Authors Note: I do not own Harry Potter or anything having to do with this book series, that right goes to the wonderful J.K. Rowling (praise be to her, for I am not worthy). The only thing I own are my OCs and this weird idea/plot/thingy, so please don't steal or use without first asking me. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, comment and tell me what you think of the new style/story. Now, read and enjoy!

Express Meeting

Albus let out a shuddering breath, watching as the station slowly faded from view. His fingers tightened around the handle of his trunk until his knuckles turned white from the strain. This was happening, he thought, no going back now.

"Whelp, here we go, off to start our grand education," Rose said, clapping him hard on the shoulder. "With a bunch of kids we don't know, and a bunch of grouchy old teachers, only seeing our folks during the holidays…"

Albus gave her a reproachful look.

"I'm only kidding, it's not going to be so bad," Albus rolled his eyes at her. "I'm serious! Once we get this sorting out of the way, you'll feel much better. In any case, James's claims of you getting into Slytherin are completely unfounded, you've never expressed any of the typical traits-" and off she went, and Albus resisted the urge to smile as they made their way down the isle, peering into various compartments while his cousin rambled on. Keeping up with Rose's rate of speech was something he had a lot of practice with, and while the random facts and assurances she was spouting off about Slytherin weren't doing much for his nerves, the easy habit of listening to her chatter was of some comfort.

They'd almost made it to the end of the carriage without much luck. All of the rooms were packed with other students, if not completely full. Neither cousin was particularly comfortable with large crowds, especially ones so loud and boisterous, and even more so when everyone knew their names. So they were content with finding other accomodations. That is, until it became clear they were steadily running out of options. Unfortunately for Albus, things were about to get a little more difficult…

"Would you mind finding a compartment without me?" Rose asked.

That caught his attention with a jolt, Albus whipped his head around so fast Rose was worried he'd get whiplash.

"What?" He said with a stunned expression.

Rose chuckled. "Sorry, I meant to say would you mind finding a compartment for the both of us while I duck into the lavatory?"

"Um, okay, I guess…" he said, trying to keep the trepidation from his voice.

"Would you also mind taking my trunk?"

"Your not making this any better."

"I can't exactly take this with me into the toilet."

Albus groaned, annoyed he couldn't think of anything to counter with. "Okay, fine, I'll take it, but you owe me."

"Your a life saver, Al" Rose said sweetly, passing him the handle of her trunk. "Cheer up, this will be good experience for you if we end up in different houses."

Albus nodded glumly, turning to continue his trek while Rose made a dash for the opposite end of the train cart. As he listened to her receding footsteps, a thought crossed his mind, making him turn and call out to his red haired cousin.

"Wait a minute, are you just making me find the compartment so you don't have to talk to anyone?!"

She didn't respond, but he could swear there was a grin etched across her face as she disappeared behind the door.

Albus huffed in annoyance, turning to continue down the carriage, lugging the two trunks behind him. Callidus chittered in his cage, seemingly laughing at his frustration, and he shot the ferret a glare in return.

As Albus continued checking the last few compartments, he contemplated what his remaining options were. He could always go in search of his cousins in the next carriage, but he quickly discarded the idea. For one, there might not be any room for him and Rose (Merlin knows how many relatives he had going to Hogwarts) and they'd get turned away. Secondly, James would no doubt be there and Albus was in no hurry to be stuck in the same cabin as him, particularly this close to being sorted. He had, had more than enough of his brother's teasing remarks, which he'd been subjected to since the topic of his first year at Hogwarts had began. Lastly, loath as he was to admit it, Rose was right, he needed to start making friends.

There seemed to be less people the further back he went, eventually Albus came to a compartment with only one occupant. If he was going to start anywhere, it might as well be here, where there wouldn't be a crowd of loud, eccentric kids to deal with. Baby steps, no need to rush into things.

Tentatively raising his hand, Albus lightly rapped on the door and slides it open. The boy inside immediately has his gaze fixed on him and Albus couldn't believe how young he looked. He seemed short (though he supposed he couldn't truly tell unless he stood up), with clothes just a size too big for him, giving Albus the impression that they were hand-me-downs from an older sibling. His skin was fair, not pale or unhealthy looking but definitely not tanned. He also had a small splash of freckles on his cheeks and dark brown hair framing his face. His hazel eyes felt like they where piercing him with their intensity, leading Albus to wonder if this boy was just as apprehensive of people as we was. The last thing Albus noticed was his small, delicate looking fingers gently scratching the chest feathers of an unusually dark coloured barn owl, which was perched on the boy's knee and watched Albus with the same intensity as its owner.

"Hi, umm, I was wondering if me and my cousin could have a seat here? Everywhere else is pretty much full..." Albus trailed off, not sure what else to say.

The boy seemed to consider for a moment before nodding.

"Sure."

Albus smiled in thanks before pulling in the two trunks. He set Callidus's cage on the seat before hauling his trunk up to the compartment space.

"Your cousin is a little on the short side, huh?"

Albus almost lost his grip on his cargo, managing to save it last minute before turning to reply. "I'm sorry?"

He shyly averted his eyes, making a vague gesture towards Callidus's cage. "Sorry, I was trying to be funny, but..."

Albus's eyes widened in realisation and he laughed a little. "It's fine, I'm just a bit out of it right now, try again after the sorting and I'll get it."

This seemed to help the smaller boy relax, though he didn't speak again, instead refocusing on the owl as its gaze was now focused on the ferret. Callidus, for his part, didn't seem to understand how the food chain worked and ignored the bird in favour of grooming himself.

Once he'd gotten both trunks safely stored away, Albus sat down beside his familiar and spoke.

