Disclaimer: Anything familiar to JKR's books probably comes from there and is hers not mine. Also, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the Wizarding World, and anything else that has to do with it belongs to the lovely JK Rowling, not me. I'm just playing in her sandbox and building my own Hogwarts in it.

September 1, 2017

Harry James Potter couldn't help but roll his eyes as the voices of his two sons floated back to him, the two boys pushing their trollies loaded with trunks and an owl each towards platforms nine and ten as they bickered.

"I'm just saying Rose might not be in Slytherin with you, Al," James taunted with a light laugh in his voice. "Both of her parents were in Gryffindor, and her mind is as smart as any Ravenclaw's, so there's a good chance she won't be with you and Scorp."

"And I've been telling you that it doesn't matter to us, James," Albus retorted, his voice aggravated, but Harry could tell his younger son wasn't to the point of being truly furious.

"But let's say Rose is in Gryffindor," James began again, but this time Ginny interrupted from beside Harry.

"Then Gryffindor will have gained an excellent student, just as any House will have, wherever Rose is Sorted," Ginny stated, silencing their sons. "Now give it a rest, James, before I write to Neville and Minerva to tell them that you won't be permitted to play Gryffindor's first game if you do make it onto the team."

"But Mum," James groaned, turning to look at her while pouting. Harry saw Albus was smirking in amusement, knowing he wouldn't be in trouble due to his brother starting the arguments.

"James, just leave it, or I'll make sure to back up your mother's claims the next time I see your Headmistress," Harry ordered, and James sighed before turning to see they had arrived at the hidden entrance.

"Oh, fine," James muttered just loud enough to be heard by all of the family. "See you on the other side, Al!" James took off running towards the hidden barrier that looked like a stone wall, disappearing the moment most would have expected him to crash. Albus took the chance to spin around.

"Thanks, Mum," he told her gratefully, and Ginny nodded.

"James was being mean," Lily stated from where she stood next to her mother, holding Ginny's hand. "Daddy, can I prank him one more time before he leaves for being mean to Al and Rose and Scorp?" Lily looked up at Harry with her brown eyes wide and innocent-looking, but Harry just chuckled, quite used to the look.

"Sorry, Lils, but not just before the train leaves," Harry said, making sure she understood she wasn't to prank him now, but that didn't mean she couldn't do a prank at another time, such as by sending him an owl or setting it up in his compartment. He could tell she understood when she nodded with a small smirk on her face, small hand in the pouch hanging from her gold dragonhide belt.

"Remind me why we raised pranksters?" Ginny sighed, and Harry gave her an amused look.

"Because how else were they going to be raised between you, me, Trace, the twins, Graham, Natalie, and even Euan?" Harry retorted. "Best we teach them to prank wisely than to be like your brothers were."

"True, very true…" Ginny muttered. "Well, Al, time to get onto the Platform."

Albus smiled slightly as Harry walked up to the trolley he was holding onto the handle of, the two of them pushing it through the barrier together. Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters was exactly as Harry remembered from the time he was eleven just as Albus was now with its busy crowds that were a mixture of Magical and Muggle as well as the scarlet and gold train. A light layer of steam covered the area, escaping from the train and making it hard to see specific people, for the most part.

"Where do you think Scorp and Rose are?" Albus asked as Ginny and Lily joined them, James having already run off to put his belongings on the train, most likely.

"I think I know," Harry declared. "Lily, come with us to know where to find your mother and me, and then you'll have to come back after the train leaves, okay?"

"Yes, Dad!" Lily giggled, and Harry knew she would be recruiting Hugo for her prank. Ginny just shook her head and didn't argue, knowing how inevitable it was. They had both found it worked better if they just allowed their children to do this sort of thing while putting limits on it such as when they had to be back.

Harry led the way towards the corner of the Platform he usually stood at to wait for his family when he was doing the pick-up in June, such as he had done with Teddy and James. When they arrived, Rose and Scorpius ran towards Albus, who was grinning widely and pleased to see his best friends. Lily ran over to Hugo, whispered in the redhead's ear, and they both disappeared, Hermione and Ron looking after them in worry. Before Hermione could yell for them to return, she glanced at Harry, and he shook his head in amusement, making her sigh in exasperation.

"What happened this time?" she asked Harry and Ginny as they joined her, Ron, Draco, and Astoria.

