At age 6 his father was his hero. At age 7 he hated his father more than anyone. His father wasn't there when his mother cried, although she locked the door and would only cry at night so he couldn't see. His father found a new wife and a new family. His father replaced him and his mother. That was how seven year old Scorpius saw it.
At age 11 Scorpius had learned more of the story, but it only made him hate his father even more. Draco Malfoy cheated on his mother, not that Scorpius yet understood exactly what cheating meant beyond kissing. His mother had taken him away, but he didn't mind. He didn't want to live with Marissa, Scorpius never called her anything else no matter how much his father insisted. He hated Marissa… except she didn't seem to like his father much either. He still hated her, but not as much as he hated Draco Malfoy. Sometimes Scorpius hated Emily too.
At age 6 Emily was his little shadow whenever he lived with his father. She didn't understand why he couldn't live with them all the time. Although he could be mean to her sometimes all she had to do was burst into tears and he'd comfort her as best he could. He'd never been able to comfort his mother when she cried, so he was always at his half-sister's side when she was upset. Emily called him Scorpy, and she was the only one allowed to do so. His mother called him Scrop sometimes. If his father tried to call him anything but Scorpius he would ignore him. Marissa didn't try to call him anything but Scorpius.
At age 11 Scorpius really wanted his mother to take him to the train station to go to Hogwarts for the first time. His mother sat him down and gave him a long talk about the meaning of custody, and that this was his father's day with him since he'd stay with her over Christmas. Scorpius, though much happier spending Christmas with his mother, was not happy when he arrived at the train station. He'd had to go with his father and Marissa. This was supposed to be exciting, or frightening, another but annoying.
"You will be in Slytherin, of course," his father said once they passed onto the platform.
"Of course," Scorpius said with a smirk rather characteristic of his father at his age, though he didn't know it. He would be in Slytherin, but for his mother, in spite of his father's wishes.
"Oh my, it's Harry Potter," Marissa whispered in awe, earning a scowl from his father. Scorpius smirked. If his father had stayed with his mother he wouldn't have to deal with such stupid comments. His mother didn't like Harry Potter much more than his father did, so Scorpius was determined not to as well.
Scorpius glanced up, seeing his father exchange curt nods with Harry Potter, before hearing some quieted conversation from the group around him. The red-haired man Scorpius recognized as Ron Weasley, and his wife seemed to be having a small argument about their daughter getting friendly with him. That was fine, what did he care?
"Scorpius," his father said, drawing him close. "You'll be sure not to get too close to the Weasley girl," he said. Scorpius only nodded. If his father didn't want him to get close to her, then he'd get as close to her as he could. It would definitely make his father livid. He smirked, highly amused by the idea.
It turned out that his plan to anger his father took longer than he expected to institute. Rose Weasley apparently really loved her daddy and stuck very closely to what her father had said (mostly) in jest. She competed with him for everything. She seemed to enjoy beating him on tests, which was infuriating. He had better luck making conversation with Albus Severus Potter, a person he didn't even like, than he had with talking to Rose Weasley.
Rose's constant competition with Scorpius caused him to start competing hard against her. He could only lose so many times before his pride demanded he retaliate. His teachers noted the sudden upswing in his grades, as did his parents. His father bragged loudly whenever he beat Rose on a test. That was about horrifying to him, but I made the idea of finally getting close to her all the more appealing.
Between his first and third year Scorpius transitioned from the idea of being friends with Rose Weasley to actually dating her. She was by no means the most beautiful girl in school (that honor went to Victoire Weasley while she was still in school), nor the most beautiful girl in their year. She couldn't even be described as beautiful. She was pretty on her best days, and he imagined that she'd probably clean up well if she ever cared to.
During their third year Scorpius was chosen for the Quidditch team. He was the Seeker, like his father had been. That year Slytherin won the Quidditch house cup. It was perfect leverage against Rose, who'd moved from simply competing with him because her daddy said so to wanting to beat him because she didn't want to lose. "You can complain about playing dirty all you want, but it won't change anything," Scorpius goaded.
"And why is that?" she hissed across the potion's table.
