A/N: Despite the fact that I'm sure all this apologizing for erratic updates is getting redundant, I'm still very, very sorry. School, however, is ending soon, so maybe when I don't have eight million papers to write, I'll be able to write this with more regularity. Fingers crossed. :)

Year One, 9

Albus sighed and plopped down across from Apollo at the Ravenclaw table to wait for dinner. It had been a long…interesting day.

First, there had been his semi-confrontational talk with Scorpius that morning, which, while ending nicely, had been rather unexpected. He'd known it would happen eventually, he supposed, but not with such suddenness. To be honest, though, he was happy it was out of the way. Things like that, he thought, were better to deal with as soon as you can and hope for the best, which in this case was what, thankfully, happened.

Immediately after, though, had been an embarrassing Herbology lesson for not only him, but Rose and Pol as well. When they'd entered the greenhouse, Neville, or, rather, Professor Longbottom, had attempted to hug them all in front of everyone. This wouldn't have been so bad, especially as they'd managed to deflect quickly, but the Ravenclaws shared Herbology with the Slytherins, so when Professor Longbottom wasn't looking, they were openly mocked. While this had been going on, Albus had also noticed a pretty but evil looking Slytherin girl who spent the entire lesson staring at Scorpius in a way that reminded Albus of a dragon eyeing its prey before a kill, which was disconcerting, to say the least.

After Herbology they'd headed off to more difficult lessons, which were proving to be quite rigorous, despite just starting. It was only the first day, and they'd already been given three homework assignments, one of which was an eighteen inch essay on the practical use of Charms in everyday life. Albus had to say that while her first impression had come off as ditzy, Professor Stills was a very intense, no-nonsense teacher.

And if all that hadn't been enough to deal with, to top everything off, he'd just had a stressful encounter with his brother. They'd both been heading toward the Great Hall when James had spotted him and called out. He'd waited nervously as his brother approached, unsure of what would be said.

When they were within feet of each other, James had stopped, and they'd stood there awkwardly for a moment. Finally James cleared his throat and said, "So, Ravenclaw, huh?"

Albus nodded. "Yeah. Ravenclaw. You, erm," he paused to cough self-consciously, "you aren't mad, are you?"

Thankfully James had grinned. "About Ravenclaw? Nah!" He ruffled Albus' hair. "Look at it this way. It could have been Slytherin."

Albus grinned then, too. "True."

James' smile faded slightly. "And, uh, Scorpius Malfoy?" At Albus' nod, he'd added, "What's that like?"

Albus shrugged. "I don't know. It's not so bad. He seems a little uppity, but that might just be because of the name, you know? Keeping up appearances and all that. He's otherwise pretty decent." He grinned. "Reckon I'll find out soon enough, though."

James had grinned too. "Reckon you will. See you around?"

Albus nodded. "You bet."

James moved to go, but then sprang back at him suddenly and caught him in a half-Nelson. "'Bye little brother," he'd said, giving Albus a noogie.

"Ow!" Albus said, laughing. "Gerroff me, you git!" He'd elbowed James in the ribs, and his brother let go. Together they'd entered the Great Hall and headed toward their respective tables.

Albus now caught sight of Scorpius as he entered the Hall. He pondered the boy as he walked toward the Ravenclaw table. He wasn't sure what it was about the Malfoy boy that intrigued him so much, but he found Scorpius undeniably fascinating.

"Is this seat taken?" Scorpius asked, gesturing to the empty seat beside Albus.

"Not at all," he said with a grin.

Scorpius smiled faintly and sat down. There was a bit of an awkward silence until Rose showed up a few moments later and sat next to Pol, who was, once again, reading the stupid Quibbler.

"There are so many passageways in this school," she huffed, frowning. "I don't know how I'm ever going to remember my way to class."

And just like that the ice was broken, and almost immediately, dinner appeared on the table. Albus grabbed a spoon and started shoveling mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Does anyone else find that Charms essay a complete waste of our time?" Scorpius asked. "Eighteen inches! We live with wizards, for Merlin's sake. We know how useful they are. We shouldn't have to write eighteen inches on the subject!"

"I agree," Rose said. "For us it's a waste of time, and it's putting Muggleborns at a complete disadvantage. How are they supposed to write that much about the practical use of Charms?"

Scorpius nodded. "It is only their second or third week around magic, right? They wouldn't know a thing." Albus saw him glance over at him, in a way that almost looked like he was seeking conformation, and he smiled.

"I'm pretty sure Professor Stills is mental," he added for good measure. He looked over at Pol, who still hadn't put down that bloody magazine. He met Rose's eyes and, at her slight nod, leaned across the table and snatched the offending rubbish out of Pol's hands.

"Hey!" Pol said indignantly, trying to get it back. "Give it!"

"Not a chance," Albus said. He handed the magazine to Scorpius. "Please sit on this."

Scorpius cocked an eyebrow at him. "Pardon?"

"Sit on it, please," he repeated.

There was a moment's pause as Scorpius thought about it, and then he took the publication and sat on it.

"Oh, come on, guys!" Pol pleaded.

"No!" Albus said. "Meal time, Apollo, is family time, which, while we're here, is what we," he gestured to himself, Rose, and Scorpius, "are. Now, you may read that drivel whenever the hell else you wish, but when we're eating, you will participate."

"It's not drivel!" Pol snapped.

"What are you talking about? It's absolute rubbish," Scorpius said.

Pol frowned. "My mum is the editor."

Scorpius' face drained completely of the little color it had, and then went as red as Rose's hair. "Oh, I – I – I – ."

"Pol, don't scare him," Rose laughed.

"Yeah, come on, Pol. Scorpius knows what's up. He knows it's rubbish, Rose knows it's rubbish, I know it's rubbish, even YOU know it's rubbish. There's no denying it."

