Chapter Two - The Hogwarts Express

Friday, 1st of September

The Hogwarts Express

Al looked around the small compartment he had chosen. It had a sliding glass door leading on to the corridor that stretched almost the entire length of the train. It was comfy, but intimate, and Al was glad the people, well person, in his compartment were close family.

Rose sat opposite him, her blue eyes taking in every inch of the compartment. James was in the next compartment, Al could hear him yelling through the wall.

"Where is everyone else?" Al asked.

"No idea," Rose mumbled, her gaze directed at the scene outside the window; London was turning rural, and Rose was watching it pass. Her eyes were suspiciously red but Al, being tactful, didn't mention it.

"How 'bout I check out where everyone else is?" he asked. Rose didn't answer, so Al got up and slid the door open. He was almost at the end of one train, so he decided to go the other way. He had cleared one carriage when he bumped into a large group of people, which on closer inspection turned out to be his cousins.

"Hey Al!" someone shouted.

A chorus of voices joined in the greeting. The original speaker stepped forwards and Al realised that it was his cousin, Roxanne.

"Have you found a compartment yet?" she asked.

"Yeah," Al replied. "It's just me and Rose, so we were wondering if anyone else wanted to come join us," he finished shyly.

"Sure. We Weasleys always sit together on the way there, don't we guys?"

There was a loud whoop from behind.

"Lead the way, Al," Roxanne smiled.

Al was very glad to see that Rose had recovered by the time they all got back. There were not as many of them as he had thought, which was good, as it was already a bit full in the compartment.

On one side was Rose, beside the window, with her head in a book, Dominique on her other side. There were two cats beside her (Molly's and Roxanne's) curled up on the soft seat. Opposite them was Roxanne, who was between Al and Molly.

"So are you lot excited, then?" Roxanne asked, propping her feet up beside Dominique, who rolled her eyes but didn't complain.

Rose nodded, her head still in "Hogwarts: A History" and Al nodded slowly. "Yeah. But I'm kinda nervous about the sorting..."

Dominique nodded. "I was completely freaked out over it. But it wasn't as bad as I thought."

Al opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Then he opened it again.

"I'm just really worried in case I'm in-"

"Slytherin?" came a voice from the door.

James was standing there grinning mischievously.

"All right, little brother?" he smirked. "Budge up," he added to Dominique, and she and Rose shifted up towards the window, letting him sit down whilst avoiding the cats. Fred came in behind him, wearing the same grin as James.

"Hello all," he said. Not noticing the cats, he sat on top of them, but only for a second; there was an indignant "meow" and a yelp before Fred jumped up, swearing and clutching his backside.

Everyone laughed, and Molly moved up to let him sit down. Al was very thankful, as James forgot about him and moved on. It seemed he was still interested in Teddy and Victoire, as he launched into a vivid descriptions of what happened, which seemed to be more graphic than what he had told his parents.

"Honestly James, who cares if they're together?" asked Rose, after ten minutes of it. James was just about to answer when the door slid open again and in walked the girl herself.

"Speak of the devil," Al groaned.

"Hi guys, how-" Victoire began, but she was immediately cut off as James began to bombard her with questions.

Unlike Fred, she noticed the cats and put them both on her lap as she skilfully avoided the questions.

"Merlin James, give the girl a rest!" Molly said eventually, bored.

Luckily the food trolley arrived, sparing an argument. It took them ten minutes to buy what they wanted, as there were eight of them with plenty of money. In the commotion it took them a few minutes to realise that one of their number had vanished.

"Where's Fred?" asked Victoire.

"Probably with his new girlfriend," James said, in the same way that one would say someone was at the toilet.

"WHO?" they all asked, astonished.

"Louisa Fredricka Jordan - they have the same namesake, Uncle Fred," replied James, seemingly bored by the questions - but Al knew he was really liking the attention, and was playing it cool.

"Oh her - that's Uncle George's friends daughter - you know, Lee," Molly said.

"Oh Uncle Lee! Dads friend," Rose realised.

"Yeah Lee. He's a great laugh, especially with Dad. Have you heard half the stuff they got up to when they came here? And he got a new tarantula last week - its so cool," Roxanne sighed happily.

Rose shivered.

The door slid open again, but it was not Fred who entered.

"Good day, all!"

"Oh God," Molly groaned.

"Sorry I can't stay long," Lucy's cheerful voice echoed around the compartment. "I have to get back to the Prefect's compartment soon. We have to patrol the corridor, and when I saw you all, I just thought I'd pop in and say hello. Excited to start, Rose and Al?"

The two murmured replies. Lucy beamed at the whole compartment.

"Well, I must dash! Wouldn't want to keep Andrew waiting!" With a little laugh she left and practically skipped down the corridor.

"Andrew...?" Al asked quizzically.

"Andrew Thompson. Male prefect for Gryffindor. Lucy mentioned him at least five times a day, all summer. She's totally besotted, but I don't think he knows. Yet. She should just ask him out and be done with it," Molly sighed deeply.

Just then, Fred appeared again, a little red in the face and Al could have sworn there was a lipstick mark on his cheek before he wiped his face.

"Ignore him!" someone whispered, probably James, as he reached for the door handle.

"Hey guys, again," Fred announced to the silent compartment. Its occupants all looked away from him.

"Um, guys? Is something wrong?" Fred asked.

"Oh," Roxanne gave a little laugh. "No. We were just thinking, actually."

"Thinking about what?" Fred asked nervously.

"Oh, you know, just about you and Louisa," Molly said, playing along.

