Scorpius Malfoy could count the number of times his father had hugged him on one hand. On that first day of September, it became two hands. Scorpius stiffened on contact, as his mother looked on with clear amusement.
"Just try… Just try and find some friends."
"And study." Astoria interjected with a pointed look, coaxing a smile from her husband.
"And that." Scorpius nodded solemnly.
Draco straightened back, unease in his forehead, but with a hint of pride in his eyes. He and Astoria looked at their son, who was trying to concentrate on his shoe laces, but whose eyes kept catching the whizzing light of the mayhem that was Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
Scorpius' features were soft, not yet carved decidedly by age, but with a solidly masculine nose and translucent grey eyes – just like his father. Everything else was his mother; a generous lower lip, deep brown curly hair, a wide jawline, straight eyebrows, and lovely sienna skin that could not have come from the sun.
His mother's neck twisted, and only then did Scorpius realize his father was staring intently at a crowd of people. They didn't look like they were all together; most were ginger, some were blonde, there was a handful of jet-black hair, and even three who had dark hair like him. There were adults, teenagers, children, babies and even an elderly couple in the middle of it all. The way they moved, touching each other with familiarity, offering hugs to every person and sloppy kisses to every other, they could've only been a family. There were three who stopped moving though, a man with messy jet-black hair, one of the stockier gingers, and a stern-looking brunette woman. The two men stared at his father and nodded. The woman glanced up, looked away, and didn't look back.
Scorpius didn't bother holding his tongue, "So that's them."
Draco looked at Scorpius with a furrowed brow. Resting one hand on his son's shoulder, and the other in Astoria's hand, it took Draco a few seconds to find the words.
"You know what I did. I know you've accepted the past. I know I have," at this, Astoria arched a perfect eyebrow ever-so-slightly, "but their children – though I doubt they've been explicitly told to – will hate you. You know that. If it gets violent then send me an owl immediately. I'm sorry you have to live with my–"
"Don't." There was no anger in the word, just concern for his father. His mother took Draco into her arms, and then Scorpius, until the shrill ringing of the Hogwarts Express broke his mother's hold over the two.
"We love you. Say the word, and we'll be there." Astoria was, to most, a cold woman, but none could deny that she kept to her word. She stepped back, her left thumb still stroking the back of Draco's neck, calming him.
Scorpius nodded and walked to the train, only looking back once. He saw his mother, the backbone of the family, ease Draco back to their car. Scorpius realized that a definite goodbye, unlike the dragged-out teary mess of the Weasley-Potter clan, would be better in the long haul – and that was what he was in for.
The various members of the Weasley-Potter family, and their close friends, were piled into one train compartment. It was perfect chaos. It was tradition.
Victoire was reminding that James that he'd never even had snog ("But Vicky, I'm only in second year. I've still got plenty of time to go around snogging whoever I please!").
Dominique was filling Molly in on the holiday gossip she'd missed while on holiday in Australia ("Lissa did what?").
Louis and Lucy were trading muggle comic books and an assortment of muggle paraphernalia ("And what is going on with Wonder Woman's costume? Who the hell is doing these redesigns anyway?").
Lorcan and Lysander Scamander played catch with their new kitten, Eros ("Are you sure we should be throwing him, Lys?").
Fred and Roxanne were in an intense chin-up competition using their floating brooms ("I beat you last year, Fred. What makes you think you have a chance this time round?").
Albus played gobstones with Tia Longbottom, who was losing terribly because she kept staring up at James longingly ("Get your head in the game, Tia!").
Rose Weasley sat in a corner reading a thick volume (Forensic & Criminal Psychology, 3rd Edition). Or rather, finishing it, and when she did, she decided to go for a wander.
"Just going for a walk," Rose declared. A chorus of "alright", "cool", and "get me some chocolate frogs if you see the trolley, won't you?" answered her.
Albus didn't notice Rose pull the invisibility cloak from his trunk.
Outside the compartment, she draped the fabric around her easily, covering her entire small frame. Wandering down the carriage, there were groups of students chatting and hugging, mostly in their muggle clothes. The itchiness of her woollen stockings suddenly amplified and she was thankful for Uncle Harry's cloak around her.
In the last compartment of the carriage, through the small window, she saw Scorpius Malfoy sitting by himself, reading Clinical Problems in Medicine and Surgery, 6th edition.
So I'm not the only one that reads muggle textbooks, she thought. Before she could even consider joining him, a short raven-haired girl waddled a hair right past Rose. When she walked, she put her entire body on the foot she stepped with, leaning left and right, left and right. She opened the compartment door, and stared at Scorpius, who hadn't noticed her entrance.
"I'm Ellis Chang." She spoke with a foreign drawl. She stuck a rigid arm out quickly, palm vertical, smiling with an underbite Rose hadn't noticed.
"Scorpius Malfoy." Either Ellis didn't recognize the name, or didn't care, because his palm was in hers and she shook it firmly. They both sat down, Scorpius picking his book back up, and Ellis cocking her head to the side, staring unashamedly at him.
"So Scorpius, what year are you in? Are you in first year like me? I'm a first year. Well, not technically, not yet. Not until I pass whatever sorting test they give us! So where do you live? Not in a creepy way of course, but are you from England? I'm not from England. I'm Australian, but my mum says she went here so I guess it must be great–"
Rose left before she could listen to the rest of the girl's monologue.
