The Hogwarts Express was steaming as Rose and her cousin, Albus, boarded. All around them, families were saying goodbye, hugging, and crying. There were mothers attempting to flatten their children's hair, and just as many children attempting to escape to the comfort of the crowded train. Thankfully, Rose and Albus escaped fairly quickly, as their parents were busy berating James for setting off a Dungbomb right under the trunk of a Slytherin boy, whom he didn't like. Rose's mother and Aunt Ginny were chastising James severely, but she could see a satisfied glint in her father and Uncle Harry's eyes. Apparently, they had gone to school with the boy's father, and they never got along.

Mrs. Hermione Weasley turned quickly once they had finished with James. "Rose? Rose!" Rose and Albus stuck their heads out of the windows of the compartment that they had found for themselves.

"We're over here," Albus called out, waving. They exchanged last goodbyes with their parents from there, then shut the windows and found their seats. Albus was running his hand through his already messy black hair, which he did when nervous.

"Are you okay, Al?" Rose asked him with concern.

Albus hesitated. "Uh, yeah," he replied. After a minute, though, he spoke again. "It's just… what if I am put in Slytherin?"

Rose sighed. "You won't be put in Slytherin," she said gently. "You're way too nice. Besides, no one in their right minds would put a Potter in Slytherin."

Albus mussed his hair again. "See, that's just it!" he exclaimed. "Dad says that he almost became a Slytherin! What if the Hat doesn't listen when I ask for Gryffindor?"

Just then, Rose noticed that the compartment door had opened, and a tall boy with blond hair and a pointed face was standing there. "What's wrong with Slytherin?" the boy asked, taking a seat next to Rose. "All the other compartments are full," he said, by way of explanation.

Rose nodded slightly at the boy. She didn't remember him from earlier on the Platform. "Nothing is inherently wrong with the House itself," she replied cynically.

Albus scoffed. "Come on, Rosie. Your dad always says that almost every Dark wizard came out of Slytherin."

Rose shrugged. "Not all. And it's not like every single Slytherin goes bad. Mum says that the main trait of Slytherins is that they're cunning. That's not a bad thing."

The blond boy was nodding vehemently. "Yes, exactly!" he said enthusiastically. "My name is Scorpius, by the way. Scorpius Malfoy."

Albus blanched. "You're Scorpius Malfoy?" he asked in shock. Rose kicked her cousin in the shin. "What?" he mouthed at her.

She turned and extended a hand toward Scorpius. "Rose Weasley," she said, then turned toward Albus. "And this is my cousin, Albus Potter."

Scorpius shook Rose's hand, then turned toward Albus for a handshake, but Albus just stared at the boy's pale hand in distaste.

Just then, a fat, ancient witch came by, pushing a cart loaded with sweets. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked them.

The three of them all stood, pulling coins from their pockets. Rose had the least amount of money out of all three of them. The Weasley family was doing better financially, but their Gringotts vault still couldn't compare to the Potter or Malfoy fortunes. Of course, Rose's Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were more than willing to share their money with the Weasleys, but Rose's parents were too embarrassed to take their money. The Potters always managed to slip a few Galleons in on them, however. Whenever Rose or her brother, Hugo had a birthday, there were always several shiny gold Galleons taped to the inside of the cards.

Albus bought a huge stack of sweets, mostly made up of Cauldron Cakes and Chocolate Frogs. He had a large collection of Chocolate Frog cards, which he stored in a shoebox. Scorpius Malfoy also got a few frogs, but spent most of his money on Bertie Bott's Beans and Licorice Wands. Rose contented herself with a pack of Droobles and a couple of Pumpkin Pasties.

The three young students sat back down after the old witch had departed and tore into their sweets. Rose noticed that Scorpius was picking carefully through his Beans, eyeing each one carefully before eating it. Apparently, this boy ate them often, as he knew exactly which ones were "safe", and which to stay away from. Many people, Albus included, tended to tear wildly through the packets, eating handfuls at a time, and then paid for it by getting a mouthful of vomit, earwax, and liver flavored beans at the same time.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed, where the only sounds heard were that of wrappers crinkling. Rose, in an attempt to break the silence, turned to Scorpius Malfoy. "So, Scorpius," she said. "Do you collect Chocolate Frog cards?" she asked him curiously.

