Scorpius Malfoy was quite unlike his father.
At least, that was what he tried to convinced himself as he entered the Hogwart's Express in his forth year. After a summer of having Mr. Malfoy scold him about how disappointed he was in his school work, Scorpius had convinced himself that he would never be the tight-arsed prat that was his father. As he walked past the compartments in the train he blatantly ignored all cries from his friends, friends that his father expected him to have, people his mother wanted him to associate himself with and went to the farthest point from them. He entered the empty compartment, stowed his case and sat in a huff.
Today was not a good day.
And Scorpius was certain that this year would be a bloody catastrophe. For his father, at least. He would reek havoc across Hogwarts and cause his family to shame. His father was disappointed? Ha! Wait 'till he got a load of this year.
Though he really had no idea what he was going to do. Punch a Potter? (No, that would make his dad happy, he supposed) Punch a Weasley? (Same, really. Hell, the bloke would be proud.) Fail all his tests? (As tempting as that was Malfoy pool wasn't what it used to be and jobs were a tad important) How about plead to Yggdrasil about his sudden revelation that he belonged in Gryffindor all along? (Like that was going to work. The Headmistress would ask questions, and a shallow answer like "I need to piss off my dad" really wouldn't go by her) He was stumped, actually. No plan he could think of seemed to work, and right along the time he started to give up the doors to his compartment slid open.
Rose Weasley peered at Malfoy with a look of both enmity and curiosity.
Scorpius swore someone started to belt Hallelujah.
Rose's look of wonder quickly switched to a scowl. Her blue eyes bulged like they normally did when she and Scorpius had eye-contact and just as she shifted her eyes to the outside, Scorpius let out a solid
"Hullo." Which baffled Rose a bit, judging from her round eyes widening a bit further. He tried his best to sound pleasant, which, as he heard, passed as extremely odd. The sheepish smile that stretched from his lips didn't help the queerness, either.
"Uhm, good day." She shook her head slightly and instead spoke, "I mean, what is it?"
"You can sit in here if you want. I'm alone." She peered at him slightly and bit her lip. Rose was never openly rude to him, but she always showed a reluctance to speak to or even be near him. It was always James who sent open letters of resentment to him. She looked back outside, where the chatter got louder and here came the relatives.
"What you doing by that door, Rose? You can't stand there all day! I want to na-" James Potter stuck his face through the door and gave an expression that resembled disgust and spite. "What're you doing here, Malfoy?"
"Sitting, Potter. Like the rest of us." Scorpius paused for a second and did something like that odd thing he did earlier. "You mates could join me, if you like."
This seemed to make James face curdle further.
"I don't know what you're up to, Malfoy, but you aren't going to get away with it." James looked to Rose and took her hand, huffing like a child. "C'mon, Rose. Let's join Alice and Al."
Scorpius watched as they marched off and sighed. If he were to be alone this ride, so be it. But he was utmost certain that the best way to tell his parents to sod off was to befriend people they really hated.
The train let out a toot and started to move down the line. As the door slid open again, Scorpius half hoped some sort of Gryffindor had come, but instead vibrant turquoise hair stared him in the face. Andronicus Fortune was not amused.
"What do you want, Andro?" Scorpius looked at his friend who seemed mildly angry, staring at him picking something from under his nails.
"Why'd you ignore Goyle on the train, Scorp? 'e would've yelled if 'e 'adn't seen Claire snogging some 'ufflepuff." Andronicus threw his luggage up to store it, but did it in such a violent manner that it fell down and hit him on the nose. "Mort!" He muttered, placing the chest back up with a more delicate hand. "Any 'ow, 'e saw me pass by and nearly stunned me. Was going on 'bout 'ow 'e was pissed and 'ow 'e wanted to know where you were."
"Goyle can go fall in a bottomless pit for all I care. I'm done sucking up to his scrawny arse."
Andronicus took a second to think about that and grinned. "No more listening to 'im going on 'bout 'ow stupid muggles are?"
"Yeah. Only talked to him cause his dad and mine work together anyway." Scorpius took off his coat and threw it next to him. The room felt better with Andronicus in it, more comfy. "You seen Jamie today?"
His blue haired friend (though last time they'd met it had been blonde) frowned in thought and said, "Yeah, 'e was with the Weasleys and the like. Asked 'im where you were and Rose said. 'e didn't look like leaving."
"Really?" Scorpius sighed. "He's just gonna get it worse if he keeps going off like that." Though he was one to talk, what with his grand plan and everything.
"Let 'im be. Goyle and the like are the only ones 'o act like 'ouses should be separate."
Scorpius contemplated arguing but shook it off. Jaime only got treated bad by their house anyway, and Rose Weasley had always been nice to him.