Albus would never have blood children of his own, and he would never get married. Yet through being the Head of House for Gryffindor, he had had dozens of children, and when he became Headmaster, he had even more. If he loved the Gryffindors a little more, well, he tried not to show it too much.
The Gryffindors had adored him as the Head of House, and he enjoyed being their surrogate father away from home. He watched them grow, fall down, fall in love... and all too often during the War, he watched them die.