I do not own Harry Potter or the characters made by the terf, I mean JK Rowling

So...when I first wrote this...I don't even know how long ago, it was low *cough* highkey crappily written and the chapters were much shorter. This was originally 2,323 words. Now it is 4,401 words. That means I wrote an extra 2,078 words. Meaning I was less than 250 words away from tripling the word count.

Anyways, this is also posted onto my Tumblr account imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters and my Wattpad somekindofmagic1 so you can check it out on there too!

But anywho, hope you enjoy!

Love Z 3

Chapter 3 The Difference Between Slytherins and Gryffindors

Albus rolled his eyes at Anne's comment, "Just because you want to study and not fail, doesn't mean Scor and I have to join you."

She sighed, "No, no it doesn't, Al. But I, personally, don't think that you and Scor wanna fail either."

"We don't!"

"But we don't wanna study, Anne."

It was her turn to roll her eyes, "It doesn't even matter cause you're just going to copy off of me."

Albus gave her a wide smile, "Exactly!" His eyes drifted behind Anne as he saw Silver-Blonde hair of his cousin running towards them. "Vic?"

Victoire slowed down to a stop behind Anne. She gave Albus a soft smile. "Hey Al. Sorry that I haven't come and found you yet. I've been busy."

"Oh...it's fine Vic."

"No it's not! I've talked to Rose so many times already and I haven't gotten to speak to you once."

The mention of Rose's name caused Albus to cross his arms. "What has Rose told you?"

"Things I refuse to believe." She sighed, "Everyone changes when they join their house. They begin to...act more like their house traits. Which isn't bad!" She pushed some of her long hair behind her ear, "Do you remember how I was before I came to Hogwarts?" He shook his head, "Well, it took me until the end of my first year to stop being so shallow."

Albus scoffed, "You? Shallow? I hardly believe that to be true."

She laughed, "Many do. But ask anyone in the family who was older when I came to Hogwarts. Or Dom...she'll remember for sure. She never forgets to remind me of it." She rolled her eyes. "But still, I doubt you've changed 'so much that you're not even you anymore' as they so lovingly put it."

He laughed slightly, "Yeah."

"So, are these two behind you the famed 'Malfoy' and 'Green' they've been complaining about and saying they changed you?"

He nodded, "Yeah. That's Scor and Anne."

Vic gave them both a warm smile, "Nice to meet you both! I actually know your brother, Anne. He's Headboy and Slytherin's Prefect, right?"

"Yeah...yeah that's my brother."

"Well, if you're anything like him or his girlfriend Cass, I believe that my cousin is in good hands." And when her eyes landed on Scorpius, Albus was scared of what she would think of it. Them being friends. Ironically, while it hurt that Rose and James didn't like his choice of friends, he knew it would hurt even more if Vic didn't. The one person in the family that got along with quite literally everyone. No matter their family. No matter their house. No matter anything. She always saw the good in everyone. And if she didn't like you...well then good luck in life. "And you're Scorpius Malfoy, right?" Scorpius nodded and Vic smiled. "I'm happy that you and Al are friends! Maybe then the Prophet will realize that your family has changed."

"Yeah...yeah maybe."

She turned back to Albus, "Well, I need to go meet up with my study group. I'll leave you to do what I hope is studying. Don't start your life at Hogwarts off with a bad study schedule. Don't wanna be like Teddy and rely on everyone else now, do you?"

"See! Your cousin gets it!"

He rolled his eyes, "Why did you say it, Vic? Now she won't shut up about it."

Vic smirked at Albus, "Good. She should."

He saw Anne shoot him a satisfied smile, "See, now that she says it, you have to."

"Well, I have no relation so therefore-"

"I'll tell your mother Scorpius."

"I'll study."

Vic laughed, "What a lovely group of friends you have Al."

Albus looked over as Scorpius was pouting and Anne was smiling. "Yeah...they're the best."

And now, nearly 9 weeks since Albus's argument with James. And everyone in his family who was at Hogwarts, all except Victoire hated him. Which made him extremely happy. He had been terrified that everyone would be against him. All because he's 'the enemy' now. Because he hadn't told the Hat to put him into Gryffindor. He allowed himself to be police where he needed to be. Even if it made him lose his family and the friends he had had growing up.

But at least he still had Vic. And ever since she talked to him, she became his favorite cousin.

