One by one, families drifted away from the Potter household. Percy and Audrey left first. From the look on Percy's face, everyone knew he had questions to answer for his daughters, and they left him to go and do it.

Bill and Fleur left next. Dom and Louis followed without argument, but Victoire hung back. Teddy looked down at her and told her he needed to be alone for a while. She nodded and followed her family away as he went upstairs.

Ron and Hermione left soon after, Ron to write a report on the incident and Rose to restore the album to its place on the shelf by the fireplace at the Burrow.

George was still there. Harry figured that by going home, George would be forcing himself to face a lot of personal demons and bad memories, so he was trying to delay that for as long as possible. On the other hand, Ginny looked like she was ready to explode at James, but felt uncomfortable doing that in front of her brother and his family.

"It's ok, George. Go on." Said Harry.

George nodded nervously, but gathered his children, one in each arm, and stepped into the rushing green flames.

Ginny turned and looked at Harry. "Teddy . . ."

"Is upstairs." Said Harry. "I think we should leave him alone for a little while, to process what happened."

Ginny nodded. "That's probably the best thing to do. All right, where's James? James?! Get down here!"

James shuffled sheepishly into the living room.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in, young man? Any at all?"

"Let me guess. I'm grounded."

"Maybe. I haven't worked out exactly what your punishment is yet. But you are in serious trouble. You could have been killed. You recklessly endangered not only yourself but also your cousins. You could never have been born if you messed with the past too much. Do you understand me?"

James nodded.

"James, my office is off limits to you for good reason." Said Harry. "You can't go in and play with dangerous items for a laugh."

"I wasn't playing with them. I wanted to see what the past was like. To meet Uncle Fred, and Teddy's parents. Is that so wrong?"

Ginny sighed. "In this context, yes. I know you wanted to meet them. But time travel is extremely dangerous, and there's other ways to see the past, like a pensieve. McGonagall has one in her office, and you're in there at least once a week."

"See? I was just acting on a natural desire!"

"And you are still being punished." Said Harry. "I heard Dudley just got a new laptop. Maybe I could send you over to help him set it up."

"Dad, no! I don't know shit about muggle computers! I can barely send an email without mine blowing up because of all the magic in this house!"

"He's joking. Probably." Said Ginny. "We will work out the details of your punishment later. But for now, go to your room. Give me your phone too."

James sighed loudly, but handed over his phone and stomped up the stairs. Harry turned and went up too, but past James' room to the one Teddy infrequently occupied.

"How are you holding up, Teddy-Bear?"

"It's just . . . a lot. I didn't think I'd ever get to see them, alive. And to interact with them. It wasn't like the memories I saw in the pensieve, and yet . . . so real."

Harry nodded.

"And yet the context was all wrong. I wasn't born yet. I saw my unborn self kicking my mum from the inside. Do you have any idea how weird that is?"

Harry shook his head. "I can't say that I've watched my unborn self in action. But I know what you mean about the context being all wrong. The first time I saw my parents' faces was in a magical mirror. I saw them again when my wand connected with Voldemort's, and again with the resurrection stone. But all those times they told me how brave I was and how I could defeat Voldemort. Never a normal conversation like hey, we're out of milk, could you get some more."

"Well, I guess I'm doing better than you. We played chess a couple times, talked history and politics, spent some time bitching about people named James who play nasty pranks . . . Everyone always tells me that I'm a really even mix of both of them, and now I finally see what they were talking about."

"Yes. You've turned out very well despite them not being around." Said Harry. "I'm proud of you and how you handled it all. Meeting your parents, time travel, managing twelve rambunctious kids . . . you've done well."

"Thank you. But also, I turned out responsible because of your guidance."

"Don't give me the credit!" Said Harry. "I was seventeen when you were born. The first time I tried to hold you, Grandmum Molly had to step in and grab your head before it tilted too far back!"

"That's hilarious. Wanna re-enact it?"

Harry laughed and pushed Teddy away from him. "I'm all right, thank you. You're much less scary now that you can hold up your own head." He paused. "I should probably go think of a punishment for James. Are you going to be all right?"

"Of course. I just need some more time to process." Suddenly Teddy leapt off the bed and hugged Harry. "Thank you."

"Of course, Teddy-bear."

That night, peace finally reigned over the extended Weasley family. Molly and Arthur slept soundly in their burrow, the grief for all those they had lost still there but joined by powerful love and hope for their grandchildren, who were at last in the year they belonged.

Bill and Fleur were comfortable in Shell Cottage again, glad to hear faint death metal music coming from someone's bedroom and to hear their children arguing once more. Victoire was asleep in her room, the last waking thoughts in her mind those of baking a batch of brownies for Teddy the next day. Dominque, too, was asleep, a photo of her posing with several dead people on her bedside table. The next day she would hang it on her wall next to other cherished pictures. And then there was Louis, the horror of the time travel already fading, replaced by the new horror of the realization that he would be taking his O.W.L.s within a year.

Percy and Audrey's home was quiet too. Percy couldn't even be mad that Molly had pulled out her paint set, then proceeded not to paint anything and to leave the paints on the table all evening. The air had been cleared of whatever gunk was still left. The girls knew of their father's past, and knew that he was by no means perfect, and they loved him anyway. Prefects Who Gained Power had had its spine cracked through again as Lucy had finished it a few hours before going back to her proper time. It was now tucked on a high shelf, since she thought it dull and figured there was more to being a prefect than paging through an old book.

George and Angelina's home was quieter than usual, and more peaceful than it had ever been. George had disappeared that afternoon to read a long, long, letter, and when he came out with suspiciously red eyes he hugged his wife and children tightly. He stopped later to thank Roxane for bringing that letter across time and space, and she replied that the idea was all Uncle Fred; she hadn't had anything to do with it.

Ron had relaxed into the wonderful notion that he wasn't an empty nester, and even when they did leave for school the children would both be back for Christmas and summer holidays. Rose had drifted off to do more research on the war to square what she had witnessed with what she knew from History of Magic Class and Hugo drifted away to hang out with Lilly, despite the fact that he had been stuck inside with her for several days.

And as for Harry, he relished in the pile of muddy shoes by the back door, books and papers all over the couch, and the ice cream splatters on the counter that James hadn't bothered to clean up. He was also excited about the note he'd stuck to the bathroom mirror, reminding him to put new lock spells on his office and never leave it unlocked again for any reason. But best of all was his wife's sleeping form beside him, and as he rolled over and placed his arms around her while hearing what sounded like James sneaking downstairs for another bowl of ice cream, he felt that there was not another man in the world so rich as he.