Old and New Friends
"Father, is it someone you know? We need to get away! Turn around, quickly!" But Draco was not listening to him. Instead he took a step forwards and shouted down the street to the two wizards.
"OI! Scarhead! SCARHEAD!" Scorpius cringed behind him, feeling powerless as the black-haired man looked up sharply, an incredulous look breaking on his face. "Scorp, it's Potter! It's only bloody Harry Potter!"
Harry Potter. Scorpius knew that name - he had heard it mentioned by his mother and subsequently by his grandparents in hushed tones and significant expressions (it was not a topic often covered around the dinner table at their manor in Dorset.) He was the man who had vanquished the Dark Lord. Not once, but twice. First as just a baby, and then when he was only seventeen. Clearly the type of person you did not want to bump into if your normally reticent father had a dark, mysterious past working for the evil Dark Lord this very man had killed, and especially when said father was currently acting so unpredictably. But the fearsome, intimidating Harry Potter of Scorpius' fantasy fiction-stimulated imagination did not live up to the very ordinary man that was now walking towards them. He did not look like he was drawing his wand, ready to fight. Instead, he looked sort of ... amused. A strange, half-smile played across his face.
"Well,if it isn't The Chosen One!" his dad shouted, jogging forward to meet the other wizard, flinging his arm round his shoulders in a swift and casual embrace as if they were the oldest of friends. Scorpius hid his face in his hands, mortified. Primarily due to his total loss of any kind of control in the situation; secondly by seeing his dad act so demonstrative - Scorp had never seen him initiate physical contact with anyone, barring himself; and thirdly, at the resulting look of surprise Harry had at the gesture. Scorpius was barely able to console himself that at least this was better than spontaneously duelling.
"It's so good to see you, Potter," Draco gushed, stepping back and leaving Harry rooted to the spot, apparently too stunned to do anything more.
Scorpius mirrored Harry's frozen pose exactly, taking in the other wizard's startled expression, his gaping mouth. Scorpius' own mind thrashed uselessly between horror and panic, like a fish out of water. So it didn't seem like they were mortal enemies, but this man must have known his dad well enough to know something was off! His reaction was screaming to Scorpius that Draco was not acting normal. He should have pulled his dad away and back up the road before it was too late and he revealed that something was wrong. Scorpius prayed to high heaven that this man was as ignorant about Muggle things as most wizards were, and he wouldn't be able to recognise the symptoms.
"This is my son, Scorpius," Draco told Harry, beaming. "Come here, Scorp, meet Potter. We were old school friends!" Draco dragged his cringing son towards Harry, who was looking between the two blonds with complete confusion.
"Well, you could hardly call us friends," Harry said dazedly, seemingly regaining his composure enough to disagree. "Nice to meet you, Scorpius." He held out his hand and the boy took it gingerly, trying not to let it show that he was practically shaking with adrenalin.
Harry shot Draco another bewildered look and then suddenly seemed to realise that it was the moment to introduce his own son. "Oh, this is Albus. Come on, love, shake hands." The boy stepped out from behind his father and nervously stuck out his hand to Draco. "This is Draco Malfoy."
The boy gasped at the name and then jumped back as he took in the skull and snake tattoo on the arm attached to the offered hand.
Scorpius frowned, distracted momentarily from their predicament. It was only a tattoo for Christ's sakes, what was with the over-reaction?
Draco looked down at it with a theatrical look of alarm, as if suddenly realising it was there. "Oops! Didn't mean to leave that out!" He hastily rolled down the sleeve and looked around.
Scorpius did the same and suddenly realised their little reunion had gathered quite a few spectators. Again, he noticed people pointing at his father, but also at Harry. It suddenly dawned on him of that other, very significant reason bumping into Harry Potter was probably the worst thing they could have done: they now drew even more attention to themselves. This was not merely Scorp's careful get-in-and-out plan going wrong, this was it crashing and burning. A couple of camera flashes went off and like an electric shock they jolted Scorpius out of his daze and into action.
"Father, come on, we need to leave," he said in a low voice, tugging on his dad's arm.
"But Scorpius, I haven't seen Potter in years!" Draco protested.
"Please, Dad, we need to go home, people are staring."
