"Albus Severus Potter. You were named after the two bravest men I ever knew, and one of them was a Slytherin."
That's not what I meant! Albus wanted to protest. That's not it!
Chapter One
Albus Potter woke up with the bedclothes tangled around his neck and his halfheartedly wondered if this was a sign about how Hogwarts woud go. Strangled on his first day? Quite possibly, with the stories Dad had told. Although hopefully there wouldn't be any evil dark lords out to get him, unlike his father's years. Hopefully.
He hopped out of bed, stretching, and then wincing. His ribs hurt viciously, and he wondered if there was anyway he could postpone going. Did Hogwarts get transfer students like muggle primary schools did? Surely! But no, there was only the one train, only the one ceremony and sorting.
The Sorting.
The smell of bacon drifted up the stairs, and mere seconds later there was the thumping of James down the stairs. First come, first to devour breakfast. As per usual, naturally. James was an endless black hole of hungry, at twelve years old.
But to be fair, the second pair of much more delicate feet pattering down the stairs would be Lily, who ate as much as the two boys and dad put together. Mum said she had hollow legs.
And, inevitably, Albus would be second to last at the breakfast table, distracted by his daydreams, or in today's case, by his worries. By the amount of minutes left till he boarded the wizarding world's best train to the best magical school in the world, ticking away on his magic eight ball clock, an ironic gift from his Uncle George. He slowly put on his jeans, a dark blue pair stiff with newness, and his favorite dark grey t-shirt. Mum said it brought out his eyes. Oh, but he'd be wearing school robes at Hogwarts, wouldn't he? And the white trim would turn whatever color of the house he got chosen for.
It all went back to the sorting, didn't it?
How would his clothes work anyway? Did he put his robes on over his clothes? Or was he supposed to walk around in his briefs and undershirt under the robes? What if he got cold? Even worse, what if a breeze made them part? In front of girls? Was it an over the head thing or a one arm, two arm deal?
"Albie?" Lily squeaked, "Breakfast?" Her large green eyes peered from behind his door, an eyebrow quirking.
It was then that Albus realized he'd been frozen with one red trainer half on, the tongue puckered up and the laces held still in the air. He shook his head and smiled shyly at his little sister. "Hi Lilikins."
"Breakfast?" She repeated. "Jamie's gonna eat all the hashbrowns. And bacon. And pro'lly all of the eggs. Mum made 'em sunnysides!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs, one trainer flopping off so he had to run on his tiptoes and the other in his free hand. She let go of him promptly at the foot of the stairs and he flew forward, only stopped from crashing into the sink by his mum's hand hooking itself around his middle and placing him on the floor.
"You're lucky I made extra," She sighed, "Jamie's on his thirds. Good morning, Albus."
"Morning, mum. Thank you." He hugged her, than sat down at the table, pausing in between snarfing down breakfast to stare with apprehension at the clock. Eight seventeen. How many minutes had his daydreaming took? It felt like hours, days, years-
"Jamie, stop stealing!" Lily protested, smacking her oldest brother on the forearm. Albus blinked, looking down at his plate. One of his bacon was missing.
"James." He corrected. "Everyone at school calls me James!" He stuffed the stolen bacon in his mouth and smirked at Albus. "Nervous?"
"Ah-"
"Of course he's not! He's Albus Severus Potter, of the Harry and Ginny Potters!" Lily exclaimed, waving her fork in the air. "We're not nervous of anything or anybody!"
Um, actually-
"Oh, stop teasing, both of you!" Mum chided, mussing their hair, "We all get nervous, regardless of being Potters."
Albus sighed, and shoveled more hashbrowns in his mouth. At this rate, Dad wouldn't have anything left to eat and he'd accio McDonalds. Again. But Albus' stomach was tight with nervousness, and not that silly kind of first day nervousness either. Not the kind 'everybody' had. The kind that he kept him up at night all summer. The king that made him read "Hogwarts, A History" obsessively, like Auntie Hermionie did, trying to memorize everything about it. The staircases, the different kinds of food, the innermost corridors.
The history behind the houses. It all went back to the Sorting. Was he loyal, knowledgeable, ambitious?
Or brave like his father? Like his whole family? Even if he was chosen for Gryffindor, how could he possibly measure up to everyone else? To his uncles? To his mum? To James?
To his dad? His breathing grew shallow, and Lily looked at him worriedly. Knowing her, she'd probably invent some sort of new charm spell and become famous, at least when she actually started school. James would be a seeker for Gryffindor as soon as he could, following in their father's footsteps like the perfect son he was. Albus might make a record of how many people he could trip in front of. 1st year boys, one point. Girls in general, five points. Upperclassmen, three points. Teachers, a whopping ten points! He'd probably be in the thousands by the end of first year.
To say he was nervous was an understatement.
