[Prologue]

Settling in his seat, Albus Severus Potter had his mind occupied with a lot of things. The most was about his concern as to where he'd be sorted to – Griffyndor or Slytherin. Though he came he came from a generation of Griffyndors, his father once sharing with him that he was supposed to be in Slytherin. Only, he didn't. So possibly, it might be his turn. And that worried the older Potter.

He heaved a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. The sound of his family chattering buzzed.

Although his dad had assured him that he shouldn't have to worry where he'd be sorted to, he still couldn't help but feel uneasy at the idea.

He didn't mind being in Griffyndor, considering the most obvious reasons of his family being there (minus Louis, who was a Hufflepuff). And after being encouraged by his dad, he also didn't mind being in Slytherin. But quite frankly, he's still uncertain and is very scared for himself. He wasn't sure anymore.

Quite accustomed to his cousins' chatter, Albus was surprised when their voices fell. He could hear their breathing.

Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself in for a surprise.

Out of nowhere, a girl appeared before him.

Well, more of stood before him.

He was more than shocked to see her, how come he didn't notice hear her enter? As a matter of fact, he wondered why no one said a word to him! His eyes shifted to his family, who were all suddenly caught up by the sudden presence of the girl before him.

Her appearance shocked Albus the most, since he hadn't noticed her presence since he looked up. She looked to be just around his age. She had medium-length ebony black hair, fair skin, and had the most amazing pair of translucent purple eyes. She was clad in an oversized jumper over her dress, and wore a pair of Mary Jane. And yet, despite the ridiculous combination of her fairy-like appearance and awful sense of fashion, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

She looked at him curiously. Her purple hues interlocked with his green ones. Her eyes flared with delight, a small smile played on her lips. He felt his face burning as the strange girl's face neared his. He was aware that his family was watching - James and Fred snickering in their seats, Rose and Roxanne grinning ear to ear.

"Don't..." she said lowly as she bent towards him, her breathe fanning against his face. He swore she smelled chocolate and mint. "...move."

"W-What?"

Then, he felt slim fingers running up his locks, trailing until he felt something being lifted off his head. Almost immediately, she took a step back with a grey Persian cat in her arms. He was rather surprised to have not felt the feline on his head.

"Thanks for not moving!" she says with a smile, taking a step back, the smile reflected in her eyes. The feline in her arms snuggled against her arms, making her smile even wider. "Oh, and sorry about this 'lil fella, he tends to run around a lot. He hates being on trains."

Rose shakes her head, leaning over to rub her fingers behind the feline's ears. It purrs in delight.

"Are you a first year?" asks Roxanne curiously.

"Yup!"

"Splendid, just like our little Al." James says, screwing with his brother's hair much to his chagrin.

"I'm Rose Weasley by the way, I'm a first year as well, and those are my cousins, Fred and Roxanne Weasley," she pointed at the siblings, Fred grinning toothily at her, Roxanne smiled. "and my other cousins, James and Albus Potter." James waved at her, Albus merely watched.

"Pleasure to be meeting you all!" she chirps happily with a small salute. They smile at her little gesture.

"That accent of yours, it sounds like a hybrid. English with a hint of...?" Fred couldn't help asking.

"Romanian." she supplies proudly, her pearly white teeth exposed. "I'm part Romanian, having been born and raised in Romania for the first few years of my life before moving to London because of my mum's work."

"Oh? And what's your mum's work if you don't mind me asking?" asks a terribly curious James. On cue, Rose and Roxanne stare at him incredulously.

"That's too personal, don't you think?" asked Rose. They just knew her!

She, however, chose to laugh over this.

"No, it's alright. My mum's an Auror. She had to hunt down dark wizards lurking under the Muggle world. Frankly, it was an interesting childhood actually." She explains, adjusting the cat in her arms.

"Interesting, eh?" asks Fred.

She nods. "Oh, yes! Muggles are quite interesting actually! I mean, whatever would be the purpose of a rubber duck? And how they find us weird, they should look at themselves! They're weirder!"

They laughed. She was a fun lass, very much bright and fun.

"What's your name?" Albus finds himself asking he, surprised to hear his voice for the first time.

She turns to him, almost immediately; Albus swore he felt his cheeks burn.

Her translucent eyes seem to get him; it was like a mirror to her soul.

"Oh! My name's-"

"Erin?" a female voice calls, making the said girl whips her head out the corridor.

"Ah, that must be my best friend. I almost forgot about her! So, I guess I'll see you all around?" they nod before she runs off, closing the door behind her. Moments later, it slides opens. "It's Erin by the way, Erin Scott Alisdair." And with one last toothy grin, she closes the door, leaving the cousins at their wake.

With Erin gone, all eyes turned to Albus, majority of which, were grinning wickedly.

"What?" he asked defensively.

His brother was grinning at him, screwing his head again. Rose and Roxanne exchange looks before grinning as well. Albus suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"If I didn't know better," Fred started with his arms crossed, a sly smirk on his face. "I'd say you fancy that Erin lass."

And then, all the blood rose to his face. He said nothing in turn, only bowed his head to avoid their teasing stares. What the hell are they going on now? And on the beginning of the semester? Really!

All of a sudden, with Erin's sudden appearance, all worries of what house he'll be seemed to have vanished.

But when they told to change into their robes, dropped off the train and head towards the boats, with Hogwarts only miles away, he suddenly felt uneasy again. He swallowed the lump on his throat while half-listening to Hagrid.

What if he gets sorted to Griffyndor? It's good right? Afterall, he's come from a long line of Griffyndors.

But, what if he gets sorted to Slytherin? Not that he's being prejudiced – after all, Slytherin was a strong house despite its cunningness - but somehow, he felt very scared and uneasy.

He tried to remember what his dad said, the good things, not the bad.

