September 1st 2015

September dawned bright and sunny that year, although surprisingly cold. At King's Cross Station, a slim redhead stepped through the barrier onto Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, accompanied by two children, one blond boy clinging to a trolley bearing a trunk and an owl, and one redheaded girl clinging to her mother's hand.

"Mum … why can't I go?"

"Because you're not old enough," Ginny said, her lips twitching. "You're not 11 yet."

"But I'm 11 in two days," Marissa whined. "It's not fair!"

Ginny sighed. "Marissa, you can either stop whining and come and see Reg off, or I can take you to Nana Molly." She watched her daughter's lower lip wobble and counted down from five in her head, before crouching down in front of her. "Marissa, when I was your age, I was exactly the same, except I'd watched six brothers go to Hogwarts without me. And I know it's unfair that you were born so close to the beginning of the school term. But think of it this way - would you rather be the oldest one in your year, or the youngest?"

The stubborn set of Marissa's shoulders slowly relaxed. "Oldest, I guess."

Ginny smiled. "That's my girl. What do you say we go and get ice cream after we've seen the train off?"

Marissa grinned and nodded, and Ginny straightened up to take her hand, her eyes darting around Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, looking for her son, who had darted off to find his friends. She found him talking excitedly with a dark-haired girl with deep brown eyes.

"Honestly," Hermione's voice floated over from nearby, "you two saw each other yesterday." She smiled as Ginny and Marissa came into view. "Managed to get here alright then?"

"Just about," Ginny said with a sigh. "Someone decided to unpack his trunk this morning."

"I wasn't sure I had my broom," Regulus said.

"When would you ever forget your broom?" Bethany Potter giggled. "It's attached to you, isn't it?"

"It's mornings like this," Ginny said, "that I wish Draco wasn't teaching."

"Maybe we should just all stay in one place," Hermione suggested. "Then we could team up in the morning."

"Yeah!" Bethany said. "Reg and I could share a room!"

"No," Hermione and Ginny both said together.

"You and Reg can share a room when I want the house destroyed," Hermione added.

Bethany Lily Potter and Regulus Draco Malfoy were only a few months apart - unfortunately those few months made them a year apart at Hogwarts. The two were best friends, so it always surprised people when they learned they were in different houses.

It surprised everyone even more when they learned which houses they were.

When Bethany was Sorted into Slytherin, everyone was surprised - except Potions teacher Professor Malfoy, who had gleefully reminded DADA teacher Professor Potter of a very old bet.

A year later, when Regulus was Sorted into Gryffindor, Professor Potter quietly collected his ten galleons back.

Bethany's cloak wriggled, and a green head poked its way out, tongue flickering out to taste the air.

"Bethany …" Hermione sighed. "Where's the rest of her?"

"Wrapped around my waist," Bethany answered, stroking Esmerelda's head. "Aunt Jen's here!"

"Hey trouble," Jen greeted with a smile, glancing over her shoulder to check on her own children - only to find herself one short. "Oh for … David, where's your sister?"

David John Lupin shrugged. "Don't know. She was behind me a second ago. Hi Beth - ready for Slytherin to lose the cup this year?"

Bethany laughed. "In your dreams."

"I'm sure she's just catching up," Hermione said.

"Probably," Jen said, smiling down at the young boy at Hermione's side. "Are you looking forward to Hogwarts, Justin?"

Justin nodded, shaking a bit with excitement and nerves. "How do they Sort us?"

"Can't tell you that," Jen said. "It's a secret." She lowered her voice. "But do you really think your dad would let anything bad happen?"

"No," Justin answered. "But what if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Don't worry about that," Bethany said. "I'm going to pretend we don't know each other whatever house you end up in."

"Bethany!" Hermione chided, but his sister's teasing seemed to evaporate the last of her son's nerves, since he was now laughing with her.

"Aunt Jen," twin voices called.

"Over here," Jen called. "And thank you for telling me you were going to stop," she added to her two nieces, "unlike your cousin."

