It was still warm for the first of September as the family of six made their way to the train station from the car park. King’s Cross buzzed with the activity of travelers coming and going about their business.  The family ignored them as they walked with purpose toward their destination.  They drew a few strange looks with the trolleys loaded down with old fashioned steamer trunks driven by the boys.  One even had a large barn owl in a birdcage on top of this trunk.

“Who wants to go first,” the father asked they came to a stop in front of a pillar between Platforms Nine and Ten.

“I’ll go,” the older boy said stepping forward.

“Of course, you will,” the father said with a slight grin. “Go on, James.”

James screwed up his face in concentration looking at the pillar as he set off at a run.  An instant later he was gone.

“You next?” The father asked as looked down at his younger son.

The boy shook his head.  There was a nervousness present on his green eyes his brother had not had.

“I’ll go with you if you want,” the father suggested.

The boy nodded mutely.  The man placed his larger hands next to the boy’s.

“On the count of three,” the man said as a warning.

“Three...Two…One…”  and they were running to the pillar too. Everything was black as they crossed the barrier only to emerge on the other side, a gleaming red steam engine in front of them.

“Over here, Harry,” a familiar voice called.

“Looks like James already found your Aunt Hermione,” Harry said to the boy.

The boy nodded his dark head.

“Good morning Albus,” Hermione greeted pulling the boy in for a hug.  “Are you excited to be
starting Hogwarts?”

Albus let go of his aunt not answering the question.

“Your aunt asked you a question, Al.  It’s polite to answer.” Harry scolded softly.  Then he noticed what his son was doing. He eyes joined the boy searching the crowd for the desired individual.

“He’s not here yet,” Harry said softly to Albus.  “Now, why don’t you answer Aunt Hermione’s question.”

Albus looked up the bushy haired witch.

“Are you excited to be starting Hogwarts,” Hermione repeated.

Albus bit his lip.

“He’s scared he’s going to be sorted into Slytherin,” James informed his aunt, cutting off the younger boy’s reply.

“Why would you worry about that?” Hermione asked gently.

“James keeps saying I will,” Albus mumbled.

“There’s nothing wrong with being in Slytherin,” Harry told him before his son.

“You weren’t,” Albus replied.

“Neither was your mum,” Harry said puzzled.  “She was a Ravenclaw as you well know.  Did James say something to you?”

Albus shrugged.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Harry chided.  “You know we like you to use your words, Albus.”

“That’s what Papa always says,” Albus mumbled.  

“Your Papa is a smart man.  Why don’t you go see if you can find a compartment?” Harry said prodding the boy between the shoulder blades.  “I’ll wait here for the others.”

“Since when he worried about being sorted into Slytherin?” Hermione asked softly.

“I reckon James must have said something to him,” Harry said looking down the platform. “Neville already at the school?”

“Yes,” Hermione said sadly.  “I wish he could be here to see them all off but he had too much to prepare as Head of House.”

Harry nodded silently.

“Where are Luna and the girls?” Hermione asked.

“Hullo,” Luna greeted joining the adults as they stood with their children’s abandoned luggage carts.

“Aunt ‘Mione,” a redheaded girl of about eight said from Luna’s right side.

“Good morning Lily,” Hermione said with a soft smile. “And you too Pandora,” she added to the girl’s twin standing on Luna’s left. “How are my favorite twins doing?”

“Oi,” objected George Weasley as he came to join the small gathering.  “I thought we were your favorite twins.  How could we possibly be replaced?”

“We couldn’t possibly be,” continued Fred standing beside him.  

The girls ignored the banter of the adults clearly use to the teasing.

“Where’s Robbie,” requested Pandora.

“He went with his sister to look for a compartment,” Hermione informed them.   

“Your Grandma Molly pulled him in the last time I knew,” George corrected.

Lily grabbed her sister’s hand tugging her the way their cousins must have gone.

Turning to Fred and George, Hermione asked, “Where are rest of you?”

Fred jerked his finger down the track, “Mum’s holding the lot of them down there.”

“How did you two escape?” Harry jokingly asked.

“It was easy, we said we were going to find you lot,” George answered.  “She’ll murder you if you don’t come and say ‘hello’.”

“We will,” Hermione promised.