The rather unfortunate part was how not much after the argument, he received a letter from his parents. James had apparently written to their parents and told them his side of the story. The side that made Albus out to be worse than he actually was. However, Victoire had written to them as well and they thankfully believed her when she told them that he was the same kid as when he was dropped off. All that the letter told him was that James was probably upset as he had always planned for him and his little brother to be in Gryffindor together and go throughout school and cause trouble.

But he didn't get it. He and James rarely did much beforehand. Why was he wanting them to do things together now? James had always been closer to Lily, just as Albus has been. So why was James wanting to be 'partners in crime' all of a sudden? Why was life at Hogwarts different from life at home? He found it all too confusing.

But above all, Albus knew that there would be a talk when he got home, even when they said there wouldn't be. He knew his parents well enough and knew that they would give a talk. No matter what the reason was.

But even with the annoyance of his parents' letter, he was excited as he had also gotten a letter from Lily. He missed his little sister dearly. And it made him happy as she told him that she was happy that he wasn't a Gryffindor as it made him special. But that was short and brief and she quickly changed to how her life has been at the muggle school.

The letter talked about how she hates the school uniforms and how her favorite class was English but her least favorite would probably be Maths. However, that is only because it confused her. Which he agreed with. Maths was confusing to him as well. He hoped that their Aunt Hermione awas helping her as she had helped him.

And his favorite part of the letter was the photo she sent. She was on the beach with some of her friends. There were two that he recognized but then three that he didn't. He assumed they were girls that she had made friends with this year. But he couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable she looked with them near. And he couldn't help but wonder

Albus and Scorpius sat up in the stands, talking with each other about different quidditch teams. All while Anneliese was down by the locker room, hyping up her brothers, Aidan, Antonio, Derek, and Dominick. "I say the Harpies are better than the Arrows, but I will root for the Arrows over any other team.."

Albus sighed, "I feel like I have to like the Holyhead Harpies because my mum was on the team.' He stopped and thought about that for a moment, "Well...I actually think I would still like them, even minus my mum being an older member. They are bloody excellent." He ran a hand through his hair, "So, I would say my favorite team is either them or the Kenmare Kestrels. But I will fight you on the Arrows. They aren't that good of a team."

Scorpius scoffed, "If we subtract the fact that my dad owns the Appleby Arrow, they are an excellent team! Yeah, they've had their ups and downs-

"Mostly downs."

Scorpius shoved Albus at his comment. "But they always pull through."

"Or choke up at the end. Hey Anne."

Anne grumpily sat next to the two boys, "Y'know, I actually hate having to hype up those four. Especially as Dominick thinks he's "too good" to be hyped up." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Like please, even outside of Quidditch he's an asshole and in Quidditch, he's a horrible player who grabs the snitch way too early. And has no idea what teamwork is. And don't you need teamwork in Quidditch?!"

Albus nodded, "Yeah, the main point of the game is to work together to beat the other team. And how early does he grab the Snitch?"

She sighed, "He typically, assuming he even gets the snitch, we are behind and it may only give us a 10 point lead. At most." She groaned, "Just so stupid."

"Your brother or the game?"

She laughed at Scorpius' comment, "Both."

Albus sighed before scrunching his face in confusion, "Off of subject, Anne, why didn't you tell me it was your birthday last month?"

She shrugged, "You were caught up in everything with your brother and happy that your sister was constantly writing to you, it just didn't seem important. And besides, I share a birthday with Potter, so it would have been overshadowed."

"Yeah, but I still would've liked to know. Could have made you a card or something."

She sighed, "Well, you can do it next year."

"Promise?"

She nodded, "Promise." She looked up at the sky, "Merlin, I hope it doesn't rain."

But of course with their lovely luck, about 2 hours in, rain had begun to fall from the sky. It only got worse as the game had gone on. No one had been prepared for it. So now everyone in the stands were drenched with rain. Clothes and hair sticking to their skin. Many wanted the game to end. Not caring who got the snitch. Just that someone does and ends this misery. Anne had her head on Scorpius' shoulder. All time had been forgotten as they listened to Maily Jordan give the update as Slytherin scored for the first time in a while.

"Score for Slytherin! But Gryffindor is still in the lead with 500 to 190! Honestly, Slytherins seeker needs to get the snitch and put an end to their misery." Every Slytherin agreed. At least if Dominick grabbed the Snitch, they would only lose by 160 points. While it was still a whole lot, at least it wouldn't be by what it would if Gryffindor got the Snitch.

