"This is so awkward," Verity whispered to Poppy, who was focusing so hard on eating it was causing a crease between her eyebrows.
"I know! I feel like I have to do everything right or people will laugh at me! Thank God it's dessert already." Poppy hurriedly whispered back, and then said very politely, "Would you like some apple pie, Mr Potter, sir?" And offered the plate.
Mr Potter, whose mouth was full of treacle tart when she offered, swallowed with difficulty and choked out, "No thank you, er, Poppy, right?" He smiled at her, and she blushed and put the pie plate back down. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table for dinner since, even though they were supposed to be at the Hufflepuff table tonight, Albus's dad was in Gryffindor when he was at school.
"So, Verity, is Dean well?" Mr Potter continued, now talking to Verity. Any other returnee to Hogwarts would be looking around in wonder, drinking in the sites (as well as the pumpkin juice) of the old school, seeing what's changed and what hasn't. But Mr Potter had come to Hogwarts too many times since he graduated to want to absorb the scenery. He had come back to put up the plaque with all the valiant heroes names on it behind the staff table, he had come to give a speech to a Seventh Year Defence Against the Dark Arts class and he had even spoken to the History of Magic class from time to time, to tell them of the Chamber of Secrets, the Room of Requirement (vaguely- he didn't say where it was or how to open it), of the Second Wizarding War and of Dark Wizards. And of course, Professor Truman and Hagrid invited him to tea twice a week and there were only so many times he could refuse.
"Oh, yes." Verity answered, ducking her head and focusing on her tart. "He'll be very pleased when he hears you came."
"I'll have to catch up with him soon, I think the last time I had a proper catch up with him was when you were... nine, was it?" Mr Potter thought it through, adjusting his glasses.
"Yep. It was when you told me about your Firebolt, and how it was the fastest racing broom out there for eight years after you got it. And you even let me ride it!" Verity's tawny eyes misted over as she reminisced. Poppy looked around at the others and saw they all knew what a 'Firebolt' was, so she pretended to know too, and nodded sincerely. To James, who was sitting on her other side, she quietly;
"What's a Firebolt?" James was too eager to join in his dad's conversation to give much of an answer.
"Broomstick," He muttered back as fast as he could, and then leaned forward into the conversation. Poppy sat back and crossed her arms, a bit annoyed that she had no proper interest in broomsticks.
"If you want," Rose said to Poppy, noticing the Hufflepuff's disgruntled expression "I could loan you a book my mother bought me called 'A Revised Quidditch Through the Ages'. It's quite excellent and will definitely spark your interest in Quidditch, if you have any." Poppy smiled gracefully at Rose.
"That would be excellent. Could I borrow it over the holidays and return it to you when we meet up?" Poppy brushed her straight blond hair from her eyes, eagerly looking at Rose.
Rose bit her lip. She hated lending books out over extended periods of time. But then again, this was Poppy. "Okay," She agreed, bobbing her head in a nod. "Just don't... hurt it." Rose widened her brown eyes in worry. Poppy laughed and returned to her pie, assuring Rose she wouldn't.
Dessert was finished, and the group had wandered out into the Entrance Hall. Scorpius and Albus were standing together, as were Verity and Poppy and James and Rose. Mr Potter was waving bemusedly to some very over excited Hufflepuffs.
"Well, I best be off, guys," Mr Potter turned and spoke to the group. James acted nonchalant but Poppy saw his mouth turn down in the corners. Verity looked scandalised that her hero was leaving, but was assured by Albus that she would see him over the summer. Mr Potter gave very warm hugs to James, Al and Rose, shook hands with Scorpius and patted both Poppy and Verity on the shoulders. Just as he turned to leave, Professor Truman walked out of the Great Hall.
"Ah, leaving so soon, Harry?" Truman said.
"Gabe, you know how it is!" Mr Potter laughed. "Wife, child, own bed." He waved an airy hand.
"Actually, Harry, I need to speak to you about certain... events, which will need your consent for next year." Truman said, his mouth hardening and his warm demeanour disappearing, a business-like one replacing it.
