Harry woke up early on Sunday morning to hear the rapping of an owl's beak on his bedroom window. Ginny patted him on the shoulder, without opening her eyes, to tell him to open it and let the owl in. He sat upright, pulled the duvet back and stretched. As he flung he legs over the side of the bed, Harry yawned and grabbed his spectacles from the bedside cabinet, pushing them a little too forcefully onto his nose. The summer sun had already risen, even though the large clock on the wall opposite his and Ginny's bed told him it was just after 6am, and was streaming past the owl and through the window. The owl seemed to have a glowing haze around it. Harry got unsteadily to his feet, shook his legs a little to bring them to life and wandered over to the window where the owl continued to peck impatiently.
"Harry, let the bloody thing in." Ginny mumbled, rolling over in bed and stuffing a pillow over her head to muffle the increasing amount of taps on the window.
"I am!" Harry protested, and leant down so that he was level with the owl, "And would you pack it in? You can see I'm about to open it!"
For a moment, the owl stopped pecking but, just as defiant as before, it began gleefully pecking the glass once more and Harry swore he could hear Ginny grinding her teeth even from the other side of the bedroom.
Harry fumbled with the old, metal latch on the window and after a couple of attempts managed to flick it up. He leant his hand on the glass but when the owl didn't move, he told it,
"You'll have to shift, the window opens out."
The owl hopped a couple of inches to the right so Harry could swing the window open. The owl swooped in at once and even as close as they had been, Harry had completely misjudged how large the owl was. Its wingspan seemed to fill his and Ginny's, admittedly rather small, bedroom. It had a few letters tied to its right leg and dangling from its left was a very large package, the size of a bread bin. As the owl settled on his side of the bed, with the large parcel dangling over the edge, Harry untied it and the letters. He put the package and letters on the dresser behind him and turned back to the owl, who was sitting waiting patiently and expectantly.
"What?" he asked it and he could've swore the owl shrugged.
"What?" Ginny repeated, muffled from under the pillow.
"Not you, I'm talking to the bleeding owl." Harry replied, shaking his head in disbelief at the stubborn owl that was trying to out-stare him.
"What did it bring?" Ginny asked. Harry turned back to the dresser and riffled through the letters. There was one for James and two for Ginny. James' letter was larger than a standard one and heavier, and had what looked like a Muggle stamp on it. It seemed a little suspicious and Harry was tempted to try and open it before giving it to his son, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to successfully reseal it without James knowing it had been opened. Each of Ginny's letters had the postmark of the Daily Prophet's offices on them. The parcel was simply addressed to Harry, with no sender address on it.
"A letter for James, remind me to ask him what it is. Two for you from the Prophet."
"Probably revisions to the articles I submitted last week. Flaming pain they are, sending it on a Sunday!" Ginny complained, pulling the pillow tighter around her head, while the owl continued to wait on Harry's side of the bed.
"Oh, and a parcel for me. It's quite big actually." Harry told her.
"Well, that'll be it, won't it? If it's big, it was probably heavy and the owl will want a tip." Ginny explained.
"But they don't collect payment on Sundays." Harry whined, hoping the owl would get bored and decide to leave of its own accord.
"They do if it's something heavy, extra charges or something."
"Have you got a couple of sickles knocking around?" Harry asked, trying to remember if he had stashed any money away in their bedroom.
"Check my knicker drawer!" Ginny told him and Harry walked around the bed to Ginny's dresser. He pulled opened the top drawer and rifled through her underwear until he found four silver coins. As he turned around he noticed the owl had followed him on the bed and was eyeing the coins greedily.
"What do you want me to do? You haven't got a money pouch." Harry told the owl and it snapped its beak in response. He reached out and wedged the coins in its slightly open beak, which it immediately clamped shut to keep the coins safe. The owl bowed its head slightly in thanks and hopped back over to Harry's side of the bed.
"What are you going to do with that?" Harry asked it, as it spread its wings wide, "It's not as if owls can spend money."
The owl tilted it's head away from Harry in an almost snobbish manner, and flicked its wings up as though telling him 'That's what you think'. With a flap of its wings, the owl swooped out of the window and into the early morning air.
Harry sat down on the edge of the bed and heaved a deep sigh. It was still early and he would've loved to crawl back into bed and have at least an hour more of sleep but the incident with the owl had well and truly woken him up. He turned around to face Ginny, who had taken the pillow off her head.
"Hey, Gin, there's some nice pairs of knickers in your underwear drawer. How come I've never seen you wearing them?" he asked, with a cheeky grin. Ginny opened her eyes and even from the other side of the bed, Harry could tell she was scowling.
"Harry Potter, if I buy nice underwear, I buy it for myself. Not you, understand?" she scolded and Harry nodded sheepishly.
"Good." she said, closing her eyes again, "Anyway, what's in your parcel?"
"Huh?"
"Your parcel. You said the owl delivered a big one for you." Ginny clarified. Harry jumped back up to his feet.
"Oh that's right!" he wandered over to the dresser where he'd dropped the parcel and turned it over in his hands to inspect. It was indeed heavy and very large. Wrapped in brown paper and sealed up with basic twine, there was nothing written on it other than Harry's name and address.
"I wonder who it's from." Harry thought aloud.
"Open it then, no point wondering when it's right in front of you." Ginny told him, rolling over and squinting into the sunlight.
Harry tugged at the twine and pulled it loose, the brown paper unfolding with it. The wrapping was several layers deep and inside was a large wooden box and a letter on top. The letter wasn't written on parchment, but Muggle white paper. It was a single sheet of paper, folded in half, with Harry's name written again on the side facing up towards him. Ginny peered over from the bed, intrigued.
"Go on, have a read." she told him and Harry unfolded the letter and read aloud,
Dear Harry Potter,
I trust this finds you well.
Enclosed is a fog box. I found it on my travels and couldn't think of anyone better to have it.
Open the box and your deepest desire will appear.
What lies inside the box will only last until the clock strikes midnight.
Enjoy.
Your friend.
"Who d'you reckon that's from then?" asked Ginny, now sitting upright on Harry's side of the bed.
"No clue." Harry mumbled absent-mindedly. He picked up the box and turned it over in his hands. It was an oblong shape and made from carved wood, that had been sanded down and smoothed to perfection. There were runes that Harry didn't recognise carved into the lid and a small, silver latch held the lid closed. Harry reached to undo the latch but Ginny jumped up and caught his forearm before he could.
"Wait, don't open it!" she told him, wrestling the fog box from his hands.
"Why not?" Harry moaned, reaching to take the box back, "It said to open it."
"Oh, Harry, sometimes you are very thick, you know that? There could be anything in there! A curse, a jinx, a hex! Dragonpox! There could even be a very small, very angry owl in there waiting to peck you to death!"
"It didn't sound like there was an owl in there," Harry countered, still reaching for the box, which Ginny was now holding over her head, "Plus, the letter was signed 'Your Friend'."
"Which is exactly what your enemy would sign a letter with. Especially if they'd just sent you a deadly weapon." Ginny explained, placing the box down on her bedside cabinet.
"Honestly," Ginny went on, "I don't know how you managed to get a job at the Ministry!"
"Oi! And what do you want to do with it then? Destroy it?"
"Hardly," Ginny sniffed, "Hermione and Ron are coming over for lunch, we can let them have a look at it and see what they think."
Harry nodded slowly. It probably was a good idea to let someone else inspect the box before he opened it and unleashed some horrible monster or curse on his entire family. For all Harry knew, there was a Dementor jammed deep inside the box, waiting to glide out and suck the soul right out of him.
"Anyway, what's in James' letter?" Ginny asked, looking very eager, "Chuck it here, I'll open it!"
Hermione and Ron arrived at Ginny and Harry's house shortly after noon with Rose and Hugo in tow. Hugo had a poorly stomach and was looking less than happy to have been dragged out of the house and Ron looked rather guilty. He whispered in Harry's ear that Hugo had gotten up in the middle of the night for a snack and Ron had made him some toast, but he suspected the bread had gone mouldy after Hugo ate it. He had made Hugo promise not to tell Hermione in exchange for a brand new toy broomstick and a fishing trip with him and Granddad Weasley. Harry knew for a fact that Ron despised Muggle fishing, so he must've been feeling particularly bad to have offered to go. In fact, Harry quite thought Hugo had ended up coming out quite well off. Not only was he getting a toy broomstick and a fishing trip but he spent the majority of the day being swarmed by kisses and cuddles from Hermione and Ginny. The only downside was feeling unwell, which probably wasn't helped by the strange smelling tea that Hermione kept making Hugo drink.
