Chapter 2: The Sorting

Rose

How had she not recognized him before? He looked just like her dad had told her he would. Blonde hair, piercing blue eyes. But she hadn't expected him to be…nice. She'd been expecting him to try to Crucio her in a darkened corridor. And somehow, she couldn't see this Scorpius doing that.

She sighed and propped her head up on her hand. He'd asked if his name was a problem. Understatement of the year. "Possibly. Hi. I'm Rose Weasley. My dad hates your dad. Pleased to meet you."

He went from being confused to shocked in one short stroke. "Wait, you're…you're her?"

This sucked. The one friend she'd ever probably find at Hogwarts (she'd never been astounding at making friends) now hated her guts because their fathers had been immature as eleven-year-olds. "The one and only."

"Wow. What luck, huh?" he asked sarcastically. He was obviously upset as well.

"Yeah…," she said, tucking her red hair behind her ears. "You don't seem like you're like he said, though."

He smiled faintly. "What'd your dad say I'd be like?"

She smirked back. "I could ask you the same question."

"Well, I asked first."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. He told me you'd be an ignorant bastard like your father, value nothing but a person's blood, and be a Slytherin. He also told me you'd try to taunt me, and not to let you. Your turn." Again, he didn't seem like he'd do these things. He didn't seem to deserve the broad brush her father was painting with.

"Wrong on all counts, Miss Weasley. But here's what I was told. His words, not mine. He said your father was a blood-traitor who married a…well, I'm not going to say it, but I think you can guess, so you'd be complete scum." He spotted the look of disgust on her face, and quickly added, "That's crap, of course. You asked. Oh, and he told me you'd be an easy target to tease, but I can tell right off that's not accurate."

She smiled a bit at the last part because she knew he was trying to make her feel better, but was still slightly appalled by Scorpius's father. "What'd they do to each other, anyways? In school that made them hate each other so much?"

"Well, honestly, my dad probably was horrible to yours, and I can't see him being too chummy with your mother either. From what I get, my father was basically a Death Eater back then, mostly because of his father, I think. But he wasn't overly friendly."

"My parents were Harry Potter's best friends, so that probably wasn't helpful, either."

He nodded. "I forgot that part. Yes, that can't have been overly helpful." He paused for a second and then asked, "So…what are we going to do?"

"About what?"

Scorpius wrinkled his brow a bit. "Are we going to steer clear of each other just because my dad was a git to yours? I suppose it's mostly your call."

She pondered this a bit. She needed a friend. She loved her many cousins, but James was a second year, Victorie, Molly, and Fred fifth years, and Teddy was a seventh year. And though they might acknowledge her, she knew they wouldn't get too close. Hanging out with a first year can't be too good for your social life.

Albus was going to be a first year as well, but the two of them were simply so different that they often irritated each other. So she needed someone. And Scorpius seemed willing. Plus, he would probably be a Ravenclaw, too. Her dad would get over it…eventually, once he realized wasn't at all like his father. Possibly.

"I say we forget about the whole drama with our fathers and interact like normal people. If we hit it off, we can write them if we feel like it," she said.

Scorpius half smiled. "Yeah, and hope we don't get howlers back."

She smiled back and shrugged. "We'll live if we do."

"I suppose. It'd be great to have a friend already, too." She nodded in agreement, and he went on. "I don't think I'm going to be one of the most liked people there. I mean, most everyone's probably heard about my dad and all that. And there's probably rumors…."

"Rumors?" Rose asked, realizing too late that it was tactless.

He sighed. "Everyone's been saying that he…my dad…killed my mum. Which is total thestral dung; he stayed locked up in his room for two weeks after she died."

Rose hadn't heard this story at home. However, the Malfoys were generally a bit of a taboo. "Your mum died?" she asked. He nodded, and she blurted out, "Oh, I'm really really sorry. I-"

"No, it's alright. It just really bugs me that everyone thinks my dad did it. He's changed from what he was. He would never kill my mum. He loved her."

Rose nodded, and felt terrible for Scorpius. She couldn't imagine losing her mother, especially now, this early in her life. Before she got to develop her thoughts more fully, however, Scorpius changed the subject. "So, do you play Quidditch?" He obviously wasn't comfortable talking about his parents, his mum especially, and she couldn't blame him much. She wouldn't be. She'd prefer to pretend it never happened, at least as much as possible. So she tried to forget about Scorpius's situation.

