(The title is actually the title of one of Jay Brannan's songs. He's amazing, go check him out, he's on Youtube and Myspace) I've never read a Next Generation fic (except one Al/Scorpius which was just … well, yeah) so if this is totally cliché it's not my fault, I just had these ideas and put them down.
This is the lineup, the actual names from the first chapter are all JKR, so I can't be blamed. The ages all fit (I think) with what she wrote, but I've only read DH once (it was taken from me by an evil person that will go unnamed, and since I haven't had time). But this is turning into a novel-length author's note, so here:
Percy x Audrey -- Molly and Lucy
George x Angelina -- Fred and Roxanne
Bill x Fleur -- Victoire, Dominique, and Louis
Luna x Rolf Scamander -- Lorcan, Lysander
Teddy- nineteen when the book ended
Victoire- sixteen/seventeen (may second is her birthday)
Fred- Thirteen
James-Twelve
Al and Scorpius and Rose- eleven
Lily, Hugo-nine
Roxanne- Six
This chapters suitable for all ages, I'm pretty sure, but after this if you're not okay with slash then don't read, kay? Thanks. Starts with Al on the train, just after the DH epilogue ended.
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Al continued to wave to his mother, father, and younger sister until they were completely out of sight around the bend. With a sigh, he made to sit down.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?" James asked, looking very serious all of the sudden.
With a raised, quizzical brow, Al replied "Sitting . . ."
"Not in here, you're not. I've got a reputation to uphold, I can't have you around! Besides, I've got friends coming to sit with me, you can leave." James crossed his arms, leaning back in the seat, his expression brooking no argument.
"James, that's not fair, Mum and Dad told you to--"
"Not letting you get eaten by the Giant Squid, am I?" He inquired, giving him a look that said 'just go'.
"I--you're so-- uh!" Al stood, glared, and pulled his trunk into the corridor. The door slid heavily shut behind him, giving him just enough time to catch James laying down on his side of the compartment, waving lazily.
"Al! Al, in here!" A light voice called from behind him.
"Hm?" He turned, finding a grinning Rose looking out from inside a compartment not far away. "Okay!" He yelled back.
After pulling his things into the compartment, he sat down, wondering what the school year would bring. "Rosie, what house do you think I'll be in?" Al questioned, just as he had all summer, and long before that.
His favorite cousin rolled her eyes. "I don't know, Al. Probably Gryffindor, both Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry were in there." She supplied.
"But you said you thought you'd be in Ravenclaw, and both your parents were in Gryffindor."
"Yeah, I know. But Mummy says I'm smart enough for Ravenclaw, Daddy says I'm a smart aleck. I reckon that means I'll be in Ravenclaw. They're smartest."
Al nodded. "Will you be mad if I'm in Hufflepuff? Or Slytherin?" He asked, though he'd heard her answer a million and five times.
"No. If you're not in my house, I'll love you just the same. Victoire's in Hufflepuff. Teddy said he almost wanted Ravenclaw, but he was happy with Gryffindor. I hope you don't get Slytherin, I think it would be scary to live in the dungeons . . ."
"James said there are dead bodies down there." Al whispered.
"Oh, there are not!" Rose squealed, though she sounded more scared than assured.
"Well, I hope not, I wouldn't want to room with a corpse." Someone drawled.
Al and Rose looked quickly to the source of the voice, finding a boy of pointed features and white-blond hair leaning against the entrance to the compartment. "Would you mind if I sat here, this is the first compartment with first-years in it I've seen, and you've got extra seats."
Al looked to Rose, knowing from the look of the kid, not to mention the expensively tailored clothes, that it was a Malfoy. Rose appeared torn between her father's hatred of the very mention of any Death Eater family names, his telling her to beat the boy at everything, and her usual want to allow people a first chance. Logic took place of feeling, so she merely shrugged to Al, indicating she had no problem with him.
"Okay." Al answered simply.
The boy flicked his wand at his truck. "Wingardium Leviosa." He whispered encouragingly, causing the thing to move itself onto the overhead shelf. His owl cage joined it, the bird a lovely Eagle owl.
"You already do spells?" Rose asked, surprised and a bit awed. She did, of course, know a few of them, but her Mum always told her not to use them until she got to school. Underage magic was wrong unless the need was great.
"Yes." He replied.
"You think you'll be in Slytherin, then." Al surmised, realizing finally what the other boy had said.
