Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I do not own it. No copyright infringement intended.


-Chapter Two-

The Ministry Party

Albus wasn't having a good summer. He had been moping around for the holidays, either fighting with James or staying in his room inventing potions. Albus' father, the famous Harry Potter, was not at home often. After the incident of last year, Harry had been at the Auror office all day, every day of the summer, busy with exciting matters.

After overhearing hushed conversations between the adults, the Potter children had realized that there was a powerful Dark Wizard—the word Harry had used had been 'essence,' not 'wizard'—out on the loose. Surprisingly, this 'wizard' was expected to be a child, most likely a sixteen or seventeen-year-old student, judging from the amount of power he or she had.

Albus and James had been at each other's throats for the whole summer. Their mother had found it extremely difficult to stop them from killing each other. Once, Ginny had sent the two brothers up to their rooms until they could learn to get along. Needless to say, the boys did not come out until she dragged them out herself.

The fights between the two brothers hadn't been so violent before, possibly because Albus had never stood up for himself until he was sorted into Slytherin. Now, Albus was determined not to let James step over him.

Last year, the two sons of Harry Potter had nearly torn the school apart with their private and not-so-private battles. Albus had led the Slytherins in a prank war against James and the rest of the school, and had ultimately emerged victorious by winning the House Cup for Slytherin.

Albus had won a hundred points for Slytherin because he and his best friends, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, had destroyed the Phantasm Orb, a deadly, very powerful object which could have brought the downfall of the whole world. Albus had confronted Caspar Hoffman—who had been trying to steal the Orb in order to release the Paradox—tricked him, and had asked the Orb to destroy itself and the Phantasm Realm. Hoffman had been killed in the struggle, and Albus had barely managed to survive.

Albus had somehow gotten caught up in trouble, and he wanted no part in it whatsoever. Hopefully, his role had finished. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had stuck his nose into situations that he should have kept out of. For his second year, Albus was determined to be normal.

Finally, the day of his birthday arrived. Coincidentally, he shared it with his father. Like Harry Potter, Albus was born on July 31st. (Unlike his father, however, Albus was born at 11:59 P.M. July 31st, which meant that he would have been born on August 1st if he had been born a minute later. )

On the dawn of his birthday, Albus wasn't feeling very optimistic. He woke up from a fresh nightmare, something that involved a black rod—a scepter, or something—and walked down the stairs.

"Happy birthday, Al!" squealed Lily, handing him a present across the breakfast table. He smiled weakly at her and took it.

"Thanks, Lily. Happy birthday, Dad," Albus said, turning to his father, who grinned back.

"Happy birthday, Al. Lots of happy birthdays today, aren't there?" his father commented, adjusting his glasses.

Albus adjusted his own and stared at his father, who was an identical image of Albus—only older and less freckled. "Thanks, Dad," Albus said, a bit blandly.

"I made a Snitch cake for the two Seekers! Oh—happy birthday!" Albus' mother called from the kitchen.

"I helped!" Lily added.

Albus winced. Lily certainly hadn't inherited their mother and grandmother's talent in cooking. "Uh, that's great, Lily," Albus muttered. "Thanks, Mum! I can't wait to taste it."

At that moment, James decided to come stomping down the stairs. "Happy birthday, Dad!" James called, neglecting to mention his little brother.

"Say happy birthday to Al!" Ginny ordered from the kitchen, finally poking her head out and giving James a glare.

"No."

"I don't mind, Mum," Albus sighed.

"Say happy birthday to Al," Albus' father said sternly.

"Happy birthday," James grumbled.

Like Albus, James greatly admired their father. The similarities between the brothers ended there. While James was popular, handsome, and strong, Albus was quiet, nerdy, and scrawny. They were complete opposites, and whatever brotherly feelings they'd had for each other had disappeared when Albus had been sorted into Slytherin the previous year.

Now, the two brothers were arch-rivals, and they were not only competing for the House and Quidditch Cups, (they both played as Seekers for their respective teams) but also for their father's approval. Even worse, they both held affections for the same girl: Elina Lyon.

