Steam billowed from the scarlet engine. All around the platform, families were bustling to and fro, loading trunks and owls into the carriages. Eager eleven-year-olds were desperately trying to work their ways out of their mothers' arms to hop on board the train. Younger siblings were crying, already missing their brothers and sisters, or were standing with their arms jealously folded.
Harry stood on his tiptoes, scanning the crowd for his in-laws while his wife and kids appeared out of thin air behind him. He turned and grinned at his family. He grabbed Ginny's hand and said, "C'mon, kids. Let's go find Rose and Hugo, shall we?" And he led the way to his two best friends.
"Ron! Hermione!" Harry called, and they turned towards him. Each smiled, then hugged Harry and Ginny in greeting.
". . . Slytherin! You're going to be in Slytherin!" James Sirius, the oldest Potter child, was chanting. Evan Regulus, the middle Potter child, was the target of these jeers.
"No, I'm not, no, I'm not!" Evan protested.
"James, knock it off," Ginny scolded.
Evan stood, pouting, his brother's words probably reverberating in his mind. Rose Weasley, Ron and Hermione's oldest walked over to Evan. "James is just being mean. And anyway, what does he know?" she said.
Harry smiled at his niece, then turned to Ron and Hermione. "We missed you at Diagon Alley!" Harry accused jokingly.
Ron grunted, then put his arm around his wife's waist pulling her closer. "Hermione here insisted I get a driver's license so I could drive today."
She giggled. "You know it's gonna be totally worth getting your license just to see the look on your dad's face when he finds out," she teased. "Besides, now we can take turns navigating on road trips." She kissed him, and he wrapped her up in a hug from behind.
"And how often do we go on road trips? Hardly ever." Ron gave Harry a fake exasperated look, then smirked at the back of Hermione's head. "And did it have to be the day Harry and Ginny went to Diagon Alley?" Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Dad!" Rose pleaded. "I need help with my trunk!" Ron pecked his wife's cheek, then lifted his daughter's heavy load. Hermione happily watched her husband help their child.
"Harry. Evan still looks upset," Ginny said. "Go talk to him." Harry looked at his son, concerned. "Evan, what's wrong?" he pried as he drew closer.
"What happens if I am sorted into Slytherin?"
Harry smiled at Evan. "What will happen is your mother and I will be very proud of you. It took a while, but I eventually realized Slytherin has good and bad people, just like every other house. If you're sorted into Slytherin, it just means you have ambition. Which, depending on your ambition, can be good or bad, but whichever it is, it's all your choice. For example, Severus Snape liked Dark Magic and chose to be a Death Eater until he suffered a loss. Then it became his ambition to bring Voldemort down as a double agent.
"On the other hand, you have Horace Slughorn who just wanted to be well-connected. He didn't care for Dark Magic at all, ever. And Teddy's grandma, Andromeda, she's a Slytherin, and she's a lovely person, don't you agree?"
"Yes," Evan smiled.
"So, you see? If you're sorted into Slytherin, it just determines what team you cheer for, what colors you wear, and which group of people you'll affect when you gain or lose points. It also determines what house you represent. Behave well, do your work, be a good friend to everyone, and you'll be a good representative of Slytherin. People who don't know yet will realize that Slytherin is not 'the bad people' house."
Evan stood, thinking, for a moment. Then he gave a small smile. "Okay."
Harry knelt down to get on eye level with his son. "One more thing. Your name is Evan Regulus for a reason. Evan for my mother, Lily Evans. And Regulus for quite possibly the bravest man I never knew. He was a Slytherin, he became a Death Eater-" Evan's eyes widened, alarmed, "-but then he realized that what he was fighting for was wrong, and he changed his mind. He tried to help defeat Voldemort, knowing he would die in the process. If that's not good and brave, I don't know what is."
Evan looked at his father, beaming. Harry smiled back. He could not have asked for a better son. He opened his mouth to say so, but was interrupted by James yelling, "Teddy was snogging Victoire!" Lily Jean, the youngest Potter, Harry and Ginny's only daughter, giggled.
"Yes! I hope they get married! Then he'll REALLY be a part of the family!" Hugo Weasley, Rose's little brother, smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Harry chuckled at the children's reactions to the thought of his godson and niece being in a relationship. He looked at his watch.
"The train's leaving soon! You'd better go!" he said to the three Hogwarts students.
"I wanna go!" Lily cried, just as Ginny had so many years before.
"Me too!" Hugo chimed in.
The four friends smiled at their children. "Two years," Ginny said. "You only have two years to wait."
Ron laughed. "You only had one year and you were mad that you didn't get to go. 'Course that's probably more because Harry Potter was attending. Hahahaha- Oof!" He rubbed his arm where Ginny had slugged him.
"You're lucky I don't use a bat-bogey hex on you," Ginny said. The adults all laughed, then turned to bid their children farewell. When it was Harry's turn to hug Evan, he whispered in the child's ear, "We'll be proud of you no matter what. I couldn't have asked for a better son. I love you." Evan tightened his grip on his father.
"I love you too."
"Don't forget to write!" Hermione called to Rose, who had already boarded the train. Harry spotted Draco Malfoy a few yards away at the same time Draco saw him. Harry waved pleasantly to his former rival and got a hesitant wave back.
Ron looked in the direction Harry waved. "Look, it's Malfoy! So that's Scorpius. Spitting image of his father, isn't he? I'll bet he's as much a git as his father, too." Hermione frowned disapprovingly at her husband.
"What are you teaching our children?"
Ron paused. "That Malfoy's a git?" Hermione whacked his arm. Ron mumbled, "I'm sure taking a lot of hits today," while Hermione turned to their daughter, who was leaning out of the window.
"You treat everyone with respect, you get me?" she said sternly. "Scorpius Malfoy has done nothing wrong to you. He deserves a chance as much as everyone else."
"I know, Mom. I'll be nice, I promise," Rose said seriously.
"Good." Hermione nodded approvingly.
The train lurched forward, beginning this year's journey for the young witches and wizards. The four friends and their youngest children waved at the older three as the locomotive gathered speed. They watched until it disappeared around a bend. Harry kissed his wife and said, "Well, shall we go?"
"Sure," Ginny said. She turned to the other two. "This gets harder every year, just a head's up." She winked.
"See you at your place," Ron said, lacing his fingers with Hermione's. "C'mon Hugo. Guess I'm driving again." Hugo grabbed Hermione's free hand.
"We'll be waiting," Ginny said.
Harry grabbed his wife's and daughter's hands and they walked onto King's Cross Station together. Harry took a deep breath and smiled. And in that moment, he couldn't have been any happier.