Christmas at Malfoy Manor was sedate, and Scorpius's gifts were, for the most part, utilitarian. He got books, as usual, and some socks, and a new hat. He was grateful for all of them, but sometimes he wondered what sort of family he must have to get such useful things – and to always be sure of knowing what he would get – while so many other people chattered about exciting, frivolous presents.
There was delicious food, of course, courtesy of the house-elves, and Scorpius tried to clear his plate at every meal, but he didn't have much of an appetite. He wasn't sleeping well either, and it was impossible to miss the worried glances he got from his parents. Whenever he caught sight of his reflection, he understood why they were so anxious for him. He looked like a wreck. He had gotten taller but was just as thin as he had been when he was eleven. Only having tailored clothes kept them from falling off his body. The bones in his face stood out, as did his collarbone and the bones in his wrist.
It was only because he was starting to grow so quickly, he told himself. Once his height slowed down, he wouldn't look nearly as scrawny.
But no longer growing wouldn't get rid of the shadows under his eyes, and it wouldn't put even a hint of color in his cheeks. No matter what he told himself or his parents, he knew he wouldn't look any better until he could stop lying awake at night, thinking about what Professor Zahradnik had told him.
He was amazed that she hadn't written a letter to his parents to let him know that he was studying Horcruxes. If they were was dark as Rose and Albus had said they were, and dark enough that Professor Baumhauer wouldn't even speak of them, and dark enough that the mere mention of one would stir up such emotion in the headmistress, surely she would think it worthy of mentioning to his parents. But no owl arrived, and neither of his parents mentioned it over dinner or any other time. Maybe Professor Zahradnik just wanted to wait until he had returned to speak to him, and then she would send an owl to his parents. They would think that he was planning to be a dark wizard.
He already had the name for it. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. A scorpion, a sun god, and bad faith.
When he lay awake at night, he wondered how people would look at him if they knew he was looking into Horcruxes. Would they see his father, the budding Death Eater? Would they see him as a new Voldemort? Or would they just see a confused thirteen-year-old boy who was in over his head and didn't know how to get out?
The days dragged on until the end of break.
The end of break came all too quickly. Before Scorpius knew it was coming, he had to pack up everything and head to King's Cross with his family. No one spoke on the ride to the station, and he got only a quick hug from each of his parents before gathering his bags and heading on to the train.
He wanted to sit alone, if possible, and after a few minutes, he managed to find an empty compartment and settle into it. It wasn't empty for long, though; shortly after the train started, the door opened, and Rose pelted in, tossing aside a suitcase and a broom onto the empty seats. Before he could tell her that he would rather be left alone, she had flung her arms around him, pressing him against the back of the seat and partly against the window.
"I'm with you," she said as he tentatively wrapped his arms around her as well. "I'm with you all the way."
"Thanks?" There was nowhere for him to wriggle away, and he tried to spit a stray strand of her hair out of his mouth. "For what?"
"The Horcruxes, of course," she said, pulling back and grinning at him as though he were an idiot. "I don't care that Uncle Harry told me and Albus to stop looking into them. You're my friend, and I'm going to stick by your side no matter what. Whatever you need me to study, I'll do it. We're going to figure this out together."
Over the little speech, her grin had faded, and now she looked earnest, so much so that it was almost unnerving on her young face. Scorpius shifted a little, and Rose scooted back to give him room. "You mean it?" he asked, though he didn't see any evidence that she had been lying.
"Of course," she said. "I want to figure this out just as much as you do, even if I have different reasons."
"I meant about you being my friend."
The grin came back in an instant. "Yeah. I meant that too. Ruby's still going to be my best friend, but you're pretty cool too." She nudged his shoulder with hers, and he managed a small smile in response.
"I think I can live with that." He looked out the window and saw that a snowy landscape was racing by. It wasn't terribly interesting, since he had already seen it several times, and in spite of himself, he didn't really want to be alone anymore. He would much rather be around Rose, so he got up and closed the compartment door. On the way, he got a glimpse of her broom and smiled again. "You've got a Stratus?"
"Stratus 2020," Rose said proudly. "My Uncle Charlie got it for me for Christmas so I can explore the river. Here, let me show you what my Aunt Ginny got to go with it!" She sprang to her feet, opened her suitcase, and pulled out a pair of flying gloves and some goggles. "What do you think?"
"They look great," Scorpius said, looking at them a little before handing them back. As Rose put them away, he asked, "Weren't you going flying with Watson, though?"
