A Day At The Park Full Circle: Seventeen Years Later
Laughter, shouts, slamming doors, raised voices, feet thundering along hallways and up and down stairs, hooting owls, hissing cats, and the smell of rashers, eggs and fried potatoes wafting through the air signaled the start of another day in the Potter household. Harry rolled over and blinked at the clock. It was just gone six in the morning. Lying in bed, he listened to Hermione attempting to restore some sort of order to the chaos and havoc that their rather exuberant offspring were undoubtedly creating. From the volume of noise drifting upstairs Harry was certain that James and Jacob were causing their usual amount of bedlam. He wondered what new products their uncles George and Ron had supplied them with this time. Hermione's voice rose above the din, and Harry couldn't help smiling as he heard her giving the boys a stern reprimand for whatever transgression they'd just perpetrated. Harry well remembered the countless times he had been on the receiving end of one of those infamous castigations. Harry heard the boys muttered apologies and their somewhat hasty retreat. He then heard Hermione's voice shift to a softer tone and the smirk he'd been wearing blossomed into a huge smile as he listened to Hermione conversing with their daughter Jillian. As he thought of his little girl, Harry was reminded almost immediately of the fact that his little girl wasn't so little anymore. Today was the first of September, today was the day that Jillian was to begin at Hogwarts.
Harry sat up in bed. The first of September had arrived without warning. It seemed that the weather had turned crisp and cool rather more suddenly than usual, at least it seemed that it was more sudden than usual now that the day he'd been dreading for the past two months had finally arrived. In four or five hours the house would be childless a state it hadn't been in for fourteen years. Harry got out of bed and headed to the shower. Given the night Harry had had at work he was certain that Hermione was letting him have a bit of a lie in before they had to set off for King's Cross. It was hard to believe that James and Jacob were fourteen and that Jillian was starting her first year of Hogwarts. Soon they'd be fully qualified, of age wizards beginning careers of their own, as Teddy was doing now, a prospect he did not relish. By the time Harry got out of the shower and dressed three quarters of an hour had passed. He strode out of the door of his bedroom and headed down stairs.
As Harry made his way down to the kitchen, his arms were loaded with three wrapped packages. He stopped on the second floor landing and turned down the hall. He walked along for a bit before stopping at an open door on his left and stepped inside. Harry looked around the room of the eldest of his three children James. Though James and Jacob were twins, James was the elder by eight minutes. The walls of James' room were plastered with diagrams of the night sky and maps covered in colored pins and posters of the Kenmare Kestrels and the Chudley Canons Quidditch teams. On top of the bed sat an opened trunk. Inside the trunk was a mishmash of folded, partially folded and unfolded clothes. Jammed inside the trunk alongside the clothes was a cauldron piled high with parchment, quills, inkbottles in every hue and a hodge podge of spellbooks and a host of other books and personal effects. On the bed beside the trunk were two old tattered copies of Defensive Spells and their Uses and Numerology and Grammatica. Harry smiled as he thought how much like his mother James was when it came to his studies and reading habits. Reaching down Harry picked up the two books and tossed them into the trunk along with the bulkiest of the three bundles he carried with him. Inside was a collection of some very advanced books on Dark Arts Defense, Magical Theory, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Harry hoped that this would end James's rows with Madame Dewington, Madame Pince's successor, over the appropriate sort of reading materials for someone his age. That done Harry turned and exited the room.
He walked straight across the hall and opened the door to his right, again entering a bedroom. This room was much messier than the first. The floor was covered with clothes, and Quidditch magazines. The walls were covered with prototype drawings of brooms and Quidditch posters of every seeker in the league, past and present, there were several hand-drawn images of Harry at various ages astride his fabled Firebolt catching the snitch. Harry was stunned by the accuracy of the images; he made a mental note to ask Jacob when he'd drawn them. On a corner bookshelf by the window a collection of model broomsticks stood. By the bed was an actual broomstick; an exact replica of the Firebolt Sirius had given him in third year. It had been given to Harry by the company not long after the end of the war. He hardly ever rode it but kept it for sentimental reasons; he hadn't seen it for quite sometime and had wondered where it'd gotten off to. Sprawled at the foot of the bed was yet another opened trunk. The same sort of items were crammed into Jacob's trunk that were inside James' however Jacob had made no attempt at neatness whatsoever. To this trunk, Harry added a wrapped box of art supplies, which included some potion making ingredients that were not necessarily on the Hogwarts students list. Harry liked to encourage his children in their talents. As he turned to leave, Harry noticed the corner of a wooden crate bearing the logo of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. With a wave of his hand Harry concealed the crate to look like a box of art supplies, just in case Hermione happened across it when she inspected the boys' trunks. Chuckling at his own deviousness Harry exited the room and made his way up to the room situated at the end of the hall.
