The train slowly came to a halt and people began rushing around outside of the carriage. I got up and stretched my legs.
"We better get going." He said smiling.
The two of us walked out and followed the mass of first years to where we got the boats, sticking close to each other the whole time.
We reached the Great Hall and were being prepared for sorting. Lined alphabetically, meaning I was on my own.
I stood nervously chewing on my lip.
"Malfoy, Scorpius." McGonagall called, I rushed to the stool.
"Hmmm, so very difficult, Slytherin by Blood, Ravenclaw by Mind, Gryffindor by Heart and Hufflepuff by Emotion." The hat hissed in my ear.
After 5 minutes of deliberation the hat had still not answered. McGonagall stepped forward and removed the hat asking me to stay at the front so that the rest of sorting could take place. I nodded and scrambled down.
"Potter, Albus." Was the next time I was paying attention.
I noticed that the Gryffindor table had already begun making space for him. When I turned to look at Albus I noticed he had his eyes shut tightly and was gripping the chair. The hat made ummms and ahhhhs before McGonagall stepped in again, sending Albus to stand beside me. Jaws around the room fell, even on the teachers table, McGonagall herself looked shocked. Everyone had expected the hat to barely touch his head before announcing he was Gryffindor. Including myself.
The sorting went by from then without a hitch.
"And now you may feast." McGonagall clicked.
She came over to us. "Boys, could you follow me please? You are not in any trouble."
We walked out of the hall behind the Headteacher. As we passed James I saw him and Albus exchange a bizarre glance. I shook it off as a family thing.
"Boys, do take a seat." She gestured at the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk from where she now sat. "So, we had a feeling the two of you may be difficult in terms of housing."
"Why?" I asked abruptly. "Sorry, Head Mistress, I didn't mean to come across rude. I'm just surprised."
"Quite Scorpius, it was assumed by the majority, you would follow the Malfoy line into Slytherin, and the you Albus would follow your namesake and predecessors into Gryffindor. But not by me, nor by your Fathers. It is noted that you are both Parselmouths."
"What?" We both stared.
"Mr. Malfoy, when we asked your father, he said he didn't have a clue why you had picked up this trait. I did some digging, you are as you may or may not know a direct descendant-"
"Of Salazar Slytherin. I know, look I don't see how this doesn't make us both Slytherin by default."
"My Dad's a Parselmouth, he was a Gryffindor, Gryffindor enough to pull Godric's Sword out of the hat in his second year."
"Quite, now boys, I understand the two of you may be opposed to the idea, but given the situation, we would like you to be 'houseless' so to speak."
"Why?" Albus blurted.
"Because there are many reasons that hat couldn't place either of you, we would like you to share a dormitory with the Prefects. You two would share a room, but use their common room."
"Ma'am what exactly are these other reasons?" I asked.
"The Hat told you. Now this is a map to your dormitory, and the password to your common room." She pushed a piece of paper towards us.
"The two of you can go into any of the common rooms, for now, should I discover you have been causing trouble this privilege will be removed. Goodbye boys." She ushered us to the door.
We walked down the steps in silence, and all the way to our room in a likewise manner.
"Well this is uh, different."
"Scorpius, WE are different."