Chapter 3 THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

Albus and Rose walked together down the carriage of the drain, talking softly to each other.

The Trolley Witch pushed her cart and stopped by the youngsters. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" She held up a few treats to tempt them. "Pumpkin Pasty? Chocolate Frog? Cauldron Cake?"

Albus searched the trolley for a good chocolate frog. Rose coughed and said in that bossy tone of hers, "Al. We need to concentrate."

Albus paused and glanced at her. "Concentrate?" He hated when his cousin got that demanding controlling tone of hers!

Rose nodded and said seriously, "On who we choose to be friends with. My mum and dad met your dad on their first Hogwarts Express, you know…"

Albus rolled his eyes. Of course he knew. How could he not know? "So we need to choose now who to be friends with for life? That's quite scary," Albus retorted sarcastically to the redhead control freak.

"On the contrary, it's exciting. I'm a Granger-Weasley, you're a Potter," she paused for dramatic effects. "Everyone will want to be friends with us, we've got the pick of anyone we want."

Albus didn't really like the sound of that. He just wanted to be normal and have a friend who liked him for who he was, not because his father was Harry freaking Potter. "So how do we decide—which compartment to go in…?" Albus said slowly.

Rose said simply, "We rate them all and then we make a decision."

Albus glared at Rose. What a horrible idea. Not to mention it would take forever. To annoy Rose Albus went up to the first door he saw and opened it up, showing Rose he wasn't going to take the time to "rate" the people in the compartment.

His eyes feel on a single boy, all by himself. He had pale blonde hair, almost white and startling grey eyes. He looked lonely. Something in Albus' heart understood how the kid felt. Without thinking, he gave a genuine smile at the boy. The boy returned the smile. Then he took a glance at Rose and turned a slight shade of red.

"Hi. Is this compartment…?" Albus started, ignoring the fact that the boy's eyes were locked on Rose.

"It's free," the boy said hastily. "Just me."

Albus smiled again and said, "Great. So we might just—come in—for a bit—if that's okay?"

Albus caught a glimmer of hope, almost desperate hope that someone might be with him. "That's okay. Hi," he said casually.

"Albus," Albus said, holding out his hand to the boy. The boy took it warmly. "Al. I'm—my name is Albus."

The blonde boy replied back, "Hi Scorpius." Albus gave him a puzzled look. He hastily stumbled over his words. "I mean, I'm Scorpius. You're Albus. I'm Scorpius. And you must be?" He glanced at Rose.

Rose's face was cold as stone and she gave Scorpius a blank look. "Rose." She said bluntly.

Scorpius smiled at her. "Hi, Rose. Would you like some of my Fizzing Wizbees?" He offered her the candy.

Rose looked at the candy like it was a rat. "I've just had breakfast, thanks…" she said in a monotone way.

Scorpius didn't take the hint and held up a bunch of other candies. "I've also got some Shock-o-Choc, Pepper Imps, and some Jelly Slugs. Mum's idea—she says, "Sweets they always help you make friends." Stupid idea probably."

Rose didn't reply. She arched an eyebrow and gave a "seriously" look to Scorpius and Albus.

"I'll have some… my mum doesn't let me have sweets. Which one would you start with?" Albus said, ignoring his cousin.

Rose jostled Albus.

"Easy," Scorpius said. "I've always regarded the Pepper Imps as the king of confectionery bag. They're peppermint sweets that make you smoke at the ears." He handed Albus a few.

Albus looked at the sweets. "Brilliant, then that's what I'll—" Rose jostled Albus again, this time a little harder. Albus snapped, "Rose, will you please stop hitting me?!"

Rose denied anything, giving Albus a sharp look as though he should be picking up signs to who this guy really was. "I'm not hitting you."

Albus replied angrily back, "You are hitting me, and it hurts!"

Scorpius's face dropped a little and he frowned. "She's hitting you because of me."

