The first of September had been marked on Albus' calendar all summer. He knew even before he got his acceptance letter that he would be going to school at Hogwarts, of course. He had shown signs of magical ability since he was a very young boy. Now the day was finally here, and although Albus has been assured many times that no matter what happened, his parents would love him, he wasn't entirely sure. Weren't parents required to tell their children that they would love them no matter what? That's what Albus thought anyway. Sure, maybe his parents would say that they didn't care, but what if they really did? What if Albus didn't get into Gryffindor? His parents might be disappointed, and one thing Albus hated more than anything else in the world was disappointing his family.

The truth was that Albus wasn't just an average 11-year-old wizard. Sure, he didn't seem too out-of-the-ordinary. He was small and skinny, and not a very impressive sight at all. He didn't even look 11, and most would not describe him as remarkably handsome, like his brother James. He had messy black hair that wouldn't sit flat and green eyes that were usually everywhere but where they needed to be. The truth was that Albus was the son of Harry Potter, and he was never going to be treated as an average kid. His father was famous. He had saved the wizarding world, and Albus knew more of the details than either of his siblings. Albus knew that people were going to talk to him because of his dad, and teachers were going to expect him to be great just like his father. But even though Albus was the spitting image of his father, (save his perfect vision) they were not the same person.

For the past month, Albus had been worrying. He was sure people wouldn't recognize him as being the son of the Chosen One. People could tell with James. He was sorted into Gryffindor before the hat was even placed n his head, and he had confidently strutted through the Halls of Hogwarts with the self-assurance of a 7th year his first day. He made new friends in a heartbeat and was known famously (or infamously, if you asked some teachers) as a great prankster. Albus had none of this confidence. He was small and delicate, with his mouth shut tight and his nose in a book. Easy to pass by. No one in their right mind would pay attention to a tiny little kid like Albus. Honestly, he didn't mind being looked over. He was a middle child anyway, and was used to it at home and among close friends. But at school? Albus was afraid he was going to let everyone down. He thought that they would all be expecting a James, or a Harry, and all they would get is an Albus.

Months before school started, Albus had admitted his fears to Teddy Lupin, who was really the caring older brother he didn't have. Teddy, in turn, admitted having felt the same way. Teachers expected him to be the book-smart, quiet, and kind boy his father was, while also expecting him to be a DADA prodigy and end up as an Auror like his mother. Teddy said he felt so stressed out at one point that his eyes and hair would change day-to-day. In reality, Teddy was kind and loyal, a true Hufflepuff like his mother. However, he had no such skills in Defense against the Dark Arts, nor was he a fabulous student. In fact, he managed school by just getting by, and bonded with Neville Longbottom over their love of Herbology. He wasn't serious about schoolwork at all, and wasn't clumsy in the slightest. While this helped Albus a little, he knew that he had bigger expectations se ton him. Besides that, Teddy was a naturally social and popular guy, just like James. Albus was awkward, always stumbling with words and people skills.

All of this running through his head, Albus looked out the window of the Hogwarts Express. He could smell various types of wizarding sweets, and the buzzing of a million conversations going on at once filled his ears. In fact, so much, that he didn't hear a very annoyed Rose Weasley calling his name until she yelled it.

"AL! Are you just completely ignoring me?"

Albus quickly was snapped out of his thoughts, turning to see Rose sitting across the compartment, arms crossed over her chest. He hadn't meant to zone out and ignore her. It had just sort of happened—He had a lot on his mind.

"Sorry Rose," He said quietly. "I was just thinking, you know?" Rose rolled her eyes. The two were as close as siblings. Rose was a Weasley, which meant she was loaded with freckles and had the famous ginger hair. She always wore it down, complaining that it was too thick to do anything about, and that she didn't care for having it all pretty anyway, much to her mother's displeasure. She was tall for her age and had bright blue eyes that were either narrowed or rolling at someone.

"Honestly Albus," She replied, "You're always so out of it! I've been calling your name for a minute now. What are you thinking about anyways? We're the only ones in this compartment, there's no need to be so quiet. It's just me," She insisted, giving an agitated sigh. Albus thought of Rose like a cactus. Pointy on the outside, but safe on the inside. To anyone she didn't know very well, she would be a little mean and unfriendly, but the longer you knew her, the easier it was to become friends. Rose and Albus were friends since birth, and Albus would be lying if he said that Rose wasn't his favorite cousin and best friend.

