James smiled as his wife appeared and slid to her side to wrap an arm around her waist lovingly. "Took you two long enough," he teased, eying his son. "Go on, Harry, you have to pack, also. And Happy Birthday!"

OOC: Come on, guys! We can't let this die.

"Get going, Harry," James said with a nudge, "or else you'll never get all that packing done. Merlin knows how much you have to do still... You did finish your summer work, right?"

***

Draco slowly drifted off to sleep, a gentle snore coming alive from his mouth. A snore that was much more gentle than anyone would have expected from the Malfoy heir. On his desk, not yet packed into his trunk, sat the pile of books and parchment that was his finished summer homework. He had finished it early on, and used it as an excuse for every occasion, including his own birthday... When he had been forced to spend it with a room full of Malfoy business associates who were all gray in the hair and about ten times his age.

Days passed quickly and things were great having his family right by his side, it was all he ever wanted. Before he knew it he woke up and it was the day he was to leave for Hogwarts. He was having so much fun the past week or so he completely forgot to pack. He heard his father tell him to hurry up with the packing and opened just about all his drawers before he finally he found his robes but something seemed a bit off. He looked in horror seeing that they were all green. He was a Slytherin now, it certainly explained being freinds with Malfoy and why Ron would hate him but he thought, mabe I could change that, I don't want Ron to hate me forever regardless, I'll have to prove to him I am a good Slytherin and I will. He quickly packed his robes in his bag and put the new couldron and potions supply kit and set of new books on his dresser. He quickly packed everything in his trunk along with his homework which was all done but with the ability to do some magic at home that was no suprise. He quickly headed down stairs dragging his trunk behind him and exclaimed, "I'm ready".

Lily smiled as her son walked down the stairs, dragging his trunk along. "Tsk tsk. Harry , try and flatten your hair please." She said as she scurried around the room looking for a hairbrush. Once she found one, she hurried to Harry and began to brush his hair roughly, pulling harder each time he winced. Lily put down the brush and faced him. "I guess this will have to do." She said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Ill miss you honey." She said softly as she hugged him tightly.

"Erm, I'll miss you too mom", Harry said as he hugged his mother who he felt he barely knew back but at the time she meant everything to him despite her quirks he felt like he did not want to let her go even though he knew it was not normal to want to hug his mother at his age but he did not care, he was in the comfort of his own home anyway.

"And don't forget me, Harry," James reminded, smirking as he watched his doppelgangar hug Lily. "Have you seen your sister? She should be up by now... In fact, she's running awful late..."

"Ill go get her." Lily said as she let go of Harry and began straightening his hair automatically. She turned on her heels and walked upstairs. Lily opened the door slowly and watched as her daughter slept soundlessly. Walking in, she closed the door behind her and began to shake Ellie awake.

Ellie opened her eyes frowning. "Mum, do you think that shaking me is really neccesary?" she glared. She was not a morning person. "I'll get my stuff but please don't ever wake me up like that again." She pushed her mother out of her room, dressed and lugged her trunk downstairs. "I'm not hungry. Saving that for the train," she muttered.

"We'd better go if we dont want to miss the train." Lily said as Ellie appeared from upstairs. "Get their stuff." She said to James as she she motioned towards Harry's and Ellie's trunks. "C'mon c'mon, lets go." Lily said, holding out floo powder to everyone. "I suppose Ill go with Ellie, and Harry will go alone, while James takes the trunks with him."

James nodded and grabbed the children's trunks, reporting back to the fireplace with a pice of toast stuffed in his mouth from breakfast long past and luggage in each hand. He waited for the others to go, while chewing the bit of bread he had in his mouth.

Remus Lupin went to the platform 9 and 3/4 to see Harry and Ellie off. He'd apparate to the limits when the train left. He was already on the other side and looked around for the Potters, but it seemed they hadn't shown up yet.

Ginny was of course running late with her family. This was like a tradition or something with them. No matter how early they packed or how early they got up, they always seemed to be running late. She tossed her trunk in the back of the car and sat upon it waiting for her family. "Hurry up!" She yelled at Fred and George.

