Chapter 1: Journey to Hogwarts

In the face of our biggest enemy, ourselves, we have sacrificed much and gained very little. The world will never know what we've done. No books will be written about us, no historians will remember our names. Two lives have been given in hope of saving the world, yet the world believes they never existed. I tell you now, the words in front of your eyes are truer than the clothes on your back.

I start this story with a small eleven year old boy but don't believe for a second he's the center of it all. It's thanks to him that one girl met another eleven year old and it's through him that she started the apocalypse…

Almost every compartment of the train was full. It was hell to find an empty one, but Albus managed. Rose had long since abandoned him for some older Gryffindor girls and now he was all alone. James was off with Louis and his friends, Molly was with Dominique and Victoire, and Fred and Lucy were probably off with some of their friends. So, Albus sat down in the only empty compartment and watched trees fly by the window.

"Excuse me," A girl peaked in. "Have you seen a black cat? She has a green collar, white paws, and she's small."

Albus shook his head. "No, I haven't."

The girl frowned. "Dang it, oh well, she'll have to turn up eventually." She shrugged. "Mind if I sit here? I can't find my friend at the moment."

"Oh, um, go ahead."

"Thanks," She sat down and smiled at Albus. "I'm Sierra Barker, by the way." She held her hand out. Sierra was a good inch taller than Albus, had long dark brown hair, dark green eyes, naturally tanned skin, and a round face.

"I'm Albus, Albus Potter. You can just call me Al though." He shook her hand.

"Oh, you're Lucy's cousin." Sierra's smile went a tiny bit wider.

"You know Lucy?"

"Of course I know her. She's my best friend. That's actually who I've been looking for. Have you seen her around?"

"Can't say I have. She's probably with Freddie." Albus told her.

"Oh, well then I'm fine talking with you then." She made herself comfortable.

"You have a problem with Freddie?" He asked.

"I have a problem with any Gryffindor," Sierra explained. "Other than Lucy." She added after a minute. "She has to be the one Gryffindor I can actually stand."

"What house are you in?" Albus asked.

"Me? I'm a Slytherin, and proud." She held her head just a bit higher.

"Oh, um, that's nice." He shrunk into his seat, upset that the first person to talk to him was from the house he didn't want to be in.

"What? Do you have a problem with Slytherin?" She asked in an accusing voice, then didn't even bother waiting for his answer. "I'll have you know that Slytherin is the best house. We just have a bad reputation."

"I-I wasn't saying Slytherin was a bad house, honest. I would just prefer Gryffindor." He realized he had said the wrong thing two seconds too late as Sierra opened her mouth to start ranting.

"Oh, Sierra there you are." Lucy came into the compartment, stopping Sierra from blowing her gasket. "I've been looking for you everywhere." She sat down, "Hello Al." Lucy was a small mouse-like girl with a pointed nose and wavy red hair that was cut just short of her shoulders. She was tiny and had a dancer's physique, and her blue eyes were exactly like her father Percy Weasley's.

"Hey," He gave her a nod of acknowledgement, not sure how he felt about his compartment suddenly being full of people he didn't really know. He loved Lucy, he was her cousin after all, but don't think for a second he really knew her. She was like the one cousin that he knew existed but other than that he didn't know anything else. Then there was the Slytherin, Sierra. He knew nothing about her, or how she ended up being friends with Lucy. He decided it was best to ignore the two and continue looking out the window, examining his own reflection. Then, of course, Sierra had to include him in their conversation.

"So, Al, are you nervous about being Sorted?" She asked.

"No, not really," He lied.

"It's alright if you are," Lucy told him. "I was last year, when I was a first year."

"I'm not nervous!" He told them. "I'm going to be a Gryffindor! It's impossible for me not to be! My entire family has been Gryffindor!"

Sierra smirked. "And let's say you're not put in Gryffindor? What then? Will you just drop out? Go home and cry to that famous daddy of yours?"

"Sierra, don't tease him." Lucy tried to stop her friend.

"No, little Al here needs to understand how silly it is to worry about what House you're going to be put in. There's no point in it. Nor is there a point in house hate." Sierra leaned back into her seat, keeping her green eyes set on Albus.

"Says the person who hates all Gryffindors but Lucy." Albus pointed out.

"That's different. I have a reason."

"Oh? What is it?" Albus asked.

Sierra bit her lip for a second, obviously thinking about what to say. "I was sent to the hospital wing my first week by a Gryffindor. I don't even know who it was."

