Hi! So, I was wondering what kind of ships you want to see? Also, just so you don't get confused, Auggie is a non-binary character in my AU. I just didn't like the lack of variety in the series (because Tonks was deffo gender fluid) and I just don't see them as identifying as a girl, despite being named after Augusta Longbottom the first. There's also no gender-non-conforming dorm rooms, as far as I know, so I guess they'll have to just dorm with the girls? I don't know if I like that, but I didn't want to change the set layout of a school. Enjoy!

------------------——————-

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station and Albus and Scorpius waited until the crowd of excited students dissipated before they left the compartment. Scorpius fiddled with the hem of the shirt Albus wrapped around his wrist absentmindedly. The first years went off with Hagrid and the rest followed the path to the carriages. 

Scorpius' mind was buzzing and he didn't know which thoughts to chase. Thoughts about Albus, Connor, Yann, Polly, Karl and anyone else that might be continuously involved in his fifth year of misery and hiding his misery. Not to mention the added stress of OWL's. He thought his head might explode before they even reached the carriages.

He heard a gasp and bumped into the back of Albus, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Why'd you stop?" Scorpius asked.

"Alright, you were there so I know for a fact you can see them," Albus started. "Is that really what a thestral looks like?"

Scorpius' eyes widened at the realisation that Albus could now see them. Scorpius had been able to see them for a while. His Mother's death being the first one he'd witnessed, and that had happened a year before Albus and him had watched Delphi kill Craig Bowker Jnr.. Scorpius tried to think of a way to play it off.

"Oh wow," he smiled nervously, "I um, didn't notice it. But wow, they're so ... large?"

"That's not really what surprised me," Albus replied. "How could you not notice it? It looks like a horse and bat had a child that's all skin and bones. And the skin is a bit too big for it."

Scorpius bit the inside of his cheek, "I uh, guess I'm just not very observant?" Scorpius shrugged.

Albus rolled his eyes and seemed to buy into the lie. Scorpius felt his heart pounding and there was something heavy in his chest. He shook his head. If he told Albus the truth he would leave him and think of him like everyone else did. And everything he'd said in the library that day would be proven wrong. Albus would see Scorpius for the monster he truly was and probably start believing the rumours.

No, Scorpius told himself. Just ignore the weight, Albus doesn't need to know. Albus doesn't want to know. Scorpius let out a shaky breath as he climbed into the carriage, seeing three Ravenclaws probably a year younger than them sitting opposite them. Scorpius smiled nervously and felt his hands go slightly sticky with sweat.

"Hi Auggie," Albus greeted someone with shoulder length dirty blonde hair. "Been a while."

Auggie smiled and nodded, "It has," they glanced at Scorpius and he was met with brown eyes, "I'm Auggie. My dad's Professor Longbottom. Albus and I know each other from when we were little," they explained.

A girl with long brown hair elbowed them and glanced at Scorpius shyly. She then mumbled something that he couldn't quite make out and the carriage began to move.

"My apologies," Auggie smiled. They pointed to a girl with short black hair and dark skin. "This is Theta Cornfoot."

Theta waved, "Nice to meet you."

Albus and Scorpius nodded and Auggie pointed to the brown haired girl, "And this is Lilith Brocklehurst."

Lilith held a hand towards Scorpius with a shy smile, "I don't think I've seen you around?"

Scorpius smiled and shook the girls hand, "You wouldn't have. I'm Scorpius."

Lilith nodded.

"And I'm Albus," Albus cut in with a smirk.

"Albus?" Theta asked. "As in Albus Potter?"

"Unfortunately," Albus replied with a grim smile causing Theta to chuckle.

"And that would make you Scorpius Malfoy?" Lilith asked.

"Um," Scorpius tensed. "That depends on your opinion on him."

Lilith looked as though she was in thought, "I'd have to get to know him to develop one of those." She smiled and Scorpius let out a sigh of relief. He glanced at Albus to find a shit eating grin plastered on his face. One that Scorpius didn't know the reason for. He raised an eyebrow at the expression and saw Auggie slap their forehead with their palm.

"Idiots," they mumbled under their breath.

Theta smiled at Scorpius before asking a random question, "Are either of you particularly good at History of Magic?"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow in confusion at the question. He supposed you could tell a lot about a person from what classes they were good at, but he didn't really see what History of Magic had to do with their conversation. But maybe that was the point. Trying to find something she had in common with either of them to talk about it. Either way, Scorpius' answer was the same for just about every class you could place in that sentence.

