Chapter 1: The Family Reunion

Summary: When the next generation is whisked back in time (2022), they open an alternate dimension and find themselves in early March 1998 facing Lord Voldemort's Regime. Before going home, they use the knowledge they have gained about the second wizarding war to help defeat Voldemort and create a better future.

AN1: So I'm reposting this entire story. I rewrote parts of this because it's been like, over a year since I've worked on this. I mean, I've worked on it, but only bits and pieces. I also thought of new ideas I wanted to incorporate, but they would have resulted in parts of the old story being even more lazily written. So I changed a few aspects of the characters, such as what Houses they were/are in (such as in the cases of Louis and Roxanne), but the main character aspect I changed was Albus', making him transgender, because I don't typically see transgender characters in fanfiction or many places, really. And it doesn't really make sense that the next generation cast would be as non-diverse as most people imagine them, as mostly straight, white characters (a lot of drawings I've seen of Freddie make him white). I'm a cis female, so I may not be portraying Albus correctly. If you are transgender and want to tell me what I'm doing wrong with his gender identity, feel free. I've taken liberties with how being transgender is dealt with, the story being set in the wizarding world (we hardly know how homosexuality is dealt with) and Albus probably getting better treatment than many afab (assigned female at birth) people (and definitely amab people) in the wizarding world (medically and in terms of how people behave towards him) because of his being Harry Potter's son. So yay, here's the first chapter. This one functions as an introduction to the characters. Please read and offer constructive criticism, or any opinions on the story.

Warnings: If you can stomach Deathly Hallows, you can get through this.

Pairings: Most, if not entirely canon (Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Teddy/Victoire) with possible Rose/Scorpius , hints of James Sirius/Judith Longbottom (OC), and other pairings that have practically no relevance to the plot.

AN2: Character Notes –

Teddy Remus Lupin: Age 23, Gryffindor . Orphaned by the war, Teddy's upbringing was the opposite of his godfather's, and he grew up to be a caring, chivalrous young man who was taken under his godfather's wing to become and Auror.

Victoire Evangeline Weasley: Age 21, Gryffindor. Victoire is open, mostly honest, romantic, a bit of a caretaker for her younger cousins, and she is an expert at potions and charms, which are suitable for her career of being a Healer.

Molly Morganna Weasley: Age 19, Ravenclaw. Highly intelligent, logical, and driven by a desire to learn, Molly is close with her father and Dominique and currently works at the Ministry's time travel research division.

Dominique Appoline Weasley: Age 19, Slytherin. The first Weasley in a long time to be sorted into a house other than Gryffindor, Dominique, a hit-witch, is incredibly ambitious and driven to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Fred "Freddie" Lee Weasley: Age 18, Gryffindor. A prankster like his namesake, Freddie tries to keep a smiling face. He is brave, brash, and currently working in his father's joke shop, though he plans to start a business with James.

James Sirius Potter: Age 18, Gryffindor. Freddie's best friend next to his sister, James is loyal to his family despite all of his jokes, a romantic at heart, and an expert at randomly coming up with ideas; he plans to start a business, though he doesn't exactly know what kind yet.

Roxanne "Roxie" Olivia Weasley: Age 17, Slytherin. It took her family some time to get acquainted with the idea of Roxie being a Slytherin, as she seemed a close candidate for Gryffindor, but she remains close friends with James and Louis and her bond with Freddie is almost as unbreakable as the bond between Fred and George. Currently, she is interning for Lee Jordan's radio show.

Louis Arthur Weasley: Age 17, Hufflepuff. He may seem concerned with his appearance at times, but Louis often is considerate of others. Louis' goal in life is to become a chef, though he designs fashions sometimes in his spare time, and he and Roxanne often find themselves roped into James' and Freddie's schemes.

Lucy Adrienne Weasley: Age 16, Gryffindor. The best seeker Hogwarts has seen since Harry Potter, Lucy's ambition is to become a Quidditch player for England. Unlike her sister, Lucy mistrusts her father and does not have a best friend within her tightly-knit family.

Albus "Al" Severus Potter: Age 15, Ravenclaw. Given that he was not the little girl that his parents hoped he'd be, Albus was lucky to grow up with an accepting family and find friends at Hogwarts, where he found his passion in learning.