"Scorpius, please stop nagging! I'm fine! Let them stare, it's not my problem if they've never seen a Dark Mark before!" he said, voice raised and clearly audible to everyone in their vicinity.
What's a Dark Mark? Scorpius thought in confusion. The blissful bubble his father had been floating on seemed to be wobbling. Scorpius tried to think, but he could not see a way out with Draco acting so irrationally. His eyes met Harry Potter's and he shook his head frantically, not knowing what to do or say. Luckily, Harry seemed to understand.
"Malfoy, come on, let's go somewhere else! Where we can continue our conversation." He put a hand on the taller man's shoulder and lead him away, barging roughly through the small crowd of people. They scattered and Scorpius caught a few snippets of conversation as he scampered behind them: Did you see the Death Eater? I think it's Draco Malfoy. Did you see his son? The nerve of him coming here. Dressed like Muggles, it's got to be some kind of sick joke.
Scorpius tried to ignore them as he followed the two men down the road. He saw with surprise that Harry was leading them back across to the entrance of Knockturn Alley. Albus ran ahead to his father and asked him nervously where they were going. Scorpius overheard Harry tell him it was somewhere private.
Slowly the crowds of people thinned until they passed only the occasional witch or wizard. Scorpius felt himself slowly begin to relax, the burden of responsibility loosening slightly. However, he still kept his eyes glued to the back of his dad's head.
Albus dropped back from his dad after his questions did not give him any more information and began to walk alongside Scorpius, nervously looking around at the dark shop fronts around them and fidgeting with his sleeves. Scorpius rolled his eyes with all the bravado of one returning to the scene of a victory,forgetting conveniently - even with the gift of hindsight - how intimidating the place had seemed to him only hours before. This kid was scared of Draco, scared of a tattoo, and now was scared of this street. Scorpius had decided not to like him.
"Is your dad always like this?" Albus asked Scorpius.
"What do you mean by that?" he replied, reluctantly drawn in by the probe.
Albus shrugged. "Well, he's a bit... Well, it's just I've heard stories about him, you know, but he seems a bit..."
"What?" Scorpius said sharply. "What stories?" But Albus did not reply. "Why did you jump like a little girl when you saw my dad's tattoo?" he asked, frustrated.
Albus looked up at him incredulously. "Because it's a Dark Mark!"
"What does that mean?"
"You don't know?" Albus's voice rose to a squeak.
"Well, obviously not, otherwise I wouldn't be asking," Scorpius pointed out, irritated.
There was a pause.
"It was the mark Voldemort gave his Death Eaters so he could summon them," Albus said, quietly.
Scorpius gasped. He had never heard anyone actually say the Dark Lord's name out loud before!
Albus looked at him with puzzlement. "What's wrong? Afraid of the name? Who's the little girl now? Or didn't you know about your dad?"
Scorpius ignored the jibe and was silent as he mulled this over. Well, it didn't change much really; of course he knew his dad had been a supporter of the Dark Lord, even if he really did not understand all that it entailed. And he knew that Harry Potter was the one that killed the Dark Lord. So why was his dad acting like they were long-lost friends, even with the influence of the drugs? And why was Harry helping them out? Wouldn't they have been enemies?
He thought back to the talk they had had the week before, after that awful lunch with his grandparents. His dad had said that he had changed, he had never killed anyone, Ms Granger had defended him. Scorpius knew his dad wasn't really a bad guy, had never really been one. (He couldn't have been.) Maybe Harry Potter knew too?
Albus seemed worried that he had gone too far, upsetting Scorpius into silence and so tried to talk to him again. "Don't worry about all those people by the way. Back there. They probably weren't even interested in your dad at all. We get that a lot." He shrugged, as if it was no big deal.
But by this point Scorpius was trying to listen to what his father and Harry Potter were talking about and ignored Albus. They had reached a grimy looking pub called The White Hart. Scorpius could not help but think that whoever named it had a strange sense of irony as they entered the dark, candlelit room.
"Ah, Mr Potter! Your usual private room?" a very normal-looking, middle-aged wizard said from behind the bar. Scorpius had been expecting someone creepy like Mr Borgin.
"Yes, please, Andrew. How're the wife and kids?"
