The Train

"Mom," I whined as I took a glance at the clock. "It's freaking 10:57. The train is going to leave.

"You are going to be fine," my mom clung onto my arm. "And don't say 'freaking'. That's a bad word."

"Since when was freaking a bad word?" I protested. "And seriously, I have to leave. The train is going to leave in three minutes. I still need a compartment. And friends," I mutter the last part to myself.

"Hon," my dad cut in. "Scorpius is right. He has to leave. Remember, we'll see him on Christmas."

"You're right," my mom sighed and finally let go of my arm. She turned to me. "You stay out of trouble, and if I hear anything from school… or if your grades go low… and if don't score the highest score in your year…"

"Mom," I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to be fine, okay? I won't get into trouble, and you won't hear anything about me in the Daily Prophet. But the chances of me getting the highest score in my year…"

"You'll be fine," my dad clamped his hand on my shoulder. "Just have fun and make some friends."

"Thanks," I grin. "I'll be off now. 'Bye mom and dad!" Before I heard their goodbyes, I turned my heel to the train. I gave my luggage to the guy gathering all the bags. I made sure I had my backpack containing my money, book, and chocolate frog cards, however.

I walked into the train door closest to me. As soon as I got on, I heard a blaring train horn, announcing the departure of the Hogwarts Express to the one and only Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I then felt a slight lurch forward, feeling the train pull out of the station. A quick turn I didn't expect made me lose my footing. I ran into the wall, hurting my shoulder. As the train straightened, I straightened and regain my footing. I looked at my surroundings, thankful that there wasn't anybody watching me.

My next priority was to find a compartment. By the looks of closed doors, it obviously meant, that they were full. The only option was to knock and ask if I can stay.

Well a big thanks to my mom for keeping me, I said in my head. I started walking slowly down the hall, stopping here and there when there was a bump in the road. I was thinking of peaking inside each door, but that would be just plain creepy.

You know? I said to myself. I should just knock on a random compartment. Because I seriously need a place to sit. Plus, this isn't going well with my friend goal. The only flaw in this "plan" is what compartment to pick. I walked up and down the same train cart observing the identical compartments. Ugh, I'm just going to pick… this one. I walked up to the farthest compartment to the left.

And… knock, I commanded my hand to do so, but nothing happened. Well, I'm screwed.

At that exact moment, the door flew open, revealing a girl with curly red hair, blue eyes, the right amount of freckles, jean capris, purple shirt, and beat-up white converse. We locked eyes for two seconds, since we were both in awe at seeing each other. Then, the girl unexpectedly pushed me aside and walked out. Before she left, she turned around, where a boy with bright green eyes and jet-black hair was.

"People can't simple own people," she spat. "So, if you excuse me, I'll be with Lily." Then she stalked off.

"What's up with her," I asked the boy once she left the train cart.

"Well," the boy shrugged. "She's Rose, and Rose gets mad when she feels like it."

"Oh," was all I said. "So…," I looked at the empty space I'm guessing Rose sat at.

"If you need a place to sit, you've came to the right place," the boy said. "'Cause I'm obviously going to be alone."

"Thanks," I walked in, closed the compartment door, and sat.

"Eh, whatever," the boy shrugged. "Name's Albus. Albus Severus Potter."

"Scorpius. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," I replied the same way.

I caught a glimpse of Albus's eyes widening at the sound my name, but returned to it's original size a second later. "Called it," he said. "No offense, but I could tell from the white-blonde hair."

"None taken," I reply.

"I'll call you Scorpius, and you can call me Albus," Albus suggested.

"Okay," even though it was my intention to call him Albus and I'm fine with whatever Albus calls me.

"You know," Albus began. "My parents talked about you before I left for the train."

"What did they say," I asked, though I'm not surprised. My parents talked about Albus as well. Well, not as much as I wanted them to.

"They said something about getting better grades than you and stuff…," Albus recalled. "But I'm pretty sure that was for Rose, not me."

"Oh," I couldn't help but smile. "That's… interesting."

"Yeah," Albus shrugged. "I don't know why they said that though."

