Disclaimer: I do not own any of the HP characters. And I am not JK Rowling

Albus felt his heart pounding in his chest. He'd felt like that way before getting on the train too. So many stories had passed through his ears. All his father's adventures in Hogwarts made him envious. He couldn't wait to meet Hagrid and all the other kids in his house, which he hoped to be Gryffindor. But what fun was life like his dad? Many memories in the Potter household tiptoed through his mind. They were calming him enough so that he could close his eyes.

James' owl sat beside him, sleeping away through all the noise and shaking of the train. Albus' possessions toppled back and forth under his seat. His cousin, Rose, sat in the red velvet seat that ran parallel to his. "Something wrong, Al?" she asked. Albus could clearly tell from the look in her eyes. She felt exactly as he had. Albus shrugged. "Guess I'm just excited." He smiled.

Rose grinned back. A distant slamming came from the distance that made Albus and Rose jump in unison. Which was then, followed by an abrupt opening of their door. They both screamed over James' laughs of amusement. "Hey Al. Hey Rose." Rose's screams stopped first, and was replaced by a cross look towards her older cousin. Her arms folded across her chest. James continued to laugh.

All the sunlight poured in through the window and made James' face glow. But all that blinding light didn't stop anyone from seeing the mischievous look that beamed in his brown eyes. He heaved a simple sack of his stuff next to Rose and landed next to it. "'You guys scared? Nervous?" he asked eagerly.

Albus remained silent, but Rose closed her eyes and shook her head proudly. "Nope. I'm not even scared of dad's threats of me not being in Gryffindor anymore." Albus' jaw dropped in surprise. Rose? Not in Gryffindor? With him and all their relatives? She couldn't be serious. "It would actually be kind of interesting to get into Ravenclaw, or Huffelpuff." Albus sighed. At least she hadn't said Slytherin.

His green eyes widened in wonder. What if she just forgot? "But definitely not Slytherin, right?" he made sure. Rose's face twisted in disgust. "Most definitely not Slytherin! They're all icky people."

"Someone say somethin' 'bout Slytherin?" a new voice replied. Rose squeaked, Albus jumped. Note to self: Learn to not jump at every surprise. It's going to happen a lot more often, he thought. James rose from his comfortable, laid back position. A tall boy, looking about James' age was now at the entrance. His face was somewhat chubby and his hair was a messy black like James. With James standing next to him, he looked like a giant; and James was tall enough. His eyes were a hazel though, unlike James. "Guys, meet my buddy Jim."

"Jim Thatchley." The other boy greeted. "I'm a Slytherin." Rose's pupils shrunk and her lips pursed in embarrassment. "You guys are first years then?" They nodded in unison to Jim's question. "Jim, this is my brother, Albus. You know the one I told you about?" A massive grin was spread upon his face now. He chuckled a bit and nodded. "And this is my younger cousin, Rose Weasley."

Rose slowly raised her hand and gave him a quick wave with her fingers. "It's nice to meet you both." Old, squeaking sounds echoed through the train's hall. Albus jumped up and threw James out of his way. The trolley! He reached into his pocket and looked pitifully upon it when he turned it inside out and empty. Rose followed close behind. With the trolley inching closer her blue eyes widened too. In her pocket she was capable to find several sickles.

After a quick tap on his to Albus' shoulder, she handed him two silver sickles. Albus turned red with embarrassment. Rose didn't have to give him money. He didn't need it that badly. Those thoughts went away when the trolley finally reached their compartment. "Anything from the trolley?" the kind, petite asked them.

Albus let Rose go first. "Can I have a package of Bertie Bot's Every Flavor beans?" the lady nodded. Thoughtfully, Rose handed her the three sickles that lay in her palm. She traded and contently skipped back into the booth-like compartment. Albus carefully walked next. "Just a chocolate frog." He placed the two sickles in her hand as Rose had done. She handed him a chocolate frog package. "Hey, you're Harry Potter's boy!" she grinned like an older lady would. Albus blushed. He never liked the publicity. And it wasn't his fault he looked a lot like his dad. He pushed his glasses up farther on his nose.

He had to face it. He was a spitting image of his dad. His bright green eyes with glasses, his messy black hair, and all the genes he inherited were from his dad. Eager eyes and faces pressed against the compartment windows at the sound of, 'Harry Potter's boy.' Even several students 10 compartments down poked their heads out to see him. Albus waited no longer; he quickly followed his cousin swiftly into the compartment, and left his brother and Jim to buy their sweets.

The Hogwarts Express neared closer and closer towards the magical school, and in the seventh compartment in the 11th train box down, two innocent and new souls were sleeping heavily. Not even the storming train whistle didn't awake their sleep. Both nightmares and dreams surrounded their unconscious bodies alike. But it didn't bother Rose so much as Albus. Albus tossed and turned miserably in his place.

