Disclaimer: I only own the original characters and the situations the characters find themselves in. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Harry wasn't entirely sure what to expect as he waited for the Hogwarts Express to arrive. Ginny and he had discussed Al's situation at length, equal parts relieved that he finally seemed to have settled down and curious as to what kind of boy Scorpius Malfoy truly was. On the one hand they had Al's effusive gushing, Rose's no-nonsense testimony and Lily's casual comments attesting to the fact that Scorpius was a wonderful boy and the perfect match for their more tempestuous son. On the other hand they had The Daily Prophet, James and everyone else they knew telling them they had to take a stand as Al's parents and tear the couple apart; that Scorpius was manipulative, overbearing and taking advantage of Al.
The train came in, pulling Harry from his thoughts, and he watched the stream of exiting students for his three children. A pale blond head caught his eye and his gaze focussed on a tall, unassuming boy who was given a wide berth as he got off the train. The boy paused once off the train and turned back to the door, a fondly exasperated look on his face, and Harry followed the direction of his gaze to find his son. Al looked mutinous as he got off the train, his wand drawn, green eyes narrowing at the students around them, ensuring they put more distance between them and the Slytherin.
"That's enough. If you're not careful, parents are going to come and hex you for threatening their children." Scorpius said, rolling his eyes, reaching out and plucking Al's wand from his hand.
"I told you not to go anywhere without me." Al said, pouting as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist, nuzzling his neck.
"I will not be attached at the hip to you in order to satisfy your caveman tendencies." Scorpius said dryly, but a hand reached up to tenderly comb through black bangs, "It was just a snot-nosed third year, Albus." He comforted in a soft voice.
"He had his wand drawn." Al said, his hold tightening around the blond, "I know you have rules about this, but please, Scor, defend yourself. Please. I can't lose you." His voice was trembling and rough with emotion that made Scorpius grimace inwardly.
The last month leading up to the holidays had been especially trying for the couple as The Daily Prophet had fanned the dying flames of prejudice at Hogwarts. After the second time Scorpius had been cornered, Al had refused to let the Ravenclaw walk alone, ensuring that either he or one of his cousins were always with the blond. Despite this, people still found opportunities to attack Scorpius; sending him mail with nasty potions in them, bumping into him particularly hard in corridors, even slipping poison pills into his drink goblet during meals. One such attack put the Ravenclaw in the Hospital Wing, pale and unconscious, and Al had gone on a warpath, out of his mind with worry, almost landing himself in detention for every weekend till the end of the school year. Rose had been able reign him in, but only after McGonagall, whose hands had been tied until then due to lack of physical proof, came down hard on the students, stating that if anyone so much as breathed in Scorpius Malfoy's direction with ill-intent, they would receive expulsion. Bullying was not condoned in Hogwarts.
Scorpius had woken to find Al curled up next to him on the hospital bed, crying quietly into his shoulder. That was one week ago, and Al was nowhere near over the episode. He had insisted on always having Scorpius in his line of sight, not trusting anyone else to watch over his Ravenclaw anymore. He also constantly woke up in the middle of the night crying or calling out the Malfoy's name. Scorpius didn't know for certain what the nightmares were about, but the way Al clung to him after, and the desperation with which he initiated sex at those times, gave the Ravenclaw a pretty good idea. He was glad they were going home for the holidays, but at the same time, he was also concerned. Al's parents were unlikely to allow them to share a room, and with the way Al was sleeping currently, Scorpius was afraid to leave him alone at night.
"Dad is staring." Lily quipped as she stepped up beside the couple on Scorpius's other side. Seeing Al after Scorpius had been attacked had shaken her, and she had become the Ravenclaw's shadow from the moment they had released him from the hospital wing. She wasn't the only one; all of Al's cousins had taken to hovering around the Ravenclaw. When Scorpius had asked Rose about it one evening, Al asleep on his lap in the Heads' dorm, the Weasley had given him a small smile and said simply, "You're one of us now, and we protect our own."
Al reluctantly released his boyfriend, and Scorpius was promptly accosted by others, making the Potter-Weasley brood immediately stiffen and reach for their wands, relaxing only when they saw the blond and dark heads of the people hugging the Malfoy.
"Father? Mother?" Scorpius blinked, confused, "Didn't you get my letter two weeks ago? I'm going to go home with Albus today; we'll be over at the Manor for Christmas dinner."
Draco pulled away from his son first, turning to Al, grey eyes filled with concern, "He's fine now? There was no lasting damage?"