Rose Nymphadora Weasley: Age 15, Ravenclaw. Well read, intelligent, and highly competitive, Rose is self-motivated and loves her family and friends, even if they get on her nerves sometimes, and she has her own sense of organization and planning.

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy: Age 15, Ravenclaw. A highly sarcastic boy, Scorpius' main goals in life are to remain on decent terms with the Weasley-Potter family, maintain good grades, obtain information, and be as little like his grandfather as he possibly can.

Lily Luna Potter: Age 13, Hufflepuff. Lily believes in helping others, fairness, and kindness to all creatures, and she has a particular fondness of creatures of all shapes and sizes, as well as the outdoors.

Hugo Septimus Weasley: Age 13, Gryffindor. Hugo is energetic and excitable. He likes adventures, running, occasionally bothering his big sister, and spending with Lily, his best friend. Although he's not the smartest, he has his moments of intuition.

Disclaimer: Do fanfiction stories even need disclaimers? Is anyone going to mistake who Harry Potter belongs to? Is anyone going to mistake a word of this for JK Rowling's writing style? Regardless, Harry, his friends, his friends' friends, and all of their children belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter Summary: It's just a Weasley-Potter family reunion like any other.

It started out as any other Weasley-Potter family reunion: cheerful and slightly chaotic. One would think nothing particularly tragic would happen; the weather was practically perfect, the bright blue sky littered with a few puffy clouds and the sun spreading warmth throughout the orchard where the family was gathered. But sunny skies only serve to juxtapose the inevitable future. When the Weasley-Potter children are involved, the unpredictable tends to occur.

Molly Weasley smiled to herself and took a deep breath of fresh air as she allowed herself a moment of rest and paused for a moment in the back doorway leading to the orchard. In her arms she held a heaping plate of treacle tarts and lemon squares for the children and adults to snack on. She permitted herself to watch the scene before her, an accurate depiction of what she had always dreamed her future would hold – well, almost, but she didn't often like to dwell on the subject of what had happened all those years ago.

Her husband, son, Percy, and his wife, Audrey, were sitting at one end of the table in animate discussion while Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat at the other, the couples holding hands or brushing knees underneath the table. Lily Luna and Hugo were running up to their parents in excitement to show them an interesting creature they had found. Meanwhile, Dominique was trying to coax her cousin Molly away from the novel she was reading while Albus, Rose, and Scorpius, who was invited by the former two, sat huddled in the middle of the orchard playing a game of exploding snap. The rest of the family was in the side yard engaged in a Quidditch match. Hopefully. She shuddered to think what would happen if James and Freddie were without something to do. Honestly, the two are nearly as bad as F-f-fred and George, she thought. She was interrupted by someone bumping into her and the treacle tarts rattled against the surface of the plate.

"Sorry, Grandmum," said Roxanne. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Oh, that's quite alright, dear. I was just resting for a minute."

"We're taking a break because Teddy's team needs time to 'plan their strategy.' Like that'll help them. Honestly, why can't he just admit he lost?"

"Because, little sis," came a voice from behind Roxanne. Freddie had snuck up from behind her. He put an arm around her shoulder and she pushed it off playfully. "No good Quidditch player ever admits they lost while the game is still going on and there's at least a 5% chance that they might win. You never know, Victoire might catch the snitch. Ooh, treacle tart." He grabbed one off of the plate and stuffed it into his mouth.

"This was going on the table outside if you want any more. There's more food in the kitchen if you'd like, and some drinks too. All that Quidditch must make you tired."

"Thanks, Grandmum," said Roxanne and Freddie in unison as she hurried out to the table where Mr. Weasley, Percy, and Audrey were seated. Mr. Weasley scooted aside to make room for his wife setting down the snack.

"Victoire couldn't catch the snitch if she tried. She's more of the keeper type," said Roxanne, continuing the conversation. "If Teddy wanted 'strategy,' he would've kept her as far away from the snitch as possible. Remind me, why is she playing seeker again?"

"Because Teddy is the captain and she batted her eyelashes at him begged him to with that tone in her voice. 'Oh, Teddy, can I be seeker just this once?" mimicked Freddie. "Oh, Teddy, did I ever tell you how your blue hair shines in the sunlight? Did I ever mention how utterly perfect you are?"

