When they arrived at the Great Hall, Albus knew he was in trouble.

There were two distinct groups of people at two different tables eating dinner. A group of his relatives sat at the Gryffindor table, who were talking excitedly with two seats left open beside his brother James. Albus' mum was seated at that table as well. To her immediate right was...Uncle Ron?

Sure enough, the tall, thin man with the Weasley red hair was sitting there stiffly, staring furiously forward with a flush in his cheeks, his ears red. Across the aisle, Albus saw his group of friends from Hufflepuff. Rose sat beside an empty seat. She looked just as flushed and angry as her father. It was a safe bet that Albus had just missed yet another Ron/Rose row.

It was also obvious that Albus had to make a choice. And as usual, James made the situation worse.

"There he is!" he declared loudly. "That's my brother. I told you he should have been in Gryffindor!"

He led the cheers and patted the seat beside him encouragingly. Albus was suddenly furious. After all that teasing, and all of the pranks this last year, now he’s claiming me as a Gryffindor? Albus' dad had his hand on Albus' shoulder. He must have felt the sudden tension, because he instantly diffused it.

Giving Albus a nudge in the direction of the Hufflepuffs, he replied, "James, you know that Houses sit together. Besides, I want to meet Albus' friends."

James looked shocked. Albus was sure he couldn't believe that his father, undoubtedly the most famous Gryffindor in the last three decades, would rather sit with some Hufflepuffs. And now, James looked like a fool in front of everyone in the Great Hall. He looked down at his plate to hide his embarrassment, his cheeks flushed.

Albus breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dad," he murmured.

He saw his mum look up, exchanging a look with his dad; then she nodded and turned back to her conversation with Molly and Lucy, like nothing had happened. Uncle Ron, however, was staring at Albus and his dad, openly aghast. Rose slid over one more seat, shooting her dad a triumphant look. There was little doubt now about what their fight had been over.

The two tables and practically the entire Hall were whispering and pointing. Long used to ignoring such displays, Albus and his dad took a seat and immediately tucked in. Albus, ravenous from missing lunch, and losing breakfast was working his way through a plate of savory beef stew, while his dad munched a steak and kidney pie.

Out of the conversation at the table, the loudest one was between Gas and Cormac.

Gas, turned around in his seat, was chatting so animatedly about the presence of ‘the Harry Potter’ in the Great Hall that he didn't notice that his hero was seated right behind him.

Cormac kept trying to get a word in edgewise to tell him, but he just couldn't break into the long stream of superlatives. Albus' dad, privy to some of the statements being made about him, exchanged a wry smile and a wink with Albus.

He tapped the little round boy on the shoulder. "Please pass the salt?"

Gas paused just long enough to pass the salt, glancing up at his fellow tablemate as he did so, and turned back to Cormac, who was smiling. Gas froze, spun around, did a double take, and finally made an "Eeep!" sound before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Cormac gently caught Gas and with Albus' dad's help brought him to rest face down on his own arms, moving his plate of food.

Cormac gave Albus' dad a bemused look. "I'm thinkin you mus' be Harry Potter?" They shook hands over Gas' inert form.

Albus' dad remarked, "From Rose's description, you must be Cormac, and this has to be Gas."

Albus finally realised what he had been missing since he first set eyes on the Hufflepuff table. He turned to his cousin who was muttering under her breath.

"I'm in Hufflepuff. The nerve of insisting I sit with him at another table. He needs to get a grip. Why my mother ever married him is beyond me."

"Rose," Albus called.

She turned and snapped at him. "What!"

"Where's Mal-Boy?"

Rose looked over her shoulder at the empty chair, seeing it for the first time. "I didn't know he took off. He got answer owl from home just a bit ago, about Professor Pharrel asking him to play Seeker this year."

Albus shook his head to clear it. "Did you say, play Quidditch this year? A first year playing Quidditch? "

Rose gave him an "are you daft?" look.

Albus finally collected himself enough to stammer, "It's just, no first year has been on a Quidditch team since Dad did it.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You didn't think you were the only one to be asked after the way he flew did you? Honestly, you can be so dense sometimes. Kind of like your Uncle Ron."

Albus' jaw dropped. He spun to see his dad looking apologetic. "I was going to tell you, later."

"You told him no, right Dad?" Albus implored almost choking on the words out of sheer terror.

Albus' dad smiled. "I'm not going to be over-protective this time, Al. I've learned my lesson. Tryouts are next Tuesday. I know you can do it. When you do make it, I don't want you to wind James up about it. Okay?"

