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Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1: The Ministry Party

Scorpius Malfoy had always hated large crowds and the one before him was no exception. He clung to his mother's hand as she led him into the massive ballroom, her other hand resting lightly on his father's arm. He hated the stiff formal robes he wore. They were immaculately white, perfectly creased, and he was sure he would stain them irreparably by the end of the night.

He looked around the room, but saw no familiar faces, and the only other children in sight were a cluster of redheads and brunettes. Above him, his mother said, "Well, I suppose he could always play with the Weasleys."

He looked up just in time to see his father grimace. "I doubt said Weasels would allow it," his father answered. "I wonder who else has come tonight."

Scorpius looked back at the other children as his parents led him past. He wondered what it would be like to huddle with them, whispering together and stealing glances at the adults around them as if afraid of being found out. He wondered what having any friends at all, or even siblings, would be like. He lost sight of them long before his family reached the food table, piled high with cakes and sweetmeats and bits of fruit. His mother handed him a plate with chocolate cream puffs before turning to speak with the woman beside her, whom Scorpius did not recognize. When their talk turned to dresses, he wandered over to his father.

"Why couldn't I stay home, Father?" he asked. "There's hardly any other children here."

"Because your grandmother is in Belgium right now and your grandfather had other plans and there was no one else to watch you."

Scorpius scowled. "Grandfather hates me. Why didn't you have more children like he wanted? Then I could have someone to play with."

His father crouched down to look him in the eye and said quietly, but forcefully, "Scorpius Hyperion! Never talk about your grandfather that way!"

Scorpius glared silently. The argument was an old one. His father stood again and Scorpius heard him call, "Theo!" Scorpius repressed a shudder. Mr Nott himself was not so bad, but his two sons, Thaddeus and Tiberius, were the banes of Scorpius' existence, a fact to which the adults were inexplicably oblivious.

Mr Nott joined them, his two sons close behind. Tiberius, a year older than Scorpius, smiled sweetly at him. Scorpius hated that smile and had no idea how his usually perceptive father could be fooled by it. Thaddeus, the older of the two, asked in his sickly sweet voice, "What's wrong, Scor?"

Thaddeus knew that Scorpius hated that nickname almost as much as he hated Thaddeus himself. When Scorpius' only answer was a silent glare, his father said, "Scorpius didn't want to come. He was afraid he wouldn't run into any friends."

"Well, he needn't worry now," Mr Nott said. "Run along, children."

That last phrase was supposed to mean, 'leave the adults alone so they can talk,' but the Nott boys thought it meant, 'go torture Scorpius.' When Thaddeus grabbed his wrist to lead him away, he tried to protest, but his father told him to stop sulking and he gave up. Abruptly, he changed tactics and tried to pull away through the crowd. Thaddeus followed until they were far from their parents, then he and Tiberius dragged Scorpius into a side room, where two boys he did not know were whispering.

"We brought him, Cadmus," Thaddeus announced. "Now where's our payment?"

The largest boy withdrew a bag from his robes. "It's all here, just like I promised."

"Even the Wheezes' darkness powder?"

"Yeah, now hand him over." Thaddeus shoved Scorpius toward Cadmus and grabbed the bag, which he pocketed in the same movement. Cadmus gripped Scorpius' shoulder so hard that it hurt. He tried to pull away, but the grip tightened. With his other hand, Cadmus grabbed Scorpius' chin and forced his head back. "Filthy blood traitor," he snarled. Then he spit in Scorpius' face. Scorpius winced and Cadmus shoved him to the floor in disgust.

Another boy straddled him before he could rise and pinned his shoulders to the floor. He bucked ineffectually, causing the boy to laugh. "I like him, Cadmus. Just think what we can do with him when he gets to Hogwarts."

"That rubbish?" Thaddeus asked. "He won't go to Hogwarts. He isn't allowed."

The boy on top of him looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Malfoy's little boy is a squib!" Tiberius chortled. Scorpius closed his eyes and prayed that when he opened them again, the nightmare would be over.

Cadmus added, "If you lied about that, you'll be sorry, Nott. I always wanted to torture a squib. That it's a Malfoy is just added fun."

A hand gripped his chin again and the boy above Scorpius sneered, "Is he really?" Scorpius did not respond and the boy snapped, "Look at me, you worthless mudblood!" Scorpius wanted to protest that technically, he was not a mudblood, but he could not move his jaw to open his mouth. He kept his eyes shut. "Look at me!"

A sudden searing pain lanced through his head, followed quickly by another before he realized the boy was punching him. He could feel liquid running down his cheeks, but did not know whether it was blood or tears. He wanted to open his mouth and cry out, but his whole face hurt too much.

He did not know that the boy had stood until he slammed a foot down hard on his chest. Scorpius screamed in agony. Moments later, a door slammed and everything went still. Scorpius did not know how much time passed before a voice he did not know, female he thought, asked, "What's going on here?"

Cadmus sneered, "Well, well. The bookworm and her boyfriend have come to save the day."

"We aren't scared of you, Cadmus," another voice said, this one a young male. He heard feet shuffling between him and the new voices, then the boy continued, "and you're just pathetic, Linus, pinning your victims down so they can't fight before you pummel them."

So the boy who had punched him was Linus. Linus said, "What do you plan to do about it, Potter?" He said the name as if it was vile. "Run to daddy?"

"Don't need to," Potter answered. "Now get out."

The door slammed open again and there were more voices, everyone shouting at once, and Scorpius' head started pounding again. A hand was touching him, gently stroking his face. "Can you talk?" the girl Cadmus had called bookworm asked. He made no attempt to respond.

A man spoke above them. "Who is it, Rose?"

"I don't know, dad. How can those Flint boys be so cruel?" As she spoke, she never stopped stroking him, wiping away the blood, he thought. He felt her fingers sift through his hair and linger. "His hair is almost white. Is he albino?"

"Oh, God. Is that Malfoy's son?" Scorpius did not recognize that voice, either, but maybe its owner would get his father. He continued, "Al, do you remember who Draco Malfoy is?"

"Yeah," Potter, or Al, said, and Scorpius was surprised to hear him so close.

"Go get him for me." Scorpius heard the shuffling that told him Al was standing. To be honest, he was surprised that both he and the girl, Rose, had not left already. He was sure they would both abandon him, though, when they found out why Linus had beaten him.

He felt the simple healing spells as a soft female voice murmured them. Rose asked, "What's his name, Uncle Harry?"

The man who had sent Al away answered, "Scorpius Malfoy."

"Scorpius," she said, "that's a pretty name." Her father snorted, but she ignored him and continued to stroke Scorpius' face and hair.

When the pain had subsided a bit, a warm, wet cloth gently washed his face. As the woman worked, people were asking Rose what had happened and she tried hard to answer them all at once. To Scorpius, they sounded like too many buzzing bees.

"Will he be okay?" Rose asked when the questions subsided.

The same woman who had cast the healing spells answered, "I don't know, love. Both his nose and jaw are broken and I think at least one rib is as well. We'll have to get him to St Mungo's soon."

Running footsteps heralded his father's arrival. With a cry of "Scorpius!" his father knelt beside him and clutched his hand. Scorpius wanted to respond, but he felt sluggish and wondered vaguely if the healing spells were at fault. Weakly, he squeezed his father's hand. His father squeezed back and pressed Scorpius' hand to his face. "What happened, Potter?" he asked and his voice sounded more pained than Scorpius had ever heard it.

Rose's uncle answered, "From what I understand, Al and Rose found the Flint boys beating him up. Rose thinks the Nott boys were involved, too. She saw them dart away from the door not long before she and Al heard Scorpius scream." Belatedly, Scorpius realized he must be Harry Potter.

"That doesn't make sense. The Notts are Scorpius' friends."

"We're still sorting what happened, Draco." Mr Potter's voice was gentle, but professional, and Scorpius wondered if he and his father were friends. "Ready to bring him to St Mungo's?" His father did not speak, but a moment later, he was being gently levitated. Then he heard the spell that sent him into a blissfully pain free sleep.

Author's Note: Title changed from Being Different. I am enjoying writing this story, but have no idea where it's going. It's an experiment. Please review.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

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Chapter 2: Learning About Friendship

Scorpius woke up slowly. His face still hurt, but at least his mouth no longer tasted like blood and he could open his eyes. He was in a dimly lit room with pale blue walls. Clouds and silver unicorns moved slowly from one wall to another, but his eyes hurt to watch them, so he turned away.

Beyond the door, he heard voices and recognized his mother's quickly. "I don't understand," she was saying. "When his father's jaw was smashed in a quidditch accident back in school, he healed in only a few days. Your medicine can not have gotten worse since then."

"I'm sorry, Mrs Malfoy. Your husband is a fairly strong wizard, but your son, from what our tests show, has no magical ability at all. Has he shown evidence of magic in the past?"

"No, none. We think he might be a ..." His mother took a deep breath before she continued, "a squib."

"That was our conclusion as well," the healer said briskly. "We can still treat him, of course, but we will need to rely largely on muggle medicine, which is both slower and sloppier. We can guarantee, though, that when we are finished, he will not have any disfigurement or scarring. In the meantime, our main concern is to make sure he is able to eat normally."

His mother was silent for several seconds before she said softly, "Thank you."

The healer started to speak again, but was interrupted by a chirpy male voice. "Excuse me, is this Scorpius Malfoy's room?"

"Yes," his mother said. "What's that?"

"Just the usual 'Get well' gifts, Ma'am. Flowers, plush toys, you know."

"I'm sorry, who is it from?"

Scorpius heard some shuffling before the man answered, "The receipt says 'Albus and Rose,' Ma'am. It was paid in cash."

Mrs Malfoy frowned. "Aren't they Weasleys? Why would they send my Scorpius flowers?"

The man did not answer verbally, but at last the door opened and he entered the room carrying a pot of multicolored tulips and a paper bag with a card attached. Scorpius watched as he set the tulips by the window. There must have been at least a dozen crammed into the pot and they were beautiful.

His mother called his name and he turned toward her. "Your new friends sent some gifts," she said as she handed him the bag. "Open it."

Scorpius opened the card first and read it aloud. One side read, in a sloppy scrawl, "Get better soon. Dad said he'll bring me to visit you in a few days. Albus." The handwriting on the other side was as careful as the first side was sloppy. "I hope the flowers brighten the room. Mine was really dull when I stayed there for surgery last year. Blame Albus for the toy. He thought it would keep you entertained. Love, Rose."

Scorpius handed the card to his mother. No one except his parents had ever written him anything like that before and no one outside his family - and few in it - had ever said they loved him. His mother smiled. "I think you have an admirer."

Scorpius looked away. "What if she learns I'm a squib?"

She stroked his hair gently. "Rose Weasley comes from a family that is not concerned with blood status or magical ability. Her mother is muggle-born, after all."

"Do you know her parents?"

"Not well. They were in the same year as your father at Hogwarts, so maybe you can ask him about them. Albus' mother I knew a bit better. She was a year ahead of me, but after the war, she repeated a few of her classes and we studied together sometimes. She's nice and I'm sure she won't care whether you can do magic either. Now, show me what Albus got you."

Scorpius opened the bag carefully and pulled out the toy inside. It was a plush Welsh Green dragon and as he held it, it lashed its tail and flapped its wings. He giggled when it opened its tiny mouth to bite his hand with cloth teeth. "It's adorable. I want to write him a 'Thank you' note. Do you have parchment, Mother?"

His mother was smiling too as she took the quill, ink, and parchment from her bag. "You seem to be talking all right. How does your jaw feel?"

"Weird, like it's wrapped in cloth or something, and my tongue feels thick, but it doesn't hurt too much." He touched his jaw gingerly. "I can feel cracks in the bones, but they don't move at all."

"The healer cast a spell to keep the bones aligned properly. That magic is probably what you're feeling. You should get used to it in a few days, but they will be giving you soup for a while, just in case. Here, write your note and I'll send it when I get back. I need to go tell your father you're awake."

Scorpius watched his mother go, then turned to stare at the top sheet of parchment. He realized he had no idea what to say to Albus and Rose. He finally decided to start with the dragon and began, his writing as meticulous as Rose's.

Dear Albus and Rose,
Thank you very much for the flowers. They look very pretty by the window. Thank you also for the plush dragon. It is like having a pet I do not have to feed. I hope that you can visit soon.
Yours sincerely,
Scorpius Malfoy

Scorpius scowled at the letter. It looked too formal, like something he would write to his grandparents, but he had no idea how else to write it. He looked again at the card. Rose had mentioned staying at St Mungo's and he wondered if asking her about it would be impolite. She had also teased Albus, but Scorpius thought if she really was his girlfriend, like Cadmus said, that made sense. His parents teased each other sometimes when his grandparents were away, but he was sure he would not be welcome to do the same. Albus might think he was trying to steal Rose away.

He crumpled up the parchment and started over.

Dear Rose and Albus,
Thank you very much for your gifts. They are the first ones I have received here. You're right about the dull room, Rose. Everything is blue and silver and the reds and yellows in the flowers are a welcome change. Would you tell me about the time you were in the hospital?
I like the dragon, too, Albus. I'm trying to decide what to name it, but I do not know any good Welsh names. When I first took it out of the bag, it tried to bite me, but it settled down and now it is sleeping on my pillow.
I am looking forward to your visit.
Sincerely,
Scorpius

When his mother returned, he showed her the letter. She smiled at his effort and cast a duplication spell so that she could send copies to both Rose and Albus. She kissed his forehead and told him she had to leave. "I don't want to be alone," he whispered.

"I know, love, but your aunt Daphne needs me. Your father will stop in after dinner to visit with you and your grandmother Malfoy is returning early from Belgium. She should arrive tomorrow sometime."

Reluctantly, Scorpius let her go. The soup was bland, but not unpleasant, and soon his father arrived. The visit was not as comforting as he had hoped.

His father explained, "I spent most of the day with Rose's mother. She works in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement and specializes in laws that affect minority groups. We were both surprised to learn how few laws protect squibs and there is no way to punish someone who hurts people just because they are squibs."

"You want to punish the boys who hurt me."

"Yes, and the aurors have assured me they will, but not as severely as I would like."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Granger - Rose's mother - has asked me to help her draft some laws to propose to the Ministry that would provide greater protection for squibs. They would not do any good now, but they may help you when you are older."

"Grandfather won't approve."

His father shrugged. "Father and I have never agreed on anything about you, Scorpius. I don't expect that will change. There is something you should know right away, though. Father hates both Rose's and Albus' families, so don't mention them around him. Your mother, however, wishes to encourage your friendship with them and since for the moment I will be working with Rose's mother, I agreed."

"Mother said you know Rose's parents."

"I do. They and Albus' father spent six years at Hogwarts making my life as difficult as possible. We fought constantly and I don't recall having a civil conversation with any of them until after you were conceived and your mother rekindled her friendship with Albus' mother. But that's all history now. Focus on getting better and if the healers allow it, Rose and Albus will visit soon."

Scorpius nodded and held up the dragon. "Look what Albus gave me."

"It's cute. Does it have a name?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I want Albus to help me name it."

His father smiled and stroked his arm. "Get some sleep now, love. I'll see you again tomorrow." Scorpius smiled back and closed his eyes, the dragon cuddled against his chest.

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Author's Note: I'll post again in May sometime.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

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Chapter 3: Mr Potter

For the next few days, no one was allowed to visit Scorpius except his parents. He exchanged messages almost daily with Rose and Albus and learned that Rose had been in St Mungo's after being injured in a muggle car accident in which one of her lungs had been damaged. She assured him that she had healed completely. Albus' letters were more playful, saying things like, "Rose loves your hair. She wishes hers was that fine," or, "Rose asked Uncle Ron yesterday if he would let her marry into a death eater family. He turned as green as if Uncle George had fed him a puking pastille."

From Albus' letters, more than Rose's, Scorpius started to suspect first that Rose fancied him and second that Albus did not mind. That made him feel much better. He had also learned, from his mother, that Rose's family had opposed his in the war and that if he and Rose were to marry, many in both families would not accept it. "But they'll let us be friends?" he asked her.

"Her mother insists on it. Don't worry."

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. A healer poked her head in. "Auror Harry Potter is here. He wishes to speak with Scorpius."

"Is he alone?"

"Yes, ma'am. He said you are welcome to stay."

"Very well." The door opened further to admit a man shorter than Scorpius' father, but something about him commanded respect. Scorpius wondered if all aurors were like that.

Mr Potter settled in one of the chairs beside Scorpius' bed. "Albus has told me quite a bit about you," he said.

Scorpius recognized his voice from the night of the party. "Rose called you her uncle."

Mr Potter chuckled. "Yes, she's my niece and Albus is my son. I think Al's almost as enamoured of you as Rose is, not that he would admit it. Have you named the dragon yet?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Why isn't Albus with you?"

"They still won't let non-family in to see you. Technically, I'm here on business. I need to know what happened at the party last Saturday."

Scorpius closed his eyes and turned away, not wanting to remember, but Mr Potter sat silently and Scorpius guessed he would wait all day if he had to. His mother prodded gently, "Tell Mr Potter what you told me, love. He won't judge you."

"I'm scared."

"Of what?" his mother asked gently.

Scorpius looked unsteadily at his mother. "That he won't let me be friends with Albus anymore. That he'll find out I'm ... I'm ..." Scorpius' voice broke.

"Scorpius." Mr Potter's voice was gentle, but commanding. "I trust Albus' judgment. He wants to be your friend and from what your parents have told me, you could do with some friends your own age. There is nothing you could say today that would make me take him away from you. I promise."

Scorpius looked hopefully at Mr Potter and said unsteadily, "I can't do magic."

"I know. It's okay. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was with my parents when we ran into the Notts. The Nott boys, Thaddeus and Tiberius, wanted me to go with them. I tried to protest, but our parents wouldn't listen. Then I tried to run, but that didn't work either, and in the end, they dragged me into that room where you found me." Scorpius recounted the conversation with the Flints and the subsequent beating as well as he could and Mr Potter waited silently until he was finished.

"You said you tried from the start to get away from Thaddeus and Tiberius. Why?"

"They like to torture me whenever we're alone."

"Torture you how?"

Scorpius turned his head to watch a unicorn prance past the window. "I don't want to talk about it."

Mr Potter gently put a hand on his. "I know it's painful, Scorpius, but I need to know what happened before that night." Scorpius said nothing. "Please, Scorpius. I want to make sure they never hurt you again."

Scorpius still did not turn. "Why? I'm a squib."

His response made his mother gasp his name, but Mr Potter waited for her to quiet before answering. "I'm an auror. It's my duty to protect all members of wizarding families without prejudice. Besides that, my son considers you his friend and for him alone, I would protect you. Please tell me what happened."

"Will you protect Thaddeus and Tiberius, too?"

"If I feel they are being wronged, yes. Has your father told you about any of the fights he and I had in school?" Scorpius shook his head. "From what I recall, most of them started with your father insulting me, then Rose's father would hex him and soon we were all fighting. Even though your father started it and Rose's father cast the first hex, all three of us were punished together far too often. Our professors felt, wrongly I think, that if they punished all of us, we would stop fighting. They were trying to protect us from each other, no matter who was at fault. That is what I am trying to do, too. As an auror, I am not supposed to have favorites."

"Do you?"

"Have favorites? Of course. My children's friends are among them."

Scorpius thought about that. "You mean me."

"Yes."

Scorpius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt his mother twine her fingers in his. "They were always perfectly polite when our parents were around, but the moment we were alone, they would tease me and hit me and steal my things. If my parents noticed, I lied and said we were wrestling or I had given them the toys. I felt ashamed that I could not stand up for myself. I felt guilty that every time they hurt me, the things they said seemed more true. My parents said the opposite, but my grandparents ... I felt guilty for believing them instead."

"Oh, baby," his mother whispered as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"What did they say?" Mr Potter asked quietly. He sounded almost sad.

"That I'm useless and worthless and a freak, just like Grandfather says. That I'll never be anyone special and I'll never find anyone willing to marry me. That my parents should have had another child and gotten rid of me."

"We wouldn't," his mother whispered.

He continued over her voice, "That Grandfather is right to be ashamed of me and ..." Scorpius shuddered and stammered, "They s-said I deserve t-to die."

His mother moved to sit beside him and pulled him into her arms. "My baby," she whispered over and over, "my beautiful, sweet baby."

Scorpius pressed his face against his mother's breast and cried silently. He did not know how long she held him, but when he pulled away, the cloth covering her right breast was soaked in his tears. "I'm sorry, mum," he whispered.

"Don't be, love. You have nothing to be sorry for. Did you need anything else, Harry?"

Scorpius turned, surprised Mr Potter was still in the room. Mr Potter still looked sad. "I think you should arrange for him to receive counseling, Astoria. He ... I was abused as a child. I know how it feels and how long it takes to heal. Even now, Ginny will say or do something innocent and I will react as if she attacked me. I don't want to see him suffer that way. Being different is hard enough."

His mother stroked his hair. "Of course I will. If I had known ... Baby, I'm so sorry." Then she was kissing him over and over.

He heard Mr Potter stand and turned back to look at him. Mr Potter said, "I think Rose and Albus will help a lot with his self esteem. Let me know when they can visit."

"I will. Thank you, Harry."

Mr Potter nodded and left. His mother stayed for a long time after that, just holding him quietly.

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Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. I've read the ones for the first chapter and will download any others to read later. I really appreciate them after a long and frustrating day of arguing with the local government for whom I work. I will update again in May.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

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Chapter 4: Albus and Rose

Scorpius was napping when he heard shouting in the corridor. Opening his eyes, he turned his head toward the door in time to see someone careen around the corner and straight into him. He involuntarily closed his eyes and groaned in pain and a moment later, someone else collapsed on top of him with a cry of "Scorpius!"

