September 1st, 2023

When Albus and his family arrived at Kings Cross Station, he was nearly bouncing on his heels with anticipation. He hadn't seen his best mate all summer because he and his father had taken a trip across Africa. In his letters, Scorpius talked about visiting the Zambezi River where Muggles believe a legendary God resides. This, of course, was not true. The strange events that haunted the area were actually caused by a magical tribe intent on keeping Muggle technology from tainting their sacred territory.

He and his father also visited Uagadou, the only school for magic on the continent. Albus hadn't been particularly interested in the onslaught of letters explaining the magical history of the region. He had, however, been incredibly jealous to learn that Scorpius and his father were able to observe, at a distance of course, a heard of Erumpent that were kept some distance beyond the school grounds.

Albus spent the summer living vicariously through his friend's letters while he and Lily's 'very important' parents worked, and they struggled to find something in common to talk about. Their brother, James, was still in Auror training, and usually came home late, only to grab whatever food he could pilfer from the refrigerator before slumping his way up to bed.

Albus didn't hold it against them. His dad was the head of Magical Law Enforcement, and his mum traveled around to Quidditch games to report on them. She, at least, had taken pity on them by mid-July, and taken him and Lily to see a match between Germany and Poland. He didn't care much for the match, although he did enjoy seeing the Neuschwanstein Castle. It was the one interesting thing he had been able to write to Scorpius about response expressing his envy and asking a million questions. It was then that Albus considered sending his friend a howler explaining just how little there was to envy. He didn't, of course; it wasn't Scorpius' fault that he was a prodigious nerd. If fact, it was thanks to Scorpius' that Albus even knew the definition of the word "prodigious."

"Try not to look like such a lost puppy, Albus." Lily teased. "It's not like you two haven't been writing constantly over the summer. I'm surprised you aren't more exhausted from all that pining."

"Don't you have a gang of loud, screeching girls to find? Sod off." He snapped.

"As a matter of fact, I do." And with that she said quick goodbyes to their parents and bounded off toward the train.

"Albus, I am sure he will be here soon." His mother assured knowingly, turning him to face her gently. She wrapped him into a hug, and reached up to kiss him on the cheek, as he was now several inches taller than her. "I expect more than one Owl a month this year. As your sister pointed out, you are quite familiar with the process." He nodded his promise, knowing full well that he wouldn't.

He turned to his dad, who also pulled him into a (significantly more awkward) hug. "I can't believe this is your last year." He said fondly. "I remember your first year. You were so nervous."

Albus laughed only slightly bitterly. "I remember it, too. You told me that sodding hat would put me in Gryffindor, if I asked."

His father frowned at him. It was a subject that they had never spoken about properly. "And did you? Ask it to put you in Gryffindor?" He asked hesitantly. Something about his tone told Albus that he was very eager to know the answer to that question. He wouldn't have been too surprised if his dad had wanted to ask for a while.

"Yes." Albus admitted. Mustering his courage, he looked up to his dad. "I am glad it didn't, though. Slytherin…fits." He didn't bother lying to himself by saying it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Quite the contrary. His first few years in Slytherin were hell. Even members of his own family had avoided him. But over the years, Albus learned to accept, and eventually embrace, the qualities that made him Slytherin.

He was brave, yet he believed that there was no need for reckless bravery if cunning enough to avoid conflict. He was no Gryffindor. He was smart, although he felt that intellect meant nothing if lacking in the resourcefulness to put it to use. He was no Ravenclaw. He was hard working, but only when determined enough to bother. He was no Hufflepuff.

No, Albus was Slytherin. He was okay with that because if he weren't, he wouldn't have Scorpius. Scorpius was the best thing that ever happened to him. It was only a bonus that his Slytherin pride was a hilarious source of discomfort among his family members.

His dad gave him a smile that he was sure was meant to be understanding, and gripped his shoulder. "I am just glad you are happy, son."

"ALBUS!"

He turned around just in time to be tackled into a bone crushing hug. Albus, who was nearly knocked down by the force of it, registered the blond hair tickling his cheek along with the the familiar smell of expensive cologne, and hugged Scorpius back fiercely.

When the two finally broke apart, Albus thumped his friend on the chest, beaming. "You nearly knocked the breath out of me!"

"Sorry." Scorpius replied, not looking the least bit sorry.

Albus laughed then turned his attention to Scorpius' father. "Did you have a good summer Mr. Malfoy?"

