Scorpius had his fingers clenched on the seat of the school, trying not to wiggle too much.

Lot of loyalty to your family, the Hat said. But are you ambitious?

I'm gonna be a Seeker, like my dad! Scorpious grinned at the thought.

Quidditch is hard work, said the Hat. And you have to wait until Second Year.

I'd practice every day. Scorpious thought. Even in the rain.

I though you'd say that. The Hat chuckled. I think you'll do very well in HUFFLEPUFF!

"What?!"

~~~

Al fidgetted in line, looking around the hall. James kept waving at him from the Gryffindor table, occasionally making faces when none of the teachers were looking. A prefect noticed at one point, and rolled his eyes.

The ceiling was mesmerizing, and Al spent some time admiring it before a loud "What?!" pulled his attention back to the hat. A thin blonde boy was getting shakily up from the stool. Most of the school watched as the boy walked miserably to the Hufflepuff table.

Pretty soon, it was Al's turn to get sorted.

Well, another Potter, the Hat said. Simple enough-

Not with my brother! Al thought desperately.

No?

I know I'm not smart enough for Ravenclaw, and I'd get eaten alive in Slytherin, Al thought. But please, not with James.

Oh, fine. The Hat huffed. You Potters are so demanding. HUFFLEPUFF!

Al got a glimpse of James' stunned face before getting to the Hufflepuff table, and grinned. There was a lot of clear space around the blonde boy. Al had a moment of deja vu seeing the boy's look of dejected humiliation, like a mirror with everything gone pale. He sat down right next to him. This got him a startled look, which he returned a smile to, before the blonde went back to staring at the table.

Al cheered when Cousin Rose got put in Ravenclaw, and again with the others for the Headmistress's speech. There was an even louder cheer when the food appeared.

~~~

"I'm Albus."

Scorpious looked up from picking at his dinner, to see that the black-haired boy was holding out his hand. "Scorpious." Belatedly, he extended his own hand. The handshake was awkward, unpracticed, but enthusiastic.

"Cool," Albus said, smiling.

"What is?"

"Both our names end in 'us'," he clarified. He looked sheepish. "Though I usually go by Al."

"I wish Scorpious shortened," Scorpious said.

"...Scorpi?"

"Only my mom calls me that." He decided not to mention that his dad did as well, at least at home.

"Oh." There were a few minutes as awkward as the handshake before Al finally worked up the nerve to say "You looked really awful when you got sorted."

Scorpious blushed the tiniest bit. "All my family's been in Slytherin. Dad even gave me his old scarf."

"My family's all in Gryffindor," Al said. "Well, Cousin Rose got into Ravenclaw. But everybody before us's been in Gryffindor. Like my brother James."

Scorpious craned his neck to look over at the Gryffindor table. "I think I see him, if he's the one making faces at us."

"That's why I'm sitting on this side," Al said. "He's gonna tease the hell out of me for this." He took a long slurp of pumpkin juice. "What're you doing with those muffins?"

Scorpious paused, one hand halfway to his pocket with a raspberry muffin. "They're for my ferret."

"Cool."