Chapter One

The Train Ride

Another school year was about to start and as usual, Platform 9 ¾ was filled with witches and wizards of all ages, some to say goodbye and some to leave, as Hogwarts awaited to fill their empty heads with all sorts of magical knowledge.

It was Victoire Weasley's last year as a Hogwarts student, being appointed Head Girl, and while her family was now mostly aboard, she was still trying to let go from her boyfriend Teddy Lupin's lips. The goodbye had been going on for hours – according to James Potter, for weeks – as they knew that by the end of the summer, they would have to spend a year apart, and just like any other new found sweethearts, they compared the idea of any second separated to going to war.

And while some in the Weasley family found that passion revitalizing, like Lily, others, like James, had grown out of it by the second week of constant snogging at the Burrow and secretly could not wait until the departure ended their honeymoon phase.

That was, however, not in Teddy Lupin's plans ever since the week he received a letter from the Hogwart's Headmaster. He kept it a secret from everyone but his godfather, Harry. And it was the auror who he now searched desperately through the crowd for, right after his girlfriend had hopped on the train.

Teddy was running against the clock, as the Hogwarts Express was about to leave, and he could not catch any glimpse of Weasley red hair on the platform. The last contact he had had with them was waving hello briefly on the parking lot.

He now squeezed his tall and thin body through the people on the platform but any sight of the Potters was nowhere near. The boy was about to lose hope and admit the failure of his plan when a heavy hand grabbed him by the shoulder.

"It's a lot easier for me to find you" Harry said, nodding towards Teddy's turquoise-coloured hair. Teddy smiled in relief; he was indeed a very exquisite figure. Before he could say anything back though, Harry already pushed a piece of cloth into Teddy's hand. "Take good care of it"

"Thank you so much, Harry" Teddy pulled him for a quick hug.

"Any time, son. Say hello to Hagrid for me"

Teddy nodded rapidly and rushed into the crowd again. Luckily, he managed to get underneath the Invisibility Cloak and got on the train before it left the station.

Albus Potter had been on the train for only a couple of minutes and he had already lost track of his older brother James. The boy disappeared into a crowd of older students and it was beyond Albus' small stature to follow through. His hopes were now on his cousins Rose, Dominique and Fred, who he assumed were right behind.

However, once he turned his head around to check, before even being able to see them, he was aggressively thrown into the ground after hitting something. Immediately, Albus heard his best friend and cousin, Rose, shout his name, but before he could get to his feet, all the books came flying into him again, as if someone had just magically ordered them to do so.

"WHAT ON MERLIN'S NAME WAS THAT?!" Rose rushed to Albus and screamed to a brunette girl standing where the books once were. The cheeks of the attacker were bright red and she covered her mouth with her hands. She seemed Albus and Rose's age, about the average of their heights.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized, quickly giving out her hand to help the boy get up. He took it, still feeling quite dizzy from the fall. It would take him some time to digest the incident.

"Was that wandless magic?!" Albus' cousin Fred asked her in between giggles. Al didn't notice him nearby until then "That was awesome!"

Rose glared at him, pulling Albus closer to her and away from the other girl.

"Yeah…" she responded shyly as she leaned to gather the books from the floor "I do that sometimes when I'm caught by surprise... I-I'm Katrina, by the way"

"Well, you sure are a hurricane" Rose whispered through her teeth and Albus giggled a bit. He was glad the girl didn't hear it though; she seemed very embarrassed by the occasion.

"Fred Weasley, the second, milady!" their cousin rushed towards Katrina and bowed as a gentleman, giving her back the last of the books previously on the floor. "The feisty one is Rose and the flimsy one is Albus"

The younger cousins only rolled their eyes; they were used to that constant picking on the Burrow, growing up with the Weasleys involved a lot of it.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. I didn't really know anyone here yet." the brunette smiled carefully to the two other first years, Albus replied but Rose only nodded "I should get going now" she did motion to leave, but Fred was quick to stop her:

"Oh, nah, nah" he sang, putting his arms around her and leading to the usual Weasley compartment "Don't be so quick to run from Rose's frown, that's just her natural look. You're coming to sit with us, we're the cool kids around!"

