AN: Here it is, the last chapter of Gifts. I have loved writing this story and getting feedback from everyone that has reviewed. It makes me sad to leave this universe, but even the best of things have to end sometime. I have made up a family tree, for anyone that is interested. It is at: www(dot)geocities(dot)com(slash)quinn(underscore)maverick(slash)tree(dot)htm. Remember, this has not gone through the usual beta process, but I have gone through it several times, so there may still be some mistakes I didn't catch.
Epilogue
James was talking to Minerva in between pitches in the mid-August sun. When Helena had come back from her first year at University, she had brought with her the American game of softball. The field in front of him was filled with both his children and a handful of Weasleys, having a good game as they played against the younger members of the once-again-defunct Order of the Phoenix. They had modified the game enough to make it interesting to stand up against Quidditch, but with as little magic needed by the players that were still in school.
The Headmistress was telling him about the tricks she used to help first and second years get a grasp on the basic concepts of Transfiguration. With Dumbledore's retirement and Minerva taking over for him, she had hired James for the Transfiguration position, as well as Head of Gryffindor. James had welcomed the chance and was eagerly waiting for the new school year to begin. He was bored of teaching to disinterested adults, and he rarely had enough time to write anymore with the twins running amuck and Hal - Harold Robert - somewhere behind them. Hamilton was only four years away from Hogwarts himself.
Harry stepped up to the plate as they came to the bottom of the inning, blowing a kiss to Sirius. Harry's husband was sulking in the seat next to James, because he couldn't play, all due to the fact that he was eight weeks into a ten-week cast on his right leg. The man had broken his femur for the third time, and Poppy wanted him to heal the Muggle way in the hope that he would learn not to go skydiving.
Harry got a hit and Helena came up to bat. She was the darkest of anyone excepting Kingsley and Harry's former year mate, Dean Thomas, having spent a year in California at the Berkley School of Music. The counselor that Albus had brought in had encouraged her to give voice to her emotions in a physical way. Helena eventually hit upon using a musical instrument, more specifically the piano. It satisfied her mathematical mind, yet gave her the room to have fun with it.
Kingsley walked her with a wink, bringing Remus up to bat. Officially cured, Remus had asked Anne Sinistra to marry him. He was rejected with a laugh, the woman saying that the reason she had stayed with him so long was because she didn't have to worry about having to marry him or become pregnant. Now that he was no longer a werewolf, she didn't want to take the risks involved with a regular, healthy man, especially one who was no longer sterile. Remus had gone off to study in Mexico to heal his broken heart. He had returned tanned and healthy, and with an obsession for coffee. Then Albus had offered him the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts and he had accepted, despite Anne still teaching there. The Astronomy instructor had tried to seduce Remus back, but then left at the end of the year unsuccessful. Today, Remus seemed to be spending much of his field time watching Helena's back end. Along with all of the other single guys who weren't related.
Remus grounded out, but Harry and Helena advance a base each, leaving Hugh up at home plate. James' third child was taller than any of them there and definitely the strongest physically. He had been tapped to play beater for the Hufflepuff team his fifth year, when he had grown three inches over the summer. Kingsley threw a pitch and Hugh hit the ball hard. Tonks tried to chase it to the fence but tripped. The ball sailed over the fence, putting the Potter-Snape/Weasley team two runs over the Order team and ending the game.
James clapped as his children came over.
"Where's Patri?" Helena asked.
He pointed over to the courtyard, where Severus was presiding over the barbeque pit. His husband had been fascinated by the American custom of grilling summer food and had overtaken the preparation and cooking. Molly had been banished when she had tried to put out the charcoal, never mind that the flames were two feet high at the time.
All three groaned as James shook his head in exasperation. He told his oldest children to gather the three younger ones and that he would make sure Sirius wouldn't try to hover himself again. Harry gave his husband a kiss before following Hugh and Helena.
"How are you and Harry liking this place?" James asked Sirius as he levitated the man's chair.
"It's great," Sirius answered. "I am glad that we waited until after Harry was finished at university. Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten this house and we would have to build a place. And I'm not that patient."
"No. You aren't." James pushed the chair forward, as if using a Muggle wheelchair. "Which position did Harry end up taking? I didn't get the chance to ask him earlier."
"He's taking the Defense. I, of course, can't wait to confuse the new trainees when they ask for Professor Black."
James chuckled. "You both are doing fine?"
Sirius pointed to his leg before nodding. "More than fine. And you may be getting your first grandchild soon if Harry had his way."
James abruptly stopped, almost unseating Sirius. "What?"
Sirius glared up at him for a second before grinning. "Not yet, Jamie boy. But soon."
Severus was very glad that Hamilton could not do magic over the holidays. His middle son had decided to resurrect the idea of the Marauders. In the four months he had been schooled at Hogwarts, Hamilton had already garnered twelve detentions. James hadn't even had a detention until after Christmas. Nevertheless, Severus had not been amused. James really hadn't been either, since both of them were the ones who had to set up or administer the detentions.
