"Here it is." Lily said to her boyfriend Matt. He looked around.
"It's nice." he said.
"Yeah. Ok so remember my brother James has twin girls named Paige and Gennifer who are 4 and he's married to Julia with the curly blonde hair. Al's engaged to Maggie, the redhead and they have a one year old, Arthur. And my parents are fine with you calling them Harry and Ginny but first call them Mr. And Mrs. Potter so they can correct you, I don't know why my dad likes doing that."
"I know Lil, I know. Don't be nervous. You've met my parents before and it was fine. Now is their anything else important I need to know or should we go in?"
"Um, yeah there is actually. I don't really like talking about it because it's not a big deal but my mom's had alzheimers for like a year now. It's been hard, especially on my dad because she can't remember lots of things they've done. Sometimes she forgets that we've grown up and still thinks were kids things like that. So if she does weird things, just ignore it she's still the coolest mom."
"Lily, why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't like thinking about it when I'm not home with them. It's too hard. Let's go in." She knocked on the door. A few seconds later James opened it. Paige and Gennifer were running around at his feet yelling.
"Lily!" James said and hugged her.
"This is Matt."
"Nice to meet you Matt." James said and shook his hand.
"Aunt Lily! Aunt Lily! You're home!" Paige shouted. Lily smiled.
"Yeah, girls come here!" They ran outside and hugged her legs. "Ok," she laughed. They didn't let go so she walked inside with the girls on her legs. Harry came to the front of the house.
"Hey Lilypad, I see the girls have already found you." Harry said. James motioned for them to get off so they detached themselves from Harry and ran away. Harry hugged Lily and then faced her boyfriend.
"Hey dad, nice to see you. This is Matt."
"Yes, finally time to meet the famous Matt. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Potter."
"Please, call me Harry." They walked into the living room. Albus got up and hugged Lily. Everyone was centered around the coffee table. Maggie was holding Arthur while in an armchair, Al, James and Julia were sitting on one couch, and Harry was sitting with Ginny on the perpendicular couch. Lily and Matt sat down on a couch across from Al, James and Julia.
"Hey Lily!" Maggie said. "I would get up, but he's fussy." she said, referring to her son. "So, tell us how everything's going." Lily had followed in her mother's footsteps and become a quidditch player. She had been on the same team for 8 years and then decided to retire and become a coach.
"Everything's good. I just moved actually because I kind of changed positions. Instead of coaching the girls on the team, I'm in charge of hiring and recruiting the new players. They have a training camp in a different arena from where the team practices so I've been there picking new players and teaching them skills."
"That's great Lil!" Harry said. "Were so proud of you!"
"Was it hard finding a new place?" Julia asked.
"No, actually," she said, and then put her hand on Matt's arm. "I moved in with Matt." She nodded. Ginny, who had been reading a book looked up.
"Who is this young man?" she asked.
"Mum, this is my boyfriend Matt. We've told you about him before."
"Oh yes. Lily aren't you too young to be living with your boyfriend. We just went to your 20th birthday party a few weeks ago."
"No, mum I'm 28, remember."
"Oh, you've just grown so fast. Where is the time going?"
"I don't know. I feel like I was just 20 too." Lily said. Ginny looked at Lily confusedly.
"I'm 16, not 20." Everyone took a deep breath.
"She's doing it again." Albus muttered.
"Matt, did you know I used to go out with Harry Potter until he left. I don't know where he went but I miss him. It's so hard being here this year without Dumbledore and Harry and my brother. When will they come back?" Ginny asked. Harry sat down next to Ginny and held her hands.
"Ginny, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
"But what are you doing back? What about Voldemort?" she shouted.
"Ginny you need to calm down. Your daughter has company over."
"I don't have a daughter. I don't know who any of you are. I want to go home." Harry looked around the room.
"How about you go to sleep." he said. "Al, James can you take her to our bedroom?" They nodded. They held her hands and took her upstairs.
"Harry where are they taking me? Who are they? Get them off me!" Ginny shouted.
"Ginny, they're gonna take you home don't worry. I love you." Harry said. As soon as they were up the stairs he sank onto the couch. Lily got up and sat next to him.
"Dad, are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah it just sucks that's she not who she was anymore. I would hate to have to relive those days, even if it was just in my head. I never know when it's coming and what if one day it's always gonna be like that. She won't remember you or anything that's happened. Just stuck in the worst time of our lives." He got up and left the room, looking like he was going to cry.
The only people left in the room were Lily, Maggie, Arthur, Julia, Matt and the girls. Julia got up and took the girls into their bedroom,
"I'm so sorry. It's not always like this. She's normally acting like it's sometime in the past, but it's the worst when it's the war."
"It's fine Lil, I get it. She can't help it. Just tell me, how did it start?"
"I don't know, I guess it was just a lot of things. Like one day she forgot she was going home and ended up where she used to grow up. Now my uncle lives there and he found her there and she couldn't remember why she was there. We just thought it was weird. Then another day, she freaked out that I wasn't home, and my dad reminded her that I didn't live there anymore. Eventually she went to the doctor and they told her. It used to not be so bad. Now we never know what year she's in."
"It's so hard on Harry." Maggie said. "One of the first times, she forgot about him. She went back to present time a lot more then so it wasn't that bad but still. Here's what happened:
Ginny was staring at a picture of her family from when she was 30. Her, Harry, Albus, James, Lily. She was looking very carefully at it. Harry went up to her.
"Hun, what are you looking at?" he asked.
"This picture. It's not my family." Harry grabbed it and looked at it.
"Yeah it is. It's me, you, James, Lily and Albus."
"Oh ok. But I don't know who those people are. The man kind of looks like Harry Potter, but older."
"How old are you?"
"I'm 15." she said.
"Ginny, don't you remember me?" he asked.
"Yeah, you're my teacher."
"No, I'm your husband."
"Yeah, right. I'm not married, especially to someone old. I'm dating this guy named Dean, but that's it. What's your name anyway?"
"I'm Harry, Ron's friend. And I'm married to you and I love you. See this picture. These are our kids when they were little. Do you remember now?"
"Yeah, I remember now. Sorry Harry."
Matt looked at Lily. "I think we have to go now, but I want to say good-bye to your mom." he said. Lily looked at him.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. He walked upstairs and opened the door. Ginny was sitting on her bed looking at a photo album. "Hey Mrs. Potter. Is that a photo album?" he asked as he sat down.
"Yes, here's me with Albus and Harry holding Lily."
"Oh, she was so cute."
"Yeah, she was adorable. And that was just a little while ago."
"Ok. Look, I was wondering. I'm not quite sure how old Lily is to you, but when the time comes, do you think I could be the right guy to marry her?"
"When the time's right, yes, I think you seem like a nice guy. You'd be good for my little girl."
"Good, because I'm thinking of asking her soon. Just wanted to know you're onboard."
