For the next three weeks, Lily continued her routine. Uncle Ron would come over, her parents and brothers would try to figure out where they were going, they would go to the music studio, and then Lily would learn violin and talk with Colin. James and Albus were particularly interested in where she was going.

"Is my baby sister going out on a date?" James teased her.

Lily wrinkled her nose, "James, I'm ten. And Uncle Ron wouldn't tag along on a date."

"Mmmhmm," James replied, unconvinced, and backed out of the room. He stuck his head back in to say, "I'll go tell Fred that," and then left.

Albus asked her, "Why're you trying to keep it from us?"

Lily knew she wasn't fooling him when she said, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Then tell us," Albus insisted, "Lily, I'm worried about you. You never kept secrets before."

"Maybe I kept secrets and you were never aware. You're not as great as you think, you know. I don't have to tell you everything. So just mind your own business and go play with your potions, Mr. Prodigy," Lily snapped angrily at him, hissing the last word venomously and instantly felt bad. You wouldn't understand, she thought to herself, in hopes to make herself feel less guilty

Albus, taken aback, replied, "Alright, then. I was just worried." He walked away, looking a bit hurt.

Uncle Ron saw the whole thing. She went to sit next to him on the couch and sighed. Ron glance around to make sure they were alone and then told here, "You've got to tell them."

Lily waved at him dismissively, "I'll tell them, sometime."

"Soon," her uncle pressed, "Come on, Lily, they'd be proud of you. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Lily slouched against the back of the couch and replied, "Yes, it's what I want."

"Then what's the problem? Is it still because it's a Muggle skill?"

Lily nodded and said, "Violin. I don't know if they'd be proud or not. Dad is hero, Mum and James are great at Quidditch, and Albus is great at Potions. They're things that are valued in the wizard world. But violin isn't. I bet the only one who's actually heard of violin is Dad and that's just because he was raised by Muggles. I mean, you didn't even know what it was before.

"You're right," Ron agreed, " I didn't know what a violin was. But you showed me. And I saw how wonderfully amazing you were. I'm a pureblood and I was still proud of your Muggle skill. Look, before I heard you, I never thought twice about music. But you opened my eyes to music. That's something pretty great on its own, you know."

"My birthday," Lily concluded, "I'll tell them then."

Ron leaned back in satisfaction and nodded.

"Hey, Uncle Ron?"

"Yeah?"

Lily asked something she'd been curious about for a while now, "Why are you always here?"

"What, you don't want me here?" Ron said, feigning offense, "I am hurt."

"No, you dummy," she giggled, "It's just that you're here a lot."

"Well, back when we still went to Hogwarts and were young and hip," he winked as she rolled her eyes, "and Hermione was bossy as ever, Harry stayed at my house quite a lot. His relatives weren't the nicest people around."

"I guess, in a way, I'm lucky," Lily muttered, "Even if I'm overshadowed."

Ron agreed, ruffled her hair, and Flooed away. That night, at dinner, Albus didn't meet Lily's eyes. Lily poked moodily at her peas, feeling horrible.

"So, how was your day, Lily?" her father asked.

"Yeah," James piped up, "How was your date?"

Lily crossed her arms and glared at him, "Oh, grow up. My day was great."

"You mean your date was great," James laughed, oblivious to Lily's eye rolling.

"Oh, Mum, Dad, can I invite a friend over on my birthday?"

Ginny thought about for a minute and James continued on his conquest to annoy Lily to the brink of insanity, "Is it your boyfriend?"

"No, I met him a few weeks ago. Ron likes him," Lily added, hoping that would help convince them.

"Oh, Uncle Ron! That backstabbing git," James exclaimed, "He's going after your boyfriend, Lily, and he's married and has kids. Aunt Hermione won't like this..."

"He's a wizard," Lily told them, choosing to ignore James, "His name is Colin Creevey."

"Creevey," Ginny said, glancing at Harry apprehensively, "he must be Dennis's son. He would be Colin's nephew."

Her father nodded, "He can come. How'd you meet him?"

"When Uncle Ron and I were out," Lily muttered, playing with her peas again.

"You're squishing your peas," Albus noted quietly.

