"Alright Harry, you have all your things?" Lily asked.

"Yes, Mummy." Harry dutifully replied.

"You remember what to do after school?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me?"

"I sit in my seat and wait for Miss Jones to walk me to the art room."

"And?"

"I stay there until you come."

"Exactly. Now, have a great day, and I'll see you at four o'clock, okay?" Lily said. Harry nodded and hugged her.

"Bye, Mummy!" he waved as he walked into his classroom.

Today was Harry's first day of first grade. Lily was standing in the hallway of his school, trying her best not to cry at the fact that her little boy was growing up.

"Are you already missing him, too?" She heard someone ask from behind her. Lily turned and saw it was a dark-skinned woman in blue scrubs, also looking into the classroom of excited first graders.

Lily nodded and said, "Yes, it seems like only yesterday that he was a little one-year-old, but now he's already in first grade."

The woman smiled and nodded. "I know. It's unbelievable. I'm Claire Thomas." She said, extending her hand.

Lily shook it and introduced herself. "Lily Evans. Which one's yours?" She asked.

"The one drawing at his desk. His name's Dean." Claire replied.

"Aw, he's adorable." Lily said. Then, she saw Harry walk up to Dean, and sit beside him. They started talking, and Dean handed Harry one of his crayons. They both drew on Dean's page and talked as they did so.

"Well, looks like our boys have already met." Lily remarked.

"And there are three kids at my table! Ellie, Mike, and Dean. I like Dean the best, he gave me one of his crayons and we drew dogs together! Ellie is okay, but she likes talking to the girl at the other table better. Mike is really good at tag! We played all recess!" Harry went on further about his day to Lily in the car as she drove him home from school.

"Sounds like you had a good day, then, Harry." Lily said.

"I did! Can I please go back tomorrow?"

Lily laughed. "Of course, sweetie. That's the plan."

After fixing Harry a snack of peanut butter banana slices, he went outside to the backyard to play. Lily had fixed it up and had gotten Harry a swing set and a little house to play in, which Harry adored. She went outside as well, to watch him and do some lesson planning.

She decided to enroll Harry in a different elementary school than the one she taught at. For one, this school was much closer to their home, so when Harry was older he wouldn't have to stay after school in the art room with the other kids whose parents worked late. He could walk home instead. And, Lily figured Harry wouldn't like going to a school where his mum taught, and she wanted him to have some independence.

A few months went by, and Harry still continued to like school. He was one of the best readers in the class since Lily had started teaching him reading early on, and he had grown to like it. Harry also got along fairly well with the kids in his class, though he said that his best friend was Dean.

Ever since the first day, Dean and Harry had been friends, and Lily was delighted to know that Harry had such a good friend. Dean had come over for playdates on weekends and was always a very polite, sweet little boy. He and Harry would play in the backyard or read together, or make up games.

Lily got to know Claire very well since their kids were such good friends. She learned that Claire was a nurse, and often dropped off Dean in her scrubs. If she had an early shift, then her husband, Robert, would drop Dean off. He was her second husband, Dean's father had left them when Dean was only a baby. He had three daughters, Ava, Jenny, and Emily, from his previous marriage.

Now, the boys were having yet another playdate at Lily's house. Harry liked going over to Dean's house because they had two dogs, but Dean liked going over to Harry's house because his sisters often used him for dress-up games. If Harry was there, he was also roped into it.

"I'm the evilest dragon! My fire makes you melt!" she heard Dean say one afternoon while he and Harry were playing Dragons. (A game in which, you pretended to be a dragon. Lily wasn't sure what the objective of the game was, but there seemed to be a ball involved, though they called it an egg)

"My fire makes you freeze! I make people ice!" Harry said.

"Like popsicles?" Dean asked curiously.

"Yeah!"

This sparked a chase for the egg-ball, and by the end, both boys were laughing and sprawled on the ground.

"Boys! Time for Dean to go home!" Lily called to them. This resulted in two aw's, but they obeyed.

"See ya, Harry!" Dean said as he got in his mum's car.

"See ya, Dean!" Harry replied.

Indeed, life was going wonderfully in their Cokeworth life.

