This is a rewrite of one of my old stories. This is the story as it's supposed to be, as I envisioned it all those years ago haha. Enjoy!

***

Chapter 1
The Sad Slytherin Boy

The man wore tattered black robes, and he was on his knees, hunched over before the stone throne.

"Please, please, I tried my lord, truly I did..." He begged and pleaded to the man before him.

The man who sat on the throne was young; he had brown hair and piercing blue eyes that stared intensely at the man before him, and he seemed to radiate dark power. He sneered at the man's continual begging.

"Quiet, Mulciber!" He barked in his deep voice. The man bowed his head. "You failed to get the documents we needed. Time is running out. You failed."

The man slashed his wand, and a jet of bright green light sent Mulciber flying backwards; he hit the ground dead. The man stood up, the other robed Death Eaters falling to a knee.

"The next one to fail me will suffer a fate worse then death. Get me the documents."

The men bowed, their voices rising in unison.

"Yes, Lord Atrox."

***

Albus watched as Lysander Longbottom was sorted into Hufflepuff, Gregory Goyle Junior sorted in Slytherin (he wasn't surprised in the least!) and Sean Finnegan was sorted into Gryffindor. (No surprise, as both his dads were Gryffindors, and two of the funniest men Albus had ever met.)

Finally, the platinum blonde boy Albus had noticed earlier approached the seat and sat on it timidly. So this was Scorpius Malfoy. Albus had heard a lot about the Malfoy Family- mostly Uncle Ron's bitter ramblings, and Albus's father trying to correct Ron.

The hat took two minutes- Albus could hear it mumbling- before it called out the house.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table erupted in applause and cheers, but Scorpius still seemed to be filled with a sadness. Albus wondered why the boy was so sad.

Scorpius stood up, eyes downcast, and took a place at the Slytherin table. Even surrounded by the students, he looked so incredibly lonely....

"Albus Severus Potter!"

Albus was taken out of his haze and walked up the steps to the stool, hopping on. The hat came over his eyes, and the voice filled his head.

"Oh, I've seen a head like this before... Living proof it's not the house that makes the wizard, eh? You've got the qualities of a Slytherin. Of a Gryffindor, like your father before you. And.... oh, what's this? Oh my. This is a wildcard. Quite a wildcard. Hmmm..."

"Not Slytherin.... not Slytherin...." Albus whispered, eyes clenched shut.

"Not Slytherin, eh? Hmm. I know! I know just where to sort you. Better be..."

There was a pause, and Albus felt as though it were an eternity-

"RAVENCLAW!"

Shock washed over Albus's body. There was no applause. Just a stunned, shocked silence.

Albus stood and walked to the Ravenclaw table, eyes downcast. He took his seat, and only felt panic.

He wasn't a Gryffindor. He didn't belong with his brother and his cousins.

***

Albus was exhausted.

Already two weeks in to his first year at Hogwarts, he was already buried underneath homework- he found potions and Defense against the Dark Arts (James boasted on and on to his friends about the strong Potter genes continuing on in Albus- a statement which made Albus roll his eyes severely.)

The one constant that piqued his curiosity was Scorpius Malfoy. For all he'd heard of the Malfoy Family, Scorpius was nothing like his namesake. He was meek, quiet. He seemed to be carrying the weight of some great sadness.

In Defense Against The Dark Arts, Ravenclaws had the class with Gryffindors and Slytherins; Albus sat next to Sean Finnegan, whose presence he was grateful for; but all too often he'd be looking at the quiet, sad Slytherin boy. Sean even noticed, and elbowed Albus in the side.

"Take yer eyes off Malfoy, yeah? We got a paper to write." He said with a laugh. Albus shrugged.

For the first couple of days, James was seemingly disturbed that Albus was sorted in a house that wasn't Gryffindor, but it passed and he was back to his old ways, often dropping by the Ravenclaw table with sweets and other merchandise he'd purchased from Hogsmeade.

He was adamant Albus go deeper into dueling spells, as it wasn't required for first years but there were resources for first year defensive spell learning.

James was working hard on that right now, as both he and Albus sat across from an irate headmistress McGonagall.

"Potter, you have already missed homework assignments, and tutoring Albus with extra credit Defense against the Dark Arts coursework will only exacerbate the problem!" The Headmistress said sternly, growing somewhat red.

"But, Headmistress, this is my brother! He needs to know these things! I was tutored in my first year by Teddy Lupin-"

"Mr. Lupin was a straight-"O" student, and had no troubles with coursework." McGonagall cut him off, quite intending that to be the end, but James persisted.

"Headmistress, I'm begging! It's bad enough he's in a completely different house and doesn't know anyone in that house! He needs a head start on these things, it's expected of someone from Potter blood!" Albus very nearly took offense to James implying Albus would be unable to succeed in school without his tutoring skills, but was shocked when McGonagall let out a weary sigh.

"Fine. Every Wednesday before dinner, there will be an empty classroom for you to practice in." She flicked her wand, and a book floated over from one of the bookcases behind her. "Use this to prepare a course outline. You will give this to me by this Sunday, and I will either approve it, or call for changes. Once it has been approved, you can begin tutoring Albus." She moved to hand the book to James, who reached to grab it, but she moved it from his grasp. "Only teach Mr. Potter what is in this book."

James nodded, and took the book.

"Thank you, Headmistress." Both boys said, James far more excitedly.

****

"Ah, Albus, this is awesome!" James nearly shouted as they walked through the halls. "Now you'll be able knock down any of the people that try to bully you!" To this, Albus shook his head.

"I don't get bullied, James. It's the whole 'being in the wrong house' thing that gets me." Albus muttered bitterly. James shook his head.

"That means nothing Alb, really doesn't. All these people are putting stock in what house they're in, how many colored jewels fill the hourglass at the end of the year, but I'm telling you, all that matters is the wizard."

Albus was thinking of a response, but he saw Scorpius Malfoy running into the bathroom. His instincts were telling him to go, go and talk to this boy, and he wasn't sure why.

"I have to go to the loo." He said to James, who just sighed and shook his head. "We'll catch up later, James." Albus said, and James ruffled his hair. Albus rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom.

It was empty, save for Scorpius, leaning over the sink.

"Scorpius? Scorpius Malfoy?" Albus asked cautiously. Scorpius looked up in the mirror, seeing Albus. His face made it clear this was the last person he expected to talk to him. He whirled around.

"Um, yeah. That's me. And you're Albus Potter." He said nervously.

"Yeah, yeah, that's me." Albus laughed, trying to be casual, trying to make this less awkward for them both. Scorpius still seemed guarded, nervous. Albus took a few cautious steps, and Scorpius stiffened slightly. Albus stopped his approach, and extended a hand. "I just wanted to say hi. Hello, and nice to meet you, Scorpius."

Scorpius looked surprised, and his eyes moved rapidly from Albus' face to his hand; he cautiously extended his own, and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Albus."