I own nothing related to Harry Potter. All of this is written strictly for fun and not profit.


Samuel Mason grinned and pushed his white-blond hair away from his gray eyes as he stepped out into the crisp fall air of suburban London. The sounds of machinery and other industrial noises surrounded him as he walked out of the small machine shop in the Park Royal district where he labored running CNC machines all day.

There was nothing better than stepping out of that stifling, noisy, smelly environment and into the fresh, cool air. It was 3:30 pm on a Wednesday, and the 27 year old man was finally free again, at least until 7am the following morning.

After waving goodbye to a few of his co-workers and promising to meet them that Friday for a few pints at the pub, he flicked a few errant metal chips off of his sleeves and made his way to the car park, where his battered old VW Golf waited for him.

Sam's co-workers would describe him as a friendly, genial man, but one who was very secretive about his own origins as well as his personal life. None of them had ever so much as met a relative of his or seen the inside of his home. They mostly agreed behind his back that he was a bit different, but always a friendly bloke and a good worker, so that could be forgiven.

"Whoof. Another sunset, another shilling." sighed Sam as he slumped into the driver's seat of his old hatchback and tossed his lunch pail into the passenger seat.

As he started the engine and turned out onto the surface roads to make his way towards the small flat he inhabited in Hammersmith, he sighed again.

It was a lonely life Sam led here in London. Sam lived alone, without so much as a roommate, save for a small black cat (Nigel) and was largely friendless. He'd long been estranged from his family and everything he'd known before coming to London.

But, that wasn't a train of thought Sam wanted to visit, if he could help it. Sam really didn't want anything to do with his family or his past. Instead, his thoughts turned to his small, furry roommate.

"I'd better visit the pet shop, or Nigel will go hungry tonight." thought Sam as he made a detour and began traveling west.

'It's a good thing I get my check in two days. I'm nearly broke.' thought Sam as he pulled up to Fins and Feathers, a small shop that Sam preferred to give his business to, rather than the big corporate stores further up the road.

As he walked in and the bell jingled, the clerk immediately perked up.

"Oi! Sam!" greeted a curvy, bespectacled brunette as she recognized her favorite customer. Her blue eyes twinkled as she smiled at the taller man.

"Hi Cindy. Working the afternoon shift today?" replied Sam with a smile of his own as he sauntered to the counter.

"Yeah. Bob quit last week, so the rest of us have been working long shifts to cover for him." she huffed and blew her bangs out of her face.

"I suppose it means you get more hours, at least. Can't hurt your paycheck." offered Sam.

"Eh. I guess." she replied flippantly. "So, just the usual, then?"

"Of course."

"I'll be back in a moment then." Cindy, disappeared, and returned a few minutes later, struggling with a large bag of dry cat food and a smaller case of canned wet food.

"Urgh. Bloody hell, these are heavy." she grunted as she hefted the cat food onto the counter.

"I could have helped, you know."

"Ah ah ah, no customers behind the counter. We keep all of our secrets back there, you know." joked Cindy with a cheeky wink.

Sam just shook his head bemusedly as he pulled out his wallet to pay for the cat food.

As he was about to leave, Cindy, who had appeared to be steeling herself for something, spoke again.

"Er, ah...Sam? I was just wondering if you were...doing anything Friday night?" she asked nervously, wringing her hands together a bit, and blushing fiercely.

Sam stopped. It wasn't the first time he'd been offered a date from a woman. Hell, it wasn't even the first time Cindy had asked him out.

Sam had always politely declined with an excuse when this sort of thing happened, preferring to keep himself out of relationships. When he needed a shag, he'd bring some anonymous girl home from the pub and send her on her way the next morning, but otherwise he'd spent the past ten years by his lonesome. He simply didn't feel much of anything for these women.

There had been one girl he'd known in his teenage years, who made his heart jump and his breath catch. He'd thought she'd felt the same, but that probably had never been the case. Sam hadn't forgotten her, but she'd probably long since forgotten him. It was probably for the best, though. That was a lifetime ago for Sam, and if he was being honest, she was completely unattainable anyway, even back then.

