Take a Break (From Studying)

A/N: I do not own anything! Hamilton belongs to the genius that is Lin-Manuel Miranda and of course Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling!

Yet again, I find myself drawn into the joy of writing a one-shot featuring our favorite Hamilton obsessed witch. This time, though, it's a bit of a time jump with Lily being in her fifth year and having to be the one to have Hamilton solve her problems!

Please let me know what you think, and if there are any other songs/situations you think would apply to the Next Gen kids! Reviews are always appreciated!

Lily took a calming breath as she walked into her advisor's office. She knew this would be an awkward affair—she was the only Potter without a natural affinity to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sure, James didn't test well but he still loved the subject and Al was a freaking prodigy.

Lily was struggling to earn an A in the class, though. It wasn't as though she wasn't trying. The subject just wasn't her cup of tea—she preferred subjects like History of Magic. She wanted to be a Magical Historian and even had a topic planned out: Wizards of the American Revolution. Yes, five years later and she was still obsessed with Hamilton as she had been when she first heard about it from her Aunt Hermione.

"Ah, hello Ms. Potter," her advisor said with a small smile and Lily shook her head slightly to get out of her thoughts. It wouldn't do to be seen woolgathering, especially in this office. Professor Greengrass was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and hated it when people weren't paying attention. Plus, these meetings were about half an hour so it wouldn't do to lose time.

"Hello Professor," Lily said, smiling back as she sat down. Maybe this meeting wouldn't be too bad.

"So, have you given any thought to what you want to do after you take your OWLs?" Professor Greengrass asked, looking over Lily's file.

"I have," Lily said, sitting up straighter now that the professor had decided to jump straight into the meeting. "I would like to focus on history and become a magical historian like Bathilda Bagshot."

"History?" Greengrass asked, looking up. "Well I mean, you could do that, if you wanted to continue to focus on that play you like so much. But you'd be turning away from other options like being an Auror for instance. I mean, Quidditch is out of the question so there's only one family line you could follow. I just think you might be throwing away your talents in potions and charms if you focused your career simply on history."

Lily bit back a wince at the mention of Quidditch—she'd failed miserably getting on the Gryffindor Quidditch team in her second year and had steered clear of the subject ever since. Professor Greengrass, head of Slytherin house, loved to subtly remind her that she wasn't a Quidditch star like her parents or older brothers.

"Well I could be an Auror and a career in potions or charms might be a good back up but I'd rather focus on history," Lily told her, hoping that none of this would get back to her father. Teddy was an Auror and James had just finished his training as an Auror. Al had dreams of following in his older brother's footsteps as well.

"Why not become an Auror?" Greengrass asked, looking over Lily's file once more. "Well, you would need an O on your OWL to get into the NEWT level defense class. I see you're barely making an A in my class at the moment. Is that the reason you're looking in another direction? I didn't take you for the type to take the easy way out, Ms. Potter."

I'm not and you know it! I just don't like Defense. Not everyone has to be good at Defense, you daft cow!

On the outside, Lily smiled and sat in silence as Greengrass continued to push being an Auror for the rest of the session. As Lily got up to leave, Greengrass said, "Oh, one more thing Ms. Potter?"

"Yes Professor?" Lily asked, turning back to face her.

"Even if you decide to not become an Auror, do try to pass the OWL. You wouldn't want to embarrass your father now would you?"

Lily knew her face had become bright red and she muttered out a "No ma'am" before hurrying out the door. As she walked back to her dorm, Lily couldn't help but wonder if Greengrass had been right, and that it would be better if she followed the family and became an Auror.

Her dad wouldn't be embarrassed if she failed her OWL in defense. Would he?

No way! Dad's the one who always encouraged my love of Hamilton and other musical theater, even when it morphed into an odd love of muggle history.

But Dad's the Head Auror and the Boy Who Lived! You can't honestly say he wouldn't be a little bit embarrassed to have one of his kids fail their DADA OWL?

Lily walked up to her dorm, thankful that she had been scheduled near the end of the day without any more classes to worry about. She had a decision to make—did she follow her dreams and proceed to possibly embarrass her father or finally have the chance to show the family that she wasn't the black sheep?

Sitting down on her bed, she grabbed her history text and her defense text and held each book in one of her hands. The history text seemed light, almost like a comfort, while the defense book felt like someone dropped a weight on her hand and no one was helping her pick it up.

"Lord, show me how to say no to this," she sang under her breath as she slowly put one of the books down. "I don't know how to say no to this. But the situation's helpless—and the book's saying hell yes."

Drawing the drapes around her bed, Lily began preparing for a long road ahead of her.

0000

Several weeks went by since her career counseling session and, believe it or not, Lily was feeling the brunt of constant late night study sessions. She couldn't help but thank Merlin for whoever invented glamor charms because she knew that if how she actually looked was shown to her family, her parents would be notified instantly.

Wouldn't that be a good thing? Then dad could tell you the truth and you could go back to focusing on the stuff you're good at!

I'm not going to embarrass dad, and that includes having him come up here. He's already had to do that once. I'm going to appear like everything's normal.

You do realize you forgot to do your essay for History of Magic, right?

