Hello, lovelies :) I'm sorry it took me so long to upload. I took a weeklong break from this story so that I could work on a different fic that I started writing, but I missed my loves, so I came back to this one and wrote the next chapter. I hope you've all had a wonderful day and that you enjoy this chapter :) I tried to think out of the box and make it different from the other years. Let me know what you think!

January 17th, 1987

The war had calmed down once again. It was a massive relief when Minerva had sent them a Patronus explaining that she could come and visit them again. Harry was turning seven this year, and his magic was growing stronger by the day. They all knew that he would be extremely powerful when he grew up and was trained a bit.

Admittedly, Lily needed Minerva's help in controlling Harry's magic. It was all fun and games until someone's hair got seared off, and most recently, it was hers. The worst part was that Harry was aware of his magic now, and despite his conscious effort to keep it under control, it still caused problems.

It also made Lily a bit sad that her son tried so hard to control his magic. He was too aware of the outside world for her liking. No six year old should have to worry about the things Harry did, and he wasn't even completely aware of his importance.

They had discussed it with him in the room, but Lily didn't think he was old enough to comprehend the importance of their words, or in truth, how important he was to the rest of the wizarding world.

It was a Saturday, and Minerva was meant to visit. She agreed to help teach Harry some simple transfigurations to help control his magic whenever he got upset. They had practised together before, and it worked, so they were going to try again with something that would take a bit more of his magical energy away.

Right on time, the fireplace roared, and Minerva stepped into the room. Harry immediately stopped what he was doing (colouring a picture of himself with Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, and Minerva) and sprinted over to her. He jumped into her arms with monkey-like agility and began giggling excitedly.

"I missed you, Grandma!" He said cheerily.

"I missed you too, Harry." She said with a warm smile, "Do you want to practise some magic with me?"

"Real magic? With a wand?" He asked in awe.

Minerva laughed as she picked up Harry and rested him on her hip. He was a scrawny child, even though he was well-fed and extremely spoilt. She walked with him over to the couch and took out her own wand.

"We're going to change the colour of your hair, alright? Won't that be fun?"

Harry gaped at her, "Really? Can we make it red, like the Gryffindors?"

"If you want it to be red. We're going to do it without a wand, alright? Do you feel your magic bubbling around inside of you?"

Harry closed his eyes in deep concentration. He focused on the prickling sensation that trailed along his arms, legs, and core: his magic. "Yes," he whispered.

"Good. Now I want you to focus deep inside of you, try and take that magic, and bring it to your hair. It might be hard, but I know you can do it, and I'm going to help guide it there." She said confidently, and Harry nodded sheepishly.

He focused on the prickling that covered his entire body and urged it to move up to his hair. Harry focused on the warmth exuded by his grandma's hold on him and felt a small trickle of magic work its way to his hair.

His grandmother was right. Urging his magic, which was so wild and uncontrollable, was extremely difficult to move to one place. He pinned his eyes shut and concentrated with all his might to get his magic to move to his hair. Little by little, he felt it trickle through all the veins in his body and slither like a snake to his head.

Harry peeped an eye open to see if his efforts were doing anything to the air around him. There was a flicker, like a shock of electricity, that lined his skin. His concentration faltered, and there was a sudden drop in his gut. It felt like a wave crashing down on him, and he let out a yelp and pinned his eyes shut once again.

Minerva squeezed his shoulders protectively, "Concentrate, Harry. You can do it."

Harry relaxed a bit, and the magic within him seemed to stabilise. He could feel his grandma's breath on his neck, and it calmed him. The steady trickle of magic flowed to his hair, and he took a deep breath. It made his forehead tickle, and he giggled.

"Good job, Harry. You're doing so good," she whispered into his ear. "How about we work on changing your hair colour? You said you wanted it red?"

Harry nodded excitedly, and she continued whispering instructions in his ear, "Now, I want you to focus on your hair specifically. This is a difficult transfiguration that you will learn when you get to school, but I think you'll be able to do it now. Focus on your hair and the colour of it."

"My hair is black," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I know," she said with a laugh as she looked at Harry's hair: the unruly combination of jet-black curls and straight sections combined to make his hair a charming mess.

"What do I do?" He asked, pulling Minerva from her thoughts.

