For the past three years, it had become somewhat a routine that the other Potter children, along with all of the Weasley students, would hop off the train within minute after the Hogwarts Express had pulled in. While Harry would be busy greeting James (and later Lily as well), then all the Weasleys, both the Potter and the Malfoy parents would be silently and anxiously scanning the crowd for their Slytherin boys. Harry could vividly remember asking James to go back up to check on his brother during Albus' first return home for Christmas. It had been a shame that they simply would not get off the train until the majority of the crowd had dispersed, at least minutes after the third last person had gotten off, as they would have been so easily distinguishable with Albus' jet black hair and Scorpius' platinum blonde hair. At least the Potters had plenty of distractions, Draco was not so lucky, especially after his wife's death, but he loved his boy too much to not show up on the platform punctually. Harry was expecting the same old routine all over again this afternoon.

As expected, James, Lily, as well as most of the Weasleys, rushed off the train immediately after the train doors had opened, but with one certain exception, Rose Granger-Weasley. Having gotten used to greeting his daughter so soon, Ron found himself anxiously waiting for the first time while half-heartedly hugging Hugo. The Potters and Draco, however, just casually and patiently waited for their sons.

As more and more students had left the train, Ron was looking more and more uneasy even though Hermione was not particularly bothered by it. Harry very much doubted anything could have happened to his niece but it was indeed curious for Rose to appear so late. They were about to question Hugo when a very confident but casual-looking Rose emerged, seemingly being one of the last students to leave the train, followed immediately by a laughing Albus, who was urging a bashful but smiling Scorpius out. Harry could feel his heart warming to the sight of a happy Albus, he stole a quick glance sideway to see that Draco's entire demeanour had softened at the sight of his boy as well.

A fidgety Ron rushed forward to meet his daughter halfway. "My dear Rose, what has taken you so long? I'm starting to worry"

"Oh, I was just sitting with Albus and Bread Head at the last compartment, that's all." Rose said dismissively, completely oblivious to the nervous look given to her by her father. Presently Albus was being enveloped by Ginny, after sharing a brief but heartfelt greeting with Harry, he looked embarrassed to be hugged so tightly by his mother but was not repelled. Scorpius had timidly walked up to Draco, who opened his arms to receive his son, albeit very stiffly. After being released from his father, the young Slytherin backed up a bit awkwardly in front of his own trunk.

Draco was resigned but not angry when he asked, "Scorpius, did someone wrote something on your trunk again?"

Scorpius' smile disappeared, he looked down and kept his silence for a whole minute. "Well…" The previous contentment seemed to have left Draco as he looked a bit sadly at his son, his arm awkwardly reaching for Scorpius'. Harry did not want to intrude but they were all standing so close that to move away now would have been more distracting. He was stunned and confused to see a barely-suppressed smile on his own son's face though.

A moment later, Scorpius looked up, his face lighted up as if he had just received an early Christmas present, "actually, No! Dad, my trunk is completely clean and good as new! How great is that?"

It sounded ridiculous that an innocent fourteen-year-old could find not having his trunk been vandalised a cause of celebration, but Harry was immediately saddened by Scorpius exclamation of delight, saddened by the implication that his trunk basically got vandalised every time, a sadness that seemed to be shared by Ginny and Hermione as well. Harry noticed that even Ron looked uncomfortable. His own previous guiltiness towards Scorpius resurfaced as he thought over how unfair and cruel he had been in suspecting him to be the dark cloud.

Draco relaxed and said gently, "Well… that is good news." Harry could not help feeling surprised that it had appeared that Draco had just dejectedly accepted his heir's bullying by the other students, which was such a sharp contrast from the way Lucius had handled any "injustice" shown to his son. Harry thought that sure it might not be a good idea for Draco to interfere too much given Scorpius would have to fend for himself (not really, given he had the hotheaded Albus as well) for the most part, but there must have been at least some interference he could exercise, if his trunk being vandalised was a regular occurrence.

"Yeah, two boys have tried to sneak by but they were told off by Rose, then there was this one who actually managed to reach the trunk, before being hexed by her! It's so awesome!" Scorpius continued, completely unaware of all the adults' uneasiness.

Draco looked at his son fondly, then turned stiffly towards Rose, he said in a voice free of any irony, "Thank you for defending my son, Miss Granger-Weasley." Harry could see Ron's jaw drop to the floor.

Rose answered easily with a toss of her hair, "It's fine, Mr Malfoy. Bread… hmm Malfoy may be kind of weird but he really doesn't deserve to be bullied." As if the adults could not have felt more uncomfortable, Rose's blunt use of the word "bully" did nothing to loosen up the atmosphere. "Besides, those boys should really grow up!"

Harry could see Ron trying and completely failing to mask his nervousness and concern as he asked, "So, my darling Rose, you and Scorpius are friends now, huh?" Hermione definitely looked ashamed in Ron's behalf as she shoved him rather openly. "What?"

