Chapter 1: Journey to Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of the Harry Potter series, they belong to the very talented, J.K Rowling. (Sigh)

Ok so this is my first story written about Harry Potter and it follows Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son during his first year at Hogwarts. Enjoy!

Albus waved and watched as his mother, father and sister waved back but began to get smaller and smaller until they were only tiny dots in the distance. He was excited of course, this was his first year attending Hogwarts, but he also knew that Christmas was a long time from now and he was a bit scared of being away from home for so long.

"Come on Albus," Rose whispered, pulling on the back of his t-shirt, "we'd better hurry and grab an empty compartment or they'll all be full."

Sighing, Albus turned around and met Rose's eyes. He could see that she was scared too. Giving him a little smile, Rose grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, before leading him towards a compartment towards the back of the train.

After making sure the compartment was empty, Albus and Rose sat down opposite from each other. James had disappeared, presumably joining his friends in another compartment. Glancing over at him, Rose asked, "Which house do you think you'll be in?"

"I don't know, I'd really like to be in Gryfindor but anything would do really, as long as I'm not in Slytherin," Albus responded, gnawing at his lip as he voiced the fear he'd had earlier.

Rose half laughed. "I seriously doubt you'll be in Slytherin!"

Cheered up by her response, Albus smiled and looked out the window. He was really glad Rose was coming to Hogwarts in the same year that he was, he just hoped that they would be in the same house. Rose was probably his best friend, they had been really close for as long as he could remember. Rose was very like her mother, in looks and personality while Albus was just like his father. Despite their different interests, they got on like a house on fire.

As he turned to ask Rose if she wanted to play exploding snap, Albus spotted a small, pale girl with wispy blonde hair staring at him. Her deep blue eyes bore into his green ones, and suddenly their eyes were locked and he couldn't pull away. He was filled with happiness and a soft laughter echoed in his ears, a laughter he had never heard before.

Suddenly the laughter stopped and the happiness drained away as the girl dropped her eyes, gave Albus a small smile and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Rose demanded. She looked at Albus concerned, angry and….. Fearful? He wasn't sure.

Albus gave his head a small shake as if to clear his mind. What had just happened? The laughter he had heard, if he hadn't known better, he would have said that the laughter belonged to the girl. And the odd happiness…. it was like the girl was communicating to his mind…..

"Who laughed?" he asked Rose slowly.

Rose looked at him uncertainly. "Nobody laughed, Albus."

Now Rose was definitely looking fearful. "Why was she staring at you like that? And the way you stared back at her, it was like you saw a ghost or something….," Rose trailed off uncertainly.

At that precise moment, a lady with a trolley full of sweets opened their compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, my dears?" she asked, cheerfully.

Feeling hungry, Albus reached into his pocket, retrieving the money his mother had given him for the train. Rose did the same and together they bought two boxes of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, some cauldron cakes, pumpkin juice and some chocolate frogs.

With hungry stomachs and yummy sweets to eat, the two children soon forgot the conversation they were having.

The hours passed quickly aboard the Hogwarts express. Albus and Rose entertained themselves by playing exploding snap and chatting about what they thought Hogwarts would be like. With about half an hour to go, a prefect stuck his head in to the compartment and told them to change into their robes quickly as they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon. Grinning at their excited faces, the prefect then left them to change.

The two children scrambled into their robes as quick as lightning and then bounced up and down on their seats with excitement. Time never went so slow for Albus in all his life as he and Rose rambled aimlessly about Hogwarts, giddy with excitement.

As the Hogwarts express slowly grinded to a halt, Albus began to have the first feelings of nerves attack his stomach. What if he was put in Slytherin? What if he was useless at magic? What if no one liked him and he was made fun of? Glancing at Rose, he noted that she had turned slightly pale and was obviously getting nervous too.

Suddenly there was a clamour for everyone to get off the train and with one glance at Albus, Rose grabbed hold of his hand. Smiling slightly as her sweaty palm gripped his, he took a deep breath and together, they stepped off the train.