"It's just…" Albus began, wondering if Rose would roll her eyes at him. She did that a lot. Sometimes Albus would think about telling her that if she rolled her eyes too much they would roll out of her sockets, but he decided that would just cause more eye-rolling. "I'm worried about what people are going to think of me, that's all." As expected, Rose rolled her eyes.

"Why would you be worried about something like that? I don't care what other people think of me. I just do what I like doing, and be the person I want to be. Besides, I know that even if no one else likes me, I'll have you. And you'll have me, Albus," She said, narrowing her eyes. "And if anyone wants to mess with you, they'll have to go through me first."

Albus smiled. He knew Rose would definitely keep him company. "Thanks Rose. I just get—"

"Worried? Self-conscious? So stupid that your forget that you have a best friend?"

Albus narrowed his eyes. He and Rose had this playful banter all the time. "I was going to say anxious. But what if I don't get into Gruffindor? What will happen?" He asked.

"Well," Rose started, "You'd be separated form me, because that's where I'm going for sure. No doubt about that. Honestly, though, the only one who would bother you about it is James, and his opinion doesn't really matter." Rose lowered her voice, as if she was about to say something awful about someone. "You do realize how poorly he did in school last year, right? Well, here's a bit of advice for you: Never listen to the advice of the stupid."

Albus frowned slightly. "He's not stupid, just…Lazy. I think he believes he's going to survive without a job, or something st—" He caught himself. James wasn't stupid, just a bit impossible to deal with. "Something silly," He corrected, the smug look that was almost on Rose's face completely gone. "Anyway, it's not that I really care what James thinks, it's just—"

"Oh," Rose scoffed, "You care what he thinks alright. You care what everyone thinks. I'll tell you this now, and I'll tell you again, the sooner you learn that pleasing everyone is impossible, the better." Albus didn't look the least bit swayed by this piece of information, so Rose just let it go. "Well, whatever." Albus had no idea if Rose was going to say anything more (which she probably was, Rose could talk for hours) because at that moment the trolley came around. Albus realized at that moment his pocket were empty. He had no money to spend on the assortment of sweets right before him, which was what he had been told was the best part of the whole train ride. Rose seemed to realize this, and grabbed a small but heavy brown cloth bag her father had given her.

"Al, I'm paying. My dad told me that your dad paid for his candy the first trolley trip, and that it was my job to repay the favor because your father is a pride-filled prick." Rose paused, seeing as Albus might find those words offensive to his father. "My father's own words, not mine." Rose turned to the trolley lady, who seemed to really want to get a move on. She stood up and handed the lady the bag, and before anything was said, Rose cleared her throat and looked the lady right in the eyes.

"We'll take everything." Her voice didn't falter once, and the trolley lady couldn't tell if Rose was serious or not, so she began to count the galleons. Rose looked quite proud of herself. Albus, meanwhile, looked positively dumbfounded.

"All of it? Rose, we can't possibly eat all of this!" He exclaimed, using very exaggerated arm movements to prove his point. Rose turned to Albus, looking quite stern.

"All of it. There's just enough money, my dad made sure of it." Rose then turned back to the trolley lady, who reluctantly agreed. She didn't want to see Rose with candy, but she did have the money.

"Er, enjoy," She said, leaving the trolley in Albus and Rose's compartment, rushing out with a hurry. Albus shook his head.

"I can't believe even you, Rose, would do something like this."

"I told you," Rose said, as if just those words should prove her point. "My father told me to! I'm just repaying a debt," She insisted. Albus still wasn't sure. He didn't think that they should have so much candy. Rose stared him down.

"I insist." And with that, she grabbed a chocolate frog and handed it to Albus. "Eat it. You're a stick anyway, you need all the candy you can get." Albus, however, still wasn't convinced. Rose sighed.

"I'm trying to be nice, Al. You now I don't do this often. You might as well make the most of it." That got Albus to take the chocolate frog. If it was making Rose feel better, it must be okay. He opened it up, and saw a name he didn't recognize.

"Falco Aesalon…"

"An Animagus," Rose replied in an instant. "The first one ever. Well, recorded that is. He could turn into a falcon." Sure enough, Albus checked the chocolate frog card and that is exactly what it read. He just stared at Rose, and she smiled.

