Albus Severus- Age 7

When it came to playing a game of Aurors and Dark Wizards (wizarding hide and seek) at the Burrow, no one was a better player than Albus Severus. Because he spent so much time outside exploring the fields, woods, and brush areas, he knew all the best hiding spots and was brilliant at finding people.

The only ones who ever gave him a real challenge were his cousins Molly and Roxanne. The two girls were great hiders and were notoriously known to go into the 'forbidden zones'. Everyone knew the house, Grandpa's shed, and the area around the pond was off limits, but the girls laughed in the face of rules and hid wherever they wanted.

One summer afternoon during a family picnic, Albus and all of his cousins and siblings were engaged in an epic game of Aurors and Dark Wizards. The round was wrapping up, and Albus' team only needed to find Molly and Roxanne to win.

After exhausting all of the 'legal' areas, Victoire- his team's captain- finally gave the OK to search the forbidden areas as well. So as the players scattered, Albus ran straight for the pond because he knew all of the trees and low bushes that surrounded it were great places to keep cover, and a few times before he had caught the girls there.

Albus slowed down when he made it to the path, and softly treaded over the dead twigs that littered the ground, not wanting to give away his position. As he neared, he heard several splashing noises, as if someone was in the water.

Oohhh, Albus thought, ducking off the path to advance through the brush. Not only was he going to catch them and win the game, but he was also going to tattle and get them into so much trouble for going swimming without an adult present.

Well, it serves them right for cheating. He said to himself.

He snuck behind a large bolder that over looked the pond, and just as he lifted his head to yell 'gotcha', the words became stuck on his tongue because the people in the pond weren't his cousins; it was his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron playing and splashing about with… his Dad.

Albus frowned, disappointed that he had not found the girls and a little sad that his Dad did not invite him to come along for a swim. Whenever his family was at the Burrow and it happened to be a hot day, his dad would always take him and his brother and sister for a swim. Albus couldn't help but to feel a tad bit jealous that he wasn't in there splashing with them.

He watched as his Uncle grabbed his Dad and dunked him in the water while his Aunt laughed at them near the edge of the pond. Then he saw his Dad get revenge on his Aunt for her mirth by hoisting her over his shoulder, bringing her kicking and giggling to a deeper part of the pond, and dramatically dunking her in.

When Aunt Hermione surfaced, Uncle Ron lifted her into his arms and snogged her.

Ewww, Albus groaned because he hated seeing adults kiss. Whenever his Mum and sister watched those horrible sappy girly movies, he always gagged at the kissing parts. And when his Mum and Dad gave each other pecks while he was in the room, he'd close his eyes and waited until they were done. Kissing was completely gross to Albus; he was so glad he didn't have to worry about snogging or girls until he was much older.

He shook his head, hoping to get the offensive sight from his mind, and began to quietly back away from the bolder. He had been watching them for too long without announcing himself and he didn't want to get in trouble for being at the pond without an adult or for spying if they caught him. Just as he was about to turn away and creep back to the path, something strange caught his eye.

After his Aunt and Uncle finished their snog, his Uncle swam over to his Dad and picked him up too. Albus thought his Dad was going to be dunked in the water again, but when that did not immediately happen, he wondered what was going on. He watched as the two men formed an odd embrace staring intensely at each other, and for a wild moment, he thought they were actually going to kis-

"Albus come quick, we found them!" Albus' head immediately snapped towards the direction of his little sister's far away voice. He completely missed whatever happened between his uncle and dad because when he turned his attention back to the scene in the pond, his Uncle now had a mad grin on his face as he launched his Dad into the air, which caused him to come down with a mighty splash. His Aunt swam over to them giggling harder than she was before.

Albus watched the adults play for a few more seconds before he quietly made his way back to the trail.

As he walked, he couldn't seem to get the picture of his dad and uncle being so close out of his head. The looks they were giving each other reminded him of the stuff people did in movies just before they kissed, but he knew that could not be the case.

He laughed at himself- feeling quite silly for thinking that his Dad and Uncle were going to kiss because certainly boys didn't do that; well, at least he thought they didn't. Besides, Uncle Ron had Aunt Hermione to snog all he wanted, he surely didn't need his Dad's help in that department.

Albus thought he should probably ask Teddy if it was OK for boys to kiss because Teddy was super smart and he always seemed to have the answers to everything. And if something was wrong with his question, he trusted that the older boy wouldn't run and tattle on him like James or Rosie would if he asked them.

With the decision made, he cut through the large bush that led to the garden, and jogged to catch up to his siblings and cousins.