Chapter 1- Scorpius

Scorpius Malfoy did not grow up to be a nice man. He found the description rather insulting, in fact. People who were taken as 'nice' had usually no other distinguishing traits and were, therefore, quite boring in his opinion.

He was a very complex individual and he took pride in that. His interests were very peculiar and he had no time for people who did not aspire to be more than simply, well, average. And that is precisely why he wanted to gauge both of his eyeballs out if he had to listen to Torrance Le Marc's annoying, high-pitched voice for one more second.

He politely smiled once more at her and watched her light blue eyes twinkle. She took the gesture as an encouragement for her to keep telling him about the 'beautiful gown she got for the Beauxbatons ball this Fall' when in fact, it was more of a 'kill me now' smile.

Scorpius found Torrance to be perfectly nice, just as his Mother had described when she introduced them an hour ago but, unfortunately, her 'nice' tone was incredibly boring and futile, if not a little spoiled.

"… You should definitely come visit us in France this Summer, I'll be more than happy to show you around our gardens." She stated flashing him her best smile, making sure he saw her oversized breasts as she pushed her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"That sounds lovely but, unfortunately, my family already has plans of traveling to Greece this Summer." He said, relieved that his Father has decided to make him learn all about the Greek branch of the family business.

"Such pity, Scorpy… I was really looking forward to spending more time with you." He watched her eyes sadden and her thin lips form into a pout that was supposed to be sexy. Scorpius cringed at her use of his nickname and desperately looked around the room for a possible saviour from such a terrible conversation.

The room was filled with the high 'Pureblood elite' as his Grandfather put it, wizards and witches from around Europe that were acquaintances of his family. Scorpius knew very well the reason for this boisterous and unnecessary party, even if his Grandmother tried to deny it. These were gatherings meant to set the young Pureblood suitors up with other acceptable families and, Scorpius wanted nothing to do with it.

He caught Julius Görnert's eye across the room and hoped that even if they weren't exactly friends at Hogwarts, he would take pity upon his soul and try to strike up a conversation. Julius was originally from Germany and him and his brother attended Hogwarts even though his family still lived in Wizarding Frankfurt. Both were in Ravenclaw with Julius starting sixth-year with Scorpius and Jürgen, his older brother, in seventh-year now.

"Scorpius! Glad I found you, your Mother has been looking for you everywhere!" He turned around to meet with Cassandra Sakalis' big blue eyes. He sighed in relief.

"Of course, where did you last see her?"

"Right around the garden, I'll take you there if you'd like." She smiled innocently but her eyes sparkled with knowing mischief.

"Thank you. I apologize Torrance but, I will have to leave you. Hopefully we shall see each other soon." Scorpius said as he nodded to her, hoping to leave the conversation as soon as possible.

"I'll see you around!"

Cassie and Scorpius were already walking away as she waved goodbye, looking defeated.

"I cannot even begin to thank you for that save." He stated when they turned into the gardens and were safely out of earshot.

"You looked like you were watching puppies drown in there, I couldn't let a fellow Slytherin suffer that much." She giggled and grabbed a drink off of one of the tables, making sure to slip some alcohol into the cup discreetly. "These parties are the reason I have nightmares at night." She continued, "My Mother insists on me finding an 'agreeable suitor' to take me to the Ball this year and I can't even look at these men. They are absolutely vile." Now it was Scorpius' turn to down his Firewhiskey.

"I believe you. If I had to listen to one more thing about a peep-toe or sequins - whatever those are - I would most likely, Avada myself. And it's not like I can't find my own future wife or a woman for that matter." He complained.

"Oh, I'm sure it's not your ability to get a witch in your bed that they question, if they know anything about you, Malfoy." She laughed. "It's more of your ability to find a suitable witch and, keep her."

Truth was, Malfoy was quite emotionally unavailable. He had experienced physical pleasure with two or three witches but, he felt as though they only were attracted to him due to his wealth, as they were all family acquaintances whom he had a casual relationship last Summer. Scorpius was usually quite uninterested towards the girls in his year and thought they were either too prudish, too young or too out there for his tastes. "Of course." He rolled his eyes and took one more gulp of the burning liquor. "I just don't understand why my parents still put up with all of this bullshit since they no longer believe in it." Scorpius watched as Cassandra glanced at his mother, Astoria Malfoy, politely laughing at a joke some older wizard he did not recognize told.

