As Albus boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time, he was all too aware of how many pairs of eyes were fixed upon his father.  He didn't mind, really; it wasn't like his father craved the fame, but it always had made him uncomfortable all the same.  

 

"Excited?" Rose asked, pulling her trolley beside his up onto the train. 

 

Albus grinned back.  "Yeah, I can't wait!" he assured her, a little more confident than he felt. The train had a bright scarlet exterior, but the inside was furnished in a deep, soothing chocolate brown, and the seats were made of leather that seemed to invite you to sink down into it. 

 

Once they had stored their luggage, Rose and Albus began walking down the corridor, looking for a compartment to sit in.  The first few they passed were full of older students, and Albus saw his brother James through the window of one of them, already laughing with his friends from his first year.  They were just getting to some open compartments when a female voice called from Albus' left. 

 

"Rose, is that you?" asked a girl with soft brown hair plaited down her back. She stood in the doorway of a compartment filled with a few other girls, and looked genuinely excited. 

 

"Jessie!" Rose exclaimed, hugging the other girl. "I though that after you moved away, I'd never get to see you again!"

 

Jessie shrugged.  "Dad got his job moved again, so we came back hereÉand here I am."

 

Rose turned to Albus.  "Do you mind if I sit with them? I mean, I just haven't seen Jessie in so long, and we have so much to-"

 

"Don't worry about it," he cut her off. "I'll find a compartment, don't worry."

 

Rose grinned back at him, and gave him a quick hug before following Jessie into the compartment with the other girls.

 

 Albus wasn't mad that she had found a group to sit with, but he was a little sad that he would most likely be spending the trip alone now, seeing as how he didn't really know anyone else to sit with.  Growing up, Albus hadn't been the sociable one, or the one always hanging around with clusters of friends; that had been more of James' personality, honestly.  Albus wasn't angry about it, and to be honest, he had usually quite enjoyed the peace and quiet that came from spending one's free time with a book instead of off playing with other friends.  However, this habit of his had left him in the rather awkward position of no friends that he was very close to. 

 

Deciding it to be the safest option, Albus sat down an empty compartment a little ways down the corridor.  He reasoned that either someone would see him in here and decide to come in anyway, or he would end up spending the journey with one of the books he had brought along.  Either way, he wouldnÕt be forced to barge in where he wasn't wanted.  While Albus waited for the train to finish boarding, he pulled out "Great Magical Innovators" and began to read.  He found himself engrossed in the story of Bernard Von Nyton, a muggleborn German economist who had founded the Gringotts banking system of employing goblins.   In fact, he was so interested in the story that when someone knocked on the compartment door and began to speak, he didn't even look up.

 

"Can I sit with you?" a voice asked from somewhere in the vicinity of the doorway. 

 

"Yeah, sure," Albus said absent-mindedly, waving a hand in the direction of the seat opposite him in the compartment. 

 

"Thanks," the other boy said, and Albus could hear him settling himself down out of the corner of his consciousness. A few seconds later, a low rumble began to sound through the train, and they began to move.  When Albus finished the section in the book that he had been reading, he closed it, and looked up at the boy sitting across from him.  He couldn't have been more surprised if he had found himself sitting across from the giant squid. 

 

"Wondering when you were going to wake up out of your own little world," he said good naturedly, taking a bite out of an apple he had pulled from his bag.  "Honestly, I was afraid you were planning on keeping your nose buried in there for the next few hours.  That would have made for quite the boring trip for me, though.  Oh," he added, extending his hand.  "I'm not sure if you've ever met me before, but my name's Scorpius."

 

"ScorpiusÉMalfoy?" Albus asked, even though he already knew the answer. 

 

"Not sure why it matters, really," Scorpius responded, looking a little annoyed, "but yes, I am Scorpius Malfoy."

 

"Albus," Albus responded.  "Albus Potter."

 

"I thought so," Scorpius said.  "You do look a lot like your dad, you know.  With the hair, and the eyes and all."

 

"Great," Albus muttered under his breath.  "If I had a penny for every time someone said that."  The only part he didn't like about having Harry Potter for a father was the fact that wherever he went, whatever he did, he would always be Harry Potter's son.  Sometimes, it seemed that was the only thing Albus would ever be, just "Harry Potter's son."  Looking like a miniature carbon copy of his dad really didn't help matters either.          

 

Scorpius seemed to notice Albus' annoyance, and he gave a sigh.  "Well, that was idiotic of me, wasn't it? I certainly know how it feels to always be noticed for what your father did, instead of what you've actually done.  You can at least be grateful that when they look at you, they're smiling, not booing."

 

Albus frowned. "What do you mean?"

 

"I have to live with being the son of Draco Malfoy, who was a Death Eater in everyone's eyes regardless of the fact that he was never sent to Azkaban.  Don't you think that your dad just might garner a little more positive enthusiasm out of the public at large than mine? Trust me, it's not pleasant to have everyone who meets you treat you as though you're planning to hex them into tomorrow if they take their eyes off you,"  Scorpius finished bitterly, talking another savage bite out of his apple.