Mum whipped her bright yellow apron off with a flourish, and fluffed her hair in the mirror in the hallway. James rolled his eyes. He never understood the point of Mum wanting to look pretty for Dad and made a point to gag every time they kissed. "You're already married!" He'd protest, "You don't have to keep trying to impress him!"
Albus thought it was cute.
"Harry!" Mum called through their bedroom door, "You're late! And missing breakfast!"
There was a thudding sound, and then Dad flung open the door, glasses hanging askew off his face, and his hair a bushy black cloud.
"Sumthin' bout breakfast?" He grinned. "Sounds lovely!" He started to dart off to the table, but Mum caught him round the middle like she had with Albus.
"No breakfast until you're out of your pajamas." Mum said. Dad winked at her before diving back in the room to pull on a pair of trousers, a white button up shirt, and a suit jacket. What were those adult shoes called? Albus wondered. Those black shoes that fancy business men, like his father, wore. Loafers? Oh, but these weren't for loafing at all. These shoes gave off a more sophisticated air.
Dad noticed Albus' staring and chuckled, taking the seat next to him and filling up his plate with the leftover bacon and eggs.
"Thank you, Gin." He mumbled through food.
"Morning, Da'!" Lily chirped, positively beaming at him.
"Morning Dad." James repeated, done with breakfast and now making a sandwich, to Mum's chagrin.
"Good morning Dad." Albus repeated quietly.
"Big day!" He boomed, rubbing at the dark stubble on his cheeks. "School day! Hermionie must've had a field day buying books for Rose, eh, Gin?"
Mum clucked. "Yes, I know. She called me every three seconds, complaining about the new editions of schoolbooks. Apparently they updated the 1st year tranfigurations book, and now it has six hundred and fifty one pages instead of six hundred and sixty two, and apparently, the margins are a half a centimeter wider."
Dad chuckled again. "Of course. Half a centimeter!" Mum chucked toast onto his plate and he kissed her in thanks. On cue, Mum blushed, and James gagged.
"Ew, old people kissing!" Lily squealed, topping out of her chair, She grabbed Albus' hand and yanked him up. "C'mon! I'll help you finish packing!"
Driving to the train station was not the worst part. Having James spaz out over Teddy and Victoire snogging was not the worst part. Realizing for a final time he wouldn't see Lily for a full year, minus Christmas, wasn't the worst part. The worst part was having his father drop down to his height and ask him what was wrong.
"What if I'm chosen for Slytherin?" He blurted, staring wide eyed at him, green eyes against blue.
"Albus Severus." Dad said carefully. "You were named after two Hogwarts professors, the bravest men I ever knew. and one of them was a Slytherin."
The words warmed Albus' heart, but the dread in his stomach doubled. Oh, but that's not what I meant! How will I make you proud if I'm Slytherin? Everyone will be expecting me to be Gryffindor! Our whole bloody family is Gryffindor, but what if I'm not?!
Dad sighed. "Don't worry."
That was a little too late.
"The sorting hate takes the thoughts and feelings of the students into questions. That's what it did for me."
"For you?" Albus gaped. What did you tell it? Where did it want to put you originally? Do all these questions make me a Ravenclaw? Did it want to put you in Ravenclaw?
Dad simply put a finger to his lips and whispered. "Shhhhh."
"Albie! The trains almost ready, we've got to get on!" James yelled from the window. He'd already hugged mum and dad goodbye earlier, but Albus took a bit more time. He picked Lily up and twirled her around, promising to send her letters. She giggled, and said she'd try the best she could to spell everything right when she replied.
Then he hugged his mother. "I'll miss you, mum." he whispered, blinking back tears against her lilac dress.
"I'll miss you too," Her voice faltered a bit, but she cleared her throat and stepped back, smiling at him. "And your father and I have a last present for you." She gestured to her husband, who sheepishly grinned and pulled a very furry bundle out of his oversize coat pocket.
"You need an animal companion, don't you?" He said, "Here. We saw you staring when we bought schoolbooks."
It open brilliant orange eyes, striking against its cream fur. Albus gasped and clutched it to him before hugging both his parents tightly, and then just his Dad.
"I love you!" He waved, before darting onto the train. It was difficult to carry his large trunk, his carpetbag, and his new kitten, along with his dignity, but the kitten was content to jump into the hood of his sweatshirt, which made things easier. He clambered into the compartment and sat down next to James before jumping up to push the window down and wave goodbye to his parents.
"Bye! Goodbye!" He called as the bus started to move, "See you by Christmas! Goodbye!"
Eventually, their faces grew smaller and their voices grew quieter, but Albus waved until his brother sighed exasperatedly and told him to sit down.
"What'd they give you?" He asked excitedly, leaning forward. "I got a book of trick spells last year, and let me tell you, that's been useful. It looks pretty harmless, right? Full of silly stuff, like making bedsheet ghosts move on their own. Innocent stuff. But if you look carefully, there's some letters bolded and it's a code. Then it's whole different spells, and not always innocent. I might let you borrow it." He winked.
