YEAR ONE
Platform 9 ¾ is ablaze with excitement. It should be: it's a sunny day and the beginning of the school year is filled with wonder and possibilities. Families flock to the Hogwarts Express with shrieking children. Those who aren't lucky enough to attend Hogwarts glance over at the train in interest before going about their business. Around the train station, there are whispers and glances over as the Chosen One leads his picture-perfect family. James is sporting red hair, as usual. Families born with superpowers are rare and seeing someone with powers is riveting. Seeing the Chosen one, specifically, is a complete and absolute honor. It's no wonder people point and stare as Harry Potter arrives; his family is renown for its supremacy among superheroes. It's not just anyone who can and has defeated the Dark Lord.
It all happened before Albus was born, way before he was ever born, but it seems as though he can't ever get through a single day without hearing about the brave tales of the Chosen One. It gets tiring. He doesn't mean to sound ungrateful, truly, he doesn't. Yet, everywhere they go, everyone always wants to hear about Harry Potter and his superpowered family. There's Ginny Potter, with the ability to set fire to anything with a snap of her fingers; there's James and his shapeshifting abilities (though he often focuses on changing his hair to silly colors); there's Lily Luna and her flying capacities. Then there's Albus, who has… nothing. Nothing! Imagine that: Harry Potter's son, without an ounce of power. Some superhero family, huh?
Still, Hogwarts is open to anyone. You don't have to have a superpower; you just have to have superhero potential. Aunt Hermione is a prime example. She hasn't got a hint of a superpower, though Albus swears her intelligence has got to be a power of its own. Still, the majority of the students have got some type of power. It's one of the most competitive boarding schools in Britain and probably in the whole world.
The worst thing is that Albus knows he only got in because his dad is Harry Potter.
"I wish I could join you!" Lily says, her eyes sparkling. She takes Albus's hand and warmly squeezes it. Her smile is almost bright enough to melt Albus's anxiety away. She alternates between skipping and floating a few inches above the ground. "Oh, Al, you're so lucky! I wish I could go with you. But – soon!"
"Soon," Albus agrees, trying to sound more confident than he feels. Just because he's terrified doesn't mean he needs to dampen Lily's excitement. It's difficult to stay positive when everyone's staring, though. They're always staring.
"Be safe, okay, Lil' Lily? Don't fly too high unless you're comfortable. I'm always an OWL away."
"I know," she says, stopping and hugging him tightly. Albus is going to miss this; he'll miss Lily and mum and he might even miss dad, though he won't miss the staring and the pointing. As soon as Lily pulls away, James playfully tugs on one of Albus's sleeves.
He whirls around, but James is already several feet away from him, laughing again. Albus sighs and pulls his sleeve back down. His mum rolls her eyes.
"James, give it a rest!" she orders, but then she turns to Albus and hugs him tightly. "Have a good first year, Albus. Remember: we're here for you."
"You'll write to me?" Albus whispers, sounding just about as confident as he feels, which is not at all. Still, his mum knows just how to react. She takes his face into her hands after the hug and nods, tucking a piece of unruly hair behind his ear.
"Every day, if you want us to," she promises.
"Well, not – not every day. James said –"
"You might not want to believe everything your brother says," she interjects, laughing and pressing a kiss to his head. "He likes a laugh, your brother."
Of course. He should have known. Albus swallows and then looks at his dad. His smile is genuine; Albus can't deny that. Maybe he will miss his dad. He suddenly feels guilty for his earlier angsty thoughts. He's eleven; he needs to relax.
"Dad… if I'm in Slytherin?" Albus asks. The Chosen One's face darkens.
Albus wakes up.
BEFORE YEAR SEVEN
"Albus – Albus, did you see this?" Scorpius is frantically leafing through the Prophet and Albus blinks, trying to clear his head. Merlin, he'd thought he'd only dozed off for a moment, but it must've been longer than that if he'd had his stupid dreams again. But he can't stay in a sour mood; he has that same dream at least once a week, and it's impossible to stay in a mood around Scorpius.
"See – what?" he asks, still not fully awake. He pushes himself up on the couch. Scorpius isn't even looking at him. His face is fully engrossed in the paper he's reading. He gets so excited about the littlest of things, though Albus can't tell is this is a good excitement or a bad one. He hopes the former, though, considering how absolutely dull these summer holidays are, he wouldn't mind the latter.
