This is how I picture Scorpius Malfoy, in my mind he's proof that children don't have to be carbon copies of their parents.

i have a whole plot planned out (pay special attention to Cadmus Zabini, especially his name and the heritage behind it, it will be vital later in the story)

anyway i hope you enjoy it

Please Comment!

xx

Chapter 1

The world seemed to hold it's breath as the frayed hat was placed upon his head.

It fell over his eyes, sealing him off from the rest of the world, which would have been comforting if not for the hat muttering to itself.

'Hmmm where to put you, A long line of Slytherin, pure blood, powerful and yet a smart mind, the making of a good Ravenclaw perhaps. Not a Hufflepuff for certain.

You have a talented mind but little knowledge of your potential, it's right here though , I can see it hmmm…I think it'll have to be GRYFFINDOR!'

The last word echoed through The Great Hall and rang in his ears.

There was a scattered applause, but when the hat was removed from over his eyes, he saw that it had in fact risen from the Slytherin table and immediately dissipated and transfigured into confused silence when the house realised that the hat had proclaimed wasn't theirs.

Then someone at the Gryffindor table laughed. Loudly.

'What? You have got to be joking! A Malfoy in Gryffindor? No way!'

It was the eldest potter boy, James. And many-especially those near him-joined in.

There were one or two weak protests from the Slytherin table, saying that he should be in Slytherin, but he couldn't pinpoint the individuals when he tried. He did however spot the two of the boys who had introduced themselves on the train; Goyle and Macnair, both of whom had been sorted into Slytherin already and were now looking at him with expressions of utter distaste. As he dismounted the stage, he passed the group of fellow first years awaiting their fate, he spotted the third boy from the train, Zabini, who looked away quickly when he met his gaze. He felt sad that they wouldn't consider him good company anymore, it wasn't that he was overly fond of any of the boys but it would have been nice to have someone to want his company, even if it was because of his family name, though it seemed that heritage wasn't enough to override the timeless enmity between the houses. It looked like he would have a lot of free time to explore the library.

This situation was in short, his worst nightmares come true. He was terribly shy and avoided drawing attention whenever possible, which brought him back to the sorting hats decision. Why Gryffindor? -'Where dwell the brave of heart'- the very idea of him being brave was simply laughable and if not for the patchwork of staring faces, he might have cracked a smile, as it so happened, he stumbled over his own feet, which caused the onlookers no end of amusement.

'That's quite enough' a stern voice scolded - Professor McGonagall, the headmistress. Silence fell immediately. All eyes turned back to the dais and the next name was read off the long list.

Scorpius had to walk the entire length of the Gryffindor table to find somewhere to sit, because each time he approached a space on the bench, someone would slide across to fill it, as though he wasn't there. He ended up sitting on the far end of the bench, a space between himself and the boy next to him had appearing the moment he sat down.

He kept his head down, avoiding the inquisitive stares that people send his way every now and then, and tried to concentrate on listening as the remaining new students were sorted.

Nestal, Hannah , became a Gryffindor.

Potter, Albus , the youngest son of Harry Potter, also became a Gryffindor.

-this decision was met with a huge cheer from the table as the small boy practically sprinted to sit beside his older brother who was cheering louder than anyone

'Way to go Al !'

Scorpius wished that he could have received a welcome like that but he knew that he didn't deserve it, he didn't belong here, not like the son of the famous Gryffindor, why shouldn't they cheer for the him?

He sighed silently, what he would give to actually belong.

The sorting continued,

Jones Turner, became a Hufflepuff and Summer Ringleton, joined the ranks of Ravenclaw house.

The list went on until there were only a few student left to be sorted.

'Weasley, Frederick' Scorpius hadn't been paying as much attention to most of the sorting but now he looked up.

He knew a lot about the Weasley's; they were the Potter's cousins and their family had played a central part in the offensive against Voldemort-

(Many people still refused to say Voldemort's name, insisting on saying 'you-know-who' or some other generic term instead that made him want to say 'no I don't know who. The milkman or the evil wizard who destroyed the lives of countless numbers, magical and non-magical alike. He had read in one of the Harry Potter interview in an old daily prophet he found lying around that Harry believed that 'Fear of a name only increases fear in the thing itself' something he was told by someone when he was at school, which is why Harry always used Voldemort name, and so this is why he always used it, if the one person who Voldemort had wanted to kill more than anyone could say it, why shouldn't anyone else?)

