~What Am I Feeling?~

~Chapter 5- Christmas Time At The Potters~

The next few months went faster than Scorpius ever thought. He thought settling into Hogwarts would be the hardest thing he would ever had to do, but it hadn't been bad at all.

With Albus by his side, his first months away from home had been made easy. Although they had an instant connection, their bond had only grown and grown since they had first met. Albus was bubbly, though naturally quite logical and he could easily be at the peak of popularity. But he had stuck to Scorpius' side completely since the beginning. Scorpius was still shy and quiet around other people, yet he and Albus could absolutely chat for hours and hours on end.

Albus found Scorpius endearing, interesting and adorable. He knew he got on amazingly well with Scorpius because their personalities matched. Scorpius thought Albus was friendly, bubbly and extremely kind to him and he knew Albus would do anything for anyone, and he found himself more willing day by day, to do anything for Albus too.

They had completely warmed together and for two boys whose fathers had hated each other so strongly, it was completely shocking that their sons got on so well.

Even for any two boys who didn't have fathers with such a rivalry, it would be strange for them to be so close. They literally hadn't left each other's sides since the first day. They walked around hip to hip, surprising all the teachers, especially the ones who were around when their parents were in Hogwarts. It made a lot of people quite happy to see the two being able to come together.

James had been difficult. He did not feel that brother should be any where near a Malfoy. The comments shot at Scorpius about his father and heritage did hurt a lot but Scorpius tried to ignore it. James was careful never to say these things when Albus was in earshot, so Albus was not aware of the abuse James shot at his friend. But Scorpius couldn't tell Albus. Yes, his friendship was strong with Albus, but he didn't want to risk anything getting in between them.

His father had actually been quite accepting when he sent him a letter, telling him about Albus. Maybe Astoria had convinced Draco to accept it, maybe they had even argued, but the letter Scorpius had received said that 'although we were surprised at first, as long as your happy Scorpius, we're happy too.' Scorpius knew, that wouldn't have been his father's reaction.

But before they knew it, it was Christmas and they were off back home. It was strange arriving back at platform 9 ¾, the last time Scorpius and Albus were there they didn't even know each other.

The first day back at home was quite surreal for Scorpius in particular. Suddenly, he was so alone. After being around a person non-stop for over three months strange, it was natural to feel a little empty, especially in such a huge house with so little people.

For Albus, it was different. He was among a big family, with activeness always around him, however without Scorpius, it didn't feel quite right.

That was why he had asked his father if Scorpius could come over for dinner one day.

Harry Potter wasn't nervous about having the Malfoy boy in his home, not at all; he actually sounded rather pleasant from Albus' descriptions and his enthusiasm towards the boy, but no, it was asking the father that he was nervous about.

But he had. For Albus' sake. And surprisingly, Draco Malfoy had agreed. He said that he would trust him with his son for a night, as long he promised to protect him and treat him with respect. Harry thought that really, that was fair enough.

So here Scorpius was, in the Potter household. He appeared in the chimney by floo, after his father had stuttered himself through an excuse about not being able to bring him.

Albus was sitting on the sofa, tapping his foot impatiently. His sister was also excited to meet the boy he had been talking non-stop about from when he came back home and all the way through Christmas day.

When the green fire blared in front of him and the small blonde boy appeared there, Albus' genuine grin stretched across his face again. Scorpius couldn't help but return the smile as he saw his friend from across the room.

Instantly, Albus jumped off the sofa, sprinted towards Scorpius and threw his arms around the smaller boy. Scorpius shuddered back, his spine hitting the wall behind as his friend squeezed him in his arms. But it didn't matter. He had missed Albus. And that was all there was to say.

"Gosh Scor! I've missed you so much it's unbelievable!" Albus squealed, only clutching Scorpius closer to his chest, "Obviously, that means I have to have my Scor by my side for the rest of my life now."

Scorpius couldn't help but allow a small giggle to escape his lips and Albus rocked him side to side in his arms, "Your Scor?"

"Yup," Albus pushed Scorpius gently away from him, so he could look properly into those silver eyes, "Yup. You're my Scor. Which means you have to be my friend forever, no matter whether you like it or not." Albus tapped Scorpius' nose in that playful way he always did, which made Scorpius blush as per usual. Albus couldn't help but like making Scorpius blush, "Come on! I've got to introduce you to my family!"

