Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters that J.K. Rowling has created, or even the setting in which the stories take place – the plot has been told through my own words.

Author's Note: This is my second FanFiction taking place after the epilogue in the seventh book. However, this one is told through James Sirius' POV, though it is not told so in the first chapter. Also, this story will not have much adventure in it – a little bit, but not the same amount as I had in AP&tTG (see story list in profile). It's more focused around James coming out of his comfort zone, finding more attraction to girls, and realizing his similarities to his grandfather, James Potter the first. Anyway, enjoy, review, and let me know what you think. This is similar to a prologue.

Chapter One

"I swear to GOD, Lily!"

Albus Severus Potter ran into the living room in his boxers and socks, skidding to a halt on the highly polished wood floors. Glancing around for a minute to make sure his parents were nowhere to be seen, he dove, tackling his younger sister to the floor and scrambling to collect his wand. Lily Potter had somehow managed to recover the wand out of Albus' trunk when he had left it open in his bedroom so he could take a bathroom break in between packing.

"It's not fair! I want to go, too!" Lily howled.

"Two more years!"

"I can't wait that long!"
"Okay, well would you just give me back my wand already? It's not my fault mum decided to have you two years after she had me! Maybe you should take to mum and dad about when they decided to have se –"

"What is going on in here?"

Albus and Lily looked up simultaneously to meet the cool glare of their mother's usually soft brown eyes. Ginny Potter placed her hands on her hips, her fiery red hair cascading down her chest and an eyebrow arched as she stared down at her youngest and middle child.

"Lily stole my wand," Albus said matter-of-factly, reaching under the smaller version of his mother to retrieve the wand.

"It's not fair, mum! I want to go as well!" Lily broke into tears the minute the wand was out of her reach, leaving Albus to scramble back and beam down at the piece of wood he now held in his hand – blackthorn, eleven inches, Thestral hair.

Ginny sighed and knelt down to wrap her arms around nine-year-old Lily. "How many times do we have to tell you? Two more years, sweetheart, and you will be joining your brothers on the Hogwarts Express," Ginny cooed.

Lily frowned and buried her face in her mother's soft pink sweater, mumbling something about Albus being a "poo-head". A few seconds of consoling her on Ginny's behalf, Harry came in the front door, pausing to take in the scene – his wife knelt down, holding his crying daughter, and his middle child pressed into the corner of the room smiling down fondly at his wand, wearing only a pair of boxers and dingy socks.

He blinked. "Do I want to know what this is all about?" Harry asked, setting a stack of papers and folders down on the table by the front door.

"Oh, just another melodramatic outburst from Lily. About not being able to go to Hogwarts yet, of course," Ginny said, standing up as the little girl finally calmed down.

Harry chuckled and bent to lay a soft kiss on Ginny's forehead, and then on Lily's. Eighteen years had passed since the final battle between Harry and Voldemort had taken place, and fifteen years had passed since Ginny and Harry had wed inside Godric's Hollow itself, the place where his parents had lived. Still, despite their hardships and difficulties, the two were still completely smitten with each other as if they had only just fallen in love a week ago.

"What time do we have to be up tomorrow?" Harry asked, hanging his work robe up. Harry was referring to the time that Albus and James, the eldest of their three children, would be dropped off at platform 9 and ¾ for Albus' first year at Hogwarts and James' second. With Dumbledore's passing almost nineteen years ago, McGonagall was still kicking around and apparently still held the position as headmistress since his passing, as far as Harry could see on their school lists.

"We should be leaving here no later than ten, since the train leaves at eleven." Ginny straightened her sweater and walked over to the kitchen to finish preparing the potatoes for dinner. She waved her wand wordlessly, which caused the potatoes in the pot to stir slowly.

"Wonderful, another early morning for me." Harry sighed and walked up behind Ginny, wrapping his strong arms around her slim waist and moving her hair aside to plant loving kisses along her throat. "Mm, you smell wonderful," he murmured.

Ginny sighed and closed her eyes, her head tilting to the right as Harry tightened his grip and pulled his wife back against them. It had always been a romantic, passionate experience for the couple, and there would never be anyone else they could be with, considering everything they had gone through.