Katrina was a little bit speechless by the whole situation and only let herself be led on by Fred. Albus intended to follow their pace, but Rose held him a bit behind.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, holding the book she was carrying ("Hogwarts, A History: An Updated Version" with notes from her own mother) close against her chest "That girl seems like a nightmare"

"C'mon, Rose" Albus giggled, which made her unease "Let me guess what this is about: you are jealous she can do wandless magic, which is not your best forte, am I right?"

"Of course it is not my forte!" her voice turned suddenly high pitched "As you experienced firsthand, not being able to control it can cause quite the damage. I'm glad it is not my forte, Al"

Albus chuckled and decided not to argue. Although she had many of her mother's traits, her father's stubbornness was a part of what made her Rose Granger Weasley. After eleven years, Al got used to that as they were mostly inseparable.

In fact, he was aware he would miss it, as he would miss any other of Rose's traits in case they were in separate houses. That was Al's biggest fear when James pointed out he could be in Slytherin. It wasn't not living up to his father or getting picked on by his cousins; those were inescapable realities regardless of the house he was sorted in. It was being apart from his best friend.

"James. Freaking. Potter." growled Dominique Weasley through her teeth while dragging her cousin by the black, shoulder length hair he let grow during the summer. "I swear if you get us into freaking detention before we even arrive, I am going to personally kick your freaking arse so you won't even make it into Quidditch tryouts"

"OUCH, DOM, STOP FREAKING OUT!" he cried, trying to get away from her long, tightened fingers "C'mon, you have to admit it was funny! You saw Duff's face, it was hilarious!" She let him go abruptly and crossed her arms "And by the way, my middle name is Sirius"

"Oh, I'm the one getting serious with you in case I have to get you away from being in trouble again before we can even set our foots to Hogsmead"

"Isn't that what part-Veela friends are for? Also, the 'Sirius' joke is totally outdated by now and I'm sure whatever you're going to buy at Zonko's when we go to Hogsmead will be worth a detention anyway"

Dominique let a small smile slip and punched James on the left arm, which made him crunch a bit before following her towards their usual compartment. Dominique could be a sweet lady when she wanted, but she was definitely never light-handed.

Teddy Lupin felt his stomach swirl as he searched for the Prefect's carriage, which seemed to have changed from the time he last went to Hogwarts, two years prior. His mind was rushing with the expectations of Vic's response. He was really excited with the surprise as she seemed very hurt when he gave her the news they would be apart. According to her little sister Dominique, she cried for days in a row, but she was quick to deny that to him.

These thoughts, however, did not avoid him from escaping his route when he heard some voices he knew very well from his time at Hogwarts. The high pitched, arrogant, now fifth year Slytherins had given him quite the trouble during his Prefect and Head Boy years. They didn't only seem to have total disregard for the rules, but they contributed heavy-handedly for Slytherin's already bad reputation both in and out of the Quidditch pitch. And while most Slytherins minded their business or easily escaped from getting caught, these snakes had, in Vic's words, an excessive need to rebel for their parents' attention and were constantly boasting about their wrongdoings and exhibiting them as trophies through the halls.

"C'mon, I'm sure your heritage allows you more than 3 galleons, Malfoy" Teddy cringed under his the Cloak when he heard the name through Maximilius Nott's voice, he needed to get closer. Once he approached, what he feared was presented: there was his second cousin, Scorpius Malfoy, whom he met during the winter break of his second year.

"Let's make it 20 then, Nott…" said the platinum-blond boy, he still looked a lot like when Teddy had last seen him, the same slicked back hair and deep grey eyes, but he did grow quite a few inches. Not that it would help him a lot, seeing the Slytherins around him were fairly taller.

"Wow, didn't know your father could make so much money working with blood traitors" the comment by Annabelle Flint made Teddy rather angry, his hair immediately turning red. He absolutely hated that word and these few Slytherins would throw it around many times when referencing to anyone who was on the winning side of the war. Scorpius, however, did not seem very shocked at the allegations. He was well aware of how some purebloods had turned against his father for surrendering and working at the Ministry along with many people they once fought against.

