A Mother's Comfort and Worry

Summary: After Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, Lily becomes concerned about her son. Why was his name entered for the Tri-Wizard Tournament? As she helps Harry prepare, she provides some motherly comfort.

AN: Contains information from the book and the movie.

Lily felt as though the world stopped. Everything became frozen, and the only sound was the sound of her heart beating rapidly. A part of her wished that this was a dream, a horrible dream but, alas, it wasn't. She knew better.

This wasn't a dream this was reality.

Tonight was Halloween and the night when they would find out who the three champions for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The last Tri-Wizard Tournament occurred in 1792. She didn't understand why they decided to bring it back this year. But this was the least of her worries right now.

The Goblet of Fire had spit out three names, Viktor Krum, from Durmstrang, was selected first, followed by Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts. They left the Great Hall and headed to the trophy room, where they would receive further instructions.

But suddenly, the goblet spit out a fourth name.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore shouted.

Lily tried to hold herself together. She watched as Hermione pushed Harry towards Dumbledore, and then followed the other champions to the trophy room. As he passed the head table, Professor McGonagall squeezed his shoulder. He met her eyes and she tried not to look as panicked or scared as he appeared. She never felt so helpless as a mother. His frightened eyes looking into hers, hoping she would say something and she didn't, she couldn't.

It was so quiet in the Great Hall if it quill was dropped it would have been heard.

Professor Dumbledore announced for the feast to continue and left the Great Hall, heading to the trophy room.

Ludo Bagman followed him with Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, Lily, and Professor Snape following closely.

Barty Couch looked like he was going to stop Lily, but the redhead stopped him.

"That is my son in there. Stop me from entering and I will hex you to oblivion," She warned.

"I would let her in if I were you, Mr. Couch," Professor Snape said, silkily.

Mr. Couch nodded and motioned for Lily to precede him. She turned around briefly and mouthed a 'thank you', to Severus. He nodded to her.

Loud voices greeted them as they heard the arguing amongst the foreign students and their headmaster.

"Enough!" Dumbledore shouted. "Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

"No, sir."

"Ask one of the other students to do it for you?"

"No, sir?" Harry repeated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Professor Dumbledore, could I see the piece of parchment?" Lily asked.

Professor Dumbledore nodded and handed it to Lily. Lily took it, glancing at her son before looking at it. She waved her wand over it and then puffs of bright green smoke appear above the parchment. "This isn't Harry's handwriting," she stated.

"So he was telling the truth," Bagman stated.

Professor Moody had entered the room and immediately said, "Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out." He looked over at Harry and Lily, standing off to the side, but close to the rest of the group.

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it."

Lily gasped, tightening her hold on her son. Harry swallowed thickly. If he was scared before, he was terrified now.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," Dumbledore explained, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "Barty, I leave this to you," Dumbledore said, turning to the gray-headed man.

"Mr. Potter has no choice. He is, as of tonight a Triwizard champion."

There was a slight pause until…

"Are you telling me that we have no choice but to let my son, my fourteen-year-old son to compete in this tournament?!" Lily demanded.

Barty Couch took a step back from the angry mother. Lugo Bagman thought he felt the ground shake under his feet. He suddenly had an appreciation for James Potter, having to live with the fiery redhead in front of him.

"I'd answer her quick if I were you're Barty," Dumbledore warned.

Barty Couch nodded, before replying verbally, "Yes, Mrs. Potter, he has no choice."

Lily approached the man until her face was a few inches away from his own.

"If anything happens to my son, someone will find themselves on the other side of my wand. Am I clear?" she growled.

The man just nodded, afraid to speak.

Lily turned to Lugo Bagman and said, "Same goes for you." She turned around, stowing her wand in her cloak. She returned to her son and wrapped an around him, squeezing him to her.

"Shall we start with our instructions? Barty, want to do the honors?" Bagman said, breaking the silence that had ascended on the group.

Barty Crouch nodded, coming out of a deep reverie.

"Instructions, yes. The first task," he began, moving towards the fire.

