It wasn't that Albus Severus was as scared of being in Slytherin as he told his dad. Well. Maybe a little. He would be going against all kinds of traditions. Even with his cousins interspersed in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, the Weasley-Potter clan was staunchly known for Gryffindor. Nervous felt perfectly natural to him. Anyway, there'd been loads of people-related to him-who'd practically gotten cast out of their families for not going to the right House.
Albus was conveniently ignoring the little voice in his head that was telling him that disowning happened in the Black family to the people who were actually good. Why ruin a perfectly good worry with logic? He started having nightmares since James returned from his second year and promptly began teasing him about the Sorting. Though Lily had told on James, it hadn't kept the fear at bay.
He'd meant to ask Lucy's dad, his least Gryffindorish uncle, about it at her birthday party last month. But Uncle Percy had been hunched over something with Uncle George. They had looked awfully busy, so he never got a chance.
The reason Albus Severus was worried was that he knew himself extraordinarily well for an eleven-year-old. He knew it was more than just one of James's taunts; he could very well end up in Slytherin. He was worried that he wouldn't have the family bravery if he went there, that it meant he wasn't a true Potter or Weasley.
Albus thought over his father's words: "You are named for two headmasters at Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."
The young boy smiled.
... ...
More than a few people were surprised the evening of September first. The professors were all of a general mindset: not only a Weasley-one this time, thank goodness-but a Malfoy-not like his father, please-and another Potter-dear sanity, let him not be like his brother. They weren't let down.
Mr. Scorpius Malfoy ended up sitting next to Victoire Weasley, Ravenclaw Prefect. The latest Weasley girl was quite content ignoring her cousin's mutterings. James Potter was-oddly, according to the Weasley brood-in a tizzy that his brother actually was in Slytherin.
The boy in question? He just wanted blueberry cobbler. He was starved.
Written for the It's Not Over Yet challenge and tied for first in the long drabble category. Thanks to my beta, Jaine, and everyone who initially reviewed.