First part of the 'charming snakes' verse, which includes We bury the Past .

I own nothing at all. JK Rowling owns all. This is all fictional and no profit is made, no offence intended.

So this has been born from my 7spells livejournal challenge, I want to try and explore Scorpius Malfoy more, and Al comes with that.

Reviews are great.

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Cold feet pounded along freezing stone floors, classrooms beckoning, teachers waiting with narrowed glances and sighs. Professor Flitwick waited patiently for the new first years to enter his classroom, balanced carefully on a stack of old books, smile playing about his lips. Filius loved teaching the new generations, whether muggle born or children of past students. He loved seeing the gleam in their eyes as they realised what they could now achieve with the instrument held in their hands.

He watched over the rim of his spectacles as the first brave yet cautious lions peered around the doorway, startling as they noticed him perched on his stack, smiling slightly and nodding wary heads as they slowly entered the room and chose their seats, as far from the professor as they could. Naturally. Only Miss Granger, that is to say, Mrs Weasley, had ever voluntarily sat in the front row for her first class and the other who had come close, well, Lily would always be a bittersweet memory.

He couldn't help the bounce in his feet as the first Claws marched into the room, brimming with eagerness to learn, unafraid of their small yet mighty head of house. They were quick to snatch the seats a row back from the front, hands snatching at their textbooks in their book bags and rucksacks as they prepared for the lesson to start.

Filius beamed with pride and glances at the clock. Five to nine. Five minutes to go before the lesson began. Years ago, his class would have been ready, two groups, two houses, but things were different now. They had to be. The houses were halved for classes and often mixed up into different groups, but one thing was certain. Until the students entered third year, and their choices divided them, every class would contain students from every house. Hogwarts no longer played a part in encouraging pointless petty divides, and that, was something Filius would always be proud of.

Feet scuffling across the floor boards outside signalled the rest of his class and the Puffs and Snakes seemed to fall into the room more than they walked. One group regained their composure and the other, chattered away and stumbled over show laces before falling into silence. Filius would never get over how wide eyed and innocent the Slytherins looked these days though, keeping a hold of their wary united manners, but now, more like the school children they should be, and less like the loathed criminals they had been treated like before. It reminded him, in the bad times, that war can bring good things, changes he would never revert from.

Normally, it was his own house that held Filius' attention more, but now, it was the Slytherins. Two, to be precise. He was quite sure that many would be shocked, some perhaps horrified, to see Harry Potter's second son, Albus, sorted into the snake pit. But Filius had met him once or twice at different places, and knew it was less about the 'evil' some naive fools still connected with that house, and more about the cunning that one had to have to live with a brother like James Potter. Filius himself, didn't have to teach said Potter until Wednesday, and for that, was more than grateful. Albus had chosen a seat by the window, third row back, behind a Ravenclaw girl Filius hadn't caught the name of yet, and he looked content enough, but wary. Wary, the Professor had no doubt, because people knew who he was, where he came from, and what a shock his sorting had been. The Charm's master was more than sure that he would face difficulties for that at some point, unfair of course, yet inevitable.

But it wasn't Albus Potter that had his attention really. No, it was the boy sitting next to him, the last person he would expect to see sitting to Al's left. Scorpius Malfoy .

The blond had his back straight in his chair, met his professor's wondrous gaze without a flinch, yet Filius had been a teacher for over 50 years, he had taught three generations of his family, taught the most vicious of his relatives, in Bellatrix Black, taught the enigma who hadn't been what he might have been in Sirius Black, and of course, the one who was put through choices no one his age should have , in his own father Draco, and simply nodded his head with a smile, while seeing straight through the facade.

Scorpius was clearly terrified. As well he should be. Many students, more the elder ones to be fair, would heard his name and cry 'Death Eater', cry that, or hex the boy, and that clearly scared him. It wasn't anything anyone else would see, just a glimmer of ear that teachers saw too often to ignore. But he wouldn't say anything, because there was a second glint in the shimmering silver stare, and that said, it wouldn't be appreciated.

They came from so different backgrounds, raised in such different circumstances, one with more family than most could handle and the other, with hardly a sole. They were almost born to hate each other, yet on the first day of their Hogwarts career, they sat side by side in the charms classroom, and Filius was sure, that that was truly something. It would be more than interesting to see what would happen. Their families had been enemies almost as long as they had existed, over one thing or the other, and with the wars that had claimed so many, that hadn't look likely to change. Yet here they were.

Interesting. Interesting indeed.

"Levitation. Is the art of moving an object of your will by...."

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Scorpius tried not to twitch in his seat. He had seen the way the professor had looked at him. Like he was looking right through him, seeing things Scorpius couldn't imagine. It made him feel uncomfortable, even though his father, his grandmother even, had assured him that the Charms Professor would be one of the better ones to be around. One who would treat him based on his performance in his class alone and not where he came from, his father had said.

