---Important to read--
This fanfic will be written much like a novel, so settle in to read lots since romance won't exactly burst into R-rated content when they are 11, it'll take time. It also starts in 2015, 2 years before the dh epilogue takes place. Lastly, I'm acting as if this is a continuation of Rowling's books, so just about all of the character are canon-see the trivia at the bottom of each page for more info.
Larger summary-
Ara Malfoy, oldest child and only daughter of Draco Malfoy is starting her first year. Through a stroke of luck and a bit strategic thinking (on the sorting hat's part), she ends up in the same house as Harry Potter's oldest son, James. She finds Hogwarts a divided place and together with her friends, she must strive to help Hogwarts become united or the wizarding world may be doomed as a new evil approaches. The marauders all over again.
There will be friendship, young love, new staff members to meet, a flying car from the past, centaurs that read the stars, quidditch, the restricted section in the library, the marauder's map, Fawkes the phoenix, Fluffy, a bit of humor, a bit of angst, a bit of romance, a bunch of magic, and good old Hogwarts.
Just read until chapter 3 (or just get past chapter 1), if you don't like it by then, go ahead and give up.
On the top step of the staircase, she teetered back and forth, considering how best to approach the delicate subject to her father. She bit her lips nervously, fidgeting in the shadows. Oh why, oh why, did she have to be such a coward? And then, she had to remind herself there were reasons she feared things outside the safety of this house.
"Ara," a man's voice called to her, causing her to emit a small gasp, effectively knocking her out of her daydreaming.
She hadn't been aware he'd heard her approach, she could have sworn she'd made next to no noise. And how'd he know it was her? But, then again, this was her father she was talking about.
Still undecided on how to bring up the subject, she slowly descended the stairs, her footsteps echoing across the polished marble. Her forlorn little figure edged closer to the chair turned to the fireplace, watching the man who occupied it open his dark eyes and smile fondly at her.
"Awake still I see," he said, opening his arms and pulling her gently onto his lap, smoothing a quilt over her legs. "Nervous about tomorrow?" he guessed and she nodded against his chest, feeling childish about being coddled. She was almost 12 for Merlin's sake, but instead of getting up, she allowed herself to relax in the familiar scent of his skin and the warmth of his embrace nevertheless.
"What is it?" he asked, his voice softer this time, readjusting himself so they were almost cheek to cheek, staring into the flickering fire.
She mumbled an answer into the quilt sheepishly. "Oh, you said you're in love with a dancing bear?" her father joked with a chuckle, provoking Ara to turn up the corners of her mouth and snuggle closer.
The pair watched the flames in the fireplace slowly die down as he waited patiently for her to summon the courage to re-answer his question. "I,... I don't want," here, her voice wavered momentarily, " I don't want to go. To Hogwarts. I just," her chin trembled and the burning sensation of tears could be felt peaking out from behind her closed lids. "I want to stay here, with you, and mom."
She looked up at him, a tear threatening to dribble down her cheek and he laughed softly, shaking his head. "Honey,..." he began slowly, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts to even think about you leaving me. Last year I let it pass and I let you stay, but you'll be 12 in two days and I can't postpone school for you any longer." He laid a gentle kiss on the top of her head, pausing in thought.
She nodded grimly, foregoing control and letting the rogue tear drip down. She knew it had been a lost cause anyway. He wiped away the tear, tilting her chin up until she defiantly met his eyes. "No matter what people say, just remember to keep your chin up," he said firmly, his own eyes betraying the worry residing within. "You have nothing to be ashamed of," he added as an afterthought, hugging her closer.
For several minutes they sat like that, him gazing into the flames, reminiscing she guessed about his own time at Hogwarts, and her running her fingertips along the black swirls of the faded death mark tattooed across her father's arm.
And so, here she was at King's Cross Station, trailing after her parents through a mess of annoyingly loud muggles, pushing a cart toward platform nine and three quarters. She wondered if she could make a run for it, just stop walking and disappear into the crowds. And do what? There was nowhere for her to go. But thinking about what was awaiting her at Hogwarts, she gulped unconsciously, fear bubbling in her stomach.