"Ugh," he groaned wordlessly, opening his eyes again. A spectacled face half hidden under a rat's nest of black hair peered down at him. "Who?"

The face grinned. "It's me, Albus. That's Rose, of course." Scorpius looked beyond the boy, who did look a lot like Mr Potter, he realized, and stared. The girl currently perched on his legs was, he thought, the prettiest girl he had ever seen, especially the way her copper fly-away hair floated around her head like a halo. He did not realize he was staring until Albus waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Scorpius," he said slowly, in an almost sing-song voice, "earth to Scorpius." Rose giggled.

Scorpius looked at Albus. "You came."

"Of course we came, silly. It took forever to persuade the healers, but now we're here. I brought you something."

Scorpius colored. "The dragon was enough."

"Nonsense. You must be bored out of your mind. Rose brought books and colored pencils, but I brought something loads better." He pulled a small, thin white box from his pocket and handed it to Scorpius, who stared at it blankly.

He tentatively fingered one of several buttons of various shapes and colors. "What is it?"

"It's a gameboy, silly." Scorpius still felt stupid. He did not know if being called silly was good or bad, but Albus was still grinning and he supposed it was better than being called a freak.

"Don't be cruel, Al," Rose said. "He's probably never seen one before."

"Oh, right." Albus blushed. "Sorry, I guess I'm too used to my cousins and muggle neighbors. A gameboy is a toy that lets you play different games. There's just Tetris right now, but once you've got the hang of it, I'll get you some more games. Anyway, press this button to turn it on."

Scorpius stared as a window in the middle lit up and words appeared. "Is it magic?"

"No, it's made by muggles and runs on electricity. The screen in the middle is actually made of lots of tiny lights. Granddad did something to it to make it work here, but I didn't understand anything he was saying."

"Maybe if you'd pay attention in school," Rose started.

"You go to Hogwarts?" Scorpius asked, trying to follow Albus' fingers as he pressed various buttons and eventually blocky shapes started moving down the screen.

"No," Rose said. "We attend a muggle school for now. In a couple years, we'll go to Hogwarts, the same as you."

"I'm not going to Hogwarts."

Rose lifted her eyebrows. He thought her eyes were as pretty as her hair. "Why not?"

"I'm not allowed."

"Of course you are," Rose said. "Everyone's allowed."

"Not squibs." Scorpius looked away and spoke so quietly that he was not sure the others heard him. The silence following his statement felt horrible to him.

Rose spoke first. "You're a squib?" There was no condemnation in her voice.

Scorpius nodded. Albus put his hands on either side of Scorpius' jaw and gently tilted his head upward. A moment later, he kissed Scorpius on the nose. Rose started giggling again and Scorpius wanted to hide. Albus pouted. "You're supposed to smile," he admonished.

"I'm a squib," Scorpius said more forcefully. He wished Albus would release him as his jaw was starting to hurt again.

"So?" Albus asked. "At least you can see without glasses."

Scorpius did not answer. Rose said, "Al's right, you know. We have loads of muggle friends, including some of our cousins, so it doesn't matter to us if you can do magic or not. Besides, we can't control our magic right now anyway."

"But with magic I could have protected myself."

"No, with a mess of cousins who like to wrestle and spar and generally get into trouble you could have protected yourself. You don't need magic to stand up to jerks like the Flints and Notts. Anyway, we beat them up for you."

"But they're bigger than you. How? Why?"

"How? Mess of cousins who like making trouble. Why? Because they hurt you."

Albus added, "You're an honorary Weasley now, by the way. Freddy says we should induct you formally as soon as you get out of here. His dad, Uncle George, hates the idea, so of course we'll do it anyway."

"I don't understand."

"I don't blame you," Albus said. "The Weasleys are pretty incomprehensible."

"Hey!" Rose swatted the back of Albus' head. "Don't insult me."

"Yes, mum." Albus neither looked nor sounded apologetic. He grinned at Scorpius. "Ready to learn Tetris?"

Scorpius nodded and for the next couple hours, the two boys huddled over the gameboy. Rose buried herself in a book and left them to it.

That was how Scorpius' father found them when he arrived that afternoon. Scorpius smiled up at him. "Hello, Father."

Rose and Albus looked up as well. "Hi, Mr Malfoy," they chorused.

Scorpius' father returned his smile. "How do you feel, Scorpius?"

"Brilliant. Albus is teaching me how to play a muggle game called Tetris. Have you played it?"

"No, I've never heard of it. Albus, Rose, Grang- uh, Hermione - will be here soon to bring you home."

Rose closed her book, set it on the pile with the others she had brought for Scorpius, and stood. "Come on, Al."

"Just a minute. She isn't here yet, anyway." Albus finished showing Scorpius how to make two rows of blocks disappear at once before he moved. He started to get up, then leaned down to kiss Scorpius on the nose again. This time, Scorpius did smile.

As the two left, Scorpius looked up at his father, who had raised an eyebrow at Albus' kiss, but he did not comment. Scorpius blushed. "How was work, Father?"

"It seems someone transfigured Cadmus Flint into a warthog two days ago and used him for target practice. It is widely believed that the attacker is related to the head auror and therefore beyond prosecution. It is also widely believed that Cadmus deserved what he got."

"Isn't Harry Potter the head auror?"

"Yes."

"Rose said her cousins helped her beat up the Flint boys and the Nott boys too."

"Apparently the others were able to cover their injuries." His father's voice was flat. More cheerfully, he asked, "How was your day?"

"Brilliant. Albus gave me a new toy. See?" For the next half hour, Scorpius tried to explain to his father how the toy worked, but his father, who had almost no experience with anything muggle, did not understand.

Giving up, his father said, "It's okay, Scorpius. I don't need to be the one to get it. You do. Anyway, I'm glad they are teaching you about the muggle world. Your mother and I know too little about it to be of any help to you."

Scorpius rested his head contentedly against his father's arm. "Me too. When I'm better, may I go with them to visit the muggle world?"

His father rumpled his hair, making him giggle and duck away. "Of course, as long as an adult I trust is with you."

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks again for the feedback. I hope to update next week.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 5: Honorary Weasley

Scorpius clung to his father as they apparated away from the manor. He did not like apparition, but his father had told him it was the easiest way to reach Ottery St Catchpole, where Albus and Rose lived. They arrived in a yard covered in snow angels and half-melted, refrozen snow sculptures that his grandfather would never allow on the manor grounds. Scorpius thought they were brilliant. He turned in a circle to take in everything and liked the small two-story wood house immediately. He was heading toward it when Albus burst through the door and nearly knocked him over. Scorpius returned Albus' hug just as eagerly.

He heard laughter and looked up to see a woman he did not recognize. His father gave her a curt nod and said tensely, "Weasley."

The woman gave his father an annoyed glare. "Relax, Draco. Scorpius will be fine here." She looked down at Scorpius. "Hi, I'm Ginny, Albus' mum."

Scorpius frowned in confusion. "Then why aren't you Mrs Potter?"

"I am. Your dad and I knew each others as kids and he's always called me 'Weasley,' or some variation of that. My brother still calls him 'Ferret' sometimes. Anyway, come inside and have some cocoa." As Scorpius followed Albus, he heard her say, "You're welcome to join us, Draco."

"I have no time for such pleasantries today, Weasley. My wife will be here this evening to collect him."

Beside him, Albus giggled. "Your dad's so formal. Does he ever have fun?"

"Only with me and mum. He isn't very comfortable around other people, but I've never seen your father relax either."

"That's because you've never seen him when he isn't working. At dinner tonight, you'll meet him."

Albus led him into a large room with a thick carpet, pale Victorian wallpaper, and plush furniture. In one corner was a small caged bird that might have been a pygmy puff and along one wall were assorted black boxes that looked entirely foreign to him. When he reached out to touch the middle box, the largest, Albus asked, "Neat, isn't it?"

Scorpius pulled back quickly. "What is it?"

"Entertainment system." Scorpius looked at him blankly. "Er, sorry. It's a telly and speakers and DVD/CD player. It's kind of like the gameboy I gave you, only loads bigger with better sound. I'll show you later."

Scorpius had no idea what any of that meant, but before he could ask, a dark skinned boy about their age darted into the room, closely followed by Rose. "Scorpius!" Rose cried, hugging him as tightly as Albus had.

The dark boy humphed and said, "I was expecting someone more ... aristocratic, or something."

Mrs Potter laughed. "Be nice, Freddy. Scorpius, this is Freddy. He's home on holiday from his first year at Hogwarts."

Scorpius looked the boy over. He was bigger than Albus, but had the same round face that Scorpius was learning to associate with Weasleys. "Hi," he said a bit nervously.

"Hello yourself. Is is true you're dating Rose?"

Scorpius just gaped. He had no idea where the question had come from and was not sure how to answer it. Before he could recover, Rose slapped Freddy hard across the face. "Don't scare him like that!" she cried. Scorpius fervently hoped he would never find himself at the wrong end of her wand.

"I'm just playing," Freddy said. "Besides, everyone knows you fancy him."

Mrs Potter interrupted Rose's glare. "Enough bickering, children. Go play nicely. That means no joke products, Freddy."

Albus took Scorpius' hand and led him upstairs to his bedroom. Five other children were already there, playing exploding snap on Albus' bed. They looked up as the group entered. Rose introduced them. "That's James. He's Al's brother. He'll start Hogwarts in the fall. Then Lily, Al's little sister, and Hugo, my little brother. Roxie is Freddy's sister and Sandy is a friend of ours." Scorpius nodded to each of them.

Scorpius lifted an eyebrow at the last boy's name. "Sandy?"

The boy smiled at him. "It's short for Lysander and a lot easier to say."

"His full name's Lysander Scamander," Roxie sang. "Awful, isn't it?"

Scorpius made a noncommittal sound and was saved from having to respond by Freddy. "Do you have it?" James picked up a bag and handed it to Freddy.

Freddy rummaged through it and pulled out various items as he searched. "What are you doing?" Hugo asked.

"Preparing the ritual."

Hugo's eyes widened. "Magic? You know we can't do magic yet."

"Not real magic, silly. Muggle magic. You'll see."

"Ritual for what?" Scorpius asked.

Albus hugged him from behind. "To make you an honorary Weasley."

"But binding spells are dangerous. You can't-"

"It isn't a binding spell," Rose said. "It's some bit of rubbish Freddy saw on the telly. It's harmless."

Scorpius worried his lip, unconvinced, but Albus was relaxed as he pressed against him. "No wands," Albus said quietly, "no potions or charms, no magical objects. Just some candles and meaningless words and maybe a bit of incense. I hope not, though; incense makes me sneeze."

Freddy was sitting in the middle of Albus' floor. He had drawn a circle on the floor with several points and had placed different colored unlit candles between each point. He sat cross-legged at one of the points. "It's ready," he said. "Al, Rose, you sit each side of Scorpius. The rest of you, sit wherever." They rushed to obey.

"Now what?" Hugo asked impatiently.

"Now we start." Freddy picked up the last candle, this one white, and lit it. "Pick up the candle to your right. As I pass the lit one around, light your candles and give one reason that Scorpius should be inducted into our family. It doesn't matter how silly your reasons are. Then pass this candle on to the next person." He lit his candle, a red one. "Scorpius should become a Weasley because we like adopting new people, like we did with Uncle Harry and with Teddy."

He passed the white candle to James, who lit an orange candle and said, "Scorpius should become a Weasley because I want to know if Al or Rose ends up marrying him." Several of the others laughed and Hugo nearly dropped the white candle as he took it from James.

Hugo lit his yellow candle and said, "Scorpius should be a Weasley so I have someone else to play with."

He passed the white candle to Rose, who lit her green candle and said, "Scorpius should be a Weasley because he's smart and fun."

Scorpius was blushing by the time Rose passed him the white candle. He looked between her and Freddy, at a loss for what to say. Freddy said, "Why do you want to become an honorary Weasley?"

Before he could answer, Albus whispered. "Light your candle."

He lit his blue candle and said quietly, "I want friends and I like it here."

Albus kissed his nose, which earned a glare from Freddy. "Give me the candle, love," he said quietly. Scorpius handed him the white candle. He lit his indigo one and said, "Scorpius should be an honorary Weasley because I say so, and because he likes cuddling as much as I do."

"At school," Freddy said with annoyance, "they say to people as affectionate as you are, 'Keep it in your bedroom.'"

Albus stuck out his tongue. "We are in my bedroom." He handed the white candle to Lily.

She lit her lavender candle and said, "Scorpius should be an honorary Weasley because he makes Albus happy."

Sandy took the white candle from her and lit his purple one. "The more the merrier. After all, nargles hate crowds."

The others laughed and Scorpius whispered to Albus, what's a nargle?" Albus shook his head silently and Scorpius turned to the last person in the circle, Roxie, who was lighting her pink candle.

"Well," she said, "Freddy can always use more victims for his pranks and Scorpius seems laid back enough. And Dad will hate it."

She passed the white candle back to Freddy. He said, "Now are all the reasons given and the circle is complete. Blow out your candles." They obeyed. Freddy set down the red and white candles and reached across the circle to take Scorpius' hand. "Welcome to the Weasley clan."

"Thanks," Scorpius said quietly. When the others literally buried him in hugs, he felt smothered at first, but that feeling quickly gave way to one he thought resembled belonging. He grinned at Albus, who grinned back, stuck his tongue out at Freddy again, then kissed Sorpius' nose. Freddy scowled and Albus and Rose laughed. Scorpius was surprised how content he felt just watching them.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you again for the feedback and encouragement. I think this chapter was influenced by a combination of Buffy and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. As always let me know what works and what doesn't.

By the way, I'm working on another AU story that takes place partly in Africa (overseas Ministry assignment, started pre-DH). Any thoughts on whether I should post what I've written? It would not be updated as frequently as this one.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Muggle Park

Scorpius had never visited a muggle park before. He followed eagerly as Albus led him from one contraption to another and showed him how to use each one. They visited the slide first and Lily convinced them to join her in a game they called Sardine.

The idea was to start with two or three people sitting at the bottom of the slide, then others would slide down sideways until the one at the end fell off. Scorpius did not understand the point and could not see how one knew if he had won or lost, but Lily and Albus were having fun, so he tolerated it.

While they were trying out the swings, whose flimsy ropes Scorpius did not trust, a girl about their age called to Albus. He looked over and asked, "Yes, Elizabeth?"

"Would you push me, please?"

Albus lifted his eyebrows. "Are your parents here? I thought they told you not to talk to me."

Elizabeth giggled. "That was almost a year ago. I'm sure they've forgotten."

"Mine haven't. Anyway, this is my friend Scorpius. He's visiting from Wiltshire. Scorpius, this is Elizabeth. She's the chattiest kid in my class."

"So, will you push me now?"

"Fine." Albus moved behind the swing and pushed so violently that Scorpius cringed, terrified her swing's ropes would break. He expected her to scream in fear or protest as she sailed through the air. Instead, she stretched out, pigtails flying behind her, and squealed in delight.

Scorpius lost interest in her and asked, "Why don't her parents want her to talk to you?"

"No reason. Let's go elsewhere before she gets bored."

Scorpius enjoyed the slide and the swings and even the see-saw, but the carousel was his favorite. As he spun, faster and faster, the snow blurring together around him, he could almost imagine he was on a broom spiralling through the clouds.

Albus rode beside him, whispering, "Imagine we're Quidditch stars, racing broom to broom after the snitch just like our fathers used to. The wind in our hair, the cold dampness of the air far above the stands, the spectators' shouts a faint echo on the breeze, and the snitch always a wand's breadth out of reach. Imagine the snitch shifts direction," and here Albus threw down his foot to stop the carousel and pushed off again, the other way, "and darts off to the left and down, headed straight for the box seat of the Minister of Magic himself! We race after it, enjoying the chase, oblivious to everything else, and the Minister jumps out of our way with a shout of protest. Then it darts upward again, soaring higher and higher, beyond the quaffle and bludgers and other players to be lost in the clouds. We dart after it," Albus threw down his foot again and the carousel careened to a halt, "and we lose it."

Albus was breathing heavily by the time he was done and Scorpius felt disappointed that the game was over. He wondered whether Albus played it with his cousins as well and felt a stab of jealousy at the thought. He put his hand over Albus' on the carousel bar and said quietly, "I caught the snitch."

Albus smiled and turned his hand over to twine their fingers. "Someday I'll take you flying. Then you can catch a real snitch." Scorpius smiled and colored when Albus leaned over to kiss his nose.

"Albus Severus!"

Albus turned away sharply to glare at his brother. "What do you want, James?"

James tossed a football into the air and caught it again. "We're short a few players, but if you'd rather snog your boyfriend ..."

Albus shot off the carousel as if he had seen a snake. Scorpius felt confused and abandoned by his response and wondered if he was angry about being accused of fancying him. Albus tackled James, stole the ball, and tossed it to Scorpius, who fumbled it. As Scorpius watched it fall to the ground and roll through the snow under the carousel, he wondered if he would ever be able to do anything right. He curled up on the carousel and hid his wet eyes behind his knees.

A hand gently stroked his hair. "Scorpius? What's wrong?"

He looked up to see Rose sitting beside him. Then another hand took his and he turned to see Albus on his other side. "What happened?" Albus asked.

"I dropped the ball."

Albus frowned. "So? I didn't warn you before I threw it or anything."

"I can't ... I'm rubbish at games."

"True," Albus started, but Rose slapped him. "Bloody hell, Rose!"

"Don't you dare, Albus!" she snapped and Scorpius shrank further into himself.

"What did I do?"

"Remember what your dad said?" Albus looked at her blankly. Scorpius ducked his head behind his knees again.

Rose resumed stroking Scorpius' hair. "What Albus meant to say is that you've only played football a few times, so of course you're not very good. We've all played since we were babies. You'll catch up."

"I'm rubbish," Scorpius said again.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Albus asked.

"Because I am. I'm a rubbish squib."

"I don't get it," Albus said. "What does being a squib have to do with football?"

Scorpius said, "Everything," at the same moment that Rose said, "Nothing."

Albus did not respond and Scorpius almost looked to see if he was frowning again. Rose continued, "Like your dad said, Scorpius was abused for years and he has really low self-esteem. Any time something goes wrong, like dropping the ball, he blames himself."

"It wasn't his fault," Albus answered. "He never does anything wrong on purpose." He wove his fingers through Scorpius'. "Dad even said he wishes I was more like Scorpius because he's tired of me getting into so much trouble."

Rose sighed. "I remember how angry he was after the warthog incident. I still can't believe he didn't ground you for that."

"He did, just not from visiting Scorpius because he didn't want to punish Scorpius, too." Albus' other hand stroked Scorpius' face. "Look at me, Scorpius."

Scorpius looked up slowly to see Albus staring at him intently. Albus wiped away his tears and kissed his nose again. Rose said, "James hates when you do that."

Albus grinned. "I know, so does Freddy, but I don't care what they think. Scorpius likes it." Scorpius ducked his head to hide his blush.

"You are not rubbish, Scorpius," said Rose. "You're bright and creative and sweet and I bet someday you'll have lots of girls chasing after you." Scorpius shuddered and Rose laughed. Albus whimpered almost inaudibly and Rose amended, "and a few boys, too. But seriously, you'll be a much sweeter boyfriend than most of my cousins, and more down to earth than Sandy."

"I'm too young to date," Scorpius protested. He did not add that he liked hearing Rose say such wonderful things about him just as much as he liked Albus defending him.

Albus nuzzled his hair. "Ready to play some football now?" Scorpius nodded, slowly uncurled himself, and followed them over to the rest of the group. Several muggle children rushed for the carousel the moment they left, but the trio ignored them.

* * *

Author's note: I probably won't post again until late next month. Enjoy. By the way, my favorite scene in the story so far is on the carousel. Also, starting here, I'm adding some major original characters. I hate to do that, but there just aren't enough in canon.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 7: More Like Muggles

Scorpius awoke to the sound of his parents' raised voices and tiptoed to their bedroom door. "Of course I don't mind, but it isn't fair to him," his mother was saying.

"I was home schooled until I was eleven," his father answered.

"As was I, until I went to Hogwarts, but our son will not be going to Hogwarts. Do you plan to home school him forever?"

"Some families do."

"Wizarding families, with wizarding children who never need to learn about the muggle world. Scorpius will be living like a muggle someday and how better to learn than at a muggle school?"

"Where he will be bullied-"

"Because you know so much about that!" his mother snapped.

"Yes, I do, and our son is a perfect target."

His mother breathed deeply before saying, "I spoke with Ginny. She can arrange for Scorpius to be enrolled in the same school her children attend, in Albus' and Rose's class. He will be with others he knows who are not afraid to drive off bullies and in a year or so, when they start Hogwarts, he may be able to defend himself."

"No, Astoria."

"At least let him try. If it isn't working by June, we'll pull him out and home school him."

"How would he get there?" From that question, Scorpius knew his father was about to give in. He thought his mother knew it, too.

"I'll drop him off and pick him up at the Potters' house every day. I'll deal with all the meetings with teachers and all the paperwork. All you have to do is give your consent."

"Fine, just until June, but if he has any trouble at all, I want him home."

"Give him a chance, Draco, a real chance. If he's in real danger, we'll pull him out."

