Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters or affiliated books, movies, games, etc. The creator and copyright holder of Harry Potter, to the best of my knowledge, is J.K. Rowling. However, this story's plot is my original idea as are the original characters, so no stealing, taking, copying, borrowing, etc.
Warning: Although this fanfiction does start out with the friendship of Albus and Scorpius, it will eventually evolve in a romantic relationship. So, readers, keep that in mind.
The day Albus got his first Hogwarts letter was one of the most exciting days of his life. He had woken to the smell of his mother cooking his favorite breakfast and ran downstairs just as the owl flew in through an open kitchen window. Of course, it was carrying one for James as well, but he only had eyes for his own letter. After that, breakfast became an energized affair during which all three children begged to be taken to Diagon Alley that day. Luckily, Harry had the day off (a very rare thing for the Head of the Auror Office), so Harry and Ginny took their children to Diagon Alley.
Once there, they had to split up, because not all three children to go to the same place. Harry took James to the Eyelops Owl Emporium while Ginny took charge of Lily and Albus. Their first stop was Ollivander's, because Albus needed a wand, and Lily wanted to watch the process. After only a few tries, Albus's wand had chosen him. It was eleven inches long, made of mahogany with a phoenix feather core.
"Curious," Ollivander had said in that low, wheezy voice of his. "Very curious. Young mister Potter, it would seem that your looks are not the only thing you inherited from your father."
"What does that mean?" Lily had demanded to know, and Albus was very glad for that. Because while he could be quite vocal when surrounded by his family, people he'd known all his life, he had trouble speaking up when anyone else was around. Unlike his siblings and many, many cousins, Albus was painfully shy.
"The phoenix who gave a feather for your father's wand only gave two feathers, one for your father's and one for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. However, the phoenix's offspring did give a feather, just one," Ollivander answered with a twinkle in his eyes. "Your wand has that feather. The wand always chooses the wizard, young mister Potter, always. Your elder brother's wand choice is similar to your mother's."
"Oh," was all Albus could say in response to that. It was the first word he had spoken since entering the wand shop and would be the last as well. Lily looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but thankfully, Ginny noticed her son's discomfort under the wandmaker's scrutiny and quickly reached for her money while inquiring how much it costs. This effectively drew the attention away from Albus and onto herself.
Soon enough, they had left the shop and were on the way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occassions to get Albus his school robes. However, once there, Lily had a sudden craving for a raspberry-chocolate-marmalade soufflé, which was only available at Starfire's Seventy-Flavored Sweets. So, Ginny left Albus at Madam Malkin's fr the fitting and took Lily to the sweets shop after promising to be back soon.
When Madam Malkin turned her attention on Albus, she smiled at him and told him to stand on a nearby stool. He returned her smile with one of his own and silently followed her instructions. Then, she slipped a robe over his shoulders and started fussing with fabric and pins. As she did this, the black-haired boy looked around and started in surprise when he spotted another boy on a nearby stool already well into the process he had just begun. Their eyes met, and Albus's green orbs widened with wonder when he noticed the other boy's eyes were pure silver.
"Hello," the boy said cordially. "You're Albus Severus Potter, right?"
At these words, Albus tensed in apprehension. Her it was again. Wherever he went, people always recognized him as the sone of the famous Harry Potter, because he was "just like" his father. He had long ago started hating that sentiment, but not because he hated his father. No, he loved his father very dearly, but he didn't think he was much like his father at all. Either way, politeness demanded that he answer, and Albus managed to force out a rather quiet, "Yes."
"I thought so," the boy replied. "I saw your picture in the Daily Prophet a few weeks back."
At these words, Albus immediately perked up. Indeed, the Prophet had been making a big deal about the fact that Harry Potter's second son would be going to Hogwarts starting in September, and his unwilling, blushing face had graced the front page at least a few times during the summer. As he stood there silently, Albus desperately wished to say something, anything to the first person who wasn't related to him by blood that had recognized him as himself rather than the son of the Chosen One. But his throat kept seizing up every time he tried to speak. Why? Why couldn't he hold conversations with people outside his family? Why couldn't he say more than one word to this boy who had actually seen him?
