Chapter Twenty-Three

DC: I don't own Harry Potter

Lily saw all her favorite colors: red, green, pink, and black. They were draped in drapes on the tables, were the new colors of the floor, and walls, and the chairs were painted differently.

Lily skipped over to the table and helped herself into a chair. Dumbledore smiled down at her, and handed her a present. "Here you go Lily. It's almost a sorry for not getting you anything for Christmas."

Lily smiled, and reached over to give her 'Grandfather' a hug.

The Marauders, after the moments of gazing and looking at all the different things and colors, finally took a seat next to Lily and Dumbledore. The plates and bowls, were all colored in red, green, and black. It reminded them so much of their room.

"Happy Birthday!"

McGonagall came up behind the Marauders, and set a little box on the table next to Lily. Lily felt so happy because of all the presents. Her smile grew larger as Hagrid came through the double doors wearing his big coats, with many pockets, and a huge cake.

"Made it meh self." He said. "My famous Rock Cake!"

The Marauders paled a little. They had the experience of rock cake. It could break your jaws or teeth if you don't take it easy. But Hagrid smiled warmly.

"I made it jus' a little sof'er. Just for Miss Evans here!"

Lily smiled. "Thank you Uncle Ruby! It looks yummy!"

The doors opened yet again and in came Madame Rosmerta, the Doctor, and Emily from One Size. They too had presents, and set them with Lily's others. By now the Marauders felt just a little guilty.

"We didn't get her anything." James said.

"Don't worry!" Lily said. "I love Roy! He's my birthday present too!"

That eased them a little. The bowls brought out chocolate ice cream, and Lily, if it was possible, smiled even more. Chocolate ice cream with cake was just what she wanted for her fifth birthday. She set her presents aside, and banged one hand on the table. "I'm hungry lets eat!"

"Don't be so rude Miss Evans." Madame Pomfrey declared.

"Are you sure…I mean it's pretty hard looking…" Emily said, turning to Hagrid. "I'm sure it tastes good though."

"O course!" Hagrid said, pulling out an axe. He raised it above his head, all but Dumbledore and Lily's eyes were wide, and cut the cake down the middle. The table shook, and almost felt like it was going to split apart itself, but held strong. He did this several times until there was several fine cut pieces.

"That was so cool! It was like you killed it!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lily!" Remus said. "Don't say that."

Lily giggled, and watched as Dumbledore used his wand to dish out everyone a piece. Hagrid cleaned off his axe and put it back into one of his many pockets. Everyone got their pieces and found the inside was very soft, and the outside, almost as if it were a shell, was just a little hard and you had to bite through it.

The rock cake was good, the chocolate ice cream was delicious, and it was now almost time for Lily to open her presents. She was getting anxious in her seat as every finished up whatever they had. Finally as the last person ate the last spoonful of cake and ice cream, the food disappeared, excluding the cake (meaning only the ice cream) and everyone watched as Lily grabbed the closest present.

It was from McGonagall. Now Lily was very smart for her age, but she needed help with reading. She was only five, but didn't really know how to read, or write for that matter, and this wasn't average for a regular girl. So McGonagall got her 'The Five Steps of Reading: The Wizard Way'.

"So is there a muggle way?" Sirius asked.

"I guess so Mr. Black. But I've never bought anything from a muggle bookstore." McGonagall answered.

"Ooh pictures too!" Lily said, flipping though the book. "Thank you Grandma!"

McGonagall smiled, although the only one to catch it was Dumbledore.

Next were Emily and Rosmerta's. They didn't quite know what Lily liked, but they did know what little girls like. Lily opened up the box to reveal a cute little doll. Of course this one wasn't handmade, and Lily admitted to herself she liked Roy more then this one, but she still loved it. She gave Emily and Rosmerta a hug, and sat back down.

Dumbledore was next. Lily didn't know what was on the rolled up big parchment, and when she did unroll it, it took her a few moments to realize what it was.

It was a real family tree, of the fake family. Dumbledore was the head, and next to him was McGonagall. And just for Dumbledore to humor himself, Lily, and others, she was James's sister/wife/mother. Under McGonagall, who did have red hair and green eyes (these pictures were all magically colored), were Hagrid, James, Sirius, and Remus. And under James, and somehow McGonagall, was Lily. The family was complete.

"This is so cool!" Lily said. "Thank you Grandpa!"

Dumbledore gave her a wink. Lily passed the family tree parchment around to let everyone see. James told Emily and Madame Rosmerta it wasn't real that it was just what Lily drew in a more realistic illustration. Those probably weren't the exact words.

Next was Madame Pomfrey. Now Madame Pomfrey is a very strict lady. She knew that Lily was a troublemaker and loved to get into everything. But with this present she knew that Lily would be working on it for a long time.

"Learn to Spell Your Name." James read out loud to her. "Well that's another thing we really didn't accomplish this summer."

"I can finally write my name down on a paper!" Lily exclaimed. She smiled to her Doctor. "Thank you!"

"Your welcome." Pomfrey said.

Lily played with Roy and Royeta, the new name for her new girl doll, as everyone else talked. All in all it was a good day, even though the weather wasn't very pleasant. It was still raining heavy outside, and they could hear low rumbles coming from it.

Finally at nine thirty the boys noticed Lily had fallen asleep on the floor. It was getting late, even thought it was still the middle of summer and they didn't have a bedtime, and they decided it was going to be yet another early night.

"Goodnight you four!" Rosmerta called.

"Yeah and thank you for all the presents." James said. "We felt a little guilty for not getting her any today."

"Yeah we ran out of time to get down there to any stores." Remus said.

"And the rain… It stopped us really." Sirius said gloomily.

"Don't worry about it." McGonagall said. "She gets spoiled enough." She added with a little smile.

James gently bent over and picked Lily up. Remus collected her dolls, and Sirius opened the doors for them all. They waved goodnight, and left the Great Hall.

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Hey all! Lala Rue here! Two chapters left!

Next one will be better, I promise!

Nothing much to say...but I do have the first chapter to MM done! (Mini Marauders)

Yep!

I'll update soon if I can get soom reviews!

Love, Lala Rue!

(PS: Hey you look at me rockin' out, I'm on the RADIO! Hey you look at me rockin' out, I'm on the VIDEO! Ahh System of a Down!)