AlbusScorpius

On Your Side

Chapter Two: First Encounters

A/N: I have very little to say. Other than to complain that my hairbrush has fallen under the couch.

Albus groaned as his green eyes opened, scrunching shut quickly to avoid burning his retinas on the offending light that was seeping into the room. He rolled over, making a noise of protest and curling his covers over his head; well aware of whom it was trying to wake him up, and well aware of the day. He had to get up and go to Kings Cross station so he could board the Hogwarts Express and be off to school once again. He heard his mothers' wise words in the back of his mind, telling him that he should have tried to return to a normal sleeping pattern the week before to make it easier to return to Hogwarts. He didn't listen, knowing full well that he would regret the decision to continue to sleep in until noon, but it didn't make it any easier.

"Seriously, Al, if you make me late, I'm going to kill you in your sleep."

He refused to move, not even looking up to glare at the offending female. How dare she come into his room unannounced and open his thick curtains to waken him so rudely? Who did she think she was, his mother?

"You have five seconds before I get James."

"Okay, okay, I'm awake!" he whined, sitting up and dreading the thought of his older brother coming to get him out of bed. The redheaded girl smirked proudly, hands on her hips and brown eyes glinting. "Get out my room, Lils."

"How do I know you'll be getting up?"

"Mum!"

The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes though her smirk didn't leave her face. "We don't have that long, Alby. I've already eaten breakfast."

He glared at his little sister as she left his room, practically skipping. She was always a morning person, and always enjoyed waking up her older brothers. Though she never joined their war of the worst things to wake up to, something they had tried to include her in with little success. Jet black hair hit the pillow again, and green eyes slipped closed as Albus decided he could probably get away with another five minutes. He rolled over to be on his side, yelping as he rolled off the bed and onto the floor.

"Glad to hear you're out of bed."

"Fuck off, James."

The eldest Potter child grinned brightly, running a hand through his tussled hair. "Come on dude, if I'm going to escort you to the station the least you could do is make an effort to get up."

Albus reluctantly untangled himself from his quilt, leaving it on the floor and ripping off his t-shirt, dropping it and opening his drawers to find clothes to wear to the station. "I don't see why dad can't take us. He's not that busy."

"Because Annabelle is getting dropped off by her super-hot cousin and the last thing Lily wants is to be seen being taken to the station with her dad, how uncool would that be?" James teased, rolling his eyes. "Oh my God, Al, keep up, seriously."

"Don't you start too; I'm getting so tired of Lily's new slang."

"Who isn't?" James said with a laugh. "Hurry up though; I'm not going to wait for you if you're late. We're driving."

"I'll be five minutes."

With a pat on the doorframe James disappeared, leaving Albus to get changed, tossing his uniform into his rucksack and throwing it over his shoulder, glancing at the mess on his floor and debating whether or not he should clear it up. Then again, he was pretty sure it would still be there when he got back at Christmas. He lugged his things down the stairs, entering the kitchen and grinning brightly at the cereal left in a bowl for him to eat. His siblings greeted him with varying levels of enthusiasm as he sat at the table, starting on the slightly soggy food and wolfing it down quickly, the other two at the table having finished theirs earlier. It wasn't long before the boys were packing the luggage into the car; Lily sat happily in the passenger's seat inspecting her nails. As soon as they were all piled in James started down the road, heading for the journey to the station.

Albus was entirely thankful when they arrived; not being a huge fan of his brother's slightly reckless driving. The three Potters arrived at Kings Cross; Albus managing his luggage without needing a trolley, James pushing Lily's many things for her slightly reluctantly. They arrived at the barrier to Platform nine and three quarters, Lily striding through first, her brothers following at a much slower pace. As soon as they entered, Albus turned to take in the scene of many people, green eyes widening as he spotted one in particular.

