I do not own Harry Potter or the characters created by Rowling

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 1,922 words. Now it is 3,134 words. That means I wrote an extra 1,212 words.

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 6. Everything I Need is Right Here by My Side

A few days had passed since Christmas and Albus was sitting on the couch, waiting for Scorpius and Annie to arrive. He sighed as he flipped through the pages of the comic his aunt Hermione had gotten him. She tried to talk to him about Rose when she gave it to him, but he got out of the talk by claiming he was needed somewhere else.

His mum was in her office upstairs while his dad was out with Lily and James was out with his friends. He dreaded when they would come back. He only hoped it would be after Scor and Annie would leave. But he knew that would be a long shot as the two were staying until after dinner.

His eyes flicked over to the fireplace as he heard the roar of the Floo being used. He smiled as he saw the dirty blonde hair of his friend appear. Sitting the book down, he stood up, "Hey Scorp!"

Scorpius smiled and stepped out of the fire, "Hey Al, how're you doing?"

They hugged, "Good, you?"

Scorpius pulled away and placed his hands in his pockets, "Same, so are we just waiting for Anne?"

The fire roared again and soon the voice of their reddish-brunette friend spoke out. "No, no you are not."

"Oh my god." Albus gaped at Annie.. "Your hair!" It was shorter, shaved on one half, and pitch black.

Her hand instinctively raised up to her hair. "Oh, yeah, I asked my aunt to cut and dye it." THe hand fell slowly, smile following quickly after, "You don't like it do you?"

"No, I like it, it's cute. It's...you!" She smiled again, "Honestly, not many people can rock half shaved hair, but you look good with it."

Scorpius nodded, "He's right, it suits you. And I honestly thought that you were joking at the dinner."

Annie shrugged, "I was, but then I decided to go through with it." She looked around, "So this is your house?"

Albus shrugged, "The living room of it." He waved at them to follow him, "C'mon, let me show you my room." They followed Albus out of the room and up the stairs. He stopped when he reached the door. "So, my sister, Lily, will be home later with my dad." He pointed to Lily's closed door. "That's her room. And next to it is James's. I have no idea when he and his friends will be back." He opened his bedroom door and let them in, "It's not much, but it's comfortable."

"I like it, but it's just so…" Scorpius started, but he couldn't seem to find the right word.

"Gryffindor." Annie stated simply and placed a hand on Albus's shoulder. "Which is so not you."

Albus shrugged, "It's been like this my whole life, I never really noticed or cared." Not until he came back. "Maybe I'll ask mum and dad if I can repaint it over the summer."

Annie shrugged, "It's up to you, and I'm not surprised that you never noticed, you hardly ever notice anything." She walked over to his desk and picked up the radio, "I have one of these." She turned back to him, "Funny thing, my mum has always been interested in Muggle things. Radios, movies, clothing. But truly, anything that can play music she has fallen in love with." She sat it back on the desk, "I have a radio in my room."

Albus nodded, "My dad was raised by Muggles, my Aunt's parents are, and my granddad works in the Muggle Artifacts section of the Ministry. So I was raised around all types of Muggle appliances."

Scorpius laughed softly, "I wish man. My mum was the biggest with Muggles, but even she could not do too much convincing on bringing Muggle technology into the Malfoy home."

"Doesn't your father own a few Muggle restaurants around the world, though?"

Albus looked at Scorpius curiously when Annie said that. Scorpius just shrugged, "Yeah. But my father kind of lets them do their own things. He's lost in the Muggle world for the most part. There's this one restaurant, however, in France that my father owns that he and my mum frequent regularly. I've been there once or twice."

Albus nodded, "Any good?"

"Not sure. Expensive though."

"Not surprising considering your family." Scorpius nodded and Albus sighed, "Well, there's more muggle technology downstairs if you'd like to see." Scorpius nodded enthusiastically and the three made their way back downstairs.

