On the night of Wednesday, October 5th, 1994, as everyone was about to leave the Lily Potter Hall after dinner, two owls soared towards the table where Harry, Colin, Dennis, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Lily always sat for dinner.

One was Harry's Hedwig and the other was Lily's Mario.

Hedwig dropped a note onto Harry's lap and took off again while Mario dropped a note onto Lily's lap and took off again.

As the notes fell onto Harry's and Lily's laps, Harry and Lily were transported to Lily's house where they landed smack dab in the middle of the Moons' living room.

Looking down at his note, Harry saw it was just a typical yellow sticky note but had no writing on it.

"These were portkeys?" Harry asked Lily.

"Yes," explained Lily, "Remus set this up before and told me what was going on but told me not to tell you. He is informing the others right now of what has happened, where we have gone, and when we will return to Hogwarts. You have been brought to my house to meet someone."

"Who?" asked Harry automatically.

Lily turned around and pointed at the Moons' Ashley Furniture sofa.

A woman was sitting on the sofa. She looked very much like an adult Lily. She had that distinctive combination of deeply tanned skin and really light brown hair. She was wearing a daisy yellow dress and matching yellow socks and tennis shoes.

"Harry," said Lily warmly, pointing at the woman on the sofa, "This is my mom, Daisy."

Daisy rose from the sofa and walked towards Harry and Lily.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Moon," said Harry, offering Daisy a handshake with his left hand.

"None of that," said Daisy clearly, shaking Harry's left hand with her left hand, "It's Daisy for you."

"Hi, Daisy, " smiled Harry.

Daisy suddenly engulfed Harry in a super tight hug.

"H-Harry P-Potter, " said Daisy, starting to cry a little, "I-I owe my life to you. "

There were a few minutes and a few nanoseconds of emotional silence.

When Harry and Daisy finally broke apart and the three of them sat down in a row on the sofa, Harry looked Daisy eye to eye and told her, "Daisy, thank you for the blanket you sewed for me. "

"You liked my work?" Daisy asked Harry warmly.

"Very much so, it was a masterpiece. Lily is just as good. I love the sweater she made me for my birthday."

"As I'm sure Lily has expressed to you multiple times, we are both forever grateful to you. Tonight, however, I want to tell you part of my story. I am not ready to get into the details yet, as I have not myself yet fully processed what I went through. But you should know about a few things."

"It's all on your timeline," said Harry firmly, "If you're not ready to disclose what happened to you yet, I understand that, but I will listen to what you do want to tell me."

"So," began Daisy slowly, "After my diagnosis, I had accepted that I was going to die. I'm at peace with the concept of death and do not fear death. But that's only for me in and of myself. The hardest thing I had to do was write to my daughter and inform her of what had happened. At the time, Lily was staying with Sirius, you, Hermione, and Ginny to catch up on Ancient Runes just like you. Mind you, I'm a muggle woman myself and don't understand a lot about the Wizarding World but I trusted Lily when she told me that attending the sessions would be a good opportunity for her. I take it Lily was emotional when she received my letter."

"Very," confirmed Harry, "She didn't tell us it was from you. However, she did tell us that her mom was going to die because her family could not afford a life saving surgery her mom needed."

Daisy nodded.

"There is no worse tragedy than a child losing a parent and although I knew what had happened to me wasn't my fault, I still felt guilty at the prospect of no longer being part of Lily's life. One reason that Lily was as emotional as she was when she read my letter was that I told her in my letter exactly where I wanted my final resting place to be and-"

Daisy started sobbing hard. Both Harry and Lily patted her on the back.

"I can't image what that must have been like to write, " said Harry uncomfortably, "I can't empathize with you because I've never been in that position myself."

"It was terrible," nodded Daisy, tears still streaming down her face, "Lily had left Mario with me in case I needed to get a hold of her in case of an emergency, but I had hoped to not have to use him."

"I admit to feeling a nasty sense of foreboding when Mario turned up," remembered Lily.

"No fourteen old should be reading about how she'll soon be burying her mom," said Harry firmly, "I can't begin to imagine or fathom the heartbreak Lily must have felt when she read the words final resting place."

"I felt like a broken woman when I wrote that, " said Daisy somberly, "All I could think about was leaving Lily behind way too early. "

"It was painful to see Lily that emotional, " said Harry quietly, "I'd met her at my birthday party, and she seemed so cheerful, so upbeat, so sweet and kind."

Daisy actually smiled at the words "sweet and kind"

"Those were the longest few hours of my life," said Daisy matter of factly, "When Lily wrote me back with the news that you would provide the funds I needed for my life saving surgery, I was both blissfully relieved and overjoyed while also being emotionally overwhelmed. Not for myself, but for Lily. And for Lily's and my relationship."

"From my point of view, " piped up Harry, "I had a friend in need and was in a position to help her. "

"You were aware of how close Lily, and I am," said Daisy in a businesslike voice, "Lily had told you all about our common love of sewing and how we'd bonded over it. You were aware of what you were saving. What I don't think you understand is how big of a burden you lifted off of Lily."

"They're one in the same in this case," said Harry crisply, "I adore your relationship with Lily. I know a lot of muggleborn witches and wizards grow apart from their parents after starting at Hogwarts."

"Lily and I were too tight for physical distance and more limited time to break our bond, " sad Daisy proudly.