Roxanne snickered. "Better keep your voice down. Vic would skin you alive if she heard you talking like that."

"Well, she won't. She's still out in the yard with everyone else and I'm done playing Quidditch for the day. I just came in here to get something to eat, and now I'm off to find James. There's something we want to do."

"And what would that be?" Roxanne was suspicious. She knew that if her brother refused to play Quidditch, he was either seriously ill or up to no good. And if he was up to no good, then she wanted in on whatever he and James were up to.

"I solemnly swear that we will not cause bodily harm to you or anyone else, Roxie." Roxanne gave a small start and she turned her head to see James' trademark grin. Why did people keep sneaking up on her?

"An oath from you two idiots means next to nothing in my book," she said with a smile. "And you said nothing about emotional harm. I remember one of your pranks scarred me for a couple weeks. The sight of Nott in fishnets is still fresh in my mind, and not in a good way. You two didn't have to see him come in through the common room." She did pick up decent blackmail material from the incident, though.

"We're not planning anything that horrifying," Freddie promised.

"Yeah, last time we were here, we found a secret staircase we think leads to the attic. We're just going to see what's up there," James added.

"If we see anything of interest, we'll give 'ya a holler, little sis." Roxie creased her eyebrows.

"You two can explore later. If I go back alone and they notice you're missing, they'll send out a search party. We all know what happens when we leave you two alone. We can all go up together after dinner when the adults are busy with their discussions. Louis would probably like to join in, too, and he's talking to Vic about something."

James and Freddie considered Roxanne's words. After James and Freddie glanced at each other, the former spoke. "Deal, Roxie. We'll wait 'till after dinner, even though it's probably because you just want me to stick around to play Quidditch. You know you couldn't win without me on your team, anyways."

"Whatever you say, Potter," said Roxanne, brushing off James' statement with a wave of her hand, though it was true that James was a talented Quidditch player.

"You're going down Potter, sis," Freddie said. "The game should be starting back up soon." The three made their way back to where their uncles, aunts, and cousins were waiting.

Dominique was trying to get her best friend, Molly, to put down her book and join her in watching Quidditch. "Molly. Molly. Social interaction, Molly. You know, that thing where we talk to people instead of sitting around?" She was so desperate that she considered using her veela power, but it never worked on anyone who wouldn't be attracted to her anyways.

"As soon as I finish this chapter, Dominique," she said. "It just became rather interesting. I wouldn't want to spoil the story for you, but seeing as you'll probably never read it, I just reached the part where the main character is about to be forced to burn down his own house."

"What's the book called?" asked Dominique with mild interest, though her voice still sounded impatient.

"Fahrenheit 451. It's a muggle book about a society in which books are outlawed and people sit around all day watching the telly." Dominique nodded in understanding, having been to Molly's house enough times to know what a telly was.

"So, why're books outlawed?"

"Well, it originally started because some books were too controversial. Of course, as the world's population grew, so did the number of minorities and so some books were considered offensive to others. The media became watered down and people wanted things flashier and books and other media were written to accommodate that. Firemen, those are the people who burn the books, came about to burn the offensive material and be the official prosecutors and keep everything 'equal.' That's essentially one of the major themes of the novel. Is it better to be given freedom of speech in what you say and write? Or is censorship necessary to protect people?"

Dominique let out an exaggerated yawn. "People can do whatever they want, just as long as they're smart enough not to get caught. What do you think?" Molly occasionally spiraled into lengthy rants, typically about the book of the week, a subject she could be very passionate about.

"Well, that's the thing. Those who did get caught in the book were in major trouble with the government. However, freedom of speech is necessary for a growing society, but people hated controversy."

"Well, you know what I hate? Just sitting around reading on a day such as this. It's the Weasley-Potter family reunion, Molly! Get off your arse and socialize, already! We can watch the Quidditch match with almost everyone else, we can eat, or we can talk to people like your dad over there." She pointed to where Percy was sitting with Audrey and Mr. Weasley. "Doesn't he and your mom like ancient Muggle literature, too?"

Molly looked slightly offended. "This book isn't that old. The copyright is 1953, so yes, it is around seventy years old, but in comparison to some other books, it's rather new. Besides, age has little to do with the quality of literature."

