~What Am I Feeling?~

~Part 1- Worlds Collide~

~Chapter 1- First Impressions~

Scorpius Malfoy had never felt so small as he did in that moment. He knew very well that he wasn't the tallest boy anyway, but he felt like he had shrunk down to the size of a pea. He grasped his mother's hand tightly, but no sense of comfort came over him. He was scared. And he was going to going off on his own to a huge school, with nobody to stand by him.

It was overwhelming here. Scorpius had never felt so many different emotions circle him before and for good reason.

Scorpius was an unusual boy with unusual gifts. Some may say it's extraordinary what the boy could do, but he would argue that, saying it was just rare. He saw it as more of a burden than anything else and it wasn't something easy to deal with.

Scorpius was able to feel everybody's emotions around him. Out of the few people who knew about his gift, only a couple saw any benefits in it. Most realised the hardships of such a power. Yes, he would never doubt what another was feeling for him and he could manipulate this but Scorpius didn't even see that as a benefit. But when he had to deal with everybody else's emotions, including his own, the only word to describe this was overwhelming.

It wasn't easy for Scorpius' parents either. Before they discovered the power when Scorpius was five, they spent years trying to understand how Scorpius always knew and understood what they were feeling. When Draco Malfoy, Scorpius' father, came back from work, angry, after a hard day, it was confusing to see their son angry too. And if Astoria Malfoy was feeling a bit down, Scorpius would always ask why she was sad. Even when she denied it, Scorpius would tell her he knew she was sad.

For a short while, the Malfoys decided that Scorpius must just be very mature for his age and in tact with his emotions. But it was the day, not long after Scorpius' birthday that was a real turning point.

The family had been shopping in Diagon Alley, ignoring the glares they received. It had not been easy for the Malfoy family after the war. Draco's mother and father had been sentenced to serve life imprisonment in Azkaban for their participation in the war, however Draco was not, on the basis that he was young and his role in the war was enforced upon him, whereas others acted willingly. Even so, Draco was an outcast. In no way did society accept the eighteen year old boy who was now living on his own. He did not return to Hogwarts for his final year and struggled to find work. He eventually managed to get a job in Flourish and Blotts, behind the scenes, as no one wanted to be served by an ex death eater. It was the only way to keep some money coming in. It hadn't got much better when he married Astoria. People were starting to ignore the fact he played a part in the war, but only few. The Malfoys just tried to make as few public appearances as possible.

However, the day they chose to go to Diagon Alley an unfortunate accident happened. A young boy, off on his second term holidays crash landed his broom in Diagon Alley. People crowded around the scene, whispers flying around that he had actually broken his leg.

Draco and Astoria had been trying to peer over the crowd when they heard a small whimper next to them. Scorpius curled up on the floor, grasping his leg with his face distorted in pain. His father instinctively went down to comfort him when he heard a whisper of Daddy… it hurts.

That was when they realised there was something more to Scorpius than meets the eye. They looked into it, bringing him to the Ministry where someone from the research committee informed them that Scorpius wasn't the only one to have such an ability, though it was extremely rare. He told them how Scorpius is able to feel everything everyone else was feeling.

Once Draco and Astoria had found this out, they did their best to keep their son safe and away from unwanted emotions. They didn't want him to have the weight of everyone else's bad feelings on him. He was only a boy… he didn't need all that.

They didn't take Scorpius out too often, only when he needed to. But he was too young to know any different. He stayed at home with his mother and the few house elves that lived there. Scorpius actually got on really well with the house elves. He would chat to them throughout his childhood years, really making good friends out of them. Intriguingly, Scorpius couldn't sense magical creature's feelings, only humans. However, his father in fact treated the house elves extremely well, although Scorpius knew it was probably a lot to do with his friendship with them.

Despite his secluded childhood, Scorpius was happy in Malfoy manor. He liked his quiet life. He wasn't the most sociable person anyway, but staying at home meant he didn't have to deal with other people's feelings. It was bad enough having his parent's feelings around him all the time.

But this… and with all these strangers' emotions circling, making his own feel so tiny and his existence so small… was going to take some getting used to.

"Scorpius, darling, are you feeling alright?" Astoria bent down next to her son, taking his hands in hers. She offered a supportive smile, though she knew how hard and frightening this all must be for her son. But both her and Draco knew it needed to be done. They knew Scorpius was clever and they knew he needed a good education if he wanted any chance in the Wizarding world. His name was already dragging him down.

"It's a bit strange, but I think I'll get used to it." Scorpius muttered, his head flicking around as new emotions flooded around him.

"You should get on the train so you can get a seat." Draco clapped a hand on his son's shoulder before picking up his suitcase for him.

Scorpius nodded and gratefully took the heavy trunk from his father. With the other arm he grasped the cage of his owl, bumping into people rushing past as he did so.

"Oh Scorpius…" Astoria hugged her son tightly, holding back the few tears threatening to spill over, "You be good now. Write to us as soon as you can. If it's too hard then you can always come home…"

"But it would be better if you stay," His father said firmly, "You'll love Hogwarts. I promise you."

"I should get on." Scorpius worried, watching other excited children jumping upon the Hogwarts Express.

"Goodbye honey," Astoria said with a broken voice as she kissed the top of his head, "Write to us. Remember."

And with that, Scorpius made his first few steps into his new but completely strange life. He had never been without his parents before. They had always been there to look after and care for him. What was it going to be like now that Scorpius was without them? Would it be hard? Or would Scorpius cope?

