Author's Note. Well, hello! So...I took a hiatus from writing fan fiction. Like a really super long hiatus. It wasn't intentional at the start, it was really just life getting in the way. I didn't have any intention of returning to my fanfics, I realized, after so long, it just seemed sort of pointless. Also, I didn't think I'd ever have the time. However, while cleaning out an old laptop I re-discovered all my old stories. Most of them were un-finished, but I also had a lot of unpublished material already completed. I realized that I LOVED these stories and I felt terrible never finishing them. So here I am. I'm trying to give it another go and see if I can actually finish some of my stories. I am doing one at a time, I think, starting with this one. I still have all my outlines for SEVEN stories (one for each year). However, I'm trudging through this first one. I think I'm more excited for Lily to grow up and start a romance thing with Scorpius. So if I still have readers-or if I have new readers-please give me your opinion. Should I rush through this year, and possibly year 2, in order to get to year three when the romance will develop more? I hope I still have some interest in these stories! I'll do my best to stay regular now. As regular as possible! Maybe one update a week? XOXO

Chapter 14: Home for the Holidays

Christmas used to be Lily's favorite holiday. There was nothing she looked forward to more in a year than that moment when they would go as a family to chop down their tree and bring it home to decorate, or the dinner she would help her dad make on Christmas Eve, or the lovely variety of papers that the gifts were wrapped in…but not this year. This year, she didn't want Christmas. She didn't want a holiday at all. This year, Christmas meant going home with brothers who ignored her and having dinner with an entire family who saw her as some sort of traitor to the Potter namesake.

Julianne didn't understand Lily's dread of going home. She had been prancing around the halls of school for days now, admiring all the decorations, and excitedly telling Lily how wonderful Christmas with her family would be; when Lily stopped listening, Julianne would talk to the paintings. She was especially excited because her parents had told her that her older brother, Patrick, would be coming home from some far off place where he had been working for the past year, and Julianne couldn't wait to see him. Lily didn't know how to be excited for Julianne when it was her own brothers that kept her from being excited to go home. Other than Louis, Hugo, Fred, and Albus occasionally, Lily had had little to no communication with any of her family at school. She doubted things were magically going to heal once they were all back home again.

As she rode the train back to London, sharing a compartment with Julianne, Leona, and Louis, Lily wondered how her parents would act around her. She didn't want to think that they would be as immature as her siblings and cousins, but at the same time, she knew they hadn't been very happy when she had been sorted into Slytherin. She feared that seeing them in person might remind them that she hadn't made them as proud as her brothers had their first year when chosen for Gryffindor.

When the train crawled to a stop at the station, full of the usual puffing and creaking, Lily's friends immediately began to gather their belongings. Leona was the first to leave the compartment, only after promising Lily she would write often from her family's holiday adventures to the Mediterranean for some new scientific discovery of her father's. Louis skipped out next, telling Lily he would wait for her on the platform, and then she and Julianne left together, Lily walking more slowly than her friend.

"Come on, Lil!" Julianne urged. "You have been trudging around all morning."

Lily didn't answer.

"You can't possibly still be trying to avoid the holidays," Julianne said. "You've got to get over it. You're going to have a swell time at home. You'll see. Your brothers will come around, and your parents will be happy to see you!"

"Maybe," Lily said. "You don't know that."

"Look, if they're beastly, you can always run away and come stay with me," Julianne said. "My parents would be glad to have you."

Lily smiled a little and thanked her friend for the generous offer. Julianne hopped off the train first and almost instantly spotted her parents through the thick throng of waiting families.

"I'm off!" She said as Lily hopped onto the platform behind her. "Happy Christmas." She hugged her friend briefly and then skipped off to join her parents.

Louis was waiting for Lily, as he had promised, just off the train.

"Seen your parents yet?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Not yet. I just saw Dominique running around with Roxie, and I think that's Teddy over there, so he's probably picking up Victoire."