Albus looked to Lucy who was looking at her friend sadly.

"That's why I don't trust Gryffindors." She shook her head, a clear signal not to question her story.

"Other then me," Lucy cut in.

"Of course other than you, Lucy-cub. You're too much of a sweetheart to hate." She gave her friend a smile before turning back to Albus. "There's a difference between not trusting and thinking that Gryffindor is a horrible House. Yes, I can be biased towards Slytherin but that doesn't mean I don't admit that each house has their own attributes."

Lucy chuckled, "I'm starting to understand why you were a hat stall. You almost sounded like a Hufflepuff talking there."

"I was not a hat stall," Sierra protested.

"You were to, it took like a good three minutes for you to be Sorted." Lucy grinned as her friend fought against the accusations.

"What's a hat stall?" Albus asked.

"It's what we call someone who the Sorting Hat spent a long time on." Lucy explained. "There's at least three every year. Mostly it's people who could fit well into two or more houses. The hat has to decide which the person will be most successful in."

Albus bit his lip, thinking, hoping he wouldn't be a hat stall. Especially if he ended up in Slytherin. James would never let him hear the end of it. "Lucy? You don't think I'll be a hat stall will you?"

Lucy gave him a polite, almost sympathetic smile. "I don't know you well enough, Al. But I'm sure the hat will make the right decision with you. It always does."

The several hour-long train ride went by a bit quicker than Albus would have thought. Sierra and Lucy stayed for the entirety of it. Occasionally, Albus would join their conversation but most of the time he would find it too boring to even tune into. All they were talking about were their summers; Lucy's dance recitals, Sierra's summer time quidditch practice and how she was ready for the house team. Lucy mentioned that she was getting better at painting and that she'd have to show some of her work to Sierra. About halfway through the trip Fred found them and joined their group. Fred was one of the cousins that Albus actually liked. Fred was a lot like his dad, except in looks. He had an odd look, somewhat mixing features from his mother and his father. His skin wasn't exactly dark like his mum's but it wasn't nearly as pale as his dad's, comparing him to Sierra's dark tinted skin he was barely darker than she was. His hair was a wavy dark auburn, leaning more towards red then brunette and his eyes were dark chocolate-brown. When he joined their group Sierra suddenly became very quiet, leaving most of the talking for Lucy and Fred who had always been just a bit closer than any of the other cousins. Albus couldn't tell what Sierra thought of Fred. She kept staring at him but he couldn't decide if it was a glare or something else. He had never been good at reading people. Fred didn't seem to like Sierra all that much either. He never looked at her, or even acknowledged that she was there.

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station Albus was almost happy to be rid of his cousins and the odd Slytherin. He followed the rest of the first years off of the train after Hagrid, who he knew as his old summer time babysitter, and into the boats that were lined up across the lake. Nervously he climbed into one, not even noticing the bleach blonde boy who was already in it.

"You look nervous," The boy remarked.

Albus shot him a glare. "I'm not nervous!" He snapped before calming himself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I'm just-"

"Nervous," The boy finished for him. "I understand, I am too. I'm Malfoy, Scorpius Malfoy."

"Now, that's a funny name." Albus heard next to him. He turned and found his cousin Rose climbing into the boat right before it went gliding across the lake.

"Think my name's funny do you?" Scorpius snapped, his grey eyes flaring with anger. "There's no need to ask yours." He said to Rose. "My father pointed you and your family out at the platform. You're a Weasley." He then turned to Albus. "And you're the Potter boy." He then held his hand out. "I believe you and I would make great friends, don't you?"

Albus stared at his out stretched hand then back at Scorpius' face. His bleach blonde, almost white, hair was slicked back onto his head leaving his grey eyes free from any site blocking bangs. His nose was pointed and upturned, making his sharp features seem almost ferret like.

"I'm Al," He took Scorpius' hand and for just a moment all of his anxiety was gone as the boat with him, Rose, and Scorpius floated across the surface of the lake and towards the candle lit castle that loomed over them in the starlight.

A/N: First, before this fanfiction goes any further, I would like to apologize for how boring this part of the story will be. I promise you, if you get past me writing about Albus' first year this story will get more interesting. I would have liked to just skip this part all together but unfortunately it's important to the plot for me to set in place the characters and their history. Also, I'd like to apologize for putting so many OCs in this but honestly it's hard to write a next generation fic without OCs.

So, if you're able to keep reading despite those two fatal flaws, then please leave a review and follow this story.