I believe our story begins where Rowling left off - Autumn, at King's Cross, when Harry was 36. Forgive that the scene is, in more than part, the same as Rowling's version, but she does own the entire concept of Harry Potter, doesn't she?

That year, Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly. The first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and the little family marveled at its near perfection. The two adults were pushing trollys laden with luggage. The owls inside their cages hooted indignantly at being inside on such a glorious day. The redheaded girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching at her father's arm.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too, Lils," Harry told her, looking at his daughter, worried. The wind rustled Lily's hair, and she turned her face to meet it, away from her father.

"Two years," answered Lily, with an air of sadness and a dry sob. "I want to go now!"

It was no secret, nor surprise to any of the Potters that they attracted a fair ammount of attention as they made their way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. James poked his brother. "Albus, have you thought about what House you'll be in?"

Albus looked at his brother a moment, "No, not really." He hesitated. "What do you think?"

"Well," James pretended to ponder for a moment. "I think...you might be in...Slytherin!"

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"

Ginny turned to the two, thoroughly aggrivated. "James," she snapped. "Give it a rest!"

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his cleverness. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth -" But James stopped abruptly when he saw the wary look in his mother's eye. He took the trolley from his mother and, giving a cocky look to Albus, broke into a run into the barrier. Immediately, he vanished.

Albus felt his heart quicken and he turned to his parents. "You'll write to me, won't you?" Harry felt a sudden pang of worry. Had James been pestering his brother about this, too?

"Every day, if you want us to," Ginny reassured him.

"Not every day," Albus said quickly, his expression regaining some of its normal quality behind his mask of anxiety. "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a wekk last year, remember?" Ginny pointed out.

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

Side by side, the family passed through the barrier. Albus flinched, but no collision followed. Lily's tears immediately dried as she stared about at the wonder of the spectacle around her. There were so many colors, owls, and wizards! She hardly ever saw so many wizards in one place. The whole platform was shrouded in white, pearly mist, into which James had already disappeared.

Albus peered through the mist as they made their way through the crowd. "Where are they?"

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

They continued through the people, looking for the Weasleys, James, and Teddy. Of course, Teddy had graduated from Hogwarts the past year, but he had promised Albus that he'd say goodbye, which Albus had taken to heart. They all peered through the mist, but it was hard to make anything out in the din and indistinct clutter...

"I think that's them, Al," Ginny said suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn close.

"Hi," said Albus, sounding relieved. Rose, already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermoine didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't," Hermoine said quickly. "I had complete faith in you."

Harry and Ron grabbed Albus's trunk and owl and lugged them onto the train. "As a matter of fact, I did have to Confund him," Ron whispered, "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that." Harry grinned in response, and opened his mouth to tell Ron about hid own driving troubles.

Lily and Hugo, back on the platform, began an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted in when they finally went to Hogwarts. "I think that Griffindor is the best," Lily was saying. "Of course, you're lucky. You just have this year to wait."

Hugo shrugged. "It'll come soon enough, Lils," he said. "And I think that they all sound great, except Slytherein, of course."

Ron approached them, looking at his son. "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," Ron said seriously. "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose looked solemn.

"He doesn't mean it," Hermoine and Ginny said simultaniously. They looked at each other and laughed, and Ron's comment was quickly forgotten, for all its implications and halarity.

Catching Harry's eye, Ron nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist. "Look who it is."

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. Then, louder, "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermoine, 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, ever wielding to his wife. Then quieter, just to Rose, he whispered, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!" she cried, pushing him playfully.

James reappeared suddenly out of the fog. He had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was bursting with news, his mind's eye flashing with the memory. "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? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, whose expressions had hardly changed. "Our Teddy!" he cried. Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's daughter! And I asked Teddy what he was doing -"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "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, worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" Lily whispered, her heart lifting happily. She thought, to herself, that they would make a lovely couple - Victoire with her silvery blonde sheet of hair and slender frame, and Teddy...well, Teddy was an anamorphmagus, like his mother. His appearence changed every day or two. "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, imagining running around with Teddy about the house. "I don't mind sharing a room with Al - Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly. "You and Al will share a oom only when I want the house demolished." He checked his watch. "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him, feeling slightly regretful that her sons were leaving.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville -"

James rolled his eyes. "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 feelings by aiming a kick at Albus. "See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then spring away up the corridor to find his friends, laughing all the way.

"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. "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 Hary knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own. Alone of Hary's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes. "Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving no Rose, who was now on the train, "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.

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 blured outlines of parents were swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage, and Ginny closed the dor behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turn toward Harry.

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

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

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son and niece's thin faces, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was hard, watching his son glide away from him...

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. THe train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be all right," murmured Ginny.

As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead. "I know he will."

The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well. Well...he glanced at his remaining child, smiling dimly, looking exhausted, further down the pavillion, beside Hugo, Hermoine, and Ron. Well...nearly all was well. He put his arm around Ginny and walked to her to their daughter. "Hey, Lils," Harry said. "How you feeling?"

Lily smiled slightly, blinking heavily. "Tired."

"Want a ride?" Harry offered. When Lily agreed, he let her climb onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. When Harry stood, he felt for a moment that Lily might choke him, but the feeling passed quickly into tenderness for his daughter. How could he ever let her go to Hogwarts?

"Mum!" cried Lily from Harry's bac.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Can Aunt Hermoine, Uncle Ron, and Hugo come over for lunch? Please?"

Harry exchanged a glance with Ginny. "All right," he agreed. "but only lunch, okay? Then you have to rest." Lily muttered agreements, and the families gathered around each other, clutching their hands tightly.

"Ready, Lily, Hugo?" asked Ron. They both nodded. "1...2...3!" And, with that, there was a smart clap, and they disappeared.