AN: For those who have read my other stories, you'll probably be a bit surprised at this one, seeing as it's for Harry Potter. I've tried to write stories for it in the past, because I've been reading the books for nine years now (yes, I still reread them) and I love the series, but they've always turned out bad. Only now do I feel that it's the right time and the right story. Hopefully you feel the same way.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter.

Chapter 1-The Hogwarts Express

Albus Potter watched his father wave from the window, feeling a mixture of sadness and excitement. He continued to gaze out the window, even after the station faded from view, until he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"There you are, Al, I've been looking everywhere for you. Want to go find a compartment?"

Albus nodded and followed his cousin and best friend, Rose Weasley, down the train, peeking into each compartment as they passed it.

"Is it just me, or is everyone staring at us?" Rose whispered, after she glanced at yet another compartment filled with people watching them with interest.

"No, you're right. Just like on the platform…" Albus responded, looking around curiously as a few people poked their heads out of the compartments to get a better look at the cousins. Albus was starting to feel a little self-conscious.

"They're all full so far…" Rose said as she looked into another compartment, and, distracted, bumped right into a pale blond boy in front of her.

"Oi! Watch where you're…" he started angrily, then his eyes widened as he stared at them. "Sorry," he mumbled finally, trying to push past them, looking terrified.

"Hey, wait," Albus said, grabbing his arm as he tried to pass them, recognizing the boy from the platform. "You're Scorpius, right?"

He nodded quickly, still looking scared.

"I'm Albus," he said, holding out his hand, much to Rose and Scorpius's surprise.

Scorpius eyed it as though it was a blast-ended skrewt.

"Al," Rose hissed from beside him. "remember what my dad said…"

Scorpius continued to stare at Albus' hand as if it were poisonous.

"It's just a handshake," Albus said, confused and ignoring Rose. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to make friends with Scorpius, but he wanted to be friendly. After all, it was his first year at Hogwarts, and he didn't want to make enemies yet. Anyways, the curiosity of Scorpius' behavior towards Albus and Rose was killing him.

Finally, Scorpius took his hand and shook it, then quickly withdrew it, turning and going back the direction he came.

"That was weird," Albus commented to Rose as they watched Scorpius retreat. "Wonder what his problem is."

"I don't know, and frankly, I don't really care," Rose said coldly. "My dad seemed to really dislike him. His dad was in Slytherin, I think. That would explain it. It's an awful house, I don't know why they just don't get rid of the whole lot of them. As soon as they're sorted into Slytherin, they should be sent right back home, I say, or better, locked up in the dungeons. You okay, Al?"

For Albus had stopped in the middle of the corridor, color rising on his face.

"Just nervous," he said quietly, and Rose shrugged, walking on.

Albus couldn't imagine what Rose would say if he was sorted into Slytherin. She didn't seem to have any doubt in her mind that whatever house she was in, it definitely wouldn't be Slytherin, but Albus didn't feel the same way about himself. There were four houses, and he had an equal chance of being in each. Actually, he didn't feel particularly smart or brave at the moment, so he doubted he would get sorted into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. And from the way James spoke of Hufflepuffs, he didn't think Rose or the rest of his family would react well to him being sorted there, either. He could imagine the taunting he would have to endure from James if he ended up anywhere other than Gryffindor. Teddy had been in Gryffindor, too, along with Fred, Molly, and Victoire. What would everyone think if he was the only one not in Gryffindor in the family?

His dad had said that he could choose the house he wanted, that the sorting hat took his choice into account. But he had never heard of that before, and anyways, his dad had been a first year a very long time ago. What if the sorting hat had made an exception just for Harry, or it had changed its mind now as to whether students could help choose their houses or not?

"Here's James and Fred," Rose said, sounding relieved. She slid open the compartment door and entered, with Albus behind her.

"Hey," they greeted their family as they sat down. Albus was afraid for a moment that James was going to declare the compartment his and kick them out, but he simply shrugged.

"Weird, isn't it? The way everyone's staring at us?" Rose said conversationally, but Albus could tell it was bothering her. It was on his mind too.

James and Fred shared a look, grins growing on their faces.

