Hello! I wrote this fic a few years ago as the response to a challenge on a Harry Potter forum. Upon rediscovering it, I decided I'd publish it here. Just to be clear, this is a one shot, although there's a possibility for a future expansion. I have ideas swirling around in my brain.

Disclaimer: Any and all content recognizable from the Harry Potter franchise belongs to J.K. Rowling, although Matthew, Hector, and Will are my own original characters

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him though, Rosie…"

~Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p. 756 (American Hardback edition)

Scorpius Malfoy was very excited to go to Hogwarts, even if his impassive expression seemed to belie it. His father had told him the same requested stories so often that Scorpius could easily recite them all from memory. Thoughts of attending house quidditch matches, eating magnificent feasts in the Great Hall, and just roaming through the corridors of the castle consumed his mind for the past month; and he imagined them in such detail they almost felt like real memories.

After waiting eleven long years though, Scorpius now pushed a cart loaded with his trunk and owl as he and his father briskly walked through the wall between King's Cross's platforms 9 and 10. Platform 9 ¾ was heavily crowded with families, pets, and trunks; but the scarlet Hogwarts Express was what immediately drew Scorpius's attention, its stack emitting steam that lazily rolled through the air. It seemed larger and more impressive than he had imagined it. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly, but other than that, there was no outward sign of Scorpius's awe.

He briefly looked up at his father, and saw him nod to someone in the distance. Scorpius turned his head in that direction to see two families he instantly recognized. Even if the scar wasn't in view, the man with the messy black hair and round glasses had to be Harry Potter. The ginger-haired man must be Ronald Weasley (he assumed the woman with the same colored hair was his sister), and that led Scorpius to believe that the mousy-haired woman was Hermione Granger. He'd read about all of these people in Hogwarts: a History. They must've been there to see their children off.

As he glanced at them, Scorpius could see that they were trying to stare discreetly at him. It didn't bother him too much at first, but then he saw Mr. Weasley's face adopt a sour expression as he whispered something to his children. Scorpius quickly looked away, wondering what he had done to cause a reaction like that.

While Scorpius knew that his father had gone to school with those people, he had never been told anything about them. Out of all of the stories his father had told him, hardly any of them mentioned Harry Potter and his friends; and if they did, it was only a brief allusion. All he could guess was that they hadn't been best friends, as his father had been sorted into Slytherin while the trio had been in Gryffindor, two houses that were known to be rivals.

Scorpius and his father were up at the train, and together they loaded his trunk and owl into the appropriate compartment. It seemed that as soon as they had finished the task the train whistle let out a shrill screech, and only then did Draco Malfoy speak.

"I guess you'd better board the train… See you at Christmas."

Scorpius looked his father in the eyes for a moment, and then in an act that surprised both Malfoys equally, Scorpius hugged him tightly.

"Give Mum my love," he mumbled into his father's robes. Draco Malfoy was still for a moment, but then returned the embrace.

"Of course," he returned. They broke apart after a few moments, and Scorpius stepped onto the train just as the conductor gave his final, "All aboard!" He went and sat down in a compartment with three other boys he didn't know just as the train started to move. He took one last glance out the window, and saw his father still standing on the platform, nodding at him as he passed by. For as long as Scorpius had known his father (which had been quite a long time), he had always been subdued, and hardly ever showed affection in the form of hugs and kisses. He said an encouraging word, or maybe ruffled up Scorpius's hair if he was especially proud of him. Scorpius was fine with the lack of affection, though, as he had much the same personality as his father.

The train started to leave all traces of the city behind as it approached fields that seemed to go on for kilometers. The other boys in the compartment had been chatting excitedly to each other, when suddenly they all turned to him.

"What house do you want to be in?" The one sitting next to him asked. He was rather tall, with a rounded face and expressive brown eyes hiding under a mop of dirty-blonde hair.

"Oh, um, I don't really know…" he said truthfully. Scorpius had read about all of the houses, and didn't feel partial towards any of them. They all seemed to embody good traits. Both his father and mother had been in Slytherin. Even if they had never told him so, Scorpius knew that they wanted him to be in Slytherin too. However, he knew he wouldn't feel devastated if he ended up somewhere else.