"Listen, Missy, I am a certified hit-witch now and I should write you up for being so anti-social. You can finish your book later." She pulled Molly to her feet and the two young women headed over to the plate of treacle tarts and lemon squares.

Hugo Weasley sat next to Lily Potter on the little dock overlooking the small lake, both soaking their feet and watching the brightly colored fish swim by. The typically chatty pair sat in silence for a few minutes, both absorbed in their own thoughts. As he watched his feet in the water, Hugo thought strategy, tapping his fingers against the wood. He was planning on racing Lily back to the house and was running through all the possible ways he could beat his slightly younger but also slightly faster cousin back to the Burrow. He glanced over his shoulder, examining all the possible routes he could take. He knew that the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line, but the straightest path was also covered with plenty of rocks to trip over.

While Hugo mulled that over, Lily was looking at the small frog in her hands. She had showed it to her parents, uncle, and aunt, but they seemed uninterested in the creature. Lily loved practically all animals, big and small, and her new favorite class was Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid always showed such interesting creatures during class and sometimes she, Hugo, and Joey Wood, another one of her friends, stayed after class so they could see more fascinating creatures. Lily cradled the frog in her small hands and it looked at her and blinked with its large, glassy eyes. "I think we should call him Lightning," she said, breaking the silence. "I mean, he looks like a 'Lightning,' doesn't he, Hugo?"

"What?" said Hugo, bringing his attention back to her. He craned his head to look at the frog. "I mean, sure, 'Froggy' seems a bit uncreative, so 'Lightning's' as good a name as any. What makes you think the frog's a boy, then?"

"I guess you're right, but all frogs look the same. I remember one time at dinner, Al was talking about pronouns – you think frogs have their own?"

Hugo turned his body to better face Lily and when he spoke, he gestured with his hands. "Maybe 'ribbit' is just what all frogs call each other. Or maybe they're boys one day, girls the next, and the next day, they're something a bit different."

"I still like the name "Lightning," though. It can be used for animals of all sorts of genders."

"Yeah, and people see that the frog's named 'Lightning' and they're like, 'wow, your frog must be pretty fast!'"

"Do you think Dad will let me keep him, though?" asked Lily.

"I dunno, you already have Hera," Hugo responded a bit dejectedly. Hera was Lily's eastern screech owl. "You think Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny will remember to feed him? Remember what happened to that mouse you found? You went to Hogwarts and came back to find his rotting carcass in his cage. I don't even want to imagine what dead frog smells like." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Lily sighed. "You're right." She set "Lightning" down on the pier, where the frog immediately jumped off and splashed into the water. "Bye, Lightning. Guess I'll never own more than a screech owl."

Hugo patted her shoulder. "Cheer up, Lily. There's always's Hagrid's pets."

"Yeah, but I can't sneak a hippogriff up to my dormitory and feed it. And flobberworms are boring," said Lily.

"Oh well," said Hugo. He kicked his foot in the water, splashing everything within a five-foot radius. "Wanna race me back to the Burrow? We could annoy Rose, Al, and Scorpion."

Lily's face lit up. "Sure, nothing better than annoying one of my brothers. They're playing exploding snap or something, remember? I have no idea where James is anyways. Probably off playing Quidditch or pulling a prank on Rose, Roxanne, or Dominique or using Uncle George's products."

"You just have to keep out of his way and pray he won't hurt you."

"I just hope Rose and Scorpion aren't snogging or anything. From the look in their eyes, I can tell they want to."

"Nah, they wouldn't do that in front of Al. Besides, I don't think they even realize how they feel about each other, even being the brilliant Ravenclaws they are," said Hugo, grunting as he began to stand up.

"I doubt Albus even knows they like each other. They could be snogging in front of him, I doubt he'd notice. So, winner gets the loser's dessert? You're on, Gryffie."

"You're about to lose, 'Puff." They got to their feet and counted down.

"Three, two, one, GO!" They shouted in unison and began to sprint. Lily ran in a straight line, but her speed was slowed somewhat as she made sure not to trip over any rocks. She loved the feeling of running, of her heart beating hard and her legs pumping, but she had to lift them high to avoid falling. Hugo ran around the rocky areas at full speed. When each of them reached the orchard they were out of breath. Hugo won.