Lily stopped short as she mentally did a checklist of all the assignments she had done. Sure enough, the essay for her History of Magic class was the one essay she let slip through the cracks for a night of four hours of sleep instead of two.

What are we going to do?

There's only one option.

No, no, no, no! Forgetting an assignment is one thing but skipping class? Al will notify dad before you make it to the Common Room.

He's preparing for NEWTs, he'd never notice; besides it's the last class before winter break.

Lily paused in an alcove, weighing the decisions. On the one hand, using the class time to sleep (or more likely study) would be a godsend. She needed every spare minute she could get. On the other, she knew she'd be noticed. Hugo was in her year and sat next to her in almost every class.

Hugo's trying to build his grade in history, he won't notice.

Yeah right!

What do you have to lose?

Lily bit her lip, looking back and forth as if scanning for any nearby family members.

That's when I began to pray, Lord show me how to say no to this. I don't know how to say no to this.

0000

Little did Lily know that Hugo did notice when she failed to show up for class. Thankfully, he was the only one as the professor dove straight into the lecture. He frowned, flicking the end of his quill out of his face. Lily was acting odd—ever since her meeting with Professor Greengrass.

She'd become a lot more focused on her Defense studies, putting more effort into her essays and spending long nights revising for the OWLs that would be coming in June. At first, Hugo was happy that his cousin was at least taking the OWLs seriously. However, now he was worried. He could see the effects it was having on Lily, even if she thought that the glamour charms hid the signs.

As well, her love and passion for History seemed to have diminished rapidly. Hugo never understood why his cousin loved history so much but it was a quirk that defined who she was. She was always comfortable in her own skin, even when others gave her a hard time for it.

What could have caused the change? Hugo thought as the bell rung, indicating the end of the lesson. Thank Merlin the professor didn't assign any work over the break; a gift since all their other professors piled on the work.

Hugo made his way up to the common room to drop off his stuff before dinner. He honestly didn't know what to do about Lily and he didn't know who he could turn to. Lily would kill him if he went to Al and going to Rose was about the same thing since Al would find out anyway. Scorpius would tell Al too, so he was out.

Maybe if I wrote to James?

That's the same as going to Al—you know Lily's trying to prevent another visit from her father and James would write to Uncle Harry if you wrote about Lily.

Uncle Percy then?

No one in this family can keep a secret.

What about Louis? He's the co-founder of Lily's Hamilton club.

Maybe. Let's see if we can talk to Lily first.

Before he could respond to his inner argument, he was stopped by the sight of Lily passed out in a chair in the Common Room. His cousin seemed to be covered in notes from Defense, her textbook almost falling out of her hand while she slept.

"Wow, Lily must really want to be an Auror," Al said, walking in behind Hugo. "Kinda glad she found a more stable career choice."

"Really Al?" Rose asked, following her cousin. "Lily was always the history buff of the family. Wouldn't she be happier focusing on history?"

Before Al could respond, Hugo clapped his hands, pausing as Lily twitched in her sleep. "Guys, maybe it would be better to not focus on Lily's career choice and the more obvious aspect of Lily overworking herself?"

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked, walking down the stairs from the dorms. There he took in the sight of the three cousins standing in front of Lily's passed out body. "Ah, never mind."

"Hey Scorp, have you noticed Lily acting odd?" Rose asked, turning to her other best friend.

"How so?" Scorpius asked, walking toward them. "If by odd, you mean "obsessing over one OWL when we all know she'll be a historian" then yes."

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Rose sighed, walking over to her cousin and grabbing her notes. "Look at this-this is all extra Defense stuff. Lily's been wanting to be a historian since she was 11 and thought Defense was the easy choice."

"Yeah well with her dueling in her first year, we all thought she'd follow after dad," Al said with a shrug, looking at his little sister with guilt evident on his face. "Lily obviously needs a break—and even though we're off for the next few weeks she's probably going to try to cram more studying in."

"You guys remember whenever we had a problem, Lily always found a song from that play she liked?" Rose asked, seemingly out of the blue. "Well, what if we returned the favor?"

"How?" Scorpius asked and the three friends looked over at Hugo.

"Who? Me?!" Hugo exclaimed as he finally realized that they were looking at him. "I only know the play because Lily was there when mum showed us that clip from the Americans award show. You know, the year before we went off to Hogwarts."

"You're the only one who has the best knowledge of the songs, other than Sleeping Beauty over there." Scorpius pointed out.

"What about Louis or James?"

"Louis currently works in France and telling James is akin to telling dad," Al said, crossing his arms as Rose grabbed a blanket to cover Lily with. "Something tells me that would do more harm than good."

"Teddy?"

"Works too close with dad."

"Victorie?"

"Too close with Teddy."

"Dominque?"

"Too close with Victorie who in return is too close with Teddy who is too close with dad."

"Uncle George?"

"You know none of our family members can keep a secret."

"Well except for Lily," Scorpius muttered as he sat down next to the sleeping Potter. It was a lot more entertaining to watch the others bicker. Besides, he didn't know anything about Hamilton and Lily hadn't roped him into the Hamilton brigade like she did Louis, Hugo, James, Teddy, Victorie, Dominique, and Rose. Even Al had some affinity for the play but he wasn't obsessed with it like his sister was.

