Innocence

Albus was extremely nervous as Uncle Neville- sorry, Professor Neville- led the first years into the Great Hall. Despite hat his father had said earlier, Albus was worried he would be sorted into Slytherin. James had told him stories about the people in that house and teased him constantly about the possibiility of being sorted into there. His cousin Rose was standing next to him, looking excited. "You all right there, Al?" she asked. "You look a little green."

"Just nervous," he replied.

Rose took his hand for a moment and squeezed it reassuringly. as the first name was called. Some of the last names, Albus vaguely recognized. His parents had mentoned them a time or two. One name he knew perfectly well was "Malfoy, Scorpius!"

A thin and pale blonde boy with grey eyes detached himself from the pack of eleven year olds. The hat had barely touched his head when it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" The boy looked slightly upset by this, but tried to hide it as he sat at his table. Albus couldn't imagine why he would be upset. He knew Scorpius' parents had been in the same house, so why wouldn't he want to be in Slytherin?

Too soon, "Potter, Albus!" was called. As he walked up to the old hat, he could hear his family cheering him on, James being the loudest. Professor Neville smiled encouragingly at him and set the hat on his head. There was a long pause while the hat decided, speaking to itself. The whole school seemed to be holding its breath. then, the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

Everyone cheered as he went ot the table, but he could tell they were all surprised. Who knew the son of Harry Potter would be in such an infamous house. Albus sat across from Scorpius and the boys acknowledged each other before turning back to the sorting. Albus snuck glances at the blonde. He seemed rather like his father in looks and by the set of his jaw, he could tell Scorpius knew people were looking at him and whispering and he was annoyed. Maybe that's why he was upset about being in Slytherin, thought Albus. He doesn't want people to think he's like his dad. Albus knew exactly how that was. All of the Potter children had to deal with it, but Albus seemed to get the worst of it. Perhaps it was because he looked so much like Harry Potter. He could only imagine how bad it was for Scorpius, though. Almost everyone knew that his dad had been a Death Eater for a short time. That had to be awful for him.

Rose got sorted into Gryffindor, which only surprised Albus. She was so smartt, he was sure she'd be in Ravenclaw. As the feast started, Albus made a decision that would change the rest of his school life.

He spoke to Scorpius.

"Hi," he said, startling the Malfoy. "I'm Albus."

"I know. You're kind of famous," he replied stiffly. "I'm Scorpius."

"I know. That's a bit of a mouthful. Mind if I call you Scorp?" he asked, smiling.

It seemed that he had again shocked he young blonde. From what he heard about the Malfoys, Albus assumed they weren't big on nicknames. "Uh," he said. "Sure?"

Albus chuckled. "And you can call me Al."

Scorp actually smiled. He looked really good when he smiled, thought Albus. "All right, Al," he said.

The boys chatted the whole feast. Albus' last thought before going to bed that night was of Scorpius and that maybe being a Slytherin wouldn't be so bad after all.