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Our Fifty-Five Year Old Parents

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The trio followed Beth to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and when they got there, both Harry and Hermione were there. Lily and Blake didn't know what they were expecting when they got there, but it hit them with a pang of sadness at how old their parents looked. Harry's messy black hair was speckled with flecks of gray, and both faces of their parents had aged a bit. Harry heard the four of them coming and looked up. He smiled when he saw his granddaughter, and said,

"Hi, Beth. What are you up to today?"

"Hi Grandpa. Nothing much, just showing the new students around." Hermione said,

"Professor McGonagall told me there were three new students. All in Gryffindor too. It's good to hear. We're the heads of the house, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Well, this is Isabelle, her brother Evan, and their best friend Lauren." Handshakes went around the room, and Beth said,

"They don't really have anywhere to go for Christmas, so do you think they could stay with all of us?" Hermione said,

"You'll have to ask your mum. I don't care, but you'll have to ask her. Send her an owl."

"Ok, I will." Lily glanced over at her dad and noticed he was looking at them funny. She raised an eyebrow in question and Harry looked away. Five minutes later, the four of them left the classroom and went back to the Gryffindor common room. Beth summoned her owl and wrote a short note to her mother and sent the owl off.

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The next morning at the breakfast table, Beth's owl came back from her mother saying it was alright if the new Gryffindors could come stay with them for Christmas. When she opened the letter, and read it, Blake asked after a while,

"Well?" Beth looked up at her future uncle and said,

"She says she doesn't care, it'd be nice to have some people join us."

"Ok, so we are welcome, it's not just a thing that they'll put up with us because they feel sorry for us that we have nowhere to go for Christmas, right?" Beth shook her head no. That afternoon, the students prepared to go home for the holidays. While Lily, Blake, Julia were bringing their things down to the common room, they met a girl in the common room, also bringing her luggage down. The three of them knew exactly who it was, and Beth saying that her sister looked a little like her dad was an understatement. Gabrielle Finnigan looked like a feminine version of Will. When Gabrielle saw the trio, she held out her hand and said,

"You must be the new students that are coming home with us. I'm Beth's sister, Gabrielle." Introductions were made and Gabrielle said,

"I don't really know why you'd want to come with us, I mean, we aren't that fun or interesting of a family. Half of it's missing." Blake shrugged.

"Oh well, it's better than ours. Most of ours is missing." Julia said,

"But you shouldn't complain about what family you have, it could be worse."

"She's right, Bree, it could be worse," Beth said as she was coming down the stairs with her suitcase floating behind her. Gabrielle said,

"But don't get us wrong you three, we love our family, they just piss us off sometimes."

"Tell me about it," Lily said. The five of them sat in the common room until Harry and Hermione came and got them. Then, the seven of them went down to the Three Broomsticks to apparate. On the way, Hermione said,

"Oh, we didn't even think to ask, have you three taken your apparation tests?" The three of them nodded.

"Ok, good. Sorry, we didn't even think to ask before." Before Lily, Blake and Julia knew it, they were apparating to Lily's future home, and stood outside of a large white house with blue shutters. The snow covering everything gave the house a Christmas card feel. There were subtle decorations outside, not overdone like some people's houses. Everyone came up the sidewalk, the trio the last ones to come in. Beth opened the door and held it open for everyone as they went inside. Lily's jaw dropped when she saw the inside of her future home. It was one of those old fashioned houses, with huge ceilings and long curving stairs at the end of the hallway. Each room was just off the hallway. The first door on the right was a library; on the left was the dining room. They kept walking and saw the second door on the right was the living room, on the left was the kitchen, and the last door was a bathroom. Lily turned her head and saw a woman with black hair come out of the kitchen, wipe her hands off on a towel, and say hello to her family. She hugged her daughters, and hugged her parents. She turned and faced the trio, an arm still around her daughter and smiled. Lily's jaw dropped slightly as she looked into the face of her thirty-six year old self.

A/n: Ok, extremely short chapter here, I'm really sorry. I'll try to update ASAP! Please review!