Unofficial Portkey Archive

OK guys, here it is. The Epilogue just like I promised. This story is done....no sequels will be written, I'm already writing too much fanfiction at one time as it is. Thanks again for all your great replies! Enjoy!

**********

Epilogue

Harry slowly felt himself begin to wake, as he listened to the sounds of birds singing outside and the steady clicking of the ceiling fan slicing through the air. He squinted his eyes and glanced at his bedside clock. He was about to get up to go to work, but then remembered it was Saturday and thankfully rolled back over pulling the covers over him

He blindly reached for his wife and pulled her back against him, burying his face into her soft hair. He loved sleeping in with Hermione. He cherished it every chance he got which wasn't much because....

"Eee!!"

Harry jumped at the exciting voice down stairs and then cursed softly in his pillow.

"They came! They came!"

Harry groaned when he heard footsteps thunder down the stairs.

"Where's mine?!"

"Gimmie mine!"

"I'm the oldest, give them to me!"

Because they had kids. Sleeping just didn't exist anymore in the Potter household.

"Letters from Hogwarts must have arrived," Hermione's muffled voice said from under the covers.

"Yep," Harry yawned. "Every damn year. Just a matter of time until they come wake us."

Sure enough, the sound of footsteps trotting up the stairs echoed throughout the house and then the door swung open. "Here we go,"

"Mum! Dad! It came! I got accepted!" eleven year old Lilian Potter exclaimed.

"Dad, I made Head Boy," James said holding up the badge.

"And I made Prefect," Kingsley said afterwards holding up hers as well.

During their ramblings, Harry and Hermione slowly sat up in the bed trying to keep up with their excitement. "Congratulations," Harry said to his kids.

"We're very proud of you," Hermione said sweetly.

"Look!" Lily said as she crawled onto the bed. Her bright green eyes were wide with excitement. "See? Here's my letter!"

"Let's see," Harry said as he took the letter and Lily crawled between her parents, resting her cheek against his arm while he read. "Dear Miss Lilian Elizabeth Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been excepted to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He looked down at his beaming daughter. "Baby that's great," he said kissing her temple while he nuzzled her brown hair.

"Come give your mother a hug," Hermione said as she held out her arms.

Lily giggled as she leaned into her mother, accepting a kiss on the cheek. Lily stayed snuggled between them as she watched her older brother and sister show of their badges.

Kingsley, still dressed in her pajamas with her long black hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, shuffled over to her mom. "In the letter, it said that this badge belonged to you."

"Did it now?" she asked as she examined the badge. "That's lovely. Still in top notch I see."

"I'm so excited," she said with a giggle. "I'm going to owl Justin.

Kingsley rushed passed James who was rolling his eyes at her at the mentioned of Justin Malfoy. "Why does she have to be so boy crazy?" he asked his parents. "It really gives me a headache."

"She's not boy crazy," Hermione corrected her only son. "She's Justin crazy."

"I'm going to go owl Jason and Connor," Lily said mentioning her two best friends, Jason Weasley and Connor Malfoy."

"Great," James muttered. "Not long until I have to watch after her, too."

Harry chuckled. "Let's see the badge son."

"It's not a big deal," he said shyly as he gave it to his father. "Just a badge."

Harry smiled. He was definitely his father's son. He was just as humble as he was. "Well, it's great and we're both very proud of you."

"Thanks," he said with a smile as he ran his hands through his chocolate brown hair he inherited from his mother. "I wonder if Jeanna got Head Girl. That would be really cool."

Hermione smiled at the mention of Ron and Julia's oldest daughter. "You two are very close."

"Well, yeah mum I mean, we've only known each other since the day we were born," he said getting embarrassed and stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. "She's my best friend."

"Hmm....just a friend?" Harry asked curiously.

James blushed. "Jeez Dad, do we have to go through this again? I told you, Jeanna is just a friend."

