Chapter One- Platform Nine and Three Quarters

'Look who it is.'
Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny staring at him, nodded swiftly and turned away again.
'So that's little Scorpius,' said Ron under his breath. 'Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains.'
'Ron, for heaven's sake' said Hermione, half-stern, half-amused. 'Don't try to turn them against each other before-' she was interrupted by the tap she got on her shoulder.
'You would never have thought it possible: Mudblood and Weasel spawn. Well, now I guess I have seen everything.'
Malfoy had not grown much since leaving Hogwarts, and his bleach blonde hair was thinning a little on top of his head. The woman standing next to him had hair as dark as Harry's, with a sharp pointed nose that gave the impression that she was looking down upon the Potter and Weasley clan. The boy in between them resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry.
'Shove off, Malfoy.' snapped Ron, who did not like to be put down in front of his children.
'Still not learned any new come-backs then, Weasel King? Pity. I guess you never were the sharpest wand in the shop.' replied Malfoy, his eyes narrowing towards the ginger child clinging to Ron's leg.
'Malfoy, now is not the time or the place. Back off, and learn from your mistakes. Look what happened to your family after the war- do you really want that again?' said Ginny snidely, looking at the woman at Draco's side.
'Ah yes, where are my manners.. I think introductions are in order. Scar-head, Weasels, Mudblood- this is my wife, Astoria. Astoria- well, you know who this is...' said Draco. Astoria narrowed her eyes as she took in the appearance of the people before her; it was obvious she wasn't impressed.
Why today? Why did Malfoy come back to taunt them today? Harry turned to look at the clock above them. 5 to eleven. The train would be leaving soon, with or without his children on board.
Harry turned towards the Hogwarts Express, pulling Ginny, Albus and Lily with him. Hermione, Ron, Rose and Hugo followed.
'Oh, and Potter?' shouted Draco. 'Please tell me your children aren't as much of a drama queen as you were. I don't want my boy growing up the same way I did: around wannabe-heros.'
Astoria's head flew up as she gave a sharp giggle at her husband's remark. Hermione and Ginny held Ron and Harry back by the arm: they couldn't make a scene here. Today was meant to be Albus's and Rose's day, after all.
Draco gave a wink at the group, and walked off hand in hand with his wife. Little Scorpius paused for a moment, and stared wide-eyed at each member of the little family. Then he ran after his mother and father, looking back occasionally towards the Potter and Weasleys. Why did his grey eyes stare for so long at Albus? Harry had to agree with Ron here: he did not want his children to make friends with a Malfoy, whatever the circumstances.

'Comon, let's go and find a space' said Harry.
'Hey!'
James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news. He steadied himself when he saw the look on his father's face.
'Who was that man?' asked James. Harry had told his children about the Malfoy's to an extend when explaining his time at Hogwarts. However, he did not go into too much detail, because he didn't want to put a bad impression on the school.
Harry paused, biting his lip. James, being the eldest of the children, would understand what happened. Albus and Rose could tell him all they wanted, but would he understand Harry's true loathing for the man underneath their explanation? He decided against telling James the details, and replied with 'Mr Malfoy.'
Jame's eyes narrowed, but he did not push the point. Obviously, he had more pressing matters to discuss.
As Harry predicted, James burst with 'Teddy's back there, just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!'
The parents sighed. It was so typical of James to deliver gossip; he had got into trouble already for it at school. Whilst Ginny scolded James for interrupting Teddy, Harry turned to face his youngest son. Albus was usually good at concealing his emotions, but today was another story. His small, skinny hands were shaking uncontrollably as he stared his father in the eyes. It still shocked Harry to see exactly his shape and colour eyes reflected back at him; at least that part of his mother wasn't lost.

'Albus, what's wrong?' asked Harry.
Albus's face whitened as he looked shiftily around the platform. He seemed unable to speak.
'It's completely natural to be nervous, son. I was when it was my first time. But honestly, you're going to love it. You probably won't even want to come home for the holidays!'
Albus just nodded. Harry knew something else was bothering him, as it wasn't like Albus to keep silent. Harry bent over, and stared squarely into those emerald green eyes he knew so well.
'J-just say I am put into Slytherin..?' whispered Albus.
Harry now understood. 'Then Slytherin house would have gained a great, young wizard. It really doesn't matter to us, Al. But, if you're really worried about it, you can choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The sorting hat takes your choice into account.'
'Really?' Asked Albus.
'It did for me.' replied Harry.

At that moment, the whistle blew and the train doors began to shut. James gave Harry a fleeting hug as he ran to the train, while Ginny was hugging Albus. Rose was already onboard, waiting for Albus.
Albus turned towards his father, looked at him for a second, and then ran to give him a goodbye hug. 'You'll write, won't you?' he shouted as he began to quickly back towards the train.
'Of course we will!' Ginny shouted back. The three children got a compartment with a window next to their parents, so they could wave through the glass.

Hermione gave a giggle.
'What?' asked Ron, eyeing her suspiciously.
'I seem to remember our first train ride to Hogwarts. Two boys and a girl. And look!' screamed Hermione, pointing dramatically at the window by their children. A toad was jumping around the compartment.
'Ironic, isn't it?' Hermione gasped. Harry gave a chuckle, while Ron's face seemed to go a bit pale under his electric red hair.
'They're going to have so much fun. I wish we would go back.' whined Ginny. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek.
At that moment, the train started to move forwards, while deep puffs of grey smoke emitted from the steam engine. The controller gave one more whistle, and with a final wave, the train had rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.