The small family of three walked through the busy crowds of Kings Cross Station, with their destination clearly implanted in their minds. The father was leading, parting the crowd for the others, while the mother was walking beside the son, helping him push his trolley, loaded with luggage and a very noisy Snowy Owl.
The whole family was attracting quite a lot of attention, not only because of the owl, but also because of what they were wearing. The father was wearing a black business suit with a navy shirt and grey tie. The shoes were pointed and black, and there was a single circular pin on the tie, with the letter 'M' on it. The mother was wearing a green suit, with a white blouse underneath. She also had a single pin on her blouse, but rather than being something that represented a workplace or a hobby, it was a star shape. The son, who was looking just as serious as the father, was wearing a black suit, with a white shirt underneath, and his hair was slicked back with large amounts of hair gel.
The family gave off an aura of rudeness, and made the people around them feel as though they were of a much lower class, but if they truly got to know the family, they would know that even though the family lived in a large Manor in Wiltshire, they were hardly the type of family to go around abusing people, at least at the moment.
"How long do we have Draco?" the mother asked her husband, who quickly checked his leather bound watch.
"We still have ten minutes, but if this crowd continues, then we might only get there on time," Draco said, fastening his pace.
The family continued moving through, ignoring the odd looks from the people around them, and didn't stop or talk once more until they reached the large wall that showed the numbers 10 and 9.
"Are you ready Scorpius?" the mother asked him, readjusting her grip on the trolley.
"Oh don't stress too much Astoria," Draco said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Scorpius will be fine."
"Yeah mum, there's nothing to worry about," Scorpius said, giving his mother a small, shaky smile.
"Oh alright," Astoria said, not entirely convinced that her only son was truly ready to grow up. "Draco, will you go through the barrier with Scorpius if I go through with the luggage?"
Draco nodded, taking his sons hand, and leading him through the secret barrier. To the ordinary person, or 'Muggle', as the Malfoy's would call them, the situation might seem strange - were they to see what happened, which they hopefully wouldn't - as the two suddenly disappeared through the barrier, quickly followed by Astoria.
Waiting on the other side of the barrier, was the gleaming red of the Hogwarts Express, waiting for all the students to hop onboard. Beside him, Draco noticed his sons breath become heavier, and quickly pulled him aside before his already anxious wife noticed.
"Are you—" Draco started, but broke off as Scorpius opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm not ready dad, not ready!" Scorpius said, anxiously stroking his gelled hair. "I don't know anyone here and I doubt anyone here will like me at all, with the history of our family…" he finished, saying the last few words quieter.
"Okay, just forget about what everyone will say about us, we're not like that anymore," Draco said, kneeling down to be at the same height as Scorpius. "I only knew people when I first started because my father was a Death Eater, and I noticed that people who made friendships with people who they'd never met before had a much higher chance of staying together. Like look at them," Draco said, pointing to another small family of 5.
"The Potter's? I didn't think you liked them?"
"I don't, but they're still all together, whereas I haven't talked to my friends in years."
In the distance, the Hogwarts Express gave signs of taking off, and Astoria gave the two males a look of 'Hurry!'.
"Now, you really must be going," Draco said, leading his son towards the door where his luggage was waiting. "And remember, you'll always have your owl to let us know how things are going."
There were quick last minute hugs and kisses exchanged before Scorpius regrettably boarded the Hogwarts Express. The train started up, and turned the corner, plunging them into absolute darkness. Scorpius began to make his way down the train, trying to find a carriage that wasn't already occupied.
Halfway down the train he stumbled across one, and quickly hopped inside, placing his luggage and his Owl, Ike, above on the racks.
He sat down on one of the couches and pulled out the latest Daily Prophet, not really absorbing any of the words. His insides suddenly felt like jelly, and he wished he had an older sibling joining him on the train. He felt tears coming to his eyes, but quickly brushed them away, not wanting people to see him cry on his first day.
