Miami, Florida, USA

1st of august, 1996

It was early morning, and a certain redhead was pulling her husband out of bed.

"But Lilyyyyy, it's Saturday. I wanna sleep in,"James wined at his wife, who was more than ready to levitate him and drop him into the bathtub.

"EXACTLY!! Look, you need to wake up the kids while i take my shower, then you take a shower and wake the kids up again cause knowing our children, Bella will be the only one up and getting ready" replied Lily sharply.

"And why exactly do we have to wake up so bloody early in the morning ?"muttered James burying his face further into the pillow.

"Seriously James? We're taking the kids to Canter Coast today, remember? "

James sat up in a matter of seconds, all thoughts of sleep forgotten, "THAT'S TODAY? oh god, how did i even forget that," he cried out, scrambling out of bed and through the door.

"Oh, and James?" Lily called after her husband just as she was entering the bathroom. "Please take Leo with you to Bella's room," she said gesturing to the small pup who was laying on a comfy-looking pillow beside their own bed.

James re-entered the room, grabbed the dog who was just starting to stretch and proceeded out the door towards what his wife likes to call "the only decent looking room in the house". His only daughter's room.

The youngest Potter's room was quite dark, the only light coming in through the small window on the furthest wall from the door. Through the soft light, James could see his little girl sleeping, her small chest rising and falling and her messy red hair spread out across the cream colored pillows. He was trying to think up a nice way to wake his youngest when she rolled over murmuring a soft greeting.

"Hey baby," James smiled, bending over to press a small kiss to her forehead. "Sleep well?"

"Yea slept alright," She sighed softly. "Is mum feeling better?"

"Yes sweetheart mummy's feeling much better than yesterday," James answered a small smile etched on his face. "Now c'mon i don't think she'd appreciate it if we weren't ready by Nine."

"Alright," she sat up and stretched. "Can we take Leo with us?"

"Of course sweetie. Just get ready, grab his leash, and come down for breakfast, alright?"

"Okay"

"Love you baby"

"Love you too daddy"

James quickly exited the room, shook his head lightly. One down, three to go. He walked across the hall and ducked into another room.

"C'mon boys wake up, we're going to Canter Coast"

His words had the desired effect on the two young teens as they both bolted up and hopped right out of bed.

"We're going to Canter Coast?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"When are we going?"

"Can we go right now?"

"Please"

"Please"

"PLEASE," the twins endded dramatically, clasping their hands together.

"Alright alright," James chuckled. "Get dressed and head down to breakfast, we'll be leaving directly after that."

"YES!" Ray pumped his fist up into the air while Jay performed his own little happy dance."Thanks dad."

"No problem boys" James called back as he moved on to the third and final door.

He knocked lightly and peered inside, his expression turning into that of surprise when he found the room to be empty. He stepped into the room, finding it to be completely empty.

"Caiden? Cai, you in here bud?" James called out as he checked the bathroom only to find it also vacant.

He hurried out of the door and towards the railing that looks over the ground floor, sighing in relief when he found the red head lounging on the couch reading a book.

"Morning Cai"

"Hey dad," Caiden greeted, throwing his head back and peering up at his father. "What's up?"

"You ready to go?"

"Yea, i'm all set" Caiden nodded.

"Good. Why don't you get started on breakfast? Mum's gonna be down in five to help."

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks Cai," James grinned as he started walking back up the stairs.

"Hey, uhh dad? Is mum feeling better?"

"Yes, Cai, Mummy's feeling much better than last night." James smiled softly as his boy as he continued his trek up the stairs.

"All done, Lils." James grinned as he leaned against the doorframe, watching his wife brush her damp hair back and pull it up into a ponytail.

"You're kidding," Lily stared back at her husband through the mirror. "There's no way you woke all four up that fast."

"Well, Bella woke up when i walked into the room, Ray and Jay woke up as soon as the word Canter followed by the word Coast were spoken and Caiden was already up," James recited, a Lazy smirk on his face. "Cai's got a start on breakfast by the way. Told him you'd be down in five."

"Well then, i'd better hurry if we want to actually eat anything for breakfast today. The boy certainly inherited his dad's complete uselessness in the kitchen," Lily teased as she poked him in the arm on her way out the door.

