Chapter 1: Careening Onto the Crimson Train
AN: This is my first, hopefully novel-length, fanfic. Scorpius in James' year, and Rose and Hugo are twins who are Al's age. All other characters (The next generation of the Weasley family), remain the same, except for the fact that Ron's a bachelor, and Hermione and Draco are married (Yes, I do ship Dramione, :P). The title is subject to change. Other than that, feel free to read and review, and follow and favorite! Enjoy!
James laid on his bed as he flicked the Snitch up into the air, then snatched it back. It wriggled around in vain, but there was no use escaping; if there were two things the Potters were known for, it was their habit of finding trouble and their athleticism. He vaguely heard his mother, the legendary Holyhead Harpies player Ginny Weasley-Potter, yelling in the distance, probably urging his dad, the one and only Harry Potter, his brother, Al, and his sister, Lily, to start to get ready. With music blasting through his speakers, he tuned everything out, until his dad's head popped into the doorframe.
"Hey, James, are you all packed up? We need to get going soon, the Ministry of Magic only has a ten-minute window for our Floo to be connected internationally."
James sighed; every year his parents came to visit their New York Penthouse at the end of August, and they would always have to deal with the complications of registering their fireplace for international travel. However, it was even more tedious this time around, as they would have to Side-Along Apparate to Platform 9 and ¾ this year, because it was his first year at Hogwarts! "Yeah, dad, I'm coming. Just gotta throw my set of Montrose Magpies autographed Quidditch balls into my trunk."
Harry chuckled, "Always the show-off, aren't you James. Just don't forget who got you those VIP tickets," he said, winking at his son.
James snorted, his dad and mom were practically the richest and most influential people in the Wizarding World, and following not far behind was his Uncle Draco and Aunt Hermione. His Uncle Ron, who played for the Chudley Cannons, and then the Magpies, hooked up his dad, Uncle Ron's best mate, with seats right in front of the Magpies' goal posts. Then he got to meet all the Magpies, and was gifted some pretty exclusive gear, like their seeker, Damon Greengrass', jersey, and a personally autographed set of Quidditch balls. He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts so he could put the display case against his dormitory's walls, right above his four-poster bed. Startled by his mother shrieks in the background, his leapt off of his bed, grabbed his trunk, and ran out of the room, the lights flickering off as he vanished, eager to start his first year at Hogwarts.
Grimacing as he flicked the remainder of the soot off of his robes, James took his father's arm. He felt that unpleasant sensation of being compressed, squeezed into a rubber tube, and being launched out. Tumbling, he stumbled onto the Platform, with his trunk skidding after him. He looked around in awe; he had never been on the Platform before because his dad wanted to keep it a surprise. This meant that James would never see off his cousin Teddy, until this year. Speaking of Teddy… James peered around, attempting to find his favorite cousin, who elected to apparate to the station from the penthouse. He grinned wolfishly as he spotted him holding hands with Victorie, and whispering something in her ear. All of a sudden, his mom popped into the station beside them.
"Sorry, guys!" she said, evidently out of breathe. "Al tried to pull some of his shenanigans, can you believe the nerve of that boy, trying to jump onto me before I apparated away!"
"Probably trying to get a glimpse of the Platform," said his dad nonchalantly, trying to hide his smirk.
James suddenly saw his cousin Scorpius, with his parents, James' aunt and uncle. "Dad!" he said impatiently, tugging on the sleeve of his father's robe. "Scorpius is here!"
His cousin Scorpius was by far his favorite relative, despite the fact that he wasn't actually his cousin. Scorpius was his brother, in everything but blood, sharing James' slim, but toned build, and his love for Quidditch, pranks, and the band Hippogriff Talon, the most hardcore, heavy metal band there was.
"Oi, Scorpius!" James bellowed, trying to elicit the blond's attention. "Over here!" Scorpius sprinted over, knocking James off of his feet. His blond hair tousled back, Scorpius almost shouted in reply.
"Hi, James! You doin' okay?!"
James glared at his best mate in mock disgust. "Why so cheerful this morning, Scorp?"
Scorpius grinned back toothily, "Mydaddidn'tthinkIcouldhandlecoffeesoIdrankamugwhenhewasn'tlookingbutIguesshemustaknewbecauseIgotinbigtrouble!"
"Pardon?"
Scorpius took a deep breath and repeated what he said, "My dad didn't think I could handle coffee so I drank a mug when he wasn't looking, but I guess he musta knew because I got in big trouble!"
"Nice job, mate! How did it taste?"
"Awful, I don't get how Dad can drink it black, no milk and no sugar."
"Well, I do have Black blood running through my veins, as you do too, Scorpius," Draco drawled behind him. "Anyway, you better get a compartment, the ones at the end are the best, because the prefects get to them last, so you'll be relatively undisturbed."
Hermione chuckled, "And the lunch trolley gets there last, so you won't be rotting your teeth until about an hour after the train departs!"
Scorpius and James looked at each other, while the adults chuckled with mirth. "I sure hope we don't become like that when we get old," muttered Scorpius.
"Definitely not," replied James. "We'll be bachelors like Uncle Ron, and we can play Quidditch all day and eat Chocolate Frogs until our teeth need to be magicked back." The two grinned at each other.
"Alright, James, write to us every week, and don't forget to take Avis with you." Avis, his Sooty Owl, was currently sitting on top of the trolley, nipping at his own feathers. He briefly hugged both of his parents, high-fived his dad and allowed a kiss from his mum, and sped off into the distance, with Scorpius following directly behind him.