"Oh," Mr Potter frowned. "Your office?" He suggested. Al saw his father's personality change from home to work. Mr Potter stood up straighter, his shoulder back, but Al saw his hand immediately go up, most likely unconsciously, and touch the old scar on his father's forehead. Truman noticed too and smiled sadly.
"Come," He led the way. Mr Potter waved to his little posse and they all waved back.
"I wonder what that's about..." James pretended to stroke a beard, and then laughed and started to guide Rose and Verity towards the staircase. "Away!" He chorused. The girls laughed and waved to Poppy, Albus and Scorpius, and then ran off after James as he hooted up to stairs. Poppy and the remaining boys drifted towards the chambers off the Entrance Hall that led to their Common Rooms. Poppy was soon hailed but some other First Year Hufflepuffs, so she smiled radiantly and waved to the boys, who smiled cheerily back and walked towards the dungeons.
They're trunks were packed, the Common Rooms cleaned and Spider the cat was cornered by three seventh years and put up a fight that the rest of the school said would be talking about for years until they finally got him back in his cage.
"So, who do you think won the Cup?" Verity asked, as they walked down to the Great Hall for their final breakfast of the year.
"We did," chorused Poppy, Rose, Scorpius and Albus in unison. They looked at each other competitively as they sat at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast and started to eat.
After breakfast they headed outside to a sunny corner of the grounds where Rose brought out her chess set, goading Scorpius who took up the challenge in an instant. Albus started reading a book and Verity and Poppy started talking about their exam results. Rose had, as expected, come top of the year and Scorpius and Albus had managed not to fail, which everyone thought was something to celebrate.
They went back inside for lunch, and then decided to visit Hagrid down in his house for a little while. When they arrived they found three hippogriff foals penned around the edge of the forest, and a small St Bernard puppy sniffing around the edge of the pumpkin patch.
"Hagrid?" Rose called, as Poppy squealed, ran over to the puppy and scooped him up. Verity and Scorpius went over and started investigating the hippogriffs. There was a chestnut with shining grey eyes, a bay that was sharpening its dark brown beak on a stone and a grey that fixed its beady yellow eye upon the First Years. Albus started calling for Hagrid too.
"They'll have ye fingers, they will," Hagrid boomed as he strode out from around the back of his hut, and Scorpius hastily withdrew his hand from the baby hippogriff pen. Verity smirked at him, but he just made a face at her.
"Hi, Hagrid," They chorused, Scorpius still eyeing the grey hippogriff accusingly. Hagrid invited them all inside, and they sat comfortably around his table. He poured them all some ice-cold dandelion wine, which they took one taste of then pushed away, and the puppy laid his head on Poppy's foot and started drooling on her shoe.
"So, last day already, is it?" Hagrid said, gazing fondly at them all. They had been down to visit him a lot this year, and even gave him advice on what to call his new puppy. Ten week old Bran was named after Bran the Bloodthirsty: a giant who had lived at the top of an enchanted beanstalk and was eventually slain by a boy named Jack. The puppy had been named because after their History of Magic exam, Rose had complained so much that she had not been able to use all her giant knowledge that Hagrid had offered to name his new dog after the fiercest giant she could think of that she didn't use in her exam.
"Don't worry, Hagrid, we'll be back next year!" Poppy smiled, and Hagrid stroked his greying beard.
"Y'know, when yehr parents were in their First Year," Hagrid turned to Albus, Rose and Scorpius, "Right at this momen', Harry woulda bin in the Hospital Wing, Hermione woulda bin studyin' for who knows what, Ron woulda bin playin' with Scabbers or chasin' those ruddy brothers of his around the castle and Draco woulda been sulkin' cos I didn' get sacked for raisin' a- well, let's just say tha' was his first attempt to get me sacked, eh?" Scorpius shrunk guiltily into his robes while Rose and Albus laughed.
"Why was Mr Potter in the Hospital Wing?" Poppy asked curiously.
