"Do you believe him, Albus?" Scorpius asked softly. "Three years of friendship and you're going to give all that up because of an uncle who holds an aeonian hatred for my father?"
Albus could see the hurt shining in Scorpius's grey eyes. He didn't want to do this but his mother had always taught him the value of familial relationships, and Albus still remembered how Uncle Ron swore up and down that the Malfoys were one of the families he should stay away from and that they would never change. Uncle Ron didn't know Scorpius and had never bothered to get to know Scorpius, happily living under his misguided beliefs.
He had learnt otherwise when he had met Scorpius, the Slytherin who had muggleborn and halfblood friends. His mother hadn't really approved like his father had, and Uncle Ron had been totally against their friendship. Albus knew that Uncle Ron had been serious, even though he had claimed to be joking when Aunt Hermione had glared at him.
"I'm sorry, Scorpius, but he's family," Albus said, feeling regret welling up within him already. He hoped Scorpius didn't hate him for this, and Albus hoped that his guilt didn't eat him from the inside.
One argument was all it had taken. It was a big argument, and most of Hogwarts had heard of it, but they should have simply been able to make up like any other two friends. Albus's family had blown it out of proportion, his cousins especially, even though Scorpius had been receiving more disapproval over being his friend than Albus had been. At least Albus had his father's support. Scorpius hadn't.
It hadn't even been Scorpius's fault; it had been Albus that had uttered the word "mudblood" – Albus didn't even know how the argument had reached that point - but it had been Scorpius that had been forced to shoulder the blame of being a bad influence. Albus had never even heard Scorpius use the word before, overhearing it from the other Purebloods that Scorpius rarely spent time with.
Scorpius nodded, "I'd like to say that I understand, but …"
"I really am sorry, Scorpius," Albus said, before turning around and walking away.
Written for Mystery Competition: aeonian, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Severus Potter friendship; plot 9
AN: next-gen makes me really uncomfortable; they're like a bunch of OCs that share the same name across the fandom! D: