Keeping up with The Potters
Harry sat at the dinner table silently munching on his vegetables, unlike someone who kept groaning about how much she hated carrots.
"I just don't like the taste, mummy!" His youngest sister whined.
Couldn't she just sneakily put them in her mouth and roll them under her tongue until dinner was over?
Harry usually did that with his least favourite foods and then spit them out in the garbage can later.
He'd figured out the trick when he was around seven and was still going strong with the tactic, although he did get a knowing look from mum sometimes when it was her turn to take out the trash.
But she never told dad about it so it was a win.
Harry always ate what was on his plate anyway, he wasn't a picky eater. Food was food, after all.
"You have to eat your vegetables dear. Look at Harry, he's never picky about his food." His mother chastised her, green eyes nodding appreciatively at Harry as he ate.
He beamed with pride as he stuffed another carrot in his mouth, earning him a glare from the stupid eight year-old girl sitting by his right.
He made a face at her and she threw one of her carrot pieces at him, so he shoved her away, causing her to scream as she nearly fell from the chair.
"Harry!" Lily scolded, not really taking her eyes off of Jamie. He was only two so he was usually spoon-fed by her.
He still had his face covered in little food bits by the end of the meal, though.
"Wha-she threw a carrot at me!" He yelped defensively.
"Well you started it!" His sister screamed.
He earned a disapproving look from his mother. It wasn't fair! Just because he was the eldest, he was always the one getting scolded! His sister, Sophie, never got in trouble for her antics.
"Kids please just eat your dinner in peace. Sophie, eat your vegetables, don't throw them at your brother. Harry, don't shove your little sister." Their father sighed.
"Yes dad." Him and Sophie scowled in unison.
They never ate their dinner in silence, though. Talking was always common at the Potter estate in Godric's Hollow.
Debbie, Harry's other sister, was trying to start a conversation among them about something she wanted.
She was always closer to him than the other five potters sitting with them.
Maybe because she was only a year younger than him, or maybe because they were both little mischief makers who enjoyed bothering their family members.
Harry never tried to get in trouble, but Debbie always had a way of dragging him along.
Either way, she always sat next to him, her short dark hair just as messy as his own, as she whispered away bits of gossip to him. This time though, she only wanted one thing.
"Can we come with you to Diagon alley? I want to help Harry shop for Hogwarts! Please?" She begged. Harry laughed at the puppy eyes she was making behind her round, red-rimmed glasses.
"No way. I'd have a hard enough time managing Harry and the baby." Mum patted her pregnant stomach,"Besides, you've got school."
"But you aren't letting us come to send him off at the train either! It's not fair!" Debbie whined, "We won't get to say goodbye to him!"
"You're acting like you want to come because you'll miss me, not because you want to see the Hogwarts express." Harry remarked and she kicked his foot under the table.
He kicked her foot back and they started having a kicking war in silence, lest their parents scolded them for it.
Their father sighed, obviously noticing their awkward postures as they tried to kick each other's legs away, and he ran his hands through his dark hair.
He was only thirty two but he already had grey streaks of hair. Harry's uncle Padfoot made relentless fun of him for it.
"You have school, kid. You'll go to Hogwarts when you're his age anyway." James comforted her.
"I'm ten years-old. That's a whole year from now." She complained.
"Mummy, I want to come to the platform too!" Five year-old Matthew admitted, green eyes pleading in the same way Debbie's brown ones were.
He looked alot more like mummy than the others, with slightly lighter skin than the rest and with her nose and eyes.
Him and Harry were the only ones with their mother's eyes in the family. A fact Sophie and Debbie were always jealous of.
"No baby, you have school too, remember?" Their mother declined again.
Matthew slumped his head in disappointment, dark hair bouncing with his head.
Harry felt a little giddy at having the privilege of going somewhere they were all dying to go before any of them actually could. But he kept the feeling to himself.
They'd all been incredibly excited since the letter arrived from Hogwarts.
All the marauders that were pleasantly talking in the garden all patted him on the back excitedly, so he wasn't too worried about what would happen.
But he was still nervous. He wouldn't get to hang out with his siblings and parents as much, only sending each other letters through the owl Hagrid had got for him. (Harry had named her Hedwig although Matthew insisted he call her Snowy. What kind of name is Snowy?)
"What do you think, Harry?" His father asked.
He realised he'd zoned out of the conversation completely.
All eyes were on him now as he found out he was being given the choice on who could come with him.
However much bad he would feel at adding stress to his parents' already hard days of work, something in him wanted to see his siblings as much as he could before Hogwarts kicked in.
He opened his mouth, hesitating at every other word.
Debbie was looking at him pleadingly, Sophie was still glaring at him from the shove, Matthew was looking at him hopefully and Jamie was looking around in a confused but amused way only babies could manage.
"Yes. Please let them come." He decided.
He wanted his family there for the last time. He'd miss them too much soon enough.