It was an unspoken family rule that all Weasley-Potter family reunions had at least a small Quidditch match. Luckily, the family was large enough to form two complete teams, even with the adults sitting on the sidelines. When the kids were younger, the game was played solely for the enjoyment of playing, but as the children blossomed so did their desire for competition.

No matter what, there was always something memorable about each game, such as the year Teddy suggested a kids against the adults match and the kids won, though the adults would later claim to have been going easy on the kids, or the following year in which the snitch traveled outside the Burrow's grounds and George and Bill had to retrieve it before any muggles inquired as to why a golden ball with wings was flying around Ottery St. Catchpole.

The most memorable thing anyone could say about this year's game was that the team captained by Teddy was losing spectacularly, but he refused to admit defeat. "You sure you don't want me to play seeker, Vic?" he asked as he caught a glimpse of a golden flicker a few feet away.

Victoire was scanning the air determinately for the snitch. "I'm sure Teddy," she said in exasperation. "It's almost like you don't believe I can catch it. I know it's my first try as seeker, but like Dad says, 'you never know unless you try.'"

"You tell him, sweetheart!" shouted a voice from below. Victoire tried not to roll her eyes at her father's comment.

"Victoire's right, Teddy," said James, zooming up to the both of them on his Nimbus 3000. "You never know until you fail. Don't worry, Vic. Lucy'll catch the snitch soon enough and put you both out of your misery."

"Shut it, Potter," Teddy and Victoire said in unison.

"Oi, James!" shouted Angelina, who was in possession of the quaffle and was being chased by the other chaser from Teddy's team, Freddie. "If you're done lazing about, I could use some help!" With so many people who didn't want to play, each team had one seeker, two chasers, one keeper, and a beater.

Louis hit a bludger in Freddie's direction, but it was deflected by George. "Nice try Lou, but you call that a hit? I could smack a bludger that hard when I was in second year. Very rude to try to hit a man's son in front of him," he said, smiling. Louis dodged the bludger.

"I am perfectly capable of fending for myself, Dad," yelled Freddie as he zoomed past, chasing Angelina, who threw the quaffle to James. With James distracted, however, Teddy caught the ball with ease and flew to the other side of the yard, where Roxanne was waiting, tensed and ready to defend her hoops.

"Oh, marvelous job of helping, James," Roxanne muttered as she gripped the broom handle.

Everybody chased after Teddy except Victoire, who was muttering curses under her breath. "Of course I can catch it," she muttered. "Why does every single bloody person think I can't catch it?"

"Are you doing all right zere, Victoire?" shouted Fleur, who was guarding the other goal. She had recently learned how to play Quidditch and found it "charmate." She learned that her best position was keeper, though even then she was a beginner.

"I'm all right, Mum!" Victoire shouted back. Focus, Vic, she thought. To focus is to win. Unfortunately for her, she was playing seeker against Lucy, who was likely to be promoted to captain once the next school year rolled around.

She looked to and saw Lucy approximately seven yards away, who was currently the embodiment of focus. Lucy's dark brown eyes narrowed as they scanned the yard for any sign of the elusive snitch. As soon as she caught sight of even the faintest flicker of gold, she would lean forward on her battered racing broom and take off, leaving a blur of black and peach and pink.

Victoire realized that now was one of those times. Lucy was reaching in midair, arm outstretched. Victoire's heart plummeted in her chest, then immediately picked up its pace. She sped after her cousin, willing the broom to go faster than ever, but Lucy seemed miles away. She was reaching… reaching….

Down below, Bill watched the game with Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, who had come to see how the game was going. "How's it going, Bill?" asked Ron. "From the looks of it, I'd say your daughter's just about to kill Harry's son."

"He probably deserves it," added Ginny. "The look on his face… it's the same look F-Fred and George had when they were his age. Right down to the cocky eyebrows."

"Now Ginny," said Harry. "Fred and George weren't quite that bad." He put an arm around his wife.

Ginny gave Harry a look of disbelief. "Like you have any room to talk! You didn't have to grow up with them."

"Ginny's right, Harry," said Bill. "And Ron, James' team is winning 100 to 30. Not even close. Much as I hate to say it, there's no way in hell my daughter and Fleur's team is going to win. I'm surprised Lucy hasn't caught the snitch yet."