Teddy never met Draco though; Scorpius would come by with his grandmother Narcissa to visit him and his grandmother, Narcissa's sister Andromeda. And although Scorpius insisted a few times, the Manor was always off-limits for Teddy because of its history. It took Scorpius a while to know about it, but once he did, he was never the same again.

Draco was very careful about the media. He and Astoria lived in France with Scorpius until he was four. Then, after the death of the former Death Eater Lucius Malfoy from mysterious causes, Narcissa sickened and made sure her son would return home. Up until that point, the young child didn't have any contact with anything war related, however, the harassment whenever they would go into the public eye easily made it impossible to hide any longer. Scorpius then learned about the burden of being a Death Eater's son.

But Teddy Lupin was not averted by that at all. They quickly became friends and would hang out a lot when Ted wasn't at Hogwarts. He became like a big brother to Scorpius. Until, of course, he found himself in love with Victoire and spending a lot more time with the Weasleys; he and Scorpius ended up losing touch.

"I'm sure scrapping Muggle's toilets is better than anything your father does, Flint" Scorpius spit without letting go of his natural blasé face. "Now will you please accept the bet already so we can play before I graduate?"

Teddy heard Nott growling while he took a deck out of his expensive, old-fashioned robes. Exploding Snaps. Teddy used to rule that game when he was at school, using his seeker abilities. Regardless, he knew Maximilius Nott was very good at it from the secret interhouse championships that were held. His heart started racing thinking of how bullied Scorpius would be if he lost that and ended up in Slytherin.

The young boy, on the other hand, was not afraid at all. He trusted his abilities and even if he failed to win, he knew not much would change from how those other purebloods would treat him. He had been amongst the other high society pureblood families before and the result was avoiding these situations at any cost. Of course, not all of them were unfriendly, but none seemed really worth of spending time with. Scorpius would rather be alone with his books.

The result, unlike Teddy expected, was a quick victory for the Malfoy child, leaving Nott, Flint and their friends with the mouths wide open. Scorpius got up, in his usual formality, and stood out his hand for his galleons.

"Ha-ha" said the Flint girl sarcastically "Great prank, Malfoy. Learned that from the Weasel Store?"

"A bet is a bet" Malfoy maintained his hand firmly.

Maximilius face sobered up and he looked seriously at the two Slytherin beaters sitting beside Malfoy. Before he could say anything, Scorpius' cheek was already against the window glass, his arms aggressively pressed against his back by the two cronies.

Teddy was quick to grab his wand and get off from the Cloak once action began. Nott and Flint jumped at the sight of the boy opening their compartment out of nowhere.

"You better let him go or you won't even have to unpack your things"

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?!" Nott screamed with his hands still up.

"Did they finally realise your diploma was bullshit and made you come back?" Annabelle spit with her arms crossed.

"It is none of your business, but this will be of Slughorn's if you don't get out now"

They all sighed on their way out. Scorpius seemed little to none affected by the bullying, but avoided staring at Teddy's yellow eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, but the young boy shrugged. "I'll ask some Prefect to deduct points for this"

"Don't" Scorpius said stiffly, still looking away "Slytherin already has many things against it"

Teddy was inclined to agree. It wasn't sympathy for the house, of course, but for the boy he knew was destined to have to survive in it.

"You grew quite a few inches since I last saw you, Scorp" the turquoise-haired young man said flashing him a smile. Scorpius did not respond, but his eyes finally met Ted's. "I see you improved your skills too. Don't forget about the one who taught you to play it first"

Teddy swore he saw a smile on Scorpius' mouth for a few seconds, but the young boy remained dead silent.

"Good luck at Hogwarts. Come see me when you can"

With that, Teddy left Malfoy alone in the compartment. He was pretty sure to hear a muffled "thanks" on his way out.

Luck; that boy would surely need that.