Albus closed his eyes, and did his breathing exercises. He concentrated on his slow inhales and exhales. The last thing he needed was another panic attack today.

"Are you okay, son?"

Albus peeked at his dad through the corner of his eye. "Getting stressed out won't do me any good?" he said hopefully.

"Not this time. We've got you a flying instructor coming this weekend. He's been guaranteeing for years that he can teach you to fly in one afternoon. Until now, we haven't taken him up on it."

Albus heard the slight hesitation in his dad's voice. "Why not?"

His dad smiled. "We didn't want to scar you for life!" he answered with a chuckle.

"You're not helping, Dad!" Albus exclaimed, his chest beginning to hitch again.

"Sorry," his dad said, handing him a glass of water. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you. He knows if he did, your mother would kill him slow, resurrect him, and kill him slower."

They both laughed, breaking the tension. Albus couldn't believe that his dad was being so supportive, even so far as getting him a private flying instructor. It drove the point home to Albus that his House really didn't matter to his dad after all.

Something was troubling Albus however, he thought about it a few moments before he blurted, "Scorpius, I can understand, but why did Professor Pharrel ask me to try out? He's never seen me fly."

His dad and Rose, and Cormac all gave him incredulous looks. Rose spoke first, as usual, "Albus, you git! You threw a perfect Quaffle strike, over twenty meters, and hit something the size of your dad's fist! Are you seriously surprised that someone wants to try you out at Chaser? I hate Quidditch, but I can at least figure that out!"

"But it was a lucky shot," Albus muttered.

He saw Cormac tense out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked the boy showed no sign that he had been startled, but he was concentrating on his food a little too much.

Albus made a decision. He pushed back from the table. "Dad, I need to find Scorpius."

Rose shot him a look. "Not without me, you don't."

His dad nodded. "I need to go and make peace with your relatives anyway." Before he switched tables, he signed a bit of napkin, and handing it to Cormac for Gas for when he came to.

Albus and Rose headed for the massive double doors. As they passed by James, he saw his brother's eyes narrow. James mouthed the word, "Later." Albus glared right back, and mouthed, "Bring it."

The Cellar wasn't far, and they got there in record time. There were some third years playing chess and a fifth year studying by the fire, but no Scorpius. Albus ran back to the dorm room and it was empty as well, except for Scorpius' kitten napping on the bed. He woke long enough to give Albus a tolerant look and settled back in.

Albus had a moment of inspiration. He got down eye level with the cat. "I need your help finding your master, Kub. Would you mind?"

The kitten opened his eyes and regarded him for a minute, stretched, yawned and then batted Albus' nose gently with his paw. Taking that as a yes, he gently picked the little fur ball up, carrying him like he had seen Scorpius do. Albus' didn't like cats, as a general rule, but he felt a warm spot for this one. After all, they had a friend in common.

When he got back to the common room Rose gave him the look he deserved. "How's a cat supposed to help us find Scorpius?"

Albus shrugged, and they went out. As soon as they got up to the Great Staircase, Kub's paw shot out pointing in its direction.

They exchanged an incredulous look. "I guess we go up," Rose concluded.

They made their way up through the castle, getting some looks as they stared at the kitten at every intersection. Making steady progress, they made it all the way to the top within minutes. They went through a door indicated by the cat, up a large set of spiral stairs and came out onto a large open area. "This is the astronomy tower." Rose informed as they looked around and saw a lone figure, leaning against the battlements and staring out at the rolling moonlit hills with his chin in his hand.

At the sound of the intruders, he turned and gave them a cold glare; "I would appreciate it if you two would leave."

Albus was taken aback, and his feelings were hurt at first. Then he remembered Scorpius' main defense when he was uncertain, pushing people away with sneering arrogance.

Rose shrugged. "Have we ever left you alone since we met? What makes you think we're going to start now?"

They looked at each other in the moonlight, deciding to follow his wishes. Albus placed the kitten on the ground; it darted across the distance and shot into Scorpius' surprised arms. "We brought you a friend. If you would like to talk to us, we'll be back in The Cellar." Albus tugged on Rose's sleeve and they turned to go.

"Wait."

When they turned back, Scorpius had scooted down to a seated position, his back against the stone wall. He cuddled the kitten against his chest, trying to hide cheeks suddenly wet with tears.

"Please, just wait."

