Scorpius had known he wouldn't be able to avoid it forever, but he'd been hoping to have at least a little more time. The dread he felt when he saw his mother's spotted owl swooping towards him at breakfast was suffocating. He wasn't ready. He hadn't figured out what to say yet.

Beside him, Rose was opening up a letter of her own, calm, unconcerned. And why would she be worried. She hadn't broken a thousand-year-old family tradition. Everything was fantastic for her. He tried not to feel bitter about it.

Gingerly taking the envelope from Avianna, Scorpius stroked the bird's feathers with his other hand. He'd never seen an owl look so judgmental. It was like she was mad at him for not having written yet or she knew he didn't want to open the letter she'd delivered. She was right, but Scorpius would have to open the letter eventually.

He just wouldn't do it right this second.

Albus glanced over at him. "Aren't you going to open that?" he asked. "That's the first letter you've gotten, right?" It was. He was rather impressed by his parents' restraint. They must trust him a lot. Which only made him feel even worse about not having written them yet. But what was he supposed to say? 'Dear Mother and Father, I know we were all expecting me to get sorted into Slytherin just like everybody in our family since ever, but it seems the sorting hat has started to go funny. I got Gryffindor. Please break the news gently to Grandfather and Grandmother. I don't want to be the one who kills them through sheer shock and disappointment.' And that didn't even bring in the whole 'I became friends with a Potter and a Weasley, the people you specifically told me to avoid.'

"Yep," Scorpius replied hollowly. His mother's swirly signature taunted him. He made no move to open the letter.

Albus frowned. "Are you worried about what they'll say about getting Gryffindor? I get that, but from what you've told me about them, I don't think they'll be mad at you or hate you or anything." What did he know? Scorpius hadn't talked about his family that much. Albus didn't really know anything. He definitely didn't understand. "Who knows?" Albus shrugged. "Maybe they were even expecting it. I feel like most parents have a good idea of what house their kid will get."

"They were absolutely expecting me to get Slytherin," Scorpius sighed. He poked at his eggs with his fork morosely. "And they don't know I'm in Gryffindor yet."

Albus blinked, eyebrows furrowing. "You didn't mention your house in your letter? Didn't they find that odd?" He startled. "You didn't lie about your house, did you? I don't think that will turn out well."

"What? No." Scorpius pushed his eggs all to one side of the plate. "I didn't lie." Letting out a long sigh, he admitted. "I haven't written them since coming here."

"What?!" Albus gasped, and a few of the nearby kids glanced at them. Albus lowered his voice. "Scorp, it's been days! Most kids write home their first night. They're probably freaking out."

Yeah, probably.

Rose leaned over. "What are you two whispering about?"

"Scorpius hasn't written home yet," Albus told her scandalously.

"What?" Rose's blue eyes were wide as she turned to look at him. "But it's been days!"

"I know," Scorpius groaned, fighting the urge to rest his head against the table. "I just- haven't figured out how to word it yet. It's a lot."

"But surely you want them to hear it from you?" Rose reasoned. "With so many kids talking about it, your parents might have already heard about you getting Gryffindor from somebody else."

"Doubt it," Scorpius shrugged. "My parents don't get out much." Didn't people have better things to do than gossip about him? He understood a Malfoy getting Gryffindor was interesting, unusual, unheard of, but there had to be other, actually important, things going on in their lives.

Rose's expression grew stern. "You have to write them back right away, Scorpius. Your parents must be worried sick about you."

"Yeah," Albus nodded. "Just get it over with, stewing will only make it worse."

They were both right. Scorpius knew they were. Still…

Bracing himself, Scorpius opened the letter.

Dear Scorpius,

Your father and I haven't heard from you yet, but we aren't sure if that is a good sign or not. I know the first days at Hogwarts are very exciting and you must have a lot going on, but you did promise to write. How is school going so far? Have you made any friends? How are you liking the dungeons? I know the other houses make fun, but I always found them to be majestic and serene. Have you seen the giant squid pass by yet? I loved sitting in one of the nooks in the common room and watching the fish swim by as I studied. Are your dormmates nice? What is your favorite class so far? Any favorite professors?

Please do write back as soon as you can. Your silence is eating away at your father. I haven't seen him pace this much in a long time. I'm worried as well. The other children aren't being too horrible, are they?

Your grandparents will be visiting on Friday, and they'll want to hear how your first week went. If we tell your grandfather we haven't heard from you yet, he'll jump to all sorts of conclusions, you know how he is. Part of me is tempted to tell him you got Hufflepuff, the shock might do him some good, but I'll let him be this time. I know he worries for you in his own way.

Keep up with your studies and write back soon.

Your father sends his love, as do I.

