"This is the last of it, Mrs. Pucey."

"Thank you, Albus. You are a sweetheart. How about now you drive us to one of those drive-thru places, and we grab a bite for the road."

Albus smiled and grabbed the keys. Mrs. Pucey was a divorcee that did charity work for both magical and muggle orphanages. She was a friend of Scorpius' dad, and they had been helping her during the summer vacation. Today Scorp was not with them because he had promised his grandmother a visit. Albus usually would accompany him, but they agreed one of them should stick with helping Mrs. Pucey as they have been doing every Friday. That was the reason why sixteen-year-old Albus was helping her carry boxes full of goodies by hand from a warehouse in muggle London into a van. Also, he liked that she let him drive.

A little bit later, they were sharing a snack while parked on a quiet street. Albus was stuffing his face like someone was gonna take the food from him. The witch laughed.

"What?" he asked, chewing his mouthful.

"You look just like your father did at your age."

Albus smiled and then looked pensive. He glanced at the dark-haired witch, and a thought crossed his mind.

"I know that you were not friends with my dad back in school, you know, with the war and the rivalries and all that. But what about now? Don't you want to make some friends your age?"

"Albus! You are blunt, aren't you? So what, you think I'm a lonely old lady that needs to go out more? I have friends, you know."

"No offense, Mrs. Pucey, but you only hang out with Scorpius' grandma and other very old ladies, and I know you are close with his aunt Daphne, but she doesn't live around here. You are beautiful; you should have a boyfriend or something."

She laughed at the impertinence of this kid. He really was Potter's son through and through.

"Well, Albus, tell me, what do you suggest I do? It is not like I'm in school and can just sit in a different table for lunch."

"I know, but you did try to date Mr. Malfoy a couple of years ago. Scorpius was kind of sad it didn't work out, he thinks you are nice. And I do too. So I was thinking…"

She waited for a minute, and when he didn't keep going she prompted

"Yes?"

"Well, my dad has not seen anyone since mom died. It was tough for all of us because it was so sudden, she got sick so fast and all, but the thing is it's been three years and my brother and sister and I are doing fine now, so he should focus on himself a bit, you know. So maybe you can ask him out? Like on a date or something?"

The witch sighed.

"Oh, Albus, it is so sweet of you to think about your dad's happiness. And he is a terrific man, probably one of the best people in the world. But there is no way I can even try to be friends with him. There was so much bad blood between us."

"Yes, but things had changed a lot. Even my dad and Mr. Malfoy are friends; they play quidditch together every week. So why not you and him?"

"Oh, sweetheart, if only you knew. I said something horrible, you see? I don't think your dad can ever forgive me." Her eyes pooled with tears.

Albus was about to ask what had she said when his cell phone rang.

"Hey, dad. Yup, I'm with Mrs. Pucey. Ok, yeah, we're close, I can be there in a few minutes." He turned to the older witch while putting the leftovers in a bag. "We need to stop by the Leakey Cauldron for a minute to pick up my sister. It's ok if she comes with us, right? Dad got called urgently to the ministry, and he can't get ahold of James or my grandparents, and she said she rather go to the orphanage with me that just sit at WWW to wait for him. Is that ok?" He said, putting the van on drive and hitting the road before she could answer.

She just nodded, a torrent of thoughts buzzing in her mind. Before she could come up with one clear idea Albus was pulling over in front of the Muggle entrance to the Leakey. Harry Potter was waiting there with a beautiful teenage girl. Pansy realized she had to get out to let the girl climb to the middle seat. With her heart pounding, she opened the door. Harry's hand was waiting to help her out.

"Hey, dad. Lils, this is Mrs…"

"Parkinson?" Harry said with a curious look. "Wow, I guess I did not put two and two together. How are you?" he said, squeezing softly the hand he was holding. She blushed and gave the hands an awkward shake in a mishap of a greeting.

"Hello, Potter. Yeah, I guess Albus and Scorpius are used to my married name. I thought of changing it back when Adrian and I got divorced but haven't got around to it. Anyway, thank you for letting Albus volunteer with me. And you must be Lily?" she said, looking at the pretty teen girl.

The girl looked between Pansy and her father, who appeared to be stunned and was obviously checking out the beautiful witch. Then she gave her brother a complicit look, put a smile on her face, and introduced herself.

"Yes, I'm Lily. I have wanted to come along and help too, but Albus and Scorpius kept saying that the van can only take three people and other stupid excuses, but it's because they are a couple of weirdos that don't let anyone in their private jokes."

Pansy laughed, a sweet melodic sound that Harry had not imagined she was capable of.

"They are peculiar, your brother and Scorpius. But you can always contact me directly if you want to help. There is always something to be done." She turned to Harry. "Your children are amazing. I should not be surprised, I guess."

Harry looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time.

"Yeah, they are good kids. Thank you for involving them. I think it is very good for them to do charity work."

"Of course," she said, opening the van door. "Lily, why don't you sit in the middle next to your brother." Then she leaned into Harry and whispered, "don't worry; the van has an anti-collision charm on it. And Albus is a good driver anyway."

Harry felt his skin raise with goosebumps. He had been hearing good things about the good works of Pansy Pucey, nee Parkinson, for a while now. But it didn't occur to him that she was a single, beautiful witch that was also age-appropriate. He helped her onto the van and closed the door, then said:

"You kids have fun and do as Mrs. Parkinson tells you. I should be done in a couple of hours, so maybe we can all grab a bite? How about you, Mrs. Parkinson? You can pick the restaurant."

Lily and Albus exchanged looks and eyebrow wiggles while Pansy felt like her heart would come out of her chest. She managed a composed smile.

"Sounds great, chief Potter. I'm guessing everybody likes Italian?" She looked at the kids, who nodded enthusiastically. "The best in town is not far from here. Muggle family place has an Italian nonna that is scarier than my mother, but she makes a mean spaghetti sauce."

"It's a date," he said before tapping the roof of the vehicle. He saw them pull away and realized what he had just said.