“Can you believe those two start in only three years,” Harry said as he watched his girls mix in with the older children talking with their families and friends.  Luna gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

“They’ll be the last ones to go,” George observed.

“Maybe,” Fred agreed.  “Gin might still convince Krum to let Ognyan go to Hogwarts.”

“I didn’t think Krum liked Drumstange that much,” Harry said looking back to his friends.

“Ah well, you know there’s still that school pride to contest with,” George explained.  “Bill and Fleur almost sent Victoire to Beauxbaton for that very reason.”

“And I am sure they're regretting their choice greatly at the moment, the way I just saw my son kissing her,” Remus said slipping easily into the conversation.

“Don’t say that about our Teddy,” Tonks said jabbing her husband none too gently in the ribs.

“I am saying nothing bad about Teddy.  I was merely stating had they, Bill and Fleur might not have had their eldest daughter caught performing such public displays of affection.” Remus said rubbing his injured ribs.  His hair now was all steel grey that made him look much older than his fifty-six years of age. His face had deep laugh lines that had come from his life with Tonks after the war.

“When’s Papa getting here,” Hermione’s daughter asked returning to her mother’s side.

“He’ll be here,” Hermione promised.  “Your Papa always keeps his promises, you know that, Elizabeth.”

As if to prove a point the matching excited squeals of “Papa!” from Lily and Pandora announced the much-anticipated arrival.  The girls took off running ambushing the unprepared victim. Elizabeth watched the pair go, stoically standing beside her mother nonetheless.

“Papa,” Lily said motioning for the tall man to pick her up.

“You are getting much too big for this Little Flower,” the man said giving into the girl’s request regardless.  He held her tight for a moment and placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead before setting her down on the ground once more to repeat the process with her sister. “You too are rather big for this, Nightingale.”

The girls took their grandfather’s hands as they walked back to join their family once more.

“Are we too old to greet our grandfather,” the older man teased Elizabeth.

“I…” Elizabeth began.

“Libby, silly child, you are never too old for your grandfather’s affection,” the man opened his arms to the girl with a smile.

The girl launched herself into his waiting arms.

“For the hundredth time, Severus, her name is Elizabeth,” Hermione sighed.

“Not to Papa,” Elizabeth said her face half-buried in the dark fabric of the wizard’s waistcoat.

“Indeed,” Severus agreed as he ran a hand over the girl’s bushy brown hair, identical to her mother’s. Changing the subject, Severus announced, “Lupin, your son is a menace.”

“Is that really fair, Severus,” Remus complained the werewolf.

“If the boy had bothered to properly seal and store all the ingredients he had helped himself to I would have been here half an hour ago,” Severus said clearly annoyed.

“Ah well, he did want to see Victoire off for her last year of school,” Remus said with a sigh.

Severus rolled his eyes, “He is not the only one who wishes to see someone off.  How he managed to become a proficient brewer with his parents is still a wonder to me.”

“He must get it from his mother,” Remus said with a smile.

“A drunken hippogriff is less likely to make a mistake in the lab than you wife, Lupin,” Severus said smoothly.

“You know sometimes I wonder if Hermione used those phoenix tears on the right person, Severus,” said the pink-haired Auror in annoyance.

“I really must thank you once more, Granger, for saving my life.  I was fortunate you remembered you had such a valuable resource tucked away in that ridiculous bag of yours.  If only had been able to act and save a few more lives.”

“I still have a few drops left,” Hermione reminded him.  

“Still are you sure you made the best choice?” Tonks asked she jerked her thumb as Severus.  “You could have saved a nicer bloke, you know, one who doesn’t hang little boys up by the ankle.”  

“And if it were not for me, who would tame Lupin’s wolf every month,” Severus questioned with a smirk.

“Enough,” Lupin said cutting off Tonks’ response.  Werewolf rights were much better today, but Remus still did not like people drawing attention to his condition.  
 
“Where is Albus, Potter?” Severus demanded in concession.  

“He’s scared you don’t want to see him off,” Elizabeth said looking up from her place still at
Severus’ waist.

“Why would he think something as dunderheaded as that,” Severus demanded looking down at the girl.

“He thinks you’ll be mad he if doesn’t get sorted into Slytherin,” the girl explained.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the explanation.