Once he had stepped off the train, Albus gasped slightly. It was quite dark out, but not dark enough for him to miss the gigantic lake. Looking huge and ominous, it seemed to stretch out forever. However, he couldn't see Hogwarts yet, he presumed the lake twisted to the left and that at the moment, Hogwarts was simply hidden by trees. As he pondered this, he heard a loud "firs' years this way!"

Several first years around him jumped, including himself and Rose. Rose then turned towards him and with a weak smile whispered, "That must be Hagrid, who else could shout so loud?"

Albus chuckled weakly and followed the other first years, pulling Rose along with him.

As they reached Hagrid, Rose gasped in astonishment. He was about twice the size of an average man and was about 3 times as wide. Albus' father had mentioned that he was a half giant and now Albus shuddered, he certainly wouldn't like to come across an actual giant. However, despite his size, Albus could see how kindness radiated out of his black beetle eyes that you could just about spot through is long shaggy hair. So it was surprise rather than fear that filled him when Hagrid pulled him and Rose into a bone crushing hug.

"Hullo," Hagrid said, beaming down at them, "Goodness Albus, yeh look the spit of your father and Rose yeh look just like your mother!"

The two giggled while Hagrid whispered, "We don't have much time ter chat at the moment, I must get yeh up ter the castle! But Friday afternoons yeh have free, how about paying meself an old visit then, on'y if yeh are int'rested, of course." Hagrid's eyes twinkled.

"Of course we are Hagrid!" Rose exclaimed while Albus nodded fervently.

Hagrid's face lit up. "Lookin' forward ter seein' yeh then!"

Hagrid then shifted his gaze to the nervous looking first years surrounding him. "Righ' ev'ryone, four ter a boat and sit calmly inside, don't even think 'bout jumping into the lake!

Nervous laughter faded away as everyone scrambled for a boat. Rose and Albus managed to get a boat by themselves but were joined after a minute or two by the wispy haired girl who had stared at Albus earlier on the train. A shiver ran up Albus's spine and Rose looked disgruntled. Albus stared fixedly on a patch of the lake, feeling the girl's eyes bore into his back as he wished she would look away. As the remainder of the boats filled up, they were joined by a small, pale boy with blonde hair, Albus thought he recognised him from somewhere.

Once everybody was seated, several people gasped as the boats took off, seemingly of their own accord. Albus realized that Rose was still clutching his hand and he smiled, he had lost the feeling in his hand about 5 minutes ago. He glanced up and realized that, too late, the girl was staring at him again and he couldn't look away. Again, those startling blue eyes bore into his but this time an image flashed across his mind. A huge hall it seemed, with four long tables and benches. There was a raised bench and some chairs at the top of the room. The hall was packed with students and teachers chatting happily, awaiting their arrival it seemed. This was all Albus saw before the image faded away and he was left staring into those startling eyes again.

The girl smiled shyly at him but he glared back even though he was shaking. What was all that about? Had that girl SHOWN him a vision, for she could not have seen the hall yet. Or was he simply going mad?

Thankfully Rose didn't seem to have noticed the strange exchange that had taken place between himself and the girl. She seemed to be craning her neck, trying to see if she could spot the castle. However, the pale blonde boy seemed to have noticed, he was looking confused between Albus and the girl. With a jolt, he recognised who the boy was, he was Scorpion Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's son.

However, all thoughts of the girl and Scorpion Malfoy left his mind as everyone suddenly left out a gasp of astonishment as they spotted the castle for the first time, including Albus. It really was magnificent, with its tall towers overlooking the lake. A whoop of excitement escaped Albus' lips,, they had finally arrived at Hogwarts.

Few, I'm tired after writing all that! I'm not sure when I'll have the next chapter posted, hopefully by tomorrow or the day after. For now however, I'm off to bed. Goodnight, and please don't forget to review!