A/N: This is my first attempt at Next Gen (which I loathe), written for the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Hopefully it's not as awful as I think it is! Lol. I used two prompts: the genre friendship, and the emotion excited.

All your base are belong to JKR, blah blah blah.

Albus Severus was deep in thought. This was no small task to accomplish, considering the fact that his brother James and his cousin Rose were playing a lively game of Exploding Snap, but not even the frequent bangs and competitive noises in the enclosed train compartment disrupted his inner dialogue.

What if I'm sorted into Slytherin? He shifted in his seat, drawing Rose's eye, which he ignored.

What of it? responded his logical side. Dad said it'll be ok. He said the Sorting Hat listens to what kids want.

But why? I'm just eleven. Why would some old talking hat listen to me?

His inner voice didn't seem to have an answer to that, and fell silent.

After several more moments had passed, he became aware that Rose was once again watching him.

"What, Rose?" he grouched.

Rose just looked at James. "D'you mind getting me something from the trolley?"

They were between plays, so James nodded. "I could do with something, myself. What do you want?

"Oh, anything's fine." She smiled her thanks.

As soon as James left the compartment, Rose turned to Albus.

"You know Hugo and I are Scorpius Malfoy's fourth cousins, right?"

Familiarity with obscure links on family trees was typical of Rose's overreaching intelligence, but Albus didn't see what this had to do with anything. He raised his eyebrows and made a "what of it?" gesture.

"Soooo" - Rose drew out the word – "you're related to him too, being my cousin and all."

"What's your point?" Albus wasn't sure what was going on. Then again, he was used to Rose coming out of left field, so it hardly surprised him.

"My point is that you share the blood of the scion of one of the most Slytherin families in the Wizarding World. Two people can share the same blood, and not be remotely alike. Besides, Scorpius isn't half-bad" - here she blushed slightly, to Albus' chagrin - "and even if you get sorted into the big bad S. House, it doesn't necessarily make you bad. It's not like you can't choose your path."

Albus shook his head. Sometimes he thought Rose could read his mind. He had long since given up trying to puzzle out how she always knew what he was thinking, and just chalked it up to her being family.

"Besides, there are lots of other reasons why Slytherins are awesome."

"Spill," he demanded, intrigued.

"Nope. If you were better at eavesdropping, you'd probably know already." At this point, Albus snorted something about how if anyone was going to be sorted into Slytherin, it would be Rose, but she merely grinned cheekily. "Just ask Uncle Harry what Scorpius' grandma did for him."

"For Scorpius?"

"No, silly, for your dad."

Albus knew about the exploits of the man whose middle name he bore, but this was information he didn't have. He tried to get Rose to give up more details, but she was stubborn, and there was no convincing her.

As soon as he finally gave up, she got up from where she had been sitting on the floor, and plopped down next to him.

"Personally, I don't care which House I end up in," she said, swinging her legs back and forth. She was tall for her age, but not so tall that her feet reached the floor. She slung an arm around his shoulders. "I'll be by your side the whole time, if that makes you feel any better. This is new for both of us."

Albus would never have admitted just how much better this actually made him feel, but the burden he felt he had been carrying lifted, just a bit. When James came back with sweets from the lunch lady, he ate more than he had in days. For the first time, he found that he was excited to start this new journey.

A/N: Gahhhh! Shudder. The horror that is Next Gen just permeated my pores, and I think I'm dying a slow, painful death on the inside.

Shoot me.