Hi Everyone! Sorry about that last cliffhanger but I really wanted to get the Sorting up! Anyway as always I own nothing you recognize, and a HUGE thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, or reviewed. I'm so amazed by the response this story has gotten! Without further ado, CHAPTER 7
Scorpius was shocked. Best get this over with he thought gravely, and so, raising a shaking hand to his face he tugged the hat off his head. Everyone was open mouthed, the hall was eerily silent. He peered at the Gryffindors who looked as though they'd been slapped. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? It had never been done. Scorpius suddenly felt very conscious of all the eyes turned on him, he felt his cheeks going red.
Slowly, he eased himself off the stool, and, trying not to look frightened walked towards the table on the left. Scorpius cringed, he could hear every single click of his boots. No one was clapping now, even Professor Longbottom seemed lost for words. Why hasn't he called the next name yet? Scorpius wondered. There were so many eyes on him, he wished someone would speak, anyone, even Zambini, but it was silent.
Suddenly there was a loud clap, and then another. Teddy Lupin was grinning, and applauding him! And then so was Rose, and Al, and Elodora. A tall gangly boy with red hair whistled and the Great Hall broke out in applause.
Scorpius managed a weak smile and rushed to the Gryffindor table, sliding onto the bench next to Teddy who shook his hand enthusiastically.
"Welcome to Gryffindor Scorp!" He looked as though he was going to say more but Professor Longbottom was calling the next name. A little late Scorpius thought with a snort. Scorpius glanced back at the line of first years and spotted Albus giving him a big thumbs up, Scorpius grinned and turned back towards the high table were Moon, Lucretia was departing for the Ravenclaw table.
"Mustow"..., "Nott"...,"Perdue"...,"Perks"..., and then-
"Potter, Albus" Scorpius whipped his head around to give Al a grin as the hat slid over his emerald eyes. He ignored the whispers of,
"Potter?"
"The Harry Potter's son?" And stared directly at Al who was shifting uncomfortably under the hat. Come on Al, COME ON, Scorpius crossed his fingers under the bench and a second later the hat bellowed,
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindors roared, and Scorpius stood to clap Al on the back. Al grinned sheepishly as he slid into the seat on Scorpius' left.
"Well done Al!" Teddy yelled through the applause, enveloping his friend in a hug, Al smiled again turning towards the hat as the noise died down.
Professor Longbottom grinned at Al and then turned back to his list. As Smith, Sybil was being made a Hufflepuff, he turned to Albus.
"Do you think Rose and Dora will make Gryffindor?" He hadn't really been worried until he said it, what if their friends went to different houses? Al seemed to notice his expression.
"Rose is a shoe in, theres never been a Weasley not in Gryffindor," But Scorpius still wasn't satisfied.
"Well there hasn't been a Malfoy not in Slytherin," he said, suddenly feeling as though the temperature in the room had dropped 10 degrees, what would his father say to having a son in Gryffindor? Al didn't seem to notice, he was staring at the hat which had just made Thomas, Ginevra a gryffindor. Scorpius clapped with the rest of the table as Ginevra went to sit with Carlotta.
Then all of the sudden, "Weasley Rose," Rose looked a bit green but she ran eagerly up to the stool and shoved the hat on her head. It had barely touched her when it screamed,
"GRYFFINDOR!" Scorpius let out a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding in and Rose ran to sit next to Albus, now there was only Elodora left.
"Williams Elodora." The trio perked up, staring intently at the mousy haired girl. It sat on her head for only a moment screaming out...
"SLYTHERIN!"
The far table clapped quietly, and Al and Rose applauded numbly but Scorpius just stood frozen.
"A muggle born in Slytherin! They'll eat her alive!" Scorpius whispered to his friends, suddenly feeling suddenly angry as Elodora hurried to the table on the right. Rose frowned.
"Come on Scorpius, there not all that bad." But Scorpius was still fuming.
"You didn't grow up with those people! You don't know what they're like!" He felt his face going very red, but suddenly he felt as though he'd said too much. Scorpius looked down at his knees, not seeing Elodora's tentative smile in his direction.
Al nudged Scorpius.
"Cheer up mate, we're in!" Scorpius glanced up managing a feeble smile.
