Finally June came, and Harry and Ginny gleefully drove off to king's cross, little Lily in tow jabbering happily while planning events for her brothers' return. Her parents in the front of the car knew that it would be a shouting match in under five minutes, but her excitement was adorable, and a welcome change to the surliness Lily took on in distaste of being an only child.
As they arrived at the station the little family saw that the train must have come early, because most families had already departed. Despite this it was still difficult to find either Albus or James in the crowd. Finally, seemingly out of nowhere, James emerged from his large posse of friends and embraced lily enthusiastically.
"Next year, Sis! I've warned all my mates to watch out for you and your nasty pranks, so you'll have to be extra sneaky" Lily giggled and blushed, charmed by her brother's ever so rare praise. He turned to his parents hopefully
"Mum, Dad, Andy's asked me to his house for half the holiday. can I go? His parents already agreed, and they'll even take me there today! I'll just kip home by floo sometime in July." Lily's face fell, her plans obviously marred beyond repair. James noticed immediately.
"C'mon, pal. We can still practice your keeping in July. And Al can help in the mean time." he said, trying to coax approval out of her.
"Al's not even chaser. I'll never be on the house team at this rate." she looked like she might be on the verge of tears, and James felt like a total ass.
"Look, Lil,-"
"I'll go find Al so you can say goodbye to him" she said with a sniffle as she disappeared into another crowd.
"Do we even know Andy? or his parents?" Harry asked dubiously before looking to Ginny.
"He's right I don't know why Lily's so convinced you're going. We haven't even said yes yet." Ginny said to her son.
"Why don't you go meet Andy's parents and decide whether James can go, and I'll try and grab the other two before they've run off for good." Harry said, obviously out of sorts.
"Course," Said Ginny, amused "meet you here when you've got them?"
Harry nodded and wandered off hearing fading cries of
"You can't let Mum decide! She'll never let me out of the house….."
He searched for a very short while before discovering his daughter still fighting back tears while staring blankly at the gargantuan steam engine. He sat next to her.
"James was right, you know." he said giving her a glance "next year." he sighed with nostalgia.
"You and Mum will be home alone every day, just trying not to be too depressed without little old me" Lily joked, still trying to hide her hurt.
"Nah," replied Harry "once you and Hugo are off to school your uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione and Mum and I'll party all the time." Lily gave a feeble giggle "Hell, we'll even have Malfoy and his wife over. That is, only after we've cleared the house of nargles so Luna and her husband can join us."
Lily was nearly shrieking with laughter by the time Harry had finished talking. Her parents, partying? rubbish. They were the most boring people she'd ever met. Professor Longbottom had more fun than they did!
"He will be back in July" Harry said in a fatherly voice. He patted down a few of Lily's loose hairs.
"Yeah, but one day he won't be." She said sounding partly angry, and partly sad. "He's so much older that one day, I'll just be home for holiday and suddenly James'll be moved out. he'll get a house and a job, and I'll be left just with Al. I mean Al's great and all, but can you imagine? I'd never have fun again."
"I wouldn't be so sure." said Harry, a smile creeping across his face.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked, her curiosity piqued just enough
"Have you met his friends, Lil? They'll be dying to prank him. Al's gonna be like a fish in a barrel." Harry said smirking
"Look, there they are!" Lily said. And, sure enough, a small group of kids sauntered slowly in an undetermined direction, looking absolutely unwilling to part ways.
More like his father than his brother Al had not made a multitude of friends his first year, but rather joined a tighter-knit group. In the middle was Albus, having grown a few inches since Harry had seen him last. Next to him was a tall wiry black girl with a smile that could kill, and a cloud of black hair streaked with other colors, and on his other side a burly latino boy whose playful punch looked like it could floor a viking, and a rosy cheeked girl with jet black hair and a hint of freckles, who glared the Latino boy out of smacking the last one in the group. A fairly thin boy with more freckles than all the Weasley's combined, broken glasses, and curly auburn hair, his ratty clothes reminded Harry of a first-year Ron.
"Al! You buttwipe, get over here!" Shouted Lily. Her brother looked up in a haze of horror and amusement, and Harry and Lily could see his friends torment him as he walked toward them. He quickly hugged his father before blathering quickly to his sister
"Lil, you'll never believe how fantastic it is! I wish I could show you it now, but we'll only have to wait for September, eh? " she nodded excitedly He went on to tell them about the friends he'd made insisting that whichever one was named Theo absolutely had to visit the house sometime as he too lived in Godric's Hollow. Harry agreed and Albus went to say his last goodbyes to his friends.
Minutes later they met Ginny and James where they had parted earlier, James looking ecstatic.
"They said yeah, I'll see you in July!" he said to Al. Al, looking almost as excited as James, embraced his brother and said
"Why not wait till August?"
"Shut up, you'll be moaning for me in no time, little brother."
James gave his parents quick hugs and kisses as well as promises of letters and good behavior before kneeling before his sister
"We'll do twice as much practice as usual when I get back to make up." He said, hopefully. "And I'll write you all the time, just like when I was at school. I'll come back, Lil."
"Fine then you ugly louse. Go on." She said affectionately. James waved before Joining his friend and heading to the supply of portkeys that would take the pair to Andy's home. The rest of the family headed out to the parking lot with barely any families left (Ron and Hermione had taken Rose and Hugo out to see their Grandparents. so, they hadn't taken the train home.)
"Isn't that a friend of yours, Al?" Harry asked in reference to the auburn haired boy, who stood idly at the edge of the concrete, waiting for someone. " It's getting dark, I think maybe we should wait with him"
"Yeah, that's Theo. I asked him if he wanted a ride home earlier, but he really seemed like he didn't want to talk about it. I think maybe his parents are really strict or something."
"Yeah." Harry said, but something felt wrong as they all piled into the car, Ginny could sense it too. Halfway home it started pouring rain, and the kids began to fight again. everything was back to normal.