He smiled at Albus with a sort of fondness that was usually reserved for his son, though had been extended to himself in recent years.

"It was quite enjoyable." He replied. Albus ignored his dads slight frown as he extended his hand to shake Mr. Malfoy's. "How about you, Albus?"

"Didn't do much." He replied lamely, regretting it immediately as Mr. Malfoy raised an eyebrow with a trademark Malfoy smirk.

"Did you not vacation over the summer, Potter?" He drawled. Albus hadn't spent a significant amount of time with Draco Malfoy, yet he knew enough about him to know that he would happily exploit any opportunity to come across as a better father than the famous Harry Potter.

Though their parents managed to come to a begrudging cease-fire for Albus and Scorpius' sake, it hardly stopped them from attempting to one-up each other. "The department has been very busy lately, Malfoy, as you know. As the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, I am expected to make certain sacrifices. Lavish holidays, for example."

"Clearly." He replied with his usual air of superiority, although Albus noticed his lips twitch with a repressed smile, while returning his attention back to the children. "We took a few pictures of the Erumpent for you, Albus. If I recall correctly, the Hogwarts library has a fascinating book about their significance in African culture."

"Father!" Sighed Scorpius. "You know Albus doesn't read. He's just going to make me read it to him."

Albus continued to ignore his dad's deepening frown as the rest of them laughed. He understood that it was difficult for him to observe his son being so chummy with his former rival. However, he resigned himself to the fact that it was simply something he was going to have to get used to.

"Have a great year, boys." Mr. Malfoy concluded.

"We will." They chortled in unison as he clasped Scorpius' shoulder a final time. With an affectionate nod, he walked away.

Albus hastily kissed his mum on the check and uttered a quick goodbye before grabbing Scorpius by the arm and dragging him to the train, eager to have his friend all to himself for the first time since their holiday began.

The boys managed to find an empty compartment near the end of the train. Since their first year, they always traveled on the Hogwarts Express alone. Despite having made several more friends over the last few years, they considered the ride to Hogwarts a sacred, annual ritual. It was unspoken, but spending it together was a silent nod to their friendship, a celebration of the place they first met.

Albus locked the door with a wave of his wand before immediately pulling Scorpius into another hug, this time being careful to not squeeze the life out him. Scorpius returned the hug, wrapping his arms around Albus' waist and burying his head into his shoulder. Well past the point the amount of time society allotted for a friendly hug, Albus pulled away and grinned at his friend. "I don't want to hear any more about your amazing summer." He joked.

Scorpius laughed. "Not a chance. I will be slipping it into conversation whenever possible."

Albus stowed their trunks in the overhead compartment after Scorpius pulled out a bag filled with pepper imps and chocolate frogs, along with his wizard's chess set.

Over the next few hours, Albus lost repeatedly while they worked their way through the sweets.

"We made it to our last year. Can you believe it? This will be the best year yet." Scorpius exclaimed as his rook smashed the other's bishop into pieces. Albus wasn't entirely convinced, however Scorpius' enthusiasm was infections.

"It will be the best, whether it's good or bad. Because it will be the last!" Albus mused.

Scorpius chuckled, but withheld a response as he concentrated on his next move.

In truth, Albus was determined to make his last year the best one. Fortunately, after their fourth year, their peers had begun to treat them much more kindly. The rumor about Scorpius being the son of Voldemort had mostly fizzled out, and Albus went almost the entire previous year without being called the Slytherin Squib. Even Polly Chapman seemed to have stopped dropping insults at every possible opportunity.

They weren't considered heroes by anyone's standards. After all, they simply corrected a world ending mistake which they, themselves, had made. Still, it was nice not to be teased or ignored so much.

They were also getting along quite well with their dorm mates, who were never cruel to them, yet certainly hadn't went out of their way to be social. This was largely due to Scorpius making the reserve Keeper position on the Slytherin Quidditch team in their sixth year. His talent could hardly be ignored. This forced them to spend more time with him, and discover that he, and Albus by extension, was not so bad.

Considering the vast improvement to his reputation, Albus thought he might even work up the nerve ask out a girl this year. He couldn't think of any girls he actually liked at Hogwarts, but he vowed over the summer to at least try to get to know some of them. Professor McGonagall started an end of the year ball for fourth through seventh years in an attempt to discourage unsanctioned end of the year parties, and Albus was determined to have a date this year.

