Work Text:
September 1st 2017
I’ve done this job for centuries
On every student’s head I’ve sat
Of thoughts I take inventories
For I’m the famous Sorting Hat
I’ve sorted high, I’ve sorted low,
I’ve done the job through thick and thin
So put me on and you will know
Which house you should be in…
“POTTER, ALBUS!”
A small boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes moved forward slowly, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. The soles of his shoes had become heavy, and his school robes suddenly felt uncommonly constricting, but he pressed forward nonetheless.
The room around him had become so quiet that a pin dropping would have echoed off the walls like a canon blast. Not that he would have heard it through the nervous rushing in his ears.
In reality, it was only a few steps to the spindly stool before him, but it seemed like it was miles away.
Albus turned to the Gryffindor table where his eyes landed on his older brother James. The other boy stuck his tongue out and motioned him forward.
His eyes then flicked to his cousin Rose, who had taken her spot at the table moments before. She smiled at him encouragingly, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Finally, Albus turned to the other side of the hall where Scorpius Malfoy was sitting amongst a sea of green and silver. The boy he had ridden with on the Hogwarts Express smiled at him sadly and nodded him forward.
Albus smiled back and made his way to the stool. For a few seconds, he gazed upon the silent hall. It was as though everyone in the room was holding their breath. Then the hat was placed upon his head, falling over his eyes and blocking the other students from sight.
‘Curious,’ said a small voice in is ear. Albus gripped the edge of the stool so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
‘Very, very curious.’
‘What’s so curious?’ he thought. ‘I’m a Gryffindor, like my mum and dad.’
‘Mr. Potter, I’m afraid you would not do well in Gryffindor. I see bravery, to be sure, but I also see a strong desire to prove yourself. You’re calculating, with a very strong willpower…almost stubbornly so.’
Albus’ breath caught in his throat. ‘Are you sure…sir?’
‘Quite sure, my dear boy. I do see creativity, and, oh yes, an appreciation for individuality.’
‘Ravenclaw? My cousin Molly is in Ravenclaw. I guess that would be okay.’
‘Ahh, not quite. I fear that you would be miserable in Ravenclaw. Wait… my, yes this is interesting, I see a strong sense of loyalty.’
Albus fidgeted nervously in his seat. The hat didn’t think he was right for Gryffindor. It had always been a fear of his, but it had never really sunk in that he might be placed in another house; at least not as strong as it had in that moment.
‘I never considered Hufflepuff. You can’t put me there; my brother will tease me. My cousins will call me a dolt.’
‘Mr. Potter, many a Hufflepuff have went on to become very successful witches and wizards, indeed.’
Albus swallowed down the painful lump of guilt that formed in his throat. ‘I-I didn’t mean they weren’t smart...I just-’
‘No need to fret lad, I do not see prejudice in your mind. It’s no matter, though, you do not possess the patience and appreciation for hard work that defines a true Hufflepuff.’
‘I could be patient…’
‘Now this is fascinating...,’ the hat hummed in his head. ‘You are quite a bit more like your father than you know.’
‘Then you are putting me in Gryffindor?’ Albus let out a relieved breath.
‘You misunderstand me, young Mr. Potter.’
‘But you said…’ then it dawned on him, what the sorting hat was really saying. His stomach suddenly sank as if he were in freefall on his broomstick. ‘No! I can’t be in Slytherin. Please, not Slytherin, I don’t want to be in Slytherin!’
‘You would do well in Slytherin. It’s all here in your mind. You have ambition and a desire to differentiate from your family. You never have quite fit in.’ It was true, but Albus wasn’t going to admit it to a dusty old hat.
Panic began to set in, ‘My dad said you wouldn’t put me in Slytherin if I asked.’
‘Most of Harry Potter’s Slytherin attributes were the product of a foreign entity residing in his body. Your Slytherin traits are all your own.’
“No!” he shouted, not realizing that he had said it aloud.
“Not to worry lad!” The voice said in his ear jubilantly. “In Slytherin you will find your true friends.”
“But-,”
“SLYTHERIN!”
