HOGWARTS: A FUTURE

Chapter 12

The days passed by in a blur, finally the day of the Quidditch match arrived. Cheryll was quite confident that they would win but her teammates didn't share her confidence at all. "Really? I am the youngest and the newest member and I am not at all nervous. What happened to you guys?" She asked, smiling.

"Well, you might not be knowing but the Ravenclaw seeker is like real good.'' Said Charles.

"We are gonna win. I feel it." She said, trying to lift their enthusiasm.

"Well, I don't know about winning or losing but we will certainly give our best." Said Zachary.

"You really need to work on your prep talk. Do that during the holidays." She said. Before anyone could answer Madam Hooch said "Mount your brooms!", they did so. 

She blew the whistle and the game started. Cheryll didn't know about the seekers but the beaters of Ravenclaw were real good, she had been hit by the bludger twice. The game was very exciting and tougher than the earlier match. The commentator's voice rang in her ears "Ravenclaw in possession, and goal..... Slytherin in possession.... amazing save by the Ravenclaw keeper but Slytherin at 100-80. And another goal by the Ravenclaws. Both the teams at a neck to neck competition." Suddenly, she saw the golden shining snitch. She flew towards it but so had the other seeker. Both were beside each other, she extended her hand and grasped the snitch. "And Slytherin has won!" All the Slytherins congratulated her and then they went to the common room to celebrate their win.

The next day they woke up early in the morning and around noon they reached Platform 9 and three quarters. Harry was a bit astonished that Albus had not told him that he was best friends with Draco Malfoy and Cho Chang's children. Ginny thought that it was amusing the way Cho had blushed when she saw Harry and nice that she had named her daughter after her. The silence between Albus and James had not stopped but Lily was the only one who noticed it. Scorpius was very tense. It was evident that he was not very close to his father and that they had no idea what they should do. Cheryll on the other hand snuggled up with her mother and father. Draco knew that Albus and Cheryll were Scropius' were his best friends. Although he was not very happy about it, he supported Scorpius or well, he tried to.

The first few days of the Christmas holidays were very nice. Cheryll was happily taking part in everything going on in her family. They made cakes, cookies and many more things, all without magic. Scorpius felt as if it was the worst Christmas of his life. No trees, no carols, just St. Mungo's. Albus was reasonably happy about everything except his brother.

Days passed and Cheryll and Scorpius came over to his house along with one of their parents. Cho was the same quiet and caring type. Draco had become pretty reserved and jumpy. Harry and Draco didn't really love the idea of having each other's kids as their kid's friends but as they had become reasonably kind to each other after the Battle of Hogwarts, they were supportive of their kids. They talked for a while and then Cho and Draco went to their homes.

The first day was filled with unpacking and introductions. At night they got to know that Ginny's brothers were arriving the next day with their families. Cheryll and Lily had become good friends and spent a lot of time together. At night Albus told them about his uncles. "Uncle Charlie is the best. He isn't married and doesn't plan on doing it. Uncle George is a close second, he has got the best sense of humour in the World. I don't like uncle Percy a lot; he is very serious but he's fine, I guess." He was about to say something when James interrupted " I AM YOUR BROTHER." He shouted.

"I DONT CARE." Albus shouted with the same amount of anger, if not more.

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU AND COME DOWN." screamed Ginny and both of them went downstairs. Scorpius and Cheryll felt that it was the best to remain upstairs but Lily asked them to come down too.

"So, can I know why a war erupted in my house?" She asked, now a bit calmed down.

"Ask your Gryffindor son." said Albus.

"Well I didn't know that we had named you as Gryffindor son and Slytherin son." said Harry who looked amused.

"So I guess James did it for you." He hissed.

"Can I please know what's going on with you too? Since the day you have come back you have barely looked at each other let alone talk.Yes, dont think we havent noticed. We noticed it on the first day only, we just wanted you to sort it out on your own but I guess we will have to do it for you. But for that we need to know the reason." Said Harry.

"You will get to know, that's the reason I asked Cheryll and Scorpius to come down." Ginny said then turned towards both of them "Can the two of you please tell us what is going on between these two?"

"Sure, I'll go first," said Cheryll and continued. "So on the first day of school as you know, Al was sorted into Slytherin. He wasn't very happy and the bullying of the other houses, especially the Gryffindors didn't make him feel any better. And James was also one of the bullies."

''Are you serious right now? It was just teasing." Said James.

"Oh really?! I didn't know that trying to trip a person and trying to make him fall off his broom is teasing." Said Scorpius. Before anyone could say anything, Cheryll said "There is a thin line between teasing and bullying and you, James Sirius Potter, you have crossed it."

"Who do you think you are? Blaming me in my own house." retorted James.

"She is correct." said Ginny. Before anyone replied, an owl came flying towards the window and dropped a letter. Harry went and picked it up. He read it and his face paled.

"It's another one." he said.

''What did I ever do to her? I don't even know her. What has she written now?"

"She is saying some Knights of Walpurgisa are on the run and they will find you and......kill you?"

"Oh wow! What a lovely Christmas it will be. And James will also get rid of his Slytherin brother."

''What are you talking about?" asked James.

"Oh! it's nothing, just Voldemort's daughter is after me but nothing to worry about, she'll only kill me, nothing serious." said Albus sarcastically.

"WHAT! WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?"

"BECAUSE YOU WERE BUSY BULLYING ME"

"Both of you calm down. This is not a matter to fight over." said Harry.

"Mr. Potter, why is this Walpurgisa after Albus?" asked Scorpius

"We can only guess. Maybe revenge. Maybe she, like her father, likes to kill."

"What if it is all a joke? What if someone is just messing around?" asked Lily who had not spoken at all.

"It is definitely not a joke. The dark mark says it all." said Ginny.

"Hey! It's fine. I have got you guys and my friends. And then there is uncle Ron and aunt Hermoine. I'll be fine and right now we have other things to worry about. Don't forget all uncles are coming." he said, trying to lift the mood a little. He was sure that he had done a pretty bad job but everyone took his words to notice and started working.