Scorpius had expected Grimmauld Place to be darker. It did formerly belong to the Black family, after all. It was decorated by warm patterned knitted blankets draped over the sofa and small table. Bright curtains with flowers hung in front of the windows as a shiny piano sat underneath them. Many pictures of the Potters, as well as the extended Weasley clan sat over the fireplace and hung on the walls. And of course, tinsel was entwined around the fireplace too, as well as a healthy looking Christmas tree sitting in the corner, with enchanted decorations floating around. Mistletoe was growing over the ceiling which Scorpius was careful to ignore.

As Scorpius was dragged down the corridor, he noticed the burgundy walls which also had family photos, as well as photos of deceased family and friends Scorpius realised but also appreciated. There were also more Christmas decorations on the walls and banisters.

Albus suddenly halted at a set of stairs and glanced up. Scorpius followed Albus' gaze, only to see a withered looking house elf standing there, with a small broom.

"Kreacher, is mum and dad and everyone in the kitchen?" Albus asked casually.

The house elf, Kreacher, looked upon Albus, then his eyes glared at Scorpius, "Yes, Master Albus," The elf continued to stare at Scorpius, the boy shifting uncomfortably, "He has Black blood in him."

Albus frowned but continued on, "Uh, yeah. Thanks Kreacher."

Scorpius' wrist was grabbed again as he was dragged away, "Sorry about him. He's old. But he's actually not that bad when you get to know him."

"I didn't think your family would have house elves…" Scorpius muttered, yet loud enough for the brown haired boy to hear.

"Well, Aunt Hermione always says we should let him go, but Kreacher refuses to. He says he will always stay in the Black house. And he's happy doing what he does. Mum doesn't make him do very much most of the times. Sometimes run errands or something like that." Albus shrugged.

Suddenly they reached a door and Albus stopped. He glanced at Scorpius who's eyes were slightly bulged out. He just realised he was going to meet the great Harry Potter. Not only the great Harry Potter, but his best friend's dad. And mum. And by the sounds of it, other members of the family too.

"It's okay, they don't bite. They bark though." Albus said with a roll of his eyes as he opened the door.

A large wooden table ran through the room with a small kitchen at the end of the room. Crowded around the table and standing in the kitchen, were adults, children, teenagers and redheads. Mostly redheads.

Scorpius recognised some of them instantly, just from the constant pictures bombarding everyone of him in the Daily Prophet. Sitting at the head of the table, was a man who looked like an older version or Albus. With shaggy brown hair and piercing green eyes, but what was different and most recognisable was the glasses and lightening shaped scar poking through his bangs.

Albus' dad. Harry Potter.

Sitting next to him was a ginger haired man with a slight pot belly. Scorpius remembered Albus telling him about this man's obsession over food, which Scorpius then assumed was the reason for the belly. He had round brown eyes, which reminded Scorpius of Rose Weasley's, Albus' cousin who was in their year and had got into Gryffindor. He saw Rose sitting next to the man, and he was grateful that at least he knew her, even if he had only spoken to her on a few occasions.

Rose's dad, Albus' uncle. Ronald Weasley.

Across the table was another man, but Scorpius knew who this was, just by the looking at him first glance. Tall and lean, Scorpius had seen this man working in Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the few times he had been into the shop.

Another of Albus' uncles, George Weasley.

Scorpius was able to deduce who one of the women were standing in the kitchen, by the fact she was the only redheaded female adult in the room. And there was only one of the older generation of original Weasleys who were a female. She looked no older than thirty five and could tell that in her prime, would have been an extremely beautiful.

This was Ginevra, Ginny Weasley, Albus' mother.

Scorpius was unsure who the second women with brown hair was in the room. She could have been any of Albus' aunts. But when she moved to stand behind Rose and Ron and placed hands on her husband and daughter's shoulder, Scorpius realised.

She must be Hermione Granger Weasley, Rose's mother and Albus' aunty.

Four were children. Two of them he knew, James Potter who he did not have a particular liking for, was standing in the kitchen next to the other boy. Rose Weasley of course, but a ginger girl and boy who he did not recognise. But, remembering the family photos on the wall, he realised the small girl, no more than eight years old was part of the Potter clan.

She was Lily Luna Potter, Albus' sister.

From pure guessing skills and by company that was around, Scorpius assumed the last boy was Hugo Weasley, Rose's brother and the younger child of Ron and Hermione. Also, Albus' cousin, but he would have to make sure.

The last person looked like he was in his late teens, early twenties. He had startling blue eyes and hair, a slightly pointed nose and pale skin. He looked extremely quirky, wearing a t-shirt with the logo of a Muggle band, which Scorpius didn't remember the name of. He was also extremely handsome and there was no way of denying it.

