TRENTE

the girls, the gays and the nonbinary babes!

JAMES HAD KEPT his word in letting Lily Luna have a day just with Lily. As much as he loved them, he still feared his family and he really wanted to get to the end of 7th year. So, Lily Luna and Lily Edwards were frolicking in the woods near the lavender fields in dresses.

They had gathered a large amount of lavender as well as an assortment of flowers and leaves and were now sat underneath a large tree, making flower crowns. They chatted absentmindedly as they weaved the materials together. 

Lily Luna finished hers first, shouting in victory ( as she'd never been terribly good at making them, so this was a win ). She placed it on her head, adjusting her hair as she saw necessary and hummed while Lily finished her own. 

"If you don't mind," Lily said as she set down her almost finished crown. "I've brought my notebook. I have to journal everyday for therapy and I didn't get a chance to yet — "

"Oh my Merlin!" Lily Luna gasped. "Of course! Dad always talks about the journals he did when him and mum went to therapy after the war. So I've started to as well!"

Lily Luna pulled out a journal decorated with painted daisies. 

"Hey-" Lily gasped as she took the journal from the red head. "I remember painting this."

"Yeah," Lily Luna said with a blush. "I- I always viewed you as ... it's weird ... like a sister and so I wanted you to come wherever we went I guess."

Lily looked back up at Lily Luna, who had drawn back, and she had a soft smile on her face.

"I've always thought of you as my sister too," Lily said softly. "I never had siblings and you and Al and my friends are the closest I've gotten." 

"Trust me," Lily Luna grumbled. "You don't want siblings. All they do is take your stuff and just walk into your room and stare at you."

"What?" Lily asked, visibly confused.

"Exactly," Lily Luna replied. 

"So James just —" Lily asked with a weirded out face.

"Come into my room and stare at me? Nah, Al does that. But James does trip me a lot and he hides my stuff," Lily Luna explained.

"I- why am I surprised?" Lily exclaimed as she stared at her crown in defeat.

"Yeah why are you surprised? Because in some ways he was worse to you than to us," Lily Luna said.

"I don't know if that's true," Lily replied.

"Uh- yeah," Lily Luna exclaimed. "Remember when he burned — " 

" — a date invite into the field outside the castle?" Lily tried to finish.

"Not what I was referring to, but — " Lily Luna started.

" — the furniture in my common room with a date invite?" Lily tried to finish again, determined to guess it.

"No but — " Lily Luna started to say again, only to be interrupted. 

" — down the left side of the Great Hall when he set off fireworks to ask me out?" Lily tried again.

"If I say yes, will you stop?" Lily Luna asked.

"Oh, I thought this was fun," Lily mumbled.

"Point is — he's done some awful stuff to get your attention," Lily Luna said as she tried to get Lily to understand.

"Yeah, but that was just embarrassing. I mean hiding your things, especially because he has your dad's invisibility cloak, could — I don't know — hinder your quality of life or something," Lily shrugged.

"Hinder my quality of life?" Lily Luna snorted. "What is this? The 1800s?" 

"Hey! You're always so sweet!" Lily gasped in offense. "Now what's this?"

"Well, now that you're dating James, you're less my friend that I call a sister and now a sister sister," Lily Luna explained as she lay down on the ground.

"Ouch, Lunes," Lily joked. "I thought you meant it all those times."

Lily Luna just stuck her tongue out, but quickly stopped as she started to laugh. 

"Well, now that we're actually sisters," Lily said as she looked at Lily Luna with a mock stink eye. "What's going on with you and the boy."

"The boy?" Lily Luna asked with a gasp.

"The boy," Lily repeated with just as much drama. 

"Nothing," Lily Luna stated.

"Nothing?" Lily asked carefully. "As in you don't like him or — "

"I do like him- not like that though," Lily Luna clarified. "I just don't have enough time to think about boys." 

"Ah, you don't have enough time," Lily repeated back. "Anything I can help with?"

"So I can think about the boy?" Lily Luna teased.