Lily saw where he was pointing and noticed her adopted brother standing tall above the crowd. He always seemed to stand out in crowds. He spotted her and waved, but only a moment later he was distracted by a wave of brilliant silver-blonde hair as Victoire flitted over to him and he caught her up in a large embrace. Even though she pretended to be disgusted by their continual romantic displays, Lily had to smile at the sweet way they greeted each other, and the smile that Teddy had every time he saw his girlfriend. She couldn't help but wonder if Julianne was right about her one day feeling the same way in a relationship. Right now it seemed ridiculous, but maybe one day…

"Hey, Potter," a low, soft voice said behind her. Lily realized she recognized the voice immediately.

Louis turned towards the intruder and frowned. "Malfoy," he said.

Lily tried to ignore her cousin's reaction and offered a slight smile to Scorpius. "Have a happy holiday," she said.

He returned her smile, slightly. "And you as well." He waved and moved away to join his family.

"You two aren't friends, are you?" Louis asked.

She shook her head. "We're housemates," she said. "That's all."

"He's a Malfoy," he said.

"He's a Slytherin," she said. "Just like me. Please don't make me go through all this again. We've done it a dozen times already this semester."

Louis sighed and shook his head, but he dropped the subject. Lily knew how her favorite cousin felt about her placement in Slytherin. At first it had simply been anger and disappointment, but gradually it grew to bitter acceptance, and now he simply seemed to ridicule her for it at every opportunity. Still, she appreciated that he at least spent time with her and didn't seem to think differently of her for it. Not really at least, only in jest. She knew that his acceptance of her, however, did not necessarily extend to her Slytherin housemates—other than Julianne, whom he thought was nice and pretty, and as he once said: "More normal than the others."

Lily finally spotted her parents through the crowd, and took a deep breath.

Louis noted her tense change and followed her line of sight. "Calm down, Lil. They're just your parents," he said.

"I haven't seen them since though," she said.

"So? They're your parents," he said again. "They don't care about that sort of stuff."

She wasn't so sure.

"Go on," he said.

She didn't move.

"I'll drag you if I have to," he said.

She knew that he meant it and smiled a little. That's why he was her best friend. "Okay, I'll go," she said. "Are you coming with?" He nodded and followed her over. "Hi…" Lily said slowly. Her mum looked close to tears, and without saying a word she knelt and pulled her daughter into her arms. "Did you miss me?" Lily asked.

"More than you can know! I don't think I can let you go back after holidays," she said. "I can't handle not having my baby girl at home every day."

Lily felt her entire body relax with relief. She hugged her mom tightly. "I missed you too," she said. When they broke the hug, Lily glanced up at her dad. He too was smiling, but didn't make a move to hug her.

"Glad to have you home, Sunshine," he said.

She wasn't sure he meant it like her mum had. He seemed hesitant, but she smiled anyway and tried not to think about it.

"Louis, you're coming home with us," her mum said, glancing over Lily's head to her cousin. "Dominique is going home with Roxanne, and Victoire is going with Teddy. Your parents are working and asked if we could bring you home."

He shrugged, indifferently, but Lily grinned, glad to have Louis with her to deal with her brothers for at least the beginning of the holidays.

"Where are your brothers?" Harry asked his daughter.

She shook her head. "Haven't seen them," she said.

"Would you mind looking for them?" He asked. "I'd like to get going soon."

Lily hesitated. She didn't much care for going out of her way to track down her brothers or any of their Gryffindor friends. Fortunately, her best friend came to her rescue once again.

"I'll go find them," Louis said. "You stay here and catch up." He left swiftly, darting in and out of the crowd easily, searching for the Potter boys.

Once alone with her parents, Lily felt at a loss for words. Her mother was still beaming, with one hand on Lily's shoulder as though serious about not ever letting her leave again. Her father's eyes were scanning the crowded platform, probably looking for the boys, but every once in a while he would glance at Lily and offer her a slight smile. She thought his smile seemed different than usual. It wasn't the same carefree, always overly joyful smile he used to have for her. It was tense now, concerned maybe, and she didn't like it very much. She stepped closer to her mum. Her dad didn't say anything again until Louis returned with James and Albus in toe. Albus gave both parents a quick hug, while James just nodded and greeted them. Lily had noticed the year before that he had gotten too old for hugs.

