You're Too Young for This
Scorpius dreaded visits to Malfoy Manor. His father had warned him that one day the family manor might become their home, and each time he was there, the dread that they might have to leave behind their warm, comfortable home for the cold, unwelcoming place filled him.
He would have given anything not to move. One night after the possibility had been mentioned, he'd cried himself to sleep over it.
His mother disliked the place as much as he did, and Scorpius held out hope that she'd triumph over his father if Draco ever made a serious attempt to relocate the family. Even at five years old, Scorpius had caught on to the fact that his father didn't give in to anything once his mind was made up...unless it was Astoria arguing against it.
But for all his mother's hatred of the place, she still made Scorpius go once a month to visit his grandparents. Scorpius couldn't remember either of them stepping foot in the house Scorpius and his parents called home, so they had to go to the manor instead.
He hated the visits for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that they involved about ten minutes of telling his grandparents that he was doing fine and then being let loose into the house while the adults talked. They were as boring as they were uncomfortable.
At least his grandmother hugged him. He'd never received a hug from his grandfather. Half the time, the old man scowled at him in disapproval and nothing more.
During their last visit, Lucius had been furious that Astoria had let Scorpius adopt a cat from a Muggle animal shelter instead of going to Diagon Alley for a purebred from wizarding breeders. He'd been setting in on her about it before Scorpius could flee the room.
There was always something for his grandfather to complain about as Scorpius made himself scarce, and it usually had something to do with his parents not raising him properly.
At times, though, his grandfather wasn't present when they arrived. That week's visit was one of those.
Narcissa was in the sitting room when they fell out of the floo. Draco had come before Astoria and Scorpius, and Narcissa was already in the midst of explaining that Lucius was attending to something important in his office and would be down later. The explanation was forgotten when she caught sight of Scorpius and smiled, pulling him in close with exclamations of how he'd grown since last time.
He let her squeeze him and pat his head like she usually did. It wasn't that the hugs were unpleasant. It was just that, once they were over, Scorpius never knew what to say to her. He was never able to shake the feeling that one wrong move would earn his grandmother's disapproval.
They went through the usual routine, with Scorpius happy that he could tell Narcissa about baking cookies the Muggle way and only get a tightening of the lips in response instead of cruel comments directed towards his mother.
Soon enough, he was sent off with a pat on the back and the reassurance that his parents would call for him when it was time to go.
Scorpius wandered aimlessly through the halls. He's seen it all but had no favourite place to head for. In the silence, he daydreamed. Sometimes the halls were more inviting if he pretended he was eleven and at Hogwarts, wandering the castle like a brave Gryffindor.
If he'd shared the final part of the fantasy with his father or grandfather, they'd scowl at him. Never mind that he had no desire to actually be a Gryffindor. He'd never fit in. Though he tried to be brave, he never felt like he was.
He was deep in his thoughts about how many hallways Hogwarts might have when he wound up in front of his grandfather's office. He'd been too distracted to remember that the man was up here and that it was, therefore, wise to stay away.
The door was open. Scorpius paid little attention to this as he approached, though it was usually closed. He had no desire to snoop in places he had been told to stay away from, so he was merely planning to walk by when his grandfather's voice made him freeze in the square of light coming from the room.
"Scorpius. You've arrived then? I must have lost track of the time."
Though his body resisted it, Scorpius turned to face his grandfather, who sat behind a large ornate desk with a quill in hand, and attempted to smile.
"Yes, Grandfather. Mummy and Daddy are downstairs."
For a second, Scorpius stood in the doorway, uncertain. His grandfather always dismissed him when it was time for him to leave a room, and he didn't want to find out if leaving of his own accord this time around would result in a punishment. But he also hadn't been invited into the room that had always been forbidden, which left him in a strange limbo of uncertainty.
Lucius didn't notice Scorpius' discomfort at first. He was too busy scribbling onto a piece of parchment. The sound of the quill scratching calmed Scorpius. It reminded him of when he sat in his father's office while he worked. Secretly, he was thrilled when Astoria had to run errands he couldn't go on because it meant he got to sit with Draco. Otherwise, his father's office was as closed off as Lucius' was.
Despite the calming scratching of the quill, though, Scorpius didn't find the same comfort in watching his grandfather work as he did his father.
He felt forgotten in the doorway, and that gave him the freedom to really analyze his grandfather's appearance. Typically, he kept his eyes averted as if his father were some divine being who would punish him for looking too closely.
Part of his grandfather's intimidation had always been his choice of clothing. Lucius Malfoy didn't walk around his own house unless he was in something elaborate enough to show off his wealth. At least, that was what Scorpius had always assumed as it was true of their visits. Though most of Lucius' body was hidden behind a desk from Scorpius' perspective, he could tell that his grandfather wasn't in his usual clothing.
He was in a dressing gown. Scorpius never would have believed he owned one of those. Once he was thinking about it, he supposed he'd assumed Lucius slept in the elaborate clothes he was always in. It was impossible to imagine him in anything else. To top it all off, the dressing gown was a drab brown colour entirely unlike the deep greens and silvers he usually favoured.
That dressing gown looked more comfortable than anything Scorpius had seen on Lucius before. He certainly couldn't blame his grandfather for wearing it, even if it was mesmerizing in its unexpectedness.