"Or anyone! We don't discriminate!" Lily said with light laughter. "Or no one." 

"I've had much bigger things to think about than boys and girls and people and love and all of that," Lily Luna hummed.

"And that would be?" Lily inquired. "But only share if you're comfortable though."

"t's fine," Lily Luna hummed. "So you know ... you know how you sometimes feel like a girl?"

"Yes?" Lily asked quietly as she shifted to lie down next to the red head. 

"Well sometimes ... I don't feel like a girl per say, but also not like ... I don't know. It's like why do girls have to have long hair or everyone's up in arms and boys have to play sports. Like I like my long hair and that's fine, but some other things just aren't super ... comfy ... I guess," Lily Luna continued. 

"So do you feel like you're female?" Lily asked as she propped her head on her hand, so she could look at Lily Luna. 

"I mean ... sometimes?" Lily Luna asked as she turned to face the brunette. "But then sometimes I don't -- does that make sense?"

Lily hummed and smiled, "it totally does." 

"Do ... do you sometimes feel like that?" Lily Luna asked, looking at Lily curiously. 

"No, I don't, but it does make sense," Lily said as she smiled kindly. "Lunes you can be whoever you want. If you want to be a girl, perfect, if you want to be a boy, great, if you want to be something in between, go for it, if you want to be a combination, that's amazing. I- I feel that as long as you aren't hurting someone, physically, mentally, emotionally, with your actions -- and you aren't — then you can be who you want to be. And if you decide something different later, then that's even better because it means you are being true to yourself and your needs. And that was a really long way of saying that if you want help on this journey of gender."

Her silly tone when saying gender, caused Lily Luna to burst out laughing and for Lily to smile. 

"I am always here for you, and, so is your brother and all of your family," Lily reminded her. "So if you ever want us to call you anything else, just say the word!" 

"Well, I know people in the years above use the they/them pronouns, but sometimes I do feel like a girl," Lily Luna reasoned.

"What about she/they?" Lily asked. 

"Yeah — I like the sound of that," Lily Luna reasoned. "Could you use the she pronoun right now though?"

"Yes, of course!" Lily exclaimed. "I know that some people use bracelets to let people know which pronouns they want to use. They use colors and such. For example, they might have purple to represent he/him and green to represent they/them and they wear the color that they're identifying with at the moment and sometimes they wear both because we can identify with multiple things!" 

"You're going to be such a good mum," Lily Luna said.

Lily blushed at the comment and cleared her throat.

"Thank you, but I honestly think everyone should be this accepting," Lily replied.

"I know, but I do still think you'd be a great mum," Lily Luna insisted. "So, do you have any bracelets or materials or something?"

"Yes!" Lily exclaimed as she scrambled up. "I think we have string and beads in the house if you'd like?"

"That sounds perfect," Lily Luna replied.

Lily put on her flower crown ( that she had finished making while talking with Lily Luna ) and grabbed the basket holding some more lavender before giving the red head a hand up.

"Something that I know people do, but you do not have to, is that they choose a different name or a version of their previous name to make it more gender neutral. If you'd like, I can help or I can back off if I'm already too in your business," Lily suggested with a short laugh. 

"No, no, I like my name because I love the people I was named after. I mean I love my Aunt Luna, who doesn't? And even though I've never met my dad's mum, I don't know, she seemed really cool. And sometimes — well it's a bit embarrassing to admit and it's only for a split second — but I sometimes pretend I was named with you because we kind of have the same name," Lily Luna admitted.

"Well I'm honored because I find you to be a remarkable person," Lily replied.

They laughed as they headed back to the house. Once they made it back, they kicked off their shoes and set down their baskets.

"Ah! Lils et petit Lily!" Pierre exclaimed as he came out of the kitchen. "You have brought lavender?"

"Oui, papa," Lily said as she kissed him on the cheek. "Do we still have the beads and string?"

"Oui, cherie," Pierre replied. "It is in the cabinet."