"Tracey told me that it wasn't uncommon for muggleborn witches and wizards to miss their parents in their first days at Hogwarts but that it seemed to be much worse for Lily, " explained Harry.

"This is true," admitted Lily, "But I was also homesick in general."

"Tracey and Daphne were jolly decent to befriend you, Lily, " said Harry glowingly.

"I appreciated that they reached out to me," said Lily sincerely, "But I had no idea how important those relationships would become to me."

"Did you have any friends before Hogwarts?" Harry asked Lily.

"I actually had a Bestie from Kindergarten until a few weeks before fifth grade, " revealed Lily, "I ended my friendship with her because there was an incident in which she yelled at me. Any person who yells at me, raises his or her voice at me, or gets in my face doesn't deserve to be part of my life. Plain and simple."

"You are smart and wise, Lily Moon," said Harry proudly and Daisy and Lily both glowed at him.

"If you can't trust a person to never yell at you, you can't trust him or her at all," added Harry as Daisy and Lily both nodded.

"I didn't know anyone when I got to Hogwarts, but I can't say enough good things about the wonderful friends I ended up making there, " cooed Lily.

"So?" Harry asked Daisy cautiously, "What was the day of your surgery actually like?"

"I was scared, " admitted Daisy instantly, "No point denying it."

"Of course, you were scared, " said Harry reassuringly., "I'd consider you a fool if you weren't."

"Having my daughter at my side that day provided me with a soothing and calming presence. Lily is my greatest source of comfort, " said Daisy gratefully.

"How sore and tired were you post-surgery?" wondered Harry.

"The recovery process was not fun, " said Daisy bluntly, "On a scale of 1-10, the tiredness factor was 6 and the soreness factor was 8. Nevertheless, I was in good spirits at the time because my surgery had been successful, and I knew I and Lily had loads more time together as mother and daughter."

"You sound like you had more of an altruistic attitude towards the whole thing then," said Harry observantly, "You didn't care so much about yourself as you cared about Lily not losing you."

"Absolutely, " confirmed Daisy a nanosecond later, "There is no worse tragedy than a child losing a parent and I'm so grateful and so relieved that Lily doesn't have to be in that position."

"I'm glad it all worked out," said Harry cheerfully.

"Lily always speaks most highly of you, Harry," said Daisy radiantly, her face glowing and her eyes lit up, "You got off to a great start with her by inviting her to your birthday party when she was only a complete stranger to you. When you provided the funds for my life saving surgery, you became a forever friend. Lily does NOT throw around the phrase "forever friend" indiscriminately. In fact, you are the only person who Lily has ever referred to as a forever friend."

"And now," said Lily eagerly, "Mom and I would like to sew you a pair of scarfs. We know and respect how much you appreciated my sweater for your birthday and mom's blanket of appreciation. But one, we would like you to actually see us make something. And two, we want you to have something from us that you can remember seeing us make."

"That would be awesome!" said Harry happily.

"Let's get to it then!" chroused Daisy and Lily excitedly.

For the next hour and the next nanosecond, Harry watched on intently as both Daisy and Lily cheerfully sewed scarfs, chatting animatedly between themselves as they did so, clearly both having a great time and enjoying each other's company as they did so.

"This is why I stepped in to help, " said Harry firmly about halfway through, "To preserve moments like this for Daisy Moon and Lily Moon as mother and daughter."

Daisy and Lily both smiled warmly at Harry.

Daisy sewed a beautiful scarf that depicted a perfectly colored rainbow against a white background with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Lily, meanwhile, had crafted a gorgeous scarf with a sky blue background that mostly looked like a blue sky but did feature a few puffy white clouds here and there.

When Daisy and Lily had finished sewing, they both held up their scarfs.

"What do you think, Harry?" asked Daisy and Lily together.

"They're wonderful, cooed Harry in an awestruck voice, "Daisy and Lily, you are both as good at sewing as Ginny Weasley is at singing."

"Believe me, mom, that is a major compliment, " said Lily delightedly.

"Lily's told me about how you established the choir to provide an opportunity for one of your BFFs, Ginny Weasley, " said Daisy brightly, "It turned out to be a fantastic opportunity for Lily as well."

"Harry Potter is sweet and kind, " said Lily proudly, "But which scarf do you like better, mine or mom's?"

"You can feel completely comfortable being honest with us here," Daisy told Harry encouragingly, "Lily and I admire each other's sewing skills and are decidedly non competitive about it."

"We are both very happy for each other's success when we have success," added Lily.

"It means the world to me to have both and to have something I saw you both make for me with my own eyes. But, Lily, I like yours slightly better," replied Harry.

Both Daisy and Lily smiled at that.

"I started teaching Lily to sew in the summer between kindergarten and first grade and I always hoped she'd become at least as good as me," reminisced Daisy.

I don't know why I made a sky scarf with some clouds for you, " admitted Lily, "It's just what I chose to make."

"Same with my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, " admitted Daisy, "Sometimes you perform better when you don't think about things."

"I got goosebumps watching that!" exclaimed Harry.

Daisy now went to the kitchen and quickly returned with three ice cream cones. She handed one each to Harry and Lily and the three of them sat on the sofa together eating them and quietly enjoying each other's company.

Harry felt warmth flowing through him as he'd finally met the woman he had saved.

A shout out to the following members who have added A Different Path to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update:

Demonic Prince Grayson

jwy62631

kumarkommareddy

Leia6178

miladydiana

pdc187

wcwingman

Much Love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :)