Chapter 2 – Those old enemies
The last weeks of summer vacation passed within a blink of an eye, and finally it was time to get on the Hogwarts express for the first time. Albus Severus Potter was walking through the train, looking for a compartment that wasn't completely full, and hopefully contained a few known faces as well. He was pretty sure Rose was keeping him a sit somewhere. That is, if she found one. Both of them spent as much time with their parents as they could before boarding the train, knowing that they are not going to see them before Christmas. He did see Uncle Bill's daughters and son occupying a whole compartment, talking and laughing so loudly, no one had the courage to enter and join them.
"Al!" the youngest of the siblings, Louis, waved at him. He looked like a copy of his mother. Silvery blond hair, and deep blue eyes. The only trait he inherited from his father seemed to be his height. He was beginning his third year, and was in Gryffindor along with James. 'Like all of my relatives, really,' Al thought. It still bothered him, he had to admit. It shouldn't have, really. And yet… All of his cousins were Gryffindors, no exception, and he could see why. Sure, they weren't all the same. Some were shy and quiet, like his cousin Molly. Some were mischievous and loud, like Dominique, Louis' older sister, who was currently laughing at some joke the siblings shared, all wild red hair and freckles. Others were calm and composed, like his cousin Fred. But with all their differences, they all just felt like Gryffindors.
He was nervous about it all of last week. James certainly didn't help things by calling him a true Slytherin at any opportunity he got. Of course, at worst he could just ask the hat to put him in Gryffindor. If it worked for his dad, why couldn't it work for him. Al was so busy trying to calm himself down, he almost didn't notice the girl waving at him from one of the compartments.
"Over here, Al!" Rose Weasley beamed at him. Unlike him, his cousin seemed perfectly pleased with their current situation. But that was Rose Weasley for you – always so sure she will excel at anything life throws at her. When he told her of his fears regarding the sorting, he learned that she had no problem with the Slytherin house, or any other house, actually. She only had a slight reservation towards Hufflepuff, and even that was due to the unfair reputation it had for having the slowest students. Her mom checked the school records, she said, and showed her that all of the Hogwarts houses were equal academically.
Al opened the compartment door and entered, smiling at his cousin. Rose's best quality was that her confidence tended to be contagious, rubbing off of anyone she smiled at. He sat in front of her, feeling better already.
"You were quick," he said as he settled down, "how did you get a whole compartment to yourself? We pretty much entered the train at same time."
"That's because I wasn't daydreaming," she said smugly. "Ok, so why do you look like you're about to go to a muggle dentist? You'd think your first day in Hogwarts will get you a little excited."
"Dentists?" Al smirked, "been visiting your muggle grandparents a lot, I reckon?"
"Spent the last week with them. They gave me their old text books from when they were going to school. I even made a list of the most important ones, so I could read them first."
Albus just stared at her, slightly dazed.
"Rose, you do realize there are only twenty four hours in a day, right? Are you hiding a time turner somewhere under those robes? Is that why you put them on already?"
"We're not going to be studying 24/7, Al! There will be plenty of free time."
"Which you will dedicate to complete your muggle education. Of course."
"Of course," Rose agreed with a slight air of superiority. "So what about you? Still think you're Slytherin material?"
"Nah, old news, "Albus smiled, hoping he sounded sincere. "And anyway, dad told me that no matter what happens, I could always ask the hat to put me in Gryffindor."
Rose looked at him thoughtfully. A long whistle could be heard and the train jerked a little. Both children rushed to the window, and looked outside, searching for their parents. Once the Potters and Weasleys were spotted, they began to wave madly, laughing and yelling their goodbyes, until platform nine and three quarters had finely vanished from sight.
"That actually makes sense… What you said earlier, I mean. About asking the hat!" Rose added when Al gave her a blank look. "Think about it – almost everyone who was from the Voldemort supporting families got sorted into Slytherin, right? And it's not just them. Look at us! We're probably the third generation of Weasleys who are put exclusively into Gryffindor. At least the third! That's something I should research – "
The (slightly one sided now) conversation was interrupted by a quiet nock on the door.
"Yes, it's ok. Please come in," Al said, glad for the interruption. He certainly did not want to talk anymore about the upcoming sorting. He was hoping the new arrival could turn the conversation to better realms. Quidditch, maybe. That's a safe topic.
"Sorry," they heard a quiet voice. "All the other compartments were full already."
The door slid open, to show a boy with pale blond hair and pale grey eyes, whom they both recognized from the platform – Scorpius Malfoy. Al's eyes widened, while Rose's narrowed.
Albus recovered first.
"Sit anywhere you want. There's plenty of room". After all, old parental rivalries aside, there wasn't much sense in making enemies on your first day in school. He was sure his dad would agree. Even with his dad's own record of making enemies (or maybe because of it).
"I'm Rose Weasley", his cousin finally caught up, " And this is Albus Potter."
"Scorpius Malfoy. Nice to meet you." He hesitated a bit. "I saw you earlier, on the platform. You're beginning your first year as well?"
The blond kid was nice enough, Al decided. Although his politeness seemed a bit over preformed.