"They want what's best for you." She looked back at him kindly, a gesture that was sincere, something very hard to achieve for a Slytherin such as herself. "Besides, it's your Grandparents they want to please and they are old, you don't know how much longer you have with them."

He nodded, understanding her point. It wasn't old age that would eventually take his Grandparents, specially his Grandfather, Lucius. It was the disasters of their past. Years of evil, Dark Magic and Azkaban eventually caught up to you, even if you were a rich, powerful wizard.

"Thank Merlin I found you, Scorp. Firewhiskey and ditch?" Basilius Zabini said as he approached Scorpius, looking just as miserable as the both of them. "Oh, hello Cassie. Looking gorgeous as always." He flashed her a smile and winked suggestively.

"Thanks, Zabini." She said, rolling her eyes. "I'll leave you boys to it, looks like my Mother finally realized I haven't been talking to Flint as I said I would." Cassie said staring at the not so pleased face of her Mother, fast walking in their direction, probably demanding an explanation.

"I say we get out of here before our own Mothers realize our absence." Zabini said as he pulled Scorpius behind an ice sculpture, hoping to hide for a little longer.

"And where do you suggest we run of to? If you haven't realized, this is my house."

"Obviously not here, you bimwit. Let's find Alex, grab some booze and Floo to Potter's. I heard James is having a rager tonight." He said grabbing Scorpius' drink from his hand and downing it in one gulp.

Alexander Nott, another one of his friends from childhood was also wandering about the house, being from a Pureblood family as well and having to suffer through the same gatherings as them both.

"We can't all just leave now, and besides, Al's is not starting until nighttime. We have hours to kill." Surprisingly enough, Scorpius' best friend was Albus Potter. A fact that not only shocked both of their families but also the two boys when they were eleven. Scorpius wasn't quite sure how they had become so close over the last five years but, somewhere in between Quidditch, dorm life and a complicated family in both parts, the two bonded and were inseparable ever since.

It was easy for Scorpius to understand Al and vice-versa. Al felt that his family expected so much of him due to his Father's success and Scorpius felt like he, alone, needed to make the Malfoy name honorable again due to his Father's mistakes.

Once they both understood that, it was easy to be friends. Bas and Alex on the other hand, were a little more difficult to persuade. Even though Scorpius knew the two since birth - it being a Pureblood tradition to have children around the same age so that they could potentially be friends or mate - he grew up with not only them but with a lot of other Pureblood kids. Bas and Alex were always two peas in a pod and Scorpius felt as though he ended up bossing them around instead of being friends with them - a result of being raised as an only child.

Once he got to Hogwarts, however, he had to grow out of his ways fairly quickly and now the four of them were as close as ever.

"Bullocks, you're right. Pray to Merlin that there's enough Firewhiskey to get me through today." Bas said running his hand through his dark hair. "And it's only the first week of Summer."

Hours later, Scorpius' face hurt from smiling forcibly and his neck was quite sore from nodding so much but, for the first time that entire day, he felt excited. It was almost time to sneak out of the house.

The plan was a little more elaborate than Scorpius predicted but, he was confident. His parents were incredibly punctual with their sleeping schedules and that is what Scorpius was counting on tonight. It had been exactly 8 minutes since he said goodnight downstairs and it took them about 23 to get into bed and settled down for sleep. If his Dad decided to take his Night Potion tonight to get a peaceful sleep he could get up in about 8 minutes to leave but, he was going to give them 13 just to be sure.

His Phoenix 5000 stood proud by his desk, begging him to give it a spin. He would have to walk out of the grounds as to not alarm the wards, then fly off on his broom to the pub over the hill so that he could Floo over to Albus' house. It was an intricate plan but, it was the safest way there and back.

Albus' parents were out of the country and left James, of all people, in charge. Which obviously meant that a party was in order. Supposedly, the Weasleys were supposed to keep an eye on them but apparently Albus' Aunt Hermione had a celebration with her parents, which are Muggles so, even more perfect.

