Chapter One-Hundred-and-Nine – Another Nineteen Years Later...

Friday, September 1st, 2045

"Are you finished setting up your toys?" Gwendolyn asked Al as he walked up to the charity food booth she'd been helping to set up with Susannah, Rose, and a few of their friends.

"Yes; and the rides are set up with twenty minutes to spare," Al answered.

"This is going to be the best opening day picnic ever, Uncle Al!" Rose's daughter, Rhonda declared enthusiastically.

"Didn't you tell us that last year?" Al teased.

"And every year she's come to it," Hermon, Rose and Brandon's oldest, told them. "If you'd stop using all of those daydream charms from Grandpa's stores; you might remember everything else a bit better!"

"I do not buy those daydream charms!"

"Of course not," Hermon agreed – "Grandpa gives them to you for free!"

"While he tries to charge you double or more when you want to get wheezes," Al half-joked.

"He doesn't really do that," Hermon assured him – "though he does pretend that he does. Did you bring any new rides this year?"

"A rollercoaster that dunks you into the lake at the end," Al answered. "You'll like the changes I've made to the drop tower too, but you'll have to try it out; since it won't be as much fun if I tell you what it does now."

"Maybe we should test it before everyone gets here," Hermon suggested – "just to make sure that it's working properly."

"Fly and be free," Rose told her kids. Uncle Al can always heal you if those tests end badly."

"She's just teasing," Rhonda told her younger brother, Ambrose. "You know that Uncle Al's rides always work perfectly – even when they're really scary!"

"I'm so proud of you," Gwendolyn told Al as they watched Rose's kids run off toward the rides – and they collected some cousins and friends along the way. "Our kids think that you can be scary. You've come so far since when we were their age; and everyone thought that you were the most-boring Wizard in the world!"

"He isn't?" Rose asked. "I didn't know that!"

"You did," Gwendolyn disagreed, "and we'll hope that Al has an especially-exciting year; since at least some of us would like to be playing in the Quidditch World Cup again next summer."

"Jobs that all of our kids either wish they could have or want next summer," Rose pointed out with a laugh. "It's been tough-enough competing against our cousins for the past twenty years or so; and now we have to worry about our kids!"

"I'd be okay with watching them play all summer," Al told them, "but maybe they'll give us old-timers one more chance next summer before they take over from us in twenty-fifty."

"Speak for yourself," Lily told him as she and Jonah walked up to the food booth. "I'm not even a quarter of the way into my century of professional Quidditch, so if any of our kids want to take my job in the show or on our national team; they'll be in a big fight and will really have to win it from me!"

"You are one of the Hurricane' owners," Rose reminded her. "Firing yourself does not have to be an option."

"True," Lily conceded, "but we also don't need to let facts get in the way – as usual; and that doesn't apply to playing for national teams."

"Maybe the Witches in our family can do that," Jonah suggested; "and while you do that; Al and I – and the rest of the guys – will take the kids on a summer-long Quidditch World Cup holiday."

"I love that idea," Al assured him, "but we'll all still need to work that out around the league matches and training camp too. It's a bit early to be even thinking about that very much; though I appreciate the distraction from missing our kids."

"You still have half the day to spend with them," Lily reminded him, "and if you can't handle the kid-free time; we'll trade and you can have our younger twins for a week or two while Jonah and I take a break instead."

"Mum's trying to give us away again," Gareth told his twin, Kirk. "Since you don't want us anyway; can we go and play on the rides?"

"Don't say no," Kirk told Lily. "Aliya and Gwyneth told us not to ask; and they'll razz us if they get to go on the rides and we don't."

"Well, we can't have them razzing you – more than normal," Lily decided, "but for the record; I wasn't trying to give you away – just lend you out for a while. We always take you back."

"Thanks – and we'll try not to feel like library books," Kirk joked.

"We're not," Gareth assured him – "Mum never charges late fees!"

"They're doing better than you did when you only had a year to go before starting at Hogwarts," Al told Lily as the twins ran off.

"I've noticed," Lily agreed. "We've obviously kept them too-happy at home. They might never want to grow up and leave!"

"Enjoy it while that lasts," Gwendolyn suggested. "We have kids talking about following our lead and getting married the day they graduate – a year from next June."

"Don't remind me," Susannah interjected with a warm smile for her friends. "I always thought that your story was adorable – until our daughter decided to pick your son – possibly on the day he and Jillian were born!"

"She is best friends with Jillian," Gwendolyn pointed out. "Maybe they just let Julian hang out with them when they were little because of the twin thing."

"Is that true for Alex as well as Julian – or did the girls pick him for the fourth in their little quartet?" Susannah asked.

"That might be a bit of both," Gwendolyn suggested. "Peter and Alexa don't seem to mind having their son dating Jillian, though; and you don't really have a problem with Bethany and Julian either."

Susannah laughed. "Why would I when Bethany gets to be one of their generation's versions of you? It's a good thing that she got her Quidditch talent from her father; since she'd be out of luck if she'd gotten it from me."

"She likely got that talent from further up the family line," Seth offered as he and Brandon joined their wives. "Bethany has more talent than I do."

"You've been hanging around Al too much," Brandon suggested. "It's okay to take credit for our talented kids."

"And then blame their mothers when they're driving you nuts," Gwendolyn teased. "I am so glad that I can still invoke rule number one whenever needed!"

"Our kids like that a lot too," Al added; and then turned his attention to Brandon and Seth. "Is everything ready for the exhibition match at the practice pitch?"

"Yes," Brandon answered. "We saw that the hoverboard course is set up too; and some of the teens are already warming up."

"Then we should pretty much be ready for the picnic," Al told them. He smiled at Gwendolyn. "I can stay here for a while if you'd like to go play on the rides with the kids before the line-ups start."

"Deal," Gwendolyn agreed enthusiastically.

She soon had most of the other parents going along with her, but Susannah and Jonah stayed behind – even though they weren't likely to get many customers for food or drinks for the first half-hour or so of the Back-to-Hogwarts picnic that had replaced the trip on the Hogwarts Express after the magical train had been shut down. The Knight Bus was still running, but that was really only a tourist attraction now; and the Floo Network was history too – all thanks to the PortAll doorways that all Wizards and Witches now used – even if they didn't have personal doorways in their homes.