"Of course. Both of my parents were, as have been every Malfoy since Hogwarts was made." He said, sounding proud and just a bit nervous. "I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't . . ." His silver eyes looked everywhere but at the other two students, unwilling to show the weakness that they held.
"I'll be in Ravenclaw." Rose told him, her tone that of one already given a spot in the house, rather unlike what it had been when she spoke of it the past weekend with Al.
Al sighed. "I just hope they let me in at all." both of the other first years rolled their eyes at this.
"I'm Scorpius Malfoy, by the way." He said, smirking to both as he proffered a hand to Al, the nearest.
Al took it, shaking it twice and letting go. "Albus Potter, you can call me Al." the name 'Albus' sounded so much like an old man, he wondered if the great Albus Dumbledore had been called Al when he was younger, also.
Rosie was more cautious with the entire accepting the Slytherin thing, but she decided that, even at worst, the saying was 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer'. "Rose Weasley." They shook hands even more briefly than Al and Scorpius.
"Pleasure to meet each of you, I'm sure." the proper boy said, smirking rather than smiling.
"You also." Al responded, fiddling with the edge of his shirt. He was nervous, they didn't understand!
"Anything from the trolly?" the woman asked, exposing a cart filled with treats as she slid back the door.
"Yes!" Al leapt at the cart, appearing to everyone else as though he had been starved before seeing the food. "Pumpkin pasties . . . Cauldron cakes . . . Chocolate Frogs! Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans!" He ordered more chocolate than most people would think of eating in a month, and just less than that of all the other treats.
"Al, that's just disgusting." Rosie informed, wrinkling her nose.
"Ifffz awwt." He said through a mouthful of cauldron cake.
"Oh, yes it is." Scorpius shot back, leaning over to take a chocolate frog.
"'Ey!" Al exclaimed, looking ready to pout.
"You weren't honestly thinking of eating all of this, were you, Potter?"
"'O, bu-"
"Please, finish that bit before you make me get sick."
Al chewed methodically, finally swallowing, then glared momentarily. "I just thought you should ask before taking someone else's food."
Scorpius raised a pale brow. "I'd rather not go through the hassle. Besides, it's not like you'll miss one. I'm doing you a favor, making sure you don't wind up the size of a whale."
"I would not!"
"Can we stop talking about all of this food? I'm getting motion sick." Rose notified.
The compartment door slid back again. "Hey Rosie, hey A- Oh look, food!" Fred said before throwing himself to the seat that was filled with it.
"Get out, Fred!" Rosie demanded.
Fred ignored his young cousin, grabbing two large handfuls of sweets. "Who the hell are you?" He asked rudely though he looked only mildly confused, staring at Scorpius. "Looks like a Malfoy, doesn't he, Al?"
"Through my striking bone-structure and dazzling platinum blond locks, I'm so happy someone noticed the Malfoy traits. I didn't think I looked anything like Father." Scorpius said wryly, biting the head off a squirming chocolate frog.
Fred stared for a second, as if debating between punching him or going back to eating. "If you didn't catch that, he meant he is a Malfoy, Fred." Rose reported nonchalantly, though she looked disgusted that Fred held the last bit the frog out, which happened to be its still-writhing back leg, before dropping it down his throat.
"Thanks, Rose."
"Anytime, git."
"Watch it, little-one, or I'll be telling your mum and dad. You'll get Slytherin for sure if you keep up an attitude like that."
"I will not!" Rosie complained adamantly, obviously appalled and scared by the notion. "I'm getting Ravenclaw . . . Or Gryffindor. I'm not a slithery, cheating, lying-"
"Ahem, mind your company." Scorpius warned, shooting her a sour look.
"Yes, sorry." She didn't seem vaguely apologetic, waving a hand as if the mention of it was something flippant. Scorpius' disposition turned all the more resentful. "No normal person would get Slytherin, only criminals and idiots--"
"Rosie!" Al interrupted, looking at Scorpius who appeared every inch the insulted victim . . . he also looked ready to hex her. Besides that the boy he hardly new and didn't dislike was affronted, he was worried. She wouldn't say it to him, surely; but would Rose really think all those things of him if that was his house? His dad did say that he had chosen against Slytherin, but what if the hat didn't let him?
"What, Al?" Seeing his concern, she gazed heavenward briefly, as though for help from his idiocy. "You're not going to Slytherin, Al! Why would you be put there? Alright, so you've adapted to James' rudeness and turned a bit 'cunning', you don't like confrontation nearly enough for the normal hot-headed Gryffindor . . . You're loyal enough, you're bright enough, you're brave enough, why in Merlin's name would you be in Slytherin?"