Both Hermione and Ron were fascinated by the fog box, although neither of them could make heads nor tails of it.
"Well, I've certainly never heard of a fog box before." Hermione told Ron, Harry and Ginny as they gathered around the kitchen table, "It could be either very old or very new if it's not been mentioned in any texts. And those runes on top look similar to Elder Futhark runes, but even if we assume they've been poorly carved, they still wouldn't translate into anything coherent."
"Are you sure you read it right?" Ron asked, "Maybe it said 'fig box' or something." he offered.
"Definitely fog box." Harry said, "Besides, who would send me a box full of figs? And figs aren't even that heavy, are they?"
"Dunno, mate, I've never had one." Ron grinned.
"Me neither." Harry grinned back.
Hermione and Ron both spent the next twenty minutes performing detection charms and casting jinx repellents and hex banishers onto the box. After exhausting every spell they could think of between them, they concluded that the box was not inherently dangerous nor did it contain anything dangerous.
"And the letter was just signed 'your friend', mate?" Ron asked Harry, who nodded.
"It was written on Muggle paper too. I don't know what wizard would go to that much trouble to go buy Muggle paper when they've probably got parchment lying around somewhere."
"Could it be from your cousin?" Ginny asked, remembering that Dudley Dursley had visited before and would know the address.
"I don't think so," Harry said, "The person who wrote the letter said they'd been travelling and he doesn't really go outside of London these days. Plus, where d'you think he'd get an owl from?"
"Went and caught it in the park?" Ron joked.
"It came with the regular post, so it probably wasn't him." Hermione concluded, patting Ron's hand to show she'd heard his joke.
"Speaking of post, what did James get?" Ron asked. Harry had whispered to him on the way in that James had gotten something interesting in the post and he'd tell him later about it. By the way Harry's face fell, Ron knew immediately that he shouldn't have asked in front of Ginny.
"It was just awful!" barked Ginny, folding her arms huffily across her chest.
"It wasn't that bad, Gin." Harry tried to calm her down by putting an arm around her shoulders.
"What? What was it?" Ron asked desperately, looking from Ginny to Harry and back to Ginny again.
"It was a Muggle magazine," said Albus from behind Ron, he'd slipped down into the kitchen to grab a glass of orange juice, "It was filled with a bunch of Muggle girls with no tops on. I saw it before Mum hid it and then again when Dad grabbed it."
Harry's face fell again, mortified as Ginny rounded on him.
"Well, I was just…erm, I was, you know, hiding it better. You know what the k-kids are like, Gin, they'll find anything in here!" he babbled. Ron was laughing so hard he almost fell off his chair, and Hermione had a hand up to her mouth to hide the giggles.
"How did he even afford it? Where did he get the Muggle money from?" Ron asked.
"James told me he found one of those little bits of Muggle parchment money in the village,"
"Notes." Harry corrected, off-handedly.
"Right, notes. And he bought another magazine from the Muggle shop, and it had a letter inside you could send to them to order. Must've gotten redirected to the Ministry post service when they saw the surname and they sent it with the owl." Albus explained.
"Pretty ingenious, if you ask me." said Ron.
"It was really weird, it looked like the girls in the picture didn't want to be there!" Albus proclaimed. Ron turned around to face him and shrugged.
"They get paid, so it's alright."
"What if they were Imperiused by some wizard and forced to do it?" Albus asked.
"Well, dear boy, we'd certainly know because we are the Ministry!" declared Ron in a fake snooty voice, that reminded Harry and Hermione of Ron and Ginny's older brother Percy. Albus gave a weak nod in partial approval before dashing back upstairs to his siblings and cousins.
"I don't think James is ever going to speak to us again!" Harry told Ginny, who still looked cross.
"You'll be lucky if I ever speak to you again, Harry James Potter!" Ginny growled.
"She full-named you, mate." Ron noted and Harry pretended to wince as though Ginny had stabbed him.
"Anyway, less of all that. What are you going to do with the fog box?" Hermione asked, inspecting the box before them anew. Ron prodded it with his wand.
"Couldn't hurt to open and see what's inside, right?" he suggested, giving the box another jab with his wand. Hermione swatted it away.
"Probably best to wait until tomorrow, the letter said whatever is inside will disappear at midnight. It's already after one, that'd give us less than eleven hours with it. No, I think I'll wait until tomorrow morning." Harry decided.
Ron and Hermione made Harry promise to tell them what was inside and to be prepared in case anything strange did come out of the box. Harry stowed it safely inside his dresser before going to bed that night and resolved to wake up early to open it. He'd already sent an owl that evening to the Ministry to tell them he might be late into work. Ron was also prepared to send an owl to tell work he wouldn't be in, just in case there was something really interesting inside.
Harry woke up bright and early on Monday morning at half five. He showered and dressed while Ginny got up. When she hopped in the shower, he made the bed and took the fog box down into the kitchen where all three of his children were waiting. James had made toast for his brother and sister and he looked a little sheepish when Harry entered the kitchen. Harry had planned to sneak the magazine back to James the night before, but when he went to retrieve it from his hiding place it was gone. Ginny had already given it back to him, along with a lecture on respecting women and how the women in the photographs didn't necessarily look like real women out in the wizarding world.
Ginny entered the kitchen a few minutes later, drying her hair as Harry and the children sat chewing on toast.
"Why's everyone up so early?" Ginny asked, wringing her hair out over the sink.
"We wanted to see what's in the box, mum!" Lily proclaimed, reaching hungry hands out towards the box in the middle of the dining table. Harry shuffled it towards him and James, just out of her reach.
"Well, you'll all be shattered by this afternoon. Don't say I didn't warn you!" Ginny said.
After a few moments in silence, all around the table, staring at the box, Ginny spoke up as she grabbed a piece of toast,
"Are we going to open it any time soon? Or did we all get up this early for the fun of it?" she asked sarcastically.
"I'll open it!" Lily squeaked, reaching towards the box again. Harry snatched it up and held it close to his chest.
"No, sweetheart, your Dad has to open it. It was addressed to him." Ginny told her. Harry noticed that Ginny had her wand in her toast-less hand. Albus and James were both holding theirs. Harry made a mental note to grab his wand the moment he opened the box.
"Dad?" Albus asked, looking up at his father, "Are we going to open it now?"
Harry smiled and patted his youngest son on the back and nodded. He placed the box back on the table and reached for the latch. Ginny and her two sons brandished their wands at the box and Harry heard a deep intake of breath from everyone around the box as he flipped the latch and lifted the lid.
Inside was a cloud of grey smoke that swirled upwards for a few moments before dissipating and leaving nothing behind. Everyone sat frozen for a moment, wondering what had just happened.
James grabbed the box and peered inside, before turning it upside down and shaking it. Nothing came out and nothing was inside the box. It was completely empty.
"Dad, why was your deepest desire a load of smoke?" James asked sarcastically, putting the box back down on the table.
"Well, I…I suppose it was called a fog box. Maybe it was just a joke?" Harry wondered.
"You're telling me we got up early for a prank?" Albus asked, incredulous. Harry shrugged a half-apology. The children evacuated the breakfast table immediately and all stomped off upstairs. Ginny put a consoling arm around Harry and kissed the top of his head.
"We can always put sweets in it for the kids." Ginny offered and Harry nodded slowly.
It had definitely seemed too good to be true. His deepest desire released from a mysterious wooden box. He was free to indulge the one thing he'd always wanted for a whole day.
"Probably a joke from someone at work." Harry said, slumped in his chair.
"Probably." Ginny agreed, grabbing the plate of toast crusts and turning away to put them in the bin. She started scrubbing at the plate in the sink.
"What are you going to do about work?" she asked over her shoulder.
"I'll go in. I'm not going to spend the whole day moping around here about a silly old box." Harry decided.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, it'll keep me busy, which is-"
Harry was interrupted by three loud knocks on the front door. Ginny turned around to him and shot him a confused look. He shrugged and looked at the kitchen clock. It was only just after half six. Who could possibly be knocking at this time of the morning? Harry's heart dropped, thinking it was probably the strange Muggle lady from down the road. She'd once knocked at four in the morning to tell him that she'd seen James stealing her cat and smuggling it into the house. Harry assured her she was seeing things and took her back to her house, where her cat was fast asleep. It was far too early to deal with her nonsense. He debated for a moment whether or not to just avoid answering the door, but Ginny cleared her throat loudly to tell him to go get it.
Harry sighed and dragged his feet as he walked over to the door. He sighed again, loud enough so that Ginny could hear, and opened the door.
