Albus Severus Potter tentatively smiled at Rose. Her answering grin was wide.
"Do you want to... Um..." he made an awkward gesture towards the nearest compartment. She nodded.
"Sure."
They entered the compartment, sitting down heavily.
"I think I'm going to miss home." blurted out Albus, self-conciously. Rose gave a sympathetic nod.
"Me too," she admitted, "But I can't wait to get there."
"Yeah... But.." he hesitated, "Do you think it'll make a difference that I'm not pure-blood?" Rose laughed.
"You're Harry Potter's son. I don't think your blood can get purer than that." She told him, gently. He grinned, shyly.
"I guess."
Just then, the carriage door opened. A blonde girl walked in, accompanied by a tall boy.
"Hi, Layla," said Albus, recognising Neville and Luna's daughter. She smiled dreamily, and gestured towards the boy.
"This is Cheng," she told them, "He's half chinese."
"We can see that," replied Rose, dryly, "Nice to meet you, Cheng."
"Nice to meet you too," said Cheng, with an easy grin. He was tall and dark-haired, carelessly handsome with his hands in his pockets and his tie askew. Albus realised that both Layla and Cheng had already changed into their robes.
The foursome sat in the compartment, chatting the time away. The talk got onto quidditch, then onto houses, then lessons, then blood statuses. Cheng admitted that he wasn't sure whether or not he was a muggle-born, because though his parents never performed magic, neither had been surprised to learn about the magical school he was going to. His father had merely remarked "Here we go again."
The trolley-lady came, and each bought a supply of chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, Bertie-Bott's beans and liquorice wands. Rose gagged on an orange bean she claimed tasted of vomit, and Albus had a coughing fit when trying to quickly swallow a pale yellowish green one, which he privately suspected was bogey flavour.
Albus and Rose changed into their robes as the train neared Hogsmeade and the sky began to darken. The lanterns were lit and they began to discuss the sorting ceremony.
"I'll be picked near the end," Rose realised, "Because my surname begins with a 'W'."
"No such luck," replied Cheng, glumly, "Mine begins with a 'D'; I'll be one of the first."
The train rumbled to a halt, and a large figure appeared with a lantern. Albus recognised the grey mane and ridiculous height of Rubeus Hagrid, and, gesturing to the others, made his way over to him. Hagrid flashed them a whiskery grin.
"All right, Albus?" he asked, cheerfully, "Seems only yesterday I was taking yer dad down here. Yer look so much alike. And yer, Rosie. Yer parents didn't get on to righ' a' the beginning. Took 'em a while to like each other. Who woulda' thought they'd end up married, eh?" he chortled to himself, as they climbed into a paddle boat.
"Four in each boat!" called Hagrid, settling himself into one, his lantern aloft, after passing out the spare lanterns. Albus gripped his tightly, terrified of being left in the dark. Rose and Cheng each grabbed a paddle, and, as the boats begin to glide through the dark waters of the lake, Hogwarts castle loomed up ahead, and only the silvery splashes of the paddles intruded upon Albus' deep thoughts.