Early summer
"Mum, can we go to Uncle Ron's tomorrow?"
Ginny Potter thought about her son's question for a minute. Finally, she gave him the okay. James Sirius Potter ran upstairs to his room where his younger brother lay in his bed. James walked over to his side of their room and grabbed his broom and an At-Home-Quidditch set.
"Hey there little-one," Albus Severus Potter nodded to him without looking up from his Quidditch Weekly, "Do you want to go play a pick-up game of one on one?"
"Sure," Albus grabbed his broom from the side of his bed and asks, "Snitch or Quafle?"
"We'll use the quafle this time because we all know you could never beat me to the Snitch." Albus just stuck his tongue out because he knew it would be true.
Albus followed his older brother to the back porch where the youngest of the Potter children, Lillian 'Lily' Luna Potter, was reading one her older brother's textbooks.
"Lily, what are you doing?" asked James.
"I'm reading. It makes a lot of sense and it's fascinating!"
"No it's not, it's History of Magic. it's the most boring subject of them all. Just admit you're only looking at the pictures, and I'll let you look at my Care of Magical Creatures text book when I get it."
"Okay. Are you guys playing Seeker or Chaser?"
"Chaser," Albus replied quickly.
Lily jumped up and asked, "Can I play?"
James and Albus thought about it, and then agreed to let her play.
Lily ran inside, grabbed her broom and met her two older brothers up in the air where they began to pass the quafle around when their neighbors saw them and about three of them met them in the air with their brooms.
"Hey, can we play?"
"Yea, sure we'll play some keep-away."
They played with the three Potters against the other three, and the Potter children won without question. Of course, there was no way they couldn't have won because they had Quidditch in their blood. Their mom used to play professionally and their dad was the best in his time at Hogwarts. James always took after his father with his Seeker blood. James was always fast on his broom and could make sharp turns and beat anyone to anywhere, which is why he played Seeker for Gryffindor and was the youngest captain in Gryffindor history. Albus and Lily, on the other hand, took after their mother and always had great ball control. Albus planned on trying out for Chaser when he got to Hogwarts, although he probably won't make it because he would be a first year. When the game was over, the Potter children went back home to find their mother making dinner.
"Hey mum, what's for dinner?"
"Chicken and cooked veggies."
Their mouths began to water, but dinner wouldn't be ready for a while, so they all went back to their rooms. Lily went inside her room and began pretending she was using magic with a stick she made to look like a wand. James went to the bathroom and started the shower, while Albus went inside their room and sat at his desk. He pulled out a red and gold scarf that read GRYFFINDOR. He gave a little smile, put his father's old scarf in his desk drawer and he pulled out his brother's old textbooks. He began to study his Transfiguration when James walked in from his shower.
He got changed and read over Albus' shoulder and said, "It's a good thing you're studying early."
"Yea, I figured I might as well since there's nothing else to do right now."
James nodded in agreement. He walked over to his closet and put on his Quidditch jersey over his long-sleeve shirt he had on.
"So, what House do you think you'll get into?"
"Gryffindor of course!"
"I don't know, you could get into Slytherin."
"I could not!"
James just shrugged and began reading his letters he got from his friends.
The front door opened and closed and the sound of a coat being put in a closet was heard as Albus', James', and Lily's heads looked up for a split second before they all ran downstairs and greeted their father at the door.
"Dad how was work?"
"It was just fine, we didn't have a very eventful day."
Harry James Potter never talked about his work with his children. As head of the Auror Office, he had very secret information he couldn't speak about. He always said he had a very uneventful day, and yet all his children knew that they still hadn't round up all the Death Eaters, even after nineteen years.
"Honey, what smells so delicious?"
"That would be store bought chicken dear."
"Well, what ever it is, it smells amazing."
"Thank you dear."
Harry gave his wife a kiss and walked upstairs for a shower.
"Mom, why does Dad never talk about his work?"
"Because it's personal and it's none of your business mister, that's why."
"But we want to help."
"You can help after you get seven years of education and get outstanding marks on your OWLs and your NEWTs, and so far you haven't had even a year of education, so I don't think you would be of much help."
Albus facial expressions fell after his mother's remarks.
"James, honey, would you set the table?"
Lily and Albus moved over to the living room and began watching TV.
"James, set the table."
James gave a little nod of his head.
"James, I'm not going to ask you again, set the table." Ginny Potter was becoming angry.
"Yea, sure, I'll do it in a sec-"
"No, you'll set it now!"
