This was one of the first Harry Potter ideas I had, but I've only just gotten round to writing it xx I hope you enjoy - please read and review :)
"Daddy, do we have to go to Grandma's?"
Harry looked down to find his youngest son clinging tightly to his right leg. He bent down to pick him up. "Why, don't you want to go?"
"Want to stay with you." Albus pouted, green eyes sparkling tearfully as he stuck a small thumb in his mouth.
"Sorry Al, mummy and I are going out." Albus scowled. Ginny walked into the room, looking as beautiful to Harry as she had ten years ago. Ginny often disagreed, complaining about the slowly appearing frown lines. The first time she had found one, it had been lucky the children had not been in the house, what with the language she had been using.
"Baby, can you go and wait with Lily and James." Albus pouted again before slinking slowly out of the room.
"You just gave permission for world war three."
Ginny smiled. "Well, we'll have to make sure that they aren't alone for long then." Her teasing smile dropped. "Are you alright?"
Harry opened his mouth to speak.
"And don't you dare say you're fine."
His mouth closed again, almost audibly. This time he appeared to actually contemplate the question. "I don't know. Most of these people were horrible to me when I was younger. But people change. Look at Dudley. And I feel so much better not doing this on my own."
Grinning slightly his wife took his hand and led him out to the sitting room where world war three was brewing. Lily looked ready to shriek, Albus's hair was a vibrant shade of green and James was wearing a sullen expression, most likely due to his brother out witting him. Harry had a feeling his youngest son would either be a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin.
"Come on kids, Grandma's waiting." Ginny picked Lily up and took James by the hand, taking them through the Floo. Albus, knowing what his father was going to say, took Harry's hand. James seemed to feel he was getting too old to hold his father's hand.
The pair of them went through the Floo, Harry not stumbling on his way out. Arthur (as Mr Weasley had insisted Harry call him) had long since told him the secret behind staying on his feet. Ginny was already saying goodbye to their daughter and eldest son.
He hugged and kissed each of them, James half-heatedly squirming away. "Dad!"
"Be good for Grandma." He gave Lily another kiss on the head, Molly a fond smile and followed his wife back through the Floo.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to take the car?" Ginny nodded and told him they didn't use it enough without the kids. Anyway, she said, they had the time.
At about half five they both got into the car, Ginny turning back once to fetch her mobile phone in case there were any issues with the children. Hermione had worked out how to mix muggle technology and magic about five years ago and Ginny had become addicted to texting. And Facebook.
At five to six their comfortable but unloved car strolled to a stop outside a building, a sign loudly proclaiming 'Kingsbridge Primary School, Surrey', above which there was a colourful banner announcing its twenty year reunion. The iron gates were wide open.
There was a group of people standing just outside them, ushering people in, a mixture of people bother vaguely familiar to Harry and some who he'd never seen before in his life. He wrapped an arm tightly around his wife for support. She leant against him to reassure him.
Together they walked down the main corridor into the hall. Harry had neutral memories of here - hiding in an attempt to escape Harry Hunting. He couldn't be guaranteed safety here at the end of lunch.
A woman in her early fifties smiled and held out her hand. "Katherine Jones."
Ginny shook her hand, grinning back, a slight hardness in her eyes. "Ginny Potter."
Katherine visibly did a double take. "Potter?"
"Yes."
"And your husband?" She gestured to Harry, the look on her face saying she already knew what he was going to say.
"Harry Potter."
"Good lord Harry! You've grown an awful amount!"
"I suppose I would've. You taught me in year 5."
"It's so lovely to see you. And it's nice to meet you Ginny."
"Lovely to meet you too." As they strolled away, under the pretence of straightening his tie, she softly said, "Was she nice?"
"She wasn't on the Dursley's side. She used to keep Dudley in for a few minutes to give me a chance to run for it."
The hardness softened slightly. "I quite like her then." Arm in arm the pair of them walked into the main hall. "Is this normal for the size of halls in the muggle world?"
Harry shrugged. "Ask your Dad. Not me." They shook hands with several more couples, some of which visibly expressed surprise when Harry and Ginny introduced themselves.
