It was just after lunch on the Fourth of July, 2015, and Harry, Ginny, James, Albus, and Lily were in their backyard.
Harry and Ginny had challenged James, Albus, and Lily to a quick game of parents vs children volleyball.
Ginny had set up a volleyball net in the middle of the yard and drawn temporary white boundary lines with her wand and had brought a volleyball out from the game room. Fittingly for Fourth of July, the volleyball was a three color ball made up of red, white, and blue.
Appropriately for the Fourth of July, Harry piped up, "How about we play to four? We'll use rally scoring so you don't have to serve to score. Does everyone agree to these rules?"
"Yes, " chroused Ginny, James, Albus, and Lily.
"Okay, " said Harry, "Ginny, join me on the east side of the net, James, Albus, and Lily, you go over to the west side. James, Albus, and Lily, if you children can beat me and Ginny in this volleyball match, I will give all three of you a treat afterward."
James, Albus, and Lily all smiled hopefully at that prospect, even if they didn't know what said treat might be.
"This should be interesting, " observed Albus, "Mom and dad are obviously taller than us right now, but we have a three on two advantage."
"Which means we can cover extra ground, " added James, "I like our chances."
"So do I," agreed Lily, "Mom and dad might be able to get to some balls at the net that we can't, but we can cover larger area and get more digs."
"I'll stay near the net, Albus, you play in the middle, Lily you play in the back, " ordered James.
"Okay," obeyed Albus and Lily.
"I think that with each team having a different advantage this is a pretty fair matchup, " said Ginny reasonably.
"May the best team win, " said Harry, "Let the match begin."
Harry took the Volleyball and served it.
It appeared as though the ball was going to land on the grass on the other side, but Albus ran it down and made a dig just in time to keep it alive to James, who sent it over the net. Ginny volleyed it back over, and for a second time it got pretty low. This time, it was Lily who made the quick chase down and the dig to James to keep it alive. James sent it over the net with more power this time, and it landed on the grass out of the reach of Harry and Ginny, who were standing very close to the net.
"Yes!" screamed James, "One down, three to go."
"Thanks to your power, " chroused Albus and Lily.
"And both of your digs, " returned James kindly.
"Ginny," instructed Harry, "Step back a bit, "We won't win if we both play too close to the net. James, Albus, and Lily will have too much free space to send the ball to if we don't spread out a bit."
"Yes, Harry," replied Ginny, taking a few steps back.
James now served the volleyball and while Harry and Ginny had a better strategy now, it wouldn't matter on this point as James served a perfect ace that landed smack dab between them and hit the grass too fast for either of them to have a chance to chase it down. "
'I just served an ace!" exclaimed James boastfully, "YOU LIKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!"
"We do!" grinned Albus and Lily.
"Let's come from behind, " Ginny told Harry encouragingly, "It takes four points to win, not two, we can still do this, Harry.'
"And we will," said Harry confidently.
Albus took the next serve, and it was weaker than James's. It went high over the net to Harry was standing and Harry spiked it into the grass just over the other side of the net to cut the children's lead to two to one.
""You blew it for us Albus, " said James irritably.
"That's no way to be a teammate, James, " said Lily disapprovingly, "We're in this together. We win as a team, or we lose as a team."
But James was still glaring at Albus.
"It's okay, Albus, " said Lily reassuringly, "We'll still win."
"Ginny?" asked Harry, "Do you want to serve, or I should I still serve?"
"You serve, Harry, " said Ginny matter of fact, "My instincts tell me we have a better chance with you serving."
Ginny's confidence in Harry's service game was well founded. Harry served a up an ace of his own that landed just out of James's reach to tie the score at two.
"Way to go, Harry, " said Ginny happily, "You keep serving."
James, Albus, and Lily were getting a little more nervous now. If Harry kept doing the serving, it might be hard for them to beat mom and dad.
Harry's next serve, as he intended, hit Lily squarely in the nose, distracting her and causing her to let the volleyball drop.
"Take, that, Lily!" grinned Harry triumphantly, "Ginny and I lead three to two and can win on this point."
""Keep fighting," declared Lily in a spirited voice, "Four means four. Mom and dad don't have four yet. We're still in it to win it!"
"Let's give it everything we've got, " agreed Albus, "Either win or go down fighting. Never back down."
"Let's leave a piece of ourselves out on this grass today!" cried James passionately.
"Don't use that same tactic again, though, " Ginny warned Harry, "James, Albus, and Lily would be ready for it this time."
Before Harry could serve again, Ginny moved closer towards Harry and whispered something in Harry's right ear. Harry nodded and Ginny retreated to her position.
