Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevey had been friends since their first year but the summer before their Fourth Year they started a relationship of course that was the year when everything went to hell. Dennis's parents removed him and his brother Colin from school and they hid out in a far-flung corner of Ireland in a small town of about 1000 people, he corresponded in code with Natalie learnt about her muggle-born mother's murder and the terrible going-ons at Hogwarts. The death of his beloved older brother brought out a darker side of Dennis but it was Natalie who helped him through it, Natalie who understood what it was like to have a family member murdered, Natalie who also had a dark side brought on by her mother's murder. Natalie and her mother had practically been twins falling into that slightly strange my-mum's-my-best-friend category and when she had died Natalie had felt like a part of her was missing and Dennis knew exactly what she was talking about. He and Colin may have had their separate friends but they really were best friends and when he had died Dennis could feel his entire world come crashing down around him and it was Natalie who understood.

Ginny Weasley had been friends with Colin and after his death kept an eye on his younger brother, writing him letters and sending Christmas cards and what not. Dennis was touched to say the least, she had also lost a brother in the war and knew what it was like, and so he replied to her letters and sent Christmas cards to her also. Soon Ginny noticed that the Christmas cards were from 'Dennis and Natalie' instead of just 'Dennis'. She found out that since their school years had ended Natalie and Dennis had moved into a small flat in Peckham, Natalie was training to become a magizoologist and Dennis an auror. Dennis had wanted to be an auror since he had joined the DA in his Second Year and since the war that want had only increased. He took to writing long letters to Ginny about his training in any spare time he had between training, these letters became shorter the more intense his training became and Natalie took to writing the majority of them writing about her studies and all the creatures she had encountered. Ginny eventually stopped worrying until she received a letter in early 2002, telling of Natalie's unexpected pregnancy. Ginny wasn't one to lose her cool easily but she had felt responsible for Dennis since Colin's death and this news sent her into a panic. She spent many nights voicing her worries to Harry, "They aren't even 19 yet Harry, how are they supposed to care for a baby!" which he in turn soothed "They are very responsible for two eighteen year olds and you're forgetting that they will be 19 in a couple of months, by the time the baby is born they will be approaching their 20th birthday." And so in October 2002 Ginny received a photograph of a red faced screaming baby and his proud parents waving enthusiastically at the camera with a note attached reading 'Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevey are pleased to announce the birth of their son Colin Edward Creevey born 19th October, 15 days late after 17 hours of labour, Mother and baby doing well. P.S Thank you Ginny for your correspondence these last few years we would love it if you and Harry came to visit.' Ginny and Harry did indeed visit and brought gifts for Colin who was the image of his mother with his blonde curls and crinkled brow although Ginny was reminded of the first Colin Creevey and looking around the flat she recognised many of his photographs and other items.

After Colin's birth many expected for the young parents to marry soon but the years stretched by without so much as a mention of a wedding so when Ginny received an announcement letter in mid- 2004 she wasn't expecting a pregnancy announcement but lo and behold 6 months after the pregnancy announcement, in 2005 she received another photograph of little Colin proudly holding a screaming baby whilst his parents looked on. It had a note attached reading 'Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevey are proud to announce the birth of their second son Rupert Douglas Creevey, big brother Colin is very excited to have someone more fun to play with and to help terrorise his parents and to all those out there asking no this does not mean a wedding. Rupert arrived in the early morning of February 21st 6 days early just to make a statement. Mother and baby are both doing excellently. P.S Colin has been asking to see you and Harry and we all think that Rupert's birth means that you should visit, looking forward to seeing you.' Dennis's son was born just a few months before Ginny and Harry's own son, James. Rupert had been born with shocking red hair and alarmingly red, chubby cheeks.

Maybe they'll stop there Ginny thought but how wrong she was and once again Natalie and Ginny's pregnancies coincided and a few months after Ginny gave birth to Albus another birth announcement made its way to the Potters. 'It's a girl! Natalie and Dennis are happy to say that the Creevey family now has another female member in the form of their daughter Helen Minerva Creevey born July 18th; both of her brothers are excited to have a new sister even if they don't always show it. Mother and baby are doing great. P.S We are looking forward to your visit and meeting Albus for the first time.' And so the Potter's once again visited the small, McDonald-Creevey household to meet their new addition.