Standing in front of him was a young couple. The woman had thick auburn hair and green, almond-shaped eyes. The man looked very much like a slightly younger mirror reflection of Harry himself. He stood for a moment, stunned and unable to move as the couple smiled back at him.
"Harry? Who is it?" Ginny called from the kitchen, trying to peer around Harry to see why he was standing there in silence.
He took a step towards the couple, feeling breathless, as they both outstretched their arms towards him. The pair enveloped Harry in a tight hug as he felt hot tears running down his cheeks.
"Harry? Who-OH!" Ginny squeaked, as she approached Harry from behind, she caught sight of the young couple hugging Harry. The woman looked over Harry's shoulder and smiled at Ginny.
"Hello, darling." she said.
They took their arms from around him and Harry stepped back, wiping the tears out of his eyes and drying his nose on his shirt sleeve.
"Well," said the man, "Aren't you going to invite us in, son?"
Harry ushered his parents into the kitchen and sat them both down at the table where they inspected the empty fog box. Ginny made them each a cup of tea, which they took gratefully and drank. Harry sat opposite them, mouth agape, marvelling at the sight before him. His parents, alive and healthy, were sitting at his dining table, drinking tea and chatting to each other.
"Is anyone going to say anything?" Ginny asked, leaning on Harry's shoulder and similarly marvelling at James and Lily.
"You couldn't whip us up some toast, could you?" James asked. Lily elbowed him in the side.
"James!" she scolded him. Ginny waved it off with her hand.
"No, not at all! I'll make some now." Ginny turned away and turned the oven on and grabbed some slices of bread from the pantry.
"Are you…" Harry suddenly spoke up, his voice croaky and uneven, "Are you really here? Or did I hit my head when I opened the door?"
"If you did," Ginny called over shoulder, "Then so did I."
James and Lily laughed and leaned in close to each other. James reached out and grabbed Harry's hand, squeezing it tight.
"I think we're real, son." he assured him. Harry looked down at his own hand in his father's grip. Harry's hand was weathered and veiny while James' was smooth and fresh.
"My hand…it's so old. But you're so…why are you so…" Harry trailed off, still holding his father's hand.
"Young?" Lily prompted and Harry nodded, "Perhaps because we…died young." she struggled to say the word 'died' and it came out as more of a hiccough.
"You remember that?" Harry asked, shocked. Lily and James both shook their heads.
"Not really," James replied, "I remember that night being with you. I remember him coming. I remember running to get my wand and then there was a flash of light, and it was very quiet and still."
A pained look crossed both James and Lily's faces.
"I remember hearing your father downstairs telling me to run. To take you. I remember saying goodbye," Harry could feel himself starting to cry again at hearing his mother recount her final moments, "And he came in. He told me to move, that he'd spare me if I gave you up. I refused and then it was over."
Harry could hear Ginny sniffling from over by the oven as she buttered the toast.
"I killed him!" Harry added hastily, "I killed him…dead. Completely, this time."
James gave Harry's hand a squeeze again and Lily reached out to hold his other hand.
"We're so proud of you, of everything you've done." Lily said, smiling broadly at her son. James nodded in agreement.
Ginny brought over the plate of toast and rushed away upstairs, where Harry heard her loudly blowing her nose.
"Dad, who's that?" Lily asked, peeking out from the bottom stair into the kitchen. Just above her, Harry could see Albus and James looking down too. They, unlike their sister, seemed to have realised who was at the dining table.
"Is that…" Albus started as he pushed past Lily to get to his father. James followed holding Lily's hand.
"Kids," Harry announced, puffing himself up as though he hadn't been crying, "These are your grandparents."
Little Lily screamed and James' mouth fell open in shock. Albus stepped closer towards his grandparents to inspect them.
"James and Lily Potter meet Albus and, erm, James and Lily Potter." Harry said awkwardly.
"That'll get confusing." Albus snorted, walking behind his grandparents to get a full inspection of them. James reached out to shake his similarly named grandson's hand and Lily pulled her granddaughter and Albus into a hug.
"Wait," Lily asked, still holding onto her grandmother, "Why are you so young if Dad's so old?"
"Oi, less of the old talk!" Harry complained, turning to check his face in the mirror for wrinkles or grey hairs. Lily, James and the children all burst out laughing.
"That's just the way it is, Lil." Albus told her, "Although, how did you get here?"
"Isn't it obvious, Al," James said, "The fog box brought them here."
Harry nodded and picked up the fog box, inspecting it.
"I'll have to have Hermione look at it again, see if she can find anything out about it."
By 9am, Ron had arrived by the Floo network with Rose and Hugo. All three of them stood in the kitchen, stunned by Harry's parents while Ginny made them all cups of tea.
"Corr, I never thought I'd meet you two!" Ron exclaimed. They all exchanged hugs for several minutes, ending with Ron accidentally grabbing Albus and hugging him, before apologising profusely.
"Why don't we go out into the garden?" Ginny suggested, "It's a lovely day. I'll make some more tea."
"None for me, Gin." Ron said, "I'll be on the loo all day!"
Hugo and Rose laughed at their dad as they raced out into the Potter's expansive back garden with Albus, Lily and James in tow. Lily and James Senior followed shortly behind while Ron asked them what his parents were like before he was born. Ginny was fussing with mugs and refilling the kettle when Harry put his hands on her shoulders, spun her around and kissed her. As he pulled away, he whispered,
"Breathe, everything will be okay. You don't have to do so much."
"Aren't I supposed to be the one saying that to you? I mean, Harry, your parents…they're…" Ginny trailed off as she started to cry again. Harry pressed his lips against his wife's again and wrapped his arms around her waist. The tears rolled down both of their cheeks and they were left with distinctly salty lips. Giggling to each other like teenagers anew, they both dried their eyes once more.
"We should probably dry up before we go out there. I think he won't mind me, but Ron will never let you live it down if he sees you crying." Harry told Ginny and she nodded in agreement. They both checked their eyes weren't too red before they went out into the garden.
Already early in the morning, the sun was warming everything up quickly. Harry rolled up his shirt sleeves past his forearms.
"You need that mate, looking a bit pale!" Ron chortled.
"Look who's talking freckles!" Harry joked back and ducked as Ron threw a clump of dried grass at his head, which flew and hit Ginny in the face. She brushed it off calmly, but Harry was sure he saw her knee Ron in the back, from which he looked terribly winded. Hugo and Lily were chasing each other at the end of the garden, while Albus was chatting animatedly to Rose. James was sitting opposite his grandparents, staring intently at them in silence, which they both found thoroughly amusing.
"Are you zombies?" he asked, squinting at them both as though this were an interrogation.
"They're not zombies!" Ginny said, and clapped James on the back of the head, "It's rude to ask people if they're zombies."
"We're not zombies." Lily agreed, but James Senior shrugged.
"I don't know, these children do look awful tasty." he teased, licking his lips.
"Zombies don't eat people, Dad. That's just something Muggles made up." Harry corrected, passing around a plate of biscuits he had grabbed from the kitchen on his way out.
"It's more interesting though," said Ron, taking the plate of biscuits from Lily and jamming one in his mouth, "Becauth ith bowwing to juth fowwow pepuw awound and be scawy." he mumbled, spitting biscuit crumbs everywhere.
Ginny slapped him hard on the shoulder.
"Ron, honestly, do you have to act like a pig in front of company?" she chastised him, "Don't talk with your mouth full or I'll seal your mouth shut with my wand."
Ron swallowed his mouthful immediately and sat in silence, trying to discreetly pick biscuit out of his teeth. Lily raced past screaming as Hugo chased her, brandishing a rather scared looking frog in his hand.
"Hey, Hugo, cut that out!" Ron called out, pulling his wand out of his shirt pocket, "Accio frog!"
The frog zoomed out Hugo's hand and flew at an alarming pace towards Ron who ducked. The frog landed just in front of the patio door, dazed, but managed the hop away to safety.
"Stupid thing," Ron said, shaking his wand and putting it back in his pocket, "It's been doing that a lot lately. I tried to clean the plates last night with a cleaning charm. Nearly scrubbed the design off the china!"
"Better too strong than too weak." Harry said, trying to sound reassuring.
"Yeah? What happens when I'm trying to stop some mad wizard and instead of freezing him, I blow him up?"
"I won't cover for you if that happens." Harry threw his hands up in defense and burst out laughing. His parents were both staring at him, Lily even had tears in her eyes. Harry caught sight of them both out of the corner of his eye and turned to face them, a bemused look on his face,
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," said Lily, dabbing tears out of her eyes, "It's just…you have such a wonderful family. And wonderful friends." she said, gesturing to Ron, who nodded his head in thanks.
