'You know, I miss Hogwarts.' Ginny Potter told her husband as she stood facing the steam billowing red engine of the Hogwarts Express at platform nine and three quarters.

'The castle, the lake, the food at the Great Hall.' She continued. Harry took her hand in his and met her eyes, 'I definitely miss the food.' he joked, narrowly missing her elbow as she made to hit him on the stomach, he hurriedly added, ', but nothing beats the treacle tart you make every Sunday.'

She smiled at him. Harry James Potter was everything she wished for. In all her 16 years of marriage with Harry, she had never once felt that he wasn't right for her. He was perfect for her, as she was for him, and with their three amazing children, James, Albus and Lily, their family was whole and complete. At least their immediate family was. Everyone knew the Potters were related to the Weasleys. Ginny had been a Weasley before she was married, and she had seven brothers, five of whom were married and had children. It was known fact that it was impossible to get the names of every person in the family tree right, because there were just too many of them. Such a close knitted group they were that their children, who still attended Hogwarts, had family breakfast every Sunday, where it'd feel like any other Christmas or summer holiday, and they were having breakfast back at Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's house.

'Mum!' Ginny was shaken out of her reverie and looked down to see her beautiful daughter staring at her. 'I'll miss you!' Ginny smiled and bent down to give Lily a hug. Lily was dearest to her of the three, although she loved all of her three children equally. Lily reminded Ginny mostly of herself when she was younger. Overshadowed by the achievements of her brothers, entrapped in the overprotective cocoon spun by her loving cousins, and with that blazing determination in her eyes to prove that she was capable. Lily's eyes were the same shade of brown as her mothers and within them; one could see the burning passion that captivated her father when he first saw Ginny.

'I'll miss you too Lils. I'll write every week, and I want to know all about your adventures with Hugo.' Lily held back her tears. She was strong and confident, like her mother, who she adored. She then turned to face her dad who bent down to give her a peck on the cheek.

'I love you Lils. Take care, alright? And help me keep an eye on your brothers, won't you?' Harry smiled as he looked at his daughter's face. She was an exact replica of Ginny, from her fiery hair to her soft, fair skin, and eyes. He saw Ginny's fervour and passion in those eyes and smiled to himself. Any man, who deserved his daughter, would be as lucky as he was.

'We don't need taking care of now, do we Al?' James stopped by to give his mother a hug. Behind him stood Albus, a carbon copy of Harry himself. Albus smiled at his brother's comment and gave his father a hug.

'Be good James, I don't want another letter from Neville saying you put a toe out of line again.' Ginny warned as James now turned to hug his father, and Harry was reminded instantly of Molly Weasley warning Fred and George so very long ago.

'But mum! I haven't even gotten into half as much trouble as Fred or Roxanne! They're both in the running for most number of detentions earned in the history of Hogwarts!' Ginny smiled. What more could one expect from George's darling twins.

'Oi! The train's going to move on any second!' a familiar voice called out from Harry's left.

'Uncle Ron!' the three children screamed as Ronald Weasley approached them. He was wearing a long black travelling cloak and was hand in hand with his wife, Hermione. Their two children, Hugo and Rose walking behind them. After much hugging, Ron urged all the children to get on the train.

'You don't want to miss the train now, or else, err, you might end up doing something stupid to get to school on time.' Ron said sheepishly.

'Yeah, like try to ride a flying car to school.' Hermione added, grinning.

'Dad, did you really do that? Wow, you never mentioned,' Hugo sprouted.

'Get on the train come on!' Ron cut across, sharing a sheepish grin with Harry.

As the children made their way to get on the scarlet express, steam now billowed in earnest and the train manager got ready to ring the bell for departure, the adults stood on the platform, momentarily staring at their children. Each of them undoubtedly reminded of their own journeys on the express so long ago.

As the train began to move, James stared out his cabin window at his mother, father, uncle and aunt. He was going to miss them. The train began to gather speed and the platform vanished, replaced by plush, green farmland under an overcast sky. The cabin door opened and James grinned.

'Hey man, how was your summer?' Rio walked in and sat down opposite James. Rio was James' best friend at Hogwarts, and a fellow Gryffindor quidditch player. He was extremely good-looking and both him and James had their fair share of screaming girls running after them to get asked out for a Hogsmeade weekend. Rio was muggle-born and his father was Japanese, so that explained Rio's dark black hair and small eyes. But the altogether effect was quite mesmerizing.