"All right, let's get going," Harry said, directing the group towards the barrier between the platforms to return to the muggle world where their car would be waiting. He took Lily's bag for her, but she still thought he seemed upset.

"He hasn't said anything to me," Lily told Louis as the two of them hung behind the others to speak quietly.

"Who?" Louis asked.

"My dad!" She said, a little annoyed that her best friend hadn't been paying closer attention to her stress. "He's practically ignoring me."

"Maybe he's just got something else on his mind," Louis said.

Lily wasn't convinced by her cousin's optimism. And at the moment, she felt absolutely sure that all the doubts she had been feeling about going home for the holidays were completely justified.

Two weeks at home with her family made Lily feel more isolated than she had been feeling all semester at school. James completely ignored her. He wouldn't let her play Quidditch with him, and he wouldn't let her tag along with he went to Roxie's or Dominique's; he didn't even ridicule her for being a Snake like he did at school. He just ignored her existence completely. Lily assumed the only reason he didn't try ridiculing her was because of their parents' observation. Albus at least bid her "good morning" and "good night," but not much beyond that. Though Lily assumed that was more because of his fear of James, and not actually because he resented her. Her dad spent most of the holiday working, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was avoiding her because he didn't know how to accept her. Only her mum seemed truly happy to have Lily home and asked her about school, classes, the friends she had made, and whether or not she was really happy in Slytherin. At which point, Lily surprised even herself by admitting that yes, she was happy in Slytherin.

The highlight of her trip was receiving owls from Julianne every other day, though hearing about how wonderful her friend's holiday was, did make Lily slightly jealous. She had almost given up trying to gain her father's attention entirely, when on Christmas Eve he surprised her with a special gift. After their family dinner, Lily had retreated to her bedroom, eager to avoid any more awkward silences with her brothers or parents. She had even gotten a jump start on the homework she had been assigned over holiday, which she knew would make Leona proud, though it only made her more depressed because it proved just how bored she was.

When her father knocked on the door and asked for a moment of her time, she was both surprised and a little scared. Lily felt certain that he was going to lecture her for her choice to stay in Slytherin, and perhaps even ask her not to return. She invited him in, however, and he sat on the edge of the bed, holding a wrapped package in his hands.

"I'm sorry I've been away so often this holiday," Harry said. Lily thought his eyes looked tired behind his glasses. "Work has kept me very busy."

"Is everything okay?" Lily asked. She was proud of her father's position at the ministry, but his being the head of the auror department had also always made her a little concerned for his safety. She didn't know what sort of tasks he had on a daily basis, but she didn't like to think about any serious danger that he could face one day.

He smiled and nodded. "Just busy," he said again. The slight wrinkles around his eyes deepened for a moment, but she knew he wouldn't tell her any more than that, so she didn't ask. "Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about school. I should have right away," he said, "but it's been hard finding the time, and I haven't exactly been sure of what to say."

"You can say whatever you want," she said. "Don't worry about hurting my feelings."

Harry frowned. "It's been hard for you, hasn't it?"

She shrugged. "I can handle it," she said.

"I'm sure you can," he smiled a little. "You can handle anything, right?"

She nodded. It had always been their joke. Growing up with two older brothers and her myriad cousins, Lily had always done her best to convince her family that she could take anything that was dished out at her. Her dad said being one of the youngest made her stronger.

"Still, even you're not invulnerable," he said. Lily was quiet. "Look, I know how your brother has been behaving through all this," Harry said.

"Yeah? How do you know that?" she asked.

"Because I know your brother. He means well, but he doesn't always have the best way of showing it," he said. "He's stubborn, and far too opinionated. He got that from your mum," Harry grinned.

"I'm sure she'd say he got it from you," Lily said, also smiling.

"But you can be stubborn and opinionated, as well, young lady," he said. "Sometimes I'm afraid you and James are too similar for your own good. Albus is the safe one, in the middle, he's quiet and stays out of trouble."

