"Gryffindor!"
The Sorting Hat shouted out the House to the Great hall as a whole.
Albus Severus Potter hopped off of the three-legged stool, the enormous grin spreading across his face barely concealing the expression of relief that passed over him when the old hat declared his House.
Of course he had been nervous, for Albus had more than enough to live up to.
Grinning quickly at his closest friend, Rose Weasley, he scurried over to the table that had erupted with cheers and cat-calls. His ears turned pink, a general sign that he was embarrassed, when he heard them calling his last name.
"Potter, Potter, Potter!" He knew exactly why, and it made him incredibly proud, if not a slight bit embarrassed.
Albus sat down at the first seat that he could find, and discreetly shifted his hand over to save a seat for Rose, who, at the present moment, was his only first year friend at Hogwarts.
He looked up at the staff table to see many familiar faces. Catching Professor Longbottom's eye, he grinned and waved. Being an incredibly close family friend, he received a joyful wave in return.
Albus waited patiently for the W-s to come around, and in the meantime, he looked up and down the length of the table at the people who would be members of his House for the next seven years. Not far down the row, there was a boy with white blond hair, whose face and ears were beet-red. His eyes were furious, and the smallest bit sad. Not wanting to seem as though he was staring, Albus averted his gaze.
When Rose was sorted into Gryffindor, Albus uncrossed his fingers, toes and arms and cheered with the rest of the House. Rose practically ran down the row and sat down next to Albus, nudging him and grinning widely..
Albus soon heard the clinking of a glass from up at the staff table. Headmistress Jimberore stood up, her kindly old face casting shadows on the wall.
"Welcome, students and staff, new and old, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet another year comes to pass! Another year, sure to be filled to the brim with magical education. Last year, the Slytherin House continued their 3 year-winning streak of the House Cup, and Ravenclaw took home the Quidditch Cup." At this, both Houses cheered. and the Headmistress waited patiently for them to settle down before continuing. " Now, we start a new year, and I hope that you are all ready to learn some magic! Finally, as always, stay away from the Forbidden Forest, and no curses in the corridors. Now, you may eat!"
With those words, the golden plates and goblets filled with all of the best foods. Albus piled food onto his plate, and began to eat as though he hadn't in days. After five practically silent minutes of everyone in the Hall eating, Albus took a break from his potatoes and looked around the Great Hall. He noticed a pale ghost floating up and down the Gryffindor table, and whispered into Rose's ear, " I think that might be the Gryffindor ghost." Rose looked over to where the ghost was floating, in the middle of the roast beef, and nodded in agreement.
After the dinner had been magically cleared, and Albus felt as though he had been filled with cotton stuffing, the House began to file out of the Great Hall. Hearing, " First year Gryffindor's, follow me," Rose grabbed Albus's elbow and pulled him over to where the Gryffindor prefect was standing.
As they walked up the many flights of stairs to reach the Common Room, Albus marvelled at the moving pictures and staircases, and he knew that in the first couple of weeks, he was going to have to work very hard not to get lost.
Finally, after a long narration by the Gryffindor prefects, who had introduced themselves as Harper Brengen and Calvin Kadren, all of the first years arrived at the portrait of, as James had told him, the Fat Lady.
"Listen up, first years!" Harper called out, " I am going to tell you the password to get into the common room. Don't forget it, or you will have to wait around outside until someone tells it to you. And, the password changes every so often, so remember that. Alright, the password is Gillywater. Did everyone get that? Good."
When Harper said the password, the portrait swung open to reveal a hole in the wall. The prefects climbed in, and the first years pushed and shoved to be the first ones into the Common Room. In the struggle to get through the portrait hole, Albus lost sight of Rose, but when he stepped through, he momentarily forgot about his friend.
In awe, Albus looked around at the glowing fireplace surrounded by plush armchairs, the scarlet tapestries hanging from the walls, and the windows that gave Albus the perfect view of the Hogwarts grounds.
Across, the room, Albus saw Rose being ushered up the staircase to the girl's dormitories. He waved to get her attention, and when he caught her eye, he mouthed Goodnight.
When Albus reached his dormitory, there was only one boy in it. It was the red-faced boy who Albus had glanced before. Now, the boy was sitting on one of the four poster beds, and had his head in his hands.
"Hi," Albus began cautiously, sitting down on the bed next to the boy's, where his trunk was set. " My name's Albus Potter. Are- are you alright?"
The boy gave a strangled laugh and replied, " I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and no, I'm not alright. I'm not even supposed to be here."
"Where? At Hogwarts?"
"No. In Gryffindor. My whole family, and I mean my whole family, has been in Slytherin. My grandparents already think I'm worthless because I don't despise the thought of Muggles like they do."
Albus was silent. After while, he said carefully, "I think that if they don't accept you for you, then they don't really care about you. Isn't that what they always tell us"
Scorpius studied the other boy's face, his pale eyes sad. "I guess so. I just-"
But he never finished his sentence, because at that moment, three boys burst into the room, laughing. The first boy, while shaking his sandy hair out of his eyes, introduced himself as Wyatt Finnigan. The second boy introduced himself as Leo Valiente, and fell backwards onto his bed. The last boy introduced himself as Liam Hannsen, and barely made it through the doorway before he tripped over his trunk and fell flat on his face.
As Wyatt helped him up, (for they seemed to be close friends) the rest of them laughed happily. Albus glanced over at Scorpius, and was glad to see that his face lit up as he laughed. He felt bad for him. It must be hard to have a family that doesn't understand you.
When they finally calmed down, they all climbed under their comfortable covers, and slowly fell asleep.