"Okay, if you say so," he said and then handed him back his bad. "Go on and Owl her, we'll be down in a minute."

"Okay...thanks," he said and then tirades out of the room and moments later the sound of his door slammed close.

Harry sighed as he looked at Hermione. "Ten kisses says, he and Jeanna get together by the end of the year."

She chuckled and kissed her husband. "You're on...I say by Christmas."

"Daddyyy," a tired voice said as their door creaked open.

Harry looked over to see his four year old daughter stagger sleepily towards him. "There she is," Harry said with a grin. "My only child that seems to have inherited my sleeping genes."

Ashley Benton Potter was dressed in her favorite pajamas which were soft pink and decorated with magical Pegasus's. Her curly raven black hair, identical to her fathers were up in pig tails high above her head and she rubbed her sleepy green eyes clutching her favorite stuffed animal in her small hand. It was a rundown, ragged Hippogriff that Ron had given her the day she was born. She always slept with it. "I'm sweepy," she whimpered as she held up her hands.

Harry leaned down, picked her up from the floor and her little legs straddled his hips as she leaned against her Daddy's chest. Harry kissed the top of her head as he rubbed his hands up and down her back. "You're a sleepy girl?"

"Uh huh," she said with a nod.

Hermione smiled softly at the sight as she reached affectionately caressed her daughter's cheek. Ashley was definitely a Daddy's girl and she wouldn't have it any other way. Ashley was definitely not planned and was a shock to both her and Harry when she found out she was pregnant. They thought they were done after Lily, but apparently not. They couldn't have been more pleased the day she came into the world and Harry Potter absolutely adored his little baby girl. "I'm going to go down and fix some breakfast," she said as she leaned over and kissed her husbands cheek. "You two stay in bed and relax for a bit."

"Mommy," Ashley said as she lifted her head. "I want pancakes."

"You do?" she asked with a smile. "With chocolate chips?"

Ashley smiled for the first time. "Yeah."

"You got it, baby," she said with a smile.

"I want chocolate chips on mine too," Harry whined as he poked out his lip.

"Only if your a good boy," she said with a wink as she got out of bed.

Harry's chest rumbled with laughter as he watched his beautiful wife throw on her robe and gave him one last wave before she left him alone with Ashley. "Did you're brother and sisters wake you up."

"Yes," she pouted as she sat up. "They were really loud, Daddy."

"I know....they don't know how to sleep in like we do," he said and then playfully yanked her down beside him, covering them both up with the blankets.

Ashley giggled as she snuggled closer to Harry. "I love you, Daddy."

Harry smiled softly and let out a happy sigh as he kissed her forehead. "Daddy loves you, too."

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" he asked as he closed his eyes.

"This summer...since I'm turning five, will you teach me to fly on a real broomstick?"

Harry sighed. "I see what you're doing now, buttering me up huh?"

She giggled. "Pleeeease Daddy?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know sweetie, your training broom is so much safer, it doesn't go higher than five feet. Daddy would seriously have a heart attack if you went any higher."

"I'm a good flier Daddy," she said. "When I go to Hogwarts, I wanna be a Seeker."

"You do huh?"

"Yeah, just like you and James," she said with a smile as she looked into his identical green eyes. "You are the best Seeker Daddy, just like Grandpa was."

Harry smiled softly. It always hurt to know that his parents never knew their grandchildren. He knew though that they were watching over them. "I'm sure you'll be the best Seeker at Hogwarts when it's your time." He nuzzled her head playfully. "And since I'm the best Dad ever, I'll take you up on my broom today...how's that?"

Her green eyes grew wide. "Really?! Oh thank you Daddy!" she giggled as flew her small arms around Harry.

He returned the hug. "You bet. Now...let's go downstairs and gorge ourselves with pancakes."

"Yes!" she exclaimed as she got up and started jumping on the bed, fully awake now.

Harry held out his hands and she jumped into them giggling as he spun her in a circle before placing her on his hip. Together, they went downstairs to join the rest of the Potter's.

