A/N: Each name on the booklist is a reference to actual characters from other fandoms. The only name there actually native to HP happens to be the old Herbology Professor. Anyways, anyone think they can get the six character references?

Not much happens, to be honest. Just a trip through Diagon Alley. Next chapter, however, is the Hogwarts Express.

On with the story!

Chapter 3

My Little Fire Breather

Albus yawned loudly as he got up.

James smiled slightly at the sight against his will. Albus had always been like that, the older brother realized as he thought it over. One second, the boy would be asleep, then, snap, awake. No in-between, like a light bulb. A properly functioning light bulb, that is.

Eyes blinked open as the boy looked around, surprised slightly at noticing James sitting in a chair, watching him intently.

"You were screaming bloody murder in your sleep, Al." James answered the unspoken question.

"Again?" Albus groaned, before sweeping his hand over the nightstand, hunting for his glasses.

Casually, James lifted said glasses, having held them the entire time the younger slept.

Albus squinted at the blur, before recognizing it. With an eyeroll, he held his hand out, demanding the object. James tossed it over, and Albus gripped them before placing them on his face.

Tossing the covers off easily, Albus sat up, before noticing that James' eyes were still locked on him. The blank stare his older brother was giving him was really starting to creep Albus the hell out.

"That bad?" Albus tried to break the awkward silence.

Nothing. Not even a blink. Just the same old blank stare. Albus was fairly certain his brother could beat a bloody basilisk at a staring contest should he attempt it.

"James?" Albus asked, slightly scared now. Had Albus said something in his sleep? A dark thought crossed his mind: had his brother finally realized that the dark architique of all Albus' nightmares was James himself? "Jaime?" Albus asked again, using the rarely used variant of his brother's name.

Suddenly, James looked away, as if struggling. He couldn't even look at Albus. Closing his eyes, James finally spoke. "You... Your eyes were glazed over, Al. And, you turned and fixed me with this... This blank stare. And you told me I was going to die." James didn't bother mentioning the 'soulless' bit. The dying part was hard enough. Adding the end of Albus' cryptic prediction would really be too much.

Albus reeled back, surprised. He had done what?

James finally opened his eyes, looking back to his younger sibling. There was fear there, shining through brightly. "I don't want to die, Al. Please... Tell me I'm not gonna die."

"Of course you aren't, you daft-" Albus began.

"Then why did you say it? Why did you say it, with a blank trance-like stare? Do you see the future, Al? I heard Aunt Hermione talking about them once. Seers. True seers, and how they were rare and far between. Is that what you are? A seer? Is that wha you dream every night? Me dying? Is that why you can't fucking look at me now adays! ANSWER ME!"

At this point, Albus was wonderfully glad for silencing charms and James' particular affinity for them. Still, the yelling from his normally calm, easy going and fun sibling was not a positive thing in Albus' day, any day.

The scream had the opposite effect of making Albus talk. He curled up in a ball, a sudden bout of terror ripping through him, half-forgotten memories of a possessed James growling at him and yelling and screaming and telling him he had to die. Of course, Albus had no idea his dreams were pieces of memory trying to break through the surface, but that was a story for another time.

Instantly, James regretted his actions.

Albus was a cheerful kid, full of smiles and laughs. Sure, sometimes his brother was way too serious for his own good, but never before had Albus curled in fear in front of him. Others(cough cough mum cough cough), sure, but never in front of James.

"Al." James muttered, before standing and casually touching the boy's shoulder. Albus, in response, flinched. Violently. James, on the other hand, snatched his hand away as if burned.

Silence.

.

.

"In my dreams," Albus began softly. James perked. A summer of constant random awakenings at all hours of the night, finally unveiled. "You're there. And I'm there. And your eyes... They aren't your eyes, James. They're glowing with blue fire. Then, you speak, but it isn't your voice. It's someone elses voice, someone who's using you. You're possessed. And... And..." At this point, Albus had turned his head to look up at James. "You- it- keeps telling me that I have to die. That I'm a monster. That I have to be stopped... Because I'm some sort of weapon, and, if I'm not struck down..." Tears were streaming down his cheeks at this point.

Somehow, speaking all of this out loud made it all feel so much more realistic.

"And, then-" Albus never finished. Because, at that moment, Harry tossed his Disillusionment Charm. Both children gasped. There was no defense.

"Obliviate!"

Both their eyes glazed over. James full out fell to the floor. Harry then turned his concentration on Albus. The initial memory charm on it's own wasn't strong enough, Harry realized. He had to make it stronger.

Albus was far too young to be dealing with this bullshit. Harry had been forced to deal with it, because, at the end of the day, a final confrontation between him and Voldemort was inevitable. But, the case was not the same with Albus.

As far as Harry was concerned, he was going to make sure his little boy retained his childlike innocence free of insane half-angel's for as long as humanly possible.