His lack of motor skill as a little kid due to his Klinefelter syndrome had always been an insecurity of his. Scorpius took to reading because it was something that didn't require too much physical ability and he'd always enjoyed it when Astoria would read to him. Once she fell very ill he'd returned the favour by reading to her whenever she wanted. Apparently he'd done that a few times before he learnt to read properly as well.

His Dad had once told him a story about how he climbed into bed with her with his favourite book that she would read to him and tried to read it to her. He didn't quite have all the sounds letters made down yet so it wasn't exactly intelligible. He also remembered the stuffed animal from that book that she'd gotten him on his seventh birthday. An elephant. A giant scary creature that so many thought might crush them that was really quite gentle. Scorpius had never gone anywhere without it.

He'd left it behind for his first two years at Hogwarts, being slightly embarrassed to still have a stuffed toy, but after Astoria's death he began to bring it with him as a reminder of the good times. He'd hug it tight and whisper to it as though it was storing Astoria's spirit. That stuffed toy knew just about all of his secrets. It never replied to him, but he had always felt better after telling the elephant his woes. 

He'd read his favourite book to the stuffed toy as well a few times. He knew it was probably childish, and that even Albus would mock him if he found out, but he really did love the elephant. Draco had never minded that Scorpius held onto it. Apparently he still had a few tokens to remind him of Astoria himself that he'd talk to. Perhaps it was a Malfoy thing. Or an Astoria thing.

"I'm actually the top student in our year for History of Magic," Scorpius flushed slightly at what he was admitting.

Albus snorted, "Yeah, that and every other class," Albus shook his head. "Not me. I call that class nap time."

Auggie chuckled and glanced at Theta to hear what she had to say next.

"Great!" Theta smiled. "Because Lilith isn't doing too well in that class and the only people in our year that really pay attention are stuck up."

Lilith shot up and seemed to be complaining to Theta, "We don't need to concern them with that."

"Nonsense," Scorpius smiled. "If you're having trouble I'd be delighted to help."

Auggie snorted and Albus pulled out a chocolate frog with a smile.

"That's nice," Lilith squeaked before clearing her throat. "Thank you, Scorpius."

"Not a problem," Scorpius was about to say something else when he heard an annoyed groan. "What?"

Albus narrowed his eyes, "I got Harry Potter," Albus scowled.

"I don't have any of him," Theta said. "I'll trade you a Merlin for that Harry."

"Really?" Albus raised an eyebrow. "You would give up the amazingness that is Merlin for this face?"

"Did you just insult yourself?" Scorpius asked.

"No," Albus shook his head. "I have the face of a Weasley and my Mother is gorgeous. My Father, not so much."

The five teens continued to talk about a variety of things as the carriage slowed to a halt. They hopped off and went their separate ways as they entered the Great Hall. Scorpius could spot a few people pointing and whispering. He eventually glanced at the Gryffindor table to see Connor throw a devious smile his way. He quickly moved to the Hufflepuff table and saw Karl leaning back to speak with Polly and Yann at the Gryffindor table. The Ravenclaw table was no friendlier. Emilia Witt held a butter knife and pretended to slice her neck while looking Scorpius directly in the eyes. 

The Slytherin table had similar characters, however it was pointed towards students from the other three houses and so, as far as Albus and Scorpius were concerned, the table was the friendliest. They saw an open space between Zeus Avery and Capri Bulstrode. They took it and waited for McGonagall to start her speech. Scorpius saw Flitwick standing by the stool, nearly as tall as him, and scan over a piece of parchment. He then left and they waited.

A large group of first years came in and the room fell silent. Everyone wanted to know where everyone would go. A few students were simply trying to scope out which ones were the wimps and which were a bit too confident. Scorpius really just wanted to know who would go where so that he could find out who had who for parents. 

Scorpius could remember being sorted and how scared he'd been that people would judge him for his name. He could remember the very moment his name was called. After hearing Flitwick's high pitched voice call out his name, Scorpius had felt his legs turn to jelly. He tried to hide his trembling as best he could as he stumbled up to the stool and sat down. It had been a rather uncomfortable stool in his opinion, and quite worn down as well.

The musty old hat had been placed on top of his white blonde hair and he caught a hint of mould and mildew. It was quite clearly very old and he could see the fabric was fraying and the hat was falling to disrepair. He scrunched his nose as dust drizzled onto his face and waited as the hat whispered in his ear.

"Ah, a Malfoy," the voice whispered. "But this one is different. I see chivalry, devotion, wit and ambition."