'It was great! We had a sort of family trip to India, and it was pretty awesome. Indian wizards really know how to live man. You should see their houses, all gold plated, with pet elephants. Spectacular really. The best part was when we all wanted to try out living in a muggle hotel, Hyatt it's called, in New Delhi. It has the most awesome food, and some of the prettiest girls I've ever seen.' James grinned.

'Sounds awesome! Mum and Dad brought me to Scotland. We had a good laugh eating and travelling, oh and we got to see the Lock Ness Monster. Though mum still firmly believes it was a floating log.' Rio stared out the window.

'Where's Rhea anyways? She should be here by now.' James looked around the cabin as if Rhea would materialize in front of him.

'She's in the prefect's cabin man, didn't she write to tell you? No surprise she got the badge though.'

'Oh yeah, I forgot.' James remembered getting a letter delivered by Rhea's owl, Mercury, while they were having a picnic at Amber fort in India. 'No surprise she got it, definitely. She's too much of a rule-follower for our own good.' He suppressed a grin. 'Any idea who else got made prefect?'

'I think the other Gryffindor prefect is Justin Thomas. Good bloke, he definitely deserves it.' Rio smiled and stood up to remove something from his trunk. At that moment, the cabin door slid open and a girl with soft blond hair and mysterious grey eyes walked in.

'Rhea!' James stood up to hug his other best friend. 'How've you been?'

Rhea smiled as she hugged Rio next. She had missed these boys. 'I've been fine thank you, James. Summer was spent as usual at the sodden manor. I wish my family was a little more fun you know.' She responded as she took a seat next to Rio. James stared back into Rhea's face. She had never been happy with her family. Rhea's family was extremely wealthy. The Walkers were part of the bloodline descending from Grogan Stump, the first ever Minister for Magic and they were one of the few pureblood families to remain. They were big believers in decorum and social propriety, hardly something you could call fun and everything James' uncle Ron would call 'snooty'. But Rhea was different; she had a friendly nature and a happy-go-lucky spirit. She was fiercely loyal to her friends and was kind and loving, which made it difficult for her to hate anyone.

'Guess who's been made head girl?' Rhea asked, looking at James.

'Lucy.' James said, completely uninterested. 'Grandma Molly practically crashed into our house after Lucy got the letter. She was completely hysterical. She went around screaming, second head girl in the family!'

'Oh yeah, I forgot Dominique was head girl two years ago. How is Dominique now? I read that article on Witch Weekly, stardom's doing her well.' Rhea added with a grin.

'Yeah, she's doing great. She's on tour right now, with Donavan Tremlett, you know, the son of Donaghan Tremlett, the bassist of the Weird Sisters?'

'That's awesome! I love Tremlett's voice! Victoire was on Witch Weekly too! She did a fashion shoot for Malkina, she looks gorgeo-'

'Do you have that magazine on you?' Rio interrupted Rhea, with a sheepish grin on his face. James had to stop himself from scoffing by biting on his knuckles.

'You don't still have a crush on Victoire do you?' Rhea asked him suspiciously.

'Of course not, I just wanted to read that article on Dominique.'

'Yeah right,' James mumbled, but Rio had heard him.

'Okay, but so what, I mean, she is Miss Wizarding World, and she's so incredibly hot and-'

'Taken?' James added, grinning broadly. 'Teddy and her have been an item since forever! I still remember how I caught them snogging on the platform back in second year.'

James and Rhea laughed as Rio's ears turned red and he turned back to look out the window, looking slightly dejected.

As the Hogwarts express trudged on, the weather grew steadily gloomier, and at about noon, it started to rain. The heavy raindrops pattering on the windows muffled the incessant chattering arising from the cabins and the sound of the lunch trolley approaching.

As the trolley came into view outside their cabin door, Albus stood up to get lunch.

'What do you lot want?' He asked around at his companions. They included Rose, his cousin, Georgiana Walsch and Matthew Havens, fourth years from Ravenclaw, Dianne Ignatio, another fourth year from Gryffindor and Kenneth Whitehorn, his best friend, a Gryffindor chaser and grandson of Devlin Whitehorn, the founder of the Nimbus racing broom company.