I returned the shrug. Except I do know why the Potter's said that. Once I figured out what happened part my family had in the Second Hogwarts War, my dad also explained why. He said that he and Harry Potter had a "quarrel" when he was at Hogwarts. He said that he took the chance of Slytherin winning the house cup when Slytherin won it fair and square. Then Harry somehow managed to get my grandfather in prison (dad wouldn't tell me the full story). Finally, Harry is the reason why the my dad will never be able to walk inside the Malfoy Manor with flinching at every step.

"Uh…, Scorpius? Earth to Scorpius?" Albus looked at me with an odd look.

"What?" I blinked.

"You blanked out for a second," Albus grinned. "That was kinda funny. Does that happen a lot?"

"Um…," I scratched my head. "I don't know."

"Oh that's great," Albus threw his hands up. "My friend I'm going to hang out with forever gets blank outs at random points in time."

I grinned at the word friend. "Oops."

"Whatever," Albus leaned back. "What's in that bag?"

"Oh," I forgot about my backpack I've been carrying around. I unzipped it revealing my box of organized Chocolate Frog Cards. "Chocolate Frog cards, money for food, and a book."

I was expecting Albus to reach for the box of Frog Cards, but instead he grabbed the book. "A book," he gaped at the cover. "You read?"

"Well, yeah," I said, as a matter of fact, "Who doesn't."

"I don't," Albus shrugged.

"I do," I pulled out my eyeglasses case. I put on my glasses. Thin, square rim glasses.

"You look like a nerd," Albus said.

"I'll accept that as a compliment," I snatched my book back.

"A really weird nerd," Albus continued. "Since you have blonde hair. I mean, I've never seen a blond hair nerd. Is that even a thing? Well now it is, since you're here. You should meet Rose-"

"Thanks for the compliments," I cut him off. "And Rose? Who's that?"

"The girl who left when you came," Albus answered.

"I know," I rolled my eyes. "I mean the who are her parents? What's she like?"

"Well if you just said that…," Albus shrugged.

I glared.

"She's the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Sister, daughter, cousin, and smartass," Albus said.

"Smartass?" I tilted my head.

"Smart as hell," Albus groaned. "When we took Muggle school, she got all A's, high honors, in a bunch of clubs, leader of the nerd squad-"

"Now you're making this stuff up," I smirked.

"I know," Albus waved the thought away. "But she was freaking smart!"

I laughed. "Jeez, I never went to Muggle school."

"It was torture," Albus complained. "Homework each night, getting yelled for everything we do, we have physical education, and the worse…," he dropped his voice into a dramatic whisper, "some of my magic showed."

My eyebrows raised. "Like how?"

"Bullying," Albus started. "When you get mad, sad, angry, annoyed, embarrassed-"

"Aw," I interrupted. "Were you having period mood swings?"

"Shut up," Albus scowled. "The point is, when your very emotional, you might just happen to send your arch-nemesis's hair on fire or make the wi-fi go haywire."

"Interesting," I said. "What's wi-fi?"

"You know," Albus rolled his eyes. "I would tell you except I barely know what that is. Plus, it's too complicated-"

At that second, the compartment door burst open. There revealed the same girl, Rose, with a companion who has similar features as her. The same red hair with freckles, except she has short, straight hair with glasses like mine.

"Wi-fi is not that complicated," Rose said. "It's just the satellite system where you can connect online to the internet, giving you an opportunity to onto social media or wifi needed games. Plus, as I said before, you can go on the internet."

"Cool," I automatically sent my knees up to my chest. "I just didn't understand a single thing you said."

"Great," Rose rolled her eyes. "Another Albus I have to deal with."

"You can't just walk into other people's compartment!" Albus protested at Rose's and the other girl's presence.

"Oops," Rose smirked.

"And how come you heard what we were talking about?" Albus asked.

"I only heard you," Rose replied. "You're really loud, you know that, right?"

Albus scowled. "Whatever, why are you here anyways?"

"We need a place to sit," Rose walked into the compartment along with the other girl. "You don't mind, do you?"

Albus and I looked each other. I can tell that Albus wants to say 'Yes, I do mind, so scram'. "No," I answered looking straight into the flashing blue eyes of Rose.

"Thanks," Rose sat down next to me as Albus glowered at me.