Helena was playing Christmas tunes on the piano while she chatted with Bill and Hugh. Both men were home from Egypt, where Hugh had gone to study with the Pharaoh's Seer. He had outgrown three mentors already, and James had told Severus that he wasn't going to help find a fifth. Helena herself was only back for tonight and tomorrow, since she had a concert Christmas Day. Most of the family was going, and they would spend a few days visiting in California.
Harry and Sirius were staying here. Eight months into his pregnancy, Harry had already been through three instances of false labor. It had taken them almost four years to conceive, and neither wanted to chance the trip.
Severus and James were taking their three youngest sons with them on the same flight Helena was taking back over. The rest of the family - Hugh, Hamilton, and Remus - would be joining them the second day after that by portkey. Before they arrived, and while Helena was at rehearsal, Severus and James would be taking the boys to see the sights. It was a short portkey trip to most of the places recommended by both Helena and the American Wizard Tourist Bureau, which was necessary after the long plane trip and three very excitable boys.
Because of the situation with the baby, Harry and Sirius would celebrate Christmas with the Weasley clan, which had exploded in population. Severus was relieved that they would be half the world away, after the disaster of last year. There were only two Weasleys that were allowed in Severus' house. Bill, who was already here, and Charlie, who was stuck in Romania because several of the dragons had come down with dragon flu. Severus knew that tidbit only because there had been an article in this week's The Potions Journal about the impact on the ingredient trade.
Remus finally arrived and that was the signal for dinner. The family crowded around the overloaded table. Hunter and Holden tried to start a food fight, but Severus put a stop to it even before it began. He stuck the food to their hands and the twins were forced to eat with their left hands. Harry ate very little from the table itself, because the food was so rich, but Hugh and Hamilton were making up for it.
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Severus wasn't sure if he liked California or not. The climate was nice, but the people were strange. Helena had taken them shopping to help the family blend in, and it did work in the places with tourists. Then they had wandered through town where Helena lived. If he didn't know that his daughter could take care of herself, he wouldn't have let her stay half a world away.
He and James had taken the boys to the movies and for some ice cream to get them out of Helena's apartment for a while, and were almost there. Several times either he or his husband would have to chase down a child and bring him back to the fold because something caught their eye. Usually it was just window shopping, but Hal had decided it would suit him just fine to go into the toy shop and start playing with the toys. They had searched for fifteen minutes for the toddler until Hamilton found him playing with several youngsters in the shop in a special area for such things.
At last they arrived back, where Helena rented the top floor of a large house. Severus opened the door and stopped dead at the tableau before him.
"What is it?" James asked from the bottom of the stairs.
Severus pulled the door shut and looked down the stairs to his husband. He pushed Hugh back down the stairs, collecting the other boys and making them stay on the ground with James.
"Severus? What happened? Is Helena all right?"
He leaned in close and whispered to his husband. "Your daughter is laying on the couch, naked, on top of a man who is equally so." Severus straightened as James stepped back in shock.
"Who it is?"
Severus ran up the stairs. "I intend to find out." He opened the door with a loud bang, startling the two on the sofa.
Helena groped around for the throw on the back of the sofa.
"Are they back?" a familiar voice asked from beneath his daughter.
"Yes, we are," Severus growled.
The man poked his head around Helena's shoulder. "Fuck."
"I see you have done so," Severus sneered. "Now you will tell me why you've done so with my daughter."
Severus could sense that James had joined him. "The last time I saw you naked, we were seventeen and swimming with the giant squid," James said. "I did not want to see you naked now, Remus."
Harry watched as his first-born boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time.
"Having a hard time, Harry?" Hermione asked as she sent her third child off for her second year, her two oldest, fraternal twins, already on board.
He shook his head. "Not for him leaving. Robert's been driving everyone crazy showing off his wand. It's the fact that he'll be in school with the twins and Hal. Either they'll recruit him into the Marauder's Club or use him for their dirty work, since they're so much older. If they do that, I will teach them a lesson they won't soon forget."
"They're your brothers, Harry."
"And he is their nephew." Harry sighed. "I suppose I'm making too much out of all of this, because Robert is more than likely to end up in Hufflepuff, so he will probably end up being their victim than a partner in crime."
"And they are in Gryffindor and Slytherin," Hermione stated. "It's not such a surprise that all three of mine are in Gryffindor."
Harry laughed. "Not with a father like Ron, they wouldn't be anywhere else." He stopped at the portal to Muggle London. "You want to come join me for lunch? Helena and Remus are meeting me at the Cauldron."
"They didn't bring the kids, did they?" Hermione asked in a dismayed tone.
Harry inwardly chuckled at the irony of Hermione not being able to handle his sister's three sets of twins, when she had seven children all together. And Helena's boys were quiet, whereas Hermione's had the tendency to act like monkeys. Harry thought that Hermione was jealous of Helena's ability to keep her children in line.
"They're with Dad and Patri for the day. Then the troop is back to France."
As the two made their way to the entrance of Diagon Alley, Harry told him what was happening with his brothers and sister. Hamilton was now at Cambridge, teaching in Harry's old position. Harry himself was a consultant to the Ministry and more specifically to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, since it enabled him to work from home with the children. Hugh still lived in Egypt, but he had been with Bill for the last three years. The two had finally decided to make it 'official' as the invite said, relieving both sets of parents that it was finally happening. The family had seen them coming together before the two had, but it still was frustrating at how slow moving they had been about the entire thing.
