"Dad!" Tigerlily nearly shrieked, almost tripping over her trunk. Her family whirled around, their frowns melting into relieved grins as they rushed over to her.

    "Lily!" Dennis cried, hugging her tightly and hiding his face in her coat. Tigerlily could've sworn he was crying when he said, his voice muffled, "Dad, Tigerlily's home!"

    It was the first time her youngest brother had called her by her full name, and Tigerlily knew she'd start crying, too, if he kept it up.

    Next was Colin, who found a way to squeeze his sister into a hug from her side. "We've missed you, Tiger."

    "I've missed you, too, guys," Tigerlily sniffled, blinking away her tears. "When'd you get so big?"

    Colin laughed and so did Tigerlily, until their father caught up with them.

    "Tiger," he practically sighed with relief, his eyes brimming with tears. He closed the distance between himself and his children and trapped them all in a tight embrace. "You're home. My girl's home...Mi niña...We've missed you so much, bunny."

    "Me, too, dad," Tigerlily managed, choking up.

    Heaven knows how long the Creeveys stayed like that, a tangle of arms in the middle of King's Cross. Most people walked past without really giving them a second look, though some did seem to think they were getting in their way. But Tigerlily didn't care. She was home.

❋

    After saying hello and goodbye to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron, the Creeveys were back in the streets of muggle London.

    "Oh, dad, look!" Colin said, pointing at the window display of a little store to the right of the dingy pub. Toy trains, cars, robots, and all sort of tiny replicas of machines stacked a shelf decorated with colorful lights. "Can we go see them? You don't have to get us anything,"

    "Of course," Stephen conceded with a nod of his head. He kissed Tigerlily's head and nudged her gently, "You go ahead. I'll wait for you out here."

    Tigerlily didn't miss the flicker of disappointment in her father's eyes. She knew that deep down, he'd always wanted a different job than that of a milkman, one that could support his family and allow for little luxuries like remote-controlled trains and new clothes every season, but he could not afford to do so with three kids at home. When he was away working, Colin and Dennis immediately looked to Tigerlily for guidance. She was older, wiser, and could make really good soup as well as tend to their occasional injuries. She knew how Colin had his toast and the way Dennis liked to be tucked in for bed. The boys never felt like they lacked anything when Tigerlily was around.

    The two of them were raving over a blue robot with lights for eyes when they left the store, Tigerlily in toll with her hands on each of their shoulders so she wouldn't lose them. Outside, Stephen waited, looking inside a paper bag.

    "What's that?" His youngest son asked, looking up with squinty eyes.

    A smile appeared on Stephen's face right away, "A little something I got for us."

    Out of the bag, he pulled out a compact, thin box. It read Achtung Baby, and right away Tigerlily knew it was a CD. The one her father had talked to her about a few months back. Suddenly she was a lot more eager to get home and listen to the album for the first time, surrounded by the warmth only their living room provided.

    The train ride home was very peaceful. Colin and Dennis shared a small bag of peanuts and made up a game which consisted of counting how many red objects they could spot on the way home before it got dark while Tigerlily and her dad caught up.

    "What about your teachers?" Stephen asked, looking at his daughter intently. She'd grown too much.

    "They're nice, most of them," Tigerlily said with a nod, reading the tracklist on the back of the CD. "Just one of them's a little...I dunno, he doesn't seem to like one of my friends."

    "Who're your friends?" Stephen said, smiling.

    "Hermione, Oliver, and Neville," Tigerlily replied, looking up with a smile of her own. She could barely contain herself from letting it stretch further across her lips as she added, "And Ron and Harry, too."

    "That's wonderful, sweetheart," Stephen replied, his grin mirroring his daughter's identically. He ruffled her hair gently. "I'm glad you're having a good time at school."

    "I am," Tigerlily nodded, looking at her brothers as they giggled amongst themselves, "I just wish I didn't have to be away from you guys so long."

    Stephen's smile faded slightly.

    "Me, too, dear," he said quietly, stroking her hair softly. "Me, too."

