Lily was stuffed on the back of her father's car along with her brothers as soon as they left the station. The stupid, warm wind wouldn't stop messing with her braid and the sun was much too hot for her liking. Through the open window, she could see the muggles walking hurriedly on the catwalk towards somewhere presumably important while the cars went by in a rush. In the back of her head, she registered an odd man following a beautiful woman towards an alleyway and, not far from them, a young couple taking care of their baby, and even though both scenes were eyecatching, the strawberry-blonde found herself not caring at all and slowly drifting into deep thought about the last scene at the station.

What exactly was that about? The look, the strange probing... was it supposed to mean something or was she just reading too much into things? She had often heard about the Malfoys - not very good stories, although her Grandmother always insisted in saying that Narcissa Malfoy was very much like her when it came to protecting her children - but Astoria Malfoy wasn't someone frequently mentioned on the kitchen table... or any tables at all, for that matter.

Lily knew from the countless magazines she read on her boring summers that the Malfoy Lady was a really important figure in the music business, mostly in France but, lately, she had become quite famous throughout Europe. Not that the Malfoys needed the additional money but she had won a lot of it because of her music and paintings. Despite not knowing her at all, Lily felt a great sense of admiration for the woman who had made herself a name in both wizard and muggle world without the help of others, especially with the known family name she married into.

Still, it wasn't any comfort at all. Lily was still very much confused by what happened and she knew that - unfortunately - she wouldn't be able to forget about it so soon. As she felt a headache coming from the effort of thinking so hard, the car rounded the corner and started the short road toward the country. It was beautiful there at that time of the year; the gravel road lead through the open field, small flowers etching themselves on the roadside and a perfect silence you could only find in the country side. Not far, there was a hill stretching the outlines of the horizont, blending in with the fluffy white clouds and the bright blue of the sky. It was truly an amazing sight.

At the end of the road a big, crooked and desordely house could be seen. The Burrow. Its walls looked like they had seen a lot and the asymmetrical layout made everyone who saw it for the first time question the integrity of the house but for Lily, it was a very stable place thank you very much. Another pebble path lead to the front door, the green grass shinning brightly in contrast with the musky brown.

As soon as Harry parked the car besides four other cars, Lily jumped out of the confinement and ran towards the house. Her skirt and hair flaying behind her and cheeks certainly flushed from the hot weather. She threw the door open and opened a big smile when she noticed everyone inside.

"I'm home!" she exclaimed happily. All of her uncles and aunts were at the living room, smiling at her or chuckling at her habit of repeating the same sentence every time she got home from Hogwarts. Some years back, the family had all joined forces and magically expanded the rooms in The Burrow as the family was getting too big to fit in a single room and having meals together was such an important thing. So now, the living room was big enough for all twenty-six family members to sit and talk comfortably, without bumping into each other. Dominique, who was sitting between her parents, snorted loudly over the laughter.

"Obviously." Lily rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her cousin. If it was just the two of them of course she would have done more, but she had kept the image of the perfect little girl so far, now was definitely not the time to break it. The conversation started again, changing focus to the new arrivals when a piercing meow echoed on the house.

"Oh this wretched cat! I can't believe you still want to keep it, Arthur!" Grandma Molly came through the kitchen door holding at arm length a small ball of white fur. The cat was protesting loudly on Molly's arms and when she finally let it go, it didn't waste a single minute before running towards Lily and jumping in her arms.

"Mush!" exclaimed Lily yet again. When Lucy was four years old, they were playing outside on the garden when they heard the gnomes making quite a commotion by the lake. It had been overall a very rainy year and there were mushrooms growing everywhere so their usual lay was surrounded by them, but that wasn't the problem. Right outside the entrance to their hole was a small white kitty clawing at the gnomes who tried to enter it. Apparently, there was another cat inside the hole and the one outside was trying to protect it from the gnomes who were putting up quite a fight. The kitty's top right year had been ripped of and was bleeding a lot and it seemed to be limping a little bit. Lucy came running back to the house screaming 'Mush-um is bleeding! Is bleeding momma!' while the others pushed the gnomes away to get to the cats. Lily grabbed the kitty and took her inside while Fred grabbed the one inside the hole. Grandma Molly healed the kitty's paw and stopped the bleeding on its ear, but she couldn't save the other cat, who happened to be the mother. The kitty's name became Mush because Lucy couldn't pronounce Mushroom and it was as white as the ones that had grown on the grounds that year. From that day on, Lily took care of Mush, giving her milk from a bottle and sleeping with her until she wasn't afraid to do so herself, she refused to leave her grandparent's house for weeks.

