i. Train, Again
It had not been the first time that Albus Severus Potter had found himself on a train - after all, he and his father had gone into London many times in his short eleven years of life - but never had any of those cripplingly loud journey's aboard the infamous London Underground amounted to anything such as this.
He eagerly wheels his trunk to the best of his ability along the train's carriage, searching for a compartment that would fit both he, his cousin, and her best friend. Albus' brother, James, was of no help with this task. Despite him having taken this journey twice before, he makes no effort to help his little brother find somewhere to sit. Instead, he chooses to slink off to a compartment with his friends.
"I think this one's empty," says Albus' cousin, Rose. Sure enough, at the end of the carriage, there was just a single compartment alone that hadn't an occupant. Rose and her friend, Cat, step inside first, with no problem lifting their trunks above their heads and into the overhead rack. Albus has no such luck, struggling to shove the oversized luggage into the upper compartment.
"Let me help you with that," Albus hears an unfamiliar boy's voice say from behind him. Together, they lift the trunk and it finally slides into place. Al finds himself at a loss of what to say, a mixture of both exhaustion and a slight twinge of embarrassment washing over him.
"Al," Rose rolls her eyes at her younger cousin, "Don't be rude."
The boy who helped snorts at her comment, to which she replies to with, "Scorpius Malfoy, I assume?"
"And you're Rose Weasley. Funny how we can only have just met and already somehow have some sort of first impression of each other," he says pointedly.
Albus finally regains his ability to breathe, still slightly amazed at how Rose and Cat could quite easily lift the trunks in the first place.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he speaks, "but I'm going to pretend to understand, okay?"
"Agreed." Cat smiles and nods at Rose, and the helpful boy, who is supposedly named /Scorpius/. He has roundish features, pale skin, and light blond hair, however clearly much dirtier than his father's, whom Albus had seen once before when Malfoy had come to deliver important news to Harry. Scorpius' eyebrows didn't match that of the hair on his head, being several shades too dark, and his eyes were the precise shape of Draco Malfoy's, though his were unmistakably olive over icy blue.
Albus' parents had always taught him to be polite, and so that was why he invited Scorpius Malfoy to sit with them on a mere whim. The young Malfoy boy doesn't share the old prejudice of his father and grandfather before him, and thus much obliges.
And so they were four, sitting in the compartment together in a seemingly impenetrable silence. That is, until Cat speaks up, drifting the conversation to the topic of their pets.
Albus has a tawny owl named Ares; he's big, and bold-looking, but highly unreliable. He had received the owl for his eleventh birthday in February, much to his surprise. Scorpius, despite his rich heritage, had chosen a simple snow-coloured cat, instead of the usual hawk-like bird that the Malfoy family had been know to give their sons.
Cat had, ironically, a mouse. She was named May, with big peached-toned ears and soft red eyes. On most animals, that feature would look terrifying, or disconcerting, but on May however, it was as cute as can be.
Rose hadn't a proper pet, though she had acquired a bright red Pygmy Puff as an early birthday present this past August from their Uncle George. Every year, George would allow each one of his nieces and nephews (and his own children) to pick one thing from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes that caught their heart's desire, and they would get it completely free of charge.
Due to their conversation, the four had not noticed that the train had left Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters, and that they were now chugging speedily past meadows and valleys. A sudden tap on the door awoke them to this, the noise of which belonged to a kind elderly woman who was pushing a trolley full of Honeydukes' best sweets.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked in a tone that Scorpius recognised as strained kindness; he had seen it from his father many times.
"Yes, please. Thank you for offering, Madam-?" Scorpius asks for her name, which greatly shocked her. She shook her head, finally sporting a genuine grin. "None of this 'Madam' business - Madelaine would simply do."
"Madelaine." Scorpius had risen to his feet, willing to purchase for everyone. Despite both Rose and Al's protests against it, he gave her enough money for twenty of everything, more than really necessary. He spred the sweets across his vacated seat, and sat next to Rose opposite. Intending for his new found acquaintances to dig in, he let them run wild on the overabundance of food.
Cat bee-lined straight for the Chocolate Frogs, tossing the card aside for Al to catch and for her to get the chocolate. Albus groaned, seeing /Harry Potter/ printed neatly underneath a much more youthful-looking moving portrait of his dad.
Harry James Potter, considered by many as 'The Boy Who Lived' and 'The Chosen One', is the only known survivor of the killing curse. Mister Potter is most particularly famous of his defeat of the mass-murdering dark wizard of modern times, Lord Voldemort, in 1998. He is currently head of Auror office, and lives in Chiswick with his wife, Ginevra Molly Weasley, and his three children; James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna.
"He's a bit of a prat, to be honest," Albus says, and Cat snorts. Rose smiles at the comment.
