Chapter Seven

A/N: Thanks to ClaireBear1982 and dream-on-sunday (x2, eventually!) for reviewing!

The time had come at long last and September 1st had dawned clear and bright above the Potter household. James and Albus had spent the entire week bickering over which House Lily would end up in, once she finally got to Hogwarts. James wanted her to go to Gryffindor House, where the majority of their family had gone, yet Albus wished for her to join him in Slytherin. The trouble was, Lily could not choose, so if the Hat asked her to, she would have no idea what to say.

Actually, if she really thought about it, she did not want to belong to either House. Lily had heard a lot about Slytherins from her Uncle Ron, and from what he said, they were not a good bunch to hang around with. True, Albus was a Slytherin and he was still a lovely person to her, but it was the Pureblood supremists that you had to look out for, according to her uncle. Families like the Malfoys, which had been around for centuries, each and every one of them in Slytherin, were not a good example to follow.

However, much to the probable disappointment of neither did she wish to become a Gryffindor. Her first ever word. It was a very noble House to be a part of, she knew that of course, but she would not feel like she was a part of the family there. She was not brave, she was fearful. She was not cowardly, but neither was she courageous. She had a touch of chivalry about her, but that was all. The rest of her family was in Gryffindor, so she felt almost a duty to go there too. But she didn't wish to. It just wouldn't be fair.

That left Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw remaining. She knew a few Ravenclaws, Victoire, Dominique and Roxanne among them, but she wasn't sure if she was intelligent enough to join them. She had a good mind, but perhaps not quite good enough to join a House which prided itself on that value.

Hufflepuff. There was only one Hufflepuff in the family, though whether he was a real member of the family was debated according to whether he had argued with anyone or not. If she ended up in Hufflepuff, Lily would have Teddy, but he would be gone soon. He should have been gone already actually, but he had failed his O.W.L. exams twice, thus having to complete his fifth year three times over, and from what she had heard her father say about the boy, he was going the same way about it with his N.E.W.T. classes. But that left some hope of friendship at least. Then there was the values. Loyalty, conscientiousness and helpfulness, all values that Lily had within her. Whether they were strong enough for Hufflepuff, she did not know.

"Lily!" The cry from the bottom of the staircase pulled Lily out of her musings. "Lily, come on, or you'll miss the train!"

"Coming, Mum!" the young girl replied, darting across her bedroom to grasp her suitcase, and the cage of her owl, before throwing open the door, glancing around her childhood bedroom one more time as she closed the door again, running down the steps.

"How long does it take to grab a bag, Lil? Geez!" James exclaimed as he saw his sister appear at the top of the staircase, leaning against the banister and glancing at the magical clock on the wall.

"I just wanted to make sure that I remembered what my bedroom looked like." Lily mumbled, only realising how babyish the words sounded once they had left her lips. James laughed a little at this, but ceased soon enough, as Harry clipped him around the back of the head, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to make him listen.

"James, that's enough! Lils is nervous enough as it is. She doesn't need you making things any worse." Harry admonished, looking sternly at the boy.

"I know. I was only joking around." James told his father indignantly, rolling his eyes.

"I don't care, James. Pack it in!" Ginny exclaimed, taking Lily's case from her, leaving the young girl clutching her owl cage in both arms, an expression of annoyance on her face at her brother's antics. Sighing as she gazed down at her watch, the elder redhead gasped as she saw that it read a quarter to eleven. "Come on, now, or we're going to miss the train. That would be a really bad way to start the year, just ask your father."

"And always back to the car!" Harry sighed, taking hold of one of each of his sons' arms and twisting around, disappearing in a cloud of swirling wind. This was not shocking to Lily, who had seen people Apparating many times before, having grown up in an all-magical family. However, it was a shock to the girl when her mother grabbed hold of her own arm, spinning on the spot and disappearing.

As the world came back into focus and the tugging feeling in her stomach dissipated, Lily saw that she was standing on Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, right beside the scarlet Hogwarts Express. The golden haired girl had stood on that very spot many a time before, but it was only then that she realised how different this time was. All those years spent whining about wanting to go to the school with James and Albus, and now she was about to. This was her time.

With that thought, all of the fears and anxieties that had amassed over the last few days came flooding back to the eleven-year-old. She began to breathe more heavily, something not really audible over the noise of the station, but still something that her mother managed to pick up on, causing her to turn and kneel before the girl on the ground.

"Listen, Lily. I know that you're scared. So was I. So was Daddy, so was Albus, and so was James. Everyone is scared before they go to Hogwarts, baby. It's not something to be ashamed of, it's just normal."

"But Mum, what if I'm not in Gryffindor? What if I'm in Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw, or Slytherin?" Lily questioned, her voice shaking as she got further and further away from where she knew her family wanted her to be.

"I'll love you just the same. As long as you're happy, then so am I."

"Promise?" the girl asked in a miniscule voice.

"Promise." Ginny assured her, wrapping her arms around her daughter's shoulders and beginning to cry slightly over her shoulder. "Now, of you go, baby. You've got a train to catch."

"Yeah. I suppose so." the youngest Potter agreed, nodding her head as tears filled her eyes in turn.

A few moments later, having bid tearful goodbyes to both her mother and father, along with her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, Lily found an empty compartment and sat herself down by the window, watching in remaining sadness as her parents disappeared into the mist of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters.

This was the beginning of the life of Lily Luna Potter.

A/N: Thank you for reading. Now please take the time to review!