Struggles Of The Youngest Child

Teddy- 14 James- 8 Albus- 7 Lily- 5

One rainy, April morning, the Potter children were awakening to the smell of their mothers cooking. All three children quickly scrambled out of bed, and rushed down the fancy, twirly stairs, and quickly went through the large doors to their kitchen.

"Good morning," Ginny called as she swished her wand from where she sat at the table, reading over the Daily Prophet.

"Morning, Mum." All three children called and they too came to sit at the small kitchen table in the breakfast nook, facing the front window.

"Al, could you please set the table?" Ginny looked up from the paper and faced her middle child. Albus groaned.

"Why can't somebody else do it?" Albus whined.

"Because I asked you to." Ginny told him as she gave him her look. The look that when given, all three children, and Harry, knew she meant business. At Ginny's words, Albus rolled his eyes and moodily got to his feet and sulked over to the cupboards and drawers he'd need access too.

As this was going on, James couldn't help but snicker at his brother's misfortune.

"If it sounds so funny, why don't you help Albus?" Ginny quickly asked James.

"Okay…" James grumbled under his breath and he stood up to help his little brother out.

As James and Albus were setting the table, James glanced over at Lily, and an idea came to his mind.

"Well why can't Lily help?" James asked.

"Because I'm to wittle." Lily replied matter-of-factly. At this, James just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"You never have to do anything!" James exclaimed.

"Me and James do everything." Albus quickly agreed.

"Oh, if you're always doing everything why don't you clean up the dishes after breakfast." Ginny said idly, and she and Lily shared a look.

"Ugh, Mum!" James and Albus whined. "Do we have to?" Lily giggled.

"You just wait, Lily Potter!" James exclaimed, while shooting his little sister a death glare.

"I'm not scared of you!" Lily exclaimed.

"You better be!" Albus told her seriously.

"Well I'm not!" Lily retorted, a look of defiance on her face.

"You will be." James told her.

"Nuh-uh." Lily disagreed.

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

As James and Lily went back and forth multiple times, Harry came walking into the kitchen, dressed in his Auror robes, ready for work. When the children saw their father, all thoughts of the argument flooded from their mind.

"Daddy!" Lily ran over to Harry and hugged him tightly. Harry hugged her back, before making his way over to Ginny. He came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, Gin." He mumbled into her hair.

"Good morning, love." Ginny mumbled back.

Harry then made his way to the other side of the table and sat down next to James, whom had just barely been seated again.

"So boys, what're your plans for the day?" Harry asked his sons.

"Well me and Albus," James started to say, while putting emphasis on his brother's name, and glancing over at Lily. "Are going to ride our toy brooms."

"Oh fun." Harry told them. "What're you gonna do, Lily." Lily just shrugged.

"I don't know." She told her father in a sad voice.

"Oh I'm sure you'll find something." Harry told her with a smile.

Just then, Ginny, who had previously gotten up, came back over to the table carrying plates of food. The family idly spoke as they ate their breakfast.

As breakfast came to an end, Harry bid his family goodbye, and floo'd over to the Ministry for work.

"I'll leave you two to the dishes." Ginny said to James and Albus as she and Lily too left the kitchen.

"Yay," James mumbled in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Soon enough, the boys finished up the dishes, and found Ginny.

"Can me and Albus go outside and ride our brooms." James asked Ginny when they found her and Lily.

Ginny looked outside and found that the rain had stopped, and the sun had come out.

"Sure, but how about you include Lily?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, ummm, maybe later, bye!" James said in a rush and he and Albus darted off.

After a while of riding broomsticks, James and Albus decided they'd take a short break. They came down from the sky and took seats on a nearby log. As they sat and talked, Lily came rushing outside, her pigtails flailing around. Lily quickly rushed over to her big brothers.

"What'cha doin'?" Lily asked as she teetered on her feet.

"Quidditch stuff. Nothing you'd understand." Albus told her.

"I know about Quidditch." Lily said, a look of hope on her face.

"Yeah, sure…" Albus' voice trailed off, a smug look on his face.

"You don't even know how to ride a broom." James said.

"I will in two years." Lily said mockingly.

"Well that's forever away." Albus shot back.

"Well when I do I'll be a lot faster than you." Lily told them.

"Well you're a girl!" Albus exclaimed.

"Mummy's a girl and she played for the Harpies." Lily pointed out.

Sensing defeat, James glared at his sister and shouted,

"Just shut-up and go away!"

"I don't have to!" Lily said sternly.

"Just go away, nobody likes you!" James yelled.

"You're mean!" Lily shot back and she ran back up to the house in tears.

Only second later, Ginny swung open the door.

"James! Albus!" She yelled and both boys quickly shot up, easily detecting the madness in her voice and rushing inside.

"Why is your baby sister in tears?" Ginny asked sternly.

"Umm…"

"Um…"

"Ummm…" The two boys stuttered.

"James did it!" Albus quickly exclaimed.

"What? No I didn't!" James too exclaimed.

"You liar." Lily turned on James, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I am not a liar!" James exclaimed.

"Ya-huh!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Yah-huh!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Ya-huh!"

