The Kids Aren't Alright

So, I don't own Harry Potter...Damn.

Thanks to those who have followed, favored, and/or reviewed.


Previously...

No one bothers James until the very next morning. He still hasn't fallen asleep, and he wonders if it shows yet.

His mother comes in, after having to yell for him for the past twenty minutes. She turns the light on, momentarily blinding James, but he doesn't react.

"It's time to get up, James," his mother orders. James doesn't respond, which clearly infuriates Ginny Potter. "James Sirius Potter, it's time for you to get your lazy ass out of bed!"

James pulls his covers over him, speaking for the first time since...two days ago? "G'way." He hears no response from his mother, but he does hear her angry footsteps and the slamming of his door. he left the light on though.

Why couldn't people just leave him the fuck alone?


July, 2023

Albus Severus Potter watched in disgust as people pointed relentlessly at his father. Why the 17-year-old had agreed to go with his old man to The Leaky Cauldron was beyond him. Fuck, he didn't even like The Leaky Cauldron. The fucking bartender always snitched on him to Harry and Ginny. One fucking explosion and suddenly he's not allowed to rent a room for the bloody night.

Albus watched as his father tried to get the people off his tail. Per usual, the man miserably failed. As Albus took another sip of his butterbeer, wishing that it was fire whiskey instead, he couldn't help but wonder when things all went out the window. Maybe it happened when James tried to jump out of his a few years back. Who the bloody Hell knows. Albus doesn't.

It was always an unspoken rule in the Potter home, never ask about Daddy's scar, and certainly never talk to any reporters. They knew the basics about their father's troubled past if watered down versions of the truth count. Within a week of attending Hogwarts, James had learned more about his father than he had in the 11 years he had been alive. He had been more than welcoming in telling Albus and Lily, to their parent's anger.

At the time, Albus had wondered why his father had kept his past a secret. The stories he had heard about Harry, he had seen his father as a hero, well more of a hero than Albus had originally thought. He had known that his father was a badass auror and that he had participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, but he hadn't known that his father had been a badass wizarding world savior and had personally defeated Voldemort not once, but twice. Or was it three times? Albus never really bothered to listen to the minor details.

It did explain why cameras always followed their family though. At one point, he had been afraid of the cameras, with their bright flashes of light and the idiots behind them, talking so loud and fast that it hurt Albus' ears. Then he grew fascinated by the reporters, waving and smiling, which would ultimately be a big mistake for the boy. It wasn't until Albus had heard about everything did he truly start to hate the wizarding media, particularly Rita Skeeter, who had more than once try to get him and his siblings alone for a "private conversation."

After 25 years of Voldefuck being gone, Harry Potter was still the golden boy. The Boy-Who-Lived. The savior of the wizarding world. It was role his father could never shake off, no matter how much he tried. All hail Harry Fucking Potter. Here to make everyone's day great, even at the expense of his fucked up kids.

Maybe that's why Albus found himself so attracted to Scorpius Malfoy, a boy with a parallel situation. A father who had been a Death Eater, help bring upon the death of Albus' namesake and made his father's life particularly miserable during his time at school. Not to mention a mother who was suffering from a blood curse that ultimately killed her just when her son needed her the most. Scorpius was Albus' opposite, he was kinder, but had a dark past that was written before he could write it himself.

He also had a bunch of sweets on him during the train ride to Hell, as far as Albus was concerned, Scorpius Malfoy was the coolest loser in the world at that point. Not that he would ever admit it of course.

Albus drowned the rest of his drink before he got up and left The Leaky Cauldron. His father, who was still too busy talking with the unrelenting witches, failed to notice. Not that Albus was expecting anything less of his larger than life father.


He had been 10 when he first found out about his older brother slicing his arms open for kicks or whatever his reason was. Albus didn't understand it at the time, Merlin, he still doesn't to this day. He had been 11 when he first started to see his father as something less than the hero he had envisioned. He had been 12 when he saw that his mother was hardly a mother to him and his siblings, with her job taking up most of her time. He had been 13 when he first saw his little sister pocketing something suspicious from a shifty bloke on the side of the street. He had been 14 when he accidentally attempted to bring back Voldefuck with his bat-shit crazy daughter and the only person Albus could truly ever call his friend. Or whatever the Hell Scorpius was to him now. They had been 15 when they first past the friendship boundary, which hasn't stopped since. He had also been 15 when he was first arrested. Apparently, it was illegal to break into the Ministry and graffiti all over the walls about how fucking fucked up the world was. Not to mention all of the stealing and vandalizing, that was harder though. The Ministry had shitty security, while Gringotts and that one shop with the best damn sweets he's ever eaten were packed with protection charms and shields.

It made things more exciting for Albus, to ire of his parents. Apparently, it was easier to look over helping bring back the Dark Lord, while it was frowned upon to steal a few packs of chocolate frogs. Go fucking figure.

He was staring at himself in the mirror that was located above the sink in the loo. He was studying his features, wondering how the fuck people could sometimes mistake him for his father. He didn't exactly have a fucking scar on his forehead, nor round glasses that went out of style in the 50's. He didn't have his father nose, or his ears, or anything like that. He did have his face shape, his messy black hair, and his green eyes. He was also taller than him, something Albus was grateful for. Both he and James were taller than Harry, while it would appear that Lily would remain nearly over a foot shorter than Albus, and at least 10 inches shorter than James.

His siblings are lucky. They don't have to look at their eyes and see a stranger staring back at them. They've got Ginny's eye color, which meant that they had Grandma Molly and Uncle George's eye color. Lucky bastards.

Albus saw Harry in his eyes, and he hated that. Not only did he have to face the little bastards who ridiculed him over his less than spectacular magical abilities, but he also had to see his father staring back at him every time he looked at himself in the mirror. Constantly reminded by everyone that he looked just like his father, constantly reminded that he wasn't as good or as kind as him.

"Oh Albus, you look just like your father, why don't you act more like him?" he angerly muttered under his breath as he turned on the faucet. "Albus, you need to behave more. With a father like Harry Potter, why do you cause so much trouble?"

He ran his hands under the water, not even reacting to the fact that the water was too hot for his skin. He threw some of the water on his face before turning the water off and looking up at the mirror. He grimaced at the green eyes staring back at him.

He swung at the mirror, his fist colliding with the glass and a sickening shatter could be heard. Albus didn't care though. He watched as the broken pieces of glass fell on top of the sink, covered in his blood. He didn't care that his fist was covered in broken glass and sticky blood.

He simply didn't want to see the stranger in the mirror any longer.


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Until next time...