Ellie slumped lazily over to her father, waiting for her mother. "Dad who's Harry going with? He can't apparate alo---," she stated. Then she saw her father by the fireplace. "How are we suppose to get to 9 3/4 that way?"

Neville's mother was still a bit peeved at him for missing the Potters in Diagon Alley, so it was alone that he went to Kings Cross, toad in cage, trunk on trolley, and robes stuffed in his pocket. He would see everyone on the platform.
He looked up at the brick collumn. This part always made him nervous. So he ran and ran and ran... and kept running, ending up on the other side. There werent many people there yet, so he parked his carousel and sat nnear it, waiting for farmiliar faces to arrive.

Finally all the Weasley's got into the car and they were off! "We're so late..." Ginny said looking at her watch. It took 30 minutes to get there and there was 20 minutes until the train pulled out. Almost as soon as she said it, her father pulled a lever and pushed a button and they were flying! ...and invisible!!! "ARTHUR!!!" she heard her mother shout. "Oh boy..." Ginny muttered.

"'Orse uh 'abit," James murmured through a toast-filled mouth. After a swallow, he added, "Harry can apparate alongside your mother, since we're the first two. Come on, pet."

***


Draco sighed as he climbed out of bed, glancing at the bags that the house elves must have packed while he was sleeping. He didn't bother to check them... Much more trouble than it was worth. He could call Dobby, his personal house elf, to get him something if he really needed it. It might be against school rules, but he was a Slytherin... And what did rules really matter to a snake?

"Mother," he called out as he wandered through the corridors. He didn't much believe that she heard him, but if she really wanted to see him off, she'd have been here by now. He barely had half an hour left before the Hogwarts Express pulled out of Platform 9 3/4. Sighing, he called Dobby to apparate him and his luggage (and eagle owl, Columba) to the station. Upon arriving, he muttered a goodbye to the house elf - seeing as he was the only one he had to say goodbye to - and looked around for some of his housemates. Pansy, Blaise, Harry...

"Pet?" she muttered, looking up at her father. "Why pet?" Ellie shook her head and walked over to her trunk. "So are we leaving?" she asked, taking hold of the handle and waiting for her father.

"We are," James said with a smile, looking back to Lily and Harry. "The slowpokes can catch up when they want to." Then, he offered his arm to Ellie and waited to apparate.

Ellie grabbed onto his arm and closed her eyes tight. She took an intake of breath and waited for her dad to apparate. Apparating was awful once again.

With a crack, James pulled both himself and Ellie into disapparation and apparation on Platform 9 3/4. The station was already busy with hundreds of students and their parents, and James found himself looking around for the Longbottoms, who had always been good family friends.

"Have you seen Ginny any where dad?" the short brunette asked, craning her neck around to see if she could find the ginger.

"I can't see her," James said, looking around for a cluster of red hair that would mean the Weasleys. "Molly and Arthur might be running late... It seems like they are."

Ellie sighed but decided her dad was probably right about that. "Hey dad? Do these shoes go okay with this skirt?" she asked curiously, but in slight worry. She wanted to look good. This was her year to impress.

James paused. He didn't know... He was a guy. "Sure, honey," he replied, "they look fine." Default answer.

"Thank you daddy," she smiled and turned the other way in a bounce, anxious to find Ginny. She wanted to leave. now.

The Weasley's were half-way there when George mentioned that he left his stinkbombs. "Oh forget them George, you'll come across some more at Hogwarts." Ginny spat. She didn't think they were going to make it and it was stressing her out. "Are we going to make it?" she asked her parents. They didn't say anything, but her dad pushed a button and they went invisible. "ARTHUR!!!" Ginny heard her mother yell. They flew to Kings Cross and landed in the back where nobody would see them. Ginny ran out and grabbed her stuff. She ran to the platform without her family. She turned and waved but didn't know if they could see. She just wanted to get on the platform. Before she knew it, she was on the other side and could see the Hogwarts Express.

Remus looked around and saw Ellie wandering around. "The Potters are here...." He muttered to himself.