The train whistled and slowly starting inching out of the station. Albus stuck his head out of the closest window and raked his eyes over the platform until he found his family. Waving enthusiastically, Albus watched his father walk beside the train as it gained speed. Just as the station disappeared from view, he saw his mother wrap her arms around his dad and whisper something to him. Albus knew that his dad was going to miss him, and for a minute, Albus felt a pang of unease. His thoughts were disrupted with James leaning out of a compartment and calling his name.
"Albus! Oi! Albus! Can't find yourself a seat then? Do you plan on standing by the door until we reach?"
Albus blushed as laughter erupted from James's compartment. He picked up his trunk and dragged it down the corridor, to where his brother was.
"Don't worry, I was only kidding. Here, you come sit with us" James gestured vaguely towards a seat while he and Cousin Dominique jumped onto the bench and hoisted his trunk onto the overhead storage. The feeling of unease evaporated immediately as he saw the compartment's occupants. James and Dominique, now done with rearranging suitcases were sitting by the window, with James telling Dominique who her teachers this year would be. Victoire was absent-mindedly playing with her head girl badge while reading a piece of parchment – presumably a love letter from Teddy. Rose was crooning at Botts, her toad, which frankly looked vaguely like an enlarged slime ball.
4As Albus sat down, he heard familiar voices travelling from a nearby compartment. He heard a door slide open and then shut. Moments later, their own compartment door slid open and two boys, one with blonde hair and the second with fiery red, stuck their heads in.
"Lorcan! Or are you Lysander?" James raised an eyebrow, staring accusingly at the blonde.
"Lysander!" he replied. "I'm the better looking twin, can't you tell already?"
"You're the twin who isn't willing to blow up Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." James grinned. He leant over towards Dominique and stage whispered "Ravenclaws," shaking his head. Victoire snapped out of her reverie and glared at him, wrapping her Ravenclaw scarf more securely around her neck. The whole compartment, including the new additions, Lysander and Fred II, burst into fits of laughter.
Lysander ducked out unnoticed but returned a few minutes later with his twin.
Fred II stepped into the compartment and took a seat beside James while Lorcan thought it a better idea to sit on James's lap instead. Conspiringly, the three of them huddled and in undertones started planning something that would most certainly not end well. Lysander and Victoire struck up a conversation about his upcoming apparition tests. Dominique also leaned forward to listen to what they were saying. Rose tore her eyes away from Botts and scanned the compartment. She then looked at Albus, and both of them sighed, shaking their heads. This is what a typical holiday looked like at home, everyone in their own little groups talking about various things. It was equally annoying and comforting to know nothing had changed.
That was when Albus and Rose heard a muffled "Ow" from the corridor outside. They looked out of the door, but saw nothing. Just as they turned away, the sound was heard again, this time more apparent. Albus looked around the compartment, but no one other than Rose had noticed. This time when they looked out, they saw the small figure of a white blonde boy trudging down the corridor, trunk in hand, looking fairly forlorn.
Rose leaned forward and whispered in Albus's ear, "That's Scorpius. the Malfoy boy."
From somewhere down the corridor a ball of parchment whizzed through the air, hitting Scorpius on the back of the head.
A taunting voice followed the piece of parchment, "Not so tough now, huh Malfoy? My parents told me about your family. Going to tell your father about us, eh? I'd like to see you try. Traitors."
By now the entire compartment was listening. Scorpius didn't turn as the voices continued provoking him, but Albus could see the tears welling up in his eyes.
A sudden surge of courage, probably a product from his anger or disappointment at the rude voices, made Albus get up and open the compartment door. He went out and stared down to the corridor to a compartment few doors over that contained a bunch of fifth years who hadn't taken notice of him.
"Hey! Stop that. Leave him alone!" Albus yelled. From the corner of his eye, he saw James lingering by the open door, smiling at him.
"It's the Potter boy." One voice murmured.
"Best go inside," the second voice said.
"Yeah, you do that!" James shouted in their direction.
With a pat on Albus's shoulder, James re-entered the compartment.
Scorpius started to tug at his trunk, when Albus placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Scorpius turned to look at him.
"Hi! I'm Albus." He extended his hand towards the white blonde boy.
After a moments hesitation, Scorpius reached out and shook Albus's hand.
"I'm Scorpius." He muttered.
"I know!" Albus said brightly. "Do you have a compartment to sit in?"
"Uh… no I don't" Scorpius cast his eyes downwards.
"Well, you can sit with us!" Albus smiled widely.
"I'm a Malfoy!" Scorpius's eyes shot upwards to meet Albus's.
"I know." Albus nodded.
"You still want to sit with me?" Scorpius questioned.
Albus nodded once more.
"Why?" Scorpius had a very obvious look of surprise on his face.
"Why not? You look like you could use a friend, and I could use one too. You seem like the good sort." Albus replied kindly.
"Alright. Yes, I'd like to sit with you, please." Scorpius's face had lit up like a Christmas tree.
Albus moved aside to make room for Scorpius, and then helped him shove his trunk under the bench. The two of them sat down, and that's when Albus noticed how quiet the compartment had gone. If his family were upset about Scorpius being there, they hid it well. All of them looked very curious, though.
Finally, Dominique stuck her hand out and said "Hi! I'm Dominique. You must be Scorpius."
Scorpius smiled at her and shook her hand.
"It's your first year then?" When Scorpius mumbled a yes, Dominique continued amiably, "Yeah! It's Albus's, Rose's, and my first year too! Wonder which house we're all going to be in, huh?"
"Considering my family history, I suppose I'll have to be in Slytherin. Chances aren't in my favour. I was reading Hogwarts: A History before the term started and it was mentioned that the Sorting Hat tends to put families in the same house." Scorpius said, not looking pleased by the fact that he'd be in Slytherin.
Albus and Dominique on the other hand, smiled at each other, knowing that they were thinking the same thing. What Scorpius had said sounded exactly like something their Aunt Hermione would have said.
"Nah. I think you're more of a Ravenclaw." Dominique said shaking her head.
Scorpius smiled at her. Dominique then rose from the other side of the compartment and sat down next to Scorpius, sandwiching him between herself and Albus. Together, they started talking about the various houses and Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest, occasionally to be joined by Rose who was otherwise too engrossed with her toad.
Lorcan, who had resumed his place on James's lap laughed a little and James, feigning motherly admiration, wrapped his arms around Lorcan and said "Ah! Blossoming friendship. The most beautiful thing to witness," he pretended to wipe a tear away from his eye. He then squeezed Lorcan tighter and said nostalgically "Remember when that was us?"
Lorcan, equally melodramatic, replied, "We planned our first dungbomb attack in this very compartment on our first day."
This was followed by Fred II muttering, "Jeez, get a room, you guys." Everyone, including Scorpius, burst out laughing as James jokingly pushed Lorcan away from him, who turned around and faked dejection.
After a minute of this, everyone slowly went back into their own conversations. Scorpius leaned towards Albus and whispered, "Thank you for letting me sit here."
Albus smiled at him and whispered back, "I'm glad I offered."