Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwes in the cold air. Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.
"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.
"Two years," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now!"
The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. ALbus's voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamor; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.
"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"
"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny, though Harry noticed that she had her fingers crossed behind her back. "Bloody snake people," she hissed.
"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth-"
But James caught his mother's eye and fell silent. By this point he had learned that his mother cast the best Bat Bogey hex in the world. So, wordless, he took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.
"James!" Harry called hopelessly after his son. "Drat," he said. "Molly will kill us when she gets here."
Sure enough, less than a half breath later, Molly and Arthur Weasley had appeared.
"Have to say good-bye to my favorite grandchildren!" Molly said, looking around. "Where's James?"
"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.
"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny. She considered for a moment and then amended it. "Well, your father will write every day, any way."
"Not every day," said ALbus quickly. "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."
"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Harry.
"Most of them were Howlers," Ginny added.
"And you don't' want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put it "He likes a laugh, your brother."
As the family pushed through the barrier, their vision was obscured by the smoke issuing from the Hogwarts Express. As they walked through the steam, Harry thought he heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello, especially when he heard the distinctive boom of Oliver Wood responding about Quidditch league rules needing to be changed. . .
"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny suddenly.
"Albus," Harry corrected. He hated when his wife shortened their youngest son's name. It made him sound like a plumber, instead of being named after the most powerful wizard.
A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn right up to them, although the womans' bushy hair had been distinguishable long before.
"Hi," said ALbus, sounding immensely relieved.
Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him. "Have you finished reading Hogwarts: A History?" she asked.
"urm. . .no," Albus admitted, a little shamefacedly.
"Well, don't," she whispered, avoiding her mother's eye. "It's dreadfully boring. And these robes are itchy. Don't put yours on until you absolutely have to."
"Parked all right then?" Ron asked Harry, ignoring the children. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."
"No, I didn't," said Hermione. "I had complete faith in you. And I'd already Charmed the car."
"And I still had to Confund him!" Ron whispered to harry, as together they lifted ALbus's trunk and owl onto the train. "Jeez, Harry, another owl? How many do you guys have? What's wrong with the school owls?"
"Well, they are the sons of Harry Potter," Harry pointed out. "I never used a school owl. Or a school broom."
Ron scowled.
Back on the platform, they found Lily and Hugo, Rose's younger brother, having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.
"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron. "But no pressure."
"But you didn't disinherit Daisy," pointed out Rose. "And she's in Ravenclaw."
Hermione beamed at that. "The only one of my children to inherit my brains," she said. "Daisy's already on board. She's a prefect this year."
Harry and Ginny oohed and aahed appreciately.
"Well, Ravenclaw's okay," Ron allowed. "Still. Daisy is the only Weasley in twelve generations not to be in Gryffindor. Sometimes I wonder if she's really my child. . ." here he looked suspiciously at Hermione, who just rolled her eyes. At that precise moment, a tall, skinny girl with bushels of red curly hair and freckles came bounding off the train.
"Sorry, mum, Dad," she said, quickly giving Hermione and Ron a kiss on the cheek before heading back aboard, her prefect badge shining.
"Not a Weasley, eh?" Harry said. Ron shrugged.
"I didn't say not a Weasley. Maybe she's Percy's. That would explain a lot."
"Ron!" Hermione said again. "he doesn't mean it," she said to the children, but Ron was no longer paying attention. Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.
"Look who it is."
Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, but still a brilliant beacon of light in the dark tunnel. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.
"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "What kind of a name is that, anyway?"
"Well, he is partially a Black," Hermione pointed out. "They have a tendency to draw names from Constellations. Andromeda, Sirius, Draco. . .now Scorpius."
"Oh," said Ginny. "Kind of like how all the tertiary female characters have flower names. Pansy, Petunia, Lily, Lavender, Rose. . ."
"Hey!" Rose complained.
"Make sure you beat that little ferret in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains, and your father's charm."
"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"
"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you ifyou married a pureblood."
"I love Fleur, though!" Arthur shouted from where he was standing with George's quintuplets.
Just then, little Scorpius seemed to have noticed them. He walked over with his father's familiar strut. Harry had to remind himself not to punch a little boy.
