Harry Potter had white knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel harder than he'd ever gripped anything in his life.
He couldn't believe it. Finally, after years of fighting with Ginny and the courts, his children were with him. The mere thought of it nearly brought tears to his eyes, even as he drove the car.
James was fifteen. He sat beside his father in the car, to the left of him, looking as calm as ever. His mahogany hair was dyed a minty color on top, the sides shaved down. He was tall, taller than Ron even, but he had the build of a Chaser. He wore old, ripped jeans, a Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt, and an old leather jacket; his wardrobe was everything Sirius had owned, as well as half of James the First's and a good quarter of Remus' (namely, all of the jumpers). His skin was lighter than Harry's, but he did have a healthy tan underneath small freckles. He wore his grandfather James' old glasses, and he wore blue makeup on his brows.
Albus was thirteen. He was behind James in the car, staring out the window. He'd been the most adversely affected by Ginny's newfound drinking, and Harry gathered that Al did not want to live with him. He had inherited Harry's black, messy, curly hair, but cut it similarly to James. The sides were very, very short, and the top was only a bit longer. Several stray curls fell to rest a top the shaved sides. He was a tad darker than Harry, and he had his eyes. His facial features were extremely similar to Harry's, but his chin was much sharper (like Harry's mother) and his nose was longer (like Ginny's). His eyebrows were curly as well; something Harry had always found extremely amusing. He wore his emerald green Weasley sweater with it's bright silver A and black jeans.
Lily was eleven and in the middle of the backseat, her head on Albus' shoulder, eyes closed. She had flaming red hair, the orange color of Ginny's thick, fluffy hair, and the thin and silky texture of her namesake's brilliant, crimson red hair. Her skin was the lightest shade of white, like her grandmother's, but it had an impossible amount of freckles, like Ginny. She was short like Lily and very thin like Ginny. Her eyelashes were impossibly long and her nose was upturned. She wore a light blue camisole, a purple tutu, and a pink and purple pair of fairy wings.
Harry exhaled through his nose slowly as he pulled into the driveway of his home in Godric's Hollow.
It was the house he'd been born in, the house in which his parents had died. It had been in the Potter family for as long as the had been called the Potters. Harry had fixed it up not long after he and Ginny had gotten engaged, and not long before Ginny discovered that Dean lived but a ten minutes drive away. Long ago, when the pain of divorce had been fresh in his heart, he'd blamed the house for Ginny leaving him. If they hadn't been so close...
But it was what it was. Harry and Ginny obviously weren't meant to be. Harry had moved on now. He still loved Ginny, as he always would; she was his first real love, the mother of his children, and the only person he'd ever wanted besides-
Harry cleared his throat and realized all four of them were sitting in the parked car.
"Well," Harry said, face flushing. "Let's go."
"The doors are locked," Albus said in a dull voice. Harry blinked stupidly and unlocked them.
Harry carried the sleeping Lily into the house. James and Albus walked shoulder to shoulder.
James was a Gryffindor, like Harry. He was very proud of it, but he wasn't prejudiced against the other Houses, even with as much as he knocked on them. Albus, being the brunt of many of James' Slytherin jokes, knew better than anyone that they were simply that; jokes, with no ill-will intended. Harry was surprised at how close James and Al had gotten, especially since the latter had gone off to Hogwarts. From what Harry had heard, James was Al's only friend. Albus got a lot of heat for being in Slytherin. The one time Harry had tried to defend him, Albus was furious at Harry and refused to visit him for three months. Harry never tried to interfere again.
Harry tucked Lily into her bed in the room that had once been designated as the room Sirius stayed in. He was her favorite Marauder; she found Peter terrifying, Remus nerdy, and James cheesy. She adored all of them, of course, but she absolutely fawned over Sirius. His portrait was hung in her room, though it was at present time empty. The silly girl slept soundly despite this.
After Lily was situated, Harry joined his sons in the kitchen. Albus had started washing the dishes, something he was wont to do, and James was leaning across the peninsula, eating one of the chocolate rice krispie treats Hermione had given Harry a plate of for his birthday.
"Happy belated birthday," Albus said without emotion, his green sleeves pushed up.
Albus was a Slytherin, and was surprisingly indifferent about it. He'd made it known that he wasn't the fondest of Hogwarts, and more than once James had joked about shipping him off to Ilvermorny to woo the American girls with his accent. He was very dreadful in all of his classes, with the exception of Potions. His potion skills were so good, in fact, that Ron was positive that he used the Half-Blood Prince's textbook, despite Albus' insistence that 'the only thing he had in common with Grandpa Potter was the shared opinion that Severus Snape was a no-good git.' Ron had given him an extra biscuit for that.
Harry clapped James on the shoulder.
"Thank you very much, Albus. And James, that's your desert. No more after dinner."
The Gryffindor groaned but didn't argue.
"How was your birthday, Al?"
Albus made a face. "Dean gave me five dollars, and mum offered me a swig of firewhiskey."
James looked down, face uncharacteristically solemn. He stopped chewing for a moment.
Harry looked between his sons, silently. "Well," he said quietly, thinking. "I suppose we're just going to have to make up for it, then. When your things arrive, you both pack a week's worth of things. We'll be off for a trip for Al's birthday; you don't turn thirteen twice." Al turned to look at his father, a bit surprised. Harry smiled brightly, and Al gave a small, upturned corner of mouth in return, eyes unsure. As much as Al resembled Harry, the boy was so different that Harry often forgot. Harry glanced at the clock; six oh three.
"What do you guys want?"
"Meatloaf." James said instantly.
"And mashed potatoes," Albus added.
"Corn or carrots?" Harry asked.
"Corn," a sleepy girl's voice said from the dining room's entrance.
"Corn it is,"