A/N: I based the format for this one on those 5 Things stories which I have seen on this site and really enjoy reading. Unfortunately the title was too long (Nooo!) and so I had shorten the title to 'Four Things Scorpius Malfoy Was Afraid Of'.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Four Things Scorpius Malfoy Was Afraid Of and One Fear He Overcame
i. Snakes
For his son's fourth Birthday Draco Malfoy decided to give Scorpius a green stuffed snake. Draco had spared no expense with the snake (as Malfoys only deserve the best) and as a result the snake looked very lifelike and had even been magically spelled to move. When Scorpius had excitedly picked up the box with the present from his father Draco knew this was going to be the best gift ever.
Scorpius opened up the box and instead of smiling in delight let out a scream of terror when the snake's head popped out. Little Scorpius ran over to hide in Mummy's robes and Mummy then saved the day with a quick flick of her wand and a muttered Evanesco, causing Draco's perfect present (and the object of Scorpius' terror) to disappear.
This event was the first clue for Draco that his son was perhaps not destined for Slytherin as countless generations of Malfoys before him had been. Draco couldn't say he was truly surprised then when seven years later Scorpius was sorted into Ravenclaw.
ii. Failure
Before leaving for Hogwarts Scorpius' father had told him everything. Everything.
Scorpius now knew why people gave him nasty looks on the street. Why his family weren't allowed into some shops. Why some children's parents wouldn't allow them to play with him at the park. Why people said the Malfoy name as if it was a dirty word.
Scorpius knew everybody would be expecting him to fail at Hogwarts. They would expect him to be a delinquent, a bully, a racist, a monster. He would show them though. He would show them that his parents had raised him right. That he deserved to be there as much as they did. Scorpius knew that he would need to be perfect in order to be thought of as half as good as anyone else.
This is why it irked him to no end when in his first year he received top marks in every class but Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Rose Weasley, who frankly had trouble with anything involving a wand, excelled in these two classes.
iii. His Grandfather
When Scorpius was seven his grandfather was released from Azkaban. Grandfather came to live with Scorpius and his parents and grandmother.
At first Scorpius had been excited because he loved his Grandpa Greengrass, and Scorpius thought it would be great to have a grandpa around all the time. Except Grandfather wasn't anything like Grandpa Greengrass. Grandfather was tall and bony like a corpse, with stringy hair and fingers like claws. Grandfather smelled like old clothes and mold. Grandfather didn't act like a normal grandfather either. Grandfather never told Scorpius that he was a good boy or gave him treats like Grandpa Greengrass. Instead Grandfather muttered strange things under his breath and talked to people who weren't there. Sometimes he would keep Scorpius awake during the night by yelling strange things from his bedroom down the hall.
When Scorpius was ten Grandfather died. Scorpius knew it was wrong, but secretly he was glad that Grandfather was dead.
After, when Scorpius learned about Grandfather's involvement in the Wizarding Wars, he was even gladder that he was dead. This is also when Scorpius began to have the dreams–where Grandfather would be chasing him through the forest, wanting to kill him for being a 'filthy blood-traitor'.
In third year when he had to face a boggart in his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Scorpius' boggart had turned into the corpselike form of his grandfather. Scorpius had quickly launched the countercharm Riddikulus, turning his Grandfather into a tapdancing clown. As Scorpius had made his way to the back of the line he had glanced around the room nervously hoping that everyone had just seen a corpselike looking man, and not his Grandfather.
From the back of the classroom the all too perceptive eyes of Rose Weasley had caught his, before turning towards Jenny Chang, the next student in line to face the boggart.
iv. The Dark
"Sorry I'm late!" Rose Weasley exclaimed as she stopped to catch her breath in front of Scorpius.
"That's alright."
"I was talking to Uncle Neville—I mean Professor Longbottom and I lost track of time. I ran all the way here. I'm so absent-minded sometimes, my mom says I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to my body."
"That's alright Weasley."
"Rose." Rose immediately corrected him.
Scorpius raised his eyebrow at this. As a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff he and Rose shared most of their classes together, and were acquainted with each other, but they certainly were not friendly enough to be on a first name basis.
"There's too many Weasleys here." Rose explained. "When you say Weasley you could mean my brother Hugo or my cousins Dominique, Louis, Fred, Roxanne, Molly, or Lucy. It'll be a lot easier if you just call me Rose. Besides we're going to be Prefect partners for the rest of the year so we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other."
"Okay," Scorpius said.