"What's your name?" the words rushed out of the black-haired boy's mouth, and it took a few moments for him to recognize his own voice. Apparently, his body could act while his mind was seized with panick. At least, his mouth and vocal chords could manage to form three words while his was occupied with quarreling with itself.
"I'm Scorpius," the blonde boy answered with a small smile and a chuckle. "You're not very much like your father, are you?"
"Not really, no," Albus said in a very quiet voice. He managed to respond more quickly, but his voice caught in his throat again. So, no explanation was offered beyond those three words.
"You don't talk very much, do you?" the boy, now known as Scorpius, asked curiously.
"Sorry," it was the only reply Albus could think of.
"It's fine," Scorpius said, and Albus suddenly got the strangest feeling that the boy had decided he was some sort of interesting mystery to be unraveled. "So, are you going to Hogwarts this year?"
"Yeah," Albus said with a wide smile. His voice was still quiet, but it was getting easier to talk with this boy.
"What house do you think you'll be in?" Scorpius was now purposely asking questions that could be answered with one word, correctly figuring it was the easiest way to get answers from Albus. However, this was one topic on which he could speak more than one or two words…mostly because of how much his family had been discussing it recently.
"I don't really know," Albus said. "James keeps telling me horror stories about Slytherin and then saying I'll be sorted there. Uncle Ron swears he'll disinherit anyone who's in Slytherin. I still don't know what's so bad about it, but I'm kind of hoping not to be placed there."
"My whole family's been in Slytherin," Scorpius's silver eyes narrowed as he said this.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Albus began to apologize but was interrupted by an accidental yet painful jab of one of Madam Malkin's needles. He winced in pain before turning his attention back to Scorpius, only to find the blonde boy hopping down from the stool. His fitting was finished. Albus watched helplessly as Scorpius took his new robes, paid for them, and left the shop. At that point, Albus just knew that Scorpius had taken his final words the wrong way. He had meant to apologize, but to Scorpius, it probably sounded like sarcastic mocking. Sighing, Albus fell silent and remained that way even after his mother returned with a mint-firecracker-pumpkin seed muffin from Starfire's for him.
"What's wrong?" Ginny had asked, worried after Albus's favorite Starfire sweet had failed to bring a smile to his face. The black-haired boy merely shrugged and accepted the muffin with a quiet thanks. How he wished he hadn't alienated the one boy who had recognized him as himself and that he'd actually been able to have a conversation with. As Ginny paid for his new school robes, Albus wondered if there was anyway he'd be able to befriend Scorpius now. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to find the blonde on the train to school and explain what he meant. Scorpius had seemed nice enough and would probably accept a proper apology. Cheered by that thought, Albus was happily chewing on his muffin by the time he, Ginny, and Lilly met up with Harry and James at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
The next couple of weeks passed by very slowly for Albus Potter. He was constantly jumpy whenever someone mentioned Hogwarts, because Hogwarts reminded him of Scorpius and how much he wanted to the boy as a friend. Despite having a, for lack of a better word, plan, the black-haired boy was very nervous about his upcoming conversation with Scorpius. He didn't yet know ho he would, but Albus was determined to find Scorpius on the Hogwarts Express before it reached its destination. Anyway, his nervousness him so jumpy that his family was constantly concerned about his behavior. And because he didn't want to tell them about the incident in the robe shop, Albus, for the first time in a very, very long time, liked to his family by telling them he was simply worried about the start of term.
Eventually, the morning of September 1st dawned a bright, new day, and after the usual crazy morning routine of gathering together all the children's until last minute forgotten necessities, the family had gathered themselves on Platform 9¾. Lost in his own thoughts, Albus attempted to tune out everything else while responding only half-heartedly to the words he heard until he heard his Uncle Ron mention Scorpius's name. His eyes darted around frantically until he spotted the blonde-haired boy with his family. The desire to be friends shot through him once again, and he decided to go apologize right then and there. However, Albus suddenly became aware of just how many people were on the platform, and a fit of shyness seized him once again, making it damn near impossible for him to move.