"Guys, I'll just write to Louis," Hugo said, cutting through Scorpius' thoughts. "It's not like traveling from France would take a month. He's going to be at the Burrow for Christmas anyway—Grandmum would kill us all if we stayed home over the holidays."

With that, the four of them split—Rose and Al to hide all of Lily's defense books, Hugo to write his cousin, and Scorpius to no longer be involved in the madhouse.

00000

When the Hogwarts Express arrived at Kings Cross Station the next day, Hugo was amazed at how long the journey seemed. Lily, somehow, managed to find the defense books Rose had hid and had spent the entire trip pouring over notes. This was the first time she had studied on the trip home and was drawing a few strange looks from the other members of the compartment.

"Lils, you're going to get burnt out," Al said at about the halfway point. "Why don't you—"

"If you say 'take a break' or any other Hamilton pun, I'll hex you, Albus," Lily snarled, not even looking up from her notes. Al and Rose exchanged looks, while Hugo shook his cousin worked non-stop (yes that was a Hamilton reference, he wasn't above them) but never like this.

"Alright Lils," Al sighed. "But be prepared for Grandmum to force you to stop studying when we go to the Burrow."

Lily didn't even comment—instead, she seemed to have entrenched herself more in her studies. Hugo found himself missing the days when Lily and he would go and find an empty compartment and listen to Hamilton. Heck, he'd settle for Legally Blonde or Phantom at this point—but all Lily's Broadway music had been replaced with Defense texts. Something happened during the career conference and it was driving Hugo insane.

But after that outburst, he wasn't going to risk coming out and asking. He liked having a close friend in this family, thank you!

When they finally arrived at the station, Lily excused herself to head to the bathroom one last time. Al shrugged and said that he'd meet her at the station; Rose and Scorpius following him out. Hugo frowned and decided to stay behind. When Lily came back to the compartment—looking a lot better than she had looked during the trip—Hugo decided to bite the bullet and ask the question he'd been dreading.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, causing Lily to jump.

"Hugo! I thought you left the train with the others?"

"You honestly think I'd leave you behind?" Hugo asked, a little hurt that his cousin would ask such a thing. "Besides, you're avoiding the question."

"Nothing's going on," Lily said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Now come on. We don't want to accidentally end up back at school, do we?"

"So are you going to tell your dad you skipped History of Magic or will I be the one doing that?" Hugo asked, causing Lily to pause as she'd begun to pick up her things.

"W-what are you talking about? I was there!"

"No, you weren't. Thank Merlin the professor didn't notice otherwise you know your parents would be dragging you off the train right now—and no, Al and Rose don't know either."

Lily shot him a relieved smile, and in it, Hugo could almost see a glimpse of his real cousin again. The one who would stay up memorizing her history textbook instead of becoming angry about not remembering a fact from her defense book she'd just read.

"Lils, what's going on?" Hugo asked, as gently as possible as he handed her her bag. "I know the OWLs are stressful but I've never seen you worry about defense before."

"Just leave it, Hugo. Just because you've got the second best grades in our year doesn't mean others don't care about theirs," Lily snapped, ignoring the bag and turning around to leave the train.

"Oi! I never said that!" Hugo yelled, chasing after her. "But when my best friend falls asleep in the common room buried in her defense notes instead of attending her favorite class, I get a little worried."

"Just drop it, Hugo," Lily said again, this time with a sigh. "It'll be over by OWLs."

"You really think that glamor will fool your parents?" Hugo asked, causing Lily to pause. "I don't know what's going on Lily, but I want to help. However, there's only so many times I can study defense with you without wanting to rip my hair out."

"I said drop it!" Lily finally snapped, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. "You don't get it, do you? Your mother was the smartest witch of her age, your father the best chess player Hogwarts has ever seen. You have your choice of careers and everyone knows you'll be brilliant. My mum's the best chaser the Holyhead Harpies ever had, followed by an amazing Quidditch reporter for the Daily Prophet. Dad's, well, dad. James and Al are fucking prodigies at Quidditch, not to mention James became an Auror with Al following suit. I can't fly, I can't write, and all I'm known for is being obsessed with Hamilton so all I have left to not embarrass my parents is defense. Unfortunately, I blew off defense for four years to focus on history so now I've got to pull double time. Does that mean less sleep? Possibly. Does that mean I'll be cramming while everyone's enjoying the holidays? You bet. But I will not be the only Potter who fails their defense OWL."

With that, Lily stalked off the train—leaving a shellshocked Hugo behind her.

"What in Merlin's name just happened?" Hugo muttered to himself while grabbing his and Lily's bag, the latter having been forgotten in Lily's storming out. His cousin just swore. She never swore, unless singing along to the Hamilton soundtrack. He had no idea how much pressure his cousin had put on herself—and for such a stupid reason. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny didn't care about grades, they cared about their kids.

"Hugo!" Hermione called out and Hugo shook his head, realizing he'd walked off the train. He put a smile on and went to hug his mother—his sister embracing the overly long hug of their father. "Good term?"

"It's been interesting," Hugo said and locked eyes with Rose. They'd have to meet to talk about the Lily thing soon.

0000

Soon ended up being that very night, as the Potters and Weasleys got together for a "Welcome Back from Term" party. Lily had quickly eaten and had excused herself to the private library, causing Hermione to chuckle.