"Hey, I've got to know things if I want to be top of the class," She pointed out, and Albus smiled back.

"Don't worry Rosie, I know you will be at the top. After all, you have to beat Scorpius, don't you?" Albus asked jokingly. His uncle Ron had never really gotten over being enemies with Scorpius' father, Draco. Albus' own father got along with Draco very well, and Albus and Scorpius had even talked a few times.

"I think I have to, for my dad's sake. Don't worry, it'll be easy. I've already read all of our books, and as long as I study this year should be a breeze. I—" Rose was cutoff by knocking on the door. Albus turned around to see a small girl, first-year by the looks of it, knocking on the door. She had long brown hair braided into pigtails on opposite sides of her head. Her brown eyes were large and wide, as if she was in a constant state of excitement. Albus guessed that she was muggleborn. She must've just been introduced to magic, and she seemed very anxious to get to Hogwarts. She was already in her robes. Rose shot Albus a look that said 'don't let her in,' but Albus, feeling a sudden burst of bravery, decided to defy his cousin's orders. He stood up, and opened the door to the compartment.

"Oh, thank you! For a second there, I thought you weren't going to let me in," The girl started off saying, and although she was standing in front of Albus, her eyes flickered to Rose, who was still sitting down eating candy. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could buy some candy off of you too? The trolley never seemed to make it to my compartment," She said, and Albus felt sort of bad. He hadn't realized that there would be lots of other kids who would've wanted all that candy.

"Oh…" he began quietly. "Sorry about that…Are there er, other kids who want things too?" he asked, and Rose coughed from behind. Obviously she didn't like the idea of giving all of the candy away, but Albus' conscience was going to get the better of him.

"If anyone else wants something, they haven't said anything," The girl said, peering behind Albus. "I'm guessing you have licorice wands? I'll pay you I promise."

"Yes," Albus began, "here, I can get one for you. It's alright, you don't need to pay—"

"I want double," Rosie said, finally standing up and looking at Albus. "I paid for it, I get to decide who gets it." Rosie then faced the girl. "I want double."

"No she doesn't," Albus quickly interjected. "Just regular price—"

"Double is no problem," The girl said coolly, handing Rose just enough money. Rose was fairly surprised at this. She had expected the girl to go away—She had seemed like that kind of girl, all happy-go-lucky. Apparently that was not the case. Albus silently gave the girl her licorice wand, and she smiled. "Thank you. A prefect told my compartment a few minutes ago that we're getting close, so now would be a good time to change into your robes. I'm Coleen by the way." And with that, the girl closed the door and left. Rose didn't say a thing until the girl was completely out of earshot.

"A prefect told my compartment a few minutes ago that we're getting close," Rose sneered. "So now would be a good time to change into your robes." She snorted. "I bet she thinks she's so cool because the prefect told her compartment and not ours. Well, she might've made a fool of me once but never again," Rose declared proudly. Albus sighed.

"She could've been trying to be nice, you know. So that we don't get in trouble."

"I don't think you saw the way she looked at me when she was talking," Rose insisted. "That girl may look nice but she is bad news. Coleen," Rose scoffed. "As if I'll remember her name for more than a minute!"

As it turned out, Rose remembered her name for a lot longer than a minute. In fact, Albus had changed into his robes, and when he had gotten back and even after Rose had already changed into her robes, she was still talking about Coleen ("I know! I'll beat her in every exam. That'll show her!"). Albus, meanwhile, decided to distract himself from Rose, occasionally nodding as she ranted on and on but for the most part his gaze was elsewhere. He looked outside at the country side. He noticed that they were getting closer and closer to the sea, and wondered what Hogwarts would look like. He had told his parents and his brother (Who surprisingly listened) not to tell him any details. All he knew was that it was a castle, but he had yet to see the magnificence for himself. He imagined a huge dining hall, with ghosts and paintings, classrooms with magical things everywhere. In his dreams, he had pictured tall winding staircases with the most awesome views. He knew there was a Forbidden Forest, and that it was full of magical creatures, like centaurs.

"Albus?" Rose called out, but this time Albus purposely zoned her out. Eventually Rose became quiet as well, looking out her window. Albus sat, waiting and anticipating what it would be like. He thought of the memories he would make, the fun he would have, and he decided that maybe it didn't matter which house he was in at all.