"Well, I want to be in Hufflepuff. Like my dad," said the same boy who had asked him the question.

"I want to be in Gryffindor!" said the boy sitting across from him, his dark eyes glinting with determination. He kept a serious expression on his face for a few moments while nobody spoke. Then he grinned and let out a loud roar. Everyone laughed at this, even Scorpius.

The remaining boy looked at Scorpius as he ran his hand though his buzz-cut, "I don't know what house I want to be in either. I'm a—muggle-born?" He looked at the other boys for confirmation of the term, and they all nodded. Scorpius was a bit surprised. He had never met a muggle-born before, or at least he didn't think he had. His father wasn't particularly fond of them, and his grandfather absolutely hated them, although the reasons behind both of these opinions were unknown to Scorpius. His grandfather had made it seem as if they all had an extra head, or something else of that sort, and his father just tried to avoid mentioning them, but nothing seemed off about this boy to Scorpius.

"By the way, I'm Matthew McMillan," the blonde boy said, holding out his hand for Scorpius to shake.

"Hector Dash," said the Gryffindor boy with a toothy grin.

"My name's William Gregson, but most people call me Will," introduced the muggle-born boy.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius told the boys.

Hector whistled as if impressed, "Lucky bloke." At the other boys' questioning looks he elaborated, "Your name. You got Scorpius, while I got stuck being named after my mental uncle who has eleven toes."

Scorpius grinned, both immensely pleased that they liked his name, and also very entertained by Hector's description of his uncle.

Just then a witch pushing a cart full of treats stopped in front of their compartment, "Anything off the trolley?" she asked the boys. They all pulled out some coins and came away with handfuls of Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, among many other candies. For a long while afterwards the four boys spent the time eating their snacks, laughing at Will's shock has he discovered that the frogs actually jumped and the jellybeans could taste like vomit, trading Wizard cards, and just joking around and having a good time. It was the most talkative Scorpius ever remembered himself being, and the most fun he'd had in a long time.

Too soon though, an older student came to Scorpius's compartment, informing the boys that they would be arriving at the station soon, and to change into their robes. They did so reluctantly, and only a few minutes later the train lurched to a stop.

All of the students flooded out of the train and into the station, where Scorpius and his new friends noticed a behemoth of a man (Hagrid, if Scorpius remembered correctly) shouting, "Firs' years over here!" He was so concentrated on trying to maneuver through the swarm of students that he didn't notice a girl coming from the side of him before it was too late. They ran right into each other, and both of them ended up on the ground.

"Sorry…" began the girl, and Scorpius immediately recognized her from King's Cross. She was the daughter of Ronald Weasley. She rubbed her head and looked at him, and suddenly a strange expression crossed her face that he couldn't quite recognize.

"Hey, Rosie, are you okay?" an older boy asked as he came over and helped the girl, Rose, apparently, up. Scorpius could tell that the boy was a Potter, but he didn't remember seeing him at the station.

"Wait," Potter said, and his mouth suddenly turned to a frown as he took a long look at Scorpius, "Slicked-back hair and way-too-expensive robes…You must be a Malfoy!" Scorpius wasn't sure why, but he thought he heard Potter say that in a sneering tone.

"Yeah, I'm Scorpius," he tried to say, but before he had finished, Potter had left. Rose gave him that same strange look once more before heading in the direction of Hagrid

"Hey, what was that about?" Matthew asked as he helped Scorpius up. His friends had watched the entire exchange, and seemed as confused about it as Scorpius was.

"I don't know, but let's go over to the others before they leave without us," Scorpius suggested, gesturing over to the rapidly growing group of first-years.

The four boys all piled in to the same boat, and the strange encounter Scorpius had had with Rose Weasley and Potter was soon forgotten as they chatted excitedly to each other about what Hogwarts would really be like. A few moments later the first view of the castle could be seen. Every single first-year was silent as they marveled at the impressive stone structure, with golden beams of light pouring out of the windows and reflecting off the black lake. It was more glorious than any picture could ever show.

When the boats reached the shore, everyone stepped off and Hagrid sent the group off to a man with a round, smiling face. He introduced himself as Professor Longbottom, and led the students through a number of corridors before reaching an antechamber just outside of what Scorpius knew was the Great Hall.