The door at the end of the hall opened onto a colossal pale blue and white bedroom. Along the back wall of the room was a sitting area, the bookshelves lining the wall were full of books, stuffed animals and eleven years of collected artifacts. At the opposite end of the room was a large white-canopied four-poster bed. Positioned in the center of the bed was a third and final trunk. Unlike its predecessors this trunk was neatly packed; all the clothes were tidily folded, the school supplies and books were all smartly stacked to one side. Anything that was in danger of being damaged had been placed snugly in the bottom of the cauldron. Jillian's excitement was palpable. Harry thought back to his first trip to Hogwarts and a rueful smile touched his lips, it was going to be difficult seeing his little girl off for the first time. Of all his children, Jillian was the most like him. They shared the same jet-black hair, though thankfully Jillian had inherited a less bushy version of her mother's curls. They shared the same startling emerald green eyes as well. But more than that was her disposition. Jillian had inherited her father's sense of fairness and equality or as Hermione liked to call it his saving people thing. She had also inherited his impulsive nature and tendency to travel just shy of the rules (traits that Hermione claimed all three of their children possessed in abundance). Sighing to himself, Harry took the final package he'd been carrying and placed it inside his daughter's trunk. Inside were two of his most prized possessions and though he was loathed to part with them he knew that Jillian would use them well, turning on his heel he headed downstairs.
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The Potter family drew more than a little attention to themselves as they trouped through King's Cross Station. But then that was to be expected, it wasn't everyday that people saw a family with three school age children all bearing large ungainly trunks and atop each trunk a caged owl. Hermione hypothesized that it was the unlikelihood of seeing three owls of such varying breeds in one location that caused the stares. Harry supposed she was right. In the past when they'd come for the train James' Great Gray, Thoth and Jacob's Northern Hawk, Altair had always caused a stir with the muggles. Now with the addition of Jillian's Snowy, Edwige Harry reckoned they looked a sight.
Edwige's addition to the family menagerie had been a bit of a surprise. All the children knew the story of their father's beloved owl Hedwig's death and though it was the preferred form of communication for wizards no one it the Potter household ever thought of using owls until Teddy set off to Hogwarts and acquired a Tawny that he dubbed Cuan. When it was time for the twins to go they chose Thoth and Altair. It seemed that the boys had taken great pains to select owls that would in no way engender unpleasant memories for Harry. Thus, the twins had been scandalized when Jillian had walked into the Owl Emporium and walked back out with the Snowy owl that bore an uncanny resemblance to the one their father had owned. They were even more outraged when she named the owl Edwige the French form of Hedwig in honor of her father's deceased pet. James and Jacob had thought the gesture would upset Harry but in actuality he'd found it quite a sweet act and had taken to slipping the bird an extra treat now and again. Harry cast a glance in the direction of his daughter and smiled, she had her mother's subtlety when it came to getting him over things.
Just as the family rounded the corner to the portal that would take them to Platform 9 ¾ Jillian let out a squeal that was actually a name.
"Teddy!"
Trolley forgotten she ran and threw herself into the arms of the young man she considered to be her eldest brother. Teddy scooped Jillian up and spun her around. Jillian threw her head back and laughed giddily. The scene triggered a memory of a similar scene fro long ago. Harry pulled himself away from his memories as the pair came to a stop and Jillian asked.
"Teddy what are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming…you said wouldn't be able to get back in time because of your training…"
With a sly grin, Teddy interjected.
"Seems we trainees have made quite the impression on the head of the auror department…"
Teddy paused and eyed Harry.
"Word came down that all we lowly trainees were to be given the day off…"
Teddy lowered his voice a bit and in a rather dramatic stage whisper added.
"But even if we hadn't gotten the day I'd have skived off to see you Jilly."
Jillian smiled brightly at Teddy as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Jacob rolled his eyes and muttered.
"More like he was planning on skiving off to snog Victorie."
James muffled as snicker. Hermione was about to reprimand the boys when a familiar booming voice rang out.
"Head of department let you off eh, sounds a bit like nepotism to me!"
Harry grinned broadly, as he turned around and strode towards the voice.
"And what would you know about nepotism Dudley considering that you've never had anything to be nepotistic about."
The two men embraced each other in a warm hug as their wives simultaneously rolled their eyes in their husbands' general directions as they too embraced affectionately. As Hermione and Melissa disengaged themselves from one another and kissed the other's husband on the cheek Dudley replied.
"Very funny Potter, very funny."
