Albus

"Potter, Albus."

Warily, Albus walked to the front of the room, where the hat was to determine what house he'd be placed in. The moment of truth was coming, and he wasn't quite sure he was ready.

He closed his eyes as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. When it started speaking to him, he startled. It sounded exactly like he would have expected a hat to sound, although he'd ever really thought about it.

Not quite as easy to place as your brother, are you? Ah, yes, he was a Gryffindor through and through. His namesake, your grandfather, was similarly an obvious choice. Even that Sirius Black! He emerged from a family of Slytherins, too. And then there's your mother. A Weasley, wasn't she? Lots of courage there. You seem to take after your father, who was a bit more difficult to place. Hmm. I see. Yes, I find you have a strong sense of friendship, common for Hufflepuffs, but you lack the patience and kindness that defines them. One House we can cross off our list, eh?

Albus wasn't sure where this was going.

A sharp mind as well. Pretty clever, aren't you? That would usually point towards Ravenclaw, but I find your skills will be better served elsewhere.

What does that mean?

What does that mean? He mentally asked the Hat.

It just chuckled and continued, completely disregarding Albus's utterly rational question.

Yes, I think we can get rid of Ravenclaw as well. You remind me so much of your father, but there's something that goes beyond that. You've definitely got bravery-

Hope suddenly surged through him. Maybe his worries had been for naught. Maybe he'd be in Gryffindor, like the rest of his family.

-however.

However?

That didn't sound promising.

Your father, like you, had more than just courage.

The Hat said this so offhandedly that Albus found himself growing irritated at it. Surely courage was the most important quality to have?

There was so much he could've done with that power. Sadly, he dismissed it as merely a connection to Lord Voldemort, and never reached his full potential. You, on the other hand, could be something more. Something far greater than you've ever dared to dream.

What? Albus tried to make sense of what the Hat was telling him. You mean...Slytherin? No! Anything but Slytherin. Hadn't his father told him that he could decide for himself?

The Hat seemed amused as it responded, do not let prejudice and fear affect your choices, Albus. Tell me this: would you belong in Slytherin?

No! I mean, if I did, my family would KILL me - and my brother -

How would his family react to this? Especially James, who had been teasing him endlessly about the possibility that he'd get Slytherin.

But would you belong? Maybe Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw would be a better fit, then… what do you think?

Hufflepuff? I don't really think so. And I'm not smart enough for Ravenclaw. Isn't that what you've already told me?

Is it?

How vague could this hat get?

Frustrated, Albus opened his eyes. He swept them across the room to find everyone staring directly at him. He fidgeted nervously, suddenly aware of how long he was taking to be sorted. Neville - er, Professor Longbottom - had warned them beforehand that it may take longer for different people to be sorted. His had taken the longest so far, and everyone was waiting impatiently for the Hat to finally make a choice. Rose was smiling at him encouragingly, and James looked as nervous as Albus felt as he watched from the Gryffindor table. Albus desperately wanted to join the table and prove his older brother wrong. Yet Albus still wasn't sure if he belonged there. He wasn't as much impulsive as cunning; he thought things through, whereas James just went for it. Maybe that was a sign that Albus wasn't truly a Gryffindor. Was Slytherin really right for him? He had to admit that he possessed many qualities commonly affiliated with Slytherins. And there were the whispering snakes, beckoning…

Albus shook his head and shut his eyes tightly.

My dad said I could choose!

Then what is your choice?

The Hat was laughing at him, he knew it.

My choice is to prove to my family that I can belong!

As the middle child and younger son in the Potter family, Albus felt he had a lot to prove. His brother had obviously been Gryffindor from the start, continuing the family legacy. Albus didn't want Gryffindor just for the sake of getting Gryffindor; he wanted his family to accept him as being just as brave as them, like his brother had. Everyone in his family was considered a hero, and all of them had been Gryffindor. Albus wanted to prove that he belonged among the rest of the courageous Gryffindor heroes in his family. Yet, at the same time, he yearned to be away from all that publicity he got just from his father. Albus wanted to live up to his family's standards, but he wanted it on his own terms.

Interesting. Are you sure? In that case…

Now he was certain that the Hat was laughing at him.

I know just what to do with you. Don't worry, you will get the chance to prove yourself. In this house, you will be able to reach your full potential.

Albus knew what was coming, but he still dreaded it.

"SLYTHERIN!"

He reached up to yank off the Hat. He had know what was coming all along, after all, how could he not have foreseen it? But he was still angry, at his father for telling him he could choose, at James for ridiculing him, at the hat for its decision, but mostly at himself. Now he would become the first and only Slytherin in the entire Potter/Weasley family. Now every bad word said about the house would be applied to him. He sighed as he handed the hat back to the professor, who nodded in an almost sympathetic manner.

