I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from it. If I did, Albus would not be named Albus.

Apologies for legit disappearing again. Last time I updated I was finishing my Junior year of High School and I just graduated about 2 weeks ago! So I finally have time (and inspiration) to get back to writing again!

If Anneliese ever seems like she just...randomly gets really aggressive, don't quesiton it. Girl is going through puberty and has a lot of things going on at home that I know about but y'all don't (at least not yet).

Also, just in case anyone noticed, I did go back and rename the previous chapters because I thought of better names okay? Okay! *thumbs up*

So...when I first wrote this...I don't even know how long ago, it was low *cough* highkey crappily written and the chapters were much shorter. This was originally 1,918 words. Now it is 4,259 words. That means I made this 2,341 words longer.

Anyways, this is also posted onto my Tumblr account imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters and my Wattpad somekindofmagic1 so you can check it out on there too!

But anywho, hope you enjoy!

Love Z 3

Chapter 11. Let The Games Begin

Albus screamed as his covers were torn off of him and there was a yelling in his ear. Grabbing his glasses while mumbling and annoyed, "What the hell?" He looked around his room, a breath leaving his lips as he saw the red hair of his sister and his "Lily? Annie?" He saw the red hair of his sister and the short black hair of his best friend. "What're you guys doing waking me up at," He looked at the clock and groaned, "4 AM?" He looked at them again, as the sleep fogged his brain, he grew even more puzzled as to why they were fully clothed. "And what're you guys doing dressed?"

He heard Lily gasp dramatically, "Because...today's the Quidditch World Cup!" Albus ran his hand over his face, slowly waking up still, "And Mum has to get there by 6 AM so she can start to interview the two teams!" He rolled over onto his stomach, about to pull a pillow over his head with one of them grabbing it from his hand. "Mum wants you up so we can eat together. Now hurry up! We still need to get James up!"

He grumbled about being up and everything as he heard Annie sigh, "Lily, go on and wake up James. I'll make sure Albus gets up."

He heard a humph before a slight annoyance filled voice of Lily spoke again. "Fine." As he heard her fading footsteps, he felt his eyes grow heavy again and began to feel the comfort of sleep wrap around his cold body.

But before he could be rewrapped in the comfort of sleep, he felt a hand on his ankle before feeling his entire body being yanked down the bed. He screamed and turned around, finding Annie really was still there, staring at him. "Come on Albus. Told your mum I'd get you up so," She grabbed his arms and tried to pull him up. "I'm doing it." She walked over to his closet and looked inside, trying to find clothes for him to put on. "Besides, if you don't then I'm pretty sure that James will eat all the food."

He glared at her as he slowly walked over to her and grabbed a shirt hanging. "You're cold."

She shrugged and looked at him, "I have 6 older brothers, I've learned how to get you idiots up." She crossed her arms, "So are you gonna get ready now?" He grumbled as he pulled the shirt he had on, off. Just as he pulled the clean one on, he heard her continue. "And besides, I could've gotten ice cold water to pour on you." Barely, he saw her smirk, "And I still could."

His eyes widened as he began to move much quicker. "Alright. Alright. Just gimme a minute." She nodded as he looked around and grabbed a pair of pants. He was about to pull his pajama pants off when he remembered that Annie was there. He turned to her, "Can you like...turn around?" He watched as she rolled her eyes but did what he asked. Mumbling something about it not being like she'll actually see anything.

As he slipped his pajamas off and the pants on, he watched her walk out of the closet and back into his bedroom. He let out a sigh as he made his way back into his bedroom, running a hand through his hair, attempting to smooth it. But almost as soon as he stepped out, his brush hit him square in the chest, he gave Anne a look as she just laid back onto his bed.

"Ow?"

He heard her scoff, "Please, that didn't hurt."

"It could've."

"But it didn't." She pushed herself up on her elbows and he started to try and brush out his hair. "Trust me, if my sister Elina, who is almost 6 can handle it, you, a whole 12 year old, can."

