-Authors Note-

Hey guys! This is my first story, but don't go easy on me. I want to know what you guys think. I was inspired recently for this story and I hope you guys like it. Oh! I want to thank my wonderful Beta theslytherinrose. I hope to start out with weekly updates and then move to bi-weekly as I get more done. Enjoy guys.

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Chapter 1

Lily was submerged in water, and yet she wasn't drowning. It always went this way. She could breathe the water like air; it felt natural. She heard a splash behind her and felt dread wash through her. She turned to see two feet ankle-deep in her lake. Her lake? She shook off the feeling and moved toward the intruder, but just as her head broke the surface, she couldn't draw a breath. The air burned like fire in her lungs. As she struggled for air, her eyes met cold, steely ones, and her ears tingled with the sound of laughter.

She woke up gasping, tangled in soaking wet sheets. The sheets weren't covered in sweat, but lake water. Since she had turned seven, she'd had this recurring nightmare. Most children had nightmares about drowning, but she had just the opposite. No matter how many times she had the dream, the sound of laughter haunted her, and she couldn't ever remember the face of the intruder. It always terrified her not being able to place them. The smell of the lake hung around her like a blanket. She got up and made her way down the hall to the bathroom before her brothers woke up.

She had always been an early riser. Her Aunt Hermione had used to say Lily lived by the clock of the sun. Of course Lily was eleven now and went to bed much later than the sun most nights, but she'd never stopped getting up early. Her brothers, however, only woke up earlier than noon for food or presents, or of course if their mum forced them out of bed. Except for Teddy, but he didn't live at home anymore. He lived in a flat with cousin Victoire. Even though Teddy wasn't technically her brother, he might as well have been. He'd grown up as such, and by the time Lily had understood that he wasn't, he already was to her.

As Lily got to the bathroom, she looked up at herself in the mirror. She brushed her long, wet hair from her eyes. Her red hair came down to her ribs and was pin-straight. Some days she wished for hair like her older cousin Rose, unruly and free instead of so tame, but then she remembered how much Rose hated her hair. Lily's eyes were the same color of light brown they always were, and her nose still had those annoying freckles on it that seemed to become more prominent as the summer went on. Though she didn't really tan, she did freckle.

Today was going to be one of the most exciting days of her life. Her letter for Hogwarts had come only weeks earlier, and she was one of the last kids in her family to go. Luckily, though, she wasn't the very last. She thought back to the years before, when each term after school had started, the Burrow had become more and more empty during family events. She'd had Lucy and Hugo to keep her company while all her older cousins and family started to drift apart. Of course she still saw them all during holidays, but before, they'd all shared the same experiences, and after some of them left for school, it was almost like they couldn't relate as much to one another. They were still closer than most families, but it just wasn't the same as before.

Lily got ready for the day and went down to make some tea and start breakfast with her mom. The nightmare had been completely forgotten by now, pushed aside by thoughts of Hogwarts, classes, and the Sorting. Many people had thought that most of her family would end up in Gryffindor, but that just hadn't been the case. She had family in all of the houses, so far. Of course, James and Fred were in Gryffindor with Dominique. Molly and Rose had ended up in Ravenclaw, which was also where Victoire had been placed. Louis and Roxanne had been sorted into Hufflepuff, along with Teddy. Slytherin had only claimed Albus, so far, but who knew where the last three would end up.

As she came into view of the kitchen, she saw her mother already up fixing breakfast while her father sat at the table drinking his coffee, black, and reading the Daily Prophet. Lily moved in beside her mom with a quick 'Good morning' and started the kettle for her tea. Oddly enough, she was the only one in the house to prefer tea to coffee. Tea was closer to water than coffee, and Lily was always drinking water, though the occasional pumpkin juice could coerce her to try something else.

"Good morning, Flower. You all ready to go to the train station? You already packed?" her father said from his seat at the table. He pushed his glasses up his nose as glanced at her over the paper.

