Dear Mr. Potter,
Our Defence Against the Dark Arts' Professor became unexpectedly unavailable and Professor Neville Longbottom suggested you as a suitable successor. The Hogwarts staff and I hereby come ask for your help, and wonder if you would like to teach here, since you have some experience on the field.
I must say that I need to hear your answer as soon as possible, since the term has already begun and I cannot leave my students helpless.
I hope you truly consider this request.
My best regards,
Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.
Harry was gobsmacked when he read the letter Minerva McGonagall has sent him.
"Dad?" he heard Lily's voice, she was tugging at his sleeve, "Is it surprise time?"
He blinked at her, taking a moment to process the words she said.
"Oh," he widened his eyes and cast a quick tempus, realizing it was almost ten o'clock. "We have to hurry, your grandmother said to be at The Burrow at twelve, let's go wake up your brother!"
Harry put the letter on the table and grabbed Lily's hand, taking her to Albus' room.
"Wakey, wakey, birthday boy!" Lily yelled while shaking her sleeping brother.
Albus mumbled something unintelligible and turned away. Lily got in his bed and started jumping, unable to stop the girl, Albus turned to face her, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Happy birthday!" she beamed and hugged him.
Harry chuckled and waited for his son to get up to hug him.
"Happy birthday, Al" he said and ruffled the boy's hair. "Go tidy up; we will go to The Burrow soon"
xXxXx
"It's a shame James can't be here," Molly Weasley lamented, "Albus would be happy to see him, you know how they were close."
"That's true," Ginny said, "but I guess James will send him a letter"
"How are you?" Molly asked.
Ginny sipped the tea and averted her mother's knowing look.
"Everything is fine;" she said honestly, "the Quidditch Cup will begin in few months,"
Molly raised her eyebrow, Ginny sighed, putting the cutlery on the table.
"I am just very busy lately, and I almost never see my children" she confessed, "I never was as present as Harry in the kids' life even before we divorced," she said bitterly, still not looking directly at her mother "and now with my latest promotion, I am afraid they are going to start to hate me."
"Stop being silly," Molly said softly, "they won't hate you just because they don't see you frequently, and you know that" she took Ginny's hands in hers. "It's been three years since the divorce and your children still love you," she squeezed Ginny's hand fondly, "what are you not telling me?"
Ginny finally turn to look at her mother, her eyes were full of fear and she let a lonely tear fall on her pale face.
"I am pregnant," Molly widened her eyes, but she was not looking at Ginny anymore, she was looking at the people who just entered the kitchen.
xXxXx
Ronald Weasley was not very punctual, that is why his mother usually told him he should arrive fifteen minutes before everyone when he was going to a place without Hermione's company. So at eleven and a half, he left the Weasley Wheezes and apparated into The Burrow's living room.
As expected, Hermione, Rose and Hugo were there already. A few seconds after his arrival, other people showed up and he felt a tinge of pride ran through his body to be on time.
"Where is mom?" he asked after giving a peck on his wife's lips.
"She is in the kitchen with Ginny," she answered and gripped his wrist when he started to move towards the kitchen, "Ronald Weasley, can't you wait until noon? The food won't run away"
"I will just grab a quick bite of something," he said with a pleading smile, "I haven't eaten nothing since breakfast."
"Well, I told you to take snacks to your workplace," she said matter-of-factly and sighed.
He smiled at her and went to the kitchen.
"Hey, Bill," he greeted his brother who was heading to the kitchen too, "how is Grigotts going? I heard that you were leading a curse-breaking expedition to Brazil"
Bill opened his mouth to answer, but was rendered speechless when he opened the door and heard his sister's voice.
"I am pregnant"
Molly widened her eyes at the men on the door; Bill was also with wide eyes, staring blankly at the two women. Ronald was gaping, completely taken aback.
"Oh, shit," they heard Ginny's voice and realized she has turned to face them, her eyes now pouring undesired tears on her cheeks.
Bill rubbed his neck awkwardly.
"Congratulations?" he tried and Ginny laughed a bit, which made him smile.
Ronald swallowed and got closer to his sister and hugged her, he had a feeling that she needed a hug.
"Congratulations," he said. "Does Oliver know?" he asked when he let her go.
"Yes," she murmured, "he is very happy."
"That's good, then," Ron smiled and stared at her for some seconds before frowning, "you sound insecure," he said in a very Hermione-like manner. "Aren't you happy about it?"
She shrugged and braced herself.
"She is afraid her children won't be thrilled with the idea of a new brother or sister," Molly said.
Ron stayed silent for a moment, pondering this.
"They may not be thrilled at first," he said finally, "but they won't hate you"
"You think so?" Ginny looked at him expectantly, "Won't they think I'll replace them or some shit like that?"
"They may think it," Bill said, finally entering the conversation, "Dominique was very resentful and angry when Fleur was pregnant with Louis, she even said she hated us for wanting to replace her," he sighed, "but then Louis was born and she got over it."