Scorpius heard footsteps, his father's he thought, approaching the door and darted back to his room before it opened. Moments later, his father cracked open the door to look in on him. He burrowed further into his pillow. His father entered the room and sat on his bed beside him. "I don't know what to do, Scorpius. It isn't fair to keep you here, where you have to tiptoe around your grandfather all day, but I'm scared for you. Your mother wants to send you to Albus' school and I know Albus will do his best to defend you, but ... I was a bully, Scorpius, the worst sort, and ... It's just that I know exactly how horrible children can be to each other and I don't want you to suffer the way I've seen others suffer." He sighed. "I guess in the end, it depends what you want."

Scorpius rolled over slowly. "Father?"

"I'm here, love."

"I want to go to Albus' school."

His father took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Scorpius was excited when he and his mother arrived at the Potters' house on Sunday evening. Albus greeted him with a hug and led him to the sitting room, where books and other school supplies littered the table. He approached the table a bit nervously and said, "I don't know how to use half these things."

Albus leaned over to give him the customary kiss on his nose. "You've used a bunch already and the rest you'll learn. The paper's a bit weaker than parchment and the pencils are not as precise or easy to read as quills, but they're a lot less messy. Then there's a ruler, some scissors, tape and glue we used last weekend to make those masks, and ... oh, a calculator. It's kind of like the gameboy, but all you use it for is to do maths. Look."

Scorpius looked over Albus' shoulder as he pressed the buttons for various numbers and symbols. "How's it work?"

"What's two plus three?"

"Five."

"Here. Press '2', then the 'add' sign, then '3', then the 'equal' sign. What do you get?" Scorpius took his time pushing each button carefully. When he pushed the 'equal' sign, he stared in wonder as a five appeared on the window above the buttons. "See?" Albus asked. "It works with really big numbers too."

"Yeah. Father just does a spell to calculate big numbers. I'm glad I can do it without magic now."

"Like Rose is forever telling you, most things we use magic for, muggles have ways to do them, too, even though a lot of the time they aren't as good. But don't worry; we won't make you experience a school bus yet. It might scare you away."

Lily joined them. "I think you already scared him, Al. Mum says to pack everything away until tomorrow and get ready for dinner."

Albus did not look up from the calculator, where Scorpius was experimenting with multiplication and division. "Dad's not home yet."

"He just owled Mum. He'll be late again tonight and Mum wants to eat before Scorpius' mum leaves."

"Fine," Albus huffed and Scorpius smiled. He knew as much as Albus and Lily bickered, they really did care about each other. He wished sometimes when he watched them that he had a sibling to bicker with. He helped Albus put everything in the rucksack that he would carry the next morning and followed Albus to the bathroom to wash up before dinner.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to update. Illness and a family crisis have made it nearly impossible to visit the internet cafe. I should have time to update again at the end of next month.

Please tell me what you think so far, especially if you think this story can be improved.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Prince William Elementary School was a large unremarkable two-story brick building with posters in the windows that did not move and dozens of children milling around out front. Scorpius stared nervously as Albus took one hand and Rose took the other and together, they dragged him after James, Lily, and Hugo, who had run ahead to meet up with friends. "They're really all muggles?" he asked.

Rose laughed. "Most are, as far as we know, but there are other wizarding families living in this area. Now come. I can't show you off if you're hiding."

He found himself being led from one group to another and was surprised to find that most of the children were friendly and politely curious. He let Rose talk for him, explaining that an emergency had come up in his family and his parents had sent him to stay with Albus until it was dealt with. Fortunately, Wiltshire was far enough away that it was unlikely any of the children's families would try to verify the story.

A bell rang from somewhere and the children rushed into the school. Scorpius was swept up with them and clung to Albus' hand like a lifeline. Once they were inside the building, Albus led him to an alcove formed by the frame of a door labelled "Custodial Supplies" until most of the children had passed. Then they headed to a door labelled "Headteacher."

"Windbag's a bit nasty, so it's best to avoid him normally," Albus said of the headteacher, "but today it's unavoidable. You have to meet him."

Albus' mother was waiting at the door and ushered them inside. "Mr Winston," she said, "I would like you to meet Scorpius Malfoy."

"Scorpius, that's quite a name. It's got a bit of a sting to it," the burly man said, as if trying to make a joke. Scorpius did not find it funny and remained expressionless. "Well? Don't you know how to laugh?"

Scorpius remained silent. Albus spoke for him. "It wasn't funny." At a sharp look from his mother, he added petulantly, "Sir."

"Hmm, you didn't mention he's mute," Mr Winston said conversationally.

"You haven't said anything that isn't insulting," Albus answered and his mother gasped.

"Albus Severus! Watch your mouth."

Albus turned to his mother. "When we first met Scorpius, you told us never to insult him because it would just remind him that he's different. Now you're just going to sit there and watch an adult insult him? This is rubbish and I bet Dad wouldn't stand for it."

"Your father isn't here," Mrs Potter said tightly.

"How are you different,Scorpius?" Mr Winston asked.

"None of your bloody business," Albus answered. Scorpius stepped slightly behind him and clutched his hand more tightly.

"Leave, Albus," his mother said. He ignored her.

When she pressed him more strongly to leave, he said, "If I go, I'm taking Scorpius with me. Remember this morning, Dad told me to stay with Scorpius the whole day and no exceptions."

Mrs Potter turned to Mr Winston. "He's impossible when he starts channeling his father. Is it all right if the boys go on to class?"

Mr Winston's face twisted a bit in discomfort, which amused Albus. Finally, he said, "They may go, but Albus will have to submit five hundred lines of 'I will show proper respect to authority' before he goes to class tomorrow morning." Albus shrugged and Scorpius guessed this was not a new punishment.

As they headed to class, Albus said, "Windbag, that's what we call Winston behind his back, doesn't like James and me because we're always getting into trouble. Anyway, I'll write 'I will show proper respect to proper authority' and he won't know the difference. Then if he whines later that I didn't learn, I'll challenge him to define proper authority."

Scorpius gaped at him. "Father would never tolerate behavior like that from me."

"Neither does Dad, but like Mum said, Dad usually isn't here."

When they arrived at the classroom, Albus knocked and waited for the teacher to usher them inside. "Hello," she said, taking Scorpius' hand. "I'm Ms Cooper and you must be Scorpius. Rose, Sandy, and Albus have told me all about you."

"Hello," Scorpius answered nervously.

She smiled at him and said to Albus, "The seat next to yours is empty today. Jeremy is absent this week."

Albus nodded and led Scorpius to their seats, where he showed Scorpius how to open the desk to stow his things. The first lesson of the day was spelling and Scorpius was glad that when they learned how to spell the words, they also learned the definitions. He had never heard of ambulances or skyscrapers or environmentalism (the bonus word) and planned to corner Albus later for clearer explanations.

Mathematics and English were the easiest classes and he beamed when Ms Cooper praised his work. Science was hardest, since he had almost no prior knowledge and all of the other children had been learning it for years. When he complained later to Rose, she joked that at least they were studying plants instead of electronics. Albus declared all science boring except physics, which he could apply to quidditch.

At lunchtime, Scorpius sat between Albus and Rose and across from Sandy and two girls from their class, Jessica and the girl he had met in the park, Elizabeth. Jessica leaned across the table to ask Rose, "Do you know why Jeremy's absent?"

"No," Rose started, but Albus broke in, "Maybe he's suspended."

Elizabeth said, "That's my guess. Did you hear what he did?" At their head shakes, she said, "He showed his privates to Tilly and told her he wanted her to touch them."

"Privates?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

Albus started to answer, but Elizabeth broke in, "Yeah, isn't that disgusting? Anyway, she ran to Ms Mable, who sent Jeremy to Windbag."

"Who's Jeremy?" Scorpius asked.

Abus groaned, "The bane of my existence. His brother Tommy is a year above us and he, Tommy, James, and I all fight constantly. It's kind of sad, though. You met the Flints and Notts. Jeremy and Tommy would never stand a chance against them, or against us if we were that mean."

"Who are the Flints and Notts?" Jessica asked. "Are they cute?"

"Not remotely," Rose said. "In fact, I personally think one of the Flint boys strongly resembles a warthog." Albus and Sandy started laughing. "Seriously, they're a lot worse than Jeremy. They beat up Scorpius so badly once that he was in hospital for weeks. Al and James avenged him, though."

Jessica batted her eyelashes at Albus. "That's so sweet. Would you defend me like that?"

Albus stared at her. Scorpius gripped his hand under the table and hoped he would say no. Rose answered for him. "We might, if we're around, but avenging is reserved for best friends."

Albus twined their fingers and frowned at Scorpius. "Did I miss something?"

"Only Jessica flirting with you," Rose said.

Albus looked between her and Scorpius. "She was?" Rose nodded and Jessica declared him hopelessly dense.

After lunch, they went outside to play in the snow. Albus led Scorpius to a quiet corner of the yard, where Scorpius immediately started asking all of the questions he had saved up so far. Albus laughed as he answered them. When Scorpius finally ran out of questions, for the moment, Albus bent down to scoop up some snow and threw it at Scorpius, who responded in kind. Snowballs turned to wrestling and soon they were wet and muddy from head to toe. When the bell for end of recess rang, they both froze, Albus straddling Scorpius.

Albus started to lean down to kiss Scorpius' nose, but Rose called sharply, "Albus!" They both looked up, startled. Rose glared at them. "Time for class."

Albus stood and helped Scorpius up. "What did we do?"

Rose moved close to whisper. "First, you're both a mess. Second, your kissing games are fine at home, but here ... Well, Windbag is homophobic and he's always looking for things to use against Al."

"But I'm not gay," Albus said.

"He won't see it that way, Al, so just be careful."

Without further comment, the boys followed Rose inside, where Ms Cooper stared at them in horror. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Albus said. "We were just playing."

"You're filthy. Go clean up and change into your PE clothes. If you are not back in two minutes, you will both stay for detention."

Scorpius paled. "Father will ..."

Rose put her hand on his arm. "It'll be okay. Aunt Ginny will cover for you, after she punishes Al."

The rest of the day was uneventful. History and geography were both full of new material, but neither one was difficult. Scorpius got permission from Ms Cooper to borrow the textbooks so he could study the material he had missed, but all he really wanted to do was compare them to his father's wizarding history books.

After school, Scorpius stared at the wall as he had been instructed to do by Ms Cooper. He was not sure what was so bad about doing nothing that she believed it to be a punishment, but he did not argue. Albus was looking at the chalkboard, his forehead furrowed in thought. When Ms Cooper admonished him to just look at the wall, he said, "1984." Scorpius had no idea what that meant, but guessed Albus was referencing something from a history lesson.

Rose knocked and let herself in, her mother close behind her. Mrs Weasley, or Granger, as Scorpius' father preferred to call her, approached the teacher's desk and asked Ms Cooper to explain what was going on. Ms Cooper answered, "Somehow, they managed to get completely filthy at recess and several students reported seeing them fighting. I felt it prudent to punish them immediately before Scorpius can pick up Albus' bad habits."

"I see. And how long do you plan to keep them here?" She looked at the boys and said, "Al, stop scheming. Your dad is not happy with you right now and you do not want to make it worse."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "Why's Dad upset?"

"I think you know why." When Ms Cooper started to protest that talking was not allowed, Mrs Weasley said again, "How long will they be here? I have a lot of errands to run still today."

"Just until 4:00. You can fetch them then."

"Very well." Very quietly, she cast a silencing spell and said to Scorpius and Rose, "I've no idea how to explain this to Draco. He's expecting me to bring you to the Ministry right away and he is insufferable when kept waiting."

Scorpius looked up at her, the alarm clear in his voice. "I thought Mum was meeting me today."

Mrs Weasley shook her head. "Your aunt went into premature labor and your mother escorted her to St Mungo's. Don't worry, she's stable."

In the end, Mrs Weasley went out to the hallway to wait with Rose and the other children. Scorpius was upset to see them leave and spent the rest of the detention watching the clock out of the corner of his eye. At exactly 4:00, Rose returned. "Mum says it's time to go," she announced.

Albus shot out of his seat before Ms Cooper fully registered the interruption. He grabbed Scorpius' hand and pulled him out the door, deaf to Ms Cooper's admonishment that she had not released them yet.

When they arrived at the Ministry, Scorpius' father was predictably annoyed and wanted to know exactly what had happened. Scorpius hung his head as he answered and finished, "It wasn't Albus' fault, Father. Please let me go back tomorrow."

His father looked at Mrs Weasley, who said, "Albus gets in trouble a lot, Draco. It's apparently a Weasley curse to have poor behavior in school. That said, I think you should let Scorpius go tomorrow. He's still learning the rules and needs time to settle in."

"Please, Father," Scorpius begged.

"All right, but only because your mother will insist anyway."

Scorpius hugged his father. "Thank you, Father." His father returned the hug.

Author's Note: Sorry for the really late update. I will try to post the next chapter before the end of this month. To those who reviewed, thank you for your feedback.

I am struggling with this story because I hate putting original characters in fanfiction stories, but for this one, it's unavoidable and some of them will become main characters. Do they work? If not, what do you advise?

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 9: Music

As the week passed, Scorpius found school very difficult. Albus, Rose, and Sandy helped as much as they could and even the others, James, Lily, and Hugo, offered advice at recess and after classes. He managed to figure out the calculator enough to get by in Mathematics, which he quickly decided was his favorite subject. He did not tell the others that was mostly because it was the only subject in which his parents could help him reliably.

On Thursday, he followed the rest of the students to their music class. Ms Windmere, the teacher, greeted him warmly. She began class by asking, "Who can tell Scorpius what we have been doing so far this term?" Several students raised their hands. "Yes, Jessica?"

"We've been learning about Mozart and how to play a piano." Scorpius liked Jessica. She helped him at recess and worked with him in class sometimes when Ms Cooper would not let him work with Albus.

"Very good. How old was Mozart when he began composing?"

"Four!" a boy in the back shouted.

"Yes. He had a disability. What was it?" Scorpius stared at her. Muggles learned about people with disabilities? He was sure his parents had never mentioned a disabled wizard. Albus' glasses did not count.

"He lost his hearing as a boy," Elizabeth answered, "like my cousin."

Ms Windmere raised her eyebrows. "Your cousin lost his hearing?"

"Three years ago in an accident. I've been learning sign language to talk to him." She moved her hands around, making deliberate gestures that meant nothing to Scorpius.

Ms Windmere smiled. "Perhaps for the end-of-year pageant, we can incorporate your talent, Elizabeth." Elizabeth nodded. Ms Windmere picked up a stack of papers from her desk and began passing them around. "Scorpius, these mats I'm handing out show the keys of a piano. Who can show me where the A skarp key is located?"

Jessica, who was sitting beside Scorpius, reached over to tap one of the black boxes that he tried to imagine were on his grandmother's piano. Ms Windmere saw them and asked Jessica to demonstrate for the class, which she did. Jessica asked, "At the end of class, may we jam again?"

"If we have time, now sit down."

As Ms Windmere continued to test the students, Scorpius whispered to Jessica, "What's jam?"

"It means we get to play with all the instruments back there and make our own music." She indicated shelves in the back of the room full of objects Scorpius had never seen before.

"What are all of those?"

Jessica giggled. "You'll see."

Class finished early that day, so Ms Windmere gave the students five minutes to play with whatever instruments they wanted. Scorpius stayed in his seat while the other children rushed to the shelves to claim the instruments they liked. Moments later, Albus sat beside him and handed him a metal frame in the shape of a triangle and a metal wand. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's a triangle." Albus held it up by the rope attached to one corner and hit it with the wand. "See?"

"What's it supposed to do?"

"We use it to make music. It doesn't work so well by itself, but with drums and other instruments, it sounds cool. Now you try."

Scorpius took the rope carefully in one hand and the wand in the other. He gingerly tapped the triangle with the wand. "Like that?"

"Yeah, but harder. It won't break."

Scorpius tried again. Rose sat on his other side, interrupting him. "Trust Al to choose the worst-sounding instruments," she said. "At least it's better than the bloody cymbals he liked last year."

"What are cymbals?"

Scorpius heard clanging from across the room and turned to see a boy banging two gold plates together. Sandy stood by a shelf, his hands over his ears. "Those are cymbals. Don't they sound awful?"

Scorpius winced each time the cymbals clanged and saw Sandy do the same. "They'd terrify the peacocks," he said.

"You have peacocks?" Jessica asked from behind him.

"Grandfather does. I'm not allowed near them, though." Scorpius turned back to Rose. "What's that?" he asked, indicating the wooden objects in her hands.

Rose clicked them together between her thumbs and forefingers. "They're castanets, from Spain. People dance with them by clicking them in rhythm to their dancing." She clicked a simple tune to demonstrate.

Scorpius set down the triangle. "May I try?" Rose handed them over and showed him how to position them in his hands. After a couple minutes, he could manage a very short and simple tune.

"Time's up, class!" Ms Windmere called. The students scurried to return the instruments, then took their seats. "Excellent work today, all of you. See you next week."

The students stood and filed out, Scorpius staying as always near the back. Beside him, Jessica said, "Rose forgot to tell you, castanets are a girls' instrument. Most boys won't touch them."

"I like them," Scorpius answered defensively.

Albus butted in between him and Jessica. "Let him play whatever instruments he wants, Jessie." Jessica huffed and moved up in line to walk beside Elizabeth.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and company belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 10: Jeremy and Tommy

On Monday morning the following week, James was the first to get out of the Potters' car. After a moment's glance toward the school, he turned back to Albus. "Trouble's here."

"Damn," Albus swore, earning a sharp reprimand from his mother, which he ignored. "I forgot about him."

"Who?" Scorpius asked.

"Jeremy Martin. And if he's here, so's his halfwit brother Tommy. Just avoid them and if they give you any trouble, tell one of us."

"Go on, children," Mrs Potter said, herding them into the school.

Scorpius followed Albus into the classroom and they stowed their bags together. Scorpius was just turning when a nasty voice said, "Who's the albino?"

Albus turned first. "Touch him and you'll be sorry, Jeremy."

"I'm so scared, Potter. Is he your boyfriend?"

Albus started to move toward Jeremy, but Rose caught his arm. "Don't," she hissed.

Reluctantly, he backed off and headed to his seat, always keeping himself between Scorpius and Jeremy. What surprised Scorpius most about the encounter was that Albus seemed not at all afraid to confront a boy much larger than himself. "Is he crazy?" he asked Rose.

"Al? He has a distorted sense of danger. He seems to think if he ignores the risks, then they won't apply to him. James is the same way."

After lunch, Scorpius walked with Albus, Sandy, and Rose to the schoolyard for recess. En route, they were waylaid by Jeremy and his bulky brother Tommy. Albus exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked them with annoyance.

"Oh, we just want to meet your new boy toy," Tommy said casually. He reminded Scorpius of the Nott boys. Scorpius suppressed a shudder and resisted the urge to step behind Rose.

"Tommy, Jeremy, Scorpius," Rose said shortly. "You've met. Now go away."

"Scorpius?" Tommy asked. "What kind of bloody name is that? It's almost as stupid as Albus, or Lysander."

"Does he sting?" Jeremy added.

"Bugger off," Albus growled. Jeremy stepped closer. Albus shoved him hard and soon the two were fighting. Scorpius glanced around for teachers and turned back when he felt a hand on his arm. Tommy had grabbed him.

"Let him go," Rose snapped.

Tommy smirked at Jeremy and Albus as they fought. "Make me," he said out of the corner of his mouth. He adjusted his grip to twist Scorpius' arm painfully and dig his nails into Scorpius' skin.

Rose punched him. He released Scorpius in surprise and brought his hands to his face, where blood was pouring from his nose. "You bitch," he snarled as well as he could while pinching his nose.

Sandy caught Scorpius as he was flung sideways by Tommy's movement. Rose laughed at Tommy and took Scorpius' hand. "Come on."

"What about Albus?"

"He'll get another detention."

"No, I mean-"

"He'll be fine, Scorpius. Now let's go." He followed Rose and Sandy obediently out to the schoolyard, where they distracted him by inviting him to help Jessica and Elizabeth make a big dog out of snow. He worried the whole time, though. Albus and Jeremy never appeared at recess and that afternoon, they never returned to class.

After school, Scorpius sat in his seat doing homework while he waited for Mrs Potter. Albus walked into the classroom as if he owned it, Jeremy following him and glaring at his back. "Go straight to your seats," Windbag said behind them.

Scorpius leapt out of his seat and wrapped his arms around Albus. "You're okay."

Albus looked at him in confusion. "Of course I'm okay." Albus tried to pull away, but Scorpius tightened his hold. "Are you okay?"

"I was scared. When you didn't come back to class, I thought something horrible had happened."

Albus hugged Scorpius back. "I was hanging out with Windbag. I thought up a poem for you." He chuckled. "Mum can be glad I wasn't scheming for once."

"Albus Potter! In your seat, now!" Scorpius immediately released Albus, who was still chuckling as he sat. Windbag snapped, "What is so funny, Mr Potter?"

Albus started laughing harder. Scorpius shared a look with Rose, who had also been working on her homework. Sandy did not look up from his book. Ms Cooper shook her head at Windbag and Scorpius guessed she recognized the futility of further punishment. Windbag ignored her and approached Albus' desk. "Albus Potter!"

Albus looked up and asked through his chuckles, "Yes, sir?"

"What is so funny?"

"Mum told me not to scheme next time you make me stare at the wall. She'll be proud I have not schemed once all day. Of course that's partly because Jeremy's so predictable."

"How is that funny?"

"It's a Weasley thing. I can't explain." Albus had finally managed to get his giggles under control and was grinning broadly. Scorpius wanted to cower on his behalf.

James interrupted further talk when he burst in and announced, "Time to go!"

