AN: I don't own anything that is recognizable


The letters for second year had come in the middle of August. Thinking on just how fast the summer went, Scorpius opened the letter and glanced over the new materials that he would need. Mostly books, but he would also have to take his robes in as he had grown a few inches and they no longer fit properly.

At Diagon Ally, Scorpius was just finish his shopping when he managed to talk his father into stopping to get a treat at Fortescue's Parlor. The two had just finished ordering and had sat down with their treats when the bell on the door rung. Scorpius turned and saw Albus run straight to the line, his sister Lily hot on his trial. Scorpius held back a chuckle as he saw the boy looking up at the menu, talking at the speed of light. Albus' sweet tooth had blocked him from seeing Scorpius sitting in the back corner of the shop.

The bell rang again and Harry Potter walked in along with James. Harry looked around the shop as soon as he entered, and nodded in their direction. When James saw the nod, he turned to see them as well. Glaring at Scorpius, James walked over towards his brother. Scorpius watched the family with interest. James was trying to shield them from the middle potters view of their table. Lily was practically pressing her nose up to the glass and pointing at a flavor she wanted. Albus was giving his father his pleading face, Scorpius could only assume that he was trying to talk his father into giving him another scoop.

Scorpius chuckled as he saw that Albus did walk out of the line with an extra scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Lily and James had both walked out of the line with the newest flavor of strawberry that was said to fizzle and spark when it was eaten. Scorpius called out Albus' name right before the family walked out onto the patio, causing all of the family to turn and look at them. Scorpius smirked at the glare that James gave him and the bright smile that showed up on Albus' face as he began to drag his family over. The last time the two boys had seen each other was when they walked off the train before summer. They had been exchanging letters as well, but they were nothing compared to actually talking.

"Hey Scor," Albus said, taking the seat right next to him, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Well, I would assume that many people would be trudging their way through Diagon Alley right now for school supplies," Scorpius smirked, "How's your summer been?"

"Albus," James interrupted before the boy could get another word out, "We still have a lot to do, and I'm sure that the Malfoys do as well," he nodded his head towards the door and brought attention to the fact that the entire family was still standing.

"Actually," Draco said as James started to walk away, "We have time to waste as Astoria is to meet us in a few hours for dinner. Might as well let the two boys talk." he shrugged and took a bit of his ice cream, doing his best to hide his smirk and he winked at Scorpius.

"Yeah James," Albus grinned, "all we need to do now is get our robes." With that said, Albus turned back to Scorpius and started talking about how things have been going. Scorpius listened to Albus, and took in the scene around him. Lily had taken the seat across from them and was nodding along to what her brother was saying as if she was emphasizing the story. Her hair was longer from the last time he saw her, the red hair curling just at her waist. James and Harry has sat themselves at a table next to them. James was fuming, glaring in his direction every now and then. Scorpius tried to hide his smirk every time he caught the Gryffindor looking over their way. While the two parents were not talking, they were both contently sitting there and eating their ice cream.

"And Lily will be joining us at Hogwarts this year," Albus grinned, his eyes shining as he looked over at his little sister.

"Yep," she smiled shyly at Scorpius, quickly getting another spoonful of her ice cream. "I can't wait."

Scorpius started to talk about his on summer and how he had done absolutely nothing except hang around the house. "Kris will be proud of me," he said chuckling, "There was nothing that interesting to do at the manor, so I ended up doing all of my homework in the first couple of weeks."

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed as she finished her ice cream, "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts." She said again, ginning from ear to ear glancing back and forth between her brothers. It was obvious that she didn't like the year she had alone with her parents.

"Well," James drawled out, standing up, "if you just can't wait to go to Hogwarts, then we should go and get our robes, right dad?" HIs knuckled were white against the chair he was gripping.

Harry looked up quickly, as if he was startled to be brought into the conversation.

"Er, yeah," he shrugged, getting up, "Ginny will be wondering what we have been up to. It was… Nice seeing you again Malfoy, Scorpius." James smiled and started his way towards the door, not bothering to say anything resembling a farewell towards the Malfoys. Lily smiled and waved goodbye, jumped up, and followed her eldest brother towards the door.

Albus rolled his eyes at his brothers actions before turning back to face Scorpius. "Sorry 'bout him," he shrugged and stood up as well, "See you Scor, Mr. Malfoy."

"Al!" Scorpius called out, just before the boy walked out the door behind his family, "Never apologies for something that somebody else does." Albus grinned at him before he walked out the door.

Scorpius turned to look at his father as the man started chuckling. Raising an eyebrow, Scorpius wondered what had gotten into his father. The man just shook his head and chuckled a little more, "I have never seen Potter so out of place before."