Judging by the looks and the age, Scorpius guessed that this was Teddy Lupin, who was Harry's god-son and also very close to Albus from what he had heard.

"Hey, Scorpius has arrived!" Albus said cheerfully, stepping in the room and beckoning Scorpius to join him.

Scorpius stepped hesitantly into the room and offered a small smile, "Th-thank you for inviting me." He said, in a state of nerves.

With a warm smile, Harry stood up, as well as other members of the family. He offered a hand to Scorpius which the blonde took timidly.

"It's nice to meet you, Scorpius," Harry said in a friendly way, shaking Scorpius' hand, "Especially after Albus has told us so much about you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr Potter." Scorpius took a deep breath, feeling slightly more relaxed.

"Please, call me Harry. 'Mr Potter' is far too formal for me." Harry chuckled, as they released each other's hands.

"Okay… Harry." Scorpius nodded.

After a few more introductions to what he already knew, Scorpius felt much better. He knew Albus' family was not going to be intimidating in any way. They were extremely friendly and welcoming, except for James who had slipped away, not that Scorpius minded. Lily was very nice, though almost overly nice, as she seemed to already be planning hers and Scorpius' engagement. He was right, the other boy was Albus' cousin, Hugo. George was also comforting, as he made small jokes to lighten Scorpius' mood and they re-introduced themselves.

From behind George, Teddy came, holding out a hand for Scorpius.

"Nice to finally meet my cousin," He smirked widely. Scorpius had almost forgotten that they were second cousins. His father had mentioned it so long ago, when he was quite young so Scorpius never questioned why they weren't in touch with Teddy. But now he realised it was probably for the simple reason that his father didn't want to be in touch.

"It's nice to meet you too." Scorpius hesitantly said, shaking his cousin's hand.

"We'll have to get to know each other better soon, won't we?" Teddy chuckled.

"Y-yeah."

"Don't be nervous, we're family," Teddy ruffled the smaller boy's hair, "How was Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas at Malfoy manor must be an interesting affair." Ron snorted, taking a seat down at the table again.

Scorpius' cheeks heated up again, as Albus guided him towards the table, both sitting down next to each other, "I-It was good, thank you."

"Did you get presents?" Hugo asked enthusiastically, bobbing up and down on the spot.

"I got a few books and a Potions set… I didn't really want anything else." Scorpius looked at Albus for support who quietly nudged his hand.

"My dad got me my very first, proper broom!" Hugo exclaimed with a satisfied grin, "Do you play Quidditch, Scorpius?"

"Um, no… I don't have much interest in Quidditch." Scorpius said with a sheepish smile.

"Unlike your father then." Ginny smiled kindly, resting a hand on Scorpius' shoulder as she walked past.

"Well, at least that means the Potters won't have any proper competition then?" George grinned, prodding Albus who he sat next to.

"Your father was a very good Quidditch player," Harry admitted, with a reluctant nod, "Gave me a run for my money."

"He never talked about Quidditch games against you…" Scorpius smirked to himself and Albus, "Probably a bit embarrassed."

They all couldn't help but laugh at that comment, though that made Scorpius blush. He realised that in nature he was probably more like the Weasleys and Potters than his own parents, but he couldn't talk about his father in that way. Hermione noticed the worried glance on his face straight away, "Don't worry honey, we wouldn't laugh if it were in a nasty way. We make jokes about each other all the time…" She suddenly turned her head to glare at her husband, "Especially Ron."

Ron grinned at once, "Life wouldn't be fun if I didn't."

They went on to keep chatting for about half an hour and Scorpius soon felt more and more comfortable with the Weasleys. They were friendly and there's no point pretending they weren't and Scorpius got on very well with all of them so far it would seem. There was no hostile feelings shooting towards him, which was nice to know.

Albus insisted on dragging Scorpius out to the garden, even in the cold, where a car sat on the grass. Harry, Ron and Teddy soon joined them and explained and the two older men explained about an enchanted car, belonging to Arthur Weasley, which they used to fly to Hogwarts in their second year. They told the Malfoy how this car was also enchanted and also a Ford Anglia, except not blue, but red. They used to go and fly it around over London when they were younger.