However, Albus was careful to note which compartment the boy leaned out of to say his final good-byes as he was doing the same thing himself. As soon as the platform was no longer visible, Albus turned away from the window, ignored the empty seats, and marched with singular purpose toward the door.
"Hey, Alby," his cousin called after him, causing him to halt his footsteps. "Where are you going?"
"There's someone I need to talk to," Albus said without turning around, in a voice at least two to three times as loud as any he had used in front of Scorpius. In other words, he was speaking in a tone most would consider normal. After he spoke those words, he felt the surprised stare drilling into his back and chose to ignore it in favor of continuing to speak. "I might be back soon. I might not. But I'll come back here to change into my school robes, so you'll see me before we get there, okay?"
"Ok," Rose answered slowly but said nothing else as she watched him exit the compartment.
Once in the aisle, Albus walked as quickly as he could to the compartment where Scorpius was seated and then froze. The thought suddenly occurred to him that other people might be in there, which would make it about a billion times harder for him to apologize. But, he had come here with a mission, so, swallowing his shyness as best he could, Albus slowly opened the compartment door to reveal, to his complete and utter relief, that Scorpius was indeed alone.
"Um, can I come in?" the black-haired boy spoke in a voice so softly that he was afraid that the other boy would not be able to hear it. However, the blonde did turn his head, and those wondrous silver eyes narrowed infinitesimally as their owner recognized Albus.
"I guess so," Scorpius said in a tone that was obviously guarded. Nevertheless, Albus steped into the compartment more fully and closed the door behind him. Then, he just stood there staring at Scorpius wondering why, before this point, he had never even thought about what to say now that he was actually here. Scorpius didn't say anything either and stared right back. Well, he had come to apologize, so he might as well start with that.
"I'm sorry," he said in a very low voice, but it conveyed his sincerity quite well. And then, as though a damn had broke, everything he did and didn't want to say started to come rushing out. "I wanted to apologize properly in the shop, but she stuck me with a pin, and then you were leaving, and I couldn't stop you. I didn't mean to insult your family or anything. I'm sure being in Slytherin doesn't mean anything bad. I bet your family is perfectly nice. James is always exaggerating things, and Uncle Ron complains about stupid stuff all the time. I didn't mean anything sarcastic or bad or whatever, I just stopped talking at a really bad time. I mean, I would never say anything bad about you. Not when you actually saw me, not…" Albus started trailing off then, finally noticing that Scorpius wasn't looking anymore. No, his eyes were closed as he shook with laughter.
"I get it, I get it," Scopius said while chuckling. "Apology accepted. You can stop babbling." Albus's reply was a wide, dazzling smile that was full of happiness.
"Have a seat," the blonde said, gesturing to the empty sea across from him, and Albus immediately took it. "You know, that little monologue of yours contained at least twice as many words than the total you spoke to me in the robe shop."
"Probably," Albus replied, still in a very quiet voice. However, he found that it was much easier to speak to Scorpius now for some reason. "Uh, do you think you'll be in Slytherin?"
"That's a very good possibility," Scorpius replied. "I'm very much like my father. But my mother thinks I might be sorted into Ravenclaw. Personally, I don't mind either way. And just so you know, James, who I am assuming is your older brother, and your Uncle Ron aren't completely way off base in their opinions about Slytherin. Slytherin tends to house more aggressive and arrogant pricks than the other houses, but they're not all bad. As for my family, they did some bad and some stupid things during the War. But they've changed a lot since then, and we're paying for it regardless."
"We?" Albus said questioningly, not sure how they went from sorting to the War.
"Long story, lots of 'em," Scorpius replied.
"Oh," Albus sensed that Scorpius didn't want to talk about it. So, he didn't say anything more about it. "Maybe Slytherin wouldn't be so bad a place to be though, if you were there too."
"You won't be placed in Slytherin," Scorpius said this with both a smile and absolute certainty.
"How do you know?" Albus asked.
"You're way too honest," Scorpius answered. "Not to mention how shy and open you are. I'd guess Hufflepuff. But coming here on your own was probably pretty brave for you, so maybe Gryfindor."
