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Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.
Year 1: More than a Crush
Chapter 1: September 2017
"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!" Albus insisted.
It was September the first and Albus was heading off to Hogwarts for the very first time. He was excited and nervous and James wasn't helping one bit.
"James, give it a rest," his mother, Ginny, said exasperatedly.
"I only said he might be," James defended himself. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth – "
Ginny glared at James, and James grew quiet. Albus was glad. He was already worried about making friends and doing well in classes. He didn't need to be worried about where he was sorted too. But James had gotten into his head, and now it was all he could think about.
They arrived at Platform Nine and Three Quarters and met up with some of their other family members – Albus' Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and their children Rose and Hugo. Rose would be starting Hogwarts this year too, so she and Albus had plans to stick together. At least if they couldn't make friends, they have each other. It was more than a lot of other students had.
The adults conversed for a little while, during which time Albus took the opportunity to look around and see if he could identify any other first years on the platform. They would be his classmates, and some of them dormmates soon after all. But there were just too many people to be able to tell.
James said his goodbyes, and then it was Albus' turn.
His mother gave him a kiss on the forehead, and then his father, Harry, leaned down to give him a hug.
"Bye Al," Harry said. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone 'til you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."
"What if I am in Slytherin?" Albus whispered, his nerves getting the better of him. It was just so much pressure, being from his family. His father was a famous Gryffindor, his mother came from a long line of Gryffindors, and all his cousins had been sorted into Gryffindor as well as his older brother. If he broke the chain, not only would he be a stain on the family tree, but he would be a public stain. It would be in all the papers. Son of Harry Potter sorted into Slytherin. That would be front page news. Albus wasn't sure he could handle it if that happened.
"Albus Severus," his father said, crouching down properly to look him in the eye. "You were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin, and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."
"But just say – " Albus insisted, not sensing that his father understood his fears.
" – then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it?" Harry said. "It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."
"Really?" Albus asked, suddenly feeling hopeful. He didn't care that his family would still accept him if he was in Slytherin, that wasn't the problem. The problem was everyone else. The other students, the teachers, the wizarding world at large. They were the ones that would have a problem if Albus wasn't in Gryffindor, and they were the ones Albus was worried about. But if he could simply choose his own house… well then crisis averted.
"It did for me," Harry replied.
Albus smiled. That was all he needed to hear. Suddenly, all his fears were washed away, and he felt confidence spread through him. He could do this. He would get on that train and sit with Rose. He would get to Hogwarts, be sorted into Gryffindor with the rest of his family, and then he would head up to Gryffindor Tower and enter the common room that his mother, father, grandparents, and so many others had lived. He'd go to sleep in a bed that had surely been occupied by at least one of his relatives in years past, and he would live up to society's expectations of him.
He just had to get on the train first. And it was about to leave.
Albus hopped onto the nearest carriage just in time. The doors started closing immediately after he got on and Albus leaned out the window for one last look at his family.
Rose was there too, waving goodbye to her parents and brother and then the train picked up speed, rolling out of the station, into the tunnel and towards Hogwarts Castle.
"You ready for this?" Rose asked.
If it had been ten minutes ago, Albus would have said no. But his father had reassured him, and now Albus was sure.
"Absolutely," he replied.
"Well come on," Rose declared grabbing her trunk and wheeling it away. "Let's find a compartment."
They peeked in a few different compartments as they made their way towards the back of the train, but they all appeared to be full. Albus was starting to think they might have to ask a less-full compartment if they could share, or maybe try and find James or Lucy or Louis and sit with one of them. But just then, as Albus peeked into yet another compartment, he felt himself lose all coherent thought.
She had to be an angel, Albus thought, to be so perfect. Her features were soft, her nose tiny and adorable, her eyes large and bright and the most beautiful forest green. Her hair was a magnificent cascading waterfall of the purest blonde and she was fairer than anyone Albus had ever known.
"Earth to Albus." A hand waved in front of his face and forced him out of the fog. Albus glanced to his right and remembered that his cousin was there too, and apparently saying words.
"What was that?" he frowned, a strange feeling overcoming him.
"I said, are we going to stand here all day staring, or are we going to keep looking for a place to sit?" Rose repeated herself.
"I want to sit with her," Albus pointed to the goddess on the other side of the window.
"Well you can't," Rose declared. "Because her compartment is full."
Albus sighed. "She's beautiful," he murmured.
"Wonderful," Rose rolled her eyes, grabbing her cousin by the hand and pulling him further down the train. "Let's keep moving."