"Splendid, Mr Potter. Little Sarah will be starting Burbage in a few weeks! Will you be wanting lunch menus?"
Harry looked round at the suddenly realised how hungry he actually was but shook his head furiously. He really had not planned on using their money on something as ordinary as food.
"I'm starving, Dad!" Albus said dramatically. Harry's eyes left Scorpius' and he sighed.
"Not today, Andrew, just drinks," he said, wearily.
Albus let out a noise of frustration and moaned about his empty stomach all the way to the back of the pub. Scorpius tried to ignore him; the other boy was really getting on his nerves. Andrew led them back into a cosy room with a view into the property's little flowery walled kitchen garden.
Draco walked over and stood in the sunshine that was pouring through the window. "How beautiful!" he exclaimed.
Scorpius saw Harry and the barman exchange a significant look as he left the room.
"Knockturn Alley has been really cleaned up over the last few years. I mean, you can still find the more alternative shops if you know where to look, but most of the businesses are pretty ordinary. I've been coming to this place for years. It's perfect, because most witches and wizards are still too distrustful of this area to even give it a chance. It's not great for their business, but it does mean we get a lovely, private place to have our drink!" Harry explained to the group as they took their seats and picked up the menus.
"Things just aren't as black and white as they used to be. The world can't be divided up into good or bad." Draco said with vague profundity.
Harry nodded in agreement, caught Scorpius' eye and gave him a wink. Scorpius found himself smiling back. He found he could not help but like Harry Potter. He felt himself relaxing with the proof that clearly the famous wizard did know his dad had changed sides. Maybe he would attribute his open and affectionate behaviour to this change as well? Maybe bumping into him wouldn't end up being a total disaster.
"Da-ad, I'm thirsty, can you order some drinks?" Albus said in a whiny voice that made Scorpius frown.
"Why don't you go to the bar and order for us, Al? I think I might have a Butterbeer. Scorpius?"
"Tap water, thank you."
"You sure?"
Scorpius nodded. "Same for my father, please," he added when he saw that Draco was gazing out of the window and not paying attention.
Albus left for the drinks and Harry asked them what they were doing in Diagon Alley. Before Scorpius could answer, Draco was proudly announcing their purchase of his son's first wand. "He was amazing in there! I've never seen so many sparks! I already know he's going to be a great wizard one day." Draco grinned across the table at him.
Scorpius felt his face heating up in embarrassment. "Father! Shut up!" he said in an embarrassed undertone.
"What type of wand is it, Scorpius?" Harry asked.
Scorpius leant 'round and picked the bag up from under his chair. He took out the box and opened it up. His brand new wand lay there looking absolutely perfect in its bed of blue velvet. He stroked it gently and felt a tiny frisson of the magic he had felt earlier on first touch. He looked up at Harry, who was watching him with a small smile of his own.
"It's ash with a unicorn hair." At this point Albus came back into the room, drinks carefully balanced on a tray by two trembling hands.
"Oh! Is that your new wand? Let's see it!" he said excitedly, seeing the open box and sliding the tray of drinks ungraciously on to the table.
Scorpius snapped the lid closed before Albus' outstretched fingers could reach it. There was something about this boy that was just so childish, Scorpius just could not find it within him to be polite, even though he was probably the first wizard his own age he had ever met.
Albus stopped, looked crestfallen for a moment, but seemed determined to befriend Scorpius and persevered on. "So you must be my age! We're going to be in the same year at Hogwarts!"
Scorpius glowered at him, and noticed that Harry had nervously cleared his throat. His own father was somehow even looking uncomfortable, if that were possible.
"Well actually, we're not. I'm not going to Hogwarts," Scorpius said, in the strongest possible voice he could muster.
Albus looked at him in shock. "But why not!?"
"Because - I want to go somewhere different, alright?" There was no way he was letting on that he felt as bewildered by the situation as Albus was.
"But why? Why wouldn't you want to go to Hogwarts? It's the best place in the world!"
"Albus! That's quite enough!" Harry interrupted. Evidently he had caught the look Scorpius was giving his son, even if Al was too tactless to pick up on it himself. Scorpius wanted to slap the idiot.
Suddenly Albus seemed to pick up on the change in atmosphere and backed away a little and sat next to his father. "Er, where are you going then?"