She stuck her hand in the pocket of her jeans and retrieved her wand, holding it close to herself protectively to keep it out of sight of the muggles milling about. She shouldn't have bothered, they were oblivious to anything out the ordinary.
Nine and a quarter inches of flexible willow wood with a core of threstral's tail hair. Just feeling it in her grasp cheered her a bit. Sure, being able to not have to face Hogwarts for another year would have been nice, but the fact that at least it would not be yet another year without magic might be the factor that made it bearable. Her mouth formed a half-hearted smile all of its own at the thought.
She caught sight of a similiar wizarding family beside them, complete with cart and an owl and dressed oddly in mixmatching muggle clothes. The mother eyed the backs of her parents, seemed to recognize the silvery blond hair of her father, and curled her lips back in anger, and then amusement.
Not knowing what exactly was so funny, Ara adopted a quizzical look upon her childish face. Adults were so strange. The woman then turned her eyes to the little blond girl beside them, her grin disappearing completely, replaced by a stare of malicious intent.
Ara was glad that she had walked along behind her parents, inhibiting their ability to protect her from the hateful glare she received. She didn't want her father to get that look in his eye, the one where he was regretting ever having a family because it meant subjecting them to judgement, over and over again, from people who did not know his story, their story. She hated making him feel guilty and had always tried to deal with the preudice on her own.
While she didn't consider herself particularly intelligent, she understood what the looks had meant for some time now. Instead of actual brilliance, Ara instead was gifted with a need to be informed, a decent memory, and an intuitive look on the world. By the time she was nine, the age Scorpius was now, she had read dozens of books about the Second Wizarding War and her family's part in it.
For months afterward, she had hated her father, barely able to disguise her disgust from him. And then, slowly, very slowly, her resolve had thinned and her intuitive nature had taken over.
Draco Malfoy was not the same man he had been in his youth and was certainly not the villain painted by the media fanatics a decade and a half later. He had an air of humility about him, a forgiving nature, a quick wit (which she had undoubtedly inherited from him), and a loving heart. And because of that, she would stand by him through the unending discrimination no matter what. She loved him as a daughter loves a father, regardless of who he had once been.
Since she was the oldest of the family, she was used to the scathing looks by now. Caelum and Scorpius were still too young to understand that people acted differently towards them, hateful towards them, and for that, she was glad. One day they'd understand, but it wouldn't have to be today.
Her father had disappeared with Caleum and Astoria Malfoy smiled down at Ara warmly for a quick moment before clasping hands with Scorpius. "Alright, our turn," she told him softly, before turning to her daughter.
"Can you manage by yourself?" her mother asked. After receiving a confirming, if rather glum nod, her mother and brother began walking directly towards the brick wall separating the platforms 9 and 10. Ara followed after a moment, looking back over her shoulder and casting one long challenging eye-to-eye death glare at the witch, which seemed to surprise the old hag, and then turned her back and confidently passed directly through the wall illusion and onto platform nine and three quarters.
Trivia/Author's Notes-
~Like Canon Draco and Scorpius, Ara and Caelum (her brother) are named after constellations. Her name means altar while his means chisel, or Cæla Sculptoris, the sculptor's chisel.
~In an interview with Rowling, Malfoy supposedly married a woman named Astoria Greengrass, sister to Daphne Greengrass a pureblood Slytherin who I think was in Harry's year. I doubt she was a death eater, so I won't write her as one.
~No, Malfoy never went to Azkaban. Just giving you a heads up. In an interview with Rowling, none of the Malfoys ever went because of their last moment alliance switch.
~The death mark is faded. Check harry potter wiki or fan sites. Supposedly they fade when they're not active and since Voldemort is dead, they sure aren't active. ;)
Ok, that's about it, hope you liked it. Reviews are appreciated (yay) but so not mandatory. If you have any questions, be sure to ask. I'll answer as well as I can. ;D