Harry stayed near Lily, mainly because Lily's grip on his shoulder was tight. He didn't dare to move unless Lily did.

"The first task is designed to test your daring and courage. Because of this, we're not going to tell you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard. The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of a panel of judges and the other students. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Due to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus."

Professor Dumbledore dismissed Harry and Cedric to their dormitories. There was a party, most likely waiting for them. But Harry wasn't sure he wanted to party.

Everyone parted going their different ways. Madam Maxime and Fleur left, talking to each other fast in French. Harry glanced at his mother as she suddenly glared at the women. Unfortunately for the French women, Lily had taken French over the summer when she was seventeen and was fluent in the language.

Karkaroff beckoned to Krum and they left, in silence.

Harry was heading up towards Gryffindor tower when Lily stopped him.

"Harry, you're welcome to stay with me tonight."

"I know, Mum."

Lily closed the distance between her son and embraced him in a tight hug. This wasn't how she imagined this night a going.

"Get some sleep tonight, baby. We'll figure this out in the morning."

"Thanks, Mum, I love you."

Lily smiled softly. She waited for the day when Harry wouldn't be this open with her.

"I love you too." Lily stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched her son go up the stairs. She waited until he was out of sight before heading to her quarters.

Harry walked up to the stairs towards the tower, to whatever awaited him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Just as Harry thought, there was a party waiting on him when he entered the common room, but he wasn't in the mood. He only stayed long enough to be polite before begging off to go to bed. He headed up to his dorm, wanting nothing more to go to bed and hope this was just a horrible dream.

Upon entering the dorm, he found Ron sitting on his bed beside his own.

"How did you do it?" When Harry didn't answer, he grumbled, "Never mind, thought you would let your best friend know."

"Let you know what?" Harry asked, not sure what Ron was talking about.

"How you put your name in the cup!" Harry sighed inwardly. He hoped he would have to defend himself to his friends.

"I don't know how it happened, Ron. I didn't put my name in that cup. I didn't ask for this to happen. I don't want eternal glory." In truth, Ron should know how much Harry hated attention. Only a handful of people knew Harry as Harry and not the Boy Who Lived.

Ron snorted. "We've known each other since we were six years old and name one time that I ever like having all the attention," Harry reminded his friend.

Ron didn't answer, but ignored Harry and turned over his bed, facing away from Harry. Then the curtains around his bed were closed and Harry was left standing beside Ron's curtained bed.

Never in the eight years that he and Ron been friends, had he never imagined Ron and him having a tiff this bad. The longest they ever stayed mad at each other was when they were thirteen and had gotten in a row about a Quidditch match. That lasted only an hour before Ron flooed over to the Potter's and said that he was wrong.

They both were wrong and their friendship only got stronger since then. Until now.

After gathering clothes to change into for bed and tomorrow and collecting his things from the bathroom, Harry left the dorm.

Hermione was sitting on the couch as the party had apparently ended.

"Hermione, I'm letting you know that I'm going to stay in Mum's quarters. I'll see you in the morning."

Without further discussion or before Hermione could reply, Harry, stormed out of the common room and into the corridor, heading to his mother's quarters.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

If Lily was surprised when Harry came in her quarters an half hour after she had left him, she didn't show it.

"What happened?" she asked.

Harry explained to his mother what had happened when he went up to the tower. She wasn't surprised at that fact there was a party and was relieved that Harry had his house's support. But she didn't know about the others, more particularly, Hufflepuff. But Ron's reaction was what surprised her. If things hadn't improved in a few weeks, she was going to talk to him herself or owl Molly.

"I don't want to participate in this tournament. I was practically the only one happy with the age line. I didn't want this."

"I know," Lily whispered, as she rubbed her son's back. "But we're going to find a way around the no help rule. Your Dad has a knack for finding loopholes in contracts and rules. As a matter of fact, he's coming in the morning to talk to Mr. Bagman and Mr. Couch. He's also going to have a look at the rule book."

"Okay."

"Harry, I want you to promise me something."

