NOTES: This story is a project I do with my little sister. My very first story together with my sister! :P It will be a three-parter, or maybe four. Each chapter will have around 4000-6000 words. I don't know whether I'll be able to update it frequently but I will finish it, don't worry. Hope you guys like it :D

DISCLAIMER: I only partially own one character, and you'll see why lol.


("Come on, you can do better than that!")

("SIRIUS! SIRIUS!")

("There's nothing you can do, Harry – ")

Sirius was falling. He didn't care though. All he cared was how he'd failed his Godson – how he'd failed his best friends, again. He remembered the look on Harry's face, how broken the boy looked as the boy realised that Sirius had left him. He wished he could tell Harry that he didn't want to leave. He tried to fight the pull, he really did. But he couldn't. He just kept on g. Closing his eyes, he desperately hoped that Death would be nice and quick for him. When he opened them again, Sirius was expecting to see some sort of resemblance to a form of the After Life he'd always imagined. Instead, he found himself lying on his bed in the old Potter Manor. He sat up and looked around, and saw that he was wearing his Hogwarts uniform. His hands, previously covered with tattoos that he got in Azkaban, were smooth the way they were back when he was only seventeen. Before he knew it, his sight was blurry as tears fell from his eyes.

"Am I dreaming?" he whispered aloud, still staring at his hand.

"No, my boy. You're not dreaming."

Sirius truly did not expect the answer that came from his right.

Turning his head around, he couldn't stop himself from gaping like fish when his eyes met with a pair of familiar brown eyes that he always saw whenever he looked into James' eyes. Only it wasn't Prongs' eyes that he were looking at. When Euphemia Potter died just a few months after James' wedding, following her husband who had died shortly after their son's graduation, Sirius promised himself that he would always remember the face of the woman whom he considered more as his mother than the harpy who gave birth to him. Therefore, there was no doubt that the woman who sat beside him, who currently had one on top of his deaged one, was none other than Euphemia herself. There were a million things that Sirius wanted to say to the woman – he wanted to thank her for accepting him into her family, he wanted to apologise to her for failing in protecting her son, he wanted to tell her how much he missed her, and so much more. But his throat felt dry, and his tongue felt like lead in his mouth. No voice would come out, which was probably a good thing because he struggled to make out the words he wanted to say. In the end, Sirius resorted that a nice, warm hug hopefully could convey his feelings.

When Euphemia returned his hug, he burst into ugly sobs.

"I'm so proud of you, Sirius," the woman said as she stroked his hair, smothering him with all the maternal love that he'd really missed for the past seventeen years. "My brilliant boy. My brilliant son. You've done greatly, Sirius. I'm proud of you, and I love you."

"I…I love you too, Mum," the Animagus choked out. Letting go of the woman, Sirius hungrily observed Euphemia's face, and was satisfied when he saw her beaming up at him. He gave a small laugh and continued. "Merlin, it felt great saying that."

"And it felt great hearing that, Sirius. I've always thought you as my own, you know. Fleamont too."

"You two are always so kind to me. You took me in, even though you knew the baggage of problems that I carried with me. James was really lucky to have you both as parents."

Euphemia smiled, but she didn't say anything. And suddenly, Sirius felt really tired. He assumed after all the fighting he'd done practically all his life, it was a given. His eyes felt heavy, and it was really hard to stop himself from giving a large yawn. Even though he'd long tried to forget his Pureblood up bringing in a form of rebelling against his parents, he remembered that it was improper etiquette to yawn like savage. After all, Euphemia was a Pureblood herself, though she didn't apply most of the outdated and barbaric teaching in her daily life.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said, giving a sheepish grin. "I'm just so sleepy."

"Then sleep," Euphemia said, gently pushing Sirius into the bed before covering him with the thick blanket. "You need it."

He nodded his head dilligently like a five-year-old as he snuggled under the blanket. His eyes were about to close when a thought came into his mind. Snapping his eyes opened, Sirius said, "You'll still be here with me when I wake up, won't you?"

Smiling even wider, Euphemia answered, "I'll always be with you. Until the very end, my son."


("There's nothing you can do, Harry – ")

"Happy birthday, Albus."