"Sometimes being quiet isn't exactly helpful," Lily said. She hadn't meant to speak badly of Albus. He'd been nice to her, comparatively, but she still resented him sometimes for not being more actively on her side.

"I can't change your brothers' behaviors," he said. "Unfortunately, they're old enough now not to listen to me anymore. But I need you to know that I'm proud of you."

"You are?" Lily asked, her bright eyes widening. Of all the things she thought her dad might have wanted to talk to her about, that was not something she had ever expected to hear.

"I am," he said. "I'm sure you thought differently, probably assumed I sided with James in all this, but I think that staying at school after everything that's happened was a very brave and wise decision for you to make."

"Even though it means being in Slytherin?" she asked.

He nodded. "Being sorted into Slytherin was no doubt scary and shocking, and you had the chance to run away and avoid that whole situation, but you chose to stay and face your fears and the criticism you received from your family and friends." He paused. "May I ask you why you stayed?"

She hesitated. "The hat knows what it's doing. You told me that a long time ago. It wasn't trying to punish me or my family by putting me in Slytherin. Clearly I'm meant to be there for some reason," she said.

"I'm glad you can see it that way. You understand that sometimes life has more important things planned for us than we can see at this time," he said. She nodded. "That being said, I have a gift for you," he said. "Something I've been saving. I knew I would give it to one of my children, and I'm sure James has been expecting it, as the eldest, but I needed to wait for a reason. I needed to see one of you earn it."

"Earn what?" she asked.

He handed her the package. "Just make me a promise," he said.

"Anything," she said.

"Use it with responsibility," he said, and he stood.

Lily stared at the package in her hand, curious and excited to open it, but wanting to wait until her dad was gone.

He paused at the door. "Oh, and one more thing," he said.

She glanced up.

"Your brother mentioned you've been spending time with the Malfoy boy." Lily didn't answer. "I'd prefer it if you didn't," he said. She still didn't respond. He shook his head and left.

Once she was alone, Lily tore apart the paper of her package and let its contents fall into her lap. The material was gray and silky, softer than anything she had ever felt in life, and it almost seemed to shimmer. She held it up and saw that it was a cloak. She smiled a little. There had been rumors spread amongst the cousins about her father's invisibility cloak, but no one actually thought it existed for real. Lily knew instantly that this gift confirmed that rumor. Moving quickly to the floor length mirror that stood in the corner of her room, Lily wrapped the cloak around her shoulders and watched her body vanish.

After the encouraging talk with her dad the previous night, Christmas morning felt happier for Lily, even though she was still ignored by most of her cousins when they all gathered for family breakfast and presents. Somehow, she didn't care as much anymore. She had received her father's approval, which she didn't think she would ever achieve, and she had been given the greatest gift she knew he could have ever given her. Lily hadn't decided if she wanted anyone to know about the cloak yet. Definitely not James, since she didn't think he deserved to know. And she didn't see why she should tell her other cousins when they would likely just run off and tell James. She didn't even tell Louis, though that made her feel a little guilty, and she knew she would eventually. Right now she just needed some time for the cloak to be hers alone, nobody else's. She had hidden the cloak at the bottom of her trunk beneath her school robes and books, and then she had locked the trunk just to be extra safe, and there she planned to leave it until she decided what to do with it.

After breakfast and the exchange of gifts, all the cousins gathered outside for the annual traditional Quidditch game. The teams changed every year by drawing names from a bowl, supervised by Ginny so there would be no cheating, but the premise remained the same. It was always very competitive, and usually lasted much longer than a regular game because the teams were so well matched.

"Oy, Mum, draw the teams already, would you?" James said, calling to his mum a little bit louder than necessary.

Ginny waved her hand to acknowledge that she had heard him, but continued the conversation she was having with her brothers. Ron was giving her an earful about how she had chosen to support Lily in Slytherin. Lily could tell this is what they were talking about because Uncle Ron was using emphatic hand motions, which he did when getting upset, and they both kept glancing her way.

"You okay?" Louis asked her. He noted the way she was twisting a piece of her hair around her finger.

"Hmm?" She asked, absentmindedly.

"You okay?" He asked again.