He and Scorpius went stag together for the past two years, escaping as quickly as they could. A room full of swooning couples in tacky dress robes wasn't appealing to either of them. Perhaps, Albus thought inwardly, it would be more enjoyable with a date. If anyone would be willing to go on a date with him. Better reputation or no, he still wasn't sure if he was attractive enough to land one.

"Scorp?"

"Hmmm?" Scorpius asked, staring intently at the chess board, strategizing his next move.

"Do you think I'm good looking?" He asked, suddenly nervous. Scorpius tensed up visibly, avoiding Albus's gaze.

"Well," Scorpius replied with some hesitation. "Of course, you are good looking. Your hair is nice, and you have a strong jawbone, I suppose. Your eyes are…er….nice…green. I suppose you bulked up a bit over the summer. Girls like that."

Albus couldn't help but to notice the apprehension in Scorpius's voice. In fact, he looked downright uncomfortable with the question. Clearly his mate was humoring him so he didn't press the issue. He probably shouldn't be asking his male best friend about his looks, anyway. Not that he had anyone else to ask.

It was true that his shoulders had broadened quite a bit over the summer. He thought that must be from Weasley genes, because his dad was slighter than both he and his brother James, now.

"Thanks, I suppose." He replied awkwardly. "Pawn to E4."

It was just as well, he thought, as Scorpius' knight smashed his pawn to bits. His mum and dad wouldn't like the idea of him dating, anyway. He already decided that if he did date anyone, his parents were to know nothing about it. His tosser of a brother had ruined that for him.

Since he let slip to Headmistress McGonagall during sixth year career counseling that he hoped to work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they hadn't let up on him about getting the N.E. required for the job. They were on him all summer to avoid distractions. Including dating, which they considered the ultimate distraction. At least it had been for James, who spent most of his seventh-year snogging questionably moral girls in empty classrooms. He barely obtained the N.E. required to be accepted into the Auror program, and Albus strongly suspected he wouldn't have done nearly as well had he not been the son of the boy who lived.

He did appreciate the support all the same. He had worried himself sick assuming his parents wouldn't approve of his career choice, seeing as they approved of very little he had done so far. Following the family business of becoming an Auror hadn't appealed to him in the least. His father, however, was overjoyed when he told them he wanted to work with creatures, and scheduled extra tutoring sessions with Professor Hagrid, much to the apprehension of his mum. Albus then had to listen to his dad tell fond stories about Teddy's werewolf father, and his love of magical creatures.

His Aunt Hermione, who started her career in the same department, personally went to the head of the department to secure an internship for him after school. Provided, of course, that he met the N.E.W.T requirements. It paid off, he supposed, having the Minister for Magic as your Aunt. Normally, Albus wouldn't have felt very comfortable using familial connections in such a way. But Hermione was one of the very few people in his family to not treat him differently after he was placed in Slytherin. Her congratulatory OWL arrived even before the one from his own parents. His desire to impress and show his gratitude to her soon outweighed his hesitation about being given an undeserved 'leg up.'

Scorpius had also secured himself an internship in the Hall of Records at the Ministry. Despite his disgraced surname, it couldn't be denied that Scorpius was more than capable (and far too eager, if you asked Albus) for the boring job.

As long as they made it through their N.E. , things would finally start working in their favor. They'd even decided to room together after school. Albus was unapologetically desperate to move away from his family and Draco Malfoy, who spoilt Scorpius at every possible opportunity, having purchased a rather large and expensive flat in Muggle London as a gift for Scorpius for getting the well-deserved internship. It was conveniently located near the Ministry, and Albus strongly suspected that Mr. Malfoy used some form of magic to charm the previous Muggle owners into selling it to him.

"Checkmate." Scorpius declared, jerking Albus violently out of his reverie.

After losing his fifth match, Albus resisted the urge to throw the chessboard like a child having a tantrum, then announced moodily that he was never playing again.

Scorpius laughed as he packed the board into his trunk. They both knew that he wouldn't actually stop playing, at least not until he won at least one game. At which time Albus was sure to boast his greatness, and proceed to speak fondly of the event for years to come.

Ignoring his friend's poor sportsmanship, as usual, Scorpius grabbed a large, dusty book out of his bag and leaned his back against Albus' chest lazily. "Want me to read it aloud?"