The two first years ended up finding an empty compartment in the next car and Rose sat Albus down I one of the seats as she brought in both of their trunks. Albus, meanwhile, was still picturing the face of the girl he'd seen in the other compartment, marvelling over her completely and utterly perfect she had been.
"Rose," Albus said as his cousin finished hauling in the trunks and collapsed into her own seat.
"Yes, Albus?" Rose asked.
"I think I'm in love," Albus said dreamily.
Rose shook her head. "No," she declared. "No way. You're not in love, you haven't even met the girl yet. You're infatuated."
But Albus didn't care what Rose thought. He knew it deep in his bones, in his very soul. Whoever that girl was – and he intended to find out – he loved her. And he was going to marry her someday.
AaAaAaAaAaA
The train arrived at Hogsmeade station and Albus and Rose disembarked and began following the rest of the first years who were being herded in the opposite direction of the rest of the students. Albus kept his eyes peeled, searching for the girl from before, desperately hoping that she was a first year also. And then he saw her, standing up at the front of the first year group. His heart soared.
"I'm going to go and say hello," he informed Rose as he started pushing his way forward.
Rose grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back.
"Oh no you're not," she insisted. "You are not about to walk up to a complete stranger and freak her out with whatever's going on here," she gestured up and down Albus, making a judgemental face. "If you tell her you're in love with her, she's going to freak out."
"So I won't open with that," Albus promised. "Just let me introduce myself."
"No," Rose insisted, keeping a firm grip on Albus' arm. "You can introduce yourself tomorrow, after you've had a good night's rest and have cleared your head."
Albus made a face, but knew that Rose wasn't going to let him go, so he didn't fight her. Instead, he started making plans.
His father had told him that he could choose which house he wanted to be in, regardless of the qualities he possessed. Which meant that if Albus knew which house this girl was going to be in, he could choose the same house. Then, as housemates, they would get to spend all their free time together, hang out in the common room, sit together at meals. It would be like a fairy tale. And since Albus' last name was Potter, he had a pretty good chance that the girl would be sorted before him. He was closer to the end of the alphabet than anything. And the letters that came after P weren't too popular anyway. X, Y, Z… odds were that her last name didn't start with any of those letters.
They took the boats up to the castle, and while the rest of the students oohed and ahhed at the magnificence of the castle, Albus couldn't take his eyes off the back of Hayley's head. It was dark out, past sunset, and in the moonlight, she had a glow around her that shone even brighter than the moon itself.
Albus couldn't understand why he was the only one so enamored.
They arrived at the castle and Hagrid left them all to wait while he made sure everyone was ready for them in the Great Hall. Rose maintained a grip on Albus' wrist, or else he would have sidled away to stand with the object of all his attention.
When Hagrid returned, he led them all from the Entrance Hall into the Great Hall, and down the center aisle towards the front of the room where the famous Sorting Hat awaited them.
Albus didn't hear much of what was said from then on, as he was now watching his love attentively, waiting for her turn to try on the hat. The Headmaster must have said a few words, and the hat itself said or sang something or other. And then students began to have their names called.
Albus waited and waited, anxious to learn what house she would be going to so that he could also call that house home. But then someone was tugging on his sleeve, and Albus wrenched his eyes away from her to find that Rose was gesturing furiously to the stool up front.
"It's you turn," she informed him. "They've called your name twice."
Albus frowned and shook his head. "No that can't be right. She has to be sorted first."
"Just get up there," Rose cried, exasperatedly. She pushed her cousin forward, and Albus found himself stumbling to the front of the group.
There was nothing to do now but to climb up and take his seat upon the stool, no matter how much he wished it wasn't his turn yet. As the Sorting Hat was lowered onto his head, he sought out the girl and managed to meet her eye. He smiled, and she smiled back, and Albus' heart soared as the blackness of the inside of the hat descended over his eyes.
Alright hat, Albus thought determinedly. I know how this works, my father told me. So just put me in whatever house the really pretty girl is going to be sorted into and call it a day.
"Well now, you've got some spunk, haven't you boy?" the hat murmured into his ear. "Unfortunately, that's not exactly how this process goes."
You can't fool me, Albus insisted. I know you sort us based on where we want to be rather than based on our qualities. And I'm making this easy. I've told you where I want to be.
"Except that you haven't," the hat insisted. "You haven't given me a house, just a preference of housemate. I can't know where I'm going to sort her until I'm sitting atop her head."
