As Always, Lions and Serpents
A Story by UndeniablyMe
A/n: What's this? Another new, multi-chapter, story in the Harry Potter fandom from me? Have I gone nuts?! Well, yes, and I'm not ashamed of it. :D And, actually, this is the 'most favorite' one I've started ever since Forever and Ever… James, and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do.
But, to find that out, you gotta read. Which means I will see you at the bottom. So, without further ado, the story.
-UndeniablyMe ;)
Chapter One: Aboard the Hogwarts Express
Here it was, Rose Weasley's maiden voyage on the Hogwarts Express, and she was a shivering fit.
Once the excitement of the platform had left and her parents had been whisked away from her in one quick chugging of the train, the excitement at finally being on her own and going to Hogwarts had diminished and was replaced with cold terror. She settled into her seat across from her black haired, emerald eyed cousin, head spinning. This was really it. She was on her way to Hogwarts.
The scenery flashed by with dizzying speed, the Hogwarts Express twisting and turning like a large crimson snake throughout the passing fields and forests. Rose watched the neat little farms that slowly transitioned into a wild, dark, forest pass, her pale face, fervent blue eyes and bright crown of frizzy red hair standing out in contrast to the ever darkening scenery.
She replayed the scene from the platform in her head over and over again, thinking hard on her father's words and her mother's departing hug that left a smell of the perfume that her mum used on her school robes. Her mother smelled so wonderful, like the soft dewy flowers that she had planted outside in a window box at their house Forest Haven, and Rose knew she'd miss that smell more then she had let on before.
She bit her lip. Now that she thought about it, she'd miss her crazy father too… But maybe, not his teasing. He did like to do that quite a bit.
"Thank Merlin you got your mother's brains…" Her father's voice echoed inside her head, and she chewed harder on her lip. Yes, she had her mother's brains, but her determination, her bravery? Did she have any of her mother's bravery…? Far from placating Rose's fears her father's pre-Hogwarts pep talk had only managed to terrify her all the more. What, oh what, was she going to do…?
"Hey Rose, you okay? You look about ready to pass out." Al's voice was quieter then usual and, judging by the extreme paleness of his own face, he was quite a bundle of nerves too. Rose shrugged, not trusting herself to speak. "It'll be fine, you'll see."
He didn't look like he really believed what he had just said, but it was a nice try admittedly. Rose nodded in return and Albus clammed up quickly.
But exactly how was she going to live up to her mother and father's name? She couldn't be as witty and brainy as her mother or as… well, as whatever it was that her father had been at school—surely there was a word to describe what Ronald Weasley had been at school, though it escaped her for the moment. But Rose couldn't even be overly bossy like her cousin Molly was and being funny and a mess around was certainly out of the question; James and Fred had that covered without the added help of the Scamander twins…
Suddenly being a Weasley seemed a much harder thing then it had been two hours ago.
Albus sighed, seeming to read her thoughts. Rose was secretly glad she wasn't dealing with being a Weasley and a Potter though.
"It's a lot to live up to, isn't it." It wasn't a question. Rose nodded again, turning her large blue eyes—inherited from her father—to Albus.
"I feel like I'm living in a shadow," she admitted, her voice quavering. She cleared her throat and tried again, speaking more evenly. "Mum and Dad were amazing at school… How am I ever going to compete with that…?"
"I dunno…" Albus sighed, turning his gaze to the outside window where the sunlight filtered through the leaves in a bright and sunshiny way that didn't echo what the pair was feeling. "I know I'll never be as good as my dad though."
Rose bit her lip again, but her heart went out to her cousin. If living up to what Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were was going to be hard it must have been doubly, no triply so, for Albus, who was living up to the Harry Potter.
"Well, if you think living up to the name Weasley or Potter is bad try being a Malfoy for a day," a voice said, floating through the open door. Albus and Rose jumped, looking out into the corridor.
A boy came into view, his platinum blonde hair and scrawny form looking slightly ridiculous as he lugged his trunk awkwardly behind him, a bird cage tucked neatly under one arm. He looked a little battered and bruised—no doubt from the tussle to get on the train—and his hair was in disarray as if he had flown to Kings Cross Station on a broomstick. Rose couldn't help but manage a small smile, though it disappeared almost as soon as it graced her lips. The poor boy really did look out of place and more then a little lost. He drew himself up to his full height and swept his hair out of his face, only succeeding in making it even messier.
