Albus got to his feet and looked around the attic room. His father and mother already looked much better after being rescued. His father had managed to get to his feet and his mother was leaning on his shoulder. Albus reckoned Snape was right. Crossing from one realm to another took it's toll on a person. In the corner, Scorpius was helping Neville Longbottom to stand.

"Dad! Mum!" Albus shouted happily as he ran into their arms. His mother sobbed as she held him.

"You shouldn't have done this, Albus," she scolded him between kisses, "You could have been killed!"

"I had to, mum!" Albus told her.

"Of course he did," Neville laughed, "He's his father's son."

"I'm very proud of you, son," Harry whispered to him. "And you!" he continued, turning his attention to Scorpius, "You were very brave as well, young man. We owe you a considerable debt."

"I'd like it if you could get my dad out of Azkaban," Scorpius requested. Harry looked alarmed.

"What's he in Azkaban for?"

"Kidnapping you." Harry laughed.

"That shouldn't be a problem then." Scorpius grinned. "But," he added, "We've got to get out of here first."

"Oh, yeah!" Albus realized, "Sutherland said that Davies would be coming back soon to open the shop downstairs."

"Well he'll have a surprise waiting for him," Harry assured them, "May I borrow your wand, son?" Albus handed it over. Harry brandished it toward the door and concentration fell over his face. Albus looked on excitedly. He loved watching his father do spells. Suddenly, the door burst into flame.

"Come on," Harry urged them, and they all walked through the heatless flame. Once they were all through the door, Harry released the spell and the flames disappeared. The door remained in their place, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Wicked!" Scorpius exclaimed as they made their way down the stairs, "Your dad is bloody brilliant!" Albus smiled.

"He is, isn't he," he responded proudly, "By the way, here's your compass back." Scorpius took it and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Don't put that thing away yet," Harry instructed, "We need it to find our wands." Scorpius took it out and opened it.

"I'm looking for my wand," he told the compass and he led them through a door into a dusty bookshop specializing in tomes filled with the darkest kind of magic.

"Now I know this book has to be illegal," Neville commented as he pulled a suspicious-looking manuscript off the shelf and opened it, "Some of these curses would make Severus Snape's stomach turn!"

"The compass is pointing us this way," Scorpius informed them. They continued behind the counter and Albus opened a trap door in the floor which revealed a steep staircase.

"Lumos!" Albus cast and revealed the hidden room to be a tiny office. Scorpius continued to follow the compass until it brought him to a small safe.

"I reckon the wands are in there," he told them unnecessarily.

"Brilliant, Scorpius," Harry encouraged, "Al, would you do the honors?"

"Alohomora!" Albus cried and the safe made a popping noise. Albus opened the door to reveal the stolen wands, several stacks of papers, and a sizable amount of gold. He took the wands out and distributed them.

"Let's see what we have here," said Neville as he collected the piles of papers.

"Dad, I just realized something!" Albus said in a troubled voice, "When this Davies bloke comes back and you arrest him, how will you know who else was involved. Maybe we ought to wait until later, until the whole group comes back. Then you can arrest them all!"

"Well, aren't you a little auror in the making," Neville commently gleefully, "Fortunately, there isn't any need for a sting operation." He handed the paperwork to Harry. "I think you'll find enough evidence there to arrest everyone involved in this whole organization. It's all there. Names, jobs, addresses. Alas, if only the Deatheaters had been so organized!" Harry thumbed through the papers and laughed to himself.

"Neville, I'd say that if you and I got this to the office right away, we'd have most of this lot brought in to Azkaban before dinner!"

"Can we be here to help you arrest Davies, Dad? Please?" Albus begged. His mother made an incredulous sound in her throat and raised an eyebrow at her husband.

"Sorry, son. I swore to your mother no arresting violent criminals until you're twelve."

"I'm twelve," said Scorpius hopefully.

"You need to head on home to your family, Scorpius." Harry insisted with a wink, "And I'll make certain that Professor Longbottom and I aren't the only ones home in time for dinner." Scorpius' face betrayed a warm smile.

"Thank you, sir!"

"Think nothing of it," Harry told him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I hope your parents are half as proud of you as they should be."

"Let's get going, my dear," Ginny Potter told her son, "We have to drop off your friend and then I want you to get some rest and a good bath before I bring you contritely before Professor McGonagall and beg her to take you back." The boys laughed heartily.

"I have to go to Scorpius' house as well," Albus informed his mother, "To collect my broomstick."

"And your brother," Scorpius reminded him.

"Right. That too," Albus laughed, "Wait…Do I have to?"

"I certainly don't want him!" drawled Scorpius indignantly.

"Come on, then," she urged lovingly. The boys stood on either side of her and she put her arms around them both. Then with a pop, they'd all disapperated.

"They're good boys, aren't they," Harry commented as he stuffed the file into his robes.

"The best!" Neville agreed, "Rescuing the adults and catching the bad guys and they haven't even had their first final exam!" Neville chortled to himself, "He get's that from you, you know!"

"Oh, really?" Harry asked, "And who do you reckon the Malfoy boy got it from?"

"Obviously, it must be somewhere on his mother's side." Harry smiled, but with more grimness than mirth.

"I'm glad they're friends," he said softly and for a moment he seemed to retreat into his own mind.

"Hey mate, where'd you go?" Harry looked at his friend and smiled.

"To Kings Cross Station," he answered, "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Do you remember that first time, Neville?" Neville laughed again, eyes glistening.

"I don't reckon any of us ever forgets that day, mate!"

"Draco Malfoy offered me his friendship that day."

"I don't remember that," said Neville in surprise.

"You were off chasing that toad, I expect."

"Oh, Trevor!" Neville exclaimed, "I'd nearly forgotten about him. I loved that stupid, slimy little bugger!"

"I turned him away," admitted Harry.

"Who?" Neville asked.

"Malfoy."

"Well of course you did. A slimy, mean, little bully he was! You wouldn't have hung around with the likes of-

"I pretty much hated him from the moment I laid eyes on him," Harry interrupted, "And I've often wondered, if things would have been different…had I handled the situation differently."

"Well, if 'if' was a skiff, mate, we'd all take a ride," Neville recited wisely, "If your trying to suggest that the second Voldemort War wouldn't have happened if eleven-year-old Harry had given eleven-year-old Malfoy a big hug that day, I think you might be…"

"I'd like my children to have compassion," Harry interrupted pensively, "more than I had."

"Harry," Neville began in disbelief, "You are, and have always been, the most compassionate person I know!'

"And if you'd had told eleven-year-old Harry that one day his son would be good friends with a Malfoy, he'd probably have considered it a brutal insult and hexed the daylights out of you!" Neville had a good laugh off of that statement and even Harry smiled a bit. Once he'd calmed down, he continued.

"But you know, Harry, the whole time that's what we were fighting for." Harry looked at him curiously.

"Oh, we thought we were fighting Voldemort and Deatheaters, but what we were really fighting was the hatred. We were fighting so that one day our great-great-grandkids could look back on that era and say, 'what in Merlin's name were those crazy gits thinking?'" They both laughed.

"I reckon that's about right," Harry conceded.

"Of course, it's right." countered Neville.

Suddenly, their reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of the door above them being unlocked and opened.

"That'll be Mr. Davies," Neville said in a low voice.

"Right," answered Harry, "Let's go up and have a talk with him." And with that, the two friends went on about their business.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my story. If you have, you might also enjoy "Albus Potter and the Spellbinder", which is next in the series and takes place at the begining of Albus' second year. You can find it in my profile. Feel free to review, especially if something in the story didn't make sense. Thanks!