A man who was taller than him and slim, with the appearance of someone who looked about Teddy's age, especially with the air of grace he held, surveying the students. The man was standing alone, with a trunk beside him, not talking to anyone. He felt his heartbeat quicken as stormy grey eyes turned to meet his curiously, the fairest blond hair he'd ever seen pushed out of them to show them in all their glory. He felt his cheeks heating up slightly as the man gave him a curt nod and a flicker of a smile.

He jumped a mile high when a hand clasped down on his shoulder. "Come on, Al, hurry up. What the hell are you staring at?"

A bright red flushed across the sixteen year olds cheeks and he turned to face his brother. "Nothing! Nothing, sorry, still quite tired."

A wicked and familiar grin passed across James' face. "What's that look for, Alby? Did you spot a cute girl?"

Albus scoffed, shrugging the hand off his shoulder and continuing towards the train. "We have to hurry up, right? Let's get going."

James raised a brow but remained silent, following his little brother and pushing away his curiosity. He left Lily with her things, giving her a quick noogie in front of her friends, something she was not at all happy about, before going to say goodbye to his other sibling, exchanging a manly hug before Albus got onto the train, making a beeline for the compartment he had sat in for five years previously.

As soon as his backside landed on the seat he let out content sigh, his head resting on the back of the seat and letting himself move into a slightly slouching position. He was so looking forward to just sleeping a good solid one or two hours before he had to get into his school robes. The illusion of sleep was shattered however as the door slid open, a familiar light brown haired girl tugging her luggage into the compartment and sighing in annoyance as she stowed it.

"I hope you're not going to sleep on me, Albus Potter."

"What's your sister done now?" he asked lightly with a smile.

Lucy sat opposite her cousin, pulling her long straight hair back into a ponytail before letting it go, allowing it to frame her face again. "She was gloating, as usual. Going on about how when she was in sixth year she was a prefect," the girl scoffed. "Yes, and she was a prefect in fifth year too, we did this last year. Merlin, the girl just doesn't shut up!"

Albus chuckled. "I'm glad James doesn't have that to rub in my face. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Lily does next year, she can be a right swot sometimes, we've got a bet on whether or not she gets a badge. Be the first in our family to get one."

The girl hummed in agreement, nodding slightly and tucking her fair hair behind her ear. She sucked in a breath as a silhouette passed their door, Albus looking up curiously and feeling his face heat up once again as he caught a glimpse at what Lucy had seen. The two teenagers sat in silence for a few moments, the boy slightly bewildered and the girl trying to crane her neck to try see more of the man striding down the train confidently.

She turned to her cousin with a small smile on her face. "Is that our new Transfigurations Professor?" she asked, her blue eyes glittering. "He's barely older than Teddy!"

"I didn't think he looked that old," Albus agreed, the usual slightly less-than-manly thrill of gossiping with his cousin stirring once again. "He looks kind of familiar though, do we know-?"

The two were cut-off from their thought process as the door snapped open, turning their attention to the third member of their party. The final sixth year Weasley entered the room, leaving her case in the doorway and plonking down on the bench next to Albus, already dressed in her uniform. She barely had time to think before the boy next to her continued his train of thought however.

"Rose! Rose! Have you seen him? The new teacher?"

She groaned, having already been accosted by her Ravenclaw friends on this particular topic. "Merlin, Al, don't you join in with all this gossip too!"

Lucy chuckled at this. "But Rosie, the train ride will be boring if I don't have entertainment!"

Albus shared a bright grin with the brunette girl before Rose raised a brow at him, smirking slightly. "I saw him on the platform. He was hard to miss, with you staring at him so intently."

The boy flustered brightly and Lucy's playful grin turned into an excited smile. "Ally, don't tell me you have your eye on our teacher!"

"Of course I don't," he defended, though the red in his face gave him away. "I was merely taking an interest in what he was like."

"An interest in what his arse was like maybe."

Rose rolled her eyes and sighed slightly. "Do either of you even know who he is?"

They exchanged slightly unsure looks before shaking their heads.

"Malfoy? Scorpius Malfoy?" she glanced between them, seeing a spark of recognition in Lucy's eyes. "He was at school with James and Teddy," she expanded to the only boy. "Huge scandal amongst the pureblood families? Dad hates his guts?"

