Chapter Text
His father’s face disappeared in the distance. “The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account.”
Albus took a deep breath to steady himself and started walking down the halls.
“Albus!” Rose called from behind him. “D’ya want to come join us?” All of his cousins currently in Hogwarts were spilling out of one loud, noisy compartment.
Albus shifted and looked down. “I kinda want to read, sorry.”
Rose shrugged. “See ya later, then!”
And Albus was alone.
Most compartments were already full of students reuniting after the summer holidays, shouting and racing around. Albus ducked as a firecracker whizzed past his head.
There were too many people. There was too much noise. This was the end of the train, and only one compartment was left.
Albus pressed his ear against the door. Silence. He swung the door open and slipped inside.
“Hello!”
Albus jumped out of his skin. A small blond boy with a pointy chin was sitting in the compartment, a small pile of candy heaped on the seat beside him.
“Er, hi.” Albus rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, this whole train is a madhouse. I didn’t hear you in here.”
The other boy nodded. “It was a bit much for me too. My mum said if I leave the door open I would make friends easier, but I wanted to read.
“Me too.” Albus held up his copy of the latest Martin Miggs comic. “Mind if I join?”
The blond boy’s eyes widened. “Martin Miggs? I love Martin Miggs! Have you read the new line with Constance-”
“The Confounded? Where she forgets that she’s a witch and lives as a muggle but doesn’t know how anything works so Martin-”
“Yes! It’s so good! That’s the one I’m reading now!”
Albus grinned at the boy, who was bouncing up and down in his seat excitedly. “My name’s Albus.”
“I’m Scorpius!” He held his hand out, and Albus quickly shook it. “Who’s your favorite villain?”
And they were off.
An hour later, they were standing on the seats in the compartment, acting out the fight scene from the climax of the last arc. Scorpius was Martin Miggs, swinging his school tie around the same way Martin had swung the toaster when facing down Grundelwad. Albus, in the opposite corner, was roaring much the same way Grundelwad had when Martin’s sidekick, Slappy the Free Elf, had apparated on top of his head.
That’s when the door opened.
Albus froze, one leg in the air, and Scorpius whirled around. The end of his tie hit him in the face.
James was trying very, very hard not to laugh. “I see you’re having fun reading.”
Albus’s face burned. “What do you want, James?”
Scorpius cleared his throat. “Hello. My name is Scorpius.” He extended his hand towards James, the same way he had to Albus.
James cocked an eyebrow.
“Do you want a pumpkin pasty?” Scorpius croaked.
James grinned. “You’re a fun kid, aren’t you?” He shook Scorpius’s hand.
Scorpius shrugged.
“What do you want, James?” Albus folded his arms in front of his chest and glowered at his older brother.
“You want anything from the trolley? Mum gave me enough change to buy snacks for both of us, and I’m not going to use it all.” James dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out four galleons. “Split it?”
Albus quickly grabbed two before his brother could change his mind.
“Oh, and by the way,” James grinned again. “Albus’s favorite character to pretend to be is Slappy. Just for future reference.”
Albus let out a strangled yell and launched himself at his brother. He and James went rolling out into the hallway.
“Oi!” They had landed at the feet of a prefect. “No fighting on the train!”
Albus shot up to his feet. “We’re not fighting.”
James scoffed and tackled Albus’s legs, sending him down again. Albus squirmed out from his brother and hid behind the prefect.
“Enough, Potters. 10 points from Gryffindor, James.” The prefect turned on his heel and disappeared back down the hall.
James snorted. “You snake. You deserve Slytherin.”
Albus hadn’t said anything since his brother had left. Scorpius was starting to get worried. He had tried to start their game again, asking if Albus wanted to play Slappy instead of Grundelwad. He had tried offering some sugar quills his mother had packed him. He had tried asking Albus about the new subplot where Slappy the Free Elf was trying to pass for a muggle by wearing stilts and a trench coat.
He had even tried offering his chocolate frog card of Logan Cyprus Abis, the founder of L. C. A. comics and the original author of Martin Miggs. It was Scorpius’s favorite chocolate frog card, rated extra rare.
Scorpius was officially out of ideas.
“Anything from the trolley, dears?”
Scorpius had a single idea.
He was given a healthy allowance, and Mum had told him to make it last the full term. Papa had told him to use it to make friends and just owl for more when he needed it. Scorpius had planned on making it last, but Albus was the closest he had gotten to a friend that day and he decided to listen to his father.