"Albus has detention again," Rose said.

"I know. I wish I'd seen it. And you, Rose. Emily said you were brilliant!"

Windbag looked between Rose and James. James turned to Albus and the two boys grinned at each other. Scorpius wondered how they could get away with such blatant disrespect. "I haven't schemed today," Albus said and James laughed. Windbag started to turn color. "I composed a poem instead."

"Albus Severus!" Everyone turned to the door as Albus' father entered, looking frighteningly angry.

"Dad!" Albus answered happily. "I thought Mum-"

"What happened this time?"

Albus blinked and his mood evaporated. Scorpius quietly moved further away and sat beside Sandy, who was watching with interest. "Jeremy and Tommy were picking on Scorpius and I didn't like it."

"So you started a fight."

"Not exactly. Jeremy wouldn't let us pass, so I pushed him out of the way. He hit me first. And Tommy grabbed Scorpius so hard I bet he has a bruise."

Mr Potter looked at Scorpius and Sandy. Rose said, "He's telling the truth. Show him your arm, Scorpius."

Scorpius obeyed and Mr Potter's eyes narrowed. He asked Windbag, "Where is Tommy now?"

"He had to go home. His nose started bleeding and it wouldn't stop, so the nurse thought it best-"

"What is his punishment?"

"Punishment?" Windbag asked. "For what?"

Mr Potter nodded toward Scorpius. "Those bruises. I work in law enforcement, Mr Winston, and I can tell a deliberate injury when I see it. I expect that boy to be punished and if he is not, my two sons will not serve any more detentions because of him or his brother. Understood?"

"Do not threaten me, Mr Potter."

Mr Potter took his mobile phone from his pocket and dialled a number. "Hello, Janet. Is Officer Miller there?" He lowered the phone and said to Windbag, "My friend at the police."

"Ex-girlfriend," James told Scorpius.

"You can't," Windbag started, but Mr Potter was talking into the phone again.

"Cho, I'd like to report a possible case of neglect. I'm at Prince William Elementary right now looking at a very bad bruise on Scorpius' arm.... Yes, Draco's son. A boy in James' class inflicted it and from what I've learned so far, it doesn't sound like typical schoolboy fighting." Mr Potter paused and started laughing. "No, not like Draco, who will be furious about this, by the way. So, could you look into it? Jeremy and Tommy Martin. They live over on Deerfield Way. Thank you." He put his phone away.

Windbag glared at him. James looked gleeful and Albus looked like he was trying hard to remain expressionless, but his lips kept quirking up at the edges. "What did you do?" Ms Cooper asked.

"My boys have been attending this school for almost five years," Mr Potter said, "and right from the beginning, they have complained about the Martin boys. Until now, I thought they were exaggerating, or perhaps egging the boys on, but this," he gently took Scorpius' wrist and pulled back his sleeve. "Look at it."

Scorpius looked at the bruise for the first time. It was dark purple and he could still see the marks where Tommy had dug in his fingernails. In three places, his nails had broken the skin, but Scorpius had not even noticed he was bleeding. "That looks horrible," Ms Cooper said.

"Scorpius is quiet and timid," Mr Potter said. "He does not fight. Bullying I expected, being taunted or shoved around. But Tommy deliberately grabbed him to inflict pain knowing he would not fight back. If he is not stopped now, he will do worse in the future and Scorpius will not be his only target. In fact," Mr Potter released Scorpius and moved to stand directly in front of Windbag, where he held his gaze. "I expect Tommy has hurt others and you are either unaware of it or unwilling to do anything about it. If I learn the latter is the case, I will bring this before the school board."

"Go Dad," James whispered. Rose shushed him.

"I will look into it," Windbag said in irritation.

"See that you do. Come, children. Albus, you, too."

Rose took Scorpius' hand and dragged him out of the room, James and Sandy close behind. In the corridor, Albus turned to his father. "You were brilliant, Dad!"

"And you are grounded." Albus started to protest, but his father held up a hand. "I know you were defending Scorpius, but I don't understand how you could get detention four times in just over a week because of him and fewer than a dozen times this year because of Lily."

"Lily's a girl," James said, "and boys get picked on way more than girls."

"I don't," Sandy started.

Albus interrupted him. "Lily can take care of herself, but Scorpius hasn't learned how yet. And I don't care how much you and Windbag punish me. I'm still protecting him." When they reached the parking lot, Albus took Scorpius' wrist and spun him around. Scorpius squeaked and heard the others chuckle in response. Then Albus kissed his nose. "I've wanted to do that all day."

Scorpius hugged him and once they were in the car, he cuddled against him . "Thank you," he whispered.

Albus returned the hug. "For what?"

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. I don't have an excuse except that I hate this chapter and would cut it out of the story if I could. It also refused to be modified. I'll post the next chapter no later than next Monday, assuming the rains don't destroy the internet connection again.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 11: The Birthday Party

Scorpius was glad when the week-long holiday from school began. As much as he enjoyed school, usually, he needed a break. Best of all, his birthday was two days after Easter and his parents had given him permission to have a party at the Manor. In truth, the party was Albus' idea, not his, but the Weasley children (and Sandy, who was also an honorary Weasley) were eager to visit the Manor and he could not wait to show it to them.

His mother laughed as she watched him rushing from one thing to another, trying to ensure it was all perfect. He had never hosted a party before, or attended one hosted by his peers, so he felt nervous as well as excited. "Relax, love," his mother admonished. "The house elves have already prepared everything and they are very good at it, you know."

"But I can't sit still." He looked at the ornate grandfather clock by the stairway. The minute hand had crept only five minutes since the last time he checked. "Still ten minutes to go. I hope they're early."

Three minutes later, one of the house elves appeared. "Visitors is here for Master Scorpius, Ma'am."

Scorpius jumped out of his seat and looked at his mother, who smiled at him. "Go on." He raced to the door.

The moment the door opened, Albus embraced him and nearly knocked him over. Behind Albus, Rose said, "Your gardens are beautiful and I can't wait to see them again after the snow melts."

Scorpius returned Albus' hug and panicked when he could not remember the words his mother had taught him to invite guests in properly. "I, uh, welcome," he stammered.

Lily said, "I hope that means we can come in. It's cold out here."

"Yeah," Scorpius mumbled, looking at the floor. "I've never had a party before. I don't know what to do."

Albus lifted his chin. "For starters, you have to smile. If you're happy, we will be, too." Scorpius smiled weakly. Albus kissed his nose and the smile grew.

He heard the door close and looked up to see Mrs Potter. "Happy birthday, Scorpius," she said. "Hugo's home sick. He asked if he can visit another time."

"Yeah, of course. Mum's in the drawing room."

The group followed him slowly. They stopped several times to gaze at portraits of his ancestors and vases full of flowers. At one point, Rose stopped before a portrait of an especially severe man, Scorpius' great great uncle maybe, and stuck out her tongue. "Well, I never!" said the man and another in the next portrait over said, "The impudence! I always thought Lucius should have been stricter with that boy!"

Scorpius giggled and Albus put an arm around him. "See? We're easy to entertain."

Beside them, Sandy said, "I think that man has sisyphers in his brain."

"Has what where?" Scorpius asked. He rarely had any idea what Sandy was talking about, but he kept trying anyway. His parents said Sandy's mother, whom his father called Lovegood, was crazy.

"Sisyphers," Sandy said. "They burrow into your brain and make it hard to think nice thoughts. After a few months, if you don't drive them out with a Sheshery potion, you become completely miserable."

Scorpius had never heard of sisyphers or sheshery potion, but he did not ask further questions.

When they reached the drawing room, Mrs Potter stood for some time at the doorway. "It's just like they described," she said.

His mother answered, "Draco wants to redecorate - too many bad memories from the war - but his father forbids it. I think sometimes he does things deliberately to goad Draco."

"Why don't you get your own place?"

"We've talked about it, but Draco can't imagine living anywhere else and as much as I'd love to move, I don't want to take Scorpius away from him. Maybe as Scorpius gets older, we can get a second home in London where he can bring muggle friends, but not now."

Scorpius wondered what had happened during the war that made his father dislike the room. His father rarely mentioned the war and never in detail, unlike his grandfather, who spoke as if the war was the best part of his life. Rose interrupted his thoughts. "The sweets are excellent. Did your mother make them?"

"No, the house elves did. They're very good cooks."

"I'll have to ask them for some of the recipes. Come, join us."

He followed her over to the hearth, where Freddy had arranged the others in a rough circle on the floor. Albus patted the carpet next to him. Scorpius sat and immediately, Albus leaned his head on Scorpius' shoulder. "Tired?" Scorpius asked.

"No, just cuddly." To Freddy, he said, "So what now?"

"Now we play a game called continuous story. I'll begin by starting a story. Then James will pick up where I left off and we'll continue around the circle until the story ends, but everyone has to have a turn first. Understand?"

"Yes," Lily said. "Hugo isn't here to mess it up this time."

Freddy began his story. "It was a dull and dreary day in the swamp where Cadmus the warthog lived. He stared mournfully out of his hole in the ground and wished the rain would stop. Already his home was starting to flood. James?"

James picked up, "Cadmus was upset about his home, of course, but he was even more upset that he would not be able to visit his beloved Jeremina. Jeremina was the most beautiful troll in the swamp and he loved to gaze at her for hours, but with the rain so bad, he could not even cross the swamp safely."

Lily continued, "He knew it would not be much fun gazing in the rain anyway. Jeremina usually only terrorized people and killed livestock and destroyed homes when the sky was clear. She thought the moonlight made her look more graceful. He decided to pass the time by writing her a letter. Maybe his mermaid friend Murmur could deliver it for him."

Albus broke in. "Cadmus tried several times to write the letter, but he was not very good at writing and he could not think of anything flattering to say besides 'your hair shines like a halo in the moonlight.' So he wrote that and tucked the letter in a bit of plastic, then called, 'Murmur! Murmur, are you there?'"

Scorpius thought for over a minute before continuing the story. He envied Albus' ability to make up stories on the spot about anything in the world. Finally, he said, "Of course, Cadmus had a terrible memory. Murmur, wife of Thaddeus, had died six months before of mysterious injuries. Thaddeus claimed she had been beaten by a troll and accused Jeremina, but on her deathbed, Murmur told her friend Jessica that Thaddeus himself had beaten her."

"With help from his brother Tiberius," Rose continued. "Cadmus, of course, knew his Jeremina was innocent, but he also believed his merfriends could do no wrong. So he called Tiberius, who came just before dusk. Cadmus sent him with the letter, but he had other ideas. He would deliver it, of course, but with a gift he would say was from Cadmus."

Sandy said, "An hour later, Tiberius met Jeremina at her hovel. 'Greetings, beautiful lady,' he said. She was flattered and let him in. He gave her the letter and a parcel, saying, 'I do not know what it contains, but I am sure for you, Cadmus would give only the best.' She took them and was reading the letter as Tiberius slipped out."

"She enjoyed the letter immensely," Roxie said. "When she was finished reading about how her ten hairs looked in the moonlight, she opened the package and found a pretty silver locket with a blue stone in the center that glowed in the moonlight conveniently shining through the window, even though it was still raining. She was enchanted and put it on."

Freddy continued, "Immediately, it began to burn her flesh, but she could not pull it off. She could see smoke rising from her skin and ran into the rain, but the burning continued. Slowly it spread through her whole body and she died in great agony. Tiberius watched from the shadows and when she was dead, he took the locket and left."

"When her body was found the next day," James said, "her brother Tommy accused Cadmus and challenged him to a duel. Cadmus accepted, but the ground was slippery and he was a poor fighter, so Tommy won easily. Tommy never saw the arrow trained on him in the bushes, though, and did not live long to celebrate his victory."

"Meanwhile," Lily said, "Thaddeus and Tiberius were celebrating their good fortune when the same archer found them and shot them as well. As he was dying, Thaddeus saw her steal the locket and slip back into the shadows. He knew it was Jessica, but he was too weak to do anything about it."

"Well," Rose said, "That was really lame, Freddy."

"I couldn't get the image of a warthog out of my head. Do you have a better idea?"

"Of course." She began a new story.

They played three more rounds and each time, Scorpius felt a bit bolder. Albus started whispering compliments to him each time he took a turn. When Freddy declared an end to the game to go eat, Albus said, "You're getting more confident. I bet by this time next year, you'll be making up stories as good as ours." Scorpius smiled and kissed Albus' nose. Albus pushed him back onto the carpet and straddled him. "I was wondering when you'd start returning my kisses." Albus rubbed the tip of his nose against Scorpius' nose and Scorpius stilled, trying to understand this new game. "You're supposed to rub back," Albus said.

"I don't know what you're doing," Scorpius said quietly.

From somewhere nearby, Freddy said, "It's called 'how affectionate will you let Albus get before telling him to bugger off?' Feel free to shove him away anytime."

Scorpius turned from Freddy back to Albus. "I like it. I don't want you to go."

Albus rubbed his nose again. "I'm not going anywhere, Scorpius."

Lily crouched beside them. "Any chance we can cut the cake now? It looks delicious."

Albus reluctantly stood and pulled Scorpius up after him. The three walked together to the table with the cake, where Rose handed Scorpius the knife. He waited while his mother lit the ten candles and blushed when the group sang a very off-key version of "Happy Birthday." Rose touched his arm. "Make a wish and blow out the candles, Scorpius."

He tried, but the candles were too far apart. "Does that mean my wish won't come true?" he asked.

Albus hugged him from behind. "It depends how badly you want it. But it doesn't matter, really. It's all superstition anyway."

Scorpius blew out the last two candles thoughtfully, then carefully began to cut the cake, making sure every piece was the same size. "I bet he does well in mathematics," James told Rose.

Rose nodded. "He finds it more familiar than most other subjects."

The children enjoyed the cake as much as they had the other sweets and when it was gone, Freddy said excitedly, "Time for presents!"

"Presents?" Scorpius asked.

"Over there." Lily pointed to the couch, where half a dozen or so wrapped packages were piled.

Rose took Scorpius' hand and led him to the pile, where Albus held out a small package for him. He sat on the edge of the couch, took it, and carefully broke open the paper without ripping it. "You open presents like Roxie," Freddy said, "daintily, like they'll break if the paper rips."

"Stop it, Freddy," Rose scolded.

Scorpius eventually managed to remove all of the wrapping paper and opened the box inside. He pulled out two silver statues, a centaur and a hippogriff. When he set them on the table, the centaur stomped its hoof and the hippogriff flapped its wings. Scorpius giggled. "Thank you, Rose. And please thank Hugo, too. I wish I had a real hippogriff."

"Hagrid has some," said Freddy. "He's one of the Hogwarts professors. If you come visit, I'll introduce you."

"Will he let me ride one?"

Freddy shrugged. "He does sometimes, but he's a bit random about it. Open the next one."

Inside were two more games for Scorpius' Gameboy, MahJongg and Zelda. Scorpius had never heard of either one. "We got MahJongg because you like puzzles," Albus explained, "and it's short if you want to play something quick. Zelda's different, but it's James' favorite. You control a boy who walks around collecting things and fighting bad guys and trying to save the princess."

"It sounds confusing."

"It is at first, but I'll teach you."

From Lily Scorpius got a plush warthog, which made everyone laugh. "I am not naming it Cadmus," he said. From Sandy he got some books by a muggle fantasy author. Freddy gave him some candies and trinkets from his father's joke shop and an envelope from Roxie contained a homemade card with a silly poem inside. Scorpius felt overwhelmed and a bit embarassed. He wanted everyone to leave so that he could process everything that had happened that day, but then he felt guilty about his unfriendly thoughts.

His mother came to his rescue. "Scorpius looks worn out," she said.

Mrs Potter added, "And it's getting late. Come, children. Time to go home."

Albus held back the longest and rubbed Scorpius' nose again before following his mother out. Scorpius tried to rub back, but he was clumsy and missed Albus' nose entirely. Albus grinned in amusement.

Scorpius' friends had not been gone long when his grandfather swept into the room, looking as unfriendly as ever. "Whose idea was it to have blood traitors in this house?" he asked.

Scorpius' mother said in irritation, "Scorpius wanted a party and Draco suggested it be here."

"Is that so? And where is my wayward son?"

His mother ignored the question and turned to start ordering house elves to clean the room. Scorpius stayed close to her, the plush warthog hugged against him.

"You will answer when I speak to you, Astoria." His mother glared at his grandfather silently and turned back to the house elves. His grandfather turned to him. "What is that ugly thing you're holding?"

"A warthog," Scorpius said quietly.

His grandfather took it from him, smirked at his mother's demand that he return the toy, and asked, "Would you like to know what happens to people who defy me, Astoria? This." He levitated the warthog into the air, pointed his wand at it, and said, "Incendio."

Scorpius cried out as his new toy burst into flames. His grandfather looked at him cruelly. Scorpius grabbed his remaining new possessions and fled the room. Behind him, he heard his mother speaking angrily.

Once in his room, Scorpius locked the door and curled up under his favorite quilt, one his mother had made a couple years before from the clothes and blankets he had used when he was younger. He hugged the dragon from Albus against his chest and whispered to it through his tears, "I hate my grandfather."

Scorpius awoke sometime later to the sound of his door unlocking. He tensed and buried his dragon under his blanket. "Scorpius?" It was his father's voice and he sounded worried.

Scorpius sat up reluctantly. "Yes, Father?"

A moment later, his father sat beside him. "Your mother told me what happened today. She said you enjoyed the party."

"I did. My friends liked coming here. But Grandfather ..."

"What he did was uncalled for, love. Astoria asked me again to find another house. I think ... I don't want to move, but I think she's right."

"I want to go now. Please?"

"Be patient, love. We don't have anywhere else to stay right now. If your grandfather does anything else to hurt you, tell me immediately."

"I will. Father?"

"Yes, Scorpius?"

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course." His father tucked him in and was still stroking his hair when he fell asleep. He never heard his father place the wards on his door and around his room before slipping out.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry potter belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 12: Back to School

On the first day back at school, Ms Cooper greeted her class with a quiz to determine how much they had forgotten. Scorpius tried hard and was one of the last to finish, but most of the material, which covered everything since September, he had never learned. At the end, he submitted his quiz and said to Albus, "I failed."

Albus raised his hand immediately. "Ms Cooper, will you mark Scorpius' quiz differently? He never read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

"I will take into consideration how long Scorpius has been here, Albus."

Albus grinned at Scorpius. The rest of the morning was spent on revision. Ms Cooper gave up trying to tell Albus to stop talking during class. She realized, Scorpius thought, that Albus was simply explaining the review topics that Scorpius had never learned. Granted, he was adding his own interpretations, but they made a lot more sense than most of what Ms Cooper was saying.

At lunchtime, Scorpius and Albus were eating when James joined them. "Guess what, Al?"

Albus looked at his brother. "No idea."

"Tommy's gone. Melissa's his neighbor and she says his parents took him somewhere last week and he never returned home."

"Sadly, Jeremy did not go with him." Albus looked calculatingly toward Jeremy's table. "Think we should chat with him at recess?"

"But of course," James said.

Scorpius looked between them, then at Jeremy, confused. "Isn't it better to stay away?"

Albus laughed and hugged Scorpius. "Maybe, but I want to know what happened to Tommy and who better to tell me than his dear brother?"

"Can't we just ask Ms Cooper?"

"She won't tell you," James said. "She'll say information about other students is confidential. Dad's the same way, so we're used to it. Anyway, Jeremy's more likely to tell the truth."

"I still think it's a bad idea."

Albus said, "If Ms Cooper asks, I'll tell her you tried to talk us out of it. Time to go."

They turned to watch Jeremy stand and hand the lunch attendant his food tray. Scorpius remained in his seat while the other two followed him out. Almost immediately, Jessica and Elizabeth took the vacated seats. Elizabeth handed Scorpius an envelope and they both looked at him expectantly.

Scorpius opened the envelope, pulled out a card with a picture of a dalmation wearing a pointed hat, and read:

You are invited to Lizzie's birthday party this Saturday from 10:00 to 2:00. It will be held at Lizzie's house, 56 Crestview Lane.

Scorpius had no idea how to respond. He felt a little guilty for not inviting her to his party, but his parents would not have allowed any muggles to attend anyway. Then he wondered if they would let him go. "I'll have to ask my parents," he said carefully. "I hope as long as Albus goes they will let me join him."

Elizabeth colored. "Um, Albus isn't invited."

Scorpius' eyes widened. "Why not?"

"My parents don't like him. They say he causes too much trouble and is a bad influence on me."

"Then I don't think I can go. I've never been allowed to go anywhere without Albus and my parents don't know your family. Normally, I'd ask him to convince them for me, but if he isn't going ... I'm sorry."

"Can you ask anyway? Rose and Sandy are coming and we'd really like you to be there."

Scorpius nodded. "It's just ... they'll probably say no." He did not add that he was terrified to go anywhere without Albus. He knew he was becoming dependent on the other boy, but he also knew that, except with his parents, he had never felt as safe as he did when Albus was with him. Rose protected him, too, and Sandy, he supposed, but they were less obvious about it. If he did go to the party, he would stay close to them the whole time.

At recess, Scorpius found Rose first and handed her the invitation. She smiled. "Are you going?"

"I don't think I can. She's muggle and my father wouldn't approve. Besides, she said Albus can't go."

"I'm not surprised. Her parents hate Albus. At her last party, he snogged her on a dare and her brother punched him for it. Of course, Albus fought back and ... well, her mum called Aunt Ginny and they fought, then by the end, Al was grounded for a month, Elizabeth wouldn't even look at him for the rest of the school year, and her parents still want nothing to do with anyone in Al's family."