"I still don't understand!"

Annie and Albus laughed at Scorpius. "Honestly, muggle sports make very little sense to me as well. So it's quite alright."

"I wonder if this is how muggleborns feel about Quidditch."

"Probably."

As they heard the front door close shut, he prayed that it was Lily and their dad and not James and his friends. And thankfully, his sister came skipping into the sitting room. A smile on her face. "Daddy wanted me to come see if your friends were here!" She threw Annie and Scorpius a smile and smiled, "Hi!"

Albus watched them both smile and wave back to her. "Is that it?"

"Well, he also wanted to meet them. So I guess you could always walk to the kitchen and introduce them to dad. Have you even introduced them to mum?"

Albus went silent and he could hear the smugness in his mums voice. "Yeah Albus? Have you?" He muttered a tiny 'no' and heard her continue. "That's what I thought." He looked up and saw his mum walking over to them. She held her hand out for them to shake. "Good to finally meet the two people who seem to have kept my son's head on straight these past few months."

Annie shook her hand first, "Somebody has to." She smiled at his mum, "I'm Anneliese by the way. But just Anne is fine."

Scorpius followed suit with, "Anne actually keeps both me and Al in line." He gave Albus's mum a dashing smile. "And I'm Scorpius."

His mum nodded, "Well, you two can call me Ginny."

Annie bit her lip, "Is Ms. Ginny alright? My mother always told me to say 'Mr.' and 'Ms.' when talking to or about adults."

Albus's mum nodded, "If it makes you more comfortable, then yes, it's alright."

Annie nodded, "Okay. Cool."

"Well, I'm going to start making dinner. James will be home shortly." Albus held back a groan when his mum said that. He was hoping that James would just stay at someone's house. That he wouldn't come back home today.

And from the looks on his friends' faces, he realized that they were hoping for that to happen too.

To say the dinner was tense was putting it lightly. James had brought Oliver Creevy, Frank Longbottom, Jason Bell-Wood, and their cousin Fred back home with him. Albus didn't have the biggest thing against Fred. He surprisingly had been nice to Albus. But Frank, Oliver, and Jason? Albus didn't trust them. Especially as they all, well mostly James and Oliver, were glaring daggers at Annie and Scorpius.

But the two of them couldn't have cared less. They just carried on talking to his parents and sister. As if James and his friends didn't exist. He wasn't gonna lie, he admired them for it. Their ability to just ignore them and focus on something else.

The three kids played a few games, but it didn't take them too much time before they decided to just head to bed. Well, that It was around 3 in the morning. Scorpius was snoring on the floor next to him. Something that he was already used to, however. But something that he hadn't come accustomed to was the staring at his ceiling. It had happened once or twice, usually after arguments with his family. And then Christmas. And like Christmas, tonight he just couldn't sleep. He wasn't sure what it was about it, but something was just keeping him from sleeping. He turned to his side, staring out of his barely open curtains.

He couldn't stop thinking about what he overheard his Uncle saying. Was that the biggest problem? Him being friends with Scor and Annie? Would things have been different-no. He stopped his thought. Things wouldn't have been. They would always find a reason to hate him. Just because he didn't fight the hat to not be placed into Slytherin. Because, deep down, he knew that was where he belonged. Not in Gryffindor. Not where he would only ever be known as James Potter's little brother and son of Harry Potter. At least in Slytherin he could make a name for himself.

It was the next morning. Albus was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Again. But instead of being unable to sleep, he was reflecting on his last year. From getting accepted into Hogwarts, to meeting two friends, no, best friends, being put in Slytherin, his family hating him just because of his house. And while the last one still stung, the rest was happy.

