Hey, fellow Harry Potter fans! I've never written a fanfic for this before, just because I've thought it unethical to continue something that JK Rowling thought was finished. But then I couldn't stop thinking about writing one. And I think I might've gotten a request for one. So that's why this is here now. ;)

It's from Albus Potter's POV. I just felt like writing in first person.

As you'll see, some of the latter part of this chapter was written by Rowling, not me. That's my first-ever disclaimer. I think. :)

***HARRY POTTER***

As my parents and younger sister faded into the distance, I nervously turned around to face my cousin, Rose Weasley. Already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, I couldn't help but feel intimidated. She smiled and punched me on the arm.

"You're pale," she noted. "And sweaty. Al, relax." I smiled slightly and tried my hardest to relax. Rose looked down the hallway, and then turned back to me. "We should find a compartment. Though there probably aren't any left at this point." She grabbed my arm and dragged me along.

"Sorry," I mumbled, a grin appearing on my face despite anything else I had been feeling. I even almost forgot my earlier argument with my brother, James. I looked up as Rose peered into a compartment that only had one boy, who looked to be about our age, sitting in it, staring out the window.

"Erm...hi," said Rose, and the boy turned around, his pale, pointed face formed into an expression of surprise. "Everywhere else was full…do you mind if we sit here?" The boy smiled and shook his head silently, gesturing to the empty seats around him. I vaguely remembered him from the platform, when Uncle Ron was telling Rose to beat him in every test. I was about to mention this to her, when he spoke for the first time, revealing a voice that was surprisingly soft.

"What're your names?" he asked, his startlingly grey eyes studying both of us. He looked at me and said, "You're Harry Potter's son, right?" I nodded, groaning inwardly. He turned to Rose and said, "That means…you're a Weasley." She turned bright red, and looked away. I glared at him. He seemed to realize immediately that he'd done something wrong, and his eyes widened. "I'm sorry. My father told me that all the Weasleys had red hair and...well, I didn't mean…you know…" I frowned, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not, but I eventually nodded.

"I'm Albus," I said, "But everyone just calls me Al." I looked over at my cousin, whose face had turned back to its normal color. "She's Rose." He smiled and extended his hand.

"I'm Scorpius," he introduced himself. "Scorpius Malfoy." I shook his hand without hesitation, and Rose did after a moment of thought, staring at him. Scorpius began to study us again. He turned towards me and asked, "I suppose you'll be in Gryffindor?"

"I hope so," I admitted. "My whole family has been…I don't want to let them down, you know?" Rose nodded proudly.

"Yeah," said Scorpius. "I can imagine." I frowned.

"I reckon you'll be a Slytherin, then?" I asked, suddenly feeling curious by his lack of enthusiasm. How could a kid not be excited about going to Hogwarts? He shrugged gloomily.

"I suppose," Scorpius answered. "It doesn't look like I've got much of a choice. Every Malfoy's been a Slytherin for ages."

"My dad told me…" I said hesitantly, "The Sorting Hat takes what you want into consideration. Even if you've got the traits of…like…a Ravenclaw, or something, you could still go to Gryffindor, and stuff like that. Maybe that'll work for you." He smiled, his grey eyes lighting up.

"D'you play Quidditch at all?" he asked, suddenly more awake. Rose snorted and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. But I didn't care. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Seeker, mostly," I answered. "Me, my brother, and our cousins play during vacations. James is a Chaser, so my sister's gotten good at Keeping for us. Maybe she'll play once she comes to school. You?"

Scorpius grinned. "I'm a Chaser. How old is your sister?"

"Lily's nine," I answered. "She's coming in two years. What's your team?"

"Puddlemere United," he answered at once, and I grinned widely.

"Mine too," I admitted, still grinning. "So…" Both our smiles faded as we realized that we'd run out of things to talk about.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" asked an elderly lady with a gentle smile, pushing a cart that carried the most amazing candies in the whole world- Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Licorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes…and so many more things that made my mouth water. I gave her two Galleons that just about paid for…a lot…of everything and loaded my purchases into our compartment. Rose bought a Pumpkin Pasty and ate it quietly, immersed in Hogwarts, A History, which, while informative, wouldn't have been my book of choice. Scorpius handed the lady a few sickles for a box of Every Flavor Beans, grinning wildly, his eyes focused on mine. I grinned back. This would be fun.

----------------------------------------------------------HARRY POTTER----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I've got…" I shuddered as I bit down on a caramel colored bean. "Ear wax." Scorpius laughed.

"Al, you've got the worst luck," he said, tossing a light blue one into his mouth. He gagged almost immediately.

"Soap?" I asked, not bothering to stifle my laughter. He nodded, his eyes watering. Rose looked up from her book, something that I'd given up on happening. She moved seats, leaving the large text sitting next to Scorpius. She sat down beside me, smiling mischievously.

"My turn," she said. Smiling in surprise, Scorpius handed her a dark brown one and watched as she bit into it carefully. But Rose didn't wince or cough. "Chocolate." We stared at her, disbelieving.

"No way," I said. "That's just not fair!" She grinned, her brown eyes glinting with enthusiasm.

"Your turn," Scorpius said as he tossed me a pure white bean. I caught it and studied it for a moment. I frowned, not remembering there being a white one before. I put it into my mouth and chewed. "Huh. Interesting."

"What?"

"Coconut…I think," I replied. "It's not…that bad…I guess. Strange." He smiled, biting off the corner of a strange green one.

"Gross…sprouts," he said, tossing the rest of it down his throat and swallowing it.

