i. two boys are born

A boy is born, with skin white as s*n*o*w and hair black as ebony (it's ohsofamiliar). Apart from his emerald green eyes, he looks like any other boy-except he's not just some other boy; he is a Potter, after all.

Another boy is born, somewhere deep inside a manor. His father didn't believe in going to hospitals-who knows what kind of scum has been there? He'd rather have the doctors come to you.

The boy has white-blond hair, but what else would you expect from a Malfoy? He is the spitting image of his father-pale skin & ^p^o^i^n^t^e^d^ features & stormygrey eyes.

Astoria wanted to call him Lucius ('Your father would love it!' she assured) but in the end they decided to name him Scorpius.

ii. to hate each other

"You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort."

Scorpius was told this all throughout his preHogwarts life-and he had no reason to defy his father. He was what you would call a goodytwoshoes-at least, that's what his friends would call him (if he had friends)

"Wrong sort, Father? What do you mean?"

"Muggleborns, Half-bloods if you can help it. You want to make friends with the best-Purebloods."

"But what if I have to, let's say, partner up with a muggleborn or half-blood?"

"Well, Half-bloods are only half bad, they've got some magical blood in them. But if you ever get matched up with a Muggleborn, just make sure not to touch them. You don't want to get contaminated."

"If I do, I'll make sure to wash my hands."

"With soap! Oh-but most importantly-avoid the Potters."

"Why is that, Father?"

"Later, Scorpius. I'll tell you when you are the right age."

Scorpius never knew (not until he was 11, anyway) why the Potters were so bad. But he listened to his father-he never needed a reason not to before-and swore to himself that he will nevereverever make friends with the Potters.

Albus Severus was just like his brother, as much as his mother hated it. Why can't we have a quiet, shy child for once? she would complain.

"Mum, Uncle Ron's told me that the Malfoys were Death Eaters and that they're bad. But what are they, exactly? Dad's being all parent-y and saying that I'm too young to know-"

"He's quite right, you've ought to be at least eleven."

"But-!"

"No 'buts!' You're too young!"

"I'm nine and a half! That's almost Hogwarts age!"

"No, Albus."

"Fine, I'll go ask Uncle George…"

"What's that?"

"Nooooothing!"

Death Eaters. What a stupid name. Anyone in their right mind would know that you can't eat death. It's not eatable. But if it were, it'd taste awful.

"Uncle George, what are Death Eaters?"

"Ah…now that's a long story."

"I've got time!"

George had talked for over an hour but Albus still didn't really understand what they were. He knew, though, that a long time ago (before Mum and Dad, imagine that!) was this veryveryvery bad man named Lord V-O-L-D-E-M-O-R-T (which, in Albus's opinion was a silly name) who had a bunch of followers called Death Eaters that helped him kill [muggles] and [muggleborns] and all that fought him.

"Their killers? The Malfoys murdered people?"

"I don't think they actually killed anyone, Al, but I reckon they might as well done so. They sold people out-gave information to Voldemort on their location. You might say that they indirectly killed them."

Albus didn't know what indirectly meant, but he knew ever since that day that the Malfoys were veryveryvery bad.

iii. then they meet

"Oh! Sorry!"

"It's okay. Hey-first year at Hogwarts, too?"

"Yep!"

"Cool! I'm Albus."

"Scorpius, but you can call me Scorp."

They become some form of friends, both unaware that the boy right in front of them was the one they were supposed to hate.

iv. and suddenly they are friends

"You're that boy from Diagon Alley!"

"Yep! That's me-Scorp!"

"Wanna sit together?"

"Sure."

Scorpius crossed his fingers that Albus was a pureblood, or at least a half-blood. He made sure not to touch him, though, just in case he was a muggleborn (or a mudblood, as his father sometimes said.)

"What house do you want to go in?"

"Slytherin. You?" This boy better not go into Gryffindor. Father said that's where all the idiots went.

"Slytherin? Why would you want to go there? Uncle George says that Voldemort was in Slytherin."

"Voldemort? Who's that?"

"Only the darkest wizard in history! My father defeated him."

"Wicked!"

"Haven't you heard of him?"

"If I haven't heard of Voldemort, how could I possibly know about your father?"

How could someone not know who Voldemort is? Maybe he destroyed their family. Dad doesn't talk about Voldemort either-Uncle George says it's because he killed his parents.

"Oi-what's your name?"

"Scorp! Come on, it's not that hard to remember!"

"Your full name, I mean."

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. You?"

"A-Albus Severus Potter."

Potter! Father told me not to make friends with his kind.

Malfoy? But he seems so nice!

His father is a hero! Why would Father not want me to make friends with him?

He doesn't even know about Voldemort!

Father wants me to make friends with only the best. From what I heard, his father is famous!

Maybe he's not like his father. Aunt Hermione always says not to judge a book by its cover (whatever that means.)

Perhaps I heard wrong.

Maybe I should give him a chance.

Father's mistaken. These are the kind of people I should make friends with!

And for the first time ever, Scorpius Malfoy defied his father.

v. perhaps best friends

The grey-eyed boy is called up first, his hands ((shaking)) as the hat is placed on his head. Slytherin, Slytherin, please…"Slytherin, huh? But you've got som making friends with a Potter. Better…GRYFFINDOR!"

