Scorpius didn't want to go home for the holidays. To be frank, there was absolutely nothing he wanted less than to go home. He gazed out the common room window, trying to ignore the growing feeling of dread as the minutes ticked by. By the end of the day, he would be back at Malfoy Manor with his parents. He had a matter of hours, and that terrified him.

It seemed like such a silly thing to be afraid of. Going home should be exciting, not frightening. But, much as he was loathe to admit it, he was more afraid than he had been in his entire life. Writing the letter home had been hard, but seeing their faces and the disappointment would be entirely different. To them, he was a failure – the son who didn't make it into Slytherin, who had become friends with Potters and Weasleys, who liked muggleborns. The Gryffindor.

"Scorpius?"

He whipped his head around. To his surprise, the bushy haired Rose Weasley was standing on the steps from the girls' dormitories, peering at him with bleary eyes. "Oh, it's just you," he said. "Thought it was someone coming to kill me or something."

"Not still on about that are you?" Rose said, smiling sleepily as she walked over to join him. "I don't think anyone cares if you're a Malfoy in Gryffindor anymore. I haven't heard anyone 'cept my cousin plotting your demise for months."

"Comforting," Scorpius said drily, resulting in an elbow to the side from Rose.

"You know he's joking," she said, sitting herself down on the window sill. "So, what's got you up so early?" Scorpius shrugged, suppressing the urge to avert his eyes from her intense blue ones. "Oh come off it, you know I'm not stupid, Scorp, so it's no use lying to me."

"It's nothing," he said in as light a tone as he could muster, wishing his friend was less perceptive.

"It's your parents, isn't it?" Scorpius winced, and that was all the answer the redhead needed. "They love you, Scorp, no matter what house you were sorted into." He gave her a doubtful look and she sighed. "You've got to stop being so worried about this. Gryffindor is where you belong. No one who knows you could ever doubt that. If they don't see and accept that, then they don't deserve to have you feeling guilty about it. Don't be ashamed of who you are."

"It's not like I want to be afraid," he said, struggling to put his feelings into words, "but I don't want to just be the screw-up Malfoy kid. I don't want to be a disappointment."

"You aren't a disappointment," Rose said firmly. "You're smart and brave. It's not like you chose your house."

"But I like Gryffindor," he said. "I'm glad I'm in Gryffindor and not Slytherin, and they won't like that. They'll hate me."

"They could never hate you," Rose said softly.

"I'll be alone," he said, brow furrowed and eyes facing the floor.

She hesitated momentarily, then reached up and tugged the ribbon holding her ponytail out, allowing her red curls to fall around her face. She put the shiny gold ribbon around his neck and tied it in a messy bow, tucking it under his shirt and giving it a satisfied little smile. "There," she said. "Now, you'll never be alone. Every time you see that, you'll remember that you'll always have Al and me, because we care about you. It doesn't matter what happens during holidays, we'll always be your friends. If something bad happens, you'll always have a home with us." She smiled and slid off the ledge. "I'm going to go get another hour or two of sleep. I'll see you at breakfast, Scorp." She gave him a hug then padded back upstairs.

When he got off the train later that day, still donning his red and gold robes as he made his way towards his parents, he ran a finger across the ribbon. Rose was right, as usual; it would be alright because he had the best friends imaginable and he would never be alone. With that comforting thought in mind, he greeted his beaming parents, who hugged him as tightly as before and complimented his house robes. As they left the platform, he caught Rose's eye and she sent him a playful wink.

That holiday break was the best one he had ever had.

Written for –

Battle of the Houses (prompt 3)

Monthly Oneshot (Gryffindor)

Holiday Bootcamp (ribbon)