Lily, Iris, James, and Albus went to the Burrow the next day since Harry and Ginny had to work. Harry was tracking down a lead on a known death eater that had escaped justice after the war, and Ginny had a Quidditch match to cover. Hugo and Rose were there, as was Molly and Lucy. Iris always felt out of place with this big family, but they had welcomed her with open arms at Hogwarts.

Lily said, "Hey guys."

Hugo looked up and smiled. They had interacted in the two weeks that Lily and James had come back from Ilvermorny.

James, Albus, and Hugo took off on brooms to fly around the orchard. Molly, Lucy, Iris, and Lily went to the garden. Molly was turning 17 in the fall and was going into her seventh year at Hogwarts.

Molly said sitting down on a bench, "So, spill, Lily. What's it like at Ilvermorny?"

Lily said, "Its great. We're sorted into our houses, but we don't all sleep in the same area like at Hogwarts. They have the boys and girls separated in different buildings. The girls have their own set of buildings, and the boys have their own. You get two roommates, and they may not even be in the same year as you. In fact, I had a seventh year and a fourth-year roommate last year. We have 8 periods in a day and take non-magical studies also along with non-magical sports. They have musical education, too."

Molly and Lucy both whistled.

"Lily! You have a floo-call!"

Lily wondered who would be floo calling her. She ran into the house and saw her father's head sticking out of the fireplace. Lily said, "Father, is everything alright?"

Harry said, "I need you to come through. Its about what happened at the end of the school year."

Lily nodded. She stepped into the fireplace and called out her father's office address. In the room was Aunt Hermione, and another man who was wearing a business suit.

Harry said, "Lily, this is Mr. Cuttle from the MACUSA prosecutor's office in Boston."

Lily said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cuttle."

Mr. Cuttle said, "I wish it was under better circumstances, Ms. Potter."

Lily shook his hand and turned to her father. After sitting down in the chair that he motioned to, she said, "I presume this is about Mr. Thompson?"

Mr. Cuttle said, "Yes, Ms. Potter. I need to know what your interactions were with him if any at all."

Lily told him about receiving the note at the beginning of the school year, but since she was knew to Ilvermorny and how it was run, Lily had run it by her friend and cousin, Renee Murphy who told her to take it to Mrs. Cutter, who was her dorm mother.

Mr. Cuttle said, "So, other than the note, you had no interaction with Mr. Thompson?"

Lily replied, "No sir. He was a third-year teacher and I was just a first year. I was coming out of Mrs. Cutter's office at the end of the year when I found Yolanda coming out of his office in tears. Yolanda was a fellow first year that was in a few of my classes. I knew she shouldn't have been in his office, so I pulled her into Mrs. Cutter's office."

Mr. Cuttle said, "I know about that from Mrs. Cutter. So, this may come as a shock to you, but the man you know as Mr. Thompson is not the man, Carl Thompson, but was using Polyjuice potion."

Harry stopped him. He said, "She doesn't need to know that, Mr. Cuttle."

Mr. Cuttle said, "Forgive me, Mr. Potter, but your daughter may need to be called to testify."

Aunt Hermione said, "Can't you make a case without her?"

Mr. Cuttle said, "I'm doing my best to, but I would like to have her on standby, just in case. I don't have a trial start date yet. Is there anyone in the United States that can easily get a hold of you or your daughter, Mr. Potter?"

Harry said, "Victor Murphy and his family, and Henry Branton's son, Thomas. Mr. Murphy is a close relation, and Mr. Branton has become close friends with my daughter."

Lily snorted. Harry might as well have said that Thomas was dating her. Were they boyfriend and girlfriend? They had never addressed the issue. She made a mental note to text him about that.

Mr. Cuttle said, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Potter. I'll be back later to talk to you about arrangements for after the trial."

Harry nodded. After Mr. Cuttle left, Harry said, "Lily, I'm going to tell you this, but I do not want you to let anyone know until it comes out. The man you know as Mr. Thompson is a wanted man for questioning here in England. He was known as Blaise Zabini here. We went to school with him. He was in Slytherin. We believe he is a death eater from what Mr. Malfoy has told us, but we can't charge him with anything until we talk to him and examine his arm."

