Scorpius Malfoy and the- OOH SHINY
Chapter 1: Hello World
"Hello World is a basic Java Program. It's the first thing you learn, and when a box pops up on screen you feel so happy even though it was a stupid small pointless program and you didn't even understand how it happened. This is my prologue."
Scorpius hugged his mother, but flinched when she tried to give him a kiss. "Mum, you're embarrassing me!" She laughed lightly and the boy turned to his father. Father and son stared at each other for a long moment, then Scorpius said in a small voice "what if I don't get Slytherin?"
"Of all the things to worry about," Draco said with a smile and finally bent down to give his only son a hug. "Whatever house you're in, Scorpius," he whispered in his ear," whatever you decide to do, whomever you choose to be your friends, I will always be proud of you."
Scorpius smiled as they broke apart. "And if I get sorted somewhere else that just means people will underestimate my cunning abilities, right? It might actually be smarter to be in Ravenclaw..." he trailed off, deep in thought.
His parents shared a meaningful look. "I have no doubt what house you'll get into," his mother said and handed him small bag to carry on the train. "We'll put your luggage on the train. Why don't you go find a seat?"
Scorpius nodded and after a final quick hug to both his parents he grabbed his bag and got on the train. They had gotten there nearly a half hour early so there were still quite a few empty compartments, but Scorpius wanted to meet other first years. However, after going through all the compartments, the only one that looked like it didn't have upperclassmen in it had a single girl, and girls are weird so he ended up sitting in an empty compartment. He made sure to leave the door open so others could join him.
His dad told him that the underage magic restrictions didn't work on the train (although Scorpius conveniently forgot his mum telling him not to use magic without a teacher's supervision) so Scorpius pulled out his charms book and decided to try the first spell, which was one his parents did all the time so it couldn't be that hard. He set the book on the floor, pointed his wand at it and said confidently "Wingardium Leviosa!" The book caught fire. "Shit!" he said, then put his hand over his mouth before remembering that his mother wasn't here to chide him.
"Augmenti" someone snarled from the door. "Are you mad, casting a fire charm on an enclosed train?"
Scorpius looked fearfully at the female ravenclaw upperclassman prefect, probably fifth or sixth year, and said "I wasn't-"
"No, don't answer that. I really don't care. But if I see even a spark come from your wand before we get to Hogwarts I'll report you to the headmistress!"
His compartment door slammed shut as she left and Scorpius sighed. He didn't mean to cause trouble, trouble just came to him. The train lurched to a start and Scorpius realized that nobody else had joined him in the compartment. So Scorpius picked up his bag and soggy book and started looking for a compartment. After searching the entire train, the only one with room with only underclassmen like himself was, surprisingly, still just the compartment with only the girl who was now eating Bertie Botts. Scorpius opened the door. "Can I sit here?"
She looked around. "I don't see anything preventing you from sitting there in the corridor; however the bench in this compartment might be more comfortable."
Draco gave a small smile at the joke and sat down. "I'm Scorpius," he said.
"I know," she replied. "My father gave me a list of names with pictures of people I should avoid at Hogwarts."
"Oh," He said, not sure if he should stay or leave.
"However, you don't seem so bad." She handed him a box. "Flavored bean?"
"Thanks," he said, accepting the gift of peace and taking a blueberry flavored. "I'm glad you don't think I'm bad."
"But if you are bad," she said in a flat voice, "you should know that my brothers are in sixth year and head of the dueling club."
"Wait- there's a dueling club?" He said quickly, completing missing the threat. After she nodded he said "That's so awesome! Can first years join?"
"There's an entrance test and you have to know certain spells to qualify."
Scorpius thought back to his botched levitation spell. "I guess I'll have to study a lot then." They sat in silence for a moment, then Scorpius said "so what house do you think you'll be in?"
"My mother was Ravenclaw, so I'm hoping for that."
The compartment door opened and a boy with his luggage stood outside. He took a look at Scorpius and then said "Oh, um, sorry, wrong compartment!" and quickly shut the door behind him.
Scorpius narrowed his eyes at the shut door. "You don't think he was looking for someplace to sit, do you?" Before he could hear her reply the compartment door opened again.
"Actually, c-can I sit with you guys? Everywhere else is full..."
"Of course, Brandon," she said and he sat down next to her.
"How do you know everybody's name?" Scorpius asked frustrated, realizing that he didn't even know her name.
"Lilith comes over to my house sometimes," said Brandon, defending her. Then he got embarrassed and looked away.
The rest of the ride went by with some awkward small talk. When they were almost there Lilith went to the bathroom to change into her robes and Scorpius politely looked away as Brandon changed into his (Scorpius came onto the platform in only his robes.)
"What house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Scorpius finally asked Brandon when it was just the two of them.
"I-" he started, then stopped. "Anyplace but Slytherin, really."
Scorpius gave Brandon a confused look. "I know you-know-who was in Slytherin, but that was years ago."
"It's not that. Just- look. My dad's the herbology teacher and he says there's something weird going on in Slytherin, something 'rotten,' so I know you're a Malfoy and all, but please think about asking the sorting hat to put you someplace else."
"Well, I was thinking about Ravenclaw..."
"Great!" Brandon said with a smile as Lilith came back in.
Scorpius was distracted the rest of the way to the sorting. Sure, Hogwarts was beautiful from the boats, but he still couldn't get his mind off of what Brandon had said, about something rotten in Slytherin. "I've decided," he said out loud outside the Great Hall, ignoring the strange looks many other first years sent him. 'I'm going to fix Slytherin,' he continued in his head. 'Then I'll rule over everyone, and make sure nothing rotten ever happens again. I'll be the perfect pure blood, perfect son and perfect Slytherin!'
Maniacal laughter was the first thing Neville heard as he opened the door to escort the students into the hall. He wisely ignored it.