Al shook his head, "The pill was mild, that's why it slipped through Scor's poison test spells. He was out for only a few hours." The Slytherin looked down at his feet, more than a little ashamed, "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy. I told you I'd take care of him, and—"
Draco placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing, "You're doing a wonderful job, Potter. I would trust no one else with my son."
Al felt his throat tighten with emotion as he nodded vigorously, allowing himself to be pulled into a hug by Astoria. Having seen enough, Harry approached the group, his brows furrowed in concern. Just what the hell was going on? The one thing he was certain of at this point was that anyone his son looked at in that soppy, besotted way could not be manipulative and overbearing.
"Al? Everything okay?"
Scorpius stiffened, grey eyes widening a bit with panic and fear, but Al's hand slipped into his and squeezed and he relaxed slightly. "It's a long story." The Slytherin said to his father, smiling wanly, "This isn't really the place to talk about it."
Harry nodded, understanding, and allowed his eyes to meet Draco Malfoy's, seeing none of the contempt and hatred he'd grown used to seeing during his school days. Instead, Malfoy looked a bit mellow and…grateful as his eyes moved to rest on Al before meeting Harry's gaze once more meaningfully. Harry smiled slightly, turning to study his son's partner for the first time, "You're Scorpius, I take it. I feel like I already know you thanks to Al's letters." Harry held out his hand, "It's nice to put a face to the name."
Scorpius felt some of his nervousness dissipate and he marvelled at how similar Harry's smile was to his Slytherin's; it immediately put him at ease. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter."
"Call me Harry." The eldest Potter said, looking around at his daughter, nieces and nephews, "As you can tell, I drew the short straw today, so I'll be carting you all home. Ready to go?"
Draco stepped up to his son and gave his shoulder a squeeze, "We'll see you in a week's time."
Scorpius nodded, flashing his father a warm smile before allowing himself to be pulled along by Al towards the exit. Draco watched the two boys exchange a quick kiss before they disappeared through the magical barrier and sighed, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders.
"Shall we go home?"
Draco bent down to give Astoria a kiss, "Let's."
Harry pulled his car into the driveway of the Potters' quaint cottage home in Godric's Hollow. Letting himself out, he went to the magically extended trunk to pull out the boys' things and hand it to them, before taking Lily's bags; his daughter was already through the door and could be heard greeting her mother with a laugh.
"Scorpius, the guest room has been set up for you. You both get settled and we'll talk over dinner." Harry said, turning his head to flash a smile at the pair and frowning instead when he saw how pale Al had become and how conflicted Scorpius looked. "What's wrong?"
"I want Scorpius to sleep in my room." Albus said firmly. Harry would have normally dismissed the protest, but his son's fists were clenched and his lower lip was trembling. He watched as the Ravenclaw Malfoy reached out to wrap an arm around Al's shoulders, tugging him closer as grey eyes met Harry's gaze steadily, "Mr. Pott—Harry." He corrected himself, tone serious, "Would it be okay if we talked before dinner? Now?"
Harry pursed his lips but shook his head, "No, of course not. Let's go into my study." He glanced to his son, "I'll get Ginny to join us."
Forty-five minutes later, the two parents studied the couple before them, their expressions drawn. Harry found that he had to fight not to mirror his son's rigid stance, his green eyes sparking with anger. "Did you find the culprit?" He asked, looking to Albus as he spoke.
Al scowled, "You know what breakfasts are like at the Great Hall. It could have been anyone who had walked past us as we were eating. I wanted to go out and hex every bastard who'd ever spoken badly about Scorpius, but Rose and McGonagall wouldn't let me."
"For good reason." Scorpius said dryly, "It's our final year, Albus. Do you want your quidditch captaincy taken away from you?"
"Like that matters." Al scoffed, wrapping his arms around the blond despite his parents' presence—never being one to shy away from public displays of affection—pressing his face into the side of Scorpius's neck, "Like anything would have mattered if you hadn't woken up."
Scorpius hesitated, glancing at the Potter parents, but when Al's body shuddered against him and he felt wetness against his skin he pulled his Slytherin close, bending to nuzzle his cheek.
Ginny and Harry exchanged pained looks as they watched their son breakdown, not daring to reach out and pull Al away from Scorpius. He obviously needed this reassurance from the Malfoy; he was every bit as enamoured with Scorpius as he'd sounded in his letters, and Harry couldn't help but think that maybe Scorpius deserved Al's devotion. He saw something of himself in Scorpius; isolated, misunderstood and infamous for no fault of his own. At least he'd found Ron and Hermoine in Hogwarts; Scorpius had had no one until now, until Al. Harry understood the gratefulness in Draco's expression now better than he had on Platform 9 and 3/4s.
