Disclaimer: I'M DISCLAIMING YOU. OKAY? GO. RUN TO ROWLING. GO. *weeps* JUST LEAVE MEEEE.

My muse smacks me for making such short chapters. Apologies.

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Chapter 3

The teachers at the staff table murmured uncertainly.

"Spitting image of his father, if I should say," said the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher quietly.

"Oh, come on, Blaise," said Neville Longbottom. "He can't be that bad." He grinned at the former Slytherin, who was now a very good friend to him. He'd remembered Blaise to be quieter than the other Slytherins, never really participating in Malfoy's bullying and such. Blaise was still quiet, and tall, and all the Slytherin sixth and seventh-years now fawned and sighed over their DADA teacher.

Neville inwardly smiled. Who would've thought he'd end up being good friends with an ex-Slytherin? Ahah.

"Leonardo is quite fond of him," mumbled Blaise Zabini, referring to his son, a ten year old who loved going over to the Malfoy's home to play Quidditch with little Scorpius. "And Scorpius is rather polite for a Malfoy."

"There you go." Neville beamed.

"Easy for you to say, he might turn out to be another Slytherin prince in disguise," whispered the Arithmancy teacher, taking a sip from her cup. "You, Longbottom, the Head of Gryffindor, have nothing what so ever to worry about."

Then the Hat spoke.

--

"Scorpius Malfoy... hmm... not bad, not bad, an interesting mind... oh! What do we have here..." The Hat made a strange sound. "So, you... brave, and ambitious, smart... and clearly loyal to family. Oh ho, so a fit for Slytherin then... or perhaps Gryffindor?"

Anywhere, thought Cor. As long as I can be myself.

The Hat was momentarily silent.

--

"It's been more than six minutes!" whispered Neville. "What do you think is going on?" he asked, eying the quiet sea of students in front of him.

"No idea," whispered Blaise back. He glanced at the worried face of Ara Malfoy at the Slytherin table, sitting next to a boy with shockingly green hair. "But I have a bad feeling about this..."

--

The Hat grinned. "Well, Scorpius, be prepared."

"Yes, sir," replied Cor automatically.

"For, this is a case for... GRYFFINDOR!" roared that Hat.

--

Neville fell off his chair.

Blaise caught him in time to see the equally stunned looks on the teachers' faces. He himself had a similar expression, if he could only assume. Then, he smirked to himself. This was going to be a good year.

--

Scorpius slid off the stool and handed the Hat back to the blinking Professor. The Hall was silent, until Al started clapping, and then Gryffindor slowly started applauding too. The Slytherins, however, had strange looks on their faces.

Except a certain Malfoy.

Scorpius glanced over at his older brother, Ara, a fifth year Slytherin, who waved and mouthed, 'congrats'. Ara was pretty understanding about the whole 'oh-you're-a-Gryffindor' thing like his dad was, and taught him a lot of hexes in case someone tried to up him. Scorpius gulped, and looked at the Gryffindor table.

Oh Morgan and Merlin.

He didn't really like their expressions at the moment. He was, of course, excited to get the House that he'd always thought he'd be in, but right now?

It seemed like a bit of a bad idea.

Sliding into a seat at the end, and ignoring certain glares of doom; he sighed and thumped his head onto the table.

This was going to be a long year.

--

Al Potter watched as his first friend at Hogwarts banged his head against the table, and sighed. Poor bloke.

His turn soon...

"Potter, Albus Severus!"

Heads turned, and whispers increased as he walked up to the stool where the short Charms professor was waiting with the Hat.

"Did he say Potter?"

"The second one?"

"James' brother?"

"Potter as in Harry Potter?"

Al resisted the urge to snort and roll his eyes, and instead, pulled the Hat so far down his head, he could barely see, and then made an annoyed sound.

"Ah... so, another Potter, is it?"

Al almost fell off the stool. For a second, he'd forgotten that it talked.

Yes, thought Al. Another bloody Potter.

The Hat seemed pleased. "Hmm... that kind of attitude, eh? Smart too... capable of making your own decisions... but, of course, a need to help others. I suppose that's a trait your father passed down."

Al said nothing. The Hat carried on.

"Ah, well... you could be cut out for Hufflepuff..." said the Hat slyly, trailing off.

But, Cor... thought Al. We made a sort of pact.

"That as well... hmm... so. It's your choice, after all."

Al nearly fell off the stool again. "You mean I get to choose?" he nearly asked out loud. Some of the first years heard him, and relaxed grins spread across their faces.

Professor McGonagall nearly smiled. Professor Longbottom did. So did the man next to him.

"You fit in any one of the Houses; nonetheless, you're showing some consideration towards one of the Houses, if I may..."

"Go ahead, then."

The Hat seemed even more pleased. "Ah, I like this Potter. He's a right chance for... GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table pretty much burst into cheers, and two kids started cheering, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" James was clapping too, with a grin on his face.

Al felt relieved, and headed for the end of the table, completely passing his brother and friends, and sitting down next to Cor instead, who still had his head on the table.

He elbowed the boy lightly, and said, "Oi, wake up, sleepyhead. You'll do yourself no good like that."

Cor glanced up, and immediately started grinning. "I thought you'd sit with your brother and friends?"

"You are my friend, you dolt!"

Both of them grinned, practically ignoring the rest of the Gryffindors' gawks. A Potter being friendly with a Malfoy? Never before seen. Well, until now, that is.

"Weasley, Rose!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

This time, James fell out of his seat. "Rosie got into Hufflepuff?"

The girl in mention shot him a glare, before heading over to the Hufflepuff table. Rather unexpected, thought Al. Everyone thought she'd be in Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor. Especially Uncle Ron.

Al looked around the Hall, and caught sight of Teddy Lupin, grinning at him. Teddy was like another big brother to them, and even thought he was in Slytherin, everyone still loved him. Teddy was best friends with Cor's brother, a fifth-year named Ara, and Aunt Luna's twins Lorcan and Lysander, and some guy named Jeremy, who was a Gryffindor, when he came to Hogwarts, and they were sort of the inter-House Marauders.

But that was another story for another time.

Right now, Al grinned to himself.

There was still tomorrow to come.

--

A/N: Right-o, one more chapter down, and many more to go! I must say, thank for all the reviews and alerts and favourites, though there aren't many, but thanks anyways!

So, whaddya think of them new characters? Hope they're not too OOC or anything. Ara Malfoy kinda continues the constellation-tradition. If you know what I'm talking about, then let me know in a review. Ahah.

So, more to come! Stay tuned!

Howlers, flames, critiques, reviews, compliments, bananas and llamas appreciated!

-Sparky.