Mother

…

…

Nope, that had made it worse. He still didn't know what to say and now he was even more nervous and felt like rubbish. Was Grandfather really going to hate him now? How disappointed would his parents be? Would his parents worry for him even more now that he'd gotten Gryffindor? Would they say he wasn't allowed to be friends with Rose and Albus anymore?

Albus was struggling to not peek at the letter, clearly interested but not wanting to breach Scorpius' privacy. Rose was watching Scorpius keenly as she attempted to guess the letter's contents.

"I'll write back during lunch," he assured them, shoving the letter into his bag. He had to reply today. If he didn't, his father might march down to Hogwarts to drag the answers out of Scorpius in person.

Scorpius couldn't focus on his classes at all. Herbology was a blur. Instead of taking notes in Transfiguration, he attempted to draft letters that would upset his family as little as possible. If Scorpius hadn't already known the four branches of Transfiguration (transformation, untransfiguration, vanishment, and conjuration) and the five exceptions to Gamp's Law (food, true life, knowledge, precious metals, and magical energy), the homework would have been brutal.

He couldn't think of any magical solution either. No potion that would make it easier to come up with the best words (except for Felix Felicis, but he had no chance of getting that on such short notice). No useful charms. Nothing.

Lunch came far too quickly. All his drafts never made it past one or two sentences before they fell apart. He had very little letter writing experience to start with. The only people he'd ever written to were his grandparents and even then they visited often enough there was usually little need for letters. And this was a very complicated letter to write. He was rather glad he didn't have to tell his parents in person though.

Rose and Albus were hovering over him as they sat in the courtyard. As soon as class had gotten out, Rose had dragged him here and forced the parchment into his hands. His weak protests for more time were met with condemnatory glares,

Taking a breath, Scorpius slowly started to write, the quill heavy in his hand.

Dear Mother

Then he stared at the page for a solid minute, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

"Say you're sorry for not writing sooner," Rose prodded. Oh yeah, that made sense. Simple enough.

I'm terribly sorry for not writing sooner, I didn't mean to worry you.

Another brain block. 'I'm fine, but it isn't good news'? 'Hogwarts is wonderful, I'm the problem'? 'Could you maybe postpone Grandfather's visit? Father might need some time to process the news'?

Easy stuff first.

I've been quite busy. Hogwarts is wonderful. I've enjoyed all my classes so far except for history. I don't understand how Professor Binns manages to make such fascinating stories so boring. There are some kids being a bit nasty, but that was expected. It's nothing I can't handle. And I have made some friends already so that helps.

He wasn't going to bring up Thorne. There was no point. It would just upset his parents and there was nothing they could really do. No one was going to side with his family over a respected Hogwart's professor and auror. He wasn't stupid.

Albus bobbed his head. "Good, good. Gonna have to get into the meat of it soon though."

"Are you sure you're okay with us reading your letter like this?" Rose checked. "We can give you advice without looking over your shoulder."

"Yeah," Albus joked. "If you want to complain about Rose being a nag, we can send her away to preserve her dignity." Rose rolled her eyes.

"It's fine," Scorpius assured them. "None of this is a secret." If he didn't let them look, they'd think he was writing something bad about them. He'd just have to avoid saying anything super private.

My dormmates are nice, though I am still adjusting to sharing a room. I haven't seen the giant squid yet. I haven't seen any fish really. I haven't spent much time by the lake, and I haven't spent time in the Slytherin common room.

It wasn't quite an admission, not yet. On a first read, they'd probably assume he was simply avoiding the other students. The truth was too outlandish. His parents almost certainly expected his lack of contact until now was because of bullying, not him getting the wrong house.

"They have fish in the Slytherin common room?" Albus asked, surprised.

"It's partially underwater," Scorpius explained, quill frozen above the paper as he desperately scrambled for the right words. "There are some windows that look out into the lake."

Albus and Rose both looked grudgingly impressed.

Screw it, he just had to say it.

I haven't been in the Slytherin dorms at all actually. I didn't get Slytherin. I understand this is unorthodox. I'm as surprised as you are. It hadn't even occurred to me I might not get Slytherin. But I didn't, I'm not sure why. I got Gryffindor. I hope this news isn't too disappointing to you. Please try and break the news to Grandfather gently, I am aware this will be quite devastating for him.

For this next bit, maybe don't tell Grandfather about it until he's somewhat recovered from learning about his Gryffindor grandson. I ended up sitting on the train with Rose Weasley and Albus Potter.

Albus snorted. "You think your grandad won't like us?"

"He doesn't like most people," Scorpius sighed. He wasn't sure what was going to upset the man more: his grandson being in Gryffindor or his grandson making friends with the mudblood loving enemy. Scorpius would be lucky not to get disowned on the spot.

We were able to strike up affable conversations and it turns out we have a great deal in common and have become friends. They supported me when I got sorted into Gryffindor. Albus is one of my dormmates.