"You could go and play with your wives and kids too," Susannah told Al and Jonah. "Neither of you are even booked to help out with this booth today; and I'll only be doing it for an hour – and then helping with packing up at the end of the day."

"I'm working undercover too," Al half-joked; "and don't want to get distracted."

"For the Auror-Reserves?" Susannah guessed; and Al nodded. "We haven't had problems at these picnics. Is there something we should be worried about?"

"Not specifically," Al answered, "but it is still a good idea to keep an eye on things – especially when so many people are traveling to one place with the doorways."

"I don't know why we worry about things like that," Jonah offered with a grin. "Minister of Magic Malfoy has succeeded in taking over at least our corner of the Wizarding World one fan at a time; and she's even more-popular than Aunt Hermione was during her ten years in that job."

"Lysandra is popular," Al agreed, "but I still wonder whether she actually likes that job as much as she thought she would; since the version of her life that is on the mirror network shows isn't all that close to reality – at least according to nearly-everyone we know at the Ministry."

"Including my parents," Susannah agreed, "but I don't care; and can hardly wait for the new seasons to start for those shows!"

"Are they going to stop by today?" Al asked; and Susannah shook her head.

"Not this year. They decided not to take the day off from work. Seth's parents are going to make a quick visit; but won't likely stay for long. They don't want to mess up their grandkids' reputations."

"One of these centuries; teens and tweens will stop caring about that sort of thing," Al suggested.

"I don't think that's really a problem now," Jonah disagreed – "even if most kids still won't admit that they like spending time with their favorite adults."

"Your perspective is a fair-bit off from the norm," Susannah advised him. "Most kids don't get to have cool, famous parents and grandparents – and then there's the reality that some parents really can be embarrassing."

"A truth that Uncle Percy's grandkids would agree with during and after every one of his speeches," Al joked.

"There's another reason to be glad that Lysandra is Minister of Magic," Susannah told him, "but let's not get into talking politics; or everyone will avoid this booth – and we do want to raise money for the charity and school kids."

The fund-raising had been Susannah's idea from the start – when the picnics were first being planned and set up as a family event instead of the train ride from London. In addition to selling food and drinks, there were booths for school and Quidditch team gear; some of the Hogsmeade stores had samples or other offerings; and there were even 'approved' wheezes for sale. Games with prizes also raised money to help students that needed it for supplies, clothes, or even Hogsmeade weekend spending money; and the picnics now funded nearly all of those needs for the school. The entertainment for the day included skits and music from the students in various clubs; the Hoverboard contests or races were judged and prizes awarded; and the exhibition Quidditch match was always between the previous Quidditch Cup winners against a professional team. The Hogsmeade Hurricane – one of the six league expansion teams – had that job this year; so there was sure to be a good turn-out of local fans as well as the students and their families.

The Hogwarts students and their guests began arriving shortly-after eleven o'clock. They used PortAll doorways in Hogsmeade; and then took carriages or used other means to get to the gates and then onto the school grounds. As volunteers, Al and Gwendolyn had responsibilities some of the time, but since they'd also been at the school for hours doing the set-up; they were able to spend time with their kids – including nieces, nephews, and all of their collective friends. They took their longest break so that they could have a late lunch and watch the Quidditch match that was above the practice pitch so that most of the spectators could fan out on the grounds around the pitch and have family-and-friends' picnics while watching the aerial battle. They had their younger twins, Muriel and Meaghan, with them; Meaghan's boyfirend, Jackson Smith; and Jackson's parents, Francine and Zack. Julian and Jillian were playing in the match – for Gryffindor House's senior team.

"Which team are you going to cheer for today?" Francine asked Al and Gwendolyn. "We'll cheer for Gryffindor House because I don't want to cheer for those pesky Hurricane. Those expansion teams were supposed to be at the bottom of the league for a century or two; and it's annoying that half of them were contenders right from their first season!"

"Al will cheer for all of our favorite players on both teams – and I'll cheer for our kids and Gryffindor House," Gwendolyn answered. "The Prides would be welcome to take a turn at one of these exhibition matches – just as you've taken turns taking over one of the camps."

"We likely should do that," Francine agreed, "but don't suggest that for all of the teams in the league – at least while our kids are still here. I do not want to see our kids playing even exhibition matches against teams like the Falcons or Dementors!"

"Maybe they could take turens in the years that Slytherin wins the Quidditch Cup," Jackson suggested – "and we will play against those teams when we're in the show too."

"Don't rush that day," Francine told him – "and I still wouldn't want to watch that kind of exhibition match. These picnics are supposed to be one last chance for some family fun; not a Terror Tours outing!"

"So we should be scared of that, but not afraid of a future picnic match against our parents' Quidditch teams," Muriel offered with a laugh. "I don't really see the difference."

"I do," Meaghan disagreed. "Our reputations would take a big hit if we lost that match to our parents. That would definitely be scarier for us!"

Your sister, brother, and their friends don't seem to be afraid of playing against your Aunt Lily and her team," Gwendolyn pointed out, "but you're not really serious anyway; and we know that you love playing Quidditch with us as much as we love playing with you."

"Despite the very real peer pressure against that," Muriel agreed. "Between that and being one of the sets of Weasley clan twins; it's a wonder that we have any friends at all!"

"We're sorry about that, but your mothers really appreciate all of the pregnancies we didn't have to go through by having our kids two at a time," Gwendolyn only half-joked. Their kids actually did get teased about that; and it was a bit amazing for their generation to have a dozen sets of twins – and a set of triplets.

"That worked for you," Francine suggested – "and that wasn't a problem for me; since we didn't want our kids to outnumber us."

"We weren't sure that we could keep up with one at first," Zack reminded her with a laugh – "and then we had Jackson; and found out that we'd been right about that!"

"Well, I'm glad that you decided to have Jackson anyway," Meaghan teased while squeezing her boyfriend's hand and smiling at him. "I guess we'll have to go with best-of-three snitch catches today. There's the first one for Aunt Lily already."

"They'll do that – and it won't matter," Muriel suggested. "The Quidditch World Cup is next summer; and Aunt Lily won't likely even lose an exhibition match on the way to getting picked as Scotland's Seeker again – or one of them."