He snorted, "Whatever." He tossed his brush back onto his bed, "Let's go."

She looked at him as if he was crazy, "No. You cannot possibly think that your hair is good."

He touched his hair and looked at it through the old mirror on his wall before looking back to her, "What?"

She grabbed the brush from off his bed and pulled him back over to his bed. Sitting behind him, she began to brush through. "I would be sorry for this ending up hurting, but the fact is, this is your own creation." He mumbled something about it being okay as she ran the brush through his hair. Neither of them even noticed his mum leaning against the door. "Seriously Al, do you ever brush your hair? It's like a bird's nest here."

"I think it's genetics." He mumbled, "My mom always has complained about all of our hair. Saying that it's from our dad."

She snorted as she finished up brushing through, running her hands through his hair as she went through, a finishing part in order to get it flatter. She sighed heavily as she tossed the brush over to the other side of the bed. "I think that's the best I can get, Al. Your hair is going to be my enemy as long as we're friends."

"Should I be sorry or should I just accept fate?"

"Accept your fate and you shall die peacefully."

"That is definitely smoother than I ever have gotten it."

The two kids started laughing but both let out a small scream and jumped, both nearly falling off of his bed, as they heard his mum speak. Their laughs transferred to her as they jumped, her hands coming up with her palms out in a surrender form. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you kids, I honestly had assumed you saw me." She sighed and pushed herself off of the wall, "If either of you want to eat before we head out, I would recommend going now. We need to leave in 10 minutes. Your dad and Uncle Ron just left plus Lily and James are currently eating so you have about 5 to get down there and get food."

As his mother said those last words, Albus practically jumped off his bed before running downstairs. Annie followed after him, shaking her head in amusement as his mother looked at them with fondness.

Music and noises of all kinds surrounded everyone as they walked towards the site of the game. Just down the hill from the Portkey, the muddy old boot that they had been using since before Albus or even James had been born.

As they neared the tents and the people, Albus and Anne held onto Lily's hands tightly. Ginny had asked them to keep an eye on Lily, just in case there were any other reporters that would take photos of them, despite continuous wishes from Harry asking them to not take photos of his kids. The two of them knew that if they saw any camera pointed at them, they would start running (or smush her head into one of their chests).

But thankfully, that didn't have to happen. No one paid them any attention. All preoccupied with making sure that they were at their tent and everything was set up for them. Eyes more glued on the families of the players anyways. That was mostly who was there. Reporters, players and their families, plus a few Aurors and Hit Wizards. Those who chose to work the pregame instead of the main part so that they could enjoy the game with their families and friends.

Before they entered, Ginny looked at them all, "Alright, I should be back in an hour or two." She looked at all of them, well...mostly her kids and Anne. "Behave. Hermione is here if anything goes wrong, which nothing better happen. Understand?"

They all nodded, muttering agreements to be good. Anne even felt a small hint of joy that Ginny was being that way with her too. She was used to it from the parents of her other friends, but they had known her since she was born, Ginny hadn't. So the fact that she was treating her as she treated her own kids left her with a small sense of joy, something even Albus could see.

As she walked away, the four kids walked into the tent. James quickly made his way over to Rose and Hugo while the other three walked over to sit by Hermione. They watched in amusement as the other three began to place bets on who would win. But Albus felt a small tinge of guilt and envy as he watched them.

Guilt because Lily should be with them. She should be sitting with him and his friend. She shouldn't already be outcasting herself from their family just because they outcast him for his house. He felt as if she shouldn't be doing that. That she should be betting with them. He had seen the way that her and Hugo hadn't been as close as they always had been. Guilt ate at him, terrified that it was because of him. He knew that even at age 10, Hugo wanted nothing more than to have the acceptance of his dad. Something Albus was growing to understand.

A growing wish to be able to not disappoint his parents. But feeling like he wouldn't be able to just because of what house he was in. Something he hoped that Lily wouldn't have to feel.

