Summary: Scorpius, Rose and Albus are at The Burrow when their NEWT results arrive. As they sit to discuss their futures, the three realise the one thing they've never learned about each other.
It Can't Be That Bad
The golden sun beat down upon the garden, where two children were playing with a ball and three teenagers sat by an algae filled pond. They were in Muggle clothing, their shoes and socks abandoned somewhere inside. They were sat cross-legged, watching their surroundings contentedly.
The trio were the most unlikely group of friends in many respects. Their mismatched appearance was enough for strangers to see. They each had different hair colours: black, blond and auburn, and differed in their builds greatly. The only girl was tall but well built, and whilst the blond boy was even taller, he was lanky with legs that seemed to be apart from his body (some Muggle-born students had even nicknamed him Bambi), and the raven-haired boy was yet to have his final growth-spurt, nearly a head smaller than the redheaded girl. Their personalities varied too: the girl was headstrong and intelligent, whilst the shorter boy was a bag of nerves and their companion had an air of arrogance and superiority at times. Then, there was the biggest mismatch of all: their families. It was odd enough that two cousins should be best friends, let alone the pair of them befriending a member of a family their family feuded against for generations. Yes, sat in the garden of the Burrow were Rose Weasley, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, all laughing jovially amongst themselves.
There was a tray of Molly Weasley's homemade lemonade sat in front of them, whilst on their laps were bowls of ice-cream, "I can't wait until next term," Scorpius said with a smile, "Freedom at long last!" The other two laughed.
"I know, I wish these letters would come," Albus said, searching the sky. Rose screamed as she looked around too, to see three specks in the distance flying towards her.
The trio ran inside, to where their parents were sat amongst other Weasleys, "The NEWT letters are here!" Rose squealed, as Albus threw the window open. The three owls soared in, "Oh no!" she then added as her owl stuck her leg out. Harry and Ron burst out laughing, looking at Hermione as they recalled their OWL results coming.
"Like mother, like daughter," Molly added, smiling at her daughter-in-law who had gone the colour of her own daughter's hair. As the owls flew off, the three eighteen-year-olds turned their backs on each other. The only sound was the tearing open of envelopes, a split second silence and a scream, a sigh and a shout of triumph.
"Six Outstandings," Rose squealed, both of her parents swamping her in a big hug.
"Four Os and an E," Albus said softly, his dad lifting him up off the ground with a whoop of excitement.
"Five Os and an E," Scorpius yelled, punching the air as his mother smothered him in kisses and his father congratulated him coolly.
"So now we need to sit down and think about what you're going to do," Hermione said, shooing George's six-year-old daughter Roxanne and Percy's youngest child Lucy from the table and into the garden so that they could all sit down comfortably.
"Aunt Hermione, can't we just relax for a bit?" Albus asked softly. Hermione looked a bit put out, but after everybody else made sounds of agreement, she nodded and got up to find Hugo, James and Lily to tell them the news.
"Scorpius, we're going to get going. Your grandmother wants me to take her to Diagon Alley," Draco Malfoy said, "Just Floo home. Grandpa will be there." His wife kissed her son's head and they Apparated away together.
"Yeah, we'd better go and tell Teddy how you got on," Ginny added, getting up and kissing Rose and Albus on the cheek and saying a polite goodbye to Scorpius. Harry imitated her and they walked off to find Lily. Ron, who had still not gotten over his daughter's friendship with a Malfoy, sat awkwardly for a moment before Molly took his arm and marched him outside.
"Welcome to the slightly insane Weasley residence," Rose muttered, blushing traditional Weasley red. Scorpius laughed lightly.
"Rose, I've learnt loads about you two in the past seven years, we know everything about each other. I know you have some strange family members, so does everybody. Don't worry," the blond laughed.
"Everything about each other?" Albus asked, intrigued, "That's quite scary. We've known each other for seven years." The other two nodded.
"Actually," Rose said, "We don't know your middle name."
"I haven't got one," Scorpius said quickly, a bit too quickly, "And anyway I don't know yours either."
"Well, I know you're lying," Albus scoffed. Scorpius looked offended, "The envelope for you just then. Mr S H Malfoy?"
"No, you're imagining it," Scorpius protested, looking for the envelope. Rose pulled out her wand and Summoned the piece of paper non-verbally. It landed in her hand and she turned to show him, "I'm not telling you!"
"It can't be that bad," Albus said, "I mean, two of our uncles have Ignatius and Bilius as their middle names." Scorpius sniggered but said -
"I'm still not telling you! It's worse than those two."
"What's worse than Bilius?" Rose asked incredulously as James and Hugo wandered in.
"Nymphadora," Albus said, without thinking. He clapped a hand over his mouth and Rose turned to her, gobsmacked.
"AL!" she exclaimed, as James and Hugo began to snigger behind Albus.
"Ah, Rosie, it could be worse. It could be SEVERUS," James yelled. Scorpius laughed loudly, as Albus hit out at his brother, who was too quick for him and dodged, "And mine's Sirius and that's decent so ha!" he added, walking into the garden. Albus banged his head on the table.
"See? Our parents have no taste in names, so come on Scorpius H Malfoy, what does that initial stand for?" Rose asked, smiling sweetly. The blond groaned and ran a hand through his hair, "Oh, Scorpius come on. You're eighteen, we're not going to stop being your friends just because you have a middle name that's worse than Severus and Nymphadora."
"Yeah, they're friends with you with that stupid first name, what difference will a silly middle name make?" Scorpius turned to look at James, who had wandered back in with Roxanne on his back. The six-year-old giggled and James ran off with her upstairs.
"Sorry," Albus and Rose chorused.
"No, he's right. I think my Dad was on drugs when he named me," Scorpius muttered. The clock rang out eleven bells, "I should get going. Grandpa will want to congratulate me and Gran will want to take me out. Are you coming round tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Rose and Albus chorused.
"Well I'll see you then Rose Nymphadora Weasley and Albus Severus Potter," Scorpius said with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, see you Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," Rose replied. Albus, who had taken a sip of Molly's lemonade, laughed and sprayed the drink over the table. Scorpius, who was preparing to Apparate away, swivelled and opened his mouth like a goldfish, "Next time, don't leave your stuff lying about, Malfoy."
"Whatever, Weasley, Potter," he said, snatching his results off Rose, who winked at him cheekily. Despite trying to keep a straight face, Scorpius let a small chuckle escape and sighed defeated as Albus and Rose laughed from the table. He made a rude gesture in their direction before Apparating home, cursing his parents' poor naming skills and his friends' inquisitive natures.
A/N: After seeing JKR's family tree for the Next Generation, this popped into my head. Come on, Scorpius Hyperion?! Poor kid. This was very quickly written in about half an hour and although I've checked it a few times, there's probably a mistake somewhere. If you have any advice/criticism/comments, feel free to tell me.