He'd made Gryffindor after all! Albus felt as light as a feather, a massive weight having been lifted from his shoulders. James had teased Albus all summer that he'd get Slytherin, but he'd been wrong! Yeah, Dad had said getting Slytherin wasn't a bad thing, but Albus was pretty sure he was the only one who believed that. Uncle Ron certainly thought differently.

Not everyone had gotten the house they wanted tonight though. Scorpius looked miserable. The boy was making some effort to hide it, but he was avoiding eye contact with the other Gryffindors and was only picking at the food. He wasn't even eating the desserts. It was possible Scorpius was feeling sick, he did look that way. He'd gone pale and there was a sort of blankness in his eyes. Albus felt awful for him.

A twinge of guilt pricked at him. He almost hadn't sat next to Scorpius. Albus had been so elated to get Gryffindor and then his brother had offered him a seat with all his popular friends. He'd been riding high on victory and begun to walk over. It had felt like his big moment. But then his eyes had landed on Scorpius. Alone, the students around him treating him like he had a plague. The unfairness of it had sparked something within Albus.

Sitting next to Scorpius now felt a bit surreal if he was being honest. Yes, he'd warmed up to Scorpius on the train once it became obvious he wasn't some sort of evil arsemonger. And, yes, he had invited Scorpius into his boat when he saw the nasty looks he was getting from the other kids. Yes, he'd been the first to clap because that was just the decent thing to do. But he really hadn't been intending to become friends with Scorpius Malfoy until just now. Scorpius was going to need a friend because apparently Gryffindors weren't quite as noble as he'd been led to believe. Scorpius literally hadn't done anything wrong. And he'd gotten Gryffindor, the first Malfoy not to get Slytherin in practically ever. Maybe actually ever. Wasn't that a sign that Scorpius probably was not like the rest of his family?

His small army of cousins came up throughout the feast to congratulate him and Rose. Most of them awkwardly ignored Scorpius, which was better than sneering at him at least. Victoire extended a short 'welcome to Gryffindor' to Scorpius when she came over. Being head girl, she had higher standards to live up to. James, the prat, didn't come over at all and every time Albus glanced at him he looked furious.

When the feast was over, Dominque was the prefect to lead the first years to Gryffindor Tower. Merlin, it was going to be impossible to walk even two steps here at Hogwarts without bumping into one cousin or another. Not that he disliked any of his cousins, but it was going to be suffocating. Rose was already a nag; he didn't need more people pestering him to do his homework or following him around to make sure he kept out of 'trouble'. And of course the rest of the family were already massively successful. They made up half the quidditch team, practically half of the Gryffindor prefects, Victoire was head girl. Even the less academically inclined ones like Freddie had other things going for them. Freddie and his pranks had made him massively popular. James was considered to be magically talented, got above average grades, was already the Gryffindor seeker, and had an apparently magnetic personality that had made him one of the most popular kids in school despite only being a third year. And that wasn't even bringing his parents and aunts and uncles' accomplishments into the picture. How was Albus supposed to live up to all that? He didn't even stand out among his sea of cousins. In his own year Rose was going to be top of class, he knew she would be. Everyone would be expecting something incredible from him and Albus just… wasn't that.

"Course I'm sure," Albus confirmed confidently when Scorpius asked if he was sure if he wanted to share a dorm with him.

"You don't have to," Scorpius told him anxiously, eyes darting towards the first years ahead of them. "You're a Potter, I'm sure you could dorm with any boy you want. You shouldn't let me drag you down."

"That's a load of bollocks," Albus scoffed. "You aren't dragging me down; I want you there." His mind was set on this, no one was talking him out of it.

"I'm not so sure the other two will agree…" Scorpius sighed. Albus could talk Irwin and David into it. "I don't want to bother anyone, but I can't avoid boarding with someone."

"Sticking with Albus is the best choice, Scorpius," Rose reasoned. "Even if the other two don't like you, it's better than all three, right?" Not the most encouraging words but honest ones.

"I guess…" Scorpius relented hesitantly. "Only if the other two are okay with it though." The blonde suddenly startled. "Did you have people in mind already?" he fretted. "I'm not kicking one of your friends out, am I?"

"Nah, I'm-" Albus let out a yelp as a hand grabbed him from behind and yanked him onto a different staircase, nearly tripping him. Twisting around, Albus was stunned to see it was James dragging him up the now moving staircase.

"Sorry, Rosie," James called back, not sounding sorry at all, "gotta chat with Al real quick."

The staircase James had dragged him onto wasn't attached to anything anymore, spinning and rising in midair, and Albus had no idea where it was going. Rose and Scorpius watched him drift away, Rose with narrowed eyes and Scorpius with alarm.

"Ugh, James what the hell?! Let go of me!" Albus demanded, trying to wiggle out of his older brother's grip. But James had a chain-like grip on him and Albus wasn't quite to the point where he'd crotch kick him over this.