There’s a silence.
A perfect, profound silence.
One that sits low, twists a bit, and has damage within it.
The hat was removed from his head, but Albus sat frozen on the stool for a moment, regarding the silent hall. He wasn’t confident that his shaking knees would support him if he stood.
Then the whispering began. Like a chorus of voices all barraging him at once.
“Slytherin?”
“Whoa! A Potter? In Slytherin?
"Do you think the hat is broken?"
"I saw him sitting with Malfoy on the train. Maybe he did something to him."
From the corner of his eye, he could see James and Rose gawking at him. He couldn’t bear to meet their gaze, so he turned to the Slytherin table. Scorpius was grinning brightly, and somewhat disbelieving, at him while gesturing enthusiastically to the seat beside himself.
“You can sit next to me,” he mouthed.
“Right. Yes,” he managed as he made his way over to Scorpius.
“I suppose his hair isn’t that similar.”
From the Gryffindor table, he could hear Rose protesting. “Albus? But this is wrong, Albus! This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
He sat down beside Scorpius and folded his hands in his lap, not looking at the boy beside him. When the sorting concluded, and the food appeared, Albus continued to stare at his lap, afraid if he looked up the tears he was holding back would fall freely. He wasn’t going to let the entire school see him cry.
When he felt a nudge at his side he still didn’t look up. “Albus, I know you’re upset, but you should eat something,” Scorpius whispered.
“Not hungry,” was all he managed to choke out. He didn’t speak for the rest of the feast and Scorpius didn’t prod him.
He hurried out of the hall as soon as the Headmistress dismissed the students, pointedly ignoring Rose as she called after him. He couldn’t face his best friend and see the disappointment in her eyes.
As he made it out of the hall, a haughty looking boy with a shiny green badge on his robes was shouting. “SLYTHERIN FIRST YEARS FOLLOW ME!”
Albus followed at a safe distance, begrudgingly stepping into the Slytherin common room. The entire room was illuminated in a soft green glow, with silver lamps and a large glass plane through which the depths of the lake could be seen. Any other time, he would have been delighted to observe the water creatures swimming lazily by, tonight however, he couldn’t bear to spare it more than a passing glance.
He ignored the whispers and blatant stares while he followed the nameless prefect to his dormitory.
Once there, he chose a bed at random and fell into it, pulling the hangings closed. Finally, he allowed the tears to fall that had been brimming up since the sorting hat was removed from his head.
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there shaking with silent tears underneath his green blanket before he heard the other first year boys enter the dormitory.
Two of the boys, Rookwood and Bole he recalled vaguely, were talking to each other excitedly, trying to decide what bed to choose. “I’ll take this one. Malfoy, do you mind taking the bed next to Potter so that Mal and I can bunk next to each other?”
“No problem,” Albus heard him reply.
“Thanks. C’mon Mal, let’s go back to the common room and see if we can catch a glimpse of the giant squid.”
When the other boys left the dormitory, he heard footsteps approach his bed. “Albus, are you in there?” Scorpius asked quietly. Albus ignored him and bundled himself more deeply in the offensively colored blanket squeezing his eyes shut as if the other boy would go away if he couldn’t see him.
Abruptly he heard his hangings being pulled aside and felt the mattress sink beside him before the hangings were closed again.
“I snuck out some chicken legs and bread from the feast. I thought you might be hungry.” Touched, Albus wiped his face on the sheet and sat up. He inwardly chastised himself for ignoring the only person who had been truly kind to him that day. The grumble in his stomach was also a factor.
“Thank you,” he murmured, taking the food that Scorpius had wrapped in a napkin.
They sat in silence for a while as Albus ate. Scorpius didn’t mention his red puffy eyes, to his relief. He simply sat upon the bed beside Albus and hummed absentmindedly. When he was done, Scorpius disappeared the bones with a flick of his wand.
“Wow, where did you learn that spell? We haven’t even started classes yet,” asked Albus, genuinely impressed. He had snuck his wand out several times since his parents purchased it for him, only after they had gone to bed, of course; but thus far, he hadn’t managed to create so much as a single spark.
