All of the Marauders and their families gathered at Black Manor for Sirius' birthday. The alcohol and laughter was freely flowing. Tonight the target of the jokes was Harry, the eldest son of James and Lily Potter. He had just announced that he'd broken up with Ginny Weasley again.

"So how long before you're back together?" asked his godbrother, Leo Black.

Harry and Ginny's on-again, off-again relationship was legendary. Each time he broke up with her, she'd date another man and flaunt the relationship in front of him. When Harry grew jealous, she'd dump the other man and throw herself at Harry. This pattern had been going on for seven years, since he was sixteen and she was fifteen.

"Never," Harry said firmly. "I'm not playing her games anymore."

His little brother, Jack, snorted. "Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it."

"I'm not," Harry insisted. "I've, uh, actually started seeing someone else."

The room became entirely silent as everyone turned to look at him. Harry hadn't realized the older adults were listening to the conversation, too. He saw his parents exchange a look. They'd always been rather wary of Ginny. When Harry brought her to family gatherings, Lily would foist James upon her to ramble about Quidditch, the only topic Ginny was really knowledgeable in. It wasn't that Ginny was particularly vapid; she just didn't care to know about anything else.

Mia crossed her arms. "She's not a mixture of Mum and Dad, is she? Because that was kind of creepy."

"Yeah, I always wondered if they had a fourth child and never told us," added Jack.

A flush spread up Harry's face and neck. He hadn't ever noticed Ginny's resemblance to his parents until her own brothers, Fred and George, pointed it out. They'd been contemplating Harry and Ginny's potential children and realized they could produce perfect clones. Fred and George had found it amusing, but Harry didn't. In fact, it'd been a large impetus for him permanently breaking up with Ginny.

"We didn't that I'm aware of," said Lily, disrupting his thoughts. "Unless James cheated on me with Mrs. Weasley, but I can't see that happening."

Her husband shuddered. "Merlin, no. I'd rather sleep with the Giant Squid."

There was a pause as everyone processed that image. Harry shoved it to the furthest corner of his mind to never examine again.

"You nearly did, once," Sirius threw in. Rather typically, he was the only person wholly undisturbed by James' humor. "Remember that time-"

"Sirius," Remus said loudly. "There are children here, nor would I like to relive the memory."

Harry cleared his throat, gaining their attention again. "Anyway, I was hoping I could invite her to Family Christmas."

"With all of us?" Marlene raised an eyebrow.

Family Christmas wouldn't be just the Potters. It would include all of their adopted family in the Marauders. Harry's girlfriend would be meeting all sixteen of them at once.

"Probably not the best idea," said Lily. "How about she has dinner with us, and we'll see how it goes from there?"

"When you say us…" Sirius began.

"I don't mean you, Sirius."

"Snakes," he sighed, using the group's replacement term for 'rats'.

"Could I-" his daughter, Phoebe, started to ask, but Harry shook his head.

"No, Mum's right. I should introduce her to just the Potters first."

A chorus of groans met this announcement. Watching Harry's love life had become the group's favorite pastime. Even Marlene looked disappointed, though she hid it much better than her husband.

James slung an arm around Sirius' shoulders. "Cheer up, Padfoot. If she's the one, then you'll meet her soon enough."

For some reason, this made Harry blush even harder. He caught his mother's eye and smiled uncomfortably.

"Just don't get back with Ginny," the youngest Pettigrew, Jenna, told him. "I'm only twelve and even I know that shit is toxic."

"Language!" her mother, Mary, scolded.

"Sorry, Mum," Jenna said, sounding completely insincere.

Mia nudged her eldest brother in the side. Her elbow jab was particularly vicious, and Harry rubbed the sore spot as she raised her eyebrows, her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. Though she looked a lot like their mother, with that expression she bore a strong resemblance to James.

"So? Who is it?" she prompted.

Everyone crowded closer, eager to hear the answer.

"Hermione Granger," said Harry. "She was in the same year as me at Hogwarts."

"Oh, I remember her," said Jack. Since he was the closest in age to Harry, they knew a lot of the same people at Hogwarts; the others only frowned at the name. "Wasn't she a gigantic bookworm?"

"Yeah," Harry said, a smile pulling at his lips. "She was actually the top of our year. She even beat Malfoy."

"Well, that makes me like her," Sirius declared, raising his glass in salute.

"Sirius," his wife scolded, swatting him on the arm.

"What? They're a bad lot. I'm ashamed to say we're even related."

"She's also a Muggleborn," added Harry. "Malfoy was furious. He tried to get his father to kick her out of school."

"Even better!" cried Sirius.

"Hear, hear," said James as he exchanged a knowing look with his wife.

After that, Harry refused to say anything more about his new girlfriend. He didn't want to heap praises upon her and then give his family unrealistic expectations. Hermione was a good person, he assured them, and she wouldn't play with his heart as Ginny did for the last seven years. That mollified his parents enough for them to stop pestering him.

The rest of the night passed as it usually did on such occasions. They toasted Sirius, who insisted forty-four wasn't that old no matter what James, Phoebe, and Leo claimed. When the party finally ended, Harry followed his parents through the Floo to their house. He'd ended up drinking more than he intended and he stumbled into his old bed. Before he fell asleep, his last thought was of Hermione and how he couldn't wait for her to meet his family.