"Merci, papa," Lily said excitedly as she took Lily Luna's hand and led her to where the arts supplies were stored. 

She threw open the doors and they were met with shelves of various art supplies ranging from paint and canvases to beads and string to clay. Lily grabbed the string and an assortment of beads.

They settled at the kitchen table as Lily sorted the beads by color. Pierre smiled at the two of them and brought over iced tea for them to sip on. They both accepted it with grateful smiles and turned back towards the bracelet making supplies.

"So," Lily started nervously. "Is this too much? Do you not want to do this now?"

"No, this is perfect," Lily Luna said as she gazed at the beads with a soft expression. "I think- I think I will choose the blue for when I want they/them and I think I'll choose- hm- purple for she/her."

"The dark purple or the light purple?" Lily asked.

"The lavender colored ones," Lily Luna replied.

"Fantastic choices!" Lily exclaimed as she shoved the beads over to Lily. "Would you like me to help you measure the string?"

"Please," Lily Luna replied as she stuck out her wrist. 

Lily tied the string not-too tightly around Lily Luna's wrist and cut it and did the process again one more time. 

"I- this is going to sound silly, but could I possibly do this part on my own?" Lily Luna asked.

"It's not silly at all!" Lily asked as she slid off the seat. "Holler if you need anything." 

Lily Luna nodded and smiled as she set to work, stringing the beads onto the string with a content smile on her face. 

Lily Edwards, however, rushed upstairs to be met with her endless stacks of applications. She lifted up her pile, grabbed a pen ( because quills are ridiculous ) and made her way to James's room. 

She softly knocked on the door and heard him yell for her to come in. When she opened the door, she found him sitting at the desk in his room, writing on what she presumed to be an application as well. 

She smiled softly to herself. That was her dad's desk from when he was a boy ( and he was very protective over it ) and swore he'd never let anyone except for truly exceptional people use it for truly exceptional things. 

He looked up from what he was writing and his eyes turned from tired to joyous upon seeing her. 

"Hello, love," he said as he stood up. "Back so soon?"

"Could've stayed out there forever," she ( half ) joked. 

"When why'd you come back?" James teased.

"Do you want me to leave?" Lily asked jokingly. 

"Not at all," James hummed as he brought her in for a chaste kiss. "Missed you."

"You become too attached to people," Lily mumbled against his lips. 

"Not anyone, just you," he exclaimed as he lifted the papers out of her hands. 

He pointed his wand at the table and duplicated it, creating an identical set up right across from him. He placed her papers and pens down on the table across from his and pulled out the chair for Lily. He settled down across from her, but could tell she wanted to say something.

"What is it?" James asked, not looking up from his papers that he'd delved back into. 

"I can't believe wizards only take paper copies of things," Lily grumbled. "It's so much easier on a computer!" 

"Well, the Wizarding World is quite arcane," James replied.

"Hey! Nice word!" Lily exclaimed as she looked up at him with a smile and excited eyes and high fived him.

James tried to suppress his smile as he looked up at her and shrugged nonchalantly. Lily rolled her eyes and looked down at the papers in front of her. 

They worked quietly for a couple of hours on the endless applications and their multiple pages, Gael coming up and bringing them tea every once in a while. From time to time, they each got up and walked around, their butt hurting from sitting for so long and their legs asleep. 

They laughed at each other ( and themselves ) when they got up and their feet were in a state of pins and needles, causing them to cry out. James got multiple paper cuts ( Lily did not as she had an irrational fear of getting a paper cut on the tips of her fingers, so she moved slowly and carefully ).

Eventually, they had both had enough of papers and full legal names and parent occupations, so they decided to stop with the applications for that day ( luckily, they had gotten through a significant amount of them ). 

When they made their way downstairs, they noticed that the sun was significantly lower in the sky, on the verge of setting. Gael and Pierre were talking excitedly with Lily Luna, Ginny was in town with Albus and Harry was outside reading, soaking in the last of the sun.  

