THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, lily evans

dix-sept, the duck pond

chapter seventeen,
the duck pond

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CHRISTMAS WAS... AWKWARD AFTER Grandmére's intrusion the night before.

She was gone as quickly as she'd arrived. Nobody tried to start any more conversations by the time she was out of the door, all three of them retiring to their rooms to try and process everything that's been dumped on them in the past day. In the end, Daphne's uncle had never shown up for dinner, allegedly being held up at work with a new patient in some kind of critical condition. She was a bit miffed to hear that there wasn't going to be anyone new to try and diffuse the tensions running high in their little house. Even though she'd only just come around to rebuilding the relationship between herself and her father, being in his home was killing her slowly — she needed a break. She needed to feel normality.

  Daphne had owled Lily on Boxing Day, hopeful that she'd get a reply sooner rather than later. Much to her delight, Atlas' barn owl had returned at breakfast the following morning with what looked like a torn out notebook page detailing a place that they could meet. She didn't waste any time after its arrival.

  So, now she sits in the nipping cold of a park nearby Lily's house, watching as the ducks bob about in the water at her feet. The wooden bench is damp and it's slowly bleeding through her jacket, though she can hardly feel it through all her layers. She tucks her red nose into her scarf, shivering in the elements — she hasn't exactly adapted to England's bitter weather yet. Daphne can tell that her posture must look comically bad to any passers-by and tries not to think about it. Her heart skips a beat when she hears footsteps coming closer down the path.

  "Daph! Hi," Lily grins, her fiery auburn hair bringing colour to the grey day. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Lily," she replies, unable to restrain the smile on her face. She waits for her to sit down before she hands over her surprise. "Here, I got you something."

Daphne rustles about in her bag for a minute, procuring a slightly crumpled package from a back pocket. The ribbon is poorly tied and the wrapping paper falls off without much effort at all, but it didn't matter to either of them how it was wrapped when the present is finally uncovered. It's a secondhand paperback of the Wind and the Willows, even the lettering on the cover causing nostalgia to bubble up inside her chest. Lily's reaction to it makes her feel ever more giddy.

  She gasps. "I'd forgotten about this."

  "I remember saying that I would let you borrow it, but my copy's all battered and annotated," Daphne admits, rubbing the nape of her neck. "And, well, it's in French. I didn't think you'd want to borrow one like that, so I bought this back at the bookshop in Hogsmeade."

  That's partially the truth. Really, she's too attached to her copy to give it away, the faded ink of her mother's handwriting being too precious to entrust it with anyone but herself. 

  "I feel guilty, Daph," Lily says, frowning. "I didn't get you anything."

  "Oh, no, really don't worry about it. You being here is enough for me. Wait, I also brought seeds for the ducks," Daphne says, pulling a pouch full of mixed seeds from her jacket pocket. She beams proudly.

  Lily's eyes soften. "What did you want to tell me about, anyway?"

  "Ah," she mutters, deflating. "That."

  Lily doesn't say anything, waiting patiently for her to start in her own time.

  She begins to fiddle with her ring, twisting it in circles around her finger as if it'll help soothe her nerves. "Um, my grandmother came around for Christmas. She's not exactly an omen of the amazing, groovy news that you want to hear during the holidays. I, er, well—"

  The ring is rubbing her skin raw, a red band indenting her flesh as a distraction from everything weighing on her at the moment. It hurts but she doesn't seem to notice, but Lily does, resting her palm over Daphne's to still her restless fingers. Their hands weave together as if they were made to sit together as one, as if they're a lock and key, an imploring expression worn on her face that could make Daphne cry.

  She looks up at the clouds thoughtfully. "Merlin, where do I even start? Okay, so, you know all about the stuff that's happening with that evil man who wants to kill all muggles?"

A passing dog walker gives her a look.

Lily nods. "Yes, it's horrible."

"Basically, my cousin has been getting involved. And not on the right side of this bloody war. My grandmother says that France is remaining 'neutral' but there are still attacks on moldus all over the country. It's getting bad. This isn't something that'll just go away when we graduate, Lily. This is gonna be our problem in a few months time."

"What are you getting at?"

Daphne looks around quickly. "There's this organisation that my father's in," she tells her in a low voice. "The Order of the Phoenix. They're fighting against them to try and bring about peace. To make a difference. It's too late for Evan, but I have hope that if we join, we can stop those bastards from causing any more destruction."

  Lily gnaws on her lip, taking all of it in. She collects a handful of seeds and throws it to the ducks, watching them gather at her feet blankly.

  Daphne squeezes her hand reassuringly. "What do you think?"

  She frowns. "I don't know... it sounds so dangerous. Is it really our fight? Why can't we let the adults handle it? We're only young, darling."

"Please, ma sucré rose," she pleads. "Just think about it. I don't want to do this alone."

  Lily looks at her carefully, eyeing the desperation that she wears like perfume and taking note of how worried she is about this. Conscious about the safety of strangers, prepared to make sacrifices for the greater good, worried for their future. Maybe they could have a future together someday. One worth fighting for.

  "You should've been put in Gryffindor," she remarks, playing with Daphne's rings. "You're doing a better job at being brave than I ever have."

  Daphne brings their intertwined hands up to her lips, laying a small kiss on Lily's knuckles. The blush that dusts over her freckles makes her laugh. She looks back out across the pond, but Daphne can't take her eyes off of her.

  "Promise me you'll think about it, mon amour," she asks. "That's all I ask of you for now."

  Lily hesitates for a moment.

"I promise."

author's note!

not my best work but I'M BACK (ish)

i've been so caught up in my remus fic that i forgot to keep up with this one 😭 i'm not sure how frequent my updates will be so pls be patient with me lol!! i've not given up on daphne and lily i'm just inconsistent w my update schedule lmao

daphne's being brainwashed into thinking that she has to fight in the war tee hee