"Harry, who'd have thought you would have had a more studious kid than I was at that age?" she asked as she cleared the table.

"Well, our kids don't have a homicidal dark lord looking to kill them every year," Harry pointed out, also clearing the table. Hugo would have watched the impending duel of table clearing but his mind was still on what Lily had told him on the train. Well, let slip more like. He didn't even notice Rose and Al shooting each other a look.

"Uncle Harry, mum, may we be excused?" Rose asked, jarring Hugo out of his thoughts.

"Of course kids," Ron answered for them as the two aforementioned adults were still trying to see who could out clear whom. "Just remember, stay out of the basement. There're some products for the shop that aren't ready to be touched."

"Al, check on your sister," Ginny told her son, looking at the stairwell where her youngest had disappeared with a frown. "I've never seen her like this."

"No worries mum, I'll check on Lily," Al said as he stood up.

"Thank you."

Al, Rose, and Hugo scurried up to Hugo's room, the one farthest away from the library. As Hugo locked the door, he realized that his sister and cousin were staring at him with more intensity than he was comfortable with.

"What?" he finally asked, the silence being too much for him.

"You took your sweet time getting off the train," Rose said. "Any chance you got Lily to spill the beans as to why she's so defense crazy?"

Hugo frowned, unsure as to what to do. On the one hand, Lily clearly needed help. Anyone with eyes could see that. On the other, he wasn't sure if he wanted to betray his friend's trust.

"Hugo?" Al asked, and Hugo could see the worry in his cousin's eyes. This wasn't just a friend they were talking about—this was Al's little sister. The person Hugo was positive Al would walk through fire to protect.

"Well, I didn't so much get her to spill the beans. More like she threw the beans at me," Hugo said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What'd she say?" Al asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

"That she didn't want to be the only Potter who failed their defense OWL," Hugo told him quickly as if he was ripping off a band-aid. "Along with some other stuff about how defense was her only option for not embarrassing your parents."

"Embarrassing?" Al asked, sinking to the bed in shock. "Doesn't she know that dad's bloody proud of her? She's fearless! She knows what she likes and has never tried to change herself for anything."

"Lily's a bit of an odd duck but we love that about her," Rose said, sitting next to Al and wrapping an arm around him. "Remember that brief period of time when she thought she was going to quit Hogwarts and go to Broadway?"

"Her third year," Al said with a chuckle. "Good thing your mum talked her out of that."

"So what are we going to do?" Hugo asked, interrupting the conversation. "Lily's burning out—I bet you dollars to donuts she's asleep in the library. If she keeps going, she'll fail her defense OWL; and that's the best option."

"We go to dad of course!" Al said. "Lily needs to hear from him that he'd never be embarrassed by her."

"It might help if that came from the rest of the family," Rose told him. "I still remember Aunt Angelina muttering about how she "ensnared another one" that Christmas when James got introduced to Hamilton."

"Guys!" Hugo snapped, tired of his cousin and sister getting off track. "What about Lily? You know, the one who really needs a break from studying and probably five months worth of naps?"

Al's head popped up at that.

"That's it! That's the song!" he exclaimed, startling Rose and Hugo.

"What? Five months worth of naps?" Rose asked, looking at her cousin in concern.

"No! When we were on the train, Lily snapped at me that if I said 'take a break' or any other Hamilton reference, she'd hex me. There must be a song called that right?"

"There is!" Hugo nodded, slightly afraid of the fact that his cousin got it before he did—and Al only tolerated Hamilton.

"But wait," Rose frowned. "There're too many components to that song—there's no way we'd pull it off with just three of us."

"Leave that to me," Hugo said with a smirk. He had already begun preparations back at Hogwarts with a letter to Louis—it was time to see if the older boy had responded.

0000

It was a few days but Hugo finally had his response from Louis. It was just as he predicted—Louis would jump at the chance to help Lily with something. The problem was that Louis wouldn't be able to come over for a few days due to work concerns.

So Hugo took it upon himself to start ever so slightly getting the song started.

"Un-deux-trois-quatre-cinq-six-sept-huit-neuf," he sang under his breath while visiting Lily a couple of days after receiving Louis' response. Well, visiting was the wrong term—Hugo mainly sat while Lily poured over her defense books.

"Un-deux-trois-quatre-cinq-six-sept-huit-neuf," Lily responded with the same melody, almost on autopilot. Hugo could barely believe his luck—Lily had no idea what he was doing but she was going along with it!

"Good, un deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit," he sang again, trying his luck that Lily would take the bait.

"Hugo, what are you doing?" Lily asked, finally looking up from her book—much to Hugo's disappointment. He wanted to see how long she would go before realizing what he was doing.

"Nothing," Hugo shrugged.

"Well, then stop," Lily sighed, looking back down at her book. Hugo shook his head and got up—there was only so much of watching Lily study he could take. Before he left, though, Rose walked in. He couldn't help but hope she would catch on and take over the song.

"Un-deux-trois-quatre-cinq-six-sept-huit-neuf" she sang under her breath, just loud enough to be heard but not loud enough so that Lily might realize what was going on. She even got the change in tempo right as well, much to Hugo's surprise.

"Sept-huit-neuf," Hugo sang back.

