Unbreakable Vows [Harry Potter, Next Gen]

chapter i

There was one thing that Lily was certain about; her parents were absolutely hopeless with looking after plants. In fact, Harry had singlehandedly killed three out of her five succulents by March of Lily's first year at Hogwarts. And yet here she was, writing careful instructions for her parents on plant care for all those poor plants that she couldn't take to Hogwarts with her. She felt bad, really, but her parents were much better at parenting than they were at gardening.

Lily could remember the summer she came home from first year, long days spent in the August sun, making sure Harry and Ginny knew every detail on every plant in Lily's garden. On those days, James and Al had sat on the lawn, lazily throwing around a quaffle. Quidditch to them was what plants were to Lily (even if they could never quite grasp that).

Putting down her pen, Lily sank into her chair, letting her dark red ponytail fall back. On days like this (summer still creating humidity in the air, sun staying out until 8pm) she always pulled her hair up and out of the way in a loose hair elastic so she could feel the sun on the back of her neck. To her, summer felt like freedom.

And then the day would draw to a close, and she'd be drawn back to her family - her dear, dear family - just in time for dinner. On most days, like today, James would come to fetch her down for tea about twenty minutes early, putting his feet up on Lily's bed (for Lily was nearly always at her desk).

"Hey, James," Lily smiled, turning to face him as she tightened her ponytail.

"Hey Lil," he sighed, putting his arms behind his head. He nodded to the pile of paper on her desk. "Plant instructions?"

Lils rolled her eyes. "Of course. What did you think it would be?"

"Perhaps your secret pledge to carry on the family tradition and at least try to join the Quidditch team-"

"Ha, ha," Lily faked a laugh. "In your dreams."

"Then support Hufflepuff's team-"

"Again, no. You don't even go to Hogwarts anymore, and unless you want Al to hex me the minute we get to school-"

"Dude, he's already seventeen, he can hex you whenever he wants."

Lily got up and budged James' legs out the way before sitting down. "It's besides the point. I'm not getting into Quidditch. I've spent a solid four years staying as far away from that sport as possible and I'm not going to stop now."

"Chill, sis, I was just suggesting it," he replied, rolling his eyes in the exact fashion that his sister did. "I was only saying because the Quidditch crowd is a good crowd to be in. I mean you never quite know what those greenhouse kids are gonna grow, especially since-"

"JAMES!"

"All I'm saying is that kids get weird in the upper years," James said. "Promise me you won't get weird."

He laughed; Lily knew James could never quite grasp the serious aspects of brotherhood. He never gave true advice, just made jokes and prayed that she'd get the gist. Besides, it's not as though Lily would listen to him anyway, and this he knew; it was her life and she'd make as many mistakes as she wished, and each and every one of them would be her own.

Maybe, Lily supposed, that's what being an adult meant. So she simply said, "Sure, James," and dragged her brother out of her room and down to tea.

The house at Godric's Hollow still held many of its cottage-like qualities, and their dining room consisted of a wooden table in the kitchen, surrounded by six chairs. The room held a delicious aroma of Sunday dinner ingredients, of roast chicken and boiling vegetables. Harry stood at the kitchen counter mashing the abundance of mashed potatoes - he always made twice as much as needed. Ginny poured wine for her and Harry, and fresh apple juice for the three 'kids', their black and white kneazle purring at her ankles.

"Hello, Andy," Lily cooed, bending down to stroke the cat.

"Lils, could you feed her?" Ginny asked nonchalantly.

"Sure."

"Have you seen your brother?"

Lily shook her head as she poured cat biscuits into Andy's bowl.

"ALBUS!!" Ginny yelled as her youngest son popped his head around the doorframe. "Oh, there you are! Mind setting the table?"

Nodding, Al got to work. Family dinners were always as such; together, they made their house into a home as if it was a phoenix risen from the ashes - so much so that Harry nearly forgot that his parents had died here many Halloweens a go.

Once they'd all settled into dinner, Albus spoke up.

"Did any of you hear about the eldest Fawley?" His voice was low and serious. Lily remembered when he'd stopped sounding like a child, and, still a child herself, she had imitated his new, relatively manly voice for at least two weeks.

"Al, you've never been one to gossip!" James jokingly feigned shock.

"James, shut up; it's actually incredibly concerning," Albus scolded. Lily shot James a daring glance. "Apparently Cymbeline is incredibly ill. Nobody has been allowed to see her since the end of last term. It all seems very suspicious. And I'm not gossiping, I'm just concerned."

Lily simply shrugged.

"I thought you might know something about it, that's all, Lily," Al continued. "Isn't her sister in your year - your dorm, even?"

Amity Fawley was in her dorm, yes, but she'd barely even bothered to speak little more than the occasional morning greeting to her since the beginning of first year. In fact, their contact in fourth year (last year) had been limited strictly to civil smiles and vague acknowledgement, nothing to bat an eyelash about at all. All Lily knew, on surface level, was that she was quiet, pretty and particularly excellent in charms.

So really, Lily knew nothing at all.

"We don't speak much," was all Lily said, as well as, "she mainly keeps to herself, or her sister's friends. They're all very close."

"Maybe a little too close," Albus supplied, taking another helping of mash. "They're very tight knit. Selective, maybe — and don't look at me like that, it's merely an observation."

And it was a very good observation, too; the Fawleys, Selwyn and Greengrass were rarely seen in anybody else's company but their own. But why did Lily care?

"Maybe they just like their privacy," she suggested.

Truth was, Lily didn't care at all.

"So," Harry tried to break the tension increasing between his two younger children. "Have you both got everything ready for Hogwarts?"

A/N: So! The story unfolds a little bit more.
Questions:
What do you think of the Potters? And what do you suppose happened to Cymbeline?
Rhi xxxx
PS: I'm writing this on the plane on the way back from Canada, where I've been visiting the amazing RosesReality who is one of my bestest buds. She's currently writing a fab fic called The Years of Riddle and you should totally check it out.