Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Albus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy

Summary: Everyone was amazed when Albus Potter was sorted into Slytherin House, but no less amazing was the effect on Hogwarts and the House itself. No longer reviled, and now popular, times had certainly changed for Slytherin House. But not for Scorpius Malfoy... This is SLASH – you have been warned.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world is not mine, but it's sure fun playing in it.

Warnings: This will eventually be NC17 rated so graphic descriptions of m/m sex. Bullying. Mild violence.

Author's Note: I've never written one of these angst-filled, Cinderella, hurt/comfort type of things so I thought I'd see if I could. This is the result. It's also the first story that I've written for a long time that has dual pov, but it seemed appropriate.


Albus Potter and the Slytherin Fairy Princess - Chapter 3


Scorpius followed Teddy Lupin along the road to Hogsmeade feeling as if he'd been stupefied. Somehow, he'd always thought that in a situation like this people immediately dissolved into tears, but that certainly wasn't what had happened to him.

He'd sat through the conversation between Teddy (he'd asked Scorpius to call him that) and the Headmistress, barely paying attention. He felt scattered and numb, unable to focus on anything, certainly not the fact that he would never see his parents again.

When they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, Teddy Lupin halted and looked around.

"We can apparate now," he said, and then frowned thoughtfully. "You know, that's strange, why didn't they apparate?" he muttered quietly, almost as if he'd forgotten that Scorpius was there.

"They wouldn't," Scorpius said, and from the way Teddy looked at him he could see that he hadn't expected Scorpius to answer the question. "Mother was terrified of apparation," he continued. "Even side-along. She'd splinched herself really badly once, you see."

"Ah," said Teddy, and then he rested a gentle hand on Scorpius' shoulder. Scorpius resisted the temptation to flinch away. "Are you all right with side-along?"

"Yes," said Scorpius. "But where are we going?"

"Well, I thought we'd go to the Manor," Teddy said. "The funeral will be there and…" he trailed off as Scorpius shook his head.

"I don't want to go there," Scorpius said, with certainty. He had only left there yesterday morning, after a cheerful breakfast with his parents, and the thought of going back to the empty manor now was unimaginable.

"All right," Teddy said softly, but he sounded perplexed. "Well, I only have a small bedsit in London and it really wouldn't do. The Burrow's still fairly crowded at the moment, it might be a bit much for you, but I guess we could go to Lilydale Cottage, it's near the Burrow and I know Harry and Ginny wouldn't mind."

Scorpius had been examining the pattern on a tree trunk nearby as Teddy had waffled on, but at the mention of Harry and Ginny, he looked up at Teddy Lupin in surprise.

"Harry Potter?" he asked.

"Yes," Teddy replied. "They offered, you know, but I thought that you'd want to go back to the Manor."

"But why?" Scorpius asked, frowning. It wasn't like his father and Harry Potter had been enemies anymore, but they'd certainly never been friends, as far as Scorpius knew.

"Well, Harry's my godfather. He and Ginny sort of raised me after my grandmother died," Teddy said. "And we both know what it's like to lose your parents, although we were only babies at the time."

Teddy's eyes were full of emotion and Scorpius quickly looked away and swallowed heavily, suddenly fighting tears for the first time. But he was a Malfoy, he told himself, and he wasn't going to cry in public. Or in front of someone he hardly knew, no matter how sympathetic he seemed.

Teddy's hand tightened on his shoulder. "Are you ready then?"

Scorpius took a deep breath and nodded, the world twisted, and the next moment they were standing in a leafy country lane. Teddy started walking immediately, and Scorpius followed him, but they didn't go far before Teddy stopped in front of a wooden gate set into a high hedge. On the gate was a decorative sign that said 'Lilydale Cottage'.

But really, 'cottage' wasn't an accurate description, Scorpius thought, as he followed Teddy along the path that meandered through riotous flowerbeds, towards the large two-storied house. Certainly it had an old world charm about it, with its thatched roof and higgledy-piggledy windows, but it was really too large to be called a 'cottage'.