"Sept-huit-neuf," Rose returned. The two followed the pattern one more time before Lily caught on.

"Seriously?" Lily grumbled. "I expected this from Hugo but you too, Rose?"

"What? I'm just enjoying some French with my brother," Rose said with an innocent smirk on her face.

"I'm going to my room," Lily said, gathering up her books.

"Dad said we all have to be sociable," Al told her, walking into the room. "Guess that means you can't run off and do nothing but study today, Lils."

"Al, you've got NEWTs coming up. Why aren't you studying?" Lily asked while positioning her books as to block out Hugo.

"I've got Easter break to worry about NEWTs," Al said, leaning forward to try to get a glimpse of his sister. Since they were on holiday, their parents had instituted a 'no magic' rule—mainly because Al had already turned 17 and they thought it would be unfair for Lily to be the only one unable to use her magic.

Without glamor charms, Lily had resorted to using the age-old method of avoiding everyone to prevent them from seeing how worn down she looked—something their parents were quick to notice considering Lily was always very personable.

Seeing that Lily still hadn't taken a break from her studies and hearing Rose and Hugo begin what he assumed to be the Hamilton song, Al decided to jump on board.

"My dearest—"

"Albus, don't you dare!" Lily growled.

"Then put the textbook down and enjoy yourself for a day," Al told her. "It won't kill you."

Lily rolled her eyes and fished out her iPod to see if she could tune out the three of them. Knowing that she liked to have her volume super loud, Al sighed and motioned to the other two to follow him.

"Lily's not taking the bait," he said once they'd rounded the corner.

"Not necessarily," Hugo told him. "She was singing along with me so it might be that she knows she needs a break but can't bring herself to admit it."

"What would cause her to admit it?" Rose asked. "I mean, even mum would take study breaks when she was preparing for her OWLs. I don't think Lily's slept since her career consultation."

"What do you mean?" a fourth voice joined their group and Hugo turned to see James look at them in concern.

"James!" Al exclaimed, thankfully not loud enough to gain Lily's attention. "When did you get here? I thought you'd be spending the holiday in France with Louis."

"Just now," James told him. "Louis said that Hugo told him something was going on and that he needed to get back home. So I figured I'd surprise everyone. Now, what's this about Lily not sleeping?"

"Come here," Al growled and pulled his brother into their father's study—Rose and Hugo following behind. "Say it louder next time, I don't think dad heard you!"

"Why are we keeping this a secret from dad?" James asked, rubbing his arm. "Shouldn't we, you know, tell him that his youngest child is not sleeping?"

"We think Lily wants to keep it a secret from Uncle Harry," Rose told him, hopping up and sitting on Harry's desk. James shot her a look of confusion.

"Why?"

"She doesn't want to embarrass him again," Al told James. "Apparently that'll entail passing her DADA OWL."

"Lils hates defense though," James said, turning to his brother with a look of confusion evident on his face. "Out of all of us, I'd thought she'd be more worried about her history OWL."

"That's what's driving us crazy," Hugo told him. "Ever since she came back from her career consultation, she's been hyper-focused on defense and only defense. Sure she'll study a few of her other subjects but if she does, it's Potions, Transfiguration, Charms—"

"Anything she'd need to become an Auror," James cut him off, sighing while running a hand through his hair. "Has she said anything about it?"

"No, and we're worried she's going to burn out before the tests even happen," Rose told him. "She even blew up at Hugo when we were getting off the train and that's never happened before."

"Maybe I should try to talk to her," James said, looking at the door to his father's study in concern.

"I wouldn't," Al told him. "All that would do is get her guard back up. We're trying to lower it with a Hamilton song—the way she would solve our problems."

"Which one did you pick?" James asked.

"Take a Break," Hugo told him.

"The one right before Hamilton's affair with Maria Reynolds?" James asked and Hugo flushed.

"It was the first one I could think of! Lily's the Hamilton buff, not me!"

"Guys, we need to focus," Al said, clapping his hands. "Now James, when is Louis going to be here?"

"He should be getting to his place today," James told him. "We're all going to be meeting at the Burrow tomorrow anyway."

"Good, because I don't think Lily'll be able to make it another day without exploding from stress," Al told him. "Remember this doesn't go to dad, or mum, or Teddy."

"I still think this is insane but if dad or mum find out, it won't be from me," James told him.

0000

The next day saw the Potter family make their way to the Burrow, the youngest very upset that she couldn't bring her textbooks.

"You've studied enough for the holiday. It's your cousin's birthday and we're going there to celebrate," Ginny told her when Lily begged to take her defense textbooks along.

"But mum, you want me to pass my OWLs don't you?"

"That won't work, Lils," Harry told his daughter as Ginny raised an eyebrow at the reaction. "Go on and finish getting dressed. You can study after we get back if you're in the mood to."

Thankfully that worked and the five Potters found themselves quickly greeted by Molly and Arthur Weasley.

"Hey, mum, dad!" Ginny said, hugging each of her parents.

"Hello, Ginny dear! Harry, you're looking a little peckish," Molly said as she gave each of her grandchildren a hug. "Kids, the rest of your cousins are in the living room. Why don't you go and say hello?"