Suddenly, Ginny and Albus came back to the house in a great pop, carrying multiple bags filled with food and other things. Ginny quickly sent one bag ( that had wrapping paper sticking out of the top ). How could Lily have forgotten? Lily Luna's birthday was over spring holiday! 

She saw Ginny, Gael and Pierre share a glance, so she assumed her parents were also in on it and definitely had something good planned ( Gael and Pierre were amazing at birthdays ). 

Lily looked over and saw that Lily Luna had finished her bracelets and she was only sporting a lavender one that day. She didn't move to make a fuss, not knowing if she'd talked to anyone else yet, but smiled as she looked at them. 

She did, however, move to clear the art supplies from the table. She rewound the string and collected the beads with the help of Lily Luna. She gathered all of it in a basket for easy transportation. 

"James! Al!" Lily Luna exclaimed. 

Both boys turned to look at her simultaneously and no matter how many times she'd seen it, Lily still found it funny ( and adorable ) at how similar they looked and at their similar mannerisms. She also noticed how Lily Luna, Harry and Ginny had similar ones as well. It must've run in the family.

They both looked at Lily Luna expectantly, causing her to suck in a breath through her teeth, then pressing her lips together as she waited. The boys just looked at her with confused faces.

"I need to tell you something," she said shortly. 

Albus and James looked at each other with confused faces.

"Alright," James said, not moving from his standing position.

He then looked at Lily for any clue of what was going on, but she was just smiling and picking at the beads in the basket. So she knew, but wouldn't tell him. Perfect. 

"Not here," Lily Luna said again. 

"There's a small room upstairs that we don't really use anymore after I tried to summon Satan in it," Lily suggested.

"Perfect. It's thematic," Lily Luna said as she hurried upstairs in a bundle of red hair. 

James looked at Lily with a very confused look, but she just shrugged.

"It is what it is," she said.

He pressed his lips together and nodded. Albus had already started to follow Lily Luna up the stairs. James just pointed his finger in the direction of the stairs, telling Lily he was going up.

"Be kind," Lily reminded him.

He rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Yes, mum," James called behind him. 

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes right back and then moved to put the art supplied back into the closet. As she closed the door, she could hear Lily Luna's muffled voice upstairs. She smiled to herself at the bravery that she had. 

She turned to meet the green eyes and slightly askew glasses of Harry Potter standing in the kitchen.

"Ah, Lily, you're finished with applications!" Harry exclaimed joyously. 

Lily had never seen him so relaxed: iced tea in one hand and a book in the other. He had gotten slightly tan being in the sun so much and she thought she stopped a hickey right under the neckline of his shirt. Though, she decided she wouldn't be the one to tell him. 

"Yeah! Almost," Lily replied with an awkward laugh.

"I remember them, they were a doozy," Harry laughed. "For my colleagues that is and I've read them over, I didn't have to really apply for anything."

"I'd imagine not," Lily said cordially.

"There is actually something I've been meaning to talk to you about," Harry said.

"How can I help?" she asked with a smile as she let go of her breath.

"Would you like to- go outside?" he asked as he pointed to the back.

"Why not," Lily replied as they made their way outside. 

Harry sat down in the chair that she presumed he had previously been sitting in. He set down the things he had been carrying and fiddled with his hands. She sat down in the chair across from him, and stayed quiet as she waited for the older man to start the conversation. 

"James has obviously told me about the — er — class on me and my family," Harry explained.

"Yes?" Lily asked, confused as to where this was going. 

"What exactly did you learn in that class?" Harry asked.

"I'm sorry?" Lily asked, confused. "In what area?" 

"Let's say, my parents," Harry replied softly. 

"Let's see: your parents were James and Lily Potter. They met at Hogwarts and got married shortly after graduation. They were a part of the First Order of the Phoenix along with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon, Alice and Frank Longbottom, Emmeline Vance and Dorcas Meadowes to name a few. Supposedly also Peter Pettigrew, but he betrayed them when he joined the Death Eaters. They had you in 1980 and then had to go underground when a prophecy was made about a child born in late July. Everyone thought that Sirius Black was the secret keeper, but it was actually Peter Pettigrew and he betrayed them. They both died tragically young on October 31, 1981, saving the Wizarding World in the process," Lily explained. 

