One - The Train
Scorpius was only slightly shaking when he boarded the Hogwarts Express, as he was among the first to step foot on the train he easily found an empty car. He stowed his trunk and closed the car door as tightly as his little skinny arms could manage. It was far too loud for his comfort, he wanted for everyone to stop shouting so loud. He nestled himself right up against the wall, sitting in the corner by the window. He pulled out a muggle book, Catcher in the Rye and read.
Nearly thirty minutes passed and the blond-headed eleven year-old remained alone. The train lurched forward, and Scorpius mentally kicked himself for shouting from fear. Just as he retrieved his book from the floor the car door was slid open.
"Hey Rose, I think this one is-" the dark haired boy with green eyes paused mid-sentence, and a tall girl with red hair and freckles came up behind him.
"Sorry," she said. "But can we sit with you? All the other cars are full."
Scorpius nodded quickly, and the let themselves into the cabin. The girl easily lifted their trunks and slid them onto the racks. The boy sat down directly opposite of him, the girl sitting next to the strange boy. The girl's curly ginger hair was swept up into a nice bun, and her eyes were an insanely intense shade of blue. They boy was shorter than the girl, he had unruly dark brown locks and dark skin. His eyes were a striking shade of green. The intensity of their eyes made Scorpius a tad bit insecure about his own. His eyes were practically lifeless, they were a cold, harsh grey.
"I'm Rose Granger-Weasley, by the way. And this is my cousin, Albus Potter." Albus waved. Scorpius returned the favor half heartedly out of anxiety. Potter? As in the chosen one his father had rivaled many years ago?
"I-I'm Scorpius Malf-foy."
"Nice to meet y-" Rose began, but it seemed Albus had something important to say.
"Wait! Malfoy?" he said, Albus seemed intrigued, perhaps it was the son of the very same Harry Potter.
"Yes. My dad is-" once again Albus interrupted.
"Your father is Draco Malfoy! Isn't he." Scorpius couldn't tell if Albus was happy about this or not, but he nodded anyway.
Albus launched into a rather loud speech about his father's history, some of his inane stories included Rose's mum and dad as well. Scorpius' father seemed to be the bad guy, until the end. From what he heard Scorpius like Rose's mum the best. When Albus got the wizarding war he was talking very loud, it was making the blond boy uncomfortable.
"Albus, shut your mouth." Rose said. "You're scaring him."
"No, you shut your mouth. We're boys, Rose. We like loud things, and fighting." Scorpius noticed how Rose annunciated every syllable while Albus said 'an' instead of 'and'.
"Don't we, Scorpius." Scorpius raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Us boys like loud things." the tiny, blond boy wanted to laugh. He hated loud noises.
"Uh. Ye-es. We do." Rose gave him a sideways glance.
"Is that a muggle book?" she asked.
"Yes, it's J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. It's my favorite." he handed the novel to the slender red-head. She smiled, inspecting the book.
"What house do you think you're going to be in?"
"I-I don't know. My whole family were Slytherin." Albus made a face. "But I don't know, maybe I'm Ravenclaw, that's what my father thinks."
Of course Draco was only joking about his son not being a Slytherin, Scorpius hoped his father would be okay with a Ravenclaw son. Albus was sure he was a Gryffindor, his brother James was. Albus liked to talk a lot, he was loud, but Rose always told him to quiet down, and he always listened. Scorpius didn't mind the green-eyed boy's endless chatter, it passed the time. Rose just read his copy of Catcher in the Rye.
The train pulled in and everyone funneled out. It was nighttime, but the abundance of lanterns made it easy to see. Scorpius was pressed up between Rose and a very lost fourth year, it was a sea of black robes and magic. Albus shouted at his brother James, a second year, from across the platform and James pretended not to hear him. In front of everyone was a giant man with an unkempt beard and an umbrella.
"Rose! It's Hagrid!" he pointed excitedly at the giant. "Look, Scorpius, it's Hagrid the gamekeeper. He's nice, you'll like him." Albus did it again, he said 'im' instead of 'him'. Rose and Albus waved and smiled.
"Alrigh' all ya first years get into a boat, three to 'em."
Albus and Hagrid talked alike, Hagrid also swung his umbrella around, and pointed it wildly, he did it all with a welcoming, grandfatherly smile. The boy was right though, he did like Hagrid. Except he was loud. But that was okay because he seemed nice enough.
The trio all climbed into a small wooden boat without oars, but it still began to floating in the direction of the castle. Albus was jittery with excitement, he kept rocking the magical boat. The lantern on the bow kept swaying in the wind. Scorpius hated that he was scared of the dark, shimmering water.
"Scorpius, Rose! Look! The castle!" Albus stood up, the tiny boat rocked, Scorpius gripped the sides so hard is knuckles were white.
"Albus, plea-ase don't shake the boat." he pleaded
"Scared, Malfoy?"
"Stop it!" Rose commanded, swatting him with the book.
"Are you?" Albus said.
"Maybe."
Albus sat down immediately. "Okay."
For the rest of the ride the three talked about the different houses. And what they imagined the classes, and the meals, and the dormitories and the common rooms would look like. Albus never again stood up. Or shook the boat, and was very cautious all together, he even helped Rose out. His father would be proud.
Everyone was packed into the great hall, the first years were mesmerized by the floating candles keeping the place bright. Rose, Albus, and Scorpius sat one the end of the first table. Rose was worried they would be sorted into different houses. Albus was scared that he wouldn't be in Gryffindor. And Scorpius was terrified he wouldn't be in Slytherin. Scorpius was trying not to panic while Rose and Albus clutched each other's hands as Headmaster McGonagall began to explain the Sorting Ceremony.