Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, only the plot and situations.
This will be a series of small ficlets that chronicle Albus and Scorpius' life and friendship at Hogwarts right from first year through to seventh. Each part will be based on a prompt for the AWDT Livejournal comm. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
jamie.
Chapter 1.
"Bloody James," Al fumed as he stormed down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, looking for an empty carriage. Honestly, was it too much to ask that his brother leave off the teasing for one bloody minute? After all the stories he'd heard from his cousins and James about Slytherins, it was only natural that he have some real concerns about being placed in that House. His father had said that the bravest man he knew had been a Slytherin, and he knew he'd been named after him, but still, Al knew deep in his heart that his dad would want him in Gryffindor, just like he had been. Just like his mum, and his uncles and virtually all his bloody relatives. And James just wouldn't shut up about it, teasing him mercilessly about becoming a snake and gleefully hissing in his ear whenever he walked past.
It made him so angry he refused to sit with them, any of them, for his first ride to Hogwarts; something he'd been looking forward to ever since he could remember hearing the name. But the constant teasing was spoiling his enjoyment and the final straw had been when James stood in the doorway to the carriage and refused to let him in, claiming that Slytherins weren't welcome. It may have been only teasing and Al knew that his brother was not that cruel, really, but it had been once too often and Al was heartily sick and tired of it. So, he'd glared at James and walked away.
Now, he had to find somewhere else to sit and with the train about to depart, most of the carriages were full. The carriages with the older students were out; they wouldn't take kindly to a first year intruding on their space. Besides there didn't seem to be much room in any of those, anyway.
Almost seriously considering just sitting down in the passageway, Al finally spotted a carriage with only one occupant, a boy with white blonde hair and glasses, dressed already in plain black school robes and reading a book. He wasn't someone that Al knew but he looked harmless enough. Perhaps he could make a new friend before he even got to Hogwarts.
That pleasant thought calmed his annoyance at his brother and with a sense of optimism he opened the door.
"Wondered how long you were going to stand out there for," said the blond boy, looking up from his book and raising an eyebrow.
"Sorry," Al said, grinning. "Just trying to calm down so I didn't inflict my bad temper on you. I'm Al Potter," he said, holding out his hand.
The boy looked at him for several seconds, and Al sighed. Great, here was another git who recognised his last name and was going to make a bloody fuss over it. He was just about to move away when a pale slim hand joined his and shook it.
"Scorpius Malfoy," the boy replied, and it was Al's turn to stare. He'd heard of the Malfoys of course. Stories told to him by his family about the war always included mention of Malfoys and the great rivalry between Al's father and Scorpius' father. His Uncle Ron, along with most of the rest of the Weasleys, would add their intense dislike of the Malfoy name to those stories. His dad tended to stay out of it, though.
But that was history and had nothing to do with this boy and himself and if he wanted to make friends with Scorpius, he would. If he was going to be the black sheep of the family and be sorted into Slytherin, he may as well go all out and befriend a Malfoy too. Malfoy's were generally Slytherins as well, weren't they? Al nodded, smiling. "Pleasure," he said, and pulled his hand away.
"You're Harry Potter's son, aren't you?" Scorpius asked. He sounded a bit posh to Al, who was used to the casual speech of his relatives. At least there was no gawking. Al hated all that stuff. His dad always said that he should just be nice to them and go about his business, but to Al it was mortifying. It was all such ancient history and Harry Potter was just dad to him, not some war hero, saviour or whatever.
Maybe Scorpius wasn't the type to care about all that. He nodded in reply to the question. "Yeah, is that going to be a problem?"
Scorpius grinned. "Not if my last name isn't a problem for you. Our families are hardly friendly."
"That's true," Al agreed, returning the grin. "Honestly?"
"No, I'd prefer you to lie to me, Potter," Scorpius drawled, rolling his eyes.
He thought for a moment, trying to decide between truth and kindness. In all honesty, it probably was going to be a problem…but not for him. James and most of his family could bitch about him being friends with a Malfoy all they liked, but right at that moment Al didn't care.
"Probably," he shrugged, opting for truth after all. But when he saw a small flash of disappointment in his new friends face, he grinned again. "But it's their problem, not mine."
"Well said, Potter," Scorpius smiled approvingly.
Al tossed his bag up onto the rack and sat down opposite Scorpius, very pleased with himself.