"Sweet Merlin, you three have grown so much!" Grandma Molly said giving each of the Potter siblings a kiss on the cheek before repeating the action with Harry and Ginny. When she got close to Lily, Mush growled lowly in warning. Let's just say Mush wasn't the friendliest of cats. The only ones she truly got along with was Lily and Arthur. The rest she either ignored or growled at. "Lily, honey, go get your granddad at the Garage will you? Dinner is almost ready."

It wasn't really that late to be dinner already, but they usually have this whole last-meal-of-the-day thing when the kids get back from Hogwarts as a tradition. Lily headed out through the back door and made her way to the Garage, it actually wasn't a garage but more of a little shack. It had two big sofas and posters of how to build motorcycles plastered on the walls. A big motorbike was on one corner and there was always a table full of useless things. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see her Grandpa not alone.

"Teddy!" Lily screamed, jumping on the arms of her older brother after putting Mush on the floor. His electric blue hair and piercing green eyes were so familiar and comforting for her ever since she was a baby and she needed someone to sleep with her at night because she was too afraid of the dark. He was the only one who sat with her because she didn't have the guts to tell the others as she grew up that she still held the childish fear. Teddy enveloped his younger sister in his arms and spun her around before putting her back on her feet.

"How are you doing, Flower? You have grown so much!" the big smile on his face mirrored their grandfather's as she flushed a little at the compliment. The older man chuckled a little and opened his arms too.

"Don't I get a hug too?" Lily's carefree laughter filled the shack while she ran into her granddad's arms. The old smell giving her a sense of security and his bigs arms warming her up. She had truly missed them. After quite some time at the shack she remembered why she had gone there and smacked herself over the forehead - this was becoming a bad habit.

"Grandma sent me to tell you dinner is almost ready! We should go!" the slight bit of panic in her voice was not for nothing. It was never a good thing to ignore Grandma Molly's orders.

After a lot of loud talking and food, the Potter family got back to their house, to the peace and quiet. Lily did appreciate it after a day at The Burrow.

Dear Felorpius,

I must start this letter by saying that I really liked the name. Felorpius fits you both perfectly and you sure look cute together.

On second note, I'd like to say that you two owe me 50 Sickles for that magazine I sent you. It was the golden edition.

Finally, I had the strangest dream last night. It involved Flobberworms and Pixies... We were all Dancing naked on the Great Hall (and it was not strange at all!) when, suddenly, a thousand Flobberworms rained down from the ceiling and started dancing along. One even complimented your nipples, Scor. But it all became really strange when the Pixies arrived (if that was not strange already)... I shall end this letter with this comment: it was quite amusing, they have a great sense of humor.

Yours only,

Lily

P.S: Here's a picture of me dancing in case you were wondering how it was. No. I'm not naked.

That morning Lily had woken up laughing and feeling like she had been struck with the Cheering Spell. She had that dream all nigh and when she woke up, she couldn't think about anything else besides telling them. Felix had been staying at Scorpius' house for the week and while he was there, the three of them had exchanged several letters. They were usually in the middle of the night, so no one noticed the strange frequency that a certain mighty eagle owl came and went from the Potter household. The last one they sent, held an invitation to the Malfoy Manor for the day after the following day which she expected to answer as soon as she asked her parents.

Tying her air in a messy bun on top of her head, she made her way quietly into James' room. It was still pretty early so he was sleeping soundly, making the task at hand not difficult at all. She tied the letter to his owl and sent it to the Malfoy Manor before getting a magical marker and drawing a ridiculous mustache on his face. Oh, that day was going to be a blast!

Lily got to the kitchen and was surprised to see everyone there, aside from James. Her dad was cooking some bacons and her mother was reading the new edition of The Daily Prophet. Albus sat at the table reading a book and caressing an unfamiliar owl perched on the back of Lily's usual chair. Without wanting to disturb it, Lily took James' seat and helped herself to some toast.

"Who is it from?" she asked curiously. Her father turned and smiled to her and her mother said a quick good morning through the top of the paper. A few seconds later, Albus answered.

"Hogwarts. It's for you. Morning, sis." Lily's forehead creased in confusion as she took the letter from its paws that she hadn't noticed before. Her eyes scanned the paper and the crease in her forehead increased just as quickly.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Asked her father, sitting at his chair after putting the plate of bacon on the table.

"Uh... It's McGonagall. She might be coming here any second now." at this her mother lowered the paper into the table and looked at Harry, a frown etched on her face.

"What did you do?" she asked suspiciously, it wasn't every time the Headmistress went to pay a visit to you in such short notice.

"Nothing!" Lily exclaimed outraged that they would always make assumptions. But in the back of her head, she was truly worried. Had she found out about them? Were they going to be expelled? Or worse, would she send them to Azkaban?

She didn't even have time to think anymore, as the fireplace in the living room roared and the light from the green flames illuminated the kitchen. She exchanged a horrified look with Albus before following her parents into the room just in time to see the lean figure coming from the flames. Even after all those years, Minerva McGonagall was a truly magnificent woman. That with her fitted green robes and basic pointed hat, her stoic features were oddly not strict at all that morning.

