Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Jude Henry and Raven Zabini belongs to pnx626 of deviantart.
Child of Lies
Chapter Three: A Boy's First Day
Albus woke up the morning of the first day of term seeing green. It took him a minute to realize where he was and when he did, he rolled himself over and proceeded to get up from the bed. As he rubbed his eyes to dispel any sleep, his dorm mates were all rising as well. Albus had met the other boys upon entering his dorm and had found them an interesting lot. There was Duncan Marks who seemed to be a simple boy, but easy enough to get along with. He was small and had short, brown hair and tan skin, perhaps suggesting he had Mediterranean ancestry, and hazel eyes. Then there was Jude Henry who looked slightly awkward considering he was way too tall for a first year and was certainly the most outgoing out of the roommates. He had blonde hair cut short and dark blue eyes. Lastly, there were the Zabini twins, Nate and Raven. The two of them seemed to be on the same wavelength, always knowing what the other was about to say. They were both dark skinned, darker than Duncan, and had short, brown hair. Nate had dark hazel eyes and was typically louder than his brown-eyed brother.
Albus looked over to his left to see his fifth roommate, Scorpius, rising and stretching. When he caught Albus' stare, he smiled and said, "Ready for our first day?"
Albus grinned back and, with a nod, belted out a, "Definitely!"
Without another word, the boys quickly got ready. After pulling on their robes and grabbing their school books, the two of them made it down to the Great Hall, talking animatedly. Albus had quickly discovered that Scorpius was just as much of an avid Quiddich fan as he was and so the two of them plunged into an in depth discussion about their favorite teams. Scorpius was just starting to sing praises about Puddlemere United when they arrived at the Great Hall. The tables were a pitiful imitation of the first day's feast, but there was still more than enough food. The two boys sat down and, almost instantly, their plates were overflowing with anything their greedy hands could reach for. Just as quickly as their plates were filled, however, they were cleaned.
After Breakfast, Albus and Scorpius sprinted to their first lesson: Charms. They arrived at the classroom just in time and clattered into two empty seats. First year Slytherins were to take Charms with Hufflepuffs so the room was filled with lots of green, silver, yellow, and black. The two boys were just catching their breath when a short man entered the room. All of the students assumed he would be teaching them and proceeded to give him their full attention.
"Welcome to Hogwarts and Charms, your first class of your first term," said the professor in his squeaky voice. "My name is Professor Flitwick. Today, I will teach you the Levitation Charm. Wands out!"
There was loud rustling as the class pulled out their wands. Albus had a hard time locating his. Then, he remembered he had stuck it into the front pocket of his backpack. Scorpius gave him a weird look as he pulled it out and placed it on the desk. When everyone had their wands out, Flitwick began to speak again and the class became enraptured with their first real taste of magic.
After class, Scorpius and Albus were packing up their belongings. "That was amazing!" gasped the brunette. "James told me way too many horror stories about Hogwarts, but now we're learning magic, Scorpius!"
Scorpius laughed and said, "I take it you enjoyed that?"
Albus nodded and said, "Of course! You didn't?"
Sadly, Albus never got to hear Scorpius' response because a dark haired girl in Hufflepuff colors bounced over to them. "Oh my gosh, you're Harry Potter's son!"
"Um… yeah, I am," said Albus awkwardly.
"You must be so lucky! My name's Beth Monday," said the girl, trying her hardest to stifle a squeal.
"Er… Albus Potter. Nice to meet you," said Albus awkwardly.
With a high pitched squeal, Beth ran away towards a group of people, screaming something along the lines of, "I talked to him! He told me it was nice to meet me!" Albus just stared at her, completely perplexed and wondering what had just occurred.
"That won't happen all the time, yeah?" asked Scorpius worryingly.
"I certainly hope not," said Albus with a sigh. He started walking out of the Charms classroom, suddenly wanted to be as far away as possible lest more crazy Harry Potter fans chased after him. Scorpius quickly followed after the suddenly very popular boy, completely jaded.
A week later, as Scorpius and Albus were heading towards the Great Hall for lunch, Albus said, "Hagrid invited me over for tea tonight."
"Have fun. I take it you won't be at dinner then? You know, with curfew and everything?" said Scorpius.
"No, probably not," agreed Albus. Then, after a pause, he added, "Why don't you come with me?"
"What? No! I don't even know Professor Hagrid!" gasped Scorpius.
"So? You're my friend! Hagrid would love to meet you!" insisted Albus.
"Albus, you may have this strange thing with befriending everyone no matter what, but I'm a Malfoy! I'm not exactly on everyone's "Must Meet" list," sighed Scorpius, trying not to blush at Albus calling him, once again, his friend.
"So what? I know that once Hagrid meets you, he'll love you! Please, Scor. Please come," begged Albus, trying his best puppy-dog eyes.
Scorpius groaned and said, "Oh alright already! So long as you never do that face again!"
Albus' face broke out into a large grin and he tackled the blonde, giving him a death hug. "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You won't regret this!"
"Okay okay, Al! I can't breath! Please let go!" begged Scorpius. When Albus finally released him, he said, "Wait, "Scor"?"
Albus blushed. "Well, I thought it would be a nice nickname, but if you don't want me to call you that, then I won't."
Scorpius blushed as well and said, "No. No, it's okay. It's just that no one has ever given me a nickname before."
