“Did we get Joshua a present?” Harry asked first thing that morning, following his father around the bedroom as Severus tried to ready for the day.

               “We can pick something up on the way to Tori’s,” Severus answered as he gently pushed Harry aside as his son was becoming rather underfoot at the moment. Severus reached into his wardrobe for a change of muggle clothes. “Why don’t you go get dressed for the day, Harry? I set some clothes out for you on your nightstand last night. I’m going to take a shower, okay?”

               “I need a shower, too,” Harry said.

               “You had a bath last night; you are more than clean enough to go get dressed and wait for me downstairs for breakfast.”

               “I don’t want breakfast. I need help with my clothes.”

               “You do not,” Severus said, stepping around Harry and heading toward his ensuite. “You’re awfully clingy this morning. Go make sure Iris is awake and get yourself ready for the day, okay?”

               “But Daddy,” Harry started.

               “I’ll be ten minutes,” Severus assured his son before shutting the door.

               Harry stared at his father’s bathroom door for a moment and heard water start to run. He considered entering the bathroom, but Severus had already told him what he wanted done before he came out of the shower. Today made him feel nervous, and he wasn’t really sure why. Harry left his father’s room and walked down the hall to Iris’s bedroom. He knocked on her door, but when no noise greeted him, he pushed the door open slightly.

               “Iris? Iris! We have to get up now.”

               Iris grumbled something under her breath, so Harry figured she was awake now and let her be, closing her door once more. He went to his own bedroom and dressed himself quickly, finding little trouble with getting the trousers and yellow polo laid out for him on, before taking his inhaler, then heading downstairs to get Severus’s coffee going. He used the stepstool Severus now left in the kitchen for him to reach the coffeepot and get the ground in the filter. While the coffee brewed, he watched it patiently, clasping his hands behind his back and waiting as he watched the light flicker from red to green. As the coffee finished, he heard steps coming down the stairs and Severus appeared in the kitchen.

               “I made you coffee,” Harry said as he stepped up on the stool and reached for a coffee mug. Severus beat him to it, however, and pulled down a mug, pouring a cup himself.

               “Thank you,” Severus said, giving Harry’s temple a quick kiss. “Did you take your inhaler?”

               Harry nodded.

“How about you sit down for some breakfast, hmm?” Severus suggested. “I’m sure there will be a lot of food at Tori’s today, so something small. Cereal, perhaps?”

               “I want cereal,” Iris said through a yawn as she walked toward the pantry. She was dressed in a yellow, floral ruffle top with blue denim culottes. She pulled out a box of Crunchy Nut and waited for Severus to grab a bowl for her. Severus set two bowls down and Iris poured cereal in both bowls.

               “Do I have to eat it?” Harry asked.

               Severus poured milk in both bowls and Iris took hers to the table to eat.

               “You know the drill,” he said, handing Harry the bowl and leading his son to the table. “At least five bites and all of your nutrition potion.”

               Harry sighed as he sat next to Iris and began stirring his spoon in the cereal.

               After the two kids had eaten (Harry managing to take seven bites of the cereal), Severus dressed them in jackets and drove his kids to a muggle store where Iris led the way inside.

               “Terrell says that Joshua doesn’t have the newest Roy of the Rovers magazine,” Iris said as she ran to the magazine and paper stands, “so we have to get that for him. Everyone else is getting him football stuff, I think.”

               “What is Roy of the Rovers?” Harry asked. “And who’s Terrell?”

               “Joshua’s cousin,” Iris said as she pulled a magazine off a shelf. She held it up to Severus. “This one, Daddy?”

               “That’s last year’s issue,” Severus said. “I guarantee Joshua has that one.”

               Severus reached above Iris and pulled down a magazine, handing it to her.

               “This one,” he said.

               “Yes!” Iris cheered. She held it out to Harry. “See?”

               Harry studied the cover—a picture of a blonde man in red and yellow happily kicking a football. Roy of the Rovers, it read, with the year printed under the title. He frowned at it, accepting it from Iris and opening it to a page. It was mostly pictures with some words in big white balloons above the characters.

                  “It’s a comic strip,” Severus explained. “Perhaps you and Joshua could read them together; you might like them. Come, let’s pay for it so we can head over to Tori’s. She would like some help setting up before the rest of the family arrives.”

               Severus grabbed a gift bag and tissue paper, then led his kids to check out, where he said no repeatedly to wants of candy, which was hard to avoid as it was Valentine’s Day and chocolate hearts lines the aisles. As the cashier rung up the magazine, Iris peered over the belt and eagerly held her hand out.