"We broke up," Rose said, and though she sounded a little bitter, she was smiling when she returned to her seat. "This just means I get to explore the river on my own and figure things out by myself. I'll look for everything you said Zahradnik mentioned about portals, and I'll make sure to write everything down so you can tell her."
Scorpius bit his lip. He had mentioned his meetings with Professor Zahradnik to the others, but he hadn't had the chance to tell them about what she had said the last time he saw her. He had been too nervous and hadn't slept well the night before, and besides, Rose had been glaring at everyone in her path. He hadn't wanted to say anything that might make her snap at him, and now that they were friends, he was glad he had held his tongue. It was better to be friends than to have her hate him, even if it meant giving up their rivalry.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked. She got up again, this time to stick her things on the rack over the seats. "Don't tell me everything's fine, because I can tell something's bothering you. Is it the same thing as before break?"
Scorpius nodded, and when Rose fixed him with a piercing stare – or what felt like a piercing stare, though it was probably gentle for her – he told her about how his last meeting with Professor Zahradnik had gone. She watched him while he spoke, and when he finished, she sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. They sat in silence for a while, and then she pulled him a bit closer. It was strange, but not unpleasant, and after a moment he rested his head against hers.
"Are you going to be all right?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I've just been kind of nervous about going back. I don't want to get in trouble over this." He bit his lip again and was glad Rose couldn't see it. He had almost told her about how nervous he was that people would think he wanted to be a dark wizard. They wouldn't think that about her, of course, and he doubted anyone could think Ruby would want to be dark – she had almost started crying when she learned about Horcruxes, and they had been careful not to mention them around her again – and Albus was a Potter. There was no chance a Potter could be evil.
But a Malfoy… there was precedent for that. People would say it wasn't a surprise, given what his father had done, and he would only let everyone down.
"You okay?" Rose asked.
"Yeah," he said.
"You're shaking a little." She wrapped her arm tighter around him, and he tried not to tremble as much, though he wasn't sure how successful he was. He hadn't even noticed he was shaking to begin with.
"I'm fine," he said. Hoping to change the subject from himself, he asked, "Is Albus going to be here?"
"He said he might," Rose said. "I saw you and wanted to run ahead to talk to you, since I forgot to send you a Christmas card, and he said that he would look for Ruby and meet up with us. Maybe they're just having trouble finding our compartment."
Scorpius nodded. He did want to see Albus and Ruby, but at the same time, if they came in, Rose would probably let go of him and move to the other side. He wasn't entirely sure why he liked sitting so close to her, but he knew that he did like it, and he wanted to hold onto it for as long as he could.
Life returned to normal fairly quickly for everyone. Albus and Rose chattered about salamanders and how their entire Care of Magical Creatures class had crowded into Professor Hagrid's hut both to learn about the creatures and to stay warm. There weren't all that many animals that they could learn about when it was so cold, after all, and Albus suspected they might just spend the whole winter on salamanders.
"I wouldn't complain if we do," he said, shivering again. "Do you know how cold it is out there?"
"He has to walk out to the greenhouses with you every time you have Herbology," Rose said, making a face at Albus before smiling at Scorpius. "He knows exactly how cold it is."
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to stand out there, like we might." Albus shivered once more, for effect, and then turned back to his work. He had found a book about salamanders and was apparently intent on learning as much as he could before having to constantly study them.
Scorpius had told them about what Professor Zahradnik had said, knowing that if he didn't, Rose would, and all of them had promised to support him. Ruby and Albus had both looked nervous, but they had sounded determined, and Scorpius hadn't been able to keep from smiling at the thought that he had people who would stand by his side, no matter what. Albus told him that his father had wanted him to keep from studying Horcruxes, but he would be all right with lying, though his voice shook a little when he said that.
"It's all right if you don't want to," Scorpius told Ruby. "I know you didn't like the thought of Horcruxes."
"I did some thinking over the break," Ruby said, glancing nervously around the table. "I don't like that Horcruxes exist, and I think the best thing to do is to act. I can't just sit around and do nothing."
"Sure you can," Rose said. "We all could. We're thirteen, and if I agreed with Uncle Harry, that means we're too young." She turned another page in her book, and Scorpius caught sight of a picture of an animal that he very much hoped was extinct. "But I don't agree with him, obviously."
"I wasn't finished," Ruby said, and for the first time Scorpius could remember, Rose blushed and looked away.