Fine then, Albus sighed. Sort me into whatever house you want, and when her turn comes, put her in the same one.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," the hat replied. "I have to sort each individual based on what I find in their own mind, not what I find in their friends' minds."
Well then take a guess! What house do you think she'll end up in? Put me there.
"I can't do that either. I won't sort you based on where someone else might end up. I have to sort you based on what I'm seeing in your mind at this moment. And what I'm seeing is… GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat was lifted off Albus' head and his eyes were immediately drawn to the table that was cheering the most – the Gryffindor table. He spotted many of his cousins, as well as James, clapping for him, and a part of him was proud to have honored his family legacy.
He glanced over at the girl one more time before descending and taking a seat and found that she was clapping along politely. Hopefully her support of his house placement was because she was headed there herself.
Albus settled himself in at the Gryffindor table and angled himself so that he was watching her once again. It wasn't creepy, he just wanted to keep an eye on her.
Her turn came quickly enough. Her name was Hayley Sullivan, according to Professor Longbottom. Albus played the name over in his head, loving the way it sounded. He found himself silently willing the hat to do as he'd asked and sort her into Gryffindor with him. If only it would, it would be a dream come true. The two could do their homework together, spend all their free time together, stay up late drinking hot chocolate by the fire together…
But then the sorting hat did something altogether horrid, completely terrible, utterly loathsome. It sorted her into Slytherin.
"No!" he cried, much to the alarm of those around him. He clapped his hands over his mouth to avoid any more unwanted exclamations and watched, completely crushed, as Hayley hopped off the stool and happily joined the Slytherins at their table.
"What's wrong?" one of Albus' fellow Gryffindor first years asked him, concerned.
"Nothing," Albus muttered. "And everything."
Because being in Gryffindor meant nothing without Hayley. It was all Albus had wanted before today. And now he would give anything to be in Slytherin. Oh how the tables had turned.
AaAaAaAaAaA
"Please tell me you've gotten over this silly crush," Rose pleaded the next morning as she and Albus met up in the common room to head down to breakfast.
Albus shook his head. "It's not a crush," he insisted. "It's love. And just because we're in different houses, I'm not going to let it stop me."
Albus had spent the entire night dreaming of Hayley Sullivan. Of her face, bright and happy and smiling. At him. Though it was unfortunate that they were in different houses, Albus was determined to make the best of it. They could still spend time together in the common areas of the castle. Their opposing houses didn't need to keep them apart.
At breakfast, Albus watched the doors impatiently, waiting for her to make an appearance. When she finally did, flanked by her new Slytherin friends, Albus discovered that she was even more beautiful than he'd remembered. His unconscious mind hadn't done her justice, and in the bright and cavernous hall, she was majestic.
To Albus' great relief, his first class of the day was scheduled with the Slytherins. Albus wasn't sure he could have waited any longer to get his chance to introduce himself.
As soon as they were finished with breakfast, Albus and Rose headed up to History of Magic, where their first class would be taught by the ghost professor, Professor Binns.
Rose wanted to take seats front and center, but Albus forced her to hang back and wait outside the classroom. He wanted to sit next to Hayley, and in order to do that, she needed to go inside first. He pretended like he and Rose were in deep conversation and watched and waited as she passed by with her friends and entered the room. Then Albus pounced, pushing Rose aside and making his way into the room, making a beeline for Hayley.
"Hi," he said, coming up next to her. "Mind if I sit here?" he pointed to the chair next to the one she was in the process of sitting in.
"Not at all," she replied.
It was the first time he'd heard her speak out loud, and her voice was just as melodious as he'd expected. It matched her appearance perfectly and made Albus' ears sing with praise.
"My name is Albus," Albus introduced himself. "Albus Potter."
"I'm Hayley. Hayley Sullivan," Hayley replied. She reached out a hand and Albus eagerly went to shake it.
Her skin was soft. So soft, Albus just wanted to hold onto her hand all day. But instead he let go after the appropriate amount of time, not wanting to scare her off on day one.
"It's really good to meet you," Albus said, a wide smile spreading over his face. "I hope we can be good friends."
"Yeah, me too," Hayley smiled back.
And Albus was pretty sure she meant it.
As far as first days go, Albus was pretty sure he was having the best one he could possibly have. He was sitting in history of magic with the most perfect creature in the universe, and she was talking to him, smiling at him, becoming friends with him.
And Albus knew with absolute certainty that no matter how long it took, whether it be weeks, months, or years, Hayley Sullivan would fall in love with him too. And the two of them would live a long and happy life together.