Carter

"Come on Carter." Gwen whined to me as we stood on the platform. "I want to go see Molly, Louis and Parker."

Gwen was so annoying sometimes. Stupid older sister. Our parents had already left having had important work they needed to complete. They couldn't even hang around to see the train off. Some parents they are. This is my first year after all. Do they care about me at all?

I felt worse for Ivy though. She got stuck with Aunt Hazel and Uncle Harold. That can't be fun.

"Carter, we are going to get on that train, find you a compartment and then I'm going to go find my friends, understand." Gwen told me.

I just sighed. She had a point. We were just standing on the platform for no reason at the moment. She began to walk over to the train and I followed after her. We climbed aboard and at the sight of the first empty compartment Gwen stopped.

"You'll be fine here?" She asked me.

I just nodded. Together we lifted my trunk up to store it away before I turned back to face her.

"Mum and dad are proud of you." She told me before placing a kiss on my forehead. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Gwen." I muttered.

"Buck up, you're going to Hogwarts." She said shoving my shoulder.

"Go, have fun with your friends." I told her.

"Don't scare people away from this compartment with your rotten attitude." She told me as she walked off in search of her friends.

I let out another sigh, sat down and pulled out a book. What else was I meant to do? Stare out the window at the people on the platform, none of which knew who I was or cared about me.

"Can I join you?" I heard a girl ask from the doorway of the compartment.

"I don't see why not." I said indicating to the entire empty seat.

She smiled at me before turning to put her trunk away.

"I'm Milla Dursley." She said putting out her hand for me to shake.

"Carter Smythe." I said as I took her hand.

"This world is so amazing." She said as she looked around. "I never knew this platform existed. Dad told me he'd known for years. His cousin was a wizard. Although I don't know anything else about him. The two of them never really liked one another."

"You're rambling." I told the girl.

I had learnt years ago that the only way to deal with someone's ramblings was to let them know that they were in fact rambling. Well, that method always worked with my cousin any way.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Milla said looking down at her hands which were resting in her lap.

"So I take it you're a muggleborn then?" I asked her.

"Yes, I am." She admitted looking down at her feet.

"There's nothing wrong with that." I told her hoping she wouldn't think I was judging her. "I'm a halfblood. My dad's a muggle. Mum's a witch."

"So you grew up with magic then?" She asked.

Milla seemed so fascinated by everything. I suppose I would be too if this was the first time I was really experiencing magic.

"Sort of." I told her. "I suppose you heard about the Wizarding War that occurred nineteen years ago."

She nodded in response. It was clear she didn't want to start rambling again. She wanted to hear what I had to say. This was something I had never experienced. No one ever really cared what I had to say.

"Well when Mum heard there was going to be a war her and her sister, my Aunt Hazel, left the wizarding world and went to live in the muggle world." I explained. "They felt safer there. They didn't use their magic so much so they got used to doing things the muggle way that they both prefer to do things like that. So magic isn't used so much."

"I think once I've learnt magic I won't ever be able to give it up." Milla told me.

Then we heard the door to the compartment open. There stood a boy who seemed terrified. He looked lonely.

"Do you mind if I join you?" He asked.

"Not at all." Milla said before I could speak.

Milla moved over to sit next to me and the other boy sat down and looked at us strangely. He seemed really nervous.

"I'm Milla." Milla introduced. "This is Carter."

The boy just watched us. He seemed nervous about introducing himself. Perhaps his family had something to do with the war. Perhaps they were on the wrong side. That wouldn't matter with us.

"I'm Scorpius." He said eventually.

"Well it's lovely to meet you Scorpius." Milla said. "Carter was just telling me about his family."

They both looked over at me as if expecting me to start telling them all about my family.

"Oh, well, there's my parents." I said not really knowing where to start. "Mum's a witch, Dad's a muggle. Then I have two sisters. Gwen, she's in third year this year and Ivy who's two years younger than me."

Milla smiled at me. Scorpius just had a blank face. There was something off about him although I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Well I have an older sister named Katie." Milla said. "She's not a witch though. It's just me."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a look of surprise flash over Scorpius' face before it returned to a blank expression. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk. Why did he sit with us if he didn't want to talk? Why didn't he sit somewhere else?

"Scorpius?" Milla asked looking over him.

"I'm an only child." He said. "My grandmother live with us though. We find it easier that way."

I watched him as he spoke. He was clearly thinking over what he was saying very carefully. He didn't want to say anything that might give away who he was. At least, that's what I thought he was doing.

Milla seemed adamant on getting a conversation going however Scorpius didn't appear very open. He didn't want to talk to anyone. I tried to keep talking to Milla but eventually she stopped trying. We all just sat there in silence.

Then the compartment door slid open.

"Just stay here." I heard Gwen say. "Your cousins, Parker and I are trying to talk. Sit with the other first years, okay."

"Geeze Gwen, no need to be so rude." I said to her standing up to see who was with her.

There were two other people with Gwen. It was clear they were starting to irritate her. I had best get them away before she blows.

