Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be posting this as fanfiction, I'd probably be publishing a new book. J.K. Rowling owns it all.

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"Albus, stop following me around." The taller boy demanded, stopping abruptly and turning around to frown at his little brother.

"But James, I d-don't remember how t-to..." Albus stuttered nervously, not wanting to make his older brother angry again.

"It's not my fault you don't remember how to get to the common room." James exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

"Please, James. It'll be the last time. I promise."

"I'm going to the library anyway." Al opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when his brother pointed at him with his wand, looking visibly upset. "And stop following me."

"But James..." he eyed the wand warily.

"For Merlin's pants, why did you have to be sorted into Gryffindor?!" James looked exasperated, lowering his wand. "Now, seriously. The room is that way. Stay away from me."

Albus nodded, and James smiled, self-satisfied. He turned around again and left the younger boy standing alone in the empty corridor. Al watched as his brother left, and turned around to follow the direction James had shown him.

He honestly did not remember how to get to the common room! It was just his first week at Hogwarts! Why was James so mean to him at school?!

He walked in silence, wondering why anyone else wasn't in that area of the castle. Was it forbidden? The thought scared him almost immediately. He didn't want to get in trouble, not on his first week, not ever. It was enough for his parents that James got in trouble so often...

Al started panicking as he realised he was completely alone, and that he didn't know where he was, and that the place he was might be forbidden. He started running, longing to find a staircase.

He found one hidden that went downstairs. He hoped he would find the Great Hall and ask someone there. He ran down the stairs, wondering why were they so long and where exactly would they take him. He finally made it into another corridor, and looking back realised that the staircase was hidden behind a wall on that end. He looked around, and his heart sank: now he seriously didn't recognise the place where he was standing.

"Who's that?" he jumped when he heard an unfamiliar voice. He turned around and saw three boys, all of them older than him, staring. Slytherins.

"Isn't that Potter?" the tallest of them asked, smiling slightly.

"Little Potter, as a matter of fact." The first one said, smiling too. He had his hand in where Albus guessed his wand was.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" the third one asked. Albus thought his last name was Nott, but he wasn't so sure.

"I'm lost." Al said, remembering what his father had said about Slytherin not being so bad. Maybe those boys would help him get back to the Great Hall.

"Lost?" Nott repeated, looking at the two boys on his side. "That's a shame."

"Can... c-can y-you tell m-me where the G-Great Hall is?" Albus felt stupid, but he couldn't help but to stutter when he was nervous. The first boy laughed. Al clutched his wand inside his robe's pocket, aware that he alone couldn't do anything against those three boys, who were not only more experienced than him but also bigger.

"We don't like Gryffindors, especially your kind."

"My kind?" Al repeated, not quite understanding.

"Weasleys and Potters. That kind."

"Okay... I'll find the way on my own, then." Albus replied, turning around.

"Get him, Goyle." He heard Nott's voice and he broke into a run straight into the wall he had just come from. It was just like getting into Platform 9 ¾, and he started running up the steps, now clutching his wand maybe with too much strength. He heard the footsteps of the three boys behind him, and he started touching the wall as he ran. When his hand felt that the wall wasn't solid, he ran through it and appeared into another empty and unknown corridor. He wondered how big the castle was.

"He went through that wall!" he heard one of the older Slytherins yelling. He started running once again.

The small boy ran as quickly as he could, looking for a place where to hide from his pursuers. He opened an empty classroom's door and hid behind it, breathing heavily. He was not very sure why the older boys were chasing him, but they sure did not look happy or friendly.

He stood there, silent, waiting for something to happen. He heard the footsteps running past the classroom, and he felt relieved. Whoever those Slytherins were and whatever their problem with him was, he had managed to escape.

He sighed and looked the classroom for the first time. He knew he had never been there before and also that probably not many people got in there very often. The desks had dust on them, and there was no desk for the professor at the front. Instead, there was a huge mirror. And he was surprised he hadn't seen the mirror before: it was almost as high as the classroom ceiling, if not the same height, and it had a very impressive ornate gold frame. He walked towards it to read the inscription on it.

"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." He read out loud. "What does that mean?"

He had inherited his dad's curiosity, and couldn't help but to walk even closer to the mysterious mirror. From a distance, he could see his normal reflection, but as he got closer he started noticing that there was something strange about the mirror.

He stopped right in front of it, and stared disbelievingly at the mirror. He looked over his shoulder to verify he was still alone, and he indeed was. He turned his sight back to the mirror, and tried to figure out what was going on.

In the reflection, he wasn't standing there alone. He was standing with his older cousins Fred and Louis and his brother. They looked older and were dressed in scarlet robes and carrying broomsticks. The only different thing about his attire in comparison to the other boys' was that he was wearing what looked like a badge. The three older boys smiled, and his reflection smiled too. James had his arm around his shoulders, and for once he looked proud of standing next to young Albus.

Al turned around, not wanting to see that picture anymore. He could've inherited his dad's curiosity but he wasn't half as brave as Harry Potter had been at his age. Albus Potter was scared again…what was going on with that mirror?

He walked towards the classroom door again, not quite managing to stop thinking about what he had seen in the strange mirror. Would it ever be possible for James to stand next to him and look like he actually liked him?

He opened the classroom door, tears up in his eyes. He knew James would never like him because he was nothing more than his annoying, little brother.

"Nott! There he is!" he jumped in fear and saw Goyle running towards him from the other end of the corridor. He started running once again and he turned left. He looked over his shoulder to see if he was still being chased, and he accidentally ran into someone else. He looked up in fear, pointing his wand, thinking he would find the third Slytherin.

"Albus, what are you doing here?" James looked annoyed once again. James looked up from his brother as two of the three Slytherins appeared around the corner, both of them carrying their wands.

James pushed his younger brother aside and flicked his wand as he said an incantation. The bigger boy tripped and fell flat on his face, and the second one ran into him, falling as well. Nott appeared around the corner as well, and before he could understand what had just happened, James casted the Jelly-Legs jinx on him.

"That was incredible." Al said in delight at his brother's magical performance. James grabbed his arm and pulled him, and they both ran. James made a turn right and then left, and found yet another hidden staircase. He stopped running after a while, not saying a word to his little brother.

Al suddenly realised he knew where they were. It was close to the Gryffindor tower. As they approached the fat lady's portrait, James glanced at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper. Al nodded. "Did they hurt you?" Al shook his head. "Okay, good."

James said the password and they both walked into the common room.

"Don't tell anyone I helped you." James said in a threatening voice. "Now get away from me."

Albus didn't argue this time. James walked away from him once again, and sat next to Louis, who seemed to be doing homework.

For once, Albus decided he would do exactly what his brother had told him to.

Because now he knew that deep inside, James cared about him, no matter what he said.

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This is going to be a seven-chapter long story (one for each of Albus' years at Hogwarts) and it'll have scenes like this one of James and Albus' relationship as brothers...

I'm both a younger and older sister, and I know how some siblings' relationship works... and I thought it'd be cool to write about James and Albus. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Please review, it is always nice to have some feedback! It usually makes my day whenever I check my e-mail and I find out someone reviewed! :)

-Phankam.