FICLET--A Mother Knows (Week 2 Challenge at HPGW_LDWS)

[ficsbydeenas]

Title: A Mother Knows
Rating: PG13
Warnings: I needed a tissue at the end, but that's just me.
Word Count:  427 /499
Author Note: I only got 1 Favorite Vote this round, so I'd appreciate some feedback as to what may have been wrong with it. I didn't get any Least Favorite Votes, so I hung in there by the skin of my teeth.

A mother knows when her daughter's heart has been broken.

I see it at the funeral when Harry walks away from her, leaving her in her chair looking so forlorn. I notice the tear trailing down her cheek and how she quickly brushes it away, desperately wanting to hide her vulnerability. She is so strong, so powerful; I just wish she'd allow herself to express the hurt inside her.

A mother knows when her daughter cries alone in her room.

My parched mouth causes me to walk past her room and I pause, noting the unmistakable sounds from the other side of the door. I hear his name between sobs and words I am sure I never taught her. I want to go to her but I know she'll never admit to me what she's feeling, at least not yet. Reluctantly, I head back toward my room, my dry mouth forgotten.

A mother knows when her daughter feels the pain of a lost love.

"HARRY!" she cries at the top of her lungs, and I know what's happened before the voice of evil taunts us. I force my way through the crowd and get to her just as she crumbles in my arms.
We both sob for the boy we've grown to love, but in completely different ways.

A mother knows when her daughter needs to find the man she loves.

I see her look toward the entrance hall for what seems like the hundredth time. She's doing it again, trying to appear strong and resilient while she's falling apart on the inside. I know she's hurting over Fred, we all are. But I can see it in her eyes that she needs to be somewhere else.

"It's okay, Ginny. Go to him."

A mother knows.

I've been that girl and I've felt those feelings. I know what it's like to have the boy you love sweep you off your feet and how wonderful it is to say those words, knowing that he'll say them back.

I know how the world changes when that very adult decision is made. There is nothing like the feeling of joining together with him and how you can't stop smiling or blushing when your brothers look at the two of you.

And now, today, I know how my own mother felt. I know how tears of joy filled up her eyes as she held her daughter's daughter for the first time.

My eyes meet Ginny's tired ones and we smile, telling each other so much with a single look,

A mother knows.