40 - Mess is Mine
March 23rd, 2033 - 7PM

Dinner at the Nott manor had been pleasant - and extremely good. Lamb with a cherry glaze and potatoes. Al couldn't remember, either way he was stuffed. Even Pansy had been decently nice that night, but Al just chocked that up to the fact that she knew what was coming. Theo knew too, Al was proposing. He, understandably wanted Nora as in the dark as possible, and Theo and Pansy had offered to help him out with the details when he had mentioned the bonfire. He wanted to ask her to marry him at the same place he first asked her out twelve years ago.

They had just finished their post-dinner tea and cake in the sitting room, "it's a nice evening," Theo said with a smile, and set his cup down on the saucer. "You two should go out and take a walk through the garden," he suggested. Pansy nodded with a small smirk, and sat straighter in her chair.

"What do you think, Nor?" Al asked, standing up and holding out his hand to help her up. "Wander around for old time's sake?"

"I think you three are trying very hard to get me to go down to the garden," she grinned. "I might as well just play along." She took Al's hand and he pulled her out of the deep chair.

He looked down at her, trying to hide the surprise on his face. Her father was not being the most subtle in the world. "I dunno what you're talking about - I just wanna go walk off this dinner."

Theo shrugged at his daughter and turned to look at the empty fireplace. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, taking another sip of his tea.

The two of them made their way down towards the back of the well-cared for property, where they used to hold their annual bonfires when they were still in school. Though it hadn't been used in several years, the remnants from the last one were still scattered around the ground that was still wet from the spring shower that had passed through earlier in the evening.

He pulled his wand, drying off a spot on the long they had occupied when they were teenagers. He sat down, and she sat down next to him. She rested her shoulder as they looked over the grounds.

"Can you believe it's been twelve years since I first asked you out?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Has it really been that long?" Nora asked, raising an eyebrow. "Shit, we're old." She laughed, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head and wrapped her arm around her.

"Please, you're at least two years younger than I am, I'm almost thirty." He gave a small shutter. "Your twenty-six is not that old. You've still got a bit."

"Something tells me you did not bring me down here to reminisce on our ages," She smirked, looking up at him. "At least not completely, what's up?" She snuggled closer to him as a breeze picked up.

Al sighed, sitting forward and bracing his forearms on his knees. He needed to tell her, it was just finding the words. He looked back at her. "Nora, I… I have something to tell you," he furrowed his brow. "And you'll probably be pretty pissed, but I promise it'll be worth it in the end."

He took in a deep breath and looked forward again, "our sixth year, you and I both remember it pretty well when you walked in on Katie Cross and I."

"Yeah," Nora said, eyes narrowing. She crossed her arms over her chest, not pleased she was having this conversation again. "What of it?"

"I was trying to get her off me, Nora. I never cheated on you - I didn't cheat on you," he said and sat up straighter. He looked over at her. "I guess she was trying to thank me for protecting her during our accident. I guess instead of cookies she tried to give me a blow job."

Nora looked him over for a moment, and then turning fully towards him. "You- what do you mean you didn't cheat on me, Albus?" She asked, her voice deathly calm.

"I didn't do anything with her, Nor." He muttered.

"And you let me believe that you did?"

"Would you have believed me? You were screaming at me, you wouldn't listen to anything I said."

Nora slapped him, hard. She looked hm over with indignation in her eyes as Al's hand went to his cheek. That hurt, that hurt a lot. "I deserved that, I absolutely did." He groaned.

"Yeah, you did," she said, her arms still crossed. "You maybe a complete asshole, but at least you're not a cheater," she hesitated before pulling him into a hug.

Al hugged her back, a little surprised. He let out a low chuckle. "But I'm your asshole," he pulled back to look at her. "And to be fair I've never cheated on you. Others… that's neither here nor there. Nora, I love you. I've loved you since I first kissed you, I knew that. I knew at that damn bonfire twelve years ago that I would marry you."

"What are you saying, Al?" Nora frowned. "You knew you wanted to marry me? Back then when we were still in school and you were only sixteen?" She picked up one of his hands and flipped it over. Her fingers went over the big callous on his palm, she was avoiding his eye. "I loved you so much back then. I still do."

"Mum always said when you know, you know. And… I knew. Like when I didn't do anything to try and get you back… I fucked up royally," he sighed.

"Yeah, you did." She nodded, reenforcing what he had said.

Al sat up straighter and pulled out a light blue box from his jacket pocket. "Nora, I'm gonna fuck up a few more times, and I'm gonna be an asshole. It's just what I do. But you bring out the best person in me. You're my light, and I can't lose you. Nora, will you marry me?"

"I-Al…" Her hand went to her mouth. "Yes," she breathed, looking at the open box in front of her.

Al pulled her to him and kissed her hard, he pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. "I love you," he muttered, kissing her again and rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you, too." She grinned, and pulled away to examine the ring. He smile turned into a smirk and she looked back up at him. "Mum and dad knew, didn't they? That's why they were up to when they were trying to get you down here."