Scorpius frowned. "I thought she fancied Albus?"

Rose looked over at Elizabeth and Jessica, who were handing out more cards. "Yeah, I think she does. James thinks so, too, and says it's like Romeo and Juliet."

Scorpius shook his head. "No; he doesn't fancy her. I don't think he even notices her most of the time."

"I agree. James and Lily think he likes you."

"I'm a boy. He said he doesn't like boys. Besides, he told me you fancy me."

Rose blushed and looked away. "Silly, isn't it? I can beat up Jeremy and Thaddeus and never think twice, but I can't tell a friend I fancy him."

He mulled over her words. "You fancy me?"

"Yeah." She giggled awkwardly. "Beating up Thaddeus is definitely easier than this."

"I don't know how I feel. I thought I did, but now I'm all confused."

"It's okay. Mum says we're too young anyway. She thinks I shouldn't even snog anyone until I'm twenty."

"How did she react to Albus snogging Elizabeth?"

"She and his mum lectured him about the dangers of romance and sex. He told me later it was mortifying."

"Who lectured who about what?"

They both turned to see Albus grinning at them, James and Sandy just behind him, and blushed. Scorpius stammered, "Did, uh, did you learn anything, er, new?"

Albus took Scorpius' hand in his. "You okay? You sound kind of spooked."

Scorpius shook his head and looked at the ground. Rose asked, "What were you three up to?"

"Al and I were just chatting with Jeremy," James said. "He said Tommy's been sent to another school that specializes in children with behavior problems. He'll be there at least through summer."

"Ah. And he told you all this willingly?"

"More or less. Anyway, he won't bother Scorpius again," Albus said triumphantly.

"Thanks, I think," Scorpius said.

Albus twined his and Scorpius' fingers. "Look at me, love." Scorpius looked up with some difficulty. "If he does anything to hurt you, tell one of us immediately, even Lily or Hugo, and we'll deal with him."

Scorpius swallowed. "Okay."

* * *

After school that day, Albus and James both served detention. From what Scorpius could understand, neither one of them cared.

When his mother arrived to take him home, Scorpius asked about Albus' and James' behavior. His mother sighed and asked him to wait until they returned to the manor. Once there, she said, "For as long as I've known them, the Potter boys have been troublesome. They are kind and generous and considerate on one hand, but on the other, they are extraordinarily curious about everything and have very little respect for rules or authority. I've noticed that those who meet them tend either to love them or hate them."

"What about you and Father? Do you love or hate them?"

His mother laughed. "I think they're the perfect friends for you and I'm pretty sure your father agrees. Your grandfather hates them and your grandmother enjoys hearing about them, but I am not sure whether she has met them."

"I think they're wonderful."

"I know, love."

"Albus calls me 'love', too. Why?"

"I think there are a few reasons. First, his family is very affectionate and they use endearments with each other. Second, Albus and Rose especially are very fond of you."

"Rose fancies me, but she said her mother forbids her to snog me until she's twenty. That's forever."

His mother smiled. "I know, love, and I think you should also listen to Rose's mother. Albus fancies you, too, you know."

"I don't understand that. He says he isn't gay, but lots of people have told me he fancies me. Wouldn't that make him gay?"

"I have no idea, Scorpius. You'll have to ask Albus that question."

While they were chatting, Scorpius' father flooed home from the Ministry. Scorpius' mother stood to greet him and Scorpius watched them silently. His mother gently removed his father's travel cloak, caressing his shoulders as she did so. She turned to hang the cloak on a nearby hook and his father moved with her, pressing against her back and wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned her head back and they kissed for several seconds over her shoulder. His father's hands started to move up his mother's chest, but she pushed them away and gasped, "Scorpius."

He answered instinctively, "Mother?"

His father pulled away from his mother reluctantly and joined him on the couch. "How was school?"

"Awkward. Elizabeth invited me to her birthday party, but she didn't invite Albus."

"She's one of the muggles in your class?"

"Yeah. She invited Rose and Sandy, but without Albus there, I don't think I'd like it. I really want to go to a muggle party, though."

His father turned to his mother and he was sure they were talking with their eyes. When he turned back to Scorpius, he said, "I don't want you to go, not this time. Give yourself more time to get to know your classmates, then go to a party that Albus can attend."

"Will I ever be able to invite my classmates to visit me?"

"Yes, but not here. I spent this morning looking at houses and found a couple I like. I will bring your mother to look at them tomorrow and within a couple weeks, we should be able to move."

"Are they all wizarding homes?" his mother asked.

"They are all wizard-owned, but some belonged to halfbloods and mud-, er, muggle-borns. One of the ones I like most belongs to a witch who married a muggle. Its only down side is that it is near the Weasel part of Ottery St Catchpole."

His mother smiled widely. "That would be perfect, love! Close to Scorpius' friends and school, in a mixed community. I want to see that house first."

"I want to go, too," Scorpius said.

"If I like it, I'll bring you after school," his mother said. "Why has it not been bought already?"

"It's priced too high for most wizards to afford, but the owner refuses to negotiate. Her name's Hazel Thomson if that means anything to you."

His mother shook her head. "Money isn't an issue for us," she said unnecessarily.

Scorpius broke in, "Please, can we move to Ottery St Catchpole? I want to be able to visit Albus and Rose on my own without apparating or flooing."

"We'll talk tomorrow," his mother said, "now go get ready for dinner."

Scorpius stood reluctantly. As he left the room, he heard his parents kissing again behind him. He considered turning around - his parents rarely displayed such affection in front of him - but between kisses, his mother was telling his father what he had said about Rose and Albus, his father was chuckling in response, and he did not want to know what look his father might be giving him.

* * *

Author's Note: For those who are wondering, the decision to move has been slow in coming. Astoria's been pushing for it for years. Scorpius does not know all the details, so neither will you.

Thank you for the reviews.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 13: A New Home

After school the next day, James had detention for fighting with a boy a couple classes ahead of him. Scorpius, Albus, and Rose hung out in their classroom to wait for their ride home. Lily and Hugo joined them after most of the students had left.

Over a game of cards, Albus asked, "Do any of you know why James got detention?"

Hugo said, "I heard that an older boy insulted Lily and James threatened to beat him up if he didn't take it back. Windbag caught them fighting."

Rose turned to Lily. "Is that true?" Lily nodded. "What did the boy say?" She shook her head.

Albus put his arm around her and she quickly hid her cards. "I'm not peeking, Lily. I'm just worried. Tell us what he said."

Lily shook her head again. "You'll just beat him up, too. I'm tired of everyone fighting over me, Al."

"Me, too," Scorpius said quietly.

Albus glanced at him, then turned back to Lily. "But we like defending you and we don't mind getting in trouble."

"Mum and Dad hate it and whenever they get mad at you for protecting me, I feel guilty."

"I don't. You're my little sister; I'm supposed to protect you."

Scorpius started to say something, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Scorpius looked up. "Father?"

His father glanced at him, then turned to Ms Cooper as Mr Potter introduced them. "Mr Malfoy," Ms Cooper said, "a pleasure to meet you. Your son is a delightful student and a quick learner."

Scorpius stood and walked over. His father took his hand and asked, "How was school today?"

"It was good. Albus didn't get in trouble once." Mr Potter laughed.

"Maybe you're having a positive influence on him." Scorpius grinned and his father continued, "I came by because your mother likes the house I told you about last night. She wants me to bring you over right away."

"Can Albus come?"

His father looked at Mr Potter, who said, "Fine with me."

Albus hugged his father, who crouched to hug him back. "Thanks, Dad." He rested his head on his father's shoulder and whispered, "Lily's really upset. James knows why." Then he let go and grabbed Scorpius' hand.

They had barely entered the corridor when Windbag waylaid them. "I don't think we've met," he said.

Scorpius' father answered tersely, "We haven't."

"Where are you going with these children?"

"My affairs are not your concern, muggle."

"These children are my concern, mister, and they are not authorized to go anywhere with you." Windbag placed himself between them and the stairwell. Slowly, Scorpius' father reached for his wand.

Mr Potter came up behind them and asked, "Is there a problem, Mr Winston?" He rested his hand on Scorpius' father's wand arm and Scorpius was sure the gesture was meant as a warning.

"Who is this man?"

"Scorpius' father, Draco Malfoy. I gave Albus permission to leave with him today, which Ms Cooper can confirm."

"You did not use proper channels."

"My apologies. I shall have to ask your secretary to explain the process to me again." To the others, he said, "Go on, Draco. Stop by tonight for dinner if you have time."

Scorpius' father nodded and ushered them down the stairwell. Outside, they turned to walk between the rubbish bins and the moment they were hidden, Scorpius' father held out his arm for them to grip and they disapparated.

They landed in a tastefully decorated foyer. An elderly woman Scorpius had never met greeted them. "Welcome back, Draco. This must be Scorpius; aren't you a dear? And who's your friend?"

"Dotty," Albus whispered. To the woman he said, "I'm Albus Potter, Ma'am. It's an honor to meet you." Scorpius wondered if Albus should take up a career in acting. He seemed almost charming for a moment.

"Harry Potter's son?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

She turned to Scorpius' father. "I did not realize you and Harry are friends."

He lifted an eyebrow. "I was not aware that it mattered."

"No, of course it doesn't. Come along, children. I'm sure you are eager to see the house."

They followed the woman, Hazel, as she showed off and described each room. She had been a Ravenclaw, they learned, and her study was decorated in blue and bronze to reflect that. Scorpius put his hand on Albus' shoulder to pull him back and whispered, "Mother will want to redecorate it. She thinks bronze looks dirty."

Albus leaned back against him. "Silver would make the room a lot brighter," he said. Scorpius agreed.

On the second floor, the boys glanced briefly at the large master bedroom before locating the largest of the other bedrooms. It had a thick carpet on which Albus collapsed while Scorpius explored the walk-in closet, bay window, built-in bookshelves, and attached bathroom. Albus held out his hand and when Scorpius finished exploring, he took it and let Albus pull him onto the floor. Albus rubbed noses with him. He was trying to rub back when his father interrupted them.

"What do you think, Scorpius?"

"I love it. I want to live here, Father."

His father turned to Hazel. "It's settled, then. We'll buy the house."

Hazel nodded and led his father away. Scorpius turned back to Albus. "Do you like it?"

Albus looked around. "This room's as big as mine and James' put together and this whole house is huge. And I'd give anything not to have to share a bathroom with my siblings."

"I think that's why Father likes it. The only place he's ever lived besides the manor is Hogwarts."

"It's too big for me, but I'll enjoy visiting. The gardens are nice, too, and there's a lot more room for flying here than at home."

They lapsed into silence for a while, just lying side by side with their fingers intertwined. Scorpius said quietly, "I want my bed right here."

Albus shifted onto his side facing Scorpius and asked, "What will the rest of the room look like?"

"Lots of pillows by the window, my desk in that corner with a bookcase for school books, one set of built-in shelves for books and nice things and the other for toys."

"Where would the gameboy and dragon I gave you go?"

"The gameboy's a toy, so with toys. The dragon's special. It sleeps with me." Scorpius sighed. "I wish we could move today."

"I wish you could, too. I'll help you pack, if you want."

Scorpius smiled. "I'd like that."

From the doorway, his mother said, "Time to go, love. We'll move in next Monday while your father's at work."

"Why can't we move now?"

His mother sighed. "As much as I'd like to, we need to give Hazel time to remove her personal effects and the house elves will need a couple days to clean. Besides, we need time to pack. It's only another week, Scorpius."

* * *

Author's Note: I hope to update at least once or twice more before March. Between the rains messing up the internet connection and electricity almost daily and me traveling a lot over the next month or two, I don't know whether that will happen.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 14: Escaping the Manor

On Monday, Scorpius was allowed to skip school to finish packing. They would start moving everything to the new house when his father got home from work that afternoon. He put the last of his clothes in a box and looked around the room. Everything was packed away except the quilt his mother had made for him and whatever odds and ends he had left on the bed. The room felt more bare and sterile than he had ever seen it and he did not like that feeling.

Satisfied that he could finish the rest very quickly, he took his quilt and curled up on the pillows by the window to play with his gameboy. He had finally figured out an especially troublesome puzzle in Zelda when his grandfather entered the room. "It's true, then," he said with a sneer. "My good-for-nothing son has finally decided he is too good for us." As he spoke, he idly fondled his wand.

Scorpius watched him out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing. His grandfather terrified him and he constantly worried that one day, that wand would be pointed at him. He shrank further against the pillows and tried to focus on his game.

The gameboy made a horrible sound as his character died and his grandfather demanded, "What was that noise?"

"The game," Scorpius started, but before he could say more, his grandfather aimed his wand at Scorpius' chest.

"Accio game!" The gameboy was ripped violently from Scorpius' fingers. His grandfather caught it and eyed it with disgust. Then he threw it at the floor and aimed his wand at it. There was a streak of blue light, then nothing. All that remained of the gameboy was a charred and smoking hole in the carpet.

"No," Scorpius whispered.

"Worthless muggle contraption," his grandfather said. "What else are you hiding in those boxes?"

"Nothing, just clothes and books."

"If that is true, then this is merely a precaution." His grandfather pointed his wand at the large pile of boxes in the corner and snapped, "Incendio!"

Scorpius watched in frozen terror as nearly his entire life so far went up in flames. His grandfather spread the fire to his bed, desk, and bookshelves as well before aiming his wand at Scorpius. He seemed to decide against what he was planning, though. He lowered his wand, turned, and walked out, seemingly oblivious to the flames and smoke around him.

The moment he was gone, Scorpius stood shakily. He picked up the quilt and balled it in his hands as he looked around, ignoring the sting of smoke in his eyes. The flames stretched across his room, barring the door, and he finally suspected that his grandfather was planning to kill him, slowly, like a cat's prey. He turned to the window and tried to jump out of it before he remembered the charms his mother had placed on it so that he could not fall accidentally.

Scorpius could not see anyone out in the garden, but he screamed anyway. After what felt like at least ten or twenty minutes, his throat hurt too much from screaming and smoke to continue. He pressed against the window and prayed his mother would realize something was wrong.

Something exploded in the corridor outside and Scorpius' door crashed inward. Scorpius screamed again as flames were blown toward him from the force of the explosion. Then water was falling, soaking him and killing the flames. He looked at his bare feet, which were surrounded in what looked and felt like black mud and the quilt was covered in a thin layer of wet soot. Steam slowly replaced the smoke, but Scorpius kept coughing and gasping for air anyway. He looked up toward the door and through his tears, he thought he saw his father slowly clearing away the debris to make a path for him. He cautiously moved toward his father, the quilt still bundled in his arms, and when they met somewhere in the middle of the room, they hugged tightly.

His father picked him up and carried him all the way to the gardens, where Mrs Potter met them. "You look horrible, Scorpius," she said as she took him from his father. "I'm taking you to my house right now. Your parents will join us for dinner, then I expect they will take you to your new home."

"Albus?" he croaked.

"He's at school. You'll see him soon." She asked his father, "Do you want me to take any of his things?"

His father shook his head. "All he has left is what he's holding. His clothes, school books, everything was destroyed."

Mrs Potter tightened her hold. "I'm so sorry. For now, he can use some of my boys' old clothes and I'm sure Al would be happy to share his books."

His father nodded. "Thank you, Weasley."

She smiled. "See you at dinner, Draco. Come whenever you're ready."

As his father turned back toward the manor, Scorpius whispered, "Grandfather?"

His father stiffened. "The aurors arrested him," he answered. Scorpius reached out and his father briefly clasped his hand. "Don't worry about him, love. I'll see you soon."

* * *

"Scorpius, wake up. What happened?"

Scorpius woke slowly. Despite the spells that Mrs Potter had cast on him before giving him a bath, his eyes still stung and his throat still felt dry. "Albus?" he whispered and winced at the rasp in his voice.

Albus stopped shaking his shoulder. "Look at me, love."

"Hurts." To be honest, his eyes did not hurt quite as much as his throat, but he had no idea how to articulate that. "Water?"

"You want water?" Scorpius nodded. "I'll be right back." Scorpius felt the bed shift as Albus stood.

While he waited for Albus to return, he tried to open his eyes. He noticed immediately that the overhead light was off, for which he was thankful. He turned toward the window and was surprised to see stars. At least he assumed the fuzzy white splotches in the dark sky were stars. It had been just past lunchtime when his grandfather attacked him. Then he remembered his father had saved him and wondered why his father had returned home early. Before he could ponder the question too long, Albus returned.

"Here, drink this. Mum said it will help your throat." Scorpius pushed himself onto his elbows and let Albus support his head as he drank. Twice he started coughing, but Albus set the cup down each time to massage his throat. He explained, "Mum said stroking your throat would help you swallow. It seems silly to me, but Mum was insistent."

"How is he?" Scorpius turned to the door and saw Lily standing there.

"Thirsty," Albus answered.

"His parents are here. Mum wants to know if he feels well enough to come to dinner."

"Moved?" Scorpius asked as he tried to sit up. Albus helped him and kept him steady.

"Yeah," Lily continued. "They're done moving, but they want you to stay here tonight. Your dad wants to check all the wards before he brings you there. He thought you'd sleep better somewhere familiar, too."

Scorpius looked at Albus, who was smiling. "D'you mind?"

"Of course not. Feel up to eating with us?"

Scorpius nodded and stood slowly. "Just no talk, little eat."

"It's okay. Come on."

They moved slowly down to the dining room, where Scorpius' mother immediately hugged him tightly. She was crying silently and Scorpius felt guilty for causing her distress. He tried to whisper an apology, but only managed an unintelligible rasp. "Don't talk," his mother said. She showed him a chair and set food in front of him, but he barely picked at it as he listened to the others talking.

"Where's dad?" Lily asked around a mouthful of chicken.

"He had to work late," Mrs Potter answered. "He'll be home as soon as he can."

"What happened to Scorpius?" James cut in before Lily could inquire further.

"He was caught in a fire at the manor," Mrs Potter said.

"How'd it start? Was anyone else hurt?"

"It was started deliberately," Scorpius' father answered. "Scorpius' grandfather wanted to hurt him."

"Hurt him or kill him?" Albus asked angrily.

Scorpius' mother looked away as she spoke. "We don't know. Your father told us he would question him personally."

"That's why he isn't home yet," Lily pouted.

Mrs Potter nodded and said reluctantly, "Your dad has wanted to send Lucius back to prison ever since he escaped almost two decades ago. He'll be home when he has whatever he needs to do that."

James looked at Scorpius. "Your grandfather was in prison?" Scorpius looked at his plate.

"Eat, Scorpius," his mother said patiently, but he had lost his appetite.

"Tired," he rasped. "Want sleep."

His mother took a vial from her purse. "Drink this and I'll take you up to Albus' room."

His father put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll stop by tomorrow morning to check on you." To Mrs Potter he said, "Will you be home tomorrow?"

"Most of the day. I have a meeting after lunch in Diagon Alley, but I'm sure my brother George would be happy to watch Scorpius for a couple hours. I floo in and out through his store anyway."

"Is it secure?" his mother asked.

Mrs Potter laughed. "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is probably the safest store in Diagon Alley. Besides George's charms and wards, it is regularly checked by both my husband and my brother Ron. Most of those wards are the same ones that protect this house."

"Since you are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow, could you do me a favor?" Mrs Potter nodded. "Scorpius needs new clothes. Could you get him some, since he will be with you anyway? I'll pay you back, of course."

"That's fine. We can pick up some muggle clothes for him as well."

"Thank you, Ginny." Then his mother stood. He stood with her and followed her up to Albus' room, where his mother tucked him into Albus' bed and he quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm back online, but have only written about 20 chapters and am currently suffering from writer's block. Obviously, the plot changed a bit and you'll finally get to see a bit of Harry. That said, I should be able to revise and post most of the finished chapters by Easter. As always, let me know what you think.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 15: A Change of Vision

The following morning, Scorpius awoke to find Albus cuddled against him. Albus' mother was knocking on the door. Scorpius shook his friend as he said, "Wake up, Albus. Time for school."

"Comfy," Albus mumbled against Scorpius' shoulder. "Don' wanna move."

Scorpius shook him again. "Your mother's at the door."

Albus reached behind him and grabbed one of his plush toys, which he started playing with on Scorpius' chest. "He missed you," Albus said.

"Who missed me?"

"Your dragon. He was on the floor."

Scorpius snatched the dragon from Albus' hand. "He survived the fire?"

Albus giggled as the dragon bit Scorpius' finger. "Didn't you know? I found him last night."

Scorpius cuddled the dragon until his bladder became insistent. "I have to visit the bathroom, so you really need to move now."

Albus harrumphed and reluctantly sat up. "Fine, you win." Scorpius smiled at him and climbed off the bed. He turned toward the door and paused, blinking in confusion. Albus reached over to touch his arm. "Scorpius? Are you okay?"

Scorpius shook his head slowly, feeling disoriented. "Why's everything blurry? It was last night, too, but I thought I was just tired."

Albus looked at the door and shouted, "Mum!" Almost immediately, his mother was there.

"Al? What's wrong?"

Albus scooted closer to Scorpius and pressed against his back while still kneeling on the bed. "Scorpius can't see. He said everything's blurry."

Mrs Potter tilted Scorpius' face up and looked at his eyes. "I don't see any redness or swelling. Albus, hand Scorpius your glasses." Albus obeyed and Scorpius frowned in confusion as he looked down at them. "Put them on, Scorpius. Tell me if your vision is better or worse."

Scorpius had tried on Albus' glasses once before, but his vision had been made so much worse that his eyes started hurting. He obeyed reluctantly and blinked until his eyes focused. "A little better, but not really. Different from before."