Ten more minutes and he would be good to go.

This was the last chance they had to have fun together before everyone left for the Summer. He was off to Greece until the very end of August, Bas was going to Italy to spend a few months with his Grandmother, Alex was going to Portugal and Albus would be occupied with the Weasley clan, as always.

He was hoping, most of all, that his Father would allow him to train some Quidditch while abroad since he had just learned that Albus was going to the Captain this year and the team needed to be in top shape if they had any chance of winning the Cup.

Nine minutes.

He thought about Rose Weasley, Albus' favorite cousin and Scorpius' favorite Weasley. Rose was probably the only person in his year that managed to come head-to-head with him on every test, a fact that put a damper on their friendship for quite some time as both of them are very competitive and wanted - still do - to hold the title of top student of their year. Eventually, with Albus' persistency, both of the realized that they were stronger together and Scorpius was able to help Rose in Arithmancy and Potions while she helped him in Transfiguration and Muggle Studies.

Sometimes Scorpius forgot that Rose was actually a girl and not just one of them, probably because she was simply Rose and did not care much for her hair or if her robes were too big. She was a bookworm but an excellent Quidditch Chaser and Scorpius missed her innocent smile and complete naivety where boys were concerned.

He wondered if James had invited the entire school to his gathering, as he was quite the party goer himself. James Potter was the type of person you either loved or hated. He was the loudest, most obnoxious, human being Scorpius had ever met but, he was grateful for the guy, he had saved their arses too many times to count.

The thing was, James had connections. On top of being a Potter, he was a Weasley as well. Which meant that half of the school was related to him somehow and owed him a favour, which is how he got Albus and Scorpius out of the biggest disaster last year.

They were caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, in the middle of a nasty prank that ended up sending seven second years and three third years to the hospital wing. Turns out some fourth year Gryffindors were trying to stir up some trouble and blame it on them but James' connections got them out of a year long detention and probably some nasty Howlers.

Four minutes.

He wondered if Dominique Weasley was going to be there. Out of the entire Weasley Clan, and probably Hogwarts, Scorpius was very smitten with her. She had strawberry blonde hair and dimples. Every time she smiled was a ray of sunshine and every man in the room could not look away.

Her success with the opposite sex most likely were a product of her Veela heritage and good genes but, she was still very beautiful. Scorpius knew however, that there was no way in Hell that Dom would ever look his way, his lack of muscle and height putting a little damper on things. His pale skin and almost-white hair, a Malfoy characteristic trait, as well as his angular nose and silver eyes not the real problem but, the height of his Father - almost 6'4" - being substituted by his Mother's side of the family - as her Father was no taller than 5'9" - the real concern, as Dom herself was 5'11" of majestic legs. He was in no means unattractive but, sometime last year he noticed as most of his friends who were just as tall and skinny as he, grew while he stayed the same. His Mother assured him that Malfoys were late bloomers and they matured the mind before the body, which in her opinion, made them better men as they had the opportunity to reflect mentally before simply flaunting their physique.

He thought it was a load of Hippogriff bung. He figured it was simply her way of taking his mind off of it and hopefully, he would at least reach 6'0".

It was time.

Scorpius slowly took the covers off his fully clothed body and carefully slipped his black shoes on. He whispered a quick Lumos as his wand lit up and he could clearly see his way around the room.

He gripped his broom and opened his window. The air was crisp but not too cold, as expected for May in Scotland.

He would have to climb down to the balcony on the first floor and jump over it as his room was located on the second floor. He managed to complete the task without any major incidents, surprisingly so as he landed and created quite a bit of noise.

Scorpius held his breath as he power walked through the front gates, hoping that his plan would work and simply walking out of the ground would not alert the wards. He felt the force of the magic pull him back put he kept walking and finally crossed the main gate. He let go of his breath. He made it out, now on to The Pub.

The Pub was a very quaint location where his Father usually bought liquor due to its proximity to the house and the owner, Mr. Thornton was always open and always willing to make a good deal. They also had an everywhere Floo, which allowed you to Floo somewhere without being traced, something valued nowadays.

