Helloooo! Sorry for not updating in so long! Here's the next chapter :). It actually takes place before the last one, as it's right after the feast. Albus' first "official" day will be posted in about a week or so. A Rose chapter will be coming up after that.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Hogwarts and all the Harry Potter characters belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling.

Albus

"First years, follow me." The Slytherin prefect, Jessica Cote, gravitated to the front of the group and led them purposefully out of the Great Hall, not reacting to the gasps of the other students as they marveled at the giant castle's interior. Albus jumped as the staircase underneath him trembled, only barely making it on before it moved and shifted course. He gripped the rail so he wouldn't fall off, then flashed Scorpius next to him a nervous smile - he wasn't sure of what to expect. He was used to magic, but hadn't experienced anything quite like this. What if the stairs moved on him, making him late to class? What would his dorm look like?

"Is it true that there are skulls in the common room?" he asked Scorpius curiously as they trailed after the prefect. Scorpius, Albus figured, would know all about the common room.

"Yes, and it's right next to the lake, so you can see fish from the windows. I heard that sometimes they even catch a glimpse of the giant squid swimming past." Scorpius didn't sound very enthusiastic as he answered. "But you'll see soon enough," he added with an indifferent shrug.

"Are all the ghosts like the Bloody Baron?" Albus shuddered, recalling the cold touch of the specter as it met his skin. The Bloody Baron had sat next to him and Scorpius for most of the feast, and Albus was determined to never be that close to one again. It was interesting to talk through his transparent body at first, but the ghost's ragged appearance was a bit off-putting. Finally, a fed-up Scorpius had chucked an apple at it, which only served to go through it and hit Albus' forehead. Nevertheless, it caused the ghost to float away and leave them in peace.

"Fortunately not. I mean, they are still people, just dead. Sort of," Scorpius said. "I don't know too much about them, though. Has your brother ever mentioned Nearly Headless Nick?"

"A few times. My dad, too. He once attended his deathday party."

"Ghosts celebrate their deaths?" Scorpius looked strangely interested.

"That's what I wondered myself. Shouldn't their deaths be a bad thing? I'd think so."

"Me, too. But then, they are dead. Maybe there's nothing better for them to do."

"That could be it."

Cote pulled to a stop as they reached a part of the wall. She said the password, and that certain spot opened to reveal the common room, which indeed contained a numerous amount of skulls. Albus could also spot a school of fish swimming past in the window, true to Scorpius's word.

"It's very green," Albus observed. The lake water cast a greenish glow throughout the room, making the already green furniture look a deeper shade of emerald. Even the silver patches were tinged in a viridescent hue.

"That is one of the colors of Slytherin," Scorpius reminded him, looking just as fascinated by the common room, albeit a bit pale bathed in the green light.

Soon, all the first years had been situated into their own dorms, each of which held five students. Albus's consisted of three boys he didn't know, as well as one he did: Scorpius. Albus was grateful to at least recognize one friendly face. Scorpius and him had quickly made friends at the feast, mutually concurring not to discuss the rift between their parents.

"After all," Scorpius had said, "that was a long time ago, and it was between them, not us."

Albus agreed, but he felt that others, particularly his uncle, wouldn't. He'd already seen what James thought about the unexpected House placement, and that didn't serve to help ease Albus' nerves. He pushed these worries away as he sat on his new green and silver bed, unpacking his textbooks from their bag. I shouldn't brood on things that I don't know will happen. Maybe nobody will even care, he attempted to reassure himself, but knew it wasn't reality.

"My name's Aidan Rainwater," one of the boys introduced himself, lowering his black suitcase onto his bed. "And I know who you are, son of Harry Potter."

"I prefer Albus, or Al," Albus said stiffly.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Aidan amended genially as he began arranging his belongings, and Albus caught sight of a particularly large chocolate frog card collection in his suitcase. He wondered if the boy had collected the card for his dad. "Nice to meet you, Al. This is Stephen Nott, and that's Matthew Vang," Aidan finished. The one called Stephen Nott looked up at the sound of his name, then nodded to Albus in greeting.

"Hi," Albus said, nodding in return.

"I met Stephen at the feast, but I've known Vang for a while. Our families are really close, though I'd expect that I'm related to about half of the others in this entire house. Even Scorpius is like my third cousin or something like that," Aidan explained, smiling. "My mother was a pureblood, but then she married my father, so I'm a half-blood."

"I am, too," Albus said. "Are there many half-bloods in Slytherin?"

"I'd think so," Aidan mused. "The real question is, are there any muggleborns? Oi!" he called, and Albus jumped. "Anyone here a muggleborn?"

"Margaret Steele is!" one of the boys shouted. "Oh, I'm Callum Nanton, by the way. Half-blood," he added hastily, glancing at his housemates.

Matthew Vang sneered, but didn't say anything.

"And there you have it." Aidan turned away from the scene and nodded to Albus. "Anyway, what are you most looking forward to? I'm especially excited to begin Transfiguration, I hope we have it soon." He looked overjoyed at the prospect of attending Transfiguration, and Albus was reminded of Rose.

"I'm not sure yet," Al answered honestly, then stood up. "I'm going to look around, want to come?" But, to Albus's relief, Aidan rejected the offer. He'd rather explore alone. So he left his bags by the bed, and wandered about the room, glancing halfheartedly at the portraits and decorations.