*****************

It was a tradition between the Potters, Weasleys and Malfoys, that they all get together for a big shindig cookout the night before they had to make the famous trip to Kings Cross. Every year they switch off and the Potter's were the hostesses this year, which meant one thing to Harry. Stay out of Hermione's way.

He loved her. He loved her to death, but when they had guest arriving or if she had a party to plan, Hurricane Hermione was coming through. So Harry steered clear of her, careful not to do anything to upset her. James was just as terrified of his mother, as Harry...for some reason the boys were always the ones to do something wrong and send Hermione through the roof. It started three days before the cookout and Harry had to make sure to warn James the night before.

He knocked on his son's door and entered when he heard a muffled response to come in. "Hey James," he said as he peeked his head in the door.

James was on his bed and glanced up from a piece of parchment he was reading. "Oh, hey Dad."

"Got a minute?" he asked with his brows rising.

"Uh, sure," he said as he folded the piece of parchment. "I was just reading a letter from Jeanna."

"Ah," Harry said as he closed the door behind him. "Is she excited about making Head Girl?"

"Very excited," he told his dad who sat down on the edge of the bed. "You know we get our own common room and everything...no more roommates, just Jeanna."

"I know," he said with a grin. "Your mother and I stayed in that room our seventh year."

He grinned. "Yeah, where you two finally got together, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, that was a very eventful year. Found the girl of my dreams, fell in love, proposed...."

"Conquered the Dark Lord," James finished of the list with a sarcastic smirk.

"Oh yeah....that too," he said with a chuckle as he shook his head. "Listen, James...the reason I came in." He sighed and placed a hand on his leg and looked deep in his eyes. "Your mother is starting to plan for the cookout tomorrow."

James' eyes widened. "What?! But it's three days away!"

"Shh!" Harry winced as he held up his hands "Merlin, do you want your father to sleep on the couch?"

"Sorry," he whispered as he bit his lip. "She scares me when she's like this though. Last time, she yelled at me for an hour, just for leaving my shoes in the hall. My shoes!"

"I know, believe me, I know...I've had to deal with her longer than you have, buddy," he said poking his chest with his index finger. "You think she's bad NOW...you should have seen her when I met her first year. Mental that one."

"You can say that again."

He sighed happily. "And she's all mine."

James grinned. "Yeah, I wouldn't trade for the world. Thanks for the warning, Dad. I'll be sure to stay on my toes the next few days."

"You do that," he said and then placed a hand on top of his son's head and shook it gently. "Night, son."

"Night, Dad."

************

It was the day of the cookout and Harry managed to get through two days without releasing the beast in Hermione that lived deep with in her. He even scored major points last night when she finally came up to bed tired and looking like a wreck from the very long day. He had a bubble bath waiting for her with scented candles scattered and floating all around the room and an iced bottle of wine set up on the marble slab of the tub. He grinned brightly when he remembered the look on her face when she walked into the bathroom door.

"Harry," she sighed as she went over to him and hugged him. "This is too much."

"You've been working all day," he soothed as he kissed her softly. "It's time for you to relax."

She sighed heavily. "Okay," she whispered as she let him begin to undress her.

"This is your time...I told the kids not to interrupt, they are in their bed quite as a mouse....no interruptions." He dropped her shirt on the floor and kissed her mouth sweetly. "You take as long as you want."

"Wait," she said when he started to leave. "Where are you going?"

"Your time, remember?" he said trying to be good. He wanted to join her, but knew she would like some time to herself.

"My time? So, I get to do whatever I like?"

"Of course," he said and then looked around the room. "Why did I forget something? Candles, wine? Oh crap...flowers, I should of gotten flowers, let me just go get my wand and...."

"Harry, Harry," she said cutting of his ramblings and pulled him gently to him. "I don't want flowers," she said unbuttoning his shirt. "I want you."

