It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 24

                                   Chapter 24: Meanwhile, back at the lab . . .

"Harry?"  Ginny sat down on the sofa next to her husband.

"Hum?"  Harry had been staring at the tops of the trees in the tiny park across the street from 12 Grimmauld Place.  "What is it, sweetheart?"

"Do you think, when our history changes, we'll still have our children?"  Ginny looked genuinely worried.

"Oh, of course we will!  Some events in our lives will change, but we know when we conceived each of them, so,"  Harry shrugged, then grinned and wiggled his eyebrows up and down, "We'll just make sure to repeat the process . . . should get the same kids and if they're even the slightest bit different, we'll still love them . . .  they're our children, Ginny."  Harry pulled his wife close and planted a kiss on the top of her head as she snuggled with him.

"I was thinking the same thing, Ginny," Hermione whispered, as Ron hugged her tighter.

"It'll all turn out just fine; stop worrying, 'mione," Ron tried to reassure her, but she could tell he was just as concerned as she.

Draco stood and went to the window, looked out at the quiet street and then turned to regard his friends.

"You lot should be fine.  I'm the only one who might have a significant change. If Gregory lives, then Astoria will marry him, in all probability, which will be the way it should have been in the first place . . . she was his girl.  Plus, I'm not about to try and lure her away from him . . . I may have been a git, back then, but I wouldn't do that to my best mate."  He shrugged.  "There will be a window of opportunity where I could meet someone else and still have a child around the same time as Scorpios was born . . . it's one of the risks we all had to take to do this.  And I except that.  We all have to accept that reality, everyone will have something that's not the same as before . . . maybe  something won't be there at all!"  Draco flopped down in the armchair he had been occupying for the last fifteen minutes.  He glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow.  "We'll know for sure in another five minutes, in any case."

"Oh, dear, I have a bad feeling about this," whispered Ginny.

* * * *

Harry and Professor Snape emerged from the fireplace in the Headmaster's office with a belch of green flames.

"Ah, good morning, Harry.  Been enjoying your holiday?"  Albus asked, as he put down his quill and focused on the young Wizard standing in front of his desk.

"Good morning, Headmaster!  I've been having a grand time; talking with Dan, Rupert, Emma and Tom . . . it's just amazing the things I've picked up from them.  Even growing up as a Muggle, their perspective of our world, from their standpoint, has been invaluable to our plans."

"Indeed.  Minerva and I have been perusing the books we borrowed from Emma to get a few things planned for the defense of Hogwarts and to also stay one step ahead of Dolores in the next couple of months.  Are you here to start your 'Occlumency' lessons with Professor Snape?" Albus turned to his Potions teacher, eyebrow raised.

"Correct, Headmaster.  Harry and I are.. . . ."

"Excuse me, Professor Snape . . . could you not call me Harry?" 

Harry had turned to Severus as he began to explain. "Not that I mind, but you shouldn't get too familiar with saying my name as opposed to the usual Potter.  There's no reason for you to have suddenly changed your habit of sneering my name . . . it'll sound odd and you might slip and say Harry instead of Potter in front of Voldemort and there's no reason you could give to cover that goof."