"Hey, Nina." Scorpius said sitting next to her under the tree. "So, how was first week of school?"
"It was good." Carina replied, "Takes a little getting used to."
"I still can't believe you made it to Ravenclaw."
"I can't believe Lyra got sorted into Gryffindor." Carina laughed. "I guess Uncle Blaise isn't too disappointed though."
The sorting for the batch of first years had been surprising. Lily and Carina had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Lyra to Gryffindor, Cordelia to Hufflepuff. Hugo went to Gryffindor with Lyra. Victor Nott and Jason Dursley joined Slytherin.
"I have always been curious about the Ravenclaw common room, will I get to see it now?" He asked with a smirk.
"If you are smart enough to answer the question correctly." Carina laughed, "I am just glad I have Lily."
"Yeah." He said with a scowl.
"You don't treat her any better, Scor."
"Why should I?" Scorpius muttered.
"Because she is a nice person. Albus treats me so well."
"Of course he would. No one can treat you badly, once they get to know you."
"Lily is the same. Get to know her at least."
"Fine."
"Good." Carina said, "Now I have to go to the library to study with Lily, Stephanie, Lyra, Delia, Jason, Victor and Hugo. I will see you later. Okay?"
"Yes."
"And please, for me, try at least."
"Fine."
"I love you, Scor."
"I love you too."
Scorpius was out for a midnight hot chocolate when he saw her sitting on one of the benches in the kitchen.
"What are you doing down here?" He asked incredulously.
"Nothing. I came to meet Winky." Lily replied.
Scorpius followed her gaze and his question was answered. Winky was a very filthy elf, she was wearing a skirt, shirt and a hat and he couldn't get the colour of her clothes. She was sitting by the fire, drinking butterbeer.
"Who is she?" He whispered, afraid of gaining this elf's attention.
"Come, sit down." Lily offered.
"Well, who is she?" Scorpius whispered taking his seat.
"She is an elf. Aunt Hermione told me about her. She belonged to the Crouch family. Barty Crouch Sr. freed her after the Quidditch World Cup in 1994-"
"The one where the dark mark came back." Scorpius interrupted, "And all hell broke loose?"
"Yes. Apparently, Barty Crouch Jr, ws a death eater and had died in Azakban. In reality his father had smuggled him out of Azkaban and kept him under the imperius curse."
"How do you know all this?" Scorpius asked, "Albus never told us about any of this."
"Because he never really paid attention to all the stories." Lily replied, "For him the story of our father and Voldemort was enough."
"Then, how do you know so much?" Scorpius asked curiously.
"I asked the right source." She replied with a smirk. "My mother doesn't believe in hiding things from us. She would give a story from as many view points as possible and then leave you to decide how you feel about it."
"So, what happened to Winky?" Scorpius asked, eyeing the elf nervously.
Scorpius listened with growing wonder as Lily continued with her phenomenal story of what Winky stood for and what she let lose. As the night wore on, Scorpius asked for more stories and Lily obliged. They had moved from stories of the war to the stories of Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, even Fred Weasley I.
"Well, well!" James said as he walked to the table. "Isn't this cozy."
"You prat!" Lily exclaimed with a laugh. "Why were you looking at the map in the middle of the night?"
"What map?" Scorpius asked.
"It's a family secret." Louise piped up appearing next to James.
"So, naturally everybody knows about it. I am surprised Albus didn't tell you, despite the fact that he would inherit it after my graduation." James added.
"But what map?" Scorpius asked.
"The Marauder's map." James replied, laying the map on the table. Scorpius had never seen something like it, the map was a map of Hogwarts and it showed where everyone was!
"This is brilliant!" Scorpius exclaimed, "Where can I get one?"
"You can't." Louise sighed. "This was made by the Marauders who are long dead."
"Who were the Marauders?"
"Our grandfather and his friends." Lily piped up.
"It's a long story. I will tell you about it sometime." She said, cutting off his question. "So, where are Fred and Roxanne?" she asked.
"Setting the trap." James answered.
"And what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked.
"Getting refreshments." Louise answered.
"What are you doing here, Lil?" James asked curiously, "Not that I am not proud of the fact that you are breaking rules in your first month."
Lily grinned. "I came to see Winky."
James and Louise groaned. "Not again!" Louise muttered.
"Hey!" Scorpius exclaimed.
"Scor," James said, "Do you know about spew?"
"Spew?"
"It is S.P.E.W!" Lily exclaimed. "It's a society that aunt Hermione started to ensure that elves have rights."
"So, now they do." Scorpius said. "And she was right to do so."
"Yes." James sighed, "But she needs to understand that some people are beyond our reach and help. Some don't even need our help."
"Winky, is one of them." Louise said, "She is beyond our reach."
"Looks like it." Lily sighed.
"No luck?" Louise asked kindly.