"I think we should stop at St Mungo's while we are running errands today. The fire may have damaged your eyes more than we suspected originally."

Albus hugged him more tightly. "I want to go, too."

"You have school, Albus," his mother said patiently. "I'll bring Scorpius when I pick you up this afternoon."

Albus pouted, but reluctantly gathered his school uniform to get dressed. He handed Scorpius some of his casual clothes to borrow and escorted him to the bathroom. Scorpius was glad for the help since he kept running into things and Albus' presence kept him calm.

After breakfast, Mrs Potter brought the children to school and gave Ms Cooper a note regarding Scorpius' absence. Then she and Scorpius flooed to Diagon Alley. They landed in a small sitting room that was furnished simply with a comfortable looking couch and and coffee table. Quidditch posters and family photographs decorated the walls. Scorpius walked slowly around the room, squinting at each one in an effort to see them.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"In my brother's old flat over his shop. When you're done looking, we'll head down to see him."

Scorpius wandered over to the window and looked out, but had trouble making out much detail. He could hear people chatting in the street below and occasionally an owl would hoot as it flew by. After several minutes, he turned away. "I'm ready to go now."

He took Mrs Potter's hand and followed her downstairs, where Freddy's father greeted her warmly. "Ginny! What brings you here?"

"I have an interview this afternoon, but I promised I would spend the morning looking after Scorpius. We're heading to St Mungo's right now."

"Is something wrong?"

Mrs Potter shrugged. "Scorpius has been complaining about poor vision for the last couple days and his parents have been too busy moving to have time to address it. Besides, I've already been through all the optical issues with Albus, so it's no trouble, really."

"I heard a rumor they're moving to our corner of the island. Xenophilius said they bought dotty old Hazel's house."

"Yes, they did. They hope to be settled in by the end of the week."

"That should be interesting. I have to get back to my customers, but join me for lunch if you have time."

Mrs Potter smiled. "We'd love to."

From the joke shop, they headed to the Leaky Cauldron. Scorpius had only been there a few times, but he did not like it very much. The people he saw there always gave his father unfriendly glares and whispered about him when they thought he was not paying attention. The only one who was ever polite to them was the woman behind the bar, but his father said she only treated them well because it was her job.

Mrs Potter greeted her warmly. "Hannah, good morning. How is my favorite botanist?"

Hannah, the barkeep, laughed. "He's fine. He loves Hogwarts, but I miss him here. Who's your friend?"

"This is Scorpius, Al's best friend. Does he look like any of your former classmates?"

Hannah studied him for a little while. "A certain Slytherin comes to mind, but I can't imagine what you'd be doing with his son, besides maybe kidnapping him."

Mrs Potter laughed. "Draco and I have come to an understanding. He's just moved to Ottery St Catchpole."

"You shall have to keep me posted. Now, what would you like to drink?"

Mrs Potter ordered a butterbeer for Scorpius and tea for herself. "Do you know if Mr Archibald has checked in yet? I have an interview with him later on Puddlemere's recent run of success."

"He has, but he's out running errands now. When I see him, I'll mention you were here." Mrs Potter smiled her thanks.

They moved to sit at a table off to the side and immediately, people started coming up to them. Some recognized Mrs Potter from her work at the Daily Prophet and others wanted to inquire about her husband, whose fame had never worn off. Stiil others remembered her from Hogwarts or her years playing Quidditch. Scorpius could recognize the ones from Hogwarts immediately. They all looked at him critically and asked what Mrs Potter was doing with a Malfoy. Mrs Potter greeted them all politely and introduced them to Scorpius as if he was any other wizard and not a squib (or a Malfoy, which was apparently just as bad). He smiled at each of them, but said little. Squinting at them hurt his eyes and he just wanted them all to get lost.

Mrs Potter took forever to drink her tea due to all the interruptions, but once she finished, they headed to St Mungo's. The healer who met them recognized Scorpius immediately and quickly led them both to an examination room. This room was brighter than the one in which Scorpius had stayed before, with orange kittens romping along the walls under a yellow sun.

Mrs Potter said, "Scorpius was caught in a fire yesterday and we thought he was okay, but he woke this morning unable to see clearly."

"What kind of fire?"

"House fire. He was trapped in one of the rooms."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Id like to give him a full exam if that's okay. I want to make sure only his eyes were hurt."

"Of course." Mrs Potter sat in the chair in the corner and watched them.

The healer asked Scorpius to sit on the examining table and ran her wand over his entire body, murmuring spells as she went. When she was finished, she straightened again. "His eyes and throat bore the brunt of the damage, but I am also worried about his lungs. Did you give him any potions last night?"

"Yes. The routine ones to fortify him, provide basic healing, and help him sleep. His mother gave him something else, a personal recipe I think, but I'm not sure what it was."

"I'm going to give you some potions for his throat and lungs, but especially because Scorpius does not have magic, he will need a lot of rest and fresh air. He should eat simple foods, soup for example, and avoid talking loudly or excessively. For his eyes, he is going to need glasses for a bit and for this, we use the muggle method."

The healer drew a line on the floor with her wand and motioned for Scorpius to stand behind it. He obeyed and tried to read the chart on the wall, first with one eye, then with the other. He started crying in frustration toward the end; just the week before, he could have read the whole chart without any trouble. This time, he could barely read the first three or four lines.

Mrs Potter stood and put an arm around him. "It's okay, Scorpius. We're going to get you glasses like Albus has, then you will be able to see again. But we need you to stop crying so you can finish the exam." Scorpius turned and clung to her for a minute, his face buried against her breast. She waited quietly and stroked his hair. When his emotions were back under control, he swallowed and stepped back. The healer handed him a handkerchief and he wiped his face and eyes. "Ready to continue?" Mrs Potter asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Both Mrs Potter and the healer smiled.

The healer conjured a mask between Scorpius and the chart. "Now look through this mask. I am going to give you a series of two choices for each eye. For each, tell me which one shows the chart more clearly. Understand?" Scorpius swallowed again and nodded. He wished Albus was with him then to talk him through what was happening.

The mask felt uncomfortable against his face and the constant vision changes were making his eyes water and his head spin. He got through about five pairs for the left eye before he stepped back. "It hurts."

The healer frowned. "Just sit for a minute and drink this." She handed him a cup of water. While he drank, his eyes squeezed shut, the healer asked, "Was it a normal fire?"

Mrs Potter answered, "I only saw it from outside, but it looked normal to me and water put it out quickly enough. Scorpius' father pulled him out; he might know more. Why?"

"I'm hoping he is having this much trouble with the vision exam just because he is nervous and still in shock, but I want to rule out everything else first. Could you ask his father for me?"

"Yes. I'll be right back." To Scorpius, she said, "Just sit and drink your water until I get back. I don't want you to continue the exam without me, okay?"

Scorpius nodded and listened to her footsteps and the door opening and closing as she left. He said quietly, "The fire was started on purpose. I think he cast incendio."

"I don't understand. Even for a hearth, that isn't a spell normally used around the house. Still, the smoke produced should not have hurt you so badly."

The healer was still contemplating his answer when Mrs Potter returned, Scorpius' father with her. Scorpius jumped off the examination table to embrace him. His father returned the enthusiastic hug. "Weasley's told me everything that happened, love. I was looking over the report on the fire with her husband when I got the note." He turned to the healer. "The fire was started with incendio, but after it started, the arsonist cursed Scorpius with at least one nonverbal spell. The aurors are still trying to figure out the details, but something to increase susceptibility to smoke seems likely."

The healer answered, "If his poor vision is due to spell damage, I am not sure how much I can do for him. I will finish the exam and have glasses made for him, but the moment his vision changes, either for better or for worse, he needs to come in right away."

"I understand."

She asked Scorpius, "Ready to continue the exam?"

Scorpius pressed against his father's chest and shook his head. His father gently pushed him away. "It will be okay, Scorpius. Just do your best and if you have to stop again, you can. Just try."

"Yes, Father." Scorpius walked back over to the mask, which was still floating in the same place. The healer started again and Scorpius did his best to cooperate. When the pairs for the left eye were finished, he requested another break, which he was given. While he sat, the refilled glass of water in his hand, he asked his father, "Have you finished moving?"

"Moving, yes. Unpacking, no. We've only furnished part of your room. Your mother wants you to help her furnish the rest when you're feeling better."

"May I stay with Albus for a few more days, just until the weekend?"

His father looked over at Mrs Potter before answering. She nodded. "You may, but tomorrow your mother will want you to help her organize your room."

Scorpius smiled at him, set down the glass, and walked back over to the mask. Knowing how long the testing for his left eye had taken, he found the testing for his right eye more endurable and was able - barely - to get through the whole thing without stopping.

After they finished at St Mungo's, Mrs Potter left to have lunch with Freddy's father and prepare for her interview that afternoon. She invited them to join her for lunch, but his father politely declined. Scorpius went with his father to Diagon Alley, where they spent most of their time at Madam Malkin's ordering Scorpius a new wardrobe.

With their errands complete, they returned to St Mungo's, where the healer met them with a pair of new glasses. Scorpius fidgeted as she adjusted them and when she finally let him stand, he immediately grabbed his father's arm. "It's clearer," he said, ""but I don't know where anything is anymore."

"Just hold my arm," his father answered. "You'll be fine."

By the time they reached the Potters' house that afternoon, Scorpius could walk on his own. Albus greeted him at the door and immediately took off his glasses. Scorpius was startled by the sudden loss of clarity. He grabbed at Albus' arm. "Give them back."

"I just want to see." Scorpius reached out again, but Albus dodged him. Albus took a little longer to admire them before placing them gently back on Scorpius' face. "I like them. I expect they have all the best childproofing charms."

"They do, and an anti-sun charm."

"That's good then. Come, I want to show you off." Scorpius allowed himself to be swept up in Albus' enthusiasm. He did not share it, but hoped he would eventually.

Author's Note: The next few chapters were difficult to write and feel inadequate to me, so please give me constructive criticism.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 16: Unexpected News

It was a beautifully warm day in May and Scorpius was looking forward to helping his mother in their new gardens after school. She had recently bought a mixed lot of daffodils and tulips of every color imaginable and they wanted to plant them along the pathways and around the fountain. He was thinking about that as the other students rushed to pack their bags and leave.

"Scorpius," Rose called gently. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just the gardens. Mother loves flowers and is looking forward to tending her own. I plan to help her today."

"I'm rubbish at anything green myself, but when they're ready, I'd like to come see them. My birthday's in August; you could host a graden party for me."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "August is a long time from now."

"I know. I'm booking early." Scorpius giggled.

Mrs Potter arrived to pick them up and much to Scorpius' surprise, his mother was with her. Albus joined them at Scorpius' desk and asked, "What's with your mum?"

"She looks like she's glowing," Rose said.

Scorpius frowned and stood. "Mother? Is anything the matter?"

His mother embraced him tightly and said fiercely, "Everything's fine, love. I'm so happy."

"Er, why? What happened?"

"I just learned a couple hours ago that I'm pregnant. You'll finally have the brother or sister you wanted."

Scorpius tensed and whispered, "What if they can do magic? Then you won't need me anymore."

"Don't talk like that, Scorpius. You're our first baby and no one could ever replace you. Besides, I will need your help looking after both myself and the baby. Aren't you excited?"

Scorpius shook his head. Albus broke in, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Mother's pregnant." His voice was flat.

"Oh, Scorpius," Rose started, her hand on her mouth.

Albus looked critically at Scorpius' mother. "You aren't replacing him, right?"

"Of course not, Albus. My Scorpius is irreplacable." She ruffled Scorpius' hair and asked him, "Ready to go plant the flowers?"

Scorpius nodded. "Rose wants to have her birthday party in our garden."

"We'll discuss it with her parents. Now come. I haven't told your father yet."

As they left, Mrs Potter hugged his mother. "I'm happy for you. If there's anything you need, a place for Scorpius to stay for a bit, anything, just let us know."

His mother smiled. "Thank you. I will."

* * *

While they were working in the garden, Scorpius entirely forgot the unpleasant news. He wanted a sibling, of course, someone to dote on the way Lily's brothers doted on her, but he was terribly worried about his family's response if this new child could do magic. He did not want to be pushed aside or forgotten. He shook his head and turned back to his mother, who was describing where she wanted the flowers planted. Tibby, one of his father's house elves, stood nearby, its Malfoy pillowcase pristine except for the smear of dirt on the front left by the large sack of bulbs in its hands.

"I think tulips along this walkway and daffodils around the fountain. What do you think, Scorpius?"

Scorpius frowned down at the pile of bulbs at his feet. "They all look the same. How do we know which color is which?"

"We don't. That's half the fun of it."

"Father's parents won't like random colors everywhere."

"Your father's parents can ... no, I will keep such thoughts to myself. If they don't like it, they need not visit." She giggled. "Every day I am more glad that we left the manor. Shall we plant some tulips here?"

Scorpius nodded and picked through the pile for the tulip bulbs. They planted the bulbs a handspan apart and as they finished each section, Tibby watered the newly planted bulbs. Scorpius asked as they shifted to a new section, "Is Father happy here?"

"Your father is still adjusting, but he knows we are both much happier here than at the manor and that pleases him. He loves to see you happy, Scorpius."

"He's always so quiet."

"He misses the manor and being close to your grandmother," his mother said quietly, then she smiled. "The other day, when Albus and James brought their brooms over, your father stood by our bedroom window watching you the whole time, smiling. When I asked him why, he said he was thinking about when he used to play Quidditch and about when you were a baby and he used to take you out on his broom. He likes that your friends are comfortable here."

"I didn't see him, but we didn't fly very high. Albus wanted to, but James wouldn't let him."

"That was wise of James. I know they are good flyers, but flying with a passenger is dangerous and they don't have much experience yet. At Hogwarts, they will get proper training. Then they can carry you farther."

"Hogwarts is forever away. I wish I could go with them."

"I know, love, but you're making muggle friends at school, aren't you?"

"Mostly just Jessica and Elizabeth. The boys avoid me, I think because Albus scares them away."

"That isn't very nice of him."

Scorpius shook his head. "He doesn't do it on purpose, but most of the boys aren't very nice and a lot of them were beat up by Albus or James in the past and they don't want to face them again. It's weird because when I say it like that, Albus sounds like a bully, but he isn't. He's sweet."

"I know Albus isn't a bully." His mother giggled and said, "Your father doesn't like talking about Hogwarts much, but there is a story I think you should hear. It's actually about your aunt Daphne."

"She was in Father's class, wasn't she?"

"Yes. It was the year the war broke out and Hogwarts was as horrible a place to be as everywhere else. The professors in charge of discipline recruited students to assist them and your father was one of the students chosen. Don't ask him about it; the memories are really bad for him. He was with Daphne and a couple other Slytherins walking to the library when they were waylaid by students who were part of a vigilante group that called itself Dumbledore's Army, after the late headmaster. Your father was their primary target, but Daphne got caught in the middle of the fight. He placed himself at their mercy to protect Daphne because he did not want her hurt. I think that was when I started to fall in love with him." She shook her head, a small smile on her face. "I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that sometimes people carry different labels for different people. To Albus' father, your father was a bully, but to Daphne, he was not. The same can be said about Albus."

"That's what Jeremy means when he calls Albus a bully, then. And Elizabeth's parents being angry at Albus for kissing her. They see different things than I do."

"Yes, though I agree with Elizabeth's parents on that one. You're too young to be kissing."

"But Albus kisses me all the time."

His mother frowned in thought before speaking and he wondered for the first time in a long time if she minded Albus kissing him. He hoped not; he enjoyed it too much. "I think the difference is that Albus kisses you as a friend. From what I understand, he kissed Elizabeth as a girlfriend."

"So if he kissed me on the mouth, you wouldn't approve."

"No, I wouldn't, and I expect his parents wouldn't, either." They lapsed into silence as Scorpius thought about that.

They finished the tulips and moved on to the daffodils. It was dusk by the time they finished, but the garden looked somehow more like home, like it really belonged to them.

* * *

Scorpius and his mother were in the sitting room sipping tea when his father returned home. He did not even have time to spell the soot from his robes before Scorpius' mother threw herself at him with a shout of happiness. His father lowered his wand and looked at her in confusion. "Did I miss something?"

Scorpius stared at the ornate persian rug under his feet as his mother answered, "I'm pregnant, Draco."

"You're ... what? How?"

"I think you know how," she admonished. "After all, you are the one who seduced me. I'm about a month along. I think I conceived about the time we moved here." She kissed his lips. "I'm so happy!"

"I ..." his father started, but he could not think of anything to say. He tried again. "I have to sit."

Scorpius looked up as his father sat beside him on the sofa and said, "Good evening, Father."

His father put an arm around him. "You don't sound very happy."

"Neither do you."

"I'm just in shock. What's wrong?"

Scorpius spilled all of his fears to his father about being abandoned, forgotten, or pushed aside. He worried that he could not take care of a magical baby and that everyone would prefer the new baby over him. "At least Mother will be happy," he said at last.

"We won't abandon or forget you, love. Your mother and I don't mind that you can't do magic and I'm starting to accept your muggle friends." His father hugged him. "I love you, Scorpius."

"I love you, too, Father."

His mother embraced them both. "I love both of you, even if you aren't happy for me."

His father looked at his mother. "What have you done with Astoria?" He looked down at Scorpius. "The last time she was this peppy was when she was pregnant with you and it drove me mad then, too."

Scorpius giggled. "Mother does seem a lot younger today."

"It will last until the morning sickness sets in and she starts to gain weight. Then her back will hurt and her feet will swell and the whole time, she'll crave strange foods like pumpkin juice with anchovies."

His mother kissed his father forcefully, pushing him back onto the sofa. As Scorpius scooted out of the way, he noticed distantly that his father still had not spelled his robes clean. He wanted to turn away, but found himself riveted. Normally, from what he had witnessed, his father initiated their affection and seeing their roles reversed was bizarre.

His father finally succeeded in pushing his mother away. "Astoria, what has gotten into you?"

"You, love, just you."

His father shook his head. "I'm hungry and dirty and-"

"And I don't care. I'm hungry, too." She kissed him again.

Scorpius thought back on his conversation with his mother in the garden. "I don't think that's how Albus kissed Elizabeth."

His parents turned to look at him and he swallowed, just realizing he had spoken aloud. His father answered, "I didn't realize Albus likes girls."

"It was on a dare. Is that what you meant, Mother?"

"About what?" His mother looked strange, predatory, her gaze once again fixed on his father. Scorpius drew back involuntarily.

"That you wouldn't like if Albus kissed me like that."

His mother did not answer, but his father said, "Wait a few years, until you've both finished school. Then we won't care what you do together." His mother's hands were roving up and down his father's arms as she kissed him and Scorpius was sure that was why he was gasping between words. Abruptly, his father snapped, "Astoria! Back off!"

She did, finally, and his father stood and straightened his robes. He held a hand out to Scorpius. "Sorry if your mother frightened you. Let's go eat dinner."

Scorpius followed eagerly. Once in the corridor, he asked, "Will she be like that for the next eight months?"

"No, not constantly, but it will happen again. Her hormones are out of balance and sometimes that makes her do things she wouldn't normally do with no concern for who's around to see it."

"That isn't good, is it?"

"Not usually." His father looked back toward the door to the sitting room and summoned a house elf. Scorpius wondered if he had cast a spell to prevent his mother from following.

Tibby appeared, her pillowcase spotless again. "Master Draco called?"

"Yes. Make sure Astoria eats. Give her whatever she wants as long as it is not poisonous. I'll return after Scorpius has eaten."

"Yes, Master Draco, sir." Tibby disapparated and they continued to the dining room.

His father collapsed into his chair, put his face in his hands, and said quietly, "I am happy for her, but it's going to be a long eight months, Scorpius. In the end, you were worth every minute of the nine-month torture ten years ago and I'm sure this child will be worth it, too. I'm just too tired for this."

Scorpius hugged his father before taking his seat. While his mother looked a decade younger, his father looked a decade older. He vowed to himself to do whatever he could to help his father through the next eight months.

Author's Note: I don't like this chapter and would really appreciate constructive criticism. What works? What doesn't? I hope this chapter didn't bother you too much, jvalread.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 17: The Ministry of Magic

Scorpius' first trip to the Ministry of Magic was a bit overwhelming. Albus had begged to accompany him, but in the end, his parents had made him go to school. Before he left, Albus had told Scorpius to bring a galleon to toss into the fountain in the entry hall, but all he would say about it was that the money in the fountain went to St Mungo's. As they walked down the huge hall, wizards and witches rushing past to and from the floos, Scorpius searched for the fountain.

The effort caused his eyes to start itching again. He rubbed at them, but that only made the itching worse. They started to water. "Father?"

His father paused and looked down at him. "Yes, Scorpius?"

"My eyes are hurting again. The room's kind of fuzzy."

"Were they bothering you this morning?"

"I don't think so, but I had a headache last night."

"When we're finished here, we'll go to St Mungo's and have them looked at. Will you be okay until then?"

Scorpius nodded. "I think so. Where's the fountain Albus was talking about?"

He finally found the fountain at the far end, a short way from the check-in station. It was huge, with several different magical creatures. The largest was the dragon, which arched over the others, its wings out and water pouring from its mouth to bathe the mermaid below. On one side were a unicorn and a hippogriff and on the other a centaur stood with a phoenix resting on its arm.

Scorpius stood and stared. "It's beautiful."

His father smiled. "Go toss in your coin. We'll spend more time looking later."