"She was four, it's understandable," Molly said, "your children are older and more understanding, everything will be alright."
"I hope you're right," Ginny said before wiping her tears and spelling a glamour in her face so that her red eyes and the tear tracks wouldn't be visible.
xXxXx
Harry, Lily and Albus flooed to The Burrow at twelve o'clock sharp. Harry and Lily got in first, and called the others to the living room.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALBUS!" everyone at The Burrow screamed when Albus arrived, making the boy stumble on his way out of the fireplace.
"Blimey, he is just like you, Harry!" Ron exclaimed after giggling, then he added, "Only in his actions, though, because James is the one that inherited your terrible looks, poor boy"
Harry punched his arm playfully and glared half-heartedly at Hermione who was laughing by her husband's side.
"Well, I'm pretty enough for the three of us," Lily said, looking defiantly at her uncle, and her father looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then both cackled with amusement.
Lily just ignored them and went to play with Hugo and the Scamander twins, since they were all around the same age.
Everyone was in the garden, where were tables and chair and food and a big cake. Albus was being hugged and getting congratulations from all his family. He was almost ready to engage in the Quidditch game his cousin Louis just invited him for, when an owl approached him.
It was a white Barn Owl, and it propped itself on Albus' shoulder, pecking his ear softly.
"It's from Hogwarts," Ginny said with a smile, "must be from James."
Albus picked up the package that was attached to the owl's leg and Harry gave it a treat. The owl hooted happily before flying away.
Albus frowned at the silver envelope and decided to open it first, hoping it was not a prank from his older brother. When he opened it, the envelope turned into something resembling a mouth and started speaking.
"Is it working already?" James Sirius asked, "Is it?"
"Yes, I think it is" another voice said in a lower tone.
"Then let's do it!" James exclaimed happily, "One, two, three…"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AL!" many voices screamed.
"I hope you have a very nice day!" Teddy Lupin said.
"Bon anniversaire!" Victoire and Dominique wished.
"You, my dear brother, is now becoming of age," James said, "you are eleven, you will soon come to Hogwarts, a place where you will have new responsibilities –,"
"That you completely ignore," said Violet Dursley' displeased voice.
"You will learn about the feats our ancestors did," James promptly ignored her, "you will face the unknown, and many times you will fear for your life –,"
"What is there to fear about in here?" Molly Weasley II interrupted him with an annoyed huff, "The only thing to fear in Hogwarts is the possibility of finding certain people snogging in some dark alcove after curfew." There were two particularly loud gasps when she said that, "I hardly find that life-threatening"
"It is quite traumatizing, though," Roxanne Weasley muttered.
"Vicky and Teddy, why do you look so pale?" Fred Weasley asked innocently.
"Will you please stop interrupting me?" James asked irritated, "I'm trying to be a good brother here," there were some laughter before James continued. "So, Al, hopefully you will like your gift, which are some –," James suddenly stopped talking when a 'click' was heard.
"SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY!" Draco Malfoy shrieked.
"Oh, shit," Molly murmured under her breath.
"What – in Salazar's name – is a cluster of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs doing in my quarters?"
The silence that followed was only broken by very low whispers of 'I'm a Slytherin!' and 'Me and Vicky are actually Ravenclaws'.
"I invited them. Today is James' brother's birthday and he wanted me to help him prepare a surprise for him," Scorpius finally said.
"It is true," Teddy confirmed.
"We are using one of your Speakers to send him a message;" Scorpius said, and then added in a lower voice "I am sorry I didn't tell you before"
"It's okay," Draco said with a sigh, "just don't…" he gasped, "IS THAT A RED SHIRT YOU ARE WEARING? I DO NOT REMEMBER BUYING YOU A RED SHIRT!"
"Oh, Teddy here bought me that shirt after I told him I am quite fond of crimson," Scorpius' said and a tone of amusement was very notable in his voice.
"LUPIN AND POTTER, IF MY SON GOES TO GRYFFINDOR I WILL –,"
"Love me anyway," Scorpius interrupted him and there was another long silence, broken only by the other boys' snickers.
"Well, yes," Draco huffed, "but I was getting used to the Ravenclaw idea, and you knowyou look better in blue,"
"That's true," Victoire spoke, her voice soft and comforting. "The blue highlights your eyes."
"Thanks," Scorpius muttered shyly.
"Well, then," James spoke with renewed excitement, "we are sending you a postcard from Hogsmeade with our names on it, some sweets from Honeydukes and some drawings made by Scorpius here, who is a nice lad once you get past the nerd stuff"
"Hey!" Scorpius exclaimed and James barked out a laugh.
"Anyway, hope you like it and…" he drew in a long breath, "One, two…"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. SQUASHED TOMATOES AND STEW. BREAD AND BUTTER IN THE GUTTER. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU"
Slowly the silver envelope was turning to ashes and the last thing they heard was an annoyed Draco Malfoy muttering 'you people have no creativity'.
