It was midnight, yet children were still out. Wondering the halls past curfew like she'd done in her years at Hogwarts no more than twenty years prior. As she watched she couldn't help but be intrigued by one child, he caught her attention. He was so familiar. He looked like his father, so much like his father, and she'd give almost anything to see his face one more time. The boy's name was Albus Severus Potter.
Albus crept down the halls, past Nearly Headless Nick, and all the other ghosts, until he came to a small corridor. At the end was a ghost. He'd never seen her before, and he thought he'd seen all the Hogwarts ghosts.
Albus crept closer to this ghost, that had caught his attention.
"Excuse me?" the ghost looked up.
"How may I help you?" she asked.
"My name is Albus Severus Potter, and I was wondering, why have I never seen you before?" the ghost smiled.
"I prefer to wonder Hogwarts at night, when no students like yourself bother me." Albus flushed.
"I can leave if you like–" Albus suggested, but the ghost cut him off.
"No, don't," she paused. "You look so much like your father you know."
"You knew my father?" the ghost nodded.
"I went to school with him."
"Were you friends?" Albus asked, he didn't think his father had mentioned any of his friends being ghosts at Hogwarts.
"You could call us friends…."
"Does he know you're here?" Albus asked. The ghost shook her head. "Oh, I'm sure he'd like to visit you."
"The chances of him remembering me are very slim." The ghost replied.
"Oh." Albus changed the subject, the ghost obviously didn't like talking about Albus's father. "What's your name?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out." The ghost replied, smiling. She was quite pretty, of course he'd never seen her alive, but she was a pretty ghost, prettier than all the other ones he'd seen.
"You should come to the Great Hall tomorrow for breakfast." Albus suggested. "What house were you in?" the ghost grinned.
"Gryffindor." Albus looked at his feet.
"I'm Slytherin."
"That's okay, I had a friend in Slytherin, not all Slytherin's are bad." The ghost said gently.
"Can I bring my brother, sister and friends to meet you?" Albus asked. He wanted to show James, Lily, Rose, Scorpius, and all his other friends this new ghost.
"Of course, I'd be glad of the company." The ghost grinned.
"Cool, I'll bring them tomorrow night." Albus said.
"I'll be waiting right here." The ghost replied. Albus grinned.
"Okay, goodnight!" he called as he walked away.
"Goodnight Albus Severus Potter." The ghost called after him, smiling.
oOo
Albus wanted the day to be over. He couldn't wait to show his friends the new ghost he found. James of course didn't believe him, he said he'd met all the ghost in the school and there wasn't one who had gone to school with their dad.
Finally, dinner was over, now Albus just had to wait until midnight. The group had agreed to meet outside the transfiguration classroom because it was just about a five-minute walk from the meeting spot.
"Scorp, come on, we have to go." Albus said, grabbing his friend's hand.
"Okay." Scorpius replied, as the two hurried to the transfiguration classroom. The rest of the group were already there, waiting.
"Okay, let's see this ghost you were talking about." James demanded. Albus nodded, grinning, as he led the way to the small corridor.
"Albus Severus Potter, is that you?" the ghost called as they approached her.
"Yes." The group finally reached the ghost.
"Ghost, this is James, my brother, Lily, my sister, Scorpius Malfoy, my best friend, Rose Weasley, my cousin, Hugo Weasley, my cousin, Lysander Scamander, Luna's son, Lorcan Scamander, Luna's other son, Louis Weasley, my cousin, Molly Weasley II, my cousin, Lucy Weasley, my cousin, Fred Weasley II, my cousin, and Roxanne Weasley, my cousin."
"I didn't realize your group would be this big." The ghost commented. "You have a lot of cousins, I suppose your mother is Ginny?" James nodded.
"Miss….?" He said.
"Call me Ghost."
"Right, Ghost, if you don't mind my asking, how did you die?" James asked.
"James!" Lily scolded her brother.
"No, Miss Potter, it's fine, I was killed by a death eaters, protecting your father."
"Then our father must remember you, if you save his life!" Albus said.
"No, I highly doubt he remembers me." Ghost said, almost wistfully.
