Seven Years Later

"Dad! Have you seen my robes?" yelled Sebastian from his bedroom door.

Harry chuckled inwardly at his son's apparent nervousness. He knew for a fact that the boy was wearing his robes the whole time.

He strolled from their room straight to Sebastian's and leaned on the doorway, smirking. "Why don't you check the mirror, darling?"

Sebastian tilted his head in confusion but followed nonetheless. As soon as he looked himself in the mirror, he turned to his father with an impish grin.

"Oh, right. Thanks!"

Harry shook his head in amusement before stepping inside and sitting right on his baby's bed; his baby who would be starting Hogwarts today.

"Come here, Seb," motioned Harry between his legs. Sebastian sighed and moved to stand in front of his dad.

Harry wandlessly summoned the hairbrush and began combing through his son's shoulder-length hair, ignoring the groan of protest. "Don't be too nervous, love. You're going to do great, that, I have no doubt."

"But what if I don't get sorted?" Sebastian asked quietly with his head down. Everyone around him kept saying he would be like his parents, strong, powerful, and brave.

He wasn't. He was just Sebastian.

"Now why would you think that?" asked Harry sincerely.

"I don't know.. I'm scared I won't be good enough for a Potter-Prince." mumbled the boy.

Harry pulled him to sit on his lap just like when he was younger, "Hey, now, you aren't just good enough for a Potter-Prince, Sebastian. You are the Potter-Prince. You are perfect, don't ever think otherwise. Know that whatever house you get into, your papa and I will always be proud of you."

Sebastian threw himself into Harry's chest and wrapped his arms around his dad's neck. He didn't know how much he needed to hear that.

That's how Severus found them, Sebastian cuddling in Harry's lap as Harry rubbed soothing circles on their first-born's back.

"What happened here?" He arched an eyebrow at them both.

"Sebastian had a small self-demeaning episode," chuckled Harry, earning him a grin from the boy on his lap, knowing what exactly his dad would say next. "He got that from you, you know."

Severus rolled his eyes before holding his arms open for Sebastian to barrel into. "I do not have, as you call it, self-demeaning episodes."

"Yes, you do, papa," replied their son cheekily on his side.

"Brat... just like your father. So help me if Aster turns out like all of you. I have enough of the twins to deal with," grumbled Severus.

Seven-year-olds Caius and Cassian caused Severus's grey hair to appear. There must be a curse on twins being troublemakers. They may not look alike but Merlin were their personalities the same. Those two devils had their parents up to their toes. The only person the twins obey reverently was their big brother Sebastian. They basically worship him.

"Speaking of, where are those two again?" asked Harry. He resisted pointing out to his husband that their children were more like him than Harry. Yes, including the twins.

"Annoying their namesakes' portraits, I assume," replied Severus with a fond smile. He then turned to his eldest and spoke sternly, though Sebastian knew his papa only did it to maintain his "scary" demeanor.

"Why are you not ready yet? We will be leaving in a few minutes."

Sebastian's eyes widened and he dashed to double-check his trunk. Not that he needed to. His papa basically organized it with him. There was no way he'd leave anything behind.

Harry walked over to his husband and pressed a single kiss on his cheek. "I'll get Aster and the twins. Get your son down in ten minutes."

Severus nodded and strolled over to Sebastian. He noticed a certain stuffed toy missing from his shelf and fought the urge to smile. No matter how much his son insisted he's too old for his Bun-bun, both Severus and Harry knew the boy still could not sleep well without it.

"Papa?" called a soft voice. "Were you nervous on your first day in Hogwarts?"

Severus turned to his son and narrowed his eyes, "If you ever tell anyone about this..."

Sebastian grinned but shook his head. "I promise I won't! Well? We're you?"

"Yes, I suppose I was. Quite afraid, actually. That time, I feared I won't get into Slytherin, and that Lily would be in a different house. I didn't know anyone aside from Lily."

"But... grandmum wasn't in Slytherin," commented Sebastian who now sat close to his father at the foot of his bed.

"No, she wasn't," echoed Severus.

The eleven-year-old nodded, understanding his father won't say anything more. "And dad? Was he scared?"

This time, Severus smirked, "I bet you a galleon he was terrified."

Sebastian giggled. If his parents, the bravest, strongest wizards he knew were afraid on their first day of school, then maybe being afraid wasn't so bad after all. He leaned upwards to kiss the Potions Master's cheek. "Thanks, papa."

"You are most welcome, little prince." Checking the time, Severus ushered his son off the bed. "Come, I believe your dad is waiting in the drawing-room."

Severus cast a weightless charm on the trunk and levitated it behind them, all while a hand laid on Sebastian's shoulder. Sebastian already reached his hip in height, glad that the boy took after him.

"There you are!" exclaimed Harry. The twins were holding their little sister's hand between them, looking put out that they won't see their brother till Christmas. Aster, on the other hand, was smiling as usual. When she saw Severus, the little girl squealed and ungracefully ran to her papa.