"What?" Harry asked.

"During this tournament, don't concentrate on winning. Concentrate on surviving. Can you do that for me?"

"I promise," Harry told her.

Lily wrapped an arm around Harry and pulled him close to her. She hugged him tightly and was relieved when Harry laid his head against her shoulder.

"Mum?"

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"I'm scared."

Those words nearly broke Lily's heart in two. She felt helpless and wished there was something she could do. But the only thing Lily could do was to sit back and watch her son compete in a competition he was too young to enter.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next morning, Lily and James sat the table with a cup of tea in their hand. They were discussing the information James had found about the tournament so far.

"James, what are we going to do? Harry is a fourteen-year-old boy. The others are three years older than him. He's not ready for this."

"I know Lily," James soothed. "Professor Dumbledore said he would provide Harry with as much help as he can. But I doubt it."

"You know what he told me last night?" Lily asked. James shook his head. "He said he's scared. People die in this tournament, do I need to remind you of that!" By the end, Lily was nearly hysterical.

"I know, Lil. We'll help him"

"Of course, we will."

James got up from the table to refill his cup with tea. He didn't know what to think about his son being forced to participate in a tournament in which he didn't enter. The idea that someone would be trying to hurt his son, made his protective instincts come out to play. If one of them were worse in being protective of Harry, though, it was Lily.

It was amazing to James that she was acting calm about this. But he knew, this was the calm before the storm. They hadn't even had the first task yet. Plenty of time for Lily to lose it.

"I got Sirius looking over the rulebook to see if I missed anything," James said.

Lily sighed. "Good." If anyone would find a loophole, it would be Sirius.

They sat in silence until Lily noticed the time. Breakfast would have started.

The sound of shuffling feet brought their son to their attention.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

When Harry woke up, it took him a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and worried. Last night, his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Last night, he had been celebrated like a hero that he knew he wasn't. Last night, he fought with Ron.

He didn't feel like dealing with the rest of the school today. He would have liked to talk to Ron, but he would have to deal with other students, including those who would call him a cheater.

Deciding that he would rather stay in the cocoon of his mother's private quarters, Harry decided to pretend to be sick. He had only faked sick a few times in his life and all of them were to get out of something involving his cousin and his evil friends. He decided to use his go-to for when he wanted to get out of something, and pretended to have a stomach ache.

Getting up from his bed, he quietly walked towards the wooden door, the cold stone floor chilly to his bare feet. He had reached out a hand to open the door when he heard a man's voice. A familiar man's voice.

"What's Dad doing here?" he thought. He remembered that his mother said that James was going to look over the rulebook and see if there was anything helpful and hopefully he'll find a loophole.

Wrapping his free arm around his stomach, he opened his door and shuffled down the hall towards the kitchen and sitting room, adding his other arm around his waist.

"Mum, I don't feel very good," Harry said, weakly.

Lily got up from her chair and walked over to her son. She placed her palm on his forehead and then the back of her hand on his cheek.

"You're not running a fever, but you do feel warm. What's wrong, sweetheart?" she inquired.

"My stomach hurts," Harry replied using his whiney sick voice, wrapping his arms around his middle.

"Is he sick?" James asked, coming up behind his wife.

"He said his stomach hurts, but he's not running a fever," Lily replied.

"Maybe it's something he ate last night," James suggested.

"Maybe," Lily repeated. "Come on." She turned her son around, leading him to his room. Harry was still clutching his stomach, but he began to hunch over as he walked back to his bedroom. "Let's get you to bed."

James followed his wife and son back to the room that was Harry's and stood at the door, watching Lily tuck Harry back into bed.

"I'm going to get you a stomach soother, I'll be right back." Lily got up and motioned to James with her hand to follow her. He obeyed, following her to the bathroom.

"Do you really think he's sick?" James asked, quietly.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to keep him here for the day," Lily replied.

"Are you sure?" James inquired.

"Yes."

Taking a stomach soother, Lily walked back into the bedroom and helped Harry to sit up to take the potion.