"Um…is this carriage free?" Came a voice from the doorway of the carriage. Scorpius looked up and saw a boy around his age, with a suitcase and a ginger cat in his arms.
"Uh…yeah…" Scorpius said, his eyes instantly returning to his newspaper.
"I'm Paul Wilcock, by the way," the boy said, sitting down opposite him. "What's your name?"
"Scorpius Malfoy."
"Malfoy? I'm guessing you'd want to be in Slytherin?"
"No…" Scorpius said looking up, already sick of the stereotype under his family name.
"What house then? I'd like to be in Hufflepuff," Paul said, looking throughly interested in what Scorpius' reply was going to be.
Ignoring Paul's stupid reply of which house he'd like to be in, Scorpius said: "I've always wanted to be in Ravenclaw."
"Really? I don't feel like I'd be smart enough…I guess I'm more of a useless Hufflepuff," Paul said laughing.
"You seem pretty okay to me, not entirely useless."
"Ah well, I guess you'd find out if you met me more."
For the rest of the trip, the two talked nothing but their family history and famous Wizarding cards. Nothing interesting happened for the rest of the trip, except for two other first years - one boy and one girl - coming to their carriage.
"So you're the one my father was talking about?" the boy asked with a hint of arrogance in his voice.
"Uh who're you?" Scorpius asked, standing up to face the two visiters.
"Albus Potter, and this is my cousin Rose Weasley," the boy said, and Scorpius could instantly see the connection between Albus and Harry Potter, the wizard his father hated the most.
"Oh I see, well don't worry, I've heard plenty about you and your family," Scorpius started, before turning to Rose. "And yours as well."
"Hey! Don't go saying that sort of stuff to Rose!" Albus said, drawing his wand on Scorpius, who only drew his wand back.
"Guys stop!" Rose said, speaking for the first time. Scorpius noted the obvious pain in her voice, and felt his wand hand lower even though he didn't remember lowering it.
"Too weak are you? How unlike your father you are I guess," Albus said, raising his wand even higher.
"Well from these last few minutes I've noticed that you're extraordinarily unlike your father as well," Scorpius said, raising his wand once again. "Because what I've heard, is that he's the hero, not the cold blooded killer."
Albus raised his wand backwards, as though he was ready to hex Scorpius, and although he should have felt terrified, Draco had been smart enough to teach his son a few spells to defend himself, as he'd had an idea that this might have happened.
But before either of them were able to do anything to each other, a third year walked in, and Albus instantly lowered his wand.
"What is the meaning of this?" the boy asked, walking towards Albus.
"He attacked me! I walked in here, asking whether or not the lunch trolley had come by, since I was starving, and he pulls his wand on me!" Albus said.
"Wait…are you Scorpius Malfoy?" the boy asked, suddenly glaring at Scorpius.
"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" Scorpius said.
"Well it just goes to show that your family haven't really changed."
"But that isn't what happened at all!" Paul said, speaking for the first time since Albus and Rose had arrived at their carriage. "Even she knows it!" he said, pointing to Rose, who sunk lower into her seat.
"Yeah, all she knows is that Scorpius over here pulled his wand on me first!" Albus said, becoming angrier by the second.
"Look okay…I don't really know who to trust right now, but this better not happen again!" the boy said, leaving the carriage sighing.
"You're lucky that my brother was able to come, and that you two didn't get in trouble," Albus said, before walking out, closely followed by Rose.
Scorpius sat down quickly in his chair, rolling his eyes. "I can't believe it! He nearly got us in so much trouble, just because he lied his butt off!"
"I can't believe that he would do something like that just so that he didn't get in trouble from his brother!" Paul said, just as outraged as Scorpius. "But we need to get dressed, we're nearly there." he said, pointing out the window.
And for the first time that day Scorpius felt something that made him feel happy, since out the window of the carriage, gleaming in the distance, was Hogwarts.