There was an awkward silence hanging in the air once more, as Cat shuffled through the food eagerly and Rose was slowly peeling strips from a rather colourful Sour Wand.
"It must be difficult," Scorpius finally said to Albus, "being the son of such a legendary wizard."
Rose stopped stripping the Sour Wand, and Cat tried to discreetly swallow a large wad of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Albus was taken aback by the sentiment that Scorpius was trying to show, to sympathise with him.
"Kind of, I mean, he's just my dad, but to everybody else he's a war hero."
Scorpius Malfoy nods in understanding, possibly because of his grandfather's former association with the Death Eaters, or perhaps it was his father's large corporation. Al suddenly feels secure in talking to this boy, despite only meeting him today. Maybe it was unwise to confide in the son of his father's very own anti-hero, but that didn't stop him from saying what he said next.
"You know what happens when we go out together? My dad gets stopped. People ask for his autograph, they thank him for everything he's done. And I know I should be proud, I know I really should, but I just... can't help but think sometimes that my dad's heroism stops him from being completely..." he struggles to express the end of his sentence, and Rose and Cat are left in awe to ponder on this recent establishment that Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter were... friends?
In that instant, the compartment door slid open again, this time without permission. In poked a rather freckly, red-haired girl from the corridor. She grinned. "Jim said you'd be in here."
She eyed the sweets on the seat, and plonked herself next to Cat, who was turning very green at very rapid speed. The red-head looks in Scorpius' direction with the upmost surprise; she didn't realise they had other company.
"And who's this, cuz?" she asks, shortening 'cousin'. Al nor Rose reply, so Cat takes it upon herself between muted gags, "Dominique, this is Scorpius Malfoy."
The surname resonates with Dominique, recognising it from both recent history books and her Uncle Ron's rants alike. Sensing the danger here, Albus gives out a laugh. "Yeah. He helped me with my trunk and bought all these for us," he sweeps one hand across the compartment, gesturing the large amount of food shrouding them. Dominique shrugs off the wary looks given by Rose and Albus alike, and reaches for a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Accepting blind faith, she reaches in to pull out a bean, only to toss it straight into her mouth. She winces at the apparently horrible taste, as Rose and Al let out a sigh of relief in unison.
Dominique attempts to strike up conversation with the sickly Cat, turning the subject of interest to Houses. Dominique, having started two years previous, was a Hufflepuff. Scorpius Malfoy suddenly sparks an interest at those words, "You mean, you're not a Gryffindor? Aren't all Weasley's Gryffindors?"
She snorts. "The Sorting Hat doesn't sort by families, you know. It takes the things you value and sorts you accordingly. I, for one, value loyalty. My sister, though, she values imagination. Because of that, she was put into Ravenclaw."
Scorpius had never thought it a matter of value, he merely thought that it took your traits and placed you that way. However, upon considering this, it made sense: his father was one of the most intelligent wizards he knew, and yet, he wasn't placed in Ravenclaw. Knowing his father, he had probably valued the house of his father and grandfather before him, so he wished to carry on their legacy.
He is snapped from this realisation by Dominique cornering her cousins and demanding of them what house they would like to be in.
Rose quirks an eyebrow at Dominque's interest, but doesn't question it. She simply replies with a curt "Gryffindor" and allows for Al to respond, despite knowing full well how desperately he wanted to be in Gryffindor, too. So, it surprises her to great lengths when he says that he's not sure.
Albus senses Rose's gaze on him, and elaborates. "I know, I said I wanted to be Gryffindor, but, I don't know, I guess I wouldn't mind being in any of the houses."
Cat breaks temporarily from her ill haze, and reminds Albus of his hatred of Slytherins, before resuming clutching her stomach and trying not to throw up the sweets she consumed.
"Slytherins aren't all that bad," Scorpius interjects before Al can give his own thoughts on the matter, "Merlin was a Slytherin."
Albus nods, "Severus Snape was a Slytherin."
"Wasn't he a Death Eater?" Rose inquires of them.
"He was a spy for Dumbledore," Scorpius corrected, feeling slightly hot.
"And Al's named after him," Dominique reminds Rose, to which she can only shrug.
Dominique glances out the window, seeing that dusk had fallen and that the lamps had begun to be lit, she dismisses herself from the compartment and tells them that perhaps they should change into their robes. Rose slumps down where Dominque had been sitting beside Cat, who was now laying down with her eyes closed. The Weasley girl has to refrain from laughing at her best friend, who had overstuffed her stomach to no end every time there were sweets at hand.
She pushes slightly on Cat's exposed wrist, causing her to flash her eyes open. "We should go get changed."
Cat begrudgingly follows Rose out of the compartment, each clutching their folded robes. This leaves Albus and Scorpius alone together in silence.
"You know, I meant it when I said that my dads heroism stops him from being there for me." Albus breaks the silence, continuing the conversation from before. Scorpius nods as he did then.
