Ginny pats Harry on the shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
He shakes his head solemnly and says,"I'll only be a drag, you guys go and have a good time."
The two Potter children stand near the door with their pumpkin buckets, dressed like scary creatures. Albus a zombie, and Lily a ninja.
"I really want you to come with us!" Lily drops her bucket and jumps into her daddy's lap.
Harry smiles, but it doesn't reach his cheeks "I wish I could darling, but I'm not feeling so well."
Albus goes over as well and brings a hand up to Harry's head. "You don't feel very hot," He replies in a smart manner. "You look sad."
Ginny takes her children in both hands and leads them over to the door, leaving the question unanswered. Both children pick up their buckets and head into their Muggle neighborhood.
Albus and Lily are not old enough to attend Hogwarts like James, who decided to stay for the Halloween holiday, so they still attend public school. With Halloween crawling closer it's all their classmates could talk about. Fervently Lily tried to fit in by asking what costumes people wanted to wear. Albus commented to one boy in his fifth period that werewolves were super cool. He thought of Teddy's father, because Harry talks about him quite a lot.
Ginny laughs a little looking at the costumes of the year, along with the classic vampires, ghosts, and wizards. Walking along the chilly night, she watches her children have lots of fun.
They meet some of their classmates and talk about how much candy they've collected so far, and who to get the best candy bars from. Albus walks up to one house and gets spooked by a guy behind a tree.
After four hours of the same routine walking from house to house, burning holes in their shoes, and grabbing candy from bags and shouting "Trick or Treat!" ,Lily begins to get cranky. She is only a six year old after all. Calling it quits, and asking Albus if they could return home, the boy gets a little upset, but relents.
Lily hobbles over and reaches her arms up to be held, so Ginny picks her up and carries her.
Looking up at the sky Albus pouts, did he just feel a drop of rain? He did, and it's raining so hard it feels like sharp bullets. A rumble of thunder booms and lighting flashes.
"Okay, let's get home guys and have a cocoa," Ginny says. She motions for her children to grab her arms, and she apparates home.
Upon opening the door, the family is met with a sad sight. Harry laid out on the floor in front of the fireplace, hugging a book. Not just any book, but a photo album, the one he's had since he was a child.
"Harry," Ginny states.
He swivels around to see his wife and children. "Oh. I didn't expect you guys to be back so soon."
Albus spoke up with a small voice,"I rained on us, and it's midnight."
Harry nods, looks out the window and lowers the book from his hold. Lily escaps her mum's grasp and transfers her warm body over to her father's lap and snuggles into him. This is her favorite way to sleep.
Ginny and Albus sit on the hearth rug next to him. Charming a couple of hot chocolates from the kitchen into their hands, Ginny smiles up at Harry and gives him a soft kiss. It comforts him a little, along with the warmth of the cocoa.
"Halloween is an important day for Harry, do you know why?"
Albus shakes his head, he looks interested now. Lily lifts her head a little to hear why.
Taking a deep breath Harry blurts,"It's the day my parents were killed, your Aunt Lily and Uncle James."
Both Lily and Albus seemed stunned into silence. Albus replies,"I knew you were sad. That kind of sucks, sorry dad."
Harry laughs,"It's not your fault. You guys help make it better, and remind me that I do have a family."
Albus leans over onto his father and Ginny hugs Albus. All of the Potter's cuddled into each other and fell asleep in front of the fireplace that Halloween night. It was the first Halloween Harry's ever made it through without having nightmares.