"Enough!" Ginny cut into their argument. "Now what happened?" Ginny added.

"Well," Lily began, her hands on her hips. "I, very nicely, walked up to them. And I, ever so nicely, asked what they were doing. And they told me to go away and that nobody liked me, and said girls can't play Quidditch."

"Girls can too play Quidditch!" Ginny exclaimed, obviously forgetting the other part of the conversation. "Who told you that?"

"Uncle Ron." Albus said defensively, trying to place the blame on someone else for once.

"Well I will be talking to him later." Ginny said. "Now back to the issue, James, why did you tell Lily to go away?"

"Because she's a girl." James answered.

"I'm a girl." Ginny said.

"So, you're my mum." James says.

"It doesn't matter if she's a boy or a girl, we'll talk about it later, now run along back outside."

After a while of riding their brooms, James and Albus decided to take another break. While sitting down, Lily comes skipping outside.

"Lily, go back inside, for the last time, you can't play with us." Albus told her.

"I don't' want to play with you. I'm just telling you that lunch I ready." Lily told them before running back inside.

"You've done it now!" James exclaimed, punching Albus' shoulder.

"Ow!" Albus exclaimed.

Harry had decided to come home for lunch, knowing that Ginny would appreciate the extra help. As Harry floo'd home, into the flooing room, he distantly heard the heartbreaking sobs of his youngest daughter. His mind wondered with curiously, and he followed the sound of the cried to find Ginny and a tear streaked face Lily, in the kitchen.

Harry walked over to Lily and kneeled down in front of her and asked,

"Lily-love, what's the matter?"

"J-ames aand A-lbus are big fat meanies!" Lily chocked out.

"And why's that?" Harry asked calmly.

"They won't let me play with them." Lily answered.

"Oh I see. How about you go into the living room and floo call Hugo, so that I can talk to your mum for a bit." Harry told her and Lily ran off, and into the living room to floo call Hugo.

Harry then took a seat next to Ginny and asked,

"What's the problem?"

"Oh Merlin, where to start…" Ginny groaned with a shake of her head.

"How about the beginning." Harry said cheekily.

"Easy for you to say." Ginny retorted.

"I'm waiting…" Harry said with his voice trailing off.

Ginny then took time to explain how the morning had gone about. Harry just shook his head and chuckled wryly.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked in exasperation.

"Oh the irony of the situation." Harry answered nonchalantly.

"Well you didn't have to put up with it all morning." Ginny told him.

"I'm sorry, love." Harry gave her a sympathetic look. "What should we do now?"

"Well the boys are sitting right outside." Ginny said cheekily. Harry just laughed, and he stood and kissed her forehead before going out back.

Once outside, Harry fixed his sons with a look and said,

"Get inside. Now."

James and Albus looked at each other in confusion and flew down to meet Harry, who led them inside. On the way inside, Albus whispered into James' ear,

"I guess Dad knows about it too." James nudged Albus in the rear with a look of 'oh-I-didn't-know' on his face.

As they made their way to the living room they over heard Lily on the floo, talking to Hugo.

"… they were just so mean to me!"

"Well Rosie's mean to me!" Hugo said.

"Well not as means as James and Albus." Lily insisted. "They're coming in here, I'll talk to you later." Lily stood up and walked over to the couch and sat down. Ginny then walked in. James and Albus sat in an armchair made fore one, trying to stay close together, and staying as far away from Harry as they could.

Harry then came in and sat down by Ginny.

"Would you boys like to start?" Harry asked.

"Start what?" Albus asked, trying to play dumb.

"The reason your little sister was crying." Harry said, and Lily smiled smugly.

"Oh, that." James pretended to remember and chuckled.

"Yeah, that." Harry said.

"Well…." James' voice trailed off.

"James was mean to me first." Lily interrupted.

"Oh, was he now." Harry said. James shot a glare at Lily and in retaliation she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, yeah, James was like so mean to her." Albus said.

"Oh what were you?" James asked, glaring at his brother.

"Well not as mean as you were!" Albus exclaimed.

"What happened to sticking together?" James exclaimed.

"Sorry, big bro." Albus murmured.

"Don't let it happen again, lil bro." James answered.

All of a sudden, Teddy walked in and exclaimed,

"Hey family!"

"Teddy, do you mind, we're trying to solve a problem." Harry answered.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm not even here." Teddy said the last bit in a whisper and sat on the other armchair quietly.

"Hey Teddy." Albus waved, hoping to get everyone's mind on something else.

"Just because Teddy's here doesn't mean the world stops." Harry said.

"My bad." Albus whispered. Teddy just laughed.

"Daddy, James and Albus were very, very mean to me." Lily said, hoping to get her family back on track.

"Lily, we weren't that bad." James whined.

"Yes you were!" Lily shot back.

"James and Albus, your behavior today was unacceptable." Harry told them, giving both of them pointed looks.

James and Albus looked at each other knowing the dreaded part of the conversation was now happening.

