Disclaimer; No I don't own Harry Potter but I do own a crappy laptop.

Chapter 12- Surprise

I don't think I was ever so nervous for another person until it was time for Lily Luna Potter, my little sister, to be sorted;

Scorpius and I sat at the Slytherin Table catching up with one of our close friends, Jillian Baskerville, waiting for the sorting to begin. Jill was a year above Scorpius and I, she was very pretty with long auburn hair and greenish-blue eyes. We always have gotten along, but we really hadn't been friends until Scorpius and I made the Quidditch team last year, where Jill played as a chaser.

We were talking about our summers when Uncle Neville walked in with first years trailing behind him with stunned expressions.

I quickly sought out Lily and Hugo, who were near the front, their vivid red hair stuck out against the other midgets, and it also helped that they were tall.

Scorpius whispered to me as the sorting hat sang its song, "What house do you think Lily will be in?"

I contemplated that; what house would she be in?

I really had no clue because she seemed to be able to fit into any house really.

She was brave like a Gryffindor, Intelligent like a Ravenclaw, Loyal like a Hufflepuff and Resourceful like a Slytherin.

I looked at Scorpius and shrugged, "We really didn't talk much about it, and she said when I was a first year that she wanted to be with us in Slytherin but I don't really know what the Hat will do with her."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair and grinned, 'It would be nice if she was with us."

"Yeah, it'd be fun to rub in James face."

"Will you two be quiet?" Jill hissed from across.

Scorpius and I snickered, and I leaned in closer to him, so we could talk quieter.

"Well," Scorpius started as Brian (Bree+an) Finnigan was sorted into Gryffindor, "what about Hugo?"

I had no clue.

Hugo was always so unlike Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione it was hard to say.

He was always a bit cowardly, and quiet unlike my brave and loud Aunt and Uncle. So if he made into the Gryffindor I would be a tiny bit surprised.

I was worried about the kid; he had been worrying all summer, about where he would be sorted. He had seen how upset (apparently) Uncle Ron was when Rose hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor, he probably was terrified Uncle Ron was going to disown him.

Maybe he would end up in Hufflepuff? He was always fair. Maybe Ravenclaw? He was very intelligent.

I whispered quietly to Scorpius, "I don't know, maybe Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?"

"What about Slytherin?"

I snorted and Jill kicked me, I stuck my tongue out at her, "Nah. Hugo wouldn't want to disappoint Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron is still highly prejudiced; he rarely looks me in the eye anymore and only speaks to me when he has to. Well, you know how he his."

I saw from the corner of my Scorpius wince, Uncle Ron wasn't the most welcoming of Scorpius, or the most accepting of me as a Slytherin.

When I first came home he acted normal but when I mentioned Scorpius he stiffened and glared at me but before he could open his mouth Dad dragged him out of the room, all I know from what happened next was that they got into a huge row.

Since then he never acted the same around me, and when Scorpius was around he would be downright hostile.

I was dragged out of gloomy thoughts, by a burst of applause around me; a good looking boy walked over with a tiny smirk, and sat down in between Blake Higgs and Jill.

I sighed and put a well-bred smirk on my face, and put hand out, "Potter, Albus Potter, welcome to Slytherin."

The tiny smirk on his face dropped, his jaw dropped and light blue eyes widened, he hesitantly took my hand, "Uh-h, thanks, I'm Oliver Higgs."

He quickly dropped my hand and proceeded to look at Scorpius who put on a haughty look, "Malfoy," He drawled, "Scorpius Malfoy."

The light brown haired boy blinked and shook his head in amazement.

Then Blake, who I really didn't know but knew he was a year below me and very private, spoke quietly from across the table, "Nice Job, Oliver."

The little boy swelled up in pride, "Thanks, Blake."

"Your brother, Higgs?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blake met my eyes, his midnight blue ones and my emerald green connected, "Yes, Potter, he is."

I smiled at him, before turning my head back to Uncle Neville with a sigh.

I listened as kids were sorted, and after what felt like an eternity, "Potter, Lily" was called.

I sat up straight, traded a look with my brother from across the room, which showed he was too, nervous for their little sister, and listened as people whispered about Harry Potters daughter.

