Chapter Two: On Our Way
Albus and Rose were still waving to their parents after the Hogwarts Express had left the platform. "Come on, let's go find a compartment," Rose said to her cousin.
"Okay," Albus said, turning to the blonde boy who was awkwardly standing next to them, "Do you wanna sit with us too, Scorpius?"
Rose looked horrified, "Albus! Daddy said-"
"Rose, ignore what Uncle Ron said. He's just holding a grudge." Albus cut her off and turned to Scorpius, "Seriously, mate, I'm not going to let a feud between our parents that ended nineteen years ago stop me from socializing with you."
Scorpius smiled, "Me neither; I think that would be elongated and preposterous."
Albus raised an eyebrow. "Quite, what?"
Scorpius laughed, "Preposterous; contrary to reason or common sense; utterly absurd or ridiculous. Elongated probably wasn't the right word... But it means making something bigger... In this case I meant blown out of proportion."
This time, it was Rose who raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know that… Looks like I have competition for being the smartest person in our year, then."
Albus and Scorpius laughed, and the trio started looking for a compartment. They couldn't find an empty one, but they found their Uncle Charlie's son, Arthur, sitting in a compartment with his friend, Colin.
"Hey Art, can we sit here?" Albus asked, ignoring Scorpius and Rose, who were in a heated discussion about potions versus cooking.
Arthur nodded, "Sure Al, hey Scor, how are ya?"
This got Scorpius' attention. "Oh! Hey Arty, Colin, I'm okay."
Arthur gave a curt nod and went back to playing wizard chess with Colin. Rose, however looked at Scorpius with a bemused look on her face, "How do you know Arthur?"
Albus, who could since Rose was going to go into a long heated speech, changed the subject rather quickly. "So which house do you think you're going to be sorted into?"
"Slytherin; you?" Scorpius asked, not even thinking about it. Albus thought this was a good guess though; all Malfoys were in Slytherin right?
"I'm not sure; I don't think I'm very brave… I'm not cunning, or smart, so maybe Hufflepuff…" Albus said, making a face. "I don't want to be a Hufflepuff though…"
Scorpius laughed, and the three of them started talking about the term and what they did before coming to Hogwarts, to little surprise to Albus, Rose and Scorpius had read all of their first-year textbooks and some other more advanced books as well.
"So," Albus started, "What kind of owl do you have?"
Scorpius grinned madly and took the sheet off his owl's cage. "This is Kieran."
Albus stared at the owl for a minute, its back was all black and he had a few white feathers on his front and face. His eyes were something else, it looked like the little owl was glaring at you with a dark look, making him seem very eerie and frightening, "What kind of animal is it?" Albus managed to ask after he was done staring at the owl.
"He's a Strix nigrolineata," Scorpius said without missing a beat, at Albus' confused look he laughed and continued, "A black and white owl, Albus."
"Why didn't you just say that?" Albus said, grinning, "He sure is scary looking."
Scorpius nodded, "He does. But he's really gentle as anything, he wouldn't hurt a fly."
Albus nodded and lifted the sheet off his owl as well, "This is Pygmy."
"Ooh! A Glaucidium palmarum! I haven't seen one of these before!" Scorpius said, smiling at Albus' owl.
Albus just looked confused, "A what? I thought she was a Colima Pygmy Owl?"
This time it was Rose who laughed, "It is Albus," Rose explained, "Scorpius is just being a know-it-all and using their scientific names."
Scorpius playfully hit Rose on the arm. "You're just jealous because you didn't know it!"
Rose shrugged, "I see I'm going to have to do more reading to keep up with you, Malfoy."
Scorpius laughed, "You'll have to do more than that, Weasley. From the age of five, I had to study the dictionary and learn every owl there is by its scientific name. It took me three years."
Albus and Rose just stared at Scorpius in pure horror and Scorpius just shrugged. "Wanna play Exploding Snap?" he asked, tying to change the topic. Albus and Rose, sensing he didn't want to elaborate anymore, nodded, and Scorpius got his Exploding Snap pieces and board from his trunk. The trio played Exploding Snap until there was a knock on the compartment door.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?"
