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SIYE Time:19:25 on 28th March 2024
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The Next Generation
By werekitten

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Category: Post-DH/PM
Characters:None
Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, General
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 202
Summary: “I won’t! I won’t be a Slytherin!” So says the youngest son of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley just before he leaves for his first year at Hogwarts. Albus Severus Potter’s worst nightmare is to be sorted into Slytherin, house of the Dark wizards. Despite reassurances from his father, he still worries that it might come true… and it does. How does little Al cope with being a Slytherin? And can his family accept it? *This is actually a H/G story, although it doesn't sound like it from this summary*
Hitcount: Story Total: 55775; Chapter Total: 4168





Author's Notes:
Okay, we're finally at the second to last chapter, and things are drawing to a close. Chapters are unfortunately getting shorter, mainly because the number of plot threads to keep up with is narrowing down.
I admit, I've gotten a bit sick of this story, so I took some time to write a one-shot for the new challenge. I know it's cheap to advertise, but I'd love it if you could read/review! It's called "Just a Hopeless Romantic," and it's much more fluffy than this story.
Stacy, my old beta, has decided that she has too much work to keep up with beta-ing this story. I think my story is cursed... anyways, I really aprpeciate just how much worse this story would be without her. Thank you! Erik, my original beta, has agree to start beta-ing again, so he did this one. Another big thanks!!
So, without further delay... (except for a brief plea for reviews!) chapter 13:




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The months at Hogwarts passed in an endless stream for Albus, filled with happiness marred only by the continued hostility of his brother. Al’s friendships in Slytherin strengthened until he could barely remember a time when he had felt himself to be alone in an unfriendly environment where he didn’t belong. The green and silver now seemed familiar and even homey, and he was able to cheer for his House with barely a pang in the first Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

School work became more difficult as the year progressed, but also more interesting. The first years began to learn more complex spells and potions, and though Al was not always the first to catch on, he felt that he was doing decently in his classes. Charms was by far his favorite — Al found the work entertaining as well as useful, and he’d taken a liking to Professor Flitwick.

Al found Miri quite refreshing to talk to, with her frank statements and outspoken ideas, though she always seemed to tread cautiously over the idea of inter-house relationships, a result of her lingering embarrassment. Her personality was usually in sharp contrast to Rose’s, and Al sometimes wondered they ever got along. But the debates were more cheerful than irritated, and Al often found himself wandering over to the Ravenclaw table to talk to them when he had spare time. He felt it was worth the smirks and sarcastic comments his friends gave him afterward.

However, he avoided the Gryffindor table at all costs, trying to make as little contact as possible with the brother he was now completely estranged from. James had remained indifferent to Al, acknowledging him only with the disdain he felt for all Slytherin first-years when they passed in the hall. Al, in turn, did his best to ignore his brother, preferring the indifference to anger. It was easier to pretend that he wasn’t related to James than to admit how much his brother’s betrayal hurt.

All too soon, fall froze into winter and snow covered the ground at Hogwarts. Hagrid and Grawp dragged the usual twelve Christmas trees into the Great Hall, and the first term drew to a close. Holiday excitement filled the air, but Al too was excited to be seeing his family and celebrating Christmas, he was also filled with dread for spending two weeks at home with James.

So it was with a mixture of enthusiasm and trepidation that Al packed up everything he would need for the holidays and said goodbye to those friends who were staying at Hogwarts. As he and his friends got settled on the Hogwarts Express and watched the school vanish into the distance, he wondered nervously what the time with his family would bring.

~*~*~


“Dra t! I almost won that one!” Al glowered at the still-smoking pile of Imploding Snap cards, the popular remake of his parents’ favorite game.

“Al,” said Tyler, “I hate to break it to you, but you will never be good at Imploding Snap.”

“At least he’s better than Raymond,” sniggered Scorpius. “Now there’s a hopeless player.” Throughout the year, Raymond Dolohov had not warmed up to Al despite the boy’s efforts to be friendly. Instead, Raymond and Jordon Greyling had formed a sort of “Glare Group,” as Scorpius was fond of calling it. The Glare Group was often found staring moodily at Al and his friends, at their homework, or even just at a wall. Though Al was disappointed that Jordan had failed to become a friend, he was very grateful that Henry, Tyler, and Scorpius had accepted him even though his family was traditionally Gryffindor.

