A/N: Warning: Minor Character death.

The rest of June passed without incident. On July 1, Lily and James got their Ilvermorny letters. They were required to be on the train on August 15th for the start of the new school year. James' letter included his OWL results. He got 7 OWLs and he was approved in all courses that he could take and there was a couple of additional courses he could choose from if he so wished. He just had to mark his course selections and it would be sent to Mrs. Allen so she can adjust his schedule before the end of summer. James signed up for all his OWL classes and then signed up for a course in business that was only offered to 6th and 7th years and he signed up for a course in Latin.

Lily smiled as she looked at her book list. It was extensive. She had to get volume 2 for charms, a French language book, her general studies books were included this year in her booklist, along with several other books.

Her father said, "That is quite the list, Lily and James. Do you guys really use all these books?"

Lily said, "Yep. In English Lit, we read several books a year. This is those books for this year. We will get our syllabus on the first day of classes, so we know which books we need and when. The books that I have are mostly for the general educational courses that I'm having to take. Next year, if I take Arithmancy, that'll replace my math course, Alchemy will replace the sciences, Writing will be dropped, and I'll have the option to drop Government, which I'm not sure if I'll do that. I get to talk to my dorm mother at towards the end of the year about what elective courses I want to take, and she'll help me decide."

Harry said, "That makes sense."

The next day, Lily got the dreaded call. She was required to be in attendance in Boston the following week be on hand in case she was needed to testify. Harry said, "Go ahead and pack your trunk. I'll arrange with Mr. Murphy to keep you the rest of the month, considering we do not know how long you will be needed over there."

Lily nodded and went up to her room. Gertrude was already there and putting things on her bed that she thought she would need.

Gertrude said, "I be not liking this, Ms. Lily."

Lily sat down on her bed and said, "I know, Gertrude, but I don't know what else to do. I can't ignore a summons."

Gertrude nodded. Lily packed up her homework. She had gotten her Charms homework done and was working on her potions paper. Her trunk was packed and was ready to go by Friday which was when they were taking the portkey to the Murphy Ranch in Houston where they would be staying until Monday, and then they would be getting a hotel in Boston until the trial was over.

Her father would be going with her as a security escort and they wanted to see what might come out in the trial that might help their case in England. Harry and Mr. Cuttle had come to an agreement that upon the finalization of the trial, Mr. Zabini would be extradited back to England to be questioned and possibly tried for any crimes he committed if he was a Death Eater. Her brothers and mother were staying in England as there was no point in them going.

Ginny hugged her and said, "You be careful, okay? We'll see you again at the end of the month for your father's 40th birthday if you can come home. I sure hope that the trial doesn't take that long, but I know it can in the United States."

Lily returned her mother's hug. She turned to Iris. Dudley and Nancy had denied Iris' request to transfer to Ilvermorny. They wanted her closer to them should something happen to her or them.

Iris said, "I was hoping to help with your homework more."

Lily laughed. She said, "I thank you for your help that you were able to give me. Remember though, you don't have to learn just through your schoolbooks. You're at Potter Manor a lot, read the books in the library. Read some of the other textbooks that might be there. Find out what you like. You can even research what careers that you might be interested in and what you have to take to get into those fields."

Iris' eyes lit up at that. She nodded.

"Lily, its time to go."

Lily bid everyone her good-byes. At the portkey area in the ministry they were given a hula hoop and a minute later were whisked away to the arrival area in New York City.

"Two incoming from England."

They went through the same protocols that were in place the year before. Harry took her to a nearby apparition point and held to her tight and they apparated to Franklin Ranch.

Renee, Emily, and Victoria were there waiting. Allen was at work unfortunately, so could not be greeting them. Renee hugged Lily and pulled her in the direction of her room. Harry laughed.

He said, "Can't even get a moments of peace."

Victoria smiled. She said, "I wish it was more of a vacation for you guys and that the rest of your family could come."

Harry said, "I know. I do have something that I would like to talk to you and Allen tonight after dinner. It concerns James and Lily while they are at school."

