Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Author's Note: I've changed up the summery a bit because I've written ahead, this story has changed a bit. Hope you all still want to read it. Please drop a review to tell me what you think.

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.

The next time Harry found himself at Hogwarts was for James and not Albus. He had planned on simply attending his oldest's Quidditch match for the day before heading home. Instead, he found himself in the Hospital Wing. As talented of a Chaser as James seemed to be turning into, he still needed a lot of work on his reaction time. It seemed bludgers always found the boy.

As Harry sat next to his son's bed, he began to think of his own old Quidditch injuries. The most memorable being when Gilderoy Lockhart attempted to fix his arm after a particularly bad fall. Hopefully, no one would be vanishing any of James' bones. He certainly wasn't going to allow it.

A flurry of black robes interrupted Harry's thoughts as a young woman raced into the room and went straight to Poppy's side. "Sorry, sorry, I was working on something and didn't see your message immediately." She said to the Medi-Witch as she handed her a potion vile.

"That's alright, Professor. I know you are still getting used to having so many duties here." Poppy replied, taking the vile from her.

The women bit her lip, clearly slightly embarrassed. "Ah yes." She said before turning her attention to the student in the bed. "I hear you had a nasty injury today, Mr. Potter."

James nodded, cradling the injured arm to his chest. "Yeah, bludger got me good. But we still won."

A smile filled the woman's face. "Well than I am happy to hear that. This Skele-Grow should make you as good as new in no time." She told him as Poppy handed him the potion.

The young boy didn't even try to hide his wince when he was told what potion he was going to need. "I hate the taste of that stuff."

The woman chuckled. "Which is why I've been working to flavour all of my potions."

"You changed the taste of it?" Harry interrupted, equally surprised and concerned.

The witch spun around towards the voice that had spoken to her. Her eyes noticeably widening when she realized who it was. "I promise you it's still as effective as it normally would be." She said before holding out a hand towards him. "Ana Septimus. I'm the new potions professor." She introduced herself.

Harry began to study the woman as he reached his own hand out to shake hers. So, this was the new professor that had everyone talking. Just like Hermione had suggested, the woman did seem very young. Something in the back of his mind told Harry that he recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it. She had bone straight, very dark red hair that framed her face. The soft features of her face seemed to be overpowered by dark, Onyx colored eyes.

"Harry Potter." Harry responded to introduce himself as well.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Potter." Ana replied in her smooth, American accent. "I very much enjoy having your sons in class."

Harry quirked an eyebrow and glanced over at his son. "You do?"

Ana chuckled and nodded. "I do." She assured him. "James has been making great improvements in my class."

"I'm glad to hear it." Harry said, smiling at James.

James grinned back at his father and brought the potion bottle to his lips to drink it. "Wow, it really doesn't taste bad anymore." He said happily before finishing it all.

Poppy glanced over at the young potion's professor, slightly impressed. "Well. That will make getting students to take their potions easier."

Ana grinned back at her, clearly pleased with herself. "Happy to help."

"Now, everyone out. Mr. Potter will need to rest while the potion takes effect." The older witch instructed.

Harry said his goodbyes to his son, making him promise to keep them informed of his recovery. As he left, he quickly caught up with Ana. "Um Professor? Do you have a moment to speak?" He asked her.

Ana turned back to him and nodded. "Of course. Care to accompany me down to my classroom? I have some potions on that need attending to."

Harry nodded and followed her down to the dungeons. It had been a very long time since he had stepped foot in that part of the castle. However, in that time, he noticed it hadn't changed at all. For a moment, he struggled to remember if it even had sustained much damage during the battle. When they had been restoring the castle, Harry had been adamant that he did not go down there and preferred to help outside.

Oblivious to the uneasiness of the man following her, Ana entered her classroom. "If this is about what I said about James earlier, I assure you I was not exaggerating, Mr. Potter."

"You can call me Harry." He insisted. "And this isn't about James, I was hoping to speak to you about Albus."

Ana hummed in understanding. "Ah I see. I have to say, I was a little surprised to find Harry Potter's son in Slytherin when I arrived here."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "So, you're familiar with…the history surrounding me then?"

The woman smiled and nodded. "I am. Your story certainly reaches far outside of England. There is no 'Chosen One' in America so the tales of you are the closest we have."

A long sigh escaped Harry. "I know that being my son isn't always easy on Albus…"

"Well, that may have something to do with a lot of my colleagues assuming that both him and James are just like you." She told him. "It seems as though James seems to enjoy it while Albus seems to hate it. Unlike the other professors, however, I don't know you personally, so I have truly no way to compare them to you."

