Despite it being a Monday morning, the Nepenthe Restaurant was full. Families, friends, and visitors had gathered to join in on the latest brunch specials, from prosciutto styled eggs Benedict, to pancakes delicately sprinkled with some ricotta cheese. From where he sat at his own little table, Harry could see the slight annoyance on his mother's face from a distance. She attempted to mask it with a smile, and while she had others fooled, Harry could sense it. She wasn't annoyed by her customers at all, but by the idea of brunch in some ways.

Far too often, he had heard that brunch wasn't much of thing back in Italy, at least, where she had grown up and since opening her restaurant, it seemed to be the most popular meal after dinner. His father had told her that it was really just the eating hour that classified as brunch, not so much the menu, but Renata didn't believe it one bit. Instead, she decided to come up with a brunch menu that mixed the specials of breakfast and lunch together.

As he watched her expression from a distance, he was caught no later than a few seconds as Renata turned her head and spotted him. Immediately, her facial features softened and she offered a genuine smile his way. Normally, she would make her way over to check on him every few minutes, but that morning had kept her busy and away.

Harry didn't mind it though, after all, he was used to spending his mornings at the restaurant. While the rest of his family enjoyed sleeping in most mornings, Harry was always up early with his mother and she always invited him to tag along if he wished. But that particular morning, he was also waiting on some company of his own.

Earlier, he had received an owl from one of his best friends, Huxley Lupin, who claimed he had some exciting news to share. He said he would be stopping by at the restaurant around noon at the latest, which was only fifteen minutes off. All the while, Harry was trying to figure out just what the exciting news was that Huxley wanted to share, coming up with several guesses of his own but they all sounded dreadfully silly.

Suddenly, just as Harry was about to stand up and head off to the loo, the door to the restaurant burst open, startling a great majority of the people dining. Harry spotted him right away, Huxley running before coming to a straight halt and looking around. His father, one of Harry's father's best friends, Remus, arrived in the doorway, shooting an apologetic look in everyone's direction.

"Harry!" Huxley exclaimed once he spotted him before running over. "Harry, you won't believe it!"

He slammed several pieces of paper onto the table just before running his hands through his brown hair to keep it out of his eyes. He was slightly winded, probably running around all morning, but it didn't stop the wide grin on his face.

"Well, go on, take a look at it!"

Fighting back a laugh, Harry bit down on his tongue before taking the pieces of paper into his hands and looking it over. It only took him the first couple of lines to see exactly what it was.

"You got your Hogwarts letter?!"

"Sure did!"

Through the bit of sunlight that poked through on an overcast day, it seemed to shine on Huxley in those moments as he basked in pride. The light hit the pink scars on his face that he often tried to cover behind his hair but not during his celebration.

"That just leaves you and Ron, yeah?" he said. "Neville got his last week, so maybe you're up next."

"I hope so."

There was no doubt when it came to the adults that the boys would be getting their Hogwarts letters shortly. However, as the time drew closer to when the term was supposed to start, their anxiety seemed to grow. And with Neville and Huxley getting their letters, Harry crossed his fingers under the table that his would arrive soon. For the last few nights, since Neville announced getting his, Harry had dreamt that he was the only one out of his friends that didn't get the letter.

He wasn't so sure why he was worried about, especially after his parents reassured him time and time again that he would definitely be going to Hogwarts.

"Anyways, Dad and I aren't staying long," Huxley announced, " he said now that I got my official letter, we can go get my wand."

"Yes, and we might want to get a move on before Ollivander decides to get some lunch for himself," Remus' voice rang out over them, leaving both boys to look over.

Apparently, Huxley wasn't the only one thrilled about his letter as Remus seemed to be grinning from ear to ear as his hand came to rest on Huxley's shoulder. He, of course, greeted Harry and asked him how he was doing that morning. As Harry responded that he was fine, he could see the bag of food in his hand that was probably shoved into his arms to take by Renata.

Between Molly Weasley and his mother, Harry always noted that they made sure everyone around them was well fed.

"Oh, are those scones?!" Huxley attempted to peek into the bag, only to have Remus lift it out of his reach at the last second.

"It might be, but you already had breakfast this morning, remember? You can have this after we get your wand, but we need to get going."

"Alright, alright," he huffed playfully before turning to Harry, " I'll see you later, Harry!"

But as he went to turn away, Huxley seemed to remember his letter and quickly turned to grab it off the table, sending another farewell to Harry.

Remus waved his goodbye before the two turned to leave, both of them calling out goodbye to Renata before exiting the restaurant. Alone once again, Harry turned his attention out the window watching as Huxley and Remus left.

It was amazing to see how much the two resembled each other, one wouldn't have guessed they weren't related by blood unless they were told. They even shared similar scarring, but no one ever brought that up unless they didn't know about the condition that plagued the two. But it always made Harry wonder if Huxley resembled his biological parents? He had never seen a photo of them and Huxley didn't have anything from them, only being a toddler when they died.

Harry knew what it felt like somewhat, losing his biological mother when he was only a year old. Although he supposed it helped that he looked very much like his father, but there had been many times where people had mentioned that he shared the eyes of the late Lily. He had seen it in photographs in an album that his father had given to him when he was younger. Between James and Renata, they sat down as a family to explain to him that Renata was not his biological mother.