"What is it? Do you know something we don't?" Albus asked uneasily. He recognized that look; he had seen it countless times when either his brother knew something he didn't or he was planning a prank.

James shrugged.

"We're not supposed to tell you," Fred said in a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying the taunting.

"Would you even tell us if you were?" Albus asked, tired.

"Probably not," James admitted, laughing.

"Can't you just tell us already?" Rose demanded angrily. "We're bound to find out from someone else, and it will just be so much quicker if you two do it now."

Albus shot Rose a warning look and shushed her. She had a bit of a fiery personality that matched her hair in a very cliché way. She tended to get angry quickly, and while Albus liked that she stood up for herself, he knew that getting the two of them riled up was exactly what James and Fred wanted. Sure enough, the grins on their faces only widened.

"Quicker, maybe, but not half as much fun," Fred explained.

"And why are you trying to get Rose to shut up for, Al? This involves you maybe even more than her…you know, considering who dad is…"

"No, I don't know," Albus said coldly to his brother. "As you very well know. And if you're just going to be rude, maybe Rose and I will find a different compartment."

"Oh come on, Al, I'm only kidding. I don't want to get you all worked up before we're even at the castle," James said, thought the smirk on his face suggested otherwise. "It's just that I don't think I'm supposed to tell you. I had to find out for myself, last year, and there was less family to help me then. I don't think it's fair if I give away the surprise now, it kind of ruins the suspense, you know?"

Although Albus could understand James' thoughts, his teasing was only making him more nervous, and he felt that maybe he should leave the compartment, even if he had been bluffing before. But before Albus could even consider actually leaving, the door flew open.

Albus barely had time to register the red hair and beautiful face of Dominique Weasley before she stormed in and sat next to James, crossing her arms irritably. She left a young girl, who was practically shaking with excitement, standing in the doorway. The girl seemed unfazed at being brushed aside by Dominique. She was very short and neither fat nor skinny, with clothes that seemed to have been picked out in the dark, considering that she had paired a blue penguin-patterned turtleneck with bright orange shorts. She seemed to be very fond of bright colors and patterns, in any case. She had limp light brown hair that hung around her face, and she tugged at it anxiously, her wide blue eyes flitting between James and Albus.

"Sorry I took so long getting here, I was attacked upon entering the train," Dominique said, glancing angrily at the girl in the doorway. "I tried to brush her off at the bathrooms, but she caught up with me just before I got here."

"Tough luck," James said sympathetically, as though he had gone through something similar before.

"What do you want?" Fred asked rudely, turning to the girl in the doorway.

Overcoming her momentary anxiety, she stepped into the compartment and thrust out her hand, staring at Albus breathlessly.

"You must be Albus Potter, d'you mind if I call you Al? You look just like your father. Nice to meet you. I'm Athena, Athena Creevey, my father, Dennis, knew your father-"

"H-hi," Albus stuttered, utterly bewildered. "Do I know-"

"And James, such a pleasure. I can't believe this, I just can't believe I'm meeting you all…"

"Excuse me," Albus said politely, trying to cut in.

"You're Rose, I presume? Yes, you've got the Weasley hair, although the texture is a bit more like your mom's, I guess you've inherited a lot from both your parents, I hope you inherited smarts and bravery too, I bet you have, then you'll be a Gryffindor, that's where I'm hoping to go-"

Rose looked extremely confused. "Um…thank you?" she said, on the verge of laughter.

"Gryffindor? Seems more like a Hufflepuff, if I've ever seen one…" James whispered to Fred, and he laughed loudly.

Albus winced, hoping Athena hadn't heard. She was a little eccentric, to say the least, but she seemed nice enough, and Albus didn't want to be rude.

Athena turned to Fred, but she looked interested rather than hurt, and Albus let out a breath in relief. Fred's laugh seemed to have caught her attention, rather than James' rude remark.

"Um, Athena? How do you-" Albus started again, but was interrupted once again.

"I'm not sure who you are, I'm so sorry, but if you're a friend of James I'm sure you're alright, maybe you're even related…?"

"Uh…It's Fred..Weasley. The second," Fred said, clearing his throat.