"Now," began Professor Longbottom, "a wonderful feast has been prepared for everyone, but before you lot can enjoy it we must sort you into your houses. There are four of them: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They are all good houses, but I'll refrain from elaborating, as I've heard the Sorting Hat has spent extra time making a song about them this year…"

The Professor continued on, telling the first-years how their house would become their family, and how the house point system worked, and so on. Eventually, though, he neared the end of his speech.

"As Deputy Headmaster, I hope you will enjoy your time here at Hogwarts. If you could all please form a line now, I believe everything is ready!" All of the students merged and made a clumsily shaped line. Scorpius was eager to finally find out what house he would be sorted in, but nervous at the same time. He took a deep breath as the large double doors to the Great Hall opened, and the group filed into the enormous room. Scorpius was so busy taking in the sight of the long, wooden tables, roaring fireplaces, and floating candles that he forgot to pay attention to the Sorting Hat's song and the beginning of the actual sorting. He was only brought out of his trance when Professor Longbottom called one of his friends' names.

"Dash, Hector!"

The hat was on his head for less than two seconds before it belted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" Hector's smile looked almost too large as he walked over to his new house table. Scorpius clapped enthusiastically, glad that Hector got into the house he had wanted.

It was only a few minutes later when the next name Scorpius knew was announced.

"Gregson, William!"

The Hat was on Will's head for quite a while. Scorpius was very interested in what house Will would be sorted into, as he hadn't known much about the houses before.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" By this point Scorpius was paying attention to every single name called. The only one of his friends left to be sorted was Matthew, and "Malfoy" came before "McMillan". He would be next.

"Malfoy, Scorpius," Professor Longbottom called. Scorpius suddenly felt his stomach do a back flip as he walked up to the raised platform where the Sorting Hat rested upon a rickety stool. He sat down and put the hat on his head, suddenly self-conscious of every single pair of eyes that stared at him. He then heard the Sorting Hat speak to him.

Malfoy. I remember your father, he needed no consideration to place. Slytherin was clearly where he belonged. Your mother was in the same house too, if I recall correctly… But you, you're not like them. You're cunning, to be sure, but not in the same way they were. I see promise in you. I know exactly where you'll prosper…

"RAVENCLAW!"

An immense sense of relief flooded over Scorpius as he went to sit down with his new housemates. He was finally sorted. It didn't matter that he wasn't put into Slytherin, it had never mattered. The Sorting Hat was never wrong. It had said so in Hogwarts: a History.

Immediately afterward Matthew was sorted, to his great delight, into Hufflepuff. He went and sat down next to Will. Scorpius silently promised himself that he would find time to be with his friends, even though they weren't in the same houses. The next name Scorpius recognized was a Potter, Albus Potter to be precise. He was sorted into Gryffindor, just like the rest of his family had before him. The last first-year to be sorted that year was Rose Weasley. It sat on top of her head for only a few seconds before declaring her in Ravenclaw. She sat down in at the table, only a few seats away from Scorpius.

Everyone drew their attention towards the front of the hall as the headmistress said a few words to begin the feast. With a wave of her hand, all of the empty gilded platters suddenly filled up with all sorts of magnificent foods, ranging from rack of lamb all the way to fried chicken. Scorpius hardly knew where to start as his mouth watered. He decided just to pile whatever he could onto his plate, and try a bit of everything.

Idle conversations drifted up and down the table as the feast wore on, and Scorpius found that he had liked everyone he had spoken to. A little while later Scorpius and the others around him found themselves in a conversation about what they especially liked about Hogwarts. A girl who was sitting next to him, Melanie, put in her opinion, "I just love the ceiling! It's so beautiful!" A cloudless, star-filled sky loomed above the students, and when they all looked up at that moment, a shooting star flew across, effectively getting her point across.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside," Scorpius said, and then leant forward and looked around, as he had heard someone else say the exact same thing at the exact same time. It didn't take long to find the one face also searching. A red, bushy haired face. Rose Weasley.

"Hogwarts: A History?" they questioned each other simultaneously. They continued to stare at each other for another moment, unsure how to react. Then they both broke out into a fit of laughter that soon spread to everyone else around them.

Scorpius Malfoy was very excited to be at Hogwarts.

I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think.