[Lily Potter]

Friday, August 1, 1980

Dear Harry,

It feels a little odd writing to you, as you're sleeping next to me. But James swears it's a wizarding tradition he doesn't want to give up. I suppose I should explain it, as I'm the first one writing here. According to James, in the wizarding world, just a couple of hours after a wizard or witch is born, their mother will begin a diary, detailing events from the wizard's or witch's childhood. I am supposed to write to you every week for exactly seventeen years.

I would have thought this was one of James' jokes, except he showed me his wizarding book, in which his mother, father and their family and friends wrote in without fail, for seventeen years. It seems like a daunting task, but James assures me it will seem almost commonplace after a couple of months. Harry, you were born July 31, 1980, at almost midnight. Obviously I wasn't up for writing anything for a little while, so it's now Friday. I, along with your father and our friends, will write to you every Friday until the day you turn seventeen (which is, coincidently, a Thursday).

So Harry, I'm not really sure what to write! You're a very cute baby, the cutest. You have your father's mess he calls hair, but you opened your eyes a couple of minutes ago, and they're exactly like mine. We called you Harry, after my father. I wanted to name you Harold, which is my father's name, but James instead that Harold was 'dreadfully stuffy', so Harry was our compromise. Just be glad Sirius didn't name you- he insisted we should call you Elvendork, which is possibly the stupidest name I have ever heard.

Um, what to write, what to write... Gosh, this is so much harder than James said it would be! I really hope it gets easier. Oh well, I guess I have time to get used to it. Seventeen years... Yikes, that's a lot of writing. Fifty-two weeks, times seventeen years, times maybe a thousand words per entry... That's like, ten medium sized novels! I really hope you like to read, Harry, 'cause this is only the first entry! Granted, I won't be writing all of it (James promises to do his share), but still.

When I went into labor, James was so cute, freaking out. Honestly, I think he was more frightened than I was! Alice had her baby just the day before, so my best girl friend wasn't there to help me, but we made it through James's hysterics. We went to St. Mungo's, and the healers brought Sirius, Remus and Peter. We've decided that Sirius is your godfather, and Alice will be your godmother.

I know you may not what to know all the details, but whatever. You're seventeen, you can deal with it. I bet you'll be the sweetest kid, Harry. And smart, too (you get that from me!). Unfortunately, you'll probably get your father's taste for rule-breaking, but please don't be too bad. Make lots of friends, and have a blast. Actually, you'll be almost out of Hogwarts by the time you read this, so I suppose these words are for naught. Oh well. I'll just hope that you've already taken my words to heed.

Um... Sorry, Harry, but I'm still trying to figure out what I could write that you wouldn't already know. I've probably already told you most of this, over the years. Now, what wouldn't you know... Hmmm... Maybe something I'll probably forget? Petunia tried to call last week. I've told her repeatedly that the phone doesn't work around magic, but she always gets selective hearing around that word. Anyway, she got über-offended when I saw her last, because she thought I was ignoring her calls. I tried explaining, but she just huffed away.

I think she's jealous that I was blessed with James and you, Harry, when she married that pig, Dursley. I mean, their kid is named Dudley. That poor child, having been stuck with an awful name like that! But if he's anything like his father, he deserves a name like that. I hope you won't have to interact with them too much Harry. Petunia seems content that we should only see each other once a year, and that sounds just fine to me. It will probably be even less when you're older, Harry.

I keep forgetting, you'll be seventeen when you finally read this Harry. I wonder how our lives will be different... Maybe the war will be over. Or you might have siblings, Harry! I've always liked the idea of a girl and a boy, but Sirius and Remus warned me that James won't be satisfied until we have a Quidditch team. No thanks! He wants seven children, he can pump them out himself!

I think I'll leave that to the Weasleys. Molly had her sixth child in March, and she says she'll keep trying for a girl. She was my midwife, you know. I picked her, because she probably knows a lot more about having babies than most of the professionals. Of course I had one of those, too, but Molly insisted that she should help to. She's a force of nature, that one!

Oh, you just woke up! Merlin, you're such a cute baby, Harry. Even Sirius agrees, and I'm sure you know how he avoids sappy stuff. Swore he had dust in his eye, but we all knew him too well. James gets this awestruck look on his face, like he can't believe you're finally here, after all this time of waiting. You're perfect Harry. Our little miracle.

My hand kind of hurts. This is enough for the first entry, right? I think so. Hell, I think I should know how much is enough. I don't have anything else to write... James says he'll take the next entry, so it'll be awhile before you'll be seeing my handwriting again. So good-bye for now little Harry...

I love you.

-Lily

Author's Note: going by Lily's calculations, a full wizard's book would be about 884,000 words. To put that in perspective, the whole Harry Potter series is about 1,084,000 words. So. Many. Words! Now this story won't be that long for obvious reasons, but imagine how Lily would feel!