With Sirius and Addie both at the castle already, Jen had brought Marlena and Rosalind to the station, as she had every year since they started Hogwarts.

"Yeah, about Serenity …" Marlena began with a wicked grin. "We found her for you."

Jen sighed. "What did you do to her?"

"We didn't do anything," Rosalind answered. "But she's with Vikki."

"That's not surprising," Jen said. Victoire Weasley had been born exactly a year after the war ended, and she and Serenity, although not close when they were young, had become best friends at Hogwarts, despite being a year apart.

"Well, I'm quite close with my friends," Marlena said. "But I don't greet them like that." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder to where the crowds had parted a little.

Sure enough, the embrace the two girls were locked in was certainly not platonic.

"I asked what they were doing …" Rosalind began.

"You interrupted them?" Jen asked. "You are so like your father." She whistled sharply, getting her daughter's attention. "Oi! Hands where I can see them."

Serenity broke away, her face turning as red as her girlfriend's hair. "Mum!"

"If you're not going to tell me things, I am going to embarrass you," Jen said. "Where are the rest of the Weasleys?"

"Which ones?" Ginny asked dryly, just as a wave of redheads came spilling through the crowd towards them.

"Brace yourself!" Regulus yelped. "Women, children and me first!"

"Some Gryffindor you are," Bethany sniggered, as he tried to tug her towards the train.

"Uncle Ron!" Justin called.

His godfather ruffled his hair. "Hey buddy. Excited?"

Justin nodded, his eyes wide. "Yeah, but I'm going to miss the Quidditch games. Are there any today?"

Ron smiled. As the Quidditch correspondent for the Quibbler, he had been happy to take any of his nieces and nephews with him to the games. "Not today, kiddo. You and Rolf can still come with me in the summer."

His son, with his father's red hair and his mother's dreamy expression, was practically bouncing at his side. "You said Oliver Wood was going to be here today."

"Well, his daughter's in your year," Ron said, peering over the tops of people's heads. "I think that's them behind the huge crowd over there."

Oliver had married Katie Bell a few months after the final battle - they both played professionally, for two opposing teams with a very strong rivalry.

The media loved them for it.

"How come you're not getting swamped?" Hermione asked Ginny.

Ginny shrugged. "I don't really play for the Harpies anymore - I'm old news." She felt a tugging on her shirt and smiled, bending down to lift up one of her youngest nieces, Lucy, into her arms. "Hello, munchkin. Where's Mummy and Daddy?"

"We're here," an exhausted Penelope said appearing at her side. "Lucy, please do not run off when there are a lot of people, even if you can see someone you know."

Lucy's older sister, Molly, was already in her Hogwarts robes, ready to start second year. "Hi Aunt Ginny."

"Hi sweetheart," Ginny said, running an eye over the group that had amassed around them.

Bill and Fleur had arrived with Dominique and were interrogating Vikki - apparently it wasn't just Jen who had been in the dark.

Fred and George were manning the shop, so Angelina and Alicia had arrived together with their collective brood, who may as well have all been siblings rather than cousins.

Charlie and Katherine still worked at the dragon preserve in Romania, so their children went to Durmstrang as the closest Wizarding school.

And she had spoken to both Penelope and Ron, so that ticked off all of her siblings.

She could see Amelia Diggory and Genevieve Longbottom chatting to Bethany, so their parents must have been around somewhere - she caught Daphne's eye across the crowd and waved.

So they were just missing …

"Grandpa!" Justin called, waving madly.

Hermione caught his hand. "Good Merlin, child, you'll take an eye out."

James laughed. "Hey, Justin - ready for your first year?"

Justin nodded frantically. "It feels like we're waiting forever."

"Yeah, the first trip feels like that," James said, hugging Bethany. "And how's our snake-charmer?"

Unexpectedly, James had been the first to recover when they realised that Bethany had somehow inherited Parseltongue from her father (something they had all assumed to be Horcrux-related), reassuring his granddaughter that it just meant that she took after her great-grandmother, Emily Potter.