"Hello to you too, princess." drawled Severus as he pick their youngest up and settled her on his hip. The toddler gave him a toothy grin and rested her head on his shoulder.

Severus flood with Aster and Sebastian while Harry took the twins. Their three boys were experts at flooing but both Severus and Harry don't usually let them floo on their own for fear of ending up on the wrong destination, much like Harry did when he was younger.

Platform 9 3/4 was fully packed. Sebastian ran off immediately after seeing a parade of redheads. Victoire, though Seb still called her Tori, would start her second year.

And it wasn't just Bill's family that came. The Granger-Weasleys were also in attendance, Rose at 7 and already looking so much like her mother by the day, and Hugo at only four.

"There's my handsome godson!" exclaimed Ron loudly. "Now, remember Sebastian, Gryffindor is the best house."

Sebastian hugged his godfather, then smiled bashfully, "I'm not even sorted yet, Uncle Ron."

Ron dramatically sighed but ruffled the boy's hair. He walked over to the rest of the Potter-Prince and gave Harry a side-hug and a wink to Severus. The older wizard groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Hi, Unca Won," Aster waved her hand from her position in his papa's arms.

"Hello, little flower, and hello to you too monsters," Ron tapped on the two-year-old's nose before giving Caius and Cassian a knowing look, making the twins smirk.

Hermione appeared beside his husband with their two children, Rose going straight to the twins, possibly scolding them for their recent adventure aka laying out strings all over the Prince garden. Why they did it was still a mystery.

Harry crouched to level his son who looked like he was about to cry. "Keep the two-way mirror with you at all times, okay? And if anything ever happens, tell Grandma Minnie. Don't go looking for trouble, young man," said Harry softly.

"I will, dad. I promise."

"I love you so much, Sebastian. We'll see you at Christmas, alright? And don't forget to write us tonight!" Harry pulled Sebastian in for a tight hug. It seemed like only yesterday that he could carry Sebastian in one hand. His baby was all grown up, ready to start Hogwarts.

"Love you too, daddy," whispered Sebastian softly, a little ashamed for wanting to call his father, daddy like a little kid.

"I think papa wants his turn now," commented Harry with a grin, glancing at Severus who was currently tapping his foot impatiently.

Sebastian kissed Harry on the cheek and ran to his papa. He noticed his little sister was already with her godfather, Uncle Neville, and Frankie, Uncle Neville's and Aunt Hannah's four-year-old son. Uncle Neville would be their Herbology Professor.

"Glad to know your dad is not hogging you," drawled Severus when Sebastian stood before him.

Sebastian didn't need another word from his papa, he immediately wrapped his arms around Severus' waist. "I'm going to miss you," mumbled the boy.

"I will miss you too, my love. Without you at home, who will get the twins to bed?" Severus smiled indulgingly at his eldest.

The boy grinned and glanced at his younger brothers who were back to his dad's side, poking each other in the cheek.

"You can always train Aster to boss them around," suggested Sebastian cheekily.

Severus smirked, "Your sister is already bossy, she's not even three."

No longer caring about the reputation he knew he lost the first time he held Sebastian in his arms, Severus knelt and pulled his son in a tight hug and kissed his temple. "Be careful, Sebastian. If anybody, anybody at all, tries to bully you or make you feel less than you are, tell us. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't count on your dad and me.

But if I ever hear you are the bully, expect a howler from every one of us, that includes your Uncle Lucas, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Kate. We don't want that, do we?"

Sebastian vehemently shook his head. His uncles' and aunt's howlers were the worst. They will most likely humiliate him using all the stuff he did as a child. And boy, did they have a lot of blackmail materials on Sebastian.

The train whistled signaling the near departure. With a final hug, Sebastian breathed in the scent of his papa. It always calmed him and made him feel safe. He didn't want to let go but knew he would have to.

"I love you, papa."

"I love you, Sebastian, very much."

"Don't forget to sleep, okay?" added Sebastian seriously.

"Don't worry, love. Daddy'll make sure he does," assured Harry from behind them.

The boy pulled away from Severus and back to Harry's arms. "I'll miss you!"

"We'll miss you too, Seb." Harry kissed him on the top of his head.

Caius, Cassian, and little Aster engulfed him in a group hug, their declarations of love and sorrow muffled under their older brother's robes.

If not for Victoire who interrupted the family to inform Sebastian they needed to leave, the boy wouldn't have escaped the clutches of his clingy siblings and overprotective fathers.

Sebastian gave a final teary smile and wave to his family from the train, ready for the next great adventure.

Severus couldn't pinpoint exactly when in his life things started to change. Was it when he woke up in St. Mungo's, alive and free? Was it when the Prince tapestry informed him he had a son? Was it when he chose to look for rare potions ingredient instead of mingling with other pioneers? Or was it when he decided to leave Britain to give fatherhood a chance?

In any case, he was thankful. He had a loving husband, the most beautiful children, and a whole life ahead of him. Everything has fallen into place.

"Ice cream, papa?" A tiny voice called his attention.

"Very well."