A one-shot for the Framed Narrative challenge on xoxLewrahxox's forum, should be exactly 800 words.

Framed narrative or story within a story

Write a story with a wordcount of a multiple of a hundred (give or take a few words) where the narrative is framed, or where one story is written inside the original.

I'm not too sure about that one. I find it rather boring/silly/too light/with bad characterization on Lily's side, but I'm pretty new at next-gen and I honestly can't see how to make it better, so... thoughts?

(I probably should stick to angst. I know I'm better at it, but that's the only framed-narrativish thingie that came to my mind, so... bear with me)

The noise was just awful. Harry groaned, rubbing his face with a sigh. The boys were making an incredible ruckus, and once in a while he could hear Ginny shouting at them to shut up and get ready. Harry stared at the mirror, and tried putting on a cheerful face, to no avail; he was just too tired. The prospect of coming home in the evening to an empty, quiet house was appealing enough to lift his spirits though. Just Ginny and him for once – he loved his children, so much there were no words to express it, but they were...

...so...

...lively...

A resounding crash made him flinch, as if to stress this oh-so-accurate comment. Yes, his kids were lively. But the boys would leave again for Hogwarts today, and for the first time, so would their little sister.

Speaking of little sisters... as a painful a thought as it was, there should have been even more noise downstairs, technically.

"Lily?" Harry called suspiciously as he made his way along the corridor. He knocked at his baby girl's door and, getting no answer, pushed it open. Lily was just walking out of the bathroom. Although she had jumped at the sight of him, she squealed "Daddy!" happily and sauntered towards him, flashing him a dazzling smile.

Not quite dazzling enough.

"What's that in your hand, Lils?" Harry asked. She tried to conceal it, but he was faster and snatched the little bag from his daughter's hand. "What do you think you're doing with your mother's make-up, young lady?"

"Oh, I just wanted to have a look – for later," Lily replied candidly. Tilting his daughter's chin up, Harry inspected her carefully. Nothing unusual. He was just letting go of her when a strand of her hair fell into her eyes. Without thinking, he reached out to brush it aside and then recoiled, unexpected shock hitting him.

"What the hell were you thinking, Lily Luna Potter?" he shouted. The girl cringed, looking sheepish but also obviously taken aback by the sheer violence of her father's reaction. Ginny would have scolded him for saying "hell" in front of their girl, had she been standing in the room, he thought a bit randomly, taking deep breaths in order to calm down. She would also have squeezed his hand very lightly, and raised a challenging eyebrow. It's about time, her gaze would have said, and yes, it was indeed. Lily was about to start Hogwarts – she would learn, sooner or later, exactly how special her name was, and she'd better do it from him.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said slowly. "But why did you do that?"

"I wanted to look like you," the girl stammered. "And I wanted to be special. Besides, it looks pretty."

"It's a scar, princess," he sighed. "Scars aren't supposed to look pretty. There's there to remind us of what we went through, and it's not pleasant. Do you like your own scars?"

"No!" she exclaimed, "they hurt... But yours is special..."

"Yes, it is." There really was no escaping it. "My scar is special because I got it in especially unpleasant circumstances. Once upon a time... there was a very dark wizard, who tried to kill me. But my mother stepped in and saved me. I only got this scar."

He paused.

"Her name was Lily."

"Like me?" the girl said, wide-eyed.

He nodded.

"Why don't I know her?"

He swallowed.

"She had to die in order to save me, darling. She sacrifized herself, just like your mum and I would, to save you, or Al, or James, from danger."

There was a while of silence.

"Well, maybe your mum would think twice about saving the boys. They're bound to make less noise as ghosts, after all."

Lily laughed at his words, relieving the tension slightly, and then was serious again.

"What about the wizard?"

"He was defeated then, but he came back. I had to kill him."

Lily gaped at him.

"He was really, really bad, darling. He was killing lots of people."

"Was that the war?"

"Yes."

"So you saved the world."

Harry laughed at that. "I was just lucky, princess."

"That's why people are staring at you all the time."

"Yes, and that's very annoying, you know that."

"Of course, it's rude to stare." She pondered. "So I guess I should take that off then. I don't like to be stared at... too much."

"That's a wise girl." Harry smiled.

Lily grinned. Dancing towards her bathroom door, she called behind her shoulder:

"You're my hero though."

The door slammed after her.

"Sure, darling," Harry sighed, rubbing his scar pensively. It would be a long day.

(but in the end, all would be well. In the end, maybe he was just a very lucky man, after all)