"Then you don't mind?" asked Albus excitedly. Scorpius could have sworn the boy had a grown a dog tail and was wagging it madly.
"Not really. I actually sort of like it, I guess," said Scorpius, blushing even more, but Albus, in his excitement, hardly noticed.
That night, Scorpius and Albus made their walk out of the Slytherin common room. Scorpius started walking in the direction of the grounds, but Albus stopped and pointed in the other direction. "Wait. We need to go this way; Rosie's coming with us."
Scorpius sighed and said, "So I'm not really needed then, am I? You have your cousin."
"Not needed? Of course you're needed! Don't be silly," said Albus with a smile. He grabbed Scorpius' arm and started dragging him through the castle. Eventually, he let go and said, "Okay, we can stop. This is where I promised I'd meet Rosie."
A few seconds after he said that, foot steps were heard and Scorpius and Albus spun around to see Rose, adorned in Ravenclaw blue, walking towards them. "Alby! There you are!" she called. Then she realized who was standing next to her cousin and she slowed down, her face red. "Oh! Scorpius is coming?" she asked.
"Oh um I don't have to. I'll just go, then," said Scropius, mistaking her tone for displeasure.
"No!" cried out Albus and Rose.
Scorpius was taken aback. "No?"
"Don't go; of course I want you to come," said Rose, smiling.
"Why on earth would Rosie not want you to come, Scor?" asked Albus, confused.
Scorpius sighed and, realizing that he would not be able to get out of it, said, "Oh okay. Come on; Hagrid awaits!" At that, Rosie giggled and Albus grinned.
"That's the spirit!" said the Potter boy, patting the blonde on his back and pushing him forward.
The three eleven-year-olds made their way out of the castle and onto the grounds. Outside, they saw the roof of Hagrid's hut, smoke coming out of the top, implying that Hagrid was cooking something. Dread grew in the pit of Albus' stomach as he remembered all of the horror stories that were told about Hagrid's cooking. He hoped that Hagrid had kept it tame for their first visit. The three of them made it down the grounds and approached the small building. They stopped in front of the door and awkwardly looked at each other. Albus sucked in a deep breath and knocked on the door of the hut.
"'m comin'! I'm comin'!" called a voice from inside that Albus and Rose recognized right away as Hagrid's. Next to him, Albus felt Scorpius shake.
The door was wrenched open and there stood Hagrid, looking down at them. When he realized who they were, he said, "Oh! 'm sorry! Come'n! Come'n!" The half-giant help the door open for them and the three kids piled on inside. Hagrid sat down at the table in the middle of the hut and Scorpius, Albus, and Rose moved to sit across from him.
"Blimey, Al! You look so much like your da! And you, Rosie! 's like I'm looking at your mother! " grinned Hagrid. Then, he looked at Scorpius as if he was just seeing him and his grin disappeared. "And you! Malfoy! What are you doing here, you bloody git!"
Scorpius' eyes widened and he grappled for the door, but Albus grabbed his arm to keep him from moving. "Hagrid, this is Scorpius. He is my friend and not his dad."
Hagrid grumbled and said, "'right. He can stay. He just looks so much like his bloody father! But any funny business from you, boy, and ya're out of here." Then, under his breath, the large man mumbled a, "All 'em Malfoys are the same, 'ey are."
The mumbled words were not lost on Scorpius and he whispered in his friend's ear, "Al, I'm clearly not wanted here. I really should go!"
"No! Please! Hagrid will see reason," begged Albus, his hand grabbing Scorpius'. He knew it must be odd for him to do that, but his brother used to do it to him to calm him down and he hoped it would work for Scorpius. He was determined for Scorpius and Hagrid to give each other a chance. When he felt Scorpius squeeze back and relax slightly, Albus release a puff of air that he didn't even know he was holding.
After that, it didn't seem like Hagrid was going to insult Scorpius any more and, while they certainly weren't getting along, they were certainly civil. Pretty soon, they discovered it was getting late and Hagrid said, "I 'ink it's time for you three to head back up to 'he castle before ya're caught out of bed after 'ours."
With that, they bid Hagrid good-bye and walked up to the castle in silence. After a while, Rose said, "Well, my common room is this way. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Rosie!" called Al. With that, the Ravenclaw disappeared down the hallway and the two Slytherin boys walked in the other direction.
After a minute or so of walking, Scorpius mumbled, "I'm such a coward."
"You're not a coward. What makes you say that?" asked Albus.
"You saw me back there, Al! I was shaking like a leaf. It was kind of pitiful," sighed Scorpius.
"Scor! A half-giant was screaming at you! I know I would have wet myself; Hagrid can be really scary!" grinned Albus, trying to make his fellow Slytherin feel better.
"Really?" asked Scorpius, his eyes growing wider.
"Of course! Would I say that if it wasn't true?"
Scorpius spent the rest of the walk back to the Slytherin Common Room with his chest puffed out and Albus grinning at how ridiculous his friend looked. Somehow, this look was lost on the very proud blonde.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Well, here we are at chapter 3, just as promised. Thanks once again to my good friend, pnx626 of deviantart, for looking over this chapter. Personally, I find it hard to write accents so I'm sorry if Hagrid sounds terrible here. I tried...
Please review. I want to know what you think.