I looked out the window, and I realized how much time had passed. We were no longer riding past the countryside, and it was dark out. We passed by twisted trees and dark rivers. I caught the eyes of the two others in the compartment, and we all grinned. I could nearly feel my eyes dancing in anticipation, knowing that Hogwarts was drawing ever closer. Rose moved closer to me and smiled, gazing out the window.

"I think we're almost there," she said, her voice unusually quiet. She grasped my hand, and I realized that she was trembling. The smile on my face wilted.

"You all right?"

She swallowed. "Yeah." She brushed a strand of her bushy red hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I think so." Then she looked at me. "You've got to change!" I looked down at my clothes. She was right- both Scorpius and me were still wearing Muggle clothes. She left us to change, and just as I had finished stuffing the rest of my Chocolate Frogs into my trunk, the train slowed down, eventually stopping at Hogsmeade Station.

Scorpius was holding the compartment door open, his face more pale than normal.

"I guess this is it, then," he said uncomfortably. I looked down at my shoes.

"Yeah," I said. "I suppose." I followed him out of the compartment and onto the platform.

------------------------------------------------HARRY POTTER--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!" called a voice I recognized. I smiled in relief as Hagrid smiled down at me. "All right, Albus?" Though he looked intimidating, Hagrid was an old friend of my dad's and he was one of the nicest people I'd ever met. "Any more firs' years?" There was no response, so he led us away from the train, apart from the rest of the school. "Mind yer step!" We followed him down what I figured was a very steep hill. "Firs' years, follow me!" It was dark, and I could barely see Rose and Scorpius in front of me.

I wanted to say something to break the silence that fell but Hagrid called back to us, "Yeh'll get yer firs' view of Hogwarts in a sec…jus' round this bend here." My eyes widened and I gasped, finally seeing the castle for the first time in my life. Even though I'd heard so many stories about it…nothing could've prepared me for what it really looked like. And judging by that everyone else did too, most of them probably felt the same as me.

"Wow," I breathed out, feeling the breeze blow through my hair. Scorpius nodded vigorously.

"Yeah," said Rose. "Wow."

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid told all of us, pointing to boats on the edge of the lake. I sat next to Scorpius and Rose, followed by a boy who said his name was Charlie Finnigan. He had sandy-colored hair and a wide, excited smile. As our boats drew closer to the castle, I felt like I was going to faint, and I wished I had ten more pairs of eyes so I could take in every single little thing that I saw.

I had grown up around magic, but still…Hogwarts…wow. Now I knew why Lily wanted to go so badly…I finally understood her impatience. This place…it was amazing. I could just feel the magic that it clearly radiated.

The boats were drawn up onto the shore, and we clambered out, following Hagrid up the stairs.

"The firs' years, Professor Longbottom," he said, and I saw another familiar face, smiling warmly at the group of us.

"Thank you, Hagrid," said Neville as Hagrid left. Then he turned to us. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will start soon, but before you sit with the rest of your classmates, you must be sorted into your houses. While you're at Hogwarts, your house will be somewhat like your family. You will have classes with your house, sleep in the house dormitory, and spend much of your free time in your house common room."

I gulped, hoping that my continuing fear wasn't too obvious. He continued, telling us about the four houses, and Scorpius flinched slightly when "Slytherin" was named.

"Each house has its own noble history, and excellent witches and wizards have come from them," Neville continued. "When you're at school, your triumphs will earn your house points…but any rule-breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup." His eyes lingered on me for a moment, and he gave me and Rose each a wink and a small smile. "The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly." He led us into a small chamber on the side and told us to wait there for him for a few minutes. As he closed the door, I turned to Rose and Scorpius. Rose was taking deep breaths while smoothing out her hair; Scorpius was standing next to me, his face turning a delicate shade of green. He looked at me and frowned for a second.

"Al…" he said slowly, as if he wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to say, "When we get sorted into our houses…you know…after I'm a Slytherin…and you're with the rest of your family in Gryffindor…I dunno if…" I frowned. "Could we still be friends?" He suddenly became very interested in the painting of an old man with a large white beard and half-moon glasses. When I looked up, I could've sworn that the man winked at me.

"Yeah," I said, surprised. "Why wouldn't we be?" Scorpius shrugged.

"Er…I dunno," he said. "I just-" He was cut off by Neville coming back through the door.

"Your attention, please, first years," he said calmly. The rest of the students fell deathly silent. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Form a line, two by two, and follow me."

My heart pounding in my chest, I got in line next to my cousin, with Scorpius behind me, next to the sandy-haired Charlie Finnigan. Neville (or Professor Longbottom, as I was supposed to call him) led us into the Great Hall.

-------------------------------------------------------------------HARRY POTTER-------------------------------------------------------------------

My eyes opened wide again as I stared at the ceiling. Thousands of candles were floating above our heads, and what seemed like clouds were above that.

"It's not real," Rose said. "The ceiling, I mean." I turned to look at her. "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky."

"I know," I muttered, noticing the four tables where everyone else was sitting. I saw James and my cousin Fred, who were both second years, sitting with a group of their friends, sitting at the table on the far left, which I assumed was the Gryffindor table. As we approached the front of the hall, in front of the table where all the teachers were sitting, we moved out of our line, our eyes focused on the old, dirty, brown hat that was going to decide our fate.

I noticed that everyone in the hall was now staring at the Sorting Hat also. What were they waiting for?

After a few moments of complete silence, a rip near the brim opened, and the hat started to sing...

****HARRY POTTER****

Well, that was the first chapter. Typical, right? But there might be a few twists in store. I'm not sure what houses they're going to get sorted into yet, and I'm not so great at writing songs. So that's why I stopped the chapter here.

As per usual, if anyone's got any ideas, please, tell me. I'm desperate.

Remember to review,

William D. J. Watson