There were murmurs of 'Cauldron Cake' and 'Pumpkin Pasty' and Albus bought some Liquorice wands and sugar quills for himself. As he sat back down and passed everything around, he noticed Kenneth staring intently at Rose. Albus turned around and looked at his cousin. She was sitting scrunched up at the corner of the cabin, a book open in her hands, and with the face of someone who was absolutely enjoying every word she read. Albus smiled. There was no denying that his favourite cousin was not good looking. She had inherited her mother's brown hair and eyes. Rose was extremely clever, always the top of their year and she had a whole queue of boys waiting to ask her out. Yet, she never showed the slightest interest in boys. She always hung out with her group of friends, and with Fred, Louis and James playing the part of watchful elder brothers, no boy had the courage to approach her and ask her out. Albus turned back to Kenneth, who was slowly tearing off the wrapper on his Pumpkin Pasty, and stealing glances at Rose when he thought no one was looking. 'Well,' Albus thought, 'at least James, Fred and Louis would approve of Kenneth.' He suppressed a grin as Dianne called out to him.

'Hey Al, did you see this? Your mum's article on the Prophet is incredible. She really thrashed the Warton Warts in her latest game review.' Dianne passed Albus the copy of the Daily Prophet she was reading. His eyes scanned across the article on the latest quidditch match between The Thornby Thorns and Warton Warts, which turned out to be a fiasco. The Warton Warts captain had purposefully smashed his beaters bat onto the Thorns keeper's head, sending him falling fifty feet down. No one was killed, but the keeper was lying in 's in a coma with a disfigured skull. Albus remembered his mother coming home after the match, furious at how people turn to the lowliest methods to win a game. His dad had to pour her two glasses of firewhisky before she finally calmed down. As he continued reading his mother's article, in which she called the Wart's captain a 'troll with a quaffle for a head.', the cabin door opened and Louis stuck his head inside. Dianne immediately stopped fidgeting and fixed her eyes on a stray raindrop on the window.

'Hey Al, Rose! Hey Ken, could I borrow you for a minute? I want to get started on some basic quidditch planning with the team. Care to come down to my cabin?' Louis was the heartthrob of every witch at school. He was tall and muscular, with silvery blond hair and bright blue eyes. It was no surprise that he had two gorgeous women for sisters. He was also the quidditch captain, which meant he had to run for cover after almost every match, or risk being trampled to death by a stampede of screaming girls.

'Sure thing Louis.' Kenneth stood up and after a fleeting look at Rose, who had merely nodded when Louis greeted her, and had her eyes still glued to her book, he left.

Rio and James met Louis and Kenneth along the corridors, and Louis gave Rio a friendly pat on the back. 'How've you been man? Long time no see!' James and Rio greeted Kenneth with similar enthusiasm, but James noticed that Kenneth didn't have his usual charm or carefree manner. He looked like something was bothering him, and James made a mental note to check with Albus. The four of them followed Louis into his cabin, which consisted of the rest of the quidditch team. The Gryffindor quidditch team was definitely a force to be reckoned with at Hogwarts. Under the guidance of Louis, who took advice from his uncle Charlie, the Gryffindor team worked together perfectly, and their manoeuvres were set to win them the quidditch cup every year. The team consisted of three chasers, James, Kenneth, and Rosina Spinnet- a sixth year with curly brown hair and a friendly face, two beaters, Fred Weasley, James' notorious cousin and Suzanna Fehling- a fourth year with surprising strength for a girl, the seeker, Rio and the keeper and captain, Louis.

Louis kept them for about half an hour, talking about his latest game plans and asking them for their opinions. They then spent some time talking about their summers and catching up. As it reached two in the afternoon, the rain was still pouring and James and Rio decided to get back to their cabin, where Rhea was alone. Kenneth got up to leave as well, and walked back to his cabin, which was on the way to James'. James took another look at Kenneth, he wasn't used to his silence. James stopped by Kenneth's cabin to say hello to Albus.

'Hey Al! What's up little bro?'

Albus looked up, his ears turning slightly red at being called 'little bro'. Nonetheless, he was happy to see his brother and grinned back.

'How was your quidditch talk?'

'Well… Oh wait I can't tell you here, there are Ravenclaws around.' James grinned at Rose who stared back at him with a pout.

'What's that supposed to mean James? I'm family!' she cooed.

'But you're also a Ravenclaw, and Louis would murder me if I let slip his new tactics to other teams.' With that, James smiled at his cousin and closed the door.

Back at their cabin, James and Rio found Rhea reading. As they sat back in, she clicked her tongue at them.

'What took you so long?' she demanded.

'Sorry Rhea, we got caught up sharing stupid jokes. You know Fred, he's always cracking us up.' They looked sincerely apologetic and Rhea smiled.

