Chapter One

Albus

(WitchXDemigodXTributeXUnwanted)

"Erm, hi, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is taken…" Albus Severus Potter stood in the compartment doorway, feeling a little awkward as a pale boy with messy-lemon blonde hair and an angular face stared up at him, seeming to be a little hesitant. Finally, he nodded his response, mumbling something quietly.

"Sorry, but I didn't quite catch that?" Albus asked, but the shy boy had turned his head away from him, watching families on the platform exchange their last goodbyes through the window.

"Um, alright then..." Albus muttered to himself as he took a seat across from whom he now recognized to be the same boy his Uncle Ron had been warning his cousin Rose about on the platform. Maybe he is like uncle Ron said he'd be, He thought. Or maybe he's just shy.

The youngest Potter son gazed longingly out of the clear glass as the scarlet steam engine slowly chugged out of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, grinning watching his father and mother playfully chase his little sister Lily, or as she preferred to be called, Lily Luna. Her mother's fiery red hair flowed behind her as the small girl of nine ran down the platform, trying to keep up with the train, laughing and waving at Albus's window. He waved back, a half-genuine smile plastered on his face as he watched Lily Luna fall behind the Hogwarts Express while it continuously gained speed and rounded a corner, until his last image of her faded into the distance. Albus's grin faded. He was going to miss her.

He didn't turn away from the window, and stared out of it dreamily, feeling stunned and not really seeing anything. This was it. He was finally on his way. He had been waiting in anticipation for this moment since he was a kid, excited for it before he could even remember. He knew the name of every Hogwarts teacher, and had met most of them in person (his personal favorite was Hagrid, who came around for dinner at least twice every two weeks), had learnt every secret passageway in and out of the castle by heart, courtesy of his dad and uncle George. He had (at least attempted to) memorize all of the information in his school textbooks, after his aunt Hermione had insisted that it was very important that he and Rose, who was also starting her first year, do this in case their professors gave them a pop quiz on the first day of classes (uncle Ron had reassured Albus that this was completely ridiculous, but Albus had decided that he could never be too careful), and because he had grown up in a family of insanely good quidditch players, he'd had a lot of practice and knew a lot of great tips and tricks, so he wasn't to worried about not making tryouts, and was hoping that he would be able to somehow get on the team even though he was only in first year, like his dad and James, who now played chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team, even though students weren't normally allowed to try out until their second year.

Albus had thought that there would be nothing that he wasn't ready for, so why did he feel so underprepared? His thoughts were interrupted when the lemon haired boy finally spoke, addressing Albus.

"Was that your little sister?" There was something in his expression; was it longing?

"Yeah, that's Lily Luna." He responded, holding out a hand to the boy, trying to be open to new people, like his mother had told him to be. "And I'm Albus. Albus Potter. But you can call me Al, or whatever you want…" The boy seemed to be holding back from shaking Albus's out stretched hand, eyeing it uncertainly. "You know, my hand's getting kind of tired, so if you're not going to take it…" The boy cut Albus off, gripping his hand, shaking it quickly, and yanking his hand away, as if Albus's hand were made of white hot metal. The boy looked down at his lap, his cheeks burning red.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "It's just that… You're a Potter." Albus furrowed his brow, confused, and a little bit offended. "Yeah… So?"

"It's just that… Sorry. My name is Scorpius… Scorpius Malfoy…." Albus raised his eyebrows, trying to hold back a grin. It felt good to know that he wasn't the only one with an unusual name. The two sat in silence for a little while, before Scorpius spoke up.

"Sorry if I came off a bit rude at first, I wasn't trying to be, really." Albus smirked at this revelation.

"It's okay, I think we're all a bit nervous today, honestly." He said, trying to be reassuring while being inwardly relieved that he wasn't the only one with first day jitters.

"No, it's not that. Well, it is, but there's also something else." Scorpius said, his cheeks flushing even darker pink. Albus leaned forwards in his seat eagerly awaiting his new acquaintance's reveal.