"Wait, until you meet Hermione." Harry said.
"Yeah, she's worth like ten Rons!" Ginny declared and Ron's mouth fell open in shock.
"Now, now, Gin." said Harry, "It's more like 15." he corrected, winking at his wife and making his parents laugh.
"I hate all of you." Ron huffed, grabbing another biscuit from the plate on the ground and shaking an ant off of it before stuffing it in his mouth.
Albus came rushing over to his parents, followed by Rose.
"Is it okay if we go write a letter to Scorpius? He'd love to hear about this!" Albus asked, wringing his hands nervously. Ginny reached up and stroked her son's cheek.
"Of course you can." she said, and grabbed Albus' hand before he raced off into the house, "We should have a party? Right?"
Ron and Harry both nodded enthusiastically in agreement and turned to the Potters to see what they thought.
"We'd love to," James said, "It'd be nice to meet more of your friends."
"Excellent!" Ginny proclaimed, "We can invite Mum and Dad and George. And Luna and Neville too, I'm sure they'd love to come. Albus, invite Scorpius along too. Tell him his Dad is welcome."
Albus nodded, thanked his mother and headed into the house with Rose.
"Who's Scorpius?" Lily asked.
"He's the Malfoy boy." Ginny explained, "He's Albus'…um, friend."
"Good friend." Harry corrected, a little too enthusiastically. Lily and James both shot Harry and Ginny a knowing smile.
They spent the rest of the morning sunbathing in the garden, while the children continued to play. Ron sent several owls to Hermione, who bounced them all back with extensive tear-stained letters full of apologies, telling them that she was very busy and she'd get there as soon as possible. The Ministry had been packed with visiting wizards and witches from all over the globe for lots of international meetings. Ron and Harry were both glad to have had the day off, and didn't envy poor Hermione at all.
"You should've seen her this morning when we got your owl. Looked like a nutter going to work, wouldn't stop crying." Ron told them all. Hermione had been very emotional at hearing the news, but had insisted she at least go into work to make an appearance, despite Ron's rather apt protests that once she got into work they'd never let her leave.
"I'm sure they'll let her leave this afternoon." James assured them.
"Very impressive job, being the Minister!" Lily declared, and Ron smiled back proudly.
"And I'm the Minister's husband." Ron announced.
"Good thing you waited for Hermione, or you might've ended up marrying Fudge." Ginny joked, leaning back in her chair and extending her arms up towards the sun.
"HA! HA!" Ron said sarcastically, before getting to his feet and stretching.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked.
"To the loo." Ron said, "And why is it any of your concern?"
"Oh, I just thought you were going to get more biscuits from the kitchen." Harry said slyly.
"I'll bring them out on my way back." Ron called over his shoulder.
"And don't forget to wash your hands!" Ginny called to him. Harry chuckled to himself.
Molly and Arthur arrived around midday. They apparated right into the middle of the garden, with Arthur treading on Hugo's hand as he landed. He apologised profusely from behind a stack of trays and plates that he was carrying with him. In fact, both he and Molly were carrying dozens of trays and plates wrapped in tin foil between them.
"Mum, what have you done?" Ginny exclaimed, taking some plates from her mother's pile along with Ron as Lily, James and Harry all helped unload Arthur's arms.
"Well, I just thought I'd make a couple of sandwiches." Molly said casually, as she carried the rest of her food into the kitchen and laid it down on the dining table, followed by everyone else carrying them.
"A couple of sandwiches? Molly, this is incredible!" Harry exclaimed, unwrapping some of the plates.
"I'd like to know what your definition of a couple is, mum!" Ginny said, rifling through the various trays of foods.
"I did make a couple of quiches too and there's some puddings for the children. Honestly, Ginny, don't look at me like that! I thought you said we were having a party!" Molly protested.
"We are, but we're not inviting the entire Ministry!" Ginny countered.
"Don't argue, sweetheart, just play along and unwrap the fruit plates." Arthur whispered in his daughter's ear, wrapping his arms around her.
Molly sidled up to Harry and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Oh, Harry, darling! You look lovely with a tan! Very healthy!" she complemented him.
"Um, thanks, Molly." Harry said, pulling himself free from the hug, "I've only been out in the sun this morning. No change really."
"Nonsense! You're like a sponge, you must soak up the sun!" she beamed as Arthur and Ginny snickered together. Molly grabbed a plate of sandwiches and turned around to put them on the counter top, but she froze, dropped the plate and let out a little squeak.
"Lily, James." she croaked under her breath, having at last recognised them. She'd been so occupied with carrying food in, she'd forgotten the reason they came over. Arthur too seemed to have suddenly realised Lily and James were standing there, looking a little uncomfortable.
"Merlin's beard! I almost didn't believe it when we read the owl. Could it really be?" Arthur wondered and he grabbed James' hand and shook it very quickly, "It really is. How? No wait, I don't want to know."
Lily pulled Molly into a hug, who now had tears streaming down her face and was spluttering, trying to get words out. Arthur was beaming at James, and kept clapping him on the arm every few seconds, as though he were just testing to make sure he wouldn't suddenly disappear.
"Did you know each other?" Harry asked Arthur, "Back before…it happened."
"We met a couple of times. Molly and I were Order sympathisers but with the kids at home, we never fully joined. I'll always regret that. If only we'd…" Arthur trailed off, his eyes becoming misty. James reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
"Oh I must look so old!" Molly suddenly exclaimed. Everyone burst out laughing and Lily clutched her hands.
"You look lovely, Molly, really." she insisted and Molly nodded tearfully and turned back to the plates of sandwiches.
"Ron, put down the quiche!" Molly scolded, as Ron tried to sneak a slice into his mouth.
"What? I was hungry! And how many times do I have to tell you, mum, I'm an adult! You can't tell me when to eat!"
"I can when I cooked the food. Oh, go on, you do look a little thin. Is Hermione feeding you?" Molly asked.
"No, mum," Ron said pointedly, "I'm feeding myself. Like adults do."
"I still feed your father." Molly said. Arthur nodded.
"It's true, she does. Of course, it all has to be a bit softer these days. With the teeth." Arthur offered to James and Lily, who both nodded in understanding.
"Crikey, mum, Ginny's right. With this much we could feed Hagrid and Grawp!" Ron exclaimed.
"Oh!" Harry suddenly realised, "I forgot to invite Hagrid! I'll go send an owl!"
As he turned to head upstairs to grab some parchment and the family owl, a rather surly one, who was no doubt hiding in James' room, Ginny grabbed his arm and said slightly desperately,
"Harry, please don't invite Grawp."
Harry returned downstairs a few minutes later. Arthur, Ron and Ginny were out in the garden erecting gazebos and making tables and chairs appear out of thin air, while Hugo and Lily weaved in and out of the furniture popping into existence around them. James and Lily were helping Molly transfer food to more plates in the kitchen, while she told them how easily Harry had put up the invisibility and protection charms in the garden single-handedly.
"Quite amazing he is. Probably the brightest wizard I've ever met, save for Dumbledore. Don't tell Ron!" Molly begged and Lily made a zip-locked gesture.
"Molly, what are you saying?" Harry asked, slightly wary of what stories she had been telling his parents in his absence. Lily put her arm around Harry's waist as he approached.
"Molly was just telling us how fantastic you are. She said you put up concealment charms on the garden?" Lily asked for confirmation. Harry nodded slowly, trying to not to seem too proud of his accomplishment.
"Yeah, there's no houses nearby since we're at the top of the hill, but sometimes the local children wander through the field at the back. Thought it's best, since James and Lily like practising flying in the garden." Harry paused for a moment, pondering on how odd it was to mention his children's names around his similarly named parents.
"Very impressive, son. I couldn't have cast a charm half as powerful as that! I probably would've left a big bit missing!" James said, patting his son on the back.
"I did, actually," Harry admitted, "Albus went down into the field to inspect and spotted this big sliver of our house where the charm hadn't quite reached fully around."
At that moment, a small, handsome looking black owl swooped down into the kitchen through the open back door and dropped a letter on the table, before departing. Harry reached for the letter, but it sprang to life and the envelope twisted into a mouth and spoke in Hermione's voice,
"Ron, Harry, I'm so sorry. It seems everyone has decided on today to schedule emergency meetings with me. And then a French wizard got into a squabble with Hector from International Magical Relations over Hippogriff territory laws and so I've been playing diplomat for the past hour. Tell everyone I'm really sorry that I'm still stuck here. I promise I'm doing everything to get away. Hopefully see you all very soon. Love, Hermione."