Scorpius almost forgot how much he loved the feel of the crisp air on his face, the elation that came with flying so high up that you barely feel your own weight. The trip was shorter than he would have liked but, he knew that he could fly whenever he wanted and, he had a mission today.

Part of him wondered how Alex and Bas were doing to get out of their own houses and he hoped they succeeded because if one of them got caught, it was very likely that their parents would Floo-call one another to check on them as they always misbehaved together somehow.

"How'd do, Mr. Malfoy?" Mr. Thornton greeted him as he walked through the smoky atmosphere of The Pub.

"Doing very well tonight, Benny." He said as a few men glanced at him in between puffs of cigarettes. "Wondering if I can get three of the usual and use your Hopper tonight." He said, gesturing to a very well stocked bag of Galleons he carried and eyeing the room in which he knew his Floo to be.

"Of course, Mr. Malfoy. You order to go, I presume?" The older man asked as he grabbed three of his best bottles of Firewhiskey. Scorpius had done this plenty of times and, if paid well, Benny was great at minding hm own business and keeping his mouth shut.

"Yes, indeed." He said placing the bag on the counter and watching the man bag his purchases.

"Right this way, please." He walked around the counter and handed Scorpius the liquor bag, gesturing towards the room in the back.

They walked into the dim lit room, a few candles simply lighting their way, a simple table stood by the fireplace with a pot of Floo Powder on top of it. "Whenever you're ready, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you for your purchase, always a pleasure doing business with you."

Scorpius nodded and stepped into the fireplace, grabbing a handful of powder in his left hand. "Potter's Palace!" He shouted as he felt the green flames engulf him and take him to his destination.

"Goddammit Malfoy! Get your rich arse over here!" He heard a deep voice shout as soon as he finished dusting himself off at the Potter's drawing room. He could hear the bass of the wireless coming from the other room and mentally prepared himself to greet a very drunk, very loud room full of Gryffindors.

"James." He greeted the oldest Potter as he raised his bag full of Firewhiskey. "Brought you a little present."

James laughed and called Fred Weasley over so that he could take the bottles to the makeshift bar. Scorpius placed his broom behind the bar as well and hoped that it was a safe spot. The three of them took two shots of the liquor to warm things up as Scorpius glanced around, trying to see how many people were there exactly.

"Go on, mate. Al and Alex are in the next room, I'm just waiting on Zabini so I can close the Floo. Thanks for the liquor." James said gesturing to the room adjacent to the one he was in.

"Cheers, mate. Good to see you, Fred."

As soon as he walked into the room he could tell it was a Gryffindor party. The mostly red decorations and the grinding bodies on the dance floor suggested that Scorpius was literally walking into the Lion's Den.

He quickly took in the space and saw that most of the furniture had been pushed to the wall to give space to the dance floor and some couches were off to the side where he could already see a few couples snogging.

He recognized some of his classmates lounging about. The Scamander Twins, Lorcan and Lysander, were in deep conversation over the snacks table; Clay Macmillan, Ajax Wood, Julius Görnert and Sabrina Higgs played Wizard's chess in the corner and he could've sworn he saw Sean Finnigan snogging Lucy Weasley.

He finally spotted Alex and Albus drinking casually in one of the couches and made his way over to them.

"Look who decided to grant us with his presence!" Alex exclaimed getting up and greeting Scorpius. Alex wore a navy blue button down and dark pants, his family ring, the only jewelry he ever wore, shining in the disco-like lighting.

"Finally, mate! I was beginning to think that you got caught leaving the Manor." Albus said handing Scorpius another drink, as his cup was already empty.

"You know I'm a boss at sneaking out, Al. I just wanted to take my time. Besides, I brought over more liquor." He said raising his cup. "Where's Rose? I thought she would be here" He continued noticing he hadn't seen a flash of curly red hair around yet.

"I dunno. I saw her, Bella and Noelle head upstairs when we were setting up but I haven't seen them since." It was no secret that Albus has been in love with Scorpius' cousin, Noelle Pucey since they first glanced at each other but, Al was too afraid to make a move and now she was dating Ajax Wood, of all people. The guy was vile and cheated on her every chance he got and worst of all, she knew about it.

"Hm, how's Soft Wood? Behaving, for once?" Scorpius said, using the nickname they usually referred the Gryffindor Seeker by.