"Burbage High," Scorp said, shortly, trying to keep a lid on his anger at the other boy and his humiliating questions.
"Aunt Hermione's school!" Albus said, looking up at his father.
"Yes, it's a very good school. Miss Granger is an excellent witch; you'll do very well there, Scorpius," Harry told him.
Scorpius shrugged and looked out of the window. There was an awkward silence, which of course Draco managed to break. "They're like a mini you and me Potter! This could have been us, twenty years ago!"
Harry laughed at the inappropriateness of the comment.
"Did you know, boys, that Potter and I fell out the very first time we met, too? And now look at us!" Draco gestured between himself and Harry.
"My dad said you hated each other throughout the whole of Hogwarts, and you've never been friends!" Albus said, boldly, apparently no longer frightened of him. Draco waved a hand languidly as if such things weren't important.
"Also, Malfoy, that isn't true. Don't you remember the first time we met was actually in Madam Malkin's robe shop?" asked Harry. "We didn't fall out then."
"Ah, but I didn't know who you were then. Little Scarhead." Draco smiled fondly, as if recalling the scene. "You know, Potter, I've never told anyone this, but all I wanted was to be your friend."
Scorpius choked on his water.
Harry snorted. "Only because of who I was."
Draco lazily waved his hand again. "What, you don't think that everyone else was the same?"
"No, I don't. Hermione certainly wasn't, and Ron..."
"Well, of course Granger wasn't, but really, the Weasel! And what happened to him? Where is he now?"
Harry shrugged with a sad look on his face.
"I told you he was the wrong sort! And I was right! I did warn you!" Draco gloated. "The Weasleys have always historically been the fickle type. No true sense of allegiance."
"Hey! My mum is a Weasley! I'm half of one!" Albus piped up, outraged.
Draco shrugged, looking unrepentant. "Well, maybe some of them are okay, but not that Ron. I wonder what would have happened if you hadn't rejected me, Potter? I've often thought that. Things wouldn't have turned out so shit."
There was a moment of heavy silence. Scorpius could not believe what he was hearing. He had never heard his dad talk about any of this stuff before. He was usually so tight-lipped about anything that happened in his school days. Most of the things Scorpius knew about his father from when he was at Hogwarts were pieced together from the wildly differing stories his mother and, subsequently, his grandparents had told him.
"I don't think it would do to dwell on what-ifs, Malfoy," Harry said, quietly. "Thinking like that never ends well."
"But I do think it would have been better for you in Slytherin than in Gryffindork," Draco went on, oblivious.
Albus let out a nervous laugh. "My dad? In Slytherin!? Don't you know he pulled Godric Gryffindor's sword out of the Sorting Hat? There's no way he'd ever be a Slytherin!" he said, shrilly.
Scorpius found his dislike deepening further. "What's wrong with Slytherin?" he asked, sharply.
The boy turned to him, glancing nervously at his father. "It's just... Slytherin, isn't it?" Albus shrugged. "My brother says that none of them are... very nice, and that, er -" His eyes darted to Draco before looking awkwardly at the table. "More wizards turn Dark there than from any other house."
Scorpius scowled at him before briefly looking at his dad for reassurance. Draco rolled his eyes and smiled gently at his son, putting him at ease.
Harry turned to Albus with an exasperated look. "Al, what have I told you about believing stereotypes? Since Mr Malfoy seems to be in the mood for sharing, I think I'll divulge a little secret too. Al. When I was Sorted, the hat actually wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I asked it not to!" he said, the words dropping casually from his mouth as if he did not place any importance on the reaction they would garner.
Albus' mouth dropped open comically, while Scorpius muffled a giggle.
"A-HA!" Draco exclaimed, banging his hand on the table. "I knew it! I knew you should have been with us! You wouldn't have been influenced by all those hot-headed idiots! Throwing yourself into danger at any opportunity! We could have dealt with things differently."
He turned to talk to Albus directly. "Listen, mini-Potter, the type of bravery that Gryffindors are exulted for is overrated. It is irrational. There are other types of bravery in other houses, better types. Just don't end up in Hufflepuff!" he finished with a wink.
Albus smiled weakly.
