From what his father had told him, Albus had expected the Slytherin common room to be eerie and with an air of foreboding around each corner, skulls on every shelf and snakes hiding in every cranny to jump out and strangle you from behind. He immediately realised that was not at all the case. Plump, emerald armchairs sat on a thick fluffy rug, bathed in warm, flickering firelight. There were no skulls whatsoever and the only snake was a stone one in the roaring fireplace.

There was a large crack, and in one instance a dozen things flashed through his mind- what if his initial suspicions had been right?- but a quick glance down revealed the source of the commotion; a small, smartly dressed being, with large flappy ears and eyes that, at first glance, looked like shiny apples. Albus, remembering his father's stories, had been about to excitedly introduce himself, say that he already knew that he was Dobby- before he remembered the next chapter of the story- Dobby was dead. Instead, he addressed him with the usual introduction to a house elves; "Hello, Mr Elf- what can I help you with?"

The elf bowed. "Kynzy, at your honour, sir. I have been sent to show you to the dorm."

Albus followed him up the staircase, lined with pictures of old Quidditch teams. They nodded to him as he went by. He smiled half-heartedly at them. Again, he was concentrating on learning the route. Kynzy led him to a door labelled "1st years- BOYS". He breathed in, and stepped into his dorm. Kynzy bowed again, and disappeared with a crack.

Albus surveyed his new room. There were two beds on either side of the door, and three beds along the opposite wall. Albus spotted one (furthest from the window) with his own name engraved on the iron bedstead. Firebolt sat on the small table next to it. He set his letters down on the bed and, not feeling particularly hungry and having an hour until he had to be in lessons after lunch, he decided to have a nose around.

There was Scorpius, who had added no photos or any personal touches to his bed; there was Ben White, who had a large barn owl and who, judging by the stationary photo of a young boy and his parents by his bedside, was muggle born; there was Isaac Harold, who occupied the bed opposite him, and who had a toad which was croaking happily in its tank.

Finally, the bed nearest the window, fire and the bathroom was Anthony Serpentias. He had a corn snake in a warm glass tank which sat on the windowsill. On his bedside table was a picture of the arrogant boy who he had met on his way- he not only had to have lessons with Anthony, but had to be his roommate, too?- and an older man so similar in face, colouring, and who shared Anthony's haughty facial expression, that he could only be his father. The pair was smiling, but the photo did not seem quite right- incomplete, almost. Albus looked closely at it, and thought that he could see the occasional hem of a cloak fluttering in the edge of a picture. Subconsciously checking behind him, Albus unhooked the back of the frame and took out the picture.

It was folded in two. On the front half was Anthony and his father, still smiling, but glancing anxiously towards the back of the picture. The back side had a tall, mousy haired woman wearing a rippling black cloak. She had the sleeve of her emerald cloak pulled backs and was nervously scrutinising a tattoo on her forearm. Albus had never actually seen the mark, but he knew what it was well enough to be sure that he could recognise it anywhere.

"Albus!" As soon as he entered the great hall, Rose nearly knocked him over as she swept him into a hug. Albus smiled as he squeezed her back. The hall was packed- the chatter was so loud that he could barely hear a snigger from behind them.

"Good gracious! Look, Potter's got a girlfriend!" The whole hall suddenly fell quiet and looked at them. Only one person was still eating; James was still resolutely eating his cottage pie, staring at the mince as if he wanted to murder it.

"She's my cousin, Serpentias. But, I suppose, you're pureblood. They must be practically the same thing." Anthony flushed, and opened his mouth, but Rose steered Albus gently out of the door.

"Don't wind him up. Come on, let's go to Herbology."

Professor Longbottom was waiting for them outside the greenhouses. "Ah, Albus! Hello. I hope that you're feeling better?"

"Much, thank you, sir. I've done that essay you set. Rose brought me all the work when I was in the hospital wing."

"Did she? Oh, very good. We're only doing basic safety when dealing with magical plants, so there is no real practical work to catch up on. Come in, come in!" he added to a pair of Slytherin girls. "Well, we'd better get going. The rest will arrive soon."

Albus stepped into the greenhouse. It was warm and humid. The heat made him feel drowsy, and he leaned back. A comfy pillow greeted him, and he sank, relaxed, backwards… "Argh!" Albus spluttered, as he simultaneously got squirted in the face with cold water and fell to the ground with a thump.

