Author's note: I'm soooooo sorry for this update being late, but after I published the last chapter my life went into a storm quickly. My parents finally let me take a trip over spring break to go see a few colleges out on the eastern coast (United States) which was really cool, but when I got back I got swept up in studying for all 6 of my AP exams and that along with the rest of my time which meant I wasn't getting any free time to write. I know this is a lame excuse and I really hope you guys can forgive me for this being so late, but here it is so enjoy reading.

Chapter 2: Introductions

The door closed with a soft click as Mrs. Frigg exited. This left Harry alone with his new daughter, who he was softly cradling while she slept silently.

Well, what should I do now Harry thought as he slowly stood up, only to find her woken up by his movement Shit was his last thought before Lily started to bawl like someone had taken away her favorite toy.

Harry made his way over to where the books were neatly stacked in a pile on the side of one of his tables. The books were relatively small and would probably be more accurately described as pamphlets, save one green book entitled "How to Raise a Magical Kid, For Beginners" which was about 300 pages. The pamphlets were on many topics, including some of the things Mrs. Frigg had taught him, such as how to change a diaper and the basics of nutrition.

Harry slowly picked up the stack, about 400 pages in all, and slowly made his way back to his chair with a now slightly less agitated Lily. He sat down and immediately began to attempt to soothe the baby, and after an uphill struggle of about 30 minutes, she finally faded back into sleep.

Harry cast a silent tempus charm to determine the time, 11 A.M, and silently praised the almighty powers watching over him that he had somehow managed to learn silent casting during his struggle to defeat Voldemort. He began to flip through the pamphlets, reading through all of them rather quickly before starting on the book.

He was at about page 113 when Lily woke up and demanded to be fed. She began crying without cease, which forced Harry to scramble for his pamphlets. He was searching fervently for the pamphlet of basic nutrition in the hopes of finding something for her to eat. Finding the pamphlet in question, he put Lily into her stroller and quickly brought her to the kitchen to prepare soft baby food. He diced the carrots before mashing them and adding them to a few other fresh vegetables he had sitting around before finally coming up with the final product, a brownish paste that looking absolutely revolting to him, but seemed to excite Lily to no end. He went over to the drawers and removed a spoon before returning to Lily.

"Alright Lily, do you want to eat now?" Harry asked aloud as if the baby could comprehend and follow directions. He slowly scooped up some of the paste and began to try to put it into the child's mouth. Lily slowly opened her mouth and appeared to be eating the food before allowing some to dribble onto her clothes. They continued eating in this way for several minutes, Harry getting small bites of food and trying to feed them to Lily, who proceeded to make a rather large mess of the area in the process. Afterwards, the table, along with Harry, Lily, and her clothes all showed signs of needing to be cleaned, so Harry cleaned off the table and then proceeded to the bathroom to wash them both off. After a few minutes of getting splashed by Lily, who seemed to be having a blast, he began making progress on getting her clean, and after about 10 minutes he got his desired results, so he wrapped her in a towel and made his way to his room to change clothes.

A few minutes later, Harry was right back where he started, on his chair and reading, while Lily was fading back into sleep while resting on him. He looked down and realized what a beautiful child she truly was. Of course, he had noticed before, he had been able to look at her briefly while Mrs. Frigg was talking to him, but this was the first time that he truly had time to sit back and appreciate the small child. Harry couldn't believe that he had been able to create something like her, even indirectly without his approval. He couldn't believe he was looking at something, or rather someone, who was, quite literally, half of him. He had heard of people finding their soulmates, their other (most of the time better) halves, but she was quite literally half of his genetic information. It made him swell with a paternal pride as he watched her move around on him trying to find a nice spot to sleep. He supposed she really would really be beautiful when she grew up, her platinum blond hair that was already beginning to form on the top of her heard coupled with her bright green eyes would surly attract numerous boys during her time at Hogwarts and beyond. She also had a sort of radiance, a childish aura that he couldn't put his finger on.

He also noticed something else about Lily; she currently wasn't wearing any clothes. After he had made a mess with her eating and washed her off, he forgot to magically clean her clothes so that she could wear them again. With that in mind, Harry summoned her clothes and then cast a few spells to get them slightly cleaner. Eventually I'm going to need to get her some more clothes Harry thought, but he decided against it at the moment and continued on with the book he was reading.