"Yeah I guess you're right," he said, and Al seemed to sense he didn't want to talk about it anymore because suddenly he whispered,
"Why do you think they've got all these empty table settings" Scorpius looked up and saw that Al was right. His brow furrowed, it did seem awfully strange...
Just then there was a cough from the head table. A very old woman in emerald green robes had stood and walked to a golden podium at the front of the hall he hadn't noticed before.
"Minnie!" Al whispered excitedly. Another family friend, Scorpius thought with a snort, he was losing count.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," there was a roar at this announcement but it quickly died down with a stern look from the woman at the podium.
"As I was saying," she said curtly, "Welcome, I have a few start of term notices to give," there was a loud groan at this and the stern woman frowned. "But, BUT, SILENCE!" The last word was screamed over the entire hall which immediately quieted. "They can wait until the banquet is done. Thank you." With this she sat turned and took her seat.
"Who was that?" Scorpius whispered to Teddy, feeling a bit stupid.
"Headmistress Mcgonagall," he answered his voice oddly muffled. "Peppermint humbug Scorp?"
Scorpius, confused by the last question turned to the table, his jaw dropped. The golden table setting were now piled with food: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, roast potatoes, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, fries, stew, puddings, gravy, bacon, steak, pasta, every kind of sausage, and just as Teddy had said peppermint humbugs.
Scorpius laughed as Al took a little of everything while Rose gaped at him disgustedly. He suddenly felt very hungry, now that the sorting was over the trolley seemed ages ago. And so tentatively he reached out to grab some potatoes. The food was incredible, better than anything he'd eaten at the manor, and at first everyone was too caught up with eating to bother much about talking.
"So," Rose, interrupting the quiet as she dabbed her mouth with the corner of her napkin, "We made it." She sounded just as awed as Scorpius felt, sitting here under the red and gold banners, it hadn't really begun to sink in yet.
Suddenly Scorpius felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see the frizzy blonde from earlier, Carlotta, he thought.
"Can we sit here," she asked in a loud voice, gesturing with her finger to a tall black girls and a burly boy with curly brown hair.
He nodded and scooted over shoving Al who fell into his potatoes. He and Rose exchanged knowing looks, trying very hard not to laugh as Al glared at the two of them. Carlotta and the other two who she introduced as Ginevra Thomas And Adrian Wadd, sat on Scorpius' right. After shaking hands with each of them, he turned back to the table and started. The feast had been replaced by an impressive display of puddings all laid on spotless golden plates. As he dug into the treacle tart the conversation turned to their parents.
"My mums a wizard, but my dad's a witch, didn't say a thing 'til after they'd married," there was a laugh from the others at this. "Bit of a nasty shock for him," Scorpius turned to Carlotta with frown.
"Was he angry?" Scorpius couldn't help thinking about how his father would react if the situation was reversed, and he married a muggle, the image made him shudder. But Carlotta just grinned.
"Nah, he was a bit upset for a couple of days but then he just thought it was brilliant." Scorpius gave her a small smile, still thinking of his father.
"Wicked," Albus grinned. "I'm a Halfblood, I think," he grinned charmingly at Carlotta, who giggled. Rose murmured something indistinct and Al looked indignant.
"What! This lineage stuff is bloody difficult!" Said Al loudly.
"Only you Al."
"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP SAYING THAT!" Rose cut him off turning to Ginerva and Adrian,
"I'm a pureblood, though I think grandad Weasley would murder me if I married one."
Everyone had turned to Scorpius now, and he was hurriedly trying to think of an excuse not to talk. He settle for stuffing a lump of tart into his mouth and nodding at Ginerva to go. Ginevra shifted and then said in a quiet voice,
"My parents died in the war," there was a sudden stiff silence at this. Scorpius felt his face growing very hot, had his grandfather helped to illustrate their deaths. His thoughts were interrupted by Ginevra.
"Well after it really, they were Aurors killed in a raid when I was little." Scorpius relaxed, not his family then, Rose seemed to notice and gave him a questioning look. Scorpius was saved from answering by Albus.
"Sorry," the dark haired boy murmured. They were all quiet for a moment. It was Adrian who broke the silence.