Albus' heart jumped whenever he thought about the incredibly sweet and pretty Gryffindor girl. She, unlike the rest of the Gryffindors, (who all acted as if their heads were inflated) accepted the Slytherins and did not judge people on their houses. When Albus had been shunned by the rest of the school, Elina had been kind to him, and he would never forget that. Unfortunately, James had liked her as well, and now both boys were (very obviously) fighting for her.

"You know, we're going to have to go to a party later today," Ginny announced, effectively spoiling the mood even more.

"What?" Albus spluttered, choking on his toast.

"Sorry, Al. It's supposed to take place at the Ministry of Magic. They have it to honor my birthday. I told them not to bother, but they didn't listen," Harry explained apologetically while thumping his son on the back.

"Do I have to go?" Albus wailed once he had recovered.

"I know you don't like parties, Al," Ginny said, "but we have to make a good impression. Lots of people want to meet you. James isn't complaining about going, see?"

Albus glowered at his mother and muttered something about James loving to suck up attention. He added a few more rather descriptive swear words for effect.

"Albus Severus Potter! Don't make me yell at you on your birthday!" snapped Ginny. She was clearly getting annoyed at all the fighting in her household—James and Albus never left each other alone.

"It's not until evening," Harry assured his son.

Ginny plastered a grin on her face and said, "I've already picked out dress robes for all three of you!"

All three of her children groaned.

After lunch, they sang two hasty choruses of 'Happy Birthday' and gulped down the snitch cake. Once both Albus and his father were done unwrapping their presents, the three Potter children assembled in their parlor, all in very bad moods. Albus was wearing bottle-green wizard robes, and he did not think that they complimented him. He looked like an overgrown bat. (If bats could be green.) James, however, looked far more dashing in his robes of navy blue.

Albus scowled. James was considered a heartthrob at Hogwarts, and Albus once more felt a pang of jealousy. Albus wasn't exactly handsome with his scrawny frame, thin face, and large glasses. (James didn't wear glasses—Albus was the only one of Harry's children to have inherited his father's poor vision.)

The family of five lived in Godric's Hollow in an airy and comfortable cottage. It was too large to really be a cottage, but it came with the homey feeling of one. They got along well with muggles, but Albus had always been bullied and made fun of by the muggle children—and James had often joined in the teasing. Even the muggles seemed to sense that Albus was different from everyone else; no muggle really liked him—he was the greasy, strange boy, the oddity of that 'nice but mysterious Potter family.'

Albus couldn't exactly blame them. As a young child, he had found it an interesting pastime to control little animals or children and cause them to hurt themselves. He had made a bird jump into a rushing river, caused a cat to fall off a roof and break its leg, and driven the town bully completely insane by simply staring into his eyes. When he had been six years old, he had politely asked a serpent to bite James' hand off. Sadly, the snake had not succeeded.

The events hadn't been traced back to Albus, but the muggles simply hated him because he was different. Then again, everyone hated him because he was different.

Among the wizards, the Potters were much, much better known, thanks to both Harry and Ginny's celebrity status. Ever since Albus had returned from Hogwarts, the Daily Prophet had been determined to write an article about how he was an utter disappointment to the heroic Harry Potter for being Sorted into Slytherin. (These articles had failed to mention how Albus had stopped a Dark Wizard in his first year at Hogwarts and had practically saved the world by destroying the Phantasm Orb. Of course, the whole ordeal had been kept secret.) Fortunately, Ginny had been able to stop such stories from being printed because of her position as the editor of the Quidditch column, and the Prophet remained Albus-free.

Albus was not popular at Hogwarts, unlike James. In fact, he was completely hated. Many people considered him a traitor, and he had always been shy and stuttering. The only friends he had were Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius had experienced plenty of adventures the previous year. They were inseparable, even if Rose was a Gryffindor and the two boys were Slytherins. Albus felt very strongly for both of them, and he had been very torn up when he thought that they had been killed by the Guardian Spirits at the end of his first year.

Last year, Albus had found out that he was a very gifted wizard with magical skill that could be compared to that of Voldemort's and Dumbledore's. Albus' father had assured him that he wasn't too much different than any other wizard, and that talented wizards nowadays weren't so rare. He even considered his best friend Scorpius a magical prodigy as well. Albus was glad to know that he wasn't alone, in any case.