"I want you to focus on all your hair, all of it. Then I want you to focus on what it would look like if it were to be red instead."

Harry giggled, and sections of his hair flickered between raven and scarlet. "That would look funny."

"You're doing it with little pieces of your hair. You're doing well; now I just want you to really concentrate, Harry. I know it's hard, but you can do it. Just make it all red in your head, and it'll change on the outside."

She watched as Harry pinned his eyes shut tighter. He was practically shaking because he was concentrating so much. Minerva smiled slightly at how hard he was trying to do this transfiguration.

"Just relax, Harry, let the magic build inside of you and transform your black hair into red. You can do it, just relax."

Harry tried to relax himself, and his shoulders slumped. There were waves of magic that rippled through him, changing large clumps of his raven hair into a brilliant, scarlet colour. This time, he was concentrating enough where the clusters didn't change back to raven, and within a few minutes, all of his hair was red.

Minerva laughed, and Harry opened his eyes curiously. "You did it!" Harry gasped audibly and leapt away from Minerva's grasp, and ran to the nearest toilet so he could look in a mirror.

He returned a few minutes later, giggling excitedly. "Grandma, I did it. All my hair is red."

"Yes! You did do that, all by yourself." She said happily.

"Mummy will freak out," Harry giggled. He ran into the back garden where Lily and James were working with the flowers.

Minerva followed her grandson because it was sure to be interesting, seeing Lily react to her son having unnaturally red hair. She arrived outside just as Lily's eyes landed on Harry, and she gasped audibly.

"Oh. My. Minerva, what did you do?" She all but screeched. She leapt up from the flowerbeds and to grasp onto Harry.

Her scream attracted Remus and Sirius, who had been milling about in Remus' room. "What is it, Lils?" Sirius asked frantically.

Harry stepped into view, and Sirius burst out laughing. Remus slapped him lightly on the back, but his laughter was contagious, and soon enough, Remus and James were both laughing along too.

"Mummy, I did it. Grandma taught me how to change my hair colour!" He said, giggling, "I made it red for Gryffindor!"

Lily looked up at Minerva with her mouth gaping like a goldfish. Minerva shrugged, "I was teaching him how to put his magic to better use."

"I want to make it another colour," Harry announced suddenly. He put his hands on his hips as if to build his confidence.

"That might make you tired, Harry. Are you sure you don't want to relax a little bit?" Minerva asked calmly.

"I can do it! I want to do it again," he said loudly and marched back inside to sit on the couch.

Minerva eyed the four adults and wandered back to the couch. She wanted to make sure that Harry would be alright and guide him through the transfiguration.

"Why don't you do a normal colour, so that you can rest afterwards." She suggested warmly.

"I want to make it look like Uncle Moony!"

"Alright, love, close your eyes and hold my hands." Minerva held out her hands for him to take, and he did.

Harry closed his eyes and focused on the red colour of his hair this time. It was easier because he had done it before, but at the same time, it was more difficult because his magic didn't feel nearly as strong. Nonetheless, he achieved his goal much quicker, and his hair rippled from scarlet red to a neutral shade of light brown.

His hair didn't look right with his tanned skin, but it was wonderful that Harry was able to control his hair colour after such little practise. The rest of the family had come inside to watch Harry, and they were clapping excitedly at him.

"I did it, Mummy, my hair is like Uncle Moony."

"Yes, darling, it does! You make me so proud." Lily said as she held out her arms for him.

Harry ran over to her, albeit a little slowly. He leapt into her arms and hugged her, but his energy quickly drained from him, and he yawned. The use of magic drained him, and he promptly fell asleep in his mum's arms.

May 12th, 1987

Harry and Minerva were walking through muggle London together. Minerva agreed to take the day off from school to spend the day with Harry. Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius wanted a day to themselves because it was difficult sometimes to have a six-year-old running around the house all day.

Harry was shocked when his grandma walked through the fireplace, wearing a black midi-skirt with a white jumper and a black sun hat. He was so used to seeing her wearing robes that it was a bit unsettling to see her in muggle clothing.

They said their goodbyes to Lily and the others before Minerva transfigured some of Harry's features to make him less recognisable. Together, Harry and Minerva floo-ed to the Leaky Cauldron.