"If you call hitting on Sabrina every two seconds behaving then yeah." Alex said staring at the two playing Poker meters away.

"That bloke drives me bonkers. I swear I'll smash his head in one day." Scorpius could see Albus' fist forming and his green eyes narrowing. Definitely not a good idea to make him mad here of all places, besides, he was not in the mood for a fight.

"There's nothing you can do, Al. We all warned her and she keeps going back to him, it's her choice now." He saw as his eyes softened and his demeanor changed to defeated.

"I know, I just wished things were different." He whispered so softly that Scorpius barely caught it.

He knew how sensitive the subject was so he simply let it go, choosing that discussion for another time.

They all exchanged small talk regarding Summer plans and most importantly, Quidditch drills that they should be practicing, when Alex, who stood facing the stairs while Scorpius and Albus faced the entrance pointed out the new additions to the party.

Scorpius watched as the first one down, Arabella Kay, moved her hazel colored hair to the side, exposing her bare shoulders. She wore a form fitting maroon short dress, letting her tan legs exposed. Bella was a gorgeous woman and she looked so every time he saw her, he couldn't deny that but, what really caught his attention was the girl coming downstairs right behind her.

What he thought to be Rose Weasley simply went against every image of her he ever had. Her usually quite unruly curly hair fell onto her back in soft curls and she wore a dress that made her breasts look absolutely amazing. Scorpius didn't even know Rose had breasts.

Her cheeks were a lovely shade of pink and she held Noelle's hand, walking through the room.

"Is Rose really wearing a dress?" He asked, still confused at the sight before him.

"What? Rose?" Albus said distracted. He clearly was way more concerned about Noelle than his own cousin, which was understandable.

Just as the exchange was happening, Bas finally walked in looking victorious with James and Fred behind him. The latter holding two bottles of Firewhiskey and Exploding Snaps.

"Listen up, everyone! Last person finally arrived so let's get this party started!" James exclaimed while some rowdy Gryffindors cheered. "Fred is starting a round of Drunk Exploding Snaps for anyone interested and I'm DJing. Have fun, be safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do." He continued.

"I still don't understand how you both are related." Alex said jokingly to Albus while getting up. "I'm about to join the Drunk club, you all down?"

They all agreed and joined the crowd that was quickly forming around Fred Weasley.

"Scorp!" Arabella exclaimed as she spotted him among the crowd. "Nice to see you!" She said, hugging him.

"Hi, Bella." He flashed her a smile as he pulled back, "Looking gorgeous, as always."

She laughed and thanked him, their playful exchange being a normal occurrence through their friendship. He looked around for Rose and Noelle and found them sitting at the opposite side of the circle so he settled for just a wave.

They played a couple rounds of the game until Scorpius thought that he was getting a little too drunk to be careful enough to not singe his eyebrows off so he decided to take a walk.

He spotted the balcony door and slid it open, feeling the crisp wind on his flushed face made him more awake, less hazy. He took a deep a breath, still feeling the burn of the Firewhiskey on his throat.

"Hey there, stranger." A sweet and shy voice sounded behind him, making a grin appear on his lips. He knew that voice anywhere.

"Hey there, Rosie." He said, turning around and opening his arms so that she could give him a hug. "How you been?"

"Good, was just wondering how my best friend is doing." She smiled, leaning against the balcony by his side.

He smiled at her, noticing how her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkling, probably due to the alcohol.

"Doing good." He glanced her up and down, "Can I ask you why you decided to raid Bella's closet for the night?" He asked, his eyebrow raising

She looked down into her half-empty cup of Firewhiskey and took a sip, embarrassed.

"She said it would look good on me but I guess I just look like a child in her Mum's dress." She gave a humourless laugh, glancing into his eyes through her eyelashes. "I just wanted to feel pretty I guess."

"Hey," He caught her chin in his hand, forcing her to look into his eyes. "You look absolutely beautiful." He saw her cheeks flush a deeper red and a smile creep on her lips.

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself, Malfoy." He laughed at her attempt at teasing. Rose was one of the wittiest women he had ever met but when it came to playful teasing she always caught herself embarrassed or not knowing what to say. It was quite fascinating.