"Oh look, first years," snarled a surly man with greasy hair in one of the portraits. "What a surprise."

"Hello," Albus said amiably, to the portrait's annoyance. Albus, unfazed by his penetrating death glare, continued. "My name is Albus Potter, and who are you?" He kept his voice even, but startled when the man's eyes flashed.

"Albus Potter?" he repeated incredulously, then his gaze locked on Albus's vivid green eyes. Albus fidgeted under the intense stare, but didn't say anything until the man tore his eyes away and reluctantly asked, "As in, Harry Potter?"

"He's my father, but you didn't answer my question. Oh - are you Severus Snape?" Albus gaped as he finally recognized his namesake by his most prominent feature: the hooked nose.

"The very same," Snape snapped. "Now, please tell me what on earth a Potter is doing in the Slytherin common room. Is this some twisted prank?"

Albus blinked. "No, I was sorted here." A note of impatience crept into his voice, but he brushed it away.

"Were you?" Snape's lip curled.

"Yes," Albus insisted, wondering if he'd have to undergo the same interrogation from his family. He could already hear them asking, "what's a Potter doing in Slytherin?" in a tone identical to the condescending one the former Headmaster was using.

"And your name is Albus Potter?" Snape checked, as if he'd heard wrong the first time.

"Yes, and my middle name is Severus. After you." Albus nodded. He paused, then, concealing a smirk, added, "My father called you the bravest man he'd ever met."

"I -" Snape seemed to have been rendered speechless by this statement, just as Albus intended.

"So, why are you here and not with the other headmasters?" He broke in, and Snape resumed his glaring, apparently grateful for the interruption.

"I have two portraits, which I can travel through freely," he explained.

"You spend some of your time here, and the rest there?"

"I don't often come down here. Sometimes I just need to get away from Dumbledore; listening to him rant on and on is enough to drive a portrait mad," Snape said curtly.

"Dumbledore?" Albus snapped to attention. "Could I meet him?"

"Oh, yes, the other one you're named after. I don't suppose Dumbledore also had the honor of being the bravest man your father ever knew?" Snape drawled.

"I don't know too much about Dumbledore, actually, just the general things like him being headmaster. My father doesn't like to talk about him or you."

"Hmm," was all Snape had to say about that.

"What was that, sir?" Albus asked, feigning innocence.

"I see now perhaps how you came to achieve this house," Snape commented, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh." Albus hesitated, considering this.

"I only hope you're more talented than your father. Maybe you'd know the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood-"

"But there is no difference." Albus tilted his head to the side slightly, questioning. "Monkshood, wolfsbane, and aconite are all the same thing."

"Precisely. Might I ask where you would find a bezoar?"

"The stomach of a goat," he responded without missing a beat, silently thanking Rose for drilling the basic information about potions into his head. ("You never know when a potion will go terribly wrong, so it's always best to keep a bezoar with you; that way you don't waste time trying to brew a counter potion. Are you writing all this down?")

Snape's expression didn't reveal whether or not he was correct. "What will I get if I add Powdered Root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"

"Draught of Living Death, a powerful sleeping potion."

"So you aren't as completely hopeless as your father," Snape conceded.

"I'll try," Albus said, not sure how to respond to that. His father wasn't hopeless in any sense, so should he take it as a compliment that Snape considers him above even his father, or plainly as an insult to his father? He took it as the former, though knew it was most likely the latter.

"Will you," Snape stated dryly.

"Though I doubt anyone would be able to compare to the hero of the wizarding war." Albus added, watching as Snape's mouth tighten. The man, scowling, stalked out of his portrait, signifying that their conversation was over.

"What are you doing?" Scorpius had come to stand next to him, and was looking at the portrait in confusion. "You're standing there and talking to a picture frame."

"Looks like you answered your own question." Albus grinned.

"Yeah, but why?" Scorpius pressed.

"It wasn't just an empty picture before, because there was a man in it," Albus explained. He and Scorpius began walking back to their dorm, realizing that it was already pretty late.

"So you were talking to someone who lived in a picture?"

"Yes, I was talking to the picture of a dead man."

"Cool, next time invite me."

"Your desire to speak with the dead concerns me," Albus quipped.

"Hey, you were the one actually speaking with the dead."

"He was the man I was named after," Albus said thoughtfully, the realization only just hitting him. So that was the man he had been named after, the bravest man his father had known. It was strange to finally put an identity to that name.

"Albus Dumbledore? But he couldn't-"

"No, my middle name. Severus. Severus Snape."

"I've heard about him." Scorpius's face became unreadable. "From my father."

"Same here." Albus couldn't help wondering what Scorpius had been told. Not the same things he had been, judging by how his friend averted his eyes to the floor.

They were quiet as they trudged back towards their dormitory, but when they reached their beds - Albus' was in between Scorpius' and Aidan's - the silence was broken.

"Good first day?" Scorpius asked.

"It wasn't really a first day, more of an afternoon, or evening-"

"You know what I mean. What are your first impressions?"

Albus pondered that for a few moments. At first he'd been anxious, then scared, then shocked, then panicked, then distraught, then maybe a little comforted. A little, but there was still so much to worry about and think over. "It's been eventful, that's for sure."

Scorpius snorted sleepily. "That's for sure," he echoed, but then Albus drifted off to the calming swishing of the lake water before he could say anything else.