"Duuude, 'is are so good" said Fred while eating the Jelly Slugs he had just bought from the trolley "You sur' you don't wan' sum, 'Rina?"

The girl nodded negatively. Surprisingly to Rose and Albus, she wasn't grossed out by Fred's bad eating habits. She grew up with three brothers and was used to that sort of behaviour. In a normal setting, she would've actually been very keen to accept, but she was still a bit held back about being around new people, who came from such a different world.

"Hey Al, where's James?" Fred finally realised his cousin had disappeared for a long time claiming he was going to 'give the Duff girl a warm welcome', which was obviously code for a prank and once Fred told Dominique, she ran right after him.

"Why should I know? Aren't you his best friend?" said Albus, remaining quite sulked in the corner by the window. He didn't want to eat anything or his stomach might be aching more because of the anxiety and as Rose was also busy reading one of her books, all the candy was to Fred.

"Well, you're still his brother"

"You don't need to remind me of the misfortunes of life" Albus rolled his eyes and lowered his body to grab his portable enchanted music player, but before he could reach the trunk under the table, the compartment door burst open. "Speaking of the devil…"

"'AMES, 'OM!" Fred said with his mouth full of candy again, which he too quickly swallowed "What took you so long to find us?"

"Let's just say we had a little problem along the way" James responded, massaging his head, still a bit hurt by Dominique's hair pulling. He then proceed to take the seat next to Rose, not before, of course, messing up her hair and making her growl at him.

Dominique sat at the other side, next to Fred, and lifted her legs up to rest them on James' lap. Albus gave up on getting the music player and just sank back to his initial position.

"Er… Who's that?" Once he got up to pick one of Fred's Chocolate Frogs, James finally asked pointing to Katrina.

"That what?" Dom, who hadn't got a glimpse of her, finally saw the girl between Fred and the window.

"Whoa… This is a great story… Okay, so, we were coming to the compartment and then Albus hit something and BAM! All these books came flying right at him and then Rose was really pissed because Katrina was awesome with her wandless magic and I personally invited her to hang out with us"

Katrina chuckled at how much gesticulation Fred used to describe it, although she also felt a bit sorry about their first encounter.

"Wow, Fred" Rose sighed, closing her book "You really need to work on your summarising skills"

"Wow, Rose" Fred replied imitating her voice and throwing Jelly Slugs at her "You sound just like the Potions' Professor"

"Well, hi, Katrina" James said, giving her a big smile "I'm James, the only person you really need to know about here"

"Cocky bastard" Dominique lightly kicked his stomach making him cringe.

"That's Dom" He said with his voice weakened "She isn't always polite. She's cute because she is part-Veela really, but you don't want to see her angry"

"Nice to meet you two" Katrina chuckled lightly. She really didn't know what a Veela meant, but she also didn't feel like asking.

"So… Is it your first year at Hogwarts?" the older Potter said, opening his Chocolate Frog, and received a nodded confirmation from Katrina "Cool, make sure you tell the hat you want to be in Gryffindor. You don't want to end up in the snake pit with Albus here"

James gave his chocolate frog a big bite on the head while Al complained once again about his brother's taunting. The new girl was very lost at their vocabulary, but there wasn't room for questions as the boys started fighting.

"For Merlin's sake, James, will you stop?!" Rose protested, as she happened to be sitting right between the brothers. "It's not even funny anymore"

"Rose's right, James" Dominique added, continuing to rest her legs on his lap once the fighting stopped "And also, even if Al ends up in another house, it will only make Quidditch games more exciting"

"That is if he makes it into a team" James teased, but Al was already ignoring him with a permanent frown, arms crossed and looking out the window.

"What is Quidditch?" Katrina finally got the chance to ask about something, but James looked at her like she had just said an outrageous thing.

"How do you not know what Quidditch is?"

"Merlin, James, you are so inconvenient" Dominique rolled her eyes "She's probably a muggleborn"

"Well, yes, my dad is… A muggle" Katrina was still not used to that word. For her, that was just regular people. A group to which she did not belong, but also to which she didn't feel like belonging any less than the newly presented one.

