- A/N -

Until now, this has been the fastest response that I have ever gotten to a fanfiction—two reviews and one follower within the span of twelve hours? That, to me, is amazing, even if to more popular writers it seems like nothing. If and when I am up there one day as well though, maybe I'll feel the same? Still, I think it helps to appreciate every little thing, so thank you truly to everyone who's commented, followed, or even just read this fanfiction, as it does help it to move forward.

The truth behind the release of this chapter so early is because, honestly, I was just feeling so enthusiastic about where this story was going that I had to continue. As of yet, I have not posted an official update date for it on my profile, but, after this chapter, decided to post a chapter every Friday, so as to give everyone something to look forward to at the end of the week—besides the weekend, of course.

In response to ThatPotterGirl1997's inquiry about whether more of the Weasley clan will make an appearance in this fanfiction, I can safely assure everyone that, yes, I definitely see them showing up as occasional characters, especially in their interactions with Rose and Hugo. Aside from the Weasley clan, also know that I'm not cutting Teddy Lupin out of the picture either—he's a good a character as any to include in the story.

Other than that, which I think clears things up, here we go with the second chapter!

2 - The Sorting Ceremony (yet again)

When Scorpius and Albus both climbed out of the train and approached the carriages that would take them to the castle, they saw what they had expected, and yet for the life of them couldn't describe: thestrals. It was their first time seeing the dark, winged creatures, and while they knew that they would do the students no harm, both felt a little apprehensive.

"By Dumbledore, why now?" Albus shivered, a bit frightened despite himself. Because, who wouldn't be? Those things not only looked like they could kill a wizard with one strike, but also like they belonged at the gates of hell or something. And seeing them for the first time, despite knowing that they had always been there, was no comfortable experience.

"B-because we've seen death," Scorpius answered mechanically, although neither boy mentioned on how they had witnessed Craig Bowker Jr.'s death the previous year; they still had nightmares about it, and that was enough.

"Dad said they don't harm anyone, though," Albus pointed out. "Actually, they're pretty convenient to ride."

"Best not to try it if you can't see them, eh?" Scorpius added with a forced laugh.

The boys exchanged a look and then got into the carriage, one that they would be sharing alone, as usual—no one ever sat with the "Slytherin Squib" and "Voldemort's Son". Apparently, despite everything they'd done to save the world, the rumors about them at Hogwarts had a hard time going away; still though, as both boys liked their privacy, this didn't bother them as much as it used to.

"You know, Rose is getting more gorgeous every time I see her," Scorpius commented casually as the carriage made its way up the road to the castle.

Albus snorted. "And more arrogant, by the looks of it. Now that she's a prefect, there's no telling what she won't do so as to enforce order."

Scorpius smiled. "Yeah, I know, but at least now I'll have more of an excuse to spend time with you—you know, seeing as we're both prefects and all."

Sighing, Albus leaned back in his seat. "Scorpius, you're my best friend, and you know I'm not saying this to hurt you, but mate, she's not only way out of your league—she's out of everyone's league. The thing is, that's all she's ever wanted to be, better than the rest, and so there's no point in trying to compete with that. She's already shot you down once, and I figured that after that you'd give up, but you—"

"I'm not saying that anything's going to happen, but I do want to spend more time with her. I know she doesn't particularly like me now, nor has she ever, but...she doesn't even know me, Albus, and that's got to change!"

"So that you can continue 'planting the acorn that will result in your eventual marraige'?" Albus clarified.

Scorpius beamed. "Exactly!"

Rolling his eyes, Albus looked away. There was just no discouraging his best friend, who was obviously smitten with a girl that neither he, nor seemingly anyone else could have. Albus himself had never seen the attraction to Rose as a person, because she was just too bossy, too competitive, and too cocky for her own good, but Scorpius had always been able to see past that. Though he never said so, Albus always suspected that his judged on appearances from the surface rather than from within, which would eventually lead to his getting hurt. Still, if there was no discouraging Scorpius now, after he'd already been rejected once, then the only thing to do was wait and see where things would go from there.

The topic exhausted, once they reached the castle, both boys hastily made their way to the grand hall, taking their seats long before the first years came in, and then applauding like everyone else once they did.

"It's your sister's turn this year, right?" Scorpius whispered.