Harry grinned to himself as he placed his feet on the coffee table stretching out. Merlin, did that woman set him off the edge. Harry had eventually caved in and mumbled a silencing charm between their sweet kisses while they both eased into the huge marble Jacuzzi. He had treated her with an awarding back and shoulder massage, raining kisses all along her neck and shoulders before she finally turned to him and they both got what they wanted. By the time they were done, most of the water ended up on the floor. It was sheer heavenly bliss. Harry sighed...

"Harry James Potter!"

Harry slapped his hand over his face in distraught. Aw, crap...I was so close.

"Get your feet off the table!"

Harry jerked his feet off and slammed them on the ground, cursing himself for being so careless. "I am SO sorry, Mione."

"Ugh, now I have to clean the table again."

Harry winced. "Is there anything I can do....Honey?"

She scowled. "Yes as a matter of fact, you can go down to the stables and fetch Kings and James, tell them to get to the house and get ready.

"Sure," he said as he got up quickly and kissed her on the cheek trying to butter her up, before he ran through the kitchen and out the swinging door that led to their back yard. He trotted down the pebbled path towards the base of the small hill their house was nestled on and headed towards the stables. When Harry had bought the house, the stables were already there, because Muggles had owned the house before them. He was going to tear it down, but Hermione begged him to keep it for horses. Apparently, Hermione had a huge liking of horses when she was little and it never died. Today, they had over seven horses...a few magical ones, but most of them were normal horses.

Harry let out a hand in greeting to Gerald, their stable hand who he hired the day they got their first horse. He was an old wizard with a simple life and a amazing love of horses. "Gerald, where are they?"

"Out with Goliath and Raine," he said as he took a break from grooming Ashley's gray speckled pony, Sugarbear.

Harry sighed. "She just had to take Raine, again didn't she," he said as he walked over to the fence and put a foot up, waiting until they came over the hill. He could hear the distant sounds of hoods pounding the earth and sure enough a second later he saw a white and a black blur flying over the hill. James' horse, Goliath was a muscular sleek black horse that had a bit of magic in him. He ran like he did anyway....that horse loved to run.

Beside him was Kingsley on top of Raine, her body was pressed down flat against the horses neck, with her black hair flying behind her. They were coming up on a fence and Raine flew across the fence, as well as Goliath, which landed on the ground with thundering hooves. Raine however never landed, her wings finally stretched out and she flew hovered over the ground continuing the race in the air. Raine wasn't an ordinary horse....Raine was a Pegasus. Thanks to Hagrid, Kingsley got Raine for her seventh birthday.

"You got her a Pegasus!" Harry exclaimed when he saw the young Pegasus frolic around his very excited and giddy daughter. "Hagrid...we can't keep a Pegasus!"

"Of course yeh can," he said as he beamed. "She came with a magic 'arness, see." He held up the white harness that shimmered in the light. "Ye put this on er and she becomes invisible. Use it whenver, it's perfectly safe, it is."

Harry had relented at first, but seeing how happy Kingsley was he couldn't tell her no. It turned out to be a good responsibility for her, since she had to follow a lot of rules, such as always put the invisibility harness on when she was free to graze and to give her special attention more than the other horses, since Pegasus' were very sensitive and affectionate. She loved Raine and vice versa. No one could ride her, but Kingsley. Raine let Kingsley take someone up with her, like Ashley or Lily, but no one else could ride Raine alone.

Raine had finally landed and they trotted the rest of the way towards the paddock where Harry was waiting for them. "Hey dad!" she said breathlessly. "Did you see her? Wasn't she wonderful?"

"You look great on her, Kings," he said and then patted Goliath's nose. "And this one here rides like he believes he can fly, don't you boy?"

Goliath flew his head up and down as he pounded the ground with his foot. "Do we have to come in, Dad?"

"'Fraid so, Mother's orders. The Malfoy's and Weasley's will be here in a few hours. Leave your horses for Gerald to attend and head on up."