"Because only the Quidditch players really have any way to change anything about the game. You're complaining about something without trying to change it yourself," he said, knowing it would work. Maybe he was a bit masochistic, but he wanted to compete with her in Quidditch too. Her aunt had been a very popular, very talented Holyhead Harpy. Her uncles were well remembered by staff for being brilliant Quidditch players. Her father had even shown talent for the game. He found out the next year just how masochistic he was.
The rumor was that Rose Weasley spent the summer training with her Aunt and Uncle to be able to play Quidditch well. Because when she started playing Gryffindor suddenly went from having one good player (James Potter) to having a very solid tag team with chasers. Slytherin won, but it was so painfully close that their captain had nightmares for a week after that the faculty reconsidered some points and awarded the championship to Gryffindor.
When their first match came up in their fifth year tensions were very high from the memory of the championship the year before. Finally Scorpius had a chance to get close to Rose Weasley.
"What do you mean a bet?" Rose asked, arms crossed over her chest. Scorpius tried not to smile.
"To make it more interesting," he said. He'd been surprised at how good he'd become at manipulating people.
"I think it'll be interesting enough," she sniffed.
"True, but wouldn't it be good to have total victory?" he asked.
"What's the bet?" she asked.
"If who's every team loses has to do whatever the one with the winning team says for one day," he said.
"That sounds like a bad idea," Rose said warily. Which was true, for someone else it might have been a very idea to make that bet, but Scorpius had a very specific plan, one that didn't involve her being mortified at the end of the day.
"Yes," he said, "maybe, but wouldn't it be nice to really, truly be able to beat me?" he asked. He could still see the wariness. "Okay, then some kind of limits, you can pick," he added.
Rose considered for a moment. "Nothing sexual," she said. Suddenly Scorpius wondered if she'd caught him staring at her, but shook his off. He'd been careful, and it didn't matter anyway.
"Deal," he agreed.
The match came and went. Slytherin won. Scorpius was pleased, but he was quickly whisked away to his house's party. He had to get up very early on Sunday to send and owl to Rose to meet him after breakfast. He didn't bother with much more than a roll, feeling his stomach turning. It wasn't like he hadn't been planning this for a while, but he was still nervous.
When Rose showed up he could see she looked as nervous as he felt. He didn't like that look on her face. It would be one thing when she was nervous about test results or something she knew could turn out good, but she looked near afraid, like she wasn't sure he'd stick to their deal. "Morning," he said nonchalantly.
"Morning," she said quietly. "You wanted to talk to me?" she asked, holding her head high. Stupid Gryffindor courage.
"Yes, I do," he said, smiling. He could see he get nervous. "I won out little deal," he said.
"I noticed," she said. "What do you want?"
"It's Hogsmeade next weekend," he pointed out.
"So?" she asked.
"So, I want to you go with me," he said.
"And what will we be doing when we get there?" she asked. He wondered sometimes if she was really as smart as he thought she was.
"I'm asking you out on a date," he said plainly.
"How is that not sexual?" she hissed.
"Unless you plan on getting naked during our walk through the cold, cold streets, I don't see how it will be," he pointed out. "Come on, you promised," he said with the smile that could make his mother give him anything. He could see Rose hesitate, torn amongst her better judgment, her loyalty to her family, and honoring her promise.
"Alright, I'll go with you to Hogsmead," she said.
After that Saturday couldn't come fast enough. Sometimes he still couldn't believe she'd said yes, especially when he saw her on Saturday. It occurred to him that Rose Weasley was as good as her word, and that it was probably something she valued highly. In the entire five years he'd known her he'd never seen her really dressed up. But she had her hair pulled back and make up and a was wearing a skirt. It made his mouth hang open a little.
"Does it look bad?" she asked shyly. "I normally only dress up for family events," she added.
"Great," he finally croaked out. "You look great," he added, glad that Hugo Weasley was in the third year so he couldn't pound Scorpius for taking his sister out. "You just don't normally wear anything like… that," he said, noticing that the skirt was maybe an inch to an inch and a half shorter than the school uniform, but small amount of fabric made a huge difference.
"You said it was a date," she said indignantly. That snapped him back. Rose would always be Rose, and he kind of liked that. He liked her competitiveness. He liked her cute but not beautiful face. He liked her wavy red hair. He liked that all of those things would drive his father up the wall when he found out. Now he just needed to not tell him for a while. The wait would make it so much better… oh, and he had to get her to agree to a second date.