"How old were you?" James asked.
"James!" Rose scolded her cousin.
"It's fine Miss Weasley, I assume you are Ron's daughter?" Rose nodded. "Your father was always very annoying." Rose grinned.
"Really?"
"Yes, but I was nineteen years old." Ghost said, answering James's question.
"Can you tell us about what our parents were like?" Scorpius asked.
"Draco Malfoy's son?" Scorpius nodded. "Your father was a prat." The group laughed. "I'm serious, he was always teasing the Gryffindor's." Ghost paused. "I like him at one point."
"Eww!" Lyra squealed. "You like my daddy!" she grinned. "I'm gonna tell him!"
And that's how it went. Every night the group would meet the ghost, and she'd tell them stories about their parents, answer their questions, and all while never revealing who she was.
oOo
"Ghost, did you really go to school with our father?" Lily asked, one night.
"Yes, of course."
"Did you know Remus Lupin?" Lily asked.
"Yes."
"What about Nymphadora Lupin?"
"Yes, I knew Tonks." Ghost replied.
"Could we, maybe bring Teddy here? He's never met his parents, you see, and mum and dad don't like to talk about them." Ghost smiled.
"Yes of course, I'd love to see Teddy, last time I say him he was a new-born baby." Lily's jaw dropped.
"You knew Teddy as a baby?"
"I held him as a baby."
"Cool, we'll bring him tomorrow!" Lorcan said.
"I'd like that."
oOo
"Ghost!" Fred yelled, approaching the ghost. "We brought Teddy!"
"Wonderful, I've been looking forward to this all day." Teddy looked a little put out.
"Teddy, it's so good to see you again!" Ghost said.
"Um, nice to see you too." Teddy replied, unsure of what to say.
"Oh, I apologize, you probably don't recognise me." Ghost said, a longing look in her eyes. "I was friends with your parents and Harry."
"Oh," Teddy said. "What were they like?"
"Your parents?" Teddy nodded. "Oh, Remus and Tonks were wonderful! You look so much like your father, but of course with your mother's hair."
"So, I've been told." Teddy muttered.
"I'm sure you already know this, but Remus was our DADA professor in third year. His boggart was a full moon–" Teddy cut her off.
"I didn't know that!"
"Yes, Harry and Ron didn't figure out the Remus was a werewolf for ages. Hermione was the one who figured it out."
"Hermione?" Teddy asked.
"I'm sure you've heard of her?"
"Of course, we have." Roxanne said. "Who hasn't?"
"Anyway, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione rescued Sirius Black and Remus turned into a werewolf, he nearly killed u-them." Ghost continued.
"Wow, Harry and Ron never talk about that." Teddy said.
"I wouldn't expect them too."
"Ghost?" Ghost turned to look at Lysander. "Will you ever tell us your name?"
"I'm sure I won't have to, you'll figure it out."
oOo
Teddy started joining the groups escapades. He snuck into Hogwarts through the passage in Hog's Head every night. Ghost welcomed him eagerly. She loved telling the group stories about their parent's adventures, and answering their questions.
"Ghost, can you tell us about Hermione?" Louis asked one night. Ghost's smiled disappeared.
"I supposed, why do you want to know?"
"You always tell us about Harr, Ron, Remus, Tonks, and everyone else, but what about Hermione." Molly pointed out.
"Yeah, I want to know more about mum!" Hugo called.
"Alright, well what do you want to know?" Ghost asked.
"Did she really smack Draco Malfoy in her third year?" Fred asked. Ghost smiled.
"Yes, she did, it was amazing. The ferret deserved it!"
"My dad's not a ferret!" Scorpius pointed out.
"Sorry, but your father was a ferret at one point." Her statement was met with blank expressions. Clearly, they'd never heard the story before.
"Our DADA professor in fourth year, Professor Moody, or Barty Crouch Jr. turned Draco into a ferret during one of the classes."
"My dad was a ferret!" Scorpius grinned. "I'm related to a ferret!" Ghost laughed, something she rarely did.
"I'm gonna use this against him!"
"Do your parents know you meet me here every night?" Ghost asked suddenly.