"The way you're talking it's like we have no chance to be in the same house," Albus commented, almost poutingly.
"Not very likely," Scorpius confirmed.
"But I want us to be in the same house as you," Albus protested.
"The Sorting Hat doesn't choose our friends for us," Scorpius stated, and suddenly, Albus found himself sitting in stunned, confused silence. He already knew that, but what did Scorpius mean when he said it? He was about to ask, but the compartment door slammed open, and his cousin stepped in.
"What are you doing here?" Rose practically shouted at Albus, causing his eyes to go as wide as dinner plates. "You've been gone for over half an hour, and I couldn't imagine you talking to anyone on your own for that long. I was getting a bit worried, so I went looking for you. Why did I find you with him?" She pointed toward Scorpius on the last word, actually it was more of a violent jab and when combined with her words, it became an incredibly rude gesture.
"This is someone I was talking about Rosie," Albus replied as he stood up, so he could grab her hand and pull it down so it was no longer pointing toward the blonde. "And he has a name. It's Scorpius. Now tell me why you're acting like I was having afternoon tea with a bunch of Death Eaters." As Albus spoke to his cousin, Scorpius noticed that the black-haired boy spoke in a much louder voice around her, making him wonder if Albus's volume was directly proportional to how long he knew a person or if it was more applicable to how comfortable he was around a person. He was hardly paying attention to the Weasley girl's words. He had know some would still hold old war grudges against his family.
"Because you might as well have been," Rose shouted, her free hand waving wildly about. "His name is Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy. MALFOY! He comes from a family of Death Eaters!" Oh! Albus understood his cousin's apprehension now and why Scorpius had spoken of his family that way. But as far as he was concerned, the War had ended long before he was born and so had the interfamily feuds. His father barely ever spoke of the War, but when he did, Harry always said he had forgiven a lot of former Death Eaters and never blamed any of the children for their parents' mistakes. It had been a very dark time, and everyone had their reasons. Everyone had been doing their best to survive. On the other hand, Uncle Ron was always preaching on how evil the Malfoys were.
"He comes from a long line of evil," Rose continued to spit out hatefully, regardless of the fact that Scorpius was right there. "He's probably just like them."
"There's nothing wrong with Scorpius," Albus said. He didn't shout like Rose had, but his voice was somewhat loud and extremely firm. "And his family is not evil." From her expression, it was obvious that Rose Weasley did not agree. Sighing, the girl just shook her head and began pulling Albus out of the compartment.
"Come on Alby," she said in a voice that suggested her cousin was lost and confused. "Let's go back. You can meet two really nice girls who came in while you were gone."
Before Albus could start protesting like she knew he wanted to, Rose tugged on his hand harder and basically yanked him out of Scorpius's compartment. Both eleven-year-olds had stubbornness in their genetic make-up, but Rose's were showing more power at that point. As he struggled fruitlessly, the green-eyed boy looked back at Scorpius to try and apologize, but his words caught in his throat at the inexplicable stare he was receiving from Scorpius. The blonde boy said, "Remember the last thing I said, Potter."
And then, Scorpius was out of his line of sight. Rose continued to drag him unrelentingly across the train until they were back in their original compartment sitting across from tso girls Albus had never seen before. They both had blonde hair, brown eyes, and almost identical facial features, but Albus could easily tell them apart. Because when you live in a family full of cousins who look almost exactly alike from far away, you learn to distinguish minute facial features.
"Hi, I Hannah Halibel," said the one on the left with a bright smile.
"And I'm Holly Hallibel," said the one on the right with an equally bright smile. For a few moments, Albus honestly considered ignoring them, because Rose had brought him to meet them, and he was very mad at Rose. But the seemed very nice, and he wasn't mad at them. Plus, this seemed the best way to make at least a couple of friends at Hogwarts, seeing as he was highly unlikely to approach anyone himself. Being so shy definitely limited one's friend-making options.
Anyway, he forced his mouth into a very small smile, the largest he could without making it look like a grimace. After all, he was mad at Rose and horrible at hiding his emotions. In a very small voice, he replied, "I'm Albus."