Lily looked up from the kettle and nodded with a slow smile. "Yeah, I finished days ago, actually. I have double- and triple-checked my trunk, by now." Her smile slowly turned into a smirk. "I bet James is upstairs packing his trunk right now, just like last year." Her dad laughed as she felt her hair being ruffled behind her.

She turned to see James pass by and grab a plate from the counter. "Hey, that's not fair," he said. "I'm not packing now. I was a few minutes ago, but now I am ready to go. Not a care in the world." Lily straightened her hair back out and shot him a look.

"Well it is a surprise you aren't still comatose up in your bed, and don't ruffle my hair. You know I hate that," Lily said, aggravated with her brother.

"As it turns out, you taking a shower in our bathroom that happens to be right next to my room wakes me up. The pipes are old, Sis. Have some courtesy," he replied in-between mouthfuls of pancakes.

"Well, if you woke up at a decent time, you wouldn't have cared if I was getting a shower like a normal person or not. I know you don't really know what a shower is, since the breed of boys don't really utilize them, so I will go easy on you," Lily replied snarkily, and her mother laughed while her father and brother let out sounds of protest.

"I don't think that's fair Lilykins. I know what a shower is. I shower in ladies' compliments all the time," James joked, and Lily laughed at him.

"Not with that BO, you don't," said Mom. "Seriously, James, after breakfast, go shower. Please. And Lily, dear, please go wake up Al. If we don't get a move on, we are going to miss the train." Mom said they would miss the train if they didn't hurry every year. Lily knew she just wanted them to get there early so she and all Lily's aunts could cry over them leaving while all her uncles and her dad pretended not to tear up.

Lily ran upstairs and knocked on Albus's door. "Al, are you up yet?"

Surprisingly, his door opened with a fully dressed-and-ready Albus behind it. "Never been more ready for school to start. Are you excited, Lil?"

"Who are you and where is my brother?" Lily asked mockingly in reply, and he laughed and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm excited. Nervous a little, but excited."

"Hey, don't be nervous. There is nothing to be nervous for, Lil," Albus said softly. While Lily's relationship with James was all banter and fun, her relationship with Al was that and more. She could talk to Al about things other people might find silly.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just worried about being separated from Lucy and Hugo. I know I will make more friends, but…" She trailed off, unintentionally twirling her hair around her finger—the tell that she was worried.

"Hey, just because you might get separated doesn't mean you won't see them. You can sit with them at meals and you will have at least one class with them." Albus spoke with concern in his eyes, staying her hand that was still playing with her hair. "It will be all right. You will have family no matter where you go." He smirked a little. "Though it would be nice if at least one of you three ended up in Slytherin. I am due for some company, don't cha think?" He poked her side and made her laugh a little.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lily said with a heavy sigh. She'd thought about this before and she knew that Lucy was probably going to end up in Hufflepuff, if not because she was shy and friendly, then because she had a huge crush on Lorcan Scamander, a family friend in Hufflepuff. She would beg the Sorting Hat to place her there. Hugo would probably end up in Gryffindor. That boy was reckless to a fault. Earlier that summer, he'd decided it was his mission to learn how to dive off his broom to make a Quaffle save, as he loved Quidditch and preferred to play Keeper. That maneuver had ended with a broken leg and no broom privileges for the rest of the summer.

As for Lily, she wasn't sure where she fit in. Her dad often told her she was hard to read sometimes, if one didn't pay attention to the subtle changes of her expression, but she loved to learn just as much as Aunt Hermione. Plus, she liked to think she was as friendly as Teddy, and while she wasn't brave, she was loyal. Sometimes she questioned why Houses were even made, but then she remembered Aunt Hermione's stories about the founders and what they represented. Aunt Hermione used to say that the Houses were like the elements, essential and useful in their own ways. After Lily started getting her nightmares, she'd asked her aunt which house represented which element, and her aunt had told her that was for her to decide.

If she was right about which was which, then she might be joining her brother this year. Lily looked up at Albus, and he gave her a knowing nod.

"Come on, breakfast is probably getting cold," she said softly, and he followed her down the stairs as her kettle screeched on the stove.