 

Albus was a little taken aback, but he couldn't argue that the blond boy had a point.  An awkward silence filled the compartment for a few moments, and it seemed that neither knew quite what to say.

 

 Finally, Scorpius broke the silence.  "So, what house do you think you'll be in?" he asked, propping his head on his fist. 

 

"I'm not sure, really," Albus admitted.  "I know that Dad would love if I were in Gryffindor, and so would Uncle Ron.  The only problem is that I'm afraid I'll end up in Slytherin.  I'm not really brave, and everyone's always telling me that I'm too secretive for my own good." He smiled a bit.  "But Dad said that I could choose, if I really wanted to, not to be in Slytherin, so there's always that."

 

Sometime during Albus' answer, Scorpius' smile had turned into a frown, and he looked very annoyed with something or other. 

 

"What's wrong with Slytherin, then?" Scorpius shot back, obviously defensive. 

 

Albus started mentally kicking himself, but he answered nonetheless.  "Well, my dad said it's alright, but other people say that everyone who followed Voldemort was from Slytherin, and that the whole house turns people evil." Albus remembered his Uncle's words, 'I'll disown you if you're in Slytherin,' and cringed, even though it had been meant as a joke. 

 

"So," Scorpius said, " you think that if you get sorted into Slytherin, you're automatically going to turn evil, do you?"

 

When he phrased it like that, Albus did have to admit how silly it sounded.  "Well, even if I'm not evil, it'll make everyone think that I'm evil," he tried again. 

 

Now Scorpius looked even more disdainful.  "So you're going to change what house you're going to be in just because of what other people think? Great example that's setting." 

 

Albus didn't know what to say. All his arguments had sounded perfectly valid inside his own head, but now sounded considerably less so when repeated back to him in that sarcastic tone. 

 

Scorpius continued.  "I'm a bit sick of it, really.  I'm not proud of what my dad did, but I still don't think that means that all Slytherins are bad from the start.  We always have a choice, you know."

That phrase set off bells in Albus' head, reminding him of something his parents had told him, something they said had been first told to them by Albus Dumbledore, his namesake.  Something or other about choicesÉwhat was it? Ah, yes, now he remembered.  'It is our choices that define who we truly are, far more than our abilities.'  Albus looked up at Scorpius again, and realized that he may indeed have a point.  The two made small talk for the rest of the trip, with periods of silence interspersed in between. After what felt like hours, the train finally pulled into the station. 

 

The first years were escorted from the train, and led up into the castle, where they were told to wait outside the doors to the Great Hall.  A female professor who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall talked to them for a few minutes about the four different houses, and the importance of houses in the students' daily lives.  When she mentioned Slytherin, Scorpius shot Albus a meaningful look, which he ignored.

 

Finally, they were let into the Great Hall, and told to line up in front of the stool with the Sorting Hat resting atop it. Professor McGonagall began to read names, starting with "Abbot, Richard", who was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Bulstrode, Kayla" who was sorted into Ravenclaw. 

 

Finally, the list made it's way to "Malfoy, Scorpius."  As Scorpius made his way up to the stool, Albus could see students around the hall whispering, and pointing in what they apparently thought was a subtle manner.  He remembered what Scorpius had told him earlier, and felt a little bad for the other boy.  After a few moments on his head, the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN it is, then." Scorpius walked over to join the Slytherin table.  "Patil, Anthony," was sorted into Hufflepuff, and then, "Potter, Albus." 

 

As Albus made his way to the chair, he felt confused, excited, and scared all at the same time.   The hat was placed on his head, and he heard a soft voice, almost as though some tiny person was whispering in his ear.  "Mr Potter.  Another one, I see.  I remember sorting your brother last year, and your father many years before that.  Hmm, what's in here.  There's certainly intelligence, and a spark of bravery as well.  But there is something else here as well. You've always tried to live up to the lives of your brother and father, and you're getting a bit tired of that, aren't you? You'd like to show the world what you can do, eh?"

 

Albus knew that if he wanted to dissuade the hat from placing him in Slytherin, he would have to do it now.  He glanced over at the Slytherin table, and saw Scorpius looking at him intently.  Albus gulped, and made his decision.  He did want to be more than just "Harry Potter's son" and "James Potter's little brother."  He stayed silent.

 

"Well, then," the hat continued. "I think the best place for you would be inÉSLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted that last bit for the whole hall to hear.  Albus got down off the stool and followed Scorpius' path to the the Slytherin table, taking a seat beside him. 

 

Scorpius grinned at him, and seemed delighted about something.  "I guess you changed your mind, then?"

 

Albus nodded, and grinned back.  This was shaping up to be a very interesting year indeed.