He'd been into Hogsmead many times before, but it was different with a girl. Aside from Rose he hadn't shown any interest in girls. He'd been too focused on either winning her over or beating her. Keeping up with her meant he spent a lot more time in the library than any of his friends. With his friends Hogsmead was a place to goof off and gorge themselves on treats they didn't normally get to have.
He spent half the time trying to figure out how to act on a date, and the other half amazed that he hadn't considered how she'd act in Hogsmead. The biggest surprise came when she ignored him in the joke shop. Somehow he didn't connect the owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes as her uncle, though he'd known it in his mind. Seeing both her interaction with her ignoring him while they were in her uncle's line of vision stung a little. It wouldn't be until too late that he would consider that maybe she didn't like the idea of pissing off her family as much as he enjoyed pissing off him.
The date drew to a close as the sun went down. "Hold my hand," Scorpius said.
"I came with you on the date, what more do you want?" Rose asked.
"The bet was that you'd do whatever I wanted for a whole day. I haven't demanded anything besides you being here with me, so you should hold my hand now because I want you to," he said logically.
"You can ask," she snapped, but took his hand as they headed back to school mostly in silence for a while. "Why did you even ask me here Malfoy?"
"Because I wanted to go out with you since third year, but you thought all of my advances were me being mean," he said bluntly.
"Oh stop lying," she said.
"I'm not lying," he said. "I wanted to talk to you when we first met, but you were so focused on following what your daddy said about not being friends with me that you wouldn't let me get within three feet of you," he pointed out, which was true.
"Oh," she said quietly, lapsing into silence as they walked. When they arrived back at school he tugged her off near Hagrid's cabin, but away from the other students. "So now what?" she asked. "Are you going to make me stay with you till midnight?"
"No, but that's a good idea," Scorpius said, like he hadn't considered it. "I was hoping that you'd consent to going on another date with me next week," he said.
"You're not letting this go, are you?" Rose asked, looking really pretty even in the darkened sky.
"No, I waited three years to get to this point, so no, I'm not letting this go," he said, looking down at their hands meaningfully, guiding her gaze down as well. He smiled his most winning smile. It got her on the first date, and he hoped it would get her on the second.
"Oh," Rose said and blushed. He couldn't believe he got her to blush, and instantly chalked the day up as amazing progress. "Alright, I'll go out with you again," she said. "When?" she asked.
"Next Friday evening," he said. "We'll go flying," he said. He lifted her glove clad hand and kissed the back. He'd seen his father do it many times. As much as it would have made him gag to admit out loud, it was really effective, even if diminished by the wool gloves being in the way. "Be there?"
"Yes," she said and pulled away, still blushing and headed back inside. Yes, it had been a very, very good day for his progress.
Scorpius was careful after that. He kept their dates easy, but not very public. Rose would avoid him whenever possible, but she never missed a date. Finally Scorpius got so annoyed of her not letting on to anyone that they were dating that he collared Albus Severus and told him. Albus wasn't the smartest guy. His older brother was much more clever and also much more protective of his cousin. Scorpius was competitive with James in Quidditch, and basically anything but grades. Albus was kinder and more open to talking without wands needing to be out.
Albus was not at all excited at the prospect, being also protective of his cousin, but after Scorpius stated very clearly that mostly what they'd done was wander the grounds or go flying Albus promised to talk to Rose before passing judgment. James would have instantly cursed Scorpius if he'd told him. James saw Rose just like he saw Lily, a little sister to protect whether she liked it or not.
Rose was angry with him when she found out he told, but a few well placed words eased her anger. ("I'm sorry Rose, but I don't want to hide from people that I'm dating you. I consider it an honor, and hiding it seems like I'm ashamed of you! It's just wrong.") Slowly the knowledge of their dating spread, but she was very careful to be sure that he parents didn't find out. That was fine with him, he didn't need them to know, just his father.
Breaks came and went. Scorpius had wanted her to visit over summer, but Rose flat turned him down. That was fine, the longer they'd been dating, the greater the reaction. But when the sixth year started and Christmas neared Scorpius was much more insistent on her coming to visit him over Christmas. He'd had to explain that he didn't really get on with his father, though he hadn't explained to what extent. Now he used that to try and leverage her into coming.
"Please Rosie?" he asked, using the pet name only he was allowed her use.