Al finally seemed reassured. Surely brilliant Rose would know. But his confidence shattered in an instant.
"I don't know. I think he'd make a fine Slytherin if he's cunning." Scorpius said, as though only to stir up the waters. Al's face dropped, looking scared and disappointed. "It really isn't a bad thing. I'd love to be in Slytherin, you learn so much and everyone there has a much more open-mind. Don't you go on about the blood thing not being open-minded." He quickly stopped Rose, who had opened her mouth for a lecture.
"We are open to magic that others consider dark because they can't understand it. We are open to teachings that not even your Ravenclaw wit can take in, for fear of your peers contempt and your own corruption. Surely, some of the Slytherins take too much of a liking to the powers that really are dark, that injure others for their gain. One must know the limit to ambition or it drives one uselessly above what they are prepared for and drops them from that height. The rest of the Slytherins, those with sense, are simply another type of person, unless you can not open that supposedly gifted mind and see that fact."
Was that ambition speaking? Pride? It was hard to say, but Scorpius seemed to know his facts, as his tirade left even Rose without comment.
"I'm leaving now, firsties. I've got business to attend to and other relatives to see." Fred bowed his head mockingly then swept from the compartment.
"How many relatives do you have in this school?" Scorpius asked, surprised that both of the first years he'd happened on seemed to be related in the first place.
"Close relatives . . . Just me, Rosie, James (my older brother), Freddy (that was him), and our cousin Victoire. Next year Victoire's sister, Dominique, will be coming. Oh, and Molly that year, too. Two years from now Rosie's brother Hugo will be in school, my sister Lily too, along with Molly's sister Lucy. Roxy and Louie won't be here for a while, though." Al revealed, smiling.
"Wow." Scorpius said, clearly surprised as he bit into a Cauldron Cake.
"How about you?"
He shrugged. "I don't have any brothers or sisters. And I don't know anyone but my dad's friend's kids and you two going to Hogwarts."
"Hm." Was Al's answer.
Scorpius hopped back onto his seat, leaning in an arrogant way that seemed to be made to make Al feel lesser than him.
Al didn't. "My dad hated your dad." He stated easily.
"My dad did too." Rosie said afterward, smiling at the thought of what her dad had told her about Uncle Harry saving the man he hated and then that man getting his face punched not long after . . . She knew her mum had slapped Scorpius' dad too.
"So?" Scorpius didn't seemed phased. "Probably because my dad was powerful and the girls all loved him more than your dads."
"I'm sure that's not it." Rose argued, rolling her eyes.
"It is, I know it. He told me he hated the great Boy-Who-Lived."
"Who?" Al asked blankly. He'd heard people teasing his father, calling him the 'Man-Who-Lived' and such, but his father had never told him why. Uncle Ron used to give him bedtime stories when Rosie was over about how his dad had beat Voldemort, but he'd always thought that was just it.
"Your dad, Al." Rose said as if he were mentally ill.
"My dad what?"
"Your dad, the one who survived the killing curse as a baby, the one who brought you to the train station along with your mum this morning." She shook her head, obviously finding him unbelievable.
He didn't go out with his dad much, because his dad avoided the public eye. He told his children and his friends he'd rather be at home (saying the word as if it meant the world to him) with his family (in the same tone as 'home'). Albus was never told more than that his dad helped defeat Voldemort. "He . . . He really did that, then?"
"Your dad is fantastically famous and you didn't even know it?" Scorpius said, looking thoroughly shocked. "I know my dad's not very popular, people hiss and boo when we walk past sometimes."
"That's horrible." Al sympathized.
"My dad tells you about it all the time, he's always bragging that his best mate is the great Harry Potter, how could you not know, Al?" Rose asked aghast.
"Well, I thought he was joking around. You know how uncle Ron is, he also said my mum was possessed by Voldemort-"
"That really happened, Al."
"Wh-wow." To say he was astounded didn't even go far enough. No wonder he'd once come out of a Muggle cinema to be surrounded by witches and wizards asking to see his dad's scar . . . Which apparently really was from the killing curse.
It was a lot to take in. Scorpius snorted. "You're really dense. Don't be hoping he joins you in Ravenclaw, Weasley."
