Disclaimer: The universe and all characters belong to J. K. Rowling or are otherwise inspired by her creation.
Zach had somehow managed to snag a horseless carriage to himself. He supposed the bad mood he was in made him look even more imposing than usual. Just as he was beginning to settle in for the short ride to Hogwarts a rather unwelcome guest jumped into the carriage.
Wood slid into the opposite seat of the carriage just and it jerked to life. Zach stared at him blankly, completely at a loss for what to do. The shock of the sudden arrival didn't allow him to think about grabbing his wand. He just continued to blink at Wood, which made him look like he had just been hit by a confoundus spell.
Wood didn't seem to be comfortable with the situation either, despite being the one to instigate it. Zach noticed that his right cheek was a bit red and swollen and wondered if Rose was responsible for that. Wood kept looking anywhere but at Zach. Finally he let out a long breath and said, "So…" He looked rather flustered which was unusual; Wood possessed a near Slytherin confidence in himself. "I wanted to apologize," Wood finally muttered.
Zach just continued to stare at him blankly. Perhaps his eyebrows would have drawn together in deeper confusion if he had been capable of expressing emotion with his eyebrows. Wood rolled his eyes in exasperation and tightened his jaw muscles. "James took things a bit far today, so…I'm apologizing," Wood explained. Zach noticed that Wood didn't say 'I'm sorry'.
Zach raised the corner of his wide mouth in a sneer. "Feel better now that you got that off your chest?" Zach taunted. Zach wasn't normally much of a taunter; you needed to have a quick wit to participate in verbal sparring. However, he had picked up the basics after living in Slytherin for two years. "Gryfindors are all alike. You're just as mean if not more so than Slytherins, and you think apologies make it all better," Zach looked Wood up and down and tried to express disdain on his face. "I don't like you Wood and you don't like me. I'm not accepting any stupid insincere Gryfindor apologies. We're enemies and neither of us should ever apologize. You're humiliating yourself," Zack finished his voice thick with disgust. If Wood's reaction was anything to go by, Zach was better at being a Slytherin than he thought.
The boy looked livid. His skin was flushed with anger and his eyes were narrowed dangerously. Zach thought Wood might crack a couple of teeth with the way he was clenching his jaw. "You're right Flint. I should have known better than try to be decent to a slimy Slytherin". Wood grabbed the edge of the bench and leaned closer towards Zachary looking murderous. "Rosie said you were a decent guy, and said I should apologize to you".
"Always take orders from little girls Wood?" Zach mocked. Zach was feeling a lot better. He had never managed to get so far under Wood's skin before and it was invigorating.
"You stay away from Rosie. She's a good girl and she doesn't need to worry about older perverts following her around the school," Wood spat.
Zach clenched his own fists in response to this. She was eleven for pity's sake and he would never even think… "Maybe you should heed your own warning Wood," Zach snarled.
Wood made to lunge at Zach, but before he could land a blow or get beat back to where he belonged the carriage door opened and someone grabbed him by the back of his robes. Neither of the boys had noticed when the carriage had come to a stop, so both were very surprised when Wood was yanked out of the carriage.
"William Wood and Zachary Flint," said the voice of Professor Longbottom. Zach gave an inaudible groan. Professor Longbottom hated him, there was no way he was leaving here without a detention. Professor Longbottom was very nice in general, but very heavy handed in punishments. Zach had received numerous detentions with the Professor last year after killing (accidentally he swore) the school's supply of mandrakes. He never served detentions in the greenhouse, because that would only lead to more innocent plants being slaughtered under his care.
"I expected better from you Mr. Wood," Professor Longbottom lectured. Teacher's never expected better from Slytherins. Those kind of negative assumptions stopped hurting after first year. "A student from my own house…fighting on the first day…You will be serving detention with me this entire weekend. I'd take off house points too, but you're house doesn't have any points to take off yet".
"Hurry up to the castle both of you, the first years will be sorted soon". Zach and Wood both stared at the professor dumbfounded.
"But Professor, Zach…"
"Being provoked is not reason to strike another student," Longbottom said with finality. Before the professor could change his mind and realize that he had the prime opportunity to punish a Slytherin, Zach turned and hurried up to the castle. He heard wood mumbling under his breath and following at a slower pace.
