Longbottom House
Little Whinging, Surrey
07.15 am GMT

"Whaddya mean you're getting MARRIED?!?" William snapped, shocked that his mother had just confirmed his worse fear.

"Don't take that tone with me, young man!" Lily said coldly. "No matter how upset with me you are, I still get treated with respect by you. In the matter of my getting married to Lord Potter, that is fairly obvious. I love him, he proposed, and I accepted. Simple as that."

"But, Mum! You've hated him since he tried to get Dad killed in your 5th year!" William said, causing Lily to pause and frown. She was certain she had never told Harry about that incident, ever.

"Things change, Harry," Lord Potter told William. "Plus, that incident was an accident caused by Sirius Black. I was the one who saved your father. Your mother and I are getting married, whether you like it or not. I promise, Harry, that I will not try to take your dad's place. However, I hope you will give me a chance. I will try to be a good parent, and treat you as my own."

William mentally sighed before sullenly replying, "The best I can do is try."

"That's all I ask, Harry," Lord Potter said.

"Well, unless anyone has a better idea," Alice said, "let's go eat breakfast and get our day started!"

No one was brave enough to cross Alice Longbottom (especially after her row with her mother-in-law, Augusta Longbottom *shudders* Now that is a long story!), and they trooped into the dining room to eat.

~-~-~-~

Snape Cottage
Orrville, OH
09.00 am EDT

"Harry!" Severus said. "The Portkey will be activating any minute, so please grab hold already!"

"Fine," Harry huffed. He was irritated and sad that he had to leave his dad's home so soon after getting there.

Just as soon as both had taken hold of the rope serving as a Portkey, they felt the usual hook-behind-the-navel that accompanies Portkey-travel, but as this was a Trans-Atlantic Portkey, the feeling was ten times stronger. As they travelled, a vortex of colours swirled around them. Or were the colours still and the guys swirling? Either way, it was the most disorienting and nauseating 38 seconds of Harry's life.

With a thud, Harry and Severus landed on barstools directly in front of Tom, the Leaky Cauldron's Innkeeper.

"Two butterbeers, Tom. And a calming draught for my son," Severus said.

"Right away, Mr. Snape!" Tom said, flashing his toothless grin.

"Leave it to your Aunt Alice to have our Portkey deliver us right onto barstools in the very inn where we are to meet her," Severus griped.

"On the plus side, at least no one was sitting here," Harry said jokingly, trying to calm his churning stomach.

"Had you arrived ten seconds sooner, you would have landed on the Longbottoms," Tom said, handing Harry his potion and a butterbeer and Severus the other butterbeer.

"Did you notice which way they went, Tom? They're who we're meeting," Severus asked.

"Room 7, at your convenience," Tom replied.

"Thank you," Severus said. "Harry, take your potion and let's go upstairs."

Harry grimaced as he swallowed the foul-tasting potion and rose to follow his father up the stairs.

~-~-~-~

"James, I want a Muggle-style ceremony," Lily said. "In a church, with bridesmaids, a long-trained white dress, and everything."

"No problem, Lils. How about Westminster Abbey? I can get Nicholas to preside over our ceremony, and you can wear whatever you want, even your birthday suit, if you so choose," James smirked as they strolled along the Strand, window-shopping.

Lily glared as she said, "You'd like that, wouldn't you? I said I want a long, white dress WITH A VEIL. Now let's stop here at Twining's and get some tea and crumpets."

"Yes, dear," James sighed, thinking, ‘Even with my "assistance", she doesn't love me completely.'

~-~-~-~

"Room 3... room 5... here we go, room 7," Harry counted off as the two walked down the hallway.

Severus knocked on the room's door before muttering, "Alohomora", causing the door to swing open.

"Ah, Severus! So good to see you again!" Alice gushed. "C'mon over here and gimme a hug!"

"Alice," Sev said warmly as he walked over and embraced his old friend. "It has been much too long."

"Well, that is your own doing, what with your running off across the pond after the war," Alice said.

Harry, William, and Dudley just stood there, staring in amazement at the friendly bantering argument. Neville, who was used to this kind of thing from his mother, just chuckled and said, "Care to make introductions, Mum?"

"Ah, yes. My apologies," Alice said. "Severus, the proper young gentleman is my rascal, Neville. The handsome, muscular blond boy next to him is Dudley" (who was blushing at his aunt's description of him) "and I do believe you know your own sons. Boys, this is your Uncle Severus. By the way, Harry, why haven't you given your doting old aunt a hug yet?" she finished indignantly.

Harry hung his head apologetically as he said, "Sorry, Aunt Alice!"