Three was a nice number of children and no one expected there to be anymore, if anything they were just waiting for an engagement announcement. Although by now they should have expected pregnancy announcements as once again, the McDonald-Creevey's were really proving their fertility prowess and in December 2007 friends and family of the McDonald-Creevey's received yet another pregnancy announcement followed by a birth announcement in September 2008. 'The twins have arrived! Daisy Victoria Creevey and Beatrice Lillian Creevey were born September 18th both weighing 8 lbs exactly (poor Natalie). Big sister Nelly is extremely excited now that the number of females now outweighs the number of males and she can't wait to play with her younger sisters once they are old enough. Mother and babies are doing fantastically. P.S We cannot wait to meet Lily and catch up. P.P.S. You should pop round more often.' And as always the Potter's travelled to the, now bigger, McDonald-Creevey house to meet the twins and catch up.

Now it should come as no surprise that Dennis and Natalie procreated once more and that 2011 a birth announcement was sent out and one find itself on the Potter's doorstep. 'Greetings from the McDonald-Creevey's! Natalie and Dennis are proud to announce the birth of their third son Lucas Nicholas Creevey, who was born on January 15th, bringing their grand total of children up to six! Mother and baby are doing well. P.S Thank you for all you have done over the years for us we cannot thank you enough, please do visit soon.'

After the birth of Lucas, Natalie and Dennis did not have any more children and their steady stream of pregnancy and birth announcements stopped replaced by letters, yearly updates and photographs of six smiling children: a boy with curly blonde hair and taller than the rest, a boy with shocking red hair, warm brown eyes and a gap toothed smile, a girl with long curly blonde hair, large brown eyes and a wide smile, two girls with dark brown hair, blue eyes and a freckled nose holding hands and laughing, a small boy with blonde hair and blue eyes his chubby hand holding on tightly to the oldest boy's own hand. It was only three years after Lucas's birth that Colin first went to Hogwarts and despite both his parents being in Gryffindor, he was sorted into Hufflepuff (his parents were still incredibly proud) Colin wasn't particularly academic although he possessed a talent for potions, he was a keen sports player and made the Hufflepuff quidditch team in his second year playing beater. He was editor of the school's newspaper 'The Hogwarts Prophet' and a member of the potions club. When he was in his third year, Rupert began his first year. Rupert was quite different to Colin, while Colin was hard-working and patient, Rupert was lazy and daring. Colin was more content to fight oppression with a well-thought out plan and a consideration of consequences whereas Rupert was more likely to run in guns blazing without a clear thought. It was no surprise the Rupert was sorted into Gryffindor. Rupert was very clever and came top of his class in almost all his lessons bar History of Magic, he however did not need to work hard to get good grades, something that made all his classmates rather envious. He struck up a close friendship with James Potter and the Weasley twins, Fred and Roxanne. In their second year James and Rupert made the Gryffindor quidditch team as chaser and seeker respectively. As Colin started his fourth year, his younger sister Nelly started Hogwarts, the same year as Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. The four became good friends on the train journey to Hogwarts and while Albus and Scorpius were sorted into Gryffindor, Rosie was sorted into Ravenclaw and Nelly into Hufflepuff. Nelly had a passion for Herbology and arguing with James Potter. The September of Colin's seventh and final year, Bea and Daisy began their first year, sorted into Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively, the latter a shock to their entire family however they got over it quickly. It made sense Daisy was ambitious and loyal, she was cunning and valued tradition and was remarkably resourceful like Lily Potter and after meeting the three became best friends quickly. As Rupert began his seventh year, Nelly her sixth and the twins their third year, Lucas began his first.

The first of September dawned, stupidly hot for the beginning of autumn, the temperature a balmy 19 degrees Celsius. The sun shone through a few clouds as Colin Creevey surveyed the ticket barrier in front of him, this was the second time he would run through this barrier to platform 9 and ¾ on the first of September and not board the Hogwarts Express. He had hoped it would get easier, he had graduated for merlin's sake, and he was training to be Healer! That was supposed to be much more exciting than school. Most of the time it was but Colin had many fond memories of Hogwarts, as many of its alumni did, it was where he grew up away from home, where he made a second family and to run through that barrier and see his sibling's excitement, well sometimes it hurt just a little too much. As he stood in thought he almost missed Rupert run past him.

"Keep up old man, you're getting slow!" He yelled as he disappeared. Colin smirked he missed his little brother a lot but he didn't miss living with him, he cleared his head of the nostalgia and ran through after his brother emerging on the other side to a familiar side. As he breathed in the distinctive smell, his sister appeared at his side.