"Sorry," she muttered, and Ruby rubbed her shoulder, which for some reason only made Rose blush even more, though she smiled as well.
"I can't just sit around and do nothing," Ruby said again. "I know I'm young, but it doesn't matter. I have to act, especially when I've found something that I think is wrong. Having a Horcrux around would be wrong, and I have to do something about it." She sounded fierce now, almost angry, and her gaze around the table dared all of them to say something to disagree with her. "It doesn't matter how scared I am. I have to do something."
"Then we'll all do something," Scorpius said, sounding braver than he felt. "We're all in this together."
Everyone smiled, and they were just about to get down to work when Ernest Rooiakker, a first year Hufflepuff, came up to the table. "Is one of you Scorpius Malfoy?"
"I am," Scorpius said.
Ernest looked at him and said, "I was told to tell you that Professor Zahradnik wants to see you in her office as soon as possible." He swallowed nervously and looked around at the rest of the table. "She wasn't the one that told me, though. I don't think it's a trick. Professor Baumhauer looked really serious about it."
Scorpius's heart dropped, but he took a deep breath and gathered up his things. "I'll see you guys later," he said, and hurried out of the library.
Ernest scurried off to the Hufflepuff Common Room, leaving Scorpius to walk alone to Professor Zahradnik's office. With every step, he felt more nervous, but he forced himself to keep moving. It was like Ruby said; it didn't matter how frightened he was. He had to act.
The gargoyle looked even more menacing than normal, and his voice trembled as he said, "I need to see Professor Zahradnik." The gargoyle leapt aside, and Scorpius glanced up at its face as he walked past. It had the same expression as ever, but he couldn't help feeling sure that it was grinning at him. He hurried along and went up the moving staircase, walking up it two steps at a time so he could get there even faster. His legs were likely longer than he remembered, for it was easier than he had expected to climb them.
When he reached Professor Zahradnik's door, he hesitated, one hand raised to knock. It was easy to tell himself that he had to do this, and even easy to run up the stairs, but now that he actually had to enter, he found that he didn't want to. He wanted to hide, because he was only thirteen years old and much too young to be worried about dark magic or the Sorting Hat.
"If you're out there, Scorpius, feel free to come in. The door's never locked."
That left him no choice, so he pushed open the door and stepped into the office. It looked the same as it always did, and Professor Zahradnik and her cat looked just as they always had, and for a moment, Scorpius relaxed, but only a little. "How did you know I was out there?" he asked.
"I asked Professor Baumhauer to send a message with his best first year student that I needed you," she said with a little smile. "I've been calling that out every fifteen minutes. Come, sit down. I'll make some tea."
Scorpius approached the chair cautiously and sat down as Professor Zahradnik prepared her tea set. "His best first year student is a Hufflepuff?" He tried to sound merely curious, but the truth was that he was rather surprised. A Ravenclaw would have been what he expected, or a Slytherin from ambition, though he supposed a Hufflepuff would work hard to get good marks.
"I was surprised too," Professor Zahradnik said. "That's part of the reason I wanted to speak to you. I've been looking into some records lately, and a few things have surprised me." She pulled a piece of parchment from a stack and looked over it. "The top students from each class haven't been Ravenclaws for a long time. There are a good many Slytherins whose ambitions aren't as sharp as they have been in years past. Gryffindors aren't always spurred to the same acts of overt bravery as they have been. There is only one conclusion I can draw: something is wrong with the Sorting Hat."
Scorpius gasped, but before he could say anything, Professor Zahradnik held up a finger, and he closed his mouth.
"I'm not suggesting that it's a Horcrux, and I'm not willing to get rid of it," she said. "I am saying that I am willing to entertain the suggestion, as long as you promise to be careful. I don't want you to meddle in things that are beyond you. It's for your own protection. Do you understand?"
Scorpius nodded. "Will you still let me help, though?"
Professor Zahradnik sighed. "I doubt you'll let me get away with not allowing that. You may not be a Gryffindor, but there is bravery in you. You may help, but only a little, and I would prefer that you wait a while, until you're older. Is this acceptable?"
"I guess so," Scorpius said with a shrug. Professor Zahradnik didn't seem like the type of woman who could be argued with.
"Excellent." She poured him a cup of tea and passed it across the table. "Let's set up a schedule, then. I'll do some research this year while you study the portal by the river, if there is one. Next year, we'll meet, and you can learn more about Horcruxes. Fourteen is still young, but I'll at least have time to prepare." She raised her cup.