"Which is…? Sorry, I'm being kind of intrusive, aren't I? You don't need to tell me if you don't want to…" Scorpius laughed for the first time since Albus had seen him.

"What, no, it's...it's...it's" Scorpius's face deepened in color so brightly that Albus was surprised he was not getting head-rush. "nothing, no, it's ok, I just, nothing, it's just… Well... ." He mumbled something incoherently under his breath that sounded kind of like "mehdadwldklme."

"Um, could you repeat that?" Albus asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Scorpius groaned, his head tilting back, his gray eyes staring unblinkingly at the roof of their compartment.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's dishonoring my father." Albus was reminded strongly of the stories his dad had told him about a house-elf that had always beat himself up when he was about to reveal something, what was his name? Dilby? Dobby, Albus' father was always telling him stories about an elf that kept trying to save his life, but ended up almost killing him almost every time. This situation reminded Albus fiercly of him.

"Hey, you don't need to beat yourself up about it!" Albus hesitated for a second, before putting a hand on his new friend's shoulder. "It's fine, maybe you could tell me about it another time. I mean, we just met!" Scorpius did a quirky little half smile.

"Thanks. I think that's a good idea." The two spent the most part of the train ride telling each other and laughing at some of the crazy rumors they've heard about Hogwarts, eating the wizard candy that they had bought from the trolley, and comparing chocolate frog cards. It turned out that Scorpius wasn't that shy at all, and was full of crazy ideas and schemes that included anything from house-elves to quick quotes quills and caused Albus to double over in fits of laughter.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Albus asked Scorpius after they had calmed down a bit, his foot making little patterns in the brightly colored candy wrappers that now littered the floor. It had been a question that he had been trying to push away to the back of his mind, not worry about as his father had advised him, but eventually he wasn't able to stop it from slipping out. Scorpius shrugged.

"Probably Slytherin. There hasn't been a single person in my family who's been in any other house for generations. Father would probably disown me if I broke the tradition." Albus laughed, but Scorpius didn't seem to be joking. "What about you, Al? Where do you think you'll end up?"

Albus sighed. "I don't know, honestly. I'm hoping for Gryffindor, that's where most of my family have been. Well, except for Lucy and Louis, they're Ravenclaws, and Dominique and Teddy are both Hufflepuffs, but everybody else, James, Victoire, Molly, Fred, they're all Gryffindors."

"Gee, how many family members do you have?" Scorpius exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"Well, James is my older brother. And you already know about Lily Luna, then Victoire, Dominique, and Louis's parents are my Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, my Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey are Molly and Lucy's parents, Fred and Roxanne are my aunt Angelina and uncle George's kids, then my Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron are Rose and Hugo's parents. Then there's my Mum and Dad, of course, and Gran and Granddad Weasley. And Teddy is kind of like an older brother to me, he lost his parents in the war, and my dad is his Godfather. He doesn't live with us, but we still see him a lot. Oh, and Uncle Charlie, who doesn't have a wife or kids. I think he just prefers dragons, honestly." Albus recited, hoping he wasn't forgetting anybody.

"Wow, you're really lucky." Scorpius said, his mouth a straight line. "I wish I had a family as big as yours. It gets kind of lonely sometimes, you know. It's just me, my Mother and my Father in my family. And I barely ever see my Grandparents, I think my Father is trying to keep me away from them or something."

Albus felt a pang of sympathy for his new friend. How horrible, He thought. To be kept away from your own Grandparents.

"Well, sometimes having such a big family can be dead annoying." He told Scorpius, whose' eyes were downcast. "I mean, this entire morning, James had been bothering me about-" Almost as if on cue, the compartment door slid open with a loud whoosh, and James stood in the doorway, his red headed cousins, Fred and Louis, standing behind him in the hall, along with a pretty Asian girl Albus didn't recognize.

"Hey Al," James greeted, his tone seeming rushed. "I see you've settled in... " He glanced Scorpius, a slightly loathing gleam in his eye. "Well. So yeah,, anyway, we're going to be arriving soon. You better get your robes on unless you want the giant squid to drag you into the lake." This received a laugh from Fred and Louis as James closed the door once again, following his friends down the corridor. Through the clear glass, he could have sworn he saw James slip his hand into the girl's.

