So. I've read the Cursed Child and I have a new Harry Potter universe favourite character. And, unfortunately, a new ship... I don't write much Harry Potter fan fiction (as I've got too many ideas for another fandom) but I decided I really wanted, uh, a certain person to be as happy as possible.

Unfortunately... I mean... It was gonna be a one-shot. But it's far too long for that. It may jump in time a bit, too.

Just in case, and FYI, this is set after the end of the Cursed Child so if you've not read that...

(Also, I may take ages in updating and I'm sorry but... ^^")

Scorpius Malfoy may have been a fantasist but he was also determined.

When his and Albus's fourth year finally came to an end, so did the seventh year of the Slytherin's Quidditch Keeper. With a spot opening up on the team, Scorpius decided to practice his flying skills over the summer. At first, he merely practised with his father. Then, after several letters between himself and Albus and between Draco and Harry, Scorpius found himself at the Potters' house for a few weeks in the middle of the holiday.

"Wow," Scorpius said to Albus who had come to greet him and his dad at the front door. "It's a lot... smaller than I thought it would be."

"We can't all live in a mansion, Scorpius," Albus replied, rolling his eyes.

"I didn't mean that. I meant... Well, you always go on about all your visitors so I thought there'd be more room."

Behind him, his father snorted. "Potter- Urgh, Harry is all about modesty over practicality."

Glancing at Albus, Scorpius found him fighting back a laugh. "Uh," said Albus once he'd gotten control of himself. "Come on in. Dad's not home yet but Mum's here. So's James and Lily, unfortunately."

"Is that them, Albus?" came the distant voice of Ginny Potter. "What's taking you so long?"

Shrugging, Albus ushered them both inside and had them leave their bags in the hallway. It was barely wide enough for two people to pass each other. A hat-stand stood not far from the door around which were a pile of shoes, some of which had been neatly placed, others thrown on top. Scorpius supposed those ones were probably James's. The walls had been painted yellow, a shade darker than what would have been too bright. Probably Ginny's idea.

Albus led them past photos which started with James Senior as a kid and his parents on one side and Molly and Arthur Weasley and their parents on the other. They charted their growing families over the years all the way to a few years before, perhaps the last time the Potters had managed to keep all three children in the one place for long enough. All of them waved as they walked by, a few of them, though, sticking their tongues out. Scorpius was sure he saw Sirius Black turn his back on them bend over and begin to lift his robes. He had to bite his lip not to burst into hysterical laughter.

A couple of photos were stationary and Scorpius almost stopped dead in his tracks to examine them. As his dad was just behind him, he kept going, barely catching sight of several overweight people. One picture had happily smiling children in it and Scorpius decided that they must be Harry Potter's Muggle relatives.

They passed by some doors and a set of stairs before they reached the door Albus was aiming for. It turned out to be the kitchen where Ginny was standing at a counter, her wand out. Four teacups and two mismatched mugs were sent from the cupboards to the table where James and Lily were sitting, munching on wonky, obviously home-made biscuits. A metal kettle sat on the ring of a stove, flames licking at its underside. The place had a homely feel to it, all greens and leafy patterns. Scorpius liked it instantly.

Ginny turned to them and smiled. "Hello there! Welcome to our home. We're just about to have some tea. We'll show you to your rooms afterwards and, when Harry gets home, we can all have dinner. Sound good?"

"I'm not sure biscuits before dinner is a good idea," said Draco with a frown.

Shrugging, Ginny turned back to the teapot she had floating behind her head. "Well," she said as she flicked her wand at it, "you don't need to eat any if you don't want to, Draco."

Feeling something tug at his sleeve, Scorpius dragged himself from watching Ginny and Draco interacting to find Albus jerking his head at the table. With his encouragement, Scorpius made his way over and sat next to Albus, on a chair which seemed to have a scorch mark. Rather peckish from the Side-Along Apparition, Scorpius opted to take one of the biscuits. As it turned out, it was a chocolate chip cookie.

"So you made it, then?" asked James, running a hand through his hair.

"Uh huh," Scorpius replied, biting into his cookie.

"I don't think he'd be able to get lost with a Side-Along Apparition," said Albus, snidely.

"Ah, we can but hope," was James's response, grinning widely.

"Don't be so mean, James," Lily piped up, frowning at him. She looked a lot like her mother, Scorpius thought, and presumed her expression would be the same as Ginny's when she was disapproving of something.

"I was only kidding!" James turned back to Scorpius. "I may not be on the Gryffindor team but I can totally help you practise."

"I'm the one helping him practise," said Albus. "That's the reason he's here. Right?"