He thanked her, and they proceeded to talk about everything and anything. It was always like that with Rose, she would ask him about the weather and they would end up discussing the probability in which a Goblin could have a child with a giant and if the offspring would be of normal height. The topics never ran out and there was never an awkward pause.

"Tell me about the Manor." She said, her back pressed against the balcony glass door as she sat on the floor next to him, her eyes looking at him with curiosity.

"Well, it's very large." He began, trying to find ways to describe his family home. "I have a wing all to myself and my parent's is right above mine. I used to stay in the room adjacent to theirs when I was really young but when I turned six they moved me to the Second Floor, South Wing." He glanced at her, her expression of wonder. "We have breakfast in the Gardens during the Summer and dinner in the Dining Room, which is composed of a very large table, too large for only three people to sit on, in my opinion."

"And when you're at school, do your parents live there all by themselves?" She said, her brow furrowed, trying to imagine two people in such a large house.

"My Father travels a lot for work and most of the time and my Mom goes with him. We have a few properties around Europe so they sometimes stay there." He answers, feeling slightly uncomfortable talking about how rich his family really is. He hated when people assumed he was simply a rich, spoiled boy. His parents made sure that he was raised differently than they were, with different values and, rubbing their money on people's faces was not one of them. "So, yeah… We have a Quidditch pitch that I practice in too but, it's quite difficult when you don't have anyone to play against." He finishes, taking the last sip of his drink.

He feels her eyes on him, reading his face.

"Do you wish you had any other siblings?" She whispers, her voice small. "Do you get lonely?"

"I do." His smile is sad. "My parents always wanted a lot of kids but, my Mum almost died giving birth to me so, they didn't want to risk it anymore. She had trouble all throughout the pregnancy, they're hard on her." He said, realizing suddenly that he had never said anything about that to anyone.

Scorpius was one of the oldest out of his friends but he was also the smallest. He was born prematurely and his parents even thought he wouldn't survive. That is reason why his birth wasn't announced to the Wizarding Community until he was almost five months old, and his parents were sure of his health.

"So much for Pureblood families being more powerful, huh?" He laughed bitterly. As one of the last completely Pureblood families, the Malfoys were running out of options in order to set up a good marriage. His parents were afraid that Scorpius would have trouble having children as well if he married an English Pureblood witch since the blood was so similar. But his Grandparents didn't agree, they kept saying that it was all nonsense, that they needed to keep doing what has worked for generations but, Scorpius and his parents knew better. And that was why his Mother kept hosting party after party, inviting Pureblood families from all over Europe in hopes of appeasing both her husband's and her in-law's wishes.

Scorpius told Rose then, all of the worries and the pressure of continuing the family name, of pleasing his parents and above all, of living a life that he thought was worth it all.

She listened without interrupting, her eyes kind and understanding. He had never felt more at ease with someone than at that moment, he felt lighter after talking to her, less worried.

"Thank you for listening, Rose." He said, glancing down at his empty cup, feeling more alert than he ever felt. "It means a lot to me."

"No, thank you for sharing with me." She smiled kindly, resting her hand above his, and he noticed how cold they were. "I'll always be here for you if you ever need anything. That's what friends are for."

He smiled at her again and stood up, offering her his hand so that she could also stand.

"Let's get you inside, you're freezing." He said kindly, opening the sliding glass door.

"There you are!" Scorpius saw Bas stumble towards him, obviously drunk. "I missed you man. You have no idea what you missed, I saw such a great pair of breasts… Wow!"

"Okay, let's get you home," Scorpius said, interrupting him before he said something he shouldn't. He grabbed Bas' arm and helped him walk towards the mostly empty house. He didn't realize it had gotten so late.

"Oh, blimey Rose! I have been looking everywhere for you!" Albus said, coming out of the kitchen. "Oh I see you found Bas. He's plastered."

"I see that. I'm taking him home and heading out myself." Scorpius said, saying his goodbyes to Albus and Rose, promising to write while in Greece.

He stepped onto the Floo and watched the green flamed take him and Bas from the Potter house.

Later that night, finally laying on his bed, Scorpius closed his eyes and all he could see was rich red hair and kind brown eyes.