The colour in Fred's face left rapidly.

"Like just how sweet you two are together," Dominique gave a small sigh.

"Really you two are just adorable," Victoire said.

"Aren't they just?" Rose said then made a small noise that sounded like "oh" as she clasped her hands together.

"When did you first realise it was true love?" Al asked with a smile.

"Never mind that, have you pulled her yet?" James asked, and with that, the game ended and the whole compartment (with the exception of Fred, who was bright red and completely mortified) burst into laughter.

"Oh Freddie, you should have seen your face!" Victoire giggled.

Fred scowled.

A few hours later, after much discussion, when it was established that Fred did NOT pull Louisa, but merely kissed her, the train pulled into the station, and everyone got their things together and got ready to leave.

"See ya Al. Unless you're in Slytherin," James said with a wink as he left the compartment, followed by a relieved-looking Fred. Al felt the butterflies in his stomach come back again - they'd vanished during the journey after what his father said. Al had to force down the urge to punch his brother and instead thought of his father's last words to him and counted to ten.

"Don't listen to your brother, you'll be in the house that's right for you," Victoire said. Al felt slightly reassured. What she was saying was similar to what his father had said. Victoire gave Rose and Al a hug and left the compartment, following Molly and Roxanne.

Dominique gave them a hug and rolled her eyes. "I'd better find Lucy, before she makes a whole load of enemies," she said and quickly departed the compartment. Al took one last look, partly to make sure he'd not forgotten anything, partly to look at what he'd be leaving behind - the Hogwarts Express was the last link with his parents. They'd helped him settle into it, something they could not do with Hogwarts. He took a deep breath and followed Rose onto a crowded platform.

It was dark now, and Al could hardly see much through the heavy rain that had started to fall. In a few seconds he was almost soaked through. There were large amounts of students trying to get through the crowds as fast as they could. Al stood on tiptoe to see the rest of the platform.

A huge man, no, a giant, was up one end, shouting. His voice was somehow familiar to Al. There was a crowd of people - small people like him - surrounding the man, so Al moved towards them, and started to make out what the giant was shouting.

"Firs' years! Firs' years follow me!"

Suddenly Al recognised the giant.

"Hagrid!"Al yelled, running up to him.

"Al!" Hagrid shouted, sweeping him into a bone-crushing hug. "How are yeh?"

Most of the other kids looked in awe at Albus - he knew the giant. And he didn't look at Hagrid as though he was scared, like they did - he looked at him as though he was a favourite uncle. The first years took a fresh look at Hagrid - maybe he wasn't scary after all.

Hagrid and Al broke apart, and after giving Rose a quick hug, Hagrid looked around at the small crowd.

"Right. All of yeh, follow me."

He led them down a long, winding road, that was only made of earth. Some of the first years slipped and slid, as the ground was wet. They all jumped out of their skin as thunder and lighting started, not far away, from the gap between them. Then they rounded a corner and saw Hogwarts for the first time.

Al was amazed. It was just as incredible as he had imagined. It was a glowing beacon through the rain. There was only one problem - a massive lake stood between them and the castle. Al was slightly scared. How were they going to cross it?

Luckily, at the bottom of the path, at the foot of the hill, was a small pier, complete with about ten or twelve boats. They reached the bottom of the path with no major hitches.

The small crowd gathered around the pier, many looking anxiously at the lake; it looked freezing, and they were already soaked through.

Hagrid waited until everyone was gathered. "No more than four to a boat!"

Al and Rose were followed into a boat by the blond boy from the station, who Al thought was called Scorpius Malfoy, but wasn't sure if that's what his uncle had said, and another girl with long brown hair.

As they rode across the lake it was slightly awkward, as no one was talking, until the girl tapped Al on the shoulder and asked him a question.

"Are you Harry Potter's son?"

Al was surprised.

"Yes," he replied.

"I'm Sophie Boot," the girl said, and Al got the feeling she had been itching to talk to him. "My dad knew your dad and my mum played for your dad when he was quidditch captain. Katie Bell?"

Al racked his brain, the name did sound familiar.

"Em... oh wait, yeah. I think Dad talked about her once. Only briefly. He was talking to my mum or uncle or someone about quidditch. Your mum was on the team. But she was cursed or something. Did she tell you about that?"

"Yup. She said to watch out for anyone with the surname 'Malfoy' because that was who cursed her."

Al and Rose looked straight at Scorpius.

"But your surname is Malfoy..." Rose gawked.

Scorpius blushed. Then Sophie put her hand to her mouth as she realised what she'd said.

"Oh! Scorpius I'm sorry! I didn't mean that they were all bad that's just what my Mum said! You were nice to me on the train!"

But by now the boats had reached the castle and without waiting for theirs to be tied up, Scorpius had jumped out and ran away. Sophie tried to go after him, but unfortunately she couldn't jump far enough and fell straight in.

She shrieked and started flailing, flapping her arms madly and Hagrid had to pull her out. She thanked him briefly before running after Scorpius.

Al and Rose got out the boat calmly and without falling.

"Well that was exciting," Rose remarked. Al didn't reply. He was feeling nervous again. Hagrid led them up the steps to a big oak door. He knocked three times and the door opened.

A/N

Hey guys! I am sorry that I haven't updated in like forever, but I've been really busy recently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review, I'm very grateful if you do.

Also thanks to Lady Cougar-Trombone ~ I hadn't realised that I had to approve guest reviews so that's why it never popped up. And thanks!

I will try my best to post more often!

Jenny xxx