A sigh escaped Anneliese's lips and she turned her head to Albus. "She's right y'know. If he doesn't catch the snitch soon, we'll just look even more like failures when it comes to Quidditch."

Albus looked at her with confusion, "What do you mean?"

Scorpius was the one who sighed this time, "Slytherin hasn't won a single game in 5 years. They almost won the games last year but the Seekers for the other houses kept getting the snitch."

"Oh...I never knew that."

Scorpius snorted, "Not surprising, you're Jame Potter's younger brother, doubt he would let that be known." Albus just simply shrugged at him but then, along with the rest of Slytherin, let out a scream when it was announced that Ravenclaw's seeker caught the snitch.

They all got up and went to leave the stands, but as they began to walk down, Anne let out a sneeze and groaned. "Of course I'm gonna get sick now."

And she did get sick. 4 days had passed and she was currently sleeping in her Dorm, according to Charlotte Montague and Holly Avery that is. Of course they knew she was happy that she got to skip flying practice. She...it wasn't hate, but she really didn't like it.

But whenever she wasn't there, someone always had something to say. They never understood why it happened either. Albus had guessed it was because her brother was Headboy and she easily could get them in trouble. But without her there, people decided to say something to Scorpius and Albus.

"Ey, Malfoy, I'm still surprised that they let your kind in."

The two boys looked over at who said it. Oxford Wilde was standing next to Rose and Amanda Creevy. Albus glared at them, "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you Al, just Malfoy. Tell me, what is it like to have a father who's a werewolf?"

Scorpius crossed his arms, "My dad's not a werewolf! Why does everyone have to believe that stupid rumor?"

Albus crossed his arms now, "And besides, what's so bad about a werewolf? If I remember correctly, there was a Gryffindor who was one."

Rose butted in this time, "He's not wrong Ox, not all people who are werewolves are bad! In fact-"

Albus scoffed, "Awe, need to share your information about useless things Rosie?"

She gave him a dirty look, "You need to tell Lily to talk to James more. And it's not-"

He interrupted her again, "And why would I do that?"

Rose stood straight, "Because you're going to corrupt her with your thoughts and beliefs! You...you;re gonna convince her that we're the bad guys!"

Albus scoffed, "And then make her go to y'all and think I am the bad guy?" She was about to defend herself and he continued, "Merlin, you're so ridiculous. Just get over yourself Rose!"

As he watched her, he saw her hand going down to grab her wand. He tried to grab his as well, but he was too slow and as soon as the words, "Locomotor Mortis!" Left her mouth, he felt his legs lock together. And unfortunately, he didn't know the counter-curse. The one time he actually needed Anne she wasn't there.

So as he fell, he threw his own jinx her way, "Tarantallegra!"

But, once again, unfortunately for Albus, she knew the counter-jinx for what he threw at her, but fortunately for him Scorpius fired the counter-curse to his Leg-Lock curse.

And as soon as Albus stood, he felt himself fly back and hit his head on a tree. He pushed himself up and began to wobbly walk towards her, but she yelled another spell at him, "Flipendo!" He was pushed back into the tree again. This time, his ears began ringing and everything went blurry. And while it was faint, he still heard more spells being fired. But at some point, he heard a whistle being blown.

Not long after the whistle was blown, he heard yelling and eventually felt someone's arms grab him from behind and hoist him up. He couldn't figure out who it was until he heard the voice and it felt almost as if it was yelling in his ear. "C'mon Mr. Potter, let's get you to the Hospital Wing." That was the last thing he heard before he fully went out.

Albus blinked his eyes, adjusting them to the brightness of the Hospital Wing. He groaned as he realized his head started to hurt. "Madam Pomfrey! He's up!" He recognized that voice. When he fully looked around, he smiled when he saw Anne standing next to him. "You had us worried Al, I thought we might have to send a letter to your parents or something."

He laughed slightly, "Annie, you're rushing, I barely understood what you just said." He tried pushing himself up, but that proved harder than he thought it would've been. "Can you help me up? And sorry that I'm yelling" The thing was, to him, it felt like he was yelling, but in reality, he was just whispering.

She laughed as she carefully wrapped her arms under him and pulled him up. "You're whispering, Al. And sorry. You really scared me. When Lottie and Holly came and told me what happened. So imagine my worry!" She pulled away, "You've never called me 'Annie' before."