"Great! Now where are we patrolling today?"
"The dungeons." Scorpius said as he led them down to the lower levels.
"Oh, I hate the dungeons!" Rose said, "It's so dark and cold down there."
When they reached the dungeons Scorpius immediately cast the Lumos Maxima spell with his wand, causing a massive ball of light to float off into the air.
"Lumos Maxima?" Rose asked "Is that a form of the Lumos spell?"
"Yes. It is the more powerful version of Lumos. My mother taught it to me when I was a child." Scorpius said. What he neglected to mention though was his mother had taught him that spell in order to quell Scorpius' intense fear of the dark as a child, a fear that he had still not completely overcome today.
"Really? That's so cool! My mom wouldn't let me or my brother learn any magic until we got to Hogwarts. She still won't teach us any spells outside of the school ones. Did your mom teach you any other spells? Maybe you can show me sometime, I'm pants at spells."
v. Rose Weasley
Scorpius knew that his father would be having a heart attack right now if he knew what his son was thinking. A Malfoy afraid of a Weasley! A Weasley!
Scorpius had never been more terrified in his life though.
It had started out with something innocent: a hug.
While they were patrolling Rose had been excitedly informing Scorpius about one of the plants she had been growing as a special project for herbology. Watching it bloom earlier that day according to Rose had been "Absolutely amazing!", and the next thing Scorpius knew Rose had been hugging him. Hugging him.
Scorpius didn't usually get many hugs. Scorpius figured this was partially because he was a guy, and guys didn't really do the hugging thing, and partially because he was a Malfoy, and people didn't like Malfoys in general. But there he had been in a deserted sixth floor corridor being hugged by Rose Weasley.
The hug was quick. It had been over in a second, and afterwards Rose had apologized saying "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have done that. I just get so excited sometimes!"
And Scorpius thought that she probably shouldn't have done that, because that hug was why he was in his current predicament.
Something had changed after Rose had hugged him. And ever since then Scorpius hadn't been able to look her in the eye. Hadn't been able to be in her presence without turning into a bumbling idiot. Hadn't been able to go a day without thinking about her. And Rose had begun to notice that something was off.
After the inevitable period of denial, during which Scorpius tried in vain to convince himself that he was not in fact in love with Rose Weasley, Scorpius had been forced to accept the truth. That he was in love with Rose Weasley.
Sixteen times since then he had tried to tell Rose Weasley how he felt, and sixteen times he had failed. Every time the words were on the tip of his tongue a doubt would pop up. Sure Scorpius liked Rose, but did she like him? Had he misread the signals Rose was giving him? Would Rose be disgusted by the prospect of dating a Malfoy?
Sixteen tries and Scorpius was desperate now, and that was why he waited in his Defence Against the Dark Arts class until all the other students left. That was why he approached his professor and nervously said "Professor Lupin, can I ask you something?"
"Teddy, Scorpius. You can call me Teddy when we aren't in class. Professor Lupin makes me feel old."
"Right, well I wanted to know how do you overcome something you're afraid of?"
Teddy looked at Scorpius thoughtfully before saying "Do you remember how you defeated your boggart in third year?"
"I used the Riddikulus countercharm and that turned my boggart into something that I thought was ridiculous so I wasn't afraid of it anymore."
"Right," Teddy nodded.
"I don't think that picturing what I'm afraid of as something ridiculous is going to work this time though."
"Oh?" Teddy said, quirking his eyebrow.
"My, uh, problem it's…it's a girl."
"You know Scorpius, the Riddikulus spell doesn't work because it turns the boggart into something ridiculous. It works because it turns it into something that you don't fear. This girl, what is it that makes you like her?"
"Her smile." Scorpius answered immediately, and then he added in "Her laugh. Her hair. Her obsession with cute animals."
"If you think about these things when you want to tell her how you feel then you won't be afraid."
"Sorry! Only two minutes late this time though!" A huffing and puffing Rose Weasley said to Scorpius.
"That's alright."
"So where are we off to today?" Rose asked Scorpius.
"Rose, umm, actually there's something I wanted to talk to you about first."
"Sure Scorpius." Rose said.
"Rose, I ummm, I…" Think about her smile. Her laugh. Her hair. Her obsession with cute animals. "I-I really like you Rose, and I wanted to know if you would go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend. As a date."
"I would love to." Rose said, smiling up at Scorpius.
Her smile...
A/N: So what do you guys think? I was planning on writing a sequel to this in the same format featuring Rose.