Scorpius had - embarrassingly - been a bit of a hat stall. But he was determined to be sorted into his correct house. He didn't care which of his family members ended up being right, it was what he wanted. What he needed.

The voice seemed impressed, "I see now. I know exactly where you belong."

Scorpius braced himself for whichever house he would get, glancing all around the room.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted and Scorpius let out a sigh of relief. It was over. Flitwick pulled the hat off his head and Scorpius smiled at his new housemates as they clapped. He quickly walked over and sat down, shaking hands with a few smiling students.

A few more students had been sorted but what surprised him was when Albus was sorted. Based on the conversation they had, Scorpius for sure thought Albus would be in either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Most certainly not Gryffindor or Slytherin. But the room went silent when the Potter sat on the stool. A few Gryffindors were already making space, wanting to sit next to him. He saw Hufflepuffs leaning forward hoping to snatch him up. And the Ravenclaws seemed to also want him for themselves. Scorpius was almost positive that Albus would be sorted and forget all about him.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat had called.

The entire room was silent in shock. Not even the Slytherins did anything. Scorpius saw Albus stumble off the stool and glance at his new table. This wouldn't do. Scorpius shot up and invited Albus to sit next to him with a smile and began clapping. Eventually, the rest of the house followed suit and Albus sat down greeting some of the students nearby. The Hall settled down as the next few students were called and sorted. No one ending up anywhere surprising.

If anyone knew about the trouble a last name caused, it was those two. So, unlike some people that wanted the children of war heroes in their house or wanted to know which ones were the children of Ex Death-Eaters so that they could tease them, Albus and Scorpius simply wanted to know which ones would be facing the most trouble. Even if the children of Ex Death-Eaters were in other houses, they were constantly harassed and bullied. Scorpius had once seen a few people teasing a girl in Ravenclaw named Aster Zabini. The girl was actually in Lily's year and so Albus set them up to be friends. It had actually helped the girl a lot.

The first name was called and the kid was sorted into Hufflepuff. The next kid went to Gryffindor. The next to Hufflepuff. Then Ravenclaw. Then Slytherin. And so on. Once all of the first years were sorted McGonagall stood in front of the entire student body and gave her speech. It had been roughly the same each year, and there was nothing new to report. So, the food appeared on the table and everyone began to dig in.

Scorpius piled his plate with a reasonably sized meal and after beginning to eat, Albus elbowed him.

"What?" Scorpius looked up to see a smirk and raised an eyebrow.

"I think someone has a crush on you," Albus cooed.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Really Albus? I didn't think I was your type. Aren't you more into older woman?" Scorpius smirked.

Albus scoffed, "I shall have you know that my type is the children of my Fathers enemies," Albus sighed theatrically - somehow. "But alas, a girl in Ravenclaw is trying to steal you away from me."

Scorpius was even more confused by that, "Excuse me?"

Albus tilted his head towards the Ravenclaw table and Scorpius turned to see Lilith staring at him. He smiled and she looked down. Scorpius turned back to Albus still unsure of what he was talking about.

"Man, you really are unobservant," Albus grabbed Scorpius' chin and turned his head to face Lilith. "That girl totally has the hots for you."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and took Albus' hand off his face, "That's ridiculous. We only just met."

"Ever heard of love at first sight?" Albus asked. "Because that, my friend, is what is going on."

"Love at first sight isn't real," Scorpius went back to eating his food.

Albus gasped in fake offence, "I can't believe I'm the one saying this but you need to be less cynical."

"No, I'm serious," Scorpius went on to explain, "love at first sight isn't real. There's lust at first sight. However you cannot be in love with someone you only just met."

"You have just destroyed every Disney movie ever created," Albus shook his head. "And that, that is a crime against humanity."

"Oh no," Scorpius laughed, "lock me up in Azkaban."

"Insulting Disney is punishable by tickle war," Albus crossed his arms.

Scorpius' smile fell, "No. Albus I promise I'll be good," Scorpius dropped his head to the table and held his hands up in a praying position.

"You have sealed your fate, Scorpius," Albus shook his head. "Your punishment is scheduled for tonight."

Scorpius pouted and Albus continued on his dinner. After the feast ended, the prefects directed students towards their dormitories. Nebula Parkinson and Finn Rookwood were the Slytherin prefects and led the house into the dungeons. First years looked slightly confused when they were lead to a brick wall, but Finn called out the password so that everyone could hear.