"Yeah, good, fine," she said.

"Lily," he said, dragging out her name a little to get more of a reaction.

"I'm fine," she said, snapping at him more than she meant to. "I don't think I should play today."

"Why not?" He asked. "You love playing. This is your favorite part of Christmas. You love beating everyone!"

"I just don't think I want to today," she said. She glanced around at the others who had already started gathering their brooms, eager to begin.

"You can't be afraid of them," he said. "Stop letting James tell you what to do, or what not to do."

"It's not just him," she said. She let out a sigh and shook her head. "I just don't think they'll want me playing today."

Louis shrugged. "Whatever. Do what you want," he said.

She knew he was annoyed by her behavior. "Fine, I'll play," she said.

He shrugged. "Whatever," he said. Now she knew he was pretending not to care.

Ginny finally separated from her brother and moved towards the kids. "Are we ready to play?" She asked.

"Finally!" The kids said.

She smiled, motioned for them to move bak a little, and reached into the hat she was holding to draw the first name. James, Rose, and Roxie were the first to respond. They grouped around Ginny like eager little ducklings waiting for food. The others stepped closer, but hung back, waiting patiently for teams to be drawn. Even those who didn't play regularly participated in Christmas Quidditch. "Team one, player one, is Dominique," Ginny read from the slip of paper in her hand. Dominique lifted both hands above her head and cheered for herself. "Team two, player one, is Lucy," Ginny read. Lucy was the second child of Percy Weasley and his muggle wife, Audrey. She sighed when her name was called. She didn't enjoy Quidditch, or much else about family traditions, but she played the part anyway. "Team one," Ginny continued, "player two, is Fred."

And so it went on: Roxie, Hugo, Rose, Albus, James, Teddy, and finally Lily. James let out an audible sigh when her name was called onto his team, and she knew he wished she wouldn't play, but she glanced at Louis, who nodded at her, and she joined her other cousins on team two. The only cousins who didn't play the game were Victoire, who was too busy snagging Teddy somewhere, Molly, who never flew well, and Louis who had an incurable fear of heights, though only Lily knew this about him. He would always make some different excuse about why he wasn't playing. Because of the limited number of players among the cousins, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Charlie would often join in the fun. Today was no exception. Ron and Harry were on Lily's opposing team, and she could tell they had every intention of winning. Ginny and Charlie were on Lily's team, however, so she felt they had a fighting chance.

James declared himself captain, and he instantly started assigning positions and barking out orders to his teammates. "Roxie, Rose, and mum, you play chasers," he said. "Uncle Charlie, you and Lucy take beaters." Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'll play keeper, obviously," he said. James was keeper of the Gryffindor team, and he was very proud of his skills. "So that leaves…" he glanced at his little sister and almost seemed to resent assigning her a position. "Lily as seeker, I guess."

She sighed. She was a great seeker, she knew it, he knew it, but today she knew he would refuse to admit it to anyone. Also, her dad was playing seeker on the other team, which she thought was a little unfair, but he also hadn't played in a long time, so she hoped to get the upper hand on him.

"Okay, I'll play ref from down here," Hermione decided. "I'm not flying though, so no cheating!" She waved at the group as they took off and their brooms soared high.

The teams were pretty evenly matched, though having Rose, Roxie, and Ginny as chasers might have been a little unfair to the other team who chose Dominique, Fred, and Albus as chasers; only Dom actually played Quidditch for a team. Ron was playing keeper for their team, since he used to play in school, and even though he seemed confident, Lily thought he looked a little nervous when his sister and daughter chased a quaffle in his direction. She was watching from up high, keeping her eyes partially on the game and partially searching for the snitch. She felt happy to be playing with her family. It almost felt like old times, except that her brother still refused to acknowledge her and Rosie and Roxie acted like she wasn't even on their team.