Ellis Chang was taking her clothes off in the train compartment. So was Scorpius. The train was getting closer to Hogwarts and they needed to be in uniform, so this wasn't the strange part.
The strange thing was that they were both facing each other, as they changed, without the slightest hint of embarrassment. There were no blushes, no awkward grins, and no uncomfortable giggles.
Scorpius had realized that he'd found his first Hogwarts friend when Ellis had looked him right in the eye and said, "We need to get dressed. Your hair looks greasy from this angle. I've got an under-bite. You're skinny. I'm chubby. We're both eleven years old so it's weird to be considering you as a sexually viable candidate. Considering these facts, and the fact that I don't know where the bathroom is, I say we change right here."
"Alright."
Trees, bounding mountains, and mist, rushed past the compartment window, making the train seem faster – as if it, too, wanted to rest in the warmth of Hogwarts.
Then it stopped.
The mountains slowed. The trees disappeared. The mist still licked at the window, but it hung suspended in the air, blurring the half-giant on the platform and his rosy smile.
A long rumbling touched the ground as a thousand feet rushed to finish changing, to finish their chess games, and – in the case of one hundred and forty first years – to finish worrying, because there were finally here.
"First years, here! All you first years over here!" The bell Hagrid rung was redundant, considering the magnitude of his shouts. There was only one thing louder than Hagrid, and it was the Weasley-Potter family.
"See you Rosie! Bye Al!"
"Don't let me hear the word, Slytherin, Al!"
"Don't be a dick, James!"
"Oi! I'm telling Uncle Percy!"
"Fuck off, James! You started it!"
"Both of you, shut up!"
"You can't tell us what to do! You're not Nanna Molly!"
The clamor didn't stop until a non-relative distracted each individual and the Weasley-Potter crowd dispersed until they were no longer a crowd.
"Hey look, there's Malfoy." Albus nodded to where Ellis and Scorpius stood, disoriented by the scattering crowd of pupils. Rose gave her cousin a bored, yeah, and looked away, where no one could see the deep creases between her brows and tight-lipped confusion. Why is he still hanging around her?
One hundred and forty students, all significantly shorter than their surrounding counterparts, gathered around Hagrid like insects to a light bulb.
"Alright now, we'll be taking the boats to Hogwarts, instead of with the rest of the school. 'S part of being a first year I suppose. Anyway, this way first years! This way!" His continuous bellow pulled the first years into a path through the forest, wide-eyed muggleborns practically sitting on the edge of his large coat. He only had to raise his decibels every few minutes, for the benefit of the stragglers at the back.
There were two types of stragglers, the ones dizzy with excitement and the early rebels against authority.
Rose and Albus stood in the middle of them, being towed by the momentum of the throng of people who were just as short, pinkish, and skinny – which didn't really apply to Albus, who'd taken a passionate interest in competitive swimming from a very early age – as they were.
Rose looked back once. It was so fast that her long braid swatted the blonde boy next to her ("Ow! What was that for?"), but all she noticed was the raven-haired girl by Scorpius, chattering away as he looked calm, composed, and completely at peace.
So of course, it was only pure coincidence that Rose Weasley, Albus Potter, Ellis Chang, and Scorpius Malfoy ended up on the same boat. Or at least, that's what Rose tried telling herself.
"I'm Albus."
"I'm Rose."
"Hi, I'm Ellis! And this is–"
"Scorpius."
"So what house do you think you'll be in?" Albus asked Ellis, who silently exhaled out in relief that the boat trip wouldn't be silent.
"What's a 'house'? Like your sports house?" The words 'sport house' were met with a fazed silence.
"Err… no. Well, yes, if we're talking Quidditch. But your house is your… your group – like your class group."
"Well what houses are there?"
"There's four," said Rose, "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
"Which one's the best?"
"Well it depends on what you value. Gryffindor's all about bravery, Hufflepuffs are supposed to be loyal, Ravenclaws value knowledge, and Slytherins are a bunch of slimy, power-hungry death-eaters – your friend Scorpius will fit right in." Everyone in the boat stiffened at Rose's words – except Ellis, who met the words 'death-eater' with the same confusion as the other's had met the words 'sport house'.
"Magical equivalent of a Nazi." Though Scorpius directed his words at Ellis, his eyes were on Rose.
"Rose… Why would you say that?"
"Apples don't fall too far from their trees, Ellis." Understanding clicked in the girl's forehead.
Silence.
"Scorpius, is your dad still a… death-eater?"
Though his voice was quiet, and the din of conversations on nearby boats still drifted, they all heard his firm, "No."
"Well then, Rose, looks like you can go fuck yourself."
The silence amplified.
"Excuse me?"
"I saw Scorpius' dad on the train platform this morning. I know what depression looks like. And I might not know much, but I do know that there was a war nineteen years ago. But you know what? As far as I can tell, that war is over. Scorpius has done fuck-all to you, so fuck off, and stop trying to start shit."
The gentle splash of the rocking boat, along with the soft buzz of nearby pleasantries, carried the four to the castle in utter silence.