Everyone was staring at him.
From the second he set foot on the train, the other children stared at him, and whispered, and it took all Scorpius had to keep his face impassive as he searched for an empty compartment.
He knew better than to try the ones with older students and even in the compartments filled with his fellow first years, their cold glares and whispered insults spurred him on.
"We're not exactly popular," his father had said, and though Scorpius had knew that it was true, he didn't know the full extent of the hatred directed at the Malfoy family.
Finally, he found an empty compartment, and he had just set down the cage with his new owl, Orion, on the floor when the door flew open again, and for the second time that hour, Scorpius Malfoy locked eyes with the Weasley girl.
"Oh," she said breathlessly, tripping over the Hogwarts robes she already had on and barely catching herself on the door frame. She froze then, eyeing him with interest.
"Come on, Rose, you're blocking the corridor," an impatient voice said from behind her, and then another head peeked around the girl and a miniature Harry Potter froze too.
"Oh," he said.
Rose Weasley stepped into the compartment warily, and Potter followed her in.
"Um…" she said, clearly at loss for words, "sorry. This is the only empty compartment we've found. Not that it's empty, it's clearly not. You're here. So…"
Potter tapped her shoulder, and whispered to her in what he clearly considered to be an inaudible voice, "I'm sure we can sit with James. Let's just go, Rose, you know who he is…"
And she whispered back, just as audibly, "we don't want to be rude, Albus! If we leave now, he'll think we have a problem with him! And besides, James already told us we couldn't sit with him!"
"He's a Malfoy, Rose; don't you have a problem with that?"
"Look," she said diplomatically, "it's one train ride. Plus… maybe he could use a friend."
Albus threw her a look clearly indicating that the Malfoys didn't deserve friends, but his cousin sat down anyway. He reluctantly followed her lead, although he pointedly sat as near the door, and as far away from Scorpius, as possible.
"Hello," Rose started again, and Scorpius, who had been looking out the window through their whispered exchange, turned his head to look at her. "I'm Rose—"
"Weasley," he finished for her, and then blushed a little. "I saw you on the platform. I'm Scorpius—"
"Malfoy," she finished, just as he had done, and then gave him a small smile. "I saw you, too."
A pregnant silence filled the compartment, broken only by the slight rustling of Orion in his cage and the pointed throat clearing of Rose as she looked towards her cousin, slumped so far away in his seat that his head was practically out the door.
"Albus Potter," he muttered finally, and the silence fell once again.
"So," Rose said finally, clearly tired of the awkwardness, "are you excited for school?"
Scorpius nodded once, but this seemed to be enough for her.
"I am. I've been dying to go ever since I can remember. Teddy used to tell us fantastic stories, and then James went, and he's been teasing us about being too young for years now, and now it's finally my turn! I'm expecting Gryffindor, of course, all the family's been, even mum, and she's the first in her family. Muggle-born, you know…" She stopped suddenly, as though she said far too much, and stared, stricken, in Scorpius' direction.
"I know," Scorpius said. "Father told me."
Rose looked suddenly defensive. "I don't know what your father's told you about my family," she started angrily, but Scorpius interrupted her.
"He only told me she was the best in their year. It was Grandfather who said she was a mud…" He cut himself off suddenly, and took a deep breath before continuing, "Muggle born witch, actually."
"Oh," Rose said, flushing pink. "Sorry."
Scorpius smiled ruefully. "I expect you've heard just as much about my family."
"Death Eaters, the whole lot," Albus spat from his corner.
"Not the whole lot," Scorpius said quietly. "I'm not a Death Eater, and neither was Mother."
Albus scoffed at this, but sat up a little straighter in his seat.
"You'll be expecting Slytherin, then?" Rose asked.
Scorpius nodded again. "Family tradition."
"D'you have a lot of those?" Albus asked, but he sounded more interested than nasty.
"We do," Rose chimed in immediately, "Christmases at the Burrow, and Weasley Sweaters, and backyard Quidditch, and loads more, too."
"Not really," Scorpius said, "just that Grandmother and Grandfather always come for Sunday lunch. Though we'd all rather they didn't, actually. Grandmother's alright, but Grandfather's more… traditional. He has views of the world that Father doesn't really agree with, and Mother always gets angry with him. Grandfather would rather the Dark Lord still be in power."
"And your father wouldn't?" Albus asked, leaning in a bit.
"No," Scorpius said. "He doesn't talk about it much, but I know he's grateful to your father. Your parents, too," he said, turning towards Rose, "for finishing what he couldn't. He was kind of roped into the whole thing, he was young, and both his parents were Death Eaters, and his Aunt… but like I said, he doesn't talk about it much."
The cousins sat in silence again, exchanging sly glances with one another, while Scorpius, embarrassed by his confession, looked out the window at the rapidly passing Scottish countryside.
"Not that it really matters anyway," he muttered, "Everybody already hates me."
Albus looked embarrassed.
"They don't even know you," Rose pointed out, "how could they hate you?"
Scorpius gave a bitter laugh. "They hate me."
"So just prove you're different," Rose said, "because I know you are. And I don't hate you. Neither does Al."
Albus still looked slightly wary, but he nodded his head in agreement nonetheless.
Scorpius felt a sudden flash of affection for these two children, who had been designed to be his enemies but were instead his first friends in this new place, and then the trolley Witch was strolling down the corridor and the rest of the journey passed in comfortable conversation.