Harry Potter and the Next Generation: Year One
Chapter 12: The question
…
"Bloody hell!" exclaimed James.
It was Christmas morning and the teenager was examining a fine, black guitar with a special self-tuning charm.
"James, watch your language," Mrs. Potter snapped. "It's Christmas!"
Harry laughed as his son bothered not to even mutter sorry and just simply continued to run his fingers along the strings of the instrument, his wide eyes starring in reverence.
"And a Merry Christmas it is!" cheered Arthur Weasley as he stepped out of the kitchen, levitating a tray full of wine glasses and eggnog. "Who wants refreshments?"
"Not now, Arthur, dear," said Molly Weasley. "We're opening presents."
"That's gonna take a while," Mr. Weasley responded as he moved back into the kitchen. "There are a lot of people here!"
Indeed there were. The crowd of family that had gathered in Harry Potter's residence was immense compared to most holiday gatherings.
This included Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Weasley, Ginny Potter, Minister Jacob Kragoff (being an old family friend since school days) his wife Katie Bell Kragoff, their five sons Bill (who had been born before either was even married and was now nineteen and simply visiting) and his four younger brothers Nick, the twins Dennis and Preston, and the small little toddler Chris.
Rose and Hugo were also there, eagerly tearing open their gifts with pleasure as their parents smiled.
Fred Weasley, an eight year old boy with tan skin, was also opening presents as his parents George and Angelina exchanged their gifts.
Percy Weasley and his wife, Penelope, were giving gifts to their family members, including their ten year old daughter, Molly (whom Percy had named to make up to his mother for how he had acted for nearly three years).
Billy Weasley and Fleur were talking with Charlie, who was still not married, as their daughter Victoire talked with Teddy Lupin, who was also poking Albus playfully. Dominique, who was nine, was opening presents just like the other children, holding them up to show her parents what she had received.
"I hope you didn't get her anything dangerous, George," Fleur sternly said to her brother-in-law.
"Since when have I ever done that?" he asked as one of the presents far away from the group exploded with large sparks, making everybody yelp.
"What the hell was that?" called Arthur.
"Oh it must have been one of my fireworks for Harry," George muttered. "Sorry, mate."
Harry laughed and rolled his eyes.
As Arthur and Luna Scamander continued working on the food inside the kitchen, Molly soon walking in to help, Rolf, Luna's husband, gave presents to his twin sons, Lycorn and Lysander. The two had somehow managed to stop their arguing for Christmas, or as George referred to it as, a cease fire.
Soon, surprisingly, the gigantic pile of presents had been used up and everybody rushed into the enlarged dining room to feast on the Scamander's beautiful cooked turkey. They all clapped as she set it down on the table, making her smile appreciatively.
And so they ate, having the usual entertaining conversation most family clans could not match. Though some of them weren't even related, like the Scamanders and the Kragoffs, Harry considered them family and would always invite them for the holidays.
"Next year we should have Christmas at the Burrow," Jacob Kragoff insisted. "For old time's sake."
"Good luck fitting this lot into our house," Arthur laughed as he put an arm around his wife.
After the meal, and Harry's short speech about how happy he was that they were all there, most of the kids went to play in the snow as the adults had an after-meal cocktail. Soon to join them, not to Albus's surprise, was Neville (or Professor) Longbottom and his wife, Hannah.
They joined Harry and the others for drinks and talked about Hogwarts.
"So, I think you were the luckiest out of all of us," Ron claimed. "You get to stay at Hogwarts, teaching, while we're all stuck inside the Ministry of Magic, dealing with the most irritating people imaginable."
"Well, it can be difficult itself," Neville replied. "And what about you all? Any good cases lately?"
"Well, we did just finally catch a well-known Russian Warlock terrorist," Harry answered. "He's awaiting execution in Azkaban right now."
"And a Merry Christmas to him," Percy said, making the others laugh.
