1st September 2017, Nineteen years later.
Harry took a deep breath as he fought his way through the crowds of people wondering around the busy railway station. The young girl was holding so tightly to his hand it almost hurt.
He knew she was nervous, even though she'd never admit it.
Danica Jee-Yun had always been the brave one, the one who wanted to do everything herself, everything her big sister could do she wanted to do as well.
She held tightly to her trolley, her trunk and owl strapped on tightly as she took the barrier to platform 9 ¾ at a run.
It was fairly empty on the other side, nearly an hour until the train left as Harry had wanted to make sure they had plenty of time.
Not only was it Jee-Yun's first year in Hogwarts but the first year for William and Pansy's second child, Alistair, and Hermione and Victor's little girl, Grace, as well.
Hermione and Victor were already waiting on the platform, stood in the normal spot the friends gathered at to wave their children off or pick them up for the holidays. Their daughter Grace looked as neat as a pin in her brand new uniform; blonde hair pinned back so she could take in her surroundings. There was no doubt that she would be a Ravenclaw, she had her parents love of learning and there were never enough answers in the world for her.
Jee-Yun ran over to Grace, hugging her as they both started chattering in excitement.
"I've found the scarf!" Lily said, rushing onto the platform, taking several deep breaths to catch her breath, "What is it about this family and loosing them?" she laughed.
"Thank you Grandma!" Caihong said, taking the silver and green scarf and wrapping it around her neck, "Stupid thing is always falling off."
"You could always pack it in your suitcase, crazy thought I'm sure." Severus smiled. The scars that covered his face had faded over the years but the skin didn't move quite right, especially when he smiled.
Caihong stuck her tongue out at him before pulling her grandfather into a hug, giggling softly to herself. Her youngest sister, Susannah-Lily looked most annoyed at her, looking longingly towards the train.
"Are you sure I can't go?" Susannah-Lily asked, "It's only a couple of years early." she sighed.
Cho laughed, pulling her daughter into her side, "Not yet. Trust me, time will fly by and you'll be worrying about exams in no time."
Susannah-Lily let out another exaggerated sigh, flopping against her mother's side.
"We're not allowed to go either." Marty said and his twin brother, Ritchie, crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Mum was brilliant at school." Ritchie said, looking over to Hermione, "We'd totally manage going two years early."
"No." Hermione laughed, "Besides, you'd get up to far too much trouble."
Ritchie and Marty grinned, wondering if there was anything they could get up to on the platform without their parents spotting them. They thought it was unlikely, but were going to try anyway.
The three of them were quickly distracted by the arrival of Pansy and William and their two boys.
Alistair looked very smart in his new uniform, the place where the school house crest would sit still blank. He was quite sure he would be in either Ravenclaw, like his father and brother, or Slytherin as his mother had been, although he wouldn't be disappointed with being a Hufflepuff either.
"You look very smart with your new prefects badge." Lily smiled at Jonny.
The young boy puffed his chest up slightly to show of the badge, "Thank you Mrs Snape. I'm really proud. It was a tough year last time, I was sure I hadn't done well enough on my exams but, here we are." he grinned.
Alistair grinned mischievously and opened his mouth to say something, however whatever he was going to say, which almost certainly would have gotten him into trouble, was stopped by the arrival of Neville's family.
Thomas and Corvus lead their two older girls through the crowd, sending everyone a quick wave as soon as they saw the growing crowd. Both Thomas and Corvus also had one of their youngest girls balanced on their hips.
The twins, Alessia and Cassandra, had been born well before their time. They'd been so small you could hold them in one hand and for many weeks it had looked unlikely that they would even survive.
However both girls had beaten the odds and were now happy, and healthy one-year-olds who were nearly always smiling.
Mabel and Mary, Thomas and Corvus's older daughters went straight to the train, heaving their trunks and cat baskets into place before stopping to talk to their friends. While they'd been adopted years apart, they were the same age and in the same year at school, something that both girls found highly amusing and very comforting.
Carefully Neville guided his pregnant wife, Odette, through the crowds, followed by their little daughter, Ophelia. She reached up for her mother's stomach, excited to feel the baby moving. She was very much looking forward to being a big sister, although both of her parents assured her she would have to wait another four or five months for the baby to arrive.
The pale blue dress Odette wore flowed softly over her swollen, growing stomach, highlighting her olive skin and blonde hair. Neville had grown used to the stares they would get walking together. Odette may have only been half veela but it was more than enough to turn every head in the room when she wanted to. Ophelia had picked up the same trait already.
"How are you?" Cho asked, greeting them.
"We are doings alright." Odette smiled, "We are very excited to meet ze new baby."
"I bet." Severus smiled, "You look well."
Odette blushed slightly, thanking Severus for the compliment. Ophelia had gotten distracted with the Lestrange twins, pulling faces at the two young girls and chattering to them in French, much to the babies' delight.
Harry jumped slightly as Sirius sneaked up behind him. Sirius smirked, giving Harry a quick hug before moving round everyone else. Dora, Sirius and Nikka's eldest, was heading into her last year at school, looked around for Tonks and Remus, hoping that Luca would be with them.
"You made head girl!" Pansy commented, "Congratulations."
Dora grinned, "Thank you. I'd say I'd take after mum and dad but…"
Nikka rolled her eyes, pretending to be insulted by her daughter.