Lily was shocked.

Aunt Hermione said, "You'll be fine. Mr. Murphy will let us know if you are required to go over and be prepared to testify. Mr. Murphy works at the MACUSA in Houston, and he will get it through the system."

Harry nodded.

Lily then flooed back to the Burrow. Everyone looked at her in concern, but James seemed to know. The rumor mill at Ilvermorny had gone into overdrive after Mr. Thompson had been arrested on school property for the sexual assault of a student. Nobody had known who the student was except for Lily and her friends.

Lily waved off their concerns. She was not looking forward to possibly testifying. There should be laws that protect children from that testifying.

That night, Lily called Renee.

Renee said, "Lily! What time is it there?"

Lily said, "Its 10 pm here. I had to call you."

Renee said, "What's the matter? Is Thomas being an arsehole?"

Lily giggled and said, "No. He's still being a gentleman. We text every day. You remember what happened at Ilvermorny at the end of the year right?"

Renee said, "Who could forget? That was quite a scandal. I sure hope that Ilvermorny's reputation will be able to recover. Its all over the news here."

Lily said, "I may be called to testify."

Renee said, "Because of what you seen when she came out of the office?"

Lily said, "That and the note he sent me at the beginning of the year. I mentioned that you helped me avoid having to go to his office. I believe you saved me that day, Renee."

Renee said, "I think I did too after what happened to Yolanda came to light. I've talked to her since we left Ilvermorny and she is seeing a mind healer to get over the trauma. We are getting together next week to hang out. She actually lives in San Antonio."

Lily said, "Thankfully you guys are close by."

Renee said, "So, has Thomas asked you to be his girlfriend yet?"

Lily sighed. She said, "Not yet, but are we boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Renee said laughing, "Lily, you've gone to three dances with him, and hang out with him when you're not with your friends. Also, he gave you a phone on his parents' phone plan. What would you call that?"

Lily said, "I don't know. I must get off before I get in trouble. Mother is very stringent on our bedtimes. Chat later."

Renee said, "Chat later, Lily."

The next day, Lily woke up to a text from Thomas. She smiled as she read it. "Lily, I've done some thinking these past couple of weeks, and I was thinking that we should make it official. I wish I could so do this in person, but the distance between us makes it nearly impossible. Would you be my girlfriend?"

Lily was shocked. Lily went to the bathroom, and then went downstairs to the breakfast room. Her father had insisted on the informal dining room be used except for when they have company. Winky and Kreacher were more than happy to use it as it was closer to the kitchen.

Winky smiled at her as she sat down. Winky said, "What would Mistress like for breakfast today?"

Lily said, "Just a bowl of cereal and some milk, Winky and thank you."

It was rare that Lily was up before her parents, but she was still on that school schedule where she would get up at 630 am, and have breakfast, and then head to her first class.

Harry soon came in and raised an eyebrow at her. Ginny was right behind him.

Ginny said, "Lily, you're up early."

Lily said, "I can't seem to sleep past my normal time, even during the holidays. I guess it's a good thing. I get up at school at 630, do my morning routine, and then head to the dining hall for breakfast before class. I'm kind of working on my schedule for the summer like that, that way classes won't be an issue again come fall. Plus, when I get to the Murphy's in August, I want to start helping out around the ranch."

Harry nodded. He said, "Mr. Moon has a horse for you here so when you are ready, he can work with you to get used to riding a horse. He said its perfect for a beginner."

Lily smiled her thanks. Harry soon left after eating a quick breakfast. Lily turned to her mother and said, "Mother, I woke up to a text from Thomas this morning."

Ginny said, "Oh? I didn't think that was out of the norm for you two."

Lily said, "Well, this one was kind of special. He asked me to be his girl."

Ginny said, "Oh that is special. I thought you guys were already girlfriend and boyfriend honestly."

Lily blushed. She said, "I guess not officially. He's sweet and a complete gentleman, mother. How did I get so lucky?"

Ginny said, "I do not know, Lily. However, do not rush things. Take it slow. I do believe however, that we are going to have shopping soon. You are starting to fill out."

