Scorpius Malfoy could hardly believe it when he and his father arrived at Platform 9 ¾ that sunny, September First morning. When he and his father's trek across the platform ended, Scorpius stopped the cart carrying his school trunk and owl cage near the magnificent scarlet train that was steaming and heaving as it prepared to carry him and his fellow Hogwarts students away to the enchanted school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Now Scorpius, be sure to pay attention to your professors and make sure you take adequate notes. Merlin knows that was my downfall when I was at school," his father, Draco Malfoy, advised with a slight nostalgic smile.

Scorpius nodded to his father, trying to seem attentive when in reality he was just too fascinated by various activities occurring on the platform to truly paying attention.

"And Scorpius, don't worry too much about the sorting ceremony. If I had to put galleons on it, I would bet you'll be in Slytherin, but with all the changes that have been occurring at Hogwarts in the past couple of years, who knows." Draco cleared his throat, looking somewhat uncomfortable, "But, you know…erm…whichever house you are sorted into, I'll… uh… still, you know, be… proud," Draco forced out with a smile plastered so hard on his face Scorpious honestly wondered if his father was in physical pain.

"I know dad. That's probably the two millionth time you've said that since I received my letter back in May." Scorpius reminded his father as innocently as possible while hiding his amusement.

His father seemed flustered, his pale skin almost seeming to obtain a slight pink hue. "Right, well I just want to make sure you… erm…you know, understand that."

Draco cleared his throat once again, "Now, don't forget to speak with-"

His father stop speaking without warning, as his something across the platform caught his attention, dragging his gaze away from his son. Curious to see what distracted his father, Scorpius followed his father's gaze, scanning the crowd until he stopped on a large group of people standing by the other end of the train.

They all seemed to be related for the most part, based on the similar pattern of red-coloured hair, but Scorpius also spotted a few brunettes mixed in with the gingers. The adults all seemed to be about his father's age, give or take a few years. Scorpius also counted four children in the group- no five, Scorpius amended as a fifth boy joined the crowd. He stood there observing them and wondered which of them would be his fellow first years at Hogwarts.

All of them, children and adults, were talking amicably amongst each other until one of the red-headed adults looked over towards Scorpius and his father, as if feeling their stare.

Scorpius watched as the tall red-headed man's eyebrows, first lift in surprise and then furl with suspicion. Looking away from Scorpius and his father, the man nudged a dark-haired man in order to grab his attention. The second man, whose back had previously been facing Scorpius and Draco, now turned to also stare at them, but with more curiosity than the red-head's suspicion.

Scorpius' gaze swung back to his father just in time to see him nod in slight greeting to the group of people who were watching them from the other side of the train station.

"Dad, who are those people?"

Draco took a deep breath and drew his gaze away from his childhood rivals to turn towards his son.

"That would be Harry Potter, along with his friends and family- namely Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley. Well, I guess that would be Hermione Weasley and Ginny Potter now." He corrected more to himself than to Scorpius.

The eleven year old boy turned back to look at the two families, observing them more closely. He of course had heard the overall history of Harry Potter and the downfall of Voldemort, but other than the general story, the golden trio was rarely mentioned in his home. His parents, especially his father, seemed happy to leave the past as just that- the past, and focus more on the here and now.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes, trying to observe the infamous Harry Potter more closely in both curiosity and reluctant admiration. He wondered what that must have been like- facing someone as evil and powerful as Voldemort.

Suddenly Scorpius felt someone watching him, almost as closely as he was watching Harry Potter. Lowering his gaze, he finally landed on the source-a curly, red-headed girl who was one of the children standing within the Potter and Weasley posse. Having seen Scorpius staring so bluntly, the girl's own eyes were narrowed with mild suspicion and questioning.

Scorpius felt his father's hand on his shoulder, turning him gently away from the large group. Kneeling down in order to be eye-level with his son, Draco took another deep breath.