A bald man with dark eyes and pale skin looked up as they stepped out of the fireplace together. "Why, Minerva, is that you?" He said curiously.

"Good morning, Tom," she said kindly.

"Isn't it a school day for you? What are you doing down here?"

"Professor Dumbledore agreed to watch my classes today; I only have second-years. I'm watching my grandson for the day," she said as she pulled Harry in front of her and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"I didn't know you and ol' Elphinstone had any children of your own."

"Oh, well, you know us, quiet. This is David." Little Harry looked up at her curiously but stayed silent during the encounter. He waved sheepishly at the bartender.

Tom smiled and waved back at him, "Would you two like anything to drink?"

"Oh no," Minerva said softly, "we're going out for a bit."

The bartender nodded, and Minerva guided Harry out of the pub and into the streets of Muggle London. "We're going to have to apparate a little further. I want to take you to Shaftesbury Avenue."

"Alright," he said, closing his eyes. He didn't like the pull of apparition. It made him feel sick.

She held protectively onto his shoulders before she turned down a secluded alley. With a turn of her foot, they disappeared into a tube of nothingness. Harry felt dizzy as soon as they landed, but he didn't feel like he was going to throw up.

When he opened his eyes, they were in a bustling avenue with tall buildings and shops along both sides of the wide street. Muggles were walking everywhere on the sidewalks, and cars and buses were racing down the road.

Minerva brought Harry further into the throng of muggles. Harry noted that they looked absurdly normal in comparison to their normal lives. She drifted off to the side and held protectively onto one of his shoulders.

Despite all the noise and buzz of people walking in a combination of rapid and slow paces on either side of them, it was calm. There was no need for Harry to feel like he was in any danger. It was as if he wasn't part of some prophecy that condemned him to a terrible fate.

He and his grandma spent the day going through all the shops, and they even went to the cinema for a play. Harry felt as if there was nothing wrong in the world; he was a muggle for today.

In his six years of life, Harry could never recall a day that he spent alone with his grandma, but he liked it. He could tell the muggle world was as foreign to her as it was to himself.

It was wonderful, and Harry was elated when it got dark enough to turn on the buildings' lights. Shaftesbury Avenue was beautiful, and Harry couldn't believe that he was allowed an entire day to roam this stretch of street.

Just after sunset, Harry and Minerva finished their tour around the avenue and surrounding areas, armed with their few purchases of books and sweets. As they were walking back to a comfortable apparition point, Harry saw a little girl, maybe about his age, with bushy, chestnut hair, swinging back and forth with the help of her parents.

It was only a passing glance, but she stood out to Harry amongst the other muggles because he felt something when he and his grandma walked past. Almost like magic. That thought fled his mind, however, when they arrived at the apparition point.

He closed his eyes and prepared to be whisked away. Minerva gripped onto his shoulders, protectively and turned on her heel. With a dull crack, they disappeared.

Tom greeted them when they walked back into the pub. Minerva waved but said they couldn't stay. They walked into the fireplace, and Minerva called out her office at Hogwarts.

She didn't want to reveal Harry's identity, and it wasn't safe to floo directly home. When they arrived at Minerva's office, Harry was in awe. He wasn't sure if he had ever been there before.

However, it was a short trip because as soon as they stepped out of the grate, they stepped back into it with a new handful of floo powder. She called out the address to the cottage, and they were whisked off one more time back home.

Harry felt a sudden drowsiness when they got back home. He had never been out that long before; at least, he didn't think so. They were greeted by a rested Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus.

Minerva stayed a little longer to talk to his family about their day, but Harry went straight up to bed. He was exhausted, and as soon as he got ready for bed and touched his head to his pillow, he was out.

August 11th, 1987

It was a quiet day in the Potter-Lupin-Black cottage. It was hot, and Lily had just finished making them all lemonade. James, Sirius, and Harry were playing a small Quidditch game where James and Sirius let Harry catch the snitch every time.

For Harry's birthday this year, they had gotten him a new training broom. This one was for older children, so it went a bit faster and went farther off the ground.

It was obvious Harry had more fun on this broom, and despite Lily's distaste for flying, she couldn't hide her smile. Seeing Harry happy made her happy. No matter how much she wanted to be upset at Harry's reckless love for flying, she couldn't. The smile on her little boy's face made every part of her light up in elation.