"Well?" Alice said expectantly, holding her arms open.

Harry ran over and gave her a hug. "I missed you, Aunt Alice!" he cried.

"I missed you, too, munchkin. Although, I did have your brother over, masquerading as you, so I didn't even know you weren't here until a night or two ago," Alice explained.

"Well," Severus said before Alice could really stick her foot in it, "we need to take the boys school shopping, don't we? And we need to get ready to meet with Lily and James, as well."

"Er... yeah. What you said," Alice said nervously.

"You did tell Lily we were coming, right?" Severus asked with a piercing gaze held on Alice.

"I told you I would, didn't I?" Alice said.

"Yes, you did."

"And have I ever failed you before?"

"No, you haven't. But..."

"Well, what makes you thing I would have failed you this time?"

"Humph," Severus snorted before turning away. "Well, we need to head over to the Strand to do some shopping, as the boys are to wear Muggle clothing under their robes and on weekends. After that, we will hit Diagon Alley. Alright?"

"Fine," Alice responded. "Boys? Do you want to eat supper here in Diagon Alley or in Muggle London?"

"Muggle London," Neville said immediately, chorused by William.

"Diagon Alley," Dudley requested, and William agreed, changing his mind.

"Well, Harry, you are the tie-breaker," Severus said, "as your brother here double-voted."

"Can't we just snack here at the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry asked queasily.

"As that is a place in Diagon Alley, then we will have a Diagon Alley Dinner (DAD!)," Severus said. "Harry, did that potion not help you any?"

"It worked. It is just the thought of food so soon after the breakfast that Blinky made us," Harry said. "It's making me nauseous. I swear, that elf had to have bought out at least an entire farm to make that much food!"

"He is a good cook, isn't he?" Severus replied blissfully. "Let's get going, though, if we are going to get everything done today."

"Tally-ho!" all four boys said, following Alice and Severus out of Room 7 and into Muggle London.

~-~-~-~

To passersby, James Potter and Lily Evans appeared to be silently enjoying their tea and crumpets, contemplating the passersby and traffic. In reality, however, nothing could be further from the truth. You see, James had cast an Illusion charm and a silencer so that he and Lily could freely talk about their wedding, which would include both Muggle and Magical components.

"James, dear, who was it you said you would get to officiate our wedding?" Lily asked.

"Nicholas," James replied.

"Nicholas? You don't mean Nicholas Flamel, do you?" Lily queried with a frown on her face.

"Yes, honey. Is there a problem with having an old family friend officiate our wedding?"

"Considering I am Catholic, yes. Nicholas hasn't officiated a Catholic wedding since before the Reformation!"

"Just because he hasn't doesn't mean he can't," James protested feebly, looking out the window.

"I have a friend who attends Mass over at Holy Trinity Wizarding Catholic Church, and she said her priest would be willing to officiate our wedding," Lily said.

"Hey... isn't that Severus over there?" James exclaimed suddenly, pointing over past a group of people on the opposite side of the Strand.

"Yes, it is!" Lily exclaimed, shocked.

~-~-~-~

"Alright, boys, we need to shop for clothing. You all need a full wardrobe with appropriate selections for attending school in Scotland," Alice said.

"Let's start here, with the shoe store. You may each pick out one pair of trainers, one pair of boots, and one pair of dress shoes," Severus said.

At Dudley's protests, he added, "Yes, you too, Dudley. While you won't be attending Hogwarts, you still need appropriate clothing to attend Smeltings, which is in Northern Ireland."

"However, don't get your socks here. They'll be much less expensive at the department stores," Alice mentioned.

The boys ran inside the shoe store to pick out their shoes. Sev motioned for Alice to wait so they could chat a minute.

"How has Lily been, Alice?" he asked.

"Oddly, she has went quickly from hating James Potter to accepting a marriage proposal from him," Alice replied. "Then again, she hated you during 5th year."

"The boys seem to think that she is under some sort of spell or potion to make her like him."

"Hmm... I never thought to check for potions or spells on her, and Frank is friendly with James, so he was happy to see two of his friends finally getting along.

"Well, I need to check her for both, because I don't want her to get together with Potter if she is being controlled by him," Sev growled.

"You still love her, don't you?" Alice asked, her eyes locked on something across the street.

"With all my heart," Severus said before following Alice's gaze. He nearly gagged when his eyes fell on his ex-wife sitting at a table with James Potter.

At that moment, they saw James point towards them and Lily looked up and out the window. Her eyes widened in shock as her gaze locked onto Severus'.

TBC...