"It's that late already?!" Kingsley shrieked and then flew off of Raine and handed the reins to Gerald "I have to go get ready for Justin! Thanks Gerald, bye!"

James sighed as he climbed off Goliath and crawled under the fence, leaving the horses for Gerald. "So are they dating now or something?" Harry asked as they walked up back to the house together.

"Dad, they have been dating pretty much since they could walk," he teased with a chuckle.

Harry paled. "Don't tell me that, I don't like to know that my girl is dating now."

"Get use to it...she is the most popular girl in school, guys fawn over her all the time." He patted his father's back. "But don't worry, I watch out for her. It's a big pain in the arse for me, let me tell you. Kingsley gets annoyed of course, having an overprotective brother hanging over her head."

"That means your doing your job," Harry muttered. "So keep it up."

"I will. So how's mom doing?"

"She'll be fine when they get here....yelled at me a second ago."

He grinned. "What you do?"

"Put my feet on the table," he grumbled.

James gaped at him. "Dad? Are you nuts? That's a major violation!"

"I know, I wasn't thinking," he sighed and shook his head. "But listen, you go on up ahead and get ready, I'm going to the field to make my self scarce and do some flying."

"Okay, see ya dad," he said and then trotted towards the house, while Harry went over to the field to go hide from his wife for awhile and escape in the air.

*********

The Weasley's & Malfoy's arrived just in time, to Harry's relief, since Hermione turned back to her sweet self the moment the cookout started. The kids ran straight to the backyard to hook up with the Potter kids, while the grown ups lingered in the living room. "Let's go head out to the deck," Harry suggested. "There's a cooler full of drinks and I need to start the grill anyway."

"I swear Harry, this house gets bigger every time I visit," Ron said as they walked out on to the deck that overlooked the stables and Quidditch pitch.

"Ha, that's big talk for someone who has an indoor pool with a built in waterfall,' Harry said as he fished out a bottle of Muggle beer.

Ron blushed sheepishly as he caught the bottle Harry tossed to him. Like Harry, Ron use to play professional Quidditch and just a few years ago they both had finally retired.

"How are things at the Ministry?" Harry asked Draco.

"Just fine," he said leaning back in his chair as he draped an arm across the back of Ginny's chair. "Raids out the wazoo, but good." Like his father Lucious had been, Draco was one of the Goveners at the Ministry. However, unlike his father, he was well liked and respected by his colleagues.

"Hey mom?" Kingsley asked with Justin standing next to her. "Can we go ride?"

"Sure, but no riding Raine, Kings," she told her. "She needs some rest."

"Okay, we'll take J.J and Ladybug," she said then grabbed Justin's hand. "Let's go."

"Lead the way," he said with a grin and followed his girlfriend to the stables. Justin Malfoy was like a young clone of Draco. He had the same blonde hair, the same deep gray eyes and the same killer smile that would make any female melt into a puddle of goo. He shared a smile with Kingsley, lifting their join hands as he kissed her fingers. "We're gonna have fun this year, K.P"

Kingsley grinned at the use of her nickname. "We sure are."

"Where are you two going?"

Kingsley and Justin stopped short to see James and Jeanna sitting on the small slope of the green grass. "We're going to go riding, even though it's none of your business, James."

"I'm watching you Malfoy," James warned, half teasing.

"I'm shaking in my robes, Potter," he said back as they continued their way to the stables.

"Why are you so hard on him, James?" Jeanna asked with a smile. "You like, Justin...at least your sister is dating someone you like."

"I know," he said with a grin as he leaned back on his hands so he could look at her. "I just like giving him a hard time." He watched her long deep red hair blow in the wind....she really did have beautiful hair. "Have you had a good summer?"

"Yeah," she sighed as she scooted closer to him and then rolled onto her stomach so their faces were closer. "I missed you though."

"Yeah? Even when you were in Paris around all those gorgeous Frenchmen?" he asked mentioning her trip to Paris.