Lucius' quill came to the end of his parchment, and he laid it down, finally raising his eyes once more. Scorpius wasn't entirely forgotten then. He stiffened as Lucius looked at him, waiting to be told what to do. He couldn't stop himself from shifting nervously when Lucius chuckled at the reaction.
"Come in then," he said, motioning vaguely at an upholstered chair across from his desk that looked too uncomfortable to sit in for long.
The last thing Scorpius wanted was to sit down and get stuck there, but running away was the worse option, so he did as he was instructed. He kept his eyes averted as he traversed the office that felt a mile long. Once he was seated, he chanced a look up, finding his grandfather's eyes still on him and narrowed as if he were searching for something.
When Lucius spoke again, it was in the same carefully controlled voice that always sent shivers down Scorpius' spine. No matter what Lucius' actual words were, the tone left Scorpius feeling like the man might grow sharp at any moment.
"Tell me, Scorpius, have I ever done anything to harm you?"
"No, sir."
Though his voice trembled, the answer was true. His grandfather had never hurt him physically. He'd never even insulted him, just insulted how he was raised by his mother. That was what scared him really: what Lucius was willing to say about Astoria. Hearing it his whole life had made Scorpius keenly aware of how easy it was for his grandfather to dislike someone, and it left him feeling like one small misstep would be too far in his grandfather's eyes. It felt like only a matter of time before his grandfather found just as much to dislike in him as he did Astoria.
He swallowed at Lucius' intense gaze, pressing his back into the chair in a futile attempt to put more space between them. The desk wasn't enough of a barrier.
"I'm your grandfather, child. I have no ill intentions. You will, after all, be in charge of the House of Malfoy in the future, with all the responsibilities that entails. All I want is for you to grow up ready to take on that roll. I'm sure your mother has told you differently."
He waved his hand as if he were swatting away an annoying fly.
"I'm sure she spreads lies about my past or present. She's never liked me, and your father has proven of little use in clearing my name from her snide remarks."
Proper posture had been drilled into Scorpius by his grandmother since he could sit up on his own, but he found himself sliding down in the chair as Lucius spoke, somewhat hoping that doing so would hide him from view. It did no such thing of course, and he really only found himself having to look up a bit more to see his grandfather. It made the man all the more intimidating, but once he was in the position, Scorpius couldn't find it in himself to pull himself back up.
He wanted to tell his grandfather that his mother hadn't said any of the things he'd accused her of. Truthfully, Astoria never mentioned Lucius much outside of Malfoy Manor except when informing him they were coming to Malfoy Manor. Though he wanted to tell Lucius that, to ascertain his mother's innocence, he didn't. He knew he wouldn't be believed.
Instead, he blurted out something far different than what he had meant to.
"Daddy has a skull with a snake on his arm. I've seen it. He said you have one too."
He'd seen it less than a week ago. His father always wore long sleeves, and Scorpius had never thought that strange. It was just how his father dressed, and it was far less noteworthy than Lucius' elaborate costumes. But it was growing hot outside, and Draco had taken him out to play. He'd tugged up his sleeve without thinking about it, not realizing what he'd done until he'd noticed Scorpius' wide eyes. He'd tugged it back down quickly after that, but the damage had been done.
Scorpius still didn't fully understand the mark. All he knew was that it looked scary and that his father had called it an embarrassment that his father, Scorpius' grandfather, had passed onto him. When Scorpius had asked what the last part meant, Draco had said little more but that Lucius, too, possessed the skull and snake on his arm.
The lack of answers had only served to make him more curious, though it was the same sort of curiosity he felt about the monsters that might or might not have been hiding in his closet. He wanted to know about it but also didn't. The fears didn't stop his eyes from flickering to his grandfather's arm. It was carefully concealed by long sleeves just as his father's always was.
Lucius sneered, and Scorpius desperately wished he could take his words back.
"You're too young for this. You've not even started Hogwarts. Draco should have known better than to broach the topic. At your age, you'll say something foolish that will only attract more attention this family doesn't need."
As they often did, Lucius' words meant little to Scorpius, who couldn't make sense of them. All he knew was that they sounded angry and made him cringe. Lucius sighed, looking somewhat regretful.
"But that's not your concern either," he muttered to himself before taking on a more commanding tone. "Go on and play." He waved a dismissive hand. "I believe it's time I go downstairs and speak to your parents."
Scorpius thought he might have gotten his parents into trouble, but he wasn't about to fight against the dismissal. He scurried off his chair and to the door, tossing one last look at his grandfather over his shoulder. He caught Lucius running a hand over his eyes just like Scorpius often saw his father do before his mother would place a gentle hand on his shoulder and urge him to go to bed.
For a split second, Scorpius was tempted to recommend that Lucius take a nap instead of going downstairs, but he thought better of it before he could speak. He'd been dismissed after all, and he got the distinct feeling he wasn't supposed to have seen the gesture.
He hurried down the halls, no longer quite as concerned by how unwelcoming they felt.
A/N: This was written for the "drab" prompt in the Favorite Character Boot Camp (for Scorpius). I also used the dressing gown prompt from the Insane House Challenge and the Malfoy Manor prompt from the 365 prompt challenge, both on the Hogwarts Assignments and Challenges forum.