A New Problem (formerly Albus bc idfk)

Chapter 2: The Sorting

"What house do you really think she's in?" Scorpius asked Albus as soon as they were in the carriage. They had gotten one alone for the same reason they had been alone on the train— everyone hated them. 

"I don't really know— she has family in Hufflepuff, but she's also really smart. Ravenclaw, maybe?" Albus responded. 

"Okay, now which house do you want her to be in?" 

Albus looked up at Scorpius and frowned. "What do you mean?" 

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." 

"I kind of want her to be in Slytherin. Lena's cool, you know? And she doesn't hate us on sight, like everyone else." 

Scorpius kicked him. "You like her, admit it."  

Albus blushed. "Of course I like her— she's awesome. I don't like her like— like that." 

Scorpius continued pestering him until they arrived at the castle. 

"Are you done yet?" Albus asked him wearily as they walked into Hogwarts. 

"I guess.  We should have a moment of silence as we enter the place that has been wonderful and terrible to us," Scorpius said with mock pomp. 

"Yes, and may we always feel as uncomfortable as we have every time we walk through these doors," Albus laughed. It felt good to laugh about being outcasts, even though it earned them a few odd looks as they went by. No more than usual, Albus thought with a grin. We're still the weirdos. 

They walked through the entrance hall and into the Great Hall. Albus noticed the sorting hat was already on the small stool in the middle of the hall. 

"Let's sit in the middle," Scorpius said quietly, pointing, "so you can see her get sorted." 

Albus snorted. "It can't possibly be because Rose is sitting right behind there?" 

"A guy can hope, can't he?" Scorpius said with great dignity

"Sure, mate." 

They sat down and waited for the feast to begin. The Bloody Baron floated over to check on the Slytherin side of the great hall, floating through Rose and her friends on his way over. She shivered and turned to glare at the ghost. 

"Hey, Rose!" Scorpius said, taking advantage of her looking in their direction. 

"Scorpius," she said. She turned to me. "Hey, Albus. I didn't see you very much this summer. Where were you?" 

"I was just at home and at Scorpius' house most of the time. I did go on holiday with Scorpius and his dad for a few weeks, though," Albus said. Rose's brow creased. 

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked her. 

She ignored him, talking only to Albus. "Aunt Angelina has gone missing, and we don't have a single idea what might have happened to her." 

"What?" Albus asked indignantly. "What could have possibly happened?" 

"We think its someone who's had a grudge against the Weasleys since before our grandparents were born," she told him. "I think it was a Lestrange." 

Scorpius paled. "No way— Bellatrix and her husband were killed, right?" 

Rose turned to him, acknowledging him for the first time since the beginning of the conversation. "We know that our grandmother Molly Weasley killed her during the battle of Hogwarts. We do not know, however, what happened to Rudolphus Lestrange. I've checked the lists of prisoners in Azkaban, and his name wasn't listed. He is wanted by the ministry, but the warrant is over twenty years old."