The thought crossed his mind that this was Albus' home, this was where he lived when he wasn't at Hogwarts, and Scorpius wondered what it might have been like to grow up here, compared to the formality of Malfoy Manor.

Because from the moment the door opened and a slender, red-haired woman hurried down the path to meet them, Scorpius could see that there was never anything formal about life at 'Lilydale Cottage'.

"I'm so glad you came, Teddy," she was saying before she had even reached them, and the motherly smile that she directed at Teddy Lupin made Scorpius' eyes sting.

And then she was smiling at him.

"Hello Scorpius," she said, softly. "I know that we've never really met before, but I want you to know how welcome you are here. I only wish that it had been in better circumstances. I really am so sorry about this terrible accident."

Scorpius blinked and ducked his head, suddenly unable to quite get his breath. She seemed to understand though, because she merely reached out and touched his shoulder briefly, and then she ushered them into the house.

A man was standing in the entrance hall, and Scorpius felt his breath catch as he saw black hair and the green eyes of Albus Potter looking at him out of an older face. Scorpius had seen Harry Potter before, of course, but only from a distance, or on a broom during a Quidditch match, so he'd never realised the close resemblance between father and son.

"Hello," said Harry Potter, smiling at Scorpius. "Welcome to 'Lilydale Cottage' Scorpius."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Scorpius replied, finally finding his voice and holding out his hand.

"I'm glad you came," said Harry Potter, shaking Scorpius' hand with a firm grip. "And, please, call me Harry."

"And I'm Ginny," said Ginny Potter. "Teddy, why don't you settle Scorpius into the guest room and then come to the kitchen. We'll have some lunch in about an hour but there's tea made. I'm sure you could both do with a cup."

Both Ginny and Harry disappeared through a door and Scorpius followed Teddy up the stairs and down a long hallway with many rooms opening off it. After turning a corner, Teddy pushed open a door and waved Scorpius through.

The room was spacious and full of light from a large window. There was a double bed, a cupboard, a chest of drawers, a desk, and the thick carpet and many pillows on the bed gave the room a cosy, comfortable feel.

Scorpius wandered over to the window and looked out curiously. Below there seemed to be a vegetable garden and then a fence with a gate that lead out into hilly fields that spread to the horizon, with some stands of trees here and there, and he wasn't at all surprised to see Quidditch hoops in the distance. The Potters were a family of Quidditch players (Harry, himself, had only retired from the captaincy of Puddlemere United, and the English national team, the year before) so Scorpius thought he would have been more surprised if they hadn't had a private Quidditch pitch.

Behind him Teddy cleared his throat and Scorpius turned to look at him.

"I'll floo to the manor and collect some clothes for you," he said. "The funeral people will be there. Is there anything you'd like me to tell them?"

Scorpius shook his head and then frowned. "When is the funeral?" he asked.

"Thursday," Teddy replied. "I thought I'd take you back to Hogwarts on Sunday night, if that's what you'd like?"

"They won't mind?" Scorpius asked.

"Harry and Ginny? No, they really won't, Scorpius. Don't worry about that. Come on, I'll show you where the kitchen is. You'll probably end up spending a lot of time there. It seems to be the way of this house."

Teddy walked to the door and held it open, looking at Scorpius curiously when he didn't follow.

"It really will be all right," he said. "I promise."

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, I… I just… I wanted to say thank you, Teddy."

For a moment, Scorpius could have sworn that Teddy Lupin looked surprised, but the look was quickly replaced with a warm smile.

"You're a little different to what I expected," he said, and then laughed. "But I imagine I'm not what you thought I might be either. After all, I'm the son of a werewolf and a metamorphmagus. And I'm a metamorph, myself. But, we'll get through this together, Scorpius, all right?"

Scorpius nodded, his throat too tight to speak, and followed Teddy back through the house and into the kitchen.