"I meant to move that to greenhouse three." Professor Longbottom muttered. "Sorry, Harry- I mean Albus. Oh dear, this is going to get very confusing! You're the image of your father at that age." Albus just blinked awkwardly as any eleven year old child would have if they were told this.

That lesson, they were planting primroses. "We'll start with a basic muggle flower, just to get you used to the concept of planting." As Albus flattened the earth in his pot, Anthony flicked dragon dung fertilizer right into Albus' mouth. "I saw that," snapped Professor Longbottom sharply. "Try one more trick like that and I'll put you in detention."

"Really? But how? The only people who were allowed the dark mark were death eaters, and none of them are around anymore!" It was later that day, and Albus was telling Rose about the photo he had found on Anthony's bedside table.

"I don't know. Maybe.. well… you know how some people still believe in Hitler's ideas to this day?" Aunt Hermione had home-schooled Albus' sibling and Rose's siblings, and muggle history was particularly focused on because, as aunt Hermione said, "It helps put History of magic lessons into perspective." "I suppose it's like that. A new set of people carrying on old ide-" he paused as a sixth year couple walked by. "-Ideas."

"I guess. We'll look into it. Come on, let's go. We'll miss supper at this rate."

As he and Rose separated on the path to their different common rooms, Albus bumped into Scorpius. "Um- hi. Albus? I know our fathers were… like… awkward and stuff, but do you want to… well, I mean, only if you want to… well…"

"Sure. I'd love to. It'll be nice to have some friends other than Rose, and there's already too much tension in the dorm. As you may have guessed," Albus added, as they began to walk back to the dorm, "Serpentias and I are not best friends."

"I figured." They both grinned. "Hey, do you want some sweets? I got a massive package from my dad, and I can't eat them all by myself. Also," he added, "I don't have… many people to share them with. Everyone knows that my dad was with… well… Voldemort, and so they assume that I'm some sort of death eater. Serpentias is particularly nasty about it."

Albus decided that he wasn't going to tell Scorpius about the picture- not yet, anyway. He would wait until he was certain that he could be trusted. He absentmindedly said "emerald" to the wall, and they stepped inside. "Sure. Where-"

"Oh no!" Scorpius squeaked. Anthony strutted up to them.

"Ah, Potter! So, you have decided to grace us with you presence. And, I see, with the death eater too! Interesting choice." He raised his eyebrows. "Come with me. There are a few ground rules for the dorm that we need to make clear." Albus glanced at Scorpius, who was cowering behind him. Scorpius gave him a little push forwards, so the followed Anthony to the dorm.

Isaac and Ben shrank backwards into the wall as they entered. Albus gave Ben a little wave but Ben just gave him a half-hearted smile and became very interested in Isaac's toad. "Rule one," Anthony said loudly. "No one uses the bathroom but me. I hear that the Hufflepuff boys are letting you use there's if you need to. If you need the loo at night,"" he added, grinning nastily, "there is a perfectly good bathroom just outside the common room." Albus scowled, but bit back an angry retort as Scorpius squeaked behind him. Having to leave the house to go to the bathroom was ridiculous, but he would just have to deal with it until he could find some solution.

"Rule two: Any sweets, treats or generally anything I want that is yours is mine by default." (Scorpius sank down into his bed.) "And rule three: don't tell any teachers about this, there's a good boy."

Dear dad,

Albus paused. How could he put this into words? He chewed the end of his quill, and began to write.

You'll be pleased to know that I'm out of the hospital wing. However, I have some less pleasant news, and about this, I need some advice.

When I was having a look around my dorm, I found a photo of a boy's mother looking at the dark mark on her arm. It was definitely that. When are you doing that lecture? We can talk more about it then.

Also, the boy in question (Anthony Serpentias, if it helps) is- how shall I put this- not the nicest of souls. He takes any sweets we have, and we're not allowed to use our own bathroom. He says not to tell any teachers, and please don't say because whatever it is that he has in store for anyone who breaks the rules, I doubt that it will be pleasant.

Al xxx

P.S. Don't mention the Dark Mark thing to anyone but Mum, either.

He added the postscript as an afterthought. He was fairly sure that he could trust his dad, but there was always the chance that he would go running to the minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who he knew quite well.

He gave the letter to one of the school's barn owls, and watched it fly away into the distance.