A New Generation
Chapter Twelve
A.N: Hi! Summer holidays have officially started, so you should expect to see more and more chapters on this! Sorry if everyone's like, 'God, she takes so long to update' but I'd rather have really long chapters than really short ones, so…sorry!
I kind of took a little time off from this because I wanted to develop my writing skills a bit before I continued. But now my skills are up to scratch, I give you, Chapter Twelve!
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to ThatOneDiabeticGirl, my first ever reviewer.
The days that followed were strained and quiet. Fliss was an absolute mess, constantly worrying about Ash, who hadn't woken up yet. Liz hadn't smiled, not even at Teddy's very uncanny expression of Malfoy. Rose never left the library willingly, except for lessons and food. James ad Fred had to drag her down to Quidditch practice, and even then, up in the air, she wasn't herself.
James had been hit the worse. He still went through his usual daily routine, but there was no life in his brown eyes. He didn't bother to participate in lessons (well, he didn't do that much before, but even in DADA he didn't answer a single question) and didn't contribute much to the prank meetings he, Fred and Teddy had. Fred couldn't believe it when he heard what had happened.
"Wait, so you're telling me that she got knocked unconscious after you saved her?" Fred asked, incredulous. "Yikes, James. You need to improve Knight-In-Shining-Armour skills soon."
"Don't rub it in," James moaned. "He dropped her, and her head smacked against some rock. Don't you think I feel guilty enough?"
"Nah. Although the absolute tortured look on Fliss's face when she found out helped," Teddy grinned.
James responded by chucking a pillow at him. "Not funny."
"Are you guys ever funny?" a voice came from the stairs. Rose leant against the banister, one eyebrow raised.
"Low blow, little cousin. Low blow," Fred winced.
"And we are funny! What about the Halloween feast prank!" Teddy argued.
"And the one on that Slytherin who made fun of Molly. I bet he couldn't get that beak off for weeks," James reminded.
"Yep, that was so classy," Liz commented, sarcastically.
"Why be classy when you can have fun?" Fred asked.
"Why pull pranks when you can put your skills to good use?"
"Because that's boring!" Fred whined.
"Then why are you at school?"
"GUYS!" Fliss shouted.
Everyone whipped their heads to look at Fliss, eyes wide. Fliss had hardly spoken since Ash was put in the Hospital Wing. Fliss stood there, her frizzy brown hair tumbling over her shoulders, her blue eyes hardened. "Just stop fighting. Ash wouldn't want this!"
Liz sighed. "Fliss is right."
Fred scowled, but looked down at his shoes. "Yeah. I guess Ash would want us to get along. Being the upbeat, cheery girl that drives us all slightly mad."
Rose looked at all of her family, and friends. "I'm going to the library. Flitwick needed that essay in for tomorrow."
"I'll come with you," Albus decided. "I'm only half-way through that thing."
The two first-years walked out of the portrait hole, leaving the others standing there. Fred was the first to yawn loudly. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but Quidditch practice is quite tiring. I'm going to bed."
"Me too," Liz yawned. "See you guys."
"You coming James?" Fred asked.
James shook his head. "I'm going to see if Ash is any better before the Hospital Wing closes."
"You got it bad cuz. You got it bad," Fred patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, before climbing up the stairs to the dorm. James ignored him, and headed to the Portrait Hole...
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By Friday morning, the gang was almost back to normal. Liz smiled once in a while, Fliss laughed more, Rose didn't spend as much time in the library as she usually did and James was a lot less tense.
"Slow down Fred. You're going to choke," Rose stated, her eyes wide as she watched Fred wolf down sausage after sausage in a race against James. "Seriously, I know you've got a big mouth, but even this is pushing it."
Fred finished his plate and glared at Rose. "Ha-ha."
Teddy sat down, flicking his deep purple fringe out of his violet eyes. "What did I miss?"
"Fred and James decided that the person who could eat the most sausages in a minute would, ultimately, be the most awesome," Liz sighed, helping herself to another slice of toast. "It was slightly disgusting."
"Yeah," Fliss mumbled, her cheeks stuffed with bacon. "Boys can such pigs."
Teddy wiped away the small piece of bacon Fliss had spat at him. "Thanks. I needed to lose my appetite."
"Good, can I have your bacon then?" Fliss asked.
"I can't believe it's Friday already. Where did the week go?" James sighed.
"Well, Saturday, Ash and I were almost-kidnapped. Sunday to Wednesday was spent wallowing in sorrow, pity and guilt; Thursday was spent trying to get back to normal after Fliss shouted at us to get our act together-"
"We get it, it's been a long week," Fred cut Rose off.
"And yet you still didn't find time to finish off your essay on Moonstone properties for Potions," Liz reminded.
"Meh. Potions is last thing today. I can finish it at lunch," Fred shrugged. His hair got in his eyes, and he swept it back. If there was one thing Fred couldn't stand, it was a haircut. Victoire and Dominique winced whenever they saw the shaggy ginger nest that he sported. "Then I'll do that Transfiguration one for tomorrow. Minnie will kill me if I hand that one in late."
"You shouldn't call Professor McGonagall that. It's disrespectful," Liz frowned.
"Her name's Minerva. I'm just modernising it," Fred shrugged. "And 'McGonagall' is too much of a mouthful anyway."
"Besides Fred, you can't do your homework tomorrow. Remember that little thing called Quidditch practice?"