"Well, that and your dad," Scorpius responded. "Dad said Mister Potter was a team captain at one point so he'd be the best to practise with."

"Did he really?" asked Ginny as she sat down at the table. Draco sat on Scorpius's other side, ducking his head to hide his obvious blush. Scorpius caught Albus's eye and they had to look away to avoid laughing.

"No," Draco corrected. "I said practising with a Chaser was better than a Seeker, even if Potter- Harry was a team captain."

"Didn't sound like that," Scorpius muttered.

"That's because you don't listen to me, Scorpius," said Draco with a sigh. On his other side, Ginny giggled into her hand, her wand carefully directing the teapot to pour an equal amount in each cup.

"Can I help, too?" asked Lily.

"Of course," said a voice from the door and everyone turned to see Harry enter the room, smiling at Lily. His robes looked a little dirty and ripped, as if he had been fighting at some point in the day. There was some dirt smeared across his face but, otherwise, he looked well. "The more the merrier," he said as he moved over to the only remaining chair. "Ron's bringing over Hugo and Rose, as well."

"Really?!" asked Scorpius, sitting up straighter. Beside him, Albus snorted into his tea. Scorpius kicked him under the table.

"Yeah. Don't worry, though. I'm sure she won't take too much information away to her team."

"Ah. Yes."

"She probably will," Albus said. "She's not stupid, Dad."

Harry flinched. "No. I doubt she is, considering. Anyway, I trust you two had a pleasant journey?"

"Yes," said Draco.

There was a short silence as Harry and Draco stared at each other for a moment. Scorpius was a little worried that one or the other might try to start a fight. Then they both looked down and lifted their cups as if neither of them knew quite what to say to each other.

"Well," said Albus into the quiet. "I'll show Scorpius up to my room now, Mum." He stood and stared at Scorpius who was loathe to leave his tea. When Albus raised an eyebrow, however, Scorpius sighed, gulped down most of his cup and hastened to his feet.

"I'll take your bag up, too, Dad," he told Draco.

"Thank you," was his father's response.

The two Slytherins hurried from the room, grimacing at each other. They both grabbed a bag and made their way to the stairs. Just before they reached them, though, Scorpius paused in front of the static pictures. As he had spotted earlier, the people in them were mostly larger than the Potters' slim frames. In one of them was a large man with a bushy moustache, a tall, thin woman and what was obviously their huge son, crammed into a Muggle school uniform – he had seen those in a textbook once. Beside that, in the newer photo, the son had apparently grown up: there was less fat on him and he looked much more muscular. His children looked a little chubby but were otherwise a much healthier size. Beside him was a beautiful woman, her face darker than her hands as if she had painted it. The main difference, however, was that the first picture looked smug and formal whilst the second looked happy and much kinder.

"I take it these are your cousins?" Scorpius asked. "Or... second cousins?"

"Yeah. We don't see them much. I think they go abroad during the school holidays and we're at Hogwarts the rest of the time, so..."

"Ah, I see. I still find it odd that their pictures don't move. It makes them seem... less happy, I suppose."

They made their way up the stairs. At the first landing, Scorpius peered along the hall, noting the large wicker baskets against the walls. "This is the bathroom floor," Scorpius explained. "One bathroom's not enough for all of us – Lily used to scream at us when there was only the two. Come on, we've got more stairs to climb."

"How many?" asked Scorpius with a frown. "Didn't you only have two floors?"

Albus grinned down at him, a happy, mischievous thing that Scorpius loved to see. "That's what it looked like, didn't it?"

Scorpius understood instantly. "It's bigger on the inside. You don't broadcast how rich you are to the world – clever."

"Yup. This is the floor Mum and Dad sleep on. All the guests, too. Well, when there's not many of them. I think your dad's going to be on this floor." He led Scorpius towards the first door on the left.

"What happens when there's more?"

"We grow a few floors," Albus said and opened the door. Inside was a sparse room: a bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and a full-length mirror. Paintings of flowers and meadows danced in the pictured breeze. Everything was cream: walls, bedclothes, carpet. It looked bland compared to the other rooms Scorpius had seen thus far. Albus saw his unimpressed expression and grinned. "Mum and Dad argue about the colours of all the guest rooms – it's a different colour each time you open the door. Uncle Ron got this one stuck, though, 'cause he was trying to keep it the sort of orange a Chudley Cannons fan would love. It ended up like this instead – nobody was pleased at that."

Laughing, Scorpius put down his dad's bag and they continued up the stairs to find themselves on a landing with a large vase at the entrance to the hall. According to Albus, that was to tell the floors apart. On that floor, were James and Lily's rooms. A last set of stairs, however, took them up one more floor to where Albus slept. There were actually two rooms on the uppermost floor but Albus led him through a door with his initials on a plaque. Underneath it, someone had attached a drawing of a snake which undulated and hissed.