This was a huge room, that seemed to run across the back of the entire house, and was rather more than just a kitchen, Scorpius thought. Yes, there were all the usual cupboards that one would expect, a huge cooking range, and a couple of dressers, loaded with chinaware. But as well as a large table and chairs, at one end of the room there was also a sofa and various soft looking armchairs were scattered around. The walls were covered in pictures, some were photos and others were drawings and sketches. Large, low windows looked out into the vegetable garden, and there were two doors that lead outside as well.

At the table, Harry and Ginny Potter were sitting, holding large cups of tea, and when Scorpius and Teddy entered Ginny jumped up and took another two cups from one of the dressers.

"Don't worry about me," said Teddy. "I've got to pop over to Malfoy Manor, but I'll be back for lunch."

Ginny nodded, as Teddy went to the large fireplace and threw in a handful of floo powder. A moment later he was gone.

Scorpius looked around, suddenly feeling very lost and alone, but a warm hand took his and he was drawn to the table and pushed into a chair. A large cup of tea was placed in front of him, and he took a sip gratefully.

"I'm just going to go out and pick some vegetables for a salad," Ginny Potter said, and when Scorpius looked up she was already gone.

"She loves cooking," Harry Potter said, and when Scorpius looked at him, he was smiling fondly.

"So does my mother," Scorpius said, without thinking, and then his breath caught in his throat and he was suddenly struggling against tears.

"It might be best to let it out, you know," said Harry, but Scorpius shook his head. He couldn't, not yet.

A few moments later he had regained control, and he took another sip of the hot, sweet tea. He looked around the room curiously, looking at the pictures on the walls. A lot of them appeared to be children's drawings and he wondered if Albus had done some of them. It was a surreal feeling to be sitting in the Potter house, somewhere he had certainly never expected to be in his entire lifetime. How had he ended up here, of all places?

"You're wondering why we wanted you to come here, aren't you?"

Scorpius jumped in his chair slightly, and flushed with embarrassment. There was something unsettling about Harry Potter and it lay in the fact, Scorpius decided, that there was something about him that seemed to invite one to confide in him. Scorpius had never met him before today, but he could well believe that Harry Potter was the Saviour of the Wizarding World.

Harry was smiling again, and he was looking at Scorpius expectantly, so, finally, Scorpius nodded.

"Well, yes," he said softly. "I mean it's very kind of you, but…" he trailed off as Harry waved a hand.

"Kindness had nothing to do with it," he said. "Teddy's family, and you are Teddy's family. We wanted to have you here. But aside from that…"

Scorpius frowned slightly as Harry's gaze seemed to reach into a distance that wasn't part of the kitchen. After a moment, his eyes snapped back to Scorpius, full of sadness.

"Your father and I were never friends," he said. "But there were moments when we could have been, and I've always felt that perhaps we should have been. But a lot happened, Scorpius, and in the end, at least we could respect each other. And now, the chance for friendship is gone forever. Chances can pass too quickly, Scorpius, if you don't take them, and so I don't want to lose the chance to help you, to be your friend, the way the chance was lost with your father. I owe that to him. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Yes," Scorpius forced himself to whisper. "Yes, it does."

And he did understand, for his father had once, and only once, spoken to Scorpius about Harry Potter, and he too had talked of missed chances, with that same sadness in his eyes. It had made Scorpius heart ache at the time, and it made it ache now, and he thought that maybe, one day soon, he would be able to tell Harry Potter about it.

But, for the moment, Scorpius sat in the gentle quiet of the kitchen, broken only by the ticking of one clock, and took comfort in the strong, reassuring presence of Harry Potter.


The two days leading up to the funeral were a bit of a blur to Scorpius. As Teddy had predicted he seemed to spend most of his time in the kitchen, curled up on the sofa with a book from the Potter's well-stocked library.

But he didn't read very much, instead he often found himself drifting, not really thinking of anything. Occasionally he would watch Ginny as she bustled around the kitchen. She appeared to be making various pickles and relishes from vegetables in the garden, and Scorpius eventually caught a glimpse of her well-stocked pantry. And that was when he remembered that Ginny was actually Mrs. Potters' Pickles.

She had laughed when she had seen his amazed expression as he'd looked at all of the jars in the pantry.

