Yay! Fast update! Enjoy...

Severus led Scorpius to his room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Each of the children of the Weasley and Potter families had their own room, except for James, who always shared with Teddy. Each room also had two beds. The large estate was only really used for holidays and gatherings of that sort, such as his grandparents' 50th anniversary. Events like that ended up lasting for three or four days when the Weasleys were involved. Because then, everyone was invited.

Severus showed Scorpius their room and helped him unpack. Neither one of them had brought all of their school uniforms, just one for the train ride back, and they hadn't brought all of their clothes. The beds had space beneath them for their trunks.

After getting settled, Severus and Scorpius went downstairs to the living room. A little while after leaving school, all of the Potters and Weasleys renovated the place, which was almost falling apart. It took several weeks, and Kreacher protested loudly the entire time, but when they were all done, 12 Grimmauld Place was rendered cheery and familial. Of course, Kreacher threw a fit when they were through, but the paintings of the Black family were moved into the room with the Black Family Tree, which was left untouched. Kreacher tended to spend a lot of time in there.

In the kitchen, Severus' grandmother, mother, and aunt were at work making dinner, with half-hearted offers to help from their husbands. Severus and Scopius were sitting with Rose, Lily, Hugo, James, and all the other Weasleys who had arrived – Fred and Roxy; Dominique and Louis; and Lucy and Molly. Victoire was upstairs with Teddy, presumably engaging in some illicit snogging. All of the adults were in the dining room, talking boisterously. The children were quiet; most of them were staring at Scorpius.

"Who is he?" Lucy asked.

Severus sighed, "That's Scorpius Malfoy. And before you all start off on how the Malfoys are horrible and whatnot, he's really nice, okay? He isn't like the other Malfoys at all, and he's my best friend. So be nice. He's our guest." The room went uncomfortably silent again. The voices of the adults carried through the door.

"-and I'm not sure I want a Malfoy talking to my daughter!" Ron protested.

Hermione tried to calm him from the kitchen. "Ron! Rose said he's nice, and I trust her. We raised her well enough to be a good judge of character, I think. She's fine."

"Besides, Ron, he isn't even your child's 'best friend'. What if Al wants him to be the best man at his wedding? Or our grandchild's godfather? What then?" Ginny added.

"Oh, right, Ginny. You're the only one who would have to suffer. What if he marries Rose?! It could happen!" Ron yelled. At this, Scorpius, Severus, and Rose all started laughing almost uncontrollably. They knew well enough just how different the two were.

"You think you're the only one with a daughter? What about Lily? What if she ends up like me, falling for her brother's best friend? Then what?!" Ginny suggested vociferously. The children all heard a soft voice say something intelligible. "What?"

Charlie spoke again. "Maybe you're both wrong, did you think of that? Maybe you're all worked up for no reason? What if he doesn't like girls? It's possible." Severus kind of understood why his uncle Charlie said that. Teddy tried to explain it to him once, when he was much younger. Why Uncle Charlie had never married.

"Oh, great! What if he likes Al, then? That would be like Harry and Draco being together!" Ginny exclaimed, not very happy about the implications.

Scorpius snorted. "I like girls!" he yelled in the direction of the kitchen, much to everyone's amusement, definitely loud enough for the adults to hear. Then last thing they all heard was the silencing spell aimed at the door from inside the room. Severus and Scorpius laughed a little at the prospect of them. "As if I'd like a little tosser like you!" Scorpius pushed Severus playfully.

"And how would your parents ever have those babies with – what was it? – perfect cheekbones, noses, and jawlines?"

"Perfect everything, actually. Hair, eyes, and skin included. Ugh. Your children would probably inherit that black mop of yours. Distasteful."

"At least our looks aren't the result of inbreeding!" James laughed, earning a high-five from Fred. Scorpius glared, unsure of exactly what had been meant, but getting the insult all the same.

"At least Malfoys don't have freckles! Or that ghastly red hair!" In a second, Scorpius realized he had just insulted two very Weasley characteristics – in a room full of them. "Not that either of those are a bad thing…" Severus laughed at his best friend, who was receiving some very harsh glares from the surrounding Weasleys.

"Oh, give him a break, guys. He didn't mean it. Besides, he's just been raised that way, the same way we were raised to, at the least, thoroughly dislike him."

