Happy New Year! As per the request of MaybeImAmazed, this chapter has a lot more family.

Sorry this took so long to post, but I got sick, and then there was Christmas, and parties, and homework and all that nonsense. So…enjoy!

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Age Twenty Five, Reunion

Lily Warner was rather frantic at the moment. She was trying to prepare her assistant manager to supervise the bookstore alone for the weekend in the few minutes she had left before it was time to head home and finish throwing supplies into an overnight back for her and her husband. The assistant manager was not a very good listener, she was quickly discovering. Her regular manager, of course, was going to be at the family reunion for the weekend with Lily. Her bookish cousin Rose was a wonderful manager, but Lily could not count on her for the next two days. She would have to make due with this assistant manager who was making her more frazzled by the second. Her watch was insisting that it was time for her to go. "If you have any questions, just phone," she finished, before grabbing her shoulder bag and hurrying from her show.

A steady of stream of customers were filing in and out of the rows of bookshelves. The store had only gotten off of its feet two months ago, and Lily was convinced that the only reason it was successful was that she was the owner. Her reputation preceded her apparently, and the presses were still interested in the writer who had not churned out another book in a little over a year; multiple newspapers informed the public of the opening of a bookstore owned by the Lily Potter. These newspapers had thankfully brought Lily customers in great waves. Her bookstore was already making a profit, which was incredible based upon the amount of books Lily purchased to fill all of the shelves.

Now, she had to leave her baby to an assistant manager she was not sure she could depend on. There was nothing she could do now, however, because she was running late already. She ran the three blocks back to her home, cursing the lack of physical activity she had been partaking in lately.

Scott was not even home when she arrived. Annoyed with this fact, she began shoving clothing and toiletries into two separate bags, muttering to herself. "He can't even be home when I ask. Merlin, we're already going to be late."

Lily had mixed feelings about what faced her this weekend. Twenty-nine people would be staying in the teetering structure of The Burrow, her grandparents' house for three days. It would be intense family time, and Lily was not sure if she was up for that at this particular point in time. She had not seen many of her relations since her wedding two years ago. She was trying to prepare herself for the games that were inevitably going to come, since Molly and Arthur were planning this entire affair. During their last reunion, five years ago, they had spent two days hopping around the backyard, cheering one another on. Five years ago, of course, Scott was not with her. She was growing increasingly nervous for him; she knew her family would tease him all weekend, because that was what they did.

Scott finally came bustling through the front door when Lily was struggling to carry their bags downstairs. "I'm so sorry, babe, I completely lost track of time. Oh, here, I'll get that," he added when he saw how much trouble she was having hauling their bags down the staircase. He took both duffels from her and easily placed them on the first floor.

Lily was still in fast forward, determined to get out the door and into the car in time to reach the Burrow by eight o' clock. As she hurried her way towards the front door, Scott put his arm out to stop her. "Hey," he said, drawing her close to him. "Slow down for a second."

Scott really was the peanut butter to her jelly. He knew exactly how to take a step back and enjoy things. Take, for instance, right now, as he enveloped her in a hug. Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "See, that's better," he said. "Now you're a lot less mad at me for being late, right?"

Lily chuckled then stretched her face up to kiss him. "We have to go."

The long car ride was a good time for the two of them to catch up. Lately, the bookstore had been taking up most of Lily's time; it took an enormous amount of work to begin a business. Scott had been so good to her. His patience had held out for a very long time and he was always there to de-stress her once she got home from her usually long days. It was lucky that she was already financially sound because she didn't encounter the same problems that most entrepreneurs did.

"Why don't you get some sleep, baby? You look exhausted," Scott suggested. "I noticed you haven't been sleeping lately."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I've been tossing and turning," Lily apologized. "I'm just not very good at dealing with stress, I suppose. And I know I won't sleep tonight worrying about that insufferable assistant manager I put in charge of my lovely shop."

Everyone had already arrived at the Burrow when they finally got there. Lily's mother was upon Lily and Scott as soon as they parked the car and opened the door. "Oh, Lily!" she cried, crushing her daughter in a bear hug. "I'm so glad you came; we haven't seen you in ages!"

"Of course we came, Mum," Lily replied as her mother rushed to the other side of the car to embrace her son-in-law. For a woman now over fifty, her mother was as high-spirited as ever. Grey streaked her hair, but that was the only sign of aging upon her.

"Everyone's in the kitchen having supper," her mother informed them. "I saw you out of the kitchen window. Do you need any help with the luggage? Girls are sleeping on the third and forth floors, boys on the first and second."

Granddad and Grandmum Weasley refused to believe that even married couples had sex; therefore they kept the sleeping quarters of boys and girls separated at all times. All of their children and grandchildren humored them because of their old age, but it was still going to be weird for Lily to wake up in a bed next to Jordan and Victorie instead of Scott. Scott and Lily took their luggage inside the house to their respective floors before entering the kitchen.

"Lily!" came a cry, followed by a bombardment of hugs. The kitchen was packed with people. "Hey, little sis," James greeted, embracing her. Lily savored the hug; she had not seen James for a year and a half. She latched onto him for a few minutes, not wanting to let him go.

Over the past few years, she and James had been growing apart. It was difficult to keep in touch by trans-Atlantic phone calls and letters, especially when James was increasingly busy with his wife and two-year-old twins. Surprisingly, she had started talking more to Albus. His maturity levels had finally gone up and he had approached Lily first with a problem. Lunches and phone conversations had followed. Lily was not complaining, it was just a strange phenomenon because she and Albus had never been close. He was also finally holding down a steady, serious girlfriend named Elizabeth, who he was currently standing with in the corner of the room. She was a cute, timid woman a year younger than Lily, and she appeared to be very uncomfortable in a room full of her boyfriend's family. Lily released James and walked over to greet her other brother, leaving Scott to the affections of her family members.

