Chapter One
Albus
Albus Severus Potter leaned his head up against the window watching foliage blur by. He remembered the advice that his father had given him, what seemed to be so long ago: "The sorting hat takes your choice into account." Was that really true? Staring at the bright colors and the blue sky outside only made Albus more homesick. What if he was put into Slytherin? That would be a total nightmare! He would have to be stuck with… with Scorpius of all people. Albus had trouble making friends. It wasn't as if he hadn't tried, he had! Although, he just had trouble with the kinds of people to hang out with. And Albus had tried to be kind to Scorpius. But, in return, he got nothing but hurt feelings and stolen items. The compartment door slid smoothly open and Rose Weasley, James Potter and Teddy Lupin all piled into the compartment. Rose scooted close to her friend and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Are you getting a little homesick? I always do, anytime I go anywhere." Albus wasn't half as homesick as worried. What if he was put into Slytherin? And Rose's dad had said that he would disinherit her if she didn't… what on earth would his father do if he was sorted into Slytherin house? As if guessing his thoughts, Rose gave Albus a reassuring smile. "Don't worry! You aren't going to be sorted into, well, you know. Think about your chances. Slytherins are notoriously nasty, curt and unfriendly people who spend their whole lives as hermits living inside of their own little circle of approved friends. You are not any of the above, and besides. You have a good, brave heart. Let's face it. There's Ravenclaw, which is a good house, there's Gryffindor, which is a good house, Hufflepuff which is, well, moderately good, and then there's Slytherin. You'd have to be a really rotten egg to not get sorted into one of the previous houses, namely Gryffindor. I, on the other hand, want to be sorted into Ravenclaw. Just think about it! Me, with my own people who are unique and intelligent, not that you aren't any of those things I just really hope that…" Albus had stopped listening a long time ago and his gaze was fixed on Teddy Lupin, who had never made it fully inside of the compartment but lagged behind, staring at a compartment. Albus craned his neck to see who or what he was staring at and—figured. He was staring at Albus's own cousin, Victoire who was motioning for him to follow her. Now, there was no doubt about it: Teddy was in love with Victoire. It should have been drastically obvious when James claimed to have witnessed them snogging at the train station, but James had been known to take after Rose's uncle's (one of them dead), Fred and George, and pull pranks on people. Albus's thoughts were interrupted when Rose's fingers snapped in his face. "Helloooo? Earth to Albus! Have you even been listening to me?" "About what?" Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. "Boys! Why I even bother to talk with them. They're like a different species with some alien language!" Noticing some commotion at the compartment toward the end of the train car, Teddy took the opportunity to exit the compartment. James, who had been staying moderately quiet considering that it was James, grabbed Teddy's shirt, pulling him back. "Hey, where are you going, wise guy?" "I'm just stepping out for a little bit." "And how exactly do we know that you're not lying so that you and Victoire can finish your business in either a shady corner, an abandoned compartment or the mixed gender bathroom?" "I'm not! Its just… there's a student with a baby acromantula at the end of the hall and I thought I'd go check it out." James raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Mm-hmm. I like acromantula's. Why don't I just have a peak with you? After all, it's not often that a kid get's to look at an insanely large spider, even if it is a baby one." Teddy nodded nervously. "Yeah, sure. Why not? Come on, let's go!" Albus knew that Teddy hated spiders even if they were little ones. He must love Victoire a lot if he was willing to go through a crowd with an acromantula in the middle of it. James followed Teddy out of the compartment. James was surprised that there really was a baby acromantula! He turned to tell Teddy how cool he thought it was when he found that Teddy wasn't there. He gritted his teeth, pulled up his sleeve and was going to track down Teddy when all of a sudden, he felt his feet fly out from underneath him, resulting in knocking several people over. He saw Scorpius standing over him smiling and, to his horror, felt a colossal, hairy body quickly scuttle over him. The students screamed, and so did the owner. "HELP! THE ACROMANTULA'S LOOSE!"