Title: That's My Dad
Author: phys_nut
Beta: none, any mistakes are mine alone!
Summary: Albus going through Hogwarts, and how that one phrase can change over the years.
Word Count: 2,562
Pairings: As/S (though not a whole bunch really)
Warnings: um, none really, cept the gayness, heehee!
A/N: howaya! Well, this is my first next gen fic…not my first fanfiction ever, though I haven't written in about five years at this stage, so lemme know what you think!
That's My Dad
1st Year:
"Hullo, can I sit in here?" a boy asked Albus, poking his head into the compartment.
"Sure," Albus smiled, looking away from the window.
"Cheers," the boy grinned and stepped in, closing the door behind him.
He took a seat next to Albus, shaking out his curly brown hair before he extended a hand, saying, "I'm Zach."
"Albus," Albus grinned, shaking his hand, and then nodded to the girl sitting across from them, "This is my cousin Rose."
"Hullo," she smiled, politely shaking his proffered hand, "Pleased to meet you Zach."
Zach made a bit of a face at her slight formalness, but replied, "You too Rose."
The three sat in silence, until Zach, who had been bouncing on his seat and fidgeting crazily, suddenly burst out, "Did you SEE Harry Potter on the platform?!"
"Oh?" Albus asked, tilting his head to the side, curious to hear what he would say.
Rose rolled her eyes and resumed reading her charms book.
"Yeah, it was amazing!" Zach gushed, "I mean, mum and dad talk about him loads, he's famous! He defeated Lord Voldemort, and saved the world and is amazing at quidditch and can speak parseltongue and he's just brilliant!"
As Zach spoke, Albus felt a warm glow deep in his chest. Of course he knew all those things, but to hear them from someone else, and a stranger no less, was a wonderful experience.
So wonderful in fact, that he puffed up his chest, and announced, pleased as punch, "That's my dad."
2nd Year:
"Oh what a triumph to Hogwarts Harry Potter was," Nearly Headless Nick beamed at the Grey Lady, who sniffed and nodded along, not nearly as mournful as usual, "So brave! So daring! So talented! So bloody Gryffindor!"
"And so handsome and charming too," the Grey Lady added.
Albus rolled his eyes and edged away; in spite of the bloody RAVENCLAW crest on his robes, whenever the ghosts saw him (especially Nearly Headless Nick), they tended to get misty-eyed and either call him Harry or wax lyrical about his dad, and today, Albus was in no mood for it. Edging as far away as he could, he dived into the closest room and stood there, back pressed against the door, frozen. Looking around, he saw he was in a bathroom…a rather flooded bathroom, and Albus hoped that no one was around so he could get a bit of peace and quiet.
Naturally, that was not meant to be.
The air was suddenly pierced by a shrill shriek, and the ghost of a girl flew up from one of the cubicles.
"Harry!" she cried out in shock and pleasure, "I knew you'd come back to visit me!"
She flew closer, as if to embrace him, and then paused in front of him, staring at him critically.
"You're not Harry Potter," she said flatly.
"No," Albus replied, "I'm Albus Potter."
"Ah," she smiled, floating closer, "And what are you doing in my bathroom Albus Potter?"
"Running away from Nearly Headless Nick and the Grey Lady," Albus confessed – never one to lie.
"Oh," the girl said snippily, "Them. I'm glad you're running away from them, they're so mean to me, and they never come to visit. Ooooo!" she moaned.
She flew upwards then, wailing and flouncing about dramatically. Albus found it quite impressive; there were many a time he wished he could fly about in a melodramatic rage, but that would just further encourage people to call him 'The Boy That Pouted,' as Nelly, a fellow Ravenclaw, liked to affectionately call him. Watching the girl, Albus realised he knew who she was.
"You're Moaning Myrtle," he suddenly announced, just having remembered hearing about her.
Myrtle froze mid-wail and looked down at him with wide, amazed eyes.
"You know my name?" she breathed softly, floating back down to him.
"I would think everyone should."
Myrtle giggled and swiped her hand through his arm.
"So…you knew Harry Potter?"
"Oh yes, very well," Myrtle beamed, then frowned and pouted, "But he hasn't visited me for such a long time…"
"I could come visit you," Albus offered.
"You would?" Myrtle squeaked.
"Sure," Albus replied honestly; Myrtle didn't seem that bad, just really lonely. He got that.
"You know," Myrtle whispered conspiratorially, "I helped him before…"
"Really? How?"
"I helped him find The Chamber of Secrets," Myrtle preened gleefully.
Albus gaped and finally managed to splutter out, "Where?"
Myrtle nodded at the sinks and said, "That's where he opened it up."
Albus slowly walked forward and reverently placed his hands on the sink. Uncle Ron had entertained them with stories of his adventures with Aunt Hermione and his dad, and none had quite thrilled Albus as The Chamber of Secrets, much to the chagrin of his mother.