"James was teasing Albus by claiming that Rose had a good chance of not being in Slytherin with him and Scorpius, and Lily wasn't pleased," Ginny sighed. "Harry here told her not to prank James before the train leaves, so I suspect they're leaving a gift for him. I wasn't going to argue, not after what James was saying as he knows those three are worried they're going to be separated for the first time in years tonight."

"Not totally separated, not like it would have been when we first started, but I can understand their fear and worry," Harry added, and the others nodded in agreement. He suspected they had all been dealing with the well-hidden worry of their eleven-year-old children the past few weeks as their first night of Hogwarts drew near.

"Where are your sisters?" Ron questioned, looking at Harry and Astoria pointedly, and they shared a look before shrugging simultaneously. "Well, that was certainly helpful."

"Trace and Theo might have already come and left," Harry admitted. "The goblins needed Theo in early today for something, and Tracey's team in the research lab is very close to a breakthrough on that Charm that will allow us to broadcast our own television stations to only televisions that have a special, magical piece in them. They've been working on it for over three years now, and they need everyone there as much as possible."

"Blaise is probably around here somewhere," Draco added with a roll of his eyes. "You know how he can get in big crowds at times. He's probably along the edges, trying to keep from being trampled like last year." The others chuckled as they remembered hearing the news that Blaise had actually received some large bruises and fractured a couple of his toes due to standing too close to the barrier and getting hit by a trolley moving at full speed as a first year ran through. He had been declaring he would never step foot on this Platform again, yet Daphne still made him pick up Samantha in June.

"As for my sister, she's probably already at Hogwarts with Neville and the other professors, preparing for the school year," Astoria stated with a shrug. "She usually leaves today to Blaise and heads in early."

"Well, I believe that's James and Lily and Hugo coming, so let's see what they're talking about," Ginny suddenly said, looking out into the steam. Rose, Scorpius, and Albus, who had been talking about what games they were going to play on the train, also fell silent as James led his sister and Hugo over, all three running. Lily and Hugo both looked a bit disgusted about something, and James appeared to be bursting with news.

"I just saw Teddy snogging Victoire!" the redheaded second year exclaimed, making Harry blink. He had noticed the looks those two shared when they were hanging out, but he hadn't realized they had begun dating, perhaps even from before Teddy left Hogwarts. If he felt any of the children could keep something like that a secret for a long period of time, it would be those two. Harry would have to ask Teddy about it later.

"Our Teddy, Teddy Lupin, was snogging Victoire, our cousin!" James exclaimed again, probably expecting more of a reaction. "I asked him why he was here, and he said he was seeing her off."

"So, Harry, how is it you managed to raise your eldest to be like Ron here?" Draco asked Harry curiously, turning away from James in the process, making James pout slightly at his big news being ignored.

"Oi!" Ron complained, but all of the kids except James were laughing at his expense.

"Probably has to do with the fact that Ron is James' godfather, you know?" Harry replied, quite amused by his eldest son's face as he realized the adults didn't seem to care about his news.

"Does no one care that Teddy is snogging Victoire?" he demanded, and the adults all looked at him again.

"I only care because I had to see it!" Lily declared loudly, Hugo nodding beside her, and Harry realized what had disgusted them so much.

"Wait a second, why were you over there rather than here with Mum and Dad, anyway?" James asked Lily and Hugo sharply, turning to face them properly.

"Mum and Dad sent us to go find you," Lily replied instantly and without giving anything away, Hugo agreeing to the lie easily. They had most likely decided on the story ahead of time.

"We wanted to wish you a good school year and remind you that classes and homework and grades come before pranking," Ginny told James as she kissed his cheek. "And, please, James, try not to get so many detentions this year, or you'll be grounded again this summer."

"Yes, Mum," James sighed as he moved to hug Harry before his aunts and uncles moved forward to hug him as well. "I'll see you at Christmas! Write you soon!" he called as he ran back towards the train that was waiting for the final ten minutes to pass before it had to leave.

"Albus, those same things apply to you as well, understand?" Ginny reminded their youngest son as she spun to face him next.

"I know, Mum," Albus sighed in exasperation, and Harry caught the unspoken message: As if I'd get caught pranking, anyway, let alone allow my grades to slip so it became more obvious. Oh, yes, Albus was going to be in Slytherin for sure with the way he thought.

Those words to Albus and James from Ginny set off a chain reaction of final words to the new first years.