And the letter disintegrated before their eyes. As each sentence had been punctuated by deep sniffles, they could tell Hermione had still been crying. Harry felt awful for her being trapped at the Ministry while they were all preparing for a party.
"She sounds nice," Lily said, "Bit flustered, but nice."
"Was that Hermione?" Ron asked, peeking his head in the back door.
"Yes, dear, she's still busy." Molly said, conjuring silver cake stands with her wand.
"Pity. Oh, some owl nearly dropped dead in the garden!" Ron added.
"What?" James exclaimed, looking shocked.
"It was from Hagrid. He must've gotten really emotional and accidentally throttled it before letting it go. His letter wasn't in much better shape either. Just a bunch of teary scrawls, really. I did read 'yes' though, so I suppose he's coming." Ron figured and his head disappeared back out into the garden.
Molly twirled her wand in intricate patterns to make the cake stands grow in size and add more layers to them. The silver gleamed in the light as Lily helped load little cakes onto each shelf. Harry sat opposite his father at the dining table.
"You've really done well for yourself, son." James told him, beaming with pride, "We didn't really know Molly and Arthur too well, but I can see you married into a good family. Very loving. And Ginny's a lovely woman. Reminds me a lot of your mother"
"She's very pretty." Lily said, kissing her husband on the cheek as she whirled past them both to grab more cakes for Molly's ever growing cake stands.
"Just like you." James added and Lily flashed him a warm smile as she carried handfuls of small fairy cakes over to the counter top.
"I got to meet Sirius." Harry said, "And Remus."
"And Peter I imagine?" James asked.
"Yes, and him. He was a rat at the time."
"He was a rat all the time." James corrected, with a dark, cheeky smile, "How were they? Sirius and Remus?"
"They were…as well as they could've been. Given the circumstances, they were fine. Remus' son Teddy is fine too. He should be over this afternoon, I sent an owl."
After a moment of pause, Harry decided to ask something he'd been avoiding ever since his parents arrived that morning.
"Did you see them? On the other side?" Harry asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He saw Molly stiffen up and Lily turned to look nervously as James, who sighed heavily.
"Well, son, I don't remember a lot about it. It feels almost like a dream." James noticed Harry's face fall slightly, "But I remember they were there. I remember being with them. Peter too. They were at peace."
Harry felt tears sting his eyes again as he nodded happily.
"I'm glad." Harry croaked and suddenly Molly let out an almighty wail and pulled up her apron to cover her face. Lily patted her on the back and James got up to go inspect the work in the garden.
From over in the living room, the fireplace began to rumble and crackled with green flames as a tall, blonde-haired man and his son stepped out from the fire.
Draco brushed off the sleeves of his black overcoat and Scorpius stood up straight, catching up to his father's height, looking around the living room.
"It looks like you haven't dressed for the weather, Draco." said Ginny, re-entering the kitchen - closely followed by James - and marching over to the living room. She pulled Scorpius into a hug and patted Draco on the arm, as he surveyed the house. Draco had never before visited the Potter residence, while Scorpius usually visited on a semi-regular basis during the summer holidays. Draco pulled off his overcoat, so that he was just standing in his black shirt and trousers.
"It wasn't exactly bright sunshine at our manor." Draco noted.
"I told you that Albus said it was hot here!" Scorpius said, wandering into the kitchen. Harry noticed that Draco looked uneasy without his son by his side and Molly was looking him over with a cautious eye. The Malfoy family weren't exactly top of her list for ideal party guests, although Harry knew that she would remain cordial and was grateful for that.
Albus came thundering down the stairs and wrapped his arms tightly around Scorpius, before the two ran off upstairs to join the older siblings.
Draco looked exceptionally uncomfortable, as though he felt very alone. He shifted from one foot to another, but he was curiously investigating James and Lily Potter from a distance. Harry got to his feet and approached Draco, holding out his hand to shake. Draco took it and shook curtly.
"Draco, these are my parents." Draco followed Harry into the kitchen towards his mother and father. Molly stood peering over their shoulders as Draco shook each of their hands, and she forced a half-smile when he caught her eye.
"Quite remarkable." Draco said, studying both of their faces.
Draco didn't say much after that and eventually retreated back to the living room where he picked up a book on Dragon Eggs and began flicking through, occasionally looking up at Scorpius, who darted in and out of the kitchen to grab snacks and drinks.
"Why don't you kids have something in the garden?" Molly suggested to Scorpius as he grabbed a couple of glasses. He nodded and went back upstairs. A few moments later, James and Rose descended the stairs into the kitchen.
"Your brother not joining you?" Ginny asked, brow furrowed.
"In a bit, he said he needed a moment." James replied, shrugging before following Rose into the garden to chase Hugo and Lily.
"Go check the door's open?" Harry asked Ginny who had already ascended the first step on the staircase. Harry could've sworn he heard Molly giggle over with her cake stands and Lily couldn't help but smirk. Draco looked up from the sofa in the living room, slightly alarmed but Harry shook his head and smiled. Draco buried his head in the Dragon Eggs book once more, his usually very pale cheeks flaring pink.
George and his wife Angelina arrived at around half one through the fireplace, giving Draco a start as they emerged towards him. He got up and took refuge in a nearby armchair, scowling into the Dragon Egg book. Both George and Angelina couldn't quite believe their eyes when they met Lily and James, both looked as though they'd seen a ghost and kept mumbling about photographs.
"No kids with you, George?" Ginny asked her older brother.
"No, we left Fred and Roxy at home. They didn't seem too keen on coming." he replied, "No offense!" he added hastily to Lily and James, who both waved him off.
Angelina offered to help Molly carry the food out to the tables under the gazebo, while Molly gushed over Angelina's red dress and kept repeating 'If I had your figure!'. Harry heard Angelina telling Molly that she'd started playing Quidditch again recreationally with some friends from the pub and George nodded proudly.
"I'm a bit scared of her on the broom, if I'm honest. She's so quick, I don't think I could keep up!"
"I miss Quidditch." James mused, staring off into space.
"We've got some brooms in the cupboard, if you want?" Harry offered.
"Maybe later, son." James said.
An hour later, while Ginny was chatting to Draco about his work, Luna and Neville stepped out of the fireplace.
"Oh, this house is beautiful!" Luna exclaimed cheerily, marvelling at her surroundings.
"You've been here before." Ginny said, confused.
"It gets more beautiful with every visit!" she declared, running her hand along the walls as though they made of precious materials. Neville shook Harry's hand and turned to James, his eyes wide with shock.
"Merlin's beard." he muttered.
"This seems to be a common theme with reactions." James chuckled and took Neville's hand, who seemed almost in awe of the man before him.
"No Hannah?" Harry asked, wondering about Neville's wife.
"N-no," he stuttered, dropping James' hand, "Couldn't get away from work."
"She should hang out with Hermione," said Ron, stepping in from the garden, "She can't seem to get her arse out of work either."
"Ronald!" Molly scolded, coming in from behind her son, with Albus behind her.
"Hi Neville." Ron said, ignoring his mother.
"Hi Ron." Neville replied cheerfully, "Oh, hi Albus!"
"Professor Longbottom." Albus replied shortly, before turning on his heels and heading back out.
"I told you, you can call me 'Neville' outside of school! I'm not your teacher now, we're just friends!" Neville called after Albus, following him out into the garden.
Harry was sure he heard Albus grumble 'Nobody told me there would be teachers here' from outside.
"Did you send Hermione another owl?" Ginny asked Ron, who was heading upstairs.
"Just about to." he called back down, "I'll enjoy this, your owl bit me last time." he said sarcastically as he ascended the stairs.
"Oh yeah, she doesn't like people!" Harry shouted up to Ron.
"Bloody brilliant!" Ron replied. From upstairs, they heard the owl squawking a lot and Ron shouting 'ow!' more than once. When he came back down, his hand was bleeding. Molly grabbed a tea towel to wrap his bitten finger with.
"I hope that thing gets hit by one those Muggle flying things…what do you call them, Harry?"
"Aeroplanes." Harry answered.
"Yeah, right. I hope it gets hit by an aeroplane. Oh, sorry." Ron mumbled feebly to Ginny and Harry as he squeezed the tea towel tight around his bleeding finger.
"Don't worry, I hate her too." Ginny concurred.
Luna, having spent the past ten minutes, sweeping the living room and kitchen and oohing and ahhing at the brickwork, spotted Lily and James and approached them with a strange look on her face.
