"Boys, time to get up!" Lily called up the stairs. She was getting tired of having to wake up Harry and his guests like this. ‘From now on, Alice or Petunia can host any and all sleepovers. I have done my fair share for the last seven years!' she decided.

She was pulled out of her musings as she was suddenly faced with two sullen, and for once, well-dressed, sons. "Boys, why the long faces?" she asked.

"I don't wanna go back to Ohio," William pouted.

"Yeah. Why do we have to be separated, anyway?" Harry asked. "I thought you and Dad were going to fix the custody arrangement."

"We have petitioned the court for an amendment, but these things take time," Lily said. "Especially since the divorce was filed with both Muggle and Wizard courts. There's also the fact that William and Severus are now under USMA jurisdiction."

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, and Lily left the kitchen to answer it. William turned to Harry and said, "I'll miss you, brother. Even though it is only a week until we start Hogwarts, I wanted to spend the rest of the summer here with you. I will miss all the guys here, especially Neville." At that, William blushed a deep shade of red.

"Ooh... do you have a crush on Neville, William?" Harry teased.

"Yes," William whispered, afraid that Harry would reject him now for sure.

"Cool. Neville's a great guy. You two would be good together," Harry said seriously.

"You mean it doesn't bother you that I am gay?" William asked, shocked.

"Nope. Why would it? I am gay, too. Mum says that it doesn't matter much in the Wizarding world whether you date a guy or a girl as Magic allows reproduction between any type of couple. The entire Wizarding world is actively bisexual, at the very least."

Just as Harry was explaining this, Severus and Lily walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, boys," Severus said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Dad," the boys chorused, dropping their previous conversation immediately.

"William, Aunt Alice wasn't able to get us a Portkey home," Severus said.

"Does that mean we can stay here until school starts?" William said hopefully.

"Nice try, brat," Severus replied. "I got us USMA passports and two first-class plane tickets to Ohio. Mine is one-way, and yours is round trip, with your return date being the 30th of August."

"Why do I have to go home for just a handful of days?" William whined.

"Because I'm the dad, and I said so," Severus said. "Besides, you need to get your own clothes and possessions to take to school instead of depending on Harry for stuff. Now go and say your goodbyes. The taxicab will be here in half an hour."

William and Harry rose and left the kitchen, heading towards Neville's house.

~-~-~-~

After knocking on the Longbottoms' door, William turned to his brother and said, "At least it is only a week, y'know?"

"Yeah," Harry said, depressed. "Sucks, though. We shouldn't be separated like this."

As Harry finished speaking, Neville opened the door. With one glance at the twins' faces, he knew why they were here. He held his arms open and William rushed up to give him a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," William said, crying on Neville's shoulder.

"I know. I'm gonna miss you, too. I lov-... really like you," Neville stammered.

"I love you, too, Nev," William said. "And I'll see you again next week on the Hogwarts Express."

At that, both boys brightened a bit, and Neville said, "That's right! I forgot you were going to Hogwarts, too!"

"I've got to tell your parents, Dudley, and his parents goodbye real quick. I've only got..." William paused and looked at his watch before continuing, "22 minutes before the taxi gets here."

"Taxi?" Neville asked, ushering William and Harry into the kitchen, where Alice and Frank were drinking coffee while reading the Daily Prophet.

"Yeah. Aunt Alice couldn't get us a Portkey, so Dad went and bought Muggle airline tickets," Harry explained.

"I wish I knew who the lamebrain was that suggested he do that," William added.

"As a matter of fact, young man, it was my idea," Alice said.

"Thanks a heap," William grumbled before running over and hugging her tightly. "I'm gonna miss you, Aunt Alice!"

"I'll miss you, too, squirt," Alice replied, hugging William back tightly.

"Hey, Alice - don't Bogart the nephew!" Frank said jealously after a few minutes.

"Sorry, dear," Alice said sheepishly, releasing William.

William turned and went to hug Frank. "I'll miss you, too, Uncle Frank!"

"I'll miss you, too, kiddo," Frank replied, ruffling William's hair.

"William," Harry said, touching his brother's arm, "twelve minutes until the taxi gets here."

"We'll write, William, and you'll see Neville at Hogwarts," Alice said. "Now go say goodbye to the Dursleys."

With a final hug to each of the elder Longbottoms, William, Harry, and Neville ran over to Petunia and Vernon's house, where Petunia was waiting for them on the porch with Dudley.

"Hello, dears. Vernon has left already for work, but said to tell William ‘goodbye'," Petunia said.

