author's note: This is my new story about Albus' fifth year in Hogwarts, but it's definitely not just about him. All of the Weasley and Potter clan will show up in one way or another, with turns on narration. I hope you guys enjoy this, feedback is wonderful!
In the first week of his Hogwarts education, Albus Severus Potter got lost in the dungeons three times, was called some variation of "a sodding, wanking, cock-up arsehole" six times, and was late to classes a whopping eight times. His older brother James was absolutely stunned he'd made it into Gryffindor, and avoided telling anyone that they were at all related, refusing to even pull Albus out of the trick stair with people present. He lost ten points for his house by accidently smashing an ancient Slytherin vase into bits. But perhaps what brought him to the breaking point was the complete silence he was treated to upon being partnered in Potions with Scorpius Malfoy.
"Um," Albus said, and immediately commended himself on his highly complex and tactful greeting. "Hello?" he attempted, placing his bag on the table. Scorpius stared ahead, stony-faced, looking as if he was fascinated with the blackboard. "I'm Albus," he told him, extending his hand. When Scorpius refused to acknowledge his presence, the frustration of the past week swelled inside of him. Hogwarts was not turning out to be the fairytale magical funtime land that he had been expecting, and his disappointment with the school was only being made worse by this git.
"Right, here's the thing, Scorpius. We are not our parents, thank Merlin, and we do not need to continue their petty grudges. And even if you do, I would like to somehow pass this class, so could you please save the dramatics for after Potions?" Albus could not stop the words from tumbling out, and he was almost frightened when he finished. Was he about to be attacked? James had told him the Malfoy family was ghastly, perhaps even unstable. He sat, shocked at his momentary courage, and waited to be cursed into the next century. But to his utter astonishment, Scorpius reluctantly turned and gave him a quick, flicker of a smile.
"Merlin, the Potter kid has balls," Scorpius said, pulling his ginger root towards him and beginning to slice it. Albus almost collapsed with relief-it appeared that he was not going to be attacked.
"Thank you," Albus replied, and began to grind newt eggs.
"Don't thank me for you having balls. I suppose you should thank your parents for that. Genes, you know," Scorpius told him, a hint of a laugh in his voice.
"Right, genes. I'll remember that," Albus said, trying to focus on keeping his squirming newt eggs from jumping off the table.
And so Albus concluded a week of horrendous terror with a decent Potions class with the most unlikely of partners. He learned as time went on to avoid the older students' wraths, how to navigate the dungeons without destroying important historical artifacts, and that his brother James would always be a raging dick. Although Hogwarts was not the perfect place he had heard of in his father's tales, he found that he liked it well enough, and could even feel at home there. The year continued without major incident, other than a small cat-exploding problem on Halloween thanks to a shoddy spell James had told him, and his Potions class that he had once dreaded became bearable, even likeable. Scorpius was certainly not friendly, and was frightened that his father would find out that he wasn't torturing Albus, but he was not at least cursing him. At times, the two even could laugh together, and looked forward to the class each week.
The years progressed with relative ease. Albus spent the majority of his time with his cousins Roxanne and Rose, and they kept to themselves for the most part. Albus was not exactly standoffish, just self-conscious, with a tendency to say things that caused people to look at him twice. Thankfully, his cousins exhibited similar tendencies, and they all were socially awkward together. Things went relatively well for four years. However, when Albus reached his fifth year, things began to go terribly wrong. It began with an impromptu erection in Potions class, escalating to his extremely inconvenient falling in love with Scorpius Malfoy.