"I'm muggleborn." Scorpius didn't mention that he'd known this from the start, his father had made him memorise all the pureblood lines, he winced slightly at the thought, luckily no one noticed as they were all looking intently at Adrian, who was blushing a bit.
"Everyone just thought I was clumsy with an odd talent for pyrotechnics." Everyone except Scorpius grinned at this, and he turned to Adrian with a frown.
"What's pyroticnelks?" Everyone roared with laughter, but Scorpius frowned still genuinely confused. At last Adrian looked up doing a double take when he spotted his face.
"Oh, you're serious? Pyrotechnics is kind of like explosives." Scorpius nodded at this, still feeling a bit unsure but not wanting to seem stupid.
"Anyway," Adrian continued, "My parents kept explaining it away as freak accidents-which was sort of true I guess. But, well one day we went to paris for the day and I got lost in Notre Dame, and well the guard was being bloody annoying so...boom." Adrian blushed and everyone turned to Scorpius. He glanced down at his plate, the treacle tart was all gone. Al gave him a nudge and looked at him odly.
"Scorp?" He suddenly noticed everyone was looking at him.
"Oh," he said feeling as though his stomach had shot up his throat. "I'm a pureblood." They all stared at him, prompting him to say more, but Scorpius was rescued by a loud cough from professor McGonagall who was standing, once again, at the golden podium.
"Before I send you off to bed, I have a few short start-of-term notices for you." She said this all very crisply with her hawk-like eyes narrowed as if daring anyone to groan.
"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is prohibited to ALL students," she glared pointedly at James and the gangly red haired boy who'd clapped for Scorpius, they were both grinning wickedly.
"Mr. Filch," she gestured to a very crooked old man with matted hair patting a rather plump ginger cat on his lap. "Our caretaker has asked me to remind you that magic is not allowed in the corridors, and that no items purchased at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are permitted on school grounds, for further information see the full list in office." She crinkled her nose at this as though she couldn't imagine why anyone would want to do such a thing.
"Quidditch tryouts will be held the second week of term, anyone interested in playing should contact their house cabins or see madame hooch, first years are NOT allowed brooms." There were several disgusted cries at this last comment and it took a full minute before the hall was calm enough for Professor McGonagall to continue.
"Finally the second corridor in the dungeons is to be avoided at all costs." There was a loud murmur of voices at this, and Scorpius leaned over to tap Teddy on the shoulder.
"Is that a normal rule?" He whispered, trying not to sound anxious.
"No," Teddy replied with a frown. "It's very odd in fact, because the usually give a reason, the forests' full of dangerous beasts, the corridors are too crowded for spells, and well you've met James, Weasleys Wizard Wheezes are good for wreaking havoc, but not much else. But I've been down in the dungeons loads of times there's nothing too bad down there if you don't mind the dark."
Scorpius returned to his seat feeling more confused than ever, however his thoughts were interrupted by Professor McGonagall.
"And now it's time for bed, in the spirit of old times, off you trot!" Several of the teachers looked a bit misty eyed at this, but for once, Scorpius thought it best not to ask as he'd just realized how tired he was. Al gave a great yawn and they followed Teddy out of the hall.
They slipped through the chattering crowds and up the marble staircase, past countless portraits which pointed and whispered excitedly, through so many doors and tapestries and sliding panels that Scorpius was starting to wonder how he would ever find his way back to the hall.
They scaled a few more staircases yawning dragging their suddenly heavy feet. Suddenly they jostled to a halt. Scorpius tried to peer over the heads of to see why they'd stopped, but he was rather small, and they all seemed a bit big to his bleary eyes.
"Here we are," Teddy announced, and suddenly a silky voice said
"Password?"
"Finite incantatem," Teddy replied evenly and suddenly the wall before them swung open to reveal a well lit common room. As they shuffled in, Scorpius peered around curiously, it was cozy and round, and full of squashy red armchairs circling cackling fire.
Suddenly Scorpius felt a tug on his arm, it was Albus eyelids drooping and shoulders sagged.
"Come on," he said blearily, dragging Scorpius towards a spiral staircase that Teddy was gesturing too. Scorpius waved a quick goodbye to Rose who grunted sleepily, and followed Al to the dormitories.
As he lay in one of five velvet four posters, furnished in deep Gryffindor red, Scorpius smiled. All in all, it had been the best day of his life.