Chapter One: September First

Remus Lupin noticed that the bed next to him was empty, he rolled over and climbed out of bed, summer was over now and a slight chill had begun to creep into the early mornings. He slipped his cold feet into a pair of worn grey slippers and pulled a dressing gown made of light cotton on over the boxers and tee-shirt he'd slept in the night before.

He shuffled out of the bedroom and down the hall, he poked his head into the first ajar door and saw his youngest child, his little girl Abigail fast asleep tucked safely in between her sheets where she belonged, he looked over to the other bed where Abi's eleven year old sister Estella slept, Remus knew he would have to wake her soon, it was after all the first of September, the summer was over and school was about to start once more.

He quietly crept to the next slightly open door where the two eleven year old boys that completed their set of triplets slumbered. Seath and Orion looked so peaceful as they dreamed, of the mischief they would cause once they were back at school, no doubt, they were after all the sons of not one, but two Marauders.

The next door was closed and Remus knew that his eldest was not asleep in there, no this time he was at his Mother's house, but they would see each other at the station before the train, this would be Teddy's second to last year at Hogwarts and it made his Father feel particularly old. This year was going to be hard, it was the triplets first time to school and Remus knew that his lover was having a hard time with it, the babies they had raised were growing up and it was scary. At least little Abi would be at home with them for a few more years to come.

The aging were-wolf continued down the hall, down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen where he found his lover looking morosely out the window. Remus walked over and wrapped his arms around the wizard at the table, and kissed him on the forehead "oh Padfoot it's not that bad, you know they'll love school".

Sirius Black managed a small smile "it's not that Moony, it's just that forty-two years ago today I meet my best mate and Merlin I miss him so much" Remus could see pale tears trailing down the face in front of him, he had noticed over the years that as Sirius got older, he missed his late best friend more and more and to be honest, he did too. Both of them watching Lily and James's son grown up, watching him become a father and watching those children grow to, was amazing, that was true but also very hard and very sad knowing that the pair should be here to experience it.

"Come on Love, we've got to put on our happy faces and get our kids off to school, then after they're safely on the train; you, Abi and I can go and visit them, tell them how much we love and miss them and remember the good times and not just the bad ones"Remus pulled the other man tohis feet.

Sirius wiped the tears from his face and said "right, let's go get the midgets up" and his beautiful, mischievous smile reappeared on his face as he turned into a giant shaggy black dog and bounded up the stairs, seconds later Remus had a smile of his own as he heard the shrieks of his now awake children.

"Jeeze, Dad, gross!" Seath yelled as his dog of a rather licked his face and woke him suddenly from his sleeping state his complaints were mirrored seconds later by his brother; Orion threw his pillow at the retreating canine form of his father before falling back onto his bed in hopes of falling back to sleep.

"Oi Ry it's the first today" Seath said suddenly as it dawned on him, today they would be off to Hogwarts, Orion shot up, a big smile on his face "right you are Sea, right you are" Orion said as he scrambled out of bed and followed his brother down stairs for their last breakfast at home before they'd be off to school.

Harry Potter woke early that chilly September morning, he had children to get ready for the first day of term, he looked over at the crib where he youngest lay sleeping, it had been only a few hours since he was awake with the crying baby. He was so tired, sometimes being a single parent was harder than anything and it was lonely too.

He decided to let the baby sleep, she would wake for her bottle soon enough. Harry left his bedroom and went to the one next door, his one and a half year old daughter Milla was sitting up in her cot, waiting for her Daddy to come and pick her up.

"Dada!" the little girl demanded, lifting her arms out to him, Harry smiled at the tot "good morning Mimi, did you sleep well?" he asked as he got her up and lay her on the changing table and quickly changed her nappy, being quite not to wake his sleeping seven year old daughter Maple. It seemed that this year his custody days for the three youngest children that he shared with exes all fell on the same day, great, he would not only be busy trying to get his older children off to school, he would have his little ones under foot too.

He was almost wishing that Albus and James had chosen to stay with their mother the night before school started but they had instead chosen to be with him. His and Ginny's only little girl together, Lily, had decided to be with her Mum for her last night before her first day at Hogwarts and Harry didn't blame her, it did also mean one less child for him to get ready and he'd still be there to see her off from the platform as he had with each of his sons.

