Chapter 1 - Start of an Unlikely Friendship

As the Hogwarts Express started Albus Potter was clearly nervous. The 11 year old, dark haired, green eyed boy had high expectations of Hogwarts. His older brother, James, had spoken about Hogwarts the whole time while he was on holidays. James has spoken about many things about Hogwarts, the teachers, the classes, Gryffindor, just to name a few.

James had already gone to meet his friends on board the train, who Albus had faintly heard their names were Simon Jordan and his cousin Fred Weasley. Albus smiled and waved to his parents and was feeling very bitter-sweet about going to Hogwarts. Of course, he was going to Hogwarts, the place he had longed to be for the last year. But he was also leaving his mother, father and his sister.

"I don't think there is anyone in this compartment Al" Rose said to Albus.

They walked into the vacant compartment and didn't talk to each other for about 5 minutes as they were both looking at the view out the window and thinking about the day they had ahead of them.

Their silence was broken when a boy, the same age as their own, knocked and opened the door to the compartment. The boy had bleach blonde hair, pale skin and grey eyes. Albus looked up from the window to see the boy who had just entered the silent compartment.

"Excuse me, all the compartments are taken and I was wondering if I could maybe sit in this compartment with you…" The boy asked Albus and Rose.

"Yes of course! I'm Albus, Albus Potter and this is my cousin, Rose Weasley!" Albus said to the boy cheerfully.

The boy almost immediately after Albus had told him their names went even paler then before, if it was even possible.

"Oh, okay, that's alright I'll find another compartment. Sorry for bothering you!" As the boy was about to walk out of the compartment Rose stopped him.

"Wait, We said you could sit with us and besides, you can't just walk around the train until we get to Hogwarts. Just stay here we don't mind, we've got plenty of spare seats. Hang on… you're not Scorpius Malfoy are you?"

The boy had a nervous look on his face and looked down at his feet when replying to Rose's question, "Yeah I am… I'm sorry."

Albus was confused as to why Scorpius was sorry that he was Scorpius Malfoy. Albus knew nobody could choose their family, and he was confused as to why Scorpius was apologising to Rose and Albus. Scorpius had a nervous look on his face and he looked like he was prepared to be shredded by a lion or tormented in front of Hogwarts. He looked scared but tense as to what Rose and Albus would say in response to admitting he was Scorpius.

Albus looked to Rose who shrugged her shoulders as to say she did not mind that he was Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius turned to walk out of the compartment before Albus stopped him this time.

"That's okay, I don't care and I'm sure Rose doesn't really care either. I won't judge you on your family, I mean, everyone's different." Albus said this in a genuine way.

He was he was also insecure about his ancestry. He knew that everyone would expect him to live up to his father and mother; his father defeated the most dangerous wizard of all time and was now the Head of the Auror department at the Ministry of Magic and his mother used to be the star seeker of the Holyhead Harpies and is now the best Quidditch Writer at the Daily Prophet. Albus was determined to make a name for himself and step out of his parents shadow but he doubted his abilities as a wizard. His brother James had received great marks at the end of his first year despite being the prankster and class clown along with his cousin Fred Weasley. James was also a great Quidditch player and had already been offered a position in the Gryffindor quidditch team. Lily, his sister, was also showing great potential as a wizard and was by far the brainiest of the three Potters, despite being two years younger than Albus.

Scorpius eventually sat down next to Rose and the three began talking about Quidditch, despite Rose's lack of knowledge on the subject. They were talking about Quidditch for quite a while, until a new topic broke out.

"So, what house do you guys want to be sorted into?" Rose asked the two boys desperately trying to get the subject away from Quidditch.

"Well, obviously I would love to be sorted into Gryffindor but I don't know whether I'm brave and daring enough to be one. I don't mind if I'm not sorted into Gryffindor anymore though. My dad said someone to me about the Sorting Hat before we left the station so I don't mind. Gryffindor would be awesome though, my whole family's been in Gryffindor." Albus still sounded very nervous about the Sorting Hat selection.

"What about you Scorpius?" Albus asked.