"No." Lorcan replied.
"You may want to tell them." Ghost suggested.
"Yeah, we'll tell them over Christmas break." Albus said. "I'm gonna ask dad if he knows who you might be." Ghost smiled.
"He won't know." she assured him.
"It's worth a shot."
oOo
"Are any of you staying here over Christmas break?" Ghost asked. It was the night before they all left.
"No." Lysander said. "We're all going home."
"Finally, some peace and quiet." Ghost said, smiling.
"I wish you could come home with us." Roxanne said.
"I know." Me too.
"We'll tell you all about our break when we get back." Fred said.
"I look forward to it." Ghost replied.
"We will find out who you are, whether it's the last thing we do." James assured her. Ghost laughed. She'd been laughing more and more over the past two weeks.
"I'm sure you will."
oOo
"We're back!" Fred sang as the group approached Ghost.
"I've missed your company." Ghost said.
"I asked dad about you, he said he had no idea who you could be." Albus whined. He really wanted to find out who Ghost was.
"I have no doubt you'll find out soon enough."
"Mum's pregnant again." Scorpius said. James, Albus, and Lily looked at him in surprise.
"Our mum's pregnant too!" Lily said. "They'll be in the same year!"
"I hope one's a girl and one's a boy." James said.
"Why?" Ghost asked.
"Then we can tease them about being in love!" the group laughed. Scorpius punched James in the arm.
"What did your parents say when you told them about me?" Ghost asked.
"Mum said she was glad we were making friends." Lily said. "Then we told her you were a ghost. She freaked out."
"That sounds like Ginny." Ghost mused.
"Did you know our mum?" James asked. Ghost gave him a pointed look.
"How did he make it past first year?" Ghost asked. James glared at the ghost. "Just like your father."
"Thank you." James said.
"Oh, your beyond welcome." Ghost replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"So, Ghost, how was your Christmas."
oOo
Albus rushed into the Gryffindor common room.
"Guys, we're all meeting in the library." He said.
Half an hour later, the whole group was crowded around a large table in the library.
"So, have you updated our list, Rose?" James asked. The group had written a list of all the things they knew about their parents and Ghost.
"We still haven't figured out who Ghost is." Rose said. "And we're not getting anywhere."
"Wait!" Lily paused. "Didn't Ghost say she was in the same year as Dad, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione?"
"Yyeess." Fred sang.
"If she was in their year, wouldn't Professor Longbottom recognise her?" Lily continued. Lucy nodded, seeing where her cousin was going.
"So, if we got Professor Longbottom to come with us, he might be able to identify her." She finished for Lucy.
"You guys realize we could have just asked Professor McGonagall or pretty much any of the other Professors." Molly pointed out.
"Oh, right." Lily grinned sheepishly.
"So now we have to convince Professor Longbottom to come with us to see Ghost?" Lorcan asked.
"Correct." Lucy confirmed.
"That shouldn't be too hard." Roxanne said.
"Right."
oOo
Wrong.
"Let's go ask him again." James said.
"James, Professor Longbottom said he was too busy." Rose said.
"No, he claimed he was too busy. He's a teacher, that's what every teacher says." James correct his cousin.
"How about we ask Professor McGonagall?" Roxanne suggested.
"If Professor Longbottom is too busy ten imagine how Professor McGonagall is." Molly pointed out.
"Right." Lily grinned.
"What if we tell him that Harry asked us to find out?" Lorcan asked.
"Lor, that's lying." Lysander scolded his brother.
"Fine."
oOo
It took them two weeks to finally convince Professor Longbottom to come with them. He met them outside the transfiguration classroom at Midnight, were they usually met. Teddy joined them and grinned when he saw Professor Longbottom.
"Come on!" Lily said, pulling on Professor Longbottom's hand. She approached Ghost nervously. Ghost's eyes widened in surprise.
"Ghost, tonight your identity is revealed." Fred declared grinning. Professor Longbottom's eyes grew wide at the sight of Ghost.
"Hi Neville." Ghost said nervously.
"It's been so long…." Professor Longbottom paused. "Hermione."