"Yes, Father." Scorpius was nearly to the fountain when suddenly the unicorn moved, bowing down until its horn touched the water. Then it straightened again and froze as it had been before. Scorpius looked back at his father questioningly.

"It's thanking someone for a donation. Go on."

Scorpius reached the edge of the fountain and tried to toss his galleon into the mermaid's cupped hands. He missed, but the moment the coin hit the water, the mermaid looked right at him and blew him a kiss. He colored and rushed back to his father, who was smiling.

"Was it supposed to do that?" he asked.

"Probably. We can ask Potter when we see him."

"Why would Mr Potter know?"

His father led him back to the fountain and pointed to the placard on the side. "Read that."

"The Fountain of Magical Harmony, donated June 2003 by Harry and Ginevra Potter in recognition of the role of St Mungo's Hospital in the Second War Against Voldemort." Scorpius turned back to his father. "Did you ever donate anything after the war?"

His father shook his head. "We were too busy trying to rebuild our own lives. The Ministry taxed my parents heavily to help pay for the reconstruction and Father decided that would be a good time to renovate the Manor, too. We didn't donate anything related to the war, but your mother and I have donated to both St Mungo's and Hogwarts every year since we married."

"Even though I can't go to Hogwarts?"

His father sighed. "There were things that happened before and during the war, things that I did that I am not proud of. Maybe in a way, by giving money to them, I am trying to atone for that." He shook his head. "It will never work, but I try anyway."

"What did you do?"

"Someday, I will bring you to Hogwarts and show you."

"Wand, please." Scorpius peered up at the balding man sitting behind the desk as he took his father's wand. "Mahogany, dragon heartstring, ten inches." He returned the wand and Scorpius' father led him to the lift.

"Where are we going first?"

"The Auror offices. We need to meet with Potter and get an update on the case against your grandfather."

When they entered the lift, several paper airplanes flew in after them. Scorpius watched in fascination as they flew in and out when the doors opened at each floor and he thought of a ballet he had attended once with his mother. He did not pay any mind to the mechanical voice that announced each floor and was therefore surprised when his father gently pushed him through the doors.

The corridor was nondescript and the only thing of note was a door with a sign that read, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement Auror Offices." They went through that door and were greeted by a bored looking receptionist.

"Good morning. Do you have an appointment?" She did not sound like her morning was very good, but Scorpius kept that thought to himself.

His father answered, "Harry Potter, ten o'clock."

She consulted the book in front of her. "You are Draco Malfoy?" He nodded. "One moment." She scribbled a note and spelled the paper to fold into an airplane and fly through a hole in the door behind her.

Not two minutes later, Mr Potter opened that same door. "Draco, Scorpius, come in."

Scorpius took Mr Potter's hand as he led them down a corridor and through a large room full of desks. People bustled about everywhere, carrying books and parchment and shouting questions to each other. Mr Potter turned left and led them past more desks. At the far wall, he stopped and knocked on a door before opening it.

A voice inside grumbled, "The door's closed for a- Oh, Harry. What's up?"

Mr Potter chuckled and led Scorpius into the office. "I'm just giving Scorpius a tour. He told Ginny yesterday that he's never visited the Ministry of Magic before."

Scorpius recognized Rose's father immediately. "Hello, Mr Weasley. You work here, too?"

"Sometimes. I prefer field work myself and try to escape as often as possible. Next month I'll be out training new recruits, so I won't be around much. My wife's around here somewhere, too, probably buried behind a stack of books. If I see her, I'll mention you're around."

Scorpius smiled. "Thank you."

"Any time. Now I really do have to finish that bloody report, Harry."

Mr Potter chuckled again and shook his head. He closed the door behind them and said to Scorpius, "I haven't seen Hermione yet, but I already told her you would be here. She will probably join us later. Are you free for lunch?"

Scorpius was temporarily confused by the change in topic. When he figured out what Mr Potter had said, he looked hopefully at his father. "Are we?"

"I still hate you, Potter," his father said, but there was no hostility in his words.

Mr Potter smiled serenely. "It's a date, then."

Scorpius looked between them in confusion. "Did I miss something?"

Mr Potter shook his head. "An old joke. Here's my office. Sit wherever you like."

Scorpius knew Albus' response to a comment like that would have been to sit behind the desk, but he was not so bold. He sat in the chair closest to the desk and reached out to touch the dragon statue on the desk near him. Immediately, it swung its head around and dug tiny teeth into his finger. He yelped and pulled back.

"Sorry," Mr Potter said, still chuckling. "He's a bit feisty. How's your finger?"

Scorpius studied his finger critically. "I think it's okay."

"Good to hear." Mr Potter opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a huge file. He opened it and removed a small folder, which he handed to Scorpius' father. "In there is a summary of everything I'm permitted to share with you on the fire and Lucius' involvement, as well as some background information on his relationship with Scorpius. While you read, I am going to write down some questions the Wizengamot is likely to ask Scorpius. If possible, I would also like to bring him this afternoon to see the courtroom. I want to make this whole experience as easy for him as possible."

"You have a strange definition of easy, Potter."

"I was being relative. If you have questions as you read, just ask."

The two adults lapsed into silence, his father reading and Mr Potter writing. Scorpius fidgeted and wished the dragon was friendlier so he would have something to play with. His father glanced at him several times and finally said, "If you don't sit still, I'm sending you to hang out in the Weasel's office. At least nothing on his desk will attack you."

Mr Potter looked up. "You'd trust Ron with your only child, Draco? How times have changed."

"Shut up, Potter."

As Scorpius looked from one to the other, he realized that he had only ever seen them together when either their wives or numerous children were present. Normally, they acted polite and distant toward each other and Scorpius had assumed that they never really interacted in school, even if they were in the same class. But the way they were acting in Mr Potter's office, his father's words were almost cruel. He remembered his mother saying his father had bullied Mr Potter, but in that case, he thought Mr Potter should be the harsh one.

He looked at his father again. "Why are you being mean to Mr Potter, Father? He's just trying to help."

His father looked up from the folder. "It's his job to help, Scorpius. Besides, he has an ulterior motive."

Scorpius turned to Mr Potter. "You do?"

Mr Potter met his gaze. "In the interest of full disclosure, Draco's right. I have wanted for almost twenty years to send Lucius back to Azkaban and I can only do that with Draco's cooperation. You should know that your father and I are not friends and likely never will be. We tolerate each other almost entirely because of you and our wives."

Scorpius blushed. "Is that true, Father?" His father nodded, but did not stop reading. They fell silent again and Scorpius managed to sit for a full five minutes before he started fidgeting again.

Mr Potter shuffled through some papers, pulled one out of the pile, and asked, "Scorpius, how are your eyes feeling?"

"They started hurting again yesterday and they're still really blurry."

Mr Potter nodded. "Draco, read this."

His father took the proffered parchment and Scorpius looked over his shoulder as he read. "Are those spells?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes, but most of them I've never heard of. Potter, are these curses that Father used on Scorpius?"

"We don't know yet. Auror Carmicheal on the special victims team put that list together based on Scorpius' medical report and Lucius' file. Most of them are nonverbal and nearly all attack the eyes. Her best guesses from that list are Degrada Macula and Sensofumicus. We hope it's the second, which creates temporary hypersensitivity to smoke and can badly damage the eyes and lungs. Treatment can take months. Degrada Macula is a degenerative spell that cannot be treated or reversed. It causes slow decay of the retinal part of the eye and ultimately causes blindness months or years in the future."

Scorpius' father studied the list for a long time before responding. "Degrada Macula sounds like the sort of spell Father would enjoy. The other is too tame, as much as I wish you were right. There is nothing I can do?"

"I might go blind?" Scorpius asked with a quiet whimper.

Mr Potter glanced at him before addressing his father. "I'm sorry, Draco. Take that list next time you go to St Mungo's. Maybe they will be able to determine what spell was used. We will need a report on what they find. Meanwhile, do you have any questions on the file?"

"It looks pretty routine. You expect both Scorpius and me to testify?"

"Yes. Here is the list of questions the Wizengamot is likely to ask Scorpius."

Scorpius' father took the parchment and read, "Please describe what happened the day of the fire. How did the fire start? Who was present? Where were your parents? Why did you wait to be rescued instead of magicking your way out?" He looked up at Mr Potter. "Squibs can't do magic, Potter. Are they idiots?"

"No, but they may not realize Scorpius is a squib. He should be prepared to remind them if it comes up."

"I don't want to put him through this."

"I know, Draco. I never want to place any child before the Wizengamot, but others have done okay and Scorpius will, too."

Scorpius interrupted, "What are the other questions, Father?"

His father continued reading. "Describe your relationship with your paternal grandparents. Describe your relationship with your parents. Has your grandfather ever hurt you before, either physically or emotionally? Describe the last time he hurt you before the fire."

"He burned up the warthog Lily gave me," Scorpius said quietly, leaning his head on his father's shoulder. "He got mad that I was friends with blood traitors - that's what he calls Albus and Rose and Sandy - and he was mad that Mother was defending me."

Mr Potter gave Scorpius a small smile. "You'll be fine, Scorpius. Just answer their questions the best you can, like you are now. If they are confused or want to know more, they will ask." Scorpius blushed and burrowed against his father's neck. Mr Potter asked, "Would you like to see the courtroom where the trial will be held? After we visit it, we'll go to a fish and chips place Albus likes for lunch. He'll be very jealous that I brought you without him."

Scorpius smiled at the comment about Albus. His father asked, "Have they set the date for the trial?"

"One month from today." Mr Potter stood and held out his hand. "Shall we?"

Scorpius stood and took Mr Potter's hand. Mr Potter led them back to the lifts and down several more levels to corridors with concrete walls. Mr Potter said as they walked, "I used to have nightmares about this place. Through that door is the Department of Mysteries." He turned them down a flight of stairs and through another concrete corridor. He pushed open a door at the end and led Scorpius inside. "Here we are."

Scorpius looked around the massive room. He stood in the circular arena at the bottom and felt dwarfed by the rows of benches towering above him. "It's huge and I think I'm glad I can't see well today. Where will I be?"

Mr Potter led Scorpius to a podium on one side. "You will testify here and you will sit with your parents on the benches just there."

"Will you be here?"

Mr Potter smiled. "As a member of the Wizengamot, I will be here, but I am too close to the case to vote on the verdict. I may ask questions, though."

"Where will you sit?"

Mr Potter pointed to a bench some distance away and several rows up. "Usually, I sit there, but if I can, I will sit down here instead. Since I can't vote anyway, it shouldn't matter too much."

Scorpius looked at his father. "This place scares me. Have you ever had to testify here before?"

"Several times. Once, after the war, I was even tried here." His father looked away, toward the benches. "Over a third of the Wizengamot, or what was left of it after the war, wanted to send me to Azkaban."

"Why?"

His father shook his head. "I'll tell you another time. Let's go have some fish and chips."

Scorpius smiled, his nervousness forgotten in his excitement to eat one of his favorite muggle foods.

Author's Note: I've written up to the trial, but am struggling with the trial itself. The story won't continue too much beyond that, so I will be leaving loose ends.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 18: Parties and Priorities

The last week of school in June was chaotic at Prince William Elementary School. There were the usual exams, but in between were revisions and parties with muggle sweets like cupcakes. Scorpius struggled through the exams, learned as much as he could during the revisions, and enjoyed the parties.

At the last party of the year, with all of the exams complete, Ms Cooper gave certificates to each student in her class. Scorpius found them a bit silly, but he looked forward to getting his anyway. Rose received hers first, for having the highest marks. Jeremy got the one for being best at football, earning a squawk of protest and a glare from Albus. Jeremy gave Albus a smug look and Scorpius was relieved there were two desks between them.

Jessica's was for being the best in music. Scorpius agreed wholeheartedly with that one. Jessica's help in that class was the only reason he would be passing music. Elizabeth's, for being best at sign language, struck Scorpius as very silly. She was the only one in the class who could speak, or rather sign, more than five or six words.

Albus's certificate was toward the end, not that he was paying attention. He and Jeremy had gotten into some kind of staring contest and Scorpius expected that at any moment, one of them would start throwing things at the other. Ms Cooper had to say Albus' name three times before he answered, and then only because Rose helped by shouting, "Albus Severus!" Her shout earned giggles from most of the rest of the class.

Albus finally looked up. Ms Cooper smiled at him and asked, "Would you like your certificate?"

"No. I'm best at football."

Ms Cooper sighed. "I know you're also very good at football. Now come up here."

Albus stood, shot another glare at Jeremy, and finally took the certificate. He glanced at it, announced, "Rubbish," and dropped it on the ground. Scorpius looked over at Rose, who met his eyes and shrugged.

When Albus had returned to his seat, Scorpius quietly stood and moved to sit beside him. "Albus? What's wrong?"

"It's a stupid game anyway."

Scorpius put a hand on his arm. "What did it say?"

Albus snorted. "Most outgoing. That's Elizabeth, not me."

"I suppose she could have written most likely to get in trouble with Windbag, but she probably wanted something positive, and you are outgoing. More than me, anyway."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Everyone's more outgoing than you, except maybe Sandy."

Ms Cooper called, "Scorpius, come receive your certificate."

When Scorpius got to the front of the room, he picked up Albus' certificate and read it before taking his own. "Quietest?" he asked.

Ms Cooper smiled at him. "I've enjoyed having you in class, Scorpius. Mr Winston said you plan to return next year."

Scorpius nodded. "I think so." His parents had not yet told him whether he would be allowed to return in the fall, but he wanted to. He returned to Albus' seat and handed him the certificates.

Albus read Scorpius' certificate and said, "Told you."

Rose joined them. "Let me see." Albus handed the papers to her. "Yours is spot on, Scorpius."

"That's what I said," Albus answered, "but mine's rubbish."

"I'll answer that later. Scorpius, are you coming to James' party tomorrow?"

"Yes. Albus said a bunch of James' classmates will be there."

"They will. They want to celebrate as a class one last time before he goes to Hogwarts. I'm sure Aunt Ginny will have great fun mugglizing the house."

"She always does," Albus answered distractedly. He was still watching Jeremy out of the corner of his eye.

Scorpius stayed the night at the Potters' house. Mr Potter was really busy at work and never came home. Since Scorpius' father had also been scarce the last few days, he assumed it had something to do with the trial. They had no time for games that night with all the preparations for the party, but James led them through a couple rounds of Continuous Story as they worked. By the time he and Albus crashed on Albus' bed, it was past midnight. He fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, Scorpius was helping Lily set out the snacks when the doorbell rang the first time. James appeared from the kitchen and ran to the door. "Mikey!" he cried excitedly.

Mikey looked around the room. "I thought only our class was invited."

James frowned. "It was."

Lily looked up. "He means Scorpius and if he has a problem with Scorpius being here, he can get lost."

Scorpius lifted his eyebrows. He was used to Albus defending him, but Lily? She was usually almost as quiet as he was. James shrugged. "Scorpius doesn't count. He practically lives here. Besides, I expect once everyone arrives, he'll disappear off with my brother somewhere."

While they spoke, the front door opened unannounced and a teenage boy stepped in. "Teddy!" Lily squealed.

Teddy scooped up Lily and swung her around. "Who's your friend?" he asked.

"Scorpius. I'm sure Al wrote to you about him."

"Malfoy?" Scorpius nodded. "You're my cousin."

To Scorpius' knowledge, he had only one cousin, his Aunt Daphne's daughter. While Scorpius mentally ran through his family tree, Teddy's hair abruptly changed from brown to green. Lily squealed again. Scorpius assumed it was some magical glamour and ignored it. "How are you related to me?"

"Through the Blacks. My grandmum is your grandmum's sister."

"Grandmother Malfoy? Her sister Bellatrix died in the war and never had children."

"No, her sister Andromeda, who was disowned for marrying a muggleborn. Grandmum wants to meet you. What are you doing Saturday?"

Scorpius expected to be preparing for the trial the following Wednesday, but he did not say that. "I don't know yet."

"If you can, come to my party. I'm celebrating being old enough to apparate. Bring your dad. I expect Grandmum will want to meet him, too."

"Father's been really busy, but I'll ask."

Mrs Potter called from the kitchen, "Teddy, could you come help me with something?"

Teddy left to assist her and Scorpius asked Lily, "How do you know my cousin that I didn't know existed?"

"Dad's his godfather. After his parents died, Dad tried to be as involved as possible in raising him and he fancies my cousin Victoire, so he tags along to all the Weasley parties to see her. Where's Al?"

"Ignoring me. He was sulking in his room earlier."

"Come with me. If this is about the Jeremy thing yesterday, we need to beat some sense into him."

"I don't fancy him beating me back."

Lily giggled and led Scorpius to Albus' room. When she found it locked, she knocked loudly and called, "Let us in, Al, or I'll sic Teddy on you."

There was no answer. Scorpius pressed his ear to the door and listened, but heard nothing. Lily went to her room and returned with an extendible ear, which she slipped under the door. They both listened almost breathlessly. After a moment, Scorpius thought he heard something. "Is he crying?"

Lily nodded. "Open the door, Al. Scorpius is with me and you're worrying him." When there was still no response, Lily said, "Wait here," and headed back downstairs.

Scorpius leaned against the door, the extendable ear hanging limply in his hand. "Please let me in, Albus," he whispered, but he doubted Albus could hear him. "I don't understand what I did wrong, what you want from me. Please tell me."

He heard footsteps and turned toward the stairs. Lily reappeared, dragging Teddy by the hand. "You have to talk to him," she said.

"All right," Teddy said amicably. He drew his wand and pointed it at Albus' door. "Alohamora!"

The latch clicked and the door swung open. Scorpius bolted inside and launched himself onto Albus' bed. Albus grunted as Scorpius collided with him, but Scorpius ignored it and hugged Albus tightly. Albus mumbled into his pillow, "Get lost, Scorpius."

Scorpius froze and looked at Teddy. Teddy smiled at him, but Scorpius found the expession incongruous. He wanted to cry himself, not smile. Teddy said, "Scorpius, would you wait by the door a moment?"

Scorpius stood slowly and walked over to the door, where he slid to the floor and leaned against the doorjamb, his head in his arms. He listened as Teddy spoke to Albus.

"Al," Teddy said quietly, "What's wrong?"

"What did they tell you?"

"Nothing, but Scorpius seems to think it's his fault."

Albus turned his head to look at Teddy, but Scorpius could not see his expression. He whispered something that Scorpius could not make out.

"I didn't catch that, Al," Teddy said.

"It isn't Scorpius' fault."

"Then why are you punishing him?"

"'M not." Teddy just looked at him and he elaborated, "It's Jeremy."

Teddy gave Albus an exasperated look. "You're punishing Scorpius for something Jeremy did."

"I'm not," Albus said more forcefully, but Teddy cut him off.

"You are, Al. Scorpius came over to be with you, not Lily or James. James' friends have made it very clear he is not welcome to join them, though if he wanted to, I'd set them straight. But he doesn't want to. He wants to be here, with you." Teddy waited for a response. When he got none, he continued, "Unless Jeremy is more important to you."

"Jeremy is nothing to me."

"Then prove it. We'll be in Lily's room if you want to join us." Teddy stood and said to Scorpius and Lily, "I want to show you two some new spells I learned."

Scorpius allowed Teddy to pull him up. When he looked back at Albus, his best friend had buried his face under his pillow again. He reluctantly followed Teddy and Lily to Lily's room.

Teddy started by picking up Lily's plush dog and casting a spell on it. Immediately, it jumped out of his hand and ran a circle around Lily's bed. Scorpius giggled as it tried to burrow into his lap. It gave up, looked up at him, and yipped mournfully. Scorpius picked it up and cuddled it, giggling again as it licked his neck with a dry cloth tongue. He handed it to Lily, who cuddled it for a few more minutes until the spell wore off.

"Why didn't you turn it into a real dog?" Lily asked.

"This spell's a lot harder and took me ages to learn. I thought I was going to drive Grandmum spare over Christmas. Besides, your parents wouldn't approve of a real dog."

"I want a pet," Scorpius said wistfully. "Dog, cat, pony, it doesn't matter, really."

"Get a pony," Albus said from the door. "Then Lily and I can ride it."

Scorpius turned toward him and smiled. He joined them on the bed, pressed against Scorpius' back, and wrapped his arms around his waist. Scorpius leaned his head back on Albus' shoulder and Albus nuzzled his neck. He felt content again.

A flash of light startled them. Scorpius looked up to see Teddy grinning at him and holding a camera. Albus hugged him more tightly and frowned at Teddy.

Lily laughed. "Want to go pester James' friends?" she asked.

Albus asked into Scorpius' ear, "Want to go, love?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I like it better here."

"Sorry, Lily, you're on your own, but we'll join you for the cupcakes."

From the door, Lily said, "I'll bring some up for you."

Scorpius finally got a chance to chat with his father on Saturday morning. His mother had gone to Aunt Daphne's the night before, much to his father's relief. As Scorpius ate his omelet, he studied his father. His father looked old and tired as he read the Saturday Prophet and sipped his tea. He flipped the page and his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"What is it, Father?"

His father laid the paper on the table between them and pointed to the biggest article on the page. He read, "Will Malfoy Return to Azkaban?" He tried to read the article along with his father, but a lot of the words were too difficult for him, so he waited patiently for his father to finish.

"What does it say?"

"Mostly speculation about the trial and whether the Aurors have enough evidence to convict him this time. They're wondering what I will say and do and how Potter's personal interest in the case will influence the Wizengamot. They're frustrated because neither I nor Potter have responded to their owls." His father paused to sip his tea. "I had planned to take you to Diagon Alley today, but I think we should lie low for a while instead."