"This is fantastic." Luna said very enthusiastically, clutching James and Lily's hands very tightly, "I've never met real dead people before. What's it like? Being dead?" she asked, her eyes glistening.
Ginny grabbed her by the shoulders and wrenched her away from the Potters.
"Come on, Luna, it's rude to ask people about being dead…I think." Ginny said as she steered Luna out into the garden and went back to sit with Draco.
It was almost four when Teddy Lupin stepped out of the fireplace, followed very shortly by Rubeus Hagrid and Minerva McGonagall. Teddy walked around the living room, greeting everyone. But neither Hagrid nor McGonagall stopped to say hello. They both stood frozen in the middle of the living room for almost a solid minute, staring at James and Lily. Without warning, Hagrid let out a terrible wailing sound and rushed over to grab both James and Lily at once, sweeping them into a very tight hug, both of them lifted off their feet slightly.
"Alright, Hagrid, we've missed you too." James croaked, patting Hagrid on the back as the half-giant sobbed loudly. Hagrid released them both and stepped back with his dustbin lid hands clasped tightly over his mouth and he continued to sob into his bushy beard. McGonagall approached cautiously.
"Good heavens, when Hagrid told me, I thought he was certainly confused but now I…oh my!" McGonagall exclaimed and she too hugged each of the Potters in turn.
Harry put his arm around Teddy who had also slowly approached to inspect James and Lily.
"Oh, Harry, yer cat," Hagrid exclaimed, holding up a flattened gingery lump, "I musta stepped on 'im." Hagrid presented the 'cat' out at arm's length to Harry who burst into fits of hysterics.
"Hagrid, we don't have a cat! That's Ginny's horrible hat!" Harry roared with laughter, and the others joined in as Hagrid chuckled bashfully.
"I was worried I squashed the poor little fella inter a pancake!"
"I'm glad he killed it," Ginny said to Draco, "It really was a horrible hat."
Draco smirked. Hagrid squeezed out through the back door into the garden with James under his arm and McGonagall followed, holding Lily's hand. She had to stoop so as not to knock her emerald hat on the top of the door frame.
Harry and Teddy followed them out into the garden. It was truly spectacular. Harry was aware that the Weasleys knew how to throw an outstanding party, but this was beyond what he had seen before. Two large blue gazebos towered over either side of the garden. Under the left one were rows upon rows of long tables, laden with food and drinks. Further down under the left gazebo were smaller, rounder silver tables, each with several fancy chairs around them. Under the right gazebo was a beautiful dance floor, complete with conjured wooden flooring and a music system that was humming out a summery tune. There were silver and gold streamers hanging in the air and shimmering in the sunlight, that seemed to dance as people walked beneath them and Harry could see that the large oak tree at the bottom of the garden was wrapped with hundreds of fairy lights, waiting to be lit later in the evening when the sun went down.
Lily and Hugo were practising forward rolls on the dance floor and James and Ron were helping them every time they got stuck halfway. Albus, Scorpius and Rose were seated around one the silver tables chatting with drinks that Harry hoped weren't wine. Lily Senior was trying to encourage McGonagall to have a sandwich, who was telling her about not being able to eat in the heat. Hagrid was standing a few paces away from James Senior, a toothy grin spread across his huge maw as he just drank in James being there. Hagrid occasionally whipped his head around to check Lily was still with McGonagall, and when he turned his head back around his smile was even wider. Neville was chatting to Luna about something or other, while Luna stirred her drink with her index finger. Harry and Teddy approached James, who for the first time today, looked himself as though he had seen a ghost, the expression that everyone had been casting to him.
"Good heavens, you do look like Remus." James said, eyes wide. Harry thought he saw his father briefly wipe away a tear, and he definitely felt Teddy shuffle uncomfortably on the spot. He knew how much Teddy disliked people comparing him to his father, as it often made them cry and hug him a lot.
"That hair is quite impressive." James said, changing the subject and Teddy smirked in gratitude.
"Thanks, I grew it myself." he chuckled.
"Quite impressive." James repeated.
It was just after six by the time Hermione's latest owl arrived, again filled with her apologies and explanations of the madness going on at the Ministry and how they were now anticipating she'd be there into the late evening. Ron was fuming.
"Honestly, you'd think this would be something she wouldn't want to miss!" he moaned, "Only Harry's flaming parents, not like she's ever met them before!"
Ron was pacing a spot in the garden in front of the food, and had been pacing so long he was starting to wear a path into the grass. Molly was nervously reorganising the trays and plates of food behind him.
"Don't worry too much, Ron. I'm sure she'll be here eventually. Look at Percy, he couldn't make it! And Bill and Fleur, they send their regards!" Molly called over to Harry, who just smiled blankly back, having not heard what she said before. Ron grabbed a slice of quiche and took a bite.
"Darling, don't stress-eat, you'll upset your stomach." Molly chided.
"I am not stress-eating, mum. I'm eating while stressed, there's a very big difference. Right, Harry?" Ron called over for support.
Harry, not having heard what Ron or Molly said again, just called out,
"Right."
"See, Harry agrees." Ron said triumphantly and took another bite of quiche.
Harry spent the next hour telling his parents all about his work at Ministry. He retold the story of how Kingsley Shacklebolt had recruited him to the Ministry only months after defeating Tom Riddle and of how he had become a fully qualified Auror in less than a year. He delighted in telling them of the time he and Ron had caught a Riddle sympathiser trying to jinx the fireplaces after rush hour. He neglected to tell them that the only reason they'd caught the wizard was because they'd both drank far too much the night before and Harry had fallen asleep on Ron's sofa. He detailed the story of a particularly vicious and brutal vampire that had been stalking small villages in Lithuania and murdering Muggles. Harry had been sent alone to handle it and almost had his throat torn out in the process of apprehending the vampire, but had succeeded in the end. He also, rather conveniently, left out the part where the vampire fell eye-first onto the tip of his wand, giving Harry enough time to perform a full body bind curse on it.
"That's all very impressive son." James said.
"Er, thanks." replied Harry, feeling a little awkward. He had spent almost an entire hour boasting about all his wonderful accomplishments at the Ministry and now felt like he had spoken a little too highly of himself.
"Ron's really a life-saver! Besides the vampire and that one time in China, I don't think I could've done any of it without his help." Harry beamed as Ron wandered over into the conversation.
"What's that now?" he asked, having heard his name from afar. Harry clapped Ron on the back,
"Just talking you up, go on, tell that about that thing with the witch in Durham!" Harry enthused. Ron's eyes lit up and he started regaling James and Lily with the tale at once,
"So, we got an owl, right? And it said there was this little old witch that was acting strange in Palace Green and firing spells into the sky all willy-nilly. Only, it wasn't a witch!" Ron exclaimed, and Harry heard his voice grow fainter as he drifted off down the end of the garden. Harry sauntered past the dance floor where Molly had joined Arthur for a slow dance and Hagrid was doing his best to persuade McGonagall to join him in a jig. George and Angelina were also dancing, gazing into each other's eyes. Teddy was telling James a story of when someone had let off a stink jinx in the Hufflepuff common room and how several house elves had passed out from the stench when they went to investigate. Rose was overseeing a game of Exploding Snap between Hugo and Lily. They had to use a child-friendly deck of cards that you could tap with your finger instead of your wand, but both Lily and Hugo had the tendency of hiding cards under their shirts, which would explode at some point after the game was over. Ginny and Draco had both come out into the garden and Draco was sitting at a table with Scorpius and Albus, whom Ginny kept trying to grab and smoother in kisses, much to his horror. Neville and Luna had also taken up residence on one of the small tables and Neville only seemed to be half-interested in whatever Luna was telling him about.