               “Can I pay for it?” she asked.

               “You have money?” Severus smirked at his daughter.

               “Can I borrow some?”

               Severus rolled his eyes playfully and handed some money to Iris, and she gave the money to the cashier, who thanked her and cashed out the family. Severus paused just outside the car to wrap the magazine edition in tissue paper, slide it into the bag, and stuff more tissue paper around it. He waved his hand over the tag on the bag. His, Harry’s, and Iris’s names appeared. Iris took the big responsibility of holding the bag during the drive over to Tori’s, where chaos was quick to ensue.

               When they arrived, Severus was pulled right into helping with table and chair set up. Iris quickly ran over to Ruth and Esther, who were running around with ribbon, leaving it all over the house and backyard. Harry learned from Addie that Joshua was out with Samuel at the moment, picking up last minute items. So, while everyone danced about the house in preparation, Harry sat on the back stoop stroking Enid’s ears while everyone danced about the house and yard in preparation. Even the medium sized dog found all the action a bit much to handle.

               Harry stared out into the yard. It was fairly large, with a patio where two long tables had been pushed together and paper and plastic dinnerware were set on top. Four more long tables were set out in the grass with several chairs, and the rest of the yard was left open where a small playground sat, complete with a slide, rock wall, and a single swing all attached as one piece. Further back, two goal posts were set up a few yards apart from each other. Surrounding the yard were trees and bushes, blocking the family from neighboring views.

               An hour or so later, strangers began flooding the house. There were more adults, lots of kids, and even familiars, such as three cats, a toad, and two other dogs that Enid ran off to play with. Harry managed to find Severus before the crowd grew too large, and he stayed close to his father, even when Iris tried to encourage him to play a game of freeze tag with Ruth, Esther, and three other girls. He shook his head at her though, then she disappeared from the house, running out to the yard with the other kids.

               “Are you sure you don’t want to go play with them, Harry?” Severus asked. “They’re all nice kids.”

               “Delilah, Grace, and Adina are all good girls,” Tori said encouragingly. “And you know Ruth.”

               Harry shook his head again.

               “Maybe when Terrell gets here, you can join the boys for some fun, hmm?” Tori decided as she picked up a platter of Bolognese risotto to take outside.

               “Here, allow me,” Severus said, taking the platter from her.

               “Thank you, Severus. You know, Samuel and Joshua should be back by now. I swear, I can’t send that man off to do anything in a timely manner.”

               Severus snorted as he carried out the platter to the two tables pushed together. Harry followed him out, staying as close as possible to his father. Severus set the platter down in the center where there was still room. The tables were covered with food such as cheese and vegetable platters, bangers and mash, and all kinds of sweets at the end. Severus waved both his hands over the table, setting heating charms over what needed it and cooling charms over the desserts. Once that was done, Severus looked down at Harry.

               “Are you doing okay, Harry?”

               Harry shrugged up at his father.

               “If you need, we can always take a break in the upstairs parlor away from all the noise. Would you like to do that now?”

               Harry shrugged, then shook his head.

               “Okay, let me know if you change your mind.”

               Harry lifted his arms up, and Severus obligingly picked him up, resting him on his hip. Severus brushed Harry’s hair out of his face.

               “How about,” Severus started, “you help me make some punch and we’ll pour some cups for all the kids to grab and go?”

               Harry shrugged.

               “No, I need a yes or a no,” Severus insisted. When Harry did nothing, Severus brought his hand up threatening close to Harry’s neck. “Am I going to have to tickle an answer out of you?”

               Harry scrunched his neck, but he smiled as he shrugged again.

               “That’s it!” Severus tickled Harry’s neck, and Harry giggled as he wriggled around in Severus’s arms.

               “Yes, I want to help,” Harry finally said.

               “That’s much better,” Severus said, smirking at his son. He carried Harry inside to the kitchen to start the punch for the kids.

               Another hour passed and it seemed the guests were never ending, but the craziness seemed to die down some. Harry stood behind Severus while his father talked to Samuel and another dark-skinned man. He missed whatever jokes they laughed about as he was more focused on watching his surroundings.

There were people everywhere, it seemed, and they were busy catching up with other strangers all over the yard, hugging and laughing and sitting next to each other. Kids ran about with each other, playing with one thing or another. Harry saw Esther and another small, lighter skinned girl dart between and even under tables. The other girl had thick hair that stuck up everywhere even without definitive curls, and she chased after Esther, moving her hands every now and then when the two girls made eye contact. Harry moved closer to Severus when a couple people walked out of the house and toward them, pausing in front of Samuel and the other man.

