The Weasleys Are Dead

Albus clutched his owl's cage tightly. His older brother had been instructed to escort him onto the train, explain things (/properly,/ as his mum, Ginny Potter, had emphasized) about Hogwarts, and help him with anything else he needed. James had accepted very eagerly, which was not, thought Albus with a grimace as he shifted the owl cage to his other arm, reassuring at all.

"C'mon Al," said James impatiently. He'd tried to call him "Dumble-Ape," but as dad had almost blown him up when he said it, James had reverted to calling Albus "Al". He had a sneaking suspicion his older brother would tell people it was short for 'alligator'.

"I'm trying!" Albus muttered. "This trunk doesn't fit through the door..."

"Oh, let me do it," said Hermione, appearing at the train entrance. Albus went pink. If Hermione Weasley was here, then her daughter was too.

"Reducio," she said firmly. The trunk shrank slightly, and Albus fell backwards, his trunk landing on top of him.

"Thanks," he muttered again. Hermione was already gone, replaced by James's smirking face. "I knew that spell, I could've done it on you," he said none too convincingly. Albus picked up his trunk and lugged it down the hall, James behind him.

Albus peered fearfully into each compartment. Most people he didn't recognize. Occasionally he came across a familiar face like Louis. Louis was his cousin on his mom's side, son of his uncle Bill, but Albus had hardly seen him anywhere except at family reunions. He was also in his sixth year. Albus had too many cousins, uncles and aunts to count. He only could keep track of three: Hugo, Teddy, and Rose.

"Here we are," said James with a grin. Albus followed him into a compartment and sat down.

"Hey Ted," James said inquiringly. "Where's Fred?"

"Getting his prefect instructions," Teddy Lupin said with a snort. "He looked terrified. Said his dad threatened to disown him when he found out."

"That's ridiculous," said a red-headed girl with a ribbon in her hair. "My mum was quite disappointed when Louis didn't become a prefect."

"Well yeah, anyone except Fred's dad would be. Have you seen his joke shop?"

They lapsed into talk about the most dangerous things you could buy there, and Albus stared out the window. He felt very out of place among all of these older people. Most of them were older than James. It was also disconcerting to have Teddy and the red-head blushing every time they met eachothers' eyes.

"Um, James, I'm going to... er... find the Weasleys," Albus finished lamely.

James looked at him and whispered 'that's not very hard, seeing as we're in a compartment full of them right now."

Albus shrugged and got up. "Can I leave my stuff here?" He whispered. James nodded.

He ducked out of the apartment and ran right face-first into Fred Weasley.

"Oh, hi....um...."

"Albus," he said apologetically. Fred looked down at his shoes. His prefect badge was pinned at the bottom of his shirt, like a prison sentence instead of a promotion. Albus dashed down the hall, glancing into each compartment fleetingly.

"Oh, hello," said a voice from inside a compartment. It was Rose and Hugo!

Albus went in, feeling much better. "How're you?" he muttered.

"Great," Hugo said with a welcoming smile. "My mom gave us some money for the ride. She said there were..." Rose finished the sentence, "Every Flavour Beans."

Albus made a face. "James gave me a whole box of those, 'cept he picked out all the good ones."

Hugo frowned. "That should be illegal. D'you know I once got a metal flavoured one?"

Rose's expression grew pinched. "I'm not telling what my worst flavor ever was."

"It was finger-nail," Hugo whispered.

Albus's eyes widened. He'd had some pretty bad ones, including wool, wood, and smoke, but nothing as bad as that. "What house do you think you'll get in?"

"Gryffindor," said Hugo automatically. "If I don't, dad'll disown me."

Rose looked pinched. She was still thinking about the taste of that particular jelly bean. "Don't be stupid. He wouldn't disown you unless you got into Slytherin."

Hugo looked offended. "I'm not going to be in Slytherin!"

"You're not worried even a teensy little bit?" Albus inquired.

"Nope," said Hugo fiercely. "Only dark wizards get into it. Did you see Scorpio's dad? Did you know he was a death eater? He's bound to get into Slytherin!"

"What about quidditch?"

Hugo launched into talk about the teams and positions, brooms and players that he knew. "Teddy was a seeker," he said, grinning.

By the time the trolley had passed by, they had all eaten something disgusting, and were all chortling at eachother. Rose was lucky enough to get strawberry (they all thought it was blood), which happened to be her least favorite fruit. Any worry about what house he'd be put in evaporated into the ceiling and off into the cloudless sky.