"I would love to see it open again," Myrtle sighed wistfully.
She cast a sly, sidelong look at him as she added, "I don't suppose…"
Amused, Albus shook his head and replied, "That's my dad. I don't speak parseltongue."
3rd Year:
"Come on Al, please!" Zach whined at his friend over lunch.
"No."
"Just this once! You'd be so good, just give it a try!"
"I am NOT trying out for the quidditch team," Albus said firmly, shoving a large chunk of soupy bread roll into his mouth, "And it would not be good, it would be disastrous."
"You don't know till you've tried," Zach said in a singsong voice.
"In this case, yes I do."
"I'll do your homework."
"I like doing my homework."
"I can make your bed."
"I can charm it."
"I'll…I'll…buy you chocolate."
"I've got plenty thanks."
"I'll do anything!"
Albus sighed and shot his friend an irritated look.
"Fine," he snapped, "But only so I can prove you wrong."
"Ravenclaw to the core," Zach grinned, then stood and tugged Albus up, "Come on, they're on now."
Albus sighed and trudge after his bouncing friend – at least someone was in a good mood, humph.
They made it over to the quidditch pitch, where Katie McLaggan, the Ravenclaw captain was watching people flitting around the pitch, hitting bludgers and tossing quaffles in hopes of making the team.
"McLaggan!" Zach called out cheerfully as they neared, "Look who I've brought!"
Katie turned, and Albus saw a look of cool approval in her eyes as she spotted him.
"Excellent," she nodded, handing Albus her broom, "Here you go, let's see what you can do."
Just as Albus predicted. It was disastrous.
Standing, knees shaking and broom clamped painfully between his thighs, Albus kicked off rather forcefully and shot up way too high, spread flat along the length of the broom and hanging on for dear life. Eventually managing to lower himself, he then began to try sit up on the broom, resulting in him hanging upside-down more often than not. In trying to go forward, he shot backwards, nearly crashing into the goals, and when he tried to turn he ended up pulling four loop-the-loops. Feeling sick and dizzy, a shaking Albus slowly spiralled down to earth, just managing to level the broom out as he tumbled gracelessly to the ground. He lay there, soaking in the cool, solid wonderfulness that was dirt, and vowed never to be parted from it again.
"Well," Katie said, picking her broom up, "Well."
"That was…" Zach started, in an astonished voice.
"Dreadful," Albus finished flatly, finally managing to stand on his shaky legs.
"Too right," Zach grinned.
"I don't get it," Katie said, confused, "I just don't get it."
"I know!" Zach babbled, "I mean Harry Potter's an AMAZING seeker!"
Albus growled angrily and spat out through gritted teeth, "That's my dad. I can't fly."
4th Year:
"So what do you guys wanna do after Hogwarts?" Zach piped up, "After all, OWLS are next year, and it's not long after that till we're out in the big bad world."
He, Albus, Rose and Nelly were in the Ravenclaw common room, playing exploding snap; this was his usual tactic – get everyone else thinking about something else so they'd forget about their cards until it was too late.
"Mmm, I'm thinking I'd like to do something in the Ministry," Rose answered coolly, concentration not slipping at all as she deftly handled her cards.
"I'm going to study dragons," Nelly replied excitedly, quickly flicking a smoking card onto the pile in front of her.
"What about you Al?" Zach asked curiously.
"I think I might become a medi-wizard," Albus replied thoughtfully. After all, he was particularly good at charms, herbology and potions, and he enjoyed helping people.
"A medi-wizard?" Nelly said in a shocked tone, "But Harry Potter's an Auror!"
BANG!
Albus' cards chose that wonderfully appropriate moment to explode in his face.
Mouth tasting like ash, and frustration welling up in him, he snapped, "Well that's my dad innit?!"
5th Year:
"Well done Mr. Potter, you've got quite a good grasp on the Defence Against The Dark Arts," the middle examiner beamed, after Albus had successfully managed to throw off a couple dozen hexes.
Albus beamed back and thanked her, feeling quite proud of himself – DADA was not his best subject, but he felt he'd done very well indeed.
The examiner coughed and cast a discreet look at the other two of either side. Receiving two nods, she turned back to Albus eagerly.
"Mr. Potter, I don't suppose, in light of…would you be able to cast a patronus charm?" she asked, smiling hopefully.
Albus hung his head, resisting the urge to sob with frustration. It just wasn't bloody FAIR. Thank goodness he was visiting Myrtle this evening – she would understand the need for a good rant now and then.
Choking back the groans and curses threatening to claw their way out of his throat, Albus sighed, "No…that's my dad."
6th Year:
This had to be one of the WORST New Years EVER. The house was full of his parents old friends, anyone over seventeen (including James) was beyond drunk and entirely too giddy, and Rose and Lily had dragged a fearful Hugo off for a makeover. So that left Albus. Alone in the kitchen, chugging bottle after bottle of butterbeer, hoping it would have SOME sort of effect, and wondering if anyone would notice if he pilfered a bottle of firewhiskey. At that moment, an old man stumbled into the kitchen, peering blearily around. When he clapped his eyes on Albus, his face practically split with the grin that overcame it. Albus internally groaned, just KNOWING what was coming – it had been happening all evening.