.: .: .:

Glancing around platform 9 3/4, Scorpius was glad that he was one of the first to arrive at the train. His parents had something with his maternal grandfathers real-estate business and had to drop him off almost three hours before the train left. Scorpius resigned himself to picking a compartment for him, Kris, and Albus to sit in. He would at least be able to pick one of the better ones off in the corner. After picking a compartment, Scorpius picked out a book to pass the time.

He was midway through the first chapter of his book when Kris burst into the compartment, throwing the door open with a clang. "Scorpius!" she sing-songed obnoxiously causing him to wince. "It has been so long," again she continued to sing song, dragging out the 'so' for five seconds, "Almost, like, the whole summer!" Throwing her hands out in exasperation, she plopped down onto the seat across from him, laughing.

He gazed up at her, closing the book in his lap. "What, exactly, was that about?" He asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"What?" She smirked at him, "I can't reenact the reunitement of the two girls in the next compartment?" She burst into a fit of laughter, "but seriously, Scor, lighten up you big Slytherin." She kicked her feet up to the end of the seat and leaned against the window, making herself right at home.

"I wouldn't get to comfortable," Scorpius said, reaching to put his book away and to check his watch. Still one more hour before the train took off. "Albus' little sister is going to be joining us today. That and he said that he thinks he will be able to get his cousins to sit with us as well."

"Which ones?" she asked, stretching out on the seat even more.

"Which ones do you think," Scorpius grumbled, "Rose, and probably her little brother."

"Knew it," Kris breathed out, closing her eyes. "That boy begs her to join us every time he can. It's almost unslytherin of him. Unless of course he believes that the girl will eventually break and he will get what he wants."

"Well, he got it. Besides, it's Albus, he always gets what he wants." Scorpius rolled his eyes. He wasn't all too happy that Rose Weasley would most likely be joining them on their ride to Hogwarts. She hadn't ever made any attempt to try and get to know them. In fact she came up with every excuse that she could to get out of meeting Scorpius.

"But she is such a brat. Thinking she knows everything," Kris scoffed, "Half the time she just prattles on about nothing. Most the Ravenclaws just roll our eyes at her and do our best to ignore it." Scorpius smirked at Kris' comments, glad that he wasn't the only one who thought that. Granted he had never had a legitimate conversation with the girl, Albus liked her for some reason. It was obvious that the boy cared more about her opinion more than his brother's. Scorpius would just have to wait and see if there was some redeeming quality to Rose before he made any promises.

Scorpius and Kris continued to chat as more people showed up. They would send away anyone who would walk into their compartment and a few times Kris talked to a couple Ravenclaws that had come to see her. Most of them would ignore Scorpius entirely, and he wasn't sure if he appreciated it or was annoyed by it. For one, he wasn't bothered by people he had no intention of being anything but pleasant to, but he knew that people were giving his a wide berth simply because he was branded a threat by society.

Finally, almost five minutes before the train left, Albus came rushing into the compartment, dragging Lily in behind him. He grinned and sat down next to Scorpius, pulling Lily in right next to him. "Hey guys!" he said excitedly, practically bouncing on his seat.

"Whoa, calm down Al," Kris smiled, "I'm about to forget that you are a cool and collected Slytherin," Albus stuck his tongue out at her but settled down none the less. Lily just giggled at the two.

Rose was suddenly standing in the doorway, holding the writ of a boy with a crazy mop of curly read hair resting upon his freckled face. The boy's brow eyes glanced around the compartment while Rose just looked at Kris with a raised eyebrow. She looked as if she was forcing herself just to stand there and that Kris stretched out on the seat was just another thing that she didn't want to put up with.

Kris rolled her eyes and sat up with a sigh, moving closer towards the window to make room for the two. Albus shot her a look, a silent warning to be nice. Kris just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Anyway," Albus said, turning to smile at his cousins, "guys, you already know my sister Lily, but this is Hugo Weasley," He nodded over towards the boy, "And Hugo this is-"

"Krystal Clare," Kris said, interrupting Albus and reaching over Rose to shake hands with the boy. Hugo smiled and shook hands with her.

"Is that really your name?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"My parents are comedians," she shrugged and took her hand back, leaning against the window, sizing the boy up fully. Apparently he matched up in the girls books because after a second she grinned, "You can call me Kris." It was obvious the comment was only towards Hugo and not his older sister as well.

"Anyway," Albus let out, running a hand trough his hair, "This is Scorpius Malfoy."

"I heard you had a Brand. Can I see it?"

"HUGO!" Rose gasped, her eyes wide in shock, "I'm sorry Malfoy, I can't beli-"

"It's fine Weasley," Scorpius said, shutting her up. He shrugged and looked passed her towards her brother. Perhaps there was something alright about this boy. "You really want to see it?" He asked, only to have Hugo nod enthusiastically at him. Scorpius glanced over at Albus who only shrugged. Scorpius smirked and looked back at the boy, "Alright." With that, Scorpius rolled up his sleeve to show the boy.