"Nah. I fancy a nap." Albus said, wrapping his arm around his friend to pull him close enough to drop his head on his shoulder. After a few moments, Scorpius snuggled a bit closer, seemingly lost in his book, and Albus became very aware of how close they were. They were practically cuddling. Do friends cuddle? He wasn't sure. It wouldn't be the first time he'd questioned their closeness. His own sister had made more than a few offhanded comments about it over the summer.

Albus brushed it off. They had been through a lot more together than normal friends, he reasoned. Besides, he was quite comfortable. Dismissing the thought, Albus fell into a comfortable sleep.

"Albus, get up! It's time to change into our school robes. We're nearly there." Albus' eyes snapped open to see Scorpius was already up, frantically pulling out his Slytherin robes.

"Bloody hell, Scorpius!" Exclaimed Albus, annoyed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Well get up, you lazy git. We fell asleep." He pulled Albus' robes out as well, throwing them at him roughly.

"All right!" He scoffed, dragging himself up.

In a huff, he began to discard his Muggle clothes. Glancing over to scowl at his mate, Albus paused. Scorpius was quickly tugging off his Muggle shirt while hastily pulling on his Slytherin tie. He'd seen his mate without a shirt many times, yet he had never properly looked. Scorpius had filled out a bit over the summer, as well. He'd grown taller, his shoulders were also broader, though not quite as broad as his own.

It could no longer be denied that Scorpius was becoming rather fit. He was still almost unnaturally pale; oddly, it only added to his attractiveness. He was an almost exact replica of his father, with white blond hair and piercing gray eyes; although the Greengrass side of his lineage could be seen in his jaw, which was less pointy than Draco Malfoy's. And in the high cheekbones, which became more defined with age.

He found himself subconsciously comparing himself to his friend. Scorpius was about two inches taller than he was, yet had a thinner waist. His arms were well defined; although, unlike Albus, he hadn't developed strong muscles in his abs. Rather, his stomach was flat, he had jutting hipbones that on anyone else may have looked feminine, but on Scorpius it was, well… sexy.

He begrudgingly tore his eyes away from his friend and began pulling on his robes. It was odd, he thought, that Scorpius didn't have a girlfriend yet. Surely the girls noticed the way his eyes lit up when he laughed, or how he'd toned up since he'd joined the Quidditch team. Couldn't they see the way his fine blond hair shimmered in the sunlight, or how funny his nerdy puns were? Scorpius was clever, attractive, smart; and shallow as it may be, filthy rich. Even Albus couldn't think of better attributes in a partner. The only possible answer for the Hogwarts female populations egregious oversight was Scorpius' last name.

He quickly dismissed the thought. He was acting like a right poofter, staring at his mate's body like that. It certainly wasn't his place to worry about his friends love life. After all, Scorpius had only ever liked one girl that Albus knew of, unfortunately Rose Granger-Weasley was not likely to ever date any Slytherin, much less a Malfoy. Not that she deserved someone as great as Scorpius. Even if she had been kinder to him in the last couple of years.

"I can't wait to get to the feast." Scorpius complained, breaking Albus out of his thoughts. "I'm starving. I should have brought more sweets."

Albus laughed. "Well you could have gotten something from the Trolley Witch, if you weren't still so scared of her."

Scorpius visibly paled, which was quite a feat for someone who was practically transparent. "I can't believe they keep that monster here. Come on, the train has stopped."

The boys arrived in their dormitory after the feast, full and ready to pass out in their comfortable four poster beds.

Their dorm mates were already there changing into their pajamas. Gregory Bole looked up at them and waved. "Hello Albus, Scorpius! Have a good summer?" He was grinning from ear to ear. Something Albus found to be rather odd. The only thing that evoked that much enthusiasm in him was Quidditch.

"I made Quidditch Captain!" He said quickly, before they had a chance to respond. It was obvious that he was bursting to tell them.

"Good on you mate!" Exclaimed Scorpius. He walked over to shake his hand.

"If you keep up your momentum this year, you may just make the team proper, Scorpius. I have a feeling that this is Slytherin's year." Gregory declared, triumphantly.

Albus turned and rummaged through his trunk, pulling out his pajamas while the other boys continued to talk Quidditch.

"We just need to watch out for the Hufflepuffs. Gryffindor hasn't done much since your brother graduated." Malius added, acknowledging Albus "Ravenclaw has been pants for years. Maybe we can tap into our true Slytherin spirits and hex Hufflepuff's new captain before the match."