"Who doesn't play Quidditch?"

"You'd be surprised. What do you play?"

"Keeper. My dad was a really good one when he was in school, so he's helped me a lot," Rose said. She remembered all of the afternoons she'd spent with her dad and Hugo chucking Quaffles at her head. According to her mother, she was as good as her dad had been when he'd made the Gryffindor team, maybe better.

Scorpius nodded. "That's good; I was afraid you'd say Seeker. That's what I play, and I'm sure you'd give me a run for my money."

Rose rolled her eyes, and just then a plump witch peeked her head into the compartment. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

Scorpius shook his head, looking slightly forlorn. It was obvious that his father had been kind of stingy with his Galleons. So Rose smiled at him, and nodded to the woman. She went outside to inspect the cart, and came back in with an armload of sweets.

Scorpius's eyes lit up at this. The rest of the train ride, they talked quite freely, sharing Rose's sweets.

She'd made a friend.

Rose's stomach felt exactly like it did when she accidentally flipped over on her broom. The fluttering, the nervousness, the fear of falling. They were all there. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten that much on the train.

They were now standing in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts, and Rose was completely intimidated. She'd told herself she wouldn't be, but all of that control had drained out of her one she'd seen the size of the castle. (It hadn't looked nearly this big in the illustrations in Hogwarts: A History.) And when she'd heard the roar of the older students behind the oak doors, she could hardly bear it. She'd never been a real people person, so she really didn't feel like standing there having her personality critiqued by an inanimate object. You know, as fun as that sounded.

Plus, she was feeling sick again, and her ankle was killing her. Apparently Scorpius's painkilling charm was starting to wear off. She was starting to wonder if she had something more than a cold or whatever. She suddenly just wanted to lie down on the cool tile floor (since when was it this warm?) and sleep.

Professor McGonagall had already given them the customary talk, and before she knew it, they were being led into the hall. She looked up at the ceiling that she'd read about so many times in Hogwarts: A History, but had never really seen. Her mum had told her it was the thing that she remembered most about her sorting, and it Rose could understand why. It was beautiful, full of stars that made the room feel magical which, of course, it was.

Professor McGonagall set the Sorting Hat onto a stool, and the brim of it ripped open and it began to sing. She only caught a few of the words in the song about House unity and friendship; she was more concentrated on being nervous and making sure she didn't suddenly keel over or throw up. After everyone had clapped for the hat, McGonagall pulled out a long list. Like, a long list.

"Aamon, Katherine," she called, and a sly looking girl with long black hair walked up to the stool. It was only a second or two before it shouted "Slytherin!" At this, she joined the table at the far left, its inhabitants whooping and cheering loudly.

The next person to be called was "Ack, Eliza", and suddenly, Rose realized something. They were going in alphabetical order. Her last name started with a 'W'. How long was this going to take? She wished her last name was Acne or something. Then she'd be sitting at her House table already, the weight of her sorting off her shoulders.

Well, okay, she didn't wish her surname was Acne. But something else that started with an 'A'.

After a while, she heard the name Longbottom being called, and she looked up. Alyssa Longbottom was making her way up the stairs. She hadn't seen her for a while, because Aunt Luna and Uncle Neville had taken her to Australia over the summer to look for some rare plants for Uncle Neville to put in the greenhouses. She looked forward to seeing her more often now that they were here together. Alyssa's Sorting took a bit, and then she was put into Ravenclaw. Rose was excited. Maybe she'd have more friends than she thought.

A little later, Scorpius was called up. It only took a few seconds for the Sorting Hat to decide on Ravenclaw for him. Rose clapped and cheered as he made his way over to the table, and she laughed silently to herself. So Scorpius had been right. He was a Ravenclaw through and through.

Lastly before her, Albus was put into his House, Slytherin. Rose was slightly surprised. Albus had been so anti-Slytherin before, and James would tease him about the fact that he seemed to be a "very Slytherin-y person." But she supposed the Sorting Hat had given him his choice, and if that was what he chose, that was his business. After all, not all Slytherins could be bad, she mused.

Who knew that there were so many people whose last names started with 'S'? By the time her name was finally called, she wanted to die, practically. She was barely able to drag herself towards the hat, what with her ankle and feeling like she'd gotten hit by a truck. She was at the stairs…she was going to make it….

And just when she thought she was almost into the clear, everything went black, and she couldn't remember any more.