AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or place.
After that day Scorpius decided that he could trust Albus. The boy had stood up for him to his brother. He couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for Albus to do that, and he never asked. Over the course of the first weeks at school he watched over the boy closely. Albus was determined to have Scorpius by his side. Whenever the two caught sight of James, Scorpius would notice Albus turn away quickly. He could tell that the boy was not taking their fight well and was too stubborn to go up to James himself. He noticed the boy would smile an time he received a letter from home, which was quite often. It was a relief when he got a letter from Lily saying that she had hung up a Slytherin banner next to her Gryffindor one.
He listened to everything the boy said. Albus was good at filling up the silence. Within a month it seemed as if Scorpius already knew the other boy's life story. Many times did Scorpius remind him that he shouldn't wear his feelings on his sleeves. Albus' only reply was that he found him easy to talk to.
The days blended into weeks and soon they were learning everything a first year needed to know. Homework piled on and Albus would be dragged away by his cousin, Rose Weasley, to study more and compare notes. Whenever Albus was pulled off, Scorpius would use that time to talk to Goyle.
They two Branded boys' encounter usually included them playing chess and talks of things going on in and out of Hogwarts. Today was nothing different. As soon as Albus left the common room Goyle was standing next to him, indicating that they should go play chess in a secluded corner.
"Did you hear about the attack that happened outside of London?" Goyle asked as they sat down and started to set up their pieces.
"I would hardly call that an attack. A disturbance maybe. It was only one guy and the ministry go to him before he could cause any real harm. " Scorpius rolled his eyes and settled into his chair. "Pawn E4"
Goyle smirked back, "Pawn C5. It caused quite a scare. And it isn't the first... disturbance... that has happened. They are covering things up, but it was a Branded. I'm sure of it."
"Knight F3. I thought that you would be one of the last people to discriminate against people like us Daniel. If those with the Brand turn against each other then everything goes to hell right? We end up getting rid of ourselves."
"Knight to C6." Goyle rolled his eyes, "Scorpius, look at the bigger picture. I think someone is finally standing up and trying to get rid of this bloody thing. it was an attack on a smaller ministry building. "
"I'm not going to disagree with you, I'm just going to say that there is nothing proving you right." Scorpius said as he studied the board, "Pawn to D4."
"If you don't want to talk about how someone if finally fighting again, Pawn to D4, then perhaps you can tell me if your little friend is up to something." The pawn moved forward, taking out a sword, and sliced the white pawn before taking his place.
"Look at the bigger picture Daniel," Scorpius repeated, "Knight to D4" He watched as the black pawn fell into pieces before answering Goyle's question. "I haven't found a hidden agenda yet, but once I find one, you'll be the first I tell. Then you can go about your 'I told ya so' rant."
Goyle rolled his eyes at him and the two focused on the games for a few moves. They attacked the other players pieces mercilessly, devising strategies and watching as they sacrificed or slaughtered pieces.
"I still don't trust Potter. I don't think I ever could trust a person who's father was responsible for causing a group of people so much pain. Someone who caused this 'protective' discrimination." Goyle said as he destroyed one of Scorpius' rooks.
"Doesn't that make you just as bad as him then?" Scorpius asked, sending his bishop to attack the black rook in retaliation.
"You act like I care. What good does it do to be the better person if I am still in pain because of it? Just keep an eye on him better than you do your chess pieces. Queen to H2, Check Mate." Scorpius sighed in defeat as the back queen beheaded his king.
A few days later the first year Slytherins were in Charms with Ravenclaws. Scorpius had been doing well in the subject as was Albus. This day was different, though. Professor Sanders, a towering sandy haired wizard, decided it would be best to start the inter house relationships. They were to pair up with someone not from their house and help each other with the softening spell.
Albus gave Scorpius an apologetic smile as he got up and stared to talking to a boy in Ravenclaw. Scorpius looked around the room, wondering just who would be brave enough to be his partner. Goyle had already pared up with the other Branded in their year who was sorted into Ravenclaw, Aaron Motley. He continued to look around and saw that people were shying away from him.
"Alright, we will make this quick and easy," Scorpius turned and saw a short girl glaring up at him. "I'm Krystal Clare. It's a funny name I know." She flung a strand of her long black hair out of her eyes. "Call me Kris or Clare. I'll be your partner because the rest of my house is a pansy. Took them a week to even talk to Motley." She rolled her eyes and flung her hair out of her face again.
Scorpius rose an eyebrow at the girl, trying to figure out what was with her. She had her hand placed firmly against her hips and was still glaring up at him with her piercing blue eyes. Her hair seemed to have a mind of its own as it started to creep back into her face. "Well?" she demanded of him, standing on her toes.
"Scorpius Malfoy." He cleared his throat and held out his hand in a typical 'ladies first' fashion. The girl merely rolled her eyes at him and turned to face the book. She took out her wand, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Swishing her wand in the proper motions, she said the charm, and opened her eyes to look at the book. It remained unchanged.
"Maybe if you opened your eyes you would get a better result," Scorpius smirked at the girl.
"Maybe if you opened our eyes," she mimicked back, turning to face him. "If its so easy, why don't you try?" Her hands were on her hips once more, her eyes challenging him to do better than her.
"Fine, I will." With that, Scorpius took at him wand and with a simple flick managed to get the book softer than what it was before. At that moment, Professor Sanders came to check on them.
"Not as soft as a pillow," the professor said, picking up Scorpius' book , "But the spongiest one here by far. Good work." Scorpius turned to smirk at his partner. In return she made a sound of exasperation and stomped her foot.
"Are you sure you're not a Gryffindor?" He chuckled at her, leaning back against one of the desks.
"Shut it Malfoy." Glaring at him once more, Kris turned on her heel to face another book and held out her wand. This time she focused her eyes on the book, unblinking, as she cast the spell. As soon at the spell was cast she ran up to the book and threw it at Scorpius, hitting him in the face with the pillow soft book.
Albus found the two talking comfortable at the end of the class and quickly made friends with Kris as well. He was just a bit jealous that the two had managed to move on to objects more complicated than books.
AN: This is kind of a filler... kind of a plot development... I am blocked and you, my lovely readers, deserve an update. I will try to get more up soon but I am bamboozled with how I should go about and have so much homework over the holidays along with work and swimming. I will get something else up before the new year, this I promise.
Thank you to all who reviewed. You bring me smiles.
