Summary: James Sirius Potter and his family go shopping in Diagon Alley. James is worried about starting his first year at Hogwarts - will Ginny and Harry be able to help?

Just Fine

James Sirius Potter ran through Diagon Alley slightly ahead of his parents. It was not his first visit to the magical shopping district, but today's was an especially noteworthy one. Today, he was going shopping for school - Hogwarts, to be precise - and he was more than a little excited.

"Where are we going first, Dad? Oh, can we go to Quality Quidditch Supplies, please? Pleeeease?"

Harry laughed. "Alright. Race you there?"

"Harry!" Ginny scolded. "You can't race our son through Diagon Alley!"

"Spoilsport!" Harry called over his shoulder Ginny rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Despite everything he had gone through, Harry still had the ability to act like a kid. Those who knew him best saw this as his way of giving his children the childhood he never had.

Harry valiantly "lost" to James and the two entered the shop together, where they took turns oohing and ahhing over the various broomstick models. Ginny followed behind them at first, but she soon parted ways in favor of meeting up with Hermione and Ron, who were watching the two younger Potter children in addition to their own.

"Looks like it's just you and me, mate," Harry said, tousling his son's hair. James ducked away and grinned.

"Really? Awesome!"

...

After begging his dad for a broom ("First years aren't allowed broomsticks, and no, Professor McGonagall will not be making an exception for you," Harry told him), James wanted to go check out owls and other creatures at The Magical Menagerie. The shop was packed with other families buying animals for their children as well. Harry laughed when he saw James eyeing a toad nervously.

"Neville - Professor Longbottom - had one of those," he said, nodding toward the warty creature. "Named him Trevor. Was always losing him, the poor chap. One time he found Trevor in the girl's toilets."

James laughed, but quickly grew solemn. "Professor Longbottom seems nice, but I haven't met any of the other professors. I hope there aren't any mean ones."

"Don't you worry about that," Harry reassured him.

"Okay, but what if-what if no one wants to be my friend?" It was clear that James was particularly worried about that.

"Well, then, send your old man after them, that ought to scare them into being your friend," Harry joked.

"Dad!"

Harry crouched a little so that he could look directly into James's eyes. "I don't think you need to worry, James. You'll have the time of your life at Hogwarts. There's nowhere like it. Now come on, let's pick out a cat for you." James made a noise of protest. "Sorry, did I say cat? I meant owl."

"Dad!"

...

Everywhere they went, people stopped to stare at Harry, or shake his hand. A few even asked for his autograph. He took it in stride, introducing James to anyone he didn't know or couldn't remember. After bidding goodbye to Susan Bones and her daughter, who had stopped for a long chat, they headed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to meet up with the Granger-Weasleys, Albus, and Lily.

"I love this place!" James shouted before running off to join Rose, Hugo and Albus. Lily, meanwhile, remained by her mother's side.

"Hi, Daddy!" she said brightly, waving at Harry.

"Lily!" He scooped her up, causing her to squeal.

"I missed you, Daddy."

"I missed you too, Lils," Harry said, giving her a quick squeeze. He set her down carefully and smiled at her.

"Did you and James have a nice time together?" Ginny murmured.

"Yes," he whispered back. "He's still worrying about Hogwarts, but I think once he gets there, once it all becomes real to him, he'll forget to be nervous and just have fun. That's how it was for me, at least."

Ginny smiled. "Yes, I think he'll be just fine. He's got your courage, after all."

"Rubbish," Harry said lovingly. "You're far braver than I am, Gin."

They gazed into each other's eyes until the moment was ruined by James, who yelled, "Oi, Mum! Dad! Get a room!" at which point they both cleared their throats and pretended to look around the shop.

...

That night, James excused himself from dinner and went up to bed early. After a quick discussion with his wife, Harry went up to his son's room and found him huddled on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest.

"Hey, James," Harry said softly, taking a seat next to him. "What's going on?"

"I'm so nervous, Dad," James confessed, staring at his feet. "I know you said Hogwarts is going to be great and all, but I mean, what if everyone expects me to be like you?"

"They won't," Harry said firmly. "No one expected me to be like my dad - except maybe Professor Snape."

James let out a weak chuckle. "Did you feel this scared, Dad?"

"Definitely!" Harry nodded. "I didn't even know I had magic, remember, and I thought I was going to be so far behind everyone else."

"Everything turned out alright for you, though," James said, dropping his head onto his knees.

Harry reached over and squeezed his shoulder gently. "Trust me, it didn't always seem like it would at the time."

"Really?"

"Really. Hey, tell you what, your Mum and I will write to you every week and you can fill us in on what's happening. If you need any help, we'll do whatever we can to make sure you have the best possible time."

James's eyes lit up. "That would be great. Thanks, Dad."

...

"How's James feeling about Hogwarts after your little chat tonight?" Ginny asked, running her fingers along Harry's arm absentmindedly.

Harry smiled at her. "He cheered up immensely after I told him we would keep in touch several times a week."

Ginny snuggled closer and kissed him. "Good. It's going to be weird not having him around, but he's going to have so much fun. I'm almost jealous."

"What, you want to go back to school?" Harry teased.

"No," Ginny shuddered, "but when we weren't, you know, fighting wars and stuff, there were so many cool things to do."

"That's true," Harry said, leaning his head back against the pillows. "Like snogging."

Ginny smacked his chest lightly. "Harry James Potter, that is not what I meant."

"Oh?" He quirked an eyebrow at her. "What did you mean, then?"

"Look at all the cool friends we made! The clubs we formed!" Ginny said.

"I'm not sure any of our friends are 'cool' and the one club we formed was also highly illegal at the time," Harry snorted, playing with his wife's hair. Ginny swatted Harry's hands away and glared at him.

"Fine, but you can't deny that our years at Hogwarts were, for the most part, pretty fun."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, yawning. "Aside from the Voldemort parts, those were probably some of the best years of my life."

He bid Ginny goodnight and turned off the light. In a few weeks' time, James would be turning off the light in his dorm at Hogwarts, and Harry knew that his son would be, in Ginny's words, just fine.

Word count: 1,182

A/N: Sorry, y'all, I know next to nothing about the Next-Gen characters, but I tried. Harry as the sort of embarrassing but also super kind dad was fun to write, though.