"Doesn't catching the snitch give the team an extra 150 points?" inquired Hermione as Teddy caught the quaffle and soared to the other end of the yard.

"Yes, but this is Victoire's first time playing," explained Bill. "Maybe if she had more practice, but I can't see her beating Lucy. Remember when she made seeker and Percy boasted about it for over a week?"

Ron let out a cough that sounded distinctly like 'prat' and Hermione slapped him lightly on his arm. "I don't see the point of the other players, then. If the snitch gives a team 150 points when they only have zero, if the other side has 140 points and the other seeker catches it, that team lost."

"I agree with you, Hermione. The seeker really is the most important position on the Quidditch field," said Harry, who was subsequently slapped playfully by Ginny.

Ron stood slack-jawed, and then he spoke. "Unimportant, Hermione!? Unimportant?! Remember the World Cup? Ireland won, but Krum got the snitch!"

"That was a rare occurrence, Ron," said Hermione. "I meant usually the other players have no effect on a game."

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but Bill said, "Oi! Stop arguing and look! I think Lucy spotted the snitch!" Sure enough, Lucy Weasley had indeed spotted the snitch. She raced after it, arm outstretched. Victoire had noticed what she was doing, but it was too late. As Victoire reached out for the golden ball, her head was turned slightly away from it as though she was afraid to catch it.

Above the adult's heads, Lucy felt a rush of sweet adrenaline as she narrowed in on the golden snitch. She would play Quidditch a million times over for this feeling alone. She bent her body forward, keeping a tight grip on the broom handle and she reached and reached until she felt cold metal beneath her fingers and a tickle on her palm as the snitch tried in vain to escape. Lucy held the snitch above her head in triumph. "Oi, everyone! I got the snitch! I got the snitch!"

James was the first to see her catch it and shouted, "Lucy's got the snitch! Game over, losers!" He echoed the sentiment until everyone had heard and began descending to the ground. As she flew towards the ground, she noticed Victoire's expression, as it was one that had been displayed on most of her rivals. She only felt a small pang of guilt because she had won, right?

She and Victoire dismounted their brooms at approximately the same time. She was looking at Victoire, but Victoire was making a point to look at some distinct point in the distance. Teddy snuck up behind Victoire and grabbed her around the waist, then twirled her in the air. He kissed her and they fell to the ground, laughing. Lucy decided that Victoire would be alright.

"Hey," said someone from behind her. It was Louis. "Nice one," he said as he walked past Lucy, holding the bludger above his head. "Good job winning the game for us, Lucy."

Lucy shrugged off Louis' praise and tried to keep the smug grin off her face. She failed at doing so. "It was nothing, really. The snitch we've got isn't even that fast. You want a challenge? Try the ones at Hogwarts. Those are like effing lightning compared to this one."

Louis nodded. "I've got to go hand this to Uncle Bill." He threw the bludger up in the air once, caught it quickly, and ran over to Bill, who was being handed the quaffle by Roxanne. Lucy walked up to her uncle herself and placed the snitch in his outstretched palm.

"Good game?" he asked.

"Pretty good," she answered. "Hell, you should've played. We hardly had enough to play a good game, and there wasn't much competition." Bill raised an eyebrow at her and she realized whose father she was talking to. "I mean, Vic did the best she could, but you know…"

"Yeah," Bill said. "But she had fun, and that's what matters when you're playing Quidditch.

"I know," responded Lucy.

Fleur ran up to Bill and began chatting with him as he put the balls away in a box at his feet, having finished congratulating her daughter on a job well done. The family made their way back to the front of the house with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione leading the way. James had high-fived his parents and was now whispering to Freddie, both of them having barely concealed mischievous grins on their faces. Roxanne and Louis followed close behind and were engaged in conversation, both of them side-eyeing James and Freddie as Teddy and Victoire followed them, holding hands and looking at each other in a way that made Lucy simultaneously want to coo and throw up.

Lucy followed behind them without waiting for Bill and Fleur, feeling proud of another Quidditch victory but partially wishing she had someone to share it with. Everyone had a pair. Then she thought something she had considered before about her father and instead thought of Hogwarts, its Quidditch pitch, and the courtyard in which she spent time with her friends. But the Longbottom family had been unable to attend the gathering, so her best friend, Frank Longbottom, wasn't there at the moment.