"Hey Lils. Bella and Cai asked if you were feeling better.. i said yes but i thought you should know. I also heard the boys speaking last night, saying that you were acting weird" He trailed off, not exactly knowing what to say and how to say it.

Lily kept her gaze firmly on the ground, "They're certainly getting older, aren't they? Getting more observant. They never noticed that somthing was off when they were younger. Guess they didn't get your obliviousness after all," She finished with a small sigh.

"Listen, Lils." James sighed as he reached for her hands. "I know it's hard, okay? It's hard on me, too. But you need to let go of what happened back there to enjoy what's happening right now. Here. Our babies have grown up so fast. Bella's starting her first year-"

"I know, James. I know, but.. i can't help but think that she could've been starting her first year at Hogwarts. We would've taken her to the Hogwarts Express and we would've gotten her a pet. Cai would've had his O.W.Ls this year. And Harry-"

"Lily.."

"Harry would've been a sixth year, James. He would've turned 16 yesterday. Sixth year. He would've learned all about amortania and non-verbal spells in Defence and.. he would've done great in all of them. Just like his dad did."

James sighed rubbing his eyes, "Lily-"

"James, i know it's dumb. It's been fifteen years and i'm still hung up on this. I know it's just ridiculous at this point." Lily turned away from him, trying to hide how much this really got to her.

James stepped up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's not dumb, Lily. Nor is it ridiculous. But for your own sake before anyone else's, you need to let this rest. I'm not telling you to forget it ever happened, I'd never do that, but at least just..put it at the back of your mind for a bit."

Lily rested her head against James' chest and sighed deeply. "You're right. Why don't we just tell them, James? Why can't we just tell them the truth? They're certainly old enough, and they deserve to know."

"If you're ready to tell them, then we can tell them. Maybe after we get back from Canter Coast though. Sound good?" James asked, rubbing her back smoothly.

"Yea, sounds great" Lily agreed kissing his cheek lightly and giving him a small smile. "I better go see what your son did to the food"

"You go ahead, I'll get dressed and follow you down, okay?"

"Alright but you better hurry. We're already behind schedule." Lily shook her head fondly as she descended the stairs. "Okay Cai, show me what's going on."

Caiden glanced back at his mother and smiled sheepishly, "wellllll... i think that bacon's almost done, but i didn't dare try to make the eggs."

"That's okay." Lily said as she checked on the pans. "That bacon's ready to go, plate it up and put it on the table. And then if it's not too much trouble, could you go get your siblings?"

" 'Course," Caiden said as he put the plates of bacon on the table and headed towards the staircase. He walked down the hall, greeting his dad as he passed him, and barging into the twins' room.

"Are you guys almost ready yet?" Caiden questioned as his nose wrinkled in distaste at the sight of the messy bedroom, "breakfast's almost ready."

"Yea sorry Cai," Ray muttered as he tried and tried and tried to get his hair to stay flat. "Jay was hogging the bathroom."

"Was not!" Jay protested from his place at the end of the bed where he was tying his shoelaces. "We'll be down in a sec Cai, don't worry."

Caiden shrugged as he walked out of the room and knocked on the door opposite. "Bella? Can i come in?" and walked in when he heard a muffled "yea".

"Morning Cai," Bella greeted while putting her hair in a ponytail.

"Morning Bella," Caiden bended down to greet the small beagle at his feet. "Where's his leash?"

"It's on my bed, but don't put it on him yet. He hates having it on inside the house."

"Alright, are you ready to go?"

"Yup, c'mon."

Both siblings walked out of the room and down the stairs where they were greeted with the sight of their parents fighting over bacon.

"For the last time James, american bacon is just as good as english bacon and no we're not going all the way to england for bacon."

*******

All six Potters gathered around the table for breakfast, unaware of the dangerous day that lies ahead of them.

*******

That end felt really rushed but i needed to get an update out. Literally anything. Also, something i probably should've mentioned, Canter Coast is my made-up americanized version of diagon alley. According to my overactive imagination, there's another one on the west coast because people in Alaska shouldn't have to floo all the way to Florida for school supplies, but that's about it. Like it? Hate it? Tell me! (Please and Thank you!!)