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July 2018

No one in the Potter household got any letters that year. Roxanne and Louis did, and they were almost as excited as James and Albus had been. Lily still looked on enviously, though she kept telling herself that it won't be long. Only a year to go.

"Pass the salt, Ravenclaw," said James.

"Get it yourself," Albus muttered in reply. "And stop referring to me as 'Ravenclaw'."

"But you are a Ravenclaw," said James, grinning. "So why shouldn't I call you a Ravenclaw?"

"James, stop calling your brother 'Ravenclaw'," said Harry wearily. "His name's Albus."

"That's not much better," Albus mumbled under his breath.

It was the first day of the summer holidays, and James had been referring to Albus as 'Ravenclaw' all day. Now, it was evening, and the family had sat down to dinner. It was a dark, gloomy July day, and rain was lashing the windows of the dining room.

"It's so not fair," Lily sighed, gazing out the window. "We've been having lovely weather… until you two came home."

Her brothers said nothing to this.

"Hey, I'm sure it'll all clear up tomorrow," said Ginny reassuringly. "Would you like to come to work with me tomorrow, Lily?"

"No thanks," replied Lily, pulling a face. "I'd much rather spend the day with my darling brothers."

"I'm going to Alexander's house tomorrow," said James immediately.

"And I'm going to Scott's," Albus added.

Lily glared at her brothers. "Will you be at home, daddy?"

"Yes, Lily, I will," Harry assured her. "We can go to Diagon Alley if you want."

"Are there any Quidditch matches on that we could go to?" said Lily.

Harry and Ginny exchanged a quick glance.

"I don't think so," said Ginny. "But going to Diagon Alley's okay, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she sighed. "Hey, dad, can I have an owl?"

Harry nearly choked on his pasta. "An owl? Can't you wait until next year when we get all your stuff for Hogwarts?"

Lily pouted. "I can wait, but I really want an owl! I want a snowy owl, and I want it to be a girl, and I want to call it... Lilybell.'

"That's imaginative," said Albus at the same time as Ginny said: "You don't want much, do you?"

Lily said nothing more on the subject of owls or of going to Diagon Alley.

The next day, her brothers vanished off to their friends' houses, and her mum went off to work, and Lily was left to spend the day with her father and Teddy, who accompanied them to Diagon Alley. Which Lily liked very much. The rain from yesterday had cleared up, and it was a beautifully hot day. They each had an ice cream, and though Harry asked Lily if she wanted to go into the pet shop, she said no thanks.

"I think I'll wait until next year, like you said," she sighed, and Harry was a little relieved that his daughter was finally learning the art of patience.

"Patience is a virtue, Lil,' Teddy added, and she beamed at him.

They ran into James and Alexander outside Quality Quidditch Supplies, deciding whether or not they should pool their money together to buy the newest broomstick, until James caught sight of Harry.

"Actually, Alex, I have a perfectly good racing broom at home, I think I'll save my money for something more useful," he said loudly as Harry, Lily and Teddy went by.

That night, both the boys stayed over at their friends' houses, which meant that Lily had her parents to herself yet again.

"They might as well not be back from Hogwarts," Lily sighed. "It's their turn to have you for hours on end."

"Lily!" Ginny exclaimed. "It's all part of growing up, spending hours away from home. They'll be back soon, and you'll wish they were gone again. Trust me, I know."

Harry said nothing on this subject, so Lily decided to change it.

"Do you think Teddy's going to marry Victoire?"

"I don't know," replied Ginny. "They've only been properly dating for a year... why do you ask?"

"Because all Teddy could talk about today was Victoire. Wasn't it, dad?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he did. It's like he's only known her a year, and not her whole life."

"I hope I meet someone as amazing as Teddy,' sighed Lily.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you will," said Ginny. "But hopefully not for a few more years..."

The three Potters lapsed into silence. Rain began to fall heavily again.

"I hope this doesn't keep up, I want to play Quidditch with Hugo, Louis and Roxy tomorrow," Lily added.

Harry and Ginny said nothing. Lily had been complaining a lot lately - apparently it was growing up pains, James had wisely informed them that morning. He said he was experiencing them too.