Behind his eyes, a terrible hissing voice kept repeating a message to him. "I don't understand!" he screamed at it. Gleaming red eyes that beamed like a snake's were piercing him. "Be warned, Albus Severus," it hissed. What is it? Albus thought in panic. "Betrayal comes from everyone." It hissed again. Turning in every possible direction, and in every possible thought, he ran into a swallowing darkness. But no matter how far he ran, those horrible red eyes still lingered two feet behind him. "Get away!" He flicked out his wand. He didn't know any spells, but it was a dream. Anything was possible. It was an ebony wand, like his own, and by the familiar feeling of it, it was powered by phoenix feather.

Golden sparks flew all around him, but he could still not get a glimpse of the being with the red eyes. His breaths became heavier and heavier with every passing moment. The red gaze was solely focused on him now. He raised his own wand and muttered words too quiet for Albus to hear. In a matter of seconds a green flash appeared from the wand; and Albus awoke gasping.

What happened? Who was that? Why does he want to hurt me? And most important of all questions, What did he mean? His gasps remained heavy and quick, but eventually slowed to a silent breath. Outside, it had reached a state of pitch black nothingness. But in a short distance a large building was glowing with light. Another breath chorused his. Albus looked back towards the parallel seat to find Rose sitting up, her blue eyes glowed brightly and oddly in the darkness. "Are you sure you're all right, Al?"

Albus nodded. "Did I wake you up?" Rose shrugged the thought away. "It doesn't matter." She managed to shoot a quick glance towards the wand in Albus' grasp before turning to look outside. "We're almost at Hogwarts." She said, quickly changing the subject. Albus looked at his wand too. Was it that real? As fast as possible, he slipped his wand back into his trunk and looked out the window with Rose. "Isn't it fantastic?" she beamed. Albus nodded. "I can't wait to get to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." He knew Rose was more interested in Charms and Transfiguration than Defense Against the Dark Arts, but all the classes were new to them. Everything new made their hearts burst with joy.

They began to gather their things in two neat piles, even though Hogwarts was still a good 30 minutes away. In so much anxiousness, they both took out their wands and tried to practice spells. Rose knew a good couple and taught them to Albus. But it was no spell that could save anything besides a small object or less. In an ordered pattern, Rose went from sticking her nose in Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1, to getting a quick glimpse of the nearing school, to flicking her wand this way and that.

Finally, the lights that sparkled on the lake were close enough to shine brightly into your eyes. The whistle chimed deafeningly and all the occupants of the train could be heard leaping to their feet. Albus swung the black robe on and rushed into the crowd that paraded out of the express train. A hand patted his shoulder from behind. Albus spun around to find James grinning behind him. "Good luck, Al." he said before departing with the third years.

Many unfamiliar faces appeared in James' place and began to mutter curiously. All emotions fluttered inside of him all at once, making him more nervous than he ever was. But all the emotions and feelings slowed when one large bearded face bellowed above them all. "All firs' years o'er here!" Hagrid! With several light pushes and shoves from the other students, Albus eventually made it to the front to see the giant. "Hello, Hagrid." Albus grinned while looking up a large amount more than he normally would.

His big hairy face grinned back. "'Ello, Albus." At the sound of his name, a small tear came to his eye. Albus wondered and was very interested in asking Hagrid questions when he got to his hut at three o'clock tomorrow. He knew Hagrid had a job to do, so he wouldn't bother. "How's yer fam'ly doin'?" Hagrid asked, pushing the minor idea away. Albus nodded while saying, "Great. Dad says to tell you hi. And I'm looking forward to see your hut." Hagrid's beetle black eyes turned to the rest of the crowd now. "Four to a boat! No more, no less!" His bellowing voice called out. Eager arms and legs climbed into the boats and began to paddle off. When the sleek silhouette of Rose caught up to Albus she grinned, but her gaze was fixed upon the large school across the lake.

Albus had slight trouble catching his balance on the small paddle boat, but got seated next to very skinny boy with small beady eyes that welcomed him with a grin. He had messy dirty blonde hair that reached to the back of his neck and his robes seemed just a little too big for him. In reply, Albus slightly smiled. When Rose and another boy got into the boat, they pushed off the side and paddled away. Not only the kids in their boat, but in all the boats that surrounded them, eyes were wide in awe.

Only a few more minutes remained until the suspenseful time of sorting came. That was the only thing that kept him frightened from entering the large building as carefree as a butterfly. It made his stomach clench to just wonder what getting sorted into Slytherin would be like. He knew his dad and mum wouldn't care, and would be proud of him no matter what, but he was ever so familiar with Gryffindor. The countdown diminished to the simple and common three words that change everything.

Three, Two, One……