"Yeah, they're not exactly the most subtle people in the world," Al rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised your mum was able to keep her mouth closed."

Nora snorted. "She's a vault when she wants to be," she messed with the ring a little bit.

"Does it fit okay? We can go get it resized when I get back into the country in a few days," Al frowned.

She twisted the ring a bit more, testing the fit. "It's a little loose, but it'll be fine until we can get it resized. Remind me where you're going again?" She asked.

"South Africa," he kissed her temple and pulled her closer to him again. "They've been playing well again this year."

"Gonna beat their asses?" She looked up at him, "I mean you gotta keep your momentum going."

"Would I have it any other way?" Al asked, grinning down at her.

She cuddle up next to him, cheek pressed to his chest. "You know, I'm always so surprised when you touched me - or you let me touch you." She told him.

Al laughed, pulling away to look down at her. "And why is that?" He asked.

"It's no secret you're not a touchy-feely person, Al. I've seen you shrug off a hand from your father. Hell, I've even seen you brush off a time or two. But, you don't with me - you've never brushed me off. It's always just been a bit of a surprise," she told him.

"I don't like people touching me because it makes me uncomfortable," he said, honestly. "I don't like it. I've never.. really liked it. Since I was a kid - but you… you make me feel comfortable."

Nora looked up at him, a smile crossing her features. She made him comfortable, hearing that was one of the best things in the world. "I'm glad."

Epilogue

September 6th, 2038

The first years muttered amongst themselves as they filed into the classroom and took their seats. It was their first day in Defense Against the Dark Arts - school had started on a Wednesday this year, and their schedules had them here Monday mornings.

Their heads whipped around, trying to take in everything in the room. A large dragon skeleton hung from the ceiling, while the windows to the left of them held low bookshelves with various items from around the world, as well as skulls and what looked like dark artifacts. A large dog bed sat under the stairs leading up to the office. A black, fuzzy mass was curled up on it.

Many of them had their eyes land on the two mannequins standing at the end of the bookshelves, behind the chalkboard. The first one had an leather chest piece with long black robes. The hood was up, and an ornately carved silver mask glared down at the students. The second had a leather chest piece and cloak. A wolf was embroidered on the leather. On it's head was a black wolf mask, teeth bared. Two gold bars came out from the right eye.

Some adjusted and took out their notebooks and required textbook. The clock chimed, signaling the start of their class. Most of the students had a crash course on professors before they started from siblings, others had found out over the weekend. They learned that he could either be their best friend or their worst enemy. The Slytherins in the class had briefly met him once when he popped in to introduce himself as their Head of House and to let them know if they needed anything - his office door was open. Regardless, most of them were still understandably nervous.

The door to the office opened and they all sat up a little straighter. The lump on the dog bed sat up, stretching with a yawn. She was easily the size of a small bear, and she gave a very dirty look towards Albus - who was coming down the stairs.

He was dressed more casually than any of their other professors had been - and even more so than when they had seen him feast night. Al dropped his books on the podium, along with his wand. He began to pass out stapled packets of paper to each row.

"Pass 'em back, thanks, how was potions this morning? Down in that dungeon first thing is always rough," he was met with nods and small grunts of acknowledgement.

"This is our class schedule for our year," Al told them, returning to the podium with his own copy. "Tentative, depending on what goes on during the year. We may adjust depending on time," he picked up the piece of chalk from the podium.

"Most of you know who I am, for those who don't - I'm Albus Potter." He wrote his name on the chalkboard. "Yes, I played Quidditch for the English National Team. Yes, I was their Captain," he found it was just easier to address it on the first day for first years instead of ignoring it. It would save a lot of trouble and a lot of questions later.

Al leaned forward on the podium, his forearms resting on the front edges. He messed with his wedding ring. "Yes, my dad is Harry Potter," he took in a breath. "And yes, I was a Hellhound," he made a motion towards the armor behind him. "That was my armor, actually. The Ministry does have me on their Dark wizard watch list, and would classify me as such."

The kids adjusted nervously. "Don't worry," Al chuckled. "It just means that I'm more qualified than most to teach this. I was actually a spy for the Ministry during that time, so no, I didn't believe what she believed in,"

He pointed to Ophelia. "That is Ophelia. She is a Grim; please don't listen to Professor Trelawney. She is not a sign of death. She won't kill you, and you won't die if you look at her. The most she'll do is ask you for some crisps if you have any. And by ask, I more or less mean beg."

Al checked his watch, and grabbed his textbook - which had pages flagged here and there with different colored tabs. The kids stared at him, more questions than answers at this point. "This book will be your bible in my class for the next seven years - we'll have other books, of course. But you'll live and breathe this book." He sat up on top of an empty desk, opening to one of the flagged pages.

"Let's turn to page 120 and get started, shall we?"

Author's Note:
It's finally finished! Thank you all so much for sticking around. Al's story isn't finished, so don't worry. Can you say prequel and sequel? ;)