"Albus, Rose, this is Carter." Gwen said. "Now play nice."

With that Gwen walked off, probably to just go back to her friends again. She really could be awful sometimes.

I turned around in the compartment and looked at Milla and Scorpius. Milla was curious as to who was at the door while Scorpius was just looking out the window avoiding looking at anyone. I sat down beside him and motioned for Milla to come sit beside me.

The two who Gwen had brought to the compartment walked in and sat down where Milla and I had previously been sitting.

"So, as Gwen said, I'm Carter Smythe." I said to the two who I sat across from.

"Milla Dursley." Milla said.

A strange expression flashed across the face of the boy who we sat across from. He must recognise her name from something.

"I'm Albus Potter." The boy said.

"Rose Granger-Weasley." The girl said.

Scorpius wasn't saying anything. There must be something with these two that's making him even more closed off than before.

"You two know each other?" Milla asked to break the silence.

"We're cousins." Rose said before taking a closer look at Scorpius. "Hey, I think I know who you are."

Scorpius turned to look at Rose. He was clearly unimpressed by Rose saying anything.

"Yeah, who am I then?" He asked.

"Scorpius Malfoy." Rose said. "My Dad told me I needed to beat you in every test."

"Rose, we both know Uncle Ron isn't exactly the most forgiving person." Albus said to Rose.

The two cousins continued arguing but I didn't watch. I was more worried about Scorpius. He didn't seem to like Rose and Albus. It must be some family thing.

"Scorpius are you alright?" I asked him.

"I'm fine." He muttered.

I didn't want to press him any further. It appeared as though he was in a bad mood and I didn't want him to hate me before we even got to Hogwarts.

"So what house do you think you'll be in?" Rose asked.

"Well my Mum was in Ravenclaw." I told Rose. "And Gwen is in Gryffindor. But I'm not really like either of them. So I'm not really sure."

"I don't really know." Milla said. "I don't much about any of the houses. I think I'd be happy with anything so long as I can make friends."

"Well both my parents were in Gryffindor." Rose said. "And most of my cousins are there. So I'll probably be in Gryffindor."

"Or Ravenclaw." Albus said. "You're a complete swot Rose."

"Shut it Al." Rose said to him.

"Well I'm the same as Rose, both my parents and my brother are Gryffindor." Albus said. "So are most of my cousins."

"My whole family's in Slytherin." Scorpius muttered.

"Dad told me there's nothing wrong with Slytherin." Albus responded. "In fact, I'm named after a Slytherin."

Scorpius just stared at Albus. Obviously he didn't believe him.

"Who?" Scorpius said.

"Severus Snape." Albus responded. "Dad said he was the bravest man he ever knew."

"He was my father's godfather." Scorpius admitted.

"Yeah." Albus admitted.

The two of them smiled at one another briefly before returning to their previous silence. Throughout the rest of the train ride Rose and Milla talked to each other. Albus, Scorpius and I spoke a little. Not as much as the girls but still. It wasn't too bad. Hopefully they'll become more comfortable with one another as time goes on.

Getting from the train station to the school was exactly as Gwen had told me. The view from the boats was absolutely beautiful. The Great Hall was also amazing when we walked in.

I scanned around the hall for Gwen who smiled at me when I caught her eye. She could be a right royal pain sometimes but she was still my big sister and I loved her.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." The teacher, who I'm pretty sure Albus said was Professor Longbottom, told the first years. He was indicating to a dirty looking old hate that sat on a stool beside him.

I looked between my friends. We were all pretty different. I wouldn't be surprised if we all got separated. I wouldn't want that of course but still, I knew it was a possibility.

"Dursley, Milla." Was the first one of our group to be called.

We watched as she slowly walked up to the stool. We could tell she was nervous. I knew her biggest fear was being alone. I sent her a smile. She looked over at our group and relaxed. It wasn't long after that that the hate yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR" and the table that I'd seen Gwen at burst into applause. She got off the stool and headed over to the table. She seemed happy and that was all I could have hoped for.

The next from our group was "Granger-Weasley, Rose" who bounced up to the stool with a smile on her face.

There was no hint of fear on her face as she sat down on the stool. The hat was taking longer than it had with Milla to sort Rose. She kept looking between two of the tables. She had mentioned a few times that wanted to be with her family. It would be nice for them to stay together as much as possible. Family is the most important thing after all. Eventually the hat once again yelled, "GRYFFINDOR" and Rose walked over to join Milla.

At least Milla won't have to be alone like she feared.

After Rose the next one called was "Malfoy, Scorpius."

It was now that I realised why he had been so sceptical to tell us who he was. The whole hall went silent when his name was called. As he walked over to the stood I could hear many people around us whispering to one another. I felt bad for him. His name wasn't his fault.

Scorpius looked terrified when the hat was placed on his head. I saw him look over at Rose and Milla. I could tell then that he too was scared of being alone, he just didn't want people to know. The hat was on his head for a much shorter time than either Milla or Rose before it announced, "SLYTHERIN" for the whole hall to hear. Scorpius got up off the stool and headed over to the table which was applauding him.

