From here on out, I have written this on my own. Julie stopped, seeing as she had exams to study for.

I had exams too, but I decided this was more important.

Chapter Five – Cara

Platform Nine and Three Quarters Again

The moment we entered the door at home, Rose spun on her heel and said, "Cara, take your family home please. I need to spend some time with my children."

I winced, but I knew it was inevitable. "Rose, about that woman…"

She silenced me with a glance. "That woman was nothing. I'm sorry she had to do that in public, especially since it was the first we met Harry and the others, but she had to do it sometime. Well, not her, but… Oh, hell, I was bound to be recognised, wasn't I?"

"Mum," Lily said softly to her, "It's okay. We don't care."

"I do," Will muttered, and Lizzie elbowed him. He grunted, rubbed his side, glared at his sister, and said, "I don't mean I mind about you, Mum. I just mind the fact that I look like him."

Rose looked heartbroken for a minute, then carefully schooled her features into impartiality. "I don't think you do. I mean, when he was younger, yes, but not anymore. Now he hardly looks human. You're handsome, young and clearly normal. And you have my eyes, anyway."

It was true; Will did have her eyes. Rose had mismatched eyes and it was really the only feature her twin children shared. They both had their mother's eyes… "And her heart," I finished aloud. When Rose glanced at me questioningly, I said, "They both have your heart. He might have been their sire, but Will and Lizzie are both your children."

Rose smiled at me and said softly, "I'll see you bright an early tomorrow, Cara."

I hugged her briefly and said, "Follow me, folks," then marched my clan across the lawn to our house.

The next morning, we were up early. Beth, James and Dan were all insanely excited and had hardly slept the night before – which meant, of course, that Remus and I didn't get any sleep either. So we were ready to leave two hours before the train was scheduled to leave.

"Okay, Clan Lupin!" I called to the kids and Remus. "Let's go see how Clan Black is getting along."

"Mum," Dan asked, his high pitched voice a little confused, "Why is it we still call Will and Lizzie 'Black' when they aren't?"

I stiffened a little. "Because it matters less who their father is biologically than it does who raised them. Do you understand?" I asked, kneeling by him and his twin with a serious expression.

"Not really Mum, no," James said softly.

I sighed and glanced at Remus, who seemed happy for me to foot this one. "Guys," Beth butted in before I could say a word, "What Mum means is that Sirius might not have actually been their Dad, but he raised them, and cared for them and loved them, whereas Voldemort didn't. This makes Sirius Black their Dad, and makes them Blacks, rather than Riddles."

The twins looked at their elder sister and understanding lit their faces. "Oh," they sighed together, and I laughed. At times, the reminded my so much of myself and Rose when we were their age that it made me laugh.

"Right then," Remus said. "Now that's sorted out, shall we march over the lawn unto the daunting house of Black?"

"Yes, sir, commander," I teased, saluting him. "Right foot forward, march!"

Together, the five of us (trailed by our trunks and owls and other accoutrements) marched across the lawn and I let us into Rose's to find…

Hell.

"I told you!" Will screamed down the stairs, "I'm not going!"

"William Sirius Black!" Rose roared back, "You come down those stairs this instant or I will not be responsible for my actions!"

"NO!"

She screamed in frustration, looking ready to tear her hair out, while Lizzie and Lily hovered in the background, nearly laughing themselves into hysterics. We made our way over to them as the shouting match continued, and Beth asked Lizzie, "What's going on?"

Liz grinned and said, "Will's refusing to go to Hogwarts on the grounds that he looks too much like Tom Riddle to go out in public ever again, and Mum's having a… well, an attack of some kind; whether it is neurotic or cardio I'm not sure yet."

We all laughed and watched as Rose yelled up to him, "Don't make me come up there William! You're not too old for me to put across my knee!"

"I am taller than you! And bigger!"

It was true; while I had always been the smaller twin growing up, I had outgrown Rose in our seventh year. She was the smaller one, now, and while still being… voluptuous, you could say, she was small and skinny (from under-eating for twelve years). I giggled.

"Cara Lupin," she snapped, "I've beaten you in a duel before!"

Also true.

"Will, come down," Remus called (finally a voice of reason).

"I will not!"

He sighed and went upstairs. I wanted to follow him, but I knew they needed some 'man-to-man' time. It was the biggest bullshit (in my not so humble opinion), but what did I know about men? I'd only married one and raised two… And I knew they were absolutely mental and completely fuelled by testosterone.

I sighed and grinned at my twin sister, who looked just about ready to tear her hair out and collapse in a heap of tears and anger. "How long have you been yelling at him?"

"Half an hour," she groaned, collapsing into a seat. "He refused to talk last night, saying it didn't bother him. Clearly it did."

I smiled at her to try and hide my irritation. She was his mother; she should have known that he would have taken it hard.

"Don't look at me like that, Ca," she grumbled. "I know I should have realised. I know I'm a crap mother. But it's not like I've actually paid any attention to them in twelve years." She trailed off and I felt a pang in my stomach. She was feeling guilty (so, what else was new?).

"Rose," I said, hesitating, then I plunged in. "You can't spend the rest of your life regretting the way you fell apart back then. You have to spend it rebuilding your relationships and actually moving forwards. You're a wonderful mother; you just haven't actually been in trouble with the kids before. What I mean is, you love your kids and they love you. They just haven't been difficult, and now you're running into difficulty with them. Don't give up at the first hurdle."

She sighed, but smiled at me. "When did you get so wise?"

"I listened to you give me motivational talks since the June of 1977," I retorted quickly. She winced, remembering, and I kicked her.