Harry grinned.
"I thought so…"
Dudley looked as though he were about to make some cheeky remark when Hermione asked.
"Where are Kyle and Ivy?"
Melissa answered.
"We've just put Ivy on the train to Loretto and Kyle left for Smeltings about an hour before that."
Melissa then turned to Jillian and reaching inside her purse pulled out a neatly folded note and said.
"This is Ivy's address at Loretto Jillian. I daresay she hoping for a letter this evening but I told her not to expect anything for a day or so as I'm sure you'll both need to get settled in first."
Jillian smiled and nodded. Melissa then turned to the boys and said.
"You lot already know how to get in touch with Kyle don't you?"
The boys nodded in tandem as James replied.
"We'll be sure and write to him by week's end Aunt Melissa."
Melissa nodded. Hermione spoke.
"How about you two join us while we ship this lot off?"
Dudley sighed.
"We'd love to really but we promised mum and dad we'd come by soon as we got the kids off…Aunt Marge is visiting…"
Dudley paused and looking directly at Harry added.
"When you're done here you two should come by…I'm sure Aunt Marge would love to see you again Harry especially after all the fun you two had last time."
Harry sent Dudley a slightly homicidal glare then said.
"No thanks I would rather eat glass I would…but don't let us keep you."
Dudley chuckled knowingly at the expression on Harry's face.
"Honestly I'd rather stay here with you lot but the wife says we promised so we have to."
Harry nodded as Dudley and Melissa hugged all the children as they said their goodbyes. As they were leaving, Dudley clapped Teddy on the shoulder and instructed him to give Harry hell. Teddy grinned and agreed to do his best. Dudley then turned to Harry and said.
"We still on for Wednesday?"
Harry smiled.
"Always."
Dudley smiled back.
"Good…and tell that lazy sod Ron it's his turn to pay."
Melissa clucked her tongue at her husband as they moved off into the crowd. Harry laughed to himself as he turned back around and said.
"Right then we've got a train to catch."
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As the Potters made their way onto Platform 9 ¾ their propensity to draw attention to themselves was no less among wizards than it was among muggles. Though the stares were less open than they once had been Harry's presence still attracted notice. As he and Hermione walked along hand in hand searching for a certain set of familiar faces Harry was bombarded by his own memories of his trip to Hogwarts. The cacophony of cheery and tearful voices, the hissing of the engine and the billowing clouds of steam reminded him of his first encounters with Ron and Hermione, chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties he'd consumed, the games of wizards chess and exploding snap they played to pass the time and the seemingly endless confrontations with Malfoy. Harry wondered if Jillian would love Hogwarts as much as he had. With that thought in mind, he looked up to get a glimpse of his little girl. James, Jacob and Jillian who had walked ahead to secure a car for themselves were standing beside the gleaming red engine talking to Ron and Luna. Ron looked up and seeing his two best friends called out jovially.
"Bout time you lot got here I thought you were going miss the train."
Hermione replied as she hugged the assemblage.
"We ran into Dudley and Melissa and stopped to chat for a bit."
Luna asked.
"How is Melissa…I haven't seen her for ages and I do so miss our chats."
Hermione smiled and informed Luna that Melissa was quite well. Ron shook his head and speaking to Harry said.
"What brought Dudley and Melissa to King's Cross?"
Harry replied.
"Seeing off Kyle and Ivy."
Ron nodded then asked.
"Dudders on for our Wednesday usual."
Harry smirked.
"He's on and he says it's your turn to pay."
Ron snorted and muttered something indecipherable that Harry took to mean "not bloody likely". Hermione turned to Luna and asked.
"Where's Ginny…I thought she would've wanted to see little Frank off?"
"Oh she wanted to be here but Allison's come down with an awful case of gnome warts so Ron and I volunteered to bring Franklin along with Arista and Ianto. Neville is already at Hogwarts of course getting things ready for this new crop of students."
At that precise moment Franklin Longbottom hopped down from the train. He was closely followed by Ron and Luna's daughter Arista and their son Ianto along with James, Jacob and Jillian. Harry looked around and noticing Teddy's absence asked.
"Where'd Teddy get off to?"
James, Jacob, Franklin and Ianto answered in chorus.
"Snogging Victorie!"
Arista rolled her luminous blue eyes that were exact replicas of her mother's and said in a tone of voice that was unmistakably Weasley.
"Frankie, you and Ianto will do well to ever find anyone willing to snog you at all!"
James and Jacob burst into uproarious laughter at Arista's comment. Eyeing them she added.
"Find that funny do you…well I think we'll all be quite interested to see how you two greet Cerise Wood and Deanna Thomas."