Just then, the compartment door slid open. Al tensed momentarily, remembering his father’s stories of confrontations on the train, until he realised that it was just Miri. “Hey Al,” she said cheerfully, pointedly ignoring stares from the other boys. “Just wanted to let you know, the conductor says we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Really?” asked Al in surprise. The train ride had seemed so fast. “Well, thanks for letting us know.”

Miri just smiled and left, closing the door behind her.

Al turned to his friends, glaring warningly. “Don’t even start. Now, we should probably get our things together.”

Ten minutes later, the train started slowing down, and Al looked out the window to see the familiar landscape surrounding King’s Cross Station. All the boys deserted their pride and crowded around the window as the train drew into the platform, hoping for a view of their families.

Almost immediately, Al spotted his uncle Ron, who stood out with his height and flaming red hair. Not far off stood his parents and sister, Lily bouncing a bit with the excitement of seeing her brothers.

As the train came to a stop, Al rushed to get out of the train. Fighting his instinct to shove and push through the crowd, he instead ducked and dodged around happily reunited families. Finally, his mother spotted him, and, giving a small cry, hurried through the crowd to enfold her son in a hug.

For nearly a minute, Al was content to simply wrap his arms around his mother in return, feeling her soft warmth that he had missed so much over the past semester. Finally he drew back, and began to chatter excitedly about Hogwarts as she led the way back to Harry and Lily.

But Al’s chatter abruptly stopped when he saw James standing next to Harry. If Al had been the type to say curse words, he would have said one when he saw the look on James’ face. Not malice per se, but an under-the-surface annoyance and detachment from the brother he had once been so close to. It would be impossible for these feelings to remain hidden forever.

However, their parents appeared to notice nothing wrong, and if they gave the brothers an odd glance or two, neither Al nor James noticed. And so they made their way to the car, Ginny giving the obligatory “look how much you’ve grown!” speech. Though Harry tried to calm her down, he was clearly just as excited that his family was reunited.

Through the months, Al had forgotten his early anxiety of the situation at home upon seeing his parents’ first letters. After the first few, the letters had returned to the normalcy that he’d expected — full of cheerful news of home with frequent battles over the quill. His doubts had become a nearly-forgotten shadow. And now, finally seeing his parents, he was able to dismiss his earlier thoughts. His family was clearly happy.

Throughout the car ride, Al was content to sit squished between Lily and the car door, listening to his sister babbling about things at home and answering his mother’s frequent questions about Hogwarts with as much detail as he could summon.

As soon as they arrived at the Potters’ house in Godric’s Hollow, Al went in search of his cat. Athena was not far from the door, and she began to purr contentedly at the sight of Al. Had it not been undignified, she probably would have leapt into Al’s arms.

~*~*~


After a dinner full of the children’s favourites and a delicious treacle tart, the recipe for which Ginny had swiped from Mrs. Weasley, the warm and contented family retired to sit around the fire. Al continued to eagerly share his experiences and opinions of Hogwarts, while James remained more reticent, moodily sitting in an armchair slightly removed from the rest of the family and saying little.

Eventually, James grew sick of his family’s company and retired to his room. Lily was at that point barely able to contain her yawns and, at her mother’s urging, also went up to bed. Al soon followed, and though his cat was annoyed about losing her seat on his lap, she was soon mollified with a warm spot underneath his covers.

Harry and Ginny, however, remained by the fire. Though Harry tried to chat casually about their children’s return, it was not long before Ginny brought up the concerns on both of their minds.

“Harry,” she started hesitantly, “do you think something is, I don’t know, off with the boys?”

He bit his lip. “I’d like to say that, whatever it is, is just because they’ve been with each other for so long that they’ve exhausted all the subjects we were talking about.”

Ginny frowned. “That’s not it, and you know it. I’m just afraid that…” She sighed. “Maybe I’m taking this too far, but what if they weren’t spending any time together throughout the year? I mean, they’re in different years, and different houses. So maybe they’re not at all used to, you know, just talking or whatever.”

“Different houses…” considered Harry. “You don’t think…”

It took Ginny less than a second to catch on. “James wouldn’t!” she denied fervently. “It’s his brother, for goodness sake! And you know that inter-house unity has improved so much since we were there!”

