They sit by the lakeside, enjoying the fact that it's a relatively nice day out and there isn't any homework to be done until Sunday night. Reece and Albus are play-fighting in the shallows of the lake, Jenna is doodling on the knee of her jeans, and Rose is debating with Ethan about the merits of Care of Magical Creatures compared to Ancient Runes in terms of the overall application to everyday life.
Only Scorpius immediately notices the movement of three figures heading their way from down the hill - Karl Jenkins, Michael Waters, and Oswald Marks, the last of whom looks out of place behind the other two in his Slytherin green. The only time the trio ever teams up is to bully other people, their favourite targets often being Scorpius and his friends.
He taps Rose's shoulder, getting her attention to point out the three boys and quickly enough, the whole group is standing up in wait for their approaching attackers, who swagger ever closer, leers on their faces.
"What's up, Malfoy?" calls the leader of the bunch, Karl, jeering down at them from his spot just at the bottom of the hill. "Still hanging out with all your freak friends? I don't know how you can stand spending time with a load of fa -"
"Let me cut you off right there, Jenkins, before you say something you'll regret the second after Rose breaks your stupid nose. We, my friends and I -" He waves a hand around at the six of them, "- are enjoying a nice day outside and the sight of you bigoted numbskulls is only intruding on our peace and quiet, which is really quite rude of you. Might I suggest that you instead kindly piss off and bother someone else that isn't me or my friends? And take your filthy mouth along with you."
Oswald and Michael grumble to each other behind Karl, cracking their knuckles and looking ready for a fight, to which Scorpius only rolls his eyes. The three boys might be more physically imposing than his friends, but their group is not only twice as large but also far more adept at magic individually than the three males put together. And, honestly, Scorpius doesn't really feel like getting into a duel on such a nice day.
Instead, he turns away from Karl, indicating for the others to sit down, which they do, resuming their activities and ignoring the sputtering frustration of Karl and the attempts of goading the friends into a fight. At least this time, their blatant silent treatment works and the trio gives up, walking away with slouched shoulders and clenched fists, looking for someone new to terrorise somewhere else.
Albus chuckles, throwing a stray pebble at Scorpius, who catches it with relative ease. "They're just a bunch of cowards deep down," says Albus. "They don't really want to fight, they just want to make themselves feel better by putting someone else down. I bet you anything that Jenkins and Waters won't even say a thing to me tonight in the dorm."
"They still shouldn't be saying stuff like that," Rose protests. "I mean, we all know what Karl was about to call Albus and Reece, the absolute prick. I don't know how anyone can stand those three when every word out of their mouth is complete garbage."
Shrugging and turning to look at Scorpius with a bright smile that makes the blond's heart pick up in tempo, Albus only replies, "After a while, you get used to stuff like that. It stops hurting because you know it isn't true."
And Scorpius can't help but wonder how the other male can be so confident in a moment like this.