"Hello, Professor." said Lily politely and motioned for her to sit on the sofa, she replied with a nod and took a seat while smiling briefly. Her parents greeted her more warmly before joining their guest and sitting on the armchairs. Lily took a seat at the opposite sofa so as to not be rude, but truth is, she was too scared to stand still.

"Miss Potter, I would like to inform you that on the 20th of June you have an assembly with the school Board." she said formally and waited for her consent. But it didn't came.

"What do you mean the school Board? What happened?" Ginny asked worriedly. All this formal asking and the involvement of the Board was getting too curious.

"Nothing bad, I assure you." Lily had to hide the obvious relief she felt at hearing those words. "On the contrary. Your daughter, Mrs. Potter, is a brilliant witch. Maybe even more so than Hermione was at her age." she added looking from Ginny to Harry. They both had similar expressions on their faces, the only feedback they got from their daughter's school work was her test grades, that were great yes, but they had no idea it was to this extent.

"So what do the Governors want?" Lily asked, truly curious at their interest in her. A shadow of a smile crossed McGonagall's face before she looked seriously at Lily.

"Several teachers think that this year's subjects are too easy for you, Potter." the girl's eyes widened in realization at what was implied in those words. They want her to skip ahead. Ginny asked the obvious question after everyone fell silent.

"They want her to skip a year?" McGonagall nodded briefly before giving Lily a piece of parchment containing the date and the classroom in which they would meet.

"The meeting is to decide this. But I need all the teachers and at least most of the Governors to agree to move her up." she said while getting up. Harry immediately followed but Ginny and Lily stayed put, too shocked to move. After Harry and McGonagall shook hands, Ginny seemed to have snapped out of it and hurriedly got up too to bid the Headmistress goodbye.

Lily was the last one to stand, but when she did, McGonagall was actually smiling at her.

"Congratulations, Potter. It's not every day we see this at Hogwarts. Good luck." the old woman left through the fireplace leaving all three members of the family alone and in silence. A silence that was quickly broken by a roaring scream from upstairs. Seconds later, heavy footsteps could be heard descending the stairs at rapid velocity, followed by a red James with a marker mustache on his face.

"Lily!"

Lily spent the day bouncing around the house. Too happy to even consider doing something as quiet as watching TV, she headed for the garden with her broom and began doing leaps around some trees. The garden was all enchanted so that any muggle passerby wouldn't notice the "strange" things that happened there. A strawberry-blonde girl perched upside down on a flying broom, for example. Lily kept 'practicing' alone until it was dark before, a much calmer and mustache-free, James came through the back door to announce that dinner was served and that Teddy had come to visit.

Smiling to herself, Lily got back and took a quick shower before joining them at the kitchen. It was really good that Teddy was there, he would surely back her up when she asked to go to Scorpius' house. Her older brother was sitting besides her and on James' left while she was sitting in front of her father who was besides Ginny and Albus came in after some minutes and sat next to his mother.

"How was work today, darling?" asked Ginny looking at Teddy with mother eyes. He smiled lightly before answering.

"Oh, some pureblood came into the department wanting to fill a formal complaint about the Minister, it seems like Guillory has missed the last year of payment that they usually give for wizards who want to open companies in the muggle world. So the poor lad was outraged. Really psycho-like. I told him he had to go to the Law Enforcement Department but he would keep shouting about how the bastard stole his money and that his company was going bankrupt because of it." Teddy said, rolling his eyes and reaching for a piece of steak."All in all, it was really tiresome."

"Oh, Guillory." said Harry shaking his head slightly. "I don't trust him. It's not the first time a pureblood complains about him, and we all know he's not as saint as people make him be." Herbert Guillory was the new Minister of Magic since Shacklebolt renounced in 2009 and had been through all of his three terms as Minister. Before leaving, Kingsley left a new law that made the people choose the new Minister every four years, but somehow, Guillory was truly liked by the wizarding society and got reelected three times.

"I don't either. But nothing bad happens anymore, right? It's no use trying to get him out of the post if everyone keeps voting for him." Teddy replied shaking his head too before smiling lopsidedly at Lily. "In the meantime, let's eat potatoes! Lily, could you pass some for me?"

Lily smiled at her chance and started pilling potatoes on his plate. "So, mum, dad. Can I go to my friend's house tomorrow?" There you go, nice and easy. One potatoe. Two potatoes.

"Sure, honey." replied her mom. "Who is it?"

Three potatoes. Four potatoes.

"Oh, you know."

Five potatoes. Six potatoes.

"Just this guy."

Seven potatoes. Eight pota-

"Flower, I think that's enough potatoes for one night." said Teddy jokingly. "What's the matter wi-"

"Scorpius Malfoy"

The table went silent.