"Never gets old huh?" She grinned up at him.

"Nope." He shook his head smiling down, it hit him that his little sister was growing into quite the young woman. Just 16, Nelly was entering her sixth year after some quite spectacular OWL results (5 Outstanding's 3 Exceeds Expectation's and 1 Acceptable) ,it was almost as if Colin had blinked and his titchy sister had grown up, well matured she hadn't grown much in height.

"Help me with my trunk would ya?" She asked already walking over to the train, he nodded and pursued her. As soon as her trunk was up she took off towards her friends giving him a quick, tight squeeze and waving goodbye. And then she was gone in the smoke, her long blonde hair trailing behind her. Almost as soon as she was gone he felt a tap in the centre of his back, turning around he saw Daisy and Bea their brown hair in identical ponytails, wearing identical shit-eating grins. They pushed their trunks towards him, he shook his head smiling slightly as he grabbed their trunks one by one and placed them on the train. They each high-fived him and hugged him tightly before leaving to join their friends, leaving Colin alone once again. It wasn't long before he felt someone creep up on him, turning around he saw his youngest brother. At 11 he possessed an air of bravado and swagger that hid just a hint of insecurity, he had a mop of blonde hair that kept falling in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but Colin was already picking up his trunk and placing it on the train.

"No need to ask, I got it." he placed the trunk on the train and turned to his younger brother.

"Are you nervous champ?"

"No." Lucas denied quickly.

"You sure? I was so nervous on my first day."

"You were?"

"Uh huh. I was practically weeing myself with nerves."

Lucas laughed and looked down at his feet.

"I might be a little bit nervous."

"Yeah?"

"I'm just nervous about . . . like what if I don't make friends or the sorting hat can't make up its mind or what if I'm in a bad house?"

"You'll make friends squirt, you had friends before so there's no reason why you shouldn't make any now, and as for your other worries, the sorting hat never makes mistakes and it always makes up its mind. And Lucas, you know there aren't any 'bad' houses right?"

"Yeah I know, I just- I don't know it's stupid."

"It's not stupid, it's okay to have worries."

"Okay well I should get on the train." Lucas cleared his throat pointing aimlessly at the train in front of them.

"Don't you think you should say goodbye to Mum and Dad first?" Colin asked in mild amusement, Lucas's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah."

Colin laughed and hugged his brother watching him walk into the smoke towards their laughing parents. He ran a hand through his blond curls suddenly feeling out of place, amongst the parents and students. He was jolted rudely from his thoughts by a sharp, piercing whistle and suddenly children were being hurried onto the train by their parents. He watched for his siblings and found them near the back of the train hanging out of the window waving excitedly at him. He grinned and waved back, as he was waving his parents joined him waving enthusiastically at the departing train until it disappeared from view. Colin turned to his mother as she slowly lowered her hand and placed it on her heart.

"All my babies are, are gone." She said sadly, Dennis put his arm around his wife.

"Yeah they are." He agreed coughing to cover up a small sob, they stood there for a second before giving themselves a little shake. The three adults turned and left the station each going their separate ways once they reached the other side.

On the train Nelly turned to Albus, who was stood next to her, nodding her head to a compartment.

"Let's go find a compartment." She said, he nodded tapping Rosie on the shoulder and motioning her after them. They walked down the corridor eventually finding one where some of their other friends already sat. Scorpius looked up as he saw them come in.

"Nice of you to join us." He remarked smiling warmly at them, pumping fists with Al who sat down next to him and hugging Nelly. He smiled shyly at Rosie who went in for a hug as he raised his hand for a high five, they met awkwardly in the middle and looked away in embarrassment. Albus and Nelly exchanged looks and rolled their eyes in unison.

"How was everyone's summer? I'm sorry I didn't write, Hermes died and Mum didn't want to buy an owl from Italy so we've only just got a new one." Lottie exclaimed. Lottie Gibson was the only child of the ever worrisome Natasha Gibson, part-time secretary to the minister of magic and full-time mother hen to Lottie.

"What's wrong with Italian owls?" Albus asked before anyone could speak.

"Something about diseases or scams I think, I wasn't really listening." Lottie replied.

"I'm so sorry Hermes died, Lottie." Nelly said rubbing her arm comfortingly.