The girl sat next to Albus. "Who are you?" she asked me.

"I was thinking the same thing," I reply. "Scorpius Malfoy." I offer my hand.

The girl accepted. "Lily Weasley."

"And I'm Rose Weasley," Rose told me.

"Nice to meet you," I say. In the back of my mind, I tell myself I'm only going to be kind because that's how you act around girls.

"Why do you need a place to sit?" Albus asked, "Can't you sit where Lil' was?"

"Do not call me 'Lil'," Lily scolded. "And no, we couldn't, since my sister is there with all her friends."

"Ah," Albus grinned. "The Termite." Rose couldn't help but grin despite her attitude towards Albus.

"She is not a termite, Albus," Lily protested. "She's my sister, and I'll just tell her to take house points away if you call her that again. And if you keep that up, Gryffindor is going lose the House Cup because of you and your terrible names."

"You don't know that," Albus said. "What if I don't get into Gryffindor?"

"No, duh," Rose rolled her eyes. "Of course, you'll be getting into Slytherin."

"Matches the dark soul," I smirked.

"Yeah, Malfoy," Albus dared. "You'll be coming with me. What house do you want to get in?"

Everyone looked at me. I squirmed a bit. "Well, Hufflepuff would be nice… Ravenclaw is where my mum went… Slytherin is where my dad went… and then Gryffindor…"

"The best house at Hogwarts," Rose smiled.

"Is an insane house with a bunch of heroes," I spoke my mind

"Insane?" Lily gaped at me.

"A lot of the good guys came from that house, just saying," I said.

"Yeah, that's true," Albus agreed. "But don't you want to be in the house were all the amazing people were from?"

"Sure," I shrugged. "I'm more on whatever the Sorting Hat wants."

"Eh," Rose sighed. "That's true. No matter how much we want to be in a certain house, it all comes down to a final decision of the-"

"Dumbass hat," Albus finished.

"Albus!" Rose gasped.

"What?"

"Don't insult ancient artifacts like that!"

"Well sorry!" Albus threw his hands up. "It's just completely stupid that a hat has to choose our future."

"Not our future, but the foundation of the future," Rose scolded. "Plus, it's tradition."

"Do you guys take all of this Hogwarts stuff this seriously?" I ask. "Like, all the time?"

The three of them looked at me oddly.

"Of course," Albus replied first. "Why not?"

"'Cause, my dad always told me it was never a big deal," I say. "It's a stereotypical hat putting you into a house where everybody is exactly like you. You never really have a chance to shine. Plus, he told me that Hogwarts is just a school to help you decide your future in Wizardry… if you choose to take that path."

The three looked skeptical.

"Well we've been told," Lily said slowly, choosing her words. "That it's a hat full of all of these wonders that somehow looks into your future at the touch of a head. It looks into your personality. It does 'stereotypically' sorts you into houses. But it does put you where you are people are like you, so I guess it would be easier to make friends."

"Eh, I guess," I agreed.

"So," Albus looked at me square in the eye. "Are you brave, cunning, smart, or an idiot?"

"Albus!" Rose got up to smack Albus on the head. "Hufflepuffs are not idiots!"

"Ow," Albus held his head. "That was very unnecessary."

"You earned it," I joked. Rose snickered and Lily looked confused, trying to decide whose side to go on.

"Ugh, whatever," Albus sighed. "So, your ideal house?"

"Um…," I thought. "Maybe… Slytherin?"

"Well," Albus crossed his arms. "I guess we can't be friends anymore."

Lily glared at Albus. "Yes we can. Just like Scorpius said, it all of our thoughts come down to one final decision, the Sorting Hat."

Not exactly what I said but ok, I said in my head. "So why not we drop this subject? Anyone interested with Chocolate Frog Cards?"

After that, we began to casual talk like how young-wizards are suppose to, I guess. We got out our Frog Cards and began to trade. The trolley full of wizard candy came around and we played around with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and traded some more Chocolate Frog Cards. Afterwards, Lily, Rose and I forced Albus to read my book, A Wrinkle in Time. Then, Albus took out his Exploding Snap and nearly caught Lily's purse on fire.

Before long, we were at the Hogsmeade Station. Only steps closer to Hogwarts.