Scorpius also got more of an opportunity to speak to Teddy. He found out that Teddy had just left Hogwarts and he had gone to study wandlore in Germany. Scorpius had always been fascinated by wandlore, so he was able to talk to the Metamorphmagus about what the study was like

Teddy was extremely surprised by the intellect of his eleven year old cousin. Yes, he knew he had to be clever as he was in Ravenclaw, but he knew so much about wandlore already, about the same as Teddy knew, and Teddy had not known nearly as much before the beginning of his studies in September. He was thoroughly impressed. And also rather happy that he was getting on so well with Scorpius. Although Teddy did consider the Weasley clan his family, having someone he was actually blood related to did make him happy and he hoped he could get to know Scorpius more, who so far had made a very good impression.

When the five boys started to make their way back into the house, they were surprised to see an owl, which none of them recognised, come surging towards them. It settled on the window pane, next to a flower pot, a package sitting between it's beak.

Harry stepped forward, assuming it was for one of the Potters and plucked it from it's beak. With a frown, the shaggy haired man turned to Scorpius.

"It's for you, Scorpius."

Scorpius' eyes widened in confusion but he accepted the letter gratefully. When he saw the Hogwarts symbol on the back and the stamp saying 'confidential' he suspected what it was.

"I-I think it's private." He muttered, looking for Albus' support.

Albus understood and immediately came to Scorpius' rescue, "How about we go up to my room? I needed to show you it anyway!"

The friends climbed the many stairs of Grimmauld Place while gripping the package tightly to his chest. He suspected what this was, and he hoped and prayed it was.

When they reached Albus' room, the most noticeable thing was the Quidditch posters and scarves which covered the walls. Scorpius saw a small Christmas tree, with enchanted shooting stars circling it. The room was a fair size, with a big bed sitting in the middle with red covers.

"Is it… the necklace?" Albus asked curiously, grabbing Scorpius' wrist and forcing him to take a seat on the bed.

"Y-yeah… I think."

Albus watched as Scorpius tugged on the envelope, gently ripping it. He pulled out the letter and emptied the little package onto the bed.

Scorpius read the letter out loud, knowing Albus would understand: "Mr Malfoy, I hope you're having a good Christmas. I'm sure you'll be even more pleased to find out the stone is ready for you and I thought to get it to you as soon as possible. If there are any problems, you know where I am. Your sincerely, Headmistress McGonagall."

No words were exchanged as Scorpius felt tingles of anticipation run through him, as well as some sparking from Albus. But hopefully… in a few seconds he wouldn't be able to feel anything from Albus, not that he didn't want to, because Albus' emotions were always quite lovely, but it was more convenient.

As he opened the soft cloth around the stone, his eyes twinkled as he saw the golden crystal shine. He couldn't help but release a breathy gasp as well as a shaky smile.

The last emotion he felt before he slipped the stone around his neck was a wave of happiness aimed towards himself coming from his friend, before it was blocked.

Scorpius felt dizzy for a moment, like a clear glass was placed in front of his whole body. His eyes flickered shut, trying to stop the faintness from overcoming him. It felt like one of his senses had been cut off and it was bliss.

The realisation that he only had to endure his own feelings was satisfying. All of the sudden he felt so relaxed and he could finally concentrate on his own emotions. Be concerned, with his own problems and not everyone else's too.

Albus slid a hand over Scorpius' forearm, concerned as the boy's eyes were shut and he looked faint, "Are you okay, Scor? How does it feel?"

Scor slowly opened his eyes, met by a bright green smiling back at him, "Amazing."

~X~

A/N: This has taken me quite a lot time to update which I'm sorry for! I rushed the end of this chapter a bit, just because I'm not going to have any internet over Christmas, but wanted to post it before that, and it's kind of good for Christmas, even if it's not the most Christmassy chapter! That does mean I'll have lots of time to write though! Yay!

But anyway, I was so happy to introduce all the other characters, particularly Teddy. While writing this, I came up with a lot of ideas for him in the future, so I can't wait to introduce them. I've planned about half of the story so far and basically, this story is going to go on for a VERY long time. That's all I'm gonna say at this point.

Thank you to drumline and ekbellatrix for reviewing last chapter! Much appreciated!

And to answer drumline's question, which was "Are you going to follow Scor/Al only through the first year? Or are you going to fast forward to their 6th or 7th year to show how their friendship has developed?"

-Well, this is actually gonna be the last chapter in their first year at Hogwarts, unfortunately. The next chapter will be a quick one, in the third year I think, then it will fast forward again to the fifth year, where A LOT will happen. At the moment I've only planned up to the end of the sixth year, but I think I would like to do about after Hogwarts as well, unless you all think that's dragging it out too long? I guess we won't know until we get to that point.

If there are any other questions, feel free to ask!