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Chapter One
The Storm after the Calm
Lily Potter threw the latest edition of Witch Weekly in front of her brother. Said brother looked up as the edition knocked out his pumpkin juice and fell on his plate of bacon. He stared at it for a few minutes, silently contemplating while his sister became even more impatient.
"I never would have thought my sister wasted her pocket money on such...rubbish."
"Merlin help you Albus! I knew you were slow, but this slow?" hissed out Lily, sitting beside him. She picked up the edition, which had managed to get the attention of more than a few number of their housemates and waved it in front of him. "I expected James to do something like this, not him!" she whispered
"Stop screeching in my ear Lily. For your information, this wasn't exactly hard to miss. I have been hearing it all morning. Unlike you though, I'm just waiting for it to pass. So get rid of that and calm down, stop attracting attention and this too shall pass."
His sister gave him a disdainful look, "This too shall pass, really? It might be easy for you, since you're a boy, but back in the dormitories I've been treated to horrible, cringe-worthy conversations regarding the sexy nature of our father's figure!"
"You think you have it easy?" demanded Albus giving her a look that screamed at her to lower her volume, "How even more awkward would it be for me, once Lex and Reuben get a hold of that edition, hmm? You think I want to hear about what they think of this?"
"I can't believe he would do this!" Lily fumed
"And the worst part of this," said Albus sounding sorrowful, "I bet James is taking full advantage of this...situation."
"Well he does look a bit like dad." Lily shrugged, before realizing what Albus had meant, "Eww, that dirty little shite has no qualms does he? James would actually shag the ones who are more interested in shagging dad then him? Ewwww!"
"You really didn't have to put that in words Lily." Albus sighed, pushing his sister away, "I have DADA now, and Professor Snape expects everyone to be really punctual to his classes."
"Err, no he doesn't." reminded Lily, "He doesn't mind our lot coming in late as he gets to assign detention and take off points from our House. How can you be so naive?"
...x...x...x...x...x...
"Hello Albus." greeted Scorpius. He was almost an exact sixteen year old copy of his father, the blue eyes and less pointed nose distinguishing him. "I saw your sister in the owlery."
"Did you, when?" questioned Albus, having an inkling what his wily sister might be up to. Being the coddled one of the family, the girl was a little spoilt, not to mention very close to her father. She was the most reluctant to share his time with her brothers and James and Albus indulged her as their mother had not lived long to coddle Lily like she had with the two brothers. Her father's love was all she got, so it didn't surprise anyone when she got all possessive over him some times.
"Just before lunch. She didn't even notice me, so I suppose it had something to do with the latest edition of witch weekly."
"When did you start reading such rags, Scorpius?"
"As if, one doesn't have to read to know. News travels fast, apparently so does your sister's owl. I just saw her receive your father's letter a few minutes ago. You would be amused by the contents."
"You have been mighty observant of my sister's activities lately." Albus noted, raising an eyebrow.
"Practicing, I'm trying to gouge her moves to prepare myself for the next quidditch match. I plan to knock her out this time you know." Scorpius smirked
"I wish you all the luck there is in this world. You'll need it." said Albus offering his own smile before walking back to the Great Hall.
...x...x...x...x...x...
"He sent me a Howler, in front of everyone." informed Lily meekly, "In front of Malfoy!" she screeched
Albus rubbed his throbbing eardrum and leaned away from his sister, "I'm sure he didn't mean to. Did he reprimand you?"
"No" admitted Lily lowly
"There you go, he must have mixed up the normal parchment for the Howler ones. You know he keeps a stack of them to serve to the annoying twits in his office don't you?"
"I suppose." Lily said still feeling low, "He couldn't-wouldn't send me a Howler right? All I asked him was-"
"I don't need to know that." Albus interrupted, "Just remember the Howler was a mistake and once dad finds out his mistake you'll get a letter of apology."
...x...
Draco Malfoy slowly traced the picture on the cover photo. It had been a while...and Potter looked even more-
"Draco?" a soft voice interrupted his thoughts
"What is it Astoria?" Draco asked, in a curt voice. That was the most he could do for her. But she was a right sight better than Pansy, for which Draco was appropriately grateful. He treated her like a loving pureblood would outside the Manor but inside, it was separate bedrooms on completely different floors. To say he annoyed his father with his behavior would be an understatement.
His parents did have some knowledge of his feelings for Potter, but promptly chose to ignore it, at least Lucius did. Narcissa on the other hand while acknowledging his obsession, had firmly told her son that if he didn't court Potter, then he should at the least abide by their wishes and give the family a heir.
"I see." Astoris's quite, cold voice carried through the warm embers of the fireplace. She had walked closer to him and was now directly staring at the cover page on his ivory desk. "It seemed foolish to hope."
"I told you, the minute we met. And you said it wouldn't be a problem."
"I- overestimated my persuasive skills." Astoria quietly admitted. Other than her husband's lack of interest in their marriage or her for that matter, Astoria loved being part of the Malfoy family. Her invigorating conversations with Lucius and venturing out with Narcissa to exotic locations had made the sham of a marriage more bearable. And Astoria would hate to lose Narcissa as a mother-in-law. The woman was lovely to be with, once you got through the icy exterior.
"And what do you hope to gain from telling me so?" questioned Draco, amusement glinting in his grey eyes. Merlin, she could have loved this man, if he only let her. He had the looks and cunning brains,he had the needed charm and polished ways one sought in a rare pureblood. His one fault, which separated him from the flawless Lucius (granted the man did make the occasional less then sound judgments) was his ridiculous fascination with all things Harry Potter which bordered on obsession.
"How would you react if I were to indulge the favor of some-other man?" questioned Astoria delicately
Draco stared up at her, unblinking. She waited, wondering if he would show the slightest bit of negativity, but the man just shook his head.
"As long as you're discrete, and have proper ammunition against this man to prevent him from blackmailing you, I won't say anything." replied Draco
Astoria gave him one last stony look and turned to leave when he unexpectedly grasped her hand. Holding it unusually gentle, he gave her one last piece of advice, "Pick someone who'll treat you like the way I never could, Astoria." He then gave her one last sincere smile before turning back to the WW special edition.
Astoria inwardly gritted her teeth, "Just when she was starting to hate him, he had to go and do something like that!