Speaking of sons, Harry carried Milla with him out of the room that she shared with her sisters and into the next room where Jamie and Al were sleeping, Harry often found himself wishing he had never put those two boys in the same room, it had been asking for trouble, his boys were so different in so many ways, James Sirius lived up to his name, he was a prankster, a Marauder to the core and a very proud Gryffindor too. Albus Severus also lived up to his name; he was a quiet and calm kid, he was cunning and very smart, not as much of a prankster but very adept at payback, he was after all a Slytherin.

Harry didn't mind how different they were, he didn't think he could handle it if Albus had turned out just like James, it would have been like raising the Weasley twins and Harry didn't think he could cope with that. He was having enough trouble with his four year old son Harrison following in his big brother's footsteps.

"Al, Jamie time to get up, you have five minutes or I'll set Harris on you" he warned, Albus climbed out of bed grumbling but James just rolled over and covered his head with his pillow, that boy was not a morning person. The last bedroom on that floor had a sleeping whirlwind known as Harrison in it and the tired father was not going to go out of his way to wake him up just yet. With Milla still on his hip he headed downstairs, he knocked on the door of the only bedroom on the first floor.

"Up Evan, back to school today" he reminded his eldest son, Evan Cedric Chang-Potter was sixteen, he was Captain of the Gryffindor Quditch team and seeker too, just like both of his parents. He was already as tall as his father, with the same messy black mop for hair. His eyes were a swirl of onyx and emerald, the shape was reminiscent of his Chinese heritage. He was a heart breaker and even if both of his parents hadn't been famous he'd undoubtedly be very popular.

"Right then Mimi, want to help Daddy make some breakfast, huh?"

"Ronald wake up, it's the first day of school" Molly Weasley said to her youngest son from the doorway, the red headed man mumbled into his pillow "don't want to go to school" and tried to go back to sleep. Molly rolled her eyes "not you, your children" she reminded him, but he didn't stir again.

Sixteen year old Violet Rhonda Weasley walked past her father's bedroom and noticed her Grandmother trying to wake the sleeping man "I'll wake him Grandma Molly" she offered, the older witch smiled at her "thank you sweet heart".

"Dad, time to get up" she didn't get much of a reply, just a few grumbles that she wasn't even sure were actually words so she decided to change her method "Dad, Lilac's pregnant" the man sat up with a start "What? How? Who?" he shouted and Violet just laughed. The man in the bed next to him also sat up.

"Ron calm down, I'm sure she's only joking" he turned to the teen "good morning Violet, are you trying to give your poor father a heart attack?" Oliver Wood asked his lover's daughter "no, of course not, I just knew that it'd wake him up" she said with a giggle.

"Why did you say Lilac was pregnant and not yourself?" he asked and she said "simple, I'm not a girly slag like Lilac and he never would have actually believed it" it was clear that the sisters didn't get along despite being identical twins, which had surprised their family, as Fred and George were inseparable.

"Violet, don't talk about your sister like that, speaking of, where is she?" he asked as his heart rate finally slowed to normal, why did he have to have so many daughters? He had three teenage daughters now, his twins with Lavender Brown and his and Hermione's daughter Rose, who was newly thirteen, but he also had three younger daughters too, his and Parvati's nine year old Vamsi Lucinda, his seven year old with Sally-Anne Perks, Annabelle Mollie and his little daughter Rhiannon Grace with Romilda Vane, the only one of his children he had primary custody of. He had six daughters and just one son, Hugo who would be off to Hogwarts for the first time today.

"She stayed at Mum's, remember? She likes that Mum is all supportive of her first day fashion freak out" the teen said, rolling her eyes. Violet was a Quditch playing tomboy who couldn't stand her twin's utter girlyness.

"Right, well I bet your Grandma has breakfast ready" Ron had changed over the years, but not that much.

Rose Weasley was up and getting ready for school bright and early, she was excited about going back, third year was going to be great, she was going to be taking Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures as her additional subjects and she was very excited, she like her mother loved to learn.