"I never thought I'd do this you know," she said. "My Mum was always in the kitchen, still is, looking after everybody, and I really didn't want to be like that. I wanted a career. But when I was injured in my third season with the Harpies, I found myself spending a lot of time in that kitchen with Mum. And I don't know, I sort of got into it, and the next thing I know here I am, just like my Mum, except I've made a business out of it." She looked around the pantry and sighed. "I love it, you know."

"My father always said that your green tomato relish was the best," Scorpius said, and Ginny blinked and then smiled widely.

"I'm glad," she said, simply.

In the evenings Harry and Teddy would return from the Ministry, where Harry was the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and Teddy was an Auror. Then Scorpius would sit at the table after dinner and listen to the three of them talk, appreciating the fact that they never pressured him to join in. They seemed to understand that he couldn't.

The nights were difficult though, for as he lay in bed there was no distraction and it was a harder battle to keep his mind blank. He knew that eventually it was a battle he would lose, but for some reason all Scorpius wanted was to get through the funeral without actually thinking about it.

The day of the funeral, Scorpius woke from a restless sleep with heavy, itchy eyes, but at least he had slept a little, he thought, as he got dressed. He found Teddy in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea, and was suddenly thankful that someone else was up just as early as he was.

"You look tired," Teddy said, his voice full of sympathy. "I know I didn't sleep much before my grandmother's funeral."

Scorpius nodded and Teddy rested a hand on his shoulder.

"They're at the manor, you know," he said. "Would you like me to take you there early, so you can see them?"

Scorpius froze, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. If he saw them, they would be dead. Really dead.

"I'll be with you," Teddy said quietly, and Scorpius took a deep breath and found himself nodding.

"All right," he finally whispered.

They went by floo, and Scorpius blinked when they arrived for the Main Hall of the Manor was full of flowers. At one end, two ornate coffins lay on biers, one black and one white, and Scorpius gasped at the sight of them.

He walked closer and saw that the coffins were still open. His parents glimmered slightly from some sort of spell, but aside from that, they merely looked asleep, and Scorpius had a feeling that was the point of the spell. But still, there was a sort of absence about them, that made it clear in no uncertain terms that they would never wake up.

"It's just not fair," Scorpius said, whether to them or Teddy he wasn't sure.

"I know," Teddy said. "It's not."

"They were all I had," Scorpius said, and anger was seeping into his voice, he could hear it, but he couldn't stop it. "They shouldn't have left me like this."

"They didn't want to," Teddy said, his hand gripping Scorpius' shoulder, and that was all it took. Suddenly, Scorpius could feel the hot tears sliding down his cheeks and his chest heaved from the sobs that he could no longer hold back.

Beside him Teddy muttered something that sounded like 'finally' and he was pulled around into a strong embrace. For once grateful for his lack of height, Scorpius hid his face against Teddy's shoulder, his cheeks burning with embarrassment, but he could not stop. It was like a floodgate was opened and his mind was swamped with memories of his parents, memories that he knew he would have to hold onto, for there would never be any new ones.

Teddy was silent, for which Scorpius was grateful. He could not have borne to hear the standard words of sympathy and reassurance at that moment but he supposed if anyone understood that, it would be Teddy Lupin.

He had no idea how long it was before he managed to gain some sort of control over himself and the tears finally stopped, leaving him with heavy eyes, a tight chest and a slight headache, but eventually he sighed and pulled away from Teddy.

"How long until…?" he asked, and he winced at the raw sound of his own voice.

"An hour," Teddy answered. "Why don't you lie down for a while in the sitting room, get some rest."

Scorpius nodded. "Thank you," he whispered, finally meeting Teddy's eyes.

Teddy smiled. "No problem," he said.

Scorpius glanced at the coffins one more time, and then went into the sitting room, and sat down on his mother's favourite sofa.

He felt empty.


The funeral was finally over and Scorpius was profoundly grateful. There had been more people than he had expected there, people from the Ministry, business colleagues of his father's, friends of his mother, and a lot more of them that Scorpius had never even met before, but they had all still seemed to want to talk to him.

