Draco simply knew his son would have the kind of reaction he did. It wasn't that Scorpius was embarrassed by him, he understood, but that his son had a life away from home. He had a life that was built around his friends, which was completely different from the one built around his mother, father and baby sister.
Draco was proud of the life he lived after the Second War. He wasn't exactly a reformed good guy, but the hero worship he held for Lucius had faded to simply a son looking up to his father, regardless of the spots on his record. But Draco, determined to never put any child of his in the position he was in during his childhood, vowed at age twenty five to be a more understanding and considerate man than Lucius was.
He had known Astoria Greengrass from Hogwarts. She was Daphne's younger sister and always stayed out of the way. She was shy, soft-spoken, and probably could have been a Hufflepuff. He'd never paid much mind to the dark haired girl while at school; he was too caught up in belittling Potter and rowing with Granger and Weasley. Oh, and that whole Dark Lord thing. That was something, looking back, that could have caused a bit of tension between his family and that of his future wife's: the Greengrasses were neutral in the war. Purebloods, to be sure, but not into the whole genocide thing. Luckily.
After school he isolated himself for a long while. He wanted to get away from the world he felt played a part in the deterioration of his family. His father had been arrested, once again, and his mother had sold Malfoy Manor. She said there were too many memories.
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he could still hear Granger and Weasley screaming, both in pain – hers physical and his mental and emotional – because of his late Aunt Bellatrix.
He remembered the fear that flooded through him the first time he saw Granger and her daughter in Diagon Alley. Rumors had been floating around that the war had made her sterile – a couple of well-placed hexes and curses could have easily ended her ability to carry a child. He knew that Bella would have been responsible if she had lost the ability to conceive.
He was silently pleased that the girl was a nice mix of her parents, a bit more Granger than Weasley (in looks, at least, as he had no desire to discover the girl's personality), and very much alive. He knew Granger and Weasley got married at the relatively young age of twenty two and, since no child had been born for about five years, everyone thought that the two war heroes would never be parents.
He was fleetingly sad for them, thinking that they both deserved to have the chance to make someone's childhood better than their own. They had gone quiet after the war, Weasley to his brothers' joke shop and Granger to the Ministry, and neither of them drawing any attention to themselves (aside from when Weasley promoted the shop).
Potter and the girl Weasley were a different story. While Potter went into the relative safety of becoming an auror, his then-girlfriend (now wife) decided she wanted to play quidditch for a living. And, with a little boost from Granger, he assumed, she joined the Holyhead Harpies. Potter was only too happy to relocate to Wales and out of London.
Nevertheless, he knew of their children before they were born. The oldest came before Granger's and he couldn't help but think that was something the Weasley matriarch held over the brunette constantly.
Draco, shaking himself from his musings, turned to Longbottom. "Which house did your daughter end up in?"
"Gryffindor," Neville responded in wonder. "Thought for sure she would be in Hufflepuff like her mum."
Draco smiled as his eyes wandered over to his son, who was chatting with his very own Potter and Weasley. His mind briefly flashed to the idea that Scorpius was the Granger of their little trio, but dismissed it. Scor was good at quidditch; Granger was terrible. Oh, and his son was a man.
"She's a lot more like you than you think, Longbottom," he replied.
Neville smiled and cut a piece of chicken. "So I take it your son didn't know that you would be coming this year."
"No way. Astoria and I wanted it to be a surprise. I mean, I can still floo home on weekends and any night I need to, as I'm not a Head of House, so she's fine with me being here. When Filius asked me, I think she was quite eager to be rid of me." He watched Neville open his mouth to respond. "Don't even think about it."
The former Gryffindor simply laughed. "How's the baby?"
"Oh, she's perfect," Draco said with a real smile. "Mum's been over to dote on her nearly every day for the last two months."
"Quite the age gap between the two of them," Neville said with a nod. "I'm sure Narcissa was certain she would only be a grandmother to one child."
"And boy did she let loose on me when I told her Tor and I didn't need any more children. She was furious. But I'm glad Lyra was born. Of course I am," he chuckled. "Scorpius had a bit of trouble dealing with it though. Not in a bad way, surprisingly. But he wouldn't let Albus Potter near her for the first month. It was really amusing to listen to him tell Al to keep away from his sister."
"I'll bet it was," Neville responded. "So, Scorpius made Head Boy …"
"He was thrilled at that. He said he couldn't think of a time before now and since Riddle that Slytherin had the Head Boy position … aside from me but we both I know I didn't earn it ..."