While the game continued raging beneath her, Lily started to let her thoughts wander. She thought back to school, thinking of her housemates, her roommates, her classes, and everything else that had been happening the past couple months since she had left school. She thought of Julianne, and smiled thinking of how much she liked her new friend. Then she thought of Leona, and how glad she was that they had remained such good friends despite everything. And then she thought of Cassie and Nicolette and the others who had been making life difficult in Slytherin, and she felt a pang of anger and sadness, but then she thought of Scorpius and how strangely nice he had been, and she felt a different kind of emotion that she wasn't quite sure of…

"Lil! Get your head in the game!" Rose shouted suddenly.

Lily snapped her eyes back to the action and noticed her dad speed past her on his broom, clearly having spotted the snitch. She mentally scolded herself for becoming distracted by her thoughts, particularly when her thoughts were about Scorpius Malfoy. She shook her head briefly and began intently searching for the golden snitch. It took her another ten minutes to see it again, but she finally spotted it flitting above Ron's head near the hoops. She checked briefly to see if her dad had spotted it yet, but he seemed momentarily distracted by a maneuver that Ginny was currently performing. Lily aimed her broom towards the snitch and darted off in that direction. Ron saw her coming and scowled.

"Oy, Harry!" Ron shouted. He pointed in the direction Lily was flying.

Harry spun his broom around and zipped off towards his daughter. She had a head start though, and she was surprisingly faster. Before Harry had closed on her heels, she had managed to reach out and grab the snitch. She felt exhilarated as her fingers closed around it; it had been a long time since she had played a game, other than the short match she had had with Scorpius. She grinned and held the snitch close to her chest as she flew back down the ground and dismounted her broom.

"Good job, Lily!" Hermione said, instantly there to celebrate her niece's victory.

The others took their time circling lower until they were on the ground, too. "We won!" Ginny said, excitedly hugging her daughter. Lily smiled. She looked to her brother for commendation, but James was frowning.

"Aren't you happy we won, James?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Yeah. Too bad you'll never win for the Gryffindor team," he said. And then he nodded to Roxie and Rose and the trio walked off together.

Lily felt like crying, which was a very un-Lily thing to do. She hated crying, especially around people, but right now it was all she could think about. Fortunately, Louis hurried over to her, trailed by Hugo and Albus. She blinked away whatever tears had been threatening and forced a slight smile.

"Just ignore him, Lil," Albus said. "He's being mean."

She shrugged. "It's true though," she said. "I'll never play for the Gryffindors."

"Yeah, well, it's their loss. You'll play for the Slytherin team and be awesome," Louis said. "Right?"

She shrugged again. Somehow playing for a team that didn't include her brother and cousins didn't sound very appealing. She had always dreamed of playing with her family at school just like she did at home; it was still hard to realize a reality in which that wouldn't happen.

"I'm going to go set the table for supper," she said, and she headed inside the house without any more discussion.

The game had taken nearly two hours, and now the sun was starting to set. Kreacher had been making the meal for the large family, so there wasn't anything for anyone to do. Lily didn't even need to set the table, but she liked helping, and it gave her an excuse to be away from everyone else for a little while. She took time to pull out the family's "fancy" china, which Ginny had purchased the first year she and Harry were married, when she had decided that she wanted the Potter home to be the designated holiday house. And from that year on, it always was. All the family came together for the holidays at the Potter's home—Christmas, birthdays, etc. With each new addition to each family, Ginny would buy new dishes to keep a sufficient supply. None of them matched, but they were all so beautiful, hand-painted, intricate designs. Some were birds, some magical creatures, some floral…all very beautiful. Lily loved bringing them out. She set the table with the dishes, the gold silverware Harry had inherited from the Black's home, and crystal goblets. She adorned the table with pine twigs, holly, and eucalyptus, then stepped back to admire the table. By the time she had finished everyone else had started finding their way into the dining room and Kreacher had finished the food. Louis and Victoire complimented Lily on her table, and Ginny smiled, proud of the way her daughter always tried so hard to make things beautiful. She kissed the top of Lily's head and told her so.

Dinner was fun enough. Lily sat with Louis and Hugo at one end of the table, close to Teddy and Victoire. Teddy carried on friendly chit-chat with Lily and the boys about school. He asked Lily all sorts of questions about Slytherin that no one had thought to ask her yet. He asked her about the dorms, the common room, the other students, the head of the house. She realized that she liked talking about Slytherin. It felt nice to be able to share her intimate knowledge of a house that nobody else knew much about. It made her feel special.