Lily looked down at her chest. She had noticed that she was starting to get those attributes. She had started her monthlies in March and the school mediwitch had helped her out with her first package and showing her how to do certain things with the package. Lily had thanked her profusely.

Ginny pecked her daughter on the cheek and went to her office. She was working from home today, so she didn't have to head into the office and the kids didn't have to head to the Burrow.

Lily went to the library to look up some research on charms that might help her with the assignment which really was a summer research assignment. Research a charm, and write a paper on its origins, the inventor (if known), and how it can be used in modern society. The paper was three pages in length, typed, but since Lily didn't have access to a computer here, she had to write out all her homework, and then when she got close to a computer, she would type out the assignments.

Lily sighed. She wondered if she could go to Iris' house for the purpose. She knew that the Dursley household had a computer. She had no idea how much paper would be required to make three pages of typed.

Lily went over to the catalogue and said, "The Patronus Charm."

She had been fascinated by the Patronus charm since her father had told them about it in one of his stories about his Hogwarts years. He had been the youngest person known to be able to cast a full corporeal patronus at the age of 13. She called for the three books that appeared on the catalogue and took them to a desk.

As she was upstairs gathering her charms notebook and planner, Iris came out of her room. She said, "What are you doing?"

Lily said, "Getting ready to start my homework. I've finally decided on the paper I want to write for my Charms class."

Iris said, "Oh? You have to write a paper?"

Lily said, "It isn't much. Just three pages. Each class magical class that I've had this year has asked us to research something related to the class within course work for the seven years at Ilvermorny and write a three-page paper. Well actually its supposed to be typed, but I have to write mine out until I get back to the United States to a computer."

Iris said, "Or you can ask Father if you can come over like once a week, and work on them then."

Lily said, "I might do that. What are your plans for the day?"

Iris shrugged. She said, "They didn't give us much homework, which I'm kind of disappointed in."

Lily said, "I can loan you a few of my textbooks and you can read them. Also, if you want, you can help me with my research."

Iris perked up at that. She loved research. Iris went to the informal dining room and ate breakfast and was soon in the library and the two girls were engrossed in their work.

Iris said, "This is a pretty interesting charm that you are researching, Lily."

Lily said, "I know right. Father's patronus is a stag. He showed it to us. I might include that in my paper on what different types of patroni that are out there. I know Aunt Hermione's is an otter and Uncle Ron's is a Jack Russell terrier. Then there was Headmaster Dumbledore's which was a phoenix."

Iris said, "Apparently you can have anything as a patronus."

Lily nodded. She was thankful for Iris's help as the three books that she had gotten off the shelves, was full of information.

Iris said, "What kind of information do you want or need for your paper."

Lily took out the assignment paper and showed it Iris. Iris nodded and started reading, making notes on her paper that Lily gave her as she found something that she thought might be useful.

James and Albus soon came down about midmorning. They stared at the two girls before going to get breakfast.

Lily sat back as she finished the second book. Iris had finished and was going through the notes. She said, "Thank you, Iris. I think I should have enough to write the paper."

Iris smiled. She handed her notes to Lily and stood up. She said, "How long do you think it'll take you to write the paper?"

Lily said, "I don't know. I need to map out my outline, and what I'm going to say before I start writing it."

Iris nodded.

The rest of the day was spent having fun.

That evening, Lily had a chance to look at her phone. There was a text from Thomas. "Lily, I hope you are enjoying your day. I understand that you may not be able to answer right away as you are spending time with your family. Can't wait to talk to you."

Lily smiled. She texted back, "Thomas, I'm sorry I haven't texted back. I spent my morning on research for my Charms paper, and then spent the afternoon playing with my brothers and cousin, Iris who is staying with us until Monday. Of course, I will be your girlfriend. I couldn't be happier that you have asked me. My mother already thought we were a couple and so did Renee. Lol. Hugs."

After supper that night, Harry pulled Lily into his office. He said, "I've been thinking Lily. If something were to happen to you or James while you were at school, they wouldn't be able to get a hold of us right away. I was thinking of asking one of the Murphy's to take over school guardianship over there for you two so that if there are any problems, it can be rectified right away."

Lily said, "I don't see why not, father. It's an excellent idea."

Harry nodded.