"Well, why are you still standing?" Rose, patted the sit next to her. She had a little gleam in her eye, one that Al knew all too well. It said – 'new challenge, ready to be conquered'. He tried his best not to sign. Any projects she began with that look in her eyes tended to end badly. For everyone involved. He looked at Scorpius sympathetically as he sat down.
"So, Scorpius", Rose began. "Or do you prefer to shorten it?"
The kid next to her blushed, but recovered pretty quickly.
"Just Scorpius is fine", he signed good naturedly, "don't worry, I get this a lot. It's a family tradition to name kids star constellations. I guess when they got to me all the normal sounding ones were already taken."
"Could be worse", Al said. "At least you didn't end up being Aquarius, or something".
"Yeah, or Camelopardalis, can you imagine that?" Scorpius said, wearing a genuine smile now, Al noted. "Anyway, as long as no one tries to change it into Scorpy, I'm fine. Do that, and I might just go berserk."
All three of them laughed, and just like that, the ice was broken. Constellations were an even better conversation topic than quidditch, it seemed.
"You sound like you've had bad experience", Rose noted, still giggling.
"It's my grandma and her friends. I mean, I love her and all, but you can't just call someone Scorpy-pie and use baby voices after his five. There is a law, I'm sure of that".
"Then maybe we can write about it to my dad. He's an auror, so he can give your grandma a fine and a stern warning".
Scorpius started laughing at the joke, but then stopped quite suddenly. His already pale face got a little whiter, so he resembled some kind of porcelain doll. He sat and stared at his arms, now folded on his lap. He seemed to be in deep thought. The cousins sat quietly as well, both aware of what the son of Draco Malfoy must be thinking about. Almost ten minutes have passed before Scorpius raised his head again. There was a quiet determination in his eyes. And maybe fear, Al thought.
"Your father is Harry Potter", he finally said. It wasn't a question, so Albus didn't say anything, and just waited. Rose opened a book and tactfully pretended to be completely immersed in it.
"Do you know our fathers were… rivals, in school? Enemies even".
"Yeah."
"And did your father tell you about… well, everything?"
"Not everything, but… yeah", Al nodded.
"My dad also didn't tell me a lot of stuff. Whenever I ask, he just says, 'with time', and that's the end of it".
"What I'm saying is… I need to know where we're standing. And you as well, Rose, not just Albus. Don't take this the wrong way", Scorpius lowered his gaze back to his lap. "But this is how my life's been, pretty much. I meet someone, we get along, we're almost friends. Then they find out about my family history, and that's it. So, I just need to know. I promise I won't get angry or anything. And I won't become your enemy either."
Al already opened his mouth to say something comforting, but Rose beat him to it. She took Scorpius Malfoy's hand, which made him raise his eyes at her with surprise.
" You know, my dad hated yours probably more that even Al's did. If there was a person that was his mortal enemy, then it was Draco Malfoy. And you know what he said to me on the platform, when he saw you two? He told me to best you in all of our classes. No more than that. So, my point is, if my father, who was there, and fought in the war, could move past this, won't it be strange if I held it all against you? I mean, it's silly, we weren't even born then".
Scorpius stared at her with amazement.
"Um, what she said", Al said lamely. "I mean, I kind of know how some of it feels like. Not all of it, but… well, people just think of me as Harry Potter's son, not as Albus. At best, they just have unrealistic expectations of me. At worst, I find out that they just wanted to get closer to my father. So… I ended up not making any friends outside of my family."
Scorpius continued to stare. His gaze softened slowly, from disbelief to happy relief.
"Thank you, guys. I mean it". He scrubbed his face with both hands for a moment.
"So", he said cheerfully, "Tactical topic change – what house do you think you'll be sorted to? Gryffindor, I guess?"
Al mentally groaned. He pondered if it will be terribly impolite to punch his new friend.
Luckily for him, that was the moment the door slid open again, and a pink haired girl entered, pushing a trolley loaded with what seemed like every type of wizard junk food imaginable. The kids got out their money and together bought a small mountain of chocolate frogs, a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, some sandwiches which Rose insisted on, and the boys refused to touch, and three bottles of pumpkin juice.
After that, the conversation flowed to all sorts of topics, from quidditch, to music and school subjects. Al made sure to quickly change the subject as soon as the sorting was mentioned. Thinking about it now won't change anything, he decided, and just ruin what proved to be a very fun ride. He was becoming quite good at subtly steering the conversation by the end of the ride, although Scorpius was probably beginning to notice, judging by his smirk.
Soon it was time to change into their robes. Al was just wondering if they were supposed to put their hats on as well, when the train came to a halt. Rose let out an excited little shriek, and hurried to the door.
"Come on, guys, hurry up!" she said, exiting the compartment. "Hey, there's your brother! James! No use, he's too far away. Come on!"
And so they followed her through emptying train, laughing at their friends overexcited voice. The sons of old enemies, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy.
I think that there's no point in writing the disclaimer in every chapter, I mean, it's pretty clear that the first one applies to the whole story, right?
So… chapter two. I thought I was going to hate it, and then I ended up enjoying writing it quite a bit :)
Next will be the sorting, and I'm looking forward to writing Albus' conversation with the hat. Also need to think up a hat song. I just know that will be the most difficult part :)