'Anyway, you never told us who the rest of the prefects are in our year.' Rio asked Rhea.

'Well, there's Justin and I from Gryffindor, Karina Rogers and Blake Jacob from Ravenclaw, Joanna Abbott and Larry Parks from Hufflepuff, and,' she paused, 'Francesca and Francesco Parkinson from Slytherin.' There was a sharp intake of breath at the last two names.

'No way!' James exclaimed, 'those cows?'

'Shh. It's not much of a surprise really. I mean who else do you know who's as much of a bootlicker as Francesca? And her twin, he isn't much better is he? I always knew they'd get the post eventually.'

'Yeah, but even so, why them?'

The rest of the journey was spent complaining about the Parkinson twins and as the rain stopped and the sky grew a dark velvety blue, the train began to slow down. 'We'd better get changed.' James motioned to Rio, and the two of them picked up their robes and left the cabin, so that Rhea could change inside. Just as they were leaving, Roxanne, Fred's twin sister charged in, looking disconcerted. Roxanne had shoulder length dark braids, and the same thin and tall stature like her twin, Fred. Both of them had their father's brown eyes.

'Those ruddy boys won't leave so I can change in there. I can't believe my brother's supporting them, seriously.' She looked at Rhea, 'you don't mind if I change in here do you?'

Rhea smiled, 'Sure, Rox.' Rhea always liked Roxanne. Fred and Roxanne never failed to lighten up any event, and Rhea could always count on them to cheer her up. After they changed, James and Rio began unloading their trunks from the top shelves and placed them near the door. The train came to a halt at Hogsmeade station, and James, Rhea, and Rio got off. A chilly wind was blowing at the station and the floor was damp with rain. James had to hold onto Rhea and Rio to prevent being separated in the crowd as they made their way towards the winding road where the carriages stood. They quickly climbed into an empty one and shut the door, to keep the wind out. James' face was cold and he was shivering, he never liked cold weather. There was a knock on the cabin door and Rhea opened it to find Albus, Kenneth and Dianna.

'Hey, could we join you guys? Everywhere else is kind of full.' Albus spoke, his teeth chattering in the cold.

'Sure, come on in.' Rhea moved down her seat, to make space for the three of them as they scuttled in as fast as they could and shut the door. The carriage was now packed with six of them inside. It was comfortable only for four, but since none of them were particularly big, they fit, albeit a little cosily. The carriages began to move and the six of them started up an animated conversation, which only ended when the carriages stopped at the grand patio of Hogwarts castle and they stepped out into the warm, glowing entrance hall.

Albus breathed in the warm air and smiled. He loved Hogwarts, right next to his own home back in London. There was something about the castle that made him feel relaxed, warm and welcome. He had shared his feelings about the castle with his dad once he had got home for Christmas in his first year. He wasn't surprised to find out that his dad felt even more for the great castle. It was, after all, Harry's one true home as a boy.

The group of chattering students made their way up the marble staircase and into the great hall. It was magnificently decorated for the start-of-term feast and the teachers were already seated at the front table. The headmaster, Bjorn Dilwyn smiled at the old students as they filed in and took their seats at the respective house tables. He wore magnificent robes of emerald green, and his shoulder length grey hair was neatly tied into a short ponytail. If anyone had seen Professor Dilwyn outside the school, they wouldn't believe he was the headmaster, because he had the air of sheer youth about him. With the clear aura of a boisterous, young boy gone old, but retained his energy, Professor Dilwyn was highly adored and loved by his students. After about ten minutes of waiting, the headmaster signalled the school to be silent, and the great doors opened to reveal Professor Longbottom leading a group of scared looking first years into the hall. They were all huddled closely together and looked around frightened. James was reminded of his own sorting four years ago and smiled as he thought of what the sorting hat had told him.

'Ah, I see your mother's wit and your father's courage. A little of your uncle's mischief somewhere in there. Surely, there is no other option for you. You definitely belong in GRYFFINDOR!'

James remembered grinning at the last word and running down to the Gryffindor table where Victoire and Dominique had encompassed him in a hug. He also remembered that he had sat next to Rio, and they had become friends instantly. The entire Ravenclaw table had started whispering when Rhea got sorted into Gryffindor, her family had always been in Ravenclaw, but when Rhea reached the table, she had looked ecstatic.

James was brought back to reality by the sudden hush as Professor Longbottom placed the sorting hat on its stool. A moment later, the crease of the hat opened like a mouth, and it started to sing:

' Another year of happiness and joy,

Of safety, security and bliss.