James and Al made their way to the living room while Lily scurried up to their uncle Percy's room—probably figuring that he'd have kept his old texts and notes.

Did Lily forget that Uncle Percy had a different defense professor? Al thought as he watched Molly destroy Rose in chess.

The material might be the same though.

From what I heard from Uncle Ron, that Quirrel guy didn't have a lot going for him in terms of classes. Lily might not learn much.

"Hey Al," Louis waved him over and Al noticed that Louis, James, and Hugo were all huddled in the corner. Quickly tapping Rose on the shoulder, he made his way to the congregation.

"What's up?" he asked, squeezing between Hugo and Louis.

"We got the plan all set," James said with a smirk. "Unfortunately, we can't do the whole song because, well, parts of it get weird."

"How so?" Al asked. Lily was the only one with an iPod and the only one who owned the entire soundtrack so it wasn't like he could listen to it.

"There're parts where Hamilton implies he has feelings for Angelica, Elizabeth's sister," Louis told him. "Since one of us would essentially be playing Elizabeth—"

"Say no more," Al said, inwardly shuddering at the implications. "But where are we starting?"

"Here," James said, holding a sheet of parchment and handing it to him and Rose—the latter having arrived halfway through the conversation. "Hugo found the lyrics online. It's no Lily-style binder but it's all we could do without alerting Aunt Hermione."

Al studied the sheet as if it was going to be on his NEWTs. It was do or die time.

"Let's go," he said and led the others upstairs to Uncle Percy's old room. There, Lily sat on the bed holding what seemed to be a defense textbook.

"Al, you ready?" James whispered from his spot in the hallway. Al nodded and walked in, disappointed that Lily didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Take a break

"I am on my way," Lily replied, as if on autopilot. Despite knowing much about the song, Al seemed encouraged by this.

There's a little surprise before supper and it cannot wait

"I'll be there in just a minute, save my plate."

Alexander

"Okay, okay," Lily said and almost seemed to put the book down before realizing that her name was not Alexander and that her brother was in the room. "Al!"

Before a lecture could start, Louis walked into the room with a grin.

"Lily, Lily, look! My name is Philip. I am a poet, I wrote this poem just to show it. And I just turned nine (teen)—you can write rhymes but you can't write mine!"

"What?!" Lily exclaimed but Louis continued as if there was no interruption.

"I practice French and play piano with my mother. I have two sisters but I'd like a little brother. Hamilton started America's first bank. Un deux trios quatre cinq!"

"Bravo," Lily rolled her eyes. "My half-French cousin can count to five in French. Is there a point?"

"Take a break," James walked in, singing. "Runaway with us for the winter, stop studying."

"James, I've got so much on my plate," Lily returned.

"We can all go stay with our father," Al cut in causing Lily to smile for the first time since break started. The line was pretty ridiculous because where else would they stay? On the street? "There's a lake I know."

"I know."

"In a nearby park"

"I'd love to go!"

"The three of us can go when the night gets dark," James added. Lily sighed and ran her hand through her hair—despite having longer hair than the two of them, Lily used to mimic everything her brothers had done. That was one of the few things that stuck.

"I will try to get away," Lily told them before trying to leave the room. Al figured she would—that's why they had Rose out in the hallway.

"Anyway all this to say, I'm coming home this winter at your brother's invitation. I'll be there with your family if you make your way downstairs. I know you're very busy, I know OWLs are important, but I'm turning seventeen and I want you there!" Rose sang, walking into the room. Sure, the lyrics weren't exact but they had figured it would be better to adlib rather than use the exact lyrics.

"Lily, come downstairs. Defense can wait!"

"You're all insane," Lily muttered, trying to get out of the room—presumably to rummage for more defense texts.

"Well, it's good to see your face," Louis chimed in, and Lily shot him a smile—one of the few times that holiday Al could remember seeing a smile on his little sister's face.

"Louis, tell this girl Uncle Percy spent Christmas with his family!"

"Louis, tell Hugo that Uncle Percy doesn't have a real job anyway!"

"You're not joining us for cake?"

"I'm afraid, I can not join you this late."

"Lily, I came all this way!"

"He came all this way!"

"All this way!"

"Take a break!" they all sang, causing Lily to burst through the blockade at the door. However, little did they know that their disappearance had been noticed by their parents and that several of them were standing in the hall—including the one man they had been trying to keep this all from.

"You know I have to pass my defense OWL!" Lily sang back, and to their surprise, blinking back tears.

"Runaway with us for the winter, let's go downstairs!" Hugo sang back.

"I'll embarrass dad if I fail my defense OWL!"

"We can all go stay with our father!"

"If you take your time, you will make your mark! Close your eyes and dream, when the night gets dark!" James took up the singing, not realizing that their father was currently staring at him as if he'd just started river dancing on the Slytherin table.

"Take a break!" all of them finished.

"I have to pass my defense OWL, I can't stop until I pass my defense OWL," Lily muttered before turning around and realizing who all had heard that performance. Before anyone could say anything, Lily turned around and raced upstairs—presumably to her Uncle Ron's room as that was the farthest room in the house.

"Okay," Hermione said after a few minutes of silence. "First off, James, you have a lovely singing voice."

"Seriously Hermione, that's the part we're going to focus on?" Harry asked, looking at his best friend as if she had three heads.

