LOVE ISN'T EASY (but it sure is hard enough)

SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1995

Olivia Danes and Juno Lennox were facing the brick wall between platforms nine and ten for the very last time. It all seemed rather ordinary, despite the fact that they were standing on the brink of their seventh year at the school they grew up in.

"You two ready?" Henry asked, appearing between them with Sarah by his side. Liv nodded, taking a deep breath and pushing her trunk through the wall.

Juno hesitated. She felt Sarah's hand squeeze her shoulder, turning to face the pair. She pulled them both into a hug, trying to not let tears leak from her eyes when she squeezed them shut. For a second, she let herself believe that it was her parents seeing her off on her final journey off to Hogwarts.

"We've got you." Sarah whispered, stroking her hair gently as the girl tried to steady her breathing.

"We're always gonna have you." Henry agreed, pulling back from the hug and beaming at her.

Juno nodded gently, taking one more deep breath and turning back to the brick wall. Sarah and Henry Danes looked on proudly, holding one another tightly as she disappeared through the wall just as Liv had moments before.

"Those are our girls."

"Yep, and I don't think we could be any prouder of them."

Hand in hand, the parents stepped through the brick wall.

Their eyes scanned the crowds of people grouped together on the platform, spying two tall ginger boys hugging their girls close through the steam produced by the Hogwarts Express.

"If you cry, you owe me a tenner." Sarah whispered to her husband, who scoffed in response.

"I am not going to cry!"

Liv lit up as she saw Henry push through people to reach them, Sarah apologising to everyone left in his trail of destruction as he led them over to the group. George watched Henry pull his daughter into a hug, muttering something into her hair that made her laugh and twirling her around under his arm. It was almost as though he was back where he stood two years before, watching this happen from a much further distance. Except this time, they were on the cusp of graduating and he had fulfilled his promise. Olivia Danes was his, and he was hers.

Henry grinned the second he spotted George looking over at them, letting Olivia lead them over to the group. Her parents hugged him, Fred and Lee individually as they approached, and George noticed how both of their eyes were glistening as their daughter stood by his side.

Molly and Arthur caught sight of the two, the older woman stopped fussing over her two youngest and dragged her husband over to where Liv and Juno stood. The girls were pulled into incredibly tight hugs the moment they turned around, the familiar smell of cinnamon filling their lungs.

"Mr and Mrs Weasley, these are my parents. Mum and Dad, meet Molly and Arthur."

Henry shook both their hands, Sarah following suit. Liv couldn't tell who was more excited to meet who, as Henry and Arthur were swapping questions about things they didn't understand. Beside them, Sarah and Molly excitedly gushed to one another about their children, pride radiating from their smiles. George's arms snaked around her waist from behind, pulling her closer to him and resting his chin atop her head.

"I'm so glad they get on." He whispered to her.

"Did you think they would hate each other? They're best mates already."

She felt him laugh against her, pressing a small kiss to her temple as steam poured from the Express. Juno and Fred stood side by side, leaning against one another. She pretended not to feel as dejected as she did, but he could read her like a book. A picture book, of course, since neither of them could read.