It was Harry’s turn to sigh. “Gin, you remember how I felt at first? Granted, things have changed there, but I should hope that not all traces of a Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry are gone. Not because I approve,” he hastened to add, seeing the look on Ginny’s face, “but because it’s, you know, Hogwarts culture.”

Ginny shrugged. “Alright, maybe he isn’t quite comfortable with Al’s sorting. But do you really think that it could cause such tension between the two of them?”

“Anything’s possible,” said Harry grimly. “I’ll have a talk with James tomorrow.”

~*~*~


James slumped back sulkily on his bed the next morning when he heard his father’s knock. “Come in,” he said, trying to sound cheerful. Maybe if he pretended not to be angry, his parents would leave him alone.

And James certainly was angry. Al hadn’t said a word to him since they’d gotten off the train. James had hoped that, away from the awful influence of those Slytherins, Al would turn back into his sweet younger brother. And he had, to a point — just as always, he was the center of their parents’ attentions. But Al just wasn’t close to James anymore. And while James admitted that it could, possibly, be because he had been avoiding Al all semester, it still hurt that Al hadn’t come back to him.

Harry cautiously opened the door and sat down on the bed next to James. Even more cautiously, he began to speak. “Was everything okay at school this year? You don’t seem as happy as you were last year.”

James rolled his eyes. “Everything’s fine, Dad.”

“You still liking all the people?”

“Yes.”

“Made friends in other houses?”

James stiffened slightly, but calmly replied, “I know some people, but we just don’t see as much of them as we do of people in our own house.”

Clearly this wasn’t going to be easy. “Do you think Al settled in okay?” asked Harry, trying to get closer to his point.

The corner of James’ lip twitched. “I didn’t see him to much, either.” He was unable to keep a slight hint of derision out of his voice.

“James, you shouldn’t let a little thing like his Sorting get in the way of seeing your brother. You didn’t go over and say hi to him during meals, or anything?” asked Harry, trying to be gently disapproving.

James shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t have time.”

Harry sighed, and decided that it was time to be more direct. He wished desperately that he had more experience of how a father talks to a teenage son. “James. We both know what we don’t want to say. You avoided Al because he was a Slytherin.” Even as he said it, Harry wanted James to deny it fervently, to say that he would always love his brother no matter what.

But James said no such thing.

Instead, he refused to meet his father’s eyes and said simply, “What if I did?”

“What if I did?” Harry repeated incredulously. “You admit to practically having a vendetta against your brother, and that’s all you have to say?” He sighed. “No matter what, James, Al is your brother. I should hope that that would mean more to you than anything a silly hat says.”

James turned his head to the side. “It’s just that… he’s so different now. He’s not Al anymore! He’s not my brother.”

His words hit Harry with a pain that was almost physical. How could his eldest son deny his younger brother so thoroughly? “James,” said Harry, half incredulous, half firm and demanding, “I never, ever want to hear you say that again. Ever. No matter what, Al will always be your brother. Nothing can change that. Have I ever told you what happened to Uncle Percy when we were younger?”

Sulkily, James shook his head. “No.”

“He decided that his career was more important than his family, and refused to contact any of the Weasleys for months. They were heartbroken. At the very mention of his name, your grandma would burst into tears. Grandpa barely smiled, and some of your uncles developed a tendency to break things when someone brought up Percy.”

Seeing the grim look on his father’s face, James knew better than to interrupt that he had hardly deserted his entire family.

“Now, he apologised eventually,” continued Harry, “but for those few years, it was almost as if he had died. I know you’ve hardly deserted your entire family” — James winced at the repetition of his own thought — “but to even desert one member is a terrible act, especially your closest brother.”

“My only brother.”

“My point exactly.”

James sighed. “Dad, you just don’t get it. He’s in Slytherin. It’s like he’s the one deserting me!”

“I get it better than you’ll ever know,” replied Harry with such a sorrowful look in his face that James had to wonder about the story behind that statement. “But I’ve learned that houses don’t hold a candle to those you love.”

Father and son sat in silence for a minute, contemplating, before James finally said, “I suppose you want me to apologise?”

“I don’t just want it — I’m requiring it. And if it isn’t heartfelt and sincere, and if I don’t see a resulting change in your behavior, there will be consequences.”


James winced. “Fine.”
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