But that didn't make the feeling of uneasiness disappear. Albus still felt that he was different, somehow more powerful than even the most powerful of wizards.

His underage magic incidents weren't like those little accidents that happened to most underage wizards—such as jumping exceptionally high or regrown hair. Whenever Albus got angry or scared, he would end up blowing up whole areas, and his underage magic tantrums were always accompanied by an odd, bright green glow.

Had Voldemort, Dumbledore, and Scorpius exploded entire rooms by glowing bright green when they had been young? Albus doubted it.

Albus had used this powerful inner magic several times during his first year to purposely attack James and Eric Derlwin, another Gryffindor rival. He had also used his inner magic to save his, Rose, and Scorpius' lives on Halloween by putting up a bright green shield that had seemed to come from inside him.

Albus wondered if Scorpius or any other gifted wizard had been able to do that. Did wizards usually use their inner magic without a wand after they had been accepted at Hogwarts? Were they usually as volatile and explosive as Albus was? Surely, wandless magic was common amongst older wizards, but it was different with Albus. He didn't have to think of an incantation—he simply decided to do it, and it would come out of him. And it wasn't normal magic—it was always accompanied by that bright green glow.

"You go first," Ginny offered, holding out a pot of Floo powder. Albus grimaced and took a handful. He hated traveling by Floo powder—it usually ended badly for him. He always ended up exploding something, knocking something over, or hurting somebody.

Albus threw the powder into the fire, yelled, "The Ministry of Magic!" and stepped into the green flames. After a minute of trying to stop himself from hurling his lunch, Albus was thrown out onto hard marble floor. He was immediately smothered by a mane of bushy orange hair.

"Ooh! Happy birthday, Al! I got you a present! You're going to love it!" Albus' cousin and best friend, Rose, squealed.

"Happy birthday! Better get out of the way, Al. I think your brother will be coming through the fireplace next," suggested Albus' aunt, Hermione.

"Happy birthday," Uncle Ron said. Hugo, Rose's little brother, echoed his father.

As Aunt Hermione had predicted, James stepped out of the fire next. Albus' infinitely more handsome brother stood up, dusted off his robes, gave Albus a very nasty look, and ran into his aunt and uncle's arms. They looked happier to see James than they did to see Albus, which really wasn't that surprising.

Albus' family had originally ignored him after he had been sorted into Slytherin, and even after he had saved the school from Hoffman and the Phantasm Orb, they were still unsure how to act around him. Like Albus' father had said last year, some old wounds didn't heal, and the Weasley family clearly still had some injuries from the time of the Second Wizarding War, when the Slytherins had been completely cruel, cowardly, and traitorous.

Albus wanted to prove that fact wrong. He was going to show the world that Slytherins had changed, and that their past did not determine their future.

A few seconds later, Ginny, Harry, and Lily shot out of the fireplace and hurried over to greet Ron, Hermione, Rose, and Hugo.

"The party's just started," Uncle Ron informed the Potters. "I didn't really want to come, but Hermione dragged us all."

Harry nodded in agreement, playfully nudging his own wife's shoulder.

Albus did not join in the festivities. The group of nine wandered around the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, where the party was taking place. Red and gold streamers (the colors of Gryffindor) were plastered all over the walls, and several life-sized and larger-than-life portraits of Harry Potter smiled down at Albus.

Albus thought it was all rather overwhelming. He stayed in Rose's shadow while she chattered away about her summer, not wanting to attract attention to himself. James, on the other hand, was boasting about his many pranks and achievements. A group of reporters had gathered around him and were complimenting him and asking him questions.

Albus wondered if he should add a few things to James' self assessment of himself: Arrogant, bullying, rude, and annoying. Albus wondered how his own achievements of saving the world would look next to James' achievements of pranking the Slytherins to tears.

Albus smirked.

Unfortunately, Rose chose that moment to loudly say, "Al did some cool stuff, too!"

Albus choked on his breath and made a run for it, but several reporters lunged forward and grabbed him.

"So, this is the Slytherin Potter!"

