"Draco! Hey! Damn it, Malfoy, do you even hear when someone talks to you?!"
A tall, black-haired man was shouting on Platform 9 ¾.
"Seriously, are you completely out of it or what?!"
"He's not out of it, he's just embarrassed by your behavior," explained a second young man, shorter and calmer, with reddish hair.
"You know his family!"
"Yeah. But that's no excuse! Malfoooooy!"
Another shout blended with the train's whistle.
"Why do you have to yell like that..." said Draco resignedly, coming closer.
"Otherwise you'd never hear me. You're seeing your daughter off today too?"
"Yes," Draco replied, smiling involuntarily. His wife stayed silent; she was somewhat wary of the loud Harry Potter — especially after he'd taught little Scorpius how to make firecrackers from scrap materials, one of which had flown through the window of the Malfoys' master bedroom and nearly left them stuttering... or worse.
"Where's your daughter? Show her!" the man demanded, laughing.
"Terry's boy is wandering around like an idiot without a friend!"
"You're the idiot," said young Higgs with dignity.
"You said it yourself: too late to make friends, too early to fall in love. Anyway, better-looking girls than those pale Malfoys will grow up."
"I didn't teach him that!" said elder Higgs quickly.
"Me neither," added Hannah, née Abbott, casting a glance at Harry.
"Must be his godfather's influence..."
"Yep!" Harry said cheerfully. "So what?"
"Nothing," Malfoy replied, watching his children already getting acquainted with two identical Potters — James and Jane — and Marvin Higgs.
"Did you deliberately cut the girl's hair short like a boy's or just let the boy's hair grow wild?"
"Luna?" Harry turned to his wife.
"They wanted it that way," she shrugged.
"They said it's more fun not to be distinguished for now..."
"Poor Hogwarts..." Draco said gloomily.
"Yeah..." his wife agreed, looking over at the younger Blacks and Snapes. They were older — and even more inventive! Especially since the Blacks were metamorphmagus.
"Poor Hogwarts."
"It'll survive," Harry said optimistically, waving to Aunt Bella, the professor, and his godfather and godmother.
"It survived Voldemort — twice! It survived me! It'll survive them too!"
"Well, we'll see," Terry said skeptically.
"Poor McGonagall!"
"Why poor? I took Shen out of Hogwarts as soon as he graduated!"
"I'm not talking about your snake... By the way, where is she?"
"She's in our garden," Luna informed him.
"Resting. And keeping an eye on the little one."
"I see... Anyway, I wasn't talking about the snake. I meant the kids!"
"Terry," Harry said in a mock-teaching tone, raising a finger stained with potion reagents,
"Hogwarts has been surviving children for centuries!"
"And the professors?"
"That's natural selection," Harry dodged and laughed.
"Nothing to worry about. We'll see how it goes!"
"If we live to see it, we'll know," Terry picked up the old saying.
"If we survive it, we'll remember it," Draco finished practically.
The train gave a loud whistle, calling the students aboard.
A new school year was beginning...