You may say I am all but a hat,

Who plays no part in this.

Yet hear me now and make your choice

Hear the story I tell too well.

Noble was he and eternally loyal,

Gryffindor was truly a friend.

With her keen eye for wit and skill,

Ravenclaw knew what was wise.

A hug, a kiss and kind greetings,

Hufflepuff showed she cared.

Determined to succeed, and a goal in mind,

Slytherin remained so sure.

Now you are free to make your choice,

And tell me now, because this hat listens,

And listens well.'

The hat fell silent and the hall erupted with applause. Albus grinned at the song he just heard. The sorting hat surely did listen. He remembered how scared he had been when he was to be sorted. James had taunted him that he might be in Slytherin, and for a sick second he had believed him. He had voiced his fear only to his father, who he trusted more than anyone else in the world. His father had said one of the men he, Albus, was named after was from Slytherin, and he was one of the bravest men his father ever knew. With that in mind, Albus had walked up to the sorting hat, clear about his decision. The sorting hat's voice still rang through his ears, as clear as if it was just happening.

'You have a determined mind. Your choice is made. Surely you know you'd do well in Slytherin. But I listen; I see your heart lies elsewhere. I see astounding courage and loyalty. Surely you belong in GRYFFINDOR!'

Albus grinned broadly as he watched the new first years slowly form a line and the first person walked up to sit on the stool. He had never felt so happy, than when he was placed in Gryffindor and James had stood up on his desk to cheer him on. Although his father had told him that one of the bravest men he knew was from Slytherin, Albus felt he did not belong there. Gryffindor was his home and he had always known it.

The sorting went smoothly, and seven new first years joined the Gryffindor table. Rio pounced on the food that appeared magically on the table after and a few moments were spent with just the clatter of knives and forks, before chatter finally broke out. After the feast, James, Rio and Rhea felt sleepy and groggy. It was with half a heart that Rhea got up to guide the new first years to the common room. James and Rio took their time to get up and slowly make their way out of the hall. They stopped to let a few fourth years from Ravenclaw exit before them and James waved at Rose to get her attention. But Rose wasn't looking at him, her head was turned and she looked to her left as she walked. James turned to see whom, or what she was looking at and his stomach gave a nasty flip.

'James? Come on man, you're holding up traffic.' James jumped as Rio dragged him forward by his hand. He had momentarily frozen on the spot. As he walked out of the hall, he felt Rio's eyes on him.

'What's up man? You look disturbed.' Rio was evidently concerned.

'Nothing, just tired, that's all.' James smiled at Rio in an attempt to conceal his feelings, but he could never hide anything from Rio.

'Come on James, you know you can't lie to me. What's bothering you?'

'Well, okay. You know just now in the hall? I saw Rose staring at someone, a guy.'

'Seriously James,' Rio wanted to laugh, 'she's fourteen, if you get worked out over every guy she looks at-'

'She was staring at Malfoy.' James suddenly looked furious, and Rio knew better than to continue talking. They walked up the moving staircases in silence, both their minds racing.

James never liked Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. He knew all about his family and how they detested anything to do with muggles or muggle-borns. James had also heard stories from his uncles about Scorpius's father, Draco and how he had been a downright git when he was at school. He did not know why Rose was looking at him, or perhaps he was just over-reacting. He knew Rose. She would never be interested in someone the entire family detested. Whatever it was, James knew that she knew the family came first. With that thought in mind, he calmed down a little and Rio thought it would be safe enough to start another conversation.

'So, OWL year, do you reckon it's going to be tough?' he asked.

'I certainly hope not. Though aunt Hermione kept warning me about the consequences of leaving my revision too late, over the summer. But uncle Ron thinks she's probably exaggerating.'

'How did Fred and Roxanne do in their OWLs?'

'Fred got five OWLs, and Roxanne got six. Grandma Molly was so proud; she thought it was bit of an achievement for them. They're really smart you know, they just channel their intelligence into a different cause.'

Rio and James laughed. They were excited to find out what Roxanne and Fred had up their sleeves next. As they supplied the Fat Lady with the new password ('Treacle Tart!'), climbed into the portrait hole and took in the familiar surroundings of the Gryffindor common room, a warm fuzzy feeling James associated with sleep came over him and he set off to the dormitory, changed sleepily into pyjamas and fell asleep on his comfortable four poster immediately.