eldabe | Fic: Listen, I Know Who You Are

Title: Listen, I Know Who You Are
Author: eldabe
Fandom: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Rating: G
Characters: Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy
Beta(s):

ShoshanaIsabelle
Summary: Albus was afraid of what everyone at Hogwarts would think of him.

The Harry Potter universe can have all the trans representation. So there.

Note: Originally written in 2020

"Al! We need to concentrate!"

Albus followed Rose down the train corridor, terrified. Everyone was going to laugh at him. Everyone was going to call him by the wrong name. He wanted to go back home.

"Concentrate on what?" Albus said, hesitantly.

"On who we choose to be friends with. My mum and dad met your dad on their first Hogwarts Express, you know."

If anything, that was worse.

"So we need to choose now who we want to be friends with for life?" Albus took a deep breath. "That's quite scary."

Rose spun around and grabbed Albus by his shoulders. "On the contrary, it's exciting!" Albus wondered if she would do that if his shoulders were broader, more like a boy's shoulders.

Rose kept going. "I'm a Granger-Weasley, you're a Potter. Everyone will want to be friends with us, we've got the pick of anyone we want."

Rose would have the pick of anyone she wanted, Albus was sure. Albus bet some people wouldn't want to be friends with him.

"So how do we decide which compartment to go in?" Albus asked.

Rose grinned. "We rate them all and then we make a decision."

This was the kind of thing Rose did. She wanted to know all the options first. When Albus first told her, she had asked him how he was sure. It took weeks before she stopped suggesting different ways to be super-duper sure.

Rose stuck her head in the first compartment and introduced herself. Albus peeked into some open compartment doors, but all of them were filled with crowds of students, who clearly already knew each other.

Albus finally reached a nearly-empty compartment, with only one boy hunched over a book. The boy was already in Hogwarts robes.

"Hi," Albus said tentatively. "Is this compartment..."

The boy looked right up. He had bright, smiling eyes.

"It's free! It's just - just me." the boy said.

"Great," Albus said. "So we might - just - come in - for a bit - if that's okay?"

"That's ok! Hi!" The boy said, popping to his feet. Albus felt Rose come into the compartment behind him.

"Albus," Albus blurted, wanting to claim his real name, just in case Rose forgot and said the wrong one again. "I'm—my name is Albus."

"Hi, Scorpius," the boy said. "I mean, I'm Scorpius You're Albus. I’m Scorpius." Albus grinned. This boy was such a mess, but he was so good natured about it. It was nice. Scorpius tilted toward Rose. "And you must be...?"

"Rose," Rose said, coldly. Albus looked at her, confused.

"Hi, Rose!" Scorpius said. Scorpius dug into his robes and pulled out a huge bag of sweets. "Would you like some of my Fizzing Whizbees?"

Albus perked up. He had only had Fizzing Whizbees a few times, when his uncles snuck them to him when Mum wasn't looking.

"I've just had breakfast, thanks." Rose said.

"I've also got some Shock-o-Choc, some Pepper Imps, and some Jelly Slugs," Scorpius said, all in a rush. Albus had never even had some of those. "Mum's idea - she says," Scorpius started singing. "Sweets, la la la la, they always help you make frieeeeends!"

Albus grinned again. Scorpius was wonderful.

Scorpius cut himself off and looked stricken "Stupid idea, probably."

"I'll have some," Albus said. "Mum doesn't let me have sweets. Which one would you start with?"

Rose dug her elbow into Albus' side. Albus frowned at her, startled.

"Easy!" Scorpius said. "I've already regarded Pepper Imp as the king of the confectionary bag. They're peppermint sweets that make you smoke at the ears!" Scorpius offered his bag of sweets, and Albus reached for them.

"Brilliant, then that's what I'll-" Albus wanted to say 'have' but Rose elbowed him hard, again. "Rose! Will you please stop hitting me?"

"I"m not hitting you!" Rose said, all fake sweet.

"You are hitting me! And it hurts!" Albus said. He wanted a sweet and she was being so weird. He wondered if she was going to tell him that they would all go to his hips, the way Mum always told Aunt Hermione about sweets. Mum didn't say that to Dad or Uncle Ron.

Scorpius' face fell. "She's hitting you because of me." Scorpius fell back into his seat, huddled and looking defeated.

"What?" That made no sense.