Albus turned to face the other students again. He had heard that at his father's sorting, the entire Great Hall had exploded into applause. His cousins and brother had also gotten good responses. In fact, every single person had at least received polite clapping from the older students.

Except for him.

A shocked silence fell over the crowd. Albus dared not to look over at James, fearing that the Gryffindor would be gazing at him with disappointment. As if he'd let down the entire family. Albus hesitated before stepping away from the chair. He nearly tripped on a one of the steps, but managed to recover and slowly stumble over towards the Slytherin table. Just before he could take his place at the table, he heard someone jump up from their seat; one small sound that broke through the silence.

It was Rose. She had leapt up from her place at the Gryffindor table and was now clapping furiously. Albus stood, frozen in place, as she yelled to the others at her table, encouraging (or, more accurately, demanding) them to cheer for her cousin. Reluctantly, the rest of the table rose as well and followed her lead. Soon, hesitant applause filled the room. Then the shock seemed to wear off, because the sound became louder and more consistent.

Now Albus snuck a glance at James. He had remained seated, but he was clapping. That had to count for something, right? Albus chose to ignore his stony expression of what looked like wonder, confusion, and even regret. Isn't that what James deserved, after how he'd teased Albus all this time about Slytherin? Albus was certain that for all of his teasing, James had never expected that his brother would actually be in Slytherin. Albus managed to flash Rose a grateful smile before he tore his eyes away from the Gryffindor table and turned to his new Housemates. They all seemed to be curious and a little cautious of him, but aside from that, they didn't look any different from the others. The way his Uncle Ron and James made it out to be, all Slytherins were evil and could do no good, like everyone was a Death Eater or something. Albus wasn't quite sure, but none of the students facing him looked anything like Death Eaters.

"Hey."

A voice jogged Albus from his thoughts.

He spun in his seat to face a pale, blonde kid whose expression reminded Albus of his old pet ferret, Checkers. Ginny hadn't been rather fond of the creature, so poor Checkers had ended up being passed away to one of their countless relatives. Actually, Albus wasn't sure who he was really related to anymore. They all acted like family, and they had all grown up together. Their family couldn't be defined in any way, it simply was. He only hoped his ferret had ended up in better hands than this boy, whose resemblance to Checkers grew more prominent the longer Albus looked, had. Because Albus realized he recognized this kid.

Scorpius Malfoy.

Albus had been hearing about this family for years, thanks to his Uncle Ron. According to him, they were purebloods who despised all muggles and muggle borns. Albus knew that his father, Aunt Hermione, and Uncle Ron had been enemies with Draco Malfoy, the father of Scorpius. Having to grow up in a family of purebloods, most of whom had either died or been locked away in Azkaban after the war, must've been hard for him.

"Hi," he replied, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. Scorpius raised an eyebrow, as if he was used to this reaction towards him.

"So, welcome to Slytherin." Scorpius said casually as he placed something on his plate. What? Albus was pretty sure that the food hadn't been there before. He must've been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he missed the rest of the sorting. "You know, my entire family's been Slytherin. If i didn't end up here, my father would've sent me to live with the house elves. Maybe I could've made some money working in the kitchens," Scorpius mused.

"Really? That's a bit harsh," Albus sympathized, recalling the time that Uncle Ron had made a similar threat with Rose about Gryffindor. "It's the opposite for me. Every one of my relatives have been Gryffindors."

Scorpius shrugged dismissively. "People tend to get the wrong idea about this House just because of the dark wizards that were in it. The others Houses have produced dark wizards themselves, but they don't like to admit it. I'm sure you'll find that it really isn't as bad as your family claims."

Albus nodded, but he was still worried about how his family would react. How could he tell them?

"Anyway. So you're Albus Potter, right? I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy. But you already knew that, didn't you?" He grimaced slightly. "Our families both have quite a reputation, don't they?"

Albus knew that all too well. He told Scorpius this, who laughed.

"Oh, and you can call me Al." He smiled. Then he piled his plate with the magical and delicious looking food, while thinking that maybe being in Slytherin won't be as he had first thought. After all, if his father approved, then what could be so bad about it?

Many of you had issues with Albus being in Slytherin, so hopefully this chapter clears up a few questions. I see your point, but I feel like in Slytherin he has the opportunity to change the perceptions of the Slytherin House. Even though the Slytherins helped in the war and aren't always bad people, they still receive so much prejudice from the other Houses, especially Gryffindor. Maybe Albus can be a pivotal part in changing that. Also, I realize the sorting is done alphabetically, however for the sake of the story I switched it up a bit. I pretended that Neville Longbottom decided to do it in reverse order or something like that so it could work out this way. It isn't very realistic, but that's just what I'm doing for the story.

Anyway, this chapter might seem a bit different from the first one, but that's mostly due to both my writing style and the POV switch. Thank you for reading! This is my first fanfiction of this kind, so I'm really excited to see how it turns out.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else you recognize.