"No offence Rose, but Uncle Ron hates a fair few people."

The redhead couldn't deny this. "That's entirely beside the point, Al."

"What is the point?"

"The point is he's the son of a Death Eater. Dad saw him on the platform and said we have to be careful, and that he's no good."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Stop being so paranoid, Rose. I bet your mum told you not to judge him on what Uncle Ron says."

Rose flustered lightly and looked away guiltily. "Perhaps."

"Besides, we're just having a little gossip, no harm in that," she grinned slightly darkly. "After all, if eye-candy wasn't put on the earth for us to stare at, what's it there for?"

"Lucy!"

Albus laughed as Rose's face lit up brighter than a Lumos charm, patting the girl on the back sympathetically. "We're sorry, Rosie. We'll stop if it makes you feel awkward."

"Speaking of eye-candy, where's that luscious Finnigan?" Lucy continued in a teasing tone. "I wonder if being apart from the summer has stopped him pining over you."

"He wasn't pining over me," Rose pressed, folding her arms across her chest. "Get over it, Lucy." She turned her attention to the boy next to her again. "Looking forward to Transfiguration lessons then, seeing as you appear to be fond of this teacher?"

Albus ignored the obvious edge to the question and let his head hit the back of the seat, letting out a frustrated groan. "No, I'm really not. I barely scraped enough to continue it for sixth year; Professor McGonagall took a lot of convincing to agree to let me take it for my N.E.. She tried to suggest I think of a different career path."

Lucy mock gasped. "The cheek!"

"I know," Albus said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "James said he doubted it was the teacher's fault I didn't do too well, so a change of professor wouldn't matter."

Rose laid a hand on her cousins' shoulder with a soft smile. "It's a good thing you'll have me there to keep your grades up, isn't it?"

Green eyes sparkled. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"I have been told so, yes."

Lucy was quick to change the subject from studies to the sweet trolley and whether or not Rose thought Hugo would be joining Lily as a prefect when they entered their fifth year, and whether or not the redhead was hoping to get the position of head girl, to which she replied with disgust at the thought of something like 'Head Girl' disturbing her studies. They all knew she would never turn down the roll if it was given to her though. It wasn't long before the three were caught up in a joyful discussion, glad to be heading back to school and away from various annoyances such as sisters and a lack of interesting books to read, despite the looming knowledge of the work that would be in front of them.

"Okay," Al pushed himself up and grabbed his rucksack, gesturing to Rose's case still in the doorway. "Move that, I'm going to the loo. Might as well get changed while I'm there."

Lucy glanced at her watch and bit her lip. "It is getting towards that time a little bit, isn't it?"

"You can have your privacy in getting changed while I'm gone."

"Because I'm worried about my cousin being a pervert, the gay one at that."

Albus flustered lightly, still not used to his favourite cousins knowing about his preference in men. "Just because you don't mind, doesn't mean I want to risk seeing that; ugh, gross!" he teased, ruffling her hair and sliding into the hallway, pushing the door closed and heading in the direction of the toilets. He slipped into the boys bathroom and nodded at a couple of the people there who he knew, moving into a stall and shrugging his pack from his shoulders, rifling through to find his uniform before tugging his Muggle clothing off and changing.

As he left the bathrooms, wiping his hands dry on his robes, he stopped to see two familiar faces close to the bathroom. He frowned, recognising his sister and her group of giggling friends, notoriously known for their flirting and interrogation of new people. He honestly couldn't say he was surprised that they were bothering their new Professor, especially as the man wasn't bad on the eyes. He did seem less than pleased about it however.

"Lily!" Albus called, walking over to the group, well aware of his red and gold tie sticking out amongst the group of silver and green. "Have you caught up with Hugo yet?"

The girl scoffed, scrunching her nose up. "No, Albus, I have not. Do you have to disturb me when I'm with my friends?"