Luckily Teddy, Ginny or Harry had always somehow been nearby when Scorpius had been at a loss, and they had swooped in and rescued him, or that was certainly the way it felt to Scorpius. Then, eventually, the moment came when the last of the stragglers left and Ginny had looked at Scorpius and smiled.

"Would you like to stay here for a while?" she had asked. "Or shall we go home and have the strongest cup of tea that I can possibly make?"

And Scorpius had nodded, with relief, before he'd really even thought about what she had said, but a moment later he realised the truth of it. Malfoy Manor did not feel like his home anymore. He supposed that one day it might be again but for now, he thought as he took one last look around the sitting room before he flooed away, it wasn't.

When they got back to the kitchen at Lilydale Cottage, Scorpius wondered where exactly his home was now.


The next morning, Scorpius got up after a restless night, showered, got dressed and then stood in front of the tall mirror on the door of the cupboard in his room and looked at himself. So much had changed in his life in the last few days that he almost expected not to recognise himself, and he was surprised at the feeling of disappointment he had when he saw that he looked the same as ever.

He was still too short, too slight, too pale, and his hair was still too long. Ever since he could remember, Scorpius had worn his hair in the traditional Malfoy fashion, one length combed back below his ears, and he'd always hated it. He'd sometimes thought that the reason the Slytherin Fairy Princess name had stuck to him so thoroughly had been because of his hair, and once out of desperation he'd asked his father if he could cut it. He'd never forgotten the look of disappointed astonishment on his father's face, and he'd never asked again.

But his father was gone now, and Scorpius was on his own, and somehow he needed to feel different.

He took his wand in his hand and gazed at it, but he was still underage and not supposed to use magic out of Hogwarts, and besides that, he really didn't know any good hair alteration charms.

His glanced around the room, at a loss, and finally his eyes fell upon the chest of drawers. It was set up as a sort of dressing table and Scorpius opened one of the two top drawers and crowed in triumph when he immediately found a pair of scissors.


"Scorpius, there you are, your breakfast is on… oh dear," Ginny Potter faltered into silence and gazed at Scorpius in astonishment, and Scorpius felt his face flame because, no, the cutting his hair with nail scissors thing hadn't really gone so well. He was only thankful that Harry and Teddy had already left for the Ministry.

"I wanted to have short hair," Scorpius said, rather pointlessly he thought, but he had to say something.

"I see," said Ginny, with a smile. "Well, you know, I've seen worse. James and Albus decided to cut Lily's hair quite a few times, you know, so I really got rather good at repairing the damage. Have your breakfast and then I'll do the same for you if you like."

Scorpius sighed and nodded gratefully.


Half an hour later Ginny finally pocketed her wand and sat down beside Scorpius on the sunny bench in the garden.

"You know," she said, "it really suits you." Then she winked. "I think the girls will all approve."

Scorpius blushed and shook his head.

"Or perhaps you'd prefer the boys to approve," Ginny said, with a laugh, and her smile deepened when Scorpius nodded. He wondered if she'd be so happy if she knew about his hopeless infatuation for her son. The one that already had a boyfriend… and he sighed despondently.

Suddenly Ginny reached over and took his hand.

"I know how hard it is, Scorpius," she said, her voice soft. "I was not much older than you when I lost one of my brothers, and as well as my own pain, I watched his twin struggle with the loss and, for a while, it was like we had lost both of them. Oh, yes, he eventually recovered and, in a way, we have my brother Ron to thank, because Ron didn't let him give up on the business that he'd had with Fred. And through that, he showed George that he shouldn't give up on all the little, simple, joyful moments of life that make being alive worthwhile. So, I want to say the same to you, Scorpius, don't give up on those little moments, even if it's just a smile from a cute boy that you like."

Scorpius blinked rapidly against the sting of tears in his eyes, but eventually he let them fall and he found himself squeezing Ginny's hand and leaning against her shoulder. They sat like that for quite a while, in the peaceful garden, and when they finally went back into the kitchen, Scorpius realised that this time, he didn't feel empty.