"Your aunt worries about that sort of thing too-much," Francine told the kids, "and I find it a bit funny that you're thinking about that, Muriel, when your father is the only active player in our league with an undefeated record."

"Shhh," Muriel whispered. "Nobody is supposed to know that little secret!"

"Every other Chaser in the league wishes that he or she didn't know that," Francine countered after joining in on the round of laughs.

"Me included," Gwendolyn agreed – "not that I can actually complain about my record."

"I'd take it," Francine assured her. "Al only bugs us about that because he still insists that he'd be happy for any opponents that win against him; yet has never actually proved that."

"I will be whenever that does happen," Al assured her – "and my record only sounds impressive when you don't mention that I only have about six or seven full seasons worth of league matches. I've taken more time off than anyone else in the league too – including Gwendolyn."

"You have," Gwendolyn agreed – "and you can stop trying to understate your talents with us; since we know better."

"Gryffindor's senior team looks good today," Al said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "Will they be the House to beat this year – and I don't mean just because they're defending champions."

"We hope not," Meaghan answered. "Ravenclaw should be the House to beat – and hopefully be unbeatable!"

"Gryffindor just had the better strategy last season," Muriel offered. "The other three Houses won the junior, intermediate, and senior team titles; and they won the Quidditch Cup by coming in second-place for all three divisions."

"It's too-bad that we can't do that in the league. The Prides might win more championships that way!" Francine interjected. "To be serious, though, that is a risky strategy; and wouldn't work out very often."

"That's true," Gwendolyn agreed – "and it's impossible to control what happens in the matches between the other teams. None of the Houses have won all three divisions since the intermediate teams were started; and Gryffindor wouldn't have won the Quidditch Cup last season if one of the other Houses had managed two division titles." She smiled at her youngest twins. "Gryffindor can claim that it was their strategy all along, but while there's no doubt they moved players around to try and make sure they had three good teams; there was a fair bit of luck involved in the end results."

"Good for them; bad for our Houses," Jackson added.

"Grandparents and cousins on final approach," Muriel interjected while standing so that she could welcome them with hugs and kisses. "Is it our turn?" she asked Harry and Ginny after hugging them; and while making way for Meaghan and their parents to do the same.

"It is," Ginny agreed. "In another generation; we may need two days just to get around to seeing all of the kids."

"In another generation; you'll have enough kids and grandkids to fill an entire Quidditch league," Francine joked – "and then what would the rest of us do?"

"Retire and enjoy life," Ginny answered. "That's working nicely for us."

"For the third or fourth time – depending on how you're counting the retirements," Gwendolyn teased. "It seems to me that you need to go back to work every now and then to get a break from being too-busy when you don't have jobs."

"Sometimes it seems like that – especially at the end of summer," Ginny conceded, "but we're ready to have things slow down a bit again now."

"You say that – and then won't," Lorie suggested with a knowing smile. "You've been here for a few hours, Muriel. Haven't the eligible Wizards found out that you're currently single yet?"

"That isn't news for any of our friends; and quit trying to scare Dad."

Lorie laughed. "He likely knows who your next boyfriend will be – and then would just find a way to change the future if he saw something scary out there for any of us."

"If that's true; then I'm really glad that I wasn't too-scary," Jair Tremlett, Lorie's husband, told her.

"You and me both," Micah Barbary, Jaimie's husband, agreed.

"You likely thought it scary just to ask Jaimie and Lorie out," Gwendolyn told them. "Their Grandpa Harry does have a rather intimidating reputation."

"We liked the fact that Jaimie and Lorie didn't treat us differently because of our families and the bands," Micah advised her. "I'm sure that you can relate."

"As well as be related," Gwendolyn agreed with a laugh – "though I never imagined that happening this way for any of my Weird Sisters' cousins – either for the first or second generations of them."

"We're distracting the grandparents from their visit with Muriel and Meaghan," Jaimie told them. "Let's get back to that; since we still have nearly half-way to go."

Al and Gwendolyn had fun while they did that; and there were a handful of similar cameo moments during the rest of the exhibition match – which Lily and her Hurricane team won decisively. Julian, Jillian, and their Gryffindor team mates still had fun despite the loss, but then they moved on to more play time – mostly on the magical rides – until it was time for the picnic guests to head home and for the students to get ready for the annual opening day feast. The goodbyes with their own kids – and their nieces and nephews – didn't take long, but the clean-up kept the volunteers busy for nearly an hour. Al and Gwendolyn were among the last to leave, since he had one of the toughest jobs getting the rides packed up. That too-short while extended end to the afternoon felt very different to the 'old days' when the parents-kids' parting happened at the same time for everyone – when the Hogwarts Express pulled away from platform nine and three-quarters.

The one thing that hadn't changed was how the students and their families felt as they began another school year – regardless of how happy and excited or sad and nervous they were about the days, weeks, and months they'd be apart until the Christmas break.

"I call the first meeting of the Ravenclaw Weasley clan to order," Meaghan joked as she sat down next to Muriel – after saying goodbye to Jackson at the Hufflepuff table. "We're parent-free until December; so let's get this party started!"

"We started the meeting without you," Leanne Jordan – Lucy and Alex's daughter – advised her.

"Except that it has been more of a team meeting," Harriet Lupin added. She was Teddy and Victoire's youngest; and their only child to be sorted to Ravenclaw.

"Shouldn't we find out which players make the teams befoer having a meeting?" Meaghan joked. "Most of us have a week to get ready for those competitions."

"Facts aren't keeping us from talking about how we're going to win the Quidditch Cup this year," Leanne advised her. "Maybe we could even be the first House to win all three division titles too!"

"I'd suggest that you were spending too-much time with Aunt Lily this summer," Meaghan suggested, "but she picked playing with our Gryffindor team cousins over us – at least for our summer workouts."

"We had our fair-share of expert trainers," Dalton Towler interjected – "including your parents." Dalton was Jaimie and Lorie's younger half-brother; and a close friend of Muriel's and Meaghan's – if not also, technically, their cousin. "Maybe I'll have even learned enough to make the jump to the intermediate team this year."

"You've gotten better this summer," Muriel assured him – "and how our House does this year might depend a lot on whether we get any of our cousins sorted to Ravenclaw tonight."

