A/N: The following note applies to previous readers. Skip ahead if you are a first time reader of mine.

She's alive? Unbelievable! I'm SO sorry I haven't updated anything in, like, a year. It's been crazy. First I hit a massive writer's block and had absolutely nothing to write. Then I stopped reading HP fics as much and began to read a lot of Glee. So, I got inspiration for that. I now have a few of those fics to publish as well. After that, my laptop crashed and, while I didn't lose all my work, it stopped connecting to the internet. During that time I wrote a couple of stories and started a bunch of others. Now I've gotten a new laptop, moved over all my files and have gotten back into the swing of things. I can't promise any sort of common updating because I have a very hectic life at the moment, but I'll try to upload a few new fics every now and then. I thank you all for sticking with me through my serious lack of updating.

To new readers, welcome and I apologize for my long, rant-like author's note above. Enjoy!

A Conversation of the Wee Hours

"James?" James Potter II sat up groggily as the voice of his brother floated its way over to him from the doorway of his bedroom. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," James said sarcastically, "Because I just lay in my bed, wide awake but with my eyes closed at three in the morning the day before school starts."

Albus either didn't understand or ignored his brother's sarcastic comment, and instead took that as an invitation to come in.

James rolled his eyes, but moved over, allowing his brother to sit beside him. "What do you want, Al?"

"I can't sleep," Albus said quietly, "I'm too nervous. What if nobody likes me? What if I make no friends? What if I'm sorted into the wrong house? What if I miss mum and dad? What if—?"

"Al," James cut his brother off, "Stop worrying. Hogwarts will be fine. You'll make friends, people will like you, and the sorting hat is never wrong. Mum and dad will write to you every day. Stop worrying so much."

"But I can't! What if I hate Hogwarts?" Albus sounded like he was starting to panic a little bit.

"You won't. Hogwarts is a great place to be." James yawned, making it obvious that this conversation should be finished and that Albus should return to his own bed.

"But what if—?"

"Albus!" James interrupted in annoyance, "Quit it! You woke me up at three in the morning just to come into my room and panic?"

"I thought you could help," Albus said softly, his green eyes filling with tears against his will. He wiped them away quickly, hoping that James hadn't seen. "I guess not. I'll let you sleep then. Night, James."

He stood up and trudged slowly to the door. James sighed, cursing his conscience.

"Wait Al," he said, "Come back here."

Albus looked up and walked back over to the bed. "What?"

"Look, you'll love Hogwarts, I promise. I know that it's scary at first. If you ever tell anyone this, I'll deny it, but I was scared on my first day too. Everybody is, even if they don't admit it. Just try to make friends and you'll be fine."

"What if I get lost?"

"You will," James said, "But once you find your way around you won't. And the teachers go easy on you your first week until you find your way around the school."

"And if I miss mum and dad?"

"Write to them. It's not like it's forever. You'll see them at Christmas. And you'll be having way too much fun to even remember those old people living at home."

"What if nobody likes me?"

James snorted, "That's a joke, right Al?" When his brother looked at him solemnly, James continued. "You're the son of Harry Potter, the saviour of the Wizarding World! You're the nephew of the other two of the Golden Trio! You'll be fine. And even if they don't come immediately, you've still got Rose. She's your friend already. You don't need to be worried about that."

Albus nodded, "I suppose you're right about that. What if I'm sorted into Slytherin?"

"If you tell anyone I said this, I'll deny it and murder you in your sleep, but I was worried about that too. And chances are high that you won't be. And if you are, mum and dad'll still love you."

"But you keep saying that nobody will like me anymore if I get into Slytherin."

"A similar threat goes with this one, you tell anyone I said this, you die, but I don't actually think you will be. I just enjoy taunting you."

Albus nodded and smiled a little. "Thanks James."

"You're welcome, Al. If you want you can lay here for a bit." James patted the spot beside him. "I know you're not tired yet. You can wait here until you get tired if you want."

Albus didn't reply but lay down in the bed next to his older brother and before they knew it they were both asleep.

"Harry," Ginny Potter asked her husband on the morning of September the first. "Have you seen Al? I went to his room and he wasn't there."

"No," Harry replied, "Is he outside?"

"I don't know. I'll check. In the meantime can you wake James?"

Harry nodded. He walked up the stairs and opened the door to his eldest son's room. Inside he saw something that made his heart melt.

He shut the door quietly and went back down the stairs. "Ginny," he called to his wife, "I found him. Come and see this."

Ginny followed Harry up the stairs and together they surveyed the two sleeping boys quietly.

"That's sweet," Ginny said, "I haven't seen them sleeping together for years. She walked over and kissed each of their heads gently before shaking both boys awake.

"Good morning, sleepy-heads," she said, "Time to way up."

James looked up, squinted in the brightness and then looked at his brother. "I never said you could spend the night, Al!" He said, roughly shaking his brother awake. "Wake up!"

"What?" Albus muttered, rubbing his eyes, "Why? Oh." The previous night's events came back into his memory and he sat up. "I'm going to Hogwarts today!" he said.

"And now we're both going to be tired!" James said in annoyance. "I said you could stay until you got sleepy, not until you fell asleep!"

"Sorry," Albus apologized, "I didn't mean to."

"Whatever. When you get sorted into Slytherin we won't have this problem, will we?"

"Shut up, James!" Albus said.

"I should have waited to wake them up," Ginny muttered to her husband, "Now they're just going to fight."

She was right. Both boys were now out of bed, James chasing Albus around, yelling about lack of sleep.

Secretly, though, through the yelled words, Albus and James were both pleased that they had had that conversation the night before. They were brothers until the very end.