"Right, I'm going to go and pay the bill," Harry announced a little while later, standing up. "Scorpius, mind coming with me?"
Scorpius felt his stomach flip. He probably wants me to pay for me and Father! I thought tap water was free!? He followed Harry nervously out of the room and towards the bar, but the man stopped and pulled him aside into a booth. Scorpius swallowed, suddenly feeling even more anxious. He knew. He was about to confront him about his father! About the drugs! He would tell the police, tell his grandparents!
"Scorpius, is something wrong with your father?" Harry had sat down and was looking into Scorpius' face at eye level.
The boy avoided his gaze and stared at the floor, nervously kicking the table leg and heart pounding in his ears. He did not say anything, but thought furiously for an excuse. He'd thought his dad had calmed down enough to pass for nearly normal. Granted he still had a slightly crazed look around the eyes, but at least he wasn't spouting off about angels or pineapples any more. It was the initial hug that had clearly given the game away (along with everything else that came out of Draco's mouth.)
"Please, Scorpius, tell me what's going on. I want to help."
Scorpius looked sharply up at Harry. Help? When had anyone done that for his dad? Although for some inexplicable reason he felt like he could trust Harry. Despite what sounded like a very horrible past relationship between the pair, he had rescued Draco from that crowd, sat with them here, listened to Draco without laughing at him. Scorpius felt a yearning to just tell him the truth, to be honest for once, but he found he couldn't form the words. They were too damning, too shameful.
"He... he took too much Calming Draught. By mistake. It's my fault, I read the dose wrong," he mumbled, glancing back down.
"Calming Draught?" Harry frowned.
"Er, yeah. He was nervous about coming here today, so he thought it would help." Thank God you didn't see him earlier. There's no way I could get away with this story if you had, Scorpius thought.
Harry was quiet for a while, looking appraisingly at him. Scorpius dragged his own eyes back up off the floor and starred into Harry's defiantly. He noticed that they were an almost unnaturally bright green; his favourite colour.
Harry sighed and bit his lip. "Scorpius, is your house connected to the Floo?"
He shook his head.
"Okay. I don't think it's a good idea for you to go back home now. I don't know how your dad usually is with you, but to me, his behaviour is very, unusual. I don't think it's a very good idea to let you loose again in Diagon Alley. I'd like you to come back to my place, just until he's back to normal."
Scorpius shifted uncomfortably. He was not sure about this, although part of him knew Harry was right.
"I live in London, so you'll be able to get home easily," Harry added. "Which part do you live?"
"Bethnal Green."
"Right, well, in that case I can even Apparate you both back, if your dad isn't feeling up to it later."
Scorpius nodded slowly. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.
"The only thing is, I'm expecting a few guests this evening, just some family and some friends. We're having a little barbecue..." He trailed off at Scorpius' look of alarm. "I can call it off though if you don't feel comfortable with meeting anyone?"
Scorpius shrank back. They could not risk exposing his dad to anyone else, accepting the invitation was out of the question. "No, it's fine. Thank you, Mr Potter, but I'm sure we'll be okay. We got here fine on the Tube, so I'm sure we can get back alright."
"I'm sorry, Scorpius, but I really don't feel comfortable letting you go off. You're only eleven."
Scorpius bristled. He had managed okay so far. He shrugged the hand off his shoulder.
Harry sighed, dropping his hand. "I'll tell you what, I'll let my friends know the dinner is off, it's not a problem. It'll just be close family. They're all lovely people, no one will judge your dad."
Scorpius thought about it slowly, lifting his eyes back up to meet Harry's. It would be so nice, to have the responsibility taken away from him. Harry seemed so kind and the thought of a barbecue sounded incredible. He was very hungry and he has never been to one before...
"Okay, Mr Potter," he agreed, slowly.
Harry beamed. "Please, call me Harry. Mr Potter makes me sound so old!"
Harry went off to close his tab and Scorpius returned to their room to inform his dad of the plan. It went down surprisingly well and the three wizards joined Harry at the front of the pub. They thanked the barman and each stepped through his fireplace, calling 6, Heath Road, Hampstead, as they went.
