Chapter Text
"Here," Rose nodded to an empty compartment, and the two entered, sitting themselves across from each other.
"This is really weird," said Albus, looking around the compartment curiously. "I've never been on a train before."
"Me neither," said Rose. "But Mum's told me about them. She said the train's enchanted, so it doesn't take as long as Muggle trains do."
"How long do Muggle trains take?"
"No idea," Rose kicked her feet;her short legs didn't reach the floor. Having reached the end of the conversation, the cousins fell into silence.
"So what house do you wanna be in?" Albus asked, in an effort to spark the kind of conversation the two of them usually had.
"Gryffindor," said Rose.
"Me, too," agreed Albus, looking out the window. "But James said I'd probably be in Slytherin."
"James is an idiot," said Rose. "Only an idiot thinks Slytherin is all bad."
"Every wizard who ever went bad was in Slytherin," recited Albus, citing a favorite expression of their many Weasley cousins.
"Yeah but plenty of Slytherins didn't," Rose argued. "Merlin was a Slytherin."
"Hogwarts wasn't even around when Merlin was!"
"The Sorting Hat sorted his portrait," insisted Rose vehemently. "Mum found the article and showed it to me, and Merlin would've been a Slytherin."
"If he was, how d'you know he wouldn't have gone bad, too?" challenged Albus.
The idea of Merlin going bad was so ridiculous that Rose would not gratify it with a response, so instead she crossed her arms and stared out the window, determined to be silent for the rest of the trip.
Albus's first day, he considered, was not going well at all. He stared out the window as well, watching the countryside whoosh by as he scowled.
The silence got so loud that Albus could hear it. Now and then it was interrupted by a yell from James, four compartments down, who got his energy from his father's father, and his voice from his mother's mother. After the yells faded, though, the silence collected around the two almost-first-years in the almost-empty compartment.
"Okay, this is ridiculous," Rose finally broke, rolling her eyes in frustration. The Weasley stubbornness present in the rest of her family had skipped her over, making her famous in the family for being a pushover. It also meant Albus always won their fights. "We're not even there yet and we're already fighting."
Albus relaxed, exhaling deeply. "Okay," he said, "What classes are you looking forward to?" It was a bland question, but one he had been saving for just such an occasion as this. If there was anything Rose liked to talk about, it was school.
"Mum says the curriculum for Charms has gotten more challenging, which I'm really excited for," said Rose eagerly. "The way Mum tells it, it moved way too slowly when she was in school. She also said they've revised the Potions class since Snape, and split up the two semesters into two main units, Theory and Practice, although the bookwork for Theory is supposed to be very tedious. There's more creative writing in Muggle Studies, too, which is good, but the topics, Mum says, are too broad and kind of bland . . ."
Albus watched her eyes light up, and he absently listened to her ramble on. Rose, his cousins mostly agreed, had questionable priorities, but she and Albus were friends as well as cousins, so he didn't mind.
A flicker of movement made Albus look up. Passing by the compartment was a skinny, blond boy already wearing brand-new Hogwarts robes. The boy's silver eyes bore into Albus as he passed by the compartment, and their eyes met for a split second before he passed out of sight, disappearing as the train continued on its journey.
Albus noticed Rose had stopped speaking.
"That was the boy your dad talked about at Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters," said Albus.
"Scorpius Malfoy," said Rose. "Draco Malfoy's son."
"That's Draco's son?" demanded Albus, who had grown up with stories about the Malfoys and their cruelty. The story of how Draco Malfoy had tried to kill Dumbledore, Albus's namesake, was practically legend in the Weasley-Potter clan.
"Louis says his father goes to Hogwarts sometimes," continued Rose, "To lecture about healing magic."
"He's a Healer?"
Rose nodded. "At St. Mungo's. Apparently, Fred's taking bets on whether his son's in Slytherin or not."
"Why was he staring at me?" wondered Harry.
"Isn't it obvious?" said Rose, tugging a lock of fluffy red hair. "You're the son of his father's enemy."
"It was creepy," said Albus, getting up. "I'm gonna find a bathroom or somewhere I can change into my robes, okay?"
"Mum said there's a bathroom at the end," said Rose, pointing. "I'll buy some candy for you when the trolley comes round. Anything in particular?"
"Chocolate Frogs and Every-Flavor Beans, please," said Albus, "I'll pay you back." He escaped before Rose could argue, and began to search for the bathroom.