Written for: Hogwarts Psychology Class: Write about a child demonstrating learned behaviour from an adult or role model. Prompt: Draco Malfoy
This is set before Scorpius attends Hogwarts, when he is 9 years old and obviously hasn't met Albus yet.
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Scorpius slowly crept down the stairs of the big mansion. He had tried to sleep, but after turning in his bed for what seemed like hours he had finally given up and was now on his way through the mansion to either find his mom or at least get some hot chocolate from the kitchens. Going down the last flight of stairs, he could see the door to the blue parlour standing slightly ajar and the light of the fire flickering ominously. His parents were still awake. Making his way to the last steps he suddenly stopped still. His parents were talking about him. Slowly he sank down to sit on the steps and listened to the conversation.
"Astoria" he could hear his father pleading. "Maybe we should just do it. You know it will only get worse when he gets to school. I do not want him to deal with this."
"If we do it Draco, it will only get worse. They won't believe any test, they will always claim that he is Voldemort's child."
Scorpius sank even more into himself after hearing those dreaded words. Ever since his birth there had been rumours that he wasn't the son of Draco Malfoy but from Voldemort himself. Scorpius shuddered. He had of course never met Voldemort, because Harry Potter had long since defeated him and those rumours were just ridiculous, but they stuck and now he had to deal with them. Other children weren't allowed to play with him and so he had just his parents and the large mansion. He would usually spend his time in the library reading, but occasionally his father would come and try to engage him in flying. Apparently his father had been quite adept at Quidditch but Scorpius didn't seem to have inherited that talent.
Indeed, sometimes Scorpius was sure his father was terribly disappointed in his heir. He thought Scorpius should be much more of a leader and have a stronger character, but Scorpius just wasn't like that. He was more like his mother in that way. He turned his attention back to the conversation.
"He isn't as weak as you think he is. He is strong in his own way." His mother continued.
"I just don't want him to go through a life at Hogwarts with only people staring at him and saying things behind his back. Maybe we should just home school him."
"No. He wants to go. He is so excited to finally go to Hogwarts, you won't take this away from him! Besides, we both know one other boy who was stared at in our time at Hogwarts. And I think we can agree, that Harry Potter turned out a fine man even with all the hurdles he had to overcome. If Potter was able to find friends that stuck with him, why shouldn't Scorpius find someone?"
"Harry Potter... That is a whole different story. Granger and Weasley were always at his side, besides he was famous for defeating the Dark Lord not for being his son." Draco's voice turned bitter.
"He isn't! Don't say like he is. We both know that he is ours!" Astoria shot back, sounding almost hurt.
"I didn't mean it like that." Draco assured his wife. "But I am just saying you cannot compare our son to Harry Potter."
"Why? Because you aren't bullying him, like you did with Potter?"
"That's not it. Potter was strong. God knows why, but he was incredibly strong even as an 11 year old. I was never as brave or strong as he was. So how should Scorpius be? I am not exactly the best role model when it comes to bravery, or life long friends for that matter. I had the two idiots Crabbe and Goyle during Hogwarts. So how am I to teach Scorpius to not make the same mistakes, how am I to be of any help for him?" His father sounded desperate.
"Draco darling." The soothing voice of his mother now came through the door. "You are not your father. You are already a much better father to Scorpius than your father. And you are much braver than you think. Try and have some faith in yourself and in Scorpius. He is not as weak as you think, just because he prefers books over Quidditch."
"I suppose you are right. There is nothing we can do. Let's just hope he will be able to make some friends that accept him for who he is and don't judge him over this stupid rumours. Maybe he will be able to befriend a muggleborn who hasn't heard the rumours. His grandfather wouldn't like that, but his ideals long have left this place. And I just want him to have a happier school life than my own."
"See. You are a much better father than your own father ever was. You moved on and you are not biased against muggleborns anymore."
"How could I? After all Granger has shown me early on that it was complete bollocks. Even if I didn't want to realize it at first."
"Oh Draco, I am so proud of you! You have moved on so much from your childhood and the bad influence of your father. You are a great father to Scorpius and Scorpius will make his own way. I am not worried."
There was some rustling and Scorpius quickly bolted up the stairs back to his suite. Back in his bed he thought about what he had just heard. His mother thought he was brave. He wasn't so sure about this. But it felt good to hear that his mother thought he was brave. And he really hoped that he would manage to find at least one friend. Someone to have fun with, maybe even go on an adventure with. That would be great. It had also been great to hear that his father wanted the best for him. They didn't always have the best relationship, mostly because Scorpius felt like his father was always disappointed in him, but now he at least knew, that his father would be there to help him and just wanted the best for him.
Reassured and feeling a lot better Scorpius went back to sleep, dreaming about friends and Hogwarts.