"What?" Albus said completely confused, looking at Scorpius and Rose.

Scorpius sighed and said in a weary voice, "Listen, I know who you are, so it's probably only fair you know who I am…"

Albus looked at Scorpius again, with a completely puzzled face. "What do you mean you know who I am?" Albus demanded.

Scorpius answered back, "You're Albus Potter. She's Rose Granger-Weasley. And I am Scorpius Malfoy. My parents are Astoria and Draco Malfoy. Our parents—they didn't get along."

Rose glared at Scorpius and accused violently, "That's putting it mildly. Your mum and dad are Death Eaters!"

The harsh accusation made Scorpius flinch and a wash of shame flowed across his pale face. "Dad was—but mum wasn't…" Scorpius said in a hurt voice.

Rose looked away guiltily.

Scorpius added on firmly, "I know what the rumor is, and it's a lie." He stared hard at Rose, determined to convince her.

Albus glanced at Rose's slightly guilty face to Scorpius's desperate face. "What is the rumor?" Albus said slowly, almost not wanting to know what it even was.

Scorpius looked downwards. "The rumor is that my parents couldn't have children. That my father and grandfather were so desperate for a powerful heir, to prevent the end of the Malfoy line that they… that they… used a Time-Turner to send my mother back…" He hesitated, frowning hard and struggling to say the words.

"To send her back where?" Albus mumbled quietly.

Rose intervened and said in a much more gentle tone, "The rumor is that he's Voldemort's son, Albus." There was a horrible silence. Scorpius refused to look at any of them and Albus felt overwhelmed. Rose added on, "It's probably rubbish. I mean… look, you've got a nose."

Scorpius smiled and laughed a little pathetically. "And it's just like my father's! I got his nose, his hair, and his name. Not that that's a great thing either," He sighed. "I mean—father-son issues, I have them. But, on the whole, I'd rather be a Malfoy than, you know, the son of the Dark Lord."

Albus looked at Scorpius and something between them, something unexplainable happened. Albus realized, they were going to be friends and it didn't matter who had whose last name.

Rose coughed and said, "Yes, well, we probably should sit somewhere else. Come on, Albus."

Albus looked at Rose and began to think deeply. He was tired of being bossed around. And he didn't want friends out of scheming and rating. He didn't want a friend who only liked him because he was a Potter. He didn't want a whole lot of friends, either. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go to Hogwarts. But one thing was for sure, that he realized. There might be one friend that made Hogwarts bearable, maybe even enjoyable. He looked back at Scorpius.

"No," Albus said softly. "I'm okay. You go on…"

Rose gave Albus a reproachful look. "Albus, I won't wait." She gave him a pleading look.

Albus glanced back at his cousin. "And I wouldn't expect you to. But I'm staying here," He said firmly, in a deep insisting way.

Rose sighed in irritation and then opened the compartment door to leave. "Fine!" She retorted, slamming the door as she left.

Albus and Scorpius looked at each other in silence. Then Albus took a seat across from Scorpius.

"Thank you," Scorpius said quietly.

"No. No," Albus mumbled. "I didn't stay… for you… I stayed for your sweets."

Scorpius knew Albus was joking and gave him a grateful smile nonetheless. "She's quite fierce," Scorpius changed the subject.

Albus nodded and apologized, "Yes. Sorry."

Scorpius shook his head and looked like he was in a dream. "No. I like it," he mused. Then he snapped out of it. "Do you prefer Albus or Al?"

Albus thought hard. His family called him Al, which he didn't really like all that much. "Albus," He finally said.

Scorpius popped a pepper imp into his mouth and chewed. As smoke came from his ears, he said, "THANK YOU FOR STAYING FOR MY SWEETS, ALBUS!"

Albus laughed and said, "Wow."

Scorpius smiled back. Albus studied the smile. Even though it was a lot friendlier, he could still see a hint of that trademark smirk. The Malfoy Smirk.