Scorpius had just bitten the head off of a frog, which was really the best way to immobilize them. He chewed for a moment, swallowed, and shook his head. "No. Father says it's childish," he explained. Subconsciously, Albus shifted his candy wrappers to cover the pile of cards that he was planning on adding to his collection.

At that point, they were saved from another awkward silence when the compartment door opened again. James and Fred, a few more cousins of Rose's were standing together in the doorway. "Hey, Al," James said, nodding at his younger brother. He then leaned past Scorpius Malfoy and ruffled Rose's hair. "Hey, Rosie," he greeted fondly with a wide grin. Fred was leaning against the doorframe with his eyes crossed.

Fred then looked over at Scorpius, who James seemed not to even notice. "Who's your friend?" he asked his cousins.

Rose was opening her mouth to answer, but Albus cut her off. "He's not our friend," he said quickly.

Rose shot Al an annoyed glance. "This is Scorpius," she told Fred.

"Malfoy," Albus added with a sneer. Scorpius just stared at his lap, tapping his fingers on his knee. James' eyebrows shot up and Fred took a better look at the blond boy sitting next to his cousin.

"Well, then," James said awkwardly. "We should be there soon. I'd get changed if I were you."

The younger students nodded, and James and Fred left, chatting animatedly with each other about Dungbombs.

The train soon stopped in Hogsmeade. Rose and Albus had been to Hogsmeade before, usually to visit the Hogsmeade branch of their Uncle George's joke shop. After getting off of the train, they could hear a familiar, booming voice from somewhere to their left. "Firs' years, this way! Firs' years! Firs' years, this way!" Rose turned and saw Hagrid there, who often visited their home for dinner.

"Hagrid!" Rose said excitedly, then grabbed Albus' hand and dragged her cousin over to the huge man, whose beard and hair was now streaked with grey. After all, he was no longer young.

Hagrid grinned, making the skin around his eyes crinkle. "Hey, Rosie. Hey, Al. Are yeh ready for yer firs' year? Excited?"

Albus nodded quickly. "Yeah, it should be great," he said excitedly.

They soon boarded the boats, as their parents had described. Hagrid had a boat to himself, and he led them across the cold, dark lake. Rose was in a boat with Albus, Scorpius Malfoy, and a girl with long blonde hair and glasses. In the distance, Rose could have sworn she saw a tentacle trail lazily across the top of the water. The tapped Albus on the shoulder and pointed, but it was already gone. A quick glance exchanged with Scorpius showed that he saw it, though. Rose thought James had been lying about there being a giant squid.

"Did you see that?" Scorpius asked in amazement, with his grey eyes wide. Rose nodded, before seeing Albus' look of disbelief.

The boats steered themselves of their own accord, and Rose couldn't contain her gasp as they rounded a bend, so that she could see the castle for the first time. Rose wasn't the only one, either. Everyone around her was staring up at the castle in awe. Rose had never seen anything like it before. Hogwarts Castle looked like something out of the Muggle fairy tales that her mother used to read to her. It had beautiful turrets and towers, and the windows were orange from the fireplaces flickering merrily inside. When Rose had heard that Hogwarts was a castle, she had imagined something like Buckingham Palace, which she had visited the summer before. Hogwarts was infinitely more grand.

The blonde girl sitting behind Rose looked like her eyes were about to bug out of her head. Albus, too, was staring upward, letting his mouth hang open.

Soon, the boats stopped and the new students disembarked. They were all silent, following Hagrid up to the castle. Some of the students looked utterly terrified, but most looked nervous but excited. One small boy was whispering to the boy beside him about having to duel a herd of centaurs for the Sorting.

A/N. Hey, Jules here! So, this is my first legit fanfiction in quite some time. And it's also my first next generation fic. I've just been reading a lot of Rose/ Scorpio stories lately. You know. I got the bug. XD

Anyway, I've got through about chapter 3 written, but not typed, so I'll get on that once I can. I only have 10 more days of school, so once that's over, I'll have A LOT more time to write.

Until then, did you like it? Yes? No? What were the best parts? Worst parts? So far, who are your favorites out of my characters? (Obviously, I haven't introduced or developed many characters yet. Don't worry. More will come. Especially chapter 3… lots of character interaction in that chapter.

So, yeah! This is Jules, signing off.