"Well, he's not a pureblood and he's got morals, so I don't think he'll be going to Slytherin either." She shot back, trying to make the claim nothing negative, just in case.
They argued pettily for a bit over him while Al stared out the window, his stomach feeling sick again.
Hufflepuff . . . He supposed he was loyal, he didn't think he'd tell anyone's secrets if they were his friend.
He wasn't very brave, not like James. He was fairly sure that since courage wasn't his forte he should count Gryffindor out.
Ravenclaw. He liked the idea of a house with Rose, but he doubted it more seriously than Gryffindor. He was smart, but more in a -as much as he hated to admit it- cunning way.
Slytherin. Oh, he was afraid. Not of going there, really. He didn't like the idea of the dead bodies and he'd heard that there were a bunches of dark wizards churned out yearly, but . . . Maybe if he had a friend there it wouldn't be so bad. His dad and mum would love him no matter what, he knew. With a quick glance to Scorpius, who looked heated and arrogant from the fight, Al decided he wouldn't die of shame if put in Slytherin.
Suddenly, Al became quite aware that it had been silent for a few minutes and someone was most-certainly staring at him. He turned and glanced about, finding that someone to be Scorpius. "What?" He asked, his brows knitting together.
"I've seen pictures of your dad." Scorpius told him. He didn't seem one for wasting words.
"Okay." He wasn't sure why that made Scorpius stare at him.
"You look just like him. My dad even said so at the station today, that you look just like he did, but you don't have a scar."
"Well, people don't inherit scars genetically, you dolt." Rose told him. Apparently Scorpius had won their last fight, as she was glaring most unbecomingly at him.
"I know that, Weasley, shut it." He said calmly, sneering at her.
James used to say Al was their dad's mini, and his mum would go on about how the only thing of hers were a light and barely visible sprinkling of freckles he got around his nose and on his arms if he got enough sun. Al hated the freckles, but he didn't tell his mum that. He supposed he'd always taken it as a complement, but now that he thought of it . . . "What if people expect me to be just like him, be in Gryffindor and all that, because my dad was?" Al worried.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin! Albus Severus Potter, please shut up about the Houses! You'll get what you get and live with it, I swear!" Rosie was completely sick of listening to him, and instead stared out the window. "I wish I had some music, this train ride is awfully boring."
"You've got a horrible middle name." Scorpius pointed out. "Or more, it doesn't fit with your first at all."
"What's your middle name, then?" Al asked, feeling defensive.
"I haven't got one."
"What?" Al inquired, completely taken-aback. He knew it happened sometimes, but he'd never heard of it.
"My dad says my first name is bad enough without a second my mother would have picked. She wanted to make it 'Draco' for him, but he said the only middle name he would have liked was 'Lucius', and since it would be the same sounding ending to each it would not be a brilliant choice."
Al blushed. His first and middle name had the same last sound to them, after all. He didn't much like how his name flowed, but he did adore the thought in it. His siblings and himself had been named after people his father cared for or at least respected, which made them all feel that much closer to him. "Oh."
The conversation continued, slowly becoming more comfortable. Al supposed that if Mr. Malfoy was just like Scorpius, he could sort of understand his dad not liking him, because Scorpius was very blunt and often condescending, but at the same time he seemed to mean well. Apparently Scorpius wanted to be on the Quidditch team at school, his dad assumed he was a shoe-in for the Seeker position. Al told him how he wanted to be a Chaser, like his mum, he supposed, and Scorpius latched onto this. Rosie soon found the talk revolving around Quidditch, as Al defended the Chudley Cannons, and left without more than a wave.
Most of the ride there the two jibed each other and argued strategies, until Fred stopped by momentarily to warn them to change into their robes. After they did so, the two fell into a comfortable, if anxious, silence, waiting for the first glimpse of Hogwarts.
Finally they rounded a bend and the huge, intimidating castle loomed in front of them. Al gulped audibly, while Scorpius compulsively straightened, wrinkled, and re-straightened his robes. "I'm so worried." Al said aloud, green eyes wide with fright.
"More like scared." Scorpius scoffed.
"Am not!"
"Are too."
"Not!"
"Too."
Al glared at Scorpius, who rolled his eyes in mocking casualness, before betraying his true feelings by straightening his robes yet again and sighing. "It's alright to be afraid." He told the other boy, staring at his knees. "Isn't it?" His confidence seemed somewhat lacking now.
"Are you scared?" Al inquired, sounding wholly sympathetic.