As much as he loved his little sister, she was a right cow when she was with her Slytherin buddies. "Apparently I do. I left Mr Giggles on your case by the way; I can't believe you forgot to pack him."

Lily looked positively horrified. "You what?" she near screeched. "I didn't bring that old thing for a reason Al! I can't believe you sometimes," she stormed down the halls, her entourage following, clearly eager to find out what 'Mr Giggles' was. "You'll regret this!"

Albus gave a toothy grin, watching her go and feeling the pride he felt at successfully getting rid of her overshadow the feeling of dread at her revenge. "I'm sure I will," he called half-heartedly, before he remembered exactly why he was trying to scatter the group. He turned to the object of seemingly everyone's attention, clearing his throat and feeling slightly awkward as he said; "Sorry about her. She's a bit nosy; gets it from our gran."

The man nodded politely, a stray smile playing on his lips. "I should probably thank you, I had forgotten how gossipy teenage girls could be," grey eyes looked him up and down. "So, you're also a Potter?"

"Yeah, Al," the dark haired boy held out a hand in greeting along with a friendly smile.

A pale hand shook his firmly. "Professor Malfoy," the man said with such smoothness Albus had to curse his family's unnatural tendency to fluster at the slightest thing that made their heart race. "It's a pleasure."

"Thanks," he pulled his hand back, slightly too quickly, and couldn't help but continue to smile. "The new Transfiguration Professor, right?"

"Correct, nice observation," he raised a fine brow. "Shall I be expecting you in my class, Mr Potter?"

Merlin who knew grey could be such a beautiful colour. "Of course- I mean, yeah, I'm taking Transfigurations," he laughed slightly awkwardly. "I want to become an Auror; it's kind of a requirement." And now it sounded like he didn't want to take it.

"I look forward to seeing you in class then," the blond man nodded his head in the direction the girls had disappeared. "And I hope the punishment for whatever you claimed to have done is not too severe."

Albus waved it off. "She'll be less irritated when she realises I didn't bring the damned teddy bear, I hope," he cringed slightly. "She's slightly unpredictable like that."

"Well, should I hear of any young Slytherin girls attempting to take revenge, I'll be sure to do my best to stop it," he smirked. "It will be most satisfying to not be on the receiving end of punishment for once."

The smaller male laughed again, much easier this time. "Glad to know a teacher's got my back. I best be getting back to my friends, before they think I fell down the toilet or something."

"We couldn't have that now."

Albus grinned, giving a small wave and reluctantly heading back down the carriage. "Later Professor!"

It took all his willpower not to look back and see what the older man was doing. He managed it however and successfully made his way back to his cousins, who were thankfully both decent, Lucy in her Gryffindor tie and Rose now adorned with her Ravenclaw tie and prefect badge. The two girls smiled at him as he proceeded to tell them about his chance encounter with Lily and Professor Malfoy outside the lavatories, Lucy thrilled at the story and Rose less than amused.

The trip to Hogwarts passed in a hurry, as always with first years who were panicking or talking wildly with excitement. Rose left her cousins in favour of joining her housemates, Lucy and Albus being forced to fill up space on a carriage with some fourth year students who they didn't know, keeping to themselves and remaining quiet for most of the ride, Albus feeling slightly peckish and Lucy looking like she was ready to lie down and sleep. Albus blocked out the chatter from the fourth years successfully, watching as the castle loomed over them, feeling a turning in his stomach that certainly wasn't caused by hungry.

Lucy snapped him out of his thoughts as they arrived, dragging him away from the fourth years and following the sea of people towards the Great Hall, all eager to get the sorting over with so they could tuck into their food and retire for the night. Albus spotted his sister from across the Hall, glaring fiercely at him and running a finger across her throat. So she hadn't reacted very well to finding out he tricked her. His eyes wandered, spotting Rose at the Ravenclaw table with her friends, the Lysander twins a few seats down from her, his cousin Hugo sat at the Hufflepuff table, looking calm and content as usual, meeting Albus' eyes and giving a friendly wave. He eventually landed upon the Professor's table at the front of the hall, waving at his Herbology teacher and now head of year, seeing their ageing headmistress surveying the hall in a similar way to how he was doing, and at the other end of the table, next to the Slytherin head of year, their new Transfigurations Professor, caught up in a conversation with the middleaged Potions professor who could have well taught him at one point.