And he was envious of them. Envious that they were laughing and playing with each other. He could only think about how that was him and Rose just a year ago. Laughing. Playing. Being friends. He didn't...couldn't understand why they now hated him because he was in Slytherin. Their parents, especially his and James', had raised them without that prejudice. Raised them to understand that house doesn't define a person, their actions do.

Him being friends with Scorpius Malfoy shouldn't have cost him his brother as well as his favorite cousin and best friend.

Deep down, he knew that he shouldn't be 12 years old and feeling all of these feelings. But he did and he couldn't control it. All he could do was hide it and pretend that he was okay. Because he was. Or at least he will be.

"-Yeah? Well at least Albus and Rose only have to wait 2 months before he can try out for the team! I have to wait another whole two years! It's totally unfair!"

Albus blinked his eyes a few times, trying to focus back into the moment. Not even having realized he had zoned out. "You're trying out Al?"

He shrugged, mind catching up and realizing that they were talking about Quidditch and tryouts for the house teams. "Yeah, I decided why not. I mean, there's no guarantee I'll make it. Slytherin isn't known for accepting second years plus don't we still have a Seeker?"

"Yeah? And? No one likes Dom on the team. He was just the only person that came close to being good. We've barely won a single game since he joined. Plus you have like...this whole legacy around you. Both of your parents, your dads dad, the majority of your mum's brothers! I mean seriously, if you don't make the team, Matt is literally crazy."

He rolled his eyes, "Sure. whatever." He laid his head in his hand, "So...when are you supposed to meet up with your family?"

"Probably whenever you guys head to your seats. I'll stop by and see if they're still at our tent, if they are, then I'll stay with them. If they aren't then I'll head over to our box." She snorted slightly, "We're sharing with the Malfoy's this year. Scor and I have a bet going on how long it's gonna take for Astoria to try and smack my dad."

He laughed, holding his hand over his mouth as an attempt to silence them but he couldn't. All he knew of how Scorpius's mum was with Annie's dad came from what they had told him. To his knowledge; Mrs. Malfoy hated Annie's dad. Said he was too controlling for her liking and apparently and almost threw a punch over something he had supposedly said.

Eventually, the laughter died down and Hermione spoke, "I honestly hope that the Welsh beat the States. That team isn't really good at anything, but the fact that they always choke out at the most important games."

"Sounds like the Slytherin team. We can do good until it matters. The few times we are in the running for first or second, we, well really Dom, chokes up and lose terribly and somehow end up in last place or barely making it to third. It's bloody ridiculous."

"Well that's stupid." Lily muttered and Annie nodded, laying her head on the table in front of her.

"But it's sadly true, do they still expect you kids to play dirty?" Hermione asked softly.

Albus shrugged, "I have no clue."

But Anne nodded, "Yeah, they do." Albus glanced over at James as Annie spoke. He saw the glare in his brother's eyes. "It's ridiculously stupid, they know we won't. We can't risk it. And yet some teams try and provoke us." She crossed her arms, "I don't even care for Quidditch much but even I find that absurd.

A small layer of silence grew in the tent, not before James jumped up and declared something. Albus honestly didn't catch it as he watched the entrance to the tent. He knew Lily got up and went with James, but his attention was focused on the flaps that kept the tent closed. He wondered how the magic worked. How that if his parents hadn't given permission for a specific person to enter, they wouldn't be able to. That they would be shot back and away from the tent. He wondered how it worked. Did it work if the person was under the influence of polyjuice? Was the magic powerful enough to catch that or not?

He wondered if he hadn't asked them to, if they would have given Annie permission to enter. If they had given Scorpius. He wondered if his parents even liked his friends, he was so sure that they liked Annie, afterall, they were allowing him to stay the night and go to her brother's wedding that next week. There would be no way that they would let him do that if they didn't like her, right?