"Harry Potter!" the old man yelled cheerfully, stumbling forward, catching Albus' hand and pumping it enthusiastically, while clapping him on the shoulder.
Albus rolled his eyes and glared pointedly, but the man was too far gone to notice.
"Just wa-wanna shay…fair play. Fair-Play-To-YOU. Vanquishing the Dark Lord, tha' was…tha' was…AMAZING! You're s-s…such a br-hic-ave man, y-you saved us!"
Finally reaching breaking point, Albus shook the man off roughly, glaring at his surprised expression.
"Harry-" the man started, but Albus cut him off.
"That's my friggin DAD!" he shouted, before turning, grabbing the nearest bottle of firewhiskey and stomping off into the back garden.
7th Year:
"I'm going to do it; I'm finally going to do it!" Albus muttered to himself as he rushed out of the Great Hall.
Chanting the mantra over and over, he walked quickly along towards the dungeons, not noticing anything around him until-
CRASH!
Ink, books and parchment scattered everywhere, and a deep, sexy voice snapped, "Watch where you're going!"
Albus looked up in shock and into stormy grey eyes. They softened though, and shone with curiosity as they took his form in.
"Albus?" Scorpius Malfoy asked, puzzled.
Scorpius Malfoy.
Scorpius-I'm-so-gorgeous-it-should-be-illegal-Malfoy.
Exactly who Albus had been looking for.
Bugger.
"Oh crap, um, sorry Scorpius!" he stuttered hastily, kneeling down to pick up the books and parchment, while Scorpius fixed his inkwell.
Trying to force his blush down, Albus cursed his luck and misfortune that he should find who he was seeking out like this. He'd hoped for something light, casual…
Asking someone out while you had ink splattered on your face wasn't exactly ideal.
Albus had in fact, harboured a crush on Scorpius ever since 4th year – he was handsome, an ace quidditch player, ridiculously smart, popular amongst all the houses, and every time he and Albus had worked together they got on like a house on fire. Albus had been thrilled when he hear Scorpius had come out back in fifth year. Unfortunately, ever since he came out Scorpius had had a string of never-ending boyfriends. Albus had almost given up hope, and had been shocked to learn ten minutes ago at lunch that Scorpius had been single for the past week. Determined he wouldn't miss his chance, he had pepped himself up and then jumped up and rushed down to the dungeons. And so here he was. Completely unprepared.
Standing up, he handed Scorpius' things back to him, praying to Merlin his cheeks weren't as red as they felt.
"Here you go," he mumbled.
"Thank you," Scorpius replied, a bemused look on his face.
There was an awkward pause, during which Albus cleared his throat nervously.
"So…," he croaked, swallowed and continued in a normal voice, "So where are you off to?"
"The library," Scorpius smirked, jiggling the stack of notes in his arms.
Duh.
"Oh right, me too," Albus nodded fevrently.
Scorpius raised an eyebrow.
"Is there a secret Ravenclaw shortcut through the dungeons that I don't know about?"
"Oh, no," Albus said, blushing again.
Sweet Merlin, he was usually so much more composed around Scorpius, and funny and friendly, and right when he needed that it fled in the face of nervousness and left him acting like a complete berk. Just great.
"I just…you see…it's simply a matter of…I was looking for you," he finally spluttered.
"Why?" Scorpius asked, an unreadable look in his eyes.
Albus paused, blushed even harder, opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it again.
"Willyougoonadatewithme?" he blurted out.
"Pardon?" Scorpius asked, but something in his expression told Albus he knew what he had said.
And now that is had been said, Albus found the weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he could be his usual self again.
"Will you go on a date with me please?" he asked charmingly, "We can get dinner, or some drinks, or just study if you'd like."
Scorpius pursed his lips and stared hard at Albus, who lounged casually against the wall, letting him take his time.
After some time, the blond Slytherin smirked and commented, "I always thought Potters weren't supposed to date Malfoys; after all, your father hates mine. It would be incredibly awkward and I don't know if I fancy him glaring at me because of that."
Albus pondered this. At this point, he had two choices: (a) he could throw a well-deserved hissy fit over the fact that being Harry Potter's son was a complete and utter curse, or (b) he could do what he always did.
"That's my dad," he shrugged, then smiled widely, "I, on the other hand, quite like Malfoys. One in particular - a lot as it were."
He held his hand out, watching Scorpius. Hoping. Praying. Scorpius blinked at him, before his cheeks flushed a delicate pink. He smiled warmly then, and reaching out, took Albus' hand in his own.
A/N: sooo what do we think? reviews are always welcome, and thanks for reading!!