"Oh, we've got ourselves a shy one," Hannah said, sounding positively thrilled. This confused Albus until Holly commented, "Shy ones are always the best listeners."
Then, the two began talking a mile a minute, but it was very clear that they were talking to the cousins and not just amongst themselves. Rose soon joined them, and very occasionally, Albus would comment on something, in a quiet voice of course and almost never on something Rose said. This was the way the four first years spent the remainder of their first ride on the Hogwarts Express.
The four exited the train together upon its arrival at the school. They bypassed the school carriages and headed straight to the lake, because Rose and Albus already knew exactly what to expect. In fact, they were less than thirty feet away from Hagrid when they heard, the first call of, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!'
"Uncle Hagrid!" Both Albus and Rose called out happily as they ran over and each attached themselves to one of his very large legs."
"Well, if it inn't little Rosie and Al," Hagrid said grinning. "I been excited to see yeh two here for a while now."
"This is Hannah and Holly," Rose said as she detached herself from Hagrid and pointed to each girl in turn. After a swift exchange of pleasantries, the gamekeeper went back to duties, and Albus detached himself from Hagrid as well. During the boat ride, they continued their earlier line of conversation and continued chatter until they reached the doors that entered into the Great Hall.
"Hello," a dreamy voice floated down to them, and all the first year students looked to their right to see a witch approaching who had very long blonde hair and wore a rather vacant expression on her face. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Luna Lovegood, Deputy Headmistress, Charms teacher, and Head of Ravenclaw House. You're about to be sorted, and I assure you that this process is as painless as finding knargles in mistletoe. While here, your house will be like your family. Good behavior will earn house points, and rule breaking will do the opposite. Hmm…there was more I was supposed to tell you, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure out everything else with the older students' help. So, let's go."
She opened the Great Hall doors and beckoned the gaping line of first years inside. They trooped down the center aisle, following their new deputy headmistress until she held up her hand for them to stop. Then, she went to stand next to the stool with an old, worn out hat on it. Everyone just stared for a few moments until the hat burst into song.
"Every year I sit here
To fulfill a certain task
I know where you fit best
But how do I? You'll ask
I was created long ago
By Hogwarts founders four
Before I sit upon your heads
I shall certainly tell you more
Those who reside in Gryffindor
Are brave, bold, and daring
Blessed with chivalrous hearts
Stubborn, hard-headed but caring
Those who belong in Slytherin
Truly are quite cunning
Most ambitions of the four by far
And their shrewdness is quite stunning
Those who become Ravenclaws
Have brains that are brightest
Cleverness, wit is their game
Their intelligence never rests
All the rest are Hufflepuffs
You'll never find more loyal friends
Just, patient, and hard-working
Again, friends until the end
Now come on up here
And I'll poke around your head
And before long, I will tell you
In which house lays your bed."
After it was finished, the hall erupted with applause, and Luna pulled a scroll of parchment seemingly out of nowhere. She unrolled the parchment, picked up the had, and called out, "Albigore, Particia."
After a few minutes, the Sorting Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" The sorting had begun.
As interesting as a singing, thinking hat was, the whole sorting ceremony seemed rather long to Albus. It wasn't all that interesting to see complete strangers sorted into houses that were also full of complete strangers. Although, there was one moment of hilarity when both twins raced forward at the first calling of their last name and ended up bumping into each other then falling into in a tangled heap of arms and legs on the floor. After they managed to get up and dust themselves off, they were both sorted within the next minute. The hat only had to sit on their heads for a second or two before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!" for each twin in turn.
He was glad they were together, and if he was in Gryffindor like Scorpius thought he might be, at least he'd have a few friends there. But still, he wanted nothing more than to be placed into the same house as Scorpius, because that would be the best, easiest way to be able to spend lots of time with his new friend. At least, he thought they were friends. Until Rose had come to the compartment, he had seemed more than willing.
"Malfoy, Scorpius." When Luna called Scorpius's name, Albus was startled out of his thoughts, the whole hall filled with silence. For this Albus was grateful, because he didn't have to tune out those annoying whispers as he watched very closely while the hat deliberated. It was the longest fifteen seconds of Albus's life before the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" and that table erupted into cheers and applause.
