Hello, this is my first story, so please read and review (don't be too harsh please). The idea for this just popped into my head!
All rights belong to J.K. Rowling, not me!
Reflecting Back in Time
After all he had been through, it was his last day at Hogwarts. Ever.
His first three years had been a living hell. He had only one friend, Scorpius, and everyone else at Hogwarts had hated him.
Then it was his fourth year, and he and Scorpius had used the Ministry of Magic's time turner to go back in time and try to save Cedric Diggory from dying. This had resulted in the Dark Lord being resurrected.
Him and his dad had grown closer because of this, though, they frequently had late night chats. Most of the time they were about things that didn't matter in the long-run, but they made Albus happy, nonetheless.
When at Hogwarts, Harry would owl Albus letters once or twice a week, just to check on things and answer any questions Albus had.
His fifth year had been very difficult having not done much work during his first few years at Hogwarts, he had had a lot to catch up on.
This was also the year that Rose had finally agreed to go on a date with Scorpius. Rose had become friendlier with Scorpius suddenly, so when Scorpius had asked to go out with her for the thousandth time, Rose, to the displeasure of everyone, said yes. No one could possibly doubt that they were perfect for each other.
His OWL examinations had come around faster than expected. All the fifth years were forced to do hours of revision, until the early hours of the morning. It was especially hard for Albus' year as the British Ministry of Magic had recently decided to change the examination and to make them harder. It was extremely confusing as the Ministry had randomly decided to change the grades from O, E, A etc to numbers: -1 to -9. With the highest mark you could possibly get being a level -9 and the pass mark being a -4.
In the beginning of August, his OWL results came in, revealing:
Astronomy -6
Care of Magical Creatures -4
Charms -3
Defence Against the Dark Arts -9
Herbology -7
History of Magic -2
Muggle studies -8
Potions -3
Transfiguration -4
He had only failed three out of the nine of them and got a -9 in DADA! Harry could not have been prouder of his son, considering what he had gone up to during the previous year.
During Albus' sixth year, he began crushing on Annie Finnegan. At first, he thought that it was because she was friendly with Rose. It was only natural that he would want to hug her tighter than anyone was capable of, and chase all of the other boys away from her. Right? She was his cousin's best friend.
Upon talking to Scorpius about this, thought, the other boy said, "You have to go and talk to her mate, that's what I did with Rose, and look how it turned out!"
Albus supposed he did have a point. So, the next day, he plucked up the courage to go and talk to her. The rest is history. They grew very close together, much to the amusement of all of Albus and Annie's friends. They were only seen apart when they had separate lessons; when they were in bed sleeping (because Annie was in Gryffindor while Albus was in Slytherin); and when Scorpius forced Albus to join him in "guy time." Let's just say, not much work was done during his sixth year.
After his very unproductive sixth year, Albus was forced to work very hard for his NEWTs during his seventh year. Harder, perhaps, than he would have had to if he had actually paid attention during the previous year.
His relationship with Annie was still going strong, but they had to finish many of their alone moments together earlier as the NEWTs grew closer. If Albus had thought his OWLs were difficult, he had no idea what was in store for him. NEWTs were laborious. They weren't called "Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests" for nothing.
Hours and hours of revision finally paid off, at the end of his last NEWT exam he rushed out of the Great Hall, hugging Annie, Scorpius and Rose. He had finished his final exam in Hogwarts! He probably only failed one of the five NEWTs he took.
There wasn't a massive graduation ceremony, only a dinner, which the family of the seventh years were invited to. Harry and Ginny came, along with Teddy and James. They all greeted him with a wave and a smile. Except for James, of course, who kept a poker face. He sat like that throughout the entire evening barely saying a word. Then, in true James style, just as him, Harry, Ginny and Teddy were leaving he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "CONGRATULATIONS ALBUS POTTER, YOU DID YOUR FAMILY PROUD!"
Needless to say, everyone left started laughing. It was almost the end.
The next day Albus, Annie, Rose and Scorpius; along with the left-over children from the Weasley-Potter clan and their friends, all walked in a large group towards the carriages. As the carriages started to move towards Hogsmeade station, Rose had a few tears in her eyes. "This is the last time we will see Hogwarts as students."
Albus could only nod having a hard time keeping it together himself. Annie, sensing his mood, put her arm around him and kissed his cheek softly, mummering that this was only the beginning.
The Hogwarts Express began to leave the station, and Albus was consumed with Deja vu, from his first year at Hogwarts and his first time seeing the station, when his only worries were what house he would be in. He was so innocent back then, and even though Albus didn't like to think of it, his fourth year adventures had forced him do grow up too quickly. He still relived the moment his grandparent got murdered right before his eyes round and round in his head. The memory frequently consumed his dreams, it wasn't easy, but he was fighting it with the help of all his friends.
As the Hogwarts express drew into King's Cross Station, Albus saw his parents' smiling faces. A wave of excitement washed over him.
After all, this was just the beginning.
