DISCLAIMER: Lawyers on behalf of Ms Rowling specifically noted that she has"no complaint about innocent fan fiction written by genuine Harry Potter fans."

Most of the characters in, and the basic idea of, this fanfic belong to J K Rowling and the fic conforms to her wishes about fan fiction ie it does not, and will not, contain any offensive material. The story is AU.

A/N: Many thanks to HippieLove1312 and il. demone. vanga for adding this fic to both Fave Stories and Story Alert, also to AyshaDancer for adding this fic to Story Alert. Greatly appreciated. :)))

***Chapter 21***

***Patronus***

"You know about Mary Poppins movies?" Rose asked in astonishment. "Your Dad allows you you watch muggle movies?" Her fingers were still digging into his arm albeit less fiercely. But it didn't hurt now and that made it an even nicer. Even if the damn flowers and trees were kicking off once more with their stupid show and (though he couldn't hear it) he knew by the cooling breeze that damn...creature...was still flapping above. "Well, yeh. 'Course he does. Why?"

"You know a lot about muggles." Rose observed. Scorpius Malfoy was a mystery. And Draco Malfoy, who was so prejudiced against muggles and muggleborns yet had no qualms about his kid being muggle-ish (was there even such a word? She'd have to look it up in a book) was an even bigger mystery. "You know nothing about wizardry."

"I know loads!" Scorpius objected, stung at the inference of his lack of knowledge.

"Do you know anything about Patronuses?" Rose asked him.

"No way!" Albus interjected in disbelief before the Columbidae could answer.

"Of course! He's a famous wizard," Scorpius announced with fake confidence, misinterpreting Albus's comment to mean he really didn't know anything and unwilling to admit to ignorance so plucking the idea out of thin air, "I mean she's a famous witch," he amended, watching Rose's face for any chance he'd stumble on the right answer. "No, I'm joking, it's a place and...Actually," he rushed out desperately,when Rose simply looked smug; "it's a wizarding disease and a knut to a galleon my Dad is working on a potion to cure it..." He was floundering and they knew it. Damn! Why hadn't he paid attention when Dad was trying to teach him wizarding history?

"You're guessing." If it hadn't been for the fact Rose's lips were twitching, Scorpius might have been extremely worried by the fact Albus was emphatically shaking his head and still protesting. Was Patronuses good or bad...?

"Okay," he conceded reluctantly. "Tell me."

"That," Rose indicated with a tilt of her chin ;"is your Patronus."

Scorpius looked up as though seeing the creature for the very first time. And perhaps he was. He had never troubled to study it so intently before.

The large bird vaguely resembled an owl and although it seemed to be made of some ethereal silvery substance, the September sun glinted on its spread wings and bounced off golden sparks, reminding him of how the moonlight, too, would cast dancing flecks of gold on the luminescent creature he sometimes glimpsed out of the corner of his eye when he was very young. It always happened when he and Dad moon-watched. Being lulled cosily to sleep, feeling safe and secure and overwhelmingly loved, he'd always imagined it to be a strange half-dream. But now Rose and Albus could see it too! Which meant it was no dream. It never had been.

As it had always done before, the strange bird arrived by night just as he was drifting into sleep. But this time instead of being gone by morning it was there too when he woke - though none of the other guys in his dorm saw it. They'd all been too busy searching for Beetle McCrawl's – after mishearing it during the Sorting ceremony, Scorpius still couldn't think of him by his real name of Bertie McCrawley - missing pet spider. Apparently Spinny was last seen spinning a web by the window and Beetle, who'd opened it to let in some fresh air, was frantic in case Spinny had got out and run away because he'd been frightened by the giant Aragog spiders he'd heard so much about. Or maybe, he thought, Spinny had discovered some attractive female spider and gone off in hot pursuit. Or maybe again, Beetle speculated, as Spinny loved drumming his eight long legs on tables and dancing, he may have gone searching for his imagined new friend Juniper Johnson, mistaking her leap on the table and stamping her feet in fear upon his introduction at last night's first Hogwarts feast as a new kind of dance.

Professor Gladthink definitely did not notice anything amiss when she advised, as the three got on so well, instead of lessons they may breakfast together and then take a relaxing walk in the grounds "to clear their heads after the strong emotion of yesterday." Scorpius knew Gladthink was trying to help him feel better after he'd learnt about his father being a Death Eater and how the other students had reacted to his name being Malfoy. He also knew she hadn't seen the Patronus thingy because she didn't even blink while it dipped and dived around her study and at one stage strolled leisurely around her desk. Nor had Rose and Albus seen it then. Not until, as they strolled, and the flowers and trees, even the lake, decided to show off to their exclusive audience and put on a spontaneous concert as if eager to be signed for the London stage, he wished they could see what he saw because, though he'd only known them a short while, he somehow felt they'd been friends forever.