"So you're the great Potter-Weasley clan," Scorpius sneered. "My father has told me so much about you. . ." Abruptly the sneer dropped and his face burst into a bright smile. "Dad said you saved his life TWICE at the Battle of Hogwarts, and that you, Mr. Potter, were the greatest Seeker the school had ever seen and he said that Mrs. Potter was the prettiest witch in school and that Mrs. Weasley was the brightest and you. . ." his voice dropped to a hush as he looked almost reverentially at Ron. "You, Mr. Weasley, were the greatest friend my father has ever had."
He turned to Rose and ALbus, and bowed – actually bowed – in front of them! "I would be honored to number you among my friends."
"Daddy, can we be friends with him?" Rose asked doubtfully.
"Um. . .sure?" Ron responded. Harry couldn't say anything. His jaw was on the floor.
"Hey!" James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, partridge, cat, trolley, PLaystation, and portable entertainment system (Harry had a tendency to spoil his children). "Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? SNogging Victoire!"
He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.
"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"
"you interrupted them?" interrupted Ginny "you are so like Ron—"
"I'm not surprised," Ron muttered out the side of his mouth to Harry. "We are a rather incestuous bunch."
"Maybe Rose should shack up with Scorpius," Harry agreed. "Otherwise she might start looking at Albus. . ." the two friends shuddered. James, meanwhile, was still spreading his news.
"he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added, as though worried he had not made himself clear. By the looks on the adults faces, he clearly had not, and decided to throw in his ace. "The triplets are watching?"
"Your turn or mine?" Hermione sighed. "I got'em," Ron said. "You just count the rest."
As Ron ambled off, Hermione did just that, checking off names on her fingers.
"Let's see. . .Daisy is already on the train. . .Ron's collecting Bob, Rob, and Bert. . .Rose and Hugo are here with me . . .Barney, Daffodil, and Bilius are at their grandparents for the weekend. . .I think I'm missing one. . ."
"Lavender was sleeping over with Padma's daughter, remember?" Ginny said helpfully.
"Yes, thank you," Hermione sighed. "Honestly. The Weasley virility is just frightening. "
And indeed, Harry though as he looked around the Hogwarts station, almost half of the heads were red. While the adults had been trying to sort out their brood, the children were still concerned with the snogging situation.
"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"
"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry, "whenever your mother isn't cooking, really. Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"
"Yeah!" said james enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al. . .he could sleep under the stairs. . .and Teddy could have my room!"
"NO!" Harry roared, his green eyes flashing. Everyone in the room backed away. The Chosen One was known for having fits of anger. . .never a good idea to be around him when the mood struck. "NOBODY is sleeping under the stairs!"
Trying to gather himself together, he checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.
"It's nearly eleven, you'd better et on board."
"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.
"Or Minerva!" Harry added. Ron had just returned, two struggling boys under one arm, and a third under the other.
"She's still alive?" he asked in wonderment.
"Say hi to Hagrid!" Ginny threw in. "oh, and don't forget about Captain Wood!"
"Captain Wood. . ." Lily and Rose both swooned. Even Hermione looked a little misty at the mention of the famous Quidditch player-turned Flying Instructor.
"Mum!" protested James. "I can't give the professors love!"
"But you know all of them. . ."
Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus.
"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."
"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"
"I saw one last year!" Daisy piped up, poking her head out of the window. "They're very gentle creatures, though they have an egregious physical bearing."
Harry and Ginny gaped at Ron and Hermione. They'd always doubted their friends parenting tactics – Hermione thought if she locked the kids in a room with a book they'd be fine, and every now and again Ron would throw in some food – but this went beyond anything they'd ever suspected.
"Your kids have seen someone die?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, yes," Hermione said. "We took them to the city morgue once for a field trip. It was very educational."
"Also, they gave the kids lollipops," Ron piped in. "It was the best candy they'd had since Halloween."
And so, all of the children got on the train and left, except for Lily Potter, and Rob, Bob, Bert, and Hugo Weasley. All children were promptly dumped with Arthur and Molly Weasley while the Fantastic Foursome went off to do some snogging.
The End.