"No." Scorpius lied obviously, looking up to Al to show the truth before turning quickly away.
"You'll get the house you want and it will be fine." he promised. "Then you can be all sly and Slytherin and you'll be the star Seeker."
"Yeah, well, you're not getting Gryffindor no matter if I lie and tell you that you will or not." Scorpius said with a nervous chuckle.
"I don't mind. I don't think I want Gryffindor anymore, anyway. I don't know anyone besides family in there." He told easily.
"What house do you want? Hufflepuff?"
"Not really. I . . ." Al felt uneasy testing the new bond they'd made. "I think I'd do alright in Slytherin, really. We'd have an amazing Quidditch team, at least."
Scorpius chuckled again, this time it had a depreciating tone to it. "I hope so."
The train stopped and the two soon-to-be pupils of Hogwarts left their trunks to be taken by the House Elves. Together they heard the booming 'Firs' years!' and Al greeted Hagrid warmly before getting into a boat with Scorpius (who complained of the cold water and threatened that, should he fall into the lake, his Law Wizard would be contacting Hagrid within moments).
The journey through the waters was a shorter one than expected, but the rain at the middle of the lake and the Giant Squid passing under the boats caused an uproar of objections and some general sniveling . . . Though of course none of them admitted to it later.
Wetter but still blissfully alive, they waited in the Entrance Hall (being told by a very grey-haired McGonagall that they were to be Sorted in a moment and other few necessary things). Scorpius elbowed him when the doors opened to allow them entrance into the fully lit and beautiful Great Hall, where all the older students quietly waited for the newest members of their houses.
"Friends?" Scorpius asked, looking as though he'd never said the words before and never would again.
Both were looking for some sort of reassurance that, no matter where they went after this, they would at least have one person to back them up. "Friends." Al agreed, shaking his right hand though the other boy had not proffered it, then following the line of students into the hall.
The First Years were slowly placed in their proper places, but Al wasn't really paying attention until "Malfoy, Scorpius." Was called. Scorpius gave him a last scared glance before running up to the stool, sitting, and placing the hat on his head. It stayed there for approximately three seconds before yelling. "Slytherin!"
With a wide grin, the pale boy put the hat back on the stool and went to join the clapping mass of green and silver-clothed students. He sat near the end, saving a seat and staring hopefully at the rest of the first years.
At this point Al got extremely worried. What if he didn't get into any house? What if they kicked him out of the school? What if the Sorting Hat sat on his head for an hour and everyone stared but it didn't know where to place him, so they simply gave up? What if they named him a secret Squib? So many worries.
"Potter, Albus." Was said before he was ready. Really, he doubted he'd have been ready if it was years later.
Freddy stood and whistled until the Head Mistress bayed him sit, rolling her eyes, and James stared expectantly at him. They were both in Gryffindor, Scorpius was in Slytherin . . . Where did he want to go?
Al walked up to the stool, almost forgetting to lift the hat, and put it on his head. Ahhh, another son of Harry Potter. I'd think it would be another easy Gryffindor, but you're so full of doubts, so full of worry. You don't want to be your father, no matter how great he is. Why not?
Ambition, though. This need to be powerful, this want to prove you are good enough, better than the rest of your family . . . That is very Slytherin. Not extremely brave, but braver than a good deal of the Gryffindors I have sorted, and I believe you will grow into the trait.
Not amazingly smart, either. Oh, no, don't give me that. I see what I see. I know, you will do good there.
Loyalty, that is an amazing quality in you. You are very loyal to your family and friends. But justice really isn't what you want, I think you'd rather yourself happy in the world so not a little Hufflepuff. Hmmmm . . . So difficult.
Al's former worry about it not being able to sort him, though really it had only been around thirty seconds, grew and intensified. He was so worried, he just wanted to be placed ANYWHERE, he thought to the hat.
Oh, you do not. You want to be a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. You'd rather Gryffindor, but you know you don't fit. I think you'd do better in Slytherin, you could be great . . .
Great? At this, a feeling he rarely felt, a longing to be more than he was, a deep ambition washed in his heart and mind.
The things I see in you! It's the only way, my boy. It'll have to be-- "Slytherin!"
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A/N: You've read it, would you mind seriously reviewing? I'd like to know how it is before I finish the next chapter, I did give it a good bit of thought and it gets better (in my opinion) I swear! The next part isn't done, so it might be a while until I post it . . . Patience and some encouragement would be lovely!