"Someone needs to explain now!" Ginny said, crossing her arms and looking at her two sons. "Usually it's Lily ambushing people with Hamilton."

"I told you we should have gone to dad, why did I listen to you?" James turned to Al.

"Gone to dad for what, James?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. Some of the parents had gone back downstairs so now it was only Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Fleur and Bill standing in the hallway. "Also, can we come in so that we're not just all standing in the hallway?"

"Harry, that was Percy's room," Bill told him. "We'd be cramped in there. Unless Lily changes her mind and decides to come downstairs, I doubt anyone's going to be bothered by us."

"Oh, alright," Harry nodded and then turned back to his son. "James?"

"I don't know."

"James Sirius—"

"No, dad, I honestly don't know!" James said quickly. Despite being an adult, the middle name still made him nervous. "All I know is what Louis knows, which isn't a lot considering all he knows is what Hugo told him."

"Hugo?" Hermione asked, looking at her son.

"Mum?"

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, moving into the bedroom to sit on the bed Lily had vacated. "Why are you writing to Louis when you could always write to us?"

"I…I wasn't sure who to go to," Hugo said, looking a little remorseful at the reminder that he really could always go to his parents. "It had to do with Lily and I didn't want to get her in trouble but at the same time, she's going berserk with studying for her defense OWL."

"That wouldn't get her in trouble," Bill chuckled. "Unless Harry's instituted a 'no studying' rule for the holidays."

"Bill, I think we should listen," Fleur told him. After the events of her son's fifth year, she knew that Lily would do anything for her son—and vice versa. Louis wouldn't have dropped everything just because of a little extra studying.

"It started after her career consultation," Hugo said, finally opening up. "It started small, maybe a bit more detail in her essays or late nights studying. I didn't really notice it. It wasn't until the last history class of term that I really noticed something was up when I didn't notice Lily in class with me."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed but Hugo pushed on.

"I came up to the common room to find Lily passed out on one of the chairs by the fire, defense notes strewn around her."

"That's how Al and I found her," Rose piped up. "Scorpius was there too but he couldn't come today—he had a family thing."

"We had no idea what was happening, dad," Al said, looking at his father; worried that he was going to get into some sort of trouble for not keeping a closer eye on his sister. "I thought Lily had changed her mind and decided to focus on being an Auror instead of choosing a career in history."

"History's her best subject and something she enjoys," Harry said, confused. "Why wouldn't she focus on that?"

"Uncle Harry, she somehow has gotten it in her head that if she doesn't become an Auror, she'll embarrass you," Rose said, trying to be as gentle as she could but no amount of tact could disguise the look of shock on Harry's face. Bill and Fleur quietly went back downstairs, realizing that they probably weren't needed at that point.

"That would explain the line 'I'll embarrass dad if I fail my defense OWL'", Ginny muttered.

"I'm never embarrassed by my kids, she has to know that!" Harry exclaimed. "Well there was that one time James decided to run naked through Kings Cross but that was when he was three."

"I did what now?!"

"Never mind," Harry said, ignoring his eldest's look of shock. "I'm going to McGonagall. Whatever professor Lily had for her consult shouldn't have even mentioned anything."

"DAD!" Al shouted, causing Harry to pause. "This is probably why Lily didn't want to say anything."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Ginny asked.

"I talked to her dorm mates," Rose said. "They told me Lily was getting maybe two-four hours of sleep a night."

"That explains her sleeping till noon her first day back," Ginny muttered as Harry stared at his niece in shock.

"She's at least eating, right?"

"To our knowledge, yes," Al nodded. "Though that's probably because of the fact that we have such a big family that one missed meal would end up in an adult's ears within the end of the day."

"Good, that's good," Harry sighed in relief. "Now all I have to worry about is a fifteen-year-old who's in danger of exam burn out because she's afraid she'll embarrass me if she doesn't pass the one subject she hates."

"Hermione, how'd you prevent exam burn out?" Ginny asked, turning to her sister-in-law.

"I was helping run an illegal defense group to prevent a homicidal dark lord or his followers from killing me, my friends or my family," Hermione reminded her.

"Oh. Right."

"There's something else you should know," Hugo said, looking unsure if he should even say it.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"She's convinced that passing her defense OWL is the only way to prevent both of you from being embarrassed by her considering, and these are her words, not mine, she can't play Quidditch and she can't write, not to mention being known as the girl obsessed with Hamilton."

Harry removed his glasses and rubbed his hand over his eyes, sinking down on Percy's bed. He couldn't believe it—Lily was supposed to keep boys a secret from him, not exam pressure!

"I need to talk to her," Harry said, getting up from the bed after a few minutes of silence.

"Harry, maybe you should wait," Hermione told him. "She might want some space."

"No, she's probably freaking out right now, worried that I'm going to tell her what she fears most, and I need to talk to my daughter," Harry told her. "Ron, what's the likelihood she's in your old room?"

"Unless she went to the attic, chances are good," Ron said, getting up and shooting a look at Hugo which everyone knew meant 'we'll talk later'. "I'll ask mum to hold off on dinner for a few minutes."

"Thanks, mate."

"You're sure you don't want me there too?" Ginny asked as the others began to make their way out of the room.