James felt a little bit embarrassed by his lack of touch, seeing his family was one of the most defensives about muggleborn rights and decided to make it up for it.

"Here" he slid her something through the table "It's Rose's mother on the card. She's also a muggleborn and according to many, the brightest witch of her age"

"Fred told me those were collectibles…" Katrina tried to decline the gift, regardless of being flattered, but was interrupted.

"It's okay. I have hundreds of those at home."

She looked at the card and back to all these people she had just met. She still wasn't sure it was her place to be there. She was waiting to wake up from this dream and realise none of it was true. The letter never came and there was no Herbology Professor knocking on her door. But if it was, even though she was treated very kindly by most of those people, she couldn't see herself ever fitting in.

Teddy's heart raced as he knocked on the Prefect's carriage door. Warsan Thomas, a Hufflepuff Sixth Year Prefect opened it and almost started screaming once she saw Ted. He made sure to shush her with his hand before muffling "surprise", though.

"Hey Vic, your sister Dom is here!" she announced covering him up with a huge smile.

"Dom, what is…"

Before she could finish the sentence, once she saw Ted she immediately fainted. If it weren't for his Exploding Snaps and seeker skills, he wouldn't have been able to get her before she hit the ground.

"Vic, wake up, c'mon!" Victoire opened her eyes to see her best friend Diane Corner, offering her tea. She blinked fast and started tried get up "No, no, no. Be careful. Drink this"

Diane pressed the teacup against Vic's lips and her instant reaction was to back down. She looked at the green liquid in front of her hesitantly, but with one more attempt, she sipped it. The taste was bitter and she pushed her friend's hand away after the second sip.

"Oh my, why are you giving me that? I had this really weird dream where Dominique wanted to see me but when I looked it was Ted and..." the Prefects and the Head boy all gave her an unusually sympathetic look "It wasn't a dream, was it?"

"Look who's awake!" Teddy burst into the compartment carrying a bunch of sweets he had just bought from the trolley, then proceeding to stuff his mouth with a handful of them.

"You're here" she muffled still trying to process the information.

"'am heer." he said in between chewing "Want sum' candy?"

"Ted, why are you here?"

His head now started to spin and he sat down at one of the cushions as he swallowed with difficulty. Red Alert. The look on her face was a mist of confusion and disappointment. He hadn't predicted that. Why was she acting upset?

Warsan Thomas quickly made a sign for everyone to leave the couple alone for a few seconds, a couple of girls, however, insisted on hearing through the door.

"Well, Hagrid was ill and the Headmaster offered me to help him as Keeper of the Keys…"

"But you got the internship you wanted in Romania," her voice tone started to raise, which was very uncommon and made him even more unease "I saw you acceptance letter!"

"I know…" he started carefully "I just thought we could spend more time together and…"

"No, Ted" she cut him promptly. He started to see for himself what was said about angry part-Veelas by the Weasleys "You can't just sacrifice your future for me. That's not how it works"

"I-I thought you'd be happy… You were so sad about us being apart"

"I don't look happy now, do I?" she fixed herself on the couch. Her eyes glared deeply into his soul, he felt like a terrible person, like he had violated her trust "Of course I love spending time with you and I wish you could spend this year together, but your education should come first. I would want you to feel the same if it was me going to Healers' School, for example, and leaving you behind for a year.

She tried to get up, but still felt dizzy. He got up to help her, but she raised her hand to stop him.

"I don't like it when you do things behind my back, okay?" her voice turned very soft again, the naturally enchanting part-Veela voice "I think you should leave now. We must be arriving soon"

Author's note: so here's the beggining of the story that has been trapped in my mind for a few years now. I have proof read it a few times, but as I am not a native speaker/speller of English, I am more than prone to commiting mistakes. Feel free to point them out and give me any other types of reviews 3 I've got a few chapters ready and will release them in a few time according to your response. This is my first long fanfic here and also my first time with an adventure/less mature story. I plan, however, to write other fanfics about the next generation later, so I guess this is a beggining of a series. I hope you guys enjoy.

-S