It was a quiet, sunny Saturday morning as 4-year-old Harry Potter raced through the halls to jump on his parent's bed.
He had spent the better part of last week working to create the crystal watch he held behind his back that he would be giving to his mother for her birthday. He had used a combination of his parents' old spell books and with some help explaining what different spells do from Uncle Moony, Harry had managed to transfigure a stone into a beautiful crystal watch before charming it to be waterproof, indestructible, and of course to actually function like a normal watch.
To say his mother was amazed by the gift would be an understatement. She was bursting with pride that her son had put so much thought and effort into making such a beautiful gift for her, and to do so with the magic they had been teaching him for the past year made her feel even better.
The only thing that Lily could still want on her birthday was to have the conversation with James about having another baby, as despite the constant presence of Neville and the Longbottoms she wanted Harry to grow up with brothers and sisters and not as an only child.
For his part, Harry had enjoyed a very happy normal childhood, or as normal as could be expected for a four-year-old mage. The parents had once again been surprised by his abilities when they attempted to first teach Harry some basic spells when he had turned three, mainly because at this point he was doing magic so frequently they thought it was best to teach him how to use it properly.
They'd bought him a practice wand that could only perform spells that the parents programmed into it, and they'd gotten one for Neville as well, as it was only fair to teach both boys at the same time, even if Neville had still yet to gain a grasp on his magic.
Despite struggling to read the spell books, and finding it even more difficult to pronounce the correct wording or master the proper wand movements that go with it, Harry proved to have no problem casting spells. Whenever the parents had explained what the spell was supposed to do, Harry could immediately perform the spell perfectly, regardless of an incorrect wand movement or a mispronounced incantation. When the parents questioned him on this Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and said he just thought of doing what the spell was supposed to do, and it would happen.
He had proven to be so adept in his abilities that they had even started to schedule lessons with McGonagall, Flitwick, and Dumbledore.
While James was a little skeptical of teaching him too much too fast, even he couldn't refuse Lily's argument of getting him professional tutelage after he walked in on him in the living room one afternoon playing with Neville, where Harry had transfigured the couch into a deer and proceeded to chase it around the room. He'd had a long talk with Sirius after that about not programming stupid spells into the practice wand just to see what Harry was capable of.
Granted, when he could perform such advanced acts of magic, Harry found learning basic charms or spells to be quite boring. He didn't really understand why he had to learn the correct wand motion and incantation when he didn't seem to need them, but he always relented when his mother expressed how much she wanted him to learn these traditional methods.
For that alone, Lily couldn't be more proud of her son. He was nothing like the big-headed brat James said he was like as a kid, despite having every reason to be full of himself. She'd always been slightly worried that Harry would take after his father and develop a huge ego, especially given his magical proficiency, but every time she watched him trying to teach magic to Neville, those fears were put to rest.
Although he didn't get many opportunities to leave the house, Harry loved growing up with his family. Neville had become like a brother to him. The two boys never seemed to leave each others' side. Alice and Frank had become his honorary Aunt and Uncle, as did Lily and James for Neville. Augusta, McGonagall, and Dumbledore were also included as the grandparents to the two young wizards.
His parents had tried to ensure he got a childhood as normal as possible, and although he didn't have any other childhood friends, it was never a dull day in the Potter-Longbottom household.
They enjoyed frequent visits by guests such as Grandma Augusta, Professor McGonagall (or as the boys had taken to calling her – Aunt Minnie) Professor Flitwick, Uncle Remus and Harry's Godfather Sirius. They even received several visits from Albus Dumbledore but his visits were usually rather short, and he was almost entirely focused on the upbringing of the two boys (Harry in particular) and any magic they had performed. The parents now knew that he was so concerned with this because Harry was the child of the prophecy, but they weren't about to burden Harry with such a fact at his age.
Of all the visits Harry's favourites were when Sirius would come over. He and his father were relentless in their pranking wars much to the amusement of the kids, and the two had even expressed interest in showing them the tricks of the trade. However, Lily and Alice had quickly ended any chance of that possibility at least for the next few years, as they didn't want Sirius corrupting their boys.
Sirius, of course, thought this was more than unfair but he wasn't about to argue with Lily or Alice when it came to the upbringing of Harry and Neville. He knew he'd have a better chance of convincing a stone to fly a broom than winning that argument. It was bad enough that Lily was always on his back for chasing birds, and on several occasions had tried to get him to settle down with a girl of her choice, but now she was preventing him from passing on his knowledge to his godson. It was an outrage.
Of course, Sirius' and his mother's frequent quarrels were just another thing Harry loved about his godfathers' visits as he always found it rather amusing to see the usually free-spirited Sirius chased out of the house by his mother.
Together they made up his family and he loved them more than anything. He wasn't too upset that he didn't get the chance to be around other children, as having so many adults in his family ensured that he and Neville received numerous gifts during the holidays.
Like the Potters, the Longbottoms couldn't be more proud of their own son. Sure he had yet to perform accidental magic but that was to be expected and they weren't about to start comparing him to Harry or anything. They were more than happy with how their son had grown to become a polite respectable young boy.
Unfortunately more than once Frank had to get into an argument with his mother, Augusta, over her treatment towards Neville.
Whether the older witch knew it or not, her insistence on comparing Neville to Harry was slowly degrading the boy's self-confidence, and Frank was determined not to let that happen to his son. In fact, when Augusta had the audacity to push young Neville off the second-floor balcony during her last visit, in the misguided hope that it would cause the little boy to have his first act of accidental magic, Frank lost it. After that, it was made clear that unless she put an end to her behavior, she was no longer welcome in their home. They hadn't seen or heard from Grandma Augusta for over three months after that, but eventually, she came around, though it was obvious that she was behaving much less friendly to all of them, as her discussions were much shorter and far less endearing.
The only regret each family had was that the two children really only had each other for friends as they had yet to meet a child their age in their muggle neighbourhood, and the group had yet to re-introduce themselves to the wizarding world.
The parents had found it hard enough to tell both Harry and Neville the story of the war that had plagued Wizarding Britain for the better part of eight years. Even more difficult was telling the tale of their part in it and what had happened to them, before a one-year-old baby Harry had been able to vanquish the Dark Lord and revive both sets of parents. Needless to say, Harry was a bit sceptical of the tale but it did explain the weird lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead that always made his mother very sad whenever she touched it.
And so both sets of mothers found themselves discussing the possibility of having more children.
It didn't take much convincing for either father, as they loved the idea of having another child especially considering the effect it would have on Harry and Neville.
Both boys had of course been delighted to hear that they would be getting siblings. Harry had even boasted about getting to play the role of the over-protective big brother much to his parent's amusement.
They knew Harry would never harm anyone unless they gave him a very good reason to, but it was still slightly frightening to think of how much power the little boy possessed. Anyone that harmed his baby brother or sister was surely in for a world of hurt.
While many adults would be awed to learn the truth at just how powerful Harry was; all the Potters, Longbottoms, and Marauders were worried about was how much would be expected of Harry in the coming years especially with that damned prophecy hanging over his head.
And so, as Lily lay awake on her bed cuddling both her son and her husband, she silently pondered when it would be best to re-introduce Harry to the wizarding world that still saw him as the second coming of Merlin.
She knew it would be an immense challenge for Harry adjusting to his fame, and she could only hope that it didn't change who he was as a person, but she couldn't shelter him away from the public forever.
While it was all well said and done to hide him away from the public eye, at least for now, Harry would have to go to Hogwarts one day, and then there would be no escaping his fame.