“Hey, Isaiah,” Samuel said, pulling the man into a brief hug, patting his back. “You made it; thank you for coming, man, it’s never the same without you.”

“Mother would have killed me if I didn’t show up, you know that,” the man, Isaiah said.

“Yeah, I’ve seen how Addie gets,” Samuel smirked. He turned to hug the tall lady in glasses at Isaiah’s side. “How are you, Imani?”

“I’m good, Sam,” she said. “It’s so good to see you again. And your kids! They’re getting so big.”

“I know! I try to push them back down, but they’re on some kind of growth spell or something. I may need to resort to the Potions Master here. What do you got to keep them small?”

“I wish I had an answer,” Severus said with a small smile.

Harry suddenly heard Joshua’s voice, and his head snapped in its direction. He spotted Joshua talking to a lanky teenager wearing thin spectacles and a blue and bronze scarf. He had a low fade haircut with two carved lines on either side of his afro textured hair. The teen ruffled Joshua’s curls while laughing at something Joshua had said. The teen pointed to the house and said something that Joshua nodded to before the older boy took off inside.

Joshua smiled all the same while he turned just enough to spot Harry. His eyes lit up and Joshua ran toward the small group chatting away.

“Hey, Harry!” Joshua greeted.

Harry slid behind Severus more, hiding behind his father’s legs while the adults around them smirked and chuckled. Severus crossed his arms, staring down at the boys with an amused look while he waited.

               “What are you doing?” Joshua said, smiling as he walked around Severus, chasing after Harry. “You can’t hide behind your daddy forever. Come on.”

               Joshua grabbed one of Harry’s hands and pulled him away from Severus. Harry hesitated at first, reluctant to let go of his father’s leg, but gave in to Joshua’s pull and allowed himself to be dragged away closer to the mass of people. Halfway around a table, Harry lost his nerve and jerked his hand free from Joshua’s grasp, then froze in his track.

               “What’s wrong?” Joshua asked. Harry hugged himself and looked back at Severus, who had gone back to chatting with Samuel and the other adults around them. Joshua followed his look, then scanned the yard full of family and sighed. “Is it too much?”

               Harry shrugged, not saying anything.

               “I know somewhere we can go!” Joshua said with a big grin. “Come here.”

               Joshua grabbed Harry’s hand again and ran off to the side this time, away from the crowd and toward the field. He stopped in front of a huge tree that had wooden steps nailed into it. Harry looked up and saw a small, but ornate treehouse supported by the branches of two trees intertwining. It looked like a large, wooden doghouse, complete with a name plate that read “Joshua’s Secret Lair.” A railing wrapped around the entire structure, and a thick rope like material ran from inside the tree house all the way to the ground across the yard.

“Go on, quickly,” Joshua said. “Before intruders see.”

Harry climbed up the steps and at Joshua’s insistence, pushed at the bottom of the treehouse, revealing a flap of wood that pushed open and let Harry crawl up inside. Joshua followed in after him.

Inside the tree house were shelves of knick knacks ranging from figurines to stones, and on the walls were a couple posters of footballers, one of Bobby Moore and one of Diego Marandona. The rope Harry had seen was for a zipline that was anchored to the trunk of the tree outside the back window, and it zipped out the open door above the railing and all the people below, ending in the soft grass at the other end of the yard. In a small window to the right of the door was a small telescope pointing up at the sky.

“Do you like it?” Joshua asked.
               “It’s cool,” Harry said.

“This is my getaway when I need a break from all the girls,” Joshua said. “Dad and I built it last summer. It’s spelled so we can’t fall over the railing, even if we tried. Only the zipline lets us go over. And it’s weatherproof, so even a bad storm won’t ruin it or knock it down. Dad kept promising me we would build one since I was like six. He always keeps his promises, sometimes it just takes a while for him to, though.”

Joshua walked over to the telescope and looked through it, angling it at the family and adjusting the focus of the lens. He motioned Harry to come over to his side.

“Look,” Joshua said, urging Harry to look through the lens. “There’s our dads.”

Harry squeezed one eye shut and looked through the lens, and he saw his father and Samuel sitting at one of the tables with Tori and another black woman, all talking and smiling about something.

“That’s Aunt Chantelle,” Joshua said, and Harry focused on the other woman sitting at the table. “Her and Mum are Grandma Addie’s only daughters and I think she’s also the oldest.”

Joshua gently pushed Harry away so he could survey the grounds through the telescope, then let Harry look through it again.

“Those are her daughters: Adalyn, April, and Alivia.”

Harry spotted three teen girls sitting side by side and micro-braiding the hairs of three younger girls sitting in the grass in front of them.