"When you're a Malfoy no one wants you to sit in their compartment because of who your father is." He dropped his trunk in the doorway of their compartment and gave a hefty sigh, setting his bird cage tiredly down next to it, as if this scene of standing in people's doorways had happened quite often. "So you're forced to beg people who you never thought in a million years you would ask to do you a favor to help you. But, here it goes. Can I sit here? I won't pretend everywhere else is full, because it isn't. It's just that no one wants to sit next to a Malfoy."
He sneered the last word in a tone that would have made his ancestors proud and Rose tensed, remembering the warning her father had given her. Don't get too friendly with him Rosie… But the poor boy seemed so lost…
Albus recoiled back at once and Rose looked at him curiously.
"You're a Malfoy?" he asked, looking genuinely disgusted and alarmed. "Y-your father is Draco Malfoy?"
Rose leaned forward in interest. She knew nothing much about the Malfoys save they were an old wizarding family who had been known death eaters, that they had fought against her parents in the war and that her father referred to the patriarch of the family as a slimy git. She had been told to stay away from them, but she couldn't help but wonder why.
Scorpius sighed, seeming to lose patience. Surely he would have had a lot more if this hadn't happened to him in every compartment he'd asked to sit in.
"Yes, my father is Draco Malfoy. No, he's never gone to Azkaban even though I'm sure you think he deserves it. Yes, I was serious about asking you to sit and no, I'm not trying to get you to let down your guard so I can jinx you." He looked evenly into Rose's clear blue eyes, seeming to sense that trying to convince Albus would be futile, and that even as they spoke she was softening to his plight. She knew how nerve wracking it was to be going to Hogwarts, even with half of her family already there; she couldn't imagine how he, as the only Malfoy, would be feeling. "So can I sit or what?"
She wasn't sure if it was her stupid compassion or his stupid eyes—unreadable, stormy gray eyes she might add—that goaded her into doing it but finally after being stared down for a full thirty seconds, she gave a curt nod.
"Thanks." He yanked his trunk through the door to the compartment before ducking back out to retrieve a beautiful eagle owl with abnormally sky blue eyes and black lustrous feathers that resided in the bird cage he'd been carrying.
The bird glared at her as if sizing her up before deciding that she, an eleven year old girl with a wand she could barely use, was no threat and tucked her head under her wing to take a nap. On the seat next to Albus Crookshanks, Hermione's old cat from back in her school days, gave a sleepy twitch but otherwise did nothing to acknowledge any other bird's presence in the compartment. Orion, Albus's handsome snowy white owl, hooted dolefully from where he was in his cage.
The blonde haired boy stared at the trunk lying on the ground of the compartment, as if realizing that it would not lift itself, and frowned. He sighed and turned back to Rose, his cheeks turning a slight pink.
"Could you give me a hand?" he asked solemnly. His lips twitched into a shadow of a smirk. "I'm somewhat of a scrawny thing and can't lift it alone."
Rose's cheeks flooded with a color much darker then his. She had, after all, been secretly thinking the same thing about him being scrawny. She stood up to help, feeling more embarrassed by the minute, and doubly so when even with her help they could hardly get it off the ground.
"Al?" she said, turning her gaze to him. "Help please."
It was a command, not a question. Albus sighed heavily but stood up to offer his strength to the task—albeit, not very much. He was just as scrawny as the Malfoy boy.
Between the three eleven year olds they managed to lift the very heavy black trunk, embellished with the silvery letters S.M., onto the luggage rack above their heads. Rose and Albus resumed their seats—Rose closing the door to the compartment with a sharp snap before she did so—one across from the other closest to the window. Scorpius stared for a moment as if debating which person to sit next to. Figuring once again his chances were better with the redhead he sighed quietly before taking a seat down on the bench next to Rose, as far away as he could sit from her without appearing rude.
