Disclaimer: I own nothing but OC's.
Platform 9 ¾ was bursting with activity. Kids running around, shouting greetings to their friends or goodbyes to their parents, First year students clinging to their parents crying as their mum's tried to hold in their own tears, owls hooting and the noise of other animals showing their displeasure at getting packed onto the train.
"Kids! Get over here!" Ginny tried to shout over the noise.
"Al, James, Lily!"
"Calm down mum, dad!" James said when he reached them, his younger brother and sister by his side.
Ginny gave him a glare. "I just wanted to remind you all of Luna's sons Lorcan and Lysander joining Hogwarts this year."
James gaped at his parents. "That's why I was called away from Jackson Wood showing off his new broom?!"
"James, you can easily see it all year at Hogwarts." Harry chuckled.
"Yeah but this is his first time showing it!"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Go on then!"
With a grin, James quickly ran off again but not before shouting a 'see you at Christmas!' behind him.
"That boy." She mumbled.
Harry shook his head fondly. "Anyways, they're going to be in your year, Al. Try and watch out for them if you can. If they are anything like their mother, they might need it."
Albus' thoughts drifted to the times he had met Luna Scamander. He was about 9 the last time she had visited from the States where she apparently had moved not long after the war. He remembered a pretty blonde woman with a soft voice who often talked a little weird and sometimes mentioned creatures he had never heard before. He also remembered his Aunt Hermione whispered to his mum about how at least Luna had grown up from her 'imaginary creatures' for the most part.
"Why are they coming in 5th year? Why didn't they just start at Hogwarts?" Lily asked.
"They lived in the States at the time, but Luna's husband Rolf got a good job offer."
"Dad, how are they going to be sorted? With the first years?" Albus asked his dad.
Harry nodded. "Right after the first years all get sorted McGonagall said."
Ginny checked her watch and gasped. "Oh! You both should go on the train now, that way you can find your friends before the train takes off."
"Bye mum!"
"Bye dad!"
They both quickly gave their parents one last hug before taking off.
"You want to join us in our compartment for a bit, Lils?" Albus asked his sister once they were on the train.
Lily shook her head. "I have to find Heather, said she had something to tell me."
"Alright then, I'll see you later." With a wave, the siblings headed their separate ways.
Albus didn't have to search for long until he found the compartment with his friends inside. Sliding the door open, he was greeted by shouts.
"Al, tell her that I'm Professor Vixen's favorite!"
"You're mad if you think that! Everyone knows I'm her star student!"
"Star student? You're obviously the mad one!"
"Says the guy who likes to put pickle juice all over everything!"
"It's delicious!"
"Guys!"
Albus stared at two of his best friends who were now glaring at each other.
"Do we really have to have an argument at every start of the year?"
"Yes!" They shouted simultaneously which only made them glare at each other more.
Rolling his eyes, Albus sat down beside his best friend Scorpius Malfoy but turned to face his other best friend and cousin Rose Weasley. "To fix your argument, everyone knows that it's ME who's Professor Vixen's favorite."
Scorpius scoffed. "You're the mad one, that's it."
Rose frowned at him. "Don't be ridiculous, Al."
"I was only joking!" Albus suddenly frowned. "Hey Scorp, where's Nott and Zabini?"
Albus hadn't seen his other two friends and roommates Callum Nott and Luca Zabini in any of the compartments he passed.
"They said something about bothering some 6th year Gryffindor girl." Scorpius said. "I just hope it's not that Kendra girl, or your brother is going to punch their faces in."
Albus cringed at the thought of them going after the girl James had a crush on since he was a 3rd year.
Rose rolled her eyes. "I still find it silly that you both call them by their last names and them in return, you're all friends."
"It's fun to watch the younger kids get all wide eyed when they hear us, that's why." Albus said with a chuckle.
Rose scoffed at them before going back to the book in her hands.
"Oi! Stop being such a Ravenclaw!" Scorpius shouted, trying to snatch the book out of her hands.
"I'll stop being a Ravenclaw when you stop being a Slytherin git!"
Albus groaned. Why was he best friends with them again?
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"Please tell me we weren't that small." Scorpius whispered to Albus as the 1st years started walking into the Great Hall.
A chuckle was heard beside them. "Sorry to disappoint Malfoy, but you were even smaller!"
Scorpius turned and scowled. "Shut it, Flint!"
Albus covered his mouth to not laugh, he noticed Nott and Zabini across from them doing the same.
"Hey, who's the older kids?"
Albus' head quickly snapped back to the 1st years at Flint's comment. It didn't take long to figure out it was the Scamander twins. They were pretty much identical especially with the light blonde hair on their heads that Albus knew belonged to Luna. The only difference Albus could really tell from his spot at the Slytherin table was one of the twins had a more dreamy look on his face that he had seen on Luna's. For some reason, he found himself staring at this twin more closely.
