"Well, this is it." Roland said as he looked away from Hermione and down at his son, who glanced from one parent to the other.

"We're not going to see you again for a long time," Hermione said softly and pulled Caden next to her. "And now after all this, they're taking you away from us."

"Mother!" Caden exclaimed and his entire face went red as a group of kids his own age passed by. "I'll be seeing you at Christmas." He muttered under his breath. "It's not that far off."

"Oh, I can't believe my little boy's going to Hogwarts!" Hermione said as she ruffled Caden's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which he instantly wiped off when he thought she was not looking. His head was now even with her shoulder, but still thin for an eleven year old. Caden gave his parents a small smile before turning around to examine the platform. He took his trunk off the trolley next to his father and wandered over to where a man was loading other trunks into the train. Roland muttered under his breath and was about to grab his son's owl when something attacked his left leg. He yelped and almost dropped the cage.

"Daddy, you've got to see this!" Roland looked down with aggravated eyes into the brown eyes of his five-year old boy, Damian. He was shorter than Caden was when he was his age, but his hair was a bit lighter and still held the same style.

"Damian," Roland growled and pulled his youngest son off of his leg. He ended up holding Damian up so he was facing his father upside down. Roland did not find it amusing as much as his son did and tried to figure out a way to place him down on the ground without dropping him on his head. As soon as he had both his feet on the concrete floor, Damian was pulling him in the direction he came.

Hermione watched from afar as her husband desperately tried to get out of Damian's grip. Ginny appeared behind her with a girl who had the same hair color. They smirked from across the platform at Roland. The girl looked up at Hermione and asked, "Where's Maddie?"

"Right here," another girl who bore a similar resemblance to Hermione appeared from around the corner. Her eyes wandered past her friend and their mothers, past her father and younger brother, and found Caden. She glared at him before returning her gaze to her mother. "Why can't I go with Caden?" She asked. "If he's ready for Hogwarts then so am I. I've read all of his textbooks already."

"You're not old enough yet, and we'll need your help once Caden's gone. I don't think your father's up to handling another baby after Damian." Hermione told her daughter.

"Demon's more like it," Maddie said under her breath and her friend, Lily giggled.

Hermione shrugged and said nothing as she turned her attention back to Ginny, "Is Harry showing up?"

"Are you really that anxious to get Sirius and Damian together?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. Sirius was the Potter's youngest child who looked much like his namesake and had the same personality. Sirius Potter was Damian's age and his best friend, like Lily and Maddie were. "Harry's bringing him up later. We've still got twenty minutes and I don't think Harry will want to miss his goddaughter's first train ride to Hogwarts, not to mention Caden's."

Caden returned from the train, looking over his shoulder to see his younger brother dragged their father out of sight. "Where are they going? Dad will be back to see me leave, right?"

"Of course he will," Hermione said to him, but Caden heard the nervousness in her voice as she too looked over to where they had disappeared. "Oh, I hope this isn't one of Damian's escape tricks. I can't handle another one." Damian had recently been in the muggle world when he saw a street performance involving some man escape from an out-of-control truck after being locked inside a barrel.

"So, I won't be here when the baby's born?" Caden asked suddenly. He had completely forgotten the fact that the baby was due in November and he would be at school.

"Don't worry, Caden." Ron said, coming up to the group with two boxes of sweets. He putting a hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously. "You can always catch the next one."

At the comment, Hermione went red and slapped him on the arm and muttered something about never having another child after this one. Ginny and the girls hid her as Ron and Hermione began to argue when Tonks appeared with Laurie. Caden's eyes instantly went over to his friend and forgot all about his mother and friend's red faces.

"Hello, Caden." Laurie said to him, sweetly. "Ready for Hogwarts?" She definitely did not look like her four-year-old self. Her hair no longer looked blonde and she was taller, not to mention much less annoying.

"You bet, where's your dad?"

Tonks answered that question for everyone, "He's staying home with Jared. They had a rough not last night." Jared Lupin was a year older than Maddie and Lily, and it did not go unknown to everyone how much they had a crush on the young werewolf. Jared was two when he had been accidentally bitten by another werewolf when he decided it would be a great idea to follow his father out one night while they were vacationing in Eastern Europe. He had hair a bit darker than his older sister's but unlike her, had the personality of his father.

"So where's your wife, Ron?" Tonks asked him.

"Oh, Luna had a deadline to finish last night. She sends her luck to you two," He smiled at Caden and Laurie, who nodded as a thank-you.

"Hold everything!" Harry shouted as he came running up to the group with a camera similar to Colin Creevy's and a boy with untidy black hair, who was laughing, hanging over his shoulder. He was out of breath when he arrived before them and held up one finger, indicating to hold on for a second. The boy slid down off his father and looked around for his friend.

"Over there, Sirius." Roland muttered and pointed to his son in the distance as he appeared behind his wife. Sirius thanked him and ran off to see Damian.

Harry fiddled around with the camera for a moment before motioning to Laurie and Caden to move closer together and smile. An enormous flash filled the platform and Caden and Laurie began to blink rapidly. Harry wanted them to pose for another photo, because he was not sure if he had gotten that one. Ginny was able to convince him that he had a good picture and that they needed their eyesight for their classes.