"They did," Harry said softly. "So you don't know how they got together?"

"Well I'd assume that your father asked your mother on a date," Lily replied with a nervous laugh. 

"Not exactly, would you mind if I told you?" Harry asked. 

"Not at all," Lily replied kindly as she sat back in her chair. 

"My mother was born Lily Jane Evans," Harry started. 

Lily got a weird feeling in her stomach at how similar their names were. 

"She was, for a lack of a better term, the golden girl of Hogwarts. She was kind and thoughtful and always had people's best interests at heart. My father, James Fleamont Potter, was reckless and childish and pulled pranks with his three best friends like no tomorrow," Harry explained.

The edge of Lily's mouth quirked up at James's middle name, but it quickly fell at the similarity between her James and his grandfather. 

"Two of his friends dated in school, but broke up after my parents died, for obvious reasons. But, back to my parents — my dad asked my mum out every single day from first year all the way to sixth. She kept saying no, because if I'm being honest, he was a bit of an arse," Harry said with a laugh. 

Lily laughed, but nerves laced it as she felt as though he was giving a broad synopsis of her experience at Hogwarts. 

"Until, seventh year, when my mum became Head Girl and my dad became Head Boy. They had become kind of friends in sixth year, but nothing too close. Everyone was very confused when my father became Head Boy, everyone thought it was going to be Remus, but no one was surprised when my mum was chosen. As they worked together that year, they discovered that they did really like each other. Soon, my mum would go to all of my dad's quidditch matches, where he was the captain and one of the chasers along with Sirius, and then, they quickly started dating," Harry explained. 

Lily felt a little bit sick at how closely their lives paralleled. 

"So, what your saying is- is- is that I've had the same love story that your parents did?" Lily asked timidly.

Harry nodded and she swallowed thickly. 

"What does this mean?" Lily asked. "There's no war going on." 

"I don't know what it means," Harry admitted softly. "But I can assure you that we will do everything to stop ... the rest ... of the story happening." 

Lily looked up with concerned eyes at Harry.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "This must be so weird for you." 

"At first, I'll admit it definitely was," Harry said with a soft chuckle. "But a long time ago, one of my friends told me that things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect." 

Lily smiled and nodded, thinking over what Harry had just told her. Her eyes searched the ground for any kind of answer to the thoughts that were bombarding her head. 

"Thank you for telling me," Lily eventually said quietly. 

"You deserved to know," Harry replied. 

"I mean- this sounds a little bit weird, but maybe you'll have an answer or I don't know. But, when James and I ... got together, it felt as though it had already happened. Like it was something that was natural," Lily explained quietly as she stared at her palms.

"Almost like you'd done it before?" Harry suggested.

"Like it happened in a weird dream that I'd had and every time I held hands with him or kissed him, a sense of deja vu nudged me in the back of my head," Lily explained as she nodded. "Well I guess this explains it ... in a way." 

"But, obviously, you are still your own person with your own life and agency over your actions — " Harry reasoned.

"I know," Lily said quietly and then she laughed shortly. "Sort of gives me hope I guess."

"Hope?" Harry asked.

"Well, the thought that things might actually come back. I've lost things -- feelings, sensations, places," Lily explained. "And perhaps — maybe — one day I'll get to feel them again." 

"I hope you do," Harry replied. 

"Thank you," Lily said. "May I — may I hug you?" 

"Of course," Harry replied with a slight smile, "I just hope everything is going to be ok." 

Lily stood up and enveloped him in a hug. She felt him smile slightly and squeezed him an inch tighter.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright," Lily whispered as she hugged him.

Harry Potter pulled away, a war raging inside of him. Even though it wasn't her, it still was and even though he already knew that everything was going to be fine, he finally knew. Because they were at peace.