Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
Summary: It's been twenty years since the Battle of Hogwarts. Life has been quiet for Harry Potter but things are about to change. A new professor at Hogwarts, an unfulfilled prophecy, and something left behind by the Half-Blood Prince will quickly put him back up against old foes.
By the time the Christmas holidays came around, Harry had put everything about the prophecy out of his head. Not long after Albus' stunt in the Headmistress' office two months before, he was assigned a particularly tough case and barely had time to sleep in his own bed, never mind let himself think about forty-year-old prophecies.
Now, the case was over, and he had a whole week off to spend with his family who would be traveling to the Burrow to spend Christmas the following day. So, before the chaos ensued, Ginny insisted on a quiet dinner with just them and the kids the night that James and Albus returned from Hogwarts. Looking down the table at his children and wife, Harry could feel himself relax.
"So, boys, tell us what you've been up to at school. Since your letters have been lacking in content recently." Ginny said to her sons with a smile.
James looked up at his mother and only just managed to swallow his food before responding. "Sorry Mum, I've been using all my time to practice. We're tied with Ravenclaw in the Quidditch standings and they're our first match when we get back."
"I hope you've been taking some time for your schoolwork as well." Harry said to his oldest son.
"I am. My marks are the same as always." He assured him. "Except my potions mark, that one's actually higher."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "It is? I thought you didn't like potions class."
James shrugged. "I still don't really but the new professor is an okay teacher. Just ask Al, he's like obsessed with her."
"Am not!" Albus protested quickly.
"Are to! You're always in there." James accused.
"Boys. No fighting at the supper table." Ginny interrupted before anything escalated more. "Al are you spending more time in potions?" she asked, almost hopeful. Albus hadn't taken much interest in any subject yet and they had hoped that would change eventually.
Albus looked down at his food and bit his lip. "No. Well kind of... Professor Septimus has been helping me with all of my other classes too."
Harry frowned. "She is?"
Al nodded. "Well, she's my head of house now so it was her who I had detention with. She's started helping me then. She's a brilliant teacher, dad." He insisted quickly. "My marks have been improving."
Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, both feeling a relief that someone had been able to engage Albus with his schoolwork. "Well, that's fantastic, sweetheart. We're proud you're doing better."
Harry was quick to nod in agreement. "We are." He affirmed.
Albus smiled shyly at his parents and allowed his brother to take over the conversation again.
After dinner, Harry walked into the living room where Albus was sitting. The boy had some books open in front of him and looked like he was studying. "You know Al, it's break. You don't have to study." He said, sitting down next to him.
Albus looked up at him. "It's just an assignment I'm supposed to do for when I go back. I just want to get it out of the way."
Harry smiled and nodded. "So, school really has been better then?"
Al took a deep breath and nodded. He put the book down and turned to face his father. "I guess. Classes are better."
It wasn't often that Albus wanted to really talk to his father. Usually, he'd give one-word answers and head upstairs to his room. Harry was going to take this as an opening. "How did your talk with Professor Dumbledore go?"
"It was okay." Albus mumbled. "Not what I expected." In truth, Albus left the meeting with the former Headmaster feeling worse than before. The old man only wanted to talk to about Harry. Just like everyone else did. The second year just wished someone would be interested in him and not who his father was.
Harry sighed. "I'm sorry, Al. As much as I loved Dumbledore, he wasn't always very direct with what he had to say. In fact, I normally left my meetings with him feeling more confused than I did in the beginning of them." He said, just assuming that had been Al's issue with the conversation.
Albus sighed and shrugged. "Do you think it would have been better if I had been able to meet with both of them?"
There was a pause in the conversation as Harry tried to form what he wanted to say. "I don't know, Al. While Snape was far more direct than Dumbledore, he was still unpredictable. Every time I thought I had him figured out, he proved me wrong. I truly don't know what he would say to you."
Nodding slowly, Albus closed his books and stood up, clearly disappointed. "It was a dumb idea anyways."
"Al…" Harry sighed but he was cut off.
"It's fine, Dad. I'm going to finish this in my room. Goodnight." He replied and left the room before he could be stopped.
Harry watched him go and sighed. He hated not being able to help his son. But he felt hopeless, a thing he wasn't really used to feeling. As many times as he tried to imagine what it must be like for his son, he just couldn't understand.
Ginny walked into the room and sat with her husband. She had overheard the end of his conversation with their son but didn't approach until Al had left the room because she was hoping Harry'd be able to get him to open up. "He's going to come around, love." She said, rubbing his back.
