I groan as I roll over off of my arm that is squished under me, sighing softly when I realise that it did no good because it had already gone numb from lack of blood flow. I hope to sleep a little longer before I have to wake up this morning. I can hear the footsteps in the hall outside my door and I cringe. Mum must've found out that I broke the alarm clock charm an hour ago. She charmed my room to ring obnoxiously to wake up me like an alarm clock at eight o' clock, but I wanted to sleep a little longer. So, when I woke up to use the restroom in the middle of the night I deactivated the charm with a counter charm I learned a few years ago specifically for this reason.
I watch my bedroom door in anticipation, expecting my father to come in. He handles the punishments around here, so I've learned. Unlike popular opinion at school, he doesn't beat me. But he still is pretty harsh when it comes to what my punishments are when I do things wrong. But when the door opens, I quickly shut my eyes so that I can appear to be still sleeping. Maybe Mother or Father will let me sleep a bit longer if I look like I'm still sleeping peacefully. I have no idea who really has entered my room at this point.
It isn't until I feel a gentle shaking do I realise it's my mother. My father would've yelled at me to get my lazy arse out of bed. I let out a tired groan, not wanting to get up. But it will be my first day back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for another year. And there was no way I was going to miss that, if it was up to my mother, which it is, and always has been.
"Scorpius, honey, time to wake up. Breakfast is on the table," says Mum.
I sigh as I force myself to open up my eyes again. I mumble a response, telling her that I'll be right down. She walks out of my bedroom, leaving me to my privacy, and is probably going to go check to see if the breakfast we will be eating is still nice and hot. I lay in bed for another minute and my mouth begins to water at the thought of having bacon, eggs, waffles, toast, and other wonderful breakfast foods. I didn't even realise just how much I was starving until just now. I could've starved to death and I wouldn't even have noticed! Ha. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration.
I pull myself out of bed and walk into the hot shower. Though it wakes me up big time, it feels like heaven. I get out of the shower and do my silvery blond hair as usual. I smirk at myself in the mirror as I pull on a pair of black trousers and a white dress shirt, pulling my house tie on as a final touch. I thank my lucky stars that I look as good as my father did when he was young like me.
While walking out of my room out into the hall, I practically tripped over Peaches, our family house elf that we got from Grandfather and Grandmother Greengrass. Peaches let out a weird little squeak and apparated out of the room to a different part of the Manor, and I rolled my eyes and chuckled lightly. It reminded me so much of my friend, Rose Weasley. Just like her mother she's obsessed with the rights of house elves. It's bad enough thanks to Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley's law that we have to actually offer them payment. I can't imagine actually having to set them free for good. That would mean I'd have to do some actual chores around here! That isn't right at all, I tell you.
"Good to see you up, my darling," says my mother as I walk into the dining room down the hall, taking in a big whiff of the nicely cooked meal.
"Good Morning Mum, Father," I say with a grin as I take a seat at my usual spot at the dining room table.
Just as my mother puts down a hot plate full of my favourite breakfast foods in front of me, my father looks up from The Daily Prophet. He looks me over for a good five minutes before looking back at his half-eaten plate of food and paper. I give him a curious look, trying to figure out what that was all about since it was a bit weird, but I shake it off. My father has been acting really strange all summer, so this is almost normal for him. Mother says it's because I'm seventeen and will be leaving the house soon, but I don't buy it for one minute.
"I'm Head Boy this year, by the way..." I say, trying to start a conversation. The quietness in this room is really beginning to bother me right now.
My mother gave me a great big smile and she congratulated me with a hug and a kiss. I knew that if anyone would care and be proud of me, it would be her. My father looked up at me from his paper again and gave me a respectable nod with a half smile. That made me grin even more. Hey, that may not be very much in your opinion, but to me that was pretty big. My father and I used to be so close, so I used to get the look of him being proud of me a lot. Not so much anymore, though, so I savour every last moment when it does happen. My father says he's proud of me and I'm practically beaming like an idiot. But that's when I do it. I just have to say the one thing that no one in this house would even dare to say. In fact, the minute I realise I said it, I brace myself for a verbal beating.
"So, father," I say, "When you were in your seventh year at Hogwarts did you get to be Head Boy, or did they decide you weren't good enough?"
My father's pleasant, proud expression suddenly went sour. How could I have been so stupid? Everyone knows that no one bothered making my father anything important because they knew he was some big evil Death Eater or whatever. The Death Eater thing in my father's life wasn't a big secret in our family, or anything, but we all knew better than to bring it up or hint at it in any sort of conversation. My father is really sensitive about it, I guess.
"No," my father says in an icy, bitter tone," And you know perfectly well why. And I don't suggest you bring it up again, Scorpius Hyperion."
I took a nervous gulp, still bracing myself, and nodded. He stood up and walked out of the dining room without another word. His last words stung though. I've never heard him call me anything other than 'son', let alone my first and middle name. I wonder if he truly is that upset with me because I brought it up. I take a chance and glance in my mother's direction and from the expression she has, she's just as worried, if not more, than I am.
"Don't worry about it, sweetie. You just hit a tough spot on your father. He'll be fine, we just need to let him cool down," says Mum before I can say anything to her, myself.
I can't think of anything decent to say so I just nod. I can tell that my mother is still concerned about it, even more than usual, but I'm not going to press the subject. They'll tell me what's going on with him for real eventually. It's not like I won't find out on my own anyway, eventually. I'm not a little kid anymore, so I don't think it's something they can't tell me. My mother gets up to clean her plate and my father's mostly finished plate of food, and I just finish the rest of my breakfast in silence. I feel really bad for my father since he gets so upset about these things. I came to the conclusion that I'll never truly understand how he feels, and why he does feel the way he does.
"I'm going to go grab my trunk," I tell my mother as I hand her my empty plate once I'm done eating.
She nods and I take off upstairs to go grab it. I managed to get all my packing done a few nights ago. I've learned the hard way when it comes to packing last minute. Once, in my third year, I was feeling really lazy so I didn't bother packing until an hour before we had to leave for Kings Cross Station. So I threw all my stuff in there and when I finally got to Hogwarts I realised I didn't even have underwear. My housemates found it hilarious, so they didn't help me at all. In the end, I ended up sharing with Albus Potter, my best mate, until my parents could send me something. I've never felt more awkward in my entire life than at that moment. My mother, father, and Al love to hold it over my head even today. And Rose always uses that story to get me to remember to pack early.
I grab my trunk and make sure I have my Quidditch broom with me. I don't want to forget that! I drag everything downstairs to see both my parents waiting for me. I don't see why they still feel the need to escort me to the platform, but I don't question it this year. I'm already in hot water with my father right now, I'm sure. I don't need to make matters worse and sink myself in deeper by causing an arguement over something as simple and petty as this.
"Do you have everything this time?" asks my father in a sort of a monotone.
I nod and say, "Yes, father. I packed two nights ago and I double checked."
My father gives me a slight nod of approval. I study his face to see if I can figure out what he's thinking. That's always difficult because he's great at hiding his emotions, I've learned, and my mother has told me that a few times as well. I don't think he's upset with me anymore. Maybe I just struck a nerve and he cooled down in his study. Honestly, I don't even care that much. As long as nothing bad happens to me, he can be the most miserable guy on the planet.
"So, are we all ready to go now, then?" asks my mother in her cheerful voice. It's obvious that she just wants there to be no fighting and for this to go as smoothly as possible.
My father and I give her a nod, letting her know that we can head to the train station now since we're ready. And with that, she takes both my father and I's hand and we apparate away, so I can get to Hogwarts.