And before he knew it, he was on a boat riding with a few other freshmen. He lost track of Rose, who was probably on the other boat. Lots and lots of new faces, some of them may be his classmates; he's just not sure under what house.

Now he felt sick because of all the worrying.

"Chillax Astley!" a familiar voice says brightly to his left, "Aren't you excited to know what house you'll be sorted to? Oh, I think I already know where I'll be. And, I promise you, whatever house you'll be in, I'll always be here for you." Standing there was the girl on the train, Erin Alisdair. She was talking to a tall girl with chestnut brown hair, pale ivory skin, and had a pair of deep green eyes. She looked awfully deathly.

As if sensing his stare, Erin turned to him, a smile quickly spreading across her face. "Hey, you're that guy on the train! Astley, Astley!" she called towards her friend. "This guy's where Ginger suddenly ran off to."

"Really?" the girl said, slightly sounding a bit mature for her age.

"Yep! He was on the poor guy's head, apparently, making himself cozy, that fat cat of yours."

"Ginger?" he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"My cat." Her friend, now identified to be Astley, replied with a faint grin. "I'm Astley Khan." She introduces herself, stretching her hand to him. He shakes it firmly.

"A-Albus Severus Potter." He was rather thankful for not attracting unwanted attention for his last name; he knew his father was fairly popular. Not fairly, but really popular. Maybe he had said it quietly, or maybe the students didn't care. But either way, he was thankful to not have garnered a lot of attention.

Both Astley and Erin, however, did manage to wow at the sound of his last name. But they were very polite in asking questions about his father, but nothing too personal.

Turning to Erin, he asked a rather stupid question. "Uh, I know this may sound rude but, what was your name again?" He didn't know why he wanted to ask, even when he's already known her name. Somehow, he just wanted to hear her say her name once again.

Instead of having her offended, she acted like nothing happened. So she stretched out her hand, smiling brightly, "Erin. Erin Scott Alisdair." And then he takes her hand in his, he notes how small and soft her hand is.

There was a brief silence before Erin suddenly piped up at the sight behind him; they were close enough to see the Hogwarts castle. Almost everyone on boat gasped as they marvelled the towering castle walls.

Erin sighed dreamily, "Just like my dad said, it's beautiful up close."

"It sure is." Albus nodded, looking up.

Still, the feeling roiled deep in his belly.

When they were led to the main doors and were briefly informed of the houses, it was then did Albus start to get all panicky. He had drowned himself in his thoughts, half-listening to what the headmistress was saying.

Rose stood beside him, attentively listening to the headmistress. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Astley was too. Noticing this, Erin quietly took her took her hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. Astley had somehow managed to calm down a little, smiling gratefully at Erin. He felt a bit jealous for Astley. But Erin noticed that he too was at the same state of her best friend, from her spot, she gave him a thumbs-up along with her toothy grin. Her sign of reassurance, oddly enough, he awkwardly worked a small feat of a smile.

That night, names were called, sorted to their respective houses. The more names were called, and the smaller they were, the more he felt his anxiety run through his veins.

Scorpius Malfoy was sorted to Slytherin, which was something everyone expected.

Rose Weasley was sorted to Griffyndor, another thing, everyone expected.

Astley Khan was sorted to Slytherin. Albus was rather surprised; she almost looked like she could be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. At first, she had this pained reaction, but looked expectantly nonchalant nonetheless.

And when his name came up, he nervously made his way. But someone had grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before gently pushing him up. He nearly stumbled in step. When he turned, he found Erin giving him two thumbs-up along with her usual smiles of assurance. He managed to relax.

He sat on the stool, calming his breathing as the hat was put on his head.

Suddenly, he wasn't listening to what the sorting hat was saying but recalled for the umpteenth time his father's parting words.

"Albus Severus, you were named from two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"-then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us."

It doesn't matter to us.

It won't matter at all.

Griffyndor or Slytherin.

It won't have to matter at all.

He closed his eyes, leaving the rest.

Let it be.

"…Griffyndor!"

His eyes flew wide open. He couldn't believe it. He was in Griffyndor!

Smiling, he went over to the Griffyndor table, being piled over by his brother and cousins, serving as his warm welcome. Geez, talk about embarrassing.

From his table, he was able to see Astley, quietly conversing with another Slytherin. He caught her gaze and offered a smile. She smiled back.

Suddenly, his cousin Fred nudged him.

"What?"

His ginger-haired cousin pointed towards the student now walking – well, skipping, more likely – up, "Erin Alisdair."

His ears perked up, but he did not want to look up. His cousins were eyeing him like a hawk, silently teasing him in his seat. Discreetly, he watched her from his seat, watched as the Sorting Hat spat words and words that made Erin laugh. She even had the gall to make fun of the Sorting Hat! This caused everyone to laugh.

Eventually, after having pestered on and on, she was sorted to Ravenclaw.

James whistled lowly, "Whew, a Ravenclaw. Nice catch little bro!" he puts a hand on Albus' head and starts screwing it, much to his annoyance.

He watched her walk over to the Ravenclaw table where she was practically bombarded by everyone. She was all smiles as they welcomed her, the joy emanating he features.

Erin sat in between two boys, three actually, one had the same shade of ebony like her and the Scamander twins, both with platinum blond hair. She was laughing at something the twins said, he just watched.

Soon after, came the headmistress' welcoming speech, offering a toast to the freshmen. Everyone followed, raising their goblets.

Incidentally, he took a peek at Ravenclaw's table, meeting Erin's gaze. He stopped then and there, caught in her gaze. Despite the distance, he felt like she was close, like when they were in the train. She smiled that smile of hers, causing his heart (he swore he felt it) to skip a beat.

And thus, began his 7-year adventure at Hogwarts.