As soon as they got to their dorms, Scorpius wrote a letter to his parents. It was addressed to both of them, but it was mainly for his father. He figured it would be easier to tell his dad right away about being sorted into Gryffindor, and just get it over with.

All it said was:

Dear Mum and Dad,

I wasn't exactly sorted into Slytherin. Actually, I was sorted into Gryffindor. Everyone was very surprised, especially this ghost called Lavender Brown, who said she was in your year. But everyone's nice-

This, he thought, wasn't a lie. Al Potter had been nice. Though he'd rather not mention that right away. He knew there was a reason his dad tensed up every time he had asked about Harry Potter when he was younger- he'd come across the name a few times in books and papers, and figured he was the same age as his dad, so he knew they must've been at Hogwarts together.

-I've even made a few friends-

This however was a lie. But he didn't want to seem like an outcast, not even to his parents.

-Please don't worry about me, like I know you will.

Sincerely,

Scorpius

P.S. Please send some sweets. I'm pretty sure I asked for some before I left, but for some reason we forgot to get those shopping for my school things.

He smiled at his letter, satisfied. He had managed to put in some jokes, perhaps they wouldn't even think about the fact that he was in Gryffindor . . . though this was unlikely.

He shook that thought off and tied the letter to Eleos, who he was happy to find in his room, waiting for him.

He didn't stay with the others in his dorm to get to know them, but only because he was too tired. He was barely able to awake long enough to write his letter.

The next morning, he ate breakfast alone. He didn't mind much though, he was mainly focussing on his food- after all, he hadn't eaten for at least 24 hours. However, he couldn't help but notice that his parents hadn't written back to him yet.

His first class was Double Potions, with Slytherins. The only available seat, when he entered the room, had been at a table with Al and Rose.

They didn't seem to notice him at first, Al was telling Rose about the other boys in their year, covertly pointing to each one while Rose did the same with the girls. Scorpius listened in on them.

Besides himself and Al in his dorm, there was Lorcan Scamander, who had long, blonde, unkempt hair, which he kept back in a pony tail. He had a twin, Lysander, who had hair just as long and unkempt, but he had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Darren Thomas was a very tall boy with with dark skin, and hair that the fringe of had been dyed blue with muggle hair dye. Then there was Colin Creevey, a scrawny boy with mousy brown hair, who seemed very hyper at times, but got along with everyone.

In the girls' dorm, besides Roxanne and Rose, there was the girl called Erin, who had become quite good friends with Rose, and it turned out Scorpius had been right- she was muggle-born. Roxanne spent most of her time with Isabelle Jordan, who she had apparently already known. Isabelle had dark skin and hair, but had bleached her fringe, so it was white, which, in Scorpius's opinion, looked quite silly. Then there was Sibohan Finnigan, who had light orange hair, lighter than Rose's, and wore them in pigtails. She also happened to be the daughter of their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

They stopped talking when the professor walked in. She had long straight black hair and wore robes of dark blue. She strode to the front of the room, pointing her wand at the blackboard, making words appear- Professor Jones.

"Alright," she said briskly, "Welcome to your first Potion's lesson. Now, you all should have the required Magical Draughts and Potion: Revised- good-" there was a clatter as everyone took out their books, "Now we're going to start with something simple today, a Boil-Cure Potion- Does anyone know the ingredients to this?"

Scorpius looked around at the blank faces of the other students. He was about to raise his hand, since he at least knew most of the ingredients, but then Rose's shot into the air.

"Yes?" said Professor Jones.

"The ingredients for a Boil-Cure Potion consist of dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, porcupine quills, and flobberworm mucus," Rose recited at top speed.

Everyone in the class looked around at her. Scorpius looked at her lap, expecting to see her book opened for her to copy out of, but no, the book was closed on the table in front of her.

"Very good," the professor said, looking mildly impressed, "Take ten points for Gryffindor. And your name is?"

"Rose Weasley," Rose said, looking pleased.

Professor Jones raised her eyebrows, "Hermione Granger's kid, aren't you?"

"Yes, Professor, I am," she answered politely.

"Well the apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree," Professor Jones said smiling, "Now, the instructions for a Boil-Cure Potion are easy enough to follow . . ."

Al beamed, "I knew it'd come in handy to be in the same house as you," he whispered, thumping Rose on the back.

Rose shh-ed him, but otherwise smiled. Scorpius couldn't help but smile either, though he tried to hide. He was glad someone was earning points for his house.

Once the professor finished talking, and had written all of the instructions on the board, the class imediately got to work.

When Rose and Scorpius each had gotten all of their ingredients from the store cubbards, Rose looked around Al and said, "Er, Scorpius?"

Scorpius hesitated. He wasn't sure he had correctly heard Rose- what would she want with him? But when he looked up at her, she was looking at him determinedly.

She stuck her nose in the air, seeming to hold onto her dignity, "I wanted to . . . apolo- say that . . . we've gotten off on the wrong foot. And since we ended up in the same house, I think we should at least try to be friends."

She held up her hand behind Al's back.

Scorpius stared at her hand blankly for a few seconds, until he really understood that she was saying they should be friends. Frankly, he was in no position to pass up friendship- just by looking around the classroom he could tell he was already behind. Besides, Rose didn't seem too bad- despite what she said about Slytherins.

"Er-alright," he said, grabbing her hand.

When they each turned back to their work, Al beamed, looking from one to the other, "Great! So we're all friends, then!"

Scorpius turned his head, so neither of them would see his grin, but said, "Who said I was friends with you?"

"Me," said Al, unfazed, "just now, remember? Are you really that daft, Scorpius?"

He couldn't help but let out a rather loud snort, as Rose started laughing. His snort seemed to cause Al to burst out laughing, and suddenly the whole class was looking at them.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Jones from her desk.

Scorpius, Al and Rose quickly went back to their work, and eventually so did the rest of the class.