Chapter Two

The First of September

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry Potter, famous Wizard and Head of the Ministry of Magic's Auror Department, said to his daughter, Lily.

"Two years," Lily sniffed. "But I want to go now!"

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. As they got closer, a boy's voice drifted over the surrounding clamor.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin", a small boy with mussed-up black hair and bright green eyes said. From behind him came the sound of hissing, followed by a cry of "SLYTHERIN!!!," this last delivered in a low-pitched gravelly voice.

"James, give it a rest," the boys' mother, Ginny Weasley Potter, said from behind.

A red-haired boy with freckles and blue eyes appeared, grinning from ear to ear.

"I only said he might be," the red-haired boy, who was obviously the James in question, said. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth—" James fell silent at the glare that his mother was shooting him.

"Go on through, James," she said.

James took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run straight for the barrier. A moment later, just when it seemed as if he might crash headlong into it, he had vanished from sight.

"Your turn, Al," Ginny said, addressing the black-haired boy.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

Albus looked horrified. "Not every day," he said quickly. "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

Ginny and Harry both smiled. "We wrote to James three times a week last year," Ginny said.

"And you don't want to believe everything James tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Side by side, Harry, Ginny, and Albus pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto a large, crowded platform, which was obscured by clouds of thick white steam which were emanating from a giant scarlet train. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, and there was no sign of James.

"Where are they?" Albus asked, peering anxiously at the hazy forms they passed as he and his parents made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," Ginny said reassuringly.

Although the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces, Harry, Ginny, and Albus soon pushed their way through the crowds and came across a group of four people standing alongside the very last carriage.

"Hi," Albus said, sounding immensely relieved.

His 'hi' was echoed by a chorus of similar responses, the last coming from a small girl who was already dressed in black robes instead of the street clothes that Albus was wearing. She beamed at him as Harry and Ginny embraced her parents.

"Parked all right," the man, Harry's best friend and fellow Auror, Ron Weasley, asked. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you?" he asked his wife teasingly. "She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't," Hermione Granger-Weasley, Harry's other best friend and Ron's wife, said. "I had complete faith in you."

Ron took one side of Albus's trunk, and he and Harry picked it up and carried it onto the train, balancing it to avoid causing the cage on top of it to crash to the floor.

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered as he and Harry set Albus's trunk down. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

Ron and Harry exited the train to find their two youngest children, red-haired Lily and her equally red-haired male cousin, Hugo, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. From the snippets of conversation that reached Harry's ears, he could tell they were discussing Hogwarts and arguing about which of the school's four Houses they might be sorted into when it came time for them to attend.

Ron walked over and bent down to give Lily a hug, catching part of her conversation with his son. He looked at her dead serious and said, "No pressure, but if you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you."

"Ron," came an indignant huff from above and behind him.

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Rose turned to Albus and exchanged a fearful, solemn glance.

"He doesn't mean it," Ginny said, noticing her son and niece's expressions. Ron, however, didn't hear this, as he was no longer paying attention, but instead staring at a family of three who had suddenly appeared through the mist and were standing a few feet away.

"Look who it is," he said to Harry.

Harry turned to stare in the direction Ron was pointing. Draco Malfoy, an old classmate of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's, was standing there with his wife and son, coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized his pointed chin. Harry shifted his eyes from Draco to the boy standing next to him, and it was as if he was looking at a miniature version of his former rival, since the boy resembled his father as much as Albus resembled him (Harry). Draco caught sight of the audience he and his family had suddenly acquired, nodded curtly in their direction, and turned away, pulling his wife with him as their son hopped on to the train.

"So that's little Scorpius," Ron said to Harry. He turned to his daughter and said, "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," Hermione said, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school."

"You're right, sorry," Ron said; then, unable to help himself, he added "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

Before anyone could reply, their attention was captured by an excited "Hey!" and James reappeared, having divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing?"

He gazed up at the adults, and continued. "Snogging Victoire!" he said breathlessly.

When the adults didn't respond, he looked disappointed, and said "Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin ! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing ---"

"You interrupted them?" Ginny asked. "You are so like Ron ---"

"--- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he hadn't made himself clear.

"Oh it would be lovely if they got married!" Lily whispered ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," Harry said. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah," James said enthusiastically, picking up on the conversation. "I don't mind sharing with Al --- Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He glanced at the battered old watch on his arm and said "It's nearly eleven. You'd better get on board."

Ginny hugged James and said "Don't forget to give Neville our love!"

"Mum! I can't give a professor love," James said.

"But you know Neville ---" Ginny said.

James rolled his eyes and said "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love…."

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his frustration by aiming a kick at Albus, then allowed his mother to kiss him and gave his father a fleeting hug,

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the threstrals," he said as he boarded the rapidly filling train.

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!" Albus said, but James was too busy waving to pay attention.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "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."

Ginny kissed Albus goodbye and said, "See you at Christmas." Harry also gave his son a hug and said "Bye, Al. 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?" Albus asked in a hushed tone.

Harry smiled at his son, realizing that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere his fear of ending up in Slytherin House was. He crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own, and whispered "Albus Severus, 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 --- Albus protested.

"--- 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," Harry said.

"Really?" Albus asked, surprised.

"It did for me," Harry said. He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus's face when he said it. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents were swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders.

Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, suddenly seemed to be turned toward Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" Albus demanded as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," Ron said. "it's me. I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him. The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air as the train rounded a corner, leaving Harry standing on the platform with his hand still raised in farewell.