He had heard that she was smart, but would most probably be placed in Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw. Those that had predicted that had been proved correctly.
His ice blue eyes followed her to where she took her seat beside her older cousin, that Potter boy. Wait, if that was the older one where was—ah, there he was, making his way up the steps to where the Sorting Hat awaited him.
Albus Severus Potter.
He looked nervous from what Scorpius could see, although his brown hair had fallen over his eyes, making the expression in them unreadable. He seemed to be...chanting something under his breath. Was he practicing a spell or—
"Gryffindor!"
The voice of the Sorting Hat rang out through the Great Hall and was quickly followed by a round of applause and a few cheers from the Gryffindor table. The boy-Albus-quickly made his way down the steps to sit at the Gryffindor table, across from his cousin and older brother, the latter reaching over and ruffling his tousled hair as soon as he neared them.
Scorpius couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He had never had that, affectionate gestures from any siblings or even any extended family. He watched as the red-haired girl grinned at her cousin and suppressed a sigh.
Then he heard it.
"Scorpius Malfoy."
It was his turn. He swallowed and took a deep breath before making his way through the scattered crowd of the remaining first years. Underneath his robes, he could feel his heart hammering in his chest.
This was it.
He was going to be sorted...into Slytherin, where his father and his grandfather and the majority of his ancestors had been placed in. He was just another in a long line of Malfoys to walk up these steps and sit on this chair and hear the words 'Slytherin' boom from above him.
Well, his father would probably be proud, as would that portrait of Grandfather Lucius that hung in the Malfoy Manor hallway. Scorpius had always been scared of that portrait. He had never met the man but the cold look he gave him had always unnerved him. Maybe now he was going to be in Slytherin would change that.
He still would have liked to have maybe talked to the girl though. The Weasley girl. The one with the red hair talking animatedly to her cousins. The one with the pretty eyes. She had really pretty eyes.
His eyes glanced over to the Slytherin table where two rows of students sat on either side of the table, donning green and silver striped ties. Soon he would be one of them, as was expected of him.
So why did he feel so uneasy?
The Sorting Hat was mumbling something that the blonde haired boy couldn't quite catch.
"Loyal...more than his father...where he would fit...this one is curious..."
Scorpius' breath hitched in his throat. What did it mean? Surely there was no questioning where he would go. He was positive that he was going to be sorted into...
"Gryffindor!"
What?
There were no cheers or even applause, only a stunned silence that travelled through the Great Hall.
Scorpius bit his lip and slowly shuffled off of the seat as the Sorting Hat was removed from his head.
...He was a Gryffindor?
What was his father going to say? What about Grandfather Lucius? Would his portrait look at him with even more disdain? Why did nobody applaud? Did Gryffindor not want him? Well, obviously not but—wait, who was that clapping?
Scorpius looked to where the sound was coming from and his eyes widened in surprise. The Weasley girl was on her feet, clapping her hands, applauding him...welcoming him into Gryffindor.
Soon more Gryffindors joined in until the table had joined together in a small, half-hearted applause. For Scorpius.
The Malfoy that had been sorted into Gryffindor.
With shaky legs, he made his way back down the steps, passing the unsorted first years who gave him a mixture of uneasy and hostile looks. He reached the Gryffindor table and sat himself down beside Albus Potter, given that it was the only other available seat.
He didn't miss the look the other boy gave him and was almost scared by the glare that had been given to him.
As the Sorting continued and finally ended, Scorpius sat in silence, not even making a move to touch his food when it appeared on the platters in front of him. His stomach was churning and he felt like he could be sick at any moment. His father was going to be so ashamed of him.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?" a voice piped up, causing Scorpius to look around to find its owner, only to find the Weasley girl staring at him, an expectant look on her face as she waited for him to answer her question.
"Not hungry," he mumbled, folding his arms in an almost defensive manner.
The Weasley girl seems undeterred by his moody demeanour. "I'm Rose Weasley," she declared, reaching her hand across the table.
He stared at it for a moment, wondering what her game was. First she had began an applause for him and now she was being civil towards him. She was a Weasley, one of the most famous wizarding families in Gryffindor and he was a Malfoy, belonging to the family that Gryffindor had hated in the past.
However, there didn't seem to be any malice or mischievous glint in Rose's eyes, which Scorpius noted again were indeed very pretty. There was nothing but warmth in them and so he lifted his own hand and took hers, shaking it slightly.
"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," he told, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly.
A snort sounded from his right. "Yeah, we know."
"Leave it, Al!" Rose hissed, dropping Scorpius' hand and sending her cousin an accusing glare.
Scorpius turned to face Albus and bit his lip, stung by the harsh tone of Albus' words. "You're Albus Potter, right?"
"Right," replied Albus, shortly.
Scorpius nervously scratched the back of his head. "I, uh, it—it's nice to meet you."
James, the older Potter boy, had picked up on the conversation by this point and was now watching the two boys interact, a look of curiosity on his face.
Albus eyed Scorpius apprehensively before glancing at his brother who gave a small, barely noticeable nod. "You too, I guess," he said, his shoulders slumping a little.
Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't wanted any enemies on his first day here, yet he expected the Potters and Weasleys to take a dislike to him, given what his father had told him.
Now...he was pleasantly surprised, despite the fact that he knew Albus hadn't completely warmed to him.
Rose leaned forward, a mischievous smirk on her face. "Did you know that Professor Longbottom once got attacked by Cornish pixies during his second year here?" she asked Scorpius.
Snickers erupted from James and Albus. It was clear they had heard this story before.
"Really?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow, amusement on his face at the thought of the winged, blue creatures assaulting the Herbology professor.
Rose nodded then began chattering on about how one Gilderoy Lockhart had once set them loose during a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson and had left her parents and Uncle Harry (the famous Harry Potter, of course!) to capture them again.
Scorpius listened, laughing when necessary and smiling at the inputs from Albus and James.
He decided that he could talk things through with his father, and tell him that...Gryffindor wasn't so bad. He could get used to it.
He could get used to Albus' sarcastic remarks.
He could get used to the way Rose talked so animatedly.
And he could definitely get used to her pretty eyes.