"Well he was rather old, wasn't he? It was inevitable." Lottie said frankly. "But thanks." She said hurriedly at the affronted look on Nelly's face.

"Anyway." She continued brightly. "Mum, let me get my own owl this time." She produced a cage containing an attractive barn owl.

"Meet Artemius." Her friends oohed and ahhed appropriately at the sight.

"Anyway enough about me, back to my actual question I want to know about your summers." She said, putting the owl cage down.

"Well mine was rather uneventful." George answered, George Summers was the fourth child of Anwen and Lewis Summers, owners of 'Summers Wands' in Diagon Alley, he was quite quiet but told the most outrageous jokes.

"I thought your brother got married." Rosie interjected.

"Well yes ,and believe me I would have invited all of you if it weren't for the fact that it was 'strictly family', but that was the most exciting thing that happened in three months and even then it was only because Uncle Roger got absolutely hammered and tried to marry one of our chickens. Aside from that all I did was go on holiday with Mum and Dad to Cornwall like usual except this time it was just the three of us so it was ridiculously boring."

"Oh, did none of your brothers come with you?" Nelly asked.

"Nope." He replied popping the 'p'. "Jacob was on his honeymoon, Zachary was working and Tim is backpacking around Europe with his mates before he goes to France.

"Well my summer was fantastic." Rosie said. "Albus and I went to Egypt with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and our families. It was brilliant the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating, I actually wrote an essay for fun on them-"

"I'm sorry 'for fun'?" George asked.

"Yes. " She replied continuing her story. "And then when we got back we managed to get tickets for the Scotland vs Bulgaria quidditch world cup, which was fantastic! Although I'm not sure Mum really enjoyed it, she only really goes for the social aspect. Obviously it was my birthday, and Mum and Dad took me to see 'Matilda-The Musical' in London and then 'Into the Woods' in a wizard theatre which was very impressive and realistic. What else? Oh, I stayed with Luna and we went camping in the Hebrides and I also got a new broom." She finished excitedly.

"That sounds great, Rosie." Lottie smiled at her.

"My summer was pretty similar." Albus added. "Except there were no essays written 'for fun' or musicals."

"I can't believe you guys got to go to the world cup." Nelly sighed enviously.

"Yeah well Mum kind of has to go for her job." Albus shrugged sheepishly. "But I understand, if we get tickets to the next one you can come." He offered.

"No its okay, I went to the 2014 one so I can tick it off the bucket list besides my whole family would want to come and there are a lot of us." She laughed.

"Scorpius how was your summer?" Lottie asked eager to include their friend who had been rather quiet of late.

"So-so." He answered. "There was the world cup which was awesome like Rosie said but then we had the obligatory visit to the grandparents which consisted of my grandmother telling me how much I've grown and my grandfather telling me and my dad just how much we disappoint him. It's okay though it was only for a week and afterwards we went to Morocco, I think Dad always feels bad about it and wants to make up for it but then again I also think he just wants to be as far away as possible from them."

Scorpius never really spoke much about his grandparents so this was a rare insight.

"I though your grandfather got better after the war?" Rosie asked.

"Well yes briefly but then Dad became a healer, which was disappointment number one and then he married Mum who, to their disappointment despite being pure-blood, was a Muggle Liaison Officer- disappointment number two. Then of course I was born and didn't buy into the whole pure-blood superiority that they tried to enforce- disappointment number three and then the real kicker I was a Gryffindor, the biggest disappointment."

"You know my Dad tried to turn us against each other on our first day." Rosie remarked smiling at the memory.

"He did?" Scorpius lifted an eyebrow in amusement.

"He was joking-mostly- but he did tell me to beat you in every test."

"Well you followed through spectacularly." He laughed, she smiled back brightly and they looked away quickly. Albus clapped his hands.

"And that brings us on nicely to OWL results, something we are all dying to hear about. I'll go first to start us off. Four A's, Four E's and One O." He looked around expectantly as everyone congratulated him, his eyes landing on Rosie.

"Rosie?" He asked, she laughed awkwardly.

"I don't think everyone needs to know."

"Oh come on Rose, we all want to know." Nelly smiled encouragingly.

"eleveno'sandonee" She mumbled quickly.

"I can't hear you." Albus said loudly, Rosie's ears flushed red.

"Eleven O's and one E." She said.

"Wow Rosie that's brilliant!" George exclaimed clapping her on the back as everyone else congratulated her.

