It was 11am and Lily Luna Potter was preparing herself for yet another year at Hogwarts. The 15 year old was sorting through old sweet rappers and quills that had gotten lost at the bottom of her trunk during the last year. She smiled to herself as she found scrunched up pieces of paper, remembering the note pacing during Potions from Hugo, expressing how bored he was.

Once her trunk was completely empty she realised how big it was, and starting planning out carefully what she was going to put in it. She started with books first, walking to her small bookcase in her shared bedroom of the Burrow. She scanned the shelves, picking the ones she knew she needed first and placing them neatly in her suitcase.

"Lily dear, its lunch time!" her mother's voice echoed through the tall, lopsided building as she put her box of quills in her trunk, smiling as she remembered the day her brother James had given them to her.

"Coming mum!" she yelled back, quickly turning and jogging out the door.

She arrived at the Burrow's kitchen a few moments later, only to be lifted into the air by two strong arms. Her vision jaded by bright blond hair, she giggled as the arms began to spin her round.

"Oi get a room you two!" a shout came from the other end of the kitchen. Lily didn't have to look up to see it was Albus. He had never liked how close their relationship was. Lily continued to laugh.

"Missed you too Scorp" he put her down grinning madly.

"Haven't seen you in days Lils, got to make up for it" he winked suggestively then groaned as she punched him in the stomach playfully. She laughed again.

"Move nerd, I'm hungry"

The rest of the day was spent trying and failing to pack. Every time Lily would attempt to go to her room, someone would stop her, arguing nice weather and being social. Eventually she gave up, and played quidditch with the boys instead.

At dinner the Burrow's kitchen was as packed as ever. Grandma Molly outdoing herself yet again with the roast she had produced.

"I can't believe James isn't going back to Hogwarts this year! And Albus with be leaving soon too, along with Rose!" Harry Potter, sat at the end of the long table, his faded scar and lop sided glasses still features on his face. He swung his food covered fork around as he spoke, getting slightly tearful.

"I know it's crazy! And Lucy and Louis are only just starting bless them!" Hermione Weasley spoke up next, also slightly tearful. As the adults at the table discussed them, the kids just rolled their eyes. This had been a daily occurrence at the dinner table since all of them had been there for the summer. Honestly Lily didn't see what the big deal was, it was only school, it wasn't as if they won't be needing their parents anymore.

"Everyone" Hugo silenced the table, sitting up slightly and looking straight at Lily. She had been afraid of this. "Lily has something to announce!" That was when all 25 pairs of eyes shot straight to Lily. She coughed awkwardly, not realising she was going to be telling everyone now.

"I um… well I…" she struggled to find the words and chose to shoot daggers at Hugo to make her pain known. He just smiled back at her encouragingly, undeterred by her death glare.

"Come on Lily, what's so important?" Albus looked slightly concerned, but that look soon changed to disbelieve as she answered.

"I'm now an animagus" Silence followed her statement, and then Harry stood up.

"My little girls an animagus! Honey I'm so proud of you!" he stood up to give his daughter a hug, which is when it sunk in for everyone else. James and Albus had mastered the same art a few years before, but not as young as Lily. The other Weasleys had not yet got to grips with it, but it does take time, and a lot of power, and the Potter children have been learning magic since they were small. Lily had mastered it properly over the summer, practicing in private or with Hugo. She was alone when she first transformed.

After her brothers had also gotten up to hug her, her mother asked:

"So what is it?"

"I'm a lion" this was met by laughter.

"Trust a Potter to be a lion!"

"Only two days till you go back to Hogwarts Lils, want to come out running with me and Al before you two have to leave?" James asked once the laughter had dissipated. She smiled.

"Yea sure that'd be great!"

And boy did they run. All that could be seen by any pacing muggle was a lion, a dog and a stag running along the tops of the hills around the Burrow. Lily had always found it funny how much James had taken after their dad, being a stag animagus just heightened that. She also found it amusing that Al was a dog, as he had always loved hearing stories of Sirius. Lily put her being a lion down to her Gryffindor pride and her loyalty to her family.

They returned to the Burrow sweating and panting, but smiling from ear to ear. The rest of the family were in the garden of the Burrow enjoying a BBQ Hermione and Rose had put up.

"Have a good time kids?" Molly asked, handing them juice in small paper cups.

"Yea it was awesome!" Al cried chugging his juice and pouring another.

"You should have seen her dad" James began, talking loud enough for everyone to hear as he sat beside his father. "She was amazing the way she ran and jumped, she was so fast to…" James and Albus continued to tell the Weasleys about their sister's animagus, as Lily herself sat herself down next to her uncle George, who smirked at her and put an arm round her shoulders.