Shortly after they arrived, both Potters, as well as everyone else, we're ushered into another room where there were rows of chairs laid out and a projector screen on the wall. The pair were invited to sit, and they did, half hidden at the back, Ginny's hair glinting in the shadows. What followed was a series of speeches about the school and its past students as well as their achievements. Some of them Harry hadn't known and some he had. Ginny sometimes whispered a question to him enquiring about the nature of that particular teacher.
Ten minutes later the lights had been dimmed entirely and a procession of photos danced across the screen, showing pictures from school trips Harry had never been on and assemblies where children had displayed their handmade work to their parents.
Harry was only in one of those pictures - the one taken on the last day of year six, hiding behind Mrs Johnson and only visible due to his mop of messy black hair.
Shortly after the presentation ended the group returned to the main hall to mingle. "Harry?"
Harry turned with a smile, giving the other man a hug. " Dudley! How have you been?"
The blonde muscular man kissed Ginny on the cheek and said, "Good. I've got that promotion next week."
"Good."
"How are the kids?"
At that statement most of the room swivelled towards them. Many of them were women who wanted children but were currently unable to afford to support a family.
"Kids?" Tiffany Bell inquired.
Harry slung an arm around his wife. "We have three, well, four."
"Four!" They were only 31 and they had four children!
"Yes. Teddy, James, Albus and Lily."
"How old are they?"
"Teddy's almost 15, James 8, Albus 6, and Lily's only 4."
"How old were you when you got married?" Sebastian Mann asked.
"I was 21."
"I was 20."
"Teddy was four."
"So you already had Teddy?"
"Yes," Harry nodded, knowing what they were thinking. "Teddy's actually my godson but his parents died when he was a month old. I shared custody with his grandmother until he was two but then she passed away. I've been raising him since."
"Where are the kids today?" Sebastian asked awkwardly.
"Jay, Al and Lily are at Ginny's mother's house."
"And Teddy is at my eldest brother's house. One of his daughters is Teddy's best friend."
"Lovely."
"And actually..." The Potters shared a conspiritual look. "We've got another one on the way."
"Congratulations!"
Dudley hugged her. "Do you know the gender?"
Ginny shook her head. "Not yet."
"What about names?"
"We're thinking Fred Alastor for a boy. Maybe Alastor Remus because we've already got a Fred in the family. For a girl perhaps something that shortens to Dora."
"Why Dora?"
"It was Teddy's mother's nickname. She was like an older sister to me but she absolutely loathed her full name. Most of the time she went by her surname Tonks."
"What was her first name?" Tiffany asked curiously.
"Nymphadora."
There was a long pause.
Harry interjected with, "I like Remus."
"Why Remus?" Ray Jordan asked.
"Teddy's father. And we've already got James Sirius," Ginny agreed.
"And you can support all of them?" Tiffany blurted out in disbelief. She knew she sounded rude but she could barely support herself, never mind a partner and four children.
Harry blushed. "Yes."
Ginny laughed. "He is modest, isn't he?" Dudley chuckled in agreement. Sebastian looked between them in puzzlement. "Harry Is very well paid."
"What do you do Harry?"
"I deal with... terrorists."
There was a long pause.
"That must be...interesting." No one really knew what to say to that.
No one was quite sure what to say.
"It's definitely that."
"And sometimes dangerous," Ginny said hardly, with a pointed look at her husband.
"How long have you been doing that for?"
"A very long time. I killed my first at 17 and helped capture 24 others."
"...Impressive?"
Another awkward silence.
"Anyway, it was nice to see you."
After that everyone else seemed to be needed elsewhere urgently and the looks that followed the Potters as they walked towards the exit reminded them how fast gossip could travel in a school - whether school aged or otherwise.
oOo
Later that evening, when both were snuggled up on the sofa having put the children to bed and said good night to Teddy, Ginny gave her husband a sly smirk.
"I told you it would be fun to see them again."
Harry smirked back. "Well, it was definitely more fun than I remember."