Lily Potter And The Metamorphagus

Part Eight - The Burrow

"Lily Luna, is that you love?" Molly Weasley cries, arms open wide to embrace her grand-daughter.

"Hello, Grandma." Lily beams, being pulled into a hug from her plushy relative. Molly steps back to take a look at the child, then grasps her face in her hands.

"You look just like your mother did at your age, Lily. My, my you've shot up! You're nearly as tall as Albus, and he's a third year!" The old woman exclaims. Albus, who is stood beside Lily, groans.

"I know, and he's not proud of it." Lily chuckles. It is moments like this that she could miss after her 15th birthday. But she pushes those thoughts from her mind. Being at The Burrow will only be filled with happy thoughts, Lily promises herself, and walks through the front door into the kitchen where the whole Weasley-Potter clan is gathered. There are her aunts: Fleur, Hermione, Minerva, Audrey and Angie, and Uncles: Percy, George, Bill, Charlie and Ron. And then, of course, there are her cousins - but that list may as well be endless.

Lily gives every one of them a hug and a hello, then heads upstairs to her mother's old bedroom where the children will be staying. All of the furniture has been moved out of the room, leaving just enough space to fit twelve make-shift beds on the floor.

Lily claims the one closest to the door and shuffles over to where all of her cousins and siblings are gossiping about Hogwarts - especially Roxie Weasley, George's daughter.

"Did you hear that Scorpius is a animagus? I would have never guessed!" Louis - Bill and Fleur's son - says.

"Yeah, Lily saw it first hand, didn't you Lil?" James adds, bringing his sister into the conversation. Lily nods enthusiastically.

"Yeah, he's a maned wolf."

"Woah!" They gasp.

The chatter continues until Harry calls the lot of them downstairs for Quidditch. They race down the stairs, shouldering each other to get out of the way. Lily knows that the best broomstick to grab is her Dad's old Firebolt, a present from his late Godfather - Sirius Black - before he even knew him.

Lily squeezes through the gaps, crawling under gangly Weasley legs, and grabs the smooth wood. James groans, and taps Lily's foot gently with his boot.

"Good choice, Lil." He mutters, picking up a Cleansweep. He wraps his arm protectively around her skinny shoulders and leads her away from her arguing cousins, out onto the Quidditch field. Her aunts and uncles are already gathered, ready to referee and commentate.

"James, pick your team." Victoire allows him to chose first, knowing he will make the wrong choices.

"Um, okay. Albus, Hugo, Dominique, Roxie and Molly." James chooses, gathering his team into a huddle.

"Good. That means I've got Lily, Louis, Lucy, Rose, Uncle Harry, Fred and Aunt Ginny. Perfect." Victoire grins. Lily (although gutted her brother didn't pick her) is satisfied with her team. Her father is a brilliant seeker, and despite James inheriting his talent, they should be an even match. Ginny, Lily and Victoire are chasers, Fred and Rose beaters, and Louis the goalkeeper.

For James' team, he - obviously - is the seeker, Hugo and Albus are beaters, and Dominique, Molly and Roxie are his chasers.

"I want a nice clean game." Uncle George says, the quaffle held in his hands tightly. "Especially you, son." Fred rolls his eyes and snickers.

He tosses the quaffle in the air, and the game commences. Lily swoops swiftly on her broom, snatching the quaffle from the air. She zips elegantly out of Molly's grasp, tucking the ball close into her chest.

"Lily! Pass!" Victoire shouts, and Lily tosses the Quaffle to her. Victoire dodges a rogue bludger and tosses the ball through the middle goal.

"10 points to Victoire's team!" Bill cheers, pride at his daughter reflected on his face. Vic waves to her dad then rejoins the match. Roxie has possession of the quaffle until she's hit in the shoulder with a bludger.

"Nice one, Fred." Rose high-fives her cousin and thwacks away another bludger. Lily sweeps the field, racking up another 50 points for her team with goals.

"The snitch has been released!" Charlie cheers. All of the players except James and Harry stop to observe the seekers race to win the game for their team. Her dad's thinning black hair whips wildly around his head, James' brown locks cloaking his eyes.

The small golden ball flutters rapidly out of their reach, the wings buzzing crazily. James gains on the ball, arm outstretched as if he is just about to grab it. All of a sudden, a bludger hits him in the side and he drops back, winded. Harry uses James' injury to his advantage and grabs the snitch.

"Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Victoire's team wins the match." Bill announces, biasedly cheering his daughter and son. Dominique huffs in disappointment and dismounts her broom and storms off.

"Best out of three?" Hugo suggests, chuckling. Harry pats his son on the shoulder.

"Good game, James." He says proudly. James stands up a little taller, his cocky grin returning to his face.

"You too, Dad. I'll get you next time." He scoffs, shoving his father playfully.

"You keep believing that and it might actually happen." Harry winks. It's obvious where James get his arrogance from.

Everyone laughs at their banter, and the family head back inside to tuck into their Christmas day feast, and open presents.

"Mmm! Mrs Weasley, this is delicious!" Harry compliments her cooking, scoffing down another ball of stuffing.

"Well, we need to fill you up - a busy Auror like you needs to be fed properly. And for the last time Harry, call me Molly or Mum." She tells him, dishing more food onto his plate. Lily agrees with her father's views on her grandmother's cooking. It's heavenly. She wolfs down another roast potato, and sighs, content.

***

Lily stumbles into her temporary bedroom, drunk on delicious food and staggering under the weight of her presents. She received a light blue Weasely jumper with a L knitted onto it (of which she is wearing), an advanced spells book from her parents, the latest Cleansweep broomstick from Bill and Fleur, some Nargle charms from her godmother Luna, a Gryffindor Quidditch scarf from Aunt Minnie and some WWW sweets from Uncle Ron and Uncle George. But the best present of all was from her Aunt Hermione: A time turner necklace.

She's heard stories from her father and Uncle Ron of moments when Hermione used to just appear out of thin air, without the loud crack of apparation and no fireplace in sight. Obviously it isn't a working one; the Ministry had all of the time turners destroyed years ago.

Hermione gave Lily the necklace as a gift because she knew how serious Lily was about her studies, and secretly she believes that with a little reminder every now and then Lily can be better than Molly and Lucy, Percy's daughters.

Lily smiles at the thought and lies down with the necklace around her neck.

"How would it have worked?" Lily asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"One turn for every hour. You'd go back in time to the exact place you are stood at." Hermione answered. "There was only one rule: Don't let yourself from the past see you from the future. It would tear the very concept of time apart."

Lily nods, determined to make her aunt proud. Before she forgets her very existence.