Every adult at The Burrow was silent. The children were talking about the 'Speaker' and Albus was opening the package and appreciating his gifts.
With the sole exception of the Dursleys, no one in there talked to Draco Malfoy. Some of them did not even know he had a son, less they knew about his son's friendship with James.
"Did you know James was friends with the ferret's son?" Ron asked Harry with a sneer and Hermione scowled at him.
"Ron, we are all grown-ups now, stop referring to Malfoy as if you were in Hogwarts," she scolded and he scoffed.
"He mentioned Malfoy's son in a letter two days ago," Harry said, "but I did not know they were so close"
"Andromeda says very good things about the boy," Hermione chipped in, and added after receiving two sets of questioning eyes "Andromeda was telling me yesterday that Teddy is quite fond of Scorpius Malfoy and his father, who is his Potions Professor and his cousin, which I thought you knew"
"I know!" Harry exclaimed, "But I did not know Andromeda and Teddy were blending with the Malfoys"
"They have been for some years," Hermione gossiped, "Andromeda and Narcissa meet at least twice a week since Teddy has gone to Hogwarts"
"Wow, they hid that very well, then" Ron said with some amusement in his voice.
xXxXx
Lorcan Scamander loved the sky. He loved the turquoise tone it had, and the way the clouds fluttered in it, and the forms the clouds would take. He also loved the sunsets, where the sky colour changed to dark orange or dark purple or something in between.
Even though he loved the sky, he did not like to fly.
Now he was watching his friends who were flying on the field of The Burrow, waiting for the others to start a Quidditch game.
"Hey, we need one more," Lily said, proudly holding her children' broom.
Hugo, who was by her side, standing a tad bit taller than she does, even though he was still an eight-years-old, looked around and locked his eyes with Lorcan. Hugo grinned. Lorcan grimaced and shook his head while the red-haired approached him.
"Just one game," he pleaded, looking at his best friend with puppy dog eyes, "it's not that hard!"
Lorcan tried to say no. He really did. However, Hugo was decided and he would not take no as an answer. After a not-so-long argument, Lorcan ended up accepting to play.
"I will be the team A captain," Albus said.
"I will be the team L captain," Louis said with a smirk and Albus rolled his eyes, "you are the birthday boy, you pick first."
Albus nodded and looked around at the other kids. Since they were too young, they would have to play with safe bludgers.
Since there were only eight kids willing to play (they did not even try to convince Rose), the teams would have one chaser, one beater, one keeper and one seeker each. Team A was composed of Albus, Hugo, Lily and Lorcan. Team B was composed of Louis, Lucy, Peter Dursley and Lysander.
Lorcan was not a good beater. He tried to fly and beat the bludger at the same time, but those two things seemed impossible. He was praying Albus – or even Louis – would get the bloody Snitch soon. Now the Quaflle was with Lysander, who attempted to make another goal that Hugo gladly defended.
He stopped flying around, giving up on hope of doing something useful for his team, and his eyes catch something golden. Something golden with very thin wings.
The Snitch was near the Team L's keeper, Lucy. Lorcan looked around for Albus, finding that the boy was higher and siding Louis.
Biting his lip without taking his eyes from the Snitch, Lorcan decided to fly higher, if he could just go a bit higher and a bit to the left, he would reach Albus.
He somehow managed to hold the bat between his chin and his collarbone, pressed tightly against his throat, and he held the broom with his two hands and prompted upwards. He was doing it just fine, in some seconds he would tell Albus about the Snitch, they would win the game, and he would finally just lay down on the grass and look lazily at the sky…
That was until, somehow, the bludger was coming his way, and he had to stop all movements, get the bat and hit it. He had to, but he didn't. When he took one of his hands out of the broom to pick the bat, he somehow managed to turn away on the broom and get upside down. If that wasn't enough, the bludger hit him square in the chest, making him experience a terrifying shortness of breath and fall down.
If it weren't for the excruciating pain, Lorcan would say that he was relieved. He breathed in the grass that was right on his face, and then forced his body to sit on the ground.
He looked sheepishly at Hugo when he approached him.
"Sorry about the broom," he muttered.
"Are you okay?" Hugo asked with concern.
"My whole body is in pain," he answered, "but other than that I'm fine"
"Idiot," Hugo scoffed half-heartedly while he helped the nine-years-old boy to get up from the floor.
Louis snorted, and then laughed at the boys.
"You are such a dork," he said to Lorcan in a harassing manner.
Lorcan looked at him expressionless, his dreamy silvery grey eyes staring at Louis' blue ones for few seconds.
"His eyes are as blue as the sky," Lorcan whispered to Hugo after he turned around and they headed to The Burrow.
#
Hope you liked it. Thanks for giving this a shot.
BY THE WAY, I had already written this chapter before JK's reveal that James Sirius is not one, but two years olders than Albus... Which means my story is not going to be totally canon, sorry.
Anyway, see you soon x