Harry looked up after finishing the final book Mrs. Frigg had given him and cast a quick tempus to determine the time, 2 P.M, before determining what to do next. The book and pamphlets gave him a lot of information, but he wanted more knowledge about the subject of children. He wanted to be able to give Lily the life he had never had, one where she was nurtured and free to grow and explore her many talents. To do that, he needed more books, preferably by authorities in the field of childcare, on how to take care of and raise a magical baby. Suddenly he was stuck with an idea.

"Dobby," Harry called out knowing the house elf would hear him.

No more than ten seconds later, Harry heard a small pop right next to him which signaled the arrival of the house elf, "What can I do for the great Harry Potter?" Dobby began before noticing Lily sitting in his lap, "and who is the young misses that you is holding?"

"Dobby please keep the noise level to a minimum, she is trying to sleep, and speaking of which this is Lily Minerva Potter and she is my new adopted daughter after today," Harry whispered, but Dobby quickly started his normal hysterics.

"Aww, Master Harry Potter sir will be a most excellent father, Dobby just knows it, Dobby is blessed to know such a great person as Harry Potter," Dobby cried out.

"Dobby please," Harry interrupted feeling Lily start to move against his side, "Look Dobby I have two things to ask. The first involves you Dobby, I know that you have been living at Hogwarts since the final battle, but I was wondering if you would like to come live with me and help me out here with the extra work I will undoubtedly have because of Lily. I can arrange a talk with Headmistress McGonagall and we can discuss…" was all he could say before Dobby burst into tears, all while trying to contain himself because Harry had told him to. This would have appeared quite funny if anyone was watching from the outside, but as no one was this moment was lost in time.

"Master Harry Potter does not need to talk to the headmistress to get Dobby to be his house elf. Hogwarts understands that bonding with one master gives the house elf more energy than if he would bond with the school so it allows the house elfs to bond as they please. All Master has to do is say that he would like to allow Dobby to serve the Great House of Potter and Dobby will take care of the rest," Dobby managed to say between sobs.

"Alright Dobby as long as you are sure you want this," Harry began, "I, Harry Potter, Lord of House Potter request the services of Dobby the house elf."

"YAY," Dobby shouted out before mumbling what sounded to be a chant in a different language before a shroud of light enveloped him and Dobby.

Filing this information away for a later conversation with Dobby and Hermione that had the potential to be both humorous and informative, he asked his second request, "Dobby as for my second request, could you go to Diagon Alley and talk to someone from Flourish and Blotts and ask them to get whatever books they recommend you buy for a new father about how to raise a magical child," Harry said as he slowly got up and went to his bedroom and got his money out his safe in his closet. He came back into the living room and gave the money to Dobby who promptly popped out presumably to Diagon Alley.

Harry decided that this was as good a time as any to make himself some food, so he got up and placed Lily in her carrier before heading to the kitchen to get out some ingredients. After a little consideration, he decided that he would have a light snack and then make himself and Lily a bigger dinner to compensate. With that in mind, he got out a few fruits and vegetables along with some bread for a sandwich.

Soon after he had finished eating and returned to his seat with Lily, Dobby popped back in with a stack of 5 medium sized books. "The manager said that you would have to come in to get more books as he needs to know what you are looking for specifically, these were the general ones he recommends," Dobby said handing Harry back his bag of money.

"Great job," Harry began before adding, "You can go back to Hogwarts and get anything that you have left there and bring them back to the house. When you get back, you can place it in the guest room, eventually we will have to move out of here and move to one of the Potter houses, but for now you will have to share a room with Lily."

After he heard that, Dobby apparated to Hogwarts, but he was only gone a few minutes before returning with a modest sack of keepsakes. He dropped them in the guest room before coming back.

"Dobby, you can come and go as you wish, I am going to read some of these books and I will make dinner tonight, but you are welcome to watch and help me. I only ask this because I assume you don't yet know how to make baby food and it is a rather complex process," Harry said.

"Thank you Master Harry Potter sir, I wish to go visit some of the elves at Hogwarts and tell them about my new status," Dobby said.