Scorpius thought for a few seconds before saying ,"Well to be completely honest, I don't particularly want to be placed in Slytherin because everyone will just think I'm just exactly like my dad and grandfather but I don't want to be like them at all. My dad's okay now but he has told me why he has the scar on his forearm and I don't even like hearing about that. So, I think I will be sorted into Hufflepuff. I'm not smart enough for Ravenclaw and the Sorting Hat will never put me in Gryffindor, my whole family has been Slytherin which is basically the exact opposite of Gryffindor. My dad wants me to be in Slytherin so much, same with my Grandfather. They were telling me how I will be disowned if I'm not in Slytherin."

"I'm sure they were joking Scorpius. My dad said the same to me except for Gryffindor, and he was joking!" Rose said to Scorpius reassuringly.

"No, he didn't say it like that. My grandfather doesn't joke about anything." Scorpius said sadly.

This raised a lot of conversation about Scorpius' family which then led to the conversation of their father's and mother's teenage lives. They were talking about the Wizarding War, telling each other about what they knew.

They spoke for a while about the subject, before their conversation was interrupted when James and Fred walked into the compartment.

"Hey Al and Rose. How are you guys? Excited yet? Well, You should be! Hogwarts is great and you meet all kinds of… hang on, you're not Scorpius Malfoy are you?" James had turned from quite cheerful to a cold and judging attitude towards Scorpius when realising his presence.

Fred and James began whispering about a Malfoy in the same compartment as Rose and Albus.

"Yeah I am…" Scorpius had gone back to his nervous mood and he looked down at the ground of the compartment for the second time. He had said the same thing to Rose and Albus just an hour or two earlier and in the same tone.

"James, Don't worry. My dad was just judging him too quickly, just like you are now. Give him a chance and don't judge him on his family. I know you wouldn't want to be judged on yours."

Rose said this firmly and knew that all the Potter's were insecure about the expectations put on them because of their father and mother.

Rose was sticking up for Scorpius because she knew that he was a nice boy despite what her father had said at King's Cross. Scorpius gave Rose a quick smile but James wasn't too certain that everything was as it seemed with Scorpius.

"Okay Rose, whatever you say. Just don't be too careful, after all, he is a Malfoy!" With that James and Fred left the compartment.

James and Fred left the mood quite tense in the compartment. Rose quickly got out her books and chose to read 'Hogwarts: A History.'

Scorpius looked out the window and stared into the distance.

Albus was thinking about what his brother had said about Scorpius and decided to ignore it. After all, Albus could decide his friends by himself, he didn't need his brothers approval of who he can be friends with.

Albus decided to end the silence and talk to Scorpius so he knew James hadn't changed Albus' mind on him. Scorpius and Albus began talking about all sorts of things.

Scorpius said to Albus that he loved Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, to which Albus told Scorpius that his uncle owned the shop and that it was his cousins dad, the same cousin who had just entered the compartment.

"Oh, that explains it. I feel so stupid, of course it's your family's shop. Weasley… of course." Scorpius seemed stunned that he hadn't put one and one together. Albus laughed at Scorpius as he couldn't believe that Scorpius didn't realise that the 'Weasley shop' was owned by someone from the Weasley's.

Albus looked at his watch and saw that the time was coming onto four o'clock in the afternoon. Rose had gone to change into her Hogwarts robes but the two boys decided to put them on later. The two boys continued their earlier discussion about Quidditch and their favourite teams.

The conversation stopped when Rose walked in and she told the boys to go get their Hogwarts robes on. The boys at first told Rose they would put their robes on later but Rose was very persistent and forced the boys to go get their robes on now, telling them they'd be at Hogwarts soon.

The two boys walked through the train with many whispers about the unusual pairing.

"Why's a Potter with a Malfoy?"

"Is that Albus Potter?"

"My dad told me that's Harry Potter's son."

Albus deliberately ignored the whispers of the Hogwarts students. Albus walked on and looked to his right to see a compartment of Slytherin's staring at the two boys. They were at first looking at Albus and then they started looking from Albus to Scorpius to Albus while whispering about the two boys. They were clearly not happy about Scorpius befriending Albus. Albus walked quickly, avoided the glares of the Slytherin's and continued walking through the train.

The two boys were into the robes and back in their compartment and they realised they were indeed almost at Hogwarts.

Albus' nerves kicked in as they have never done before and he immediately felt butterflies in his stomach. Albus was now trying to compose himself and trying not to be overcome with nerves. He looked at Scorpius who looked just as nervous as himself and he then looked towards Rose who looked much the same.

They were about to arrive at Hogwarts, the place they had heard so much about.