A/N: set in my AU (meaning the kids aren't quite the same as JKRowling's epilogue) with inspiration from Steven Curtis Chapman's song Cinderella,which I've included the lyrics of. Enjoy! ^_^

"She spins and she sways

To whatever song plays

Without a care in the world

And I'm sitting here wearing

The weight of the world on my shoulders

It's been a long day

And there's still work to do

She's pulling at me

Saying "Dad, I need you

There's a ball at the castle

And I've been invited

And I need to practice my dancing

Oh, please, Daddy, please?"

So I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms

'Cause I know something the prince never knew

Oh, I will dance with Cinderella

I don't want to miss even one song

'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight

And she'll be gone..."

Harry Potter dropped into the dragon skin leather chair (a present from his brother-in-law) behind his home desk with a groan. Rounding up neo-Death Eaters had gotten tricky to say the least, but today—going after what's left of the Lestrange family—was probably the worst so far. The entire village was nearly pulled into the stand-off between Aurors and the Lestrange brothers. That, on top of numerous other issues that had been cropping up out of the woodwork and dealing with his sons causing as much trouble as possible, made Harry wonder if he was going to have grey hair before he turned 40.

Luckily Ginny had taken the boys out of the house, though he had a rising suspicion that it was another trip to St Mungo's. But at least it left him alone to finish the paperwork for the week, since Lily knew how to entertain herself.

A sigh escaped him as he heard cheerful music coming from the next room. Lily had fallen into what Hermione called "the princess stage" recently, which had spurred from shopping trips between the women in both Ron's and Harry's houses and grown to include little girl ballgowns and shoes and tiaras and all sorts of other tidbits that a princess needed.

There were any number of nights that Harry silently cursed Hermione for giving Lily a muggle fairytale book every time something else bright pink or covered in lace came through the front door, since Ginny loved the stories as much as Lily did.

The only good thing that had come out of it was the manners and etiquette it pulled out of his little girl. Something about the title "princess" had brought along an even sweeter attitude to the house—or at least to Lily, her brothers still acted like warring nations.

He'd nearly gotten through half of the reports piled high on his desk when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

Glancing down he found the nearly golden eyes of Lily, who stood smiling up from his elbow in her poofy blue ballgown.

"Hiya, Li-Lu," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the head, knocking her tiara askew.

Lily continued to smile as she adjusted the tiara correctly. "Daddy, I need you," she informed him.

"Really," Harry said, his attention already back to the report on the Kettleburn and Drudge incident.

"Yes," Lily answered, fiddling with a set of white gloves that were still too big for her. "There's a ball at the castle, you see."

"Oh, that's nice, love." He scratched out the sentence he'd just written.

"Mm-hmm," she agreed, now fixing the position of her long string of beads. "And I've been invited."

"Good to hear." Another scratch out. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," she said, dipping into a little curtsy. "But I need to practice...Daddy."

"Hmm?" Harry pulled his attention away from the parchment to find a not-very-pleased majesty waiting for him with her arms folded. "Practice what?"

"My dancing."

Harry stared at the renewed smile on his daughter's face and for a split second was ready to floo Hermione and tell her to stop giving his wife and daughter more ideas on how to spend money recklessly. "Dancing?"

"For the ball," Lily said, making the last word nice and slow as though she thought his work made his brain shut down. And she wasn't far off.

"Right! The ball. At the castle," Harry said, nodding as he found himself turning back to the parchment. "With a Prince and all that?"

"Yep, that's why I have to practice," Lily chirped happily and gave his arm another tug. "Please?"

He sighed, his brain finally catching what she wanted. "Lily—."

"Daddy, please?"

There were still at least five more reports to write and about twenty others to go through, which only made him hate his position as head of the Aurors more. They needed to get done. At this rate he'd be working on them all weekend... But those large golden eyes were too much to ignore.

"Well then," He said, then pushed away from his desk and gave her a small bow, kissing the top of her head again which made her giggle. "May I have this dance, my lady?"

"You may!"

Imitating what few movies he'd seen with Aunt Petunia, Harry held his arm out in a low L shape, which Lily quickly took hold of and raised her chin as he led her back to the foyer where she'd set up her ballroom.

Harry could barely hold in his chuckle as his little princess let him lead her around the floor and spin her in circles, with her giggling the whole time but never losing a step.

"You don't need any practice," Harry teased as he took both of her hands to simply sway around in a circle. "How did you learn to dance so well?"

Lily giggled and let herself hang back from his arms while her small plastic-shoe clad feet stood atop his work shoes.

"I dance with the prince," she told him.

"Oh?" Harry asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "You're too young for princes."

"Daddy," Lily giggled.

"Well, do I know this prince?" Harry asked, enjoying the way they'd made their way around the floor.

"Of course you do," she giggled again.

"Well who is he?" Harry asked, now entirely curious as he stared down at the little redhead who shook her head with a grin. "Can I guess?"

She nodded, still grinning with a faint blush to her cheeks.

"Ok," he said slowly, making it obvious that he was thinking. "Is it me?"

"No!" she giggled. "You're the king."

"Oh, right," he said, smiling at her. "I keep forgetting my crown."

"Guess again!" she cheered.

"Hmm...is it... James?"

"Eww! No. And not Albus either."

"Ok, then." Harry tried to think harder, that cut out alot of options. "Is it Uncle Ron?"

"No!"

"Uncle Bill?"

"Nope!"

"Any of your other Uncles?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Your cousins?"

"No!"

She was cutting down a lot of options. Practically all of them. And it was starting to worry Harry. His little girl had a crush on someone? She was only six! When did this happen? Who could she possible know?

He ran through a few more names, old friends, their kids, neighbors—all ended in Lily shaking her head or telling him a variation of "No."

Then he paused as the music took a break and a very familiar voice came over the speakers. "Hope you're enjoying the music I put together for you, Lils! I'll show you new dance steps when I come over for dinner!"

"Teddy?" Harry squawked in surprise and looked down at Lily in shock. His little girl's attention was suddenly on their shoes, but he could see an even deeper blush on her cheeks.

Oh boy, he thought as the music started up again. How fast was Lily going to grow up? If she was already liking Teddy Lupin, Harry wasn't sure he could handle it.

Lily looked up again as they came to a stop. Harry smiled at her, trying to think of a way to keep her this way forever—or at least keep her from boys, Teddy or otherwise—then he scooped her up to sit on his hip.

"How about I show you how the king dances?" he asked.

Her bright smile was back and so were her giggles as he twirled around with her, making her hair fly behind her. There wasn't any question, Harry knew if she ever asked him to dance with her again, there would be nothing that could stop him.

Maybe I should thank Hermione...