“Their dad doesn’t come around often. He’s a bit of a weirdo, anyway. Now, the girls on the ground are Zuri, Delilah, and Grace. They’re Uncle William and Aunt Destiny’s kids.”

Joshua adjusted the telescope until it was pointing at a couple who were engaged in conversation with Addie and her husband. Joshua then spotted the young wild haired girl who was still playing with Esther on the playground. She was currently running up the slide, Esther attempting to copy her.

“That’s Adina,” Joshua said as he let Harry look through the telescope. “She’s their youngest, just turned five last month. You’d think we all never see each other with how we act at these events, but we all were at her birthday, too.”

Joshua angled the telescope back to where Addie and her husband were talking to William and Destiny. A cleanshaven man in a casual suit sitting next to William picking at a plate of food in front of him while joining in the conversation now and then.

“That’s Uncle Elijah. He’s not married or anything, but he’s pretty cool. He runs a quill shop in Diagon Alley. Any feather you want, engraved, bedazzled, or bewitched; he’s the man you go to. Oh look—Auntie Judith is here with Chloe. She’s Dad’s sister.”

Joshua leveled the telescope on a short, curvy woman in a high neck pink top with black pants stepped out of the house with a miniature version of herself at her side, wearing a pink floral top and black pants to match her mother. Samuel stood up from his seat and embraced his sister before saying something to his niece, who shyly smiled. She looked about Harry’s age, and Iris and Ruth ran up to her and dragged her off in their games.

Harry pulled away from the telescope and his eyes scanned over the large gathering, taking in all the people Joshua was trying to point out and introduce him to. Joshua readjusted the telescope once more and swiveled around with it till he found who he was looking for.

“There’s Uncle Isaiah and Aunt Imani,” he said, gesturing for Harry to look through the scope. “And right next to them is Cela and Terrell.”

Harry’s eyes moved from the two adults to the teens sitting on either side of their parents. He remembered Terrell as the boy Joshua had been talking to earlier.

“He’s like the big brother I never had,” Joshua said. “He’s also the only other boy in our whole family. We always hang out and play football when the family gets together like this. He goes to Hogwarts. You know, in case your dad ever takes you there and you happen to run into him. He’s a fourth year and he’s on the quidditch team for Ravenclaw. He’s pretty cool.”  

As Joshua prattled on, Harry pulled away from the telescope and took to biting his thumbnail and staring at the stained wood of the railing as he listened to Joshua talk about all the fun things they could do now that there was three of them.

“Pretty brilliant, isn’t it?” Joshua asked, looking at Harry.

Harry shrugged as he kept staring at the railing outside the window.

Joshua’s smile slowly fell as he took in Harry’s face, then looked back down at the family. He sighed as he leaned against the window frame.

“I guess it’s kind of a lot, too. We’re a big family. And everyone’s magical, so it gets kind of chaotic sometimes.” Joshua snorted and smiled as he stood up straighter. “I grew up in it, but it’s all new to you. You know, it really just means there’s more love to go around. Even for you.”

“It’s too big,” Harry finally said. “I can’t remember everyone.”

“Well, I’m not giving you a pop quiz when we go back down.” Joshua laughed playfully, earning a small smile from Harry. “You don’t have to know who everyone is today or even a month from now for the next kid’s birthday. Besides, do you know how many times I’ll call Alivia “Zuri” or Uncle Williams “Uncle Elijah” when I don’t see their faces right away? They all get it. We joke around about it.”

               “I never had so much family before,” Harry said.

               “You Snapes are honorary members of the Bell family.”

               “But your last name is Brown.”

               “I know,” Joshua smiled fondly. “Ready to go back down?”

               “Not really,” Harry admitted.

               “Oh, come on,” Joshua insisted as he pulled on a harness attached to the cable. He dragged the harness over to Harry and strapped him in it. “It’ll be fun! Maybe we can start a game of football and play against our parents.”

               “What’s this?” Harry asked as he tried to adjust himself in the harness that felt awkward around his legs and hips.

               “It’s a zipline harness,” Joshua said as he pulled a handlebar into the treehouse from the back window. He urged Harry through the door and toward the railing. “Here, pick up your feet and I’ll give you a push.”

               Harry looked over the railing and down at the ground far below them. He trusted Joshua, however, and the harness felt secure on him, so he lifted his feet up.

               “Go, Harry!” Joshua said, pushing Harry to get the zipline going before running into the treehouse, then running back out and grabbing the handlebar, lifting his knees as the motion kicked his zipline into action.