"Ah, I'm not sure I'm the righ' person to tell ya that, kids." Hagrid was uncomfortable as all five of them looked at him curiously.
"What would my dad have been doing?" Verity asked, edging forward on her seat. If it were possible, Hagrid's uncomfortable look intensified, though it looked strange with the mixed feeling of relief as Verity changed the subject.
"Uh... he woulda... bin han'in' out with Seamus... at, er... the Lake. Yeah, round the Lake, they woulda bin." Verity's golden eyes narrowed, but her mouth turned up slightly at the corners.
"Of course," She said.
They told Hagrid they'd see him at the Feast and then wandered back up to the Lake. This time they just took off their socks and shoes and dipped their feet in the water, their blouses rolled up to the biceps. They sat for a moment in silence, gazing at the white marble tomb that shone in the last few rays of the summer sun.
"I don't want to go home," Scorpius said suddenly, breaking the silence. They looked at him, but he kept his eyes cast down onto the orange water. They heard a large whooping from the castle and saw Roxanne Weasley come tearing down the steps with Gregory Wood sprinting after her while she held his Quidditch gear in a pile over her head. They continued around the lake, until he caught her about half way round, took his gear, and promptly shoved the Weasley into the Lake.
"Well, that just ruined the moment," Scorpius concluded as the splash fight commenced between the two older students.
"Why don't you want to go?" Poppy asked him.
"Because I like it here. Here, I'm not alone and my parents want me to see my grandfather on these holidays, before we go to Italy." He pulled a face and put his chin on his knees.
"Well, summer won't last forever. We'll see you soon. And you'll be back here, studying, before you know it." Now it was Al's turn to make a face as he thought of studying.
"I suppose," said Scorpius, still looking gloomy. Roxanne was now out of the water, but soon dived in again, this time taking Gregory with her. Dominique Weasley and Bradley Longbottom now entered the grounds, followed shortly by Dominique's fan club, only to join the water fight as Roxanne hailed them over. Dominique's fans sat down and pretended not to watch her on the banks of the lake.
They watch the water fight escalate until finally Gregory escaped Roxanne and Dominique's clutches by dumping about half the lake on them with a clever spell, and then he half-dragged, half-carried Bradley out of the battlefield and the two boys sprinted away from the girls, drenched from head to toe.
"Don't sweat it Scorp, you'll be back before you know it. Second year will be great!" Rose said, and stood up to put her shoes and socks back on. "And we better get back inside. The sun has gone." The sky was the colour of indigo and in the east the stars were already dotting the sky, though the temperature hadn't gone down a degree.
They all went back into the hall and took places at their own house tables. Verity and Rose sat together next to James and his friends, as did Scorpius and Albus. Poppy took a seat next to the Fat Friar and some other First Years, with whom she started smiling and chatting with immediately.
"Students!" Professor Truman had stood, and the hall quieted in degrees, ending with a few dodgy whispers. "Another year, come to pass, and we must say goodbye to our friends. But before we get to the sad things, it is now time to announce the winner of this year's House Cup!" Truman smiled and waited for the new round of cheering to quieten down.
"In fourth place, on 248 points, is Hufflepuff!" Professor Truman called, grinning and waving a hand at his old house. The Hufflepuffs cheered enthusiastically. "In third place is Slytherin on 276 points!" The Slytherins gave a grumpy applause to themselves. "In second place is..." Truman paused. The whole school, including some of the teachers, groaned. Truman was looking gleefully at the piece of parchment that he was holding that, presumably, read the scores. "Wow!" He said happily, smiling at everyone. "These scores are only apart by two points! Isn't that cool?" He flapped the piece of parchment at them to emphasise his point.
When no one responded except with stony faces, he got the clue and continued to read.
"In second place, on a score of 306 points is Gryffindor!" Truman excitedly kept reading. "And that means that Ravenclaw win the House Cup with a score of 308! Congratulations!" The roaring in the hall was tremendous, and Truman picked up his wand and the decorations changed from purple to bronze and royal blue, with a picture of a soaring bronze eagle as the crest.