Would his parents care? Yes, they'd told him to avoid the Potters and Weasleys, but Scorpius was pretty sure that had been out of fear that they'd treat him badly. That they'd all be like James. He didn't think his parents disliked the families. So they wouldn't forbid the friendship if Rose and Albus were nice, right?

Again, I'm sorry for worrying you by not writing sooner. I kept putting it off thinking I'd be able to come up with a perfect letter, but I'll just have to settle for this. I promise I'll write more often.

I love you all,

Give Adrien and Alder my regards.

Scorpius

"There," Scorpius said, staring down at the letter apprehensively. "How's that?"

"You used a lot of big words and fancy talk," Albus noted, "but I guess that's how you talk anyways. Seems good to me."

"I think it covers everything it really needed to," Rose agreed. "You're overthinking it, Scorpius. It's just a house. You haven't changed in any way; your parents aren't going to suddenly hate you." Hate was a strong word, but they weren't going to be happy about it.

"Seems like you might give your grandad a stroke though," Albus joked lightly. "That would earn you some points in Gryffindor's eyes." He broke off in a choked gasp as his cousin elbowed him in the ribs. Scorpius shrank in on himself a little. He didn't want Grandfather to hate him either.

"Ignore him, Scorp," Rose huffed, glaring at Albus behind Scorpius' back.

Rubbing at the spot Rose had jabbed him sheepishly, Albus said, "Sorry, Scorp." Then he perked up and asked, "Who are Adrein and Alder?"

"Hm?" Had Scorpius not mentioned them yet? He supposed he hadn't. "Oh, Adrien's our family's butler." And bodyguard, but that part of his job thankfully rarely came up. "And Alder's a house elf we hire to keep the gardens. He does insist on helping with some of the indoor stuff too though." The gardens were quite large though and many of the plants were magical. Keeping them in order was a big job.

Rose's expression turned stormy. "You own a house elf?"

Scorpius' eyebrows furrowed. Why did she sound so upset? "What? Own?" Oh, wait, she thought- "No, he's a free elf. We don't do that weird property, no clothes touching thing other people do." He really didn't understand it. Elves were so eager to help anyways, there was no need for magical bindings or contracts. "He has his own little cottage on the grounds, and we pay him for his work. He won't accept much money though. He gets super offended whenever we offer him a raise. We try to get around it with gifts. He really likes plants."

"Oh." Rose's anger dissipated. She tucked back a stray strand of her hair. "Well, that's fine then. How'd he come to work for your family?"

"Right after I was born, Mother was still very weak," Scorpius told her. "Grandfather gave him to my parents to help around the house." It had been well intentioned at least.

"So he wasn't free then?" Albus questioned curiously.

"Yeah," Scorpius nodded. "My Father freed him right away though. Alder says Father looked Grandfather dead in the eye when he handed Alder his coat. Grandfather was furious. Alder was oddly upset too. Whole thing caused a massive argument between Father and Grandfather apparently. I obviously don't remember it. He's been free as long as I've known him."

Rose looked very pleased, and Scorpius suddenly remembered hearing something about Hermione Weasley being a big advocate for house elf rights. He didn't know much about it though.

"You have a house elf and a butler?!" Albus gawked. "Is he a wizard?"

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed. What else would he be? A squib? "He's from France. He's a great chef."

"Bloody hell," Albus breathed. "You really are rich. That's amazing. I wish I didn't have to do chores. That's one thing I definitely don't miss about home."

"I still have chores," Scorpius corrected mildly. He understood why people would assume he didn't though.

"What?!" Albus yelped, eyes widening in disbelief. "Why? How huge is your house?"

"I mean, it's pretty big, I guess." He didn't want to brag about his family's wealth. "It's not that Adrien and Alder can't do all the chores themselves. I'm responsible for keeping my own room clean. That's partially a privacy thing. And then I'll get random chores depending on what needs doing. Father says it builds character. I don't usually mind. There are times when I don't want to put my book down or have other things I'd rather be doing though. And not being able to use magic is annoying. I do wish the ministry would allow exceptions for certain types of magic. Not like any muggles are coming to Malfoy Manor anyways."

"I know! It's the worst," Albus lamented. "And that's pants, mate. What's the point of being rich if you still have to do chores?" He looked devastated on Scorpius' behalf.

"I'll survive," Scorpius said, vaguely amused.

"Well, I think it's very sensible of them," Rose remarked loftily.

"You would say that," Albus grumbled.

Scorpius shook his head, sealing the letter. Orion, who had been perched on a nearby roof waiting, swooped down to take the letter. The owl seemed eager to make the delivery. Scorpius wished he shared his enthusiasm.

"It'll be fine, Scorp," Albus assured, hopping off the beach. "Now, let's go get lunch."