A/N: this chapter may have some slight internal monologue-ing and this is the first chapter written by Lauren, aka the one who hates canon, not cannon and it has been put before, I do not have a grudge against cannons, at least I think I don't. Enjoy!

Albus P.O.V.

Urgh, I couldn't stand that Lyra girl. Why did she feel the need to talk about things that had nothing to do with her?

I went storming through the corridor, only stopping to apologise to a first year I had ran into. God I was mad.

Still checking every compartment, I started looking for Finch. I needed someone to talk to. Finch Jones was my brother from another mother and definitely could help. Being the calmest and most clear-headed person I know, it was no surprise Finch was a Ravenclaw.

Finally, when I had just about given up looking, I spotted Finch half asleep on his boyfriend Theo's shoulder.

Carefully, I opened the compartment door, just as Finch shuddered awake.

"Oh, hello there Albus, what's got your wand in a knot now?" He murmured sleepily.

"Malfoy." I grunted, sounding a bit like a caveman if I was honest.

"Which one?" Theo asked, yawning.

"Lyra, Lyra Malfoy."

"The girl that always looks like she has a personal vendetta against you?" Finch raised one eyebrow.

"Yep." I sat down.

"Right then, what did she do?" Finch asked calmly, anticipating my distress.

"Nothing much, just a few accusations against my sexuality, that's all." I shrugged.

"Okay then. I hate to say this Al, you just have to rise above it." Finch said reluctantly.

"I know, it's just so damn hard! Especially since it's not true… At least, I think it isn't true…"

"Tell Professor McGonagall then, if it gets really bad." Theo said, trying to help.

"Nah, it'll pass, thanks for your help guys." I murmured. I needed to talk to Lorcan, he would definitely want to know if people had started spreading rumours about us again. I don't get why you can't be close friends with anyone, regardless of gender, and not be accused of being in a 'relationship' with them!

"Bye then." Finch called as I left the compartment.

I would have to talk to Lorcan later; Rose was walking up to me with a serious look on her face.

"You need to change Albus, we'll be there in soon." She reprimanded.

"Oh yeah, sorry Rose, I totally forgot after getting side-tracked talking to your little 'friends.'" I said sarcastically.

"Sorry, it wasn't my fault that Lyra did what she did, neither was it Esther's, Scorpius's or Perseus's. They did nothing to you." She replied, tossing her hair. So that was the littlest Malfoys name, Perseus… What a Malfoyish name.

"Whatever Rose, you may be a Weasley, but you're still a Slytherin, just like them." I warned, walking off.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rose shouted back.

"It just means that maybe you should watch which tie you put on. Surely, isn't yours the easiest to find?"

Rose looked down at her tie which was red and gold striped rather than emerald and silver as it should have been.

Rose shrieked. "JAMES POTTER!" And raced off angrily.

I chuckled to myself. He was in for such a thrashing if Rose caught him before he got to Hogwarts.

The scarlet train halted to a stop outside the dark platform. Once I found my way off the train, already it was buzzing with teachers and students alike. Hogwarts school was lit up in the background, looking as majestic as ever.

We were home.

Pushing through the tight crowds, I found some clear space to breathe in and thankfully, it was nowhere near Lyra Malfoy or the rest of the Slytherins. Somewhere, I could hear James shouting; sounds like Rose caught up with him.

Nearby were Teddy and Victoire who were directing Lily towards Hagrid. Hagrid, who despite being very old, remained as equally bad at cooking as he was good at teaching Care of Magical Creatures. His booming voice rose above all the students, making it very easy for the first years to hear him.

Sure enough, Lily started to shuffle towards the half-giant, who stood with that Perseus kid and a few others I recognised. My cousin Hugo being one and another girl I vaguely recognised who I think was called Narnia maybe? Something like that. Oh yes! It was Nadia Finch-Fletchley, the daughter of Lavender Brown, my Uncle Ron's ex-girlfriend.

I remember because Mum always teases Uncle Ron about Lavender, apparently it used to annoy my Aunt Hermione.

I hoped Lily would have some friends this year, she is my sister after all. At least she would have Hugo and Nadia.

I just hope she is in Gryffindor so she has some family to look after her, at least some more family. I am pretty sure most of Hogwarts is related to us in some way.

I blame Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur, why did they feel the need to have 7 kids? So now I have six sets of Aunties and Uncles and five sets of cousins. (Uncle Fred died in the 2nd War and Uncle Charlie doesn't want kids, he has dragons… Apparently.)

I found a carriage with James, who looked severely ruffled and had a black eye, Alexia and my cousin Roxanne in it.

"Hey guys." I greeted nervously, everybody looked a little grumpy to be honest.

"Albus." James replied thickly. He sounded like he had a broken nose.

"Rose catch up with you then?" I murmured.

"No, actually, Scorpius did with his little brother in tow. Apparently, I dyed Lyra's hair red and then the only thing she could say was GO GRYFFINDOR very loudly. Why? Should I look out for Rose too?"

"Yeah, apparently you also switched Rose's tie, so good luck mate. You may be in the hospital wing for a month."

James banged his head on the carriage in frustration.

"Do you think she'll go easy on me?" He asked hopefully.

"Not quite sure mate, she seemed pretty angry."

"Damn it."

"Sorry dude." I shrugged apologetically.

"Hey Roxanne." Alexia said pointedly, clearly trying to change the subject, being the incredibly resourceful non-cousin that she is.

"Hi Alexia." Roxanne sighed tiredly.

"Where's Dominique?" James asked Alexia, who was her best friend.

"I don't know actually." She replied thoughtfully.

"Probably snogging Connor." Roxanne giggled.

"Now that I think about it, she probably is." Alexia thought aloud.

"Is it weird having your best friend and brother show excessive amounts of PDA?" James asked. "I want to know in case something similar ever happens to me." He added.

"Kind of, usually I don't mind as long as they're not doing anything too explicit." She replied, smiling.

"CONORIQUE!" Roxanne squealed.

"What?" I said, totally baffled.

"Their ship name!" Alexia smiled.

"What?" I repeated.

"Their relation-ship name Albus." Alexia said slowly.

"Girls." James snorted.

The carriage slowed to a halt. "Guys," Roxanne grinned. "We're here…"