"No public displays of affection, please," James Potter said as he walked into the kitchen. Since James had finally hit puberty, his boyish voice had grown very husky and he had another growth spurt, leaving him now at approximately five foot ten. Though he was tall for his age, he still held the boyish charms of his dad with tousled black hair and the strong features, though he possessed his mother's soft brown eyes. He was also very smooth when it came to talking to girls, leaving him the most sought after boy not only in Gryffindor, but in the entire castle.

"Perhaps you would like to help your mother with dinner then," Harry said, stepping away from Ginny as he turned to confront his oldest child. James snorted and pulled the black jumper he was carrying over his arm over his head, almost at eye-level with his father, who was approximately six foot one in height, as he grinned sheepishly.

"Are you packed for tomorrow?" Harry asked, arms crossed.

"For the most part. I just need to find my wand –"

"You've lost your wand again?!" Ginny snapped, spinning around to face her son. She had been focused on controlling the wand to stir the pot of potatoes, and when she turned the spoon flipped out over the top and it started bubbling over. She quickly turned to fix it, shaking her head at her oldest child.

"Hey, I didn't lose it! It's just not where it was this morning, and er, I forget where it went off to?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and wiped her hands on her jeans. "I swear, James, you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your neck."

"Lucky me, mum." James grinned again and leaned over to kiss Ginny's cheek before retreating upstairs to search for his wand yet again. Though he rarely showed affection to his family away from his friends, he felt very close to both parents – despite the fact that he was almost as bad as Fred and George had been during their years at Hogwarts.

"That boy…" Ginny shook her head and flicked her eyes towards Harry. "He's becoming more like you everyday, I fear."

Harry chuckled and came up behind Ginny once more, wrapping his arms back around her waist and bending down slightly to lay his chin on her shoulder as he spoke softly in her ear. "Actually, I think he is becoming more like his grandfather everyday, but I still find that offensive, dear."

Two years and about twelve hours later, the Potter family were scrounging up their last minute things for Hogwarts. Everyone had woken up late, and it was nearly ten o'clock by the time the children were standing in the living room side-by-side, awaiting inspection from their parents. James was smiling sheepishly up at his parents with his hands behind his back, as any fifteen year old boy would, and Albus was busy picking something out of his ear as his mother's eyes ran over them. Lily, however, was absolutely beaming. Years she had waited to go to Hogwarts alongside her older brothers, and it was finally her opportunity to do so. Their trunks stood in front of them, marked with their initials, and the cages of their owls stood on top. Harry and Ginny had been surprised and delighted that each of them wanted an owl of their own.

"What do you have behind your back?" Harry said as he came to stand beside Ginny. His question was directed at James, who suddenly looked up in full alert at his father and shifted from foot to foot.

"Nothing…"

"Don't lie to me, James."

"Aw dad…" James withdrew his hands to show his parents what he was holding, which turned out to be an enormous rat. Lily shrieked at the sight of it.

"Don't look at me like that," he said to his parents. "I was just going to sneak it into Lily's trunk and scare the daylights out of her when she opened it in her dormitory. You know, kind of like a 'welcome to Hogwarts' present." Lily glared at him and inched away from the rat that was now sniffing at her elbow.

Ginny shook her head disapprovingly and checked her watch. "Lord, we're going to be late. Come on you three." She hurried them out the front door to pile them into the back of their Muggle car, a black Ford Anglia. Harry chuckled every time he climbed into the driver's seat, remembering too clearly of the incident he had had last time in a Ford Anglia with his best friend and brother-in-law, Ron Weasley.

"Mum, are we really going to be late?" Lily asked nervously, clutching the cage that held her miniature owl, Frolick, inside. Her hair cascaded down in one silky plait, and hung around her shoulders. She looked timidly up at her mother in the rear view mirror as Harry closed the trunk of the car, shoving the last of their belongings inside.