Then, the black-haired boy felt his heart sink. Scorpius had pretty much guaranteed him that he wouldn't be in Slytherin, but he hadn't been sorted yet. There was still a chance to be in the same hat. After all, his dad had said that the hat takes one's choice into account. When his name was called, Albus raced up there, crammed the hat on his head, and thought, 'Slytherin, Slytherin. Please put me in Slytherin.'
'Another Potter, eh?' the hat said in his head, sort of ignoring Albus's plea. 'I would have loved to put your father in Slytherin, but you're not very much like him. You wouldn't do well in Slytherin. Definitely Hufflepuff. You're quite loyal and honest, and very shy. But you're rather stubborn as well, a bit lazy too. So, that's not a perfect fit.'
'Scorpius said you might put me there,' Albus grumbled. 'But I wanna be in Slytherin.'
'Ah, I see,' the hat commented. 'You want to be in the same house as that Malfoy boy. Well, he was right, you know. You're just not Slytherin material.'
'I don't care if I won't fit in!' Albus protested stubbornly. 'I want to spend as to spend as much time with him as I can.'
'I don't choose your friends for you, young Potter,' the hat sighed. Could hats sigh? Albus didn't know, but he didn't care about that right then.
'Scorpius said that too,' Albus was back to grumling.
'Hmm,' the hat said. 'He's rather smart. Maybe I should have given Ravenclaw more consideration with him, but I am rather accurate with the sorting. That's how I was made after all.'
'Forget about that,' Albus called the hat out of its reverie. 'You already sorted him. Now, you have to place me. And I know you don't decide our friends, but you do decide where it's okay for us to spend most of our free time aka which common room we'll be sitting in every night, and I want to spend my free time with Scorpius!'
'And to that, you're willing to do almost anything,' the hat stated with overwhelming certainty. 'Including spending seven years in a house you don't belong, including arguing with me.'
'Obviously,' Albus shot back defiantly.
'You can be brave when it counts,' the hat mused, and Albus got the distinct impression that his feelings were being ignored again. 'This school needs more people like you, young Potter. I hope you make waves. I've decided,' "GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers, and Albus hopped off the stool to head over there. He sat down between the twins, who had kindly made room for him between themselves and pouted silently for the rest of the sorting ceremony and all throughout the rest of the meal.
Rose was placed in Ravenclaw, and while the twins clapped loudly on either side of him, Albus remained stonily silently with his hands staying firmly where they were in his crossed arms. Fortunately, no one noticed that he wasn't clapping for his cousin. Otherwise, he would have been on the receiving end of many awkward questions. Anyway, he stayed with Hannah and Holly until it was time to go to bed. Once in his dormitory, Albus noticed that no one else had come up yet, which was both lucky and not. There was no one to feel shy and uncomfortable around but also no opportunities to make a new friend or two. Sighing, Albus put on his night clothes and went to bed.
Predictably, he was the first of his roommates to awaken the next morning, and when he did, his stomach was growling. Quickly changing into his school robes, Albus raced down to the Great Hall. Once there, he eyes scanned the tables searching for someone to sit next to. He didn't see his brothers or the twins at the Gryffindor table, which was perfectly understandable seeing as it was still fairly early. There weren't too many people eating breakfast yet, and the black-haired boy couldn't find any of his many cousins at any table.
Eventually, his eyes spotted Rose, but he was still mad at her and didn't want to sit next to her. Finally, he eyed the Slytherin table and, to his immense relief, saw Scorpius sitting there. The blonde was already surrounded by a few people, but there was an unoccupied space directly on his right that was big enough for Albus. As he began walking over, his eyes made contact with Rose's for a moment, and she gestured to an empty space next to ther. However, he sent a glare her way, and then, ignoring her and the curious glances of people who noticed he obviously wasn't going to the Gryffindor table, sat down right next to Scorpius.
A/N: Hello and welcome to the end of the first chapter of Return, Rebirth Redemption. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please be aware that most chapters might be shorter than this one. Everything in this chapter just so happened to very important for the foundation of this fanfiction.
Also, I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.