AN: Woo! First HP Fanfic!!! ZWAAA! I'm excited! Please read and review. I intend this to be like the HP series: it'll have chapters, and seven different 'volumes' so to speak. But no where near as long. As in, like, five to ten chapters (depending on popularity). Lemme know what you think.

The title of this is "Generation Next" and, as you may already know, this picks up where "Nineteen years later" left off. Weee! Lemme know if I made any mistakes.

Generation Next

Chapter One

Albus Severus Potter continued waving to his parents long after the scarlet train had whisked them from view.

"Come on Al." Albus turned to face his cousin Rose Weasley. She twisted her hair around her finger nervously. "There won't be any good seats left if we keep standing here." Albus noticed that the crowd in the train's corridors was beginning to thin out as more students clamored for their seats. Albus followed rose past many already full compartments. He paused, recognizing the face of his older brother James, however he understood the quick look his brother shot him; he'd have to find seating with someone else.

After a few more minutes, they finally found an empty compartment. Well, near empty.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" asked Rose. A boy, probably entering his first year too, looked up from his book.

"Well, there's certainly room enough for more," he said, smiling pleasantly. His voice was surprisingly warm and soft; Albus was reminded momentarily of when his mother would speak softly to him during a late night thunderstorm. He patted the seat next to him and a small cat leapt from the seat across from him and curled up beside him. Albus and Rose sat down across from each other as the boy went back to his book, seemingly uninterested in his new companions, his hand absentmindedly stroking the cat.

The trip to Hogwarts went surprisingly fast. Rose and Albus talked nearly nonstop, regarding everything from Quidditch to the recent events regarding Victoire and Teddy. They attempted to converse with the boy, who merely smiled sweetly and returned to his book. Albus was reminded strongly of his Aunt Hermione, who almost always had her nose in a book.

There was a knock at the compartment door. James Potter stepped in, followed by one of his friends. Albus and his brother looked remarkably like their father. Except, unlike James, Albus had green eyes and didn't need glasses.

"All right, Albus?" Albus nodded. "Getting nervous? Which House do you think you'll get? Most likely Gryffindor." The boy in the corner shifted uncomfortably. Albus noticed his forehead was slightly pink. "Got a problem with Gryffindor?" The boy lowered his book and hesitantly looked up at James.

"No. Not really…"

"Which House do you want to be in?" James didn't bother to disguise the slight mockery in his voice.

"Well…It really doesn't matter to me. But I suppose if I were given the choice, Slytherin."

The word was hardly out of his mouth before James let out a demeaning laugh.

"Slytherin? There isn't a single person in Slytherin that's worth anything!" the boy's face reddened. "They ought to chuck the whole lot of them out! Slimy, good-for-nothing, worthless, rubbish-"

"James." Rose said, in a voice quite like the one her mother used when her father was misbehaving. She glanced at the boy, whose face was almost as red as her father's ears would turn, then to James, who gave her a smug sneer before leaving. Albus looked apologetically at the boy, who merely shrugged and went back to his book, and remained so until the end of their trip.

"There's the castle, I suppose we should be changing into our robes now." Rose said quite suddenly. Albus' heart began to quicken as he caught his first glimpse of the Hogwarts castle. There was a bustle as students began to change into their robes, the older students hailing their friends. The train came to a full stop and the student began to file out.

"Firs' years!" Albus recognized the voice of his father's friend Hagrid. Many first years cowered slightly at his height, however Rose and Albus were quite used to their half-giant friend. As was the tradition, they climbed into the boats and rode across the lake to the towering castle. Upon arriving, Hagrid left them in the care of Professor Minerva McGonagall. She led them through two towering doors and into a high-ceilinged room. At first glance, Albus had thought there was no ceiling, but after a closer glance, he saw that the ceiling seemed to reflect the sky outside.

"-bewitched to look that way." He hadn't realized Rose was speaking in a hushed whisper to him. "I read that in Hogwarts, A History."

They were standing in a line now, and Professor McGonagall was reading from a list.

"Aerons, Patricia." Albus watched as Patricia Aerons walked up to Professor McGonagall. He watched as she sat down on a stool while an old, large hat was place on her head. There was a moment's silence before-

"RAVENCLAW!"

An eruption of cheers came from the far table as Patricia joined her new fellow Ravenclaws. Albus let out a sigh of relief; his brother had said that they determined which house you were in by testing you against many obstacles, from Trolls to Boggarts…

"Which House do you hope to be in?"

The voice was soft, and quite unexpected. Albus turned to find the boy that had shared compartments with him and Rose.

"Well, everyone in my family was in Gryffindor, so that's probably where I will end up." The boy nodded, but didn't speak on that subject anymore. Instead he talked, seemingly more to himself than to Albus, about everything from the weather to the number of times he's read through their schoolbooks. Albus wondered if this boy grew chattier the more nervous he was, or if he simply didn't feel like talking on the train. Surprisingly, he was quite charming to talk to. The conversation had moved from being seemingly one-sided to a rather exciting discussion about Quidditch.

"My father said that first years aren't allowed to be on the House teams. However they did make an exception a long time ago."

"MacNair, Rufus."

Albus hadn't realized how fast they were going through the other new students. However, the knot in his stomach tightened as he realized that P came right after M…

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

Albus remembered his father and Uncle Ron mentioning that name. Uncle Ron had said something to Rose about not being friends. He turned to the boy to warn him about what his Uncle had said, but to his surprise, the boy was gone. Albus looked up to the Sorting Hat; he hardly had time to see the boy, Scorpius, sorted before the hat bellowed.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Albus felt his heart sink. He'd hoped that he'd actually made a friend before the term even started…

He saw James and a few of his friends jeer as Scorpius walked by to the green and silver clad table, but he seemed to not notice. Or simply ignored them.

"Potter, Albus"

Albus felt his stomach flip flop before he felt Rose give a slight push behind him. He stepped forward and stumbled onto the stool.

"Ah, another Potter, eh?"

Albus was startled; he hadn't expected the Hat to talk. He was quite sure none of the other students could hear, as the voice seemed to come out of his own mind.

"Four Potters-"

"Four?" he thought.

"Yes, James Potter, Harry Potter, James II Potter, and now you. Obviously Ravenclaw is out…" Albus felt his face flush, thankful that the Hat covered most of his face.

"Decisions decisions…I always felt your family would do good in Slytherin…"

"Just put me in the right place."

"You're not going to beg to be in Gryffindor? But the other three Potters did…"

"Just put me in the right place."

"As you wish."

Suddenly, in a voice much louder than what was in his head, Albus heard the Hat shout out:

"SLYTHERIN!"