Harry finally reached the big oak tree at the end of the garden. The sun had only just begun to set and it was still very bright out, but down under the shade of the tree, Harry felt night drawing in. He inspected the fairy lights wrapped around the trunk of the tree and saw that they were little, glass globes with string threaded through little holes in each of them. Harry took out his wand and tapped the nearest glass orb, as he had once seen Arthur do a few years before. The glass shivered and burst into brilliant light, with the next ones along either side of the string all slowly and successively flaring up as though the light were contagious. After a few moments, the entire tree was glowing and shimmering. Harry knelt down and leant his back against the tree trunk. From down at the end of the garden, everyone else seemed very far away and he felt as though he were watching a television set from a distance. He saw McGonagall finally relent and join Hagrid for a dance. He saw Molly and Arthur kissing and holding each other very tightly. He saw George had buried his face in Angelina's shoulder to avoid seeing his parents with their lips locked. He saw Ginny hit Draco over the head with a stack of napkins, whatever he'd done he deserved it, Harry thought with a chuckle. He saw Albus peck Scorpius on the cheek as their parents were distracted. He saw Rose chasing Hugo who had grabbed her wand and was holding it aloft and swishing it around, while Ron tried to bait his son with sandwiches. He saw Teddy giving Lily a piggyback ride so that she could see the tops of the gazebos and each time she patted him on the head, his hair changed a different neon shade. Luna and Neville were still talking to one another and Luna seemed to be flapping her arms over her head as though they were giant wings. And finally, he saw his parents sitting on the patio together, mirroring Harry. They too were watching the party before them, from a distance. They were holding each other's hands and Lily had her head resting on James' shoulder. This was something Harry had always dreamed of seeing and he had to rub his eyes and pinch his arm just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he opened his eyes and felt his nails dig into his forearm and hurt, he was sure this was all happening.
"Everything okay?" Ginny asked, sidling up to Harry, who had completely zoned out and not noticed her approaching, "Move over." she told him, as she knelt down and leant against the tree.
"We're just like them." Harry said to himself and Ginny turned her head to look at her husband. She followed his gaze over to where his parents sat at the opposite end of the garden, almost identically to Ginny and Harry.
"Yeah, we are." she agreed, "You look tired, love, maybe you should go have a lie down?"
"No, I can't. You remember what the letter said. I can't." Harry protested, feeling his eyelids indeed drooping.
"Okay, well, why don't you just rest your eyes for a moment. I'll keep watch." Ginny promised and Harry nodded slowly. He leant his head against her shoulder and she kissed the top of it. Taking another look at his parents, Harry closed his eyes and let his mind wander as the sounds of the party around him buzzed and hummed in his ears.
Harry opened his eyes slowly, what felt like a few moments later but he was sure it had been much longer. The sky had started to turn an inky blue and someone had lit lanterns all over the garden that had been charmed to hover. He squinted to bring his eyes into focus and looked down to the head of the garden and saw the patio was empty.
"Where are they?" he panicked, quickly scanning the garden for his parents.
"They're over there." Ginny said, patting him on the arm and pointing over to the dance floor where James was trying to teach Hagrid some better dance moves, while Lily looked on and giggled to herself. Harry let out a little nervous laugh.
"How long was I out?" he asked, yawning and stretching his legs.
"A while. James just came to tell me it was about half ten." she told him.
"James?" Harry asked.
"Our James. Little James. Our son." Ginny clarified and Harry responded with a rather quiet 'oh right'.
"Hugo and Lily went in to sleep on the sofa and Draco's watching them." Ginny continued, "Quite the mothering instinct, that one."
"Who would've thought!" Harry chuckled, "Wait, where's Hermione?"
"Still no sign of her," Ginny said glumly, "And no owl since the last one. I feel bad for her, I bet she's hating her job right now."
"I kinda hate her job right now." Harry said, wincing at the thought of Hermione trapped in the Ministry under mountains of paperwork with meetings still scheduled at this time of night.
"She'll hate herself if she doesn't make it in time." Ginny said. Harry felt his heart start beating a little faster and suddenly his shirt felt too tight. In time. Harry was suddenly very conscious of time slipping away and he'd been asleep for so long. He'd wasted time. Ginny seemed to sense him panicking and she grabbed his hand and stroked his palm with her thumb.
"It's okay. There's still time left." she cooed, "Come on, let's go see everyone."
As they stood up, Ginny told Harry that George and Angelina had gone home while he was asleep. They hadn't wanted to disturb Harry but they needed to be back for the children.
The pair walked hand in hand to the dance floor where everyone but Draco, Hugo and Lily had gathered to watch James teaching Hagrid to dance. As they approached, Hagrid tripped and fell into a awkward half split of which Harry, Ron, Neville and both Jameses had to help him recover from.
"I think we ought to propose a toast." Arthur offered, as Hagrid massaged the insides of his thighs and everyone gathered around in a circle. Molly took out her wand and with a flourish, glasses of champagne appeared in everyone's hands. Everyone except Albus, Rose and Scorpius who all looked bitterly at James, who had somehow qualified for champagne and was grinning back at them.
"Harry would you like to?" Arthur asked. Harry nodded and held his glass up in front of him.
"To family." he declared, "If today shows anything, it's that they never really leave us. And to good friends, who are just as much a part of the family."
Everyone held out their glasses in the centre of the circle they formed.
"To family and good friends." they all proclaimed together, some a little slower than others.
"And to the other side," Luna piped up, "Which apparently isn't as far away as we thought."
They all brought their glasses together again and rather awkwardly repeated,
"To the other side."
Luna smiled on serenely.
"And to Harry Potter," said James, standing directly opposite his son, "A really, bloody remarkable man."
Once more, they brought their glasses together.
"To Harry." they proclaimed at once. Everyone stood for a few moments, sipping champagne and looking around at one another, enjoying the togetherness. Harry had never felt closer to his friends and family than he did at that very moment and he felt Hermione's absence even more powerfully.
"Any word on Hermione?" Harry whispered in Ron's ear as the group began to disperse across the dance floor. Ron shrugged and raised an eyebrow doubtfully.
"Your guess is as good as mine, mate."
They were interrupted by Lily approaching Harry as Ron turned to go talk with Neville and Luna.
"Harry, my beautiful boy." Lily said, placing her hands on either side of her son's face and smiling proudly at him, "Would you dance with me?" she asked, taking his hands. Harry nodded and followed her onto the dance floor where they stood holding hands and swaying together.
"I always regretted not getting to dance with you." Lily said, her eyes heavy with sadness, "I should have been at your wedding. We both should have been there." she cast a glance over to James, who was consoling a very sore Hagrid.
"You couldn't…you," Harry stuttered, feeling tears forming again, "You gave me the best chance you could've done."
"She's a great mother." Lily said, turning to look at Molly Weasley.
"She is," Harry agreed, "She never stops, even now."
"I would've liked to have been like her." Lily said, a solitary tear rolling down her cheek, "We wanted more children. Brothers and sisters for you."
"Ron and Hermione were always like siblings to me." Harry said, nodding his head over to Ron.
"That's nice," Lily said, twirling under Harry's outstretched arm and getting him to do the same, "Will we get to meet her? Hermione? She sounds wonderful."
"She is." Harry said softly, "She is. And I hope so."
At that moment, the same small black owl swooped down and dropped a letter on Ron's head. He opened the envelope and quickly scanned the letter inside before bustling over to Harry.
"She's angry, I can tell by how she wrote it. And she said there's a group of Transylvanian wizards in the Ministry protesting something. Probably gonna be another while." Ron said regretfully, crumpling up the letter in his hand.
"Ah well." Lily said.
Harry danced with his mother for a little while longer until McGonagall and Hagrid approached, tears in Hagrid's eyes again.
"I'm afraid we'll have to go. I told Mr Filch we wouldn't be gone this late and I dread to think of him rifling through my office." McGonagall explained, she held out a hand to Lily, "It was good to see you, Potter."
McGonagall headed off to say goodbye to James and the others, while Hagrid hung back a few steps away from Lily, his bottom lip trembling.
"I know yeh said in yer owl that…but yeh on'y just got here. Maybe, I dunno, it's not…" he trailed off, blowing his nose on his coat sleeve. Harry looked away, he couldn't bear to see Hagrid cry. Lily stepped towards the half-giant and embraced him, only this time he didn't hug her back. Hagrid looked scared that if he did, she might break or disappear before his eyes.
James and McGonagall came over, with McGonagall looking a little misty eyed behind her spectacles. James held out a hand to Hagrid, who looked rather wildly at it, took it and limply shook.
"Goodbye, Hagrid." James said, a sad smile on his face.
"Just a minute. I want ter remember yeh righ'." Hagrid stood scanning the pair's faces for a few moments and Harry thought he saw McGonagall doing the same. Once the moment had passed, they bid farewell to Harry and turned to head back into the house. Hagrid dragged his feet the whole way, and turned to take one last look as he crossed into the kitchen.
"I should probably get going too, Harry." Neville said from behind Harry, with Luna peering over his shoulder. Neville shook Lily and James' hands while Luna approached them, staring intently at them both.
"It was very nice meeting you, Mr and Mrs Potter. I look forward to seeing you again. Although, not too soon, I hope." Luna added dreamily. Lily and James smiled and thanked her.
Harry watched as they too set off across the lawn and up to the house, only neither Luna nor Neville turned back for one last look.