There was a knock at his door and then it opened, "Albus? Are you and Scorpius up?" He sat up as his mum asked the question. She gave him a small smile when she saw him, "Okay, well, I see that Scorpius isn't up, can you maybe wake him up in about 30 minutes. I'm starting breakfast." And just as she was about to shut the door, she stopped to say, "Lily and Anne are downstairs playing Wizards Chess. I really like that girl, Anne. I can tell she really cares about you and she gets along with Lily well." She sighed, "And James left about an hour ago. I believe he's over at Jason's."

Albus nodded, "What time is it?"

"It's nearly 10 am sweetheart." Albus nodded again as she shut the door once again. He crawled over his bed and shook Scorpius' sleeping shoulder.

"Dude, wake up, my mums making breakfast."

Scorpius shot up, "Food?"

Albus snorted at his friend. His dirty blonde hair was sticking out everywhere. "Yes, food."

Scorpius yawned, "What time is it anyways?"

"It's nearly 10. My mum just came in to tell me. Apparently James left a few ago and Lils and Annie are downstairs."

Scorpius scratched the back of his head, "We probably should get down there then, should we?"

Albus shrugged, "It's up to you man."

Scorpius stood up, "I want food. So let's go."

Albus laughed and followed after his friend.

Annie's older brother, Aidan, had come to pick her up around an hour ago and Scorpius had flooed home a few minutes ago. And Albus was back up in his room. Annie was right. This room wasn't him. Or, at least not who he was now. It reflected him before he started Hogwarts. When he still had this idealized version of what Hogwarts would be like in his head.

That version where he would get into trouble with James. Or he and Oxford Wilde would roll their eyes at Rose and Elisia Finnigan for wanting to study. The version where he wouldn't stay up late at night because he had a fight with James. Where he wouldn't question what his family thought of him.

He laid down onto his bed. Why did he have to be so different? Why couldn't he have just asked to be placed in Gryffindor like his dad?

James had come back later that day, around the time for dinner. It had been silent since everyone sat down. A stark contrast to the previous night. And most other nights. So maybe that was why his mum began to speak.

"Y'know, I really liked your friends Albus. They were both very sweet. Especially Anne." She glanced at Albus, "I can tell why you keep her around."

He nodded silently, "Yeah, she's who keeps Scor in and I in check. She makes sure we get our work done and not get into trouble."

Albus heard the snort that came from James. And if their parents had heard it, they both chose to ignore it as his dad continues.

"Sounds like Hermione with Ron and I." He laughed, "I swear I don't think Ron would have finished school without her. So it's always good to have a friend like that."

Albus gave a small smile, "Yeah. And her family helps me with remembering how chaotic our family can be." He glanced at James when he said 'our'. Hoping he would stay out of it.

"Right, you said she has...how many siblings?"

"14. 7 older, who are all in Hogwarts, and 7 younger. Two will be coming to Hogwarts next year."

His mum nodded, "Doubt that there's ever a dull moment at her home."

Albus laughed, "Yeah, from what she's said, there isn't. Especially when you take into consideration the 16 year age gap between the oldest and youngest."

He watched as his dad nearly choked on his drink. "I'm sorry, 16 years?"

Albus nodded as he took a bite of his food. "Yeah. Her oldest brother, Aidan, was in his 5th year when her youngest brother, Nicholas, was born."

His mum shook her head in disbelief, "Wow, I can't even believe that. Bill and I are only...10 or 11 years apart. All I know is he was going into his first year when I was born."

"Yeah, that's the difference between Annie and Nicholas basically. She was born at the end of October of '05 and he was at the beginning of October of 2015."

"I can't imagine 15 pregnancies. 3 was more than enough for me."

"Well, it was a little less because there are twins."

"Either way."

His dad spoke up again, "How many twins?"

Albus thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. You have Aidan, who graduates this year. Then the twins Antonio and Derek, who graduate next year. And then Dominick who is the 5th year prefect this year. Then the next twins are Liam and Randolph, they're two-ish years older than Annie. Then her sister Genevieve, she's only a year...well 11 months older. Then Annie. Then the twins Liana and Alexa, who start next year. And then you have Clara, Odette, Elina, Eden, and then Nicholas. So that would be 3 sets of twins."

