In Godrics Hollow, in the very same spot that his parents lived, Harry Potter built his house. It was the perfect house in every aspect. The house was built of limestone with large bay windows and a grand balcony that went around the whole left side, not to mention the white picket fence Ginny requested be built to enclose the large yard. It was the perfect house for a young witch or wizard to grow up in, and in this case, it was a house that many young witches and wizards grew up in.


***

It was late August and the sun was just beginning to rise, but Rose was already awake and twisting her auburn ringlets between her fingers. Her parents were taking her and her brother, Hugo into town today to buy her new school things. Hugo was not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts (probably the best school for witches and wizards around), but Rose who was going into third year, and six of her cousins were, Their families were all meeting in Diagon Alley later that day and Rose was far too anxious to sleep. She decided that now the sun was up, and so should everybody else. First, she ran into her brother's room and jumped on his bed.

"Hugo, get up!" she shrieked. "We have to get ready to go into town!" Hugo swiftly opened his bright blue eyes only to be blinded by the morning sun as Rose hastily tore open his Chudley Cannons curtains.

"Aw, Rosie! Please get the sun out." Hugo moaned.

"No, Hugo, I can't. I need you to get up."

"Why? It's so early."

"Don't you want to go to Diagon Alley? Hurry up! I'm going to go wake up Mum and Dad."

And with that, she was out of the room and running down the hall to her parents' room. Rose carefully creaked the door open and peaked her head inside. Her parents were fast asleep and her dad was even snoring. She tip-toed into the room and around to her mother's side of the bed. Ever so quietly she nudged her mum awake.

" Mum, are you awake?" She prodded her mother with her finger. "Mum, get up. We have to get ready to go to Diagon Alley." Hermione peeked her eyes open and looked at the time. It was 6:13 in the morning.

"Rose, please, it's 6 a.m. Your father and I are trying to have a lay in."

"But Mum, you're already awake. I know you won't get to sleep now, and Dad won't wake up until noon unless someone persuades him to do otherwise. Please Mum. I'm sure that Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry are already awake, and we are supposed to go over there and meet them before we go to Diagon Alley." Rose whined. Hermione finally got up and headed for the loo.

“Daddy, wake up!” Ron just grunted and rolled over. Rose decided to go get herself ready and make sure that Hugo was ready before she came back to wake her father.


***


“Rose! Hugo! Come here and give us a hug." Ginny was smiling from ear to ear at the sight of her soot-covered niece and nephew. Harry was standing at her side with the same cheesy grin on his face, while Hugo and Rose ran into their outstretched arms.

After all the greetings, the three Potter children and the two Weasley children went outside to play while the grown-ups sat inside sipping tea and waiting for Uncle George and his family. Rose and James sat on the swings and talked while the others started to set the hoops up so that they could have a game of Quidditch.

“Are you excited for school this year, James?"

"Yeah, third year should be awesome. Is your mum going to let you buy a pet today? Dad said that I could get an owl for my birthday and Al gets to get a new broom because he got prefect this year."

"Yeah, Mum said I could pick whichever animal I wanted, so long as it's not a rat." Rose crinkled her nose. "Dad just gave her a funny look when she said that."

"Ha, ha, that's good."

"I bet your mum and dad are pleased that Al got prefect."

"Yeah, they are very pleased. What kind of animal do you want?" James asked going slightly pink around the ears.

"Probably a cat or an owl. An owl would be the most practical, but I would love a cat to cuddle too." James just nodded because at that very same moment, their older cousins Fred Jr. and Roxy walked into the back yard.

"Albus, toss me that Quaffle!" Fred shouted and Albus tossed over the red ball. Fred gave a wink in Rose, and James' direction before heading over to the little Quidditch pitch that Harry and Ron had built for the kids to practise in three summers ago when Al made Seeker.

"Well Rosie, I guess we had better get over there before Fred starts to shout." Rose nodded in agreement before she stood up and followed Fred and James onto the pitch.

The seven kids played for about half an hour before Ginny called them all in to wash up for lunch. After their meal of sandwiches, the family lined up single-file in front the fireplace, and one by one grabbed a pinch of Floo powder, stepped into the flames, and swirled away to Diagon Alley.

They arrived to find that the streets were packed with last minute shoppers, as there was only one week left until school. Deciding that they best hurry, the group set off at a quick pace towards the shops. The first stop was Madame Malkin's Robe Shop. Both Fred and Albus had grown so much over the summer that they needed new robes, and as it was Lily's first year she also needed new ones. Everything was taking so long that the group decided to split up and meet up again at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in two hours time. So Rose, James, Hugo, and Roxy headed with Hermione, Ron and George over to the Apothecary to refill their potions supplies while Albus, Fred Jr. and Lily went with Harry, Ginny and Angelina to Olivander's to buy Lily's wand. Two hours later, they all met up at the ice cream parlour, tired and laden with shopping bags, with two owls hooting loudly.

"Has everybody gotten everything they needed off of their school lists?" Hermione asked over the chatter and seven heads nodded.


***


The last day of summer came quickly. The whole family was at the Potters', as usual, and they were having a going away party for the kids. Even Grandma and Grandpa Weasley showed up. As well as the Longbottoms and their young son Lysander, who like Hugo, was only nine years old and wasn't yet attending Hogwarts. They all sat in the large family room, many of the kids scattered on the floor and in laps as there were so many people there. They talked about their days at school and Even Grandma and Grandpa Weasley joked to the kids about all the trouble their parents had gotten into, particularly, Fred and George. They all shared a laugh when they were told about the portable swamp Fred and George created to anger Professor Umbridge in their sixth year.

After the cocoa was finished and the stories told, Hermione stood up with a sleeping Hugo in her arms and declared that she was heading home. Ron and Rose followed, heading towards the fireplace to gather some Floo powder and stepped into the grate. They were gone in a flash of green light. Neville’s family went next and the rest followed until it was just the five Potters sitting in the family room. Ginny then got up and ushered the children to bed, telling them to finish packing when they got upstairs because they wouldn't have time to in the morning before they left to catch the train.

They all met at King's Cross Station the next day and entered onto platform 9 3/4. The platform was filled with students and their families. Everyone was saying their goodbyes and hugging their parents. Rose prodded James in the side and nodded her head towards a young blonde boy standing just a few feet away with a few of his friends. Scorpius looked up just in time to see Rose avert her eyes.

"Can you believe him?" Rose said quickly, looking away.

"He thinks he is so great just because he is the Seeker for the Slytherin team and his father is the Potions professor."

"I know. Do you think Professor Malfoy will be riding on the train with us?" Rose asked, looking utterly disgusted as she waved goodbye to her family and boarded the train.

"I sure hope not."

All thoughts were shoved from their minds, however, as the train whistle blew and everyone rushed to get their luggage tucked away and into their seats. The three Potters and the three Weasleys all grabbed a compartment together. Soon, however, Al had to leave to attend to his prefect duties, Roxy left to sit with some friends that were in Ravenclaw with her, and Fred left to go talk to some of the boys on the Quidditch team. Rose, James and Lily sat in the compartment chatting about classes, houses, and professors until it was time to change into their robes and the train came to a screeching halt.

"Finally," Rose breathed. "We're back!"