"Here, sweetie. This will help your stomach."

Harry swallowed the potion quickly, not wanting it to linger on his tongue.

Once he finished, he laid back down in his bed. "Thanks, Mum."

"You're welcome." Lily got up and headed to the kitchen to wash out the vial.

James approached Harry's bed and whispered, "I'll check on you later, son. I hope you feel better."

"Thanks, Dad." Harry felt James rub his back briefly before leaving the room, bringing the door to a crack.

Harry sat up for a moment and then he smiled. He couldn't believe it. He had fooled his parents into thinking he was sick. He decided to sleep to catch up on what he didn't get last night.

In the kitchen, Lily turned to James when he entered and said, "Do you think he's faking?"

"No," James answered.

"Alright."

Lily did think for a moment that Harry was faking, but she decided she would let it go. She had other things to worry about, such as, how her son was going to make thought the tournament alive.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry didn't return to class until Tuesday morning. He didn't want to face the school, both those who celebrated his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire and those who weren't. He had managed to pull off another stomach ache, this time, telling his mother that something he had eaten at the Halloween feast didn't agree with his stomach, but couldn't remember what it was. He had even pretended to be suffering from stomach cramps.

The only reason why he was attending class today was he had managed to prove to Lily that he was able to be in a standing position and it not hurt his stomach.

He went to the kitchens for breakfast, wanting to avoid the Great Hall. Only he had forgotten to share this piece of information with Lily, who had found him before he headed to History of Magic. She scolded him for not telling her and then they both headed off in different directions.

"How are you doing Harry?" Professor Williams asked when Harry entered the classroom, the first to arrive.

"I'm doing okay," Harry replied, quietly but the professor had heard him. Choosing to sit in his usual place in the center of the room, Harry sat down at the desk that he, Hermione, and Ron usually sat at. He had collected his rucksack that morning and had left before Ron had got up.

Class began and was over so fast that Harry didn't notice. He just wanted things to return to normal before his name came out of the Goblet of Fire.

Hermione, Ginny, George, Fred, and Neville were among the handful of friends who believed him when he said that he didn't put his name in the cup.

He spent a lot of time in Lily's quarters, even sleeping there as he didn't want to deal with Ron.

The next few days were some of Harry's worst at Hogwarts. The closest he had ever come to feeling like this had been during those months, in his second year, when a large part of the school had suspected him of attacking his fellow students. But the difference was that Ron had been on his side then. He thought he could have coped with the rest of the school's behavior if he could just have had Ron back as a friend, but he wasn't going to try and persuade Ron to talk to him if Ron didn't want to. Lily had talked to him, but it didn't work and even though Harry knew she was trying to make things better, it made things worse. Nevertheless, it was lonely with dislike pouring in on him from all sides, with only his friends and housemates to talk to.

Lily didn't complain about Harry spending all his time in her quarters. She enjoyed it, as it gave her a chance to spend time with her son.

She just wished that it would all blow over after the first task.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Lily approached the room in which they were doing the Weighing of the Wands. She had entered just as they were doing a group photo. She had just entered the room when she heard a female voice asked.

"I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start. An interview? The youngest champion, you know to add a bit of color?"

"Certainly!" Bagman exclaimed. "That is if Harry has no objection?"

"Um….." Harry trailed off.

"Lovely," Rita Skeeter said, and in a second, her long fingers had Harry's upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip.

Lily marched over to the woman and Bagman and said, "Excuse me, but my son is underage and therefore as his mother, I need to be present."

"Of course," Rita said.

"And I would ask that you kindly unhand my son," Lily requested, pleasantly.

Rita released her grip and led the three of them to another room. Harry looked at his mother and mouthed "Thanks, Mum."

The interview smoothly because Lily was there. She had even asked to read over the article before she published it and Rita just smiled and agreed.

Dumbledore came and got them for the weighing of the wands. Ollivander began with Fleur.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches... inflexible... rosewood... and containing...dear me..."

"A hair from the head of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmothers."