Verity shrugged and applauded along with most of her House, but Rose scowled over at the Ravenclaw table, only meeting her hands together a couple of times. Verity tsked and rolled her eyes, jabbing the flaming haired Weasley in the ribs with her elbow. Rose took the hint but it didn't make her any more enthusiastic as she stuck out her lower lip and pouted. Verity just ended up rolling her eyes and tucking into the food that had just appeared before them all.
"James, we don't have any more House Points left to lose," Verity snarled into her plate as another piece of sweet roll flew at her and Rose. "I have absolutely no objections into jinxing your nose off if you continue," She finished her threat and narrowed her eyes at James, who had been flicking pieces of food at them for the entirety of their dinner from where he had been sitting a few seats up, and slowly pulled a piece of pastry from one of her braids.
James smirked at her then, and his friends made sarcastic ooh-ing noises to tell her how scared- or how stupid- they really were. Rose had just about had enough too. "James, quit it," She whined, brushing icing sugar off of her sleeve.
"Alright, alright," James subdued, but grinned and flicked one last piece of custardy bread at Verity, who snapped as it hit her square on the nose. Pulling out her wand, the dark-skinned First Year proceeded to point it right at James's suddenly scared face and narrowed her eyes.
"I warned you," she said in a low voice and then muttered what the eldest Potter presumed was a spell. James shut his eyes tight as preparation for the oncoming pain or disfiguration, whimpering slightly, but when nothing happened he opened his eyes slightly to see Verity had walked in front of him and was smiling. "Scared you!" She giggled, and James scoffed and rolled his eyes in attempted bravado. And then found a bowl of warm, thick, gooey custard being dumped on top his head from where Verity had enchanted it to float a few centimetres above his hair. Man, he had just about had enough of having food flung at him by first years this year.
"Gross, Thomas!" He yelled, shaking custard out of his eyes and thus flinging it everywhere and onto the other students in the near vicinity. The Great Hall was roaring in laughter, but the professors descended upon them soon enough.
"Verity Thomas!" Professor Shrup yelped, snatching her sleeve in case she tried to do something ridiculous like run away.
"Yes?" She smiled up at him and blinked her tawny coloured eyes.
"I- What- You-" Professor Truman gestured incredulously from Verity to James, who was still coated in the house elves' best custard, discretely sucking some off of his fingers and cheeks. Verity continued to smile at him, though not innocently, embracing the full brunt of what she did.
"I warned him," was all she said, and shrugged, as if to say what can you do. Professor Lampwick gave a snort of laughter which caused other teachers to glare at him, but he just shrugged, mirroring Verity. Shrup looked outraged, but he was waiting for Truman to make a decision.
"James Potter," Truman turned to the second year, "What do you have to say?"
James blinked at him through a layer of gluggy yellow goop. "I say that I have custard all over me!" He shook his arms once, again flicking globs of dessert everywhere. Truman tutted and, with a wave of his wand, vanished the custard.
"And now?" The headmaster prompted.
James rolled his eyes at Verity, whose smile was starting to grow from humoured to devilish as she basked in the laughter still surrounding them. "I may have deserved some of it," James hissed, looking pointedly at Verity. "But not a whole dish! Maybe, like, a spoonful!"
Verity did what she did best, and shrugged. "Point," She conceded, and looked back to the garrison of teachers. "Anything else?"
Professor Shrup was turning steadily purple as he glared daggers at the Gryffindor. Truman threw him a sidelong glance and then sighed.
"Apologise," He rolled his eyes like he didn't need to teach manners to a twelve year old, but he pointed from Verity to James all the same. Verity beamed angelically at the headmaster and turned smartly to James.
"I'm sorry, James," She held out her hands, palms up, to the second year. "Forgive me?" She implored, a little too sarcastically. But James just took it in his stride and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah," He huffed, and sat back down.
"Right, well," Truman clapped his big hands together and glanced at the surrounding students. "Crisis averted," He nodded and made his way back up to the staff table. Shrup practically threw Verity's sleeve down in disgust and stalked off after him, and Verity grimaced at Rose, who had only now stifled her laughter.
