Disclaimer: I DO NOT own the world of Harry Potter; I just love to write about the amazing characters.

Chapter 1 – Platform 9 ¾

Albus Potter's stomach did a flip as he looked across the street at King's Cross train station. Today was September first and he and his family were headed to Platform 9 ¾ so the he could catch the Hogwarts express for his first year of school at the school for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Albus was eleven and had received his letter for Hogwarts only a few months ago. Of course he had known that we would be going there ever since he was able to turn a frog into a sweet and then back again when his mother had caught him at age three. But even though he knew he was supposed to go, that didn't mean that he wasn't nervous about everything that he would have to do. His brother had told him all of the tests that first years were put through to make sure they belonged there. Apparently you have to battle a large spider or snake, or you had to make it past a tree called the Whompimg Willow that tried to kill you with it's branches.

For the past week Albus had hardly been able to sleep a wink, the possible tests running through his head again and again.

As they walked through the entrance of the station he vaguely heard his sister Lily cry about wanting to go too, before his brother James leaned in and whispered, "You know you might be in Slytherin?" Albus whipped his head around to face his brother.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytheirn!" Tears of nerves and frustration prickled his eyes.

"James," their mother said behind them, "give it a rest!"

"I only said he might be," Albus was irritated to see the smirk that James gave him, "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth-" He fell silent when Ginny gave him her warning look.

James slumped his shoulders as his brother confidently ran towards the barrier, pushing his trolley before him. He vanished and Albus turned up to his parents, taking advantage of his brother's absence.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" he was embarrassed to hear a note of childish pleading enter his voice.

"Everyday if you want." His mother smiled warmly down at him.

Albus, feeling like a baby, replied quickly, "Not every day. James says most people only get letters from home once a month." He could picture his brother's smirk at getting a letter a day from "Mummy and Daddy".

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," Albus felt a moment of triumph over his older brother, until his nerves twisted his stomach again.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," his father, Harry, added, "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Safely between his parents with his sister clutching the trolley handle on the other side of Ginny, the four of them strode through the barrier.

Albus had been to Platform 9 ¾ last year to send his brother off to his first year, but at the time he felt the pangs of anticipation for a far off event. Now the reality of his situation made his shoulders sag further.

They continued down the platform. Albus was squinting through the mist trying to spot his best friend, who also happened to be his cousin, Rose.

"Where are they?" Albus kept trying to look through the mist that was rising from the train.

"We'll find them." His mother laid a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.

They kept walking until Ginny pointed ahead of them, "I think that's them Al." Albus spotted the indistinct forms of a group of four. Their faces broke into smiles when they finally stood in front of each other. Albus' Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, cousin and best friend Rose and her younger brother Hugo stood by their own trolley that carried Rose's trunk and a basket that Albus suspected carried the cat she had so proudly picked on their combined trip to Diagon Alley.

"Hi," Albus tried to keep the nerves out of his voice, and already at seeing his best friend his stomach was starting to untwist into its normal shape. Rose grinned and swished her robes so Albus noticed she was already wearing her school robes.

They began chattering as their parents greeted each other and started lifting their trunks onto the train. Hugo and Lily began talking about which houses they would be in. The adults came back half way through, brushing their hands off and laughing at something.

Having caught the end of what Lily and Hugo were saying, Hugo's father, Ron clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you, but no pressure."

"Ron!" Hermione swatted her husband and scowled at him.

Albus' stomach dropped a little lower at this, and looking over at Rose he could tell that she felt the same way.

"He doesn't mean it," both Hermione and Ginny stroked their children's heads.

Their fathers went off to the side and Rose whispered to Albus, "What if we aren't in Gryffindor? Our entire family has been! What will we do?"

Albus couldn't answer because a lump had formed in his throat.

"So that's little Scorpius," the voice of Rose's father brought them back to the conversation their parents were having. Harry and Ron had rejoined them and were looking down the platform at a boy with white blonde hair and a haughty expression. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains." Albus saw Rose puff up at her father's praise.

"Ron, for heaven's sake don't turn them against each other before they've even started school!" Hermione frowned at her husband again.

"You're right, sorry," But unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood."

"Hey!" Albus' stomach dropped for what felt like the thousandth time when his brother reappeared. He braced himself for whatever comment he made. But James' mind was on something else entirely.

"Teddy's back there," Teddy was their god brother, his father, Harry's godson. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

Everyone stood there waiting for him to continue. James looked disappointed that his announcement hadn't made more of an impact.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-"

"You interrupted them?' said Ginny. "You are so like Ron-"

"-and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James looked around at everyone trying to emphasize his point.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" Lily beamed and bounced on her toes. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes around for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" James cheered, and Albus silently agreed. "I don't mind sharing with Al – Teddy could have my room!" This, Albus didn't agree with.

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

His father said things like this every once in a while that Albus wondered about. He was very touchy about his children having decent size rooms and absolutely no hand-me-downs. But Albus just shrugged and let it go.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board." Harry said, still looking at his watch.

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny hugged James and then held him out in front of her.

"Mum! I can't give a Professor love!"

"But you know Neville –"

James squirmed out of his mother's grasp. "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love…"

Albus watched his brother sigh at his mother and then turn to face him. He managed to avoid a kick aimed at him by James and then his brother walked past.

"See you later Al. Watch out for Thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

James laughed, said goodbye to his parents and then disappeared onto the train to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," His father told him firmly. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to the school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

His mother leant over and kissed him on the top of the head, giving him a hug at the same time.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," his father said as his hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone 'til you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

Albus took a deep breath and quietly breathed his deepest fear.

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

Harry knelt down and Albus stared into his father's eyes, eyes that looked exactly like his own.

"Albus Severus," his father kept his voice low, which Albus appreciated. "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say –"

"- Then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?" Albus felt a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders.

"It did for me," Harry smiled as the relief on his son's face showed.

Feeling considerably lighter hearted, Albus jumped onto the train and joined Rose in her compartment, and then they both stuck their heads out the window. He looked around and noticed some of the students in the train had their noses pressed up against the glass staring at their family members still on the platform.
"Why are they all staring?" Albus asked his father.

"Don't let it worry you," his uncle said casually. "It's me. I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Lily, Rose and Hugo all laughed. But Albus felt like that wasn't entirely a joke.

Rose and Albus waved enthusiastically at their parents until the platform became a blur through all of the steam from the train. When finally nothing could be seen of the station anymore they pulled their upper bodies into their compartment and sat down opposite each other.

Smiling grimly at his best friend he leaned back in his seat and let the feeling of homesickness wash over him.

A/N: Hey everyone, so this chapter is almost exactly like Rowling's and then I'm going to continue with my own work from here. Obviously I'll just borrowing her stuff from the epilogue in the seventh book, so I hope you enjoy my take on it. Please review!