The one with the dark hair and the green eyes is called up not long after the blond haired boy, confident that he will be put in Gryffindor-the sorting hat does take your opinion does take your choice into account. "Gryffindor? Oh, but you'd be so much greater in Slytherin-don't you want to be great like your father?" No, no, no, no, no, no, not Slytherin…"You'll thank me later. SLYTHERIN!"

Father is going to kill me.

Everyone's going to kill me.

They caught each other's eyes and shook their heads slightly, both grinning from eartoear.

The Potter in Slytherin, and the Malfoy wearing red and gold-who would've thought?

vi. but then families collide

"Slytherin? Slytherin?!"

"It's okay, Ronald."

"Well, I guess there's nothing left to do-Harry is going to have to disown him."

"What?! Ron, he's your nephew!"

"He's a snake!"

"You may enter." The door of Draco's office slowly opened, and a frightened looking Astoria stepped in. "Draco, darling-"

"Is that from Scorpius?" Draco interrupted, pointing at the envelope in Astoria's shaking hand.

"Y-yes."

"And…? Is he in Slytherin?"

"Darling…you might want to sit down…"

"I'm already sitting down!" Draco snapped. "Oh no, don't tell me he's a Hufflepuff."

"No…he's not a Hufflepuff."

"Well, I guess Ravenclaw's not that bad…"

"Honey…he's not in Ravenclaw, either."

Draco paled. "Gryffindor? GRYFFINDOR?!"

"He's friends with a Gryffindor, though, Ron! Look, it says right here-He's in Gryffindor, although he wanted to go in Slytherin. It's like we switched! Haha."

"He's friends with a want-to-be Slytherin. That is not exactly good."

"Oh…and worse…"

"Bloody hell, there's more?"

"His friend…the one in Gryffindor…is Scorpius Malfoy."

"MALFOY?!"

"Honey…he has a Slytherin friend, though!" Astoria shouted over the sounds of shattering glass. "Draco! That was a family heirloom!"

"Well…at least he has a snake friend. Perhaps that will get more slytherin into him."

"Darling, you know that you can't get sorted twice. Oh-oh no…"

"What is it now, Astoria?" Draco asked exasperatedly, while repairing the chair he threw across the room.

"Well…his snake friend…he's not exactly the kind you would approve of."

"A muggleborn in Slytherin? That's a first!"

"No…worse than that. A Potter."

vii. and all they're left with are memories and scars

"We're pulling you out of Hogwarts, Scorpius. You will be transferred to Durmstrang at the end of the year."

"Your mother and I would have you thrown out right this minute but your headmistress will not allow it." Draco added, sounding veryvery angry.

"Go to your room, Scorpius." Astoria said softly. "Your father and I need to talk."

"But Albus-!"

"You will not see Potter again!"Draco bellowed.

"Go, Scorpius!" Astoria said again, though more forcefully.

"He's my friend!"

"I won't have any son of mine associate with a Potter!"

"I AM NO SON OF YOURS!"

Scorpius ran up the stairs, slammed the door shut and burrowed his face into his pillow, silent sobs wracking his body.

"Oh, thank god."

"What?"

"The ferret spawn's transferring to Durmstrang."

"Oh, well that's great!"

"What's great?"

A Slytherin boy walks in on his mother and father, his mother holding a letter in her hand. "Scorpius is transferring to Durmstrang!" Ginny said cheerfully.

"W-what? That's not good news!"

Harry looked confused. "Now you won't see him anymore, and your slytherin traits will be knocked out of you! I even sent a letter to Professor McGonagall, she's fine with letting you be sorted again…"

"I don't want to be sorted again! I'm…I'm a Slytherin! You always said that the Sorting Hat was never wrong, Dad!"

"It was just Scorpius's influence, Al. But now that he's gone, your true Gryffindor will show itself!"

"Scorp is a Gryffindor! How could a Gryffindor have a Slytherin influence on me?"

"Oh, well, anyone who knows the name Malfoy would know that they're all snakes. It was probably your influence on him. He's the son of Malfoy-he's bad, Al."

"But I'm a Slythe-!"

"Honey," Ginny interrupted, "No child of mine is a snake. It's just not possible!"

No! Albus refused to believe that Scorp was bad. He's good! I swear, he's good!

But who would listen to an eleven-year-old boy?

He only knew him for a year, but it felt like he knew him for all his life. He couldn't help but wonder as tears streamed down his face-did Al miss him, too?

Albus was still mad at his parents, but he knew they were doing what they thought was right. And they might just be-the Malfoys had a bad reputation, and surely Albus would, too, if he was caught hanging around Scorp. It's too bad, Albus thought, he was a good friend.

For the rest of the year, Albus avoided Scorp, and, much to his dismay, Scorp was told to avoid Albus. They each found another group of friends, each found their happiness some way or another. But once in a while Scorp would find himself missing Albus, and wondered if Albus thought about him, too.

He didn't think that it'd be that bad at first, since he had plenty of cousins and siblings to keep him entertained, but he was missing Scorp more and more each day. He wished that they were still friends, and that they still sang together (even though they sounded dreadful). He missed their inside jokes and adventures exploring the school.

When their first year came to an end, Scorpius watched Al as he stepped off the train to greet his parents. A part of him wished that he came to say goodbye, but the other part knew that that was impossible.

Albus' face fell when he realized that this would be the last time he would see Scorp, but when he spun around to where Scorp once stood, he was no longer there.

Written for the Greenhouses Competition-Rose (friendship)