Scorpius stepped out into one of the nicest living rooms he had ever been in. It was smaller than his grandparents' and was not as posh, but this place felt homely, in the way that theirs never could. There were two enormous squashy-looking sofas, a bookcase in the corner, tables and shelves filled with photos of smiling people and babies. They even had a flatscreen TV! Scorpius had never thought that a wizards house could look like this. He stepped further into the room, and looked at his father who had seen him looking at the television with a smile.
"I think Scorpius wants to move in with you, Potter," he said, a note of his usual dryness creeping back.
Scorpius blushed. "I just always thought that magic and electricity didn't work together," he said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Harry laughed. "That's what they wanted us to think! I mean, granted, in a place of concentrated magic like Hogwarts, it is true, but as long as you don't directly use magic on the Muggle objects, everything works perfectly. At the end of the day, magic and electricity are both just types of energy..." he trailed off at Draco's look of exaggerated derision.
"Not the bloody energetic molecules again!" his dad said, laughing.
"Well, science was never a strong subject for me; you'll have to ask Hermione about that. Right, Al, I think the boys are playing out the front if the noise is anything to go by. Why don't you go and introduce Scorpius?" Harry left the living room through a door that lead to the kitchen.
Albus walked to another door and hovered there, waiting for him to follow. Instead, Scorpius went to his father and asked how he was feeling in a quiet voice. Draco gave him a small smile before answering in a whisper. "A bit more like my old self, nothing to worry about. I mean, I still feel... I can't really explain, but I can tell it's slowly wearing off." He gave his son another reassuring smile, a squeeze on the shoulder and wandered out of the room, following Harry.
Scorpius sighed and saw Albus was still waiting for him, looking irritatingly nervous. He walked over slowly, hands in pockets, succumbing to the fact that it did not look like his dad needed his protection any more and so he would have to hang out with the other children instead.
"So, who's outside?" he asked dully, as he followed Albus into the hall.
"My older brother James, and my dad's godson, Teddy Lupin." Albus paused, hand on the door latch. "We don't have to hang out with them, if you don't want to," he said in a rush.
Scorpius openly rolled his eyes, not caring if the other boy saw and it offended him. Since when had he and Albus become a we? Anyway, if all other wizard kids were as brattish as Albus was, then maybe Scorpius didn't want to meet any more. Although, was that a skateboard he could distantly hear?
"Nah, come on, show me your brother," he said, curiosity piqued.
Albus opened the door slowly and began walking down the path that led to the front gate and on to a quiet, tree-lined road beyond. Scorpius followed him into the heat of the afternoon sun and saw two boys, a year or two older than himself standing in the street. The taller boy held a skateboard, and as Scorpius and Albus approached he began to run with it, before dropping it in front of him on the smooth tarmac and attempting to mount it. It did not go well and with a look of panic the boy nearly fell over as it careened out in front of him, narrowly avoiding a parked BMW. Scorpius unsuccessfully tried to smother his laugh.
"Hey, guys!" Albus called over from the pavement. His voice was forcibly cheerful.
The two boys looked over, both frowning. The taller boy made a big show of looking annoyed and spoke close to the other's ear, although his voice carried over clearly.
"Oh, God, looks like your brother's back. Can't you tell him to piss off and leave us alone?"
"You know how my dad is," the boy who must be James replied, smirking.
"Look after little Alby!" the other one said, in a cruel, mocking voice, making James laugh.
Scorpius felt the ghost of his own laugh slide off his face. He glanced at Albus, who was scowling at the floor. The kid was really annoying, yes, and had been rude and immature earlier, but that was unnecessarily mean. As an only child, desperate for a sibling of his own, Scorpius had definite ideas on how brothers should act, and this was not it. They began to walk towards the two younger boys, and James called out, acting as if his exchange hadn't been totally audible.
"Who's your friend, Al?" Albus kicked the curb nervously but didn't answer.
Scorpius eyed the two up. The bigger boy seemed to be doing the same back, and his eyes seemed to glint with amusement at what he saw. When Albus remained silent, he decided to go for it. Typically for confident rich kids like this, they obviously viewed themselves as deserving respect of those younger or lower down on the social ladder than they were, but Scorpius had dealt with far worse and was not intimidated.