"That explains a lot," Harry whispered. Lily covered his mouth, hissing at him to hush.

He quickly went through Cedric and Viktor's wands and then soon he was at Harry's

Ollivander spent much longer examining Harry's wand than anyone else's. Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end…"

Harry didn't catch the rest of it, as he gathered his things. The other champions left and Harry headed to the Great Hall.

"Harry, a word," Lily called.

Harry nodded and followed his mother to an empty classroom. She closed the door and slipped out a piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to Harry. It was the information for Harry's detention with Professor Snape tomorrow night.

"Explain," Lily demanded.

Harry told her everything. The buttons, the hexes, Hermione's teeth, Snape's injustice, and how it had upset Hermione.

"Okay, you'll serve the detention without complaint and I'll talk to Professor Dumbledore about Professor Snape's treatment of Hermione."

Harry inwardly sighed in relief, figuring she would be mad.

"I'm letting this slide this time. I get a note like this again this term, you will be grounded to my quarters for the weekend. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he verbalized.

"Alright, now we're going to eat in my quarters tonight."

Harry followed Lily down to the hospital wing corridor and to her personal quarters. Things had to up from here right?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thanks to Lily's intervention and James's threat to sue the paper, the Daily Prophet printed a nice article outlining each champion, giving details of each one, as well as the schools they belonged to. Everyone was happy with how it turned out. But the adults knew why.

Hermione asked Harry how he was fairing during their study hall times with Neville. Ron still wasn't talking to Harry and Hermione knew that Ron would come to his senses soon. Harry shared with Hermione some things she didn't know that occurred after the Goblet of Fire. Even what happened the first two days.

"And you got away with it?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. I've been faking stomach aches for years. I just have to pinch my face in a pained expression and clutch my stomach. If I talk, I sound whiny or cranky."

"And that works?" Hermione more shocked than surprised.

"Yeah, never fails."

"How did you manage two days?" she inquired.

"I told Mum that something I ate at the feast didn't agree with me and then to make it more believable, I pretended to be suffering from stomach cramps."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "And Lily believes you?"

"Yeah, works every time." Harry smiled.

They worked together on their homework, quietly. Hermione knew that with the added stress of the Tournament, Harry would be struggling to keep up.

When the bell rang, signaling the beginning of dinner, Hermione packed up her things and Harry collected his papers and they headed off to the Great Hall.

Neville sat with them, after assuring Harry he believed him. Dinner was a somber affair, only making small talk about what happened that day.

George, Fred, and Ginny joined them, adding their support. In the little interaction between Harry and Ginny, Hermione noticed something there. Something that wasn't there before. Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit her.

Harry was beginning to fall in love with Ginny. She smiled, thinking of the two getting together sometime in the year.

She hoped that things got better for her best friend.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

James walked along the main drag in Hogsmeade. It was the first visit to the village of the year for the students and one that he had signed up to patrol or had been signed up to patrol. He slipped in the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer, needing something to wake himself up.

He stood off the side as the first students appeared. He waited, what seemed like, an eternity until Harry came. He was alone, which concerned James. Lily had told him about how Harry had been shunned by almost the whole school. A handful of people were talking to him and he had stayed in her quarters since the night his name came out of the Goblet of fire.

He watched quietly as Harry walked around for a minute before seeing him. He waved at his son. Then he walked towards him.

"Hey Dad," Harry said.

"Hi. Son. How's it going?"

That seemed to be the wrong question to ask. James then slammed with information, everything from the buttons, the taunting, how he slept in Lily's quarters and how Ron was still not talking to him. James didn't have a chance to process it all before Harry unleashed more.

Luckily James cased a silencing charm and nodded to a fellow Auror across the way, singling to him that he needed a moment with his son.

"Things will get better, once the first task is behind us," James assured his son. "Speaking of which, Hagrid wanted me to tell you that he wants to meet with you tonight and you're to bring the cloak."

Harry looked up at his Dad questioningly. James leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"I will be there under a Disillusionment charm and I will be right there with you."

Trusting his father, Harry nodded.