"Dobby, one more thing, I would like you just to call me Harry, after all we have been through personal names are more than acceptable," Harry said before Dobby apparated back to Hogwarts.

Harry then sat down into his chair with one of his new books, The Basic Principles of Magical Newborns and Children, and How to Raise Them by W. D Aditi, and began to read.

Harry was about 300 pages into the book, or about 6:00, when Lily began calling out for attention again. Sure, he had to stop before to change an occasional diaper or give her some milk, but Harry thought that this time was based more on a want of food then a need to go. With this in mind, he got up and made his way with Lily to the kitchen to begin to prepare their dinner. He decided to go with pasta as that was the dish he was in the mood for and he had no way of getting any input from Lily.

He went into his makeshift pantry and got out a can of spaghetti sauce and a box of noodles. He would typically make extra to eat during the week, but with Lily around he was unsure of that choice. In the end, he decided he would make more. He went back and began boiling water for the spaghetti while cutting up fresh vegetables to add to the sauce that was cooking. After he had put the noodles, he heard a knock at the door. Who could it possibly be at this time of the evening on a Saturday? Shouldn't everyone be out doing things? He thought before asking "Who's there."

"Harry, it's Hermione, and when we were on the run from death eaters, we danced to the song "O Children" to have fun one night." A voice that Harry now knew was Hermione's said back. They still used that way of identifying themselves in which they said something no one else knew even after Voldemort had fallen because there was still a threat posed by those still associated with the pureblood ideology who saw them as evil for killing their dark Lord. That personal bit of information was only known by he and Hermione, they hadn't even told Ron the song they had danced to for this exact purpose.

"Come in," Harry yelled while making his way to the door to greet her, "might I ask why you have chosen tonight to come over?"

"Yes Harry, Neither Ron or I have seen you since you went home from work on Friday and you haven't answered any of our letters so we asked Ginny, and when she said you were just tired I thought something else might be going on so I can to…" that was all Hermione was able to say as she entered the kitchen and saw Lily.

Oh Shit Harry thought she was totally right about something else going on and I guess she just found out the what, but how do I tell her the why. "Hermione I can explain…" He started, but before he could begin to explain Hermione was asking a thousand questions a minute as she normally does when she doesn't know something.

"Who is this? Why is there a baby in the room? How did you manage to get yourself a baby? Who is the mother? Are those books I see by your chair?" She launched off rapid fire.

"Hermione calm down and let me explain," Harry began, "But first, would you like to stay for dinner? I made extra spaghetti."

"Why thank you Harry, I would love to stay for dinner, but you had better start explaining before I blow up," she finished while giving Harry a look that told him that she was completely serious in that threat.

Hermione this is my daughter, Lily Minerva Potter, and the story all starts this morning when I was woken up…" Harry started before proceeding to tell her the whole story of his day sparing no detail including the flashbacks of what happened at the Dursley's. While Hermione knew that his life at the Dursley's was unpleasant to say the least, she was completely unaware of how gruesome his home life actually was. After he was finished telling the story, near the end of which Harry had taken the food off the stove while getting a loaf of bread out of the pantry and making garlic cheese bread to go with the pasta, they were both in tears and Hermione launched herself at Harry and embraced him.

They stood like that just holding each other and crying until they were disturbed by the hungry cries of Lily. "Would you like to eat something now," Harry began as they separated and he went to go get plates out of the cupboards.

"Harry, I'm so proud of how you handled that situation," Hermione began, "Taking in the child must be rough and I completely understand your reasoning and am so proud of you, in addition, I'm happy that you are taking this seriously and reading up on how to raise Lily as best as you can. And if you ever need anything feel free to ask my help," she finished with a smile

"Thanks Hermione, I knew you would understand. I was actually hoping that you could help me. I wanted to list you as the person who would be given custody of Lily if anything were to ever happen to me. I trust you, and I was hoping if you would fill that role. You could come and visit her anytime you would like to," Harry said nervously.

"Of course I will Harry," Hermione began stuttering and blushing because of his words of praise.

The rest of the meal was spent in relative silence with both of them eating the wonderful meal and conversing about random parts of their day. At some point Harry brought out a bottle of wine and, after feeding Lily the rest of her mashed spaghetti and vegetables, an effort which took both or their combined effort and was comical to anyone observing as they both tried to get her to open up and eat and both failed miserably, they moved their discussion to the living room onto the couch. While there they were discussing their random lives each forgetting about their lives.