Still, he was nearly 30, and he really did want to settle down one day.

Originally, his self-imposed exile from relationships had been the result of him wanting to be able to go back to his old life if he needed to, but ten years on, that was looking less and less likely.

And, of all the women he'd met since coming to London, Cindy was the one who probably had the greatest potential for turning into a real partner. The twenty-two year old pet shop clerk was a sweetheart, and very easy on the eyes, Sam thought. And, she clearly liked him.

"Unfortunately, I've a prior engagement on Friday evening." replied Sam.

She visibly deflated. "Oh. Well, I suppose it's a good thing that one of us has a social life. It'd be pretty sad if both of us were spending our Friday watching old Red Dwarf episodes with a package of chocolate biscuits and their cat at one in the morning...not that I do that, but..."

Sam interrupted Cindy's nervous, slightly embarrassed rambling.

"However, my Saturday evening is quite free." he said with a smile.

Cindy jolted out of her rambling with a gasp. "Really? Omigosh, here!"

She quickly scribbled some numbers on a slip. "That's my mobile."

"I'll call you a few hours before I can pick you up. Dress casual." replied Sam with a smile as he took the paper.

After bidding a clearly excited Cindy farewell and lugging the cat food back to his car, Sam once again drove off in the direction of his flat.


The ride home was rather uneventful, as traffic hadn't been as congested as usual. At a stoplight, Sam winked and waved to a group of high school girls who were sitting at an outdoor cafe, clearly ogling him. It sent them into a fit of giggling.

Sam thought again of Cindy and thought that it was probably about time he'd started properly dating. You know, before his bedazzling looks began to leave him.

About twenty minutes later, he arrived at his old, brick-fronted flat. There was an older model black Range Rover with dark windows that Sam didn't recognize in his usual parking space, so he was forced to drive further down the street to park.

"Dammit." grunted Sam as he hefted the cat food towards the door to his flat.

He set the burden down to fumble for his key.

As he did it, the doors to the old Rover swung open, and two people jumped out of it, and began quickly walking towards him.

"Mr. Mason!" called a sharp, clear female voice that he immediately recognized.

Samuel turned around to see two people, a man and a woman making their way towards him. The man was shorter and stocky, with dark unruly hair and green eyes. He was dressed in slacks, with a shirt and jacket.

The woman was tall and slim, with freckles and curly red hair framing crystalline blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a black sweater under her jacket.

Sam's heart jumped when he saw her. Ten years later, and she was still immediately recognizable.

Both of them had their hands tucked into their jackets. Sam immediately recognized what they were doing and put his hands up.

"Please, those aren't necessary. I'm not armed. I haven't carried mine in nearly 10 years." he said. Both of the approaching people looked rather surprised when he said it.

"We'd like to bring you in and ask you some questions." the dark haired man replied, taking his hand out of his jacket.

"Am I under arrest?"

"No." replied the woman. "We just wish to ask you some questions. I presume you can guess what about?"

Sam sighed. "My parents?"

"Yes."

He nodded, then looked down at the pile on his doorstep. "May I at least bring this in and feed my cat before we go?"

The two looked at each other, before nodding.

"Come in, then." said Sam, as he opened the door and carried the pet food into the flat.

"Albus, secure the door." said the woman as she followed Sam into the house. The dark haired man nodded, and took up a position near Sam's front door.

As Sam set about feeding a very appreciative Nigel, who warily watched the red-haired intuder as he ate, the red-haired woman finally relaxed a bit.

"It's been a very long time, Scorpius Malfoy." she said, as she looked into his eyes.

He nodded.

"Yes it has, Rose."

Shortly after that, the three piled into the Range Rover, with Scorpius in the magically secured rear seat, and made their way towards the Ministry of Magic.


It seems that Scorpius has been living the life of a working class muggle in London for quite some time. Why? Stay tuned and find out!