"None." Lily sighed.
"Cheer up!" James said, "You can only help those who want to help."
"Come on! We will drop you back." Louise said.
"Can't." James said, looking at the map. "We need to get back to help Freddy and Roxanne. It's almost time. Lil, will be fine by yourself? Take the map, we know our way."
"Yeah. I will be." Lily said, "Just promise me that it would be an epic prank."
"You got it, kid!"
"Wait!" Scorpius said, "I will drop her back. You guys go ahead."
Lily and Scorpius walked in friendly silence. Scorpius peeked at Lily. He was impressed by the girl. She didn't seem as bad to him now. Maybe he was wrong about her.
"So, Lily…" He said uncertainly, "I realized this is the first time we have had a real conversation."
She smiled.
"And I enjoyed talking to you. You are not so bad."
"Thank you, Scorpius. You are not that lousy either."
"So… friends?" Scorpius asked.
"Yes, sure."
They spent the rest of the path chatting amicably with each other. They reached the foot of the Ravenclaw tower without any incident. Lily handed the map to Scorpius to help him get back safely and asked him to pass on the map to either James or Albus the next day. Scorpius watched Lily climb up the stairs to her common room. He liked her, she was a funny kid with the most outrageous stories ever.
"Hey, Lily." He called.
"Yeah?"
"You think you could narrate some more stories to me?"
"Sure."
"How about you meet me in the library after dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure. Okay. I will see you then. Goodnight Scorpius."
"Goodnight, Lily."
Scorpius couldn't hide his grin as he walked back to the dungeons. He did not know why he was so happy about his agreement with Lily but as he got in his bed, he felt nothing but deep satisfaction.
"Boo!" Scorpius said, as he grabbed Lily's shoulders from behind.
"Scorpius!" She exclaimed, her voice a little higher.
"Lily!" He mimicked with a smirk.
"I don't know why I put up with you." She muttered, going back to her book.
Scorpius lounged lazily in the seat next to her. It was almost Christmas and Scorpius and Lily had developed a daily ritual of meeting up at the end of the day. What had started as a story telling session in the library had developed into a deep friendship, something that surprised their siblings to no end.
"Hey, Lil?"
"Hmm…"
"Tell me about the love story of Artemis Potter and Cassiopeia Malfoy, please."
"Scor, you have requested for that story a hundred times. Why do you love it so much?"
Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know. It's just weird to imagine someone who was trained to be as stuck up as my grandfather could become such a warm person."
"You haven't even met your grandfather." Lily pointed out.
"I have. I go with dad every year." Scorpius sighed. "Please don't tell anyone."
"Not even Albus?"
"He knows." Scorpius replied. "But don't tell Nina, I don't want her to be a part of this."
"So, what's he like?"
Scorpius shrugged. "Crazy I guess. He has this crazy look when he sees me. Sometimes he treats me as if I am his own son. And the things he says. Malfoys this, Malfoys that! It drives me mad."
"He is who he is." Lily replied with a shrug.
"He is murderer and a lunatic, that's what he is." Scorpius muttered. "I don't know why dad insists on seeing him."
"I guess because that's Mr. Malfoy's father." Lily replied, "No child would ever give up on their parent. Your grandfather never treated you badly, did he?"
"No. It almost looks like he loves me."
"Maybe he does." Lily said.
Scorpius scoffed, "Despite what he is?"
"Dad says the world is not black or white." Lily said, "You disliked me for the longest time and yet I had people who loved me with all their hearts. Didn't I?"
"Yes."
"And for the life of you, you couldn't understand why no one really ever saw through me, like you did."
"Yes. But what's your point?"
"That even the worst people have some redeeming quality."
"You sound older than 11." Scorpius accused.
"I spent a lot of time with Dad and reading a children's book on the life of Buddha." Lily replied.
"Who is Buddha now?" Scorpius whined.
And like clockwork, Lily launched into the story of the boy who was destined to either become the greatest of all kings, or the greatest of all human beings. Soon, they were joined by Albus, Alex, Lyra, Carina, Hugo, Megan, Rose and Jason. They listened with rapt attention as Lily painted pictures in their minds with her words and stories.
Scorpius sighed as he lay in bed that night thinking about Cassiopeia Malfoy. He wondered if the right person could make all the difference. He sometimes let himself imagine an alternative world where his grandfather was not a death eater and his father wasn't forced to become one. He painted a world where his family was not torn apart as the after effects of a war. A world where his name didn't inspire mistrust and hate, he had seen enough of that hate and bullying at Hogwarts. He knew Carina would face them too but he let himself escape in a world where his sister was not bullied for being a Malfoy.
AN: So another chapter done. Leave a review to let me know what you thought of it. It's a little bland but I trying. Please fav/follow if you like the story or me.
Hope you had a good time reading it.
Much love.
The fishes