Julia soon found herself engulfed by two girls. Lily's hand went to her mouth. These had to be her sisters, Irene, and Wanda. Julia sank to her knees and embraced the two and started crying. The crowd started whispering.

Allen and Victoria were beaming. Glad that they had made the right choice in approaching the Donaldson family about taking Irene and Wanda off their hands.

Julia said standing up and putting her arms around the two, "I thought I would never see you two again."

Wanda said crying too, "I thought so too! I begged mommy and daddy not to do it, but you know how they are."

Irene nodded in agreement. Julia sighed. She turned to Allen and Victoria and gave her thanks.

They were soon back at Franklin Ranch. James and Henry went off to do their own things, and Julia was catching up with her sisters.

Victoria went in search of Lily and found her in her room unpacking. Victoria leaned on the doorway to Lily's room. She said, "I'm glad Renee, Julia, and you were able to get over the spat from Thanksgiving."

Lily said, "I should've realized then that I was just being petty about it. They were one of my first friends I made at Ilvermorny."

Victoria nodded. She said, "I spoke with your father. Your father, mother, and brother are coming on the 23rd and staying until New Year's Day. Albus apparently must be back on the 2nd at Hogwarts. He also said that you can learn some easy stuff over the break. I was thinking having Renee and Julia show you how to brush down the horses and cleaning out the stalls for now."

Lily brightened up at that. She replied, "Thank you!"

Victoria smiled.

The group had decided to take the rest of the day off after getting back to the ranch. Renee came into Lily's room as she was putting her suitcase away. They didn't have much homework over the holidays. The teachers just wanted them to read the next chapter on their syllabus and write a short summary on what they read. Since Julia had music class at the beginning of the year, she was going to have physical education at the end.

Renee said, "Mom told me the news. We get up about 6 to start chores. I can show you where the feed is and such. With twelve horses, I don't see why the three of us won't get them fed and watered quickly."

Lily smiled.

The next morning, Lily was up and dressed by 6 am. She made it to the barn where Julia, Renee, Irene, and Wanda were waiting. Lily raised an eyebrow.

Julia said, "They want to help. Victoria said it was fine as long as they aren't given too much to work."

Renee said, "Okay. Here's what we are going to do. Irene and Wanda, you guys are on water duty. Mom has already told me you know where that is. The rest of us will be feeding the horses."

Irene and Wanda grabbed some buckets and walked to the water pump. Lily followed Renee and Julia to the storage area where the feed is. Renee said, "Now, this barrel hear is for the horses. We give them two scoops each and use these smaller buckets to get the job done. Normally, I carry two buckets to get two horses done at the same time, but since we have more people here, it's not necessary. Grab a bucket, and I'll show you how much is in each scoop."

After feeding and watering the horses, Renee and Julia went up to the loft and started shoveling straw down. When they were done, the horses appeared to be done eating, so they were let out into the pastor to graze. Renee said, "Normally we do this at night, but since we were busy yesterday with getting resettled in, it didn't get done and mom said to do it this morning."

Renee showed her where the wheelbarrows were kept and Julia, Renee, and Lily grabbed one. Renee then handed her a pitchfork. Julia went off on her own to start cleaning out the stalls. Renee had Irene and Wanda put the fresh straw down when the stalls were clean.

It took them about another hour to get everything finished. Lily leaned up against a stall door. She said, "That is what you call a workout."

Renee nodded. She said, "Tomorrow won't be a strenuous in the morning. Emily will be checking the stalls tonight when she comes in to feed them. We will be feeding the chickens and hogs tonight. I also have to clean out the chicken pen today, but I don't think you'll be able to handle that right away, so you won't have to around, Lily."

Lily nodded. They made their way into the house and each took a quick shower before heading to breakfast. After breakfast, Lily and Renee grabbed their schoolbooks and moved to the dining table where they set up to work on their homework.

Renee said, "Have you thought about what classes you want to take next year, Lily?"

Lily said, "Definitely Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Alchemy probably wouldn't hurt along with Care of Magical Creatures. I'm going to go out for the tennis team when tryouts are posted and maybe the quidditch team if we're allowed to be on two sport teams."