"I know, I know, hurdles," she muttered. "Come on, I'd better go and check on Will and Remus and make sure your husband hasn't hung himself or something yet…"

"Pessimist!" I yelled up the stairs to her retreating back. Her laugh echoed back as she bounced up the last of the stairs and disappeared.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to our families. Liz and Lily were grinning at me, as was Beth, but James and Dan were staring longingly out of the window. "Boys, we'll be off before you know it. The train doesn't leave until eleven, you know."

They sighed and James said, "We know."

"But, Mum," Dan said, "Why can't we go now?"

I grinned. "Platform 9 and ¾ will still be there in an hour, which is most likely the time the rest of the world will be there."

"But Mum!" the boys whined in perfect timing and I laughed aloud.

"Boys, it will still be there." Then I looked up the stairs and said, "But we do need to get there at some point this morning."

Lizzie and Beth both sighed in perfect understanding. Merlin, I loved my children.

Half an hour later, Rose, Remus and Will finally came downstairs, ready to go. Rose had red eyes, but her arm was around her son's waist (who also had red-tinged eyes) and the two looked slightly happier. Remus looked at them fondly, as if he was Will's father too.

I grinned at him and jumped up to plant a kiss on his lips, when Dan and James erupted into a chorus of, "Ew! Mum! That's gross!"

I laughed and kissed him anyway, then jumped away and said, "Shall we go, then?"

They agreed readily. Outside our party bus was waiting for us (okay, it wasn't actually a party bus… it was a normal car… but we'd kind of, well, altered it to make it quite able to fit us all in). After we'd piled our things into the back, we climbed in, Rose, Remus and I in the front seat; Will, Lizzie and Lily behind us, then (with our added row) James, Dan and Beth climbed into the back.

"All set?" Remus called back. There was a general call of, "Yes!" and we were off.

It took a little while, but we were there at quarter to eleven, climbing out of the car and piling our trunks onto trolleys. Remus and I helped Dan and James push theirs as we put theirs onto our trolleys (hey, we needed stuff too!) and Beth pushed hers behind us. Will and Lizzie pushed their own, and Rose and Lily pushed theirs together. We made our way to the wall between platforms 9 and 10 and stopped. Our children looked at us expectantly, and Rose said, "After you, Cara."

I grinned and said, "Come on Jamie." Then together we pushed forwards and ran through the wall onto Platform 9 and ¾.

Once we were regrouped, we made our way down the train and helped put the trunks onto the train. Behind us, I heard Rose greet the Weasleys happily (she had really missed Harry) and I turned to greet them too – but was met with the eyes of one of our worst enemies.

"Lucius Malfoy," I greeted as he stared at me in shock. Rose's head snapped up from where she was hugging Harry, and she stepped over to my side, just as Remus did.

The blonde man seemed to recover from the shock and said, "Cara, so lovely to see you again. And… Rose," he added, slyly shooting a smile at my sister. "Still lovely as ever, Miss White."

Rose stiffened and said, "I'll forgive you your lapse, Lucius, since we're such… old friends, but my name is actually Mrs Black."

He chuckled. "Well, I'd say it's actually Mrs Riddle."

"Oh, would you?" her voice was like ice. Behind me, I could hear our children stepping away from her tone – they knew that tone and knew it meant hell.

Literally.

"Well, yes, I would, my dear friend," he told her.

She smiled icily, and said, "You know, I am surprised to see you here, Lucius dear. I thought you'd have a nice, cosy cell in Azkaban."

He stood up slightly straighter and said, "I was found innocent. My actions were not my own."

"And Bella?" she said softly. "Were her actions not her own?"

He clenched his jaw and said, "Bellatrix is in Azkaban."

"Oh good," she said. "I am so glad. I'll never forget the time she got blood on my wedding dress. I wasn't happy with her."

He smiled (not in a nice way) and said, "Well, I never told you how lovely you looked that day, did I?"

She smiled and said, "No, you didn't."

He took a step closer and said softly, "Let me tell you something quietly." She stepped forwards too, and he whispered in her ear. I saw her expression go completely flat.

She stepped back and slapped him. "Don't make me explain to you exactly how I could hurt you, Malfoy," she snapped as he rubbed his cheek ruefully.

He smiled slowly, "Oh, I look forward to it."

She turned away and stalked back to us, her face like thunder. Will stepped to her side (he had been lurking behind us worriedly) and looked at Lucius Malfoy, then said, "I would advise you to leave my mother alone, Mr Malfoy."

His voice sent chills down my spine. And it sent chills down Malfoy's too. The man spun and stared at my nephew with wide eyes, actually taking a step back in fear.

He recognised Will.

But Malfoy straightened his spine and, with a sardonic smile, said, "And I would advise you, young man (which he said in a totally patronising tone), to not interfere with your elders."

"And I would advise you," Rose said quietly, "To not underestimate my son. You know both of his parents and, trust me; he has inherited a wonderful ability to duel. And as for your idea, Lucius, I think you know the answer. Now get lost."

Her tone of voice surprised me. It wasn't sarcastic, or angry. It wasn't even hurt. It was protective – over Will – and kind of… proud. Like she was defending her pride…

What the hell did Malfoy say?

"The train is leaving! Everyone on, everyone on!" came Molly's harassed voice. We jumped on just as Arthur took Harry by the arm and pulled him to the side to talk. We climbed on and all stood together, waiting for Harry. I smiled at the bushy haired girl from the night before and greeted her, "Hi, Hermione."

"Arthur, hurry up!"

The train was moving as Harry jumped on the train. The door slammed shut and was locked, and Rose and I stood side by side by the window, staring as Platform 9 and ¾ disappeared behind us.

We were on our way to Hogwarts.