Albus maneuvered through the buzzing, scurrying crowd of eager wizards and left his trunk and owl with the wizard watching the other luggage. Suddenly, he felt a thump on the back of his head. Without even turning, using reflexes instilled by enduring years of sneak attacks, he elbowed the perpetrator behind him in the stomach with unfailing accuracy.

"Hey, now! What was that for?" came the familiar voice of his cousin, Fred.

Albus turned to see the burly, caramel-skinned boy with a spray of freckles across his nose holding his midsection. His light brown eyes glared at Albus reproachfully.

"Sorry, Freddy," Albus remarked slyly, his tone making it clear that he really wasn’t sorry after all. "Thought you were James."

Fred’s expression was clearly overstated. As the resident family clown, he had quite the selection of comical reactions from which to choose.

"I will forget you insulted me in such a manner," Fred remarked with as snooty a tone as he could muster, "but once you learn to duel, young man, we have an appointment."

Albus snorted. "My dad’s Harry Potter. You sure you want to mess with his favourite son?"

Fred waved him off. "Uncle Harry wouldn’t dare mess with me! He knows I can make defeating old Voldy look like cake."

Rose, who had just strolled up, caught the last bit. She glared at Fred, arms crossed. "Can we go to the boats now or are you going to bore us to death with your delusions?"

Fred’s mock seriousness broke with a grin. "Voldy’s one thing, but she’s a scary one!" He chuckled.

Suddenly serious, Fred nodded at a solitary figure, now securing his beloved cat in his carryall for his journey to Hogwarts with the rest of the pets and luggage. Fred held his tongue as Scorpius slouched by, without a glance in their direction, on his way down to the boat dock. The pale boy walked with an invisible bubble around him. No one walked close to him if they could help it.

"Vickie told us you were getting cosy with that Malfoy boy. Couldn’t find better company, eh? He’s Slytherin material, he is," Fred remarked in poorly hushed tones.

As Albus stared after their companion of the last few hours, and he remembered that last depressing revelation that they were all destined be enemies.

Albus shrugged. "Who knows? If I land in Slytherin, we might be bunk mates."

Fred guffawed. "Oh, Teddy and I pulled that on James when he was a first year. All the way to the Sorting Hat, we swore he’d be a snake."

Seeing Albus’ still serious face, he hastily added, "You know all Potters and Weasleys have beds reserved in Gryffindor tower! Don’t even think that, mate!"

"I was kidding about you winding up in Slytherin anyway, so stay away from that Malfoy boy, you stupid little brat!" came the loud declaration from just behind him.

Albus spun and saw his older brother, James, standing a little closer to him than was polite. The spending money he was supposed to have given Albus earlier, clutched forgotten in his fist. It was obvious that he had overheard what was said to Fred, and was about to butt in with his two Knuts worth. Well, it was James; with his brains it was more like one and a half Knuts.

The two brothers had always been as different in outside appearance as they were in personality. Besides the black hair to Albus' brown, James was more rugged in appearance than his bookish brother, with a lot more Weasley showing through than Potter. And he wore an impishness and confidence tight around him like an invisible cloak.

Albus smirked. "Come to think of it, if you’re an example of what’s getting Sorted into Gryffindor these days, I might be better off in Slytherin!"

James was appalled. "You’re not seriously considering being friends with that Death Eater prat!"

Rose answered him, the flush on her face showing she had enough of her cousin's attitude.

"Al and I don’t care who his family is, James. And you should know better, you arrogant prig!"

Albus whistled under his breath.

James finally found his voice, growling, "If you get into the boat with that junior Death Eater, then Mum and Dad will get an owl before the night is through!"

Albus then noticed that there was quite the entourage gathered behind his red-faced brother. Uncle Percy’s fourth-year twin daughters, Molly and Lucy, were there, popping Drooble's Bubble Trouble in synchronicity, complacent as usual. Fred had moved over to stand with Roxanne, who was shorter and willowy, and the main informer on all of the grandkid's activities.

Just to the side of them was Dominique, Victoire’s fourth-year, less Veela, more Weasley-like, silvery-blond haired sister, with a concerned look on her face. Much nicer than her mother and sister, in Albus' opinion. While she looked ready to stand in if things got out of hand, she was smart enough to not get involved and make it worse.

Everyone that was in the family was there except Victoire, who was currently lecturing some students somewhere in the fog, oblivious to the drama her gossiping had caused.

Albus heard Rose’s intake of breath for another barrage, but he wanted to fire this one.

"Roxanne over there will be sending an owl anyway," he started, noting Roxie's guilty flush and Fred’s futile attempts to stifle a laugh. "The truth is, I would even welcome Hufflepuff if it got me away from a prat like you!"

With those words still lingering in the air like gunpowder residue on a battlefield, he waved merrily to his cousins and gave his brother one last disgusted look as he and Rose turned to go. She stuck out her tongue and followed.

Albus checked over his shoulder one last time to make sure he wasn’t going to be jumped and saw that James was still glaring at him, arms crossed, the money still clutched in a white-knuckled fist. Before he turned away, Albus saw Fred quietly touch James's shoulder, telling him it was time to leave. Albus couldn't be sure, maybe it was the light, but before his brother turned to head for the horseless carriages, he could have sworn he saw what looked like the beginnings of a begrudged admiration.

