The Forgotten Zodiac

Scorpius shook his head and hurried to explain, though his explanation didn't really improve the situation. "No, my dad would never let her do that, even if she wanted to. She'd just probably be mad and not want to see me until summer." He shrugged, looking surprisingly at peace with the situation. "She'd forgive me by the time I came back to school again. What about you? Your family probably wanted Gryffindor, right?"

"Oh, it's what they expected, for sure," Albus said, shrugging lightly as he, like Scorpius, tried not to make a big deal of it. "I mean, both mother and father's family lines have tended to be Gryffindors, but... I suppose this happens. I mean," his eyes went wide as he realized how sad-sounding that last sentence had been - he didn't want to insult his new friends. So he quickly added, "Dad said that he would be proud of me no matter what. He even said that, if I was sorted into Slytherin, than that just meant that the snakes added a," Albus paused here to smile as he thought back on his father's words, "A great wizard to their ranks." Smiling a moment longer at the memory, he quickly turned the expression to Scorpius and Peter. "After all, aren't all Slytherins supposed to be 'destined for greatness?' That's what the hat said to me, or, I think that's what it was getting at."

Swinging his legs slightly and staring at the table for a moment longer, he thought of what else he might have to say. Such thoughts were wiped away when the feast on the table vanished, only to be replaced with a copius amount of desserts. Albus' eyes only seemed to grow wider as he practically lunged after his favorite sweets, aiming to claim them before any of the other first years did.

"Well, they're supposed to." Peter commented, trying to reenter the conversation despite the isolating body language coming from Scorpius. "Not all of them do." While he served himself as much desert as he could fit on his plate, the boy listed off the Slytherins he knew of whose lives had failed horribly, mostly his mother's classmates. Unsurprisingly, he didn't list any of the now-incarcerated Death Eaters. Most pure-blooded families still sided with Voldemort or, if not Voldemort, with their Death Eater relatives.
Scorpius, as an only child, was entirely unprepared to battle for his favorite foods. He was a quick learner, though, and, aside from nearly reflexively breaking the wrist of the person who tried to stab him with a fork, he managed to fend for himself without harming anyone else. Once his plate was appropriately loaded, he sat back and looked at Albus', noting the areas they were similar and where they were different. "You really like chocolate pudding that much?" he asked, eyeing the foodstuff on Albus' plate with distaste.

Albus took a bit longer than normal to process and answer Scorpius' question, as he was currently shoveling the pudding the other Slytherin was talking about into his mouth as fast as he could. He swallowed, then answered, "Yes. Don't you?"

Upon seeing that Scorpius didn't have any of the pudding on his plate, Albus answered his own question. "Oh, guess not," he said. "...well, guess you don't miss your chocolate frog too much, then, right?" he asked, grinning and turning back to his plate.

Scorpius shrugged and laughed shortly and quietly. "I'd already eaten all my lemon balls and the jelly beans. To be honest, I only eat the frogs for the cards. They're usually not worth the trouble, like we found out earlier." He smiled slightly and returned his attention to the food, amused by the frog chase now that he wasn't actually chasing the frog. "I don't think I've eaten this much in my life."

"Me either," Albus agreed, moving his plate aside to rest his head on the table. All the food had gotten him to feeling sleepy. It wasn't too much later that the Headmistress rose from her seat and started giving instructions to the prefects. The food vanished from off the table and Albus looked up at Jeffrey Mcnair, the prefect for Slytherin house, who started giving instructions at once.

"All right, snakes, follow me. First years, time for you to see where you'll be spending the next seven years," he announced, smiling in a not-so-nice way that seemed to be standard for those sorted into Slytherin house. The other tables' prefects were giving the same orders, and Albus glanced over at the Gryffindor table to watch as Teddy gave out similar sounding instructions to the ones Jeffrey just had. He tried to wave at his friend, but it went unnoticed, then he was being herded along beside Scorpius and Peter down to the dungeons, where the Slytherin Common Room was.

"Salazar's the password," Mcnair announced, and, true to his word, the doorway inside opened at the mention of the founder's name. The first years were quickly ushered inside, given about two minutes to stare at the common room, before the prefect announced "First year rooms are the first on the right as you go up the stairs, boys on the right and girls on the left. Your luggage is already in there. And, welcome. The snakes are glad to have you."