They each missed this kind of intimacy they shared that had begun to be lost during the beginning of their careers. During the hunt after Ron had left, Harry and Hermione had grown even closer than ever, clinging to each other out of both fear and necessity. They continued this closeness even when Ron came back and especially when they shared a room without him during their last year in Hogwarts when they were head boy and head girl. They had lost some of this when they had gone into the real world, but a night like tonight was exactly what they needed to rekindle their closeness.

Eventually, Lilly woke up from her nap and they began playing with her. They all snuggled close on the couch, the three of them, playing and just enjoying themselves and it all seemed so serene. Harry let his guard down this is what was fun to him, not going to parties with Ginny, meeting thousands of important people not being paraded around like a circus animal, but laying on a couch drinking wine with his best friend and his daughter curled up next to him all.

"HARRY YOU BETTER HAVE A FUCKING GOOD REASON FOR STANDING ME UP TONIGHT HARRY POTTER," Ginny said storming in the door. Harry knew she had a key, but she normally didn't just barge in.

"Ginny I'm sorry, I completely forgot I said I was going to go out with you tonight," Harry said hoping desperately that Ginny didn't overreact to the situation in front of her.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? WHO IS THAT KID? WHY ARE YOU ALL LAYING ON THE COUCH?" Ginny began clearly enraged. At this point in the screaming Lily began to get upset and started to cry.

"Ginny, it's not what it looks like let me explain," Harry tossed desperately at her while getting up.

"DAMN STRAIGHT, IT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT FUCKING LOOKS LIKE YOU AND THAT WHORE OVER THERE HAD A FUCKING BASTARD SOMEHOW. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE A SLUTTY BITCH HERMIONE, WAIT UNTIL MY BROTHER HEARS AND YOUR ASS IN ON THE CURB, HUH BITCH NOT MUCH TO SAY NOW HUH," Ginny screamed.

"Ginny calm the fuck down you are scaring the baby," Harry replied his anger obviously mounting.

"ME? SHUT UP? IN YOUR FUCKING DREAMS THIS BITCH WHORE IS NOT STEALING MY MAN," Ginny yelled back, "THAT BITCH I ALWAYS KNEW THAT WHORE COULDN'T BE TRUSTED."

"STOP CALLING HER A WHORE, SHE DID NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS," Harry was now pissed to say the least.

"OF COURSE SHE IS A WHORE! SHE TOOK YOU FROM ME, AND NOW YOU HAVE A CHILD. SHE IS SUCH A GIANT BITCH, HOW DO YOU FEEL WHORE," Ginny yelled obviously very upset.

"NO, SHE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING TO DESERVE THIS. SHE HAS ALWAYS STOOD BY MY SIDE," Harry yelled in return.

"WHY DO YOU TAKE HER SIDE, THE FUCKING SLUT? I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND HARRY," Ginny shouted.

"BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING TO TAKE HER SIDE ON, AND YOU ARE BEING RUDE AND ARE CALLING MY BEST FRIEND A WHORE," Harry shouted right back.

"YEAH THAT'S RIGHT SHE IS A WHORE AT LEAST YOU KNOW IT," Ginny started, "AND WHILE YOU ARE AT IT GET RID OF THAT BASTARD CHILD."

"Get out of my house now," Harry began so angry his magic was beginning to flare causing objects in the room to levitate slightly, the insult towards Lily was too much for him to take, "No one insults my family you need to leave now."

"FUCK YOU TOO HARRY. I ONLY EVER REALLY CARED ABOUT YOU FOR YOUR MONEY AND FAME," Ginny began before walking back out the door while flicking them off, leaving a crying Lily with a very stunned Hermione and a very pissed off Harry Potter.

Author's note: so once again I want to apologize for not writing until now life got hectic and I'm sorry I can't control that. I'm sorry if this chapter seemed rushed in any way that wasn't meant to happen, but I tried writing this chapter in the midst of all the chaos and that didn't work very well. On the bright side, summer is coming up soon so hopefully that means more writing. As always, feel free to review, they are much appreciated and I will do my best to answer.