"Firs’ years! Firs’ years, come with me!" came the booming, gravelly voice, barreling over the crowd and causing some of the girls to yip.

The voice was familiar from family get-togethers and Christmases all the way back as far as Albus could remember. Sure enough, towering over the cowering new students was the shaggy head and broad shoulders of one Rubeus Hagrid.

"Firs’ years come with me. Right this way!" he bellowed, the beam of joy on his face disarming his intimidating size. Albus and Rose joined the flow of school robes headed in the direction of the towering half-giant. So distracted by a first-year girl with blue hair, Albus almost collided with a dark-hooded wizard.

The broad shouldered man steadied Albus, said, "excuse me," in a pleasant baritone voice, and continued past up the path. Rose hissed at Albus to pay attention to where he was going, but he was too excited. This was their first Hogwarts trip after all.

Hagrid saw Albus, who was following Rose down to the lakeside, and he edged up to them. "Tell Kreacher, er, sorry about those chairs. I offered to fix ‘em, but he wasn’t having it."

Albus had to chuckle. "Dad did a Reparo after you left. Kreacher’s bark is worse than his bite, he’s not mad at you. Mum said visit anytime you want. We’ll just have to find somewhere with sturdier furniture!"

Hagrid snorted good-naturedly at that. He waved them to the next boat in line, but they saw in the previous boat, as in the train, there was only one familiar, pale blond occupant, staring out at the water. Scorpius Malfoy’s fortunes weren’t changing much.

Albus felt a strong sense of irony. There was a moment on his dad’s first journey when he chose Ron Weasley over Draco Malfoy; and now it looked as if he had the opposite choice facing him. He wouldn't be disowned for being friends with Scorpius, but his family had made its feelings clearly known about the budding friendship. He exchanged a glance with Rose, who he saw was noticing the same thing, which helped make up his mind.

"Hagrid? Put us in that one," he stated resolutely.

Rose eagerly agreed.

Hagrid paused, a confused look passed on his great unkempt face. "I hate ter see anybody get left out. But, erm, his dad wasn’t a nice guy. He can’t help that, I know, but I hafta ask if you’re sure, Albie."

Albus nodded and Hagrid gave him a wry smile. "Mighty nice of yer. Just watch’im real careful."

Scorpius glanced up as the boat shifted, eyes narrowing in suspicion as his defences were once again in place.

"Were the other boats full?" he commented in that same sneering, arrogant tone he used upon their first meeting.

"Of course not!" Rose snapped. "You’ve got friends now. Get used to it, Mal-Boy!"

It had finally been said; it wasn’t official until that moment. Somehow speaking the words had cemented the forming bond. Albus saw Rose turn away from them, her face flushing as Scorpius turned back to looking across the lake, but not before they saw a tiny grateful smile curl his lips.

"Hold on everybody!" Hagrid called as he waved his battered pink umbrella in the dying light. The boats lurched forward, bringing cries of surprise from the Muggle-borns.

As they glided across the placid lake, the breeze played havoc with Rose's bushy locks. She was too busy to notice, staring into the dark depths, trying to see a Grindylow or a Mer-person, or even the famous squid known to protect first-years that fell out of the boat. Albus just admired the rolling hillsides, cliffs, and thick-forested acres that made up the land between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. In the dimming light from the retreating sun, it all seemed even more magical than he knew it to be.

Albus turned away from the view and saw that Scorpius was back in his deep thinking mode chin in hand. It was amazing how quickly Albus had learned to read the other boy as though they had known each other for years. He wished there was a way they could be in the same House, all three of them together. He and Rose just didn’t have the make up for Slytherin, and he knew it. No matter how upset he got about the thought of being Sorted there, he had always known that deep down. Strangely, he didn’t think Scorpius belonged there either.

Trying to cheer Scorpius up, he commented, "Not all Slytherins are bad, you know. My dad named me Albus Severus after Severus Snape. He’s always said Severus was as responsible for of the downfall of Voldemort as Dumbledore, but no one has ever really given him the credit he was due. Well, that’s what my dad says."

Scorpius snickered derisively. "Albus Severus? I wouldn’t go around advertising that one."

"Why? Is yours any better?" Rose inquired, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Scorpius rose up a little in the boat, pride apparent. "It's Hyperion."

Rose giggled. "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy? Why didn’t they just go ahead and write evil on your forehead?"

"From the reactions I’ve been getting, it might be there already," Scorpius remarked with a sad little chuckle.

They all would have had another laugh, but the towering, twinkling, spires of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry appeared through the fog around the lake. The sight of it sprawling all over the hill took their breath away. The fog wrapped around the lower levels and grounds so that the school seemed to exist on an island of cloud. The recently constructed four-story arboretum, located where the greenhouses had once stood, sparkled like emerald glass, adding to the mystery and majesty of the scene.

His dad never took Albus on visits here, telling him he wanted Albus' first view of Hogwarts to be as special as when he first set eyes the castle. Albus was at a loss for words, but as usual Rose had the right thing to say.

"Blimey," she said in an awed whisper.

"Blimey," Albus agreed. "Yeah, that about covers it!"