Oh. "Oh. Sorry."

She smiled, "No, it's fine. I like it."

Before he could reply Madam Pomfrey walked over, "That was quite a fight you got yourself into Mr. Potter. How're feeling?"

He shrugged, "I'm okay, I think. Just a massive headache."

She nodded curtly, "That is to be expected. I need to check some things out but I will be able to send you on your way. I already let you stay the night." He nodded and let her do what she needed to.

Annie grabbed her bag and stood, "I have to go, lunch is almost over and I have to head down to History of Magic." She sighed, "I'll let Scor and everyone know how you are and I'll see you later." She walked out of the room and he flinched lightly when the door shut.

When he was released to leave the Hospital Wing, History of Magic was nearing its end. He didn't feel like going to the rest of his classes so he went back to his Dorm. He fell onto his bed. He was still tired from all hell and his head was pounding. And even when Madam Pomfrey had said she hadn't written to his parents, he knew they knew. He was in a fight and got caught. They got a letter. He just hoped that they saw that it was technically Rose's fault.

Albus didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep. Only knowing that it happened as he felt someone gently shaking him awake. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Scorpius standing over him. "Hey, Anne told me that you would probably be here." He handed him a few letters, "These came for you this morning." Albus sat up and took the letters from him. He was surprised that his parents had already written to him. Scorpius cleared his throat and laid down on Albus's bed. "Rose has detention until Christmas break. I mean...I do too, but mine is only every other day starting tomorrow."

"And me?"

"Think since you got hurt, you're in the clear. But I dunno. Professor Slughorn may talk to you later." Albus nodded and Scorpius continued, "It's what Rose deserves, honestly. I mean...Anne and I think she deserves longer, but hey, that's us." He wanted to disagree. Say that maybe she shouldn't have detention that long. He knew Scorpius shouldn't. He was only defending him. Yeah...Rose should have detention. But not until Break or longer like Scor and Annie think.

Scorpius continued to talk as Albus opened the letters. Starting with, the most surprising one, the one from Teddy.

Sup Al,

So I was eating with your parents/Lils plus Hermione and Ron heard what Rose did to you, hope you're doing good. Funny thing, your mom was so close to criticizing Hermione and Ron for it until, I guess, until she realized that they're livid at Rose for that. No doubt she'll get a howler from them soon haha. Hoping it's after you're out of the Hospital Wing.

Anyways, is your 1st year going good? May surprise you, but I was actually happy that you're a Slytherin. It makes you...unique, in my humble opinion. Oh! Vic told me that she's been helping you out with things, she didn't say what 'things' were, but then again, I didn't ask.

Well, I have no clue on what to say honestly, so just have a good couple of weeks until Christmas, I'll see you then.

Stay outta trouble, won't ya?

Teddy

"Everything good there?"

Albus looked over at Scorpius, who had sat up while Albus had been reading Teddy's letter. He nodded, "Yeah, just a letter from Teddy."

"Teddy?"

"Lupin. I actually think y'all are cousins."

"Yeah. He's Andromeda's grandson, right?" Albus nodded and Scorpius nodded back, "Then yeah. He's my Grandmother, fathers mum, great-nephew. Don't think I've ever even met him though."

Albus just shrugged and turned back to his letters. Deciding to open the one from his Aunt Hermione next.

Dear Albus,

Hello dear, I know I never write to you and I am sorry that it is only because of this situation. Your Uncle Ron and I will be having a serious conversation with Rose when you all come back for Christmas break. But I wanted to apologize to you myself. I feel like it's my fault that she is acting like this. I had believed that I raised her to be better than this, to not pick fights with someone just because of their house. Yes, I've read that she says that you've 'changed' since becoming a Slytherin, but from what I've heard from what your mother is saying from the letters you've been sending to your sister, I highly doubt that. Well, I can't wait to see you in a few weeks and once again I am very sorry for Rose's actions.

Wish you the best,

Aunt Hermione

He rolled his eyes. Of course his Aunt thought it was her fault. If he was to be honest, it was his Uncle's fault. He never was too quiet on his...disdain for Slytherin's. But he placed that aside and opened his mother's letter,

Albus,

I have no clue when you are getting this, but a few hours ago your father and I got a letter from Professor McGonagall saying that you got into a fight with your cousin. She said how Rose claimed you attacked her first, some agreeing with her, but the majority disagreeing. Your sister is very worried about you and is trying to grab the paper from me to write to you. I always forget how much she looks up to you Albus, it makes me happy that at least 2 of my kids are getting along.

