Okay, so first up, this is my first fanfic, so I'm not sure how it is. This chapter starts out centered around Teddy, but this will mostly be centered around Rose, Scorpius, and Albus... so, any reviews would be appreciated, although you don't have to. I'd also like to add that the memory towards the end of the chapter is directly from The Philosopher's Stone.
Disclaimer: This world and these characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is the plot.
It was always inevitable that the children of the generation that lived through the Second Wizarding War would have an unrivaled thirst to prove themselves worthy of their parents that would eventually lead to things the wizarding world couldn't possibly have hoped to predict.
This common desire to prove themselves, more than anything, was what banded them all together so tightly, despite the age differences – and differences in family.
The children were by no means stupid, and even without being told, they could see that there was something special about their parents – there had to be a reason for the whispers that followed them through the streets of Diagon Alley; the respect evident in the eyes of surrounding wizards; and, perhaps the most disconcerting for the children, the expectation they were regarded with by everybody who laid eyes upon them.
The only thing worse than being famous as a war legend was being famous as the children of those famous as war legends. The oldest, Teddy Lupin, was the one the children credited with having brought them all together, however.
When Teddy was eight years old, his Grandma Drommie had informed him that he had a new relative: her sister, Narcissa Malfoy, with whom she had tentatively begun to speak after the war's end, had just had a grandson, and was bringing him over to visit his great-aunt.
"Scorpius is only a baby," Grandma Drommie told him, "and he isn't like you, so you can't try to make him change his nose by nearly breaking it again, understand?"
Teddy frowned. He had only done that once, when Vic was born, and he hadn't even been two years old then! He was eight now; he knew nearly breaking a baby's nose wouldn't solve the fact that it wasn't a metamorphmagus like he was.
He nodded anyway, and when Scorpius arrived, he stared in fascination. The baby had scruffy blond hair, almost as untidy as Teddy's adoptive little brother, James' had been. The baby's hair was a dark gold, in contrast to his father's platinum blond hair, and he had his mother's eyes – a stormy mix of dark grey and blue.
"How old is he?" Teddy demanded eagerly, instantly fascinated.
Narcissa's eyes softened. "A month," she answered, smiling gently at the excited boy. Surprising her sister, she had developed a soft spot for Teddy Lupin, despite his parentage. That was not to say she didn't scowl a little when she saw Teddy teasing Vic by turning her hair into stone, something he had learned to do when he was four, but nobody expected Narcissa to ever like the Weasley family. After all, Molly Weasley had killed her other sister, although Andromeda couldn't blame her.
Teddy's eyes were round. "He doesn't look like Al," he observed, staring up at his grandmother. "What's Rose gonna look like?"
Andromeda hid a smile as Narcissa's smile vanished at hearing the name of the newest Weasley child – Ron and Hermione were having a daughter, only four months after Harry and Ginny had had their second son, Albus Severus.
"We don't know," she told him, glaring at Narcissa, but Teddy had already noticed Narcissa's thinly veiled dislike.
"Don't you like Rose?" Teddy asked Narcissa, his normally mischievous face looking suspicious. He may have been only eight, but he was already starting to notice the tension between his two families, and how when one was visiting, the other never did.
Narcissa merely forced a smile at the child and gathered Scorpius into her arms. "We'll visit later, Drommie," she told her sister. "Good-bye, Teddy."
"Bye," Teddy answered, still slightly suspicious. As Narcissa left, he shrugged it off, finding a new distraction in the owl that had just arrived at the window.
When Teddy was ten, he discovered the secret that started it all. He was at the Potters' that summer, and Vic, Dom, and their little brother Louis were visiting. Louis, being James' age, was not much amusement, and Dom, being five, was curled up on the couch taking a nap, but Vic was a lot of fun.
Uncle Harry was back from the Aurors' office, and Aunt Ginny had just put James to bed, so when Teddy and Vic begged them for a flying lesson, they acquiesced amiably. It was well known that Aunt Angelina and Aunt Ginny were the aunts to go to if one aspired to become a Chaser, as both had played for England. (Teddy had once seen a kid wearing a Holyhead Harpies T-shirt with Aunt Ginny's autograph on it.)
Teddy actually wanted to be a Keeper, and Oliver (Oliver Wood, professional Quidditch star and World Cup winning Keeper) had given him some hints, but he could think of none other than his Uncle Harry to help him with his flying.
Uncle Charlie, a Seeker, was a Hogwarts Quidditch legend, but his Uncle Harry had been the youngest Seeker in a century and a Quidditch legend as well. Teddy was a naturally excellent flyer (it seemed to run in the family, despite his not being related by blood) and Harry had assured him that he was sure to make the team his second year.
Teddy and Vic, who wanted to be a Chaser, would have like to have made it their first year, but Harry was an exception that wasn't likely to be made again, even for flyers as talented as they were.
They had finished the game tired but happy, and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had urged them to run off, feeling exhausted themselves. Teddy had gone barreling down the hallways of Potter Manor, which was a sprawling countryside manor, with Victoire chasing after him when he'd almost run into one of the house-elves, Maud.
He threw himself to the side, hitting a door with a loud thud. Vic winced, scrambling to help him up, but abruptly froze and gasped, staring at something above his head. Teddy looked up saw that the door was glowing – a strange, whitish light was emanating from the cracks in the doorway, outlining it in a shining halo of light.
Nervously, he realized he was in his Harry's private library, which was strictly forbidden. Vic gaped at the door. "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" she breathed in French, looking fascinated. When shocked, she had a habit of letting out bits of French, a habit she had picked up from her mother, Teddy's Aunt Fleur.
"No idea," Teddy muttered back, trying to hold back his curiosity. Harry wouldn't like it if he found out. But Teddy was the son of a Marauder, after all, and he couldn't help himself. Exchanging a glance with Vic, he pushed open the door, revealing what looked like a large goblet.
They inched forward, and the door shut behind them with a bang. They both jumped. "Oh, no. . . zut, zut, zut. . . ce n'est pas –"
"Yes, it is," Teddy interrupted her, who had picked up enough French to know what she was saying. "Nobody's going to enter, I don't think; everyone's asleep or in the kitchen, and don't you think it would look suspicious if the door was wide open?"
Vic glared at him and marched forward, sticking her face in the goblet. "What do you think it's for?" she wondered, prodding it with a finger.
Teddy joined her, leaning in. The oversized goblet held a viscous, silvery-blue substance. He briefly saw a face that looked oddly like a young Uncle Harry. "Did you see that?" he hissed at Victoire, whose eyes were the size of a house-elf's.
She prodded it again, and with a startled scream, she fell into the goblet, pulling Teddy with her.
They landed beside the young Uncle Harry, who looked straight through them as if they weren't there. "Give it here, Malfoy," he ordered, and Teddy and Victoire spun to find a sneering Draco Malfoy behind them, holding a broom.
The two children watched in awe as Harry displayed incredible skill on a broomstick, performing a fifty-foot dive and catching a remembrall out of the air. "Whoa," Teddy breathed. They watched with bated breath as Headmistress McGonagall appeared, whisking Harry away.
She stopped in a classroom and asked to borrow wood, and a second later –
"Is that Oliver?" Vic demanded, staring.
"I think so, yeah," Teddy answered softly, watching as Harry was made the new Gryffindor Seeker, becoming the youngest in a century. The memory dissolved, and they fell out of the goblet, staring at each other as they were returned to Potter Manor.
And that was how it all started.