Harry looked over at his wife with sad eyes. "I just don't know how to talk to him, and I don't know why."
"Don't take this the wrong way but…maybe it's because you can't relate to him." Ginny replied.
Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you didn't exactly grow-up the same." She told him. "And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You've always made sure our kids have had a better childhood than you did. But because of that, they'll never go through what you did, and you'll never understand what they go through."
"You mean Al won't be speaking to snakes and endangering people's lives in his second year?" Harry asked.
Ginny brushed some hair from his forehead. "Saving lives." She corrected. "And no, he won't be. What he has to go through is being Harry Potter's son and the first one in either of our families to be in Slytherin."
"What house he was put in shouldn't matter." Harry argued.
"I agree it shouldn't but you and I both know it does. The war ending didn't end the prejudices. In fact, it probably set them back." She replied.
Of course, Harry knew that Ginny was right. In the years following Voldemort's defeat, Slytherin house saw a significant decrease in members. Trust of the witches and wizards of the house was at a new low. Not even tales of a Slytherin war hero could restore the reputation of it.
It was for that reason kids like Albus dreaded being sorted into it. When they all had a feeling that Al would be a Slytherin, Harry initially thought it would be a good thing. If Harry Potter's son was one, it couldn't be too bad. Instead, the opposite happened and his sone became the source of ridicule and gossip because of it.
Part of Harry wished he had convinced him to tell the hat to put him in Gryffindor with his brother.
"I know." Harry replied, rubbing his face tiredly. "I just wish I could fix it."
"You don't have to be the one that fixes everything. These are issues that go back to the founding of the school." Ginny said softly.
"But now it's hurting our son, Gin. Of course, I have to fix this." He insisted.
Ginny smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Just let him tell you what he needs, okay? Forcing the subject for him may just make things worse."
Harry sighed and nodded. "You're right."
"I know." Ginny said with a grin. "Now, let's head to bed. We've got a long few days ahead of us."
Christmas night, Harry found himself sitting outside the Burrow in front of a fire with his best friends. With the kids in bed after another chaotic day behind them, the trio were more than happy to have a quiet night together. Though the three had stayed very close through the years, life in general made it hard to spend time together just the three of them.
For Harry, it was a nice way to reflect. Two decades before, the three of them had been out in the cold by a fire just like they were right now but with little hope for the future. Now they were all happy with good careers and families. They had come so far, and it was more than he could have hoped for back then.
"Have you been by to see Professor McGonagall recently?" Hermione asked Harry as Ron topped up their firewhiskey.
Harry nodded. "I saw her a few months ago when Al got in trouble. Why?"
"Well apparently she's had to hire another potions professor." Hermione told him.
"That position has been just as cursed as the defense position was when we were in school." Ron interjected, sitting back down.
"It hasn't been that bad, has it?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded. "There's been five different ones since Slughorn retired ten years ago."
"I didn't realize it was that bad." Harry said with a frown. "The kids seem to like this one though."
Ron shrugged. "Rose said there's a rumor that she's a Death Eater."
"Ronald." Hermione admonished her husband. "We're not encouraging such gossip. Especially considering she's far too young to have been one."
"How old is she?" Harry asked.
"Not much older than the seventh years I'd imagine." The witch replied.
Harry frowned. "You're joking. She must have been schoolmates with some of the kids that are her students now. That seems questionable."
Hermione shook her head. "She went to Ilvermorny."
Ron's face twisted in confusion. "I didn't know that."
"That's because you were only half listen. You tuned out as soon as someone said Death Eater." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"Back up. Why do they think she's a Death Eater if she's that young and also American?" Harry asked, wanting to get back on track before an argument started between the husband and wife.
"Apparently she always has her left forearm covered. Even when she rolls up her sleeves, there's something over it." Ron explained.
Hermione groaned. "How old are we again? I thought we put our gossiping about the potions professor days behind us."
"Alright, alright. No more gossiping. We don't know anything about her. But I'm not apologizing for gossiping about Snape. He was a git and deserved it." Ron replied it.
"Don't speak ill of the dead." Hermione said, whacking him on the arm.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Why not? Snape always did." He grumbled.
Harry began to laugh, unable to help himself. Soon the three friends were all laughing, and the conversation moved away from the things happening at their former school. All the while though, the same sense of desire to solve a mystery like he did in his childhood, nagged at the back of his mind.
Maybe the new potions professor was hiding something.