"She'd probably feel ganged up on," Harry said and pulled his wife into a hug. "Why didn't we notice something sooner?"

"We didn't want to," Ginny sighed. "I feel awful."

"Hey, we can fix this," Harry said, trying to give his wife a smile but failing. "I just hope I don't make things worse."

Turning around, Harry made his way through the familiar path to the room where he spent many summers in his childhood. There, despite the closed door that still bore the faded sign that said 'Ronald's Room', he could hear the distinct sounds of a young girl crying.

"Lily?" he asked, knocking on the door. "Can I come in?"

"Go away, dad!"

"Lily, I just want to talk," Harry said, knocking again. There was silence on the other end and Harry was ready to knock the door down until the movement of the door handle stopped him. The door opened and Harry could see the image of his distraught fifteen-year-old daughter. Knowing what he now knew, the bags under her eyes were clear as day and her skin seemed almost pale as if she had never gone outside.

"I take it they told you," Lily said, sinking down on the bed.

"About you somehow thinking you'd embarrass me if you failed your defense OWL? Yeah, they told me," Harry said, sitting down next to her.

"I just wanted to make you proud, dad," Lily said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "James is an Auror and Al's getting ready to become one too. I can't be a great Quidditch player or a writer like mum, so the only shot to not embarrass the family is to become an Auror and I can't do that because I can't seem to remember anything from defense even though I've done nothing but study defense!"

"Lily," Harry said in what he hoped was a calm tone. "You could tell me you wanted to walk around in an Elmo costume in muggle New York for a living and you'd never embarrass me. Why would being a historian instead of an Auror be the thing that would?"

Lily remained unresponsive but looked down at her hands as if they held the answers. Harry sighed.

"You've known me all your life, Lils," Harry told her. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"There was that time that you told me you and mum were wrestling—"

"Any time I lied to you other than preventing you and your brothers from being traumatized?" Harry added.

"No," Lily said after a few minutes of silence. Harry shot her a smile.

"Lily, I promise you, as long as you try your best on all your exams, I'll be proud of you," he told her. "I just want you to be happy—and right now you seem stressed and exhausted."

"You did fine on your OWLs being stressed and exhausted," Lily said in a soft voice.

"How did you know about that?" Harry asked, slightly confused. Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"Dad, I'm the history nerd of the family and you're the Boy-Who-Lived. You don't think you're mentioned in a few history texts?"

"Ah," Harry nodded, making a mental note to go over those texts and see how many were correct. "Well, I probably would have done a better job if I'd been able to have less stress throughout the year. OWLs are stressful enough without us adding extra stress. You only get so much time at Hogwarts—all you need to do is decide what to do with that time."

"Is that a paraphrased Lord of the Rings quote?" Lily asked, wiping her tears away.

"Yep!"

"Tolkien nerd," Lily muttered, throwing Harry back to their conversation in her first year.

"Hamiltrash," he muttered back, gently bumping her shoulder and causing her to giggle. "Lily, I promise you. No matter what happens, your mum and I will always be proud of you."

"Unless you decide to strip naked at Kings Cross and run around the platform," Ginny said from the doorway, startling the two of them. "Sorry to interrupt, but mum says it's time for dinner."

Lily got up and tried to wipe away the telltale signs of crying. Ginny walked forward and ran her wand over her daughter's face. "One of the few times glamor charms are permitted in this household," she said, embracing Lily in a hug. "You don't have to prove yourself to us. You don't have to prove anything to your professors. You just need to make yourself proud."

"I want to be a historian," Lily said softly after standing in silence, wrapped in her mum's hug.

"Louder."

"I want to be a historian," Lily repeated, slightly louder but still soft.

"What was that?"

"I want to be a historian!" Lily said as loud as she could, breaking out of the hug as to not deafen her mother. To her shock, her parents looked at her with grins on their faces.

"That's what we want to hear," Harry said, getting up and resting a hand on Lily's shoulder. "Now, when we get home, you're going to bed Ms. "Only get two to four hours of sleep" a night."

"Yes, dad," Lily said, shaking her head at the stress she put herself through.

"You up for celebrating or do you want to go home?" Ginny asked, wrapping a hand around her daughter's shoulders.

"I think I owe Rose, Hugo, Al, James, and Louis an apology," Lily said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I was pretty awful to them."

"Apology not needed sis," Al's voice came from the doorway and the three of them turned to see the aforementioned kids standing where Ginny had been standing a few moments ago. "I'm just happy that Uber Obsessed Lily will be behind us."

"I dunno, she did threaten to hex you on the train ride here," Rose said, chuckling at Lily's face. "Lils, I'm joking. We all knew something was going on and the lack of sleep could not have helped. Just tell us next time instead of driving yourself crazy."

"I promise," Lily nodded and went to hug her older cousin. "Thanks for putting up with me."

"You helped us with our problems," Louis told her. "Why wouldn't we help you with yours?"

Lily chuckled and went to hug her favorite cousin—sure Hugo would think he had that spot but in reality, it was Louis.

"Now come on, grandmum's going to go insane if we don't go downstairs to eat," James chimed in, causing everyone to laugh. The eight of them quickly made their way downstairs where Lily was able to finally relax and forget about the stress of OWLs.