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𝐎, 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃

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𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air.

Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her mother's arm.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Elara told her.

"Two years," sniffed Nymphie. "I want to go now!"

Her hair turned the slightest blue to reflect her melancholy mood.

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Remus's voice drifted back to Elara over the surrounding clamor; her sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" said Harry.

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth —"

But James caught Elara's eye and fell silent. The five Potters approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother, James took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Remus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Every day, three letters a day," deadpanned Elara.

"Not every day," said Remus quickly. "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Harry.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Elara put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Remus winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express.

Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which James had already disappeared.

"Where are they?" asked Remus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Elara reassuringly.

But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud. Elara thought she heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello. . . .

"I think that's them, Rem," said Harry suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Elara, Harry, Nymphie, and Remus had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Remus, sounding immensely relieved.

Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Elara and Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Elara, as together they lifted Remus's trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

"Of course you did."

Back on the platform, they found Nymphie and Hugo, Rose's younger brother, having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Nymphie and Hugo laughed, but Remus and Rose looked solemn.

"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione and Harry, but Ron was no longer paying attention.

Catching Elara's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is."

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. Elara made her way over to time and slapped him on the shoulder, earning a rare smile.

Scorpius resembled Draco as much as Remus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione staring at him and waved.

"When will you stop being so awkward?" sighed Elara exasperatedly. "You come around literally every Christmas."

"It's hard not to be awkward when I spent the better of my teenage years being an absolute asshole to all of them!"

"Thank Merlin you married Jane, or else you'd be absolutely hopeless," said Elara, nodding at Jane before wrapping her in a hug.

She ruffled Scorpius's blond hair before returning to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"All right, Rosie, make sure you beat him in every test. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!"

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing —"

"You interrupted them?" said Elara. "You are so like Ron —"

"— and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Nymphie ecstatically. "We would really be related to Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, then! And Aunt Gin!"

"We already see those losers four times a week, anyways," teased Elara, nudging Ron's side. "Would you like me to invite them to live with us?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Rem — Hugo could have myroom!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Rem will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Where is Ginny, anyways?" inquired Hermione.

"Somewhere in Greece with Clover," replied Elara.

"I hope she brings us more chocolate!" exclaimed Remus.

"Anyways, Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Elara told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"Need I remind you that Neville is literally the coolest person to ever walk the Earth? Besides, you know him — "

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love. . . ."

"All right, then, I'll be embarrassing you everytime I see you in the halls."

"Mum!" whined James. "It's bad enough you're my Astronomy Professor and Dad's my Defense Professor, I don't need you gushing at me, too!"

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Remus.

"See you later, Rem. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Elara told Remus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. They're also extremely badass. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Harry hugged Remus good-bye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Rem," said Elara as her son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Make deals with Peeves. Duel with everyone. If you need to, you can punch James, it's okay — "

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his parents alone, and Elara knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Remus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Elara and Harry crouched down so that Remus's face was slightly above their own. Alone of their three children, Remus had inherited Lily's eyes.

"Remus Rubeus," Elara said quietly, "It does not matter what house you are placed in. Good, Courageous people come from all sorts of places."

"But just say —"

"— then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it?" reassured Harry. "It doesn't matter to us, Rem. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

"And me too," comforted Elara.

The pair of them had never told any of their children that before, and Elara saw the wonder in Remus's face when they said it. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents were swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders.

Remus jumped into the carriage and Elara closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Elara and Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Remus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me. I'm extremely famous."

Remus, Rose, Hugo, and Nymphie laughed. The train began to move, and Elara walked alongside it with Harry, watching their son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Elara kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching her son glide away from her. . . .

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Elara's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be all right," she said, "Especially with us there to embarrass him."

Harry smiled.

"Somehow, in nineteen years, you have not changed a bit."

"Someone in this family needs to carry the humor."

The road has not been easy. Many nights were still spent waking up in a cold sweat, reliving the events of their teenage years. They'd come a long way, going from the war-torn Savior and the Chosen One to the two cool professors that were maddingly in love and that enjoyed embarrassing their children.

Elara still made a point to avoid the courtyard, and Harry only met with Hagrid in the castle, wishing to stay away from the Forbidden Forest. And since that day at Hogwarts castle, Elara never had another vision and Harry no longer felt pain in his scar. However, her fire affinity stayed with her, which Elara very much liked to show off.

And here, at Platform 9 3/4, nineteen years later, all was well.

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

AUTHORS NOTE

— i am just. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

Written: December 21, 2020

Published: December 22, 2020