At first, Harry didn't know what to make of it, his earliest memories always included Renata being there with him and his father, even before Ilaria and Monte came along. But that was when the little things started to make sense to him, such as why Monte and Ilaria looked like a mix of both of their parents, rather than just the one. Harry never really thought he bore any resemblence to Renata but he just thought that's how it had turned out, nothing to really think about.

But then he started to wonder why there weren't baby pictures of him and Renata, like the newborn shots of her with Ilaria and Monte. He felt silly for not picking up on it sooner and then it left him with questions pertaining to the woman he couldn't remember. However, he remembered Renata's face when they had to tell him the truth, she was calm on the surface, but her eyes betrayed her as they watered slightly.

She told him that it didn't change anything between them, at least, not on her behalf. To her, he would always be her son and blood or not, she would do anything for him as a mother would. Harry believed her, she had never given him a reason to doubt her word. And James told him that if he had any questions about Lily, he was more than welcomed to ask.

And Harry wanted to ask but he felt uncomfortable doing so with his mother present. He didn't want to hurt Renata's feelings and there were days where he wished both of his parents had never told him about Lily at all. Simply because it left him wanting to know more about a person he was never going to meet.

"Something on your mind, patatino?" Renata's voice dragged him away from the window as she referred to him as her "little potato;" a nickname that had stayed with him since he was around Ilaria's age.

"I was just thinking about my Hogwarts letter," Harry half-lied as his mother took a seat across from him. "Huxley got his today."

"So I heard," Renata smiled, " and you are going to get yours too. You just have to give it a bit more time, I promise. School doesn't start for a little over two months. You need to enjoy the rest of your summer because when school starts, you're going to regret not spending your free days wisely. And I don't mean spending it every day here at the restaurant with me."

"But I like spending time with you," Harry told her.

"And I love spending time with you, but really, what fun are you having here? There are plenty of different places for you to go and have a better time, I promise."

"Such as?"

"You'll see," she winked at him, " just wait until your father gets here."

It was safe to say that Harry's curiousity had been piqued with the promise of doing something fun that afternoon. And while his mother left him once again to let the kitchen know she would be leaving shortly, Harry waited patiently until James arrived with Ilaria and Monte. Monte was sitting on their father's shoulders, while Ilaria skipped inside.

His little sister definitely appeared to be in better spirits as the last few days she had been fighting off a nasty ear infection that caused her accidental magic to go absolutely haywire as she fought through the discomfort. It led to several broken glasses and toys but with the help of St Mungo's and some draughts, it was as if she had never been ill or in pain in the first place.

As usual, she was the first to spot Harry and made her way over, climbing into his lap. "Harry, you won't believe it!" she said grabbing him by the front of the shirt and shaking him. "Guess where we're going?!"

"St Mungo's more than likely if you don't stop shaking me!"

The two giggled after she stopped and saw that Harry's glasses laid crooked on his face from all the motion.

"No, cuculo!" she shook her head at his "silliness," her hair whipping him in the face. "Mummy and Daddy and are taking us to the zoo today!"

"Awwww!" Monte moaned as he made his way over once James placed him down. "Lari! I was supposed to tell him. Daddy, I was supposed to tell Harry the surprise!"

"Piagnucolone," Ilaria muttered under her breath as James came over due to Monte's whining.

"Ilaria, be nice," James told her, "and Monte, why don't you tell Harry the name of the zoo, Ilaria didn't tell him that yet."

"Chessington!" Monte blurted out before Ilaria dared to say it.

Harry didn't really care what the name of the zoo was, he was just excited over the idea of going. But he thanked Monte for telling him to help his younger brother feel included. James came over and ruffled Harry's hair, something he always did as if he was making sure that Harry's hair remained messy.

"Looks like your mum has been busy with the brunch crowd today. I'm sure she was thrilled about that. How have you been holding out here, not too bored, I hope?"

"No, I like coming here," Harry said, " besides, Huxley and Uncle Remus were here not too long ago. Huxley got his Hogwarts letter and then they left to Ollivander's to get his wand."

And as if the same thoughts ran through James' head that ran through his wife's, he said nearly the same thing that Renata did earlier.

"Your letter will be here soon, son, I promise. When you're not thinking about it, it'll just pop up. So don't dwell on it."

"I'm not."

Just as James went to respond, the two were interrupted by Ilaria and Monte leaving them to go greet Renata, who was coming their way. The two collided into her legs, hugging her as if she had been gone half a century. James was about to walk over to greet her as well, but before he could walk away, Harry reached out and grabbed his father's hand.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?" James turned to him attentively.

"Do you mind, after the zoo or something, if me and you talk? Just...just the two of us? I have some questions about some things."

His father's hazel gaze lingered on him for a second as if he was trying to figure out just what Harry wanted to talk about, but he followed it up with a nod of his head.

"Of course," he answered before pulling Harry up to his feet, "we'll talk when we get home. We'll go for a walk, just you and me."

More than satisfied with the answer, Harry joined the rest of his family as they prepared to leave for the day. He was about as excited as Ilaria when it came to the zoo, listening to her talk about the gorillas and the reptile house that was apparently at Chessington. There would be plenty to see and do that would distract him from not receiving his letter from Hogwarts, and when they got home, he would be able to ask questions about Lily.

However, the day at the zoo wasn't going to turn out to be as relaxing for the Potter family as they intended.

It was the 23rd of June, and somewhere in Surrey, someone had just been given thirty-six birthday presents, but last year, he recieved thirty-seven.