Hi! This is my first story ever - just wanted to give writing a try. There are more chapters on the way!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of these characters.
Please review :)
Prologue:
The tradition had begun on Lily Luna Potter's first night in her first year at Hogwarts.
Eleven years old and away from home for the first time, she thought she would be excited to spend the night in the castle. But on the way to the Gryffindor common room, the novelty of the day was wearing off. Even surrounded by her many cousins, Lily had never felt so small and so alone.
Lily scanned the group of Gryffindor students ahead of her. She could barely see over the older kids but there! – she caught sight of familiar messy black hair that just couldn't lie flat. Quickly darting away from the group of girls she was standing with, Lily maneuvered through the crowd till she reached her brother and pulled on the sleeve of his robe.
Lily thought he might be angry with her - his little sister was already bugging him on the first day. But when James Sirius Potter turned from his friends and saw the expression on his little sister's face – his eyes softened, and he knew exactly how she felt without her telling him.
"Meet me in the common room at 11pm, okay?" He whispered, "It's going to be okay, Lils. I promise."
And so, at eleven o'clock sharp, she had snuck down to the common room where James was waiting with an old looking cloak. Her dad's invisibility cloak!
James threw it over the both of them before leading her through the dimly lit castle halls – she probably should have been afraid to be wandering the castle halls after curfew – but with James, she felt safe.
Finally, they reached a window which James stopped at and opened quietly. He climbed out and then stuck out a hand to help Lily. Lily almost screamed when she stepped outside. They were standing on a sill no wider than three feet. If she took a wrong step forward, she would be falling hundreds of feet to her death. But James led her along the side, just a few steps forward, to a larger ledge where they could sit comfortably. The way the window was shaped – this ledge was completely hidden from view. And there sitting with his feet dangling over the edge, already waiting for them, was Albus Severus Potter.
"I found this place my first year," James said sitting down next to the grinning Albus, "I used to come here when I was missing home and write letters to mum and dad."
"And then he showed it to me so I could come here whenever I felt alone." Albus said fingering his green and silver necktie. "And now you can use it whenever you need to."
"Do you think I'll need to? That I'll be lonely?" Lily had asked fretfully.
But James had laughed shaking his head, filling her with warmth, "Absolutely not, you're going to fit right in at Hogwarts, Lils."
"And if you do come here," chimed in Albus, "you can remember that you're never alone. We'll always be here for you."
Lily had smiled and that and sat down in between her older brothers.
Thus, they had spent their first night in the castle there together, sitting on the edge with their backs against the wall and feet dangling over the edge, until all Lily's anxieties and fears had been washed away.
And that night, the Potter siblings believed that when they needed to find home in each other – they could always count on doing it on this ledge.