"Which won't be a problem for you now that you're in fourth-year," Rose and Brandon's daughter, Rhonda, told her older cousins – and brother, Hermon. If we have too-much competition for the junior team; I could wind up on either the reserve squad for the junior or intermediate teams."

"At least you have two chances," Hermon reminded her. "Fourth-years only have the one option to play on the intermediate team." He grinned then. "That's why I'm hoping that all of our best OWL-year players make the senior team!"

"That sort of thing is one of the challenges we have now for the Quidditch Cup race," Leanne reminded him. "We should want the best three teams we can get. Last season; we only ended up with one; and the others ended up in third and fourth."

"The senior team competition will be toughest," Muriel suggested. "Half or more of those players will be looking to impress both the league and Quidditch World Cup scouts."

"I get that for the NEWT players with the league scouts," Harriet offered, "but there haven't been any Hogwarts students playing in the Quidditch World Cup since twenty-twenty-six,"

"And those players didn't go back to Hogwarts for their NEWT-year; so it doesn't really count," Xander, Leanne's younger brother, pointed out. He nodded toward the doors at the end of the Great Hall; and they were being opened for the firstie processional. "We'll have to continue this chat in a few minutes – or after the sorting ceremony."

"We win the firstie cousins lottery – again," Gwyneth declared. "Three for us; one for Ravenclaw!"

"Will that make you feel better if you get to move up to the intermediate team this year?" Casey Wood, Ollie and Lacey's son, asked. "The extra competition might not end well for some of us."

"You're not really worried about that," Aliya told him. While named after her favorite uncle; Aliya was more like her mother and aunt – as outgoing and popular as her twin.

"Our gain is also a loss for the other Houses," Gwyneth reminded Casey – "though there are players from other Quidditch families in the firstie group; so we likely won't know until after tryouts which Houses got the best new players."

"I like our chances for winning the Quidditch Cup again this year," Mattrim Weasley – Fred and Katrina's son – offered.

"Winning the intermediate team title would be nice too," his twin, Frederica, added with a nod of agreement. "Second-best for all three teams may have worked to get us the Quidditch Cup last season, but it didn't feel like winning to me; so I hope we do better."

"We just had a bit of bad luck last season; or it would have ended differently," Aliya stated. "One tie-break didn't go our way; and that title went to only real challenge will be to find a way for our senior team to best the Slytherin senior team, our triplet cousins, and their team mates."

"They're nearly as scary to play against as Uncle Al and Aunt Gwendolyn," Gwyneth told her twin. "I'm glad that we won't have that problem – at least not until we're all in the show someday."

"Maybe you'll end up on the same team with them," Mattrim suggested with a grin. "I'm sure your Mum wouldn't mind if you played for the Galleons instead of the Hurricane."

"Don't you want us to play with you and Frederica – and our parents?" Aliya asked.

"With all of the players in our family, by the time we get to the show; each team would need four sets of seven players to make room for all of us," Frederica joked. "Maybe we should try our luck at the Hoverboard race circuit instead of league Quidditch."

"That still doesn't pay very well," Mattrim pointed out. "I don't think that I'd like to be famous but poor – even if those jobs do seem to be non-stop fun!"

"Well, if we'd need four sets of players for every team; we could just do both jobs part-time," Gwyneth suggested with a laugh. "I actually like that idea quite a bit."

Their chat moved along with that suggestion; since Hoverboarding was the second-favorite magical sport for pretty much every teen and tween in the Wizarding World. The amazing feast was practically just an added bonus to go along with the conversation entertainment.

Hufflepuff had the smallest group of Weasley-clan cousins – only Dominique and Eddie's kids; sixth-year son, Dexter; and third-year daughter, Eden. They didn't sit together; had their own groups of friends; and had more inter-action with the cousins in other Houses that were closer to their own ages. They were still as-interested in Quidditch; had high-hopes for their House teams; and talked about their favorite sport with their friends. For Dexter, those friends included his best Hufflepuff friend, Dave Smith – Roman and Miya's son; and Seth and Susannah's daughter, Bethany; who they were friends with despite the fact that she'd picked his Potter cousin, Julian, to fall in love with instead of either of them! The rest of their friends were a good mix of kids from a half-dozen league teams; and they managed to be pretty good friends despite the tough competition for the twenty-one coveted spots on their House teams.

"The good news is that our intermediate team could be better this season; and the bad is that we might not do as well with the junior team – even if we keep all of the third-year students on it instead of moving any of them up a level," Dexter suggested to his friends as they filled their plates after the food had appeared – and following Headmaster Dawlish's too-long and boring speech that included new, pointless rules that most Prefects and Heads wouldn't bother to enforce anyway – himself included.

"We did get another Magpies' kid," Dave Smith reminded him. "Lillian's good-enough to earn a spot on the junior team – possibly at more than one position; since she can play Chaser or Keeper."

"She wasn't the only new player sorted to Hufflepuff," Bethany interjected – "and we do sometimes get surprise natural players too. We'll have another tough season for our senior team, since if anything; the other Houses will have even-stronger competition for us. I feel better about our chances for our junior and intermediate teams."

"We're counting on you messing up the game play for the Potter Wizards on Slytherin and Gryffindor," Dave joked; earning a round of laughs.

"Will you and Jackson do the same for Ravenclaw with those Potter Witches?" Bethany countered.

"It's more-likely that they'd mess up our game for Dave and Jackson," Dexter suggested with a snort.

"That's funny – but doesn't count for our senior team match against Ravenclaw," Bethany told them – pointing out the error in her own joke. "I think we'll be well-matched against Ravenclaw this year, though; and that might be our best chance to get a senior team win."

"We should definitely set our sights higher than one win," Dexter admonished; and Bethany shrugged.

"We can do that – as long as we're not delusional too. Everyone is still making jokes about Gryffindor's Quidditch Cup win last year, but we do all try to come up with a winning strategy. I think that we should focus on the junior and intermediate teams, and if they can win their divisions; one win would be enough for us to win the Quidditch Cup."

"I get that," Dexter assured her, "but still want at least a winning season for our senior team. We won't be among the best players here at Hogwarts or in the show if we can't compete and succeed against the other best players. I don't think that I'd want to play in the league if I'm not good-enough."

"You don't really wonder about that," Bethany told him, "but we won't all get to play for league championship teams; so there's nothing wrong with focusing on other goals – like being the best we can be; and helping our teams to be as good as possible too."