While the Quidditch match was going on, Albus, Rose, and Scorpius sat in the grass, chatting. Rose was sitting with her legs outstretched in the warm sun, while Albus was sitting cross-legged and Scorpius was lying on his stomach. Rose had won the game of exploding snap, although all three friends were missing portions of their eyebrows. "My grandparents came over last weekend," Scorpius said. Rose and Albus exchanged a look. They knew how much he loathed his grandfather.

"Don't let him bother you, Scorp," Albus said.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, I didn't. He said, 'Little Scorpius, you're not still hanging around with the little Miss Potter copy and the blood traitor bitch, are you? I must speak to Draco about the people he lets his son hang around with.'" Despite the insults to them, Rose and Albus laughed at Scorpius' imitation of Lucius Malfoy's drawl, though Albus looked slightly uneasy at the "little Miss Potter" comment. "I replied, 'of course I am, Grandfather, or would you prefer it if I hung around the children of Death Eaters, leading to more whispers about our family's true loyalty? Albus is more of a man than the snots you hang out with. Besides, Rose and I plan to settle down someday and live with the muggles, teaching our children muggle customs…'"

"You told them we were in a relationship?" hissed Rose, a light blush rising to her cheeks. "We aren't. And if that sort of remark got back to my dad, he'd skin you alive!"

"Relax, Rose, I doubt he'd tell anyone what I've said. I could have said I planned to marry Albus here – " Albus made a face "– but I don't think he'd believe it if I said I was a poof. But then again, he keeps saying Albus is a girl, and all-in-all, I didn't think I'd be doing anyone a favor if I gave him any opening for that kind of talk."

Rose's face was growing redder by the minute, though Albus looked grateful. "I suppose that makes sense," she grumbled.

Albus laughed at the expression on Rose's face. "So back to the story. Did your grandfather castrate you?"

"He looked like he wanted to, but Grandmum stepped in and saved me. She gave me a big hug and said, 'Scorpius, how are you?' Grandfather didn't speak to me for the rest of the evening, though."

"Well, Scorp, congratulations on pissing off your grandfather once more. Blimey, you are going to get yourself castrated someday. Or disowned," observed Rose.

"I'm planning on it, Rosie. Then we can settle down in a little cottage by some muggles and…"

Rose had pulled out her wand. "One more word, Malfoy, and I'll castrate you before your grandfather even gets a chance."

"Now, now, Rosie," teased Scorpius. We wouldn't want to get in trouble for use of underage sorcery, now would we?"

"Stupid wizarding law," grumbled Rose. "There are other ways to torture you."

"You can always talk to Uncle George," suggested Albus. "He'd be thrilled to give you something from his shop if it meant harming a Malfoy."

"Who's planning to hurt Scorpion?" asked Hugo who was standing behind Rose, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Hugo was always moving part of his body in some way. He sounded a little winded. Beside him stood Lily, who was craning over Albus' head like a bird.

"Bugger off, little bro," mumbled Rose.

"Rose was planning to harm Scorpius," answered Albus. "He said something to his grandfather about them dating."

"So they finally are dating, then?" said Lily. "About time, too, I was sick of seeing Scorpion and Rose making eyes at each other when they think no one's looking. Believe me, they are looking. And they are very disturbed."

"We are not dating!" shouted Rose and Scorpius, though Rose's voice was louder.

"Honestly," said Rose. "You are such idiots, the lot of you. Except you, Al. You are the only intelligent person in this entire family. Besides me and Mum, of course. Though I suppose Uncle Harry's not too bad."

"Thank you, Rose," Albus said.

"I can't be too stupid if I'm in Ravenclaw," replied Scorpius. "And I'm becoming a bit suspicious of you, Rosie. They say that the more someone denies their feelings, the more they're lying."

"You were almost as loud as me, you prat!" Scorpius had no response to that.

At that moment, the people who were playing Quidditch returned and Mrs. Weasley stuck her head outside of the doorway. Knowing what was going to happen, Rose and Albus rose to their feet and gestured for Scorpius to do the same. "Is everyone ready for dinner?" she asked. No one noticed except Louis, but Roxanne, James, and Freddie shared a look.

AN: Thanks for reading. Please review, I could use some opinions on my writing! :)