But maybe they just pretended to like her for his sake. She was one of his only friends now. Perhaps they only liked her because of that. Because at least that was someone who liked him, despite who his family was and the fact that he was becoming someone that he swore he wouldn't

Despite the fact that he was growing and changing and slowly realizing just how different he was from the rest of his family.

Albus had been at the pitch for nearly 18 hours by the time he was barely in his seat, watching as the two seekers shot down in order to catch the ever illusive snitch. He saw the way that they were neck and neck, hands outstretched, trying to grab the small golden ball. He saw the bludger making it's way to the seekers, holding his breath as the seeker for the United States pulled up and the bludger hit the Welsh seeker.

Near silence surrounded him as it felt as though everyone there were silently holding their breath. Waiting to see if the Welsh seeker caught the snitch. And that exact moment that they all saw him hold the snitch in his non-injured hand, cheers and screams erupted from the crowd. Albus looked at Teddy, who he was sitting by before the older boy engulfed him in a hug.

A pure feeling of glee and joy filled him up. A feeling that he rarely felt nowadays. He wasn't sure if he felt it from his team winning the game or the hug from his pseudo brother. But he knew that he felt it and that he needed to feel it. And he also knew that the tears that gently fell from his eyes weren't from joy, but sadness. A sadness that he was so sure would never leave him now.

It was only 10:30 when they were finally out and back at the tent. Since they were celebrating a win, no one had to start to wind down until 12:30 so there was still another 2 hours before all of the kids had to get ready to get some sleep. But Albus was starting to realize just how hard it might be to stay up as he was still catching his breath from celebrating with Vic and Teddy and Lily, his eyes growing slightly heavy as they sat in a circle and played the muggle game Go Fish. Their Aunt Hermione had brought a few packs of muggle playing cards for them in case they were wanted.

His back was against one of the couches, zoning in and out of everything going on that he barely caught Teddy's question. "How was your first year Albus?"

He shrugged, trying to think of what to say quickly. "It was alright. I mean...it was weird not being home everyday and all that. But it was fun for the most part. I made friends easily." He tried to keep out the sleepless nights following the first several weeks. The fights and slowly growing self-hatred inside of him. Hide the fact that he rarely found solace in much outside of those in his house anymore.

Teddy nodded, "That's good. I won't lie, I was shocked when Vic sent the letter informing that you had been put into Slytherin. Afterall, no one in the family really has, unless you count my grandmother but she isn't really your family and all." Teddy laughed to himself before he continued, "But once the initial shock settled, I began to question why I, and anyone else for that matter, were surprised. Slytherin house has so many good traits that you embody that I honestly couldn't imagine you anywhere else."

He looked at him inquisitively, still playing the game. "Like what?"

"For starters, you're very cunning and resourceful. You see a problem and face it headfirst, most of the time at least. You know your way around tricky situations and you take on the leadership role whenever you have to. You set goals for yourself and you make them. Or at least you did when you were younger. Plus, you tend to weigh the pros and cons before you do something. However, that one is rarer."

"Huh." He faded for a moment, as if he was trying to understand what Teddy had just said. It made sense for him to be in Slytherin? But why? Everyone acts like it was a mistake and that he was nothing like the other Slytherin's before he had joined that house. Why was Teddy sitting across from him and saying that he couldn't imagine him anywhere else?

Quickly, he cleared his voice, realizing they were waiting for him to continue his thought. "I never realized I did that."

Vic and Teddy laughed and he felt a minor tinge of embarrassment. Should he have realized that already? That everyone fits into their house, regardless if they realize it when they were sorted? Should he have noticed that by the time he had finished his first year?

