A/N: So, here's the third chapter. With no big speeches, please, enjoy.

And I do not own Harry Potter or any of the original characters. So far only Freja is mine :3

Chapter three
The Cracks

After the sorting came speaches and some of the rules, like not going to the Forbidden Forest, were laid out. Most of the people were listening, but some were already talking and whispering about the sorting. From the Slytherin table Freja could hear mutters about a Potter being in Slytherin. She also saw rest of the tables turning around to look at their table. This made her angry and that surprised her. She had barely exchanged few words with the Boy, but she already felt a tiny bit overprotective about him.

She turned her head and looked at Albus, who was staring somewhere in the direction of Gryffindor table. After following his gaze, she saw Rose. She was sitting next to a black-haired boy who Freja recognized as James Potter from Daily Prophet pictures. In Freja's opinion there was something wrong in the way older Potter was looking at his younger brother.

„Albus?" Freja asked the boy in a quiet voice. When he didn't look at her, she continued speaking. „Is everything alright?"

„Everything is just fine," the tone Albus answered in was indicating that he was far from fine. However, Freja didn't have time to ask anymore questions as suddenly the food appeared on the table and even more suddenly the older Potter was standing next to them.

„Albus, come with me. We need to talk" James' voice was strict, distant and cold. After these words, he had turned around and started to make his way out of the Great Hall.

„Albus…" Freja opened her mouth, but wasn't sure what she could say. She was sure that whatever James Potter wanted to talk about, couldn't be anything nice. If his tone and Albus' expression was anything to go by.

„Everything is fine," Albus repeated in quiet voice, stood up and followed James out of the Great Hall leaving Freja alone, confused and tiny bit scared. She slightly shook her head as if trying to shake all thoughts out of her head. Then, she put some food on her plate, yet she didn't feel like eating, so she ended up moving the food all around the plate with her fork.

For a while Freja watched people, those behind the Slytherin table and the rest three tables. Everyone seemed to enjoy the feast and chat happily with their friends. Some switched tables to greet their friends in other houses. Newly sorted first years were getting to know their new classmates, mostly from their own houses, but some also talked to the kids behind neighbouring tables. Even new Slytherins were getting to know each other not so far from Freja. What Freja was thankful for, was the fact that no one tried to speak to her.

As the time went by and everyone seemed to get their fill of the food and some older students left the Great Hall, Freja was starting to get more anxious. Albus hadn't come back yet and she didn't see James behind the Gryffindor table either. Where is he, she thought as she forced some pumpkin juice down her throat. However, that question triggered another, more interesting question.

„Why do you even care, Freja?" she whispered as she once again looked at the door leading out of the Great Hall. The blonde girl looked around to see if someone heard her as she realized what she had done. As Freja didn't see anyone looking at her, she relaxed a bit.

Freja couldn't understand why right now she was feeling scared and anxious about Potter, why she was worried about him. She knew him for less than a day and even so, she had talked to him only twice. On top of that, Albus was a Potter, someone who she shouldn't be talking to in first place, not to mention to care about. Yet, here she was, losing her appetite because he still wasn't back from his conversation with James.

He's the only one you know here, Freja told herself. She knew it was the reason behind her current feelings, but it wasn't the only reason. Back in the train, when they were talking about the houses, she felt like he was keeping something from her and as she herself was keeping a big secret, she knew his was a big one too. Takes one to know one.

„May I have your attention for a Moment?" Professor McGonagal's voice got Freja's attention and she turned her head to look at the Headmistress. „It's getting pretty late and I would like to ask Perfects to lead the first years to the common rooms. First years, please follow your Perfects and don't get lost. Welcome, once again."

After these words, couple of older students stood up from behind Slytherin table and walked to the end of table that was closer to the professors' table and started to walk towards another end while first years were joining them. Must be our Perfects, Freja thought as she was getting ready to get up and join the rest.

„First years, please follow us," Brown-haired girl said as they passed the spot where Freja was sitting. After everyone had passed her, Freja stood up and followed the rest out of the Great Hall. She kept looking around as they walked through the hallways and down into the dungeons, where her daddy had told the Slytherin common room was located. No matter how much she looked around, she still didn't see Albus Potter when they reached the common room and were guided into their dorms.

When Freja entered her dorm room, she saw her new roommates sitting on one of the four beds. The girls stopped talking and looked at her. Freja started preparing herself for the moment she didn't want to come, but she knew it would come. For her surprise the girls turned their heads away from her, completely ignoring the blonde. Don't talk to me, fine by me, Freja mentally rolled her eyes and scanned the room to find her trunk next to the bed that was in the furthest corner next to the window. She walked to her trunk, took out her pyjama's, bag that had her personal hygiene things, towel and slippers and disappeared in the bathroom.

The girls were gone when Freja came out of the bathroom. She didn't even care about that. Never in her life she had cared about people who had treated her in some negative way, either openly being mean to her or ignoring her based on some prejudice they had. She had several of those people in her old School. Reason for prejudices were her looks and the fact she spoke English better than Finnish.

On the other hand, she didn't mind how the girls treated her. This gave Freja time to figure out how to do things from now on. Sure, she had all planned out when she was getting ready to go to Hogwarts. Get few friends, stay away from Potters and Weasleys, keep her secret. Simple as that. Only all her plans were destroyed on the Hogwarts Express and now she needed a new plan.

Freja sat on the edge of her bed and thought if she would write a letter to her parents now or tomorrow. After a short consideration she decided to do it tomorrow. With everything happening today, she hadn't had time to realize how tired she really was. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep.