"Rose, no matter what House you're Sorted into, we'll be happy for you," Hermione said kindly as she knelt down a bit to look her daughter in the eye before hugging her tightly.

"Thanks, Mum," Rose mumbled while returning the hug.

"Dad, what happens if Rose isn't in Slytherin?" Albus whispered, pulling on Harry's sleeve so he could bend down. After weeks of denying it would be a problem to everyone, Albus was finally speaking of his worry to Harry. That alone told Harry how afraid Albus was of losing his "sister" due to this Sorting, and he knew he had to reassure his son well.

"Well, Al, I guess it's a good thing you inherited the Cloak, isn't it?" Harry replied just as quietly, one side of his mouth tilted upwards. "You'll also have classes together, the Den to hang out in, and if what I've heard is true, you'll learn of something else sometime in the near future. Don't worry, you'll still see and hang out with one another no matter where you're Sorted."

"What do you know that I don't?" Albus demanded at a normal volume, but Harry had seen his son relax at his words.

"Oh, Al, hasn't your father told you yet?" Astoria asked with a laugh, and looking up, Harry realized she and Draco had finished talking to Scorpius.

"Told me what?" Albus asked, and Harry could see that the other kids looked just as interested.

"Here's a little secret for you five," Astoria stated mischievously, as if she knew this would be something Harry wouldn't want to hear, and he had a feeling he didn't. "There was no one – and I mean no one – who knew more about the secrets of Hogwarts and what went on in that castle than Harry, and it's still true, even today." Astoria glanced up at Harry and winked, making Harry roll his eyes in amused exasperation.

"Really?" Scorpius asked, his eyes slightly wide in surprise. "Uncle Harry knew more than anyone?"

"He'll try to deny it, but yes, he did," Ron agreed. "You wanted to know the quickest route somewhere, or needed a rumor confirmed or denied, you went to Harry."

"Our Alpha," Draco muttered in Harry's ear, a smirk on his face when Harry turned and gave him a slightly dark look.

"Basically, what they're saying is, your father knows plenty about Hogwarts that you're ignorant of," Hermione explained to Albus and the others, her tone amused.

"Okay, enough about me!" Harry exclaimed, drawing laughs from the children. "You three, the train is leaving in a minute, so listen, please. No matter what happens tonight and the rest of this week, you're best friends – siblings. The entire family will always love you, even when Minerva sends us owls constantly about pranks and detentions." The kids grinned, Lily and Hugo laughing quietly. "Go to Hogwarts, learn lots, and most importantly, have fun."

Still grinning, the trio of first years gave the adults and their younger siblings one last hug, promised to write soon, and raced towards the nearby train. Harry, Draco, and Ron levitated their trunks in behind them, Lily and Hugo passing the three snowy owls that were Hedwig's children up to their siblings. The whistle blew then, and all three looked out the window of their compartment, waving as the train began to move.

Soon it was around the bend and out of sight.

"And you say you're not our Alpha," Ginny admonished as they waited for the Platform to clear somewhat. "The way you spoke, you're nothing but the alpha."

"Wolf instincts," Harry admitted sheepishly, and Ginny laughed. He turned towards where the train had disappeared.

"They'll be fine," Ginny told him softly, touching his arm.

"Of course they will be," Harry agreed, turning to face her with a smile. "They're all Slytherins in their own ways, and Hogwarts is a much better place to be than it was before. They'll love it."

As a group, the Weasleys, Potters, and Blacks left Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters.

Harry was the conquering alpha who had survived so much in his youth, and he wouldn't change a single moment of it, not with the amazing life he now led.

The life of a conquering alpha, indeed.

The End

Yes, this had to be a re-written "Nineteen Years Later,"and this is the end of my Alpha series unless I decide to write a Next Generation story. It's been a heck of a ride, and I'd like to thank all of my readers and reviewers for making it such a good one. Also, my thanks to Arnel for all she's done to Beta this series; it wouldn't be the same without her. I hope some of you will follow to whatever I end up posting in the future. Some will remain in the world of Harry Potter, while other stories will step into Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and who knows, maybe I'll give other fandoms a try. I have various ideas in my head, begun but incomplete, and at some point in the future, I'll finish them. Thanks for everything. :) You've made my first foray into this magical world of Harry Potter well worth it.

To those who understand it: Shana Tova! I hope it's going to be a good one. To those who don't, it's not really a big deal. Just well wishes. ;)

Until the next story.

Posted: 9/17/12