Lily watched her boys fly around from the sidelines. Remus was reading a book and occasionally taking sips of his lemonade. It was a quiet day. There was nothing in the outside world that could disrupt their peaceful sanctuary because no one knew where they were, besides Minnie.

It was a perfect summer day with her perfect family. She loved them to death, and nothing could change that.

Harry caught the snitch for the fifth time that day, "Mummy! I caught the snitch!" He called out excitedly.

Lily began clapping excitedly, "Yay! Good job, darling. You are so talented!"

"Daddy, Grandma, and Uncle Sirius say that I'm going to be the youngest Quidditch player in a century. I'm going to be a seeker!" He puffed out his chest proudly.

"You will be, darling. We all believe in you," she said with the pride thrumming in her chest.

"Will you be there, in the stands at Hogwarts when I have my first match?"

"Of course we will. There's no way we're going to miss anything, I promise." She said with a smile.

"Alright, Mummy."

October 20th, 1987

The Potter-Lupin-Black clan was making cookies today. It was almost Halloween, so they decorated Lily's sugar cookies with frosting to depict ghosts, pumpkins, and thestrals.

Of course, Harry couldn't see the thestrals, but they were spooky and good candidates for Halloween cookie decorating. Like always, Sirius and James mixed the frosting, Lily made the dough, and Remus and Harry cut them into the proper shapes.

They could've easily done all of this using magic, but it was so much more fun doing it all by hand. It was a sort of bonding experience, and it made Lily's heart so full.

Harry let out a squeal of exasperation when he accidentally mucked up his ghost-shaped cookie. Remus quickly swept in to fix Harry's mistake and grinned down at him.

Remus and Harry finished up the last of their cookies, and Remus put the last of them into the oven to bake. They had been going at cookie making for almost an hour, so James, Sirius, and Lily had already begun painting icing onto their cookies.

Harry eagerly took a pumpkin and brought a butter knife to the orange frosting. They had decided to go all muggle today and had yet to use magic. As a result, some of Harry and Remus' cookies were very deformed, but no one said a thing about them.

Lily had turned on the wireless before they began so that they were working to muggle music. She had become a fan of multiple muggle bands, but they were currently listening to ABBA. They had a certain penchant for making you want to dance, and that's exactly what the group was doing.

They spent hours together in the kitchen, dancing and making the most of their time together. At one point, Sirius broke out into song when Dancing Queen came on. James eagerly joined in, as the two paraded around the kitchen with cookies and butter knives of frosting.

"You are the dancing queen! Young and sweet, only seventeen! Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine!" Sirius belted.

"You can dance! You can jive!" James shamelessly continued.

"Having the time of your lifeeeee!" They practically shrieked together. They recovered during the next verse, but as soon as the chorus was returning, they began to urge the others to sing along with them.

Lily teasingly stuck her tongue out at her husband and best friend, but nonetheless nodded in surrender. Remus was having a bit of a harder time succumbing to the music, but Sirius grabbed his hands and began to swing him around in tune with the music. Harry was eagerly bouncing around the room, unsure of what to do, but having fun either way.

As soon as the chorus came, all five of them began belting out the lyrics: "You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen! Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah! You can dance, you can jive! Having the time of your life! Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene, digging the dancing queen! Digging the dancing queen!"

They had abandoned the cookies when they began singing along to the wireless. They were dancing around the kitchen like fools, singing out to their heart's content. None of them was singing to please anyone else besides themselves, and somehow that made it all the more fun.

As the song came to an end, they were all laughing unabashedly. James had picked up Harry and was swinging him around in the air as if he was weightless. Harry was giggling uncontrollably as he held his arms out like he was flying.

They continued like that for almost fifteen minutes before they had all calmed down enough to continue their cookie decorating. Lily retrieved the last batch of cookies from the oven, which they had all completely forgotten about in their fun.

James retrieved his butter knife with purple frosting, and in a moment of childish fun, spread a dollop of it onto Lily's nose. She looked up at him in shock, clearly not expecting the attack. For a moment, she looked at him in stunned silence before she grabbed her own butter knife with green frosting and began chasing after him to spread the frosting all over his face.