The numbers 1:05:17:07:05 showed brightly on his arm. Hugo's eyes widened and Rose winced slightly, turning to look away. Lily leaned in as well to look at the numbers.

"Hey," Albus said, nudging Scorpius, "Did you gain over the summer?" Scorpius nodded at him. The six had changed to a seven midway through the summer, just after he finished his old homework. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at his arm. He wasn't used to this kind of attention.

"What do the numbers mean again?" Lily asked, pulling her hair over one shoulder.

"Well, this first number," Scorpius explained, pointing at the indicated number, "Tells people what generation I am with the brand. The next two tell people how many close relatives I had that was in league with the Dark Lord"

"Please, stop," Rose interrupted, but Scorpius ignored her. The younger two were still looking at him as if he was the most interesting person in the world.

"The next two show how high the family ranking was. As you can see, mine is pretty high. The highest in fact." Scorpius looked at the two first years, if they were bothered by this information they didn't show it. "Now these next two are supposed to be the potential threat I am towards society. This number changes as I get over and will eventually reach a peak around the end of my schooling." Again he looked up at the two, yet they were still eager for him to continue, "And the last two numbers are just the years I have until I become of age." He shrugged and rolled his sleeve back down, glad to have to green glow of the brand blocked once more.

"That's pretty cool," Hugo said, leaning back in his chair.

"No, it isn't cool Hugo," Rose said firmly, "He, and anyone else with the brand, is a threat to society. Dad said that we should stay away from people like him and just because-"

"Merlin Weasley," Kris practically shouted, "Let the kid have his own opinion. Just because you follow everything that your family says, doesn't mean that the other two have to." Kris was giving Rose her death eyes and the compartment was silent for a while aside from the sound of the wind pushing against the train.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, "Anything from the trolley dears?" Albus suddenly stood up and pushed his way towards the trolley lady, "Want anything? My treat," Albus grinned at them, reaching into his pocket for his money.

"Oh! Bertie Bott's please," Lily grinned. Her request was soon followed by Kris asking for a chocolate frog, Hugo for a licorice wand, and eventually Scorpius was pushed into getting a pumpkin pastry. Albus got his own fair share of treated and Rose said nothing. Nobody bothered to get her to change her mind.

"So," Albus drawled once the trolley lady had left and he sat back down, "Lily is going to be joining us in the Slytherin common room, isn't that right Lily," Albus nudged her with a smirk.

"Well, I don't know," She said twirling a bit of hair around her fingers.

"Don't know eh?" Scorpius chuckled, "Slytherin is the best house, I can tell you that. If you get in that house then everyone knows that you are going to go somewhere. House of ambition and all." He smirked, looking over at the girl, "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"Except for, you know, maybe Ravenclaw," Kris joined in, "We have all of the smartest people in the grade. Ambition only gets you so far, you need brains to get you the rest of the way."

"Whatever Kris," Albus laughed, "everyone in this compartment knows that Slytherin is where it is at. The green and silver would look great on Lily, maybe even Hugo." Albus smiled.

"Well," Rose butted in. Scorpius did everything he could to hold back a groan. He knew that if they were going to talk up their houses, it would only be a matter of time until she had to put her own thoughts out there, "Gryffindor is where most of the family is. Besides mom was the best in here year and she wasn't in Ravenclaw. Uncle Harry and dad also are at the top of the Auror department and they were in Gryffindor. If you want to go somewhere in the word," She shot a glare at Scorpius, "then you need some courage to actually get there.

"Well, what about Hufflepuff?" Hugo asked, glancing between everyone in the group.

"Hufflepuff," Kris started, "Is where all the people who you want as your best friend go. They are the ones who are loyal through and through and will never leave your side. I think my brother would be in that house." She started to chuckle.

The train started to pull to a stop and the six stood up and walked out of the compartment. Lily and Hugo ran off towards Hagrid who was yelling for all the first years to follow him towards the boats. The other four followed the crowd towards carriages that seemed to move on their own accord. They all climbed into one carriage.

"Weasley," Scorpius said once the carriage was moving. Albus gave him a look, but he ignored the boy as he focused solely on the red head. "I don't care what you personally think about me, but don't try and push your opinions onto other people. Especially when they are wrong."

Rose looked him up and down, facing the challenge that Scorpius gave her head on. Eventually she crossed her arms and looked away from him when she realized that the Slytherin wasn't going to back down. "Fine." It was silent the rest of the ride to the castle.


AN: So now we are back at school for the second year. We get to meet Rose a little bit. Before you ask, no I have nothing against Rose, I just have plans for her. I wanted to get a little farther into this, but that just seemed like a great stopping point. Anyway I seriously am trying at getting better at updating.