James eventually gave up and walked back into the kitchen and set the table. Albus and Lily knew that his argument would not have succeeded. If there's one thing that all mothers had in common, especially Ginny Potter is that they never lose an argument. Eventually Harry came downstairs, nice and clean, and the entire Potter family sat down at the table, gave their prayers, and then ate. After dinner, the kids went back to trying to find something to do. One-by-one, they all fell asleep, only to wake up in the morning around 8:00 a.m. and all rush to the fireplace. They each grabbed a handful of flu-powder and headed to their Uncle Ron's house. It was on the other side of town, and it was a four-story house that was thin and tall. They had a huge back yard where there stood erect three long poles with huge rings on the tops- Quidditch hoops. When the three Potter children arrived at the Weasley house, Ron was asleep, Hermione was reading, Rose was bouncing a ball against a wall in the back yard, and Hugo was just waking up, still groggy from the night before.
"Hello, children, how have you been?"
"Hi Aunty, we've been good. Where's Uncle Ron?" asked James.
"Sleeping, like usual, but you can wake him up if you'd like." With this suggestion, James rushed upstairs to wake his favorite uncle up.
Albus, on the other hand, walked outside to where Rose was playing by herself and asked how's she been.
"Fine."
"Have you been studying at all?"
"Yea, loads! We went and got the basic books from Diagon Ally and I've been studying out of them for a while now. What about you?"
"Yea, James doesn't use his old books so he gave them to me. What do you think about Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"It sounds interesting, but I really fancy Transfiguration. Just the thought of being able to change things into another is amazing!"
"I'm not looking forward to History of Magic, though, I can tell you that much."
"I heard that everybody falls asleep in it."
"James says he doesn't mind it because he looks at it like its extra sleep."
"Exactly, which is why I'm learning how to bewitch quills to take notes for us. That way, we can sleep and yet still be able to study for the final!"
"Terrific!"
"I can't wait until we go to Diagon Ally to get our supplies."
"I know! We only have thirty more days until school starts, and we haven't gone yet. I think were going next Friday though."
"Yea, my mum said something about next Friday. Hey, do you plan on trying out for the Quidditch team this year? You are pretty good."
"Yea, but I don't think I'll make a starting chaser position. Just because James is captain doesn't mean I get special treatment. I think it will only mean he'll chose someone over me to show its not favoritism."
"You're probably right, but you can always make a reserve seat. There's always someone who gets hurt in Quidditch, and usually the really good Quidditch players were reserve players as first years."
"James wasn't. He made the team as a first year and now that Katie isn't playing this year, he's captain."
"Yea, the team is a very young team. There are two fourth year beaters, James as a third year seeker, two third year chasers, a second year chaser, and a second year keeper."
"Which means a spot won't open up for a while."
"Don't look at it like that! You don't even know that they'll be on the team again this year."
"Thanks Rosie, but I've accepted the fact that'll be on the reserve squad."
Rose smiled at him as they began talking about their thoughts of the school year again.
The one-day visit turned into a weeklong sleepover and pretty soon, next Friday came. The three children used the flu-powder to get back to their own house. They each took showers, got dressed, brushed their teeth, and then all met at the fireplace. They took turns in taking the Flu-system to Diagon Ally, where they all met up with the Weasley family.
"Albus, over here!" Rose was waving him over and he ran to his cousin. Rose Minerva Weasley was not only Albus' cousin, but also his best friend. She was book smart, just like her mother, but was not the nerd that everyone that she'd turn out to be. She was more athletic than academic. She was really good at Quidditch, but chose not to play it very much. She was a really fast runner and could jump a good distance. From the moment she was born her family, instead of teaching her magic, taught her to fight. They said that magic would come naturally to her and would be taught in school, but when the time came when she would have to fight, she should know how. When in times of danger and stress, you do not rise up to the occasion, but instead you will fall back on your training. She was always be hitting the kids who would make fun of Hugo, and was looked at like a guardian angel by Hugo. Little did she know that her athletic skills would come in handy as her life went on.
"Let's go Albus, I want to go get my wand!"
"Now, wait just a second you two. We still need to go get some gold out of Gringotts. Why don't you kids go get an Ice cream cone?"
Rose and Albus' excitement calmed down as the five children walked to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. They each got a cone and by the time they had finished, their parents had come back with sacs of gold.
"Okay kids, let's go."
Rose and Albus jumped up and ran ahead to Madam Malkin's.
Once there, they tried on robes, which took about an hour. Madam Malkin took so much time and effort in making sure that they fit just right, it began to annoy James, Albus, and Rose. Finally, she finished and they were told to come back in a few hours. They met up with their parents who were looking at hats and winter cloaks. When they realized their children were finished, they walked next door to Flourish and Blott's.
Looking at the book list, Hermione remarked, "The book list hasn't changed very much since when we were in school. The only change I can see is the transfiguration textbook from A Beginners Guide To Transfiguration by Emeric Switch to Transfiguration: A Guide for First Years by Minerva McGonagall."
