Albus Potter sighed and shifted impatiently from foot to foot. He glanced out the window of the Headmaster's office;it was snowing. He sighed again, then started as someone yelled his name. "Bye, Al! See you at home!" Albus glanced past the other students to the fireplace where James was waving to him.

"Bye, James," he muttered as his older brother disappeared into the flickering green flames. It was winter break, and the many students that were returning home for the holidays would normally be boarding the train at this time. But the wizards who drove the Hogwarts Express were on strike, or some nonsense like that, so letters had been sent home to the parents, informing them that their children would be Flooing home through one of the many castle fireplaces instead. James and Albus had been assigned to the Headmaster's office, which was being supervised by Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher and a friend of the Potter family. When they'd arrived at the office, lugging their trunks behind them, James had promptly used his limited status as a second-year to push past the other first-years, leaving Albus in the back of the line. Half an hour later, the wait was almost over.

Albus watched as the timid Hufflepuff in front of him clambered into the fireplace and disappeared, then stepped up onto the threadbare hearth rug. Professor Longbottom, who had been going over some essays, looked up and smiled.

"Ah, Albus! Are you the last one to go?"

"Yeah," Albus sighed. "James is probably already at home by now."

Professor Longbottom nodded distractedly. "Yes, yes. Listen Al, would you mind terribly if I ran down to Professor McGonagall's office to ask her a question? You can use Floo powder without adult supervision, I trust?" He peered anxiously down at Albus, clearly impatient to leave the office. Albus grinned.

"Yeah, I think I can handle it."

"Good, good," said Professor Longbottom, getting to his feet and patting Albus on the back on his way to the door. "Happy Christmas, then!"

"You too!" Al called to the professor's retreating back. Professor Longbottom waved from the spiral staircase, then closed the door behind him. Albus took one last look at the sleeping portraits lining the office walls, then grabbed a handful of Floo powder.

"Do you know you look exactly like your father?"

Albus jumped and spun around. The portrait hanging behind the desk was smiled benignly at him, wide awake, blue eyes twinkling.

"I-I thought you were asleep!" stammered Al, backing up without realizing it.

The portrait smiled serenely. "I was," he answered calmly.

Albus noticed the inscription below the portrait for the first time. He looked up at the bearded man. "You're-you're Albus Dumbledore!"

The portrait chuckled. "I did hope you'd recognize your namesake," he answered, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. He looked down at Albus through half-moon spectacles. "But you do look quite like your father, you know.

Albus flushed. "Yeah, people tell me that all the time."

Dumbledore laughed. "Yes, they told your father that he looked exactly like your grandfather too. But he had his mother's eyes." He peered closely at the small boy. "You have them too," he added.

Albus had just opened his mouth to reply, feeling slightly shell-shocked, when the fire crackled behind him and a tall figure stepped forward out of the flames. Al's mouth opened wider. "Dad! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed as his father walked forward to give him a hug. Harry Potter grinned at his son.

"Well, your mum got a bit worried when you took so long, and I had to ask Neville a question anyway, so I decided to come pick you up." Harry scanned the office, feeling a sudden and overwhelming sense of deja vu.

"Hello, Harry. I haven't seen you in a while."

Harry and Al both turned at the same time to find the portrait of Albus Dumbledore smiling down at them.

Harry's face lit up, his green eyes shining as he beamed at his former headmaster. "Hello, professor! How are you?" Harry gave no indication that he was talking to a portrait, not a real person.

"Good, my dear boy, good. How have you been?"

Harry had started to answer when the office door opened behind them and a cheerful voice exclaimed,"Harry! What are you doing here?" Professor Longbottom had re-entered the room, and crossed to the desk to pick up some Herbology essays.

"I actually had to ask you a question," Harry replied, "and I thought I'd just pick up Al while I was at it. Do you remember those plants you gave to the Auror department one time-the ones that wrapped around you and started stabbing you with their thorns?"

Neville laughed. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Do you need some more? I have a couple of full-grown ones in the greenhouse."