Both boys went a bit scarlet at that. Jacob quickly mumbled that they should get back to their seats before someone nicked them. That remark sparked a flurry of last minute instructions and directives. As Hermione gave the twins their standard list of dos and don'ts Harry pulled Jillian to the side. Smiling a bit sadly he said.
"Well this is it…you're not nervous are you…"
Jillian shook her head no. Harry nodded then asked.
"You packed all your things…not that it matters, if you've forgotten something your mum and I will send it along. And there's no need to worry over what house you'll get sorted into…your mother and I will be proud no matter what house you're placed in…so never mind your brothers saying you're a lock for Slytherin…"
Jillian interrupted.
"I'm not worried about which house I'll be in dad. I'm sure I'll be in Gryffindor as all I have to do is ask the sorting hat to place me there…"
Harry stared at Jillian a perplexed expression on his face. Before he had a chance to ask how she knew that, Jillian answered.
"Mum told me about that…so you see I'm not worried about which house I'll be in…and I'm certainly not fretting over anything Jamey and Jake have to say, if I did I'd never set foot out of the house…"
Though he'd been wrong about the reason it was obvious from the rapid-fire manner of her speech (another trait passed down from her mother) that something was troubling her. Placing a hand on her shoulder Harry squatted down so that he and Jillian were eye to eye and asked.
"What exactly are you worried about my little Jilly Bean?"
Jillian smiled at the pet name that her father had given her ages ago. Taking a breath, she said.
"Well…it's just that…I've head the stories about Grandma Lily and Grandpa James and you and mummy and Uncle Ron have done so much…especially when you were at Hogwarts. Teddy was smart and popular, he even made Head boy…Jamey and Jake are popular, and they have loads of friends…and…and…well what if I'm not…what if I don't make any friends."
Harry frowned.
"Not make any friends…what on earth are you talking about. You've got friends…you've got Franklin and Ianto…"
Jillian shook her head.
"Frankie and Ian are family dad…I mean what if no one else likes me, what if I'm not what they expect."
Harry cupped Jillian's cheek and said.
"All you have to do is be yourself…the friends you're meant to have will find you…"
Harry spared a glance in the direction of the two people who'd been closest to him the longest. His voice dropped by an octave or two as he said.
"They'll find you Jilly Bean, trust me they'll find you."
Jillian smiled as she wrapped her arms around her father's and hugging him close said.
"I love you daddy."
Harry hugged her back as fiercely as he dared and whispered.
"I love you too sweetheart, I love you too."
Harry and Jillian drew apart and there was a flurry of activity as everyone realized it was time to depart. All six of the children were hugged, kissed, and reminded to behave and to do their best in lessons. They were likewise asked to give Neville everyone's regards and to write often. Franklin, Ianto and Jillian were given extra kisses, as this was their first time off. All too soon, they were on board hanging out of the windows alongside the rest of their classmates saying their last goodbyes as the train began to pull away. Harry walked along with the train smiling, waving, and dying a bit with each step as he watched his little girl drift away. The train rounded a bend and they were gone. As Harry stood watching the spot where the train had disappeared Hermione came and stood along side him. Slipping her hand into her husband's she whispered to him.
"She'll be alright you know."
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand in his and with a nod of his head said.
"I know she will…it's me I'm not sure about."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry and Hermione Potter had just settled into bed. Twelve hours earlier they'd seen their three children off to Hogwarts and had spent the remainder of the day out and about so as not to have to think about the presently empty house. At around eight that evening James' Great Gray Thoth had arrived with the perfunctory letter recounting the trip to Hogwarts. Jillian, Franklin and Ianto had been sorted into Gryffindor and all seemed to be settling in quite nicely. James and Jacob had thanked Harry for the books and supplies he'd slipped into their trunks. Harry was just about to extinguish the lamp on the bedside table when they heard a tapping at the window. Hermione sat up and glancing at the window was shocked to see Edwige.
"Harry that's Edwige…"
Harry threw the covers off and hurried over to the window. He hastily opened the window and ushered the owl inside. She'd barely landed before Harry had the scroll of parchment in hand unraveling it. Hermione called out to him.
"Is everything alright…Jilly isn't ill is she?"
Harry stared down at the parchment in his hands and two words in the neat scrawl of his daughter swam into focus.
Mischief Managed
"Harry is she alright."
Hermione called out to Harry again. Smiling Harry lay the parchment aside and turning to his wife replied.
"Everything's fine love…Jilly just wanted to say goodnight."
A/N: And that is that. I thank all of you who have taken this journey with me. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Until next time…happy reading…Searcy