It was 4 pm. Time to hit the road.
As Harry whistled for Rue and opened the passenger door for the half-grown German Shepherd to jump up into the truck, he was swiftly running through his mental list to make sure he had done everything he needed to do. All doors locked, check. Rue's doggy door closed, check. All quarterly reports reviewed and approved, check. The weekend's movies selected and purchased, check. He slipped the key into the ignition and started the truck, rolling the window down so Rue could stick her head out and see the passing countryside. As he pulled around the circular driveway of the Potter estate, Harry couldn't help but admire how all his hard work had paid off.
In the three years since his unfortunately public divorce, Harry had spent more and more time at his ancestral home, fixing it up and modernizing the decades out of date estate. When he had come here the year before, he had just become aware of just how vast his inheritance really was. Before, he been Seeker for Cannons and had led them to their first League win in over a hundred years and then he had worked with Mr. Ollivander learning the wandmakers craft. But when the goblins of Gringotts started sending him letters wanting to know what they should do with all the business inquires they were getting, Harry had sat down and looked through his parent's wills for the first time. In addition to the hundred of acres in western England, several villas and a vineyard were registered to his name, as well as quite a few businesses. He had sat down one day and worked some figures, trying to find out just how much he had to his name. When the numbers finally came out right, he had sat back in shock. If his calculations were correct, then he, Harry Potter, was just as, if not more than, rich as the Malfoys. When he had discovered the deed to Potter Manor, he had immediately apparated to the coordinates. As he explored the dusty manor house that had been boarded up for over twenty years, the Man Who Lived had a series of flashes, almost like visions, of how the house should, and probably had, look. And that day, he had started renovations on the old manor.
Now, twelve long months later, it was finally finished. As the truck pulled out of the manor's gates and onto the main road, Harry watched in the rearview mirror as the gates shimmered and disappeared, becoming invisible to a muggle's curious eyes.
The ride to Holyhead was quiet, of course, since Harry's only companion was Rue. Potter Manor was a couple of miles away from Llangefni, the biggest town on Anglesey Island, the western border of the estate backed up to the wizarding village of Cambian. Holyhead was about ten miles away from Cambian, on Holyhead Island. Harry's ex-wife, Ginny Weasley lived there, as she managed the Holyhead Harpies. Harry sometimes felt a bit sorry for Ginny, she had been forced to retire after two seasons with the Harpies because of an injury sustained during the English Championship.
When the big, black truck pulled up in front of a pretty pale blue house in a quiet neighborhood in muggle Holyhead, Harry barely had time to open the door before the front door opened and slammed shut and a blur of red hair and pale skin was hurtling towards him. Harry stepped down just in time to catch the armful of excited boy and hugged him tightly.
"Hi to you too, Dan," he chuckled, squeezing the boy's shoulders. He pulled away to look him up and down. Aidan Potter was tall for his age, just like his uncles, and like all the Weasley men, his eyes shone a bright, innocent blue. He was Weasley through and through, from the pale skin, fire red hair to the multitude of freckles that covered his face and arms. The boy grinned at his father.
"Dad, Dad, you're never going to believe what happened!" Aidan exclaimed excitedly, practically hopping up and down in his excitement. The boy never stopped moving, even in his sleep. And excitement only made his overload of energy more potent. Harry smiled down at his son.
"What happened?" he asked, a bit wary. Aidan had a mischievous streak a mile wide that Harry would all but swear under oath had been nurtured by his Uncle George. Aidan smiled up at him, eyes wide in feigned innocence.
"Romula has a boyfriend!" he cried, cackling madly when the front door opened again and a young girl hurtled out of the house, screaming her brother's name at the top of her lungs. Harry stepped in front of Aidan and opened his arms. Romula skidded to a halt in front of her father and looked up at him with a mixture of anger and joy on her face that tugged on Harry's heart strings.
"I'll kill him, just you wait and see!" she cried, trying to reach behind her father to get at her little brother. "I'll murder the little bugger in his sleep!" Aidan, however, was smarter than he looked and had clambered into the truck and was sitting in the back seat, grinning cheekily at his enraged sister. Harry rubbed his lips to get rid of his smile and looked down at his daughter.
While Aidan was pure Weasley, Romula was a Potter. Her long black hair was messy, curling and tangled in a mess that exasperated the eleven year old to no end. Her eyes were the same emerald green as Harry's and shone with an intelligence that Harry was sure came from his mother. She was due to go to Hogwarts the next month and Harry was determined to spend as much time with her as he could before she left. Like him, Romula loved to fly and was a pretty decent Chaser and Seeker. But to both her parent's dismay, their daughter had an unfortunate habit of picking up stay animals and bringing them home.
"What's this about a boyfriend?" he asked, exchanging a grin with Aidan. When Romula blushed, Harry's eyebrows rose. "Well?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Romula exclaimed, stamping her foot in exasperation. "He was my partner for an English project at the end of term and he came by yesterday!" She glared at her brother. "And I'm tired of him saying that!"
"Alright, in the truck," Harry relented, going around to open the door and help her into the passenger seat. Rue was pushed into the backseat with Aidan and the boy cried out in delight at having the dog with him. Harry walked back around the truck to face his ex-wife while Romula started messing with the radio. He could hear Aidan complaining about her choice of music through the cracked driver window and smiled to himself.
Ginny handed him a few sheets of paper with extra expenses they had had during the past two weeks, Aidan had had to go to the doctor for a sprained ankle, Romula had gone to get her contacts. Harry tucked the papers in his pocket and smiled.
"Alright, I guess that's that," Ginny said, waving to the kids. "I'll be in London til Sunday afternoon, but you know how to reach me if anything comes up."
"We'll be fine Gin," Harry said as he opened the truck door and climbed in. He rolled down the window and smiled at her. "Have fun in London and tell Michael hi for me, okay?" He winked at her and started the truck again. "Don't worry, I'll load them up on sugar before I bring them back Sunday."
"Harry James Potter, if you…!" her words were lost as Harry pulled away, laughing.
I ride east every other Friday but if i had it my way
The day would not be wasted on this drive
And I want so bad to hold you
So much things I haven't told you
Your mom and me couldn't get along
So I'll drive
And I think about my life
And wonder why, That I slowly die inside
Every time I turn that truck around, right at the Georgia line
and I count the days and the miles back home to you on that Highway 20 ride
A day might come and you'll realize
that if you could see through my eyes
There was no other way to work it out
And a part of you might hate me
But son please don't mistake me
For a man that didn't care at all
And I'll drive
And I'll think about my life
And wonder why, That I slowly die inside
Every time I turn that truck around, right at the Georgia line
and I count the days and the miles back home to you on that Highway 20 ride
So when you drive
And the years go flying by
I hope you smile
If i ever cross your mind
It was a pleasure of my life
And I cherished every time
And my whole world
It begins and ends with you
On that Highway 20 ride...
This is all that is going to come from this story. I got the idea from the song "Highway 20 Ride" by the Zac Brown Band. A great song, really touching for those of us who are from divorced families. I will admit, I cried the first time I heard it. Anyway, this is dedicated to everyone who is from a divorced or separated home.