Scorpius took a deep breath. "Listen, I know who you are, so it's probably only fair you know who I am."

Albus froze. That could only mean one thing. He had been expecting this. It wasn't like people didn't know. Albus just hadn't expected it to happen so fast. Scorpius was smart, he might have even read it in the papers. Scorpius was going to say Albus' name was really Ariana. Scorpius was going to say he knows Albus is really a girl. Scorpius was going to say Albus was lying. And Mum wasn't there to whisk him off home. Albus was trapped.

"You're Albus Potter. She's Rose Granger-Weasley. And I’m Scorpius Malfoy. My parents are Astoria and Draco Malfoy. Our parents," Scorpius hesitated, "they didn't get on."

Albus wasn't quite sure what was going on. Scorpius wasn't saying anything Albus expected.

"That's putting it mildly!" Rose said. "Your mum and dad are Death Eaters!"

Scorpius sat up straight. "Dad was but Mum wasn't!" he said, his voice cracking. "I know what the rumour is, and it's a lie."

"What is the rumour?" Albus said. He was totally out of his depth. It was like he could barely hear Rose and Scorpius through the pounding in his ears. They...weren't talking about Albus?

Scorpius took a big breath. "The rumour is that my parents couldn't have children. That my father and grandfather were so desperate for a powerful heir to prevent the end of the Malfoy line, that they...that they…used a Time-Turner to send my mother back."

"To send her back where?" Albus was still confused.

Rose made a frustrated noise. "The rumour is that he's Voldemort's son, Albus!"

Albus stared at her, shocked. What kind of ridiculous rumour was that?

But Scorpius huddled back in his seat and there was an awkward silence. Rose looked uncomfortable.

"It's probably rubbish," she said with a nervous laugh. "I mean, look, you've got a nose." She pointed at Scorpius' nose.

"And it's just like my father's!" Scorpius rushed to say. “I got his nose, his hair and his name. Not that that's a great thing either. I mean, father-son issues, I have them! But, on the whole, I'd rather be a Malfoy than, you know, the son of the Dark Lord."

Albus looked at Scorpius in a whole new way. Everyone thought Scorpius wasn't who he said he was either. And Scorpius had issues with his dad. And Scorpius was smiling and funny and generous anyway. Scorpius met Albus' eyes.

"Yes, well, we probably should sit somewhere else," Rose said, in her no-nonsense, bossy way. "Come on, Albus."

"No," Albus blurted. Rose looked at him. "I'm ok. You go on."

Rose looked affronted. "Albus, I won't wait.”

"And I wouldn't expect you to!" Albus said. Rose never waited for anyone, or took time to understand other people. Rose did what Rose wanted, what Rose thought was right. "But I'm staying here." Albus planted himself in a seat across from Scorpius.

Rose looked at him, shocked. She had probably thought she was going to have to be Albus' only friend for all of Hogwarts, Albus bet. Well, he didn't need her.

"Fine!" Rose shouted, and left the compartment in a huff.

She slammed the door shut behind her, and Albus looked over at Scorpius, suddenly scared. Scorpius knew who he was. Maybe Scorpius would start treating Albus like a girl, now Rose was gone.

"Thank you," Scorpius said awkwardly, and Albus felt a rush of relief and fondness.

"No, I didn't stay for you," Albus blurted, trying to be cool. Scorpius looked cautiously curious.. "I stayed for...your swe-eets!" Albus tried to say it in a sing-song way, so Scorpius would know that Albus did stay for Scorpius, really.

"She's quite fierce," Scorpius said, standing up and rustling his bag of sweets.

"Yeah, sorry," Albus said awkwardly.

"No I like it," Scorpius said, coming closer to Albus. "Do you prefer Albus or Al?"

No one had ever asked Albus that before. It was just such a struggle to get everyone to not call him Ariana. No one ever acted like Albus got to have a preference more than that.

"Albus," Albus blurted, like Scorpius might change his mind if Albus hesitated too long.

Scorpius grinned and popped two grey sweets in the shapes of broken feathers into his mouth. "THEN THANK YOU FOR STAYING FOR MY SWEETS, ALBUS!" he said, as smoke poured out of his ears all around the compartment.

Albus laughed and laughed. Maybe Albus could meet his best friend forever on the train to Hogwarts. Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad after all.