Chapter 3

"Dad's home!" Albus shouted into James' room before running down the hallway to the front door. He was always the first one to greet their father; he had amazing ears and could always hear the POP of their father's apparation back onto the front lawn of their quaint home in Godrick's Hallow.

James headed out of his room and down the hall to see his father taking off his coat and shoes while Albus finished showing him his new Chuddley Champs trading card.

"Hey, James," Harry said, ruffling his other son's hair. "Good today?"

"Always. How was work?"

Harry sighed. "I would have rather been home. What'd you do?"

"Daddy," Lily said, skipping up to her father. "We went to Diagon Alley. Guess what I got you!" She thrust out a Chocolate Frog from behind her back, melted a little from the summer sun.

"Thank you!" Harry gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead. "I needed this. I'm going to eat it now."

"No you're not," Ginny said as she came into the room, giving her husband a slow kiss, which made the children grimace. "Supper is ready."

"Oh great. I'm starving," Harry said.

The family made their way into the dining room, where their steaming plates of meatloaf waited for them. Ginny had learned to make food the Muggle way when Harry and her had first gotten married; she stated that it tasted better. Harry couldn't tell the difference. He was just lucky that he had a wife who didn't mind cooking; it had never been one of Harry's strong suites, magic or no magic.

Albus turned to his father. "James and I went to the broom shop and saw the new Firebolt. Have you seen it?"

Harry shook his head. "No, not yet. Did you take it for a test-ride?"

"No, Mum wasn't with us," James answered. "Mr. Piercy doesn't allow test rides without a parent. Can you take use sometime?"

"Maybe. But there's really no point when you know you're not getting the broom."

"Dad," James groaned. "I know. I just want to see how it feels. Please? Can we go tomorrow?"

"Oy, James. Maybe," Harry said with an exasperated sigh. James took a lot of energy to handle sometimes, and after a long day of work, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

"Leave it go, honey," Ginny said gently to her son. "Dad's had a hard day."

"But..." James started, but stopped immeditately under the weight of his father's glare. He shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth and looked down at his plate.

The rest of the meal with filled with small talk as they caught each other up on what was happening in each other's lives. Harry talked about the stress of the Auror's office; being head Auror had its advantages, but lately it had been one headache after another. Even at this moment, he could be called back into work for the second time that day. He tried not to take the stress out on his family, but sometimes his children pushed him too much, like James had just done. He had definitely been given little handfuls, which he guessed he deserved; he hadn't exactly been easy to handle when he was younger.

When the children had cleared up the table and washed the dishes the Muggle-way, James walked over to his father and sat on the edge of his arm chair. "I would ask you if you wanted to kick the football around outside, but seeing as you're in such a mood..."

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry, James. I shoudn't have snapped at you."

"It's quite alright," he replied with a smile.

"Is there anything you would like to say?"

"Not particulary."

"James..."

"Okay, okay," James said quickly. "I'm sorry for bugging you about the broom. I've been a real right prat."

"Language..."

"Okay, okay, oy. I've been annoying and it's not fair to you after you've been working all day. I'm sorry, Dad. Will you please be kind enough to spend time with your eldest son outside kicking the football around? It's his one wish in the whole wide world." His son looked up at his with gleaming eyes that were difficult to refuse. Harry wondered how all of his children had him wrapped around their fingers so quickly.

Harry stood up and smiled. "Get the ball, you twit."

James grinned and ran off for the black and white Muggle ball, which Teddy, Harry's godson, was obsessed with. The entire closet practically exploded as he took the ball out of the pile; of course, it was at the bottom. "Sorry! MumI'llcleanituplaterbye!" Harry heard his son say quickly as he ran out the back door.

Ginny looked at the mess on the floor with widened eyes. "I don't think I'm going to make it through the summer without shipping him off somewhere."

With a laugh, Harry kissed his wife, and went out the door after his son.