This time, Harry purposely served up soft serve in an attempt to catch James, Albus, and Lily off guard.
This strategy didn't work as James easily hit the volleyball back over the net. Ginny was able to dig the ball to Harry, who spiked it over the net, but James was ready and spiked it back over with more power. Ginny dug it out again and Harry volleyed it over the net with more force, but Albus dug it out, and this time, James hit a perfectly placed shot into the back of Harry's and Ginny's side that neither of them could get to.
At this point, all of five them yelled out, "Three all, " at the same time.
"Match point, " said James, "Lily you serve for the match!"
"You and Albus are both better servers than I, " said Lily fairly.
"Lily, I know you can win this match for us, " said James encouragingly, 'Take this opportunity to make it your moment."
"Lily, you can do this, " declared Albus fiercely, "Let your heart guide you."
So, James handed Lily the volleyball and she took a few moments to think about how it would feel to be the one who made the winning serve for the children
So, a determined Lily mustered up her power and hit the volleyball with some power, but not too much power to risk losing an out of bounds violation that would lose the match. Ginny did manage to dig it out and Harry hit over the net. Albus made the dig for the children's side and James volleyed the ball over the net. Ginny dug it out again and Harry hit it back over to the children's side. It came within a nanometer of landing and clinching the game for the parents, but Lily barely dug it out with her left pinkie and managed to pass it to Albus, who passed it to James. James tried to hit the ball over the net, but Harry blocked his shot and the volleyball landed in the grass on the children's side, clinching a 4-3 win for the parents. '
"YES!" yelled Ginny, "Great block, Harry! We won four to three!"
"The parents triumphed on this day, " grinned Harry, "Hi five, Gin?"
Ginny and Harry exchanged a high five with their right hands and then shared a tight hug.
James, Albus, and Lily, were silent and had bummed out looks on their faces.
Harry wasn't about to let it stay that way though.
"James, Albus, and Lily, " said Harry gently, "I'm going to go get something that will cheer you all up. Please wait here."
Harry went inside the house and was gone for a minute and a nanosecond.
When Harry returned, he was carrying three large red, white, and blue popsicles and handed one each to James, Albus, and Lily.
Harry and Ginny weren't popsicle people, but James, Albus, and Lily were.
The bummed out looks vanished from James's, Albus's, and Lily's faces faster than a cheetah chasing its prey.
'Harry, " asked Ginny in a confused voice, "I thought the popsicles were going to be a treat for James, Albus, and Lily if they won."
"I'd already bought them and there's no reason to waste them by throwing them out, " said Harry briskly, "And after seeing the bummed out looks on James's, Albus's, and Lily's after their tough loss in what was a fantastic match, I thought giving them the popsicles was the best way of cheering them up."
"Thanks dad, " said James, Albus, and Lily together in warm voices.
James, Albus, and Lily all took their first bite of their popsicles and instantly smiled.
"Red is cherry, " revealed Albus happily, "One of my favorite flavors due to its boldness."
"Do people name Albus have a thing for cherry?" smirked Harry, "Cherry was one of Dumbledore's favorite flavors."
"I like cherry too, " smiled James, "I love all berry flavors. Like Albus, I like bold flavors."
"Cherry isn't my favorite flavor for candy, " admitted Lily, "But it actually works nicely for a popsicle flavor. "
Harry and Ginny now looked on happily. It felt as though there was a certain purity in seeing their kids enjoy red, white, and blue popsicles on the Fourth of July.
When James, Albus, and Lily got to the white portion of their popsicles, Lily piped up, "White is lime! Yeah! for a citrus flavor."
"I thought white might be pure ice, " admitted Albus, "But, the white being lime is super cool and the lime flavor is tasty."
"Very tasty, " agreed James, "I like lime, but I'm hoping blue is blue raspberry."
And when James, Albus, and Lily hit the blue portion of the popsicles, James cried out, "YES! BLUE RASPBERRY FOREVER!"
"I liked the cherry best, " said Albus matter of factly, "Then the blue raspberry, and the lime third, even though it was great."
"I loved the lime best, " piped up Lily happily, "Then the blue raspberry, and then the cherry third. Though the cherry was pretty good."
""The lime was sweet, " grinned James, "The cherry even better, and the blue raspberry was out of this world good."
As James, Albus, and Lily finished their popsicles, Harry and Ginny smiled at the kids and to each other.
Harry and Ginny were glad that James, Albus, and Lily were cheerful again ahead of the fireworks show they would be attending later that night.
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