"Can I still visit Albus?"

"Of course. Just don't go anywhere public for a few days."

Scorpius looked out the window and imagined a pony grazing there. Then he imagined Lily showing up at all hours to visit it. He giggled at the image.

"What are you thinking about?" his father asked.

Scorpius turned back to him. "May I get a pet?" His father arched a brow in question. At least he had not refused outright. "I don't know what, really. I like dogs, but I'd be happy with anything, except fish because they can't cuddle. Lily wants me to get a pony and Freddy said I should ask for a ferret and ... I just want something to play with for when everyone goes to Hogwarts."

His father chuckled. "I'll talk to your mother. She doesn't like dogs and I refuse to get you a ferret, but a cat or pony we should be able to manage."

"Promise?" His father nodded and he leapt out of his seat to hug him. "Thank you, Father."

His father hugged him back, stroked his hair, and kissed the top of his head. "I love you, Scorpius. I'm sorry I haven't had much time for you lately."

"It's okay," Scorpius mumbled into his shirt. "I almost forgot, do you know Teddy Tonks?"

"No. Should I?"

"He says he's my cousin. He's having a party today and wants me to go. May I? Rose and Albus will be there and Teddy said you're invited, too."

"How is he related to us?"

"He said I have an Aunt Andromeda who's his grandmother. Is that true?"

"It's true your grandmother has a sister named Andromeda. The family disowned her long before I was born and I have no idea what has become of her now. Just a minute."

His father stood and headed to the study. Scorpius followed and absently nibbled the piece of marmalade covered toast in his hand. His father took some floo powder from the mantle and firecalled someone, but Scorpius did not catch who. As soon as the conversation ended, he took more floo powder and said clearly, "Andromeda Tonks."

Scorpius sat on the loveseat and fidgeted nervously until his father had finished. When his father stood again, he looked tired as well as old. "We can go for a little while. Aunt Andromeda would like to meet us both, but I do not want to stay too long."

Scorpius hugged his father again and clung to him tightly as they flooed to Teddy's house. Scorpius did not enjoy flooing, especially since he always had to rely on someone else to escort him. At the other end of the floo, Scorpius lost his grip on his father and tumbled to the ground.

Someone shouted, "Hey, Al! Scorpius is here!" Then a hand was thrust in front of him. He took it and let James pull him to his feet.

Moments later, Albus ran in and threw his arms around Scorpius. "I knew you'd come. Wait till you try Granny Dromeda's sweet rolls. You'll love them." Albus took his arm and dragged him from the room. Scorpius stumbled, but managed to keep his feet.

They entered the dining room, where the table was piled with food. An elderly woman sat in a chair nearby, smiling as she watched some of the children argue over which pie was the best. She turned at their noisy entrance. "Albus, who's your friend?"

Albus walked proudly over to her. "This is my best friend, Scorpius Malfoy."

"Ah, yes. I spoke with your father not long ago. Did he come with you?"

Scorpius nodded nervously. She did look a bit like his grandmother, he thought, but her hair was a lot darker and her face was a lot kinder. He swallowed. "Yes, ma'am. He's in the other room."

"Relax, Scorpius. Are you always this nervous?"

Scorpius nodded and Albus said, "Just around strangers, but he's pretty quiet anyway."

"Well," said Mrs Tonks, "get Scorpius something to eat, Albus." She looked at Scorpius. "Several of the children are outside flying and playing Quidditch if you want to join them."

Scorpius shook his head. "I don't fly, ma'am."

"Really? I heard your father was very good at flying."

"Yes, ma'am." Scorpius shifted his feet and hoped Albus would either change the topic or lead him away.

Albus said, "Come get some food. Later, when it's less crazy, I'll take you flying if you want."

Scorpius smiled gratefully. As they were helping themselves to the fudge, Scorpius' father entered the room, escorted by Rose and her mother. Rose joined them immediately. Mrs Tonks said, "Whatever were you thinking, Draco, not teaching that boy of yours to fly?"

Scorpius looked up and saw his father's arched eyebrow. His father looked at him, then back at Mrs Tonks. "Hello to you, too, Aunt Andromeda."

"Don't go changing the subject, boy. I expect it's one of the more annoying habits you picked up from your father. He could never stay on one topic long, either."

Scorpius had seen his grandfather treat his father like a child on occasion, but he had never seen anyone else do it. Unlike when his gandfather belittled him, his father was smiling. "I would like to think that's the worst habit I got from my father. As to why Scorpius never learned to fly, he can't. The broom won't respond to him."

"But that's-"

Albus stormed over and cut her off. "It isn't Mr Malfoy's fault," he said angrily. "Just leave them alone."

"Albus is right," Mrs Weasley said quietly. "Scorpius wants to fly and the Potter children have tried to teach him, but he needs someone else to keep the broom in the air."

Mrs Tonks looked confused. "I don't understand, Hermione."

"Scorpius can't do magic. Any magic."

Mrs Tonks looked over at Scorpius. He felt Rose put her hand over his and twined their fingers. Mrs Tonks said, "It's rare for children to wait until they're this old to manifest their magic."

Albus looked between Scorpius and Mrs Tonks and said finally, "Not if they're squibs."

Mrs Tonks glanced at Draco, then studied Scorpius again. "It's been a long time since we had a squib in the family. Never, to hear Bellatrix tell it." She fell silent, but still watched him carefully.

"We should go," his father said.

Mrs Tonks looked up at him. "You should do no such thing! My Teddy's whole family was muggle and squibs aren't much different. I won't have you hiding this boy away because you're ashamed of him."

"I'm not ashamed," Scorpius' father growled. "But I am protective and I don't want to be where I'm not wanted."

Mrs Tonks smiled for the first time since the talk of brooms had started. "Those are words I would never imagine Lucius saying. Scorpius is a perfectly polite boy, if a bit too shy. From the moment he arrived, he's been an absolute delight and I'm not ready to let him go just yet, or you either." She turned to Mrs Weasley. "Hermione, dear, would you mind fetching us some tea?"

Mrs Weasley smiled. "Not at all. I'll be back in a moment."

Scorpius' father sat in the empty chair beside Mrs Tonks and Scorpius went to him immediately. "Father? What's wrong?"

His father took his hand. "I'm just tired, Scorpius."

Scorpius frowned. "You've been tired a lot, ever since Mother learned she's pregnant."

"Your wife's pregnant?" Mrs Tonks interrupted. His father nodded, but said nothing. "Have you been to St Mungo's?"

"Every fortnight," his father said quietly.

Mrs Tonks shook her head. "You, not your wife. How's your appetite? Your magic levels? Are you getting enough sleep?"

Scorpius watched his father intently, glad that someone was finally asking him those questions. Scorpius thought Mrs Tonks would not quietly accept, "I'll be fine when the trial is over."

Mrs Weasley entered then. She set the tray on a side table and rushed over to them. "Draco? What happened to you? You look ready to collapse."

Scorpius pressed against his father's side. His father put an arm around him and stroked his hair. "I've been tired a lot lately," he said quietly. "I've also been busy, so busy that today is the first day in almost two weeks that I've been able to spend time with my son. I haven't eaten or slept as much as I should because I haven't had time. I don't do magic much, now, so I have no idea what my magic levels are. Any other questions?"

Mrs Weasley asked gently, "Is this because of the trial?"

"Partly, and partly Astoria's pregnancy."

Mrs Tonks said, "Monday, you bring Scorpius over here for the day and check yourself into St Mungo's."

"I can't-" his father started, but she snapped, "Nonsense."

"He's right," Mrs Weasley said quietly. "Could he bring Scorpius over Thursday instead?"

"That'll have to do, I guess. Rose is welcome, too, of course. Does she like Scorpius?"

Mrs Weasley grinned. "A bit too much, I think. I'm not looking forward to when they hit puberty, especially Albus. He's very possessive of Scorpius and I'm hoping he won't drive Scorpius and Rose apart."

Mrs Tonks smiled at Albus. "Take after your namesake, do you?" Albus shrugged. "He fell in love with another boy, too."

"I'm not gay," Albus said in a way that suggested he was tired of defending himself.

Mrs Weasley laughed and Scorpius guessed she did not believe her nephew. Rose said, "You're the only one who believes that, Al." Then she turned back to her food.

Albus glared at her, snagged a pasty from Scorpius' untouched plate, and headed for the door. "I'm going to find James," he announced to no one in particular.

"Definitely smitten, that one," Mrs Tonks said not long after he had gone. "What do you think of Albus, Draco?"

"I prefer not to. He's too tempramental and opinionated and I'm concerned that as he grows up, he will become very controlling as well. I expect he'll be sorted into Slytherin."

"Harry and Ginny share your concern," Mrs Weasley said quietly. "They're worried about him hurting Scorpius as well, not deliberately, probably, but ... Scorpius still doesn't defend himself anyway and Albus completely overwhelms him."

Rose asked quietly, "Have you forgotten Scorpius is still in the room? Why don't you ask him what he thinks?"

Scorpius burrowed against his father's side. His father hugged him closer and asked, "What do you think of Albus, love?"

"He's my best friend. I like to do things with him and I want to be friends with him forever."

Mrs Tonks asked gently, "Does he do things that you don't like?"

"Yeah, sometimes. Defending me all the time so I can't learn to defend myself. Getting upset over stupid things, like not winning a game or not getting the toy he wanted. Getting jealous when I spend more time with my other classmates than with him. Getting detention all the time. But he's sweet, too."

"Of course he is. I'm glad you two get along so well. Now both of you, run along. I seem to recall Albus promising to take Scorpius flying." Scorpius smiled at Mrs Tonks and slowly disentangled himself from his father.

Together, he and Rose went in search of the other children, but his worry for his father did not go away and much later, after he and his father returned home, he thought about what the adults had said about Albus. Were they saying that Albus was not a good friend for him?

Author's Note: The next chapter's the trial, which I've drafted, but it still doesn't feel right.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 19: The Trial of Lucius Malfoy

Scorpius lay in his bed staring at the window, through which he could see a yellowish blob that he knew to be the moon. The sky was lightening and a glance at the clock on his nightstand confirmed that it would be dawn soon. It was Wednesday morning and he had hardly slept all night.

When he heard his parents in the corridor outside his room, he decided it was time to get up. He had just finished putting on his dress robes when his mother knocked. "Come in," he called.

His mother fussed over him, checking his robes and combing his hair. "How do you feel, love?"

"Scared. I don't want to do this, Mother."

"I know, Scorpius. I don't want you to do it, either, but I also don't want to spend the rest of our lives worrying that the moment I turn away, Lucius will attack you again." She paused as she fixed his collar. "Especially with the baby on the way, he may kill you outright next time." She patted his shoulders, making sure the robe hung correctly. "Just remember, if anything goes wrong, Harry will be there and he was just a little older than you the first time he won a fight against Lucius. He won't lose this one."

Scorpius put on his glasses and looked up at her. "Mr Potter said after it's over, he'll bring Albus and me somewhere muggle for ice cream."

His mother smiled. "That man spoils you almost as badly as we do. Ready to eat?"

Scorpius shook his head. He felt nauseous, but kept that thought to himself. "I'm not hungry."

His mother took his hand and led him out of the room. "You need to eat something. You can't risk passing out today."

He reluctantly followed her to the dining room and accepted the porridge that his father set in front of him. His father, like his mother, was dressed in his finest robes. "What's the medal for?" he asked. He had not known his father even owned any medals.

His father removed it and handed it to him. "I received it after the war for saving Potter's life when he was captured by Death Eaters. I want the Wizengamot to remember that when I testify."

Scorpius turned to his mother. "Did you get any medals?"

"No. I was fortunate to avoid the worst of the war and my family was as neutral as they could be. Now finish eating. We want to be there early."

Scorpius obeyed, but he still felt ill. He stroked his toy dragon under the table to calm himself. He wished Albus was with him, but Albus' father would not allow him to attend the trial.

At the Ministry, his father spelled their robes clean and led them to the Auror offices, where Rose's mother met them. "Harry apologizes for not meeting you himself, but he's organizing everything in the courtroom. You can wait in Ron's office. He's with Harry and will let us know if the trial time is changed suddenly."

Scorpius sat stiffly and played with his dragon while they waited. His mother tried to interest him in the toys on Mr Weasley's desk, but he ignored them. They were all relieved when Mr Weasley finally walked in. "It's nearly time," he said. "The escort will be here from Azkaban soon and we want you in place when they arrive."

Scorpius had given no thought to where his grandfather was staying, but Azkaban made sense. He pressed against his mother in the lift down to the courtroom, where Mr Potter greeted them at the door and led them to some benches off to the right. "How are you doing, Scorpius?" he asked.

"Nervous," Scorpius said quietly.

"That's normal. I want to introduce you to someone." He indicated a woman sitting close to them. "This is Parvati Patil. She's been helping me with the case and will do a lot of the speaking."

Ms Patil took Scorpius' hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr Malfoy." Scorpius giggled.

A moment later, someone called for everyone to take their seats. Scorpius looked around and saw two aurors entering the room. Behind them, surrounded by more aurors, was his grandfather. His grandfather looked up and his eyes narrowed when he saw them. He focused on Scorpius' father, who held his gaze as he was led to the center of the room and placed in a chair that immediately bound him to it.

A man at the front of the room, whom Scorpius recognized from photographs in the Daily Prophet as the Minister, spoke first. "The accused being present, let us begin. Criminal hearing of the twenty-third of June. Interrogators: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister for Magic," and here several people nodded in his direction, "Griselda Marchbanks, Chief Witch," his hand indicated the woman to his right, who nodded, "Harry Potter, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," he indicated Mr Potter, who stood and nodded from his seat near Scorpius, "and Court Scribe, Orla Quirke." The woman to his left nodded and lifted her quill in acknowlegement.

"Witness for the Defense," said a well-kempt man who had entered after the aurors, "Chief Healer, Kevin Whitby." He sat in a chair not far from Scorpius' grandfather, who was glaring at the Minister and Mr Potter in turn.

The Minister continued, "The charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received warnings at past trials, cast spells and charms intended to cause permanent injury to a wizarding child.

"You are Lucius Malfoy of Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire?"

"Yes," his grandfather answered, his voice tight.

"You received past warnings and reprimands regarding harm to children and innocents following the Death Eater trials, did you not?"

"Yes," his grandfather said again.

"And yet you started a fire in your grandson's bedroom, leaving him no avenue of escape and causing possibly irreparable bodily harm?"

Scorpius' grandfather glared at the Minister and did not answer. The Minister asked again and Scorpius leaned against his mother, not even trying to follow what was said. The questions continued, but Scorpius' lack of sleep was catching up to him and he had trouble concentrating for more than a few moments at a time. He heard his father speaking, then Mr Potter, and hearing the familiar voices defending him calmed him a little.

Then his mother was shaking him gently. "Scorpius, it's time for you to testify." He stood reluctantly and followed Ms Patil to the podium. She asked him to describe what he remembered about the fire and, as Mr Potter had said, about his relationship with his grandfather.

"Do you know what causes your grandfather to show you so little regard?"

Scorpius swallowed before answering. "I'm a squib and he doesn't like that."

Several people in the courtroom gasped and he heard someone in the Wizengamot ask, "The boy's a squib? Are you sure?"

Ms Patil turned to the Wizengamot. "I have medical records from St Mungo's confirming that Scorpius is a squib. They are dated shortly after Christmas last year." She approached the Minister and handed him a folder. "Copies of all medical records relevant to the case are in here." He took the folder and nodded for her to continue as he flipped through it.

The only other time something interesting happened was when Ms Patil asked Scorpius the last time his grandfather had threatened him before the fire. He answered simply, "He burned up the warthog Lily gave me for my birthday."

"Lily who?" Ms Patil asked.

Scorpius glanced at his parents and Mr Potter. "Lily Potter, madam."

His grandfather snorted. "Of course it's a bloody Potter," he sneered. "The girl's father's been grooming Scorpius for this since the day he met him."

"Silence, Lucius," one of the aurors who had led him in commanded.

"Or what? You'll send me back to Azkaban? Has it occurred to you that Potter is using the boy?"

A witch off to the left raised her wand, pointed it to his grandfather and commanded, "Silencio!" She lowered her wand, nodded to the Minister, and said, "Auror Potter's contempt for you is well known, Lucius, and will be taken into consideration. So will the evidence from the fire, the boy's medical records, and the other aurors' testimonies."

Scorpius stared at the center of the room, where his grandfather appeared to be snarling, but no sound came out. He wanted to look away, run away, anything, but he could not move. Ms Patil stepped between him and his grandfather and said something he missed. He blinked at her. She said gently, "Thank you, Scorpius. You may sit now." He jumped down and rushed into his mother's arms.

More people talked, aurors who investigated the fire, healers who treated him, his mother and grandmother, but all of the speeches and questions ran together for him. At last, the wizard in charge announced, "Is the Wizengamot prepared to reach a verdict?"

Several people shouted, "Aye!"

"Then this trial is adjourned for the length of thirty minutes while the Wizengamot deliberates. Auror Potter, you will remain here?"

"Yes, sir," Mr Potter answered as the other Wizengamot members slowly filed out a door behind their benches, whispering among themselves.

During the break, Scorpius' mother held him tightly and Ms Patil conjured him some water while his father and Mr Potter spoke quietly some distance away. Mr Weasley walked between his father and the aurors guarding his grandfather several times and Scorpius guessed he was passing messages.

"It's almost over?" Scorpius asked timidly.

"Yes, love," his mother answered.

After what felt like forever to Scorpius, the Minister returned to his seat and the rest of the Wizengamot filed in after him. "The Wizengamot has come to a decision," he announced. "All those in favor of clearing Lucius Malfoy of all charges, please raise your hands." Only two witches did so, and both earned glares from Mr Potter. "All those in favor of pressing charges, please raise your hands." Nearly the entire Wizengamot, minus the two witches, Mr Potter, and two or three others, raised their hands.

The Ministher nodded to Chief Witch Marchbanks. She looked down at Scorpius' grandfather and said, "Lucius Malfoy, this court finds you guilty of deliberate endangerment of a wizarding child. The minimum sentence for such a crime is ten years' imprisonment in Azkaban." Several witches and wizards started murmuring behind her, demanding a longer sentence. "However," she continued, "because your actions may have permanantly disabled that child and nearly caused his death, the Wizengamot motions to increase that sentence to the maximum thirty years. All in favor, please raise your hands." Over three fourths of those in the Wizengamot raised their hands.

The Minister said, "Lucius Malfoy, the Wizengamot hereby sentences you to thirty years in Azkaban for the deliberate endangerment and near murder of the child, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. This session is now adjourned."

Witches and wizards stood all around the room and chatted excitedly with those nearby. Several approached Scorpius' group to congratulate Mr Potter and Ms Patil. One severe looking woman waited until most of the others had left before walking over. "Mr Potter, Ms Patil, Mr and Mrs Malfoy, admirable work all of you. I am very proud of you, Draco."

Scorpius' father said, "Thank you, Professor." He put a hand on Scorpius' shoulder. "This is my son, Scorpius. Scorpius, my former teacher, Professor McGonagall."

Scorpius swallowed nervously and craned his head back to look up at her. "Hello, Professor."

Professor McGonagall raised her wand and swished it. A mug appeared in her hand. She handed it to Scorpius. "Drink this. It will help you feel better."

Scorpius took a tentative sip. "Cocoa?" his mother asked.

Professor McGonagall smiled at Scorpius, who grinned back. "Of course. Chocolate cures most ills, I've found."

"Thank you," Scorpius said quietly.

"It was no trouble." To his parents, she said, "Am I to understand that Scorpius will not be coming to Hogwarts?"

His father's grip on his shoulder tightened. "That's correct, Professor. Our annual monetary support will continue, however."

Professor McGonagall mused, "Generally, Mr Malfoy, when forced to choose between the child or the money, I choose the child, but it cannot be helped. I do hope you will bring him to visit on occasion."

Scorpius' mother smiled. "Of course we will, Professor. Once Albus and Rose start attending Hogwarts, I'm sure Scorpius will be eager to visit them."

"Excellent. And now I must return to Hogwarts myself. Good day."

When she was gone, Scorpius looked around the courtroom to find it nearly deserted. His grandfather and the aurors guarding him were gone. Ms Patil was gathering the last of the folders. Everyone in the Wizengamot had left. Mr Potter asked, "Do you still feel up for ice cream, Scorpius?"

"Can we get some tomorrow instead? I'm really tired and I want Albus to come with me."

Mr Potter laughed. "Go home and sleep. We'll get ice cream tomorrow and if Albus keeps himself out of trouble, he can come with us."

Scorpius hugged Mr Potter impulsively. "Thank you, Mr Potter." Mr Potter hugged him back.

That night, Scorpius awoke around midnight feeling very hungry. He started to go to the kitchen, but when he saw the light on in his father's sudy, he knocked. "Come in," his father called.

His father was sitting in a fluffy chair sipping wine. He glanced up as Scorpius entered, then turned back to the fire. His eyes glistened and Scorpius saw a tear slide down his cheek. "Father, are you okay?"

His father reached out and Scorpius took his hand. "No, I'm not. What I did today, helping to send my own father to prison, no child should ever be asked to do that."

"Do you regret it?"

"No. I would do anything to keep you safe." His father set down his glass of wine and pulled Scorpius close. "I love you, Scorpius. I'm very proud of you."

Scorpius curled up against his father. "I love you, too, Father." He fell asleep in his father's arms.

Author's Note: This chapter was very hard to write and much of the formal language was lifted directly from OOTP Chapter 8. Please review and let me know if it worked for you.