"I will in a second," James replied shortly, dragging him into the hallway the staircase landed on. There was no one else here. It felt so empty compared to the massive crowds he'd seen around Hogwarts so far. Finally, James let him go.

Albus jerked away, glaring at his brother. "Were you stalking me on the way to the dorms?" Or had he run ahead to cut Albus off? James knew the castle infinitely more than Albus did at the moment, he would've known where to go.

"What do you think you're doing, Albus?" James hissed, expression stormy.

Albus rolled his eyes. "Is this about Scorpius? Overdramatic much?" That was James' problem. He was so loud. About everything. And then he thought Albus was weird for not being that way. "Does that staircase even go back down?" It hadn't moved since they'd gotten off. Maybe someone needed to be on it for it to move? Or was it a timed thing? Or you had to push the unicorn statue's horn or something like that?

"Don't roll your eyes at me," James snapped. "Why- how do you even know him?"

"We sat together on the train," Albus told him, trying to be patient. Albus hadn't had a good first reaction to Scorpius either.

James' expression became calculating. "He sat with you on the train? Why would you let him do that?"

"No, I sat with him," Albus corrected. "He didn't seek me out or anything. I didn't want to at first, but the rest of the train was already full."

"Oh, so you're saying this is my fault?" James asked heatedly, beginning to pace. "I just wanted you to make friends in your own year." That was the reason why? Or had he made that up just now? "If you'd told me you were going to have to sit with a Malfoy-" he spat out the name venomously "-I would have let you and Rose sit with me." He sounded genuinely upset.

"Well, I did make a friend in my year," Albus noted tightly. "So it all worked out in the end."

James stopped pacing, standing directly over him. "Uh, no, absolutely not," James blustered, voice growing louder. "Like hell am I going to let my little brother be friends with a Death Eater!"

"A Death Eater?!" Albus scoffed, his own voice beginning to rise. "He's not a Death Eater! He's a normal kid. He's not even a blood purist. Do you think I'm an idiot? You think I'd hang around someone like that?!" James always thought so highly of himself. Especially after he'd gotten seeker, it got so much worse after that. He'd been borderline unbearable that Christmas break, and Mom and Dad hadn't even cared because they were so proud. Did James think Albus was so beneath him, so stupid, that he'd make friends with a disgusting, dangerous creep? "Merlin's beard, James, he got Gryffindor!"

The pair of suits of armor in the hallway glanced at each other as their argument grew louder. One shrugged and the other shrugged back. Then they turned to look upwards like they were trying to pretend the shouting match wasn't happening.

"So what?!" James cracked back. "I don't even believe that anyways. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? Not without some dark magic at play."

"Dark magic?" Albus half-laughed. Was his brother going mad before his eyes? "You git! You think a first year used never before heard of dark magic powerful enough to manipulate a thousand-year-old magical artefact? And did it to- what? Get into Gryffindor to…?"

"Oh, I don't know," James said sarcastically, "Maybe to get closer to the enemy?"

"The enemy?" Albus rolled his eyes. "I haven't gotten any indication that he even dislikes our family." No nasty words, no dodgy body language, nothing. "And what could he do in Gryffindor that he couldn't do from Slytherin? He's also, y'know, eleven years old."

"Like age matters," James scoffed. "He's their way in."

"James, I don't even know how to do any jinxes yet, but I'm willing to just try one and see what happens," Albus warned, pulling his wand from his robes. Hopefully it wouldn't just result in sparks, James would never let that go. "Scorpius wasn't even trying to get Gryffindor. He really thought he'd be Slytherin. But the hat placed him in Gryffindor."

"Even if he did," James argued, face getting red, "by some fluke in the universe, get Gryffindor, that doesn't mean he's a good person. Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, Al!"

"Oh, sod off, James," Albus groaned, "You've never even talked to him. Maybe give him a chance before launching yourself into loony conspiracy theories." He tried to stomp away to figure out how to get back to the staircase, but James caught his arm. "James," he gritted out. Using his wand for something like this on his first day would look really bad, wouldn't it? Was it worth it? A tough call.

"Boys." They both spun around to see Uncle Bill walking swiftly towards them. Their uncle had been teaching defense against the dark arts at Hogwarts for a few years now, but Albus wasn't sure what the man was doing in this particular hallway. He looked like he normally did, the Hogwarts professors didn't seem to have a uniform. He wore a burgundy shirt with all the golden buttons undone to show the white shirt underneath and dark pants. His long ginger hair was in a low ponytail, which made it easier to see his facial scars, but Albus had never known him to try to hide them.

Bill took in the situation, a slight frown on his face. "Dominque told me you two were up here." Maybe Uncle Bill could get James to see sense.

James rushed to speak first. "Uncle Bill, tell Albus-"

"No," Albus broke in, "tell James-"

As they both attempted to talk over one another they each got louder, their words jumbling together.

