History Repeats Itself

Albus and Rose headed down the train to find an empty compartment for the long journey to Hogwarts. James had already run off and abandoned his poor brother and cousin for his new friends he'd made the previous year. Finally towards the back of the train they came upon an empty compartment. Just as they had settled in and stowed their trunks, the compartment door slid open.

A fellow first year with shining white blonde hair, strikingly pale skin, and a pointed chin stood in the doorway. He appeared just as nervous as Albus and Rose felt, which completely belied his family name of Malfoy.

The recognition was instant for all three of them, their parents had made sure of that a few minutes ago on the platform. For a few seconds they all stared and wondered how exactly they were supposed to react until finally, "Er...anyone sitting there?" Scorpius asked, pointing at the seat opposite Albus. "Everywhere else is full."

Albus was still in his "I'm going to stare and be shocked until I figure out if I'm supposed to hate you on sight" mode, until he was shaken out of it by hearing Rose replying, "No...of course not...sit. I'm Rose, and this is Albus."

"Stupid Rose," thought Harry, "SO like Aunt Hermione, always so quick to be kind...and all that nonsense...."

"Yes, I know," replied Scorpius, "my parents made sure I knew exactly who you were...."

He looked like there was something more that he wanted to add to that statement, but didn't want to ruin the first two friendships he'd managed to start with the opinions his parents had stressed upon him of Potters and Weasleys

"As did ours," replied Albus with a look that explained that he knew exactly what Scorpius was leaving out of his previous statement.

"Apparently, I'm supposed to beat you in every test," said Rose with a playful and confident grin that said she was sure she could manage the task.

"Oh, is that right?" asked Scorpius with an equally defiant grin. "I'd like to see you try!"

And they continued to playfully pester each other until it was time for lunch. They heard the lunch trolley rolling down the aisle and it was immediately accompanied by the rumbling of all three of their stomachs. Albus and Rose immediately purchased as many sweets as they could carry, on account of the fact that Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, and many of the other sweets were not commonly found in their houses. Instead, they were forced to eat what Ginny and Hermione called "balanced meals", and what a load of tosh THAT was. Scorpius didn't seem too fussed. He purchased a few sweets and ate them in such a manner that clearly stated he had never been denied a sweet, or anything else for that matter, in his life.

Soon they were trading chocolate frog cards. Albus and Rose had purchased enough for each of the three to have several. Albus opened his and picked up his card. The man looking up at him wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache.

"It's so weird to see pictures of the bloke I'm named after!" said Albus. "I mean, I never even got to meet him!"

"You got Dumbledore?" asked Scorpius. "I got Severus Snape....My Dad practically hero worships him."

"Mine too," said Albus, "Severus is the other bloke I'm named after! Albus Severus Potter."

"God, your parents sentimental much?" asked Scorpius with a grin.

They spent the rest of the trip laughing and joking, until it was time to change into their robes and prepare to face the great unknown of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry and Ginny were feeling lonely without Albus and James around. Lily was still there to brighten things up, but things just weren't quite the same minus two sons. So they invited Teddy over for dinner, as was a very common custom.

"So, Teddy darling...I hear James witnessed something QUITE scandalous between you and our dear Victoire at the train station earlier today...." said Ginny with a mischievous and knowing grin directed at poor Teddy.

"Er..." replied Teddy, his face glowing red.

Harry slapped him on the back as he began laughing in earnest.

Teddy continued to redden.

"Aw, leave him be, Gin. Getting on with a girl is hard enough at his age without our meddling influence!" said Harry. "Er... now that Lily's gone to sleep, we really need to...start discussing plans for her birthday...yeah...."

Teddy gave Harry a look that clearly showed how grateful he was for the change of subject.

This sent Ginny off into the kitchen to start planning, and listing, and basically going overkill for the girl's upcoming tenth birthday. (This was still a good two months away.)

"Thanks," said Teddy sheepishly.

"No problem, I remember how these things were back in my day....God, I never thought I would actually SAY that," replied Harry, chuckling.

"Ha, ha, well...you are getting to be quite the old man," said Teddy playfully. Then at the look on Harry's face he quickly changed the subject to avoid being attacked by the head of the Auror department, not to mention his boss and godfather. "So have there been any new leads on Lestrange?" he inquired.

"Aw...let's not talk shop now...we get plenty of that during office hours," said Harry nervously, "Let's just relax. Care for a firewhiskey?"

"Yeah...sure...." said Teddy quietly.

Teddy watched his boss and godfather as he got the drinks. He knew him well enough to tell when something was wrong. Right now there was something very wrong, and he was hiding it from Teddy. He could tell by the tone in his voice, and the peevish look in his eye, as he quickly diverted Teddy with the firewhiskey. Harry Potter was never a very good liar. He was hiding something to do with Lestrange, one of the last Death Eaters that had still managed to avoid capture. She had managed to escape because many people believed her to have been killed by Molly Weasley, but she had survived, and used the cover of her apparent death to disappear while the Aurors searched for Death Eaters they still believed to be alive. Teddy had been diligently working on this case alongside Harry for going on two years as he trained to become an Auror, what would he be hiding from him?