"Go Lily!" James yelled, and the hall laughed.

Uncle Neville gave James a look which made James blush.

It felt like forever as the hat contemplated a place for Lily, and then it shouted loud and clear… "Slytherin!"

The room was silent, just as they were for me until Scorpius and I jumped up and cheered, that pushed the others to do as well.

I could see James pout from the Gryffindor table, he wanted Lily with him in Gryffindor, I could tell. But when I looked back seconds later he was grinning and making faces at me.

As Lily rushed over I patted the seat next to me, she ran over and I gave her a huge hug and I whispered, "I'm so proud of you!"

She giggled and high-fived Scorpius (and she only blushed a little bit, woo!) who was grinning.

Soon it quieted down and the sorting started again.

"Two Potters in Slytherin can't wait to tell Professor Dumbledore, we had a bet you know." I said chuckling to my sister and Scorpius.

They traded weird looks over my head, probably because I made a bet with a dead guy, who was a painting.

I continued with, "Lil, this is Jillian Baskerville; she's a fourth year, and a friend of mine."

Jillian gave my sister a dazzling smile which Lily returned shyly, "Nice to meet you but Albus pay attention to the sorting."

I gave a disgruntled noise at which Lily and Scorpius laughed at.

I glanced over at Uncle Neville, who called out, "Pucey, Katherine", and a tiny, dark haired girl walked to the hat eagerly, and placed the tattered old thing on her head.

A few seconds later the Hat called out, "Slytherin!" where we greeted her loudly.

She came over and sat by Lily, the seemed to already know each other.

I looked at my sister expectantly and she sighed exasperated, "Al, this is my friend, Kate, We met on the train. Kate, this is my brother Albus."

The girl looked at me with blue almost green eyes and smiled at me, "Nice to meet you, Albus."

"Likewise, but call me Al." I smiled and then shot a glare at Lily who shrugged delicately.

"Lily, dear, what about me?" Scorpius drawled.

Lily rolled her eyes and her tiny cheeks turned a dull red, "Kate, the albino git over there is my brother's best mate, Scorpius Malfoy. Scorp meet Kate.

Kate laughed at Scorpius' affronted expression, and waved a bit.

"It is an honor to meet your acquaintance, Miss Pucey." Scorpius said flashing a charming grin.

The poor girl looked so flustered; she looked away as Lily introduced her to Oliver Higgs, who she must have spoken to when I was listening.

I got a warning kick under the table from Jill, to shut up, so I went back to watching the kids get sorted.

There were a few more people called before, "Weasley, Hugo", Hugo, who had sprouted up over the last two years, was taller than all the first years, he inherited Aunt Hermione's brown eyes, which lead most people believe Lily and Hugo were twins, because the looked and acted so much alike, (Both my sister and Hugo, had bright red hair, which was slightly curly, dark chocolate brown eyes, and the Weasley height).

I watched as Rose sat up straight and bit her nails (a nervous habit she picked up from her Granddad Granger), from the Ravenclaw Table.

The sorting hat was taking a long time, and traded various looks with my cousins and siblings, all were nervous.

The silence wore on, and Lily was fidgeting next to me, Scorpius' eyebrows were raised so high I could barely see them.

Finally, the Hat shouted, to everyone's astonishment… "Slytherin!"

I watched as Rose's mouth hang open, James' eyes literally pop out of his skull, Fred spluttered through his ready applauses, Lorcan just shook his head bemused and went back to the Quibbler, Lysander was gaping at Hugo, Molly and Louis were trading astonished looks, Roxie was staring at Hugo as if she never saw him before and Lily had a secretive smile on her lightly freckled face.

In the pit of my stomach I had a bad feeling about this, Uncle Ron was going to be pissed, and Aunt Hermione would be surprised no doubt but she would accept him.

I knocked all odd thoughts out of my head and began a loud applause, which echoed through the room, luckily Rose picked her jaw off the floor at the same time I began clapping so she joined me followed by the rest of the hall.

As Hugo got to our table I saw him hesitate, the first time I saw apprehension on his face, I elbowed Scorpius and said, "Budge up a bit, Mate."

He did, and I called, "Hugo! Over here," I patted the spot in-between me and Lily.