I'm really not writing about that fight. We can talk about it when you get home.

In other news, your father said that plans for the 20th anniversary since the end of the war event at the ministry are already starting to be planned. He was wanting me to ask you if he wanted us to write to McGonagall to get you out of school to come with us. (You don't have to of course and I don't expect you to want to)

How has your year been too? You never write to us and I've been getting worried, even if you're just saying everything is okay and you're happy, please just write.

Love,

Your mother

Albus laughed, "My mum is mad at me for not writing."

Scorpius laughed as well, "Same here Al, mine even threatened me. And I'm pretty sure Anne's mum is upset as well."

Albus shook his head as he grabbed the last letter and opened it.

Hey Albie! How has school been? Anneliese? Scorpius? (Did I spell their names right?) Mum just told me about the fight with Rose, are you okay? I hope you are. School for me has been hard, I lost two friends. They called me weird for having a big family. But in other news, I broke my arm. So I'm sorry that this looks weirdly written, I'm using my left hand.

Mum says that you go on Christmas break in 3 weeks. So three weeks until I see you again! I'm excited, I wanna hear all about Hogwarts and your friends and what Slytherin House is like!

Hugo and I got into a fight, currently on no speaking terms. I don't like not speaking to him, actually, I'm gonna stop writing and go apologize!

Bye Albie!

Love your sister Lily

He smiled when reading her letter, but the smile faded as he realized that he really missed his sister. Well, he mostly just missed her chaotic energy and everything about it.

"Everything okay?"

Albus looked at Scorpius again and nodded, "Yeah. Just miss my sister."

Scorpius nodded, "Yeah...I don't really know how that feels. Being an only child and all." He sighed, "Sometimes I wish that my parents had more kids."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The Manor can be lonely without company. I mean...yeah, there's my parents and grandparents, but they're adults." He laughed, "Funny thing, the only one that ever really 'played' with me was my mother. My father would, on occasion. But my mother has always put time aside to spend with me."

"Your mum sounds amazing."

Scorpius smiled softly, "She really is." He sighed, "Wanna know who won the Kestrels versus Arrows game?"

"Duh."

"Arrows lost their last match."

Albus nodded, "Good then the Kestrels have a chance at going to the World Cup." He gave Scorpius a smug smile before bursting into laughter. "Anyways, break is in like, 3 weeks. What're you gonna do?"

"Probably go to some fashion show that my mother drags me too. And the Slytherin Christmas dinner...yeah, I'm doing nothing." He laughed, "Anne is probably gonna cry because she has to deal with all 14 of her siblings." Scorpius sighed, "What about you?"

Albus shrugged, "Probably hang with my little sister and see how my cousin who is at Beauxbatons is doing."

"Oh? You have a cousin there?"

He nodded, "Yeah, Vic's younger sister Dom decided to go there instead. Envy her in all honesty." He sighed, "Hopefully no one has turned her against me."

Scorpius wrapped his arm around Albus's shoulder, "Well, you can always come visit me in the gigantic and lonely Malfoy Manor."

Albus laughed, "I'll think about it. For sure."

Scorpius nodded, "Good." They both laughed as they heard their stomach's rumble. "Guess we better head down to dinner."

Albus nodded, "Guess we should."

And once they walked into the Great Hall and Albus felt the eyes of the Gryffindor table on him. He did his best to ignore them as he sat next to Annie. "Oh thank Merlin you're alright Albus! We all thought you died!"

Robyn Goyle rolled her eyes at her brother, Rohyn Goyle's, comment. "We did not." She sighed, "But we are happy that you're alright Albus. Pretty sure you gave everyone in Slytherin a scare."

"Really?"

She nodded, "I heard from my sister, Charlotte, that many of the older kids were worried too."

Albus was surprised to find out that the other Slytherins had been worried about him. Did the people in Slytherin house really like him that much? He didn't think they would. Afterall, he was kin to 'the enemy'. And if Gryffindor house hates him for being a Potter in Slytherin, wouldn't Slytherin too? None of it made sense to him. But he pushed those thoughts away and ate. Ignoring the feeling he had deep-down.