"Oh," Athena said, her eyes widening in surprise, and then, to Albus' astonishment, filling with tears. "I'm so sorry, I should have recognized you. We all miss your uncle very much, I've met your dad, I adore Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-"

"Athena-"

" -it's such a shame Fred will never get to help his brother run it again, but-"

"Athena."

"-but I'm sure he's watching over your family, dad always says-"

"Athena!" Albus burst out, and finally, she turned to him.

"Yes?"

"Sorry…I don't meant to be rude," he said sheepishly, feeling rather bad for his outburst, "but I was just wondering….do I know you?"

James snickered at his lack of tact. Albus shot him a glare and then gave Athena an apologetic look. "I don't mean anything by it, it's just that I don't think I've ever met you, and I was wondering how you knew me, I mean us, and our parents…"

Athena's eyes widened again. "I don't expect you to know who I am, but as for you, of course I know who you are! Everyone in the wizarding world knows who you are! You know that, right? Well, it's really not you, it's your parents, but I'm such a huge fan of your parents that I know about their kids, that is to say, all of you…I've read all of the books on your parents, I have some posters in my room, when I got my letter and realized I would be in the same school, even the same classes as Harry Potter's family, I could barely believe it…so I found out as much as I could about you, naturally…"

"Naturally," Rose said faintly, then glanced at Albus, pointing a finger to her head and twirling it. "She's crazy," she mouthed.

Albus couldn't help but agree. How did she know so much about his family? What did she mean by "books on your parents"? And had Albus heard wrong, or had she said that "everyone in the wizarding world knows who you are"?

"…Didn't anyone ever tell you?" Athena finished, looking at Rose and Albus' confused faces.

"Spit it out," Rose said with narrowed eyes, dislike etched on her face.

"Al," Athena sighed, addressing him directly. "Your parents are famous!"

There was silence for a moment.

"F-famous?" Albus stuttered, and James started to laugh at his expression. Albus rounded on his brother. "You knew? This whole time?"

James shrugged. "I wasn't supposed to tell you. I didn't find out until school, either. And the way I found out was loads worse-"

"-Yeah, Elina Whaker just came right up to him and-"

"Fred!" James warned, silencing his laughing friend. "Anyways, you should count yourself lucky. But I'd watch out for fangirls…and boys, for that matter. People love us….well, they love our family."

Dominique glared at Athena at these words, still looking unhappy.

"But why?" Rose asked, overcome with curiosity, causing her to abandon her cold façade for a moment.

"Why? You parents defeated You-Know-Who! The most evil wizard there ever was!"

"I know who? No, I'm afraid I don't know who," Rose said, still refusing to mask her distaste for the girl in front of her.

Athena bit her lip anxiously, looking scared all of a sudden. She glanced at Fred, who shook his head, and then at James pleadingly. He rolled his eyes.

"Voldemort," he said casually, though Athena didn't seem to agree with this tone. She flinched horribly and gasped.

"Are you all right?" Albus asked at the same time Rose said "Voldy-who? Excuse me?"

Athena seemed to be recovering and ignored Albus' question. Rose was still looking inquiringly from James to Fred, as if their knowledge held much more reliability than Athena's. Albus wasn't so sure; true, apparently it was their parents who had defeated this Voldemort, but hadn't James said he hadn't known any more about it than Albus, when he first came to Hogwarts? He had gotten his information from people like Athena, so it seemed that she may be the most reliable source. She at least seemed to know a whole lot about his family. Albus guessed that she had been waiting for this moment, for meeting him and his family, for a long time. But why? What was so interesting about Albus? He hadn't done anything at all to be famous. So his dad had helped bring down some criminal, big deal. How important could it be, really? Maybe Athena was a little insane, and nobody else at school would think it was a big deal. All Albus wanted to do was fit in at Hogwarts, not stand out, especially for something he hadn't even done.