"The ministry was attacked again, but Rose – your cousin, Rose Granger-Weasley – saved the day! Looks like it wasn't a serious attack, just a couple of pyrokinetics having a go at one of the ministry's smaller bases, but Rose Granger-Weasley stopped them and held them up until the real superheroes arrived!"
Albus scratches his head. It sounds like Rose. Her power is super-strength, though she's clearly inherited Aunt Hermione's intelligence as well. She's only an intern for the Department of Law Enforcement, but of course she'd go above and beyond. That girl's going to be the next top superhero at only sixteen years old.
"I know she's my cousin, Scorpius, you don't have to remind me." But he can't resent Scorpius for that. He grins. "I thought you got over your crush ever since she started dating Polly Chapman last year…?"
Scorpius flushes, but he grins. "Yes, I'm over my crush, but I still really like her. Not a crush – a squish! It's a platonic thing. 'Sides, she and I are friends now." He closes the paper and then finally turns to look at Albus. The sudden proximity startles them both. Albus had been trying to find a nice sitting spot in the couch and he's ended up a little too close to Scorpius. They both back up, swiftly looking away.
"Er, sorry, I… were you sleeping sleeping? I didn't mean to wake you," Scorpius says, saving the moment. Albus is ever grateful for it. Scorpius is awkward and dorky, but it's not in a manner that's off-putting to Albus. In fact, Scorpius is arguably the person he feels most comfortable with.
"No, no, I wasn't sleeping," Albus quickly says, even though it's clearly a lie. He yawns, too, to punctuate it. "Is it dinnertime yet?"
"That's your seventh time asking since I got here at noon," Scorpius says, but there's no malice in his tone. Even his eyes are warm with amusement. Scorpius's eyes are always warm. Albus needs only to look into them to relax. "But, no, it's not dinnertime yet. It's around four, I think. Your dad said he'd be home by six, right? Then he'd make dinner for everyone?"
"Yeah," Albus says, admittedly a bit disappointed that it's not dinnertime yet. They're off sugar for the moment, per mum's orders, and it's taking a toll. It's probably his candy addiction, thanks to Delphi. Once he adjusts, he supposes he'll be fine. Besides, having Scorpius over lessens the sugar cravings. He can take off his mind off of candy (and everything else, really), and, as corny as it sounds, Scorpius is sweet enough to compensate for the lack of chocolate frogs and sugar quills.
Scorpius is about to say something when Ginny walks into the living room. Albus and Scorpius immediately turn over to her and she smiles knowingly.
"Not up to trouble, I hope?" she asks, but her voice is full of amusement. "I thought we'd sent James away to the superpower summer intensive he'd been begging to go to – that should've taken care of any pranks going on this summer." She's holding a piece of paper and holds it out to them. Scorpius immediately stands up and takes it, glancing down at it.
"Harry just OWLed me. He'll be in a bit later tonight, because of the prank at the ministry. Nothing serious, but important to look into nonetheless. Can you boys get these ingredients from the grocery store? I'll be starting dinner tonight."
"Aw, mum, but we were having so much fun sitting here and doing nothing," Albus whines, but he's already up, grinning back at her. "'Course we will. Where's Lily? Does she want to come?"
Ginny is already handing Scorpius some money. She shakes her head.
"She's with Delphi. They're working on Lily's posture while flying, though you may see them along the way. Oh, and – remember, we're off sugar! Thank you again, boys."
With that, she walks right back out of the living room. Scorpius grins and pockets the list and the money.
"Well? Let's go get that dinner you've been asking about," he says with his usual geeky grin. The excitement is contagious. A mission! Nothing like what Rose is off doing, but it's still something.
. . .
The walk itself is fairly uneventful. It's a hilly, green area, though there are plenty of people about walking pets, enjoying the warm summer day, and reading outside. It's a lazy, golden summer afternoon and the sun's rays are dazzling, though beginning to fade. Just beginning to fade.