It was confusing now. Did I want to be with Scorpius who seemed to fear being alone even though he wouldn't tell anyone? Or did I want to be with Milla who had voiced her fear of loneliness to everyone? After all if I was with Milla I'd also be with Gwen and I wanted all my siblings to stay together.

I shook myself out of my thoughts when I heard "Potter, Albus" get called.

From what Gwen had told me about James, Albus was nothing like his older brother. James was full of arrogance and just a little bit of crazy while Albus seemed calm and humble.

The entire hall was watching with baited breath while the hat was on Albus' head. It was taking a lot longer for him to be sorted than any of the other students so far. It was strange. After a long while of watching the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN" earning a gasp from a majority of the hall.

"I knew it." Was called from the Gryffindor table.

"Shut it James." Five voices all calling in response.

I tried my hardest not to laugh as I watched Albus get down off the stool and join Scorpius. As Albus sat down beside him Scorpius relaxed. That just proved my theory. Scorpius was scared of being alone. But now he wasn't. He and Albus had one another.

It was only now that all my friends had been sorted that I began to grow nervous. I was scared I wasn't going to up with any of them. I knew that either way I'd be able to make my own friends but I still felt like I wanted to be with those I'd met on the train.

"Smythe, Carter." I heard the professor call.

I walked over to the stool and sat down. Looking out over the hall my eyes found Scorpius and Albus before moving over to see Milla and Rose.

"Not you're family I see." A voice said in my ear.

At the sound of the voice I nearly jumped. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Gwen laughing at me. She knew exactly what had happened.

"A yearning to prove yourself." The voice continued. "Better be SLYTHERIN."

I smiled before getting down off the stool and walking over to join Albus and Scorpius. Well, at least I had friends. I sat across from both of them.

"Well, we survived." I said to them.

A small burst of laughter came from the two boys. Scorpius had relaxed so much more since the train ride. It was clear now that he was mostly just worried about how other would view him and if he would be able to make any friends with who his family was.

"It seems that family isn't everything." Albus said.

It was clear that for our group that was more true than I had ever realised it could be.

We turned to listen to the headmistress who gave a speech that none of us really paid attention to. Then the feast appeared in front of us and we began to serve our food and talk amongst ourselves once again. Now that Scorpius had relaxed a bit he seemed more open to talking about himself allowing both Albus and I to get to know him better.

"Wait until my father hears about who I'm friends with." Scorpius said trying not to laugh.

"I'm just worried what Uncle Ron will do if Rose tells him she even spoke to you." Albus told Scorpius. "If he finds out you two are kind of friends, well let's just say, I think your life would be significantly shortened."

We both stared at Albus.

"Man, your family seems crazy." I told Albus.

"It's life." Albus said. "I have nine cousins and two siblings. Then there's my dad's godson whose parents were killed in the war. And of course you can't forget the kids of our parent's close friends. So that's seventeen kids."

"I didn't realise your family was that big." Scorpius said. "I always knew there were a lot of Weasleys. Hell, Father would never shut up about how irritating that lot was at school. But I never realised there were that many of you."

"Well Mum had six siblings." Albus told him. "One never had any kids and one of them died in the war. So five out of seven Weasleys had children."

"And to think my family is only me and my cousin Adeline." Scorpius said. "That's not to say we aren't just as crazy as your lot. We're just a lot smaller. Occasion my grandmother's sister, Andromeda, comes over with her grandson, Teddy, but I don't know him all that well."

"Talk to him next time." Albus told Scorpius. "He always tells us how he wishes you would talk more."

I laughed as Scorpius stared at Albus in shock. Both their families seemed rather crazy. Mine on the other hand was probably the calmest and most subdued family you could get.

"Well I've got two sisters and one cousin." I told them. "So a bit bigger than your family Scorpius. But it's just us and our parents. None of our grandparents have anything to do with us. The muggles don't like the witches and the magical folk don't like the muggles."

"Hey, my grandparents are dead." Albus said. "On my dad's side anyway."

"Doesn't your brother think that he and my sister are your grandparents reincarnated or something?" I asked Albus.

"That sounds like James." Albus said.

"What the hell is wrong with your family, Potter?" Scorpius asked.

"Gwen described James as full of arrogance with a little crazy mixed in." I told Scorpius.

"I'd never thought of it but that's the perfect description." Albus laughed. "But seriously every break he doesn't shut up about your sister. It's always 'Gwendolen this' and 'Gwendolen that' and 'Gwendolen doesn't like that so now I don't either.'"

Both Scorpius and I burst out laughing. It was hilarious to hear about James' obsession with Gwen. Compared to the way Gwen described his obsession it was rather amusing. Gwen just made it sound creepy.

We spent the rest of dinner laughing about our families. As we talked more about them we found out more and more that was highly amusing.

It was nice that Scorpius had made friends despite his name and family. It was good that Albus was not his parents or his brother.

I could tell that this friendship was going to be one that lasted through Hogwarts.