"My father, well, he's always working. You wouldn't think it, you know, because of what he does, but he's never home," he sighs.
Albus smiles unwillingly, and then corrects it to reflect sadness. It's a nice thought, to think that Scorpius trusted him as much as Al trusted Scorpius, despite them having just recently met. "What about your mum?"
"When I was younger, Mother would be home. She'd take me to school, pick me up, pack my lunches. It wasn't until a few years ago that she begun working again."
"You went to school?" Albus asks of Scorpius in surprise.
"Yes. Father thought it would be nice if I grew up in a more muggle environment," he smiled fondly at the memory, "He didn't want me to become like him, I s'pose."
"He can't be that bad," Albus says, knowing that Draco Malfoy was one of the major supporters of the muggle rights movement.
"He's not, he just thinks he is," replies Scorpius. "I think we should get dressed before the girls come back. It would be awkward to change in front of them."
Cat and Rose returned just as Albus was pulling his cloak over his arms, the sleeves of which his parents had purposely asked to be slightly too long so that he could grow into them. Cat looked much better after strolling the corridors, though still slightly green.
"We've been up to the driver, to ask him how long it'll be, and Cat definitely needed it," Rose informed them, "Apparently not long now."
With this, Albus replied, looking out the window, "Not long at all. Look! There's the station just up ahead!"
Indeed, moments later they heard the wheels screech on the railways and all movement came to a halt. The sound of students filled the corridors, and the four of them heard a cry of "Firs'-years! Don' be shy!"
They pushed past the many older students and tried to make their way off the train. Finally, with much persistence, their feet touched the brick of the station floor. Rose and Albus both grinned up at the sight of Hagrid's familiarity, and couldn't help but snicker slightly when Hagrid saw Scorpius standing next to Al.
"Draco Malfoy's son, eh?"
Scorpius nods, slightly fearing for his life due to Hagrid's vastness and altitude. The half-giant chortled at his shiftiness and commented on how much he looked like his father, and that Scorpius was the lucky one on that.
Hagrid rounded up the many first years and made a quick head-count to double-check that there weren't too many for the journey. That had happened before, eight years previous. Though, it should be noted that eight years ago had been the eleventh anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War.
Luckily, there were just the right amount of kids, and they took off down a steep, narrow path. There didn't appear to be any lights, aside from the great glowing lantern that Hagrid was holding. The darkness put many of the children on edge, fearing for their safety. Hagrid assured them that they'd get to see Hogwarts in a few moments, however, that didn't soothe those who didn't know Hagrid personally. Albus could see their point: Hagrid was large, and scary, with hands the size of dustbin lids and a beard that covered majority of his face. Albus knew, however, that Hagrid wouldn't hurt a fly and sympathised with even the most despicable of creatures.
They turned a corner, and there they stood at the foot of a dark lake with several boats tied down to the docks. Just beyond that, built on a mountain was Hogwarts Castle, bright against the inky black skyline. If Albus hadn't seen it in pictures in his father's study prior, he may have gasped, just as the others in his group had.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid gestured over to the small, rickety boats that were tied down. Rose, Scorpius, and Cat stepped into a boat, and Al was due to follow them, however he was cut off by an extremely short boy with a mop of curly hair and a wicked grin. He chose another boat bitterly, with only a single occupant: a girl with matted dirty blonde hair and her tie wrapped around her head. Albus gave the curly-haired boy a threatening glare before the boats took off on their own, following Hagrid and his lantern ahead.
It felt as if the boat ride were going to last forever, like he was going to spend the rest of eternity stuck on this boat with the strange girl who had now pulled a book from the small satchel by her side entitled 'Aesop's Fables'.
The first row of boats passed under the mouth of a cave inside the mountain, hidden by large amounts of ivy. The people in the boats, including Al, had to then duck to not hit their heads on the rock. Fable girl narrowly missed her head, lowering at the last second and then continuing to read. They continued through, almost like they were traveling underneath the entirety of the school. They passed three windows, each about fifty centimetres apart from one another. Inside, Al could see lounges of the fancy variety. He assumed that inside was a meeting place of some description deep within the school.
The boats pile into an underground harbour, made of slabs of light grey stone. Each student clambers their way out of the boats, several of them looking happy to be back on dry land. At the realisation that their journey was not yet over, the children groaned. Hagrid told them that they were not far away now, and trekked up a corridor after searching the boats. Albus reunited with Rose, Cat and Scorpius, feigning emotions of utter betrayal. The three laughed at his play acting and followed Hagrid upwards.
They finally reached damp, unnaturally green grass in the shadow of the castle. Excitement bubbled at the pit of Al's stomach, the closer they got to the large oak door just moments away from being knocked upon. Hagrid's knock vibrates through the wood, and silence falls upon the students in anticipation.