"Lorcan and Lysander Scamander." Albus answered, knowing every other Slytherin in hearing distance was listening. "My mum and dad are friends with their mum, they asked me to look after them...although it will be a bit hard if they aren't in the same house."
"We haven't had a transfer in years!" Shouted one of his fellow 5th year Slytherin's, Jenna Kinder.
Albus shrugged. "They lived in the states, but their dad got a good job offer so they moved back here."
Before anymore questions could be asked, the Sorting Hat was put on the stool and the sorting began.
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Right after the last kid was sorted, McGonagall cleared her throat.
"As you can see, we have two students left to be sorted. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander transferred here from the American Wizarding School in the States, they will be in their Fifth year and I ask that you kindly welcome them! Lorcan, if you will please step up here first for your sorting.."
Albus watched as Lorcan walked up to the stool with confidence and no trace of nerves that he could see.
It didn't take long for the hat to shout out his house. "SLYTHERIN!"
His table clapped their hands in respect, although some seemed a bit hesitant. Albus couldn't blame them, Slytherin's, especially the ones he had gotten to know were protective over their house and to have this transfer that they didn't know much about, put them a bit on edge.
Lysander, the dreamy looking twin that he couldn't help but stare at was finally called up. Lysander like his brother didn't seem nervous but unlike Lorcan, he didn't have that air of confidence around him and the dreamy look remained.
"Is he okay?" He heard someone whisper, but he wasn't paying attention enough to notice who it was.
The hat had barely touched his head before it shouted Ravenclaw.
Albus frowned as he felt his heart sink a little.
But why would he care if Lysander was sorted into Ravenclaw?
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It didn't take long for Albus to learn that Lorcan wasn't a confident git like he seemed to be on the outside. And that he was protective over Lysander who was apparently only a few minutes younger. He was walking out to his Care of Magical Creatures lesson when he saw some Gryffindor's picking on Lysander who only stood there and blinked at them, but Lorcan had quickly hexed them when he saw them.
But he liked Lorcan enough. Lily apparently did too.
"He's so cute! Will you introduce me?!"
Albus wished he could plug his ears to block out her squealing. Now he remembered why he and Scorpius avoided any girl but Rose their 3rd year at Hogwarts. 13 year old girls were annoying.
"Introduce yourself! You have two legs and a mouth!" He couldn't help but snap at her eventually.
Lily only pouted and stormed away with her Hufflepuff robes blowing in her wake.
Albus only turned to look back at her for a second when he felt himself collide with someone.
"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and-" Albus felt his eyes widen. "A-and..my sister..she uh..I.."
How was he supposed to even form a sentence with Lysander Scamander looking right at him?
Lysander turned his head to the side. "You must have Wrackspurts flying in your ears."
"I..w-what?" Albus choked out, what the bloody hell were Wrackspurts? And WERE those things flying in his ears?
"They make your brain go fuzzy." Lysander turned his head again. "Why else would you suddenly not be able to talk?"
Albus opened his mouth but couldn't get any words out.
"I'm Albus!" He suddenly shouted, cringing inside when the words left his mouth. Thankfully no one was in this part of the corridor at the moment to see his embarrassing effort to have a conversation with the handsome blonde.
Wait..HANDSOME? Since when did he think of any bloke as 'handsome'?!
"I know." Lysander smiled and he felt his palms get sweaty...what was wrong with him? "My brother mentioned you."
"M-Mentioned me?..W-What did he say?"
"That you were nice, although you tend to snore."
Albus' mouth dropped open. "I do not snore!"
"That's okay, it must be the Wanderwisps. They tend to make people snore."
"Right..it..must be that."
Albus Severus Potter did NOT snore.
"I must be going now, I promised the Giant Squid that I would play water catch with him today." Lysander told him with another smile.
Albus was about to say bye to him when he reached out and squeezed Albus' arm before skipping away..literally skipping.
Why was his heart beating so fast?
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Albus threw open the door to his dorm panting and his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat.
"SCORP!"
His friend jumped, his eyes widening when he took in the sight of his best friend.
"What the bloody hell happened to you?"
"I need your help!"
Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Get on with it then."
"What does it mean when you tend to stutter when talking to someone, don't know what to say, forget what to say, your palms get sweaty, your heart races, and you get this weird feeling in your stomach?!" He quickly rushed out, waving his arms about.
"It means you fancy the person."
Albus let out a squeak and turned around. How could he not notice Lorcan sitting on his bed?!
Scorpius laughed. "Well this is the first time you fancy'd anyone. So who is it?!"
"Uh..its…" He glanced at Lorcan out of the corner of his eye, it seemed he was waiting for an answer too. "Violet!"
"Violet..the Ravenclaw?"
Albus quickly nodded his head.