He cleared his throat, making all eyes in the room swivel to rest on him. Holding his youngest son's gaze he spoke seriously, "James was never allowed to have his girlfriend stay with him in his room and in the interest of fairness, the same rule ought to apply to you." He watched as temper flashed in green eyes, "However, I understand that these are somewhat extenuating circumstances, so Scorpius may sleep with you."
"Just sleep." Ginny reiterated, eyes narrowed as she looked from one boy to the other.
Scorpius turned red, but Al just rolled his eyes, "Yes, Mum. Can we go up and get settled now?"
"In a minute." Harry said, "Your mother and I need to talk to you about something."
Scorpius shifted uncertainly, "Should I leave?"
Ginny smiled at the blond, shaking her head, "This involves you as well."
Al and Scorpius exchanged curious looks, "Are we in trouble?"
"Of course not." Ginny dismissed, "We were going to bring up the Daily Prophet and all the bad press with you both after dinner, but since we're already on the topic, we might as well be done with it."
Scorpius flushed, looking deeply apologetic, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Potter. I-I warned Albus about what to expect, but I didn't think to tell him to warn the two of you. I apologise for what they're saying about your son."
"Merlin, Scor, my parents don't care about that!" Al rushed to assure his Ravenclaw, "Do you?" The question was asked with a slight edge, as if daring Harry and Ginny to blame Scorpius for the media fiasco.
"Not a whit." Harry assured Scorpius, smiling, "What Ginny was getting at was that we think the situation is not about to get any better without us doing something about it."
Scorpius blinked, surprised, "Doing something?" What could be done, anyway? Bad press was bad press. He'd been getting it all his life, as had his family. Speaking up would only make things worse, that's what his father had always said.
"I'm a reporter for the Prophet." Ginny reminded the boys gently, "I have some pull there. I can get someone to come down and do a proper interview with the two of you, Harry and me; put it out there that Al is in a relationship that we approve of. Chances are once the public knows about the parental approval on both sides, the scandalous nature of all this will fade out and the two of you will be left alone."
"That's a brilliant idea, Mum!" Al exclaimed, delighted by the prospect of being able to just be with Scorpius. No press, no nosy brothers, no prejudiced peers. He turned to the Malfoy and his smile faltered at the confusion on Scorpius's face, "You don't think so, Scor?"
"N-No, I do. It's just…" Pale brows furrowed as grey eyes met Ginny's brown ones, "Parental approval?"
Ginny's first reaction was to tease the Malfoy, but the genuine astonishment in those wide grey eyes as they darted between Harry and her made her pause. She glanced at her son and found his eyes on her, his expression pained and pleading. She felt a knot form in her throat and swallowed, blinking back her tears. Just how badly had this poor boy been treated by society that he found it difficult to believe Al's parents might like him after they'd invited him over for Christmas and given him permission to sleep in their son's bed under their roof?
She felt Harry's arm go around her shoulder, and drew strength from the touch, smiling softly at the blond, "We are happy for you both, Scorpius. Harry and I like you, we can tell you're a sweet, intelligent and honest young man. In fact, we're pleasantly surprised that Al managed to bag someone like you, with the track record he has." She shot her son a fondly exasperated look and he chuckled, green eyes filled with pride and gratefulness, "So all that's really left to say is, he's now entirely your problem."
Albus tried to be indignant as he cried, "Mum!" But it came out with a laugh, and he was practically glowing with happiness. He knew his mother had said the right thing, all the right things; everything Scorpius had needed to hear. He turned to his emotionally overwhelmed boyfriend and tried to quell the ache that rose in his chest at the sight of the tears escaping from the corner of wide grey eyes. He reached out to wipe away the wet streaks and Scorpius let him, sniffling, "Th-This is all your fault."
"What did I do this time?" Al asked, raising a brow, but his tone was gentle as he wrapped his arms around the Ravenclaw.
"I never used to cry. Never. Look at what you've done to me!" And with that, Scorpius latched onto him, burying his face in Al's neck, crying silently. Albus held him, flashing his parents a smile as they quietly left the room.
"I love you, Scor."
"Me too." Scorpius said, tightening his hold on his Slytherin, his voice rough and husky, "I love you too, so much. So, so much."
Al nuzzled his boyfriend's neck, smiling into pale skin. The person in his arms held his heart and his future in steady, long-fingered pale hands, and Al wouldn't have it any other way.