Emily came in with her bag then. She said, "I think you are. Not everyone is into sports. They give everyone an equal chance. If you are one sports team thought and someone else isn't, they'll look at them first, kind of thing."

Lily nodded. Since Tennis was in the Spring, she could always go out for a fall sport.

Emily said, "Then there are the school teams. We don't just have house teams. Ilvermorny also has a school team for each non-magical sport and we play other high schools in the area, but the school team only takes the best from each team. Usually you have to be in your fourth year for that."

Lily said, "How come we never heard of this?"
Emily said, "The school teams all go away for the games. They use the excuse that they don't have the facilities to accommodate traditional league play, which we don't really, hence why they take the best."

Lily nodded her understanding.

Julia in the meantime was out in the barn with her sisters helping them get fitted for riding gear. Franklin ranch had a couple of ponies for when the littlest ones came to visit. Irene and Wanda eyes bugged out. They had missed the ponies that morning. They couldn't have ponies at the farm, and always had to have their parents help in getting on the horses if they wanted to go horseback riding.

Julia turned to her sisters and said, "How long have you been here?"

Irene said, "About three days after Thanksgiving. Mr. Murphy wanted it to be a surprise for you."

Julia hugged her sister. She said, "It's the best Christmas surprise I could ever have."

Back at the house, Renee and Lily had made headway in their homework. Lily sat back from her translation homework. Renee had been working on her potion's homework. Renee looked up and said, "What's up?"

Lily said, "I was thinking about continuing French next year, but now I'm not so sure."

Emily said, "The first year is always hard. I took Latin though. Its been very rewarding. You might want to contact Brenda to see what they recommend if you are considering wand crafting as a career. I think she took Latin from third year onwards."

Lily nodded. Lily quickly finished her homework and returned to her room. She picked up her cell phone and called Brenda.

Brenda sounded like she was in the middle of something when she picked up. "Lily, I don't have much time. What's up?"

Lily said, "I'm sorry to have bothered you, but we've begun thinking about our electives for the next year."
Brenda said, "What are you thinking about?"
Lily said, "Alchemy, arithmancy, ancient runes, and care of magical creatures. I'm stuck on the language course. Emily suggested I talk to you."

Brenda said, "If you are really considering wand crafting as a career you have a good representation going on what classes your taking. I would consider taking Latin. Most of our work is done in Latin. Its more powerful that way. What language were you considering?"

Lily said, "French, but Latin is recommended not only for wand lore, also for other careers I'm considering including healing and curse-breaking."

Brenda said, "Yep. When do you have your meeting with Mrs. Cutter?"

Lily said, "In March, but I want to make sure I have my courses picked out beforehand."

Brenda said, "I'll talk to mom and dad. I'll let you know if you need to change anything. I don't think you do. Your pretty much taking the same courses I did. I got to go. We're heading overseas soon for ingredient gathering."

Lily said, "Stay safe."

After they hung up, Lily sat back on her bed. She wasn't really taking that many extra classes. Arithmancy will take over her math class, Alchemy would take over the science class, and since she was thinking about trying out for team sports, she would drop the P.E. course. Now, to just decide if she would need to take the government course. Something to discuss with Mrs. Cutter in March.

Renee and Julia came in then. Julia said, "Mrs. Murphy has given us permission to go to the AstroMall to get Christmas shopping done as long as we stick together. Irene and Wanda are staying here."

Lily said, "Okay."

They took the floo to the AstroMall. Lily had most of her Christmas shopping done already, so she just followed Renee and Julia around as they did their shopping. They made a stop in WWW, but George nor Ron were present, and it was as busy as ever.

They were heading back to the floo when Renee said, "So, you and Timothy."

Lily sighed. They decided to grab some ice cream from the ice cream shop in the food court. After they found a table and sat down, Lily said, "He asked me to the Valentine's Dance."

Julia said, "What did you say?"
Lily said, "I told him I'll think about it. I have yet to give him an answer. After last year with Thomas, I just don't know if I'm ready for that kind of thing again. I liked Thomas that way, but then he had to go and mess it up by being controlling. I just don't know if I'm ready to…you know…"

Renee laughed. She said, "Yes. I understand. Despite only holding hands and going to three dances together, people had to be blind not to see that you were getting emotionally invested in him. Just tell Timothy that you aren't interested in that sort of thing right now. Timothy is a good buy, but so we thought was Thomas. Do you even plan on going to the dance?"

