Chapter One
Moral Support
It had been a rather uneventful summer, Albus supposed as he lay in bed reading that Sunday night. Compared to the events of his first year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, nothing particularly exciting had happened.
After their rescue of the trapped Ministry workers, including Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic himself, Albus, his brother James, friends Scorpius Malfoy and Grace Pennington, their cousins Fred, Roxanne, Louis, Rose and Molly Weasley, and Kreacher, his family's house elf, had each been honoured with their very own Order of Merlin, Second Class, for "stupidity and bravery in the highest regard." His younger sister, Lily, cousin Hugo and family friend Frank Longbottom had been commended by the Minister for their role in the rescue mission. The Hogwarts house-elves had not been forgotten, either; they were rewarded with a brand new kitchen and living quarters, which Kreacher reported they loved dearly.
Of course, there were also the more mundane parts of life - Victoire had graduated from Hogwarts as the top of her class, despite missing months of school which she was abducted, and was now beginning an internship as a Healer; she and Teddy had also finally told Albus' Uncle Bill, Victoire's father, of their plans to marry in the not-too-distant future (the family were very surprised - Bill only blew out three windows this time, as opposed to the twelve his accidental magic destroyed when he first found out the two were dating); James, Fred, Louis and Roxanne had "channeled their built-up energy," as Albus' mother had called it, into something constructive and were enjoying their summer jobs at Fred and Roxanne's father's joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where they created and tested new joke products.
Albus' best friend Scorpius had spent a lot of time at the Potter's home in Godric's Hollow while his parents, Draco and Astoria, went on a trip around the world. Consequently, he and Scorpius had spent the majority of the summer together, spending plenty of time with Albus' sister Lily and cousin Hugo, working on their flying skills with Albus' former professional Quidditch playing mother, Ginny, while his cousin Rose (his other best friend) sat firmly on the ground, memorising each page in her textbook word for word.
And, best of all, Albus' father had put himself on desk duty for the duration of the summer holidays, due to injuries suffered during the fight with Rodolphus and the Death Eaters. This, of course, meant that Harry had been around for all family dinners, birthdays and the annual school shopping trip - something that hadn't happened since Teddy's first year of Hogwarts.
"Hey, buddy," Albus looked up, seeing his father standing in his bedroom doorway. "Mum says lights out in ten if you're going to Scorp's tomorrow."
"Sure," Albus replied, closing his book and placing it on his bedside table. "Hey dad," he called out, just before his father moved too far down the hallway.
"Yeah, bud?" he asked, poking his head back in.
"What's it like in there?" the twelve year old asked quietly, sitting up in his bed.
Harry sighed, then walked in and sat down in the end of his youngest son's bed. "Well, Albus, it's not nice, that's for sure. It's dark, dank and in the middle of the ocean."
"So no one can get out?" Albus asked.
"No one but Sirius," Harry replied with a smile. "You'll be ok, Al. Draco's taking you, and the place is full of Aurors. You've got nothing to be scared of."
"Except the murderers, Death Eaters, and all around bad people."
"You'll be fine, Al. It's really great that Scorp's asked you to go with him to see his grandfather."
"Yeah. When going to visit a relative in Azkaban, it's always a good idea to ask your best friend to come, too."
"Goodnight, Albus," Harry replied, exiting the room and turning off the light.
"Good morning, Harry, Albus," Astoria greeted the young man and his father as they exited her living room fireplace early the next morning.
"Good morning, Astoria," Harry replied, smiling. "I've got to go and meet Ron in at the office to go over some reports, so I can't stay. Have a good day, and don't worry," Harry whispered his final sentence to his son, who smiled slightly. "It'll all be fine," he continued quietly. "And don't take anything Lucius says to heart."
"My father has been known to say rude things to and about people, particularly those who look like their parents," Draco commented, entering the living room. "Morning."
"Ah, Draco," Harry replied, shaking his former school enemy's hand. "Have you thought more about my offer?"
"I have. Do you have time to talk at all this evening?"
"Weasley family dinner, the Burrow. Don't worry about it, I'll let Molly know we're having a few extras."
"What's going on?" Scorpius whispered to Albus, who shrugged.
"I think you're coming to dinner."
"Excellent! I love your grandma's cooking!" Albus' blonde best friend proclaimed, moving to the kitchen and taking a seat behind one of the two plates of bacon and eggs his mother had made for the two of them, and began to eat.
"Now boys, are you sure you want to do this?" Draco asked an hour later, just as they were about to apparate to the island of the prison.
"I'm sure, dad," Scorpius replied quietly.
"Me too," Albus replied strongly. "Scorp wants to do this, and I'm not going to let him do it alone."
Draco smiled. "In that case," he held out both of his arms, "let's go."