Rose and Albus moved in unison toward the Standard Book of Spells section. They had a whole display of all the years so it would be easy to find. They found two copies of Grade 1 and put one in each of their caldrons. Next, they moved to the History section and found A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot. They grudgingly put them in their caldron and rushed out of that subject area into the Transfiguration section, where they grabbed professor McGonagall's book. They then ran to the Herbology section where they gabbed One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore. They got their Potions book and their Magical Theory book quickly, and then found the Defense Against the Dark Arts section. Albus spent time looking at all the books and trying to see which ones of them he could afford with the money he was allowed to spend here when Rose realized he wasn't following her to the front desk.
"Albus, hurry up."
"I'll be there in a second. Look at all these books, Rose!"
"Yea, yea, they have them in the School Library, you can check them out there and not have to pay for them."
What Rose said was true, and Albus knew that, which is why he got up and followed her to the front desk. They paid for the books and left the store. Their parents were waiting outside with their potion ingredients and tools, which left only the wand to get.
Ever since the war, Ollivander's had closed and a new wand shop opened. It was called Gorlick and Sander's. Two brothers named Gorlick and Sander, who could never compete with Ollivander but were good in their trade none-the-less, ran it. Gorlick was always the one doing the fetching for wands, while Sander was the salesman. However, Gorlick was the better wand maker and knew every old customer by name.
So when the two families walked into the shop, Sander gave his whole welcome speech, but Gorlick cut in and told Sander to go to the back because he would take care of these people.
Once Sander was out of the room, Gorlick came up to Harry and shook his hand.
"Good evening Mr. Potter." Gorlick's voice dragged on. He had a very husky voice that cackled as he talked. It was incredibly deep, and would have been thought to come from a small, ugly man but instead, Gorlick was a tall black man who wore a robe with a flipped up collar. He was very good looking but had that shy attitude that suggested he was a very lonely child.
"How have you been, Gorlick?"
"Very good, now that he's gone."
"Good, I should hope so."
"And how is your wand fitting you, young mister Potter?"
"It has treated me well the past two years. It has gotten me out of a lot of trouble," answered James.
"Good, it was made to do just that. So, I presume it is the youngest son and eldest daughter that have brought you all here today?"
"Yes, they are going in to their first year at Hogwarts this year."
"Ah, well now, for young miss Weasley…" Gorlick trailed off and walked to the back room. Five minutes later, he came back out with five different wands.
"Holley with Unicorn's tail, 9 ¼ inch, very flexible," he said, while handing the first wand to Rose. Immediately, he snatched it back and put it back into the box. He grabbed the second one, "Pine with phoenix feather, 11 inch very rigid." He immediately snatched that one back to. When it came to the third wand, Rose was started to get mad.
"Mahogany with Dragon Heartstring, 10 ½ inches, swishy."
Right when Rose held it, Gorlick stated, "That's the one."
Rose felt proud of herself as her parents paid for the wand.
"Now, for young Mr. Potter…"
Gorlick went to the back room and came back with five more wands.
"It has always taken the Potter children a long time to be chosen by their wands."
"Holly with a Unicorn tail feather, 11 ½ inches, pliable."
He gave it to Albus. When Albus held it, Gorlick was surprised.
"It's the one for him."
"You make it sound weird," commented Albus.
"That is because it is weird. It is very rare for a wizard to be picked by a wand their very first try."
"Maybe I just got lucky."
"Yes, maybe."
The Potters paid for the wand and then began walking back toward The Leaky Cauldron. Albus was just looking around when he saw something he very much wanted. It seemed like Rose wanted one too, as she had asked right after Albus did.
"Hey mom? Can I get an owl?"
The four parents looked at each other, thinking. That was when Rose commented, "Albus and I can share one, that way you can just split the cost."
Her comment seemed to help their argument because the parents agreed to it. The kids rushed into Eeylops Owl Emporium.
There were all kinds of owls there, and Rose and Albus couldn't pick one out.
"What about this one?"
"No, I don't like how small it is."
"How about this one?"
"Snowy, huh?" Albus was looking at it but then saw out of the corner of his eye one that really stuck out.
"Hey, Rose, what about this one?"
"What is it?"
"'A Great Horned Owl: they are named after the great tuffs of feather on the top of its head. They are neither horns nor ears.' I like the look of it."
"Yea so do I."
Harry came over and asked, "Is this the one you picked?"
Rose and Albus looked at each other and answered yes.
After paying for the owl, they had to think of a name for it.
After five minutes, they had decided on Godric.
Godric would be able to stay at whatever house he would like when he wanted to, so that he would have as much freedom as he possibly could. After paying for Godric, the two families walked into the Leaky Cauldron, walked to the fireplace, and used floo powder to get to their houses.
The next month passed quicker than ever and pretty soon, the Potter and Weasley families were on platform 9¾ and James was off for another year at school as Albus and Rose were off for their first real experience of magic.
Hope you like the story, i had to start it slow