There was a long, lengthy and awkward silence, in which everyone avoided each other's gaze, before the blonde boy said, "I'm Scorpius by the way. Scorpius Malfoy."
Albus remained tight lipped and Rose nodded, remembering her manners.
"Rose Weasley," she said firmly, extending her hand in what she hoped was an aloof manner. It shook ever so slightly but Scorpius didn't seem to notice. He shook it firmly before letting his hand drop back to his lap. Her hand mirrored his. "This is my cousin, Albus Potter."
Al inclined his head, waiting for the usual out burst of, "Potter did you say? Are you by any chance related to the Harry Potter, the chosen one? The boy who lived? Can you get me his autograph?" but it didn't come. Scorpius merely nodded towards the raven haired boy and then turned his attention back to the redhead.
"I didn't mean to intrude on any of your conversation earlier," he said just as quietly, his cheeks slowly emptying of the blush it held before. "I mean… Your compartment door was open and the walls here are quite… thin…"
Rose nodded and the compartment lapsed back into awkward silence. All that could be heard was laughter ringing through the walls from the compartments around him—Scorpius was right. The walls were quite thin.
"What house are you expecting to be put in?" The question burst from Albus unexpectedly and Rose looked up, surprised. He colored as Scorpius turned his unreadable look to the emerald eyed boy.
"Slytherin." He said it without emotion and Albus's eyes widened as if surprised by the straightforwardness of him.
"But there's no with or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin!" Albus sputtered, look perturbed. Rose made a sound in the back of her throat that sounded like a cat being strangled, sending a glare to her cousin. Scorpius's eyes flicked to her for a moment before resting on Albus.
"Then I guess I'll just have to prove everyone else wrong."
Albus struggled with that for a moment.
"You aren't ashamed of your family then, are you?" he shot at the blonde haired boy, trying to keep the disdain in his voice at a minimum. "I mean… knowing what they were and what they've done."
"Albus!" Rose said in a scandalized tone, blushing even deeper then she already had been. "Albus, don't be so—"
"No, it's alright." Scorpius told her, his voice was even and low, no hint of anger being betrayed in it. He turned his gaze to Albus. "I'm not ashamed of my family, Potter, any more then you're ashamed of yours. My family are what they are. My dad loves my mum and my mum loves my dad and they both love me. I don't see anything to be ashamed of."
Albus sputtered, taken aback by the directness of Maloy's argument. "B-but your grandfather! He was a… he was a death eater!"
Scorpius became bored with the conversation. "Was, but no longer is since the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He's in Azkaban now, isn't he? Driven mad. And my father has spent the greater part of almost two decades trying to get people to understand that he wants nothing to do with the dark arts any longer. He's redeeming the name of Malfoy and that's nothing to be ashamed of."
The silence that stretched on between the three in the compartment was the longest and most awkward one yet. Scorpius never dropped his gaze from Albus who returned it searingly, as if searching his speech for anything he could argue on. And finally, just when Rose was feeling as if she couldn't take it any longer, Albus nodded.
"I reckon you're alright Malfoy," he said, only slightly begrudgingly. Malfoy gave a little shrug.
"I'm not my grandfather," he said firmly.
Silence reigned once again and Rose squirmed, unable to take the tense atmosphere between the two before bursting out, "The blibbering humdinger was sighted in Africa!!"
The two boys stared at her and she covered her mouth, her ears and cheeks and ears turning red.
"Mental," Albus sighed, shaking his head.
"Barmy," Scorpius agreed. They both grinned at each other and gave an awkward laugh. Rose bit her lip once more—it was becoming such a nervous habit for her.
Three hours, five games of exploding snap, one heated argument between Rose and Albus over who cheated on the last game, and a whole cart of sweets later, the train was finally coming into Hogsmeade Station. By the time they got there Albus had warmed up considerably to the Malfoy boy and Rose had grown increasingly uneasy, still mulling over all the things her father had said, comparing it to the blonde haired boy standing next to her.
"Train stopped. Let's go."