Professor Longbottom had been right, most of the school had already taken their seats and were chatting amiably. The sorting hat was sat on its stool, but the first years weren't in the great hall yet. Zach sat down next to a dark skinned boy in the year above him named Kaiser Murdock. They weren't friends, but they both beaters on the Slytherin team which occasionally gave them something to talk about. Zach looked down the table and saw the team captain Aurelius Bletchley shamelessly flirting with Eloia Price. Zach had been one of the many younger Slytherins who would sometimes watch the pretty slytherin girl. She had long dark brown hair and blue eyes. He face shape was a bit squarish, but she had a wide mouth and large lips that matched it well. Zach frowned slightly as Eloia batted her eyes at the sixth year boy.
He didn't have much time to get properly jealous though, because the sorting hat had begun singing. Zach didn't here much of this years song, because Kaiser had chosen this moment to talk to him, "Why bother making up a new song every year. It should just say that Slytherins for the pure and most cunning, Ravenclaws for the cleverest and know-it-alls, Gryfindors for the foolhardy, and Hufflepuffs for anyone who was too pathetic to make it into another house".
"Well, if the hat were honest. They'd lose a quarter of the schools population in dropouts," Zach replied hiving Kaiser his closed-mouth-smile. Kaiser stared at him blankly for a moment, probably shocked that Zach had replied at all. Zach realized his behavior was out of the ordinary, and he quite didn't know what had gotten into him.
Kaiser let out a barking laugh, "Right you are!" he said slapping Zach on the back before being told to shut up 'my sisters being sorted' by an older boy further down the Slytherin table.
Zach wasn't really interested in the sorting. He didn't know anyone, aside from Rose, who was being sorted. He just fiddled with his fork and clapped when those around him clapped. Suddenly a name caught his attention. "Scorpius Malfoy," Professor Ennis read from the scroll of parchment. Malfoy? Where had he heard that name before? Then it came to him. James had said something about that little dark haired boy consorting with a Malfoy.
He looked up interestedly and noticed that Aurelius Bletchley was watching intently too. The boy had white blonde hair and pale features that may have been bleached out by fear. He approached the stool and stumbled a bit. Professor Ennis placed the hat on his head and Scorpius sat there for nearly a minute his hands tight on the edge of the school. Finally the hat shouted, "Slytehrin" and the table erupted in applause.
The boy looked relieved but slightly sick. Zach noticed him look at the line of first years yet to be sorted apprehensively. Zach followed his gaze and saw the small dark haired boy, Albus. Scorpius approached the Slytherin table and sat down on the opening to Zach's left. There always tended to be a gap around Zach at the Slytherin table. His quidditch teammates were basically the only people unafraid to approach him.
Zach figured the boy must have been in shock from the sorting, because he didn't even seem to register Zach's presence as he sat down. Suddenly there were a few collective gasps around the hall, excluding the Slytherin table. The blonde boy next to him suddenly sprang to life and stared intently at the sorting hat. "Albus Potter," Professor Ennis reapeated when the boy refused to leave the line. Zach noticed Rose was standing next to Potter. She gave him a slight push which caused him to stumble and blush furiously.
The hat was place on his head and it took even longer this time before once again shouting, "Slytherin". It sounded like a breeze blew through the great hall as nearly everyone gave a collective gasp. The hall began to clap tentatively and about half of the Slytherin table was cheering wildly rubbing it into the faces of the other houses. Scorpius was one of those cheering wildly. He had even stood up on the bench in a very undignified non-Slytherin manner.
Albus looked happy, but at the same time completely terrified. He glanced at the Gryfindor table before quickly looking away. Zach looked over at the Gryfindor table and noticed a deathly pale James Potter who looked confused and betrayed. Wood was right next to him trying to coax him out of his shock from the looks of it. Fred Weasley was wiping pumpkin juice off of his shirt. Zach smirked slightly when he noticed the last one.
Scorpius grabbed slapped Albus on the back as he sat down next to him. "Good going Al," he exclaimed proudly. "I told you, you'd have enough cunning to trick the hat into placing you here," Scorpius told him. Ah, so the Malfoy boy had tricked Albus into choosing Slytherin. The blonde was a born snake if Zach ever saw one.
Albus lowered his voice, so he thought no one could here him. "Well, it said I was a true Gryfindor. I told him…er…it…I guess…that as a true brave Gryfindor I wasn't afraid to be sorted into Slytherin. Then…it kind of laughed at me…I think it could tell I was just a little afraid…and said whatever you like. So here I am, at least for now, I'm pretty sure James is going to kill me when he comes back to consciousness," Albus said looking over again at the Gryfindor table.