It was a miracle they had finished decorating their cookies at all with the mischief going on in the kitchen. Harry felt an immense love for his family in moments like this.

After they had finally finished making their cookies and decorated them. They sat around the fire and ate a few of them along with some hot chocolate that Lily made them. It was perfect.

They fell asleep that night; all huddled together on the couch. It was shocking that after six years of being locked away together, they had not only gotten extraordinarily closer, but they hadn't gotten tired of each other.

November 2nd, 1987

Harry laid in his bed with his copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration open. He was only seven, but he was raised in a home with four brilliant adults around twenty-four/seven, and on occasion, another brilliant mind. He had far surpassed the reading expectations of a kid his age, and although a bit confusing, he could understand the words in the book meant for eleven-year-olds.

When Remus had given him the book for his birthday last year, he had read through it with his dad, Sirius, and his grandma. They were all the most talented at transfiguration, and through them, he learnt plenty of simple transfigurations and some more complex ones. His grandma had told him that physically changing one's appearance wasn't taught until much later in school, and he already got one of the more complex aspects down.

Admittedly, when he was alone in his room, he practised changing things like his nose and eye colours. He knew it might be dangerous if anything were to go wrong, but he felt fairly confident, and he was eager to show his grandma that he could do it the next time she came around.

He read a passage in the book about transfiguring a cat into a goblet, and he was curious to try it with their cat, Poppy. As quickly as the thought entered his head, it left it. There was no way he would forgive himself if anything happened to Poppy; he loved her dearly.

The little orange cat was simply adorable. She was a nice peachy colour with darker orange stripes and a white belly and chest. He liked to tease that she was dipped in white paint because most of her four legs were white as well. Harry loved Pads and Prongs, but Poppy held a special place in his heart.

There was a soft knock on his door, and Lily peeked inside, "We're going to eat dinner soon, sweetheart. I know you love to read those texts, but surely you're hungry?"

"I am, Mummy. I'll be down soon." Harry said quietly, and he turned back to finish the section he was reading about matchstick to needle transfiguration. His grandma had taught that to him years ago, and he wondered if he could still perform it.

He finished reading the passage and shut the textbook. It was probably thicker than him, and Harry was surprised it didn't weigh as much as he thought it would. He rested the book on his nightstand and meandered out of the room for dinner.

They were all downstairs already, gathered at the table. Sirius was discussing animatedly about the things he wanted to do for his birthday tomorrow, and Harry couldn't help but be excited. He always enjoyed birthdays. They brought a lot of joy, and usually, his mum made a cake.

She was a terrific cook and baker. Harry wondered if they were ever able to leave Godric's Hollow again if she would open a restaurant somewhere in Muggle London, or perhaps in a wizarding location.

He had never been able to explore the wizarding world, but that was expected. It was too dangerous for him to leave the house and be in such a place where he could be seen before the time was right. He understood that much about the prophecy, and he didn't mind.

Harry never saw their position as miserable. Honestly, he thought the times they shared together were worth more than being able to go outside. There were times when he got antsy and wanted to go out, but that was rare nowadays. Now that he got a taste of the outside world, he never really asked for interactions with other people.

He had a nice little bubble of happiness here. Admittedly, he was frightened to leave and go to Hogwarts. As Lily put some food on his plate, the thought came down on him that he would have to leave for Hogwarts in a mere four years.

Time was going too fast, and he wasn't ready at all. But he tried to put that thought aside and focus on the conversation at hand: Sirius' birthday. He wanted to play Quidditch and read a book. It was a perfect day of rest if Harry ever heard one. Maybe he could convince his uncle to work on some transfiguration practice with him.

Dinner carried on like that. They were all talking happily with each other discussing possible activities they could partake in tomorrow. After they all finished eating, Harry excused himself back to his room so he could keep reading his textbook.

It might've seemed weird to other people, but Harry enjoyed reading the transfiguration textbook. He wanted to know everything he could before he went to Hogwarts and was taught the subject. Part of him wanted to be better than everyone else, but he knew that wouldn't be good for staying under the radar.

Regardless, Harry curled up in his bed with the transfiguration textbook open to the page he left off. He happily continued to read the book so that he could absorb all the information possible before the time came for him to leave.