"Don't panic if you didn't realize that." Vic assured, "Truly, you don't realize how much you are like your house until someone points it out." She gave him a soft and gentle smile. Something he saw her give all the younger students whenever they came to her throughout the year. "I didn't realize how many Hufflepuff traits I had for myself, besides the stereotypical niceness. For my first two or three years, I had just thought that that was all I had, because everyone said that was my best trait, and just put me in Hufflepuff. Which is ironic as I was called shallow for years but yet also nice? Never quite understood that." She drew a card since Lily didn't have the card she wanted. "But, as I went on, more people began to point out how I am apparently extremely patient with everyone and everything. I, like Slytherins and other Hufflpuffs, am very dedicated to different things that I believe in. For example, I am bloody dedicated to our family and my schooling." She smiled and pulled her hair to the side, "And I'm also dedicated to becoming a Healer since I got confirmation that I made it in to start training."

"So...will I start to fit into more Slytherin traits as I finish school?"

His fear began to raise as he thought of that. Thought of the new ways that Rose and James would start to hate him because of that. Because he was more and more Slytherin and less and less Gryffindor. Would James hate him for joining the Slytherin Quidditch team after years of them planning on playing together, James as the Chaser and Albus as the Seeker. Being the best thing to ever happen to Gryffindor's Quidditch team since their dad.

Would the disappointment grow worse as he got older?

The world was nearly silent around him as Albus laid in his bunk. All that he could hear was the occasional drunk voice of someone outside and someone inside the tent snoring. He knew that all he had to do was get up and wake Teddy up and ask to talk, but that thought scared him. What if Teddy didn't actually care and was just telling him that out of courtesy?

He turned and stared at the crimson fabric that was the wall of the tent. He wondered if Teddy was right? Did he already have a bunch of Slytherin traits? Traits that he didn't have before? Or at least that he hadn't noticed? Were these...things that made him, him. That made him Slytherin. Were these things more obvious now that he was a Slytherin? Was he really so cunning and resourceful? He didn't feel resourceful. Always having to ask Annie for help on work. Would, or more of does, he really try to make his goal, even through deception and lies? He couldn't remember ever making a goal for himself and succeeding. He wondered that when he got older, would he be so Slytherin and make his end goal through ways of anger and deceit? Would he lie in order to get what he wants?

And did he really become the leader whenever he had to? He tried to think back on a time that he did, but he couldn't remember a single time. He never was a leader, more of a follower. He had always followed James and Rose around. Always done what they did. He guessed that maybe he was the leader of his small friend group, but he would honestly rather put that to Annie than himself. She was much better at keeping everyone in line and making sure everyone did what they were supposed to.

She was the perfect example of a good and nice Slytherin. Not Albus. Albus was none of those things. He was a liar and a traitor who betrayed his family because he didn't tell the hat not Slytherin like his father had done all those years ago.

He held back a groan as he put a pillow over his ears, trying to drown them out as the seven words echoed in his head.

Cunning. Resourceful. Leadership. Goal. Achieve. Pros. Cons.

But they wouldn't go away. Those words were bouncing around in his head. Teddy's nice way of saying them turned to James' sneers. The sneers and words he had heard others say about him since he started at Hogwarts. The words got so loud that he began to think about what James had said before Annie had come over. What he had said about her coming over.

James clenched his fists, "You're such a bloody disgrace to the family! Mum and dad fight because of your bloody house and it's causing a divide throughout the entire family! Thanks to you influencing Lily to be so Slytherin and evil like you, she's fighting with Hugo more! Petty arguments turn into full scale fights, all because of your stupid influence on her! You're nothing but a coward who hides behind older students! You'll never get anywhere with that. One day, Green's siblings will be gone and there won't be anyone to protect you at Hogwarts anymore."

He held his pillow tightly and whispered to not cry. He didn't want to cry over something so stupid. Over something that if James found out, he would make fun of him for. He didn't want to cry. If he cried then he would prove James right. He would prove that it was nothing. That he would never be anything more than a coward because someone who wasn't wouldn't let someone say that to him.

But Albus did and he always would. All because he didn't want people to hate him more. All because he thought that maybe, just maybe, if he didn't fight back against James, then he wouldn't hate him anymore. That was all he had to do. Remain the same kid he was and then James will still like him.