Helena and Remus had moved to France with the birth of their first set of twins. Remus had found he loved teaching, but he preferred the younger children. Remus' family had originally been from France, and they had moved to the sprawling one-story house, where he began teaching to children of both magical and Muggle backgrounds. Helena had been offered a job with the Symphony in Paris as a guest conductor and musician. When she wasn't working, she was helping Remus with the small school he had opened, teaching the arts.
Harry's younger children were with Sirius today, running wild around the streets of London. Sirius had bought a sidecar for his old motorcycle, and both Devon and Caroline found it a blast to ride in it. Of course, the eight and six year old had personalities that were almost carbon copies of Sirius, so it wasn't all that surprising to find they liked to walk on the side of danger. Harry wasn't worried, because he knew that Sirius would rather be hurt than any of his children. The only reason they were out doing that instead of being with Harry to see Robert off was because Harry had overheard Devon and Caroline making plans to slip onto the train so that they could go to school with their brother.
"They didn't," Hermione said when Harry told her this.
He laughed. "Yes, they did. Precocious pair, are they not? I just hope that Hogwarts is still standing when they are done with their seven years there."
James had lost count of exactly how many people were here. He knew that most of them were related to him in some way, but there were quite a few redheaded people wandering about the garden. Severus was grumpily complaining to a gray-haired Bill Weasley about something, but James couldn't understand what they were saying over the loud crowd. Severus often gravitated to the curse-breaker and had privately told James that Bill was his favorite son-in-law. The man still couldn't pick his favorite daughter-in-law, though, no matter how many times the girls had asked.
Their children had put the entire party together in celebration of Severus and James' one hundredth wedding anniversary. It was hard for James to believe that they hadn't at least maimed each other these last twenty years as they dealt with several illnesses and losing Hunter. Severus had been devastated by the loss of his son, and had often lashed out at anybody who tried to comfort him. James had been hurt by his actions, but had also understood the reasons behind such behavior. Hunter had still been quite young, but he hadn't really wanted to continue after losing his wife in a charms accident. With no children to tie him here, he had drifted until he had given up.
Their other children had done well, producing a sizable number of grandchildren, who in turn had produced enough great-grandchildren to fill the rosters of several Quidditch teams. Harry and Sirius' three had produced twelve, and Helena and Remus' eight sons had each had three children. Hugh and Bill, and Hamilton and Ashleigh Ann - Charlie Weasley's only daughter - had each had two children, with a total of fourteen children between the four of them. Holden and his wife, Catherine, had three children, with eight grandchildren for them. Hal's wife had given him ten children, with Frankie's upbringing keeping them all in line in fear of their mother's ability to tell them off in four languages.
Only Frankie was a true Muggle and from a military family, but her sister was a Muggleborn and the two had met through her. The other girls were from families that the family had known and the boys had gone to school with, the only exception being Hamilton. Ashleigh Ann hadn't been born until Hamilton had been twenty-two. He may have gotten a late start to his family, but his children were very young when they began their own families.
Both James and Severus had retired from teaching, even though Severus had been offered the position of Headmaster after Minerva retired. Instead, Neville Longbottom, the Herbology Professor, had been given the post. His third daughter, Amelia, had been Hunter's wife. Though both of the children were gone, James and Neville exchanged letters about the rest of their family. Severus had eventually set himself up writing for the various potions journals. He also began to do research into different potions for improvements to the formula or to make them more readily available. James had retired to his garden, enjoying his time outside, with the sun beating down on his old bones and warming him from the outside in after the long winters.
Sirius, himself old and gray, rose shakily to his feet with the help of Harry, who still had mostly black hair and some small white streaks, and looked very young for his age. Sirius raised his goblet before pudding appeared on the table.
"Let us toast to James and Severus Potter-Snape, who have made it through a hundred years together without killing each other." The crowd chuckled at this, most having heard about, and only a few seen, their school years. "No, I think that these two are amazing, or as my oldest great-grandchild would call it, 'bitching.'"
"It's 'bitchin' Grandpa Siri," called a young voice. "And you're a little behind the times."
Sirius laughed. "Most of us at this table are behind the times. But for all of you out there, take these two as an example of what love can accomplish. James and Severus overcame several obstacles when they first started dating - including me - and are still together. Their marriage has outlasted several start-up Quidditch and softball leagues, as well as several scandals involving one or another of their sons and the prank wars at Hogwarts."
A great burst of laughter followed this, especially from the table next to James', where most of the said sons were sitting with their spouses.
"They were blessed with seven beautiful children, one of which in no longer with us but in spirit. With those children came some crazy and not-so-crazy son- and daughter-in-laws, followed by grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great-grandchild on the way."
Sirius nodded at them. "I'm not much for making speeches these days, but I wanted you two to know that I love you and wish you many more years."
Those gathered raised their goblets in the toast.
"To Severus and James!"
Fin.