Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.
Note: The epilogue has always annoyed me. Putting the name Albus Severus aside –
("Harry, we forgot to think of names before he was born! Quick, think of something!"
"Um – um…" Harry looks at the Chocolate Frog cards he has in his hands. "Albus Severus!"
The nurse writes it down before they can actually think about it.
"…You don't think that'll put him in Slytherin, do you?" Ginny asks with great trepidation.
His shoulders slump. "I don't know," Harry says mournfully. "But he'll definitely hate us.")
Ahem. Yes, putting that aside…
Harry and Ginny basically ignore James' existence. If my parents showed such obvious favoritism, of course I'd act up for their attention. And since this is fanfiction, I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT.
*drops the mic*
*picks up the mic, apologetically hands it back and begs for forgiveness*
(But really, if the Cursed Child can ignore an entire series of books, THEN SO CAN I.)
Without further ado, I give you (heh, that rhymed):
A Different Perspective
From the moment they had entered the train station, Lily had been clinging to her father, pouting because her brothers were leaving her.
"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.
"Two years," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now!"
Ginny bit back a smile as her daughter reminded her of herself. With all of the commuters staring curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, she knew that smiling would make them look even odder.
"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!"
"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny, turning to glare at her oldest son.
"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother, a mischievous quirk of the lips that reminded her of Ron. Of all her children, James looked the least like her. The only thing he seemed to have inherited from her was his mouth. Otherwise, he looked just like Harry, but with his grandfather Arthur's blue eyes. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slytherin."
She narrowed her eyes, and he fell silent. As they approached the barrier, she handed James' trolley off to him. He shot Al a look that said, 'This is how you do it,' and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished through the barrier.
"You'll write to me, won't you?" Al asked his parents as soon as his brother disappeared.
"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.
"Not every day," he said quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."
"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny. She neglected to mention that was because he and Sirius kept evading detentions she knew they deserved.
"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."
Ginny watched as Harry and Al passed through the barrier, and then followed with Lily. She looked around for James, but he seemed to have gone ahead without them.
"Where are they?" asked Al anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.
"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly. She squinted, trying to see through the dense vapor. "I think that's them, Al."
Ron and Hermione were waiting with their own two children next to the last carriage. The Potters pushed through the crowd toward them.
"Hi," said Al, sounding immensely relieved.
Rose, who had already changed into her Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.
"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."
"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."
Ginny turned her head aside to hide a snicker.
As Ron and Harry lifted Al's trunk and owl onto the train, Ginny and Hermione listened to the children's discussion on their future houses. The two women shared a smile, though Ginny's dissipated when she noticed Draco Malfoy over Hermione's shoulder.
"So long as I'm not in Slytherin with James, I don't care," said Al fervently.
Rose and Hugo were more undecided, but Lily said, "I want to be in Gryffindor."
"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron as he and Harry returned, "but no pressure."
"Ron!" both Ginny and Hermione exclaimed.
Lily and Hugo laughed, but Al and Rose looked solemn. Ginny plotted ways to make her brother suffer.
"He doesn't mean it," she and Hermione assured the children, but Ron was no longer paying attention.
"Look who it is," he murmured, nodding toward where Malfoy and Astoria stood with their son.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Despite Harry and Malfoy working together for years, Ron still hadn't gotten over their childhood rivalry.
Malfoy caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again. Scorpius waved at Al, who grinned back at him.
"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."
"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"
"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."
Noticing Harry's expression, Ginny opened her mouth to tell how Scorpius was nothing like his father in attitude, but then James reappeared.
"Hey!"
He seemed to have already found a carriage with his friends, for his trunk, owl, and trolley were gone. Ginny searched the platform and saw Sirius saying goodbye to his own parents.
"Teddy's back there," James said, pointing wildly back in the direction he had come from. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"
He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction. Ginny was confused as to why he sounded so surprised. Teddy and Victoire had been dating for three years now.
"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing -"
"You interrupted them?" said Ginny, exasperated. "You are so like Ron -"
Ron made a sound of protest that was overridden by James continuing.
"- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!"
Since that was expected for a couple, the adults only stared at him, nonplussed.
"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily, fairly bouncing with excitement. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"
"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"
"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al-Teddy could have my room!"
Horror momentarily struck Ginny paralyzed as she imagined that possibility.
"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." He checked his watch. "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."
Ginny pulled James into a hug. "Don't forget to give Neville our love!" she told him.
"Mum! I can't give a professor love!" he protested, wiggling out of her hold.
"But you know Neville-"
James rolled his eyes, an action that somehow made him look even more like Harry. "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love…"
He shook his head and aimed a kick at Al.
"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."
"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"
James snickered, and Al scowled in return. Ginny managed to kiss James' cheek before he ran off again. He hugged Harry momentarily and then leaped onto the train. With one last wave, he disappeared up the corridor to find his friends.
"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Al. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."
Al still looked disconcerted, and Ginny pressed a reassuring kiss into his messy black hair.
"See you at Christmas."
"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."
"What if I'm in Slytherin?"
The whisper was for his father alone, and Ginny turned away, giving them a moment of privacy. Since Lily and Hugo were still debating, and Ron and Hermione were busy saying goodbye to Rose, no one else heard them.
"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, and out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Al smirk. Harry had taken to calling him that when they were in public, just to get a rise out of people. "You were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."
"But just say-"
"-then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."
"Really?"
"It did for me," said Harry.
Nearby, a beetle scurried away. Ginny resisted the urge to squash it.
With that reassurance, Al jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them, gaping at the Potter family.
"Why are they all staring?" demanded Al as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students. Despite knowing of their parents' exploits, the children had never seemed impressed by them.
"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."
Al, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Ginny watched her son's freckled face, already ablaze with excitement. She hoped that Ron didn't see Scorpius entering the carriage as the train disappeared.
Harry still stood at the end of the platform, watching the train take their sons away.
"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.
He absentmindedly touched the lightning scar on his forehead. "I know he will."
AN: The presence of Sirius will be explained at a later point. And yes, James is in Slytherin.