OOO

Albus was sitting in empty common room, watching the fire dancing in the fireplace. His conversation with his brother earlier had been short, but afterwards he didn't feel like going back to Great Hall at all. If Albus could be completely honest, the conversation wasn't surprising at all. He always knew that if he would end up in Slytherin, the one having most problems with it would be James. Still, the conversation was stuck in young Potter's head and the words that were on a repeat hurt Albus more and more each time.

"You should have asked that stupid hat not to put you in that house!" James had shouted at Albus as soon as he had dragged the younger brother far away from anyone's ears. "Are you stupid?"

"Why James? It's just a house," Albus had answered although he knew very well it wasn't, not for James.

"Just... Just a house?!" at this point James was so mad that it kind of scared Albus. There had been only few times, when he had seen his brother this angry and one of those times were when some kids hurt their little sister in Diagon Alley this summer. "It's Slytherin for Merlin's sake, Albus! Slytherin!"

"Yes, one of the four houses in Hogwarts. Nothing more, nothing less," Albus was still trying to make his brother to calm down, although he knew it was useless. James' hate for Slytherin was just too deep.

"You don't get it, do you?" James grabbed his brothers by his robes and pushed him against the wall. "You are Potter. You can't be in Slytherin. Hufflepuff, fine! Ravenclaw, great! Gryffindor, perfect! But not Slytherin! I can't accept it!"

"Why not James? Why?!" usually calm Albus was now shouting too. "Dad accepts it! Mum is not against it! Why can't you accept it, my own brother? It's done anyway! No one can change it!"

"I will never accept it. Do you hear me? Never!" James freed Albus from his grip and stepped away from him as if he was some contagious disease. "My brother can't be in Slytherin..."

"James..." Albus tried to reach for his brother.

"Don't touch me!" James hit Albus' hand away from him ignoring the hurt in his little brother's eyes. "I... I need time... I need to... think."

"James..." but the older boy was already gone leaving the young Albus hurt and all alone in the cold hallway.

Albus had stood there in the hallway for a long time, hoping James would come back, but it never happened. When he had finally realized his brother was not coming back, he had wandered around the castle. At some point, patrolling perfects caught him in a hallway. Albus was lucky that it was Slytherin perfects as they just scolded him, but then lead him to the common room, where he currently was sitting, deep in his thoughts. Not noticing that someone had entered the common room. He didn't even notice when someone sat down on the other side of the couch he was sitting on. It was only when she spoke that he noticed Freja.

"Albus?" Freja asked in a quiet voice. Albus slowly turned his head to look at her, but didn't say anything. "Is everything fine?"

"Everything is great," the boy answered in a distant voice and turned his head slowly back to fireplace.

"You didn't come back to the feast," Freja continued in the same quite voice. She had a feeling that his words were a lie.

"I was speaking to my brother," to Freja's ear it sounded like Albus' voice had no life.

"Yes, but..." Freja changed her position on the couch so she was facing the boy more.

"I was speaking to my brother, Vinter," this time there was also ice in Albus' voice.

For a moment both of the kids were quiet. Albus was just staring at the fire while Freja was looking at her hands, confused and a bit sad. This Albus she was seeing now wasn't the same Albus she met on the train. What happened between him and James, she wondered silently. Then she remembered two things. One of those were what he had said in the train about houses and the second was what her daddy had told her when she had asked about his and Harry Potter's relationship.

"Potter... He disliked me from the beginning. Me being a Malfoy and my family history being what it was... Being in Slytherin had also been a reason in its own way," her daddy had said with a sad smile. "But honestly, I didn't like Gryffindors or Potter myself. And I never really gave him reason not to dislike me."

Could it really be that? Could Albus be like this because he was in Slytherin and his brother, his family, didn't like it? Freja didn't want to believe it. She wanted to ask Albus, yet she wasn't sure if she should. Why would you even care, she asked herself. And that was the question she wanted to get answered most of all.

"Does your family have a problem with you ending up in Slytherin?" Freja asked Albus in the end. This question made Albus turn his head towards Freja once again, but this time there was a bit of anger in his eyes.

"That is none of your business," his voice was cold and angry, sending shivers down Freja's spine. "If we talked once, it doesn't mean that we are friends and you are allowed to get involved in my business!"

"I..." Freja opened her mouth, but closed it immediately as she wasn't sure what to say. More so, she wasn't sure if she could say anything as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn't expecting the anger and it shocked her. She wasn't used to people being first nice and then so harsh to her. She stood up and started to make her way back to her dorm room. Halfway to the stairs, she stopped and turned around. Next words she spoke took all her strength to not to start crying. "I guess I was wrong. It's impossible for me to be friends with Potter."

Albus just stared at Freja as she disappeared from his view. He had regretted his words the second he spoke them. In the end, she was just trying to be nice and he had no right to lash out on her. Wrong place, wrong time, he thought. Yet, it didn't make him feel any better. He had hurt the girl, he had seen the tears in her eyes and he hated himself for making a girl to cry.

But what made him confused wasn't his conversation with James, not the feelings he had currently brewing inside of him and not the regret of making Freja cry. It was her last words. The way she said it, the way she said Potter indicated that she knew exactly who he was, and not from books or Daily Prophet. It sounded like something... Personal. And now he most likely wouldn't get a chance to ask her about it because the cracks weren't anymore just in his relationship with his brother. The possible friendship between him and Freja got its first, and really big crack. Perhaps even beyond repair.

A/N: Here it was, I hope you guys liked it. :) Would like to hear your opinion about it tho :)

- Asta B