Victoria nodded.

Renee showed Lily the room that she would be staying in. She then helped her unpack.

Renee said, "What did you do your Charms essay on?"

Lily said, "The patronus charm. I have all the spells I want to research picked out. I'm going to miss having access to Potter Manor as it has a slew of books. Not to mention having my research assistant, Iris. She was such a blessing."

Renee said, "Well, you have access here to the internet and a computer. Mother went and bought a laptop and printer for your room so that you can get your papers written up. She did it as soon as you said you didn't have access to a computer in England."

Lily nodded. Lily set up her work area with her books.

Renee said, "So, you and Thomas?"

Lily blushed. She said, "We've been texting every other day. I'm sure now that I'm in the United States, we might see more of each other especially when I'm in Boston since that is where he lives, but with the floo network, I'm sure that distance doesn't matter."

Renee shook her head.

On Monday morning, Lily, Harry, Renee and Emily (they both too had been summoned), and Victoria took the floo to the court in Boston. Everyone but Harry had to check in their wands and they would be given them at the end of each day when they left.

Near the courtroom, they ran into Mr. Cuttle. He said, "Oh good. Everyone is here. Unfortunately, the children will not be allowed into the courtroom until they testify and then they will be required to leave due to the nature of the crime committed. I would prefer Mrs. Murphy to stay with the children, and Mr. Potter, there is a spot reserved for you in the VIP section."

Harry nodded.

In the courtroom, Harry quickly found his seat. He immediately recognized Blaise. He had not aged well in the 21 years since the end of the war. There was a woman and two children in the gallery also. Harry's gut wrenched when he noticed that they were sitting in the family of the defendant section.

"Order in the court! Case of State of Massachusetts versus Blaise Zabini formally known as Carl Thompson is brought to session! The honorable Melinda Strayer presiding."

Melinda said, "Is everyone ready to proceed today?"

The defense attorney said, "I must object to Mr. Potter's presence in the courtroom, your honor."

Melinda said, "We've been over this already Mr. Reinke. Mr. Potter is here on behalf of the Ministry of Magic in London who is interested in your client and any involvement he may have with the man who formerly known as Lord Voldemort also known as Tom Riddle. He will stay in this courtroom. Mr. Cuttle, are you able to proceed with opening statements?"

Mr. Cuttle nodded. Mr. Reinke sighed. He leaned into talk to Blaise as Mr. Cuttle started his opening statements.

What shocked Harry was the first witness to be called. "I call Lily Potter to the stand."

A murmur went through the crowd as the courtroom doors opened and Lily walked into the room in her dress that she had chosen to wear to court that day. She took her oath and sat in the witness stand.

Mr. Cuttle said, "Thank you for coming today, Ms. Potter. I'm sorry to have interrupted your summer with your family."

Lily shrugged her shoulders and said, "I kind of expected it after what happened."

Mr. Cuttle said, "How do you know Mr. Zabini?"

Lily said, "Personally I do not know him. I did not have classes with the man as I was a first-year at Ilvermorny."

Mr. Cuttle said, "Shortly after arriving at Ilvermorny, you received a note from Mr. Zabini inviting you to attend a meeting with him?"

Lily said, "Yes. He claimed to be my head of house. I'm in Horned Serpent, Mr. Cuttle. I showed the note to my friend, Renee Murphy who told me I should not be having meetings with a male member of the staff. Together we reported it to my dorm mother, Mrs. Cutter."

Mr. Cuttle said, "Would you elaborate what you mean by dorm mother, Ms. Potter? Not everyone in this room attended Ilvermorny."

Lily said, "A dorm parent, male for the boys and female for the boys, are assigned to each dorm building which is assigned according to gender. Since I am a female, I had a female dorm parent. Mrs. Cutter was mine as I was housed in building four for the female students."

Mr. Cuttle said, "After taking the note to Mrs. Cutter, what did she say?"