“My father taught me a few spells,” Scorpius admitted. “We aren’t supposed to do magic before school, but father said what the Ministry doesn’t know won’t hurt them.”
“My dad would never let me do magic outside of school.” His stomach flipped painfully at the thought of his dad. He’d said he wouldn’t care if Albus was sorted into Slytherin, though he wondered if he would still feel that way once he found out that it had actually happened.
Scorpius must have sensed his unease because he nudged his shoulder with his own. “It’s going to be okay, my father said Slytherin is the best house, and Gryffindors are just arrogant bullies.”
Albus felt anger bubble up in his gut, nearly all his family were Gryffindors. “What does your father know? He was a Death Eater!” Anger turned to guilt instantly at the look of hurt on the other boy’s face. “I-I’m sorry Scorp. I didn’t mean…”
“S’Okay, I’m used to it,” Scorpius said quietly, reaching up to open the hangings.
“No wait, don’t go!” Albus urged, apologetically. “You shouldn’t have to be used to it… I didn’t mean it. I’m just scared. I’m glad you’re here… in Slytherin, with me.”
Scorpius grinned at him goofily, all traces of hurt having dissolved from his expression. “I’m glad you’re here, too. Don’t worry, Albus, we’ll have a great time. We’re at Hogwarts! I can’t wait to start lessons.”
Albus smiled for the first time since his sorting, shaking his head at the overly excited boy.
“I can’t wait to see the library,” he continued, oblivious to Albus’ amused expression. “My mum says it’s bigger than the one at Malfoy Manor; that’s what my family’s house is called. Did I mention that on the train? Where do you live?”
For the next few hours, the two of them stayed hidden behind Albus’ curtains, talking in whispers. It was mostly Scorpius rambling on and on about his family, books he’d read, and all the things he was excited to learn this year.
Albus listened, fascinated with the odd boy. Scorpius Malfoy didn’t seem to be anything like the Malfoy’s that his Uncle Ron or Rose had described. He was kind, dorky, and extremely passionate about the people and things he loved. His father and grandfather may have been Death Eaters, but Scorpius seemed about as dangerous as a pepper imp.
By midnight, Scorpius’s rambling had become more stifled yawns than actual speech and Albus had given up on trying to keep his eyes open. Eventually, both boys fell asleep tangled comfortably together under Albus’s comforter, silently acknowledging that neither wanted to be alone.
The next day Scorpius would owl his mum with an entire roll of parchment, describing his first day of school and his new best friend while Albus would waste a roll, scratching out line after line before giving up entirely.
They were an unlikely and imperfect match though no one, including themselves, would ever have been able to predict at that time just how important they would be to each other.
September 1st, 2037
Scorpius sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Albus, who was already sitting up beside him, pulled him into his lap and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Good morning, love.”
Scorpius grinned sleepily and tucked his head into the warm crook of his husband’s neck. “Good morning, did I sleep in?”
Albus chuckled. “No, it’s only seven o’clock. I woke up early.”
“You, up at seven AM? Are you feeling okay?” Scorpius asked seriously, placing a hand over Albus’ forehead to see if he was running a fever.
Albus grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers, giving him a mock-indignant look. “Honestly, my own husband doesn’t believe I can get up early? And to think, I was considering making you breakfast in bed.”
“Love, the last time you woke up before nine am was when Lily was giving birth, and you fell asleep in the waiting room at St. Mungo’s.”
His husband smiled warmly, pulled him closer and began rubbing his shoulders lovingly. “Fair enough. Actually, I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep because I was reminiscing. Do you know what day it is?”
Scorpius scrunched his brows in thought. “Er – Tuesday?”
“Heh, well yes. But it’s also the twentieth anniversary of our first day at Hogwarts and…”
Scorpius grinned broadly as comprehension set in. “And the twentieth anniversary of the first day we met.”
“The best day of my life,” said Albus as he pulled him into a gentle kiss.
Scorpius kissed him back until he was breathless. He quite agreed.