"No, of course not," Ginny said sympathetically while Harry climbed into the driver's seat. At her words, Harry pushed a button and the car rumbled on the spot for a minute, revving its engine before it rocketed into the sky. Luckily, Harry and Ginny had purchased a sizeable home right on the outskirts of the newly acclaimed fully wizard city in all of Britain, Chesterdom – the second of two in all of Britain, including Hogsmeade. Therefore there were no Muggle witnesses as they zoomed through the clouds above. To the Muggle eye otherwise while tucked in the clouds, they appeared to be an airplane.

At quarter to eleven, Harry dipped back underneath the clouds and carefully landed onto a stretch of uninhabited dirt roads, winding around the bends and twists until finally they reached the Muggle streets of London and were parking in front of King's Cross Station.

"Come on, hurry!" Lily squeaked in a panicked voice as Harry and Ginny struggled to gather their trunks and animal cages onto the trolleys.

"Would you calm down?" James snapped, rolling his eyes as he gazed down at his younger sister. "And now you wonder exactly why I was trying to prank you; you're an annoying git."

Harry shot James a look of warning before he caught Lily's hand in his and pushed the trolley with his free hand as he steered them towards the station. It took them a moment but soon, they stood in front of the wall that separated platforms nine and ten; the barrier to platform 9 and ¾.

"Harry!"

Turning around, Harry beamed to see his two best friends – now married, and now his brother-and-sister-in-law, Ron and Hermione Weasley rushing up towards them, a child attached to each of their hands. Hermione had aged wonderfully, with much sleeker hair and a perfect pair of straight, white teeth. She had absolutely no wrinkles and appeared to be much younger than she really was. Ron's hair was balding only slightly, barely noticeable under his thick chunks of red hair that hung lazily over his forehead, and the only sign of his age were the crinkles that formed in the corners of his eyes when he smiled.

"Thank God we aren't the only ones almost late," Ron said in his booming deep voice, holding onto the tiny hand of Hugo, who was also starting Hogwarts this year. Rose, Hugo's older sister, was the same age as Albus and was waiting impatiently, holding onto her mother's hand without realizing. When she did, she shrugged away and glanced around nervously to see if anyone had seen her holding her hand.

"Hurry up!" Lily squeaked, rocking on the balls of her feet behind her trolley. Ginny stood behind Lily and, with a great push, they raced through the wall between the platforms, disappearing with a shriek of surprise from young Lily.

Ron ran after Hugo as he quickly followed his cousin, yelling angrily at him as he had left without Ron advising him what to do.

"Typical," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes before she followed after Rose, who walked slowly through the barrier.

"I'm going," James said as he jumped on the edge of his trolley, pumping his fist in the air and hooting as he soared through the barrier. Many Muggles looked around curiously to see where the hooting had come from, but had not seen him roll through it.

"Well," Harry said, looking down at Albus with a smile. Albus and Harry shared a very close relationship, and though Albus knew his father was well admired by everyone in the wizarding world, he shrugged it off.

"Come on, dad," thirteen-year-old Albus Severus said with a smile. Harry grinned back at him, scooped him up onto his back, and drove their trolley right through the wall leading to platform 9 and ¾.

On the other side of the wall, the Potters and Weasleys had only five minutes left to say their goodbyes to their children as the gleaming bright red train waited on the tracks, smoking violently. Harry admired it for a moment, amazed that it was still as shiny as it had been when he first arrived here twenty years ago. He gazed fondly at the window of the compartment where he had met Ron Weasley for the first time, not to mention where Hermione had pestered them for the first time out of a million. He almost laughed at the thought until he realized Albus was pulling on the end of his jacket.

"Dad, I have to get on the train," he said softly.

Harry beamed and bent on his knees to embrace his youngest son in a hug, enjoying their closeness. He had always felt particularly close with Albus rather than James, who was much more like Harry's own father had been as a teenager; mischievous, arrogant and always up to no good. Albus, on the other hand, was shy and quiet, but bold when he wanted to be – a very strong mixture of both Harry and Ginny's personality traits.

"Be sure to write," Harry murmured into Albus' ear as they pulled away from their hug. Albus nodded quickly and smiled, darting up the train steps after giving Ginny a shorter but equally loving hug.

