The Morning of September the 1st

A/N: Please forgive Lily's lack of understanding for what Scorpius is going through. She, like many people, is unable to understand what's going through a person with a mental disability's head. Although, she means well, she has no idea what to say or how to act when it comes to his mental illness.

I woke up early on the morning of September 1st. I never slept much the week before returning to Hogwarts. The thought of returning to the ancient, mysterious castle always gave me a week long buzz. Not to mention the increased freedom from my siblings. I loved Al and James, but after a couple of days, they become quite stifling. James couldn't comprehend the meaning of humility and Al only had one mode when it came to me; overprotective. Scorpius also contributed to my lack of sleep. I often found my thoughts drifting to the argumentative Slytherin. I may have acted calm that night in the woods, but when I got back to the Burrow, I stayed up all night worrying about if he was okay and wondering if I should tell someone. I just couldn't understand what could drive someone to injure themselves. What could be going on in his life to make him so frustrated? Self-harm was a concept that I couldn't and probably will never be able to comprehend.

When I saw the first rays of sun peering over the horizon, I decided to make use of all this extra time and go for a run. I put on a pair of trainers, leggings and a tank top I received from Victoire. It revealed more cleavage than I'm used to, but knowing my cousin, it probably cost a lot of money, so I smiled and told her that I liked it. After a while, I grew accustom to it and now I don't even notice the low neckline when I look in the mirror.

When I was done forcing my unruly, Potter hair into a ponytail, I tiptoed towards the front door. Out of habit, I peered into the coat closet to check if my dad's coat was in there. He had been on a mission for the past week and he hadn't returned yet. Sadly, his grey, tweed coat was nowhere to be found. I closed the door to the closet, grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

The great thing about running early in the morning was the lack of people. Living in a wizarding community had its perks and its disadvantages. One of the setbacks was being recognized by everyone as the daughter of Harry Potter. It's sort of difficult to run when you get stopped every block by someone wanting to chat with the "Potter Girl." So the mornings were my ideal time to run (when I wasn't too lazy to get out of bed). Running helped me to clear my mind. I often fell victim to all the ideas swimming around in my brain, but when I ran, all the cluttered thoughts drifted away and my only thought was to keep running.

After about 30 minutes, I stopped in my neighbourhood's park to take a break. All the park benches were empty, so I sat on the one closest to me. My thoughts quickly drifted towards my dad's absence. After the sho0ck of discovering that my father was Harry Potter, people often asked the question, "How does it feel to be the daughter of an auror?" The truth is I never get used to it; the feeling of terror when he first announces a new mission, the feeling of hopelessness when I don't know when he'll back or what state he'll be in, the feeling of relief that floods my entire body when he finally returns. I mean, sure, he doesn't go on nearly as many missions as he used to back in the days. Unlike Uncle Ron, dad doesn't mind spending a lot of time at his desk. Uncle Ron never lets more than two weeks pass in between missions. It takes a toll on Rose and Hugo, but no one feels the effects of his absence more than Aunt Hermione. She tries to smile through it, but we can all tell that every time he leaves it's like he takes another piece of her with him. The family has tried talking to him about it, but he refuses to slow down. One night, I went downstairs to grab a midnight snack, but I stopped when I heard mom and dad talking in the living room. I could tell by the tone of their voices that it was important, so I listened in. My dad was in the middle of recalling a confession made by Uncle Ron earlier that night. Uncle Ron had admitted to my dad that he often missed the war. He craved having a purpose. Although the idea of desiring war seemed absurd, the need for a purpose was something I could relate to. I mean during the war, there was a constant objective, a steady goal. Now, there was no threat, no need for adrenaline. Uncle's Ron obsession with his missions suddenly became clear. That was the day I stopped hating him and started feeling sorry for him. Since then, I noticed how sad he looked when he thought no one was looking.

By the time I tuned back into reality, it was almost seven. So I sprinted home to take a shower before my brothers spent an hour in the bathroom, styling their hair. No matter what I tell them, my friends all think that James and Albus were just blessed with hair that naturally looks tousled. They use up more hair product than I do!

When I got downstairs I was surprised to see everyone else already there. Either they all got up whilst I was in the shower or I was in more of a hurry than I thought.

"Good morning Lily! I tried saying hi earlier on, but you just bolted up the stairs before I could," my mom said.

Yup, it was the latter.

"What were you doing out so early in the morning? Scaring little kids off with your face?"

"No James, I was running. Some of us actually exercise outside of quidditch season," I replied with a sweetest smile that I could muster this early in the morning.

"Hey, who wants some bacon?" mom suggested, trying to diffuse the situation.

We all replied with a resounding "me".

I still had some packing to do, so I headed upstairs whilst mom was frying the bacon. When I came back downstairs, James and Albus were both eating breakfast. I grabbed a piece of bacon off of James' plate whilst I walked by him.

"Oi! Why can't you keep your grubby hands to yourself?"

"Because then I wouldn't have the chance to see your face turn 50 shades of red."

"Hey! No sexual puns at breakfast!"

"Dad!"

A/N: I know this chapter is short and there wasn't a lot of progress to the plot, but I'll try to have the next one up soon. Thanks for reading