So, delving into Albus' mind, Harry proceeded to lock the dark memories of the previous year behind well constructed walls. Walls that would only fall when the time was right. When Albus was ready, in Harry's opinion.

In other words: Never.

The morning at the Potter household was like any other.

Laughs and giggles and children chasing each other around.

James, as usual, awoke Albus by dumping ice-cold water on his sleeping brother's head. The usual chase ensued, knocking over Lily, who, furiously and with a stolen wand, began to fling jinxes every which way.

Needless to say, it was to no one's surprise that it ended with a very literal explosion as too much Floo powder was accidentally tipped into the fire place, causing emerald flames to erupt like wild fire.

Soon, both boys would be returning to Hogwarts for their second year, leaving behind a furious younger sister who would no doubt spend months plotting a way to get back at the two males who dared to be born before her. The nerve of those two, really...

However, until that time, they had to suffer a wrath far worse than Lily Potter the II.

Three letters, stringed together in a fashion that made them sound the most innocent word ever crafted in all of time and space. This was a gross deception, as the word defined a single woman who had more fury than a Hungarian Horntail crossed with a strange new species of beasts that had been circulating the globe known as 'Blast-Ended Skrewts'.

That word was simply as follows:

Mum.

Innocent looking, right?

WRONG!

"NEVER IN ALL MY YEARS- AND I THOUGHT FRED AND GEORGE WERE DANGEROUS, BUT NO! NO, EVEN THEY WERE NEVER STUPID ENOUGH TO DUMP AN ENTIRE CYLINDER OF FLOO POWDER INTO THE FIRE PLACE! YOU NEARLY DESTROYED THE HOUSE! AND, IN CASE THE PAIR OF YOU AREN'T ENTIRELY AWARE, MAGICALLY LIT FIRES DO NOT DIE UNTIL THEY INCINERATE EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH! WHAT DO THE TWO OF YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES, HMMM?"

Albus' eyes were stuck the the floor, as were James'. However, this was not due to any sense of guilt from either boy. In reality, they were both trying really, really hard not to laugh in their mother's face. To do so would be suicide. Painful suicide. Or worse. Mum was particularly skilled at hexes that transfigured the victim into any number of things and left them stuck like that for hours.

Still, as far as Albus was concerned, this was James' fault.

Little git, throwing freezing water on him- AGAIN! Honestly, James needed to come up with a new way to wake Albus. The cold water was getting old. Albus, however, dared not mention it for fear that his brother would take it to heart and instead wake him with boiling water.

Okay, maybe not boiling, but super-hot. Mum would kill James should he use actual boiling water. Figuratively speaking, that is.

"WELL! WHAT DO THE PAIR OF YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES!" Mum demanded. More like gave a screech that would have a Grimm fleeing in a maddened run of terror.

"Al tossed the cylinder!" James declared before turning and running off.

Albus' jaw dropped.

"YOU LYING PRAT! You tossed the cylinder! JAMES!" with that, Albus ran off in pursuit- or would have, if he hadn't suddenly been hit by a body-binding curse, causing him to fall flat on his face. Sadly, Mum didn't deem this reason enough to help him, and, running through the house, yelled out to her other son.

These kids would be the death of her, she silently groaned.

Albus felt a foot pushing him onto his back.

And there she was, grinning in full delight. Lily smiled down at her older brother, before leaning down and whispering in his ear.

"I threw the cylinder." Then, smiling, the little witch skipped away, cackling evilly, knowing full well that mum wouldn't believe Albus should he accuse her- after all, he and James had already full out accused one another of the deed.

Yep. She was definitely a snake, Albus decided, while furiously attempting to break the body-bind by sheer force of will alone.

There was a yelp and Albus knew James had been caught as well.

In the end, both James and Albus were punished. For two weeks. In other words- until they got on the train again.

Again, Albus blamed Lily. Her and that innocent little smile she hid behind, while, in reality, she would plot and scheme. Like Uncle Ron, little Lily was a strategist- and damn good at it too. Should that girl every join the other side- well, let's just say the Light would be screwed.

Finally, however, the day arrived!

School!

Weird. Albus was excited, he thought, bewildered. He blamed Lily for that. She made it her life mission to make his home life hellish as her own personal way of getting back at him for being older. And male. Lily didn't like boys much. To her, they were icky, gross, and were only good for manual labor.

At least, that's what Al's memory of the summer told him, dreams and nightmares replaced with Lils, cackling away as he was blamed yet again for something she did. She rarely got caught, and was rather good at what she did. After all, who would suspect poor old innocent looking Lils?

Brat.

Today, they were going to Diagon Alley to get books. Books. Always books. Sure, Rose could be thrilled, but normal human beings like Albus and James? Of course they weren't! Anyways...