They landed not thirty seconds later in a cold, dark, misty place; the island in the middle of the ocean, hidden from Muggles with magic, that housed the wizard prison, Azkaban.
"Mr Draco Malfoy," Draco announced himself to the wizard warden guarding the outer wall an only doorway into or out of the prison, "accompanied by Mr Scorpius Malfoy and Mr Albus Potter."
"Whom will you be visiting?" the wizard asked, taking each of the three wands presented, weighing them and filling out some paperwork.
"Mr Lucius Malfoy," Draco replied, a stony look appearing on his face.
"Your arm?" the wizard warden asked Scorpius.
"Sorry?" he asked, terribly confused.
"It has been Ministry policy since the end of the Second Wizarding War to check the left arm of each and every person or creature entering and leaving this Azkaban prison," he replied, motioning for Scorpius to pull up his sleeve and show his left forearm. "It is a measure introduced to check for a Dark Mark, thus not allowing any followers of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named from entering the prison and instigating a mass breakout, as has been done before."
"He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named?" Albus asked, rolling up his sleeve and presenting his arm once Scorpius had been cleared. "Do you mean Voldemort?"
"Don't speak his name!" the wizard warden hissed, allowing the eleven year old through and muttering under his breath in a language none of the three could understand.
"It's Gaelic," the next person they met, a kind young witch based in the administration department explained. "Don't pay attention to old Mr McLoughlin," she laughed, "no one does. Oh! Your visit room's ready!"
As soon as she said it, another wizard warden appeared and led them through multiple checks and hallways, until finally they arrived in the High Security Visiting Rooms.
"First sign of trouble, boys, and you're quite within your rights to use whatever defensive magic you feel you need," the warden told them, opening the door. "He's in there waiting for you."
"Draco," they heard a cold, drawling voice say from inside the room. "Please, do come in. I don't suppose your brought any-"
The second Scorpius stepped one foot into the room behind his father, Lucius' talking ceased.
"Oh my..." the old man's voice faded off. "You're..."
"Scorpius," Albus' blonde best friend finished for him, stepping further into the room. "Hi Grandpa."
Lucius sat in his chair silently, stunned.
"Dad's promised me for years he'd bring me, and I turn twelve tomorrow, so he though he'd better live up to his end of the bargain - I pass all my classes at Hogwarts, he'd bring me to meet you for my birthday. We would've come tomorrow, but Al and I have been called as witnesses in the trial of a couple of Death Eaters they caught a couple of weeks ago, so..." Scorpius stopped speaking and turned around to where his grandfather as staring. "Oh, right - Grandpa, this is my best friend Albus. Al, this is my grandfather, Lucius Malfoy."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir," Albus managed to stumble out under the old man's scrutinising stare.
"Such like your fathers you are, both of you," the old man finally managed to say, turning back to his son.
"That's it?" Draco asked, unable to believe his ears. "No rant about Harry and how he cost you your House Elf and the war?"
"Harry?" Lucius asked, picking up on the casual use of Albus' father's first name. "Never in your life have you addressed him by his given name."
"We're friends now, dad, believe it or not. As a person who's capable of making his own choices - the right choices, I've realised that all my life it was you driving my hatred. I didn't hate him. I didn't even know him!"
"And I know what the right choices are, now!" Lucius countered feebly. "It's only taken twenty years in this hell hole for me to realise it, but I have!" He sighed, and turned to his grandson. "Scorpius, I am so sorry that I wasn't there to see you grow up. I'm sorry we've never met before. You have no idea how much I wish it was me taking you somewhere special for your twelfth birthday, as is wizard tradition."
"It's ok," Scorpius replied. "Al doesn't have a grandpa in his dad's side, either. But we're doing something really exciting next week with his grandpa Weasley!"
And so Scorpius launched into explaining how Arthur Weasley was going to take the two boys to the movies - or rather, Albus and Scorpius were taking him. He then had the joy of explaining what a muggle movie is - "A moving picture show! Not like the pictures that we have, because it's filmed with a muggle moving camera, on these things called sets the size of the Great Hall, and they show them in these dark theatres with surround sound and the only source of light is the movie screen!" - and the idea of a fast food restaurant - "You drive to a window and order your food at McDonald's, and it comes out hot and fresh in less than a minute!"
Then, they talked about school. How Scorpius' best friends were Albus and his cousin Rose; how they spent most of their time hanging out with the Weasley family, and how they'd spent most of the summer practicing with Albus' mother because they were going to try out for the Quidditch team this year.
Finally, it was time to go.
"My grandson the Gryffindor," Lucius mused as the wizard wardens allowed him to rise from his seat and hug his grandson for the very first time. "This is one for the history books."