"Hey, Lily," Albus greeted; he gave her a brief hug. He had turned into the spitting image of his father, sans eyeglasses. "Eliza, you remember my sister, Lily." Elizabeth timidly greeted Lily. "Where's Scott?" he asked.

"I left him to be attacked by Aunt Annemarie," Lily told him. Aunt Annemarie was Uncle George's wife, and she was the most overbearing aunt Lily had. She was currently interrogating Scott, whom she had not seen since his marriage to her niece. Her husband, Uncle George, was ravaging the table of food alongside Lily's gather, Uncle Ron, Uncle Bill, Granddad Weasley, Uncle Charlie and his wife Aunt Grace, Rose's fiancé David, and Cousin Hugo. Most of her female relations were talking together on one side of the room; Victorie, Rose, Aunt Hermione, step-sister Jordan, Aunt Fleur, Grandmum Weasley, and Uncle Percy's girlfriend were all laughing loudly together.

Lily and Scott had been frequenting Rose's house for dinner lately, along with Rose's fiancé David, because of Rose's recently acquired employment under Lily. Therefore, Lily was becoming closer with another one of her relatives whom she previously found incredibly annoying.

Cousin Teddy had somehow acquired the job of babysitting. He was entertaining his and Victorie's five-year-old Remus, as well as Jordan and James's twins Julius and Jessica. Lily went over to join him and visit with her niece and nephew.

"Oh, Lily, when did you show up?" Teddy greeted.

"Just a minute ago," she replied. She took a seat on the floor next to Teddy and picked up Julius, placing him on her lap.

Years ago, before and during the time that Teddy had attended Hogwarts, he used to come over to the Potter house very frequently. His parents had died when he was very young so Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron took it upon themselves to raise him, even though he had foster parents. James and Albus always had great laughs with Teddy, while Lily sat on the sidelines. She had always admired Teddy. He had incredible strength; Lily knew her father saw something of himself in Teddy and therefore treated him as a third son. Teddy was ten years older than Lily, so he had graduated from Hogwarts before she had even begun her schooling. After he graduated, he got his own apartment, and the Potters saw less and less of him.

"I'm so looking forward to this weekend," Teddy said. "It's going to be brilliant. I haven't seen anyone in ages; Victorie and I have been so busy with Remus. How's your bookshop going? I saw you in the newspaper the other day."

Lily got excited when she was able to talk about her new business venture. The only problem with her bookstore was that she had to postpone writing. True, writer's block had been no stranger to her over the past year, but it was still difficult to set her manuscript aside. The wonderful thing about having loyal fans was that they sent lots of fan mail with writing suggestions. Though Lily would never publicly admit it, her fans sparked many ideas that she used in her stories. Sadly, not even this method was helping her out. Her publisher was expecting another book by the end of the summer, as per her contract, but she did not know if a laudable book would emerge from her by then.

By the time the matriarch and patriarch of the family announced bedtime, Julius and Jessica had fallen asleep resting against Lily's knees while Lily talked to Teddy. Males and females separated to their respective floors and got themselves ready to sleep.

Lily never had slumber parties while she was growing up. Before Hogwarts, she had not had any friends besides her brothers and her cousins, and the only people she had been friendly with were boys. Boys were not too keen on slumber parties. While she was attending Hogwarts, her only friends had been Garrett, Lucile, and Scott. Since Garrett and Lucile both lived in Stratford and Lily in London, they spent numerous weeks together, but that was just sleeping on one another's sofas, not girly cookie-baking, gossip-telling slumber parties.

Tonight, however, was making out to be a slumber party night. All of the girls gathered on the third floor and began their strident laughter and gossip in their pajamas. So, while Lily's cousins, aunts, and girlfriends of her brother, cousin, and uncle engaged in giggly conversation, Lily sat on the other side of the room with her mother and Aunt Hermione.

"Do you realize, Miss Lily," said her mother, "that it was ten years ago, nearly to the day that I received a letter from you asking my permission to go to Hogsmeade with one Ravenclaw, Scott Warner?"

Lily blushed, recalling that letter sent by her fifteen-year-old self. "I'm glad you gave me permission, at any rate," she joked.

"Who would have through that my baby, at the age of twenty-five, would be a best-selling, world-touring wife of her first love?" Mrs. Potter said.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Aunt Hermione said.

"That they do," said Mrs. Potter. "Especially this little girl. She takes after her father, this one, with the fame and all."

That was the best compliment Lily had ever received. Her father was her greatest hero—he always had been. She considered him to be on a pedestal above the rest of the world. Not only was he a father, but a hero of the world. He was the best of the best, and Lily had just been put on his level. Sure, it was by her mother, but the comment still deepened her blush.

"This whole growing up thing is ridiculous," Aunt Hermione said. "Ginny, do you remember when we were at the ripe age of twenty-five?"

"We were both married by then too, to our first loves," Lily's mother reminded her. "I had a three-year-old and a one-year-old as well. I had too many stretch marks to count and I had gained twenty pounds in two years. Not the best time in my life."

It was incredible to Lily that her Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, and father had all ended up in the same family, thanks to marriage. They had all been friends for over forty years, and now their children were all friends. Hopefully, their children's children would all be friends as well.

"All Rose has been talking about lately is having children," Aunt Hermione said. "Sometimes I think that the only reason she's getting married is to have them." She chuckled. "Are you and Scott thinking about children?" she asked Lily.

"We talked about it when we first married," Lily said. "We want children, but we're waiting until everything settles down; you know, I've just started the bookstore, and he had his accident last year."

"Well, darling, I hope you have the joy of giving birth," said her mother, "because family is the best thing you can have. Happy reunion." She leaned over and gave her daughter a hug, squeezing her tightly.

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