"No Scorpy," she said with a slight mocking. Emily had started Hogwarts in his fifth year and had instantly taken to Rose. Emily was a bit of a cry baby, more so when her brother was around because it was the only way to get his attention. That was how his house had learned about her embarrassing pet name for him. Rose was the only one besides his little sister who could get away with calling him that without a busted nose.
"Please?" he asked. "I'm at my father's place for Christmas this time," he said.
"Emily will be there," Rose pointed out.
"She's the good part about being home," he said. "Please… look, there's a big ball on the 23rd," he said. "If you could come to that I at least wouldn't have to have him direct me to all the eligible young ladies," he said. "Besides, I want to show you off a little," he said, reaching under the table to rest his hand on her knee. The move earned a smack on the shoulder. Rose was ever the prude, but he didn't mind. He was the only one who got to be up close when she dressed up. It was, for the moment, a fair trade.
"I doubt you're father's going to want me there… being a Weasley and all," she said.
"Your family lines are about as long as mine," he pointed out. "Or are you embarrassed of your mother?" he asked with a smirk.
Rose gasped and glared at him. "No!" she hissed, poking him in the cheek with her quill and laughing and he vainly tried to get all the ink off. Scorpius knew she was very proud of her family. He'd heard all about how Hermione Weasley had reformed laws for the treatment of muggles before moving on to fixing laws for the treatment of magical creatures. Sure, there wasn't a lot of fame in glory in it, but it needed desperately to be done and he mother did it.
"I know, I know, I was just teasing," he said, still rubbing his face. "Got a mirror?" he asked.
"Don't be silly," she said, pulling out the small pocket mirror from her bag and handing it to him. She hadn't started carrying it until Scorpius asked her out.
"So, will you come?" he asked. Sometimes he felt jealous of her. She had a whole family. Her brother was her brother, not her half brother. She was proud of the work of bother her parents. Scorpius sometimes wondered why he even bothered learning magic. His mother and father both just managed Malfoy accounts, no magic to it. It almost felt lazy to him sometimes.
"I don't know," she said evasively.
"Look, you don't have to come, but will you at least promise to think about it, and to ask you parents if you can come," he said. He didn't note the fear in her eyes, but he probably should have.
"Alright," she said quietly before going back to studying. They dated, but they were still competitive when it came to grades and Quidditch, Scorpius liked it that way.
The days passed quickly until Christmas break and the couple parted ways. A few days later Scorpius got a very short letter from Rose. Two words: I'm coming.
Happily Scorpius sent back instructions and waited for the 23rd, even his father berating him for his losing to Rose for their last test grade and their last match against Gryffindor couldn't dampen his spirits. If anything he felt a mean satisfaction in knowing who was coming to his father's exclusive Christmas party. He didn't mind getting all primped up in dress robes for the event, or how bustled about he was by Marissa before the big day. All of that paled in comparison to when the house elf appeared at his elbow to tell him Rose had arrived.
He was the first to greet her, or at least the first male in his family. Emily got there first, while Scorpius hadn't thought of it, a lot of people would wonder why she was crashing the party. Almost everyone at the party knew almost everyone else. If Emily hadn't been there to claim here she could have possibly been turned away. Scorpius didn't think of it, too happy at the thought of his father's anger. He offered Rose a smile that put her ill at ease, and extended a hand, guiding her out to the event.
He didn't think about that she didn't seem comfortable at the event. He noticed that while she looked better than he'd ever seen her, that she really wasn't as attractive as some of the other women at the event. He liked how she looked just fine, and he didn't like any of the women at the event besides her anyway. He didn't think about what he'd do once his father met her, or whether or not he'd continue to date her. All he thought about was his father's angry face. The idea seemed like bliss.
And then the moment came. His father slipped off to the Solar and Scorpius led Rose to meet his father. "Father, I'd like you meet my date for the evening, Rose Weasley," he said, watching his father's eyes shift over to her.
"Pleasure to meet you," Rose said in a strong tone that said she would not be looked down on.
"Would you give me a moment with my son?" Draco Malfoy asked, guiding her to the door and shutting it, not noticing that it hadn't shut all the way. "Scorpius, what is the meaning of this? Bringing her here?" he asked. "Some cheap ploy to make me annoyed?" he asked.