“James Arthur, what did you tell your brother,” Harry demanded.   For the sake of all present and future teachers of Hogwarts, Severus had refused to let the boy be named with Potter’s original choice, “James Sirius”.  There was no way he would inflict that much Marauder on the castle at one time.  Even so, the boy took after his biological grandfather in more ways than Severus cared to admit, his penchant for mischief one of the greatest.

“Nothing,” James said holding up his hands.

Severus looked down at the boy.  James swallowed heavily.

“He said that I was going to be a Slytherin.  That there wasn’t a wizard that went bad that wasn’t in Slytherin,” Albus said coming up with Teddy.

“Utter rubbish, I can attest to you, Albus, that not all Slytherins are bad,” Severus said looking to the young man.  “Theodore, I would like to have a word with you about your responsibilities in the lab.”

The young man’s bright teal hair lightened several shades, “Yes Pa-,” at seeing the older wizard’s raised eyebrow he corrected to, “Yes sir.”

Harry sank down so he could meet the emerald eyes of his son. Of his four children, Albus was the only one who took after Harry.  “You know, if it really matters to you, you can ask the Sorting Hat to put you in Slytherin.”

“Really,” Albus asked in disbelief.

“I did,” Harry confirmed.

“But you were a Gryffindor,” Albus objected.

Harry scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.  “Well, I asked the hat to not put me in Slytherin.”

“But Papa was head of house,” Albus recalled.

“I know but there were other people, some of the first wizards that I met who wanted to be Slytherins weren’t very nice.  I didn’t want to spend seven years sharing my house with bullies.”  Harry said shifting to his other knee.

“Potter,” Severus warned.

“So Slytherins are bullies,” Albus asked his grandfather.

Severus joined Harry at the boy’s eye level, “No house can say they are free from bullies.  Some of the greatest bullies I had the misfortune to come in contact were Gryffindors.”

Albus frowned, unsure what to think.

“There is nothing you can do, Albus Sirius Potter, that would cause anyone of your family members standing here to stop loving you.  We will be there for you regardless of house, Muggleborn, Pureblood, or squib.” Severus said with a strong squeeze of the boy’s shoulder.

“You promise,” Albus demanded.

“As I promised your grandmother a lifetime ago, always,” Severus ensured.

Albus threw his arms around the man’s neck, “Thanks, Papa.”

“You are most welcome. However, you should realize this is the same point your father was just trying explain, no matter how inarticulately.” The man said as he returned the boy’s embrace.

The whistle blew alerting all assembled the train would be departing soon.  The last of the trunks were loaded onto the train.  Lunches from Grandma Molly were passed out even if they would be ignored or forgotten on the long ride northward.

“What promise did you mean Severus,” Harry asked as the wheels shifted to life and the train began to slowly move.

“What are you on about, Potter,” Severus said as he stood motionlessly among an ocean of waving hand and arms both on the platform and the train.

“The promise to love us no matter what,” Harry elaborated, “when did you make it?  Was it after that thing by the lake?”

Severus was silent as the last of the carriages disappeared from view of the station. “That is none of your concern.” He finally managed.  “What is important is that I plan to keep my word to her until I breathe no more.”

“Papa,” Lily asked as she slipped her hand into his large calloused one once again. “Why won’t you tell Daddy?”

Severus looked down at the girl that held fiercely onto his hand, an almost miniature copy of her namesake.  “Because, Little Flower, it came too late.  If I had been able to do what your grandmother requested in her letter to me sooner, so much grief could have been avoided, lives saved, the world different.  If it were not for her letter, her promise to forgive me, I would have been a very different man.”

“I like who you are,” Lily said with a smile, missing three or four teeth as her adult ones grew in.

“And I you,” Severus said picking the girl up once again to place a kiss on her cheek.  “Shall we see if we can convince your father and the rest to join us for an ice cream?”

“Yes,” Lily said enthusiastically still in the wizard’s firm grip.

This may not have been what Lily Potter had in mind when she wrote her letter to Severus shortly before her death but Harry was certain she would have been happy with the results.  The lost boy from Spinner’s End no longer lost.  He found a family in Lily’s son, the unwanted and neglected addition to Number Four Privet Drive and his assorted friends.