("Am I dreaming?")

"Happy birthday, Albus."

("I'm so proud of you, Sirius.")

"Happy birthday, happy birthday."

("You'll still be here with me when I wake up, won't you?")

"Happy birthday, Albus!"

("Until the very end, my son.")

There was a cake. A huge cake. It had been ages since he last ate one. His mouth couldn't help but water at the sight. He bet the cake was delicious. There was also a candle on top of it, shaped into the number one. It finally dawned on him that it was a birthday cake. He noted there was singing all around him, and it was obvious that he was at a birthday party. Whose birthday, though? He didn't know any one-year-old around. Blinking his eyes, he looked all over the room. He found there were so many redheads around. Must be the Weasleys, he mused. He suspected that the birthday boy could only be part of the Weasley family. As he tried to remember which one of Arthur's children that could possibly have a child, he finally noticed a certain someone standing by his side, who had been singing the loudest the whole time. His heart clenched as he practically gawked at the messy black hair and startling green eyes. Without looking at the lightning-shaped scar on the person's forehead, he knew already who the person was.

"Harry…" he whispered.

Smiling that authentic smile that he inherited from his mother, Harry Potter said, "What's that, kid? You're calling your own old man by his name now?"

And when Harry picked him up, everything finally made sense to Sirius.


It was funny to call the boy who was your Godson a father. Most importantly, his father. Sometimes he'd almost let slip calling the Saviour by his name. Often times when Harry got home in the middle of the night, he felt like scolding the boy – man, for coming home late. But he managed to hold his tongue every single time he felt like slapping Harry for his recklessness, knowing that it was something he inherited from his own father, the late James Potter. There was also the fact that the older he got, he started to forget more and more about his past. Well, that wasn't quite true. He could still remember everything about his past, as if it only happened the previous day. But those memories lacked the emotions that he would have usualy felt. As years passed, whenever he looked back to his previous life, it all felt like he was recounting a very elaborate movie that he watched many years ago. He was around eight when he started to refer to himself as Albus instead of Sirius. He didn't really know what to feel about it. On one hand, he was glad that he had another chance, a better one at that. But on the other hand, it was kind of terrifying too to have to do it all over again. He tried to find some answers, reading all books he could find about reincarnation, but he found nothing. In the end, he decided to focus more on the present, and enjoyed the miracle he was blessed enough to receive.

Life as Albus was pretty weird, but in a good way. He was born on 27 December 2005, almost two years younger than Harry's first-born, James Sirius. He had a younger sister named Lily Luna, who was two years younger than him. He lost count how many times everyone told him how much he looked like his father – like Harry – and he often wondered what Harry himself felt whenever people told him he looked like James Potter senior. His parent this time round, Harry and Ginny, were a lot better than Orion and Walburga. In a way, Harry and Ginny reminded him a lot of his late best friends, James and Lily. Especially when they both yelled at him for doing something stupid such as flying upside-down on a broom. But he never minded it when they yelled at him. In fact, he always had to do his best to stop himself from grinning. Sirius – no, Albus – was having the time of his life. Not only he got a chance to spend more time with Harry, he also got a better family than the one he had back in his past life. Then there was also his extended family, the Weasleys, who were just as kind as they always were. Everything went so great for him, so much better than before. The only thing he missed were the Marauders.

He was a different person as Albus. Back when he was Sirius, he dealt with his problems at home by being obnoxiously loud and cheerful, just so no one would know how difficult his life really was. As Albus, he didn't have to hide anything anymore, and he became the person he really was if Orion and Walburga were at least half as nice as Harry and Ginny were. Albus Potter was known as a quiet person who rarely talked unless he found it necessary, but was also known as the king of sass with an incredible sense of humour whenever he was with people he really liked. He was really brilliant too, ranking the first in his year, much to Rose's utter dismay. His time was mostly spent either practising his Seeker skills on the Quidditch pitch, or devouring all the books in the library. In a way, the real Sirius was actually pretty much like his late brother, Regulus. The only reminder of Sirius that he brought as Albus was his little pranks. He just couldn't help himself when he Charmed someone's seat with a Farting Charm. His pranks weren't as extravagant as the ones he threw with the Marauders though. Without them, especially James, pranking didn't feel right.