Scorpius is golden, too. His power is evident the moment they step outside. With every step Scorpius takes, the grass turns a bit greener. There's always a warm breeze that envelops them. The flowers turn to face Scorpius as the two of them walk. Dogs wag their tail excitedly and rush to beg for pets. Even birds whistle and fly near Scorpius when he's around. Albus has joked that Scorpius is like a Disney princess, but it's true. He literally is a Disney princess. Nature and animals alike brighten and fill with life as he walks by. Albus doesn't know if his power extends to people, but Albus is always filled with comfort beside him. Then again, maybe Scorp's power doesn't affect people. He recalls the nasty words of the other Hogwarts students. They'd both been on the receiving end of rude remarks and unkind comments. Albus can understand why he was the subject of so much teasing. He's a freakin' Potter with no power. He is completely unimpressive. But Scorpius… Scorpius is only a target because of his family history. And Albus simply doesn't understand it.
So what if Scorpius carries the name of one of the darkest supervillain families? All the actual supervillains are in Azkaban and a name doesn't mean you're evil. And Scorpius is literally a ray of sunshine. That, and a Disney princess.
He shakes the thoughts away as they walk. Lily and Delphi are nowhere in sight, though Albus isn't surprised. They're adventurous, the two of them. He glances down at his friendship bracelet with fondness. The letters MPD glitter back at him in the sunlight. Yeah, laugh at him for having a friendship bracelet, but he's never taking it off. Scorpius has one as well, throwing rays of light off of it as they walk.
"Are you, er… are you looking forward to our last year?" Albus asks suddenly. He doesn't know what made him ask it. He already knows the answer, or, at least, he thinks he does. They're having such a nice afternoon, too. Why ruin it with talk of Hogwarts? Scorpius's smile slips a bit and Albus can see he's hit a sore spot.
"Er… yeah, yeah. It'll be fun." The fun is a bit strained. It's always strained for Slytherins. "I mean, I've got you, and you're all I need. We've made it through six years, Albus. We'll make it through one more."
"Yeah… yeah, we will," Albus echoes, though he isn't so sure. He hasn't let on just how bad the problems with his dad are getting. All sixteen year olds have issues with their families, but things are really starting to boil over. It's only because Scorpius is over that everything seems to be okay – for now. But he fears it'll only get worse once Scorp leaves. With James gone to his summer intensive, it's only him, mum, Lily, and dad. Sometimes it's Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Hugo, and Delphi, too. But it's tough. James is off perfecting his shapeshifting skills and he's already earned a position in the Department of Disguisement; Lily and Hugo are young enough to get away with not having summer projects, and, besides, Lily's honing her already impressive power; Rose is off at her ultra-competitive internship saving the day, and Albus is… at home. He didn't land any internships. He didn't get into the camps he applied to. Mum assures him it's okay: you're only sixteen, you're entitled to a summer of rest before your last year. But Albus can see everyone around him and he knows he's not meeting the expectations. No, he's so far below. At least he has Scorpius.
For now.
"I worry," he admits, filling the momentary pause. He has to pause one more time. He's not ready. He doesn't know how to explain. Will Scorpius understand? Of course he will, right? They're best friends. "I, er… I worry. I mean, look at what Rose just did. She's sixteen and she's already doing jobs that real grown-ups do. She'll get a full-time offer at the end of her internship, I know it. And James is off being James. He's already got several offers lined up, but he's going with Disguisement. Pretty impressive for an eighteen-year old."
"I think you're plenty impressive, Al," Scorpius says seriously, turning to look over to him. In the sunlight, Albus swears he can see sunbeams dancing in Scorpius's eyes. "We're all different. We all develop at different paces. Besides, there's plenty of people with no powers who do incredible things. Look at Polly Chapman. She's got no powers and she's got a superpower summer internship. There are plenty of superheroes who don't actually have powers. You know that, right? In fact, most 'real' superheroes – by real, I mean, like, fully-registered and recognized ones – don't actually have powers. Sure, the flashier ones who're really well known usually tend to have 'em, but… my point is, I know everything is going to be fine."
It's a lot to take in. Albus knows that statistic, but it still gives him pause.
"Yeah, well, Polly Chapman still has an internship," he mutters. He's going to say something else too, when he suddenly hears shouting from across the street. His eyes snap to the commotion. A fireball swoops down into the grocery store they were approaching. Both he and Scorpius stop in their tracks as the fireball plummets straight through a window, shattering it and likely catching the inside on fire.
"Oh, no…" Scorpius whispers, his eyes wide. Albus can briefly see the flames reflecting in his eyes, but now's not the time to stop and chat.
"Let's go," he says, and he bolts into a run straight towards the shop.