They walked back slowly and slid down on either side of him, close enough that their shoulders touched. No one said anything, not even Rose. They just sat there in silence, as he cried. Kub leaned up and began licking the salt from his cheeks, causing Scorpius to chuckle. It seemed to help him to gather himself.

"I'm sorry, for losing it like that. Very undignified."

"Yeah," Rose agreed. "We can't have the next Dark Lord sobbing himself silly can we?"

Albus interjected, "It's not very intimidating, mate, honestly."

They slyly looked at Scorpius to see that he was laughing silently. Soon they joined him.

After a few minutes, the silence crept back, but it was warm against the chilly night. Albus broke it. "Can I ask what the letter said?"

Scorpius was silent for a few moments. "It said, no."

"No?" Rose gasped. "What do they mean no? You were absolutely brilliant today!"

Scorpius took the compliment with a wry smile. "My grandfather wants me to be brilliant for Slytherin, as soon as he can get the board to overturn the Sorting. My mother's siding with him. Dad's somewhere in Romania, I never know where, Grandfather sends all the owls. There's nobody else to sign. It's impossible."

Albus thought about that for a few minutes. The situation did sound hopeless. He tried to think of a solution, but all he could think about was, "What would my dad do?" Suddenly he realized, his dad was here at Hogwarts, he could ask.

"Well I'm not going to be the only first year playing Quidditch this year. I happen to know a person who does the impossible all the time. He's my dad. If anyone can find a way, he can."

Rose leaned forward past Scorpius. "They were going to Floo out from the headmaster's office, as soon as dinner was over. We'd better hurry!"

They left the tower, rushing down the stairs, accosting a few students to tell them the way. They arrived at the two gargoyles in a shorter amount of time than they would have thought possible. The stone statues were quietly bickering with each other, so much that Albus was halfway past when the one on the left noticed him and asked

"Password?"

The gargoyle on the right suddenly blurted out, "Felix! Look, it's Harry Potter's son. What do you need, young man?"

Albus, not used to being talked to by statuary, managed to say, "We need to talk to my dad before he leaves."

"Well go on up then!" it replied cheerfully.. "Felix, be a dear and get out of their way?"

"Felicis," the other one whined, "they need to have the password. We can't just let anybody go on up!"

"Felix, you can be such a hard head!"

"Helloooo, I'm made of stone!"

The one called Felicis waved Albus over. "The password is Zaire. Honestly."

Albus called out, "Zaire!"

Felix grumbled but moved to the side and the circular stone stairs rose out of the floor, moving up like an escalator.

"Thanks," Albus called as they went past.

"Don't mention it, dear," Felicis said smuggly.

Felix just grumbled, "Oh sure, you look like someone we know, let's just tell you the password so you can go on up and trash the place!"

Albus and Rose had taken the escalator to the Muggle underground tram enough that the moving stairs were not that much of a novelty. Scorpius, however looked dubious, but after a pause, followed their lead.

They reached the landing in front of a large elaborate wooden door and clanked the brass knocker.

"The Headmaster is not in the office at present, go away," came a bored voice from within.

Albus exchanged glances with the other two, and they pushed through the door.

The office within was decorated in tan and gold, with tropical plants growing from pots in the corners. Albus recognized several antique Dark-Art detection devices featured on pedestals, the oddest being a fake magic eye which rotated and focused on the intruders. They passed a large ornate Foe-Glass, and a gold and jewel encrusted Sneakoscope as they made their across a carpet of soft reeds to the large desk. Portraits of former headmasters and mistresses, some sleeping, surrounded it.

"I am assuming you students do know the English language. You were told, he is not here, go away." The rest of the awake headmaster portraits where glowering at the speaker, but he didn't seem to notice.

He had long stringy hair and a pale sallow face, and his black eyes glared at the students in question. The plate underneath the frame read, "Severus Snape."

"Now, now, Severus," came a voice from the centremost portrait. "We mustn't be rude."

Albus' head was spinning as he realized that the other portrait must be Albus Dumbledore. He recognized the half moon spectacles, perched on a crooked nose, and the kind, twinkling blue eyes from the Chocolate Frog card.

Dumbledore stared at the three for a moment. "You must be Albus Potter. That has to be Rose Weasley. And that young man has the look of the Malfoy clan."

They all nodded but couldn't speak. It wasn't often that you get to talk to a legend. They found it a bit overwhelming.

"So, what do you need the headmaster for?" Dumbledore asked politely.

