Chapter One – Discipline above it all

The newest Daily Prophet copy was over the table when Lily Luna Potter entered the kitchen, already fully dressed. She preferred Muggle clothes rather than the weird capes wizards used. She'd woken up in a good mood this morning… until she saw the headline.

Discipline above it all: new government method stated by the Minister of Magic.

It was only a matter of time before the wizarding world would see a headline like that. Since the new Minister had stepped up, rumours had spread, people whispered about it… and there it was. What everyone had been waiting for – and fearing.

Lily's mother, Ginny Potter, was just placing the Pumpkin Juice on the table, fully set with breakfast. She was wearing her sleeping robes, her fiery hair tied up in a pony tail. The resemblance between the two of them was astonishing, bordering on scary. They had the same bright brown eyes and long red hair.

"Morning, sweetheart," Ginny said. "We're going to Diagon Alley this morning to buy school supplies. Later, there will be family dinner at your grandmother's house."

Lily nodded vaguely, her eyes focused on the newspaper. The mood had already been killed. She grabbed the Daily Prophet.

The new Minister's photo was covering an entire page. He had shoulder-length black hair and was middle-age, smiling brightly at the camera. He had convinced many people with that smile. Next to it was the article.

One week after taking the lead of the Wizarding World, Minister William Potts is now stating a new government method. Always thinking forward, the Minister has announced, during exclusive interview for The Daily Prophet, that all he sees with this new project are benefit increases.
"Twenty five years after the historical threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, our world has been quite calm," said the Minister. "However, it never was the same ever since. So, with this method, I intend to bring back the normality we used to have before You-Know-Who. I will state new laws and review the old ones. Discipline above it all!"
The Wizarding World will know whenever new laws are stated. Keep your eyes on your copies of The Daily Prophet and guarantee now your subscription with 35 nuts of discount!

When Lily finished the reading, the Minister's words were still echoing in her head. Discipline above it all. It didn't sound good.She could only think of one thing when she read those words: dictatorship.

"Reckon they didn't mention Kingsley was forced to quit," Lily observed.

"Conveniently," Ginny said. "They didn't mention a lot of things, actually. The Daily Prophet hasn't been the same after Voldemort. It was a nice place work before this new Minister, though."

"You won't quit, will you?"

"Certainly not," said Ginny. "Someone has to be there to publish non-manipulated information."

Lily smiled. "You're awesome, Mum, you really are."

Ginny, who had been the best player at the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team back in the day, now worked at the Daily Prophet as senior Quidditch reporter. She was probably the only serious journalist of that newspaper nowadays.

Harry Potter, Lily's father, entered the kitchen, just putting on a jacket. He was just putting his glasses over his bright emerald eyes. His black hair was all messy, but it wasn't because he had just woken up, it was because it was always like that.

From her father, Lily had only gotten some features. The shape of her eyes, nose and smile. It was possible to see they were related, though.

"Good morning, girls." Harry kissed Ginny on the lips and messed up Lily's hair. "What do we have for breakfast?"

"Everyone's favorites," Ginny said promptly. "Since James is coming today, I reckoned I should elaborate."

The front door opened loudly and, as if on cue, Lily's older brother passed through it. James's hair, like Harry's, was always untied, though James' was a little lighter, dark brown. His eyes were Ginny's. He was the perfect mix between his parents.

"Morning, Potters!" he announced.

As he entered the kitchen, he threw Lily one of the three letters he was carrying. Not at all gently.

"You brute," Lily grumbled.

James didn't seem to hear. He asked, "Where's Al?"

"Asleep," Harry told him. "Are these the letters from Hogwarts?"

"Yep," James answered. "And an extra one for Lily. From her boyfriend."

Lily blushed significantly. She caught a glimpse of her father's face and immediately wanted to kill James.

"I have no boyfriend, you moron," she protested. "Who sent it?"

"Scorpius Malfoy," James said with exceeded enthusiasm.

Lily rolled her eyes "He's my friend." Her heart had almost stopped when she heard Scorpius's name, though. But James didn't have to know that. He couldn't know that, or he'd never leave her alone.

"No, he's Al's friend," James corrected. "He's your… something."

The atmosphere was tense now. Scorpius was Draco Malfoy's son, an old nemesis of Harry during school years. Draco had been a Death Eater for a while, the group that used to serve Voldemort. He'd regretted it and restarted his life, but the ghost of his actions still remained.

But Scorpius was so nice. He was sweet and caring and gentle, not to mention amazingly loyal to his friends. All girls at Hogwarts fancied him. He'd met Albus, Lily's other brother, at Hogwarts and they immediately connected, even coming from different Houses and despite the rivalry between their families. Their friendship proved you could break the status quo.