Rose got off first and gripped her newly bought wand—eleven inches, springy, unicorn hair and excellent for Charms work—tightly in her robes pocket, turning white beneath her freckles. Albus and Scorpius followed, both too afraid to even speak. Albus's dark hair made him seem even more pale then his cousin and, with the unexpected companion of Scorpius Malfoy—whose pale complexion and white blonde hair made him look washed out with fear—on his left, they became quite the spectacle getting off the train. Each of them looked so much like their fathers that it wasn't a wonder why they were getting the looks that they were as older and students their own age passed. A Potter and a Malfoy, walking together? Unheard of!
"Wish they wouldn't stare," Rose muttered to Albus, avoiding eye contact with a third year that was looking absolutely shell shocked at their presence. "It isn't as if they haven't met a Weasley or a Potter before."
"Yeah, well, the rest of them didn't have a tag along did they?" Scorpius answered, looking light he might be violently sick at any moment.
It seemed that wherever the young Malfoy walked a violent hiss, sounding like the pistons from the train, followed him. As they walked further and further the hissing became louder and furious, growing like wildfire. He stumbled as a passing fifth year pushed him, falling to the platform with a great grunt, rolling over to look at the person who had done it.
"That's for my gran!" the girl said, puling out her wand. "Your stinking grandfather murdered her! I'll show you—"
Quicker then words Molly Weasley, Percy Weasley's daughter, was there in a flash with her own wand in hand and a carrying voice that said, "Wand away Fawcett, or I'll report you to your head of house, understand? There's no fighting on the platform."
The girl scowled at Molly, looked murderously at Scorpius, and stalked away, muttering under her breath.
Molly turned to look at her two cousins who were watching with their mouths slightly open and smiled.
"Hullo Al, Rose. And…" She trailed off as her eyes fell on their third companion and her lips mashed into a thin line, understanding flashing in her eyes. "Well then, I guess I'll see you two up at school."
And the fifth year prefect from Ravenclaw turned on her heel and marched away through the crowd without another word. Rose, who hadn't exactly been overly friendly to the Malfoy boy either, was appalled at her family's manners. Of course, she knew that her family had never gotten along with the Malfoy family, but could they not even manage to be a little more civil? It was truly embarrassing.
"I'm sorry!" Rose said at once as her cousin disappeared. It was one of the only direct things she had said to Malfoy since first introducing herself. "Molly isn't usually like that. She's bossy of course, but not so… cold…"
Scorpius shrugged as he stood up and said in a very quiet voice, "Don't worry. I'm used to it."
Albus said nothing, his brow creased deeply as he glared after his cousin reproachfully. Sure, he hadn't exactly rolled out the welcome wagon for Scorpius Malfoy—Rose had been more civil at the start—but at least he hadn't acted the part of a stuck up prat. And over the three hours that he had spent with Scorpius in the compartment he'd come to realize how alike he and Scorpius were. Both of them liked the Holyhead Harpies, had huge chocolate frog card collections and played the same position in Quidditch.
Rose flushed but was saved a response by a shout that set her stomach back into butterflies that had, strangely, abated from the moment they had encountered Scorpius Malfoy. The voice was low, hoarse, and just as she remembered it from family get-togethers. She brightened immediately.
"Firs' years! Firs' years, o'er here! Budge along there, gotta get to the firs' years."
Rose turned, pushing her way through the throng jostling on the dimly lit platform, delighted, and flung herself onto the leg of one of her favorite people in the world; she did, after all, only come up to a little below his waist. "Hagrid!"
"Rosie, Al!" Hagrid said delightedly, his warm beetle black eyes staring down at them through his thick tangled beard that was now sprinkled with gray. He rested a hand on Albus's shoulder as he fought his way to Hagrid's side, also grinning. "Bin' waitin' on you two fer quite some time now, haven't I? Welcome to Hogwarts!"
And Rose glowed. Hogwarts. She was really here.
A/n: Wow, think that's long enough for all of you? The first chapter word count comes to 3,300+ words. You all ought to feel quite spoiled out of your mind. Haha.
So, what's your verdict? You like it, dislike it, think I got the characters in character or are they totally off the wall? I'd love to hear your input, so don't forget a review!
Right, well, that's all from me. See you next update… (hopefully!!)
'Till then… Mischief managed!
-UndeniablyMe ;)