Rose was the first to find her voice. "We're trying to catch Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny before they Floo on out."

Dumbledore beamed. "Well, seeing as they have yet to do so, I imagine you will find you have accomplished your aim. Just wait a few more moments."

His penetrating eyes focused on Albus. "I have heard that you have had quite the day, young man."

Albus' dad told him practically nothing of Severus Snape, but all through his childhood he had been told stories of Dumbledore. He had had a hard time believing that anyone could possibly be that enigmatic, and yet kind. Being in the presence of that very wizard who was the subject of all of those tales, made all of his father's stories not only plausible but understated.

"Y-yes sir." Albus managed to stammer.

Dumbledore studied him over his spectacles for a few moments. "Well, we can hope that the rest of your days as Hogwarts will contain far less excitement."

"It seems that the Potter gene for causing trouble, and then acting the hero, has bred true," came a clipped statement from Snape’s portrait, "I find that I am not surprised. His father was nothing but trouble when he walked these halls."

All Albus' had heard about Snape mostly came from his uncles. Those stories had been about how thoroughly unpleasant the professor had been. Those stories also now had a ring of truth. That sallow man, represented by the portrait, really did have a knack for saying the meanest thing possible.

Albus saw Rose's cheeks flush, and was surprised to see Scorpius showing anger as well. However, as he glanced back at Dumbledore, he saw the old wizard smile. It almost seemed that he had been awaiting such an opportunity.

"Young Master Potter, kindly tell my portrait-mate your middle name."

Albus looked the other painted visage in its black glinting eyes, trying not to smirk, and said, "My full name is Albus Severus Potter."

Watching the portrait try to compose itself through the shock, Albus thought, This is almost worth having the middle name the rest of my life! Well, almost.

"Are we sure that it's him?" came his dad's voice from behind them as the office door suddenly opened.

They spun to see Albus' mum and dad led by Professor Shacklebolt, they seemed so engrossed in their conversation that they were halfway across the office before they knew they were not alone.

Shacklebolt froze when he saw the students. "How did you three manage to get into my office?" he asked gravely.

The trio exchanged a terrified look. Being in the headmaster's office without permission was suddenly not their best idea ever.

"One of the gargoyles told us the password," Rose stammered.

Shacklebolt visibly relaxed, and sighed. "I need to get new gargoyles!"

They all went to a sitting area around the fireplace. Albus related the problem to his dad.

Deep in thought, Albus' dad asked Shacklebolt, "How close a relative does it have to be to sign the permission form?"

Shacklebolt thought for a moment. "At least direct lineage. Grandparents or parents, liability issues dictate that much."

He asked Scorpius, "I have heard no mention of your grandmother. As I recall, she was fairly lenient when it came to your dad."

Scorpius looked up from his kitten with surprised look on his face. "We haven't heard from her for some time. After she divorced Grandfather, she declared that she was going to see the world. The last postcard we received was from the South of France."

"Divorced? Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy are divorced?" Albus' dad asked, sounding out the thought. He suddenly brightened up and actually smiled. Albus had a joyous thought, I knew he could do it!

Albus' dad and mum exchanged another look; they seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Will Andy come?" Albus' dad asked.

His mum nodded. "If you asked."

Albus only knew of one Andy, but why were his parents talking about her?

"Shacklebolt, can I use your fireplace for an incoming Floo?"

The Headmaster nodded.

When Albus' dad pulled out a small compact mirror, he saw the strange looks he was getting. "I got the idea from Muggle portable telephones. This will take a moment." He walked away from them, talking into the small mirror. Then he came back. "It will be a few minutes yet."

He turned to Scorpius. "Mr. Malfoy, I've heard some stories that you are a flyer. What's your favorite team?" He and Scorpius were soon discussing Quidditch and flying tips, with Shacklebolt interjecting, Kublai allowing his ears to be scratched like a gentleman. Rose and Albus' mum began talking in quiet tones before too long.

Albus' eyes found Snape's portrait; he was amused to see that the man was staring at his dad with a look of utmost confusion. Dumbledore, however, looked content, and was having a conversation with a portrait of a man holding an ear trumpet.

With a flash of green light, an elderly, severe-looking witch with gray-streaked brown hair and an aristocratic bearing, popped out of the fireplace. She began fussily dusting her dress for ash.

Albus recognized her immediately.

Scorpius, however, turned white as a sheet. "Aunt Bella?" He stammered.

Andromeda Tonks gave him an affronted glare. "I most certainly am not!"