Madame Pomfrey's miracles could not be measured, thought Scorpius. It was only two days after the attack that all of his bruises were healed, and except for feeling a bit woozy, he was walking on sunshine.

He tried his best to forget about the majority of the Slytherin blokes in his year wanting to bash his brains in, but Rose wouldn't let it go. She would give a fierce glare to the suspected Slytherins who beat Scorpius, and it would be maybe a minute (enough time to flee the scene) before their shoes caught fire.

Scorpius had known her for years, but he wondered what Rose's reaction to Nott's comment would be if she found out. For some reason, he expected for the mighty Gryffindor girl to crumble under embarrassment. He didn't know why; he'd never even seen her shed a tear through five years of hardcore Quidditch playing. He judged more on his response to see how hers would be. Scorpius typically brushed off the rude comments about his friends, but the taunts had never been quite so boorish before. He thought of it like a maths problem: If a stony person snapped at the comment, then a hot-head would become stony. Of course, the stony was completely on the exterior. Scorpius still recalled when he was a first year and he heard the phrase "Mudblood lover." He had heard his grandfather say it often, and knew it wasn't the nicest term. In his naiveté, he had asked Rose what a mudblood was, because she was the smartest in the year.

He had never felt so awful in his life. The moments before she had given him a painful Bat-Bogey hex, she was hurt. As if she thought he was different, and he turned out to be the same as what she thought. Eventually Al told him why Rose was so offended – her mother was a Muggle-born, and she had thought that he made fun of her mother. Al was confused as to how Scorpius didn't know what the m-word was.

"Only my grandfather's said it in front of me, and even then, I didn't know what it meant."

For a full month, Rose didn't care about what his grandfather said or why he never heard it. Only when Hagrid helped him pick out a book on dragon eggs for her did she soften up.

Again, he told himself to forget the past. There was no need to think of woes from five years ago. Now, he was in a train compartment with his friends, watching James and Fred play a gritty match of exploding snap. They had the best stamina for rough-housing, which wasn't surprising based on their personalities. Scorpius could imagine James and Fred setting off hidden pranks from their cribs. Based on Al's stories from home, it wasn't a far off speculation.

The train ride was as fun as usual - this time he was mainly teased about snogging Rose. The Slytherins didn't come into their compartment because even though none of them would ever admit it, Rose scared them. Scorpius found it hilarious.

After too short a time, the train arrived at 9 ¾. Scorpius felt his stomach fall to his feet as he looked out of the windows. Along with his parents, Lucius had decided to pick him up as well. If there was ever a way to test his Gryffindor friends' loyalty, it would be to have your Voldemort worshipping grandfather gather you from the station.

"Scorp? Are you alright?" Rose asked. One of her best and worst qualities was that she could read people like she read books.

"No," he said. "My grandfather's here."

Either the entire compartment had taken a rare quiet moment, or all conversation halted at the mention of Lucius Malfoy.

"Is he your mother's father?" Lily asked hopefully.

"No," he said again, "he's the Death Eater."

The situation would have been awkward enough if Scorpius was sitting alone, because even then, all eyes would be fixed on Lucius – the Death Eater who got off. To make everything just a bit worse, Scorpius was sitting with a compartment full of Gryffindors. He would emerge onto the station with them, and then have to talk with Mr. and Mrs. Potter about his visit to their house.

"Do you want us to go with you?" asked Fred.

"Yeah, you could hide behind us Weasleys; we'd have to change your hair colour, though...that blond mop will stand out." James said.

"No, I need to face him," Scorpius said. "He already knows I'm friends with you all, so why shouldn't he see it? Besides, I've got to go home eventually."

"But do they know that you're snogging a Weasley?" asked Hugo; he looked pointedly down at their linked hands.

Scorpius's face answered for him. Rose looked hurt, but then she turned back to her usual stony composure. Not wanting to start a row in front of half of her family, Scorpius settled on staring at the wall above Al's head.

When they went off to their families, Rose left to her parents without saying so much as a good-bye to Scorpius. Most of the Weasleys left him like that, except for Al and Fred. Al lingered because he was a true friend, and Fred lingered because he wanted to witness the confrontation. James would have stayed, but he always tried his best not to care about the Malfoys.

"Scorpius!" his mother exclaimed. "You've grown too much this year."

"He's a strong young boy – you remind me of your father," Lucius said to Scorpius in a bracing voice. He awkwardly placed his hand on his grandson's shoulder, who looked at it like a foreign object.

"Dad, I have to talk with the Potters..." said Scorpius. He would have talked for a bit with his parents, but he was anxious for Lucius to stop treating him as if he was suddenly a star child. Scorpius knew that Lucius was never particularly fond of his attitude and his friends. The only time he saw his grandfather was at Christmas dinner, and even then he hastily left Malfoy Manor.

Walking over to the Potters was like walking to security in that moment. He always knew their intentions, because they usually couldn't keep anything in. No one ever gave him that selfish smile or looked at him like a mad man when he had a different idea.

To Scorpius's horror, Lucius walked over to the Potters with Astoria and Draco. The Potters were usually with the Weasleys, so there was basically a snake slithering into a lion's den. He only looked forward, but he had a sick feeling in his stomach that Lucius was smiling, Draco was glowering at the wall, and Astoria was grinning like a giddy chipmunk and trying to ignore everything around her. Before anyone could say anything, Lucius startled everyone by saying, "Hello, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter. How are you?"

Only when Ginny elbowed his side did Harry notice that he was asked a question. "I'm fine, sir. And you?"

"I'm positively astounding. I believe young Scorpius has to talk with you lot?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "We've arranged for the kids to go to a Quidditch match with us." She held a casual tone, but her face held defiance towards Lucius, daring him to comment on his grandson being looked after by a Muggleborn.

Lucius plastered on a crusty smile and nodded. He curtly turned away and practically speed walked to his mode of transportation.

After a stiff silence James couldn't seem to resist adding, "You've got to love family, eh?"


"Scorpius, come out to garden with me, will you?" Lucius asked after dinner. Frankly, he didn't want to be anywhere near his grandfather after the station flop, but was not downright rude enough to deny him.

No matter how dusty and drab one could call Malfoy Manor, the garden could not possibly take one honest, degrading comment. The Malfoy garden was absolutely stunning at any time of day, but Scorpius found it most peaceful at night. Even his grandfather couldn't ruin the garden for him.

"What are you doing?" Lucius asked slowly, as if talking to a small, confused child.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Do you think you're actually like them? Those Gryffindor gits of yours, do you think that you aren't the sorest green thumb among them all?"

"They're my friends, I don't know if you know what those are –"

"You don't understand," Lucius said. "These aren't friends you've made, they're pawns –"

"Pawns for what, you mad old man?"

"The rise of rightful witches and wizards."

"You must be joking."

"No! You see how I'm treated,"

"You're treated horribly because you're a cowardly bastard."

The next thing he knew, Scorpius was on the ground and the echo of a slap was reverberating through the garden. Draco, who must've been watching from a window, was immediately outside and pointing his wand at his father's face.

"Get. Out." Draco said. "If you ever come here again, you'll find out just how close you raised me to Azkaban."

Lucius slowly backed away and left through the front gates. Once he left, Draco sat down on a bench looking like the image of exhaustion.

"Dad, are you okay?" Scorpius asked.

Draco gave a hollow laugh. "I should be asking you that. How hard did he hit you?"

"I'm fine, Dad," said Scorpius. "You're the one who looks close to fainting."

Scorpius tried to give a reassuring smile, but it didn't work well. Draco was paler than usual, and his usually sleek composure was shattered. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided against it in the end.

"So, who's playing in that Quidditch match?"