The gathering was gripped by the joy and relief that follows after having won a war,

muted by the grief and shell-shock that was a result of a war whos loses had been
hard to bear. It didnt help that victory had been won so strangely and abruptly. In a
shocking twist of events, Lord Voldemort had visited the cottage where James and
Lily Potter had been in hiding with their son and had tried to kill the boy while his
parents had been asleep next door. It is believed that Voldemort planned to kill the
boy and then his parents, since he never left any lose ends untied. In a series of
events that will forever remain a mystery to the wizarding world, Lord Voldemort,
the most powerfully evil wizard of the time, who had struck fear in the hearts of an
entire generation of wizards, leaving destructions in his wake, had been struck down
when he confronted a 15 month old. The resulting burst of magical energy had been
enormous and felt most who were in a position to recognize what they were feeling,
all over the country. Another untold mystery is how the news that little Harry Potter
was the spread like wild-fire, from disbelieving celebration to celebration, until it
was known throughout the country.
James and Lily Potter, shocked by the near loss of their precious son and little
family, and grieving the betrayal of their friend Peter Pettigrew, had moved out of
the cottage they could no longer stand to live in and barricaded themselves into
Potter Manor, accompanied by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. This gathering,
comprised of a ragtag group of people who had bravely fought together against the
inexorably approaching evil that was Lord Voldemort and his death eaters, was their
first tentative foray back into the world.
Little Harry, unknowing of the miracle of his survival and the legends that were
being built around his name by the world outside the fortress that was the manor,
had continued to flourish under to loving care of his little family. He was a
precoscious little tyke, eternally curious, preternaturally accident prone, a terror on
his little broom stick and apt to repeat things hed overheard at the most hilariously
inappropriate times. Now surrounded by kids his own age for the first time in his life,
Harry was curious mix of shy and outgoing. One minute running around with the
youngest Weasley boy and the Longbottom boy, the next, refusing to leave his
mothers side for all the gold in the worlduntil something else caught his interest
and away he went!
His antics had been surreptitiously watched by every adult in the room, all of whom
had been doing their best to hide their fascination with this unexpected savior of
their world. They had watched in undisguised amusement as the little boy had
unhesitatingly and quite generously given away his most precious toys to his new
friends, the raggedness of which suggested that hed rarely been parted from them.
Only to change his mind a few minutes later, to the indignant and heartbroken
protests of the new owners. The antics of the kids had broken the tension in the
room from the adults who had been struggling to enjoy themselves while valiantly
ignoring the elephant in the room that was their fallen cohorts, friends, family and
lovers. Empty chairs whos stories they would never hear again, whos laughter will
never again accompany theirs.
Soon enough, as it invariably is with children, order was restored when Harry
discovered the wonder that is sharing your toys while still maintaining ownership.

With the tension broken, the adults found it easier to enjoy themselves, with James
and Sirius, who just cant help themselves, stepping into the breach and being the
life of the party. The mood got even lighter when Molly Weasley had finally joined
the rest of her family, bringing with her the Weasleys latest pride and joy, her
young daughter, Ginny, barely 3 months old and cute as a button. Molly had been
sitting down her heart in her throat feeling both terror and pleasure as little Ginny
had been passed around from person to person, to be admired and cooed over.
Molly had felt relief when Mad eye had only stared at the baby but declined his
chance at a visit with her and pure terror when Sirius, ever irreverent had pretended
to toss the baby over to his best mate. While he was being roundly scolded by
Andromeda Tonks, Lily had saved the day by taking the baby from her husband with
a smiling apology to Molly. As she was sitting, staring at little Ginny with an
unmistakably wistful look on her face, Harry came back to his mother in one of his
Im done with the world, wheres my comfort zone? trips, only to find himself
displaced from his mothers lap.
Never seen a baby before, asked mum what is this? A baby? Damn (heard from god
father) to uproarious laughter by everyone, who had stoped pretending that they
were watching the boy. Pretty baby, mama. Yes son, very pretty. Want. Want? You
want a little sister too? No, he shook his head vigorously. After staring at her for a
few moments, my baby.