Disclaimer: Yeah… Still not J.K. Rowling.
"You excited?"
Albus Potter nodded wordlessly in response to his cousin's question.
"Let's find a compartment," he said to Rose.
"Kay."
He and Rose sat down in an empty compartment near the back of the train. They discussed Quidditch for a while, but quickly exhausted the topic. After all, Albus didn't particularly care for the sport (he made sure not let any other member of his family know this besides Rose, because she wasn't just his cousin; she was his best friend. She was also the only person in the world that he trusted enough not to tell his secret to the rest of his Quidditch loving family or the press. After all, it wouldn't do to have the son of the youngest Seeker in history and one of the Chasers for the Holyhead Harpies to "not care for Quidditch") and Rose's team was the Chudley Cannons so there wasn't much to discuss about them besides a friendly
How are the Cannons doing this season?
Failing miserably. But next year they'll win. Next year will be our year.
They had this conversation every single year and so far "our year" had yet to come. But Albus hadn't informed Rose of this. Being brutally murdered did not sound particularly pleasant to him.
They sat in a nervous silence for a few minutes until Albus brought up the Sorting Ceremony.
"Are you nervous?" he asked.
"Not really," she replied, biting her lip and shaking slightly, showing Albus that she was nervous. Very much so, in fact, "it's just that-"
"Just that what?"
As Rose opened her mouth to reply, a blonde boy opened the door.
"Can I sit here?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full." Albus and Rose nodded as the boy introduced himself.
"The name's Malfoy, Scorpius Malfoy."
Albus resisted the urge to ask, "Not related to any Bonds, are you?" His dad had shown him quite a few Muggle movies. Scorpius did a remarkable James Bond impression.
Rose looked at Albus.
"Malfoy," she repeated. "Didn't my dad say that Malfoys are bad?"
Scorpius scowled.
"Who does your dad think he is, anyway?"
"Ron Weasley," she said shrugging. Then she pointed at Albus. "But his dad's Harry Potter."
"Really," said Scorpius and looked Albus up and down, making the latter feel very uncomfortable, "Impressive."
Albus could feel his face start to turn red.
"My dad doesn't like your dad very much," Scorpius suddenly confessed to Albus.
"Why not?" asked Albus, feeling rather offended. People usually loved his father.
Scorpius looked him, seemed to consider something for a moment, and then said, "No reason." The three of them sat there for a bit, twiddling their thumbs and looking out the window and Albus, feeling rather awkward, changed the subject.
"Anyway, I'm Al and this is Rose. We were just talking about the Sorting. Rose said she wasn't nervous, but she was starting to say something else. You want to finish talking, Rosie?"
It was Rosie's turn to turn red.
"Uh, well, you see, it's just that- I DON'T WANT TO BE IN GRYFFINDOR!" she shouted, quite possibly permanently damaging Albus' eardrums "Everyone expects me to be in it, but I think it sounds like a stupid house for want-to-be heroes. I'd rather be in any other house, even Slytherin."
Albus was speechless; Rose would rather be in Slytherin than Gryffindor.
"I really want to be in Ravenclaw, that's where the people with real brains are. But my whole family's been in Gryffindor, so I'll probably end up there too," she said with the tone of a martyr.
"The Sorting Hat isn't going to put you in a House where you don't belong just because your family is there." said Scorpius, "It'll put you in the right House, regardless of family."
"What House do you think you'll be in?" Albus asked Scorpius.
"Slytherin," he answered confidently, "My whole family's been in it."
Rose and Albus continued to talk to Scorpius, who proved to be quite interesting. He and Rose had a heated argument over Quidditch (Scorpius, apparently, had no qualms about telling Rose that the Cannon's year would never come and, come on, everyone knows that the Appleby Arrows are the best team anyway) and they discovered he shared Albus' love of Chocolate Frog Cards. The three of them spent the train ride talking, laughing, and eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. Finally, Rose stood up.
"We should probably change into our robes," she said.
She had already put on her robes, but she left the compartment to "protect the innocence of her eyes" which Albus and Scorpius were grateful for. After she did so, they took off their Muggle clothing and put on their brand new Hogwarts robes.
"Hey," said Scorpius, glancing down at the empty spot on his robes that would soon be covered by a Hogwarts House badge, "You never said what House you want to be in."
"Gryffindor," Albus replied, without even pausing to think.
"Typical," said Scorpius, rolling his eyes.