"Malfoy?" asked her father with a raised eyebrow. While her mother sat with her mouth wide open.

"Y-yeah." Lily replied tentatively before the confidence returned to her voice. "Yeah. Malfoy. He's a really good bloke."

"He's a year older." pointed Teddy. "How did you two became friends?" wasn't him supposed to help her in this?

"Well, I don't know. We met, talked, he kept following me, I guess we became pretty good friends..." Lily trailed of, suddenly uncertain again. "He's really nice isn't he, Teddy? Tell them." Teddy was her last hope, and she knew just how to play him. Sending the puppy's eyes look she puckered her lower lip and had to contain an evil smile from appearing when he let out a deep sigh and turned to their parents.

"Yeah, Scor is a really nice lad. You don't have to worry about him." James sniggered at this point before throwing his hands in the air.

"Good Merlin! The Malfoy Heir and his Right Hand are corrupting my little sister!" he cried dramatically. Before pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. Lily rolled her eyes and had to refrain herself from smacking him on the head.

"His right hand?" asked Ginny quite worriedly. Just then did James seem to realize the connotation of what he said. Albus burst out laughing and Lily's face flushed a little.

"Blimey, mom! That's not what I mean!" he looked completely horrified at the thought. Before smirking at his mother. "You dirty minded woman! I meant Felix, his Right Hand Man. That's how he's called back at school."

Harry looked a little green in the face while Ginny flushed a deep crimson color. Albus kept on laughing quietly and Teddy even smirked a little.

"Felix?" asked Harry for the first time, his face back to its normal colour. James ruffled his hair before answering.

"Yeah, Felix Nott. He's in fourth year too, fifth now I suppose." Harry was about to say something when Teddy let out an exclamation.

"Oh, that Felix! I remember him. Funny lad!" he laughed a little bit before reassuring Harry and Ginny.

"Don't worry, they're both good kids." Lily rolled her eyes discretely and continued to eat her food. The silent approval hung in the air before the flapping of wings broke the quietness. A huge black eagle owl went directly to Lily before dropping a letter on her plate and leaning its head on her hand for a cuddle. She gave it a piece of potato and it went to stay by the window waiting for the reply after a few affectionate pecking to her ear. Before Lily could pick it up, James' arm crossed the table and grabbed the letter from her plate.

"Hey, that's mine!" she exclaimed, trying to reach out and grab it, but he was too far off.

"I can see that. Who is it from?" he asked ready to open the letter.

"None of your business! Now give it back!" he didn't. "James Sirius Potter, I swear, if you open that letter I will kill you." Too late. James opened the letter and smiled cheekily at his sister before clearing his throat.

"Dear Prince-" he frowned at the letter "Prince... uh, how do I say that?" If this had happened in other circumstances, Lily would have laughed at her brother's incapability to pronounce a word in French, but she was completely livid. Sensing an argument coming, Ginny intervened.

"James give it back to your sister." he looked at her in disbelief before sighing dejectedly.

"Mum! We need to know what sh-" he tried to argue but was cut short by his mother's famous glare. It was not something to be taken lightly. Sighing again he handed it over to Lily.

"Thank you very much." she said sarcastically. Still glowering at James, she folded the letter and put it in the back pocket of her pajama shorts.

Without further accidents, dinner went by and soon enough, Teddy was leaving with the promise to take Lily to the Malfoy Manor in his way to work. Lily thanked him and headed to her bedroom to see their reply and let them now at what time she would be going tomorrow. A few hours later, Lily fell to her bed completely exhausted from the busy day and tomorrow would be an even more hectic one.

Hello you lovelies! I'm so sorry for this late chapter... I should have done this days ago, but I just didn't have the time to sit down and just... write. But anyway, here it is at least and it's all for you guys 3 BTW, I'm really in the need of some feedback, you ungrateful people! REALLY.

I love all of you who reviewed, please keep doing so it makes my day and helps me a lot, but I want to know what you all are thinking about this, how am I supposed to go on without feedback?!

Ok, ok, no more bitching around. Just letting you guys know that I already changed the rating to M for... later chapters. I'd like to tell you also what I plan for this story. This first one is mostly about their relationship, setting the characters and all and then there will be a second story with another plot... much like misspotter94's "Wanting What you Can't Have" and "Getting What You Deserve" (both brilliant stories from a brilliant author). I'll see how the plot goes from here and if I feel like it, I'll keep it all into one story. Maybe in later chapters I'll put a poll up for you guys to vote...

So I guess that's it! I'll see you later ;)

~Tori

P.S.: I'd like to direct my readers to Without Magic! It's an awesome story cooed by jadeesunshine and misspotter94, it's really good and to all of you who like the sexy Scorpius and kind of rebellious Lily, I recommend reading it!