The list was as follows:

1. Study of the Stars, by Isabel Evans

2. Enchantments Divine, Year 2, by Yen Sid

3. Malefactum: Study of the Dark Arts Volume II, by Willow Rosenberg

4. An Ode to Flora, by Pomona Sprout

5. Pathways of Time, by Dr. John Smith

6. Ensnaring the Senses: A Guide to Potion Making, by Piper Halliwell

7. Art of Change, Year 2, by Zatanna Zatara

Luckily for Albus, that was all he had to get. James, on the other hand, was forced to also get books for both Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies.

However, what really had Albus excited was what they were getting after the books: OWLS! And not those evil trials set forth by educational decrees on an international scale, actual real post-delivering owls!

Oh, and Hugo and Roxanne were starting Hogwarts this year.

One short floo trip later(Lily smirked slightly at Albus while Mum wasn't looking and Dad pretended to be oblivious), and they had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Aunt Hannah!" Lily ran up to the woman and practically jumped into the older woman's arms, who laughed before greeting the rest of the family.

"Have the others arrived?" Dad asked.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!"

Said boy jumped a mile in the air, before turning. Rose, smiling cheekily at him, waved. Albus glared as the adults laughed. Laughed at his embarrassment. The nerve of those old... Old... Albus couldn't think of a word to fit this situation, actually. Huh. Eh.

Meanwhile, James and Justin had both put their heads together. Uh oh... This meant trouble. And, considering the look they shot at Albus, followed by a nasty grin that practically screamed, 'you're our target this year', Albus was sure they were planning something. Okay, sure wasn't the right word. He was absolutely 100 percent positively affirmative in the belief that his brother and cousin were planning a monstrously dangerous prank on him.

So, the group of four adults plus six kids(they always took Justin with them) made their way through Diagon Alley.

"I'll collect the books!" Aunt Hermione volunteered. "And take the girls." she added on the side. Rose was ecstatic. Books! Lils was furious. Books!?

"Apothecary!" Dad called, grabbing James and Justin, dragging them away, leaving Albus with Mum, Uncle Ron, and Hugo.

"Hugo and I need to go get his wand." Uncle Ron told Mum before grabbing the boy, dragging him off as well. Huh. They went from ten to... Two. That was fast.

"Come on Al, let's go get you your owl." Mum said, grabbing Albus by the hand and leading him away.

Albus heard a snicker and turned his head. Tabitha Nott stood just a few feet away, and was laughing at him as his mother took him along like a little kid. Albus glared. She looked away. Albus had very frightening glares.

They made their way to Eeylops Owl Emporium. However, Albus' eyes latched on to Magical Menagerie.

"Mum."

"Quiet, Al."

"Mum."

"We're nearly there."

"MUM!"

"What is it, Albus!"

"Can we go there instead?"

Mum turned her head as Albus pointed towards the Menagerie. She frowned slightly before looking down at Albus. "I thought you wanted an owl?"

"I can always steal- I mean borrow- Charlus." Albus replied, referring to James' owl. "Can I get something over there?" he pointed again.

Mum frowned and 'pretended' not to notice Albus mentioning thievery, if pretend entails a sharp squeeze of the hand followed by a narrowing of the eyes.

"Okay then, if that's what you want." Mum stated.

Albus would have jumped had his hand not been still caught in the vice-like grip of his mother's claw- hand. Hand. It was a hand. Although, with her nails, they could definitely be considered claws.

"Hello, good day, welcome to-" the cheerful clerk began.

"Hi Sarah." Mum interrupted.

"Ginny!" abandoning all professionalism(the little there was to begin with) the clerk rounded the table and hugged Mum. Huh. Must be another 'war buddy', Albus decided before wandering about the shop.

A bat screeched loudly in it's cage, giving Albus a look. He backed away. No bats. Even if one of his namesakes was constantly compared to one.

A couple of pixies growled at him. Sharp teeth. Good for a prank. A pet? Heck to the no.

A little puppy blinked up at Albus. He was almost swayed by the eyes. Until it opened it's mouth and started spitting acidic. Well. Spit.

Moving on...

Firecrab, imp, jarvey... No, nope. No.

Albus wondered if Mum would get annoyed that he was taking too long, but a glance told him she was currently chatting up her old friend. Crap. That could mean anywhere from staying five extra minutes to five extra hours.

Then, he saw it.

Perfect!

And, he spat fire!

Albus shot a quick glance at his Mum, assuring himself she was still occupied. Should Albus' chosen pet decide it wants to start a fire, well... No more pet for Al. Quickly, he pulled a small little vial from his robes(who said Dad and Lils were the only ones in the family with a little snake in them?) before feeding it to the creature. Instantly, it changed color. He he. Temporary.

In an hour, the normal coloring would be back. Along with fire spitting powers.

"Mum!" Albus called.

So, fifteen minutes later, nagging, and what-not, Albus succeeded in procuring a fire-breathing lizard. Also known as a salamander, whom Albus christened Ember. Hagrid would be thrilled.