"What time do I need to be at Hagrid's?"

James canceled the silencing charm after whispering to Harry the time. He looked around and asked, "Where's Hermione?"

"With Ron," Harry replied.

"Oh." Putting his arm around his son, he steered him towards the Three Broomsticks. "What do you say about treating your Old Man to a Butterbeer?"

"I would say too bad because you haven't given me money, yet," Harry replied, holding out his hand. James discreetly dropped the money bag into Harry's palm. "Now I'll say yes, I'll buy us some Butterbeers."

The only reason why everyone didn't bother Harry about having his Dad around was that they were reminded that Harry was last school year's dueling champion in the competition that Remus had set up. James beamed with pride as he watched his son in the competition. Harry was a hex first and ask questions later type of dueler and those who were in Gryffindor were quick to warn others that Harry had inherited, of all things in James and Sirius's opinion, Lily's temper.

Hermione had given fair warning to a group of Ravenclaws when they were mocking Harry. They ended up tied to armor for their mocking.

The only reason why Harry didn't get into trouble was because Professor Dumbledore realized what Harry had to deal with and he announced at dinner that night that they were enforcing a ban of taunting and teasing for any of the champions, but everyone knew he was referring to Harry.

Lily, on the other hand, wasn't impressed and the following Saturday found Harry helping her cleaning in the Hospital Wing.

James used the rare opportunity to talk with his son. He feared their relationship would change when Harry became a teenager, but he was wrong. It remained the same, only getting stronger.

Unbeknownst to James and Harry, they were being watched by a redheaded woman. Lily smiled as she watched her two favorite men walk and joke with each other on the way to the Three Broomsticks.

She knew that this moment would the only calm Harry would have before the first task.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Lily looked up at the sound of the portrait door opening. She jumped up when she noticed that Harry was pale and shaking.

She knew that James had snuck Harry down into the forest where the dragons were being kept until the first task, which with a jolt, Lily realized it was on Tuesday. She saw Hagrid and James talking earlier in the week and again that morning. It was when they returned to her quarters to talk in private and James to collect his coat to head down to the village to patrol when he told her what Hagrid said.

Standing up quickly, she approached her son before he fell over.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Dragons. The first task is dragons," James explained.

Lily felt faint and sat down on the couch beside her son. James explained what happened that evening, making Lily feel all the fainter and Harry paled even more.

"Okay, I'm not scared now. I'm absolutely terrified," Harry deadpanned.

"We'll figure out something, Harry. We'll figure something out."

"What am I going to do? How can I get passed a dragon?

James and Lily shared a look over Harry's head. They needed to make a plan and make one soon.

"Let's figure out something in the morning. Right now, it's late and you need to sleep," Lily said.

"How can I sleep with this on my mind?" Harry asked.

"Come on." Lily got up and pulled Harry up, only stopping long enough for Harry to tell James good night and led him to his room. "Go and get a shower, when you come back leave the shirt off."

Harry nodded, sighing, knowing what Lily was going to do. She waited when Harry slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower and change into his pajamas. She stood beside the bed when he come into his room and tucked him in, sitting down beside him.

"Lie on your stomach, sweetheart," she directed. Harry obeyed her and soon he was asleep under her relaxing hands. She kissed his cheek and then returned to the sitting room.

"He's asleep," she whispered.

"Lily, would you happen to know how well Harry has done with the summoning charm?" He inquired.

"Yes, I do actually. According to Professor Flitwick, he's more than mastered it. He summoned a book my library and it hit me in the head. He apologized profusely and then this morning I received a bag of chocolate truffles in the owl mail. I didn't need to know who bought it. I ruffled Harry's hair when I passed the table and then later I told him he didn't need to but it was appreciated." She paused for a sip of her tea she was drinking, after zapping it with a warming charm. "Why?"

James smiled and said, "Well, let's just say that I have an idea."

"He's only allowed a wand," Lily reminded him.

"I know."

To Be Continued.

AN: The first task will follow as well as how Harry and his family handles it.