When Fate Caught Up With Scorpius Malfoy

Chapter 1

rosygirl101

Scorpius Malfoy paced the length of his room. This couldn't be happening; he couldn't do this to his best friend. He was tugging at the roots of his hair in desperation. Again and again, he turned over the previous events in his mind.

He had just written a letter to his best friend, Rose Weasley, and was in the process of tying her shrunken pyjamas, which she had left at his house, to his owl's ankle. She never failed to leave something behind. And so, it was with a tired chuckle that he sent his owl on its way. They had spent the entirety of last night discussing their plans for the Summer. He had casually suggested going abroad together and, to his delight, she had jumped at the idea. They were going to go to his house in Florence. He would have a whole three weeks with her all to himself.

Having seen his owl off, he headed down to breakfast. Unusually, both of his parents were still downstairs, and his mother gestured to the seat across from her and diagonal from his father, where there lay a plate of his favourite waffles. He grinned in thanks, and began to dig in, seemingly oblivious to the look his parents exchanged. Astoria's brows furrowed, and she opened her mouth to speak, when he gulped down a mouthful and said, 'Thanks mum - these are great!' Deflated, she closed her mouth.

As he continued to eat, his father grew more irritable, as he was not a patient man. 'Will you stop eating and listen to your mother!' he snapped. Scorpius looked up, slightly shocked and confused by his father's tone. At the sight of his son's startled expression, Draco backpedalled. 'Sorry, it's a bit early in the morning for me.'

'But you get up before the house-elves,' snorted Scorpius.

'Well - just listen to what your mother has to say.'

'What we have to say,' Astoria intoned, laying a hand over his father's.

'Oh my god,' Scorpius gasped. 'I'm not taking that rubbish job at the Ministry. You can't make me!' Exasperated by this conversation already, Draco rubbed his face with the heels of his hands.

'No, it's not that,' said his mother patiently.

'I know! You're sending me to that stupid ball at the Parkinson's where I'll be shown to stupid pure-blooded girls who dream of shopping, and then after that any Slytherins present will try to kill me for what Rose and I did to their common room last term!' He was furious, breathing heavily, and he was already half standing, palms pressed against the table indignantly.

His mother had her fingers pressed to her forehead in disbelief. 'We're not sending you to any balls, Scorpius. The thing is,' she took a shuddering intake of breath, 'there's a - there's a certain family trait in your father's blood that's been dormant for generations. It's-'

'Good looks? A sense of humour?' he asked pointedly, smirking at his father who sneered in return and sitting back down.

'Scorpius,' his mother gently chided, 'it's slightly more significant than that. The old Malfoys were actually part-veela. The last one was - when was it, Draco?'

'Back during the Norman conquest. Your ancestor, Lady Katherine Rochester was, believe it or not, secretly mated to a muggle from Cornwall, who died in battle. She was then forced to marry Alexandre Malfoy, a Frenchman who had been given large amounts of land and a huge property, not to mention a title, for special services helping the French muggles defeat the English. She hated her husband for having a hand in her mate's death, but although her son was not fathered by the muggle, she loved him.'

'Wait, you mean we're descended from veela?'

'Yes. She placed a spell upon her ancestors, that any of them, who ever thought themselves superior on account of their blood status, would not possess the veela characteristic. I made some mistakes when I was younger. My opinions have obviously changed, but they were there. You however, have never thought in this way.'

'Of course not,' he acquiesced. He could be a bit thick at times, but he wasn't stupid. 'So I'm a veela, then?' his arms were folded, and he was staring pensively out of the window. 'And how do I go about this mate business? I mean, I can't just go up to someone and be like Hey, we're destined to be together for the rest of our lives. Wanna go to Hogsmeade? How am I even supposed to know who she is?'

'Well,' Astoria began hesitantly, 'we did some research while you were at school this term, and we think we know who she is. The dormant veela forms an attachment to their mate almost as soon as they meet them. This could be in the form of a best friend, or even-'

'Rose,' he whispered. 'It's got to be Rose.' His voice cracked as he said her name for the second time.

'We thought as much,' his mother reached for his hand across the table and squeezed it. 'You've had feelings for quite a while now, haven't you?' Scorpius spluttered and a blush rose to his cheeks.

'I'm not discussing that with you. It's too weird. I just need some time to think.' On any other occasion, the first thing he would have done would have been to floo Rose and beg her to come over to listen to him rant. 'Thanks for breakfast, it was lovely,' he added in a small voice. Astoria nodded graciously.

He trudged up the stairs to his room, where he had initially thrown himself onto his bed, and then with a scream of frustration, had begun to think about how to tell her. This was how he found himself now; pacing and nearly tearing his hair out.

There was a noise outside his window. It was his owl, carrying Rose's reply.

Scorp,

Thanks for the pyjamas, I knew I'd left something. Why don't you stay over tonight and we can sort out Italy with my parents. They're fine with it and everything, they just want to know when.

Oh yeah, I ran into Melodie Brouges today. It was hilarious. They're all still really annoyed about the common room thing.

Come at seven. I know you're not doing anything.

Love, Rose xxx

Even before he knew about this veela thing, his heart had always fluttered slightly when he read that Love, Rose part. They had 'accidentally' kissed twice before, when they had had too much firewhiskey, but it had never been spoken about, and there was no weirdness. It was bound to happen anyway, because they were so close. He was suddenly aware of how often he touched her. A hand on the small of her back, or her upper arm, even an arm thrown around her shoulders. He felt so foolish. He had written it off as a crush to be ignored but of course it was more than that; it had always been more than that. With slightly shaking hands, he thought about how honest Rose was, and how unfair it would be to beat around the bush. Impulsively grabbing a handful of floo powder, he threw it in the fire and knelt in front of it.

'Rose,' he called out, 'are you there?'

'Scorpius! Hi!' she replied cheerily, her face appearing in the flames, 'good timing, I was just in the shower.' he fought to keep the mental image at bay.

'Yeah, um, I know you said seven, but can I come over now? I have to tell you something.' he was beginning to feel sick.

'Just can't get enough of me, can you?' She laughed heartily whilst he chuckled weakly, 'Yeah sure, you can come now. I'm home alone; I could use the company.'

'Okay, I'll just -' but she had already moved away from the fire, making way for him. It was with weak knees that he stepped through, and into Rose's bedroom.