A few years later…

"Mum! Lex took my school book!"

"Did not!"

"Lex, give Lily back her book."

Alex Potter pouted at his mother and withdrew the Charms book from underneath his bed, holding it up to Lily who took it back and bounded back to her bedroom to finish up her homework. Ginny sighed and looked at her youngest son who refused to look back at her.

"Baby, why did you take Lily's school book?" Ginny asked gently as she sat down on the four year old's bed.

"I wanna go to Hogwarts too," Alex finally said miserably.

"Oh baby boy, you'll go to Hogwarts soon enough. Don't be so eager to grow up," Ginny soothed, picking up the preschooler and settling him on her lap.

"I know," Alex relented. "I just don't wanna be left out."

Ginny kissed her baby boy on the forehead and tried her best to reassure him that he would join his siblings soon enough.

"No I won't!" Alex shouted finally. "They'll be gone when I get there!" The four year old slid off his mother's lap and ran out of the room, sniffling heard clearly. Ginny sighed and was about to go after him when James appeared in the doorway, dark blue hoodie hanging off his body as he crossed his arms.

"Is he really that upset that Lily is now at Hogwarts too?" James asked, frowning. Ginny nodded silently, causing James to frown further.

"He'll come around," James said confidently before leaving.

Alex wiped at his eyes with the palm of his hands childishly before sitting on the grass under the large tree in their backyard. He missed Hermione. His Hermione. His Ron. His Hogwarts. The feeling of longing was overwhelming to him lately and Alex knew it was because he'd had too much time to think as of late, his siblings at school again and only home for the holidays this week.

Tired of feeling self-pity, Alex stood up and turned around, looking up at the tree trunk before him. He could still do magic, couldn't he? Alex realized he'd never actually tried much in the past few years now. Maybe if he just…

"Alex!"

James heard Albus' shout of horror and he raced down the stairs and out the backdoor in time to see his two youngest siblings. Alex was up in the tree with his small feet dangling, sitting on a branch. His eyes widened, seeing Albus trying to reach the younger boy.

"Alex! Get down from there!" James yelled, his mother joining them alongside Lily who had heard the commotion. The little boy looked slightly startled at his family, having been arguing with Albus that he liked being up there.

The kid was going to give James a bleeding heart attack if he fell, James muttered darkly to himself. The little boy had never climbed any higher than a couch before so this terrified the teenager that his baby brother would plummet to his death. A quick glance at his mother confirmed she did have her wand, so at the very least he would be safe, right?

"Accio Alex Potter!" Ginny commanded and James watched the stubborn child fly out of the tree and straight at Ginny who caught her.

"What were you thinking Alexander Potter!?" Ginny scolded as she turned Alex around in her arms to face him as she sank to her knees, looking at the disheveled preschooler. "You are four years old! You know better than to climb that tree!"

James nodded in agreement at his mother's words, remembering his mother forbidding Alex long before this time, having seen Albus fall out of the tree when he was eight and break an arm.

Alex didn't say anything, his face looking down at the ground as their mother lectured him soundly.

"I'll take him mum," James offered when Ginny finally wound down and told Alex he'd be getting a time out and early bed time. Ginny studied James before nodding and James scooped up the quiet boy, carting him off to his own room where he sat Alex down in a corner not stacked with random trinkets and told him to stay there as James perused his shelves, looking for that potions book of his that he'd put up earlier.

About ten minutes passed, James was in the midst of studying the calming potion when he heard Alex's quiet sniffling. He closed the book and made his way over to the kid, kneeling down.

"Want to talk about it?" James asked while maneuvering to sit crisscrossed in front of the boy. Alex looked quietly at his older brother.

"I wanna grow up," Alex said. He couldn't say he missed being older, missed being with his friends who didn't treat him like a baby, missed his old life no matter how dark and daunting it seemed. Sometimes he just felt like this life was too carefree for him; he did not deserve it. He had been put through hell and back before this, so why was everything so innocent and calm? No war, no worries. It was starting to unnerve the former Harry Potter, having finally realized after four years now that there was no danger.

"You don't really kiddo, you just want to come with us," James answered, smiling slightly as Alex glared at him. James didn't know how he was feeling, he only saw the preschooler that had been adopted by his father.

"When is daddy coming home?" Alex stubbornly said instead, changing the subject. James shrugged and gave up on his brother, ushering the little boy back to his room for the inevitable naptime that was enforced for him. Alex frowned and debated on putting up a fight before giving in, crawling under the covers and letting James cover him up.