Maybe it would be different for Scorpius, or maybe he was just looking at Potter.

Scorpius was sitting beside the second Potter son, really for one reason. He hadn't glared at him yet.

In fact, he had been almost nice to him. Normal. When they had both found themselves at the Slytherin table, one expecting it, the other, only fearing it, Albus had asked his name, though Scorpius was certain he already knew it. They hadn't talked per say, but they had made conversation and they had been polite, learned a few facts and maybe most importantly, left their families out of the discussion.

Albus loved chocolate frogs, Scorpius preferred sugar quills. Random facts but ones both were eager to learn, if only to avoid what other people wanted to ask them. Though the house divides were a thing of the past, the hats decision giving you a place to sleep, rather than a place in life these days, Slytherin had still divided over the sorting.

Half hated what were the boys came from, some finding one scum, good, a mistake from the ceremony that needed to be corrected, the others simply despising what stood before them, what they now shared a home with and blaming him for the faults of his forefathers. The other half of the dungeon, just wanted a quiet life, a simple life at Hogwarts, for whatever reason, and hated the new additions who would draw attention and disturb the peace they had fought to surround themselves with.

Scorpius wouldn't say they were friends yet, but they were not enemies, and that was enough to find them beside each other in their first class, learning how to levitate feathers, when really, they would both rather learn how to make brooms fly.

******

"Albus? We both have Herbology next right?", Scorpius panted as he followed Albus down the stairs to the first floor, his hair already a state from a charm gone wrong across the room.

Albus and himself had had to dive to ground for cover and it had been a far more exciting lesson than either had prepared for.

"Yeah, I think so. I do so um...yeah. Want to sit next to each other?"

Scorpius could only beam at the unsure look on his companion's face, knowing that for at least one more period, he could at least partially shield himself from the glares and the bigotry of his collective classmates.

"That would be great."

Albus smiled, eyes bright and honest and so very not what you would call Slytherin, but Scorpius couldn't help but smile back.

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Professor Longbottom awaited his next class with a nervous jerk in his movements that he had never really been able to get rid of. He knew who he had next, first years. First years that included one of his closest and truest friend's son. He had already had James first thing. It didn't seem fair to get Albus so soon after. Not fair in the slightest. One Potter was bad enough, two seemed plain mean, and he really didn't want to think about what it would be like when there were three of them running around. The Potter family was surrounded by mishaps and trouble. It had always been that way, probably always would be. They shocked people, like it was in their DNA, and Al's sorting, well, that had really been something. Neville wouldn't have pinned Al for Slytherin, Ravenclaw maybe, certainly not Gryffindor, but not Slytherin. That had been a shock, but who had followed him through the door, that had been a bigger shock.

Neville would have to watch Scorpius Malfoy. Not because he was trouble, not because he was dangerous, and not because he appeared to be like Draco in any way, but because Neville was positive that his Hogwarts career could possibly become hell on earth if he didn't have the right people around him. When Neville was at school, it was the muggle born children who went through hell, now it was the children of those tormentors who faced the jeers and disgust. There was always one who was taken down because they were different, and among normal children, quiet children, shy children and inconspicuous children, Scorpius Malfoy was clearly different, and that, judging by the way a Hufflepuff had barged him half into the doorway as he followed Al in, was clearly a problem.

*****

Albus wandered into the green house considerably more relaxed than he had been when he walked into Charms. He knew Neville. Neville was safe and kind and he had nothing to worry about apart from maybe a plant trying to eat him.

" Shall we sit nearer the back? I don't want Ne-the teacher asking me things cause he knows me."

When he heard nothing he turned to see his house mate rubbing his shoulder with a wince,

"Are you ok?", Albus frowned.

" 'M fine.", Scorpius mumbled, "Let's go back there. Try hide behind that thing."

Al nodded, saying nothing. He wouldn't know what to say. Scorpius had clearly been shoved, and it could only be for one reason, because no one knew him in this class, to not like him. The eleven year old didn't like that, not one bit.

"Sure. As long as you are sure it won't try and eat us."

Scorpius smirked, and shook the bangs from his face,

"I'm pretty sure the professor wouldn't have a plant that could eat us in the same green house as the one he has a first year class in Potter."

Al merely sneered and looked for his book.

"Yeah well. If it eats me, I'll haunt you."

Scorpius smiled weakly and turned his attention to the now lecturing professor, not sure what Al was trying to do. Perhaps that was how friends behaved, or siblings. He wouldn't know. He didn't really have friends when he was growing up, just his parents, grandmother and the elves. But he wasn't sure if they were friends, they hadn't said they were, didn't really have reasons to be if they were. But if they could be, Scorpius reckoned that would be ok.