"We were simply having too much fun to be heads or prefects." Sirius said, putting on a great deal of self importance.
"No, you left that up to me." Remus laughed, walking over, closely followed by Tonks.
"Not that you were very successful keeping them in line, Remus." Severus smirked.
Remus conceded the point gracefully, watching his eldest, Luca, wonder off with Dora. Esther, who was going into her second year wrinkled her nose at her eldest brother. She was their youngest child and firmly thinking anyone wanting anything to do with boys was insane.
Michael and Athena, Tonks and Remus's other two children, wandered off to find their friends as well after shoving their trunks and bags on the train.
Ron strode towards them, grinning as his little two year old girl, Margaret, watched the huge red train in awe. He'd been offered a place teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts part time at Hogwarts. Much to his surprise he'd jumped at the idea. It would be far safer for him, his face already marred with one long scar down the left side from his work as an Auror. It would also give him far more time with his two children and his beloved wife, Daphne.
"Sorry we're late." Daphne smiled, "Or at least later. Arthur needed a loo stop." she said, stroking her hand over her six year old son's strawberry blond hair.
He brushed her away, looking at the animals being carried into the train with fascination.
"I was going to go and put my owl in the pet carriage." Caihong said cheerfully, "Would you like to come along as well?" she asked Arthur.
He nodded, dropping Daphne's hand and taking Caihong's to follow her towards the train.
Harry looked down the length of the platform; it was rapidly filling up as the clock clicked closer and closer to eleven o'clock.
They'd all agreed to meet in the same spot, every year, so they wouldn't have to worry about missing one another when it got busy.
It was just as Harry had always imagined it; he'd raised his three girls surrounded by his friends and family, and as his friends had also had children, Caihong, Jee-Yun and Susannah-Lily had never been short of a friend, someone to play with or a house to visit.
Luna spotted Harry and waved, followed closely by Draco pushing a very full trolley. Aquila and Xerophilous waved madly from their seat on the trolley, jumping off as their father pulled to a stop.
"How are you both?" Harry asked, giving them both a tight squeeze.
"We're good." Both Xerophilous and Aquila said together, something they would often do.
"We wanted to do a test run for next year." Luna explained, "Even had them pack a bag, think about what books to bring." she said, slightly absently.
"It is a very important decision." Draco said, as seriously as he could which wasn't very.
Luna had taken to being Lady Malfoy better than anyone could have guessed. She was still slightly absent at times, completely in her own world most of the time but she loved being of use to people. She loved giving people a helping hand and making the estate thrive. She'd also written several well respected papers on the existence of magical creatures that had simply not been discovered yet, the identity of two of which had been confirmed after her papers had been published.
"Narcissa and Lucius send their regards." Luna said with a smile, "They're taking little Lucius to his best friend's eighth birthday party."
"Oh I bet he was really looking forward to that." Pansy smiled.
Luna nodded, "They're going to have a giant bouncy castle and a cake shaped like a swimming pool."
"I'm not late!" Danica said, breathing heavily, pushing her way through the now very busy station, "I've not missed them have I?" she asked. Breathing a sigh of relief as she noticed that none of the children were in the train carriages yet.
"Aunty Danica!" Susannah-Lily squealed, giving Danica and Daniel a big hug each, "Uncle Daniel!"
Danica hugged her back before putting a comforting hand on her swollen stomach. She was eight months pregnant, her other three children staying at home with her best friend from school, Beatrice, who had been only too pleased when Danica had asked her to baby sit.
Normally she brought all her children with them to wave the older ones off to school but so late in her pregnancy she hadn't looked forward to the idea of keeping track of the three little ones when she had to sit down or pee every half and hour.
The large clock on the platform ticked loudly, announcing it was ten minutes until eleven. As one, the crowd moved towards the train.
Severus pulled open the nearest empty carriage door and the children started to climb in.
"Got money for sweets on the train?" Cho asked, kissing her two daughters goodbye.
Both Jee-Yun and Caihong nodded, hugging Harry as well before settling down on the comfortable sits.
"Be good." Harry grinned, wrapping one arm around Cho, the other around Danica, "Write lots."
Caihong laughed, "I always write lots!"
William clicked the train carriage door shut, locking it firmly in place. The compartment was packed, even with many of the children having gone to sit with their friends once their parents had ensured they were safely on the train.
The old, red steam train chuffed into action, pulling away almost painfully slowly from the station as it forced its pistons and gears into action.
While they couldn't walk along the platform as it was simply too crowded, Harry, Daphne, Ron, Draco, Pansy, Hermione, Viktor, Neville, Lily, Cho, Daniel, Sirius, Tonks, Remus, Nikka, Severus, Corvus, Danica, Luna, William, Odette, and Thomas all waved until their arms ached and the train had driven out of sight.
The crowds of families saying goodbye started slowly heading off the exit, Harry and the others stayed put until it was just the group of them left, the younger children holding tightly to their parents.
"Anyone fancy going for ice cream?" Lily asked after a minute or two of silence as they all adjusted to the children having left them until Christmas.
Danica laughed, "Always!"
Harry watched the small clouds of steam from the train fade into nothingness in the distance and smiled. He grabbed Susannah-Lily's hand in his right, Cho taking her left, and followed his parents, little sister and friends off the platform in search of ice cream.