Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
As Ginny Potter bustled around the kitchen making lunch, she took a moment to look at her daughter, who was sitting at the table with her head down and slowly dragging her foot across the hardwood floor. At nine, Lily Luna Potter was the spitting image of her mother, with her long red hair, brown eyes, and thin face. Ginny couldn't stop a sad smile from forming on her face as she remembered how sad Lily had been to see her two older brothers go off to Hogwarts that morning, knowing she would have to wait two whole years to attend. It reminded her very much of herself when she was young; growing up with six older brothers hadn't been at all easy for her, especially when Ron, the youngest one, had gone off to Hogwarts for his first year.
Harry, who had left for work soon after the boys had boarded the train, wouldn't be back until around dinnertime, so Ginny and Lily would have the Potter cottage to themselves for a while.
"Bit lonesome without James and Al around, isn't it?" Ginny asked sympathetically, setting a bowl of onion soup and a chicken and ham sandwich in front of Lily.
"Yeah," replied Lily with a sigh. "I can't believe I still have to wait two more years. Sometimes I hate being the baby of the family."
"I hear you." Ginny's face suddenly lit up as an idea came to her. "I know what'll cheer you up. After we've eaten, let's go out into the backyard and have a one-on-one game of Quidditch."
"Really?!" Lily exclaimed happily.
Several moments later found Ginny and Lily standing on opposite ends of the yard, each holding a broomstick. Ginny's husband, Harry, had set up magical wards around the yard several years ago to ensure their Muggle neighbors didn't see anything the family was doing.
It had been years since Ginny had retired from playing for the Holyhead Harpies in order to raise her three children, but she still enjoyed playing Quidditch in her spare time with her husband and children (except Albus, who had no interest whatsoever in playing Quidditch). For this particular match, they'd decided that Ginny would play the role of Chaser and Lily would practice Keeping.
They kicked off, Lily hovering in front of the goalpost on the right side of the yard. Ginny proceeded to toss the Quaffle toward her daughter, who managed to save it and throw it right back to Ginny, who caught it easily. The match went on for a couple of hours, and by the end both mother and daughter were exhausted.
"You're really good at this, Lils," Ginny said with a grin as they headed back into the cottage. "You only let in two goals."
"Yeah, well, you're an amazing player too, Mum," replied Lily. "Saving those goals wasn't easy."
"Well, you didn't expect me to go easy on you, did you?" chuckled Ginny. "Say, did I ever tell you the story of the time your uncle Ron joined the Gryffindor team as their Keeper?"
"No! What happened?"
"Well, first off, it was his fifth year-my fourth. And he wasn't the best player I ever saw. He had a lot of potential, but performance nerves always got in the way..." When Ginny had finished, Lily's mouth was hanging open in amazement.
"So the Slytherins made up this song about Uncle Ron being their 'king' just to take the mickey out of him? And then when he started saving goals, the Gryffindors made a new version of the song?"
"That's right," said Ginny. "And then there was that one time he thought your dad had put some lucky potion in his drink, and he didn't let in a single goal..." Just then the flames in the fireplace turned green and Ron Weasley came tumbling out, followed by his son Hugo.
"Hi, Uncle Ron!" said Lily brightly. "Hi, Hugo!"
"What're you two doing here?" Ginny asked.
"Well, Hermione's still at work right now and Hugo was just sitting around moping and moaning about how bored he was without Rose around, until finally I decided to bring him here to hang out with Lily a bit seeing as I figured she could use some company from somebody her age too." As he gazed around at the two Potter women he added, "'Course, from the looks of it you two seemed to have a good time by yourselves."
"Yeah! We played Quidditch this afternoon," Lily told him. "Uncle Ron, I wish you and Hugo had come over sooner; then maybe you could've played Keeper instead of me. It's not a bad position, but I think I'd rather be a Chaser or a Seeker. But don't worry; we wouldn't make fun of you."
After the two nine-year-olds had run up to Lily's room, Ron rounded on his little sister.
"You told Lily that story about me as Gryffindor Keeper, didn't you?"
"Hey, what are sisters for?" Ginny replied. "And for what it's worth, you'll always be my king. Harry's and Hermione's, too."
"Aw, thanks, sis."
"Anyway, I'd better send a message to Harry, let him know I've got guests for dinner." She waved her wand silently and her horse Patronus came out, cantered across the room, and leapt out of the window. Several moments later a silver stag landed in front of her and spoke with Harry's voice:
"Bit tied up at the moment. Will be home a bit later than I thought. And Ron, don't eat all the food before I get there."
Ginny and Ron both laughed. "Oh I won't, believe me," Ron said. "Ginny'll see to that." The stag vanished.
Meanwhile, Lily and Hugo were sitting next to each other on Lily's bed, their legs swinging back and forth. "So how come you were so upset about Rose not being around anymore?" the young girl asked. "Don't you two usually fight?"
"Yeah. I mean, Rose is really bossy and she acts like a complete know-it-all sometimes, but...well...I guess I just never imagined what it'd be like to have no one to argue with. At least she'll have plenty of people to boss around at Hogwarts."
The two of them lay back on the bed for a moment before Lily turned to her cousin. "Hey, wanna play Exploding Snap?"
"Sure!" As they played, Lily smiled at the thought of how this day had been going. She couldn't believe she'd spent that morning complaining about her brothers going away to school while she had to stay home. And who knew, the next two years might just fly by.