"Be good now," Ginny was saying to Lily as she stroked her lovely red hair. "We both love you very much, and you will write to us once a month telling us how school is going, won't you?"

"Of course, mum," Lily cooed, hugging her mother tightly. Then, Harry scooped her into his arms with a squeal, spinning the tiny redhead around in circles before setting her on the train.

"Be good, Lily," he said, gently stroking her hair over her ears. Lily beamed at her parents and timidly climbed up the steps to the train, sticking her head out of the compartment once she found one.

James walked up to his parents sheepishly, shifting from foot to foot. "I know I didn't write and all that last year, blah blah, etcetera etcetera, I'll try to this year, yeah yeah." He looked around to see if any of the girls were listening to his conversation.

Ginny rolled her eyes and bent to kiss James' cheek, to his disgust. Of course, it was all a lie. Ever year, James had written to them at least three times a month to update them on his adventures in Hogwarts. He had put on the same act since third year so the girls wouldn't think he was a sap. Harry and Ginny went along with it anyway.

"Mum! Not in public, for God's sake," he scoffed, wiping his cheek as if she had wiped slime on it.

"Try not to get any more points taken from Gryffindor this year, will you?" Harry asked, pinching his son's cheek mockingly. James grimaced and slapped his hand away.

"Whatever you say, dad," he muttered, raising his eyebrows. As if that were a sign, Ginny and Harry bent to give James a hug.

"I love you two," he whispered, turning around quickly with a look of humiliation on his face as he climbed on the train without another word.

Harry and Ginny turned to face Ron and Hermione, who were giving their last hugs to their own children.

"Now, I'm telling you the same thing I told Rose two years ago," Ron was telling Hugo, bending on one knee to be on eye level with his son. He took a deep breath and placed two hands on his shoulders. "If you are not sorted into Gryffindor, and especially if you are sorted into Slytherin, your mother and I will disinherit you, kick you out on the streets in your second year summer."

"Ron!" Hermione snapped, giving him a swift slap across the back of his head. Hugo's eyes were wide with fear and his bottom lip quivered as he looked up into his mother's eyes.

"Sweetie, he is just kidding," Hermione said softly, casting a glare at Ron, who was rubbing the back of his head and shrugging his shoulders with a smile.

The two families had remained very close; Ron and Harry both worked as Auror's for the Ministry of Magic, and they were family after all. There really was no need not to be close.

"Morning!" a familiar voice greeted them from behind, and Harry turned to see Teddy Lupin beaming back at him. The twenty-one-year-old was at least six foot two and since he was a metamorphmagus, his hair and eye colours were always changing. Today, his hair was bright purple and his eyes were silvery blue. He was dressed in black robes and had an Auror badge pinned to his left chest.

"Teddy, how did you get in?" Ginny asked, noticing that the clock now read eleven in the morning.

Teddy chuckled. "Snuck in at the very last second," he said with a smile. "I had to see the entire Potter and Weasley clan leaving together."

"Congratulations on finally becoming an Auror," Harry said, shaking hands with his godson modestly.

"Well, you are head of the office, Harry," Teddy said with a smile. "I have you to thank, don't I?"

The families turned to see the train pulling away from the station. Lily's face was pressed against the window, and she was waving frantically as she saw Teddy. He waved back modestly and stood behind the two families to talk to Bill and Fleur Weasley, who were waving to their son Louis Weasley, who was leaving for his fourth year at Hogwarts, and their daughter Dominique, who was in her sixth year. Teddy was having an intimate relationship with their oldest daughter, eighteen-year-old Victoire. From listening in, Harry could hear that Victoire was resting at home, not feeling well to come.

"And the last ones leave," Hermione said, her head rested on Ron's shoulder.

"Twenty-six years ago," Ron said with a smile.

"Twenty-seven for me," Ginny scoffed. Ron grinned and wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders, hugging her.

"Time really does fly by, doesn't it?" Harry asked with glazed over eyes as he watched their children waving at them frantically from their compartment windows – minus James.

"It sure does," the other three said, sighs in their voices. They all lifted their hands to wave back at their children and watched as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from platform 9 ¾, where they would meet up with their children ten months later.