Remember a Year in the Life of Friends
January
I'm writing this for the Callander Challenge, so each chapter will be representative of a different month. They will be chronological and connected but not a formal story. This is probably going to be Scorpius-centric with a lot of Lily thrown in. It'll be mainly friendship with a healthy dose of romance. Enjoy.
Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter. The title of this story is a lyric from the song Seasons of Love from RENT.
XxXx
It wasn't that Scorpius Malfoy was an unpopular boy - quite the contrary, he had many friends. Since starting Hogwarts, he had managed to become very close with the least likely group of his peers. Nobody had ever expected the Potter/Weasley clan and the only Malfoy heir to become fast friends and for a very long time after that first train ride - and right up to this very cold January day in Scorpius' sixth year - the relationship was always a great source of scandal and gossip in the corridors. Of course, at Hogwarts, what isn't?
The reason that Scorpius Malfoy was sitting by himself on the Hogwarts Express (for the first time ever) was not that he wasn't wanted elsewhere. He had exiled himself to an empty compartment at the back of the train. He didn't feel like he deserved to sit with his friends today.
For Scorpius, the Christmas holidays had not been at all happy or cheerful. His grandfather had come to stay with them. Scorpius loathed his grandfather.
Ever since he was eleven years old and he had written home telling his father who he had made friends with, Lucius Malfoy had looked down on him. In his eyes, the Potters were the epitome of terrible people and the Weasleys were blood traitors (not much better). He had never met Albus Potter or Rose Weasley or Frankie Longbottom (an honourary Potter/Weasley), but he was determined to see them as less than himself. This, above all else (his pure-blood mania, his obsession with the dark arts), was what Scorpius hated the most about his grandfather.
Lucius Malfoy had never before missed an opportunity to remind Scorpius of the old grudges, but this time, he had been especially ruthless. For the first time ever, Lucius hadn't told his grandson why he should hate the Potter/Weasleys, but why they should hate him. And, he hated to admit, Scorpius couldn't argue with the logic he heard in his grandfather's words.
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were the saviors of the wizarding world. Albus and Rose were their kids.
The Death Eaters were the scourge of the wizarding world. Scorpius was the son of a Death Eater.
And not just any Death Eater; his father was Draco Malfoy. Scorpius' father and Al's had been bitter rivals all through school, even before the Second Wizarding War started or Draco donned the Dark Mark.
Scorpius hated the idea that he wasn't meant to have the friends he had. After all, if he couldn't be friends with Al, Rose, Frankie and all their siblings and cousins, who could he be friends with? His was one of the few families to escape incarceration after the Battle of Hogwarts where many good people had lost loved ones. There were very few who were willing to give Scorpius the time of day.
He knew he shouldn't listen to what his grandfather said. He'd always known Lucius was not one to be trusted or heeded, but he couldn't help but let his words get to him this time. This was not the first time that Scorpius felt self-conscious about his friendship. Lucius Malfoy was not the first to question the legitimacy of the relationship. This was the first time it had ever stuck, though. Most people seemed to think that Scorpius would do something to betray his friends or that he would deem himself better than they. Now he was afraid his friends would see him for what he truly was: Death Eater spawn.
"There you are!" a voice said as the compartment door slid open. "What are you doing hiding back here? We've been looking everywhere for you."
Scorpius looked up into the clear blue eyes of Lily Potter.
"Why?" he asked.
"Why do you think?" Lily replied. "When you didn't turn up in our compartment we thought you'd missed the train or something. You've never not ridden with Al, Rose or Frankie."
"Yeah, I know," he answered, looking down at his lap.
"What's wrong?" Lily suddenly questioned. He silently cursed her attentiveness; she could read him like a book.
"Nothing," he said, still not meeting her eyes.
"Liar," she shot back, closing the compartment door and plopping herself into the seat next to him. "Tell me."
"You giving me orders now, Potter?" he joked, glancing at her.
"Damn straight, Malfoy," she said forcefully. "Now stop changing the subject and tell me what's wrong."
"It's nothing, Lily, really," he told her.
She scrutinized him for a moment. "It's either something really bad or really stupid," she decided. "The only reasons you wouldn't tell me something is if you're afraid I'll get angry or if you're embarrassed. So which is it?"
He sighed but he knew she would beat it out of him anyway. He always gave in to Lily. "You might think it's stupid," he admitted. "But you might not. It might open your eyes and you'll hate me forever."
"Doubtful," she replied dismissively. "Just tell me. You look really lonely sitting here by yourself."
"I'm used to being lonely," he said. "It's the only thing I can rely on these days."
"You're starting to worry me, Scorpius." Her voice was suddenly soft, all trace of humour gone.
He looked into her eyes and saw the concern there. "It's just something my grandfather said," he told her.
She sighed and realization donned in her eyes. "This is a whole 'our families hate each other' thing, isn't it?" she asked.
"How did you ... ?" he trailed off, though he had to admit that her tone relieved him.
"Scorpius, come on," she said. "How many people think we shouldn't be friends? How many times have you had this conversation with some member of my family?"
"My father was a Death Eater, Lily," he told her sternly.
"So what? I'm certainly not my father, why should you be your's?" She rolled her eyes.
"I don't know ... I just ..." He sighed. "I can't understand why your lot would want to be friends with someone like me."
"Do not give me all that 'I am not worthy' tripe," Lily said, suddenly angry. "I get enough of that from my dormates and classmates and people on the street, I do not need it from you."
"Sorry," he said, looking at his lap. He heard Lily sigh and when she continued her voice was softer.
"Don't you get that that's why we like having you around?" she asked. "You never got all star-struck or nervous or anything else that other people do. Most people don't see it because we have such a big family, but us Potter-Weasleys don't have many friends. We've got Andrea, Laura and Frankie Longbottom, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, and you, Scorpius. That's it."
Scorpius considered this and realized it was true. He had always thought of the Longbottoms and Scamanders as honourary Weasleys; the way Lily was putting it, he fell into that category, too.
"I'd never really thought of it that way before," he admitted.
"Yeah, well, being famous sucks," she told him and smiled. "Come on, let's go back to our compartment before Al and James think I've fallen into the same black hole that's claimed you."