After a while, Harry excused himself, setting down his glass before walking to see what the children were all doing. Even Bill Kragoff and Teddy Lupin had joined in on the fun, entertaining the younger kids as they always did. As James wrestled Teddy to the ground, Harry spotted Albus sitting on the porch.
He leaned over and said
"Not having fun?" as he sat next to his son.
"No, I am," Albus said back. "It's just that…I wish Scorpius were here. He still hasn't asked his dad if he can come over for New Year's."
Harry nodded in understanding.
"Well, write him," he said. "He'll ask, don't worry. Now, Al, come with me. I want to show you something. It's a little extra Christmas present."
Albus brightened up at the idea of more presents. So he followed his father into his private study.
It was a large, hansom room with artifacts Harry had collected on his travels set around, including many from his days at Hogwarts or when he was on the run. Harry took a box off of the beautiful oak desk before handing it to Albus.
"I got this present when I was your same exact age," Harry explained. "I think it was time I passed it on to you."
Albus smiled, figuring it out. He opened the box and pulled out the astonishing silvery silk cloak from inside. It was large for him, small for his father, and was one of the most beautiful things Albus had ever seen. It was one of the Deathly Hallows, the one that had been passed down from generation to generation in his family. It was the Invisibility Cloak.
"Wow, dad!" Albus exclaimed, looking amazed.
He hugged his father, who smiled.
"Well," Harry said. "Your brother got the Marauders Map, which is probably how he commits all these pranks, so I figured you should have something just as good."
"Thanks!" said Albus, looking positively gleeful.
He pulled it over his shoulders, making his entire body disappear except for his head.
"I'm invisible!"
Harry laughed.
"Well, part of you is," he joked.
Thinking about all that he could do with the cloak, Albus pulled it off before running to hug his father again.
"Thanks, dad," he repeated.
"Happy Christmas," Harry whispered.
…
Christmas morning at the Malfoy manner was never very interesting. Being the only child, Scorpius received all the presents but was never entirely amazed. He did love what he got, but wished that there were more people, including his friends, to be around during the holidays. His father looked bored most of the time and Astoria was the one who seemed the happiest, as if this were the perfect scene in her opinion.
Just when they had finished eating a quiet meal, the knocker on the front doors was suddenly hammered against the wood.
"Who could that be?" muttered an irritated Draco Malfoy as he walked to the door to answer.
As he opened it, he saw a small, balding man with dark brown skin and a neatly trimmed beard.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," he said. "I am the new caretaker you hired."
"Ah, of course. Come in, then," Mr. Malfoy responded, carelessly.
The man did, smiling and bowing to Scorpius and Astoria.
"Oh, I hope you didn't come when you have family," Astoria said. "It's Christmas."
"It's alright, ma'am," he replied. "I have no family. I decided why not come today?"
"Good man," said Mr. Malfoy. "I'll show you to your room."
As the small man walked past Scorpius, he winked.
Not knowing how to respond, Scorpius merely nodded to him as he turned away.
…
Albus, Rose, and Nick all sat on Al's bed. They starred in astonishment at the cloak (which each of them had already tried on) wondering what they would do with it.
"My dad and granddad used it for pranks," Albus said. "We could use it for that."
"Yeah and maybe earn ourselves a reputation besides being the children of the golden trio and the Minister," Nick agreed.
"Just as long as we don't lose sight of what's important," Rose reminded. "We still need to study for exams-,"
"Which are about five months away from now," Albus interrupted. "Don't worry, Rose. I'm not gonna let this ruin my school career, I just want to make it even more enjoyable."
"Well, there's one thing that it could come in handy for," said another voice from the doorway.
They looked up to see James smiling a cocky grin, one eyebrow raised.
"Scorpius could use it for the prank."
…
Never had he been so nervous when asking his father a question. Though he was a hard man, Scorpius usually did not have any inquires that would cause him distress. This, however, would probably irritate the famous traitor, Draco Malfoy.