It was only a few minutes later before Draco came down into the garden and told them that he and Scorpius should also be returning home. As Scorpius said goodbye to Albus, Teddy decided to leave with the Malfoys and Draco told the Potters that it'd been good to meet them, Harry started to panic again. The party was unwinding, the guests were going home, it was already after eleven. Hermione hadn't even arrived yet. He didn't have long left.
Gathered rather sparsely around the dance floor were Molly, Arthur, Albus, James, Rose, Ron and the Potters. Ginny had rejoined Harry at his side, wrapping her arm comfortingly around his waist.
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
"I'm thinking everyone shouldn't have left. I'm thinking there's no time left. I'm thinking Hermione's not going to get here. And I'm thinking I hate her bloody stupid job and the bloody stupid Ministry!" Harry grumbled, sighing and crumpling a little.
"Isn't this where you're supposed to say 'Don't worry, Harry, she'll be here'" Harry asked.
"I can't say that because I don't know if it's true." Ginny replied sadly, she squeezed Harry's waist a little tighter as some kind of weak consolation.
Ginny and Harry danced together a little while Ron sat slumped on the floor, struggling to keep his eyes open. Albus, James and Rose were all sitting at a table together in silence, just like Ron, trying to fight off sleep. At around quarter past eleven, Ginny told Albus and James to go inside and take their little sister up to bed. Ron carried Rose into the living room in his arms and lay her down on the sofa next to her brother.
"Do we have to, mum? It's still early!" James protested.
"Not for you, it's not." Ginny countered and ushered them inside the house and upstairs. Harry had no doubt in his mind that both James and Albus would be waiting at James' bedroom window that faced out onto the garden, probably with a very sleepy Lily alongside them.
Harry squinted up at the window to try and make out his children's faces.
"We'll clear all this up and then we best be off, Harry dear." Molly said, patting Harry on the shoulder, "You go inside now, Arthur and I will handle all this."
Harry nodded and followed Ginny, Ron and his parents inside. From in the kitchen they could hear the sounds of tables and chairs popping back to where they came from and the gazebos deflating. The garden went dark as Molly extinguished the lanterns and fairy lights on the tree. Harry stared deeply at his parents, trying to take in every detail of their faces.
"Was there anywhere you wanted to visit?" Harry asked suddenly, looking up at the clock and seeing that it was approaching half past eleven already.
Lily chewed her lip in thought and James tilted his head.
"Godric's Hollow." Lily suggested.
"Yeah, Godric's Hollow." James agreed, "Where it all began."
And ended, Harry couldn't help but think.
"I think that sounds lovely. We can apparate there." Ginny offered and everyone nodded in agreement. There was a loud clattering of plates outside and Harry heard Molly yell 'Honestly Arthur!' which made the entire group fall into fits of laughter.
A few minutes later, Molly and Arthur returned to the kitchen, both looking slightly flustered.
"Well, this has been just lovely!" Molly exclaimed, although Harry could tell she was fighting back tears.
Arthur shook James' hand and Molly hugged Lily and whispered in her ear,
"I know it's not like that…you know, but if…in case you do…if you see Fred…" she trailed off, tears rolling down her red cheeks.
"I'll tell him, Molly." Lily replied, trying to comfort her. Molly nodded and forced a smile.
The Weasleys said goodbye to their children and Harry, before promptly turning on the spot and disapparating. Harry was sure he saw a look of abject horror cross Molly's face right before she disappeared, just as she caught sight of James and Lily for the last time.
"We really should go too." Ginny said, glancing up at the clock, "Let me just go tell the kids."
"Is it okay if I leave Hugo and Rose here, Gin?" Ron asked and Ginny gave him a thumbs up.
"Sure, I'll get James to look after them!"
"Oh Ginny!" Lily called, "Do you mind if I come up with you?"
Ginny turned back to face her mother-in-law, looking touched.
"Of course not, come up."
The two women headed upstairs to the children while Harry, Ron and James stood in the kitchen in silence. Harry began to hear faint sobbing and as he turned his head to the right, he caught sight of Ron crying.
"Sorry, mate, it's just…it's just so…you know." he whispered and Harry patted him on the back, unsure of whether he would even be able to get the words out to console his best friend.
A few minutes later, Ginny and Lily came back downstairs as Lily was saying,
"They're really beautiful children."
And James whispered in Harry's ear,
"They are."
Ron walked over to the sofa and placed a kiss on Rose and Hugo's foreheads while they slept, he whispered something in Rose's ear and Harry noticed she had one eye slightly open and was surveying the scene before her rather stealthily.
"Oh, let me just send Hermione another owl in case!" Ron said, rushing off upstairs. He returned as quickly as possible.
"Right, Godric's Hollow." Harry forced out and at the same moment, they all turned on the spot and fell into nothingness before popping out in the little village. Without a word, both James and Lily - hand-in-hand - headed towards the graveyard where they were buried. Harry, Ron and Ginny followed silently behind. They kept their distance as the Potters weaved through headstones, reading the inscriptions on each until they came to the large statue of James, Lily and baby Harry. Lily clasped her hands to her mouth and a single tear rolled down James' cheek.
"It's very beautiful." he said, squeezing Lily's shoulder.
Harry stepped forward towards his parents while Ginny held Ron who had started crying again.
"Is it weird?" Harry asked. James turned his head around to see his son,
"Is what weird?" he asked.
"That you're down there?"
Lily turned around and placed her hands on Harry's upper arms, gripping them tight.
"Oh, Harry, we were never down there. That's just bones, now. We haven't been there since…since he cast the Killing curse. We've always been with you, not in some box in the ground." she reassured him as Harry tried to fight back the tears.
Ron's sobs grew louder as Ginny tried to calm him down, but Harry couldn't hear his friend. He was so focused on studying every detail of his parents' faces. How they smiled. How they blinked. The image of them together, smiling at him. The smell of his mother's perfume. They way they felt when they held him close.
"Harry!" Ginny called over, "It's five to." she said, checking the Muggle watch Arthur had slipped into her pocket before he left.
"No!" Harry exclaimed, eyes wide with horror, "It's not enough time. I need to…to say so much. I didn't….we didn't get the chance to. No, please, no." he said frantically, eyes wild and looking between the two of them for some solution which wouldn't come.
"Oh H-harry," Lily said, her breath hitching in her throat as she began to cry, "Harry. Our beautiful boy. You're a man now. We missed so much, darling, so much. We got this day to be with you, to see you. To see your family. You have to look after yourself, Harry, please." Lily turned her head into James' shoulder to hide the tears.
"Son," James spoke up, he too was crying, "Son, your mother's right. You have a wonderful family. Such wonderful friends. You have everything to be proud of. And we're so proud of you. You saved the world. And you saved us." James reached up his free hand to dab away the tears, "You made sure that we didn't die in vain."
"But you didn't get to meet Hermione!" Harry whimpered, as his parents pulled him into a tight hug.
"We love you, Harry. We'll always love you." Lily whispered into Harry's hair, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss the top of his head as she had done when he was a baby.
"We'll always be with you. We're in your heart." James said, squeezing his son a little tighter.
"It's not fair." Harry muttered as they released him.
"It's never fair." James said, shaking his head.
With that, the church bells nearby began to ring.
"No!" Harry exclaimed feeling panicky, he reached out and grabbed his parents' hands one last time. A moment of serene calm washed over them and James and Lily smiled back at Harry. James squeezed Harry's hand one more time, and as the church bells rung their final time, Harry watched as his parents began to fade and became smoke that floated away on the breeze.
There was a loud pop behind Harry, but he didn't bother to turn around, he felt too defeated, letting the tears fall down his cheeks onto the grass below.
"Harry?" Hermione called out frantically, racing down the lawn, "Harry? Where are they? Did I…" she approached the scene. Ginny gave her a sad look and shook her head.
"Too late." Ginny croaked. Hermione fell to her knees, sobbing loudly as Ron put his arm around her and she mumbled into his chest.
"Oh, Harry…I couldn't….with work…and they…oh no, no, no, no, no." she sobbed as Ron stroked her hair.
"You got the owl?" Ron asked, holding her close.
"I got the owl." she wailed and shook with sobs.
Ginny slowly approached Harry from behind and took his hand.
"They were so wonderful." she said, echoing what James had told Harry about his own family. Harry nodded tearfully.
"They were." he repeated. Harry turned around and ran towards Hermione, colliding with her in a tight hug as she cried into his shoulder. Ron wrapped his arms around both of them, and Ginny did the same, holding hands with Ron as they did.