"that he cannot be friends-"

"that he's being an utter loon-"

"all a bunch of Death Eaters-"

"he's never even met Scorpius-"

"he refuses to admit he's wrong-"

"he has no idea what he's talking about-"

"can't be allowed-"

"a bloody headache-"

"he won't be able to make any other friends-"

"thinks he's soooo perfect-"

"just doesn't think about these things-"

"it's all just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah-"

"probably trying to-"

A flash of red sparks from Bill's wand made them both pause. "Alright, enough of that," he chided, nudging James to release Albus. James did so reluctantly, and Uncle Bill glanced between the two thoughtfully. "This is about the Malfoy boy I gather?" His tone wilted Albus' confidence that his uncle would take his side. It wasn't aggressive but it wasn't approving either.

"Yes," James nodded, almost desperately. "And Albus-"

Bill held up a hand to quiet James. Albus wished he had that ability. "I want to hear Albus first," Bill told them, turning his full attention to the younger Potter. "You seemed already familiar with the boy during the sorting. Where did you meet?"

"On the train," Albus huffed. "We sat together."

"You and Rose both?" Bill checked.

"Yeah."

The expression on Bill's face was… complicated. "And Scorpius seemed… nice?" Albus had never heard his uncle sound so uncertain.

"Yeah," Albus confirmed, side eyeing James. "A lot nicer than some people." Red rushed back to James' face.

Bill's lips quirked. "Well," he breathed, "wonders never cease. I'd heard rumors about Draco but..." He turned to James. "Has Scorpius done anything you know of? Has anyone told you anything?"

Taken off guard, James deflated slightly. "I mean, I haven't asked around yet. And he hasn't even been here a day, he hasn't had time to do anything." He let out a bitter laugh. "Besides get into Gryffindor somehow."

A gleeful look passed over Bill's face. "Oh yes. Bloody hell, what I wouldn't give to see Lucius' reaction to learning that!" He choked back the grin at the look Albus gave him. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Er, feel terrible for the kid, of course. If they're close. I'd assume not, given recent events, but…"

"Who cares that he got Gryffindor?!" James exploded, throwing up his arms. "That doesn't matter! Uncle Bill, tell Albus he can't hang around people like that! His whole family are murderers! Dark magic using, muggle hating, deranged murderers! That isn't something you can just- brush off!"

"I do understand your caution, James," Bill assured calmly. "It's smart to be skeptical. These are- highly unusual circumstances. Honestly, if the boy had gotten Slytherin, I would have been a lot more apprehensive, my own biases I admit. But as the boy has yet to do anything wrong, it wouldn't be fit to punish him."

"It isn't punishment," James argued, growing frantic. It was embarrassing really. "And we just don't know what he's done yet. It's easy to lie that you aren't an elitest prick when you know people will attack you for it. They're just being smarter about it now." James took a step closer to Bill. "You're a professor," he begged, "you're our uncle, you can make him stay away."

Albus scoffed. That's what he thought.

"Both Albus and Rose are vouching for him," Bill pointed out. "Surely that's worth something? It's that versus a complete lack of evidence." He tried to catch James' eye, but James was now scowling furiously at the floor. "I do intend to keep an eye on Scorpius," Bill promised, "and if I do catch him doing anything-" his lips thinned, "-improper, we will revisit this. But as things stand now, I won't interfere." Triumph flared through Albus.

Having been thoroughly rejected, James gave Albus one last poisonous glare then stormed off.

"Good riddance," Albus said smugly.

"Now Albus," Bill admonished, "you know he's just worried for you."

"Worried about his reputation more like," Albus muttered. That was the truth of it.

"I doubt that's his driving motivation," Bill disagreed, gazing pensively at the empty air. Then he shook his head and turned to look down at Albus. "It's late, and you were supposed to have been at your dorms already."

Albus glowered at the staircase. "I don't know how to get there. I don't know the password either, the Fat Lady won't let me in." Stupid James.

"I'll escort you," Bill offered, walking towards the unmoving staircase. Albus followed.

"How do you get it to move?" Albus asked curiously.

"See that?" Bill pointed to a little niffler statue carved into the railing cap. Now that Albus was paying attention to it, it looked like the niffler was reaching towards the decorative gems on a brick in the wall. "You tickle the niffler to go down," Bill explained. "Pet it's spine to go up. Rub at the gems on the wall to summon the stairs."

Albus remembered Rose saying there were one-hundred-and-forty-two staircases at Hogwarts. "Do all the stairs have something you need to do?"

"No," Bill replied, amused. "Some of them are normal staircases. And some of them lead to different places on Fridays with no input from you whatsoever."

Albus couldn't tell if his uncle was joking or not. "Really?" The idea of it was cool, but when one was trying to make it to class on time…

"Oh yes," Bill confirmed, tickling the niffler to get the staircase moving. "More foot traffic in that section on Fridays. Don't worry, Al, you'll get the hang of it all. Knowing you, I'm sure you'll have the castle down pat by the end of the year."

Sooner than that if he could. Albus fully intended to explore every inch of this castle. He'd know it even better than James. Maybe even better than his parents by the end. But for now, it was late, and his stomach was full of food from the feast, he just wanted to sleep.