The muggle market was crazy so close to the holiday. Harry watched two men fight over the last turkey. Thanking his lucky stars that he only needed enough food for himself, Harry quickly grabbed some macaroni and cheese, some milk, Oreos, laundry detergent, bread, toilet paper, freshly made lasagna from the counter, and orange juice.

That should be enough food for a week, right? He could always take another trip later. As he was getting closer to the checkout line, he saw the old bat - Bathilda Bagshot. She was a little creepy. There was even a rumor that she turned into an actual bat!

Oh goodness, he also saw that creep Severus Snape at the other end of the aisle. There was no hope of avoidance, he'd either have to pass the old bat to get to the checkout or the creep his father hated to go to another aisle.

"Harry! Where are your parents?" Bathilda asked in her husky voice. He was now committed to the bat versus the creep. A win in his book.

"Oh, they're at home. I begged them to let me come to the store by myself. It's never too early to start learning how to shop on your own!" Harry tried to insist.

"Really, you wouldn't mind if I walked with you, would you? I'd love to say 'hello' to them." Bathilda started to insist.

"No!" Harry panicked. Wait, that was too suspicious. Bathilda raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be able to show them that I could do it on my own if you walked me home now would I?" Harry said it a little haltingly. But he thought that he got his point across.

"I guess that makes sense." Bathilda scratched her head. "Do you mind bending down and grabbing me some of the tomato soup on the lowest shelf? These bones aren't what they used to be."

"Of course! Let me grab that for you." Harry was overly helpful. He didn't even complain when she insisted on him holding up each can for her inspection.

After Harry had helped her pick the best can, he waved goodbye and headed for the checkout. Whew. First hurdle down, maybe he could do this all on his own.

Walking home, Harry had no clue about someone tailing him.

"What do you mean that there are no portkeys anywhere near Godric's Hollow!?" James yelled out. "My son is home alone! There's no telling what could happen to him. I need to get home immediately. We're magic. Why can't you make this happen?"

James was fuming. Lily was equally angry, but she kept an eye on the rest of the children. They were starting to flag from the long trip, and they should get some message to the family to let them know that they arrived safely — or most of them have.

"James," Lily pulled his arm and led him away from the counter. "There's nothing that yelling at that poor woman will do. Plus, Rose and Raven look ready to pass out. We need to get them to your family's place so they can crash."

"Lily, we need to get back to Harry." He said.

"What if we split up? One of us could take the rest of the kids and the other can keep trying to work on getting home to Harry. Let me shoot a Patronus to your parents at least. I don't want them to worry."

"They should be worrying! We're missing Harry." James insisted.

"I'm not happy about this either! Our son is missing! I'm well aware of how big of an issue this is. But we have four kids that are ready to pass out. Let's at least get them somewhere safe."

Lily pointedly looked in the direction of the witch with crazy hair that was inching a little closer and closer to their family.

"Wait, a patronus! Lily, you're a genius. We should send a Patronus to Bathilda. She used to be friends with my mum when my parents still lived in the area. She can look in on Harry." James said.

Lily kissed him. "I love you," She said.

"I love you, too," James said. He then began sending a Patronus to Bathilda. Lily began to send a Patronus message to James' parents.

"Okay, now that that's settled. You can take the kids to your parents. I'll find a way to get to Harry." Lily said.

"Wait, hold on. I'm going to get Harry. You should take the kids to my parents." James argued.

"James, they're your parents. You have to go." Lily said.

"No, Lily, I have to get home to Harry. The last thing I said to him was in anger. I have to see him and let him know that I love him." James said looking devastated.

Lily softened a little. "Okay, James. I'll let you go after Harry."

After that, Lily gathered the children and began the process of getting them to his parents.