Lily took a deep breath. Worst of all, James was right. She wasn't Scorpius's friend, not really. He was nice to her because she was his friend's little sister, that was it. But they exchanged letters a lot, and talked at school… That had to mean they were something, right?

"Are you going to give me that or not?" Lily pointed at the letter, still on James's hands. "After all, it's my letter. It was sent to me."

He was too busy checking the envelope. "Malfoy is a Slytherin, isn't he?" he asked, without looking up.

"So what?" Lily demanded.

The idea that all Slytherins were bad made Lily angry. The house all Potters were sorted to, Gryffindor, was supposed to be enemies with Slytherin. These days, this had mostly changed. It was rare when all four houses weren't in harmony recently. There were a few rivalries, but nothing impossible to handle.

"James, leave your sister alone," Ginny scolded. "It doesn't matter to us if she has a Slytherin friend or not. Right, Harry?"

Harry took a while to answer. He pretended to be reading The Daily Prophet to avoid it.

"Harry?" insisted Ginny.

"Right," he finally answered, though a little sharply.

James threw Lily the letter. She didn't check it at first. She didn't want to seem desperate to read it in front of James, so she opened her Hogwarts letter.

"It's quite strange," James said as he sat down at the table for breakfast. "You know. I won't receive another Hogwarts letter ever again."

James had finished his magical education the year before. Since then, he went to live at place of his own and was now working at Gringotts as a Curse Breaker. Behind all those jokes, James was pretty smart and competent.

Albus entered the kitchen then. He was about to start his seventh year at Hogwarts, two years ahead of Lily. He had received the title of Prefect on his fifth year and was a very intelligent student. Physically, it was like a seventeen-year-old Harry had just walked into the kitchen. Albus was young Harry like Lily was young Ginny. The only thing was that Albus didn't wear glasses.

"Morning," he greeted. "Have the Hogwarts letters arrived yet?"

"Here," said James, giving Albus his letter.

Albus opened the envelope and almost immediately gasped. "I'm Head Boy!" he exclaimed.

"What a surprise," James said sarcastically.

"Congrats, bro," Lily told him.

"That's great, Al," Ginny and Harry said altogether.

Then, when everyone was focused on Albus, Lily finally opened Scorpius' letter. She was willing to read it.

Dear Lily,
I'm sorry for the lack of news during the vacations. I've been traveling with my parents to Scotland. I'm really enjoying it. Dad's patience level is near zero, though. Dunno what the problem is.
Reckon this letter won't be arriving until the middle of August. Poor Jimmy has never traveled such long distance. Make sure you feed him before he leaves. I can pay you later. Anyways, I'll already wish you happy birthday, just in case. I've got your present, I bought it here in Scotland. You'll love it.
You don't need to answer this letter. I must be returning to England soon, so we can talk on September 1st.
Hope you're doing all right. Miss you.
Scorpius

Lily was happy she finally got news from Scorpius. Her fifteenth birthday had indeed been just a few days ago, and she was happy he'd remembered it. He didn't seem well, though. Something was wrong when he said she didn't need to answer the letter. And if his father's patience was low, he must've known the motives. There were some things he didn't want to tell.

"Lily, won't you eat your breakfast?"

Everyone was looking at her while she'd zoomed out. How embarrassing. She felt her face blush.

Lily tried to be casual. "Oh, yes." She grabbed the bottle of Pumpkin Juice. "Where's the owl that brought this, James?"

"I've already fed it, if that's what you're asking," he answered. "It's outside, waiting for you."

Lily stopped filling her glass with Pumpkin juice. Her hand froze midair as she stared at James. She set the bottle down and stood up, staring at James.

"You've read my letter!" she exclaimed.

"No, I–" he stammered.

"Don't lie to me!" Lily demanded.

His face was pink now, and he couldn't look Lily in the eyes. Harry, Ginny and Albus were in shock, not sure what to do.

"I'm sorry!" said James, seeming honestly ashamed. "I was curious, I–"

"Save it for yourself" Lily interrupted. "Next time, why don't you ask my friends to send their letters directly to you, so you can read them before you give them to me?"

Lily walked out of the kitchen to her bedroom upstairs. She threw herself over her bed, trying to calm herself down. Lucky she hadn't been with her wand, or she would've been expelled from Hogwarts.

As she gradually calmed down, Lily started to think she had exploded a bit too much. True, James shouldn't have read it, but… There was nothing exceptionally private on that letter. James just had chosen an inconvenient moment to be a jealous big brother. Lily was a very calm person most of the time, which was why everyone had been so shocked about the whole situation.

Lily's bedroom door opened. Nobody was there, apart from a flying package of Chocolate Frog.

