A/N: Thank you to Pendragon2601 for beta reading.

Chapter 26

The train ride back to London was different from the previous three of the school year. As they flew through the countryside, there was undoubtedly a strained nature to their conversations that was due to the current secrets and misinformation between them, but that was already getting better, with the three friends able to laugh in a way they'd been struggling with for the last couple of weeks.

As they neared King's Cross Station, they began to gather their things in preparation of seeing their families once more.

"Next year we have to find the Room of Requirement," Rose said. She was still caught up on the idea despite the fact that they hadn't used the Map to search for it in months. Only recently had she felt that it was again safe to broach the topic with Albus.

He rolled his eyes at Scorpius while Rose's back was turned, earning a giggle from the blonde boy. Albus smiled in return, always feeling pleased with himself when he managed such a response.

The three kids ambled off the train, finding themselves on a far too crowded platform. Their families weren't visible until they'd pushed themselves through half the crowd and stumbled upon quite the shock. The Weasleys and Potters stood together, but not far from their side were Draco and Astoria Malfoy.

Astoria smiled when she saw Scorpius, reaching out to give him a hug without noticing her son's shock. Draco shifted uncomfortably on his feet as his son watched him with an analytical eye. Albus gave his own parents a questioning look, but Harry only shrugged, something in his eyes making the promise that they would discuss what had happened later.

"Did you have a nice end of term?" Astoria asked Scorpius, pulling away from their hug in order to inspect the state of his physical health.

Despite hearing much about her from Scorpius, this was the first time Albus had heard Astoria Malfoy speak, and he was reminded of his grandmother, who often performed the same inspection each time she'd been apart from a family member for more than a week.

Scorpius nodded, but he had lost the ability to answer verbally when there were so many people he didn't know gathered around. Albus spoke up, saying to Astoria, "Scorpius got O's on all of his exams, ma'am. There's no way he didn't."

Astoria turned to look at him with a fond smile, and Albus was struck by how motherly it was.

"Is that right?" She turned to look at Scorpius again, a knowing smile on her face. "That's great to hear." She pulled him in for another hug, causing Scorpius to look more embarrassed than he already was.

"We'd better get going," Draco said, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder from behind. Astoria looked back at him, smile not fading though Draco had yet to smile since the children appeared. Astoria nodded.

"Ready to go?" she asked Scorpius, who nodded at his mother.

Turning to Albus, Scorpius offered a small smile.

"Bye," he said quietly.

Albus smiled back and said his own goodbye. He watched the family as they disappeared from the platform. Draco didn't turn to look back at them, but Scorpius did, his father's hand on his shoulder as he steered him away.

Albus turned back to his own family. Rose was deep in conversation with her parents. James was nowhere to be found. Uncle George and Aunt Angelina stood on the other side of Albus' parents, speculating about how long it would take for the twins to appear. Uncle George's theory was that they were playing one final prank on the students who were left on the train.

Albus opened his mouth to say something when a hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped before realizing that it was James from the loud voice in his ear.

"He's not trying to brag about Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup is he? Just remember who won the House Cup."

James slapped him on the shoulder harder than was necessary, but Albus gave him an amused smirk anyway. Lily giggled, asking for more details about both Cups.

James was happy to oblige, although Albus made sure to get a word or two in every so often, knocking the Gryffindor down a peg or two when he got too cocky.

It was the happiest that Albus could remember being while with his family for a long time, and he wasn't sure what had spurred it on. Harry and Ginny began ushering them out into Muggle London to find their car, which would take them to Grimmauld Place. The three siblings followed behind them, Lily in between James and Albus as they continued their light-hearted argument.

Slytherin had deserved that Quidditch Cup, no matter what James said, and Albus wasn't going to let the argument end on any other note.

A/N: Like I said in the author's note on the last chapter, there will be a sequel to this story. However, I'm sorry to say that it's probably going to take a lot longer before I can post that one than I had planned.

Right now I'm a little less than halfway through with the rough draft of it, but I have just recently gotten a new job. The job also means a huge move (the farthest I've moved in my life), and there is quite a bit going on right now because of it. Even once I've moved, I'm assuming that it will take a little while to get settled in both at home and at work (I also won't have wifi at home at first), so I just can't tell you when the sequel will be posted. It will be though. Like I said, I have a good deal of one draft already written. It'll just take some time.