As gently as possible Draco said, "Scorpius, I want you to promise me something. I want you to be sure to stay away from anyone with the surname Potter or Weasley."

Frowning with curiosity, Scorpius started to question his father.

"Just wait Scorpius," Draco softly halted his son. "It's just that we went to school together- all of us. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and myself. We were all at Hogwarts at the same time," Draco paused in a sigh.

"A lot happened back then. Much of the blame falls on me and my family, but Potter and his friends were not always blameless either." Shaking his head he continued, "There's just bad history there, especially with Hermione," He said, subtly motioning towards to the bushy-haired brunette with a head nod.

Seeing Scorpius' questioning look, Draco attempted to explain. "Let's just say there was an incident during the war with her and your great-aunt Bellatrix that I'm sure is not remembered lightly in their family nor will exactly encourage friendly feelings between you and their children.

"Knowing Potter and Weasley, they have probably kept their kids very well informed on the past and that means they won't take kindly to anyone related to me." Draco sighed apologetically. "I just don't want you paying for my mistakes. So please, just promise me you'll steer clear of the lot of them. Okay?"

Scorpius nodded although still confused and more than a little curious, "Yea, sure dad. I promise."

"Good. Now," His father changed the subjected, shifting away from the talk of the past, "make sure to send an owl after the sorting ceremony, when you're all set up in your dormitory."

As his father continued to talk to Scorpius, reminding him to keep out of trouble and to be sure to pay extra attention in Transfiguration- "that was always a challenging one for myself,"- Scorpius however found his gaze being drawn back to the curly red-haired girl.

Her parents were talking to her as well. Probably offering similar warnings and advice as his father was giving him, Scorpius thought with slight amusement.

As he stared he took in her features. She was pale- not as pale as him, but still very fair skinned. She had freckles-not so many that it made her skin look pock-marked, but more like a light dusting. When she smiled in reply to something her red-headed father said, Scorpius observed two dimples- one on each side of her straight, but large-toothed smiled. And then, of course, there was her red hair in all its bushy abundance, Scorpius thought with a smile. Even if his father hadn't informed him that she was a Weasley, that red hair was evidence enough of her genealogy. However, the more closely he looked at her, Scorpius realised that her hair wasn't actually red-red, but more brown-red; auburn seemed to be an appropriate word for it. Scorpius had never seen hair quite like it before.

Scorpius was too far away from her to clearly make out the colour of her eye and couldn't stop himself from trying to guess what colour they would be. Possibly a shade of hazel that matched the hints of brown in her hair, Scorpius mused to himself.

"Scorpius?"

Roused from his thoughts, Scorpius looked back towards his father and saw him wearing an expression of apprehension. "You will remember your promise, won't you?" he asked almost pleadingly, obviously having seen his son starring so intently at the Weasley girl.

"Of course Dad. I promise." Scorpius reassured his father, all the while mentally reminding himself not to look over at the red-head again.

If his father didn't think it would be good for him to be friends with her, then he wouldn't, Scorpius reminded himself with a definitive nod. Scorpius was perceptive enough to realise that his father was not exactly the most highly thought of wizard in England, but despite whatever went on in the past Scorpius highly regarded his father and his opinion. No matter what anyone else thought or said, Scorpius knew that his father deeply cared about him and only wanted what was best for him.

With this in mind he pushed the red-haired girl out of his thoughts and resigned himself to the reality that he would never speak to her, let alone get close enough to her to discover the colour of her eyes.

After one more final, slightly awkward hug, Scorpius finished saying good-bye to his father and made his way towards the scarlet-coloured train, determined to avoid any Potters or Weasleys at all costs.

After seating himself and his belongings in an empty compartment, Scorpius suddenly realised that blue eyes would compliment her auburn hair much more. Yes, a bright, sky blue seems right, Scorpius decided with a smile- only to frown with frustration having realised where his thoughts had wondered once again.

Maybe keeping this promise was going to be more difficult than he thought.