"I'm Scorpius. Me and my dad met your dad in Diagon Alley. He invited us back," he vaguely answered to James.
"Oh, right. You just get your wand?" he said, nodding at the Olivanders bag Scorpius was still clutching.
"Yeah."
"Are you gonna be starting Hogwarts with Al then, Scorpius?" the other one, Teddy, said, still obviously sizing him up.
"No, I'm going to Burbage."
The two older boys exchanged a crushing smirk.
"Oh, right." Teddy said, drawing the two syllables out, as if the idea was a joke.
Scorpius frowned. "Who's skateboard is it?" he asked, wanting to change the topic to something he felt at ease with.
"Er, it's mine," said James.
"Let's see something then?" Scorpius said, folding his arms.
James glanced at Teddy who gave him the board. "Okay, here goes!" he said with unnecessary bravado, and did nearly exactly the same thing as Teddy, the only difference being that James managed to stay on for a few seconds longer. When the board was eventually kicked away however, the boy leapt in the air with a happy shout.
"Nice one, James!" Al called while Teddy clapped spiritedly. Scorpius rolled his eyes. Albus might as well have had desperation painted across his forehead. James jogged back over, a look of triumph on his face. Scorpius unfolded his arms and did a mocking, slow clap.
"Yeah, nice... trick," he said. "Did the old lady next door teach it to you?"
James bristled. "I've only got it for Christmas!" he said indignantly. Scorpius raised his eyebrows, goadingly.
"So it's been months, then. Could have fooled me." Jake and I have only been practicing on his since then too! Scorpius thought, gleefully. Come on James, challenge me to beat you.
"Let's see what you can do!" The older boy said.
Scorpius was unable to hide his smirk. It was so easy to bait certain people: they were so predictable. He shrugged, masking his eagerness with an affectation of cool, and took the board off James. He saw Albus watching him anxiously and felt a pang of regret at his earlier treatment of him. With his own brother and this Teddy Lupin putting him down so much, Albus did not need strangers to do the same. Scorpius gave him a smile; he should enjoy seeing his brother being brought down a notch.
Scorpius dropped one end of the skateboard down and stepped on to it, propelling himself forward until both feet could balance him comfortably. He crouched low and, using the momentum of the board, kicked up, flipping it underneath him. It rose and fell and he landed squarely back on the board, feet planted firmly in place. A perfectly executed kickflip, thank you very much! It had taken him months to get that right. He felt the flush of success but tried valiantly not to let it show. He steered the board back to the boys and pulled up to a stop. The stupefied looks on their faces were quality, making the hours and hours of practice totally worth it.
"That was amazing, Scorpius!" yelled Albus, grinning.
Scorpius grinned back, just catching the impressed look the other two boys were sharing before they masked it.
"That was alright. Though, it's only a Muggle skateboard. We usually spend most of our time flying and playing Quidditch. Have you heard of that, Scorpius?" James said, condescendingly.
Scorpius smirked. Oh, had he ever. "Of course," he shrugged.
James frowned.
"Well, I bet you don't have a broom." Teddy said. Very mature.
"Maybe I do."
"What type is it? Some old Comet?"
Scorpius could tell they were starting to become aggravated. "Nah, it's a Firebolt."
"What? Really. A Firebolt?" said James, skeptically.
"Well, actually, it's a Supreme," he said, idly picking up the Olivanders bag while he spoke. It didn't matter that he'd only ridden it for about twenty minutes in total, and God knows when he'd have another chance with it trapped in Dorset at his grandparents' house.
There was a silence, and then the two friends burst out laughing. Scorpius tried to keep his face clear.
"Riiiigghhttt... So, we supposedly have here a wizard, who looks like a Muggle, who can skateboard like a Muggle, who is going to a school for Muggleborns, but who claims to have the most expensive broom on the market that not even some of the top league teams have yet," Teddy reeled off. "Something isn't adding up."
"How do you know my dad, again?" James asked, frowning.
"My dad went to Hogwarts with him, his name is Draco Malfoy." Scorpius savoured the words as he said them. There was no way he was going to be ashamed of who he was to these tossers. He smiled evilly as the expected looks of shock appeared on the faces of both boys. He glanced at Albus who was watching Scorpius surprisingly with what he could only interpret as a look of awe. Scorpius smirked at him, and was rewarded one back.