So he bought four of everything, split it into two piles, and dumped half of it on Albus.
The boy looked up at him with bright green eyes, earnest and afraid.
Scorpius shrugged. “Mum said sweets help make friends. Papa said to use my allowance to make friends. I’d like for you to be my friend.”
Albus smiled, small and shy. “Even if I end up in Slytherin?”
Scorpius frowned. “What’s wrong with Slytherin? Both of my parents were in Slytherin.”
“My whole family is in Gryffindor. Except for Louis, he’s in Hufflepuff. But everyone else who’s made it to Hogwarts.” Albus rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Scorpius sat down on his seat, hearing a licorice wand snap underneath of him. He didn’t know what to say.
“And James is so convinced I’ll end up in Slytherin, he keeps taunting me. Says I’m nothing but a snake and that I’ll just end up being the next dark wizard for my dad to kill.”
Scorpius frowned. “Who’s your dad?”
“Harry Potter.”
Scorpius laughed out loud. “Of course. Just my luck.”
Albus frowned at him, and Scorpius sighed. “The one person I manage to befriend is the son of Harry Potter. My Papa is Draco Malfoy.”
Albus just looked more confused. “Didn’t your dad’s mom help my dad in the war? He said she was a hero and your dad was a kid in an unfortunate situation.”
“My mum says that too.” Scorpius twirled a sugar quill in his hands. “Papa said that he should have run away as soon as he realized he was getting roped into something he didn’t want.”
Albus shrugged. “We’re not our parents, anyways. I like being friends with you. I’ll tell my dad to stuff it if he doesn’t like it.”
Scorpius looked up, not believing his ears. “You mean it?”
Albus didn’t respond, instead grabbing a piece of parchment. He scrawled across it, before turning it to show to Scorpius.
Hi Mum and Dad,
I’ve made a friend! His name is Scorpius Malfoy. He loves Martin Miggs too. We spent the train ride together and played mad muggles and ate candy. He’s scared that I won’t be his friend if you’re upset, but if you’re upset, you can stuff it.
With all due respect,
Albus
Scorpius scanned the letter with wide eyes. When he looked back up at Albus, Albus folded the letter and tied it to the leg of his big white owl.
“Be careful, Hildegard.” Albus opened the window and gently patted his bird. “Take that home, will you?”
Hildegard was gone in one swoop. Albus shut the window behind her and sat back down.
Scorpius grinned.
“So which house do you want to be in?” Albus fussed with the sleeve of his school sweater, right where the colors would appear as soon as he was sorted.
Scorpius glanced over at him from where he was trying to shovel all of his candy into his trunk and shrugged. “Mum and Papa said that Slytherin was cozy, with lots of blankets and armchairs and fires, so I’m kinda imagining that it looks like home. But I think Ravenclaw would be nice. I like reading.”
Albus nodded. “Ravenclaw wouldn’t be bad. It’s like a guarantee that we’ll do well in school, right?” He flopped back down on the seat. “Gryffindor is a bit of a scary thought, honestly. All of my cousins are crazy and loud and they just talk so much. My parents were getting letters every other week about some sort of mischief that James and his friends got up to. I’m not sure if I’d want to get in that much trouble.”
Scorpius sat down on the lid of his trunk as he tried to flip the latches shut. “I think I’d like something a bit quieter, too.”
Albus reached over and helped his friend close his trunk up. “Hey, Scorpius?” He stared hard at the floor. “Can we both try to end up together?”
Scorpius nodded. “I like the sound of that. Let’s aim for Ravenclaw.”
Albus grinned.
Not long after, the train slowed and the station rolled into sight. Dad had told him all about the first trip into Hogwarts, as Albus had badgered him for details for weeks on end every night before bed, and he felt ready to start. Albus and Scorpius had been ambushed by his family, and Victoire had fussed and pressed kisses to his hair and smoothed a hand over Rose’s wild curls.
Hagrid was calling out for the first years, the same way Dad said he did for him. Scorpius, Albus, and Rose ended up bundled into a small boat together, with another kid. She introduced herself as Adinelle Gregory, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the boat.
The castle glowed in the moonlight, the warm flickering light of lanterns shining brighter than the many stars in the sky. Albus’s hands shook almost as much as the boat did as he clambered out, and then it was time to climb the stairs.
“Oh my.” Scorpius wheezed, putting his hands on his knees. “These are a lot of stairs.”