He lay there for what felt like ages before anger at his situation welled up and Alex slid out of bed and padded over to his closet. He hastily changed into one of his play robes, the ones with a phoenix on the back and the black hood, before he peaked out of his room. Not seeing his brothers and sister or his mother, he tiptoed down the hallway and into one of the rooms unused by any of the Potters. He stood on his toes and reached for the handle, clumsily falling into the room after the success. Breathing a relieved sigh, he hurried inside and quietly shut the door before padding over to the closet in there. The closet was easy to slip inside and he ignored the dark, crawling through the boxes until he was behind them. Only then did he allow himself to silently let tears fall.

It hadn't been easy, being a Potter here. He'd slipped up quite a lot over the years, when he'd seen something so alike to his old life he would react. Seeing Hagrid on a visit to the Headmistress's office when James set off a dungbomb under Albus' seat in the Great Hall? He'd cried in delight that was thankfully mistaken for baby happiness at random. When Ron talked of the Wheezes store, he'd almost wanted to comment about what the new phrase could be, but had thankfully been occupied by Albus shaking a toy in his face.

Giving a heave of annoyance, Alex realized he was sucking his thumb and quickly yanked it out. He had to stop being a child! Sure he'd enjoyed these past few years, but really with no one around when his siblings were at Hogwarts and his mother busy, he had been thinking of all the people he could be saving or helping out there who would need him, even though there was already a Harry Potter here.

Maybe that's why he was so angry? He would forever be Alex Potter here now. This Harry got to grow up and be a father, got to get married and have the career he'd been vying for. Got to be taken seriously by those around him. While little Alex Potter was cooed at and babytalked to, ignored during social gatherings except to play with him.

"Lexi?" came a voice, perhaps from the hallway. Alex stubbornly ignored them and scooted closer to the boxes, trying not to sneeze. "Alex?" It was his adopted father, of course.

Shaking his head, Alex felt his eyes watering in warning of the oncoming sneeze and he stuffed his sleeve to his nose to muffle it, sniffling in reaction. It seemed to have been the noise his father had been looking for because the spare room door opened and Harry was approaching the closet. Darnit, he'd forgotten to close the closet!

"Lexi, kiddo, please come out?" Harry asked quietly. Alex shook his head despite the fact Harry couldn't see him.

"Alright then kiddo," he said after a few minutes, "I understand you're angry. You're not getting to go off to Hogwarts with your brothers and sister… and you don't get to learn magic with them." Alex frowned, wondering where this was going. "What about if we started teaching you now?" Teaching him what?

"Learning to read and everything. A tutor."

Oh crap, he'd said it aloud. Harry was approaching his box as he talked and pulled it back to reveal his wayward son. He didn't make a move to pull Alex over to him, however.

"Don't want to learn by myself," Alex said instead of agreeing.

"We can invite other children too," Harry offered. Alex shook his head and crawled out of his spot finally.

"Can I go to school daddy?" Alex finally said, mind made up after the long musing in the closet about his current life.

"A muggle school?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised. Alex nodded. "You're too young to go just yet."

"After my birthday?" Alex compromised.

"We'll see," Harry bargained, reaching forward to scoop Alex up. The little boy nodded in agreement before yawning, hiding his head against Harry's chest. "I think it's time for a certain little boy to take his nap."

"Not little."

"So you're a big boy now?" Harry said with a smile. Alex gave the affirmative as he was carried back to his room. "Big boys don't sleep with teddies though."

"Yes they do," Alex argued in between yawning.

"Oh they do? Well then, where's Albus and James' teddies?" Harry chuckled.

"I don't know. But I sleep with a teddy," Alex said, grabbing his teddy bear tightly in case Harry took it. The father said nothing as he tucked Alex back into his bed after taking the play robe off his son. He watched as the child drifted off to sleep and smiled. He'd have to see about perhaps tutoring Alex at any rate, realizing the teen (or adult) in the boy wanted to grow up already. But at the end of the day he was just a little boy wanting nothing more than to be big again.

Perhaps he should call Draco up about a possible playdate with his daughter. She was about Alex's age if he recalled.

Author's Note: I know, I know. This is two entire years late. I'm very sorry about that. I've been on so many different hiatus that I'm honestly confused on what is happening in all my stories. I will be trying to write this again, and if it fails I'll rewrite the entire thing and update this with a new continuation. You'll hopefully get more from me soon this month. No promises on this week, I have a busy life nowadays. Tata for now!