"Hermione Weasley confirmed that this was the first time in history that Slytherin had both Heads."
"Still can't wrap my mind around her and Weasley getting married. Never thought he would grow up enough for her," Draco confessed.
"Oh," Neville said with a chuckle, "he hasn't. She still hexes him for the stupid pranks he pulls. She's gone so far as to pull rank on him, saying she worked for Magical Law Enforcement and she had no problem with locking him up."
"Thought she was in Control and Regulation," Draco said with a slight frown as he and Neville stood (since dinner was over) and headed towards the doors.
"Harry asked her to move over to MLE. She didn't even really think about it. She set up a good team over in Control and was quite happy to move on to something else."
"Why do you suppose Potter wanted her there?" Draco asked with a slight frown. "You don't think he thinks …"
"Could be," Neville said with a shrug. "Harry's had plenty of problems the last thirty or so years. And don't forget – your father is up for parole after the New Year."
Draco froze in his tracks. His mind started wildly counting months, days, years. Shit. "I can't believe I forgot that. And I think my mother did as well."
"I think Harry brought Hermione over to help him keep your father in Azkaban," Neville said in a soft but honest voice.
Draco nodded. "Excuse me. I'd actually like to go see my son. I'm sure Potter and Weasley are taking the mickey out something fierce."
"You can talk to them, you know. Harry and Hermione. You should. I think they'd be willing to listen to anything you have to say about your father."
"Right," Draco said, his mind clearly elsewhere. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast."
"Good night, Draco," Neville said.
Draco gave him a nod and went in search of his son.
--
"This can't be happening," Scorpius said for the seventeenth time halfway through dinner. "My father can't be the new Potions professor. I have to be dreaming. Quick, Weasley, take off your clothes so I can pinch you."
"Oh shut up!" she said as she punched him in the arm. "It's not so bad. Your dad's a great Potions Master."
"Yes, but you must remember the most important part … he's my dad!"
"I'm sure he'll be fair," Albus interjected. "I don't think he'll give you any special treatment."
"No. No, he won't. It'll be way worse than that. He'll snipe on every little thing. He'll give me low marks if the potions aren't completely perfect!"
"Scor, you've never brewed a potion that wasn't perfect," Al replied.
"It's all going to work out," Rose said. When Al was distracted by Casman, Rose leaned in a whispered, "I'll give you a back rub later and try to calm you down. This isn't a bad thing, love."
Scorpius sighed and nodded in acquiescence. "I know it could be a good thing, Rosie. But we're still, you know, trying to keep us a secret. What if Dad finds out about us?"
"Would it be so terrible, Scor? I mean, he accepts me and Al as your friends. Would he really have that much of a problem finding out we're together?"
"I'm thinking more along the lines of him finding out and going to Al and not us," Scorpius replied softly.
Rose pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and thought for a minute. There were really two scenarios going through her mind. The first was what Scorpius had just mentioned. The second was telling Al. She knew he would be upset but she thought that his happiness for them might outweigh the anger. He would probably be more concerned with them keeping it a secret than anything else.
"We could call him to our common room tonight and tell him," she whispered. "I think he'll be okay with it. Might take him a bit, but I think we'll be fine."
Scorpius simply nodded as Al turned to them. "Oy. What's the big secret?"
"Tell you tonight at eight in our common room. We'll come get you if you forget. But, for now, we need to oversee the prefects as they get the first years to their dormitories. Rose, you do the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws. I'd rather have you close to our common room and not walking around the castle on your own."
Rose sighed but nodded. She knew when to pick her battles. She could do with losing this one. Because she knew she would have many more to come.
The trio split, Al heading off with Cassidy Reynolds, the new female Slytherin prefect, and Rose heading for the lower levels. Scorpius watched his father leave with Professor Longbottom and then headed for the upper floors.
As he was walking down the fifth floor corridor he spotted his father walking towards him. He steeled himself and smiled. "Father. Or should I call you Professor?"
Draco sighed as he directed his son into an empty classroom. Arithmancy, if he was correct. "I reckon I should have mentioned this to you before you found out the hard way, yeah?"
Scorpius shrugged as he sat on a desktop. "It's not a big deal, Dad. I was just really shocked."
"And scared that I would come down really hard on you in class?" his father smiled.
"I think you should be hard on the class. I just don't think you should be extra hard on me. I do good work. I have good grades …"
"You have better grades in Potions than I did when I was your age."