"I'm probably the one that should apologise," he started, extending his hand. "I've come in here and haven't bothered to introduce myself. I'm Albus. Albus Potter."

"Jamie Lorian, nice to meet you." He replied, smiling shyly while he shook Albus's hand, who tired not to look surprised that Jamie wasn't gasping in shock and trying to sweet talk him into getting his fathers autograph. "So where is your cousin anyway, if I may ask?"

"Rose said she was just going to the lavatory, but I'm pretty sure that was just her way of ditching me."

"Yours does that to?"

"A lot, yeah. Is your cousin going to Hogwarts as well?"

Jamie hummed in agreement, his owl gently nibbling on his fingers when they stopped scratching.

"I've never seen an owl like that before, what kind is it?" Albus questioned.

"He," Jamie started, giving him a pointed look. "is a Melanistic Barn Owl. That's why his colouring is different, like the opposite of being albino. His name's Soren, how about him?"

Albus began to tell Jamie about how he had gotten Callidus from Diagon Ally on his birthday and the ferret's obsession with Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans. They eventually let the other hold their respective familiar (with Jamie promising that his owl wouldn't try to eat Callidus). This was enough to break the ice, and soon enough they where chatting animatedly about anything they could think of. This was how Albus learned that the smaller boy had been ditched by his cousin, Piper, so that he could make friends in his own year and, loath as they both where to admit it, their respective family members may have been right in needing that extra push.

However, when it came to Jamie, Albus was still at a loss. The smaller boy reminded him of his younger sister Lily in so many ways, not only in his size and youthful face, but from the way he would get really excited when talking about something he was really interested in or his wide eyed curiosity. Albus was almost certain his new friend was younger then him, which begged the question, how young was he? What was he doing going to Hogwarts? There had to be a reason, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up, he didn't want to sound rude or accusing. Maybe he was just really short for his age...

In any case, whether he was the right age or not didn't matter. Despite his initial trepidation, Jamie didn't seem anxious or as if he was trying to hide. Heck, why talk to Albus at all when he could have told someone and gotten him kicked from the train? Besides, he wasn't causing any trouble. Albus was more than happy to leave the subject for the time being. The teachers at Hogwarts would know what was going on.

Of course, just because he was willing to leave it, didn't mean his cousin was.

Albus had just gotten Jamie to crack a laugh when they heard a knock on the compartment door. His cousin's fiery red head peered around cautiously before entering. Her fingers quickly ran through her hair to straighten, a nervous tick of hers. Albus tried not to let his amusement show. Much.

"I was wondering if you'd managed to fall in," He said.

Rose glowered, crossing to sit next to Albus with an indignant huff.

"Your absolutely hysterical," she replied, then proceeding to turn her glare on Jamie, who was trying and failing to smother his giggles behind his hand, "and who might you be?"

Jamie immediately clamped up, suddenly wary with her icy blue gaze locked on him. Coughing, he promptly wiped away his grin and extended his hand as a sign of peace.

"Sorry. I'm J-Jamie, Jamie Lorien, it's nice to meet you" He stammered out.

"Pleasure. I'm Rose Weasley," she replied as she took his hand. While her eyes softened a fraction, they also became even more focused, looking the younger boy once over. Then twice. Before Albus could stop her, she said, "I don't mean to be rude, but you look a little young to be going to Hogwarts. May I ask how old you are?"

"Rose!"

"No, it's okay," Jamie sighed, fidgeting in his seat as he pulled something from his jeans pocket, unable to meet their curious gazes, he continued, "I'm only nine, though I'll be turning ten in March. I was really confused at first too, but I got a message from headmistress Edda. She told me to come to Hogwarts and she would tell me why when I got there."

The two cousins shared a look. They knew all about headmistress Edda. Both their parents met with her fairly frequently (these meetings tend to be common when you have multiple offspring with a penchant for pranking, are related to the Weasley twins and one of the Marauders), as well as their elder cousins and siblings. This, by extension, meant the two got a lot of second hand information about her. She is very strict, but also fair, which is why Mrs Mcgonagall chose her as the replacement. If this was true, why she would want a little kid to go to Hogwarts so early was beyond them.

"Well, that's pretty cool if you ask me. We basically had to stop my little sister from stowing away in our bags, you've gotta be pretty excited, right?" Albus spoke, grinning at Jamie in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Jamie nodded slowly, but didn't seem to share Albus's enthusiasm. Instead he looked out the window, watching the scenery pass for a moment by before speaking.

"If I'm being honest, it's actually really scary. I didn't think I'd be going for two more years. It's just really unexpected..." he paused, absentmindedly stroking Soren's head as the bird pressed himself against his boy's palm, "don't get me wrong, I want to go. It's just, I wish I was going at the right time. Everyone is going to find out, sooner or later and start acting weird around me. I mean, who wants to be friends with the kid who isn't supposed to be there?"

"I would." Albus claimed firmly, smiling when Jamie looked at him with shock, "it's not your fault your coming in early, and it's not like your bragging about it. Don't worry, once they see how cool you are, they won't care if your younger than them. I don't."

Jamie stared. Rose did to, having never heard her cousin be so open with someone. Especially someone he'd only just met. She would later pat herself on the back for helping to instigate this friendship.

Jamie opened his mouth, closed it, then opened again before speaking, "Thanks, Albus."

He smiled, "No problem. Now, how about we - CAL!!! Get out of there!"

Both spectators collapsed in a fit of laughter, watching as Albus tired to wrestle the squirming ferret out of his bag, Cal nosing his way through a packet of beans. All tension was washed away for the time being, leaving the three friends to enjoy the train ride.