Except for a few parts. First, Lily still missed James very much and was still saddened at the thought of Severus. She had kept his note and flower safe, and had put a spell on the flower so that it would never wilt. Though time had somewhat healed her, the pain never fully went away.

Secondly….

Petunia.

Lily had tried reaching out to her several times, she had called and written letters like mad, telling Petunia everything. Even Voldemort and what had happened to James.

But Petunia never responded. It had broken Lily's heart that her sister didn't care about her anymore. Their parents were gone, they were all they had left of their family. But Petunia didn't care.

Harry had been such a constant source of joy for her, though. Even when she was disheartened by Petunia's indifference to her. He was a very happy child, and very creative. Though he wasn't gifted at drawing like Dean was, she still found several pictures of dogs in his room. He hadn't asked for one yet, but she was sure the time was coming.

He had also had bouts of accidental magic over the past few years. So far he hadn't remembered them, but Lily knew eventually he would, if not the next time something magical happened. Usually, his magic involved fear, like when the neighbor's cat scratched him when he was three, and Harry accidentally made the toenail vanish. Luckily, the neighbors were away on holiday, and Lily was watching the house for them until they came back. She didn't know how to make a cat regrow a toenail, but she was able to fix Harry's arm. He had forgotten all about the incident, but that cat never did. It still hated Harry to this day.

Unfortunately, Harry's next use of accidental magic, around the time he was eight, was on a larger scale. Meaning, he turned his teacher's hair bright blue. Their class was having a spelling bee, and Harry got nervous since he forgot how to spell 'pentagon' and once some other kids started snickering, he couldn't take it. The next thing Lily knew, she was asked to pick Harry up from the office once she went to get him after work.

"I'm sorry, Mum! I didn't mean to make his hair blue, I promise! I don't know how it happened, it was like magic!" Harry exclaimed once they left the office. He was clearly afraid that he'd be in trouble. Lily knew that the time had come to tell him the truth. She waited until they got into the car, to make sure they had privacy.

"Harry, I need to listen to me carefully, okay?" Lily instructed him. Harry nodded sincerely.

"What happened today was an accident. You're not in trouble, I know you didn't mean for it to happen. You couldn't help it. And I know you're wondering why." Lily continued.

Harry nodded.

The time was now.

"Harry, what happened today was magic."

"What?" Harry asked.

Lily smiled, remembering her own surprise when she learned she was magic. "Harry, you did magic today."

"Really?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes, sweetheart. You did. You're a wizard, Harry." Lily stated.

Harry grinned. "Magic is real?"

"It is. And I'm magic too. I'm a witch. And your father was a wizard as well." Lily told him.

Harry's smile grew even wider. "Can you show me magic?" he asked.

"When we get home, I promise. See, I have a wand that helps me do magic. And when you're older, you'll get a wand, too." Lily promised him.

"When?" Harry asked.

Lily grinned. "When you turn eleven. That's when you'll go to a special school, just for witches and wizards."

Harry looked ecstatic. "Wait 'til I tell Dean!"

Lily's smile faltered. "Oh, Harry, you can't tell anyone about being magic. It has to be a secret, okay? A Mum-and-Harry secret." she instructed.

Harry looked reluctant but agreed. He loved his mom too much to break a Mum-and-Harry promise. They were even worse to break than pinky promises!

That night, Lily explained some more of the magical world to Harry, like a bedtime story. She couldn't bring herself to tell him about James and Severus, but she did tell him about Hogwarts, the magic he would get to do, and dragons. He was delighted to learn that dragons existed.

Lily had been terrified that he would be mad that she kept it from him, but Harry seemed to understand the importance of keeping it secret.

Lily fell asleep with a smile on her face that night. She truly couldn't ask for a better son.

Dean is a wizard in this, they just don't know it yet. I had to do some research on Dean to make this accurate. Apparently, Dean is a half-blood, but his wizard father never told his muggle mother that he was magic, even after Dean was born. He eventually left them during the First Wizarding War to protect them from Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Dean's mom remarried and had several children with her second husband, boys and girls, but in this I am changing it to Dean getting three older stepsisters, instead of being the oldest of several half-siblings. I just imagine Dean to be the kid that grow up in a family of girls for some reason.