Lily stomped miserably out of the house after James and Al had told her to go away because she was too young to play Wizard's Chess. But she was nine for Merlin's sake, a whole nine years old and it was still "Lily you're too young…" and "Lily not right now…" It worked on her last nerve all of the time and even though Ginny usually seemed to understand because she, too, was used to being left out by her older brothers, there was only so many times Lily liked hearing about how she missed Uncle Ron after he went to Hogwarts. After a while, it got dull.

In the backyard of the Potter cottage, Harry was swinging a gnome above his head and Lily giggled, standing behind a tree, for she knew he had not seen her yet. Never had she seen her father look so…wild. She didn't even know why he bothered with degnoming the garden, they always came right back anyway. He released the gnome and it flew nearly ninety feet in the air before landing a good distance away from the house. "Lily, if you're going to watch, you might as well come closer…"

Knowing she had been found out, Lily showed herself and grinned sheepishly at her father. "Dad, maybe you could've been a Beater. You would've had a nice long-range Bludger, the way you threw that gnome."

Harry smiled back and slipped his gloves off. For a girl of nine years old, Lily knew more about Quidditch than anyone cared to give her credit for. Harry was proud and even went about work bragging that his daughter knew more about Quidditch than most of the male Aurors in the office. "Haven't got the build for a Beater, your old man's a scrawny git you know…"

"Now you're talking crazy," Lily said, still grinning. "Mum wouldn't have married you if she thought you were a scrawny git, would she have?"

Harry shrugged and sat down on the porch. "I don't know. I try not to question why your Mum married me, wouldn't want to jinx it…would we?"

"No, Dad," Lily said thoughtfully. "Why do you degnome the garden anyway? It's nasty work."

Harry looked at her, bewildered. He had never really thought about it, it was always just something he did without question. Degnoming the garden was something that was so customary to him now he found it hard to give an explanation as to why he did it. "Well…" Harry said, stumbling. "Because it makes Mum happy when I do."

"Hmm," was all that Lily said before going back into the house.

Lily rolled out of bed and thought about her father had said the previous day. Because it makes Mum happy, he had said. But what did any of them, including Ginny, ever do for him that made him happy? She slipped on her fuzzy Puddlemere slippers, courtesy of her godfather Oliver, and casually ignored the Chudley Cannons pair that Uncle Ron had sent for her birthday. Not only did she hate that team but Harry would disinherit and possibly maim her should she walk around the house in those.

"Best to stay on the safe side," Lily said at the top of the stairs. Her senses, still groggy from sleep, awakened as her favourite scent wafted upward into her nostrils. Banana pancakes, she recognized it almost immediately. It was the best part of Saturday mornings. She and Harry, both early birds, would wake before everyone else and he would make banana pancakes for them.

She walked down the stairs, now nearly four times as excited as she was before, and headed straight for the kitchen. Harry was standing over the stove. He smiled when he saw her. "Morning Lily, sleep alright?"

"Morning Dad," Lily said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. "And you know my bedroom's right next to James', how can anyone sleep alright when his snoring threatens to suck the curtains off the windows?"

Harry laughed heartily and placed two pancakes on plates for both of them. "Ah yes, the infamous Weasley snoring and between you and I, Mum's snoring is worse."

Lily laughed and continued to eat her pancakes. With every bite, she felt fuller and fuller. The stack of pancakes on the plate was steadily decreasing until it was left down to six. "Maybe we should leave some for everyone else," Lily suggested as she finished her food.

"Maybe they should get up earlier," Harry said taking another pancake off of the plate and started to eat it. "The early bird gets the worm, ever heard that one Lily?"

She shook her head. "Yeah, I've heard Aunt Hermione say it before…tell me Dad, why do you make banana pancakes every Saturday? I mean surely you've got better things to do?"

"Let's see," Harry said rubbing his hands together, deep in thought. "Why do I make banana pancakes on Saturday morning? Hmmm, real tough one! But I think I've got an answer for you, Lily. You see, the reason I make banana pancakes is it because it makes you happy."

And without another word to her, he finished his last pancake and kissed the top of her head. Then he Apparated back up to bed, leaving Lily as confused as ever.

She was watching from the living room window. Harry was mounting his broom and getting ready to take off for his morning ride. Lily threw on her cloak and darted out of the house behind him. "Dad you said you'd take me with you this morning, remember?"

"Oh yeah, sorry," Harry said moving forward on the broom to make space for her. "Hold on tight to Daddy, alright Lily?" He could not see her roll her eyes but Harry knew that she was annoyed by what he had just said.

"Dad, I think I can manage," Lily said but wrapped her arms around her father's waist anyway. He leaned forward and the broom shot into the sky. Soon enough they were soaring among clouds and Lily looked down happily as she noted the outline of the city from an aerial view. Not too much time later, they were flying over London. "Wow. Look at the city!"

Harry looked back. "Your Mum likes to see this part of Britain too."

Was everything he did for them? Did he ever do anything for himself, ever? Lily's face furrowed against her father's back and she exhaled deeply. "Dad…"

"Yes?"

"What makes you happy?" Lily finally asked the question that she had been itching to ask these past few days.

"That one's easy," Harry said, smiling. He took the broom into a dive and Lily held onto him even tighter than she had before. "I'll tell you what makes me happy. Making my girls happy!"

And Lily was happy.