Chapter 1

Albus Severus Potter was nervous- and it showed. His palms were sweating, and even after talking to his father, he was scared of boarding the red Hogwarts train.

"Come on, Al, in here." James said, opening the door to a carriage. Al curiously peered inside. He saw James's best friend, Danny Boudett, and a girl he guessed was his sister. "Who is this?" James asked, looking at the girl.

She looked about Al's age, with dark brown wavy hair, and lovely icy blue eyes. There was a twinkle in her eyes that showed she was not afraid.

"Oh, that's just my-" Danny said, before she interrupted him.

"I can speak for myself, thanks." She said, looking at him with her piercing blue eyes. "My name is Brooke. He's my older brother." She added with a frown.

"Yeah, whatever." Danny said, like he was used to being put in place. Al, however, decided that he needed more of Brooke's attitude; her confidence. "Anyway, this is my bro, James." He said. James had a stupid smile on his face, and was looking at Brooke.

She smirked, but didn't say anything. "And you are...?" she asked Al.

"Oh, I'm Al Severus Potter." He said quickly.

Brooke raised her eyebrows, and said, "Hi." She then turned her head and looked outside as they passed by the mountainside. Al slid in opposite of her and her brother.

"Um... Al, can we sit here?" Rose, his cousin, asked, her voice muffled by the glass.

"Oh!" Al cried in surprise. He looked outside to see her and another boy, who he recognized as Scorpius Malfoy. He raised an eyebrow; however, he didn't want to be rude, so opened the door. "Sure."

"Hello." Rose said, and then added, "I'm Rose Weasley, and this is Scorpius Malfoy." She pointed to the boy with the silvery blonde hair. He had turned red.

"I am Brooke Boudett, and this is Al Potter." Brooke said, and Rose and her immediately knew they were going to be best friends.

"Oh, I know Al." Rose said, with her classic knowing smile, and slid down next to Brooke. "You see, he's my cousin."

"Oh, really?" Brooke asked, turning a little pink herself. "Sorry..." she added, and laughed nervously.

"That's okay. We don't really look like each other." Rose said. It was true; Rose had reddish-brown frizzy/curly hair, and warm brown eyes, in contrast to Al's straight, smooth black hair and emerald eyes.

"Yeah." James whistled, seeming to have recovered.

"Sweets, anyone?" a plump woman pushing a trolley full of them asked. Brooke grinned and shook her head, and Scorpius did the same. They talked amongst themselves as Al stood up, and picked three Chocolate Frogs.

"For my collection." He said to Rose, who gave him a disapproving look.

"Still-" Rose said, but Al shook his head. He opened it, and the frog started hopping up the window.

"Wait for it..." James and Danny chorused together. "Now!" They cried, and they all heard a high-pitched shriek from the carriage next to them.

"Really, why do you do that to them?" Rose asked.

"Do what?" James counter-argued. "It was Al who was careless with his frog."

"Me?!" Al cried. Then he turned his attention to the frog. "Oh, look James, it's dad!" He said, pointing out the picture of their father, smiling. "I have ten of them already."

"Can I have it?" Scorpius, who had been quiet for some time now, asked. "My father burns out every card of him I get. He doesn't understand when I tell him it's for my collection."

"Mate, I feel bad for you." James said. "Al, give it to the poor chap."

"I was going to." Al said, annoyed. He handed his card over to Scorpius. Then, as he watched the other boy read it and even give a smile. Al frowned at this. He had expected Scorpius to be more... well, more like his father. But he was not. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't like a Malfoy at all- and the very fact that he smiled at Harry Potter showed.

Meanwhile, Danny and James were eating their Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. "Ooh, look at this one! Light blue!" Danny cried, and held up a jellybean.

"It kind of looks like your eyes." James said, with his stupid smile again. Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Hey Brooke, it was meant for you. Take it." Danny said, and plugged her nose and forced it into his sister's mouth. She frowned, and slapped him.

"Ice." Brooke said after she swallowed. "It tasted like ice... it was really strange."

Rose grinned. "I once had one that tasted like salt! Oh, god, it was nasty." She said. The girls shared their unlucky flavour choices.

"We better start changing into our robes..." Al observed. One by one, they got their robes on. Brooke twirled in her robes.

"I love them!" she cried.

"I know, right?" Rose said, spinning with her. Al would have enjoyed the robes if he didn't feel queasy about getting into Slytherin. You have a choice, he told himself, you always have a choice. His heart skipped a beat, though, when he got a glimpse of the castle.

"I'm speechless..." Rose whispered, and Al couldn't agree more. He felt the wind play with his hair, picking it up and flying it about. He closed his eyes for a moment, and felt magical. This was it. This was the place where his father and mother and uncles and aunts had made their own magical memories.

"C'mon, Al, enjoy your last moments before you become one of them." James said. Al made a face at him, and it seemed like the wind was on his side. It picked up James's glasses, and knocked them off right below where they used to be. James frowned and picked them up.

Al looked at his brother. He had reddish-brown hair, and cinnamon-colored eyes with a mischievous twinkle to them.

A man called Hagrid stepped in front of them. Al ran to where the first-years were, and almost against his will, found himself standing next to Scorpius. Somehow, Al considered him his friend, though why, he was still figuring out.

"Welcome..." he said, "to Hogwarts."