PLEASE do not read if you haven't finished Deathly Hallows yet!!
Albus watched as the figures of his parents, sister, cousin, aunt, and uncle faded into the distance. His stomach twisted uncomfortably. This is it. He turned his back to the window, sighed, and and sat down in the compartment of the Hogwarts Express.
"Albus, are you worried?" Rose asked, tilting her her small face thoughtfully. Albus shook his head, though unsure if he had answered truthfully. The two sat in silence for a moment, until a tall, thin, stunningly beautiful figure with long silvery hair clambered into the compartment. A Head Girl Badge gleamed on the front of her robes.
"Hi, Victoire!" Rosie jumped up to give her cousin a hug.
"Hey, Rosie, Al! You two excited for your first day of Hogwarts?" She asked with a grin. She sat down next to Rose, and Albus managed to nod. Rosie exploded into questions about Victoire's snogging Teddy Lupin.
Albus turned, already bored with the subject. He noticed a small, blondeish-white haired boy standing in the doorway. Al recognized him immediately to be Scorpius Malfoy, the boy Uncle Ron pointed out at the station. Apparently he and Al's father were enemies with Scorpius' father. Al felt hatred rush through him, though he wasn't quite sure why. The boy looked nice enough, and quite scared.
"Um, do you mind if I sit here? This is the only compartment with any room left. Well, besides the one where a boy is trying to transfigure his trainers into roller skates..."
Al grinned. "That would be my brother, James." He remembered that his older brother had been trying to succeed with that trick all summer. "And yes, you can sit with us."
The small boy sat down next to Albus, casting a nervous glance towards Vic and Rosie, who were still giggling about Teddy. "Who're they?" Scorpius asked.
"My cousins, Rosie and Victoire Weasley." Al answered.
"They don't look like Weasleys," Scorpius said, confused. Albus knew that Draco Malfoy must have told his son how all of the Weasleys used to be red heads. Albus looked his cousins over. Vic looked like Aunt Fleur, her hair in silver sheets, sparkling grey eyes, and pale, pearly skin. Rosie resembled Aunt Hermione, with bushy brown locks and slight buck teeth. Albus just shrugged, not wanting to explain about the marriages.
"I'm Scorpius Malfoy, by the way," said Scorpius as he extended his hand to Al.
"Albus Potter," he replied, shaking his hand. Scorpius' eyes widened.
"My father talks about your's a lot... I guess they didn't get along very well when they went here together."
"Yeah, my parents have told me stories."
After a while, Victoire stood up. "I should be getting back to my own compartment now. I'll see you guys at the feast!" She waved and left. Rosie looked around, just noticing that another person had joined them.
"Scorpius Malfoy," stated Rose. She crossed her arms. "Son of Draco and Pansy," she sniffed. "What are you doing in our compartment?"
Scorpius looked frightened. "I-I- Albus said I could sit here." the boy stuttered.
Rose's smugness melted away. "Oh, sorry then. I'm Rose Weasley."
"Harry, what are you so worried about? Albus will do fine. He's probably not even off the train yet," Ginny said as she flicked her wand towards the sink. The dirty dishes began washing themselves, suds floating through the air.
"I know Al will be fine, it's actually more James I'm worried about," Harry sighed. He watched out the window where, on the other side, Lily was riding a toy broomstick, her feet skimming the grass. "He's going to try to show up Albus, to make sure everyone knows he's better at magic than his brother."
Ginny came up from behind and wrapped her arms around Harry. "I'm not worried. James is your son, and he won't do anything stupid. Well, not anything dangerously stupid, anyway." Harry and Ginny laughed, watching their daughter zoom after a toy snitch in the front yard. "If things do get out of hand, Victoire's there to sort it out, and Neville and Hagrid will surely be overprotective."
There was a crack at the fireplace, signaling that someone had just arrived through the Floo Network. Ron, Hermione, and Hugo stepped out. Ron hugged his sister and clapped Harry on the back, Hermione hugging them each as well. Hugo ran into the front yard to play with Lily.
"Proud day, isn't it?" Ron smiled. "Two new Hogwarts students."
"Yeah, it is. Hopefully their years at school won't be as dangerous as ours were," Ginny grinned.
"You'll never guess who I got an owl from this morning," Hermione piped up. "Luna Lovegood!" She said when neither Harry nor Ginny guessed corectly.
"Luny Lovegood?" Harry asked fondly. "Haven't heard from her in ages. What's she up to?"
"She's the new Divination teacher at Hogwarts!" Ron said. "Guess we shuld have seen that one coming, mate."
"Potter, Albus!" The frail old witch Al knew to be Minerva McGonnagle called from the front of the Great Hall. Rose squeezed his arm reassuringly before he made his way through the thinning crowd and up to the stool. Albus sat down, looking at the four House tables. He saw Victoire and James grinning up at him from the Gryffindor table. But then, he glanced at Scorpius over at the Slytherin table. The blonde boy saw him looking, and gave him a grin and the thumbs-up.
McGonnagle placed the old battered hat on his head. Albus shut his eyes tightly, and thought Gryffindor! as hard as he could.
"Gryffindor, eh?" the hat whispered into his ear. "Yes, yes, that would make sense. You're a Potter. The whole lot of you have been in Gryffindor. But are you sure you wouldn't like to switch it up a bit? Change is always good..." All Al could do was repeat Gryffindor over and over in his head. "Oh all right then. You children are never any fun. GRYFFINDOR!" the old hat roared.
Cheers erupted as Albus ran to join his brother and cousin at the House table.
"Told you I wouldn't be in Slytherin," he sang to James.
After Rosie had been sorted into Gryffindor as well, Albus immediately began writing a letter to his parents, accidentally slopping some treacle tart onto the parchment.
I'm not in Slytherin! And neither is Rosie.
Albus tucked the letter into his robes, reminding himself to send it with his owl Bucky that night.
Another loud crack filled the air. Ginny and Hermione came out from the kitchen to see who it was.
"Are you throwing a party with out me?' George asked at the sight of the four of them. "No one ever invites Saint George..."
"Relax, George, Harry and Ginny didn't know we were coming over," Ron said as he shook his brother's hand.
"Well, that's a relief," George grinned. "I, uh, brought Lily a toy from the shop," he explained, holding up a toy wand. "Figured it might make her feel a little better about her brothers going off to Hogwarts."
"Oh, that's a good idea, George. Lily and Hugo are in the front yard." Harry told him. George nodded and the others watched out the front window as George, Lily, and Hugo started to play together.
"I swear, he hasn't grown up a bit..." Ginny said as she rolled her eyes.
So, how was it? I know it wasn't that exciting, but it will get better, I promise!!!