Merlin, how he missed them.

But even though he missed his best friends, he wouldn't give up his new life for anything. He found a friend in Rose Weasley, his cousin. She was the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley. From the moment he was old enough to notice his surrounding, he'd instantly latched his affection to the redheaded girl with her crazy curls. He admitted that the girl reminded him of the late Lily Potter at times, with her bossiness and intelligence. But on the other hand, the girl was so different than Lily, and Albus liked that about her. They were inseparable since birth, according to Ginny. Even when Albus was sorted into Gryffindor and Rose was sorted into Ravenclaw, they still became close friends. The fact that Albus was half a year older than Rose sometimes made him super protective of her. The redhead would get annoyed at him when he was being over-protective, but they all knew that Rose secretly liked it. It was a general knowledge between the Potter-Weasley family that Rose wanted to have an older brother like her beloved Aunt Ginny had. It was probably why Albus and Rose were really close. They almost never fought. The two of them were practically glued to the side. Their bond was so very close, nothing seemed to be able to break them apart.

Even though Rose did feel a bit jealous when Albus started to be friends with Scorpius Malfoy.


The first time Albus properly met Scorpius, the both of them were around eleven, and they were boarding the Hogwarts Express. Albus was with Rose, sitting together in a compartment while James had run off with Fred Weasley the second to find their own friends. It was about fifteen minutes into the journey when the door to their compartment was opened, revealing a lanky blond who blushed slightly when he saw that the compartment wasn't empty. Even without asking his name, Albus knew already who he was. The blond hair gave away his identity easily, along with the grey eyes that he seemed into inherit from his Black side of the family. It that wasn't enough, the expensive robes and genuine leather shoes definitely helped.

"I'm sorry," the blond muttered. "I- I thought the compartment was empty. I'll just… I'll go find some place else."

"There's plenty of room for us here," Rose said before Albus did. "You can sit with us."

The lanky blond looked hesitant, so Albus decided things for him. "Here, sit beside me. I'm Albus, by the way. Albus Potter. And that's my cousin Rose Weasley."

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," the blond replied as he awkwardly sat beside Albus. "And thank you for letting me sit with you two. I've spent the past fifteen minutes trying to find one but…"

It was obvious what had happened. Albus once heard from his parents how a lot of people were still wary of the Malfoys.

"Well, that settles it, then," Rose said with a smile. "You sit with us from now on, even if we get Sorted into different Houses."

"Yeah," Albus agreed. "You're stuck with us, mate."

From that day on, the three of them became friends, especially Albus and Scorpius. Scorpius was Sorted into Gryffindor with Albus, much to everyone's utmost surprise, including the blond himself. In no time, they became really close. Despite being quite similar, in a way that they both weren't a big fan of talking, everyone agreed that Albus and Scorpius were as different as they came. Albus was the care-free one, the one who smiled with his whole being, whose bark-like laughter was contagious to everyone, even the strict Madam Pince. Scorpius, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He was the aloof one, the one who tried his best to blend in with the shadows, who would rather die than stick out and risk getting noticed. It didn't help that whenever Albus wasn't around, he'd find Scorpius hiding from him in the Astronomy Tower, an ugly bruise marring his pale face. That was when Albus would go back to reckless and impulsive Sirius Black, who loved with all his heart for the people he cared about. He lost count how many times he served detention because he snapped and hexed the people who hurt his best friend.

Albus didn't realise it, but by playing bodyguard to Scorpius, he'd neglected Rose. He sometimes forgot going for their weekly sparring, or even for their promised study session. He was too busy looking after Scorpius, whose self-esteem was getting worse as years passed because people didn't seem to have enough of making the blond's life hell. In his defense, Albus did what he did because he felt like by looking after Scorpius, it would be like paying his sins for not taking better care of his late brother from his past life, Regulus Black. But that didn't change the fact that he was losing his first best friend, who had always been there for him since they were kids. It was actually Scorpius himself who reminded Albus that he hadn't been quite the friend he was supposed to be for Rose, the friend that he'd promised to be for the redhead. They were fourteen back then. Albus felt like getting slapped in the face when Scorpius reprimanded him about it.