"Tell us, what's it like to be the disappointment of your family?"

"What does your father think?"

"Do you or do you not consider yourself to be the 'bad egg' or 'black sheep' of your family?"

Albus officially decided that it was one of his worst birthdays.

"I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know!" Albus answered quickly, resisting the urge to blast them away with his powerful inner magic. He certainly felt angry enough—give him another minute and he would start glowing bright green.

"That's not what I meant!" Rose mumbled, giving Albus an apologetic look. "Al was a hero last year—"

"HEY!" James roared, calling the reporters back to him. "Did you know that Al practices Dark Magic? Well, I think he does—he's always up in his room."

The attention was quickly brought back to James. Albus, as odd as it sounded, was a bit grateful. He knew that tomorrow morning someone would try to print some rubbish story about him becoming the next Dark Lord, but at least he had escaped more questioning.

James, as usual, was being an attention seeking git. Albus had not practiced Dark Magic, (admittedly, Albus wouldn't have refused to sample some dark spells) but he had indeed been stuck up in his room for the majority of the summer. He had been inventing potions and spells and immersing himself into the very secrets and laws of magic. Albus was rather annoyed at the restriction for underage magic, which stopped him from using his wand in his experiments.

"Sorry, I can't answer your questions right now," Harry mumbled to a daunting group of reporters. "I need to show my children to a few of my colleagues."

Albus was sure that this was just an excuse to get away, and he knew that the dislike of constant attention was another trait that both he and his father shared.

"Come on, Al, James, Lily," Harry called, dragging them away from the reporters. James did not look happy to leave, but both Lily and Albus sighed with relief.

They walked around the atrium for the next hour, occasionally stopping to chat with random wizards that their father knew. Albus and James exchanged insults during this time and, more than once, attempted to attack each other. Lily, as always, looked very torn between them. She worshipped the ground that James walked on, (everyone apparently did) but she was very loyal towards Albus.

Out of nowhere, several reporters cornered Harry, Albus, James, and Lily. Albus dove under the nearest refreshment table, but the rest of them weren't quick enough and were quickly covered from view by the reporters. Sighing with relief, Albus crawled back out, knocking his head on the underside of the table. Rubbing it and grumbling, he stood up to come to face to face with a very pretty girl that often occupied his thoughts.

"Hi, Al!" Elina said brightly.

Albus gaped silently, but finally managed to find his voice. "Uh..." He wasn't completely sure what he was saying—he was too busy staring at her eyes, which were a dazzling shade of blue-violet. He also noticed that she was wearing a dress—something he had never seen her in before.

"I've missed you!" Elina squealed, grasping his wrist. "Invented any new potions lately?" she added playfully.

Albus turned red from the tip of his toes to the top of his head. "Uh—y-yeah." He berated himself for not saying something impressive or witty, like James was always able to do.

Elina was the only girl who didn't curl her lip at him whenever he walked past, and she had never once been mean to him or shunned him for being a Slytherin. Elina was the kind of person who was nice to everybody, and this made her extremely well-known and well-liked among the students of Hogwarts. Unfortunately, her popularity had quickly caused her to catch the attention of James and the rest of the supposedly handsome pranksters, even though she was a year younger.

Albus knew there was absolutely no chance that she would return his feelings, (he fit the very definition of infamous) but she seemed to consider him a good friend nevertheless.

"How was your summer?" Albus stammered out, finally getting in control of his voice.

Elina shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable. "It was all right..."

Albus once again wondered whether she lived at Hogwarts. He had been given the impression last year that she and the staff of the school shared a special bond.

He decided to change the subject, not wanting her to feel awkward. "The weather's been really bad, hasn't it? It's summertime and it's raining like mad. I mean, it's even stranger because it was really hot for the last few weeks." Albus mentally slapped himself—of all the things to talk about, he chose the weather?

Elina nodded, eager to talk about something else. "It started just today, actually. I bet it'll stop soon."

Their pitiful conversation was cut short by James, who had come strolling toward the two of them, his head held arrogantly in the air. Albus felt a rush of jealousy toward his handsomer, stronger, and more popular brother.