"Well..she's..alright I guess." Scorpius said slowly as if trying to process it. "Rose says she's a bit crazy though."
"Rose says huh?" Albus said with a grin. He knew the subject of Rose would throw him off for a bit.
Scorpius coughed. "Yes, Rose. We are friends or did you forget?"
Albus scoffed. "Sure..friends."
Lorcan only watched with a roll of his eyes as the two friends got into a pillow fight which soon involved their wands being used to make the hit harder.
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Lorcan wasn't dumb. It was obvious it wasn't the Violet girl from Ravenclaw that Albus had a liking for. He watched for weeks as Scorpius gave him a nudge or a wink whenever the girl was around, but Albus would only shake his head or bring up Rose which always seemed to distract the blonde. It wasn't hard to notice Albus staring at Lysander instead. At first Lorcan felt the urge to demand what Albus' intentions were with his brother, but then he noticed the look in his eyes. Albus seemed to be smitten with his twin.
He really couldn't deny that he did like the idea of Lysander and Albus. Lorcan couldn't help but worry about his brother, especially when it came to the idea of relationships and finding someone who would love him for him. From what he heard from Lysander, Albus had heard many talks about the creatures his family tended to believe in (some even himself)...but he was still interested. It didn't even bother him that it was a guy liking his brother instead of a girl, Lysander didn't care about things like gender, he would see the person for who they were. He knew their parents wouldn't care either.
Lorcan only needed to find out how Lysander felt about Albus.
He found his brother in the library reading a book about the creatures found in the Forbidden Forest..he only hoped Lysander didn't actually go look for them.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lorcan asked, sliding into the seat across from him.
Lysander looked up and blinked. "Of course."
"How do you feel about Albus?"
Lorcan tried to keep himself from grinning when he saw a little red form on his brother's cheeks.
"He's nice like you said, although he refuses to admit he snores but I told him it might be the Wanderwisps. I catch him staring at me a lot..but I don't mind."
"So do you...like being around Albus?" Lorcan asked carefully.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I do, Lorcan."
Lorcan grinned. "Just wondering!"
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"Albus why did you lie to Scorpius and say you fancy Violet?"
Albus cringed. He knew Rose would catch on.
He skipped another rock across the Black Lake before turning to face his cousin.
"I couldn't exactly say the real person I fancy at the time.."
"So it is Lysander?"
Albus yelped as if he was shocked. "How do you know!"
Rose laughed. "You're not exactly subtle about it. You tend to stare at him which I don't think you realize you do half the time, when he looks at you or talks to you your cheeks go a bit red and this dorky smile forms on your face."
He let out a groan. "Great! You're not shocked that I fancy a bloke?"
She shrugged. "Not really, you never really had an interest in girls. At any rate, I think you guys are cute together."
Albus blushed.
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Lorcan waited until he was alone in their dorm till he talked to Albus.
"I know you fancy my brother."
Albus gasped and dropped his potions book on his foot. "Ouch!"
"H-How!...Wait let me guess..I wasn't subtle at it?"
Lorcan chuckled. "Exactly. But..I also know Lysander fancy's you too."
Albus gaped at him. "He does not! He's..handsome and..amazing and I'm plain and boring!"
He couldn't help but scoff at that. "I think besides family you're the only one to say things like amazing about him, which is why I'm daring you to go up to him..and kiss him."
Albus' mouth would have fallen open more if it could. "Are you insane?!"
"Probably..but not about this. So, are you going to take my dare?"
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It was decided on that weekend.
Albus watched around the corner as Lysander skipped down the corridor. He couldn't believe he was really doing this.
"Lysander!"
Lysander gasped softly as he almost ran into Albus.
"Hello Albus." He said with a smile. Albus couldn't help but glance at his lips.
"I uh..w-wanted to show you something." Albus groaned inside, that sounded way lamer in his head.
Lysander turned his head. "What is it?"
"Um..can you..close your eyes for a second?"
Albus could easily see the curiosity swimming in his eyes beneath the surface. He watched as Lysander closed his eyes. Albus took a breath..and leaned forward to press his lips against Lysander's. Slowly, he pulled away but as he tried to move away, he noticed the blonde boy was hanging onto the front of his shirt.
"I think I'd like it if you showed me again."
Albus laughed softly before kissing him again silently sending a quick thanks to Lorcan in his head.
This time as Albus pulled away and opened his eyes, he felt Lysander putting something around his neck. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the cork necklace now around his neck.
"Seeing as how we're going to be doing that more-" Albus couldn't help but chuckle at his straightforward response. "-You should be protected from the Nargles."
"Nargles..they..infest mistletoe and like to steal things..right?"
Lysander only blinked at him with widened eyes before Albus felt his back hit the corridor wall and Lysander fully against him.
Albus couldn't bring himself to care if they got caught snogging against the wall.