After dinner, however, the cousins all left, and Lily was once again alone with her brothers and parents. Albus retired early to begin on homework for the return to school the following week, and James joined his dad outside for late night flying. Lily liked flying in the dark with them, but James did not ask her to join this year, and she didn't want to impose on them. Instead she went into the living room, made herself comfortable in a large chair near to the roaring fireplace, and took out parchment to write letters to Julianne and Leona.

"Lily?" Ginny found her before too long.

"Hi Mum," Lily said. She glanced up from her writing to give her mum a smile.

"How are you, sweetie?" Ginny was carrying two mugs of what Lily presumed to be hot cocoa—a Christmas favorite. She brought one of the mugs to Lily and then sat in the chair across from her.

"I'm good," Lily said. She held the mug between both her hands and let it warm her.

"Are you really?" Ginny asked.

Lily sighed. She had expected this talk from someone eventually. She had thought maybe it would come from her Aunt Hermione or even Uncle George, but having it with her mum seemed harder. "I'm really fine," she said, trying to sound convincing. "I know it's not what you and dad wanted for me, but I'm going to be okay in Slytherin."

"It's not about what we want for you," Ginny said. "We want nothing more than your happiness. Of course we think you would be happier in Gryffindor with your brothers, but…"

"Mum, I'm happy," she said. "I'm happy in Slytherin."

"You're not," Ginny said. "I can tell when you're lying."

Lily sighed and took a sip of her hot cocoa.

Ginny realized she wouldn't get a different answer out of her daughter, so she changed the topic. "Do you want to tell me about your housemates?" Lily smiled.

"Julianne is my best friend, in my house that is. She's really fun, and nice, and she really likes learning, like Albus or Hugo. She's also really pretty, but I don't think she really cares about that."

"Maybe I can meet her sometime," Ginny said.

"And then there's Kenny," Lily said. "She's funny and really into Quidditch. Her dad is Victor Krum."

"Krum?" Ginny repeated. "Really? You'll have to mention that to Ron."

They both laughed for a minute.

"Is everyone nice to you?" Ginny asked.

Lily shrugged. "Nice enough."

"Yeah?" Ginny asked, seeming to pick up on what Lily was not saying.

"One of the girls doesn't like me very much," Lily said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Cassie Malfoy."

"Malfoy, huh?" Ginny said. She seemed to be trying hard to keep the opinion out of her voice.

"I know how everyone feels about the Malfoys," Lily said. "It's more than that though. Cassie hates me. She wants me gone."

"Can you just ignore her?" Ginny asked.

"I try to," Lily said. "It's hard though when we share a room and all our classes. A couple months ago she even convinced a ghost to haunt me! It was terrible. I couldn't sleep or get anything done."

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry," Ginny said. "How'd you get her to make it stop?"

"I didn't," Lily admitted. "Actually, her brother made her stop."

"Her brother?" Ginny asked. "Another Malfoy?"

Lily nodded. "Obviously, yes."

"Are you friends with her brother?" Ginny asked. Lily could tell she was trying to keep her voice indifferent.

Lily shook her head, but then she shrugged. "We're not friends. Not really. He's been nice to me though. He talks to me and helps with homework sometimes."

Ginny didn't say anything.

"You wish I wouldn't be friends with him, right?" Lily asked. "Dad said that. He asked me to stay away from him."

"You're allowed to be friends with anyone you choose," Ginny said. "However, it's no secret that the Malfoys don't have the greatest history, especially with this family."

"I know," Lily said. "We don't necessarily have the greatest trust for their family," Ginny said. "I know." "I just think that maybe you should choose different friends," Ginny said."It would be easier for everyone."

Lily nodded. She suddenly did not feel like talking anymore, so she thanked her mum for the cocoa, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Once in her room, she put away the parchment she had been using for her letters and decided she could wait the few more days until they were all back in school to talk with her friends.