"I'd rather just win a lot," Dave offered. "Instead of going on about that, though; let's talk about what we're going to do this weekend. This is our first time having two days off before we start our classes."

"Unless you've read ahead; there will be work to do this weekend," Dexter advised him. "We'll get our schedules at breakfast; and maybe even some assignments on top of our summer holiday revision that half of our fellow students don't have finished yet."

"That's what this weekend is for – for them," Bethany joked – "though it's a bit late to try and grow the Herbology assignments now."

"Let's go back to Quidditch," Dexter suggested. "None of us really want to talk about revision tonight. The junior and intermediate tryouts are tomorrow, and there are league matches too, but I was thinking about playing on our hoverboards; and maybe putting together a Quidditch scrimmage for Sunday too – if we can get time at the practice pitch or stadium."

Those comments had them moving on to making weekend entertainment suggestions and plans; and that kept them busy and having fun through the rest of the feast – along with other bonus entertainment like wheezes that were set off regularly throughout the meal.

"You only wanted to come back for one more year of pranks and wheezes," Avery told her brother – moments after his latest prank went off on an unsuspecting Ravenclaw kid that was returning from a washroom break.

"That's true," Andrew pretended to agree, "but Dad will want us to move out of the house an hour or two after we're done school; so why should I rush out and get started on that lifestyle downgrade?"

Adara laughed. "Sure, since living in dungeon dorm rooms is so-awesome compared to anywhere else we might live – including if we just set up magical tents and camped!"

"You're Head Girl," Avery reminded her sister – the youngest of the three of them; if only by the handful of minutes between each of them. "I doubt that you'll even see your dorm room bed very often – especially this weekend."

"That might be more-true than not," Adara semi-agreed, "but Andrew is wrong about Dad kicking us out of the house – even though he does joke about it."

"I don't know about that," Andrew disagreed, "but we do outnumber the parents; so maybe we should just plan on ganging up on them and getting them to leave instead!"

Avery snorted. "Yeah, because it wouldn't be weird for the three of us to live together – along with your girlfriend and our boyfriends."

"Quit grinning like that," Andrew's girlfriend, Rochelle Davis, told him. "There is nothing that you can be thinking right now that wouldn't get you into trouble for saying out loud."

"No doubt," he agreed; though that admission didn't keep him from continuing to grin at her too. "If you wanted a boring and unimaginative boyfriend; you wouldn't be dating me."

"She just puts up with you because she's one of our best friends," Adara teased. "Avery and I appreciate Rochelle's sacrifice; since we have no idea what any Witch would see in you!"

Andrew laughed. "Leave the jokes and pranks to me – you're not very good at it, Adara."

"I can do that," Adara agreed with a shrug. "Just try not to get caught too-often. I'd need to be tougher on you than anyone else if you get into trouble – to set an example and make sure that nobody thinks I'm letting you off the hook just because you're my brother."

"Are you still glad to be back?" Xander Malfoy, Adara's boyfriend, asked him. "It'll be tough to rule the school if you're spending all of your spare time polishing armor."

"I haven't been caught that often – and that's usually been along with you and the rest of our mates," Andrew pointed out. "Adara's only messing with me anyway. She didn't act like that as a Prefect; and won't do anything differently as Head Girl. That's why everyone loves her."

"Me included," Xander agreed; and then laughed when that assertion earned him a hug and kiss from Adara.

"I'd suggest that you get a room, but you'll have one this year – and the rest of us will want to hang out there with you a lot," Andrew told them.

"Even if that means spending a lot of time with your cousin?" Kasey Parkinson asked. "Xander should've been Head Boy – not that Metamorphmagus Mongrel."

"He can have the job," Xander told his friends. "We're glad that I don't; since Adara and I wouldn't see each other as much if we had to take turns with their duties." He shook his head at Kasey's reaction. "We all know that you don't like Remus – and why, but let it go. He is a decent Wizard, and if it wasn't for the fact that he's Gryffindor – along with your personal issues with him; we could likely be friends."

"No way!" Kasey disagreed. "You've been hanging out at too-many Ministry of Magic parties this summer, mate. You sound like one of those pandering sycophants that work for your Mum now. Maybe you should go work for her too instead of playing in the show!"

Xander laughed. "That's funny; a total load of rubbish; and not going to happen. "We all love getting to go to all of the best parties, shows, and concerts – along with everything else we get to do; and there is no way I'd trade our professional Quidditch and mirror network fame future for some mundane job at the Ministry of Magic!"

"Not to mention that the Ministry of Magic couldn't afford any of us," Avery offered. "We probably made more money a year as babies than department Heads make now."

"Possibly more than Mum makes as Minister of Magic," Xander suggested with a nod – "though the three of you did better than the rest of us. Everyone thought that triplets were more-adorable."

"Growing up on mirror network shows and the rest of the media spotlights with our families hasn't always been fun," Adara told him seriously, "but there has been a lot more good than bad. This chat feels too-serious for our first night back at school. I wonder if that's normal for everyone at the start of their NEWT-year."

"I have no idea," Andrew answered, "but I'll be happy to lighten the mood a bit – if you'll look away for a moment while I do that; since I wouldn't want to get caught doing anything I shouldn't by the Head Girl!"

Many of the members of the Weasley clan – including the temporarily-kid-free parents – went from Hogwarts to Chudley for a community dinner at the cafe that spilled out onto the practice pitch because they had more than one hundred join in for that meal. It wasn't exactly a party, but felt a bit like one anyway, and after a fun play day at the school and the weekend to look forward to as well; everyone was in a great mood – even if they were also a bit sad.

"I'm so glad that we can help you out with missing your kids by sending our youngest home with you tonight," Lily told Al as they sat down with the plates and drinks they'd just filled – joining Jaimie, Lorie, and their husbands with Gwendolyn and Jonah while the twins had already opted to sit with some of their friends. "You're much-happier than last September First."

"I'm pretty sure that you said the same thing to Al last year," Lorie interjected – "while lending him your kids for that night too."

"What will you do next year?" Jaimie asked Al; and then laughed at his answering grin. "No – we do not plan on having any grand-nieces or nephews available to have you babysit by then."

"You hope not," Lily suggested. "At this point; that'd really mess up your chances for spots on one of the national teams next summer!"

