Hermione subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief as the owl flew in through the open window. She hadn't expected it to come the previous evening; Rose would have been far too busy enjoying the feast, but every moment without it had been torturous as she waited to hear that her firstborn was okay.

Her husband already had the scroll in his hand by the time she made it across the kitchen and although she tried to take it from him, he took advantage of his height, playfully holding it up out of her reach.

"Ron!"

"You always get to read things, today is my turn!"

She frowned at him, but hung on every word as he began to recount Rose's first impressions of Hogwarts.

"...the hat had only been on my head for a few seconds before it sorted me into Gryffindor -" Ron punched the air. "I knew she'd do it. Well done Rosie."

Hermione glared at him, but he didn't stop grinning.

"Don't be like that. You wanted it just as much as I did, don't pretend otherwise."

"I'm not saying I didn't, but I've already told you that it doesn't matter. You'll end up putting too much pressure on Hugo if you make it out to be a big deal."

Ron laughed. "Hugo will be fine. You worry too much. Anyway, I want to know what Rosie liked best about the feast."

His eyes returned to the parchment, but he fell silent. Instead his grin turned into a frown and he relinquished the letter to her.

Nervously Hermione scanned the first few sentences ...lake...magical...beautiful...sorting...hat...Gryffindor...feast... until she got to the point of contention... Albus has been sorted into Slytherin! She looked up at Ron, who was eying her warily.

"What does it matter?" She gave a hollow laugh. "Isn't that what we wanted to achieve: unity, tolerance, freedom from prejudice? The stigma around Slytherin house disappeared after the war. People think differently now. "

Her husband looked unconvinced.

"But what about..."

"Harry will be just fine," she stated, sounding more convinced than she felt.

They returned to the rest of the letter, eager to hear more about Rose's first day, but both kept a watchful on the fireplace, knowing they might soon be needed.

...

It was less than an hour later before Harry's face appeared.

"I imagine Rosie told you?" He was trying to keep the edge out of his voice, but he looked troubled.

"What does it matter, Harry?" Hermione busied herself with making a cup of tea, before Ron suggested getting the Firewhisky out.

"Surely we're well past house politics now? How many Slytherins do you work with, invite round to dinner? Didn't you name him for one of the bravest men you knew, a Slytherin? It really doesn't matter, Harry. It's just a house."

She said it all a little too quickly, as if she wasn't being entirely honest. But she was, wasn't she? They had fought to change things and to make life better; every day she worked to promote cohesion and to counter people's prejudices. Surely she didn't have any of her own?

The tiniest thought nagged at her as she remembered how desperate she had been not to be in Slytherin herself and as she thought of all of the negative things they had said about people form that house over the years. She didn't like to admit that she had been as relieved as Ron when Rose had stated her destination.

Harry sighed. "Ginny said exactly the same thing. But...Slytherin? Ravenclaw would have been fine, or Hufflepuff, but Slytherin? We hated them, we hated what they stood for. We've never hidden that fact. I know things have changed, but I don't know if I can convince Albus that being there is okay."

"Of course you can mate, he's your son. You love him, unconditionally, whatever he does, wherever he ends up. He listens to you above anyone else. Let him see that you're okay with it and he'll be fine too."

The words shocked Hermione. It wasn't like Ron to be so intuitive.

"I know, but he's going to be all by himself...with all those kids whose parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles we've locked up..."

Hermione stalled for a moment. Harry raised a good point. Part of the relief in Rose being sorted into Gryffindor stemmed from the knowledge that she would join so many of her cousins there, who would be able to keep an eye on her. She remembered only too well what it felt like to have no one, to feel completely alone.

"Rose will be in some of his classes though..." Hermione offered reassuringly. "And I'm sure the other Slytherin first years are lovely." She glanced at Ron, warning him not to say anything as her mind, as she imagined his did, wandered to the image of Scorpius Malfoy.

"James will be horrendous about it too." Harry continued, oblivious to their attempts at reassurance. "He'll never let him live it down. The teasing at home will be a nightmare. He's been winding him up about the sorting all summer; now this has happened I dread to think what things will be like."

"Could Teddy have a word?" Ron suggested. "James listens to him better than anyone."

"Maybe." Harry wrung his hands before glancing at his watch. "I'd better get back. Ginny has a game to report on this afternoon; I need to be around to look after Lily. I'll catch you later."

...

The second night they spent without Rose in the house seemed even stranger than the first. She regularly disappeared for a night to stop with various cousins or her grandparents, but two nights felt more unusual. Hermione was well aware that Ron's form, lying next to her, was just as awake as she was.

"What are you thinking?" she whispered into the darkness.

Ron chuckled. "I'm wondering how on earth we stop Albus from introducing Rose to any of his Slytherin friends. I'm willing to be highly supportive of Albus, but if she thinks that she's bringing a Slytherin home as a potential suitor, she's got another thing coming."

Hermione groaned, hoping for her own sake that there were some lovely boys in Gryffindor.

...

A/N: I wrote this a while ago, with every intention of posting it today. I'm not entirely convinced about how it turned out so may tweak it a little in the future.

As I was driving home from work someone read the Harry/ Albus moment from the Epilogue and I am now panicking that my Harry is completely out of line with book Harry here. However I also believe that for all he reassured Albus that Slytherin was fine, he probably wouldn't have expected it and would have been rather worried about Albus being there and the prejudices that some of his peers may have.