"Oh, look what we have here," Lily said, amused. "Flying chocolate. What a dream come true."

James took off Dad's Invisibility Cloak and showed himself. "Reckoned you would like it." He entere the room and gave Lily the Chocolate Frog.

Lily smiled. "Thanks."

She opened the package. The frog jumped out of it and fell on the floor, getting lost in the wooden floor. Lily was more interested on the card, anyway.

Harry Potter's face was staring back when Lily turned the card over. On the back of the it was a short paragraph about him.

Harry Potter
(31/07/1980-present)
Also known as The Boy Who Lived and The Chosen One, Harry Potter became famous when he was one year old. He survived the Killing Curse, cast by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, leaving Potter with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. It later became his mark. Then, sixteen years after that, he defeated You-Know-Who himself. Harry Potter is the only wizard who has ever survived all three Unforgivable Curses. Nowadays, Mr Potter lives peacefully with his wife and children in Godric's Hollow, where his parents once lived.

It was quite strange when things like that happened. Sometimes, Lily almost forgot he was famous. But there were loads of things about him, like cards, history books and bibliographies which helped her to remember it. Lily was recognized everywhere, not as Lily Potter, but as Harry Potter's daughter. Several times she had studied about her father at school.

He was a hero to his daughter and sons, and they were proud of being his children. Harry had done exceptional things and had been through a lot. She didn't mind all the attention, it was fine. It was just surreal, having such famous father. In fact, Lily's whole family was well known in the Wizarding World.

James sat by Lily's side at her bed. "This was I hoped to be an apology gift." He sighed. "I'm sorry for reading your letter. I really am."

"Don't worry." Lily put the card over her nightstand. "It's all right, Jamie. I'm sorry too. There was nothing private on that letter. I shouldn't have been so angry."

"No," he insisted "You were right. It's just… You're my little sister. It's my job to protect you."

Lily blinked twice, to make sure it was James who was saying those words. It must've been really hard for him, James Sirius, the prankster, to show affection. Those were such rare moments, it made Lily feel important.

"Aw, come here." Lily put an arm around his shoulders. "Jamie, you're so adorable."

He grunted. "Am not."

Lily laughed. "Yeah, you are. You're a big softy." She was satisfied to find out that his ears were turning pink.

James grabbed hold of the Invisibility Cloak. He stared at it, took a deep breath. Then he handed it to his sister. "You should keep it."

"What? No!" Lily exclaimed. "It's yours, Dad gave it to you."

"I'm not gonna need it anymore," James insisted. "I'm a Gringotts employee now, not a school kid. And Albus is Head Boy, he isn't gonna need it either. He can do whatever he please. Come on, take it."

"James–"

"Stop being so silly. Take it. You'll make good use of it, I'm sure."

Lily sighed. She knew he wasn't going to give up until she took it. So she did. This must mean a lot to James, Lily realized. It had been his most treasured possession for a really long time. "I'll honor the family inheritance." She smiled at him. "Thank you."

Albus appeared by the door that very moment. He crossed his arms, leaning over the wall with a smirk. "Funny thing to say to someone you've almost hit minutes ago."

James and Lily laughed.

"I was pardoned," James announced in triumph.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, he was. We're okay now."

"You better be." Albus entered the room and sat on my bed too. "Just for the record, I know Scorpius is pretty cool, but I won't think twice about hexing him if he hurts you."

Lily laughed. "Great. I have two protectors."

"He'd better watch out, then," James observed.

All three Potter siblings hugged each other, laughing. As much as sometimes they got on her nerves, Lily loved her brothers. Despite everything, they really cared and wanted what was best for her.

"Are we interrupting anything?" someone asked.

The siblings looked around. Ginny and Harry were standing by the door holding hands, smiling, ready to go.

"Not interrupting at all," Lily said, punching jokingly her brothers' shoulders. They all laughed.

Lily let Scorpius's owl go into her room. "Don't worry, Jimmy. I'll be right back to send you home. Meanwhile, just get a rest."

The owl made a satisfaction noise.

Downstairs, the Potter family went to the living room, where was the fireplace. Beside it, was our Floo Powder.

Harry got the first handful, walked into the fireplace and threw the powder, yelling, "Diagon Alley!" And he disappeared.

Next was James, then Albus. Lily went afterward, leaving Ginny last.

Traveling by Floo Powder wasn't very comfortable. It was the only safe transport for an underage witch as Lily, though. She was the only one in my family under the age of seventeen. Quite annoying, really. And she'd rather use Floo Powder than Muggle's transports.

As soon as she got there, Lily wished I could say to whoever would come next to stay home.

Diagon Alley was chaotic.