As the days passed over the next month I learnt to just deal with everything that was literally thrown at me. I practiced every night with Scorpios and all of my essays were completed and in on time. I sent a letter to mum and dad every Friday and received one back on Sunday. Everything just ran like clockwork. I projected the mort perfect straight laced person ever on the outside. Almost. I cried every night in the dorms and only talked to Rose and James for maybe five minutes a day now. Scorpios was nearly disowned by his parents when they found out that he was friends with a mudblood and nobody knew who I really was.
And there was the fights, the snide comments everywhere. The punches as I walked into the commonroom. Our head of house was the old potions professor, who had apparently been quite good, until he left two years ago. Now we have someone who hates all students teaching potions. They used to be in Hufflepuff until they became potions master and head of Slytherin. Professer Zacharius Smith, went to school with my parents and badmouthed them in the press numerous times and has now projected that onto me. Oliver said that he will pay any student who makes a snide comment a knut and any who hit me hard enough that I cry or it leaves a bruise gets a stickle. He is a git and I hate him so, so much.
Every day I have at least two new bruises. I got one of my house elves from my house to secretly bring my some basic pain reducer potions and dittany potions as well as magic creams because I don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they got to me either by it bruising or by going to Madam Pomfrey, as kind as she was when one of them broke my arm and I had to pretend that I fell down some stairs when I went to her. A couple of the teachers seemed to notice something. The way that me and Scorpios avoid the common rooms and are often late to class may be a bit of a give away. Luckily none of the has discovered my stash of healing things under my bed. I have my dad's old invisibility cloak, but I don't feel excited enough for that, or anything else. I get hot chocolate from the kitchens every night because we often skip dinner and go work in the room of requirement instead. I have been looking at some old curses and hexes that we can try to use to defend ourselves, but it is definitely a long shot.
I received a letter at breakfast after about a month of this. I wanted to take it up to the dormitory at once, but as I was about to leave the great hall it started to smoke at the sides. It was a howler!
It Screamed "Jack Jones, or should I say Albus Severus Potter. You are disgusting and a disgrace to your family, your house, your school and even your country. You deserve to die, you stinking, disgusting blood traitor scum. You broke your parents hearts, made your cousin depressed as she started school for the first time ever and got your new alleged best friend the Malfoy boy beat up over and over and over and you have been pulling the strings because you just wanted to be a coward and deny your heritage."
I was shell shocked. I sprinted straight out of the hall and went into the room of requirement. I wanted to cry, but couldn't allow myself that, so I made it so that only someone that had no intention of hurting me would be able to get in. I asked for a fire lace and some floo powder before flooing for the fire at Potter Manor.
"Mum, Dad, someone answer me!" I was screaming into the fire place over and over in tears. I wanted to cry and was slowly mounting my way towards hysteria. I hated it all so, so much. When they finally answered they immediately wanted to come through to me. I refused ad asked to come through to them. I was taken into the familiar kitchen at home and put into my familiar dressing gown and some old muggle clothes. We sat down in the kitchen with mugs of hot chocolate and I told the story of my time at Hogwarts to m parents. They were upset that nothing had gone to plan. Once I got to the first time I was beaten up they looked utterly shocked and disgusted. After that point they only interrupted a couple of times, mainly when I told them about what Professor Smith had been doing. I was in tears by the time I had finished, when I told them about what happened today and what was said in the howler I was in tears.
Dad was the first to speak "Albus Severus. You did not break our hearts or be selfish or den your heritage with anything that you did. The only thing that I am disappointed in is how you never told anyone about what happened."
"Yes son, everyone expects your decision with what you did, you did not make Rose Weasely depressed, you are not the reason that Scorpios got beat up because he chose to stand by you. You were a good friend because you tried so hard to fix everything that other people did wrong. Nothing here today was your fault and you are not at all to blame in any way, shape or form. You are unique and amazing. What your father did to end the war put a lot of expectation on yours and James' shoulders."
"Exactly, it is harder for you because you are part of the Potter line, which is directly descended from Godric Griffindor. That does not mean that you must be a Griffindor, because you are a Slytherin, and you will be the best Potter Slytherin that there ever was and nothing will ever change that."
It was around then that there was a shouting from the fireplace, It was three different voices, all three gave me a massive uplift, although it was only upon hearing those voices that I noticed who was missing, "Mum, where's Lilly Luna?"
"Right here stupid!" I hadn't even noticed her there in the corner and I was so happy as she came and gave me a hug. Mum silently slipped out of the room to get my big brother, my cousin and my best friend from the fireplace and they all came and gave me a hug. As we all rushed together any stupid barriers that had been put between us were suddenly torn down in a wicked and brutal way and the three Potters, a Weasely and a Malfoy were all sat on the floor together laughing and crying in a most undignified Way.
Mum and Dad had slipped out to floo Professor Mcgonagoll and ask her about everything that has been happening at Hogwarts this term. As they were gone I slowly found out about what had happened after I left the hall.
Scorpios POV
Everyone in the hall was in shock. I personally was gobsmacked. I couldn't believe that anybody could say such hurtful things to my best friend, none of it was true, but he would probably believe all of it. Suddenly everything erupted. The Hufflepuffs looked shocked, most of the Griffindors and Slytherins looked absoloutely disgusted and the Ravenclaws looked thoughtful. The teachers looked disgusted, but not at Albus. I locked eye with his older brother and his cousin at the other side of the hall and jerked my head to the outside courtyard.
The three of us dissoulousioned ourselves and slipped outside. They both saw him leave the hall, but didn't see where he went after that. I sent Rose to look in the Griffindor common room because she looked so worried, James ran down to check the kitchens and I slipped into the Slytherin common room to look for him...nothing. He was also not in the dorms or anywhere else that I could think of. As I ran out of the entrance I almost slammed into Rose and James looking for me. It reminded me of the first week here then I realised. "Of course- he's in the room of requirement!"
"The what?" They both looked confused but it was Rose who had asked.
"Otherwise known as the come and go room. We hide in there a lot and study the old spell books. That is how we are further ahead than we should be. "We all ran there quickly and I continued speaking as we arrived at the blank stretch of wall. "If I know Albus at all, he will have made it so that most people couldn't get in." I walked in front of the wall and began to speak to it. "My name is Scorpios Malfoy and I am here with a Potter ad a Weasely. We wish Albus Severus Potter no harm. We are his friends. I would like to see our hiding place, the one with the fireplace in the corner"
The wall started into a wall before our very eyes. It was so impressive. When we slipped inside I made straight for the fireplace whilst Rose looked at the countless Wizarding and Muggle books n the bookshelves, James looked around before seeing our dummies that we use for target practice, examining the damage done to them. I wasted no time checking the last place that was Flooed to and screaming directly into the Potter manor drawing room.