Saturday was Scorpius' last full day at Lilydale Cottage and it was with some trepidation that he found himself surrounded by Weasleys. He supposed that he shouldn't have been so surprised by this, they were, after all, known to be a close-knit family, but it was just that there were so many of them, even with the younger members away at school.

Teddy's fiancée, Victoire, was there along with her parents, and as well as Ginny's parents there was another two of Ginny's brothers, George and Ron, and perhaps most daunting of all Ron's wife, Hermione, who, it was widely rumoured, would probably be the next Minister of Magic.

And it was obvious just how close they all were. Endless jokes that only they seemed to understand only bewildered Scorpius and it was overwhelming for one that had been from such a small family to see the chaos that could surround a large one. He could only imagine what it was like when their children were there as well and shuddered slightly at the thought of the sheer volume of noise there would be.

Lunch seemed to filter into dinner as they all sat around the table talking and eventually as much for an escape as a wish to be useful, Scorpius began to clear the table. Ginny smiled at him gratefully, but Scorpius noticed Ron Weasley gaping at him in amazement, and he felt himself flush at the attention.

"Well, that's something I never thought I'd see," said Ron Weasely, and then he winced as his wife obviously kicked him under the table.

"Ronald," she said, a wealth of warning in her voice.

"No, 'mione, you have to admit that after the all the years that Malfoy spent-" Ron began, but he was interrupted swiftly by his sister.

"Scorpius told me," she said, "that his father was very fond of my green tomato relish."

Scorpius frowned slightly, and he noted the frown on Ron's face as well, for Ginny's tone of voice seemed to contain meaning beyond her words.

"Oh," said Ron, blankly.

Ginny's brother, George, seemed to be trying not to laugh at Ron and Scorpius suddenly remembered what Ginny had said about them the day before.

"Yes," Scorpius said, nodding, and he smiled shyly at George. "And, every Christmas he used to give me a gift box from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

"Oh," said Molly Weasley suddenly, and everyone jumped slightly. "You dear, sweet boy."

Scorpius felt his face flame with burning embarrassment and he almost dropped the teapot he was holding, and then suddenly Ron Weasley was standing beside him patting him on the shoulder.

"Well, there you go, Scorpius," he said. "You've now been embarrassed by my mother. There's no point in my apologising for it, I'm afraid, because it's only going to happen every time she sees you. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Ronald," said Molly Weasley and Hermione at the same time, both of them sounding fond.

Scorpius blinked at Ron's solemn expression and then smiled, with some relief, when he saw the twinkle in Ron Weasley's eye. His father had told him once that the Weasleys were all a bit mad, and Scorpius now found himself believing it.


The next morning Scorpius woke and his heart sank a little at the thought of returning to Hogwarts. He'd felt safe at Lilydale Cottage, and he knew that he'd have to face the whispers and gossip when he got back to school. He wasn't even sure if he could talk about what had happened with Peony yet, so the idea of hearing people who weren't his friends talking about it was daunting.

And once he was back at school, back in his normal life, it would all be so real as well. He knew he couldn't hide from it forever, but a part of him wished that he could hide in the kitchen of Lilydale Cottage, in Ginny's comforting presence, for just a little longer.

He wanted to thank her in some way, not just with words, but with some sort of gesture that would mean something to her. He'd heard Harry telling Teddy that he wanted to plant a wildflower meadow near the house because Ginny loved them so much, so after lunch, Scorpius wandered out into the fields beyond the Potter Quidditch pitch.

It was quite a walk, and thankfully there had been no rain, so at least there was no mud but it was still something that Scorpius wouldn't normally enjoy, and he sighed regretfully when he saw the dirt on his shoes and along the bottom of his trousers.

But still, when he presented Ginny with a large bouquet of blooms and he saw the sudden moisture in her eyes just before she hugged him tightly, Scorpius thought that it was worth it.

When she let him go, she pressed a swift kiss to his cheek, and then Harry shook his hand. Then Scorpius followed Teddy through the gate into the lane and they apparated to Hogsmeade.


there will be more