He turned back to Scorpius, who wouldn't meet his gaze.

"See," The blonde boy said solemnly. "my father was a death eater. So was my grandfather. They all expect me to be just as bad as they were, because of my heritage. It's why I have no real friends other than our families house elf."

Something suddenly clicked in Albus's mind. He remembered one of the stories his father had told him, about when he was back in Hogwarts. It had always been one of his favorites.

Draco Malfoy and I were enemies, Harry had told him. He was cruel and offensive, and he and his buddies, Crabbe and Goyle, were always bullying or harassing somebody, just for the fun of it. But one day, he was offending the Weasley's, our own family, Al! And your Uncle George and Uncle Fred and I, well, I'm ashamed to say it, but we muggle-fought him to the ground. Albus remembered laughing, picturing a big, mean man being punched in the face repeatedly Albus's own father and Uncles. Your Uncles and I had our brooms taken away for a year! It was horrible, but it felt good getting revenge on Malfoy. This comment had received a disapproving glance from Ginny, but Harry hadn't seemed to notice. And once in third year, your own Aunt Hermione punched Draco right in the nose! Then she skipped class because of it! To this day, I've never been more proud of her, Al! Albus had denied this in aw, unable to imagine his studious, kind and collected Aunt getting into a fight with someone, much less punching them in the face!

Albus gawked at Scorpius without meaning to. It all made sense now. "Your dad was my dad's enemy." He said slowly. Scorpius nodded, Albus could hear him grinding his teeth in his mouth as he continued, "Your dad was a Death Eater."

"Well, kind of." Scorpius admitted, frowning. "He was a Death Eater, but he was kind of, um, a Death Eater in training. But my Grandfather was a Death Eater. One of You-Know-Who's best followers… I think that's why my dad won't let me meet him."

Albus broke his gaze, turning to the window once again, watching the green rolling hills of the meadow and clear blue, rushing river pass by as the train moved on. A Death Eater. His family had told him a lot about the Second Wizarding War, and though Albus hadn't actually been there to experience it, it had still impacted his everyday life with a great effect. The war, You-Know-Who, the Death Eaters, the battle, had taken away so much from his family. It was the reason Teddy Lupin was an orphan. The reason why he would never meet his Dad's parents. The reason why he would never meet his Uncle Fred. The reason why he could here his mum crying for her big brother sometimes at night, and sometimes for her husband. The reason why he would catch his dad sitting in the kitchen sometimes in the middle of the night, alone, with tears silently streaming down his face. The reason why Aunt Hermione had the scar, mudblood, etched into her forearm. The reason why Uncle Ron always had a look of guilt on his face whenever he left his wife alone. The reason why they celebrated his cousin Victoire's birthday on May 3rd, not its actual date, May 2nd. The reason why Uncle George would sometimes become completely cut off from the world, staring at what seemed like nothing and clenching his fists so hard that his nails would dig into his palms and leave thin white scars.

Albus liked to think about what his life would have been like if the war had never happened, but it was hard. Sometimes, he even thought that though other families had been effected pretty hard, his family had been hit the worst.

"Al?" Scorpius looked worried, and upset. "Al, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything my Father or my Grandfather had ever done to hurt your family during the war." He took a deep breath, before adding, "It's okay if you don't want to be my friend anymore. I… I understand. It's probably better for both of us-"

"No." Albus said firmly. "I don't care who your parents are, or even your Grandparents. I want you to accept my friendship, and I hope you will. Because nobody should have a house elf as their only friend, no matter how bad their family history is."

Scorpius looked surprised by Albus's sudden outburst. But he broke into a huge grin. He held out a pale hand to Albus.

"Well, if you're sure, then we better start over. Hi, I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and I was wondering if you would like to accept my partnership in crime?" He recited, his tone sarcastically formal, the grin not leaving his face. Albus took his hand and shook it with great enthusiasm.

"Hi, I'm Al Potter. And yeah, I'd like to be friends."