"I can't even imagine."

"According to Annie, she's pretty sure that none of them were supposed to happen. Cause her parents weren't even married when Aidan was born. Plus put in the age difference between most of them. Seems like no one was meant to happen."

"Well, hopefully their parents love them all."

Albus nodded, "Oh yeah, their mum loves them a bunch according to them all. She doesn't always put one away for the other. She tries to give everyone an equal look after."

His mum nodded, "That's good...better than some parents that I know of."

"Can you invite Anne over again? I really liked her. She was fun."

Albus smiled at Lily, "I'll talk to her about it."

Lily nodded, "Good."

"Are there any other friends we should be aware of?"

He glanced at his dad, "Well...there's the twins, Rohyn and Robyn Goyle. Holly Avery and Jordan Boles. And then Charlotte Montague. That's really all who I talk to in my year. Actually, Rohyn is considering trying out for Quidditch next year. He's trying to convince Scor and I to join him."

And before anyone could say something, James spoke up, "Can I go to my room please?"

"But you've hardly touched your food."

He was already getting out of his chair when their mum spoke. He just rolled his eyes, "I'm not hungry."

"James-" Their dad started, "What?" James snapped.

But instead of getting mad at him, like Albus thought that they would, his parents looked at one another before his mum said. "Sure, I'll just leave some out for you in case you're hungry later."

James muttered a 'whatever' as he exited the room. Albus watched as his parents sighed before his dad spoke again. "So, Quidditch? Are you considering it?"

Albus shrugged, "Haven't given it much thought. I'm only really good at Seeker and they already have a Seeker." He snorted, "Not that he's any good."

"Who is it?"

"Annie's brother, Dominick. He just...I don't even know if the guy knows how to play. Nothing he does helps the team. I don't get how he's stayed on the team for two years now."

His dad shrugged, "Well, see if next year's Captain will try for all spots. If they do, maybe you can make it."

"Well what about Scorpius and um...what was his name again?"

"Rohyn?" His mum nodded, "Scor wants Chaser and Rohyn wants Keeper. Both of which will be needed as Aidan is Keeper and William Montague, a 7th year, is a Chaser."

"Who knows Al, maybe you'll get lucky and get on the team."

Albus laughed, "I would feel sorry for Annie and her siblings if I did. Dominick would be complaining for months if he doesn't make it." He chuckled softly, "Actually, the way he is reminds me of how you explained Uncle Percy was during school. Prioritizes school and being Prefect and Headboy. Annie said that he wouldn't even shut up about it when it happened."

"Oh dear, yeah, that sounds like Percy." His mum sighed, "Goodluck to all of them for the next 2 years."

Albus laughed, "I'm sure Annie will appreciate it." He sighed and stood, "May I go to my room? I'm finished."

"Oh, sure. Just put your plate in the sink."

Albus nodded and did what his mum asked and silently walked up to his room. "Y'know, I've heard from Rose, and apparently you're causing Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione to fight. All because you couldn't help but get into a fight with Rose."

Albus stopped, his hand frozen above his doorknob. "What?"

"Yeah. They're fighting and he's sleeping on the couch. Mum and dad were talking about it too. How does that feel? Knowing that you are the reason our family can't get along. Because you didn't honor-"

"Shut up." He mumbled.

"What?" James questioned, condescendingly.

"I said, shut up."

"Why? I haven't said anything that isn't true."

But instead of arguing, like he so deeply wanted to, Albus just sighed and opened his door. But to make it known to James that he was mad at him, he slammed his door. Completely ignoring his mum yelling at him to not do it.

Albus didn't even bother with changing out of his clothes, he just fell face first on his bed, passing out not long after. Because slowly he was realizing that James would never change. That he would never be who Albus used to think he was.

But he didn't want to admit it, not just yet. Not at 11.