Epilogue
Facing the Future
"I'm sorry." Brown eyes shifted to meet Scorpius's wary grey gaze, "I don't actually know you to dislike you; I've been a complete prat these last couple of months."
"Why?" Al asked, eyeing his elder brother with suspicion. James had arrived the day after they had, home for the holidays from his job out in Romania with their Uncle Charlie. The first meal had been tense, with James making conversation with his parents while Al and Scorpius chatted easily with Lily; aside from a few calculating sidelong glances toward the couple, James completely ignored them. It was now nearing dinner time though, and the eldest Potter child had slipped out into the backyard where the two boys were tossing a quaffle about. "Why the sudden change of heart? You've been trying to get between us since you found out. Hell, you even told Mum and Dad with the hope that they'd pull us apart for you!"
James grimaced, "I just said I've been a complete prat, didn't I? You can't blame me for being worried, Al. You have a horrible track record with dating, and more often than not, you end up seriously hurting or pissing off the person you'd been going out with. I didn't know Malfoy in school, but I'd heard enough about him to know pissing him off was a bloody stupid thing to do."
Green eyes flashed, "Those are all lies! Scorpius wouldn't hurt anyone!"
Scorpius reached out to place a hand on his boyfriend's arm, "Albus, calm down and think about what he just said. Your brother was trying to look out for you."
Al blinked, anger melting away from his expression as his brows furrowed in confusion, "You were worried about me?"
Now it was James's turn to be annoyed, and he scowled at his younger brother, "Of course I was worried, you big idiot! Do you know how many times over the last three years I've threatened to hex your exes if they turned their wand on you?! I'm your big brother! I have to look out for you when you're being too much of a prat to do it yourself!"
Albus was stunned, and Scorpius had to hide a smile at his boyfriend's dumbfounded expression. It came as no surprise to him that Al was so deeply loved by his elder brother; the fact that James had managed to remain at odds with the Slytherin for so long was a miracle in and of itself. From what Scorpius could recall from his memories of the two over the last six years, the brothers had always been quite close — eating meals together, hanging out with one another's friends. They fought as often as they'd had fun together, but then the Malfoy supposed that was what it meant to be siblings — to be assured of the fact that the other person loved you no matter how much you pissed them off.
Al looked to his boyfriend and the Ravenclaw smiled encouragingly, making him let out a shaky breath, "Well, you did apologise to Scorpius. I guess you're forgiven."
James' answering grin was relieved, and he turned to Scorpius, "In the interest of full disclosure, I don't hate you, but that doesn't mean I like you either."
Al scowled, "Jam—!" He broke off, looking to his boyfriend questioningly when the Malfoy placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
Scorpius chuckled, shaking his head slightly, "That's fine. I'm not planning on going anywhere, so you have years to come around."
James looked approving of his response and Al all but melted into his side, nuzzling the underside of his jaw affectionately as he wrapped his arms around the Malfoy in a tight embrace.
"Hey! None of that where I can see!" James protested loudly, turning his back to them.
Al rolled his eyes, "We're hugging, James, not fucking."
James whirled around, pale, "Why would you say that? I don't ever want to think of you doing…that!"
The Slytherin snorted as he tugged his Ravenclaw forward to the house, walking in step with his brother, "What are you, five? You can say 'sex'. I know you've had plenty of it with your girlfriend up in Romania."
James blinked, argument forgotten, "You know about Felicity?"
"Mum and Dad have been keeping me updated." Al said nonchalantly, shrugging, but his cheeks were tinged pink. "I'm a bit fuzzy on the details though."
As James launched into a delighted telling of how he'd met his new girlfriend, Scorpius realised that he was walking between the two brothers, and neither of them seemed to mind. Every once in a while one of them would direct a comment or question to him, and so he felt included, wanted. His heart swelled a bit painfully as his mind flashed back to that memory of him at the age of seven, absolutely certain he was always going to be alone. Albus had changed the dark course of his future, and now, Scorpius found that he was quite looking forward to it. Yes, there would be challenges, and they were likely not done facing prejudices against his family name, but they had each other, and they had their families. They would be all right.
I hope it doesn't seem rushed - this seemed to be the place to leave them. I don't really write drama and the next chapters of their life will be full of it, I'm sure. But as always with stories I write, it'll end happily ever after :)
Thank you so much for following/favouriting/reading this story! I know I haven't been regular with updating but I hope you will leave a review and let me know what you think of the finished product.
Until my next story,
~Living To Laugh And Love
