A/N: I had this scene keep playing itself in my head over and over again and I had to write it out. I really love James, Al, and Lily! :D They're so much fun to write. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I liked writing it. And if you like it, I'd love some feedback!

The hushed stillness of a late-summer night hung heavily in the air, silvery moonlight glowing palely through the windows, giving off just barely enough light to make out the large trunk sitting half-packed in the middle of the room. Then the door creaked open just enough for a small figure to slip through it and, avoiding the trunk, make her way to the bed.

"Al? Are you awake?" she whispered, voice loud in the quiet night.

When the tangle of sheets she knew to be her brother didn't so much as stir, Lily prodded it impatiently. "Al, wake up!" There was a muffled groan, but nothing else.

Lily reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp and then launched herself at the heap of sheets.. "Albus Severus Potter! Wake up!" she said loudly, punctuating each syllable with a slap.

"Ow! Gerroff me!" Albus croaked, fighting free of the blankets to shove his sister roughly off his bed.

Unabashed, Lily slid to the floor and watched her brother grope blindly for his glasses, wild hair even more disheveled than usual. Albus shoved his glasses haphazardly on his face and squinted at the alarm clock, groaning when he saw the time.

"Lily, it's three in the morning! Go back to bed!" and he flopped face-first onto the mattress, pulling his pillow over his head.

"But I can't sleep," Lily told him, drawing her knees up to her chin.

"Doesn't mean you have to take it out on those of us who can," Albus grumbled from under his pillow.

Lily pushed herself up on her knees and shuffled forward to lean on the mattress. "Can I sit with you on the train tomorrow? James won't let me sit with him and Fred and Aaron and I don't want to be alone."

Albus rolled over to peer blearily up at her anxious face, dark eyes wide and imploring. He rolled his eyes at her. "You won't be alone, Lils. Hugo's starting tomorrow too. You remember Hugo? Ron and Hermione's kid, gangly, red hair, been joined at the hip with him since birth?"

Lily rolled her eyes back at him. "I know, Al."

"Great, now can I go back to sleep?"

Lily sat back, biting her lip. Albus sighed. "Sure, Lil, you can sit with us. Rosie won't let me kick you out, anyway."

Lily nodded, sniffling and Albus, raising himself up enough to look at her over the edge of the mattress, was startled to see tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Oh, Lily, come on, don't cry!" he begged, scrambling up in bed. "You can sit with us on every train ride 'til I leave Hogwarts! Don't cry, Lily, please!"

But the tears just fell faster and Albus was at a complete loss as to what to do. Lily gave a shuddering sob and scrambled up onto Albus's bed, burying her face in his pillow.

"Lily…" Albus said helplessly, staring at her flaming pigtails.

"What's the matter with her?" came a sleepy voice.

Albus looked around to see James slouching half-awake in the doorway, squinting at Lily's huddled form.

Albus threw up his hands. "I have no idea! She came in here, beat me awake, and started bawling! I'm getting Dad," he added, swinging his legs out of bed.

"Let 'em sleep, Al," James told him, slouching over to sink down on Albus's bed and shoving Albus back down, too. "Dad's just got back from a mission and Mum's been living on caffeine for three days straight to finish that article for The Profit."

"But…" Albus protested, gesturing towards Lily sopping into his pillow.

James reached around him and poked her hard in the back. "Oi, squirt, what's your problem?"

Lily pushed herself up, tears still flooding down her face, and looked at her brothers incredulously. "We're leaving in the morning!"

James and Albus exchanged a bewildered look.

"Yeah, so?" James asked.

"You've been dying to go to Hogwarts practically since Teddy went!" Albus said in exasperation. "You're first complete sentence was 'I want to go to Hogwarts'!"

"but – but," Lily gulped, "w-what if it's terrible? What if I'm no good at magic? What if I don't have any friends? What if Hugo gets put into a different house and forgets all about me? What if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Whoa, calm down," James said, holding up his hands. "You've got nothing to worry about. First of all, Hogwarts is great. And if Al managed to make a friend that he wasn't related to, you're going to be the most popular kid in your class."

"Hey!" Albus objected, but James ignored him.

"And as for Hugo, you guys practically share a brain. You could get sorted into Slytherin – what Al, you know she's the most devious creature ever put on the planet, need I remind you of the magic marker episode last week? Anyway, you could get sorted into Slytherin and you and Hue would still be two halves of the same coin, or whatever it is they say. Believe me, you won't have to worry about being lonely at Hogwarts. Half of Gryffindor is made up by Weasleys. You'll be begging for some alone time soon."

Lily sniffled, mopping her eyes with her hand, and Albus leaned across her to pull a chocolate frog out of the drawer of his bedside table.

"Here, Lil," he said, handing her the frog. "And as for not being good at magic, you've got nothing to worry about. Remember the first time you used magic and blew James's train set apart because he wouldn't let you play with it? Even he was impressed once he stopped being so shocked. If you could do that when you were five, you'll probably be top of your year! You'll have a great time at Hogwarts, you'll see."

"You think so?" Lily asked, biting into the frog and scrutinizing her brothers. They both nodded earnestly.

"'Course we do," James told her, yanking one of her pigtails in that oh-so-affectionate brotherly way of his.

"And if you have any trouble, there's a whole band of Weasley cousins who've got your back," Albus added, smiling.

Lily smiled too.

"And if any of the Slytherins give me a hard time, will you beat them up?" she asked.

"Sure thing," James grinned, flexing his muscles jokingly.

"Not all Slytherins are bad though," Albus reminded her. "Look at Scorp. He's in Slytherin."

"Yeah, but he doesn't count," James told his brother, rolling his eyes. "He's got honorary Gryffindor status. He hangs out with all Gryffindors and cheers for our team when we're not playing him. You can't lump him in with the rest of those creeps."

"James, Dad says –"Albus started, picking up the frequent argument he and James had over evilness of Slytherin house.

"Dad's got to say stuff like that," James interrupted, waving his hand impatiently. "He's the savior of the wizarding world and all of that. If he didn't preach tolerance and equality he'd be kind of a hypocrite."

Lily curled up on Albus's bed, listening to the familiar sound of her brothers arguing and roughhousing. When James shoved Albus off the bed and he landed on the floor with a loud thud, smacking his head on his trunk, she decided it was time to intervene.

"Albie, can I sleep in here tonight?" She asked sleepily, tugging the sheet over herself.

Albus picked himself up off the floor, rubbing his head. Normally he'd tell her to scram, but he didn't want her to start bawling again. "I guess so," he said exhaustedly.

James had already stretched out across the end of Albus's bed, legs dangling off the side. Albus sighed and rolled his eyes at his brother and sister. "Budge up," he told Lily, crawling over James to slide in next to her.

Lily was lulled back to sleep by the comforting sound of her brothers' slow, even breathing, the sound that had always driven away her nightmares when she was small.

A/N: Hi again! Right, so I was thinking of adding to this if anybody liked it. I wouldn't really continue this story, but I'd do snapshots of different characters and moments post DH, most likely. Kind of showing their lives afterwards. It'd be sort of a companion to the reading-the-books story I'm working on with Bookworm1256, at least it would be in the same world, maybe expanding on some of the memories that are brought up in that story. But you wouldn't have to read that story to read this one. It would be more like "Teddy", which is another story I'm working on on Bookworm's profile, except, obviously that one focuses on Teddy and his relationship with Harry.

Anyways, let me know what you think and if you want to see more of the next gen and everyone else after the war!