He felt a horrible sinking sensation in his stomach as he thought about how many people would talk now if he were in Slytherin, the house full of evil wizards, when his own father had defeated one of them? What was his name? Voldemort? He had surely been a Slytherin…but if he had been so evil, why hadn't Albus ever heard of him? He had grown up in a wizarding family, after all. Surely if Voldemort had been such an infamous wizard, he would have heard his name somewhere, and Albus couldn't recall hearing the name at all. But no, that wasn't right…the word did seem to hold a certain familiarity…could it be that he had heard the word before, but just brushed it aside, deeming it of no importance? Probably. He hardly had any reason to keep it in his mind, seeing as his parents had told him nothing of the defeat of the wizard. Albus felt a sudden flash of anger at his parents. Why had they kept this from him? If it was going to affect him at school, didn't he have the right to know? Maybe it was too much of a scarring experience for them to talk about it…but now that he thought about it, there had been many hushed conversations between his parents that had been hastily cut off when their children entered the room. James had tried to use Extendable Ears to listen in on a few of these conversations, and Albus had usually joined him. One such occasion rose to his mind.

"James asked me why Bill is so badly scarred today," Albus' mother had said quietly.

"And what did you tell him?" Harry's voice had sounded tense.

"That a werewolf did it," Ginny responded, then waited a moment before adding. "I didn't see any reason to lie to them about that."

"James believed that?"

There was silence, and Albus had assumed that Ginny nodded, because James had told him about Bill earlier in the day.

"He asked if Bill was a werewolf. I told him that he was bitten by a werewolf in human form, so he wasn't one himself. James asked why someone would do that. He didn't really seem to understand, and I didn't want to be the one to tell him that some people are bad to gain power, or bad just for the sake of it..."

"And Fenrir Greyback is almost as bad as they come. Well, besides for-"

"-Voldemort, yes. But they're both gone now, Harry."

"It doesn't mean there aren't still people out there like them," Harry had said bitterly. "Wasn't James curious as to how it happened?"

Ginny hesitated. "He asked, yes, but I told him there was no real story to it. He didn't really seem to believe it." She sighed. "Harry, we can't keep doing this. Do you really want them to go off to Hogwarts not-"

But then Lily had walked in the room, and the conversation stopped. Albus had wondered what it all meant. He knew there must be some story behind Bill's scars, some story about the werewolf who bit him while he was a man, but he had accepted that his parents thought it too gruesome or personal to share. He could respect that. He was still curious about Bill, though, and he hoped to find out someday.

In his curiosity about Bill, he had forgotten about the mention of Voldemort, until now. He had never imagined that the secret was bigger than what happened to Bill. But now he realized that it was probably deeply connected to Voldemort and Harry.

"Al?" Rose asked, interrupting his thoughts. "You still with us?"

"Yeah, sorry," Albus responded. "What did I miss?"

"Athens here was just freaking out because we don't know who Voldemort is," replied Rose.

"I'm not freaking out!" Athena insisted, but she did look very worked up, and her eyes were wide. "And it's Athena. Like the goddess? My mom likes Greek mythology."

"Look, can you please just tell us? Make it quick. If you're not going to, then just leave already," Rose said rudely.

"Fine," Athena replied stiffly. "You-Know-Who was an evil wizard who went to Hogwarts about 75 years ago. He was a Slytherin, of course, and he was a Parselmouth; you know, when you can speak to snakes, he was famous for it. He gathered up some followers called 'Death Eaters' there."

"Death what?" Albus interrupted her, disgusted.

"Death Eaters, did you say?" Rose added.

"Yes, I'm not really sure why, I guess maybe they thought they were too powerful and strong for anyone to be able to kill them."

"And were they?" Albus inquired. "Were they powerful and strong and hard to kill?"

Athena looked grim and nodded, then continued. "Years later he rose as a man very learned in the dark arts and intent on gaining power. He killed and injured a lot of people to get there. He became so feared that no one would use the new name he fashioned for himself. A lot of people went in hiding to escape You-Know-Who, who was always recruiting. They say the only one You-Know-Who was scared of was the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore…your namesake, Albus, as I'm sure you know…so he was careful not to attack Hogwarts. Only a few people were strong enough to fight him. They were in the Order of the Phoenix, a group fighting You-Know-Who. Your grandparents, James and Lily Potter, were in it. But he killed them. He tried to kill Harry, too, but he couldn't. Harry was the only person known to survive the killing curse. It seemed to destroy You-Know-Who instead, but he wasn't gone for good. The wizarding world was at peace for years after that, and Harry went to Hogwarts at age eleven, finding out he was famous then, much like you guys, and there it's said he faced You-Know-Who again, many times."