"Thistle Weed," the bricks parted to reveal a large room with dusty bookshelves, leather furniture and dark wood tables with intricate designs carved into it. The smell of salt water filling their noses. Albus and Scorpius hurried up a staircase into their dormitory, not wanting to hear the first years scream at the merpeople or giant squid.

Scorpius began to put everything away and once he only had a few things left he was tackled to his bed. He turned to see Albus sitting on top of his with a grin. "And the punishment for insulting Disney commences in five."

"Albus," Scorpius tried not to laugh, "please."

"Four."

"You don't have to do this," Scorpius shook his head.

"Three."

"Have mercy on me!" Scorpius exclaimed as he tried not to laugh.

"Two."

"Merlin I am sorry for all of the profanities you are about to hear," Scorpius sighed.

"One!"

Albus knew very well that Scorpius was extremely ticklish from first year. Scorpius had been doing homework in the dormitory and Albus was bored. He'd started poking Scorpius in the stomach and belly which in turn caused Scorpius to shrink away. Eventually Albus full on climbed on top of him as Scorpius tried to fight the tickling. Scorpius had been yelling all sorts of replacements for curse words at the time. Sardine sausages, banoffee cream pie, fig stew. They were all centred around food because Scorpius had been hungry at the time.

Now that Scorpius was fifteen, he was perfectly fine to say some rude words. He didn't say anything completely horrible or swear often, but sometimes it would slip out. Albus had been surprised the first time Scorpius swore. So much so that he compared it to a butterfly murdering an entire village.

"Woah!" They stopped and turned to see Vincent Goyle standing in the doorway. "If you're gonna do that can you at least close the curtains?"

Scorpius had been slightly confused at first. Until the situation really kicked in. It must've looked terrible from an outside perspective. Albus on top of Scorpius with his hands up his shirt wasn't something anyone had really expected to witness themselves. There had been plenty of rumours and plenty of flirting in front of people when they made a comment, but they'd never really been dating or together in that way.

"Well you should've knocked," Albus grinned. "Sometimes people want privacy."

Scorpius sat up and wrapped an arm around Albus' shoulders, "Yeah! What if you had caught us later in the act."

Vincent rolled his eyes at the duos shenanigans. It was a running joke within the dormitory that the two were together. In fact, it was a joke with multiple people. Zeus and Finn had been joking about the same thing for just as long.

"Just close the curtains next time," Vincent smiled.

"Whatever," Scorpius got up. "I'm going to shower."

"You want company!?" Albus exclaimed.

"Maybe another time!" Scorpius replied.

Scorpius left to find the bathroom. Not many people were in the boys bathroom yet, which meant he would be able to shower in peace. Only people he saw was Nikolas Krum and Claudius Murton. Scorpius didn't really know either of them that well. Nikolas would be a seventh year and he knew as much as he was captain of the Quidditch team and the beater. As for Claudius, he would be a third year. 

Scorpius knew the names of most of his housemates, however he didn't really know much about many of them. He knew things like what extra clubs or activities they were part of such as the Slug Club and Quidditch, but he didn't really know anything about them personally. He knew the most about the people in his year. Zeus, Finn, Vincent, Nebula, Capri, Atlas Tuttle, Phoenix Snyde, Honoria Carrow, Demeter Dolohov and Tethysa Lee. Of course, he was the closest with Albus.

He finished in the shower and got dressed into his pyjamas before going to brush his teeth. A few students began to file in to have their showers and Scorpius nodded to ones he knew better than others. After he was finished in the bathroom he quickly went up stairs and saw that Atlas had already managed to fall asleep. Vincent was on his way out, Zeus was reading, Finn was looking for his pyjamas and Albus was already in the bathroom. Scorpius sighed before pulling his bedsheets over himself and drifting into a peaceful sleep.

-----------------------————

Before you ask, no I did not just pull those surnames out of my ass. I looked up legitimate Slytherins and used last names I saw there either from the game or books. You might be wondering why I didn't just use the same surnames as in Draco's year, well, I do have OC's that are the children of better known Slytherins. There is a Nora Nott, Hadrian Flint, Lacerta Higgs, Giuseppe Pucey, Rowan Davis, Magnolia Runcorn and plenty others. They just aren't in Albus and Scorpius' year. You might meet them later though. The first names were also not just pulled out of my ass. I did legitimate research, because I am apparently that dedicated to my fanfiction writing! But yeah, if you want me to do a list of OC's and what year they would be in consecutive to this then I can do that. Thank you!

       - Turtlefreakakw2 <3