"I think I made an enemy," Verity said in undertone to Rose, who snorted. The other teachers dispersed, Lampwick with a casual 'see you next year,' to the duo, and soon enough, the feast was over and everyone was in their beds for their last sleep at Hogwarts for the school year.
"Shh, Spider, shh!" Rose whispered through the bars of her cat's wicker basket. She received a face full of yowling cat in return. "I'll let you out soon, I promise!" That only proceeded to make the cat cry louder, and Poppy looked very alarmed at the creature.
"Is he going to be okay?" She asked as Scorpius wound his way through the crowd to find an empty compartment before they all filled, Albus trailing dutifully after him.
"He'll be fine," Rose sighed and hefted the basket more securely in her grip. Poppy cast her a doubtful look but didn't say anything more (a miracle!) as she linked arms with Verity and dove into the fray to find where Albus and Scorpius had gotten too.
Once they'd settled into an empty compartment the boys had triumphantly claimed, they chatted a little before the train began moving and Rose could finally release Spider, who practically burst out of his prison to run around the seats a few times, making sure to bounce of everyone's laps at least once, and then settle in the bag rack, watchful green-gold eyes flickering.
The train ride went too fast, everyone felt. By the time there was neat little fields outside the windows everyone had changed, the windows were open to let a breeze whistle through the compartment and they'd pooled their money together to buy a truckload of candy from the trolley-man when he had passed, and made sure stuff their faces before they got to Kings Cross.
By the time the train was pulling through the city, everyone was excited to be going home (I mean, Hogwarts was school, right?) except for maybe Rose and Scorpius, but both for different reasons. When the train stopped Rose had given up on trying to get Spider back into his cage (all five of them had bleeding cuts as a result of Poppy's cheerful idea of teamwork) and everyone was saying their goodbyes.
They tumbled out of the train together, each hugging and waving before running off to their parents. Albus saw Poppy's family for the first time, and got to witness the gasp of joy on Poppy's face as she saw the bump on her mother's stomach and reached out tentatively to caress her growing sibling. He saw Scorpius hug his mother tightly and swat playfully at his father, who had ruffled his hair, and finally, as Verity tugged on his sleeve, turned to see his own family, James included, waiting for him by a brick column. A man who could only be Verity's father waited with them.
"Dad!" Albus cried and flew at his father, who hugged him tightly back. "Dad, dad, you would not believe Rose's ridiculous cat..." Albus began, and he told his father the story of the train ride home, and Harry listened to every word.
"Daddy!" Verity laughed and wound her hands around her father, who patted her hair in return. She stood on his feet and he danced ludicrously with her for a few seconds before releasing her so he could see his daughter.
"Hey, baby!" He greeted, and knelt down to her eye-level. She grinned at him and he patted her cheek in return. "You ready to go?"
"Yes! Lemme just-" Verity turned and threw her arms around Albus, who looked shocked at being interrupted by a hug in the middle of his story, but before he could react Verity was gone and tossing her arms around Rose, who laughed and hugged her back. When she had released her red-haired friend, Verity appraised James for a second before hugging him quickly, too, if anything to see the shock register on his face. And then she and her dad were saying their adieus and heading off into the summer heat with promises to meet up on a later date.
"Rosie!" Hugo slammed into Rose's stomach as he squeezed his skinny little arms around her.
"Hey, Hugh!" Rose gripped her brother in return, and then uncoupled herself to greet both her parents. She pleaded with her father to retrieve Spider from the train, and Ron returned minutes later, bleeding and stony faced, a squealing cat carried with him. They chatted on the way to the car, Spider transferred to Hermione's arms and Ron pushing the trunk trolley. Once everyone was buckled in, Rose looked up to meet her mother's eyes in the rear-view mirror.
"So, Rosie," Her mother started, smiling with perfect teeth. Rose grinned back and realised how excited she was for summer. Maybe studying could wait. Her mother laughed at her daughter's apparent excitement and continued.
"Tell us everything,"