"Hold on, I thought you said Hogwarts was safe because of Dumbledore?"

"It was, but somehow You-Know-Who managed to get Harry in some situations where Dumbledore wouldn't be there to protect him. During Harry's school years, You-Know-Who returned. He was a pretty quiet for a while, until a year later, when Dumbledore was murdered at the hands of one of his faculty, Severus Snape-"

Albus, who had been silent this entire time, taking everything in, now gasped.

"I'm named after the man who killed Dumbledore?"

"Severus killed Albus? You're kind of a walking contradiction then, aren't you?" Rose pointed out to Albus.

"No, no, you didn't let me finish, Snape turned out to be good, Dumbledore told him to kill him, and he was a spy for Dumbledore, and he protected Harry even though he hated him," Athena said in a rush, her eyes now lit up in excitement for the story. "There was a fight the night Dumbledore was killed when Death Eaters broke into the school. They escaped after killing Dumbledore. So then there were more disappearances, and You-Know-You took over the Ministry and Hogwarts. Snape was headmaster, and the death was being blamed on Harry, who was there when he died."

"Wait, hold on a second," Rose interrupted. "Who would ever believe that Uncle Harry killed Dumbledore?"

" There weren't really many witnesses, so they got away with it, but no one really believed it," Athena elaborated. "He was wanted for questioning… 'Undesirable Number One', they called him. Meanwhile, Harry skipped his last year of Hogwarts to go on some mission that would help him destroy You-Know-Who, with his two best friends who had helped him go against You-Know-Who all throughout Hogwarts, your parents, Rose, Ron and Hermione. They disappeared for almost a year, until they came back to Hogwarts at the end of the school year. But You-Know-Who found out he was there pretty quickly and launched an attack on the castle…it's called The Battle of Hogwarts now. It's quite famous. Anyways, Harry managed to kill You-Know-Who in it! People celebrated for weeks, and he's still famous, along with some of the others who fought, mostly Ron, Neville, and Hermione. But the victory was bittersweet. Ron's brother Fred died, and so did Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks, and…"

Suddenly Athena looked sad. "And my uncle, Colin. And a lot of other people. Their names are on a memorial outside of the school, you should check it out. People love your parents, and they'll love you guys too, by default. And nearly all of you are named after relatives or people who fought and died in the war, which is cool. It's easier to remember your names, anyways."

"How do you know all this?" Rose finally asked.

"Oh, there are plenty of books on it. I've read them all."

"Of course," Dominique commented.

"But there's still a lot unknown. Like if there really was a prophecy involved, and what it said, and what Harry, Ron, and Hermione did that year they took off of Hogwarts, and what exactly happened at the Ministry in Harry's fifth year, and how Harry saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets and how You-Know-Who opened it if he didn't even have a body…I was hoping you would be able to tell me, but I guess not." Athena looked disappointed now.

"What's the Chamber of Secrets?" Albus asked blankly. "And what was that about a prophecy? And the Ministry?"

Athena sighed, sounding tired. "You should read the books on your family in the library, I'm sure there are some there, or order them from Flourish and Blott's. There's only so much I can tell you."

Albus put his head in his hands. This was all too much to take in. Had his father really fought one of the darkest wizards of all time not just once, but multiple times? And won? It was hard to believe.

"Thank you," he finally said. "But I think I need some time to think about this, and I need to talk to my family. I'll see you later, I guess."

Athena looked excited again. "Yes! Hope to see you in Gryffindor!"

And with this, she practically skipped out of the compartment, leaving Albus with a heavy feeling in his stomach. Athena had reminded him of the Sorting Ceremony, and now he was expected to be in Gryffindor more than ever, with his parents being who they were.

"Wow," Rose said when she left. "Who spiked her pumpkin juice?"

James laughed. "I think that's just her personality. And she certainly seems to have taken to you, Al."

"Looks like you've got an admirer," Fred added.

"And she's a real catch," James grinned.

"Shut up," Albus mumbled.