Scorpius got up and got five packs of every-flavored beans, five packs of bubble gum, ten cauldron cakes, twenty packs of chocolate frogs, four pumpkin pastries, five pumpkin juices, and 10 licorice wands. He paid the trolley woman two gallons, three sickle, and five knuts, and brought the candy into the compartment.
"I got a huge load for everyone, even Arthur and Colin," Scorpius said, smiling and eating a chocolate frog, "Damn another Harry Potter… No offence, Albus."
Albus laughed, "None taken; I'm sick of getting him too."
The three first years spent the next hour or so showing each other their chocolate frog cards. Albus had Albus Dumbledore, a rare card ever since the second Wizarding War, while Scorpius had Tom Riddle and Gellert Grindelwald, two cards that came from a dark chocolate frog pack.
"I didn't know you could get dark chocolate frogs," Rose said, looking at Scorpius' cards.
Scorpius grinned. "You can in France. My grandmother's parents had a manor there that my grandmother got, well, because Great Aunt Bellatrix is dead and Great Aunt Andromeda was disowned."
Rose paused for a second. "Andromeda Tonks? You're related to my cousin, Albus' brother, Teddy Lupin?"
Scorpius nodded, "Yup, he's my favorite cousin."
"I heard that!" Arthur said from the other side of the compartment with a smile causing Scorpius to lick his tongue out at the older boy. Both boys looked at Rose, who had a disgusted look on her face, "How did you not know we were related?" Arthur asked with a confused expression, "Where do you think we go at Christmas?"
Rose shrugged, "Daddy says-"
"And there's the problem," Albus said with a shake of his head, "Uncle Ron don't know how to forgive and forget, Rose. I could have told you years ago that Teddy and Arthur were related to the Malfoy's because my dad told me, you have to stop believing all that he says."
"So that's how you know each other," Rose said ignoring what Albus said altogether. "You guys better get your robes on, were almost to Hogwarts." She added after a minute and grabbed her trolley down from the shelf.
Scorpius and Albus nodded and shoved their robes on over their Muggle clothing, "Why are you in your robes early, anyway?" Scorpius asked once he sat back down.
"Well," Rose started, "My mother told me when she was in Hogwarts that everyone put there robes on just before they got to Hogwarts, and sometimes she would have to rush because she didn't want to be stuck on the train. Therefore, I decided I wasn't going to be like anyone else and I definitely wasn't ever going to be stuck on the Hogwarts Express because I wasn't prepared. So I put my robes on before I came on the platform this morning."
"I'm sorry I asked," Scorpius whispered to Albus, causing the other boy to burst into laughter just as the Hogwarts Express came to a stop.
"Hey!" Rose exclaimed, chasing the two boys, who took their trunks and owls and ran for the opening, away from the angered girl.
"Get back here, Malfoy!" Rose shouted as she ran after them, catching up with them when Rose and Albus' cousin, Victorie had stopped them.
"It isn't even the first day of school, you three," Victorie said with a shake of her head and a sigh. "I'm not going to give you a detention, mainly because I can't, not because you're my cousins… Don't give me that look Albus Severus Potter! Your brother had to have told you that I give detentions to anyone who breaks the rules."
"I didn't believe him," Albus countered. "You were always so nice at home."
"Watch it," Victorie scolded with a frown. "I am still nice as long as you follow the rules."
"Yes mum," Albus said with a roll of his eyes causing Scorpius to burst out laughing.
"And who might you be?" Victorie asked turning her attention to the blonde. Scorpius noticed that her blue eyes had a tint of green when she was angry, he had heard about the older girls mother's unruly temper, mix that with her grandmother's and you get one scary person, he thought.
"Scorpius," he said politely. "Scorpius Malfoy."
"Victorie Weasley," Victoire said extending her hand. "Head Girl."
"She wishes my brother was head boy," Albus whispered to Scorpius with a sly grin. "Unfortunately, he graduated last year."
"Albus Potter!"
Albus and Scorpius looked at each other and decided to make a run for the train doors- after all, getting a detention was better than subjecting to an angry Victorie Weasley.
The MultiChaptered Boot Camp; Rubbish
The Multi-Map-Chap Challenge; Elongate
The Mega Novel Competition