❋

    Getting tackled to the ground was not the welcome Tigerlily had been hoping for, but it was the one she got from Marcus the moment she walked through the gated fence of her father's farm. The dog licked Tigerlily's face and barked excitedly, running around her as she regained her footing.

    "I missed you, too, buddy," She laughed, tossing him a large twig and watching him disappear in a flurry of white and brown fur as he went after it.

    Once inside the house, Tigerlily could feel her heart swelling. No magic castle on the highest mountain could ever compare to this.

    The small kitchen with a window overlooking the barn, always tidy thanks to Stephen (who actually wasn't that tidy anywhere else — quite the opposite, really). The living room, cramped but ever so cozy with its mismatched cushions and chairs. The walls were lined with photographs of the children and of Annalise. Tigerlily always felt a little sad when she looked at them but could never quite tear her eyes away. In her bedroom, she kept a picture of her mum from before she even met her father. Her hair was long and her smile radiant, a lot brighter than the summer day captured behind her. One more day like that with her mother was the one thing the only Creevey daughter could wish for.

    As Tigerlily stood in the hallway, gazing up at the photographs, her brothers rushed past her and headed straight to their shared bedroom to change into their pajamas while her father got started on reheating her favorite soup for dinner, and for the rest of that night, Tigerlily wished she could've stayed home forever.

❋

    On Christmas morning, Tigerlily was up bright and early despite the cold. She padded around her home as silently as she could, gathering her supplies. Truth was, she hadn't had the time to get her friends presents, so she resorted to handwritten notes. Picking out the colorful paper her mum always used for her scrapbook, Tigerlily headed back to her room and got started, her glittery gel pens at the ready.

    She started with Hermione, who she thanked profusely for being the only girl friend she'd made so far. She let her know she admired and looked up to her, and was happy to have someone as bright as her in her life. Along with the note, she sent an old book she'd found stashed away in a drawer, knowing her bushy-haired friend would appreciate new reading material over their holiday break.

    Next up was Neville. She asked him to please be careful and look after Trevor, as well as letting him know she was glad he had become her very first friend at Hogwarts, and how she would never, ever forget that. She sent her best to his grandmother, too.

    Then she wrote to Oliver. She thanked him for being so attentive and kind, treating her like a sister when she felt the loneliest and furthest away from home. She promised to give it her all in her Quidditch training so she could make the team and make him proud.

    And then...Tigerlily bit her nails as she considered whether or not she should write to Harry. Why wouldn't she? However, there was something stopping her, making her hand hover over the paper and keep the blue ink away from it. Finally she scribbled something quickly, wishing him a happy christmas and a great new year. She wrote the exact same to Ron so it wouldn't be suspicious and then headed outside, wrapped up in her dad's jacket and all her letters tucked under her arm.

    She trudged up the tiny hills on the farm until she got to the front gate, where she stood and waited for the mailman. Going to and from the post office would take her about an hour, so she decided that getting up a bit earlier and giving the letters to the postman directly would have to do. When he came along, she gave him a small clump wrapped in parchment paper, holding a few biscuits she'd made the night prior inside as thanks.

    Once she headed back inside, she found that her father was already up, setting up the kettle for his morning coffee. He looked up when he heard her come in.

    "Hey," he said, putting down the mug he was holding. "What're you up to this early?"

    "Morning," Tigerlily said, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the hook that sat right above her head on the hallway. "I gave the mailman the letters I wanted to send my friends for Christmas."

    Stephen smiled. How he'd managed to raise such a thoughtful, selfless child was beyond him. "That's very sweet, bunny. Merry Christmas to you, too."

    "Merry Christmas, dad," Tigerlily smiled, stepping closer to hug her father and kissing his cheek. She went over to the table and took one of her biscuits, munching on it as the sounds of her brothers waking began to fill the house.

    Soon enough they'd come barreling through the living room, tripping over the mess they had made the night before when playing with their beloved toys and start asking about breakfast. They'd all get to open their gifts and give Achtung Baby another listen, gathered around the fireplace. The day would go by pleasantly, in the same it had for the past few years, spent in each other's comfortable company, and before Tigerlily could realize it, she'd only have another week left at home before she had to go back to school, and damnit, she was already missing the place.