"Good," Bethany said, pulling away. "Hi Auntie Annie!"

Annabelle Potter, a year below Bethany, rolled her eyes. "Please stop calling me that; it's really, really weird."

The train whistle blew, and Hermione sighed, checking her watch. "Time to get on the train then." She hugged both of her children. "I'll see you in October for the parents' weekend. Bethany, please keep an eye on Justin; you don't need to follow him everywhere."

"Okay, Mum," Bethany said, hosting Esmerelda more securely on to her hip.

"And find somewhere more appropriate for her before the opening feast," Hermione added. "You'll give people a heart attack."

"Yes Mum!"

The children piled on to the train, and Hermione watched as the doors slammed and the train slowly started to pull away.

Her hand felt empty, used to Justin staying by her side while they waved Bethany off.

Beside Ginny, Marissa sighed. "Can we get ice cream now?"

Ginny smiled. "Yes, we can."

"And can I go flying later?" Marissa asked.

"Of course," her mother said.

"And can I stay up late tonight?"

Ginny laughed. "Don't push it. Are you coming with us, Hermione?"

"I'd love to," Hermione said. "But I've got to go to work. Lavender's asked for a Healer to come in; she's got a new client coming in today, handles the full moon particularly badly, and she wants a friendly face."

As Ginny led her daughter out of the station, and their friends and family dispersed, Hermione stayed where she was, watching the train until it was out of sight.

In a few hours time, she would get a mirror call from her husband to tell her which house their son had been Sorted in to. He would embark on seven magical years, much calmer than her own.

The scar on Harry's forehead had faded almost to obscurity, and it had not pained him in seventeen years.

All was well.

And that, folks, is all she wrote. I genuinely cannot believe it's over. However, this is not the last of it! My next job (in this fandom at least) is to finish Mischief Managed. And then, I might compile a story of 'missing scenes' from Uncovering the Truth, Defying the Enemy, The Last Stand and Aftermath, as well as the gap between the last chapter and this one. Let me know if there's anything particular you'd like to see, and I'll add it to the list.

I can't promise I'll write it, but I'll add it to the list.

And finally, here's a list of the kids and the nuggets of info that didn't make it into this chapter:

Remus & Jen - Serenity Hope Lupin (seventh year) and David John Lupin (fourth year)

Sirius & Addie - Marlena Hermione Black (sixth year) and Rosalind Helena Black (sixth year) - they were born a few weeks early on Halloween. Sirius panicked because he was convinced the day was cursed.

James & Lily - Annabelle Amelia Potter (third year)

Harry & Hermione - Bethany Lily Potter (fourth year) and Justin James Potter (first year)

Ginny & Draco - Regulus Draco Malfoy (third year) and Marissa Ginevra Malfoy (starts next September)

Ron & Luna - Rolf Arthur Weasley (first year) - it was the weirdest wedding anyone had ever been to

Cedric & Susan - Amelia Tabitha Diggory (fourth year)

Neville & Daphne - Genevieve Augusta Longbottom (third year)

Bill & Fleur - Victoire Appoline Weasley (sixth year) and Dominique Molly Weasley (second year)

Charlie & Katherine - Ruth Margaret Weasley and Michael Septimus Weasley (Durmstrang)

Percy & Penelope - Molly Penelope Weasley (second year) and Lucy Ginevra Weasley (five years old)

Fred & Angelina - Roxanne Alicia Weasley (fifth year) and Gideon James Weasley (third year)

George & Alicia - Isla Angelina Weasley (fourth year) and Fabian Sirius Weasley (second year)

The twins rebuilt the shop with the help of the Marauders, and now have several locations globally, as well as in the UK

Molly recovered in St Mungo's and now dotes on all of her grandchildren, biological or not

Lavender works at the Ministry for the newly-formed werewolf liaison office, where she ensures that all werewolves have access to whatever medical attention or support they require - as a result incidents of people being turned have dwindled significantly