Rose was of course, not stupid at all. "Don't worry, dad. We're just regular friends. Albus doesn't really give me any choice there. The two of them are inseparable, so if I want to hang out with my cousin, I have to hang out with Bread H… I mean Scorpius as well." She had the grace to try to avoid Draco's look after her repeated uses of that … interesting nickname of Scorpius. Scorpius was beaming widely while Albus actually looked at Rose with a fond smile.

It was about time to go, Harry thought he should greet his son's best friend as well before they left for winter break. Harry discreetly reached Scorpius' side while Ginny and Hermione were having some small talks with Draco, Ron was still fussing with Rose. Albus was now sharing a joke with James, something the brothers had rarely done since Albus' first year.

"Hello, Scorpius." Scorpius looked up at Harry with his wide eyes, stunned that Harry was addressing him personally. Harry had talked to Scorpius before, but always with Albus standing right by the young Malfoy's side, and never about anything much more than "how are you?". Harry Potter essentially had never have a real conversation with his son's favourite person in the whole world.

"Oh, hello Harry… I… I mean Mr Potter!" Harry could not help smiling at the boy's nervous excitement. "Scorpius, you are Albus' best friend, sure you can call me Harry if you like."

"Oh, yeah… hello Harry." All the blood in Scorpius' body seemed to have rushed to his face, he looked as red as a tomato by now. "I didn't mean to say that twice, sorry." he had looked down and was fidgeting a lot right now.

"Relax, Scorpius. I just want to see how you are doing. I understand that you have been hurt by Del… her."

The boy looked up at him, he seemed curious about how much Harry knew about the extent of his injuries. He carefully said, "I am fine. Th-thank you for asking, Mr Potter. I mean, Harry." He had returned to looking at the floor again, Harry felt frustrated that both of his attempts in making small talks only worked up the Malfoys instead of broke the ice.

An awkward moment had turned into a minute, Harry was debating whether he should just wish the boy merry Christmas then get going, when Scorpius suddenly looked up and blurted, "I'm so sorry, Mr Potter!"

"What? … what did you do that you should apologise to me for?" Harry was thoroughly confused.

"I … I should have turned in the ti… it earlier. Things would not have gotten so out of hand if I have done that. Craig would not have… Also, I should have made Albus see sense when it all started. I jumped off a moving train and disguised myself as you, it was foolish and reckless of me as father has said… and, I should have…" Scorpius was red-faced and was slurring his words badly. It was clear that all these guilt and emotions had been bottling-up inside for a while, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be released.

It was too much for Harry to handle, for this unknown hero who had single-handedly reversed a nightmare of a reality in which the boy could have lived like a king, only to be bullied by everyone in this real world, to be apologising so profusely to himself "the Saviour", who got thanked every day for something he had done twenty years ago. It felt wrong that Scorpius, the follower of this adventure and ever loyal friend, would be here apologising when even Albus, the leader and his own son, had yet to properly apologise for his behaviours. It felt even more wrong that Scorpius, who had lost his mother and had experienced so much loneliness, would be here apologising to him when Harry, the orphan raised in an abusive household, had been the one who had separated this innocent boy from his only friend in school.

Harry had originally started this conversation in hope that he could find his opportunity to apologise. Seeing that things had taken such a wrong turn, he desperately wanted to do something to soothe the boy. He felt too self-conscious to apologise now, feeling the watchful glances of Scorpius' two protectors, Draco and Albus, whose attentions had been directed this way by Scorpius' agitated state and outburst.

"Scorpius," Harry had tentatively placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "you should not have to apologise." He looked up in response with his now shining eyes. Harry felt guilty at the sight of those eyes thinking how carefree he had appeared while getting off the train earlier.

"But...I...hmm" Scorpius was not convinced by Harry's words at all.

"It's not your fault, Scorpius." Harry said firmly. "If anything, you should be proud of yourself, all would have been lost if it's not for your bravery and determination."

The young Malfoy might not have believed Harry's words but he could definitely see his sincerity, he seemed to have calmed down in response and gave Harry a slight nod.

Sensing that the previous light-hearted moment had turned into one of uneasiness for everyone in their group thanks to him, he tried to end this poorly-executed conversation.

"I wish you a merry christmas, Scorpius. You really deserve a nice winter break after the terrible things you have been through." Harry winced when he realised that he had unconsciously make reference to that incident again, thankfully Scorpius did not notice.

"A merry Christmas to you too, Har… Mr Potter." He said with a warm, albeit a bit watery smile.

Draco continued to talk awkwardly with Ginny and Hermione, seemingly trying to avoid Harry after he had upset his child, while Scorpius was taking minutes to bid Albus farewell. The pair was laughing loudly one moment, talking seriously between themselves the next, at the end they must have hugged for a whole minute, completely oblivious to their surroundings, while all their families were looking on. They finally separated, allowing the Potters, the Weasleys and the Malfoys to go their separate ways.

A/N: I love writing Scorpius, he is such a great character with so many layers. I don't want my Scorpius here to suffer too much after the events in HPCC but I do believe that for a character so kind, he would definitely feel a certain degree of responsibilities for the incidents in HPCC.

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