"Elina? What are you doing with him?" snarled James, his mood immediately souring when he saw Albus.

Elina used her usual argument to defend Albus. "He's your brother, James," she said sternly, "so be nice to him."

James chose to ignore her statement. "Well, I'm glad to see you. You drew my eye from all the way across the atrium," James said, winking at Elina.

Albus seethed. James always knew what to say to girls, while Albus was always hopeless. (Not that he'd ever had the chance to speak to girls that weren't family—most of the female population usually avoided him. He was a Potter, but he really wasn't considered one anymore because he was a Slytherin.)

He was suddenly aware that a few other couples, some of them teenagers, were already dancing and slow music was magically vibrating through the atrium.

Please, Albus begged silently. Please, let James not ask Elina to dance...

"So, coming back to the original point, would you like to dance with me?" James asked, holding out his hand.

Please, say no... Say no... Say no!

"Um... okay," Elina said nervously. Then she giggled and blushed. She only had time to spare Albus an apologetic glance before joining her hand with James' and walking out onto the dance floor.

Albus deflated. He wanted to hit something—preferably James. Instead, Albus kicked the wall, but achieved nothing but a sore toe.

"Oh, there you are, Al," said Albus' father, coming to rescue his son from his misery. Albus suspected from the half-amused, half-sympathetic look on Harry's face that he had seen everything. "I need to show you a few people. Don't worry, they're not reporters."

Albus followed his father, still feeling sorry for himself. A few minutes later, they stopped in front of a group of ministry officials. "This is my youngest son, Albus," Harry said, gesturing unnecessarily at Albus, who gave a half-hearted wave.

He lifted his head to see a tall, impressive-looking black man with an earring. Next to him stood another man, this one with neatly combed brown hair and sharp, cold hazel eyes. Albus spotted another woman standing behind them with a beautiful—but intelligent—face.

These three were clearly politicians. Albus suddenly straightened his back and gave them a smile. He wanted to make a good first impression, though he already knew that they wouldn't like him much because he was a Slytherin.

"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt," said Harry, pointing the the black man, who grinned widely at Albus.

Albus let out a small squeak and quickly turned it into a cough, not wanting to appear childish. This was the Minister of Magic himself! Albus smirked to himself, imagining the look on Scorpius' face when Albus would tell him about this, since Scorpius wanted to be the Minister of Magic one day. Albus wouldn't say no to the job, either—he had always wanted to have power and respect.

"Pleased to meet you, Albus. Happy birthday to both of you," said Kingsley, his voice deep and reassuring. Albus decided that he liked his man.

"And this is Drake Edgeworth," Harry continued, gesturing toward the man with the neat hair and the scholarly look. "He's the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Albus hurried forward to shake his hand, nearly tripping his eagerness.

"Happy birthday. Good to see you," Edgeworth said icily, giving Albus a searching, almost suspicious look.

"And, finally, this is Reyna Lyserian. She's the Head of the International Magical Cooperation Department," Harry finished, gesturing to the stunning dark-haired woman.

Lyserian gave him a sparkling, red-lipped smile and shook his hand, not letting a hair out of place. Albus met Lyserian's golden eyes and felt his body sear with pain, though he wasn't sure why.

"Kingsley is a good friend of mine," Harry said, not noticing Albus flinch. "He's an excellent Minister."

Albus did not miss the cold look Harry gave to Lyserian and Edgeworth, as if daring them to say differently.

While father and son walked away from the three officials, Albus was practically buzzing with excitement, forgetting his momentary pain when he had looked into Lyserian's eyes. Harry, however, looked deeply irritated and worried.

"Kingsley is probably the best Minister of Magic so far," Harry said. "But he's retiring next year, and it's going to be Edgeworth and Lyserian that take over."

"Is that bad?" Albus asked, already knowing the answer from the look on his father's face.

"I don't like them," said Harry. "I just have a feeling that they're not right for the wizarding world." On a second thought, he added, "I hate politics."

Albus laughed, his mood lightened considerably. The two of them wandered back into the crowd, where Harry was forced to make his long speech while Albus was cornered by bloodthirsty reporters.

Albus sighed. It was definitely not his favorite birthday.