"At least my father and grandfather didn't say you were poor! Much…" Scorpius said, attempting to redeem himself. And failing.

"Scor, now would be the time to shut it. You are not helping yourself." Scorpius, wisely, obeyed.

Dinner was served a little while later. It was not mentioned that Scorpius had apparently overheard the adults' conversation. Nothing was mentioned at all, actually. It was a rather quiet supper until Molly broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, for goodness sakes! Can't we at least pretend to have a conversation? It's not as if he's a Death Eater! Manners are still appropriate!" She stared at each of the adults with a challenging glare, then gave Scorpius a warm smile. "Love, would you like some more potatoes? How's school?"

Scorpius gave a practiced grin. "No thank you, ma'am. I have plenty. School's fine, considering."

"Considering what? That you're only richer than most of the students, not all of them?" Ron muttered under his breath.

"Ronald Weasley! That's enough from you!" Ginny tried to hide a laugh. Ron gave his chicken and potatoes a sulky glare. "Considering what, love?"

"Just considering that I was mis-sorted. Things turned out better than I expected, though," Scorpius noted with a quick glance in Severus' direction.

"Yeah, actually, things went okay anyway, I guess. It's not so bad being in Slytherin," Severus agreed. At this, a couple of relatives who had not been informed of the semi-botched sorting gave him surprised looks, but kept their words to themselves. "Besides, we kind of have the best of both worlds, really."

"Yeah. It is kind of nice." Suddenly, the two realized that they were kind of having a conversation in front of people who really had no idea what they were talking about. "I'm in Gryffindor," Scorpius explained. Slight confusion turned to shock on the faces of the Weasley-Potter clan.

"Uh, what now?" Harry asked, eyebrows nearly meeting his hairline.

"Uh, I'm in Gryffindor? Yeah. Just ask James." Harry and Ginny turned to James sharply, who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, okay, so Scorpius is in Gryffindor. So what? It's not like that changes anything. He's still a pr-I mean, poophead."

"It's really no big deal. Just some little mistake. Not really something to worry about." Scorpius was feeling a bit awkward about the whole mess.

"No big deal? Scorpius, your father must be furious! Merlin, he hated me and every other Gryffindor, and probably still does. I can't imagine how he must have reacted." Harry knew that the Malfoys were capable of a lot of…discomfort, and really felt bad for the boy. Scorpius didn't respond. He stared at his plate, lower lip between his teeth.

"So, uh, how about them Canons, eh? They destroyed the Bombers in that match last week." If Ron had not been afraid to speak, Severus' lame subject change would have worked; Ron and George would have begun a fiery debate about the pros and cons of each team's players, as well as their managers, that would have lasted well into the evening. However, this was not the case.

"Al? Scorpius? What happened?"

"Nothing, dad. Nothing at all." Severus knew that his friend was still more than a bit sore about the whole disowning business.

"Rose?"

"Harry, I think we should talk about something else," Ginny said quietly. Harry stared at the boy, so like his rival in appearance, but apparently, he had misjudged both of them. He had thought Draco would have mellowed out after marrying and having a child. And his son was hardly like the young Draco he remembered. It seemed he and Draco would be having a little chat soon…

After supper, which lasted several hours once chocolate cake and the subject of quidditch had been properly introduced, Severus and Scorpius went up to bed, stomachs full and tired. They crawled under their covers and did what most children do when they're tired but don't want to sleep - they talked.

"So, your family's nice. Really big, but nice."

"Yeah, once they finished the Spanish Inquisition. Sorry about that. I should have warned you, but I thought you wouldn't come if you knew."

"I would have come. And, thanks." Scorpius didn't say what for, but Severus knew.

"Hey, if we push our beds together, we can make a tent with our sheets and stuff. Wanna do it?"

"Yeah. Never made a tent before."

"What kind of child were you?"

"One who was 'disciplined', 'polite' and 'not at all boistrous'."

"So, basically, you never had a childhood."

"On the contrary, I had an excellent childhood. Of course, I had no friends, excluding, of course, Estella, who was technically a 'play mate'."

"Estella?"

"Yes, Estella Zambini, Professor Zambini's daughter. She's a year younger than both of us."