Albus nodded, keeping his attention at the front. Not that he had any hopes that Lily would end up in a house other than Gryffindor, but still, even hearing her express that she wished for something different made him feel a whole lot better about himself. It made it seem as though...it wasn't necessary to carry on their family legacy about always being in Gryffindor—as he had already proven, it didn't matter which house a student was sorted into, so long as they did their best in becoming successful wizards.

After the usual chant of the Sorting Hat, it began calling up names, sorting each student into their appropriate house of either Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. The first few students went mostly to Hufflepuff and to Gryffindor, with fewer to Slytherin and even fewer to Ravenclaw, after which came the turn of Hugo Granger-Weasley. Glancing across the hall, Albus noticed Rose leaned forward in her seat, no doubt waiting for the moment when she could embrace her brother and welcome him to the table.

As the Sorting Hat was placed on his head, its comments could be heard loud and clear throughout the great hall.

"Ha, yet another Weasley? How many of you are there? Well, this is an obvious choice...Gryffindor!"

A cheer sounded from the house table, after which Rose jumped up and led her brother to his seat at the earliest possible opportunity. Hugo managed to look both embarrassed and yet pleased at the same time, taking his seat and ducking his head before his sister could coo over him too much.

A few more students followed, after which came the moment that Albus had so desperately waited for: the sorting of his own sister. From across the hall, he noticed James stop in his conversation with his own friends, also leaning forward in interest. The two brothers made eye contact, after which James gave a confident wink. It was likely, in both their eyes, that Lily would end up in Gryffindor.

But then, Albus remembered the last thing he had said to her before leaving her compartment, wondering if she was going to take it into account.

"You know, you don't really need to be all that worried about which house you'll get sorted into. Look at me: I was put in Slytherin, the one house that dad probably didn't want me to be in, and I got on alright."

"But you're you," Lily had insisted, casting her eyes downward. "You've saved the world once already—you're exactly like dad."

Albus gave a wistful smile, leaning down until he was almost at eye level with her. All of the other first years in the compartment pretended not to notice this, although some of them desperately wished that they had an older sibling to explain things to them.

"You want to know something?" Albus asked, causing Lily to glance up hopefully. "The Sorting Hat takes your decision into account."

Lily blinked in surprise. "Really?" she whispered excitedly.

Albus nodded. "Really. Dad told me so himself—it took his opinion into account when sorting him, which apparently was no easy task, so why shouldn't it take your opinion into account?"

Of course, looking back, Albus had no idea how much of that he really believed himself, especially seeing as the Sorting Hat didn't actually take him opinion into account. At first, he had desperately hoped that he wouldn't be in Slytherin, wouldn't be a disappointment or anything, and yet had gotten sorted there regardless. In a way, the hat had talked him into it, insisting that Slytherin was his rightful house to be in, and that it knew what it was doing. At first, Albus had questioned this, until developing a close bond with Scorpius and realizing that, yes, Slytherin was where he rightfully belonged. Even for that brief period of time in which his father had tried to get him appointed to Gryffindor instead, it had all felt wrong. And now, Albus wouldn't have chosen his life at Hogwarts to be any other way, despite the few bumps in the road during his first four years. Whatever Lily chose, despite not being sure to what extent the Sorting Hat would consider it, Albus knew that she would be in her rightful place, if nothing else.

"Let's see now," the Sorting Hat murmured, once placed on the young girl's head. "Another Potter, eh? Oh, what's this? 'Not Gryffindor', you say? Whyever not? You have a good family history in Gryffindor, there's always stock put in that...What? You're sure? Very well then. Better be...Ravenclaw!"

A loud yet polite applause went up from the Ravenclaw table as well as from Albus, who, while surprised, didn't mind at all that Lily had gotten her wish. The same could not be said for Rose or for James though, both of whom looked rather deflated at the news, though James was quick to recover once pulled back into conversation again.

"Well...that was unexpected," Scorpius mentioned, clapping alongside his friend.

Albus nodded. "I know, but isn't it great? She told me that she didn't want to be in Gryffindor anyway and...maybe this going against family tradition is a good think, you know?"

Scorpius sighed. "Wish I could say the same, but every single person in my family's only ever been in Slytherin, so I'm going along with tradition as well as anyone. It's good to see that you and your sister are breaking it though."