“Ravenclaw’s in a tower, mate, we’ll have to get used to it.” Albus elbowed his new friend in the side, and they started walking again.
Neville, Albus’s godfather, was waiting for them with a warm smile as the first years filed into the courtyard.
“Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor Longbottom.” Neville launched into a short speech about the school and the houses. Albus had pestered him during a visit over the last summer for details about the sorting and Hogwarts. He had pointedly ignored his father mouthing apologies from across the room.
Albus wanted to be prepared for Hogwarts, and Albus knew how to get what he wanted.
And then they were filing into the Great Hall. It was just as his parents had described, from the enchanted ceiling to the long tables full of students in robes of various colors. James was sitting right at the front of the Gryffindor table, as close to the Sorting Hat as he could get.
In a moment of sincerity that morning, James had promised he would welcome Albus into Gryffindor before anyone else could. Albus almost had the chance to smile, before James followed it up with “Unless you wet yourself, of course. Then there isn’t a chance you won’t be in Slytherin.”
Albus had flung a spoonful of beans while Mum’s back was turned. James tossed a sausage at him right as Mum turned around.
“Are you sure we get to pick?” Scorpius tugged on Albus’s sleeve. “Are you sure?”
Albus nodded. “My dad said he picked Gryffindor.”
Scorpius bit his lip. “What if it doesn’t listen to me and it puts me somewhere other than Ravenclaw?”
Albus hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Can we still be friends?”
Albus whipped his head around to look at Scorpius. “Of course we can! Unless you don’t want to?”
“No, I want to!” Scorpius said just a little too loudly. A student in front of them turned around and hissed at them to be quiet.
Albus didn’t listen much while the Hat sang. He figured there wasn’t much of a point if he already knew what the houses were. And soon the sorting began.
Albus recognized some names as students were called forward. Yufei Finnegan-Thomas was newly adopted to his parents’ friends. Albus had met him a year ago, since they were the same age, but Yufei hadn’t spoken English at that time. Mr. Dean and Mr. Seamus had learned some Mandarin to try and help Yufei adjust, but Albus didn’t know what to say to him.
Yufei was sorted into Ravenclaw, where he beamed at the rest of his table. Albus breathed a sigh of relief- maybe he and Scorpius could have another friend in their dorm, too.
“Malfoy, Scorpius!” Neville looked up at the dwindling crowd of first years in front of him.
“Good luck!” Albus whispered, and Scorpius edged his way to the front of the group.
His heart rate picked up as Scorpius sat down on the little stool. His friend looked so very small underneath a large, droopy hat. Scorpius screwed his face up and whispered to himself as he argued with the hat.
Scorpius was taking a lot longer to sort than everyone else did. Albus chewed on his fingernail as he looked around the hall, as whispers broke out amongst the students.
James leaned back on the Gryffindor bench, pushing another first year out of the way to reach Albus. “Your friend might end up being a hatstall!”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s tricky to sort. Don’t you worry, the hat will barely touch you.”
“You think?”
“Straight into Slytherin with you, there’s no-”
He grabbed his brother’s hood and pulled, causing him to fall to the ground. A prefect hissed at James to pick himself up before he lost anymore points today.
Albus tried hard not to snicker. Nobody suspected him when James was taller, louder, and clumsier.
“Slytherin!”
Albus’s jaw dropped. He met Scorpius’s eyes as Neville lifted the hat back off of his head. Scorpius looked scared, and small, and alone. He hung his head as he walked to the table on the far left of the hall.
“Potter, Albus!”
“I’ll see you soon, Al.” James hissed, and gave him a thumbs up.
Albus smiled back. James was a prat, but he did try to be a good older brother sometimes. And if Scorpius ended up in Slytherin, even if he asked for Ravenclaw, then maybe Albus could ask for Ravenclaw and get sorted into Gryffindor. It wouldn’t matter- Scorpius said he still wanted to be friends.
Albus sat down on the stool, and closed his eyes, preparing to argue with the hat. He felt the edge of the hat on his forehead and-
“Slytherin!”
Albus’s eyes flew open.
“What?” James shouted, half out of his seat. “No!”
Albus looked around at Neville as he picked the hat back up. “It’s okay.” Neville whispered. “Go on.”
The same prefect was holding onto James’s sleeve as the rest of the hall started a cautious round of applause. Albus smiled at his brother, waved, and turned to join Scorpius at his new house.