Harry nodded. "That'd be great. We don't need them for a couple of weeks though."

"I could send them to you," Neville offered. "They have to be specially packaged anyway;it'll take a while.

"Thanks," Harry replied. "By the way, you and Hannah are coming over for Christmas, right?

"Yeah, Ginny talked to Hannah, she's going to bring a cake."

"Excellent," Harry answered.

Neville glanced at his watch. "Damn!" He glanced at Albus. "Er..I mean, darn! I'm late for a staff meeting! McGonagall's going to kill me! Listen Harry, I've go to go. I'll see you on Christmas, all right?"

Harry smiled. "Good luck with that. See you on Christmas." He turned to his son as Neville disappeared down the spiral staircase.

"Al, we're about to go to Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron's for dinner. Teddy just arrived, and I'm sure they're anxious to be off. Why don't you Floo home and tell Mum to go on without me? Tell her I'll Floo straight to Ron and Hermione's, all right?"

"Teddy's coming?" Al exclaimed gleefully. "All right, I'll tell her. Bye!"

He waved at Harry and Dumbledore's portrait and clambered into the fireplace, spinning out of sight.

Harry exhaled and turned to Dumbledore's portrait. The portrait was discreetly studying him, comparing him to the Harry Potter he had last spoken to on the day Voldemort had been killed. Then, Harry had been disheveled and exhausted, with deep circles under his eyes, his face worn, streaked with grime and blood. Today Harry's face was peaceful and happy, the only signs of what he had been through in the past revealed in the faint lines on his forehead and his scar.

The portrait smiled, satisfied. Dumbledore had always felt guilty about the burden of Voldemort that Harry had been forced to cope with as a teenager, so he was happy beyond words to see his former student at peace. Harry broke the silence first.

"Professor, you know how you always told me that my greatest weapon was love?"

Dumbledore smiled, his painted eyes twinkling like they had when he was alive. "Yes, I seem to recall that. Why?"

"Well-" Harry paused. "This is probably coming a bit late, but I finally understand what you mean." His face lit up in a brilliant smile. "I have an amazing wife, amazing kids, a godson that I consider to be my son, my best friends are now related to me, and I'm finally part of the family that I always wished I belonged to."

"Well, you deserve it," Dumbledore replied. "I'm glad that you're happy now."

Harry was silent for a moment, and when he lifted his head, his eyes were glistening and his voice was thick with emotion. "Yes," he repeated softly. "Yes, I'm happy now."

The room was quiet for a few minutes, then Harry snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at the portrait. "Well, I'd better get going before they eat without me."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "It was a pleasure to see you again, my dear boy. Good-bye."

"Good-bye," Harry replied quietly, taking one last look around the Headmaster's office before stepping into the now-emerald flames and spinning away to join his family.

He stepped out of the fireplace into the loud kitchen of his two best friends. Ginny was standing with her arm around Albus talking with Teddy and James while Rose was telling Hermione about her studies at Hogwarts and Lily and Hugo chased each other around the kitchen. Ginny looked up when Harry entered and crossed the kitchen to stand in front of him with her arms folded.

"Where have you been?" she asked sternly, her face slightly annoyed, but her brown eyes sparkling warmly.

Her annoyed expression changed into one of surprise as Harry pulled her into a hug. "I was talking to Dumbledore's portrait," he whispered into her hair. "I hadn't seen him since-well, since the day of the battle.'

Ginny's face softened as she looked up at him, her hand interlaced tightly in his. "Oh, Harry," she whispered. "I had almost forgotten that his portrait was there!" She rested her head on his shoulder. "What were you two talking about?"

Harry looked around the crowded kitchen, at Teddy, now entertaining the kids by changing his features so rapidly that his face was a blur, at Ron and Hermione laughing with each other near the stove, at his family, and smiled.

"I was talking about how happy I am now," he murmered softly. "And I am."

She beamed at him, her eyes shining,and as he leaned down to kiss her, he thought that truer words had never been spoken.
~~~~~