"I didn't know anyone could shut Teddy up." Albus ventured bravely, making Scorpius laugh. The other boy looked delighted with this accomplishment.
James was the first to speak. "Malfoy?" James said, gobsmacked. He looked back and forth between the two younger boys. "Is this a joke?"
"No! We bumped into them in Diagon Alley, went for a drink together and Dad invited them to our barbecue." Albus said.
"But Draco Malfoy? He was a Death Eater and Dad's Slytherin nemesis!" James choked out.
Scorpius shrugged it off.
"You're Scorpius Malfoy?" Teddy finally spoke. Instead of the outrage of James, he was looking at Scorpius with an unexpected look of wary curiosity.
The blond boy nodded.
"How much do you know about your family?" he said slowly.
Scorpius frowned at the non sequitur. Quite a lot on his mother's side actually; his grandparents had been big on teaching Scorpius the importance of knowing one's roots and made sure he could list at least ten generations of Greengrass ancestors on demand.
"Um, my mum was a Greengrass, and her mother was from the Yaxley family originally. On my Malfoy side, my grandmother was originally a Black."
James' eyes widened with the admission and he looked between Teddy and Scorpius with a look of dawning apprehension.
Teddy smiled slowly. "And my grandmother is your great aunt." He said, openly grinning now at the look of shock he received from Scorpius.
"Wait! So your grandmother is Andromeda?" he said in disbelief. The princess tied to the rock in the ocean.
Teddy nodded.
"So we're cousins?!" Scorpius smiled widely at the boy as he swiftly abandoned all thoughts of future antagonisations. They were family!
"Well, technically, something a bit more complicated; but yeah." Teddy laughed at Scorpius' unaffected look of happiness. "You know I'm not a pureblood?" he had stopped laughing and looked right into Scorpius' eyes with something bordering on defiance.
Scorpius felt his smile falter. "So?" he shrugged.
"So you're not a pureblood fanatic?" James asked bluntly.
Scorpius scowled. This was clearly about his name. Obviously his dad's prediction about people's judgemental reactions had been spot on. Maybe he was even right about insisting on Burbage. Scorpius couldn't be bothered to go through this every time he met anyone. He sighed and wondered how exactly the Malfoy family had behaved to have gained such a horrible reputation. Well, as it obviously involved blood purism and the Dark Lord maybe it was for the best if he just left that log unturned. He decided to try something risky to get out of this uncomfortable territory.
"Mate, you is callin' me blood racist though!" He pinched his t-shirt at the shoulder and brandished it. "You fink wiv bare threads like dis, I is hatin' on Muggleborns?" He adopted an exaggerated version of Shawn and was relieved to see that it caused the two boys to crack up with laughter.
"Mate, I just can't believe that came out of a pureblood's mouth!" Teddy said, grinning. "Alright, Scorpius, we've seen you on a skateboard, but what about on a broom?"
"Round here?" Scorpius said, looking with a frown at the surrounding Muggle houses.
"My dad has got some great wards on this place. Our back garden is pretty sheltered by trees anyway, but as long as we stay above the property boundaries, Muggles won't see us. Or they might, but they won't care and they'll forget, I'm not sure which," James told him.
"Come on, they've got loads of brooms to chose from, although no Supremes I'm afraid!" Teddy gestured them back towards the house.
Scorpius began to follow the two older boys up the path that lead to the back garden, feeling suddenly extremely happy. He had actually met his actual flesh and blood cousin! Merely days after first hearing about him! He had always dreamt of something like this happening and now it really was! Of course, in his excitement he conveniently forgot that up until a few minutes before, he had been ready to brush the two of them off as a pair of arrogant bullies.
A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked back towards the road and saw Albus slumping under a tree in front of the house, looking miserable. He paused, looking back and forth between the retreating backs of James and Teddy and the sulking boy and felt torn.
"You coming too, Albus?" he called. The boy looked up sharply.
"Do you want me to?"
Scorpius tried not to show his exasperation at his lack of confidence and obvious insecurity. It was painful. "Yes! Now come on!"
Albus' face broke into a shy smile and he was on to his feet in a flash. "Okay!"
