Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this. This is J. K. Rowling's world and characters which I am only borrowing.

I would also like thank my wife for putting up with me while I have written this.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

-Tombstone of Lily and James Potter

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

-Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter upon the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 1: The Four Divided

Albus Potter stood at what was left of the front gate of Naumkeag School of Witchcraft and Wizardry watching as Hugo Weasley and James Potter returned from their search of the grounds. He was thinking about the only thing which had been on his mind since his father's letter arrived the night before: a prophecy about the war which he was fighting.

The Necromancer has marked his equal...The third war has begun...Father and Son must fight alone...The snake shall rise, the lion shall fall...The Master of Death will fight with Death...Victory comes when the four fight as one...

"We didn't find anything," James said when the two arrived.

"Scorpius and I didn't either," Albus responded.

"I doubt anyone will," James said. "Travers will have to regroup and reload. We have half of his army lying dead here." The previous day, Albus, James and Scorpius Malfoy had led a group of fifty Hogwarts students as they helped defend Naumkeag from invasion by Travers's army of inferi. But Travers still had about 300 inferi in his army and no one knew where he would show up next.

"So what do we do now?" Hugo asked.

"We go and look for him," Albus said. "Call the NDA together."

About thirty minutes later, Albus stood in the Dining Hall of Naumkeag with the entire New Dumbledore's Army in front of him.

"It's clear that Travers has not stuck around," he said. "We will be going out and searching for him. Try to follow the clues. It is believed that his army cannot apparate which means that it will leave tracks and clues when it moves. We will go in groups of four. There are forty-six of us left which means we will have one group of six. Come back here every three days and check in."

Albus orchestrated the division of the groups.

"Why four?" Ashley Wright asked, coming up to her boyfriend to ensure they were in the same group.

"Victory comes when the four fight as one," Albus quoted. "I want to have as many fours as possible."

"What about the group of six?" Ashley asked.

"I hope they don't find Travers," Albus said.

"All right boss," Scorpius said as he and James joined the couple. "Where do we start?"

"I'm thinking Rolla," Albus said. "He'll need someplace to serve as headquarters. He might be there or he might leave a clue there."

"We've never been to Rolla," Ashley said.

"We have," James said, pointing to Albus and himself. "We can take you, side along. Graveyard?" he asked Albus. Albus nodded.

The group of four arrived in the middle of an empty graveyard.

"Looks like no one's here," Ashley said.

"No," James said. "There are fresh footprints here, a lot of them. It's like they knew we were coming." He looked up to catch the other three looking at him. "What?" he asked.

"You learn all that in Auror School?" Albus asked. James smiled. "Lead on Sherlock Holmes," Albus said. James led the three in circles around the graveyard for several minutes before finally reaching the woods.

"I think they went into the woods. There is a line of footprints which heads into the woods here and there is a line of footprints which leads into the woods over there," James said, pointing about twenty yards to his right.

"All right," Albus said. "We split up. I'll go with James there. Scorpius, you and Ashley take the path over there. Don't fight. If you have problems send up red sparks. If you find Travers, send up green sparks."

"Aw, we can't be in the same group, honey?" Ashley said.

"No," James said. "It's better to have all our attention on the task at hand." Albus nodded agreement, but gave Ashley a kiss for good measure. He watched her and Scorpius enter the woods before he joined James and went in himself.

The woods were thick with undergrowth and Albus found it difficult to navigate the forest. It became clear early on that they were not going to be able to find the footprints through the darkness and the vines along the forest floor. It reminded Albus of trying to walk through the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. Not that he had ever done that of course, it was forbidden after all.

"There is no way we can find them in here," Albus said. "How is this forest even growing in Kansas anyway? Kansas is supposed to be flat."

"This is magic," James said. "Magic always leaves its trace, and it is all over this forest. The only place forests like this grow naturally is the equator. We need to be quiet."

The two tripped through the forest looking for any sign that the army had been through. Every snapped twig became a sign, every leaf which appeared out of place. But it seemed like the forest was covering for the army. Suddenly a twig snapped about five feet from where Albus was standing. He pointed his wand at the sound and saw James do the same. They signaled each other silently and began to circle around the source of the sound.

"Stupefy!" they both yelled, but their spells just crossed in the middle and flew off into the forest. "Diffindo!" Albus said and the vines around him divided and fell, revealing nothing between James and him. James reached down and picked up a stick which had been severed into two pieces, almost as if it had been cut by a knife. Or magically cut using the same spell Albus had.

"A trap," Albus said. James nodded. "Only question is, was it for us."

The two continued to walk cautiously around the forest until they stumbled upon a well trod path.

"I think we might have found them," Albus said. James nodded and looked around.

"There," he said, louder than they had been speaking.

Albus followed his hand which was pointing above the trees across the path. Pointing to red sparks in the sky. "Ashley," he said. James ran off toward the sparks, but Albus shouted, "Move, get out of the way!" James turned and quickly moved. "Diffindo Omne!" Albus shouted and the entire forest seemed to fall between him and the sparks. James and Albus quickly ran through the branchless trucks and arrived upon Scorpius frantically looking around.

"Where's Ashley?" Albus demanded.

"I don't know," Scorpius said. "I was attacked from behind; there was nothing I could do. I didn't see who took her; I could only hear her screams."

"What do you mean 'took her,'" James asked.

"Someone came and took her, like they were targeting her or something," Scorpius said.

"You mean she is gone?" Albus asked. "You let her get kidnapped!" Albus said, his temper rising.

"I couldn't do anything, I tried, honest," Scorpius said backing away from Albus.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Albus said. "GO, GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Al," James said tenderly.

"Don't" Scorpius said. "I don't need someone to stand up for me; I can stand up for myself."

"Scorpius, he doesn't mean it, he's just angry," James said.

"No," Scorpius said. "I can tell when I'm not wanted. Slytherin is never wanted."

Albus watched, his wand pointed at his side, his face writhing in anger as Scorpius turned and hacked his way back through the forest.

"What are you thinking?" James asked when Scorpius was out of sight.

"He let Ashley get taken," Albus said.

"Not because he wanted to," James said. "How exactly can we get her back without him?"

"We have a bunch of others," Albus said. "We go back and check in. At least now we have even groups of four."

Albus turned and vanished without another word, leaving James with many unsaid words and no way to say them.