Lily said, "That I did not have to attend this meeting with Mr. Zabini who I knew as Mr. Thompson. She gave Renee and me a tardy note for our first classes and excused us. She did say that she would talk to Mr. Zabini and Mrs. Allen concerning the note."

Mr. Cuttle shuffled his notes. He said, "Tell me what you witnessed at the end of the year."

Lily said, "I had been called into Mrs. Cutter's office to talk about how Ilvermorny was going and what would happen this coming school year with my courses. As I was leaving, I saw Yolanda coming out of Mr. Zabini's office crying. I also observed that her shirt was not on like it was normally. It threw up red flags for me, so I grabbed her and pulled her into Mrs. Cutter's office."

Mr. Cuttle said, "Before that day, did you interact with Ms. Sampson?"

Lily said, "Only in class. She was a quiet shy girl."

Mr. Cuttle said, "Thank you, Ms. Potter. No further questions."

Judge Strayer said, "Your witness, Mr. Reinke."

Mr. Reinke stood up and walked away from his desk. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you, Ms. Potter."

Lily said, "I'm made of hard stuff. Look who my father is."

That got a chuckle from the courtroom. Lily looked at her father and saw him barely refraining from laughing.

Mr. Reinke said, "Yes, your father. Were you aware of your father's history with my client?"

Lily said, "Not before his identity was told to me, Mr. Reinke."

Mr. Reinke said, "So you do know that there is some animosity between my client and your father?"

Lily said, "Your client was in Slytherin house and my father was in Gryffindor. At the time, there was always an animosity between the two houses. I hardly think that is relevant to why we are here today."

Someone burst out laughing. Lily recognized her father's laugh. She smiled.

Mr. Cuttle said, "I object to this line of questioning, your honor."

Judge Strayer said, "I do wonder what is going on with your questions, Mr. Reinke."

Mr. Reinke said, "Just trying to establish that she may be biased towards my client, your honor."

Judge Strayer started to say something, but Lily said, "I did not know who your client was actually until the beginning of June, Mr. Reinke. My father has not impacted my testimony. Your client is a predator."

Mr. Reinke said sputtering, "No further questions."

Judge Strayer said, "You may step down, Ms. Potter."

They soon called for a quick break. Harry stepped out into the hallway and said, "Lily…I know I should remand you for what you said in there, but that was bloody hilarious."

Lily smiled. She said, "I'm glad you got a laugh out of it father. It was good to hear you laugh."

Harry hugged her. Lily was escorted back to the room where they had them.

Mr. Cuttle came over to him and said, "Your daughter is something else."

Harry said, "Your telling me. She's always been a passionate child. Standing up for those who can't stand for themselves."

Mr. Cuttle said, "I'm glad this didn't come out, but you might want to warn her and her friends, but yesterday, Ms. Sampson killed herself."

Harry turned towards Mr. Cuttle. He said, "Oh god."

Mr. Cuttle said, "I know. I don't recommend telling them until tonight. I'm going to be calling Renee next. I do not know why Emily was summoned. I know I didn't, but I got a feeling it was as a character witness for Mr. Zabini."

Harry nodded.

That night at the hotel, Harry called them into the commons area of their suite had them sit down. He had already told Victoria the news.

Harry said, "Girls, I wanted to tell you this before it came out in the courtroom cause it will eventually. It concerns Ms. Sampson."

Renee said, "I was surprised that she wasn't in the witness room with us."

Harry said, "There is a reason for that. Ms. Sampson was found dead yesterday."

The girls burst out crying. Renee said, "She seemed to be doing so well."

Victoria said, "That sometimes happens, Renee. They maybe okay on the outside, but on the inside not so much."

Lily said, "How did she die?"

Harry said, "She poisoned herself."

The trial lasted the rest of the week. Emily did not end up being called at all which was a relief to them all. Harry left on Sunday to return to England letting Lily stay over with the Murphy's so she could work on her homework on the computer. Harry made a mental note to talk to Hermione about getting some of the advancements that the United States had in magical devices like computers and cell phones into England. It would benefit a lot of people. Not to mention eliminating the mess of owls all the time.