"I'll stay up late," Fred shrugged. "I usually do anyway. It's like I'm nocturnal."
"I wouldn't like to be nocturnal," Fliss though aloud. "Funny things happen during the day."
"But funnier things happen at night," Fred smirked. "But I suppose you being Fliss wouldn't understand that."
"Hey, what exactly is that supposed to mean!" Fliss defended.
"He's talked about the fact that you're so naïve, Felicity dear," Teddy explained.
"I am not naïve!"
"True. You're also innocent; young; not guilty of anything remotely-"
"Innocent and not guilty are the same thing," Liz pointed out.
"Hey! Rose is supposed to be the know-it-all! I only signed up for one first-year to correct my grammar! I want a refund!"
"Oh, stop being dramatic, Fred," Rose rolled her eyes.
"But dramatic's my trademark, Rose!" Fred whined.
Teddy rolled his eyes. "So is being annoying."
Fred gasped. "I'm not annoying, Teddy! James, back me up!"
James shrugged. "Hate to break it to you Fred, but you kind of are."
"What kind of friends are you guys?"
"Honest ones," Teddy replied.
"Guys!" Albus sprinted through the Great Hall. His messy hair was even more 'windswept' and his green eyes were panicked. "It's Ash!"
"What about her?" James asked, suddenly worried.
"Madame Pomfrey said she might need to be transferred to St Mungo's!" Albus panted.
"What? I thought it wasn't serious?" Rose asked.
"She said that Ash had fractured her skull, and it was quite risky to cure without help!"
"But she can't go to St Mungo's!" James replied, banging his fists on the table.
"Don't get mad at me! Madame Pomfrey just said that if Ash doesn't wake up by tomorrow!"
"Look, we'll argue about this later. But right now, us first years have DADA," Rose stood up and grabbed her bag. "We'll see you all later."
If Albus had been paying attention, he would have seen the smirk on James's face at the mention of DADA, or the sympathetic look on Teddy's.
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"Good morning class," Professor Fawcett greeted. Fawcett was a middle-aged wizard somewhere in his late thirties. His tawny brown hair was now slightly faded, but his face still held the youthful quality it always has.
"Turn your books to page 82 and we'll begin."
Albus looked at the page they were using, and groaned, his forehead hitting the table. Of all the subjects to choose from, it had to be-
"What is it?" Liz asked.
Albus looked up. "Dad."
Looking back at the page, Liz winced in sympathy when she saw the heading.
Harry James Potter
"This going to be embarrassing," Albus muttered.
"Now class," Fawcett called from his desk. "Who can tell me why Harry Potter is so well-known?"
Rose put her hand up, hesitantly. "He's the first and only person to survive the Killing Curse and he defeated Lord Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts."
"Very good, although I suppose you've heard all this first-hand," Fawcett smiled at Rose. "But now all of you will, because I have the pleasure of introducing, Harry Potter himself!"
Fliss and Liz sat up at this. Unlike Ash, who had visited the Potters at Christmas, they had never met Albus's dad. When Harry came in, silence swept among the first years as they stared at him. Liz studied the black messy hair and the emerald green eyes, and looked back at a now blushing Albus. Yep, Liz thought. They're definitely related.
"Good morning everyone," Harry smiled. "Professor Fawcett has asked me to come here today to tell you, basically, about my life. So I'll start from the beginning."
Harry's eyes slowly travelled across the room, and landed on Albus. "So…to start off, I was born in July 1980, when the Wizarding World was still caught up in the First Wizarding War. My family was targeted because my parents were members of The Order of The Phoenix, and we went into hiding. On October 31st 1981, Voldemort came to our house, and killed my parents. When my mother sacrificed herself for me, it gave me a…shield in a way, so when Voldemort tried to use the Killing Curse on me, it rebounded."
Harry's talk carried on throughout the lesson, with people every once in a while looking at Albus, who was desperately wishing the ground was open up and swallow him. Even Rose was blushing now, not used to the attention the class was giving her and her cousin.
By the time the class had finished, Albus was about to sprint off, when Harry stopped him. "I need to talk to you for a second, Al."
Albus's shoulders slumped, and he tried to ignore the stares he was given as he walked up to his dad. "Yeah?"
"Al, about these Black-Cloaks. Has anything happened at school?"
"Well, James must have told you about the kidnapping…"
"What kidnapping?" Harry furrowed his brow.
"You mean, James didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what, Al?"
"They tried to kidnap Rose and Ash."
Harry tensed. "When?"
"Last Saturday. Ash got knocked out, and her skull's been fractured. She might have to be transferred to St. Mungo's if she doesn't wake up by tomorrow."
"Can't Madame Pomfrey fix it?" Harry asked.
"She said it was risky, the fracture's in some weird place apparently."
"Did Rose tell you anything about why they did it?"
"She said something about them only needing Rose. But they were going to use Ash as bait," Albus's eyes widened when he remembered the last thing Rose had said.
"For what, Al? Bait for what?" Harry asked, extremely concerned.
"James," Albus whispered. "They were going to use Ash to get James."
A.N: Boom! There you go! Dramatic last sentence. I hope you guys are enjoying this, and don't worry. As soon as I update this, I'm immediately writing the next chapter, something I have never done with any of my fanfiction. If you guys have any ideas, suggestions, or just want to comment, please review!