"I got a kitten." Albus said shyly, pulling it out of his hood. "It's cute. Do you think mum knew about the book you got?"
"Ha! No way, but I'm sure Dad did. He's a lot more clever than he acts, almost as bad as Uncle George. And I'm sure he used a couple of the secret spells on Mum before he gave it to me. what're you going to name the kitten?"
"Kitten?!" Rose said excitedly, springing into the compartment. "Where? Oh, Albie, that's great!"
He held it out and it squeaked. Rose cooed, and petted the top of its head before plunking down at the other side of the compartment. Hugo stumbled in after her and fist-bumped James. Rose promptly buried her face in one of the books from her seemingly bottomless satchel, which slung over her shoulder weighing no more than a feather. Her mother probably taught her all sorts of spells to put on it. The title, which Albus could see instead of her face was Simply Charming. After all, she did have a unicorn tail and birch wand. Rose was practically meant for charms.
"Guess what chucklehead we saw hugging his mommy goodbye?" Hugo snickered, spinning his fingers in the air, and leaving candy floss thin strings of gold in the air. He and James had mastered that trick in first year, and delighted in leaving rude drawings and words floating in the halls.
"Oh, you're kidding! The slithery slippery snake? He's starting this year! Oh, this is gonna be fun." James crowed, reaching across to high five Hugo.
"The oozy goozy Mallllllllfoy." Hugo sneered. "You just know he's gonna be a snake, just like his daddy."
"Little twit. I bet he tries to learn curses on his first day." James hissed.
"Bet he asks about the story-"
"Shut up. Both of you." Rose said sharply. "Our fathers let go of hating Malfoys, so should you. Mum would be furious, Hugo."
"You realize you're talking about the same mum who clocked the snake's Da' in the first place, right?" Hugo pointed out, and was rewarded with a piercing glare.
"That was years ago. Draco Malfoy's son is not his father. There is no guarantee that he'll be a Slytherin, just like there's no guarantee that I'll be a Gryffindor like you and our parents. Don't you see you're being ridiculous?" She huffed.
The two older boys simply looked at each other and shrugged. "Still don't like him." James said.
"Beady eyes."
"Hides behind that weird hair of his."
"Why's it so shaggy anyway?"
"Makes him look like a twit."
"He is a twit."
"Quite so!"
There was a sudden slamming of the compartment door as Rose flounced out, her satchel very nearly crashing into Albus' head. Sigh. They'd made her mad, as usual. She did have a bit of a temper, and the two older boys loved setting her off. Albus was usually the one to calm her back down again. He gave his brother and cousin explicit instructions to protect his stuff, popped the kitten in his sweatshirt hood, where it purred and licked his ear, and jumped out into the train hallway.
Right into a girl with long chestnut hair.
"I'm so sorry!" He blurted, his hand immediately flying backward to check on his kitten, who had angrily scratched him when he crashed into the girl.
The girl.
The girl with long chestnut hair and deep green eyes behind large round glasses with thin gold frames, who was rubbing her head.
Oh my god, he'd crashed into the girl.
"Are you okay?" He spluttered, "I'm so sorry, again. I'm such a klutz!"
She smiled at him. "Really, it's fine. I'm perfectly alright. I should have been watching where I was going, I bumped into you, and for that I apologize. I'm sorry. What's your name?"
Albie gaped for a moment. "Uh, Albus, well technically Albie. Unless you'd prefer to call me Albus. Albus Potter."
"Potter?" Her eyes glittered. "Yes, you must be. I can see it in your face. My parents talk about Potters all the time. Magnolia Jones, pleased to meet you, Albus. You must be a first year. I would have remembered if I'd met you before." She daintily stuck her hand out, and he hesitantly shook it.
"Um..Yes, I am. Nice to meet you too. You'd heard of Potters?" He looked down at her feet in light green flats. What shoes were necessary for wizarding school anyway?
"Is there anyone who hasn't?" She giggled merrily. "I must say, no one's ever heard of a Jones. I'm a third year. Hufflepuff. If you ever need anything, please let me know. I'd love to help you." She sent him a beaming grin and Albus promptly blushed scarlet.
"T-thank you."
"Mr. Potter, won't you smile for me please? I bet you look cute when you do."
"Ah! Um, o-okay.' He quickly smiled as wide as he dared, hoping he didn't look like a psychopath.
"I was right." She said happily. "Goodbye, Albus!" She waved and continued down the hall. Albie felt a floating feeling in his stomach, like he'd eaten cloud candy, only he wasn't spontaneously rising off the ground this time, he checked when Magnolia hadn't been looking.
Magnolia. Magnolia Jones.
He was suddenly much more okay with the possibility of being sorted into Hufflepuff.
Eyyyy first HP fanfiction. Review please, I want to know what you think!