"Oh yeah," Lily murmured, "I am, aren't I?"

"So, Mum," James began, "when's your next game?"

The rest of dinner was spent talking about Quidditch. Afterwards, Albus said that he was full and left the table. James and his mother continued to talk animatedly about their Quidditch teams, in which James mentioned something about Gwenog Jones loosing a bit of her touch and that Ginny should be the captain of the Hollyhead Harpies. Harry sighed and shook his head, smiling, "I'll clean up then?"

"Thanks," Ginny called back, "I appreciate it, Harry."

After helping her father get the dishes into the sink and wrapping up the leftovers, Lily headed upstairs. Her feet seemed to grow heavier with each step she took towards Albus's room. Noticing the door was cracked open a bit, Lily nudged it to open fully and stood in the doorway of Albus's room.

As many times as she had been in his room, Lily couldn't help but be amazed how much it resembled a Potions classroom (or, at least what she thought a Potions classroom would look like, since she'd never been in one). The walls were painted green with silver curtains drawn shut. Shelves lined the walls, some containing books and others containing labeled jars and flasks of potions and ingredients. Her brother's bed was shunted aside to one corner as if sleep was the least of his worries, a trunk at its foot, along with a desk that was littered with papers, quills, and textbooks. About four other desks were spread around the room, each with a cauldron simmering above an open flame. The fire extinguisher propped up next to the closet door reminded Lily of the time Aunt Hermione had first seen Albus's room this way. She'd almost had a panic attack, freaking out about fire hazards. "The kid's got to express himself somehow, Hermione," Ron shrugged casually. He didn't get why he'd need a fire extinguisher if Aguamenti was a thing.

Hermione had rolled her eyes at him, "Honestly, Ronald, what if he doesn't have his wand with him? Albus, it's great that you're so engaged in your studies, but you've got to be careful." She resolved this by having a fire extinguisher permanently reside in Albus's room. Lily had never seen him use it but she had seen Albus run out of the room with his hair sticking up, carrying the fire extinguisher and quickly rushing to find Aunt Hermione to ask her how the thing worked.

Lily watched as Albus read the labels of the jars along his shelf, muttering something under his breath.

"What are you looking for?" Lily asked. He turned around, unaware that she was in his room.

"Er," he murmured uncomfortably, "Boomslang skin."

Lily pointed to a jar on a shelf three shelves from the one he was standing next to, "There they are."

"Thanks," he replied politely. He took them to one of the cauldrons, taking a ruler and measuring cup and peered at the substance inside. Awkwardness resided in between them.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Albus asked while counting how many times he was stirring the concoction.

"Er— uh— no," Lily stuttered nervously, "Look, Albus, I just wanted to say I was sorry."

"Sorry?" Albus said with false confusion, "For what?"

"For what I said today," Lily sighed, "I didn't mean for it to come out so harshly. I get that you were just worried about me."

Albus dropped his act and nodded understandingly, "I know. Lily, I know what's up with you."

"What do you mean?"

"You feel unacknowledged," Albus stated clearly, "We've all been through what you're going through."

Lily looked at him and wondered, "Really?"

"Yes, we're the children of Harry Potter. James went through it, I went through it. Even Mum and Dad went through it," he explained, "Mum was the youngest in a family of nine and Dad had those horrible relatives making him feel worthless. Maybe it's been a bit harder for you because— well, I've seen them, Lily. 'Harry and Ginny Potter's Daughter.' 'James and Albus Potter's sister.' It's never just 'Lily Potter.' I'm sorry, Lily. I wanted to know where you and Uncle Ron were going because I was worried that you weren't taking this overshadowing business well."

A shocked Lily replied, "I'm sorry, Albus, I really appreciate that you care. But I'm taking it well. At least, I think I am. But thanks, Albus." She pulled him into a hug.

Albus chuckled, "It's fine. So are you going to tell me where you've been going? Or at least a hint?"

She thought momentarily before saying, "You know how James and Mum are with Quidditch? And Dad with being a hero? And how you are with Potions?"

Albus nodded in understanding, "Yeah. Like they're an important asset of our lives that define who we are."

"Well, I've found mine," she told him before leaving.