"It would," Jaimie agreed, "but we should likely start this chat with trading stories from this afternoon."

"You should start," Gwendolyn suggested. "We only had a cameo moment with your sisters, brother, and their friends – mostly to avoid messing up their reputations with their House mates. Did you hang out with them much?"

"Not really," Lorie answered, "but that's partly because Adara had Head Girl duties; and Andrew was more-interested in having fun with Rochelle and their friends. We spent a bit more time with Avery and Kasey – and with James and Andrea when they stopped for their visit after work."

"They're obviously more-dedicated to their team than we are to ours," Gwendolyn joked.

"We likely got as much exercise today as they did," Lorie pointed out – "and more for Aunt Lily and her team mates. They won, but Gryffindor gave them a good workout today."

"They did," Lily agreed. "Maybe they'll even be good-enough to best your sisters' and brother's team this season."

"I don't know if they can do that or not," Jaimie offered, "but our Gryffindor cousins would likely take another Quidditch Cup without the individual team titles over any individual wins."

"Last season was Uncle Al's favorite kind of outcome – where everyone wins something," Lorie suggested. "It's the rest of us that prefer to win it all."

"We do," Lily agreed, "but let's not get the inter-team rivalry going tonight. You can go back to getting used to the future disappointment you'll have next May – and possibly next summer too – tomorrow."

"Your version of that future might be disappointing for us," Lorie agreed, "but razzing us like that only helps to motivate us."

"It does," Jaimie assured their aunt; but then turned her attention to Al. "Your magical rides were a hit with all of the teens and kids we talked to at Hogwarts. I don't know how you manage to make them better each year – and so different."

"Delving into his mind to find that answer might be the scariest ride ever," Lily suggested; earning a round of laughs. "Just enjoy the entertainment opportunities; and don't bother trying to figure out the how or why of it!"

"We can't really do that," Lorie told her. "It's likely something we inherited somewhere – our deep sense of curiosity about how everything works."

"If you got that from James; it was a pass-through," Lily joked. "He was just about the least-curious student I've ever known."

"You could say that for a lot of things with all of his kids – starting with the eyes," Gwendolyn told them, "but the rest of us can see the similarities that you share too – even when that is sometimes a bit scary."

"Including with Uncle Al?" Lorie teased; and Gwendolyn laughed.

"Definitely," she agreed. "Getting back to the Hogwarts chat, though, I've been wondering whether Avery, Andrew, and Adara will end up spending more time with Julian and Jillian this year. With Adara and Remus as Head Girl and Boy; they might cross paths in the Heads' office a lot this year."

"Probably not," Lorie answered. "There are more inter-House friendships between Slytherins and other students than ever before, but the triplets have more peer pressure about that than anyone else – especially with their cousins. Avery's boyfriend had some self-inflicted run-ins with Remus when they were younger that didn't end well for him; so that doesn't help either."

"I think that they like each other," Jaimie offered. "Maybe they'll be able to get along better once they're finished school."

"Maybe," Gwendolyn agreed – "as long as their rivalries in the show aren't as serious as they seem to be at Hogwarts."

"Well, then maybe the next change they make to Hogwarts Quidditch should be to stop having House teams; and set up teams that can recruit players from all four Houses," Jair suggested.

"That's been considered in the past," Al advised their younger tablemates, "but doing that wouldn't necessarily change very much – even if there were eventually a lot of inter-House teams; and that would be traded off against the loss of House pride and loyalty."

"They could just end up with even more cliques at the school than they already have," Gwendolyn pointed out. "There's more of that now than when we went to school. The drama club was just starting to get cool when we were there; there wasn't much of a music anything except for the musicals; and that was before all of the newer clubs like for Hoverboarding."

"Yeah, but you had the Slug Club!" Lorie joked. "None of the teacher-led clubs since Professor Slughorn retired have been even-slightly popular."

"Especially the semi-mandatory ones," Micah added. "You were so lucky that Professor Dawlish still hates your grandfather!"

"He's become Headmaster of Hogwarts," Al offered. "Maybe that will be enough to help him move on from that long-standing problem."

"That might happen – unless he's heard your Dad's annual summer jokes about taking a job at Hogwarts so that he can still spend time with his grandkids," Gwendolyn told him with a laugh. "The last time your father took a job at the same place as Dawlish; that didn't end so well for him."

"The kids should know that they have nothing to worry about," Al declared. "Dad would not take any of the jobs that Headmaster Dawlish would offer to him – like assistant caretaker or possibly junior groundskeeper in charge of cleaning up after all of the animals and magical creatures."

"That does sound like something the Headmaster would do," Jaimie agreed after joining in on the round of laughs. "We should've suggested that to our younger brothers back when they were getting teased about that."

"Malcolm was in a great mood whenever we talked to him," Gwendolyn told her, "but Dalton didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about being back at Hogwarts."

"He isn't; and we think that it's Witch-related," Lorie advised her – "though he won't talk to us about it, and if Malcolm knows anything; he isn't talking either." She laughed; and then focused her attention on Al. "You definitely know something," she declared; and that put Al into the spotlight.

"Usually," he agreed; "but I won't be telling you anything about Dalton that he wouldn't want you to know. That's true for all of you – and everyone else; so just be glad of that and not disappointed when that doesn't work out for you."

"We're used to that – even when it bugs us," Jaimie interjected. "I am curious about whether he confided in his favorite uncle or not, though. Did he?"

"No," Al answered simply and honestly. "Don't worry about him. You survived Hogwarts; and he will too."

"Probably better; since our brothers don't have the over-protective Auror father issues we had as tweens and teens," Jaimie joked.

"I heard that," Patrick told her from the table behind Jaimie and Micah.

"You were meant to," Jaimie countered with a warm smile. "We love you anyway – even if you are inconsistent with how you treat your daughters and sons."

"That would be funnier if it was actually true," Malorie told them, "but have fun with the jokes; since that is definitely an ages-old father-daughter thing – except for with me and my father."

"Your unofficially-adopted father and your father-in-law love you that much," Lorie told her mother. "We're fairly-happy with the father you picked for us too; so you seem to have a talent for picking good ones."

"And bad too," Malorie reminded her daughters; "but let's not go there. You get along with James, Andrea, and the triplets; and I'm glad of that for you."