"Oh. Nice. So, a tent?" As silently as possible, the two boys pushed their beds together in the center of the room. Making sure his wand was on the bedside table, Severus crawled underneath his covers and gestured for Scorp to do the same. He instructed the other boy to go underneath and hold up the covers in the correct places. Repeating the process he had used for years, he concentrated on invisible stakes. He made a little motion to tell Scorp to move his hands. The covers stayed up, and, with a little concentration, Severus pushed at the covers until they formed a sort of bubble.

"This is pretty cool."

"Yeah, I used to do this all the time with Rose, Lily, Hugo and sometimes with Jamie. Once, we all made this huge one with three beds and all of us went in it. But it's really dark. Here." A second later, there was a little floating light inbetween them.

"Whoa. How'd you do that?"

"Y'know that spell we just learned, Lumos? Well, I think this is like that. I don't really know, though. It used to just happen sometimes, when it was dark and I couldn't see. And, I figure, if I don't use a wand or say anything, the Ministry can't tell if it was someone who hasn't learned magic yet. It could have been Lily or Hugo or something."

"Cool. That's pretty smart."

"Hey, I'm not the smartest student in our grade for no reason!"

"Uh, no. That would be me." Severus playfully shoved him.

"Yeah right. The only reason you're passing History of Magic is because I'm right next to you, telling you what to do."

"Yeah? Well, no one likes a braggart."

"No one likes an albino snob."

"Good thing I'm neither."

"Are too!"

"Are not."

"Are too." They continued until they were both too tired to remember what they were arguing about.

The next two weeks went reasonably smoothly. After a couple of days, Scorpius was well integrated into the family. The only two who still resented him were Ron and James, but, to be honest, James hated almost everyone other people paid attention to, and Ron just hated the Malfoys. Harry, actually, took to Scorpius quite well, almost too well. He even invited him during the spring and summer holidays. Severus was a little suspicious. In fact, he was suspicious enough to call him on it.

"Dad, why are you being nice to Scor? I know you don't really like him, and, honestly, it would be better for everyone if you stopped pretending."

"Pretending? I'm not. I just…I guess I just want to give him a chance. I know how the Malfoys can get when their pride is hurt. If they won't accept him, we can at least give him a place to go."

"I don't believe you."

"Al, when did this happen? You and I used to get along well. Now it's as if I don't know you. You even call yourself by a different name."

"It's none of your business." They were quiet for a while. Harry seemed to be trying to figure out what to say.

"You're my son. That makes it my business. Why are you suddenly so defensive? I don't understand."

"Do you think I'm actually going to waste my time trying to please you? I'm never going to be the son you wanted, so forget it. I gave up on trying to make you proud of me the second I got Sorted." Severus bit his lip. The lump forming in his throat was not at all welcome.

"Is that why you call yourself 'Severus'? Some sort of adolescent rebellion? I don't see why you're making such a big deal about this whole Slytherin thing. I was almost a Slytherin, too. My father and his friends probably should have been as well, at least as teenagers. Even Malfoy was a Slytherin, and look how far he's gotten! He's head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, for crying out loud! It's not a bad thing anymore. What House you're in hardly even means anything."

"You're lying. It means everything. It means I'm evil. That's what all of you think." He knew his voice sounded weak and strained. It was only a matter of time before the disappointment in himself turned into a flood of tears.

"No. Al, we love you. Sure, at first, it was a bit of a surprise, but we're okay with it now. It's not like the Weasleys and Potters don't both have a bit of Slytherin in them anyway. We do love you." An unwelcome, embarrassing tear slid down his face. He wanted to believe his father. Part of him knew that his parents loved him. Sometimes he just had trouble remembering.

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care."

"Can we keep calling you 'Al'?"

"Yeah, I guess. It was kind of stupid to go by 'Severus' anyway. But everyone calls me that now."

"That doesn't matter. As long as you're happy." The two stood there awkwardly. Harry felt conflicted. He wanted to show all of his children that they had supportive parents, but he wasn't sure how. He stared at his son and remembered what it was like to be his age, confused and scared, trying to figure out where he fit. He was about to hug him when Albus walked away.

Oooh...angst. We all know Harry is the master of angst, something that had to be passed down to at least one of his children. Al/Sev just got the short straw on that one...

So, I promised myself I would never do this, but I must. I'm really not getting a lot of feedback on this story...hits but no reviews...so, until I get 10 reviews, no chapter 12. It's the only way I know of to know how I'm doing. And, really, the next chapter has Luna...who is awesome...so I would review if I was you.