"No, Rosie is my girlfriend," Scorpius said with a big smirk.
"You're girlfriend?" Draco asked, his voice sounding cold. "You're dating the daughter of the mudblood?" he hissed.
Scorpius's face split in a grin. "Yup, exactly," he said proudly.
"I raised you better than that!" Draco hissed.
"Please, you didn't raise me at all. My mother raised me. You're just the seed and the man I'm stuck with a few torturous weeks a year," he said. He'd expected his father to yell at him, but instead her just looked… unhappy.
"I see," his father said. He picked the sparkling wine he'd been drinking up and took a long sip, finishing it off before chucking the fine crystal flute into the fire place, shattering it and causing some impressive sparks. "Enjoy the party," the older man said and walked out. "Excuse me Miss Weasley," he said, having opened the door and seen her standing there. He walked around her and headed back to the main event.
"Rosie," Scorpius chirped. It felt forced to him. He'd wanted an explosion. He'd wanted to hurt his father's pride, make him angry, piss him off… but the older man seemed so sad. But he hadn't wanted that, right? It just wasn't the react he'd expected. He supposed that he'd just built it up in his mind too much, oh well.
"Was that all I was?" she asked, and he realized he hadn't been listen.
"What?" he asked.
"Was that all I was?" she asked again. Normally she'd let out an exasperated sigh when she realized he hadn't heard anything she'd stead. Now, though, she bit her lip, seeming near tears. What on earth was wrong? "I said, you just used me to cause problems with your family. Was I just a tool, was that all I was?" she asked.
"What?" He asked again, shocked by the accusation, but unable to form the words for what she actually was.
"You used me Scorpius Malfoy," she said quietly. "You used me to hurt you family… and you hurt mine too," she said. "Do you realize that I didn't want to tell my daddy because I knew he didn't like your family? He's been sulking since I told him, and he and mom had a fight," she said, sniffing, the tears in her eyes starting to roll down her cheeks. "You used me because you're pissed at your father for cheating on your mother," she said. "You hurt me and my family because of a grudge," she hissed.
"Rose," he said in a soothing tone, trying to wrap his arms around her. He'd moved toward her when she saw her starting to cry.
"No!" she snapped, pushing his hands away. She glared at him. "I'm leaving Malfoy, we're through," she said and stomped out. He didn't go after her. He sat down on the antique fainting couch he'd always despised since he'd seen his mother cry on it. That was the day that she'd packed them up and they'd moved out.
He made Rose cry. He'd used her for his own end. He hadn't told her, he'd just used her. And she was gone. His mother had told him that she'd wanted his father to go after her, but he hadn't. What was the point? He had a child by another woman. No matter what he said or did it wasn't going to change anything.
Scorpius and let Rose leave, and he wasn't going after her. What was the point? He'd used her. No matter what he said or did it wasn't going to change what he'd done. She'd been his best friend too… the realization hit him so hard that he doubled over, gasping. He really did love Rose. She was so pretty. She had sass, she competed with him over every little thing like it was the biggest thing. She argued, they laughed, they told each other secrets. They flew together, they flew against each other… and he'd used her. He hadn't seen that he loved her because he'd been so focused on what he wanted he couldn't see what was right in front of him.
He laughed bitterly. Like father, like son. He laughed louder, laughed until hot, angry tears rolled down his cheeks and the hysterical laughter turned into hysterics. What was he? His whole life was focused on hating someone who was just like him. So what did that make him?
The End
(A/N): That's all folks. Two separate stories, but connected by the bonds of family.
That aside, for random trivia time: My name is actually Emily. I have a rule about not naming characters after myself or people I know because there's too much baggage that goes with it. Then I wrote the Tangled fic and named Rapunzel's father William, my father's name. Emily is named as such because 1) it fits her 2) it's still a very popular name in America 3) Emily looks and acts very little like me, looking like the Malfoys and being completely devoted to her brother. I will probably never use her again.
Trivia question time: Can you tell me where Marissa's name came from. There are two possibilities. One is an exact match, and one is close. One is from a TV show and one in from a book. She essentially is named after two characters that she's not at all like in anyway except that all of them came into money from their family. If you can name one you'll get a prize, not a big prize, probably just a little one-shot for you or something.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this! Reviews are super much loved!