Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter story, including any of its characters a/o settings. I only own Tommy Wood and Sal Myler.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS!

This is my first HP FF story. Taking place after the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, it follows the journey of Al and James Potter and Rose Weasley; amongst other added characters.

Finding an empty car, Albus Potter and Rose Weasley entered and sat across from one another one the benches. They watched in silence as the train started out of the station and quickly moved into the English countryside. Albus kept wondering if what James said would be true; would be he put in Slytherin just because he was named after Severus Snape? No, that can't be right because he was also named after Albus Dumbledore, so he could also be in Gryffindor. Finally, after an eternity of silence, he spoke,

"Do you really think I'll be but in Slytherin?" Albus asked softly.

"Maybe," Rose said thoughtfully. "It can't be as bad as everyone says though, can it?"

"Dunno." Still unsure, Albus kept quiet. Everyone he knew, (which to the extent were his parents, his aunt, uncles, brother, and Neville) belonged to Gryffindor. He was sure he'd be in Gryffindor, at least the hoped so.

"Dad makes a lot of jokes about Slytherin, but Mum said to ignore him. In fact, she thinks I might even be in Ravenclaw."

"What the matter with that?" Albus detected a hint of sadness in her voice.

"It's just… I don't want us to be separated. I would be weird and all, you know. All four of our parents were in the same house together."

"Well, you are an awful know-it-all sometimes," Albus teased.

"And you're a bloody trouble maker." After another stretch of silence, Albus continued,

"I hope Dad's right and James is only joking- HEY! Guess what I got yesterday!" he popped off of his seat and sat down next to Rose. "Look!" he exclaimed, handing her a Chocolate Frog card that read Severus Snape; on it was a picture of a greasy haired man with a worn, stern look on his face.

"Where'd you get this?" Rose looked-on excitedly. "They're really rare?"

"It came in my Chocolate Frog I got from Uncle Bill; he sent me a first year parcel with loads of stuff, didn't you get yours?"

"Sure did!" Rose pulled out an owl shaped parcel stocked full of sweets, jokes, parchment, quills, a wand protector, map of Hogwarts, and other essentials for the first year. "Uncle Charlie sent it all the way from Romania!"

"There you are!" James said from the door post. "I thought maybe you hadn't gotten on in time."

"And what, we'd fly ourselves there like Dad and Uncle Ron?"

"Har, har," he said obviously not amused. Stepping into the car he asked, "Do you have enough money for the lunch trolley?"

"We don't need-"

"You can't just eat sweets for lunch," James said sternly.

"Yes, Mother," Albus said curtly.

"Funny." With that, James exited the car. Half an hour the lunch trolley arrived along with the Howler from James; "NO SWEETS FOR LUNCH", roared his voice. After lunch the cousins amused themselves by sorting their Chocolate Frog cards, sorting through their Every Flavoured Beans, discussing the latest Quidditch match and which would be their favourite subjects; all thoughts of school houses, out of their minds.

"I can't wait for flying lessons!" Albus was flipping through the latest broomstick catalogue.

"You don't need flying lessons, Al," Rose laughed. "You've been flying since birth."

"Do you think they'll ever amend the rule about first years not being allowed to have brooms?" he asked with a sigh. "I don't think it's fair. They should've rewritten that rule completely after Dad was allowed the Nimbus." Rolling her eyes, Rose said,

"Give it up Al. In any case, transfiguration sounds like the best lesson."

"Hmmm…" Albus was only half listening. "How much longer do you think we'll be?" He asked anxiously.

"Not much; it's getting dark, so we should be getting close."

"I hope so, my stomach is growling." At that Rose laughed.

"Now you sound like my dad."

"I think we're slowing down." Albus jumped off his seat to get a better look out the window. "I can see the lights of the castle!"

"It's so… majestic," Rose awed.

"Ready for this, Little Brother?" James asked reappearing in the doorway.

"I suppose."

"Come on, you two, they'll be calling first years to the boats and remember to watch out for the giant squid," were his last works before he disappeared again.

"Squid?" Albus glanced at Rose who just shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. They wouldn't let us cross if it wasn't safe… would they?"

As the train pulled into the station, the prefects were roaming down the train's passages giving out instructions for the first years and answering questions along the way.

"Leave all of your belongings."

"Make sure you have on your robes."

"Yes, leave your owls, toads, cats, and any other pet on board as well; they will be collected separately."

"No, they won't get lost."

"Yes, the boats are completely safe," one of the prefect answered Albus's question.

"No, no one's ever been attacked by the giant squid," another answered Rose's.

"First year disembark first. Come on, come on," a rough voice came through the corridor.

"I guess that's us," Albus said opening the door and trickling out amongst the other first years.

"Don't lose me, Al," Rose pleased to her cousin, grabbing his hand. "I don't want to ride in the boat alone."

"It'll be fine, Rosie," he assured her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Come on."

"See you at the castle!" James called when he spotted them. "Remember, keep your arms and legs inside at all times," he said wiggling his arms like a squid or alike.

"Four to a boat, that's it, move along," came a familiar voice.

"Neville! I mean, Professor Longbottom," Rose said with a smile.

"Hullo, Rosie, Al, come along now and mind your step," he motioned to them. "Don't worry," he whispered to Albus, "James wasn't too sure of this last year." Upon hearing that, Albus smiled as he sat down across from Rose and next to a small boy with light brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Tommy Wood," the boy said brightly.

"I'm Al Potter and this is my cousin Rose Weasley."

"Your dad's Harry Potter?"

"Uh, yes," Al sighed. He knew his dad was famous, his family was famous, but he wasn't fully ready for what the reputation might bring.

"My dad used to play Quidditch with him, he's called Oliver." Al sighed. Good, he knows Dad for a completely different reason.

"Oh, he used to be the Gryffindor captain," Rose chimed in.

"Yup," Tommy said beaming.

"Everyone out!" called a light, high pitched voice as the threesome felt the boat hit the bank. Stepping out onto dry land Rose said, "That wasn't so bad."

"What did you expect, a giant squid?" Tommy laughed. "Both my two older sisters and my other brother tried to scare me about the old squid, but Dad said it never surfaced the whole time he was at school, not even during the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

As the first years made their way up the beaten path towards the school, Albus, look across the dark grounds he could make out what used to be Hagrid's hut, now occupied by the new grounds keeper, Sal Myler; the Womping Willow, still sturdy and vivacious, and the lining of the Dark Forest, which his father and mother both warned that if he EVER stepped foot in, they'd personally take him for school- FOREVER.

"Right, please follow the group right up the stairs and wait when you get to the top," A prefect was instructing the group.

"Hullo, I am Professor Longbottom, welcome to Hogwarts," Neville said, stepping in front of the group. "In just a few moments you're going to be filed into the Great Hall for the Sorting Hat ceremony; we'll be just a while longer."

"Here we go, Rosie," Albus whispered to his cousin.

"Yup, here we go."