Lily sighed. She never understood why her mother hated this so much. It should be a happy time and school was exciting, why then was mother always sad when she went off to school.
However, now that she had a beautiful child of her own, Lily understood her mother a bit more. It filled her with immeasurable joy to have Harry going to Hogwarts and to be making friends. But she so loved having Harry home for the summer. Listening to his stories about classes and pranks and all the other adventures eleven year olds get into.
Lily thought she was better prepared for Harry's second year, but no mother is ever quite ready for their child to leave home. She gave Harry one last hug before he ran off and joined up with his best friend Hermione.
As she watched them board the train, James came up beside her and took her hand.
"You okay?" She nodded, trying her best to hold back tears. James gave her hand a squeeze as they watched the train pull out of the station.