"Dad, we told her she couldn't play two times and she wouldn't listen! How hard is it to listen? She's always bothering us and always in the way." James said this while yelling, and inching towards the edge of his chair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! First of all, you don't speak to me like that," As Harry spoke, Teddy started to laugh loudly, and Harry turned to his eldest son. "Umm… not here?" Harry asked, giving him a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry." Teddy mumbled.

"Second, Lily is only five. Third, when I told you to include your siblings, I didn't just mean Al, you need to make time for both." Harry went on.

"She's a girl, Dad!" James jumped in. "A girl who can't play Quidditch."

"I thought I told you not to listen to your Uncle Ron!" Ginny exclaimed. Harry placed a gentle hand on her knee and said,

"They're just kids, Gin. Moving on, you could have taught her how." Harry said and Lily's eyes lit up.

"Absolutely not! She's only five!" Ginny exclaimed and Lily groaned.

"Mum…!"

"Lily, you could fall and get hurt." Harry explained to her.

"Nuh-uh! Not if Teddy's there to catch me!" Lily insisted.

"I could catch you!" James told her.

"Nuh-uh, you're not my favorite brother anymore." Lily told him.

"Who is then?" Albus asked her.

"Me!" Teddy exclaimed.

"We should all love each other equally." Harry said.

"But I'm your favorite, Dad!" James exclaimed.

"Uh-huh, yeah, sure, keep thinking that." Harry smiled.

"Okay, I will." James answered.

"No, I'm Daddy's favorite." Lily cut in. "You're his least favorites."

"Hey! What about me?" Albus exclaimed.

"Albus, I think the time has come for you to know, you were adopted." Teddy said. As Teddy finished the sentence, Albus quickly looked to Ginny with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Really?" Albus asked.

"No. Teddy just thinks he's funny sometimes." Ginny answered.

"Just keep thinking that Teddy, just keep thinking that." Harry said.

"I think you're funny, Teddy." Lily told him.

"Thanks, Lils." Teddy said.

"Are you just going to let James and Albus off the hook again?" Lily abruptly exclaimed.

"Most certainly not." Harry said.

"I thought they had forgotten," James mumbled almost inaudibly to Albus.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"If I would've wanted you to hear I would've told you." James said sassily.

"James!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Bad move, James. You're just digging yourself deeper into trouble." Teddy told James.

"I agree with Teddy." Harry said nonchalantly.

"So how long are their brooms being taken for?" Lily then decided to ask.

"No, not our brooms!" Albus exclaimed.

"Yeah, you think about this next time you pick on your little sister." Ginny told them seriously.

"Not so cool as we thought we were." Lily said in a high, singsong voice.

"Alright, alright, Lily." Harry said. "Okay boys, your brooms will be taken away for a week."

"A whole week!" Albus said in a high pitched voice.

"You wanna make it two?" Ginny asked, her voice mimicking his in tone.

"Or three?" Harry added.

"Or four?" Teddy said.

"Or five?" Lily added last.

"One is fine." James said in an assuring voice.

"That's what I thought." Ginny said.

"You're smart, Mummy." Lily said sweetly.

"Suck up." Albus murmured and Lily suck her tongue out at him.

"Oh and you're not?" Teddy asked, amusement in his voice.

"Isn't it time for you to go back to your grandmother's?" Albus asked, turning on Teddy.

"Isn't it time for you to go back to the orphanage?" Teddy asked.

"Ha-ha, you're so funny." Albus said dryly.

"Got your dad's sense of sarcasm." Ginny said with a chuckle.

"And he got his stupidness from your side of the family." Harry said, smiling at Ginny.

"Oooh, Dad said stupid…" James said.

"yeah, we don't say stupid." Ginny said.

"Teddy says stupid all the time." Lily pointed out.

"Hey Uncle Harry, let's all go outside and play Quidditch." Teddy said, trying to get the conversation away from him.

"But we can't play!" James exclaimed.

"So? You're point being…?" Harry asked.

"The point being we can't play!" James said.

"Aw, too bad for you." Harry said as he stood up.

"I'll show you how girls play Quidditch." Ginny said.

"Yeah…" Lily taunted.

"Bye, see you… whenever!" Harry said.

"See ya." James and Albus said.

Authors Notes:

We're so so so sorry it has taken us like almost two months to update! But we have been super busy this summe!

Here are the reasons:

I (Halie) went to the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter! It was awesome! Best experience of my life! .AMAZING! I want to freaking live there!

Lyric went to Lake Powell! So stupid! I missed her much! No one cares about a dumb lake! And she had her own amazing story to update!

WE also had to talk to every single night or we would die! And if we died there would be no update!

WE hope you enjoy this new chapters new chapter! Because it took us a VERY freaking long time to update!

If you like it, review!

If you do not review, you are stupid!

We will come to your house when you are asleep and cut all off your fingers! Then you won't be able to use your fingers! Because they will be gone! You have have been warned!

Non-Reviewers are DUMB, STUPID, RETARDS!

Hope you like/love our new chapter!

If you review mine, Please go to Lyric Medlie's profile and review hers too! This is a joint story! Share the love! :)

Thank you for taking the time to read!

Please have a happy day!

Lyric: I love you buckets! :)

In Potter we trust! :)

With love,

Halie! :)