that?" James said, pointing to one of the tiny photos on the inside, "how many are in this photo?"

The little girl held up four little fingers, "four."

"Brilliant, and in this one?" he asked and she studied it for a minute before holding up two fingers, "two."

Lily pulled the girl onto her lap, "and how old are you?"

The girl thought very hard about that and held up three fingers, "I'm...three."

"You are, and now you're going to bed!" James said and he scooped his daughter from his wife's arms and held her upside-down, making her giggle.

"She's definitely a daddy's girl, I'd just get complaints and a tantrum," Lily chuckled and her husband held the girl upright when her giggles got loud enough that they might wake the baby.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Lily's cheek, "her personality is all you, love. And she looks just like you."

Lily stood up from the bed and wrapped her arms around her husband and the little girl who lay her head on her father's shoulder, "her cheekiness and stubbornness is definitely your fault then, and this hair!" She gently combed the girl's unruly dark waves.

"Say goodnight to Mummy, sweetheart," James said quietly and the girl reached out to stroke her mother's hair, "nighty night, Mummy."

"Goodnight, my darling. I love you," she kissed each of her daughter's cheeks and then her forehead as she did every night, the girl smiled sleepily at her. She giggled as her parents shared a quick but loving kiss and then she was being carried from the room into her own bedroom, but a loud bang made her father jolt to a sudden stop.

"Lily?"

"James!"

Lily ran out of the room and cupped James' cheek, and they shared a look, an unspoken agreement between them. They kissed, hard, and exchanged 'I love you's', Lily kissed her daughter on the forehead, and then they were running to opposite ends of the upstairs hallway.