Anyway, Scorpius knew almost as much about the Weasley's as he did the Potter's, though not from his father, the only comment he ever made about either, was that when they were at school, he and 'those two' didn't exactly 'see eye to eye' and so he had been reduced to looking in books for information on the legendary wizard, not that he minded, he loved books, he loved that each page could take you to a whole new place, make you into a totally new person, make you forget about what a disappointment you are to your family…to yourself…

Scorpius dragged himself back to the present in time to see 'Weasley Rose' follow her cousins to Gryffindor. She practically skipped towards the table, the rest of her family called for her to join them squeezing up as much as possible to make room where there wasn't any. However, the girl walked past them with a subtle shake of her head,

'where you going Rosie?' James called but she ignored him and instead walked down to the end of the long table and stopped beside him.

'Hi, do you mind if I sit here?' indicating towards the vacant seat which separated him from everyone else.

He shook his head silently and the girl plopped down beside him. She turned to face him.

'I'm Rose Weasley by the way.' she said extending a hand to him. He looked at it unsure for a moment before shaking it.

'Scorpius Malfoy' he mumbled back. Then ducked his head and resumed studying the carvings in the wood made by precedent students.

She laughed kindly 'I know, I saw you on the platform. my parents said knew your Dad'

Scorpius shrugged

'Not much of a talker are you?' said the girl with a smile, her blue eyes twinkling at the action.

'I'm sorry about James before, it wasn't nice, I have a right mind to write to Aunt Ginny, she'd have a thing or two to say about his acting like a hippogriff's backside…'

Scorpius shook his head quickly, he didn't want to cause trouble.

'hmm, I suppose it wouldn't do much good anyway, James's follows his own rules. Oooh, the headmistress is about to speak…' she said turning slightly so she could see the staff table better. He turned too and as the last student, Cadmus Zabini was welcomed into Slytherin house, while the three-legged stool and the tattered hat were carried away by another teacher.

'Welcome all of you.

To our returning students, I wish you another good year and to our new arrivals, welcome to the family, because every person sitting within this room will be like your family for the duration of your time here.

You will learn in your short few years here, that Hogwarts is about more than just learning to cast spells and brew potions- though that is the principal reason for you being here-.

Hogwarts is more than just a school; it's the place where you will grow and learn about yourself as a person, which is by far the most important lesson you will learn in life and one which you must learn yourself, however this journey is not one you have to make alone, as each person -student or staff- will affect you, but whether for better or worse is down to you.

Each of you before me are unique and it is unlikely that every one of you will befriend each other, however the most important thing to remember is that each one of you are here because this, is where you belong, and you are just as important and have just as much of a right to be here than the next witch or wizard, no matter what people may say'

Scorpius felt her eyes linger over him for a moment before she continued.

'before we eat, I have a few announcements to make regarding some changes to the teaching staff;

Following the departure's of Professor Sprout and Professor Jessup, Professor Sinestra will be taking over as head of Hufflepuff house and Professor Longbottom has gladly accepted the positions of Head of Herbology and of Gryffindor house;

Also as some of you may have heard, over the summer break, Argus Filch resigned his position as caretaker'

Scorpius was sure her lips form something along the lines of 'finally' and there was a loud shout of jubilation at this comment, particularly from the older students.

'However' continued Professor McGonagall, 'that does not change the rules; the use of all Weasley, Zonko's and products equivalent to those, are still prohibited in corridor's and as always the Forbidden Forrest has not changed it's name over the last thousand years and that is not going to change, for those of you who do not seem to be aware of the definition of forbidden, it means; not allowed, prohibited and under no accounts permissible to students, so those of you who believe that they are exempt from the rules, think again.' this comment was most certainly directed towards James Potter and his friends who grinned at each other as seemingly oblivious to the headmistress' sharp gaze.

'With all that said, all I have left to say, is enjoy' with that last word she swept her arm across the hall and almost instantly the tables became laden with mounds of steaming hot food and the headmistress returned to her seat and everyone began loading their plates with food.

'Could you pass the potatoes please?' Rose asked Scorpius, who passed them down to her, without a word.

'Thank you' she said smiling and began spooning some out some onto her plate.

Scorpius looked around him at the joyful expressions on everyone's faces as they tucked into their food and then glancing back at the red haired girl sitting beside him and he thought, that maybe his time at Hogwarts wouldn't be so lonely after all.

thanks for reading, please review!

xx