"I did that?" Albus asked for the umpteenth time that day as they were walking back to their common room from their last class.

"Yeah, mate. And I think you should go talk to her now before it's too late. What you two have is beautiful, and I wish I had someone like her."

"I didn't mean to…abandon her though," Albus argued. "I mean, she's in Ravenclaw and we're in Gryffindor. It's hard to hang out with her."

"But you promised that it wouldn't change anything," Scorpius countered. Sighing, the blond ran a hand through his hair before he continued. "Look, Al. I'm thankful that you've been the best friend for me. You've not only become my friend, but also my brother and protector. And I appreciate that. I really do. But I can see that it's taking a toll on your friendship with Rose, and I hate to be the reason that you two aren't as close as you used to be. So go. Talk to her. Make things right with her."

Albus nodded, knowing that Scorpius was right. "Okay. I suppose you're right. I'll go talk to her after I've walked you back to the common room."

"No," Scorpius said firmly, shaking his head. "It'll be dinner soon, and by then it'll be too late for you to wander to the Ravenclaw Tower. I can go back on my own. You go now to talk to her. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that?" Albus asked, but before Scorpius could answer him, he continued to talk. "Wait, no. Don't answer that. You know what? Nope, I'm not leaving you alone. Rose can wait. Come on, let's go – "

"For Merlin's sake, I'm not a child, Potter!" Scorpius exclaimed rather loudly. "I'm serious about this, Al. I'm sorry about this because I know you mean well, but you need to stop treating me like a child, because I'm not. We're about the same age, dammit. I can very well take care of myself."

If it was forty years ago, and he was still the infamously tempramental Sirius Black, Albus would snap something about the fact of Scorpius getting beaten almost weekly whenever Albus wasn't there. But he was a different person as Albus, and even though he wasn't easy, he kept his mouth shut about it. Taking a deep breath to let go of his temper, he relented and said, "Okay. I believe you. Now run along before I change my mind, mate. Meet you in the Great Hall in an hour, okay?"

"I'll leave you some leftover chicken," Scorpius joked, which made Albus chuckled half-heartedly. Deep down, he was still worried. But he knew Scorpius was right. He needed to stop treating Scorpius as if he was a child.

"Later, Scorp."

When he waved goodbye to his best friend, watching his lanky figure taking a turn to the staircase that headed to their common room, Albus didn't think it would be the last time he talked to his best friend.

("Don't you die on me, Scorpius. Don't you dare to die on me! I can't lose another friend. I can't. I can't. I can't…)


Except for the red hair and the blue eyes, Rose Weasley's resemblance with her mother was uncanny. They even moved in the same way, talked in the same way. However, whateveryone seemed to forget was how the girl shared the same infamous Weasley temper that she with her father. But Albus had dealt with her temper countless times in the past when they grew up. So when Rose threw a huge Rune dictionary at him, he couldn't help himself when he let out a laugh as he dodged the dictionary from hitting him right in the face. He let his cousin screamed at him for sometime, but in the end, things were right again between the two of them. He still had to buy her a new book though, because Rose refused to forgive him so easily. But at least she didn't hate him anymore, and one book really meant little when your father is the Saviour.

"Will you sit with me?" Albus said when the two of them walked to the Great Hall together for dinner. Scorpius was nowhere to be found, but Albus convinced himself that the blond might be late.

Besides, Scorpius wasn't big on eating dinner.

"I'm a Ravenclaw, remember? Can't betray my own House for you, Potter," Rose joked, to which Albus rolled his eyes as a reply.

"McGonagall wants House unity, right? I think she'll be all right if you sit with us the Lions for tonight. I'm her favourite anyway. I bet Minnie turned a blind eye to every rule-breaking that I did."

"Careful there, Al. You're sounding more like your troublemaking brother."