He entered his father's study, shuffling his feet quietly.
Mr. Malfoy did not even look up, but instead went back to his work. Though the Minister had warned him he needed a holiday break before he collapsed from stress, Draco always brought his files home with him for revision. He took a lot more care with them then he did with his homework at Hogwarts, which explained his marks. He claimed that he was a hard worker because now he was in the real world.
"Um…Dad?"
Mr. Malfoy glanced up from his work, barely noticing his son's presence.
"What?" he muttered in response, continuing to write.
Scorp shuffled again and then finally asked the question.
"I was wondering…if…if I could-,"
Again, it seemed as though he could not finish his sentence.
"What is it, Scorpius? I'm very busy here and I don't need you bothering me!" Mr. Malfoy snapped.
Scorpius flinched the way he always did when his father yelled. It was hard to contain his edginess and to control his stuttering.
"I-was w-wondering if I c-could go to the P-Potters' house for New Years?"
There was a pause after Scorpius speedily shot out the rest of the words.
Mr. Malfoy looked at him.
"Scorpius," he began, looking irritated. "Do you know how much your mother has been looking forward to your return?" Scorpius looked down at the floor as his father failed to include himself in the returning remark. "And have you even considered that? You spend an appropriate amount of time with these friends of yours at school around the clock during the course of a year and this will happen six more times by which time I'm sure you will have built other relationships as well as those discussed. As all of this progresses, you will have less and less time for us, your family. Why would you want to spend the holidays away from home?"
Scorpius shrank back and tried not to scuffle out of the room in terror.
"I-I'm s-s-s-sorry, father," he muttered in a high and scared voice. "N-Never mind."
"Oh, never mind," grumbled Mr. Malfoy in menace. "Is that all you can ever do, boy? Just shrink away from problems and squirm and mutter and cry? Well, I will have you know something, Scorpius Malfoy…That is NOT how a Malfoy handles a situation. We are of high stature! WE ARE NOT COWARDS!"
Scorpius stared at his father in fear, trying not to run away or flinch or cry. He focused on how if he tried hard enough, he could be at the Potters' house having a joyful end of the holidays. Then, his father finally, after all these years, crossed the line.
"Besides," he started. "I suppose you don't have enough Malfoy guts in you to become a Slytherin! That's why you're in Gryffindor. The house of false bravery!"
He turned away, about to return to his desk before Scorpius finally frowned, looking more curious than scared. Then, he began to look angry. His house had been full of people who had told him he did not belong in Gryffindor but never had they questioned what the house itself was about. It was the house of bravery. Slytherin was the house of cheaters and liars and those who cared only about themselves.
He opened his mouth and talked back to his father for the first time in his life.
"Is that why you ran?"
Mr. Malfoy stopped and turned to look at his son.
"What did you just say to me?" he growled.
Scorpius repeated "Is that why you ran?" And then he continued.
"You and Grandmother and Grandfather all ran from the battle just as Harry Potter was making his final stand! You may have helped him by passing him that wand but you were too scared to help any further! You are the coward, NOT THEM!"
Draco brought down his right hand faster than Scorpius could flinch. It landed on the side of his face and knocked him into the door behind him, stinging his nerves and reddening his pale skin.
He looked up at his father who was furiously glowering over him, a twitch in one eye and a small tear in the other.
Scorpius pushed his lengthy blonde hair out of his eyes and stared in shock at his father. Never had he looked so angry and never had he hit him that hard.
"Get out," Mr. Malfoy whispered, his voice shaking. Was it hatred or gloom? "Get the fuck out of my house! Go to the Potters' then. I don't care anymore! How could you be my son? Go and live with them for all I care! Just until you go back to that miserable little school. I don't care! JUST GET OUT!"
With that, he left with Scorpius still lying on the floor. Unable to help it, the boy let tears of pain spill out of his eyes. Except that there was no sound of sobbing, Scorpius was crying again.