The possibility of making friends hadn't even occurred to Scorpius. He knew he was anti-social. Or at least thought he was. Plus, he knew nobody would want to be friends with a Malfoy.

Scorpius dragged his trunk down the slim corridors of the train, his eyes scanning each compartment. He didn't recognise any of the other students. Of course he wouldn't, but they all seemed to know who he was otherwise none of them would shoot him such evil glares.

He felt the resentment gleam off the other children. It only made him more uncertain of himself and the relief even greater when he found an empty compartment.

The blonde shut the door firmly behind him, the emotions swamping around him dulled. He breathed out a sigh of relief and plopped himself down on the seat.

When the train started moving, Scorpius didn't even look out the window to see his parents waving at him. Instead, he searched through his trunk for his copy of Hogwarts: A History. He had read it many times of course, but he thought it seemed more appropriate that he read it now.

For the first part of the train journey, Scorpius tried to block out his worries by reading about the moving staircases of Hogwarts and their origin. He tried to enjoy the peace of only his emotions for the time being. He knew it wouldn't last very long.

When his door flung open and he was greeted by the sound of heavy panting and a rush of annoyance, his head flung up to see who had disturbed him.

A boy stood there, could be no older than twelve. His hair was dark, almost black and looked like it was uncared for. His cheeks were flushed, from the running most likely, and his pink lips parted as gasps escaped through. What Scorpius noticed most were those green eyes. A bright, piercing green, a shade Scorpius could only describe as stunning, but also somewhat recognisable.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" The boy asked, Scorpius noticing that his voice was slightly deeper than his.

"No… um, of course not." Scorpius said nervously, fidgeting in his seat.

The boy flashed him a grin, making Scorpius' breath catch. The boy sat down on the opposite side of the carriage, pulling his legs up onto the seat.

"My brother was chasing me, the big brute. I hate big brothers sometimes," The boy huffed, crossed his arms, "Do you have a brother?"

"N-no." Scorpius stuttered, his eyes wide as he wondered whether he sounded like a complete idiot.

"Count yourself lucky." The boy exasperated, running his fingers through his straggly hair, "Are you a first year?"

"Y-yes."

"Mm, me too." The boy smiled happily, when he suddenly offered his hand, "I'm Albus Severus Potter."

"O-Oh…"

Scorpius had heard of the Potters. As well as them often being in the Daily Prophet, he had heard a lot about them from his father. Mostly bad things, unfortunately. But Scorpius could feel it was just jealousy. Him and Albus' father, the great Harry Potter, had a childhood rivalry throughout their days at Hogwarts. Harry had come out of it as a hero, with lots of money and had past on a good name to his children, whereas Draco had left the war with the exact opposite.

He often complained about the Potters' fame and fortune, often calling them 'Attention Seekers'. Scorpius' mother believed her husband of course, but Scorpius knew that Draco just envied the Potters' life.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius shook Albus' hand quickly, almost as if to avoid Albus' reaction.

He felt slight surprise from the other boy in retaliation, yet he still smiled, "It's nice to meet you Scorpius."

Scorpius gaped for a second. He expected Albus to quickly escape as soon as he discovered his name, but maybe Albus was different, "It's nice to meet you too."

"So, you're a Malfoy," Albus grinned, as he leant back in his chair, "Our dads had a bit of a rivalry. Do you think we will?"

"I'm not like my father." Scorpius said nervously, but with a small smile.

"Me neither," Albus' smile grew even brighter, causing Scorpius' heart to pick up again, "Maybe that means we could be friends? My dad's always said we should have nothing against the Malfoys. And you seem really nice."

"I would like to be friends…" Scorpius whispered timidly, hiding behind his blond locks. For the first time, the possibility of having friends filled Scorpius' mind, especially when he felt happiness spill from Albus as their friendship was agreed. He didn't know what it was like to have friends, other than the house elves, so it was going to be new for him. But Albus seemed so… warm and welcoming. He felt like he could start to relax a bit, "W-why were you running from your brother?"

"He was teasing me," Albus lowered his head, a small pout appearing, "About being in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. He's been at it for weeks. It's really annoying… I just wanted to get away from him."

Impulsive, was Scorpius' first thought to that, "Is it bad to be in Slytherin?"

"I guess it's not bad… but I would rather be in Gryffindor. Don't think I will be though. I think I'm more of a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."

"I want to be in Ravenclaw. I want to do well in… Hogwarts. I want to get good NEWTs at the end of it all."

"Thinking about NEWTs already?" Albus raised his eyebrows, "I should stay friends with you. I have a feeling you would prepare me well for exams."

Scorpius giggled uncontrollably, blushing at his own reaction, "I'll be happy to."

~X~

A/N: Ah, maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to post two new stories in two days, because I'm not sure how long it will take for me to upload them, but I just wanted to get this first chapter up!

I wanted to do a story about Albus and Scorpius' life and also thought of the 'Feelings' power as I shall now refer to it. Was originally going to include the 'Feelings' power in a different story, but I thought it would add a bit of drama to it, sooooo combined the two.

This is going to be a loooong story by the way. It is slash, rated T, but will probably add an extra M story on the side for the boy lovin goodness.

Hope you all liked the first chapter! Please review if you want me to continue with it!

Next chapter:: The sorting ensures some surprises.