Albus laughed but said nothing more as he led Rose to the Gryffindor table. He couldn't possibly tell her that not only he used to be a troublemaker as well, back when he was still Sirius Black, he was also Minnie McGee's favourite student. But on top of that, he had more important matter to think about, such as the fact that Scorpius never showed up for dinner. Even though he was hungry, he lost his appetite instantly at the thought that something might happen to his best friend. Beside him, he knew that his worry didn't go unnoticed by his cousin. But he refrained himself from talking about it to Rose, for fear that she would start yelling at him again.

"You're worried about him, don't you?" Rose said in a small voice, to avoid getting heard by others. It came so suddenly that he was taken aback by her question, jerking a little in his seat.

"I'm sorry. I beg you pardon?" Albus said politely, his manner unconsciously reverted back to his Pureblood teachings as a Pureblood. A few years ago, this often made a few eyebrows raised in amusement. His Weasley grandparents even once commented how it reminded them of Sirius Black. But it no longer surprised anyone, and Rose merely shrugged as a respond.

"Scorpius. You're worried something might happen to him, right? And don't deny it. You're not eating. That means you're worried."

Albus sighed and pushed his plate away, giving up on trying to have at least one spoonful of his favourite soup. "I just feel like something's wrong. Maybe I'm overreacting. I mean, not only he's a picky eater, he also hates eating in front of people. Dinner is the absolute worst."

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Go check the common room for him. If he's not there, you come back here to me and we'll go looking for him together."

"Wait, you'd do that?" Albus asked, surprised. "For me – OUCH! What was that for?"

Rose rolled her eyes, looking unapologetic despite the fact that she just slapped the back of his head rather forcefully. "I do care about Scorpius too, you know. In case you forgot about it, I was the one who asked him to be my friend first. And then you stole him from me when you two got Sorted in Gryffindor together."

"Really? I thought you didn't like him."

"That's because you two abandoned me. We were supposed to be the next Golden Trio, remember? You absolute idiot."

"I love you, cous," Albus said with a wide grin, giving the redhead a quick peck on her cheek. "I promise, next time I'm dragging you along as Scorpius' bodyguard."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I love you too," Rose replied flatly although she couldn't hide her grin. "Now go find our best friend for me."

Sticking his tongue out at Rose, he then made his way to the Gryffindor common room. On his way, he made sure that he paid attention to what other students were talking about, both hoping and dreading for anyone to mention Scorpius' name. But he heard nothing, and when he finally reached the common room, he found that Scorpius wasn't there either. His worry began to multiplied by tenfold, and he cursed himself for ignoring the signs he saw that something was definitely wrong when Scorpius didn't show up for dinner. He began to watch his fellow Gryffindors in suspicion because he knew that Scorpius' worst tormentors were none other the Gryffindors themselves. Most students from other Houses left Scorpius alone for most of the time. But the Gryffindors were still hateful toward the blond, especially those whose parents had personal history with Scorpius' father. Albus was contemplating on threatening the guys in his dorm, when his sister called him from out of the dorm.

"It's Rose," Lily said. "She mentioned something about Scorpius? Said it's important."

Albus felt chills running down his spine at the mention of his best friend's name. "Scorpius? W-what did she say about him?"

Lily shrugged. "She didn't say. But she's down in the common room. Honestly, brother, she looks like she's going to cry."

Albus felt even more terrible as he quickly made his way to the common room. True to his sister's words, Rose really was waiting in the common, tears brimming in her blue eyes. Albus didn't even waste a second and bombard her with questions. "Rose? What's wrong? Do you know any – "

"Scorpius' dying," Rose whispered as a lone tear rolled down her face. Her voice was barely audible, but Albus swore it felt like she was yelling the words to him. "I- I went to the ladies' room and Moaning Myrtle w-was there. She s-said that she saw Scorpius bleeding in the men's room."

"Wait, what? Rose, what are you – "

"Al, he tried to kill himself."

When Albus ran all the way to men's room where Myrtle said Scorpius was, he felt a sense of de javu as he remembered another night when he ran this fast, his heart beating madly in his chest as he wished he wasn't too late.

"I'm coming, Scorp. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm– "

("I'm coming, James. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming…")


CAST:

Albus Potter : Timothee Chalamet

Scorpius Malfoy : Ross Lynch

Rose Weasley : Kaitlyn Dever