It was only then that Lily was able to see who was there. She saw both her parents looking intensely interested in what their sons were saying. Harry was resting on a collapsible lawn chair, with Ginny perching on the arm, gently stroking his back. To their left were Hermione and Ron, in a similar position, with Hugo and Rose sitting close legged at their feet, with Scorpius next to them. Next to them was Bill with Fleur on separate lawn chairs holding hands and smiling, with Vicky, Dom and Louis spread around their feet also. Lily then saw Angelina in her own lawn chair next to Fred. Roxxane sat at her mother's feet as she braided her hair. Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur were leaning in the doorway of the Burrow's kitchen listening quietly. To their left were Percy and Audrey, smiling kindly at Lily's brothers as they continued to talk. She then saw Molly and Lucy, but they were not paying the slightest bit of attention to James and Albus. Lucy was placed in Molly's lap, as she quietly sobbed, her sister trying desperately to console her.

"Lucy? What's wrong love?" Lily asked loud enough for everyone to turn to her. Her brother's stopped talking, and turned to Lucy concerned. She just sobbed more into her older sister's hand knitted jumper and hid her face with her ginger hair.

"She's scared of going to Hogwarts without me" Molly said sadly, having graduated the year before James. She had her arms around her sister protectively.

"Oh Lucy" Lily got up from George's arms and kneeled in front of her small cousin. "Come here love" she said quietly, well aware of every eye on her. Lucy shook her head violently and clutched her sister tighter. Lily sighed. "How about I tell you a story?" she said. Lucy looked at her through strands of orange and nodded silently. Lily smiled and sat back down next to her uncle. She looked around, "Ok if I tell a story?" everyone nodded, the adults smiling at how kind she was.

"Right, how do I start?"

"You could start with once upon a time?" Louis suggested quietly, from between his older sisters. He too was going to Hogwarts for the first time this year, and without his sisters. Lily smiled at him.

"Great suggestion Lou" he smiled at her. "Right, once upon a time there was a little girl who was about to start her first year at Hogwarts. Now she was nervous about this because she felt as if she was going alone. Her cousin was also starting Hogwarts that year, and she knew he was equally scared." Everyone looked from Louis to Lucy at this point. Lily continued. "They boarded the train together and stayed together through everything. After they were sorted into the same house, they would go everywhere together. But one day, halfway through their first year, the boy came down with a terrible flu, and had to stay in bed for a number of days. So the girl was forced to go to the library by herself. Although she had many other friends, none of them had wanted to join her on that particular Saturday afternoon. She was walking back from the library with a couple of small books she needed for an essay, when she was suddenly thrown against the hard wall of the corridor." Lucy gasped at this point looking scared, while everyone else looked concerned.

"She looked up to see who had pushed her, and realised it was a sixth year boy she recognised from Slytherin. He laughed at the tears that fell on her cheeks as she bravely tried to pull herself up. He pushed her down again and picked up the three small books that she had dropped as she fell. He ripped the pages out of the old books and threw the remains at the girls head. She sat there crying, scared and her head banging. He then began to strut away from her, saying something along the line of 'blood traitor'." Everyone was on the edge of their seats at this point, even the adults who were staring wide eyed at Lily, thinking she was mad for telling this story to an already terrified 11 year old, she ignored the looks and continued.

"The girl scrambled for her bag and stood slowly, watching the boy leave. Suddenly, the older bully was thrown backwards and shoved up against the wall, a wand pointed to his neck. The girl herself was suddenly surrounded by two strong arms, the owner of which asked whether she was Ok" It was now that everyone was realising why exactly Lily was telling this story. "Another person appeared from nowhere picking up her books remains and fixing them quickly with magic. The girl smiled brightly as her three protectors stood proudly in front of her. The bully, having been let go, was running down the corridor and out of sight, the end." She turned to Lucy who was looking slightly confused.

"Do you understand why I told you that story Luc?"

"Not really" she said, "I mean, it was alright at first, but I didn't understand the ending. Who were the protectors, and where did they come from?"

"Lucy, you do realise who the little girl in the story was right?" Molly asked her sister, still comfortably placed on her lap. Lucy frowned and Lily smiled.

"The little girl was me Luc" most people looked shocked by this, Lily thought she had made it slightly obvious. "I was the one who was terrified to go to Hogwarts because I thought I would be alone. Hugo was the little boy who held my hand through everything. He was also the one who was ill that day during first year."

"So you were the one who was attacked by some punk Slytherin?" Uncle Ron looked positively murderous at the thought of his niece hurt like that. Lily nodded sadly.

"So who were your protectors?" Lily smiled at Louis.

"Well, James was the one who pushed the bully against the wall and scared him off…" Everyone turned to James who looked proudly at Lily and received and pat on the back from Harry. "Albus was the one checking whether I was Ok…" Al smiled slightly as he looked at the ground. "And Scorp was the one who fixed my books for me" she smiled at Scorpius who winked back smirking.

"I still don't get it" Lucy said, louder than before, looking rather frustrated.

"Luc, the whole point of telling you that story is to make you see that no matter how alone you may feel, or physically are, if you are in any sort of trouble, or need help of any kind, we, your family will always be there, no matter how far away we are" Lily was looking intensely at Lucy, trying to make understand. Lucy looked around at her family, who were either looking at Lily with pride or at her, she then looked back at Lily.

"You'll always be there?"

"Always"