"You weren't at Hogwarts when you were my age," Scorpius responded. "But I know what you mean. You've taught me everything I know about potions work and I'm glad for it. Just remember that I'm only seventeen when you're grading my work."
"I will," Draco responded with a nod. "So, how're Al and Rose?"
"Good," Scorpius responded. "Al's been made captain of the team and he's trying to get Ginny to ask Gwenog Jones to come out and train with us for a bit."
"That stupid bint won't do it," Draco groused. "She's a bit showy, if you get what I mean. And she hates Ginny Potter because Ginny's better than she is."
Scorpius nodded absently. "And please, for Merlin's sake, don't take out whatever grudge you had when Harry beat you in Potions out on Al. He's not that great at it. If Rose didn't help him out he probably wouldn't have made it to NEWT level."
"Is she a lot like her mother?" Draco asked suddenly. "Rose, I mean. Is she a lot like Granger?"
"Not really," Scorpius shrugged. "She's really clever and gets good marks, but all of us do. We know how to balance our time. She's much more … Slytherin … than Mrs. Weasley. Why do you ask?"
It was Draco's turn to shrug. "I just remember that Weasley wouldn't have passed without Granger and, you know, until sixth year, Potter wouldn't have either."
"I can stand perfectly well on my own in all of my classes," Scorpius sniffed.
"I've no doubt about that, son. It's just odd that there's another trio around Hogwarts as famous as the one from my days."
"You and your old mates used to be quite famous," Scorpius replied with an arched brow.
"Not for anything good, I can assure you, son," Draco said solemnly. "We were nothing like the Slytherin group you've turned out to be a part of."
"Everyone has good and bad in them, Dad," Scorpius said with a smile. "I mean, Al's a bit dense with Potions, girls, and sometimes personal hygiene … Rosie snores when she's sleeping really heavily … and I'm just too perfect for my own good."
Draco was about to respond when his mind caught up with his son's words. "How do you know what Rose Weasley sounds like when she's sleeping really heavily?"
Scorpius' eyes widened to an almost comical degree. "Erm, she sometimes falls asleep in the common room when she's dead tired. And neither Al nor I can take her downstairs to her room. And you know how protective I am of her – I won't let her sleep there alone. Not all Slytherins are as … progressive … as we are. Some still hold family grudges."
Draco nodded slowly. He remembered when his old friend Blaise Zabini had flooed him about his daughter, Alejandra, who was a fifth year when Scorpius started, beating up Rose Weasley. He had been disgusted and quickly disconnected the floo call then he'd immediately flooed to Hermione Weasley's office in the Ministry and informed her.
She hadn't said anything to him at that time but he received an owl three days later with a simple "Thank you" written in neat cursive.
"I need to get back to the common room," Scorpius told his father in a low voice. "When's our first class with you?"
"Wednesday at two in the afternoon. It's a double."
"I'll see you then," the younger Malfoy responded as he shook his father's hand and walked back into the empty corridor. "Rose snores when she's deeply asleep," he mocked himself in a low tone. "Idiot."
He made his way, quite slowly, back to the dungeons. He wasn't exactly looking forward to speaking with Al about his relationship with Rose. He was more nervous than anything. He didn't want his best mate to think that anything would change. He vaguely wondered to himself whether Mr. and Mrs. Weasley thought the same thing about Mr. Potter. But he quickly dismissed the though because he knew that Albus and his father, while similar in looks, were not similar in temperament. Al was a moody bugger sometimes but more often than not was quite open-minded and accepting.
"Hey," Rose smiled when he walked through the portrait hole. "Took you longer than I thought."
"Ran into Dad," he said with a tired sigh as he flopped down onto the couch. "Just escaped."
Rose smiled and sat on his lap, her knees on either side of his hips. "I think we have a few minutes before Al gets here …" she said leadingly.
"Really?" he asked with a lazy smile as his hands roamed slowly up and down her back. "And what do you suggest we do with that time?"
Her answer was to lean in and press her lips smoothly to his. Her hands cupped his jaw as his tightened on her bottom. "I've missed this," she said a little breathlessly.
"Me too," he responded in an exhalation, his breath warm against her chin.
She was about to lean in for another kiss when there was a knock on the portrait. "To be continued?" she asked him.
"If Al doesn't cut it off," the blonde smirked as he helped her climb from his lap. He took her hand and led her to the portrait. "Here goes …" he said and allowed Albus into the room.