Disclaimer: So, I'm still not JKR. The characters, places…pretty much everything is hers. I just own the socks on my feet.
A/N: Hello—this is my second Fan Fic. My first one is still in the works, it was going to be a one shot and then I changed my mind so we will see where that goes. If you like it--please review! Any feedback is always appreciated. I know it is a short chapter, but it is a start.
Lily watched her family move around her in the chaos of the Burrow. It is intimidating to some, but to her it was home. The fire was burning, the kitchen a blur and the snow falling outside—gorgeous.
Grandma Molly was hustling around in the kitchen and chiding Ron for something or another. Somehow she was able to carry on a conversation with Ms. Tonks at the same time. Grandpa Arthur was on the couch listening to Celestia Warbeck on the Wizarding Wireless and watching the two littlest kids, Lucy and Louis, play with a giant ball that George brought them from the shop. It kept morphing into animal shapes and other strange things.
Lily continued to scan the room, finding Bill and Charlie locked in a heated debate—probably over nothing as usual. George was….oh…over in the corner no doubt about to play a trick on an unsuspecting Percy. That man never learned! The giggles that kept emerging from behind George meant that Hugo and Albus were reveling in the delight of the plan. "Boys," sighed Lily.
Now she knew how to put on a show. Although she was only 8—Lily was surprisingly crafty and perceptive. Everyone said she was as crafty as her mom and as smart as the woman whom she was named after. Her dad's mum, Grandma Lily. She even had a good one planned for tonight. George was letting her try out a new product (behind her mum's back of course). They were spiders that would disappear at the sound of screams. Albus had a fun surprise waiting for him!
Moving on she saw the female contingent at the table. Fleur was trying to describe some French thing to Audrey. Moving down the table Angelina and her mum were talking about Quidditch. Angelina and her mum had been on the Gryffindor team together, just like Lily would be some day. Her mum had played Quidditch professionally for a few years, but gave it up to start a family. She was a Quidditch reporter now.
Hermione was tugging a hat tightly over Hugo's head. She giggled remembering the conversation she over heard about hats Aunt Hermione tried to make in school that her Daddy and Ron thought were woolly bladders. Lily wasn't quite sure what a bladder was because her mom had just laughed when she asked about woolly bladders—but it was very fun to say. Woolly bladder. Lily snorted. Woolly bladder!
Harry and Ron were reclined in the couch talking and drinking some Butterbeer. James, Teddy, Dominique, Rose, Fred, Roxane and Molly were all outside having a snowball fight. Oh and Victoire was probably outside yelling at them or something just so she could be near Teddy. Lily rolled her eyes—that girl was uptight! And too gorgeous. Lily felt for her own cascading red hair and thought of the freckles that covered her. Yuck, she thought. Her favorite part about her own appearance was her green eyes. They were just like her Daddy's and none of her brothers had them.
Lily had been so absorbed in observing the Burrow and its occupants she had failed to notice that Uncle George had come up to her. Oh Merlin, constant vigilance, Lily thought.
"Hey Lils, what's wrong?" asked Uncle George. "You're usually my number one sidekick—you are pretty quiet today. Have you tried out those…" His voice dropped to a whisper as not to alert either Grandma Molly or her mum's ears, which were especially sharp. "Disappearing spiders?"
"Not yet Uncle George, but I put them in Albus's bed for tonight," Lily said. Furrowing her brow in thought, Lily evaluated her options. She had very important questions to be answered tonight and she needed to play her cards right. Rumors and overheard snippets had been collecting in her head for months—years really about her parents and family. She knew they were pretty famous and had done important stuff. But the nature of this stuff was becoming less and less clear. Her mum and dad sat both of her brothers down for a (very lengthy) talk before they went to Hogwarts about their past. Lily, however, simply couldn't wait 3 more years. She needed to know. Now.
Standing in front of her could be her number one ally. Out of all her uncles, Uncle George was the one she spent the most time with. Bill was nice and stuff but she did really know him the same way. Charlie was always in Romania. Percy was…well…Lily shook her head. Nope. Percy was out. Ron was just an airhead. That was one note where she and her mum saw 100 eye to eye. Grandpa Arthur would work, but he was too easily influenced by Grandma Molly. "I would be too if it meant eating or not eating since he lives with her," thought Lily.
Musing over her plan one more time Lily nodded and tapped George, who was now talking to her dad. Tugging him into the hallway and double checking no one was snooping around. She whispered in his ear.
"Uncle George, I have a proposition you might be interested in." Upon listening to her hushed whispers, all George could do was stare, shake his head in awe and stutter "Okay Lils."