The train whistled a few minutes later. Roland quickly ran over to load Caden's owl onto the train. Once the cage, with the owl in it, was secured on the train, Roland turned around to see Caden standing in front of him. His mind did not even register his oldest son was standing before him when Caden suddenly gave Roland a big huge and buried his face within his father's robes. Roland smiled and returned his hug. The train whistled again, but Caden still did not let go.

"Caden," Roland said softly to him. "You ready to go?"

He looked up into his eyes and let out a sigh. "Daddy, I lied before. I'm really scared."

Roland's smile faded and he crouched down so he was face-to-face with his boy. He put a hand firmly on his shoulder and with a deep breath said, "Don't worry, kid. You'll learn to love your new home. And who knows? You might not want to leave."

"Of course I'm going to want to leave, Dad. I'll miss you and Mom too much." Caden replied.

"Not your younger siblings?" Roland smirked.

Caden thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'll write to Maddie and I'll want to see the new baby. Tell me if it's a boy or a girl and their name as soon as you know, OK? And as for Damian… well, I guess I could send him something."

"That's my boy," Roland said and gave him another hug. "We'll write to you every week, don't you worry."

He was about to ask his father another question, one that had been on his mind ever since he got his letter and saw the seal. But as he opened his mouth to speak, two rather loud voices yelled from across the platform, "CADEN, WAIT!"

Damian and Sirius appeared out of nowhere, both running towards him with a card so huge, that it took both of them to carry. On the front was the words 'Good Luck, Caden!' written in Damian's messy handwriting. He recognized some of Sirius's drawings on the front, like the train and some of the people, and everything was charmed so it moved. Caden never expected such a thing from two boys such as Damian and Sirius. They gave him the card and ran off without waiting for a thank-you back to the corner where they had been.

Roland smiled and gave his son a pat on the back. "According to Damian, they were working on it for two weeks."

Caden opened the card and could not help but smile at the large picture of everyone Sirius and Damian had drawn. He recognized his mother and father waving back at him as well as Maddie and Lily. Sirius and Damian were perhaps the best drawn and each had a huge smile and were waving frantically up at him. There were the Lupins beside Harry and Ginny off in the left. Ron and Luna were on the right next to the rest of the Weasleys. And in the center, Damian had written in huge letters, 'We'll miss you!'

"Is that why Damian dragged you away?" Caden asked, looking up at him.

Roland nodded. "It was all their idea. I was only needed to make everything move. You should be proud of your brother."

"I never said I wasn't." Caden told him as the train whistled sounded again and he heard Laurie shouting for him to get on the train. "Can you thank them for me?"

He nodded and quickly shrunk the letter and helped Caden onto the train. "Be good." He told him as Hermione came up behind him.

"I will." Caden yelled back as the train began to move. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" Laurie appeared by his side within a second. They both smiled and waved back at everyone as the train disappeared around the corner.

Roland slowly brought his hand down as Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. He suddenly felt an empty space form beside him, where Caden normally was. This was the first time he would be away from his son ever since he had been confirmed innocent at his trial, which was almost seven years ago.

Hermione also felt a sense of absence. She had never felt this alone since she had been forced to leave without Roland. Caden had always been with her and always helped her. He had been there to comfort her when she cried and he had tried to cheer her up. He was there before she got married, telling her about the wonderful things they could do now that they were going to be a family. He had been by her side when Damian performed his first escape from a burning tree and tried to keep her from fainting, although it had been Roland who caught her when she fell.

She smiled against Roland's cloak as she remembered landing in his arms and feeling safe and somewhat calm, even though Damian had almost died. Roland will be there for her and she will be there for him. "Caden will be alright, sweetheart." She told him.

Roland rested his head against her and moved so he was now holding her. "I know he will be. He's our son after all. He should do just fine." He kissed the top of her head and smiled.

Damian and Maddie came up to them. They had just finished saying their good-byes to their friends and their families and were anxiously waiting to see what their own parents were doing since they were completely blinded that the platform was now deserted.

As Maddie impatiently tapped her foot behind them, Damian went around them and looked in the direction of the last sighting of the train. He kind of wished his older brother was coming home already as he imagined how what he would do when he was not with Sirius. Maddie did not share a room with him and never liked playing the stuff he liked to play. Who would be the one who sneaks cookies for him from the counter? Damian wished he knew a growing charm so he could become taller.

"Ready to go?" Maddie asked her parents, looking at the exit, longingly.

"Come on, Damian." Hermione called to her son as Roland began to lead her towards the exit. Damian instantly ran up next to his sister and acted as though he had been there the whole time.

"Well," Hermione said to Roland as they left the platform. "That's that. Not bad for letting our first child go, right?"

(A/N): Alright, that's the end of Heartless. Thanks to everyone who read this and even more thanks to everyone who reviewed. Originally, I had no intention to bring back Roland but I had writer's block after the fifth chapter. Sorry it wasn't a R/Hr story like some people had hoped. But still, I don't think this story is half bad. Thanks again and I wouldn't mind a review.

And in case you were wondering, I've had this settting for the epilogue for about a month now and I had to change it around so it wouldn't be exactly like J.K. Rowling's.