Albus grinned. "Yeah, but why Ravenclaw, I wonder? The only person we've ever known whose in Ravenclaw is..."

If Rose and James didn't take well to the outcome, then Harry and Ginny Potter were equally as surprised when they received the news in Rose's letter. James, who hadn't written much since after his second year at Hogwarts, couldn't be relied upon to give them news promptly, so both Potters appreciated their niece's consideration for doing so.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that Hugo made it into Gryffindor—no doubt Ron and Hermione are pleased. But...Lily into Ravenclaw?" Ginny lifted a curious eyebrow. "That's a little strange."

Harry shrugged, adjusting his glasses. "I suppose it is, considering that no one in either of our families has been sorted there, but not unheard of. I always thought that Lily had the right personality to go into Gryffindor as well, but the Sorting Hat's never wrong."

Ginny nodded. "Much as that is true, I had hoped that Rose would be able to guide her through her first year at Hogwarts; James, I was confident, would have no trouble, and Albus has done alright as well, but Lily...she's the baby of the family, and has always been the one to receive the most help."

"That's the way it is in every family," Harry replied with a smile. "But that doesn't mean that she's always needed the most help. Maybe her being sorted into Ravenclaw is a good thing, as it'll finally encourage her to stand on her own two feet. She's a capable witch, Gin."

Laughing, Ginny took a seat next to her husband at the kitchen table. "I know, Harry, but can you blame me for being worried? She's my special little girl, our only daughter, and it's always been different with her. She took the longest in learning how to ride a broom, was always the most unsure about what to do with her life, and...well, I'm just not as confident in leaving her alone as I was James and Albus."

"Gin, we have to leave all our children alone at some point, so why not now? There's no better place than Hogwarts to teach her what it is to be an independent witch, and...it's not like Rose, James, and Albus aren't there for her at all—they still are, but in a more minor capacity. I really think that this is what she needs," Harry assured her.

Ginny returned his smile. "You're right. But I'll still encourage her to write often. I want to make sure that she's ok."

"Of course she is. She will be, Gin, you'll see."

- End Note -

Done and done! That being said, I feel like there are a few things that I should address in this chapter, just in case anyone feels the need to comment/object to anything later on.

Firstly, there's my decision of putting Lily Potter in Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor. I know, I know, in the original eighth book, she was very clearly put in Gryffindor, as well as being a year older, but, again, I will be shifting a few things in this story to match my purpose. Because, the truth of the matter is, I don't think that Lily herself would get much of an individual character if she's just another Weasley-Potter who's put in Gryffindor. That's just following what's expected of her, and would group her with many other characters that we've already seen developed. With Albus breaking off from the chain, I saw it as an opportunity to develop his character in excellent ways, which the book did, and decided to do the same thing with Lily as well, especially given what I have in store for her later on. I understand how many people may really object to this stark change, but I urge you to please give it a chance and not to shut it down right away.

Secondly, I'd like to address the way in which I presented Ginny and Harry Potter in this chapter. I apologize for the somewhat cliché parental discussion between them; however, at this point in the story, where my main focus will be on the new generation of characters that are attending Hogwarts, that's all they need to be for now. Make no mistake, later on I will be giving them more concrete roles in the story, but, for now, I hope that readers can content themselves with knowing that they are there, just not in the spotlight.

And lastly, I would like to address the way in which I presented the Sorting Hat—namely, why it should take some opinions into account and yet not others. For, as we've seen, it did take Harry Potter's opinion into account, but, as I assume that Albus would've wanted to be in Gryffindor, it would have ignored his request entirely when sorting him into Slytherin. The reason that I provided in the chapter is exactly my reason behind grouping Lily into Ravenclaw: the Sorting Hat knows what's best and it is never wrong. The Sorting Hat in itself was hard to understand even in the original series, where its reasoning was never fully explained (aside from classifying witches and wizards based on their personalities and family lineages, perhaps taking the latter into more consideration than the former, seeing as it put a timid Scorpius Malfoy into Slytherin rather than another house more fitting to his personality), and so I took it upon myself to fill in some of th blanks, which I will continue to do later on. Again, for anyone objecting to my decision, please take it for what it is and, if you're still interested, wait to see what I have planned.

Other than that, I encourage readers to post more reviews, to follow, or even to favourite the story. All of that is much appreciated. See you in the next chapter!