Lily and the Portrait.

Lily Potter walked briskly down the dungeon hallways. The quicker she could find him the quicker she could leave. There he was scowling away, intimidating as ever.

"Al told me you wanted to talk to me?" she asked quietly.

"Yes" He drew out the word. "I didn't expect you to come so soon though. I wanted to apologize if I startled you, it's just you look so much like your grandmother."

"You knew her?"

"You might say we grew up together. She was a good woman, brave." He sighed "Tell me about your brothers."

"James is always in charge, always planning something, it's funny though as much as we all tell him it's a bad idea, he'll only listen to Albus. He's the thoughtful one. Grandmum says if it wasn't for him James would have blown something off by now."
"Yes that sounds familiar. You said "we all?"

"Yeah, me, Al, Rose, Hugo, Perdy"

"How is she?"

"Better, she says the tea helps"

"Rose and Hugo, I've seen her, Hugo is the other ginger one?"

"Yeah like his dad, she looks like her mum."

"Figures, he was always trying to win her over, I didn't honestly think he'd succeed though. He did stand more of a chance than Draco did though. There was a sad case if I ever saw one."

"Who's Draco?"

"Little Scorpius' dad, he was crazy for I assume she's you aunt?"

"Hermione, yeah"

"Yes, but unfortunately his father would never have allowed it, so the only thing he could do was keep her at a distance, I guess it was better that way." Her opinion of the man began to change. He was not so foreboding once you spent some time with him. "Yes was quite the hellion when he wanted to be, Malfoy. I remember when Hermione broke his nose, that was enough to knock him down a peg." Lily giggled at the thought of her aunt breaking anyone's nose. He smiled, but it faded quickly. "Everyone says it's Hufflepuff that gets the misfits, I don't believe that for a moment, Slytherin does."

"How do you figure?" Lily was intrigued.

"They are all too proud to admit their faults, and too closed minded to see things clearly. They hide behind tough talk and hexes, but they are just scared. Snare, he's short and unsavory, so he takes it out on the world. Malfoy wanted something he couldn't have so he replaced it with a hunger for power. He got so much more than he bargained for."

"Scorpius always described his dad as reserved, and stoic"

"I can imagine the years have made him that way yes. Don't let the same thing happen to Scorpius that happened to us. He's just a little glimmer of something like hope for people like us. It's nice to see something besides fear in a Malfoy's eyes. When he's around your friend, he's a completely different person. Be nice to him Lily." He looked so sad she wanted to reach out and take his hand, but the canvas would not allow it.

"I will sir. Can I come back again some time?"

"I look forward to it."