Scorpius let out a snicker. "Well you got your housemates to protect you now," Scorpius told him.
"Yeah, I just wish.
"Would you shut up about how great your cousin is? I swear to Merlin you're in love with her, and people say that Pureblood's are incestual. If only they had met you're family first," Scorpius told him with a teasing grin.
"We are not incestual," Albus cried indignantly hitting Scorpius on the shoulder.
"If you say so," Scorpius said.
"I wonder if it's to late to get resorted into Gryfindor," Albus said thoughtfully rubbing his chin.
"Shut up, you prat. You know you'll like it here," Scorpius said. The smiled at each other and then refocused on the sorting. Zach was rather dumbfounded by their friendly interaction. How could anyone possibly be that close after just one train ride? He thought it was monstrously unfair that anyone could make friends that easily. Maybe it was a gift of the Weasley family. Zach scowled down at his empty plate, feeling a bit sorry for himself.
Kaiser nudged him with his elbow. "Look at how Bletchley is eyeing those two. If I didn't know better, I'd say he had the hots for them," Kaiser snickered.
Zach looked over to where Aurelius was sitting. He was eyeing both eyes hungrily a nearly insane glint in his eye. Zach would have been creeped out on behalf of the boys if he hadn't seen that same look directed at himself last year after his first growth spirt. That was the look Bletchley got whenever he scented talent in the air. Zach looked over at the two boys again. They didn't look anything special to him. Both were kind of small for their ages with Malfoy being slightly taller.
They didn't look like quidditch stars in the making, but Bletchley seemed to have a kind of sixth sense in regards to quidditch scouting. Perhaps he knew something Zach didn't.
"There she is Scorpius," Albus exclaimed suddenly yanking on his friends robes.
Scorpius rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "I know Albus. You've already introduced us and pointed her out like five times".
Albus scowled at his friend and returned to watching his bushy haired cousin approach the stool. She was the second from last to be sorted and the time she had been forced to stand in front of everyone did not look like it had been pleasant. She looked extremely white and terrified as she approached the hat. She glanced at the Slytherin table, but Zach didn't think she saw her cousin. Zach was kind of blocking the view, but when she saw him instead she gave a weak smile until the hat covered her eyes.
This was another long sorting and the fidgety boy a seat down from him was only making Zach nervous as well. Finally the hat declared, "Hufflepuff". Zach found this to be shocking at least.
The Hufflepuff table burst into applause and Scorpius burst out laughing. "And you…said…she was smart," Scorpius managed to say in between chuckles. This was followed by Albus's sharp elbow and Scorpius falling off the bench backwards still laughing.
Rose didn't seem displeased at all. She smiled brightly at her new house and took a seat near the other first years. Once she was seated she looked over at the Slytherin table and waved hugely. Zach was about to return the gesture with a small wave of his own, when Albus's waving arm caught his attention. Of course, she was waving to her cousin. Zach felt a little bit sheepish.
The food appeared on the plates and all of the first years exclaimed like they did every year. Scorpius and Albus seemed to have made up quickly. Everyone was enjoying the first feast of the year. Zach was eating and thinking about Rose (Yes, he was perfectly capable of eating and thinking at the same time). He had always considered Hufflepuff a bit of a joke, just like all of the other Slytherins. Hufflepuff was for those who couldn't make it into any other house. However, Zach new after talking with Rose that she was definitely brave and, from what her cousin said, smart. Perhaps Rose was just too kind and loyal for her own good and perhaps Hufflepuff wasn't just a house for the leftovers.
I hoped you liked it. Sorry to all of those who were hoping for a Gryfindor Rose and Albus. I have my reasons for sorting them into Slytherin and Hufflepuff. All of the insinuations of having a crush on Rose is said in jest. No one actually has those types of feelings for the eleven year old.
Did you notice that Albus S. P. and Scorpius M. were added to the Harry Potter character list, but no Rose W. or Hugo W. Who decides that kind of thing? Anyways I may tag this story under Scorpius or Albus, because that's what's available for next generation characters.
Thank you for all of your reviews. I had a great percentage when compared to the number of hits the story got, so I was very impressed. Sign your reviews if you want me to reply. Thanks again.
Next chapter: will probably take place in the Slytherin dorms a few days/weeks after the sorting.