Scorpius thought it rather suited his friend.

Inside, the room was a light blue, reminiscent of a sunny day. Posters for the Wimbourne Wasps were alongside posters for The Phoenix Sisters – both of them winked at Albus as he walked in and Scorpius had to stifle another laugh. He was fairly sure he remembered Albus disliking the band when they released their first single and everyone went gaga. Albus's bed had been made with light green covers. Beside it, a soft-looking mattress had been set up, this one with red blankets and a pink pillow. Scorpius wondered if the pillow was Lily's and if he'd be forced to use it. Various books had been shoved into a corner. Various potion ingredients were strewn across Albus's desk; obviously, he was already stocked up for the new school year. It was a relief not to see any Boomslang skin lying around, though.

Albus threw his bag onto the bed. "Mum says I need to give you my bed. So I've got the extra blankets and one of Lily's pillows."

"Poor you," said Scorpius, smirking.

"Screw you," Albus replied, dropping onto the seat at his desk. He gestured to the bed and Scorpius flopped onto it. Despite being smaller than his own, it was really comfortable and Scorpius had to resist the urge to lie back and snooze. "So," Albus continued, interrupting his thoughts. "How was the Apparition?"

"It's... weird. I think you'll have to see for yourself but it's not exactly pleasant."

"Oh, wow, thanks. I'm really looking forward to those lessons now."

"You're welcome," Scorpius said, with an innocent smile.

"Twat." Albus narrowed his eyes at Scorpius then he shrugged and took a breath. "So, how're we going about this practising?"

"Well, I thought it'd be fun to go out after dinner and you could throw Quaffles at me while I try to catch them. If you think you can handle that...? I mean, I'm not going to push you into it."

"I'm not going to be the best but I'll be able to throw a ball, sheesh."

"While on a broom. I know you don't like it."

"I told you to come over, didn't I?"

"Okay. Tomorrow, we'll ask the rest of them to help out, too."

"Yeah. The rest of them..." Albus paused, eyes suddenly sparkling with mischief. "Including Rose. Are you going to be able to actually fly with her around?"

"Of course!" Scorpius exclaimed, leaning forward. "I've got to impress her so I absolutely cannot make a fool of myself."

"More than you already have, you mean?"

"Jerk!" Scorpius grabbed the pillow from Albus's bed and threw it at him. Albus caught it, laughed and hugged it to him.

"This is mine now! You can have Lily's."

"No way!" Launching himself from the bed, Scorpius lunged at Albus who was still laughing. At the last moment, Albus swivelled his chair and Scorpius had to cling to its back to steady himself. "Give it back!"

"Nope!" Albus spun the chair again causing Scorpius to topple over, landing on all fours. As he spun, Albus gave him a kick on the bum, sending Scorpius sprawling on the floor. "You're really bad at fighting without a wand."

"It's not as if I've had much practise," Scorpius protested, pushing himself onto his knees. Turning, he saw that Albus was facing him again, grinning, and still hugging the pillow. Narrowing his eyes, Scorpius didn't give Albus any warning as he lunged once more for the pillow. His friend cried out even as Scorpius laughed triumphantly: he had got a hold of the pillow again. "Give it!"

"No way!" Albus pulled it up, as if trying to hold it above his head and out of reach, but Scorpius clung on. However, because of the pulling, Scorpius began to overbalance. At the last moment, he had to let go of the pillow to grab the arms of the chair to stop him falling face first into Albus's lap.

They paused, staring at each other, blinking at the situation they had gotten themselves into. Then Scorpius snorted, amused at the bewildered expression on Albus's face. That set off Albus, too, and soon they were laughing, hanging onto the chair to keep from falling over.

"Albus!" came a call as they were catching their breaths. "Dinner!"

"Coming!" Albus yelled at the top of his voice. Turning to Scorpius, still grinning, he said, "I wonder what dinner with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy is going to be like."

Apparently, there was a dining room in the back of the house. There were floor to ceiling windows which looked out onto a flourishing garden though Scorpius was sure he saw a gnome run by when he glanced out. The walls were painted white with souvenir plates from various countries around the wall. Little wizards and witches waved from them and Scorpius wondered who they were and who had bought them for the Potters. Did Ginny collect them when she was reporting on big sports news stories? Or did Harry pick them up while chasing Dark wizards? Scorpius had to stifle yet another laugh as he thought of Harry Potter, robes flying as he chased another man down the street, skidding to a halt and perusing the things at a tourist shop, buying a plate and then carrying on with the chase.