               Harry squealed in delight as the air whipped around him as he traveled high above everyone’s heads. Severus looked up from where he was sitting and smiled as he watched Harry zipline down from the treehouse, Joshua close behind. Samuel also noticed the kids, smiling momentarily before shaking his head.

               “One at a time, kids!” he shouted.

               Samuel ran to the end of the zipline and held his arm out for Harry.

               “Gotcha!” he said as he spelled the boy free of the harness. Harry was still laughing from the excitement of the freefalling experience.

Samuel held out his other arm for Joshua who was right behind Harry.

“I don’t know if I’ve got you,” Samuel said, then as Joshua slammed into his arm, Samuel stumbled around playfully, spinning with the boys, who laughed harder. “Whoa! Whoa!”

Samuel fell over in the grass with the two kids landing on his chest. He grunted as he said, “You’re safe now, boys.”

Joshua and Harry were still laughing as the pushed themselves up, then helped to pull Samuel to his feet. Samuel herded the two boys toward the group, where the other girls were asking for turns on the zipline, but their attention was quickly diverted to Samuel, who hopped up on one of the tables.

“I’d like to make a toast,” Samuel said, holding up his cup of water toward where Joshua and Harry had taken seats next to Terrell, “to my little man, Joshua, who’s nine years old today. What!?” Samuel shook his head while everyone clapped and whistled for Joshua, who stood up and beckoned toward himself with both hands, encouraging more applause, earning laughs from the adults and a few waded up napkin throws. Samuel chuckled.

“That’s my boy right there,” Samuel said, “all personality, absolutely no shame. Happy Birthday, son.”

Joshua sat back down with a big grin as everyone wished him a happy birthday.

               “It’s also Valentine’s Day, so,” Samuel looked at Tori, who was sitting in between her mother and sister, her chin resting in her hand as she quirked her brows at her husband. “To my beautiful . . . my beautiful wife, Torianne; where would I be without you? You are my first and best thought of every morning and you are an amazing mother to our kids, and our family that keeps growing. I love you, baby, and I can’t wait to bring our bundle of joy into this world. Our little . . . little . . .”

               Most of the family held their breath in tense silence as they waited to hear the gender of the new baby. Samuel paused for a moment with a smirk, winking at Tori, who rolled her eyes and motioned for him to go on.

               “Our little princess, Jemima Rose Brown.”

               Everyone cheered, though there were also several shouts of “I knew it” and “Of course.” Samuel jumped off the table and headed straight for his wife to pull her into a kiss.

               “This family needs more guys,” Terrell said, shaking his head.

               “I know, right?” Joshua agreed, looking up at Terrell with an exasperated face.

               “Hey, little man,” Terrell said, jerking his head at Harry. “You know how to play football?”

               Harry shook his head.

               “We have to teach him,” Joshua said, jumping out of his seat and dragging Harry away, Terrell following them. “Terrell’s the best. You’ll be a pro in no time.”

               The boys spent thirty minutes teaching Harry the game before several of the girls wanted to play as well. At first, it was boys against girls (which was very unfair as it was five to three), and then Terrell managed to bait his father, who baited the other parents, and soon it was kids against adults. Severus refused to join and decided to watch on the side with Tori. When everyone was covered in mud and the score was unknown to either side, the game ended with a truce. The parents spelled their kids clean and then cleaned up themselves. Cake was brought out and everyone sang to Joshua, and he blew out his candles enthusiastically. While everyone at cake, Joshua opened his gifts from the family.

               It was nearing four in the afternoon when the party ended, and everyone started packing up to leave. Parents were saying goodbyes quietly before carrying their sleeping children through the floo. Severus assisted in clean up where he could, but as the last few guests disappeared, he noticed Harry and Iris yawning as they played a board game with Joshua and Ruth. Esther was napping on the couch.

               “Thanks for your help,” Samuel said as he took the dish Severus was holding. “But really, you can go home anytime. We’ve got it from here. Besides, your kids aren’t much longer for this world. I don’t think mine are either.”

               Severus snorted and smiled at his kids.

               “You know,” Samuel continued, “this has been on my mind, but did you ever figure out how floo powder ended up in the Dursleys’ fireplace to begin with?”

               “Well, Albus admitted to visiting the residence the night before to collect pictures from Petunia. It must have been residue from that.”

               “Yeah, I looked into that.” Samuel frowned. “Floo powder completely breaks down and dissolves in four to six hours when exposed to oxygen. It’s why we keep it in airtight containers. That means either Albus isn’t telling us something or . . .”

               Severus sucked in a breath.

               “Someone broke into the house.”