At this dismissal, Albus turned to the staircase, wanting to see his new bed and confirm that his stuff had actually made it there. Without pause, he managed to make it to the room first, and was delighted to see that his trunk was resting on a bed next to one of those windows into the lake. Still feeling tired, he hurriedly dug through his things and unearthed his pajamas to change into them. He was certain that the room would not be empty for long, but if he could only get settled in before the others arrived, he would be set.

Scorpius strode along next to Albus, curiously examining everything they passed. After the brief time in the common room, which was hardly enough for Scorpius to see everything he wanted to, they were ushered into the dorm room. He was quite happy to see that his bed was across from Albus' and also under and beside a window. The young Malfoy wasn't as tired as Albus, so he took the time to unpack his belongings before changing and climing into his bed.

Albus smiled at Scorpius as he realized that they would be across from each other, before settling down.

"What do we get to do tomorrow?" he asked, staring up at the cieling. "James told me some stuff, but I don't always believe what he tells me. He said we might get to see thestrals tomorrow, but... I don't think I can actually see a thestral. What about you?"

Scorpius sat up in his bed, feeling far too restless to sleep. Albus was still talking to him, so it wasn't really sitting up and not going to bed. He just happened to be in bed while talking to Albus. "I don't think so. You've gotta watch somebody die for that, don't you? Nobody's died near me yet."
Before Albus could reply, McNair opened the door to the dormitory and vanquished the lights with a flick of his wand. "It's light out, guys. No talking, no getting out of bed except to use the bathroom, got it?" When none of the boys protested in particular, though there was some general grumbling, the prefect closed the door. The morning would soon be upon them.

The next morning felt as though it came too soon for Albus. Stirring as he heard the others do so, he blinked and wearily stared out his window for a few minutes. Finally, he decided that he'd better get up and avoid being late the first day of class, so he rolled out of bed and started to get dressed. Looking around at the other first years, he realized that Scorpius was already gone, his bed empty. So Albus called out to the only other person he knew here. "Peter, hey! What class do we have first?" he asked.

"What?!" Peter, halfway dressed, spun around to address Albus. Had Albus woken a few minutes earlier, he would have known that Peter was in no way a morning person, for the preteen had nearly bitten the head off the boy who woke him. Then again, Albus had the unique advantage of already being friends with the Malfoy and being the Potter who got put in Slytherin, so Peter was politically compelled to be niceish to him. "Broom riding is right after breakfast. Breakfast is in ten minutes; you better hurry, or you'll be late."

"What?!" Peter, halfway dressed, spun around to address Albus. Had Albus woken a few minutes earlier, he would have known that Peter was in no way a morning person, for the preteen had nearly bitten the head off the boy who woke him. Then again, Albus had the unique advantage of already being friends with the Malfoy and being the Potter who got put in Slytherin, so Peter was politically compelled to be niceish to him. "Broom riding is right after breakfast. Breakfast is in ten minutes; you better hurry, or you'll be late."

"Right," Albus said, getting dressed hurriedly so as to not miss breakfast. After last night, his expectations for the meal were set pretty high. Pulling on his robes, which were now emblazoned with the Slytherin crest in the upper left corner, he recalled that he should write his parents soon and tell them the news... at least, before James did.

Shaking away these thoughts, Albus hurried downstairs and out the door, managing to remember his way out of the dungeons and up to the Great Hall. He half considered going to try and sit with his cousins and brother at the Gryffindor table, before deciding that he should probably cement his friendships in his own house before appearing anything like a traitor. He did, after all, take the rivalship between the two houses seriously, even if he was now placed on the other side of it.

Rushing over to the Slytherin table, he placed himself at the middle, leaving two spaces beside him so that he might make some more new friends.

Scorpius was already at the table, sitting mostly alone, though there were several people around him. When Albus arrived, he slid down the table so he was across from Albus, who he had deemed one of the few people interesting enough to talk to.  Most of the other first years were grouping up or trying to get into upper-year groups, and Scorpius found most of them completely insipid and the idea that he would try to worm his way into one of their groups was somewhat infuriating. "Good morning, Albus," he greeted, just loud enough to be heard over the noise of the Great Hall. "You looked like you were going to sleep all morning."

"I think that was my original plan," Albus said with a smile as Scorpius came over to him. He was glad that someone had decided to be his friend. "But then I got to thinking about how I wouldn't want to miss breakfast, or my first class, or talking to people, or..."

