Author's Note: Hey, everyone. This fanfiction is based off a next generation roleplay that I was involved with for over a year. The main story takes place almost a decade after the final fall of Voldemort, and it involves my character Theodore Nott (though he's really not mine, but JK Rowling's, and I just developed him as an adult) and my friend Amanda's original character Mariana Kimboll. Also an important character will be Ghaleon, who belongs to my friend Steven. The storyline is pretty much the same as the roleplay was, so I give the three of us credit for the plot, even though I have tweaked a few things for the sake of the story. The title and description lyrics are © Rob Thomas and the world of Harry Potter is © JK Rowling. Thanks for reading, and please please please review, especially when the story gets going.

September 1, 2019.

It was a beautiful September day, with a light breeze rustling through the warm autumn air. The sky had never seemed so blue or the grass so green, yet the leaves were already starting to gain more color. It was subtle as in any early fall, but there was no denying that the foliage was soon to be red, gold and orange, and not long after than gone altogether. There could never be more perfect words to describe the day than just that—perfect.

"Teddy! Wait up!" A mother's call rang through the crowds gathered at Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station in London, the area around the train filled with children boarding and families waiting to see their Hogwarts students off. Her young boy was dashing through the people, pushing a trolley stacked with his trunks and an owl cage at the top, his light brown hair hanging just above soft, russet colored eyes. He couldn't have been any older than eleven, and it was clear that it was going to be his first time on the Hogwarts express by the sheer excitement clear in his eyes. Not even the happiest returning students' anticipation could match this boy's, who found his own special reasons in his heart for longing to see the castle—the place where his parents had met and fell in love, and the place his father had fought so hard to defend. Finally, he would be going there himself, where he could walk around the lake and roam through the corridors (and sneak around at night) he had heard so much about.

Turning, he glanced back at his mother, who was making her way toward him as quickly as she could. "Hurry up, Mum!" he called out, his wide, anxious smile never fading. She looked a little worried as she approached him after he had darted ahead on his own, but despite her worry she seemed just as excited as her son. She looked to be about forty, maybe in her late thirties, and there were faint wrinkles that barely reached out from her blue eyes and bordered her smile. A typical witch's hat sat atop her head over her medium length blonde hair, and her deep red robes perfectly matched the ring she wore on her left finger. A diamond was set on the band between two rubies, and the stones sparkled as the light hit them.

Catching up to the boy, she grabbed a hold of his arm so as to keep him close. "Hold on there, Teddy! It's not like I'm not going to get on the train. Plus we've got plenty of time before it leaves." A warm smile spread across her lips as they handled their luggage and boarded the train, Teddy starting to seek out a compartment. "Teddy, I'm going to let you go find somewhere to sit on your own, okay? It'll be easier for you to make friends without me, since most kids don't have their parents with them." She squeezed his shoulder and watched as he nodded excitedly and started down the aisle before she started to make her own way to a compartment at the front of the train. It had been nearly twelve years since she had last seen the school, and twelve years since she last saw him…

"Mariana!" At the sound of her name, the woman looked up from her seat in the compartment to see a very familiar face. The Charms professor and Head of Hufflepuff House, Dashiell Stebbins, was grinning ear to ear to see his old friend.

"Dashiell! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" She jumped up to embrace him and he pulled her into a firm hug. It had been several years since she had last seen him, but he never changed at all. Always the loyal, kind-hearted one, he was.

"I've been so excited about this year and your coming back to teach Divination again. Not that the last one wasn't… Well, competent, but it just wasn't the same. Your boy's starting school this year, isn't he?" He took his seat beside her, waiting to hear all she had to tell.

"Yes, Teddy's going to start his first year. He turned eleven in early August. And I'm so excited about coming back after so long. I can't wait to see how far the school has come since my last year there." She paused, thinking about everything that had happened that fateful year. "Oh, you'll have to introduce me to the staff I haven't met yet."

"Certainly. There are a few professors on the train today. Callum Sloper's here—he's been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for eleven years now. And things are so different than twelve years ago. Really, it's such a great place to be now." He dropped his gaze, unwilling to allow himself to think about what had happened. "Hey, can I go see Teddy? I'm surprised you're not with him."

"Oh, it would be so embarrassing for him to have to sit with his mother when everyone else doesn't have their parents with them. But of course you can go see him. I think he'd really like to see you again, but I don't know where he's sitting."

Stebbins stood up, holding out his hand to her like a gentleman. "Then we'll go look for him, milady. It would be a good time for a round to make sure the Slytherins are playing nice," he joked making his way out into the aisle as he glanced in the compartments nonchalantly, searching for Teddy Nott. He hadn't seen the boy since he was seven, but he knew those eyes very well.

Sure enough, Teddy was sitting in a compartment with four other boys, all of them first years. They had introduced themselves as Atticus Wilkes, Nicanor Flint, Leo Vaisley, and Drystan Avery, and all followed their introduction with a brief description of their family histories that indicated their blood status—of course, all of them were purebloods. How Teddy came to sit with them doesn't matter, but things turned sour the moment he admitted that he was a half-blood.

"A half-blood? Hahaha, look what we've got here, guys!" taunted Vaisley. "So what's the combination, half-blood? A Mudblood and a blood traitor? Two half-bloods?"

"My mum is a Muggle born and my dad was a pureblood, and don't call my mum that word!" shouted Teddy, growing irritated with the arrogance of the four boys.

"What're you going to do? What's your old blood traitor dad's name anyway? Nott?"

"Say, Nott… That's a damn good family there, guys," piped in Avery. "My grandfather and this kid's grandfather fought side by side in the first and second wars, if he is who I think he is."

Mariana froze, just outside the compartment as she listened to the conversation. Yeah, who was your dad, Teddy? With those words, she pondered the question as well, allowing all of the memories to come flooding back to her, complete with the joy, the thrills, the guilt and the pain...