"Thank you George." She smiled humbly. "What about everyone else?" She asked keen to steer the attention away from herself.

"I got five O's, three E's and one A." Nelly announced to her friends excitement and she too was smothered in cheers and hugs.

"I got 9 A's, one E and a D." Lottie said proudly, she had always struggled with the school work and her friends too were incredibly proud, Rosie-her tutor- shed a tear at her declaration. She hugged her tightly.

"I knew you could do it." She whispered.

"Four D's, three E's and an A." George said, this wasn't unexpected, George was in no way a hard worker and had not done much work in preparation. None the less his friends were still proud and congratulated him although Rosie did have a slightly disapproving look as she hugged him. The group of friends all turned to Scorpius for his results.

"Nine O's and three E's." He answered their questioning looks.

"Wow! Scorpius that's amazing!" Rosie gushed.

"You don't need to sound so surprised." He said, Rosie's ears went red.

"I didn't mean it like that." She said quietly looking down at her hands.

"I know I'm sorry I was just teasing." He scratched his ear self-consciously and looked away whilst their friends looked at them awkwardly.

"So, Nelly." George began trying to break the silence. "Lucas started Hogwarts, how's your mum taking it?"

Nelly made a face.

"She keeps bringing out the baby photos and going all gooey eyed over how little we all were, it's even worse now that Colin moved out properly."

"Oh he's moved out for good then?" Lottie queried stroking George's cat who had been wandering around their compartment and had found his way to her lap.

"Yeah, he lives in Wood Green with a friend of his. It's a bit weird to be honest, not having him around. Rupert's loving it as he finally has his own room."

"What about you? Are you 'loving it'?" Rosie asked having gotten over her embarrassment.

"I mean I miss him, obviously, he was the sanest of us all. But, I dunno, it is quieter around the house I mean not much but still. I miss him a lot though but I'm at school most of the year so it's not that big of a deal-"

She was interrupted by the trolley lady coming round. Once they had bought enough sweets to last for a week, conversation petered off and they sat in companionable silence watching the fields fly past and the sky slowly darken to dusk. It was around this time that Rosie spoke up.

"It's getting dark now we should probably get our robes on, we'll be arriving soon."

As they were all getting up to gather their things in preparation, James Potter walked in.

"Albus." He said in greeting to his brother by clapping him on the shoulder, Albus winced. "My best bro-"

"I'm your only brother."

"My pal-"

"We're not really friends though, I just put up with you because you're my brother."

"Do you want to know what I just heard?-"

"Not really."

"I heard that you and a certain Holly Moore shared an intimate moment together this summer during the world cup."

"In other words you snogged." Lily stuck her head through the door having heard James in the corridor, her red hair falling into her eyes she blew out of her face in a disgruntled manner.

Albus blushed bright red and began stammering as Lily walked in.

"I-uh-I have absolutely no idea . . . I've never snogged anyone- well I have snogged some people but um that's not the point, I would never snog Holly- not that she isn't pretty or nice I just wouldn't do it- I don't even know how you could say that."

"Well Lily, I would say that's practically a confession wouldn't you?"

"Most definitely."

She grinned at Albus before turning and walking out, just as she left she quickly spun round.

"Nelly, Bea wanted me to tell you that Lucas is having a meltdown as he can't find his robes and she doesn't know what to do. She resorted to reciting the uses of dragon's blood to calm him down and it's not really working."

Nelly rolled her eyes.

"Alright lead me to him." She turned to her friends.

"I'll see you later yeah? Bye James." She said squeezing past James, who had a sudden slack-jawed expression on his face.

"Whoa." He breathed out slowly, whistling softly as she left her blonde her swinging behind her.

"Hey Al, when did Nelly Creevey get hot?"

"What do you mean? She was always hot." Albus replied offended on his friend's behalf and determined to defend her honour when she wasn't there to defend it herself.

"Yeah but, like, I always saw her as my friend's kid sister and my kid brother's friend and now-"

"Have you got a crush Jamie?" Albus grinned relieved the pressure was taken off him and anxious to make his brother squirm.

"Nah, just think she's fit." James grinned unfazed by Albus' attempts at teasing, he glanced at his watch. "Well then, chickies I must leave you." He sighed leaving with his usual amount of swagger. As he left Albus rolled his eyes.

"He can be so infuriating." Rosie remarked.

"Tell me about it." Albus agreed.