Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges

Written for the 19 Years and 20 Minutes Later Creativity Challenge. I used the idea how how Harry felt about Albus's fear of being in Slytherin.

The Golden Snitch

Beauxbatons, Barbegazi

Written for the Leaped Moments and Missed Moments challenge.

I wish we had gotten to see how Harry really felt about the possibility that Albus could be in Slytherin.

Additional Prompts: 4. (pairing) Harry/Ginny, 14. (colour) green

Word Count: 775

I'm not too proud of this drabble but I did write it all in one go so it's fine. I hope you enjoyed it.

Harry watched as the Hogwarts Express left the station. James was off for another year and Albus was starting his first. He didn't know how he was supposed to be feeling.

"Daddy?" someone was tugging at the hem of his shirt. He wrenched his eyes away from the train, which was already long gone, and saw Lily looking up at him, bouncing on her toes.

"Yes, dear?"

"Can I go over to Hugo's house for a while. Mommy said to ask you."

He looked over at Ginny, who just raised her eyebrows. She must have known that he was feeling anxious about Albus leaving home and probably wanted him to decide whether he would be okay with not having Lily at home for the next few hours.

But that cheeky smile was something that you couldn't say no to. He picked her up and had to grin as she let out a high-pitched giggle. "Of course, you can go. I'll have Uncle Ron or Aunt Hermione floo you back to our house in time for dinner."

Lily hugged him before skipping off to where Hugo was standing.

Harry felt his gaze slide back t the spot where the train had been 10 minutes ago. Albus's fear of being in Slytherin was something he couldn't let go of. Especially since he had had that exact same fear when he was being Sorted.

He almost jumped when someone touched his arm.

"Harry?" It was Ginny, she had a somewhat worried look on her face. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said distractedly, "I'm fine."

"Okay," she said, looking not at all convinced. "Let's go home."

Harry forced his wandering mind to focus as he got ready to Disapparate. He didn't want to get Splinched.

The moment they had both arrived at home, away from all the staring people, Ginny pounced on him.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugged her off. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking about the kids."

She rolled her eyes, "Do I look dumb? I know something is bothering you, and it's not the kids. You have that nostalgic look on your face. The bad kind."

Harry sighed, having a wife who knew you way too well could get annoying at times.

"Fine, I'm thinking about what Al said."

She turned to look at him. "About being in Slytherin?"

"Yeah."

"But we wouldn't mind if he's in Slytherin."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know."

Ginny took the seat in front of him at their dining table. "You want him to be in Gryffindor?"

"Well," he paused, not sure how to phrase his thoughts. "It's just that we've all been in Gryffindor. Dumbledore was in Gryffindor."

"But Snape was in Slytherin."

He sighed again. "I know, but I just feel like, after everything, there's still prejudice against Slytherins. And..."

"And?" Ginny prompted him.

"His eyes are just like hers. Green. Like my mum's. And I guess I just want some part of her to live on. At least in some sort of way. It's dumb, I know."

Ginny peered at him carefully, almost like she way trying to do Legilimency on him. He squirmed uncomfortably.

"You know," she said slowly, leaning back in her chair, "sometimes I think that everyone holds the kids to too much of a high standard. It's not like they asked to be named after such great people."

Harry frowned. At first, Ginny had hated the idea of naming their second son, Albus Severus. She had believed that they were both were just on the side of good and did bad things. She had said that Dumbledore had treated Sirius badly, had left him at an abusive household, and hadn't done more to stop Tom as a child. She firmly believed that Snape was just a bully trying to fix his mistakes. But after some discussion, she had agreed, mainly because she knew it would help him and that although they were bad people to her, they did deserve to be honoured.

"You're right," he said softly. "I just can't help but remember how much I didn't want to be in Slytherin. How afraid I was. And now our son is feeling the same thing."

"Hey," she said, coming over to his side. She put a hand on his cheek. "Don't be so worried. For all we know he could be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."

Harry laughed. "Maybe."

"And besides," she kissed him softly, "I know we'll both accept him either way. Red or green. To us, it'll still be the same Al we've always loved."

He smiled, she was right. Red or green, Albus was still the same boy. His son.