The first day of term had once been a joyful occasion for Hermione but now days she dreaded it, she would miss her children of course but it was her Husband's leaving that was hardest, especially with the newest addition to the family, Jean Myra, being only a month old. She felt like a single mother during the school term and it was hard, especially as she would be left with seven children between the ages of eight and a month old being left at home with her.

Hermione had been married twice before this one, she and Ron had married post war had had two children and decided to move on, Rose was now thirteen and going back to Hogwarts for her third year and their son Hugo who would be off for the first time. From her second marriage, to Viktor Krum she also had two children, an eight year old daughter Ana-Sofia "Sofi" and a son Matthias "Mattie" who was seven, that marriage had been a terrible one, with a very nasty ending, that had Hermione fleeing Bulgaria in secret with her children and only allowing their father supervised visits once a month during the year.

She was a step-mother to her husband, Severus's twelve year old twins Eileen and Sebastian and together she and Severus had five biological children, their first child together Severus Brian "Sevvy" was now six and best friend with his older half brother Mattie. Four year old Silas, two year old twin girls Sabrina and Rowena and of course new baby Jean.

Hermione and Severus loved their large and blended family very much but having so many children could be hard, especially on Hermione when she was left behind with the little ones during the year. Severus leaned over and kissed his wife, sometimes it was still odd to him to be married to his former student, but he loved her and she loved him.

"Good morning Luv" he said and the younger witch smiled "good morning, now hurry up, we have lot's to do today" she said as she bustled around the house making sure that all the children were up, dressed, fed and those who needed to be, packed.

Draco Malfoy hurried his children along, it was that time of year again and the single father was sad to see his two older boys go, his son Demetrius with Pansy was sixteen, he was tall, with blonde hair and grey eyes just like his father, he was the Slytherin Quditch Captain and Keeper, he was a heart breaker for sure.

Scorpius, his younger half brother who looked as much like his father as his brother was also a Slytherin and also on the Quditch team, he was a Chaser, his best friend Albus Potter was their Seeker. The unlikely friendship had surprised their fathers but the boys were so close that no one tried to interfere with friendship. Draco's Godfather Severus was close to and cared greatly for both boys and had nurtured the friendship.

"Well come on sons, we have much to do today" the tired blonde said, he was tired of being alone, tired of pining after a man who would never want him, shaking his head Draco pushed those thoughts back and went to join his mother in helping his sons get ready for the school term.

Petunia Dursley had felt sure that once her nephew was out of the house that would be the last she would think of him, of her sister and of the world that they had both belonged to, a world she could not. Her Dudders had grown up into a fine man, gone to University and was now working as a partner in the company Vernon now owned, he was married now too, his wife Marnie was lovely as were their two children, Lance who was nine and Maria who is seven.

When Dudley had grown, Petunia had wondered what she would do with her life; she had never once imagined that she would finally get the daughter she had always wished for. But that is what happened, at the age of forty-five Petunia and Vernon Dursley had welcomed a second child into the world, Daisy Marjorie Dursley.

The mother had wondered from the beginning when her daughter had opened her emerald green eyes, just like her Aunt's and Cousin's if it would mean anything about her little girl, Vernon ignored the eyes and told anyone who asked that the child had gotten them from Petunia's grandmother, which in itself was not untrue. But a mother always knows or suspects at least.

On Daisy's eleventh birthday the dreaded letter came and Petunia felt her heart break, Vernon had shut his little girl out completely upon finding out that she too was a "freak" like Lily and Harry. The little girl was so confused; she had cried her heart out into her big brother's chest.

He had said "shh Daisy, don't listen to Dad, he'll never change, but remember that I will always love you Bug". Her mother had pulled away too, she had taken the child to get her supplies, but had not gone in with her, instead getting the bar matron, Hannah Abbott to take the girl around and waiting for her safely outside in the "normal" world.

Daisy was excited to be going to school, to be getting from her father's angry words and her mother's sad eyes. She would be going to a place where she wouldn't be the different one and she was so very excited about it.

"Thanks Mum" she said as her breakfast was put in front of her. her father had gone to work early, to avoid taking her to Kings Cross station.

A/N: so what do you guys think? It's just the start, we will be following the next generation at Hogwarts and their families at home...will Hermione's third marriage survive the school year? Will Ron and Oliver be happy and get married? Will Harry finally find love? These questions and more will be answered in time.