"James, Albus, and Lily," said Harry in a crystal clear voice, "Let's cut to the chase. I know that you, Albus, have never been as close with James and Lily as they are with each other. Because this is the result of James and Lily having personalities and interests that are much more aligned with each other's than with yours, I know that they will always be closer with each other than with you. However, Ginny and I feel that you need closer and stronger relationships with James and Lily than you currently have and I have a gameplan for you, James, and Lily to make that happen."

"Some siblings are closer than others and that's just the way it is," said Albus matter of factly, "I don't see this as a problem. Fred ad Roxanne are pretty close siblings whereas Rose and Hugo are siblings that are not close knit at all. I don't see James and Lily being much closer to each other than to me as an issue at all."

"Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem at all.," said Harry calmly, "But Ginny and I have been made aware of something that makes us feel you need stronger bonds with James and Lily."

"What might this something be?" asked Albus.

"Albus, Parvati visited Potter Manor this morning and showed me a letter Pamela wrote to her. I wish for you to read this letter," Harry told Albus

Harry dug his hand into his right hand pocket, dug out Pamela's letter to Parvati, unfurled it, and handed it to Albus to read.

Albus read the letter with an expressionless look on his face. When he had finished reading the letter, Harry spoke to him.

"Ginny and I are of the opinion that closer and stronger relationships with James and Lily is the antidote to your jealousy and resentment of James and Lily for having "everything happen to them," said Harry firmly.

"The true antidote would be for something to actually to me for a change," said Albus bitterly.

"Albus," said Harry seriously, "While your high jealousy coefficient is undeniable, Ginny and I are in agreement that your jealousy of James and Lily would not have been so damaging of your relationships with them if you were closer to and more strongly bonded with them."

There was a minute and a nanosecond of silence before Albus responded.

"Harry," said Albus slowly, "It is possible and perhaps even likely that Ginny and you are right that having closer and stronger relationships with James and Lily may be what I need. I am more than open to trying to develop closer and stronger relationships with James and Lily. But I don't know how I can achieve or attempt to achieve that."

"That's where I come in," said Harry brightly, "I have devised a gameplan that I hope and expect will create stronger bonds between you and James and Lily."

"Let's hear it then," said Albus as he listened intently to what Harry had to say.

"The key to you building closer ties with James and Lily is spending more time with them," said Harry clearly, "Some of this time it will be just the 3 of you and some of this time other people will be with you. The key is for you to be around them more be it with just the 3 of you or others also involved."

"So what's the plan then?" asked Albus briskly.

"Well," replied Harry, "You know that James has Wandmaking lessons with Olivander on Monday and Wednesday nights during the 11 p.m. hour? Well, I think the hour after that, that is to say, the 12 a.m. hour on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, would be a perfect time for all 3 of you tp spend some quality sibling time together."

"That's perfect!" chorused James, Albus, and Lily.

"Lily has come to meet me after my Wandmaking lessons a few times this year," smiled James, "Now, both Albus and Lily can come and meet me after each of my Wandmaking lessons and the 3 of us can spend that next hour together. That's a great way for Albus tp spend some time with Lily and me and hopefully develop tighter bonds with us."

"That's an excellent time for Albus to get more sibling time with us," agreed Lily.

"I agree with James and Lily about the midnight hour on Tuesday and Thursday mornings following James Wandmaking lessons during the 11 p.m. hour on Monday and Wednesday is a superb time for me to get some sibling time with them," said Albus matter of factly, "But we will we be doing during that time?"

Harry dug his hand into his left hand pocket, pulled out a sheet paper, and unfurled it.

"This is a list of activities I have suggested for the 3 of you to do during this sibling bonding time," said Harry crisply as he handed the paper to Albus, "On at least the 1st couple of these sibling bonding meetings, I wish for you, Albus, to choose what you spend this time doing. After the 1st 2 meetings, you may offer James and Lily input if you wish but I want you to make the choices for at least the 1st 2 meetings."

"That makes all the sense in the world considering that reason for these meetings is for Albus to become more close knit with us," said James firmly.

"Absolutely," agreed Lily, "Albus, can you store that paper in your room?"

"Yes," said Albus simply, "I'll keep this paper in my room and simply bring it when we go to meet James after his Wandmaking lessons."

"Good," said Harry, who continued, "Next, I know that James and Hugo attend Quidditch practices every Tuesday and Thursday night to support their family and friends on the team including Lily. I also know that James, Hugo, Devon, and Lily all get together and spend time together after practices. Here's my next idea, Albus, I wish for you to attend these Quidditch practices on Tuesday and Thursday nights with James and Hugo and then join in with James, Hugo, Devon, and Lily when they spend time together after practice."

"Rose and Pamela aren't into Quidditch at all," explained Albus, "While my interest in Quidditch is lower than James's and Lily's, I do enjoy playing and watching Quidditch and broom games at home and I love going to Hogwarts Quidditch matches but Rose's and Pamela's complete disinterest in the sport has prevented me from attending any Gryffindor practices. I can't attend any Gryffindor Quidditch practices because my Rose and Pamela are completely disinterested in Quidditch. My interest in attending these practices might not be as high as James's would be but I would enjoy doing so. Rose's and Pamela's disinterest in Quidditch rule this out for me."