"Yes, well – ."

"Listen, no one cares that you read it, just don't read it at the table, okay?" Rose said.

Pol frowned. "You all sound like my mother."

They all looked at him.

"Oh, fine, I won't read it at the table."

Scorpius leaned over and whispered in Albus' ear. "Is his mother really the editor?"

Albus grinned. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. Pol knows she's a bit daft."

Scorpius looked relieved, and Albus laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "If you're going to hang around with us, Score, you need to lighten up a bit. We don't bite."

"Much," Pol added, but smiled to let Scorpius know he was joking.

"Right," Scorpius said, sounding a little confused.

"You get used to them," Rose said. "I promise."

"Rose, you make us sound so terrible," Albus said, grinning. "Honestly, Score, we aren't that bad." He gave the slightly bewildered Malfoy a friendly nudge with his shoulder and they all tucked in to their food.

As they were leaving the Great Hall an hour later, Albus whipped around at a shrill cry of "SCORPIUS MALFOY!" from behind him. He saw Scorpius frozen mid-stride, wincing, and the evil Slytherin girl from Herbology marching up to him, followed by a gaggle of stupid-looking friends.

Uh-oh, Albus thought. This can only end badly. He walked over to Scorpius, just in case he needed to intervene.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here," the girl said, circling the two of them like a lion preparing to strike.

"Hello Iris," Scorpius said flatly. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Surprise?" Iris said. "Surely you knew this was coming?"

"I didn't anticipate it so soon," Scorpius sighed. "Can we just get it over with?"

Albus frowned, but didn't say anything.

"Oh, but there will be multiple parts coming at you," Iris said. "Should I start with your blatant inferiority? What about your failure? Your disappointment to your father? Your disgrace to your family name? Oh, what about your tainted friends?" She flashed a wicked look at Albus. "Any will do. I like them all."

Albus expected a snarky comeback such as the ones he'd received that morning, but all Scorpius said was, "You pick."

"I'll go in order, then, shall I?" Iris said with a sadistic grin. "Imagine our shock when the great Scorpius Malfoy failed to make Slytherin, the House that his ancestors had graced since they started attending this joke of a school. You're obviously not as great as you pretend to be. I was right about you, wasn't I? You're definitely not made of the stuff that makes a wizard great. Your father must be horrified. Of course, perhaps it wouldn't be so tragic if you hadn't flocked to these –."

Albus had had enough. "Hey, snot face, shut up!"

Iris looked at him disdainfully. "Was anyone talking to you, Gryffindork?"

"You were talking around me, which is good enough. And I'm not a –."

"Oh, that's right! You're a failure too, aren't you? Trust me, golden boy, you'll get your turn, but right now it's Scorpius' time to shine. I suggest you butt out."

"Listen, snake breath, you mess with a friend of mine, you mess with me." He slung an arm protectively around Scorpius' shoulders. "I may not be a Gryffindor, but that doesn't mean I'm any less ready to kick your butt anytime, anywhere."

"I thought Gryffindors were too noble to hit girls," Iris sneered.

"First," Albus said, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm, "I am not a Gryffindor. Second, because of that, I'm running a bit low on noble. So, please, think about that before you open your mouth again, because I'm not afraid to hit you, girl or not."

Iris eyed him for a minute, apparently sizing him up. "Alright, Potter. I'll let you have this round, only because I'm not ready for detention quite yet. But this isn't over." She turned to go. "Oh, and Scorpius, be thankful the Gryffindork was here to protect you. Next time, you may not be so lucky."

Albus glowered at her retreating figure. "I'm a RAVELNCLAW!" he shouted after her. He looked at Scorpius. "What is her deal? She's such a brat!"

Scorpius shrugged out from under his arm. "You didn't have to do that, you know," he muttered. "I can handle Iris."

Albus nodded. "It looks like you two have history, so I'm sure you can, but that's what friends do." He smiled.

"I wish you hadn't." Scorpius trudged past him and headed toward Ravenclaw Tower.

"Why?" Albus asked, following.

"Because now she's going to use that as another weapon!" Scorpius snapped.

Albus blinked. "I'm sorry, mate. I was just trying to help."

"Well, I don't need your help, okay? Like she said, just butt out."

"Listen," Albus said. "There's no way I'm going to just sit there and listen to someone insult my friends. I'm sorry if it embarrasses you, but I'm not going to let her wail on you like that because she's a snot who thinks she's better than everyone. Especially if you aren't going to defend yourself."

"One doesn't defend oneself against Iris. One lets her go and takes what she says, and when she's finished, walks away or calls her a name. I know; I've had years of experience."

"Sounds like fun. Quality friend that girl must be."

"Oh, she's God-awful, but when given the choice to be with her or against her, it's much easier to be with her. Believe it or not, what you just saw was tame. And when one has to deal with people such as her, one becomes an expert at ignoring them, unless they personally attack you." Scorpius sighed.

"That was a personal attack," Albus said.

"It could have been worse. One also learns to pick and choose one's fights."

"That must be difficult."

"It is, but I've made due. I've never had any other friends before, so I've taken what I could get."

"You can have real friends, you know," Albus said. "Rose and Pol and me, we'd like you to think of us like that."

"I know. I just," Scorpius paused to sigh. "I don't know what to do."

"Don't think too hard," Albus said. "Just go with it. That's what friendship is. You have to take it as it comes, because if you think about it too much, then you won't have any friends."

"Oh."

Albus grinned. "Yeah. But you have to accept all aspects of it, like having help dealing with those gits. You aren't going to go stuff like that alone."

Scorpius' mouth twitched into an almost smile. "I think I can deal with that."

"Good." Albus slung his arm around Scorpius' shoulder again. "Welcome to the group, Score. You'll have a good time. I promise."