"Even when that's sometimes-awkward for you," Lorie added. "We just try to have fun with the mix of fame and infamy that goes along with being members of the Potter side of our family."

"So you didn't get married young for the bonus name changes?" Gwendolyn teased.

"Sure, since our husbands aren't from famous families too," Jaimie answered. "If we were actually worried about that; we'd have looked for Wizards without any claim to fame at all!"

"Micah and I are really glad that wasn't a priority for you and Lorie," Jair offered. "We were following Gwendolyn's tradition of looking for partners that were from more-famous families than ours."

That half-joke moved their chat along; they enjoyed the rest of their meal; and then Al and Gwendolyn were busy for a while helping with the clean-up while the younger couples moved on – including Lily and Jonah; since they were, after all, going to be kid-free for a night or ten. Their youngest twins hung out with their friends until Al and Gwendolyn were ready to go; and then they all decided to head for their island beach house with plans to stay there as much as possible for the weekend. There were Quidditch matches to keep up with on Saturday – or attend for some of them, but the Cannons weren't playing; so having a play weekend was an option. Harry and Ginny picked a weekend on the island too; and met up with Al, Gwendolyn, and their grandkids after a stop at their own beach house for a clothes change. Gareth and Kirk went for a swim while their grandparents, aunt, and uncle took a break for cold drinks while having a chat and doing some planning for the weekend.

"I don't usually feel old, but they have more energy than I do after a long, busy day," Harry offered as he watched Gareth and Kirk swimming away from the beach – both of them talented swimmers and used to the ocean waves and currents around the island.

"You're holding up pretty well for being this far into your second century," Al joked. That was still a favorite line in their family – possibly more-so since their beloved Aunt Muriel had passed into the Light in twenty-forty-three. She'd lived long-enough to meet all of the newest generation of nieces and nephews, including the one that Al and Gwendolyn had named after her; and she'd somehow managed to pass on in a way that had been as forceful and unique as the rest of her life had been. "You've just had a very busy week with all of the extra time spent with your grandkids – or more like three straight weeks of that; since you've helped out a lot while we've been busy with the start of the Quidditch season. Will Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione be here for the weekend too?"

"Maybe starting tomorrow," Harry answered. "Ron had some work to get done tonight after having the booth at Hogwarts today and all of the extra back-to-school shopping at the stores. It'll get a bit slower for a couple of weeks now – at least here at home. School starts a bit later in other countries; so they still have other stores that are very busy; and then they have rolling waves of mail-orders from students that don't have nearby store options."

"I'd suggest that he should retire, but Uncle Ron with too-much time on his hands is a scary thought," Al suggested.

"And likely an even-worse reality," Gwendolyn agreed. "Leave him to play with his wheezes; and Hermoine is very happy to tinker with her inventions for GO MagiSports and volunteer for the charities that focus on House Elves and other Magical Creatures. She's far-happier with those jobs than she ever was with the Ministry of Magic."

"She likely gets as much done now too – or more," Gwendolyn suggested. "Aunt Hermione did so much at the Ministry – and for it; but all of those political games just get in the way of getting things done more often than not."

"That's true," Ginny agreed, "but as surprising as it is for a lot of people; Lysandra is proving to be quite adept at being in charge; and she's mostly worked for the benefit of everyone – if not always in ways that we would approve."

"It does seem that way," Gwendolyn offered; but sounded doubtful. "I still can't help feeling as though everything she does has some goal that we don't or can't see."

Ginny smiled at Al and shrugged. "That's definitely possible, but I'll cound on our favorite Wizards to be around to help set things right if things get off track at the Ministry of Magic – or anywhere else."

"With help from certain Witches," Harry added; and his smile was directed at Gwendolyn. "If Muggles can miraculously be prevented from blowing up the entire world with their nuclear bombs – saving the world in the blink of an eye; then I seriously-doubt that bad Ministry policies will be much of a challenge to overcome."

"The Muggles know that it was divine intervention that made all of those bombs and missiles disappear," Gwendolyn reminded them – "that or aliens. Let's not forget about the alien conspiracy theories!"

"I'm glad that war was stopped," Al said seriously. "Finding a new planet to live on is proving to be a real challenge, so for the foreseeable future; we need to take care of this planet."

"It's refreshing to be told now and then that you don't know everything," Ginny teased – "though sometimes I do wonder if relocating our magical world would be a very good idea. I just don't know how we could do that without having the darker side of magic go along with us."

"Leaving them behind might be worse," Harry pointed out. "We would not want to leave all of the Dark Wizards and Witches to do whatever they wanted to Muggles – especially since there are lots of magical creatures and beings that would be happy to do their bidding and help them out."

"No doubt," Al agreed, "but then that's just a good reason for finding another planet – to put those people and creatures on while we stay here and clean up this planet."

"You're too-nice," Harry told his son. "It's a wonder you completed your Auror Reserves training at all; let alone with the highest marks so far!"

Gwendolyn laughed. "You're surprised that Al is good on tests? Did you read any of his report cards from Hogwarts – or notice all of those academic awards and that golden cauldron?"

"I don't think that anyone other than you has seen those awards since he got them," Harry pointed out. "Do you still have them, Al?"

"No," Al answered; surprising Gwendolyn. "I finally found a use for the materials in them a few years ago. The cauldron and the special service award medallions are the only awards I still have from Hogwarts." He smiled ruefully at Gwenodlyn. "Would you believe that I was trying to make room for the awards our kids would be – and have been – winning?"

"No, but that's okay; and I don't really have a problem with that – as long as you don't start re-purposing our awards with the Cannons or from Quidditch World Cups and other international tourneys."

"Most of them are either on display in the offices or at the Quidditch Museum," Al pointed out. "There's no shortage of materials I can get to recycle from Muggles; so I won't need to do anything like that for any of my current or future projects."

"Like building a new world on another planet?" Ginny asked. "That might just be a big-enough project to deal with all of the Muggle garbage mess."

"you'd need a very large PortAll doorway for that," Gwendolyn suggested, "but since you have just said that it won't be a near-future solution anyway; let's leave those jokes there and move on."