Lily said, "I know I bought a dress for a dance like this dance, but I feel like the Valentine's dance is more for couples than not. I may just take the night off and sit in my room and read."

Renee nodded. She had gotten an invitation from another boy in third year and had accepted.

Christmas was rapidly approaching. The house was going to be full. Albus was going to be rooming with James.

On December 23, Lily accompanied Allen to outside the portkey area at the MACUSA office in Houston. Her parents were coming directly here from Britain, which had surprised Lily, but according to Allen, there were customs at every MACUSA office in the states.

At exactly noon, her parents and Albus came out of the portkey area. Lily ran to her parents and hugged them.

Father said, "Okay, Lily, you need to stop growing."

Lily blushed. She had grown two more inches since the beginning of the school year. Thank god for lengthening charms on clothes and robes, but she had a feeling that by summertime she was going to need a whole new wardrobe. Lengthening charms only went so far.

Her mother eyed her and said, "You are growing into a beautiful young lady. Let's get to the ranch."

Allen nodded. Albus hugged his sister as they went to the floo and were soon at Franklin ranch. Her parents and Albus were introduced to Julia, Irene, and Wanda. Father was glad that Allen and Victoria had been able to take the latter two in before their magic had been bound.

Christmas was a noisy affair between the house being full, unwrapping of presents and the kids getting to know the three new family members.

The magical computers went over well with mother and father. Albus said, "I remember you mentioning these during the summer. I look forward to it. Too bad, I won't be able to take it to Hogwarts."

Father said, "Actually, there is going to be a computer club at Hogwarts for those interested in learning how to operate them starting in the New Year. You can take yours with you. I think they are even going to allow those who are learning how to use their computers to type up their homework instead. I would love to know how they figure out how many feet of parchment would equal a typed page. I'm going to leave mine at home for the time being to get used to it. Might have Dudley come over a few times to show me how."

Mother agreed. She said, "It'll help with my article writing."

Lily had received various items from candy from her friends, clothing from the Murphy's, and her parents gave her a new wand holster. Albus and James got together to get her some books to add to her ever-expanding library on wand lore.

Once everything was settling down, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The kids were off playing with their new toys or reading. The adults took the quiet time to discuss the day and the children's reaction to their gifts. Then it turned to how noisy the day was.

Father said, "I'm glad I didn't bring the Weasley family. This would've been an utter nightmare."

Victor laughed. Mother smirked but hit father upside the head. Allen said, "Bring them in the summertime. If we must, we can erect tents in the yard and the kids can camp out while us adults are in the house."

Mother said, "I think the family would like that. We'll see what we can do. I doubt we'll be able to bring everyone with them all working different jobs."

Allen said, "I understand."

Lily sat her parents down on Boxing day. She said, "I wanted to talk to you in private, and this is the first chance we have had."

Mother said, "What's going on Lily?"

Lily said, "I've been asked to the Valentine's Dance by a fellow second year. He's good looking. Dark hair, and hazel eyes. However, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that again."

Father leaned back. He said, "Lily, just tell him you're not interested at this time. I'm sure he'll understand."

Lily nodded.

The rest of the holiday break went by quickly. Lily quickly learned how to handle the barns and feeding the animals. Allen and Victoria were glad that she had picked up so quickly. The Murphy's worked with Mother, Father and Albus to try to help them learn how to work the computers. Father went and bought three cell phones and was shown how to work those.

Mother, father, and Albus left on January 1st to go back to England. They hugged Lily and James, then welcomed Julia, Irene, and Wanda into the family. It had been decided between the three of them that they wanted to be adopted into the Murphy family in blood and magic. Victor and Allen were working on getting that approved by MACUSA and getting everything ready. Hopefully come summertime they would have permission to perform the adoption.

The rest of the kids: Lily, James, Julia, Renee, Henry, and Emily returned to Ilvermorny on January 3rd.