The Potters

A Fancy Snowman

Harry stood and watched as Lily ran madly around, rolling a giant snowball. Her nose had turned pink in the cold and she was laughing breathlessly. The snow had started to come down again so the patches of grass she had unearthed were slowly being re-covered again.

"Do you think this is big enough?" She cried, rolling the snow over to their half constructed snowman. His legs and torso had already been made but stood headless in the cold air.

"It should be. Need me to help you lift it?"

She nodded and together they placed the mass of snow on the rest of the snowman. Lily took a step back to admire her handiwork before squealing in delight.

"He's perfect. Now he just needs a face!"

"What about a hat as well, Lil? He might get cold."

She began to run towards the house and Harry watched her, laughing under his breath. Once she was gone, his face fell and he removed his glasses. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered why both of his sons were suddenly reclusive. It was if something had happened at Hogwarts and they wouldn't tell him. Watching Lily today had made Harry realize how much they'd grown up, Albus in particular. And James... What had provoked that remark? Had someone said something at school? Harry knew he was famous but that was a long time ago. People couldn't still be talking about that...

Once again, Harry's train of thought was broken by the sound of someone approaching. He put his glasses back on and looked up to see Lily, bucket in hand, dragging Ginny across the garden. Ginny had her eyes closed and was laughing.

"Am I nearly there Lily?"

Lily giggled to herself and signaled to Harry to stay quiet. He nodded and took Ginny's other hand. Together, they led her to the snowman and Lily counted down.

"Three, two, one. Open them!"

Ginny opened her eyes and smiled. "That's great Lily. Did you make it all by yourself?"

"Dad helped a little. But he still needs a face."

Lily put the bucket down and pulled out two pieces of coal. She placed them lopsidedly on it's head and pulled out smaller pieces, forming them into a crooked smile. She delved into the bucket again and pulled out a beaten old top hat. "Because he's fancy," she explained.

"Since when did we own a top hat?" Harry asked Ginny, slipping one arm around her waist.

"It's one of my dad's. He bought it years ago and thought all muggles wore them. Luckily, he never wore it out."

Harry laughed and a movement behind made him turn his head. Albus stood in the doorway, holding a scarf in one hand. He smiled sheepishly and looked down. Slowly, Albus made his way across the garden and glanced up at Harry.

"Sorry." It was barely audible but Harry heard it. Albus held out the scarf and smiled sheepishly again. "I brought this. You know... For the snowman."

Harry smiled, and moved aside for Albus to walk up to the snowman. He smiled at Lily, who grinned back and together, they tied the scarf around it's neck. Harry slipped his arm around Ginny's waist and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Tad-ah!" Lily shouted, giggling and spinning around to face them. "What do you think?"

"He's great Lil," Ginny said. "Well done sweetheart."

Lily grinned again and ran over, hugging them tightly. Albus fidgeted, looking down at the floor and Ginny held out a hand.

"Come on Albus. You may be grown up but you still can have hugs. None of your friends need to know."

Albus smiled and walked over, standing awkwardly under Ginny's arm which curled around him. When they all broke free, he suddenly dropped the floor and started gathering snow.

"What are you doin- Ouch!" Lily cried, as a snowball hit her square in the chest.

In a matter of minutes, a fully fledged snowball fight was underway and in a moment of rest, Harry glanced up at the house to see James standing at his window, glaring down at them. They met eyes and the curtains were drawn.

This is going to take some time, Harry thought.