Their chat expanded and moved on soon after that because Rose and Brandon arrived; they had Hugo and Alyssa's youngest, ten-year-old Lysa, with them; and she wanted them – and Al and Gwendolyn – to go play in the water with them so that she wouldn't be left alone with her cousins. Wizards could have that general effect on Witches that age; so Rose and Gwendolyn were happy to help her out with that while Harry and Ginny opted for a walk on the beach and possibly some neighbor visits along the way.

"We've already invoked rule number one for not having a kid-free night," Brandon advised Al as they floated around in the water – mostly watching their wives play with Lysa while Gareth and Kirk were still farther out from shore and in no hurry to join in on the fun with their aunts and cousin. "Hugo and Alyssa liked Lily's plan so much; they pretty much invited Lysa to stay with us; and then there was no chance that we could say no to her."

"We'll get to give them back in a day or week," Al pointed out; "and then we'll have a break until Christmas."

"A nice thought; and totally unlikely," Brandon suggested. "I can't really complain, since Landon didn't do that with us with his kids after ours started going to Hogwarts; and Lysa is the youngest – so this will be our last year for having nieces or nephews at home year-round."

"It's funny that you're mentioning that," Al offered. "Jaimie and Lorie were advising us earlier that we won't have any new grand-nieces or nephews in time for next September First to help us out with that problem."

"And we'll hope that to be true for all of our younger kids," Brandon joked. "That's one bit of your family history that I would not want to see repeated."

"True, but Jaimie and Lorie are amazing; so I wouldn't change anything about the past – even the not-so-fun parts of it."

"You might actually mean that," Brandon decided, "but couldn't they have been awesome without all of the drama? I don't know James' triplets as well as you do, but they seem to have turned out well-enough."

"I don't know them as well as I'd like, but you're right; and growing up as mirror network stars has only left them with moderately-large egos."

"Which make them small by comparison to James at their age," Brandon pointed out. "We generally had no idea how he managed to keep getting his head through the stadium entrances back then."

"He isn't exactly modest now," Al reminded his cousin-in-law and friend. "We've all managed to do well with our families, work, and lives – even though we got from there to here in different ways; and that's about as good as we could have ever hoped for as kids and teens."

Brandon laughed. "You do know what a massive understatement that is – especially for those of us that signed up for Rose's dream with the Cannons. That's still better than any dream; and now that we split the team so that our younger siblings could start a new dream with the Hurricane; it's even better."

"Except for the part where Rose invokes rule number one anytime the Hurricane bests our team," Al reminded him. "Fortunately for me; we're still ahead on that series so far."

"Unless you split the seasons and matches when you played from the time you took off," Brandon pointed out. "I still think it was the right thing to do for all of us; and they've loved proving that they're among the best players and teams on their own."

"I'm happy about that too," Al assured him – "though I might have retired by now if we'd kept the old team together."

"Gwendolyn isn't ready to retire yet – and you shouldn't," Brandon suggested. "At the rate you're playing matches; it'll take you a century to set any of the major career records for Chasers."

"I won't do that," Al promised. "Gwendolyn will likely play longer than I will, but we're going to enjoy lots of play time while we're still young too."

"Aren't you supposed to be working on a project to keep us young for centuries?" Brandon reminded him. "Most of our favorite Witches are counting on you for that – including our mothers."

Al laughed. "They can look young with charms or other magic; so I'm mostly interested in youthful good health for everyone. If looking young happens too; that'll just be a bonus."

"For all of us," Brandon agreed. "Really-old Witches in swimsuits will never be popular unless age doesn't matter anymore."

"You'd better hope that age doesn't matter for you now – with us," Rose called out. "Sound carries quite well over water if you've forgotten that – especially on quiet evenings."

"Forty – or thirty-nine – is not old," Brandon protested – "not to mention that you were two of the youngest-looking Mums at Hogwarts today. If you don't believe me; I'll get our sons to send pictures of their dorm room walls; and we'll see how many of your posters are put up before the end of the weekend."

"You don't need to do that – and we all know that our kids' roommates put those posters up to razz them."

"While still secretly being in love with you," Brandon countered. "Our boys know they can't do anything about that; and are just hoping this year that none of their mates bring along the old posters of their grandmothers – especially those Ministry of Magic wheezes posters of your Mum!"

"Don't tell Dad that; or he'll send some just to mess with you," Rose suggested with a laugh. "Hugo might have done that anyway if he heard the boys talking about that sort of thing. I think that he's more into wheezes now with his kids than he was as a teen."

"I'm sure of that," Brandon agreed, "but Lysa doesn't want to talk about that – or hear us do it; so let's move on and have some fun. Maybe all three kids would like to try a bit of water hoverboarding."

Lysa, Gareth, and Kirk were all for that suggestion; four of their favorite adults played with them above or in the water; and they collectively had an awesome start to September while their best-loved Hogwarts students began to settle into their dorm rooms and Houses while hanging out with their best friends. As usual, Al's thoughts were running in high gear as they made that transition into another school year. While those musings were wide-ranging, there was one over-arching theme to them – the fact that his life with Gwendolyn and their kids was even more-amazing than his best dreams or even anything he'd foreseen in years and decades-past. That was as-true for everyone he loved – as well as for pretty much every Witch and Wizard willing to enjoy and take advantage of all of the benefits that were available in the Wizarding World now. Sure, there were still Dark Wizards and Witches, as well as problems that still needed to be solved both with Muggles and the magical world, but the Muggle nuclear war that had been averted was just one of several crises that were resolved with 'unexplainable' miracles, so while the haters still plotted; it had been years now since the last attempt by any of the enemies of the Light to launch any major or even minor attacks.

Al and Gwendolyn were going to quietly and anonymously make sure that would continue to be true for the rest of their lives – and beyond. They did, after all, have uncountable good reasons for making those sacrifices; so they were happy to save the world in a moment or two as often as needed!

That was why they were also the current caretakers and protectors of the family's treasured Cloak of Invisibility, and unknown even to Harry; the guardians of all three Deathly Hallows.

This story is now at an end; and that is a future adventure that others can imagine and create for a future that is just waiting to be written!

***END OF HARRY POTTER – AFTER THE EPILOGUE***

A/N: As always, ultimate thanks go to J.K. Rowling for giving all of us such a fun fictional world to play in; and I hope that you've enjoyed my imaginings of the Wizarding World for Harry, Ginny, and their family, friends, and descendants!