I saw clear relief on his freckled face as he moved quickly next to me.

"Thanks, Al" He said quietly from next to me, as we dug into the lavish feast.

I looked down at him and smiled, "It's cool, and you're my cousin. We're family, and family sticks together."

I watched my younger cousin nod solemnly and go back to picking at his food.

This is what caught my attention immediately, not the sad eyes, not the slump of the shoulders, not the down turn of his lips, no none of that nonsense. What caught my attention was he wasn't stuffing his face and inhaling the food.

"Hey, Hugo, what's wrong? Aren't you happy, you were sorted into Slytherin?" I asked very quietly, so I thought only Hugo and I could hear my voice but I was mistaken.

Hugo looked up at me with his big brown eyes and my heart almost broke at the broken look in them, "It's just, do you think dad will no longer love me? I mean he was so upset last year when Rosie didn't make into Gryffindor, but all he kept saying was "At least it wasn't Slytherin." And now here I am in Slytherin- which I don't mind, I love being here with you and Lily, even Scorpius- but Dad he- is just so against this house. Look how he's been treating you and your only his nephew, imagine his son! A Snake! His worst nightmare must becoming true. And mum she will say she accepts it and all that Hippogriff dung, but deep down she'll be upset."

The poor kid said this all in one long breath, I blinked a few times to let it all process in my head.

I looked at my youngest male cousin, he was always the one who cried if another person was hurt, he was the one who would play what everyone else wanted, he was the one who watched out for Lily at muggle primary school, he was practically my brother, and here he was almost in tears because my git of an Uncle, his father has been spewing nonsense into the boy's head.

I threw an arm around his skinny shoulders, "Hugo, your father will love you no matter what, he's your dad. He's the guy who taught you to walk, he's the one who sang you to sleep, he's the guy who read you "Babbity Rabbity" as a tot, he's the one who taught you to ride a broom, he showed you how to pick a muggle lock, he almost died to just have you with Aunt Hermione. He is your hero. He'll love you through thick and thin. He will be upset at first but I have no doubt Dad and Aunt Hermione will knock some bloody sense into him."

Hugo laughed at the last bit and I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding, and ruffled his hair.

"Thank you, Albus" Hugo said to me with a grin.

I waved a hand and remarked, "No problem, mate. Here try some of this Treacle Tart, Its' even better than Tootsie's! And this one is much better than Twinkle's recipe."

Hugo's eyes widened, our house elf, Tootsie, was well known for his amazing desserts (just as Twinkle was well known for her amazing dinners), and Treacle Tart was Dads, James, and my favorite, so for it to be better than his…Well lets just say it's pretty astounding.

The two of us dug in and before long Hugo was laughing and talking to Oliver about, how the Cannons still may have a chance this year (which just so you know, they will not, they haven't improved much in these last years), and I was off in my own world with Scorpius.

It was until we were heading out of the hall, almost to the door, I noticed Jill staring at me.

I told Scorpius to go ahead, and hung back with Jill so we were at the end of the Slytherin line, "What's up Jill?"

She just kept looking at me, when I raised my eyebrows; she just shook her head and smiled, "You're sweet Albus. I heard what you said to Hugo, it was just so mature and well-handled. You're a good guy Albus Potter."

I blushed at her compliments, and blushed even more when she kissed me on the cheek before catching up to Quidditch Captain Gracie Sheffield.

I shook my head grinning, and followed the Slytherins to the dungeons, never noticing a certain Gryffindor boy glaring at me.

Author's Note; Hi-I! Sorry about the wait I got a mega virus on my laptop, which made me lose EVERYTHIBNG -.- Yes to say I wasn't pleased was an understatement. I wasn't pleased either with this chapter but I did think it would be fun to through Hugo in Slytherin cuz I'm evil and it gives me lots of material to use J Oh and I don't hate Ron, I actually really like him but the next few chappies may not ahh show his good side (so oops). Oh and if anyone watches SHERLOCK they will get so many freakin' houseponts you'll win the house cup12x's over, cuz that show is my newest obsession (series 2 comes out over in Britain and the likes in the autumn but in the States we have to wait till like 2012, but I LOVE Itunes ;)

Ta-ta,

Britt