"Yikes. Sounds like you have a lot going on," came a voice from Albus' elbow. Surprised, he was met with the sight of a blonde haired girl, and two brown eyes staring back at him. He wasn't quite sure when the girl had showed up, but she offered them a smile.

"Lonnie Acres," she introduced. Albus took a moment to note the crest on her robes - she was from Ravenclaw. "Do you mind if I sit here? The first years are taking up an awful lot of room over at our table."

"You're not a first year?" Albus asked, and almost kicked himself for it. He should have at least introduced himself first.

Lonnie was laughing good naturedly, though. "Oh, no, a second. Same class as your brother, Albus," she said. At his seeming shock over her knowing his name, she simply said, "Oh, of course I know who you are, silly. Not just because you're a Potter, either. My mum taught me this trick with names, so now I never forget them! I just try to keep up as Headmistress McGonagal introduces you during sorting, so I know everyone in the school!" She smiled brightly, then looked at Scorpius. "No objections to me sitting here, then, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.

Scorpius examined Lonnie for a second, scowling slightly, then shrugged and cleared a place for her. "Just don't call me Mr. Malfoy again; it makes me sound old." The food reappeared just a second later, so it was a few minutes before Scorpius spoke to her again. "So, if you're a second year, why are you talking to first years of a different house?" he demanded, completely ignoring how incredibly rude the question was. "Are you socially incompetent, or do all your other friends die in horrible ways because you're cursed?" The cursed line, since it was clearly not the problem, was meant to lighten the question somewhat. If she was some touchy, emotional person, he didn't want her crying at him.
"'Scuse me?" Another first year, judging from his height and the fact that he too was speaking to them, stood just behind Albus, transitioning between making eye contact with the three who were already sitting and the empty seat next to the Potter. "Is this seat taken?" His dark hair, a brown that was nearly black, was cut short and slightly unevenly, making it clear that someone had shortened it last minute with a wand. His robes, Slytherin crest embroided on the shoulder, were clearly handmedowns; in fact, the only new thing he appeared to be wearing was the wand sticking out of his pocket. "All the other spots seem to be taken, and I don't like having to fight for elbow room. I'm Virgo Allway."

"Certainly, Scorpius," Lonnie said, sitting down beside him and wasting no time in filling her plate. Her reply to his question was stalled as Virgo appeared. She offered him a smile as Albus spoke.

"Sure, no one's sitting there, after all," the young Potter replied, sliding down a bit as to give the other first year some room.

As Virgo got comfortable and started filling his plate like all the others, Lonnie continued with her talking. 'Oh, it's the curse, for sure. I wouldn't get too chummy with me if I were you," she said, managing to keep a serious face just long enough for the effect to set in before she broke into a smile. "Actually, the girl I used to sit with transferred to Beuxbatons, so I'm on my own to make new friends this year! Hope you don't mind?" she phrased that last sentence as a question, half preparing herself to move.

But Albus was already smiling away at her. "Of course not. Welcome to the Slytherin table," he said, knowing that a Raven would be more accepted here than people from the other houses. He figured it was going to be just fine.

"Right. Well, you'll still be stuck by yourself every night in your common room. And we're all boys, so you'll look like you're incapable of bonding with those of your gender. Is that your problem? Did all of your female relatives die, so you can't connect with women? You can borrow some of mine, if you promise never to give them back and to sit with people who've done something to deserve the volume at which you speak." Clearly, mornings brought out the most antagonistic in Scorpius. It didn't help that he hadn't eaten yet, which was a major factor in his annoyance. The other factor was that he enjoyed hassling people, especially people who had the self-confidence to push back at him.
"Thanks." Virgo slid onto the bench and smiled slightly at the three around him. "Most people call me by my middle name, Ewan. My mother's family names every first born after a constellation, and, apparently, Virgo was the only one that sounded namey enough." He started filling his plate, looking at the other three while he did so in the hopes that they would introduce themselves so he wouldn't have to beg for their names.

"All right, Ewan it is," Albus said, sticking his hand out to the other Slytherin. "Albus Potter. Nice to meet you," he said.

Lonnie gave Scorpius a somewhat flat look, before deciding that since these comments were coming from a first year and someone not from her house, that they didn't really matter. Also, somehow, despite her talking and how much food she had started with on her plate, it was all gone now. Worse, the ham she had liked the most had all been claimed on this end of the table.

So instead of replying in some manner to Scorpius, she merely stole the ham off of his plate. "Sorry, forgive me?" she asked, once the food was safely in her stomach.