"Lily! Albus! Dinner's ready," Ginny called. The Potters had dropped James off on the Hogwarts Express earlier that day, and the house was strangely quiet. She and Harry were finishing up preparing the food when Albus came into the kitchen.
"Where's Lils?"
"I dunno, Dad. Haven't seen her in a while… I could go check in her room," Albus said, turning to find his sister. He reached her bedroom, calling her name.
"Lily?"
No response.
"She's not up here. Maybe she went outside?"
Albus went down to the front door, opening it and looking around for Lily.
She was sitting on the front porch of the house, shivering without anything to keep her warm in the brisk autumn air. "Lils, what are you doing out here, you're freezing! How long have you been sitting there?"
"I don't know," she muttered. "A while… I was just waiting for James to come back, he's been gone a long time." She looked concerned, but Al smiled.
"He won't be back for a while, Lily. He went off to Hogwarts, remember?"
"But—but he said he'd be back soon."
"Not unless you call about ten months soon."
"Al, that's not soon. That's a long time, James said soon."
"Well he won't be home tonight, Lily. Hate to break it to you. But it's time for dinner, come on inside before you get any colder."
Lily followed him inside to the kitchen table. "You won't leave me like James did, will you?"
"Not for a while. But one day, you'll get to go, too! Then you'll learn why James left for so long. It'll be fun, I promise."
Lily looked him in the eyes, trying to detect truth in his promise. Finding it, she wrapped her arms around him, saying, "Please don't leave me, Al. I don't want you both to go away."
"We won't be gone for long, Lils."
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For the Connect the Weasleys Challenge (Albus/Lily with the prompt Shiver) and the Represent that Character Challenge.