William reached out and hugged his aunt. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"And we'll miss you, William. Don't forget, though, we'll see you at Christmas."

"Oh, yeah!" William exclaimed. He had forgotten that.

"Ain't you gonna say goodbye to your favourite cousin?" Dudley teased.

William went over and bear-hugged Dudley and said, "Make sure you write to both of us at school. You got the Muggle post-drop address, right?"

"Yeah, Will, and I gave you guys my Smeltings address, right?"

"Yep!" William replied.

The four boys wrapped themselves into a group bear-hug and Neville, Harry and Dudley cried, "We'll miss you, Harry!"A honk sounded from next door, and the boys looked up to see that the taxi had arrived.

With a final hug to Aunt Petunia, William and Harry went over and got into the taxi next to Lily, while Severus supervised the driver loading his and William's luggage into the boot. Finally, the driver got back in the taxi and Severus stepped up to the front passenger side door. "Heathrow Airport, please," he said, getting in.

The cab pulled away from the curb and they departed from Surrey.

~-~-~-~

9am EDT
Somewhere over Ohio

"Attention, passengers:  this is your Captain. We are now approaching James Cox/Dayton International Airport. The local time is 9:01 am, 25th August, and the temperature is 78*F. Thank you for choosing Pan-Continental Airlines," came the pilot's voice over the intercom.

William thought back to being at Heathrow Airport...

- Flashback -

After going through security, the twins followed Sev and Lily to a café near Sev' and William's terminal.

"I know that we should have this down pat, but the boys come to my place for Christmas, right?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and they come to my place for Easter," Sev replied.

The twins, oblivious to their parent's conversation, were making pranking plans for Hogwarts. They were going to give the Weasley twins a run for their money, both Galleons and Pounds Sterling.

"Dad said that the caretaker, Argus Filch, is a Squib," Harry said.

"Yeah, he is," William replied, grinning evilly. "And I know how to brew a potion to put in his mop water that will make everywhere he mops turn red, white and blue! The more he mops, the longer the colours last!"

"Sweet!" Harry said, high-fiving his brother.

«Now boarding Flight 91 to Dayton, Ohio,» came the voice over the intercom.

"That's us," Severus said. The boys rose and embraced one last time. Then, Harry hugged Severus and William, Lily. Finally, Sev and William walked over to the attendant at the gate and handed her their boarding passes.

"Good-bye, boys. William - see you next week, right here!" Lily reminded him. She and Harry waved as Sev and William walked down the runway.

- End Flashback -

*Ding ding*. "Attention, passengers... Please buckle your seatbelts as we begin our descent," the stewardess said.

William pulled himself out of his thoughts and buckled his seatbelt. "Dad?" he asked. "Is it okay if I miss Mom, Harry, and Neville already?"

"You don't miss Dudley?"

"I didn't really get to know him that well," William replied.

"Ah. Well, I miss your mother and brother as well... although, I didn't realize you were really close to Neville," Severus frowned.

"Yes," William replied dreamily. "He is just so... so wonderful!"

"I'll take your word for it," Severus said dryly as the plane touched down.

As they disembarked the plane, William said, "That is another reason I didn't want to leave Surrey."

"You'll see your brother and your boyfriend next week!" Sev replied.

"Dad!" William replied. "Neville's not my boyfriend!" (‘Yet...' he mentally added.)

"Whatever you say, son," Severus smirked. "Let's go get our luggage and go home. Blinky should have our third breakfast of the day ready."

William smiled at that. Never before had he been able to have three breakfasts in a row and at the appropriate times. His mother served him one, and there was one served on the plane, and now his dad's new house-elf was making them one.

The two smiling Snapes strode through DIA and claimed their baggage. As they exited the building, Severus hailed a taxi and gave the driver directions to their house.

On the hour-long cab ride, Severus and William discussed the upcoming school year, Severus' plans for improving some potions, and the date of the custody hearing. Finally, they arrived at their Orrville home.

When the two of them stepped through the wards surrounding the property, William spotted someone sitting on their front porch.

"Harry!" he cried out, running up to his brother.

"Hi, William. Hi, Dad. Did you know that the Concorde gets you here in half the time?" Harry said.

"Yes, I have heard that," Severus said faintly. "Wh- what are you doing here?"

"Well, about five minutes after you guys left, we realized that we couldn't live without you two any longer," Harry explained. "So we rushed over and bought plane tickets and came here."

"We?" Severus and William inquired simultaneously.

"We," Lily Evans said, stepping out onto the patio next to her son.