A long table was pride of place in the middle of the room. To Scorpius it looked just the right size for the seven of them and yet also impossibly long, too long for the room. He supposed it was more of a similar magic that caused the house to grow and shrink depending on numbers. It made him think of the Potters' home as far more inviting and homely than the Malfoy Manor. With only the two of them, it was rather painful being there.

Watching Ginny set the table, Scorpius suddenly thought of his own mother who had sometimes insisted on cooking, despite the house-elf his father had employed after the Battle of Hogwarts. Like it did so many times before, it suddenly hit him that she wasn't with them any more. She was gone and he wouldn't see her again. He missed her: he missed her hugs and her kisses and her smiles...

Biting his lip, Scorpius took his seat and willed himself not to cry. He caught his father's gaze and an understanding look passed between them, one that they had shared so many times before. With the table between them and the Potters around them, however, they could nothing to quietly comfort each other.

Suddenly, Scorpius felt Albus bump shoulders with him, shoving him to the side slightly. Regaining his balance, Scorpius glared at his friend. Albus responded with a sheepish, almost apologetic smile. Knowing that Albus had realised he was upset, Scorpius returned the smile.

"Dig in everyone!" Ginny declared, making the lids on the dishes disappear with magic. Scorpius blinked, watching in amazement as both James and Scorpius grabbed serving spoons and then battled to be the first to get the stew. Lily, meanwhile, was scooping baked potato after baked potato onto her plate. At the end of the table, Ginny was placing vegetables onto Harry's plate as he smiled at her. Scorpius looked at his father who looked as though he was fighting back an amused laugh. He smiled at Scorpius who prepared himself to enter the battle.

Once the din had died down and everyone had something to eat, they all relaxed into easy conversation. Lily, James and Albus were arguing about the lack of potatoes for everyone after Lily had stolen them all. The adults were speaking about Ministry matters on his other side so Scorpius lapsed into silence, delicately eating his meal. He smiled as Albus lunged forward and stole a potato from Lily's plate. There was a sudden uproar and, though everyone looked annoyed and irritated, Scorpius just felt relieved: he still remembered mealtimes in that other reality, how horrifying it had been.

"Honestly," Scorpius heard Harry sigh, breaking through his thoughts. "How does it always come to this?" Looking around, Scorpius found that Ginny had stood and moved around the table to her children and was currently separating the potatoes out evenly. He fought back a snigger.

"They obviously inherited your unruly genes," Draco replied, glancing up at Harry's hair.

Harry laughed at that. "I suppose. Though I'm sure they get a lot of that from their mother, too."

"Yes..." Draco trailed off and, when Scorpius looked up, both Harry and Draco were staring at each other. Harry looked confused at Draco's blank expression. Scorpius didn't understand it but he could feel the rising tension and he silently begged that they wouldn't start a fight.

At that moment, Ginny returned to her seat. "Next chance we get," she said, "we trade James for Scorpius."

"Hey!" cried James, pouting at his mother. "This time it wasn't my fault!"

"Well, you're the one making most of the noise, James, dear."

"Wasn't my fault," James mumbled around a sulky mouthful of potato.

"I wouldn't trade Scorpius for anyone, Ginny," said Draco with an amused half-smile.

"Yes, I suppose I wouldn't want to trade my cute boys for anyone either."

"Mum!" cried Albus, blushing.

Draco's smile grew. "Are you trying to say my boy isn't cute? You should see his baby pictures.

Alarmed, Scorpius frantically shook his head. "Dad!"

"Oh, hey," said Albus, grinning at Scorpius. "You have baby pictures? You've seen the ones out there – let's see yours."

"No way! I don't trust you with that information!"

"How can I trust you with mine, then?"

"Because I'm a far nicer person than you," Scorpius said with a smirk.

Albus gave a mock gasp. "How could you say that? I'm amazing."

"Amazingly awful," James piped up. "What did you get in your last Defence Against the Dark Arts test?"

"Urgh, shut up, James," Albus replied.

"I didn't do very well in my last test for that, either," said Lily gloomily. "I got a shock from the Grindylow and it went downhill from there."

"Poor thing," said Albus, sarcastically.

The conversation descended into an argument at that point. Scorpius watched them with growing amusement until he had to put down his knife and fork because he was laughing too much. Albus was laughing, too, and it spread around the table. In fact, Scorpius spotted his dad hiding his laughter in his glass.

He hoped the next week or two of practise would be as fun.

Making things up as I go along for the win.

By the way, Albus's initials are ASP which, well, asp is a term for poisonous snakes along the Nile in ancient times. Did you know that?