2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

EPILOUGE | NINETEEN YEARS LATER

1 September 2017

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the black haired girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.

"It won't be long now, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.

"Two years! Two long, horrible, boring years!" Calypso Lily Potter sniffed dramatically.

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Oliver's voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamor; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" said Iris.

"I only said might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother, "Might be. There's nothing wrong with being in Slytherin. Mum was in Slytherin —

But James caught the stern look his mother was giving him and fell silent. Beside him, Teddy let out a little chuckle and they approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his youngest brother, James took the trolley from his mother and broke off into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Oliver asked, capitalizing on the absence of his brother.

"Every day, if you want us to." Iris said, smiling down at her son who was the spitting image of his father minus the scar.

"Maybe not every day." Oliver rocked back and forth on his feet. "Maybe every other day."

"Deal." Iris said.

"Promise?" Oliver held out his pinky. Iris smiled.

"Promise." She said, looping hers with his.

"Come on, Ollie." Teddy ushered his brother forward.

Side by side, they pushed the other trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Oliver winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which James had already disappeared.

"Where are they?" asked Oliver anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them." Iris said reassuringly.

"Mum," Teddy said, capturing her attention. Iris turned to him. "I'll be back."

"Okay." Iris said and, like James, he disappeared into the crowd.

The vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud. Iris thought she heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello. . . .

"I think that's them, Ollie," said Iris suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Iris, Calypso, and Oliver had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Oliver, sounding immensely relieved. Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry and Iris. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."