Rose had let go of his arm to try in vain to smooth back her wild red hair, and though he missed her touch she was so close still that her breath was warm on his cheek and stray wisps of hair caught in the breeze of the bird's large wings fluttered against his neck. And for a moment the young wizard forgot everything, his Mum's Locking, his Dad's prejudices, his sadness that so many at Hogwarts judged him by his name, and felt overwhelmingly happy just to be who and where he was, standing here by the shimmering lake with Rose and Albus, surrounded by exhilarating sights and sounds and smells, with the oddly-named Patronus spinning small circles above as though delighted to be acknowledged at last.

"It can't be." Albus broke the spell, but not very much because Rose was still so close and the scent of her hair was a thousand times nicer than the scent of the flowers. "You have to use a wand and it's a really difficult charm and it takes some wizards and witches years and years and years to learn and even then they don't manage a full Patronus. It can't be," he added, sounding much less certain because his cousin looked very much so.

"You should read as much as I do," Rose rebuked. Which was a little unfair, Albus thought, as nobody could possibly read the amount of books Rose Weasley got through. Except maybe her Mum, Aunt Hermione. "You'd learn things. Like, according to the ancient wizard philosopher Eurythsapientiae, it is possible, if conditions are exactly right, for an exceptionally great witch or wizard with a very special talent to produce a spontaneous Patronus, in which case the Patronus will take on the form of an extremely rare, perhaps extinct or even unknown, species. Golden owls are thought to exist only in wizarding folklore."

"It's a golden owl?" Scorpius gazed in fascination, not at the Patronus as one might expect, but at Rose, her face glowing with excitement as she watched the owl glide over the lake with all the majesty and grace of an eagle. "But you just said they don't exist!" he added, not for the sake of argument but for the sake of talking to Rose.

"And what about the happiness bit?" Albus queried. "You have to think your happiest memory to summon a Patronus. And you have to keep thinking it or they disappear."

"True." Rose brought her attention back down to Scorpius, frowning in thought. He'd been heartbroken over his father's blood racist speech last night. But since this morning his mood had lifted considerably. It started when Professor Gladthink suggested the three have time to themselves (Rose could have sworn she'd caught a flicker of a smile on Scorpius's demeanour at that exact moment) and had continued to grow lighter ever since. "What are you so happy about?"

"Ohhh...I was thinking about my Dad telling me bedtime stories when I was little," Scorpius replied, flushing slightly when Rose almost caught him staring. Well, the bedtime stories were definitely one reason. It would be way too embarrassing telling Rose she was the other. So he swiftly moved the conversation on. "I don't get it though. I'm not a great wizard. I didn't even know anything about the Wizarding Wars until you and Alb told me. I never heard of Yuri Rhythm...Yuri Sap...whatever that guy's name was. Why the hell do so many wizards and witches have weird names anyway? Where the hell does a name like Mudblood come from, for instance?"

Rose started for a moment. But looking at Scorpius's face she could detect no malice. "Do you actually know what the name Mudblood means?" she asked carefully, as the thought suddenly struck her.

Scorpius shrugged. "I haven't the faintest idea," he admitted.

Albus pursed his lips. Surely everybody in the wizarding world knew what Mudblood meant? And after having heard so many stories from his Uncle Ron about Draco Malfoy's blood racism he was not quite as convinced as Rose that Scorpius Malfoy wasn't putting on an act. "It's a very, very bad insult," he said tightly. "Pureblood supremacists like Voldemort's followers called muggleborn wizards and witches Mudbloods because they said they had dirty blood and they shouldn't be allowed to have magic."

Scorpius huffed in a mixture of anger, astonishment and disgust. "Merlin, that's ridiculous! Why should it matter who's pureblood and who isn't and who has magic and who doesn't? That's why I always hated History. It's all about wars, mostly over stupid stuff. I can't understand why anyone wants to fight over stupid stuff like that."

Nor did he understand the reason for what happened next although there was no denying it was extremely pleasant. Albus grinned and matily punched his arm. Rose smiled her beautiful smile as she linked his other arm, her brown eyes sparkling.

And maybe there was something in this crazy Patronus idea they both seemed so fond of because Nature really went to town on its theatricals then, spinning a variety of breathtaking colours on flowers and tree blossom, dancing ripples through the lake, and playing a soothing otherworldly music while the golden owl – at least Rose and Albus claimed it was a golden owl, but Scorpius, in what was surely a strong case of the pot calling the kettle black, privately thought his companions had very vivid imaginations - expertly turned flying somersaults over the whole scene. His heart beating fast with happiness and hope at Rose's words.

"Scorp, that's it! I think I know what might make your Mum wake from Locking and for everything to be okay with you and your Dad again..."