'An epi-pen,' Kit mumbled as they pulled into the drive an hour later. 'Seven hours for an epi-pen. Madness.'

Harry smiled as he turned off the ignition. 'Everything with us is madness.'

Kit snorted. 'Isn't that the truth?'

'Looks like Mr. Epi-pen is asleep,' Harry whispered as he began to unbuckle the patient.

Kit shook her head, yawning. 'I will be soon. Are we supposed to bring anything tomorrow night?'

'No idea. Maybe a dessert. Are you going to bake something?' he asked disbelievingly, lying Nate down in his crib.

Kit stuck her tongue out at him as they moved down the hall. 'No, or I'll burn the house down.' She swiftly changed into her nightdress as Harry stood, leaning against the doorframe, watching her. 'I know I have a recipe of Mrs Weasley's somewhere in my junk for this whip cream pistachio thing.' She yawned as she slid under the covers, watching him. 'I'll make that. Are you coming to bed?'

Harry shook his head, smiling as Kit's eyes fell closed. 'I'm going for a walk, okay?'

There was no answer from Kit, so Harry left through the front door and into the peaceful, suburban night. Godric's Hollow was unlike any neighbourhood Harry had ever been in. Whereas Privet Drive was full of cookie cutter homes spaced evenly along, with the newest cars in the drives, Godric's Hollow was the absolute opposite. As Harry walked, he noticed that some drives were gravel, others paved (like his), and some houses did not have one, but parked instead on the street. Some even seemed to share drives, and no one had the same vehicle. Cars, trucks, and mini-vans were all different models, and for the most part, different colours.

Then there were the yards, none of which were as kept as those in Privet Drive. It seemed that crime was not an issue, as children's toys littered one yard, bikes leaned up against a garage door at another, and garden tools were thrown haphazardly in a pile in front of other homes. The trees in the yards were trimmed only where a walkway lay underneath. The houses again were anything but cookie cutter; some with dormers or a bay window. Still, some were only one story, perhaps without a porch, or instead with a closed in veranda where a night cap would be drunk. Every house had a different colour scheme, sometimes with stucco or clapboard.

As he walked, Harry noticed teenagers sitting on overgrown lawns, older couples drinking tea inside verandas, or young couples quite like Kit and himself sitting on front steps having a cigarette. Harry waved to one such couple, who waved back cheerily, the woman a pale redhead, the man a dirty blonde. They lived across the street from himself and Kit, and as Harry retired inside, he gave the woman a salute, who happily returned it, dragging heavily on her cigarette.

Smiling, Harry walked through his own home, opening some windows, locking the doors, and turning off lights. He finally slipped into bed next to Kit, the alarm clock on the nightstand reading just after one in the morning. Their bedroom window was left open, and Harry's last thought as he closed his eyes to the midnight view was that dinner next evening would be quite eventful. As his breathing fell softer, slower, and almost in time with Kit's, neither of them would have thought that the day leading to the dinner would be as lively.

Harry awoke later in the morning to find the bed deserted. As he rolled out of bed and pulled on his jeans from the day before, he vaguely heard the banging of pots below him. Yawning, he followed the sound down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Kit was mixing something in a bowl and Nate was playing the drums on various pots with various utensils. As Harry appeared in the doorway, Nate raised his hand holding the wire whisk and waved at Harry.

'I'm drumming!' he screeched, causing Kit to look up.

Her face was impassive to what she was feeling, but her golden eyes were bright with concentration and control. 'Shower, now,' was all she shouted over the rejuvenated drumming before she turned back to her bowl. Harry had no choice but to comply.

However, as he stepped out of the shower, the banging of pots had ceased, and adult voices were heard below. Confused, Harry quickly pulled on his clothes and hurriedly descended the stairs. As he reached the bottom, Nate came scampering from the living room and attempted to hide behind his legs. Harry grinned.

'What's the matter?'

Nate only pointed towards the living room as Harry picked him up.

As Harry entered the living room, Nate buried his head into his father's shoulder, Kit jumped up, and the couple Harry had waved to the previous night smiled at him.

'I'll go make tea,' Kit said, rushing into the kitchen.

The red-headed woman gave Harry a salute. 'Good morning, neighbour,' she said happily.

'Good morning to you, too,' Harry grinned, extending his hand to both of them in turn. 'I'm Harry Potter.'

'Carrie Hefter,' the woman smiled, blushing slightly.

'Jake,' the man offered, shaking Harry's hand firmly. 'Also Hefter.'

Harry grinned at them. 'Congratulations,' he said as he sat in the armchair opposite them.

'Thanks,' they both said, but a confused expression crossed the man's face as his eyes flickered over Nate.

'Kit said her last name was –'

'Ravencraft,' Harry finished, smiling as Nate looked at the two strangers. Carrie gave him a small salute and he buried his face again. 'Yeah, it's a long story, I suppose.'

'How old is he?' Carrie asked suddenly.

'Three,' Harry answered proudly.

Carrie looked up at Harry, shocked. 'How do you look so young?'

Harry laughed. 'I am young,' he smiled. 'Just turned twenty.'

'But – how?' she asked as the kettle began whistling in the kitchen.

'Well,' Harry began as Nate unstuck himself and looked at Jake, who smiled at him. 'Kit and I were sort of seeing each other while we attended this boarding school. We sort of got closer and fell in love –'

'As cheesy as it sounds,' Kit cut in, laying the tray of tea and cookies on the coffee table. As one, Jake and Nate reached for a cookie.

'And then after we finished school,' Harry continued, 'we moved in with my best friend and his family. But it was too cramped in their small house, so I found this place through –'

'Why didn't you live with either of your parents?' Jake interrupted.

'My parents died when I was a baby, and the last thing I wanted to do was live with my cousin and aunt again,' Harry replied. 'And Kit's parents had moved to South America, and we didn't want to move that far.'

'So Remus, a friend of Harry's parents, had told us where they had lived,' Kit continued. 'So we checked the place out, used Harry's late godfather's money to buy it, and here we are!'

Harry looked sideways at Kit as a silence fell between them all.

'We did that, too,' Carrie said happily. 'We couldn't live with our parents, so we moved in together initially as friends.' She paused to laugh as Kit grinned. 'We never dated, and we even went to prom with different people! But, here we are.'

'So, how long have you lived across the street?' Harry asked politely as Nate shifted in his lap.

'Well, we moved in just after graduation,' she said slowly. 'So it's been three years.'

'That's fabulous,' Kit smiled.

'Yes, I suppose it is,' Jake said. 'Oh! And we brought you a housewarming present!'

Kit blushed. 'Oh, you shouldn't –'

'I couldn't help it,' Carrie smiled, handing Kit a small basket of –

'Homemade blueberry muffins,' Jake said cheerily as Nate peered into the basket.

'Thank you!' Kit was beaming. Home baking just got closer than the Burrow.

'Oh no, thank you,' Carrie said, a small frown crossing over her face. 'We finally have friends in the neighbourhood that are our age and not living with their parents.'

Harry looked between the two of them. 'Walt isn't all that bad, and I'm sure –'

'Oh, Walt is okay,' Jake said quietly, 'but he almost never goes out. We're the youngest people on the street without our parents. Everyone seems so old, or else we get odd looks for marrying so young.'

'We'll be getting the odd looks from now on,' Kit said, grimacing. 'Pregnant at sixteen is frowned upon more than marrying young.'

'Worse yet is living together with a child, unemployed, and not married,' Harry said.

'Thank you,' Carrie said emphatically.

'Anytime,' Kit replied, shaking her head.