"Albus," said Harry sharply, "Rose, and Pamela don't need to have a monopoly on your time. You CAN do things without them sometimes and still have them as your best friends."

"I don't want to upset Rose and Pamela by shunning them," said Albus nervously.

"It is not shunning your friends to do some things without them," said Harry firmly, "And remember that Pamela is the 1 who expressed concern about your relationships with James and Lily in her letter to Parvati and that's how I came to be here to meet you tonight in the 1st place. I'm sure your friends will not only understand but support this idea. They know it is important for you to build better relationships with your brother and sister and I'm sure they are willing to sacrifice a few hours of time with you a week to allow that to happen."

"And remember," said Lily, "Pamela has already attempted to talk to you about your jealousy issues and your relationships with James and me. I know that your friends will be 100% behind this idea."

Albus nodded.

"You're right, Harry and Lily," realized Albus, "Any more ideas?"

"Another idea I have stems from James's involvement with the school as a 6th year prefect," explained Harry, "James, you mentioned in 1 of your letters to me that, starting on October 12th, 2020, at 8 p.m. Hogwarts time, you will be meeting up with up to 6 other students in the History of Magic classroom to do some planning for Hogwarts on some Mondays?"

"1 of the tasks I have been assigned in the course of my 6th year prefect duties is to help plan Hogwarts holiday activities this year. My 1st task will be to plan Hogwarts Halloween celebration this year, a task I will get to work on starting that 1st meeting on October 12th. Now, I am allowed to invite up to 6 guests to help me and this will be almost like a club. I have already invited 5 people to partake in this "club" with me but I have 1 spot still open. However, I am not required to use all allowed guest slots. I am allowed up to 6 guests but can have fewer."

"Who are the 5 guests you have already invited to join the club?" Harry asked James.

"Devon, Hugo, Lily, Fred, and Roxanne are the 5 guests that I have already invited to join the club. I have 1 spot open that I can but don't have to fill. Hang on, I thought I had told you in my letter who I had invited. Did I forget?"

"No you didn't," said Harry, "What you just told me is consistent with what you said in your letter but I asked because I have a proposal for you. Have you considered anyone for to be your 6th guest to fill all alavailble slots."

"No I have not," said James uncertainly, "But I do wish to fill it. I just don't know who I should fill it with."

"James," said Harry firmly, "I wish for you to invite Albus as your 6th guest to fill that last slot, especially since you've already invited Lily. This would create another excellent avenue for all 3 of you to spend time together."

"I'd love to be a part of that," said Albus eagerly, "Being part of that club would give me an opportunity to be more involved while also spending time with James and Lily at the same time."

"You're absolutely right, Harry and Albus, agreed James, "Albus, you're in."

"I think a good side benefit to all this is that Albus may also build closer relationships with Hugo, Devon, and to some degree, Fred and Roxanne," said Lily warmly.

"I totally agree," said Harry with conviction, "After all those are his cousins and 2nd cousin as well. This means Albus will gain stronger bonds with a large portion of his family and that can only be a good thing."

"Anything else, Harry?' asked Albus.

"Yes," said Harry clearly, "James, Lily you need to stop calling each other "my favorite sibling" and "my favorite brother."

"Harry, it's okay," said Albus quickly, "James and Lily are in no way insulting me when they call each other "my favorite sibling" and "my favorite brother", It is simply 1 of their ways of expressing affection for each other. It's not a slight to me at all. It's all about their relationship with each other."

"You may not be offended by it," said Harry decisively, "But it is inappropriate. While some siblings are indeed closer than others, there should be no such thing as a favorite sibling. You should all love each other =ly. Period."

James, Albus, and Lily said nothing and Harry chose not to press the subject. He had planted the seed in their minds and now hoped that they would come to realize what he was getting at and that James and Lily would indeed stop calling each other "my favorite sibling" and "my favorite brother."

"Albus," said Harry gently, "My own opinion of you as a person is that while you do have temper and jealousy issues, you are a good hearted person at the core. James, Lily, what do you think?"

"Well," said Lily slowly, "I don't feel like I know Albus well enough to be able to make that judgement fairly."

"Nor do I," agreed James, "I don't feel comfortable making that judgemnet myself because I don't think I know Albus well enough to make that judgemnet fairly either."

"That confirms Ginny's and my suspicions that Albus doesn't have strong enough bonds with either of you," responded Harry instantly, "And that's all I have for now."

Harry left.

James, Albus, and Lily decided to stay in the Room of Requirement and spend some time just chatting. This was a good thing. In starting the process of having Albus bond more with James and Lily, just spending some time talking to each other was helpful.

On Sunday, October 4th, 2020. James, Albus, Devon, and Lily did hold their weekly meeting in the Room of requirement but just as Olivander had done with James's Wandmaking lessons the previous week, the Room of Requirement decided that this meeting would be used for review and that they would resume new material the next Sunday.

On Monday, October 5th, 2020 at 11 p.m. Hogwarts time, James finally got his 1st chance to take an actual shot at trying to make a wand of his own...