"That must be why Albus seems to enjoy you as a teacher so much." Harry commented.

Ana smiled back at him as she walked over to the cauldron she had been working on before being called away. "He's a good kid. Very clever. No child deserves to be judged solely on who their parents may be."

Her statement struck Harry. It was a far cry from how he had been treated in that exact classroom when he was Albus' age. "Do you speak from experience?"

The woman froze and looked up at him. "Um no, actually. Not really at least. I didn't know my parents so I couldn't have been compared to them."

"You were an orphan?" Harry asked, a little shocked.

"I was. Professor McGonagall found me on Hogwarts' grounds the morning after you defeated Voldemort." Ana told him. "She said I couldn't have been more than a day old."

Harry's shock grew quickly as he listened to her. McGonagall never mentioned any of that to him. Though, he had been a bit preoccupied in the aftermath of it all. "And you have no idea at all who they may be?" he asked. They must have died in the battle for them to have just abandoned an infant there.

"None." Ana sighed. "All that was with me was a necklace with my name on it. No one recognized my last name, so I was adopted by an older witch and wizard who took me to America."

Harry listened to her story in slight disbelief. There was no doubt McGonagall would have done her best to find the girls family but apparently there just were none to find. "Is Septimus your birth name or the name of your adoptive parents?"

Ana's eyes were back to being trained on the cauldron in front of her. She wasn't sure why she was telling him her story but didn't stop herself. She had spent much of her childhood reading about the Boy Who Lived, another orphan of war. Maybe she felt it easy to speak to him because she knew he'd understand.

"The name I was born with. I changed it back when I returned here in hopes that maybe someone would recognize it and know something about my parents." Ana explained to him.

Harry nodded in understanding. "There were so many people involved. On both sides. I'm sure someone will know something."

The potions professor nodded. "I hope so." She said as she rolled up the sleeves of her robes to start stirring the potion that she was working on. When she did, she revealed what looked like a Muggle compression sleeve on her forearm. Harry's eyes trained on it quickly. That must have been what Ron had been talking about and what the students had been gossiping about.

The young witch must have felt Harry's eyes on her because she let out a barely audible sigh. "I know what the students have been saying I'm covering a Dark Mark but I'm not." She told him. "I guess it's certainly possible that my parents were Death Eaters, but I am not. I'm simply covering up old scars that never healed completely."

Harry looked at her, slightly ashamed. "Of course. I didn't think…"

Ana shook her head. "It's fine. I'm sure the prospect of there maybe being a Death Eater teaching your sons isn't something you can just ignore."

"No, not really." Harry responded, deciding not to ask her to see it just to make sure. "I should get out of your hair. Thank you for speaking with me."

Ana nodded. "Of course. Have a good day." She replied.

Harry turned to leave but as he walked past her desk, something caught his eye. On the edge of it, was a tattered and clearly old potions textbook. As soon as Harry saw it, he knew what it as. But to be sure, he picked it up and opened the front cover. Inside was the exact words he had been expecting.

'This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince'

The older man quickly turned back to Ana who had been watching him the whole time. "Where did you get this?" He asked.

Ana frowned. "When I came here, I went to Gringotts to open a vault of my own but when I got there, the Goblins informed me that there was already one left in my name. According to them, no one had ever visited it and no one knew who opened it. That book was one of the things inside of it."

For a while, Harry said nothing. Having the book in his hands again pulled him into his own memories from his sixth year at Hogwarts. The obsession with the book and its previous owner took over him for a long time. Until the night of Dumbledore's death and he finally found out who the mysterious Prince was.

"Do you know who it is?" Ana asked when he didn't say anything for some time. "The Half-Blood Prince? I think it may have to do with my parents…"

A voice screamed at Harry to tell her because he knew exactly who it was. But he stopped himself. "No." He lied easily. "I've just heard a few things about it before."

Disappointment flooded the features of the young professor, making Harry feel guilty. "Oh. Well…must be another dead end then."

"I'm sorry." Harry said softly. "That I can't be of help."

She smiled genuinely at him. "It's okay."

Harry nodded and reluctantly put the book back down on the desk. "I hope you find the answers you're looking for, Ana." He said before heading out of the classroom quickly.

As Harry walked out of the dungeons and then out of the castle, his mind flooded with possibilities. What connected this girl to his own potion's professor? He didn't even know how the book was still in existence. What he did know was that he couldn't tell Ana what he did know. Not yet. Before he did, he needed more answers.

Harry needed to speak to Hermione.