He had no more time to contemplate on his schoolmates and Professors however, as the door opened and Professor Patil escorted the first years into the hall, looks of nerves and excitement on each face. The ceremony passed far too slowly as far as he was concerned, and he was eternally thankful when all the first years were seated and Professor McGonagall gave her welcome speech. He allowed himself to gaze at the new addition to the staff for a while longer, now with an excuse, but was too caught up in clapping furiously for the new Head of Gryffindor to stare for too long.

As he was tucking into the large, incredibly well cooked meal on his plate, he felt a hand clasp down on his shoulder and someone slide in to sit next to him. He looked up and grinned at the sight of dirty brown hair and a round face.

"Finnigan!" he greeted happily. "How've you been?"

"Same old same old," the Irish boy replied. "Ma's on my back about doing better this year. What about you? How was your summer?"

The boy shrugged. "It was okay, tense while waiting for my OWLs," he took another mouthful of food from his plate. "What did you get?"

"I got an Outstanding in Herbology and Potions," the boy said happily. "Though dad's beginning to question that, after all the trouble I had in second year. Barely passed everything else. Exceeds Expectations in Astronomy though. What about you?"

The girl on Al's left seemed to take that moment to notice the new comer however. "Liam! I was beginning to wonder where you were!" Lucy greeted with a bright grin, resting her chin against her hand. "How have you been?"

Liam smiled back. "I've been well, thanks. Glad to see you're cheery as always."

"But of course!" she giggled slightly. "Are you still fawning over my favourite Ravenclaw cousin?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "I don't know where you got that idea from, Lucy. I've never been fawning over Rose. She's far too smart for me."

"I can't believe your still going on about this, Lucy," Albus joked, going back to his food. "Someone would think you were jealous."

Lucy flustered, huffing jokingly. "Don't be so silly."

"So, Al, OWLs?"

The boy nodded, looking up in thought as he listed them off on his figers. "Right, I got Oustanding in Defence and Charms, Exceeds Expectations in pretty much everything else except History of Magic and Divination," he groaned. "So boring!"

"You barely got through Transfiguration," Lucy noted.

"Yeah, whatever," he looked up to the Professor's table once again, a lingering smile on his face. "I'll try harder this year."

"There's no stopping Al, is there?" Liam joked.

The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Gets it from his father."

And while the other sixth year boys said their goodnights later that evening, exchanging worries about the next two years, Albus found himself rather looking forward to his least favourite lesson of all. With the image of stormy grey eyes, pale skin and sharp features, he couldn't deny that he might have to try harder to stay focused on the lesson, rather than the new distractions that the headmistress had provided him. Perhaps the teacher really did effect the class.

This chapter was lots of fun to write most of the time. There were points where I wanted to rip it into a thousand pieces, but I've successfully met my word count, so I'm pleased. And introduction to Albus' life and the first meeting between teacher and student. Fun times are had by all. Except Lily.

I'm trying my darn best to use canon characters, but they're all Weasley's so it's kind of hard. Hopefully the chapter was long enough for you all, I imagine they'll get longer (I hope) as I get more into the story instead of the introductory chapters. I was quite proud that I managed to write this entire chapter without needing different scenes; I've never actually had a full chapter without a divider in it.

Thank you muchness for favourites and alerts!

~ Kivea R.

PREVIEW

"I honestly don't see why you've allowed him to continue to his NEWTs with this, headmistress."

"I seem to remember you having difficulty with Transfigurations once, Mr Malfoy."

"That's entirely different; I didn't struggle with it by the time my NEWTs came round."

"Perhaps Mr Potter just needs some extra help."