"Oh, quit it. At least now we'll know someone at school besides you immature losers," Rose said, sticking up for Albus. He shot her a thankful look.

"Oh no, we really don't want Rose on our bad side!" James said in mock horror. "Whatever will we do? She called us immature!"

"How dare she!" Fred joined in. "She'll ruin our reputation as the most studious, serious, mature kids in school!"

Rose practically growled, and Albus could sense a fight coming, so he cut in.

"Yeah, yeah, you're hilarious," Albus said sarcastically. "But there's no reason to fight. Besides, we've got more pressing matters to discuss. For example, the fact that we're famous?"

"We're not famous," James rolled his eyes. "We're just the kids of extremely famous people. That causes people to be interested about us, but we're not famous."

"Still, it's a bit of a shock for us. Did dad really do all of that stuff?"

"Seems like it. He doesn't really like to talk about it."

"Why not? If he really did all that stuff, he's even cooler than I thought! He should be proud!" Rose exclaimed.

"The result was great, but I think he lost a lot on the way there," James said darkly. "People he loved, his innocence, his happiness, even…"

"How do you know that?" Albus said suspiciously. It wasn't James' nature to make so much sense, or to put a damper on an excited mood.

"I know more than you think," James said mysteriously.

"Really? Did Dad tell you more when you went home for the holidays?"

"He didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. Look, you want to know the whole story? You should read Rita Skeeter's biography of him. It's not entirely true and downright nasty at some parts, but it seems to be closest to what Dad told me. And I think you'll easily be able to figure out what isn't true. It's definitely the most thorough biography of him. It's not in the library, and I left my copy at home, but you can order it from a catalogue."

"Okay," Albus said distrustfully, still confused as to why James was being so helpful all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see how a book could possibly make this make sense," Rose said.

"It's not just any book," Fred said. "Rita Skeeter really knows how to get information out of people. She's studied each and every one of Harry's schools years, as well as the time before school, including the death of his parents and his first defeat of Voldemort, as well as the year he took off from Hogwarts and what he's done since then. I wonder if Athena's read it."

"Probably," Rose snorted. "She knows more about our family than we do."

"But she didn't tell you everything in the book," Dominique pointed out.

"Probably just didn't have time," Fred reasoned.

"Or maybe she disagrees with Skeeter and left out the parts she didn't think were true or the parts she didn't like," James countered.

Albus was becoming increasingly interested in this book.

"What did you say it was called?" he asked.

"I didn't," James said. "It's called 'The Plots and Paradoxes of Harry Potter: A Detailed Biography of the Boy who Lived'."

"Sounds like a great read," Rose commented, but Albus couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Oh, it is," Fred assured her. "It won't leave you with a single question unanswered…except for maybe what's true and what's not. But that's for you to decide."

"What fun," Albus said doubtfully.

At that moment, the compartment door opened, and the lady who pushed the food trolley smiled at them.

"Would you like anything to eat?" she asked in a kind voice.

Rose got up to get some Chocolate Frogs, and James turned to Albus as he got up to buy something as well.

"Al?" he said, and Albus turned to him. "Just…don't tell Dad that you're going to read that book, okay? I don't think he'd be too happy about it."

He looked a little worried. Albus suddenly felt guilty. He didn't want to do anything that would make his father upset. But then he remembered that his father had lied to him, lied to him about something that was not only about Harry, but Albus as well. And he didn't even plan on telling him the full truth…well, if Harry wasn't going to tell him, that was his own fault, and Albus was just going to find out himself. There was nothing wrong with that.

"Of course," Albus said with a tight smile. "I won't tell."

Reassured, James sat back and struck up a conversation with Dominique and Fred. Albus tried to join them, but he didn't seem to be able to. Thoughts of making friends at school, his classes, how much he would miss his family, and even thoughts of the Sorting Ceremony left his mind as he pondered why in the world his father had worked so hard to keep his own son from knowing him.

AN: Should I continue? Please review! Oh, and please vote for my friend Hannah in this acting contest she's in…..it's on facebook. Search "Letters to Annabelle" and like the page, then like this picture.

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If you get the chance, please like the picture, this is really important to her. Thank you!