She laughed. "Especially then, Frenchmen may be handsome, but most of them are way too arrogant for my taste. I missed my sweet and humble James Potter."

He smiled sheepishly as he felt himself turn red. "I missed you too," he finally said and then laid on his back and scooted down towards her. "C'mere."

Jeanna happily snuggled closer to her best friend and placed her head on his chest and rested her arm across his waist. Oh, how she loved this boy. "James?" she asked as she watched the sun start to sink behind the distant hills.

"Hmm?"

"I love you," she told him as she snuggled closer. She could have sworn she felt his heart skip a beat under her ear and then she felt him reach for her hand and squeezed it before he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you, too Jeanna," he said huskily and then cupped her cheek gently and tilted her face towards him. "I've tried to deny it for so long."

"Me too...I was afraid you would never feel the same way, I almost didn't tell you."

"I'm glad you did, because I know it would have taken me a lot more courage to say it." He then shortened the distance between their lips slowly, making sure it was what she wanted before they finally touched...mouth to mouth. James caressed her lips with his in the most gentle fashion, silently telling her how much she meant to him. When he kissed her...everything else around him stopped. He then remembered what his father said when James asked him that certain question.

"But Dad...how do you...I mean, how do you know she's the right one for you?" he asked him, desperate for some advice on his girlfriend, Angela.

Harry looked at his troubled son. Aw, young love. "Look son," he said to him as he sat down on the couch next to him. "Let me ask you a simple question. When you kiss Angela, does the world slip away from you...does anything else matter from that moment on, except how Angela feels close to you? Do you have any other coherent thought running through your mind, besides Angela?"

James pondered on this and then shifted uncomfortably. "Er...at Kings Cross last month, when I was kissing her good bye....I was thinking how I needed to track down Jeanna so I could say good bye."

Harry grinned and let out a chuckle. "Son...when you're thinking of another woman when you're kissing your girlfriend...she's definitely not for you."

His father was right...everything else slipped away, nothing else mattered. All he cared about was Jeanna and how he would die if she stopped doing that thing with her tongue. He knew...that Jeanna was definitely the one for him.

************

Harry grinned as he leaned onto the wooden railing in amusement. "Hey, Ron...come check this out," he said with a chuckle.

Ron got up and walked over to Harry and his jaw dropped. "Harry....you're son is mugging down with my daughter."

"That's my boy," he said with pride.

"Hey..watch it," Ron scowled. "That's my little girl."

He swallowed back a laugh. "Sorry," he said and then walked back down to sit next to his wife. He kissed her softly and grinned at her. "Told you it was a matter of time."

"That you did," she said and kissed him back. "We both lost the bet though....ten kisses each?"

He grinned. "Tonight," he said giving her a quick peck to seal the deal.

Harry smiled as he settled back in his chair and took in his surroundings. He was with his best friends in the whole world, watching the sun set as they sipped on their drinks and talked about anything and everything. His eyes switched over to the Quidditch pitch at Ashley and Michael Weasley, who was five. They were flying on their toy brooms, laughing and giggling as they chased each other around the field. He smiled. Ashley was right, she was going to make an excellent Seeker. He then hlooked over to his left, where Lilly was with Connor and Jason and the sight looked so very familiar he almost laughed. Lily was lying on her stomach, her nose was stuck in the newest edition of Hogwarts: A History, while the two boys were playing a game of exploding snap. Another famous trio was about to enter Hogwarts and he knew they would do the original trio proud.

Life was good. He had the woman he loved by his side, he had his friends and his children and was lucky enough to watch them grow up year after year. He shared another look with his wife and then leaned over and whispered, "Did I mention how glad I am that we played pretend all those years ago."

"Only once or twice," she answered back teasingly.

"Just making sure," he said and then kissed her. "Love you, Mione."

"Love you too, Harry....I always will."

He smiled softly at her. Yes...life was definitely good.