****

They sort of settled into a routine after that first morning, sitting next to each other in class because they didn't ask each other about if they knew dark spells or when they found out about what their father had done and who he really was. They were able to slowly talk to new people, in other houses and things seemed to be ok, but then, there was the day where it wasn't.

"Oi Malfoy! I thought Hogwarts had wards to keep Death Eaters out. How did you get in?"

Scorpius' cheeks had burned with shame, anger and something he wasn't sure he knew about, but he could only mumble what would become his standard response,

"Shut it, I'm not a Death Eater!"

"Daddy is. How does it feel to know your father is a murderer?"

Scorpius' felt his fists clench, his teeth grind against one another as he rose to his feet in the courtyard where they were enjoying the autumn air after classes,

"My dad didn't kill anyone!"

"As good as!", the burly third year had shot back.

"You don't know anything about what happened back then! You weren't there!"

He felt a tug on the back of his robes, but shrugged it off, anger boiling under the surface,

"Neither were you pipsqueak!"

"I....you.... What would you know anyway?!",

"Leave it Scorpius", Albus mumbled in his ear, before turning to the group of boys on the other side of the path who had appeared from the Quidditch pitch, " You lot and all! It's over now! We weren't there, it's done."

The third year, a Ravenclaw who really, should have known better just scoffed and made as if to move forward. Scorpius jerked slightly, but Al had a fistful of his robes again, and didn't seem likely to let go,

"You have no idea what I lost to the likes of his family's scum."

"Don't I?", Al said, voice sharp, suddenly sounding allot older than his eleven years, emerald eyes burning, entrancing Scorpius and making several of his classmates step back,

"I lost more than any of you can understand! Read a damn history book and it will tell you everything I lost. And that is only the start of it. The war is over!"

He dragged Scorpius away after that, up the steps and into the entrance hall, leaving the older boys and his chums spluttering behind him.

"You shouldn't listen to them you know. They are talking crap.", he stated knowingly, while the blond in front of him adjusted his robes and tried to calm down,

"I...it's not....my dad never killed anyone!", Scorpius pleaded, willing the raven haired boy before him to understand,

"I know!"

Scorpius stared, but yes, of course Al knew. Al's father was the reason his whole family wasn't in Azkaban. He didn't know why he had said anything, there was no need, and certainly no need to admit to some of the things people had been trying to force from him, like his families place in the war,

"Why did you say anything? No one else did."

Albus just stared at him, then spoke, slowly, like Scorpius was a dim-witted child.

"You're my friend. It's like...my job to say something. It's what mates do."

Scorpius blinked. Friends? With Albus Potter? That would be scandalous, that would be unheard of, it would shock his grandfather beyond words, it would probably make his father, well he didn't even know. But then again, they had been hanging out for weeks, months now. That was friends right? That could be ok, couldn't it? Everyone was allowed to have friends. It would be hard, real hard, but Scorpius reckoned that being friends with Albus Potter, that could be ok.

"Right. Well....thanks I guess."

Albus just smiled and adjusted his bag on his back,

"Well, now that the drama is sorted, want to go to the kitchens and get some ice-cream? My mum recons any bad feelings can be got rid of with some decent ice-cream."

Scorpius smiled in return and took his bag from Al, who had brought it inside,

"Sounds like a smart woman your mum! Ice cream sounds awesome!"

*****

Filius Flitwick sighed as he moved in between the desks of students and supervised their attempts to turn their feathers a different colour. Albus and Scorpius had already completed the task, as they always did and were now talking quietly in the back corner while trying something new Filius had had to come up with off the top of his head. The boys were so bright. Filius hoped they would take his subject far, but then again, he thought that at least once every year with first years, and no one had really had any ambition with charms since before the war. Transfiguration seemed so much more interesting to them for some reason.

Filius had suspected, those couple of months that they could be friends, but, he hadn't thought too much on it. He certainly didn't expect them to still be sitting by each other by November. Families, history and too many differences, he was sure, would have driven them apart. Yet it hadn't and now, really, they were the model students in his class. Eager to learn, respectful and polite.

It still befuddled him though.

The Potter Malfoy feud, the Weasley Malfoy feud, they had existed so long, no one really knew what started them, like a circle of hate, where no one knew where the beginning was, or where the end could come from. Yet here they were, in his class, giggling at the back of the room with purple feathers and floating above their heads, happy as they could be while in class at the end of the day. Maybe they would be different, maybe they could be friends, real friends, break the cycle of hate. The feathers floated to the ground when the boys gave a start, Finnegan having blown up her feather and half her table with it. She was going to be just like her father, and that wasn't a good thing. As he swished his wand, repaired the table, fixed Sarah's ripped robe and instructed her on where she went wrong, he caught sight of the feather, broken in half between the two boys, broken like the feud that should have divided them.

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